Erik Strand, 30.08.2026
In this commentary, Steven Crozier comments upon former Norwegian Prime Minister, and ex NATO General Secretay, Jens Stoltenberg’s role in the war against Libya in 2011.
While Norway mourned Anders Bering Breivik’s terror attack in July 2011, Norwegaim F-16-airplanes were busy dropping 588 bombs over Libya. This was an operation carried out non stop until August 1st. Norway participated in a regime change war with devastating consequences. Crozier comments how actions by leaders like Stoltenberg has been met by legal impunity, even though war crimes are never legally obsolete. An even more relevant question is why his actions has got no political consequences; Stoltenberg is still Norway’s Finence Minister.
Crozier refers to the state channel NrK’s program “De gode bombene fra 2013” (“The good bombs” from) 2013. In this program, the operative chief, colonel Bård Solheim, confirmed that as much as 75 % of the Norwegian air raids over Libya lacked goals declared in advance. After a one hour long flight from Crete, the Norwegian bomber pilots flew over an area with a size comparable to Southern Norway. With strict time schedules and with narrow margins related to fuel, they had to decide themselves what they cinsidered targets for mombing before they returned. This was not verified precision attacks in order to “protect civilians” as the UN’s mandate dictated, it constituted random use of power in civil areas.
The author also point at the fact that Stoltenberg in May 2011 told shocked Swedish social democratic colleagues by telling them that the bombing raids constituted excellent weapon training. He comments that this is self-incriminatory, as it demonstrates that the bombing raids Storltenberg ordered, were not reckless actions, and that it is a deliberate crime against humanity to conduct “excellent weapon training” by bombing random targets in three fourths of the bombing raids, where many civilians were killed.
According to the UN report from 2014, Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Libya, it is concluded that the military attacks led to civil deaths. Jens Stoltenberg has nevertheless repeated several times that he does not regret the decision and would have done the same thing again.
Steven Crozier points at Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I) and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which contain foor priciples that have been violated. As Crozier writes:
“1. Training should take place in controlled forms – outside of combat: Military weapons training should only take place on approved training grounds in controlled security zones. Using a real war zone for “training under fire” or capacity testing is a gross violation of international law. Civilians can never be legally used as training targets.
2. The principle of distinction and the duty of care: Forces are obliged to distinguish between civilian and military targets at all times. Randomly seeking out targets under time pressure in civilian populated areas absolutely violates the requirement for target identification. If pilots are sent in without clarified targets, an “urgent mission” does not remove legal responsibility. On the contrary, it proves gross negligence (recklessness) and demonstrated indifference to civilian life (dolus eventualis), which are considered war crimes in international criminal law.
3. The prohibition of indiscriminate attacks: Attacks that are not directed at a specific, verified military target are categorically prohibited. Dropping munitions in civilian areas based on hasty assessments constitutes a war crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute.
4. Technical precision does not negate unlawful targeting: Article 57 requires that all practical precautions be taken to verify the target. Precision in the actual firing is of no use if the decision to fire was based on an unverified target or disguised as “training.”
How Norway entered the war
In this commentary, Pål Steigan points at another sinister aspect of Norway’s participation in the war against Libya. On March 19, 2011, the Prime Minister’s Office distributed a press briefing with the following content:
“”Norway is ready to send up to 6 F-16 fighter jets to participate in the enforcement of Security Resolution 1973,” says Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.”
In February 2012, Steigan contacted both the Prime Minister’s Office’s post reception as well as some particular employees with three simple questions:
- Who made the decision
- When was the decision made
- What is the wording of the decision
Despite of Norway having a juridically strong freedom of information law, Steigan has never received an answer to his questions. Steigan claims that it was not a decision made by the governmet to enter a war. It was not decided to enter the war in the governmental conference a few hours before the decision was made – by somebody. That can be seen from the protopcols from the governmental conference, available on the Internet.
Steigan concludes that no one has been able to produce a written decision to go to war against Libya, which is a breach of the Norwegian constitution, as well as fundamental principles about how to run the public sector. And that is very telling – there seems to be stricter demand for documentation for setting up a parking place for bicycles than for entering a war.
Fampo 