Qaddafi's "cult of personality" shapes Libya's history

Muammar Qaddafi has spent nearly four decades as the leader of Libya, but as protests in the country turn violent, CBS News senior national security analyst Juan Zarate notes the long history between Qaddafi's takeover in 1969 to today's revolt from his nation's people.

As Zarate told CBS News justice correspondent Bob Orr on Wednesday's Flash Points, Qaddafi has seen the impact of successful protests in Egypt and Tunisia and will do whatever it takes to not become the latest casualty of Middle East cries for democracy and freedom from authoritarian rule.

"He's learned lessons of history," Zarate said. "I think the lesson he's learned at least in the short term, you need to shut off the TV, shut down the Internet, and crack down very hard and violently."

Qaddafi, with his outrageous comments, actions, and even his style, has in some ways come to personify the way many perceive Libya. As Zarate told Orr, "He almost has a cult of personality. This is really in some ways his country as he perceives it."

When Orr noted that the peaceful protests in other nations throughout the Middle East have not translated to Libya's fight, with hundreds killed since protests began, Zarate offered a grim assessment. "I think there's going to be more blood on the streets of Tripoli before this is all over," he said.

Watch this week's Flash Points above, also featuring the latest on the tragic killing of four Americans by Somali pirates, and continuing developments in the arrest by the Pakistan government of Raymond Davis.