Awarding President Obama the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 was a grave mistake, the Nobel Committee Secretary admits now. The President had not accomplished anything at that time for world peace, so the prize was a euphoric rush to judgment following President Obama's historic election victory.
All the excitement and hope that President Obama brought to the Oval office dissipated over time as he continued most of President Bush's policies. That dreaded Guantanamo Bay prison (where over 400 innocent people were tortured then released without charge) is still open. Wars continue in Iraq & Afghanistan, But worse President Obama started war in Libya under the guise of no-fly zone and in gross violation of UN Charter. Libya is now a fractured country ruled by varying a different groups of terrorists.
Libya (Picture courtesy usatoday.com)
President Obama's biggest failure is war in Syria. In order to illegally remove President Asad (no doubt a dictator), Obama funded groups who turned out to be components of ISIS and various rag tag bunch of terrorists. The country has been fractured, hundreds of thousands have died, millions have become refugees, all for what?
The Nobel Committee MUST revoke President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize, instead of achieving peace, he has caused more war, more bloodshed, more loss of human life and more misery to millions of people. He is certainly not deserving of a Nobel Peace Prize.
State of Homs now ( picture courtesy NBC news)
CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS: Article 2
'The Organization and its Members, in pursuit of the Purposes stated in
Article 1, shall act in accordance with the following Principles.
1. The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of
all its Members.
4. All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the
threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political
independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the
Purposes of the United Nations'.
U.S., Canada & Europe's interference in Syria runs contrary to the U.N. Charter. Nowhere in the Charter, members are permitted 'regime changes' in other countries. President Assad's brutal regime is not the business of United States or its allies. It is a problem for the Syrian people.
President Putin's actions by default may offer a way out to the U.S. from the mess it created in Syria. Instead of protesting, it may be better to let him destroy ISIS and and anti Assad rebels, so this unholy civil war comes to an end. Ultimately, it is for the Syrian people not the United States to decide if a regime change is required.
This is not the first time U.S. has violated the U.N. charter. It invaded Iraq illegally, overthrew Qaddafi in Libya under the guise of 'no fly zone' and helped overthrow an elected Government in Egypt. Some say U.S. did all this on Israel's behest. True or not, the outcome of these actions have been disastrous. The entire Middle East has been destabilized. Iraq is fractured probably beyond repair, Egypt has a draconian dictator who has sent thousands of protesters to the gallows, Libya is run by a bunch of terrorists and Syria is in turmoil.
Over ten years since U.S. started its actions in the Middle East, hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed in Iraq, Syria & Libya, many times more than the tyrants rulers of those countries killed over forty years. Iraq alone caused five million refugees and a third of Syrian population is refugee now.
U.S. accomplishments to date are: A fractured Iraq:
Picture courtesy aljazeera.com
A Libya controlled by a bunch of terrorists:
Picture courtesy morrocotomorrow.org A Syria destroyed causing massive refugee crisis.
picture courtesy vocfm.co.za A splintered Afghanistan after 12 year occupation & tragedies like the Kunduz Hospital bombing. picture courtesy denverpost.com
Surely, this is not the outcome U.S. had in mind before launching these
wars. Still it begs the question, why have they learned no lessons and
why do they keep making the same mistakes over and over?
Under the guise of UN 'No Fly Resolution', the western powers bombed Libya, a totally illegal action, deposing and killing dictator Qaddafi on the streets of Tripoli, leaving the country fractured and in complete disarray. Libya has since fallen in the hands of a variety of terrorists.
This is a prime example of a thoughtless, ill planned, ill executed foreign policy that not only destroyed Libya but also took the life of an American Ambassador.
For his part, Qaddafi had ruled Libya for over 40 years, he should have seen the clouds of change in the Middle East and called fair and free general elections and handed over power to an elected government. Had he done so, he may still be alive today. But then, regardless of what history shows us, dictators think they will rule forever.
The following article on the current state of affairs is taken from Al Jazeera English:
Libya: 'We're fed up with fighting'
Civilians are the first casualty in a conflict over power and resources.
Libyans in Tripoli's old city are worried about keeping financially afloat [Rebecca Murray/Al Jazeera]Tripoli, Libya -
Amal, a mother of five children, crouches over a sewing machine within
the maze of whitewashed alleys in Tripoli's dilapidated old city, its
ancient walls abutting the Corinthia Hotel compound.
The light in her dingy tailor shop has been on for most of the day, a
rarity for the impoverished neighbourhood, which has been plagued with
hours-long electricity cuts, skyrocketing food prices and crime.
"We hear gun shots everyday and we are tired," said Amal, nostalgic
for the security she says she had before Muammar Gaddafi's overthrow in
2011.
While Libya's two competing governments continue to battle over
power, territory and the country's oil wealth, against the backdrop of
controversial United Nations-brokered peace negotiations in Geneva, it's the ordinary Libyans across the country that are paying the highest price.
"Of course I'd be happy if the two governments were unified. But they
want the power, money and the country, so I think this will be [only]
resolved by fighting."
About 600 people have been killed in three months of heavy fighting
between Libyan pro-government forces and Islamist groups in Libya's
second-largest city, Benghazi, medical staff have said.
The high-profileattack on the luxury Corinthia Hotel
in downtown Tripoli on Tuesday, which has been mostly empty in recent
months except for a handful of guests and businessmen, is the latest
ominous sign of Libya's slide into violence and economic chaos.
Fighters allied with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
(ISIL) have claimed responsibility for the attack. The Tripoli-based
"Libya Dawn" coalition, however, blamed Gaddafi loyalists instead, which
essentially means former General Khalifa Haftar's forces, commonly
known as "Operation Dignity", in the east of the country.
The country's two main forces realised they were in a stalemate, and
that the fighting wasn't allowing either to gain a decisive upper hand
without going after oil infrastructure.
Richard Mallinson, analyst, Energy Aspects
Libya has been sliding deeper into conflict since the 2011 uprising,
with rival governments and powerful militias battling for control of its
main cities and oil wealth.
Recent calls for a ceasefire have failed. Fighting continues to
rage between Libya Dawn, affiliated with Prime Minister Omar al-Hassi
and the General National Congress (GNC), and Operation Dignity forces
led by Haftar, and allied with exiled Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni
and the House of Representatives (HoR) in Tobruk and Beida.
Battles in Benghazi and the east, in the west, around the oil-rich
Gulf of al-Sidra, and in the southern town of Ubari, have forced an
estimated 400,000 people to flee their homes, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.
In Libya's southern desert, at the vast Sharara oil field,
capable of generating up to 300,000 barrels of oil a day, all production
has grounded to a halt.
On November 5, when Libya Dawn forces from Misrata teamed up
with local Tuareg fighters to wrest the facility from its Zintan and
Tebu security guards, the Zintan forces blocked the oil pipeline to the
Zawiyah refinery on the coast.
Last summer, Misrata militia seized Tripoli's international
airport from the Zintan, and battles between them continue in the west,
and between Libya Dawn and Operation Dignity forces around al-Sidra oil
terminal to the east.
"The country's two main forces realised they were in a
stalemate, and that the fighting wasn't allowing either to gain a
decisive upper hand without going after oil infrastructure," said
Richard Mallinson, an analyst with the UK consultancy Energy Aspects.
"That can only point to escalation once you've opened the door
to assets and infrastructure. But what is unclear is whether each side
has the military ability or international legitimacy to assert itself
across the whole country," he said.
"That creates space for small and more extremist groups to thrive, which is a concern for regional stability."
Snipers in nearby Ubari have blocked the road into Sharara, and
all supplies for the facility's skeleton crew have to be flown in.
Gasoline is scarce and expensive, and can only be trucked to the oil
field and Libya's southwestern towns across desert dunes.
Heavily subsidised by the government, gasoline officially costs
0.15 Libyan dinars ($0.11) per litre at the pump. But many petrol
stations are rarely open, and black market gasoline prices in remote
desert towns like Murzuq and Ghat run about seven times the cost,
boosting the price on transport and goods.
"There is no gasoline here," said Abdullah Othman, a Tuareg
community leader in the town of Ghat near the Algerian border. "So there
is no electricity, no healthcare or town services."
After the revolution, Libya's oil production peaked at 1.6
million bpd. Now it hovers around 330,000 bpd, Mustafa Sanalla, the
National Oil Corporation chairman, told Al Jazeera.
He estimates that around 70 percent of gasoline for domestic use is now imported.
Can talks bring peace to Libya?
The Central Bank of Libya has warned that total revenues last
year were $15.5bn against $34.1bn in spending, leaving a $18.6bn
deficit. The government has vowed to cut subsidies on petrol and food,
and enact austerity measures on a population heavily dependent on
government pay.
Many salaries remain unpaid, crowds shove each other at banks
for cash withdrawals, and in some cases, money has to be flown across
the desert to reach certain communities.
In the shadow of the historic Central Bank building on
Tripoli's harbour is a collection of trading shops for gold and
currency. The Libyan dinar has lost nearly half its value, plummeting to
less than half a US dollar, while the cost of chunky gold bars has
increased.
"To tell you the truth, nowadays I'm nervous about putting
money in the bank," said Mustafa Badr, a currency trader. "But if people
start to withdraw a lot, they could be robbed. Then this would become
normal."
Down the block, Ali Nefatti, a 22-year-old student, works at a
gold jewellery shop when he's not at the Tripoli University. He says
business has been bad because the traditional jewellery, mostly worn at
weddings, is not essential for people now.
"Each side needs the power, and so they will finish it by
fighting," he sighed. "I'm going to work, get money and go abroad. Most
of my friends want to go abroad. We are fed up with all the fighting.
Everything is wrong here. We need security and we need peace."
Col. Gaddafi is dead, confirms Reuters. No surprise as it was expected. He brought it upon himself.
It was suggested in this blog earlier that once Arab spring had started in Tunisia and engulfed Egypt too, Gaddafi should have seen the hurricane coming his way. He should have immediately announced elections in three months and offered to step down once a new President (not one of his sons) and Parliament were elected. Had he done that, he may possibly have lived his retired life in peace.
But dictators never learn a lesson from the downfall of other dictators. They somehow think, they will last forever, but they don't, do they? Gaddafi may have been a benevolent dictator, but a dictator nevertheless.
He transformed Libya from a poor country under the rule of an ailing King to a relatively prosperous country. But running the country as his personal fiefdom with an iron grip on power for forty one years ultimately did him in.
Let us hope the new rulers of Libya stop the bloodshed now, take back weapons from all fighters and install an interim Government quickly. The interim set up should hold free and fair elections within three months and hand over power to elected representatives. If they do this, Libya and its people will be on their feet again fairly quickly. But if they resort to revenge killings, property destruction etc. of their opponents, Libya could slip into civil war.
It seems all but over for Col. Gaddafi, even though some of his loyalists are still resisting. Most of the country including Tripoli is now under the control of 'rebel forces'. Col. Gaddafi should realize that the game is over and order his loyalists to stop shooting.
The transitional political establishment needs to take charge immediately and set up an interim Government for 3 to 4 months. Their first task should be to disarm all rebels, take back weapons and bring peace to the streets of Libya. Leaving arms in the hands of rebels as was the case with Afghan Mujahedin post Soviet withdrawal and discharged Nigerian soldiers post Biafra war, can be dangerous and lead to civil war. They transitional authorities should also ensure that there are no retributions against Qaddafi loyalists and Qaddafa tribe as politics of revenge can only make matters worse for Libya. It is time to take all those young men off the streets and let them get on with their daily lives.
The transitional Government should set up a legal/political task force to draw up a democratic Constitution for public approval in a referendum in three months, so that free and free fair elections can be held soon thereafter for installing a legitimate Government in Libya.
Gaddafi may have done some good work for his country in his 42 year rule, but he was a dictator after all. He excluded some tribes to promote his own. Why do dictators cling to power until death, don't they learn lessons from history? Gaddafi should have offered to step down once Tunisian and Egyptian leaders fell. But he hung on to power to his own peril.
After the riots and overthrow of dictators in Tunisia and Egypt, Col. Gaddafi should have seen the writing on the wall. He should have realized that forty year rule is long enough and instead of trying to install his sons in his place, he should called free and fair elections and offered to step down and handed over power to an elected Government. But dictators never learn, do they?
As the riots started and Ben Ghazi fell to opposing tribes, Gaddafi and his sons thought they could suppress the people by branding them thugs and drug dealers and by using brute force against them. The reality was quite different, after 40 years of rule, people wanted freedom of speech and a right to choose their own Government. After all a country is not one man's or one family's fiefdom.
To stop the killing of civilians in Libya, United Nations passed a timely resolution to prevent further bloodshed. However, the West took that as a License to Regime Change. This is blatant misuse of a UN resolution. NATO's bombing of civilians in Tripoli and elsewhere has by now probably killed as many if not more civilians than Gaddafi's brute attacks.
The main culprit in all this the French President Sarkozy, followed closely by Cameron, Obama and Berlusconi. Berlusconi seems to have seen the error of his ways of late and is trying to halt bombing by his NATO partners, but they are not listening to him as regime change is their real agenda and they say so openly. Berlusconi's enlightenment may also have something to do with huge economic losses staring Italy in the face by stoppage of uniterrupted oil flow from Libya. Also possibility of relicensing ENI's Libyan oil concessions to China and Russia may also be a factor.
NATO is in violation UN Resolution 1973. Perhaps this time the International Criminal Court (which took no action against Bush & Blair for causing death of over 100,000 Iraqi civilians) will show some courage and add the names of NATO leaders for crimes against humanity in addition to Gaddafi's! However, that may be too much to ask of ICC as up to now they have only found courage to charge minor African and Serbian leaders.
The UN Secretary General, Ban ki Moon's job is to bring peace to this world. He should have tried to bring all sides together in Libya and found a peaceful solution for a transition. Instead, he has failed to make any efforts to stop the carnage. He should resign and go home instead of seeking another term.
Gaddafi is a dictator and has been cruel to his people of late, but over the years, he has been a benevolent dictator. Food, Education (including higher education), Housing and Healthcare is substantially subsidized by the Libyan Government. This is something neither Obama, nor Sarkozy have been able to accomplish for their people. No wonder, Gaddafi still has support from a segment of Libyan population. The main opposition to him comes from larger tribes that Gaddafi has sidelined from power for a very long time. The West did not take all this into account before their gung-ho bombing of Tripoli.
Instead of removing Gaddafi, NATO's action have only served to strengthen him as it is beginning to appear that he may have outwitted the West. This is great shame, for it is time for him to step down and let Libyans elect a democratic Government.
The UN Resolution 1973 was passed in an emergency situation as Gaddafi forces were about to recapture Ben Ghazi from rebel forces and a mass killing was likely. Essentially, the resolution was to protect Libyan citizens. Instead, U.S., France, Britain and other wetern countries have launched air attacks on Libyan cities and towns, killing a large number of citizens of that country.
The gung ho wetsern powers it seems were hell bent on raiding Libya no matter what. Their actions are illegal and beyond the scope of UN resolution.
It is shameful that UN Secretary, General Ban ki Moon has played in the hands of western powers. Instead of bringing peace, he has brought death and destruction to Libya. UN's mandate is to make peace not war. He should have made his best efforts to bring warring tribes to the table to accomplish peace. Also, UN should have sent in peacekeeping forces to protect Ben Ghazi and other cities, not send in western troops to kill Libyan citizens through air and missile attacks. Ban ki Man has lost his mandate and should resign immediately.
The world has not forgotten France and Italy's reputation as colonial powers. Under their respective occupation of Algeria and Libya, tens of thousands of people were tortured to death. The killings in Algeria were so grotesque that a large number of French citizens staged massive rallies in Paris and called for an end to French occupation. How can the UN mandate these same countries to bomb and kill more citizens of their previous colonies?
US's role in all this also very dubious. While Obama campaigned against war, he seemed only too eagre to start an uncalled for war and bomb Libyan cities. According to General Wesley Clarke (no conspiray theorist), plans were finalized to invade Libya immediately after 9/11 (watch the entire interview below).
UN should call for an immediate cease fire in Libya, ground all NATO aircraft and replace bombings with peacekeeping troops and at the same time help negotiate a truce between the warring tribes. This is not West's fight, it is Libya's internal tribal fight.
The west seems to be drooling over Libya's former Forein Minister who recently defected to the West. Just because he has defected does not make this man a saint.
While he was Libya's Ambassador in London, he allegedly sated that he wanted to finish Gaddafi's opponents. He was sent back from London and went to become the Head of Libyan Intelligence. His hands are no cleaner than Gaddafi's, as he must have known or been actively involved in the disappearance and elimination of several Libyan nationals, who opposed the regime.
The west has to be cautious in dealing with Moussa Koussa. He may have been sent by Gaddafi to find out what the west is planning. Drooling over this man is rather naive of the western leaders and the media.
The purpose of U.N.'s resolution 1973 is to protect Libyan citizens from attack by Gaddafi forces. It does not authorise bombings and use of force on Tripoli and killing more Libyans. U.S., U.K. & France have far exceeded the UN mandate and they must stop now!
Had they succeeded in taking out Gaddafi on the first day, the world may have condoned their action. But continuous bombing of Libyan cities and killing Libyan citizens is not acceptable. The American Generals are making tall claims of success as usual. But lessons learnt from Iraq and Afghanistan are that these claims do not usually hold water and many civilians die instead. No wonder the Arab League has disassociated itself from the attacks. Their support was to implement a no fly zone, not launch an all out war against Libya.
Attacking Gaddafi's forces that surrounded Ben Ghazi and other cities falls within the mandate, but attacking Tripoli and residential complexes does not. Mr. Ban Ki Moon, the Secretary General of the UN must immediately ask the Western forces to restrict themselves to the UN mandate and not take it upon themselves to effect a regime change. Russia and China have called for an immediate ceasefire and quite rightly so. There is no need to prolong this conflict into a full fledged war.
Now is the time for diplomacy. The Italian Prime Minister, Mr. Silvio Berlusconi is the only western leader who can talk to Gaddafi. He should go to Tripoli and convince Gaddafi to step down in order to allow a peaceful democratic transition and for sanity to return to Libya.
The time for UN resolution was two weeks ago, when Col. Gaddafi was weak and losing town after town to opposition forces. Since then he has regrouped and launched brutal attacks on his own people. The UN and the World watched from a distance while he took back Zawiya, Ras Lanuf and several other small towns. Hundreds of opponents captured by Gaddafi forces have disappeared and most probably executed by now.
The time for a UN resolution was two weeks ago when Gaddafi was week and cornered. At that time, he could have been pressured to leave Libya, but now that he has retaken some of the towns, he is in ascendancy once again and unlikely to quit.
One thing the UN resolution may do, is save the people of Ben Ghazi from a certain massacre. But what happens after that? Ben Ghazi cannot be a separate country and cannot be hived off Libya for any length of time. What is needed is a reunification of Libya under new and democratic political leadership.
The no fly zone does not accomplish this. We have seen that the outcome of no fly zones in Iraq was a disaster. Also, UN sanctions prevented medicines and food getting into Iraq resulting in malnutrition and death of a large number of children. Surely, we don't want a repeat of that in Libya.
The need is to ensure that Gaddafi leaves as soon as possible and Ben Ghazi and other areas currently under the control of opposition forces are reunited with Libya. However, accomplishing this seems difficult in the near future. The UN and the Wold has lost an opportunity to make a difference in Libya.
Some Western countries are interpreting the UN resolution as carte blanche to invade Libya or attack Libyan installations. This is certainly very dangerous. No matter how cruel or dictatorial Gaddafi is, UN neither has the mandate nor the authority to implement a regime change. Imagine what havoc George W. Bush and his cohorts would have wreaked on the world, had they had a UN authorised regime change resolution in their hands!
The UN, Arab League and the African Union must get together and apply extreme diplomatic pressure on Gaddafi to quit. After losing the momentum of last two weeks, this may be the only option left.
The massive 8.9 earthquake has diverted world's attention from Libya to Japan, where thousands have disappeared in the tsunami. There is no doubt that Japan needs help and on a massive scale. There is a shortage of food, water, shelter and all the day to day need things. But let us not leave Libya in the hands of Gaddafi, who is bombing and killing his own people. His scorched earth policy has already destroyed the city of Ras Lanuf and its oil refinery and he is now setting sights on Ben Ghazi.
The world needs to keep Libya in focus, lest it become another Rawanda, where inter tribal fighting left thousands dead. If Gaddafi over-powers his opponents, he is likely to exact similar revenge on all the opposing tribes, especially the Warfa tribe - the largest in Libya. It is time for the world and the United Nations to act.
The recent attacks on Ras Lanuf by Qaddaffi forces are criminal. Mr. Qaddafi needs to stop killing his own people.
The National Council formed by the opposition and led by Mr. Mustafa Al-Jalil has offered very reasonable terms to Mr. Qaddafi to leave Libya within 72 hours and they will pursue no prosecution even after he leaves. The people of Libya want peace, continued fighting and bloodshed is tearing the country apart. It seems that Mr. Qaddafi is hell bent on destroying his own country. He has unleashed his anger on the Libyan people who have had enough of him after 41 years. Despite the nonchalant attitude in his television interviews, he is pursuing a 'death to opposition' policy.
The recent attacks on oil installations on Ras Lanuf and Zaawiya are an indication that Qaddafi and his obnoxious sons are trying to paralyse the oil industry in rebel hands.
When will Qaddafi learn that the democratic winds of change currently blowing in the Middle East no longer want him anymore? It is time for Mr. Qaddafi to stop killing his own people and leave Libya for good.
One hopes that after the disastrous outcome of U.K.'s incursion into Libya through MI6 agents, their capture, humiliation and deportation by opposition groups, no foreign forces will venture into Libya. Any hint of foreign interference will only strengthen Mr. Qaddafi's hand, as he will use it to play the 'colonization of Libya card' to justify stay.
Where U.S. and Europe can help, is to perhaps to get a neutral country to agree to take Qaddafi and his sons, so that his departure from Libya is sooner rather than later.
Libyan population of 6.5 million comprises of various tribes. Col Gaddafi comes from a smaller tribe - Gaddafa, based in Sirte. Warfalla is by far the largest tribe with nearly one million members. Warfalla has been opposed to Gaddafi for quite some time and it is the Warfalla who have captured Ben Ghazi.
Gaddafi cleverly included various tribes into the armed forces to keep them happy. However, after the last uprising, he excluded the Warfalla from some of the military functions and from the air force.
The armed forces have various components including the revolutionary guards, which are thought to be loyal to Gaddafi. The rest of the armed forces do not have enough power to overthrow Gaddafi and start a civilian transition like currently under way in Egypt.
The biggest problem in post Gaddafi Libya will be to unite all the tribes. So far there is no clear leader who can command the respect of all tribes (including the Gaddafa tribe) to govern effectively after Gaddafi.
The real danger is that Libya will splinter into small tribal fiefdoms, all fighting over oil revenues. Gaddafi's departure is only a question of time, but post Gaddafi picture does not look very pretty.
A defiant Muammar Gaddafi is threatening bloodshed and revenge against protesters, he sounds like a mad man. It seems that even after ruling Libya for 41 years, his desire for power is not satiated. He is willing to destroy Libya rather than accept reality and step down.
The day Hosni Mubarak was ousted, Gaddafi should have initiated an orderly transition to democratic rule. Gaddafi's defiance can only cause more death and destruction resulting possibly in the breakup of Libya. Even if he overcomes the situation momentarily, his game is up and chances of him lasting as a ruler are minimal.
US wielded a great deal of influence with Egyptian military, hence were able to ensure Mubarak's departure, but there is no such connection here. Gaddafi is his own man and does not listen to anyone, so unfortunately there is no one to influence him to make the right decision at this critical juncture.
Let us hope better sense will prevail in the end and Gaddafi will decide to hand power to a new civilian administration.
The riots in Ben Ghazi and other Libyan cities have become violent. Gaddafi's security forces have responded with force and brutality. It appears that protesters overran a Cantonment in Ben Ghazi capturing tanks and other military weapons. Ben Ghazi now seems to be in the hands of protesters.
The stark warning on live television by Gaddafi's son yesterday does not bode well for Libya and may in fact lead this (relatively calm - until now) country into civil war.
Gaddafi has ruled the country unchallenged for almost 41 years since he overthrew King Idris in 1969. Contrary to other Arab rulers, Gaddafi does not seem to have amassed wealth in his personal accounts. He has used oil revenues for welfare of his citizens. The poor in Libya may be content and not inclined to riot.
The revolution in Libya is quite different from that in Tunisia and Egypt, where corrupt rulers held sway for a very long time. In Libya, it is matter of freedom and democracy and removing restrictions from a state shackle hold. The middle and educated classes want a proper democracy, freedom of assembly and speech and quite rightly so.
There is a new awakening in the Middle East and NO this is not because of George W. Bush's disastrous war in Iraq, which killed 100,000 Iraqis and 6,000 Americans. Egypt has shown us that regime change can be accomplished without violence provided it is home grown and people are united. There is a new mood in the Middle East and despotic rulers better watch out.
Libya is not Gaddafi's personal fiefdom, he should step down and let an orderly process of change take place. His son's tone was defiant and threatening, promising to unleash the armed forces on the protesters. This may just be a last ditch effort by a dying regime. However, if the armed forces are brought to streets to crush the protesters that could lead to a civil war with horrific consequences.
The Libyan Armed forces should refuse orders to shoot their own people.
picture courtesy denverpost.com![Libyans in Tripoli's old city are worried about keeping financially afloat [Rebecca Murray/Al Jazeera]](http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2015/1/28/d20be420491f4477a640f958790ae4ad_18.jpg "Libya: 'We're fed up with fighting'")