Libya: It's Past and Hope for its Future

Since 1969, Muammar Gaddafi has ruled Libya with an iron fist, restricting dissent, shutting his people from the outside world and severely punishing those that don't go with the flow. And surprisingly, Libya serves on the UN's Human Rights Commission. Most troubling about Gaddafi is his support for international terrorism, masterminding the 1986 bombing of a West Berlin discotheque that killed 2 American servicemen and wounding 50 others; the hijacking of pan Am Flight 73, where 3 Americans were killed; and the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over the skies of Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 178 Americans. For years, he protected the bomber and did not turn him over until 1999 to face justice in the Netherlands, under Scottish law, as a result of a crazy compromise. Even after renouncing his WMD program as a result of fears of a preemptive invasion by America under President Bush in the shadow of Iraq, Gaddafi has kept himself strong and relevant, by passing himself off as the diplomatic spokesperson of Africa, and has become stronger under Obama, while securing an early release for the Pan Am 103 bomber imprisoned in a Scottish prison. Despite that perceived strength, it looks as if he is on his last legs of leadership.

After over one week of Gaddafi's crazy speeches, ordering the military and to shoot its own people and the loss of support from his government officials, it looks as if Gaddafi is going to burn the place down while fighting to the death, shutting down oil facilities, causing crude prices to skyrocket.

Muammar Gaddafi needs to go. He is a murderer, terrorist and is responsible for the death of Americans. Hopefully, his people will get him out, however, we do not know what will come next. With no single opposition leader emerging, combined with the tribal background of Libya, there could be civil war looming. Civil war or no civil war, I do not have as high hopes for a country with no history of freedom and democracy to establish it overnight, but if the United States were to take a leadership position in the formation of a new Libyan government that gives freedom to its people, practices human rights and peacefully coexists in the world community, there is a chance that Libya will not fall into chaos. Unfortunately, the president has not handled the Libyan situation well. Substituting for the absence in American leadership, the British are taking the reins to rein in Gaddafi. Let's hope America and the world will follow.