World
A U.K. parliamentary report has criticized Britain’s military intervention in Libya in 2011, saying that the campaign was based on “erroneous assumptions and an incomplete understanding” of the situation. The foreign affairs committee slammed the then Prime Minister David Cameron for lacking a coherent strategy for the air campaign, which eventually transformed Libya into a failed state on the brink of a civil war.
Cameron earlier claimed that the intervention in the African nation was needed as Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was set to shoot his own people down in the rebel-held city of Benghazi, writes the BBC. Libya descended into chaos with the rise of rival governments and several militias after Gaddafi’s government was toppled. Political and economic collapse in the country allowed the jihadist group Islamic State to expand its foothold in Libya.
The report echoes U.S. President Barack Obama’s assessment, who earlier described the intervention as “a shitshow,” reports The Guardian. The findings of the panel offer an opportunity to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has been critical of rival Hillary Clinton’s handling of the Libyan intervention, when she was U.S. secretary of state.
The report also suggested the foreign office to assess whether the United Nations is the right body to carry out stabilization and reconstruction activities in conflict-hit countries, given that similar missions will soon be required in Syria, Yemen, or Iraq, notes The Wall Street Journal.
