End of status quo

Saudi Arabia has a history of providing refuge to homeless dictators and ousted elected leaders, alike. The number of such guests may soon run into dozens from two or three in a decade, courtesy the Arab Spring. Tunisian dictator Ben Ali has recently gotten some company when half burnt Yemeni ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh was brought in for medical treatment after sustaining injuries in an explosion. He may never go back to Sana’a. Anywhere from Bahrain to Morocco, winds of Arab Spring are uprooting the deadwood, albeit parasitic elements proving too entangled in Libya and Syria.

Sans any obituary or a formal funeral ceremony, much-exaggerated Arab League expired after signing up on No-Fly Zone in Libya. Hastily launched NATO strikes by France, Italy and the United Kingdom left little for bargain. Following thousands of sorties, gunship raids and more recent daylight bombings, hope for public uprising is a casualty. Technologically far superior United States and other frontline NATO members have been failing to ‘eliminate’ Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi.

Syrian troops, along with Iranian and Hezbollah soldiers, show little mercy for peaceful protestors, chopping of gentile organs of 13-year old ‘terrorists’ and raping compatriot girls and women. Complex demographics and delicate geo-strategic location of Syria makes it hard for the United Nations Security Council members to effectively clip the wings of the ruling family.

Even the belated exit of Yemen’s Saleh could not bring to fore any back-up plans to bring normalcy in the country. United States as well as al-Qaeda both are making the best use of power vacuum. After Pakistan’s tribal areas, the CIA operates Un-Manned Ariel Vehicles to launch missile strikes to take out terrorists and extremists. Such extra-judicial killings, resulting from sheer violation of sovereignty of Pakistan and Yemen both, win little success and more condemnation owing to greater rate of innocent deaths.

The world in 21st century looks devoid of political options to resolve disputes and conflicts. Even to deliver democracy in the face of brutal tyrants, the world needs United States airpower and marines to come into play. The Libyan, Yemeni or Bahrani dreams for democracy and dignity are soaked in blood. The western nations may win multi-billion contracts for reconstruction of infrastructure and sale of military hardware. Even if they win democracy or otherwise, the peace-loving Middle Eastern public would be highly taxed to return external loans and interest both. Pursuing its national interest on multiple fronts, Washington errs in realizing that al-Qaeda may be losing manpower but militant tendencies against the US won’t.

CIA Director Leon Panetta recently hinted that the Iraqi government may want US troops to stay there. Washington is militarily engaged in Libya and Yemen on different pretexts. However, the good news emerges from the UN Security Council where veto yielding members disagree over the Middle East situation. A common Arab in the street sees such rapid developments as a new kind of colonization. For Tunisia and Egypt, the western media continues to fear lack of capacity in the civil society to reform the system. Chaos in the Middle East is in the least interest of the world at large, and Europe and America in particular. Impulsive responses from the major powers reinforce demise of the political status quo.

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