The UN speaks, Libya trembles

Wow. The UN Human Rights Council (as it's now called, since the earlier Human Rights Commission became an embarrassment) actually suspended one of its members yesterday. Boo hoo, Muammar Gadhafi! This is the same Human Rights Council whose draft report contains these words of praise from what blogger James Tarranto calls "a rogue's gallery of tyrannies":

Sudan noted the country's positive experience in achieving a high school enrolment rate and improvements in the education of women. The Syrian Arab Republic praised the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya [that is, Libya] for its serious commitment to and interaction with the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms. . . . North Korea praised the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for its achievements in the protection of human rights. . . . Palestine commended the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for the consultations held with civil society in the preparation of the national report. . . . Saudi Arabia commended the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya's achievements in its constitutional, legislative and institutional frameworks. . . . Venezuela acknowledged the efforts of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to promote economic, social and cultural rights, especially those of children. . . . Cuba commended the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for the progress made. . . . Myanmar commended the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for its economic and social progress.

To their shame, Gadhafi's thuggish regime also got sweet words from Canada, Australia, and even the U.S. I suppose it's too much to hope that there could ever be a revolution at Turtle Bay? Blue skies! -- Dan Ford