Personal thoughts on Seif El-Gaddafi’s speech and the art of throwing yourself on the floor and stil       

Aug 29, 2025 at 07:45 PM 

Hafed Al-Ghwell

I have been able to wean myself off any news about Libya for about a year now. Give or take the odd times when I was unable to resist reading a news story or two, I have been quite successful so far.

The reasons are many and not the subject of this writing, but it mainly had to do with how reading any news about Libya depressed me to the core. 

Few days ago I was sent a copy of the speech Seif El-Gaddfi gave last week, and decided to read it … a bad decision, I now know. 

Now I must confess that I never thought much of this guy. I never actually respected him. I have a hard time respecting people who manage to reach their late 30s but still don’t own even a pair of socks that they actually earned legitimately through honest work. So anyone who dresses up in the most expensive cloths, flies in private jets, owns rare tigers, and stays in 5star hotels, entirely financed by stolen money from his own people—since no one actually knows how he gets it other than by being Gaddafi’s son and gets his bills paid from the coffers of the Libyan people -- has very little chance in earning my respect. This is obviously, and even especially, true of people like Seif who I have always found lacking in basic intelligence, judging by what I have read of his previous comments. 

The speech he gave last week did not change my mind about his lack of intellect and even proper education, despite his pathetic attempts to buy a degree from the London School of Economics – a fast becoming educational equivalent of a street walker - and to refer to some historical and literary content that seemed out of place, and utterly misunderstood by him. In fact he always seemed to me to be far more like his father who also suffers from an incredible degree of ignorance mixed with high levels of narcissistic delusions of intellectual superiority- which if Libya lives under normal circumstances would warrant at least some sort of mental treatment if not long term hospitalization. 

The speech itself struck me as a collection of self congratulatory lies about his own achievements - and those of his gang of close associates -widely known in Libya and outside of it as thieves and 10-percenters – and a complete out-of-touch-assessment of the actual state of Libya and its hopelessly clogged “reform process”. 

Don’t get me wrong, I have no problems with people being totally free to believe whatever they like and have their own opinions, but I do have a problem with people who like to have their own facts. The Gaddafis, father and son seem to be completely in this category however. They actually even go further and demand that the hordes of Libyans enslaved and imprisoned by them, and their mafia family, must also share those personal “facts” as well. 

I must admit however that there was one thing in the speech that was worth mentioning and is promising, but only time will tell if it will become a reality, and that is Seif’s promise to stay out of politics from now on… not economics, or more accurately illegitimate money making mind you – which is what I suspect he will be doing more of from now on – but at least it’s a start. I only wish he can also persuade his father, sister, brothers, cousins and the rest of his Dracula-like clan to do the same, may be even promise to quit Libya all together and move somewhere else. 

I recall many a times however, when another Gaddafi, the senior and more criminal and less glossy one, swore to high heaven he will leave politics as well. 

It’s been 39 years and we are still waiting for him to fulfill his pledge. 

Despite all the moral sickness and rottenness that at times appear to have found a permanent home in Libya, thanks to the hard work and dedication of the Gaddafis, I remain fully convinced with the words of the Qur’an …“Don’t be fooled by what is rotten…even if it appears to be much” 

I suspect Saddam Hussien and his clan will fully agree.