Monday, December 22, 2003
Now diplomacy works?!
The Center for American Progress on the Libya situation:
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The decision by Libyan dictator Moammar Ghadafi to permit UN weapons inspectors into his country validated the argument that the United States can achieve its strategic international goals using tools other than military force – namely, diplomatic, political and economic pressure. According to the LA Times, "Libya was virtually isolated from the world" because of UN economic sanctions since it orchestrated the Pan Am 103 bombing. Desperate to re-enter the international community, the North African country has been trying for at least 10 years to have those sanctions lifted. And while the developments are certainly positive, they beg a number of questions.Full report here.
WHY LIBYA AND NOT IRAQ?: President Bush has repeatedly told Americans that Saddam Hussein could not be trusted to live up to statements that he would disarm and allow UN inspectors into Iraq (which he did before the war). Yet, the Administration is now telling Americans that we can trust Ghadafi – a man with a similar record of repression, aggression, and disdain for international law, not to mention the fact that while Saddam never attacked the U.S., Ghadafi masterminded the killing of 270 people aboard Pan Am 103. On Friday, two days shy of the 15th anniversary of the airliner bombing, Bush thanked Ghadafi for "his commitment to disclose and dismantle all WMD in his country" – yet failed to explain the disparity between the policy towards Saddam and the Libyan leader.
WHY NOT NORTH KOREA?: Just this weekend, Vice President Dick Cheney exacerbated the North Korean situation, blustering, "I have been charged by the president with making sure that none of the tyrannies in the world are negotiated with. We don't negotiate with evil; we defeat it.'' His comments came at the same time the Administration was using quiet diplomacy and negotiation with the Libyan dictator, begging the question: why the disparity in policies towards the two nations?
