Condoleezza Rice has said former Libyan dictator/pipe dweller Moammar Gadhafi was “a monster” who “wasn’t totally sane.”
The former Secretary of State says she found Gadhafi “weird” – perhaps not that surprising considering a scrapbook of photos of Rice was found among his possessions. He also commissioned a song for Rice when she visited Libya in 2008. Its title? ‘Black Flower in the White House.’ Yep.
This juice comes from Rice’s new memoir, ‘No Higher Honor,’ which is due for release November 1st. In her book, Rice also states that an Arab Spring-style revolution would have been impossible in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, arguing that Hussein and Gadhafi were a different kettle of fish:
“It would be a mistake to make the leap of faith that this would somehow have worked in Iraq. Gadhafi […] wasn’t Saddam Hussein in terms of his reach and capacity. I do think that an Arab spring in Iraq would have been unthinkable under Saddam Hussein.”
Rice also sticks up for George Bush, saying people had a misconception that the former President was “somehow not curious, didn’t ask difficult questions, was somehow reflexively ideological about how to respond to events.”
And she is reportedly keen that the Bush administration receives credit for encouraging Gadhafi to dismantle his nucelear and chemical weapons in 2003. She describes herself as “grateful we disarmed [Gadhafi] of his most dangerous weapons. Sitting in that bunker, I’m pretty sure he would have used them.”
Rice goes on to pass comment on Pakistan’s role in securing stability in Afghanistan, and describes how she now has more time now to play the piano. Yeah, the good stuff sort of runs out at that point.