Conflicted: Were Gaddafi's female commandos warriors or pretty cowards?
OK, revelations that Libyan dictator-on-the-run Muammar Gaddafi is a creep is hardly breaking news. He was one of our stock “Mad Libs” nouns when I was in elementary school 30 years ago because he was always wackier than a theatrical movie villain.
But his latest call to arms has to be his most bizarre speech of his career. From the UK Guardian (forgive the ridiculous British spelling):
A defiant Muammar Gaddafi vowed to fight to the end against Libya’s new government and its Nato backers, warning that his forces would turn the country “into a hell” rather than surrender like “women.”
The old dictator’s audio message on Syrian TV came as the country’s new leaders presented themselves to a global summit in Paris, promising a swift transition to democracy and asking for immediate UN help in organising elections.
But Gaddafi’s intervention, made from an unknown location, stressed that the war was not over. “If Libya goes up in flames, who will be able to govern it? Let it burn,” he said, declaring that his forces were armed and ready for battle.
“We will fight in every valley, in every street, in every oasis, and every town,” he said. “We won’t surrender again; we are not women; we will keep fighting,” he said, referring to loyal tribes in the towns of Sirte and Bani Walid.
I don’t get it. For decades, Gaddafi has been the world’s top advocate for hiring women as elite military commandos, forming his own “Amazonian Guard” that rivaled the backup dancers in Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” and “Simply Irresistible” music videos.
Simply Irresistible: To our knowledge, Robert Palmer's female posse did not carry weapons. (Click for more info on the Amazonian Guard).
So what’s the truth about Libyan women? Are they courageous enough to trade their lives for a guy in a dress — or are they all cowards?
Gadaffi's Amazonian Guard channeling the Village People.
As the Sunday Malta Times reports, turns out that Gaddafi isn’t very nice to women — even those who would take a bullet for him. But he does love their clothes.
Nothing strikes fear in the heart of the enemy like a purple dress.
Not that the Libyan Rebels will be any better for the Middle East, but looks like the once-feared Gaddafi is proving to be Simply Resistible!
(Also, can ANYONE agree on how to spell this buffoon’s name? Gaddaffi, Gadaffi, Gaddafi, Kaddaffy, Khaddafy, Qadaffi, Qadaffy?)
Darren Garnick's Culture Schlock 
There’s definitely a comic book villain aspect to the Amazonian Guard. Maybe he is calling women cowards because his Amazonian Guard abandoned him as soon as they could — like many a comic book villain’s posse.
I heard they’re also referred to as the “entourage of deadly virgins” which sounds like it ought to be somewhere in the lyrics to “Hotel California.”
Just so you know, I shot a little coffee out of my nose at the, “Gaddafi’s Amazonian Guard channeling the Village People”.