Syrian Civil War: Ghost of Libya Back to Haunt

Abstract

There is no end to the current Syrian civil war in sight, after four years of conflict. Quite expectedly, some people have been calling for the removal of Assad. In Libya, even though Gaddafi was removed years ago, life after his reign has not quite been what Libyans expected. There is still a lot of killing, fighting, and civil strife in Libya.This paper sets out with a brief background of the civil wars in Libya and Syria. An attempt is made at comparing the events culminating in the removal and death of Gaddafi in Libya and the events in Syria presently which have led to agitation and call for the removal of Assad. This paper concludes by cautioning against making the removal of Assad the solution to very complicated crises in Syria. An attempt is also made to remind us of lessons that should have been learned from events in Libya, so that Syria will not continue to burn, even long after Assad has been removed.