Gaddafi was a crazy, and oppressive military dictator. He spent his whole time in control assassinating Libyans who clashed against the government. When it came to politics, however, the man was a genius. Every political move that man made was done strategically so as to keep control.
First Actions as Leader: Sharia Law and Isolationism
When Gaddafi first took over, he instituted Sharia law, nationalized the oil industry (while pocketing a large portion of the revenues), and closed out the Western world, including closing US and British military bases in Libya.
Murder of Innocent People
Gaddafi was known for blowing up planes through state sponsored terrorist attacks as one of the many ways he killed innocent people. The two most famous were the Lockerbie bombing, where a plane blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland killing all 259 on board and 11 on the ground from falling debris, and the terrorist attack on UTA Flight 772, where Libyan terrorists, including an in-law of Gaddafi, killed all 170 people on board the plane while flying over Niger.
Response to the Arab Spring
Gaddafi's regime can honestly be summed up by just looking at the revolution in Libya. When protesters went out to protest his murderous and oppressive regime, he responded by sending his military. Most famously, he deployed tanks and weaponized helicopters against the protesters, with orders to kill on sight.
The Later Years of His Rule
Starting in, I believe, 1999, Gaddafi changed his approach to strengthening Libya's economy from a focus on the Arab region to the African region.
Approach to Foreign Affairs From 1999 to the End of His Rule
Why would all of these countries start to normalize relations with a country so awful? Oil. Between 1990 and 1999, Libya averaged production of 1397.6 thousand barrels of oil per day. Between 2000 and 2010, Libya averaged 1553.1 barrels of oil produced per day.
OPEC's crude oil cost per barrel of oil between 2000 and 2010, when adjusted to current USD, comes out to an average of $59.01 per barrel, or a total of ~$91,654,078 per day in oil production revenue. Between 1990 and 1999, the average barrel of oil in today's USD cost $28.28 to OPEC members. At production levels of 1397.6 thousand barrels per day, that comes out to $39,524,128 in oil production revenue.
So here are the answers to your questions:
| Individual's Answer | OPEC Country Answer | |
|---|---|---|
| Was he good or bad? | BAD | Good because oil! |
| Was he good or bad for Libya? | Awful | Good enough! |
| Why did he have to go? | He was an oppressive, murderous, piece of shit | idk :'( |