President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC
February 25, 2011
Dear Mr. President:
In your 2009 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, you rightly declared that “Inaction tears at our conscience and can lead to more costly intervention later.” Today the United States and our allies in Europe must take action in response to the unfolding crisis in Libya. With violence spiraling to new heights, and with the apparent willingness of the Qaddafi regime to use all weapons at its disposal against the Libyan people, we may be on the threshold of a moral and humanitarian catastrophe.
Inaction, or slow and inadequate measures, may not only fail to stop the slaughter in Libya but will cast doubt on the commitment of the United States and Europe to basic principles of human rights and freedoms. Therefore, we recommend the United States, in conjunction with NATO allies, take the following specific actions immediately:
1) The United States should call upon NATO to develop operational plans to urgently:
- Establish a presence in Libyan airspace to prevent the continued use of fighter jets and helicopter gunships against civilians and carry out other missions as required.
- Move naval assets into Libyan waters to aid in evacuation efforts and prepare for possible contingencies. Establish the capability to disable Libyan naval vessels used to attack civilians.
3) Consider temporarily halting importation of Libyan oil to the United States and Europe.
4) Make a clear statement that Col. Qaddafi and other officials who order and participate in massacres of civilians will be held accountable for their crimes under international law.
5) Provide humanitarian aid to the Libyan people as quickly as possible.
The United States and our European allies have a moral interest in both an end to the violence and an end to the murderous Libyan regime. There is no time for delay and indecisiveness. The people of Libya, the people of the Middle East, and the world require clear U.S. leadership in this time of opportunity and peril.
Sincerely,
Elliott Abrams | Neil Hicks | John Podhoretz |
Stephen E. Biegun | William Inboden | Randy Scheunemann |
Max Boot | Bruce Pitcairn Jackson | Dan Senor |
Ellen Bork | Ash Jain | John Shattuck |
Scott Carpenter | Robert Kagan | Mike Singh |
Eliot Cohen | David Kramer | Gare Smith |
Seth Cropsey | Irina Krasovskaya | William Taft |
Larry Diamond | William Kristol | Marc Thiessen |
Thomas Donnelly | Tod Lindberg | Daniel Twining |
Michelle Dunne | Michael Makovsky | Pete Wehner |
Eric Edelman | Cliff May | Ken Weinstein |
Peter Feaver | Courtney Messerschmidt | Leon Wieseltier |
Jamie Fly | Joshua Muravchik | Damon Wilson |
Reuel Marc Gerecht | Martin Peretz | Jennifer Windsor |
John Hannah | Danielle Pletka | Paul Wolfowitz |
Pic - "Foreign Policy Initiatives"
12 comments:
One problem with the petition should be pointed out though. There's still hundreds of foreign citizens from NATO countries stranded in Libya, and Colonel is no stranger to taking revenge on foreigners over the most bizzare issues.
Lest we forget the Bulgarian nurses who were jailed for "spreading aids," so the people of Libya were given a culprit responsible for spread of the disease other than the poor healthcare system.
I wish I could create in-text hyperlinks as other have in their comments posts, but there have been mentions of them spread throughout various news articles.
Eg.: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8350308/Libya-UK-working-intensively-to-establish-how-many-Britons-remain-stranded.html
150 Britons were rescued, but another 300 remain in the country.
Did my post get deleted? I could swear I posted under this article.
Anyhow, I thought I should point out that there's a minor problem with a forceful military intervention these signatories seem to be wishing for. While I absolutely agree that it is necessary to end the bloodshed in Libya as soon as possible, I also feel that certain caution needs to be exercised for the moment.
There's still hundreds of citizens from NATO countries stranded in Libya. UK, for example, recently evacuated hundred and fifty civilians, but about three hundred more remain in the country. At least.
If any military intervention is launched now, it is very well possible the regime might take revenge upon foreigners from the countries, that would be involved in the intervention. Ghaddafi is no stranger to spiteful politically motivated violence.
Just thought that might be something 44 could consider.
By the way, how do I create in-text hyperlinks in these blog comments?
Hi Michal,
Well, China has sortee'd her Xuzhou, a Type 054 Jiangkai-II class missile frigate, from the ongoing seventh PLAN anti-piracy task force deployment off Somalia to steam to Libyan coast to provide support and protection for the ongoing evacuation mission there - with a contingent of Peoples Liberation Marines on board.
Great Britain has launched several SAS pantie raids to evac her ppls.
And State rents a ferry that can't move for 36 hours?
Look - how do you deal with a despot determined to go down in flames? You make his dreams come true.
GsGf is a true believer in free speech so we don't moderate commentary - unless it's spam, an ad hominem type personal attack on other commentators or grossly inappropriate.
An old trick to embed linkage may be to create a blogger account and use editing and post tools to link phrases or words, switch to html mode, copy and paste into the desired commentary spot.
I couldn't agree more.
O hasn't even bothered to order a carrier to move.
The admin is the definition of feckless.
Except they seem to be good at killing opportunity for Americans to thrive. I suppose if that is the goal then they may not be so feckless after all.
Say -- aren't these the same geniuses who persuaded us to go into Iraq?
How many of them will actually fight this war they're so crazy about?
Maybe you could lead by example Old Rebel?
Now that Mookie's back in Iraq, Mahdi Army might be hot for a defeatist like yourself - or as best understood - Talibani cats (your choice - Pakistani or Afghani)would love to hook up with someone of your robust ability to champion their cause. :)
"Trust us, the PNAC happy crowd. We've never been wrong yet!!!"
Yeah, I'm gonna have to pass on the "American exceptionalism through preventive invasions" angle. If any letter should be tossed more quickly into the shredder, I can't think of it.
Seriously, do you have a link for this letter? Would really like to see the source.
GSGF,
Now why do you think I want to take sides in a fight that I'm saying is none of our business?
At least attempt a rational argument.
Hi J - yes sir, it's up @FPI
Well Old Rebel - The Open Letter laid such ground work for rational argument. Hop in any time.
Actually a fleet carrier and an escort carrier were ordered to move...away through the Suez.
Everytime I see J and McTug in agreement, which is all too often, I'm reminded of Ribbentrop-Molotov.
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