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Gathafi’s Conspiracy Against Libya

Nizar Awad - 7/25/2011

I. Gathafi’s Conspiracy Against Libya


Whenever we thought that we have gotten Gathafi all figured out a whole new dimension of his deep and dark mindset stretches even further into the abyss of human depravity and blatant misanthropy.

This man proves time and time again through his language and actions that his heart and mind are full of malice despite his assertions to the contrary. Along with his reputation for reveling in the misery and suffering of others he clearly delights in assaulting the hearing of others with offensive words and slews of epithets. Gathafi’s insolence and his penchant for violence continue to inflict pain and suffering on others inside and outside of Libya. Just as we thought that he is humbled by the horrible predicament that he is in nowadays, he had the audacity to threaten Europe with terrorism. He is doing this not to show toughness in the face of his looming demise but to bring the wrath of the European States on Libya in order to drag the country into a horrible fate with him. No matter how hard he tries to ignite a regional conflict Libyans and Europeans are way more civilized than he gives them credit for and therefore would never descend to his level of blind hate and deplorable machinations.

Speaking of Gathafi’s warped machinations an example of that would be his designs for Africa and the Arab world. As is normally the case in Gathafi’s way of reasoning he in his writings always starts with what he describes as manifest destinies then lumbers down to the details till he reaches the cusp of his illogical schema. For example he asserts the inevitability of Arab unity then he retraces his logic all the way back to why Arabs need to unite in the first place. He also insists that Africa would unite and that black Africans would predominate the world or as he writes in his green book (Assud sayasusdun al-‘Alam) then he turns his attention towards building his case for unity and Africans’ impending superiority over all other human races. This type of thinking along the line of the Machiavellian aphorism “the ends justify the means” led to his many dangerous mishaps for which the Libyan people had to pay dearly with their lives and resources. When his plans to unite with Egypt fell apart he started the border war of 1976 that cost thousands of lives on both sides. His determination to unite Africa no matter what, has been weighing heavily on Libya and her people ever since he penned his vision for the future of the continent in his infamous green book. His latest call to wage a worldwide Jihad (holy war) to liberate Cecily, the Eternal Islands (al-Juzur al-Khalidat) which are located off the coast of Morocco and also Spain and his threats to launch suicide missions in Europe show that he has been thinking of igniting a conflagration that would engulf both sides of the Mediterranean even before the Libyan February 17th Revolution.

Just as Gathafi appropriated aspects of the Islamic, the Greek and the European histories and cultures to concoct his so called third international theory and green book, he unabashedly culled aspects of Africa’s history and culture to form his views regarding the future of the continent. However if you thought that his views are extensions to those espoused by known African leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Patrice Lumumba of the Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya think again. Knowing the way Gathafi thinks by way of ideas expressed in his writings and speeches it becomes clear that he subscribes to a more sinister line of reasoning which could even involve ethnic cleansing. Gathafi’s declaration in his green book that black Africans would dominate the world obviously does not include Libyans and Arabs in North Africa otherwise he wouldn’t be practically forcing Libyans to emigrate, spending billions of dollars for developments in Sub-Saharan Africa while his country’s infrastructure is falling apart or helping bring thousands if not millions of Sub-Saharan Africans to transform the countries demographic makeup. A large number of these same African emigrants are now mercenaries in Gathafi’s brigades and are heavily involved in his genocidal war. The man clearly subscribes to the racist belief that Arabs don’t belong in Africa and therefore should go back to wherever they came from. Accordingly, Gathafi’s views are not identical with those of Nkrumah and Lumumba but resemble those expressed by scholars such as the African American Naiwu Osahon, Leader of the Pan-African Movement World-Wide or those of Dr. John Alembillah Azumah as expressed in his book “the Legacy of Arab-Islam in Africa” (Oneworld Publications, Oxford, England 2001). In a nutshell these views see the Arabs of North Africa as colonizers who occupied major parts of Africa and perpetrated heinous crimes against black Africans that included pioneering the institution of slavery. Gathafi who has discarded Pan-Arabism way back when is now adopting a Pan-African vision identical to that endorsed by the Pan-African Nigerian intellectual Dr. Chinweizu Ibekwe which emphasizes that “Pan-Africanism and Pan-Arabism, are antithetical and that, in the final analysis, there is no room for the coexistence of the two on the African continent” (Article published on the Nigerian Village Square website under the title “Pan-Africanism vs Pan-Arabism”)

If any one doubts that he or she should revisit Gathafi’s words and actions just to see for themselves. Along with his speeches in which he disparages Libyans as unworthy and undeserving of his leadership he deliberately ruined the country’s medical care so that Libyans be they young or old were dying of curable diseases. He, in abid to expedite the process of his systematic genocide even had over 400 children in the city of Benghazi deliberately infected with HIV in 1998 then accused five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor of the crime. Beside the devastating war with Chad starting in 1978 that cost thousands of young Libyans’ lives, Gathafi’s involvement in the Uganda-Tanzania war in support of “His Excellency, President for life, Filed Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada” (talking about Gathafi’s multiple titles) in the same year along with the Lebanese civil war which erupted in 1975 resulted in the unnecessary deaths of thousands more. While the intentional destruction of a Libyan airliner in 1992 led to the death of all 158 passengers on board, Gathafi was behind the massacre of over 1,270 Libyans in the infamous Abu Salim prison in the capital Tripoli. The death and destruction being visited upon the Libyan people since the start of the Libyan February 17th Revolution and that had so far claimed the lives of more than 15,000 Libyans not to mention thousands of severely injured and amputees should leave no doubt regarding this war criminal’s designs to destroy Libya and her people.

II. Could al-Gathafi be al-Hajjaj Incarnate? You be the judge of that

Although one can easily find several despots past or present who could be compared with Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gathafi (Last name is short for Gathaf al-Damm or blood spitter) whether in terms of mindset or brutality however the legendary Umayyad ruthless megalomaniac al-Hajjaj bin Yusuf al-Thaqafi is nearly a perfect fit. Honestly these two could easily be mistaken for clones albeit the fourteen centuries separating them. Hypothetically speaking if these two were asked to come up with an answer to the philosophical question as to why did the chicken cross the road, their answers would not be that far apart. While I imagine al-Hajjaj’s answer would be, off with the chicken’s head for crossing the road without my consent, Gathafi’s answer would be, chicken or no chicken crossing the road without my strict permission merits roasting on the stick and pronto. But seriously, while al-Hajjaj’s tyranny had become the stuff of legends and his name has since occupied a prominent place in the world tyrants’ hall of fame, Gathafi’s record in the way of wanton violence and bloodshed is fast approaching that of his predecessor.
While the two differ in terms of upbringing and education however they are a perfect match as far as their governing style and bloody legacies are concerned. Al-Hajjaj (661-714 AD) who was born and raised in the city of Ta’if in the Hijaz in what we know now as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia grew up to establish a reputation for extreme brutality when dealing with his foes. Along with the 125.000 thousand men and women that he reportedly murdered thousands more languished in his jails under deplorable conditions and the majority of whom were eventually executed, tortured to death or died of starvation and disease. Throughout his career as governor of Iraq he forced thousands into military campaigns to quell Shi’a (partisans of Caliph Ali ibn abi Talib) and Kharijites (radical dissenters) rebellions by giving them the ultimatum of voluntary conscription or facing swift execution. Gathafi also has a reputation for sending young Libyans to certain deaths in totally unnecessary foreign adventures in countries such as Chad and Uganda not to mention mass murder including the massacre of 1,200 Libyans in the Tripoli prison of Abu Slim in 1996.
Al-Hajjaj’s reputation for wanton violence and destructive narcissism caught the attention of the Umayyad Caliph Abdul Malik who entrusted him with the task of preserving the might of the Umayyad Dynasty (661-750 AD) which was being challenged by insurrections since the death of Yazid Ibn Muawiya whose father founded the dynasty after the assassination of Caliph Ali ibn abi Talib by a member of a group of dissenters called Kharijites in the year 661 AD. Just as people have been wondering what it would take for Gathafi to relinquish power, many people who were languishing under the brutal rule of al-Hajjaj also wondered the same thing. Even the well known Muslim scholar and Sufi or mystic Hasan al-Basri (642-728 AD) once confined to his followers that only Allah (God) could put an end to al-Hajjaj’s reign of terror or as he put it “Hajjaj is a calamity sent by Allah (God), do not try to remove him by force but ask Allah (God) Taa’la the (exalted)”. Al-Basri’s prediction came to pass for only a tormented conscious and an incurable disease brought an end to al-Hajjaj’s turbulent life.
The similarity between al-Gathafi and al-Hajjaj does not stop with their reputation for violent tempers and cruelty but goes further to include their instincts to instill fear in others by their vernacular, appearance and body language. In terms of language both Gathafi and al-Hallaj employed language not as a vehicle of persuasion but of shock and awe in order to unnerve their audiences and achieve their total submission and resignation. The words they carefully select are mostly offensive and laden with hate and laced with threats of vengeance. When the Umayyad Caliph Abdul Malik wanted to exact revenge on the people of Iraq and particularly inhabitants of the Shi’a city of Kufa he entrusted al-Hajjaj with such a mission. Al-Hajjaj who entered the mosque where Iraqis were gathered had a turban on that he used to cover his face except for his piercing and hate filled eyes. Gathafi is also known to wear turbans that he also uses to cover his face except for his eyes so that he would look menacing. After a period of silence among his audience al-Hajjaj’s way of breaking the ice was unleashing a barrage of horrific words and expressions that made the blood curdled in their veins including “ By Allah, I can see ambitious eyes, long necks, and ripen heads. So, it is time to harvest them. Indeed, it is I who will cut them off. It is as if I look at flowing blood between the turbans and the beards” (Muruj al-Dhahab, vol. 3, p. 68).
Likewise when Gathafi began to face challenges to his authoritarian rule he travelled to the city of al-Baida in Cyrenaica (Eastern Libya) which was previously designated by Libya’s King Idris al-Sanusi (1890-1983 AD) as the future seat of power before he was overthrown by Gathafi in 1969 and there he delivered a speech which was reminiscent of that of al-Hajjaj to the people of Kufa. After enumerating the many ways he could exact revenge on any one or any group that dare defy his rule which ranged from crushing his opponents to beheading or hanging them he then launched his campaign of terror in a frantic and mostly incoherent speech which promised his opponents a desolate future in which rivers of blood would flow on city streets. In a similar speech during the Muslim holy month of atonement and forgiveness known as the month of Ramadan he instructed his ill reputed followers to pursue and exterminate his opponents even during Islam’s holy days. After calling those Libyans who opposes him vermin, rats and stray dogs he continued “Ramadan or no Ramadan, if anybody goes astray hang him or trample him to death and right on the spot”. This open invitation for lawlessness, murder and mayhem was recently repeated in his “zanga, zanga” or alley by alley speech in which he ordered his brigades to conduct search and destroy missions targeting Libyans wherever they were.
Gathafi and al-Hajjaj also share their blatant disregard for Prophet Muhammad (pubh), the holy Ka’ba (Islam’s holiest site) in Mecca as well as Islamic traditions and scholars. Al-Hajjaj was known to have elevated the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik above the prophet of Islam in his sermons and speeches. It was said that he once told his listeners that Caliph Abd al-Malik is more important than Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Gathafi is also known to go as far as elevating himself above all others including prophets and even took to himself the title of “prophet of the desert”. Al-Hajjaj had reportedly maligned Muslim pilgrims for visiting the Prophet’s grave which he described as a rundown enclave containing decayed bones instead of visiting the palace of the commander of the faithful meaning Caliph Abd al-Malik. Al-Hajjaj’s most serious affront to Islam and Muslims was during his military campaign to subdue the uprising in Mecca that was led by one of the Sahabas (Prophet’s Companions) named Abd Allah ibn Zubayr (624-692 AD) who refused to swear allegiance to Caliph Yazid I, son of Caliph Muawiyah.
During the siege of Mecca al-Hajjaj attacked the holy shrine of the Ka’ba (cubical) with catapults which caused a lot of destruction and eventually led to the death of ibn Zubayr. Gathafi’s reputation as a detractor of Islamic history and traditions qualifies him to continue the legacy of al-Hajjaj. Along with mocking the prophet of Islam (pbuh) by describing him as a postman whose primary mission was to deliver Allah’s (Gods) messages he also went as far as casting doubt on the Prophet’s hadiths (sayings or traditions). While al-Hajjaj’s view of the holy shrine of the Ka’ba did not go beyond seeing it simply as manmade structure built with stones, mud and temper, Gathafi went as far as to deliberately cast doubt on the spiritual and historical significance of the structure by calling it the last surviving idol from the era of Jahilyya hence the age of ignorance or pre-Islamic times that precede the age of monotheism which was ushered in by Abraham and his sons Isaac and Ishmael. Gathafi and al-Hajjaj before him are among those figures in history whose narcissism convinced them that the only way to create their own legacies is atop the dismantled legacies of others even if those others are messengers of God. Sanctity of human life as far as these two are concerned is a burden rather than a blessing.