The West’s hypocrisy

The international political community has seen dictators in the Middle East and Adrica as good guys on a roll.


Zahrah Nasir March 01, 2011

A curious fact about the ongoing outbreak of revolutionary fervour in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman and Yemen is that the ‘Big Bad Bogeymen’ on the receiving end of the people’s anger have basically, up until now, been viewed by the international political community as reasonably good guys on a roll.

This is not to say, with the exception of Oman where revolutionary fervour was totally unexpected and pretty much uncalled for, that ordinary people in the street were completely happy with their lot as, it goes without saying, many of them most certainly were not and a reasonably high percentage of them have been suffering in silence for years, their manifold woes completely ignored by major players such as America who had other fish to fry.

Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, for one, was viewed as a strongman working to keep the region reasonably stable and intact and foreign powers showed no qualms at all in dealing with him on a day-to-day basis, yet, almost overnight, he was tarred and feathered with the stuff nightmares are made of and, conspiracy theories aside, this sudden change of tune serves to underline the inherent dangers of accepting purported international intentions at face value as the people of Pakistan, in respect of America, should already know from experience.

Whilst Mubarak may initially have anticipated some measure of foreign support, moral support at least, this cannot be said of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi of Libya who has long been ostracised as much as possible by the ‘overseas club’, with the lone exception of his buddy, suddenly ex-buddy it seems, in Venezuela but, even then, this obvious dislike rarely extended to the vitriolic hate which erupted the very second revolutionary voices were raised against him. Qaddafi — welcomed as an extrovert in the early years of his autocratic reign, a man who could be depended upon to put on a spectacular show — was reduced to the rank of crackpot somewhere along the line. Yet, the international brigade quietly played ball, pandering to his whims when and as it suited them, until now when they have collectively joined hands and voices against his last stand, and this can only end with his departure from public office or his assassination. The big question here is why did successive international powers, presidents and governments not raise so much as an  eyebrow long before the people of these aforementioned countries either decided or were instigated to collectively speak out for themselves?

Slamming an arms embargo on Libya now is pointless since the very countries behind this did, right until very recently, ensure that the regime had all the arms and ammunition it needed. And what of Qaddafi’s close aides, ministers and lifelong friends who, after enjoying all the perks they could possibly accrue, have suddenly switched allegiances now that the writing is on the wall in letters of innocent blood and guts?

The rank and fetid scent of self-serving countries — including America, France and Britain — lies sickeningly heavy on the wind circulating through North Africa, the Middle East and the Gulf States right now and, as the ‘great unknowns’ underlying current events are liable to stay that way, one can only wait and wonder as to which way this nefarious stink will travel next and, in doing so, ponder as to why it is happening now.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2011.

COMMENTS (4)

Malik | 13 years ago | Reply Zahrah you are a self hating westerner. No offence. Trying to please the natives eh? Don't feel so guilty. If it were not for the west where would civilisation be? West has its problems but what is the alternative? Come back top UK and see how Asians and other immigrants have taken over. You'll feel much better.
Nadeem Ahmed | 13 years ago | Reply Zahra, Everyone knows this, please tell us something new. Not only west, all of us are hypocrats too. As a nation and also as individuals. When Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern Countries give us free oil and money, do we cleberate or refuse to accept. I have few friends who do not behave very well in their homes, but they are fine with me. Should I finish my friendship with them because of their attitude with their families? My interest is to keep my friendship with them. I think, if we look around, we will find many examples in our lives.
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