More than any other time of the year, anything goes on Halloween. As far as costumes are concerned, gone are the days of ghosts and witches. We welcome characters, inanimate objects, strange materials and absence of
material.
Without analyzing the idea of impersonation, the production of Col. Muammar Gaddafi masks is one that perhaps should be treated with discretion.
Gaddafi was an eccentric figure immensely loved and feared by millions, if not billions of people.
His recent death, bloody and brutal, has since come under international contention as a dazed and confused Gaddafi was beaten, abused and dragged through streets by rebels who captured it all on an iPhone and published the video on the Internet.
Surrounded by men with weapons shouting, “God is great,” Gaddafi asked his captors “What did I do to you?”
His last words on earth were, “Do you know right from wrong?”
There is no denying the 2011 civil war in Libya, driven in large part by the relentless and often corrupt control of Gaddafi over the Libyan citizens since his seizure of power in 1969, was a tragic one. However, recent events have undeniably exposed a corrupt system in which many people, including people from the West, have played a part.
In 1951, Libya was considered the poorest country in the world. Before the 2011 NATO-led invasion, Libyans enjoyed Africa’s highest standard of living, which was higher than Russia, Brazil and Saudi Arabia. Electricity was free for all people, all loans were interest-free and the nation was technically debt free. Literacy rates had risen from less than 20 percent to 83 percent.
Gaddafi, the Western media neglects to mention, was respected for instigating such changes in Libya, and his integral role in many developmental initiatives throughout Africa. His 41-year reign prior to the uprising and subsequent intervention made him the fourth longest-serving non-royal leader since 1900, as well as the longest-serving Arab leader. He had titles such as the “Brother Leader” and in 2008 traditional African rulers bestowed on him the title “King of Kings” during a meeting.
“Do not trust the media,” Gaddafi said. “They will say I have said this or that … they lie, and are easily manipulated, so do not trust them.”
A specific example of the corruption that shrouded the life of this figure was his ‘90s accusation of responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing of Pan Am 103. It has since been uncovered that the U.S. paid witnesses at the trial $4 million each to testify against the accused Libyan men and they have since recanted their evidence.
On July 1, 2011, 1.7 million people gathered in Green Square in Tripoli in defiance of NATO’s bombing of Libya. Citizens on both sides pleaded for peace, and in his own warped way Gaddafi also wanted what he thought was best for a broken world.
Wearing Gaddafi masks and the physical abuse of his body during his death mocks his life. While one is “fun” and one is harmful, we know from the continuing story of Libya that nothing is black or white, good or bad.
Even in an action’s purest form — movement in space and time driven forth by love or fear — the root cause is a culmination of lifetimes of experience. Hence none of us can ever lay truthful judgement.
In crude terms, anything goes. And in the final words of the man himself, “Do you know right from wrong?” Does anyone?