Ah, politics, hypocrisy, turning a blind-eye, etc. etc.......and oil.
Colonel Gaddafi was for quite some time near-enough enemy #1. Then he became an ally. Now he is a pariah again.
Look back in history in this piece, back in November 2009, from Middle East Studies Journal on Line.
"In April 2004, seven months after Alamoudi’s arrest, Bush declared that “Libya has turned its back on terror.”
Two months later, Assistant Secretary of State Burns and J. Cofer Black, then-U.S. coordinator for counter-terrorism, traveled to Libya and met with Kadafi.
During the visit, the U.S. formally reestablished direct diplomatic ties with Libya.
In September, the administration lifted sanctions barring most U.S. trade with Libya.
Four months later, U.S. oil firms won lucrative rights in Libya, beating out European competitors. Pentagon officials say that if relations continue to improve, the U.S. would like to include Libya in a proposed $500-million program along with nine other countries that would be aimed at countering Al Qaeda in the region.
“Libya may not be a model of democracy, but we’ve got it out of the [weapons of mass destruction] business, and it is no longer playing a role [in sponsoring] terrorism,” said Mark R. Parris, a former U.S. diplomat who has worked to improve ties with Libya through the Corporate Council on Africa. “They are trying to become a world citizen, and it’s worth the experiment to see if we can help achieve that. The results so far tend to validate it.”
But critics say Washington is helping Kadafi stay in power.
“The fundamental nature of the Libyan government has not changed,” said Thomas Donnelly, a national security specialist at the American Enterprise Institute. “We shouldn’t be fighting a war on terrorism to preserve regimes like Kadafi’s.”
This piece from the Financial Times "A grubby Libyan lesson in realpolitik" is also worth reading.
"The Obama administration would love to have a clear narrative in which freedom and American interests advance, hand-in-hand, across the Middle East. In reality, things are much messier and more dangerous than that.
But there should be little room for mixed feelings about the downfall of Col Gaddafi. Despite the feeble post-Iraq efforts to rebrand the Libyan leader as a force for good, he remains what he always was – a despot and a monster."
Colonel Gaddafi was for quite some time near-enough enemy #1. Then he became an ally. Now he is a pariah again.
Look back in history in this piece, back in November 2009, from Middle East Studies Journal on Line.
"In April 2004, seven months after Alamoudi’s arrest, Bush declared that “Libya has turned its back on terror.”
Two months later, Assistant Secretary of State Burns and J. Cofer Black, then-U.S. coordinator for counter-terrorism, traveled to Libya and met with Kadafi.
During the visit, the U.S. formally reestablished direct diplomatic ties with Libya.
In September, the administration lifted sanctions barring most U.S. trade with Libya.
Four months later, U.S. oil firms won lucrative rights in Libya, beating out European competitors. Pentagon officials say that if relations continue to improve, the U.S. would like to include Libya in a proposed $500-million program along with nine other countries that would be aimed at countering Al Qaeda in the region.
“Libya may not be a model of democracy, but we’ve got it out of the [weapons of mass destruction] business, and it is no longer playing a role [in sponsoring] terrorism,” said Mark R. Parris, a former U.S. diplomat who has worked to improve ties with Libya through the Corporate Council on Africa. “They are trying to become a world citizen, and it’s worth the experiment to see if we can help achieve that. The results so far tend to validate it.”
But critics say Washington is helping Kadafi stay in power.
“The fundamental nature of the Libyan government has not changed,” said Thomas Donnelly, a national security specialist at the American Enterprise Institute. “We shouldn’t be fighting a war on terrorism to preserve regimes like Kadafi’s.”
This piece from the Financial Times "A grubby Libyan lesson in realpolitik" is also worth reading.
"The Obama administration would love to have a clear narrative in which freedom and American interests advance, hand-in-hand, across the Middle East. In reality, things are much messier and more dangerous than that.
But there should be little room for mixed feelings about the downfall of Col Gaddafi. Despite the feeble post-Iraq efforts to rebrand the Libyan leader as a force for good, he remains what he always was – a despot and a monster."
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