# 2011 Libyan civil war

The 2011 Libyan civil war is a major political transition of the nation of Libya, which began on 15 February 2011 as a series of protests and confrontations against the government and its leader Muammar Gaddafi, partly inspired by the Tunisian revolution and the 2011 Egyptian revolution, in the political transformations which have become known as the Arab Spring.

## Quotes

* "In Libya's east, we saw the vast arsenals that were left unguarded when the government fell. So we knew that they were in the west. We knew they were in Tripoli. We knew they were in other cities. And we're finding them. Up to two weeks after Tripoli fell, we are still finding places with large, large amounts of weapons. Yesterday, we found a place with over 100,000 land mines," Abrahams says.
** Jason Beaubien, “U.S. Fears Terrorists Could Acquire Looted Weapons”, ABC News, (September 12, 2011).
* The establishment applauded. Obama’s overthrow of the Gaddafi government, declared the New York Times, was “an historic victory for the people of Libya who, with NATO’s help, transformed their country from an international pariah into a nation with the potential to become a productive partner with the West.” The triumphant tone evokes another famous Times dispatch, from Cambodia in April 1975. The headline: “Indochina Without Americans: For Most, a Better Life.” That story ran in the paper four days before the Khmer Rouge entered Phnom Penh and began murdering more than a third of the country’s population. The aftermath in Libya hasn’t been quite as bloody, but that’s small comfort. Instead of creating a democratic, Westernized Libya, Obama’s destruction of Gaddafi simply created a new failed state. Rather than marginalizing radical Islam, Gaddafi’s fall empowered it, and by 2014 the country was in another civil war that killed thousands. ISIS militants have found a haven in the lawless country. While Gaddafi had blocked illegal migration to Europe, the new Libya has been powerless to stop it, and hundreds of thousands of African migrants have made their way to Europe from Libyan ports. Things got so bad in Libya after Gaddafi was deposed that even the Times had to acknowledge it might be some time before the country could become “a productive partner with the West.” Luckily, the Times had a solution: more American intervention in Libya.
** Tucker Carlson, Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class Is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution (2018)
* We all need to work together on further steps to hold the Qaddafi government accountable, provide humanitarian assistance to those in need and support the Libyan people as they pursue a transition to democracy. … We will continue to explore all possible options for actions … As we have said, nothing is off the table so long as the Libyan government continues to threaten and kill Libyans.
** U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, as quoted in "International Pressure on Qaddafi Intensifies" by David D. Kirkpatrick and Alan Cowell, in The New York Times (28 February 2011).
* The uprisings revived pan-Arab consciousness with the hope that Arab dictatorships could be swept away in a democratic revolutionary wave. But as of spring 2014, the results of the Arab revolution have amounted to far less than participants aimed to achieve. A more democratic government was established in Tunisia with an elected president. Qadafi’s rule was ended through a civil war and large-scale foreign military intervention on the side of the rebels. But the new Libya appeared on the verge of another civil war and/or permanent fragmentation while its oil was exploited by foreign powers. Numerous uncontrolled militias and their often lawless violence seemed to constitute a state of institutionalized terrorism with pro-democratic Libyans intimidated into passive submission.
** James DeFronzo, Revolutions and Revolutionary Movements pp. 443-444
* I am not going to leave this land. I will die as a martyr at the end. I shall remain, defiant. Muammar is Leader of the Revolution until the end of time.
** Muammar al-Gaddafi, address to the nation (22 February 2011) quoted in guardian.co.uk (22 February 2011) "Gaddafi urges violent showdown and tells Libya 'I'll die a martyr'" by Ian Black.
* We stand for peace, freedom and the sovereignty of the Libyan people, Libya is facing a difficult time. The situation must not be manipulated through the media. We repudiate violence, but you cannot stop objectively analyzing this conflict, Some conditions are being created to justify an invasion of Libya, and the main objective of the invasion would be to take over the oil.
** Foreign Minister of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro, as quoted in National Assembly (25 February 2011).
* I am with Gaddafi but I want the bloodshed to stop. I am not calling on him to step down. If one Libyan has been killed — not ten or 20 — but one — this is a crime. Gaddafi is brave, he will make a decision. There is confusion — I have spoken to a relative in Libya and there has been no airbombing.
** Abdel Rahman Shalgham, Libya's ambassador to the United Nations, as quoted in Al Jazeera Live Blog (22 February 2011).
* Muammar Gaddafi is telling the Libyans "either I rule you or I kill you." … Slavery and the rule of one person is finished – it's finished. … The Arab world is going to change completely when Gaddafi will flee. … The whole Arab world will move quickly for freedom, and not by the generals. No, now the Arab people will do it. … All the Arab world, from the ocean to the Gulf, are supporting Libya, all of them in the street supporting Libya, all of them … In one year you will have another Arab world. … I was one of his closest good friends, who worked with him from the beginning of the revolution. Unfortunately we started the revolution with freedom, at the end of it you are killing our people.
** Abdel Rahman Shalgham, Libya's ambassador to the United Nations, as quoted in "Libya's UN ambassador denounces Gaddafi" in The Telegraph (25 February 2011).

## Public Chants

* الله و معمر و ليبيا وبس (Allah, Muammar, Libya: That's all!)
** Pro-Gaddafi chant, quoted in guardian.co.uk (18 March 2011) "Gaddafi loyalists: 'We're united and we will fight for this land'" by Ian Black.