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Newstalgia Reference Room - Libya And The Strange Case Of Edwin Wilson - 1981

Newstalgia Reference Room - Libya and the strange case of Edwin Wilson. In November of 1981 news surfaced of secret entanglements between the U.S. and Libya, a country "officially" labeled a Rogue State by the Reagan Administration.

Edwin P. Wilson - just a simple importer-exporter . . .of a sort.

Edwin Wilson, a former CIA agent turned arms dealer who still had dealings with the CIA in the 1980's, was actively recruiting, training mercenaries and shipping weapons and ammunition to the Libyan government during the Libyan invasion of Chad. Somewhere along the line, Wilson ran afoul of the agency and, even though details are murky and few, Wilson was convicted of various charges and sentenced to 52 years in prison for conspiracy in attempting various murder-for-hire schemes as well as selling a huge amount of armaments to the Libyans. During the time these revelations surfaced, there was no end to speculative reporting and charges and counter-charges being tossed around.

We often wonder just how entangled our relationships are with various regimes and governments. Regimes supposedly regarded as our enemies have often benefited from our military equipment and personnel. Afghanistan is another one that rings a bell, as did Iraq for a while.

We have that funny habit. That funny habit has a habit of biting us eventually.

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