Edited Interview with William C. Triplett, co-author of Red Dragon Rising, January 14, 2000. Conducted by Cliff Kincaid on his "Washington Connection" radio show.
Q: In your book (on page 110) you had suggested that China was supplying Libya with long-range missiles. This all came to pass when the British in January admitted they had intercepted some Scud missile parts from China to Libya. How big a threat is Libya today?
A: If you live in southern Europe -- that includes Portugal, Spain, about half of France and all of Italy over to Greece -- you're going to be in range pretty soon. Don't forget we have a lot of American servicemen and women in Spain and Italy within range of these missiles.
Q: You make the point in your book that Gadhafi follows through on his threats. He actually launched a missile on an American military base on an Italian island.
A: He did. He found out his range was too short. And that is what led him to other things. He's been working on long-range missiles that would cover most of Europe. We know that he would like to target American servicemen and women. Of coure, that's what he was doing in the mid 1980s. I was in England in the '80s when the Libyan embassy actually opened fire on the British police in London. A British policewoman was shot down in front of the embassy. I remember seeing it on television when I was in Europe -- with horror as the machine gun bullets came out of the Libyan embassy. We're talking about the guy who tried to build the world's biggest poison gas plant. He has certain ambitions -- the highest on the list -- to kill American citizens, particular if they're in uniform.
Q: Regarding the China-Libya connection, you note that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright sometimes issues protests regarding these missile deals, but nothing ever seems to get done. Why?
A: It's not just Libya. The same is true of Syria, Iran and Iraq. It's almost as if they're just going through the motions.
Q: What about the Occidental-Libya-Al Gore connection?
A: The word around Washington was that Armand Hammer and Occidental Petroleum made certain that Al Gore Jr. got to live in the way he did. He grew up in a hotel in Washington and went to exclusive private schools that were expensive, and then on to Harvard. Occidental paid for that. Occidental wants to get back into Libya in a big way.
Q: Does it really come down to money?
A: Yes it does. That is what we conclude at the end of the book, Red Dragon Rising. Al Gore and Bill Clinton took the money and ran. Don't forget that right now the price of crude oil is about double or better than what it was a year ago. So, therefore, if these guys get back in again, and can sell oil, we're talking pretty obscene profits - really serious money. We concluded that Gore and Clinton would walk over broken glass to get power and hold it. It doesn't matter what happens to the country.
Q: What about these business leaders who are so eager to make business deals with China and Libya?
A: You try to talk to them and it's as though their eyes are far away. Somebody described some of them as, in essence, enveloped with greed when it comes to China. (30)
America’s Survival, P.O. Box 146, Owings, MD 20736 www.usasurvival.org |