I’m happy our Canadian Parliament has finally decided to take a stand against the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Even if this stand is coming at least a couple of decades late, it’s important that our Parliament makes a clear statement of support especially because the latest events were sparked directly Arab people’s desire for fairness and democracy; and this has the potential to change the whole game in this very important, but troubled part of the world.
If I had to choose between Bin Laden’s terrorism and George W. Bush’s ill-conceived radical politics I would have chosen the latter; others might have made a different choice.
Unfortunately, those two individuals’ attitudes helped their opponents strengthen support in their respective camps creating the conditions for a clash of two civilizations.
The attack against New York City ’s Twin Towers exasperated conditions for the potential showdown, while George Bush’s defeat, combined with Barack Obama’s election, deactivated that time bomb and armed another one, still brutal and bloody, but of a different nature in the Arab countries.
Of course, there are many concerns in the possibility that radicals might seize the power in one or most of the countries in the middle of this unrest. Recall the sacrifices the Iranian people went through to get rid of their dictatorship and the corrupted regime of the Shah’s Pahlavi dynasty, only to end up in the hands of another brutal dictatorship under the present administration.
As soon as the unrest started to unfold in North Africa, many feared, including myself, that the new Tunisia and Egypt governments would be dominated by fanatics close to the Bin Laden doctrine or to the delirious Teheran regime.
Fortunately, contrary to the worst fears of the first days of the turmoil, things seem to be taking a different pattern.
The best way to describe this is the comment from CNN commentator Fareed Zakaria who said last week that “for the first time in a thousand years, Arabs are taking control of their own affairs.” I agree. Since the 11th Century he said, “Arab lands have been conquered and controlled by foreigners.” First the Ottoman, then the European and, during the Cold War, the American and Soviet superpowers.
The collapse of the Soviet Union has disoriented the American administration, unable to find its own balance after half a century of forced co-existence with its nemesis. The confused foreign politics of the Clinton administration has allowed radical groups like al-Qaeda to strengthen their presence in the most unstable areas in the world, while the Bush administration had contributed to their growth with its radical approach.
What has saved the foreign American administration from a complete collapse was Obama’s.
Furthermore, as the collapse of the Soviet Empire has also damaged the strength of its nemesis, America , so the defeat of the George Bush administration has removed the wind from the sails of Bin Laden’s al-Qaeda.
The expectations were too high for the people to be happy with what Obama has done up to now. Still, his election was a clear message to the people around the world that America was open for a new kind of dialogue.
It is in this context that we have to look at the events developing in that part of the world.
The turmoil is spreading in all directions, even if the cruel repression in some cases, like Iran , is trying to repress the desire of their people for fairness and democracy. Those actions, however, will only delay the inevitable development of their collapse.
European and North American governments have wondered for a few weeks, but decided to take a solid stand behind the people fighting against corruption and dictatorship when the bloody regime of Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Libya was targeted, along with one of the Iranian ayatollahs. At that point it was clear that the unrest was not orchestrated by radical or terrorists.
It was not motivated by religion or ideology, but only by the desire of people to fight for their rights.
Some are saying that the European, American, as well as the Canadian governments, have waited too long before clearly taking side with the people of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya . In hindsight they are right, even if in the first days of the unrest in Tunisia it was hard to understand which direction the events were going and what they want. Now we know, they want respect, fairness and democracy.
It’s hard at this time to see if they will succeed or not, but it’s now clear where all of us must stand: behind the people of Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya.
