Conflicting Reports on the Libyan Uprising

During the past few days (8/20/11-8/23/11) conflicting reports were aired by the international press about the Libyan rebels’ success against the Gadhafi forces.

First, the Libyan and international press revealed that Gadhafi’s two sons were arrested. Mohamed surrendered freely to the rebel forces in Tripoli and his brother Saif il-Islam was captured. The head of the Libyan Transitional Council issued an order to the rebel leader in Tripoli to secure and protect both prisoners until they are tried by Libyan courts.

Second, Mr. Morino OKampo, the prosecutor of the international court, issued an order to transfer Saif il-Islam to Geneva to be tried for crimes committed against the Libyan people.

Third, it was declared by the Libyan Transitional Council that Tripoli has been secured by the rebel forces except for a few pockets that are still under the control of Gadhafi forces. The puzzling situation is that two days later and after such official statements, the international press reported that Saif il-Islam was free and met with foreign journalists in a hotel in Tripoli. Another report also revealed that the second son of Gadhafi was also free and not under arrest.

Furthermore, Saif il-Islam stated publicly in front of journalists that the Gadhafi forces will continue to fight the rebels.

The irony of all this is that either Gadhafi’s sons were not arrested or they escaped with the help of their supporters after their arrests. The truth of this situation will be revealed sooner or later.

After the rebels entered Tripoli, the foreign popular international news organizations began to report the European governments’’ concern about what comes next in Libya, after the removal of Gadhafi and his supporters from power.

The French president Mr. Sarkozy called for an international meeting to discuss the future Libyan situation. He extended an invitations to the president of the Libyan Transitional Council to attend that meeting.

The irony is that the European powers are rushing to see who will end up with the lion’s share of Libyan oil. France, Italy, Germany, Austria and the U.S. oil companies are already plotting their own individual strategy to see who will be the winner of the Libyan oil wealth.

No one can deny that the NATO forces played an active role in the downfall of Mr. Gadhafi’s regime. However, the war, which has been going on for more than six months, caused significant physical destruction in Libya in addition to the tens of thousands of human casualties.

Libya needs more time to get its house in order to prepare for a smooth and democratic election, which it has never experienced before.

Western European governments, as well as the U.S., have failed to understand during the past eight to nine decades or since the discovery of oil in the Middle East, that oil is the only economic commodity that they have. Oil is their major source of income and they need to sell it in order to be able to run and develop their own economics. To put it even more clearly, the oil producing countries can’t drink their own oil; they have to sell it.

The irony of western capitalism is who is going to control the oil as an economic commodity to maximize the margins of their profits. They are fully aware that oil-producing countries have no other choice but to sell that product. Even when people/consumers complain about the increasing prices of oil, they quite frequently blame the oil producing countries for it. The vast majority of oil consumers are not aware of the fact that the corrupt and greedy Wall Street gamblers are the major instrumental factors in influencing oil prices worldwide. Let me conclude by stating that the Libyan people need time to get their house in order, before starting to assess their oil strategy. They need to sell their oil and it is the only economic commodity that they can depend on to provide the funds needed for the economic development of their country.