[Opinion] Gadhafi’s Change

It appears difficult to categorize the Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi as a head of state who fits well in the 21st century. He seized power through a coup d’etat and has ruled the country for 34 years, which are both far from the current world order trend. The western countries have been criticizing and calling him “a crazy dog of the Middle East,” “a big frog in a small pond,” “megalomaniac,” and “weathercock.” The deeply rooted distrust of the abnormal leader Moammar Gadhafi by the U.S. played a big role in George W. Bush’s tagging Libya as part of the axis of evil along with Iraq and North Korea and calling them “rogue states.”

Moammar Gadhafi surprised the world by announcing that he would abandon plans to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD). To the U.S., this equals the breaking down of the second axis of evil with WMD, following Iraq. Anyway, it is good news whether or not the decision came from the shock of the capture of Iraq leader Saddam Hussein or a desperate countermeasure aimed at generating economic profits. People welcome the news of Libya because its choice is much more desirable than Iraq’s way of solving the conflicts. Iran, which has been suspected of nuclear development, recently agreed to accept the surprise nuclear inspections of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). There is something unusual about these situations to solve the WMD issue.

The Libyan leader has confronted western countries by taking the anti-Western and anti-Semitic policies. Not simply echoing his doctrine, he chose to stridently express his sentiments by using inhumane terror attacks. One of the exemplary Libyan acts of terrorism occurred in 1988. Libyan terrorists bombed the U.S.’ Pan Am flight in the U.K., killing all 257 passenger on board. Also he instigated bomb terrors in Rome and Vienna at the same time, and had a critical moment when he was the target of U.S. raids for three days. Moammar Gadhafi, in the past, was a ruthless leader who challenged military threats and economics sanction to confront the U.S.

It is not easy to explain Mr. Gadhafi’s sudden change as he is an anachronistic leader. Some made cynical comment that he has now grown up at 61, but there might have been some wrong understandings of Moammar Gadhafi by the one-sided recognition of the western countries such as denouncing him as an insane leader. However, if he had not been capable of reading the world changes, he might not have reached the decision of abandoning the WMD. In an interview with a U.S. media group in 2002 he said, “The world today is different from the world of yesterday, so today’s Libya is not same as the Libya in the past,” and added, “After I took office, the world drastically changed and I tried to keep up with the process.” It appears that he made the decision after pondering on it rather than committing an act of eccentricity. How it would be great if Kim Jong-il, leader of the Democratic People`s Republic of Korea, announces his abandonment of the nuclear developments following the Libyan model.

Editorial Writer Bahng Hyung-nam, hnbhang@donga.com

hnbhang@donga.com