Obama's speech tonight at Fort McNair, Washington DC
I’m glad I stayed up to watch it live. You’ll find my quote-notes beneath.
What struck me most was that this first week of the Libyan campaign has cost the American taxpayer $500 million. The US launched 192 Tomahawk missiles and the rest of the coalition (mainly Britain) launched seven.
That’s right – $500 million.
Think of the education and healthcare that could have paid for in the United States. Obama had to give this speech because this is exactly what lots of Americans are saying – variations on the theme that people like us should be left to fight our own battles and pay for them too, or suffer the consequences, and why should Americans not only risk their lives but also pay for the privilege, while others do nothing.
Meanwhile, back home on the ranch in Malta, the taxpayer bleats because the campaign has cost us some conference bookings even though we have made sure not to be involved. And our political leaders talk about ‘prudence’ because there are Maltese business interests in Libya. One of them has made it a point to be especially prudent now that he has finally understood that the fruit of chaos in the region is not tourists fleeing to Malta but tourists fleeing away from Malta.
And while Maltese journalists ask British politicians why Britain will not take ‘our’ refugees in return for Malta having helped evacuate British people from Libya, I have yet to detect on the internet any sign of an American journalist suggesting that the United States deducts, from the $33 billion in Libyan money which it has frozen in American banks, payment for 192 Tomahawk missiles, one downed fighter jet and extensive military services rendered.
Imma hallihom jonfqu ghax dawk jifilhu. It’s the international relations approach to the Maltese habit of taking it for granted that the rich man at the table will pick up the tab ‘ghax jiflah’, and then not bothering to thank him or even to appreciate the gesture – ‘ghax jiflah’.
Anyway, here are those speech-quotes in Obama’s words.
———-
Gaddafi threatened Benghazi, a city of 700,000 men, women and children. He called them rats and told them he would hunt them down from house to house.
It was not in our national interest to let that happen.
Tonight I can report that we have stopped Gaddafi’s deadly advance.
The United States is not alone in this. We have been joined by a growing coalition – the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Turkey, Denmark, Spain, Greece, Norway, all of whom have fought by our side for decades.
It took us more than a year to act to protect civilians in Bosnia. Now, it took us 31 days.
The United States has done what we said we would do. Now we will transfer command of the operation to NATO on Wednesday and will then play a supporting role – intelligence, search and rescue, jamming regime communications.
We will provide much-needed food and medical care.
Forty years of the Gaddafi regime have left Libya without structures; Libya needs to build that up.
We have frozen $33 billion in Libyan money. That money doesn’t belong to Gaddafi or to us. It belongs to the Libyan people and we will make sure they get it.
We have to ensure that Libya does not belong to the victors but to its people.
Gaddafi, left in power, would be dangerous. There is no question that the world would be better off without Gaddafi in power. I and other leaders embrace that. But that does not mean we should depose him (ourselves). An attempt to overthrow Gaddafi by force carries great risks and dangers, and will result in the splintering of (Libyan) society.
To be blunt, we went down that road in Iraq. We are hopeful about Iraq’s future, but regime change there took eight years, and it cost thousands of American and Iraqi lives and nearly a trillion dollars.
That is not something we can afford to repeat in Libya. But there are things we can do.
We will deny the regime access to arms. We will cut off supplies of cash. We will work with other nations to hasten regime change. It will take time as a weakened Gaddafi struggles to cling to power. But history is not on his side.
Much of the debate in Washington has put forward a false choice – that there are so many places in trouble, and that the United States cannot and should not police the world when there are so many problems at home. Yes, there is a cost to intervention and we must measure the risks and the costs against the outcome. But that cannot be an argument for never acting.
To brush aside America’s responsibilities as a leader would be a betrayal of who we are. I refuse to let that happen. Some countries may turn a blind eye to atrocities (in Libya) but America is different.
To do nothing would be to give the wrong message: that violence is the best way to cling to power.
I will never minimise the costs of military action. But I am convinced that the costs of failure to act would have been greater.
I will not hesitate to act swiftly, decisively and unilaterally when America’s interests are threatened directly. That is why we act where Al Qaeda are involved. But there will be times when our safety is not threatened, but our interests and values are (as with Libya). These are not America’s problems alone, but they are important to the United States.
There will be times when the United States, the world’s most powerful nation, will be called upon to act in response to requests for help. We should not be afraid to do so. But others must step up as well. They bear their share of the burden and their share of the costs.
Yes, this change (in the Middle East and North Africa) will make the world more complicated for a time. Progress will be uneven. Difficult political and economic concerns will have to be addressed.
I believe this movement of change cannot be held back. Wherever people long to be free, they will find a friend in the United States of America.
When the news is full of conflict and change, it can be tempting to turn away from the world. But we can’t let that happen.
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Obama ” Yes, there is a cost to intervention and we must measure the risks and the costs against the outcome.”
What are the investments which Malta should protect; those which do not give a good return for Malta (investments and work in Libya are not taxed in Malta) or those which in times of trouble kept their Maltese workers on their payroll and later employed more people?
Should we risk the jobs of the latter for the former?
To be blunt, Maltese assets abroad do not bring much money to our economy. I don’t care much about Maltese money ‘invested’ abroad. I care more on how much it gives Malta in return. Legal tax avoiders cannot have it both ways.
America has $33,000,000,000 Libyan money and it forked out approximately 1.6% of that amount in this conflict. Economically it is a very sound investment.
Before entering a conflict, mighty America weighs up its risks and costs.Should tiny Malta be different?
Other countries weigh up the risks:
Italy has not fired a single shot in this conflict. Gaddafi’s two Italian brothers are doing their damned best to find him an honourable solution.
The world’s tax haven Switzerland is noticed by its absence in all this.
[Daphne – Your sophistry is astounding.]
You meant to tell him that “your stupidity is astounding”. As if each country does not weigh its pros and cons when sending its citizens into conflict zones!
[Daphne – Unfortunately, Malta is weighing up the wrong ones.]
Anonymous VonTrapp , that’s exactly my point. Daphne is arguing that we should do more and I’m basically telling her to hold her horses. There are countries which are capable of doing something and are hardly lifting a finger.
We cannot afford to risk more to save the Libyan people.
This situation is like having a person trapped in a fierce fire. Who would save the person? Fire fighters are the right people. But firefighters do not just go in for someone trapped in a fire , they evaluate the dangers, wear the necessary protective equipment and then enter to save lives. Countries do just the same .
About the Libyan money: I take Obama’s mentioning of the eleven digit figure as a subtle assurance for the unconvinced.
Obama and other heads of state do such ‘pragmatic’ exercises , in the interest of their respective countries.
Don’t mention the Swiss to the Colonel, FFS.
Where does this Schembri get off?
The US has frozen the $33bn that belonged to the Gaddafi family. That doesn’t mean that the money will become US property. Get your facts right.
When the dust settles I can assure you that contracts will be won before the money is handed back to the Libyan people.
In the meantime the investments in the US are giving the much needed liquidity and cash flow to the institutions in which they are invested.
Ma twelidniex il-bierah!
[Daphne – That’s a foolish statement.]
It appears that, although a quarter of a century has elapsed since the infamous dictum was uttered, the Maltese mentality is still “jew b’xejn jew xejn”.
Selfish and sad but true.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110329/local/maltese-least-keen-to-pay-tax-on-waste-generation
Maltese least keen to pay tax on waste generation
“Even though the Maltese are known to generate the most rubbish per head in Europe, they are far more likely than their counterparts on the mainland to be against paying a tax on waste disposal.”
Kind of sums it up, doesn’t it.
Not only do they generate the most rubbish PER head, they generate the most rubbish IN their head.
“In a late development, The official Tunisian news agency said Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa arrived in Tunis on what it called a “private visit”. No further details were available.”
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110329/local/rebels-march-on-gaddafis-home-town
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/03/28/libya.beaten.woman/?hpt=T1
Iman Obeidi’s actions did more to garner support for the fight for the liberation of Libya then the machos playing at being soldiers in the rebel army whilst the coalition forces fight their wars for them.
Video and transcript of Obama’s speech last night.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/world/jan-june11/obamaspeech_03-28.html
It seems that the Gaddafi regime will keep Ms Obeidi in custody and prosecuting her. In ‘normal’ circumstances she would have been killed had not the world been watching. The accuser is now the accused.
This reminds me of the same tactics used by the Maltese government (whether under an MLP or PN administration) to ‘deal’ or silence individuals who make uncomfortable statements about the government, or simply do not agree with government policy or actions.
No wonder that Maltese politicians on both sides of the House would not join the West’s actions to curtail Gadaffi’s regime. How could they if they find some of Gadaffi’s less violent tactics so agreeable?
I agree with you Daphne, but considering the U.S. gives $3 billion dollars a year in aid (and let’s be honest here, it is military aid) to Israel, $500 million doesn’t seem so much. It just feels wrong to be talking about money when we should be talking about lives. It is a little disingenuous to talk about the healthcare and education the American taxpayer is losing out on because of Libya.
Right on Steve. The ‘mighty’ Americans have about 20 million of its citizens who cannot afford health insurance and countless go bankrupt should a health problem arise.
Yes, 500 million would help a small minority pay for insurance but their senators have given Obama a hard time and blocked passage of a health reform system which could really help those who cannot afford insurance on their own.
$500 million is nothing compared to the taxpayers’ trillions that bailed out the banks – over which they have to pay interest to the Federal Reserve that created the money out of thin air in the first place, and which is governed by the owners of the same bailed-out banks.
So you see, Ladies and Gentlemen, that this has been Pollyanna’s venture into the world at large. An out-of-the-box experience lived through an in-the-box fuse-box that stands for a brain with a borrowed mind.
War, Pollyanna long discovered, is the source of all peace and prosperity, the stuff of history and faraway places – so far they hardly exist.
War is Peace. But this war is special and Pollyanna has unleashed her all. They’re kicking Mintoff’s buddy’s arse, you see, and Polly wants to kick it too.
The Pollyanna Brigade now grows stronger by the day, and soon it will be ready to march on its crusade.
To Tripoli! To Mintoff’s friend, Miramar Gandalfi! The war drums are calling.
Are you sure you’re up to it, Kev? The coast road to Tripoli is a hell of a long march, and you seem terribly out of shape.
Indeed, Baxxter, the Brigade should first practice along our own Coast Road. If they manage to impress Sarko it’s a done deal.
(Good to see no one is hurling bottles at the caricature, though. Qed jitghalmu, ara.)
Which Brigade? Il-Brigata Laburista? Int minghalik li Sarkozy jimpurtah x’inhu ghaddej f’din it-toqba mahmuga ta’ gzira?
A bit of war might do you good, Kev. You lack purpose and it would focus your mind.
The guy who writes his speeches is brilliant.
I’d be surprised if the POTUS did NOT have the best speech writer in the world!
President Obama’s speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVW6jBbD5Q8