Blatant Reality

It seems that the Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is trying to appease the United States while simultaneously denouncing us to the rest of the Arab world. In a summit held today, he went off on a rant warning that after the United States toppling of Saddam’s regime, no Arab country is safe and that “your turn is next.”

“Your turn is next,” Gadhafi told the leaders, some of whom looked stunned while others broke into laughter at his frankness. “Destruction will be yours.”

 

In recent years, Gadhafi has dramatically repaired ties with the United States — once his top enemy — by giving up his country’s weapons of mass destruction programs and paying compensation for the 1988 Pan Am bombing. Libya is hoping for a landmark visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, though one is still not set, and has stepped up economic ties to the West.

 

Still, that hasn’t stopped Gadhafi from denouncing U.S. domination of the world and criticizing other Arab countries for their closeness to Washington.

I don’t know about you, but I think that this really doesn’t sound like someone we want to get too close to. It seems all Gadhafi wants to do is lull us into thinking that he isn’t dangerous and then stab us in the back. Its like he is taking the whole “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer” thing to heart.

We are obviously one of his enemies.

Rebels in Chad have surrounded the presidential palace today in the capital city of N’Djamena.

Chadian rebels surrounded the presidential palace in N’Djamena on Saturday after storming into the capital, and France began evacuating French and foreign nationals from the city.

 

After a day of fierce clashes in the streets of N’Djamena, there was speculation about the whereabouts of President Idriss Deby, but at least two of his ministers said he remained inside the palace complex at the head of loyal troops.

 

The official Libyan news agency JANA reported one of the leaders of the rebels, Mahamat Nouri, had agreed to a ceasefire and negotiations with government forces following mediation by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

 

But a rebel spokesman, Henchi Ordjo, told Reuters that the rebel fighters were simply holding back an assault on the palace to allow Deby the opportunity to leave.

The United States has condemned the the action of the rebels and the African Union has threatened to kick Chad out of the AU if the insurgents take power. For those of you who had no idea that Chad was even a nation let alone in a state of civil upheaval, go here for some facts about the country and here for a timeline.

Last night, a United States’ diplomat in Sudan was gunned down on his way home from a New Years Eve Party.

In Washington, the United States Agency for International Development identified the victim as one of its officials, John Granville, 33, originally of Buffalo, N.Y. American officials said it was “too early to tell” if the shooting was random or planned, but Sudanese officials said the circumstances were suspicious, especially because gun crime is rare in Khartoum, considered one of the safest cities in Africa.

 

The United Nations had recently warned its staff in Sudan that there was credible evidence that a terrorist cell was in the country and planning to attack foreigners.

Jimmy Carter recently said that the situation in Darfur isn’t a genocide according to the textbook definition. Here’s Hot Air’s take on it.