Gaddafi with Andrew

In this episode of 'It Could Happen Here,' host Andrew Sage delivers a critical examination of Muammar al-Gaddafi's legacy, challenging the romanticized portrayal of the former Libyan leader often seen in certain anti-imperialist circles. While acknowledging Gaddafi's early anti-colonial rhetoric, state-funded social programs, and pan-African ambitions, Sage dismantles the myth of Gaddafi as a benevolent revolutionary. He details the dictator's brutal suppression of dissent, including the Abu Salim Massacre where over 1,200 prisoners were killed, his persecution of political opponents, minorities like the Tuareg and Amazigh, and his exploitation of women through coercion and abuse. Sage also exposes Gaddafi's ideological contradictions—claiming socialist ideals while banning independent unions and suppressing Marxism, aligning with both the USSR and Western powers at different times, and even supporting neo-fascist figures. The episode argues that Gaddafi’s so-called anti-imperialism was performative, masking a regime built on authoritarianism, human rights abuses, and self-aggrandizement. Ultimately, Sage calls for a more nuanced understanding of power, warning against the dangerous tendency to lionize authoritarian leaders simply because they oppose Western intervention, and asserts that states—by their very nature—cannot be truly liberatory.