{"id":729,"date":"2011-04-13T23:01:43","date_gmt":"2011-04-13T21:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/?p=729"},"modified":"2015-04-25T18:20:44","modified_gmt":"2015-04-25T16:20:44","slug":"the-e-mail-gaddafi-sent-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/the-e-mail-gaddafi-sent-me\/","title":{"rendered":"The e-mail Gaddafi sent me"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Of all the <span id=\"tooltip552095bceb0cc\">villains<\/span> in the world, <b>Mu&#8217;ammer Gaddafi<\/b> is the one I&#8217;ve liked best. That&#8217;s because he always <span id=\"tooltip552095bceb4b3\">follows through<\/span>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He&#8217;s not only talked about a <span id=\"tooltip552095bceb89a\">pan<\/span>-Arab or <b>pan-African union<\/b>; he&#8217;s tried to create one \u2014 first by attempting to persuade his neighbors, then by trying to <span id=\"tooltip552095bcebc83\">annex<\/span> two of them.<\/li>\n<li>Gaddafi <b>designed the Libyan flag himself<\/b>: a solid green <span id=\"tooltip552095bcec06b\">rectangle<\/span>. You can&#8217;t <span id=\"tooltip552095bcec450\">beat<\/span> that for simplicity!<\/li>\n<li>Instead of talking a lot, like Fidel Castro, he <b>wrote a book<\/b> and let it speak for itself. It <span id=\"tooltip552095bcec839\">handily<\/span> <span id=\"tooltip552095bcecc20\">doubles<\/span> as the country&#8217;s constitution. I&#8217;ve got a copy of my own.<\/li>\n<li>Gaddafi correctly identified the biggest <span id=\"tooltip552095bced00a\">hindrance<\/span> to individual <span id=\"tooltip552095bced3f3\">prosperity<\/span> \u2014 namely, rent \u2014 and <span id=\"tooltip552095bced7da\">consequently<\/span> told Libyans, &#8220;The place where you live is <b>your house<\/b>. You own it.&#8221; <span id=\"tooltip552095bcedbc1\">Predatory landlords<\/span> were gone overnight!<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/gaddafi_will_fight_cr.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" size-medium wp-image-731 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/gaddafi_will_fight_cr-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/gaddafi_will_fight_cr-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/gaddafi_will_fight_cr-150x100.jpg 150w, http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/gaddafi_will_fight_cr.jpg 424w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>When the United States bombed <i>his<\/i> house in 1986 \u2014 <b>the 25th <\/b><b>anniversary is tomorrow<\/b> \u2014 Gaddafi left the bombed-out structure unrepaired as a monument to his <span id=\"tooltip552095bcedfab\">defiance<\/span>. In his <span id=\"tooltip552095bcee391\">front yard<\/span>, he even <span id=\"tooltip552095bcee779\">put up<\/span> a <span id=\"tooltip552095bceeb62\">neat<\/span> statue of a <span id=\"tooltip552095bceef4b\">fist<\/span> <span id=\"tooltip552095bcef331\">crushing<\/span> an American warplane in its <span id=\"tooltip552095bcef71a\">grip<\/span>.<\/li>\n<li>Lastly, he&#8217;s always <span id=\"tooltip552095bcefb00\">looked the part<\/span>. Everything from the <b>wild hair<\/b> to the sunglasses to the <span id=\"tooltip552095bcefee9\">funky wardrobe<\/span> says, &#8220;I am a northern African <a title=\"When language is a weapon (Mike Pilewski)\" href=\"\/blog\/when-language-is-a-weapon\" target=\"_blank\">dictator<\/a>!&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The only thing <span id=\"tooltip552095bcf02d3\">inconsistent<\/span> about him was the spelling of his name. You could spell it almost any way you wanted: Gaddafi, Gadhafi, Ghadafi, Gadafi, Qaddafi, Khadafi, Khaddafy, with or without the el- or al-. It was surprising to see how suddenly everyone could <b>agree on a single spelling<\/b> \u2014 Gaddafi \u2014 the moment we all went to war with him.<\/p>\n<h2>He&#8217;s still there<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/green_book.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-732\" src=\"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/green_book-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/green_book-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/green_book-113x150.jpg 113w, http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/green_book.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a>So in a way, I&#8217;ll be sorry to see him go \u2014 that is, if he goes. <b>I hate to say it, but<\/b> <span id=\"tooltip552095bcf06b9\">I told you so<\/span>: We should not have gone in. Even though the Libyan rebels did ask the West for help \u2014 the day after I <a title=\"Help not wanted (Mike Pilewski)\" href=\"\/blog\/help-not-wanted\" target=\"_blank\">wrote that column<\/a> \u2014 and even though they were getting <span id=\"tooltip552095bcf0aa0\">crushed<\/span>, a consensus is building within NATO that their war can only be fought to a <span id=\"tooltip552095bcf0e8b\">stalemate<\/span>. A <span id=\"tooltip552095bcf1271\">partitioned<\/span> Libya leaves Gaddafi in power. And as I said, when <span id=\"tooltip552095bcf165a\">cornered<\/span>, he&#8217;s dangerous.<\/p>\n<p>The whole history of Gaddafi and the West is one of <span id=\"tooltip552095bcf1a42\">tit-for-tat<\/span>:<\/p>\n<p>1. In the 1970s, Gaddafi <span id=\"tooltip552095bcf1e2b\">claimed<\/span> an extension of Libya&#8217;s <span id=\"tooltip552095bcf2210\">territorial waters<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>2. So in 1981, Ronald Reagan sent over ships and fighter planes to <span id=\"tooltip552095bcf25f9\">chase him out<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>3. So Libya sent up its planes, which fired warning shots at the Americans.<\/p>\n<p>4. So the Americans shot down two Libyan fighter planes.<\/p>\n<p>5. So in 1986, Gaddafi had a terrorist bomb a disco in West Berlin that was <span id=\"tooltip552095bcf29e0\">frequented<\/span> by American soldiers.<\/p>\n<p>6. So Reagan dropped a bomb on Gaddafi&#8217;s house, killing his adopted daughter.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_733\" style=\"width: 210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/libyan_flag.png\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-733\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-733 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/libyan_flag.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/libyan_flag.png 200w, http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/libyan_flag-150x75.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-733\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Libyan flag<\/p><\/div>\n<p>You can see where this is going. But <b>at the time<\/b>, the accepted <span id=\"tooltip552095bcf2dc9\">reasoning<\/span> was: OK, Gaddafi himself was not the target; the house was empty except for the daughter, who was not known to be there; and the whole thing shocked Gaddafi and made him <span id=\"tooltip552095bcf31b3\">shut up<\/span>.<\/p>\n<h2>History repeats itself<\/h2>\n<p><b>Instead<\/b>, what happened was:<\/p>\n<p>7. In 1988, he had a terrorist <span id=\"tooltip552095bcf359a\">blow up<\/span> Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York as it was passing over Lockerbie, Scotland. Two hundred seventy people died. Houses were destroyed. Pan Am went <span id=\"tooltip552095bcf3980\">bankrupt<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>8. In 1989, the US shot down another Libyan aircraft.<\/p>\n<p>9. Later that year, Gaddafi got his <span id=\"tooltip552095bcf3d6b\">brother-in-law<\/span> to blow up another passenger plane, UTA Flight 772 over Chad.<\/p>\n<p>10. Under UN sanctions from 1993 to 2003, Gaddafi <span id=\"tooltip552095bcf4152\">withered<\/span> a bit and was finally willing to pay millions of dollars in compensation for the terrorist acts in exchange for millions of dollars in Western oil contracts.<\/p>\n<p>I think the deal <span id=\"tooltip552095bd002ff\">is off<\/span>. Steps 1 through 9 are where we may be <span id=\"tooltip552095bd006e0\">headed<\/span>, <span id=\"tooltip552095bd00aca\">folks<\/span>. <span id=\"tooltip552095bd00eb0\">Don&#8217;t mind<\/span> Gaddafi&#8217;s <span id=\"tooltip552095bd01299\">incoherence<\/span>; page 34 of his <i>Green Book<\/i> <span id=\"tooltip552095bd01681\">allows for<\/span> that:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;An individual has the right to express himself or herself even if he or she behaves irrationally to demonstrate his or her <span id=\"tooltip552095bd01a69\">insanity<\/span>.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Lately, though, Gaddafi&#8217;s son, <b>Saif al-Islam Gaddafi<\/b>, has <span id=\"tooltip552095bd01e50\">appointed<\/span> himself his father&#8217;s <span id=\"tooltip552095bd02239\">spokesman<\/span>. He pronounces his name &#8220;safe&#8221;, as though we&#8217;re all safe with him. And thanks to an e-mail he sent me last night, we might be able to <span id=\"tooltip552095bd02620\">work something out<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/gaddafi_e-mail_440.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-730\" src=\"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/gaddafi_e-mail_440.jpg\" alt=\"gaddafi_e-mail_440\" width=\"440\" height=\"293\" srcset=\"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/gaddafi_e-mail_440.jpg 440w, http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/gaddafi_e-mail_440-150x100.jpg 150w, http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/gaddafi_e-mail_440-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 440px) 100vw, 440px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Barack Obama, David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy didn&#8217;t listen to me, so Saif, <b>I&#8217;m all ears<\/b>. Just make sure that those millions of dollars you&#8217;re offering get to my bank account.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Of all the villains in the world, Mu&#8217;ammer Gaddafi is the one I&#8217;ve liked best. That&#8217;s because he always follows through. He&#8217;s not only talked about a pan-Arab or pan-African union; he&#8217;s tried to create one \u2014 first by attempting to persuade his neighbors, then by trying to annex two of them. Gaddafi designed the Libyan flag himself: a solid <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/the-e-mail-gaddafi-sent-me\/\">&#8230; >><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,61],"tags":[97,22,235,99,35,62],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1519,"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729\/revisions\/1519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}