My memory of Col.
Muammar Gaddafi was that of a Libyan revolutionary and socialist
politician who does not beat around the bush, telling it straight to
your face and of course such attitude can be perceived by some as
dictatorial.
If I look around Africa Continent, the closest to Col. Gaddafi is
late Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana who identified that African Continent is
partially free politically and most definitely not economically and that
Africans need to “emancipate itself from mental slavery and that none
but ourselves can free our mind” (Pan-African).
Some of my readers may wonder why the comparison of Gaddafi and
Nkrumah? It was what they stood for and not who they are and by that I
mean they stood for the unity of Africa as a continent through economic
empowerment such as increased trades between countries in the continent
as well as political and technological cooperation.
Gaddafi focused on key areas that can help prolong average life span
of Libyans such as good road network; good healthcare facilities,
better housing so that Libyans will not sleep rough, and he eliminated
poverty focusing on those Libyans who are unable to work due to
disability or ill health.
Gaddafi’s effort to stabilise Libya by bringing all different tribes
together and also working with poverty-stricken West African nations
did not gain popularity in the West (news blackout) because it was
distorting their (West) plan for Africa and Middle East, hence
incitement of tribal unrest and counter coup in Libya in the past.
They (West) use their propaganda machine (Western Media) to turn
Gaddafi into Mr. Jekyll and Hyde (man with two faces) in the eyes of his
neighbours as well as around the world portraying him (Gaddafi) as a
tyrant/dictator/terrorist hated by his own people and the world over.
In their “War against Terrorism,” they finally succeeded to get
behind Gaddafi’s skin particularly after 9/11 because he started working
with them behind the scenes hence made him more enemies than friends
within the Arab community because he allowed them (West) access to Libya
and its facilities (marking the beginning of his downfall).
However, the financial and technical cooperation enjoyed by many
West African countries under the regime of Gaddafi must be acknowledged,
- countries such as Sierra Leone, Guinea-Conakry, Chad, Niger, Mali,
Senegal, and Burkina Faso - because it shows the other side of Gaddafi
that the world did not see.
The West also enjoyed financial support from him and his family and
without a doubt it was a subject on the lips of many European and West
African leaders, either they like it or not, and there were individuals
who had benefited from different educational funds he supported around
the world.
I was fortunate to know Libyans from Benghazi and Tripoli who
acknowledged that the regime of Gaddafi gave them the chance to be true
Libyans because they had peace and were able to move freely as a citizen
without fear - unlike now after his demise.
The awakening that gripped Tunisia and Egypt was to the West’s
detriment but perfect timing to incite regime change in Libya, because
they already had their agents on the ground in Libya, making it easy for
them to hijack the awakening and turning it into regime change in
Libya.
The people of Benghazi under the supervision of the West seemed to
be ideal to start the revolution for regime change; after all they had
an old score to settle with Gaddafi even though majority from that part
of the nation could vouch for political, economic and social peace
enjoyed under Gaddafi and even Gaddafi had a home in Benghazi.
Some Western countries feared that allowing Gaddafi to continue as
Libyan leader meant they had a lot to lose and one of such fears was
over their financial indebtedness to Gaddafi, his family and people of
Libya because repaying this money could deal a bigger blow to their own
economy.
Also, deposing him would leave a power vacuum considering the
volatile tribal division in Libya and an opportunity for them to have a
say in Libya’s oil distribution network, which would in turn help
sustain their businesses and economy through the period of Western
economic crunch.
Like the situation with Mali, France took the lead and of course
there was more than just political undertone for former French
president’s involvement in Libya, some of which came out in French press
while others did not make it to the print (News blackout?).
It was obvious that Gaddafi had made many enemies in the Middle
East, hence not much support came from that direction to help bring
political solution, and of course Gaddafi had himself to blame because
becoming Mr. Jekyll and Hyde for the West always end in regret.
In the heat of it all, even Libya’s strong ally, Russia, could not
do much to resuscitate his government because by this time there had
been promises and counter promises made to Gaddafi’s aides who were
breaking ranks more than he anticipated and Western media were splashing
news of defection daily, hence his regime was doomed.
Gaddafi losing grip on power was a combination of many factors,
amongst which was his close ties forged with West during Iraq war when
he allowed Libya to be used strategically against al-Qaeda, and by
conniving with the West he carved enemies for himself within the Arab
community, hence West collaborating to oust him seemed imminent because
he lacked popular support.
The Western media news blackout on turn of events during the Libya
revolution and news propaganda about atrocities purported to have been
committed by Gaddafi’s supporters did not favour him, hence common
conversation in public places around the world was that he must go.
Africa may not have a voice, but comparing news heard
from mainstream Western media and online news from Press TV and others
like it, it was obvious that the continent is well aware of the Western
double standard, hence factual reporting by Press TV during Libya
revolution form one of the reasons for a Western coup against the
network.
Africa and the Middle East have been creating awareness in the mind
of their younger generations that there is double standard in news
reporting by the Western media, and one of the ways to identify
existence of such double standard is for this younger audience to
compare online reporting with mainstream Western media before forming
opinion.
The Western leaders censor Western media to only report news they
want the world to hear and Western media knows how to put it across
nations of the earth fancifully and convincingly with no regards for
psychological damage to listeners, and those networks that did not join
the bandwagon suffered a witch hunt.
Gaddafi was a victim of such Western news propaganda and spreading
lies is a continuous process of reporting by Western media and most
recent is the reporting by a Western media showing a picture of mass
killings to have been carried out by Syrian soldiers, but it was later
proved to be untrue because picture from previous reporting were used.
People from Africa and the Middle East are more aware now that
accusation made by the West against activities of leaders or nations may
be untrue, hence they now use news comparison for verification before
forming opinion.
The Western media have lost its popularity amongst many
individuals from Africa and the Middle East, because it has become
apparent that Western media through its satellite channels has been
feeding them with propaganda and lies, hence they are switching from
mainstream satellite stations onto the Internet for latest news and
update.
Press TV’s true news reporting have placed the network on the wrong
side of Western leaders, and witch hunting against the news network is a
further conviction that the Western leaders through media have been
feeding the people of the world with propaganda far too long.
It is ironic to see that Gaddafi, who was a dictator/tyrant hated by
his people, could lend money to Western nations and yet they did not
refuse to accept the money neither did they decline to use Libya as a
base to torture individuals accused of terrorism.
Muammar Gaddafi is dead. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is incarcerated,
hence another news blackout on the real truth behind why the West sped
up regime change in Libya using military force and under the disguise of
the United Nation Security Council.
The West claimed that Libya is now a free nation with peace and
stability after Gaddafi’s death, but there is no stable unity government
that includes all tribes in Libya and moreover the United State suffers
its first casualty in Libya in 2012.
Libya has been politically volatile since the awakening and while
Western media only touch on it after the death of the US diplomat, Press
TV never stops reporting.
Press TV.
