Libya was 1 of 7 countries selected for attack by the US after 9/11 according to Gen. Wesley Clark.Gadaffi had insulted and infuriated Sarkozi and the Arab League.
A Gadaffi-ist Libya could have exploited and influenced Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions adversely to US interests. This could have been the thinking. Instead the US would be thanked given more business -- and a base in Africa.
In the current crisis the Islamist / Salafist / Cyrenaicans wanted Gadaffi gone. But many now wonder what they have traded for. Libya was a peaceful country. You could drive around freely. Now each city has its own militia. Can you imagine travelling in a highly ethnically charged atmosphere like that?
The Obama administration if it looked strong on defense could manipulate the voters on the right to vote for him ???? A cheap victory in Libya would bring him into a strong position in the election. Couldn't we salve our consciences lying to ourselves how we saved tens of thousands of lives -- "Susan Rice, Hilary Clinton" Stop Killing your own people Gadaffi -- killing people is a NATO Al Qaeda Monopoly !
What is going on in Libya, today? Does it portend a brighter future for Libya? Will being forcibly converted into an Iraq like state -- eventually help the people. To decide that you have to know the real past of Libya.a Western Media that virtually never had been to Libya, though travel in and out of Libya was increasing.For those who did not have a way to control their own affairs or have a voice in Gadaffi's Libya -- for whom a chance at political expression would make years of degraded living conditions and violence 100s of times greater than prior to the NATO sponsored overthrow of the Libyan Jamahiriya created by Gadaffi.
For Gadaffi supporters it has been a horrendous nightmare -- and they may exceed the number supporting NATO regime change -- certainly it appears that the majority would have preferred to do it with out American French Danish and British Bombers and fighters bombing from above.Let us suppose Gadaffi sympathizers consist of ¼ to ½ of the Libyan population -- that would mean 1 to 2 million people who have been severely disenfranchised.Then there is the tragic case of Saif Al Islam Al Gadaffi. Two brothers gruesomely murdered, a niece and nephew murdered -- his father murdered -- his own fingers blown off by a drone. Abused in Prison to what extent we do not know. A reformist who free'd the very people who killed his father.
Not allowed to participate in politics,freedom of speech If one was to sympathize with these people for a moment -- you would see the irony -- of the LIFG armed in violation of UN 1973 to overthrow the Libyan Jamahiriya -- that the West would be anxious for their enemies to put them on trial.
There is widespread lawlessness terrorism and still pockets of resistance all over the country. The tribes opposed to the winners --allready know they must advocate as a tribe and not as Loyalists.Some would say this sort of oppression of the vanquished is common -- such as in Nazi Germany -- but Libya was not an aggressor state and the overthrow took so much aid from the West that it frankly has a tenuous cliam on legitimacy -- and by prohibiting Gadaffi supporters --they ensure we will never know if they have a mandate -- and it indicates they may not -- by simple logic.
