It is a mistake to believe that the military option in Libya, implemented today by Western coalition forces, truly began only a few hours before the start of Operation Odyssey Dawn or that the coalition waited for the decision of Arab league. The United States has been interested in the crisis in Libya since its birth, in contrast to what happened in Tunisia and Egypt. Of course, their goal is, first and foremost, oil.
I do not say this out of a desire to portray the operation as a coalition of allies for the U.S. intervention in the region and seizure of resources, but it is true that the world is watching the events of the invasion, such as when the U.S. moved the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise stationed in the Gulf of Aden to combat piracy to Libya before the official invasion. They did the same thing with the USS Kirsarg, which carries a squadron of attack helicopters.
Similarly, the Atlantic bases in Sicily, Italy and Cyprus — not to mention the rest of the Sixth Fleet — began to leak plans, maps and bombing sites of the no-fly-zone. They planned, and they lured the Arab League into covering what happened and legitimizing it through Security Council Resolution 1973. What will happen while the U.S. and its allies ride the wave of revolution in Libya, with slogans about the protection of civilians and their human rights? The elimination of a dictatorship? Perhaps the balkanization of Libya, in order to control its oil through the exploitation of the legitimate claims of the Libyan people for reform, as in Afghanistan or Iraq? We shall see.
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