How to Save the Civilians in Libya:

On an Egyptian-Turkish imposed no-fly zone in Libya 

By Abdallah Schleifer | Al-Masry Al-Youm

Mon, 07/03/2011 - 11:38

Some of my Egyptian friends, having stood in Tahrir Square during the most critical days, are now engaged in running medical supplies and occasionally doctors into Libya. And now that the International Red Cross is in place and working closely with the Libyan Red Crescent Society in Benghazi and other parts of liberated Libya, they say the critical problem is food.

Significant amounts of medical supplies can cross over haphazardly in cars and minivans, but that is not the case with food for large numbers of people. Very soon two million or more Libyans in liberated territory may be in need of supplies. If Qadhafi is so willing to shoot down his own people when they are unarmed, why not also starve them into surrender? Already there are reports that food supplies being shipped from Tripoli to the eastern cities are being stopped by pro-Qadhafi militia manning roadblocks and turned back, and that bakeries in the liberated territories are running out of wheat.

But how to fly it in? Given the ease with which pro-Gadhafi forces have fired upon unarmed civilians in the earliest days of the insurrection--and to this date in Tripoli, there is no reason to assume that Gadhafi would not order his air force to intercept slow-moving transport planes flying over liberated Libyan territory to drop food supplies by parachute, or to use anti-aircraft batteries if any such transport planes stray within range.

That means a no-fly zone is needed -- not for the sake of military intervention, as was the case with the Anglo-American no-fly zone operating over northern Iraq in the late 90s -- but for the sake of humanitarian relief. No doubt a no-fly zone would provide a more level field for the insurgents, who are assembling a hastily trained volunteer rebel army under the loose command of regular army officers who have defected to the revolution--but that would be a by-product, albeit a very welcome by-product, of what remains a justifiable and explicit humanitarian intervention.

But Egypt, if it does not have surplus food, certainly has a powerful air force and one that has the capacity to do precisely the job at hand, within range and without the need for aircraft carriers or foreign bases (although the Tunisians could reasonably be asked to provide refueling facilities). If necessary, Egypt has the capacity to act alone; it is also clear from President Obama's remarks on Sunday that he is charting a different course than his defense secretary. At a press conference at the White House, Obama not only said that the violence must stop, that Qadhafi had lost all legitimacy and must step down, but he also noted that American forces were being positioned so that the US would have "full capacity to act rapidly if we have a humanitarian crisis on our hands."

But why shouldn't the Egyptian Armed Forces rise to this occasion on their own initiative, as they did so heroically in 1973, and again, in their own way, just a few weeks ago here in Egypt? And why not broaden the base of operations by asking the Turkish government to authorize its air force to participate in a joint operation? An Egyptian or Egyptian-Turkish imposed no-fly zone over Libya would make it immediately possible for an American and European air lift to provide food for Liberated Libya.

The idea of an Egyptian-Turkish Third Force Alliance, so-to-speak evolving from cooperation over Libya, should be quite appealing: An alliance that would transcend the present divisions within the Arab world. Whatever the Turkish response, Egypt has the capacity and moral ground to act now, and alone if necessary.