Scottish Party Follows Obama’s Example in Bashing UK PM for Libya Campaign

The Scottish National Party (SNP)’s international affairs spokesman Alex Salmond branded UK Prime Minister David Cameron a "bomber" for authorizing an intervention in Libya five years ago.

EDINBURGH (Sputnik) – On Thursday, US President Barack Obama attacked the UK prime minister of six years, in an interview with The Atlantic Magazine, suggesting that Cameron had left Libya in a mess.

"Under ‘bomber Cameron’ military action is not part of an international strategy but a substitute for strategy and we are all paying the price of his negligence," Salmond said in a statement issued to Sputnik.

Salmond, the former SNP leader and ex-First Minister of Scotland, cited figures obtained from the House of Commons last year that revealed the UK military campaign in Libya cost 320 million pounds (over $461 million), 13 times more than London spent to rebuild Libya.

"Cameron stands condemned not just by the White House but by these dramatic statistics which show how keen he was to bomb and how loath he was to rebuild. As a direct result we have yet another nightmare failed state has emerged in the Middle East," Salmond said.

The Obama administration backed the use of NATO air power in Libya to ensure that rebels topple then leader Muammar Gaddafi after a 2011 revolt. Since Gaddafi’s death the influence of extremist Islamist groups in the country has steadily grown.