http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/02/2 ... ng-Gaddafi
In the beginning Colonel Muammar Gaddafi had gotten much of his weaponry from Russia and the Soviet Bloc. His reputation as a terrorist, his so-called socialism, his pursuit of WMD and the mistaken belief that he really was the "revolutionary" that he pretended to be all made him off limits to western arms merchants.
So in the first half of the last decade the US, UK and EU insisted that Libya get rid of weapons that were a danger to them, namely it's nuclear weapons program, WMD and ballistic missile programs. By 2005 Libya had met the disarmament requirements of the great powers. Since then those powers have been involved in a mad scramble to re-arm Libya with the type of weapons most useful to Gaddafi in suppressing his own people, weapons that are being used with terrible efficiency today.
Access to oil was always the principal reasons these great powers wanted to restore relations with Gaddafi but sale of weapons was also high on the list. In October 2004 EU foreign ministers went even farther than Bush and ended an 18 year restriction on the sale of weapons to Libya. Bush used the desire of U.S. companies to participate in the destruction of Gaddafi's chemical weapons to get the U.S. into that game. In September 2005 he waived some defense export restrictions on Libya . . .
Republican congressman from Pennsylvania Curt Weldon became a principal U.S. contact with Gaddafi about this time. He had long considered Saif Gaddafi his friend . . . Congressman Curt Weldon became a big Gaddafi booster and led three US Congressional Delegations to Libya. His friend now has a lot of blood on his hands. . . . This turn to military power by the so-called moderate Saif Gaddafi should come as no surprise to U.S. officials. Wikileaks has made available state department cable 09TRIPOLI960 dated 2009-12-14 from the Tripoli embassy that noted Saif Gaddafi increasing sway in military matters
After he left congress, Curt Weldon became the center of an FBI probe into alleged conflicts of interest while in office. That didn't stop him from becoming a principal in a private American defense consulting firm that did business with Libya, Defense Solutions. There he helped to broker deals between Libya and Russian and Ukranian weapons suppliers. Paradoxically, it was the "War on Terror" and efforts to rearm Afghanistan and Iraq, which had much Soviet-era weaponry, that created the ambiguities and loopholes that allowed this new arms trade to flourish.
The Libyan people are now paying the very terrible costs of that very profitable policy. To get the profitable contracts, Defense Solutions boasts an impressive list of advisers such as retired four-star general, White House drug czar and NBC News military analyst Barry R McCaffrey. . . .
No one should expect Barry McCaffrey to be squeamish about selling Gaddafi the tools of mass murder. Especially since he is paid up to $10,000 a month for his advice. While still in uniform, he was the author of the infamous "Highway of Death" that ended the first Gulf War by mowing down tens of thousands who were fleeing Kuwait. From Barry McCaffrey and War Crimes: "Most recently, Seymour Hersh writes in the New Yorker that a two-star general ordered a massacre against a five-mile line of retreating Iraqi soldiers, and did so two days after a ceasefire went into effect. Hundreds of soldiers were murdered, men and boys who posed no threat and didn’t know the war was still on.
McCaffrey's job now is to open doors like those of his friend David H. Petraeus, the commanding general in Iraq to Defense Solution's offerings. “That’s what I pay him for,” Timothy D. Ringgold, chief executive of Defense Solutions told the NY Times. General Petraeus has been a big advocate of increased U.S. weapons sales abroad . . . Under Bush's policies, relations with Gaddafi improved and companies like Defense Solutions got rich. On 30 July 2006, President Bush removed Libya from the State Department's list of countries sponsoring terrorism and shortly after that full diplomatic representation was restored.
In December 2007 representatives of Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon and about 19 other U.S. companies made a visit to Libya sponsored by the National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce. Lockheed Martin may be the Pentagon's biggest supplier but they are happy to sell to Gaddafi too. Thomas Jurkowsky, a Lockheed spokesman said about his company's war making capabilities "The opportunities to leverage that expertise in Libya cannot be overlooked." About the trip Christian Today said, "Major U.S. companies are jockeying for tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure and other big projects in oil-rich Libya, as ties between the former foes warm.
In January 2008, the former foes got even closers as Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and became the highest ranking Libyan official to visit Washington in 35 years. "We don't speak anymore about war or confrontation or terrorism" . . . "No, the contrary: Wealth of the people, cooperation, investments, peace and stability." . . . Apparently human rights wasn't on the agenda either.
there's more, but that's enough . . .Two years ago the U.S. military ended decades of isolation and started building relations with Gaddafi. In January 2009 the Pentagon and Gaddafi's government signed a "non-binding statement of intent" aimed at developing bilateral military ties. A few months later they were already trying to sell Gaddafi the type of equipment he is using now in the violent suppression of his people. From Reuters:... "We will consider Libyan requests for defense equipment that enables them to build capabilities in areas that serve our mutual interest," said Lt. Col. Elizabeth Hibner of the Army. . . As examples, she referred to systems used for border and coastal security . . . "Coastal security" might include naval capabilities that allow Gaddafi to fire on rebellious coastal towns from ships, as he has been doing . . . Gaddafi has planes made by Boeing and Lockheed Martin in his fleet. . . .
