Canada’s Foreign Minister John Baird tries to calm Libya worries with allies and at home

As international support for the battle in Libya wanes, Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird took his turn to help bolster and justify the protracted mission to the international community and at home.

Baird made an unannounced trip to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi Monday, meeting with members of the rebel council that's serving as interim government.

The meeting comes as many experts raise concerns about the nature of the council, saying for the moment it's just a coalition of groups that have united to oust dictator Gadhafi.

As noted in the National Post, "there are questions about the strength of that coalition in a potential post-Gaddafi Libya," with some arguing Libya's tribal nature could actually lead to a different type of chaos than what the country is now experiencing.

"What started therefore as a humanitarian mission now is clearly a political one, backed by daily pounding from NATO bombs, and intelligence agents on the ground: regime change. But regime change to what?" wrote Jeffrey Simpson in the Globe and Mail.

"We have unleashed air power that eventually, one presumes, will replace the existing regime with another, without any idea of what will come next."

Baird did all he could on this trip to calm the concerns of the international community.

"I was frankly surprised — pleasantly at the capabilities of the rebel council members," he said.

"I don't think we're going to move from Gadhafi to Thomas Jefferson." The post-Gadhafi regime, he cautioned, "won't be perfect."

Baird's visit is reminiscent of visits by U.S. and U.K. officials.

In mid-May, U.S. Sen. John McCain vouched for the rebel leadership stating: "Their prime minister got a doctorate at the University of Pittsburgh. Their finance minister was recently teaching economics in Seattle . . . others are lawyers, doctors, women activists."

Similarly, in early June British Foreign Secretary William Hague declared: "These people at the top of this organization are genuine believers in democracy and the rule of law. It is quite inspiring."

Despite Baird's and his allies' reassurances, there are growing fears Canada and its NATO partners will, in the long-term, be required to keep sizable military forces on the ground to provide stability during regime change.

Baird has done his part to calm those fears - for now.

(CP Photo)