The Boston Herald March 21, 2011
World awaits next step in Libya
By Christine McConville
As the U.S. and allied attacks continue on the forces of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, the world has watched with relief and an eagerness to see justice served after 42 years of brutal rule, but in some quarters, with concerns about Western motives and what happens next.
On Day Two, the U.S. claimed initial success in its air strikes, but American officials said yesterday it was too early to define the international military campaign’s endgame.
The top U.S. military officer suggested Gadhafi might stay in power in spite of the assault aimed at protecting civilians. Other top U.S. officials have suggested a weakened, isolated Gadhafi could be ripe for a coup.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the U.S. expects to turn control of the mission over to a coalition — probably headed either by the French and British or by NATO — “in a matter of days.” Late yesterday, NATO’s top decision-making body failed on a plan to enforce a no-fly zone, although it approved a plan to implement a U.N. arms embargo.
At the Pentagon, Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, staff director for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said back-to-back weekend assaults largely silenced Gadhafi’s air defenses, blunted his army’s drive on the rebel stronghold of Benghazi and confused his forces.
“We judge these strikes to have been very effective in significantly degrading the regime’s air defense capability,” Gortney said. “We believe his forces are under significant stress and suffering from both isolation and a good deal of confusion.”
Gadhafi’s government says 48 people have died in the attacks. In Washington, the Pentagon said there were no reports of civilian casualties in the air assault.
“Historically, Gadhafi has been a bad actor,” said John Pike of the consulting firm Global Security. “Although he’s made efforts to clean up his act over the last five years, for three decades before that, he was one of the main sources of trouble on the planet. The number of people he was killed in Libya is in the thousands, and he has promised plenty more where that came from.”
Many Arabs watched the weekend attacks with a mix of relief for the help to outgunned rebels, trepidation about ulterior motives of Western intervention, and envy in volatile countries where calls for international help were unheeded.
“Why Libya and why not Bahrain, Yemen, Tunisia or Egypt?” said Khaled Chaker, a nurse in Tripoli. “I hope they have humanitarian objectives and it isn’t about oil.”
Meanwhile, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez — a longtime Gadhafi ally — condemned “indiscriminate bombing” in Libya, saying yesterday the assault that halted Gadhafi’s efforts to wipe out Libya’s rebels unjustified.
“Who gave those countries the right?” Chavez said in his weekly radio program. “Neither the United States, nor France, nor England, nor any country has the right to be dropping bombs.”
Herald wire services contributed to this report.
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