Libya hopes to avoid being identified as an enemy and would like to get Western help for their oil fields and economy in general.
All fine. If Libya isn't a terror or WMD threat, putting them low on the list of rogue regimes is fine.
But this is unacceptable:
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, marked the 37th anniversary of the coup d'etat that brought him to power on Thursday by urging his supporters to "kill enemies" if they asked for political change.
The hardline comment, made in a speech on state television, runs counter to recent hopes of political reform in the North African country of 5 million.
Opponents abroad had said they hoped that Gaddafi might hint at political change in Thursday's speech.
His influential son Saif al-Islam recently told Libyans their country was in a political impasse and needed reforms to free it from what he called the grip of "Libyan mafia" which monopolizes power and wealth.
But Gaddafi said those who hope for political change in Libya see its people as "ignorant and immature."
"Thanks God. Our revolution has won ... and the whole world accepts our revolutionary project as it benefits all peoples across the world," he said.
No. We did not accept his revolutonary project. We promised not to issue shoot-to-kill orders and put him on probation with restrictions on who he can hang out with.
Killing domestic opponents is not part of our bargain with him.
We must fund civil society and opposition figures inside Libya to carve out no-kill zones where opposition to Khaddafi can survive and pressure the regime to begin real political reforms.
