Opening a New Front Against ISIS in Libya

The Pentagon is gathering intelligence in Libya, preparing to target Islamic State holds with allies France, Great Britain and Italy. “That is deeply troubling,” argues the editorial board of the New York Times. “A new military intervention in Libya would represent a significant progression of a war that could easily spread to other countries on the continent.” The terrorist group is estimated to have 3,000 fighters in Libya. The plan is to “put a firewall” between ISIS holds in Libya and sympathizers throughout northern and sub-Sharan Africa. In recent weeks, terrorist attacks have been reported in Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Somalia. Intervention in Libya would draw sympathizers, and could destabilize Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and elsewhere – prompting another kind of Arab Spring. Pentagon planners cannot overlook the thousands of immigrants that have traveled to northern Africa as a launching pad for Europe – more than a half million by some measures. Finally, the US alliance against the Islamic State will find no reliable partner in Libya, the leaders of which rejected a unity government brokered by the United Nations. Failed states, poverty, conflict and foreign interventions inspire extremism. US Congress should review the plan, and the Pentagon must ensure that the plan is workable and not trigger for nebulous and expanding war with no clear end. – YaleGlobal