End to Gadhafi’s 42-year rule

Anti-Moammar Gadhafi forces took the Libyan capital of Tripoli Sunday, signaling an end to the 42-year reign of the Libyan leader. Gadhafi is resisting at his official residence but is on the verge of collapse. Libyans took to the streets yelling that Gadhafi`s days are over. Anti-government rallies in North African and Middle East that started in Tunisia led to the collapse of Tunisian ruler Ben Alli and then to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. It is now Gadhafi’s turn.

After rallies against him erupted in Libya in February, Gadhafi turn his military against the masses. Obsessed with maintaining power by committing crimes against humanity, he killed his own people by using combat planes. The U.N. Security Council approved military intervention in March by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization based on the obligation to protect innocent people from a brutal dictator.

No dictator can calm a people’s rage through military force. Gadhafi fostered Khamis forces to retain power but Khamis soldiers surrendered when anti-government forces advanced to Tripoli. Egyptian President Mubarak also took advantage of his strong military but the latter turned its back on him when the democratization movement spread.

The development of information technology has contributed to facilitating the end of dictatorships. The Internet and social networking sites carried anti-protest success stories across the world and protesters gathered through such site. If people resist a dictatorship, countries supporting dictatorships are bound to turn to the public. The U.S. supported Mubarak for 30 years but turned its back on him. Arab nations also abandoned Gadhafi.

The world is closely observing Syria and North Korea. These countries maintain dictatorship via hereditary passing of power. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has had more than 2,000 of his own people killed to suppress the democratic movement but cannot escape the effects of Gadhafi’s collapse. North Korea has different geopolitical conditions compared with those of North Africa and Middle East and is backed by China. The time will come, however, when the 24 million North Koreans oppose the kingdom created by Kim Jong Il and his predecessors full of dictatorship, human rights violations and economic failure. This is the way of nature and history.