ABSTRACT
The Western powers are not seen as ‘neutral’ in their efforts to control the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). For example, self-interest and power motives are suspected to be behind the West's intervention in Iraq, resulting in more than a hundred thousand deaths and enormous material damage. The war on Iraq was justified in international fora on the basis of presumed evidence of Iraq's development of WMDs which, however, turned out to be unfounded. Further military intervention by the West in domestic politics of other nations has also proven problematic. In Libya, the UN mandate to enforce a ‘no fly-zone’ during the 2011 rebel uprising saw Western powers taking down strategic military targets on the ground that propped up the rebels in their efforts to overthrow Colonel Gaddafi's regime. Their efforts succeeded and led to the Colonel's execution in the streets of Sirte. The aftermath of this intervention, however, is marked by a degree of lawlessness and extralegal imprisonment of Gaddafi officials, as Libya seeks a transition to democratic rule under the auspices of the National Transitional Council.
