Today the UN "slaps sanctions on Libya." This is an extremely important move because it is the first action that the U.N. or any international organization has taken against a dictatorship, as a result of the quickly spreading Arab revolutions.
What do the sanctions do? Well, first off, they aren't economic sanctions. Punishing the country's economy would only hurt the people, the very people that the sanctions are meant to support. Therefore these sanctions are travel and asset sanctions against the Libyan government and military.
Simple Words: In it, the resolution calls for the "immediate referral of the deadly crackdown against anti-government demonstrations" to the International Criminal Court in The Hague for investigation and possible prosecution of "anyone responsible for killing civilians." The resolution also calls for immediate lifting of restrictions on all forms of media and for safety of all international personnel and citizens to be assured.Aside from that, the terminology is meant as "moral support" as the Libyan deputy UN envoy described it (they have refused to support the Libyan government).
Backbone: Aside from just general support that this resolution declares, it also has very specific rules to be set up. Probably the most important is the new arms embargo against the Libyan government. The embargo would take immediate effect and ban any UN member from supplying arms in order to "prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer to Libya...of arms and related materials of all types, including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment." At the same time, Libya would be prohibited from importing all arms and related material and all UN members would have to work to prevent their own citizens from doing so.
As a measure to disrupt Qaddafi, the resolution also establishes travel bans and asset freezes against him, his adult children and other family members, as well as top military and intelligence officials accused of leading in the killing of the civilians.
President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have both publicly called for the ouster of Qaddafi. This is a huge step because it is the first time since the uprisings that the U.S. and the international community have taken action against the ruler of the country. They failed during the Tunisia uprising and even more so during the Egyptian one.
This may also be a sign of adjustment by the Obama administration in how it will deal with these protests as more and more nations are subject to them. It may also be a simple reaction to the killing of civilians who have protests, and especially since in Libya the crackdown has been much more violent, with the use of air power and more. Either way, we should all give the U.S. and international community credit for the resolution. It will limit the Libyan military and restrict Qaddafi from being another dictator that gets away with millions in assets. Most importantly, it sends a strong signal of solidarity to the Libyan protesters, that we are all by their sides.
Of course, I'm under no impression that this will be the general format of all U.S./international reaction to these protests. I'm also aware that Libya, is not a large enough geopolitical force for the U.S. to worry about. It is nothing more than a nation with an annoying leader. Therefore, its much easier for the U.S. to push an international effort against a leader and government like this. I have no doubt that if Tunisia changed, then Libya changed, (assuming Egypt's revolution happened last), the U.S. would NOT have put sanctions on Mubarak. However, if massive uprisings begin again in Iran (U.S. enemy) then the administration will quickly move to apply similar sanctions.
I believe that this won't be applied to all other protests in all the other countries like in Bahrain or Yemen (key U.S. allies), however I hope they do for the sake of the protesters.
Regardless, the subjectivity of the larger U.S.foreign policy in the region is irrelevant when evaluating the effect and good work this resolution does for the Libyan people.
However, here is some progress on what is happening in Libya:
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