In the video above, Muammar al Gaddafi gives a speech about his power and how he had no intention to leave Libya or to give up his power. He accuses Libyan rebels for being traitors to him and for being influenced by the "hallucinogenic" Al-Qaeda nationalist group.
Welcome to Libya: Meet Muammar al Gaddafi:
Libya is located in North African and borders the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria. It is a "tribal society" in which the majority of the population exists in cities bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Libya's economy survives on its oil export, (Libya has high quality oil because it is easier to refine). The existing political system political consists of councils known as "Jamahiriya". In practice however, the country is (or at least was) run by Muammar al Gaddafi. Muammar al Gaddafi was born in Sirte, Libya in 1942. He later joined the Libyan military forces and eventually overthrew King Idris and took control over the country in 1969. Gaddafi possessed the political speaking skill known as rhetoric which made him popular for some time among the Libyan population. However, he became very corrupt, used the Libyan military to influence African affairs, and brutally abused the human rights of his fellow Libyans. The majority of the population quickly became outraged due to the severe oppression that Gaddafi imposed on his people. He was believed to be a strong supporter of European terrorism which turned many Western foreign leaders against him. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO: intergovernmental military alliance between 28 countries including the U.S., Canada, France, the U.K., Iceland, and many more) troops supported rebels who tried to overthrow Gaddafi. On October 20, 2011, he was killed in his hometown of Sirte.
Boiling Tensions to explode in 2011:
· Economy
o Lived and breathed the oil industry. Libya has a crucial supply of easily refine- able oil that is rarely found anywhere else in the world. Huge sums of money were being hauled in by many Western, European, and Asian countries for the shipment of large amounts of oil across the Atlantic and Mediterranean Seas.
o Unemployment was abnormally high giving the large population of youth a very slim chance of working to make a comfortable lifestyle (especially college graduates)
· Politics
o Gaddafi was corrupt, got involved in African affairs (people hated this), and supported terrorism.
§ He was getting ready to hand over his power (after 40 long years) to his sons.
o Gaddafi’s support of terrorism and his confession to attempting to obtain a nuclear weapon gained him many enemies from the West and in Europe. It was at this point that Gaddafi became a threat and NATO quickly became involved (provided support and arms to Libyan rebels).
· Military
o After four, long decades of serving under Gaddafi had passed, the Libyan military was hoping to gain power over the country. They did not like the idea that Gaddafi’s sons were going to get it instead of them. As a result Libyan military units began to defect from Gaddafi.
o Defected Libyan military units supplied rebels with arms supplies and access to Libyan weapons depots.
· Society
o Two thirds of the Libyan population were under 30 and were fired up to fight for better lives.
o People were tired of Gaddafi’s corrupt oppression for 40 years.
o Economic resources and opportunities were unfairly given to only those who supported Gaddafi.
o The Tunisia and Egypt movements inspired the people and gave them strength to revolt for justice.
o Using Facebook, Libyans were able to organize a peaceful demonstration which did not work out (kind of like Bloody Sunday in Russia) and ultimately lead to violent revolution. (Started with young Ahmed Sanalla's Tweet encouraging a protest in the Omar Mukhtar Square.
Welcome to Libya: Meet Muammar al Gaddafi:
Libya is located in North African and borders the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria. It is a "tribal society" in which the majority of the population exists in cities bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Libya's economy survives on its oil export, (Libya has high quality oil because it is easier to refine). The existing political system political consists of councils known as "Jamahiriya". In practice however, the country is (or at least was) run by Muammar al Gaddafi. Muammar al Gaddafi was born in Sirte, Libya in 1942. He later joined the Libyan military forces and eventually overthrew King Idris and took control over the country in 1969. Gaddafi possessed the political speaking skill known as rhetoric which made him popular for some time among the Libyan population. However, he became very corrupt, used the Libyan military to influence African affairs, and brutally abused the human rights of his fellow Libyans. The majority of the population quickly became outraged due to the severe oppression that Gaddafi imposed on his people. He was believed to be a strong supporter of European terrorism which turned many Western foreign leaders against him. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO: intergovernmental military alliance between 28 countries including the U.S., Canada, France, the U.K., Iceland, and many more) troops supported rebels who tried to overthrow Gaddafi. On October 20, 2011, he was killed in his hometown of Sirte.
Boiling Tensions to explode in 2011:
· Economy
o Lived and breathed the oil industry. Libya has a crucial supply of easily refine- able oil that is rarely found anywhere else in the world. Huge sums of money were being hauled in by many Western, European, and Asian countries for the shipment of large amounts of oil across the Atlantic and Mediterranean Seas.
o Unemployment was abnormally high giving the large population of youth a very slim chance of working to make a comfortable lifestyle (especially college graduates)
· Politics
o Gaddafi was corrupt, got involved in African affairs (people hated this), and supported terrorism.
§ He was getting ready to hand over his power (after 40 long years) to his sons.
o Gaddafi’s support of terrorism and his confession to attempting to obtain a nuclear weapon gained him many enemies from the West and in Europe. It was at this point that Gaddafi became a threat and NATO quickly became involved (provided support and arms to Libyan rebels).
· Military
o After four, long decades of serving under Gaddafi had passed, the Libyan military was hoping to gain power over the country. They did not like the idea that Gaddafi’s sons were going to get it instead of them. As a result Libyan military units began to defect from Gaddafi.
o Defected Libyan military units supplied rebels with arms supplies and access to Libyan weapons depots.
· Society
o Two thirds of the Libyan population were under 30 and were fired up to fight for better lives.
o People were tired of Gaddafi’s corrupt oppression for 40 years.
o Economic resources and opportunities were unfairly given to only those who supported Gaddafi.
o The Tunisia and Egypt movements inspired the people and gave them strength to revolt for justice.
o Using Facebook, Libyans were able to organize a peaceful demonstration which did not work out (kind of like Bloody Sunday in Russia) and ultimately lead to violent revolution. (Started with young Ahmed Sanalla's Tweet encouraging a protest in the Omar Mukhtar Square.
Simple Revolts lead to CIVIL WAR:
The Libyan revolution is said to have officially began on February 17, 2011. On this day, civilians staged protests in the city of Banghazi against the current government under Gaddafi. The revolting Libyans were mad because Fethi Tarbel (human rights lawyer) was arrested. The protesters demanded that Gaddafi should give up his power and that Tarbel and other political prisoners should be released. Libyan military forces fired water cannons and rubber bullets into the crowds of revolutionaries to calm things down (like that would ever work). To ensure that tensions would not rise any further, a pro-government rally was shown on live television. The protests only got worse and more violent from this point. Banghazi was occupied by protesters and strikes spread to the capital of Libya in Tripoli. Brutal force was used by the government to counter-attack demonstrators: live ammunition was fired into crowds of people, some were attacked with tanks and artillery, warplanes, and helicopter gunships. Communications were cut off, the internet was blocked, and telephone lines were disturbed. The violence used by Gaddafi made him infamous among countless nations in the world. As time went on, military units began to defect from the Libyan military (two fighter pilots decided to land their jets instead of bombing innocent people in Banghazi).
Gaddafi vowed to remain in Libya in his February 22 speech (condemning rebels as traitors). More of the Libyan military abandoned their cause and joined the rebels (providing them with assault weapons and access to Libyan military weapon depots). The rebels became very powerful in a small amount of time. By February 23, rebel troops were able to occupy many western and eastern portions of Libya near the Mediterranean Sea and even the city of Banghazi. Gaddafi sealed himself deep within the capital of Tripoli with his family and those who still remained loyal to him. The Libyan-Egyptian border was opened which allowed foreign journalists to come in and report the devastating situation. By this time, Gaddafi had gained unwanted attention from the United Nations Security Council which issued a travel ban and an arms embargo on Libya. The conflict between the government and the rebels turned into a dead-lock and shortages of food, fuel, and medical supplies in Libya quickly became an issue. By March 10, pro-Gaddafi forces had driven rebels west of Tripoli and away from the oil-export headquarters in Ras Lanuf. On March 19, U.S. and European forces attacked targets in Libya to disable its air force and air defense systems so the UN could issue a "no-fly zone" warrant to ensure the safety of Libyan civilians.
By March 23, the Libyan air force had been destroyed and the "no-fly zone" warrant was issued. Ground battles continued resulting in a high number of casualties among Libyan rebels. On March 30, Moussa Koussa (Libyan foreign minister) fled to the U.K. Other pro-Gaddafi authorities began to show disdain for what their leader was doing to his people. Later, on April 19, the countries of France, Italy, and the U.K. sent military officers to help the rebels devise successful military tactics. NATO and rebel forces continued to advance on Tripoli throughout the month of August where Gaddafi still held power. Rebels began to capture key parts of the capital and took over Gaddafi's HQ. Fighting continued through September in Tripoli until Gaddafi was finally found and killed on October 20, 2011. To this day, Libya struggles with establishing a government agreeable among all Libyans and local rebel groups.
The Spread of Revolution:
The revolution and civil war in Libya was ignited by a number of reasons. Unemployment was high and the vast youth of Libya were not offered a chance to make a decent living for themselves. Muammar Al Gaddafi was corrupt and very oppressive to his people. He had taken control of Libya in 1969 and ruled for over four decades. The military was getting tired of Gaddafi and became eager to take over for him (they had no intentions of taking orders from ANY of his sons). So why didn't the revolution happen earlier in Gaddafi's 40 year rule? It was because of fear and a lack of inspiration. The people knew that so many years of ruling, Gaddafi wasn't just going to say, "OK! I've had enough of this leadership stuff. You guys can take over now, good luck!" No! Gaddafi was willing to use brute force to defend his title and power. The Libyan population knew this. The only reason that the people formed groups of rebels to overthrow Gaddafi was because of the revolts in the neighboring countries of Egypt and Tunisia. Revolution spreads fast and after seeing the success of the people in Egypt by overthrowing their President, the Libyans gained a source of hope. Twitter was used by the Libyan youth to spread this growing hope and unrest with Gaddafi and it lead to the beginnings of violent protests and riot. The unrest that was witnessed among the Libyan population can be highlighted with this quote from "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire", “At some point, you have to stop running and turn around and face whoever wants you dead.The hard thing is finding the courage to do it.” (-Katniss Everdeen). The Libyan population knew that it was time to fight for justice throughout the nation and to bring Gaddafi to his knees. It took 40 years for the people to find courage within other revolutions happening around them, but once the courage and hope was discovered, there was no stopping the rebellion against Gaddafi.
Enlightenment Ideas:
In 2011, the Libyan people openly revolted against the government lead by Muammar Al Gaddafi. Rebels used active violence with the help of defected Libyan military units. The people demonstrated hope and courage gained from witnessing the revolutions of their next-door neighbors in Egypt and Tunisia. Rebels and other Libyan revolutionaries practiced the ideas and writings of the famous John Locke (the English philosopher and physician). Locke is famous for writing and discussing topics that have to do with the right to rebel against authority for human rights such as liberty, freedom, and a right to property. By February 2011, the Libyans were ready to fight for these rights at all costs. Rebels used weapons and the aid of Libyan military forces to successfully overthrow Gaddafi.
The video below shows the journey of a journalist into the front lines of the revolution. (If you want to see some action, skip to 2:49 and to about 10:00 for some background stories on some of the rebels).