Wednesday
Nov022011
Libya Special: Creating Armies out of Militias (Sheridan)
Wednesday, November 2, 2011 at 11:08 | James Miller in EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran, US Foreign Policy
The Washington Post's Mary Beth Sheridan offers a slightly more pessimistic analysis than that of Barry Malone (see separate entry), focusing on the National Transitional Council's challenge to build an army out of the militias that toppled Muammar Qaddafi.
Sheridan does stress that the optimism and confidence of the recently victorious fighters is a positive and that many within Libya are committed to avoiding the mistakes of the past. However, this is a major challenge for the new Prime Minister, Abdurrahim El Keib, as both pro-Qaddafi fighters and anti-Qaddafi fighters struggle to find a place in the new Libya.