ogether with our NATO allies and coalition partners, the United States,
France and Britain have been united from the start in responding to the
crisis in Libya, and we are united on what needs to happen in order to
end it.
Even as we continue our military operations today to protect civilians
in Libya, we are determined to look to the future. We are convinced that
better times lie ahead for the people of Libya, and a pathway can be
forged to achieve just that.
We must never forget the reasons why the international community was
obliged to act in the first place.
As Libya descended into chaos with
Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi attacking his own people, the Arab League
called for action. The Libyan opposition called for help. And the people
of Libya looked to the world in their hour of need.
In an historic
resolution, the United Nations Security Council authorized all necessary
measures to protect the people of Libya from the attacks upon them. By
responding immediately, our countries, together with an international
coalition, halted the advance of Qaddafi’s forces and prevented the
bloodbath that he had promised to inflict upon the citizens of the
besieged city of Benghazi.
Tens of thousands of lives have been protected. But the people of Libya
are still suffering terrible horrors at Qaddafi’s hands each and every
day. His rockets and shells rained down on defenseless civilians in
Ajdabiya. The city of Misurata is enduring a medieval siege, as Qaddafi
tries to strangle its population into submission. The evidence of
disappearances and abuses grows daily.
Our duty and our mandate under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 is
to protect civilians, and we are doing that. It is not to remove Qaddafi
by force. But it is impossible to imagine a future for Libya with
Qaddafi in power. The International Criminal Court is rightly
investigating the crimes committed against civilians and the grievous
violations of international law. It is unthinkable that someone who has
tried to massacre his own people can play a part in their future
government. The brave citizens of those towns that have held out against
forces that have been mercilessly targeting them would face a fearful
vengeance if the world accepted such an arrangement. It would be an
unconscionable betrayal.
Furthermore, it would condemn Libya to being not only a pariah state,
but a failed state too. Qaddafi has promised to carry out terrorist
attacks against civilian ships and airliners. And because he has lost
the consent of his people any deal that leaves him in power would lead
to further chaos and lawlessness. We know from bitter experience what
that would mean. Neither Europe, the region, or the world can afford a
new safe haven for extremists.
There is a pathway to peace that promises new hope for the people of
Libya — a future without Qaddafi that preserves Libya’s integrity and
sovereignty, and restores her economy and the prosperity and security of
her people. This needs to begin with a genuine end to violence, marked
by deeds not words. The regime has to pull back from the cities it is
besieging, including Ajdabiya, Misurata and Zintan, and return to their
barracks. However, so long as Qaddafi is in power, NATO must maintain
its operations so that civilians remain protected and the pressure on
the regime builds. Then a genuine transition from dictatorship to an
inclusive constitutional process can really begin, led by a new
generation of leaders. In order for that transition to succeed, Qaddafi
must go and go for good. At that point, the United Nations and its
members should help the Libyan people as they rebuild where Qaddafi has
destroyed — to repair homes and hospitals, to restore basic utilities,
and to assist Libyans as they develop the institutions to underpin a
prosperous and open society.
This vision for the future of Libya has the support of a broad coalition
of countries, including many from the Arab world. These countries came
together in London on March 29 and founded a Contact Group which met
this week in Doha to support a solution to the crisis that respects the
will of the Libyan people.
Today, NATO and our partners are acting in the name of the United
Nations with an unprecedented international legal mandate. But it will
be the people of Libya, not the U.N., who choose their new constitution,
elect their new leaders, and write the next chapter in their history.
Britain, France and the United States will not rest until the United
Nations Security Council resolutions have been implemented and the
Libyan people can choose their own future.
Barack Obama is the 44th president of the United States. David Cameron is prime minister of Britain and Nicolas Sarkozy is president of France.
