Let’s take a look at the members of the Arab League, and what is happening in their territory, as compared to what’s going on in Libya:
Egypt—government fell to protestors. Military running the country.
Sudan—just split in two after a civil war. South Sudan set to become independent in July 2011. Genocide in Darfur. Sudanese President indicted by ICC for crimes against humanity for his actions in Darfur, and South Sudan.
Algeria—just lifted a 19 year long state of emergency following popular protests. Government killed 3, wounded 800 in the latest round of riots.
Morocco—very stable country; a U.S. ally since 1777. One of the first nations on earth to recognize the United States after the American Revolution. Opposition took office following peaceful elections in 2002; the very first change of government like this in the Arab world. Currently fighting an al-Qaeda chapter within its territory that has targeted several north African countries.
Iraq—U.S. and international troops are still there; government is still trying to get its act together.
Saudi Arabia—Saudi king is attempting to buy off protestors with cash and with shows of overwhelming force. “Day of Rage” in Saudi capital cancelled after tens of thousands of police were deployed first. Saudi King Abdullah gave asylum to exiled Tunisian President after he was thrown out of office by Tunisian protestors. Saudi “virtue police” treat citizens harshly and violently if they are perceived as doing something illegal under Sharia law, although King Abdullah has put more moderates into the religious police.
Yemen—One of the most heavily armed nations on the planet, there are three guns per every man, woman and child there. Sliding rapidly toward civil war; government is attempting to put down protests there. President is pulling a Mubarak, wanting to stay on until after elections. Protestors want him gone ASAP. Heavy al-Qaeda presence. Government is firing on protestors, who are returning fire. Recent fighting left forty dead; government officials and military leaders have begun switching sides as a result. President expected to resign.
Syria—First pro-democracy protest of some size in decades began recently; four dead, hundreds injured by some accounts. Government and Syrian intelligence service has been using violence to influence events in neighboring Lebanon, including assassination of Lebanese politicians who want Syria out of their politics. The Syrian government shows no mercy to protestors or people around them; in 1982, the Syrian government attacked a Syrian town (Hama) that rebelled with their full military might, and left no survivors. As many as 40,000 civilians perished.
Tunisia—Government fell to protestors. Dealing with refugee crisis with incoming Libyan civilians fleeing Qaddafi’s mercenaries. Protestors in other Arab nations were inspired by the Tunisian protests, which were successful in overthrowing their government.
Somalia—Ongoing civil war. No central government from 1991-2009; pirate strongholds on the coastline; several African nations have intervened militarily with no conclusive results. Charges of genocide in the civil war. New government is getting stronger, building up a Somali military and attempting to wrest the countryside from militants.
Libya—Ongoing civil war, currently has the attention of the world. Qaddafi brought in mercenaries to deal with his own people. Heavy civilian casualties.
Jordan—Stable Arab country. Leads the Arab world in political reforms, though they still have a ways to go. Practices torture of political prisoners, application of the death penalty being questioned by Amnesty International. Peace treaties with all of its neighbors, including Israel. Protests began in January 2011 over food prices and unemployment and against the Prime Minister of Jordan. King of Jordan fired the cabinet and the Prime Minister in a nod to the concerns of protestors.
United Arab Emirates—Protest leaders were arrested and deported after leading a 3,000 man work strike over wage increases, and is threatening legal action against the rest. Liberal Arab country. Protestors appeared a few days ago to protest the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.
Lebanon—Under the control of Hezbollah and Syria. People who protest against this arrangement are assassinated by bombs or bullets, or simply disappear, never to be heard from again. Got dragged into a Hezbollah-Israeli war a few years ago, and is likely to be dragged in again if the terror group decides to start bombarding northern Israeli towns again with Iranian rockets.
Kuwait—Protests have been waged by non-citizens over citizenship issues and the arrest of other non-citizens at previous protests. Protestors clashed with security forces. Thirty people have been wounded. The Emir of Kuwait is an American ally.
Mauritania—Military coup in 2008; the leader of the coup ran for President in 2009 and won the election. Protests are currently underway. They’ve been relatively peaceful protests so far, and the authorities have allowed the protests, arresting some for getting out of hand.
Oman—Protests over wages and government reform. Some protestors got violent, and other protestors wrote to the Sultan of Oman, apologizing for the violence. One person was killed, twenty were wounded. Hard to see which direction this situation might go.
Comoros—An Arab island chain in the Mediterranean, it has a small military, numbering 500 men and 500 police officers. Naval protection is provided by France; the French also have a base there. They are a multi-party “federal presidential republic” that is a working democracy, after decades of dictatorship. Power changed hands peacefully in 2006. Laws are based on a mix of Islamic law and Napoleonic codes.
Qatar—A protest scheduled on Facebook to confront the country’s problems with corruption of government officials was cancelled. Then rumors of a coup in progress started circulating around the country. A major U.S. ally in the region; American troops are stationed there. They also have some kind of a defense treaty with Iran.
Bahrain—A Sunni king rules over a Shiite majority here; there was an explosion of bloody violence between government forces and civilian protestors in the last few weeks. The Sunni king has called for foreign troops to enter his country and assist in suppressing the Shiites. Saudi troops entered the country and are currently assisting in doing so. Also a U.S. ally, and the forward operating base of the U.S. Fifth Fleet. This one’s going to bite us when we least expect it. Iran is already stirring up trouble here.
Palestine—They’ve always got protests going on, and usually it’s over what Israel’s doing to them. With Hamas in charge of Gaza, there will be no peace. And Fatah’s control of the West Bank against Hamas is tenuous at best. Violence is mostly between Fatah and Hamas, and Hamas and the Israelis. The majority of the news coverage report on the fighting between Israel and Hamas.
Djibouti—Protests are underway against their President, who won against his main rival in the last election with 100% of the votes going his way. Election was denounced by international monitors. Clashes have turned violent since February 3rd, and the opposition appears to have been knocked out by the killing of many protestors, and the arrest of their leaders.
I have a hard time swallowing the fact that we’re entertaining requests from this group of nations, in particular the ones who are violently suppressing pro-democracy movements in their own countries, to protect pro-democracy protestors in Libya.
The truth is that these nations are using Libya to throw attention onto Gaddafi and off of THEM!
And our leaders are bowing to their wishes to present the public picture of a united response involving Arab and Western nations, when the Western alliance is fragmented, and only a few of the Arab nations in the Arab league are contributing aircraft or support personnel. And Arab nations are NOTORIOUS for changing their tunes at the drop of a hat.
They suckered us in good.
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