AMERICA'S 'OPERATION LIBYA'

The whole world watches astoundingly as the US-led Operation Odyssey Dawn in Libya enters its third day today. American tomahawk missiles and British and French bombers are launching strike after strike on the Libyan soil from military bases in and around the Mediterranean sea. Consecutive to the air strikes, this is what a very defiant and recalcitrant Gaddafi had to say , “All Libyans are armed with weapons and are ready for battle. They will not be able to enjoy our oil. We will not leave it for them. They have to know that we will fight.We will fight inch by inch. We promise a long war. This aggression has no justification.”

Talking of justification, let’s have the explanations and the reasons that America and its allies have been citing for these air strikes. Interestingly, the Americans are refraining from calling it an all out American assault. They are preferring to call it “a UN-sanctioned multilateral international effort to allay the humanitarian crisis in Libya”. The American and British political think tank, in the same breath , sets the overthrowing of “the very repressive regime of the Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi” as the coveted outcome and target of Operation Odyssey Dawn. Former US Under Secretary of State, Richard Nicholas Burns recently remarked, “If Gaddafi wins in Libya (against the rebels) , we face serious concerns of terrorism .” Mr Burns, in his statement, thus, clearly outlines the end game here, end of Gaddafi, i.e., a full on military intervention involving ground troops in the days to come. In other words, another occupation, another invasion.

According to Libyan State TV, dozens have been killed in the coalition air strikes along the northern Libyan coastline, in crucial centres of Benghazi, Misrata and Tripoli.
What then about the civilian lives and interests that President Obama and his brothers in arms, France’s Nicolas Sarkozy and Britain’s David Cameron have set out to protect? It is being claimed that the coalition air strikes are only targeting Gaddafi’s armed installations and trying to cut off logistical support to his troops. We’ve heard similar assertions in the past too, claims of protecting civilian interests, of addressing a looming humanitarian crisis preceding gory and destructive assaults . We saw this first in case of Afghanistan and then in Iraq. We have seen these onslaughts resulting not only in countless civilian casualties and serious loss of property but also leading to never ending chaotic situations in these countries.

Gaddafi’s statement after the coalition strikes also refers to Libya’s vast oil wealth and the allies’ eye on it. Many Latin American governments friendly to Gaddafi have
supported this argument. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, said on state television recently, “ They want to seize Libya’s oil.” There have been similar statements from
Cuba , Nicaragua and Bolivia too. The oil factor cannot be overlooked considering the fact that Libya is among the world’s largest oil economies with approximately 3.5% of global oil reserves, more than twice that of the US. With 44.3 billion barrels of proven reserves (10 times those of Egypt), Libya is the largest oil economy in the African continent followed by Nigeria and Algeria. Around 80% of Libyan oil exports are to Europe, 10% to China and 5% to the United States. Quite curious, therefore, was the manner in which French President Nicolas Sarkozy rushed at recognizing the rebel council in the Libyan region of Benghazi, which, incidentally has most of Libya’s oil reserves.

And as the crisis in the Mediterranean enters its most dangerous phase , America and its allies find themselves more and more isolated internationally. India, for once, has shown considerable maturity in its approach towards the issue .It not only abstained from voting on the UN-sponsored resolution of securing a no-flying zone in Libya, but has also, along with Russia, come out strongly against the air strikes . The Arab league has also opposed air strikes on Libya, saying that it had given initial support only to a no-flying zone and not to the bombing of the Libyan territory. This, indeed , has come as a big jolt to America and its allies, who had so far boasted of the Arab support as the one most crucial factor that set this assault apart from the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

KEEP THE LIGHT BURNING

A big hello to all of you there ! Yes, I had been away, away for a real long time, atleast by blogging standards! Work kept me occupied for most of these two years, and I guess, I took a writing and intellectual pause as well.All of us who have been in the practice of writing know that writing is a creative process that works and flows at its own speed, in its own whimsical and fanciful manner.You cannot dictate to it.It happens when it has to happen.

Talking of happening, so much has happened in the past two years ever since my pen took a pause. American troops have finally left Iraqi soil, leaving behind a mess whose end is seemingly out of sight. Egypt just saw history, Libya is on the brink of it. Pakistan has moved over from Musharraf’s dictatorship to further deterioration…violence and political assassinations becoming the order of the day. Sri Lanka has seen the end of Prabhakaran and his formidable LTTE, while Nepal still struggles and stumbles unsuccessfully on its obstacle-ridden path to democracy. We have seen China become ever more powerful, economically and militarily, while we see America get more and more jittery with sweeping developments in the Middle East, in China and with growing dissatisfaction on the domestic front with issues like unemployment waning and dipping President Obama’s popularity to an all time low.

In our own country, we saw the monster of corruption take humongous proportions as scandal after scandal emerged out of political and bureaucratic corridors.We saw the 
country lose face internationally in the wake of the skeletons emerging from the Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee’s closet.We saw the 2G scandal shake the
very core of our democracy and take the lid off the simmering and burgeoning nexus between politicians, bureaucrats and corporate and media lobbyists. We saw the holder of our democracy, the Prime Minister, become a mute spectator to rampant corruption and scandals in his government, with many of his ministers and chief ministers getting actively embroiled in controversy after controversy.We also saw him meekly utter his apologies and his helplessness at the deeply appalling and disgusting state of affairs in his government. A very bleak and unfortunate scenario indeed, nationally as well as internationally.

So is there no light at the end of the tunnel , no hope, no silver lining? The answer, I strongly feel, lies within ourselves.After all, isn’t it the regular unarmed, Egyptian on the street who became the harbinger of change and revolution in that country? And back home, isn’t it your ordinary RTI activist with extraordinary courage , who, in a quiet and resolute manner, is questioning and probing the very credentials of our corrupt representatives and deeply infected and polluted system ? Needless to write many of these probes have led to some of the most scandalous exposes of our times.And these fearless men and women are doing so without any motive and most of the times, at the cost of their own lives.Killing of such activists had become so common and frequent in Maharashtra that the government there had to actually set up police committees to look into the criminal complaints and requests for security received from these men and women of exemplary courage .Hope other states take a cue from this and follow suit so that these unsung voices continue their journey of courage and social activism undeterredand undaunted.

So my dear friends, as long as these conscientious marshals of social change, whether here or anywhere else in the world, keep the light burning, hope is alive and the future is still there to look forward to!