The aftereffects of the war in Libya

Photo:  AP

Barely a building remains undamaged in Sirte.

The price of liberation is plain to see on every street in the late dictator's home town of Sirte. The place intended be the showplace of a continent is destroyed. 

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Residents returning to, or who stoically remained in, Sirte accuse Libyan interim government fighters of demolishing and looting homes, shops and public buildings in Gaddafi's home town to take revenge for its support of the fugitive leader. A Sirte woman who did not want to be named told Reuters last week: "We didn't resist in this neighbourhood, so why did they destroy our homes?"  Inspecting the damage to her house, she said that Sirte would never go back to how it used to be. "There is no security here any more," she said. Doors were broken, clothes strewn across the floor and furniture had been knocked over. The smoke lingering over the city from the continued fighting could be seen through a hole in the wall. 

The rest of the article is here.

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The saddest thing about this destruction, in my opinion, is that this place will remain poisonous for generations.  All those weapons and bombs with chemicals and depleted uranium in them will harm future generations for thousands of years.  If this were my town, I think I would just move somewhere else, if I had that option.

I am sickened by how the US and other western countries participated in this civil war in Libya.  They will not see peace or real democracy for decades.  “Violence begets violence” as Martin Luther King Jr. said, and I am sure we will see that here in Libya.  The Libyan revolution, unlike Tunisia and Egypt, turned violent early on, and the after effects of that will be felt for years.  And of course, the US did not get involved for any silly humanitarian reasons.  That was just an excuse.  They want to control that oil. 

Sickening, just sickening.  This photo reminds me of what Fallujah looked like when the US military was done there.