Shameless deal with Libya

[SpikeTss]

The age-old advice that, "If you sup with the devil, use a long spoon," should be strictly observed when full diplomatic relations between the United States and Libya are restored. The signing Thursday of an agreement finally settling compensation for American victims of terrorism means that the U.S. will upgrade relations with the nefarious dictatorship of Moammar Gadhafi, open an embassy in Tripoli, appoint a U.S. ambassador and send Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Libya to make nice.

As well as packing a long spoon, Ms. Rice should take something to settle her stomach. Nothing could be more nauseating than dealing with Gadhafi, a ruthless dictator who has brutally oppressed his own people for four decades. The only good that can be said for him is that he claims he is no longer a sponsor of international terrorism and that programs to manufacture chemical weapons have been closed down. But when it comes to dealing with Gadhafi, nothing can be taken on trust.

...

Of course, the agreement also opens the way to oil and trade deals with Libya, regardless of the blood on Gadhafi's hands and his unchanged contempt for human rights and his own lack of humanity.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Welch, who signed the deal with Ahmed al-Fatouri, head of America affairs in Libya's Foreign Ministry, called it a "historic agreement."

As an example of shameless diplomacy, it may be deemed historic. Rarely have our diplomats stooped so low for the sake of tawdry pragmatism.

http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/aug/18/shameless_deal_libya51182/

[bemildred]

1. Ruthless dictators who can be bought are our cup of tea.

Condi and Ghaddafi belong together. It's a "historic agreement".

The problem is that it is entirely compatible with the history of US foreign policy, and it is not worth the paper it is written on.