College of Political Knowledge
Subject: Middle East/Political Philosophy/
For a couple months countries all across the Arab world have been caught up in the protests for reforms, democratic as well as others….the protesters have been met with violence and mayhem….not that anything else was ever considered….the area’s despots will not go down quietly….as is the example of Libya, where the rebels are on the short stick now that Qadafi has regrouped and attacked……
But what about the other countries that have been part of the situation….Egypt, Bahrain, Tunisia….on and on….almost ALL countries of the area have experienced some form of protests against the sitting government……
But how does the future look for the institution of democracy?
To me. it looks like the light of democracy is flickering and could go out for another generation……why? Despots in Bahrain, Yemen, Algeria and others are proposing reforms to try and silence the voices of dissension….issues like throwing out people from their offices, proposing more voting and people participation, yada, yada…… these are NOT reforms but rather just attempts to placate the people and let the despots keep their hold on power…..will the people fall for this? Think about it……would you if you were aware of an army, a brutal military waiting in the wings to flex their muscle against the people and protesters?
Recently there were protests in Saudi and Syria testing the governments whether open to change or not….sad to say…they are NOT…the government in both cases won the confrontation…..The Arab League is pushing hard against Qadafi and Libya….but it appears to be an attempt to refocus the people on something other than the removal of despots, which the AL has a lot of members that are just that……
Many Arab leaders say they are in it for the long haul….good thought….the problem is….will the people be in it for the long haul? If they cannot keep the people motivated then the whole democratic movement will sputter and die.
Sorry to report….but……the democratic light of hope and change is getting pretty dim and that could be the end of an area wide democracy movement and the extinguishing the light for a generation or longer……..
Sadly, you’re right… and we in the west talk and talk whilst Gaddafi murders half his people – we make me sick!
I brought up an idea awhile back…..the no-fly zone…..since some Libyan pilots defected to Malta with their planes….then why not use those planes for the no-fly zone….it would be a propaganda windfall as well as protecting the rebels……there is someone somewhere that will take up the challenge…..
I dare say you’re right, but will there be any serious rebellion left to protect by then?
By dragging our feet the West is gonna make Qadafi even more obnoxious than he is already……I think we have passed the deadline for some sort of definitive action…..the rebels are screwed…..
Sadly, I agree…
The problem is…everyone looks to the US for the leadership…IU mean France and the UK are all for the no fly…but NO one wants to do it….but they will talk their asses off until Qadafi has won the day…..
As far as I’m aware, Obama hasn’t said a f*cking thing of any consequence!!! Whilst the UK has been saying it from about day three, but NO ONE, including Obama wanted to know!
Just as with the Nazis, if we’d all agreed and acted at the start, WW2 would have lasted about a week, if it had started at all. It’s ALWAYS the same story – these jerks can’t agree what day of the f*cking week it is.
Oh I agree with you 100%…….I think that Obama and the US is running scared that they will be seen in a imperialistic light if they act against another Arab country…Iraq and Afghanistan has us looking like we do not like Arabs or something…..I also agree that a lot of the West has been all for some form of action but it appears as if they are waiting for the US to do it…..
Possibly so, but I think it’s more that they want the US to at least PARTICIPATE since it is the US that has put ITSELF in the leading role in all sorts of places – not least Iraq and Afghanistan…
Oh I understand that….and we were wrong to put ourselves in that place….we alreadfy have a massive PR problem with the ME….we do not need to be the aggressor again……
I agree, but we are all (and the US in particular) between a rock and a hard place.
If we DON’T provide help (at a distance like a no fly zone) then we will once again be seen by ordinary Arabs as assisting (and therefore supporting) the demagogs, by default.
The current strategy of wait and see is, in my opinion, VERY dangerous indeed. It appears to me (and will to ordinary Arabs too) that, whilst they don’t want us to get involved directly in THEIR movement and want to do it themselves, they DO want a bit of assistance to counteract the years (decades??) of support and weaponry provided by the various superpowers that kept the demagogs in power and supressed the people.
I agree…we are between Iraq and a hard place…….I see the US seems to be warming up to the no fly….now that the EU, NATO and Arab League are on board……the US will just have to do it now……but to what extent? Just keep planes on ground or will we hit military targets? Some of that could be bad in the long run…..