Muammar Gaddafi as a Clinical Case.
I assume I'm not alone in finding absurd and
unacceptable that a man mentally ill could
access to official charges and full power at
the head of a state.
I've been searching in vain the net for a serious clinical study on Gaddafi's case.
All I could find for the moment, about the Libyan leader, appeared yesterday in
this Ben Carey's article on the New York Times
['C.I.A. Profiling Delves Into the Minds of Global Leaders': Diplomats, military strategists and even presidents
draw on psychological assessments of hostile leaders prepared by analysts at the C.I.A. and the Department
of Defense].
Carey points out an interesting link to *Dr. Jerrold Post's
article, "Qaddafi Under Siege, A political psychologist
assesses Libya's mercurial leader", on the Foreign Policy
magazine.
*[Dr. Jerrold Post, is a psychiatrist who directs the political psychology program at George Washington
University and founded the C.I.A. branch that does behavioral analysis].
Ben Carey kindly confirmed me this is currently the only profile available to the public
on the net.
...
"While this is not a definitive clinical diagnosis, Qaddafi can best be characterized as having
a borderline personality. The "borderline" often swings from intense anger to euphoria.
Under his often "normal" facade, he is quite insecure and sensitive to slight.
His reality testing is episodically faulty. While most of the time Qaddafi is "above the border"
and in touch with reality, when under stress he can dip below it and his perceptions can be
distorted and his judgment faulty. And right now, he is under the most stress he has been
under since taking over the leadership of Libya. Thus, the quotes elaborated above probably
accurately reflect his true beliefs. He does sincerely cling to the idea that his people all love
him.
Qaddafi's strong anti-authority bent and his tendency to identify with the underdog can be
traced back to his childhood. He was born in a tent in the desert to a Bedouin family in 1942.
When Qaddafi was 10 years old, Gamal Abdel Nasser took over the reins of Egypt at the
head of the Free Officers Movement, which made a deep and lasting impression on the
young Qaddafi. He initially attended a Muslim school, where he was recognized as being
very bright, and was sent to Tripoli to continue his education, but was teased by the children
of the cosmopolitan elite for his coarse manners, leaving him with a bitter resentment of the
establishment."
[read ALL]
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How could we prevent, from now on and in any country,
a madman to access official charges and full powers?
Qaddafi's bloated ego makes me fear the worst.
He says himself he isn't a 'normal person', that's for sure:
mythomaniacs are not ordinary persons indeed.
His arrogance toward the forces opposing to his will
dictates his conduct since the beginning of the revolt until
the current paroxysm,
punctuated with lies, unfair means and a total lack of scruples.
I'm afraid he will never surrender and that his victims won't have a revenge because
they are not going to see him one day before any judge.
Then what?
- Suicide? Considered from our point of view, this would be an 'honourable' way out
(and a good one to get rid of him), but a man with such a high opinion of himself does
not commit suicide. Besides, this would be too great a loss to his supporters and for
Libya..!
- Death? Perhaps - if he fails his latest challenge, his final showdown... but then a
glorious death, a martyrdom, according to a scenario carefully staged by his sick brain.
By the way, the 72 houri are already awaiting him!
So, what's next?
. . .
More on the personality and mischief of this 'monsieur' [UPDATES]
- Portrait of the young Gaddafi [DailyMail]
- Shocking pictures of Gaddafi's brutality against his own people [DailyMail]
- Gaddafi paid millions to polish his global image [CNN]
. . .
