Lessons Learned in Libya (An Iranian's Perspective)

[XLFD]

Moammar Qaddafi of Libya looks to be currently out of power.  Good riddance, it looks like the massive amount of money used in American air sorties and the mostly European pressure exerted may have helped the rebels gain a big enough foothold to topple this dictator. 

Qaddafi has had a bad history throughout his reign, having allegedly been a harborer of terrorists, a holder of weapons of mass destruction, and at least an aider in the bombing of an airplane.  But he abandoned terrorism and relinquished his weapons of mass destruction in late 2003, out of respect/fear of GWB's War on Terror.  President Bush removed Libya from the list of state sponsors of terror and President Obama shook hands with the dictator in 2009.

 

So how does America and its allies in Europe reward Col. Qaddafi's peaceful actions, which seems to have continued since 2003?  By resorting to war against a toothless dictator who has surrendered his biggest and baddest weapons.

This is the lesson the mullahs in Iran (as well as tyrants in North Korea, et. al.) will glean from this story.  That it would be pointless to reach any agreement with the West about terrorism or nuclear weapons, without them eventually turning on you and taking advantage of your peaceful gestures with their eye on regime change and/or nation-building.  Regardless of any agreements and understandings you have reached in good faith with them.

This may eventually be seen as the biggest mistake the West made in this venture into Libya, the inception of the idea in rogue countries and their rulers that they will be interfered with if they abandon WMD and the option of terrorism.

[Willy]

Good point X.

[XLFD]

Thanks, Willie.  Be sure to keep an eye open in the future for when some dictator justifies why they do not disavow terrorism or WMD production by pointing to how the West treated Libya for doing just that.