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No Mere Rebels

I call them “Free Libya forces” because that is what they call themselves, on Benghazi radio. The Benghazi Transitional National Council has been recognized as the legitimate government of Libya by France, Italy and Qatar, with more governments near to taking this step. They are not mere ‘rebels’ any more. ~Juan Cole Prof. Cole is […]

I call them “Free Libya forces” because that is what they call themselves, on Benghazi radio. The Benghazi Transitional National Council has been recognized as the legitimate government of Libya by France, Italy and Qatar, with more governments near to taking this step. They are not mere ‘rebels’ any more. ~Juan Cole

Prof. Cole is free to use whatever language he likes in his commentary, but one of the reasons I have a hard time reading his commentary on the Libyan war is that he feels compelled to lace it with so many terms that sound as if they came straight out of a propaganda ministry or, in this case, from the propaganda broadcasts of the Libyan rebels. It shouldn’t have to be said, but rebel is not a pejorative or insulting designation. It is a description of their current status.

The Benghazi national council is recognized as the Libyan government by fewer states than recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and it has no more and perhaps less legitimacy than the authorities ruling those separatist republics. To say that half the country supports this council makes the overly generous assumption that because part of Libya rejects Gaddafi’s rule that it therefore supports the group that has claimed leadership. Critics of Hamid Karzai have often justly referred to him as little more than the mayor of Kabul. The Transitional National Council would be fortunate to be considered the Benghazi municipal government, since their writ doesn’t even really extend to the city they claim as their capital.

Whatever legitimacy as a government the Transitional National Council has, it has derived almost entirely from outside states that treat it as if it were a government. The closer we look at how and why these governments have chosen to recognize the council as the Libyan government, the less impressive it seems. Sarkozy recognized the Transitional National Council on the fly without bothering to consult his own foreign minister, who was then sandbagged with the news that the president had made a reckless public commitment on the say-so of Bernard-Henri Levy. Far from being a bold or necessary move, Sarkozy’s premature action created additional divisions in an already-divided EU. Qatar joined in to satisfy the emir’s interest in playing at regional power-broker, and Italy has signed on in a desperate bid to try to get the oil shipments flowing again. If Berlusconi had been able to have his way a month ago, Gaddafi would have already retaken Benghazi and things would have reverted back to the status quo ante. Since he wasn’t able to have his way, Berlusconi is cutting the best deal he can now that he is stuck with the consequences of a war he clearly didn’t want. These are the governments that are propping up the Benghazi leadership as the Libyan government.

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