March 3, 2011

Hypocrisy of Western media

Muslim community leaders in western countries are often criticized by people in the western media for not condemning terrorist attacks perpetrated in the name of Islam. However, these same critics almost never ask them to condemn Muslim tyrants when they kill their own people.

In response to the first allegation, various Muslim organizations point out that there are over 300 websites with Muslim religious leaders condemning terrorism in all of its forms, which they say is the antithesis of the true meaning of Islam, as espoused in the Qur’an.

While it's true that our western world leaders are condemning the violence in Libya and other Arab countries, where protesters are being killed for demanding their basic human rights, other than attempting to get their own citizens out of harm's way, that's about all these champions of democracy, human rights and the rule of law are doing.

They're not even asking Muslim community leaders to get on television and condemn the massacre of innocent people – although most of these leaders are doing just that on their organizations' websites.

The situation in Libya is looking more and more like it's going to be another Rwanda. The UN, the EU and the U.S. government were given warnings and kept abreast of the genocide in Rwanda as it progressed, but chose to do nothing.

Then after he was out of office, President Clinton – concerned about his legacy - visited Rwanda and apologized for not doing more.

He said: “Day after day, people like me sat in their offices and we just didn't know what was going on,” despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

With the advance in communications technology, western world leaders are not going to be able to say that this time; but, for the moment, they don't seem to be too concerned about it. They plan to investigate – after the massacre.

When we hear the phrase “Never Again” with regard to the Holocaust, we can now safely assume that this only applies to the chosen few.

In a perverse sort of way, former French President spoke for western leaders when he said, referring to Rwanda, “Genocide in those countries is no big deal.”

In fact, according to declassified French documents, former French president Mitterrand actually supported the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, despite clear warnings that mass killings of the Tutsi population were being orchestrated,

The publication of documents in the July 3, 2007 Le Monde, for the first time confirms long-held suspicions against France. The previously secret diplomatic telegrams and government memos also suggest the late French president was obsessed with the danger of "Anglo-Saxon" influence gripping Rwanda.

Often western world leaders have supported brutal tyrants because they believe it's in the geopolitical interests of their countries to do so.

While likely a factor in the current crisis in Libya, business interests seem to be the main focus of western world leaders.

After sanctions against Libya were lifted in 1999, former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin was in Libya in 2004, as Gaddafi was preparing to invite foreign investment in Libya's oil industry.

Subsequently, more than 40 companies invested in Libya, including BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Canada's Petrocan.

With its windfall, Libya bought jet aircraft, machinery and wheat from Canada. Since then, SNC Lavalin, the Canadian engineering giant, has been awarded a $450 million contract to develop part of a water system that will transport portable water between the southern Libyan desert and the Mediterranean Sea.

Bilateral trade between Canada and Libya has gone from zero in 2006 to nearly $300 million.

So western leaders don't need Muslim community leaders stirring up trouble, by condemning brutal tyrants in foreign countries, when so much money is at stake. 

U.S. Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is calling for all American oil companies to cease operations in the country immediately.

Meanwhile, other than hollow rhetoric from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, calling on Gaddafi to cease “this kind of violence,” and “engage in peaceful dialogue with its people, towards political and economic reform,” Canada is doing nothing; and it doesn't appear that it plans to do anything.

It appears that it depends on who the victims are when deciding to call upon Muslim community leaders to denounce violence.