Realpolitik

Thoughts on the death of Gaddhafi?  Criticism of the manner of his death, following the extrajudicial murder of Osama Bin Laden by the Americans, strikes me as a tad hypocritical.  It is also clearly something for the Libyans to decide and the weight of comment from within the country seems to be in broad agreement that his death is a cause of great joy and celebration, followed by an overwhelming feeling of relief and 'now let's get on with the rest of our lives and rebuild our nation from scratch'.  A lot of media comment in the West is decidedly pessimistic about the future for Libya and often cite the spectre of civil war or the establishment of 'an Islamic state ruled by Sharia law'.  However, if that is what the Libyans decide they want then it is clearly nobody's business but their own.  I suspect they won't but even if they do decide on an Islamic state western governments will quickly accommodate themselves to it.  After all, they've done it for years with Saudi Arabia.  And there's all that oil and gas of course to help the Americans and French and British overcome their inhibitions.  All those lucrative business contracts to win.  All those principles to abandon in the interests of realpolitik.  After all, they did it for years with that crackpot dictator Gaddhafi.