The current military campaign in Libya raises many questions

Apr 03, 2011 Letters

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Dear Editor,
The current military campaign in Libya raises many unanswered questions on the necessity for even-handedness on the part of those with the policing wherewithal in the international community.
Judging from the swiftness of the ongoing military campaign in Libya, are we to assume that the world is now entering a new phase in international relations? If so, the UN and the international community have a responsibility to come clean with all the countries and peoples of the world.
If military action is going to become the remedy for the intractable problems created through undemocratic political structures, this must be made clear. It should not only be the subject of debate at the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly. It should be the subject for debate, ratification, and signature by the parliament and national representative councils of every member nation of the UN.
Perhaps the world needs a United Nations where the emerging powers place as much emphasis on diplomacy as they are on developing new export markets.
If the current military actions in Libya represent the beginnings of a new process the world could become a better place. In the same way that the UN and the international community stepped in to ensure that the people of Benghazi were not slaughtered, such action is also required in many other places.
The Palestinians have been living in a virtual prison for more than 50 years. Are we to assume that the UN and the international community will now act to rein in the excesses of the Israeli military and other paramilitary forces and bring real relief to the sufferings of the Palestinians? Are we to assume that the UN and the international community will now take a strong position and initiate action against the minority government in Bahrain? Are we to assume that stern action will also be taken soon against the military excesses of the Saleh government in Yemen? Are we to expect immediate action against the outlaw Laurent Bgagbo administration in the Ivory Coast?
Countries such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan and Yemen require representative governments. Where is the demand for free elections in Saudi Arabia and in Bahrain? Why should the majority Shiite population in Bahrain be made to suffer because the UN and the international community are afraid of a Shiite controlled government? Everyone should have an equal right to democracy, to human rights, to security, to food, and to shelter.
The world is engaged. The world is waiting and watching to see what actions will be taken against other outlaws. Gaddafi is one among many.
The world is now paying close attention. The spotlight is now on the once powerful countries, especially since the imperial overlords failed to act to prevent the genocide in Rwanda and to deal with the claims of genocide in Darfur. They face the reality of global scrutiny for their continued foot-dragging and failure to reign in the Israelis and bring relief to address the plight of the Palestinians in spite of scores of United Nations resolutions.
The once powerful cannot shirk responsibility for their failure to properly address the racial and ethnic structural marginalisation that today accounts for the racial and ethnic conflicts especially in Africa, more especially in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Furthermore, the affluent nations of the world cannot ignore the legacies of their past deeds; for their failure to deal with the troubling issue of reparations, and the economic and political divide between human beings constructed by colonialism and imperialism based on the colour line.
The United Nations, the progressives in the former colonial powers, and the international community have a lot of work to do to correct the imbalance between those with and those without freedom and human rights, and between the majority of people at the bottom and the 10 per cent of the world population that controls 85 per cent of the world’s wealth.
Failure to act and failure to construct new world institutions that will democratically address and find solutions to the rising tide of divisions between those at the top and those at the bottom will undoubtedly redound in the expansion and globalization of the protest movement.
The answer to the peoples’ cry for human freedoms and human rights cannot be answered in a piecemeal manner. These cries must be answered through concerted action. They must be answered through deliberative discussion to address the root causes of the distress, the disease blighting the lives of those affected through lack of freedom and human rights.
Piecemeal military campaigns, while important to forestall genocidal acts or the threat of genocidal acts can only deal with symptoms of the disease, and not the disease itself.
As witnessed in the case of Libya, the disease is the global system that benefits from the way the Gaddafi family has used the wealth of the country to benefit multinational financial institutions and corporations in the West.
The disease is the global system that sells military aircraft and military hardware to the Saudis, the Bahraini’s, the Egyptians, the Israelis, the Bashir government in the Sudan, and forth. The illness is the military manufacturers and marketing agents that produce and market weapons.
The world needs fewer weapons. There must be an international moratorium on the production and marketing of weapons of war.
It is time for even-handed action by the United Nations and the international community to restrain governments and groups that use weapons of war against civilians.
Wazir Mohamed

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