The hypocrisy of the world's governments, especially the members of the United Nations Security Council is sick-making. The people who currently condemn the brutal killings of demonstrators are the very same ones who have been selling millions of dollars of weapons to the Muammar Gaddfi for years.
As long as the brutal dictator was only arresting & imprisoning his opponents quietly, tortured them in secret, & murdered them "diplomatically' i.e. not in the full glare of the world's press, then everything was OK. The world's governments could do business with him -- selling weapons, investing in businesses with the dictator & his cronies, buying oil & gas, and helping to hide his ill-gotten gains in London and New York
Yet again, our governments find themselves on the wrong side of history. If Gaddafi succeeds in annihilating his democratic foes it will be due to his overwhelming advantages in weapons & military training as previously provided by members of the UN Security Council. This will never ever be forgotten by the Arab Street and will just confirm their opinion of our corrupt & venal leadership. It will provide the final recruiting call for Al Qaeda and condemn us to an endless conflict with Muslim peoples around the globe.
If Gaddafi is actually overthrown, the victors will have to pay a very heavy & unnecessary price in blood due to our previous military collusion with the dictatorship. They are unlikely to forget this, unlikely to ever trust us, and will work to distance themselves, looking towards other nations for economic development and trade connections.
Yet nobody in the "lamestream' media is taking our government to task for this gross hypocrisy. Nobody is asking why we supplied weapons & training to one of the most corrupt nations in the world -- ranked 146th out of 178, equal with Iran & Yemen, according to Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index 2010
In addition, Libya is one of the most authoritarian nations on earth. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit's Index of Democracy, Libya is ranked 159 out of 167, just above Saudi Arabia -- another one of our "friends'.
The British are especially hypocritical, having designated Libya as one of UKTI/DSO's priority markets for weapons sales, opening a full-time office in its Tripoli Embassy, and developing very close connections between UK & Libyan businessmen, diplomats, & politicians. The British had by far the largest pavilion at the Libyan arms fair LibDex in 2010. In the past 8 years the British government has granted over172 arms export licenses worth almost $200 million
