The protests in Egypt kicked off a number of other nations to protest their corrupt governments; among them was Libya. Libya's president of 40 years ordered armed forces backed by helicopters and warplanes. With both helicopters and warplanes firing on the people it made their efforts to continue protesting difficult.
The conflict began to escalate six days after the protests began after 220 people were killed in the city of Benghazi. But the governments hold on power seemed to be weakening since the protesters remained in control.
Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, Colonel Qaddafi’s son, gave a speech where he blamed Islamic Radicals and Libyans in exile fr the uprising. The protesters were so angered by his speech that they converged at the capital and fought with armed troops for several hours.
5 comments:
Unfortunately the road "true" democracy can not always be paved so smoothly. And sometimes non-violent protest does not always work, as was the case many times in the course of history. However, I do have to applaud the bravery of the Libyan protesters; it takes a lot of courage to face down military helicopters. I believe that if the "people" no longer wish to have a certain leader in power, they then have the right to voice their opinions and demand a change. And 40 years does seem like quite a long time for one person to remain in control of a country, and its quite obvious that the citizens are not to pleased with it.
I can only hope that the Libyan president will either negotiate or step-down before too much longer, so more violence does not erupt.
I think that the Egyptian revolution was an excellent wake up call for the Middle East. It has inspired many other countries to rise up against their oppressive governments in the name of democracy. However, as Bryce said, the road to democracy is not smooth. The protestors are going to have to face a lot of opposition before they can achieve democracy in Libya. Although fighting for freedom is inspiring, I worry about the violence and conflict that will ensue as a result. Non violent protests are always favorable in my eyes, but not always as effective. However, I hope the protestors stand strong in their opposition to achieve freedom. As an American, it is hard to imagine living without the freedoms we have gained from democracy. All of this unrest also raises the question of the US involvement in these revolutions. In the Cold War and other parts of our history, we have always tried to help countries who want democracy. However, we didn't always do the countries we were helping that much good. But, I do think that the US should think about ways that it could indirectly help promote the fight for democracy.
It's sad to see how violence always seems to be the "soltuion" to solving the problems with the government. Is it the only way for the government to listen to the poeple?
Although all the violence seems pretty bad, I feel like it's also good to see people standing up against their corrupt governments and it's good Egypt was able to ignite and spark other protests in other countries. It just comes to show maybe it's better to have a frequent change in rulers. Maybe it's better to have change, because the next rulers can understand the citizen's wants and needs. As for the rulers that have been in place for a long time, maybe it's not such a good idea for them to rule for so long and it's always good to have a someone who has been part of society recently and longer.
Everyone should follow through with this story by checking out this site:
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/02/whats-happening-libya-explained
Also, I hope people will take the time and inform others about what's going on. Sympathizing from afar is not going to do anything. The people of Libya are being attacked with .05mg bullets, which, if you want a visual, looks like this:
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgzp4aNC831qaxe2xo1_500.jpg
It is the bullet on the far left and equals 5 inches in height.
Take action and make it known that there are far greater problems than the ones on the homeland.
This is like an explosive domino effect. I feel for Africa right now and the Middle East. Egypt just made it evidence to other surrounding countries to question their corrupted governments as well and I know it is harsh, but sometimes I feel like the people reforming the country is what they need. Unfortunately people are dying and it is sad!
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