There’s a hell of a lot happening in the Middle East right now, with protests and violence from Morocco to Bahrain. It seems likely that more governments will fall in coming days. In every instance, these revolts appear to be genuinely grassroots movements. The West is turning a blind eye to some government crackdowns. Its support for democracy is overridden by the need for stability to secure its oil supply.
US, UK and French forces have begun attacks on government targets in Libya. French planes flew reconnaissance yesterday and fired the first shots […]
If you’re like me, you just got home and were watching Te Karere with your nightcap. When it ended they cut to BBC with a live press conference of Libyan Foreign Minister Mussa Kussa (awesome name) who declared a unilateral ceasefire and called for talks with the rebels.
Faced with the choice between short-term stability offered by a military strong-man or the long-term stability that would emerge from a democratic revolution, the West has long backed dictators in key resource supplying third-world nations. As the West backs away from saving the Libyan rebellion, it appears that little has changed.
It looks like Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi will be the next dictator to fall to the wave of protests and revolts sweeping the Arab world. The military initially sided with the regime and fired on the protesters, killing hundreds. But the loyalty of the security forces to the Gaddafi regime seems to be wavering. If this hard-man can crumble, who next?
