Gaddafi was buried this morning, but Libya’s problems remain firmly above ground. The
news emerging from the country is mostly grim: a possible massacre by anti-Gaddafi fighters; the
hint of complicity on the part of Libya’s new leadership;
Saif Gaddafi’s continuing elusiveness, and so on. Revolution and civil war are never done cleanly, sure.
But just because the current situation is unsurprising doesn’t make it any less shocking.
Unsurprising yet shocking. Much the same could be said of Mustafa Abdul-Jalil’s declaration that Islamic Sharia law would be the “main source” of all legislation in Libya from now on. Unsurprising, because Libya is, on the whole, a conservative Muslim country. Shocking, because some of the specific tenets that Abdul-Jalil espoused — such as polygamous marriage — are so contrary to what the country’s Facebook revolutionaries were striving for.
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