The Libya Observer | Tobruk parliament forms new dialogue team The Libya Observer Earlier this month, the House of Representatives set preconditions, which it called the national constants, in order to resume talks with rival political institutions. Libya has plunged into political chaos since 2014 with two rival parliaments and ... |
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Tobruk parliament forms new dialogue team - The Libya Observer
By Richard Lobban
Strategic thinking focuses on historical trends, the balance of forces, national and economic interests, ideology, naval choke points, diplomacy, information and the military capacity of friends and foes.
So it was in the bipolar Cold War until the 1990s, followed by a descendant multi-polar world, which is now evolving into a precarious new world order that needs strategic recalibration, especially along the southeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
Obviously, the Suez Canal is a highly strategic choke point.
Oil-addicted global economies make for energy vulnerability. The old cleavage between communistversus capitalist worlds is surmounted by revivalist extremisms in religion and nationalism. Weapons are widespread. Failed, failing or dictatorial states have thwarted the Arab Spring" of 2011. Major undersea oil and gas fields are contested by Cyprus, Lebanon and Israel.
New Egyptian offshore gas fields and oil fields in the Western desert may resuscitate its ailing political economy. Two amphibious assault ships, built by France for Russia, were insteadsoldto Egypt along with new German submarines, to protect its new fields.
The unsolved Palestine-Israel-Gaza-Hamas-Sinai conflicts stay on a timer fuse. Thousands of African refugees are trafficked across, or drowning in, the Mediterranean while destabilizing a fearful, polarized Europe. The prolonged catastrophes in Syria (and its Putin-Assad alliance), South Sudan and Yemen have daily hemorrhages of horror. The "punitive" attack by President Donald Trump on Syrian aircraft has only resulted in "red lines" dripping more blood in high heat, but little light. Trans-Saharan insurgent-terrorists add their destabilizing and depressing miseries, making uslong for the "good old days" of the Cold War.
For decades, Muammar Gaddafi ruled erratically with his Green Book to develop Libya while fomenting revolts, assassinations, corruption and harsh domestic repression, sustained by vast oil wealth and a small population.
The Arab Spring ignited in Tunisia in 2010, and spread in 2011 to Egypt, Bahrain, Syria, Yemen and Libya,where it became an existential threat to both Gaddafi and his citizens. He was killed on Oct. 20, 2011.
Arms flooded across Libya and the Sahel. The success of the Libyan revolution created optimism in the West that the country would turn to democratic elections and a multiparty parliament.
Instead, on Sept. 11-12, 2012, Libyan extremists killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three aides in the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. After spending millions of dollars andweekson accusations of blame, U.S. Special Forces captured two of the alleged attackers.
By January 2014, the Libyan General National Congress (GNC) was deadlocked by diverse local militias. Aspiring strongman Khalifa Haftar (now field marshal of the Libyan National Army) called for the overthrow of Libyan Islamists. By summer 2014, open warfare unfolded between Tripoli and Misrata militias against Haftar, who had ties to Gaddafi and the Central Intelligence Agency.
Elections promised for June 25, 2014, were stillborn. Haftars Operation Dignity was marketed by his enemies as an attempted coup, while the Islamist Ansar esh-Sharia disrupted Benghazi, and the war on terrorism was inconclusive. The oil economy and the 2014 elections faltered; militia skirmishes worsened.
The new parliament was failing when Dawn factions from Misrata seized the Tripoli airport that July 13. By September 2014, the GNC, or Dawn, backed by the United Nations, Europe, Turkey, Qatar, the United States and various militias, clashed with Dignity, backed by Egypt, Russia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
These militias did rout Sirte of its murderous ISIS franchise but threatened critical oil ports. Now, in 2017, some oil production is restored, but remains vulnerable. Both the Tripoli "government" and the Benghazi "government" are being wooed by Moscow, with Haftar flying to Moscow and the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov steaming by Libya.
The Moroccan Accord of 2015, the cease-fires, and peace and unity negotiations, have all failed. Will the legitimate GNC al-Hisi prevail over Haftars LNA as new proxies of a warming Cold War? Will Western collaboration with Islamist militias be fatal? Will Haftars increasing control of the oil fields make him stronger or betray his personal ambitions?
It is late for a serious strategic doctrine based in morality and law rather than hand-wringing that addressesthe interconnected high-stakes issues. Without it, it is impossible to fashion the tactical toolkit to see the way out, or ahead.
Richard Lobban is an adjunct professor of African (Security) Studies at the Naval War College. He is coauthor of "Libya: History and Revolution" and "African Insurgencies" with U.S. Marines Lt. Col. Christopher Dalton.
Read more:
Richard Lobban: Powers wage new 'cold war' in Libya - The Providence Journal
The Italian prosecutor in Sicily yesterday accused migrant rescue organisations of colluding with human traffickers in Libya.
We have evidence that there are direct contacts between certain NGOs and people traffickers in Libya, Carmelo Zuccaro told Italian newspaper La Stampa.
We do not yet know if and how we could use this evidence in court, but we are quite certain about what we say; telephone calls from Libya to certain NGOs, lamps that illuminate the route to these organisations boats, boats that suddenly turn off their transponders, are ascertained facts.
Zuccaro leads a group of prosecutors investigating the trafficking and exploitation of migrants.
The Public Prosecutors Office in Catania, Sicily, has opened an investigation to determine who funds the organisations and for what purpose.
Read: Italy and Libyan tribes agree on deal to curb migrant flow
The European Border and Coast Guard Agency said in a report published in December that there is possible collaboration between human traffickers and NGOs migrants rescue boats that roam the Mediterranean.
Some of the organisations involved in migrant rescues include Doctors Without Borders, Medecins Sans Frontieres, SOS Mediterranee and Save the Children.
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Italy: NGOs collaborate with human traffickers in Libya - Middle East Monitor
Uber has extended its internal investigation into sexual harassment claims at the company, according to sources.
The investigation, led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, was sparked by charges of sexual harassment by a former female engineer as well as charges of a wider cultural problem across Uber. Holder has asked the board for more time to complete his inquiry, the sources say.
Holder has not gotten interviews with several key figures in the investigation, including top HR execs, as yet, according to sources. He plans to do so in the coming weeks.
Some insiders are skeptical the review will yield results, but now Uber has come under more pressure after the sexual harassment scandal at Fox News led to the ouster of Bill OReilly.
Uber is worried about the tide of public opinion. "We've got to get this right," said one person close to the situation.
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick hired Holder earlier this year to conduct an internal review to look into allegations of harassment and a hostile workplace culture.
Board director Arianna Huffington briefly outlined the current state of the investigation in a memo to employees that was sent out tonight:
Subject line: An update on the Holder report
Hi everybody,
When Eric Holder and Tammy Albarrn began their review, the Board subcommittee (consisting of David Bonderman, Bill Gurley, and myself) to which Eric and Tammy have been reporting on a weekly basis assured them that they would have all the support and time necessary to conduct an intensive, thorough review of Ubers workplace and culture. Eric and Tammy have now asked us for more time to complete their assessment, which includes information received from hundreds of employees through interviews and anonymous online focus groups and reflects the global scale of the companys operations. To ensure that no stone is left unturned, the Board subcommittee has granted that request and we anticipate the report by the end of May.
Thank you,
Arianna
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Uber is extending its internal investigation into sexual harassment ... - Recode
New York Daily News | LOVETT: National Dems aim to turn N.Y. state Senate to the left New York Daily News Toward that end, state Senate Deputy Democratic Minority Leader Michael Gianaris, who heads his conference's campaign operation, recently met with former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to talk about the need to flip New York to total Democratic ... |
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LOVETT: National Dems aim to turn N.Y. state Senate to the left - New York Daily News