Change of Heart
British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived in the Libyan capital of Tripoli Thursday for a historical visit to the country, the first trip to the North African country by a British prime minister since World War Two.
If you’ll recall, other events in Libya’s history under Ghadafy include:
A war with Chad.
The German disco bombing.
The “Line of Death” across the Gulf of Sidra.
The Pam Am Lockerbee bombing.
Attempted fighter strikes on Italy and US warships in international waters.
Stockpiled forbidden chemical weapons, and worked with the Soviets on nuclear weapons.
And since the Coalition liberated Iraq last April? From the same article:
August 2003 — The Libyan government officially accepts to takefull responsibility for Lockerbie and asks the United Nations to lift the 11-year sanctions as soon as Libya reaches accords with Britain and the United States. Libya also agrees to pay 2.7 billion US dollars to the relatives of the bombing victims after the sanctions are lifted.
Feb. 6, 2004 — British and US high-ranking officials hold talks with Libyan officials in London on dismantling Libya’s banned weapons programs, improving the US-Libyan relations and lifting US sanctions against Libya.
Feb. 9, 2004 — Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel-Rahman Shalqam visits Britain, the first Libyan foreign minister to travel to Britain after Gadhafi took office in 1969.
March 25, 2004 — British Prime Minister Tony Blair visits Libya, the first trip to the North African country by a British prime minister since World War Two.
It’s all just a big, fat coincidence. Move along, there’s nothing to see here.
FYI, the attempted strike on Italy was not a fighter strike, but rather a SCUD attack on the naval base on the island of Lampedusa. The missiles fell a bit short of their targets, since they were operating at their maximum range.
Since I refuse to register at the NYT -
In short, Lies, LIES I tell you!
Rekindling debate on how close Libya actually came to acquiring a nuclear bomb, a private arms-control group says the Bush administration overstated the number of devices the country had for making uranium fuel….
I posted the link early AM on Rantburg.
Fred’s been playing w/his site.
You forgot the one where Libya provided plutonium to Dr. Emmitt Brown, who built a time machine and almost gave rise to the Biff Tannen gambling empire.
The “Line of Death” was a classic though. Mo’ declares death to all who cross the line, so Reagan blows up his house and nearly kills him. I could appreciate the irony even though I was like, eight at the time.
I flew from Amsterdam to Nairobi about 5 years ago, and I have to admit, I was a tad nervous (even on KLM) as we flew smack through the middle of the Gulf of Sidra. Only reason I knew was because of those spiffy GPS systems that show where the plane is.