The misery that is Libya
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: May 18 2011 -

THE UNREST in Libya started from its eastern city of Benghazi and right now the flash point is Misrata.

What was hailed as a popular uprising against Muammar Gaddafi has now turned into a grim battle between pro Gaddafi and anti Gaddafi forces. The west has chosen to side with the anti Gaddafi forces and in order to effect a regime change has enforced a no fly zone.

As the term implies a no fly zone means control of air space, but the western powers have interpreted the term loosely and as of now, in the name of enforcing the no fly zone, movement of heavy guns and pro Gaddafi Libyan forces are also being checked.

By now with the overwhelming air support the anti Gaddafi forces should have been victorious, but that is hardly the case, in fact a stalemate has resulted. Gaddafi turned out to have much more supporters than what the western powers would like us to believe.

Frustrated with the lack of success the west is now considering the deployment of troops. It will be Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan all over again. A torpid sense of deja-vu has set in.

One would ask but what has all this to do with the rest of the world, or for that matter with that little corner called Manipur. First to understand the facts.

World politics and international relations are dominated by the western powers. It is they who determine how national states should conduct themselves and how to leash in those countries who do not kowtow to them.

They decide the type of subversive activities that are to be adopted to heel in 'recalcitrant' nation states. We tend to live with the mistaken notion that the sovereignty of a nation state is sacred and respected by all.

If this be the basis of our understanding of international politics we could well be in need of making a reassessment. It is in this context that knowing what is taking place in Libya could be helpful.

Colonel Gaddafi is nobody's saint. His oil rich country, Libya's crude oil is the best quality crude in the world, has not brought the change in the quality of life as witnessed in some other Arab states, a few of which are not even oil producers.

Clearly his world vision is idealistic. He has been known to support terrorists and Islamic fundamentalists. He definitely is not a good boy to the western powers. As a Bedouin he is often smitten by a wanderlust and on many occasions prefer to sleep in a tent in the Saharan desert. He definitely does not fit the accepted description of a head of a modern day sovereign country.

However apart from his quirks what the west cannot really stomach is his refusal to accept its version of realpolitik. Gaddafi's refusal to unrestricted entry of western oil companies is another big irritation. They have been itching to lay their hands on this 'maverick' and they thought the uprising which began in Benghazi was a god send.

The western world led by the United States has the wherewithal to play with the lives of nations and individuals with the possible exception of China. If might be argued that X or Y country is a nuclear power and that in itself should be a deterrence to western interference.

If only this was true, Pakistan's pride as a nuclear power would not have been made a joke when US Navy Seals killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan with contemptuous ease. The act was also a clear example of how the west views the rest of the world, that is with disdain.

Colonel Gaddafi may go, and perhaps he deserves to be booted out, other third world leaders too may come and go but western arrogance and arm twisting will stay. This is where it is so important for India and China to close ranks and together play a bigger role for the third world.

They should tell the world to let the Libyans decide on Gaddafi and Libya and not let by foreign war mongers who are not even familiar with the local landscape decide Libya's fate.