Gadhafi's End, Libya's Future

Moammar Gadhafi is dead, ignominiously suffering his demise at the hand of rebels in his own home town of Sirte, Libya, paraded wounded though the city and then shot to death in the head. Not exactly what I would call due process, although in a way I understand the statement of utter finality that the rebels were trying to make: this tyrant will never be returned to power.

And make no mistake about it: he would have tried to at least instigate trouble in this land that needs no more trouble than it already has. I believe also that Gadhafi authorized the Lockerbie jet bombing that killed several hundred over Scotland in 1988. Unfortunately, there was no way that "due process" was ever going to convict him of this, but 23 years later, at least we have one less mass murderer in the world to contend with. Let's hope though, that the brutal and barbaric manner of Gadhafi's end doesn't signify the renewal of a cycle of despotic cruelty that is sadly too common in this part of the world.

After all, we really have no idea whatsoever as to which direction Libya will now take now with its "revolution". Sometimes after this type of insurrection, it is difficult for the leaders of the revolt to collectively cool down and change their outlook into one oriented toward a peaceful, civil society. If these leaders begin to see each other as enemies instead of partners with whom to forge a new future for their country, then Libya is in for some dire times ahead. But it doesn't have to go down like that...