Humanitarian Intervention in Libya

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Conditions of humanitarian intervention/ war
Libya Justified
Libya Unjustified
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

While a world without conflicts would be ideal, this is not always the case and nations are at times forced to go to war. The reasons for war range from protecting one’s nation from hostile forces to intervening on behalf of a hapless people.

This second scenario is known as humanitarian intervention and it involves the international community intervening militarily to stop genocide or other atrocities from being perpetrated in an independent state. The Libyan case presents the most recent humanitarian intervention which has been characterized by an imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya and the escalation of air strikes against Gaddafi’s forces.

Conditions of humanitarian intervention/ war

Humanitarian intervention stems from the recognition that military force can be used to stop or prevent genocide or other systematic killings (Solarz 25). While humanitarian intervention can be carried out with the consent of a government, it can also occur without the consent of the relevant government especially when the government is accused of causing or threatening to cause genocide.

Goodman reveals that international law prohibits unilateral use of force on humanitarian intervention grounds (111). The reason for this prohibition is to avoid aggressive wars being waged by nations under the pretext of humanitarianism.

As a matter of fact, Hitler used humanitarian justifications for his military expansion into Austria and Czechoslovakia where he claimed the German nationals were being maltreated and denied of their right for self-determination (Goodman 113). Many nations favor requiring the Security Council’s approval before engaging in humanitarian intervention.

Libya Justified

War is viewed as an act of last resort when all other options have been tried out and failed. The air strikes against Libya occurred only after all diplomatic avenues had been considered.

As a matter of fact, the decision to intervene was announced by French president Nicolas Sarkozy following a breech of ceasefire by Gaddafi’s forces. Gaddafi’s forces advanced to the city of Benghazi with the intention of smashing the rebellion despite having issued a ceasefire.

Humanitarian intervention is acceptable when the militarized conflict is already high and an intervention may in fact discourage the eruption of more wide-spread war. This is true for Libya since the humanitarian intervention was adopted as a result of Gaddafi’s aggressive stance towards the anti-government forces who were also armed.

In this case, humanitarian intervention may serve the interests of peace at the latter states of a dispute. By use of limited military intervention, the level of a conflict can be deescalated and a political solution found to a problem.

Before the intervention in Libya, Muammar Gaddafi was adamant on his position and his military was conducting several successful assaults on rebels using fighter jets and tanks (Mardell). Following the intervention, the progress of Gaddafi’s army has been significantly stalled.

The humanitarian pretext is the primary reason for the war against Libya.

It is therefore very likely that the intervention will produce meaningful social effects since it has from the very beginning being deemed as an effort at protecting the Libyan people and forcing Muammar Gaddafi out of power so that the people’s political freedom’s can be respected.

Abbas, a reporter with Reuters, documents that the aim of the air strikes against Libya was to “force Muammar Gaddafi’s troops to cease fire and end attacks on civilians.

Libya Unjustified

History has demonstrated that humanitarian interventions can serve as a pretext for selfish interests of nations. This thought is reinforced by Domagala who notes that “military intervention, even when motivated by humanitarian concerns, is a political act” (5).

This is the case in Libya where the overthrow of Gaddafi is top on the agenda despite claims that the intervention is strictly on humanitarian grounds. Zunes reveals that the proposed air strikes have gone beyond their initial aim of protecting civilians from Gaddafi’s military to actively supporting the rebel forces in their quest to topple Gaddafi.

This is despite the fact that toppling Gaddafi may result in a civil war which will result in more suffering for the people of Libya since the intervening nations do not have a plan to fill the security vacuum that will be created by the his removal.

One of the principles of humanitarian intervention is that it cannot be justified if other places that have the same conditions or needs are being ignored. From this assertion, the intervention on Libya was unjustified since other countries such as Cote D’Ivoire were even more in need of intervention.

The Economic Community of West African States called on the UN Security Council to take up action to calm the situation that has resulted in hundreds of deaths and the displacement of more than 1million people (McGuire).

Conclusion

War invariably results in death, destruction and disorder and as such, there must be strong justification before resorting to military force. The Libyan case presents a condition whereby the international community has been forced to take action since diplomatic means have failed to make an impact.

The Libyan leader has used his military to attack civilians who oppose his rule as well as rebels who have taken arms against him. From the arguments presented in this paper, it is clear that the attacks on Libya are justified since they will result in the saving of lives of thousands of civilians who would otherwise have been killed by Gaddafi’s powerful military.

Works Cited

Abbas, Mohammed. French plane fires first shot in Libya intervention. Reuters. 2011. Web.

AFP. Libyan intervention underway after Paris summit. 2011. Web.

Domagala, Arkadiusz. Humanitarian Intervention: The Utopia of Just War? The NATO intervention in Kosovo and the restraints of Humanitarian Intervention. SEI Working Paper No 76. 2004.

Goodman, Ryan. “Humanitarian intervention and pretexts for war”. The American Journal Of International Law, vol. 100: 107. 2006.

Mardell, Mark. James Clapper says Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi will prevail. 2011. Web.

McGuire, Mary. Humanitarian Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire Warrants Intervention. 2011. Web.

Solarz, Stephen J. “When to Intervene.” Foreign Policy, Vol. 63 (1986): 20 – 39.

Zunes, Stephen. Libya: “R2P” and Humanitarian Intervention Are Concepts Ripe for Exploitation. 2011. Web.

Click Here To Order Now!