by William Nelson

Created on: February 26, 2012

Anyone who is captured alive should be given a fair trial; this is an issue of human rights. I am not a supporter of the Gaddafi regime, I am a proponent of treating all humans with dignity, no matter how vile or cruel they seem to be. Gaddafi deserves a fair trial, just like any other man or woman.

The most obvious argument is that of the slippery slope. If we support the torture and killing of a tyrant in Libya, then we may feel more comfortable supporting the torture and killing of other war criminals. If we don't hold trials for war criminals we may begin indiscriminately killing other criminals without trial. Even the Nazis were given the opportunity to plead their cases at the Nuremburg Trials and they were found guilty and executed; justice was done. We don't have to devolve into Martial Law in order to restore order, in fact that is a step in the wrong direction.

Yes, Gaddafi was responsible for the deaths of many of his people, but that does not give them the authority to brutalize and murder him. Many people felt similarly towards Abraham Lincoln after the Civil War claimed the lives of 600,000 Americans, but we still condemn his assassination. Leaders of nations are often guilty of committing atrocities, but they are also usually responsible for helping their people in some way as well.

Gaddafi, although fascist and tyrannical in nature, truly believed that what he was doing was best for his country, and although he had many of his critics silenced, he did give back to his country through socializing oil profits. I don't personally agree with state enforced socialization of industry, but this type of behavior coming from Gaddafi exhibits his duel nature, and in all reality, the duel nature of man. He was trying to give back to his people in his own way. Painting him as nothing but a maniacal mad-man is the easy way out for the person who unquestioningly consumes their foreign affairs news from mainstream media sources with double checking the facts. It is very easy for people to be tricked into hating a certain group of people based on propaganda, this is why it is wrong to condemn anyone to death before granting them equal and due process of law. 

All humans have good and bad qualities, they are intrinsically corrupt. On the other hand, the law is fixed and when applied equally to all is not as corrupt as humans. This is why we must apply the law equally to all, whether they are a tyrant or a common thief. No man should be above the law, and no man should suffer and be unprotected by the law.

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