Decision Making and the Legal Aspects of the Intervention in Libya 1. Developments and the Political Process Leading to the Intervention in Libya the North African State of Libya Broke Out Into a Civil War in the Early
1. Developments and the political process leading to the intervention in Libya
The North African state of Libya broke out into a civil war in the early part of 2011, fueled by protesters and revolutionist seeking to oust the head of the Libyan government, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. The uprising against Gaddafi and his government came after years of infringement of humanitarian rights to the Libyan people. The Libyan people had also suffered through an unemployment rate of around twenty percent nationally, where almost one-third of the population was living below the poverty line. Libyan citizens, fed up with how Gaddafi and his government were treating them, took to the streets in protest of the suppressive regime. Protests soon turned into rebellion after protesters were violently broken up by Gaddafi loyalist and police who opened up fire on the opposition protestors. After three days of protest, and fourteen anti-Gaddafi protesters being killed, the protestors began to attack government forces and soon overwhelmed them causing some police and army units to defect and join the opposition forces.
In the city of Benghazi, which is where the initial protest took place, Gaddafi forces opened fire on citizens partaking in a funeral procession in the streets of the city. Similar attacks took place around the country; Gaddafi even went as far as hiring mercenaries to fight against the growing opposition of the protestors. The attacks on the anti-Gaddafi movement led the protestors to begin revolting and fighting back against Gaddafi’s forces. Anti-Gaddafi mobs began attacking by throwing stones and using crude bombs made with tin cans stuffed with gunpowder. In one instance they attacked an army base and seized three tanks and various other weapons to supply the opposition forces. The revolution soon spread across the country and escalated into a civil war between the revolutionist and the pro-Gaddafi forces. The fighting continued and by the end of February Gaddafi’s
The North African state of Libya broke out into a civil war in the early part of 2011, fueled by protesters and revolutionist seeking to oust the head of the Libyan government, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. The uprising against Gaddafi and his government came after years of infringement of humanitarian rights to the Libyan people. The Libyan people had also suffered through an unemployment rate of around twenty percent nationally, where almost one-third of the population was living below the poverty line. Libyan citizens, fed up with how Gaddafi and his government were treating them, took to the streets in protest of the suppressive regime. Protests soon turned into rebellion after protesters were violently broken up by Gaddafi loyalist and police who opened up fire on the opposition protestors. After three days of protest, and fourteen anti-Gaddafi protesters being killed, the protestors began to attack government forces and soon overwhelmed them causing some police and army units to defect and join the opposition forces.
In the city of Benghazi, which is where the initial protest took place, Gaddafi forces opened fire on citizens partaking in a funeral procession in the streets of the city. Similar attacks took place around the country; Gaddafi even went as far as hiring mercenaries to fight against the growing opposition of the protestors. The attacks on the anti-Gaddafi movement led the protestors to begin revolting and fighting back against Gaddafi’s forces. Anti-Gaddafi mobs began attacking by throwing stones and using crude bombs made with tin cans stuffed with gunpowder. In one instance they attacked an army base and seized three tanks and various other weapons to supply the opposition forces. The revolution soon spread across the country and escalated into a civil war between the revolutionist and the pro-Gaddafi forces. The fighting continued and by the end of February Gaddafi’s