Having lived in Libya pre- and post-Gaddafi, I have my own, personal and no doubt highly un-politic opinion of how much a tyrant the man is. I would call him a dictator; an egomaniacal autocrat who has engaged in international terrorism, but I saw many positive social changes instituted by his regime as well. I think the economic oppression imposed by his predecessor King Idris' hand-in-glove relationship with the oil companies was more squarely "tyranny". I'm certainly not a Gaddafi apologist, and I hope the country's current unrest is a sign of positive change, but I am wary of the unbalanced picture we get when painting the man with too broad and black a brush.