The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Moammar’s Very, Very Bad Day

Posted on | February 22, 2011 | 5 Comments

I’m suffering with a head cold today, but it could be worse. At least I’m not Moammar Qaddafi:

Influential Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi has issued a fatwa that any Libyan soldier who can shoot dead embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi should do so ‘to rid Libya of him.’

One thing that always annoyed me about this guy is that nobody could ever agree on how to spell his name. Also, he’s a murderous dictator:

The bodies of protesters shot to death by forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi were left on the streets of a restive district in the Libyan capital Tuesday, an opposition activist and a resident said, while the longtime leader defiantly went on state TV to show he was still in charge.
The eruption of turmoil in the capital after a week of protests and bloody clashes in Libya’s eastern cities has sharply escalated the challenge to Gadhafi. His security forces have unleashed the bloodiest crackdown of any Arab country against the wave of protests sweeping the region, which toppled leaders of Egypt and Tunisia.

So he’s killing innocent civilians and nobody can decide whether he’s “Muammar Gaddafi” or “Moammar Gadhafi.” That’s two strikes against him. The New York Times has yet another spelling of his name:

Libya appeared to slip further from the grip of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi on Tuesday, as opposition forces in eastern Libya moved to consolidate control of the region, arming themselves with weapons taken from security warehouses, and fighting continued in Tripoli, witnesses said.
In Tripoli, the capital, the government was striking back at protesters challenging Colonel Qaddafi’s 40-year rule. Security forces and militiamen backed by helicopters and warplanes besieged parts of the city overnight, according to witnesses and news reports from Tripoli.

That’s the biggest puzzle about Qaddafi: If you’re the dictator, why are you still only a colonel? Couldn’t you promote yourself to general? Heck, why not go for field marshall while you’re at it.

All these news accounts, by the way, were filed from Cairo, Egypt, probably because the reporters were afraid that if they went to Libya, they’d be arrested for misspelling the dictator’s name. Here’s some video:

Lots of commentary on the Libyan situation at Memeorandum. I’ll refrain from offering any opinion, because obviously if I can’t even spell the dictator’s name — and all I’ve got to go on is second-hand accounts filed from Cairo — I lack enough facts to form an opinion worth sharing. Allahpundit did a good round-up yesterday of what we actually know about Libya, which is to say, “Not a heckuva lot.”

Category: Libya

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