Moderate Muslims Chasing Militia Groups Out By Force! Let's give them a big rave and a round of applause!
ServantOfAllah
2012/09/22 11:14:53
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BENGHAZI, Libya — Thousands of Libyans marched through Benghazi on Friday to demand the dismantlement of the hundreds of armed militias that have ruled the country’s streets since a revolution ended the 42-year rule of Moammar Khadafy. By late Friday, the protesters had overrun at least three militia bases, forcing fighters to flee with their guns.
An attack on the US Consulate last week that left four Americans dead has prompted anger and soul-searching among many of Benghazi’s residents, who believe that religious extremists operating in an atmosphere of weak central governance were behind the attack.
But the government in Tripoli has struggled to deal with the militias, which are composed largely of the young men who fought in last year’s revolution. The government’s efforts to bring some of the militias under a more unified national force have failed to deliver state-run security to Libya’s streets.
As protesters draped in the red, black, and green of the Libyan flag carried signs reading ‘‘Benghazi deserves better’’ and ‘‘No legitimacy, except to the police or the army,’’ the Islamist extremist group that many here have accused of being behind the attack held its own protest in nearby Al-Kish Square. Ansar al-Sharia gathered to call for the implementation of Islamic law in a demonstration that the antimilitia crowd said marked a provocation.
The dueling protests underscored a broader struggle underway in Libya, nearly a year after Libyans from across the political spectrum joined hands in an eight-month war to oust Khadafy. It is a battle to define a new Libya — to answer the crucial question of what the Libyan people, government and culture look like when the shackles of dictatorship are thrown off.
‘‘I think the struggle that’s eating people up right now is the struggle for an identity,’’ said Alya Barghathy, an English professor at Benghazi University, who joined the antimilitia protest Friday. ‘‘After all these years of being neglected and living in darkness, they don’t know who they are.’’
The collapse of Khadafy’s regime left a system in a shambles. After decades of repression, the country has lurched forward in recent months to form political parties and elect a General National Congress. The next task will be the drafting of a new constitution.
Opposition to the militias has been building since shortly after Khadafy’s fall. Late last year, non-Tripoli-based militias were asked by the transitional government to withdraw from the streets of the capital after residents complained their neighborhoods had been overrun by young men with guns. A Gallup poll released this month showed that 95 percent of Libyans want to see the militias dissolved. But Friday’s protest was the biggest public showing of antimilitia sentiment to date.
Not all of the militias are rooted in Islamic extremism. But groups like Ansar al-Sharia have proved a volatile addition to an already contentious debate over the proper role of religion in the new Libya.
Many Libyans, ranging from the liberal elites who now dominate the congress to members of the more conservative Muslim Brotherhood, describe their Islam as a moderate and tolerant one. Few — not even Western-educated secularists — say they want a constitution that doesn’t draw from Islamic law.
But the assault on the US consulate here last week, which left the US ambassador dead and which American officials now describe as a terrorist attack, has thrown that characterization into sudden and stark relief: Not everyone agrees on what Islamic law — or a state guided by it — actually means.
‘‘There is no doubt that in our societies, we have liberal Muslims who say ‘I’m a Muslim and I believe Islam belongs only in the mosque,’ ’’ said Ramadan Eldarsi, a high-ranking official of the Muslim Brotherhood. ‘‘But we think that Islam is a broader way to organize people’s lives, not just what they do within a mosque.’’
Eldarsi said the Brotherhood differentiates itself from groups like Ansar al-Sharia in that it advocates peace and tolerance, and believes in the democratic process.
Extremists such as the members of Ansar al-Sharia say they are also ready for a fight for the kind of state they want to see. But it’s the tools of that struggle that the moderates say they’re worried about.
Ansar al-Sharia, which established itself with a parade in Benghazi in June, opposes Libya’s transition to democracy, saying the system of elected leadership runs counter to Islamic principles. It acknowledged its members’ involvement in the protest outside the consulate, but has denied responsibility for the attack.
See full story here: http://bostonglobe.com/news/world/2012/09/21/libyans-hold-gia...
See full story here: http://bostonglobe.com/news/world/2012/09/21/libyans-hold-gia...
Top Opinion
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Philo-Publius 2012/09/22 13:00:42
edited: not for no (typo)
If the majority of them were has bad has what we see on tv it would be a lot worse, now is the time for muslims to make a stand and do demonstrations against these vile thugs who are damaging their faith.
That is one of the main reasons we should stay out of Syria.leave Russia and China have the place in the end they will have to send body bags back home and they will ask "why the hell are we here for"let get out oh here.
Regarding Obama being a Communist?...Could be..Why not?
I only know that today's American-based, and some foreign-based, self-described Communists LOVE and identify with him and his ideology.
Most any criticism Obama receives from such "Communists" is relative to his lack of speed and consistency in promoting the Communistic-theoretical cause.
But, he is doing the best he can currently do in order to get away with it.
But i was happy to see that finally some Muslims stood up against the Extremist.
PS. Islamic Fascism (and Islamic socialism) is a word salad created by people who have no understanding of political science--the proper label for what Muslim extremists (and Christian extremists) want to create is a "theocratic autocracy".
PS. Somebody ranting in all caps about delusional theories surrounding god and religion has no business calling anybody else "STUPID" or ignorant.