Forsi huwa ahdar moghod iehor, Daphne.

@KEV – To call KMB a gentleman is an insult to those who, like me (at the age of 17 – when, thanks to Labour, I was working as a pupil-worker for the grand sum of Lm28 a month), saw him on a truck accompanying dockyard thugs who were wielding heavy chains and tools in Santa Lucia Street, Valletta – fresh from ransacking the Law Courts and, presumably – on the way to ransacking the Curia.

He may not have been accompanying the actual men who carried out the horrendous attacks, but bloody hell, I can still picture him on that truck with the hooligans. Quite gentlemanly, I must say.

According to the US head of naval operations, one aircraft carrier is not sufficient to impose a no-fly zone all over the vast territory of the Jamahariya.

According to the admiral, the USS George H W Bush is ready in Norfolk to join in the fray. This is the newest carrier in the US navy and the world’s technologically most advanced.

No mention of the airfield at Gudja was made in his statement nor of the piddly radar there.

His comments are reported in detail on the CNN website.

To those who are sticklers at upholding the constitution: enjoy your evening.

I think they would avoid setting up bases in Libya, purely for political reasons. Technically and militarily it would be a non issue and would be very convenient in simplifying the logistics but politically I don’t think it would be acceptable.

I don’t think that this is the case. The EU is not a military bloc. Are the Maltese accountable for the actions of the British in Iraq?

[Daphne – Not similar at all.]

Daphne, I don’t care about the chicken-and-the-egg here. It’s irrelevant. F**k neutrality! We are NOT neutral as we’ve taken a stand against Gaddafi. Good. We had no choice – ethically, politically and strategically. The bottom line is we can never be neutral once we’re part of a beligerent EU, so let’s not mess up people’s already messed up minds, please.

As for CNi, I was never even a member of CNi and it’s been a while since I last heard their cue.

In fact, the only time I met Karmenu was in my professional capacity when he was prime minister, unless one counts a couple of sessions at Mintoff’s house to strategise over the latter’s latest political ventures, which, I must add, could have had better eventual outcomes, potentially, than FMI had I the sense to take with me a large megaphone and an espresso machine armed with large batteries and enough coffee and sugar to share it with my host and his guests, including Karmenu.

Karmenu, however, is quite a gentleman, and far removed from the caricature you present.

[Daphne – It’s called a split personality. A gentleman one to one and a crackpot in power. Gentlemen don’t ride on convoys of trucks laden with dockyard thugs to ransack buildings. Gentlemen don’t do the things he did when he was prime minister.]

“There’d have to be an armada of refuelling tankers flying all over the place, requiring their own escort. Do we fly the planes from Chad?”

The tankers could easily fly from Sicily. And even Malta unless Karmenu decides to block the runway with his Volkswagen Beetle. If I’m not mistaken they also have aircraft carrier launched tankers, even if of very limited capacity and numbers.

They have plenty of tankers especially now that activities in Iraq have wound down considerably. They could easily spare a few for Libya.

Nice one, Daphne, tal-4 x 4…

After all, what makes this blog entertaining if not these below-the-belt knee-jerk salvos?

[Daphne – Ara, I didn’t know you drive a 4 x 4. Not very ‘green’, Kevin.]

However, I don’t think it will be so safe for us if Malta is used as a military base. Malta would be risking it a lot. Just remember that Libya fired 2 – 3 missiles to Lampedusa in retaliation for US airstrikes on Libyan facilities in 1986.

[Daphne – Pineapple, please remember that Malta is part of the European Union. Any attack on Malta is an attack on the EU. And any attack by the EU on Libya is an attack by Malta. I really don’t know why people are still thinking in pre-2004 terms.]

Such missiles were targeted at the US base on Lampedusa. So if the US will have a base here from which to attack Libya. I don’t think Ghaddafi will think twice to attack the US base stationed here.

[Daphne – The United States has a full military base in Sicily. It does not need one in Malta. That aside, I find it fascinating just how many people so fondly believe that a man who thinks nothing of bombing his own people will let common decency or ‘neutrality’ stop him from bombing Malta if that’s what he’s decided he wants to do.]

Assume the Allies weren’t here and the Nazis didn’t invade. Where was all our food going to come from? Think the Germans or the British would have wasted time sending supplies? The population would have starved in 6 months.

Malta has a strategic position that Switzerland doesn’t have. Anyway, I wouldn’t have taken any bets on Switzerland’s neutrality if the Nazis had eliminated Russia and England.

I for one agree with the statement “speak softly ……..but carry a big stick!”