The king’s (totally crazy) speech: selections from Gadhafi’s address
On Tuesday, Moammar Gadhafi addressed Libyans on state television while his security forces waged a pitched and violent battle against anti-government protesters on the streets of Tripoli and Benghazi. Gadhafi, always up for a good ramble, didn’t disappoint. His remarks—all 73 minutes of them—were typically incoherent and contradictory. If the reality on the ground weren’t so serious—hundreds killed; complete civil collapse—they might even be funny.
ON GRATITUDE:
“Those who want glory should remember the evacuation of the Americans, and the Great [Manmade] River, and the return of oil in Libya, and the nationalization of companies. Now 90 per cent of these companies you own, and only 10 per cent are owned by foreign [agents].”
ON HOW HE WILL NOT USE FORCE—UNLESS HE USES FORCE, WHICH WOULD BE ALLOWED UNDER THE CONSTITUTION HE INVENTED:
“We will not use force again. The force is on the side of the Libyan people. If matters require the use of force, we will use force according to international law and according to Libyan laws and [the] constitution.”
ON WHO’S IN CHARGE:
“If I had the position, if I were the president, I would have resigned. I would have thrown my resignation in your face. But I have no position, no post. I have nothing to resign from. I have my gun, my rifle to fight for Libya.”
“Moammar Gadhafi is not the president, he is the leader of the revolution.”
“I am a fighter, a revolutionary from tents…I will die as a martyr at the end.”
ON SOBRIETY AS VIRTUE:
“A small group of young people who have taken drugs have attacked police stations like mice… They have taken advantage of this peace and stability. However it is not their fault, these young people; they tried to imitate what happened in Tunisia … However there is a small group of sick people that has infiltrated cities that are circulating drugs and money.”
ON KEEPING A COOL HEAD:
“Leave your homes and attack them in their lairs. They are taking your children and getting them drunk and sending them to death. For what? To destroy Libya, burn Libya.”
“I have not yet ordered the use of force, not yet ordered one bullet to be fired…when I do, everything will burn.”
ON WHAT’S AT STAKE:
“Do you want America to occupy you, like Afghanistan and Iraq?”
ON THE APPARENT HEALTH BENEFITS OF EMPLOYING A VOLUPTUOUS UKRAINIAN NURSE:
“Moammar Gadhafi is not a normal person that you can poison.. or lead a revolution against”
ON HOW PROTESTS ARE PASSÉ:
“They are just imitating Egypt and Tunisia.”