Moammar Gadhafi is winning his one-man war to stop the Arab Awakening dead in its tracks, literally. He has now beaten LibyaB次元官网网址檚 democratic forces back to their Benghazi stronghold, where one month ago they launched a ragtag rebellion against his 42-year regime.

Terrified residents dread the onslaught of GadhafiB次元官网网址檚 warplanes, missiles, tanks and artillery, all of which the despot has turned on civilians. The democratic worldB次元官网网址檚 response? Finger-wagging, chiefly.

Averse to making war on an Arab state after the Iraq fiasco, the United States, Canada and the Group of Eight collectively have shrugged off desperate pleas from Benghazi and the Arab League for a no-fly zone, and punted the crisis up to the United Nations Security Council. The G8B次元官网网址檚 demand Tuesday that Gadhafi B次元官网网址渓eaveB次元官网网址� or face B次元官网网址渄ire consequencesB次元官网网址� was a shabby, hollow threat.

The Security Council has asked the International Criminal Court to investigate GadhafiB次元官网网址檚 crimes, and has imposed sanctions and an arms embargo. While the UN still can and should protect civilians in Benghazi, Tobruk and other areas by declaring them B次元官网网址渟afe zonesB次元官网网址� and off-limits to GadhafiB次元官网网址檚 war machine, the damage already has been done.

Daring reformers chalked up amazing victories in neighbouring Egypt, the most populous Arab country, and in Tunisia. But GadhafiB次元官网网址檚 bloody reaction, his readiness to spill civilian blood and the growing pushback by other Arab autocrats, raises the question of whether the Arab Awakening of 2011 may come to mirror the ill-fated liberal revolutions in Europe in 1848.

European reformers shook the imperial capitals of Paris, Berlin and Vienna, and wrung concessions similar to those Arab reformers seek today, including constitutional change, universal suffrage, and freedom of the press and of assembly. But their gains proved short-lived. The monarchists rallied to crush the liberals, reinstated monarchies, and rolled back many of the gains.

Of course, the upheaval of 1848 inspired a reform spirit that never died. The Arab Awakening may have the same long-term effect.

But this is a tragic moment for LibyaB次元官网网址檚 reformers, abandoned by those who once cheered them on.

- Toronto Star