# Why is Gaddafi blaming al-Qaeda? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 26, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gaddafi-blaming-al-qaeda/572740 "2011-02-26T20:59:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gaddafi-blaming-al-qaeda/572740/21 "2011-03-04T21:20:22Z")
> [@Wakinyan](#): > > EDIT: I meant this for General Questions. Sorry. Please move. Moved. This thread did fine in GD, but in the future please just report your post if it’s in the wrong forum. That way someone will definitely see it. ---
**Author:** ![Joyful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Joyful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joyful)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gaddafi-blaming-al-qaeda/572740/22 "2011-03-04T21:57:25Z")
It’s so funny when you see Gadafi blaming Islamic extremists. He is himself one. He has been defending extreme Islam from the beginning. He even said that Muslim immigration will conquer Europe in a few decades. He is a total extremist. If he wasn’t a ruler of the country, he would probably be in the Al Qaeda. By the way, rules like Saddam were secular. Gadafi is anything but secular. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gaddafi-blaming-al-qaeda/572740/23 "2011-03-04T22:12:19Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I don’t know if al Qaeda has any real presense in Libya but Gaddafi isn’t being totally irrational here. He’s the secular dictator of an Islamic country - and that’s the kind of regime that al Qaeda wants to overthrow. He’s a “secular” leader only insofar as he’s not himself a cleric; don’t forget that he was the one responsible for making Islam the established religion in his new state. He could just as easily have set up Libya as a secular republic, just as other Muslim-majority nations like Turkey. ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gaddafi-blaming-al-qaeda/572740/24 "2011-03-04T22:16:25Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > It’s also perfectly possible that there is _some_ AQ presence and that Gadaffi is blowing it way out of proportion. > [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > He’s trying to dredge up every boogeyman he can think of. A little of both. I am sure the Al Qaeda is doing all they can to overthrow him. As unstable as things are, I am sure a number of groups are trying to hijack Libia and all the others. I have to wonder if any of them will end up a democracy. I read somewhere today that Iraq is the only democracy in the middle east. I have my doubts about it for long. ---
**Author:** ![Marc\_Xenos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Marc\_Xenos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marc_Xenos)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gaddafi-blaming-al-qaeda/572740/25 "2011-03-12T19:41:12Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > If Khadaffy and the rebels are both enemies of the Great Satan America, [**Commisar** ’s head is going to explode when he tries to figure out who to root for](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=598225). WWII, FDR, Hitler, & Stalin. “Is the enemy of my enemy… my friend?” With friends like that, who needs enemies? Everything is not black and white. In the Great Scheme of Things, there may be such a thing as Good and Evil, but on earth, it’s all of us. “We have met the enemy and he is us!” ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gaddafi-blaming-al-qaeda/572740/26 "2011-03-12T20:07:15Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > In a ‘wink-wink nudge-nudge’ sense. [Idle]“Say n’more, al-Quaeeeda! Say n’more!”[/Idle] Stoat. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gaddafi-blaming-al-qaeda/572740/27 "2011-03-12T21:14:35Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > He’s a “secular” leader only insofar as he’s not himself a cleric; don’t forget that he was the one responsible for making Islam the established religion in his new state. He could just as easily have set up Libya as a secular republic, just as other Muslim-majority nations like Turkey. Actually, I think it was the Caliph Umar who established Islam in Libya - and that was about 1300 years before Gaddafi showed up. Gaddafi has used Islam as a tool in his rule of Libya, just like he’s used nationalism or socialism when he feels they would work for him. But the central principle of his regime has been that Gaddafi is in charge and nobody else has the power to challenge him - including any religious authorities. Libya is not a theocracy. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gaddafi-blaming-al-qaeda/572740/28 "2011-03-12T21:16:52Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > If Khadaffy and the rebels are both enemies of the Great Satan America, [**Commisar** ’s head is going to explode when he tries to figure out who to root for](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=598225). Obviously, the United States instigated the conflict between these two wonderful groups in order to create an opening for the capitalist imperialists to take over the country. ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gaddafi-blaming-al-qaeda/572740/29 "2011-03-13T00:40:08Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > There is a long history of animosity between the Middle Eastern strong men and Al Qaeda. Define “a long history”. Then, cite? For such a dangerous and potent group – as it is presented – I’m really at a loss to identify recent success of “da group”. I mean, show me something fought over, succeeded and held on to. And, of course, verifiable :o ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gaddafi-blaming-al-qaeda/572740/30 "2011-03-13T00:46:49Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > [Idle]“Say n’more, al-Quaeeeda! Say n’more!”[/Idle] > > Stoat. 🆒 No, seriously, (someone from) “da group” wants to destroy West (and establish THE Caliphate which is, when you think about it, an inversion of the very real and never-ending Western domination, they just want to, you know, turn the table for the next 500 years) yet they can’t beat your average ME dictator in the moments when said dictators are at their lowest. Poor planning? Sucky execution? Low on gas? Too much drinking? ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gaddafi-blaming-al-qaeda/572740/31 "2011-03-13T01:07:13Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > Of course the MI6 man who revealed it later became a transexual and self-proclaimed son of God, but I think this particular claim was well established. This is quite run of the mill for MI6. It’s MI5 that harbours the weirdos. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gaddafi-blaming-al-qaeda/572740.md?page=1)