The catastrophic murder and oppression being committed by the Libyan president against his people since the popular uprising broke out (and about time) is nothing new. This “leader,” who rules a rich country with a small population, has squandered Libya's money and wealth, oppressing its people and funding terrorist movements from west to east. He is now committing an insane crime against the people of his country, who prefer to die rather than see Gaddafi stay in power. There are countless crimes committed by Gaddafi. How did the west agree to forgive him after he blew up two civilian planes, causing hundreds of casualties? He was forgiven after his regime was convicted in the Lockerbie and UTA flight disasters, and after he paid money to the families of the victims. After this, the doors of Europe were opened to him; Americans and the British rushed in, to obtain oil and gas contracts. Then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair was the first to hurry there, to secure oil contracts for British companies. Then France opened its doors wide and pitched tents at its historical palaces for this leader, who committed crimes against the French and American and against his people and his country. Over 40 years, Gaddafi has turned his country into his own private farm; he could have made it the pearl of North Africa, because it is rich in oil and gas, has spectacular natural areas and a beautiful, sprawling coastline, with a small population of no more than 5 million people. Gaddafi turned Libya into a Jamahiriya, with Popular Committees that served as his tool to dismantle any opposition from the armed forces. He spread chaos and oppression through these Committees, which echoed no other voice but his, and worked to spread ignorance through his Green Book in schools, and elsewhere. He did not use his country's money to develop a deteriorating infrastructure or improve the level of education that his country deserved. Gaddafi relied on funding sabotage and terror, taking hostages, and staging farces that made him the laughing-stock of the entire world. So miserable is the Libyan people who have lived under this leader's rule for 40 years, and he has led them to an intolerable situation. Now, this nation has decided to rise up against a leader who would have done better to act in horror movies. Gaddafi was the hero of his own plays at Arab summits. Let us remember how he rose in Algiers and wore a glove on his hand, to protect him from shaking the hand of the late King of Morocco, Hassan II, with whom he had a dispute, and how a high-ranking Algerian official visited him to convince him to attend the meeting, but Gaddafi received on his bed, hiding under the covers and pretending he was ill. He was always funny to all during his performances, but was a source of sadness to his people, who suffered. When he got old, he began pushing his sons forward, and let them compete over who would inherit his rule, as if this was something natural. At times he would give a key role to Saidi, the head of the Olympic Committee, who once decided that the Oil Ministry building was suitable for his committee, and emptied the place out overnight. The news reached OPEC ministers and one of them asked his Libyan colleague if the story was true. “Yes, this happened,” was the embarrassed and cautious answer. Those who lived through the terrorist attack by Carlos against OPEC remember that Gaddafi took part in the planning of the operation. This was stated by the late oil minister, Izzeddine Mabrouk, on his deathbed, to his colleague Ahmad Zaki Yamani, who visited him and heard this: when Carlos entered the ministers' conference room, Mabrouk was outside because he had prior knowledge of the attack. Gaddafi dedicated his rule to terror and oppression. He then sought cover for his sons to succeed him and let them compete over this “legacy.” His son Saif al-Islam offered the image of the modern young person who wants his country to experience openness to the world and make it a tourist paradise, until he appeared the other day on television and showed the world the reality of his father's regime, when he threatened people with murder, oppression and liquidation. His other son, Hannibal, was secretly deported from France because he caused a horrific car accident, and then in Switzerland mistreated a domestic worker who complained to the Swiss authorities. In return, Gaddafi imprisoned two Swiss businessmen as hostages. The stories of Gaddafi's sons resemble those of Saddam Hussein, Uday and Qusay, while bombing his people with planes and using mercenaries is similar to what Saddam Hussein did when he attacked the Kurds with poison gas. In Libya, we are seeing a brave uprising of a people who have had enough of Gaddafi and his sons and who are fed up of the squandering of their resources and of the spreading of ignorance through his Green Book, and his catastrophic education system. The Libyan people deserve a better future and a dignified life. Europe and the United States bear huge responsibility for opening their doors to Gaddafi. Everyone rushed to rehabilitate him into the international community. The important thing was that money be paid to the families of the victims, and for the Bulgarian nurses to be released, and after that tents were set up for him in the palaces of Britain and France. No one asked what was taking place in his hospitals, where children die because of deteriorating health conditions and not because of Bulgarian nurses. It is hoped that Gaddafi's theater of horrors has ended, for the sake of a better life for the Libyan people.
