NATO Watch.
A congressional vote to suspend US military involvement in Libya was lost, although nearly 100 Republicans supported Democratic congressman Dennis Kucinich’s resolution that demanded the withdrawal of all US forces from the Mediterranean conflict within 15 days. Despite losing the vote by 265-148, the bipartisan support revealed disquiet across party lines at the lack of congressional approval for the NATO mission in Libya.
The US Defence Department unsurprisingly opposed the Kucinich bill: “Secretary Gates believes that for the United States, once committed to a NATO operation, to unilaterally abandon that mission would have enormous and dangerous long-term consequences”, a spokesman said.
An alternative resolution by John Boehner, the Republican leader of the House, calling for the restoration of Congress’s constitutional role for funding the conflict, was passed (by 268-145 votes), however, and requires President Obama to supply information on the operation within two weeks. Mr Boehner criticised the undefined nature of the campaign, saying: “This administration has committed American resources to enforcing a UN resolution that is inconsistent with our stated policy goals and national interests when it comes to removing Muammer Gaddafi from power”.
The participation of US armed forces in the NATO mission in Libya has come under increasing scrutiny by domestic lawmakers because it has not been approved by Congress. The US constitution allows for a 60-day period before congressional approval, although the Libyan campaign is now three months old.
The challenge by US lawmakers came as NATO decided on 31 May to extend the mission by 90 days and European forces upped the ante with the deployment of British and French attack helicopters over Libya for the first time. The former head of the British Army, Lord Dannatt, said the “the mission under UNHCR 1973 is quite clear, it’s to protect people but of course the implied task, and let’s be absolutely open and honest about it, is the removal of Colonel Gaddafi”.
British Labour MP Graham Allen said there needed to be a fresh debate in the House of Commons on Libya: “The way out of this mess is not to keep cranking up the military hardware and having so-called ‘implied tasks’ added on against the express view of the House of Commons; what we need to do is figure out how we can get a political solution that will last for several generations in Libya rather than this adventure which has no prospect of coming to a close”.
Last week, UN investigators accused government forces in Libya of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The UN report also said opposition forces were guilty of abuses that would constitute war crimes, although they were not so numerous. The Human Rights Council is scheduled to consider the report today.