Misplaced nostalgia for Libya's mad Colonel Gaddafi

He was supposed to be the dictator no one would ever miss. Treacherous and volatile, Muammer Gaddafi had far less diplomatic value than his neighbour, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, a dependable western ally. He did not compare to Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia, whose obsessive secularism had its attraction, too. And he could not compete even with Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh, who at least had a sharp sense of humour.

By the time the Arab revolutions erupted in 2011, Gaddafi had not a single friend left in the Middle East, and only a few beyond. Even though he gave up his mischief in later years - surrendering his arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, for example - no one knew whether or when he would be back to his old terrorist tricks. So as his troops prepared for an assault on the eastern city of Benghazi - whose people had risen against him - Nato bombs rained down on them, paving the way for the dictator's demise. The reaction was, broadly, good riddance.

And yet, barely four years on, there are many in Europe who quietly wish the mad colonel - killed by rebels in late 2011 - was still running things in Tripoli. Such is EU angst over the Mediterranean migrant crisis - where as many as 1,200 people have drowned crossing to Europe in recent weeks - that Gaddafi is held up as the one man able to keep boat people away from European shores.

There is plenty of scope for regret when one looks back at the Arab uprisings, and particularly at the catastrophe that has befallen Libya, which is riven by sectarian strife. But the tragic loss of life at sea in recent weeks is no excuse to be nostalgic about Gaddafi, or to long for the return of his iron grip.

Yes, Libya is a failed state and a haven for human traffickers. It is a mess that no one should think will be resolved by the current UN-backed peace process between its warring militias. There is no one in charge that the EU can credibly work with to stem the flow of illegal migration.

But it is useful to remember that Nato intervened in Libya in March 2011 to prevent another unfolding tragedy: the likely massacre of hundreds of thousands of Benghazi residents. The European and Arab mistake was to overestimate the will or ability of Libyans, in the aftermath of Gaddafi's fall, to put the broken pieces of their country back together.

Left on their own after a bloody revolt in which the state collapsed and everyone took up arms, they embraced their freedom with bullets as much as ballots. A fair question to ask is whether more could have been done to help them.

There's also cause to regret the world's betrayal of Syria, the origin of most of the migrants who crossed the Mediterranean last year. When more than 8m of them have been displaced from their homes in the war waged by President Bashar al-Assad and another 4m are refugees, why are we shocked to see some of them braving death for the fleeting hope of a better future in Europe?

In any case, Gaddafi was not as useful on illegal migration as he liked to advertise. True, on his good days he would shut the spigot by terrorising or paying off the tribes that facilitated the boats' passage; sometimes he agreed to joint patrols with Italians, whose coasts the migrants aim for. But, on his bad days, he flung the doors open.

For him destitute refugees - at that time mostly from sub-Saharan Africa - were a card he cynically bargained with, warning in 2009, for example, that he could turn Europe "black".

Rumour has it that by 2011, he had worked out an understanding - probably with Italy - that so long as he was welcomed in European capitals, he would help keep the migrants away. That changed when Nato launched air strikes in March 2011. A government spokesman threatened to retaliate by opening the floodgates. Trafficking was a lucrative business for Libyans, he said, and the government would do nothing to stop it.

Back then it was a relief that Gaddafi's authority lasted only a few months longer. It should still be: given how much Libyans have suffered since, surely we should wish them better than another Gaddafi.

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