When Libya gave up nuclear weapons in late 2003, some pundits claimed that
the U.S.-led war in Iraq changed Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s mind, while
others hailed the breakthrough as a product of patient “carrot and stick”
diplomacy. But in 2004 it became clear that another Qaddafi might be calling
the shots: Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, Muammar’s second son. The 32-year-old
actively lobbied his father to end Libya’s standoff with the West, give
up weapons of mass destruction, and open the country’s economy. “They
both want to keep the country in the family, and Seif wants Libya to be a normal
country—no more funding terrorism, developing nuclear weapons, or being
isolated economically,” says John Pike, director of Globalsecurity.org.
In March 2004, Seif publicly chastised Arab governments for badmouthing the
Bush administration’s Greater Middle East Initiative to promote democracy,
saying “instead of shouting and criticizing the American initiative, you
have to bring democracy to your countries.” He also said Libyan Jews who
were persecuted decades ago are entitled to compensation and urged them to return
to Libya; his father later echoed the proposal. Seif insists that he is not
preparing to take over the reins from his father, but he has clearly carved
out a significant role. In March 2004, he told reporters that British Prime
Minister Tony Blair would soon visit Libya; only later did London confirm. He
conducted the negotiations over weapons of mass destruction with British and
U.S. intelligence, and he arranged to have members of the U.S. Congress visit
Libya in January 2004.
10. A Wounded Military
Around 800,000 U.S. military troops have served in either Iraq or Afghanistan
since Sept. 11, 2001. On top of being overstretched, the general health of the
military may be deteriorating. More than 9,300 servicemen and women have been
wounded, and there have been more than 14,400 Army medical evacuations in Iraq.
At 7 to 1, the ratio of wounded to dead is the highest of any conflict in recent
memory; in Vietnam, it was around 3 to 1. Wounded soldiers today have a much
better chance of surviving than in the past—improved medical technology
and body armor enable soldiers to endure injuries that would have killed them
in previous wars. Priceless lives are saved, but the human cost of debilitating
injuries and the financial cost of treatment and rehabilitation may loom large
in years to come. Steve Robinson, executive director of the National Gulf War
Resource Center, calculates that if a 24-year-old married male soldier with
one child were to develop post-traumatic stress disorder—a condition that,
together with depression and anxiety, afflicts about 1 in 6 soldiers returning
from Iraq, according to the New England Journal of Medicine—he or she
could receive compensation payments of more than $2,400 per month for the rest
of his or her life.
