ISIS Hires Qaddafi’s ex-Officers for 10,000-Strong Libyan Force

The Western world has just woken up to the Islamic State’s creeping incursion of Libya. However, no Western government is able or seriously intending to take on the task of throwing ISIS out of Syria and Iraq (Russia possibly excepted), let alone lift a finger to push the caliphate out of its new territory, although Libya is separated from Europe by just 500km of water (see the map.)
The Islamic State therefore faces no hindrance in the construction of a professional army in Libya, with the help of Muammar Qaddafi’s former army officers – in the same way as Saddam Hussein’s “retired” generals were hired to strategize their jihad in Syria and Iraq.
In the service of its new master, this army is already muscling into Libya’s oil and gas fields and commandeering pipelines. As former insiders, its officers opened the door for ISIS to seize Qaddafi’s old stronghold, the coastal town of Sirte (Sudra).
Hundreds of officers and soldiers, made idle by Qaddafi’s overthrow four years ago, are flocking to the flag of the Islamic Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, drawn by a steady paycheck and recovered status, rather than ideology or religion. This force is already 10,000-strong and outfitted with high quality arms, including missiles, presenting a major menace to the West and Africa’s future stability.

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