Indigenous Occupation
By Hassan Elsawaf

Occupation by a foreign power is seen as one of the scourges of mankind.Working on the notion that peace and stability are the best ingredients for prosperity and happiness, intruding into the affairs of another people on the back of force and military superiority is surely not the best formula for the betterment of mankind. Nevertheless, it has occurred at an alarming pace, and it is only in the last half century that the world's major occupying powers have repented and that foreign occupation has become a black spot in the history of any nation. It is still being practiced by some, though, albeit for different reasons.

Since the human race has a propensity to exploit and control, occupation has not ceased, but merely taken another form. It is no longer foreign, but local. The exploiting and suffering of the masses has not ended. In some cases it is more acute; only now it is done by compatriots and has thus altered in complexion, as well as in perception. The world does not see a dictator as an occupier, merely as a product of his surroundings, perhaps enhancing the ridiculous argument that every nation deserves the ruler it gets.

Well, let me ask you this: do the Zimbabweans deserve Mr. Mugabe? They have risen on every occasion to get rid of him and have suffered unduly in the process. Now they have been reduced to starving beggars. Or do the brave people of Myanmar deserve their tyrannical military junta? Or do the Syrians deserve the stifling oppression they are living under?Alas, the list is still long.

A new chapter must be added to school history books. Its title would be 'Indigenous Occupation.' Its emphasis would be to highlight the stark similarities between foreign occupation and autocratic military regimes. Its list of examples would be topped by present day Egypt.

In terms of the overall picture, there is little difference between a colonial power and a local despot. They are both crooks out to exploit and steal. They control through oppression and are sel??dom concerned with moral issues. They both do away with any remnants of a justice system and rule with an iron fist. It is sometimes strange to think of how oppressive the British were in India as compared to how they deal with their own people. In some ways, decades or even centuries of foreign occupation left such a mess, that in the wake of the departure of the foreigners an even bigger mess was created.

Iraq was a mess before Saddam came to power, owing to the unworkable ethnic divisions it encompassed in the map drawn up after the first war. That resulted in a bloodthirsty outcome and the dubious image of a congenitally violent people. That was exacerbated by what the barbaric Saddam did. Iraq today is an ethnic cauldron of vengeance and hate.

It is time the advanced industrial powers come to terms with the realities of third-world miseries. Most third-world nations are richer from a raw material perspective than their industrialised counterparts. Their problem is that they are mismanaged. If the rich nations really want to help, they should make sure things are better managed. The only way to do that is by democratising those countries, come what may.

Failure to do that will only make things much worse, not only for the direct victims, the oppressed, but also for the indifferent observers, the wealthy.