Watching rebel gunmen rampage through Col. Muammar Gadaffi's Bab al-Aziziya compound — once Tripoli's Forbidden City of Tripoli — was a strange experience for me. I spent an evening there with Gadaffi in 1987, a year after it was bombed by US warplanes. Libya's "Brother Leader" talked about the Mideast, Palestine, North Africa. He led... Read More

After 43 years of eccentric, zany, or comical rule, underscored by Western charges of terrorism, it appears the era of Libya's Col. Muammar Gadaffi, once called by Ronald Reagan, "the mad dog of the Middle East," is over. Col. Gadaffi has been the longest-ruling Arab leader. His sons, who were positioned to succeed him, are... Read More

Muammar Gadaffi's Libya may not be sinking yet, but it's low in the water and springing new leaks by the day. Italy, a key player in North Africa, sniffed the winds of change, then decided to abandon old ally Gadaffi and recognize the revolutionary junta in Benghazi. Last Wednesday, Libya's Foreign Minister, Moussa Koussa, dressed... Read More

The finest strategic thinker of the 20th century, Britain’s Maj. Gen. J.F.C. Fuller, wrote the object of war is achieving political goals, not military victory. Politicians keep forgetting Fuller’s dictum. The last examples of wars without defined political objectives were Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Welcome a fourth: Libya. US foreign policy is becoming permanently militarized.... Read More

With déjà vu we see US cruise missiles being launched from the sea, Libyan AA firing helplessly into the night sky at invisible B-2 heavy bombers, and the burning wreckage of armor and vehicles on desert roads. Here we go again! It's Iraqi-style shock and awe for Libya. Let's get that nasty Saracen, Muammar Gadaffi,... Read More

I recently wrote that Libya's "Leader," Muammar Gadaffi, had used up all of his nine lives. After being written off by great powers and world media, Gadaffi, the dictator we love to hate, is still in power and making rude gestures at his assorted foes. We should call Gadaffi Mr. Lucky. As the western powers... Read More

The US media, perfectly described by Israeli thinker Uri Avnery as "a mixture of propaganda, news and entertainment," is steaming with righteous indignation over the awfulness of Libya's wicked Colonel Muammar Gadaffi, and is once again baying for his blood. "On to Libya! Down with the Tyrant of Tripoli!" That's the latest hue and cry... Read More

Watching Col. Muammar Gadaffi deliver a bombastic, defiant speech last week from the ruins of Tripoli's Bab al-Azizia barracks brought me back to 1987 when Libya's leader led me by the hand through this same wreckage of his former residence. On 14 April, 1986, US aircraft attacked Libya after a Berlin disco frequented by US... Read More

Muammar Qaddafi has used up twelve of his nine lives, but he still keeps going strong. He came to power — with some help from CIA it is whispered — in a 1969 coup against Libya's doddering, British-run puppet king, Idris. Forty years in power in the Mideast is a remarkable feat. President Ronald Reagan... Read More

If you ever wonder why journalists become cynical, look at this week's events in Italy and Libya. Romano Prodi's new centre-left coalition, which won power April 9 in a razor-thin vote, appointed Giorgio Napolitano, leader of Italy's "reformed" Communist Party, to be president of Italy. This position is mostly ceremonial but commands great prestige. It... Read More