SamSaid!

KHADDAFI

     Is it too good to be true?  Has the leopard really changed his spots? We may have to temper our elation with time before jumping on the Libyan bandwagon.

     One would think that the the Reagan aerial attack would have gotten Khaddafi's attention, but Libyan terrorists took down Pan Am 103 after that and then got caught.. No doubt the US backed sanctions hurt, and Khaddafi's oil industry really needed American capital. Why else would he offer to pay the victims of Pan Am 103?  But all of these factors pale into insignificance compared the the toppling of Saddam Hussein in three weeks and then pulling him out of a spider hole to face the world. The lily-livered legions of the left (see Michael Moore, the Hollywood elitists, and the UN) may rail against George Bush's unilateralism, but Khaddafi got the message. I doubt seriously that he has had a sincere change of heart. but as a pragmatist he can clearly see the harsh reality he now faces. Could I be next?? If the Iraqi conflict can be viewed as an investment, Khaddafi's inilateral abandonment of WMDs is assuredly a dividend. From our standpoint, if Khadaffi is honest in his committments (which most certainly will be monitored) Libya becomes another country we don't have to worry about short term.

     His critics denounce George Bush's political skills, but many things are breaking his way as 2003 comes to an end.. Saddam's tyranny has come to an abrupt end, Saddam has been captured and is in our hands,  the new Iraqi government is taking shape, the insurgency is gradually being contained in the Sunni triangle, The Dow is over 10,000, the US economy is in an upswing, Kaddhafi has renounced WMDs, and Howard Dean still suffers from foot in mouth disease. Maybe George is just lucky. But as golfers say, “Given the choice between being lucky and being good, take luck every time”.