http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/opini...a-two-years-three-states-two-civil-wars_18337
Arab Spring
The NATO intervention in Libya was an unmitigated disaster.
At the outset, Washington policymakers believed that the people would rise up en masse against Gaddhafi, and embrace the new “democratic” government which was installed in the aftermath of his execution. This didn’t happen.
Instead, NATO was pulled ever deeper into the theater because there were few military or government defections, Gaddhafi didn't buckle in the fact of direct Western intervention, and the people did not rise up against him in substantial numbers; they would not even support the rebels with food, water, or supplies. Despite the no-fly zone, his forces continued to close in on Benghazi, forcing NATO to expand its military involvement, to include arming and training the rebels. Ultimately, the tide was turned by the participation of AQIM; an al-Qaeda detainee released from Guantanamo Bay became one of the most prolific leaders of the rebellion. The organization offered their support to the rebels early on in the protests—and why shouldn’t they have? The government was moving in on their territory. According to the CTC, Libya provided the highest number of foreign insurgents in Iraq, per capita; most of these hailed from east, a la Benghazi.
Corruption is rampant and war crimes continue against minority groups
But even the influx of al-Qaeda fighters was insufficient to “close the deal.”
And so, as with UNSCR 1441, various NATO allies were forced to overstep UNSCR 1973 in order to wrest Gaddhafi from power—in the process violating international law (although who is going to hold them accountable, with the U.S. on their side?).
After Gaddhafi was brutally murdered, the new government in Tripoli was not overwhelmingly embraced. In fact, the people of Sirte refused altogether to submit to the National Transitional Council, prompting the new government to shell the city "into the Dark Ages” — exactly what Gaddhafi had planned for rebellious Benghazi, further undermining the flimsy “responsibility to protect” justification through which the invasion was carried out.
In fact, Libya’s already-fragile infrastructure was decimated by the NATO campaign and civil war—as was neighboring Tunisia’s already fragile economy, fueling the instability which persists to this very day.
ALSO READ Finding a voice for Libyan women in Islam
Meanwhile, al-Qaeda and its affiliates were among the primary beneficiaries of U.S. and allied arms, funding, training, and supplies. In addition to the munitions provided by “allied” powers, the militants raided the regime’s arsenal, gaining access to large quantities of extremely potent munitions, to include chemical weapons and delivery systems to deploy them.
Al-Qaeda has subsequently deployed these assets throughout the Maghreb and Sahel—culminating in the attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, resulting in the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens. AQIM subsequently took advantage of their base in Libya to plan and execute a successful conquest of northern Mali, prompting a French intervention of unspecified length in their former colony. This, in turn, led to an AQIM response attack in Algeria which killed scores of foreign nationals from around the world. Munitions from Libya have also been relied upon by al-Qaeda affiliated groups in Syria, who play an increasingly significant and destabilizing role in the conflict. In fact, using weapons provided to the rebels in Libya, they have even attempted to carry out an attack in Jordan.
The NATO intervention in Libya was an unmitigated disaster.
At the outset, Washington policymakers believed that the people would rise up en masse against Gaddhafi, and embrace the new “democratic” government which was installed in the aftermath of his execution. This didn’t happen.
Instead, NATO was pulled ever deeper into the theater because there were few military or government defections, Gaddhafi didn't buckle in the fact of direct Western intervention, and the people did not rise up against him in substantial numbers; they would not even support the rebels with food, water, or supplies. Despite the no-fly zone, his forces continued to close in on Benghazi, forcing NATO to expand its military involvement, to include arming and training the rebels. Ultimately, the tide was turned by the participation of AQIM; an al-Qaeda detainee released from Guantanamo Bay became one of the most prolific leaders of the rebellion. The organization offered their support to the rebels early on in the protests—and why shouldn’t they have? The government was moving in on their territory. According to the CTC, Libya provided the highest number of foreign insurgents in Iraq, per capita; most of these hailed from east, a la Benghazi.
Corruption is rampant and war crimes continue against minority groups
But even the influx of al-Qaeda fighters was insufficient to “close the deal.”
And so, as with UNSCR 1441, various NATO allies were forced to overstep UNSCR 1973 in order to wrest Gaddhafi from power—in the process violating international law (although who is going to hold them accountable, with the U.S. on their side?).
After Gaddhafi was brutally murdered, the new government in Tripoli was not overwhelmingly embraced. In fact, the people of Sirte refused altogether to submit to the National Transitional Council, prompting the new government to shell the city "into the Dark Ages” — exactly what Gaddhafi had planned for rebellious Benghazi, further undermining the flimsy “responsibility to protect” justification through which the invasion was carried out.
In fact, Libya’s already-fragile infrastructure was decimated by the NATO campaign and civil war—as was neighboring Tunisia’s already fragile economy, fueling the instability which persists to this very day.
ALSO READ Finding a voice for Libyan women in Islam
Meanwhile, al-Qaeda and its affiliates were among the primary beneficiaries of U.S. and allied arms, funding, training, and supplies. In addition to the munitions provided by “allied” powers, the militants raided the regime’s arsenal, gaining access to large quantities of extremely potent munitions, to include chemical weapons and delivery systems to deploy them.
Al-Qaeda has subsequently deployed these assets throughout the Maghreb and Sahel—culminating in the attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, resulting in the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens. AQIM subsequently took advantage of their base in Libya to plan and execute a successful conquest of northern Mali, prompting a French intervention of unspecified length in their former colony. This, in turn, led to an AQIM response attack in Algeria which killed scores of foreign nationals from around the world. Munitions from Libya have also been relied upon by al-Qaeda affiliated groups in Syria, who play an increasingly significant and destabilizing role in the conflict. In fact, using weapons provided to the rebels in Libya, they have even attempted to carry out an attack in Jordan.
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