The Qaddafi Principle: Could A No-Fly Zone Be Imposed On Israel Next?

The double-edged sword of Western intervention in Libya goes beyond the inevitable impulse to mollify Muslim sensitivities by applying more pressure on Israel--Western intervention in Libya has created a whole new option that can be--and already has been--suggested against Israel.

Frank Gaffney writes about what he calls The Qaddafi Principle:

There are many reasons to be worried about the bridge-leap the Obama Administration has just undertaken in its war with Muamar Gaddafi. How it will all end is just one of them.

What I find particularly concerning is the prospect that what we might call the Qaddafi Precedent will be used in the not-to-distant future to justify and threaten the use of U.S. military forces against an American ally: Israel.


...The unified Palestinian proto-government then seeks international help to “liberate” their land. As with the Gaddafi Precedent, the first to act is the Arab League. Its members unanimously endorse the use of force to protect the “Palestinian people” and end the occupation of the West Bank by the Israelis.

Turkey, which is technically still a NATO ally despite its ever-more-aggressive embrace of Islamism, joins forces with Britain and France, applaud this initiative in the interest of promoting “peace.” They call on the UN Security Council to authorize such steps as might be necessary to enforce the Arab League’s bidding.

Gaffney wrote this just 2 days ago and already has been proven prescient, although even he did not foresee that in its eagerness, Turkey would jump the gun.

While Gaffney saw the Qaddafi Principle as a tool to be implemented after a UN Security Council resolution recognizing the unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood, Turkey has already suggested the need for a no-fly zone over Israel:

After assuring both Libyans and Turks that Turkey was not involved in airstrikes on Libya, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç, of Turkey, said, “We wish that the United Nations had made such resolutions and countries had taken action in the face of incidents in Gaza, Palestine and the other regions.” While Namik Tan, Turkey’s ambassador to the United States, tries to assure Jewish groups that his government really isn’t anti-Semitic and anti-Israel, someone might want to ask him why his boss is calling for airstrikes on the Jewish state?

I don't suppose those "other regions" Arınç threw in do not include Syria and Iran, who--like Libya--have shown no compunction about shooting their own people?

Inspired by Mr. Arınç, I would personally like to suggest southeastern Turkey as an excellent place to apply the Qaddafi Principle. While it is to late to do anything about the Turkish massacre of Armenians, the history of Turkish bombings of Kurds in northern Iraq has been noted by Human Rights Watch, and those Turkish attacks on Iraq still continue.

Just saying.

Hat tip: The PostWest

Technorati Tag: Libya and Turkey and Gaddafi.