By: Daniel Nardini
U.S. President Barack Obama has stated that the U.S. helped the “people of Libya” and that whatever they do now for their country is in their hands. There is no doubt of the sheer horror and evil perpetuated by former ruler Muamar Gaddhafi against his own people for 42 years. However, the former Libyan rebels—now the rulers of the country—are far from being the democratic, humane angels that the U.S., British, and French governments have painted them out to be.
A report submitted by Amnesty International raises an important point about how prisoners of war are treated by both sides. Those forces loyal to former Muamar Gaddhafi routinely torture and murder prisoners. The Gaddhafi regime even forcibly recruited boys to fight. When some boys refused to fight they were imprisoned and raped. The report on how Gaddhafi’s armed forces treatment of prisoners is shocking but not surprising. However, the treatment meted out by the former Libyan rebels is both shocking and surprising. Those prisoners taken by the rebels were ill-treated and tortured. Other Gaddhafi loyalist prisoners have been routinely executed by the rebels in cold blood.
Another issue is the detention without trial of families “said” to have aided the pro-Gaddhafi forces. And still another issue are migrant workers from other parts of Africa who are being held on the suspicion of being “mercenaries” even though they have claimed and can prove they are simply migrants who came to work in Libya before the civil war. And interestingly enough this is nothing new. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have reported on the brutalities committed by the Libyan rebels against civilians and anyone they suspect of being “pro-Gaddhafi” early on in the civil war.
I just find it unfathomable that the U.S., British and French governments would get heavily involved in a civil war that has nothing to do with their national securities, nothing to do with NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), and pick a side in this conflict even though we know little about them. Now we learn through Amnesty International that the former rebel Transitional National Council is also targeting civilians as it fights its way through all of Tripoli’s neighborhoods and is ready to attack those loyal to Gaddhafi in the southern part of the country. Just as ironic is that NATO has stated that it will assist the Transitional National Council to destroy the Gaddhafi loyalists.
What I am wondering about is what will these former rebels do to us in five to ten years from now? I remember how the United States aided the Afghan mujahadeen in the 1980’s against the Soviet armed forces and their Communist puppets. Five years after the Soviets pulled out and their Communist allies were slaughtered in a brutal civil war the Taliban—part of the former Afghan resistance we aided—came to power. Now the U.S. is fighting (and it looks like it is losing) against a more powerful than ever Taliban in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Could this be the future of Libya? What we are seeing now may point to that possibility.
More of the Dark Side of the Libyan Civil War
By: Daniel Nardini
A report submitted by Amnesty International raises an important point about how prisoners of war are treated by both sides. Those forces loyal to former Muamar Gaddhafi routinely torture and murder prisoners. The Gaddhafi regime even forcibly recruited boys to fight. When some boys refused to fight they were imprisoned and raped. The report on how Gaddhafi’s armed forces treatment of prisoners is shocking but not surprising. However, the treatment meted out by the former Libyan rebels is both shocking and surprising. Those prisoners taken by the rebels were ill-treated and tortured. Other Gaddhafi loyalist prisoners have been routinely executed by the rebels in cold blood.
Another issue is the detention without trial of families “said” to have aided the pro-Gaddhafi forces. And still another issue are migrant workers from other parts of Africa who are being held on the suspicion of being “mercenaries” even though they have claimed and can prove they are simply migrants who came to work in Libya before the civil war. And interestingly enough this is nothing new. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have reported on the brutalities committed by the Libyan rebels against civilians and anyone they suspect of being “pro-Gaddhafi” early on in the civil war.
I just find it unfathomable that the U.S., British and French governments would get heavily involved in a civil war that has nothing to do with their national securities, nothing to do with NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), and pick a side in this conflict even though we know little about them. Now we learn through Amnesty International that the former rebel Transitional National Council is also targeting civilians as it fights its way through all of Tripoli’s neighborhoods and is ready to attack those loyal to Gaddhafi in the southern part of the country. Just as ironic is that NATO has stated that it will assist the Transitional National Council to destroy the Gaddhafi loyalists.
What I am wondering about is what will these former rebels do to us in five to ten years from now? I remember how the United States aided the Afghan mujahadeen in the 1980’s against the Soviet armed forces and their Communist puppets. Five years after the Soviets pulled out and their Communist allies were slaughtered in a brutal civil war the Taliban—part of the former Afghan resistance we aided—came to power. Now the U.S. is fighting (and it looks like it is losing) against a more powerful than ever Taliban in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Could this be the future of Libya? What we are seeing now may point to that possibility.