After days of indecision and prevarication (much of it emanating from President Obama) the UN Security Council has authorised “all necessary measures” (including a No Fly Zone) to prevent the forces of the Gaddafi regime inflicting further violence on Libyans.
David Cameron will feel a sense of vindication tonight.
An idea which was condemned as sabre-rattling, unworkable and unnecessary has been agreed after days of intense diplomacy.
Moreover it could be said Cameron has injected a small measure of steel into President Obama’s backbone, because, according to Nick Robinson of the BBC, even up to the wire Obama was still “examining options” (often at the 8th hole)
No wonder yesterday’s White House press briefing included questions suggesting the president was “sitting on the fence”, “satisfied to follow not lead” and needed to make a decision (see transcript below). Leadership, the press pack were told by a defensive White House press spokesman, involves considering the mission, it’s likelihood of success and the risks it poses
Cameron, with President Sarkozy of France, has been quite consistent in his advocacy of some form of international intervention since the very beginning of Gaddafi’s backlash against the uprising in Libya.
Cameron is not a particularly popular figure in the right blogosphere, mainly as a result of his decision to form a coalition government with Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats after last May’s election which made the Tories the biggest party in Parliament but with no overall majority.
Working with the Liberals means that many positions that I and other right wing Tories hold dear (leave the EU, ignore the European Court of Human Rights, stricter immigration control etc) have to be left in abeyance. But that is because the enormous deficit left to us by Labour’s profligacy has to be number one priority.
As Churchill (a lifetime anti Bolshevik) said when he unconditionally offered British support for Stalin after Hitler’s invasion of Russia
If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favourable reference to the devil in the House of Commons.
So kudos to Cameron for doing the heavy lifting on Libya.
Of course, there is someone else who was treated with contempt and disdain when she advocated a NFZ even earlier than Cameron – but what the hell would she know about the world outside Wasilla?
