What has Qadaffi done?

The past few months have been filled news from the Middle East and northern Africa of protests, ousted leaders, and general discontent among these country's populations.  Perhaps the worst news, occurring over the past few weeks, has emanated from Libya, a rogue state bordering the Meditteranean.  For all those who are unaware, Libya was officially formed by Qadaffi after a bloodless coup over forty years ago, the monarchy was abolished, and a supposed direct democracy (rule by population) was put into place.  From the get-go, the system was flawed.  Qadaffi's government maintained control of the major businesses allowing some private ownership of smaller corporations.  In addition, he nationalized the petroleum industry allowing himself and his family fill their coffers with $60 billion.  Now to me, a direct democracy should have direct influence from the people in forming a constitution, and building the government.  Yet Qadaffi did most of this himself.  In addition, his little "Green Book", (technically a constitution based on socialism) is what led the governing in the country.  Why go through this history lesson?  Well, it all feeds in to who he is and how he came to where he is today; a violent, radical despot seeking to maintain his power and coffers.  Today, the only area that he has true control of in the country is Tripoli, and even that is being shaken.  His military was never formalized, and he has his own personal retinue of guards numbering about 3000 to protect him.  If his country were a true direct democracy, the people would have the power to remove him peacefully from his place of power and build a government based on their desires.  As we see, his democracy is in theory only, not actuality.  There are many ways to go about assessing him and his stance, but if we look throuhout history, anyone who remains in power without the popular support of the people is doomed to fail.  Also, oil and money have a funny way of corrupting people.  If he were to truly follow his Green Book of socialist ideas, (I must admit I have not read it and am only going off the idea of socialism), then the money gained from the petroleum industry in the country would flow to all the people, supporting an overall increase in the economy and quality of life.  Yet as we see today, this has not happened.  Why does he want to stay in power, because the petroleum industry is incredibly lucrative, especially with an ever growing world-wide population and an increased need for the fossil fuel.  Stepping down out of power would mean to a certain extent, giving up the money he makes.  In essence, the money has gone to his head.  Now to the killings.  This is not the first time where he has killed his own countrymen.  Decades ago, a large number of Libyans dissented and left the country.  What did he do, he sent out kill-squads to hunt them down and kill them abroad.  Now he is perpetrating the same agenda within his own country.  Anyone who does not emphatically support him dies by the hand of foreign mercenaries, part of his ad-hoc military.  How can he not see the the numbers of mercenaries are far out numbered by the population of his country, increasingly turning their backs on him in support of his removal.  It is time for Qadaffi to go.  He may not see, but the rest of the world certainly does.  He is yet another examply of a disassociated despot seeking to keep the money flowing to his pockets.  If he had actually worked on building his country and economy instead of filling his family's pockets with billions of dollars, there would be no protests in Libya.  But alas, money and oil are steeped in corruption and can turn people into mindless autocrats focused on one thing, producing more oil and making more money.  Support the people in your country, provide for the poor, and things would be a hell of a lot better than they are now.   For now, short of invading his country and solving their problems through violence, which as we have seen in the past only leads to more entrenched, corrupt leaders, lets focus on the oil giants at home.  Perhaps if they took some of their billions and supported the poor or maybe even focused the money on innovation and creativity in renewable sources of energy, our economy would be a little better off.  Till tomorrow when the topic will be a surprise, lets just make it through the day with a smile on our faces.