Libya hailed for renouncing WMD

The United States and Britain have warmly welcomed Libya's decision to abandon its programmes for developing weapons of mass destruction.

news.bbc.co.uk...

It seems Gaddafi wants to abandon his wmd programs. Striking news..What happened during this nine months of secret negotiations with the West. And why was it done secretly, did they pay gaddafi to give up his treasures ? Did they offer him help ? Or is gaddafi all of a sudden amerikas biggest friend...because he's affraid for em.
Libya has decided, with its own free will, to get rid of these substances, equipment and programmes and to be free from all internationally-banned weapons.
Sounds a bit like a joke, or did santa visit him...

A welcome seasonal present for President Bush and Prime Minister Blair the bbc commentator says, is it this, a present...what will the present from bush and blair for gaddifi be ??...pz, joz

Admittance back into the 'international community', of course.
I also applaud Mr. Muammar Gaddafi's efforts.
Perhaps this will encourage and set an example that the world should continue to reduce, if not abandon, or get rid of all WMD. The only exception to this would be those 'nukes' needed to prevent or be in use for an outside threat(s) (incoming asteroid, etc).

The US and Russia must also lean towards setting more of an example in this also. Between the two, there is still enough remaining nukes, in inventory, to effectively destroy the world over and over and over and over.......
I mean, what good are 10,000+ nuclear warheads lying around other than for the old cliche': deterence?



regards
seekerof

The west really has very little problem dealing with dictators, if you'll look you will find that Gen. Pervez Musharraf aka the president of Pakistan was put into power through a military coup d'etat yet he remains one of America's friends in the region, Gaddafi is now Mr Congeniality of the arab world, he's going to get enormous kudos from the world and then try to shoehorn his country back into the international community.

This is no goodwill gesture... Gaddafi is not a fool, he knows the americans are after anyone with WMD's fictional or true and he has seen the oppurtunity to stay in power and be sponsored by the west, just for the sake of destroying some weapons he'd never have used anyway.

The 'West' has been the main "mover and shaker" of this world for how long?
You bet many, many nations look to the "West" and seek its backing....seems to have been the "way of the world" and will continue to be so for a long while.

Found this:
"Libya Seeks Reward for Scrapping Banned Weapons"
Link: (Reuters via Yahoo)
story.news.yahoo.com.../nm/20031220/ts_nm/libya_dc_10


regards
seekerof

One less bone for the dawgs to fight over!
Should be interesting to see how the others react to this.

Yet another thing that can only HELP Bush's popularity no doubt. It is a way of saying, "See these people do what we ask about WMD's," and we not only leave them alone, but let them into our little international club. Don't get me wrong, I am pleased but skeptical. Will he keep his word?

-P

Good work George!

I guess Khadaffi is feeling mortal these days. Anyone know how old he is now?

The real reason that Mr. Gaddafi gave up his WMDs is because it seems that physical evidence was caught and exposed revealing Libya having a WMD program.

"Revealed: the real reason for Gaddafi's WMD surrender"
Link:
www.telegraph.co.uk...;$sessionid$LRVS4A1XR5N5PQFIQMGCFFOAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2003/12/21/wgad21.xml&sSheet=/portal/2003/12/21/ ixportaltop.html

Excerpt:
"Libya's promise to surrender its weapons of mass destruction was forced by Britain and America's seizure of physical evidence of Col Muammar Gaddafi's illegal weapons programme, the Telegraph can reveal.

United States officials say that America's hand was strengthened in negotiations with Col Gaddafi after a successful operation, previously undisclosed, to intercept transport suspected of carrying banned weapons.

The operation is said to have been carried out under the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), an international, American-led scheme to halt the spread of WMD by seizing them in transit. The PSI was first mooted by President George W Bush in May but was not officially launched until September."


regards
seekerof

Gaddafi is saying that it is his decision to give up his weapons and that he wants to take a lead in making the world a safer place. As an egomaniac it would give him pleasure to be regarded as a great peacemaking statesman.
Of course, there could have been some behind the scenes military work going on behind the scenes that forced his hand but would that really have made a difference a year ago?.

Whichever way you look at it, this can only be good news.
This is probably the first tangible benefit that has arisen from the invasion of Iraq. With the US showing that it is prepared to strike out at rogue regimes, it has strengthened it's hand immeasurably when dealing with people like Gaddafi.

Does anyone here believe that Gaddafi would have made this declaration if he hadn't watched events in Iraq?

He already wanted to come in from the cold and the realisation that he now has nowhere to turn means that he jumped before he was pushed.

As for the West supporting dictators? You can't please the libs can you? They whined like babies when Saddam was removed, they whined like babies when sanctions were imposed and they whine like babies when you negotiate with a dictator. They leave no option but whining and they defeat themselves with their own argument. 99% of those people who are decrying negotiation with Gaddafi are those who were saying that the US should have negotiated with Saddam instead of invading.

Libya has a far more liberal system than many of the Arab countries surrounding it and it is one of the most Westernised societies in the area. By opening the gates to the rest of the world it is far more likely that democratic change could be achieved peacefully there than in any of it's other neighbours.

We all 'know' that there are much more countries that have wmd capability. Libya was never the best friend of the west or am i wrong here..
I dont know if its a good thing he gives em up, if he does so, because in my mind not only the usa is supposed to have these kinds of weapons.. But it also has its good sides. I remeber gaddafi never really liked the usa, didnt he bombed this ship some time ago..so why know al of a sudden, even if they knew he had these weapons..combined with the nice christmasgift idea, how did they buy him..threatening him with yet another war ? when will it stop ? when the usa is master of the world ? Maybe even europe in some time will be a victim...sell us bmw's for less or....
thx seek for the links..

Originally posted by jozuph
Libya was never the best friend of the west or am i wrong here..

Study history and you will find the answers that you are looking for.
Like most other Arab dictators Gaddafi was intent on expansion. He planned an Arab North Africa with himself at the helm. The West obviously opposed this idea and this is where the trouble stemmed from.
Gaddafi got involved in civil wars in other countries and exported terrorism to achieve his aims but in terms of strategy he was an amateur. When things didn't go his way he had to keep face by striking out at the West but he vastly underestimated the reaction that this would cause. Unfortunately he was a victim of his own delusions of grandeur.

His actions now prove that he has simply been overtaken by modern day events.

It's true that getting rid of WMD is a good thing, but why is it that America (and to a lesser extent Britain) are the prime movers in these efforts? All this does is detract from the UN, which was set up to regulate amongst its member states. A number of the other parties involved will (and do) see this as American led aggression. This just creates even more international insecurity, when in reality we should be seeking a peaceful co-existence, but then the current international political climate does sell lots of guns.
Libya has had a desire to return to the international community for a good few years now, and it is possible now to spend your holidays there and not worry about being bombed (by Regan anyway ).
It is entirely possible that the Americans have invented this whole back story about their interception of WMD to try to detract from Gaddafis' desire to change his countries standing. It could be any other reason you can think of, with the extent to which our politicians lie to us, it's hard to truly know the score.

[Edited on 21-12-2003 by MacGonzo]

You know, the headlines are that the families of the victims of Lockerbee are pissed off that steps are being taken to correct the long-standing Libya issues. I have something to say about that...

Get a life! Okay, so you lost a loved one...my heart hurts for that. But to think the geopolitical moves that need to be taken to resolve unacceptable situations are going to be done or undone because it hurts your feelings is JUST A LITTLE UNREALISTIC...good grief!

Next I'd like to ask: Does anyone think that this sudden change of heart by Qadhafi might be due to the fact that we actually DID get Saddam? I mean, this has got to have the Q-man thinking...damn! they were serious!

And then finally, I'd like to point out that the Q-man never fails to make a fashion statement, does he?