Where I stand 1989—Hank Greenspun: Evil Gadhafi is hellbent on mass destruction

Friday, April 6, 2001 | 10:26 a.m.

Canaries or Gadhafi?

The United States responded to the downing of two Libyan MiG-23 jets by U.S. Air Force F-14s by claiming the operation had nothing to do with Libya's newly constructed chemical facility.

Officials explained that the suspected chemical warfare production plant was more than 600 miles away from the area over international waters where the Russian-built MiGs were attempting to "put their noses" on the American Tomcats.

Even the most ignorant among us knows that when a jet fighter pilot has his radar on and locked that the object of his affection has few options for survival left. The U.S. fighters took what appears to be appropriate action and blew the Libyans out of the sky.

Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci said, "We now consider the matter closed."

Moammar Gadhafi, on the other hand, has a different opinion and promises to meet the U.S. "challenge" with his own. Officially, the warplanes were not part of any American effort to rid Gadhafi of the means to make chemical warfare. No self-respecting nation on Earth, especially the United States of America, whose civilized behavior is naively apparent in an uncivilized world, would make an admission that they are going to bomb another country's ability to manufacture weapons.

Whatever the final chapter on this jet-downing incident, we have to make it indubitably clear that the world will not countenance a chemical warfare capability for heads of state who offer subsidies and rewards for terrorist actions against other nations.

And if the United Nations as a group or other civilized nations acting together will not act decisively, it appears the decision may have to be ours. We have to weigh the alternatives.

In World War I, the Allied Expeditionary Forces had scouts who would go out in front of the main group carrying canaries in bird cages. The canaries would chirp and sing, brightening up an otherwise dismal day.

When the canaries fell silent the soldiers knew that dark days were ahead, so a call immediately went through the ranks to "don gas masks."

The problem that we will have to resolve is, is it better to kill canaries who brighten our days, or dispose of those who want to darken our lives and blacken the Earth?

In WWI, the troops were the victims of chemical warfare. In World War II, civilian populations were the intended victims. It was not unusual for people living in Great Britain and Northern Ireland to carry gas masks because they never knew when the deadly gases would rain down from the skies upon them.

In fact, my father-in-law, Joe Ritchie, was a dispatch rider in the British Army when he fell victim to poisonous gas. When he came to this country as part of the dowry for Barbara, the doctors didn't like what they saw in his lungs so we put him in the Jewish Hospital in Denver. The scar tissue in his lungs was not from suspected tuberculosis but from the gas attack he suffered in World War I.

The civilized nations of this world will have to soon decide whether they would rather kill canaries or Gadhafi.

With practically every country on Earth possessing a chemical warfare capacity, it may be foolhardy to believe we can tell them all to dismantle their chemical stocks. Negotiations must continue among the sane members of the world community to rid the globe of this terrible threat.

But what do we do about the madmen who hold positions of power and the capacity to rain destruction upon millions through the air we breathe? Can we hold them to the same standards of decency and civility as other heads of state?

I say no.

Just as Israel had to perform one of the greatest aerial feats in history when she pinpoint-bombed an Iraqi nuclear plant whose purpose was to make hellish bombs to be used against its neighbors, so too must the good nations of the Earth determine to rid the globe of these maniacal threats.

The world was told that the French built the Iraqi plant to provide energy to that Middle Eastern country, a country whose oil reserves are sufficient to provide power for a thousand years. But the world also knew the real reason for the bomb plant and secretly applauded Israel's humanitarian mission.

The same holds true for Gadhafi. We know his evil purpose and must make certain he will never fulfill his goals, because no country will be safe with Libya, the archterrorist of them all.

We will not and should not apologize for what happened in the air Wednesday. It was a defensive action brought on by the forces of a very offensive man. Someday he will learn not to act the way he does.

Justification of the terrorist actions committed by Gadhafi could only be found in the mentalities of madmen. And his words are just as maniacal as his deeds. Urging the destruction of an ocean liner on a pleasure cruise or an airplane filled with women and children is the ultimate evil.

Should we accord nations who indulge in such criminality the same rights, respect and authority reserved for countries who do not menace and imperil their neighbors and other inhabitants of the Earth? The answer is a resounding NO.

We seek no reprisals or revenge. There's no alternative to diplomatic madness except a well-placed missile at the heart of a chemical warfare plant.

Make it a bull's-eye for the Gipper.