Gaddafi Survives America’s Cowardly Night Raid

TRIPOLI — Muammar Gaddafi survived an American air raid on the capital overnight, appearing before cameras at dawn from an undisclosed courtyard whose location was immediately recognised by half the city. He accused Washington of sending aircraft under cover of darkness because daylight, he said, would have exposed the weakness of their purpose.

Residents reported waves of aircraft followed by explosions in several districts. Anti-aircraft fire traced bright arcs above rooftops while families sheltered in hallways and basements. The power failed briefly, returned, and failed again just as state television announced it had never been interrupted.

“They crossed an ocean to frighten a sleeping city and discovered that Tripoli dreams with its eyes open.”

A capital counts the damage

Emergency crews moved through damaged compounds and nearby homes. Officials gave no final casualty figure, saying assessments were continuing. Hospitals treated residents cut by glass, while volunteers cleared debris from streets before inspectors had finished deciding which crater belonged to which aircraft.

The United States described the raid as a limited response to threats abroad. Libyan officials rejected that account and promised evidence linking every target to ordinary civilian life, including a guardhouse, a communications room and a kitchen whose refrigerator door had been blown into a courtyard.

Dawn as a political weapon

Gaddafi’s appearance transformed survival into the government’s central message. Crowds gathered beneath balconies, chanting as aircraft noise faded over the coast. The military result remained disputed; the political image was already fixed—a leader standing in morning light, claiming the night had failed.