In 1986 the US bombed Libya in response to the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing. The discotheque bombing killed three people and injured 229. Germany and the United States obtained cable transcripts from Libyan agents in East Germany involved in the attack.
Prior to the Berlin bombing, Libya had already been connected to several other terrorist attacks, including the December 1985 Rome and Vienna airport attacks. In addition, Gaddafi had indicated that he would continue to support the Red Army Faction, the Red Brigades, and the Irish Republican Army as long as European countries supported anti-Gaddafi Libyans.
The Foreign Minister of Libya called the massacres “heroic acts.”
Despite the overwhelming evidence indicting Libya’s direct involvement in terrorism, France refused to allow American warplanes to use its airspace during the attack.
I know it’s twenty-five years later, but could someone please explain to me why France is now leading the charge in establishing a no fly zone over Libya? France championed the United Nations resolution like no other country and is now the first nation to have warplanes in the air.
Just this afternoon they began firing on Libyan ground units.
What gives?
We knew this guy was bad in 1986.
And had US warplanes not been forced to fly over Malta on their way to their targets (thus warning Gaddafi of their approach), we could have eliminated Gaddafi for good twenty-five years ago.
The result of missing Gaddafi?
Libyan state-sponsored terrorism continued.
In September of 1986, the Libyan government ordered the hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 in Pakistan, which resulted in the deaths of 20 people.
In May 1987, Australia deported diplomats and broke off relations with Libya, claiming Libya sought to fuel violence in Australia and Oceania.
In late 1987 French authorities stopped a merchant vessel that was delivering 150 tons of Soviet arms from Libya to European terrorist groups.
On December 21, 1988, Libyan agents brought down Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 people aboard, and 11 people in Lockerbie.
It’s now 2011 and I’m pleased to see that France is supporting the no-fly zone and protecting Libyan civilians, but aren’t they a little late to the game?
Had they simply allowed American warplanes access to their airspace twenty-five years ago, the world might be watching an entirely different dictator slaughter his people as they wage war for their freedom.
