He was never a WMD threat. The Libyan air force had air-to-air missiles but wouldn’t use them, attempting to close to use cannon fire. They didn’t trust technology, like the collision avoidance systems in their aircraft, which led to several mid-air accidents when we were still in the country trying to train their air force.

Their technical capabilities were probably at 1950s level, so they were never a serious threat. They could fix mechanical problems, but fuses and switches were their limit in electronics. Most of it was self-imposed, part of their vision of themselves as fierce desert warriors or something equally bogus.

They had the money to buy things, but I doubt most of it made it out of the crates. They were isolated and could be safely ignored.

Qaddafi was of more use to the USA alive than as a martyr. I think that the truth is that Reagan didn’t like Qaddafi because of his support for Palestinian independence, and for supporting Iran in the 1980-1988 war against Iraq (when Saddam Hussein was the USA bestest friend!) Amongst other Repuglican Agenda issues that Qaddafi was at odds with.

A recent example of Qaddafi’s *change of heart8 (after his daughter and son were killed by the USA), was that Qaddafi was one of the first and strongest denouncers of Al-Qaeda after 9/11 of any Muslim nation. Libya also became a player for Bush to promote his wars. Gaddafi announced that his nation had an active weapons of mass destruction program, but was willing to allow international inspectors into his country to observe and dismantle them. Bush and other supporters of the Iraq War portrayed Gaddafi’s announcement as a direct consequence of the Iraq War by stating that Gaddafi acted out of fear for the future of his own regime if he continued to keep and conceal his weapons. Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, a supporter of the Iraq War, was quoted as saying that Gaddafi had privately phoned him, admitting as much. Amazing huh? LOL

I guess the USA did learn a lot from the Mafia after all.

Frankly, Libya was due due for a good pasting, those suckers used to shoot at me over the Med. I take that sort of thing personally when I’m in a clearly marked US Air Force transport. Nixon would never do anything about it, even though there was a carrier within striking distance. The fact that we could outfly the Libyan Mirages with a C-130 is irrelevant, you shouldn’t let people get away with that sort of thing.

We can’t identify diseased livestock or track gun ownership, but well know everything about people who go to Mexico for straw sombreros or to Canada to buy Molson’s Golden Ale.

“A CIA internal investigation opened in 1988 and found that the FBI had cleared Mr. Karlow years earlier but failed to make known its reversal.”

Yup! That would be hysterical if it wasn’t so funny… errrrm… yeah. 😉

Italian Operational Group – Chicago I mission

I have never understood this penchant of the USA to destroy anyone who would be a hero in any other Nation. We called it the “Tall Poppy Syndrome”.

BTW, I learned about Karlow because it was one of several events that were required reading at spy school here to help us understand how things work in the USA intel “community”. 🙂 We had to treat it seriously, and prepare a report on our findings. Everyone of us who worked on this particular case, found no evidence whatsoever to indicate Karlow was guilty of anything. Maybe being too good at his job. That tends to be a crime these days ( I mean, over the past 30 years or so).

A lot of intel we provided the USA (and the UK also provided) was largely ignored. We even sent sub’s and our equivalent of ‘SEAL’ teams to Libya, and discredited much of the info being touted in the USA at the time.

Same old…

nor did i need even so much as a drivers license to cross into mexico, or come back.

That would have been the perfect time to hint at a mole in the Libyan inner circle. Let the Colonel kill a few of his loyal followers while we continued to mine their communications.

The CIA is political, they just don’t think in intel terms. We would be a lot better off if we convince them to read John le Carré, instead of Tom Clancy and Ian Fleming.

February 11, 1963 – Serge “Peter” Karlow is investigated as a CIA mole and ultimately fired.

Serge “Peter” Karlow was a decorated veteran of WW2 (losing a leg while serving in the Mediterranean). He joined the CIA, and worked in Germany and the USA for the ‘Technical Services Division’ creating the “gadgets” used by CIA agents. “Gadgets” was a term used to describe such things as expertly forged documents, local clothing (with correct labels, stitching and materials), specialized tools and so on. In the early 60’s however, he came to be suspected as the mole code-named Sasha. The only information the CIA had that Sascha even existed, were hints by two Soviet defectors, Anatoli Golitsyn and Yuri Nosenko. Some intelligence analysts believed that Golitsyn in particular was a KGB plant to sow suspicion and disinformation within the CIA.

Karlow was ultimately fired from the CIA based soly on the suspicion planted by the Soviets that he was a mole – there was never any proof that he was a mole or double agent, and he was enver charged with espionage. Subsequently employed in the private sector, Karlow worked hard to clear his name. In the 1980’s, William Webster, then Director of the CIA, reviewd Karlow’s case and agreed that he had been unjustly accused. In 1988, Karlow was awarded approximately half a million dollars compensation and awarded a medal and citation in recognition of his 22 years excellent service to the CIA and his country.

Serge “Peter” Karlow died of pneumonia November 3rd, 2005.

This tragic (and sadly typical) stupidity did much to harm the US intelligence efforts globally, and was a big win for the Soviets. More details can be found in the book Molehunt: The Secret Search for Traitors That Shattered the CIA by David Wise. I found a review here:

The Molehunt – Reviewed by Bill Uttenweiler
Aerospace Corporation
Vandenberg AFB, CA
Paranois & Paralysis – The Molehunt

Karlow wrote about his ordeal in his 2001 memoir, “Targeted by the CIA: An Intelligence Professional Speaks Out on the Scandal That Turned the CIA Upside Down”

More information on Karlow and his death here:
CIA Officer Serge ‘Peter’ Karlow, 84

So, what’s happened under Bushmoron is not new. It’s been happening for some time.