Wednesday, May 31, 2017

I Wish Someone With a More Nuanced Brain Than I Have Would Explain Our Libya Policy

When it comes to the West's Libya policy, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

Western nations are mostly united to fight jihadi terrorists. That's good. America carries the burden, but others do help.

But then we come to Libya where the West doesn't seem to have a freaking clue about what we are fighting:

The basic problem is that the UN and most Western nations continue to back the GNA despite the fact that the GNA relies too much on Islamic conservative militias and senior Libyan Islamic clerics who favor imposing Islamic law on Libya, something most Libyans don’t want. The GNA is also more tolerant of corruption, in part because GNA is the conduit for most foreign aid and thus there is more to steal. Western groups are pressuring the UN to concentrate on prosecuting militia leaders, especially those loyal to Hiftar, for war crimes. But most Libyans note the majority of alleged war crimes being committed by militias aligned with the GNA and rarely criticized by the UN. This reinforces Libyan distrust of the UN as a foreign force trying to impose itself on Libya.

I will continue to ask just what in the world are we doing backing the GNA when it is jihadi-friendly?

Are we stupid? suicidal? What!?? The UN I expect to be stupid and hostile to the West when it comes to issues of Islamist extremism. What's the West's excuse for encouraging Islamists in Libya?

The Manchester bomber's family came from Libya!

And there is more:

But although the [ISIL] jihadists are down in Libya, they are not out. And they may have international reach. Many of the fighters have regrouped in a swathe of desert valleys and rocky hills south-east of Tripoli. British police are probing links between Salman Abedi, the suicide-bomber who murdered 22 people at a concert in Manchester on May 22nd, and IS, which claimed responsibility for the attack. Mr Abedi was in Libya recently; his brother and father were arrested in Tripoli on May 24th. The militia holding them says the brother is a member of IS and was planning an attack on Tripoli.

We have an interest in pretty much doing the opposite of what we are doing in Libya. How is this possible?