Andrew Rawnsley in Observer wrote about dictators faced with the popular uprising as seen in the Arab countries in the last few months have the trilemma to “reform”, “quit” or to “kill”! What Andrew did not say is that tyrants like Gaddafi, Mugabe and a few others decided to kill a long time ago. What they have left now is to either stop the killing and face the consequences of their corrupt, oppressive and murderous past or go down with all guns blazing.
If the West and the world at large had taken a firm stand against the continued murder of innocent protesters from the word go, instead of all the dithering, they would sent a clear message to Gaddafi and his henchmen that the game was up; they will either face a court of law for his past crimes or be shot for resisting arrest. The dithering has given Gaddafi the confidence to step up the killing and silence the protesters.
“Are we content to let Colonel Gaddafi win?” writes Andrew. “This is the question that neither western countries nor their leaders have wanted to confront. This is the question that now stares us hard in the face.”
“If Gaddafi prevails, his fellow dictators will have a template for what they should do when faced with revolt: kill the opposition without mercy in the confidence that the preachers of democracy in the west will do nothing more than wring their pathetic hands.” A very worrying prospect for those living under a tyrants who like Gaddafi crossed the Rubicon years ago, like us in Zimbabwe!
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