Foreign Policy

Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi, at 27 years old, overthrew the King of the United Kingdom of Libya on September 1, 1969. He quickly moved to align himself with the worlds most treacherous leaders, and promoted anti-Western terrorism. His ordered acts of terrorism and death are long and well documented. In 1968 then President Ronald Reagan ordered approximately 66 U.S. aircraft to attack Libya in response to a Libyan supported bombing in Berlin. Since that attack the Colonel, and Libya as a whole, has been virtually ignored, and isolated, by/from most of the world.

In 2003 the Libyan leader stepped back onto the world stage announcing that he would cease pursuit of nuclear weapons and WMD’s and, as an act of good faith, turned over his supply of dated and dried ‘yellow cake’. (2003, it should be noted, is the same year the Colonel ordered the assassination of the head of the Saudi Royal family. The attempt failed.)

So, one might wonder, what’s up with this man that most Western leaders had referred to, and proclaimed, a mad man in the past? A change of heart? An epiphany of sorts that has now transformed him from terrorist to saint? This is the same man who sent agents to blow up Pan Am Flight 103 which killed 270 - Americans, British, and others.

Let’s consider a few things. The UK, in it’s wisdom, immediately decided (with U.S. approval) to reward the former mad man by agreeing to sell him the latest in conventional arms and armament (complete with training by the UK’s own military trainers). Exactly what every former mad man should have; a modern, well-equipped, well-trained Army. In addition, France (again with U.S. approval) has negotiated to build a nuclear power plant in Libya. What more could a former mad man want? Credibility? The U.S. gave that by removing Libya from the list of countries deemed as terrorist or terrorist-supporting.

Of course, Libya’s order of roughly $10 billion in new AirBus aircraft probably went a long way in calming the last few fears any Western leader may have had about his sincerity. And the possible $6.4 billion dollars Westinghouse may receive for its nuclear reactor didn’t hurt either. Ok, his oil (which is plentiful) probably had a bit of influence as well.

But what the heck, let bygones be bygones, after all the Colonel himself said that the government in Libya (which is him) is the truest form of democracy being practiced in the world today. Western leaders apparently agree.

Western foreign policy truly is foreign, isn’t it?