No one is an expert on Libya’s rebels, and we haven’t a clue who the next leader of the country will be or how he will be chosen. (Libya is very much a man’s world so the next leader absolutely will be a he.) Even so, small indications about what to expect from the future government do bubble up once in a while.
The Chinese are trying to ingratiate themselves with Libya’s future leaders after opposing the assistance given them by the West, and they’re meeting resistance. “We don’t have a problem with western countries like the Italians, French and UK companies,” says a rebel official in charge of the Agoco oil firm. “But we may have some political issues with Russia, China and Brazil.”
Muammar Qaddafi has few real friends in the world, but thug regimes from Caracas to Moscow have been sticking up for him anyway. He isn’t exactly Moscow’s or Beijing’s man, but that’s how he is perceived.
Political and historical commentary for liberal conservatives and conservative liberals
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Chinese hoisted by their own petard?
It's always frustrating to me to see how the US is vilified for supporting "tyrants" across the globe while countries such as Russia and China get a free pass for their support of such vile regimes as Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, Kim Jong Il's North Korea and mullah-mad Iran. Now, perhaps they will pay a price:
China and Russia "get a pass" for supporting tyrants? Who is giving out these passes?
ReplyDeleteThe U.S., no less than Russia and China, lends aid and support to tyrants (no need for the quotes), and has for many years. The CIA deposed the elected government of Iran, and then installed and supported a tyrant for decades. The U.S. had no problem with Saddam Hussein -- even funding his war on Iran -- until he went off the American geopolitical reservation. Tyrant is fine, so long as he's also a puppet. (Just ask Manuel Noriega.)
Politicians are generally amoral by nature, and American pols no less so than the Chinese and Russians.
The proper quote from Shakespeare is, "Hoist with his own petard." It means blown up by his own mine.
1. Sure, China and Russia get a pass. No one criticizes them. At least as far as I am aware, there are few if any popular protests anywhere holding them responsible for the evil that has befallen certain parts of the world. Such protests target the US on a daily basis.
ReplyDelete2. So, if I understand you correctly, because the US did something wrong 50 years ago in Iran, that make it OK for China and Russia to do something wrong today. Gotcha.
3. The Shah and his SAVAK were bad, to be sure, but Mugabe, Assad, Gadhafi and Kim are infinitely worse.
4. Your complaint seems to be that the US supported tyrants in the Arab world. Fine. Name one Arab country that is NOT a tyranny, dictatorship or autocratic kingdom.
5. Your complaint about how we supported Saddam Hussein ignores the fact that Saddam was fighting a war against mullah-run Iran, our mutual enemy. I have no problem supporting him in such circumstances, and I don't see an ethical or moral problem supporting him, either, in those circumstances. Absent those circumstances, go back to point 4.