Posted on 09/24/2009 6:23:10 PM PDT by Saije
Libya's Moammar Gadhafi said Thursday, in a rare appearance before a U.S. audience, that he evolved from a firebrand revolutionary into a seasoned ruler over four decades in power, contributing to his decision six years ago to dismantle his country's weapons of mass destruction...
Clad in a black suit and a transparent black robe, he fielded questions for an hour Thursday at the Council on Foreign Relations, a prestigious think tank.
Under Gadhafi, Libya had long been a pariah state, sponsoring terrorist groups and trying to undermine pro-Western governments in Africa. The nation gradually emerged from its isolation in recent years. In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, Gadhafi renounced terrorism and dismantled Libya's secret nuclear program.
Asked about his motives, Gadhafi said he has undergone a transformation.
In the years when Libya still pursued weapons of mass destruction, "we were young people, we were revolutionary, very excited and we were part of the times," he said, adding that "after decades in government we gained experience."
Gadhafi said he also calculated the cost and decided the weapons program was becoming too expensive for Libya.
The Libyan leader said he would not want Iran to have nuclear weapons.
He brushed aside questions about human rights violations in his country, claiming that Libya no longer had a government that could oppress anyone and had moved to a more advanced stage — rule by the masses.
"Unless you have deeply studied the theory of the world and the Green Book, I won't be able to shed light on an issue you really don't know much about," Gadhafi admonished the woman who had posed the question. The Green Book is Gadhafi's political manifesto and required reading in Libya.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
He referred to Obama as “my son” at the UN. What color will Obama’s book be, when will it be published, and when will it be required reading in every curriculum?
When did he grow wiser? I’d bet it was about 20 seconds after Reagan dropped a 500lb smart bomb on one of his tents.
Never trust a venomous snake......
That is the kind of answer that we get from some of our fringier freepers.
Maybe Obummer will let you check his copy out.
He referred to Obama as “my son” at the UN. What color will Obama’s book be, when will it be published, and when will it be required reading in every curriculum?
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Co-written by Ayers.....no doubt.
The power of shock & awe can reach far wider than its physical target.
I thought that it was immediately after he saw how quickly W. took out Saddam, I think that Qaddafi sent a very nice note to W. pointing out how he wasn't doing anything bad and that anyway, he wouldn't do it again.
If he’s so g-damn wise, how come he did not know he was only supposed to speak for 15 minutes?
Reagan did that in ‘86.
He upped contacts with the IRA to punish the Brits after our visit (F-111’s, Op El Dorado Canyon from the UK bases n’ all) the semtex, detonators and arms supplied to the IRA, some seized on the Eksund in late ‘87...
Reagan: ...”after the bombing Qaddafi sought out the terrorists who had kidnapped Peter Kilburn, librarian at the American University in Beirut, and paid them a fortune to ransom him. Then Kilburn and two British hostages (apparently because of Britain’s cooperation with us during the raid) were murdered in cold blood....”
Lockerbie in ‘88...
UTA Flight 772 blown up over Niger in ‘89...
Etc etc...
Qadaffy has blood on his hands, and has NEVER been held accountable for his actions.
Answer to question 1 = Blue
Answer to question 2 = Copyright 2008
Answer to question 3 = Co-written by TOTUS
Answer to question 4 = Not for a while yet; the pupils are still learning the soundtrack --http://renovomedia.com/politics/obama-songs-taught-in-elementary-school/
http://www.amazon.com/reader/0978736842?_encoding=UTF8&ref_=sib%5Fdp%5Fpop%5Ffc&page=1#noop
Scared yet?
Scared yet?
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Baby....I’ve BEEN scared with what I’ve been reading...since BEFORE the ‘coronation’. I just hope MORE will wake the h3ll up!
Could be, the reasons seem open to speculation in this 2006 CFR article.
“Two months after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Libya accepted some responsibility for the Pan Am Flight 103 atrocity. Libya’s dictator, Muammar el-Qaddafi, soon after announced he would dismantle his country’s chemical and nuclear weapons programs, providing valuable information that helped UN officials close down the black market in nuclear weapons technology (The Atlantic) run by Pakistani physicist A.Q. Khan.
Libya is now poised to benefit from its decision to cooperate with Washington (BBC). A May 15 statement from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the resolution to resume full diplomatic relations with Tripoli flows from “the historic decisions taken by Libya’s leadership in 2003 to renounce terrorism and to abandon its weapons of mass destruction programs.” It is also the product of some delicate diplomacy, which is outlined by Judith Miller in the Wall Street Journal. The New York Times suggests such direct engagement might work in dealing with other rogues.
The U.S. announcement is quite a reversal, as Libya was a charter member of the State Department’s 27-year-old “State Sponsors of Terror” list. President Reagan went so far as to approve the bombing of Qaddafi’s home in 1986 after Libyan agents were linked to a Berlin disco bombing that killed U.S. servicemen (BBC).
While fear of attack from the United States may be part of the reason for Libya’s new tack, perhaps a more significant factor is a desire for economic prosperity. “
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