More than ten years after Gaddafi died, is Libya happy now?

Mondo International Updated on 2024-02-19

The emergence of Gaddafi has made the world recognise Libya. The country, which has 1.76 million square kilometers of land, has long been inconspicuous on the international stage due to its harsh environment and economic downturn.

However, the rise of Muammar Gaddafi changed that, showing the world a unique presence in the African savannah and making Libya stand out in the international community.

In 2011, Britain, France and the United States launched a joint military operation to carry out air strikes on Libya in the name of maintaining stability, and finally Gaddafi was captured by coalition forces from the sewers while fleeing, and then humiliated, and finally ended his life in the most direct way.

After his death, Gaddafi did not immediately deal with the aftermath as is customary, but was placed in a freezer for four days with his fifth son, Mutassim, before being buried.

So, what Gaddafi did that made him suffer such humiliation after his death? After Gaddafi's death, will Libya be reborn?

Gaddafi, who occupies an important place in Libyan history, was once the supreme leader of Libya and was also a controversial politician and military strategist. However, his career was not always smooth, and he suffered humiliation after being captured.

Despite this, Gaddafi still had a wide impact on a global scale, and his political theories and military tactics were once seen as important guides for African and Arab countries.

When Gaddafi was a fourteen-year-old, he studied in Sirte, not far from his home. Despite his young age, he was very concerned about international events among Arab countries.

His favorites were the Quran and Nasser's Philosophy of Revolution. Influenced by the spirit of Nasser, he was passionate about speaking and marching, and loved to communicate with people and tell his thoughts.

During his time at Sabha High School, he amassed a following, including several important leaders who later revolutionized with him. In 1961, Gaddafi enrolled at the University of Benghazi to study history, and two years later, he switched to studying military affairs.

During this time, he actively developed the revolution and founded his own revolutionary organization, the Free Officers' Organization, which he later organized when he staged a coup d'état.

In 1966, the young Gaddafi stepped through the doors of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in England, which is known as one of the four major military schools in the world, on a par with West Point.

Although his time at the academy was short, this gilded time undoubtedly boosted his prestige in the army. In 1969, after many plans, Gaddafi and others finally decided on a coup plan, and successfully launched a coup d'état on the night of August 31.

The coup d'état was unexpectedly simple and smooth, almost like a play house, and Gaddafi and others managed to seize power without much effort, and the coup came to be called"A bloodless coup d'état"。

Gaddafi announced the success of the transfer of power through the radio, and the reason for the success was the incompetence and weakness of the Idlis dynasty at that time. Due to the geographical location, the Libyan people have lived in poverty for a long time, and despite the discovery of oil, people's lives have not improved, which has led many to express dissatisfaction with the rule of the Idlis dynasty, who believe that Gaddafi may bring change to poor Libya, and it turns out that Gaddafi did it.

After Gaddafi took over the leadership of Libya, he immediately set about implementing his early anti-hegemonic governing philosophy, demanding that Britain and the United States withdraw from their military bases in Libya.

At that time, the United States was mired in the Vietnam War and had no time to take care of Libya, so in order to save money, the United States easily agreed to withdraw its base in Libya. The same is true for the United Kingdom. Gaddafi was motivated by the "obedient" behavior of Britain and the United States and became more confident.

After that, he quickly nationalized Barclays, Libya's largest bank, and it was only a prelude, and the real big move was the nationalization of the oil industry.

Before Gaddafi inspected various places, although Libya had rich oil resources, due to the lack of extraction capacity and technology, most of the oil companies were outsourced to European and American countries, and a large amount of profits flowed into the pockets of powerful countries, while Libya could only get meager profits, and even had to be looted by the country.

The people continue to live in poverty. Gaddafi established the National Oil Company and took back the right to sell and set prices, and through this series of policies, Libya quickly became rich on oil revenues, and its GDP increased several times.

Since then, Gaddafi has implemented social welfare policies such as free education and free medical care, which has significantly improved the quality of life of the people. By 1981, Libya's per capita income reached 110,000 US dollars, almost reaching the threshold of developed countries, from this point of view, Gaddafi really brought hope and light to the Libyan people at that time.

Gaddafi had dreams of conquering all of Africa and sought to form an Arab coalition to unify the entire Arab nation and fight against hegemonism. However, in international diplomacy, his behavior seemed a little reckless, and he was even called a "mad dog in the Middle East" by Reagan.

When Nasser died in 1970, Gaddafi was devastated, but he soon recovered his spirits and vowed to continue in Nasser's spirit. However, the Fourth Middle East War in 1973 dashed Gaddafi's plan to merge Egypt and Libya.

He believes that he has encountered various setbacks on the road to Arab unification, mainly because some Arab countries lack sincerity and trust in his proposals, and have turned to Europe and the United States and other countries, which runs counter to his anti-hegemonic assertion and makes him disappointed.

But he did not let this stop and found a new goal, which was to unify Africa.

Muammar Gaddafi, known as the "King of Kings", first proposed the idea of establishing the "United African States" in 1999. He hoped that African countries would unite to unify their currencies and establish a unified military force and parliament in Africa, so that Africa's position in the United Nations would no longer be marginalized.

In order to realize this ideal, Gaddafi actively lobbied among African countries. However, this concept seems somewhat weak in the face of reality, because it will touch the interests of Britain, France, the United States and other countries.

Gaddafi's approach to diplomacy was also seen as suicidal, offending the five permanent members of the United Nations and ultimately isolating him in international diplomacy.

Despite this, Gaddafi's contribution to Africa remains widely recognized and respected.

During the 42 years that Gaddafi ruled Libya, he often confronted the United States. After he drove out the U.S. military base in Libya, he handed it over to the Soviet army, much to the displeasure of the United States.

However, this was limited to verbal ** until the events of 1986. In 1986, Gaddafi accidentally killed a number of U.S. officials during his attack on West Berlin, and the United States could no longer tolerate his behavior.

As a result, the United States sent a joint fleet to bomb Libya, which caused huge losses in Libya and even killed Gaddafi's adopted daughter in the fighting, deepening the hostility between the two countries.

However, as a small country in Africa, Libya cannot compete with the United States. Therefore, after that, Gaddafi can only secretly carry out some small actions, which, while not able to cause substantial harm to the United States, can also make the United States feel uncomfortable.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Gaddafi lost the support of the Soviet Union. He turned to the United States, transferring to the United States the benefits promised to the Soviet Union, a two-faced attitude that challenged Russia's authority.

It's just that the domestic political situation in Russia was unstable at that time, and there was no time to deal with Gaddafi. Prior to this, Gaddafi had also interfered in the British march and funded the British ** organization, which led to the severance of diplomatic relations between Yingli and Liberia.

For France, Gaddafi violated French interests by intervening in the Chadian civil war in 1980.

Gaddafi's friendly relations with the USSR eventually turned into an irretrievable rupture. His corruption and foreign policy led to the United Nations imposing economic sanctions on Libya, which led to a sharp decline in Libya's GDP, a significant reduction in the income of the people, and growing dissatisfaction with him.

With the advent of the economic crisis in 2008, oil continued**, and many young people faced the problem of unemployment, and the unemployment rate was as high as 30%. Demonstrations erupted, and calls for Gaddafi grew stronger.

However, Gaddafi did not take active measures to solve the problems of the people, but suppressed the demonstrators by force, causing innocent people to lose the trust of the people.

On 17 February 2011, mass demonstrations erupted in Libya**. A month later, Britain, France, the United States and other countries carried out air strikes on Libya. In the face of military attacks by so many world powers, how should Gaddafi's army respond?

However, in August, Libyan forces captured the capital, Tripoli, and Gaddafi was forced to flee to his hometown of Sirte, protected only by a few hundred cronies.

A few months later, Gaddafi was found in a sewer in Sirte. The soldiers punched and kicked him, even slapped him in the face with their shoes, and finally ended Gaddafi's life with a single bullet.

This former "African lion", "king of kings", ended his life in a humiliating way in his childhood hometown.

Although Gaddafi is no longer alive, his departure did not bring peace to Libya. European and American countries received benefits in Africa after the death of Gaddafi and then left in a hurry, and the remaining countries continued to exploit the surplus value of Libya.

In this war, France contributed the most, and after the war succeeded in obtaining 35% of Libya's ** mining rights, thus mastering the wealth of Libya. Not to be outdone, Britain also returned to Libya after the end of the civil war and took over a large number of orders for post-war reconstruction projects.

The dominance of dollar hegemony in Africa cannot be shaken, and the United States' oil interests in Libya, although relatively limited, can further strengthen its influence in Africa by dismantling an African country led by Muammar el-Qaddafi.

However, the reconstruction of this troubled country has been neglected, and the dire lives of its people have not received the attention they deserve. Warlords from all stripes of war, trying to occupy Gaddafi's former position, have led to frequent wars in Libya.

The various social benefits provided to the people during the reign of Gaddafi were abolished, and the imperfection and imperfection of the laws made Libya a haven for criminals, and the life and safety of the people were not guaranteed.

Gaddafi was brave enough to confront a strong enemy, and although he was rude, he did not fear his neighbors. Although greedy, he did not lose his friends because of it. His death was not accidental, but an inevitable consequence, both in his own self-inflicted side and in his unique side.

His life was not without achievements, whether it was good or bad, everyone has a different opinion in their hearts.

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