Fausta's blog

Debauched "former" terrorist supports Obama, with conditions:
KADHAFI ALL OUT: FROM OBAMA TO "ISRASTINE" AND OIL (emphasis added)

"Africa and the Arab world are ready to back and finance Barack Obama as long as he helps the oppressed populations", said the Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, calling however on the US democratic presidential candidate to not always defend Israel at all costs, as all American presidents have done so far

He of the many spellings proposed a new country, "Israstine""

Kadhafi, speaking in occasion of the 38th anniversary of the expulsion of the Americans from an old base near Tripoli, also urged the government of Tel Aviv to accept the prospective of cohabiting "with the Palestinians in one state" that could be called 'Israstine' (also 'Isratine', according to another version). In regard to the exiting US President, Kadhafi merely said that he proceeded in his "evil warmonger" policies, accusing him of being behind the skyrocketing oil prices, also because he managed to weaken the value of the dollar used to calculate the price.

While he was at it, Gadafy managed to insult Obama while demanding that

Obama should promise to give Africa the money Washington allocates to Israel to "build a dam on the Congo river to supply the whole African continent with power", he urged. "We fear that Obama will feel that, because he is black with an inferiority complex, this will make him behave worse than the whites. This will be a tragedy," Gadafy added. "We tell him to be proud of himself as a black and feel that all Africa is behind him."

No word as to whether he was in the company of his thirty virgins.

UPDATE
Who looks worse, Gadafy/Kadhafi, or Keith Richards?
I post, you decide:


Sunday, 15 June
Reader Pat Patterson reminds us of Gene Simmons: Who looks worse, then, Gadafy/Kadhafi, Keith Richards, or Gene Simmons?


(h/t the Baron)



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Labels: Barack Obama, Election2008, Israel, Libya, politics

map via BBC

Investor's Business Daily has an excellent editorial today: Colombia Has Earned Its Trade Pact

After the March 1 strike against a FARC compound in Ecuador, Colombia's intelligence agencies immediately seized the pirate's trove of information from the computers of terrorist Raul Reyes and put it to work.

They found that FARC was more than a local bunch of jungle-dwelling drug-runners. It turned out to be a 21st-century terror operation whose global operations reached deep into Mexico, Ecuador, Cuba, Russia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

In some nations, FARC controlled drug routes and raised money. In others, it bought weapons of war. In still others, it exported Marxist subversion. It also had bigger ambitions to forge ties with North Korea, Iran and China.

With $300 million in sponsorship from Venezuela, it also had a bright future. If it hadn't been stopped dead by Colombia on the Ecuadorean frontier, it might have succeeded in all it was plotting.

FARC might have obtained enriched uranium, either to sell to other terrorists or to make a dirty bomb of its own. Computer correspondence shows that FARC offered millions for 50 kilograms of enriched uranium to one shady figure in Bogota.

Meanwhile, according to Colombia's El Espectador, Reyes made a secret trip to Romania to scope out sellers. With uranium in hand, FARC could have taken out a city, possibly one in the U.S. In 2000, FARC sought a $100 million loan from Libya's Muammar Qaddafi to purchase surface-to-air missiles.

Colombia's swift use of intelligence also may have contributed to the fall of Victor Bout, a Russian weapons trafficker whose arms sales to savage regimes made him known as "The Lord of War." He was not only a FARC quartermaster. He also supplied guns to Afghanistan's Taliban, al-Qaida in Iraq and the monstrous warlords who scourged western Africa in the 1990s.

Five days after Reyes' computer was confiscated, Bout somehow was lured out of his hiding place for a Drug Enforcement Administration sting. He now sits in a Bangkok jail.

American lawmen had access to information from Reyes' computers, and it is likely something there persuaded Bout that it was safe to go to Bangkok. Taking him out of circulation will cut off arms to rogue actors in war-plagued regions such as Africa, as well as save American troops' lives on overseas fronts.

Then there's Mexico. In the March 1 raid, the Colombian army blew away five Mexican nationals whom some believe were taking a FARC explosives course.

Only about 5% of the data in the FARC computers has been explored by Colombian experts, and further revelations are likely. But what already has been mined shows how much Colombia has contributed to America's security.

Its time to grant Colombia the trade pact. Where is Congress?



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Labels: Colombia, Ecuador, FARC, Latin America, Libya, Venezuela, Viktor Bout

Sarko's been trying hard to re-establish France as a power in the Middle East, and has plans for a French naval base in Abu Dhabi.

First, there are the nuclear deals with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Libya, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco:
Sarkozy Pushes Nuclear Energy in Mideast

Currently the world's most aggressive salesman for nuclear power, Sarkozy has visited multiple Muslim states in the last six weeks -- including the globe's biggest oil producers -- to peddle French nuclear technology or make multibillion-dollar deals.

"Why should Arab countries be deprived of the energy of the future?"

Why indeed, when they have the mullahs breathing down their necks? Especially if companies that develop and build the nuclear power plants are owned primarily by the French government?

Sarko's nuclear proliferation plans don't stop with a vision of a Mediterranean cooperation council (whatever that may mean),

Argentina, Chile, Vietnam and Indonesia also are reportedly discussing the possibility of buying French-designed reactors.

May I indulge in a little speculation? Let's say that Hugo persuades the FARC to release French-Colombian citizen Ingrid Betancourt. Woudln't Venezuela be included in this group?

But I digress.

As part of Sarko's Middle East vision, he's signed a deal with Abu Dhabi for a permanent French naval base:

This projects France into the complex politics of the Gulf, identifying it even more closely with Gulf Arab countries which have expressed concern about the future policies of Iran.

President Sarkozy appears willing to accept that this exposes France to the risks involved in such a sensitive area, highlighted by the confrontation between Iranian speedboats and US naval ships recently. There is also a dispute between Abu Dhabi and Iran over three small islands in the Strait of Hormuz. The president said the base was agreed at the request of the Emirates.

That's in addition to the two nuclear power reactors that the French will build in Abu Dhabi.

Nuclear proliferation, and military expansion, a la francaise.

Never mind a mild whiff of realpolitik

The French base agreement coincides with a major visit to the region by President Bush, during which he has criticised Iran.

France might be seen as aligning itself more openly with the US, which maintains its own large base in Bahrain for the Fifth Fleet and which has also been selling arms to Gulf countries.

Speculation welcome in the comments section.


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Labels: Abu Dhabi, Algeria, Argentina, Chile, Egypt, France, Iran, Libya, Middle East, Morocco, Nicolas Sakozy, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Vietnam

Yesterday Siggy and I had the pleasure of talking to Erik Svane of No Pasaran.



(Yes, every time I post Erik's photo a couple of people email saying that he's easy on the eyes, so I'm happy to oblige.)

You can listen to the podcast here.

We started by mentioning Eugene Schlanger's excellent book of poems Wall Street Sonnets, which I highly recommend (and which you can buy at the Underbahn link if you live in the EU. American readers should buy it here). Underbahn is also the publisher of Houdna

Erik's written three books, La Bannière Étalée, and two General Leonardo graphic novels, all of which I hope will be available in English soon. Don't miss also Erik's essay on patriotism.

Erick recommends James W. Ceaser's book Reconstructing America: The Symbol of America in Modern Thought

But as the conversation turned to Gaddafi's current trip to the EU, Siggy mentioned Gaddafi's big water project. Mind you, this is not new - but it carries huge implications to the region.

Here are some links:
Libya's Vast Pipe Dream Taps Into Desert's Ice Age Water

From a 2004 article in the NYT: Libya's Vast Pipe Dream Taps Into Desert's Ice Age Water

In one of the largest construction projects in the world, engineers are trying to "mine" ice age rainfall, now locked in the sandstone beneath the Sahara, and convey it to Libyan cities and farms along a vast waterworks.

The project is almost invisible, except when something goes wrong.
...
But the option that Colonel Qaddafi chose — the extensive pipeline and pumping system that bores into the earth to draw down nonrenewable reserves of fossil water — is now about half completed on a landscape twice the size of Texas and has been delivering water for more than a decade, with occasional interruptions for repairs.

And 2006 at the BBC: Libya's thirst for 'fossil water'

Libya had oil money to pay for the project, but it did not have the technical or engineering expertise for such a massive undertaking.

Foreign companies from South Korea, Turkey, Germany, Japan, the Philippines and the UK were invited to help.

It is impossible not to be impressed with the scale of the project
In September 1993, Phase I water from eastern well-fields at Sarir and Tazerbo reached Benghazi. Three years later, Phase II, bringing water to Tripoli from western well-fields at Jebel Hassouna, was completed.

Phase III which links the first two Phases is still under construction.


When it's finished, the Grand Omar Mukhtar will be Libya's largest man-made reservoir.

Siggy will be posting on this later on, I hope.

For now, go listen to the podcast. I'm sure you will enjoy it!



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Labels: Erik Svane, EU, France, Libya, No-Pasaran, podcasts, Sigmund Carl and Alfred, water

He came, he pitched a tent, he conquered, and now he's in Spain.

The EUropean's favorite tyrant du jour arrived in Spain, along with 300 attendants. 30 bodyguard babes and a camel, and pitched his tent at the Palacio del Pardo, but first he stopped by Hacienda La Boticaria hotel, 11 miles southeast of Seville, smack in the heart of Al-Andalus.



Apparently some in France were relieved to see him go, particularly after

Gaddafi also took a boat trip down the Seine, after insisting that all the capital's bridges be closed to traffic and pedestrians. On Thursday his bodyguards came to blows in the lobby of the Ritz Hotel with security personnel accompanying former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Never mind that pseky torture lawsuit; Muammar's been immune from prosecution in France since 2001.

It's not clear whether the French deals involved 10 billion euros, or 3 billion euros. What's interesting is that this tour is part of a planned "Mediterranean Union", one of Sarko's pet projects:

To Sarkozy Libya is a linchpin in his plan for a "Mediterranean Union" to defuse tension with Muslim countries.

But back to Gaddafi/Gadhafi/Kadhafi, or however you spell it, he pitched his tent in the King's back yard, so to speak:

He visited France last week and paid a private visit to the Andalusia region of southern Spain over the weekend. On Monday he held talks with Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and King Juan Carlos and on Tuesday he is scheduled to meet business representatives. It is the Libyan leader's first official trip to Spain.

He was greeted at Madrid airport by Defense Minister Jose Antonio Alonso. He then traveled to El Pardo palace on the Spanish capital's outskirts where he was greeted by the king.

In keeping with the desert tradition of his region, Gadhafi has had a green Bedouin tent set up in the gardens of the Pardo to receive guests. The Pardo palace is the official residence for dignitaries visiting Spain.

Borrowing a page from Hugo, Gaddafi's danging the oil money carrot:

Spanish firms could also secure bids for 10 billion of the 50 billion dollars which Libya plans to spend to develop its infrastructure, the statement added.

As Aquiles reminds us, Dealing with ex-pariahs is a ticklish business.

We'll see how this 3-ring circus turns out.

1988 is a century away...

UPDATE
Via the Baron, it turns that Gaddafi's a champion of women: FRANCE-LIBYA: I WANT TO SAVE THE EUROPEAN WOMEN, GADDAFI (I took the liberty of highlighting how much of an Alan Alda he is)

PARIS, DECEMBER 13 - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi showed himself as champion of women's rights, including of European women, denouncing their "tragic condition" during a conference in Paris yesterday.

On the third day of his controversial visit in France, the Colonel spoke of the 'Situation of the Women in the World' in front of one thousand women, almost all of African origin and almost all veiled, in a luxury hall of the Gabriel palace on the Champs-Elysees. "Welcome, Your Excellency," hundreds of women said in chorus when Gaddafi entered the hall.

"Gaddafi wants the French women to rise at his arrival," warned Khadija Khali, president of the French Union of Muslim Women and of a pro-Libyan association, who organised the meeting.

Applauded when he denounced "the injustices" towards the African women, the Libyan leader received softer applause when he criticised the "tragic conditions of the woman in Europe, forced sometimes to do work which she refuses", such as mechanic or bricklayer. "I want to save the European woman who is struggling," assured the leader of the Libyan revolution.

The audience were invited to ask questions, but without making Gaddafi "angry", Mrs Khali reminded.

After the end of the conference, France Presse collected some critical opinions. "I came here to see what he had to say," commented for example Catherine Chastenet, president of the association 'Femmes et libertes'. "How can he say he has done much for women in the world when he tortured the Bulgarian nurses?" she asks herself. (ANSAmed).

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Labels: France, Libya, Spain

I haven't had a chance until now to post about it but for the past two days I've been following the stories on Gaddafi's excellent Parisian adventure. Here's the short version:
He came, he pitched a tent, he conquered.
Here's the tent:

And now for the details:
Gaddafi (he of the multiple spellings - Gaddafi, Kadhafi, whatever) spent five days in Paris, accompanied by his bodyguard babes, and left with several deals, not the least of which is "a co-operation accord to develop the peaceful use of nuclear energy".

We all have heard about "peaceful use of nuclear energy" in other quarters.

Beeb has more on the deals, and it's worth noting that

France is the first Western country to welcome Col Gaddafi since he took the decision to end the country's diplomatic isolation four years ago.

Sarko's under a great deal of criticism for that, which he brushed off in his characteristic manner: Sarkozy attacks coffee-sipping elite over Gaddafi

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday dismissed those who criticise his human rights record as coffee-drinking intellectuals who stood idly by while he fought to change things.

At least he didn't call them "tea-drinking intellectuals". Sarko likes to get his shirt wet, or so it seems:

"It is all well and good to never get your shirt wet, to take no risks, to stay on the sidelines, to speak to no one, to be so sure of one's self and what one believes in while sipping one's cafe creme on the boulevard Saint-Germain," he said, referring to a traditionally intellectual, rich area of Paris.

More on the verbal sparring: Gadaffi trade talks spark Paris furore

Muammer Gadaffi, the Libyan leader, yesterday began a five-day visit to Paris to buy arms, nuclear power and civil airliners, triggering a storm of criticism from campaigners and an outburst from a government minister who said France should not accept his "kiss of death".

The Wall Street Journal had more on the business end of the trip: Gadhafi Signs $14.7 Billion in Deals For Arms and Nuclear Reactors

Moammar Gadhafi swept into town with all the trappings of his Bedouin heritage Monday and got straight to business, cutting $14.7 billion in deals for arms and nuclear reactors on his first official visit to the West since renouncing terrorism and atomic weapons.
...
President Nicolas Sarkozy defended the visit, saying it is France's duty to encourage states that move toward international respectability.

I still think the word "nuclear reactor" shouldn't be on the same sentence as the guy who's connected to "Lockerbie, Scotland", no matter how graceful the move toward international respectability.

Daniel thinks that Sarko "has shown to be someone ready to do anything for a fat check for French goods offer."

The Guardian however, thinks all governments are whores: Sarkozy may sacrifice human rights for commerce, and let's not kid ourselves that we're any different

What strikes me about Sarkozy's attitude is its total absence of embarrassment, the lack of any attempt to excuse or explain: business trumps human rights. Full stop. Contrast this with the behaviour of Gordon Brown and the British government when King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia came on his state visit to London six weeks ago. Embarrassment oozed out of every British pore. We really don't want to do this and wish we didn't have to, was the clear message - never spoken out loud - but we'd better, because the Saudis help us catch terrorists and buy things from us. Human rights? Jolly important, but we won't mention it now, in case they get cross; but we assure you we're working on it behind the scenes.

The British and French governments were doing the same thing - entertaining a tainted head of state to make money. Sarkozy did it openly, almost proudly; Brown hypocritically. The prime minister did, it's true, demonstrate his human-rights credentials with his easy, unnecessary, pointless and possibly counter-productive boycott of the EU-Africa summit last week, because Robert Mugabe was there. But then, Zimbabwe isn't buying billions of pounds' worth of British goods.

Erik Svane, on the other hand, notices a difference:

Although Kadhafi's Paris visit has led to a number of criticisms by French lawmakers (notice reactions like the crybaby Christiane D's agreeing with the dictator as well as pouting how much the Iraq war had led to suffering for… Europe — Europe, for Christ's sake!), heaven forbid that there be any demonstrations like that in Paris when George W Bush came to commorate the 60th anniversary of D-Day.

Heaven forbid as well that there would have been a glowing reception given to the American president like the Ritz event described by Ariane Chemin in Le Monde in which Kadhafi is told he has nothing but friends and is oohed and aahed over by Paris's intelligentsia.

The question remains, Did Sarkozy tackle human rights with Colonel Gaddafi? Sarko told France2 TV anchor David Pujadas, "No, absolutely not"; at the same time Sarko says he told Gaddafi that more needed to be done "to improve human rights in Libya.

A farce?

Possibly. But one involving 21 Airbus aircraft and 10 billion Euros.


Update, Thursday 13 December:
30 Virgin Bodyguards Escort Muammar Gaddafi Into Paris

Sarkozy's moral test

Mr Sarkozy argues that it is sterile to oppose an idealistic to a realistic brand of foreign policy. He believes you can pursue both. Even as he pushes arms contracts and entertains the likes of Mr Qaddafi, he is also sending over 1,000 French peacekeepers to the Darfur border. France is ready to talk to anybody who tries to improve their behaviour. As Mr Sarkozy asked, “what would we say to Iranian leaders if we did not offer a hand to a Libyan leader who has himself chosen to turn his back on nuclear arms and terrorism?”

The trouble arises when one pursues moral diplomacy and realpolitik with the same country. Were the arms contracts from Libya part of the deal to free the Bulgarian nurses? Mr Sarkozy says not, but the terms are being looked at by a parliamentary inquiry. Mr Sarkozy is pressing to free hostages in Colombia, among them Ingrid Betancourt, a Franco-Colombian. But he also persuaded the Colombians to free a top guerrilla from the FARC, considered a terrorist group by America and Europe.

In short, Mr Sarkozy's action-man diplomacy is about results, not means: if it works, it works. The release of Ms Betancourt, for instance, would be warmly welcomed in France. And Mr Sarkozy has no time for left-bank intellectuals “so sure of what they think while drinking coffee on the Boulevard Saint-Germain”. They may not have much time for him, either.

----------------------------------------------------
In other Sarko news, 'Danger of war' exists with Iran
Somebody tell the CIA!


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Labels: France, Libya, Nicolas Sakozy

Siggy of Sigmund Carl and Alfred, and Dymphna and Baron Bodissey of Gates of Vienna and I just completed today's podcast. I'll be blogging more about it later, but for now, please listen.

Labels: Blog Talk Radio, EU, France, Gates of Vienna, Libya, Middle East, podcasts, Sigmund Carl and Alfred

The Tour de France was the big news yesterday in France, for good reason: ETA detonated two small explosive devices (the article didn't specify what kind of devices), and Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen of Denmark was removed from the race and fired from his team after winning the 16th stage yesterday. Since the Tour ends on Sunday, this was way more than the usual excitement, particularly since this morning the Tour resumed with no-one wearing the yellow jersey.

But for the news addict like myself, there was another item of interest. Sarko's on a tour of Africa and dropped by Muammar Gaddafi's.

Always the fashion plate, Gaddafi wore a white suit with the emblem of African unity prominently pinned over his heart, black shirt and a wide (silk chiffon, maybe?) sash. Sarko looked appropriately French in traditional business garb. The day before yesterday Sarko was in Liberia, were he was warmly welcomed. Today Sarko's in Senegal, where he probably will have to work a little harder.

As it turns out, the Libya meeting took place a day after Libya released the six Bulgarian medics who had been convicted of deliberately infecting Libyan children with HIV. The medics had confessed under torture and had been sentenced to death. According to the BBC,

The medics' release was made possible by a deal struck in Tripoli on improving Libya-EU ties, following years of negotiations.

Not one to let a good opportunity go to waste, Sarko - whose trip was strategically timed - showed up, and the Guardian has the headline:
Sarkozy flies to Libya to reap rewards of medics' release

Mr Sarkozy ignored criticism that he and his wife Cecilia had been grandstanding by intervening at the end of the eight-year crisis when the hard work had been done by the European commission and other EU governments. Mrs Sarkozy joined in negotiations and then flew to Sofia with the freed medics.

Sarko and Gaddafi/Gadafy also agreed to work on a nuclear energy project that will turn sea water into clean drinking water.

Shall we drink to that?

Update, Friday 27 July
Nidra Poller examines the reaction in France.
Update, Sunday 29 July
Pinky and the Brain!

Labels: Africa, France, Libya, Nicolas Sakozy, sports, Tour de France