Former Leader of Libya Gaddafi Has Been Killed

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This is the first event, that when asked where I was and what I was doing when it happened I will actually have a story to tell. Sitting in a sociology lecture during the half-way break the lecturer decides to go to the BBC news site and the first thing I see is the headline proclaiming Gaddafi’s death. This would have been about 4pm. First impression was “at least I will remember where I was” but the second was the realisation that I thought that this was a major event. People say that everyone knows where they were when Princess Diana or Michael Jackson died. Or where they were on 9/11.

But why did I think that this was as important. Well it is the first Arab spring (though perhaps it should no longer be called that) revolution that has ended with the death of the previous leader. For Libya this was a civil war and obviously for the new government finding Gaddafi was an important step towards the nation as a whole to move on, though the death of Gaddafi was probably not the best outcome. Libya is a unique case were most of the fighting has been done by the inhabitants themselves with air support from other countries. But the best comparison for this was the hunt for Saddam Hussein who was captured instead of being killed. Again capturing Gaddafi would have been the best outcome as then he could have been made to stand trial for his crimes instead of the possibility of him being martyred by the avenging revolutionaries.

Though that may have lead to a greater injustice of him not ever being held accountable for his crimes. Do the research. Many dictators of the last century have lead brutal regimes, sometimes or decades and been unpunished (some are still in power). It often takes years to trial dictators like Gaddafi (when its done by international courts, trials within the countries the dictator was deposed from are often over much faster). This is made far more difficult when they find a haven to flee to as they often have millions (or even billions) of dollars embezzled and stored in suitable bank accounts (probably, but not necessarily Swiss). But strangely Gaddafi decided to stay in Libya and try and fight back. Not sure which is better, if he thought he could actually win or if he stayed anyway. Guess he wasn’t dubbed Mad dog for nothing.