Libya — sideshow or comedy

by Anne Penketh - 04/14/11 5:50 PM ET

As NATO has discovered in Afghanistan, war by committee holds many
pitfalls. In Libya, we are now told that NATO needs planes. The
28-nation alliance actually has 195 planes at its disposal, but only six
countries have agreed to conduct strikes on Libya. Some are attaching
conditions to participating, while others are too worried about the
collateral damage from possible hits against civilians. Germany, which
abstained when the U.N. Security Council authorized the use of force in
support of Libyan civilians, and Turkey are opposed to the military
action.

The Syrians and Iranians must be laughing all the way to the bunker when
they see how the most powerful military alliance in the world operates.
The Libyan “sideshow” — as correctly characterized by the Obama
administration — is turning into a comedy show.

NATO stumbled into this conflict as the U.S. administration decided it wanted to take a backseat and let European allies take the lead in a country on Europe’s doorstep. Britain and France, which led the charge against Col. Moammar Gadhafi, are doing most of the heavy lifting. But NATO’s lack of preparation is now blindingly obvious after a few short, sharp shocks failed to topple the Gadhafi regime. NATO planners seem to have been taken aback by Gadhafi’s tactics, taken straight out of the playbook of Slobodan Milosevic and Saddam Hussein.

Things could go catastrophically wrong, by dragging more men and machinery into a drawn-out conflict that could still lead to the partition of Libya. Crucial questions such as the arming of the rebels, and the recognition of the opposition transitional authority — whose representatives are in Washington this week — remain to be answered. Not to mention the endgame for Gadhafi.

It is often said that the U.S. is from Mars while Europe is from Venus. But the Libyan conflict is a reality check for NATO’s credibility. Come on, guys: In a world of shrinking defense budgets, it is time that the alliance stepped up to the plate and matched its rhetoric with action.