The Arabs Awakening to Operation Odyssey Dawn- the devolution of the democratic dream

This is something I wrote during the Arab Spring. Still topical however, with the RE-revolution in progress in Cairo today...Better than “Infinite Justice”, the name Bush gave to the Afghanistan occupation, objected to by Muslims due to the idea that only Allah can give infinite justice.  Their mistake was taking Bush’s overblown rhetoric literally – if you take “Odyssey Dawn” as an emblem of the newly named- “Arab Awakening”, the dawn waking them to the democratic dream is a bloody sky filled with fighter jets and cruise missiles.
So here we go again.  Kuwait, Kabul, Baghdad. Now Libya suffers a US-led bombardment.  The UN resolution was passed last Thursday to allow “all necessary measures” employed to prevent the maddened dictator continuing his politically motivated genocide.  That’s why they’re there, honest.  It’s not about stabilising oil prices, it’s mere coincidence that the NY Times reported a DROP in oil prices directly after the resolution was passed. That the markets adjust so rapidly to the internationally sanctioned attempt to restore stability to the region shows how much the Libyan strike is motivated by economics rather than the abstract ideals of Freedom and Justice claimed by Obama.  He rallied under the peacenik banner, and vowed withdrawal from Afghanistan, now he extends the US further into the mire of the post-millennial Middle East.  It is highly doubtful that he wants to engage the US in a “long, bloody, and fruitless” conflict, as Gaddafi promises it to be.  Costs of eliminating the Libyan air force ran to US$800m, and the US is still having trouble withdrawing from the mess they made of Iraq’s post-Saddam power vacuum.
Believe the lies of the Pentagon PR machine and you will also believe what we were told about the fighter jet fiasco with the two US soldiers parachuting into Libya and rapidly rescued by heavy artillery over-kill. In true American style, two 225kg bombs dropped either side of the pick-up point to ensure a “safe” rescue were requested by the soldier, as he was paranoid about the approaching soldiers with weapons.  No mention of whether they were killed, or even whether they were loyalists or rebels. ”Friendly fire” takes lives in every conflict, and usually the combatant s are far more distinguishable.  In an internal conflict like this, how many rebels will be killed by coalition forces mistaking them for Gaddafi loyalists?   Obviously an American life is valued so much higher than Libyans of either side, so the bombs were dropped.  Poignantly, the soldiers were rebels and approached the soldier hugging him and thanking him for bombing the loyalists.  I wonder if they are so thankful for the coalition now their fields are flattened by trigger-happy “GI Joe” paranoia?  Welcome to democracy with cluster bombs from the sky, red white and blue.