Libya: Why Gaddafi's Ouster Should Never Have Happened

 

In 2011, out of nowhere, we saw a pattern of so-called revolutions that swiped across North Africa and the Middle East. Several countries were devastated in the form of huge infrastructure damages, millions displayed, and several thousands died as a result of conflict. Syria and Libya suffered the most under these so-called revolutions and the fight for democracy. In this article, we will discuss why Gaddafi’s ouster should never have taken place. How Libya was under his rule, and what Libya became after his ouster. Let’s get started.

Libya Under King Idris’s Rule:

Before Gaddafi, Libya was a monarchy under King Idris the First, he was head of the state from 1951 when the country got its independence from Italy. The plight of Libyans did not change much but instead, it became much worse under the king. It was due to widespread corruption and ineffective leadership in the country. Before Gaddafi’s rule, a small portion of the population controlled almost all the resources and wealth, while much of the population lived in severe poverty. The key strategic locations of the country were foreign military bases of the British and the United States. Many Libyans simply believed that their country was not truly independent but changed hands from Italy to British and America.

Several tribes in Libya had control of many locations in the country and this was often perceived as a state within a state. These tribes were regularly involved in conflict with each other and as a result, caused the loss of innocent lives. Under King Idris’s rule, there was no proper infrastructure and no significant infrastructure was built. Moreover, foreign debt was also another issue under the monarchy, the government kept taking foreign loans and failed to repay.

Libya Under Colonel Muammar Gaddafi

A young military officer in 1969 took control of the government on September 1^st, 1969. Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was only 27 when he took control of the government. His rule lasted for almost 42 years. He was removed from power in 2011 when Western-funded rebels alongside NATO and the United States government started bombing the country by imposing a no-fly zone in the country.

Oil Wealth: Libya has vast resources of crude oil and natural gas; this played a pivotal role in bringing economic prosperity to the country. Gaddafi understood well that to build infrastructure and uplift his people he’ll need to increase the oil supplies in the international market to generate revenue for the country. Furthermore, all the control of the oil refineries was under Libya. With this, the government initiated several social programs, free education, and infrastructure development.

Free Healthcare: Free health is still not fully implemented or practiced even in most advanced countries but under Gaddafi, this truly became a reality. Free healthcare is considered to be the biggest achievement of his political career. This increased the living standards of the general population.

Education: To have a well-educated workforce, he understood that vast amounts of funds had to be allocated to the education sector. Before his rule, only a small portion of the population had access to education. The exact data is hard to obtain but many agree the percentage was in single digits. By the end of his rule, the literacy rate was more than 90%. This is another of his achievements and the education was free as well.

Free Housing: Free housing is still a dream for many, but Gaddafi did that all during his tenure. Newly married couples were given free houses for their families. Some sources indicate that even agricultural lands were also given to newly-wed couples for free. While the so-called most advanced societies have an unequal distribution of wealth, in Libya, most of the population had their own homes.

Elimination of Foreign Debt: Under his rule, foreign debt was finally paid off and this meant more economic independence and stability. This freed up vast resources and almost all the resources were diverted towards domestic development.

GDP and Economic Growth: During his rule, Libya had a much higher GDP per capita than almost all the African countries and Middle Eastern Countries. By 2010, the GDP per capita was higher than Egypt and Tunisia. Furthermore, the consistent economic growth was higher than most of the Western countries. Between 2000 and 2010, the annual growth rate was almost 6.7%, outpacing not only countries from the European Union but also the United States.

Libya After Gaddafi’s Ouster

In 2011, a series of rebellions began in Libya, and soon after it gained momentum because of vast funds and weaponry supplied from NATO and the United States. In a matter of months, both rebels and NATO destroyed much of the infrastructure of Libya almost halting its crude oil supplies. It is said that most of the so-called rebels were not even Libyans but foreign mercenaries funded by NATO and the United States. In this portion of the article, we will discuss why Muammar Gaddafi’s ouster should have never happened what lessons should global-south countries learn, and why the population in the Western world should never support those politicians who advocate for overthrowing foreign governments.

Destabilization of Libya: Once the foreign mercenaries ousted the previous government, they began fighting each other for power and control and this created a power vacuum and the country divided. To this day, the country is divided and currently 2 governments are in the country both claiming the right to rule.

Rise of Extremism: Under the previous administration, there was a proper check and balance on the borders and any threat of extremism was dealt with swiftly. But, after 2011 saw the emergence of many extremist groups, these groups have now established many strongholds in the country.

Humanitarian Crisis: The NATO-led bombing destroyed much of the infrastructure of the country. Many died in the bombings and many were displaced from their homes. Before 2011, the maritime borders of the country were secured with proper navy and patrolling vessels but after the ouster, much of the navy was destroyed. With this, Libya became a place for illegal migrants trying to cross into Europe. To this day, almost every couple of days, one full ship of migrants drowns in the Mediterranean Sea. Many human traffickers trick the migrants and sell them in the slave markets of Libya. None of this happened in Libya before 2011.

Economic Collapse: Libya’s economy heavily relied on the sales of crude oil but the NATO-led bombing destroyed much of the infrastructure and crumbled the whole economy. This led to poverty and unemployment. On September 2023, a strong storm struck Libya and many were killed. It is estimated that more than 12,000 people died in this storm and thousands are missing. No one can predict the climate patterns but experts agree that if there was a proper structure that Gaddafi built during his tenure, many lives would have been saved from this catastrophic storm.

Failed State: Today, so-called champions of democracy easily call Libya a failed state but never accept that they were the ones who made the country into a failed state. The case of Libya alone should be a warning for third-world countries to never trust the Western governments.

What remains of Gaddafi’s family?

Very little is known about his family but sources indicate that 3 of his sons were killed during the 2011 war. His son, Hannibal is thought to be living in Russia. While, his daughter, Ayesha Gaddafi is thought to be living in Oman on political asylum. Ayesha Gaddafi initially opted to live in Algeria after the war but some disputes with the local authorities pushed Ayesha Gaddafi to Oman. His other son, Saif Gaddafi is living in Libya and was once considered to be his successor. In 2019, he wanted to run for the presidency but the elections were delayed. Very little is known about his other 2 sons i.e. Milad and Saadi. His widow lives with Ayesha Gaddafi in Oman.

Conclusion:

It is important to note that Gaddafi’s government was fulfilling every basic need of the general population but his 42 years of rule was overthrown in a couple of months. There are various theories on why he was overthrown, the main theory is that Gaddafi wanted to end the petrodollar and wanted to sell the crude oil in gold. Others claim, that he wanted to create a United Africa and remove Western influence from the African countries. During the last days of the conflict, Gaddafi’s last words were “They will fool you about democracy and empowering you, but in reality, they will be feeding you to the enemies, make you slave to their ambitions and greed.” If these were Gaddafi’s last words then how true is that if we look at the current events in Libya? We cannot say anything for surety but truly, his ouster should never have happened.