“We will fight for our freedom, and we are ready to sacrifice ourselves.”
“It is a historic moment. It is the end of tyranny and dictatorship. Qaddafi has met his fate.”
Abdel Havez Ghoga, National Transition Council Spokesman
Freedom. Tyranny. Fate.
Libyans took to the streets in celebration last Thursday as the news of Muammar Qaddafi’s fatefully violent death spread throughout the air waves. People cheered in the streets in celebration of this historic event that many claim has brought freedom and an end to tyranny in Libya.
We know the fate of Qaddafi, but we don’t yet know the fate of Libya. The chapter on Qaddafi’s freedom to rule through tyranny and violence has ended, and Libya’s next chapter has begun.
We should pause and reflect on how Libya arrived at this moment. The battle for Libya began last February, on what was called “The Day of Rage.” Of course, there was good reason for rage and protest in Libya; Qaddafi’s government ruled with an iron fist, was politically and economically corrupt, and supported terrorism throughout the world, including terrorism against his fellow Libyans. Eight months after “The Day of Rage,” Qaddafi was found by rebels hiding in a large drainage pipe, tortured, and then murdered. Video proof of those events are apparently available for viewing online. Pictures of Qaddafi’s bloody face are ubiquitous on the Internet. In researching the topic, I’ve accidentally stumbled across those ghastly images.
Presently, many are now asking if Qaddafi’s murder was just. The Chairman of the Transitional National Council of Libya, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, announced yesterday that, because of demands from the international community, a “commission of inquiry into the death of Colonel Qaddafi” would be formed.
I’m not sure who in the international community is demanding such an inquiry, but I wonder if that demand might be hypocritical. Libya is in this position now largely because of the international community. The UN, France, Britain, and the US all supported and participated in the violence against Qaddafi and his regime. Thus, the solution that the international community provided to the violence of Qaddafi’s rule was … violence.
Of course. Because that’s the way violence works. In the words of Andrew McKenna, we cannot control violence, violence controls us. We celebrate our violence and we demand the “freedom” to use it. Qaddafi demanded that “freedom.” Libyan rebels demanded that “freedom.” The international community demanded that “freedom.” But the truth is that we are enslaved to violence. We cannot control it. It controls us.
And so, Libya starts a new chapter in its history. That chapter starts like nearly every other chapter in world history: it starts with violence.
So, what is the fate of Libya?
That chapter will soon be written. But if Libya’s story is consistent with world history, “freedom” will continue in the form of slavery to violence. Libya is not alone in that fate. The international community stands with Libya in our enslavement to violence.
We do have a choice, of course. We don't have to be enslaved to violence. We are free to choose the way of nonviolence, love, and forgiveness. That freedom is within our power.
