Gaddafi’s Warning to Other Dictators: Shoot First & Shoot Them All

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Now that Colonel Gaddafi is dead, there’s a lot stuff flying about Twitter along the lines of Are you watching Mr Mugabe/Assad/Ahmadinejad? I’m sure they are. Few people are likely to mourn Gaddafi’s death but one should not, I fear, suppose that his eclipse weakens other dictatorial regimes or vastly emboldens their respective opposition movements. It would be grand if this were so but foolish to presume it must be.

Indeed, one can plausibly argue that a quite different message has been sent by this Libyan uprising and that this message warns other ghastly regimes to crack down harder and faster to ensure that dissent is suppressed before it has time to build. In other words: Gaddafi’s fate is certainly exemplary but it may actually work against reform. Perhaps this is because it is hard to have just a little reform; once that door is opened there’s little chance of closing it. So better, from the dictator’s perspective, not to open it at all.

Nevertheless, that’s not something the Libyan rebels or their western supporters need concern themselves with. Since I was sceptical about the wisdom and worth of NATO’s Libyan mission one should admit that it has gone rather better than I thought it might. Score one for David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy. Even so, the battle is not won yet since Libya will, one suspects, need considerable assistance for years to come if this is to be something other than a temporary triumph.

Nor, actually, does this conflict mean Blair’s government was wrong to try and bring Libya in from the cold. 2011 is not 2001 and the UK (and US’s) interest now is not necessarily the same as it was then. This is an elementary point that many people like to ignore. Nevertheless, there it is. Supporting – or tolerating – bastards until such time as that support becomes impossible or counter-productive is not an especially noble practice but you can’t have everything. Of course, it helps to know when to jump ship too.

By: Alex Massie

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24 responses to “Gaddafi’s Warning to Other Dictators: Shoot First & Shoot Them All”

  1. 5thDrawer Avatar

    Problem with shooting them all is there isn’t anyone left to feed you.

  2.  Avatar

    Problem with shooting them all is there isn’t anyone left to feed you.

  3. My prediction  Assad will be hanged in marje square ,let’s bet on that!!! who’s next?

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar

      Well, at a guess Guss, I’d think he wouldn’t make it there with a head attached to hang from … someone who received a child back in pieces will get to him first.

      1. good guess!!! his father died naturally but he won’t !!

      2. antar2011 Avatar

        i think he knws this well and so he will just kill himself before they get to him.

  4. My prediction  Assad will be hanged in marje square ,let’s bet on that!!! who’s next?

    1.  Avatar

      Well, at a guess Guss, I’d think he wouldn’t make it there with a head attached to hang from … someone who received a child back in pieces will get to him first.

      1. good guess!!! his father died naturally but he won’t !!

      2.  Avatar

        i think he knws this well and so he will just kill himself before they get to him.

  5. MeYosemite Avatar
    MeYosemite

    I swear there is a disease or virus that run through those leaders, perhaps loosening nerves in the brain into an obsession. Their thinking does not show any reasoning capability. Even a commoner would have reasoned this out better than Gaddafi and Assad way before and opted for a riviera house. I think this virus is called the Countrium Leaderum Virus. My assessment you can catch it if you stay in power more than needed.

  6.  Avatar

    I swear there is a disease or virus that run through those leaders, perhaps loosening nerves in the brain into an obsession. Their thinking does not show any reasoning capability. Even a commoner would have reasoned this out better than Gaddafi and Assad way before and opted for a riviera house. I think this virus is called the Countrium Leaderum Virus. My assessment you can catch it if you stay in power more than needed.

  7. ralphsrouji Avatar
    ralphsrouji

    If that is gaddafi’s message to other dictators, I think the NATO message is much more convincing!
    Just like anywhere since the beginning of time, each one you shoot and kill convinces 10 more to join the fight against you.
    You might take advantage of specific situations and conditions at some point of time to delay your downfall but you’ll always end up paying the price and if not you than your kids/successors will.
    Instead of writing about this (dead) loser’s advice, I think you should have written about Ben Ali’s advice:
    Grab whatever you can and run for your life! He’s the only one until now who played it right.

  8.  Avatar

    If that is gaddafi’s message to other dictators, I think the NATO message is much more convincing!
    Just like anywhere since the beginning of time, each one you shoot and kill convinces 10 more to join the fight against you.
    You might take advantage of specific situations and conditions at some point of time to delay your downfall but you’ll always end up paying the price and if not you than your kids/successors will.
    Instead of writing about this (dead) loser’s advice, I think you should have written about Ben Ali’s advice:
    Grab whatever you can and run for your life! He’s the only one until now who played it right.

  9.  Avatar

    If that is gaddafi’s message to other dictators, I think the NATO message is much more convincing!
    Just like anywhere since the beginning of time, each one you shoot and kill convinces 10 more to join the fight against you.
    You might take advantage of specific situations and conditions at some point of time to delay your downfall but you’ll always end up paying the price and if not you than your kids/successors will.
    Instead of writing about this (dead) loser’s advice, I think you should have written about Ben Ali’s advice:
    Grab whatever you can and run for your life! He’s the only one until now who played it right.

  10. It’s all NATO that toppled Gaddafi, no mistake about it. Watching the rebel guys, sorry looking bunch. They can’t even rob a bank …:)

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar

      Nato wasn’t putting ‘feet on the ground’. So that work was done by the sad army of bakers, plumbers, shop-keepers and the out-of-work youth of both sexes. When they asked for NATO help, however, they got it – eventually. And for sure that shortened the ‘war’. If it hadn’t, there would have been red sand there for a long time.
      Qadaffi didn’t need people … he had oil, and Russian and Chinese and African workers. Killing a few more million wouldn’t have worried him.
      Yes … a sorry looking bunch. But they are now in charge of their own country, and more importantly, feel like a part of it.

    2. MeYosemite Avatar
      MeYosemite

      Libnan1
      This war was clearly won by the rebels, and ready to die for it no matter what. Many of them were ex army folks. NTC have not disclosed the human loss but it is substantial. When there is human sacrifice for the country and that was a serious commitment from the people to their country. NATO was just a normalizer on weapon use. I am envious of the Libyan focus and wish we could unify and do same in Lebanon and eradicate all the corrupt leaders we got.

  11.  Avatar

    It’s all NATO that toppled Gaddafi, no mistake about it. Watching the rebel guys, sorry looking bunch. They can’t even rob a bank …:)

    1.  Avatar

      Nato wasn’t putting ‘feet on the ground’. So that work was done by the sad army of bakers, plumbers, shop-keepers and the out-of-work youth of both sexes. When they asked for NATO help, however, they got it – eventually. And for sure that shortened the ‘war’. If it hadn’t, there would have been red sand there for a long time.
      Qadaffi didn’t need people … he had oil, and Russian and Chinese and African workers. Killing a few more million wouldn’t have worried him.
      Yes … a sorry looking bunch. But they are now in charge of their own country, and more importantly, feel like a part of it.

    2.  Avatar

      Nato wasn’t putting ‘feet on the ground’. So that work was done by the sad army of bakers, plumbers, shop-keepers and the out-of-work youth of both sexes. When they asked for NATO help, however, they got it – eventually. And for sure that shortened the ‘war’. If it hadn’t, there would have been red sand there for a long time.
      Qadaffi didn’t need people … he had oil, and Russian and Chinese and African workers. Killing a few more million wouldn’t have worried him.
      Yes … a sorry looking bunch. But they are now in charge of their own country, and more importantly, feel like a part of it.

    3.  Avatar

      Libnan1
      This war was clearly won by the rebels, and ready to die for it no matter what. Many of them were ex army folks. NTC have not disclosed the human loss but it is substantial. When there is human sacrifice for the country and that was a serious commitment from the people to their country. NATO was just a normalizer on weapon use. I am envious of the Libyan focus and wish we could unify and do same in Lebanon and eradicate all the corrupt leaders we got.

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