Libya's Next Chapter

While it's tempting to wrap a nice yellow bow around the war in Libya, the hardest part could be just beginning.

The Libyan rebels' resounding triumph over Moammar Gadhafi and his loyalists brings an end to nearly six months of NATO-backed war, but where Libya – and the military alliance – goes from here is far from clear. The Economist observes that “Libya may have been only a small war, but it has both shown NATO’s worth and laid bare its frailties,” with the world's most powerful alliance running into considerable trouble attempting to unseat a regime with the military capacity of a third-world country circa 1970. Even with the U.S. supposedly “leading from behind,” they essentially supplied and organized the whole operation, partly because half of the alliance refused to lend any real support to the mission. “The lack of solidarity within NATO is troubling, but may be an inevitable feature of a world that lacks an existential threat to any of the alliance’s member countries, but abounds in lesser threats and moral causes,” they write. Sure, the rebel advance probably would have been stopped in its tracks outside of Benghazi had they not benefited from NATO air support. Plus, civilian casualties appear to have been kept to a remarkable minimum, making sure that the "Right to protect" doctrine wasn't undermined. Whatever the fate of NATO, though, it would be generous at best to describe the discord, disorganization, and difficulty faced during this Libyan adventure as a “victory.”

Muddying the ledger even further is the toll exacted against darker-skinned Libyans, notes Scott Taylor in The Halifax Chronicle Herald, as reports come out nearly daily of the rebels' violent retribution against one of the country's largest minorities. “Ironically, the Gadhafi supporters who denounced the rebels for enlisting the aid of NATO are now urging NATO to deploy international peacekeepers to protect them from rebel reprisals,” writes Taylor. While Gadhafi did hire mercenaries from neighbouring countries to bolster his forces, the one-third of Libyans that are black are bearing the backlash. “With emotions running high and Gadhafi loyalists still battling in several cities, many dark-skinned males have been summarily executed by rebels for no other reason than they are black,” says Taylor. In addition, reports abound of black Libyan's houses being burned down, their businesses looted, their fathers and sons arrested for no reason. Holding these factions of the new government to account for their alleged atrocities is paramount for upholding any sense of justice and equality in this new Libya. Whether the National Transitional Council is up to that task is one of the biggest hurdles the country faces.

All of this leads the Sun chain's Michael Den Tendt to urge the Canadian government to get out while the going's good instead of trying to remake Libya in its own image. “Most Canadians, I would be willing to bet, are pleased that our government stood tall alongside our allies in protecting the innocent in Libya,” says Den Tandt. “I would also be willing to wager that a solid majority opposes the Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Canadian Navy staying on indefinitely.” And yet, the Conservative government appears poised to do just that once they vote on an extension for the mission later this month. One would think that the protracted mission in Afghanistan would serve as a cautionary tale for instances when idealism outweighs strategy, but the government has yet to give any notice that it's learned a lesson. Surely some electoral observers, a decent stipend for reconstruction aid, and guidance for these democratic rookies on how to govern ought to be enough for Canada's legacy in Libya.