I'm not as sure SM, In the broadest and most basic terms I would express it this way, from Dictator to IMF and World Bank.

Lexi:>>the people of Lybia celebrating in the streets<<

Will it be like that for us Lexi when Labor is driven out? Please say yes.

Will it be like that for us Lexi when Labor is driven out? Please say yes.
sonofgloin,
I think they will if they get paid overtime.
I always cringe when I witness that mass hysteria. Like when Saddam Hussein was killed. Does it really make the victors better ? Not in my book. Look at Egypt now ? Look at Afghanistan or any other place where dictators have been toppeld. Has Australia improved when Whitlam & Keating got ousted ? No ! So what are we really on about ? Gaddafi started out a benevolent Dictator & look how they, the good democratic leaders manipulated him ?
I never forget when Gaddafi publicly destroyed & burnt electric guitars. He could see years ahead. He could then see the developing mindlessness of the masses via head banging noise.

I'd love to be excited by this, but history offers little hope. If the circumstances surrounding Gaddafi's death are any indicator, then the future doesn't look too bright. Of course, the stories surrounding that death have become somewhat more sanitised as the day has gone by. Who knows what really happened? Libya's next government will no doubt have plenty of time (maybe even another 42 years) to show us what it's made of.

*Who knows what really happened?*

Well on an early news report, the boys who caught him, claimed that
they shot him. I notice that in later news reports, they cut that
bit out. Perhaps its a bit ahem, too down to earth and realistic for
our newsmedia.
We would not want the kiddies hearing that stuff.

The real reason Gaddafi was around for so long was because he was allowed to remain as long as he served our interests.

Recent arms deals signed with the UK plus his initial support from the USA were only overturned by the persistence of local insurgents.

Like in Egypt, there are many Western interests that are worried about true democracy flourishing in the Middle East because it threatens our stranglehold on the oil supply line. There is probably a replacement already waiting in the wings to take over if things don't go our way.