The administration of US President Barack Obama has come under mounting pressure to arm rebels facing an emboldened and regrouping military, amid charges Washington missed recent chances to oust Libya’s strongman.
Obama has insisted that all options, including military action, remain on the table with respect to Libya, where Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s forces have unleashed deadly air strikes on rebels and civilians in efforts to crush an uprising in which thousands are feared dead.
However, with the administration cautioning that a decision on a no-fly zone was still far off, US lawmakers and former officials appear to coalesce around the likelihood that supplying weapons to the outgunned rebels was a way forward.
“I assume that a lot of weapons are going to find their way there [to rebels in Libya] from one means or another over the course of the next weeks,” US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry told CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday.
Former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, a former US ambassador to the UN, also said it was time to “covertly arm the rebels” and enforce a no-fly zone over Libya.
Stephen Hadley, national security adviser to former US president George W. Bush said Washington should look at the potential for funneling arms to Qaddafi’s opponents.
“Obviously, if there is a way to get weapons into the hands of the rebels, if we can get anti-aircraft systems so that they can enforce a no-fly zone over their own territory, that would be helpful,” Hadley told CNN.
Pentagon spokesman Colonel David Lapan declined to confirm any potential plans to send weapons to opposition forces, simply telling reporters that “all options are being considered.”
Kerry said a no-fly zone should be set up in conjunction with allies, but warned that direct military action would be “trickier.”
“The last thing we want to think about is any kind of military intervention and I don’t consider the fly zone stepping over that line,” Kerry said.
“We don’t want troops on the ground. They don’t want troops on the ground,” he said.
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has warned that imposing a no-fly zone begins with direct military action, as it would require bombing raids to eradicate Libya’s air defenses, thus potentially dragging the US into a third major war front after Iraq and Afghanistan.
There were other ways of displaying US might to Tripoli, including the use of military transport planes to fly Egyptian refugees out of Tunisia and the recent arrival in the Mediterranean of two US warships with marines on board.
“We have made the presence of American military felt for that purpose,” Kerry said.
A former Tripoli regime member complained that Washington has missed a key opportunity to end Qaddafi’s four-decade grip on power.
“We asked for help when he was on the ropes,” said Libyan former minister of immigration Ali Errishi, who resigned shortly after the uprising began almost three weeks ago, along with several key Qaddafi loyalists and military figures. “They were dragging their feet, I don’t know why.”
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese