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The Case Against Our Attack On Libya. by Michael Walzer. - The New Republic
The Case Against Our Attack On Libya. by Michael Walzer. - The New Republic
The Case Against Our Attack On Libya. by Michael Walzer. - The New Republic
There are so many things wrong with the Libyan intervention that it is hard to
know where to begin. So, a few big things, in no particular order:
Second, the attacks don’t have what we should have insisted on from the very
beginning—significant Arab support. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have
promised military forces, but they represent roughly 1 percent of the Arab
people. There is no support coming from either Tunisia or Egypt, Libya’s
immediate neighbors. The Tunisian army is small, but the Egyptian army isn’t
small, and they have an air force, too. The United States has spent billions of
dollars on the Egyptian military, and it is astonishing that Egypt is not willing to
make any contribution to the intervention. That is a very bad sign, for the
attacks will undoubtedly kill civilians, and these will be innocent men, women,
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The Case Against Our Attack on Libya. By Michael Walzer. | The New Republic 2/6/20, 9:10 pm
and children, Arab and Muslim, killed (again) by the French, the British, and
the Americans. Russia and China, who opposed the intervention, abstained on
the final Security Council vote, perhaps because they can’t imagine an outcome
that better suits their interests in the Middle East and Africa.
Third, opposition in the Security Council didn’t stop with Russia and China.
India, Brazil, and Germany also opposed the intervention, and then abstained.
The African Union refused to send a representative to the meeting called by
President Sarkozy in Paris to consolidate support for military action. The Arab
League called for the creation of a no-fly zone, but some of its leaders are
already criticizing the attacks required to make it work. And, again, no major
Arab state is participating. It is an old pattern that we thought was finished after
the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia—where Arab states (and other states too)
don’t take responsibility for doing what they want done … by someone else.
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The Case Against Our Attack on Libya. By Michael Walzer. | The New Republic 2/6/20, 9:10 pm
Read More: Britain, World, Egypt, China, France, Libya, United States, United Arab Emirates,
Egyptian Army, Egyptian Military, Security Council, Tunisian Army
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