After Qadhafi—What Next?
Thanks largely to Western brawn, Libyan strongman Muammar Qadhafi is gone. There was plenty that was ugly about him, but in his own unique way, he was a bulwark against Iran and its extremist Islamic proxies. Now Libya is a sitting duck.
The West thinks the battle for Libya is now over. In reality, the battle has only started—and already Iran and radical Islam have the upper hand.
Iran has already developed a cozy working relationship with those who will make up Libya’s new government. On August 28, Iranian Foreign Minister Alu Akbar Salehi told Jam-e-Jam newspaper that Tehran had been supporting the rebels in Libya. He stated that the head of Libya’s National Transitional Council (ntc), Mustafa Abdel Jalil, “sent a letter of thanks to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for having been on their side and helping.”
When the rebels penetrated Tripoli at the end of August, Iran sent a note congratulating the ntc and encouraging it to “prevent foreigners, especially yesterday’s oppressors and those which have claims today, from meddling with their fate.”
A report released by a French commission of inquiry in May indicated that Islamic terrorists had deeply infiltrated the Libyan rebels, playing a predominant role in the movement. It revealed that the ntc is comprised of four factions: “true democrats”—a minority; Islamic extremists seeking to establish an Islamic state; partisans of a restoration of the monarchy that was overthrown by Qadhafi in 1969, many of whom are also Islamists; and former figures in the Qadhafi regime who defected for various reasons. And though the ntc president is a “traditionalist,” the report said, he’s “supported by the Islamists.”
Middle East expert Daniel Pipes explained, “The nato intervention [in Libya] in March 2011 was done without due diligence as to who it is in Benghazi that it was helping. … Chances are good that Islamist forces are hiding behind more benign elements, waiting for the right moment to pounce …. I fear that a dead-end despotism will be replaced by the agents of a worldwide ideological movement. I fear that Western forces will have brought civilization’s worst enemies to power” (emphasis added throughout).
Historian Victor Davis Hanson is also worried. One of two scenarios is likely, he says: “either a sort of on-again-off-again chaos until a military-backed clique or strongman emerges and the same old cycle resumes, or some sort of constitutional system in a decidedly Islamic context ….” If Libya falls under the influence of Islam, warned Hanson, “we could expect the new state’s foreign policy to be anti-Western, friendly to China and Russia, virulently and actively anti-Israel, and more accommodating with Iran and its subsidized terrorist appendages.”
As rebel forces entered Tripoli, a draft copy of Libya’s new constitution surfaced on the Internet. The document is filled with terms that thrill Western liberals—“democracy,” “freedom,” “equality,” “rule of law” and “equal opportunity.” Less emphasized, however, is Article 1, which establishes sharia as the supreme law of the land. “Islam is the religion of the state, and the principle source of legislation is Islamic jurisprudence (sharia),” it states. Thus, any “freedom,” “democracy” and “equality” in the new Libya would be subject to sharia, which among other things mandates killing infidels and establishing a global Islamic caliphate!
This situation will likely get messy; several nations want a stake in this oil-rich country. In the end, though, Libya will pitch its tent in Iran’s camp. Ideologically, it is more closely aligned with Iran than either Europe or China. More importantly, Bible prophecy says Libya will fall to radical Islamists! You can read it in Daniel 11:40-45: There Libya is mentioned by name, and it is aligned with the “king of the south”—Iran and radical Islam.
With Qadhafi gone, Libya’s slide into the radical Islamic camp will only accelerate.
