THE UNITED STATES IN LIBYA UNDER RONALD REAGAN
One of the loudly trumpeted features of Reagan's foreign policy; was the determination to forcefully fight international terrorism. The Libyan government of Muammar Gadaffi had been identified as the j most critical factor in the sponsoring of organisations percieved to be "terrorist." The most notable of these groups are the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, (P.L.Q), and the Irish Republican Army, (I.R.A.). Their activities are usually directed against U.s and Western interest. However, it becomes necessary here to discuss the issue of what constitutes terrorism and what type of organisations should be termed terrorist. Terrorism can be seen as politically motivated use of scare tactics directed at innocent persons to force opponents to act in preferred manner. The New Encyclopaedia Britanica holds that terrorism is the systematic use of terror - such as bombings, killings, kidnappings - as a means of forcing some political objectives. It further distinguished between state terror designed to crush dissent, and insurretionist terror employed to effect desired political change. This leads to the classic conflict in defination of which groups are terrorists and which are freedom fighters. From the Libyan view point, Gadaffi saw himself as championing the cause of oppressed people who had a right to fight for their liberty. The fact that they lacked a state machinery meant they are unable to prosecute a conventional war. It is noteworthy that even the U.S. under Reagan, bank-rolled quite a number of organisations that employed methods ."similar to those of the P.L.O e.g. UNITA
Haley has explained that the Nixon, Ford, and Carter Administra-tions had ignored Gadaffi as an unimportant nuisance that could not be punished because U.s allies in Europe opposed economic sanctions against Libya. But Reagan is said to have directed the state and Defence Departments to treat Libya as a menace that must be stopped, if possible overthrown. Some measures undertaken by the Reagan Administration to "isolate, embarass, and weaken Libya are underlisted.
1. Closure of the Libyan People's Bureau in Washington and the recall of U.S citizens from Lxbya.
2. Initiation of major propaganda campaign to portray Gadaffi as a dangerous outlaw deserving of harsh punishment.
3. Strengthening of governments in Africa that opposed Libya.
4. Calculated use of threat of U.s military intervention against Libya.
5. Banning of importation of Libyan oil into the U.S and prohibition of the export of U.S high-technology equipment to Libya.
6. Consideration of overthrow of Gadaffi by covert U.S intervention.
7. Coordination of U.S policy with Britain, France and other powers willing to oppose Libya.
Reagan's proffessed aim was to pressure Gadaffi to stop sponsoring international terrorism. Between 1981 and 1984.
Washington adopted a wide range of economic sanctions aimed at pressurising Tripoli. But the U.S sanctions were ineffective because; its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, (NATO), allies refused to take similar action against Libya. In June 1985, the U.S government admitted that "no course of action short of stimulating Gadaffi's fall would bring about any significant change in Libyan politics" On April 15, 1985, American bombers struck at selected targets in two Libyan cities of Tripoli and Benghazi. This was the climax in United States - Libya relations. The Reagan Administration having willfully discounted the possibility of the use of diplomatic procedures in dealing with Tripoli discovered the inefficacy of economic sanctions, and had to resort to the use of military force in influencing the actions of the Libyan government. This is the raison detre for categorising Reagan's policy toward Libya under the military sphere of U.S - Africa relations. The origins of strains in relations between the U.S and Libya are traceable to the 1969 revolution when Colonel Gadaffi took power from King Idris and chose to lead Libya along the socialist path, to socio-economic and political development. Then the United States was particularly vexed by the decision to nationalise American MNC investments notably in the lucrative oil sector. A combination of factors ranging from the low population of the desert nation, to its vast oil wealth and astute welfarist programme' meant Libya was and still is, not dependent on the economic support of the West unlike many other nations of the Third World. As a corrolary to this, Tripoli is able to pursue an independent and essentially radical line in the internation/scene. Particularly, the Libyan Strongman is able to provide for his people and still have funds to make available for groups he perceives to be fighting "imperialism" invariably, the United States takes exception to the activities of such organisations. U.S. intelligence reports have it that Tripoli provides money, weapons, a base of operations, travel assistance, and training to some 30 insurgent, radical, and terrorist groups. These are organisations actively engaged in anti-government activities in the Phillipines, New Caledonia, Pakistan, Zaire, Guatemala, El Salvadore, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Lebanon, and Iraq. Gadaffi is further alleged to provide financial assistance to the political opposition or to leftist politicians in Costa Rica, St Lucia, and Dominica. It is striking that the governments in these countries are all despotic or repressive to varying extents. This raises the issue of whether the struggles of the organisations Libya is accused of sponsoring are actually legitimate. But it is true that the regimes in those countries are all pro-American. Lastly, Gadaffi is charged with "stiring up trouble world wide by continuing subvention in Chad, Sudan, and Tunisia.” He is hated in Washington for pursueing, as they put it, similar goals with Iran, Syria, Ethiopia, and Nicaragua.
Besides the expoused anti-teriorist campaign which objective observers, including the NATO countries, saw as a worn out excuse for Reagan to single out Libya for U.S backlash, perhaps a more important factor in U.S policy toward Libya was the so-called “Soviet threat" Indeed, Dickson insists Reagan entered the White House with few goals beyond building up the U.S military and meeting percieved threats to U.S interests head on. In Africa, the aim was to forestall both Soviet power and radical movements without differentiation between independent radical African states and those in the Soviet orbit. Interestingly, the militaristic thrust of Reagan's Libya policy invariably bore cold War calculations.
American military planners kept coming up with theory after theory concerning the threat Libya posed or could pose to U.S and Western global interests. They all affected the conduct of U.S strategy'. For instance, in March 1981, Drew Middleton, New York Times' military' affairs analyst reported deepening concern among NATO commanders that, in the event of a crisis in the eastern Mediterranean, Gadaffi could grant the Soviet Union the use of air bases in Libya. Libya has 19 hard surface airfield which, if lengthened, it could make available for the highly effective Soviet Backfire bombers. U.S. Admiral William Crome, Commander of the Southern Allied Forces, said if the Soviet bombers were supported by Sukhai and MIG fighters, together with the enlarged Soviet Naval Force of 40 - 50 ships already in the eastern Mediterranean, the U.S could be compelled to move its remaining carrier group west of sicily the other having been sent to the Indian Ocean. To him, if this happened, Turkey and Greece, at each others throat over Cyprus, and Italy would be left alone to deal with some 24 Soviet and 8 Bulgarian divisions backed by 1,100 Soviet tactical aircraft and additional Backfire and Bulgarian planes. Such Cold War projections concerning the dangers attendant upon Libya's geo-strategic location in the Mediterranean zone led the U.S to move militarily closer to its African allies like Egypt, Sudan, Morocco, and Tunisia. Reagan made overtures to these states for the construction of what was called a strategic consensus that was vital for the security of pro-American States. This was aimed against Libya or what the Americans termed as "the Soviets and their surrogates m Africa." Thus, the U.S conducted joint military exercises with the armed forces of countries opposed to Tripoli One of such, carried out in November 1981, was named Operation Brightstar. The exercise commenced with a non-stop flight of B-52s from Dakota in the U.S to the Egyptian desert. Its Egyptian phase involved as much as 4,000 U.S troops. In the Sudan, 350 members of the U.S special forces conducted training in counter insurgency while at Somalia, Engineering and Medical units carried out training exercises at Berbera. At Oman, 1,000 U.S Marines engaged Omani forces in a one day military exercise near Salalah - capital of the Dhofar province, Here in particular, America gave a 'brave1 demonstration of U.S commitment to its regional allies, to counter the Ethiopian/Libyan/ South Yemen pact. These military exercises prompted Libya.to complain to the U.N Security Council over what, in the words of Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Treiki, constituted "an act of aggres-sion against Libya and formed an intergral part of U.S policy of terror against small nations."
Reagan's determination to intimidate Gadaffi led to clashes between the Libyan Airforce and the U,S Navy in the Gulf of Sidra.. Washington under Reagan viewed the dispute over the Gulf as the perfect opportunity to hit Tripoli where it hurts. The basis of U.S challenge of Libyan claims that the Gulf was part of its territorial waters is said to be the 1958 Convention on Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone. It was accepted by the U.S. in 1964. Under its terms, national governments are allowed to claim as territorial waters, all of any coastal bay less than 24 miles wide at low water at its natural entrance. The Gulf of Sidra touches about a third of Libyan coastline and is 275 miles wide where it meets the Mediterranean. On August 12 1981, the U.S sent 16 warships' toward the Gulf of Sidra including 2 aircraft carriers one of which was the huge U.S naval vessel, Nimitz, There were hundreds of aircraft among them the elite "Black Aces" squadrom of F-l4s - the Navy's most sophisticated and potent fighter aircraft. Ostensibly, the mission was intended to train the ships' crews in the use of naval missiles and to re-assert U.S claim that the Gulf was an interna-tional waterway. In actuality, the primary aim was to challenge Gadaffi and bring him under the threat of U.S military might. The exercise went underway on August 18. According to U.S reports, on the 19th, the pilot of one of two Libyan SU-22 jet fighters fired a Soviet Atoll air-to-air missiles at two U.S F-14 fighter jets as the other maneuvred to attack. The Libyan pilot missed and a U.S pilot reportedly downed the two Libyan jets with side-winder missiles. Gadaffi denied the truth of this version and gave; his own. Said he: Libyan gets went out to meet what appeared to them to be two U.S. jets so as to order them out of Libyan air space. When they refused to leave, a Libyan pilot shot down an F-14. The two Libyan jets were then ambushed by eight F-14s. In the skirmish that followed, the 2 Libyan SU-22s were lost. The U.S government denied the loss of any U.S planes. Although it is well know that battles as fought are usually different from battles as reported, there was no question about the fact that 2 Libyan planes were shot down and that constituted an indisputable act of aggression against Libya.
The U.S action is consistent with its policy of assuming the role of an international policeman. The origin of this idea is the Monroe Doctrine of 1823. By its provision, President James Monroe claimed that "the U,S will regard as a threat to our peace and safety any attempt by European powers to impose their system on any independent state in the Western Hemisphere". In essence, the U.S declared itself the protector of "independent" nations in the Americas. But with the advent of the Cold War after World War II, the build up of U.S power extended worldwide including the Mediter-ranean, Reagan employed the doctrine of might is right against Gadaffi. Assistant Secretary of State for National Security, Richard Allen re-affirmed the relevance of the Monroe doctrine in the conduct of U.S policy when he stated that "while the U.S does not assume global responsibility for international peace and stability, no area of the world is beyond the scope of American interests if control or influence by a hostile power threatens American security.
Allegations of Libyan complicity in terrorist attacks in Western Europe led to direct U.S military action against Libya. In December 1985, regardless of Austrian, and Italian denial of Libyan involvement in terrorists acts in their respective countries, the Reagan Administration reacted by starting a military build up in the Mediterranean with the 6th fleet and the aircraft carrier Coral Sea leaving Naples for a "retaliatory" strike against Libya. The European refusal to support U.S military action against Tripoli embargo forced the latter to decide on a trade/embargo against Libya instead. Even that was ineffective because U.S trade with Libya in 1985 was valued at only about 200 million dollars. Moreover U.S. allies still maintained their trade relations with Libya. In 1985, Italy had a $2.5 billion, West Germany $882 million, Britain $582 million, France $526 million and Japan $640 million trade with Libya rendering the American embargo sterile. Nevertheless, on April 5 1986, terrorists bombed a German discoteque, La Belle. Two people were killed and 230 others wounded. One of those killed was an American army seargent. The U.S government, quick to perceive Libyan involve-ment, reacted by having two Libyan cities, bombed leading to 4 0 dead and hundreds of others injured. Most of humanity responded with indignation. Members of the European community/ had demonstrated their opposition to military action against Libya when the U.S sought their cooperation.
Only Britain reacted positively to American request for collaboration. Thatcher assented to the request for the use of airforce bases in Britain to launch an attack against Libya. The French, Spanish and Italian governments each refused to allow U.S planes to overfly their airspace. In the early hours of Tuesday April 15 1986, a squadrom of U.S F-1l bombers took off on a 5,600 mile round about flight to bomb Libya. During the lG-minute raid, the Benia air base in Benghazi was shattered, and so was the Al Jatmahiriya barracks, also in Benghazi. Other targets that were destroyed by sophisticated U.S air power were the Sidi Billai missile base and El Aseiz barracks, both in Tripoli. Analysis later revealed that the pre-meditated attack was aimed at either having Gadaffi killed or creating the prelude for an army mutiny that might bring down Gadaffis government. Apart from military targets, some civilian sections of Tripoli were bomb shelled. The French, Swiss, Austrian, Romanian, and Hungarian embassies were damaged. The U.S government claimed the embassy row was bombed in error due to flight problems of one of the plane pilots whose machine was hit by Libyan anti-aircraft batteries.
Reagan's action drew world wide criticism. The U.S no doubt over played its hand. But the relevant issue is that they got away with it - that is exactly what Reagan was banking upon. Though the world condemned America in this instance, it is not always easy to allot blame in the case of U.S - Libya relations. The truth is that each is guilty of the same offence it accuses the other one of. Washington blames Tripoli for supporting the P.L.O but is itself supporting UNITA in Angola and the Nicaraguan Contras. Both of these rebel factions employ "terrorist" or violent methods. That may even be beside the point because, essentially, the f.l.o is engaged in a just struggle. This is recognised by the human community as represented by the United Nations. On the other hand, Libya accuses the U.S of imperialist hegemonistic inclinations. It justifies its support of militant leftist groups on the need to curb those tendencies. But Tripoli's combat presence in, and its decision to annex northern Chad in 1981, can be termed as imperialistic. All said, Reagan was out to prove that might makes right. The action taken against Libya was out of proportion to the provocation. It was in fact a bogus excuse since German authorities refuted Libyan involvement in the La Belle bombing. Further proof is that world wide, only Great Britain, Canada, Isreal and Japan supported the U.S action. Indeed, some of these nations must 'have supported the U.S for reasons of expendiency rather than an expression of faith in Reagan's hawkish methods. Though Reagan said 'we did what we had to do and will do it again if necessary, many Americans did not share the opinion. A week after, Republican Congressmen expressed some doubt about the arbitrary manner in which the president carried out his plans in contravention of the 1973 War Power Resolution that required the U.S President to consult the Congress before starting or getting involved in a war.
This said, it is imperative to examine the role of Libya in international affairs within and outside Africa because Gadaffi seems to have other foes besides Reagan. In Africa, the Libyan leaders is variously accused of interfering in the internal affair of states and of trying to create an Islamic Federation of Libya, Mali, Senegal, the Gambia, and Niger. In Morocco, King Hassan is at loggerheads with him for his involvements with the Polisarios, In Nigeria and the Sudan, Islamic fundamentalists are suspected to have got support for their violent activities from Libya, Gadaffi's interference in Chad caused Niger to be suspect of his intentions reasoning that he might have an eye on Niger's substantial Uranium deposits Thus, the Libyan leader seemed to have cast for himself the role of an "enfant terrible" in international affairs. Tripoli could hardly count on any country that would go out of its way in support of Libya. Also, Gadaffi's obsessive romanticism with the idea of Arab unity appears to be largely archaic. This was demonstrated when Syrian support pilots refused to engage American fighter planes in Libyan skies. It seems obvious that few Arab states share Gadaffi's anti-American and pan-Arabic sentiments. In 'todays world, such so -called moderate Arab nations as Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan place much value on their relationship with Uncle Sam. They have often left little to the imagination as to where they will turn in the event of a Showdown between Washington and Tripoli. Same goes for Tunisia, Sudan, and Hisene Habre's Chad. Another problem is Gadaffi's over-exaggeration of his country's intfepeitlence from external influence, including Soviet influence, in its foreign policy, Moscow feels no strong commit-ments to Gadaffi's survival as it does for instance, to Castro's in Cuba. Some have suggested that Reagan's zeal in dealing militarily with Libya was a case of transferred aggression. It is a real credit to him that Gadaffi has survived despite incessant U.S propaganda, economic embargo, and military action. It is 6.n record that Reagan kept prompting Egypt to intervene in Libya.
How has Reagan's Libya policy fared? The professed crusade against terrorism has largely met with failure. It is well known that terrorism on an international scale has always been on the increase. Americans console themselves with the contestable claim that state sponsoring of terrorism has declined. In Sudan, in 1984 internal events were much more significant than Gadaffi in destabi-lising the regime of Numeiry. The defeat and exit of Libyan troops in northern Chad was an unqualified victory for the United States and France. The American sponsored strategic consensus among pro-Western elements in north Africa and the Middle East seems threatened by Arab impatience with Isreali attitude; and even the U?S and Isreal now hold divergent views on how best to deal with the Palestinian question vis-a-vis the F.L.O. Concerning Libya, Reagan has failed to effect any substantial change in Gadaffi's politics. He is still the militant desert warrior unprepared to allow American imperialism have its way, Libya's international independence also remains untainted. Recently, in negation of U.S dissuasions, the Soviet government sold Libya modern offensive bombers. Gadaffi has outlived Reagan's tenure and his crusade appears to be continuing