Libya: Gaddafi and Our Moral Dilemma

1 November 2011
opinion

As many struggle to come to terms with the ouster and killing of Libya's colourful and controversial strongman, Muammar Gaddafi, the moral and ideological gymnastics never cease to amaze me.

He was a leader who did so much for his people (and for Africa), some insist, who was hounded out of power by the West for his defence of Libya and its oil and gas resources. The operation to remove him would not have succeeded without NATO's massive air attacks on his quite impressive arsenal, levelling the power balance and transforming his forces into a militia, just like his opponents once were. The European and American air bombardments went way beyond mere protection of Libya's civilian population, violated its sovereignty and set a bad precedence in entrenching "regime change" as a tool of foreign policy, the commentators insist.

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