BBC
Hillary Clinton: Libya may become democracy or face civil war
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Mrs Clinton said Col Gaddafi "must go now, without further violence or delay"
Libya could become a peaceful democracy or face years of civil war, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has told Congressional lawmakers.
Mrs Clinton appeared on Capitol Hill to urge Congress not to cut funds needed to deal with crises abroad.
The comments came a day after the US began repositioning warships and military aircraft in the Libya region.
Mrs Clinton repeated demands that Col Muammar Gaddafi "must go now, without further violence or delay".
"The entire [Middle East] region is changing, and a strong and strategic American response will be essential, Mrs Clinton said to the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee in prepared testimony.
"In the years ahead, Libya could become a peaceful democracy, or it could face protracted civil war. The stakes are high.
"And this is an unfolding example of how we use the combined assets of diplomacy, development and defence to protect our interests and advance our values.
She added that the US was working to translate the "world's outrage into action and results".
Meanwhile, the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, told reporters in Washington the US would continue to place pressure on Col Gaddafi until he steps down, while working to stabilise oil prices and avert a possible humanitarian crisis.
"We are going to keep the pressure on Gaddafi until he steps down and allows the people of Libya to express themselves freely and determine their own future," Ms Rice told US media.
Considering no-fly zone
Mrs Clinton has said implementing a no-fly zone in Libya was still being considered by the US, although she acknowledged there would be drawbacks with such a move.
Speaking in front of a separate panel on Tuesday, General James Mattis, a top US military commander in the Middle East, said the military would have to destroy Libyan air defences in order to establish a no-fly zone in the country.
Gen Mattis added that a no-fly zone would deter Col Gaddafi's regime from bombing demonstrators as they protest against the government.
If such measures were taken, US commanders could turn to the USS Enterprise, currently in the Red Sea, as well as the amphibious ship the USS Kearsarge, which has a fleet of helicopters and about 2,000 Marines aboard.
Meanwhile, Col Gaddafi has played down protests in the country and insisted that all his people love him. His comments came amid reports that he is attempting to regain control of rebel areas in western Libya.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12611925
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Russia: Coordinated efforts in Libya
Pravda
PJ: I found this short article significant as it shows how the West along with Russia and China have coordinated to address the building crisis in the Middle East as they work together to help citizens of all countries to safety.
World leaders to discuss sanctions against Libya
World leaders will meet Friday to discuss sanctions against Libya as nations braved rough seas to whisk citizens away from the escalating violence in the north African nation.
A British ship left Benghazi -- the second-largest city -- with 207 people on board. A United States ferry with at least 275 people safely onboard was expected to follow suit later Friday.
The State Department said that the ferry's departure from Tripoli to Malta would be within the "next several hours" depending on the weather, according to GreaterKashmir.com.
A second planeload of Chinese citizens evacuated from Libya has arrived in Beijing. China's official Xinhua News Agency says 227 people were aboard the chartered flight that arrived in the capital early Friday.
About 12,000 Chinese nationals have been evacuated from the strife-torn Northern African country, including 224 who arrived home on an earlier chartered flight.
Others are being pulled out by bus or by boat, including 4,500 who were whisked to the Greek island of Crete on Thursday over churning seas, Washington Post informs.
http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/25-02-2011/117014-libya-0/
PJ: I found this short article significant as it shows how the West along with Russia and China have coordinated to address the building crisis in the Middle East as they work together to help citizens of all countries to safety.
World leaders to discuss sanctions against Libya
World leaders will meet Friday to discuss sanctions against Libya as nations braved rough seas to whisk citizens away from the escalating violence in the north African nation.
A British ship left Benghazi -- the second-largest city -- with 207 people on board. A United States ferry with at least 275 people safely onboard was expected to follow suit later Friday.
The State Department said that the ferry's departure from Tripoli to Malta would be within the "next several hours" depending on the weather, according to GreaterKashmir.com.
A second planeload of Chinese citizens evacuated from Libya has arrived in Beijing. China's official Xinhua News Agency says 227 people were aboard the chartered flight that arrived in the capital early Friday.
About 12,000 Chinese nationals have been evacuated from the strife-torn Northern African country, including 224 who arrived home on an earlier chartered flight.
Others are being pulled out by bus or by boat, including 4,500 who were whisked to the Greek island of Crete on Thursday over churning seas, Washington Post informs.
http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/25-02-2011/117014-libya-0/
Middle East: As protests spread, US urges Oman government to show restraint
Al Jazeera
US calls on Oman to show restraint
Washington has called on Omani authorities to exercise restraint amid pro-democracy protests that have killed several people in the Persian Gulf state.
“We have been in touch with the [Omani] government and encouraged restraint and to resolve differences through dialogue,†AFP quoted US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley as saying in Washington on Monday.
He added that American officials continue to watch the ongoing developments in Oman and urged the country's the US-backed despotic leaders to encourage “dialogue and reform.â€
“We continue to encourage the government to undertake reforms that include economic opportunity and move towards greater inclusion and participation in a peaceful political process,†Crowley claimed.
His remarks came on the same day that clashes broke out between Omani security forces and demonstrators in the city of Sohar, located about 200 kilometers (125 miles) northwest of the capital Muscat.
The rulers of the Persian Gulf kingdom have been strongly backed and supported by the US over the years with no expressed concerns about the lack of many basic freedoms in the country.
Police fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters, who had staged a vigil in the city's Earth Roundabout for a third consecutive night to demand better living conditions and political reforms.
Meanwhile, security forces have blocked roads into Sohar in an attempt to prevent any public expressions of dissent from getting worse.
On Sunday, six demonstrators were killed when thousands of people held anti-government protests in Sohar.
The recent demonstrations in the Persian Gulf nation of Oman are the latest sign of revolt in a wave of revolutions that have rocked repressive regimes across Northern Africa and Middle East. The revolutions have so far removed Tunisian and Egyptian rulers from power.
http://aljazeera.com/news/articles/34/US-calls-on-Oman-to-show-restraint.html
US calls on Oman to show restraint
Washington has called on Omani authorities to exercise restraint amid pro-democracy protests that have killed several people in the Persian Gulf state.
“We have been in touch with the [Omani] government and encouraged restraint and to resolve differences through dialogue,†AFP quoted US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley as saying in Washington on Monday.
He added that American officials continue to watch the ongoing developments in Oman and urged the country's the US-backed despotic leaders to encourage “dialogue and reform.â€
“We continue to encourage the government to undertake reforms that include economic opportunity and move towards greater inclusion and participation in a peaceful political process,†Crowley claimed.
His remarks came on the same day that clashes broke out between Omani security forces and demonstrators in the city of Sohar, located about 200 kilometers (125 miles) northwest of the capital Muscat.
The rulers of the Persian Gulf kingdom have been strongly backed and supported by the US over the years with no expressed concerns about the lack of many basic freedoms in the country.
Police fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters, who had staged a vigil in the city's Earth Roundabout for a third consecutive night to demand better living conditions and political reforms.
Meanwhile, security forces have blocked roads into Sohar in an attempt to prevent any public expressions of dissent from getting worse.
On Sunday, six demonstrators were killed when thousands of people held anti-government protests in Sohar.
The recent demonstrations in the Persian Gulf nation of Oman are the latest sign of revolt in a wave of revolutions that have rocked repressive regimes across Northern Africa and Middle East. The revolutions have so far removed Tunisian and Egyptian rulers from power.
http://aljazeera.com/news/articles/34/US-calls-on-Oman-to-show-restraint.html
Middle East: US urges Israel to learn from regional conflicts
Al Jazeera
US vows Israel on jittery ME situation
Top US Middle East advisor Dennis Ross says the Israeli regime should draw lessons from the Egyptian revolution with respect to the Palestinian issue and that the status quo was “unsustainable.â€
Addressing an audience on the third day of the J Street's annual conference in Washington on Monday, Ross said,†If Israel can view one lesson from the events in Egypt; it is the danger of getting stuck with an unsustainable status quo.â€
“Just as the frustrations in Egypt grew over time,†he said, “we should all recognize that the conflict with the Palestinians will only become more intractable over time.â€
The White House advisor insisted that despite all the budgetary challenges, the United States will continue supporting Israel's security needs, including the funding of the "Iron Dome†missile defense system.
“Change in Egypt has created concern for many in the region; Egypt has been a pillar for Israel's pursuit of peace. The last thing we want to see is extremists benefit from the situation," the Obama assistant maintained, adding that with regards to Israel "it's [in] the interest of Egypt that the peace becomes warmer, not colder."
Changing the topic to Iran, the top US official said, "we will keep an eye on Iran and the pressure on. While the door will always remain open for diplomacy, but we remain determined to prevent Iran from acquiring the nuclear weapons and we won't be deflected from this goal."
The US and its allies have been repeating their unsubstantiated claims that Iran is intent on engaging in a nuclear weapons program, an allegation that has been proven false by every IAEA (The International Atomic Energy Agency) report on Iran's civilian nuclear program. Tehran has also vehemently rejected such claims as more publicity than substance.
The IAEA's recent report has just reconfirmed the non-diversion of Iran's nuclear program towards a military objective.
http://aljazeera.com/news/articles/34/US-vows-Israel-on-jittery-ME-situation.html
US vows Israel on jittery ME situation
Top US Middle East advisor Dennis Ross says the Israeli regime should draw lessons from the Egyptian revolution with respect to the Palestinian issue and that the status quo was “unsustainable.â€
Addressing an audience on the third day of the J Street's annual conference in Washington on Monday, Ross said,†If Israel can view one lesson from the events in Egypt; it is the danger of getting stuck with an unsustainable status quo.â€
“Just as the frustrations in Egypt grew over time,†he said, “we should all recognize that the conflict with the Palestinians will only become more intractable over time.â€
The White House advisor insisted that despite all the budgetary challenges, the United States will continue supporting Israel's security needs, including the funding of the "Iron Dome†missile defense system.
“Change in Egypt has created concern for many in the region; Egypt has been a pillar for Israel's pursuit of peace. The last thing we want to see is extremists benefit from the situation," the Obama assistant maintained, adding that with regards to Israel "it's [in] the interest of Egypt that the peace becomes warmer, not colder."
Changing the topic to Iran, the top US official said, "we will keep an eye on Iran and the pressure on. While the door will always remain open for diplomacy, but we remain determined to prevent Iran from acquiring the nuclear weapons and we won't be deflected from this goal."
The US and its allies have been repeating their unsubstantiated claims that Iran is intent on engaging in a nuclear weapons program, an allegation that has been proven false by every IAEA (The International Atomic Energy Agency) report on Iran's civilian nuclear program. Tehran has also vehemently rejected such claims as more publicity than substance.
The IAEA's recent report has just reconfirmed the non-diversion of Iran's nuclear program towards a military objective.
http://aljazeera.com/news/articles/34/US-vows-Israel-on-jittery-ME-situation.html
Korea: US and S. Korea begin nuclear talks
Korea Times
US envoy arrives in Seoul for nuclear cooperation talks
A senior U.S. official arrived in Seoul Tuesday for an upcoming meeting with South Korean officials over their countries' nuclear cooperation pact, a diplomatic source here said.
Robert Einhorn, the State Department's special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control, is leading a team of U.S. officials for a four-day visit, the source said. Einhorn will be the chief U.S. delegate to the talks set for Thursday and Friday. His counterpart will be Cho Hyun, a former deputy foreign minister for multilateral and global affairs.
Their meeting this week will be the second round of talks on rewriting the nuclear cooperation pact that bans South Korea from reprocessing spent fuel from civilian nuclear power plants. The previous talks were held in Washington last October. The 1974 nuclear pact is set to expire in March 2014.
In Washington last fall, the two sides agreed to launch joint research on Seoul's demand to adopt what is known as "pyroprocessing" technology, which is considered by some to be less conducive to proliferation, as it leaves separated plutonium, the main ingredient in making atomic bombs, mixed with other elements.
But nonproliferation advocates say pyroprocessing is not much different from reprocessing.
South Korea, which produces 36 percent of its energy at 20 nuclear power plants, has to deal with more than 10,000 tons of nuclear waste at storage facilities that are expected to reach capacity in 2016.
During his stay, Einhorn will also meet South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and Seoul's chief nuclear envoy, Wi Sung-lac, to discuss international sanctions on North Korea.
South Korea plans to designate a special envoy for these nuclear pact talks before the next meeting. (Yonhap)
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/03/113_82303.html
US envoy arrives in Seoul for nuclear cooperation talks
A senior U.S. official arrived in Seoul Tuesday for an upcoming meeting with South Korean officials over their countries' nuclear cooperation pact, a diplomatic source here said.
Robert Einhorn, the State Department's special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control, is leading a team of U.S. officials for a four-day visit, the source said. Einhorn will be the chief U.S. delegate to the talks set for Thursday and Friday. His counterpart will be Cho Hyun, a former deputy foreign minister for multilateral and global affairs.
Their meeting this week will be the second round of talks on rewriting the nuclear cooperation pact that bans South Korea from reprocessing spent fuel from civilian nuclear power plants. The previous talks were held in Washington last October. The 1974 nuclear pact is set to expire in March 2014.
In Washington last fall, the two sides agreed to launch joint research on Seoul's demand to adopt what is known as "pyroprocessing" technology, which is considered by some to be less conducive to proliferation, as it leaves separated plutonium, the main ingredient in making atomic bombs, mixed with other elements.
But nonproliferation advocates say pyroprocessing is not much different from reprocessing.
South Korea, which produces 36 percent of its energy at 20 nuclear power plants, has to deal with more than 10,000 tons of nuclear waste at storage facilities that are expected to reach capacity in 2016.
During his stay, Einhorn will also meet South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and Seoul's chief nuclear envoy, Wi Sung-lac, to discuss international sanctions on North Korea.
South Korea plans to designate a special envoy for these nuclear pact talks before the next meeting. (Yonhap)
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/03/113_82303.html
Canada: " Is Obama secretly Swiss?"
National Post
PJ: Known by many around the globe as a war-mongering bully, the US now has the difficult task of offering a strong response to the Middle Eastern crisis without repeating failures of the past. By siding with the protesters too soon, against leaders that had been friends of US interests would have left other regional leaders hostile. But not siding with protesters soon enough leaves many other allies critical of the lack of leadership shown by the White House. It is a daunting task to be sure and one that will take time to measure in its effectiveness.
Christopher Hitchens: Arab unrest leaves Obama as helpless as a hostage
Christopher Hitchens
However meanly and grudgingly, even the new Republican speaker has now conceded that the president of the United States is Hawaiian-born and some kind of Christian. So let’s hope that’s the end of all that. A more pressing question now obtrudes itself: Is Barack Obama secretly Swiss?
Let me explain what I mean. A Middle Eastern despot now knows for sure when his time in power is well and truly up. He knows it when his bankers in Zurich or Geneva cease accepting his transfers and responding to his confidential communications and instead begin the process of “freezing” his assets and disclosing their extent and their whereabouts to investigators in his long-exploited country. And, at precisely that moment, the U.S. government also announces that it no longer recognizes the said depositor as the duly constituted head of state. Occasionally, there is a little bit of “raggedness” in the coordination. CIA Director Leon Panetta testified to Congress that Hosni Mubarak would “step down” a day before he actually did so. But the whole charm of the CIA is that its intelligence-gathering is always a few beats off when compared with widespread general knowledge.
Generally, though, the White House and the State Department have their timepieces and reactions set to Swiss co-ordinates.
This is not merely a matter of the synchronizing of announcements. The Obama administration also behaves as if the weight of the United States in world affairs is approximately the same as that of Switzerland. We Americans await developments. We urge caution, even restraint. We hope for the formation of an international consensus. And, just as there is something despicable about the way in which Swiss bankers change horses, so there is something contemptible about the way in which Washington has been affecting — and perhaps helping to bring about — American impotence. Except that, whereas at least the Swiss have the excuse of cynicism, American policy manages to be both cynical and naive.
This has been especially evident in the case of Libya. For weeks, the administration dithered over Egypt and calibrated its actions to the lowest and slowest common denominators, on the grounds that it was difficult to deal with a rancid old friend and ally who had outlived his usefulness. But then it became the turn of Muammar Gaddafi — an all-round stinking nuisance and moreover a long-term enemy — and the dithering began all over again. Until Wednesday Feb. 23, when President Obama made a few anodyne remarks that condemned “violence” in general but failed to cite Gaddafi in particular — every important statesman and stateswoman in the world had been heard from, with the exception of Obama.
And his silence was hardly worth breaking. Echoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who had managed a few words of her own, he stressed only that the need was for a unanimous international opinion, as if in the absence of complete unity nothing could be done, or even attempted. This would hand an automatic veto to any of Gaddafi’s remaining allies. It also underscored the impression that the opinion of the United States was no more worth hearing than that of, say, Switzerland. Secretary Clinton was then dispatched to no other destination than Geneva, to meet with the UN Human Rights Council — an absurd body that already was hopelessly tainted with Gaddafi’s membership.
By the time of Obama’s empty speech, even the notoriously lenient Arab League had suspended Libya’s participation, and several of Gaddafi’s senior diplomatic envoys had bravely defected. One of them, based in New York, had warned of the use of warplanes against civilians and called for a “no-fly zone.” Others have pointed out the planes that are bringing fresh mercenaries to Gaddafi’s side. In the Mediterranean, the United States maintains its Sixth Fleet, which could ground Gaddafi’s air force without breaking a sweat. But wait! We have not yet heard from the Swiss admiralty, without whose input it would surely be imprudent to proceed.
Evidently a little sensitive to the related charges of being (a) taken yet again completely by surprise, (b) apparently without a policy of its own, and (c) morally neutered, the Obama administration contrived to come up with an argument that maximized every form of feebleness. Were we to have taken a more robust or discernible position, it was argued, our diplomatic staff in Libya might have been endangered. In other words, we decided to behave as if they were already hostages!
The governments of much less powerful nations, many with large expatriate populations as well as embassies in Libya, had already condemned Gaddafi’s criminal behaviour, and the European Union had considered sanctions, but the United States (which didn’t even charter a boat for the removal of staff until Tuesday) felt obliged to act as if it were the Colonel’s unwilling prisoner. I can’t immediately think of any precedent for this pathetic “doctrine,” but I can easily see what a useful precedent it sets for any future rogue regime attempting to buy time. Leave us alone — don’t even raise your voice against us — or we cannot guarantee the security of your embassy. (It wouldn’t be too soon, even now, for the NATO alliance to make it plain to Gaddafi that if he even tried such a thing, he would lose his throne, and his ramshackle armed forces, and perhaps his worthless life, all in the course of one afternoon.)
Unless the administration seriously envisages a future that includes the continued private ownership of Libya and its people by Gaddafi and his terrible offspring, it’s a sheer matter of prudence and realpolitik, to say nothing of principle, to adopt a policy that makes the opposite assumption. Libya is — in point of population and geography — mainly a coastline. The United States, with or without allies, has unchallengeable power in the air and on the adjacent waters. It can produce great air lifts and sea lifts of humanitarian and medical aid, which will soon be needed anyway along the Egyptian and Tunisian borders, and which would purchase undreamed-of goodwill. It has the chance to make up for its pointless, discredited tardiness with respect to events in Cairo and Tunis. It also has a President who has shown at least the capacity to deliver great speeches on grand themes.
Instead, and in the crucial and formative days in which revolutions are decided, we have had to endure the futile squawkings of a cuckoo clock.
(originally posted on Slate.com)
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/03/01/christopher-hitchens-arab-unrest-leaves-obama-as-helpless-as-a-hostage/
PJ: Known by many around the globe as a war-mongering bully, the US now has the difficult task of offering a strong response to the Middle Eastern crisis without repeating failures of the past. By siding with the protesters too soon, against leaders that had been friends of US interests would have left other regional leaders hostile. But not siding with protesters soon enough leaves many other allies critical of the lack of leadership shown by the White House. It is a daunting task to be sure and one that will take time to measure in its effectiveness.
Christopher Hitchens: Arab unrest leaves Obama as helpless as a hostage
Christopher Hitchens
However meanly and grudgingly, even the new Republican speaker has now conceded that the president of the United States is Hawaiian-born and some kind of Christian. So let’s hope that’s the end of all that. A more pressing question now obtrudes itself: Is Barack Obama secretly Swiss?
Let me explain what I mean. A Middle Eastern despot now knows for sure when his time in power is well and truly up. He knows it when his bankers in Zurich or Geneva cease accepting his transfers and responding to his confidential communications and instead begin the process of “freezing” his assets and disclosing their extent and their whereabouts to investigators in his long-exploited country. And, at precisely that moment, the U.S. government also announces that it no longer recognizes the said depositor as the duly constituted head of state. Occasionally, there is a little bit of “raggedness” in the coordination. CIA Director Leon Panetta testified to Congress that Hosni Mubarak would “step down” a day before he actually did so. But the whole charm of the CIA is that its intelligence-gathering is always a few beats off when compared with widespread general knowledge.
Generally, though, the White House and the State Department have their timepieces and reactions set to Swiss co-ordinates.
This is not merely a matter of the synchronizing of announcements. The Obama administration also behaves as if the weight of the United States in world affairs is approximately the same as that of Switzerland. We Americans await developments. We urge caution, even restraint. We hope for the formation of an international consensus. And, just as there is something despicable about the way in which Swiss bankers change horses, so there is something contemptible about the way in which Washington has been affecting — and perhaps helping to bring about — American impotence. Except that, whereas at least the Swiss have the excuse of cynicism, American policy manages to be both cynical and naive.
This has been especially evident in the case of Libya. For weeks, the administration dithered over Egypt and calibrated its actions to the lowest and slowest common denominators, on the grounds that it was difficult to deal with a rancid old friend and ally who had outlived his usefulness. But then it became the turn of Muammar Gaddafi — an all-round stinking nuisance and moreover a long-term enemy — and the dithering began all over again. Until Wednesday Feb. 23, when President Obama made a few anodyne remarks that condemned “violence” in general but failed to cite Gaddafi in particular — every important statesman and stateswoman in the world had been heard from, with the exception of Obama.
And his silence was hardly worth breaking. Echoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who had managed a few words of her own, he stressed only that the need was for a unanimous international opinion, as if in the absence of complete unity nothing could be done, or even attempted. This would hand an automatic veto to any of Gaddafi’s remaining allies. It also underscored the impression that the opinion of the United States was no more worth hearing than that of, say, Switzerland. Secretary Clinton was then dispatched to no other destination than Geneva, to meet with the UN Human Rights Council — an absurd body that already was hopelessly tainted with Gaddafi’s membership.
By the time of Obama’s empty speech, even the notoriously lenient Arab League had suspended Libya’s participation, and several of Gaddafi’s senior diplomatic envoys had bravely defected. One of them, based in New York, had warned of the use of warplanes against civilians and called for a “no-fly zone.” Others have pointed out the planes that are bringing fresh mercenaries to Gaddafi’s side. In the Mediterranean, the United States maintains its Sixth Fleet, which could ground Gaddafi’s air force without breaking a sweat. But wait! We have not yet heard from the Swiss admiralty, without whose input it would surely be imprudent to proceed.
Evidently a little sensitive to the related charges of being (a) taken yet again completely by surprise, (b) apparently without a policy of its own, and (c) morally neutered, the Obama administration contrived to come up with an argument that maximized every form of feebleness. Were we to have taken a more robust or discernible position, it was argued, our diplomatic staff in Libya might have been endangered. In other words, we decided to behave as if they were already hostages!
The governments of much less powerful nations, many with large expatriate populations as well as embassies in Libya, had already condemned Gaddafi’s criminal behaviour, and the European Union had considered sanctions, but the United States (which didn’t even charter a boat for the removal of staff until Tuesday) felt obliged to act as if it were the Colonel’s unwilling prisoner. I can’t immediately think of any precedent for this pathetic “doctrine,” but I can easily see what a useful precedent it sets for any future rogue regime attempting to buy time. Leave us alone — don’t even raise your voice against us — or we cannot guarantee the security of your embassy. (It wouldn’t be too soon, even now, for the NATO alliance to make it plain to Gaddafi that if he even tried such a thing, he would lose his throne, and his ramshackle armed forces, and perhaps his worthless life, all in the course of one afternoon.)
Unless the administration seriously envisages a future that includes the continued private ownership of Libya and its people by Gaddafi and his terrible offspring, it’s a sheer matter of prudence and realpolitik, to say nothing of principle, to adopt a policy that makes the opposite assumption. Libya is — in point of population and geography — mainly a coastline. The United States, with or without allies, has unchallengeable power in the air and on the adjacent waters. It can produce great air lifts and sea lifts of humanitarian and medical aid, which will soon be needed anyway along the Egyptian and Tunisian borders, and which would purchase undreamed-of goodwill. It has the chance to make up for its pointless, discredited tardiness with respect to events in Cairo and Tunis. It also has a President who has shown at least the capacity to deliver great speeches on grand themes.
Instead, and in the crucial and formative days in which revolutions are decided, we have had to endure the futile squawkings of a cuckoo clock.
(originally posted on Slate.com)
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/03/01/christopher-hitchens-arab-unrest-leaves-obama-as-helpless-as-a-hostage/
UK: Definant Gaddafi shows no signs of relinquishing power
The Guardian
US says Gaddafi is 'delusional' and unfit to lead
Libyan leader 'disconnected from reality', says US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice
By Ben Quinn and Haroon Siddique
Muammar Gaddafi was labelled "delusional" by the US ambassador to the UN, after he laughed off suggestions that he should go into exile and insisted that he had the support of the Libyan people.
The dictator's defiance came as the prospects of western military power being used against him moved closer. The US deployed naval and air force units around the country and Britain's prime minister, David Cameron, ordered contingency plans for a no-fly zone.
The US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, also criticised Gaddafi as "unfit to lead" and "disconnected from reality" after the Libyan leader, speaking to news organisations including the BBC, mocked his opponents. "All my people love me. They would die to protect me," he said. Gaddafi laughed when asked if he would step down.
"As if anyone would leave their homeland," he replied, accusing western leaders of betrayal and of having "no morals".
Gaddafi's remarks were met with derision in Washington. Rice said his assertion that his regime is not using force against its own people was "delusional" and that his behaviour, which has included laughing on camera in interviews, "underscores how unfit he is to lead and how disconnected he is from reality". The defiance shown by Gaddafi in the interview appeared to be mirrored by actions on the ground with reports of the Libyan military launching counterattacks against cities held by the rebels. Libyan air force jets bombed an ammunition depot in the rebel-held city of Ajdabiya, 160km south of Benghazi, while a resident told the Associated Press there was fighting in Az Zawiyah, 30 miles west of Tripoli. Al-Arabiya TV reported a build-up of forces loyal to Gaddafi near the Tunisian border on Tuesday.
As the west stepped up its response to the crisis in Libya, Cameron suggested the UK might even consider arming the Libyan opposition forces if Tripoli used more violence to crush demonstrations. Officials said that the support of US and British armed forces might also be required to protect corridors to channel humanitarian relief into Libya through Tunisia and Egypt, if further conflict brought about a mass displacement of the population and a collapse in the food supply. During the interview, Gaddafi challenged Cameron, who has accused him of having money abroad, to produce "one shred" of evidence that the Libyan leader had any money in the UK.
The Libyan leader also insisted he had no official position from which he could resign: "It's honorary. It has nothing to do with exercising power or authority."
"In Britain who has the power, is it Queen Elizabeth or is it David Cameron?" he asked.
Throughout the interview, conducted at a Tripoli restaurant overlooking a port on the Mediterranean coast, Gaddafi appeared to be in denial about the strength of the uprising against his 41-year rule that has ended his control over eastern Libya and is closing in on Tripoli itself.
Sometimes breaking into English from Arabic, he repeated claims that al-Qaida was behind the uprising, and said that young people involved in it had been given drugs, which were now beginning to wear off.
"I'm surprised that we have an alliance with the west to fight al-Qaida, and now that we are fighting terrorists they have abandoned us," Gaddafi told his interviewers from ABC News, the BBC and the Sunday Times. "Perhaps they want to occupy Libya."
Gaddafi described Barack Obama as a "good man" but said he appeared misinformed about the situation in Libya.
"The statements I have heard from [Obama] must have come from someone else," Gaddafi said. "America is not the international police of the world."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/01/us-says-gaddafi-delusional-unfit-to-lead
US says Gaddafi is 'delusional' and unfit to lead
Libyan leader 'disconnected from reality', says US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice
By Ben Quinn and Haroon Siddique
Muammar Gaddafi was labelled "delusional" by the US ambassador to the UN, after he laughed off suggestions that he should go into exile and insisted that he had the support of the Libyan people.
The dictator's defiance came as the prospects of western military power being used against him moved closer. The US deployed naval and air force units around the country and Britain's prime minister, David Cameron, ordered contingency plans for a no-fly zone.
The US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, also criticised Gaddafi as "unfit to lead" and "disconnected from reality" after the Libyan leader, speaking to news organisations including the BBC, mocked his opponents. "All my people love me. They would die to protect me," he said. Gaddafi laughed when asked if he would step down.
"As if anyone would leave their homeland," he replied, accusing western leaders of betrayal and of having "no morals".
Gaddafi's remarks were met with derision in Washington. Rice said his assertion that his regime is not using force against its own people was "delusional" and that his behaviour, which has included laughing on camera in interviews, "underscores how unfit he is to lead and how disconnected he is from reality". The defiance shown by Gaddafi in the interview appeared to be mirrored by actions on the ground with reports of the Libyan military launching counterattacks against cities held by the rebels. Libyan air force jets bombed an ammunition depot in the rebel-held city of Ajdabiya, 160km south of Benghazi, while a resident told the Associated Press there was fighting in Az Zawiyah, 30 miles west of Tripoli. Al-Arabiya TV reported a build-up of forces loyal to Gaddafi near the Tunisian border on Tuesday.
As the west stepped up its response to the crisis in Libya, Cameron suggested the UK might even consider arming the Libyan opposition forces if Tripoli used more violence to crush demonstrations. Officials said that the support of US and British armed forces might also be required to protect corridors to channel humanitarian relief into Libya through Tunisia and Egypt, if further conflict brought about a mass displacement of the population and a collapse in the food supply. During the interview, Gaddafi challenged Cameron, who has accused him of having money abroad, to produce "one shred" of evidence that the Libyan leader had any money in the UK.
The Libyan leader also insisted he had no official position from which he could resign: "It's honorary. It has nothing to do with exercising power or authority."
"In Britain who has the power, is it Queen Elizabeth or is it David Cameron?" he asked.
Throughout the interview, conducted at a Tripoli restaurant overlooking a port on the Mediterranean coast, Gaddafi appeared to be in denial about the strength of the uprising against his 41-year rule that has ended his control over eastern Libya and is closing in on Tripoli itself.
Sometimes breaking into English from Arabic, he repeated claims that al-Qaida was behind the uprising, and said that young people involved in it had been given drugs, which were now beginning to wear off.
"I'm surprised that we have an alliance with the west to fight al-Qaida, and now that we are fighting terrorists they have abandoned us," Gaddafi told his interviewers from ABC News, the BBC and the Sunday Times. "Perhaps they want to occupy Libya."
Gaddafi described Barack Obama as a "good man" but said he appeared misinformed about the situation in Libya.
"The statements I have heard from [Obama] must have come from someone else," Gaddafi said. "America is not the international police of the world."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/01/us-says-gaddafi-delusional-unfit-to-lead
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