buy cialis online

Isn’t it strange that as the UN Security Council was voting to impose a no-fly zone over Libya ostensibly to protect the people of that country from their government, protesters in Bahrain and Yemen were being brutally battered and mowed down by their own security forces?

Isn’t it strange that the African Union (AU) which maintained a studious silence as Tunisians and Egyptians staged protests for days on end to oust their leadership and which has remained silent as Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi battled his own people, acquiesed to the Security Council?

Isn’t it strange that as Cote d’Ivoire’s presidential claimant Laurent Gbagbo’s forces shelled a town and killed tens of people, the AU and the UN Security Council both turned a blind eye to the mayhem in West Africa and instead acquiesed to a no-fly zone in the north of the continent?

Isn’t it strange that the Arab League which maintained a curious silence as peaceful protesters ousted the leadership of Tunisia and excited similar demands in Egypt, Libya, Bahrain and Yemen backed military action against Tripoli but turned a deaf ear to the goings-on in Bahrain and Yemen?

We find it strange and believe it be very strange that the Americans, French, British who were in the forefront of demanding military action against Tripoli cannot demand the same of Yemen and Bahrain or Saudi Arabia whose troops marched into Bahrain to put down an uprising. How about Syria?

Admittedly in Tunisia the leadership crumbled far too quickly while the Egyptian military refused to attack civilians, but in Libya the security forces by attacking civilians, changed world opinion against Gaddafi, but, how about the killing of innocent civilians in Syria, Bahrain and Yemen?

If the issue is to force Tripoli to respect the legitimate and democratic demands of the people of Libya to assemble freely and speak openly, why should not the same rules apply to Bahrain and Yemen or Saudi Arabia? Is there another reason for the US, France and UK to go after Libya?

It would appear things begin to fall into place when it is remembered that as Libyans rose against Gaddafi elements from the British Special Air Services and diplomats were arrested in the desert as they tried to make contact with Libyan rebels. They were looking to arm Gadaffi’s opponents.

It is the alacrity with which the British military agents and diplomats got into Libya, the hurry in which they were to meet up with the rebels hardly a fortnight into the protests, and the swift call for military action by the French that raise the red flags of suspicion as to their true motives.

Was it Gaddafi the British wanted out of the way fast where they had fumbled and wavered as Hosni Mubarak sat tight? If Gaddafi is a dictator so also was Mubarak, but not once did the EU, UN or AU or Washington raise a finger as he came under increasing pressure from his people.

Admittedly, the AU must have found itself in a quandary when Gaddafi, one of its most ardent supporters ran into a rebellion in his backyard and hence its extended silence, but the same reasons that led it to look the other way were still in play when the matter came up at the UN.

Both the AU and the UN are involved in Cote d’Ivoire. Both agree Gbagbo lost last year’s presidential poll, and both support the UN peace-keepers in the country. Why did the AU not take Gbagbo to the Security Council because he and Gaddafi were killing innocent civilians?

Now, how is the no-fly zone protecting the people of Libya? To enforce a no-fly zone, French, American and British fighter planes and missiles fired from aircraft carriers have taken out Libya’s air defences, crippled its fighter jets and made sure none of them takes off.

There was no guarantee that there would be no civilians killed this time round when everywhere there has been bombing innocent lives are lost? The attacks on Libya by this hastily scrambled alliance amount to a declaration of war against a country that did not attack its attackers.

What will happen after bombardment takes out or fails to take out Gaddafi? What happens after the attackers control Libya’s skies? A war was never won by airstrikes alone. There have to be ground troops to seize and hold territory. Will the AU and Arab League stop a ground invasion?