Gaddafi Between History and Chronicle

Oriana Fallaci interviewing Gaddafi

It’s always difficult to find wide-ranging, truthful and reliable information on the major issues of today’s world. Generally speaking, the information provided by mainstream media is almost always inaccurate and incomplete. That’s what so often makes reading newspapers and magazines a frustrating experience. Or at least that’s my experience. But this doesn’t apply—and I am glad to acknowledge it—to a report by the German magazine Der Spiegel that I came across yesterday (available in English version here). It’s about Muammar Gaddafi and what’s going on in Libya, but it also provides “an overview of a changed world,” with a special emphasis on countries with revolutionary potential. It’s rather a long piece, but believe me, it’s worth the time you’ll spend reading it.

One more suggestion (whether you were a fan of the late, great Oriana Fallaci or not): A few days ago the Corriere della Sera published a summary of Oriana Fallaci’s interview with Colonel Gaddafi (in English), which appeared in the same newspaper (and in the Times Magazione) on December 2, 1979. Almost a historical document and a great piece of journalism. The text comes from the second part of their conversation, in which Gaddafi talks about his policies and replies to charges of supporting terrorism that were being leveled at him.

In the meantime the Libyan air force is bombing the oil refinery and port town of Marsa El Brega as battles between forces loyal and against Gaddafi—who vows to fight to the “last man and woman”—raged in several towns across the country. The story is not yet ended.