Almost one year after the beginning of the rebel uprising in Libya’s Benghazi, the first ever National Survey of the country suggests that the population would still prefer one-man-rule over alternatives like democracy.

The research, published jointly by the Institute of Human Sciences at the University of Oxford and Oxford Research International, reveals that only 29 percent of respondents would prefer to live in a democracy rather than in a country ruled by a strong one-man leader such as Gaddafi.

Whilst the results may startle those in the West who bought into the anti-Gaddafi, pro-war propaganda pushed by our leaders and the mainstream media, they will come as no surprise to those aware of the on-the-ground situation in Libya. The infrastructure of a country which enjoyed the highest standard of living in Africa and where the government had helped to eliminate poverty and develop the country's health and educational systems to a high standard, now lies in ruins following last year’s relentless NATO bombing campaign.

In the power vacuum resulting from Gaddafi’s murder, the various factions who made up the rebel army have begun fighting amongst themselves, and Médecins sans Frontières recently halted part of their operations in Libya after treating civilians who had been tortured by the new Western-backed National Transitional Council. They had even received patients who had been taken for treatment between torture sessions, so that they would be fit for further interrogation, by a new interim government widely acknowledged to contain extremists linked to Al-Qaeda.    

As well as the destruction of Libya’s infrastructure, thousands of innocent civilians were killed in NATO’s immoral and illegal assault on the country. The justification for NATO’s initial involvement was that crimes against humanity were about to be committed by Gaddafi’s forces in Benghazi - despite such a massacre never actually happening. That Gaddafi’s troops used force to try and quell the uprising is hardly surprising, considering that terrorist elements made up the rebel army – and that British special forces had been on the ground directing anti-government operations from the very first days of the uprising.

With many dead, their country destabilised and in ruins, and countrywide protests taking place against the new interim government, it is unsurprising that many Libyans are opposed to an imposed and alien Western-style political system. Whilst Gaddafi may have been unpopular amongst many, he undeniably ruled over a stable, peaceful, and prosperous nation. The euphoria of Libyans who celebrated Gaddafi’s brutal removal from power is no doubt turning to cynicism as they survey post-war “democratic” Libya, particularly in light of politicians’ brazen calls for Western businesses to profit from their country’s devastation – as, for example, when British defence secretary Philip Hammond urged British companies to hurry and secure the reconstruction spoils of NATO’s illegitimate war.