The Arab Spring has given way to a cold snap: Tiananmen Square-style massacres of protesters in Yemen, the Saudi invasion of Bahrain and full-blown Western intervention in Libya. Of course, it was never going to be easy. The Middle East is the most strategically important region on Earth, and also boasts the biggest concentration of brutal dictatorships: […]
Posts Tagged ‘Arab Uprisings’
Averting a Guernica in Libya
Mar 19th, 2011 by Mark Seddon.There are already some on the Left who are arguing against military intervention – in the form of a no fly zone – over Libya. The argument has merit on the grounds of consistency, and probably, although it is not being advanced, on grounds of practicality. This will be a difficult military operation to mount. […]
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No-fly zone: where will it lead?
Mar 19th, 2011 by Michael Meacher.Stopping a charnel house of slaughter if Gaddafi had re-taken Benghazi is a legitimate objective for imposing a no-fly zone provided it has been sanctioned by the UN Security Council, and especially in this case if it is supported by the Arab League. Now that that has been achieved however, the risks multiply. With Libya […]
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The Bahrain barometer
Mar 17th, 2011 by Michael Meacher.A thousand Saudi troops march into Bahrain and this intrusion into the sovereignty of another nation is met by a deafening silence in the Western media. Imagine what the reaction would have been if a thousand Syrian troops had marched into neighbouring Lebanon at the first sign of trouble to protect its government against demonstrators and had […]
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Libya: To Intervene, Or Not To Intervene?
Mar 1st, 2011 by Mark Seddon.To intervene, or not to intervene, that is the question? Or is it? When it comes to the Libyan revolution, and the peculiar madness of Colonel Gadaffi, what is the right thing to do? Yesterday evening, he was interviewed by ABC and the BBC, to begin with wearing dark shades and then next without them; the […]
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So Who Benefitted From Gadaffi’s Largesse?
Feb 27th, 2011 by Mark Seddon.As the United Nations Security Council meets in New York, Secretary General Ban ki moon is calling for “decisive” action to be taken against the Libyan regime. The UN Secretary General deserves all of the support he can get, and is absolutely right to call for tough sanctions and for Gadaffi and his henchmen to face […]
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Getting rid of Gadaffi – How to help the Libyan people
Feb 26th, 2011 by Mark Seddon.Heavy gun fire has been heard raking the streets of Tripoli, as Libyan dictator Colonel Gadaffi makes a defiant stand. There can be no doubt now that he will stop at absolutely nothing to hang on to power, along with his family entourage who until recently were assiduously courted by the British and Italian establishments.
