Saturday 26 February 2011

Shoot the messenger

It seems every time I turn on the TV I am hearing that Libya is in crisis, but what I see is the population rising up and saying they are not happy with their current system of governance. As I am not Libyan I will not comment on whether it is right or wrong, or whether it is fair, but as someone who lives in the Western world, I am left wondering why there was no threat of NATO troops invading Britain in December 2010.

Tony Blair, the ex British Prime Minister has condemned the actions of Colonel Ghaddafi's troops in quashing what he, as the leader of the country views as an uprising and has allegedly threatened the use of force in Libya. David Cameron has condemned the Libyan governments actions and called their actions 'untolerable'. He went further to say that 'brutality and intimidation will not be tolerated'.

Oh really Mr Cameron?

So how do you justify the actions of the police force in Britain during the student protests of 2010? Beatings, hospitalizations, intimidation were all used against student protestors, and yet no charge was brought against any police officer.

Where was the threat of NATO forces in Rwanda? Did they go into Egypt recently? Tunisia perhaps? Or were they dissuaded from action in these countries due to the lack of oil reserves to be found there?

There may be human rights abuses taking place in Libya, but no more so than those that take place in Israel every day. Has NATO invaded Jerusalem? Far from it. And what about UN sanctions imposed on Israel because of their actions? Well yes, there are some, but they have been flaunted and disregarded but unlike with Iraq, there has been no international invasion and regime change.

But then there was no oil at stake.

Tony Blair, is an man of evil actions even if his intentions are good. What is that old adage, 'The path to hell is often paved with good intentions'? Blair supported and facilitated the invasion of Iraq with at best questionable information, and now that he is currently functioning in the role of a Middle East Peace Envoy, he is actually proving to be a harbinger of doom.

They say don't shoot the messenger, but in future, Arab leaders may find it just that bit safer to do so.

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