Libya: British military officers to advise rebels
Sending British military officers to advise rebels in Libya does not break UN rules, an international relations expert tells Channel 4 News. But a senior MP warns of parallels with the Vietnam war.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said the group of military officers would be deployed to Libya‘s second city Benghazi, which is an opposition stronghold.
He said: “The National Security Council has decided that we will now move quickly to expand the team already in Benghazi to include an additional military liaison advisory team.
“This contingent will be drawn from experienced British military officers.”
Mr Hague said the move was needed to help protect civilians in Libya and was compatible with the United Nations resolution which authorised a no-fly zone.
Shashank Joshi, an Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and a doctoral student of international relations at Harvard University told Channel 4 News that no one could justifiably say the move breached the UN resolution.
Vietnam began with an American president sending military advisers. We must proceed with caution. Sir Menzies Campbell
But he did add several notes of caution: “You can give arms to the rebels and train them but it may not be effective. The rebels lack organisation, leadership and tactical skills.
“A second point is that is takes a long time to train people. Britain is still training the Afghan army nine years on from its original efforts.
“The quality of conscripts has been poor in Afghanistan and you’re likely to see the same in Libya.”
As the British Government announces it is sending military advisors to assist the Libyan rebels Channel 4 News Chief Correspondent Alex Thomson asks if EU soldiers could end up on the ground?
"So we move from air attacks, to providing flak jackets and mobile phones, to supplying communications equipment, to soldiers on the ground acting as advisors to the rebels about whom we still know very little.
"Mission creep? Some conclude that it is."
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Mission creep?
Labour MP David Winnick, who backed last week’s calls to interrupt the Easter recess and recall MPs to Parliament, has criticised the deployment of British military officers.
He said: “However much one despises the brutality of the Gaddafi clan which rules Libya, the fact remains that there is a danger of mission creep.
“There is a civil war in Libya and this is a big escalation of Britain’s involvement. I don’t think there is an appetite in Britain for military intervention.
“Having been engaged in two wars in nine years in Muslim countries, it would be unwise to become involved in a third.”
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Senior Liberal Democrat Sir Menzies Campbell, his party’s former foreign affairs spokesman, warned against becoming bogged down in Libya, similar to the US in Vietnam.
He said: “Sending advisers for a limited purpose is probably within the terms of Resolution 1973, but it must not be seen as a first instalment of further military deployment.
“Vietnam began with an American president sending military advisers. We must proceed with caution.”