A Theory from Washington

A Theory from Washington - 2004-03-09. What you read here is the official view of the U.S. government. The United States government is taking steps towards normalizing relations with Libya, including lifting the travel ban on American citizens to Libya, exchanges between citizens of the two countries, and renewing diplomatic and commercial relations with Libya. These steps are taken two months after Muammar Gaddafi, the powerful man in Libya, announced his abandonment of the production of weapons of mass destruction. Since then, international inspectors have been busy dismantling and eliminating Libya's nuclear and chemical weapons production facilities. As the White House stated, the U.S. has taken these actions to acknowledge and recognize Libya's fundamental steps towards the prohibition of weapons of mass destruction and to create the groundwork for economic development and Libya's reintegration into the global community. President George Bush considers Gaddafi's decisions in this regard to be appropriate and correct, taken in the interest of his country. He says, 'We expect other regimes to follow his example.' In this regard, Secretary of State Colin Powell states, 'The Iranian regime is one of these regimes. Iran needs to commit to ending all of its weapons of mass destruction programs, not just suspend them, and must put these commitments into action.' Michael McFaul, a Stanford University professor, says that the U.S. needs to exert pressure on regimes like Iran to deter them from pursuing weapons of mass destruction programs. This Stanford professor adds, 'But the U.S. must clearly and unequivocally support the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people. I return to our experiences with the Soviet Union, where we were always in contact with them regarding arms control, but at the same time, we always emphasized the necessity of respecting human rights and democracy in communist countries. I believe we can now implement both policies regarding Iran in a timely manner.' The U.S. presidency also states, 'The United States stands firmly shoulder to shoulder with those who seek freedom.'