It’s so fascinating to watch Libya right now, with Gaddafi on the run in his own country.
“Libya IS my father. He is Libya,” states his son Saif al-Islam.
Well then, if Gaddafi IS Libya, then we know several things about this north African country.
Let’s see, what can we say about “Libya”? Well, Libya used to be quite good-looking. It used to look very natty in its military uniform, way back in the days when the country charmed itself into being subjected to its own brutal dictatorship. But as Libya aged it began to look crazier and crazier. These days, Libya is very strange-looking and it’s definitely a crappy dresser. It always favours gold in its look – gold, rich brocades, and more gold. Gold-braided cap, heavy gold chains. Libya has been literally draping itself in riches in order to broadcast its prosperity. Meanwhile, the majority of real Libya has been struggling to survive. The two Libyas have certainly existed in a dire state of disconnect, side by side.
For decades, Libya papered itself with photographs of its own slack-jawed face. People who openly loved it were favoured with plum jobs and nice houses. People who openly criticized it were simply killed, often in public as a disincentive to other disgruntled people, often having been tortured.
Libya’s kids sure are interesting. They are a mish-mash of education, militarism, belligerence, civility, and rage underneath some very good-looking faces. Meanwhile, the real Libya’s youth would dearly love to smash those fake Libya faces underfoot, once and for all.
Libya is a strange place of vivid contradictions: sea shore and sand dunes, oil wealth and poverty, propaganda and rebellion, ancient tribes and modern cities, a formerly handsome, dashing ruler but with a sadly broken mind, a country of both peaceful and violent tendencies.
In a perfect imitation of the see-saw effect of such contradictions, Gaddafi alternately makes gestures of peace, and then threatens to turn Libya into a living hell. Two of his sons recently made conflicting phonecalls to the NTC, one right after the other. “I would surrender if it would save more bloodshed,” suggests one. “Nobody is giving up, we’ll fight right to the death,” insists the other. These two vastly different phonecalls coming close together on the same day from the same family group provides a perfect summary of the historically fractured Libya.
Right now, Libya is on the run. And Libya had to run without its precious cap. Upon recently seeing the said cap on the head of a freedom-fighting youth, Libya had an apoplectic fit of rage. Efforts of family members to prevent him from seeing that eventually came to naught – he saw it. Finally. And this explains the sudden change of heart from his peaceful gesture of a few days ago. Not the cap! No!
So, Libya has a bare head now. It’s had to run using only the bumpy back roads. Libya’s been having a very rough ride; Libya is hiding out. Libya is starting to realize that it will need to hide out for the rest of its days, unless some of those days are spent in jail.
“We aren’t women, we are not giving up!” Libya spits today in a sudden, unexplained insult to half the world’s population. No – one thing’s for sure: Libya is no woman. Libya is a man! Running away, skulking on back roads, keeping its head low, refusing to face its enemies, instructing phantom fighters safely from its hiding place. No woman indeed.
Libya needs to calm down now. Libya is saying some very unfortunate things and this will only get worse. Libya needs some meds!! And soon! Libya can’t get that image out of its mind, of that kid wearing its cap and gold chain. Can’t get that cap off his head! Can’t tear that chain off his neck! Must get a grip! Libya’s kids are getting pretty worried about their dad by this point.
Among all these contradictions, one thing’s for sure: for “Libya” the man, this will definitely NOT end well.
But for the rest of Libya however, for the real people of Libya sans the babbling maniac who thinks that he’s Libya, for the actual citizens and their current government, getting rid of the fake Libya was the best thing they have ever done in their entire lives.
Long live Libya. No, not THAT Libya. The real one.
