THE LIBYAN LEOPARD'S BLACK SPOTS

“can the ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil”

                                                   jeremiah 1:23 king james version

          Libya’s self appointed National Transitional Council, based in the city of Benghazi, is the official opposition body fighting to topple Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi. “Official”, not because it is has legitimacy, but because NATO and a reluctant United States have embraced this gaggle of opportunists. While the name is grandiose it does profess to represents all of society and has systematically excluded Bedouin and other factions. It is a bald usurpation of power. The name does not elicit high democratic hopes, nor does it purport to adhere to the ideals so dear to Western democracies. It is what it says it is: a transition from a one man dictatorship to an oligarchy of the chosen few, the opportunists.

          Just take a gander at the leaders of the so called Libyan Rebellion. We have Mahmoud Jibril, the “Head of Government”, who had been ensconced as Chairman of Qaddafi’s National Economic Board enjoying all the privileges and perquisites that that post afforded and oil money would buy. Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, Chairman of the Council, was Muammar’s Minister of Justice, a minister who had turned a blind eye to justice for decades. Ali Tarhouni is listed as finance minister, a man who had abandoned his country and its people since 1974, now hell bent on unfreezing Libya’s billions and managing them in a time of turmoil. Will he hew to the straight and narrow or will he succumb to money’s siren song? Time will tell.

          Don’t forget Khalifa Hifter, another exile from the United States, a former top military officer in Qaddafi’s war in Chad who promptly appointed himself as the supreme rebel field commander. He opposed General Abdul Fattah Younes, Qaddafi’s fast friend and his Minster of the Interior, murdered under murky circumstances after being summoned to Benghazi by the Council.

          Last, but not least is Ali al-Essawi, the Executive Branch Deputy, a former Ambassador and Qaddafi’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Investment until 2007.

          From the safety of the sidelines cheering the rebels on are Ali Suleiman Aujali until recently Qaddafi’s Ambassador to the United States, now espousing the rebel cause, and Ibrahim Omar Al Dabashi, Libya’s Ambassador to the United Nations also serving two masters. 

          Leopards have white spots. Libya’s opportunistic leopards all have black spots, black evil spots galore. Do you readily believe that those who are accustomed to do evil will now do good? I, for one, do not.

Since this site embraces and supports on line gambling, we are accepting all bets, 10 to 1 odds, that Libya will have just another corrupt regime in place in six months, any takers?