by Alex Roldan
Most of the economically and militarily powerful nations that compose the UN Security Council have finally decided to force Libya’s dictator Col. Muammar Khadafi from power. Khadafi’s fate with great certainty is doomed but is not isolated. Many despotic leaders around the globe have been dislodged from power by force, and I am sure many more will follow – either by the so-called UN direct military intervention, or uprisings that are in the end supported by nations led by the United States, the latest to fall was Egypt’s dictator Hosni Mubarak.
The defense of freedom and democracy has always been the main rationale or shall I say the most abused doormat for this type of actions. We all abhor violence, but sadly, the leading nations who are now calling for the collapse of these repressive and brutal regimes had chosen to keep silent for years and decided to act only when their interests are directly threatened. They’ve supported these regimes for many years. Have diplomatic relations with them, provided development assistance funds and were even instrumental in building the military strength of these regimes!
Correcting their mistakes? They’ve finally realized their mistakes? Defending freedom and democracy? Certainly not!
The fact that many of these repressive, brutal and tyrannical regimes have lasted for many decades in power is an undeniable proof of the blessings and support they got from the very governments who claim to “champion” the modern concept of freedom and democracy.
We do not need to go far back in time for examples to prove this point. The Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega stayed in power because he was only interested in the money from the Panama Canal, a shortcut route of ships carrying oil and other goods in and out of the US. Similar to Nicaragua’s Anastacio Somoza and followed by his wife’s uncle Juan Batista, Noriega was allowed to stay in power and his repression of his own people supported as long as he did not threaten rich nations’ interests in the region. He was arrested by US forces to face drug charges after he started threatening to close the canal to US bound ships.
Iraq is another example, where the so called international community supported Saddam Hussein in his war against Iran despite his despicable human rights record in the 80’s. Iran was, and until now is, governed by an unsupportive regime that toppled the dictatorship of Shah Reza Pahlavi, a staunch supporter of US and European interests in the Middle East.
The on-going crisis in the Middle East to me bears the same resemblance to the past popular uprisings all over the world that were supposed to crush repressive and undemocratic regimes. The UN that is obviously influenced by mighty nations allowed these tyrant rules to flourish until in their assessment, they are losing their grip over their people or when morally forced to take action such as the ethnic cleansing in former Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Hutus and Tutsis of Rwanda. Egypt’s Mubarak stayed in power because he supported the use of Suez Canal as a shortcut shipping route of oil to Europe from the Middle East. Khadafi, although at odds with the US and European powers, stayed in power for three decades because he allowed Libyan oil to flow to these nations.
The Operation Odyssey Dawn that imposes a no-fly zone over Libya clearly has without doubt only one purpose – to ensure that the next government in Libya will continue to support the US-led nations’ interest in the region. This is the task of the American diplomat, Chris Stevens, who was recently appointed US liaison to the Libyan opposition. Just like in Iran, when the dictator Shah was forced into exile, US and its allies marked the nation as an evil country when they failed to get the new leaders over to their side and instead supported the Palestinian cause to regain the lands occupied by Israel.
Let us not forget that the Philippines has been a victim of such policy. They supported the darkest time of Philippine history, the Marcos’ dictatorship. Ffor more than two decades the US and its allies supported Marcos’ corrupt and repressive regime, but decided to trick him to Hawaii when they realized that he was no longer politically viable.
Certainly, people have the power to change, but in the end, it is always, in our supposed “civilized world,” the change always sways in favor of the power players of this world. They define what a democratic and free country is. Protecting true freedom and democracy has been in actual fact reduced to plain raison d’être to protect their interests.
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