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Libya
United States
In the 1980s, Qadhafi came to regard the United States as the
leader of Western imperialism and capitalism. He vigorously condemned
several United States policies--including military and economic
support for Israel and support for a political settlement in the
Middle East; resistance to the establishment of a new world economic
order between resource producers and consumers; and support for
relatively conservative, Western-oriented countries of the Third
World, particularly Arab and African states. Since the Revolution,
United States-Libyan relations have been limited to relatively
modest commercial and trade agreements (see Foreign Trade , ch.
3).
Libya has attempted to influence the United States through American
oil companies operating within Libyan boundaries. Constant pressure
on the companies concerning pricing and government participation
eventually resulted in the Libyan state's assumption of a controlling
interest in some firms and nationalizing others. The United States
was the primary target of the oil boycott that Libya and other
Arab states invoked after the October 1973 ArabIsraeli War.
In addition to conflicts caused by Libyan oil policies, the United
States and Libya have disagreements over Libyan claims to territorial
waters. Since 1973 Libya has considered the Gulf of Sidra as territorial
waters. Beyond that, Libya claimed another twelve nautical miles
(approximately twenty kilometers) of territorial waters. The United
States refused to recognize Libya's claim, and this refusal became
a recurrent cause for contention between the two countries. Under
President Jimmy Carter, the United States armed forces were ordered
not to challenge Libyan claims by penetrating into the claimed
territory, even though relations deteriorated when, on December
2, 1979, the United States embassy in Tripoli was burned by demonstrators
apparently influenced by the takeover of the United States embassy
in Tehran. President Ronald Reagan's administration, however,
was determined to assert the principle of free passage in international
waters.
In 1981 President Reagan began taking action against Libya. On
May 6, 1981, the Reagan administration ordered the closing of
the Libyan People's Bureau in Washington, and twenty-seven Libyan
diplomats were expelled from the United States for supporting
international terrorism. Then, on August 19, 1981, two Libyan
SU-22 fighters were shot down by United States F-14 jets during
naval maneuvers in the Gulf of Sidra. In December President Reagan
called on the approximately 1,500 American citizens still living
in Libya to leave or face legal action. In March 1982, oil imports
from Libya were embargoed and technology transfer banned. In January
1986, Libyan assets in the United States were frozen as part of
a series of economic sanctions against Libya.
United States-Libyan tensions erupted in April 1986. On April
5, Libyan agents planted a bomb in a Berlin nightclub frequented
by United States service personnel. The explosion killed 2 people,
1 an American serviceman, and injured 204 others. In retaliation,
on April 15, the United States launched air strikes on Tripoli
and Benghazi. As a result, a number of Libyan civilians, including
Qadhafi's adopted infant daughter, were killed. Observers speculated
that the attack was intended to kill the Libyan leader himself
(see Encounters with the United States , ch. 5).
The air strikes were certainly intended to encourage the Libyan
military to overthrow Qadhafi. However, the air strikes were opposed
by virtually all segments of the population, who rallied behind
their leader. Moreover, not only did Qadhafi thrive on the public
attention but his determination to stand up to a superpower threat
appeared to have enhanced his stature. Even the major opposition
group abroad, the LNSF, denounced the use of force by foreign
powers in dealing with Libya, as did the London-based Libyan Constitutional
Union. In 1987, a year after the raid, it was still unclear whether
the raids had succeeded in countering terrorism. Observers were
not certain whether Libya had actually adopted a new policy with
regard to supporting terrorism, which seemed to have diminished
considerably, or merely learned how to avoid leaving fingerprints.
Data as of 1987
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