Moammar Gadhafi - UN speech translation

I am watching Gadhafi's speech on CNN as i write.

Since he started talking i couldn't help asking myself if the translation is deliberately made look bad or it's just something that happened.

The guy that translates talks like a retard ( without trying to insult everyone) , repeating words just after he says one words, he repeats it about 3 times. ( how can ; how can ;how can or assembly ; assembly or the same ; the same; the same - this happened just as i wrote) .

Listening to that translation and watching Gadhafi you are left the impression that he is a senile old man gone mad, without the possibility to express himself.
And those leaders in there that are listening to te speech at that meeting are most probably listening the same retarded translation and looking at Gadhafi....

Is there a better example of induced opions?

Besides, from the begining of the speech i watched Gadhafi's mouth moving, it appeared like he was saying 3 words , but the translator said 10.

From the entire speech , only a couple of phrases were understandable and made sense , anything else seemed like a speech made by a mental institution pacient who believes to be Napoleon

The translation is most probably provided by the hosts , i don't think that any leader over there brought their own tanslator.
If that's the case, how is that coming from the americans?....


Anyone else saw the speech ?

[edit on 23-9-2009 by charlie_the_loafer]

I heard the translator from Arabic right after the Obama's speech, and he wasn't very good. As somebody who studied synchronous translation and did that at a couple of events, I can say to do it right is not trivial. And going form Arabic to English must be a b!tch.

I agree im watching this and have thought about making a thread but waiting until one was made.

1st off the translator does seem like he is repeating words over and over and a whole lot of stuttering, but im sure its hard to translate live from someone who seems to have alot to get off his chest. Or he just likes to provoke.

2nd off, hes talking about everything from who Killed JFK, to no one listens to the unpopular representatives, talking about iraq, and who is the taliban? this guy has like 80 pages of papyrus to go off of.

Honestly I think he is trying to start unrest in America?

Also I heard he has been trying to set up his Tent, in either an effort to gain attention for him not being allowed to stay at the fancy places. But he keeps running into building permit issues.

[edit on 23-9-2009 by 10001011]

I am watching it, and based off of the general content, it boils down to the following:
The US is a bad evil country that should be removed from the UN Security council and the UN should be moved to another country, so the US does not have to foot the millions of dollars for security. He wants the UN moved to a country where anyone can go, no matter what. Though he is not stating the US directly, but when he is mentioning specific actions such as Korea, Vietnam, Norega, Iraq, Afaganistan.
He also is stating that the Taliban is a peaceful organization just wanting to run a religious country, like the Vatican.

Any chance that Gadhafi repeated words and they were directly translated?


Seems too that an Arabic colloquialism of a few words could require additional word input from the translator to make it more understandable.


Doesn't Gadhafi usually give long and ramblling speeches?

Maybe the translator was simply tired....

Did you see the CIA Facts that popped on screen?

They are doing a good job on making him out to be a loon.

He said that Swine Flu is man made so capitalist corporations can profit.

I bet Gaddafi is a member of ATS.



[edit on 23-9-2009 by lucentenigma]

Gadhafi is an insane old tyrant who uses his time on the World stage to do things like threaten the people of other countries because he doesn't like that someone arrested his son for being a bully and an asshat.

I imagine trying to translate for this gold-plated demented old jackass, and then trying to make him sound even vaguely sane in any language is an unsurmountable task.

The fact that this man is in any way even allowed to have a seat at the World stage would be laughable if it wasn't a sign of systemic insanity.

[edit on 2009/9/23 by Aeons]

He is known to talk for hours, like Chavez or Castro. The CIA, back in the 80's, decided he was borderline crazy. This just seems to confirm it. A speech to a body like the UN should be short, succint, and to the point. This man is rambling like a madman. (I didn't get to hear Obama's speech because I was on the phone with my mother, his may have been just as crazy.
I remember the 80's. The CIA said he was crazy then. And there was a well known journalist, a member of the then BIG 3, who interviewed him face to face, and said she had no doubt she was "in the presence of a madman." I don't recall who she was, but I recall the interview. I am surprised he managed to stay in power this long.

[edit on 23-9-2009 by kettlebellysmith]

sooo long he talked, he just weighed in on the last 40 years and the translator got tired and needed to be switched out lol

Who needs reality tv when I can watch these guys talk.

[edit on 23-9-2009 by 10001011]

reply to post by lucentenigma


Yes he in fact did say that. He also said that vaccines should be free to the world, that the power of the UN should develop vaccines themselves. He said it was a crime to charge people for their own health.

And CIA makes this man out to be a loon...It wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that he is calling for CIA Interrogators to be investigated for crimes against humanity aka torture. The translator really did a poor job of presenting the sentences.

reply to post by lucentenigma


I heard the same thing! I was trying to listen to it but like everyone has said, the translator is very hard to understand. Interesting about the swine flu though, that was at the beginning of his speech.

I know he goes on to say that not all the nations are equal and this sort of thing. What he doesn't bring up though is about his own hand in terrorism, namely the Lockerbie Bombing and how they gave the guy who pulled it off a warm reception at home.

I'm sure there will be a transcript after the event that we could find.

what a good speech by ghaddafi.... slammed the west. i love the part where he says western pharm. companies make the viruses in labs then make the vaccines to profit... so true.. and then of course CNN dismisses this as conspiacy theories... $%^&*(*&^%!! also i liked when he both palestinians and israelis should live in 1 democratic state... i think that is also a good idea...

[edit on 23-9-2009 by TheCoffinman]

I agree he isn't the most calculated or worthy of respect person, but come on , that translation was a total mockery , i don't think he would have repeated those words just like the tranlsator did, even a child knows better , and never underestimate the charismatic leaders , they are far from stupid .

The world is full with people that are able to provide decent and trustworthy translations from arabic languages to english and vice versa , and especially US so i can't help thinking at a deliberate mockery

I just watched him and his ramble. No easy task for a translator.

Did you notice his notes scrawled on wrinkled and torn sheets of spiral notebook paper. I also noticed at least 3 different colors of ink or crayon used to write it.

The man has always been strange. I am surprised that he didn't have any military ribbons and medals pinned to his robes.

reply to post by ExPostFacto


yeah. He's followed up on those socialist thoughts by taking the billions of dollars he's fleeced from his own people.

He wants YOU to feed the poor, and give free medicine to all.

Not HIM.

That's called milking the cow dry, and then killing it for dinner.

reply to post by jibeho


he never does... he always wears his desert outfit thing hes got goin on..

I'm watching this now via live satellite feed. Notice how the woman speaking is doing the same thing, repeating words as many as three times. Translating from one language to another is extremely difficult.
Since translating languages word for word wouldn't make a bit of sense, because of the differences in the structure, entire "phrases" must be used sometimes to convey the meaning of a single word.
Clearly, Gadhafi's long winded "rant", complete with physically throwing material around proves that he doesn't need much assistance in looking like a "loon".

www.jostrans.org...

Multilingualism is one of the foundations of the United Nations (UN).
Accordingly, translation of documents into its official languages, that is,
Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish, SNIP
The UN uses and operates in six official languages in its intergovernmental
meetings and documents. The UN Secretariat uses two working
languages, English and French. Statements made in an official language at
a formal meeting are interpreted simultaneously into the other official
languages of the body concerned by UN interpreters. If a delegation
wishes to speak in a language that is not an official language, it must
supply an interpreter to interpret the statement or translate it into one of
the official languages. It is then rendered into the other languages by a relay system.

Well, considering the official language of Lybia is Arabic, this document at least indicates that the overall UN provided the translators for this event. I'm guessing they very well may have come from America, but they were fiurst approved and licensed by the UN.

all UN translators, including both permanent and
freelance, must have a university degree or a translation diploma from a
recognized translation school. Applicants for permanent posts must be
capable of working into one of the official languages (their mother tongue
or their principal language of education) from two or more of the others.
The only exceptions to this rule are Arabic and Chinese translators, who
sometimes work both ways between Arabic or Chinese and English

As a man with a somewhat functional understanding of the English language (at least in my opinion) and enough Spanish to make me dangerous on the streets of Juarez when all I wished was to know where the bathrooms were, I can safely say it must be a nightmare to go from a non-western alphabet language such as any of the Chinese or Arabic languages into English, French, German, Spanish, etc. I feel bad for the guys who have to deal with some of the ranting, raving, barely coherent world leaders who simply LOVE to listen to themselves speaking.

the west will work with any country that has large quantities of oil. it doesn't matter if the leader is crazy or a brutal tyrant. if Iran gave up it's rhetoric on nuclear weapons, proceeded to let international nuclear regulators make sure they are using nuclear power for energy only, they would be a friend of the west. this is about a stable flow of oil, and little else. we are in afghanistan because of the proposed pipeline running through the country:
en.wikipedia.org...
because of the nuclear missles located in pakistan and the oil pipeline going through that country, we do not want to see that country taken over by islamic fundementalists
libyan oil reserves are the reason the west tolerates gaddafi:
en.wikipedia.org...

again...it's all about the oil.

[edit on 23-9-2009 by jimmyx]

Petroleum is only one part of a tapestry of issues. It does happen to do a fair job of mapping out the Modern Silk Road though.

The issues of the "silk road" are in essence the same today as they were 500 years ago. Don't let your First World sensibilities fool you into an assumption of technological affluence that spans the Globe taking away all the trade and supply issues of the past with your one day delivery expections.