Before the advocates of the NATO intervention celebrate success, they must be reminded of its purpose. This was to protect civilians and, as a sub text to support the rebels in the drive to get rid of Gaddafi. But all of that stood not alone, but on a foundation which was fundamental to everything. To bring freedom to the Libyan people. Success cannot be measured until they are truly free. That cannot be measured unless freedom is itself defined.
There is a tendency in the West to see freedom of expression as freedom absolute. From the lofty perches of many political philosophers that is enough. But from the perspective of the family, the children and the vulnerable there is a much bigger meaning. It is the freedom from hunger, from cold, from poverty, from exclusion, from ignorance through poor eduction and illness through poor health-care. It is freedom from exploitation by politicians on the make and from tribal rivalry and reprisal. It is the freedom to stand tall and aim high and the opportunity to do so.
How all that is to be achieved in Libya is far from clear at this point, nor is it clear by whom it will be organised. Talk of the Libyan people as if they were one, is like talking of Europeans as if they too were one. Each are many but can, if they all agree, come together to act as one. To do that requires a common vision and a shared purpose. The common desire to get rid of something or someone is not, on its own, enough.
The Libya of the Gaddafis had the highest HDI (Human Development Index measuring various aspects of life quality, expectancy, welfare, education etc by the UN) in Africa. There was brutal repression of dissenters but a secure life of reasonable quality if you went with the flow. Disparate tribes and regions were held together in one country but with sufficient autonomy at local level to keep them from each other, providing civil stability.
All that has now been sweapt away. In its place the world hopes a new enlightenment will emerge for all Libyans, giving true freedom from oppression and from want. Meanwhile services and governance have together broken down in Tripoli and elsewhere as the fighting continues, while die hard Gaddafi forces battle to the end. When that end comes, whether it is final, what follows it and what it delivers, will togehter determine whether the UN sanctioned, NATO led, Cameron and Sarkozy driven, intervention was a success or yet another interventionist folly.
It is as yet too early to tell, but it is never too early to hope. What is clear is that the really difficult part is now about to begin. We must especially hope that a plan has been prepared and properly thought through. At present we do not see one.