Andrew Solomon of The New Yorker details in this article the several failings of Moammar Qaddafi, currently the longest ruling leader in the Arab world, that have in recent days enabled Libyans to rise against him. One of many is the long-delayed promise of reforms delivered by one of Qaddafi's sons, Seif-al-Islam. Solomon recounts how he, along with a number of American diplomats, attended a meeting with Seif in 2005, who then, as now, promised those same reforms. As such, Solomon, as well as myself, find it hard to find credence in his promise more than five years later. Solomon seems to know a good deal about Libyan politics and how Qaddafi runs the country, so he has good ethos. Overall, I am persuaded that Qaddafi is losing Libya, seeing how he has ruled the country with an iron fist since Nixon was President.
Doesn't surprise me at all. By the time you get to the point where you're calling your own people "cockroaches" and threatening to kill all resistance the only power you have left is over the army (and how many protesters will they gun down before they start realizing they're on the wrong side.
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed that the author of that article needed to do any persuading at all given Mubarak's track record and current attitude.
I am not surprised at all about him losing his power. If you treat the people of your nation like s*** they will up rise against you. It is logical majority over rules even if there is a dictator involved.
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