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Gadhafi Rant: Not All Nonsense

Buried in 96-minute diatribe was a smart UN reform proposal

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 24, 2009 8:36 AM CDT

(Newser) – His swine flu conspiracy theories and who-shot-JFK musings may have got the headlines, but Moammar Gadhafi actually made a few good points during his 96-minute monologue at the UN General Assembly, blogs Gideon Rachman. The Libyan colonel is totally right that the Security Council is outdated and doesn't represent the world well, and he accurately outlined the difficulties of reform: offer one country a seat and another pops right up. Unfortunately, calling it "the terror council" does tend to turn fellow UN reformers off.

Gadhafi even proposed a smart solution, giving seats to regional groups like the EU and African Union instead of individual nations. For the Financial Times columnist, "many of Gadhafi’s statements, which will be scorned in the West, actually probably resonate in the developing world." In fact, when talking about Security Council reform the colonel sounded a lot like Lula—although the president of Brazil doesn't get introduced as "king of kings and father of the revolution."

[Images (4)]

[Quotes (1)]

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi addresses the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi speaks at the 64th session of the General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi walks down the aisle to speak at the 64th session of the General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

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He looks strangely youthful for a man who seized power in 1969—but youthful in an eerie, artificial way that reminded me a bit of Michael Jackson. He’s definitely had 'work' done. But then that is true of a lot of people
in New York. -

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Gadhafi Rant: Not All Nonsense