Manuel Noreiga vs Muammar Gadhafi

Beginning Analysis: What happens when one of the world's worst living dictators takes on one of the world's worst dead dictators? Read on to see who...is...deadliest!?

Manuel Noreiga Quick Bio *
Sometimes dictators make it to the top all on their own, while others need a little push to get where they want to be. Manuel Noreiga was in that second category. Born In Panama City on February 11, 1934, Noreiga was a model soldier. He received much of his training at the Military School of Chorrillos in Peru, and even trained in intelligence & counterintelligence at the School of the Americas in Fort Gulick, and psyops at Fort Bragg. In 1967, he was commissioned to the Panama National Guard, where he served until August 12, 1983, where Rubén Darío Paredes (the previous military leader) ceded his power to Noreiga, and became the leader of Panama just a few months later (on December 15, 1983). It should be noted that from the late 1950s to the 1980, Noreiga worked with the CIA, gaining benefits while giving the US a limited amount of access to the country. This backfired on the United States, as Noreiga became involved in drug trafficking, racketeering, money laundering, and murder. The US launched Operation Nifty Package in an effort to capture Noreiga, and on January 1, 1990, they were successful.

Manuel Noreiga Weapons
Short Range: Colt M1911 Pistol
Medium Range: M16 Assault Rifle
Long Range: M60 Machine Gun
Explosive: M67 Grenade

Muammar Gadhafi Quick Bio *
There has never been a dictator who has held power for so long, nor has there been a dictator with a distinct personality, quite like Muammar Gadhafi. Born in June of 1942, Gadhafi and his family belonged to the Qadhadhfa, a small Arab tribe. His negative views about the west, and Italy in particular, first came about in 1948, when he and some of his cousins were playing just outside his native city. An old mine left by the Italians when they had control of the country exploded, killing two of his cousins, and wounding Gadhafi in the arm. In 1961, Gadhafi entered the Royal Libyan Military Academy at Benghazi, and graduated in 1966. Gadhafi also had four months training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom, despite his views of the west. In 1969, when he was just a lieutenant, Gadhafi seized power in Libya after staging a coup against the current king of the country, who was away for medical reasons. Strangely, during his long reign of power, Gadhafi suppressed the people of Libya, while at the same time improving the country's economy and fixing other aspects. Luckily for the people of Libya, Gadhafi died on October 20, 2011 by the hands of rebels, at the venerable age of **.

Muammar Gadhafi Weapons
Short Range: Makarov Pistol
Medium Range: AK-47 Assault Rifle
Long Range: RPD Light Machinegun
Explosive: RGD-5 Grenade

Who Got the Edge
Colt M1911 vs Makarov: Both Pistols get the edge. The Colt has a longer barrel (125mm vs the Makarov's barrel length of 93.5mm), but the Makarov weighs less when unloaded (760g compared to the Colt's unloaded weight of 1080g), and holds more rounds (takes 12-round clips while the Colt only takes 7-round clips).
M16 vs AK-47: Both Assault Rifles get the edge. The M16 weighs less when loaded (8.79lb compared to the AK-47's loaded weight of 11.5lb when loaded), has a longer barrel (barrel is 508mm long, while the AK-47 has a barrel length of 415mm), has a higher rate of fire (fires from 700 to 950 rounds a minute, while the AK-47 fires up to 600 rounds a minute), and has a greater effective range (the M16 fires anywhere from 550 to 800 meters, while the AK-47 fires from 300 meters to 400 meters), while the AK-47 can take a wider variety of clip sizes (it can take 30 & 40-round clips as well as the RPK's 75-round drum, while the M16 only takes 20 or 30-round clips), and is far more durable than the M16.
M60 vs RPD: Both Machineguns get the edge. The M60 has a longer barrel (barrel length is 560mm while the RPD has a 520mm long barrel), effective shooting range (fires up to 1,100 meters, while the RPD fires anywhere from 100 to 1000 meters), higher ammo capacity (can be belt fed, or accept 100 or 200-round drums, while the RPD only takes 100-round drums), while the RPD weighs less (16.31lb when unloaded, while the M60 weighs in at 23.15lb), and has a higher rate of fire (fires anywhere from 650 to 750 round a minute, while the M60 fires from 500 to 650 rounds a minute).
M67 vs RGD-5: The M67 Grenade gets the edge. Watch Green Berets vs Spetznas for details.

Common Quality
Insanity: Both of these warriors are a bit on the loopy side. Noreiga was very power hungry, and he did as much as could to stay in power. This included manipulating the United States's policies towards Panama, and asserting full authority over his own country. Gadhafi is, in some people's minds, even more insane. Having been in power since 1969, he had a long time to solidify his position. During his reign, he had brutally suppressed the people in Libya, and even sponsored organizations that held anti-western beliefs.

Setup
It was a warm day in the city of Panama, but it wasn't a nice one. Manuel Noreiga, the infamous dictator of Panama, had been hiding with the Apostolic Nunciature ever since the United States had began looking for him. At this point, a large chunk of US Military had been camping right outside of the place, blaring music that was starting to grate on Noreiga's nerves. Even the 4 soldiers that were with him were beginning to get pushed to the razor's edge.
Noreiga was on the top floor of the nunciature, looking out at the armed soldiers outside. He could see that they were holding their guns at him, and tracked his movements when he started walking around. The speakers playing the music were pulsing back and forth, and were doing the best they could to project the mind-breaking music. Noreiga stopped walking when he saw the commander of the soldiers walk over to one of the speakers, turned off the music, and began to speak through with the communicator.
"Noreiga, this is the United States military! The building is surrounded, and there is no way for you to escape! If you give yourself up, I guarantee that no harm will come to you and your men!"
The commander lowered the communicator, and waited for a response. He did in fact received a response...in the form of a raised middle finger, and he walked back inside. Sighing, the commander leaned back against the jeep, when one of his soldiers came right up to him.
"Sir, shouldn't we just move in?" the soldier asked.
"No we can't" the commander reluctantly as he stood back up. "That's a Catholic owned building, and if we even think of going in, they're just gonna start whining and bitching."
"Well, there's gotta be something we can do." the soldier said.
The commander was silent, then suddenly snaped his fingers. "Private, get the phone." he said. The private went into a nearby jeep, and brought back the backpack phone. The commander took the pack, and began making a call.
"Hello, Central Command? Get me Libya!"
A few hours go by, and now the sun was high in the sky. Noreiga was sipping on a cup of coffee, when he realized that the outside of the nunciature was quiet. Too quiet, he thought to himself. Setting the coffee down, Noreiga walked back to the balcony, and saw that things outside were indeed quiet, as there was nobody outside. There wasn't even a piece of trash in the street. He was about to go back inside, when he noticed 5 men slowly making their way towards the nunciature. It was around this time that one of Noreiga's soldiers came right up to him, and looked at the exact same group of people coming towards the building. Noreiga took the binoculars that his soldier was holding, and took a peek through them. At first, he thought he was seeing a mirage, so he rubbed his eyes, and looked through the binoculars again. This time, he was certain that he wasn't seeing things.
"Sir. Sir, what is it?" the soldier asked nervously.
Noreiga lowered the binoculars. "It's Gadhafi." he replied with a surprised voice.
"Gadhafi?" asked the soldier. "From Libya?"
"Yep." replied Noreiga.
Noreiga handed the binoculars back to his soldier, who took a look through them to confirm what his commander said. Meanwhile, Noreiga tried to make contact with Gadhafi over a megaphone that was next to him.
"Gadhafi! Is that is you!?"
There was no response. Noreiga spoke again.
"Gadhafi, if that is you, please reply!"
Gadhafi did send a reply...in the form of a rifle round sent right through the soldier standing next to him. The round went through the soldier's head, and exited out the back in a bloody explosion of skull and brain matter.

Maneul Noreiga: 4/Muammar Gadhafi: 5

Noreiga was stunned by the brazen attack. Shaking his head as his soldier's body collapsed, he picked up the M16 that layed by the body, and started firing back. One bullet coming from Gadhafi wizzed just past Noreiga's soldier, giving him a grazing wound. He duck behind the statue on top of the nunciature, and began to dress the wound. It definitely wasn't painful enough to take him out of the fight, but it was painful enough that he had to take care of it. Meanwhile, his three remaining soldiers came to his rescue, and began firing back. One of his soldiers, armed with a deadly M60, was laying down a steady stream of lead of Gadhafi and his men, who were hiding behind some abandoned cars. The stream of bullets made it's way towards one of the car, and went right through a soldier hiding behind it. His bones and organs became a sickly, bloody mush that leaked out of his body.

Manuel Noreiga: 4/Muammar Gadhafi: 4

The soldier continued firing with the M60, when all of a sudden it jammed. The soldier tried to unjam the gun, when one of Gadhafi's men got out from behind cover, and fired on Noreiga's position with an RPD. Some of the bullets damaged the the M60, while a few other bullets went through the soldier's neck. Blood profusely began to bleed out, as the soldier's body started shaking violently. After a few second, the body fell over the balcony ledge, and made a sickening thud when it hit the ground.

Manuel Noreiga: 3/Muammar Gadhafi: 4

Noreiga didn't have time to take a look, as Gadhafi and his men were continuing their attack. Noreiga and his men continued firing back, until they began retreating back into the nunciature to plan a counterattack. They made their way back inside, just as a few bullets flew right by.
They retreated to the main prayer area of the nunciature, with Noreiga and one soldier hiding behind the altar, and the other surviving soldier hiding behind a pew. They were about to plan their counterattack, when they heard the door slam open. Gadhafi and his men stepped inside, and set out to look for Noreiga and his soldiers. The soldier hiding behind the pew slowly reached for the M67 Grenade, and gripped it with his left hand. He pulled the pin, and rolled the grenade towards two of Gadhafi incoming men. The two looked right down, just as the grenade exploded.

Manuel Noreiga: 3/Muammar Gadhafi: 2

Shrapnel and heat went right through their bodies, and knocked them back through a dozen pew. Their bodies were lying in a scorched pile of wood that was slowly becoming drenched with blood. Noreiga and his men got out from behind cover to make their way towards the entrance of the nunciature, when Gadhafi and his last soldier came running back in with guns blazing. Gadhafi was letting loose with his Makarov Pistol, and sent an entire clip into the soldier that threw the grenade. The bullets deflated the lungs, and made the heart burst. The body fell back over a pew behind him, and became tangled up.

Manuel Noreiga: 2/Muammar Gadhafi: 2

Noreiga and his last soldier returned fire for a moment, them started running towards a doorway to their right. Noreiga made his though without a scratch, but his soldier took a bullet to the leg as he was trying to get through. As Gadhafi and his last soldier went through the door, Gadhafi dropped a RGD-5 Grenade right onto the soldier's chest. The soldier tried to grab the grenade and throw it away, but the pain from his leg wound was a bit too much for him to take. 3 seconds later, he didn't have to feel that pain any more.

Manuel Noreiga: 1/Muammar Gadhafi: 2

Noreiga heard the explosion, but didn't turn back. He just wanted to escape without any scratches, and thinking about his men would have ruined his escape plans. He was running down the hallway, when Gadhafi and his last soldier came round the corner behind Noreiga. Noreiga saw them, and ducked behind a column when they opened fire. The bullets were chipping at the stone, but this didn't stop Noreiga from taking out his Colt M1911 pistol, and send some bullets back. He made one lucky shot right through the head of Gadhafi's last soldier. Just like his own soldier from earlier, the bullet exited the back in a gory explosion, and the body slumped to the ground.

Manuel Noreiga: 1/Muammar Gadhafi: 1

Noreiga let out the rest of his Colt's clip, then ran out of an exit door, just as Gadhafi emptied the Makarov in his hands. Reloading the pistol, Gadhafi made his way to the exit door, and outside into an alleyway.
Gadhafi was at the beginning of a long alleyway that started at the nunciature, and followed the street nearby all the way to the bottom. There was very little within the alleyway, save for a few trashcans, and a dumpster or two. Gadhafi began heading towards a nearby dumpster, when he though he saw Noreiga run out from behind some trashcans, and into a smaller alleyway. Gadhafi gave chase until he was at the smaller alleyway, but he didn't see a thing. He was about to go back into the nunciature, thinking the Noreiga somehow slipped back inside, when he heard something rumbling inside a trashcan next to him. He popped the lid open to take a peek inside, and was greeted by a wave of heat, shrapnel, and noxious trash that sent him against the wall, and cracked the back of his head open.

Manuel Noreiga: 1/Muammar Gadhafi: 0

Manuel Noreiga: 505
Colt M1911 Pistol: 80
M16 Assault Rifle: 125
M60 Machine Gun: 200
M67 Grenade: 100

Muammar Gadhafi: 495
Makarov Pistol: 75
AK-47 Assault Rifle: 150
RPD Machine Gun: 250
RGD-5 Grenade: 20

Ending Assessment: This was an incredibly close fight, but it ultimately came down to Noreiga's superior technology, and more stable and calculating mind.
Strongest Weapon: Despite losing, Gadhafi's RPD, with it's 250 kills, is the strongest weapon of this fight.
Weakest Weapon: Despite it's explosive nature, Gadhafi's RGD-5 grenade takes the losing spot in this fight due to it's 20 kills.