Mixed Signals Regarding Gaddafi

I’m very confused right now. On one hand we’ve been told that Gaddafi was an evil tyrant who butchered his people and suppressed human rights while on the other hand the United Nations was preparing to award Gaddafi for his respect of human rights in Libya:

Before NATO and the U.S. started bombing Libya, the United Nations was preparing to bestow an award on Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, and the Libyan Jamahiriya, for its achievements in the area of human rights. That’s right–the same man, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, that NATO and the United States have been telling us for months is a “brutal dictator,” was set to be given an award for his human rights record in Libya. How strange it is that the United Nations was set to bestow a human rights award on a “brutal dictator,” at the end of March.

A copy of the United Nations report can be found here [PDF]. What’s even more interesting is the list of nations that praised Gaddafi includes those who were calling for the bombing of Libya including Denmark, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Germany, and Australia.

This raises further red flags about the reason Libya was bombed. It’s not like any ulterior motives exist or anything. No matter how you look at it mixed signals were certainly sent by the countries that commended Gaddafi for advancing human rights while also advocating the bombing of his regime because of human rights violations supposedly performed.