Collateral damage
 

Collateral damage. Haven?t seen any mention of this subject. Our military captures Saddam and the old SOB is seen on TVs all over the world in American custody. Within days Moammar Gadhafi the leader of Libya has a change of heart. Libya has declared its intent to dismantle its weapons of mass destruction completely and to limit the range of its missiles to no greater than 300 kilometers (187.5 miles). Libya?s leader said the process would be transparent and verifiable.

What great news in the war on terror! Daffy Gadhafi has been a loose cannon for decades. You will remember he was responsible for the bombing of a Pan Am jet liner over Lockerbie Scotland in 1988. Recently Gadhafi admitted his countries involvement in the bombing and agreed to pay 2.7 billion to the families of the 270 victims.

Who will be next? Could Syria or Iran decide to get out of the terror racket? Bush or whoever else is president should have rocks thrown at them when they screw up, however when something good happens a pat on the back would seem appropriate. Without an invasion of Iraq would Gadhafi be getting good marks for, playing well with others?

Stay healthy,
Andy

Good Point!
 

I think he deserves a little credit!

Keith

Yup, thumbs up... but what is more it gives one maybe a better sense of HOW the international war on terrorism is being fought... and not always with bullets and blood. One always likes to think the government knows what it is doing and has a plan that stands a chance of working. I'm a bit skeptical about any huge plan to do the same in Syria though... their government has been trying for months and months to open a "back channel" to our diplomatic/intel system in order to, they have said, help us find and destroy Al-Qaida/Taliban/Fedayeen etc etc etc... while trying to keep the lid on their own population of crazies and resident goofballs... to little or no avail last time I checked. Seems a couple of the current extremists in our own DOD and elsewhere, for whom the Prez eats a lot of crow he shouldn't have to, just cannot stand the idea of collaborating "on principle"... sorta like what got us into VN, a handful of idealists with big mouths and tiny hearts? I dunno... whatever the next steps along the lines of Libya and elsewhere will be fascinating to watch, and I am pretty sure are in some stage of progress already.

ANDY -

"Right on, from A to Z!"

And I loved the analogy about "DAFFY GADHAFI!" They ran a piece on the "Gad-Fly", showing him in several outfits, all with the same little cap - damned if he didn't look like an "Organ-Grinder's Monkey!" (opinion)

Well, maybe the gent had mended his ways? "Amazing what the thought of oblivion will do to one!!" ;)

VERITAS

I?m wondering if Gadafi hasn?t just thrown in the towel on his grand scheme to become the grand mufti/cosmic muffin of a Pan Arab State/Organization. A few years back I believe it was primitive Chad that took the invading Libyans apart. It was Toyota pick-up trucks against Libyan tanks and armored vehicles and Chad cleaned house and sent Libya careening back across their border, post haste.
Most likely there has been some serious arm twisting going on and Gadafi knowing he has a 10th rate military just capitulated. There has been a nice piece of work for sure and one more madman off the table and a few dozen to go.

Scamp

Of course it is a good thing. Kudos to those who accomplished it. He probably has an ulterior motive. I also wonder to whom he has given the tools / materials to create WMDs. The key to all of this is what is done about Iran. I pray that the change in their government comes internally. If the Israelis attack their nuclear facilities, as they did in Iraq in 1981, who knows what will happen next.

Larry

Glad to read you saying that Scamp...

Iran???????
 

Iran is a dilemma for certain. After a quarter century of Islamic Fundamentalist Mullahs domination of everything under the sun, the population has become restless and wants more freedom. Fact is, they just want rid of the whole mess that is supposedly their current Government. At the same time Iran likes to posture as the dominant bully these days and does their fair share of regional saber rattling. The one thing that is a bother to me is that unlike Iraq, Iran hasn?t let their industrial and academic infrastructure go to waist and could be a real menace. Long story short on that whole scenario is that the highly vaunted Iranian Islamic Revolution is an abysmal failure and its jump ball as to weather the High Muftis internalize or externalize their failures. If they internalize they will have to find a new crop of enemies as the old ones were killed off via supposedly ?religious? drumhead courts, etc. If they externalize, ouch, we got trouble. This is only my opinion as to what that all seems to look like.

I seem to recall the PRC ?Red Guards? and all that horror when the PRC internalized in 1966. But that turned out to be a lucky break in a way as it somewhat sidelined the PRC for a good portion of the VN war.

Scamp

Scamp -
What are the chances, or conditions under which, they would be most likely to "externalize"... and how will anyone be able to recognize signs of that happening?