America has beaten Qaddafi before

As the world debates how best to stop the slaughter in Libya, it’s worth remembering that the United States has successfully countered Muammar al-Qaddafi’s military before. Qaddafi has a track record of misadventures extending back to the Libyan revolution, which brought him to power at the head of a military junta in 1969. He supported ...

GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty Images
GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty Images
GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty Images

As the world debates how best to stop the slaughter in Libya, it's worth remembering that the United States has successfully countered Muammar al-Qaddafi's military before.

As the world debates how best to stop the slaughter in Libya, it’s worth remembering that the United States has successfully countered Muammar al-Qaddafi’s military before.

Qaddafi has a track record of misadventures extending back to the Libyan revolution, which brought him to power at the head of a military junta in 1969. He supported terrorism all over the world and had a penchant for stirring up trouble in Africa. In the late 1970s he sent troops to support Ugandan President Idi Amin, who was under assault from opponents coming from Tanzania. And in 1983, he launched a massive invasion (by African standards) of his neighbor to the south, Chad.

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Charles D. Ferguson is president of the Federation of American Scientists. His book Nuclear Energy: What Everyone Needs to Know will be published in May.

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