LOONY TUNES
'Qadhafi is without doubt a malignancy who is sponsoring and financing terrorism throughout the world', Labour leader and mentor of the British Prime Minister, Neil Kinnock, calling for the 'imposition of economic sanctions' on Libya (Hansard, 22 April 1986).
'This courageous decision by Colonel Qadhafi is an historic one. I applaud it. It will make the region and the world more secure. ... I have spoken to Colonel Qadhafi to say that, as the process of dismantlement goes forward, I now look forward to developing a productive relationship with him and with Libya.' Prime Minster Tony Blair's statement, 19 December 2003
Anyone bemused by the Muammar Qadhafi's transition from terrorist to statesman must bear in mind that most things that happen to Libya are determined outside its borders. Overthrowing the British-installed King Muhammed Idris al Sennusi in 1969, Qadhafi missed the high tide of Nasserite Arab nationalism that inspired him, and repeated attempts to rekindle pan-Arabism have failed. Qadhafi told the non-aligned movement that you are either 'for or against imperialism', but his radicalism has largely been rhetorical.
It was Libya's misfortune to be cast as the fall guy in Ronald Reagan's militarisation of the Middle East in the eighties. Denouncing the leader of the 'State of the Masses' as a 'Mad Dog', and 'Loony Tunes', Reagan was actually looking for a more malleable eastern target than the Iranians or Lebanese - both of whom had inflicted real damage on US forces. Reagan's demands for economic sanctions were tailored to cause difficulties for America's European allies, who bought three-quarters of Libyan oil. Following the bombing of a discotheque in Germany frequented by US servicemen, Libya was put in the frame, though the most likely perpetrators were the Palestinian Abu Nidal faction. US demands for military action were resisted in Europe, with even Margaret Thatcher saying she 'expressed very considerable anxiety about what was proposed' (The Downing Street Years, p443). Attacking Libya was designed to bring Europe to heel, and demonstrate determination to America's Middle Eastern critics. Later Libya was subject to UN sanctions after it was blamed for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland, killing 270 people, in 1988 - though again the circumstances were far from clear (see 'Framing Libya' http://www.abbc.com/historia/zionism/LM61_Libya.html).
Just as Qadhafi's demonisation was driven largely by events outside his country, so too has been his rehabilitation. Libya's cooperation with the trial of two Libyans over the Lockerbie bombing, and its payments to the relatives of those who died was brokered by the British Foreign Office in 1999. The FO's attempts to repair relations were then resisted by the US. But subsequently the difficulties faced by Britain and the US in securing a result on Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq has made a deal with Libya more attractive. For Tony Blair, the Libyan decision is a demonstration that the alliance with the US is working. 'Today's announcement is a further step in making the world a safer place' he said on Friday night. 'The UK, US and our partners are determined to stop the threat of WMD'.
For Qadhafi, any weapons programmes are demonstrably unequal to the firepower at the West's disposal, and the advantages of being 'for imperialism' are greater. Whether the advantages are the same for Libya, subject now to an open-ended regime of inspection, with military sanctions awaiting and resistance, is yet to be seen.
For Britain and the US, it is a sorry state of affairs when they are looking for allies amongst those they once denounced as 'mad dogs' and 'loony tunes'.
-- James Heartfield