PM daffy over Gadhafi?

Editorial

In the strange bedfellows department, Prime Minister Paul Martin has suffered some ridicule and condemnation for meeting with Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. It seems a strange friendship, but Martin's visit reflects a necessary, if unpleasant, aspect of building a better world. When a violent dictator offers to reform his horrific ways, the world community should do everything within its capabilities to encourage reform. Holding a grudge has a place in international relations, but not when there is a genuine possibility of reform.

This was a lesson that Israel understood, allowing that country to sign peace agreements with Egypt, Jordan and, in 1993, the Palestinian leadership. Two out of three of these agreements have withstood great challenges but survived. The third faces an existential step in early January, when the world will see if the Palestinian people can elect a leader who will have the fortitude to reach out a hand in peace – without yanking it back later on.

Gadhafi's relationship with the Arab world has been awkward at times, to say the least, but he has never been as isolated from his immediate neighbors as he has been from the rest of the world. His surprising turn to the West has raised natural and legitimate suspicions.

Gadhafi has his own reasons for wanting western approval, some of which are certainly not altruistic. But Martin knows that in order to make progress in the Middle East and elsewhere, it will eventually become necessary to engage constructively with people we never dreamed of befriending. Gadhafi has renounced terrorism and sought admission into the family of nations. Any such progress, if deemed sincere, should be encouraged with trade, aid and international co-operation. Some Canadian critics say Martin's visit is a step toward breaking into a little-tapped new market for Canadian trade. The new relationship deserves a bit less cynicism. There is nothing wrong with seeking new venues for foreign trade, of course, but the moral significance of the Canadian-Libyan connection should not be underestimated.

Though it might have seemed likely that relatively more moderate Middle Eastern or North African states would have been likelier candidates to reach out to the West, we should take a lesson from the Israelis and accept any friendly offer. If we get bitten later on, it is they who will be to blame for the betrayal, not us.
It is not easy to give terrorist rogues of long-standing the benefit of the doubt. In certain cases it could be self-destructive. But if there is a chance for neutralizing even one terrorist regime, no stone should be left unturned trying.

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