Was Muammar Gaddafi worst than Omar al Bashir?

Was Muammar Gaddafi worst than Omar al Bashir?

By: Abraham Daljang Maker, Kampala Uganda

When you compare and contrast these two men, you realize that both are more less the same in their behavior and mode of thinking. The late Muammar Gaddafi, the former Libyan leader and the President of the Sudan, Omar al Bashir have no different at all. Only that the former was a brave man who did not tolerate western intervention in Africa but the latter is a coward who just use verbal attack on the West but can not do anything. Unlike Bashir, Gaddafi was a nationalists; he was believed to have played a crucial role in anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa in early 1980s. His image as a revolutionary inspired many South Africans to fight for their liberation, and he was largely responsible for funding and arming the Anti-Apartheid Movement as it fought the Apartheid regime and white minority rule. Given all these, Gaddafi was viewed in Africa as a hero. On the contrary, Bashir has been in loggerhead with south Sudan since 1989 when he took power through military coup, he has also been butchering innocent people in Darfur region since 2003. With all these things which he has done, one could say that Gaddafi was a necessary Evil but Bashir is the worst Devil.

Bashir is a betrayer who has no permanent friend; although Gaddafi never had permanent friend, he at least would demonstrate his support to the fullest. He opposed the ICC's arrest warrant for Omar al Bashir and complained that the ICC was a new form of world terrorism. He was the first to welcome Bashir in his country despite the ICC’s indictment. But the heartless man, (Bashir) paid him dearly by turning his back during Libyan crisis in 2011 and instead he was the first to support Gaddafi’s removal.  This remained me of the Biblical proverb which says that “how can you tell your bother to remove a speck from his eyes when you have a big log in your own eyes?” Bashir did not know that he has a very big log in his eyes and up to now he is still not aware of it. While Gaddafi was calling his own people rats and cockroaches, Al Bashir also calls people of Darfur “Majaniin, traitors and worthless.”  Bashir was believed to have been hosting the world’s worst terrorist; Osama Bin Laden in the early 1990s which made his country one of the countries that sponsors terrorists, so what is so special in him that makes the ICC relax without bringing him to court? Despite the arrest warrant, he still defies the law and he roams freely in some African countries.

 Having seen all these similarities and differences between the two, who do you think is the worst than the other? Well, Gaddafi had his own wickedness especially when he made the Africa uncomfortable by supporting dictators like Iddi Amin, Charles Tylor and many other African dictators. But Bashir is so terrible, he is a war monger, a dictator, ruthless, brute and above all he is a tyranny ruler of this time. In February 2011, the National transitional council (NTC) based in Benghazi took up arms and challenged Gaddafi’s regime. It took less time for the NATO led coalition to intervene in Libya, under the UN Security Council resolution of 1973. The fall of Gaddafi apparently took 10 months and on 20^th October 2011 he was defeated and killed. Looking at the act Gaddafi did in Benghazi for about 10 months and atrocities Bashir committed in South Sudan for over 20 years, and the massacred of innocent civilians in Darfur for 12 years, plus the current situation in southern Kordufan and Blue Nile, is there difference? Yes, there is; Bashir has killed thousands in Darfur, millions in the south north civil war and scores in southern Kordufan and Blue Nile. In this case, Bashir should have been the first to be got rid of with the help of NATO than Gaddafi because he has done more harms than good.  Why was the West so swift in action against Libyans crisis and removes the dictator in less than a year; but takes long for them to heed the Sudan crisis which has been there for more than two decades?  What made the international criminal court to issue an arrest warrant to the warlord Mr. Charles Tylor and takes him to Hague and leaves Bashir who committed and is still committing the same atrocities? In my opinion, Omar al Bashir is the threat to peace in the great lakes region, to Africa and indeed to the whole world.  Removing him would be the best option that can bring everlasting peace and tranquility. He is now digging his own grave for having ventured in attacking south Sudan which is a sovereign nation. It is no longer under his dictatorship rule and he must take off his dirty hands which are full of blood of innocent people. Bombarding the territory of south Sudan means war of aggression against another autonomous state and the people of south Sudan should be ready to defend their territory with all the might.  Napoleon Bonaparte of France was engaged in his expansion policy and he was a war monger like Bashir but he was humbled during his war campaign in Egypt in1798, and finally was brought to his knees in the battle of Waterloo on 15 June 1815.  In the same way Gaddafi was also defeated in the battle of Sirte in October 2011. And by the same token, Bashir will one day be defeated just like his fellow war mongers, it is just a matter of time and he will humbly succumb to both internal and external pressure like his friends. I call on the international community to intervene in the issues between the Sudan and south Sudan in order to restore peace. Children, women and elderly are killed daily in the border bombardment by Bashir and this must critically be looked into. The ICC should stop barking and take a prompt action and bring him to justice to answer the crimes he committed in Darfur and more so in southern Kordufan and Blue Nile. The world must arise and save the lives of the vulnerable and create the everlasting peace that can make Sudan and south Sudan good neighbors, making the two countries better places for you and me.