U.S. investigates possible Libyan terror plot

[salin]

salin's note... so our newfound "success" in the war on terror - cooperation from Libya (Libya has reportedly been seeking to improve relations for years... and suddenly Washington reciprocates when they need something to point to as a "win")... may be implicated in an assassination attempt on Bush buddy Crown Price Abdullah... (who, recall, allegedly was told about our impending attack on Iraq before even Sec. of State Colin Powell)

U.S. investigates possible Libyan terror plot

6/11/2004 8:36 AM
By: Capital News 9 web staff

American officials said there could be a slowdown in the normalization of U.S. relations with Libya. This, after word surfaced of an alleged plot by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to assassinate the head of Saudi Arabia.

The Libyan foreign minister strongly denies there is any plot against Crown Prince Abdullah.

more (very short item): http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/headlines/?ArID=78981&SecID=33

[sniffa]

1. see? ghadafi renounced terrorism

bush is great. he brought ghadafi to his knees and.. oh, never mind.

[salin]

2. so a man who makes major policy decisions

based on his gut reaction to people and their body language (rather than actual data and hard analyses).. keeps getting taken in... shouldn't they tell him that his "gut" clearly malfunctions?

[buddhamama]

3. intriguing

now why would Libya want to assassinate King Abdullah?

something stinks to me about this.

just coincidence maybe, but,
ok we're making friends with Iran then they're put back on our bad boys list because of the "chalabi connection"- still not buying into the entire story.

and now Lybia, who we've also been making nice nice with,
is purportedly plotting against King Abdullah...

[salin]

4. Generally I have some kind of sense of to what these things

might be pointing... but I have NO idea. Would find other folks speculation very interesting.

I had the sense that in later years Ghadaffi (sp) had moved away from his PanAfrican/PanArab aspirations (uniting the region - with himself as the primary power player), and towards stabilization - and recognition from the West. Got the sense that his moves were about more than just lifting the sanctions. Remember, he was the first vocal leader from that region who expressed an "understanding" of why the US was going to attack Afghanistan in response to the 9-11 attacks.

So if the press storyline is correct (a story line which began long before bush suddenly embracing him symbolically as a saving face gesture since so much of his "war on terror" has been a wash... the rehabilitation of Ghadaffi's reputation goes back quite a bit earlier...) that Ghadaffi is seeking stabilization and normalized relations with the West... then why would his govt be involved in trying to completely destabilize Saudi Arabia (which the assissination alleged would do)? Has he really been trying to normalize with the west? Or is the fabrication this most recent allegation - and in which case (if it is a neocon type ruse) to what end?

Completely puzzled but intrigued. Any other thoughts?

[buddhamama]

6. it is a simple theory

the U.S. could be behind the false intel, as i believe might of have been the case with some of the Chalabi/Iran story to destabilize the region and turn Middle Eastern allies against one another.

don't know if Bush's recent failure to "persuade" Arab League countries to reform,etc., has anything to do with it...
i'm inclined to think so. Not that i believe in his stated intent for the reforms, makes no difference, a divided Middle East would help further his cause. Their distrust of the U.S. appears to be the one issue they can all agree on. If they began to distrust one another, and one or two became more dependent on the U.S. for some reason, like Iran having nuclear weapons or Lybia plotting against Saudi Arabia, they just might turn to Bush/U.S. for assistance. And then we would wield our power.

[salin]

7. Except a couple of things

1) bush has had very little success in his War on Terror. They trotted out Libya as an example... See! They were forced to disarm! See... they are now cooperating with the international community... ergo ala bush the WoT is working!

This story a) takes bush's ability to try to sell the one "success" to his base away; b) in light of the Chalabi story - makes it looks like the administration keeps falling for scoundrals.

The story makes bush look bad.

2) Libya is fairly isolated - and has no real pull (or threat factor) in the region. Not a terribly effective divise around which to pull the divide and conquer theme.

[buddhamama]

8. hmmm

well there goes that theory.

"The story makes bush look bad."

ok, here's another theory, came to me just now.

what if they intel wasn't very good on either story
Chalabi/Iran and Lybia/King Abdullah but was put out anyway by 'some' in the intelligence community to make Bush look bad.

[salin]

9. That could fit the bill.

Though I worry if in my read of internal leaking and power struggles (of which some clearly exists, and it appears to be escalating) if it isn't too easy an explanation... just as the explanation up until a few months ago, when the administration lost the ability to shape and manage stories to their advantage, that all things pointed back to the neocons angling for their next PNAC move.

So much internal cloak and dagger manuevering that is now more transparent (the moves not the movers or the why) that it gets harder and harder to "call" these events/leaks/revelations...

[Vickers]

5. Wag that dog, Georgie!

Woof, woof!