John Baron MP: NATO’s Libyan victory does not justify intervention

MP makes comments on last day of NATO’s combat mission

 Today is the last day for NATO’s combat operations in Libya, despite requests from the National Transitional Council for NATO to extend its mission. In media interviews today, John Baron MP has said that victory has not justified our intervention and that lessons need to be learnt for the future.

 John said:

 “When voting against this intervention, I did not doubt that NATO would prevail over Gaddaffi. But victory does not justify the intervention. War should always be the measure of last resort, once all other measures have been exhausted. This was not the case in Libya, just as it wasn’t in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is why I voted against all three.”

 “Our intervention was justified on humanitarian grounds. But those Arab countries, notably Egypt, who called for a no-fly zone could have put one in overnight given their vastly superior air power. Instead, the West wanted regime change in what became the longest assassination attempt in history. UN Security Council Resolution 1973 was stretched to breaking point as a result.”

 “There has to be an element of consistency in any future interventions. Why is it we have turned a blind eye to Bahrain and the Yemen? Furthermore, in this information age, success will depend on who wins the story, not just the war. Persuasion is far more powerful and cheaper than force, and yet we are cutting the BBC World Service and the British Council.”