Gaddafi's final rite of passage

by Aliyu O Musa

On Friday, 26 August 2011 at 15:56 ·

Libya is Gaddafi’s country as much as the rebels’. Truth be told, neither of them should oust the other. But we live in a world where international relations is pursued with military might and smaller countries that are unable to negotiate or meander their way through end up in the belly of bigger, stronger ones. It’s simply the logic of the fish. In Libya’s case Gaddafi brought all this upon himself and I therefore have no sympathy for him.

When pro-democracy protests blew through the Arab world and it was Libya’s turn six months ago, a rational Gaddafi’s should have identified the warning signs and should have been more cautious in handling it. He knew he was permanently on the West’s hit list and all they were waiting for was the flimsiest excuse to hunt him down. But he failed to realise that and went after the armless protesters with complete vendetta. Gaddafi is a bloody dictator, although nor worse dictator than his accusers. As a dictator he even had the temerity to at one point declare the Qu’ran as his country’s constitution only to blasphemously come up with one crazy, jaundiced book he claims to be a better constitution. As a tyrant he had his son’s placed in strategic military and political positions and even ordained one as heir apparent – Saif-Islam.

He and his family lived large on Libya’s wealth in spite of claims that he took good care of the people and country. One of his son’s (Hannibal) was so spoilt that he lavished (with relish) $2m (US) on singer Beyonce as a fee for one night performance. That money was enough to make life a lot more meaningful to millions of Palestinians either at home or in refugee camps across Arab countries. But did Gaddafi’s not look the other way? The same Gaddafi struck a deal with some Western country’s to brutally check the influx of African migrants trooping to Europe via Libya. In the end many young desperate men, including Nigerians, were apprehended and permanently put in jail to ensure they don’t get out and re-attempt making it to Europe.

If today the West - using the NATO firepower and exploiting disgruntled Libyans’ desperation - are hell-bent on removing and even considering sending him to the gallows it’s because he brought it upon himself. It’s simply a case of the chicken coming home to roost. I have no sympathy for a fowl that carelessly perches on people’s barn. Gaddafi, in the 42 years he hoisted himself on power, stepped on too many toes. Yesterday, a woman told of how her 12-year-old son was taken away by Gaddafi’s men about a month ago and probably executed. His sin was that he stood next to a banner erected by anti-Gaddafi elements. And we saw on TV a survivor recounting his mysterious escape from the jaws of death after Gaddafi’s soldiers hurriedly executed prisoners as the regime crumbled and bab al-aziziyah fell under rebel control.

No, I don’t think a blood-thirsty dictator like Gaddafi, a man whose hand is stained with the blood of the innocent, even as-far-afield-as Liberia, Chad, Niger, Darfur and Sierra Leone, deserves the kind of sympathy we are already hyping for him. Perhaps we need to research his role in the conflicts in those countries I mentioned. He it was that trained and inspired monsters like Foday Sankoh who specialised in chopping off the arms/wrists of innocent Sierra Leoneans and Charles Taylor, a man that brought death to the streets of Monrovia and Freetown in satiation of his greed. He was a major sponsor of the Chadian, Nigerien and Darfur conflicts, where arms were freely shipped and military bases (of his) were established. Only last year did he suggest the balkanisation of Nigeria - so much for a man pretentiously championing African unity! No, I won’t waste any sympathy on him. Let him go down alone, like Sadam Hussein did. My sympathy goes to all innocent Libyans that would for the next 100 years pay the price, as oil vampires siphon them dry.

You may wish to read Adamu Adamu’s piece on him and his pathetic macabre dance by clicking on this link http://allafrica.com/stories/201003260798.html