Portside

There is indeed a story embedded in the controversial emails of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that goes beyond Republican claims of “cover-up” and Democratic dismissals of the matter as nothing more than election year politics. And that story is deeply damning of American and French actions in the Libyan civil war, from secretly funding the revolt against Muammar Gaddafi, to the willingness to use journalism as a cover for covert action.

The migrant crisis in the Mediterranean has captured the global spotlight. The EU response has focused on enforcement and a crackdown on traffickers. Some European political leaders propose using their navies to stop boats, returning the refuge-seekers to their points of origin, and then sinking the craft. This enforcement-based approach ignores the primary drives of migration but also jeopardizes millions of people who are seeking refuge from repressive regimes.

Stung by criticism the NATO alliance “walked away” from Libya after its bombing campaign helped overthrow Muammar Gaddafi, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced an agreement at the 2013 G8 summit to train the reconstituted Libyan armed forces. But the scheme for the UK, US, Italy and Turkey to train recruits has been beset with problems, including who is going to pay for it. Some trainees have returned to Libya and joined anti-government militias.

Obama's plan to bomb Syria with cruise missiles will do nothing to hasten the end of the conflict. Instead, it will likely prolong it. The US couldn't end the Iraqi civil war despite having over 100,000 boots on the ground. It is highly unlikely that Washington can end this one from 30,000 feet. The "limited" Tomahawk Cruise missile strikes with "no boots on the ground" are quickly expanding to "a broader strategy" to arm and strengthen opposition rebels.

The deepening violence of the Syrian civil war is also in some measure a consequence of Libya: Qaddafi's disbanded army and unguarded weapons moved southward in Africa, but they also moved eastward to Asia. The state terror of the most "surgical" air war leaves in its wake many thousands of stateless terrorists.