by Daniel Nardini
No electric power. No running water in many cities. No authority. The quality of life in most parts of the country little better than living in the desert as bedouins. This is the reality of Libya today. And to make it that much worse there are militias that exercise their power from the barrel of a gun as they fight extremely bloody battles over turf. Now add to this a new phenomenon of insane radical groups, patterning themselves off of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and in my view nothing could be worse. The sad truth of the matter is that Libya has been taking this long descent into hell since the end of the Libyan civil war which ended with the death of former dictator Muamar Gaddafi and almost all of his followers.
But that end came as a result of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) intervention. In this case the intervention primarily of the United States, Great Britain and France caused this mess. Their massive airstrikes and the weaponry they supplied to the Islamic rebels helped to not only end Gaddafi’s reign but also destroy much of Libya’s infrastructure and cities. Not to say that I am or ever was for Gaddafi. He got what he deserved. At the same time, the people of Libya deserved better. They still do. The problem with the whole National Transitional Council is that it never was really in charge of all the militias and the rebel groups that sprang up as a result of Gaddafi’s repressive policies. Worse, many of the militias have ties to Al Qaeda, and now to ISIS. Many of the weapons America gave these militias have now ended up in the hands of other extremist militant groups in Africa and in the Middle East including the now existing ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Talk about irony.
This epic failure has to be laid in one sense or another at the doorsteps of Britain, France, and America. We had created our own Frankenstein’s monster. This whole disaster has to be laid at the feet of current U.S. President Barack Obama, who did everything he could in overthrowing Gaddafi without thinking who our new found allies were and what they might do next. In a twisted act of fate, the Egyptian military now has to get involved in trying to secure its long border with Libya and try to protect itself from attacks stemming from ISIS in Libya. It may have the better military weapons, and certainly the warplanes to attack ISIS. Sadly, Egypt is also vulnerable to revenge attacks from ISIS. And if Egypt is destabilized then so might Israel. Maybe for once America should stay out of the business of regime change.
The Libya Epic Failure
by Daniel Nardini
No electric power. No running water in many cities. No authority. The quality of life in most parts of the country little better than living in the desert as bedouins. This is the reality of Libya today. And to make it that much worse there are militias that exercise their power from the barrel of a gun as they fight extremely bloody battles over turf. Now add to this a new phenomenon of insane radical groups, patterning themselves off of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and in my view nothing could be worse. The sad truth of the matter is that Libya has been taking this long descent into hell since the end of the Libyan civil war which ended with the death of former dictator Muamar Gaddafi and almost all of his followers.
But that end came as a result of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) intervention. In this case the intervention primarily of the United States, Great Britain and France caused this mess. Their massive airstrikes and the weaponry they supplied to the Islamic rebels helped to not only end Gaddafi’s reign but also destroy much of Libya’s infrastructure and cities. Not to say that I am or ever was for Gaddafi. He got what he deserved. At the same time, the people of Libya deserved better. They still do. The problem with the whole National Transitional Council is that it never was really in charge of all the militias and the rebel groups that sprang up as a result of Gaddafi’s repressive policies. Worse, many of the militias have ties to Al Qaeda, and now to ISIS. Many of the weapons America gave these militias have now ended up in the hands of other extremist militant groups in Africa and in the Middle East including the now existing ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Talk about irony.
This epic failure has to be laid in one sense or another at the doorsteps of Britain, France, and America. We had created our own Frankenstein’s monster. This whole disaster has to be laid at the feet of current U.S. President Barack Obama, who did everything he could in overthrowing Gaddafi without thinking who our new found allies were and what they might do next. In a twisted act of fate, the Egyptian military now has to get involved in trying to secure its long border with Libya and try to protect itself from attacks stemming from ISIS in Libya. It may have the better military weapons, and certainly the warplanes to attack ISIS. Sadly, Egypt is also vulnerable to revenge attacks from ISIS. And if Egypt is destabilized then so might Israel. Maybe for once America should stay out of the business of regime change.