It’s only a matter of time for Colonel Gaddafi decapitation

                                                  BY MOHAMED MATOPE

The political unrest sweeping through North Africa has finally landed in Libya. Like in Tunisia and Egypt, the uprising began with a relatively organized core of antigovernment opponents in Benghazi, and spontaneously spread to the capital of Tripoli. Colonel Gaddafi responded with a level of violence unseen in either of the other uprisings. His  imported mercenaries combined with military forces loyal to him open fire with heavy weapons against unarmed protesters, air striking on the protesters, shooting out on peaceful funeral processions, and terrorizing urban neighborhoods with random gunfire designed to make people cower in their homes rather than join the uprising .

Despite Colonel Gaddafi’s incoherent rambling, he clearly is fighting not just for power but for his life. Colonel Gaddafi once declared himself “dean of Arab leaders, king of kings, and imams of all Muslims” now battling to retain control of Tripoli and western areas of Libya, he has lost control of all eastern part of the country, numerous government figures including his public security minister, justice minister and seven ambassadors around the world abandoned  his regime. His deputy ambassador to the UN Ibrahim Omar al-Dabashi, defects his government over the bloody crackdown on protesters; he described Colonel Ghaddafi’s actions as “genocide” and pleaded for international intervention. Although Colonel Gaddafi’s power is substantially diminished, he still has the command of the capital and a potent, if diminished, military force with modern Russian jet fighters, helicopters and naval vessels that can bombard the population far distance from offshore.

The events in Libya reflect two important characters of Colonel Gaddafi that is worth remembering: First and foremost he is a ruthless dictator, rather than a centric tactic politician as was portrayed by the west, African knows that long ago. Col Gaddafi has done some good things for Africa that worth recognition, such as his support for ANC, AU, and African economy in general, but Col Gaddafi has also used his oil money to inflict massacre and blood sheds in many parts of Africa.

Many people forget, Col Gaddafi backed Idi Amin on Tanzania –Uganda war, he sent over 2,000 troops and advanced military weapons to fight against Tanzania on behalf of Idi Amin. Although Idi Amin forces ware spectacularly defeated by mighty TPDF (Tanzania, peoples defense forces), Col Gaddafi’s military assistance to Amin was arguably major factor in wedging and prolonging of that war. In the 1980’s Colonel Gaddafi used his influence to campaign against Tanzania in Arab League Summit and cost Tanzania much of Arab and Islamic aid and investments. Colonel Gaddafi also had his hands on bloody civil war in Liberia and Sierra Leone; He trained and supported Charles Taylor, former president of Liberia, who currently faces charges of crimes against humanity for his involvement in Sierra Leone conflict.

Secondly, Col Gaddafi is the psychopath tyranny, unlike Mubarak or Ben Ali, Gaddafi is old fashion dictator who could bring the whole house down with him in it. Colonel Gaddafi clearly lost touch with reality, he has made fool and enemy of himself, and his psychosis behaviors have isolated himself with the rest of the world. His bizarre performance on Libyan National TV over past few weeks is sickened and his rambling speeches underlined his desperation.

Colonel Gaddafi has lost everybody with clear mind; he is banking on the loyalty of a close circle of relatives, four of his sons and part of military establishment. The people who are sticking with him have very good reason; fight for their life. They have already committed atrocities of great proportions, they have, and still shooting on innocent civilians, they terrorize the cities, they have tortured peoples, the made hundreds of peoples disappeared, they know that the moment Col Gaddafi forces are defeated, the people’s retribution will be definitive and brutal.

Col Gaddafi vows to fight tooth and nails, because he knows that his back is against the wall, he is boxed in with no where to run. Colonel Gaddafi has always been haunted by superiority complex; he overthrew king Idris in 1969 at the age of 27. He has been president of Libya for over 42 years, he has been in power for more than half of his life, letting it go at this time is not an option. Plus unlike Mubarak, Col Gaddafi doesn’t have many places to run into, the international community has already zeroed in on him by freezing his assets, and open an investigation on him for crimes against humanity, he knows the moment he put his step out of Libya he will be arrested and humiliated.

On his speech last Tuesday Colonel Gaddafi said he has not yet ordered the use of force, not yet ordered one bullet to be fired when he does, everything will burn. Eventually, the people of Libya will win. But it is likely that thousands have already died - and it is abundantly clear that Gaddafi, even in a losing cause, is prepared to commit murder on a genocidal scale. He is not going to leave the way Mussolini of Italy did, or Nicolae Ceausescu of Romania did, he is more like Nero, a Roman emperor 19-68 AD, who set the city of Rome in fire and destroyed most of it, before his death. We should take Colonel Gaddafi at his words, he is determined tyrant. The world community should find the way of cutting him off and separate him from as much of  his military strength as possible, no fly zone resolutions which is currently under consideration with UN is the way to decapitate him.