Posted on 03/02/2005 4:04:34 PM PST by Crackingham
Moammar Gadhafi said Wednesday he wants Libya and the United States to be friends, but the one-time international pariah slammed the United Nations Security Council for being controlled by a select group of countries.
In a wide-ranging address to the annual meeting of Libya's parliament-like General's People Congress, Gadhafi also warned Libyans not to support foreign extremists and to stand strong in the face of terrorism.
Gadhafi's comments, moderate in the main but typically inflammatory in parts, come as Libya returns to the international fold following years of being regarded as a state sponsor of terror.
"We don't say love the Americans. We are talking policies, and (on that level) there is no problem or animosity" between both countries, Gadhafi, wearing a white robe, told hundreds of often-cheering Congress members during an address televised live and monitored in Egypt.
Last year, the U.S. government lifted 23-year-old travel restrictions imposed on Libya, invited American companies to return to the oil-rich nation and encouraged Tripoli to open a diplomatic office in Washington. President Bush has also commended Libya's progress in scrapping its nuclear weapons.
Of the United States, Gadhafi said: "We are not enemies. We are not allies. We are not agents. We hope one day we will be friends."
Gadhafi, however, criticized the United Nations and the permanent five-member Security Council, repeating complaints he raised in a full-page advertisement that appeared in Wednesday's Guardian newspaper in England.
"They are suggesting to expand the Security Council. This is another attempt to fool the nations at the expense of international peace and security," Gadhafi said during his speech in Sirte, a coastal city 260 miles east of Tripoli.
"So long as you are not a great nuclear power, you will not be able to exercise your rights in the Security Council," he said. The U.N. General Assembly, he added, "can't do anything without orders from its master, the Security Council."
Interesting speech made by Lybian leader in 2003. Here:
http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=subjects&Area=relations&ID=SP58703
If Gadfafi truly wants to be friendly and allied with the United States, let's take him up on his offer. But watch him very closely and don't trust him.
You have a point.
He did give up nuclear materials no one knew the extent of, nor was he on the direct hot seat at the time.
He doesn't like the U.N.
He's making overtures to the U.S.
He's at least devoting lip service to the idea of freedom.
He's proven to be smarter than Saddam, Castro, The Mullahs, Assad...even our own Liberals.
I don't think I'll ever trust him, but clearly he's decided it's not in best interests to "mis-underestimate G.W.".
Thanks for the ping.
Think of him as the Eddie Haskell of the Arab world.
Accepted spellings- Qaddafi, Muammar (preferred) Al-Gathafi, Muammar al-Qadhafi, Muammar Al Qathafi, Mu'ammar Al Qathafi, Muammar El Gaddafi, Moamar El Kadhafi, Moammar El Kazzafi, Moamer El Qathafi, Mu'Ammar Gadafi, Muammar Gaddafi, Moamar Gadhafi, Mo'ammar Gathafi, Muammar Ghadafi, Muammar Ghaddafi, Muammar Ghaddafy, Muammar Gheddafi, Muammar Gheddafi, Muhammar Kadaffi, Momar Kad'afi, Mu`amar al- Kaddafi, Muamar Kaddafi, Muammar Kadhafi, Moammar Kadhafi, Mouammar Kazzafi, Moammar Khadafy, Moammar Khaddafi, Muammar Moamar al-Gaddafi Moamar el Gaddafi Moamar El Kadhafi Moamar Gaddafi Moamer El Kazzafi Mo'ammar el-Gadhafi Moammar El Kadhafi Mo'ammar Gadhafi Moammar Kadhafi Moammar Khadafy Moammar Qudhafi Mu`amar al-Kad'afi Mu'amar al-Kadafi Muamar Al-Kaddafi Muamar Kaddafi Muamer Gadafi Muammar Al-Gathafi Muammar al-Khaddafi Mu'ammar al-Qadafi Mu'ammar al-Qaddafi Muammar al-Qadhafi Mu'ammar al-Qadhdhafi Mu`ammar al-Qadhdhâfî Mu'ammar Al Qathafi Muammar Al Qathafi Muammar Gadafi Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Ghadafi Muammar Ghaddafi Muammar Ghaddafy Muammar Gheddafi Muammar Kaddafi Muammar Khaddafi Mu'ammar Qadafi Muammar Qaddafi Muammar Qadhafi Mu'ammar Qadhdhafi Muammar Quathafi Mulazim Awwal Mu'ammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Qadhafi Qadafi, Mu'ammar Qadhafi, Muammar Qadhdhâfî, Mu`ammar Qathafi, Mu'Ammar el Quathafi, Muammar Qudhafi, Moammar
EXACTLY what I was thinking. libya is more our ally than France!
I'd be smiling, too.
He must know the final plans for a nuclear attack on the US is close and he wants to distance himself from it.
I agree with your comments. Good post.
Was that a pig I saw flying overhead and I would bet that the thermometer is encased in about a foot of ice at the gates of Hell.
More than welcome. I appreciate your efforts to post ME/Iraq/WOT articles and, more importantly, your hi-lights and comments cutting through the presstitutes' negative slant which helps tell the real story--and spurs good discussions on the threads....
Thank you....:-)
I wouldnt be surprised to see GWB go to Lybia...who knows?
Re#34 Talk about a security nightmare. It will be interesting to see where it goes...
good one, thanks
I agree. Yes he is, or was, a nutcase, and who cares what his motivation is. He is meeting every demand the US is putting on him. Short of a regime change, what else do we expect? You said it exactly right ... welcome him but keep an eye on him.
an alternate thought is that he (like many in our own government) thinks there could be a NBC attack in the US, and is making sure he is completely disassociated from terrorism well ahead of time. If the US toppled an islamic theocracy and a secular dictatorship already over the 9/11/01, it goes without saying we would topple more governments in a prsumably more brutal fashion after a WMD attack.
What's an NBC attack?
NBC - nuclear biological chemical, i think this is the previous term now covered by WMD.
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