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U.S strength, action has convinced Libyan dictator to relinquish weapons
The following op-ed was published in the Riverside Press-Enterprise on February 8, 2004:
Libya's announcement in December that it will abandon its weapons of mass destruction programs and cooperate with international inspectors was a step in the right direction for Libyans and the world. This was the central point Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi made to our delegation of U.S. lawmakers two weeks ago in Tripoli.
Nine days after the 9-11 terrorist attacks, President Bush told the world that the days of regimes that support terrorism and thumb their noses at the community of nations were numbered.
After a conversation with other members of the Libyan leadership, one fact is clear: Unlike Saddam Hussein and the
Taliban, Libya has seen and heard enough to understand thismessage.
It is beyond debate that Libya's decision to disarm is good for America and is a major foreign-policy achievement for President Bush. Tensions between nations, however, are far from settled.
A day after my meeting with Gadhafi, my office was contacted by a parent whose only daughter was murdered by Libyan terrorists when they bombed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1998.
Gadhafi, like Saddam Hussein and the Taliban, has American blood on his hands.
To say that America is ready to forgive a rogue regime that has murdered its own people and many others, would be a gross misperception of the facts. The suggestion that America can accept a military dictatorship, which continues to support known terrorist groups while preaching anti-American rhetoric, is far from the truth.
In our meeting, one of the subjects Gadhafi addressed was the death of his adopted daughter during a U.S. bombing raid in 1986. He spoke calmly, but his voice conveyed a deep-seated anger.
Gadhafi is a villain who, to this day, has never fully come clean about the crimes he has committed. He will never like the United States and we will never like him.
I had no sympathies for him when I left the tent-covered bunker where we met. I did, however, bring back with me to Washington the cautious optimism that his offer to disarm, while undoubtedly self-serving and motivated by fear, is nonetheless genuine and in our nation's best interest.
The nature of the future relationship between the United States and Libya is unknown. Before any measurable progress can be made, Libya must follow through on its promise to fully and verifiably rid itself of its weapons of mass destruction.
The world we live in is slowly but steadily becoming a safer and better place. Progress, under the leadership of President Bush, in the war on terror has removed dangerous anti-American regimes from power in Afghanistan and Iraq.
We have sown new seeds of democracy throughout the Middle East, secured support in the war on terror from unlikely sources, and continue to spread our message of freedom to the people of nations like Iran, whose only knowledge of freedom is a message from abroad.
In the case of Libya, our ideals are truly put to the test. America is committed to ensuring that the rule of law and
respect for human rights are the policies of every nation. Steps toward opening an American embassy in Libya and easing travel restrictions, while maintaining sanctions, will further our foreign-policy goals.
If we demonstrate faith that our message of freedom will take root in a totalitarian society, we send a message to the world. If we can show that interactions between Americans and Libyans will breed a demand for democratic reforms, again, we send a message.
President Bush has sent those who would harm us the message that America means business. Libya has received our message and responded. America's challenge is to keep the message moving.
Darrell Issa, R-Vista, represents the 49th Congressional District.
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