This artcile was published at Today’s Zaman on 23rd March 2011: http://www.todayszaman.com/news-238947-opinion-to-start-when-it-is-to-end.html
| While many around the world cherished the beauty of the “supermoon” on March 20, the day was not a happy moment for the people of Libya because, in addition to the moon in the sky, there were also bombs falling down. | |
| The US military mission Odyssey Dawn was launched early in the morning of the same day along with a number of other military operations carried out by countries like France, Britain, Canada, Italy and even some Arab nations. On March 17 Gaddafi’s, son Saif al-Islam, claimed that in 48 hours Libya’s unrest would be over as they are reaching the final stage of their operation. And Libya, too, declared a cease-fire on March 19 and is eager to return to normality, and even asked nations and agencies to send teams to study the situation. So, why start another crisis when it is about to end?
It was described as a “no-fly zone” mission, which turned out to be a declaration of war against Libya. It gave the impression that the “no-fly zone” resolution would lead the mission to hit warplanes if they to carried out an airstrike, but not attacking Gaddafi forces directly. The go-ahead was given after the decision made in a special meeting in Paris, and some nations that opposed foreign military intervention from the beginning abstained from the decision-making process. It was after the same day that Gaddafi’s son attacked French President Nicolas Sarkozy and claimed that Sarkozy’s election campaign was financed by Libya and that they were going to reveal details of the transaction soon. France happens to be the most interested stakeholder in this so called “no-fly zone” mission, being the first nation to carry out its operation against Gaddafi forces. It is difficult to judge Gaddafi’s personality, but it is clear that there are large numbers of people in Libya who are loyal to him. Otherwise he wouldn’t be able to push rebels back and recapture cities and oil reserves. In our time we should learn empathy and how to listen to all sides by trying to leave behind our prejudice for some time. During Gaddafi’s interview with the BBC, he criticized the West and the UN for not sending fact-finding teams and for judging based on biased reports. He also stated that people love him and that they are ready to die for him, which seems to be a very strong claim. What kind of criteria is there for one to be able to judge one country as being totalitarian? Among this criteria are factors such as: not many foreign citizens in the country, not much foreign investment, a ruler that is isolated from the people, a ruler who does not interact with the media and, especially, to open questions. These do not seem to be the case in Libya. Libya, whose name itself is derived from word “tribesmen,” consists of various tribes and started as the Libyan Jamahiriya, which literally means a “state of the masses.” Turkey, China, Russia and Germany are strongholds advocating a peaceful transition by strongly opposing foreign military intervention. The case of Libya seems to be different from that of Tunisia and Egypt, though Libya geographically lies between these two countries. A total of 1 million people marched to Tahrir Square in Cairo, demanding democracy and peace in a very democratic and peaceful manner, which call for praise. And even the military didn’t open fire on unarmed people, out of a national consciousness. As uprisings still continuing in many more countries in Middle East we should judge and analyze each country separately based on local perspectives. The West should stop generalizing when it comes to the Middle East and they shouldn’t forget that each nation possesses its own heritage. Our actions should be pluralistic in approach, giving equal weight to all parties and taking into account accurate and well-informed insight on each nation so that we can understand what is right. |
