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JFK, Swine Flu Plots: Gadhafi Covers All

By John Johnson,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 23, 2009 2:40 PM CDT

(Newser) – Maybe he just needs a good night's sleep (somewhere). Moammar Gadhafi made such a long and rambling speech today—his main point seemed to be to rail against the Security Council's power—that he wore out his first translator. Some odds and ends:

  • He suggested Israel had a hand in the JFK assassination.
  • Swine flu might be a military weapon that leaked from a lab.
  • He complained at length of jet lag and having to get up early for the meeting.
  • On that note, he suggested moving the UN out of New York: "You will thank me for not having to travel for 20 hours to this place."

  • He suggested Isratine as the name of a single Israeli-Palestinian state.
  • He tore the edge off a copy of the UN charter, saying only its preamble was legit.
  • At one point, he grabbed an audio device to check on his translation.
  • He called for investigations into the major wars since the UN was founded, then listed many of them.
  • His handwritten notes appeared to be scrawled at different angles and in different colors.
  • By the time he wrapped up after 96 minutes, the hall was half-empty.

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi beaks with protocol and walks down the aisle to speak during his address.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi beaks with protocol and walks down the aisle to speak during his address.   (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, right, reads a note delivered during his long address.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, right, reads a note delivered during his long address.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi addresses the General Assembly.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi addresses the General Assembly.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 18 comments
divetrader
Oct 4, 2009 4:44 AM CDT
Imagine the torture he puts his people thru every time he gives a speech. The whole country suffers.
fancygapva
Sep 24, 2009 12:42 PM CDT
You know, why should we expect that a man raised in a part of the world remote from the west in a tribal culture would think or act as we do? In the desert when a lion is coming for the tribal goats you need a strong headman who will look after the tribe. He gets a bigger part of the take, but he makes the decisions when there is no time to "caucus" about a situation, and when the goats are slaughtered everyone is fed. Why do we try to force western thought on people with thousands of years of history telling them something else and only a couple of generations of exposure to "democracy" that in no way fits their culture? If he sounds like a western conspiracy theorist we're missing something. He sounds like someone who is reading us through a different cultural lense and maybe a lifetime of good hash instead of alcohol. A westerner with the same ideas is a little nuts because he presumably was brought up IN this culture on alcohol and TV.
schmidtkoff
Sep 24, 2009 10:47 AM CDT
i think a more fitting scenario is to put him in an elevator in the former sears tower and express him up to the 110th floor.

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