Epstein Secrets

iddle East these dictators remain the exception to the rule, and this is why quasi monarchies of the iron-fisted Assad or the crazed and tyrannical Qaddafi are now under assault. THE PLACE where benevolent autocracy has struck deep and has systematic roots is Asia. Any discussion of whether and how de

required to hold the state together. To be sure, Egypt's Mubarak and Tunisia's Ben Ali neither ran police states on the terrifying scale of Libya's Qaddafi and Syria's Assad nor stifled economic progress with such alacrity. But while Mubarak and Ben Ali left their countries in conditions suitable for t

for nondemocratic regimes are always preferable to hard ones, even if the process takes some time. A moral argument can be made that monsters like Muammar el-Qaddafi in Libya and Kim Jong-il in North Korea should be overthrown any way they can, as fast as we can, regardless of the risk of short-term chaos. But t

E7lir ;New Uork atinicr, Qaddafi's Death Places Focus on Arab Spring's `Hard Road' By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK TUNIS - Like the flight of Tunisia's dictator or the trial of Egypt's, t

pring's `Hard Road' By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK TUNIS - Like the flight of Tunisia's dictator or the trial of Egypt's, the capture of Col. Muammar el- Qaddafi on Thursday afternoon captivated the Arab world, giving a renewed sense of power and possibility. But the photographs of his bloody corpse that cir

litical scientist. "The brutality of the Assad regime in Syria and the Saleh regime in Yemen is still being felt," he said. "But with the demise of Muammar el-Qaddafi, the light at the end of the tunnel is a lot less dint." Or, he added, Libya may yet follow Yemen to chaos. "Libya still has its chance of becoming

by "The Green Book," the three- volume political tract by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya. Once in power, Mr. Chavez established ties with Colonel Qaddafi and other Middle Eastern leaders who similarly used oil resources to buttress nationalist governments. Those who knew Mr. Chavez well, before he em

of his biographers, Cristina Marcano, said Mr. Chavez had spoken of being influenced by "The Green Book," the three- volume political tract by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya. Once in power, Mr. Chavez established ties with Colonel Qaddafi and other Middle Eastern leaders who similarly used oil resources to butt

ck in Libya, the counterrevolution made its stand, and a despot bereft of mercy declared war against his own people. In the calendar of Muammar el- Qaddafi's republic of fear and terror, Sept. 1 marks the coming to power, in 1969, of the officers and conspirators who upended a feeble but tolerant monar

s, retreating into the privacy of their homes. In the public space, there was now the cult of the rulers, the unbounded power of Saddam Hussein and Muammar el-Qaddafi and Hafez al-Assad in Syria and Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia. The traditional restraints on power had been swept away, and no new social con