Thursday, April 29, 2004

Revisionist present

Gadhafi has remade himself and revised his presence in the world. Gadhafi wraps up landmark trip Twenty years ago, Gadhafi was the Great Evil One; now he is the new golden boy of the Middle East. Maybe he has changed, I don't know -- but maybe he looked at what happened when Hussein was identified as the Great Evil One. And maybe he decided that with Hussein out of the picture, the Middle East was due for a new leader, and it might as well be him. And maybe he realized that he could take over from Egypt as the power broker in the region, and also in Africa, if he made nice with the Europeans, also with the benefit of making some money through international investment. And look how eager everyone has been to believe him now. Its an instructive transformation, but I wonder how trustworthy.

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