WASHINGTON // Barack Obama presented a strong defence of his administration's policy on Libya, telling an American prime-time audience that the US had acted with unprecedented speed and utmost caution.
The US president said on Monday the country had no choice but to intervene forcefully in view of a potential "massacre" of Libyans. But important questions remain unanswered, including how the US goal of seeing Col Muammar Qaddafi, the Libyan leader, ousted can be achieved without broadening the scope of the UN-mandated military operation, something Mr Obama specifically said would be a mistake.
Mr Obama said that while the US had an obligation to act on "what's right", the country could not be expected to use military force "wherever repression occurs".
Mr Obama's insistence that American leadership of military operations over Libya will pass to Nato is somewhat belied by Washington's senior role in the organisation. It suggests Mr Obama was trying to sugar-coat a continued and significant role in Libya for a domestic audience wary of further US military involvement abroad.
As world powers met in London yesterday to determine what a Nato command would mean, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, called the meeting a "turning point".
She defined the gathering, in part, as working out how to pursue the "broader goal of a Libya that belongs not to a dictator, but to the Libyan people".
Whatever strategy is agreed upon, there is little doubt that the US will play a central role not only in mapping out strategy but in implementation.
Mr Obama's insistence that Nato, not the US, would now be in control of operations was "very disingenuous", according to Joshua Muravchik, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and a prominent neoconservative commentator.
Mr Muravchik pointed out that when Nato was in charge of operations in Bosnia in the 1990s - an example also cited in a different context by Mr Obama in his speech on Monday - American aircraft flew "90 per cent of sorties".
Mr Obama's stated opposition to regime change in Libya, Mr Muravchik suggested, was really an opposition to committing US ground troops to achieving it.
"Of course they are trying to overthrow Qaddafi by force. I think he is obfuscating."
The last thing the US would want was a situation in which Libya was divided and Col Qaddafi clung on to power, argued Mr Muravchik.
In that case, he said, Mr Obama would not be averse to authorising some kind of "covert action" to arm and train the opposition, even if that was done by third parties but "orchestrated by us".
Critics of the administration's handling of Libya, however, fail to properly appreciate the "extraordinarily tough political environment" that the administration is faced with in the Middle East at the moment, said Steven Cook, of the Council on Foreign Relations.
"Essentially the world is getting rewired right in front of [Mr Obama's] face. It's hard. [The administration] had to do something, and I think they are doing the best they possibly can."
On the regional level, perhaps the most pressing issue for Mr Obama was the precedent that military intervention in Libya has set. The American president made a point of outlining the unique circumstances that he said had forced the international community's hand in Libya.
But it is not clear what position the US can take on other security clampdowns in the region, in Bahrain and Syria for example, without also inviting criticism of inconsistency and hypocrisy.
"[The Libyan intervention] is a precedent," said Mr Cook. "And it's much easier to do this with people you don't like. We may end up doing it in Syria. They are not going to do it with Bahrain."
But the problem of precedent had to be put aside in Libya because the administration had no choice but to act. With revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, Libya's neighbours, still fragile, inaction would have sent the message to others in the region that "Mubarak was an idiot for not cracking down", said Mr Cook.
Ultimately, he said, it was in America's interest to support burgeoning democracy forces in the region.
"We want authoritarian leaders to know that there are consequences to applying force on their own people. And we want people in the Arab world to know that the US supports their desire to live in more free and open societies," he said.
okarmi@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
Dates for the diary
To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:
- September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
- October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
- October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
- November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
- December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
- February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Sub Regional Qualifier
Event info: The tournament in Kuwait is the first phase of the qualifying process for sides from Asia for the 2020 World T20 in Australia. The UAE must finish within the top three teams out of the six at the competition to advance to the Asia regional finals. Success at regional finals would mean progression to the World T20 Qualifier.
Teams: UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Maldives, Qatar
Friday fixtures: 9.30am (UAE time) - Kuwait v Maldives, Qatar v UAE; 3pm - Saudi Arabia v Bahrain
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Sunday's fixtures
- Bournemouth v Southampton, 5.30pm
- Manchester City v West Ham United, 8pm
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
If you go
Flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.
The stay
Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.
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UAE - India ties
The UAE is India’s third-largest trade partner after the US and China
Annual bilateral trade between India and the UAE has crossed US$ 60 billion
The UAE is the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil for India
Indians comprise the largest community with 3.3 million residents in the UAE
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi first visited the UAE in August 2015
His visit on August 23-24 will be the third in four years
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, visited India in February 2016
Sheikh Mohamed was the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations in January 2017
Modi will visit Bahrain on August 24-25
SANCTIONED
- Kirill Shamalov, Russia's youngest billionaire and previously married to Putin's daughter Katarina
- Petr Fradkov, head of recently sanctioned Promsvyazbank and son of former head of Russian Foreign Intelligence, the FSB.
- Denis Bortnikov, Deputy President of Russia's largest bank VTB. He is the son of Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB which was responsible for the poisoning of political activist Alexey Navalny in August 2020 with banned chemical agent novichok.
- Yury Slyusar, director of United Aircraft Corporation, a major aircraft manufacturer for the Russian military.
- Elena Aleksandrovna Georgieva, chair of the board of Novikombank, a state-owned defence conglomerate.
Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295