NO WRIGGLE ROOM

“BRITAIN, France and the United States will not rest until the United Nations Security Council resolutions have been implemented and the Libyan people can choose their own future.” The final sentence of the joint statement from prime minister Cameron and presidents Obama and Sarkozy could not have been clearer. It left no wriggle room for the undertaking of these three nations to do everything in their power to see Gaddafi removed as leader of Libya and a new nation created.

The statement, published simultaneously in London, Paris and Washington, is a clear commitment to regime change, something that goes beyond the provisions of Resolution 1931, although it may always have been implicit. Was the timing of the statement intended to show the resolution of these three leaders against the background of dithering by almost all other NATO countries in facing an uncertain situation on the ground?

It certainly lacked specific proposals to reassert the initiative that led to undue optimism at the start of the attacks on Gaddafi's forces. On the other hand it dismissed totally the useless proposal for an interim Gaddafi regime made by the African Union. It is difficult to see how the objectives set by the three leaders can be met without intensified air attacks, some presence on the ground short of “occupation” and possibly a new Security Council resolution authorising direct action against Gaddafi -- a tall order.