Ten Myths of the Libyan Revolution

Ten Myths of the Libyan Revolution

1) It is a myth that the revolution was inspired by or compromised by al Qaeda and/or the CIA, when in fact it has been well established that the revolution was sparked by the self-immolation of Mohami Bourazizi in Tunisia in Dec. 2010, an event that neither al Qaeda nor the CIA predicted or estimated its impact.

2) It is a myth that the situation in Libya is like Iraq - a foreign invasion that included a decade long foreign occupation, obviously untrue.

3) It is a myth that the revolution is a religious fueled Jihad that will result in a strict Islamic state, when in fact everyone involved in the Libyan revolution maintain they are determined to establish a constitutional democracy, the one basic hallmark of the revolution.

4) It is a myth that Gadhafi was a benevolent dictator whose people benefited from his leadership, when in fact he was a brutal dictator who ran a police state that killed anyone who opposed the regime, including one protester who was hung in a school gymnasium in front of students and over a thousand political prisoners executed at one time in a Tripoli prison, the one event that triggered the revolt.

5) It is a myth that there is no evidence Gadhafi hired mercenaries and the rebels are racists for targeting and torturing black Libyans and blacks are being randomly lynched in Libya. In fact, many of the rebels are black and many – one third of all captured loyalist forces were foreign mercenaries who are being targeted, and not just random black people. Foreign journalists in Libya would report any such lynchings as they are all over Libya at the moment and are not hindered by Gadhafi “minders.”

6) It is a myth that NATO targeted civilians when in fact they have limited their targets to military positions, all with extreme accuracy, unlike the random rockets and artillery fire Gadhafi forces bombarded Misratha and other liberated cities.

7) It is a myth that NATO and rebel forces committed genocide, when in fact the genocide was committed by the Gadhafi regime against the two thousand year old Jewish community in Tripoli and against the Berber people of the Nafusa mountains. While the Jews were completely eradicated and removed from Tripoli altogether, the Nafusa mountain Berber rebels were the ones who succeeded in defeating Gadhafi’s army, with the help of the French and NATO.

8) They say the Viagra fueled rapes is a myth – when in fact it is a documented fact in Misratha, dozens if not hundreds of women were raped by Gadhafi forces, some incidents captured on their cell phone cameras later taken from dead loyalist soldiers and reluctantly reported to health agencies.

9) They say that the USA, UK, France and NATO support dictators and Gadhafi should be no exception, and therefore it is a hypocrisy, but it is the other dictators who have now been put on notice of the new change in USA and NATO policy.

10) It is a myth that the Libyan rebels are really Islamic terrorists or an unknown entity who will turn against the USA and western interests, when in fact it is well known that the majority of the rebel fighters are not soldiers at all but tradesmen, truck drivers, students, teachers and doctors who have taken up arms to fight for what they believe – freedom, liberty, democracy and justice. And they will be required to uphold those pronouncements, regardless of the myths and disinformation perpetrated against them.