The Double Standard In The Mideast
Anti-Arab Racism Double Standard
America's Double Standard on Terrorism
The Standard of Education and the Development in India
The Myth of American Dependence On Mideast Oil
Redux: Torture of Maids In Mideast
The Double Standard is real and needs to be belabored. Western intervention in Libya, it should be noted, has likely saved the Libyan revolution and certainly prevented a massacre in the rebel capital of Benghazi where Gadhafi has previously promised "no mercy".
I will not ask "why intervene in Libya but not elsewhere?" Such a question is rather silly. Intervention is costly and there are heavy risks involved and nations decide these things bases on several criteria that often do not coalesce to make a convincing case for intervention. But one can should not to intervene elsewhere but still recognize the similarity between both cases, and at least be consistent in rhetoric if not in deed. This is where the Double Standard is present. Western nations are active in Libya but rhetorically diffident when it comes to brutal repression elsewhere.
Or compare it to Iran. There is no Western war in Iran, but there is a lot of criticism of the regime's brutality and execution of dissidents. Now look south from there.
Here is what the West has to say about the armed, including foreign armies, repression of peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators in Bahrain - where several have been killed, thugs are working with the state to attack people, and military units have even taken hold of hospitals to prohibit treatment of the injured:
"A top EU diplomat says the police in Bahrain have had a "difficult task" dealing with opposition protesters and in such situations "accidents happen"."
Mere accidents. Nothing to see here. And, one wonders, is Gadhafi's killing of his own people simply "shit happens" as well?
And then there's Yemen. Last weekend, a massacre took place involving snipers on root tops which killed dozens. This on top of the unmitigated violence before then. Even Yemen military units have defected in protest. And, yet, the president remains obstinate and demands to cling to his iron grip authority.
And what does the United States say?
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, when asked about the worsening and bloody situation in Yemen, responded that the United States will not comment because it does not intervene in the internal affairs of nations.
O' yeah, America's foreign policy is based on modesty and never intervening in the internal affairs of sovereign nations. In fact, American policy makers consider foreign intervention to be a bad term, curse word really. And, Gates added, U.S. bombing campaigns in Libya are not examples of foreign intervention but simply an air show for the Libyan people.
This is the Double Standard bullshit which needs to be exposed.
And do not think Arabs don't notice.
