Libya: time for international intervention

From the shell of his former home, which was bombed by the Americans in 1986, a defiant Qaddafi dressed in full tribal attire gave what has to be one of the most bizarre speeches in the history of a dictator desperately clutching at power. The choice of setting along with Qaddafi's dress code were, of course, carefully chosen to project Qaddafi's image as that of a vanguard of Libya's independence while appealing to Libya's tribes for support.

Qaddafi's speech - typically rambling and long on rhetoric - was peppered with delusional allegations towards foreign powers, infantile language and overt threats towards those "cockroaches" and "rats" responsible for the uprising now taking place in Libya. According to Qaddafi's world, seditious forces had infiltrated Libya and drugged the youth, sending them out into the streets to cause chaos. By the time the dictator began reading from his Green Book most news channels had lost interest, along with just about everyone else. If anyone still harboured any doubts about Qaddafi's sanity, this speech proved once and for all that he is seriously ill.

But behind Qaddafi's madness and bizarre accusations, including attempts to portray what is happening as an imperialist plot on the part of Western powers to re-colonize Libya and grab its huge energy resources, lay a simple message: the Libyan dictator will do everything in his power to maintain his rule and crush the rebellion, "house by house".

Here, the international community needs to take the dictator at his word. Qaddafi has offered no concessions to the Libyan people apart from submission to his will. He has deducted from events in Tunisia and Egypt that to give any ground to the opposition will mark the beginning of the end of his 42-year rule. Credible reports have already emerged that Qaddafi has used live ammunition and military aircraft to indiscriminately attack demonstrators. In order to avoid what could turn into a Rwandan style bloodbath, the international community, including the US, EU, UN, NATO, and the Arab League (where he has few friends) must now act.

This statement by the International Crisis Group clearly spells out the actions that now need to be taken.