[INTRO]
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]
SHANE: We just got into rebel
controlled Libya.
This is a checkpoint the
rebels are controlling.
They're controlling more and
more and more to Libya with
each passing day.
We're just wondering when
they're going to actually get
to Tripoli.
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
SHANE: They left the army and
joined the revolution.
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
SHANE: Where they worried if
Gaddafi won they would get in
a lot of trouble?
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
SHANE: He's a very
courageous man.
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
SHANE: Like most journalists,
I'd been fascinated by Libya
for a long time.
While Gaddafi was in power, it
was much like North Korea- a
hermit-like Stalinist cult of
personality state, with an
absolute dictator
at it's head.
To get in was extremely
difficult.
[MIDDLE EASTERN MUSIC]
SHANE: In 2010, after years of
trying, I managed to wrangle
an invitation to a youth
conference there.
We didn't really care about
the event itself.
But we wanted to talk to people
on the street, and see
what was really happening inside
of Libya, and how it
was affected by Gaddafi's
brutal regime.
But very shortly after we got
there, we were arrested for
sightseeing without our minders,
put under house
arrest, and repeatedly
threatened with jail.
CAMERAMAN: Was that a knock?
If they ask me why I'm shooting
I'm going to say this
is evidence just in case
something happens to us.
SHANE: Oh that's good.
They'll take our
fucking tapes.
Evidence.
Don't come here.
Don't ever come here.
They finally let us out on the
day before we were supposed to
fly, but only with two secret
police minders, who wouldn't
be on camera, and one youth guy
who was very, very freaky.
Right.
We finally got out of Libya
in November of 2010.
And this was Libya only three
months later, in February.
[ROCK MUSIC AND CROWDS
CHANTING]
SHANE: I didn't see Arab Spring
coming, not a lot of
people did.
But I especially didn't see it
happening in Libya, because
Gaddafi had such a
stranglehold of
fear over the country.
But unlike Egypt and Tunisia,
which were largely peaceful
protests, Gaddafi wouldn't
back down, and soon began
killing his own people.
[GUNSHOTS AND SCREAMING]
SHANE: Then it exploded into a
full fledged revolution, with
Gaddafi, his army, sub-Saharan
mercenaries, and his arsenal
on one side, and citizens turned
rebels with whatever
weapons they could find
on the other.
[GUNSHOTS]
SHANE: Surprisingly, Libya had
become the tip of the spear of
the Arab revolution.
And we had to go back to see
for ourselves what was
happening, and to talk to the
rebels who had shocked the
world by opposing
their dictator.
[GUNSHOTS]
SHANE: So in July of 2011, at
the height of the conflict, we
headed to the front lines, which
were located about 200
kilometers east of Tripoli, in
the port city of Misrata.
The problem was getting to
Misrata was not easy.
NATO had imposed a no fly zone
over Libya, as a way to help
the rebels.
So the only way into the country
was to actually fly to
Cairo, in Egypt, then drive 20
hours across the Sahara Desert
to the border.
Once there, you had to wait for
the rebels to come across,
and then bring you over.
After that, you had to drive
another 15 hours to Benghazi,
the rebel capital where, if
you were lucky, you could
hitchhike onto a boat, which
was the only way
in or out of Misrata.
As we drove through Benghazi,
it was hard to believe that
this was where the revolution
had started.
Fisherman's were
still fishing.
The electricity was on.
People were working.
It seemed amazing to me how
normally people were going
about their daily lives
[INAUDIBLE] the fighting here
had just recently ended.
But Misrata was another story.
There was still heavy
fighting there.
It was completely surrounded
by Gaddafi's troops.
So the few ships the rebels
could muster were the only way
to supply the city.
[SIREN]
SHANE: We finally got to the
port, where we met Captain
Ali, the harbor master, who
promised to help us get on one
of the rare boats
into Misrata.
Is this the ship?
CAPTAIN ALI: Yes,
that's the one.
SHANE: So this ship
just arrived.
CAPTAIN ALI: Yes.
SHANE: And now it's going to
turn right around and go back.
CAPTAIN ALI: Yes.
SHANE: And what are they going
to load onto the ship?
CAPTAIN ALI: They are loading
food, medical assistance.
[INAUDIBLE].
SHANE: This is the lifeline.
The only lifeline to
Misrata is from
this ship from Benghazi.
CAPTAIN ALI: Yes, that's
the only one.
SHANE: And is there a lot of
fighting in Misrata right now?
CAPTAIN ALI: Yes,
right now, yes.
SHANE: And the rebels
are trying to
push towards Tripoli?
CAPTAIN ALI: They are pushing
towards, not trying.
I We are pushing towards
Tripoli.
SHANE: And aren't you worried
for being a rebel, that--
CAPTAIN ALI: No way.
No way.
Because I will not allow
him to catch me alive.
SHANE: Yes.
CAPTAIN ALI: Either we meet in
Tripoli or we meet in Heaven.
SHANE: So it's either
victory or death.
CAPTAIN ALI: Yes, either
victory or death.
There is no other solution.
No retreat, no surrender.
SHANE: And what do the people
here think of Gaddafi?
SHANE: He is the father
of the devil, not
the son of the devil.
The devil is ashamed of what
he's doing now to Libya.
We already know that he is
crazy, but we never thought
that he would do this
harm to us.
SHANE: Colonel Muammar Gaddafi,
or the brother
leader, as he likes to be
called, is a textbook
tyrannical dictator.
In fact, he's possibly
the worst
despot in recent history.
In his 40 year reign,
he's been both
ruthless and eccentric.
He publicly hangs dissenters
at home, and he hunts down
those that escape abroad.
And has been the financial
supporter of pretty much every
terrorist organization
you can imagine.
And he's actually admitted to
terrorist acts, like the
Lockerbie bombing in 1988.
And his brutal response to his
own people's call for reform
was so barbaric that he's
recently been charged with
crimes against humanity by the
International Criminal Court.
CAPTAIN ALI: We will
punish them.
We will take them to court
and put them in jail.
They came to kill our kids.
They came to rape our women.
They came to vanish us from
the face of the earth.
We will get rid of him,
sooner or later.
SHANE: And despite the fact
that the boat was already
overcrowded, Captain Ali was
good to his word, and got us
on the last ferry to Misrata.
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]
SHANE: So we're getting on the
last boat to Misrata, to see
the sharp end of
the revolution.
They're going [INAUDIBLE]
to push to Tripoli.
The slogan of the revolution is,
our capitalist revolution.
Meaning they're not going to
settle for half and half.
They were telling us today,
they're going to fight until
they're dead, because if they
don't win, they're dead.
SHANE: Hello.
REBEL: Hello.
SHANE: How are you?
REBEL: How are you?
No Gaddafi.
SHANE: No Gaddafi.
No Gaddafi.
REBEL: No Gadaffi.
SHANE: No Gaddafi.
And so you go every couple
of days to Misrata?
How long have you been
doing the trip?
Four months?
From the beginning you've been
going back and forth?
When did that happen?
One day ago they bombed
this boat?
You think there will be more
missiles when we go?
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]
SHANE: So in the long boat
ride from Benghazi to the
front lines of Misrata, everyone
was concerned with
only one thing--
getting back to the fight.
And it didn't matter
in what condition.
They could have broken arms and
broken legs, and in some
cases, they could even
have missing limbs.
So he was just saying that
he lost his leg.
And he was supposed to go to
complete his statement.
But he snuck out of the
hospital to go back
to Misrata to fight.
And how is it there now?
Does he know how it is now?
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
SHANE: And if they don't kill
Gaddafi what happens?
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
SHANE: Though the fighting had
been going on for nearly six
months at this point, every
rebel we met on the boat was
still defiant.
Even though the odds seemed so
stacked against them, most
were still really
optimistic about
their chances for victory.
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
SHANE: And even though Gaddafi's
troops had a vastly
superior arsenal, the rebels
would fight them with anything
they could find.
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
We also spoke to a higher
ranking rebel officer, who was
returning to the fight in
Misrata, about what conditions
were like on the ground.
Has there been fighting
in Misrata recently?
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
SHANE: Good luck.
OFFICER: Thank you.
[SHOUTING IN ARABIC]
SHANE: So we're arriving now
in Misrata, which is
completely encircled by
Gaddafi's troops.
They're trying to push
forwards to Tripoli.
It's the front lines.
It's very close to Tripoli.
In fact, this boat is
the only way in.
It's the only way out.
It's carrying about 300 troops,
machine guns, aid.
There's been heavy
fighting here.
Some journalists have
been killed.
As we pulled into the port,
there wasn't a lot of evidence
of the past fighting
that had gone on.
There was some minor damage to
a few of the port buildings.
There were a couple of Mad Max
style trucks with machine guns
bolted on the back.
But other than that, it
was strangely quiet.
But that quiet didn't
last very long.
So we just arrived in Misrata.
We're hearing artillery
or rocket attacks.
[GENERAL COMMOTION AND
DISTANT BOOMING]
SHANE: You can see the smoke
coming up there.
They know the ship is arriving,
so they send some
missiles just to let them
know we're here.
Hello.
Thank you.
Good, how are you?
Good.
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
Driving into Misrata, it seemed
like spirits were
really high, and the city was
functioning quite well.
Anyone who drove by
us beeped their
horns and waved excitedly.
It was only when we reached
the city center that we
realized how immediate and
devastating the battles had
really been.
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
SHANE: Some of the heaviest
fighting that took place in
the revolution was right here
on Tripoli Street, which is
one of the main arteries of
Misrata, and connects the city
to Tripoli itself.
Gaddafi had ordered his troops
not to surrender in Misrata,
so the fighting had been
particularly fierce here.
His troops holed up on a high
building, and picked off
fighters until the rebels had
finally overwhelmed them.
The old building manager
took us inside
to show us the aftermath.
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]
SHANE: The fighting on Tripoli
Street had ended shortly
before we got there.
In and front lines had moved on,
about 20 kilometers down
the road, towards
Tripoli itself.
So to get there we hitched a
ride with a rebel driver, who
was running weapons
to the front.
[MIDDLE EASTERN MUSIC]
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
SHANE: One of the first places
he was bringing weapons to was
this kind of half junkyard,
half post
apocalyptic weapons factory.
Every kind of gun or missile
launcher, or any kind of
weapon you could possibly
imagine, was
affixed to a truck.
And your truck got
blown up, fine.
They just put your gun
on a new truck,
and you keep fighting.
[MIDDLE EASTERN MUSIC]
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
SHANE: And course, anything
that Gaddafi's troops left
behind was put back into use
as quickly as possible.
And that included not only
machine guns and anti-aircraft
batteries, but also tanks, and
other heavy weaponry, like
these grad missile launching
trucks that we
spotted on the beach.
SHANE: Stop.
We want to walk down
and say hi.
Well, one way to find out.
MOHAMMED: Shane Smitch.
Shane--
SHANE: Shane Smith, yeah.
MOHAMMED: Smith, Shane Smith.
Friend.
SHANE: Friend.
OK.
Yes.
Russian?
MOHAMMED: Yes.
SHANE: These missiles
shoot 20 kilometers?
At Gaddafi's people?
MOHAMMED: Yes.
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
SHANE: They stole them or took
them back from Gaddafi's
troops, and they're firing
them at Gaddafi's troops.
And they come out here.
And then they make this
big hole with flames.
So they've been firing quite
a few out of here.
You can see the spent casings.
And they're targeting
where, exactly?
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
SHANE: And when we came in
yesterday at the port, they
fired some grad missiles
at the port.
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
SHANE: And when do they
fire their missiles?
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
SHANE: They were just telling me
they get their coordinates
through Google.
Arab Spring--
Facebook, Twitter, for
their demonstrations.
And Google if you want
to bomb them.
Technology at work.
So you push the button?
MOHAMMED: Yes, boom.
SHANE: Shoot rocket. .
This one's fully charged.
It looks like they're
using it a lot more.
Fully charged and ready to go.
New?
New weapons.
You want the newest?
Gaddafi has new weapons.
He's asking Clinton and Obama to
send more weapons, so that
they can go take Tripoli, so he
can live his a dream, which
is to play for the Miami
Heat basketball.
MOHAMMED: Yes.
SHANE: Yes.
He wants to come to America.
OK.
The thing that struck me the
most as we got closer to the
front line was just how
incredibly young some of these
rebels were.
It was pretty surreal to watch
these kids, barely out of
puberty, fighting and
dying for this
abstract concept of freedom.
Abstract because real freedom
was something they've never
known, as Gaddafi had
been in power since
before they were born.
After long days of traveling
through Libya, we were 20
kilometers outside of Misrata,
and closing in on the front.
Our driver handed us off to
other rebels, who could take
us the rest of the way.
When we finally got to the
front, they were really
nervous about our camera giving
away their location.
And we had to limit our shots.
They were obviously digging in,
and preparing an attack
that they told us they were
expecting within the next 12
to 24 hours.
In fact, while we were there,
they got word that a major
offensive was about to start.
So they advised to leave Misrata
as soon as we possibly
could, because they thought
the offensive
was going to be huge.
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
There's no ships out.
We took the last ship in.
So we're going to take
this fishing boat.
Aside from ourselves, the
captain had also taken on a
few rebels who were heading
back Benghazi They saw our
cameras and offered to show
us some pics of their own.
The boat back to Benghazi
only motored about seven
kilometers an hour.
And this afforded me a lot
of time to think about
what I had just seen.
I had witnessed something in
Libya that is usually only
read about in history books--
revolution.
People rising up against
a tyrant, and risking
everything to do.
[ANIMATED INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]
SHANE: Everyone, without
exception, when we asked them
why they were fighting,
responded the same way.
And so young Libyans are risking
their lives to--
CAPTAIN ALI: Only for freedom.
We want to be like Europe,
like [INAUDIBLE].
We don't ask for much.
SHANE: Right.
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
SHANE: Despite still being
surrounded by Gaddafi's
troops, everyone on board was
convinced that the fall of
Tripoli was just around
the corner.
And it turned out
they were right.
About a month later, that's
exactly what happened.
[ANIMATED INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]
SHANE: Suddenly, after a long
stalemate, on August 21, the
rebels finally stormed
Tripoli.
[ANIMATED INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]
SHANE: Now the next few months
will probably be very ugly, as
the rebels switch from fighting
to governing, which
will be problematic and filled
with uncertainty.
What just happened in Libya
gives me hope that indeed we
can write our own history.
[ANIMATED INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]
[CHANTING]
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]
