In 2011, I crossed the border with other journalists into a country that had been cut off from the world for 42 years. We had no idea what to expect as we entered what the rebels were calling "Free Libya."
Where before there had been oppressive security, instead what greeted us was a motley group of ecstatic young men with guns who welcomed journalists to the land they'd liberated. There was no passport control, no rules and a sense of relief that the world would finally hear their stories.
They showed videos of atrocities committed by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's men. They told stories of rape, pillaging and burned bodies at the hands of Gadhafi's forces. They begged journalists to get the word out about their struggle and their need for help from the international community.
It was a country in tumult, and few of us reporters had any idea who the players were, what they really wanted or where the struggle here was going. Two young men with AK-47s offered to drive us from the border with Egypt to Tobruk, nearly 800 miles east of the capital.
At the time, we were under the impression that everyone in eastern Libya was against Gadhafi. But not long into the drive, the two men showed us their phone screen savers, pictures of Gadhafi. They explained they supported the dictator and they wanted him to stay in power.
It was a reminder of the dangers that still lurked, a glimpse into the deep divisions that remained in Libya, and a preview of the civil war that would come.
On a piece of notebook paper, I wrote three words down and showed it to my colleague: "I am scared." We feared we would be killed for crossing into Libya against the Gadhafi regime's wishes, but the men took us to the hotel in Tobruk and left.
Libya's Messy War
The battle to come was indeed bloody. An estimated 30,000 people were killed in the civil war.
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