Death warrant

The Japan earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power plant meltdown have stolen the thunder from the political crises now engulfing the Middle East.

For now, the world is glued on Japan, and it only turns its attention to the Middle East, particularly Libya and Bahrain, when the media shifts its focus, fleetingly, to what’s happening there and then turns its sights again on the devastation on northeast Japan. We can’t blame the news organizations.

Blame governments upon whose shoulders rests the responsibility of acting on humanity’s woes.

When on 17 February millions of Libyans took to the streets to demand bread, freedom, and liberty, we who live within the confines of democracy could only express wonder and awe over their heroic courage to confront the claws of authoritarianism. Democratic leaders all over the world should have acted swiftly to support their struggle. They did not.

What they did was to retreat into the safety of rule-making, a slow, painful process, and talk of general things, such as “expressing support to the aspirations of the Libyan people.” They could only warn Libyan autocrat and dictator Muammar Khaddafi of "the dire consequences” of his actions.

In fairness, the United Nations, the toothless social club behemoth froze all the assets of the Libyan ruler, as if denying him access to cash will oblige him to abandon 40 years of ruthless rule. It was greatly mistaken.

Ironically, US President Barack Obama said the rights of the Egyptian people to peaceably assemble is universal. How about the Libyans' and the Bahrainis' rights? They are regional? Ironically, the US ambassador to the UN yesterday said that what the world body is doing is ultimately to ensure the protection of the Libyan people.

I am afraid that before the UN could act, there will be no more Libyans to protect.

Because as it turned out, Khaddafi showed his true form by unleashing the ruthless force of his armed forces on the Libyan people, bombing them and tightening more his stranglehold of Libya. Hundreds have already died from the civil war that ensued. Thousands more have escaped Libya to avoid getting caught in the carnage. To this day, Khaddafi remains defiant; his bombings continue; his rhetoric becoming more strident, describing his own people demanding political reforms as “rats”.

Yesterday, Khaddafi vowed to finish off the incipient revolution of the Libyan masses, saying he will recapture Benghazi, now in opposition control, in 48 hours.

Without exception, including France which was first to recognize the Libyan opposition as the legitimate representative of the Libyans, the West, led by the US, is just standing by on, well, the stands, watching helpless, impotent, and not caring for what’s happening even while Libyans are dying in the frontlines of the civil unrest.

“We are bitterly disappointed at the Americans’ and the global community’s response to the crisis in Libya,” said a civilian-turned-guerilla in Benghazi. “We are waiting for them to do something, but they are not doing anything.”

Well, the UN is still mulling whether or not to impose a no-fly zone over Libya, purportedly to prevent Khaddafi from mounting more air attacks on his people.

A no-fly zone is inadequate, if this is all that the global community can offer. The history and experience of the world in Bosnia prove that. What the Libyans, the Yemenis, and the Bahrainis need are action, not words.

Someone at Al Jazeera commented that by not doing anything, the US has already signed the death warrants of the Libyan people, for Khaddafi, already delusional, is oblivious to world opinion. He doesn’t care if the West abhors him. He doesn’t mind what the US and its allies thinks of him. He has killed before and he will kill again to remain in power.

From all indication, US foreign policy on the Middle East has failed. It is because the Americans could not make up their minds whether to telegraph its intent that it is merely interested in Libya’s oil, not in democracy.

Just look at how it reacted to the brutal and lethal force unleashed by the Bahraini police to peaceful protesters. All the US could do was to “denounce the excessive force” used by the Bahraini government to stop the protests which have been ongoing since 14 February. All it could do was to "urge" the Baharaini king "to discuss the situation." This, as six protesters have already died from gunfire of the Bahraini security forces.

Bahrain is a US ally. It hosts the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet. Libya is also a close friend of the US before 17 February. But to compare the behavior and reaction of the world’s only superpower to the peaceful democratic protests in these two countries plainly tells us that America is so confused it is using double standards in lieu of decisive action.

Iran, meanwhile, which the US considers as a regional enemy, had said that what the government of Bahrain did was “unacceptable” and rightly blamed the US for this “heinous behavior” of the Bahrain security services.

Like the Bahrain protesters, Iran has denounced the presence of foreign troops in Bahrain, which now include 1,000 Saudi soldiers and 500 United Arab Emirates police officers, as “foreign occupation” and an unwarranted intrusion into Bahrain’s sovereignty. Iran is equally guilty of double-speak. It has not done anything to help the Libyans, but that is understandable. Iran is not interested in democracy, but in regional religious hegemony. At least the Iranians are clear on this intent.

The rest of the Arab world, now pre-occupied with its own worries because its own citizens are also restive, has not decided what it should do to help the Libyans who, despite the death warrant signed by the US, remain defiant.

The US, with its allies, remains confused, thus unable to move.