Silence of HR watchdogs

More than 200,000 Libyan civilians are believed to be trapped in Bani Walid and Sirte. NATO has admitted that their lives are in great danger due to heavy fighting between the pro-Gaddafi forces and their enemies. All pockets of resistance are in the throes of a huge humanitarian crisis with men, women and children starving, unable to escape. But, the so-called rebels are stepping up attacks with NATO carrying out air strikes, in a bid to wrest control of the besieged cities and demonstrate to the Libyans and the world that the writ of their interim government runs in all parts of that country.

Strangely, mum's the word on the part of the international human rights watchdogs and the western governments over the plight of Libyan civilians. The international media would have us believe that Libya's is a bloodless war. Has anyone seen on TV victims of war in that country?

The rebel leader himself has admitted that about 50,000 people had perished by the time Tripoli fell a few weeks ago. Thousands more must have been killed since then, but the western media makes no mention of civilian casualties or the number of combatants killed. The world is not shown the Libyan hospitals overflowing with the injured or the hapless civilians suffering without food and medicine. Where are the Channel 4 crusaders? Why is it that the western governments which make a public display of their concern for civilians have not called for an immediate ceasefire in Libya to protect the people trapped in the battle zone!

The West wants the Libyan rebels to go the whole hog, no matter what, and get Gaddafi believed to be hiding in one of the cities offering fierce resistance. But, Sri Lanka's war against a savage terrorist outfit banned in 32 countries for its mindless violence and named and shamed by the UN for harming children, ran into stiff resistance from the very governments that want Gaddafi destroyed at any cost. Is it that, in their book, Gaddafi is worse than Prabhakaran?

Meanwhile, the EU is reported to have shelved a plan to slap sanctions on Syria, where dissent is brutally suppressed. Germany, France, Portugal and Britain, ably assisted by the US as always, are obviously trying to use sanctions as a tool to dislodge President Bashar al-Assad's government considered loyal to China and Russia. But, Bahrain and Yemen have not incurred the wrath of the EU and the US in spite of their abominable repression! The UNHRC, it may be recalled, had egg on its face a few moons ago when it had to withdraw, under pressure from the West, a statement condemning the situation in Bahrain, where the very antithesis of democracy prevails. In Saudi Arabia, a woman is to be lashed for the 'crime' of driving a car! The West is silent on that issue as well. How would the western governments promoting gender equality have reacted if such punishment had been meted out to a woman in a country which is not one of their allies?

The Libyan rebels and their western masters are in a mighty hurry to bring fighting to a close regardless of the human cost so that they could get out of the mess and share the spoils of war. Multi-billion-dollar contracts for post-war reconstruction projects have already been offered to the NATO allies supportive of the rebels, according to media reports. British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy may not have rushed to Tripoli the other day just for nothing! Their cash-strapped corporate giants must be smacking their chops.

Where there's blood, they know, there's brass