Middle East analyst and author Walid Phares puts his finger on the troubling character of the Libyan rebels.

The dominant assessment in Washington and Europe since the beginning of the Libyan uprising has been that “we don’t know the rebels,” and thus can’t predict their future moves.”

 

In fact, we do know who the rebels are and can somewhat anticipate their next major moves: The Transitional National Council (TNC) was formed in Benghazi at the onset of the upheaval by almost all the organized Qaddafi political opposition forces. The TNC includes former diplomats, bureaucrats, military officers from the old regime. It also includes politicians and leaders from movements and groups from the political left, Marxists, Socialists, Arab Nationalists, liberals and Islamists.

The TNC’s real composition can be viewed as secularist and Islamist, the latter being the largest organized group — read militia — across the country. Tribal affiliations are important in the build-up of the new government, but the ideological divide will also be a determinant in projecting the future of the country.

 

Over the past months, we’ve seen the chief mentor of the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Jazeera ideologue, Sheikh Yusuf al Qardawi blessing the “rebels,”

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When the rebels sieze the dictator's hat and commandeer his golf cart.

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The Libyan rebels' advance towards Tripoli this week has raised a worrying prospect: victory.

Not that the ultimate overthrow of the Mad Dog of the Middle East is a bad thing. On the contrary, his removal from the scene would finally open up opportunities for greater freedom in that land. Though it could also mean a takeover by rebels who may have somewhat exaggerated their democratic credentials in return for NATO's support.

A statement from the rebels about what they see for their nation's future is worrying, though it starts out nicely enough:

"Libya is a democratic and independent state," the document states. "The people are the source of authority, Tripoli is the capital, Islam is the religion, and Islamic sharia is the principal source of legislation."

It sets out key milestones along a roughly two-year path to democracy including an assembly election, a constitutional referendum and a general election.

A sharia state is by definition not a democratic state, since all religious minorities (assuming they haven't already been exterminated or deported from previous sharia-based behavior) are second-class citizens (as we've seen in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, etc). A sharia state leaves no real room for democracy --...More >>

Can the cops start, I don't know... arresting these hooligans terrorizing England's cities?

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