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On 3/3/2011 11:43 AM, Walter Lippmann wrote:
The Libyan leader accused foreign news media and governments of
deliberately lying about the real situation in his country, and
denied that there was a peaceful, popular anti-government
revolt.
Yes, why don't they report the truth?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/24/us-libya-protests-gaddafi-idUSTRE71N4NI20110224
Gaddafi says protesters are on hallucinogenic drugs
Thu, Feb 24 2011
CAIRO (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi blamed a revolt against his rule
on al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on Thursday, and said the
protesters were fueled by milk and Nescafe spiked with
hallucinogenic drugs, in a rambling appeal for calm.
Gaddafi, who just two days ago vowed in a televised address to
crush the revolt and fight to the last, showed none of the
fist-thumping rage of that speech.
This time, he spoke to state television by telephone without
appearing in person, and his tone seemed more conciliatory, with
much of his country out of government control.
"Their ages are 17. They give them pills at night, they put
hallucinatory pills in their drinks, their milk, their coffee,
their Nescafe," said Gaddafi.
"They are criminals ... is it logical that you let this phenomenon
continue in any city? ... We do not see what is happening in Egypt
and Tunisia happening in Libya, ever!"
"Those (in Egypt and Tunisia) are people needing their governments
and they have demands; our power is in the hands of the people,"
he said, a typical reference to his idiosyncratic rule, which he
says is based on giving power direct to the people.
Gaddafi, battling to preserve his 41-year rule and his "Third
Universal Theory," outlined in his "Green Book," offered
condolences to those killed in the bloodshed and called for calm
among people he said were fighting among themselves. Saying bin
Laden was "the real criminal," Gaddafi urged Libyans not be swayed
by the al Qaeda leader.
Libyan authorities tend to group anyone who challenges the ruling
system under the umbrella of al Qaeda, and anyone accused of
association with the group is likely to face extrajudicial punishment.
"Bin Laden ... this is the enemy who is manipulating people,"
Gaddafi said, adding: "Do not be swayed by bin Laden."
"From a national, moral, ethical standpoint ... they should stop.
I have no authority stemming from laws or decisions or anything
else, I just have moral authority. I only have moral authority,"
he said.
Gaddafi has long sought to present himself as figurehead of a
revolution that is led by the people, rather than a traditional
executive head of state.
"No sane person" would join the protests against his rule, Gaddafi
said, calling on citizens to disarm those who were protesting.
"Remember in the Iraq war: the United States and Britain said they
had reason to intervene. Qaeda and the international terrorists
work together ... Saddam Hussein had a relationship to al Qaeda
... look what America did," he said.
Referring to violent clashes taking place in the town of Zawiyah,
about 50 km (30 miles) from the capital Tripoli, Gaddafi said:
"What is happening in Zawiyah is a farce ... Sane men don't enter
such a farce."
"You people of Zawiyah, stop your children, take their weapons,
bring them away from Bin Laden, the pills will kill them," he
said. "Leave the country calm."
(Reporting by Cairo bureau, Writing by Peter Millership and Edmund
Blair)
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