So in the aftermath of the death of one of the world’s most controversial, flamboyant and often idiosyncratic leaders, we find ourselves asking the same questions we do when similar leaders around the world experience their inevitable fall from power. What direction does the country head now? How will South Africa (a staunch supporter of Gaddafi) react to his execution? What happens to the global interests in Libya, an OPEC member?
A brief overview for those who may not be caught up on the Libyan revolution: Gaddafi has long been seen as a dictator, perhaps even a tyrant, to the Libyan people. A revolution started over the internet, Facebook of all places, in February. Since then, Gaddafi and loyal supporters have been battling the rebel insurgence. On 20 October 2011, a military chief for the rebel army informed Al-Jazeera that they had killed Muammar Gaddafi. Three months ago, the Gaddafi government was officially overthrown and a week ago rebels declared victory in Gaddafi’s hometown, the coastal city of Sirte. NATO warplanes had devastated the city and Gaddafi had no choice but to flee. It was the last holdout of loyal supporters to Gaddafi and what ensued after its capture has made headlines all across the world.
The manner in which Gaddafi died reminds me of the way U.S. soldiers were killed and dragged through the streets in Mogadishu, Somalia in the early 1990s. Anyone can go to YouTube and look at a video of Gaddafi’s corpse being treated similarly to the way our troops were treated. What is interesting is that, even in death, Gaddafi is drawing sympathies from many around the world for how he was treated in his last moments alive. Human rights organizations have even given statements expressing disappointment in his death. My question is this: How many human rights must one take away before we take away their human rights? Now let me say that I think that is an impossible question to answer. I tend to believe that when discussing the legality of these often brutal revolutions that there are no right or wrong answers. It’s just a matter of perspective. I just want to say my piece about this and be done with it. All I want to know is where these groups championing human rights were when Gaddafi was ruthlessly running his government and executing innocent civilians or anyone who might oppose him. Is the issue really whether Gaddafi should have been killed, or do we just want to nitpick at how he died? Is there really a right way to die at all? If so, who gets to make the call? Some guy sitting in an office thousands of miles away from the trouble? Or the guy whose daughter was raped and killed? I bet they both have different ideas.
The impact of Gaddafi’s death extends to South Africa. Indeed South Africa and other countries in the world supported the Gaddafi regime, and it makes economic sense. Libya is a member of OPEC and through its resources of valuable oil it is a priority to the rest of the world. Therefore, stability is priority numero uno for the western world. If you are a head of state you don’t want to go to bed at night not knowing who is going to be in control of a country, especially one that is a member of OPEC. Now we raise another ethical question. Is it ok for a country to overlook human abuses in a country if it means stability and therefore an assurance that you will continue to receive a steady stream of oil? If you argue for intervention, I just want to remind you of a country in the Middle East that goes by the name Iraq. I think we tried something like intervention once (and I don’t care what you say – it was for oil, there were no WMDs). Whether you think we should have been there or not can you understand our reluctance to get involved in an identical situation after we are coming out of Iraq?
Another challenge for the new Libyan government: Who gets power? Indeed you can bet that many will be jockeying for positions of influence while they have the chance. Right now it is paramount for the country to extinguish any pro-Gaddafi forces that still remain. If any small flames of the old regime are allowed to smolder and gather support they could turn into a full blown wildfire, with the martyrdom of Gaddafi as its rally cry. Now that the rebels control the country you can expect assistance from the rest of the world. Again it is not so much who is in power but that the country is stabilized. Gaddafi has been in power for 42 years, so I can see why familiarity was a comfort to countries like the US. I do not envy the new government. The euphoria that is sure to infect the country of six million after the toppling of the government will carry along with it high expectations. It’s like winning the AFC/NFC Championship or Game 7 of the semi-finals in the NBA or MLB, it’s a great feeling but you still have work to do. It is important for the Libyan people to keep their expectations for this new government realistic and in perspective. Take a look at Iraq and Afghanistan; we all know their democracies weren’t built in a day.
This challenging task has fallen to the National Transitional Council (NTC) for ensuring that there is equal representation in the new Libya. But even that may be hard. Because there are pro-Gaddafi supporters laying low for the short time, we can probably expect them to eventually try to undermine the legitimacy of the NTC in time. Probably through the fact that NATO warplanes helped devastate Sirte and pro-Gaddafi forces will seek to paint the NTC as an extension of NATO who they will then try to portray as an alliance driven by Western thinking. The NTC will form the transitional government in about one month and a constitutional assembly can be expected to be elected within 8 months – it will be the first time the people of Libya have had a free democratic vote in 42 years.
I read an interesting point this past week. A write for the Mail & Guardian said he thought that Gaddafi’s “death avoids a potentially embarrassing trial.” While acrimonious debate has risen over the fact that he was captured alive and then assassinated in “cold blood,” (I disagree – walking into a strangers house and killing them would be cold blooded, not the case here when he has been oppressing his people for 42 years) some argue that it saves face for some of the world’s superpowers; namely, the US. What if Gaddafi had lived? Who would try him? Would he be tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC), a court that has been heavily scrutinized? Would Libya try him herself? It would be nigh impossible to rush the establishment of a solid constitution and judicial system that would have the capacity to effectively prosecute Gaddafi and handle his appeals. Rosemary Hollis, head of the Middle East studies program at London’s City University said, “To say that it is better for everyone that he be killed rather than captured is to say that the legal approach has disadvantages, and that is to surrender to cynicism.” Really? Wake up lady. The legal approach does have disadvantages. In a perfect world, it would definitely work. But we don’t live in a perfect world or else people like Gaddafi would never have been able to come to power. I’m not saying that it is better that he was killed, I’m still deciding (I read something about a guy who once said to “love your enemies…”). I plan to go to law school; I defend the court system and a state’s constitution. But I am saying that he’s better off dead if you mean that it would’ve been a better situation if he was tried in a Libyan court. Even if he was tried and a solid legal structure could be constituted quickly, do you suppose he would ever find an honest “jury of his peers?” We’d have to call up Hitler and Saddam from their graves for that one. I’m all for optimism in the legal system but it’s statements like that that take away from the people’s faith in the legal system. The only thing good that could have come from trial in a Libyan court was that if by some miracle the country could try him in legal proceedings that had the capacity to deal with him. That would have shown the strength and unity of the Libyan people. But in my opinion the reward is not worth the risk. I’m not even sure if they are united now that their oppressor is dead. I would expect numerous factions to spring out of the ground to vie for power. If that makes me a cynic then I guess I am. In the meantime you could expect Gaddafi to say/do anything to boost his status with the rest of the world. Knowing that death or life imprisonment was inevitable, nothing would have stopped him from taking shots at the new Libyan government and revealing possibly awkward secrets about other countries. Remember Saddam Hussein? He used his time alive to berate America and refuse to acknowledge our jurisdiction. A Libyan government still in the state of infancy probably wouldn’t have been able to handle such a farce. Slobodan Milosevic is another example. Keeping Gaddafi alive would also probably have drawn protests from those still loyal to Gaddafi which might have been embarrassing to the new government.
Can you imagine the international media clamoring for all of Gaddafi’s juicy secrets? If he was able to sellout any Western countries you can bet he probably would have jumped on the chance. He would have known it was his last chance to get back at those who helped with his capture. Italy, France and Britain are also publicly known to have helped him raise a fortune to build his oil industry. Solidifying the position of a dictator would have looked very bad on them in retrospect.
If I had to guess I would say unfortunately that Libya’s troubles are far from over. There are already reports coming out that Gaddafi’s body was hung in a meat factory where people were allowed to line up and take “trophy” pictures with him. Besides being grotesque and inhumane, it is violation of Islamic law; a body must be buried with 24 hours of death. I don’t know a lot but I know one thing for certain, you don’t want to make the Muslim’s mad. Such inaction from the NTC will not win them any goodwill from those sympathetic to Gaddafi’s death. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds and whether stability can be brought to the Libyan people.
In an unrelated note: As of today South African President Jacob Zuma axed several members of his cabinet. What a deal, I’ll have a post on that soon.
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