Libya, A World In Decay

Riots and looting have been going on for the past few days in Libya. There have been reports of at least 300 - 1,000 dead. The protestors have been calling for the ouster of the entire Qaddafi family, although one of the sons of Muammer el-Qaddafi, Seif el-Qaddafi had been known as a good candidate for control of the country before the recent events. Seif el-Qaddafi stated that the country needed to get behind his father or there would be a bloody civil war. The other sons have been known as spending their large amounts of oil money on pointless expenses like having famous singers such as Beyonce, Usher, and Mariah Carey sing at their parties. The riots against their empire have led to hundreds if not thousands of deaths from the leader’s mercenaries.

The mercenaries that are employed by Muammer el-Qaddafi are likely veterans of wars in Africa. These loosely bound bands of thugs have been the ones committing the murders of hundreds for the most part. The military and air force have been declining to shoot upon civilians against the orders of Muammer el-Qaddafi. Some branches have even started to help the protestors, partially because the branches are set upon tribal lines and the tribes that have helped have been against the ruling tribe. The defections and massive riots are leading up to a scheduled protest on Friday February 25^th, not to mention that several cities have already fallen to the rebels.

Many nations around the world have started to evacuate their citizens from Libya. Turkey has been doing the most work in this regard because it has already evacuated over 5,000 people. The U.S. has a ferry that is stuck in Tripoli and has been trying to evacuate its citizens as well as offering assistance to Brazil. The high winds have made the oceans currently impossible to navigate for the U.S.’s ferry though. Obama also issued a statement condemning the use of violence in Libya and stating that there should be a united decision on what to do. Hillary Clinton also mentioned that “everything will be on the table”. For now Qaddafi has bunkered down in the capital and has started to have tanks roll in. Only time will tell how this all ends up, but it may very well be the third revolution in months.