JustinReadsTheNews

thepoliticalnotebook:

It’s really interesting and hilarious to watch what is being discovered in Gaddhafi’s compound, from his photo album of Condi to his yacht magazines and his kinky DVDs and his daughter’s gold mermaid couch. Most of seems confirmation that he was completely eccentric and self-obsessed and that his children lead horribly spoiled lives while he made the Libyan people suffer. New documents discovered also showcase his political paranoia, and confirm that he was not so sure of his forces as he may have claimed.

The Guardian reports that the search of the Bab Al-Azizia compound revealed a major lobbying effort by Gaddhafi to end Operation Unified Protector. Documents show that the Libyan government was desperate and terrified that NATO forces were going to launch a full-scale ground offensive. They approached a number of people in lobbying efforts, including trying to get Rep. Dennis Kucinich to come to Libya. The Libyan Prime Minister contacted Kucinich, offering to pay his expenses to come and negotiate with them.

Kucinich told the Guardian:

He had taken note of the fact I was making an effort to put forward a peace proposal. I had several requests to go to Libya. I made it clear I could not negotiate on behalf of the administration. I said I was speaking as a member of Congress involved in the issue and willing to listen to what they had to say. But given that Libya was under attack, it did not seem a promising place to hold meetings.

It would seem, that despite the classic dictator bravado that Gaddhafi has shown in all his speeches and appearances since this war began, that he was not, indeed, totally confident in the abilities of his forces to withstand NTC and NATO assaults.

Above: Posing on Aisha’s gold mermaid couch (Sergey Ponamarev/AP); fighter wearing one of Gaddhafi’s hats (Sean Smith/Guardian); a looted golden gun (Sean Smith/Guardian); pretending to ride Gaddhafi’s jetski (Alfred de Montesquiou/AP); Saadi Gaddhafi’s living room (Keystone/Rex Features).