Col. Muammar Al-Qaddafi Delivers an Earful at the U.N. Assembly
Toni S. Johnson
After 40 years in leadership, Libyan leader Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi had a lot to say at the last U.N. General Assembly, September 24. At his first appearance at the U.N. ever, Colonel Qaddafi apparently ignored the red light that signals the heads of states that they have passed the allotted 15 minute time limit.
Just what did he have to say for almost 90 minutes?
Colonel Qaddafi went on about many topics including: those who cause “mass murder” in Iraq should be tried; he defended the right for the Taliban to establish an Islamic emirate; suggested that swine flu was a laboratory experiment, cooked up; and he demanded an investigation of the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.
He mentioned that the headquarters of the United Nations should be moved to Libya because too many leaders have to suffer jet lag and understandable security measures from the attacks on New York by Al Qaeda are too strict and cumbersome.
 Not short of commending the United States, he praised the fact that we have elected, “a son of Africa,” Obama, as our leader.
Colonel Qaddafi also demanded that there be an African seat on the Security Council and said the council “is a political feudalism for those who have a permanent seat.” He went on about the council saying, “Permanent is something for God only. We are not fools to give the power of veto to great powers so they can use us and treat us as second-class citizens.” To prove his point, he waved a copy of the Untied Nations charter in the air, mumbled in Arabic that he did not, “recognize the authority of the document,” and ripped it up.
With all the dramatics, is this what we call insane?
News reporters and newspapers said that Colonel Qaddafi repeatedly called Obama, “his son.” But Colonel Qaddafi’s actually said that Obama is a “son of Africa,” referring to the President’s father’s roots in Kenya.
Why doesn’t Africa have a seat on the Security Council and what’s wrong with him wanting Libya to host the U.N. headquarters? Our President recently went to Copenhagen to put in a bid to bring the 2016 Olympics to the United States.
Were the Colonel’s curses from world leaders strictly because they were off schedule for their own speeches, meetings or lunch? “They were not happy,” Chilean ambassador Heraldo Munoz said.
Although Stephen Schlesinger, a historian of the U.N. body noted that, “nobody has ever done a real study of the General Assembly speeches because nobody listens to them.” He went on to say that only the controversial leaders really attract the attention.
President Fidel Castro of Cuba, had similar attention in 1960 when he went on about the fact that weak states are likely to “face aggression from the American superpower.”
This brings up the question-just what is the General Assembly for? A report on the Assembly said , "The sixty-fourth General Assembly shows a UN rising to the challenges of today’s world. We are confronting the big issues of the day –- climate change, disarmament, the financial crisis and Millennium Development Goals, key issues of peace and security. No nation can solve these alone." Aren’t swine flu, terror, the Taliban, and assassinations of prominent American men key issues of peace and security? Does it matter what platform or who brings up the topics at hand?
Although disrespecting the rules and insulting the council may not be the best way to bring important issues to the public, bringing them up is essential in solving the world’s issues.
The U.N. Charter states that one of the main functions of the General Assembly is to provide “a unique forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the U.N. Charter.” If that is one of the key purposes of the General Assembly, Colonel Qaddafi may not be insane—he may just be speaking loud enough for someone to hear.
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