A new hour for Libya

The regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has crumbled, seven months after the Arab revolts in Tunisia and Egypt led to a rising and a bloody civil war, the final toll of death and destruction of which is yet to be determined. The role of NATO has been decisive in tipping the balance of victory in favor of the rebels, clearing away one of the principal obstacles that the Arab revolts have come up against.

With the foreseeable downfall of the Libyan dictatorship (though Gaddafi and his adherents still seem to be holding out in some parts of Tripoli), it seems likely that a similar fate will befall the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and that the revolutionary wave which shook the region will gain new momentum. From the viewpoint of Arab citizens, the outcome of the Libyan conflict will mean that the revolts are capable of winning, whatever resistance the tyrants put up.

The option chosen by the international community and the Atlantic Alliance, with the endorsement of the United Nations, has been the right one.

Another matter is that, now that the fighting seems to be coming to an end, lessons ought to be learned from the delay with which the first measures were taken, and from the surprising state of muddle and improvisation with which the military forces were set in motion, so that their planning and strategy had to be corrected as they went along.

Questions should be asked, too, about the consequences of the exclusive initial concentration on resorting to force, authorized by the Security Council, at the expense of an array of possible measures affecting the funds which the Gaddafi regime has had at its disposal until the end - thanks to which it has, predictably, been able to prolong the war.

The collapse of the Gaddafi regime is a victory for the Libyans over a tyrant. Without their decision to stand up to the man who attempted to repress them by force, Libya would still be under the bizarre dictatorship of Gaddafi. This is why it is for the Libyans to decide the future of their country. Unlike Tunisia and Egypt, where the revolts prevailed as the result of massive, peaceful protests, Libya will now face the difficult operation of organizing a civilian leadership, after the necessary leading role played by the military command. The Libyans' achievement will be sterile should the rebel chiefs fall into the temptation of interpreting the revolt as a desire for a mere changeover of personnel at the top, and not for radical changes in the system.

The period that is now beginning in Libya will be marked by uncertainty, and the international community will have to find a suitable position from which, without interference, it can contribute to the democratization of the country and the region. At this new hour in the history of Libya, no one can afford to make mistakes: neither the rebel leaders, who have managed to overthrow the dictator, nor the international community which, after several decades of wrongheaded approaches to the region, now has the opportunity to contribute to the progress of freedom.