Statement made on 01 March 2011 by Senator Art Eggleton
Hon. Art Eggleton:
Honourable senators, we in Western countries failed the people of Rwanda and genocide ensued. In 1999, we did intervene in the situation in Kosovo to save those people from Milosevic. After a period of negotiation that achieved nothing, there was an air campaign against Milosevic and his forces, which ultimately led to him leaving Kosovo. That was done at a time when we were advancing the concept of responsibility to protect, which has since been adopted by the United Nations. However, this often clashes with state rights issues put forward by some states and that frequently prevents the United Nations from moving with any speed at all. Yet, speed is of the utmost importance here. This madman, Gadhafi, is killing his people every minute and every hour of every day. The sooner he can be removed, the better, in whatever way that can be done.
One proposition on the table for the next step is the implementation of a no-fly zone to prevent the Libyan military from attacking their own people with aircraft. Is the government willing to urge its allies to implement such a zone to diminish the possibility of Gadhafi killing his people and to attempt to bring this situation to an end as quickly as possible before more people are killed?
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