(i)
On December 17, 2010, a 26-year-old young man named Mohamed Bouazizi guarded a small fruit stall and shouted the streets of Tunis, the capital of the North African country of Tunis.
Bouazizi is a university graduate who supposedly has a good future, but in Tunisia, a country rife with corruption, people like him from humble backgrounds have no chance of finding their dream job. Buazigi had no choice but to choose "flexible employment" and sell fruit at street stalls to earn a few hard-earned money.
Just as he was looking for business, the Tunisian city management came! Bouazigi tried to run but was one step late and was arrested by the city police.
Without saying a word, the chengguan immediately confiscated all of Bouazigi's fruits on the charge of "operating without a license." Bouazigi still wanted to say a few words, but as a result, he ate an iron fist on the spot and fell on the street.
Bouazigi, who was confiscated from fruit and beaten, was filled with grief and indignation, and he couldn't think about it for a while, so he looked for short-sightedness. He got a bucket of gasoline to pour on himself, and then a fire set himself on fire in the street.
The Tunisian authorities did not pay attention to this matter: Isn't it just the death of a pariah? What's the big deal? However, what they did not expect was that the fire that Bouazigi lit was extraordinary, and this fire ignited not only Tunisia, but the entire Arab world! A huge wave of protests swept through all Arab countries like a super tsunami, and in an instant the Arab world changed the world. This is the famous "Arab Spring" event.
In just one year, the Arab Spring swept the entire Arab world, affecting almost all Arab countries, and many Arab leaders who had held the supreme ruler for decades collapsed in an instant. Tunisian President Ben Ali is one of them, and in addition to him, Egyptian President Hosbarak, Yemeni President Saleh, Algerian President Bouteflika and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have all been ousted.
In this wave of Arab leaders stepping down, only Libya and Syria staged all-armed acts and war broke out. The war in Syria is not over until now, and the war in Libya ended that year, and Gaddafi ended up in the streets. In this article, we will mainly tell about the civil war in Libya and see how a generation of madmen Gaddafi died. Through this incident, we can also experience the turbulent international political situation at that time.
(ii)
When it comes to Omar Gaddafi, many people know him as the famous "madman". The 27-year-old military coup came to power and then ruled Libya for more than four decades. After Gaddafi came to power, he fought sideways with the West and clashed with the West, especially the United States. In the eighties, Libya had several confrontations with the United States. Gaddafi has also carried out numerous terrorist attacks, most famously the Lockerbie air disaster in 1988. Libyan agents bombed a Pan Am plane, killing more than 200 people.
After the Lockerbie air disaster, the United Nations Security Council imposed severe sanctions on Libya, and Libya's relations with Western countries also fell to a freezing point.
After that, the Gulf War broke out, and in 2003, the United States sent troops to overthrow Saddam's regime, and Saddam himself was sent to the gallows. These living realities made Gaddafi's heart begin to bristle.
So, beginning in the new century, Gaddafi slowly began to adjust his relations with the West. In 1998, Libya extradited two intelligence officers suspected of causing the air crash to the West to stand trial. In 2003, Libya declared responsibility for the air crash, apologized and paid $2.7 billion in compensation. In 2004, Libya admitted that it possessed chemical weapons and was willing to destroy them.
After Gaddafi made these adjustments, Libya's relations with the West began to improve. In 2006, the United States resumed diplomatic relations with Libya. In 2007, French President Nicolas Sarkozy paid an official visit to Libya. Libya's oil exports have also returned to normal.
There is now an online saying that Gaddafi gave a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in 2009 and condemned the five powers of the Security Council, which led to the five powers retaliating against him and killing him. This claim is baseless.
In 2009, Gaddafi did address the UN General Assembly and denounced the Big Five, but that was irrelevant. At the UN General Assembly, more people have condemned the five major powers, almost every year, and which one has been retaliated against? Lao Ka's speech is only known for its lengthy and lengthy speech, which eventually led to a strike of translators.
The five major UN powers passed a resolution two years later to send troops to Libya for another reason.
(iii)
In late 2010, the Arab Spring raged from Tunisia, and by February the hurricane had swept across Libya.
Although Libya has a land area of 1.7 million square kilometers, most of it belongs to the Salaha Desert, which is deserted and deserted. Libya's seven million people live in a narrow strip of land along the Mediterranean coast, with two of its main cities, Tripoli and Benghazi, in this narrow strip.
As the wave of protests in neighboring Tunisia mounted, the situation in Libya began to destabilize, with a growing crowd taking to the streets. The protesters were quick to point the finger at Gaddafi himself.
Gaddafi has shown disdain for popular demands. In an interview with the BBC, he said: "They asked me to resign, but I don't have any position, how can I resign? ”
Indeed, Gaddafi, who ruled Libya for 42 years, really did not have any official office. He is usually referred to by the title of "revolutionary leader", which is not an official position.
Of course, the so-called "no position" is just a trick of Gaddafi, and the people of the earth know what is going on with him. His refusal of the people's demands with "no office to resign" is actually a refusal. As a result, protests in the streets intensified, and by mid-February, violent clashes inevitably emerged.
On February 16, Gaddafi's second son, Said, was interviewed by Qatar's Al Jazeera television station, looking nervous and stammering, while claiming that the situation was under control but constantly shaking. That night, armed popular uprisings broke out in both Tripoli and Benghazi.
In Benghazi, on Libya's eastern coast, the uprising was successful. On February 18, the population occupied all key parts of the city. On 26 February, the rebels established provisional institutions to replace the previous Government.
But in Tripoli, the capital on the western coast, the popular uprising failed. After all, this is Gaddafi's lair, and the army is still relatively strong, so the uprising here was suppressed, many people were killed in the streets, and the gunfire echoed all night.
Gaddafi survived the initial wave of the uprising, after which he began a counter-offensive, commanding his men and launching an offensive towards Benghazi.
Gaddafi's army is characteristic, and most of its soldiers are not natives, but hired from distant West Africa, mostly foreigners. Why did Lao Ka do this? It turns out that Libya is a tribal country, and ordinary people often have more loyalty to the tribe than to the state. Therefore, which tribe to use as a soldier is a headache for Gaddafi. The tribe he himself was in was too small to support the nation's army, but Gaddafi was not at ease with the use of people from other tribes. Therefore, instead of using his own people, he went to the poor and penniless countries of West Africa to hire illiterate people. These people have chaotic brains and only recognize money in their eyes, so they are absolutely loyal to Gaddafi. As a result, Libya's army is largely made up of mercenaries.
Gaddafi marched eastward, pointing his troops straight at Benghazi. His army, although mercenary, was regularized, in addition to aircraft artillery and tank missiles. The insurgent army in Benghazi was a rabble, weapons and equipment were also disorganized, and they were no match for Gaddafi's army at all, so the insurgent army retreated step by step to Benghazi. By mid-March, Gaddafi's forces had reached the outskirts of Benghazi and were on the verge of taking the city.
During the march of Gaddafi's army, the old men from West Africa were not happy, because they could rob property and rape women during the battle. If they don't fight, they can't make anything, but now, in order to win, Gaddafi actually condones them to commit adultery and pillage. As a result, mercenaries in West Africa went all the way and burned and killed, robbed things when they saw things, slept when they saw women, and even female journalists from abroad were brutally ravaged.
These atrocities of Gaddafi's army soon spread throughout the world through the media, and public opinion around the world was in an uproar, and many international organizations expressed strong condemnation. The African Union, the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference have all called on the UN Security Council to intervene in Libya.
When the UN Security Council met to discuss the situation in Libya, an unprecedented scene emerged: Libya's representative to the UN also strongly urged the UN to intervene with troops, tearfully pleading with the Security Council members to save the Libyan people.
Of course, whether or not troops are sent depends on the attitude of the five permanent members.
(iv)
What is very surprising is that France, which has always been fighting and dragging its feet on the issue of UN military intervention, has become the vanguard this time, and French President Sarkozy has a very positive attitude on the issue of sending troops to Libya, so positive that he once said that even if the United Nations does not approve it, France will send troops alone.
Then there's Italy, although it's not in the UN Security Council at this time. But Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi also jumped high, grabbing his neck and yelling for Skywalk in Libya.
In contrast, US President Barack Obama was a little vague and never made his position clear, and then after Sarkozy's persuasion, Obama finally nodded.
Why are France and Italy rushing to send troops to Libya? Both of them originally had a good relationship with Gaddafi. After the Lockerbie air disaster was resolved, Sarkozy first invited Gaddafi to visit France, and smoothly resumed all the original economic cooperation between France and Libya.
And Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Everyone knows that he is also the owner of Serie A powerhouse AC Milan. Gaddafi's third son, Saadi, is obsessed with football and wants to become a football star, but unfortunately his level is too poor, even if he comes to China to play in the first B, he is not qualified to play. But Lao Bei said to Gaddafi: Our children want to play football, isn't that simple? Come to me! After some operation by Lao Bei, Saadi successfully landed in Serie A and became an official member of Perugia.
In 1986, U.S. President Ronald Reagan sent aircraft to Libya. At that time, both France and Italy firmly refused to allow American planes involved in the air raids to land in their countries, and did not participate in the matter at all.
But this time, how did they change?
This is called politics!
France and Italy are close neighbors across the sea from Libya, and Gaddafi is a madman who dares to do anything, if the relationship between France and Italy and Libya is broken, then Gaddafi may cause some trouble for these two countries.
Therefore, France and Italy had to change their attitude and coax Gaddafi to talk to him about friendship and cooperation all day in exchange for their own peace and stability.
That's forty years.
However, coaxing you does not mean that the heart does not hate you. France and Italy have smiles on their faces, but they have long gritted their teeth in their hearts, hoping to get rid of Gaddafi sooner. They're just waiting for an opportunity. Things like the US bombing of Libya in 1986 cannot ensure that the removal of Gaddafi is not a good opportunity, so France and Italy are resolute not to participate and will never blame the United States.
The two countries waited for four decades, and in 2011, when the opportunity finally came, Gaddafi could be completely finished. At this time, France and Italy could not sit still, and they all showed their true faces, saying that they would make old cards to death!
This is international politics! A close neighbor you've been friendly with for decades can suddenly become your mortal enemy overnight. If you look closely, you'll see that such changes are actually commonplace.
(v)
On March 16, 2011, Gaddafi's second son, Saeed, gave another television interview, this time much calmer. Said told reporters in a relaxed tone: The fighting will soon be over, Benghazi will soon restore order, and everything will calm down.
Indeed, by this time, Benghazi was crumbling, the inhabitants were fleeing frantically, and a small number of insurgents could no longer resist the advance of Gaddafi's army.
At this critical moment, the United Nations Security Council met. On 17 March, the Security Council adopted resolution 1973 with 10 votes in favour and 5 abstentions (Russia, China, Germany, India and Brazil). The resolution establishes a no-fly zone in Libya and authorizes the countries concerned to use force to achieve this goal.
As soon as the gavel passed by the resolution fell here, the NATO air force, which was already ready to go, immediately took to the air, and one plane after another roared towards Benghazi.
In the first round of the offensive, the US military fired 112 Tomahawk missiles, and then, in the early hours of the next day, three B-2 stealth bombers flew over Tripoli and easily destroyed Libyan air bases with 40 precision-guided bombs.
Where is the Libyan army an opponent of NATO? Under NATO bombardment, Libyan forces were soon forced to halt their assault on Benghazi. After the insurgents in Benghazi slowed down, they then launched a counteroffensive, pushing back step by step along the original path.
Gaddafi was dumbfounded. He had always regarded France and Italy as a buffer between him and the United States and Britain, and he had relied on them to speak for him, but he never expected that the two of them would become unjust enemies this time. The French Air Force went out to bomb Libya, and Italy did its best to send aircraft to fight. Most importantly, Italy's air bases are completely open to NATO, which is the closest to Libya, and NATO air forces can easily attack.
The Libyan army began to retreat, and the insurgents pressed closer. On June 9, the rebels counterattacked the city of Tripoli. The two armies fought fiercely in the capital, and by August 23, Tripoli was finally conquered and the Azizia barracks where Gaddafi lived on a daily basis were captured. Gaddafi fled to his hometown of Sirte.
On October 20, Gaddafi's last lair was captured by the rebels, and Gaddafi was found in a sewer pipe. The once-popular heavyweight was dragged out, and was quickly beaten and abused, and finally died a tragic death at the hands of the insurgents.
At this point, the page of Gaddafi in history has been turned. The fate of this stormy figure is worth our deep consideration and exploration, but I don't know how many people can get a glimpse of it.