A quick history lesson about the Libyan revolution of 1969
"On 1 September 1969, a small group of military officers led by then 27-year-old army officer Muammar al-Gaddafi staged a coup d'état against King Idris, launching the Libyan Revolution. At the time, Idris was in Turkey for medical treatment. His nephew, Crown Prince Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida al-Mahdi as-Sanussi, was exercising regal powers at the time as King Idris had sent a signed document indicating his intent to step down as King on 2 September 1969. It was clear however that the revolutionary officers, who had announced the deposition of King Idris, did not want to appoint Crown Prince Hassan over the instruments of state as King, so the Crown Prince never attained that position.
Gaddafi was at the time only a captain and his co-conspirators were all junior officers. Nevertheless the small group seized Libyan military headquarters (due to the sympathies of the stationed men) and the radio broadcasting station with 48 rounds of revolver ammunition. Before the end of the day, Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida had been formally deposed by the revolutionary army officers and put under house arrest. In the meanwhile the revolutionary officers abolished the monarchy and proclaimed the new Libyan Arab Republic. Gaddafi was, and is to this day, referred to as the "Brother Leader and Guide of the Revolution" in government statements and the official Libyan press." (www.wikipedia.org)
So how do dictators in our day and age hold on to their power? Alexander, Xerxes or Caesar would have simply sent the Elites, Immortals or Praetorians round and cut you, and you family, into little pieces. Nowadays, communications mean this kind of behaviour ends up on Twitter before it hits the New York Times.
Mubarak declared a state of emergency in Egypt for 33 years, ending any chance of democratic elections, until, spurred by events in Tunisia, the people decided to remove the element that prevented them from having a fair chance to vote their own officials. They had some rough times, but eventually got what they wanted. Not what there leader wanted, what the people wanted. Sounds like democracy.
Gaddafi, on the other hand, claims that he is not an elected official and therefore cannot be removed. As dictators go, Gaddafi is probably one of the craziest, next to Mahidamenajad of Iran.
I mean, come on, does this image look like a guy in control. He shows up in a tuk-tuk, with a brolly, says "I'm not in Venezuela" and now he's good to stay as ruler of Libya!
In all seriousness, the violence that has come from the proceedings is shocking and frightening, showing that there are Libyan's more loyal to a man than their nation. I dare anyone to find a good thing Gaddafi has done for Libya or its people. I doubt you will, as his own people have decided that, in all honesty, he hasn't.
I pray daily for the people of Libya, that they can become the nation they want to be, and no longer be shackled to the whims of ludicrous, outdated dictator
It's really interesting to see how there has been a dominio affect in North Africa, how it's started in Algeria, then Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. It would be fantastic to see these countries experience democracy and the freedom that brings. However, the reliasation that democracy is not a cheap or simple thing to bring about. It requires submission, debate and sadly sometimes blood shed. All you have to do is look at the history of Europe to see that each European nation has had a bloody revolution which eventually led to people realising that a democratic and civilised government was the only way.
ReplyDeleteI really hope Gaddafi leaves. You can keep people righteous by the sword for so long, true righteousness comes from a faith in what you believe. He has oppressed these people for too long and should be treated as the murderous, genocidal dictator that he is.
We are very blessed to be in this time of freedom of speech, choice and belief.
I must admit I have been mostly unaware of how these rulers maintained their power. These events have really opened my eyes to the struggles these people face with democracy, and not as faceless Arabs labelled as terrorists and fundamentalist Muslims
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