Arab democracy is marching in the wrong direction. Check that, Arab democracy isn't marching at all; it's in flight across Libya as the forces of Muammar Qaddafi drive the rebels east and extinguish the flames of freedom.
Through it all the United States has sat idly by and watched an opportunity for a fresh, peaceful start with the Arab world evaporate. President Obama has told us that the noose around Qaddafi is tightening. Qaddafi must listen to that quote on repeat like a teen girl does with a Justin Bieber song. Pardon me, Mr. President, but the only noose that is tightening is the one the press is putting around your administration for our pitiful non-attempts to do what is in the best interest of Libya, the United States and world peace.
For all that we fought for in Iraq we couldn't or wouldn't do anything to help the Libyan rebels, whose forces have now been all but routed by Qaddafi. A chance to aid a real democratic movement in the Arab world has passed and now all we've done is make an enemy of Libya's dictator who will perhaps be more inclined to turn a blind eye to Islamic extremism in his country. We've also lost the support of the Libyan people, where was the help from the world's beacon of democracy in their struggle? It never appeared. When Libya finally does become a democracy, how will its elected government view the country that could spend a trillion dollars in Iraq but wouldn't enforce a no-fly zone over Libya?
And the eyes of the Arab world were upon us. We destabilized Iraq, support a corrupt government in Afghanistan, but we couldn't support a legitimate movement in Libya with anything stronger than a metaphorical noose. The lessons of the past seven decades have been lost on America's politicians. We've supported Arab autocrats who kept all the money we funneled them for oil to themselves. They exploited their people economically and politically and we propped them up because they were better than the alternative - the crazy bin Laden types.
The problem of course, is that the oil-rich despots we supported were driving people into the arms of bin Laden. Arab are frustrated with their own socio-economic situation, their lack of a voice in their future, and the relative hopelessness of living in a land where a handful of families control all of the wealth and all of the means of opportunity. This frustration has manifested itself as violence, notably towards America. Consider that 15 of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi; what...Saudi Arabia is our ally? How is that possible? Well we fund a hereditary monarchy in Saudi Arabia, remember what happened the last time America was run by a hereditary monarchy? Right...so Americans are allowed to be disgruntled with kings, Saudis, not so much.
So what to we do when we have the opportunity and the means to support an actual homegrown Arab democratic uprising? Well that's a good question, what have we done? Nothing. Rather than sympathizing with people who are fighting for the same ideals American colonists died for over 200 years ago, rather than helping oppressed people stand up to tyranny, rather than foster the creation of an Arab democracy that would be free of outside, western influence and beholden to our country, we have done nothing.
Actually that's not true, we've angered a terrorist leader who never liked us (and who we never liked) and we showed Libyans that on the day when their democracy arrives, they'll have a lukewarm partner in America - and I'm sure lukewarm will be a generous description of how they feel about us when that day arrives. Furthermore, we've shown the whole Arab world that the United States doesn't walk the walk. Yeah, we talk big game about democracy and ideals, but when we have a chance to support it for the cost of stationing an aircraft carrier off Sicily, we can't buck up and do it. Remember how the war in Iraq was all about freedom and democracy? Yeah right. I'm a young Arab man trying to figure out what the motives of the US really are, convince me that Iraq wasn't about oil. Maybe that's not the case, but it doesn't matter what I think, it matters what the potential suicide bomber thinks. It's hard for me to imagine that he sees the US doing nothing in Libya and decides we are in it for the right reasons.
So the US fiddles while Libya burns. Two steps back for justice, for human rights, for self-determination and for democracy. Two steps back for America's national security. I only hope that after Qaddafi dispenses with the rebels he doesn't set up al-Qaeda training camps and force us to invade like we did in Afghanistan. After all, we've already sacrificed our ideals, I hope it doesn't cost us our livelihood as well.
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