Opinion: The Trump administration needs to clean up its Libya policy mess
National security adviser John Bolton, right, listens as President Trump, left, speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on May 22, 2018. By Josh Rogin Josh Rogin Columnist covering foreign policy and national security Email Bio Follow Columnist April 29 at 2:23 PM This post has been updated, 3:40 p.m.
Khalifa Hifter, a dual Libyan-U.S. citizen leading a militia in Libya’s east, is waging war against the United Nations-recognized Government of National Accord and attacking Tripoli, with thinly disguised assistance from Russia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. U.S. military forces fighting terrorism have been forced to withdraw from Tripoli as the situation worsens and the GNA pleads for international support.
As far as the Libyan government was aware, the United States was fully supportive of the 2015 agreement that established the GNA as the sole legitimate government in Tripoli. On April 7, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Hifter to halt his offensive. “This shows that there is maybe a difference of opinion between the White House and the State Department, and we are trying to talk to our friends in Washington to find out more about this,” Mishri told me.
The United States has a unique role to play because it is the only country that can influence the various regional players and hopefully persuade them to back off their support for Hifter’s offensive, Mishri said. The forces supporting the GNA in Tripoli will defend the city, he said, because they believe in the U.N.-supported process that has provided Libya with a degree of stability and a path toward democracy.
“It’s crystal clear to me if Hifter moves on Tripoli this will ignite a war on a much larger level, it will be a mini Syria, that the regional proxies will up their game, that a vacuum will be created when more [Islamic State] types will be allowed to come back,” Graham told me. “There’s been confusion created by this phone call. And it’s going to end badly if we don’t clear it up.”
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