What if Gaddafi had kept his WMDs/nuclear program?

There's been some speculation that possessing nuclear weapons - even if they're small, hard to deliver, and few in number - might confer immunity to the sort of imposed regime-change that's been seen in the past (Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Libya are prominent examples).

What do people think of this idea in general? Would having a few nukes make countries refrain from that sort of intervention?

Unless those nukes can stop cruise missiles or zero in on CIA assassins I wouldn't put too much faith in their ability to stop the US from killing Gaddafi.

My point was multiple attempts by the US on Gaddafi's life were part of the thing that convinced him that it would be better for his health if we were on better terms, he realized that even if we had failed if we were really persistent it was very likely we'd succeed eventually.
 

Zeus

Banned
Unless those nukes can stop cruise missiles or zero in on CIA assassins I wouldn't put too much faith in their ability to stop the US from killing Gaddafi.

My point was multiple attempts by the US on Gaddafi's life were part of the thing that convinced him that it would be better for his health if we were on better terms, he realized that even if we had failed if we were really persistent it was very likely we'd succeed eventually.

AFAIK, the U.S. only tried to kill Gaddafi once, in 1986. I don't think Gaddafi's fears of assassination played a large role in his decision to give up his WMDs, since we haven't tried to kill him in 17 years.
 
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