Trump Adviser Warns Against Foreign Military Involvement in Libya

Says there will be 'no winning side'

In a Tuesday statement, US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said he and Trump had warned unnamed world leaders against sending any military to Libya, declaring it a fight with “no winning side.”

White House statements suggested that the warnings were delivered to various factions which had been backing Gen. Hafter, including Egypt, France, and the UAE. There was no indication that the US warned Turkey, who is backing the other side.

Objections to military intervention in Libya must be a recent policy for the US, as they have not only not objected to intervention in the past, but US military involvement in Libya has been a reality a few times in the past few years. It’s not for backing one side or the other, because the US has struggled to settle on who they are supporting.

The Trump Administration now seems to be pushing for anything that facilitates Libyan oil production, which hadn’t been a priority. Before, the US was giving consideration to backing the government or Hafter, and now seems not to want to support either.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.