The Libyan rebels are running out of money, but the Obama
administration and Congress can't get their act together to provide urgently
needed help to those fighting against Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi, according to the rebel's top envoy in Washington.
In a nondescript office building in northwest Washington, Ali Aujali, the U.S. representative of
Libya's Benghazi-based Transitional National Council (TNC), sits behind an
empty desk in a bare office. Once Qaddafi's official ambassador, he defected
to the rebels in February and stayed in Washington as their liaison with the
U.S. government.
His singular mission in Washington is to convince the
administration and Congress to give the rebels access to the frozen assets of
the Qaddafi regime. Four months into his mission, he is baffled by the lack of
progress.
"To tell you the truth, we are very frustrated by this," he
said in an exclusive interview with The
Cable. "The TNC is facing a challenge, not only from Qaddafi's forces who
are killing people every day, but also domestically. They are running out of
money, they need finances to help the Libyan people to support their families,"
"Libya is not begging anyone for charity, but they must have
access to the Libyan people's money that's frozen in many countries," he said.
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, lawmakers
debate whether the Libyan intervention is a violation of the War Powers
Resolution, whether the president consulted Congress sufficiently, and whether
the campaign is in the U.S. national interest. But for Aujali and the TNC, that
debate is a distraction from the urgent mission of fighting Qaddafi and helping
the Libyan people pursue semi-normal lives.
"Here in the U.S., there is a long debate going on, there
are many resolutions coming and going. Time is a factor. We should not get lost
in the bureaucracy or in political issues or in the election campaign. Human
lives are in danger," he said.
Aujali said that the TNC is grateful for U.S. support, and American
leadership in the Libya campaign remains critical. He continues to meet with
U.S. officials and lawmakers, but he is not encouraged.
"I have no news, I have no timeframe, I have no promises.
Every day we have another resolution, another amendment, and we are getting
lost in this," he said. "The people in Libya have a limit to their patience
with the TNC and we don't want people to turn against the TNC... This is a
serious situation."
It's true that the Obama administration gave $25 million in non-lethal
supplies to the rebels, but that's not a lot of money in the grand scheme
of things. By way of comparison, it costs about $148 million per year to provide
Libyan students enrolled in colleges in the United States and Canada with funds
for textbooks and food, Aujali said.
Plus, the MREs, blankets, and other assistance that the United
States has provided is not what the rebels need. They need weapons. Barring that,
they need money to buy weapons.
"Qaddafi is not fighting the Libyan people with potatoes,"
Aujali said.
So what's the hold up? The TNC's prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril, came to Washington last
month and held extensive discussions with the White House, the State
Department, the Treasury Department, and several lawmakers. He
pleaded for the administration to recognize the TNC as the official
government of Libya, which would give them access to the billions in frozen
assets.
But the Obama administration refuses to do that because,
despite launching an air campaign targeting Qaddafi's military and command
infrastructure, it hasn't actually abandoned recognition of his regime.
The only other way for the TNC to receive the money is for
Congress to pass legislation enabling it to be released, but that process is
mired in the legislative process, Aujali said.
For example, for the main bill
that would allow about $10 billion of the frozen assets to be used for
humanitarian assistance in Libya, Sen.
Bob Corker (R-TN) offered an amendment that would require the U.S. to pay
itself back for military operations first. The bill also doesn't specify that the TNC
would have a say in how the money is spent. Both of these issues are huge
problems for the TNC.
"This is what Qaddafi is looking for," Aujali said. "This is
very dangerous. This is what Qaddafi is telling people in speeches: ‘the West
wants your money and your oil.' If this resolution passes, then Qaddafi has
proof."
Aujali wants the United States to increase its involvement,
attention, and international leadership in the Libya war, and he said that the
international community has gone too far to stop now.
"We are grateful for
the support, but we expect more. We need the U.S. to be more involved in the
fight against Qaddafi," he said. "Congress has to understand that if this
revolution does not succeed, that will be a great disaster.
He framed the Libyan struggle as part of the overall
democratic revolution sweeping the Arab world, as President Obama did in his
major speech last month.
"Washington must
understand that if U.S. foreign policy is to help people to practice democracy,
to observe human rights, and to have freedom of speech, than this is one pillar
of that foreign policy," he said. "There are people rising against a
dictatorship that has ruled them for 42 years and they need your help."
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