An Open Letter to Caroline Lucas, Leader, UK Green Party

Dear Caroline Lucas:

Please vote against the United Kingdom's involvement in the attacks on Libya in Parliament today. I know that it is difficult to resist the rhetoric out of Downing Street, Washington, Paris and even Ottawa, as well as the cheerleading from the media and the so-called experts. I am a pacifist and oppose war as a solution to any problem. I know most people are not and I understand that reality. But it is already clear that the so-called no fly zone is just an excuse to bring regime change and protect Libyan oil for our use. Already ordinary Libyans have been hit by the coalition's brutal assaults. Soon the coalition will find a way to rationalize ground troops, and while we know the situation is different from Iraq or Afghanistan, there are dangers of a similar long and bloody campaign. Gaddafi needs to be opposed in every way possible (arms embargoes, economic embargoes, tough diplomacy) up to the point of violence. Instead, we are helping to re-create a martyr and hero. There are many places in the world that need intervention (Congo, Bahrain, Yemen) and it is therefore curious to me that the UK has so quickly jumped into this already horrific fray, which we will only make worse. I would love to think it is our great humanitarian concern for the Libyan people that motivates us. But I fear it has more to do with the oil we lust after and the need for Mr. Cameron and Mr. Clegg to divert attention from the disastrous programme of privatising the social welfare system in this country, which is the envy of much of the world. You have a mandate as head of the Green Party to say and do something different. Please oppose the war in Libya in Parliament today.

John P. Asling