Let the Butterflies Fly!

Let The Butterflies Fly!

By Siavash Naderi

2nd March 2011

It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly’s wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world. The Butterfly Effect, a theory that may seem nothing but an exaggeration in the first look is the single theory that can describe the fact that CNN now has a new section called Mid-east and N. Africa unrest . “A young man set himself ablaze inside the regional labor union headquarters in protest”, Tunisian witnesses reported. It seems as if the young man’s desicion was the flutter of the butterfly’s wing and the latter changes were the improbable yet possible typhoon; a typhoon that shook Ben Ali off the throne; left Hosni Mubarak in a coma; and resonated the dream of change in Yemen, Jordan, Iran, Bahrain and indeed Libya.

Gadhafi‟s approach to the mass demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt clearly indicated where he sees himself in the dictatorship zone of North Africa; reactions such as announcing that he is willing to get together with people in any anti government demonstration in Libya were a part of his attempt to show the extent to which he is with the people. Such tools were of course not sufficient to prevent dissidents from uprising. For three weeks one could see people‟s determination to bring democracy to Libya through Facebook and personal blogs.

Originally 17th February was dissidents “planned day for demonstrations” but a few days before the promised day, news from Banghazi was already making the headlines. It did not take long for Gadhafi to lose power over a number of eastern cities of Libya. Surprisingly, Tripoli was one of the last cities to join the movement. The clashes started from the very beginning when Gadhafi‟s mercenaries started shooting protesters in the streets of Banghazi. By 22nd February protesters had “absolute power in eastern cities of Libya” was the breaking news worldwide. Meanwhile, there were allegations about Gadhafi having fled to Venezuela or Brazil. This news was to be falsified when an amateur footage of Gadhafi and his umbrella was released where he emphasized that he is in Libya. His son was the first person from the Gadhafi family to appear on the news and warn Libyans about the possibility of the occurrence of a civil war. That was basically how the airstrike on Tripoli was justified and so was the genocide that caused approximately 1,000 deaths. The news regarding the genocide was the main reason for the members of the Security Council gathering in an attempt to stop the “delusional” Libyan leader. Meanwhile, Gadhafi was developing his new theory which suggests that all dissidents are drug addicts that are forced to join Al Qaida, an explanation that left the BBC reporter startled.

In a nutshell, all cities of Libya except Tripoli are controlled by the protesters. Gadhafi‟s assets in most foreign countries are frozen while he is publishing his Al Qaida Theorem and American warships are getting closer to Libya. It seems like Moammer Gadhafi has engineered a convoluted situation, the outcome of which is hard to predict. Let‟s hope for the best, Libya is already oppressed and the current level of destruction is indeed a hefty price to pay for the most basic rights of a Libyan.