Category Archives: Libya

Arab Politics, Arab Revolutions, Egypt, Libya, North Africa, Syria

From Libya to Syria: Tribes and Sects with One Flag…………

 

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“Tribal leaders and militia commanders in oil-rich eastern Libya have declared their intention to seek semi-autonomy, raising fears that the country might disintegrate following the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC), the interim central government based in the capital Tripoli, has repeatedly voiced its opposition to the creation of a partly autonomous eastern region, warning it could eventually lead to the break-up of the North African nation. Thousands of representatives of major tribal leaders, militia commanders and politicians made the declaration on Tuesday in a ceremony held in the eastern city of Benghazi. They vowed to end decades of marginalisation under Gaddafi and named a council to run the affairs of the newly created region, extending from the central coastal city of Sirte to the Egyptian border in the east. Al Jazeera’s Nicole Johnston, reporting from the capital Tripoli, said the announcement was only the beginning of a process………...”

That is what happens when the façade of ‘nationhood’ that Qaddafi violently maintained collapses. Yet oil, petroleum, is the one item most likely to keep Libya from breaking apart now.
Most Arab states are basically a balance of tribal, ethnic, and sectarian interests. Egypt is famously the one exception. Egypt is not a tribal society and it has historically accepted a multi-ethnic culture (contrary to common belief, Egyptian people have roots from all around the Mediterranean and the rest of the Middle East). The Christian Copts were never an “issue” until the Mubarak regime started to dismantle the secular state that was initiated in the days of Mohammed Ali (Pasha not Clay). Egyptian Jews were not an “issue” until after the first Palestine War of 1948 (what Arabs call the Nakba, catastrophe, and Jews call Israel’s War of Independence). In Egypt, Shi’as are a tiny minority that the Mubarak regime magnified and built up into an illusory threat, no doubt under Saudi Wahhabi pressure. Now, with the political system of Egypt Islamized, with the Salafis effectively sharing parliamentary power with the Muslim Brotherhood, all bets are off.
 
In Syria also sectarian, tribal, and ethnic divisions are coming out into the open. Except Syria has more of these divisions, deeper divisions, longer suppressed than either Libya or Egypt. And Syria has been under the Ba’athist rule since 1963, under effective Ba’athist ideological political influence since the late 1940s. A very long period of the denial of divisions, of sweeping things under the rug. And Syria is surrounded by states that perceive their own national interests in Syria, and they are beginning to interfere and intervene.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Arabian Peninsula, GCC, Libya, Persian-American Gulf, Saudi Arabia, US Foreign Policy

Libya and the GCC: a Garbled Speech, a King’s Urge to Merge……….

 

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The late Muammar Qaddafi was famous for his ‘urge to merge’ with nations (as well as with women). He tried merging Libya with Egypt, Tunis, Chad, Algeria, Morocco and other assorted African states. Qaddafi became a legendary advocate of Arab mergers, before he gave up on Arabs and faced the rest of Africa. Saudi kings and princes normally have restricted their ‘urge to merge’ to women, multiple wives among others. But nowadays they are getting into the political side of ‘merging’ as well.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, in another one of his unintelligible speeches a couple of weeks ago, again brought up the issue of a “confederation” or “union” among the Gulf GCC nations. Hard to believe that Arabic, one of the most beautiful languages, originated from the same place as these barely intelligible princes. Jordan and Morocco have not even joined the GCC yet, at the invitation of Saudi King Abdullah. But the princes are now distracted, they have other plans.
Saudi officials and media of course have started now to echo the king. They are saturating their vast outlets with calls for more “integration”. Their agents and trolls are all over the internet encouraging it. True to form, Wahhabi faux-liberal media and tribal academics in one or two Gulf states, and the Salafi fifth column in one or two Gulf states, have taken their cue and are treating the king’s speech as the equivalent of the Sermon on the Mount. They are pushing for Saudi hegemony over the GCC nations through this half-baked “confederation” idea.
Bad idea. But I shall have more on this, and soon.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Revolutions, Libya, North Africa

Libya at a Crossroad………

    

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“The parade continues in Omar Mukhtar Street a few hundred metres away; there’s a toy shop in the street, and a family is hunting for something suitable for their child in among the pink tricycles and the shiny scooters, without even noticing the parade of weapons going by – that’s daily life in Tripoli. The ruling transitional council has banned firing into the air, but nobody takes any notice of that. They’re firing out of all barrels, with their Kalashnikovs, even with the anti-aircraft guns. It’s a clear message for the transitional council: many of the rebels don’t come from Tripoli, but from Zintan or Misrata. They’re showing their military muscle, to underline the fact that the country’s new rulers will have to take their interests into account as well.. The balance of power in Libya is fragile, and it’s partly based on who has the most firepower. Power in Libya these days is a limited commodity………..”

At least now a plurality of political opinions can be expressed in Libya, something unthinkable under Qaddafi. But they also have a plurality of armed groups with ‘shadowy’ loyalties. Now, can they switch from the guns to the ballot box? I have some doubts about that; the central government doesn’t look very ‘central’. I also suspect that many exiled Libyans who can help rebuild are remaining in exile; that tells me something.
Cheers
mhg


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Libya, Middle East Women, North Africa, Polygamy

Et Dieu… créa la femme: Colonel Qaddafi Playing Sigmund Freud……..

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Green Book: “It is an undisputed fact that both man and woman are human beings. It follows, as a self-evident fact, that woman and man are equal as human beings. Discrimination against woman by man is a flagrant act of oppression without justification for woman eats and drinks as man eats and drinks; woman loves and hates as man loves and hates; woman thinks, learns and comprehends as man thinks, learns and comprehends. Woman, like man, needs shelter, clothing, and transportation; woman feels hunger and thirst as man feels hunger and thirst; woman lives and dies as man lives and dies. But why are there men and women? Human society is composed neither of men alone nor of women alone. It is made up naturally of men and women. Why were not only men created? Why were not only women created? After all, what is the difference between men and women or man and woman? Why was it necessary to create men and women? There must be a natural necessity……..”

I bet there is a “natural necessity”; in fact there are at least two, or three.
No doubt the colonel had women issues: his female guards, his hitting on female Western journalists, his alleged obsession with HIV risks, among other things. But then, which male isn’t? Yet he seemed more obsessed about women ‘issues” than a typical leader (which he was not).
Come to think of it, Qaddafi had many fewer children than, say, rulers of a certain large Arab Democratic People’s Kingdom who usually have tens of offspring from tens of women (often recycled, of course).

Cheers
mhg


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Arab League, Arab Politics, Humor, Libya, North Africa

Servant of Two Cities: Colonel Qaddafi on Tribes and Nations and Loyalties and WTF else……..

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In his Green Book, Colonel Muammar Qaddafi had some interesting ideas about the role of the tribe in (Arab) society. Remember, he needed the tribes to be with him. His idea of the primacy of the tribe and its role in society would fit in nicely with those of the ruling oligarchs, and many people, of the Gulf GCC states. I am not sure why he claimed he was any different. He could have declared himself king, like the shaikh of Bahrain and given himself the title of Custodian (or Servant or Janitor) of the Two Unholy Cities (Tripoli and Benghazi). Nobody would have dared rise against him.  He could have established his own gaggle of tame Muftis in Bab al-Azizia to justify whatever he did, like other Arab potentates have done.

Green Book: “In the social sense, the familial society is better than that of the tribe, the tribal society is better than that of the nation, and the society of the nation is better than world society with respect to fellowship, affection, solidarity and benefits. Since the tribe is a large family, it provides its members with much the same material benefits and social advantages that the family provides for its members, for the tribe is a secondary family. What must be emphasized is that, in the context of the tribe, an individual might indulge himself in an uncouth manner, something which he would not do within the family. However, because of the smallness in size of the family, immediate supervision is not exercised, unlike the tribe whose members continually feel that they are under its supervision. In view of these considerations, the tribe forms a behaviour pattern for its members, developing into a social education which is better and more noble than any school education. The tribe is a social school where its members are raised to absorb the high ideals which develop into a behaviour pattern for life. These become automatically rooted as the human being grows, unlike classroom education with its curricula – formally dictated and gradually lost with the growth of the individual. This is so because it is formal and compulsory and because the individual is aware of the fact that it is dictated to him. The tribe is a natural social “umbrella” for social security. By virtue of social tribal traditions, the tribe provides for its members collective protection in the form of fines, revenge and defence; namely, social protection. Blood is the prime factor in the formation of the tribe…..………..”

The colonel didn’t need to take so long to reach his point, wtf that was. He makes some common sense on some of the points. That is one thing about Colonel Qaddafi that was interesting: there are nuggets, nay gems, in the middle of the cacophony. That is what distinguished him from other Arab dictators and absolute kings: one never knew what he would say next. As a result, he was never boring to listen to, unlike all other Arab leaders (post-Nasser), who are always boring because we always know what they are going to say, which is nothing.
Cheers
mhg



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Arab Politics, Libya, Saudi Arabia, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

The Late Qaddafi and the GOP: Arab Referendums and Plebiscites, American Primaries……..

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“Plebiscites are a fraud against democracy. Those who vote “yes” or “no” do not, in fact, express their free will but, rather, are silenced by the modern conception of democracy as they are not allowed to say more than “yes” or “no”. Such a system is oppressive and tyrannical. Those who vote “no” should express their reasons and why they did not say “yes”, and those who say “yes” should verify such agreement and why they did not vote “no”. Both should state their wishes and be able to justify their “yes” or “no” vote…………”

“Not allowed to say more than “yes” or “no”…“ I guess he suggests a resounding “maybe” as a third option.
More seriously, the late Colonel Qaddafi here aims directly at the heart of the Arab phony election system. From North Africa through Egypt to Syria and Ba’athist Iraq and Yemen, they all forced the people to vote in referendums, plebiscites, rather than elections. One candidate only: and a voter was supposed to vote “yes or no”. Suppose a majority voted no? Would they have to start a new vote with a new single candidate?
 
Qaddafi never allowed referendums on his rule (as far as I know), which might somehow make him more honest than his fellow Arab leaders. He was as honest as the Saudi princes, who never pretend that they have elections or freedom or a civil society. Unlike the late Qaddafi, the princes never agonized over it in a Green Book either, which might make them slightly more honest than the colonel.

(I wonder what Qaddafi would have thought of these Republican caucuses and primaries. They are not real elections: they never ‘elect’ anyone for any position or office. Mr. Obama, being a sitting president will not contest elections to be renominated: he will be renominated in a referendum. That is something Colonel Qaddafi would have never condoned).
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Revolutions, Human Right, Libya, U.S. Congress, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy, WTF

Colonel Qaddafi on Free Speech and Insanity: Green Book and the U.S. Supreme Court………

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The Late Mua’mmar Qaddafi: “An individual has the right to express himself or herself even if he or she behaves irrationally to demonstrate his or her insanity. Corporate bodies too have the right to express their corporate identity. The former represent only themselves and the latter represent those who share their corporate identity………”

Mitt Romney: “Corporations are people too, my friend.”(Romney being warm and fuzzy in a way on a Republican politician knows how).

I was intrigued by Qaddafi’s assertion about a ‘corporation’ having the right to express itself. The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court must have read the Colonel’s Green Book before they ruled the very same thing exactly two years ago. The Supremes referred to the First Amendment to hand the 2010 U.S. midterm elections to corporate money and to the Tea Party wing of the GOP.
As for the part about ‘freedom to express’ one’s insanity: that also makes me wonder if most of these Republican presidential candidates have read Qaddafi’s Green Book on this very topic. I mean some of them talk during their debates as if they are no saner than Colonel Qaddafi was. Yet the colonel was much more amusing than, say Gingrich or Romney. Perhaps not as amusing as Rick Santorum, but close, whose name may be misinterpreted by the ignorant to mean that he is too sane for his own good..

Cheers
mhg


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Arab League, Arab Politics, Libya, Saudi Arabia, U.S. Congress

The Late Qaddafi on Arab Parliaments and 112th U.S. Congress………..

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“Parliament is a misrepresentation of the people, and parliamentary systems are a false solution to the problem of democracy. A parliament is originally founded to represent the people, but this in itself is undemocratic as democracy means the authority of the people and not an authority acting on their behalf. The mere existence of a parliament means the absence of the people. True democracy exists only through the direct participation of the people, and not through the activity of their representatives. Parliaments have been a legal barrier between the people and the exercise of authority, excluding the masses from meaningful politics and monopolizing sovereignty in their place. People are left with only a facade of democracy, manifested in long queues to cast their election ballots. To lay bare the character of parliaments, one has to examine their origin. They are either elected from constituencies, a party, or a coalition of parties, or are appointed. But all of these procedures are undemocratic, for dividing the population into constituencies means that one member of parliament represents thousands, hundreds of thousands, or millions of people, depending on the size of the population. It also means that a member keeps few popular organizational links with the electors since he, like other members, is considered a representative of the whole people. This is what the prevailing traditional democracy requires. The masses are completely isolated from the representative and he, in turn, is totally removed from them………..”

Also sprach the late colonel Mu’ammar Qaddafi in his Green Book. For a moment I thought Colonel Qaddafi was referring to the 112th United States Congress. Amid all the gibberish, there are some possible nuggets in there. Oddly, though, his assertion that: “Parliament is a misrepresentation of the people, and parliamentary systems are a false solution to the problem of democracy….” is not uncommon in some Arab states, especially among the ruling oligarchs.
No doubt his Salafi foes strongly agree with his disdain for electoral democracy. No doubt his other foes, the top Saudi princes, believe in what Qaddafi said in the excerpted quote. In fact some of them have said exactly the very same thing in the past, as have columnists in their semi-official media. Other Arab leaders also believe what the colonel said, otherwise they wouldn’t go out of their way to either prevent the election of a parliament or subvert it to a rubber-stamp assembly.
They all try to get the parliaments, whenever they exist, closer to the people either by appointing members directly by the rulers (Saudi Arabia, UAE, most of Bahrain’s) or by helping along in deciding who gets elected. Maybe the late Colonel Qaddafi was, after all, speaking for the Arab League.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Politics, Arab Revolutions, Libya, NATO

New Liberated Libya Receives Absolute Wanted Dictator of Sudan, about Bernard-Henri Lévy…….…

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“Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir met with top Libyan officials in the capital, Tripoli, on Saturday during his first visit to the country since rebels armed with Sudanese help ousted Moammar Gadhafi last year. The visit could herald closer ties between the two nations after years of deteriorating relations under Gadhafi. Sudan had accused Gadhafi of supporting rebels fighting the Sudanese government in the western Darfur region, and al-Bashir openly supported Libyan rebels in the 2011 uprising, giving them weapons and money. Following lunch with al-Bashir at an upscale Tripoli hotel, Libyan Prime Minister Abdurrahim el-Keib said he considered the Sudanese leader among Libya’s friends. Some, however, pointed out the irony of a government founded by rebels who overthrew one autocrat warmly welcoming another……….”

Okay, the former late evil dictator Qaddafi was supporting the Darfur rebels against the regime in Khartoum. Now his NATO-liberated successors are feting the very same Khartoum regime.
French pop-philosopher and occasional thinker Bernard–Henri Lévy is given credit, or is taking credit, for the liberation of Libya by the West. The Liberation of Libya by the West was much easier than the liberation of Iraq by the West. He has practically promised that the New Libya will be kosher (speaking democratically). Yet one of the first leaders the new regime in Tripoli receives is a dictator wanted by the Interpol. Maybe Omar al-Bashir has made his own peace with the “international community”, aka the West, because we read nothing about trying to bring him to justice. But what is the price?

Al-Bashir, in power for over 25 years, has offered to help Libya create a new army out of the various militias.…. Oy vey, as they never say in Riyadh or Doha (not unless they convert from Wahhabism to something else).
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, Cairo, Egypt, Libya, NATO, Salafi, Syria

Western Liberation of Arabs from Iraq to Libya to Syria: Allenby back in Egypt?………….

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The West and Arab liberation:

  • Having “liberated” the Arabs (only briefly) from the Ottoman Turks in 1918 with help from the Hashemites of Hijaz (the al-Saud were an unknown clan in their tribal corner of remote Nejd),
  • Having recently liberated Iraq and Libya from their dictators, with Arab cooperation,
  • Being already poised to liberate Syria from its dictator, with eager encouragement from some Syrian “opposition” leaders who forget their own country’s history with the Western ‘liberators’,
  • (WTF moment): even the fucking Salafis of  the Persian-American Gulf, who hate the West probably more than they hate other creatures like Shi’as and Jews and Christians and secularists, are calling for Western liberation of Syria
  • Will the West (as in NATO) be ready to liberate Egypt and Yemen and Bahrain now?
  • The regime in Egypt has gone back to the mass killing business in earnest. Scores were killed at Maspiro, then tens this past weekend, and many in between, Then there are the arrests and the use of near-lethal crowd control. Egypt is going back to killings on the level of Syria. In Bahrain the rulers and their al-Saud masters have been killing people, arresting and sentencing others, even as they try to fool the international media with talk of reform and reconciliation. The same goes on in Yemen even with the funny GCC deal.
  • Will “Allenby” come back, marching into Cairo and other places like he did before?

Cheers
mhg


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