Gadhafi Unleashes War on His Own People

Col. Moammar Gadhafi has been ruling Libya for 42 years, ever since the 27-year-old army captain seized power from King Idris in a 1969 coup. Just think about it! The same person in charge of a country for over four decades! Even if he were a benign and progressive leader, it would still be an outrage because that long a reign inevitably brings about political stagnation and economic sterility. Unless there is a change in leadership every five years or less, a society loses its dynamism and national atrophy sets in. The catastrophe is magnified manifold considering that, far from being a benign and progressive leader, Gadhafi is a despot whose eccentric behavior masks a diabolical mindset.

Inspired by Tunisians and Egyptians, Libyans have now risen in revolt and, in response, Gadhafi has unleashed his army and air force on the protesters. Tripoli and Benghazi, the two major cities, are aflame. The autocrat has flown in foreign mercenaries who are killing Libyans indiscriminately. Close to 300 are already reported dead and hospitals have run out of supplies to treat the wounded.

Ali Aujali, Libya's ambassador to the U.S., broke with Col. Gadhafi on Monday and called for him to step down. The deputy head of Libya's delegation to the United Nations said he had stopped taking orders from the government and is asking the international community to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya's airspace so it couldn't bring in more mercenaries.

Other Libyan embassies are also deserting Gadhafi. Libyan diplomats around the world, including Libya’s ambassadors to Tunisia, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia, said they had resigned to protest the murderous crackdown on unarmed civilians and mourners by Gadhafi's warplanes, soldiers and mercenaries.

Also on Monday, two Libyan Air Force pilots defected, taking their Mirage jet fighters to Malta and seeking political asylum in the small Mediterranean nation. The pilots said they had escaped to Malta after refusing orders to bomb protesters in Benghazi. Meanwhile, there are reports of many soldiers and policemen throwing in their lot with the protesters.

Gadhafi's son Seif al-Islam Gadhafi declared on TV that "we will fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet." He didn't specify against whom, though. That would have been embarrassing because he was referring to the Libyans themselves.

Of all the dictators in the Middle East, Gadhafi appears to the most dangerous and delusional, even more so than Hosni Mubarak. "I will not leave Libya," he asserted today. That's what tyrants say when their fall is imminent. He also threatened to kill the protesters, and his goons armed with machetes and machine guns are conducting a house by house search in Tripoli to carry out his order. "I will fight on to the last drop of my blood," the dictator ranted in his second televised speech. He is, however, safely cocooned in his palace while his hired mercenaries do his bidding.

Fossilized Arab regimes that thrived in a culture of defeat and paranoia are on their way out. The Arab street is aggressively waking up to the truth that freedom is a birthright and victimhood is not destiny. The change in the Arab psyche is irreversible.

The U.S., the U.N., the EU, and other nations must exert diplomatic pressure and, if necessary, apply force, to stop the Libyan madman from slaughtering his own people. Gadhafi can still get out of town with his corrupt clan but time is running out. A trial for crimes against humanity should commence immediately against the colonel, for what is taking place in Libya now is nothing less than genocide.

An Intelligent Thriller

"Intelligent Thriller" has become an oxymoron these days. Movies that claim to be thrillers aren't intelligent, and those that are intelligent (rare) aren't thrillers.

So it was a pleasure to watch "Unknown" starring Liam Neeson, the superdad/dude of 2008's Taken, who pulls off yet another masterful performance in an intricate plot that pits ruthless agricultural-industrial-complex (Monsanto & co?) against a lone botanist's breakthrough crop.

Botanist Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) arrives in Berlin with his wife to present a paper at a biotechnology summit. It is snowing and people are scurrying for warmth. The couple arrives at their hotel in a cab, and as Mrs. Harris (January Jones) checks in, Harris realizes that he has left his briefcase containing the material for his talk at the airport. He grabs a taxi and tries to rush back to the airport to retrieve it.

These first few minutes of the movie are all the serenity you will get. The rest is a wild ride (literally, and the three car chases are alone worth the price of the movie) of amnesia, doppelganger, intrigue, mystery and murder. Along the way, you see how a former Stasi officer accepts the inevitable with a resigned fatalism and how immigrants who give their blood and sweat to keep Berlin humming are blamed for all the ills of the city.

The more the layers are peeled away, the more Harris appears unknown to himself. Who am I really? What's my past? Have I been here before? What's at stake? Who is calling the shots, and why?

One may be tempted to compare it to the "Bourne" franchise but "Unknown" is more satisfying in the stylish and suspenseful way it gathers the loose ends together and brings the story to a more plausible conclusion. There is terror in the icy coolness of the killers (Frank Langella in particular) that is balanced by the love of ordinary human beings (especially Diane Kruger) toward one another. In the few places where the story veers toward the improbable, I found the willing suspension of disbelief an easy antidote.

Liam Neeson is both tough and tender, although his perfect enunciation can sometimes dilute the effect of mayhem about to ensue. "Unknown" is a known quantity in that it delivers both intelligence and suspense in roughly equal measures. The only mystery is: Why can't we have more movies like this?

Rain, Rain, Come Again

For the last five days, we have been getting rain aplenty from a storm that swept in from Alaska to the San Francisco Bay Area. While rain and sun play hide-and-seek during the afternoons, the nights are filled the sound of continuous downpour, a tap-tap-tap that haunts and mesmerizes. The clouds parted one night just so to reveal a full moon and a tremulous Orion, and I also noticed that the bare ash trees were beginning to leaf.

We needed this rain, or else a drought this summer would have been inevitable. The hills were already turning brown toward the end of January but now they are a wet green, punctuated by the yellow of mustard flowers.

Reading the local paper, though, would give you the idea that somehow the rain is interfering with the essence of the Golden State. "Oh, February, must we go through this again?" wailed the San Jose Mercury News. And what if we didn't go though this? What would a drought do to a state already hobbling financially from slashed budgets and cut services? The rain offers a glimmer of hope but sun worshippers cannot see beyond their stupid pleasures and so moan and whine.

Driving on Hwy 280, I saw the first rainbow of the season, a perfectly poised arc over downtown San Jose. Its deep colors stood out against the dark, rain-soaked clouds but what was breathtaking was the white of the gulls flying languorously in the sun-dappled sky. The palette of white, black, red and blue was a gift of the rain that motorists zooming by seemed to have no use for.

Taking the Bascom Street exit, I found the tall palm trees lining the ramp bathed in a magical golden light. It is impossible to capture with words or with photographs the ineffable beauty of this light. Next moment, clouds covered the sun and the elusive light was gone.

There is snow atop Mount Hamilton. The alpine scene will no doubt inspire many San Joseans to head for the slopes soon, perhaps to Lake Tahoe and Ski Valleys nearby.

Tender and delicate pink plum blossoms absorb the rain and light up parks and pavements. After many years I see flocks of red-winged blackbirds darting between trees and empty fields. Their trills, oka-lee, oka-lee, is the music of meadows and streams and spring. It is the music of love and longing, and I feel a restlessness for long-lost joy and sorrow that only the rain can calm.

The Revolution Spreads

Egypt-inspired protests against authoritarian regimes are spreading across the Middle East. In Iran, Bahrain, Libya and Yemen, young activists have also broken free of the shackles of fear and are challenging the legitimacy of their governments. Few have already fallen, particularly in Bahrain; more will die in the coming days. But the fight for freedom will continue, even though there will be inevitable setbacks.

In Egypt, after the heady days of Tahrir Square, the more difficult task of moving toward an open society has fractured the united front of young Egyptians. But this is the norm, not the exception. Post-revolutionary success is always followed by missteps and in-fighting. People and parties will stumble and fall but in the end, they will reach their democratic goals in the context of their culture.

Iranian leaders have vowed to crush the protesters, that is, kill them ruthlessly, to retain their stranglehold on power. It is amazing how tyrants across the world and across time remain the same. It is even more amazing the certainty with which they fall, as if they never existed.

A renaissance is coming to the Muslim world and no force can stop it. A flowering of science, astronomy, medicine and literature is long overdue from a people who led the world in these fields from the eighth through the fourteenth centuries. Much blood may flow before it happens but happen it will.

Euphoria in Egypt

In just eighteen days, young Egyptians waged a peaceful revolution and brought down the 30-year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak and his failed police state. Inspired by Tunisians, empowered by social media and emboldened by a fierce yearning for freedom, they tore down the wall of fear and made Egypt free.

“I look at our society with a critical eye and find nothing extraordinary in the people I see,” wrote Naguib Mahfouz (1911-2006) during a bleak moment in his life. How the Egyptian Nobel Laureate (Literature, 1988) would have exulted if he could see his people making history in Tahrir Square! They were extraordinary in every way, in their courage and discipline and the way they took control of their destiny without resorting to violence, even though Mubarak’s paid goons killed more than 300 of them.

The path to full democracy is long and arduous and there are many uncertainties along the way. The power, after all, has shifted to the Egyptian military. But the armed forces played a positive role in the people’s revolution and there is hope that there will soon be a lifting of the state of emergency, the dissolution of the illegitimate People's Assembly and Shura Council, the formation of an independent legal committee to amend the constitution, and the lifting of laws restricting political freedoms so that Egyptians can vote in a free and fair election.

But these uncertainties must not keep us from celebrating the extraordinary achievement of the Egyptians. They have lived in economic and political darkness for decades but in a matter of days, the light from their revolutionary flame raced across the globe and illumined us all. It is not only other Arab and Muslim countries suffering from corrupt governance and plutocracy that can take a cue from Egypt, but also countries like Myanmar and North Korea whose people have been languishing for decades as well. In our connected world, the transition from a Saffron revolution to a Jasmine revolution can occur in an instant.

I gained valuable insight into Egypt’s revolution from someone who was there in Tahrir Square during the fateful days. Suhaib Webb (http://www.suhaibwebb.com/), an American, is a Muslim scholar who spent seven years studying at Al-Azhar University. He saw firsthand how the young heroes of Tahrir Square transformed stagnant Egypt into a land of hope and possibilities almost overnight.

When Mubarak sent his thugs to terrorize the protesters and their families, including the Cairo neighborhood where Webb lived, he saw Egyptians - secular and religious, poor and middle-class - form cordons around homes and buildings to keep attackers at bay. Seeing how united they were, the thugs withdrew in less than a day.

Webb saw the young knights of Egypt, aimless and despondent only weeks ago and smoking marijuana on streets, transformed into fearless freedom fighters. They visited mosques to seek Allah’s help and vowed never to give up until Mubarak resigned. “We have recovered our honor and dignity,” they told him. “We have a sense of identity now. We have a purpose in life.” Web was reminded of the Quranic verse: Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change what is in their hearts. (13:11)

Among Egyptians, Webb found a middle ground between secularism and fanaticism. They were determined to sacrifice themselves before they would even consider sacrificing or hurting others. They were committed to eradicating corruption, poverty and inequality from their society rather than to any grand ideology. The compassion he witnessed between Muslims and Christians moved him. A leading Coptic priest in Cairo asked his congregants to guard mosques during Friday Juma prayers. Likewise, an Imam asked Muslims to protect churches during Sunday services. Webb’s apartment sentry, a Christian, offered to defend him at any cost were he to run into any trouble.

Webb feels that Muslims, particularly American Muslims, should be grateful to Egyptians for the good name they brought to Islam through their non-violent revolution. In March, Republican Congressman Peter King of New York, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, plans to hold hearings on the radicalization of American Muslims. He claims that American Muslims are prone to violence and cannot be trusted. “Egyptian Muslims have taken the wind out of the sails of Islamophobes like King and the stalwarts of FOX News,” said Webb.

But what Suhaib Webb came to realize most strongly during the revolution was that we all have inner Hosni Mubaraks, tyrants within us who oppress our spouses, our children, parents, relatives and subordinates. These inner pharaohs destroy the soul as surely as pharaonic rulers destroy lives. We must defeat our inner demons if we want to change ourselves, because change without can come only from change within.

Although it will take years to put the Egyptian revolution in perspective, several lessons are already clear. Here are a few:

1. If history teaches us only one thing, it is that no one is indispensable. Tragedy occurs because those who deem themselves indispensable become immune to the lessons of history.

2. A revolution must be organic to succeed. Freedom and democracy cannot be exported or imposed by military might. Eight years after the U.S. invaded Iraq to spread “freedom and democracy” in the Middle East, the country is in ruins and the cost of the war has hit the $3 trillion dollar mark! In contrast, Egyptians brought about their transformation in less than three weeks, a peoples’ revolution that was of, by and for Egyptians.

3. The United States has to rethink its foreign policy. Investing in security at the expense of peoples’ right to govern themselves inevitably leads to disaster. As a columnist put it, America must define its foreign policy by the strength of its values, not by the value of its strength.

4. The days of dictators who suppress the will of the people – Neroes playing flutes while capitals like Tunis or Cairo burn - are numbered. An unforgiving future awaits them. Enslaved people have witnessed how the impossible can become possible when fear gives way to resolve and there is no longer any tolerance for suffering in silence.

5. The Web is woven into the fabric of modern life and the power of the social media to mobilize people transcends borders and nationalities. Although many young people are web-savvy, there are many more who cannot exploit the power of social media. They can post tweets and share anecdotes with their Facebook friends, but launching a campaign or organizing a demonstration eludes them. All it takes is some practice and a keen sense of trends, keywords and justice. There are hundreds of worthy local causes. Pick one - a fundraiser, a school event, a town-hall meeting - and try to do it over the Internet. You never know when history will beckon.

Protest Against Egypt's Dictator in San Francisco

(2/5/11) Greg Lyons converted to Buddhism several years ago. He is in downtown San Francisco on a spring-like day to take part in the demonstration against Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak. “Our intentions are important,” he says. “They are the seeds of reality.” He is optimistic that people power will prevail in Egypt after decades of dictatorship. “But change must come from within. If America tries to bring about the change that Egyptians are dying for, it will be a disaster. They must do it themselves.”

One reason why grassroots revolution is sweeping the Arab world is the enormous income gap between the rich and the poor. “Do you think that kind of class struggle can happen here in the U.S.?” I ask Greg.

“What do you mean can it happen here?” he asks back. “It’s already happening! Just look around you, a few blocks from here, and you can see how many Americans have become destitute. We have become one of the most unjust societies in the world.”

We chant slogans - 1,000 Americans strong - who have gathered at the United Nations Plaza. “Down, Down, Hosni Mubarak! Yasqut, Yasqut, Hosni Mubarak!”

Jack Kornfield also feels strongly that Egyptians must take control of their own destiny. The soft-spoken person becomes agitated when he talks about how the U.S. may undermine the aspirations of Egyptians. “U.S. has got to stay out. I am confident Egypt will find its own way. People on the streets of Cairo and other cities are smarter than the people in Washington.”

Hassan, an Egyptian, is a doctoral student in a California University. He is grateful to Tunisians for showing the way but believes that since Egypt is a bigger and more “critical country,” the revolution must succeed in his homeland for other Arab countries to emulate. He wants the new government to stop selling Egyptian land to foreign investors, as Mubarak’s government has been doing. “The king and his corrupt cronies fatten their pockets while the poor become poorer!”

“No justice, no peace,” exhorts an organizer from the makeshift dais, and we respond in unison.

Farida, a young Egyptian student, narrates how she tried to get her voter card in Cairo last November to vote in the parliamentary elections but was harassed and intimidated at every step of the way. An officer at the police station asked her, “Who are you going to vote for?” Emboldened by a friend who threatened to bring a lawyer, the officer quickly changed his tune and gave her the voting card. But many of her friends got the runaround for weeks until they gave up in frustration. (The election was, as usual, completely rigged by Mubarak and his minions.) These young people have never known anyone other than Mubarak as their ruler. They felt defeated, until they saw what happened in Tunisia. Everyone cheered when Farida said January 25 would be the most important day in the history of modern Egypt.

Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, women, men, babies in strollers and veterans in wheelchairs, the young, the old, Imams, Rabbis and Priests filled the Plaza. Colorful signs sprouted everywhere: “Stop U.S. Military Aid to Egypt,” “Buddhist, Jews in solidarity with the Muslim and Christian People of Egypt,” “Mubarak in De-Nile, Get Out!,” “Ali Baba is Gone. What about the Forty Thieves?” “DeNile Ain’t Just a River in Egypt,” “Dying for Something is Better than Living for Nothing,” and many more.

Maryam Bin Salah, a doctoral student from Tunisia asks in wonder: “Just two months ago, could you have dared to dream that two dictators would fall? Why are we ruled by trash in Arab countries? All our thinkers and scholars and engineers are either in exile or in prison. Why? Why are we treated so badly? We must rid our countries of dictators so our inventors and our best minds can return and rebuild our nations.”

Imam Abdul Aziz of Sacramento, an Egyptian, asks us to put pressure on the White House to make the right decision. “Just think,” he said, “the revolution is raging for the 12^th straight day. There is uncertainty, sure, but what is certain is that the brave people of Tunisia and Egypt have already prevailed. All supporters of democracy have prevailed. Even after Mubarak is forced to resign, people will remain in the streets until true democracy rules. We have a chance to become a developed country rather than remain frozen as a third world country.”

The Imam chokes with emotion but recovers: “I have a cousin, a young fellow, in Tahrir Square right now. He has never had an aim in life, frittering away his time in frivolous pursuits. I just spoke to him. He told me, ‘I will die for my country until we have democracy and rule of law.’ The revolution is changing hearts. Some are already swayed by the crocodile tears of Mubarak. ‘Give him a chance,’ they say. ‘The economy will be destroyed. Old people are not getting their pension. The sick are not getting their medicine.’ All I can say to them is: Shut up! We have been in prison for 30 years. The thugs have stolen $70 billion of our money that are now in the banks in Switzerland and France and England. Egyptians will stay on the streets until their demands are met!”

Tim Paulson, a labor union representative tells the gathering that Americans must learn from Egyptians “so we know how to secure our own rights here in America. We must remain vigilant until Egyptians can live their dreams. Mubarak is only four hours from Saudi Arabia. Enough is enough. Get out!”

A new slogan reverberates around the Plaza:
Ben Ali Yesterday, Mubarak Today, Qaddafi Tomorrow!

Mo, an activist with the Jewish Voice for Peace (http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/ - Israelis and Palestinians. Two people. One Future), told me: “It is not for presidents and kings to give people their freedom. Freedom is God’s gift to people. We must be united together.”

“Israel has expressed anxiety about democracy coming to Egypt. Why is that?” I ask. Mo sighs. “Because it is easy,” he says, “for Israel to engage in the politics of fear. Israel must act like a country in the Middle East and not as if it is a transplant of the West. It will be good for Israel if democracy comes to Arab countries.”

Mo wants the U.S. to do everything it can to let democracy bloom in the Middle East instead of promoting its candidates in the name of stability. “Jews and Muslims are not separate,” he said. “We are united by a common future.” He is sure that the last pharaoh will soon go. “Coddling dictators has been the U.S. policy. That has to change. All this talk about the Brotherhood coming to power is a tactic to create anxiety and undermine the revolution of the people.”

“O Mubarak can’t you see, Time to join Ben Ali.” The rhyming slogans are catchy and energizing and make us smile.

More people are pouring in. I realize with a shock that three hours have already passed. When stories and images of oppressed people breaking free from their oppressors grip us, time becomes inconsequential.

People sitting on the fences say that demonstrations, rallies and protest marches don’t change anything. What they don’t understand is that, at the very least, they change the participants in subtle and significant ways. Change without can come only from change within.

What Tunisians have achieved, and Egyptians are poised to achieve, is nothing short of miraculous. It’s still a long way to freedom and democracy but the first steps have been taken. The least we can do is show them, “We are with you, all the way!”

Mubarak Must Exit Now

Hosni Mubarak is living proof that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Like Saddam Hussein, this pharaoh has vowed not to go gently into the night. His fate is similarly sealed.

Professional provocateurs deployed by Mubarak attacked peaceful protesters in Cairo and Alexandria with knives, razors and guns, and the first casualties of this revolution are beginning to mount. Reports coming out of Egypt tell the same story: The goons materialized seemingly out of nowhere in an orchestrated show of strength on behalf of their patron-in-chief, bent on derailing the democratic demands of the masses.

Meanwhile, pundits in America and Europe are already issuing dire warnings about the imminent collapse of the Egyptian economy. They don't seem to realize that Egyptians fighting for their rights don't care where the economy is heading at this critical juncture in their nation's history. They want to live like normal human beings. No sacrifice is too big to attain that goal. For over thirty years, Mubarak led them down the path of stasis. They have had enough. The status quo has to change. And, by God, it will, not when Mubarak chooses to step down, but now.

Ahmed, an American-Egyptian businessman from Fremont, California, is convinced that for Egypt to move forward, it must wean itself from American aid. The common people never see any benefit from the billions Egypt receives from the U.S.. "America dictates how Egypt uses the aid, which results in great business for America's weapons manufacturers," says Ahmed. "We have to put an end to that."

All the speculations about who will take over once Mubarak goes, and whether or not Egypt will be better or worse off then, is moot. Yes, there will be chaos, and yes, things may get worse before they get better. But that's the price Egyptians are willing to pay to overcome thirty years of wandering in the wilderness of despair. Reconstructing a nation after decades of misrule will take time. But the first order of business is to give the pharaoh the boot. Once the evil presence has left the scene, people will figure out a way to lift themselves from the darkness of despair into the sunshine of hope.

The world must unite behind Egyptians fighting for their rights, tactical and strategic considerations be damned. But it is Egyptians who must liberate themselves. Freedom will reign only if it comes from within. Long live the common people of Egypt yearning to breathe free.