He lasted 42 years and in the end he died ignominously at the hands of blood-crazed and still fear-ridden Libyans. What now for Libya?
Its friends? and boosters (the West led by France and Britain, followed closely by USA and Canada) would like to see democracy and stability and free-flowing oil but this is just wishful thinking and will be for a while. Egypt which peacefully ended Mubarak's rule is still, after 8 months in turmoil, rocked by sectarian violence and a Mubarak-less military govenrment that is not too keen about giving up power.
Libya has been torn by bloody civil war, and the glue that held the various groups together ( Gadhafi) is no more. There are 140 tribes, 30 or so of them are very powerful, religious differences (Sunnis, Shias, Jihadists/Islamists vs Liberals, regional/geographic differences (Benghazi vs Tripoli vs Misrata), the Berbers who fought with Gadhafi and Oil which will lubricate these fissures.
There are few institutions, no parliament, no unified military command, no political parties, no unions etc. Government ministries with the exception of the state oil company were shells. So where do you begin to build this new stable, secular democracy> This is a tower of BabeL and the voices are discordant, rancorous, selfish, strident and brutal. Tney all want a piece of the pie/power. They fought and they won and now they want their share.
Weapons are all around and those who have them will not give them up. The militias will not surrender to authority. They have tasted blood and power and they will no more be enfeebled. They have the lust for more. It's heady, this thing they call power. So let the "deluge" begin. It will be bloody and it will draw in the b neighboring states,,Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan, Chad and the Arab Spring will wither away. The day of the strong-man is not over. Just a name-change.
Its friends? and boosters (the West led by France and Britain, followed closely by USA and Canada) would like to see democracy and stability and free-flowing oil but this is just wishful thinking and will be for a while. Egypt which peacefully ended Mubarak's rule is still, after 8 months in turmoil, rocked by sectarian violence and a Mubarak-less military govenrment that is not too keen about giving up power.
Libya has been torn by bloody civil war, and the glue that held the various groups together ( Gadhafi) is no more. There are 140 tribes, 30 or so of them are very powerful, religious differences (Sunnis, Shias, Jihadists/Islamists vs Liberals, regional/geographic differences (Benghazi vs Tripoli vs Misrata), the Berbers who fought with Gadhafi and Oil which will lubricate these fissures.
There are few institutions, no parliament, no unified military command, no political parties, no unions etc. Government ministries with the exception of the state oil company were shells. So where do you begin to build this new stable, secular democracy> This is a tower of BabeL and the voices are discordant, rancorous, selfish, strident and brutal. Tney all want a piece of the pie/power. They fought and they won and now they want their share.
Weapons are all around and those who have them will not give them up. The militias will not surrender to authority. They have tasted blood and power and they will no more be enfeebled. They have the lust for more. It's heady, this thing they call power. So let the "deluge" begin. It will be bloody and it will draw in the b neighboring states,,Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan, Chad and the Arab Spring will wither away. The day of the strong-man is not over. Just a name-change.
