The Foreign Affairs Select Committee has released a new report that pins the Middle Eastern turmoil- the refugee crisis, the human rights abuses, the rise of ISIS- squarely on David Cameron’s non-strategised Libya intervention.
After the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, the UK left Libya to its own devices, with an array of highly advanced weapons seemingly left up for grabs. What ensued was the break out of civil war as multiple tribes clashed for power amid a structureless society that saw thousands entering and leaving the country unchecked. More sinisterly, it paved the way for the rise of ISIS.
Cameron, who has now quit politics altogether after a disastrous end- his time as Prime Minister saw the UK severed from the EU prompting him to resign- refused to give evidence for the report. The report says: “through his decision-making in the national Security Council, former prime minister David Cameron was ultimately responsible for the failure to develop a coherent Libya strategy.”
It adds: “We have seen no evidence that the UK government carried out a proper analysis of the nature of the rebellion in Libya. It may be that the UK government was unable to analyse the nature of the rebellion in Libya due to incomplete intelligence and insufficient institutional insight, and that it was caught up in events as they developed.
“It could not verify the actual threat to civilians posed by the Gaddafi regime; it selectively took elements of Muammar Gaddafi’s rhetoric at face value; and it failed to identify the militant Islamist extremist element in the rebellion. UK strategy was founded on erroneous assumptions and an incomplete understanding of the evidence.”
The Foreign Office is being urged to undertake an international review into whether the UN would be useful in bringing stability to the region. It adds that the UK special forces should limit themselves to supporting the current UN backed Libyan government, and assist in army training.
