And a half century of "special relationships" -- or, more precisely, addictive codependencies -- have only produced Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Libya's Muammar al-Gaddafi, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and, in the end, September 11, Osama bin Laden's murderous response to the permanent deployment of American troops in the oil-rich Saudi holy land.
The son of deposed Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam, has briefly appeared in court to face criminal charges and has been appointed two local lawyers.
In the centre of Misrata stands the famous sculpture of a giant fist, crushing an American fighter jet, that once adorned Muammar Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli.