WHY IS LIBYA DIFFERENT FROM IRAQ?

The announcement that Libyan dictator Muammar Gadaffi has agreed to give up his quest for biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons and submit to inspections raises two questions. First, has Gadaffi promised to turn Libya into a democracy? If so, I missed that part of the news release. The Bush doctrine isn’t supposed to be simply about “weapons of mass destruction.” It’s also purportedly about bringing democracy to the Middle East. Second, in Libya’s case President Bush is content to forgo regime change and settle for inspections. But why? Gadaffi is not a nice guy. He has run a brutal regime for a long time. He was involved in the horrible Pan Am 103 bombing over Scotland, which killed hundreds of innocent people. If inspections are a satisfactory safeguard with Libya, why weren’t they so with Iraq? Or does Bush hold a regime-change card up his sleeve?