The Telegraph: 1000 British soldiers cannot keep peace in War-torn Libya

There are many good reasons for Britain and her allies to bring some form of political stability to war-torn Libya. But sending 1,000 British troops as sacrificial lambs to the lawless shores of the northern Mediterranean is not the way to go about it.

The notion of dispatching a British force as part of a European peacekeeping mission has been knocking around Whitehall since last summer. It stems from the deepening realisation among Western leaders that, unless urgent action is taken to arrest Libya’s alarming descent into anarchy, the country will pose an ever greater threat to Europe’s own security.

Thus a plan is now under active consideration – Whitehall officials insist no final decision has yet been taken – to commit 1,000 or so British troops to Libya as part of a larger European peacekeeping force in support of the country’s new national unity government. The idea is that they will help to create a designated “Green Zone” in the centre of the capital, Tripoli, similar to one the US established in Baghdad during the Iraq campaign.

This protected area will allow government departments to embark on the massive task of establishing its authority and rebuilding the country after the chaos of the past five years.