Main focus of Thursday, June 9, 2011

Nato should step up fight against Gaddafi

The Nato defence ministers on Wednesday resolved to continue the air strikes against Muammar al-Gaddafi's regime until a ceasefire is called. However the Nato members involved in the mission rejected proposals to deploy more troops, which the press criticises.

Elsevier - Netherlands

The Dutch government has refused to deploy its F-16 fighter jets against the Gaddafi regimes' strategic posts. The right-wing conservative news magazine Elsevier criticises the decision and calls for more commitment: "According to military theory, every dictator falls once his regime's mainstays are attacked. These may be military headquarters, oil refineries, government buildings or broadcasting towers. In this context the Nato operations must be expanded to encompass ground targets. The British, French and Americans are already doing this. The Danish, Norwegians and even the Belgians are helping them. But the six Dutch F-16s are not allowed to attack ground targets. ... It makes little sense to send aircraft that only pretend to take part in the mission. This demand is not fired by a passion for warfare but in favour of a mission aimed at preventing prolonged bloodshed." (09/06/2011)

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Avvenire - Italy

The Nato states have not complied with Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen's desire for broader participation in the Libya intervention. This is because the war is chiefly driven by economic interests, writes the Catholic daily Avvenire: "No matter how brutal Libya's current ruler may be, was it really worthwhile to declare war against him? ... It must be admitted that if there was no oil in the Libyan Desert there would never have been such a massive deployment of allied forces. You almost get the feeling the decision to bomb Libya was made by the big oil companies rather than states intent on defending democracy. The governments are once again undecided, particularly as the Libyan revolts are different to those in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia. A civil war has broken out in Libya." (09/06/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Libya
All available articles from » Giulio Albanese

Lidové noviny - Czech Republic

Although they were initially very reserved in the Libya conflict, Russia and China are becoming increasingly pragmatic, writes the conservative daily Lidové noviny: "In mid-March the Russians and Chinese withheld their votes in the UN Security Council because of the lack of precision in formulating what form the military intervention should take. Now the Russian ambassador has said during a visit to the rebels that Gaddafi lost all legitimacy the first time shots were fired at Libyan citizens. ... Beijing, which had demanded respect for Libya's sovereignty, is now saying that the decision [on the country's future] lies only with the Libyan people. ... A Russian newspaper yesterday called the Libyan conflict a hidden American-Chinese struggle for influence. It would be ironic if this conflict ended in a military victory for the West with a sugar coating of Chinese capital." (09/06/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Russia, » Libya, » China
All available articles from » Petr Pešek

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