Intended Malice wrote:Dictators and evil exist in this World
Is that any reason to accept that they will forever? Dictators don't exist here anymore. They used to until we killed them all. The last one we had accidentally died of natural causes... we had his body exhumed so we could hang him anyway just to make sure.
We're lucky enough in Britain that we haven't been kept under the boot of a dictator since Oliver Cromwell, but we were quite happy to go to act absolutely abonimably to get rid of him even if it meant reinstating a royal family that we've been saddled with ever since.
I find it difficult to relate to life under a dictatorship and so find it very difficult to pass judgement on the Egyptian, Libyan, Tunisian or any other people involved in the Arab Spring and their requests for help from the outside world. If millions cry out for help, I find it hard to ignore them.
Whilst I was against action in Afghanistan and Iraq for various reasons, it was mainly because we'd not been asked to be there by anyone that stuck in my craw. No Iraqis asked us to remove Hussein. No Afghans asked us to remove the Taliban. The Libyans, however, rose up in such numbers they were able to formally ask... not just them, but the Arab League even asked for the UN or NATO to help out.
Anything but lending a hand would've been tantamount to turning our backs on fellow humans struggling for freedom. It's the same as pretending Emily Davison didn't throw herself under the King's horse or closing your ears and screaming "La La La La, I can't hear you" whilst MLK is reading I Have A Dream. We're either all human or we're not. We're either all part of the same story or we're not. I believe we are.
The struggle to free the world's people from the tyranny of the few is an ongoing struggle that involves all of us. Just because our biggest battles have been won in the West doesn't mean we can pull the ladder up for the rest of the world (and doesn't mean our battle is over as the recent protests show). The battle isn't over until all our brothers and sisters have the opportunities and freedoms we enjoy... we certainly shouldn't impose our "way" on people as in Iraq and Afghanistan... but if a People want my tax to pay for scum like Gadaffi to be ousted... yeah, I'm well on board. Let's do this. Go team.