After much procrastination on Dec. 22 Saudi Arabia finally recalled its ambassador from Libya. This was a culmination of almost a year of back-stage politicking and diplomatic endgame. The move comes amidst allegations that the Libyan leader, Muammar Qaddafi conspired to assassinate Crown Prince Abdullah. Unfortunately recent history is rife with instances that lend credibility to such allegations against the Libyan leadership.
The embarrassing verdict of Libyan complicity in the French UTA airliner bombing in 1989 close on the heels of the Lockerbie Pan-Am bombing in 1988 reveals the machinations of the Libyan government. The soured relations between Libya and the West only began to thaw in 2003 after the North African state agreed to accept responsibility by compensating the victims of these disasters. Then in August 2004 Libya agreed to yet another compensation — this time toward a 1985 discotheque bombing in Germany. All these were aimed at ending the state’s pariah status. And now these same countries appear to be overly enthusiastic to mend fences with Libya. And all this while the Saudi-Libyan drama was publicly unfolding! Sadly, it seems that the world has not learned its history lessons yet.
Issues of integrity, morality, honesty and justice have become deeply mired in diplomatic grandstanding and egocentric one-upmanship. The causality of such desecration finds its roots not just in the destitute backwaters of failed or rogue states, but also in the privileged precincts of the developed world. In fact, developing countries could almost be excused since they receive these lessons from the “civilized” and “democratic” world.
Much ado has been made of the infamous Rumsfeld handshake with Saddam Hussein in between the latter’s gassing runs on the Iranians in 1982. Yes, Saddam was a dear friend of the Americans fighting a proxy war with Iran at that time. Moreover, the same Iraqi leader was a friend of all the Gulf countries because he was deemed to be a lesser evil than the aristocracy of Iran.
The Arabs can hardly be called saints in their moral or judicial obeisance. However, not standing on the moral pulpit and preaching the very ethos of ethical dehiscence distinguish us. On the other hand, our European and American counterparts readily forge questionable alliances with even more questionable totalitarian regimes. When confronted with a larger threat, they willingly shed all moral compulsions.
Consider the tragedy when leaders like President Bush are willing to call a person like Ariel Sharon a man of peace. Sharon, a notorious butcher of the defenseless, a terrorist and a war criminal, is certainly not a man of peace. However, singling out Sharon for such rancor would only impart a certain degree of rectitude to past Israeli leaders who are certainly not beyond reproach. But over the past six decades we have seen every European or American government actively cultivate special relationships with the Jewish state.
We are truly known by the company we keep, and the friendships and alliances we foster. Britain’s support to the Pinochet regime of Chile or the Australian support to Suharto of Indonesia, are just some patterns that go on to validate this inference. A closer scrutiny of the friends of US reveals a similar picture, starting with Mr. Popularity himself, Osama Bin Laden. The CIA’s role in the transformation of their once “blue-eyed boy” who fought against the “evil Soviets”, into an international terrorist is well documented. The less said about this matter the better. And then we have Manuel Noriega of Panama reputed for his drug-trafficking and money laundering activities while on the payroll of the CIA.
In the Gulf it was the Shah of Iran, whose infamous role in the CIA-orchestrated coup against the populist leader, Mohammed Mossadeq is a painful memory to the still-simmering Iranians. The list is truly endless. William Blum, former US State Department official writes: “From 1945 to the end of the century, the US attempted to overthrow more than 40 foreign governments and to crush more than 30 populist-nationalist movements struggling against intolerable regimes. In the process, the US caused the end of life for several million people and condemned many millions to a life of agony and despair.”
Despotism is surely not a virtue of the Western world; then what is it that repeatedly transports them into such camps? The time has come for them to respond to the wake-up call and rectify past mistakes.
It was a mistake for the powers-that-be to have backed Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war, and it is a mistake now for premature rapprochements with Libya. Countries will have to set their personal interests aside if we are to progress in any way toward a civilized global society. We are told that President Bush is a morally upright and principled leader and the same, one supposes, goes for the entourage across the Atlantic divide. We certainly wish to see more of this moral clarity in the New World Order although as yet, this virtue is still not on display.
