Libyans: "No more Al Qaeda!"

[Kulindahr]

We don't like Al Qaeda.

Neither, it seems, do the people of Benghazi:

First, more than 1% of the city marched to demand the militias be shut down and chased out (http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-09-21/libyans-march-against-militias-after-attack), but I guess they got impatient, because they didn't settle for just marching:

Pro-government demonstrators stormed the headquarters of the Islamist Ansar al-Sharia group in Benghazi on Friday and evicted fighters from the site in a sweep of militia bases in the Libyan city, Reuters witnesses said.
...

Chanting "Libya, Libya," hundreds of demonstrators entered, pulling down militia flags and torching a vehicle inside the compound, Ansar al-Sharia's main base in Benghazi - once the base of forces of former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Spring, apparently, isn't over in the Arab world.

 

[spooger]

i had said once before in a thread that seems to have disappeared that it was time for the people who consider themselves to be moderate and peaceful muslims to speak out against the violence, murder and madness ...

Mr. Rolyo posted the image of the libyans with their plackards after ambassador stevens was murdered ... and i appreciated that

i am especially pleased to see the demonstrations continue ... i wish more would find the courage to speak out

i expect peace to break out all over now

 

[Kulindahr]

Maybe if they make a habit of this the extremists will find somewhere else to go. It's pretty kool that the people didn't just speak up, they drove out violent militias by sheer force of numbers and determination.

It's practically a Ghandi moment.

 

[rareboy]

Libya has the opportunity to become a keystone moderate Islamic democracy in North Africa.

It will take years to strip militias of all the weapons that Ghaddafi and the western nations armed each side with. It always does. And sometimes it isn't all that successful.

People in countries riven by civil war love the second amendment solution the world over.

 

[Kulindahr]

Libya has the opportunity to become a keystone moderate Islamic democracy in North Africa.

It will take years to strip militias of all the weapons that Ghaddafi and the western nations armed each side with. It always does. And sometimes it isn't all that successful.

People in countries riven by civil war love the second amendment solution the world over.

So far the Libyan people are managing to chase out militias without resorting to it.

 

[rareboy]

Fingers crossed.

I actually have high hopes for Libya if they can avoid sliding into theocratic or military dictatorship.

 

[Kulindahr]

Fingers crossed.

I actually have high hopes for Libya if they can avoid sliding into theocratic or military dictatorship.

I would happily urge the US to ship arms to the Libyan people if they wanted them for getting rid of the militias.

I'd be ecstatic to ship them rope instead, to hang the bastards with after overwhelming them without violence.


Still praying for a Ghandi path.

 

[rareboy]

^ It is good to remember though that even with Ghandi as the leader, the path to peaceful democracy in India has not been without some horrible bumps along the way.

Hopefully Libya can avoid this. Hopefully it can demolish the medieval competitive tribal structure at the power sharing level as well.

 

[Inverted]

Maybe if they make a habit of this the extremists will find somewhere else to go. It's pretty kool that the people didn't just speak up, they drove out violent militias by sheer force of numbers and determination.

It's practically a Ghandi moment.

Gandhi*

And al-Qaeda presence in North Africa is limited.

 

[EastMed]

Notwithstanding the rout of jihadists from Benghazi, I think Libya is on a long and difficult path to stability.

 

[spooger]

Notwithstanding the rout of jihadists from Benghazi, I think Libya is on a long and difficult path to stability.

i pray that they may be the first of those countries to realize that ignoring or sheltering the jihadists will only work to their own detriment and demise of their society ...

routing them out or better yet ... killing them off ... is much more in their best interests

i applaud them for having the courage to at least begin the process of demonstrating their disfavor of that element among them ... but i suspect many will die from homicide bombers attempting to silence them ...

if they actually succeed that may be the legacy of ambassador Steven's martyrdom for the people he supported and who apparently respected him for his efforts on their behalf

if only other peaceful muslims could muster similar courage ... peace actually might break out all over

i have a dear friend from syria with whom i've spent many hours in discussions about exactly this ... unfortunately, those respectable people have not much more than their collective voices, while the murderous bastards have killing machines to silence them ... so sad

 

[Sausy]

The Libyan people and their government actually have done themselves proud by standing hard against the extremists. Don't want to see bloodshed but it's good to see the bullies being given a taste of their own medicine.

 

[JayHawk]

That is exactly the only way forward in all of these countries. These people stood up against despotism after a LONG LONG time.... hopefully they will not tolerate religious fanaticism in their names.

 

[Kulindahr]

Perhaps the oddest thing about this is that when Ronald Reagan was president, if anyone had suggested that within a generation it would be Libya leading the way toward democracy, it would have been taken as a joke.

And that just illustrates a principle of history that Bush and Cheney wouldn't have been capable of grasping: the way to make progress toward democracy is to wait until a people shows they're tired of the old ways, and then throw support behind them.