IS THERE A PILOT IN THE ANTI-GADAFFI COALITION IN LIBYA? By Pierre Haski Rue 89 March 21, 2011
http://www.rue89.com/2011/03/21/y-a-t-il-un-pilote-dans-la-coalition-anti-kadhafi-en-libye-196336 Forty-eight hours after the beginning of military operations against Libya, the family photo of the anti-Gadaffi is getting dog-eared. After certain Arab and African criticisms, it's Norway's turn, a NATO member, to yelp and suspend the participation of its planes in operations. AT STAKE: WHO'S IN COMMAND? Norway had sent six F-16 combat aircraft into the Mediterranean zone to participate in the operation, but the Norwegian minister of defense, Grete Faremo, said Monday that they would not participate in the international mission as long as the question of command has not been resolved. It's the first serious crack in the coalition hurriedly mobilized at the end of last week, as the U.N. Security Council prepared to vote a green light to military operations against Gadaffi to stop him from retaking Benghazi and repressing the inhabitants who had risen up against him. The first criticisms followed the first strikes, worrying about their intensity and the risk that they represented for Libyan civilians. This is, in particular, the position of Amr Moussa, the secretary general of the Arab League, who, however, had lunch at the Élysée palace on Saturday, and who said Sunday: "What we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of other civilians." THE UNITED STATES TRADITIONALLY IN THE LEAD Norway's position is different in nature: it is not about the aim of the operations, but rather this strange situation which has seen a war begin without the question of command being resolved. The result: the French, the British, and the Americans are all acting independently, to the point that the three countries have given different names to the same operation: Harmattan for Paris, Ellary for London, and Dawn Odyssey for Washington. In reality, the traditional ascendancy of the United States over the Europeans is coming to the fore, but for reasons of political susceptibility, this has not been formalized, much less announced. This is permitting the French to proclaim their leadership of an operation that they carried politically, and whose first strikes they carried out, whereas on the American side all you have to do is listen to the retired generals on CNN proclaim that American forces cannot be under the command of other countries to understand where the problem lies. Incapable of resolving this prickly question before unleashing emergency operations to stop the offensive on Benghazi, the coalition partners preferred to go forward without a unique command, pragmatically. The Norwegians didn't like that, and, not receiving any response, have made their disagreement public. At the heart of the debate is the role of NATO, the Atlantic alliance, which is running the intervention in Afghanistan, and which could have played that role in the case of Libya. France, though it is back in the ranks of the integrated military command since Nicolas Sarkozy's election, was opposed to this, arguing, not without reason, that such an intrusion of NATO would politicize what ought to remain a "neutral" action of the international community under the U.N. flag. THE FRAGILE SUPPORT OF ARAB OPINION At the heart of this debate is Westerners' dread of provoking a reversal of Arab opinion, which, for the first time, did not react negatively to military operations against an Arab state. They know that one "blunder" too many, or an unexpected fact on the ground, would be enough to cause the fragile support for this unprecedented operation to give way. All the more so, given that those who refused to support the operation, like the Chinese and the Russians, will not refrain from taking advantage of a situation in which, once again, it is the Westerners that are in the lead of a military operation, aimed, to be sure, at helping the Benghazi rebels, but whose objectives and means are far from being totally clear. Monday's first cracks are a serious signal that countries in the front line, and in particular France, are going to have to take seriously. They will have to refine their procedures, their communication, and the coordination of the members of the coalition as soon as possible, if they do not want to lose the political benefit of Operation Harmattan/Ellary/Dawn Odyssey. -- Translated by Mark K. Jensen Associate Professor of French Department of Languages and Literatures Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, WA 98447-0003 Phone: 253-535-7219 Website: http://www.plu.edu/~jensenmk/ Email: [email protected] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
