Such Useful Dictators

The CIA relocated the mistreatment of terrorists, whom it arrested around the world, to Libya — proof that dictatorships are of value to democracies, who currently want to see their models replicated across the world. These revelations came to light after access was gained to the Libyan Secret Service offices, where agents had not had the time to remove or destroy their files. Consequently, it became apparent that the CIA handed over its own arrestees to Libyan services, knowing full well what would happen to them.

The most tragic thing is hearing the astonishment of militant human rights activists at the actions of American service members, for example Human Rights Watch member Peter Bouckaert, who made this discovery. However, this has been common knowledge for some time now — to be precise, since February 1997, when a report was adopted by the European Parliament in Strasbourg, accusing European governments of colluding with the CIA in the operation of secret flights. This report cited no less than 1,245 stop-offs, made between 2001 and 2005, by CIA planes at European airports with suspects on board, the victims of “enforced disappearances.” They were secretly transported to Guantanamo, or subcontracted out to prisons in countries such as Egypt or Morocco, where they could be tortured without prison workers in democratic countries getting their hands dirty or hearing the screams of the tortured. Libya was used in much the same way.

Over and above the moral aspects of such actions, you are no better than the most bloodthirsty of terrorists if your behavior stoops to their level. There is also this immense hypocrisy continually meted out to the people by the media, who are on the lookout for grandiloquent support from the world’s democracies for the current revolts in the Arab world, notably in Libya and Egypt. Actually, the astonishment of dictators at being ousted to Western applause is better understood. Dictators who were so useful, so friendly, to the point of never letting their Western supporters get their hands dirty — so much kindness that is now forgotten. What ingratitude!