United Nations

Libya: Mission creak

By the Editors of the Guardian

From the Editors of the Guardian:  The 20 British and French military advisers being sent to help the rebels in Benghazi do not constitute an occupation force.

Libya crisis reveals divisions on EU defense policy

By Judy Dempsey, the International Herald Tribune

“Adenauer and de Gaulle must be turning in their graves”

By Roger Cohen, the New York Times

From Roger Cohen, the New York Times:  Only in recent weeks has the distance traveled come into focus: France, reintegrated in 2009 into the command structure of NATO

Welcome to NATO Operation Protecting Disunity

By Julian Lindley-French, the New Atlanticist

From Julian Lindley-French, the New Atlanticist: The statement is a masterpiece of NATO speak and thus needs interpreting into plain English. This is something that has not been seen at NATO Headquarters since the Scottish occupied it back in the early naughties – it was plain but incomprehensible. … The “valuable” contribution made by OUP members […]

NATO made the right call on helping Libya

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Washington Post

From Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Washington Post:  [T]he international community and NATO had to act in Libya — and we did so quickly.

UN rebuffs EU proposal for humanitarian mission to Libya

By DPA

From DPA:  The United Nations has rebuffed a European Union offer to deploy a military mission to assist humanitarian aid efforts in Libya, European officials in Luxembourg said Tuesday.

Germany and Libya

By Charlemagne, the Economist

Cold War neutrals now taking sides, timidly

By Karl Ritter, the AP

From Karl Ritter, the AP:  Swedish fighter jets are roaring into action over Libya under NATO command.

Netherlands unveils severe military cuts

By the AP

From the AP:  The Dutch government will cut 12,000 military jobs, or more than one in six of all armed forces personnel, as part of spending cuts aimed at balancing the budget by 2015, officials said Friday.

Germany willing to participate in EU mission in Libya

By Spiegel

From Spiegel:  In a Thursday interview with the television channel N24, [German Foreign Minister Guido] Westerwelle said that Germany would take part in a European Union humanitarian mission should such an operation come to pass.