New-edition humanitarian intervention

Edited and Translated by People's Daily Online

The smoke of gunpowder has not fully dispersed in Tripoli, but the destiny of Muammar Qaddafi has been determined and the Libyan crisis has been fundamentally settled. It makes people recall Belgrade in 1999 and Baghdad in 2003.

In March 1999, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), led by the United States, bombed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, destroyed the government of Slobodan Milosevic, and sent Milosevic to the International Court of Justice at the Hague. In March 2003, troops sent by the Untied States took Iraq and captured Saddam Hussein alive. The result of the bombing carried out by NATO on Libya is almost same as the results of those two wars.

The political lives of the Middle East's strongmen are coming to an end, and the Arabian people are protesting strongly. But big Western countries raised their banner of humanitarian intervention once again, attacked the administrations that they do not like and threatened the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of developing countries and the world peace. It needs people to heighten their vigilance.

After the Cold War, the Untied States believed the disintegration of the Soviet Union marked the end of history and thereafter shifted its sights on the "rogue," "axis of evil" and "outpost of tyranny" countries. Holding the banner of humanitarian intervention high, it adopted every means, be they sanctions or military strikes, to change the administrations of these countries.

The two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have completely exhausted the Untied States, and therefore, after Barack Obama took office in the White House, he has repeated again and again that the international communities have entered an era characterized by a new form of intervention, and the United States must use its smart power.

Then, the 2011 Libyan civil war became the first proving ground for the Obama doctrine. After the Libyan opposition captured Tripoli, a top White House official said proudly that the toppling of the Qaddafi regime in Libya shows that the Obama administration's "multilateral and light-footprint approach" to regime change is more effective than the "troop-heavy occupation-style approach" used by the George W. Bush administration in Iraq and Afghanistan, The official believes that the fact that it is Libyans marching into Tripoli provides a basis of legitimacy for the regime change.

The U.S. media have summed up four characteristics of the new model of humanitarian intervention in Libya: first, a "local group" that was willing to fight and die for regime change; second, "locally recognized legitimacy" in the form of the Arab League's request for intervention; third, "international legitimacy" in the form of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973; fourth, "genuine burden sharing" with allies.

The United States has indeed created a new model of humanitarian intervention. Under the new model, it does not need to direct every military operation but can act as the mastermind behind humanitarian intervention. Some key features of the new model include legitimacy, efficiency and low cost.

The Libyan people's revolt against Qaddafi has no causal relationship with NATO's wanton bombing. Once the latter oversteps the former, the "humanitarian intervention" cannot stand legally. Intervening in the internal affairs of other countries is against the Charter of the United Nations, and even if the action is disguised as humanitarian intervention, it is still illegal.

In addition, U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 did not authorize any country to conduct military actions against Libya. Therefore, the global affair can only be solved through the negotiations by all the countries together. The new "humanitarian intervention" is just old wine in a new bottle. If this kind of intervention prevails, it would destroy the international relationships and plunge the whole world into chaos.

When the victory of Libyan rebels came from Tripoli, it seems the Obama's government may open the champagne and give a toast. But they should realize that the victory of Libyan rebels cannot be copied. As we all know, a country's own people should solve the internal affairs of any country.

The affairs of any area should be solved together by all the countries in that area, and world affairs should be solved through negotiations by all the countries. Although each country has its own problems and faces with kinds of difficulties, the era of great power intervention is over.