Our defence editor’s report from the shellshattered streets of Zawiya should make uncomfortable reading for those, including some of the EU leaders meeting in Brussels today, who oppose the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya. Zawiya, writes Deborah Haynes, resembles “the aftermath of some of the worst clashes in the darkest days of the Iraq war”. Rebel-held as recently as Sunday, Zawiya is now back under the control of forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Scores have died in a fierce battle in which the dictator’s tanks prevailed. Ominously, no civilians are present on the streets.
Journalists are now running considerable risks to witness such scenes. The Libyan authorities do not want independent media anywhere near Zawiya. Three BBC journalists trying to reach the town were detained by Gaddafi forces and beaten so badly that the UN Human Rights Commissioner has said their treatment amounts to torture. The Guardian is urgently seeking information on the whereabouts of the award-winning correspondent, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, who went missing near Zawiya on Sunday.
Three of these four journalists are nationals of other Arab countries. While Colonel Gaddafi mouths the slogans of Arab unity, the reality is that he is a ruler whose contempt for his fellow man reaches across all borders. The time has come to confront that reality.
There is evidence that a cover-up operation is in full swing to disguise the full extent of what was clearly ferocious fighting in Zawiya. A week ago, the conflict could have been described plausibly as at the level of skirmishing between a few dozen armed men. But it has now intensified towards full-blown civil war.
It is as yet unclear whether Colonel Gaddafi’s assault on Zawiya made use of his air force. What should be obvious, however, is that any hope that the cornered colonel may yet go quietly is a false one. Equally clear is the harsh military reality that, with or without air support, loyalist tanks will triumph over rebel rifles. Without a far more robust international effort to undermine his regime, Colonel Gaddafi’s resurgence will continue.
Advertisement
That international effort should not, however, for now, include the official recognition for the rebel forces’ transitional council in Benghazi. The French Government granted such recognition yesterday. While French élan can, as ever, be admired, the Quai d’Orsay has acted prematurely. The transitional council in Benghazi lacks democratic legitimacy. William Hague was correct to reiterate the traditional Foreign and Commonwealth Office distinction between states and groups within states, and the distinction between recognition and communication.
An attack on another rebel town, Ras Lanuf, yesterday undoubtedly involved air power. This newspaper believes that imposing a no-fly zone over Libya is the best way both to deter Colonel Gaddafi militarily and apply pressure on him diplomatically. There are practical problems that would be much alleviated if even now, on the day it is officially decommissioned, the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal could be spared the breakers’ yard and instead be diverted to the Mediterranean.
Yet the chief obstacle to a no-fly zone is not practical, it is political, and it resides in Washington. President Obama favours a wait-and-see policy on Libya. He should understand that we have waited and we have seen. The situation in Libya is now one in which to do nothing is effectively to help a brutal dictator reassert his power.
Most US presidents start off advocating so-called soft power as a means of exerting authority. They then face a moment when harder questions require the use of hardware. President Clinton had such a moment over Kosovo. President Obama’s moment is now at hand.