The unbelievable has happened in the 21st century in the Arab region. The bleeding victim of a brutal attack is piteously seeking the assistance of his aggressors, having discovered that his doctors have been deliberately prescribing him the wrong medicine for more than half a century. Arab nations are appealing to former Western colonial regimes (these days called EU member states) to help them oust their national heroes (or their sons and successors), who championed anti-colonial liberation movements in the 20th century. The Arabs' piteous appeal comes after their discovering the insincerity and treachery of their national leaders. The Syrians, who want democracy, social justice and freedom, are appealing for international intervention to save them from a massacre being committed by the dictatorial regime of President Bashar Assad, who has now revealed that he is no less brutal than his late father, President Hafez Assad, who killed thousands of Muslim fundamentalists in the 1970s. Syria's former occupier, France, has appreciated the Syrian people's call for help. Paris is impatiently urging the UN Security Council to give it the green light to heavily intervene, in collaboration with other EU member states, in order to stop the deadly crackdown against pro-democracy protesters in Syria. Enraged by the demonstrations against his regime and what his late father did, Bashar has sent more troops to the southern town of Deraa, the epicentre of pro-democracy revolts in this Arab region. About 400 Syrians have been killed by Syrian security forces, who started firing live rounds and tear gas at them on March 14. A Syrian activist disclosed last week that more soldiers and security men have entered Deraa, with tanks deployed nearby. The irony is that Syrian tanks have never turned their turrets on Israeli forces in the Syrian Golan Heights since they were occupied in 1967. The tragicomic history of the Al-Assad regime also includes its deployment of heavy tanks and troops in Lebanon to quell anti-Syrian revolts there. It was the Arab country of Tunisia that set a precedent for former Western colonial powers being urged to help rescue their alleged former victims from the brutalities of their alleged national heroes. But ex-Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Bin Ali saved his country from Western military intervention when he fled the country prematurely and sought refuge in Saudi Arabia. Following the example of their Tunisian neighbours, the Libyan people have been urging their former occupier, Italy, to work with other EU member states to oust the brutal regime of Muammar Gaddafi, who has been in power for over 40 years. Responding to the Libyan people's appeals, Washington and EU have declared a no-fly zone in Libya. But realising that NATO air raids on Gaddafi's air defences and airports are not enough, the rebels, inexperienced in war strategy, have been urging the West to deploy ground forces. Gaddafi refuses to give in. For more than two months, he has been incessantly bombarding Libyan towns and their inhabitants, his people, ignoring their appeals to stop or negotiate a compromise. The self-proclaimed ‘inspiring national hero' has threatened to wreak havoc on his people for “ignoring his brave acts to save them from the brutalities of the Western colonial power [Italy]”. The irony is that Gaddafi and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi used to be great pals. Western help is also being urgently sought in the Arab country of Yemen, where President Ali Abdullah Saleh stubbornly refuses to go peacefully. When we were schoolchildren, our history teachers used to exhort us to idolise the champions of the 20th century national campaigns. We were told that these nationalist leaders were ready to make the ultimate sacrifice to help their nations to gain independence from the Western infidels, who hate Islam and its prophet. We were also told that the Western countries wanted to suck our blood, draining us of our natural resources and our future prospects. Curiously, despite their alleged leading role in armed resistance movements, none of these national heroes has had the opportunity to fulfil his lifelong dream of making ‘the ultimate sacrifice' and dying on the battlefield. It seems to me that they convinced blindly obedient loyalists that their (the alleged national heroes) lives are far more precious than anyone else's. The names of the real, sincere fighters, who have willingly shed their blood for their countries' independence, are rarely remembered when the excited Arab nations take to the streets to celebrate the ‘end of the Western colonial powers'. The alleged national heroes only crawl out of the woodwork when they ascend the podium to deafening applause, as they mark the defeat of the Western powers. Sincere national heroes, cut down in battle, must surely turn in their graves, whenever their agitated nations fete the living.
