How Do You Spell "Crazy Libyan Dictator"?

With Libya being so prominently in the news lately, it takes me back to a magical day in 1986...

10 days after a bombing at a German nightclub killed an American serviceman had been linked to the Northern African country, President Ronald Reagan authorized an attack on the Libyan capital of Tripoli which was meant to send a message to the Libyan president, as well as other countries in the region who supported terrorism. It was nothing short of awesome, and as a 14 year old kid who was raised believing that the United States was the greatest country in the world, and not one to be taken lightly, especially in the face of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, I was beside myself with giddy excitement. As best as I can recall, the Libyan president's name was spelled Khaddafi. Since then, aside from the Lockerbie Pan-Am disaster in 1988, he pretty much fell off of the proverbial map, and Libya sort of became a footnote in the realm of state sponsored terrorism.

But since the uprisings taking place in various Middle East countries reached Libya, suddenly he has re-emerged as the nutcase that we all discovered him to be 25 years ago. Depending on the news outlet you look at, you will see just about every one of them spell his name differently. It's uncanny, actually. I was going to list four or five different ones that I have come across, but fortunately, the London Evening Standard has done the work for me and come up with a list of 37. Yes, THIRTY-SEVEN different ways that various media outlets and government organizations spell this guy's name. So, here you go. Feel free to pick your favorite.

This list from the London Evening Standard:
1) Muammar Qaddafi
2) Mo'ammar Gadhafi
3) Muammar Kaddafi
4) Muammar Qadhafi
5) Moammar El Kadhafi
6) Muammar Gadafi
7) Mu'ammar al-Qadafi
8) Moamer El Kazzafi
9) Moamar al-Gaddafi
10) Mu'ammar Al Qathafi
11) Muammar Al Qathafi
12) Mo'ammar el-Gadhafi
13) Moamar El Kadhafi
14) Muammar al-Qadhafi
15) Mu'ammar al-Qadhdhafi
16) Mu'ammar Qadafi
17) Moamar Gaddafi
18) Mu'ammar Qadhdhafi
19) Muammar Khaddafi
20) Muammar al-Khaddafi
21) Mu'amar al-Kadafi
22) Muammar Ghaddafy
23) Muammar Ghadafi
24) Muammar Ghaddafi
25) Muamar Kaddafi
26) Muammar Quathafi
27) Mohammer Q'udafi
28) Muammar Gheddafi
29) Muamar Al-Kaddafi
30) Moammar Khadafy
31) Moammar Qudhafi
32) Mu'ammar al-Qaddafi
33) Muammar el-Qaddafi
34) Muammar Gadafy
35) Muammar Gaddafi
36) Muammar Gadaffy
37) Muamar Qadaffi

I should also point out as a footnote, that noted former 102.7 KIIS-FM (Los Angeles, CA) disc jockey and one-hit wonder Rick Dees (remember "Disco Duck"?) recorded a song about the dictator not long after the 1986 event titled "Feel The Heat Khadafy" (spelling #30) This song never would have been played on the radio today, as I recall the lyrics were full of acceptable-for-its-time stereotypical slurs such as "towel head" among others. I have a recording of it somewhere, just in case I can't find one online somewhere. It would be funny to hear it and transcribe the lyrics. Maybe, if I can find the time.