World

West plays 'hot potato' with Libyan crisis

By Tian Wenlin (peopledaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-04-12 15:29

 

Furthermore, the war has also pushed up international oil prices, distressing European countries and the United States as oil-consuming countries. The United States has transferred military command to NATO, and the United Kingdom and France are already not as optimistic as they were.

Second, the West will encounter many military and legal troubles. Instead of "government oppressing civilians" that the West first believed, the situation in Libya has turned into a civil war with real guns. If the West continues to get involved, they will be considered as being partial to one side and their open intervention into a Libyan civil war will cause more civilian casualties.

This is completely contradictory to the West's original intention of "protecting civilians."

In regards to military actions, Western countries will have to dispatch ground forces in order to depose Gaddafi since the rebels lack fighting capacity. This is totally beyond the scope of the United Nation's authority, and is likely to repeat the mistakes of the Iraq War.

In regards to legal principle, Western countries were suspected of taking advantage of loopholes in the U.N. resolutions and pursuing their own self-interests when they launched air strikes. The true faces of Britain and France will be exposed more significantly as the war continues.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad previously accused the West of fighting for the oil. Western countries have ignored the ongoing fierce civil war in the Cote d'Ivoire, which has again proven the charge against the West.

In a word, the military solution to the problem in Libya has come to an end and the political solution has been put on the agenda. However, military and political means are two sides of a coin and many unexpected problems are still waiting for solutions.