(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - What we seldom get to know, are the busy phone calls, the late night meetings between government ministers, the foreign office civil servants and their spotty researchers, the neo-conservative think tanks, the secret service and mid to high ranking embassy staff all frantically looking for the new vagabond recruits they can negotiate with and champion as the new “hero” of democracy and stability.
Just as the protests began in Tunisia and Egypt, the Western powers seemed quite unable to provide any level of criticism towards dictatorial regime leaders. Mubarak, Ben Ali and now Gaddafi were spoken to in the softest and most measured of words.
Regime change, democracy, freedom were words not uttered. Even when the protests in Egypt’s Tahrir square had swollen to a million, none could conjure up the words we come to hear from the “Leaders of the free world”.
The reason is simple, for the Western imperialist powers, regime change and democracy are unfavorable conditions.
“Stability” slanted towards control of natural resources and dependence upon the West is exactly what is needed, and maintained whatever the cost in terms of human life and wellbeing may be. Contrary to the high powered rhetoric we heard in the run up to the invasions of gas rich Afghanistan and Oil rich Iraq, there is surprisingly no great rush for the worldwide establishment of economically independent nations, whose citizens enjoy munching on “freedom fries”.
Those nations with vast natural resources, such as Libya, had better slow down. Just when Gaddafi was behaving himself and opening up trade by allowing Western companies to plunder his nations’ wealth for the enrichment of his family and clan, the people of Libya had to follow Tunisia and Egypt and decide to revolt. Obama and Cameron are reluctant freedom givers.
They are like two school boys playing in the garden, getting their clothes dirty, filling their pockets with sand and stones, and then being called back inside by their mother.
How they wish they could carry on playing, which, in this case, would be at the expense of millions of peoples’ lives and destinies, rather than the odd broken window.
The British government has been proven to overlook the atrocious human rights record in Libya, indeed recent reports increasingly point towards the conclusion that the government negotiated in secret with the Libyan regime releasing the convicted terrorist AbdelBaset el-Megrahi in exchange for lucrative business deals.
When questioned about the circumstances of Megrahi’s release, the British Government are in total denial. The foreign minister and the Prime minister vehemently deny any deal had been made. Details, recently published in the Guardian, allege Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi made “thuggish” threats to halt all trade deals if Megrahi stayed in jail.
It is well known through the US cable leaks that the UK really did wish to have Megrahi released.
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