Proving that Saif Al-Islam is in fact his son, Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi delivered a rambling and menacing diatribe of his own on Tuesday, making the one Seif delivered on Sunday seem like President Abraham Lincoln’s lucid and ennobling Gettysburg Address by comparison.
More to the point, though, I got the eerie impression that Gaddafi was channeling the last speech Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak delivered before his fall. Like Mubarak, he came across like an indignant parent scolding his unruly and ungrateful children. He spoke of all of the heroic sacrifices he made to bring glory to Libya and heaped scorn on the protesters for seeking to overthrow what he remains convinced is his benign 41-year dictatorship.
Still, here is how I warned that Gaddafi was bound and determined to distinguish himself from Mubarak and Tunisia’s fallen dictator, Zine Al-Abidine (Ben Ali):
Gaddafi may yet distinguish himself from these two fallen dictators by actually prevailing upon his military to open fire on fellow Libyans.
(Now Libya, The iPINIONS Journal, February 22, 2011)
And sure enough, he spent most of his 75 minutes not just spewing vile contempt at the very thought that he too would cut and run, but also threatening to unleash his military and die-hard supporters to show the proper way to squash a democratic “rebellion.”
More ominously, however, he vowed that he would fight to the death to hold on to power:
I have not yet ordered the use of force, not yet ordered one bullet to be fired … when I do, everything will burn…
You men and women who love Gaddafi … get out of your homes and fill the streets. Leave your homes and attack them in their lairs… Starting tomorrow the cordons will be lifted, go out and fight them…
I am a fighter, a revolutionary from tents… I will die as a martyr at the end… I will fight on to the last drop of my blood.
(Reuters, February 22, 2011)
Of course, he is probably resigned to this fate because he knows that the only country that would accept him in exile at this point is Zimbabwe. But I digress.
On the one hand, he blamed the uprising against his regime on foreign agitators who turned a few Libyan kids into “drug-fueled mice” scurrying about in the middle of the night, trying to imitate Tunisian and Egyptian protesters. On the other hand, he blamed it on al-Qaeda sympathizers who want to turn Libya into an Islamist (Taliban-inspired) haven.
But his genocidal rage was on full display when he began flipping through his Green Book, which he clearly fashioned on the infamous Code of Hamurabi, citing all of the laws the protesters – who he also called “cockroaches” – had broken and decreeing in each case that, for their crimes, they shall be put to death.
All indications are that, even as he spoke, Gaddafi had already given orders for his mercenaries to exact unspeakable vengeance on the protesters, ordering them to “cleanse Libya house by house.”
However, he seemed maniacally oblivious to the fact that protesters were systematically seizing control of the county; and that they were being aided in this by many army and government defectors, including his own minister of the interior. Actually, the analogy to Adolf Hitler hunkered down in his Führerbunker during his last days seems apt.
No doubt many will continue to kill in Gaddafi’s name. But the only question that remains is whether he will take the coward’s way out like Hitler or be shot and hung up for public display like Mussolini.
As for his notorious sons (all seven of them), some will probably end up like Saddam’s. But those who survive will be more reviled than Madoff’s and similarly hounded for every cent they have to their names. Not to mention being prosecuted as accessories for every crime against humanity their father committed.
Meanwhile, it’s a measure of how much of a pariah Gaddafi has become in the international community that not even the oil-hoarding and amoral Chinese are coming to his defense. In fact, President Obama duly noted yesterday that every regional and international organization, including the African Union and Arab League, have joined in condemning Gaddafi.
But what I wrote in this respect after his son’s speech bears repeating here:
I wish the brave Libyan freedom fighters well. They have clearly broken that psychological barrier of fear that fuels revolutions.
But Allah help them if they are looking to the UN or even the U.S. to save them from Gaddafi’s genocidal wrath. Because it is patently clear that no foreign country is going to lift a finger to stop him. And political and economic sanctions won’t do a damn thing for democratic freedom fighters who have already been slaughtered.
(Now Libya, The iPINIONS Journal, February 22, 2011)
To be fair, though, there really is nothing the U.S. or any other country can (or is willing to) do to stop the killing – since no country will sacrifice the lives of its soldiers to liberate Libya: it doesn’t have that much oil; and the debacle of Somalia remains an open and inhibiting military wound. In any event, it’s worth remembering that, notwithstanding recent trends, revolutions are more often than not very messy and bloody affairs.
So when you hear blowhard politicians and commentators (aka arm-chair generals) barking orders for the president to “get tough with Libya,” just bear in mind that they are spewing theoretical rubbish. Hell, the military is having a hard enough time trying to evacuate U.S. citizens from this civil-war zone. And, for the record, the only way Obama can be more forceful in condemning Gaddafi is to start hurling profanities at him.
NOTE: As newsworthy as the democratic protests spreading throughout the Arab World are, I see no point in commenting on them any further – except to duly herald the fall of another regional despot.
Apropos of this, the Saudis have announced a $36-billion package of pay rises and additional welfare benefits and the Chinese have put their security forces on red alert to keep a lid on simmering protests in their respective countries.
Related commentaries:
Now Libya…
Legacy Note: With over 5,600 posts spanning 20 years, I am easily the most prolific blogger on the most eclectic array of topics on the web. That makes The iPINIONS Journal an unparalleled archive of informed political and cultural commentary. Visit the ARCHIVES section in the sidebar or search by topic. You won’t find a more consistent, independent voice on world affairs.