A single flood killed more than 11,000 people, and the number of victims may eventually reach 20,000! Can you imagine such news happening in a powerful country whose per capita GDP once exceeded the continent by more than 50 times? The mainland announced: donate 30 million yuan of disaster relief materials to this country!
Since Hurricane Daniel struck, the African country of Libya has been devastated by floods that have resulted in heavy casualties. I believe that under such a disaster, every Libyan will miss the glorious era when it was so powerful that it could make the United States suffer dumb losses. Unfortunately, there is no regret medicine to take in the world, and in that era, I am afraid it will be difficult to return.
What kind of country is Libya? How did it come to glory and how did it fall?
The history of Libya's inhabitants can be traced back to the Stone Age, almost 10,000 years ago. Due to its special location, ancient Libya also experienced the invasion of Carthaginian, Arab and other civilizations. However, in modern times, it has inevitably become a European colony, like other African countries. It was not until 1951 that Libya finally declared independence and established a federal United Kingdom.
Today, Libya is a country of 1.76 million square kilometers located in the north of Africa. Not to mention the size of the country, 95% of the country's land is desert or semi-desert, and part of the world's largest Sahara desert is in Libya. As a result, the vast majority of the country's 7.1 million inhabitants live in the northern part of the country, along the Mediterranean coast.
When it was first established, Libya was as poor as any other African country. It wasn't until 1969 that the country's fortunes changed. On September 1, a young officer who organized the "September Revolution" overthrew the Idris dynasty of Libya and established the Libyan Arab Republic, better known as Gaddafi. At that time, he was only 27 years old. Probably he didn't expect how rich the country would be in the future.
Libya's geographical location is very special and has influenced the historical direction of the country. There is a desert in the middle of the country that divides the country into three pieces. Not only were these three parts difficult to communicate with each other in ancient times, but they are not much related to each other today, but each part seems to be more closely related to its neighbors. Such a geographical structure made it difficult for Libya to be truly united, and the situation of fragmentation always existed, which also laid the groundwork for subsequent disasters.
But Libya, located in the Middle East, also has a unique geographical advantage, that is, abundant oil and gas resources. Libya's proven oil reserves are about 48.3 billion barrels, ranking ninth in the world; Natural gas reserves rank fourth in the world, with more than 1.54 trillion cubic meters. With such abundant resources, it is not difficult for Middle Eastern countries to become rich. The level of development of Dubai, UAE, is obvious to the whole world.
During Gaddafi's administration, Libya's oil resources were exploited in large quantities, bringing huge economic benefits to the country. Suddenly, Libya's GDP soared, making it the richest country in Africa and a worldwide limelight.
How rich was Libya at that time?
In 1980, Libya's per capita GDP soared to $11,000. What is this concept? At that time, the per capita GDP of the mainland was only $194, which was not even 2% of Libya's. Even the open and fast-growing Hong Kong region is only $5,700, just a stone's throw from the United States ($12,600).
You may think that such an economic gap is not so easy to close, so why not look at the economic development of Libya in the early 21st century. Looking at Libya's GDP changes in the chart below (suspected of "spoilers", but everyone knows what happened afterwards), there are several terrifying steep phases. For example, in 2002, its GDP was about $20.2 billion, but in 2008 it soared to $86.7 billion, a threefold increase in six years.
With such an economic foundation, the Libyan government is naturally magnanimous. At its worst, Libya not only had free primary education, but also implemented free medical care and free housing (not an absolute penny spent as everyone imagined, I will not repeat it here), which can be said to be the envy of many people.
Everyone knows the style of the United States, and it is naturally unacceptable for them to see such a country with such a rapid economic development. I didn't expect Gaddafi to have money and confidence, and he didn't put the United States in his eyes.
The development of Libya was helped by both the Soviet Union and the United States. Now Gaddafi's wings are hard and ready to fly on his own. Not only did he recover U.S. military bases in Libya, but he also took shares in U.S.-invested oil companies.
For a series of measures in Libya, the United States can only suffer a "dumb loss", because they were already burned by the Vietnam War at that time, and they really had no time to take care of Libya. Coupled with the sharp rise in international oil prices at that time, Libya made a lot of money, and the GDP soared rapidly, which was staggering. For the rapidly developing Libya, the United States really has no good solution other than sanctions.
But in the 21st century, the United States has finally been able to withdraw from all kinds of complicated affairs, and it has the energy to deal with this potential enemy.
But there is an old saying that fortresses are always breached from within. At this time, problems also arose within Libya, which gave the United States an opportunity.
Recently, we mentioned a word called de-dollarization, that is, in order to get rid of the hegemony of the dollar and prevent the United States from being implicated due to economic problems, the countries of the world use RMB, euro and other currencies in international commodity transactions.
In fact, many countries in the world realized the serious consequences of dollar hegemony many years ago. When Europeans launched the euro, they were actually competing against the dollar. However, Europe's economy and science and technology are relatively developed, and the United States cannot do without the support of Europe, so it dare not tear its face. Some countries seem to have failed to see the reason, or have been blinded by temporary power and dare to challenge the authority of the United States in terms of currency.
The first to challenge the United States was Saddam Hussein, the leader of Iraq at the time. We know that Iraq is also a Middle Eastern country and is very rich in oil resources, so it has confidence in its heart. At that time, Iraq announced that their oil would be settled not in dollars, but in euros. As everyone knows, in 2003, the United States brazenly launched the Iraq War, which eventually captured Saddam Hussein and hanged him.
Gaddafi does not seem to have learned from Saddam's experience, and is even more daring. He simply did not even use the euro, and asked the countries of the world to buy oil without dollars or euros, but with gold. He alone offended two powerful forces at the same time, and he was indeed a little brave.
Gaddafi's ambitions did not stop there, he also guided the cooperation of African countries, and even had the dream of "unifying" Africa. In 2008, many kings and chiefs in Africa even unanimously elected and awarded Gaddafi the title of "King of Kings", and Gaddafi reached the pinnacle of his life.
If there are only external problems, perhaps Gaddafi can strengthen his guard, but Libya still hides internal worries, which makes him stretched.
As we said earlier, Libya's special topography divides its interior into several distinct areas with little connection to each other. Coupled with Gaddafi's iron-fisted approach to management, many policies are very strict. Moreover, at that time, the Libyan government was seriously corrupt, and the Gaddafi family was even richer, which caused dissatisfaction in Libya. As a result, more and more Libyans opposed Qaddafi.
We know that even if it is as strong as the United States, we must pay attention to "making the division famous" before sending troops. If you think about it, the mainland acts in an upright manner, treats people of all ethnic groups equally and even favorably, and the United States still has to spread rumors about human rights, not to mention that Qaddafi really faces the problem of opposing votes. With such a pretext, Europe and the United States will naturally not let this enemy go. In 2011, European and American countries launched the Libyan war, using warships and aircraft to participate in the war and bomb Libya.
Originally, Libyan government forces had the upper hand, but under the attack of the United States and NATO, they appeared to be somewhat vulnerable. After months of fierce fighting, Libyan rebels, with the help of European and American countries, occupied the entire territory, eventually capturing and executing Gaddafi.
Some Libyans feel that they have finally ushered in a better day, but like other countries that have been invaded by the United States and NATO, they have ended up leaving nothing but war. European and American countries only care about destroying their enemies, not really want their local people to live a happy life. Gaddafi's iron-fisted approach has oppressed some people and taken some lives, but without such tough measures, it is indeed difficult for the country to get out of the dilemma of division.
Libya, which has been bombed by European and American countries, has an incomplete infrastructure. Petteri Taalas, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization, pointed out in an interview that if the Libyan meteorological service can operate normally, it can issue an early warning and evacuate the people under the work of the emergency management department. Coupled with the lack of maintenance of infrastructure such as dams that are not effective against flooding, the country's vulnerability is exposed in the event of a natural disaster.
According to the latest figures, 11,300 people have been killed in flooding in Derna, eastern Libya, the worst-hit country, and more than 10,000 others are missing. It is estimated that this catastrophe could eventually claim 20,000 lives! It is appalling that so many lives have been lost in just one flood.
To this day, it is difficult to say for Libyans whether life is better now or Gaddafi's time. History does not assume that everything that has happened has already happened. Whether Libya can return to the top or not, only time will tell. But the first thing they need to do is to get out of the shadows of today. #China decided to provide 30 million yuan in aid to Libya ##Libya##利比亚大洪水#