U.S. Intercepted Libyan WMDs

NewsMax ^ | 12/21/03 | Limbacher

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

While many analysts are crediting the U.S.'s capture of Saddam Hussein for the decision by Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi to change his ways, it was actually the discovery by U.S. intelligence of a cache of Libya's WMDs that convinced the duplicitous dictator that the jig was up.

According to Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, "One thing that pushed Gadhafi over the top in making this deal was that we intercepted a ship on the high seas sometime in the summer or early fall that had weapons of mass destruction components being shipped to Libya."

Kristol told Fox News Sunday that the WMD seizure, which has gone unreported till now, was "the final straw in convincing Gadhafi that he wasn't going to get away with advancing his nuclear and other programs."

In October, after the WMD interdiction, the Libyan strongman permitted the CIA to inspect his facilities on the ground

U.S. inspectors were "surprised at how much they were able to see and surprised by how far Gadhafi had gotten, incidentally, in moving ahead on his weapons programs," Kristol said.

From that point, disarmament negotiations "moved quickly," he added.

[flan9]

Off the point I know, but there is another side to this Irish ship story. Pearse Mc Nulty the father of the registered owner has died, but his son's whereabouts are still unknown.
Only local Irish press seems to have reported this tragic and perhaps more important detail of the story : Christian Pearse has taken with him, wherever he is, his young daughter Tamara, leaving her without her mother who still patiently waits for any news, and seeking ways to make contact with her child.