Libyan strongman Moammar Qaddafi has a long history of sponsoring terrorism. But now the bad boy of the Middle East appears to want to make good. Libya has accepted responsibility for bombing the Pan Am Flight over Lockerbie Scotland, and now Qaddafi says he’s renouncing his plans to build nuclear weapons.
In exchange, Qaddafi wants the U.S. to lift economic sanctions against his country, and while the Bush Administration is currently saying it’s not ready to go that far, the President has hailed Libya’s change of heart and promised, to recognize Libya’s progress. Some are welcoming this shift from forceful regime change to diplomatic rehabilitation, but others are warning that dictators never change their stripes.
Guests:
David Mack, Vice President, The Middle East Institute
Mansour El-Kikhia, Libyan dissident and associate professor of political science, University of Texas-San Antonio
Scott Anderson, writer for the New York Times Magazine