Canada helped create a mess in Libya

No aid for people or countries at all, writes Chris Kilford.

As the European Union struggles with the general chaos in Libya and an unprecedented influx of migrants leaving Libya’s shores for a better life in Europe, Canada has seemingly chosen to run silent and deep on the whole matter.

What a difference compared to four years ago when Canada was at the forefront of NATO’s successful effort to topple the Gadhafi regime and then hold, of all things, an $800,000 victory parade in Ottawa to mark the occasion.

Four years ago and using UN Security Council Resolution 1973 as a cover, NATO, including Canada, essentially turned a humanitarian no-fly zone operation into a hunt and destroy mission.

If there was any doubt about this, Prime Minister Stephen Harper put minds to rest in November 2011, reminding Canadians that “the taking of Tripoli by rebel forces was materially assisted by CF-18 missions that cleared away Gadhafi’s remaining mechanized forces.”

In fact, Canada swiftly joined efforts in early 2011 to help “liberate” the Libyan people. Seven CF-18 fighter jets, two Aurora patrol aircraft, two Polaris aircraft and one Hercules soon arrived in the region. Meanwhile, at sea a Canadian frigate escorted allied shipping and intercepted unknown vessels. To top things off, the entire NATO operation was commanded, almost from the outset, by a Canadian.

In June 2011, then Foreign Minister John Baird confidently predicted that the Libyan National Transitional Council “couldn’t be any worse than Colonel Gadhafi.”

Perhaps not, but everyone else in Libya was. And it’s not like the potential consequences of intervening in Libya were an unknown. As debate on Resolution 1973 unfolded in New York in March 2011, Brazil noted that the use of force “may have the unintended effect of exacerbating tensions on the ground and causing more harm than good to the very same civilians we are committed to protecting.” If that wasn’t enough, Canada’s military intelligence service had also warned the government that Libya would disintegrate if the Gadhafi regime was removed. But for a government keen to be seen “punching above its weight” such warnings were inconvenient and disregarded.

Of course, the truth today is exactly as the Brazilians and our military predicted. For human traffickers and migrants from across Africa and the Middle East, all roads now lead to the Libyan coast. Border posts are deserted and the coastline open. In 2013, according to the Italian Coast Guard, 27,000 migrants were rescued at sea after setting sail from Libya. In 2014, this number rose to 141,000. As for 2015, the UN International Maritime Organisation recently warned that this number could climb as high as 500,000. Furthermore, according to the International Organization for Migration, approximately 1,750 migrants have drowned in the Mediterranean so far this year, compared to some 60 during the same period in 2014.

As for Canada, our most recent response to the chaos gripping Libya has been to send 180 families in Benghazi hygiene supplies, mattresses and kitchen accessories, and that was back in February.

All this largesse coming from the Embassy’s Canada Fund for Local Initiatives grant — so likely about $5,000 or so worth of assistance and a paltry sum compared to the $100 million of incremental costs spent by Canada’s military during its Libyan foray.

So as boatloads of migrants set sail for the Italian coast, Canada sits on the sidelines. No help for what’s left of Libya’s government, no offers of military assistance to the EU to help patrol the Mediterranean and rescue migrants or offers of additional humanitarian support and no offers to throw a refugee lifeline to those migrants most in need.

Then again, perhaps offering such assistance would end up throwing cold water on our so-called victory in Libya — and we certainly wouldn’t what that, would we?

Dr. Chris Kilford (then Colonel Kilford) served as Canada’s Defence Attaché to Turkey from 20112014. He recently became a fellow with the Queen’s Centre for International and Defence Policy.