Compound Interest: Inside Col. Qadaffi's Lair



The Wall Street Journal published an "interactive map" of Col. Qadaffi's compound. Although the Mad Dog liked to cultivate the image of the simple army officer who lived in a tent, the truth was a lot more boring. He was just another Middle Eastern potentate living large on oil money while his subjects scraped by.




Qadaffi might have been a dictator - who isn't in that part of the world? - but he was also enough of a socialist to have attracted the approval of such figures as Louis Farrakhan, Rev. Wright, and Nelson Mandela. Qadaffi also liked to play the "authenticity" card, meeting visitors in his ceremonial tent, which can be seen in the map, and which was dwarfed by the main building where Qadaffi repaired to after a day play-acting at "simple tribesman" dress-up.


Socialism is a funny thing. It pretends to be the vanguard of the future, but the people who manage to assert themselves into the head of the parade manage to live better than the monarchs and prime ministers whom they replace.




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