Obama Becomes First President to Greet Qadhafi
(AP Photo)
As Chairman of the African Union, Qadhafi was invited to attend the G8 Summit Leaders dinner tonight in L’Aquila, Italy.
As the chiefs of state and heads of government gathered for a class photo, Qadhafi approached President Obama and they shook hands. It was a polite encounter, conducted according to protocol. Qadhafi smiled, Mr. Obama not so much.
Back in the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan would sooner have cut off his arm than shake hands with Qadhafi.
"We do not underestimate the brutality of this evil man," said Mr. Reagan of the Libyan leader in 1986, who was deemed by the U.S. to be world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism.
President Reagan regarded Qadhafi as a "madman," a ruler of an "outlaw regime," and "an enemy of the United States."
Qadhafi took power in a 1969 coup, after which U.S. relations with the North African nation became increasingly strained to the point of military action.
In 1986, Mr. Reagan ordered air strikes on military targets in Libya after evidence linking it to a bombing incident in Berlin which claimed the lives of two American servicemen.
Author Thomas Friedman on Obama's Afghanistan plan and the war on terror.
