So we are at war. Again.

It may not be declared as a war but that’s what it is. Deployment of armed forces against those of another sovereign state is war by definition.

I doubt whether this will have the effect intended. It didn’t work in Kosovo nor against Saddam Hussein. Only ground troops did.

It’s also playing into Colonel Gaddafi’s hands. This can be spun as exactly what he is trying to assert, the insurrection is a neo-colonial endeavour on behalf of the Western powers, perhaps a grab for oil. It would have been far better for us to abstain from military force and, if we want to give material help to the rebels, grant them belligerent status (as we did not in Bosnia) and supply them with the means to succeed – ie arms. Granted, that would probably lead to a civil war and many deaths but it would clearly be a matter of Libyans against Libyans – among whom deaths are occurring anyway.

Or else Libya’s Arab neighbours could have taken up the cudgels alongside the rebels. (But that too would have been a violation of Libyan sovereignty.)

I happen to dislike the man and all he stands for and wish him gone, but up until a few weeks ago Colonel Gaddafi was regarded as the legitimate ruler of Libya.

He is only doing what each one of the leaders involved in this action, Obama, Cameron, Sarkozy, etc etc would do if faced with an armed insurrection, which is to send in the troops.

And where, by the way, is the UN resolution targetting Bahrain for doing exactly the same as Gaddafi has, or Saudi Arabia for its intervention there? I think we know the answer to that one.

What is true for Gaddafi is true for all non-democratic Arab states. What applies to him ought to apply to all. Or else we are mere hypocrites and our action illegitimate, even if sanctioned by the UN.

I also don’t quite follow the complaints of the Arab League about these air strikes. (Russia’s attitude is explicable since it abstained in the UN vote.)

To be policed, a No-Fly zone requires interdiction/nullification of the air defences/anti-aircraft capability of the region concerned and hence attacks on any such targets within the zone.

The Arab League called for the No-Fly zone. It can’t then deride the necessary precautions.

But this is international politics. Lewis Carroll couldn’t do them justice.