== Libyan uprising 2011 ==
[[File:Libya Rebels Gaining Momentum.jpg|thumb|Anti-Gaddafi forces gaining momentum in March, 2011 (Photo:Reuters).]]
The unrest in Libya started as a series of protests in eastern Libya following uprisings in [[Tunisia]] and [[Egypt]]. The scale of the violence contrasts markedly with North Africa's largely peaceful uprisings. The uprising is trying to reclaim Libya from the world's longest-ruling leader. Eastern Libya has fallen to the uprising, which began on 16 February in the wake of revolutions which toppled the long-serving leaders of neighboring Tunisia and Egypt. The [[Islamist]] terror group [[Al-Qaeda]] in North Africa has vowed to do everything in its power to help an uprising against the Libyan [[secular]] strongman leader Moamer Gaddafi, according to a statement posted by the SITE monitoring group. <ref> [http://www.dawn.com/2011/02/24/al-qaeda-in-n-africa-backs-libya-uprising-site.html Al Qaeda in N. Africa backs Libya uprising: SITE] </ref>
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China, Libya's largest Asian oil customer, called for an immediate ceasefire. After hostilities began China evcuated over 36,000 of its energy and construction workers and shut down operations of Chinese companies with over $18.8 billion of Chinese investments in Libya.<ref>http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/eastasia/view/1119924/1/.html</ref>
Military experts in France, Britian, and the United States expressed warned about the uncertainties but were overruled by political leaders who saw their staffs as needlessly cautious. The end result was a set of decisions that focused on short term considerations and gambled on the outcome. French, British, and US leaders did not fully coordinate but, according to Anthony Cordesman, it became clear,
{{Cquote|they sought and got international cover from the UN by claiming a no fly zone could protect civilians when their real objective was to use force as a catalyst to drive Qaddafi out of power.}}
Sarkozy, Cameron, and Obama seem to have assumed that a largely unknown, divided, and fractured group of rebels could win through sheer political momentum and could then be turned into a successful government. One month later it was obvious a "weak, divided, poorly led, and badly equipped and supplied set of rebel forces can only hang on with the present level of air support" authorized by the United Nations.