Back in 2004, Respect promoted itself as the anti war party. Even today, when NATO forces established a No Fly Zone over Libya, Respect unequivocally opposed Western intervention, rightly questioning the government’s motives and rightly exposing hypocrisy of intervention in Libya, while remaining in allegiance with other oppressive Gulf states:
“This is a politicians’ war: devoid of logic, with no clear objectives, and no foreseeable end-game. But it plays well with the press and the public, as Western governments appear decisive; and it opens the door to further and deeper Western control and manipulation of Middle Eastern politics.”
For a while, Respect politician Yvonne Ridley was singing from the same hymn sheet as the rest of her organisation. That is until she did a complete U-turn yesterday, declaring herself to have been “wrong, wrong, wrong”. Ridley, whose time with the Taliban prompted her conversion to Islam, is a new devotee of the doctrine of humanitarian intervention, pleased that the West has responded to the Libyan people’s “cries for help” and merely bemoaning the fact that Turkey has not joined in. How can one not be moved by Ridley’s tales of accepting thanks from grateful Libyans on behalf of the UK military? It’s like she flew the planes herself.
I shouldn’t laugh. After all, Ridley has made an informed decision, even seeking advice of spiritual leader Sheikh Mohammed Bosidra, who backs NATO’s actions.
Does Ridley also back Western intervention in Iran these days, or is she only for war with the nasty regimes she doesn’t take money from?
May 3rd, 2011 at 1:22 pm
Ridley’s Islamist pals are a part of the Libyan opposition, no wonder she wants them to win. Also, Gaddafi had 1500 Islamists shot in jail a few years back. No wonder she doesn’t like him.
June 12th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
“…to believe that humanitarianism (protection of Libya civilians) was why we went to war in Libya requires a blindness so willful and complete that it’s genuinely difficult to describe.” – Glenn Greenwald, salon.com, June 11, 2011. See http://www.salon.com/news/libya/index.html?story=/opinion/greenwald/2011/06/11/libya
I eagerly await Yvonne Ridley’s next pronouncement on this subject.
August 18th, 2011 at 4:14 am
We hear calls for freedom and democracy in the Middle East. If these followers of the mythical Allah and his self-proclaimed ‘prophet and messenger’ really knew what their religion is about, they would realise Allah and his mate Muhammad are not into democracy and freedom. It is so stated in the Cairo Declaration of the 57 nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
My concern is that these North Afican countries will find themselves being taken over by extremist organisations such as the Muslim Brotherhood. If that happens they will find they have jumped out of the frying pan into the fire.