Canada's Armed Forces have sent six CF-18 Hornet fighter jets to help enforce the UN Security Council's uncharacteristically strong resolution to impose a "no-fly zone" over Libya. Led by Britain and France, Canada joins a coalition of Middle Eastern and Western forces that have barraged forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi to cease a brutal war against rebels in the country. But the Canadian government's response comes after years of corporate ties with Libyan oil interests, and has not been matched in supporting other Middle Eastern uprisings currently underway.
The US gave its support for the resolution and the military operation after several Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabi and Qatar gave at least rhetorical backing. Before the resolution, Colonel Gaddafi's troops had retaken the critical cities of Zawiyah and Ras Lanuf, and begun attacks on the eastern city of Benghazi, the central rebel stronghold since the uprising in Libya began on February 15.
Gaddafi's pledge to fight without mercy was followed by an almost immediate unilateral declaration of ceasefire after the UN resolution passed, though ground attacks have continued. The resolution demands a ceasefire, and authorizes the international community to enforce a no-fly zone over the country and use all means necessary short of a foreign occupation to protect civilians there.
In announcing his decision, Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the situation in Libya "intolerable," and opposition leaders confirmed they had given their support to Canada's addition to the military force, which also includes 140 military support personnel for the planes. "One either believes in freedom, or one just says one believes in freedom," Harper told reporters.
"The Libyan people have shown by their sacrifice that they believe in it. Assisting them is a moral obligation upon those of us who profess this great ideal."
His comments stand in contrast to the government's mute response to state violence against protesters in nearby Yemen and Bahrain. Soldiers in both countries have opened fire on protesters to enforce state of emergency declarations, and Saudi Arabian and UAE troops have both entered Bahrain to support the military.
And while Gaddafi and Harper traded sharp words in 2009 over the Libyan leader's welcome of the man convicted in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, Canadian corporate ties to the oil sector in Libya are strong. As recently as 2008, oil giant Petro-Canada, now owned by SunCor, signed six oil exploration and profit-sharing agreements with the Libyan National Oil Corporation, committing to an estimated $7 billion in spending there. In 2009, Calgary-based oil producer Verenex Energy agreed to be sold to the state-run Libyan Investment Authority for an estimated $314 million.
The deployment of Canada's CF-18 Hornets will likely breathe new life into not only the government's plans to acquire a new generation of fighter jets, but also the CF-18s themselves, which Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau once glowingly described as "much quieter than a Mercedes." The government has had trouble selling opposition leaders and the public on contracts to purchase a fleet of new F-35 Lightning warplanes, which it estimated at a total cost of $15 billion over 20 years.
Parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page has estimated the 65 fighters would in fact cost $22.6 billion including maintenance costs over that period. Liberal opposition leader Michael Ignatieff has also questioned the lack of an open bidding process and Canadian manufacturing requirements in the agreement, saying his party would cancel their purchase and hold an open competition to replace the CF-18s.
The fleet has previously been involved in enforcing a no-fly zone over Iraq during the first Gulf War, and in NATO bombings in Kosovo in 1999 to end attacks on Albanian civilians by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
With Canadian armed forces still on the ground in Afghanistan, Harper has been reluctant to commit to ground troops in Libya, as has the U.S. Operating warplanes is an expensive operation though, and it remains to be seen how successful the intervention will be, as civilian deaths from air strikes have begun to rise and Gaddafi has reportedly begun distributing arms to civilians and continued ground attacks in Benghazi and elsewhere.
