Right To Intervene?

As Gaddafi Strikes To Crush Rebel Forces In Libya, Empire Looks At The Case For and Against Intervention.

Last Modified: 12 Mar 2011 12:51 GMT
Courtesy Of "Al-Jazeera"

Western powers are once again leading the charge on intervention. Their pretext? Well, more of the same ... surplus morality, global superiority, energy security, a right to protect or a plethora of presumed threats. But since recent interventions have complicated and compounded problems rather than solving them, how is a new intervention in Libya going to be any different?

Given the history of failed interventions in places like Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan, the idea is dangerous, although many say that without NATO involvement in the Balkans, the bloodshed would have been much greater there.

With the likes of Germany and Russia urging caution, and the Arab League and African Union refusing to get involved, we ask why Washington and London feel the need to meddle in the affairs of the Middle East, while neglecting countries without oil, such as Cote d'Ivoire.

How would a foreign intervention affect a home-grown, organic Arab movement? And, with a bloody history in the region, why should a Western alliance be trusted with yet another intervention?