LIbya's Civil War Shrinks Christian Communities.

Tripoli's Roman catholic bishop now focuses on keeping the power struggle between Moammar Gaddafi and anti government rebels out of his church. Its becoming increasingly difficult to stay neutral. After a recent mass, several Muslim women, all Gaddafi supporters, demanded that he call the vatican to get the pope to halt NATO airstrikes. The war has hit hard christian communities in Tripoli. Libya is an extremely muslim country, and missionary activity is not allowed, though clergy says the regimes has respected Christians freedom of worship. The Tripoli churches have called for an immediate cease-fire and that dialogue is the only way to end the two month old crisis. The population of 100,000 in the greater Tripoli area has dwindled to about 5,000. The greek orthodox community has shrunk from around 1,000 to fewer than a dozen. The union church is down from 1,200 to 250 parishioners. 

Qaddafi's Revolution

Muammar Qaddafi is the leader of Libya and its biggest enemy. The uprisings in Libya began as they did in Egypt and Bahrain. They began with protests and fiery demands to overthrow its oppressive leader. What makes Libya different than these other countries is that Libya's ruler decided that if he couldn't rule, than no one could. Muammar made an enemy of the world when he decided to use heavy military force on the protesters in an attempt to stop the revolts. His could have easily given up his 42 year, highly corrupt and unsuccessful rule but he decided to take the stubborn route and continue to kill his own people. The protesters were just as determined, turning simple protests into an all out civil war. A civil war that favors the Qaddafi's military because the of their organization and experience. The rebels are just civilians who decided to pick up guns and fight for their country, an ideal that symbolizes freedom in its greatest form. For a while, these noble efforts went unrewarded as the Qaddafi's forces were quickly overpowering the rebels.  This is what caused the Americans to air strike Muammar private base on March 15. A move that many questioned as unnecessary interference and an attempt to have a part in the new regime, if Qaddafi should get overthrown. The united states officially resigned any military force towards the U.N. A further U.N. resolution authorized members states to establish and enforce a no fly-zone over Libya. The Qaddafi  government then announced a ceasefire, but failed to uphold it. The war is currently going on and the rebels are trying to hold their ground against Qaddafi's advancing forces.

The middle eastern uprisings effects on the United States.

There are several different ways to view the middle eastern uprisings. You can view it from the humanitarian side and say that revolution is the only way to truly acquire freedom if their human rights are being violated. You can also take a pro-government stance and say that citizens should not revolt against their leaders and bring economic grief as well as high causalities to their own country.  The biggest effect on the United States that these uprisings have had was originally no more than a fear. Unfortunately, that fear did come true. Gas prices have skyrocketed and show no signs of decreasing. It may sound selfish that people are fighting and subsequently dying for their freedom, and our biggest travesty is a spike in the price of oil. However, the concern for the safety of all those men and women greatly outweighs the anger over having to pay more at the pump. The United States is not that completely self-involved. Spike in gas prices is however directly related to the revolts in Egypt. National protests mean that a great majority of citizens are not doing their jobs, this puts a halt on the steady flow of income that keeps a nation running. This puts a huge strain on the domestic wealth of a country and forces them to be reliant on exports and international buyers to keep everything running as is. Which is why the middle east, which has more oil than any other region in the world, would raise the price of oil. This effects the United States greatly seeing as how we  consume about 18,690,000 barrels of oil per day, according to the CIA'S world factbook. The national average of gas has floated around $2.80 to about $3.30 for about a year now. In the past month and a half it has shot up to $3.75 and higher in other parts of the country. Even though gas has become a major part of american culture and i am extremely reliant on it, i see the real cause at hand and I pray for the safety of all those brave men and women fighting for their freedom in the middle east. Freedom doesn't come easy and is absolutely worth fighting over.

Introduction

Hello, my name is Michael Torres. If you are reading my blog, then like me, you are at a loss for words at what is happening in the middle east.  If by some chance you do not know what has and is currently happening in that region, then i will give a background on the situation before putting in my personal opinions. The middle east as well as northern african countries are experiencing uprisings and revolts from its citizens, in attempts to topple government leaders who are known for oppressing their people and ruling with an iron fist. Among these leaders are Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Libya's ruler Muammar Gaddafi, Bahrain's crown Prince Sheikh Salman Bin Hamad al Khalifa, and Tunisia's President Ben Ali. Egypt's revolt struck worldwide attention because of its size, historical importance, and alliance with the united states. It was surprising since Hosni Mubarak has been in power for thirty years and has not dealt with this type of organized stand against him. Egypt's revolt began like any other, there were protesters, signs, and organized stands in Cairo's Tahrir square. The protest took an ugly turn when the egyptian government shut off the internet for the entire country. Their hope was to stop protestors from being able to organize and call for more protests. This only angered the citizens of Egypt and led to violence towards the police and military. Unfortunately, Mubarak's response to this defiance was ordering police and military to fight back. This started what would become a three day bloodbath where anti-mubarak protestors fought pro-mubarak supporters, military, and police. This persistence from the protestors ultimately led to Mubarak's resignation and proof to other nations facing the same circumstance, that they to can be free.