International News: They Got Gaddafi
13 years ago

Well it hasn’t exactly been a banner year for terrorists or the violent dictator sect. With Osama being KO’d by the now infamous SEAL Team 6 and Gaddafi taking a gunshot to the head this past week it seems like the tide might be turning in favor of freedom. While the details surrounding Osama’s death were highly publicized and quickly disseminated there seems to be a lot of uncertainty surrounding Gaddafi’s death. He was arrested and taken alive only to be pronounced dead hours later with a gunshot to the head. Various Libyan rebels were shown on video taking credit for pulling the trigger, but there seems to be a darker side to what actually happened. The rumor mill is running at full speed and there seems to be some truth to the reports of Gaddafi being killed by one of his own supporters to avoid the persecution that was sure to follow at the hands of the international courts.

Various officials from the United States, United Kingdom, Egypt, and France commented on how appalled they were at the treatment of Gaddafi after his capture, but it seems like they are just saving face in the eyes of the international human rights camp. Did anyone really think Gaddafi was going to be arrested and held with due process like a common thief? We’re talking about a man who ruled and terrorized an entire country for nearly 50 years. Who gives a fuck about his “rights” after he was arrested? I know it’s a little disconcerting when you see the video of him being harassed and beaten after they found him, but when you read a little bit about his legacy of murdering and torturing his own people the sympathy quickly fades. I can’t think of anything that would’ve been too severe for this bastard. In fact, that gunshot to the head was probably too good for him. I would’ve been more supportive of a Saddam-style hanging and I’m sure a few million Libyans would agree.

Aside from the handling of Gaddafi, the New York city based Human Rights Watch has called for an investigation of what was apparently a mass execution of Gaddafi supporters in a hotel in Sirte. I’ll reserve judgment on the moral implications of this mass murder since no one actually knows who was killed in that hotel, but I’m sure that an investigation will be fruitless. The people of Libya are celebrating in the streets and waiting in line to mock Gaddafi at his grave. An investigation into who killed the supports of one of the most hated people in the world will probably not yield much information.

The standard for the treatment of criminals completely changes in the context of war, especially a civil war where an oppressed people have risen up against a corrupt government. There may have been some innocent people involved in this massacre, but could we really expect the group of rebels who breached the stronghold to see it that way? These men and women were fighting against the regime who had murdered their friends and families and oppressed them their entire lives. They may have been blinded by anger in the moment, but that anger was building for a lifetime. The supporters of Gaddafi knew the end was coming and had been asked to leave peacefully many times. By choosing to stay and fight with Gaddafi they sealed their fate and the people of Libya delivered it. I only wish that they could’ve sent in SEAL Team 7 so we could chalk up another victory to the badassery of the American military, but a dictator has fallen without sacrificing more American lives so tonight I’ll take a shot for the rebels that put one in that fucker’s head.