Image by stevendepolo via Flickr
Ding dong Gadaffis dead, and like a scene from a James Bond movie, the golden gun is held in triumph by a brave teenager. Thats what it was, it had to have been a movie; because the moment i acknowledge that this is real life, I am forced to realise that i just watched a man get murdered on live TV.
Most of us have followed the Gadaffi story in one way or another, and it couldn’t have arrived at a more dramatic ending. According to reports Gadaffi was seen escaping from Sirte in a convoy of about 100 cars. NATO fired at the convey, killing a few but only managing to wound Gadaffi in the process. He tried to hide in a concrete sewer, but he was spotted by the rebels and dragged out into the streets. Beaten within an inch of his life a blood covered Gadaffi was paraded around Misrata. He was eventually shot twice; one bullet to the head and the other to the stomach.
You would expect that such a sequence of events would be met with an out cry of humanitarians and human rights activists, but on this day there were only cries of victory and celebration. British Prime Minister David Cameron was eager to remind the world of his support with words like “I’m proud of the role that Britain has played in helping them to bring that about, and i pay tribute to the bravery of the Libyans who have helped to liberate their country”. We’re still in the movie by the way; because in the real world that sounds like he’s saying he’s proud of the role he played in beating a man within an inch of his life, and executing him in cold blood.
It doesn’t take a detective to see where this is going. Somewhere along a subtle line we have found a number of reasons when it became okay to kill, particularly in the name of democracy. So anyone who is labelled as ‘anti-democratic’ runs the risk of being murdered on live TV, while the rest of us celebrate.
I found it interesting when Cameron said “It is a day to remember all of Colonel Gadaffi’s victims’. I cant help but wonder if it was also a day to remember all the innocent Libyans that were killed by NATO; but i guess they were just casualties of war so they aren’t really worth being remembered.
I waited a while before making any comments on Gadaffis death. Admittedly it was a mixture of procrastination and waiting to see what would happen once the dust settled a bit. My wait was far from disappointing.
As it turns out, Britain alone spent £1.75 billion in the 7 month period that the war in Libya took place. During this time VAT, tuition fees, and the general cost of living escalated dramatically, not to mention a riot that took place which demonstrated the current mindset of the people within England. I am not entirely sure what i find more disturbing, the fact that the amount spent on the war was 8 times more than we were told, or the notion that my salary is being taxed so that the British government can buy a few more bullets.
The story didn’t end there. Tory Daniel Kawczynski, Chairman of the all party group for Libya, said that “the country should use its vast oil wealth to reimburse Britain for saving thousands of lives”. You might have noticed we’ve gone back to the film again; because in the real world it sounds like he’s asking for 1 Billion pounds from a country that just spent the last few months being bombed to pieces; by Britain. I suppose Libya should also reimburse the United States, France, Italy and the rest of the NATO crew for their ‘humanitarian assistance’ as well.
If there was any doubt in my mind about the true motives behind the war in Libya, my concerns during the aftermath have certainly been put to rest. I find it particularly interesting that one of the reasons why Osama Bin Laden’s photographs were not released to the public was because of their graphic nature. After taking a look at what the media has shown of Gaddifis death, i cant help but notice the double standards involved. Ofcourse there is also the question of why Gaddaffi was not taken to court and tried for his crimes as was done with Saddam.
Noticeably these thoughts were only voiced out by countries that are not considered to be ‘allys’ of the United States. In Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quick to point out that the killing of Gadaffi was in breach of the Geneva Conventions: “We have to lean on facts and international laws,” said Mr Lavrov. “They say that a captured participant of an armed conflict should be treated in a certain way. And in any case, a prisoner of war should not be killed.”
Are the likes of Obama and Cameron aware of the laws in the Geneva Convention? If they are why do they seem to show such blatant disregard for laws they claim to support and live by?
We are in the real world, but in the eyes of the super powers, this is all just a cleverly constructed movie with an extremely large budget. When there is a war, who makes a profit? When you can answer this straight forward question, the next thing to wonder is simple; who will America invade next?
