Libyan Leader Mu'ammar Qadhafi: Libya Was on the Brink of Producing a Nuclear Bomb

Following are excerpts from a public address delivered by Libyan Leader Mu'ammar Al-Qadhafi, which aired on Al-Sa'a TV on July 15, 2009:

Mu'ammar Al-Qadhafi: We [the non-aligned countries] constitute the overwhelming majority in the U.N., but we are subordinate to the so-called international Security Council. The international Security Council does not represent us. We have no influence on it and no vote in it. The Security Council is the monopoly of the very small group of permanent member states, which themselves are controlled by one of the superpowers in the Security Council. Hence, the Security Council has been reduced to a single country controlling it. This endangers international peace. The Security Council has turned into a tool in the hands of a single country. It is not really "international." "International” means that it belongs to us all. This is not the case. It belongs to them, to those who control it. Therefore, we have been greatly harmed by the Security Council. It has become a sword hanging over our heads.

The U.N, which comprises some 200 countries, has been reduced to nothing. The General Assembly has become a venue for ceremonies, merely décor. The General Assembly is supposed to be the legislating parliament of the world. All the nations constitute the General Assembly, not the Security Council.

Therefore, I propose that the [Non-Aligned] Movement establish a council for security and peace, which will deal, first of all, with the problems between its states. We are 118 states in the movement, so far. We should refer any problem between member states to the movement's council.

I want you to understand the philosophy behind this proposal. We will not refer these problems to the Security Council, which we do not trust, which we cannot influence, and which is usually used against us and does not care about our issues. So we need to form a security and peace council for our movement, and reduce the burden on the Security Council, which we do not accept. We will reduce the burden of over 100 countries from the Security Council, and divert their problems to the security council of the Non-Aligned Movement.

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We are the owners of the world. We are the world. The U.N. used to consist of four countries – the United Nations against Hitler. But the U.N. of today is not the U.N. of World War II. Today, the U.N. consists of 190 countries, and we are 118 countries. Hence, we are the U.N. We must not feel inferior. We must not beg for alms from anyone. We are the ones who should say "yes" or "no" and determine the future of the world.

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All hell broke loose because of Iran's uranium enrichment. This is wrong. All hell should break loose over nuclear weapons – if there is a program for producing a nuclear bomb. But if there is a program for uranium enrichment, it should be encouraged and applauded as a scientific accomplishment. We should help countries so they can enrich uranium.

After the uranium enrichment stage, there are two channels – red and green. We should not allow them to pass through the red channel, because in this channel, uranium is turned into a nuclear weapon, and we do not want more nuclear weapons in the world. We want to get rid of those that exist today. This is logical. But to block both channels?! What's the point? This is injustice. This is stupidity. This is denial of knowledge. If Iran had said that it was enriching uranium to produce a nuclear bomb, we would all be against it and would ask Iran to stop. We would be against such a program. But if Iran says it is enriching uranium for peaceful purposes, we should encourage it. We should not stand in its way.

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Libya reached the stage of uranium enrichment, and chose the red channel. Libya was on the brink of producing a nuclear bomb. But we began this when the revolution in Libya took place. It took us decades to reach the stage where we could produce a nuclear bomb. By the time we reached this stage, the world had changed. Even our way of thinking had developed. The world had changed, alliances had changed, the world map had changed – against whom would we use the nuclear bomb? We searched and couldn't find an enemy worthy of us using the nuclear bomb on. In addition, we thought: How will we protect this nuclear bomb? How will we dismantle it and hide each part separately? How will we assemble it when necessary? If there is a target – how will we protect the transportation of the bomb to the target? We found that the expenses and problems would endanger Libya more than [the bomb] would protect its security. Therefore, we decided to voluntarily shut down our nuclear program.

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The IAEA must monitor all countries – even America and Russia. If you don't want a certain country – Libya, for example – to produce a nuclear bomb, do not produce new nuclear bombs yourself. Make do with the thousands of bombs you already have. If there is a resolution to reduce the number of nuclear weapons, [the IAEA] should verify that Russia and the U.S. really reduced their WMD stockpiles. For your information, the IAEA deals with you, not with the major countries. The major countries kick them out, saying: Who the hell are you? When they say they are from the international nuclear agency, the major countries say: "International or not – we don't recognize you."

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Terrorism is considered an international issue that pertains to us all, but we must know what the reasons for terrorism are and what caused this phenomenon. What constitutes terrorism? Someone with a nuclear bomb is not a terrorist, while someone with a hand-grenade is a terrorist. This is injustice. Somebody who uses a nuclear bomb or a cruise missile is not a terrorist, but when somebody uses a homemade missile or a hand-grenade, he is said to be a terrorist. By "terrorism," we mean all types of terrorism: Aircraft carriers are terrorism, nuclear bombs are terrorism, intercontinental missiles are terrorism, hand-grenades are terrorism, explosives belts are terrorism, the WTO with all its conditions are terrorism, the IMF is terrorism, Chapter VII of the U.N Charter, which is implemented unjustly, is terrorism, the international Security Council is terrorism. These are all types of terrorism. We live in the shadow of this terrorism.

They ignore all other types of terrorism and try to catch Bin Laden. Bin Laden is, indeed, a terrorist – but why did he come into being? No one condones what Bin Laden or Al-Qaeda are doing – but what is the reason for this phenomenon? Is it madness? No, it's not. Did they get the idea from a dream? No. There must be psychological motives for this, and we must deal with them. Maybe you practiced terrorism, and he responded with terrorism according to his capabilities.

I am not afraid to mention Bin Laden or Al-Zawahiri, or whoever. That's reality. We should ask him: Why are you a terrorist? Who turned you into a terrorist? Why?

We should identify the fountains of terrorism and dry them up. If Bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri have billions in secret bank accounts in Switzerland... Switzerland is the [most] pampered country in the world. They bomb the poor shepherd tribes living in the mountains of Afghanistan, but they let Switzerland be. All the money of Al-Qaeda is in Switzerland. Fifty-two thousand Americans have secret bank accounts in Switzerland. The U.S. doesn't know how to catch them. America, the superpower, cannot seize the accounts of its citizens, let alone when it comes to the terrorists. All their money is in secret Swiss accounts.