Libya Iran Paradox

[Guest Nathaniel]

I find it baffling how Tehran’s totalitarian mindset manages to erase the contradiction of supporting Libya's demonstrators while gunning them down in the streets at home.

 

[Guest American4Progress]

Al Jazeera reports that "major swathes of territory in the east of the vast North African country now appear to be under the control of pro-democracy protesters." Army units and officers in eastern cities have defected, pledging their "total support" for the protesters. "We are on the side of the people," said Army Major General Suleiman Mahmoud. Referring to the government's use of violence against demonstrators, he added, "I was with him [Qaddafi] in the past but the situation has changed -- he's a tyrant." Libyan air force pilots have even refused orders to bomb protesters. Libya's Interior and Justice Minsters resigned this week in protest against the violence. Many Libyan ambassadors throughout the world have similarly resigned in protest, and even the country's deputy UN ambassador has called for a no-fly zone in Libya to protect the demonstrators. "From what I've seen, I'd say the people of eastern Libya are the ones in control," said an Al Jazeera reporter on the ground in Libya.

 

QADDAFI'S ALLIES COUNTERATTACK: Despite losing control of eastern Libya, forces loyal to Qaddafi today launched a counterattack on anti-government rebels in and around Tripoli, which is said to be "virtually on lockdown" with city streets "mostly deserted." But who supports Qaddafi? Internally, over the last 40 years of his rule, Qaddafi "has always kept the Libyan military too weak and divided," fearing a coup. Instead, military battalions are divided along tribal lines, with loyalties "to their own clan rather than to top military commanders -- a pattern evident in the defection of portions of the army to help protesters take the eastern city of Benghazi." Qaddafi's clan is the air force and top military commanders. He also has a large paramilitary force and other militia units controlled by his sons. But perhaps most important for Qaddafi's war on his own people is his force of paid mercenaries from neighboring countries, who appear to have no qualms killing Libyans for money.

 

U.S. OPTIONS: While the Libyan government has maintained the illusion that it has been moving toward reform since the U.S. lifted sanctions in 2004, the U.S. has limited influence on Qaddafi and his regime. Unlike Bahrain and Egypt, Libya is not an American ally. So what can the U.S. do? CAP's John Norris and Sarah Margon suggest that, in addition to instilling a no-fly zone, imposing an arms embargo, and offering safe-haven to Libyan defectors, the Obama administration can reach out to executives at the largest oil companies operating in Libya -- which maintains the continent's largest reserves -- to help put pressure on Libya to push Qaddafi out. "If Qaddafi stays on his current course and remains Libya’s leader, there will invariably be calls for an oil embargo from Libya, a proper U.N. war crimes investigation, and possibly a civil war," Norris and Margon write. "The oil business will be disrupted for a considerable period under all of those scenarios." The U.S. can also engage with Libyan diplomats with whom relationships have been established over the last seven years and "appeal to Libya's longstanding interest in playing a leadership role throughout the region." Obama indicated in his statement yesterday that he intends to follow this track. "I've...asked my administration to prepare the full range of options that we have to respond to this crisis," he said. "This includes those actions we may take and those we will coordinate with our allies and partners, or those that we'll carry out through multilateral institutions."

[Guest Don Young]

While Moammar Gadhafi is threatening to blow up oil pipelines, our President is telling the American people we don’t need to develop our natural resources. Instead, we are going to warm our homes by sunlight and use a few Duracells to power our cars. That’s easy to say from the comfort of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but it’s a little harder to swallow if you are an everyday American trying to support your family through this brutally cold winter. Due to regulatory delays and uncertainty, Shell had to forgo their 2011 exploratory program in Alaska and late last year the Administration issued a moratorium on offshore leasing that was destined to have dire effects on the economy. We are forcing the United States closer and closer to third-world status with this incredibly closed-minded approach to energy development. As gas prices rise higher and higher this year, and the American people are not in fact able to fill up their tanks with sunshine and a smile, I hope that this President will wake up and stop putting the extreme environmentalists before the good of this country.