Will Obama violate the arms embargo in Libya?

[Catherina]

MONDAY, MAR 28, 2011 12:39 ET

Will Obama violate the arms embargo in Libya?
The administration suggests it may send weapons to the rebels, raising thorny legal questions
BY JUSTIN ELLIOTT


(UPDATED) The Obama administration is now openly talking about arming the rebels in Libya, raising the question of whether such a move would be legal given that there is a U.N. arms embargo covering all of the country. The answer: It depends on whom you ask.

...

Some observers, like the Atlantic's Max Fisher, have already pointed to the troubled history of the U.S. arming rebels in Afghanistan and Central America, places where rebel elements later turned on the U.S. or committed war crimes. That history is particularly relevant today given reports that there are Islamic extremist elements among the Libyan rebel coalition.

For a while now, hawkish Republicans like John McCain have been calling on the administration to arm the rebels (McCain even cited the experience of arming the mujahedin in Afghanistan in the 1980s as a good precedent). But only in the past few days has the administration openly talked about such a step. The ambassador to Libya said over the weekend that arming the rebels was a real possibility, and the White House press secretary asserted that it would be legal under the U.N. resolution providing for a no-fly zone over Libya.

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It's unclear whether the U.S. would need U.N. approval if it decides to arm the rebels. "The argument that the U.S. government will make is that the necessity to protect civilians by all means will supercede the arms embargo," says Steve Clemons, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation. He adds that the situation is a messy one, and "there's a chance that you could provide arms that could fuel a civil war or fuel another strongman."

...

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/03/28/obama_libya_arming_rebels/index.html

[dkofos]

1. Will anything happen to him if he does??

[Catherina]

4. I doubt it. We killed 1,184 Pakistanis in 2010. And not a word was said n/t

[Moondog]

2. Is a

pig's ass pork? Of course he will. Then folks will turn themselves inside out attempting to justify this. They will convince themselves that they have done so. And they will be wrong.

[sad sally]

3. I think the US is already arming the opposition, this move would make it okay, I guess

Egypt’s military has begun shipping arms over the border to Libyan rebels with Washington’s knowledge
by EDITORIAL STAFF on Mar 17, 2011 • 11:50 pm

CAIRO—Egypt’s military has begun shipping arms over the border to Libyan rebels with Washington’s knowledge, U.S. and Libyan rebel officials said.

The shipments—mostly small arms such as assault rifles and ammunition—appear to be the first confirmed case of an outside government arming the rebel fighters. Those fighters have been losing ground for days in the face of a steady westward advance by forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

The Egyptian shipments are the strongest indication to date that some Arab countries are heeding Western calls to take a lead in efforts to intervene on behalf of pro-democracy rebels in their fight against Mr. Gadhafi in Libya. Washington and other Western countries have long voiced frustration with Arab states’ unwillingness to help resolve crises in their own region, even as they criticized Western powers for attempting to do so.

“We know the Egyptian military council is helping us, but they can’t be so visible,” said Hani Souflakis, a Libyan businessman in Cairo who has been acting as a rebel liaison with the Egyptian government since the uprising began.

“Weapons are getting through,” said Mr. Souflakis, who says he has regular contacts with Egyptian officials in Cairo and the rebel leadership in Libya. “Americans have given the green light to the Egyptians to help. The Americans don’t want to be involved in a direct level, but the Egyptians wouldn’t do it if they didn’t get the green light.”

http://in2news.net/2011/03/egypts-military-has-begun-sh...?du

And where does Egypt get most of its military might? If you guessed the USofA, you'd be right. So, in a round-about way, we're arming the rebels. Let's just hope we keep the good rebels and bad rebels straight.

Here’s another distinguishing thing about US aid to Egypt: The vast majority of it is earmarked for the military. In recent years Egypt has received about $1.3 billion in military aid annually. Of that, about one-third goes to weapons maintenance, one-third to weapons upgrades, and one-third to weapons purchases, according to CRS. You’ve probably seen Egypt’s US-designed M1 tanks in news footage from Tahrir Square. Egypt has also bought American-made Apache helicopters, F-16 jet fighters, and Knox-class frigates.

US aid “covers as much as 80% of the Defense Ministry’s weapons procurement costs,” estimates CRS.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/DC-Decoder/2011/0...?du