Moammar Qaddafi: what got into him?

National Review, Jan 26, 2004 by Roman Genn

* Before the U.N. in March, Kofi Annan declared, "We are living through a moment of deep divisions ... You [the Security Council] have it in your power to deepen those divisions, or to begin to heal them. I appeal to all of you to choose the latter course." Annan should practice what he preaches; he and anti-war member states don't want to aid Iraq as long as the U.S. maintains a military presence there. Thankfully Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq's interim foreign minister, condemned this smallness before the Security Council: "Settling scores with the United States-led coalition should not be at the cost of helping to bring stability to the Iraqi people." And for the record: "The U.N. as an organization failed to help rescue the Iraqi people from a murderous tyranny that lasted over 35 years, and today we are unearthing thousands of victims in horrifying testament to that failure." Reportedly Annan "appeared taken aback" by Zebari's stirring comments, retorting that "now is not the time to pin blame and point fingers." Oh? When would be?

* Egypt aspires to be an honest broker between Israel and the Palestinians. To that end, its foreign minister Ahmed Maher went to Jerusalem to confer with Israelis, including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. All went well. Maher is a man of 68, and in the manner of senior Egyptian officials, eminently respectable and self-controlled. After his meetings, Maher visited Al Aqsa mosque, in a precinct sacred to Muslims and Jews, hence at the core of the trouble--a visit there by Sharon in 2000 is central to local demonology. As Maher entered the mosque, Islamist extremists set upon him, shouting "Collaborator!" and "Traitor!" and pelting him with shoes. His Egyptian security guards and Israeli police protected him from serious injury, but Maher has a weak heart and was heard to say more than once, "I'm going to choke." A photograph went round the world of the poor man caught by the mob, his mouth wide open and his eyes popping out of his head with dread. An ambulance took him to an Israeli hospital, where Sharon soon rang him to say he was sorry to hear what had happened. Palestinian officials speak of their shame at the incident, and to make amends they have invited Maher to return and address their legislature in Ramallah. But Palestinians have evidently created for themselves a sort of mass psychosis which makes it hard to recognize even fellow Arabs who would like to help.

* Something happened in Cuba that ought to thrill the heart of every freedom-lover. On the front page of Granma--Cuba's Pravda--a picture of Fidel Castro appeared, as usual. But not as usual: Someone--some glorious, perhaps doomed someone--had doctored the photo subtly to make the Maximum Leader look a little like an earlier maximum leader: Adolf Hitler. When this staggeringly audacious prank was discovered, the regime did everything possible to confiscate all copies. And the prank received little press coverage internationally. But this was one of the most daring acts imaginable in a totalitarian society, something worthy of Orwell. If the photo-alterer is discovered, he will almost certainly be tortured and killed. That fate has befallen many who have done less. But this Cuban will live in the annals of anti-totalitarian dissent.