Inspection of the Gaddafi family residence of the time, preserved as a ruin ever since, and seen on our screens again these days, makes it obvious that the US bomb which partially destroyed the residence had been intended to assassinate Muammar Gaddafi (“New Gaddafi blitz”, The Herald, March 21).
Instead the blast and shrapnel killed Gaddafi’s adopted daughter Hannah, aged 18 months, asleep in her bedroom. Some 30 Libyan civilians died too that night. Their relatives still grieve as we do.
In 1993, nearly two years after the publication of indictments of two Libyan citizens for their alleged part in causing the Lockerbie disaster, Lady Thatcher wrote, in praise of this action, in The Downing Street Years.
She wrote: “First it [the bombing raid] turned out to be a more decisive blow against Libyan-sponsored terrorism than I could ever have imagined … the much-vaunted Libyan counter attack did not and could not take place. Gaddafi had not been destroyed but he had been humbled. There was a marked decline in Libyan-sponsored terrorism in succeeding years.”
Two years later the Lockerbie tragedy occurred.
In 1991, when the indictments were issued, I first visited Gaddafi to beg him to allow his citizens to appear before a Scottish court. I also asked him to put up a picture of Flora on the wall of Hannah’s bedroom, beside one of Hannah. Beneath we put a message in Arabic and English. It was still there in 2010 when I was last in Tripoli.
It reads: “ The consequence of the use of violence is the death of innocent people.”
Even forbidden as we private citizens still are, to see the secret documents from those days, the sentiments of Flora’s message remain secure. I hope the plaque will not be destroyed in a second attempt at assassination. Libyans should decide their own future, as we ours.
Dr Jim Swire (father of Flora, murdered at Lockerbie on December 21, 1988),
Rowans Corner, Calf Lane,
Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire.
Exactly eight years to the day after a British Prime Minister unleashed the horrors of war on Iraq, another British Prime Minister orders military action on Libya. This time, this Prime Minister has a UN Security Council resolution to give legitimacy to his action, but nevertheless, David Cameron gave the order to deploy UK troops without consulting the UK Parliament. Democracy should begin at home, and when he was in opposition, Mr Cameron expressed his wish for more Parliamentary involvement in such matters of grave importance.
As with Iraq, and with every other war there has ever been, it is much easier to start a conflict than to prevent it from spiralling out of control or to bring it to an end. Despite Mr Cameron’s insistence that this action is justified to protect the Libyan people from a cruel dictator, there have already been Libyan casualties as a result of these air strikes.
The Herald editorial rightly points out that the medium and long term consequences of embarking on this action require urgent consideration (“Must move skilfully to reach endgame” The Herald, March 21). The very last thing the UK needs is to be embroiled in yet another long, bloody, costly war. The very last thing Libya needs is yet more terror and bloodshed.
Mr Cameron may claim this intervention is legitimate but that still does not justify it as being necessary or right.
Ruth Marr,
99 Grampian Road,
Stirling.
Ian Bell correctly states that “Ordinary Libyans need our help and we must give it” (The Herald, March 19) but he also correctly states that the western countries do not treat each Arab state by the same scale of judgment, for there can be no denying that the ordinary citizens do not share the same standard of social, economic and political life as do their rulers. The situation is not helped by the fact that many of the leaders in these countries are Sunnis while the ordinary citizens are mainly Shia.
David Cameron was well aware that many Arab states were facing upheaval as people strived to obtain a better, more democratic life – yet he visited the Gulf states recently, selling them armaments.
It is, however, probably an inbuilt belief that interference was not the responsibility of Western governments for the simple reason that to do so was reintroducing a colonial mentality allied to the mistaken belief that oppressive power maintained a peaceful, stable society. In such situations the West cannot just pick and choose for, once the citizens revolt, it is essential that some positive action is undertaken without ending up in Iraq and Afghan-style, never-ending conflicts.
It is true that this area holds much of the oil reserves upon which the West depends but without taking corrective action the West is, in a manner, prostituting itself. Despite the introduction of a no-fly zone and President Obama’s belated ultimatum, Gaddafi has not made any serious attempt to stand down and allow the country to develop a more democratic form of government.
However, what can the West do if he does not proceed in that direction? It seems unlikely there will be any positive influence from the Gulf states, for they are also on the verge of major upheavals.
If it does come to armed intervention, it is essential that it be a short, sharp, successful attack with the aim of promptly ensuring an elected form of democratic government and leaving as soon as it is active and accepted. It must not become another Iraq or Afghanistan
Ian FM Saint-Yves,
Dunvegan, School Brae,
Whiting Bay, Arran.
With Tomahawk missiles raining down on Gaddafi’s military installations, Pandora’s Box has truly been opened. How will Gaddafi be toppled without the intervention of foreign ground troops which the Libyan people apparently don’t want? It could develop into a lengthy and costly stalemate at a time when Britain is struggling to overcome its budget deficit.
The British military commitment in Afghanistan is already costing the country enough in lives and resources. We must hope for a speedy resolution of the Libyan conflict with its ultimately uncertain outcome but be prepared for the worst.
Bob MacDougall,
Oxhill, Kippen,
Stirlingshire.
President Obama says: “We cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people there will be no mercy”.
I bet Robert Mugabe is shaking in his boots.
Michael Watson,
74 Wardlaw Avenue,
Rutherglen, Glasgow.
