Are we neutral out of selfishness? (2)

I do not want to sound like I side with Muammar Gaddafi as I have always abhorred dictators. I opposed the Gaddafi regime even when past Maltese governments used to venerate him by inviting him to Malta seven times in a couple of years and a big section of the Maltese used to throng to fete him.

But I cannot help expressing my thinking about the inconsistency of the international community especially that of the western democracies. I cannot understand why the western democratic countries are so concerned about the civilian life in Libya and seem to care little about those in other countries.

Doubts keep creeping into my mind about the reasons for all this outcry about Libya. There were several other instances in the past (and even in the present) when civilians were massacred and the international community just remained silent.

Like me, many still remember what happened in Tiannamen Square, Beijing in 1993, when thousands of Chinese protesters, calling for political reforms, were crushed under the might of Chinese military tanks. There was a lot of reportage in the media but soon afterwards things returned to normal and the western democracies queued to pick up trade with China. Perhaps someday they will regret it as they are now regretting their propping up of the Gaddafi regime.

We have the case of the people of Tibet who are still under the heels of Chinese occupation. These people protested for their right to run their own country but were mercilessly suppressed by the Chinese military.

Again the world community remained silent. Why? The obvious reason is that China is a big and mighty country and it is risky to have anything to do with it. Besides, China is becoming an economic world power and many countries want to safeguard their commercial interests.

To maintain its hold on Chechnya, Russia has massacred millions of its inhabitants and laid the whole country flat. Again the international community remained silent. Why? Who dares challenge big nations like Russia and China?

What about Zimbabwe? Why has the world community done nothing to stop President Mugabe from performing acts of atrocities to suppress those opposing his dictatorial rule?

What about North Korea? Cuba, Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, Iran and others where dissent is mercilessly suppressed?

The list of countries breaking all forms of human rights and democratic rules is long indeed. Yet the international community only acted against Gaddafi. Again, why all this hypocrisy?

Taking all this into consideration I am still at a loss about the real reason behind this inconsistency.