"Libya Is Not Iraq": Preemptive Strikes, WMD and Diplomacy

The Bush administration quickly claimed full credit for Libyan leader Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi's decision to renounce unconventional weapons, suggesting this reversal in long-standing Libyan policy was a by-product of the war in Iraq. On the contrary, the role of the current administration was one of successfully implementing policies discussed for more than a decade and finally initiated in the latter days of the Clinton administration. The welcome decision of the Qadhafi regime to disarm should thus be seen as a win, not for a strategy of preemptive strikes, but for traditional methods of combating nuclear nonproliferation.