Western Diplomacy, James Bond Style

The United States and the countries of the European Union are not always lucky when striving to set up contact with the Libyan rebels, but they talk about a possible military intervention with caution or in jest. “Flying a little bigger plane than normal — You gonna launch some attacks on Libya or something?” was the way top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, David Petraeus, greeted Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, at the Kabul airport. “Yeah, exactly,” the head of the Pentagon joked. The casual remark was not intended for the ears of journalists, but it was leaked on the Internet, once again confirming what the whole world now wonders: “Will there be a strike on Libya?” For starters, Western countries need an idea of what the rebels want to achieve, besides the resignation of Moammar Gadhafi, of course. No one has a clear picture, and so it’s necessary to resort to secret missions, in the spirit of spy novels.

So the British powers decided to make contact with the Libyan opposition; however, by all appearances, they didn’t choose the best tactic. They sent two MI6 officers and six members of the Special Air Service, on a “protected diplomatic mission in eastern Libya.” The insurgent leaders were completely baffled by the arrival of the armed envoy and literally dumped them on their heads. Upon disembarking from a helicopter in the middle of the night, the British were placed under house arrest. Then they were sent home. The “James Bond Diplomacy,” as one English newspaper termed it, proved to be disastrous.

In Washington, they are exercising caution. There they hurriedly refuted the appearance of rumors that President Obama’s administration would be making an appeal to Saudi Arabia to supply weapons to the enemies of Gadhafi. “We are in direct contact with the opposition through a variety of channels, as I’ve mentioned before, including with senior members, all the senior members of the council and other individuals within Libya,” stated White House Press Secretary Jay Carney.

The Americans want to find out what the rebels represent and what their goals are. Defense Secretary Robert Gates insists that any international military intervention must be backed up by the international community. “We must reflect on the cost of sending our military into yet another country in the Middle East,” * he said. Brussels agrees with him. NATO General Secretary Anders Fogh Rasmussen stated that the Alliance would not conduct a military operation against Gadhafi without sanction from the U.N. Security Council. Meanwhile, NATO has decided to conduct round-the-clock observations for Libya, with the help of planes equipped with AWACS systems.

*Editor’s Note: Efforts to verify this quotation were unsuccessful.