AFTERMATH OF THE 2011
MILITARY INTERVENTION IN LIBYA?
When
coalition forces decided to intervene in LIBYA they did not consider the
consequences such intervention would have on the geopolitical landscape. With
the aim to gain control of the oil reserves WESTERN coalition forces thought
they could outwit CHINA and RUSSIA who also invested heavily in LIBYA’S lucrative
oil industry. By voting in favor of the UN resolution which in the end paved
the way for Military Intervention in LIBYA, RUSSIA and CHINA expected to
receive their fair slice of the “energy cake”, instead they were left out of
the equation. Subsequently RUSSIA and CHINA decided to revenge this shortcoming
by vetoing a UN resolution on military intervention in SYRIA.
Aside
from the LIBYAN “energy sector” quarrel among WESTERN and EASTERN powers, the
toppling of the Gaddafi regime unleashed another unpredicted problem. Namely
that of Islamic extremists who previously trained in LIBYA, “fleeing” WESTERN
forces and thus infiltrating and spreading into the Sahel Region and beyond,
setting up bases in CHAD, MALI and ALGERIA, all of which have historically
close ties to EUROPE. Thus causing a serious security problem for EUROPE,
because in these countries jihadists are able to train and recruit undisturbed
due to political instability, lack of law and order or government “control”
(As was the case in LIBYA during the dictatorship of Gaddafi) and last but not
least, Africa’s geographic vastness, making it difficult to locate training
camps.
Subsequently
EUROPEAN coalition Forces had and will need to continue their military
engagement in the region in order to prevent an Al Qaeda spillover to EUROPE
and its fast growing Muslim population.
Background Information: WHY THE SAHEL IS CRUCIAL TO
EUROPE'S NEIGHBORHOOD – AND ITS SECURITY STRATEGY
MILITARY INTERVENTION IN LIBYA
POROUS BORDERS TURN LIBYA INTO RADICAL SANCTUARY
Source: DW
LIBYA
has morphed into the Wild West of northern AFRICA just two years after the fall
of the Gadhafi regime. In particular, the LIBYAN Desert has become a sanctuary
for radical forces.
In
the middle of nowhere in the SAHARA DESERT in the town of Isseyen, time seems
to stand still. Now that voter registration is over for the upcoming municipal
elections, tranquility has returned to the simple offices of the town hall.
Visitors only come by for the satellite Internet connection, one of the very
few public services provided in this remote area of post-revolution LIBYA.
But
the calm is deceptive. Located southwest of the Tuareg town of Ghat, Isseyen is
the last outpost before the ALGERIAN border, a route used to enter the country
by smugglers and Tuareg fighters from Mali, including members of AQIM, Al
Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb.
“I
saw al Qaeda vehicles there, but the authorities don’t want to have anything to
do with it,” says Hassan Massafer, who belongs to an army unit stationed in
Ubari, 400 kilometers further inland.
Locals
in Isseyen are skeptical. “Recently there were rumors going around that a
heavily armed al Qaeda convoy was moving north. But when we looked into it, it
turned out to be a local border patrol,” says tour guide Abishini Aissa, adding
that “as soon as people see Tuaregs with turbans they get scared.”
For
the people of southern LIBYA Islamists are not the problem, but rather
criminality and turf wars between the drug gangs. “In the desert, it’s the rule
of the strongest, but in our communities, it is usually safe because we know
each other,” say several residents of Ghat.
TENSE SECURITY SITUATION
On
the other hand, nobody contradicts the general assessment that the security
situation in the region is a disaster and that the LIBYAN authorities have no
control over the border region.
Mohamed
Abdelkader, the mayor of Ghat, does not beat around the bush when he says, “The
borders are wide open. Drugs and weapons flow in and out and the army has no
capacity to catch smugglers or extremists.”
An
army, in the conventional sense, does not exist in LIBYA anyway. Out of fear
there could be attempts to overthrow him, Gadhafi, when he was alive, kept the
army weak. Currently, national security forces are still in the process of
being built up. The transitional government chose to incorporate rebel forces
into the military in an effort to demobilize revolutionaries. For the fighters
– mostly untrained youngsters – this has brought prestige and a government
salary, but they are still not capable of dealing with the demands of the job.
“There are not enough men for border
guards and patrols. Normally, passports are not even checked,” notes
Abdelkader.
FAILED SECURITY STRATEGIES
Furthermore,
the national government lacks authority. Most of the former rebels feel obliged to follow the orders of their
direct superiors and the interests of their tribe, their clan and their
community.
“The
way the army was formed was a big mistake,” says Barka Wardougou, who heads the
military council in Murzuk in southwestern LIBYA. He argues that a core forces
should have been trained abroad and then distributed across the country to
create a professional armed force.
But
Wardougou does not only represent LIBYA; he also represents the interests of
his tribe, the Tubu. Because of their cross-border family connections – most of
them live in CHAD – the Tubu are viewed by most LIBYANS as dangerous
interlopers and often face harsh discrimination.
INCREASED EU INVOLVEMENT IN SAHEL REGION: A SUBSEQUENCE OF
THE LIBYA INTERVENTION?
Colonel
Wardougou spent decades fighting a rebellion in the SAHEL region and was even
the commander of the so-called Sahel Liberation Army in NIGER. In his view, the
government in Tripoli is a farce because radical forces from Benghazi, the
second largest city, are pulling all the strings.
“They
have sent us more Islamists [as reinforcements],” says Wardougou. “They want us
to believe that they have the border region to CHAD and NIGER under control.
But actually we are the only ones who provide a degree of order and root out
the drug smugglers.” They never stay long anyway, he adds, because of the harsh
conditions in the desert.
The
frustration of the local government is palpable and, in Wardougou’s view, the
national security strategies Tripoli likes to talk about are not worth the
paper they’re printed on by the time they’ve reached southern LIBYA.
Background
Information:
DEMOCRATIC
RECESSION: 9 OF THE 11 TOP CRUDE EXPORTERS ARE LABELED AS DICTATORSHIPS
There
are currently 22 states in the world which earn over 60% of their respective
GDP from oil (and gas), and are ruled by non-democratic, authoritarian regimes.
Read
entire article at: http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.com.ar/2012/12/europe-and-arab-spring-that-never-sprung.html
and
SEVEN
ECONOMIES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA ARE EXPECTED TO BE AMONG THE TEN FASTEST
GROWING ECONOMIES IN THE WORLD. Read entire article at:
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