|
|
|
|
|
Special to the tribune
Even those Arabs who had called on the international community to impose a no-fly zone over Libya now appear to have second thoughts about the idea. They say while they wanted the US and its allies to help the rebels in Libya, they did not expect such massive air strikes that have reportedly claimed the lives of dozens of innocent civilians. The first sign of concern came from Arab league Secretary-General Amr Moussa, who voiced concern over the nature of the US-led military strike. Last week, the Arab League, in an unprecedented move, called for imposing a no-fly zone over Libya in wake of Gaddafi’s use of warplanes against his opponents. “What we want is to defend the civilians and not to launch more air strikes against civilians,” Moussa declared. “From the onset, we called for a no-fly zone to protect Libyan civilians and to avoid further
deterioration.” As’ad Abu Khalil, a Lebanese-American professor of political science at California State University, warned that Western military intervention in Libya could abort democratic uprisings in the region. “Bahrain of today is the vision for Libya tomorrow, as far as the West is concerned,” he said. “The charade of overthrowing regimes and invading countries in the name of democracy was a bloody farce in the [George W.] Bush era.” Abu Khalil, who publishes the popular Web site ‘The Angry Arab’, also cautioned against the Western powers’ “colonialist” ambitions. He claimed that Western military intervention in Libya was intended to “legitimise the return of colonial powers to our region.” This is precisely the argument that Gaddafi and other Arabs have begun using to whip up anti-Western sentiments throughout the Arab and Islamic countries. In a desperate attempt to win the sympathy of Arab and Muslim masses, the Libyan tyrant has described the US-led offensive as a declaration of war by (Christian) Crusaders against Muslims. Gaddafi’s remarks have not fallen on deaf ears. Within hours, thousands of Libyans took to the streets of the capital, Tripoli, chanting anti-US slogans and calling for jihad [holy war] against the “enemies of Islam.” Some of Gaddafi’s critics in the Arab world admit that they would have preferred to see an Arab force attack Libya. “I wish the military intervention in Libya was purely Arab,” said Abdel Bari Atwan, the influential Palestinian editor of the pan-Arab Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper. “We wouldn’t be exaggerating if we said that the Libyan leader, who has been described by some Arab analysts as a mad man, has succeeded in dragging the West to military involvement in Libya so that he could present himself as a victim of an external conspiracy.” Atwan said it remained unclear whether the Arab countries that supported Western intervention in Libya had thought about the future repercussions. “Arab countries are not immune against popular revolutions,” he added. “There’s no guarantee that this Western military intervention would achieve the desired goals.” He pointed out that in the ‘90s the US and Britain had in the past imposed a no-fly zone to protect the Kurds in northern Iraq and the Shiites in the south, a move that failed to topple the regime of Saddam Hussein back then. Arab leaders who have come out in support of the US-led military campaign in Libya could pay a heavy price if Gaddafi and his regime survive the attacks. So far only a few Arab countries, including the oil-rich emirate of Qatar have agreed to take an active role in the military offensive. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jasem al-Thani justified his country’s decision by arguing that the goal was to stop the killing and targeting of civilians in Libya. ‘The situation in Libya is intolerable and we hope more Arab countries would join in,” he said. “This is a war [by Gaddafi] against defenceless civilians and it must stop immediately.” He said that the Arabs did not ask the US and its allies to launch air strikes in Libya. “We asked the UN Security Council to impose a no-fly zone to protect civilians in Libya. I wish the Arabs would have carried out this operation, but unfortunately until now they haven’t done so.” The Qatari minister, like a growing number of Arab government representatives, expressed hope that the Arabs would be able to create some kind of a mechanism for cases like Libya. For now, it seems that many Arabs would like to see the US and its allies finish off the job in Libya quickly. Their major concern is that a prolonged war would play into the hands of the Libyan dictator, who will also have enough time to incite Arabs against their Western-backed leaders. “Most Arabs want to see Gaddafi gone, and the sooner the better,” said Palestinian political analyst Maher Hamoudeh. “The Western military intervention in Libya is good because it sends a message to the rest of the Arab dictators that the world won’t sit idly as they butcher their people. But if the military air strikes don’t bring an end to Gaddafi’s regime in the coming days, the Arab world’s attitude could change.”
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
The massive US-led military offensive against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s loyalists could play into his hands and undermine the pro-democracy uprisings that are sweeping the Arab world, Arab politicians and columnists warned this week. 