"History Through Libyan Eyes"

[91bravojoe]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12882213

Some detail on what the post-colonial rebels have in their hymnals. The usual - martyr creation, bigass airbase, an anti-communist decision point.

[Dayuhan]

From the article cited...


However desperate they are to see the back of Col Gaddafi, they still suspect Western intentions.

That seems a good enough summary, and it seems a perfectly reasonable position. I'd share it, in their shoes.

[Fuchs]

It's afaik also one of the strange places of the world where Germany gets a bonus, not a malus, for its early 40's history.

[Bob's World]

As is typically the case, the true quest of the populace is for Liberty on their terms. As is also the case, most who promise to help the populace achieve such liberty use the populace to their own selfish ends and create change without every providing that elusive Siren of Liberty.

They will logically not trust our words or deeds, we need to understand that. They will not trust AQ's words or deeds either. We need to expect AQ or local affiliates to do much like Qaddafi is attempting to do, and wrap themselves in the cloak of Omar Mukhtar. We need to be prepared to out-compete (rather than counter) such efforts.

The entire region is watching how this plays out. If we assist Libya wisely, we will in turn help stabilize the entire region. If we miss-step, we can speed other populaces to violent revolt, or other governments to equally violent suppression.

[Dayuhan]

As is typically the case, the true quest of the populace is for Liberty on their terms.

As is typically the case, different parts of the populace are likely to define those terms differently, and are likely to fight over the differences. The ability of any outside party to resolve those differences or to generate a peaceful resolution of those differences is very limited.


We need to be prepared to out-compete (rather than counter) such efforts.

The entire region is watching how this plays out. If we assist Libya wisely, we will in turn help stabilize the entire region.

How exactly do you propose to compete, and what actions would you consider wise? Genuinely curious, I'm not seeing a whole lot of attractive options, other than scaling down and easing out at the earliest possible opportunity.