Libya

[Neil Morton]

Ultimately it all comes down to who has the most grease to lubricate the wheels of greed. Call it what you like that is capitalism. No dreamer, greeny,communist or fascist has come up with an alternative, unless they live in a world of naivete and live on a mountain navel-gazing.John Lennon tried that erm

[Michael Lawrence]

I dunno, maybe it is just a story put round by camel traders in their caravanessi at night who started the rumour that there would be a total war take place in which the whole world would be involved. It could of been started by an old man who climbed a hill and came down with a message from 'his God' that the old man and his tribe were going to rule the earth. We've been told for centuries that civilization came out of the Middle East via the Phonecians and the travellers of past civilizations. I thought that civilization brought learning amongst those who needed help. Not so, for years and aeons of years people have migrated and tried to push their religeon on to others resulting in war famine and the persecution and deaths of the innocent ones in society. Take any religeon and you will find an undercurrent where it has been used by sick evil people to impel their views on the weaker. Look at the Spanish, French, and English ( I say English because whenever they made a claim it always seemed to be England not Britain except when they needed fresh blood on battlefield ( ref Harfleur)
As was said earlier, Arabs can't live in peace with each other let alone with the Isralies (distinct from Judaeism) They all have their game sets where they will not allow one nation (tho the Saudies try it thru fear) to live free from fear of persecution. Theres all that oil and gas out in Lybia and you can bet that the Yanks and other Western nations will be flocking in there to get their sticky little hands on the honeypot. A corrupt form of government will start up and we're back to square one , Iraq, Afghanistan, Lybia etc.,
Me, my blood pressure was 125 /84 and a pulse rate of 80, now you old buggers have gone and pushed it thru the roof. I'm closing down and taking the W.R. and her lovely sister in law out to the Garden Festival at Bath and West showgrounds. I will more than likely drink excessive glasses nay barrels of cider washed down with good 'English' ale followed by a couple of BBQ pork rolls and chicken pieces followed
by a steak tonight.
Truth is it will be a bit of cheese and tomato, but I can dream like that ctretinous idiot in number 10 and his equally abhorrent mate in 11. Come the revolution I'll have their sweetbreads for brekkies.

[j.sabourn]

Has anyone noted the similarity of what happened in Libya recently, and Pearl Harbour in the 40s. Both are military attacks without warning or a declaration of war, and both were supposedly against military targets, although I have my doubts about the so called Libyan Campaign as suspect their targets were in a lot of cases against certain individuals. We were brought up to believe that Pearl Harbour was a cowardly attack. Are our morals about attacking other people now gone by the board, and is it considered ok to attack another country on some politicians whim, with the excuse that we are assisting their people. No doubt many will say this is different,if so why as said previously,wasnt something done in 1987. When it was justifiable to bring the culprits to book, or was it not politicall expedient to do so then. Regards John Sabourn

[Captain Kong]

The old saying,..........You cant beat City Hall, and Power Corrupts.
applies to all bent Politicians decisions to bomb other peoples in OUR name. Blair, Cameron and all the others. We were never informed. I did not vote for Cameron to bomb other people, with its human cost and financial cost. I voted to get this country back on its feet and be good to its inhabitants to improve their lot, not to destroy other peoples.
"What Fools these Mortals Be"

[Glan Phillips]

Few points to remember. As bad as he ended up Gadaffi did introduce one of the best hospital systems, brought water to the dessert, and education to the people. Like so many he began with good intentions but like all dictators got greedy. But now the West is getting greedy, another point to remember, Libya has oil, lots of oil!

Its a pity the USA cannot provide affordable hospital and health care to everyone.....pure corruption and greed I guess.

Glan

[Glan Phillips]

My fears of embedment in the new regime concur with Capt.Davis. Who is to know at this stage who these people really are and if they are able to form a democratic system. There is no strong man emerging at the moment. The other thing that concerns me is the rebuilding contracts that will need to be dished out. I listened to an interview on radio4 this morning with one of the new ministers and he maintained that the tendering would be done fairly with no favours to UK and France, without whom they would not have succeeded. It will be interesting to see who gets the contracts, my money would be on US companies like Haliburton. This is a company that was headed up at one time by the infamous Dick Cheney, and although he repeatedly denies that he has any interest in the company most believe that he is still pulling strings in Congress. The Germans are strong favourites even though they had no involvement. The US pulled out in the early stages. I know that all tendering should be fair and transparent but surely we should be allowed to get some return for the cost of our participation. On the other hand do we have a contractor with enough muscle to compete with these huge conglomerates?

I agree with you.....the good old USA will be my #1 bet........they have already flown in a s**t load of cash that had been 'frozen' to the NTC.....greasing the old palm I guess.

[happy daze john in oz]

Mike, civilised, that went out the window years ago. Civilisation is now nothing more than a race to see who can get to the top of the pile and be the quickest to do so. Governmenst world wide are the basis of all coruption telling us they are there to do something for the country. The country as far as they are concerned is their back pocket. Man will never live in peace because if you have something I do not then I want it as well. In some cases do anything to get it.

[Les Woodard]

Could not have put it better Mike. Might have changed the cheese and biscuits for something more appetising though. Gave up on religion years ago while at sea. Found that standing watch of a balmy night on the pointy end gave me time reflect on it all and have not changed my views since. In fact those times have helped me through life no end as I developed the ability to see problems from many angles. It something that I think only those on deck that used to do watchkeeping on the bow would understand. Also developed hatred towards those bastards up on the bridge who would not stand us down from there in freezing weather.

[Red Lead Ted]

Robert Mugabe, using the legitimate issue of land by dominion whites to quash opposition to his ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic-Front, and retain power in there own hands employing increasingly totalitarian methods to control Zimbabwe.
He is just one in the African states take a look at the full crew listed here. Certainly couldnt see any of our coalition forming a government with any of these cowboys, But then as has been said oil the main priority not peoples welfare or democracy. The horn of Africa another disgrace thats the whole world standing down and watching are fellow human beings suffer and die.



Which African countries are currently under a dictatorship?

[happy daze john in oz]

Robert Mugabe, using the legitimate issue of land by dominion whites to quash opposition to his ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic-Front, and retain power in there own hands employing increasingly totalitarian methods to control Zimbabwe.
He is just one in the African states take a look at the full crew listed here. Certainly couldnt see any of our coalition forming a government with any of these cowboys, But then as has been said oil the main priority not peoples welfare or democracy. The horn of Africa another disgrace thats the whole world standing down and watching are fellow human beings suffer and die.



Which African countries are currently under a dictatorship?

Terry mate the situation in the Horn of Adfrica could easily be solved. Fact is the West is hapy to see the situation continue, nothing there for them, no oil or gold so why bother? As far as most countries are concerned they are just another group of people going through tough times but with nothing to offer the world. Leave them alone and maybe theyw ill die out, that in my opinion is the current approach. Not Christian or humanitarian but a fact none the less.