The Truth about Benghazi?

www.post-gazette.com/opinion/2014/01/08/The-truth-about-Benghazi/stories/201401080014

Okay, I give... Recently all I see on the TV is directed at the Benghazi incident that occurred on Sept. 11, 2012.

So I thought I'd take a short reminder dip into a deeper look since the Republicans seem so hell bent on castigating the Democrats over this.

And the first questions that came to mind from this particular viewpoint was...

Would the attack on U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and Sean Smith, U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Officer have happened even if the American diplomatic mission had been heavily manned and guarded?

What about where the second assault took place several hours later at the nearby CIA annex in a different compound about one mile away, that killed two CIA contractors, Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Doherty? I can't help but wonder why they didn't flee, or seek better protection knowing their comrades had already fallen?

Or was this location, and these particular men in Libya selected to make a point primarily due to the apparent Laissez-faire attitude that had been adapted overseas?

Also during these two separate incidents ten others were "injured" and these attacks were condemned by the governments of Libya, the United States, and many other countries throughout the world.

It's obvious that the anti-Islamic film "Innocence of Muslims" that was produced in allegedly anti-racist Los Angeles, California was the instigating factor. But like everything else involved in politics nothing is ever as it appears to be initially.

So now that my curiosity has been peaked I guess I'll explore this issue just a little bit more to see where the roads tend to lead.

As of May 2014, no one has yet been prosecuted.

To make it easier to piece these puzzle pieces together I'm going to start back at the beginning of what I assume everyone else is already well familiar with.

I'm looking at this overall situation with absolutely no in depth knowledge or preconceived notions. So please bear with my ignorance as I learn and post my impressions that might be off the mark according to more experienced eyes.

1793-��95 Tripolitanian Civil War

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1793-95 Tripolitanian civil war was a conflict which occurred in what is today the country of Libya when Ali Benghul, an Ottoman officer, deposed Hamet Karamanli, the ruler of Tripolitania, who had ruled since the end of the corrupt and ineffective rule of Ali I in 1793. Hamet and his brother Yusuf returned to Tripoli with the aid of the Bey of Tunis and took control of the throne.

Following the end of the war Hamet Karamanli was initially returned to the throne, ruling again as Ahmad II Pasha from 20 January 1795 until 11 June 1795, when Hamza Yusuf deposed him, seized the throne, and sent Hamet into exile. Hamet later tried unsuccessfully to return and seize the throne {{{with American support}}} in the Battle of Derne during the First Barbary War.

Battle of Derne

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Battle of Derne was the decisive victory of a mercenary army led by a detachment of United States Marines and soldiers against the forces of Tripoli during the First Barbary War. It was the first recorded land battle of the United States fought overseas.

In 1804, the former Consul to Tunis, William Eaton, returned to the Mediterranean with the title of Naval Agent to the Barbary States. Eaton had been granted permission from the United States government to back the claim of Hamet Karamanli.

Hamet Karamanli was the rightful heir to the throne of Tripoli and had been deposed by his brother Yussif Karamanli. Upon his return to the area, Eaton sought out Hamet Karamanli who was in exile in Egypt. Upon locating him, Eaton made a proposal to reinstate him on the throne. The exile agreed to Eaton's plan.

Commodore Samuel Barron, the new naval commander in the Mediterranean, provided Eaton with naval support from the USS Nautilus, the USS Hornet and the USS Argus. The three vessels were to provide offshore bombardment support.

The Nautilus was commanded by Oliver Hazard Perry, the Hornet was commanded by Samuel Evans, and the Argus was commanded by Isaac Hull.[citation needed]

A detachment of U.S. Marines was given to Eaton under the command of First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon. Eaton and Hull made their base of operations at Alexandria, Egypt. There, with the help of Hamet Karamanli, they recruited about 500 Arab and Greek mercenaries. Eaton named himself general and commander-in-chief of the combined force.

On March 6, 1805, General Eaton began to lead his army on a 500 miles (800 km) trek across the Libyan desert. Their objective was the port city of Derne, the capital of the province of Cyrenaica. Supplies and money were promised to the largely mercenary force when they reached the city.

During the 50-day trek, Eaton became concerned with the relationship between the Christians and the roughly 200 or 300 Muslim mercenaries in his force. On several occasions mutiny threatened the success of the expedition.

Between March 10 and March 18, several of the Arab camel drivers mutinied before reaching the sanctuary of the Massouah Castle.

From March 22 to March 30, there were mutinies of several of the Arab mercenaries under the command of Sheik el Tahib.

On April 8, upon crossing the border from Egypt into Libya Tripoli, General Eaton had quelled the Arab mutinies. The force finally reached the port city of Bomba in late April, up the coast from Derne, where the Argus, the Nautilus and the Hornet along with Captain Hull were waiting. There Eaton and his force received supplies and money to pay the mercenaries.

The Battle of Derne was the first recorded land battle of the United States on foreign soil after the American Revolutionary War. The battle was the decisive action of the First Barbary War, although Eaton was angered by what he called a 'sell-out' between Consul Lear and the bey.

Hamet returned to Egypt and the mercenaries were never fully paid. William Eaton returned to the United States as a national hero.

First Lt. O'Bannon was presented a Mameluke sword by Hamet, the Ottoman Empire viceroy, on December 8, 1805, as a gesture of respect and praise for the Marines' actions and later was awarded a sword of honor patterned on the Mameluke design, by his home state of Virginia (which led to adoption of the sword by all U.S. Marine officers to this day).

The attack on the city was the inspiration for a portion of the lyrics of the Marines' Hymn that mention "to the shores of Tripoli".

First Barbary War

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The First Barbary War (1801-1805), also known as the Tripolitan War or the Barbary Coast War, was the first of two wars fought between the United States and the Northwest African Berber Muslim states known collectively as the Barbary States, nominally under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.

These were Tripoli, Algiers, and Tunis, which were quasi-independent entities nominally belonging to the Ottoman Empire, and the independent Sultanate of Morocco.

The war was fought because U.S. President Thomas Jefferson refused to pay the high tributes demanded by the Barbary states and because they were seizing American merchant ships and enslaving the crews for high ransoms. It was the first declared war the United States fought on foreign land and seas.

Barbary corsairs and crews from the North African Ottoman provinces of Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli and the independent Sultanate of Morocco under the Alaouite Dynasty (the Barbary Coast) were the scourge of the Mediterranean.

Capturing merchant ships and enslaving or ransoming their crews provided the Muslim rulers of these nations with wealth and naval power. The Roman Catholic Trinitarian Order or Order of "Mathurins" had operated from France for centuries with the special mission of collecting and disbursing funds for the relief and ransom of prisoners of Mediterranean pirates.

According to Robert Davis, between 1 million and 1.25 million Europeans were captured by Barbary pirates and sold as slaves between the 16th and 19th centuries.

Barbary corsairs led attacks upon American merchant shipping in an attempt to extort ransom for the lives of captured sailors, and ultimately tribute from the United States to avoid further attacks, much like their standard operating procedure with the various European states.

Before the Treaty of Paris, which formalized the United States' independence from Great Britain, U.S. shipping was protected by France during the Revolutionary years under the Treaty of Alliance (1778-83). Although the treaty does not mention the Barbary States in name, it refers to common enemies between both the U.S. and France, which would include the Barbary States or pirates in general.

As such, piracy against U.S. shipping only began to occur after the end of the American Revolution, when the U.S. government lost its protection under the Treaty of Alliance.

This lapse of protection by a European power led to the first American merchant shipping seized after the Treaty of Paris. On 11 October 1784, Moroccan pirates seized the brigantine Betsey. The Spanish government negotiated the freedom of the captured ship and crew; however, Spain offered advice to the United States on how to deal with the Barbary States.

The advice was to offer tribute to prevent further attacks against merchant ships. The U.S. Minister to France, Thomas Jefferson, decided to send envoys to Morocco and Algeria to try to purchase treaties and the freedoms of the captured sailors held by Algeria.

Morocco was the first Barbary Coast state to sign a treaty with the U.S. on 23 June 1786. This treaty formally ended all Moroccan piracy against American shipping interests. Specifically, Article 6 of the treaty states that if any Americans captured by Moroccans or other Barbary Coast states docked at a Moroccan city, they would be set free and come under the protection of the Moroccan state.

American diplomatic action with Algeria, the other major Barbary Coast state, was much less successful than with Morocco. Algeria began piracy against the U.S. on 25 July 1785 with the capture of the schooner Maria, and Dauphin a week later. All four Barbary Coast states demanded $660,000 each.

However, the envoys were given only an allocated budget of $40,000 to achieve peace. Diplomatic talks to reach a reasonable sum for tribute or for the ransom of the captured sailors struggled to make any headway. The crews of Maria and Dauphin remained in captivity for over a decade, and soon were joined by crews of other ships captured by the Barbary States.

In 1795, Algeria came to an agreement that resulted in the release of 115 American sailors they held, at a cost of over $1 million. This amount totaled about one-sixth of the entire U.S. budget, and was demanded as tribute by the Barbary States to prevent further piracy.

The continuing demand for tribute ultimately led to the formation of the United States Department of the Navy, founded in 1798 to prevent further attacks upon American shipping and to end the extremely large demands for tribute from the Barbary States.

Various letters and testimonies by captured sailors described their captivity as a form of slavery, even though Barbary Coast imprisonment was different from that practiced by the U.S. and European powers of the time.

Barbary Coast prisoners were able to obtain wealth and property, along with achieving status beyond that of a slave. One such example was James Leander Cathcart, who rose to the highest position a Christian slave could achieve in Algeria, becoming an adviser to the Algerian Bey, or king.

Even so, most captives were pressed into hard labor in the service of the Barbary pirates, and struggled under extremely poor conditions that exposed them to vermin and disease.

As word of their treatment reached to the U.S., through freed captives' narratives or letters, Americans pushed for direct government action to stop the piracy against U.S. ships.

In March 1785, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams went to London to negotiate with Tripoli's envoy, Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdrahaman (or Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja).

When they enquired "concerning the ground of the pretensions to make war upon nations who had done them no injury", the ambassador replied: It was written in their Koran, that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every mussulman who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise.

He said, also, that the man who was the first to board a vessel had one slave over and above his share, and that when they sprang to the deck of an enemy's ship, every sailor held a dagger in each hand and a third in his mouth; which usually struck such terror into the foe that they cried out for quarter at once.

Jefferson reported the conversation to Secretary of Foreign Affairs John Jay, who submitted the Ambassador's comments and offer to Congress. Jefferson argued that paying tribute would encourage more attacks. Although John Adams agreed with Jefferson, he believed that circumstances forced the U.S. to pay tribute until an adequate navy could be built.

The U.S. had just fought an exhausting war, which put the nation deep in debt. Federalist and Anti-Federalist forces argued over the needs of the country and the burden of taxation. Jefferson's own Democratic-Republicans and anti-navalists believed that the future of the country lay in westward expansion, with Atlantic trade threatening to siphon money and energy away from the new nation on useless wars in the Old World.

The U.S. paid Algiers the ransom, and continued to pay up to $1 million per year over the next 15 years for the safe passage of American ships or the return of American hostages.[citation needed]

A $1 million payment in ransom and tribute to the privateering states would have amounted to approximately 10% of the U.S. government's annual revenues in 1800.

Jefferson continued to argue for cessation of the tribute, with rising support from George Washington and others. With the recommissioning of the American navy in 1794 and the resulting increased firepower on the seas, it became increasingly possible for America to refuse paying tribute, although by now the long-standing habit was hard to overturn.

"Immediately prior to Jefferson's inauguration in 1801, Congress passed naval legislation that, among other things, provided for six frigates that 'shall be officered and manned as the President of the United States may direct.' ...

In the event of a declaration of war on the United States by the Barbary powers, these ships were to 'protect our commerce & chastise their insolence €”by sinking, burning or destroying their ships & Vessels wherever you shall find them.'"

On Jefferson's inauguration as president in 1801, Yusuf Karamanli, the Pasha (or Bashaw) of Tripoli, demanded $225,000 from the new administration. (In 1800, Federal revenues totaled a little over $10 million.) Putting his long-held beliefs into practice, Jefferson refused the demand. Consequently, on 10 May 1801, the Pasha declared war on the U.S., not through any formal written documents but in the customary Barbary manner of cutting down the flagstaff in front of the U.S. Consulate.

Algiers and Tunis did not follow their ally in Tripoli.

In response, "Jefferson sent a small force to the area to protect American ships and citizens against potential aggression, but insisted that he was 'unauthorized by the Constitution, without the sanction of Congress, to go beyond the line of defense.'" He told Congress: "I communicate [to you] all material information on this subject, that in the exercise of this important function confided by the Constitution to the Legislature exclusively their judgment may form itself on a knowledge and consideration of every circumstance of weight."

Although Congress never voted on a formal declaration of war, they did authorize the President to instruct the commanders of armed American vessels to seize all vessels and goods of the Pasha of Tripoli "and also to cause to be done all such other acts of precaution or hostility as the state of war will justify." The American squadron joined a Swedish flotilla under Rudolf Cederstrom in blockading Tripoli, the Swedes having been at war with the Tripolitans since 1800.

On 31 May 1801, Commodore Edward Preble traveled to Messina, Sicily to the court of King Ferdinand IV of the Kingdom of Naples. He sought help and found a good ally.

The Kingdom was at war with Napoleon, but Ferdinand supplied the Americans with manpower, craftsmen, supplies, gunboats, mortar boats, and the ports of Messina, Syracuse and Palermo to be used as a naval base to launch operations against Tripoli, a port walled fortress city protected by 150 pieces of heavy artillery manned by 25,000 soldiers, assisted by a fleet of 10 ten-gunned brigs, two eight-gun schooners, two large galleys, and 19 gunboats.

The schooner Enterprise (commanded by Lieutenant Andrew Sterret) defeated the 14-gun Tripolitan corsair Tripoli after a fierce but one-sided battle on 1 August 1801.

In 1802, in response to Jefferson's request for authority to deal with the pirates, Congress passed "An act for the Protection of Commerce and seamen of the United States against the Tripolitan cruisers", authorizing the President to "... employ such of the armed vessels of the United States as may be judged requisite... for protecting effectually the commerce and seamen thereof on the Atlantic ocean, the Mediterranean and adjoining seas." "The statute authorized American ships to seize vessels belonging to the Bey of Tripoli, with the captured property distributed to those who brought the vessels into port."

The U.S Navy went unchallenged on the sea, but still the question remained undecided. Jefferson pressed the issue the following year, with an increase in military force and deployment of many of the Navy's best ships to the region throughout 1802.

Argus, Chesapeake, Constellation, Constitution, Enterprise, Intrepid, Philadelphia and Syren all saw service during the war under the overall command of Commodore Edward Preble.

Throughout 1803, Preble set up and maintained a blockade off the Barbary ports and executed a campaign of raids and attacks against the cities' fleets.

In October 1803, Tripoli's fleet was able to capture Philadelphia intact after the frigate ran aground while patrolling Tripoli harbor. Efforts by the Americans to float the ship while under fire from shore batteries and Tripolitan naval units failed. The ship, its captain, William Bainbridge, and all officers and crew were taken ashore and held as hostages. Philadelphia was turned against the Americans and anchored in the harbor as a gun battery.

On the night of 16 February 1804, Lieutenant Stephen Decatur led a small detachment of U.S. Marines aboard the captured Tripolitan ketch rechristened USS Intrepid, thus deceiving the guards on Philadelphia to float close enough to board her.

Decatur's men stormed the ship and overpowered the Tripolitan sailors. With fire support from the American warships, the Marines set fire to Philadelphia, denying her use by the enemy.

British Admiral Horatio Nelson, himself known as a man of action and courage, reportedly called this "the most bold and daring act of the age."

Preble attacked Tripoli on 14 July 1804, in a series of inconclusive battles, including a courageous but unsuccessful attack attempting to use Intrepid under Captain Richard Somers as a fire ship, packed with explosives and sent to enter Tripoli harbor, where she would destroy herself and the enemy fleet.

However, Intrepid was destroyed, possibly by enemy gunfire, before she achieved her goal, killing Somers and his entire crew.

The turning point in the war was the Battle of Derna (April–May 1805). Ex-consul William Eaton, a former Army captain who used the title of "general", and US Marine Corps First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon led a force of eight U.S. Marines, 500 mercenaries-Greeks from Crete, Arabs, and Berbers—on a march across the desert from Alexandria, Egypt to assault and to capture the Tripolitan city of Derna.

This was the first time in history the United States flag was raised in victory on foreign soil. The action is memorialized in a line of the Marines' Hymn - "the shores of Tripoli"

Wearied of the blockade and raids, and now under threat of a continued advance on Tripoli proper and a scheme to restore his deposed older brother Hamet Karamanli as ruler, Yusuf Karamanli signed a treaty ending hostilities on 10 June 1805. Article 2 of the Treaty reads:

The Bashaw of Tripoli shall deliver up to the American Squadron now off Tripoli, all the Americans in his possession; and all the Subjects of the Bashaw of Tripoli now in the power of the United States of America shall be delivered up to him; and as the number of Americans in possession of the Bashaw of Tripoli amounts to Three Hundred Persons, more or less; and the number of Tripolino Subjects in the power of the Americans to about, One Hundred more or less; The Bashaw of Tripoli shall receive from the United States of America, the sum of Sixty Thousand Dollars, as a payment for the difference between the Prisoners herein mentioned.

In agreeing to pay a ransom of $60,000 for the American prisoners, the Jefferson administration drew a distinction between paying tribute and paying ransom. At the time, some argued that buying sailors out of slavery was a fair exchange to end the war.

William Eaton, however, remained bitter for the rest of his life about the treaty, feeling that his efforts had been squandered by the State Department diplomat Tobias Lear. Eaton and others felt that the capture of Derna should have been used as a bargaining chip to obtain the release of all American prisoners without having to pay ransom.

Furthermore, Eaton believed the honor of the United States had been compromised when it abandoned Hamet Karamanli after promising to restore him as leader of Tripoli. Eaton's complaints generally fell on deaf ears, especially as attention turned to the strained international relations which would ultimately lead to the withdrawal of the U.S. Navy from the area in 1807 and to the War of 1812.

The First Barbary War was beneficial to the military reputation of the U.S. America's military command and war mechanism, which had been up to that time relatively untested.

The First Barbary War showed that America could execute a war far from home, and that American forces had the cohesion to fight together as Americans rather than separately as Georgians or New Yorkers.

The United States Navy and Marines became a permanent part of the American government and American history, and Decatur returned to the U.S. as its first post-Revolutionary war hero.

However, the more immediate problem of Barbary piracy was not fully settled. By 1807, Algiers had gone back to taking American ships and seamen hostage.

Distracted by the preludes to the War of 1812, the U.S. was unable to respond to the provocation until 1815, with the Second Barbary War, in which naval victories by Commodores William Bainbridge and Stephen Decatur led to treaties ending all tribute payments by the U.S

Second Barbary War

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Second Barbary War (1815), also known as the Algerine or Algerian War, was the second of two wars fought between the United States and the Ottoman Empire's North African regencies of Tripoli, Tunis, and Algeria, known collectively as the Barbary states.

The war between the Barbary states and the U.S. ended in 1815; the international dispute would effectively be ended the following year by Great Britain and the Netherlands. The war brought an end to the American practice of paying tribute to the pirate states and helped mark the beginning of the end of piracy in that region, which had been rampant in the days of Ottoman domination (16th - ��18th centuries).

Within decades, European powers built ever more sophisticated and expensive ships which the Barbary pirates could not match in numbers or technology.

After the First Barbary War (1801 - ��1805), the U.S. found its attention diverted to its worsening relationship with Great Britain over trade with France, which culminated in the War of 1812.

The Barbary pirate states took this opportunity to return to their practice of attacking American, as well as European merchant vessels in the Mediterranean Sea and holding their crews and officers for ransom.

At the same time, the major European powers were still involved in the Napoleonic Wars which did not fully end until 1815. At the conclusion of the War of 1812, however, America could once again turn its sights on North Africa.

On 3 March 1815, the U.S. Congress authorized deployment of naval power against Algiers, and two squadrons were assembled and readied for war.

The squadron under the command of Commodore William Bainbridge was ported in Boston while Commodore Stephen Decatur's squadron was at New York.

Decatur's squadron was ready to set sail first and departed 20 May 1815. It comprised the frigates USS Guerriere, the flag ship, with 44 guns, commanded by Captain William Lewis; Constellation, with 36 guns, commanded by Captain Charles Gordon, and Macedonia with 38 guns, under the command of Captain Jacob Jones; the sloops-of-war Eperyie, commanded by Captain John Downes, and Ontario with 16 guns, commanded by Captain Jesse D. Elliott; the brigs Firefly, Spark and Flambeau, each with 14 guns, commanded by Lieutenants George W. Kodgers, Thomas Gamble, and John B. Nicholson; and the schooners Torch and Spitfire, both with 12 guns, commanded by Lieutenants Wolcott Chauncey and Alexander J. Dallas. Mr. William Shaler.

Bainbridge's command was still assembling, and did not depart until 1 July, thereby missing the actions.

Shortly after departing Gibraltar en route to Algiers, Decatur's squadron encountered the Algerian flagship Meshuda, and, in a battle off Cape Gata, captured it. Not long afterward, the American squadron likewise off Cape Palos captured the Algerian brig Estedio.

By the final week of June, the squadron had reached Algiers and had initiated negotiations with the Dey. After persistent demands for recompensation mingled with threats of destruction, the Dey capitulated.

By terms of the treaty signed aboard the Guerriere in the Bay of Algiers, 3 July 1815, Decatur agreed to return the captured Meshuda and Estedio while the Algerians returned all American captives, estimated to be about 10, and a significant number of European captives[citation needed] were exchanged for about 500 subjects of the Dey along with $10,000 in payment for seized shipping.

The treaty guaranteed no further tributes and granted the United States full shipping rights.

In early 1816, Britain undertook a diplomatic mission, backed by a small squadron of ships of the line, to Tunis, Tripoli, and Algiers to convince the Deys to stop their piracy and free the Christian slaves.

The Beys of Tunis and Tripoli agreed without any resistance, but the Dey of Algiers was more recalcitrant and the negotiations were stormy.

The leader of the diplomatic mission, Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, believed that he had managed to negotiate a treaty to stop the slavery of Christians and returned to England.

However, due to confused orders, Algerian troops massacred 200 Corsican, Sicilian and Sardinian fishermen who were under British protection just after the treaty was signed. This caused outrage in Britain and Europe and Exmouth's negotiations were seen as a failure.

As a result, Exmouth was ordered to sea again to complete the job and punish the Algerians. He gathered a squadron of five ships of the line, reinforced by a number of frigates, later reinforced by a flotilla of six Dutch ships.

On 27 August 1816, following a round of failed negotiations, the fleet delivered a punishing nine-hour bombardment of Algiers. The attack immobilized many of the Dey's corsairs and shore batteries, forcing him to accept a peace offer of the same terms as he had rejected the day before.

Exmouth warned that if they were not accepted he would continue the action. The Dey accepted the terms falling for Exmouth's bluff; his fleet had already spent all its ammunition.

A treaty was signed on 24 September 1816. 1,083 Christian slaves and the British Consul were freed and the U.S. ransom money repaid.[citation needed]

After the First Barbary War, the European nations had been engaged in warfare with one another (and the U.S. with the British).

However, in the years immediately following the Second Barbary War, there was no general European war. This allowed the Europeans to build up their resources and challenge Barbary power in the Mediterranean without distraction.

Over the following century, Algiers and Tunis became colonies of France in 1830 and 1881 respectively, while Tripoli returned to the control of the Ottoman Empire in 1835.

In 1911, taking advantage of the power vacuum left by the fading Ottoman Empire, Italy assumed control of Tripoli. Europeans remained in control of the government in eastern North Africa until the mid-20th century.

By then the iron-clad warships of the late 19th century and dreadnoughts of the early 20th century ensured European dominance of the Mediterranean sea.[citation needed]

Original Six Frigates of the United States Navy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The United States Congress authorized the original six frigates of the United States Navy with the Naval Act of 1794 on 27 March 1794 at a total cost of $688,888.82.

These ships were built during the formative years of the United States Navy, on the recommendation of designer Joshua Humphreys for a fleet of frigates powerful enough to engage any frigates of the French or British navies yet fast enough to evade any ship of the line.

After the Revolutionary War, a heavily indebted United States disbanded the Continental Navy, and in August 1785, lacking funds for ship repairs, sold its last remaining warship, the Alliance.

But almost simultaneously troubles began in the Mediterranean when Algiers seized two American merchant ships and held their crews for ransom.

Minister to France Thomas Jefferson suggested an American naval force to protect American shipping in the Mediterranean, but his recommendations were initially met with indifference, as were the recommendations of John Jay, who proposed building five 40-gun warships.

Shortly afterward, Portugal began blockading Algerian ships from entering the Atlantic Ocean, thus providing temporary protection for American merchant ships.

Piracy against American merchant shipping had not been a problem when under the protection of the British Empire prior to the Revolution, but after the Revolutionary War the "Barbary States" of Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis felt they could harass American merchant ships without penalty.

Additionally, once the French Revolution started, Britain began interdicting American merchant ships suspected of trading with France and France began interdicting American merchant ships suspected of trading with Britain.

Defenseless, the American government could do little to resist.

The formation of a naval force had been a topic of debate in the new America for years.

Opponents argued that building a navy would only lead to calls for a navy department, and the staff to operate it. This would further lead to more appropriations of funds, which would eventually spiral out of control, giving birth to a "self-feeding entity".

Those opposed to a navy felt that payment of tribute to the Barbary States and economic sanctions against Britain were a better alternative.

In 1793 Portugal reached a peace agreement with Algeria, ending its blockade of the Mediterranean, thus allowing Algerian ships back into the Atlantic Ocean. By late in the year eleven American merchant ships had been captured. This, combined with the actions of Britain, finally led President Washington to request Congress to authorize a navy.

On 2 January 1794, by a narrow margin of 46-44, the House of Representatives voted to authorize building a navy and formed a committee to determine the size, cost, and type of ships to be built.

Secretary of War Henry Knox submitted proposals to the committee outlining the design and cost of warships. To appease the strong opposition to the upcoming bill, the Federalist Party inserted a clause into the bill that would bring an abrupt halt to the construction of the ships should the United States reach a peace agreement with Algiers.

The bill was presented to the House on 10 March and passed as the Naval Act of 1794 by a margin of 50-39, and without division in the Senate on the 19th.

President Washington signed the Act on 27 March. It provided for acquisition, by purchase or otherwise, of four ships to carry forty-four guns each, and two ships to carry thirty-six guns each.

It also provided pay and sustenance for naval officers and sailors, and outlined how each ship should be manned in order to operate them.

The Act appropriated $688,888.82 to finance the work.

Barbary Wars - Effect in United States

When the United States military efforts of the early 19th century were successful against the pirates, partisans of the Democratic-Republicans contrasted their presidents' refusals to buy off the pirates by paying tribute with the failure of the preceding Federalist administration to suppress the piracy.

The Federalist Party had adopted the slogan, "Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute," but had failed to end the attacks on merchant ships. From 1796-1797 French raiders seized more some 316 American merchant ships flying American colors.

To counter this ongoing advent three frigates, the USS United States USS Constitution and the USS Constellation, were soon built to answer the call for security.

Later

In the 21st century, the United States again conducted military operation in the North African area, specifically participating in the intervention against the government of Libya, and this operation has sometimes been termed in the media as the continuation of the previous Barbary Wars and given the name "Third Barbary War"

World War II - Libya

www.histclo.com/essay/war/ww2/cou/lib/ww2-lib.html

Most of the Middle East was dominated by Britain and France thus the rise of European Fascist in Italy and Germany appealed to many Arab nationalists.

Libya was an exception because the colonial power was Italy.

As Europe moved toward war, Libyan nationalists began to see that Italian defeat in a war would create an opportunity for independence.

After Germany invaded Poland and launched World war II (September 1939), Italian nationalists met in Alexandria, Egypt (October 1939).

Sayid Idris emerged as the most prominent leader, but the nationalist movement was badly divided.

The early victories of Italian ally NAZI Germany were, however, not encouraging for the Libyan nationalists.

Italy entered the War once the German victory over France was assured (June 1940). At first it seemed that the massive Italian army in Libya would easily overwhelm the British in Egypt.

Nationalist forces were divided on how they should react. Some (the Cyrenaicans and Idris) supported the British. Others (the Tripolitanians) were more hesitant, fearing that the Axis might win the War.

Formal meetings in Cairo with Idris and some of the nationalists resulted in a formal agreement by the nationalists would support the British and the British would support a move toward independence after the War (August 1940).

The Italians invaded Egypt (September 1940), but were defeated by a small British force which invaded Libya.

This surprising British victory surprised the Libyan nationalists and first created the realistic prospect that the Italians would be defeated.

The Libyan Arab Force commonly referred to as the Sanusi Army was small, but did assist the British during the campaigns in the Western Desert.

German intervention in Libya resulted in a sea-saw battle that was not settled until the decisive Battle of El Alemaine (October 1942).

The British 8th Army then proceeded to drive the Afrika Korps out of Egypt and Libya and liked up with the Allied Norces landed in Morocco and Algeria as part of Operation Totch.

The German and Italian forces finally surrendered in Tunisia (May 1943). Possession of Cyrenaica (eastern Libya) provided airbases from which targets in NAZI-domicated Europe could be attacked from the south.

The first attacks on the vital Ploesti oil fields in Romania came from Libyan bases. After the Allied invasion of Italy (September 1943), Libya became a backwater of the War.

Italian-Turkish War (1911-12)

Italy had largely missed out on the 19th century European effort to stake out overseas colonies.

Libya until the early 20th century was nominally an Ottomon province, but the Ottomon's exerted only limited control.

Italy saw Libya located as it was close to home as the ideal colony with a Mediterranean coast. Italy began the final assault on the Ottomon Empire by declaring war in this case to secure a new colony in North Africa -- Libya.

The Italo-Turkish War (1911-12) While fought outside the Balkans, weakened the Ottomon Army in the years just before World War I.

The Italians became the first country to drop ordinance from an airplane in warfare. They tossed grenades from a German-built monoplane.

The Ottomons largely ceeded to Italian demands because of the worsening situation in the Balkans, an area of much greater importance to them.

The Ottomons were unwilling to make a major military commitment to defending Libya. The Ottomons were, however, then further humiliated in the First and Second Balkan Wars (1912-13).

After some fighting, the Ottomans cede Libya to Italy (1912). The Sanusis have to resist Italian encroachments without Ottomon assistance.

World War I (1914-18)

Italy in years before World War I was a member of the Central Powers, but did not go to war with Austria and Germany. Italy joined the Allies in World War I (1915).

The British who were then allies attempted to mediate between the Sanusis and Italians. Libyan nationalists were torn during World War I.

Some were pro-British, but since the Italians which were turning Italy into a colony joined the Allies, some were now more favorably disposed toward the Ottomons, their former colonial masters, which had entered the War on the side of the Central Powers.

Senussi tribesmen supported by the Ottomons staged an uprising against the Italians (November 1915). The uprising was a relatively limited action. It did, however, cause the deployment of a substantial Allied force -- some 110,000 British, French and Italian troops.

Peace or more accurately truce terms were reached (April 1917).

Italian Colonization (1918-42)

Italy next seized Libya after a brief war with the Ottomans (1912).

The Libyans resisted. Fighting broke out, but the British brokered a truce after Italy joined the Allies in World War I (1915).

After the War, fighting broke out again leading to a prolonged colonial war. Italy continued efforts to colonize Libya.

Mussolini with his dreams of reconstituting the Roman Empire would wage a merciless campaign to end Libyan resistance to Italian rule.

The Italians seized control of the coast cities, but have great difficulty maintaining control of the interior. The Italians unified Tripolitania and Cyrenaica as the colony of Libya (1929).

Mussolini employing brutal tactics, including poison gas, finally succeeded in crushing Libyan resistance. Mussolini saw Libya as offering the possibility of colonization by Italy's burgeoning population.

The Sanusis finally surrender to the Italians (1931). One of the goals of Italian colonism was the concern with over population.

Italy called Libya "The Fourth Shore" and promoted Italian settlement there. Several projects with Italian colonists were launched.

Libya was the only Arab/Muslim that was a part of the Axis world at the start of the War.

NAZI Influence in the Arab World

Most of the Middle East was dominated by Britain and France thus the rise of European Fascist in Italy and Germany appealed to many Arab nationalists.

Libya was an exception because the colonial power was Italy. NAZI propaganda had little impact on Libya which was an Italian colony.

The Libyans had experienced Fascist brutality before the rest of the world.

The Italian Fascists conducted a brutal colonial war in the 1920s, even employing poison gas. They then began to colonize the country with Italian settlers. The goal was to displace or Italianize the Arabs.

This was similar to French policy in Algeria, but was very different from British policies. Thus the Libyans turned to the British for assistance.

The rest of the Arab world, however, did not seem to recognize the potential dangers of a Fascist dominated world or the the possibility that the Fascist would be a much more brutal colonial master.

Even in neighboring Egypt where the British were in the process of withdrawing before the War, the dangers of Fascism had little impact.

In fact important nationalist groups embraced the NAZIs.

The Grand Mufti in Palestine was an enthusiastic supporter of the NAZIs and helped with NAZI support to launch anti-British and anti-Jewish riots (1938-39).

There was also strong support for the NAZIs in Egypt, Iran (a Middle Eastern but not an Arab state), and Iraq.

The situation changed somewhat in the French colonies of Lebanon and Syria after the NAZI victory and Vicy initiated a policy of cooperating with the NAZIs.

Libyan Nationalists

As Europe moved toward war, Libyan nationalists began to see that Italian defeat in a war would create an opportunity for independence.

After Germany invaded Poland and launched World war II (September 1939), Italian nationalists met in Alexandria, Egypt (October 1939).

Sayid Idris emerged as the most prominent leader, but the nationalist movement was badly divided. The early victories of Italian ally NAZI Germany were, however, not encouraging for the Libyan nationalists.

Italian Declaration of War

Italy entered the War once the German victory over France was assured (June 1940).

Nationalist Response

Nationalist forces were divided on how they should react.

Some (the Cyrenaicans and Idris) supported the British.

Others (the Tripolitanians) were more hesitant, fearing that the Axis might win the War.

Formal meetings in Cairo with Idris and some of the nationalists resulted in a formal agreement by the nationalists would support the British and the British would support a move toward independence after the War (August 1940).

Italian Invasion of Egypt

Once it was clear that the French Army was defeated, Mussolini decided to join Hitler and declared war on France and Britain. Even though German armies were pouring through France, Mussolini's attack in the south was unsuccessful.

At first it seemed that the massive Italian army in Libya would easily overwhelm the British in Egypt. Mussolini also invaded Egypt from Libya, hoping to seize the Suez Canal (September 13, 1940).

Although badly outnumbered the British 8th Army stopped the Italians. The Italians invaded Egypt (September 1940), but were defeated by a small British force which invaded Libya.

The Holocaust

Italy after seizing control of Libya changed the status of Christian and Jews.

Jews in Italy had full civil rights and the small Jewish community in Libya prospered under Italian colonial rule. This changed as Mussolini after the Italian invasion of Ethiopia (1935) moved closer to Hitler and NAZI Germany.

Mussolini'��s anti-Jewish regulations imposed in 1938 theoretically applied to Libyan Jews. They were unevenly applied, but gradually severely affected Libyan Jews.

Italy after the Germans had essentially defeated France, declared war on Britain and France (June 1940).

A massive Italian Army invaded Egypt from Italy (September 1940).

The British smashed the Italians and drove into Libya (December 1940).

The Germans arrived in Libya to bolster the Italians (March 1941).

Rommel's Afrika Korps waged a sea-saw campaign with the British 8th Army until defeat at El Alemaine (October 1942).

Eventually about 5,000 Jews in Libya were interned. Conditions in these camps was very harsh. [Arbitol] Some Libyan Jews were deported to the death camps.

Defeat of the Axis forces in Egypt and Libya and the resulting British occupation saved the bulk of the Libyan Jewish community.

Sanusi Army

The British victory against a numerically superior Italian force surprised the Libyan nationalists. It was the first inkling that there was a realistic prospect that the Italians would be defeated.

The Libyan Arab Force commonly referred to as the Sanusi Army was small, but did assist the British during the campaigns in the Western Desert.

British Invade Libya

The British counter attacked (December 9, 1940). The British move toward Benghazi with a series of victories. The Italians were near collapse.

Afrika Korps

German intervention in Libya resulted in a sea-saw battle in the Western Desert. Hitler in order to prevent the fall of Libya orders a small armoured force to Libya to support the Italians. The force under Erwin Rommel begins to arrive March 22, 1941.

Rommel and his Africa Korps stop the British and even though he has only a small force launches a counter-attack (March 30, 1941). Rommel drives the British back into Egypt. Here Rommel's innovative tactics and the superiority of the German Panzers were critical.

ANZAC resistance at Tobruck helps to stop Rommel. A British counter offensive drive Rommel and the Italians back into Libya (November 18, 1941).

Rommel strikes and again drives into Egypt (January 21, 1942). This time Rommel takes Tobruk (June 21, 1942). He moves toward Suez, but is stopped after a ferocious battle at El Alemain (July 2, 1942).

Allied Victory

The campaign in the Western Desert was not settled until the decisive Battle of El Alemaine (October 1942). A standoff occurs as the two armies prepare for a show down. Churchill gives Montgomery command of the 8th Army (August 13, 1942).

This is the highwater of the German war effort. Rommel is only a few miles from Suez and Von Paulitz's 6th Army is investing Stalingrad.

Here America's entry into the War begins to swing the ballance. American industry provided Montgomery, with supplies and equipment in massive quantities.

The Germans bogged down in the Soviet Union can not devote the men or material needed by Rommel. The British defeat of the Italian Navy in the Mediterrean means that much of the supplies sent to Rommel are sunk. The British are assisted in this effort by Ultra.

The British 8th Army then proceeded to drive the Afrika Korps out of Egypt and Libya and linked up with the Allied Forces landed in Morocco and Algeria as part of Operation Torch.

The German and Italian forces finally surrendered in Tunisia (May 1943).

Cyrenica Air Bases

Possession of Cyrenaica (eastern Libya) provided airbases from which targets in NAZI-domicated Europe could be attacked from the south. The first attacks on the vital Ploesti oil fields in Romania came from Libyan bases.

After the Allied invasion of Italy (September 1943), Libya became a backwater of the War.

Idris of Libya

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Idris, GBE, also known as King Idris I of Libya (born El Sayyid Prince Muhammad Idris bin Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi; 12 March 1889 – 25 May 1983), was the first and only king of Libya, reigning from 1951 to 1969, and the Chief of the Senussi Muslim order.

While in Turkey for medical treatment, Idris was deposed in a 1969 coup d'etat by army officers led by Muammar Gaddafi.

Born at Al-Jaghbub, the headquarters of the Senussi movement, the son of Sayyid Muhammad al-Mahdi bin Sayyid Muhammad al-Senussi and his third wife Aisha bint Muqarrib al-Barasa, Idris was a grandson of Sayyid Muhammad bin 'Ali as-Senussi, the founder of the Senussi Muslim Sufi order and the Senussi tribe in North Africa.

His lineage is considered to be descendant of the Prophet Mohammed.[citation needed] He became Chief of the Senussi order in 1916 following the abdication of his cousin Sayyid Ahmed Sharif es Senussi. He was recognized by the British under the new title Emir of the territory of Cyrenaica, a position also confirmed by the Italians in 1920. He was also installed as Emir of Tripolitania on 28 July 1922.

Idris spent the early part of his career attempting to negotiate independence for Cyrenaica. In 1922, following the Italian military campaigns against Libya, he went into exile. Egypt then served as his base in a guerrilla war against the colonial Italian authorities.

World War II

During World War II, Idris supported the United Kingdom in the hope of ridding his country once and for all from Italian occupation and brought the Senussi tribe and the Cyrenaican nationalists to fight alongside the Allies against the Axis.

The Senussi tribesmen provided the British 8th Army in North Africa with vital intelligence[citation needed] on German and Italian troop movements.

With the defeat of the German and Italian forces led by Erwin Rommel, and with the help of the British Military Administration of Cyrenaica he was finally able to return to his capital, Benghazi, as Emir of Cyrenaica and form an official government.

In 1946 King Idris was honored and awarded the British Order of Grand Cross of the British Empire for his support in the defeat of German and Italian forces in North Africa during World War II.

King of Libya

With the help of the British Military Administration of Cyrenaica and the backing of London, Idris as-Senussi was rewarded for the help the Senussi tribe provided in ridding Libya of the Italian and German occupation and was proclaimed an independent Emirate of Cyrenaica in 1949.

He was also invited to become Emir of Tripolitania, another of the three traditional regions that now constitute modern Libya (the third being Fezzan). By accepting he began the process of uniting Libya under a single monarchy.

A constitution was enacted in 1949 and adopted in October 1951.

A National Congress elected Idris as King of Libya, and as Idris I he proclaimed the independence of the United Kingdom of Libya as a sovereign state on 24 December 1951.

From Benghazi, Idris led the team negotiating over independence with the United Kingdom and the United Nations under UN special adviser to Libya Dutch born Adrian Pelt, which was achieved on 24 December 1951 with the proclamation of the federal United Libyan Kingdom with Idris as king.

In 1963 the constitution was revised and the state became a unitary state as the Kingdom of Libya.

Earl Mountbatten was a very close friend of King Idris and used to visit him in Libya often and stay at the Royal Palace. Both King Idris and Earl Mountbatten used to go together on excursion trips into the Sahara desert which Earl Mountbatten enjoyed.

Idris had the same principles that formed part of his Sufi heritage namely peaceful co-existence, tolerance and a live and let live philosophy of life that was also held by the likes of Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.

In 1955, failing to have produced a male heir, he convinced Fatima, his wife for 20 years, to let him marry a second wife, Aliya Abdel Lamloun, daughter of a wealthy Bedouin chief. The second marriage took place on 5 June 1955. Ironically both wives then became pregnant, and both bore him a son.

To the chagrin of Arab nationalists at home and supporters of Pan-Arabism in neighbouring states, Idris maintained close ties with the United Kingdom and the United States, even after the former intervened against Egypt during the 1956 Suez Crisis.[citation needed]

Another threat to his kingdom was his failure to produce a surviving male heir to succeed to the throne.

In 1956, Idris designated his brother's son, Prince Hasan as-Senussi, as the Black Prince or crown prince.

The economy prospered from its oil fields and the presence of the United States Air Force's Wheelus Air Base near Tripoli, but the king's health began to falter and the crown prince assumed a greater role in the government and from time to time acted as regent.

On 4 August 1969, Idris signed an Instrument of Abdication in favor of Crown Prince Hasan as-Senussi, to take effect on 2 September that year.[citation needed]

Overthrow and Exile

On 1 September 1969, while Idris was in Turkey for medical treatment, he was deposed in a coup d'état by a group of Libyan army officers under the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi.

The monarchy was abolished and a republic proclaimed.

The coup pre-empted Idris' abdication and the succession of his heir the following day.

From Turkey, he and the queen traveled to Kamena Vourla, Greece, by ship and went into exile in Egypt.

After the coup of 1969, Idris was placed on trial in absentia in the Libyan People's Court and sentenced to death in November 1971.

Idris died at the Sultan Palace in Dokki, Cairo in 1983, aged 94.

He was buried at Jannat al-Baqi, Medina, Saudi Arabia.

Libyan Civil War

Although the king died in exile and most Libyans were born after his reign, during the Libyan civil war, many demonstrators opposing Colonel Gaddafi carried portraits of the king, especially in the traditional Sanussi stronghold of Cyrenaica.

The tricolor flag used during the era of the monarchy was frequently used as a symbol of the revolution and was re-adopted by the National Transitional Council as the official flag of Libya.

Constitution of Libya (1951)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The 1951 Libyan Constitution was brought into force on 7 October 1951, prior to Libya's formal declaration of its independence on 21 December 1951 as a constitutional and hereditary monarchy under King Idris.

The Libyan National Assembly drafted the Constitution and passed a resolution accepting it in a meeting held in the city of Benghazi on Sunday, 6th Muharram, Hegiras 1371: October 7, 1951.

Mohamed Abulas'��ad El-Alem, President of the National Assembly and the two Vice-Presidents of the National Assembly, Omar Faiek Shennib and Abu Baker Ahmed Abu Baker executed and submitted the Constitution to King Idris prior to its publication in the Official Gazette of Libya.

The enactment of the Libyan Constitution was significant in that it was the first piece of legislation to formally entrench the rights of Libyan citizens following the post-war creation of the Libyan nation state.

Following on from the intense UN debates, during which Idris had argued that the creation of a single Libyan state would be of benefit to the regions of Tripolitania, Fezzan, and Cyrenaica, the Libyan government was keen to formulate a constitution which contained many of the entrenched rights common to European and North American nation states.

Thus, though not creating a secular state (Article 5 proclaims Islam the religion of the State), the Libyan Constitution formally set out rights such as equality before the law as well as equal civil and political rights, equal opportunities, and an equal responsibility for public duties and obligations "without distinction of religion, belief, race, language, wealth, kinship or political or social opinions" (Article 11).

Following the "Green Revolution" military coup of 1969, led by Colonel Gaddafi, that overthrew the monarchy and the Libyan National Assembly, the Libyan Constitution was no longer in effect.

The Green Book put forth by Gaddafi became the foundation of the laws of Libya.

Preamble

The Preamble to the Libyan Constitution sets out the terms under which the union of the regions of Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fezzan into Libyan came about:

In the name of God the beneficent, the merciful.

We, the representatives of the people of Libya from Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fezzan, meeting by the will of God in the cities of Tripoli and Benghazi in a National Constituent Assembly.

Having agreed and determined to form a union (1) between us under the Crown of King Mohammad Idris el Senussi, to whom the nation has offered the Crown and who was declared constitutional King of Libya by this the National Constituent Assembly.

And having decided and determined to establish a democratic independent sovereign State which will guarantee the national unity, safeguard domestic tranquillity, provide the means for common defense, secure the establishment of justice, guarantee the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity and promote economic and social progress and the general welfare.

And trusting in God, Master of the Universe, do hereby prepare and resolve this Constitution for the Kingdom of Libya (2). (1) Federal Regime repealed by Law No. 1 of 1963. (2) Name of the State amended to read "The Kingdom of Libya" by Law No. 1 of 1963.'

Chapter II - Rights of the People

Although the Libyan Constitution contained many elements traditional to the regional, such as proclaiming Islam the religion of the State and setting out in detail the terms on which the hereditary monarchy should govern together with the procedure for succession, it did also contain several provisions which entrenched the rights of its citizens to enjoy certain rights common to European and North American nation states, indicating the influence of the key western players in the region, or at the very least, pay lip service to.

Thus, while stopping short of a secular state (Article 5 proclaims Islam the religion) (at the time, Britain was involved in extensive engineering projects in Libya and was also the country's biggest supplier of arms and the United States also maintained a large airbase in Libya).

Thus, Chapter II (Rights of the People) of the Constitution of Libya set out rights such as equality before the law as well as equal civil and political rights, equal opportunities, and an equal responsibility for public duties and obligations, "without distinction of religion, belief, race, language, wealth, kinship or political or social opinions" (Article 11).

Following the coup led by the Libyan army on 1 September 1969 and Idris's subsequent abdication, the Libyan Constitution ceased to have any significance.

Constitution of Libya

Chapter I - The Form of the State and the System of Government

Article 1
Libya is a free independent sovereign State. Neither its sovereignty nor any part of its territories may be relinquished.

Article 2
Libya is a State having a hereditary monarchy, and its system of Government is representative. Its name is "THE KINGDOM OF LIBYA".

Article 3
The Kingdom of Libya is a part of the Arab Home-Land and a portion of the African Continent.

Article 4
The boundaries of the Kingdom of Libya are:

On the North, the Mediterranean Sea;
On the East, the United Arab Republic and the Republic of Sudan;
On the South, the Republic of Sudan, Chad, Niger and Algeria;
On the West, the Republics of Tunisia and Algeria.

Article 5
Islam is the religion of the State.

Article 6
The emblem of the State and its national anthem shall be prescribed by a law.

Article 7
The national flag shall have the following shape and dimensions:

Its length shall be twice its breadth, it shall be divided into three parallel colored stripes, the uppermost being red, the center black and the lowest green, the black stripe shall be equal in area to the two other stripes together and shall bear in its center a white crescent, between the two extremities of which there shall be a five-pointed white star.

Chapter II-Rights of the People

Article 8
Every person who resides in Libya and has no other nationality, or is not the subject of any other State, shall be deemed to be a Libyan if he fulfills one of the following conditions:

(1) that he was born in Libya;
(2) that either of his parents were born in Libya;
(3) that he has had his normal residence in Libya for a period of not less than ten years.

Article 9
Subject to the provisions of Article 8: of this Constitution, the conditions necessary for acquiring Libyan nationality shall be determined by a law. Such law shall grant facilities to expatriates of Libyan origin residing abroad and to their children, and to citizens of Arab countries, and to foreigners who are residing in Libya and who at the coming into force of this Constitution have had their normal residence in Libya for a period of not less than ten years. Persons of the latter category may opt for Libyan nationality in accordance with the conditions prescribed by the law, provided they apply for it within three years as from the 1st of January 1952.

Article 10
No one may have Libyan nationality and any other nationality at the same time.

Article 11
Libyans shall be equal before the law. They shall enjoy equal civil and political rights, shall have the same opportunities, and be subject to the same public duties and obligations, without distinction of religion, belief, race, language, wealth, kinship or political or social opinions.

Article 12
Personal liberty shall be guaranteed and everyone shall be entitled to equal protection of the law.

Article 13
No forced labor shall be imposed upon anyone save in accordance with law in cases of emergency, catastrophe or circumstances which may endanger the safety of the whole or part of the population.

Article 14
Everyone shall have the right to resource to the Courts, in accordance with the provisions of the law.

Article 15
Everyone charged with an offence shall be presumed to be innocent until proved guilty according to law in a trial at which he has the guarantees necessary for his defense. The trial shall be public save in exceptional cases prescribed by law.

Article 16
No one may be arrested, detained, imprisoned or searched except in the cases prescribed by law. No one shall under any circumstances be tortured by anyone or subjected to punishment degrading to him.

Article 17
No offence may be established or penalty inflicted except shall be subject to the penalties specified therein for those offences; the penalty inflicted shall not be heavier than the penalty that was applicable at the time the offence was committed.

Article 18
No Libyan may be deported from Libya under any circumstances nor may he be forbidden to reside in any locality or compelled to reside in any specific place or prohibited from moving in Libya except as prescribed by law.

Article 19
Dwelling houses are inviolable; they shall not be entered or searched except in cases and according to the manner prescribed by law.

Article 20
The secrecy of letters, telegrams, telephone communications and all correspondences in whatever form and by whatever means shall be guaranteed; they shall not be censored or delayed except in cases prescribed by law.

Article 21
Freedom of conscience shall be absolute. The State shall respect all religions and faiths and shall ensure to foreigners residing in its territory freedom of conscience and the right freely to practice religion so long as it is not a breach of public order and is not contrary to morality.

Article 22
Freedom of thought shall be guaranteed. Everyone shall have the right to express his opinion and to publish it by all means and methods. But this freedom may not be abused in any way which is contrary to public order and morality.

Article 23
Freedom of press and of printing shall be guaranteed within the limits of the law.

Article 24
Everyone shall be free to use any language in his private transactions or religious or cultural matters or in the Press or any other publications or in public meetings.

Article 25
The right of peaceful meetings is guaranteed within the limits of law.

Article 26
The right of peaceful associations shall be guaranteed. The exercise of that right shall be regulated by law.

Article 27
Individuals shall have the right to address public authorities by means of letters signed by them in connection with matters which concern them but only organised bodies or justice persons my address the authorities on behalf of a number of persons.

Article 28
Every Libyan shall have the right to education. The State shall ensure the diffusion of education by means of establishment of public schools and of private schools which it may permit to be established under its supervision, for Libyans and foreigners.

Article 29
Teaching shall be unrestricted so long as it does not constitute a breach of public order and is not contrary to morality. Public education shall be regulated by law.

Article 30
Elementary education shall be compulsory for Libyan children of both sexes; elementary and primary education in the public schools shall be free.

Article 31
Property shall be inviolable. No owner may be prevented from disposing of his property except within the limits of the law. No property of any person shall be expropriated except in the public interest and in the cases and in the manner determined by law and provided such person is awarded fair compensation.

Article 32
The penalty of general confiscation of property shall be prohibited.

Article 33
The family is the basis of society and shall be entitled to protection by the State. The State shall also protect and encourage marriage.

Article 34
Work is one of the basic elements of life. It shall be protected by the State and shall be the right of all Libyans. Every individual who works shall be entitled to fair remuneration.

Article 35
The State shall endeavor to provide as far as possible for every Libyan and his family an appropriate standard of living.

The Libyan National Assembly prepared and resolved this Constitution in its meeting held in the city of Benghazi on Sunday, 6th Muharram, Hegera 1371 corresponding to 7 October 1951, and delegated its president and the two Vice-Presidents to promulgate it and submit it to His Majesty, the Exalted King, and published in the Official Gazette in Libya.

In pursuance of the Resolution of the National Assembly we have promulgated this Constitution in the city of Benghazi on Sunday, the 6th day of Muharram, Hegera 1371, corresponding to the 7th day of October 1951.

Mohamed Abulas'as El-Alem
President of the National Assembly

Omar Faiek Shennib
Vice-President of the National Assembly

Abubaker Ahmed Abubaker
Vice-President of the National Assembly

Hasan as-Senussi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida al-Mahdi as-Senussi (1928 -�� 28 April 1992) was the crown prince of the Kingdom of Libya from 26 October 1956 to 1 September 1969, when the monarchy was abolished.

Hasan was born in 1928 the fifth son of Muhammad ar-Ride as-Senussi (1890-��1955, the brother of the then emir of Cyrenaica, Idris of Libya) and his tenth wife Imbaraika al-Fallatiyya.

He was educated at Al-Taj, Kufra and Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt.

On 24 December 1951, Libya became independent.

Following the death of his father, he was nominated Crown Prince by his uncle King Idris I on 26 October 1956.

1969 Revolution

The events of September 1969, proved to be pivotal both for Crown Prince Hasan and for Libya. As Crown Prince, Hasan was first in line succeed to the Libyan throne.

The ailing Idris presented a signed document on 4 August 1969 to the President of the Libyan Senate, whereby Idris was to abdicate in favor of the Crown Prince.

The instrument of abdication specified 2 September, the date when the King undertook formally to stand down.

Indeed, the Crown Prince was already exercising regal powers in the name of King Idris, in the run up to 2 September.

However, on 1 September, while Idris was out of the country undergoing medical treatment, a group of Libyan army officers, among them Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, staged a rebellion and announced that King Idris was deposed.

Since King Idris I was unable to complete the term of his reign as envisaged by his instrument of abdication Hasan never actually became king.

His legacy, however, was in his role of Crown Prince, exercised between 1956 and 1969, towards the end of which he was the de facto ruler of Libya.

As Crown Prince, he repeatedly undertook official trips abroad, notably to negotiate the purchase of U.S. built jet fighters from the Kennedy Administration for the Libyan Air Force.

House Arrest and Death

Following the revolution, Hasan was kept under house arrest in Libya, tried in the Libyan People's Court and sentenced to three years in prison in November 1971.

In 1984, the Crown Prince and his family were thrown out of their house, which was then burnt down, and forced to move into cabins on one of Tripoli's public beaches.

It was in these cabins that the Crown Prince suffered a stroke in 1986. In 1988, the Crown Prince was permitted by Colonel Qaddafi to travel for medical treatment to London, where he died in 1992.

[unreliable source?] The Crown Prince was buried beside his uncle King Idris at Al-Baqi Cemetery in Medina, Saudi Arabia.

Prior to his death in 1992, he appointed his second son, Muhammad as-Senussi (born 1962), to succeed him as head of the Royal House of Libya.

Muammar Gaddafi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi(c. �1942 - 20 October 2011), commonly known as Colonel Gaddafi, was a Libyan revolutionary and politician, and the de facto ruler of Libya for 42 years.

Taking power in a 1969 coup d'etat, he ruled as Revolutionary Chairman of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then as the "Brotherly Leader" of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011, when he was ousted in the Libyan civil war.

After beginning as an Arab nationalist and Arab socialist, he later governed the country according to his own ideology, the Third International Theory. He eventually embraced Pan-Africanism, and served as Chairperson of the African Union from 2009 to 2010.

The son of an impoverished Bedouin goat herder, Gaddafi became involved in politics while at school in Sabha, subsequently enrolling in the Royal Military Academy, Benghazi.

Founding a revolutionary cell within the military, in 1969 they seized power from King Idris in a bloodless coup. Becoming Chairman of the governing Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), he dissolved the monarchy and proclaimed the Republic.

Ruling by decree, he implemented measures to remove what he viewed as foreign imperialist influence from Libya, and strengthened ties to Arab nationalist governments.

Intent on pushing Libya toward "Islamic socialism", he introduced sharia as the basis for the legal system and nationalized the oil industry, using the increased revenues to bolster the military, implement social programs and fund revolutionary militants across the world.

In 1973 he initiated a "Popular Revolution" with the formation of General People's Committees (GPCs), a system of direct democracy, but retained personal control over major decisions.

He outlined his Third International Theory that year, publishing these ideas in The Green Book.

In 1977, he dissolved the Republic and created the Jamahiriya, a "state of the masses" part-governed by GPCs. Officially adopting a symbolic role in governance, he retained power as military commander-in-chief and head of the Revolutionary Committees responsible for policing and suppressing opponents.

Overseeing unsuccessful border conflicts with Egypt and Chad, Gaddafi's support for foreign militants and alleged responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing led to Libya's label of "international pariah".

A particularly hostile relationship developed with the United States and United Kingdom, resulting in the 1986 U.S. bombing of Libya and United Nations-imposed economic sanctions.

From 1999, Gaddafi encouraged economic privatization, pan-African integration, and sought better relations with the West.

In 2011, an anti-Gaddafist uprising led by the National Transitional Council (NTC) broke out, resulting in civil war. NATO intervened militarily on the side of the NTC, resulting in the government's downfall. Retreating to Sirte, Gaddafi was captured and killed by NTC militants.

Gaddafi was a controversial and highly divisive world figure.

Supporters lauded his anti-imperialist stance and his support for pan-Africanism and pan-Arabism, and he was decorated with various awards.

Conversely, he was internationally condemned as a dictator and autocrat whose authoritarian administration violated the human rights of Libyan citizens and supported international terrorism.

Coup d'etat (1969)

King Idris' government was increasingly unpopular by the latter 1960s; it had centralized Libya's federal system to take advantage of the country's oil wealth, exacerbating traditional regional and tribal divisions.

Corruption and entrenched systems of patronage were widespread throughout the oil industry. Arab nationalism was increasingly popular, and protests flared up following Egypt's 1967 defeat in the Six Day War with Israel; allied to the western powers, Idris' administration was seen as pro-Israeli.

Anti-western riots broke out in Tripoli and Benghazi, while Libyan workers shut down oil terminals in solidarity with Egypt.

By 1969, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency was expecting segments of Libya's armed forces to launch a coup. Although claims have been made that they knew of Gaddafi's Free Officers Movement, they have since claimed ignorance, stating that they were monitoring Abdul Aziz Shalhi's Black Boots revolutionary group.

In mid-1969, Idris traveled abroad to spend the summer in Turkey and Greece. Gaddafi's Free Officers recognized this as their chance to overthrow the monarchy, initiating "Operation Jerusalem".

On 1 September, they occupied airports, police depots, radio stations and government offices in Tripoli and Benghazi. Gaddafi took control of the Berka barracks in Benghazi, while Omar Meheisha occupied Tripoli barracks and Jalloud seized the city's anti-aircraft batteries.

Khweldi Hameidi was sent to arrest crown prince Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida al-Mahdi as-Sanussi, and force him to relinquish his claim to the throne. They met no serious resistance, and wielded little violence against the monarchists.

Having abolished the monarchy, Gaddafi proclaimed the foundation of the Libyan Arab Republic. Addressing the populace by radio, he proclaimed an end to the "reactionary and corrupt" regime, "the stench of which has sickened and horrified us all."

Due to the coup's bloodless nature, it was initially labelled the "White Revolution", although was later renamed the "One September Revolution" after the date on which it occurred.

Gaddafi insisted that the Free Officers' coup represented a revolution, marking the start of widespread change in the socio-economic and political nature of Libya.

He proclaimed that the revolution meant "freedom, socialism, and unity", and over the coming years implemented measures to achieve this.

Consolidating leadership (1969-1973)

The 12 member central committee of the Free Officers proclaimed themselves the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), the government of the new republic.

Gaddafi became RCC Chairman, and therefore the de facto head of state, also appointing himself to the rank of Colonel and becoming commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Jalloud became Prime Minister, while a civilian Council of Ministers headed by Sulaiman Maghribi was founded to implement RCC policy.

Although theoretically a collegial body operating through consensus building, Gaddafi dominated the RCC, although some of the others attempted to constrain what they saw as his excesses.

Gaddafi remained the government's public face, with the identities of the other RCC members only being publicly revealed on 10 January 1970.

All young men from (typically rural) working and middle-class backgrounds, none had university degrees; in this way they were distinct from the wealthy, highly educated conservatives who previously governed the country.

The coup completed, the RCC proceeded with their intentions of consolidating the revolutionary government and modernizing the country.

They purged monarchists and members of Idris' Senussi clan from Libya's political world and armed forces; Gaddafi believed this elite were opposed to the will of the Libyan people and had to be expunged.

"People's Courts" were founded to try various monarchist politicians and journalists, and though many were imprisoned, none were executed.

Idris was sentenced to execution in absentia.

In May 1970, the Revolutionary Intellectuals Seminar was held to bring intellectuals in line with the revolution, while that year's Legislative Review and Amendment united secular and religious law codes, introducing sharia into the legal system.

Ruling by decree, the RCC maintained the monarchy's ban on political parties, in May 1970 banned trade unions, and in 1972 outlawed workers' strikes and suspended newspapers.

In September 1971, Gaddafi resigned, claiming to be dissatisfied with the pace of reform, but returned to his position within a month.

In February 1973, he resigned again, once more returning the following month.

Economic and Social Reform

With crude oil as the country's primary export, Gaddafi sought to improve Libya's oil sector.

In October 1969, he proclaimed the current trade terms unfair, benefiting foreign corporations more than the Libyan state, and by threatening to reduce production, in December Jalloud successfully increased the price of Libyan oil.

In 1970, other OPEC states followed suit, leading to a global increase in the price of crude oil.

The RCC followed with the Tripoli Agreement, in which they secured income tax, back-payments and better pricing from the oil corporations; these measures brought Libya an estimated $1 billion in additional revenues in its first year.

Increasing state control over the oil sector, the RCC began a program of nationalization, starting with the expropriation of British Petroleum's share of the British Petroleum-N.B. Hunt Sahir Field in December 1971.

In September 1973, it was announced that all foreign oil producers active in Libya were to be nationalized. For Gaddafi, this was an important step towards socialism. It proved an economic success; while gross domestic product had been $3.8 billion in 1969, it had risen to $13.7 billion in 1974, and $24.5 billion in 1979.

In turn, the Libyans' standard of life greatly improved over the first decade of Gaddafi's administration, and by 1979 the average per-capita income was at $8,170, up from $40 in 1951; this was above the average of many industrialized countries like Italy and the U.K.

The RCC attempted to suppress regional and tribal affiliation, replacing it with a unified pan-Libyan identity. In doing so, they tried discrediting tribal leaders as agents of the old regime, and in August 1971 a Sabha military court tried many of them for counter-revolutionary activity.

Long-standing administrative boundaries were re-drawn, crossing tribal boundaries, while pro-revolutionary modernizers replaced traditional leaders, but the communities they served often rejected them.

Realizing the failures of the modernizers, Gaddafi created the Arab Socialist Union (ASU), a mass mobilization vanguard party of which he was president.

The ASU recognized the RCC as its "Supreme Leading Authority", and was designed to further revolutionary enthusiasm throughout the country.

The RCC implemented measures for social reform, adopting sharia as a basis. The consumption of alcohol was banned, night clubs and Christian churches were shut down, traditional Libyan dress was encouraged, while Arabic was decreed as the only language permitted in official communications and road signs.

From 1969 to 1973, the RCC introduced social welfare programs funded with oil money, which led to house-building projects and improved healthcare and education. In doing so, they greatly expanded the public sector, providing employment for thousands.

Compulsory education was expanded from 6 to 9 years old, while adult literacy programs and free university education were implemented; Beida University was founded, while Tripoli University and Benghazi University were expanded.

These early social programs proved popular within Libya. This popularity was partly due to Gaddafi's personal charisma, youth and underdog status as a Bedouin, as well as his rhetoric emphasizing his role as the successor to the anti-Italian fighter Omar Mukhtar.

Foreign Relations

The influence of Nasser's Arab nationalism over the RCC was immediately apparent. The administration was instantly recognized by the neighboring Arab nationalist regimes in Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Sudan, with Egypt sending experts to aid the inexperienced RCC.

Gaddafi propounded Pan-Arab ideas, proclaiming the need for a single Arab state stretching across North Africa and the Middle East. In December 1969, Libya founded the Arab Revolutionary Front with Egypt and Sudan as a step towards political unification, and in 1970 Syria stated its intention to join.

After Nasser died in November 1970, his successor, Anwar Sadat, suggested that rather than a unified state, they create a political federation, implemented in April 1971; in doing so, Egypt, Syria and Sudan got large grants of Libyan oil money.

In February 1972, Gaddafi and Sadat signed an unofficial charter of merger, but it was never implemented as relations broke down the following year. Sadat became increasingly wary of Libya's radical direction, and the September 1973 deadline for implementing the Federation passed by with no action taken.

After the 1969 coup, representatives of the Four Powers - France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union - were called to meet RCC representatives.

The U.K. and U.S. quickly extended diplomatic recognition, hoping to secure the position of their military bases in Libya and fearing further instability.

Hoping to ingratiate themselves with Gaddafi, in 1970 the U.S. informed him of at least one planned counter-coup. Such attempts to form a working relationship with the RCC failed; Gaddafi was determined to reassert national sovereignty and expunge foreign colonial and imperialist influences.

His administration insisted that the U.S. and U.K. remove their military bases from Libya, with Gaddafi proclaiming that "the armed forces which rose to express the people's revolution [will not] tolerate living in their shacks while the bases of imperialism exist in Libyan territory."

The British left in March and the Americans in June 1970.

Moving to reduce Italian influence, in October 1970 all Italian-owned assets were expropriated and the 12,000-strong Italian community expelled from Libya alongside a smaller number of Jews.

The day became a national holiday.

Aiming to reduce North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) power in the Mediterranean, in 1971 Libya requested that Malta cease to allow NATO to use its land for a military base, in turn offering them foreign aid. Compromising, Malta's government continued allowing NATO use of the island, but only on the condition that they would not use it for launching attacks on Arab territory.

Orchestrating a military build-up, the RCC began purchasing weapons from France and the Soviet Union. The commercial relationship with the latter led to an increasingly strained relationship with the U.S., who were then engaged in the Cold War with the Soviets.

Gaddafi was especially critical of the U.S. due to their support for Israel.

Gaddafi supported the Palestinians in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, viewing the 1948 creation of Israel as a Western colonial occupation forced on the Arab world. Calling on the Arab states to wage "continuous war" against Israel, in 1970 he initiated a Jihad Fund to finance anti-Israeli militants.

In June 1972 Gaddafi created the First Nasserite Volunteers Center to train anti-Israeli guerrillas.

His relationship with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat of Fatah was strained, with Gaddafi considering him too moderate and calling for more violent action.

Instead he supported militia like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine -�� General Command, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, As-Sa'iqa, the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front, and the Abu Nidal Organization.

He funded the Black September group who perpetrated the 1972 Munich massacre of Israeli athletes in West Germany, and had the killed militants' bodies flown to Libya for a hero's funeral.

Gaddafi also welcomed the three surviving attackers in Tripoli following their release in exchange for the hostages of hijacked Lufthansa Flight 615 a few weeks later and allowed them to go into hiding.

Gaddafi financially supported other militant groups across the world, including the Black Panther Party, Nation of Islam, Tupamaros, 19th of April Movement and Sandinista National Liberation Front in the Americas, the ANC among other liberation movements in the fight against Apartheid in South Africa in Africa, the Provisional Irish Republican Army, Action directe, ETA, the Red Brigades, and the Red Army Faction in Europe, and the Armenian Secret Army, Japanese Red Army, Free Aceh Movement, and Moro National Liberation Front in Asia.

Gaddafi was indiscriminate in the causes he funded, sometimes switching from supporting one side in a conflict to the other, as in the Eritrean War of Independence.

Throughout the 1970s these groups received financial support from Libya, which came to be seen as a leader in the Third World's struggle against colonialism and neocolonialism.

Though many of these groups were labelled "terrorists" by critics of their activities, Gaddafi rejected such a characterization, instead considering them revolutionaries engaged in liberation struggles.

Muammar Gaddafi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The "Popular Revolution" (1973-1977)

On 16 April 1973, Gaddafi proclaimed the start of a "Popular Revolution" in a Zuwara speech.

He initiated this with a 5-point plan, the first point of which dissolved all existing laws, to be replaced by revolutionary enactments.

The second point proclaimed that all opponents of the revolution had to be removed, while the third initiated an administrative revolution that Gaddafi proclaimed would remove all traces of bureaucracy and the bourgeoisie.

The fourth point announced that the population must form People's Committees and be armed to defend the revolution, while the fifth proclaimed the beginning of a cultural revolution to expunge Libya of "poisonous" foreign influences.

He began to lecture on this new phase of the revolution in Libya, Egypt, and France.

As part of this Popular Revolution, Gaddafi invited Libya's people to found General People's Committees as conduits for raising political consciousness. Although offering little guidance for how to set up these councils, Gaddafi claimed that they would offer a form of direct political participation that was more democratic than a traditional party-based representative system.

He hoped that the councils would mobilize the people behind the RCC, erode the power of the traditional leaders and the bureaucracy, and allow for a new legal system chosen by the people.

The People's Committees led to a high percentage of public involvement in decision making, within the limits permitted by the RCC, but exacerbated tribal divisions.

They also served as a surveillance system, aiding the security services in locating individuals with views critical of the RCC, leading to the arrest of Ba'athists, Marxists and Islamists.

Operating in a pyramid structure, the base form of these Committees were local working groups, who sent elected representatives to the district level, and from there to the national level, divided between the General People's Congress and the General People's Committee.

Above these remained Gaddafi and the RCC, who remained responsible for all major decisions.

Third Universal Theory and The Green Book

In June 1973, Gaddafi created a political ideology as a basis for the Popular Revolution.

Third Universal Theory considered the U.S. and the Soviet Union as imperialist, thus rejected Western capitalism as well as Eastern bloc communism's atheism.

In this respect it was similar to the Three Worlds Theory developed by China's political leader Mao Zedong.

As part of this theory, Gaddafi praised nationalism as a progressive force and advocated the creation of a pan-Arab state which would lead the Islamic and Third Worlds against imperialism.

Gaddafi saw Islam as having a key role in this ideology, calling for an Islamic revival that returned to the origins of the Qur'an, rejecting scholarly interpretations and the Hadith; in doing so, he angered many Libyan clerics.

During 1973 and 1974, his government deepened the legal reliance on sharia, e.g. introducing flogging as punishment for those convicted of adultery or homosexual activity.

Gaddafi summarized Third Universal Theory in three short volumes published between 1975 and 1979, collectively known as The Green Book.

Volume one was devoted to the issue of democracy, outlining the flaws of representative systems in favor of direct, participatory GPCs.

The second dealt with Gaddafi's beliefs regarding socialism, while the third explored social issues regarding the family and the tribe.

While the first two volumes advocated radical reform, the third adopted a socially conservative stance, proclaiming that while men and women were equal, they were biologically designed for different roles in life.

During the years that followed, Gaddafists adopted quotes from The Green Book, such as "Representation is Fraud", as slogans.

Meanwhile, in September 1975, Gaddafi implemented further measures to increase popular mobilization, introducing objectives to improve the relationship between the Councils and the ASU.

These radical reforms led to discontent, furthered by widespread opposition to the RCC's decision to spend oil money on foreign causes.

In 1974, Libya saw its first civilian attack on Gaddafi's government when a Benghazi army building was bombed.

In 1975 two RCC members, Bashir Saghir al-Hawaadi and Omar Mehishi, launched a failed coup against Gaddafi, and in the aftermath only five RCC members remained. This led to the RCC's official abolition in March 1977.

In September 1975, Gaddafi purged the army, arresting around 200 senior officers, and in October he founded the clandestine Office for the Security of the Revolution.

In 1976, student demonstrations broke out in Tripoli and Benghazi, and were attacked by police and Gaddafist students. The RCC responded with mass arrests, and introduced compulsory national service for young people.

Dissent also arose from conservative clerics and the Muslim Brotherhood, who were persecuted as anti-revolutionary.

In January 1977, two dissenting students and a number of army officers were publicly hanged; Amnesty International condemned it as the first time in Gaddafist Libya that dissenters had been executed for purely political crimes.

Foreign Relations

Following Anwar Sadat's ascension to the Egyptian presidency, Libya's relations with Egypt deteriorated. Sadat was perturbed by Gaddafi's unpredictability and insistence that Egypt required a cultural revolution.

In February 1973, Israeli forces shot down Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114, which had strayed from Egyptian airspace into Israeli-held territory during a sandstorm.

Gaddafi was infuriated that Egypt had not done more to prevent the incident, and in retaliation planned to destroy the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, a British ship chartered by American Jews to sail to Haifa for Israel's 25th anniversary.

Gaddafi ordered an Egyptian submarine to target the ship, but Sadat cancelled the order, fearing a military escalation.

Gaddafi was later infuriated when Egypt and Syria planned the Yom Kippur War against Israel without consulting him, and was angered when Egypt conceded to peace talks rather than pushing for total victory.

Sadat and Gaddafi became openly hostile, the latter calling for Sadat's overthrow, while relations with Sudanese President Gaafar Nimeiry collapsed as Nimeiry took Sadat's side.

By 1975, Gaddafi was sponsoring the Sudan People's Liberation Army to overthrow Nimeiry.

Focusing his attention elsewhere in Africa, in late 1972 and early 1973, Libya invaded Chad to annex the uranium-rich Aouzou Strip. Offering financial incentives, he successfully convinced 8 African states to break off diplomatic relations with Israel in 1973.

Intent on propagating Islam, in 1973 Gaddafi founded the Islamic Call Society, which had opened 132 centres across Africa within a decade.

In 1973 he converted Gabonese President Omar Bongo, an action which he repeated three years later with Jean-Bédel Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic.

Gaddafi sought to develop closer links in the Maghreb; in January 1974 Libya and Tunisia announced a political union, the Arab Islamic Republic. Although advocated by Gaddafi and Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba, the move was deeply unpopular in Tunisia and soon abandoned.

Retaliating, Gaddafi sponsored anti-government militants in Tunisia into the 1980s.

Turning his attention to Algeria, in 1975 Libya signed the Hassi Messaoud defense agreement allegedly to counter "Moroccan expansionism", also funding the Polisario Front of Western Sahara in their independence struggle against Morocco.

Seeking to diversify Libya's economy, Gaddafi's government began purchasing shares in major European corporations like Fiat as well as buying real estate in Malta and Italy, which would become a valuable source of income during the 1980s oil slump.

Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

Foundation (1977)

On 2 March 1977 the General People's Congress adopted the "Declaration of the Establishment of the People's Authority" at Gaddafi's behest.

Dissolving the Libyan Arab Republic, it was replaced by the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, a "state of the masses" conceptualized by Gaddafi.

Officially, the Jamahiriya was a direct democracy in which the people ruled themselves through the 187 Basic People's Congresses, where all adult Libyans participated and voted on national decisions. These then sent members to the annual General People's Congress, which was broadcast live on television.

In principle, the People's Congresses were Libya's highest authority, with major decisions proposed by government officials or Gaddafi himself requiring the consent of the People's Congresses.

Debate remained limited, and major decisions regarding the economy and defense were avoided or dealt with cursorily; the GPC largely remained "a rubber stamp" for Gaddafi's policies.

On rare occasions, the GPC opposed Gaddafi's suggestions, sometimes successfully; notably, when Gaddafi called on primary schools to be abolished, believing home schooling healthier for children, the GPC rejected the idea.

In other instances, Gaddafi pushed through laws without the GPC's support, such as when he desired to allow women into the armed forces.

Gaddafi proclaimed that the People's Congresses provided for Libya's every political need, rendering other political organizations unnecessary; all non-authorized groups, including political parties, professional associations, independent trade unions and women's groups, were banned.

With preceding legal institutions abolished, Gaddafi envisioned the Jamahiriya as following the Qur'an for legal guidance, adopting sharia law; he proclaimed "man-made" laws unnatural and dictatorial, only permitting Allah's law.

Within a year he was backtracking, announcing that sharia was inappropriate for the Jamahiriya because it guaranteed the protection of private property, contravening The Green Book's socialism.

His emphasis on placing his own work on a par with the Qur'an led conservative clerics to accuse him of shirk, furthering their opposition to his regime.

In July, a border war broke out with Egypt, in which the Egyptians defeated Libya despite their technological inferiority. The conflict lasted a week before both sides agreed to a peace treaty brokered by several Arab states.

That year, Gaddafi was invited to Moscow by the Soviet government in recognition of their increasing commercial relationship.

Revolutionary Committees and furthering socialism (1978-1980)

In December 1978, Gaddafi stepped down as Secretary-General of the GPC, announcing his new focus on revolutionary rather than governmental activities; this was part of his new emphasis on separating the apparatus of the revolution from the government.

Although no longer in a formal governmental post, he adopted the title of "Leader of the Revolution" and continued as commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

He continued exerting considerable influence over Libya, with many critics insisting that the structure of Libya's direct democracy gave him "the freedom to manipulate outcomes".

Libya began to turn towards socialism.

In March 1978, the government issued guidelines for housing redistribution, attempting to ensure that every adult Libyan owned his own home and was not enslaved to paying rent. Most families were banned from owning more than one house, while former rental properties were seized and sold to the tenants at a heavily subsidized price.

In September, Gaddafi called for the People's Committees to eliminate the "bureaucracy of the public sector" and the "dictatorship of the private sector"; the People's Committees took control of several hundred companies, converting them into worker cooperatives run by elected representatives.

On 2 March 1979, the GPC announced the separation of government and revolution, the latter represented by new Revolutionary Committees, who operated in tandem with the People's Committees in schools, universities, unions, the police force and the military.

Dominated by revolutionary zealots, the Revolutionary Committees were led by Mohammad Maghgoub and a Central Coordinating Office, and met with Gaddafi annually.

Publishing a weekly magazine The Green March (al-Zahf al-Akhdar), in October 1980 they took control of the press. Responsible for perpetuating revolutionary fervor, they performed ideological surveillance, later adopting a significant security role, making arrests and putting people on trial according to the "law of the revolution" (qanun al-thawra).

With no legal code or safeguards, the administration of revolutionary justice was largely arbitrary and resulted in widespread abuses and the suppression of civil liberties: the "Green Terror."

In 1979, the committees began redistribution of land in the Jefara plain, continuing through 1981.

In May 1980, measures to redistribute and equalize wealth were implemented; anyone with over 1000 dinar in his bank account saw that extra money expropriated.

The following year, the GPC announced that the government would take control of all import, export and distribution functions, with state supermarkets replacing privately owned businesses; this led to a decline in the availability of consumer goods and the development of a thriving black market.

The Jamahiriya's radical direction earned the government many enemies.

In February 1978, Gaddafi discovered that his head of military intelligence was plotting to kill him, and began to increasingly entrust security to his Qaddadfa tribe.

Many who had seen their wealth and property confiscated turned against the administration, and a number of western-funded opposition groups were founded by exiles.

Most prominent was the National Front for the Salvation of Libya (NFSL), founded in 1981 by Mohammed Magariaf, which orchestrated militant attacks against Libya's government, while another, al-Borkan, began killing Libyan diplomats abroad.

Following Gaddafi's command to kill these "stray dogs", under Colonel Younis Bilgasim's leadership, the Revolutionary Committees set up overseas branches to suppress counter-revolutionary activity, assassinating various dissidents.

Although nearby nations like Syria and Israel also used hit squads, Gaddafi was unusual in publicly bragging about his administration's use of them; in June 1980, he ordered all dissidents to return home or be "liquidated wherever you are."

In 1979, the U.S. placed Libya on their list of state sponsors of terrorism, while at the end of the year a demonstration torched the U.S. embassy in Tripoli in solidarity with the perpetrators of the Iran hostage crisis.

The following year, Libyan fighters began intercepting U.S. fighter jets flying over the Mediterranean, signalling the collapse of relations between the two countries.

Libyan relations with Lebanon and Shi'ite communities across the world also deteriorated due to the August 1978 disappearance of imam Musa al-Sadr when visiting Libya; the Lebanese accused Gaddafi of having him killed or imprisoned, a charge he denied.

Relations with Syria improved, as Gaddafi and Syrian President Hafez al-Assad shared an enmity with Israel and Egypt's Sadat.

In 1980, they proposed a political union, with Libya paying off Syria's $1 billion debt to the Soviet Union; although pressures led Assad to pull out, they remained allies.

Another key ally was Uganda, and in 1979, Gaddafi sent 2,500 troops into Uganda to defend the regime of President Idi Amin from Tanzanian invaders.

The mission failed; 400 Libyans were killed and they were forced to retreat.

Gaddafi later came to regret his alliance with Amin, openly criticizing him.

"International Pariah" and "Mad Dog of the Middle East" (1981-1986)

The early and mid-1980s saw economic trouble for Libya; from 1982 to 1986, the country's annual oil revenues dropped from $21 billion to $5.4 billion.

Focusing on irrigation projects, 1983 saw construction start on "Gaddafi's Pet Project", the Great Manmade River; although designed to be finished by the end of the decade, it remained incomplete at the start of the 21st century.

Military spending increased, while other administrative budgets were cut back.

Libya had long supported the Frolinat militia in neighboring Chad, and in December 1980, re-invaded Chad at the request of the Frolinat-controlled GUNT government to aid in the civil war; in January 1981, Gaddafi suggested a political merger.

The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) rejected this, and called for a Libyan withdrawal, which came about in November 1981.

The civil war resumed, and so Libya sent troops back in, clashing with French forces who supported the southern Chadian forces.

Many African nations had tired of Libya's policies of interference in foreign affairs; by 1980, nine African states had cut off diplomatic relations with Libya, while in 1982 the OAU cancelled its scheduled conference in Tripoli in order to prevent Gaddafi gaining chairmanship.

Proposing political unity with Morocco, in August 1984, Gaddafi and Moroccan monarch Hassan II signed the Oujda Treaty, forming the Arab-African Union; such a union was considered surprising due to the strong political differences and longstanding enmity that existed between the two governments.

Relations remained strained, particularly due to Morocco's friendly relations with the U.S. and Israel; in August 1986, Hassan abolished the union.

Domestic threats continued to plague Gaddafi; in May 1984, his Bab al-Azizia home was unsuccessfully attacked by a joint NFSL-Muslim Brotherhood militia, and in the aftermath 5000 dissidents were arrested.

In 1981, the new US President Ronald Reagan declared Gaddafi an "international pariah" and the "mad dog of the Middle East". He pursued a hard line approach to Libya, erroneously considering it a puppet regime of the Soviet Union.

In turn, Gaddafi played up his commercial relationship with the Soviets, visiting Moscow again in April 1981 and 1985, and threatening to join the Warsaw Pact.

The Soviets were nevertheless cautious of Gaddafi, seeing him as an unpredictable extremist.

Beginning military exercises in the Gulfe of Sirte -�� an area of sea that Libya claimed as a part of its territorial waters -�� in August 1981 the U.S. shot down two Libyan Su-22 planes monitoring them.

Closing down Libya's embassy in Washington D.C., Reagan advised U.S. companies operating in the country to reduce the number of American personnel stationed there.

In March 1982, the U.S. implemented an embargo of Libyan oil, and in January 1986 ordered all U.S. companies to cease operating in the country, although several hundred workers remained.

Diplomatic relations also broke down with the U.K., after Libyan diplomats were accused of shooting dead Yvonne Fletcher, a British policewoman stationed outside their London embassy, in April 1984.

In Spring 1986, the U.S. Navy again began performing exercises in the Gulf of Sirte; the Libyan military retaliated, but failed as the U.S. sank several Libyan ships.

After the U.S. accused Libya of orchestrating the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing, in which two American soldiers died, Reagan decided to retaliate militarily.

The Central Intelligence Agency were critical of the move, believing that Syria were a greater threat and that an attack would strengthen Gaddafi's reputation; however Libya was recognized as a "soft target."

Reagan was supported by the U.K. but opposed by other European allies, who highlighted that it would contravene international law.

In Operation El Dorado Canyon, orchestrated on 15 April 1986, U.S. military planes launched a series of air-strikes on Libya, bombing military installations in various parts of the country, killing around 100 Libyans, including several civilians.

One of the targets had been Gaddafi's home. Himself unharmed, two of Gaddafi's sons were injured, and he claimed that his four-year-old adopted daughter Hanna was killed, although her existence has since been questioned.

In the immediate aftermath, Gaddafi retreated to the desert to meditate, while there were sporadic clashes between Gaddafists and army officers who wanted to overthrow the government.

Although the U.S. was condemned internationally, Reagan received a popularity boost at home.

Publicly lambasting U.S. imperialism, Gaddafi's reputation as an anti-imperialist was strengthened both domestically and across the Arab world, and in June 1986, he ordered the names of the month to be changed in Libya.

Muammar Gaddafi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Revolution within a Revolution" (1987-1998)

The late 1980s saw a series of liberalizing economic reforms within Libya designed to cope with the decline in oil revenues.

In May 1987, Gaddafi announced the start of the "Revolution within a Revolution", which began with reforms to industry and agriculture and saw the re-opening of small business.

Restrictions were placed on the activities of the Revolutionary Committees; in March 1988, their role was narrowed by the newly created Ministry for Mass Mobilization and Revolutionary Leadership to restrict their violence and judicial role, while in August 1988 Gaddafi publicly criticized them, asserting that "they deviated, harmed, tortured" and that "the true revolutionary does not practice repression."

In March, hundreds of political prisoners were freed, with Gaddafi falsely claiming that there were no further political prisoners in Libya.

In June, Libya's government issued the Great Green Charter on Human Rights in the Era of the Masses, in which 27 articles laid out goals, rights and guarantees to improve the situation of human rights in Libya, restricting the use of the death penalty and calling for its eventual abolition.

Many of the measures suggested in the charter would be implemented the following year, although others remained inactive.

Also in 1989, the government founded the Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights, to be awarded to figures from the Third World who had struggled against colonialism and imperialism; the first year's winner was South African anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela.

From 1994 through to 1997, the government initiated cleansing committees to root out corruption, particularly in the economic sector.

In the aftermath of the 1986 U.S. attack, the army was purged of perceived disloyal elements, and in 1988, Gaddafi announced the creation of a popular militia to replace the army and police.

In 1987, Libya began production of mustard gas at a facility in Rabta, although publicly denying it was stockpiling chemical weapons, and unsuccessfully attempted to develop nuclear weapons.

The period also saw a growth in domestic Islamist opposition, formulated into groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group.

A number of assassination attempts against Gaddafi were foiled, and in turn, 1989 saw the security forces raid mosques believed to be centers of counter-revolutionary preaching.

In October 1993, elements of the increasingly marginalized army initiated a failed coup in Misrata, while in September 1995, Islamists launched an insurgency in Benghazi, and in July 1996 an anti-Gaddafist football riot broke out in Tripoli.

The Revolutionary Committees experienced a resurgence to combat these Islamists.

In 1989, Gaddafi was overjoyed by the foundation of the Arab Maghreb Union, uniting Libya in an economic pact with Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, viewing it as beginnings of a new Pan-Arab union.

Meanwhile, Libya stepped up its support for anti-western militants such as the Provisional IRA, and in 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie in Scotland, killing 243 passengers and 16 crew members, plus 11 people on the ground.

British police investigations identified two Libyans – Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Lamin Khalifah Fhimah - as the chief suspects, and in November 1991 issued a declaration demanding that Libya hand them over.

When Gaddafi refused, citing the Montreal Convention, the United Nations (UN) imposed Resolution 748 in March 1992, initiating economic sanctions against Libya which had deep repercussions for the country's economy.

The country suffered an estimated $900 million financial loss as a result.

Further problems arose with the west when in January 1989, two Libyan warplanes were shot down by the U.S. off the Libyan coast.

Many African states opposed the UN sanctions, with Mandela criticizing them on a visit to Gaddafi in October 1997, when he praised Libya for its work in fighting apartheid and awarded Gaddafi the Order of Good Hope.

They would only be suspended in 1998 when Libya agreed to allow the extradition of the suspects to the Scottish Court in the Netherlands, in a process overseen by Mandela.

Pan-Africanism, Reconciliation and Privatization (1999-2011)

As the 20th century came to a close, Gaddafi increasingly rejected Arab nationalism, frustrated by the failure of his Pan-Arab ideals; instead he turned to Pan-Africanism, emphasising Libya's African identity.

From 1997 to 2000, Libya initiated cooperative agreements or bilateral aid arrangements with 10 African states, and in 1999 joined the Community of Sahel-Saharan States.

In June 1999, Gaddafi visited Mandela in South Africa, and the following month attended the OAU summit in Algiers, calling for greater political and economic integration across the continent and advocating the foundation of a United States of Africa.

He became one of the founders of the African Union (AU), initiated in July 2002 to replace the OAU; at the opening ceremonies, he proclaimed that African states should reject conditional aid from the developed world, a direct contrast to the message of South African President Thabo Mbeki.

At the third AU summit, held in Libya in July 2005, he called for a greater level of integration, advocating a single AU passport, a common defence system and a single currency, utilising the slogan: "The United States of Africa is the hope."

In June 2005, Libya joined the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and in August 2008 Gaddafi was proclaimed "King of Kings" by an assembled committee of traditional African leaders.

On 1 February 2009, his "coronation ceremony" was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, coinciding with Gaddafi's election as AU chairman for a year.

The era saw Libya's return to the international arena.

In 1999, Libya began secret talks with the British government to normalise relations.

In 2001, Gaddafi condemned the September 11 attacks on the U.S. by al-Qaeda, expressing sympathy with the victims and calling for Libyan involvement in the War on Terror against militant Islamism.

His government continued suppressing domestic Islamism, at the same time as Gaddafi called for the wider application of sharia law.

Libya also cemented connections with China and North Korea, being visited by Chinese President Jiang Zemin in April 2002.

Influenced by the events of the Iraq War, in December 2003, Libya renounced its possession of weapons of mass destruction, decommissioning its chemical and nuclear weapons programs.

Relations with the U.S. improved as a result, while U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair met with Gaddafi in the Libyan desert in March 2004.

The following month, Gaddafi travelled to the headquarters of the European Union (EU) in Brussels, signifying improved relations between Libya and the EU, the latter ending its remaining sanctions in October.

In October 2010, the EU paid Libya 50 million to stop African migrants passing into Europe; Gaddafi encouraged the move, saying that it was necessary to prevent the loss of European cultural identity to a new "Black Europe".

Removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism in 2006, Gaddafi nevertheless continued his anti-western rhetoric, and at the Second Africa-South America Summit in Venezuela in September 2009, joined Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in calling for an "anti-imperialist" front across Africa and Latin America.

Gaddafi proposed the establishment of a South Atlantic Treaty Organization to rival NATO.

That month he also addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York for the first time, using it to condemn western aggression.

In Spring 2010, Gaddafi proclaimed jihad against Switzerland after Swiss police accused two of his family members of criminal activity in the country, resulting in the breakdown of bilateral relations.

Libya's economy witnessed increasing privatization; although rejecting the socialist policies of nationalized industry advocated in The Green Book, government figures asserted that they were forging "people's socialism" rather than capitalism.

Gaddafi welcomed these reforms, calling for wide-scale privatization in a March 2003 speech.

In 2003, the oil industry was largely sold to private corporations, and by 2004, there was $40 billion of direct foreign investment in Libya, a sixfold rise over 2003.

Sectors of Libya's population reacted against these reforms with public demonstrations, and in March 2006, revolutionary hard-liners took control of the GPC cabinet; although scaling back the pace of the changes, they did not halt them.

In 2010, plans were announced that would have seen half the Libyan economy privatized over the following decade. While there was no accompanying political liberalization, with Gaddafi retaining predominant control, in March 2010, the government devolved further powers to the municipal councils.

Rising numbers of reformist technocrats attained positions in the country's governance; best known was Gaddafi's son and heir apparent Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who was openly critical of Libya's human rights record.

He led a group who proposed the drafting of the new constitution, although it was never adopted, and in October 2009 was appointed to head the PSLC.

Involved in encouraging tourism, Saif founded several privately run media channels in 2008, but after criticising the government they were nationalised in 2009.

In October 2010, Gaddafi apologized to African leaders on behalf of Arab nations for their involvement in the African slave trade.

Origins: February-March 2011

Following the start of the Arab Spring in 2011, Gaddafi spoke out in favor of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, then threatened by the Tunisian revolution.

He suggested that Tunisia's people would be satisfied if Ben Ali introduced a Jamahiriyah system there.

Fearing domestic protest, Libya's government implemented preventative measures, reducing food prices, purging the army leadership of potential defectors and releasing several Islamist prisoners.

They proved ineffective, and on 17 February 2011, major protests broke out against Gaddafi's government.

Unlike Tunisia or Egypt, Libya was largely religiously homogenous and had no strong Islamist movement, but there was widespread dissatisfaction with the corruption and entrenched systems of patronage, while unemployment had reached around 30%.

Accusing the rebels of being "drugged" and linked to al-Qaeda, Gaddafi proclaimed that he would die a martyr rather than leave Libya.

As he announced that the rebels would be "hunted down street by street, house by house and wardrobe by wardrobe", the army opened fire on protests in Benghazi, killing hundreds.

Shocked at the government's response, a number of senior politicians resigned or defected to the protesters' side.

The uprising spread quickly through Libya's less economically developed eastern half.

By February's end, eastern cities like Benghazi, Misrata, al-Bayda and Tobruk were controlled by rebels,and the Benghazi-based National Transitional Council (NTC) had been founded to represent them.

In the conflict's early months it appeared that Gaddafi's government – with its greater firepower – would be victorious.

Both sides disregarded the laws of war, committing human rights abuses, including arbitrary arrests, torture, extrajudicial executions and revenge attacks.

On 26 February the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1970, suspending Libya from the UN Human Rights Council, implementing sanctions and calling for an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into the killing of unarmed civilians.

In March, the Security Council declared a no fly zone to protect the civilian population from aerial bombardment, calling on foreign nations to enforce it; it also specifically prohibited foreign occupation.

Ignoring this, Qatar sent hundreds of troops to support the dissidents, and along with France and the United Arab Emirates provided the NTC with weaponry and training.

NATO intervention: March - ��August 2011

A week after the implementation of the no-fly zone, NATO announced that it would be enforced.

On 30 April a NATO airstrike killed Gaddafi's sixth son and three of his grandsons in Tripoli, though Gaddafi and his wife were unharmed.

Western officials remained divided over whether Gaddafi was a legitimate military target under the U.N. Security Council resolution.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that NATO was "not targeting Gaddafi specifically" but that his command-and-control facilities were legitimate targets - ��including a facility inside his sprawling Tripoli compound that was hit with airstrikes on 25 April.

However, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for Gaddafi to be killed or captured.

On 27 June, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam, and his brother-in-law Abdullah Senussi, head of state security, for charges concerning crimes against humanity.

Libyan officials rejected the ICC, claiming that it had "no legitimacy whatsoever" and highlighting that "all of its activities are directed at African leaders".

That month, Amnesty International published their findings, in which they asserted that many of the accusations of mass human rights abuses made against Gaddafist forces lacked credible evidence, and were instead fabrications of the rebel forces which had been readily adopted by the western media.

On 15 July 2011, at a meeting in Istanbul, over 30 governments recognized the NTC as the legitimate government of Libya.

Gaddafi responded to the announcement with a speech on Libyan national television, in which he called on supporters to "Trample on those recognitions, trample on them under your feet ... They are worthless".

Now with NATO support in the form of air cover, the rebel militia pushed westward, defeating loyalist armies and securing control of the centre of the country.

Gaining the support of Amazigh (Berber) communities of the Nafusa Mountains, who had long been persecuted as non-Arab speakers under Gaddafi, the NTC armies surrounded Gaddafi loyalists in several key areas of western Libya.

In August, the rebels seized Zlitan and Tripoli, ending the last vestiges of Gaddafist power.

On 25 August, the Arab League recognized the NTC to be "the legitimate representative of the Libyan state", on which basis Libya would resume its membership in the League.

Capture and Death: September-October 2011

Only a few towns in western Libya such as Bani Walid, Sebha and Sirte remained Gaddafist strongholds.

Retreating to Sirte after Tripoli's fall, Gaddafi announced his willingness to negotiate for a handover to a transitional government, a suggestion rejected by the NTC.

Surrounding himself with bodyguards,he continually moved residences to escape NTC shelling, devoting his days to prayer and reading the Qur'an.

On 20 October, Gaddafi broke out of Sirte's District 2 in a joint civilian-military convoy, hoping to take refuge in the Jarref Valley.

At around 8.30am, NATO bombers attacked, destroying at least 14 vehicles and killing at least 53.

The convoy scattered, and Gaddafi and those closest to him fled to a nearby villa, which was shelled by rebel militia from Misrata.

Fleeing to a construction site, Gaddafi and his inner consort hid inside drainage pipes while his bodyguards battled the rebels; in the conflict, Gaddafi suffered head injuries from a grenade blast while defense minister Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr was killed.

A Misratan militia took Gaddafi prisoner, beating him and stabbing him in the anus, causing serious injuries; the events were filmed on a mobile phone.

Pulled onto the front of a pick-up truck, he fell off as it drove away. His semi-naked, lifeless body was then placed into an ambulance and taken to Misrata; upon arrival, he was found to be dead.

Official NTC accounts claimed that Gaddafi was caught in a cross-fire and died from his bullet wounds.

Other eye-witness accounts claimed that rebels had fatally shot Gaddafi in the stomach; a rebel identifying himself as Senad el-Sadik el-Ureybi later claimed responsibility.

Gaddafi's son Mutassim, who had also been among the convoy, was also captured, and found dead several hours later, most probably from an extrajudicial execution.

Around 140 Gaddafi loyalists were rounded up from the convoy; tied up and abused, the corpses of 66 were found at the nearby Mahari Hotel, victims of extrajudicial execution.

Libya's chief forensic pathologist, Dr. Othman al-Zintani, carried out the autopsies of Gaddafi, his son and Jabr in the days following their death; although the pathologist initially told the press that Gaddafi had died from a gunshot wound to the head, the autopsy report was not made public.

On the afternoon of Gaddafi's death, NTC Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril publicly revealed the news.

Gaddafi's corpse was placed in the freezer of a local market alongside the corpses of Yunis Jabr and Mutassim; the bodies were publicly displayed for four days, with Libyans from all over the country coming to view them.

In response to international calls, on 24 October Jibril announced that a commission would investigate Gaddafi's death.

On 25 October, the NTC announced that Gaddafi had been buried at an unidentified location in the desert; Al Aan TV showed amateur video footage of the funeral.

Seeking vengeance for the killing, Gaddafist sympathisers fatally wounded one of those who had captured Gaddafi, Omran Shaaban, near Bani Walid in September 2012.

Legacy

Gaddafi remained a controversial and divisive figure on the world stage throughout his life and after death.

Supporters praised Gaddafi's administration for the creation of an almost classless society through domestic reform. They stress the regime's achievements in combating homelessness and ensuring access to food and safe drinking water.

Highlighting that under Gaddafi, all Libyans enjoyed free education to a university level, they point to the dramatic rise in literacy rates after the 1969 revolution.

Supporters have also applauded achievements in medical care, praising the universal free healthcare provided under the Gaddafist administration, with diseases like cholera and typhoid being contained and life expectancy raised.

Biographers Blundy and Lycett noted that under the first decade of Gaddafi's leadership, life for most Libyans "undoubtedly changed for the better" as material conditions and wealth drastically improved, while Libyan studies specialist Lillian Craig Harris remarked that in the early years of his administration, Libya's "national wealth and international influence soared, and its national standard of living has risen dramatically."

Such high standards declined during the 1980s, as a result of economic stagnation. Gaddafi claimed that his Jamahiriya was a "concrete utopia", and that he had been appointed by "popular assent", with some Islamic supporters believing that he exhibited barakah.

Critics labelled Gaddafi "despotic, cruel, arrogant, vain and stupid", with western governments and press presenting him as the "vicious dictator of an oppressed people".

During the Reagan administration, the United States regarded him as "Public Enemy No. 1" and Reagan famously dubbed him the "mad dog of the Middle East".

According to critics, the Libyan people lived in a climate of fear under Gaddafi's administration, due to his government's pervasive surveillance of civilians.

Despite officially banning the police force, Gaddafi's Libya was typically described by western commentators as "a police state".

Opponents were critical of Libya's human rights abuses; according to Human Rights Watch (HRW) and others, hundreds of arrested political opponents often failed to receive a fair trial, and were sometimes subjected to torture or extrajudicial execution, most notably in the Abu Salim prison, including an alleged massacre on 29 June 1996 in which HRW estimated that 1,270 prisoners were massacred.

Dissidents abroad or "stray dogs" were also publicly threatened with death and sometimes killed by government hits squads.

His government's treatment of non-Arab Libyans has also came in for criticism from human rights activists, with native Berbers, Italians, Jews, refugees, and foreign workers all facing persecution in Gaddafist Libya.

According to journalist Annick Cojean and psychologist Seham Sergewa, Gaddafi and senior officials raped and imprisoned hundreds or thousands of young women and reportedly raped several of his female bodyguards.

International reactions to Gaddafi's death were divided.

US President Barack Obama stated that it meant that "the shadow of tyranny over Libya has been lifted," while UK Prime Minister David Cameron stated that he was "proud" of his country's role in overthrowing "this brutal dictator".

Contrastingly, former Cuban President Fidel Castro commented that in defying the rebels, Gaddafi would "enter history as one of the great figures of the Arab nations", while Venezuelan President Hugo Ch�vez described him as "a great fighter, a revolutionary and a martyr."

Nelson Mandela expressed sadness at the news, praising Gaddafi for his anti-apartheid stance, remarking that he backed the African National Congress during "the darkest moments of our struggle".

Gaddafi was mourned by many as a hero across Sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, a vigil was held by Muslims in Sierra Leone.

The Daily Times of Nigeria stated that while undeniably a dictator, Gaddafi was the most benevolent in a region that only knew dictatorship, and that he was "a great man that looked out for his people and made them the envy of all of Africa."

AllAfrica.com reported that while many Libyans and Africans would mourn Gaddafi, this would by ignored by western media and that as such it would take 50 years before historians decided whether he was "martyr or villain."

Following his defeat in the civil war, Gaddafi's system of governance was dismantled and replaced under the interim government of the NTC, who legalised trade unions and press freedom.

In July 2012, elections were held to form a new General National Congress (GNC), who officially took over governance from the NTC in August.

The GNC proceeded to elect Mohammed Magariaf as president of the chamber, and then voted Mustafa A.G. Abushagur as Prime Minister; when Abushagar failed to gain congressional approval, the GNC instead elected Ali Zeidan to the position.

In January 2013, the GNC officially renamed the Jamahiriyah as the "State of Libya".

Senate report: Attacks on U.S. compounds in Benghazi could have been prevented...

The report said that on Sept. 18, 2012, the ��FBI and CIA reviewed the closed circuit television video from the Mission facility that showed there were no protests prior to the attacks.

But it took six more days for intelligence officials to revise their chronology of events and say that ��there were no demonstrations or protests�� at the diplomatic compound ��prior to the attacks.��

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/senate-report-attack-on-us-compound-in-benghazi-could-have-been-prevented/2014/01/15/5e197224-7de9-11e3-95c6-0a7aa80874bc_story.html

that Film didn't have squat to do with the whole thing,except in the feverish lying minds of the Administration!

I have to admit that I didn't pay much attention to what was going on back in 2012, as that was a very unsettling year for me personally.

And I'm only now becoming interested in digging up the facts and looking into the history so I can see why our politicians are making this their primary focus when there's so many more important issues the country is facing right now that they need to be dealing with too.

Outraged Over Benghazi, Silent on Iraq

news.yahoo.com/outraged-over-benghazi-silent-iraq-041510234--politics.html

Something tells me the more I understand about what's been happening in Libya the more the Iraq fiasco will be a reflection too.

Its all very disconcerting.

I would hope you are beginning to look so that you can make an informed choice for 2016....

It is a fact that the outpost and CIA annex did not have adequate security when they were attacked...It is also a fact that the Obama administration knew the attacks were planned and carried out by terrorists...Another know fact is that Hillary Clinton issued a press release blaming inflammatory material posted on the internet for inciting or triggering the attack...More facts, Susan Rice backed up Clinton's lie...Clearly, the choice to hide and politicize the facts surrounding the Benghazi attack was made in order to preserve the strength of Obama's re-election campaign stance on terrorism...The truth was stonewalled for almost two years...It was this "series of known facts" that lead to these, still unanswered, questions...Questions that Democrats are quite willing to sweep under the carpet in order to assure Clinton's election in 2016...Questions that every American should demand be answered...Why were we in Benghazi with such a strong CIA presence?...Why were 23 requests for additional security denied?...What was the coordinated response force status on 9/11/12?...Who issued the order to stand down?...Where or exactly what was Obama doing on the night of the attack and why did he attend a fundraiser the very next day?...

Benghazi is not a partisan issue!...Benghazi is an American issue!!...Clinton and Rice lied...On 9/16/12, Libyan President Magariaf told Bob Sheiffer on a televised segment of "Face the Nation" two things...The attack was not conducted by Libyans and the attack had been planned for months...On 05/09/13, an American diplomat testified at a congressional hearing that the attack was terrorist and that he personally informed the Obama administration of pending trouble and requested help for the consulate...It is important that Americans know the facts leading up to and surrounding the Benghazi murders...It is vital that our leaders be judged on more than rumors, opinion, and innuendo...If the President and former Sec'y of State have reasons for their actions before, during, and after the attack, they are obligated to tell the American people those reasons...They are obligated to tell the American people THE TRUTH...

http://www.cagle.com/2014/05/a-new-angle-to-benghazi-gunrunning/

Democrats and their liberal flacks are rallying around the idea of boycotting the Select Committee to Investigate the Benghazi scandal.

Brilliant idea.

Just think of how much trust such a move would imbue in the American people if the Republicans had thought of that during the Iran-Contra hearings.

Meanwhile, police are investigating threats on the life of Select Committee Chair Rep. Trey Gowdy by the violent left.

This indicates radical liberals must believe there is a serious crime, for why else would they go to such extremes to silence the process? Surely it's not simply because President Obama and his administration lied about the nature of the Benghazi protests. It's likely because his supporters have read the domestic and foreign press reports about the true nature of the facility in Benghazi, Libya.

The New York Times has already reported weapons being shipped through Benghazi to the Syrian rebels under U.S. auspices. Seymour Hersh, the famous investigative reporter who exposed the My Lai massacre, reported extensively on the arms being shipped by the U.S. to Syrian rebels through Turkey.

This is the real fear: Hillary Clinton and perhaps President Obama will be exposed without credible deniability to have been shipping weapons to the Syrian rebels, who are mostly Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda affiliates.

Why would anyone care that the President lied? Because four Americans died and he's covering up the reason? Every President lies about something. A few, such as Nixon, LBJ and Clinton have lied to cover up incompetence, misbehavior and crimes.

Others simply lie about policies to push their agendas.

Lying to cover up the deaths of an ambassador and staff in an expected attack would surely erode confidence in the leader, but not nearly as much as the fact that he was instrumental in providing arms to Al Qaeda.

This is what the Select Committee really needs to learn: how many weapons had the retired Navy Seals, experts in weapons transfers, shipped to Al Qaeda and their affiliates in Syria? Was the President aware of this program? Was the program designed by or approved by then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and then Director of the CIA, David Petraeus?

I suspect that if you go back through the internet and read the New York Times reports as well as Seymour Hersh's reporting you'll come to the conclusion that Hillary Clinton and David Petraeus were in charge of this operation.

As Hersh reported,a secret agreement (was) reached in early 2012 between the Obama and Erdogan administrations. It pertained to the rat line. By the terms of the agreement, funding came from Turkey, as well as Saudi Arabia and Qatar; the CIA, with the support of MI6, was responsible for getting arms from Gaddafi's arsenals into Syria. A number of front companies were set up in Libya, some under the cover of Australian entities. Retired American soldiers, who didn't always know who was really employing them, were hired to manage procurement and shipping. The operation was run by David Petraeus.

Obama may not have known the specifics of the Benghazi trading post, but Hillary and Petraeus certainly did.

Sure, emails discovered by Judicial Watch show that the President and his administration schemed to cover up the nature of the attacks on the facility, but that's not the worst of it.

I would say that the worst of it is the gunrunning to jihadists itself.

This is also where it becomes so dangerous for Hillary Clinton's political future. Remember, she resigned just as the Benghazi investigations were beginning. What would happen to her viability as a Presidential candidate should she be found complicit in giving weapons to Al Qaeda and their affiliates? Would women still support her if it's proven that she was instrumental in arming jihadists intent on killing their children?

The political fallout would be measured in percentages of voters lost and volume of defensive propaganda maneuvers.

The question that really needs to be answered is, Why were they doing this at all?