20.03.2005
March 20, 2005
The Honorable Condoleeza Rice, Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Re: Ambassador William Burns' recent report on US-Libya
relations
Dear Secretary Rice:
Since coming to power, the Libyan regime has a well documented
history of supporting terrorism, total disregard for national
and international laws, and has reneged on almost all of
its obligations and agreements. Throughout the past 35 years,
the United States had adopted a principled stand toward
the Gadhafi regime, resulting in US sanctions against Libya.
The Libyan people have appreciated the United States' firm
stand against the maverick Libyan dictator. During President
Bush's address to the nation on November 26, 2003, the President
criticized previous US policies of appeasement of dictators,
and blamed such policies on the scourge of terrorism, and
pledged to end such policies.
However, Ambassador William Burns' most recent report about
the state of US-Libya relations to the Committee on International
Relations, have left us with a sense of bewilderment and
disappointment, as we question the seriousness of US commitment
to democracy and human rights in Libya. When United States
officials continue to send conflicting messages regarding
Libya, such messages will only undermine US credibility
in the eyes of Libyans and leads to erosion of trust in
American stated policies. One can only describe Ambassador
Burns' most recent report to Congress as a typical example
of appeasement to dictators.
While Gadhafi's abandonment of his program of weapons of
mass destruction and settlement of other outstanding issues
with the US administration, are good developments in US-Libya
relations, we must point out that those developments are
not a result of a rational evaluation by the Libyan regime,
but borne out of fear of incurring the wrath of the US government.
Gadhafi uses violence as an instrument of control both inside
and outside of Libya, and responds only to credible threats
of violence by the international community, particularly
the United States.
To assume that Gadhafi's recent concessions to the US and
its western allies are a result of a genuine conversion
by Gadhafi from a terrorist to a reasoned statesman is simply
wishful thinking, and unrealistic to say the least. It is
also noteworthy that whenever Gadhafi has offered concessions
to the west, he invariably increased his internal oppression
inside Libya, lest his people perceive his concessions to
the west as a sign of weakness. We believe that a more credible
gauge of Gadhafi's behavior should be based on his behavior
inside Libya, and not on his proclamations to the international
community.
Sincerely,
Mohamed M. Bugaighis, Ph.D.
Chairman, American Libyan Freedom Alliance (ALFA)
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