By John Knox
I may be in a minority – according to the opinion polls – but I am proud of what the UN and Britain have done in Libya. The allied warplanes have prevented a massacre of the innocent in Benghazi. And we have shown a dictator that he cannot trample over human rights without a reaction from the rest of the world.
Here was an example of leadership from David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy. Liberal interventionism is back on the world’s agenda after its setbacks in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo. The United Nations and the International Criminal Court are showing a welcome determination to implement the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Gaddafi and his regime will, hopefully, be brought to justice for their attacks on civilian populations.
Of course many people are reluctant to release the dogs of war because it’s never clear where they will lead us. Thus public opinion is lagging behind our political leaders, particularly when we are still involved in Afghanistan and still suffering from the disillusionment of Iraq.
But MPs have overwhelmingly approved of the Libyan air raids. Only 15 voted against, not because they disapproved of the raids themselves but on the grounds that we are not taking action against other unpleasant dictators. This is rather like arguing that the police should not arrest one criminal until they can arrest them all.
Donate to us: support independent, intelligent, in-depth Scottish journalism from just 3p a day
Some other countries, such as Russia and China, are sitting on the fence, fearful perhaps that questions about human rights may be asked of their own regimes. Still others, such as Germany and Turkey, are cautious, because they feel they may have a mediating role to play in post-Gaddafi Libya. But the point about human rights is that they are absolute. They need defending, no matter what the political or economic consequences and no matter in which country they happen to be under attack. The Declaration says that “life, liberty and security of person” … should be guaranteed to every individual and that … “no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs.” I, for one, am glad that this universal law exists. It was forged in the aftermath of two terrible world wars and it sets us on a new road to happiness. It makes it clear that there is no longer any divine right of kings or princes or dictators or tribal leaders or military commanders to abuse their citizens or to rob them of their liberty or their property or their right to peacefully assemble. Since 2002, we have had a permanent International Court of Justice, based in The Hague, which has slowly been bringing military commanders to justice from trouble-spots such as the former Yugoslavia, the Congo, Rwanda and Sudan. Let’s hope Gaddafi ends up in the dock there. In Scotland, we have known what he is capable of since that dreadful December night at Lockerbie in 1988. But in our rage against this man, it’s worth remembering what the air-strikes against his planes and tanks are not about. They are not designed to help one fighting faction against another in Libya. They are not to bring about western-style democracy – though that would be a great step forward for the Libyan people, at least I like to think so. They are not to secure oil supplies. They are not to further British interests. They are not to punish Gaddafi for being a left-wing revolutionary and gadfly of the west. They are only to protect civilians from military attack and secure their basic human rights. We need to go carefully into this quagmire. We need to set limits to our intervention. And we need to plan a way out. Having intervened, we have a duty to leave things better than we found them and to support the transition to a new constitution. We made many mistakes in post-invasion Iraq and things are proving difficult in Afghanistan, but we should not be put off defending ordinary innocent populations. To arm the rebel forces is, in my view, too dangerous a tactic. We don’t quite know who they are. One American intelligence report says they may contain “flickers” of al-Qaeda. We certainly know they are not a well trained and disciplined army, and who is to say they may not turn their rockets on civilians in Tripoli in their desperation to get Gaddafi? The UN mission now is to keep on eye on things from the air, destroy tanks and rocket positions which are firing on, or threatening, civilian populations, and await developments. The rebels may take Tripoli, there may be further defections from the Gaddafi camp, the country may split in two. These political upheavals are a matter for the Libyan people. The UN is there simply to protect basic human rights and to provide humanitarian help to refugees and those who have lost their homes in the fighting. The Libyan crisis remind us of the need to keep our armed forces up to scratch. Britain should be prepared to play its part in supporting UN operations and making the world a safer place. To continue doing this we will need the two aircraft carriers being assembled at Rosyth and the RAF bases at Leuchars and Lossiemouth and the aircraft that go with them. Libya also reminds us of Edmund Burke’s old saying – “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”Donate to us: support independent, intelligent, in-depth Scottish journalism from just 3p a day
Related posts: