The Philip DeFranco Show - MS 5.31 Libya Facing HUGE Crisis Following Civil War And Renegade General Haftar’s Takeover Attempt

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you had a fantastic Friday. Welcome to your extra Friday deep dive. And today we're gonna be talking about an unstable country that used to be in the news all the time but has recently been overshadowed by conflicts in places like Yemen, Syria, and Venezuela. What I'm talking about is the civil war in Libya. And while Libya may only be home to a little over 6 million people, it is the fourth biggest country in Africa by size and it has the largest oil reserves on the continent. And this nation isn't only important because of the natural resources, but also because of its geographic location. Libya sits right on the southern edge of the Mediterranean Sea, making it one of the primary gateways to Europe for African and Middle Eastern

Starting point is 00:00:31 migrants fleeing violence, poverty, and government suppression in their home country. So, much like we've seen with Syria, what happens in Libya often spills over its borders. But in order to fully understand the conflict that's going on in the nation today, we're gonna have to go back to February, 2011, the height of the Arab Spring. You may remember that this was a pivotal month for many countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Protest movements against authoritarian leaders had erupted across the region, forcing out leaders like Ben Ali in Tunisia

Starting point is 00:00:54 and Hassani Mubarak in Egypt, who had been in power for decades. And seeing the success of these movements, hundreds of protesters in the coastal Libyan city of Benghazi took to the streets following the arrest of a human rights lawyer. But then, this happened. Panic sweeps the crowd.

Starting point is 00:01:08 Then gunshots ring out. The firing continues and the crowd scatters. A number of injured are carried from the scene. The government's violent response quickly led to protesters turning their anger towards Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi. And Gaddafi was an institution having ruled the country for 41 years using authoritarian methods to stay in power. This ranging from the torture and arbitrary detention of dissidents to a mass execution of his political opponents.

Starting point is 00:01:36 And so given that history, all it took was this uprising in Benghazi to ignite protests in cities across the country, including the capital Tripoli. These demonstrations quickly turned deadly as protesters and security forces engaged in violent clashes. And soon after, the United Nations Security Council got involved, voting on March 17th to impose a no-fly zone over the country and demanding that Gaddafi end all attacks against civilians. And a day later, President Obama made this announcement. Left unchecked, we have every reason to believe that Gaddafi would commit atrocities

Starting point is 00:02:03 against his people. Many thousands could die. A humanitarian crisis would ensue. The entire region could be destabilized. If Gaddafi does not comply with the resolution, the international community will impose consequences. And the resolution will be enforced through military action. And that's exactly what ended up happening. US and British military forces struck first by firing dozens of Tomahawk missiles at Libyan air and missile defense targets. And then several days later,

Starting point is 00:02:31 NATO took over launching Operation Unified Protector. And over the next few months, that mission gradually shifted from enforcing a no-fly zone to ending the Gaddafi regime and supporting a national transitional council to run the government. Now meanwhile, rebel forces had sprung up across the country taking control of towns and cities

Starting point is 00:02:45 and eventually Tripoli itself. And the thing to keep in mind is that while most of the rebel groups were united in their hatred of Gaddafi, there was no central command and many of these groups had very different ideologies. I mean, the range was far and wide, right? You had militant Islamists to monarchists to liberals.

Starting point is 00:02:58 The main point, eventually we see the fall of Tripoli and Gaddafi goes into hiding. And he remained hidden until he was captured and we will, uh, we we will say that he was brutally killed by rebels in his hometown in late October. I'm not showing that video. Also, Gaddafi's killing actually led to a very famous reaction.

Starting point is 00:03:13 It was from then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who said this during a television interview after hearing about his death. We came, we saw, he died. But that would turn out to be a short-lived Celebration after Gaddafi's death the transitional council declared that the country was liberated and vowed to hold elections in eight months which led to a New democratically elected general national congress or GNC taking power in August of 2012 and with Libya at the time seemingly on this path towards A stable democracy President Obama was quick to proclaim during a 2012 presidential debate that Libyan intervention was a success story.

Starting point is 00:03:45 I and Americans took leadership in organizing an international coalition that made sure that we were able to, without putting troops on the ground, at the cost of less than what we spent in two weeks in Iraq, liberate a country that had been under the yoke of dictatorship for 40 years, got rid of a despot who had killed Americans. And while the debate still rages over what Libya would have looked like today had Gaddafi stayed in power, there is no denying that a lack of a central leader left an enormous power vacuum. And by 2014, that vacuum became seriously exposed. When the GNC was first

Starting point is 00:04:20 elected in 2012, it was given 18 months to create a new national constitution and transition the country to a permanent democratic system. But there was a fierce divide between the two biggest political parties. More secular National Forces Alliance, or NFA, and the Justice and Construction Party, or JCP, which was the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is a conservative Islamist organization.

Starting point is 00:04:37 And so as a result, the GNC could not agree on a constitution by the deadline. But then also we saw congressional leaders refusing to step down even though their mandate was over, with many politicians claiming that they needed more time to draft the deadline. But then also we saw congressional leaders refusing to step down even though their mandate was over, with many politicians claiming that they needed more time to draft the Constitution. And once again, what we saw were demonstrators taking to the streets in opposition of this move.

Starting point is 00:04:52 And over the next few months, tensions between secular and Islamist militias and politicians began to flare up. And by tensions, I mean full-scale battles. And as if this wasn't already enough of a shit show, in the midst of all of this, a renegade general named Halifa Haftar popped onto the scene.

Starting point is 00:05:06 And as far as who he was, he'd actually previously been a general in Gaddafi's army. And he was put in charge of a secret military campaign in the neighboring country of Chad during the 1980s. But having been captured by Chad's military forces in 1987, Gaddafi disowned him, even going as far to call him a traitor since Gaddafi had previously claimed

Starting point is 00:05:21 that Libyan troops were no longer in Chad. And so this led to Haftar and other captured Libyan soldiers joining a US-backed group with plans to overthrow Gaddafi had previously claimed that Libyan troops were no longer in check. And so this led to Haftar and other captured Libyan soldiers joining a US-backed group with plans to overthrow Gaddafi. In 1990, the United States freed Haftar and airlifted him to the United States to live in exile. And in exchange, he agreed to work with the CIA in a failed plan to overthrow Gaddafi.

Starting point is 00:05:36 And if you're already like, that sounds insane, we're just getting started. Following the uprising against Gaddafi in 2011, Haftar returned to Libya and took command of his own militia force in the eastern part of the country. And then launching a military campaign against a hardline Islamist militia called Ansar al-Sharia that had taken over most of Benghazi. But let's also take a step back and jump to June 2014. While Haftar spent his time fighting and conquering Islamist forces in eastern and southern Libya,

Starting point is 00:05:57 GNC had finally agreed to hold new national elections. But because of the escalating violence, many polling stations were closed and just 630,000 people voted. Muslim Brotherhood's party, the JCP, only won a few seats in parliament and as a result, a coalition of Islamist militias called Libya Dawn then launched an attack on Tripoli and took over the capital. Libya Dawn then refused to recognize the new government, forcing most of the newly elected members to flee to the eastern port city of Tobruk. And so all of a sudden you had these two rival governments, one in Tripoli backed by the Islamic militias that called itself the National Salvation Government, and one in Tobruk led by more secular exiled members of the elected parliament. Then by October of 2014, the Tobruk government

Starting point is 00:06:32 had allied itself with General Haftar, fully supporting his campaign against Islamist militias in Benghazi. And over the next year, in the midst of all of this chaos, we saw ISIS militants getting involved and actually making major gains, taking control of whole cities like Derna and Sirte. Although regarding that today,

Starting point is 00:06:46 they've largely been defeated with only a small pocket of control left in the country. But then what we saw by the end of 2015 in an effort to provide some stability in this country, United Nations stepped in and set up a power sharing agreement between Tripoli and Tobruk with limited success, with both sides sharing legislative power under a compromise prime minister,

Starting point is 00:07:02 Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, ultimately forming, yes, a third government in the country called the Government of National Accord, or GNA. And luckily, for stability's sake, and thanks to the UN's smart negotiating, most of the members of the National Salvation Government eventually agreed to give up power and hand over control to the GNA.

Starting point is 00:07:17 But the same can't be said for the Tobruk government, which is actually still operational today. And while the GNA is recognized by most countries as the sole executive authority in Libya, in practice it actually has very little power to get anything done, with the Tobruk government in eastern Libya and various militias only loyal to their tribes refusing to recognize the GNA. As far as Haftar, what is he doing now? He's actually still allied with the Tobruk government and has actually come out against the GNA. And similar to the war in Syria,

Starting point is 00:07:39 this conflict is now drawn in outside countries as well. And as far as why are those countries there, for a variety of reasons, right? It's ranging from oil exports to counter-terrorism concerns. In the West, in the capital Tripoli, there is a United Nations-backed government led by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj. In the East, the government of Tobruk is backed by the UAE, Egypt, France, and Russia.

Starting point is 00:08:01 It is the center of power for Khalifa Haftar. And while he may not have political recognition from the UN, Haftar is a force to be reckoned with. I mean just take a look at his army. General Haftar commands the largest fighting force in the country with around 20,000 troops, fighter jets, tanks and armored personnel carriers. He's also seized many strategic oil fields to finance his campaign which has led some to question whether he's moved beyond

Starting point is 00:08:24 just trying to liberate Libya from Islamist influence, or if he's now attempting to become Libya's next strongman. And when you look into it, based on some of the statements he has made, it does not look good. Here's Haftar talking about prisoners of war. Here he is speaking with members of his army about what to do if any of his soldiers retreat in battle Haftar's troops have also been accused of war crimes by both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch citing evidence of things from prisoners being executed with their hands tied behind their backs to the desecrations of dead bodies. And all of that leads us to present day.

Starting point is 00:09:11 In April, Haftar began moving in and around Tripoli. And the United Nations remain available to facilitate any political solution able to unify the Libyan institutions. But those words did not stop Haftar's forces from continuing his assault on the capital and bombing the city's only functioning airport, with dozens of civilians being killed in the clashes. And we saw Siraj,

Starting point is 00:09:47 the UN-backed prime minister, saying this about Haftar's attack on Tripoli. Now so far, GNA-allied militias have been successful in preventing Haftar's forces from or all these war crimes of human beings I don, with the White House saying that the president recognized, quote, Haftar's significant role in fighting terrorism and securing Libya's oil resources. And that the two men, quote, discussed a shared vision for Libya's transition to a stable democratic political system. And as far as what happens next in Libya, I mean, that's anyone's guess. Many policy experts are skeptical that Haftar will be able to take control of Tripoli anytime soon, if at all. But they also say that his actions are further dividing and destabilizing a country that has gone through so much turmoil over the last decade. And that instability could provide the perfect conditions for groups like ISIS to regroup and thrive. Meanwhile, the humanitarian and human rights situation in much of the country is dire,

Starting point is 00:11:00 with things like the United Nations reporting that migrants trying to make their way to Europe through Libya have been sold in slave auctions by smugglers. Claims that have been corroborated by video evidence released by news outlets like CNN. 400 700 700 800 The numbers roll in. These men are sold for 1200 Libyan pounds.

Starting point is 00:11:24 400 dollars a piece. These men are sold for 1200 Libyan pounds, $400 apiece. You are watching an auction of human beings. Meanwhile, the fighting around the outskirts of Tripoli has continued with the World Health Organization saying that more than 510 people have been killed and 2,400 wounded. In addition to that, the UN has said that 82,000 people have been displaced and the movement of goods and services

Starting point is 00:11:42 has been severely disrupted. And in a very troubling development development Haftar said earlier this week that he will continue his assault on Tripoli until all militias in the city are defeated and if the siege of this city continues it is likely that the situation could escalate into a full-blown humanitarian crisis. With the chaotic state of Libya that we are seeing today I think it's interesting to go back and look at the comments made by President Obama in 2016 as he was set to leave office. Fox News' Chris Wallace asks him what he thought his worst mistake as president was, and this was his answer.

Starting point is 00:12:08 Probably failing to plan for the day after what I think was the right thing to do in intervening in Libya. And so with those comments in mind, I wanted to pass the question off to you. Do you think that NATO's quick intervention in Libya with no real follow-up plan has directly led to the chaos that we're seeing on the ground today?

Starting point is 00:12:29 Also, if you live in Libya or have ties to the country, we'd love to hear from you. Do you support what Haftar is doing? Do you worry that his actions could lead to further instability? And really just for everyone, any and all thought. Also, for those wondering, yes, I did get a haircut in the middle of this video

Starting point is 00:12:41 because I shot it over several days. Good job for noticing. With all that said, thank you so much for watching. If you like this video, I'd love if you took a second to hit that like button. If you're new here, be sure to hit that subscribe button. Also, a big reminder, if you like these deep dives into just a single important serious topic, you should definitely go subscribe to Rogue Rocket, youtube.com slash Rogue Rocket. I'm going to include a handy link right in the description that'll set you up for a subscription. I'm great with words. There are no videos on the channel right now. It launches on July 1st.

Starting point is 00:13:06 Yeah, definitely subscribe there. But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love yo faces and I'll see you Monday.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - MS 5.31 Libya Facing HUGE Crisis Following Civil War And Renegade General Haftar’s Takeover Attempt

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