Gaddafi's Libya: An Ally for America?

Dear Ben Barber,

You presented some very interesting ideas about Libya in your Washington Post op-ed.  I found particularly interesting your ideas about Col. Qaddafi's experiments with direct democracy and efficient government.   I know just the person you should talk to about these ideas - a brave journalist exposing official corruption in Libya by the name of Dhayf al-Gazzal.  Be careful shaking his hand, though, because about a year and a half ago he had his fingers cut off before his body was riddled with bullets and abandoned in the desert. Hey, wasn't that right around the time you were having such pleasant chats about direct democracy and the Green Book with the flexible and adaptive Colonel? How embarrassing!    Anyway, since he's dead, he might not be as vivacious a conversationalist as Col Qaddafi. But I'm sure he'd be fascinated by your notions of Qaddafi's enlightened rule and might even have some notes.

All best,
etcetera...

PS Have you met my friend Ken Silverstein?

Comments

[The Lounsbury]

Kha.

He is a charming if strange conversationalist, our Colonel.

But I glad Mr Barber understands the Guide truly means what he says (at that moment).

[moloch-agonistes]

Well, Barber responds, Saddam cut off people's fingers and dumped their bodies in the desert too, so we toppled him out of purely altruistic motives, and look where it got us. Several hundred thousand deaths later, we're probably going to have to fund another dictator. Isn't it more humanitarian to take autocrats' absurd cover stories at face value?