U.N. approves airstrikes on Libya
WASHINGTON – U.S. and allied forces began preparing for air attacks on Libya late Thursday after the U.N. Security Council authorized action to prevent Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi from ending a month-old revolt with slaughter.
Despite widespread doubts that the outgunned Libyan rebels can still be saved, the council gave its blessing to attacks on the government aircraft and ground forces encircling the final rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
The council voted 10-0, with five abstentions, for a resolution authorizing “all necessary measures” to protect civilians. The abstentions by Germany, China, Russia, India and Brazil showed that reservations lingered.
“Today, the Security Council has responded to the Libyan people’s cry for help,” said Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. She said the resolution became necessary because “Gadhafi and those who stand by him continue to grossly and systematically abuse the most fundamental human rights” despite earlier U.N. sanctions. “Today’s resolution is a powerful response … to the urgent needs on the ground.”
Pentagon officials, noting that they and European allies have warships and aircraft near Libya, said military operations could begin quickly. While officials said it might take a week to set up a full no-fly zone, surgical strikes could begin before that.
At the same time, U.S. officials cautioned that the U.S. and allies intended to limit their involvement, allowing no “boots on the ground.”
Gadhafi lashed out in anticipation of the vote, warning that Libya would mount attacks across the Mediterranean for years to come if foreign powers took up arms against him.
“If the world gets crazy, we will get crazy,” declared Gadhafi, who said he was ordering his forces to attack Benghazi today.
In Tripoli, some reacted with shock at the news that the council had authorized military intervention to protect what government supporters describe as armed insurgents. “Civilians holding guns, and you want to protect them? It’s a joke,” said Mohammad Salah, a 32-year-old dentist who has been a volunteer translator for Western reporters in the capital. “We are the civilians. What about us?”
Meanwhile, the sky over the rebel-controlled city of Benghazi was ablaze with celebratory fireworks as news of the vote spread.
The Obama administration and many allies have been reluctant to embark on military action as the uprising unfolded, fearing a plunge into another uncertain military involvement in a Muslim land. But U.S. officials and key allies have become increasingly worried that the uprising could end in a humanitarian disaster.
A senior U.S. official said the administration had hoped that the Libyan uprising would evolve “organically,” like those Tunisia and Egypt, without need for foreign intervention.
“Everyone hoped that would be the case here, and no one could say that the U.S. was behind it,” the official said. “But when … it looked like there might be an imminent slaughter, there was a responsibility on the part of the international community not to let it happen.”
The administration had decided it would not become involved except with U.N. approval, broad international participation and agreement by Arab nations that they would play an active part, to dispel perceptions that the U.S. was again intervening to protect its oil supplies. On Saturday, the Arab League voted to accept an international no-fly zone.