Problem with all this is the various flaws in the arguements. Certainly Libya supplied weapons to the IRA -however I well remember the last British soldier killed before the ceasefire was killed by a Barrett 50 calibre rifle sourced from the U.S and undoubtedly paid for by U.S subscription. There was serious money channelled into the troubles from the U.S so before we become moral about it we need to remember who else was involved.
As for no mandate to intervene in Zimbabwe but overwelming support for Libya -that is somewhat akin to picking who you help -surely if you have any humanity the people dying in Zimbabwe due to Mugabe and his party were of equal standing We cannot pick our fights on the basis of how popular our actions will be - i.e the invasion of IRAQ wasnt fully supported by the U.N but still happened - is oil a theme in all this!