читать дальшеMr James Cauchi
Today, 17:34
With due respect Mr. Joe Xuereb...
I am no apologist for Ghaddafi or his policies - a fact that need not have been stated but for your opening salvo of labeling.
Secondly your question as per Ghaddafi's threat to flood Europe with immigrants is, again with due respect, quite irrelevant within the context of air-strike killings. The field of illegal immigration is so vast and complicated that it would only detract from our ability to have a reasoned argument. If you 'must' insist on beginning a completely irrelevant argument then this page is not the place to be doing so.
My comment was and remains a personal condemnation of the aggressor protagonists within this story in light of their actions.
That being said - yes I am for a peaceful Libya, not only on moral grounds but also on the grounds that the stability of neighbouring nations 'does' reflect upon the stability of the Maltese Islands. We may not share a land-locked border with them but we do share a geographic proximity not least represented by the Mediterranean sea.
You appear to be concerned about immigration. Surely you are aware that instability is not a factor that would discourage the movement of peoples through means legitimate or otherwise, across the Mediterranean - yes?
And in a roundabout way we come to the other cheap label that you choose to toss around in your comment. 'Hypocrites'
Hypocrisy in my view is to believe that the solution to every problem is the way of the sword. It is to know that a problem exists within a nation but do little if anything to quell that problem - to let it fester and grow like a tumour. It is to watch and wait for that tumour to show symptoms of unrest - let it stir up some more and then step in. To step forward in the guise of some kind of saviour - to release 'statements' appealing for a change in leadership, 'to step down' or 'to go'.
It is to inflame a situation and not to make any attempt to actually solve the problem... even worse... to define a problem to be a perceived undesirable (such as an Egyptian or Libyan leader) and to prepare for active involvement.
It is to lap up the unrest and the conflict that breaks out - and to feed upon it - to build a case for their involvement - even if they have no right to do so.
It is to wring the hearts of the holders of populat opinion - the peoples of the west - to both learn to hate the object of their undesireable (the "Ghaddafi Regime" - ever noticed how international news corporatons no longer view the pure green flag of libya and use Ghaddafi's face in its place?) and to support their motion for a more active "humanitarian role" in Libya.
It is to impose no-fly zones on a nation in a civil conflict - stacking chips in favour of a rebel opposition. An armed rebel opposition. Coincidentally non-secular - just as in Egypt.
It is to take military action upon another nation in civil war. A nation described as having no standing army but having a significant airforce at one point (again international news coverage) - with a mandate provided by themselves, for themselves - imposed upon another nation - Never mind - those in the stronger situations 'will' do as they please.
It is to abuse and flaunt the initial pretexts within which such military action was accepted - supposedly humanitarian and defensive purposes.
It is to grow ever more impatient with the timescale of the conflict - expecting as easy a toppling as Mubarrak of Egypt one would guess - and to grow ever bolder in their flaunting of the above mentioned pretexts.
It is to target Ghaddafi and other high priority targets.
Exactly how much more ruthless does one need to be in order to acquire the title of "invader" in this day and age?
And Mr. Joe Xuereb, prey tell, how can any individual of 'convictions' or decent moral character not acknowledge that the extraordinary actions that have unfolded in Libya and the role of 'the West' in this conflict deserve condemnation?
I do not argue that Ghaddafi is some kind of saint - but I do know that the argument that the desired end somehow justifies the means has been refuted in history time and time again.
That his son was believed dead at some point is irrelevant. Airstrikes by foreign forces should not even be a part of this conflict.
That such airstrikes are targeting residences is indicative of the moral bankrupcy that warmongering organizations have come to represent - namely NATO and the US government's military arm. Their actions are not merely despicable - they should be recognized as the war crimes that they are.
First they aide (if not also instigate) rebellion within nations that are none of their concern
Then they flex their military might under the mock understanding that their intentions are humanitarian - to neuter the airforce of a nation which again falls far beyond the scope of 'defence' (in other words taking that bold step into 'invader' status territory).
Now they target residences and attempt to take out high priority targets. They clearly will not stop before they extract a surrender from Gaddafi, and they will send him to the grave along with any 'collateral damage' such as the victims mentioned here.
Such militant institutions are devices to be looked upon with the most severe of disdain for as long as they pursue their reprehensible agendas. The day they are deservedly dismantled won't be a day too soon.