Update:
Spelling error in the title fixed : (
Minor other edits.
The tale of Misuratah or Misrata or however you want to spell it, is a tale full of woe, blood and heroism, along with an incredible dose of organization and just-getting-stuff-done. I follow the live blogs and the tweets and I am completely captivated by their integrity.
Ryszard Kapucinski said:
When thinking about the fall of any dictatorship, one should have no illusions that the whole system comes to an end like a bad dream with that fall. The physical existence of the system does indeed cease. But its psychological and social results live on for years, and even survive in the form of subconsciously continued behavior.
A dictatorship that destroys the intelligentsia and culture leaves behind itself an empty, sour field on which the tree of thought won't grow quickly. It is not always the best people who emerge from hiding, from the corners and cracks of that farmed-out field, but often those who have proven themselves strongest, not always those who will create new values but rather those whose thick skin and internal resilience have ensured their survival. In such circumstances history begins to turn in a tragic, vicious circle from which it can sometimes take a whole epoch to break free.
With RK's warning in my heart, I'm trying to see a silver lining to Libya's protracted struggle and I think I've found one.
Do we still have a fold that you can follow me bellow?
The truth is that Gaddafi had destroyed or stifled all civic institutions in Libya. Had he left Libya at the same stage of the revolt as when Mubarak was forced out, it is likely that there would be nothing coherent in Libya to replace him.
By standing his ground and waging war against his own people, Gaddafi is force growing unity and civic coherence among the people he is trying to kill. Virtually all the stories coming out of Libya from the side of the Revolution are positive. (Yes, there have been reports of violence directed at sub-Saharan nationals because of the perceived link with mercenaries but most of the time captured hurt Gaddafi fighters get exactly the same treatment as injured freedom fighters.)
The city of Misrata has been under siege for two months now and the regime is using every means it can think of to deny the city access to the outside, including sea mines, land mines, shelling of ships coming into or out of port, bombing the fuel depots with crop-dusters (unconfirmed, though reported by AJE among others, raising the question of "What No Fly Zone?), not to mention the daily tank incursions, snipers targeting anything that moves, indiscriminate shelling and rocketing which are simply meant to terrorize.
Under all this, the Misratans have really come together. Their organization is awesome. I have some links and quotes to share:
It took five weeks of fierce street battles — on rooftops, in alleyways — for Misrata's inexperienced rebels to wrest control of their city's commercial heart from forces loyal to Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi. Up against armored units and professional sniper squads, they turned bottles, tires and trailer trucks into tools of war.
When they finally succeeded in pushing government forces out of Libya's third-largest city in late April, it was the greatest head-to-head military victory yet in the uprising that threatens Gadhafi's 42-year hold on power. The opposition controls much of eastern Libya, but Misrata is the only city in the west rebels have managed to hold.
...
Yet amid the carnage, residents have organized to stave off hunger, allocate fuel and protect the city. They've erected sand berms along streets to absorb blasts, hacked down palm trees to delineate ambulance fast lanes, formed an array of administrative committees — all with a community spirit ...
...Misrata is a merchant city, with a large professional class whose expertise has paid off in distinctive ways. Dermatologists treat blast victims. University students master street-fighting tactics.
"All of a sudden I became responsible for macaroni and onions," said Majdi Shibani, a telecommunications professor put in charge of food distribution — a daunting task in a sprawling city where all phone lines have been cut. His team oversees distribution of 400 tons of food per week from a room in the back of a hookah lounge, where customers smoke water pipes.
Donations of food have streamed in on boats from the Libyan diaspora, foreign countries and international organizations. There's little coordination, resulting in huge surpluses of, say, canned corn — which Shibani said Libyans hate.
Imagine an American city under siege. Would we have done as well?
The trials and tribulations that Libyans are going through and most of all their response has convinced me that Libya is going to come through this as a unified state which will be a beacon to all Arabs.
The free parts of Libya already presage a better future. Forged in a crucible, freedom is all the stronger.
Cheers