A Western-Led Tragedy - How Libya Became Hell On Earth - CGTN

5/5/2020 A western-led tragedy: How Libya became hell on earth - CGTN
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Middle East 13:19, 06-Dec-2019

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The tragedy of a western-led intervention: How Libya became hell on earth
Zeng Ziyi
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Two days before Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was killed, Hillary
Clinton showed up on the tarmac of an airport in Tripoli. The surprise
visit by then U.S. Secretary of State was more than a morale boost to
the "rebels" fighting the government forces. Most importantly, it was
an unmistakable signal that the U.S. was putting its full weight behind
the "revolution" to overthrow Gaddafi.
"People must renounce violence, they must give up arms, they must be
committed to a democracy that respects the rights of all," Clinton
announced.
As former White House staffer Ben Rhodes revealed, Clinton was the
principal architect behind the U.S. intervention, who ultimately
persuaded a hesitant President Barack Obama to intervene in Libya.
Nine years later, however, Libya is anything but what she and the other
western leaders had promised. After the seven-month-long NATO-led
air campaign that leveled apartments, medical clinics and caused
massive civilian casualties, the country quickly fell to a vicious cycle of
violence, reminiscent of the aftermath of the war in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Instead of democracy, anarchy became the new norm as thugs,

radicalized Islamic insurgents rule the streets
(https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/12/world/africa/tripoli-libya-
hifter.html). Instead of respect for human rights, the country has
experienced a humanitarian crises as desperate refugees fled and
flooded Europe and its surrounding regions. Instead of economic
growth, there is a growing slave trade where young men are being
auctioned off as commodities in open slave markets
(https://time.com/longform/african-slave-trade/).
In today's circumstances, it is difficult to imagine Libya was once one of

the wealthiest nations in Africa where people enjoyed a variety of social
benefits funded by its oil exports. Its economy was envied across Africa
and much of the Arab world.
Libyan rebel fighters enter the Bab al-Aziziya compound, the main stronghold of former
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in Tripoli, Libya, August 23, 2011. /VCG photo
Life under the "Brotherly Leader"
One year before the military intervention, Libya was considered a high
development country by the United Nations. In real terms, that
translated to a life expectancy of 74.5 years and a literacy rate of 88.4
percent. In that year, Libya enjoyed a 4.2 percent economic growth
while the U.S. economy grew at 3.2 percent rate.
Since coming to power in a bloodless coup in 1969, Gaddafi undertook

a series of reforms that transformed the country from a religious
monarchy to a socialist Arab "Jamahiria." The term is coined by the
leader himself and is unique to Libya, and translates to "state of the
masses," which is similar to a People's Republic. Gaddafi detailed his
political philosophy in The Green Book, where he advocated for a
mixture of Islamic socialism, Arab nationalism, and African nationalism.
South African President Nelson Mandela raises the hand of Libyan leader Muammar
Gaddafi at the Tuynhuis at Cape Town airport June 13. Gaddafi arrived in South Africa on
Sunday as retiring President Nelson Mandela's last official guest. /VCG photo
The eccentric leader had plenty of quirks. The colonel had a habit of
living in tents and carried one wherever he traveled. In official settings,
Gaddafi insisted on being referred to by his unofficial title "The
Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution."
Under Gaddafi's leadership, Libya's economy grew 600 percent in a

decade's time as per capita income rose to more than 12,000 U.S.
dollars, the fifth-highest in Africa according to the World Bank. Citizens
enjoyed a wide variety of social benefits, supported by robust state
revenue from selling the country's sizable oil reserves. Medical care and
public education became free, while housing was considered a human
right and subsidized by the government.
Considered an oppressive "dictator" by most western leaders, Gaddafi

also pushed for women's rights. In the streets of Tripoli and Benghazi,
women were free to dress as they liked. This stands in stark contrast to
women living in most Arab nations where a strict Islamic dress code is
enforced. Many male-dominated professions, such as the police and
military also became available to women.
An art piece at the World Centre for the Studies and Research of the Green Book in
Tripoli, Libya. /VCG photo
Why Gaddafi had to go?
In late February, 2011, a wave of uprising began to spread from

Benghazi, as rebels took up arms in an attempt to overthrow Gaddafi's
government. The rebellions were widely reported by mainstream
western media as the result of brutal domestic suppression by Gaddafi
the dictator. Recent revelations from leaked U.S. government
documents, however, point to a more sinister plot by the Western
governments to gain control of Libya's resources, including its oil and
sizable foreign assets.
Of the 3,000 emails leaked from Hillary Clinton's server, her interaction
with close-confidant and attorney Sidney Blumenthal was perhaps the
most revealing. In one of the reports on Libya, Blumenthal stated:
"Gaddafi's government holds 143 tons of gold, and a similar amount of
silver." He then identified five reasons behind France's involvement in
Libya: to obtain Libyan oil, to increase French influence in North Africa,
to improve President Sarkozy's domestic reputation, to assert French
military power and sabotaging Gaddafi's influence in "Francophone
Africa."
Libya's President Muammar Gaddafi (L) greets his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy at
Bab Azizia Palace in Tripoli July 25, 2007, the day after the release of six foreign medics
from Libyan jails. /VCG photo
"No matter in Africa or the Arab world, Libyan leader Gaddafi has been
the most zealous Arab leader against the U.S. and Western Europe,"
former Middle East and Africa Senior Correspondent of Xinhua News
Agency Gu Zhenglong told CGTN. "Overthrowing Gaddafi and establish
a pro-West regime was one of the main reasons behind the 2011
military intervention."
Many of the "freedom fighters" backed by NATO in 2011 had links to

the CIA and even terrorist groups like al-Qaeda. One of the rebel
leaders, Abu Sufian Ibrahim Ahmed Hamuda Bin Qumu, was a former
Guantanamo Bay detainee who joined the Taliban in 1998, according to
a Wikileaks file from 2005. Khalifa Haftar, leader of the Libyan National
Army currently fighting in the Libyan Civil War, arrived in New York
(https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/17/world/350-libyans-trained-to-
oust-qaddafi-are-to-come-to-us.html) as early as 1991 and received
training in "sabotage and other guerrilla skills" from American
intelligence officials, according to the New York Times.
"This country is a piece of cake, rich, full of gas, oil, and we have more
than 100 billion dollars of deposits abroad," said Saif al-Islam Gaddafi,
son of Muammar Gaddafi as he talks about the motives of countries
behind the 2011 intervention before being imprisoned. "And we have

to get rid of Gaddafi because he's the only obstacle between us and
the cake."
By now, the world seems to be tired of hearing about Libyan refugees

as they risk their lives to escape a homeland torn to shreds by what
seems like perpetual violence. The European Union has been paying
the Libyan coast guard to keep the migrants trapped in the failed state,
leaving them at the mercy of opportunist warlords and human
traffickers. For the elites in Washington, the country is exactly where it
needs to be – a third world backwater eating itself away to oblivion.
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5/5/2020 A western-led tragedy: How Libya became hell on earth - CGTN

Middle East 13:19, 06-Dec-2019

(mailto:?subject=The tragedy of a western-led intervention: How Libya became hell on

Instead of democracy, anarchy became the new norm as thugs,

In today's circumstances, it is difficult to imagine Libya was once one of

Life under the "Brotherly Leader"

Since coming to power in a bloodless coup in 1969, Gaddafi undertook

Under Gaddafi's leadership, Libya's economy grew 600 percent in a

Considered an oppressive "dictator" by most western leaders, Gaddafi

Why Gaddafi had to go?

In late February, 2011, a wave of uprising began to spread from

Many of the "freedom fighters" backed by NATO in 2011 had links to

behind the 2011 intervention before being imprisoned. "And we have

By now, the world seems to be tired of hearing about Libyan refugees

Foreign intervention must

How will a COVID-19

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