Saturday, March 12, 2011

Obama to send 'team' to Libya. What's the legal basis for intervening?

The Guardian reports that "Libya's revolutionary leadership has appealed for France and Britain to launch air strikes against an intensive assault by Muammar Gaddafi's forces that has forced the rebel army to retreat towards its eastern stronghold of Benghazi."

The White House announced that "it would send a government aid team into rebel-held parts of Libya, . . . [but] the administration stopped far short of recognizing the rebels' Transitional National Council as Libya's legitimate government".

What gives the U.S. the legal right to intervene in Libya?

The U.S. has not been invited by the Libyan government, it stated that it does not recognize the rebels' Transitional National Council, and it does not have a UN mandate.

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