Update: Gaddafi Hijacks UN General Assembly Podium

In a world filled with long-winded political leaders bereft of content, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi excelled in a performance of his own.

Only a few blocks from Broadway, Colonel Gaddafi rambled on for more than an hour and a half, shuffling through his notes, tearing out pages of the U.N. Charter and shaking his hands in anger in a stream of consciousness in the UN General Assembly.

He chastised the United States throughout the speech for stirring up conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and trying to destabilize the Taliban, which he said were not responsible for Al Qaeda's terror bombings. Yet he professed admiration for President Obama, saying, "I would be happy if America was governed by him forever." But Gaddafi said no one "could guarantee" how the United States would be led after Obama left office.

His marathon speech followed the eloquent organized address of President Obama, who was interrupted 11 times by applause. Many leaders then left the hall to greet Obama in a side room, prompting UN General Assembly President Ali Abdussalam Treki (also a Libyan) to delay the opening of Gaddafi's speech by 10 minutes.

(On Thursday, Gaddafi, whose country is a member of the 15-nation UN Security Council, could have gone to a summit-level session on nuclear non-proliferation, chaired by Obama and where speeches were limited to five minutes. Instead he sent his UN ambassador, the only nation not to have a president or prime minister in attendence.)

Crowds Out Sarkozy

Gaddafi's extended speech forced other world leaders, such as French President Nicholas Sarkozy, to speak to a near empty hall through a gala lunch in an attempt to make up lost time.

A large part of Gaddafi's first-ever address to the General Assembly was to castigate the 15-member UN Security Council, "The Security Council did not provide us with security but with terror and sanctions," he said adding that it did nothing to stop what he described as "65 wars" since the world body was founded in 1945. "It should not be called the Security Council but the Terror Council."

While most nations believe the Security Council is unrepresentative, dominated by the World War II victors, Gaddafi wanted it reduced to an executive implementation body, peopled by such bodies as the African Union (of which he is chair) and others. Instead resolutions by the 192 member General Assembly should be binding rather than those of the Security Council. This would mean an island state with 100,000 people would carry the same weight as China or India.

Gaddafi, who is 67 years old and came to power in a coup 40 years ago, remembered all the events he despised in his youth -- the death of Dag Hammarskjold, the second UN Secretary General, killed in a plane crash in 1961 (which he thought might be a conspiracy), the British-French-Israeli attack against the Suez Canal in 1956 and the 1950-1953 Korean War, among others.

Wearing a rust-colored toga-like robe, a black hat and a jeweled black pin of Africa, Gaddafi, like other world leaders, was given a 15-minute time slot, which he pretended did not exist until someone handed him a note minutes before he ended. (Only the US president, as representative of the host country, is allowed to speak longer and Obama talked for 40 minutes.)

Jetlag

In one of his more bizarre diversions, Gaddafi said the United Nations headquarters building should be moved out of New York to a safer city in Europe or elsewhere to avoid terrorist attacks -- and because leaders arrived in the city with jetlag.

"All of you are asleep. All of you are tired, "he said. "I wake up at 4 am before dawn because in Libya it is 11 in the morning."

But Gaddafi apparently is no longer staying in a tent in Bedford, NY, on a Trump property but apparently spent Tuesday night at the Libyan U.N. mission in New York. Hundreds of family members of those killed in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, demonstrated, partly in response to recent celebrations in Libya after the only convicted bomber was freed.

Still, Cuba's Fidel Castro holds the record in the General Assembly, giving a 4 and a 1/2 hours lecture in 1960. But an older Castro in October 1995 gave a short clear speech in the Assembly that marked the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.

Comments

[caroljwj]

I am watching president Obama making his opening remarks at the Security Council meeting. I would not agree with Gaddafi about anything, including that any one person should be our president forever. That being said, what a pleasure it is to see an intelligent person, President Obama, representing us at the U.N. I keep hearing rumors about dick cheney wantng to run for president in 1012. If there isa God in heaven, hopefully mr. cheney will not be available.

[DrJackD]

Ghaddafi did not "HIJACK" the U.N. podium: it was his turn to speak. Look at the Western media instead who "HIJACK" the headline in order to throw more patriotic mud on a legitimate point of view.

[Spiritof1982]

Agreed.

[jakartaman]

Regardless of his lengthy speech, the Libyan President had pointed some pivotal issues that need to be addressed and resolved:

1) The fact that the current organizational structure of the UN has become the body's Achilles heel and therefore in need of fundamental restructuring to accomodate what Pres. Obama calls "new global engagement" efforts in the 21st century
2) The fact that the veto system in the UN Security Council has in the past five decades become the tools of the big power to further prolong the global conflicts for their own strategic interests
3) The fact that the current global situation has changed fundamentally and no nation, no matter how powerful, could really hegemonize the others
4) The fact that the five permanent members of the UNSC have failed to address and adequately resolved major international conflicts that resulted in millions of death
5) The fact that UN Agency such as IAEA has failed to prevent the proliferation of the nuclear weapon and play the role of an independent agency that is capable of scrutinize any wrong doings among its members without fear of intimidation from the big power

The world leaders should pay a serious attention to Pres Gaddafy's points and bring them into the debates. Otherwise his remark that the UN General Assembly is nothing but another " Hyde Park" corner would be right on the money!

[David Rozgonyi]

Without going into my usual arguments in support of Qaddafi (I was born in Libya), and prefacing my comment with my sympathy for the victims of any terrorist act, today I'd rather point out that this outrage over the Pan Am bombings in the 80s is very disingenuous. 19 of 20 men who killed 3000 Americans in New York on 9 11 were Saudi citizens. Has anyone, anywhere, proposed any response directed at that country like what we have done to Libya for 3 decades? In 1986, we (Americans) bombed the man's private residence, killed his daughter, injured four of his sons, and publicly lamented that he wasn't killed as well; this was before Lockerbie. Our own president much later invaded a country and cited a mediocre assassination attempt aimed at his father. Qaddafi is very right about the double standards and hypocrisy in the world today.

[rocketman69]

I'll give you this- someone should have protested Scotland and England for letting the release happen (for whatever reason). Qaddafi has follow all the sanctions against him.

[dobberdoss]

Alot of what he said was spot on! and needed saying, even from a Terrorist. He's looked in the mirror, can the "WEST" say the same?

[Lucile Smith]

I thank everyone should be treated with respect.

[ComradeRutherford]

I, too, listened to his entire speech and agreed with him about 75%.

For example, the US has started numerous pointless wars on innocent civilians all over the globe solely for the profits of the military arms dealers.

The US control over the UN has ensured that the UN can't stop them.

I certainly do not like ruthless dictators like Gadaffi. But no one else is pointing out the obvious like he did.

[stephenlight]

I don't know why I bother, but here goes.

1. The US has never started a war in solely for the profit of military arms dealers. Please cite an example.

2. The US does not control the UN. The UN is a relatively useless instrument because it has no effective sanctions. The most important being a very large military.

3. What brilliant observations do you think the Colonel made? I heard none. Please cite one or two

[dobberdoss]

Just about every war was started or entered into by the US for these reasons! You must be blinded by patriotism. Even WW2 was entered into on the basis of Truman "wanting in" to help the US out of recession after the Great Depression. Truman KNEW of the pending japanese attack at PH well in advance (KNOWN FACT) via a telegraph yet failed to tell the US Navy. Why, he wanted in, but he KNEW the US public did NOT. Nothing beats a "Depression" better than a war to boost military industry and remove many unemployed men from the books NEVER to be seen again.

[mommadona]

1) Iran-Contra
2) Correct, and US is also deadbeat as far as paying dues
3) Correct-he was a bumbling fool on "something"

[Spiritof1982]

The second and third sentences of #2 don't follow from the larger conclusion with which you lead. Logic, son. Logic.

[Dosadi]

I listened to his entire speech, well I tried to listen to it. He rambled on but he did make a few points about the UN that should be addressed and debated. The UN has failed to stop wars instead it has started them, the UN has failed to treat all members equally and the security council is a sham in that it does nothing to promote peace or peaceful coexistence. He may be the bad guy but he brings up points that must be addressed.

[NC4Obama]

The UN is not perfect but it has so far accomplished its major goal of preventing a major war between super powers.

[dobberdoss]

the "strong" only pick on the "weak"

[Spiritof1982]

How about the goal of preventing any war? (Which was the real major goal of the UN at its outset)

[culturevue]

Even the devil can tell the truth. I'm glad to see some people like you and ComradeRutherford can admit to those things that are true instead of this blind bashing by most others, including so-called journalists.

[TruthJusticeForAll]

Daffi Kadaffi strikes again. Some things do not change.