In a devastating verdict, the Commons foreign affairs committee savages the former prime minister’s judgment in rushing to war in 2011, saying the intervention was based on “erroneous assumptions”.
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The committee said it had spoken to all key figures in the decision to intervene in Libya except for Cameron, who declined to take part in the inquiry, citing “the pressures on his diary”, adding that other members of government had provided the information needed, the report said.
An global coalition led by Britain and France launched a campaign of air and missile strikes against Gaddafi’s forces in March 2011 after the regime threatened to attack the rebel-held city of Benghazi.
“This report determines that United Kingdom policy in Libya before and since the intervention of March 2011 was founded on erroneous assumptions”, Foreign Affairs Committee chair Crispin Blunt said.
‘The result was political and economic collapse, inter-militia and inter-tribal warfare, humanitarian and migrant crises, widespread human rights violations, the spread of Gaddafi regime weapons across the region and the growth of Isil in North Africa. It also described how British post-conflict plans to stabilise Libya were not based on reality.
The committee says Mr Cameron’s Libyan adventure “was not informed by accurate intelligence”, with ministers underestimating the threat that the country could become an Islamist stronghold.
The report said his government failed to identify from intelligence reports that the threat to civilians was overstated and that the rebels included a significant Islamist element.
Many Libyans had taken part in the Iraq insurgency and fought with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, which meant the rise of militant extremist groups “should not have been the preserve of hindsight”.
The U.K. should have used former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s contacts with the Qaddafi regime and paused military action once Benghazi was secured to try to broker a deal, the committee said.
The two leaders pledged support for the future, proclaiming: “Your friends in Britain and France will stand with you as you build your country and build your democracy for the future”. “Political engagement might have delivered civilian protection, regime change and reform at a lesser cost to the United Kingdom and Libya”.
Mr. Cameron said in January that the global intervention had given the Libyans an opportunity to rebuild the country but they hadn’t taken it which was “a matter of huge regret”.
“Muammar Gaddafi was unpredictable and he had the means and motivation to carry out his threats”, a spokesman said.
The Foreign Office said the decision to intervene in Libya was an global one, called for by the Arab League and authorised by the UN Security Council. “If it fails, the danger is that Libya will sink into a full-scale civil war to control territory and oil resources”, Crispin Blunt, the chair of the committee and a lawmaker for the governing Conservative Party, said in a statement.
“His actions could not be ignored, and required decisive and collective worldwide action”, it said in a statement, adding that it would continue to support the Libyan Government of National Accord.
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The parliamentary committee recommended a review of the National Security Council, the government’s main forum for national security discussion. The UK will continue to play a leading role within the worldwide community to support the internationally recognised Libyan Government of National Accord.
