Reply #88: Libya, the anti-Iraq [View All]

[pinboy3niner]

A longtime tyrant has been sent packing, yet no foreign troops are on the ground. And it seems unlikely the U.S. will need to send in forces or the trunkloads of money it used to help rebuild Iraq.

By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times

September 14, 2011, 5:47 p.m.


Reporting from Tripoli, Libya— A top U.S. envoy arrived in Libya's capital Wednesday bearing best wishes but no promises of cash, no battalions of troops, no stocks of armored Humvees or blast barriers — and no blueprints for rebuilding a nation.


It is early yet, less than a month since Tripoli fell and Moammar Kadafi disappeared. He is still out there somewhere, urging allies who retain control of several cities to "turn Libya into true hell," as his spokesman said in a new audio message.

...


But in at least one key respect, Tripoli has become a kind of anti-Baghdad: a capital where the longtime tyrant has been sent packing, yet where no foreign troops are on the ground. Normality appears to be taking hold, and it is Libyans themselves who are calling the shots.

...


"I think if there were foreign troops here things would be much different," said Najwa Shalabi, who was taking her four children to a small seaside amusement park. "We trust the freedom fighters. They are Libyans all."

...


"From the beginning of the revolution, we felt safe here among our fellow Libyans who were willing to die so we could all be free," said Ramadan Dughri, 49, a customer service representative, who was also at the amusement park with his family. "It's good for the Americans too: They don't have to secure our country."


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-not-iraq-20110915,0,3407964.story