Friday, March 18, 2011

Libya Declares Cease Fire After UN Vote

George Bush and I share at least one thing in common.  I’m not a big fan of the United Nations as a tool for any type of governance.  But I do believe the UN can serve a useful purpose.  This is one such purpose.  As I saw a Libyan dissident state yesterday, if the UN cannot protect people rising up against tyranny from mass killings, then what purpose does it serve?  

I would like to go a step further.  Rather than the U.S. or Europe playing the lead role in this no-fly zone, I believe the members of the Arab League, who endorsed this decision, should use their own air forces to enforce this no-fly zone.  In other words, the people in the Middle East need to take responsibility for their own future rather than relying on the dysfunctional triangulation or mediation that has become so ingrained in their political deadlock and tyrannical societies.   There has never been a democratic Arab state.  Ever.  If Arab nations  want to speak more than political rhetoric, they need to walk the talk and support democracy even if it means threatening the tyranny in their own countries.  Supporting this no-fly zone and then expecting the U.S. or Europe to take the lead so they can continue to defend the tyranny in their own countries serves no purpose in the process of democratization.  Rather it is simply a self-serving political gesture with dubious and undemocratic intentions.

Link here.

posted by TimingLogic at 11:34 AM