THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XIV, Issue # 154, September 28, 2012
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
LIBYA IN THE AFTERMATH
By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
POLITICAL VIOLENCE & INSTABILITY IN POST-QADDAFI LIBYA: THE CONTINUING PROBLEM FACING LIBYA: A SERIOUS INTERNAL TERRORIST
THREAT FROM ISLAMIC IDEOLOGICAL MILITANTS WHO EITHER OPERATE WITH FREEDOM FROM CENTRAL GOVERNMENT CONTROL OR HAVE ENTERED INTO THE
RANKS OF THE NEW LIBYAN SECURITY FORCES
FULL STORY:
The attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that led to the death of the American Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, illustrates that, despite the poor
performance of Islamists in the elections back in July, the country still faces a serious internal terrorist threat from ideological militants who either operate with
freedom from central government control or have entered into the ranks of the new Libyan security forces.
I had already warned about the latter phenomenon in particular, as regards attacks on Sufi shrines in Tripoli and Zintan that were suspected to be the work of
members of the security forces.
Concerning the assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, two American intelligence officials revealed to the Daily Beast that members of an Islamist militia
known as the February 17th. Brigade were responsible for safeguarding the Consulate, but apparently stepped aside in anticipation of the attack, possibly on the
urging of an Islamist politician.
The Libyan government is now trying to integrate this militia -- along with another by the name of Rafallah al-Sahati -- into the security forces by appointing army
colonels to lead them, but such a move is not likely to do away with the problems posed by these Islamist militants.
On the contrary, they will simply use their new positions to push their own agendas, just like the Islamist members of the security forces who have desecrated Sufi
shrines.
There is also the potential here to trigger some infighting among the new security forces. The greatest risk is in the east of the country where Islamist influence is
strongest, even as Islamism may not necessarily be the dominant political force on the ground.
Indeed, the Libya Herald recently reported that clashes broke out in the eastern town of Marj among members of the new National Army, with no fatalities
but several wounded and requiring treatment in the local hospital. While it has not been fully ascertained what caused this infighting, it is not unreasonable to point
to politicization of the ranks of the security forces.
On the other hand, a possible mitigating factor exists in the fact that there is a good deal of local resentment against Islamist militants in particular, as evinced by a
demonstration in Benghazi numbering some 30,000 protestors, who denounced the attack on the U.S. consulate and called for the disbanding of militias throughout
the country. Commentators like Michael Young of the Beirut-based Daily Star interpreted the success of the assault as evidence of widespread anti-American
sentiments in Libya. Yet the large demonstrations in opposition to the attack -- as well as a subsequent assault by several hundred protesters on the headquarters
of an Islamist militia known as Ansar al-Shariah (suspected of links to the assault on the consulate), which then evacuated its bases in Benghazi -- illustrate that this
assessment is not wholly accurate. At least in Benghazi, there is still considerable gratitude to NATO for its aid in the downfall of the Qaddafi regime.
In a way, the backlash was predictable, for a precedent existed in Rajma -- a town located some 50 km southeast of Benghazi -- where residents repelled an assault on
a Sufi shrine by Salafists, without the aid of the security forces. However, in Benghazi itself, members of the security forces took advantage of the anti-militia
sentiment and thus gained control of the bases evacuated by militias that were the targets of protesters' anger.
Yet, I say "possible mitigating factor" because there are two further considerations to bear in mind. First, the anti-militia sentiment displayed by the protesters could
create a security vacuum, entailing attacks on militias who have no links to Islamists and are innocent of any wrongdoing (as has already happened), and on members
of the security forces who may be wrongly suspected of aiding militias or Islamist militants. Second, the militias that have disbanded have not necessarily given up
their weapons. They could, instead, decide to operate underground as small insurgent units.
In short, what emerges from an analysis of the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi and the aftermath is neither a simplistic narrative of an imminent Islamist
takeover nor a Manichaean story of a heroic victory for moderate Muslims against Islamists in Libya.
Rather, it is evident that the problem of infiltration of the security forces by ideologues still exists. When we also consider the potential for the anti-militia violence of
protesters to become too generalized and the fact that disbanding does not automatically translate to giving up one's weapons, it is logical to conclude that a serious
terrorist threat within the country is likely to persist for a minimum timescale of months to come, with low-level violence in the form of insurgent bombings and
shootings, mob attacks, and internal clashes among the security forces.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Libya, Arabs, & the Middle East
North Africa -- The Arab States of Islamic North Africa
Tunisia, Islamic North Africa, & the Arab World
Egypt, Arabs, & the Middle East
The Middle East & the Arabs
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is a Shillman-Ginsburg Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
The foregoing article by Al-Tamimi was originally published in The American Spectator, September 28, 2012 and
can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to
define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam,
working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote
constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly
asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat.
(URL: http://www.meforum.org/3346/libya-aftermath)
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
September 28, 2012
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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