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.
With Egypt increasingly getting kinetic in the region it appears Washington will ne losing an ally.
Egypt has military in Libya and now Syria countering Turkish moves, which would appear to have covert Washington support.