Libya, Chaos Reigns
By Larry Johnson on August 22, 2011 at 11:44 PM in Current Affairs
And the fun continues. Last night we were told in repeating BREAKING NEWS reports that the sons of Gaddafi had been captured. So today? Not so much. Saif Gaddafi popped up and is alive, well and free:
[Updated at 8:56 p.m. ET, 2:56 a.m. Tuesday in Libya] CNN’s Matthew Chance has posted a picture that he took of Saif al-Islam Gadhafi during Saif’s brief visit to the Rixos Hotel on Tuesday morning.
Chance also reports that electricity returned to the hotel about 10 minutes after Saif’s visit. The building, where about 35 international journalists are staying, had been without power for hours.
It’s not yet known how many people have been killed or injured in Tripoli since rebels began fighting forces loyal to Gadhafi in the capital over the weekend.
Although I’m still holding out for option three, we could wind up with the Option One from my post last night.
There is no Libyan version of Charles De Gaulle waiting in the wings to lead the free Libyan forces on a victory march through the heart of Tripoli. Dumping Gaddafi does not solve the problem of how to govern Libya nor does it ensure the character and focus of any new regime. As I wrote yesterday, if Gaddafi remains alive and breathing we are likely to look at continued civil war. Getting Gaddafi and his boys out of the way does not ensure stability and order.
Just like the much ballyhooed “Arab Spring,” this kind of change is messy and chaotic and does not tend to promote stability and order.
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