Coalition attacks Libya to impose No Fly Zone

The UN coalition forces have launched operation Odyssey Dawn in their bid to end Gaddafi assault on Benghazi.

In a matter of few hours the scenario changed dramatically in Libya.

Backed by the UN approval to adopt all necessary measures authorising No Fly Zone (NFZ) over Libya to protect civilian lives France led the coalition attack over Muammar Gaddafi forces.

Interestingly it is a Euro led attack spearheaded by France aided by UK with US playing the unusual second fiddle.

French President Nicholas Sarkozy has shown a great zeal in bid to uproot Gaddafi, remember France was the first country to recognise rebels as the government.

Sarkozy finds an unusual partner in David Cameron, who backed by the opposition and after serious thinking takes the opportunity as what some sections in media described as his finest hour in politics.

Amidst all this the big brother US which more often than not champions the cause of democracy around the world, took a long long time in a long time to jump the gun.

It was only after the Arab league and gulf nations intervened that President Barack Obama made his mind to intervene in the state of affairs of imposing a no fly zone.

Not discounting the fact that a leader willing to kill his people should not be stopped, but the way things have unfolded over the last one month make for an unusual picture.

Though the ground rules for the NFZ have been established stressing that there won’t be any occupation, what also comes to mind that in bid to secure NFZ and ground Gadaffi human lives will be lost.

Also the way West has reacted to the uprisings does pose a question or two.

While it wasted no time in getting NFZ imposed on Libya the moment Gadaffi announced his forces were coming to Bengazi, there has been no such action towards situation in Bahrain where the troops have already fired at protestors.

In fact they have been aided openly by Saudi and Kuwaiti forces to curb protests but no action in sight so far.

Also it hasn’t been the case that there is a total boycott of Gadaffi regimen, in Tripoli the colonel still has supporters who storm in the face of the media pleading their support for him.

To label him as someone who has lost all the support won’t be just. In this case the step should be towards reforming Libya and not taking merely Gadaffi out.

How things now will turn is beyond anyone’s guess, how long will it last, how many casualties will it result in, and how will it end are questions that remain to be answered.

Nevertheless the 27X7 media interest has made it a spectacle with each broadcaster dishing their perspective of the developments. Add to it the in numerous live tweets from ground zero and world over have turned this crisis into entertainment of sorts.

Amidst this a question posed by a civilian to scribes outside a hospital as aired on Al Jazeera poses an unanswered question to me and questions the interest of west in liberating Libya.

“The Americans, the British and the French over the years gave all these weapons to Gaddafi to rule us and now they are coming and dropping bombs to save us. How is it justified?”, said the civilian.

The answer lies in economics and not politics, but is something which is lost in the spectacle that media has made out of the uprising.

 

West grounded on the issue of imposing No fly zone over Libya

No fly zone over Libya continues to make headlines as the battle for control between rebels and pro Muammar Gaddafi forces continue in Libya.

These three letters have been doing rounds creating speculations, making and breaking equations with fluctuating possible outcomes.

As Britain now joins the France and Lebanon in the UN to impose a no flying zone on Libya, it receives opposition from Russia, China and Germany who are against any military intervention in the region. To make things worse the United States of America haven’t made their stand clear.

Empathetic towards the situation of this North African nation the West is undecided on imposing no fly zone.

Having burnt its fingers in the past with Iraq, so far the humanitarian plight trump is not working this time round.

Even as the pros and cons are being valued taking into account the loss of human life in both the cases, for me it’s a futile exercise at this point in time.

Looks like a carrot and stick strategy to tell the world and a section in Libya that they are involved and committed to bringing peace in the region and in turn buy time for the rebellion to run out of steam.

The change of mind by leaders in the west and the state of almost inertia has worsened the crisis and even allowed Gaddafi regimen to win back lost ground.

Everyone seems to be waiting for other to make the first move and keeping an eye on Obama administration to take a definite stand. It all boils down to what the US will do and who will follow suit?

But as this happens it might just be too late to act.