Libyan man who said he’d just returned from the frontline. He had a compelling story.

@septimius_severseptimius severus

In #Libya. number of fighters, rather like the number of “mercenaries” will be a very fluid statisticderekbrower.tumblr.com/post/106366591… via @derek_brower

Last night in a hotel in Djerba I got talking to a Libyan man who said he’d just returned from the frontline. He had a compelling story. He was a British-Libyan, he said, though his accent was American, and he’d returned to Libya in February to fight. He joined up with the rebels in Gharyan, before undergoing training in Zintan. He’d been given a weapon and a job manning one of the .50 caliber anti-aircraft guns in the back of a technical. He said he’d seen three friends die.

There’s no way of verifying his story. I’m generally a sceptic, but I felt awkward when doubts started to creep into mind as he was talking. He was pretty short on specifics. And what was he doing staying in a plush hotel in Djerba while others are fighting in Sirte and Bani Walid?

None of that means he’s lying. He could be suffering from PTSD, too, which may explain his oddly hyperactive behaviour at 2am. (Eric Kampherbeek, a photographer, and I had just met up—we’re on our way to Libya in a couple of hours.)

But I was struck that, for many Libyans, a personal history that claims a role in the anti-Gaddafi movement of 2011 will be essential. Who’d like to be a 25-year-old Misrata man who can’t claim to have fought against the colonel? And it’s going to be impossible to verify the tales, though some impostors will be found out, eventually.

There was no real chain of command in the rebel army. No numbers or registers, so far as I’ve been told, of who was fighting. Some journalists who’ve spent more time than I on the frontline say the number of rebel soldiers has been remarkably small. In some areas, skirmishes have been between platoons, at best, or squads or firestreams or even smaller — if one can give these units a name at all.
So how many fighters have there actually been? And how many kept their heads down? I’d have been keeping my head down. The courage of those who rose up against a dictator and took arms when victory wasn’t remotely assured is something to behold. I wouldn’t blame anyone who didn’t fight. But I’ll be curious to watch how many Libyans claim a role in the resistance. My guess is that, mysteriously, the number of fighters — rather like the number of “mercenaries” fighting for Gaddafi — will be a very fluid statistic.


10:51 am  •  25 September 2011