World of opinion
On Moammar Gadhafi:
With the overrunning of Moammar Gadhafi’s compound in Tripoli, the Libyan rebels’ victory finally looks irreversible. … Meanwhile, there are pockets of pro-Gadhafi resistance elsewhere, notably around the tyrant’s home town of Sirte. And both Gadhafi and at least two of his sons are still at large. But now the attention is already shifting to what comes after the battle for Tripoli.
So far the rebels have shown restraint in exacting revenge against regime loyalists, although there are reports of looting. Such disorder is difficult for the National Transitional Council to control without any machinery of government or even a clear idea of what is going on in different parts of Tripoli. Yet it must move toward a position of being able to impose such authority as quickly as possible. The West can help with advisers and by unfreezing around $1.5 billion of Libyan state assets in Europe and the U.S. as soon as Gadhafi and his henchmen are properly isolated.
But the ripples from this remarkable victory will spread far beyond Libya. As the Arab Spring stretches into autumn, the position of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad looks shakier than ever; the EU and U.S. have prepared a draft UN resolution calling for sanctions against his regime. Libya’s revolution should hearten the activists in Tunisia and Egypt, now trying to build democracies from the ruins of authoritarian regimes. It should strengthen the hand of democracy activists living under other such regimes from Morocco to Saudi Arabia too.
The end results of the Arab Spring are still far from certain. But this is a moment of freedom to celebrate with the inhabitants of Tripoli.
London Evening Standard
On U.S. defense cuts:
After much Congressional acrimony, President Barack Obama signed into law legislation to raise the American debt ceiling, while cutting the federal budget deficit. This was but the first scuffle in what is likely to be a protracted battle to bring American deficits under control, and its consequences will resonate far beyond the United States. …
As the U.S. will simply be able to afford to do less in the world, the kind of expensive post-Cold War military interventions the country has led in Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq will fade from the superpower’s foreign policy repertoire. …
Americans are a generous people, but they are also questioning whether the country has overreached.
Indeed, the Americans are growing weary of footing the bill for costly nation-building adventures overseas — especially if their benefit to U.S. security is not readily apparent. …
The historian Donald Kagan has noted that the preservation of peace depends upon those states seeking that goal having the preponderant power. As the recent budget battle in Washington underscores, the dawning era of austerity may jeopardize not only American security, but also herald a less activist and less interventionist U.S. foreign policy, and severely constrain the projection of American power in global affairs.
We, in the Middle East, cannot afford to look on with indifference, nor refuse to adapt to a changing strategic climate.
The Jerusalem Post
On Western influence in Syria:
With the crisis in Libya drawing to an end, it is no surprise that eyes are now on Syria. The west Asian country has experienced similar turbulence since mid-March, and there is much speculation that the victory of the Libyan opposition will very likely fuel anti-government protests in Syria, which will in turn escalate tensions in the region and prompt Western powers to take more drastic moves against Syria.
The United States and European countries have intensified sanctions against Syria and called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down. They have also tried to seek a resolution condemning the al-Assad regime in the United Nations.
All these moves, which look similar to those taken by the West before they waged military intervention against Libya, have aroused concern that Syria may soon face the same fate as Libya. If this becomes a reality the region will only plunge deeper into the whirlwind of prolonged unrest.
The international community should bear in mind that the situation in Syria is different from that in Libya. An important country in the Middle East, Syria has a significant role to play in the region’s overall stability and security. It is counted as a major player in the regional peace process too.
Compared to Libya, though much smaller in size, Syria has a population more than three times the size. Months of military intervention in Libya led by Western powers have caused serious humanitarian disasters. If a similar scenario is repeated in Syria the consequences will be unimaginable. …
China Daily, Beijing
On Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi:
When federal Safety Minister Vic Toews released the names and photographs of suspected foreign war criminals walking our streets — prompted by acknowledged pressure from Sun Media — there was no need to scour the list for Abdel Baset al-Megrahi.
We knew where he was.
Instead of being in a Scottish prison where he belongs, he was recently seen joining pro-Gadhafi demonstrators in Tripoli, and strutting his stuff as the “hero” who bombed Pan-Am Flight 103 out of the skies over Lockerbie in 1988.
And he looked exceptionally well for a terrorist supposedly dying of cancer and who, back in 2009, was released on humanitarian grounds so he could succumb on Libyan soil.
Compassionate leave for dying inmates is a regular feature of Scottish justice, and this obviously includes cowards who plant bombs in airline luggage so 270 people — including 186 Americans — would never see Christmas.
If there is someone beyond Moammar Gadhafi who deserves tough justice, it is Abdel Baset al-Megrahi. …
British Petroleum admitted lobbying for a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya — but denied any role in al-Megrahi’s release — to help clinch a business deal.
The Italians, too, had investments — like a $7-billion sub-Mediterranean gas pipeline — that they didn’t want to see compromised by a small matter like some long-ago airline bombing, or a convicted terrorist who had faked a knock on death’s door.
The world’s moved on, right?
Well, if the rebels in Libya want to repay NATO for helping in Gadhafi’s overthrow, they can track down al-Megrahi, roll back the clock, and hand him over to the Americans.
Not the Scots.
Ottawa (Ontario) Sun