LIBYA: COLONEL WHAT'S-HIS-NAME

There I was yesterday morning, drinking my coffee and reading the latest about Libya in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Something was bothering me. And then it struck me. The two papers spelled the Libyan leader’s name differently. One started his last name with a “G” (the WSJ), the other with a “Q” (the NYT). Moreover, the Journal inserted an “h” into his name, the Times didn’t.  Gadhafi vs. Qaddafi.

The Times, of course, often has some differentiation, occasionally arcane, in its style manual. For example, in any article about Libya, the leader's first mention is different from later mentions. The first is always Muammar el-Qaddafi. Subsequent ones are Colonel Qaddafi. (With the latter name, you might say the Times got the el out of there).

Do other papers share this spelling inconsistency? I poked around a little, checking the Libyan leader’s spellings in a variety of other U.S. and foreign publications . It turns out there is very little agreement among them. Montreal (Gaddafi) differs from Toronto (Gadhafi). Germany (Gadhafi) differs from France (Kadhafi).

Surely there must be agreement among the Arab-speaking media? But no. Tripoli (Al Qathafi) differs from Al Jazeera (Gaddafi), and both differ from OPEC (El Qaddafi).

Only in Britain is there some spelling consistency, which strikes me as odd. Normally, the British papers aggressively go after each other tooth and nail, and rarely collaborate on anything. Yet here they are apparently having got together and agreed upon a common spelling. The BBC, Guardian, Financial Times, Daily Telegraph, Daily Times, Independent – even Number 10 Downing Street -- are of one spelling (Gaddafi). Only the The Economist goes its own way (Qaddafi). But, then, The Economist often goes its own way.

Now here is either the most amusing or the most discouraging part of this story. Getting our foreign policy consistent among our various government departments and agencies is understandably difficult. Rare is the time that the President and State and the CIA are on the same page on policy. But why should it be so hard for them to agree upon a common spelling of one of the world’s really bad guys? Apparently it is. Otherwise, why would we read about the White House railing against Gaddafi when Sec. Clinton is threatening Qadahfi?  Meanwhile, the CIA World Factbook likes to refer to him as Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-Qadhafi?

And so far we’ve only been talking about his last name. As to his first name, you have a choice around the world of five spellings: Muammar, Mouammar, Moammar, Moammmer, and Moamer.

My guess is that instead of consulting the OED or Wikipedia or a library information desk (remember library information desks?), the media and governments around the world instead randomly combine the five first-name possibilities above with the eight last-name spellings --  Al Qathafi, Al-Qadhafi, El Qaddafi, Gaddafi, Gadhafi, Kadhafi, Qaddafi, Qadhafi. The result is 40 possible permutations of a first and last name. They then pick one of the 40 out of a hat, and that then becomes the name of the Libyan leader.

No wonder getting our foreign policy right is so tough. Maybe we should start with our spelling, and work up from there.

United States Press

Wall Street Journal – Moammar Gadhafi

New York Times - Muammar el-Qaddafi (first mention in article)

New York Times - Colonel Qaddafi (subsequent mentions)

New Yorker - Colonel Muammar Qaddafi

Washington Post - Moammar Gaddafi

Time - Muammar Gaddafi

Huffington Post - Moammar Gadhafi

Newsweek - Muammar Gaddafi

CNN - Moammar Gadhafi

United States Goverment

The White House - Muammar Gaddafi

State Department – Mr. Qadhafi

CIA World Factbook - Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-Qadhafi

United Nations

United Nations - Muammar Al-Qadhafi (first mention)

United Nations - Mr. Qadhafi (subsequent mentions)

Canada

Montreal Gazette - Muammar Gaddafi

Toronto Globe and Mail - Moammar Gadhafi

British

BBC - Col Muammar Gaddafi

Guardian - Muammar Gaddafi

Financial Times - Muammar Gaddafi

Telegraph - Muammar Gaddafi

Economist - Muammar Qaddafi

Independent - Muammar Gaddafi

Number 10 Downing St. - Col Gaddafi

Europe

Le Monde - colonel Mouammar Kadhafi

France Soir - Mouammar Kadhafi

Spiegel Online - Moammar Gadhafi

Middle East/Africa

OPEC - Colonel Moammer El Qaddafi.

Al Jazeera - Muammar Gaddafi        

The Tripoli Post - Muammar Al Qathafi

Gulf Times Qatar - Muammar Gaddafi’

Zaman Turkey - Muammar Gaddafi

Mail & Guardian South Africa - Muammar Gaddafi

Australia/Asia

The Australian - Moamer Kadhafi

The Times of India - Moamer Kadhafi