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Earlier this morning, rumors of Moammar Gadhafi’s death were confirmed by transitional authorities in Libya.
Gadhafi’s 42-year-long dictatorship ended a few months ago due to rebel efforts and continuous fighting. Now, the ex-leader himself has been captured and killed, his death confirmed by the National Transitional Council and the interim prime minister Mahmoud Jibril.
At Gadhafi’s capture near his hometown of Sirte, onlookers chanted “God is great!” and kicked his blood-stained corpse, reports the Miami Herald.
CNN this morning showed what was believed to be Gadhafi’s corpse, a gory photo straight out of a George A. Romero film.
While the Libyan people celebrate his death, experts and those who worked close to him provide insight into Gadhafi’s psyche and self-image.
Youcef Bouandel, a professor of international affairs, said Gadhafi “became very, very detached from the Libyan reality… He saw himself as bigger than he was. He was Libya.”
Dirk Vandewalle, professor of government at Dartmouth University, told NPR Gadhafi believed he would be “a young kind of Arab nationalist who would renew the sense of grandeur that the Arabs had in the past.”
David Mack, the former ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, talked about Gadhafi as “one of the highest-IQ people [he'd] ever talked to.”
However, Mack adds that as Gadhafi aged, he “became increasingly set in his ways, increasingly unwilling to tolerate views other than his own, and there may be, in fact, signs of dementia.”
During his reign, Gadhafi held a strong anti-Western perspective, upholding the ideals of Arab nationalism. He published his manifesto, the “Green Book,” in it detailing what Mack calls Gadhafi’s jumbled vision for Libya:
“I would describe this … as being a mixture of utopian socialism, Arab nationalism, tribal and Islamic values and the idea of Islamic egalitarianism, along with anti-imperialism and a fair amount of xenophobia. And all these things kind of wrapped up in a strange mixture.”
Now, with Gadhafi’s demise, Libya faces the challenges of rebuilding itself as a nation after more than four decades of oppression.
Maria Murriel
Maria Murriel is a serious writer for serious publications. Her past endeavors include the Consequence of Sound, The FIU Beacon and she is currently News Editor of Arketipo 187 Magazine. Aside from an inextricable interest in music and culture, Ms. Murriel is mesmerized by issues of gender, power, and the role of religion in tying these together. Ms. Murriel has just finished a Bachelor of Arts in religious studies with a certificate in women’s studies and a minor in journalism. Currently, she devotes her nights and weekends to her job in the restaurant business, where even income is lackluster, while working on a growing portfolio. In her spare time, Ms. Murriel reads convoluted literature on the nature of sex and religion in the collective consciousness and watches Gilmore Girls DVDs. Her aspirations are high and her path is open. If you’d like to contact Ms. Murriel or have tips on stories, please leave a comment or write to maria.murriel@arketipo187.com.
