Western intervention, whether military, diplomatic or economic, in the affairs of other countries under various pretexts, including assisting citizens attain freedom and democracy, has produced bloodshed, chaos and burgeoning terrorism.
Nobody likes a repressive dictator who tramples on people’s rights, but when one looks at the big picture overall, who can say that Iraq, Libya and Yemen weren’t better off under the respective iron fists of Saddam Hussain, Muammar Gaddafi and Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was ‘ordered’ by a US ambassador to “leave Yemen”? The same goes for the entire region, which is now paying a heavy price for those enforced regime changes on many levels. While I understand that this view is far from mainstream, the facts speak for themselves.
Take Iraq, for instance, where Daesh (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) has gained a foothold over roughly a third of the country and has embarked not only on a killing spree, but is also engaged in the destruction of the country’s heritage. Minorities, such as Christians, Yazidis, Turkmen and Shabak, are being threatened with genocide, according to a joint report recently published by various human rights organisations.
And now we learn that Daesh isn’t content with eradicating the living, it has also turned its attention to using drills and hammers to effect the complete destruction of priceless artworks, artifacts and statues, in Mosul’s Nineveh Museum, many dating back to the 9th century BC. This abomination comes in the wake of the group’s ransacking of Mosul’s library where they burned 100,000 books and manuscripts. Daesh has vowed to smash “idols” wherever they find them.
Saddam made severe errors of judgment, most notably his invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and his use of chemical weapons, but prior to Iraqis being tortured by ten years of crippling economic sanctions, Iraq was a fully-functioning state offering free health care and education. Moreover, Shiites and Sunnis worked together, acted as good neighbours, visited each other’s places of worship and even intermarried. Furthermore, Christians and Jews were under his personal protection. Say what you will about Iraq’s dictator, who faced the hangman’s rope like a man even as he was being ridiculed by his executioners, he was a proud Iraqi and a proud Arab, whose nation served as a buffer against Iranian expansionism. Is there anyone who can be proud of Iraq today?
Libya is another glaring example of intervention gone terribly wrong. Gaddafi was an unorthodox, eccentric and corrupt leader but again, compared with now, the nation was united, virtually free of violence or terrorism and its citizens benefited from a decent standard of living. Contrary to popular belief, its political system was loosely democratic. Its people were deemed “President” and were permitted a voice via various committees, congresses and counsels with the right to vote down Gaddafi’s proposals. These are just some of the benefits that ‘horrible dictator’ bestowed on his people: loans free of interest, free electricity, government subsidised cars up to 50 percent of purchase price, government funding for medical treatment and higher education abroad, free agricultural land, equipment and livestock—and gifts of $50,000 (Dh183,500) to newlyweds and $5,000 to new mothers. Nowadays, the country is ravaged by terrorist groups, armed militias, insurgents and has two competing governments. Libyan oil revenues have fallen and thousands have been driven out of their homes.
Alternative government
The poorest Arab country, Yemen, has never been a shining success story, and its former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, forced out of power in 2012, is being accused by the UN of salting away $60 billion of his country’s wealth. No one can argue that his exit was long overdue, but at the very least he kept the country from descending into crisis. Yemen is now under the sway of the Al Houthi rebels, a minority backed by Tehran, who deposed the government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and dissolved parliament. Hadi has since managed to flee to Aden where he is endeavouring to set up an alternative government. Yemen faces economic collapse and civil war. According to the Norwegian Refugee Council that’s been operating humanitarian programmes in the country since 2012, 10 million Yemenis struggle to find food, 850,000 children are acutely malnourished, 335,000 are internally displaced—and 16 million (over 60 percent of the population) are in need of humanitarian assistance.
The meddling of the US and its sycophantic allies is in large part responsible for the complex mess in which the above countries—and others—find themselves, which is also negatively impacting their neighbours. There are many ways to describe their ‘value-based’ policies; I’ll use a simple word—“Bah!”
Linda S. Heard is a British specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She welcomes feedback and can be contacted by email at heardonthegrapevines@yahoo.co.uk.
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Toppling dictators and nations’ stability
Posted on March 4, 2015 by Linda S. Heard
Western intervention, whether military, diplomatic or economic, in the affairs of other countries under various pretexts, including assisting citizens attain freedom and democracy, has produced bloodshed, chaos and burgeoning terrorism.
Nobody likes a repressive dictator who tramples on people’s rights, but when one looks at the big picture overall, who can say that Iraq, Libya and Yemen weren’t better off under the respective iron fists of Saddam Hussain, Muammar Gaddafi and Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was ‘ordered’ by a US ambassador to “leave Yemen”? The same goes for the entire region, which is now paying a heavy price for those enforced regime changes on many levels. While I understand that this view is far from mainstream, the facts speak for themselves.
Take Iraq, for instance, where Daesh (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) has gained a foothold over roughly a third of the country and has embarked not only on a killing spree, but is also engaged in the destruction of the country’s heritage. Minorities, such as Christians, Yazidis, Turkmen and Shabak, are being threatened with genocide, according to a joint report recently published by various human rights organisations.
And now we learn that Daesh isn’t content with eradicating the living, it has also turned its attention to using drills and hammers to effect the complete destruction of priceless artworks, artifacts and statues, in Mosul’s Nineveh Museum, many dating back to the 9th century BC. This abomination comes in the wake of the group’s ransacking of Mosul’s library where they burned 100,000 books and manuscripts. Daesh has vowed to smash “idols” wherever they find them.
Saddam made severe errors of judgment, most notably his invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and his use of chemical weapons, but prior to Iraqis being tortured by ten years of crippling economic sanctions, Iraq was a fully-functioning state offering free health care and education. Moreover, Shiites and Sunnis worked together, acted as good neighbours, visited each other’s places of worship and even intermarried. Furthermore, Christians and Jews were under his personal protection. Say what you will about Iraq’s dictator, who faced the hangman’s rope like a man even as he was being ridiculed by his executioners, he was a proud Iraqi and a proud Arab, whose nation served as a buffer against Iranian expansionism. Is there anyone who can be proud of Iraq today?
Libya is another glaring example of intervention gone terribly wrong. Gaddafi was an unorthodox, eccentric and corrupt leader but again, compared with now, the nation was united, virtually free of violence or terrorism and its citizens benefited from a decent standard of living. Contrary to popular belief, its political system was loosely democratic. Its people were deemed “President” and were permitted a voice via various committees, congresses and counsels with the right to vote down Gaddafi’s proposals. These are just some of the benefits that ‘horrible dictator’ bestowed on his people: loans free of interest, free electricity, government subsidised cars up to 50 percent of purchase price, government funding for medical treatment and higher education abroad, free agricultural land, equipment and livestock—and gifts of $50,000 (Dh183,500) to newlyweds and $5,000 to new mothers. Nowadays, the country is ravaged by terrorist groups, armed militias, insurgents and has two competing governments. Libyan oil revenues have fallen and thousands have been driven out of their homes.
Alternative government
The poorest Arab country, Yemen, has never been a shining success story, and its former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, forced out of power in 2012, is being accused by the UN of salting away $60 billion of his country’s wealth. No one can argue that his exit was long overdue, but at the very least he kept the country from descending into crisis. Yemen is now under the sway of the Al Houthi rebels, a minority backed by Tehran, who deposed the government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and dissolved parliament. Hadi has since managed to flee to Aden where he is endeavouring to set up an alternative government. Yemen faces economic collapse and civil war. According to the Norwegian Refugee Council that’s been operating humanitarian programmes in the country since 2012, 10 million Yemenis struggle to find food, 850,000 children are acutely malnourished, 335,000 are internally displaced—and 16 million (over 60 percent of the population) are in need of humanitarian assistance.
The meddling of the US and its sycophantic allies is in large part responsible for the complex mess in which the above countries—and others—find themselves, which is also negatively impacting their neighbours. There are many ways to describe their ‘value-based’ policies; I’ll use a simple word—“Bah!”
Linda S. Heard is a British specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She welcomes feedback and can be contacted by email at heardonthegrapevines@yahoo.co.uk.