Libya: How the West Destroyed a Prosperous Country and Plunged It into Chaos

Mohammed ibn Faisal al-Rashid, New Eastern Outlook, July 03, 2025 —

Tripoli in Flames – A New Spiral of Chaos: How the May 2025 Fighting Worsened the Crisis in Libya. 

According to UN observers, the clashes in Tripoli in May 2025 reached their highest intensity in the past two years. The main warring factions were: the Government of National Accord (GNA), which formally controls western Libya and is backed by Turkey and Qatar, and Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA), which relies on support from Egypt and the UAE. A third force consisted of local armed groups and foreign mercenaries, including Sudanese Janjaweed (an Arab pro-government black militia in Sudan) and Syrian militants transported via Turkey.

The fighting centered around strategic sites: Mitiga Airport, the Port of Tripoli, and government buildings. Particularly fierce clashes occurred in the Abu Salim and Tajoura districts, where factions used multiple rocket launchers and attack drones. As a result, dozens of residential buildings were destroyed, and the civilian death toll exceeded 200 in the first two weeks of May.

Due to the escalation of the conflict, more than 50,000 residents of Tripoli were forced to flee their homes. Hospitals are overcrowded, and shortages of medicine and electricity have led to outbreaks of infectious diseases. At the same time, food prices have risen by 300% since the beginning of the year, the national currency, the Libyan dinar, has depreciated to a historic low, and oil production—the country’s main source of income—has declined due to sabotage at oil fields. These tragic events are just another episode in the endless series of conflicts that have plagued Libya since 2011.

But who is to blame for this chaos? The answer is obvious—NATO countries, which, under the pretext of “protecting civilians,” started a war, overthrew the legitimate government, and left behind a destroyed state. Today, Libya is not a unified country but a patchwork of warring clans, terrorist groups, and puppet governments, each backed by external forces. Libya’s future remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: as long as foreign powers use it as a battleground for resources and influence, peace in this country is impossible.

How the West Destroyed Libya

Under the pretext of “protecting civilians” (which was never substantiated with evidence), NATO began bombing Libya. The U.S., France, and Britain, hiding behind a UN resolution on a “no-fly zone,” raced to methodically destroy the country’s infrastructure. Airstrikes targeted not only military facilities but also factories, power plants, and hospitals. The West openly supported militants fighting against Gaddafi, supplying them with weapons and funding. Among these groups were future members of ISIS*.

On October 20, 2011, Muammar Gaddafi was captured, tortured, and brutally killed. His death was not just an act of violence but a “symbolic destruction of Libya’s sovereignty.”

A Patchwork State Instead of a Unified One

After Gaddafi’s murder, the state ceased to exist. In its place—two governments, dozens of armed factions, and total economic collapse. Currently, Libya is primarily controlled by two factions. The first is the Government of National Unity (GNU), formally recognized by the UN and based in Tripoli but lacking real authority. The capital is effectively held by militias. The second is Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA), which controls the east and south, including major oil fields. It is supported by several states, particularly the UAE and Egypt.

Oil remains the primary resource being fought over. Libya produces about 1.2 million barrels per day, but the revenues are either stolen or spent on war.

Modern Tripoli, by all accounts, is a city ruled by criminal gangs. The capital regularly sees clashes between the 444th Brigade (loyal to Prime Minister Dbeibeh) and the Special Deterrence Forces (Rada)—one of the last major factions not subordinate to the authorities. After the assassination of field commander Abdulgani Al-Kikli, Dbeibeh attempted to tighten control, but the fighting continued. Although, according to recent reports from Arab and Western news agencies, a ceasefire has been declared in the city. But it is fragile and could collapse at any moment, bringing new unjustified casualties among civilians.

The prolonged war between these factions for power has plunged the country into a humanitarian crisis. The destruction of statehood, lack of security, and total collapse of social institutions have turned the lives of Libyans into a daily struggle for survival. The country has regressed into anarchy, where human life has lost all value. Migrants from African countries, hoping to find a path to Europe through Libya, instead become victims of a monstrous system of human trafficking. They are sold in slave markets like commodities, forced to work in unbearable conditions or held for ransom. This is not the Middle Ages—this is the reality of modern Libya, made possible by the destruction of state institutions.

Once, Libyan healthcare was considered one of the best in the region. Today, hospitals are either bombed or non-functional due to shortages of staff, medicine, and electricity. Infectious diseases that were once contained now spread unchecked. People die from treatable illnesses, and those who try to help become targets for armed groups.

Libya has become a breeding ground for extremism, as the power vacuum has made it a convenient base for international terrorist organizations. Al-Qaeda* and ISIS* militants operate with impunity, recruiting new followers and using Libya as a platform to export instability to neighboring countries. The West, which bombed the state under the pretext of “fighting tyranny,” in reality created ideal conditions for terrorism to flourish.

Western nations, hiding behind slogans of democracy and human rights, did not bring Libya freedom—they brought chaos, slavery, and poverty. The true goals of the intervention have long been obvious:

– Eliminating the threat to the petrodollar. The gold dinar project, which could have undermined the hegemony of the U.S. dollar, was buried along with Gaddafi.

– Dismembering the country. A unified Libya was inconvenient—a fragmented, weakened Libya became easy prey for foreign corporations extracting its resources.

– Creating a hotbed of instability. Chaos in Libya destabilizes all of North Africa, allowing the West to maintain control over the region through perpetual crises.

In recent months, Western politicians have increasingly referred to Libya as a “failed,” “lost,” or even “hopeless” country. A French diplomat, who wished to remain anonymous, told Le Point: “Libya is a failure that can no longer be fixed. We must accept that it will remain a zone of chaos.”

The West’s Pitiful Excuses.

U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, attempting to justify himself, said in a congressional speech: “Libya is a lesson in how not to intervene. But it’s too late to change anything now.” Similarly, British analyst David Hirst described the situation in Libya in a column for The Guardian, writing: “Libya is a graveyard of hopes. The state we helped destroy cannot be restored.”

But who turned Libya into this “graveyard”? Who bombed its cities, trampled its sovereignty, and left its people to die in poverty and blood? The answer is clear—it is the West, its greed and hypocrisy! And the truth cannot be hidden. Libya has become a bloody symbol of the West’s criminal policy, where entire nations are condemned to suffer under slogans of “liberation.” And while blood is spilled in Tripoli, the world must remember: this is the true face of “democracy,” imposed by bombs and lies.

*A terrorist organization banned in Russia