KOUROSH ZIABARI: International silence over the Middle East felonies

Kourosh Ziabari - author

April 15, 2011

By Kourosh Ziabari / STAFF WRITER

As the U.S.-backed repressive regimes of the Middle East harshly crack down on their unarmed, innocent citizens, the international community has kept a low profile and indifferently watches the massacre of pro-freedom demonstrators in Libya, Bahrain and Yemen by the merciless dictators of the Persian Gulf region.

Since the wave of protests at the dictatorial regimes of the Middle East began in late 2010, hundreds of people including pro-freedom revolutionaries, activists, bloggers and journalists have been killed by the dictators who have shown that they have no respect for the most essential rights of their people, including their right for peaceful demonstrations and protests and constructive criticism of the government.

Unofficial statistics have recently revealed that more than 10,000 protestors were killed by the mercenaries of the Moammar Gaddafi regime since the beginning of protests in Libya, and this figure is astounding enough to convince us that an all-out, real genocide has taken place in Libya where a delirious dictator has been ruling for more than 42 years.

Since the United Nations Security Council authorized the use of a no-fly zone over Libya “with the explicit task of protecting the civilian population” in its resolution 1973, nothing has changed significantly and the NATO forces who dispatched their troop with the proclaimed intention of saving the life of unarmed civilians who were being massacred by the Gaddafi regime achieved nothing special in their military intervention in the Northern African country.

So far, a block of NATO member states mainly shaped of European countries such as Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, UK, Spain and Sweden along with the United States, Canada and some Arab countries of the Persian Gulf have taken part in the military expedition to Libya; however, the only result of their massive operation was the carnage of innocent civilians and an enormous waste of money which should be paid by the European and American taxpayers.

American military Journalist Francis Tusa who is the editor of “Defence Analysis” magazine, estimated that flying a Tornado GR4 would cost about £35,000 an hour, so the cost of patrolling one sector of Libyan airspace would cost £2M to £3M per day.

The former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans who works with the Council on Foreign Relations think-tank which is notorious for its hawkish and warmongering stance considers the international military intervention in Libya a movement which is aimed at saving the lives of the civilians: “the international military intervention (SMH) in Libya is not about bombing for democracy or Muammar Qaddafi’s head. Legally, morally, politically, and militarily it has only one justification: protecting the country’s people”; however, he and those who think like him have credulously forgotten the fact that 114 civilians have been killed as a result of the military operation of NATO and its allies in Libya. If the NATO member states, mainly consisted of European countries who conventionally boast of their commitment to human rights, were really concerned for the lives of the Libyan people, they wouldn’t have killed 114 civilians. Maybe one may say that 114 is an insignificant number compared with more than 10,000 people whom the Gaddafi regime massacred; however, one should not forget that the life of each human being is precious and valuable and those who introduce themselves as the defenders of human rights should know this better than anyone else.

Now, Libya is entangled in a state of civil war and nobody can predict the future of popular uprising in this African country. The United Nations Security Council has frozen the assets of Moammar Gaddafi and imposed travel bans on the members of his family. So, are these measures adequate to respond to the felonies which the old dictator of Libya is committing? Is the international community genuinely willing to draw to an end the crisis in Libya and hold Gaddafi accountable for his crimes? The International Criminal Court has warned that Gaddafi and the members of his inner circle “may” have committed crimes against humanity. Are these flat accusations enough to put on trial a dictator who relentlessly kills his people and calls them “rebels”, “addicts” and “drug smugglers”? What is the reason behind the silence of international community over the humanitarian disaster occurring in Libya? Is it because the United States and its European friends cannot turn a blind eye to the countless barrels of oil awaiting them in Libya? Is it because the gigantic investment of the United States and its European allies depends on Gaddafi’s remaining in power? If the international community has come to the conclusion that Gaddafi is a terrorist, so why doesn’t it take essential and effective steps to help the Libyan people depose him?

The situation in Bahrain isn’t much better. The dictatorial regime of Al Khalifa has invited Saudi and Emirati forces to come to its help in quenching the protests of the angry revolutionaries who cannot tolerate the discriminatory treatment of the government with the Shiite majority. The defenders of human rights have apathetically neglected the massacre of Bahraini protesters, the widespread arrest of political activists and even the destruction of the Pearl Roundabout which the Bahraini government feared might become the symbol of Bahraini people’s revolution like Egypt’s Al-Tahrir Square.

The mainstream media in the West, run by the well-of Zionists who control the majority of media conglomerates in the world, have flagrantly ignored the abuses of human rights in Bahrain during the 2011 protests and boycotted the news of the massacre of Bahraini people by the Al Khalifa regime. This clearly shows that what is not of any importance to them is the issue of human rights, at least in the Middle East and Bahrain which is host to the U.S. Fifth Fleet.

Overall, the performance of the European governments, international organizations and the mainstream media has indicated that it’s usual and customary for them to exercise double standards wherever needed. The reaction of the international community to the Middle East uprisings has been a clear exercise of double standards which we are now quite familiar with.

Kourosh Ziabari is an Iranian journalist and media correspondent. Read more about him here.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian