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In 2011, Libya cracked into a thousand pieces, and a broad coalition attacked Libya, a mob murdered Muammar Gaddafi, and the country fragmented.
Haftar’s ability to frame coups as “wars on terror” ensures his international support, but masks a destructive manipulation of tribal dynamics.
With diplomacy failing and a battlefield stalemate in Libya, the United States must act to protect Libyan civilians from humanitarian disaster.
The disparate militias on the Tripoli front line are only nominally loyal to the weak central government, though it’s paying some of them well to fight. If and when Haftar is defeated, a new contest for power could erupt among the victors.
The early-morning airstrike hit the Tajoura migrant detention center in Tripoli, housing some 600 people. Survivors said they had no warning and no protection.
Washington must get tough on violations of the UN arms embargo and hold Libya’s warring sides accountable for their conduct; it must also pursue a more inclusive governance framework for Libya’s future—one that does not include Haftar.
The armed forces have been a central political player and the real locus of power in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, and Sudan for the past 60 years.
Younes Abouayoub of the United Nations discusses interaction between the political situation in Algeria and Libya.
As the most powerful external actor involved in the conflict, Washington’s signals matter. Trump’s call appears to rest on a mistaken but well-trodden narrative, advanced by Haftar’s forces, his Arab backers, and his western sympathizers.
The current crisis is Libya’s worst in half a decade and, potentially, since the 2011 revolution. Unless swift action is taken to end the clashes and return to a political process, the damage may be irreparable.
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