Gaddafi has never recognized his people, and in fact has always tried to borrow substitute peoples. He ratified the creation of fabricated “units” left and right in order to rent out a public that would applaud him and raise his pictures. He would open up the borders to his neighbors then would quickly become angered over the slightest reason or misunderstanding, and rush to expel them. He did this with both Bourguiba's and Ben Ali's Tunisia. He declared unity with Egypt then waged a war against it. He welcomed the Palestinians, then mistreated them and imprisoned thousands of them at the border without food or water. And when the Arabs gave up on him and no one would “take” him seriously anymore, he turned to Africa and declared himself its “King of Kings”. And every time his obsession was to find “a people”. In his speech two days ago, he asked his own citizens several times: “who are you?”, “who might you be?” and “where were you?” The truth is that the Libyan people took much too long to make him hear their voice. They should have risen up against him and taken him to court, to issue a verdict of sending him back to school, the moment he published Part One of his naïve “Green Book”, teaching Libyans the difference between the sexes and that “men do not menstruate”. He should not have been allowed to publish Part Two and Three, for the scandal not to spread further. Gaddafi never considered his people to exist in and of itself, to be able to choose and express opinions, to know how to read and write, and to see how the world was living around them. “Brother Muammar” was never at ease with his rule and with his people, being worried and worrisome. He exhausted his people and imposed on them throughout four decades various kinds of oppression, especially when he turned everything in Libya green, to such an extent that its farmers grew weary of their crops and wished different colors would sprout out. As for the Green Square in the heart of Tripoli, it is not planted with grass, as its name might suggest, but is in fact a square made of asphalt painted green. His twists and turns in terms of alliances and theories have made his regime mercurial, impossible to understand or predict. He claims not to be a President while he interferes in the details of the daily lives of Libyans. He used to resort every two or three years to issuing a new currency, leading people to rush to exchange what money they had, which they kept in their homes because they did not trust the banks that were under his supervision, and which he would thus confiscate, giving them back a small fraction of its worth. He was in effect robbing his citizens. He conspired against his people and hunted down those who opposed him everywhere with assassinations, just as he conspired against countries and peoples. He attached his image to that of the Libyans, such that Libya's name became associated with the tent set up amidst skyscrapers, with odd slogans and clothing, with armed chubby female bodyguards, and with sarcasm. He painted his domestic and foreign policy with his whims, and failed to convince anyone. All of those who humored him at one time did so out of fear of his violent use of force or out of greed for some of his wealth or services, and then returned to mocking his behavior. The Americans, who decided some years ago to revive his regime, saw a tremendous opportunity for their corporations, as did the Europeans. Yet Western acceptance did not save him. Gaddafi made the world believe that the Libyan people were similar to his crude naivety and that they were hopeless – until Libyans proved the opposite and defied his oppression with their bare chests, and his tanks with their fists. And because this unique leader was born in a village called Jahannam (“Hell” in Arabic) in the Jarif Valley near Sirt, the Libyan people will certainly not rest until they send him back to it.
