“The movement of people power we are witnessing is like a juggernaut heading downhill - there's no limit or barrier and hundreds have already paid the blood price in their determination to win freedom and take charge of their own destinies,” said Ridley, who have travelled extensively throughout the Middle East.
“For too long these people have been treated like children in a nanny state and now they want to control their own lives instead of handing over their destiny to a few corrupt, greedy, self-serving individuals,” she said.
In an interview with IRNA, Ridley said that “not for one minute” did anyone spot the green shoots of revolution in Tunisia, which would result in the Arab Spring.
“Looking back the brave Tunisians and the equally courageous Egyptians made the overthrow of their brutal dictators look relatively easy. The West was shocked and when world leaders like Obama finally caught up with the revolutions they ditched their old friends like Ben Ali and Mubarak without hesitation.”
Having just returned from Libya, she suggested that the West's hesitancy to support the people there has cost a lot of vital ground, with some saying if they had supplied the revolutionaries, rebels and ordinary people with the means to defend themselves more ground may have been held.
“There was, after all, no such hesitancy when it came to the Saudi invasion of Bahrain, an aggressive move which has not prompted the West to react or comment,” the British journalist said.
She believed the silence has been taken as a “green light by the ruling royal family to carry on oppressing its people” but warned that it was clear the people are equally determined to fight for equality and independence.”
With regard to the protests in Yemen, Ridley said it had been a “victory of sorts for the people but the reluctance of Saleh to quit weeks ago has costs hundreds of lives and for that alone the people want to see him stand trial for crimes against humanity.”
“The Saudis, under the auspices of the (P)GCC, brokered a deal to give Saleh a get-out-of-jail-card-free if he leaves within a month. It may be too little, too late as far as the Yemenis are concerned. Again, the West has had little to say.”
Syria, she said, is probably the “most difficult one to judge” but too many innocent people have died and the President and his government needed to address the needs of the people swiftly.
“The Arab Spring will continue through the summer and beyond until the people get what they want. The winners will be ordinary people and the losers will be those who've abused their power for too long,” Ridley forecast.
Palestinians, she also believed, will benefit from the revolutionaries because “every one of them has Al Quds in his heart” and although the uprisings may not be Islamic, the people are Muslim and will rediscover their faith often denied to them by those in power.
“I also have a feeling what is happening in the region will spread to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan - this is a brave new world which has no place for Western installed puppets, despots, royals or dictators.”
The journalist argued that the possibilities are endless when the people start to lead their leaders, while the west was still standing “very much on the sidelines, bewildered and bemused.”
“And once the revolution has been completed in the Middle East maybe the people in the West will begin to re-evaluate their own freedoms and liberties,” she suggested.
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