IV: From Self Immolation to War
“On December 17th, 2010, Mohamed Bouazizi would light himself on fire in front of the governor's office in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia. Mohamed Bouazizi was a street vendor, selling produce to support his family; at the time, the town of Sidi Bouzid was suffering roughly a 30% unemployment rate. On the morning of the 17th, Bouazizi would find himself suffering under the harassment of police once more (this had been something of a constant since he had begun selling produce at the age of 10). Considering the purchase of the produce the night before had left him in debt, he would not have the funds in order to bribe the police with his scales being confiscated and his produce cart confiscated. Bouazizi would go to the governor's office to complain and to ask for his scales back, but the governor would refuse to see him. Continued refusals would see Bouazizi purchase a can of gasoline from the local gas station and arrive in front of the governor's office, and would shout, "How do you expect me to make a living?" Immediately following the statement, Bouazizi would light himself on fire. He would eventually die on January 4th, 2011. The death of Bouazizi would be considered the ignition of what would become known as the 'Arab Spring'.”-A Look at the Arab Spring Five Years After
The success of the Tunisian Revolution with the removal of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on January 14th, would have many turn their eyes to gaze upon Egypt as the next country to see such a 'revolution'. President Hosni Mubarak had been in power since 1981 ever since the assassination of Anwar El Sadat in 1981, and the National Democratic Party had maintained their party as Egypt had found itself transformed into a single-party state. Since the assassination of Sadat, emergency law had been maintained in Egypt constantly by Mubarak, claiming the threat of terrorism for the reason of constant extensions; emergency law in Egypt extended police powers, suspended constitutional rights, legalized censorship, abolished habeas corpus, and severely limited non-governmental political activity which included demonstration. The 2010 parliamentary elections in Egypt (held in December) would arguably be the near tipping point, with significant government harassment and fraud alongside refusal for any kind of monitoring of the polls by international observers.
In Egypt, the protests would begin on January 25th intended to coincide with National Police Day, and would become known as the 'Day of Revolt'. Protests would take place across numerous cities, with protests against the abuses committed by the police, demands for the resignation of the entire Ministry of the Interior, the restoration of a fair minimum wage, the end of the emergency law, and term limits for the President. From January 29th to February 11th, the protests would rapidly intensify as a deathtoll began to emerge and rise from it. On February 11th, Vice President Omar Suleiman would announce Mubarak's resignation with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to be entrusted leadership of Egypt, which would be met with loud rejoicing. On the 13th, the Supreme Council would dissolve Egypt's parliament and suspend the constitution per the demands of the protestors, with them declaring that they would rule for six months or until elections could be held (whichever came first). The referendum was declared to be held on March 19th, and Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik would step away on March 3rd, to be replaced by Transportation Minister Essam Sharif. However, the news coming out of Libya would begin to greatly concern the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces...
Like Egypt, the death of Mohamed Bouazizi and the Tunisian Revolution would inspire many in Libya. Muammar Gaddafi had emerged to power as the head of the 'Free Officers', removing King Idris I in a 'bloodless coup' in 1969. From 1969 to 1977, he remained in power and then stepped down and claimed to be merely a 'symbolic figurehead' for the government since 1977. While Libya was 'technically' supposed to be an indirect democracy, Gaddafi had manipulated the systems to such an extent to ensure dominance within Libya. This included the placing of relatives and members of his own tribe in central positions in both government and the military, maintaining a delicate balance where he remained the head. His concerns of a military coup were significant, and reflected among the Libyan military. The Libyan Army totaled 50,000 personnel, and the core of it were four brigades composed of highly-trained and equipped soldiers entirely loyal to Muammar Gaddafi. The rest of the army on the other hand was poorly armed and trained in comparison to the four 'loyalist' brigades.
The protests in Libya would begin from January 13th to January 16th, taking place in numerous cities over delays in housing construction and political corruption, breaking into and occupying numerous housing projects then under construction. Protests would emerge again on February 2nd, and would return again and intensify even further on the 15th in Benghazi. The protests in Benghazi would be against the arrest of human rights lawyer, Fathi Terbil with up to six hundred protestors organizing before police forces would disperse them with water cannons. Protests would also emerge out of both Bayda and Zintan, setting fire to police and government buildings. Protests would intensify even further, and by the 18th, police and army personnel would leave Benghazi. The escalation would intensify even further, with the formation of the National Transition Council on February 27th to consolidate efforts for the change in rule of Libya. By the end of February, Gaddafi had lost Benghazi, Tobruk, Bayda, Misrata, and other important cities, and a death toll begin to rapidly mount among the protests and apparent formation of a civil war in Libya.
By March 6th, Gaddafi had moved into a counterattack against the rebels, being halted at Bin Jawad and see continued movement of his forces up to Benghazi by the 17th. At this point, the rapidly-emerging Libyan Civil War had started to become a major international issue and demands had started to rapidly mount for supporting the rebels against the Gaddafi government. The first resolution passed had been the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1970, which condemned the use of lethal force by Gaddafi against the protestors and to impose international standards on Libya in response. But the most important one to support the rebels in such a civil war, was a United Nations Security Council Resolution which would establish a no-fly zone over Libya and to demand in immediate ceasefire between the rebels and Gaddafi and to serve as a basis for an 'international intervention' into Libya. The Resolution would be pushed. While having initially been proposed by Lebanon, France, and the United Kingdom, it had been taken up and supported by the United States in a determined effort for intervention into Libya. One of the biggest issues was the arguable threat of a veto by the Russian Federation which would doom such efforts. When the vote came up on March 17th, it was made clear what the Russians had thought of it. They had vetoed the resolution. There would be no intervention into Libya from what was seen.
While NATO was left in much of a quandary (primarily with the United States moving towards continuing to press internationally, with the United Kingdom and France insisting on intervention even without the UN), it was arguably in Egypt that would see the first actions. By March 21st, Benghazi had been crushed and the rebels were in full retreat. With the rapidly mounting concerns of a possible refugee crisis into Egypt from the rebels which would likely further destabilize the country and concerns over it heightening the slow moving process, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces would be forced to act. They would immediately inform Libya that they had forty-eight hours to withdraw from Benghazi or face immediate military action on March 22nd. With it made clear that Gaddafi refused to do so, on March 24th, Egypt would announce a declaration of war against Libya in order for an intervention to remove the Gaddafi government and to support the rebels.
The intervention of Egypt was to force action from the other side of Libya, that being Algeria. While President Abdelaziz Bouteflika had been facing protests (having been President since 1999 and having presided over the end of the Algerian Civil War), much of the bloodshed and anger spilled in the Algerian Civil War had drastically reduced the kind of action that would be maintained against the government. Such actions were a mixture of protests and riots, but unlike in Tunisia, Libya, or Egypt had not been organized into anything substantial. Algeria had significant relations with Libya, having been the one of two nations (with the other being Syria) in the Arab League to steadfastly refuse the no-fly zone over Libya. The immediate threat of war against Libya by Egypt put significant concerns over a possible Egyptian-influenced Libya, which would be a significant threat to security with Algeria. This would be to some extent backed by the military, and would follow with an announcement that unless Egypt promised to withdraw that they would intervene to protect Libya from the 'warmongering Egyptians' on March 27th. On March 30th, they would announce a declaration of war against Egypt to protect the nation of Libya from 'Egyptian aggression' and 'intent to remove a standing government'.
The North African War had begun.