Qaddafi, a man who stayed in his own tent in every city and in every country he visited - and recall that he is used to live in a tent - could not have a decent sleep at the eve of his historic speech. Historic in a sense that it was Qaddafi's first appearance at the UN and his first ever speech to its General Assembly in all 40 years he has been in power in Libya. Had New Yorkers allowed him to set up his tent - we could witness another speech. Therefore, one should not be surprised at the length and the content of Qaddafi's speech - he was just frustrated.
However, my personal opinion - you did right, New Yorkers! This is only way to teach a lesson to those petty dictators. After all, who knows - in Qaddafi's Libya, how many political prisoners have faced sleep deprivation and other tortures? The only people to be pitied were Ali Treiki, a Libyan President of the UN General Assembly and a poor translator, who collapsed in the middle of Qaddafi's speech:
After struggling to turn Moammar Khadafy's insane ramblings at the United Nations into English for 75 minutes, the Libyan dictator's personal interpreter got lost in translation.Meanwhile, I am shocked by those guys at Al-Jazeera - don't they have a sense of humor or a sound judgment? Reading their report of the speech, one can think that it was an angry tirade of a prophet rather than a buffoonery of a clown.
"I just can't take it anymore!" Khadafy's interpreter shouted into the live microphone in Arabic.
At that point, the UN's Arabic section chief, Rasha Ajalyaqeen, took over and translated the final 20 minutes. "His interpreter just collapsed. This is the first time I have seen this in 25 years," another interpreter told The [New York] Post.
By the way, speaking of a clown, also have a look at these photos of Qaddafi's posted at NYT fashion blog and read about Qaddafi family's long-lasting feud with Switzerland at Gail Collin's NYT column:
The president of Switzerland, Hans-Rudolf Merz, paid a conciliation call on Qaddafi, who is camping out at the Libyan Embassy in New York City this week after literally being unable to find a patch of ground on which to pitch his tent. Merz has been trying to get Libya to spring two Swiss businessmen, who have been stuck in Tripoli since 2008, when Qaddafi decided that Switzerland is a “world mafia and not a state.” He also withdrew Libya’s assets from Swiss banks, recalled his diplomats and closed the Nestlé office in Tripoli.
This would be immediately after the Geneva police arrested Qaddafi’s son Hannibal and his wife for beating two servants with a coat hanger and belt while they were staying in one of the city’s luxury hotels. The servants later withdrew their complaint after receiving what The Associated Press said was “compensation from an undisclosed source.”
Unappeased, Qaddafi submitted a U.N. proposal to abolish Switzerland altogether and divide the territory among its next-door neighbors.
Read the rest at Score One for the Diplomats
2 comments:
I submit there is a connection between dictatorship and madness. If one were not mad upon assuming dictatorial powers, such power could easily drive one insane. Crazy = lack of sound judgment. Humility is necessary for this capacity - and obviously having such power does not incline one toward humility.
Look at the evidence - Mugabe, Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot. Very few people can stay in a position like that without developing mental pathologies.
Of course, the question of cause or effect. Why would one want such power?
That is the very point I got from The Last King of Scotland - Idi Amin who started as an idealist quickly turns into a blood-thirsty dictator. As well as Mugabe! A careful Internet search can bring plenty of good articles about his early years, how he turned Zimbabwe into a prospering nation, etc, etc. I wonder what is that unseen point in their reign that turns them completely crazy. Perhaps when first time they feel they might not have enough time to implement their vision of society?
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