By Haley Cook.
Washington, 23 November, 2013:
Stability in Libya and continued US engagement in Libya is “absolutely essential” to the US, a senior . . .[restrict]US government official has said.
“It is in our national security interest to ensure Libya becomes a stable and democratic partner capable of addressing regional security challenges and advancing our shared interests,” said US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Richard Schmierer, told a US Senate committee on Thursday.
He was speaking at a meeting of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs which was discussing the political, economic and security situation in Africa.
“We sometimes pay a little less attention to [North Africa] than I think we should,” commented Senator Tim Kaine, Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs.
US lawmakers’ emphasis on security was evident in the panels’ composition and discussion, with Libya a key area of focus.
A major concern was how best to address the growing power of the militias over official security institutions, allowing what panellists agreed was a climate of instability that fostered increased terrorist activity in Libya and the region. Thomas Joscelyn, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that it was, “clear that it’s part of Al Qaeda’s plan in Libya to co-opt and work with certain of these militias”.
Responding to rumours after the 6 October raid by US special forces on Libyan soil that arrested alleged Al-Qaeda member Nazih Abdul-Hamid Al-Ruqai (also known as Abu Anas Al-Libi), Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for African Affairs Amanda Dory reaffirmed that an international peacekeeping force in Libya was “not the approach that we are supporting”. The US instead looked to fulfil Libyan requests to train a general purpose force as the core of a new Libyan Army.
The US is committed to training from 5,000 to 8,000 soldiers and the UK and Italy an additional 2,000 each.
Frederic Wehrey, Senior Associate in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, cautioned that a general-purpose force would only be effective if it had a clearly defined mission, effective civilian oversight, non-partisan, inclusive, and professional composition with members free of a criminal background and past human rights abuses, and was combined with concurrent programs to reintegrate former revolutionary fighters into civilian life.
Wehrey was critical of US efforts to train a small Libyan counter-terrorism unit earlier this year, observing that “recruitment appeared to be drawn overwhelmingly from westerners (Tripolitanians) to the exclusion of the long-neglected east (Cyrenaica)”.
A push by US officials for broader intra-regional cooperation has also led to the Global Security Contingency Fund border security programme. It is jointly funded by the US State and Defence Departments and not only provides technical expertise, training and equipment to strengthen Libyan capabilities for security along the southern border but also includes training and equipment for neighbouring Chad, Niger and Algeria in their security cooperation with Libya.
However, in Wehrey’s assessment, the current informal nature of Libya’s militia-dominated security sector could complicate Libyan-Algerian security cooperation. “Algeria sees Libya as penetrated by Islamists, whom they fear”, he said.
Additionally, Senator Kaine praised US efforts in ending Libyan chemical weapons stockpiles, which Dory said was scheduled to occur by the end of 2013 in keeping with Libya’s international commitments.
Schmierer recognised that “enhanced security is only part of the solution” to promoting a stable and prosperous Libya.
The sentiment was echoed by Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Middle East Bureau at the US Agency for International Development Alina Romanowski, who said that “security and development…are interlinked”.
US efforts to support Libya’s political and economic development include developing governance institutions, building entrepreneurship and supporting an emerging civil society, an engaged citizenry, transitional justice and national reconciliation.
William Lawrence, Visiting Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, urged policymakers to consider the future impact of programs on Libya’s youth, its most important demographic.
The former diplomat also raised concerns about the efficacy of US capacity building programmes in Libya. Changed security protocols after the 11 September 2012 attack on the US mission in Benghazi necessitated a “light footprint in Libya in a very tiny embassy”.
Current US government policy is to minimise spending on Libya-specific programmes with the expectation that Libya has the ability to fund such requested outside assistance. Despite the potential for a drop in Libyan government funds after the ongoing cuts in oil production and export, Senator Kaine acknowledged that from the US side “large increases in budget programs are not possible at this time”.
Lawrence also sought to educate the US Congress on some misconceptions in his testimony. He said that while Western media reports often conflate political assassinations, ethnic conflicts, criminal activity and other violence in Libya into a sea of chaos, “Libya is not one big mess, it is a bunch of little messes that are not very related”.
He also explained that information from North Africa gets distorted coming to Washington and results in a false ‘Egypt effect’ – the assumption that Egypt’s political situation controls the direction of the whole region.
“Egypt isn’t the big problem; Syria is”, he said, referring to foreign fighters in Syria’s civil war – including Libyans – returning to their home countries. [/restrict]
