No headline

In December of 2003, American and British intelligence and weapons experts were given a tour of Libya’s arsenal. After showing them 10 nuclear-related sites, a British official said that while the country had not manufactured a nuclear weapon, ‘’it was close to producing one.’’1

Under President George W. Bush in 2003, the United States negotiated an agreement with Libya’s leader, Colonel Gaddafi. 2 He would give up his weapons of mass destruction peacefully, and the U.S. would not try to remove him. Consequently, Libya was reasonably stable and no strategic threat to our allies or its neighbors.

Seven years later, in March of 2011, the Obama administration ignored the Bush agreement. Instead, when Colonel Gaddafi threatened to crush the “Arab Spring” protests in Libya, Hillary Clinton helped persuade President Obama to join other countries in bombing Qaddafi’s forces. 3 Hillary thought it was a great triumph, but today, Libya is a failed state and a haven for terrorists. The oil-rich country once had one of the highest standards of living in Africa, with free healthcare and free education. But, now, six years after overthrowing Gaddafi, it is facing a financial crisis which has allowed IS to gain a foothold in the country. 4 It’s a shambles, with people literally being sold in slave markets. 5

Additionally, how likely is North Korea to give up their nuclear weapons after seeing the worthlessness of U.S. promises to Gaddafi? Thank you Hillary Clinton!

MAUREEN PATERSON

Priest River

1. nytimes.com/2003/12/20/world/libya-to-give-up-arms-programs-bush-announces.html

2. Ibid.

3. democracynow.org/2016/3/3/the_libya_gamble_inside_hillary_clinton

4. bbc.com/news/world-africa-24472322

5. Ibid.