As I noted in the first post on the death of the Libyan strongman, it was several years after he renounced terrorism that his rule was challenged on a broad scale. One writer mentioned that the primary motivator for this volte-face was the toppling of Saddam Hussien. It could every well be true that he felt that maybe he had reached the end of his rope in maintaining his path of sponsoring attacks on the West.
I wonder if, among the Libyan people, his abandoning of terrorism was a reason for the more radical of that nations Muslims to decide that he no longer had any credibility. Even though the Colonel (I used to jokingly wonder in the 80s why he didn't just promote himself to General) did not attempt to turn Libya in to an Islamist county like Afghanistan, could his repeated sponsored terrorist acts have "scratched the itch' and satisfied Muslims who desired to make war in the West?
Of course Libya's revolution must be looked at in light of the rest of the "Arab Spring' movement. It is worth considering, though, if the more Jihad-oriented Muslims may have held back from joining in on the alliance if Khaddhafi had not dropped the whole idea of starting trouble with the West.
The Hot Gates - 480BC. An event that was to determine what path much of the Western World would follow occurred as the Persian army threatened to overwhelm Greece in 480BC. The West today again faces both external and internal threats to its identity and existence.
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