"To bring
up how economically beneficial Colonel Qaddafi is to Russia, or for China to do
the same; to discuss how many weapons he may buy from us or how much oil he might sell
Beijing, isn't just immoral. It's the same as being friends with a murderer,
knowing perfectly well about his crimes, just because he hands out money from his
criminal pot with a generous hand."
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev: In a rare public disagreement with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Medvedev questioned Putin's characterization of the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya as resembling a 'crusade.'
This week on earth, yet
another war begins. Whatever name it receives - a peacemaking operation, the
protection of the civilian population in Libya, or assisting the forces of revolution,
the essence of what happens won't change.
A U.N.
Security Council resolution gave the green light for the Western countries
to take military action to put an end to the reign of Muammar Qaddafi. Now that
Europe has effectively denied the colonel's legitimacy, frozen his bank accounts
and imposed sanctions on Tripoli, to leave him in power would mean, in Japanese
terminology, a “loss of face.” All the talk about the existence of official documents
with compromising information on E.U. country leaders, because of which they want
to kill the Libyan leader, appear to be no more than gossip. If such documents did
in fact exist and were legally unimpeachable, Tripoli would have given them to
journalists long ago to make the scandal a backdrop for interrupting the U.N.
Security Council vote and to compromise the position of Western leaders calling
for war.
Nor is there reason to doubt
that European capitals are populated by people experienced in politics, who for
the sake of their careers wouldn't communicate with the highly unpredictable
Libyan colonel. It is well known that the Qaddafi regime invested heavily in
European companies and even sports clubs. But these investments are in no way secret.
Last week, statements made by
Qaddafi’s son about the alleged involvement of a Tripoli official and the
election campaign of French President Nicholas Sarkozy is nothing more than a tale
directed at the Arab street. Judging from their pages, not a single serious
European newspaper bit on these accusations. Such facts are too unbelievable, given
the relative financial transparency of Europe. Although, again in theory, one
may assume that, among the sponsors of his presidential campaign, Sarkozy could
have dealt with financial firms with their share of Libyan capital. And perhaps
these are the facts that Qaddafi’s son was trying to alert the world to.
Even if, due to logistical
problems or political differences, the U.N. resolution on Libya hadn't been
adopted, it wouldn't have changed a thing: a strike against Qaddafi's forces
would still have taken place. The Libyan leader crossed the red line, and his
actions have provoked a harsh response from the West.
A Qaddafi victory over the
uprising on Europe's border would have meant having a state supplying the Old
World, not only with thousands of illegal immigrants, but hundreds of
terrorists. That meant that, under whatever pretext, the West would have had to withdraw
the U.N. resolution, which discussed creating an international
tribunal to try the colonel and his family.
That's to say nothing about
the fate of billions of dollars frozen in European and American banks belonging
to the al-Qaddafi clan. After all, this money would have to be returned, with
apologies, to the head of the Jamahiriya.
The possibility of events taking such a course was already hinted at by a Tripoli
official a few days ago.
[Editor's Note: Jamahiriyais a
euphemism for Libya that was popularized by Muammar Qaddafi].
The U.N. resolution means only one thing: once and for all, Qaddafi
has finally become persona non grata in the global community. Now only a miracle can
save his regime.
The West's intent to be done
with the Libyan leader, just as the Americans put an end to the regime of
Saddam Hussein in a matter of days, was quickly understood by the Arab
countries. For many of those monarchic regimes, the Libyan leader was always a
bone in the throat. And today they have an excellent chance to put an end to his
regime under the cover of a U.N. resolution.
During the Security Council’s
vote on Libya, a few countries abstained. Among them were Russia, China,
Germany, India, and Brazil. These are the very countries to which, just a few
days ago, Qaddafi promised eternal friendship and economic favor. In exchange
he asked them for one thing - to save his regime. But no one bought into such
hastily made promises.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
To bring up how economically
beneficial Colonel Qaddafi is to Russia, or for China to do the same; to discuss how many
weapons he may buy from us or how much oil he might sell Beijing, isn't just
immoral. It's the same as being friends with a murderer,
knowing perfectly well about his crimes, just because he hands out money from his
criminal pot with a generous hand. If we are to follow this logic and believe
it to be right, then Russia made a mistake in not vetoing
the U.N. Security Council resolution.
For those who fear a closer
relationship between our country and the West, those who don't believe that we
can see Europe and the United States as partners rather than eternal enemies, a
Russian veto of the U.N. resolution on Libya would have been the best kind of
gift. But in this case, the loss of reputation - inevitably followed by economic losses - would have turned out to be so great for Moscow,
that no future contracts with Qaddafi would have compensated for them.
Events developing
in Libya aren't hard to predict. Having received carte blanche to conduct a military operation, the hastily gathered
troops of the international coalition will make air strikes. And not only against
airfields, but also the Libyan army which, again according to the U.N.
resolution, threatens peaceful civilians in cities the opposition controls. In
the desert, Qaddafi’s armored vehicles will be an easy target for the West’s
unmanned drones. And Libya
is an excellent testing ground for the West's latest military technology. This isn't Afghanistan
with its endless mountains, where Taliban insurgents can hide for years. There
is little doubt that the initial strikes will begin on Friday: the operation to
force peace on Qaddafi was prepared in advance, during the week that preceded
the U.N. Security Council vote. This makes the colonel’s fate completely clear.
He won't live to stand trial.
