Gadhafi tried to rape a Western reporter
I'm sure you'll all be shocked - just shocked - at Benny Morris' disclosure that Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi once tried to rape a Western reporter (Hat Tip: Elder of Ziyon). The Arab world – as embodied in the Arab League – for decades, perhaps not happily, covered and apologised for this bizarre creature, pardoning his barbarism and ignoring his laughable, and sometimes deadly, quirks. Of course, his fellow Arab leaders, to a man, had all tortured and jailed and murdered their opponents. Still, in many ways Qaddafi outdid them. His Green Book was full of gibberish, rivalled in nonsense only by Mao's Red Book; he wore weird hats and large dark sunglasses and had a constant three-day bristle (in this he seems to have consciously aped Yasser Arafat). And, of course, Qaddafi – of beduin extraction - made a point of living (or at least appearing to live) in a tent in the backyard of one of his palaces (and in New York City and other places; tents have the virtue of travelling well).A shame but oh so common. A year or two ago an American network covered up in return for access to key government officials in a Muslim country (I think it was Iran, but I can't find it in Google). Closer to home, an Italian network apologized to the 'Palestinian Authority' for doing its job and covering the lynch of two IDF soldiers - with video - in 2000. So why should we be surprised when a Western network covers up an attempted rape perpetrated against one of its own correspondents by the local despot? Isn't it always this way?
Which reminds me of a story a fine, young journalist once told me about her experiences in Tripoli. It was in the 1980s, I think. She had come to interview Qaddafi. She was ushered into the famous tent. Qaddafi sent his aides away and the two of them shared lunch. And then Qaddafi tried to caress her. Flustered, she got up to leave. He then chased her around the table, bent on rape. She was brave and apparently fit; she outran him, at least long enough for his aides to rush in at the sound of her screams. Rape averted.
It is a shame journalists did not usually publish their impressions of and experiences with Qaddafi. This no doubt facilitated Western and Arab acceptance of cooperation with this almost unique, base specimen of humanity (perhaps Saddam Hussein came closest).
Labels: Benny Morris, Muammar Gaddafi, rape
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:54 PM
3 Comments:
The more you know, the more horrified you get...
(not an old NBC PSA slogan--though it should be
This is not a new story. Reports were he regularly hit on Western women invited into the tent for interviews. Sometimes he'd give a little speech about how lonely it was to be Gadhafi.
Just goes to show how Gadhafi respects women. I do believe this story and find him totally disgusting. He is just too full of himself.
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