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From: wolda002@umn.edu
Date: Wed Apr 13 2011 - 02:22:25 EDT
Debating U.S. goals in Libya and lessons from war in Iraq
http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2011/03/22/26815/debating_us_goals_in_libya_and_lessons_from_war_in_iraq
By Sharon Schmickle | Tuesday, March 22, 2011
The televised sight of U.S. missiles streaking toward targets in Libya took
me back to March, 2003.
At that time, I was camped near the Iraqi border as a reporter embedded with
a U.S. Marine battalion. We'd spent the better part of the day sweltering in
desert trenches while Saddam Hussein hurled missiles toward the U.S. forces
that were poised to invade his country. U.S. Patriot Missiles responded,
lighting the night sky with the opening salvos of a war that was to take
twists and turns few Americans could have foreseen.
I can't be alone in wondering what twists and turns we will encounter in
Libya now that we have joined European forces in a campaign of military
strikes against targets there.
I also can't help but make then-now comparisons with the launch of the Iraq
War.
*Clear differences*
Invasion is the key word. There is no indication the United States or its
allies intend to send ground forces into Libya. Washington hadn't been a bit
secretive or even subtle about its plans to invade Iraq. Anyone with open
eyes could see the buildup of U.S. troops and war machinery in Kuwait for
months in advance of the invasion.
Another key difference is what's called the "Arab Spring." The current
strikes on the military capabilities of Libyan strongman Muammar Gadhafi
come amidst a remarkable grassroots call for change across the Arab world.
Iraqis had resisted Saddam over the years — the Kurds in the north and the
Shiite in the south. But there was nothing as immediate and sweeping as the
current Arab drive for freedom. That lends moral authority to the military
action against the installations Gadhafi has used to punish his own people.
Still, some of the questions rising now are similar to those we debated so
intensely in 2003.
*The true goal?*
President Obama stressed on
Monday<http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/03/21/president-obama-answers-questions-libya-testament-men-and-women-uniform>that
the military goals are to establish a no-fly zone over Libya and
protect civilians against massacre by forces loyal to Gadhafi.
At the same time, Obama also renewed his call for Gadhafi's ouster.
The difference between the military objective and the broader goal may be
clear in Obama's mind. But it does open a credibility gap somewhat like the
sequence of goals in 2003 when the main objective at first was to rid Iraq
of weapons of mass destruction but that later morphed into regime change.
"Obviously there is some confusion about the motives and the ultimate goals
here," said Tom Hanson, a former U.S. foreign service officer who currently
is serving as a diplomat in residence at the University of Minnesota
Duluth's Alworth Institute and also working with the Oslo Center for Peace
and Human Rights.
Hanson's take on the situation is that Obama was unwilling to unilaterally
unleash any military force against Libya. He insisted on clear support from
the United Nations and the Arab League. And now he has to live with the
terms of that support, whether or not they match his own goal.
In that regard, Hanson said, Obama is acting more like former President
George H. W. Bush as he approached the Gulf War than like the second
President Bush — George W. — as he attacked Iraq.
Many people, including the first President Bush, may have wished to see
Saddam toppled in 1991. But that was not the goal spelled out in a U.N.
Security Council
resolution<http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/575/28/IMG/NR057528.pdf?OpenElement>authorizing
military action.
And the United States honored the limits of that U.N. resolution.
Now the United States and its allies are operating under similar conditions.
The U.N. has not authorized forced regime change in Libya.
Still, Libyan opposition forces and some Congress members seem to think
that's the goal of the military strikes.
Others fault the action because there seems to be no clear-cut goal, no
definition of success.
*More than missiles?*
Even within the terms of this current U.N. resolution regarding Libya, there
is disagreement about the full course of actions the United States might
take.
Obama has made vague references to deploying his country's "unique"
capabilities. Does that mean something more than missiles — maybe Special
Forces or CIA operatives on the ground in Libya?
"If I were the president, I'd want as many sources of good information as
possible," said Afsheen John Radsan, a professor at William Mitchell College
of Law in St. Paul and a former assistant general counsel for the CIA.
"So, yes, I'd be looking for the CIA to help me in Libya," Radsan said in an
e-mail response to my questions. "I might even consider giving the CIA an
operational role — if I could keep it secret and keep them out of harm's
way."
But Hanson said: "I've got to believe he is talking about fire power from
the air. I just don't see boots on the ground.... That's where the Arab
League would strongly protest."
Indeed. Many critics of the Iraq War argued that any American presence on
Arab land — overt and/or covert — would backfire because it so offended Arab
sensibilities.
*How deep is the support?*
In 2003, the Pentagon's civilian leadership — beginning with Donald Rumsfeld
who was defense secretary at the time — was gung ho for action in Iraq while
the State Department argued for caution.
This time, Defense Secretary Robert Gates sounded the voice of caution,
clearly loath to commit U.S. forces and American taxpayers' dollars to more
overseas military action. In a turnabout of roles, the push for U.S. action
came from the State Department and certain offices in the White House.
While France also argued for military strikes, other countries and key
players have been more ambivalent.
The Arab League initially endorsed enforcement of a no-fly zone over Libya
to protect civilians from air attacks. On Sunday, after the missiles were
flying, the League's secretary general, Arm Moussa, said the allies had gone
too far. Then on Monday, he reaffirmed the League's commitment to the U.N.
resolution, the Financial Times
reported<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/40efd34e-53dc-11e0-8bd7-00144feab49a.html#axzz1HKY9um2b>.
Russia and China could have blocked the Security Council's authorization.
But they joined Germany, India and Brazil in abstaining from voting, thus
tacitly allowing approval. Then, later, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin likened the authorization to "medieval calls for the crusades," Reuters
reported <http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE72K14R20110321>.
That wasn't the end of the dizzying turns of support. Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev appeared to rebuke Putin without naming him, saying the use
of such terms was unacceptable.
"Everyone is trying to have diplomatic cover for doing this theoretically
limited operation," Hanson said. "No one wants to get out in front."
In Iraq, the so-called "coalition of the willing" blazed forward initially.
But many nation-members back peddled and eventually dropped out.
This time, the United States says it will be among the first to pull back,
handing leadership to other nations.
It remains to be seen how strong and unified the coalition will be over
time.
*How sound is the legal authority?*
President George W. Bush secured a congressional resolution authorizing the
use of military force against Iraq. Some Congress members have since paid
hefty political prices for votes in favor of that resolution.
This week, Obama sent a letter to
Congress<http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/03/21/letter-president-regarding-commencement-operations-libya>formally
informing Capitol Hill that he had directed U.S. military forces
"to assist an international effort authorized by the United Nations Security
Council."
Congressional reaction to the letter has been mixed, with some members
supporting Obama's approach while others argue that there should have been
more open debate and consultation with Congress.
Other presidents have engaged in military action without prior congressional
approval — most recently, President Bill Clinton in Serbia, and before him,
President Harry Truman in Korea.
Not all uses of American force require congressional approval, Radsan said,
because the president has inherent powers under the Constitution.
"So I don't see any big legal problems with Obama's use of force in Libya,"
he said. "These are not the sort of questions that the courts decide. They
are more for professors and the public to debate."
The U.N. Security Council Resolution "arguably adds to Obama's authority,"
Radsan said.
"Obama can say we are protecting the UN system or intervening on
humanitarian grounds," he said.
*New legal ground*
In a sense, the U.N. Security Council is the body plowing new legal ground
this time. It has furthered a controversial move away from the centuries-old
standard that outside countries should not interfere in the internal
struggles of sovereign nations.
In a Feb. 22 statement<http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/sc10180.doc.htm>announcing
sanctions against Libya, the Security Council "called on the
Government of Libya to meet its responsibility to protect its population."
The key words are "responsibility to protect." They refer to a recently
crafted doctrine intended to form a legal basis for preventing governments
from massacring their own civilians.
The Security Council did not use that precise language in its later
resolution authorizing the use of "all necessary measures" to protect Libyan
civilians. But it indirectly invoked the concept again.
This justification for the resolutions adds an extra dimension to the action
in Libya, Hanson said, and it poses intriguing questions about the extent to
which "it could emerge as a more actively used concept at the U.N."
Some argued similar thinking in 2003, that the rest of the world had a moral
obligation to stop Saddam from brutalizing his own people. But it wasn't as
formalized then as it is now in connection with Libya.
So there is something new going on in Libya, something politicians and
scholars can dissect and debate over time to come.
*Sharon Schmickle writes about national and foreign affairs and science. She
can be reached at sschmickle [at] minnpost [dot] com.*
(#1)<http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2011/03/22/26815/debating_us_goals_in_libya_and_lessons_from_war_in_iraq#comment_66661>On
March 22, 2011,
Author Editor Jesse Mortenson says:
"a war that was to take twists and turns few Americans could have
foreseen."
Not a bad article overall, but I can't let this statement go without
comment. There was a large and very visible current of anti-war organizing,
demonstration and advocacy in the lead-up to the Iraq war. Many critics of
the war planning argued at various points that evidence of weapons of mass
destruction was flimsy, that there could be a lengthy occupation, that
difficult sectarian divisions would emerge, and most of all that the bulk of
Iraqis would ultimately not "appreciate" US invasion and restructuring of
their country.
To say that few Americans foresaw the major "twists and turns" of Iraq is
ahistorical, and in my opinion dangerously whitewashes the political
establishment of their culpability.
(#2)<http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2011/03/22/26815/debating_us_goals_in_libya_and_lessons_from_war_in_iraq#comment_66662>On
March 22, 2011,
Author Editor Dennis Tester says:
"Hanson said, Obama is acting more like former President George H. W. Bush
as he approached the Gulf War than like the second President Bush — George
W. — as he attacked Iraq"
Actally, Obama is acting more like Bill Clinton who preferred to do his
killing from 40 thousand feet also.
(#3)<http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2011/03/22/26815/debating_us_goals_in_libya_and_lessons_from_war_in_iraq#comment_66679>On
March 22, 2011,
Author Editor Steve Rose says:
And, President Obama is acting more like President Clinton by not seeking a
congressional resolution authorizing the use of military force. Recall that
President Bush requested and received such a resolution before moving
against Iraq.
The last time we followed the French into battle, we got mired in a place
called Viet Nam.
(#4)<http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2011/03/22/26815/debating_us_goals_in_libya_and_lessons_from_war_in_iraq#comment_66772>On
March 23, 2011,
Author Editor donald maxwell says:
1. You say all the oil is in western Libya, around Benghazi? Goody, goody,
we now have control over another oil-riches country.
Which chapter of the New American Century is this? I forget.
2. The caption on the photo at the head of this article refers to the
destroyed tank. No reference to the human beings destroyed in that tank. The
photographer created an agonizingly human picture.
3. "...if I could keep it secret and keep them out of harm's way..." Not
surprising from a CIA guy. Just like the CIA's fine work in Cambodia, and
with the Mujahedeen (later Taliban), and all the rest of the sorry track
record. We don't need the CIA. If only it collected intelligence, as in the
name...
(#5)<http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2011/03/22/26815/debating_us_goals_in_libya_and_lessons_from_war_in_iraq#comment_66961>On
March 25, 2011,
Author Editor David Willard says:
Predictably very little comment on this story. only Repub-bashing stories
get snarky remarks by the pantload. Nobel Peace prize winner, indeed!
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