Tom Peterkin: Cameron has to hope his foreign policy triumph doesn’t turn into another Iraq

Compared with Labour’s protracted, painful and highly controversial conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, David Cameron’s intervention in Libya has been a triumph of foreign policy.

The death of Muammar al-Gaddafi yesterday underlined the success of a mission, which had already been vindicated by the fall of the dictator’s regime.

Sensibly, the Prime Minister was quick to pay tribute to the heroic role played in this rebellion by the people of Libya, whose courage gave their cause an unstoppable momentum.

Quite rightly, he also remembered those who had suffered at the hands of Gaddafi’s rule, including those victims of the IRA atrocities carried out with Libyan assistance.

Nevertheless, without Mr Cameron and French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s swift action, it is doubtful whether the Libyan rebellion would have succeeded and Gaddafi might still be alive today.

It is worth remembering, and Mr Cameron has reminded people in the past, that British jets flew in around 20 per cent of all sorties against Gaddafi’s forces.

Of about 8,000 sorties, Britain performed some 1,600, so our armed forces deserve a great deal of credit.

The achievements of a heavily stretched RAF will be a political fillip for Mr Cameron, despite the controversies over defence cuts.

The good news coming from Libya leavens the load at a time when Mr Cameron’s government is struggling through the continuing economic crisis.

The Prime Minister was quick to highlight his pride in Britain’s role in the struggle. Success in Libya is unlikely to overshadow domestic economic gloom, but it does contrast with the drawn-out military campaigns launched by Tony Blair that have cost so much in British lives.

The challenge now for Mr Cameron is to do all he can to keep things moving, while avoiding being drawn into an intractable conflict.

He is helped in that the Libyan National Transition Council appears committed to trying to prevent the anarchy that was witnessed in Baghdad in 2003, after Saddam Hussein was overthrown.

But there will be difficult times ahead for Libya as it tries to adjust to life under democratic rule.

If things get heavy in the vast desert country, there may be some temptation to send ground troops into Libya.

Given the experiences of the past ten years, Mr Cameron will only be too aware that there will not be much political capital to be gained from getting involved in a costly (in financial and human terms) ground war.

On the other hand, the success of Britain’s intervention in Libya may encourage him to intervene again in the future. If that is the case, the utmost care must be taken.

The last thing Cameron or Britain wants is another Iraq or Afghanistan.