Political India: Engaging America

From The Hindu

In a possible indication that the United States is seeking to tamp down its involvement in West Asian politics, the White House has refused to officially recognise the Libyan Transitional National Council rebel formation, even as President Barack Obama accepted the resignation of his top West Asia envoy, George Mitchell.

Despite a high-profile meeting at the White House with National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, TNC President Mahmoud Gibril came away disappointed when he was informed there would as yet be no official recognition of his group as the alternative to Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi. While the White House spun the meeting as a positive development and said the U.S. viewed the TNC as a “legitimate and credible interlocutor of the Libyan people”, a State Department spokesman said the question of recognition was “one of many... policy issues... that are still under review”. He added it was up to the Libyan people, and not the international community, to decide who was to lead Libya.

Mr. Gibril had earlier said in an interview with CNN that his main message to the White House would be to clear up “misperceptions” about extreme elements in the opposition and to ask for formal recognition.

Even as these tensions became evident, the White House announced, following two years of failed efforts to get Israeli and Palestinian leaders to the negotiating table, that Mr. Mitchell would be resigning.

“Over the past two and a half years, George Mitchell has worked as a tireless advocate for peace as the U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East. His deep commitment to resolving conflict and advancing democracy has contributed immeasurably to the goal of two states living side by side in peace and security,” said Mr. Obama.

While Mr. Mitchell said he had resigned based on his commitment to leave his role after two years' service under the Obama administration, foreign policy specialist Josh Rogin suggested that “Mitchell's departure is the clearest signal that no new peace initiative from the administration is forthcoming.”

From The Hindu

The Obama administration on Thursday authorised the use of killer drones for missile strikes against government forces in Libya, in stark contrast to a statement earlier this week that it would only provide non-lethal military equipment to rebel groups. The drone deployment also runs contrary to the United States' stand that it would tamp down its direct military involvement in Libya by handing over operational command to NATO forces.

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday announced the induction of the Predator unmanned aerial vehicle, laden with Hellfire missiles, into the NATO combat mission in Libya, describing its role as “a modest contribution”.

While the Predator was said to have already been conducting surveillance missions over Libya for a few weeks, this would mark the first time in the two-month old conflict that the drone would be deployed for air strikes against the forces of Muammar Qadhafi, the Libyan leader.

This development makes Libya the fourth country in recent history — following Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen — to become a target for Predator strikes and officials said their primary focus would be “helping rebels in the besieged city of Misrata, where a humanitarian crisis has unfolded in the last week,” reports confirmed.

In a press briefing, General James Cartwright, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the first Predator mission in Libya was due to kick off on Thursday night but was reportedly abandoned due to inclement weather. He said two patrols of drones would be deployed above Libya “at any given time,” and they would seek out Colonel Qadhafi's forces in civilian areas.

He clarified why the drones were being used now, saying, “What they will bring that is unique to the conflict is their ability to get down lower, therefore to be able to get better visibility on targets... They are uniquely suited for urban areas.”

According to sources the U.S. move reflects both the fact that there are likely to be gaps in NATO's ability to “carry out complicated, extended combat missions without continued and significant American support,” and also that the rebel forces in eastern Libya are “poorly armed, inexperienced and disorganised.”

From The Hindu

In media interviews over the weekend, United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have hinted at uncertainty over the duration of Western nations’ involvement in the Libyan conflict.

When asked in an interview with CBS whether a lengthy military involvement implied the U.S. was again embarking on a regime-change project, Ms. Clinton said: “If we have learned anything over the past number of years, regime change is very complicated and can be very expensive and can take a long time. And so I think the key here was establishing a military mission that was achievable... on a limited period of time and it could be sustained.”

Yet, in the same interview, in response to a question on Pentagon reports that the no-fly zone imposed over Libyan airspace under a United Nations resolution would last three months or more, Mr. Gates said: “I don't think anybody has any idea.”

Ms. Clinton suggested there was also continuing uncertainty on whether the Western alliance would arm the rebels fighting Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi’s forces. Ms. Clinton said there had been no such decision, however, the U.S. was “in contact with the rebels” and she had met with one of the leaders.

However, Ms. Clinton added that should it be deemed necessary to arm the rebels, there was legal basis to do so under the U.N. mandate, because, “There is an arms embargo against the Qadhafi regime that was established in ... Resolution 1970, which applied to the entire country. In the follow-on resolution, 1973, there is an exception if countries or organisations were to choose to use that.”

From The Hindu

Even as confusion surrounded the legality of the western alliance arming rebel groups in Libya, United States President Barack Obama on Saturday said the military operation Odyssey Dawn was “succeeding”.

According to observers here, the “Obama administration believes the United Nations resolution that authorised international intervention in Libya has the “flexibility” to [arm the rebels]”.

In particular, U.S. Permanent Representative to the U.N. Susan Rice is reported to have said the language of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 authorising action in Libya was “not specific”.

While Jose Filipe Moraes Cabral, head of the UNSC's Libya Sanctions Committee, admitted the wording of the UNSCR 1973 was “open to a lot of interpretation”, he was reported to have said he would not interpret the wording as allowing arms shipments to the rebels.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said this week if arming the rebels was “the right way to go”, then that option would certainly be a “possibility”.

Arms embargo

However, in United Kingdom, Prime Minister David Cameron said: “I think I am right in saying that the resolution is clear... There is an arms embargo, and that arms embargo has to be enforced across Libya.” He added that legal advice suggesting this stricture applied only to the Qadhafi regime “is not in fact correct”.

Meanwhile, Mr. Obama, in his weekly televised address, said: “We are succeeding in our mission. We have taken out Libya's air defences. Qadhafi's forces are no longer advancing across Libya.”

However, similar to other statements emanating from the White House and State Department, Mr. Obama persisted with the emphasis on the limited nature of the U.S. engagement in Libyan mission and the likely reduction in the number of U.S. troops involved going forward.

Mr. Obama said, “As I pledged at the outset, the role of American forces has been limited. We are not putting any ground forces into Libya. Our military has provided unique capabilities at the beginning, but this is now a broad, international effort.”

From The Hindu

Command and control of military operations in Libya, in particular, the enforcement of the no-fly zone imposed under a United Nations Security Council resolution, will transfer to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Thursday.

In a statement Mr. Rasmussen said, “We are taking action as part of the broad international effort to protect civilians against the attacks by the [Muammar] Qadhafi regime,” adding that NATO would seek to cooperate with its partners in the region and welcome their contributions.

Mr. Rasmussen also said that all NATO allies were committed to fulfil their obligations under the U.N. resolution and that is why the alliance decided to assume responsibility for the no-fly zone.

Mr. Rasmussen’s announcement of the second phase of the military operations came after more than five days of aerial bombardment of targets in Libya by the Western alliance comprising the United States, the United Kingdom, France and other nations.

Even as the transfer of command and control was outlined, the U.S. State Department, in a conference call with journalists on Friday, denied that any cracks had emerged in the Western alliance, or in the international community’s support for military action against the Qadhafi regime.

Specifically, State Department Spokesperson Mark Toner said in response to a question from The Hindu that notwithstanding suggestions that nations such as Russia had disputed the U.S.’ claims surrounding civilian casualties resulting from the air strikes, the key backers of UNSCR 1973, authorising the no-fly zone, were on board.

Mr. Toner said that even if some countries had differing views on the ongoing action in Libya, it was due to the rapid deployment of force and actions taken on the ground by the Western alliance that a humanitarian crisis in Benghazi been averted.

From The Hindu

Revealing the persistence of cracks in the Western alliance that is bombing targets in Libya, United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates, currently in Moscow, struggled to convince his Russian interlocutors that military operations in Libya were not resulting in civilian casualties.

At a joint press conference with Mr. Gates and Defence Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov, Mr. Serdyukov said that recent developments in Libya demonstrated that the imposition and enforcement of the no-fly-zone, under a United Nations resolution, was experiencing real difficulties which resulted in “destroying civilian facilities and killing civilians”.

He added that this should not have been allowed to happen, and Russia had “informed our U.S. counterparts of our opposition, and we urge all belligerent parties to do their best to stop the violence, and we believe that an immediate ceasefire and a dialogue between the belligerent parties is the surest way to reliable security of civilians.”

Responding to this remark Mr. Gates said, “The coalition is going through great lengths to avoid civilian casualties and most of the targets are air defence targets isolated from populated areas... The significant military fighting that has been going on should recede in the next few days.”

Further Mr. Gates later said to reporters, “I am a little curious, frankly, about the tone that has been taken. It is perfectly evident that the vast majority, if not nearly all, civilian casualties have been inflicted by [Libyan leader Muammar] Qadhafi.”

Arguing that most of the Western alliance’s targets were in isolated non-populated areas, including air defence sites he struck back at the comments by Mr. Serdyukov saying, “It is almost as though some people here are taking at face value Qadhafi‘s claims about the number of civilian casualties, which as far as I am concerned, are just outright lies.”

Earlier reports noted that the Russian Parliament had called for an immediate halt to foreign armed strikes in Libya and warned the Western states that their “indiscriminate” use of force could spur more countries to acquire nuclear arms.

While the U.S., United Kingdom and France have led the Western alliance’s military operations in Libya, entailing more than four days of aerial bombing to date, other United Nations Security Council members including India, China, Russia and Germany abstained from the vote passing the resolution that authorised the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya.

The U.S. has also hinted that its involvement in the operations might wind down over time yielding leadership to European nations, with President Barack Obama saying at a press conference in El Salvador earlier this week, “I have absolutely no doubt that we will be able to transfer control of this operation to an international coalition. I had discussions with Prime Minister Cameron and President Sarkozy [and] NATO is meeting today as we speak to work out some of the mechanisms for command and control.”

He further noted that there was already a “significant reduction in the number of U.S. planes that are involved in operations over Libya, because, as I said initially, our job was to take our unique capabilities and create a space to shape the environment so that the operation of a no-fly zone could operate effectively, and to make sure that our immediate humanitarian goals could be met.”

According to reports, the International Energy Agency says that more than 70 per cent of Libya's oil is exported to European nations, many of which “have spent years investing in Libya's oil industry”. In particular, it was noted that by the end of October 2010, the number of French companies in Libya had nearly doubled from 2008 and most of them were in the energy sector.

In the strongest statement emanating from the White House United States President Barack Obama said on Friday that Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi needs to step down from power and leave.

At a joint press conference with visiting Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Mr. Obama said that given the humanitarian crisis brewing in Libya he had authorised the U.S. Aid to send humanitarian assistance teams to the Libyan border, with the intention that they would work with the United Nations and international NGOs inside Libya “to address the urgent needs of the Libyan people.”

Earlier, reports quoted António Guterres, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, saying that “the numbers of workers able to leave Tunisia were still being dwarfed by the number of those pouring in,” and describing the situation as “a logistical nightmare.”

On Thursday Mr. Obama argued that Qaddafi had lost the legitimacy to lead and he must leave, and also that in addition to halting the violence, the Libyan regime ought to ensure that those who perpetrated violence against the Libyan people were held accountable.

However Mr. Obama cautioned that there may be situations in which Qadhafi “hunkered down in his compound but the economy or food distribution systems in Tripoli, for example, [started] deteriorating.” In that case the challenge would be to figure out how the U.S. could potentially get food in there, he added.

He also warned of the danger of “a stalemate that over time could be bloody,” and said that that was something that the U.S. was considering in its assessment of the unfolding situation.

In the last week the U.S. imposed unilateral sanctions, including an assets freeze, against the Libyan government, following which the UN Security Council also imposed sanctions. Recent days have also witnessed Western military forces repositioning around Libya, primarily to assist with and humanitarian evacuations and assistance.

Additionally, following the violent crackdown by Libyan forces on protestors in Tripoli “tens of thousands of people” had had gathered at a border and to help them reach their homes the U.S. was using military and civilian aircraft, he said.

Yet the President said that his administration would reiterate the clear message that “it’s time for Qadhafi to go,” over and above a host of military and non-military actions that the U.S. would undertake along with its partners. These measures might still include the possibility of a no-fly-zone, he said, an option that U.S. officials had been discussing but thus far not committed to.

From The Hindu

In the backdrop of continuing violence inflicted by Libyan forces against protestors in Tripoli the United States military and its European allies were reported to be repositioning naval and air assets for “various contingency plans,” including a no-fly zone and humanitarian evacuations and assistance.

Quoting unnamed Pentagon officials the Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the “range of possibilities,” included moving two aircraft carriers in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf area and that that “U.S. and NATO forces had sufficient resources in Italy and elsewhere in the Mediterranean to take a number of actions if necessary.”

It was also reported that a U.S. destroyer had crossed through the Suez Canal over the weekend Sunday and taken up a position in the south-western Mediterranean and an amphibious assault ship, the USS Kearsarge, with helicopters aboard, was in the Red Sea and heading toward the Canal. Anonymous official sources added that the USS Ponce amphibious assault vessel was “moving toward the area.”

The strategic repositioning by Western military forces came even as top Obama administration officials refused to rule out military intervention in Libya, given the steady deterioration in the security situation in that country.

In media interviews Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “We know that this violence must end. And if we can take action that would expedite its end, we have to consider that.”

In a speech at the Human Rights Council in Geneva over the weekend she further said, “Nothing is off the table so long as the Libyan Government continues to threaten and kill Libyans.”

Similarly in a read-out of the conversation between President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper the White House said that in addition to “tough unilateral sanctions against the Libyan government,” the leaders agreed to coordinate closely in consideration of “other options should they become necessary.”

Susan Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN said in a briefing that the UN Security Council’s unanimous adoption of Resolution 1970 implied that “a tough and binding set of sanctions” would be aimed at stopping the Libyan regime from killing its own people.

Not only would the resolution refer the situation in Libya directly to the International Criminal Court and include a travel ban and assets freeze on key Libyan leaders, she said, but it would also impose a complete arms embargo on Libya and take new steps against the use of mercenaries by the Libyan government to attack its own people.

Action against the Libyan regime by the U.S. and its allies has intensified following reports that the Qadhafi regime attempted to “direct certain actions from the air against targets on the land,” in the words of Ms. Clinton.

The Secretary suggested in a media interview that while such reports of the Libyan authorities’ use of helicopters to attack ground targets could strengthen the case for imposing a no-fly zone, the drawback of doing so was that “sometimes absolutely horrible regimes decide that that means it is [acceptable] to open fire on the ground.”