Chaos: No More 'Foolhardy'
Western Interventions (Liberation, France)
"Westerners
never made good on the foolhardy interventions of recent decades. Whether it's the
Americans in Iraq or more recently the Europeans in Libya, it's clear that military
action is pointless unless accompanied by a political solution. The case of
Libya is a glaring example. For lack of a political roadmap it ended in
disaster. The result: less than 350km from the Italian coast, jihadists of
the Islamic State now threaten to create a caliphate, letting it be known loud
and clear by staging the macabre beheadings of 21 Coptic Christians."
Westerners never made good on the foolhardy interventions of
recent decades. Whether it's the Americans in Iraq or more recently the
Europeans in Libya, it's clear that military action is pointless and cannot
resolve conflicts unless accompanied by a political solution.
The case of Libya is a glaring example. The 2011 military
intervention, taken up with the most laudable of motives - avoiding a bloodbath
in Benghazi where insurgents were appealing for help - benefitted from having a
U.N. mandate, backing from the Arab League, and moreover, was welcomed in
France by the-then opposition and the left (plus most of our leading figures).
Yet for lack of a political roadmap it ended in disaster,
deconstructing an already complex society and engendering chaos. The result:
less than 350km from the Italian coast, jihadists of the Islamic State now
threaten to create a caliphate, letting it be known loud and clear by staging
the macabre beheadings of 21 Coptic Christians. It was a message addressed to
Europe and neighboring Egypt. Four years after a military intervention that
failed to take account of the need to prepare for the future, only bad
solutions remain.
Don't get involved? That's impossible as the chaos threatens
to spill into Europe. Mount an anti-jihadist coalition, as Egypt and Italy are
calling for? While perilous, the unfortunate fact is that perhaps there is no
other choice. Moreover, the general staffs of some countries have been working on
the subject for months. One thing is certain: if there has to be action, it must
be on an unimpeachable legal basis, with the Arab states, under the auspices of
the United Nations, and most importantly, with a genuine roadmap for the
future.
