Obama raps images of Gadhafi's demise
Source: Agencies |
October 27, 2011, Thursday
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Print Edition
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US President Barack Obama has taken issue with the broadcasting of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's bloody demise, saying even those who had done "terrible things" deserved decorum in death.
Gadhafi was buried in a secret desert location on Tuesday, five days after he was captured and killed and his body put on public display. The former leader was seen on video being mocked, beaten and abused before he died.
"That is not something we should relish," Obama told interviewer Jay Leno of NBC when asked his feelings about the footage being televised. "There is a certain decorum with which you treat the dead, even if it is somebody who has done terrible things."
Obama noted that his administration had not released a photograph of al--Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's body after US commandos killed him in Pakistan earlier this year.
The president also said Gadhafi had missed a chance to bring democracy to his country.
"You never like to see anybody come to the kind of end that he did, but I think it obviously sends a strong message around the world to dictators that people long to be free," Obama said.
"He had an opportunity during the Arab Spring to loose his grip on power and peacefully transition into democracy. We gave him ample opportunity, and he would not do it."
Obama was in the middle of a western state tour with stops in Nevada, California and Colorado, mixing White House business with events for his 2012 re-election campaign.
Asked whether he had watched the debates by his potential Republican rivals, Obama said: "I am going to wait until everybody is voted off the island. Once they narrow it down to one or two, I will start paying attention."
Eight serious candidates are running for the Republican presidential nomination. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and businessman Herman Cain are seen as frontrunners.
On lighter issues, the president said he had quit smoking "definitively." He continues to work out regularly but said his wife, Michelle, outperformed him in the exercise department.
"It is embarrassing sometimes," he said, describing workouts in a White House gym. "She will get up there half an hour earlier than me. She will have already run 10 miles or something."
Their children, Obama said, are not allowed to watch television during the week and their oldest daughter, Malia, who has a cellphone, is allowed to use it only at weekends.
Obama also revealed a distaste for reality-based TV programs, when Leno asked him about his dislike of a popular show about star family the Kardashians.
"I am probably a little biased against reality TV partly because, you know, there is this program on C-SPAN called 'Congress'," Obama said, referring to a network that airs live coverage of Congress debates, including his battle with lawmakers over his jobs bill.
Gadhafi was buried in a secret desert location on Tuesday, five days after he was captured and killed and his body put on public display. The former leader was seen on video being mocked, beaten and abused before he died.
"That is not something we should relish," Obama told interviewer Jay Leno of NBC when asked his feelings about the footage being televised. "There is a certain decorum with which you treat the dead, even if it is somebody who has done terrible things."
Obama noted that his administration had not released a photograph of al--Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's body after US commandos killed him in Pakistan earlier this year.
The president also said Gadhafi had missed a chance to bring democracy to his country.
"You never like to see anybody come to the kind of end that he did, but I think it obviously sends a strong message around the world to dictators that people long to be free," Obama said.
"He had an opportunity during the Arab Spring to loose his grip on power and peacefully transition into democracy. We gave him ample opportunity, and he would not do it."
Obama was in the middle of a western state tour with stops in Nevada, California and Colorado, mixing White House business with events for his 2012 re-election campaign.
Asked whether he had watched the debates by his potential Republican rivals, Obama said: "I am going to wait until everybody is voted off the island. Once they narrow it down to one or two, I will start paying attention."
Eight serious candidates are running for the Republican presidential nomination. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and businessman Herman Cain are seen as frontrunners.
On lighter issues, the president said he had quit smoking "definitively." He continues to work out regularly but said his wife, Michelle, outperformed him in the exercise department.
"It is embarrassing sometimes," he said, describing workouts in a White House gym. "She will get up there half an hour earlier than me. She will have already run 10 miles or something."
Their children, Obama said, are not allowed to watch television during the week and their oldest daughter, Malia, who has a cellphone, is allowed to use it only at weekends.
Obama also revealed a distaste for reality-based TV programs, when Leno asked him about his dislike of a popular show about star family the Kardashians.
"I am probably a little biased against reality TV partly because, you know, there is this program on C-SPAN called 'Congress'," Obama said, referring to a network that airs live coverage of Congress debates, including his battle with lawmakers over his jobs bill.
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