( npr ) - Soldiers march during a graduation ceremony
for recruits of the Libyan army in Tripoli, the capital, on Jan. 16. The
military, gutted by years under Moammar Gadhafi and by NATO attacks,
faces multiple challenges as it tries to rebuild.
In Libya, disputes are settled by guns.
On a recent day, just west of Tripoli, the Libyan capital, gunfire erupts, a battle between two families. It builds for hours; people run for cover. No one intervenes — even though a Libyan army base is just a mile away.
Inside that military camp in a town called Zawiya are 230 young men from across the North African nation, part of the government effort to address the country's most glaring problem: an almost non-existent security force.
Three years since the fall of dictator Moammar Gadhafi, Libya remains in crisis, a country with a lot of oil but little security. Most areas are still under the loose control of local warlords and militias.
Building a real national military would help solve the problem. While world powers are trying to help with training and equipment, progress is proceeding at a glacial pace.
In part, that's because the Libyans are starting from scratch.
Gadhafi used to worry that the same force he had used to seize control of the country 45 years ago would ultimately overthrow him. So he gutted the army, which was degraded further by the NATO bombing campaign in 2011 that led to the toppling of his regime. And then weapon stockpiles were looted, sending a flood of guns and heavy weaponry all over Libya.
Looking at the army now, there's clearly something missing. There are many older officers, defectors from Gadhafi's army. There are recruits that are barely out of their teens. But there's no one in between.
The real force is in the dozens of militias scattered across the country.
During an interview at the chief of staff's office in Tripoli, spokesman Col. Ali al-Shekhi lays out the obstacles.
"The biggest challenge is the widespread diffusion of weapons," he says. "And there is not much unity so there are forces that have loyalty to the tribes or areas, and it is hard to break them up."
Since Gadhafi's death, security has been franchised out to the so-called revolutionaries who fought him. The government is paying them even as it tries to dismantle them. But the militias don't trust the authorities to share power.
Meanwhile, the militias' loyalties are divided. Some respond to the government, others to individual parliamentarians in the opposition. Some are loyal only to tribe, city and self.
It's not that Libya is a failed state, analysts and Libyan officials say, it's that the state still hasn't emerged.
The elected Congress has done little build a democracy from the ruins of a dictatorship. It was only last week that Libyans elected the committee that's supposed to write its constitution.
The government pays the militias out of fear, necessity and to keep some influence over them. But that hasn't stopped the armed groups from repeatedly bursting into the National Congress with guns and besieging ministries. in the fall, and the militia suspected of doing it is one of many actually on the government's payroll.
In Libya, disputes are settled by guns.
On a recent day, just west of Tripoli, the Libyan capital, gunfire erupts, a battle between two families. It builds for hours; people run for cover. No one intervenes — even though a Libyan army base is just a mile away.
Inside that military camp in a town called Zawiya are 230 young men from across the North African nation, part of the government effort to address the country's most glaring problem: an almost non-existent security force.
Three years since the fall of dictator Moammar Gadhafi, Libya remains in crisis, a country with a lot of oil but little security. Most areas are still under the loose control of local warlords and militias.
Building a real national military would help solve the problem. While world powers are trying to help with training and equipment, progress is proceeding at a glacial pace.
In part, that's because the Libyans are starting from scratch.
Gadhafi used to worry that the same force he had used to seize control of the country 45 years ago would ultimately overthrow him. So he gutted the army, which was degraded further by the NATO bombing campaign in 2011 that led to the toppling of his regime. And then weapon stockpiles were looted, sending a flood of guns and heavy weaponry all over Libya.
Looking at the army now, there's clearly something missing. There are many older officers, defectors from Gadhafi's army. There are recruits that are barely out of their teens. But there's no one in between.
The real force is in the dozens of militias scattered across the country.
During an interview at the chief of staff's office in Tripoli, spokesman Col. Ali al-Shekhi lays out the obstacles.
"The biggest challenge is the widespread diffusion of weapons," he says. "And there is not much unity so there are forces that have loyalty to the tribes or areas, and it is hard to break them up."
Since Gadhafi's death, security has been franchised out to the so-called revolutionaries who fought him. The government is paying them even as it tries to dismantle them. But the militias don't trust the authorities to share power.
Meanwhile, the militias' loyalties are divided. Some respond to the government, others to individual parliamentarians in the opposition. Some are loyal only to tribe, city and self.
It's not that Libya is a failed state, analysts and Libyan officials say, it's that the state still hasn't emerged.
The elected Congress has done little build a democracy from the ruins of a dictatorship. It was only last week that Libyans elected the committee that's supposed to write its constitution.
The government pays the militias out of fear, necessity and to keep some influence over them. But that hasn't stopped the armed groups from repeatedly bursting into the National Congress with guns and besieging ministries. in the fall, and the militia suspected of doing it is one of many actually on the government's payroll.
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