With the remaining loyalists of Moammar Gadhafi's deposed regime facing their inevitable demise, it comes as no surprise that human rights organizations and international journalists are finding a multitude of mass graves and ample evidence that torture was a routine affair in Gadhafi's Libya. But as Gadhafi's bloody excesses return to the spotlight, so too does the corruption and cynicism exhibited by the regime's fellow travelers from beyond Libya's borders.
It is well known that under Gadhafi, the country consistently maintained its place among the world's "Worst of the Worst" violators of human rights and political freedoms. And yet, in recent years, Gadhafi and his sons were courted and feted by word leaders, artistic and academic luminaries, and "social justice" activists who claimed to toil on behalf of the poor. The Gadhafis' eccentricities and opulence were dismissed with light-heartedness and amusement, even as the Libyan people continued to suffer from poverty and oppression.
All manner of states, corporations and individuals around the globe agreed to the world's oldest transaction, trading their principles in exchange for Libyan oil money.