Libya ‘misunderstanding’ or Hague over the garden fence?
Foreign Secretary William Hague told the Commons that there was a “serious misunderstanding” about the role of the team he despatched to Libya with the PM’s backing.
You could say that. Lindsey Hilsum‘s phrase that the British mission tried to break in a window when the front door was open has entered common currency now. Labour’s Douglas Alexander did his own variation on the theme – he asked if neighbours moved into the foreign secretary’s street would he introduce himself by ringing the doorbell or by climbing over the garden fence in the middle of the night.
After the foreign secretary’s statement we are none the wiser on why the SIS and SAS men were helicoptered into Libya in such a cloak and dagger style. The thrust of the foreign secretary’s argument was that he accepted full responsibility but it was military operational advice to go into Libya this way and who is a politician to question that? We are still being told that the team was there make contact with rebels and look into suitable accomodation for a diplomatic mission. I couldn’t find an MP who was convinced that the mission was that narrow.
What happens next in British foreign policy? William Hague said there will be another mission to Benghazi “on a different basis.” But as for the No Fly Zones, the FCO feels that even though some rebel voices in Libya and around the Arab world are calling for NFZs it is far from clear that they would like the reality. The first time a Nato jet downed a Libyan pilot or killed Libyan nationals as they bombed an air base the mood could quickly switch. A total of six Tory MPs raised concerns about the NFZ in the statement.
In his interview for Marr at the weekend, the defence secretary used the “P” word. Dr Liam Fox said we could be looking at “an effective partition” of Libya. Would that turn into a real partition? Who would guard such a thing? Who would have the oil? Who would side with whom? It could be Cyprus cubed.
By the way, a startling question from Tory MP John Baron in the Commons statement. He wanted to know why the UK had sent a ship (HMS Cumberland) “named after a sausage” to a Muslim country.