A. R. Jerral Finally, the Libyan strongman, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, has escaped to the neighbouring Algeria as the Western media reports. A long rule has come to an end. The pressure is now on the Syrian President to step down; who will replace him is yet not clear. The recent political disorder in the Arab world is being attributed to the long oppressive rules where the masses were denied their civil rights. Despite the mass revolutions that succeeded in Egypt and Tunis, people have not been able to place their representatives in the government so far. In Tunis an exiled leader has taken over the government, and Egypt is being ruled by a military council; will there be fair and free elections after the revolutions only time will tell. The revolution across the Arab world is being trumpeted up as popular uprisings against the oppressive rulers. These are being supported by the Western media in a big way. Along with the media, the Western governments, especially the USA and NATO countries, are aiding the rebels militarily by launching air strikes against the government troops, as was evident in Libya. Why has the West become so concerned about the political well being of the Arab masses? Is there something more to than meets the eye? The gut feeling is that there is a bigger strategic game in play in the Arab lands at the behest of the US - the neo-colonial power of the world. Neo-colonisation differs from the colonisation of the British in its execution; the British sent their Viceroys from the Great Britain, the US colonials select their puppets from the local population as rulers and direct them through their State Department and keep checks through their envoys. The political turmoil in these lands is created to achieve various ends. The Middle East stretching from the Strait of Gibraltar to Yemen is strategically the most important region in the world; it sits over the most important East-West trade route through which almost all the energy resources move. The region itself is rich in energy resources that the developed countries need. Most importantly, Israel, the baby of the West, is situated at the heart of this region whose security, protection and defence is undertaken by the West, which is led by America. These strategic objectives demand a constant politico-military domination of the region by the worlds sole superpower. Israel was established under the UNO in 1948 whose defence and security was underwritten by the UNSC permanent members. It is a remarkable resilient and patient nation. They call themselves children of God and the chosen race destined to rule Palestine - the blessed land ordained for them by God himself. It took them almost 2,000 years to move back to this 'promised land. They have a dream and vulnerability. Their dream is to establish the State of Israel on biblical dimensions. That dream sees an Israel stretching from the Nile Delta in the west - the region they call Goshen where their ancestors lived in the days of Prophet Josef - to Iraq in the east; and from Aleppo in the north to Madinah in the south. The map of this 'dream State is available on the internet. The establishment of such a State requires merger of the Nile Delta, Sinai, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and northern region of Saudi Arabia into Israel. Their vulnerability is that Israel is surrounded by Muslim countries that are hostile to it. This dream can only be realised, if these Muslim countries are weakened to an extent that they pose no military threat or resistance to Israels grand design. Surely, the events that we are witnessing today in the Middle East are initiated and managed to achieve gradual weakening of regional Muslim countries to pave the way for Israel to gain their ultimate political objective. It should be obvious to the Muslim leaders that the ongoing political upheaval is restricted to those countries that have a reasonable military strength and have demonstrated open hostility towards Israel. Libya under Colonel Gaddafi was vocal against Israels Zionist agenda; Egypt has a strong military and has fought Israel, Syria has a long dispute with Israel over Golan Heights; Yemen is believed to harbour the central Al-Qaeda leadership also hostile to Israel; and Tunis had an emerging strong Islamic rightist faction that the toppled government was unable to control. An assumed military threat to Israel from Iraq has been effectively neutralised by the American invasion. The countries that are suspect in Israels political thought have to remain unstable and weak so that they cannot pose any dangers to Israels security. The political uprisings in these countries serve this objective from many angles. These provide opportunity to remove those puppet rulers, who have become useless to the imperial masters. Or were harbouring designs to install their successors, who were not acceptable to the USA and Israel. The pressure mounted on rulers for stepping down clearly tells the others on whose goodwill they are ruling. Mubarak of Egypt and Gaddafi of Libya have been removed; and Al-Asad of Syria is firmly in the crosshairs. In due course, the rulers who will safeguard the neo-imperial agenda will emerge in these lands. And these uprisings perpetuate political instability in the region, which is cited as a reason for maintaining a strong military presence there necessary for Israels confidence. There is another sinister move set in motion whose political impact is yet to be realised by the regional leaders. The neo-colonial power is seriously contemplating redrawing national boundaries. Sudan has already been bifurcated and an independent nation has been carved out of it. This is a test case in the region. Those who have directed this event under the UNO will wait and see the reaction, which should be mild from the puppets in the region. Sometimes back an article appeared in TheNation about 'dismembering the Muslim world; there appears to be this scheme put in place. The existing boundaries of the Middle Eastern countries were drawn after World War II and run in almost straight lines. That practice can be repeated; it has succeeded in Sudan. A strong and bloody internal conflict was needed to effect this division. The political turmoil and armed internal conflicts may usher in opportunities for further divisions in the region. Smaller and weaker countries cannot and will not pose any military threat to Israel and it will be free to work for its dream to materialise. In fact this dismemberment whenever it occurs will help the USA achieve all its strategic objectives in the region. Smaller and weaker counties will need USAs military presence for their protection; the rulers of these weak nations will serve at the American and Israeli goodwill; and the trade route will remain in the US domination, thus retaining political hegemony in the region. The neo-colonial power in connivance with Israel has set in motion a sinister chain of politico-military events in the Arab world and it appears that the Muslims, in general, and Arabs, in particular, are oblivious of danger they face. The situation taking place in the Arab world warrants a serious deliberation by collective Muslim polity to determine the dangers and then evolve a collective political, diplomatic and even military strategy to thwart the designs against the Muslim world. Muslims must move collectively in this direction shedding their internal differences once for all. Waiting for a Mehdi to arrive may be too late The writer is a retired brigadier. Email: arjerral1939@hotmail.com