Thus far, 2011 has not been a good year to be the leader of a North African nation. January saw Zine El−Abidine Ben Ali, President of Tunisia for over 23 years, flee to Saudi Arabia after a 28−day popular uprising against him. In February it was Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak who was forced to step down after 30 years of autocratic rule.
Libyan protestors took to the streets in the seaside city of Benghazi just days after Mubarak stepped down. The protests were initially triggered by the arrest of human rights activist Fethi Tarbel and soon escalated into a broader, anti−government movement against Col. Muammar el−Qaddafi, Libya's leader since 1969. Libya is located between Tunisia and Egypt, so there is no doubt that the people of Libya have drawn inspiration from the events that have taken place in neighboring countries and are continuing the domino effect that is making its way through the region.
Qaddafi reacted to the protests in the same way any ruthless dictator of over 40 years would: by resorting to violence. During the early parts of the movement, the police and Qaddafi's mercenaries broke up the protests. When it began to gain traction, Qaddafi allegedly flew in mercenaries from Chad to increase his numbers. People were reportedly offered large cash rewards and fancy cars to join Qaddafi's fleet of thugs.
Sound familiar? If you've read my column before, it should. If you haven't, you should (read my column that is). Shameless plugs aside though, these tactics are eerily similar to those that were employed by Mubarak before he stepped down on Feb. 11.
Though there are similarities between what happened in Egypt and what is happening now in Libya, there are also major differences.
In Qaddafi, it seems the world has been graced with someone even more stubborn and delusional than Mubarak, which didn't seem possible six weeks ago. On Feb. 24, Qaddafi ludicrously claimed that the protests had been sparked by Osama bin Laden and Nescafe spiked with hallucinogenic drugs. He has alleged more recently that Western powers such as the United States, the United Kingdom and France are behind the protests, in an attempt to gain control of Libyan oil. Furthermore, despite the fact that discontent among the people was blatantly widespread by the end of February, Qaddafi on Feb. 28 proudly proclaimed to the BBC, "all my people love me."
While much of what he says is highly amusing, the situation in Libya is anything but. Due to his refusal or inability to acknowledge reality and his insistence on reacting to the protests with violence, the situation has essentially dissolved into a civil war. Wednesday saw the rebel−controlled city of Ras Lanuf hit by air strikes from the Libyan government.
President Barack Obama on Feb. 26 called for Qaddafi to step down, and with continued violence, the reaction from the international community has been increasingly anti−Qaddafi. France on Thursday became the first nation to recognize the opposition leaders based in Benghazi as the country's legitimate representatives. The international community has collectively been working towards imposing a no−fly zone above Libya, which would legally prohibit Qaddafi from using air strikes against his people.
Some have even discussed putting the international human rights doctrine of "responsibility to protect" into action, which would result in an internationally coordinated intervention within Libyan territory. R2P, as it is known, was created to deal with situations precisely like this one and to avoid the repetition of previous failures of the international community to respond to genocide and crimes against humanity. But for all the talk that is taking place, once again, little is being done. The time to act is now; there is little time to waste.
--
