I know the political world is still scarred from the Iraq invasion and how it didn’t have full UN backing but now we have another glaring situation where fellow human beings are being slaughtered to quell any free speech and nothing is happening. It makes my blood boil and if I were an MP I wouldn’t be able to contain myself. We can all talk and talk and talk and whilst we talk and talk and talk Gaddafi kills and kills and kills and the Bahraini authorities oppress and oppress and oppress. At some point someone has to show the strength of character to do the right thing but no-one wants to do that as they are scared of what the rest of the world, let alone their own people will think.
Sadly we live in a world full of NIMBYs, certainly when it comes to old school third world countries. People feel far worse for the Japanese people who have been crushed by Mother Nature flexing her muscles than they do about people being slaughtered in cold blood for wanting the freedoms that we take for granted. People seem to be thinking that the freedom rebels in these Arab states deserve freedom but that they need to do it themselves whilst we sit and watch. The historian David Starkey certainly seems to think so after his appearance on Question Time the other week. If they can’t win democracy, freedom and free speech for themselves then they don’t deserve it. What horsecrap. What type of idiot thinks that?
Don’t answer that.
I am naive and I know that and in all honesty I couldn’t care. I am idealistic I know and the real world and idealistic values often don’t go nicely together. However I stick by my opinion and that is people are allowed the right to free speech all over the world wherever they are from. Russian, English, American, Japanese, Australian, Kenyan, Indian, Tunisian, Libyan, Brazilian, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu I couldn’t care less – they are all human and all humans deserve the right to live in an environment where their voices are heard without living in fear that free speech will result in arrest or worse.
Yes the Tunisians and Egyptians managed to win that right through peaceful demonstration and no outside help was needed but that will not be the same in every situation. As we clearly see now it isn’t in Libya or Bahrain where the rulers still have the Army and they will happily kill their own people in the name of the government. This is not right. Anyone who thinks it is is someone I will just never fathom. The UN, NATO and the Arab League all want Gaddafi to go and have told him this but he won’t listen. He won’t give up until he’s dead and we all know this. However we still sit and discuss what to do and go round and around and around in circles. All this talk of a no-fly zone will be pointless soon as Gaddafi will have crushed the opposition and doomed these people to a life of misery and pain – that’s if he decides they are allowed to live.
These people only want basic human rights and need our help and whilst we hear their calls we are not doing anything about it. Jo Swinson brought it up in PMQs this lunchtime and David Cameron said he was actively trying to do something but when all is said and done China and Russia will never back any military intervention. They are more NIMBY than anyone and they couldn’t care less. Stephen Dorrell and Sir Menzies Campbell spoke with BBC News after PMQs and both lamented the current situation knowing that time is running out to save these people.
Whatever you think of George Bush and Tony Blair you must admit that in the long run people’s lives were saved by invading Iraq and stopping the oppression. Yes the reasons for war are debatable and the Iraqi people hadn’t stood up as a collective voice demanding change but certain parts of the country were immensely oppressed, trodden down and treated like shit on the shoe by Saddam Hussein. This time the people are loudly saying they want change and are not being allowed it. Not just that, they are being killed for saying it. This is not right and it never will be.
I can understand why the leaders of the major western worlds are not keen to get militarily involved but if they don’t then the rebels and freedom fighters will lose and die. Libya will become a pariah state and will probably become a new home to terrorism, one that has immense oil reserves and money as is even nearer to mainland Europe than Iraq was. Basically if the rebels lose it will be a disaster for both freedom and democracy as well as the safety of the people of Europe.
The time is now to do something. In all honesty the time was weeks ago but as they say ‘it’s better late than never’ the problem being though that never is creeping up on us at an ever alarming rate.
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The issue is that if The West go in with guns blazing, Gadaffi will spin it to be a sign that it was them who were trying to depose him and not the people of Libya.
The UN really should be doing more to lean on Gadaffi but if we want a positive outcome, it has to be done in the right way. Let us not forget that when we went into Iraq we completely messed the country up because not enough thought went into working out how best to deal with the situation and even now its a PR nightmare.
The problem is all that is going on is talking. We talk. People die. Do you really think that Gaddafi will be talked out of office?
I’m not saying invade, I’m just saying at the very least give them a chance. A no-fly zone policed by our allies will start to level the playing field. That is at least a start. But whilst the leaders of the western world are scared all that happens is a crackpot solidifys his power and becomes even more unstable.
I’m still just hearing complaints without any practical ideas. What can the UK do in a public way to help? It is a terrible thing that Gadaffi is oppressing his people in a major way but what can we actually do?
@neil
If you feel so strongly about this instead of sitting here replying to random comments why aren’t you getting tooled up and making your way to Benghazi? Are just another armchair warrior happy to play with toy soldiers yet not interested in putting his own life on the line?
To be honest Cat I sit here knowing the sexual chemistry between us is so strong if I left you’d be heartbroken you couldn’t be mean to me and call me names. How else would you spend your days?
As for the point in hand – I’m relatively sure I’d be a shit soldier and me being tooled up won’t really help. If you are happy to sit back and watch innocent people being slaughtered then that is your perogative. I happen to not like seeing this and I’ve said so. Me going to Libya (although in all honesty not too sure how I’ll get in) won’t help them. The government, UN, Nato, the Arab League doing something instead of talking will.
“To be honest Cat I sit here knowing the sexual chemistry between us is so strong if I left you’d be heartbroken you couldn’t be mean to me and call me names. How else would you spend your days?”
Ah, so you’re a sexist as well.
“As for the point in hand – I’m relatively sure I’d be a shit soldier and me being tooled up won’t really help. If you are happy to sit back and watch innocent people being slaughtered then that is your perogative. I happen to not like seeing this and I’ve said so.”
So, what is your opinion on the Iraq war?
Your grasp of sarcasm is clearly first rate.
My view on the Iraq war is well known. I do not know the real reasons behind going to war and whether or not the dossier was sexed up etc… but what I do know is how many lives have been saved. If you just take the child mortality rate changes then 70,000 more babies have reached infancy and beyond in the past few years since the war. Not exactly the wost start.
I was not Pro-War nor was I Anti-War but when you stop a man who is genociding a great swathe of people in their own country then that is never a bad thing.
The issue is that if the west goes in with guns blazing then Gadaffi spins it to make it look like the west is at the heart rather than honest Libyans. The UN should certainly be leaning heavily on Gadaffi certainly, but it has to be done the right way because is a battle of ideas and ideals as much as a battle with guns.
‘Rebels and freedom fighters’, you’re practically delusional if you think there are any freedom fighters in Libya. If it is such a great cause, put on your big boy pants and go join your freedom fighters and quit trying to shame others into doing so!
Yeah the rebels in Libya really don’t want freedom from a tyrannical mad ruler…
Is there a rolling eye emoticon on here? No? Damnit.