Libya’s unrest, true opportunity for international unity

James Klentzman
Contributing Writer

With security forces seemingly switching sides against him, embattled tyrant Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s brutal reign of the Libyan people seems to be closer and closer to an inglorious end.

Inspired by the revolts by the people of Tunisia and Egypt, civilians across the Middle East have voiced their displeasure over the current state of their nations, but none have taken such dramatic turns as what as happened in Libya. Qaddafi’s long-term rule over the nation has been marred by brutality against his people and antagonizing actions against the world (notably against the United States in the ’80s), and it seems to have finally caught up to him.

If there is any moment that summarizes Qaddafi as a ruler, it would be how he has hired mercenaries from neighboring countries to come and slaughter his own citizens, leaving behind any notion of actually serving the people he is supposed to look out for. As of Sunday, the death toll of the political unrest has topped 1,000.

The international community, in a rare sense of unity, has decried Qaddafi’s actions, with President Barack Obama, British Foreign Secretary William Hague, and even Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (hypocritically) calling for Qaddafi’s reign of terror to end.

For the first time in history, the United Nations Security Council has unanimously referred a country to the International Criminal Court. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1970, with support from the Libyan envoy to the United Nations and recent defector Abdurrahman Mohamed Shalgam, condemns the attempts by Qaddafi to suppress the protestors and calls for international sanctions.

This is not enough.

Rarely is there a situation on the global stage that leaves everybody so outraged against one specific person. Qaddafi has proven in his 41 years as rule that he has no concern for his own people and his nation; he is simply looking out for his own. He is, quite simply, a cancer on any progress towards globalization and international unity.

What has happened in Egypt and Tunisia are amazing events that herald a new beginning for the Middle East, one of a rejection of brutal tyrants and fundamentalist law, and towards a stable and peaceful region. What has happened in Libya is tragic. The Libyan people, simply wanting progress towards economic and civic stability have been met with terrible violence, which the rest of the international community cannot tolerate.

Though powerful words are spoken about what is going on by powerful leaders from across the world, they are still just words. International sanctions do as much damage to a tyrant already isolated by his own monstrous actions as harsh words. Actions need to be taken, and this is the perfect opportunity for the rest of the world to take control of the situation, as a united front.

There is cause for concern as to whether this situation is the first step towards that true international community, or if this is a one-time occurrence that will never be repeated. If the United Nations does little more than impose sanctions and throw cheap words around, this unity will not survive past Qaddafi’s inevitable removal.

However, if the United Nations decides to do something worthwhile (for once) and do something along the drastic lines of imposing a security force in Libya against Qaddafi and his hired thugs and for the Libyan people, the sense of accomplishment that would come from the success there would revitalize that international unity that has been unseen since the U.N. was first founded.

The world community has had plenty of opportunities in recent decades to truly unite, and has failed each time. The world could have united against the Hutus in their genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda, but failed. The world could have united to protect the people in Darfur against the Janjaweed and allied thugs, but failed. Recently, the world could have taken the opportunity to remove not the monstrous leaders of Iran during the 2009 presidential election process, but failed. Now here, in Libya, there is another rare opportunity to prove that there actually is a worthwhile international community that will not stand for tyrannical actions against the common people, and will strive to make every nation one of peace and unity.