萨摩耶好养吗:Homeland Security: U.S. worries Gaddafi may use poisonous gas as chaos deepens

来源：百度文库编辑：九乡新闻网时间：2024/04/28 00:16:23

US: Don’t pose the nose into Libya

Homeland Security: U.S. worries Gaddafi may use poisonous gas as chaos deepens

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Libya has in its possession 9.5 metric tons of mustard gas, and 650 metric tons of precursor chemicals used for developing chemical agents; in 2003, following the invasion of Iraq, Col. Gaddafi's government sent to the United States the critical infrastructure for its nuclear-weapons programs, including uranium hexafluoride stockpiles, centrifuge machines, and parts for a nuclear fuel-conversion facility; Libya also destroyed its longer-range missiles and 3,300 aerial munitions used to disperse mustard gas and other chemical agents; the program to eradicate Libya's chemical agents, as well as its chemical weapons production facility, was delayed by spats between Washington and Tripoli over funding and logistics; "When you have a guy who's as irrational as Gaddafi with some serious weapons at his disposal, it's always a concern," said a U.S. official.

The government of Col. Moammar Gaddafi has not destroyed significant stockpiles of mustard gas and other chemical-weapons agents, raising fears in Washington about what could happen to them — and whether they may be used — as Libya slides further into chaos.

Tripoli also maintains control of aging Scud B missiles, U.S. officials said, as well as 1,000 metric tons of uranium yellowcake and vast amounts of conventional weapons that Col. Gaddafi has channeled in the past to militants operating in countries like Sudan and Chad. The Wall Street Journal reports that current and former U.S. officials said in interviews that Washington’s counter proliferation operations against Libya over the past decade have made gains, in particular the dismantling of Tripoli’s nascent nuclear-weapons program and its Scud C missile stockpiles. The level of instability in Libya, and Col. Gaddafi’s history of brutality, continues to make the U.S. focus on the arms and chemical agents that remain, they said.

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“When you have a guy who’s as irrational as Gaddafi with some serious weapons at his disposal, it’s always a concern,” said a U.S. official. “But we haven’t yet seen him move to use any kind of mustard gas or chemical weapon” during the unrest.

Libya also possesses more than half of the 1,300 metric tons of precursor chemicals used for developing chemical agents. The material is believed to be stored in jugs at the former Rabta chemical-weapons facility.

A spokesman for the OPCW said the utility of such chemical agents is lessened without the delivery systems. Officials in Washington said they remain concerned about the security of these materials. They would not rule out the possibility Col. Gaddafi could seek to use them.

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Guardian: On Libya we can't let ourselves be scarred by Iraq

Clearly the United Nations must make a forceful response, condemning the regime for turning on its people with such savagery and making it clear those involved will be held responsible in the international courts. And if Nato can impose a no-fly zone then they should do so immediately – even if this means bombing the airports being used to send up planes to kill and maim innocent people. There is no time for hesitation.

There is word of divisions among the revolutionary leadership. The smoothest resolution – beyond his capture or death – is for enough of these people to peel away from the regime. Even at the highest levels there are people who want reform. But there are suggestions that key figures are being held under house arrest at the air base. This may explain why we have not heard from Abdel Salam Jalloud, Gaddafi's childhood friend and one-time deputy, who fell out with the "Great Leader" but remains an influential voice.

Perhaps the crisis will end as suddenly as it began. But Gaddafi has proved time and again that he will do whatever it takes to stay in power. So if the days of bloodshed turn into weeks, the severity of the crisis unfurling in Libya could pose once again profound questions for the world.

The international community may be forced to make a choice: does it sit back and prevaricate while people are massacred, as it has so often in the past. Or does it refuse to be scarred by the foolishness of the Iraq invasion and show that it can act when there is unacceptable barbarism.

For it is possible the only solution is a rapid intervention led by perhaps Egypt or Tunisia, whose armies have won respect in recent weeks, to winkle Gaddafi out of his air base and end his appalling regime. It would have to be endorsed by the Arab League, and such events are highly dangerous and unpredictable. The alternative, however, may be worse

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National Interest: Resist temptation to intervene in Libya

It’s emotionally wrenching to see images of peaceful protesters being gunned down in the streets by Muammar Gaddafi’s security forces. The understandable outrage that such sights generate is already leading to calls for international, especially Western, military intervention. Marc Lynch, for example, advocates that among other steps, the United States and NATO should establish a no-fly zone over Libya. Others are calling for similar measures.

That is a spectacularly bad idea. The American Conservative’s Daniel McCarthy offers an effective rebuttal regarding such schemes. And a no-fly zone might not even have that much impact on the fighting. True, it could prevent the regime from using planes and helicopters to attack anti-government forces. But Gaddafi’s goons can inflict a lot of casualties just with rifles and other mundane weapons. A no-fly zone is hardly a panacea for the tragedy in Libya.

Moreover, it comes with a worrisome level of risk. Lynch compares the current bloodletting in Libya to the situations in Bosnia and Kosovo before the U.S.-led interventions in those conflicts. But the aftermath in the Balkans is actually an argument for caution. The no-fly zones helped put the Western powers on a path to becoming responsible for the future of both Bosnia and Kosovo.

And those missions have not turned out well at all. Bosnia is a corrupt, dysfunctional pretend country that is still deeply divided by intractable ethnic hatreds. The situation in Kosovo is even more sobering. Recent revelations show that the Kosovo Liberation Army, which the United States and NATO installed in power, may be even worse than its long-standing reputation as a collection of terrorists and mafia thugs. Mounting evidence indicates that KLA leaders were involved in the sordid harvesting and sale of body organs from murdered civilians and prisoners of war. We cannot be certain about the ultimate nature of the anti-Gaddafi forces that we would be backing in Libya.

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But an even more apt model than the Balkans for what interventionists are proposing for Libya is Iraq. The decision to impose no-fly zones in the north and south of that country during the 1990s escalated tensions with Saddam Hussein’s regime. Soon, U.S. planes were bombing air fields and other targets to enforce that diktat. Are proponents of establishing a no-fly zone over Libya prepared to have the United States conduct the same kinds of military action? And where might that lead? In Iraq, it led inexorably to a full-fledged invasion and occupation. We are still dealing with the monstrous headache that our military involvement in that country created.

Washington’s geostrategic plate is already overflowing just handling the existing messy interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The last thing U.S. policy makers need to do is have this country meddle in Libya. They should resist the siren calls for no-fly zones or other initial steps on what could be a very slippery slope.

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