Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead!

Ding dong the witch is dead! Which old witch? The Wicked Witch!! Ding Dong the Wicked Witch is Dead! Well… Actually, Muammar Gaddafi is dead.

I can hear ya’ll saying FINALLY in your head in unison. That’s what I said. But it was also a shock. I mean, he made it this long, but finally he got what he deserved.

How it went down:

His convoy which was traveling through Sirte was targeted by an air strike, and he was injured. Being the extremely intelligent man he is (was?), he hid in a drain pipe with some of his supporters. The NTC fighters (the opposing group) found them and kidnapped Gaddafi. They began to drag him through the streets, beat him up, and manhandle him. He was then shot in the legs and head, after already suffering multiple wounds to his chest, abdomen, and head. On the ride to the hospital, Gaddafi died.

The situation is a bit disgraceful actually. The manslaughter was celebrated so completely, you begin to think the event was a birth, not a death. Much cheering and fireworks took place, and the supporters of the murder were not always just adults; little children scream through the streets that “He got what he deserved.” Should a nine year old really be cheering about the brutal murder of somebody, no matter who it is? I mean, there is no question over whether he had it coming. I’ve never felt so strongly that someone deserved death than this man. When you come across a man who “purchased and authorized the use of Viagra-like drugs among soldiers for the purpose of raping women and instilling fear”, you have to know you have come across a man who will go to hell. If you believe in that sort of thing. (More Information) I mean. What a disgusting man. His crimes against humanity really almost justify the murder, if murder can be justified.

But then, you also have to think of him as a person, which is near impossible, but just try with me for a second. The revulsion you feel towards the people, for publicly amusing themselves by giving him the most drawn out and painful murder I have ever seen in my life, is pretty great. It is justified, but horrid. One of the worst parts is that they have his body on display for the public in a market freezer at Misrata, alongside his son Moatassem (National Security Advisor) and Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr (Defense Minister) who were also killed by the NTC. Thousands flock to the dead bodies to take pictures and celebrate; a truly distasteful act.  It’s hard to have compassion for a man who was such a horrible human being, but at the same time, glorifying his death just perpetuates the violence he was so quick to spread.

The entire situation is just violence look like an acceptable option. If someone is wrong, kill them. Why not put him on trial? Take him alive? Brutally murdering him does not show a new strand of peaceful resolution. It just shows the lack of maturity among society. Only the lowly man stoops to killing as the only option. And the society of violence is not only in Libya! It is here too; remember our cheering over Osama bin Laden? I don't know if murder should be considered the only option for these mentally unstable people.

                In any case, the situation in Libya is supposedly better, with Sharia Law being claimed among the land and all that jazz. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Sincerely Sydney