Others go through hell so that we can sit pretty
The news has just broken that a US fighter jet has crashed near Benghazi and its two-man crew have ejected. One of the men has been rescued. The other has not been found – at least, not by his mates – and they continue to search for him.
The plane suffered mechanical failure. It was not shot down. The only hope being held out for this US pilot is that the area in which he landed is thought to be held mainly by rebels.
This first allied forces casualty only serves to highlight our selfish reliance on others to do our work. Those pilots were not only protecting Libyans who are opposed to Gaddafi.
They are also protecting us from him. And the sooner some of the people of this sorry state called Malta wake up to that fact, the better for us all.
‘Wajs’ decisions and ‘prudence’ by our politicians do not protect us. They serve only to appease a monster, if at all. It is the gargantuan efforts of others, including with their lives – Libyans, Americans and French – that are protecting us by working to rid the world of a canker.
We owe all those people our thanks and our unmitigated, eternal gratitude.
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These words should be inscribed in gold on a monument to those who face such sacrifice in trying to rid the world of a monster.
Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici has again shown us what a blind lackey he is.
Ikteb fuq Bondiplus tal-lbierah u d-dittatur arci-demokratiku.
Here’s one who’s sitting pretty – and lying about her ‘dead sister’:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8396419/Aisha-Gaddafis-only-daughter.html
Timesofmalta.com
“Tuesday, 22nd March 2011 – 10:46CET
New allies join Libya offensive to show ‘solidarity'”
No doubt all encouraged and comforted by Malta’s clear commitment to pick up the pieces, while it consistently fails to even declare its moral support to concrete action to protect the Libyans that it claims to care about, from the ongoing atrocities perpetrated by Gaddafi..
Mrs Daphine, I’afraid I do not agree with you, especialy when . you say “we owe these people………………” Do you think that they do it to ‘Protect us “etc. No I think they do it because they like it, actually they are all volunteers, and they get paid to do it. They don’t ask questions, I doubt whether they are ever sorry when their bombs hit children and innocent civilians, no it’s just another job well done. I think they are nothing better than paid assassins and they know what to expect when caught.
You’re a gloating twat. Soldiers are not assassins. They are protected by the Geneva Convention, so they should “expect” treatment as POWs when caught.
If the Coalition had killed any children and innocent civilians, we’d know it by now, since their corpses would be paraded before the world’s media. This isn’t Iraq in 2003.
I never said they shoudn’t be treated as POWs.
It was reported that there were over 60 dead in the first raid. The problem is which Media are we to believe?
None, or all. The body count is irrelevant to anyone except antiwar hippies. It’s the end result that counts. Gaddafi has been jolted out of his cynicism and comfortable impunity. Good. That’s worth any number of civilian casualties.
That’s a very unfair way of describing soldiers and officers of an army.
Yes, they do volunteer. But calling them paid assassins is uncalled for. Should Malta get attacked by any enemy, you wouldn’t be saying the same thing now would you?
No of course I wouldn’t,for in that case they would be fighting for their country and they would deserve being called HEROS. Soilders who don’t fight for their country but just as a job, that is for money, are nothing else but paid Mercinaries.
Incredible. How many soldiers have actually fought on their country’s territory since World War I
silvio loporto: small minded nit wit (and illiterate too)
Dear John, I’m sure that by calling names, people who express their opinion, is not in any way helping your friends, t I am glad not to considered myself as one of them. I might be ‘Illterate” but I don’t feel you are helping in my education. I would have expected you to elaborate as to why you find me a small minded nit wit. Or should I take it as a compliment coming from someone who is such a COWARD as to hide behind a pseudonym?
HP Baxxter. how about asking that to the people in Afghanistan,or the Iraqis?
silvio, one thing please. Tell me your age. If you are younger than 15, then I will take it all back, will apologise profusely for offending your sensibilities and will even help in your education. But if you are older, then, hmmmm….
There are many reasons why one would use a pseudonym. Cowardice can be one of them. But there are other considerations like personal security and fear of retribution are others, for example, or avoiding fall-out in one’s professional or business affairs. This is especially important in small communities.
People who risk their lives in a legitimate act of war, when called upon by their country to do so, can’t be considered assassins by any measure – even had they been our enemies.
Please do us all a favour and take a break from exercising your democratic right to free speech. After all, you only enjoy that right in the first place thanks to those many “assassins” who sacrificed themselves saving this country from the clutches of total tyranny.
Loporto, I assume you’re referring to Iraqi and Afghan victims of Coalition or NATO bombing, or their relatives, right?
I do not moralise. Not on this blog, nor anywhere else. But I’ve been round long enough to know that death is preferable to a life of suffering in many cases. Of course the families of victims will be heartbroken. Perhaps their own lives will be irreparably shattered.
But I refuse to wear a mantle of false righteousness and claim it was all for human rights, or that we tried to keep the collateral damage down to a minimum. Europe (not the West, just Europe) is hostage to its deontology since the Second World War. I am deeply convinced that war is as valid an instrument of politics as anything else.
So it results in death. So what? Millions more die through accidents, or environmental damage, or smoking, or suicide, disillusioned by the Modern Dream and knowing that they can never realise their dreams.
If it serves our interest to wage war on another people, or on another country, and if through our actions, our enemies, combatants or not, are killed, then so be it.
This is not a competition of my views against yours. We’ve probably gone through vastly different life experiences, so to each his own.
Soldiers are not mercenaries.
Soldiers feel “sorry when their bombs hit children and innocent civilians ” and that is why some of them defected from Gaddafi’s army.
YES they are mercenaries when all they fight for, is money.
NO they defected because they wanted to help the rebels fight the maniac Gaddafi and help get rid of hime once and for all.
Loporto, if only you knew what miserable wages most soldiers have, you’d think twice before claiming that anyone fights for money.
And even if their wages were good, more often than not they’re fighting for their mates and for themselves.
I don’t wish to judge you wrongly, but you seem to be incredibly ignorant on the subject of modern warfare. In any modern NATO-standard army, only a fraction of soldiers ever get deployed on operations. An even smaller fraction gets to fire their weapons on anger. A tiny fraction of those will have killed someone. And that’s it. You can be a soldier and never have touched a weapon in your whole career (yes, such posts do exist).
So, even if you’re doing it for the money, you’re by no means “fighting”. How then can you be a mercenary?
BBC One Panorama report about Libya
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwt5K4KGnkk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw3UcJ0L-w4&
According to CNN…the second pilot is safe too. Recovered by the rebels and handed over to coalition forces.
I’m starting to believe that it’s not a question of ‘fear’ of being attacked or that we are threatened.There must be definitely more to it.
Spell it out – blackmail?
It wouldn’t make any difference. The blackmailers can still hold us to ransom by the little that we’re doing.
A clear conscience fears nothing. Elizabeth I
The fact that we are not obstructing the coalition says we are in favour of it, and that we are not with Gaddafi on this one. We could be doing more, but we don’t. Some say it s because it will harm our tourism, others say it will put us in danger of being attacked by the Colonel himself.
We are not backing Gaddafi, so as far as he is concerned we are against him. Therefore, we’ve already set ourselves up for retaliation, should Gaddafi feel the need to hit out at the EU. Gaddafi doesn’t care about diplomacy. If you’re not with him, you’re against him.
But we’re not doing as much as we can to back the coalition, so will the coalition help us out in the unlikely event that Gaddafi attacks us for not siding with him?
I don’t think that that is the question you ought to be asking, quite frankly. The question, in my view, is what sort of relationship shall we have with a post-Gaddafi Libya, once all this is over?
I cannot believe this long, tiresome tirade against the government’s decision to limit Malta’s participation in the no-fly enforcement in Libya. Malta has given permission for the coalition planes to pass unhindered through its air space. Malta does not have planes it could send and only one civil airport to cater for tourists, our main bread and butter.
The Americans are upset because Obama reluctantly sent his armed forces in harm’s way before consulting with the congress, the Italians are threatening that they will withdraw permission to use their bases unless they will somehow fall under NATO command, the French President is looking more and more like a clown having recognized the Benghazi council as the legitimate government of Libya when the rest of the countries are insisting that they will not do so until they know who the members of the council are and what kind of policies they aspire for. The Arab League changed its position twice and have said that when they joined the coaition they had no idea ‘the extent of bombing involved’!
Such is the uncertainty among the coalition members themselves but in the meantime Gaddafi survives.
Where is Malta in all this? Business as usual, except some demonstrations by a handful of Libyans living here most of whom are dead set against their (former ?) leader Gaddafi.
We tend to isolate one event and heaven forbid it presents some sort of controversy, and immediately we blow it out of proportion. We look at a mirror and pretend to see Superman or Superwoman when in fact we should be seeing someone who just beat dwarfism by an inch or two at best.
It was interesting to read, in the Times of this morning, a brief but factual list of this government’s achievements in the last two or three years. Here is the link:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110322/opinion/credit-where-credit-is-due
Angus, we couldn’t stop warplanes using our airspace even if we wanted to.
Exactly. And didn’t the Prime Minister say “*ikollna* naccetaw”, when asked about planes flying through Malta’s airspace?
It sounds like he’d have said ‘no’ if he could have.
Future scenario: Malta asks for help to solve the refugee crisis telling the allies “don’t leave us alone”.
Reply from the allies: a polite “f**k off”.
Thanks to Maltese politicians Malta’s role in Europe has been downgraded to a joke.
Who? Britain, Germany?
In diplomatic circles ‘f**k off’ is not on. Understanding one member’s position is what makes a union whether European or not.
The illegal immigration problem existed long before the current crisis and progress has been made. We may have to change the label from ‘illegal immigrants’ to ‘refugees’. What’s the difference? Most (Libyan ?) refugees, at least, will have proper ID whereas the illegal immigrants had none.
That’s not what Gaddafi means, I think. We could have had leverage here. Now we’ve got nothing…in fact less than nothing.
We have always been “left alone” and told to “f**k off” with the refugee crisis … and will be “left alone” again irrelevant of whether Malta makes her non-existent bases available to the coalition or not.
Malta deserves to be told to f**k off when asking for collaboration if it does so when collaboration is required of it.
BOTH crew members safe, according to the BBC.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8397953/US-jet-crashes-in-Libya-airman-would-not-have-known-if-he-approached-friend-or-foe.html
The US airman would not have known whether the armed men advancing towards him were friendly rebels or soldiers loyal to Colonel Gaddafi.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110322/local/new-allies-join-libya-offensive-to-show-solidarity
I understand Ireland does not want to get involved saying it is because they are ‘neutral’ – if this is indeed the case, then why all the fuss about Malta not committing itself ?
[Daphne – Because Malta is right near Tripoli, Etil. As for Ireland, it’s best not to get started on Gaddafi’s years-long funding of the Irish Republic Army, which is why one of the main reasons Northern Ireland is so keen to get involved in bombing him in return.]
This is a group that is just for twittering. not for discussions or news. please join if you use twitter and want to help libya.
http://www.facebook.com/home.phpsk=group_136924369711878
gAdDAFi nEedS HELP – comment on timesofmalta.com
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110322/local/we-will-not-share-list-of-honours-with-gaddafi
John J. Galea-Axiak
“Former Nationalist MP Frank Portelli and poet Maria Grech Ganado have asked to be temporarily struck off Malta’s list of honours as long as Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi remains on the list.” – How anti-Christian!!! Without needing to do so Jesus Christ, The Son of God made man, listed Himself in the Register of Sinners!!! He never stuck off His name!
What Col. Gaddafi did, i.e., killing his own fellow people is categorically condemnable. However let us not overdo it ourselves. Let us not add insult to injury! Col. Gaddafi needs HELP!!!
I think if someone actually said this in front of me, I’d slap them. What a moron.
I’m sure divine intervention has been requested in that department.
Gaddafi is getting plenty of help from the Western allies to go to the place he so rightfully deserves.
Hitler interviews Gaddafi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKhoLW-k_E4
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12776418
1335GMT: Aid agencies are still waiting on Libya’s borders to gain access into the country. At the border with Tunisia in the west, Ivan Gayton from MSF says they have heard reports that thousands are wounded, but are being denied access to medical care:
“We see certainly that we, Doctors Without Borders, are not allowed to go in to access the wounded. It doesn’t seem as though the wounded are able to get out to access our care here in Tunisia and we hear from the people coming out, as well as from people within Libya, that access to healthcare for the wounded people is very, very difficult.”
Jesus was born into the land of sinners, but he did not list himself in the register if sinners. Where do they get these twisted ideas from?
I fail to understand why loporto is insulted and called all sorts of names whenever he expresses an opinion. I often disagree with his views but resorting to insults is in my opinion a very unsensible way of disagreeing.
My dear WILLYONKA’ I was really shocked to read what you said.Do you actually mean that we live in a country where it is” dangerous”to express one’s opinion for fear of” :retribution”This really scares me.This is exactly what one expects from a COWARD. I do not agree. I pride myself to be living in a country where my right of expression is guaranteed, even in our constitution. The only reason I will be giving you a “break”is because I don’t want to ever come across people with your type of reasoning. May God help our beloved Malta ,if there are many of your type around’
I’m sure most of us are armchair critics, but at the same time many of us have close family, relatives and friends who actually have been in armed conflict. My foster brother took two tours to Kosovo during the Balkan conflicts.
Having him referred to as a paid assassin, for putting his life on the line for his fellow human beings, doesn’t really make me want to cuddle and hug this Loporto guy. No, I think we should all take turns in finding new creative ways to insult the f**king pr*ck.
Mr Silvio Loporto, your ignorance in these matters is beyond contempt and would not even rate a reply / comment. However, I can’t help myself.
So the AFM are paid assassins are they? And please don’t tell me that they only participate in humanitarian operations. They are called the Armed Forces of Malta, are well trained, loyal and yes, they carry weapons. Or is it that it’s only the armed forces of other friendly nations that are paid assassins?
For the record, I can tell you from personal experience that the ‘paid assassins’ you refer to are very aware of the moral dimension and none take any pleasure in the suffering that ensues.
You live in a democratic and peaceful country and can write your drivel because others before you have stood up for what is right.
silvio loporto, I will tone down my pitch. You have asked me to help in educating you. I do not know if you are aware of it or not, but very evidently many others have jumped in on your suggestion and did what you asked of me.
I thank them heartily. I hope that the ideas they have imparted would not be lost on you. Since you have managed to elicit so much agitation, I hope that you realise that something is very unorthodox (to say the least) with the ideas that you have put forward.
Also, you would do well to brush up your writing style, since a muddled writing style might be erroneously taken as a reflection of a muddled mind. I would like to emphasise, as already has been pointed out above: we are free to express ourselves because we are ALLOWED TO. We (not just the Maltese), have obtained freedom over the blood of others and even now, we continue to be free, because there are your so called ‘mercenaries’ who are constantly on the alert to keep the free world ‘free’. I hope that you realise this without straining yourself. As a superficial, but telling conclusion, you have answered willywonka underneath john bisazza’s post. And, finally, I would still love to know your age.
So you “would still LOVE to know my age” I hope that this does not indicate that you are harbouring some WEIRD ideas in your mind, in which case I can assure you that you are knocking on the wrong door (are you one of those dirty old man//) anyway, I only wanted to tell you that we are not ‘ALLOWED’ to express our opinion, It is our” RIGHT” and I am always ready to fight for YOUR right to do so, even though I might not agree with them.. And please stop asking for my age.. it might land you in trouble.
[Daphne – I’m calling time on this argument. You’re behaving like an internet troll, Silvio. Enough provocation. And everybody else – please stop chucking insults in his direction, however much he deserves them.]
Mrs Daphine. Thanks for allowing me the last punch.. It was good while it lasted.
‘Ryanair has been advised by Trapani Airport that from Monday 21st March (for an indefinite period) the airport will be closed to all civilian air traffic due to the ongoing military action in Libya. Consequently, all Ryanair flights scheduled to operate to/from Trapani between the 21-28 March inclusive will now operate to/from Palermo Airport which is 55 miles (90 Kms) from Trapani Airport (one hour driving time).’
This is what would have happened had the govt heeded the calls of a few Maltese experts on our island to allow the coalition to use MIA as a base. Malta has a privately owned international airport and not a military base.
I wonder what these experts would have said had all Maltese been stuck in Malta and abroad and Airmalta’s planes left standing idle at MIA so that military planes could use MIA as a base, when there are a number of military air bases available on our doorstep.
Whilst our PM continues to take the best possible decisions in our country’s interest, a number of experts seem to know better, our MPs discuss the referendum question and our dear President, whom the PM should consult in such situations, makes a grand tour of Australia. Incredible