NATO Owns It All

CNN reports today that NATO approves expanded role in Libya

Brussels, Belgium (CNN) — NATO’s North Atlantic Council on Sunday approved an operations plan that will shift the entire Libyan military mission to alliance command, officials said, easing the burden on the United States and its allies to protect civilians in the war-torn country.

NATO ambassadors unanimously approved a so-called “no-fly plus” plan that will put the alliance in charge of protecting civilians as well as enforcing a no-fly zone and an arms embargo.
…

[A senior U.S. administration official] stressed the NATO mission is to protect civilians and did not rule out the possibility of an attack on the rebels if they were to go on the offensive and strike cities with civilian populations, now held by pro-Gadhafi forces.

While this was expected, it’s nice to see it handled quickly by NATO, because they aren’t known for their speed on the political side of the organization.

The last paragraph deals with a major misconception that is spread around blogtopia™ by people who haven’t read the UN Resolution, and aren’t familiar with UN operations.

The UN does not take sides. This isn’t about helping the anti-government forces in Libya. The rebel forces have aircraft, tanks, and artillery that they captured. If they launch an aircraft, it will be shot down because of the no-fly zone. They will not be receiving arms or ammunition from outside sources, because of the arms embargo in place. If they attempt to use the tanks or artillery against a city held by the government, they will receive the same treatment as the government tanks that threatened Benghazi.

Time for a reality check. This was only possible in Libya because Libya was the place using the airstrikes and tanks against its people. It might be possible in Yemen if things deteriorate and war develops, but that hasn’t happened.

Egypt and Tunisia didn’t ask for help. The action in Bahrain, Algeria, Jordan, and Syria is taking place in cities, where a ground invasion would be necessary [not going to happen] to do anything, and people haven’t asked for help in those places either.

Individual countries joined or didn’t join the effort for their own reasons, mostly political, but the mission, the reason for doing it, was to protect civilians.