Following are excerpts
from a public address delivered by Libyan Leader Mu'ammar Al-Qadhafi,
which aired on Al-Jamahiriya TV on March 15, 2011:
Mu'ammar Al-Qadhafi:
The truth is that there is no problem in Libya. Nothing significant
had happened, so at the beginning, we did not even report this. We concealed
what happened, and considered it a reckless act.
It happened several times
in the past. It happened in 1982, when several stray dogs infiltrated
Libya. We caught them in several apartments. You remember this. The
masses ransacked the place, and trampled them underfoot. We thought
that the same rodents and dogs had infiltrated this time...
But this time... We realized
that this was not about these rodents from within Libya. There were
people who took advantage of this insignificant action.
[...]
We confronted them before,
but the media of today is not the media of 1982. They took advantage
of the media and portrayed the situation to the world in a way that
does not exist within Libya. They said that there were demonstrations,
even though there was not a single demonstration in Libya. They said
that there was gunfire, but not a single demonstrator was shot, because
nobody was demonstrating. They said that there were thousands of fatalities,
when there were only 200 dead among the police, the army, and these
rodents who attacked the police station.
[...]
Lo and behold, France
has begun to raise its head, talking about striking Libya. You think
attacking Libya is an easy thing, you idiot?
We will strike you. We
struck you in Algeria, we struck you in Vietnam... We struck you. You
will strike us?! Just come and try it.
[...]
They began saying that
Al-Qadhafi must resign. Resign from what?! You should resign, you criminals,
you colonialists. You resign! I dare them to grant their people freedom,
like the freedom I granted the Libyan people. I dare them to. I dare
them to. I dare them to grant freedom to the American, the British,
and the French peoples. Let's see them give up their seats. Let's see
them resign and let their people govern themselves. They should never
do it. They rule their people through dictatorial means: a republican
party, a democratic party, a Christian party, a centrist party, a right-wing
party, a left-wing party... These are dictatorial, capitalist means
that grind peoples.
[...]
We will fight to protect
our oil to the very end. You will never manage to take control of this
oil, because the Libyan people will be entirely annihilated before you
get to the oil. This oil is our life, and we will never allow the oil
– the ports, the oilfields, the pipelines – to be tampered with
by any irresponsible party. These must be under the complete control
and ownership of the Libyan people.
[...]
