And in another piece of good news …
by digby
Weeks of fighting escalated in Libya this weekend as anti-government fighters secured control of the country’s main airport in the capital, Tripoli.
A group of pro-government fighters from the western city of Zintan had controlled the airport since the 2011 fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi. But on Saturday, a coalition of Islamist fighters from the city of Misrata called “Operation Dawn” pushed that group out.
It’s been just a little over three years since the Zintanis and Islamist fighters battled side by side against Gaddafi forces. Yet today, the two groups — along with smaller supporting militias — are locked in a vicious fight for economic and political control, pushing the country closer to the brink of collapse. Libya is falling apart, and this is why it matters:
Libya now has 2 parliaments and 2 prime ministers.
The government and the army are too weak to impose order.
Regional powers are adding fuel to the fire.
Life for many Libyan civilians is worsening.
Read the article to see the details behind those 4 points. It’s a huge mess.
It’s not America’s fault. But there’s a lesson this about the idea that our “intervention” was going to be, on balance, a good thing for the country. It’s gone from despotism to chaos, as often happens in these cases. And contrary to what one might think, chaos isn’t freedom.
You can’t help but feel some despair at this point. It looks as though we’re in for a long period of unstable unrest in the region and that’s dangerous. And there’s not a whole lot the US can do about it.
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