Letter: Oil and the air-free-zone

This refers to “Attacks on Libya motivated by oil: Hidayat Nur Wahid,” (the Post, Jakarta, March 27).

The elaborate conspiracies are of course flying about and given the inconsistencies in US foreign policy vis’e’vis the entire Mid East region. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to conclude that it is only about oil.

The groundswell that started in Tunisia and spread like wildfire across the region is however more complex and Gaddafi’s approach has been reprehensible.  The world is seeing that there have been a lot of deaths in Libya so regardless of what the US did, they were going to come under the spotlight. If they chose to let a Rwanda happen, President Barack Obama would have been called to account, and by taking action it becomes all about oil.

Still, right now Obama is navigating the thinnest of tightropes with current US Mid-East Diplomacy. This is made all the more difficult by giving a Carte Blanc to the Israelis and Saudis to deal with their respective backyards whilst reigning tomahawk missiles on those regimes less capable of projecting power.

Still, I remain an idealist and hope that Libya and Egypt can take some lessons from Indonesia and become democratic states where fundamentalist Islam remains on the fringes.

Richard Mayne
Singapore