Europe is rediscovering what America has always known -- Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi is a nut case. After European Commission president Romano Prodi went out of his way to meet the Colonel at the airport, Gaddafi had to go and embarrass everyone by, well, being himself. According to the London Daily Telegraph,
The Libyan leader, Col Muammar Gaddafi, dented his return from pariah status on his first visit to Europe yesterday in 15 years by warning the European Union that he hoped Libya would never have to go back to supporting terrorism.
In a 45-minute harangue in Brussels, flanked by a group of photogenic women bodyguards, he will have caused anxiety to those who have welcomed him back to the fold.
"I hope that we shall not be prompted or obliged by any evil to go back or to look backwards," he said after defending his past support for militant third world freedom fighters.
"We do hope that we shall not be obliged or forced one day to go back to those days when we bombed our cars or put explosive belts around our beds and around our women so that we will not be searched and not be harassed in our bedrooms and in our homes, as it is taking place now in Iraq and in Palestine."
Now I’ll admit that I’m not to crazy about the idea of someone patting me down or going through my pockets. And I particularly hate having to take my shoes off at the airport. But I don’t think I’ve ever been irritated enough that I’ve thought, 'If they search me one more time I swear I’m gonna blow my car up." Nor have I ever said to my wife, 'That’s it honey, if the cops bust in our bedroom one more time while we’re watching 7th Heaven I’ll strap an explosives belt to the Serta." Maybe the Libyan’s need to cut back on their coffee consumption or take some yoga classes or something. They seem to be wound a bit too tight.
No, methinks Qaddafi just realized where he was. He wouldn't have shot off at the mouth were he in New York or Philadelphia, but he figures, what the hell?, what can Europe do? The Europeans have been kissing dictators' ass for the past two hundred years, be they in Moscow, Berlin, Paris, Warsaw, Madrid, Baghdad, or Tripoli.
He was just reminding them of who he is, and who they are.
I just want to know where I can get a 'group of photogenic women bodyguards' for myself....
;-)
I find our current position quite humorous. "No one can have WMD's...except us!" That makes those countries that we threaten to invade pre-emptively because they may have potential WMD programs (even something as dangerous as a fertilizer factory now) sleep well at night I'm sure.
I'm with David on this one. How about a link to a photo of these bodyguarding babes Joe? And when did Gaddafi start acting like a Bond villian anyway?
You nailed it...we will never really be able to depend on this guy. Like Saddam and others, he is primarily concerned not with a cause or a religion, but with himself. In some ways, Gaddafi is no different than the movie star who wants to be taken seriously by making his stand on an issue seem important. Gaddafi realized his violence would no longer sustain him or his reputation, so he took the more profitable route--pool boy for the anti-American EU.