The Dictators are Dying

As strange as it may seem, when I heard of Gaddafi's death the first thing/person that came to mind was Fidel Castro. I silently said "he will be next." Even though Fidel is not currently the head of the Cuban government the brother that followed him closely is. I don't live there but I'm only sure much hasn't changed. One can only speculate if the people of Cuba will be inspired by the events of the Arab Spring.  No, I don't condone Castro's domestic policy but I do agree with most of his foreign policy. What I cannot dispute is that Castro is a dictator and so was Saddam and Gaddafi. They methodically control their countrymen. They kill unmercifully. Somewhere within the masses their is always a select few that have that revolutionary spark that burns within. Coincidentally, at one time that spark burned within Castro and Gaddafi.

I often reflect back on a NPR interview that I heard when the uprising in Libya began. I don't remember the name of the show, minor details, or even the name of the young man that was being interviewed. The man was a journalist whose parents were exiled from Libya but this extended family including his grandparents still lived there. The main focus of the story was how the young man returned to visit Libya the country that his mother spoke so fondly of during his childhood years. What I remember most about that interview is what this young journalist's mother said about a young Muammar Gaddafi. This woman knew him before he rose to power. She spoke of the 27yr old Gaddafi who she and her friends just knew would move up the political ladder with new and fresh ideas. She would be highly disappointed and she along with her husband had to flee the country because of their political ideas. She had to leave her parents behind. She had to leave the country she loved. While listening to this woman, I wondered to myself what had happened to turn the young Gaddafi into an old tyrant? I also wondered how this woman and others that had to flee during Gaddafi's reign felt when they heard of his death. I wonder what will happen to the people of Libya that now possess a new found freedom?  One wonders if this new freedom is really freedom at all or if they will just have a new dictator that hides in the shadows. Everyone knows that the dictator that hides in the shadows goes by the name of, amerikkka.