Mediaboss Marketing

BRICK, N.J., Jan. 17 (UPI) -- The word from Libyan journalists in Benghazi is that the attack on the U.S. consulate was carried out, not by terrorists, but by remaining elements of Moammar Gadhafi supporters. Libyan Deputy Interior Minister Wanis al-Sharif has publically claimed that the attack was carried out by pro-Gadhafi elements.

Libyan government officials have said that there is no significant presence of al-Qaida in Libya and they would be incapable of carrying out the attack on the consulate. There is, however; a significant number of well-armed Gadhafi loyalists there who are determined to return the Gadhafi family to power.

In an HBO documentary "Witness: Libya," journalist Michael C. Brown interviewed several leaders of the Libyan revolution, as well as interim government officials who claim that remaining Gadhafi supporters are substantial in number and a serious threat to the revolution. They are, said one, "opportunists" plotting a counter-revolution.

Gadhafi created a climate of paranoia among the Libyan people which persists, despite the overthrow of the dictator. The consequences of this state of paranoia make a common trust among the Libyan people untenable and a common purpose impossible.

Libya remains in a state of near anarchy; weapons are plentiful; well-armed militia, accountable to no authority, roam the major cities of Tripoli and Benghazi. The central government is too fragmented to impose order.

In February 2006 a mob attacked the Italian consulate in Benghazi. Eleven people were killed and the consulate burned. The attack was in response to Italian Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli flaunting a T-shirt on television defaming Islam.

Gadhafi was engaged in negotiations with the Italian government then over the amount of money to be paid Libya in compensation for occupation of Libya by Italian forces, which began in the early 1930s lasting through the early 1940s. A total of $5 billion was paid to Gadhafi by the Italian government in 2008. The attack and the burning of the Italian consulate were widely viewed as a tactic by Gadhafi to force the Italian government to settle the dispute on his terms.

Most of Gadhafi's' family managed to escape the anti-Gadhafi revolution and obtain sanctuary in nearby countries. News reports indicate the remaining family members will take residence in South Africa. Gadhafi's wife Safia, his sons Hannibal, Muhammed, Saadi and his daughter Aisha have managed to find sanctuary there. Despite their collective, and individual, responsibility for crimes committed under the regime. Another son, Seif remains in jail in Tripoli awaiting trial.

Gadhafi's wealth, estimated at $30 billion, is secreted in banks abroad. That amount of money would allow the family to fund a counter-revolution in Libya. The present state of anarchy there would provide an excellent opportunity to create havoc, if not find success, in their attempt to return to power.

The Libyan government, the United States, and its intelligence community and the member states of NATO are profoundly embarrassed that Gadhafi supporters were capable to carry out the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.

Here is the original post:
Outside View: Word on the Benghazi street