Revolt. Rebellion. Revolution. These are powerful, emotive
words. Defining them can be tricky. One man’s “uprising” might be another man’s
“constitutional convention.”
Still, over the past 100 years the world may have seen over 150 major rebellions and revolutions, including around 20 in the Middle East
and North Africa. Many of these succeeded—particularly against foreign or
colonial rule. But internal, citizen-led constitutional efforts ousted just three
or four authoritarians. The picture changed throughout the Arab world in 2011,
especially in Libya.
Three years ago today, one of the world’s longest‑ruling autocrats
was killed at the peak of a civil war that raged for most of that year. Colonel
Muammar Gaddafi was assassinated in north‑central Libya, just miles from where
he was born in 1942. He believed himself to be the “brother leader” of Libya and the “guide of the [1969] revolution,”
which brought him to power, but nationals and foreigners widely saw him as a
military dictator.
After his death many Libyans had two feelings about their immediate
future: joy and uncertainty. To be sure, the opposition that arose against
Gaddafi was thrilled for its victory, as were many of his other political foes
at home and abroad. Since then, this coalition has been dangerously weak and
prone to disunity for at least three reasons.
First, with 42 years of marginalization and minimal training
in good federal governance, the new National Transitional Council (NTC) was
inexperienced at best. Some members came from their local “people’s committee,”
but these had little real power and had been monitored from Tripoli, the
capital. The NTC needed more than a brief period of national celebrations in
order to prepare Libya for its planned elections the following summer.
Second, Libya’s fiercely tribal society struggled to achieve
democratic reform. Lots of gun‑toting youths had already clashed lethally among
themselves in 2011, which boded poorly for domestic unity, let alone effective
international investment and diplomacy. Some of these warriors thought they
fought against Gaddafi in order to establish a liberal, secular country; others
wanted to adopt Islamic (Sharia) law; while still others spoke of dividing the
nation into multiple states.
Third, while the so‑called Arab Spring spread across the Middle
East, Islamist parties made gains in border countries like Tunisia and Egypt.
U.S. Admiral James Stavridis, NATO supreme allied commander in Europe, saw potential
“flickers”
of an Al‑Qaeda or Hezbollah presence among the Libyan rebels in March 2011, but
he also felt the leaders were “responsible men and women.”
Meanwhile, early positive developments took place in Libya
as well. The NTC said that it would pursue all murderers and lawless people around the
country, including those who sought revenge against Gaddafi‑loyalists. Moreover,
a friendly spirit existed toward the United States, the United Kingdom, and
France (which all aided the rebels in their war), and oil money had the
potential to attract lucrative business contracts—if international companies could feel secure.
For many valid reasons, few Americans ever had rosy thoughts
about Libya or its late “mad dog” leader, as President Ronald Reagan once
called Gaddafi. And of course the assassination of U.S. Ambassador Christopher
Stevens in Benghazi in 2012 helped nothing. Yet a revolution that is of, by,
and for the people—at least ostensibly—should be able to find a patient, if
cautious, friend in the United States. If it can, then perhaps America’s most
treasured values—freedom of assembly, press, speech, and religion—can genuinely
impact the new Libya.
Please pray for:
- Courage and integrity for
- Compassion and patience for the Libyan people.
- Salvation and freedom to spread across
- Wisdom for U.S. politicians and churches reaching out to Libya.
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(Originally published by The Presidential Prayer Team.)
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