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Times Watch for January 9, 2004

Qaddafi's Non-Coerced Conversion?

     Libyan strongman Col. Qaddafi shocked the world last month, announcing his country would get rid of outlawed weapons. Thursday's story by Patrick Tyler, "Libyan Stagnation a Big Factor in Qaddafi Surprise," admits "something seems to have come over" Qaddafi--but neither the story's headline or the piece itself gives Bush or the Iraq War much credit for the Libyan leader's abrupt change of heart.

     Tyler notes: "In the space of the last few months, something seems to have come over one of the world's best known boogeymen, an alteration that some American officials attribute to Western resolve in toppling Saddam Hussein, but that many experts say has been percolating in Colonel Qaddafi's mind for a decade. These experts agree that the main factors underlying his decision are more likely to be his disastrous economic policies at home, the squandering of Libya's bountiful oil resources and a deepening isolation that threatens any hopes for the country's future."

     Did U.S. resolve in the terror war and in Iraq have any effect on Qaddafi, a sponsor of terror himself? Tyler glosses over the possibility: "Some Westerners here say the war in Iraq did little to affect the pressures that were building on the government. 'I think it has been a long process and Libya was well on its way in this process by the time the Iraq war took place, but at the same time, it didn't do any harm,' a Western diplomat said."

     The Times has blasted Bush's war conduct for making the U.S. an alienated world pariah, yet pooh-poohs the possibility the war could have positive effects as well. Tyler only hints at it: "Still, in an interview with the conservative French daily Le Figaro on the eve of the Iraq war, Colonel Qaddafi betrayed what some readers thought was a new realism about American power. 'When Bush has finished with Iraq, we'll quickly have a clear idea of where he's going,' he said. 'It won't take long to find out if Iran, Saudi Arabia or Libya will be targets as well,' and 'at that moment, things will be clear and the rest of us will be able to face them 
openly.'"

     An Opinion Journal editorial has detail absent from the Times report, suggesting Bush's more aggressive foreign policy is reaping dividends: "As the Journal reported last week, the Libyan strongman finally agreed to open his country's weapons sites to arms inspectors only after the U.S. and its [Proliferation Security Initiative] allies halted the illegal shipment of uranium-enrichment equipment headed for Libya's nuclear-arms program."

For more on Libya's change of heart, click here.

• Iraq War | Libya | Patrick Tyler | WMD

E-mail TimesWatch Director, Clay Waters, with TimesWatch feedback at cwaters@mediaresearch.org