Thursday, October 18, 2012

Blog 8: Libya Singles Out Islamist as a Commander in Consulate Attack, Libyans Say


            Libya recently declared that Islamist Ahmed Abu Khattala commanded the attack in September that killed American ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens. Khattala is a leader of the Benghazi-based Islamist group, Ansar al-Sharia. American Republicans are attempting to connect the attack to Al Qaeda in order to gain political momentum against Obama who claimed Osama bin Laden’s death crippled Al Qaeda.  However, Ansar al-Sharia operate unaffiliated with Al Qaeda and their priority is Libya. Ansar al-Sharia fought Colonel Qaddafi with other Libyan opposition, but unlike the other opposition, Ansar al-Sharia opposes electoral democracy and supports Islamic law.

            Even though Ansar al-Sharia consists of only one hundred to two hundred soldiers, it demands the attention of the whole world as a threat. Democracy in Libya is threatened by the Islamic group. Advocates for democracy within Libya’s borders are threatened as well. Khattala was imprisoned but didn’t have to renounce violence as a means of seeking political change because of a useless bid by the government’s release of prisoners to quiet down the emerging uprising. Politics around the world needs to become more effective and less lenient if the world wants to see less violence in it. Unless policies to reprimand violent prisoners are strict and uncompromising, violence will continue to be a part of the news, affecting every country around the world. Other countries need to take a lesson from Libya’s release of its prisoners as a preventative measure for further uprising. It’s impossible to lessen uprising by releasing commanders of it.

"Libya Singles Out Islamist as a Commander in Consulate Attack, Libyans Say"

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