Libya will become the Middle East’s Romania

That’s if we are not careful and if we continue to misread the signs.

Of course Gaddafi is not stepping down and no one in Libya, North Africa or the Middle East expects him to either – at least not voluntarily or without a serious fight.

That’s where understanding the culture plays a vital role. Colonel Muammar Al-Gaddafi is a Bedouin who in his own mind believes he is a missionary – his mission is to lead Africa out of the shackles of the West and free her people from their tyranny. This might be crazy by most logics and understandings, but it is also what half the adult Libyan population believes and shares with him too. On the other hand the younger generation sees things in the exact opposite – and hence the total media black out.

If we cast our minds back to the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 and what happened to Romania and the number of lives lost before Nicolae Ceauşescu was removed, sadly, Libyans today face the same fate and might have to pay a similar price for democracy and their freedom.

So what can be done, first we need to look after our own and remove every Briton from Libya.

Then focus on helping Libyans with supplies, medical support and any possible sanctions and measures the UN can deliver, to force Gaddafi’s supporters and army officers to drop their arms, and more diplomats, professionals and government officials side with the streets. To some that might probably not sound like much or proactive enough, but the more we (in the West) seem to intrude or interfere the harsher Gaddafi will punish his people because it will be seem as instigating and inciting.

The Bedouin, will not run and hide nor will he flee and set up camp elsewhere because he sees himself as a worrier not a coward and a missionary his mission isn’t yet finished!