Libya: a bloody mess for all of us to be in

I am still wondering why politicians, readers and people in general have such short memories.

Only four years ago, the British High Commissioner at the time, Nick Archer, was supporting the UK decision to sell surface to air missiles to Libya. He was annoyed at the way this newspaper had questioned the UK’s wisdom in selling arms to Colonel Gaddafi. And this from a country that had directly suffered serious loss of life at Lockerbie, after a bomb plot masterminded by Libya.

This took place under British PM Tony Blair, who according to Euronews had also promised to train Gaddafi’s special forces in his last encounter with the Libyan dictatir. Rich, coming from a man who declared war on Iraq on the false premise that Saddaam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, when he did not and Blair knew this.

They say Gaddafi looks mad.  But no one seems to have noticed this when the same Gaddafi greeted leaders from all over the world in his open tent, surrounded by sycophants and bodyguards.

The list of countries that have encouraged the sale of arms to the Gaddafi regime is too long to mention. And that does not take into consideration the economic ties with Gaddafi, and the investment that has taken place there.

In the downfall of Gaddafi it took a relatively record time for nations to ask the supreme Leader of the Revolution to leave and depart. Little did they know that his hold on power in Libya may not be over, and that the longer he stays, the greater the possibility of military intervention and hence bad news for all the region.

Libya’s rebellion has spelt a financial disaster for many Maltese businesses, and this will undoubtedly reflect itself later in our economic stats. But it has definitely offered Lawrence Gonzi a golden opportunity in public relations, which he has handled splendidly.

Just as he was trailing low in the polls, with an internal rebellion over divorce, facing the backlash of the honoraria decision and other examples of crass mismanagement, he has a golden opportunity to regain some much needed brownie points. 

Notice that in his unnecessary press conference on Sunday night, he thanked Richard Cachia Caruana. The man has been roped back into Castille to make up for Edgar Galea Curmi’s sloppy marketing. RCC may be a pain the neck, but his spinning and marketing mind are to second to none. His influence here is noted, as it is noted in less savoury matters.

With a private infrastructure in place at MIA and the private but efficient service of Catamarans – and yes, with some extra help from the police and the AFM – Gonzi gave the impression that he was managing the mass exodus of the whole African continent.

Foreign TV stations and agencies gave the impression that the island was sinking with refugees and reaching saturation point.  But there was hardly any panic at Air Malta, MIA, Virtu ferries or Mater Dei. When I visited MIA on Sunday, it was business as usual and all the administration were off for their weekend break.

Indeed we controlled a controlled situation and the PM was politically ‘correct’ in trying to gain as many points as he could.

So when MaltaToday publishes the next trust barometer I would not be too surprised if Dr Gonzi registers an incremental trust rating, most especially with those PN voters who are notorious for groaning and grumbling and then returning to the fold.

Gaddafi’s madness has of course no limits, but why is everyone surprised of this now? He has been consistent throughout his 41 years, that is of running Libya with an iron fist. Though Libya was definitely a sponsor of terrorism, there is little doubt that the Libyan’s well-being improved under Gaddafi.

Is this is a good enough reason for keeping Gaddafi?  No, but then what is?

Is democracy the yardstick which permits us to determine whether a nation is be tolerated or not? Yes, I guess.

If that is the case then why does Europe and the US continue to isolate Hamas which runs Gaza?  They were elected democratically, and are far less corrupt then their Palestinian brothers from Al Fatah. But you see the ‘Israeli’ lobby in the US is not something anyone can ignore.

If bombing innocent people a crime against humanity, then why wasn’t the Israeli bombing of Beirut some four years ago not condemned in the same way?

In Egypt, it was very clear that the military were taking orders or hints from Washington, and that is why Mubarak left. The situation in many Arab countries is not very different.  Where the US backs ugly regimes, the voices for changes are hardly echoed in the press.  And again Saudi Arabia comes to mind: Saudi Arabia, a sponsor of World Terrorism and more importantly a friend of the West!

With the end of despots such as Mubarak and Gaddafi, we risk facing an incredible void and as in many cases the alternative often turns out to be worse. Worse, at least, for the immediate future.

See what happened to Yugoslavia, Iraq, Lebanon, the Russian Federation, Iran and countless other countries. Are they any better?  Ask the Yugoslavs.

Does this justify that we should tolerate mavericks and madmen? No it does not. But it surely pushes us to wonder whether our foreign policies are skewed and wrong.

Gaddafi has been very careful until now not to provoke the West. He has avoided harming foreigners, arresting them or impounding planes. He has strangely blamed Al Qaeda, to hopefully win points with the West, and he has courted the international press. 

If he hangs on, the feel-good factor that Gonzi may have felt in the past week may well turn to justified worries, to a drop in tourism, in serious handicaps for trade.

If Gaddafi hangs on, the only solution to have him dislodged may only be military action and that would be messy.

And there is no guarantee that the Libyans who will replace Gaddafi will embrace democracy. That leaves the West with only one solution.

That is, military intervention, probably sanctioned by the UN but led by the US.

Great, because as history has shown, whenever the US invades it makes a bloody mess. 

And everyone knows this.

This article appeared in MaltaToday Wednesday edition