Shook the whole world. Analysts will be discussing what happened for a long time and discussing the consequences. And we, with the help of this selection of photos taken in different years of Gaddafi's rule, let's take a short historical excursion and look at the odious Libyan leader who ruled the country for 41 years. Now 68-year-old Muammar Gaddafi is harshly suppressing opposition actions, while anti-government demonstrators continue to demand his resignation.
(24 photos total)
1. This 1970 photo shows the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, 27, in military uniform. He has ruled Libya since he came to power in the bloodless military coup in 1969. (AP)
2. Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who heads the Council of the Revolutionary Command of Libya, addresses the crowd at the Benghazi stadium. The speech is dedicated to the withdrawal of American troops from Libya. June 25, 1970. (AP)
3. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat (left), Libyan President Colonel Muammar Gaddafi (center) and Syrian General Hafez Assad during a reception in Damascus in 1971. Photo taken August 18, 1971 (AP)
4. In this picture, dated October 10, 1976, President Muammar Gaddafi greets a crowd on horseback during a ceremony in Ajdabiya, Libya. The 1976 celebration marks the 6th anniversary of the expulsion of Italians from Libya. (AP)
5. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi addresses the crowd during a large-scale rally in Martyrs Square in Tripoli in 1977. Photo taken on February 9, 1977. In 1977, Gaddafi invented a system called "Jamahiriya" or "state of the masses", in which power is in the hands of thousands of "people's committees." In reality, he retained absolute authoritarian control over the country. (Arna Of Tripoli / AP)
6. Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization Yasser Arafat (right) with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (center) and PLO leader George Habash welcome delegates to the Arab summit on December 4, 1977. (AP)
7. Gaddafi at the review of Libyan troops during the celebration of the 18th anniversary of the Libyan revolution in Tripoli on September 1, 1987. (John Redman / AP)
8. Gaddafi invites journalists to take seats during a press conference in Tripoli on August 20, 1990. On that day, the Libyan leader gathered over 100 foreign journalists to condemn the US intervention in the Persian Gulf. (Axel Schulz-Eppers / AP)
9. Gaddafi waves his hand to Palestinian workers expelled from Libya and Libyan supporters on October 4, 1995 during a visit to a camp on neutral territory on the Libyan-Egyptian border under the jurisdiction of Libya. Gaddafi urged police to evict Palestinian workers and their families in response to an agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. (Mohamed El-Dakhakhny / AP)
10. Gaddafi put his hand on the shoulder of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at Cairo airport June 22, 1996 in North. The recent anti-government unrest in North Africa and the Middle East, in which Mubarak was ousted from office, now threatens Gaddafi's rule in Libya. (Enric Marti / AP)
11. Gaddafi with US Muslim leader Luis Farrakhan (left) at the opening of a new hospital in Tripoli on August 31, 1996. (Lino Azzopardi / AP)
12. Gaddafi September 1, 1996, surrounded by guests and assistants in Tripoli during the ceremony of the 27th anniversary of the 1969 coup, which brought him to power. (Lino Azzopardi / AP)
13. Gaddafi and his wife Safia Farkash December 2, 1997. Safia is the wife of Gaddafi and the mother of his seven biological children. The couple also adopted a boy named Milad and a girl named Hannah, who died in 1986 at the age of four when the US bombed the Libyan capital, Tripoli. (Dimitri Messinis / AP)
14. Gaddafi (center), Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi (left) and Togo President Gnassingbe Eyadema during a speech by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the opening session of the Europe-Africa summit in Cairo April 3, 2000. (Enric Marti / AP)
15. Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali welcomes Gaddafi to Tunisia on August 2, 2000. (AP)
16. King Abdullah II of Jordan (right) accompanies Gaddafi to the city hall of Amman, where a ceremony in honor of Gaddafi took place on October 5, 2000. Gaddafi is known for being guarded by female bodyguards (in the background, left). (AP)
17. Gaddafi in front of a statue depicting a hand grabbing an American military plane, near his home in Tripoli on February 5, 2001. In 2009, in an address to the UN General Assembly, Gaddafi criticized the United States for the war in Iraq, saying that former US President George W. Bush should be convicted of war crimes. (Amr Nabil / AP)
18. Gaddafi during a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in the Libyan city of Sirte on February 10, 2004. (John Moore / AP)
19. British Prime Minister Tony Blair (left) walks with Gaddafi next to Gaddafi's tent in Tripoli March 25, 2004. (Alastair Grant / AP)
20. Gaddafi embraces Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali during the mini-summit of Arab countries in Tripoli June 10, 2008. According to the US Department of State, obtained from WikiLeaks, Gaddafi is afraid to fly and travels in the company of a "curvy blonde" - a Ukrainian nurse. (Abdel Meguid Al-Fergany / AP
21. Gaddafi meets with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Tripoli September 5, 2008. (Nasser Nasser / AP)
22. Meeting of US President Barack Obama and Muammar Gaddafi at the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy on July 9, 2009. (Michael Gottschalk / AP)
23. Gaddafi watches a military parade in Tripoli through bulletproof glass on September 1, 2009. Last week, protesters seized control of Libya's second largest city, Benghazi. Anti-government unrest first hit the capital. Gaddafi's son said that his father and security services will fight "to the last bullet." (Ben Curtis / AP)
24. Gaddafi was spotted at a divine service after giving a speech in Benghazi on February 25, 2010. (Abdel Meguid Al-Fergany / AP)
Muammar Gaddafi became known to the general public after his death.
This extraordinary political leader, organizer and reformer of Libya, is considered one of the largest political figures in the Middle East.
His political activities marked a new era in the history of Libya. Ambiguous assessments of the period of his reign are still controversial among political scientists.
Some call him a bloody dictator, a usurper of power and a murderer, while others consider him a great leader of the revolution, who did much to improve the situation in his native country. Who was Muammar Gaddafi really?
Childhood. Muammar Gaddafi's studies
Muammar Gaddafi was born into a simple Bedouin family. Later, he repeatedly emphasized this fact and was very proud of him. The date of his birth is not known exactly, only the year is known - 1940. This is what biographers think, but Gaddafi himself claims that he was born in 1942.
His family roamed the desert away from the sea in search of fertile tracts of land, and to be able to study, Gaddafi often had to travel long distances to the nearest school.
Gaddafi was the last child in the family and the only boy, which could not but affect his character. His tenacity finally helped him finish school. In 1962, Gaddafi graduated from the history department of the University of Benghazi.
During his studies, he repeatedly participated in various anti-government actions, for which he was expelled from the city. He had to continue his studies at the Misurata Lyceum. He successfully graduated from it, and later, in 1965, graduated from the military school in Benghazi.
After his studies, Gaddafi did an internship in the UK. Even then, Gaddafi stood out for the simplicity of habits, strict adherence to Islamic traditions and communication skills. These qualities later helped him to form his own revolutionary movement.
Domestic politics of Muammar Gaddafi
The largest political accomplishment of Muammar Gaddafi is considered to be the overthrow of the current government of Libya, headed by King Idris I. A political coup in the country has been brewing for a long time. There were several reasons for this:
- italian colonization;
- the presence of many scattered nomadic tribes in the country;
- difficult economic situation with rich natural resources;
- foreign intervention;
- serious problems in the social sphere.
The uprising needed a leader, and it got it. Even while studying at the military college, Gaddafi looked closely at the young officers who surrounded him, selected like-minded people who shared his ideas. The plan for the revolution was ready in early 1969. The performance itself, which was postponed three times, took place on September 1.
Gaddafi and other officers in charge of the combat units simultaneously launched an offensive, capturing key targets in the country. By 7 a.m., the main radio station was seized, on the air of which Gaddafi addressed the country, announcing the creation of the Arab Libyan Republic (Jamahariya).
The internal policy of Muammar Gaddafi was, on the one hand, aimed at strengthening power by centralizing it. This goal was achieved through authoritarian management methods, namely:
- a complete change in legislation (all laws that existed before Gaddafi came to power were annulled, and instead of them laws based on Sharia law were adopted);
- a complete change in the management system (instead of ministries, people's secretariats were founded, the formal head of the country no longer existed);
- carrying out the idea of \u200b\u200b"nationality" (according to Gaddafi's theory, power should belong to the masses);
- suppression of dissent (political groups and gatherings were prohibited in the country).
Despite the fact that the country's leader was an opponent of the ideas of communism, in his reforms he obviously took an example from the political model of the USSR, which was unsafe during the Cold War. On the other hand, Gaddafi did everything possible to improve the situation in the country.
The enormous funds that Libya received from the trade in minerals, he directed to improve the welfare of citizens. By the time he came to power, most of the population of Libya was illiterate. Gaddafi solved this problem by building schools and libraries.
Libyans could receive free education in their own country, and their education abroad was paid by the state. In addition, Gaddafi supported small businesses. Under him, profitable lending schemes for novice businessmen were created.
Young families received loans when buying a home. He also drew attention to the problem of discrimination against women in the country. He stated that, in his opinion, every man should be content with one wife (which he confirmed by personal example, having dissolved the first marriage before entering into the second). These measures made Gaddafi popular among the people of Libya.
Gaddafi's foreign policy
However, thus supporting the indigenous population of Libya, Gaddafi tried in every possible way to protect his country from outside influence. So, among his first orders was the closure of the British and American military bases in Libya. In a short time, Gaddafi got rid of the presence of foreign military in the country.
In addition to the proclaimed idea of \u200b\u200bthe integrity of the Arab People's Republic, he was also motivated by the desire to avoid possible intervention. Gaddafi also expelled from the country all Italians who had been there since colonization. He stated that this was done for their own good, so that the people of Libya would not crack down on them.
However, all the property of the deported was confiscated. Gaddafi pursued a tough foreign policy, seeking the country's independence on any issue. High oil prices gave Libya financial independence, which helped Gaddafi to follow the chosen course.
Results of Gaddafi's rule
- improving the welfare of citizens;
- the creation of a centralized state;
- reducing the level of terrorism in the country;
- lower crime rates.
Muammar Gaddafi was killed on October 20, 2011 after the events during the so-called "Arab Spring". After his death, the territory of the country actually split into several independent territories, fighting among themselves.
- Gaddafi has been married twice. He has a daughter and seven sons.
- Once Gaddafi gathered young Italians in his residence and invited them to convert to Islam.
- As the leader of a country with rich oil reserves, Gaddafi was very humble in everyday life.
- Gaddafi retained the rank of colonel for life - no one else in Libya had this rank anymore.
Arab winter - exactly one year ago, Libyan President Gaddafi was killed by the rebels. The result of one year according to the new chronology - from the death of a colonel - in the report of the new Libyan leader Mohammad Magarif: the country failed to create either an army subordinate to the government, or a police or a court.
After a week of fighting, the city of Beni Walid was captured, which still remained faithful to the ideas of the late Gaddafi. It was revenge for the fact that the Warfalla tribe had kidnapped the murderer of the colonel - from the Tuareg tribe. The new government even announced that one of Gaddafi's sons, Khamis, was killed in the battle. This is the fourth official announcement of his death.
During this year, only one subject appeared in the country, subordinate to the authorities, but their own, local. This is the Libyan Al-Qaeda Jamaat, not far from Benghazi, where the Libyan spring began. The result of this spring is the execution of the colonel, filmed by his executioners. Massacre in the spirit of the Middle Ages, when the convicts were impaled. Only instead of the stake Gaddafi got a bayonet.
He was killed by rebels or French intelligence agents - they argue all year. Western human rights activists have been investigating the death of Gaddafi throughout the year. Their conclusions absolutely contradict the official version that the colonel died in battle, with a weapon in his hands.
On the eve of the anniversary of Gaddafi's assassination, the international organization Human Rights Watch published a 50-page report on the investigation into the death of the leader of the Jamahiriya. The data provided in the report completely contradicts the official version of the death of the colonel, who allegedly died from wounds received in the shootout. Human rights activists insist: the already helpless Gaddafi was tortured and killed, as well as several dozen people accompanying him, among whom was his son Mutassim.
“In addition to Gaddafi and his son, at least 66 more people were killed in a convoy of 50 cars trying to escape from Sirte. They were captured, put on a concrete wall, interrogated, beaten and humiliated, and then shot outside the hotel “Mahari” in Sirte - many were shot in the back of the head, ”says Peter Bookert, director of emergency situations at Human Rights Watch.
According to human rights defenders, they released the report only after the new Libyan authorities did not react in any way to their demand to start an investigation into the persons who had ordered the shooting of unarmed people. Meanwhile, there is no answer to the question of who killed Gaddafi himself. As there is no answer to what was generally connected with that unprecedented cruelty and rage, which accompanied the entire eight-month epic of his removal from power.
"They actually killed Gaddafi, and they turned about 11 Libyan large settlements, as I have already mentioned in my articles, into Libyan Stalingrad. Now Libya is the same desert as it was or remained after Rommel's departure. That is, another Rommel of today of the day - NATO fighters, under noble pretexts, actually turned into a flourishing Libya, which Gaddafi made, "- said Anatoly Yegorin, deputy director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
In fact, whatever is discussed today as possible reasons total and systematic destruction of everything associated with the name of the leader of the Jamahiriya, against the background of his terrible death, everything seems unconvincing. Neither Libyan oil, nor the project of the gold dinar alternative to the dollar, nor the colonel's geopolitical ambitions on the African continent. In the 8 years that have passed since the lifting of international sanctions against Libya, Gaddafi has repeatedly demonstrated his negotiability to the West.
Vladimir Chamov, Russia's ambassador to Tripoli, who was unexpectedly recalled to Moscow at the height of the events in Libya, recalling his last meeting with Gaddafi, suddenly formulated what neither political scientists nor conspiracy theorists succeeded in.
“I saw him many times, heard him many times, and for all his extravagance, and for all his originality and all his antics, he was a unique person. And it’s a pity that this is how this fate ended, that the star fell so was so brutally torn to pieces. It's actually a shame, because we understand the value of our society, even internationally, is diversity. I think that this was the last romantic in the Arab world, " former ambassador RF in Libya Vladimir Chamov.
IN modern world, a person who is ready to give his life for his beliefs must be killed. One can argue about what the colonel's convictions were, but no one now doubts his readiness to defend them to the end. And the point is not which of the world leaders Gaddafi recklessly gave money to, the point is that he knew the value of all of them. And this is not forgiven. Meanwhile, against the background of people responsible for hundreds of thousands of victims around the world and distributing Nobel Peace Prizes to each other, the image of a wounded old man torn to pieces by a crowd, and today, a year after his death, remains dangerous.
Quite recently, shortly before yesterday's anniversary of the assassination of Muammar Gaddafi, a video appeared on the network telling that, 2 months after the murder of the colonel, another authoritative international human rights organization Amnesty International conducted a survey on its website: who, according to site visitors, became the person of 2011, that is, given the specifics of Amnesty International, became the victim of the most severe and excessive violence. The murdered Colonel Gaddafi became the undisputed leader. On December 31, the voting results were removed from the site - American human rights activists did not expect that even Western Internet users, who cannot be suspected of sympathizing with Muammar Gaddafi, were so shocked by the medieval savagery of how the 70-year-old colonel met his death.
In the 1950s and 1960s, states that had recently thrown off the chains of colonial slavery were swept by a series of coups d'états led by young officers. Among this cohort of revolutionaries who later became dictators, he held power the longest. Muammar Gaddafi - a man whom some consider a great hero, and others - a monster in the flesh.
The future Libyan leader was born on June 7, 1940 in a Bedouin family of the al-Qaddaf tribe. Muammar Mohammed Abdel Salam Hamid Abu Menyar al-Gaddafi was born in a traditional Bedouin tent, which at that time was installed south of the city of Sirte.
Muammar went to school at the age of 9 and changed them three in different cities, following his nomadic father.
He became a revolutionary while still at school, joining the youth movement against Italian colonialism. At the age of 21, a student Gaddafi created his own underground organization, aiming to overthrow the monarchy, which acted in the interests of foreigners.
Gaddafi was arrested during an action in the city of Sebha, but the young revolutionary simply moved to Misrata and started all over again.
Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Coup of young officers
Soon, Gaddafi entered a military school, from which he graduated in 1965 with the rank of lieutenant.
Among the cadets of military schools and young officers, revolutionary sentiments were strong, fueled by the example of neighboring Egypt and Algeria.
In 1964, under the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi, on the seashore near the village of Tolmeyta, the I Congress of the organization called "Free Officers Unionists-Socialists" (OSOYUS) took place, which adopted the slogans of the 1952 Egyptian revolution: "Freedom, socialism, unity." In the underground, OSOYUS began preparations for a coup.
The preparations for the uprising took about five years. The Libyan special services were too weak to identify and stop the preparation of the coup.
On September 1, 1969, the uprising began. The most important state facilities came under the control of the military, American military bases located in the country were blocked. King of Libya Idris Iwas being treated in Turkey, and there was no one to lead the suppression of the rebellion.
At 7 am, citizens heard the "Communique No. 1", which opened with the words of Gaddafi: "Citizens of Libya! In response to the innermost aspirations and dreams that overwhelmed your hearts. In response to your relentless demands for change and spiritual rebirth, your long struggle for these ideals. Listening to your call for an uprising, the army loyal to you took on this task and toppled the reactionary and corrupt regime, the stench of which caused nausea and shocked us all. "
Photo: www.globallookpress.com
There, foreigner!
The country received a new name - the Libyan Arab Republic. On September 8, a new authority, the Revolutionary Command Council, decided to confer the rank of colonel on 29-year-old Gaddafi's captain and appointed him supreme commander of the country's armed forces. Gaddafi headed the Council itself.
The 29-year-old head of the country outlined the fundamentals of his course at a rally: 1) the complete evacuation of foreign bases from Libyan territory, 2) positive neutrality, 3) national unity, 4) Arab unity, 5) the ban on political parties.
He succeeded in as soon as possible force the closure of US and British military bases in the country. 20 thousand Italians who remained in the country from the time when Libya was an Italian colony were simply expelled.
During the first three years Gaddafi's reign were nationalized foreign banks, all property owned by Italians. The state also nationalized the property of foreign oil companies; the rest of the oil companies were nationalized by 51%.
Unlike many other leaders of this kind, Gaddafi did not adhere to either the West or the East, creating his own ideology, set out in the "Green Book" he wrote. The state system of Libya was proclaimed Jamahiriya - "the rule of the masses". Its essence was in the original mixture of the postulates of Islam, nationalism and leftist anarchism.
Another change in the structure of power took place in 1977. The Libyan Republic received a new name - "Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya". The Revolutionary Command Council and the government were dissolved. The General People's Congress was declared the highest legislative body, and the Supreme People's Committee formed by it instead of the government was declared the executive power. Gaddafi himself has ceased to occupy an official post, referring to simply as the leader of the Libyan revolution.
Photo: www.globallookpress.com
"I supported those who are now accepted in the White House"
In foreign policy, Gaddafi was literally obsessed with the idea of \u200b\u200bpan-Arabism and assistance to the national liberation movements of other countries.
Over the four decades of his rule, he repeatedly put forward plans to unite the Arab countries into a federation or confederation, signed treaties and agreements, but each time these plans failed due to internal disagreements.
The closest to implementation was the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating a "Federation of Arab Republics" with the participation of Egypt and Syria, which even formally existed from 1972 to 1977, but then fell apart.
As for supporting various rebels, Gaddafi managed to anger both the United States and the USSR, supporting even such groups that the two warring camps simultaneously considered terrorists. In the early 1980s, the United States accused Gaddafi of interfering in the internal affairs of at least 45 countries.
Later, giving an interview to The Washington Post, Gaddafi said about it this way: “I supported the struggle for national liberation, not terrorist movements. I supported Mandela and Sam Nuyomuwho became President of Namibia. I also supported the Palestine Liberation Organization. Today these people are received with honor at the White House. And I am still considered a terrorist. I was not wrong when I supported Mandela and the liberation movements. If colonialism returns to these countries, I will again support the movement for their liberation. "
Photo: www.globallookpress.com
International terrorist
Gaddafi was accused of the Libyan special services committing acts of terrorism against citizens of Western countries. On April 5, 1986, at the La Belle disco in West Berlin, popular with the US military, an explosion thundered, which killed 3 people, including a Turkish girl, and injured 200 people. The Libyans were accused of committing the treact, after which US President Ronald Reagangave the order to bomb Libya, which killed dozens of people, including Gaddafi's adopted daughter.
On December 21, 1988, in the sky over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, a passenger Boeing 747 of the American airline Pan Am was blown up, flying No. 103 from London to New York, as a result of which 270 people were killed. Libya's special services were also accused of this attack, after which economic sanctions were imposed on the country.
Some believe that Gaddafi considered the terrorist war to be the most effective method of fighting the Americans and the terrorist attack over Lockerbie was a response to the bombing of Libya. But it is unlikely that the murder of some innocent people can be a fair retribution for the murder of other innocent people. For many years Gaddafi was branded as a terrorist.
Everything for the Libyan people
However, the colonel was much more worried about the fate of people in his own country. He got Libya, whose population was poor and illiterate. During the first eight years of Gaddafi's rule, the number of people who can read and write has grown from 27 to 51 percent. Schools, libraries, cultural centers, sports clubs were actively opened. Over the decade from 1970 to 1980, 180 thousand apartments were built, thanks to which it was possible to solve the housing problem by 80 percent. Thanks to the "Great Man-Made River" project, desert Libya for the first time in its history was fully provided with fresh water.
The main flow of petrodollars received by the country went to social needs and projects. This policy remained unchanged even when the country came under pressure from economic sanctions.
In the late 1990s, Gaddafi took a course to improve relations with the West, betrayed those suspected of organizing the terrorist attack over Lockerbie, and managed to ensure that Libya was no longer perceived as a rogue state.
For the sake of reviving the economy, which was affected by the actions of the sanctions, a course towards "people's capitalism" was announced, within the framework of which the privatization of industrial enterprises, including in the oil industry, began. Thanks to this, an influx of foreign investment began in Libya, a number of lucrative agreements were concluded, including a contract for the construction of a gas pipeline to Italy.
Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Leader's carrot and stick
In 2003, Libya announced the renunciation of all types of weapons of mass destruction.
Relations with other countries improved rapidly. Gaddafi's traditional Bedouin tent appeared more and more often in European capitals.
As of 2008, Libya, with a GDP of $ 14,192 per capita, ranked 55th on this indicator. For most African countries, these figures were an unattainable dream, like much of what the Libyans had under Gaddafi: unemployment benefits of $ 730 per month, childbirth assistance $ 7,300, no rent or electricity bills, petrol at a price of 14 cents. per liter, a business development allowance of $ 20,000 and much more.
Of course, Gaddafi's style of government could not but provoke the emergence of opposition, with which the dictator also acted harshly. According to the opposition themselves, between 1969 and 1994, 343 Libyans who opposed the Gaddafi regime were killed.
However, even here the Libyan leader sometimes showed his atypical character. On March 3, 1988, he personally bulldozed the gates of the prison, freeing 400 political prisoners. Several days later, he tore up the “black lists of dissidents” presented to him.
Whether it was a show or an impulse of the soul, only Muammar Gaddafi himself knew.
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"They want to turn Libya into a new Afghanistan!"
In 2011, the so-called "Arab Spring" covered Libya. Gaddafi met the riots demanding his own resignation calmly, saying: “Groups of young people under the influence of drugs attack police stations and steal weapons. They do not respect their country, they copy the image of Egypt and Tunisia, they want to turn Libya into an Islamic state, into a new Afghanistan! These rats are being manipulated by foreign forces, including al-Qaeda. Four years later, we can say that Gaddafi's words were the most accurate assessment of what is happening.
But in 2011, literally everyone took up arms against Gaddafi. Even Saudi Arabia, where beheading is considered a normal form of punishment, is concerned with the problem of democratic reforms in Libya. And nothing sounded from Washington except: "Gaddafi has lost his legitimacy and must leave!"
New sanctions were imposed on Libya, the Transitional National Council, urgently assembled from motley Libyan oppositionists, began to actively supply weapons, Libyan airspace was declared a no-fly zone, which in practice turned out to be a cover for the bombing of government forces deployed by US and NATO aircraft.
Gaddafi could have won the war against the opposition, but he was unable to defeat the war machine of the United States and its NATO allies.
Massacre
When the civil war in Libya was just beginning, Gaddafi said: "I will never leave the Libyan land, I will fight to the last drop of blood and die here with my forefathers, like a martyr."
These words turned out to be prophetic. On October 20, 2011, after months of fierce fighting, the opposition stormed Sirte, one of the last strongholds of Gaddafi's supporters. On the same day, NATO aircraft struck a convoy of cars in which the Libyan leader was retreating from the city with his like-minded people.
NATO aviation brought detachments of the Libyan opposition to the defeated column. Badly wounded Gaddafi was taken prisoner.
The lofty speeches about the trial were immediately forgotten. He was tortured for several hours, tortured in every conceivable and inconceivable way. When the "fighters for democracy" were satiated with their triumph, the already dead body was loaded into the car. The shots of the disgusting reprisal spread all over the world media. The disfigured body of Gaddafi was put on public display in Misrata.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clintonupon learning of the massacre, she laughed and said: "This is good news."
When the mockery finally ended, Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled Libya for 42 years, was secretly buried in the Libyan desert.
Photo: www.globallookpress.com
After the colonel
Western politicians do not like to talk about what Libya has become after the death of Gaddafi. A stable country with a high standard of living is now a territory split into several parts, where everyone is fighting against everyone, where radical Islamists, including the notorious Al-Qaeda, feel great.
Under Gaddafi, Libya acted as a filter that held back the flow of refugees from the poorest countries of the Black Continent to Europe. The new Libyan authorities are unable to control this flow, from which today European politicians are horrified. Thousands of people die at sea, tens of thousands arrive in Europe, where they have no housing or work, exacerbating interethnic and inter-confessional conflicts.