MANILA, Philippines – Finally, after four decades, the Western powers, notably the United States, Britain, and France, have been granted the legitimacy by the United Nations to bomb Libya, to kill Libyan strongman, Moammar Khadafy, destroy his cities, as they have done with Baghdad, neutralize his armed capability, and maim and kill citizens loyal to Khadafy as if anti-Khadafy protesters are not also Libyan flesh and blood.

If truth be told, the least of the concerns of the Western governments is the welfare and safety of the peoples of the region.

First, The bottom line for the West is OIL and perchance that democracy may eventually take roots, for which most Middle East nations have had no previous experience.

The priority at the moment is to resume the flow of oil and gas from the Libyan oilfields, and prevent them from remaining under the control of Col. Moammar Khadafy.

While it remains intriguing, puzzling, and mystifying, the political ‘’tsunami’’ in the Middle East preceded the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan which neither the Arab autocrats as well as the rest of the world had anticipated or were prepared for.

Whether the uprisings were by design or “accidental,” or by well-funded destabilization planning, the successful shake-up of authoritarian regimes in the Arab world, with Col. Moammar Khadafy solely resisting and defying the odds, is not only manna from heaven, positive developments for the West, and tension-breaker for democracies everywhere. The radical regime change also brought fresh hopes for peace and stability in the region.

Second, while the United States, Britain, and France are aggressively helping to depose Khadafy in view of their huge investments in Libya and capital exposures in infrastructures, prudence dictates that President Benigno Simeon Aquino III shy away from joining a second ‘’Coalition of the Willing’’ in view of the fact that thousands of Filipino overseas personnel are employed in Libyan oil fields, hospitals, schools, ports, and offices, many of whom may already have become casualties from NATO bombardment.

The truth is that the United States and Western Europe have no longer much business and strategic interests in the Philippines.

Indeed, while the 21st century is the coming of the Asian Age; and the center stage lies in Asia, the focus of attention will be on the economic, maritime, and military regional powers such as: China, India, Japan, Russian Far East, South Korea, and Taiwan.

The Philippines, if well-led and better managed, can also prosper and participate in the Asian Age due to its strategic location and rich natural resources.

Third, the Middle East, with its oil reserves, will continue to be a significant source of fossil fuels and employment for oil import-dependent and overpopulated countries, such as the Philippines and other nations similarly situated.

However, after the dust shall have settled and self-destruction has exhausted itself, there could be a protracted interregnum of political instability, economic maladjustment, and perhaps enhanced international terrorism.

President Benigno Aquino should keep the Philippines out of harm’s way in these conflicts in which prudence is the better part of valor while commanding his economic managers to come up with novel and innovative short-term and long-haul strategies and policies.

You be the judge.

(For comments and views, please e-mail: chaff_fromthegrain@yahoo.com.ph)