International law impedes intervention

The international community cannot intervene militarily in Libya because it lacks the international legal basis to do so, writes the left-liberal daily Der Standard: "Foreign intervention in a civil war is only legally justified ... on the request of and in support of the 'government'. Of course this is unthinkable when the government in question is fighting to repress the legitimate demands of the people. ... And the reverse argument - international intervention in support of the rebels is justified when the government is no longer considered lawful - is still not universally valid. As always in such cases the international community is forced to conclude that its framework of international law is still inadequate for tackling moral questions. ... And yet precisely now it is so important to confirm that the rights of freedom and dignity are not the sole reserve of the West. Failing that, a vacuum could open up in Libya and elsewhere for those peddling their own 'values'."

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