Friday, February 25, 2011

Libyan crackdown 'escalates' as the US and EU sits on the sidelines as Gaddafi slaughters his people, the UN needs to send peacekeepers now















Dear All

If there was ever a need for a UN Peace Keeping Force to enter a country, it is surely now.

Libya is in chaos, and the West is just sitting on the sidelines as the death count rises, their only concern on their agenda, get their countrymen out.

Very noble but what about those left behind?

The Libyan people are getting killed as Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi unleashes his paid mercenaries and army units still loyal to him on his own people.

People are getting killed just for looking out their windows by thugs.

The east of the country is in the hands of the protestors; Gaddafi holds Tripoli and other parts in the west.

More and more of his government are defecting or resigning, the regime is in its death throes.

Recent TV and radio programmes used by Gaddafi to try and restore order are increasingly bizarre.

Hour long uncomfortable rants.

The UN must send peace keepers into the west of the country to liaison with the protestors so as to try and restore food supplies and medical services.

There is a need to assist what will be the new regime as civic government needs to get back on its feet.

And the need for all this is now.

In the past, the West has blotted its copy book; Iraq and Afghanistan have been complete international failures by western democracy.

We need to help the Libyan people by way of sanctions, no fly zones, aid and the UN.

And the need for all this is now.

The UK and France are pushing for an arms embargo and a war crimes investigation.

The time for putting a toe in the water has passed; we need to dive fully in.

Prime Minister David Cameron said:

"People working for this regime... should remember that international justice has a long reach and a long memory."

And so do others who see the international community stand on the sidelines like Britain, the US hasn’t made its mind up as Obama is having a think, the time to go help is now.

The hold up is Iraq and Afghanistan.

Our failure there was extreme.

The US and Britain like to stroll the world stage as the ‘World’s Policemen’, so why are the Police standing by watching the killings?

President Obama make a decision quick, too many people are dying while you’re pondering whether to act.

Go to the UN and get all members of the Security Council to sign off on a UN Peace Keeping Force.

The time of Muammar Gaddafi is over.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

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