The post-Gaddafi Libyan Transitional National Council, packed with articulate, pro-Western ex-revolutionaries, didn't want foreign peacekeepers on Libya's soil anyway. There was truth – and lies – in both versions, although as Mr Millett recalls, the one thing the two sides had in common was a reluctance to listen to each other. Gen Haftar himself, Mr Millett says, illustrates the trade-off many Libyans are now willing to make between security and freedom. "He came across like a warlord – his view seemed very much that security came first and politics second," Mr Millett recalls. More than 700 volunteers died in the operation – proof that Libya's militias still have no shortage of courage when it matters.

Source: Libya Today February 17, 2021 05:01 UTC