Abstract
Muammar Gaddafi was certainly one of the most mercurial and eccentric leaders in the Arab world. From the beginning of the Libyan uprising in mid-February until his removal from power on August 23, 2011, Gaddafi maintained that only a small faction of outside “agitators” or “terrorists” led the uprising, not the docile and patriotic citizens of his great country. The idea that a majority of his people would seek his downfall was unimaginable to Gaddafi. He was the author of the Great Revolution that empowered the masses in 1969; the “Brother Leader” and the “inspired philosopher” from humble Bedouin roots. How could the masses seek to topple a beloved figure that possessed no official state title or office? How could the citizens of Libya overthrow a man who empowered the people and dwelt among the “masses”? According to Gaddafi, this very prospect was nonsensical.
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Notes
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© 2014 William C. Taylor
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Taylor, W.C. (2014). The Libyan Military’s “Fractured Support” of Muammar Gaddafi. In: Military Responses to the Arab Uprisings and the Future of Civil-Military Relations in the Middle East. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137410054_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137410054_7
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