ICC Issues Arrest Warrant For Libyan Dictator Gadhafi

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Dan Rackley

Dan Rackley is a US Naval veteran living in Philadelphia and a contributor to "Will They Ever Trust Us Again?"

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May 16th, 2011 1:09 PM

ICC Issues Arrest Warrant For Libyan Dictator Gadhafi

Better late than never. That very well may have been the opinion of many around the world when we all learned of the death of Osama Bin Laden two weeks ago. In was the general consensus that he was an evil man that had done evil things. Agreed. But now the eyes of the world are back onto a man that many consider to be of the same ilk as Bin Laden. Muammar Gadhafi in a way walks the same walk and talks the same talk that Bin Laden did. Disagree with me and I will kill you. Do as I say to the letter or I will bomb your house. Protest against me and there will be consequences. For the past few months we have watched the uprising in Libya and all over the Middle East unfold. First it was Tunisia, then Egypt to follow, then the world’s attention was turned to Lybia.

The Libyan people quickly realized that they had been living under the rule of one man’s whim for far too long. Unlike the unrest in the countries I previously mentioned, Gadhafi fought his own people tooth and nail. Instead of favoring their thoughts and feeling on how they should be ruled; he fought back with ruthless abandon. He has launched attacks on protests, he has bombed and killed his own people. This is not something new to the people of Libya. They have lived under Gadhafi’s tyrannical rule for decades. For months, he has with every fiber of his being clung to power. Even after the United States launched attacks against his forces, after months of NATO airstrikes. Even after foreign governments recognized the rebel opposition as the legitimate government he has not wanted to give up power which should no longer rightfully be his. Now he might have to.

The International Criminal Court has now issued an arrest warrant for Muammar Gadhafi for war crimes. No doubt Gadhafi will find some way of legitimizing the killing of his own people; the same way Slobodan Milosevic, Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden rationalized their mass killing of people. One thing that remains constant with those three, they were all eventually brought to justice. There came a time where there was no longer a safe haven for them. Nowhere that they could run, you might say. Now with the ICC issuing an official arrest warrant, it is now free and legal for Gadhafi to be taken in and properly tried for the crimes he has committed against his people. After it has been internationally publicized the atrocities that he has committed against others and his own people; it does not seem like he has any sort of a leg to stand on. Eventually he will be found and forced to answer for what he has done to so many people. The wheels of justice tend to move slowly at times, but eventually they get around to everyone. Same with Bin Laden, same with Hussein and Milosevic. Now it is time for Gadhafi to face the music. He could have left power peacefully without adding on extra lives lost from protestors and people simply wanting their freedom. But he had to get his last few digs in. And that is what will be his downfall.