After 42 disastrous years of Muammar Gaddafi's rule in Libya, there is a popular revolution that has stalled, and every passing day of a war of attrition equals a whole past year of the Colonel's criminal record. The end is inevitable, but getting there may take a while. No one wants Gaddafi, be it in Libya or beyond. In truth, he recently threatened Europe with terrorist attacks in retaliation, similar to those he perpetrated in the past, without any reason, save for his terrorist tendencies. For this reason, the Europeans must take his threats seriously, and seek to oust him in order to protect themselves, before doing so in support of the Libyan people. In a positive step, in a rare instance in the history of their foreign policies, both France and Britain are leading NATO efforts against Gaddafi. While the United States was among the first to strike at his troops, the hands of Obama remain tied by a Congress where both houses are hostile and are more interested in impeding the president's work than serving the interests of their country, and we saw the position of the American legislators recently, from the issue of raising the ceiling on government borrowing, and every other domestic issue. The U.S. House of Representatives used the War Powers resolution to vote with a majority of 295 to 123 against funding the U.S. military effort in Libya, on the grounds that the resolution proscribes the President from committing the U.S. to a war for more than 60 days without congressional approval. However, the Foreign Affairs Committee at the Senate voted with a majority of 14, including 4 Republicans, in favor of continuing to fund the operations, versus five votes against. Hence, the U.S. effort is ongoing, albeit limited. The Libyan leaders that I know want a greater Arab role in the confrontation with Gaddafi. Personally, I would have wished to see Egypt assume such a role. However, both its government and armed forces have enough troubles these days, rendering it rather prohibitive for them to play the leading Arab role we all require from Egypt at present. Nevertheless, there is an Arab effort in place, some of which is well publicized, such as the role played by Qatar and the UAE. I also believe that there is a significant role being played by Saudi Arabia, perhaps more than what we know. Over the phone between London, Washington and Doha, both Abdul Rahman Shalgam and Moussa Koussa said that they want to see a greater Arab intervention to protect the Arab people in Libya, and thanked Qatar for its courageous role in supporting the Libyan people. In truth, I found that a part of this role involves purchasing arms from Britain and France, and sending it to the rebels, who also need military trainers. Another part of this Qatari role involves sending oil tankers, including one that took 11 thousand metric tons of diesel and 21 thousand metric tons of gasoline to the rebels in Benghazi for the operation of energy installations in the country. Abdul Rahman Shalgam told me that Gaddafi ruled Libya for more than 40 years with iron, fire and tanks. He said that even those closest to him have broken with him, and that there can be no solution through negotiations with him, so the only solution is for him to leave. He also affirmed to me that the rebels continue to march on Tripoli, but that the rebel leadership is cautious, and is not ruling out that Gaddafi may destroy the capital and kill its people if he feels that his end is near. Shalgam also said that this end is a matter of time, as the inner circle around Gaddafi has begun to abandon the sinking ship, while his military capabilities, such as his weapons and ammunitions, are declining, and the money to pay the mercenaries is running out. Moussa Koussa, meanwhile, was among the first to break with Gaddafi. His arrival in London caused a worldwide uproar at the time, and I told him that the reason he left the regime before the others did was that he knew Gaddafi more than anyone else. This also applies to Abdul Rahman Shalgam, who left his post as the Libyan ambassador to the UN during the first days of the revolution. Moussa Koussa told me that the downfall of Gaddafi is inevitable, and that there will not be any negotiations with the Colonel. In his opinion, the Europeans did not appreciate well the scale of the coming confrontation, and said that NATO has committed mistakes, such as carrying out air strikes that killed Libyan civilians. However, according to Koussa, the situation now is better. He said that Qatar's position vis-à-vis the events in Libya has been heroic, and that the Libyan people will never forget its role. He also hoped that the Arab League would lead a wider Arab effort to assist the Libyans to overcome their crisis, instead of evading their responsibility towards their Libyan brethren. I believe that the downfall of Gaddafi is indeed a matter of time. Both Abdul Rahman Shalgam and Moussa Koussa said that he has no choice but to leave. However, I fear that Gaddafi may attempt to destroy the figurative temple atop him and the Libyan people before he indeed leaves. [email protected]
