I’m not claiming to be an expert and have only read my fair share of articles on what’s going down in Libya right now – but something came to mind and I needed to write it and see what other people think.
Everyone knows the situation: The US with France, Britain, Canada, and other European nations are enforcing air strikes on Libya with this action being placed more on NATO lately. All of this to stop Gaddafi and his military from performing their own air strikes on civilians. The job seems to be widely regarded as a success and I’m fairly confident that lives of protestors, civilians, and rebels were saved by our actions. The West’s language has been “Gaddafi out” but while they haven’t committed to a total overthrow of his power, it seems they are being a guiding hand in the rebellion.
What worries me is that this rag-tag group of rebels (who knows if there are factions, rivalries, or budding Colonel Gaddafi Jrs in their fray) manage to finally storm Tripoli, summarily execute Gaddafi, and do who-knows-what with all of the pro-government supporters. From what some of the television broadcasts show, there are a lot of green-flag waving civilians lining up the squares there. Women, kids, and middle class men it looks like. No one with rifles or bazookas.
The West went into a frenzy (and rightly so) when Gaddafi said he would rain down all hell on protestors … but what happens if this rebellion we essentially backed starts doing the same thing to pro-government supporters? In the power vacuum that would be left behind, I wouldn’t be surprised to see such things could happen. And then who is then accountable? With Gaddafi there is a person, a government, a military who you can hold accountable for crimes. When it’s a revolution, a rebellious coup – what do you do then? And what do you do if you put them there to start with?
Anyways it’s just a concern I had that I didn’t see addressed anywhere and I’m worried that we just haven’t thought enough moves ahead.