Protecting Libyan civilians?

The UN mission in Libya is protecting civilians.
pause.
scratch head?
pause.
"Protecting civilians?" I had to say it aloud a few times.
An empty statement for justifying dropping hundreds of bombs daily on a sovereign nation. Not that protecting civilians isn't noble, but who are the NATO forces protecting?
The rebel forces of Benghazi!
Of course.
Rebel. Forces.
Armed Libyans from eastern regions fighting armed Libyans from non-eastern regions.
???
Sounds like a civil war. So I looked up the definition.

civil war: a war between opposing groups of citizens of the same country.

The NATO mission is oxymoronic.
Civilians are the only people harmed in a civil war. Aiding either side of a civil war only leads to more civilian deaths. May someone please speak truth to power.