What were the most brutal aspects of Gaddafi’s regime?
He was branded a tyrant, a dictator, even a terrorist — and the world watched as he met his brutal end in a drainage canal in 2011.
You probably know who I’m talking about: the controversial yet widely recognized African leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled Libya for over 40 years.
For years, I believed he was just another oppressive ruler. But recently, a few lesser-known facts and articles made me question that narrative. What if we weren’t told the full story?
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In 2010, Libya’s GDP per capita was $12,064.80. By 2018, after Gaddafi’s fall, it had dropped to $7,529.
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Nursing mothers received $5,000 each — for themselves and their newborns.
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Electricity was either free or cost next to nothing.
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Those willing to farm were given a house, land, livestock, and seeds — all free of charge.
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Education and healthcare were completely free.
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The government offered generous subsidies for weddings, housing, and car purchases — benefits that vanished after his fall.
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He oversaw the construction of the Great Man-Made River, the world’s largest irrigation project, hailed as the “eighth wonder of the world”, to bring water to every part of Libya.
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