Originally Posted by
Leslie
We are signatories to UNO and therefore should abide by the decisions of that organisation, advisory or not.
It is a moot point whether a no fly zone should be established over Libya if the aircraft are being used to kill Libyan people. I would hope that UNO would come out with a positive recommendation for such a situation.
A unilateral attack on Libya whch is not approved by the UN would be illegal as was the attack on Iraq and would probably lead to similar problems, both in the country concerned and worldwide.
What would you do under the present circumstances?
Les
I would go with the government's position - I get that we need a UN resolution (we were desperate to secure this prior to 2003) and I absolutely understand the desire for Arab backing (and think we'll get it). What troubles me is this: Gaddafi can't stay in power, but will fight to the death and it would seem that the rebels lack the capability to remove him. This appears to lead to one possible outcome: Military intervention. What I can't square is what we do should the Russians (and possibly China) use their veto to block a mandate. What then? Do we stand by and watch as he carries out bloody reprisals? Look on as other dictators around the globe learn that the way to address a popular uprising is to turn guns and bombs on the people?