The reign of Muammar Qaddafi has come to an end. That he was a cruel despot deserving of an unforgiving end is a given, but now a new chapter in Libya, rife with uncharted, ominous struggles has begun. Foremost among theses struggles will be preventing the ensuing anarchy and civil strife brought on by Qaddafi’s defeat from being utilized by Islamists to gain power and to establish a Sharia state. With the likes of Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood openly supporting the Libyan rebels, the danger is that the downfall of the proverbial devil we knew, Qaddafi, may yet unleash something far worse.
The International Criminal Court confirms that Saif al-Islam, Muammar Qaddafi’s likely heir, has been captured by the rebels. It is also confirmed that Mohammed Qaddafi, another one of the dictator’s sons, has been taken into custody. There is ongoing fighting around Qaddafi’s compound, and foreign journalists are being held at the Rixos hotel. There are reports that South Africa is negotiating Qaddafi’s passage to another African country, such as Angola or Zimbabwe, but it is difficult to see why the rebels would settle when they are on the precipice of complete triumph. It is incontestable that the rebels in Libya are victorious, no matter what the truth is.
The overthrow of Qaddafi came even quicker than the rebels expected. They originally pledged to defeat him by the end of August, and then a defector predicted victory within 10 days. Qaddafi’s loyalists failed to put up much of a fight in the western parts of Tripoli. Apparently, they recognized that defeat was inevitable, as the city faced offensives on three sides, and the strategic oil city of Zawiyah fell. The unit in charge of protecting Qaddafi surrendered, and the dictator offered to directly negotiate with the rebel leadership. The Green Square was soon swarmed by rebel supporters, bringing Qaddafi’s rule effectively to an end.
One of the reasons for Tripoli’s rapid fall was the effective uprising strategy employed by the rebels within the city. Arms were smuggled to operatives in the eastern part of the city, and when these cells rose up at a predetermined time, the security forces were surprised and overwhelmed, as they expected an assault from the west. Widespread protests immediately erupted, collapsing the regime’s defenses. Of course, over the long term, Western intervention was the most decisive factor in the rebels’ victory, saving them from a massacre in Benghazi in March. NATO flew over 20,000 sorties, including 7,500 strikes, and spent billions of dollars to weaken the Qaddafi regime.
Several challenges now lie ahead. First is in the necessary marginalization of internal Islamist or jihadist elements in the anti-Qaddafi coalition. Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood supported the rebels for a reason, and Hamas in fact congratulated the rebels on their victory. The crucial question is on the actual composition of the rebel forces, which has never been completely clear. U.S. intelligence has claimed that there is no organized Al-Qaeda or Islamist element among the opposition, although media evidence has suggested that there is some Islamist influence. Encouragingly, the rebel leaders have pledged to create a secular democracy, with the vice chairman of the National Transitional Council bluntly stating, “There is no place for an Islamic state.” However, the 14-page “constitutional declaration” written by the opposition does open the door to the Islamists in very significant ways.
Pages: 1 2
"What will the new Libya look like?"
A lot like the old…despotic and oppressive, particularly to women and non-Muslims. What the talking heads and the academics can't figure out in their desperate search for "root causes"…is the ACTUAL root cause staring them in the face: 'It's the religion, stupid.'
If they were all pagons or atheists it would make little difference ….the goverment of Libya was alot less religious than many of their neighbours…..it's a primitive part of the world , those folks are too ignorant and emotionly immature for the democratic process …….the best thing for the arab world would be a strong , secular , authoritarian , but incoruptable ruler, like KEMAL ATTATURK that could guide them into the post modern world
"…the best thing for the arab world would be a strong , secular , authoritarian , but incoruptable ruler, like KEMAL ATTATURK that could guide them into the post modern world"
Which, when looking at present-day Turkey under Erdoggydroppings, makes you realize that even the best isn't good enough.
Turkey was the example and model and best hope for modernity and moderation in the Muslim world; with Turkey sliding back into Islamic theocracy, not so much because of the actions of its aforementioned head of state as by virtue of demographic change (the religious always tend to have more kids), it is perfectly clear that there is no hope from the Muslim world.
No hope for modernity and moderation from them; no reason to trust in the permanence of any treaties with them; no sense in heralding any kind of revolution or reform in their states. Even centuries of cessation of hostilities between the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds is but a truce.
Out of the frying pan into the fire.
And now the Muslim Brotherhood moves in and takes over just like in Egypt!
I wish them a lot of luck but when the Shah left, Iran didn't turn into a garden. Neither did Iraq after Saddam fell. Too early to celebrate.
Seeing all the bearded faces among the rebels, it's clear that Islamist Jihadis make up a significant portion of the rebels. Expecting anything other than another Islamist state to come out of this is foolish optimism.
whatever the new libya looks like you can be sure it won't be pretty. islamic jihad destroying any and all freedom, even the small amount they had under gadaffy duck.
Consider me pessimistic. I believe that the Islamists are the most dangerous factions and they will work to undermine the new government so they can create a state based on Sharia law.
We should be realistic. No Muslim state treats non Muslims well, not that there's that many non Muslims in Libya. And the only Arab nation that doesn't have Islam as its official religion is Lebanon and that didn't prevent the Islamists from still taking over. We shouldn't worry about things we can't control, and should focus on what we can.
Foremost among theses struggles will be preventing the ensuing anarchy and civil strife brought on by Qaddafi’s defeat from being utilized by Islamists to gain power and to establish a Sharia state.
I hate to keep raining on this writer's exceedingly naive parade all the time, but it will be Muslims that inevitably gain power and not scholars of Islam (Islamists) which is what the word Islamist meant until it was commandeered by the leftwing media after 9/11 to describe violent jihadists that it always conflates with being terrorists, while being totally oblivious at the same time to the non-violent stealth and deceptive jihad taking place right in their midst.
Not to mention also that because the leftwing media always erroneously conflates jihad with terrorism, it also assumes naively that all violent jihadists are extremists, because all terrorists are extremists. However, the reality is all jihadists, whether of the violent variety or of the non-violent variety, are ALL MAINSTREAM ORTHODOX MUSLIMS and not extremists.
First is in the necessary marginalization of internal Islamist or jihadist elements in the anti-Qaddafi coalition.
Again, this is ignorance personified and represents a totally delusional and fictional view of the Islamic world. Indeed, it was that exact sort of naivety that led to the two biggest strategic blunders in American history in Afghanistan and Iraq. It's amazing that 10 years after the 9/11 jihad attacks that this writer can remain so mentally incompetent with respect to Islam.
U.S. intelligence has claimed that there is no organized Al-Qaeda or Islamist element among the opposition, although media evidence has suggested that there is some Islamist influence.
With all due respect, US intelligence, like the military establishment, the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the National Intelligence Directorate, and indeed the entire federal government has been hijacked and co-opted by the Left and as a result couldn't be more incompetent or more blinded by political correctness.
Encouragingly, the rebel leaders have pledged to create a secular democracy, with the vice chairman of the National Transitional Council bluntly stating, “There is no place for an Islamic state.”
Anyone that believes the above absurdity needs to know that I have a bridge for sale I need to sell them. Indeed, even if they created a so-called secular democracy, it wouldn't be really a secular democracy but instead a false facade used to dupe gullible useful idiots like the writer of this article.
The constitutional declaration states that “Libya is a democratic and independent state…the people are the source of authority, Tripoli is the capital, Islam is the religion and Islamic sharia is the principal source of legislation.”
Again, the writer demonstrates how totally oblivious he is. The above unequivocally states that Islamic sharia is the principal source of legislation. Hence, whatever emerges in Libya will be an Islamic state.
Apparently, the writer is under the very mistaken impression that the governments in Afghanistan and Iraq that we are stupidly propping up are democracies. They are not, they are Islamic sharia states and because they are Islamic sharia states they are not our allies or our friends but instead our eternal enemies. Indeed, both occupations couldn't have been more counterproductive and fantasy based.
Ideological differences, such as those between the Islamists and non-Islamists, will also threaten the stability of the new Libyan government.
Again, pure utter stupidity. I hate to rain on this moonbat writer's parade again ad nauseum, but there is no differences between scholars of Islam and non-scholars of Islam. Actually, all Muslims are jihadists, a tiny percentage of them are violent jihadists and the vast overwhelming majority of them are non-violent jihadists, and the few that are not jihadists are not Muslims at all, but instead blasphemous apostates that per the dictates of Islam must be executed.
In other words, there is no ideological difference whatsoever, and if there is, those blasphemers and apostates are quickly dispatched.
Excellent post. Thanks.
The Al-Qaeda linked rebels who murder our soldiers in Iraq have won the war. They have won only because US/NATO waged war for months for the Al-Qaeda rebels.
World Net Daily, August 6, 2011:
He got bin Laden, so why can't Obama take out this clown?
The Warfalla tribe – one of the largest in Libya – is being joined by other tribes to fight the rebels because of what is described as indiscriminate killing of civilians by Western alliance-backed troops.
The sources said that Qatari troops, tanks and helicopters "are openly killing these unarmed tribal members. They have their Qatari tanks in the streets of Benghazi. They are actively shooting on unarmed civilians."
NATO bombing was being extended without authorization to attack non-military targets.
Repeated NATO bombings also have included hospitals, Ramadan food storage warehouses, the country's main water distribution infrastructure, private homes and "more than 1,600 other civilian sites." http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=330341
Barack Obama: War Criminal.
Well, let's call him constitutionally incorrect. Notwithstanding, I could even accept that had we got something out of this, or even there was a "maybe" we will get something out of this. Instead, we just supported people who, in all likelihood, will not support our interests in the area.
US/NATO leaders who waged ruthless war for the rebels for months winning victory for CRUEL MONSTERS IN HUMAN FORM-rebels; are responsible for rescuing every single one of these horribly abused kidnapped children. G-D help the children!
World Net Daily, August 13, 2011 Missing: Where are the children now?
Rebel takeover prompts questions about kidnappings, slavery, torture
There are persistent reports that children from government-run homes for orphans and abused children are missing and feared kidnapped, possibly tortured and sold, by rebels who recently took the town of Misrata in the western part of Libya near its capital of Tripoli.
Sources in Tripoli say that these children are some of more than 1,000 who have disappeared over the past six months since rebels entered Misrata and "went on a killing spree."
There also are reports of rebels torturing children. G2Bulletin is in receipt of one video of doctors preparing to remove a thin rod that was pushed completely through the body of a small boy from his rectum through his upper shoulder. http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=331973
Still, the media and the Democrats blame everything on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Now rockets are raining down on Israel and they're at fault too.
Notice the silence on Syria, Iran's proxy. I'm sure their knees are shaking when Hillary and Obama called for Assad to leave.
RACIST CRUEL MONSTERS-rebels are perpetrating genocide against Blacks and committing horrific atrocities against innocent children. US/NATO leaders who waged war for months for the rebel monsters are responsible for every evil act of the rebels. In the terrifying New World Order, which defenseless innocents are targeted next by US/NATO/UN?
Benghazi "Rebels" Lynching Blacks In Libya
Black Star News
July 23, 2011
Watch this linked video of an anti-Black lynch mob and you will understand why The New York Times, CNN, The Washington Post, the BBC and other major news organizations have never followed up on The Wall Street Journal's June 21 article about ethnic cleansing of Black Libyans in Misurata by the "Brigade for the purging of slaves, Black Skin."
That Brigade, of Libya's so-called rebels, backed by NATO and the White House, eliminated the Black population of Misurata and promised to do the same to Black Libyans once they seized control of the city of Tawergha, 25 miles away.
Major news outlets are deliberately ignoring or downplaying the racialist-motivated atrocities against Black people being committed by the terroristic "rebels."
this will be a joke who will replace our Boy Qaddafi we know our government or Obama helped Hezbollah and the boys in Al-Qaeda take down the head boy Qaddafi and with a hell of alot of help from the UN And what if the Al-Qaeda guys get control of tropoli and start on all sides of that country, and its oil and its gold.
Islam is the problem and it is not going to go away with all the ignorance there is about it. islam is not a problem it is the problem. The root of islam is absolute evil therefore it can only produce evil.
So what kind of Regime takes over Qadaffis place? Will it be more anti-Israel? Obama is destabilizing the Middle East under the guise of Democracy!
It's anybody's guess what will happen (after the upcoming blood bath of reprisal),
somehow I think there will be some surprises but it will all be evil reworked.
William
Rulers like Hussein should be chopped².
to handprint crafts:
Apparently, you don't care the Al-Qaeda rebels who MURDER our soldiers in Iraq, are perpetrating GENOCIDE against Blacks. The rebels have also murdered unarmed, defenseless civilians.
The situation for women, children and the elderly in Libya is TERRIBLE> Just thank NATO for devastating this poor desert nation. Post Gaddaffi LIbya could be just as bad or worse, now that the nation's fragile infrastructure has been so damaged.
Given their history together, especially financially, Farrakhan will give speeches where he will,typically,childishly screech,scream,shriek, wail, with his usual bluster, that America,the White Devil,and Jews, are to Blame, and they will be destroyed,etc.
But WE know, damn well, that the big cash pipeline from Libya to Farrakhan is anything-but-destroyed,that the new regime is even more militantly islamic than Qaddafi was, so expect them to supply at least TWICE as much cash than before.
Interesting report! One should never declare the outcome prior to the outcome. Maybe there are more things which are not only untrue, maybe there are lies.
I'm glad Qaddafi's gone. He was a monster and a terrorist. He deserves whatever he gets.
Common sense would have seen return of the Afghan monarchy, and things MIGHT be better there, had the legitimate royal government been restored instead of the divisive incumbent.
So let's hope that King Idris' son is put on the throne, His Dad was an excellent ruler, and a sensible king could restrain extremists of all stripes. He seems to have lots of popular support
http://rossrightangle.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/fr…
But first. let the Libyans put Ghadaffi on trial in Tripoli – no international court with EU pinko judges on board will ever hang him high.
I'm not even sure it is possible to establish Democracy in ANY Muslim state, you have to get rid of the religion before you can begin to have any form of peace. The Islamic Culture seems to have violence and hate ingrained in it. I fear for any nonMuslims still in Lybia, they should get out fast.
We’re a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your web site offered us with valuable information to work on. You’ve performed an impressive job and our whole group can be thankful to you.