[On this date in 2006, The New York Times reported US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s announcement that Libya was to be removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism and that full diplomatic relations were to be restored. Her statement contained the following:]
We are taking these actions in recognition of Libya's continued commitment to its renunciation of terrorism and the excellent co-operation Libya has provided to the United States and other members of the international community in response to common global threats faced by the civilized world since September 11, 2001.
Today's announcements are tangible results that flow from the historic decisions taken by Libya's leadership in 2003 to renounce terrorism and to abandon its weapons of mass destruction programmes.
As a direct result of those decisions we have witnessed the beginning of that country's re-emergence into the mainstream of the international community.
Today marks the opening of a new era in US-Libya relations that will benefit Americans and Libyans alike. (...)
For Libya, today's announcements open the door to a broader bilateral relationship with the United States that will allow us to better discuss other issues of importance.
Those issues include protection of universal human rights, promotion of freedom of speech and expression, and expansion of economic and political reform consistent with President Bush's freedom agenda.
Irony has officially died.
ReplyDeleteReminded me of Tom Lehrer's "Political satire became obsolete when Kissinger got the Nobel Peace Prize."
ReplyDeleteHowever, even though there will always be some transitional problems, we should not be blind to the fact that there are also good reports from Libya.
After our liberation, Libyans are now much more free to do what they want. One indicator is the skyrocketing of subscriptions to chartered boat-trips on the blue Mediterranean waters.
Also in other ways there is good news
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Some-Good-News-From-This-War-Torn-Nations-Oil-Industry.html
As it says: "Libya depends overwhelmingly on oil export revenues, and getting its oil sector back on its feet is a prerequisite to rebuilding from years of war."
Nobody could disagree to that, and I am confident that a major goal of ENI's shareholders is to let the Libyan people benefit as much as possible from their oil, for which Gadaffi surely will have charged way too much.
I am certain that the new contract is a much better basis for a sustainable relationship.
Also, ENI would be happy to see the country building a strong and healthy democracy, regardless of whether it eventually would result in a re-evalution of contract terms.
Anyone paying due attention to today's news coverage would would know, that Western corporate interests are the strongest catalyst for freedom and democracy.
In fact, for Libya.things are going just the way we could expect.