Daphne these are as you rightly said, ‘gestures’. People in trouble won’t be helped with gestures, we can leave those for later; right now these people, in Benghazi especially, need tangible solidarity.

[Daphne – Yes, they are, John. They are helped immensely by gestures. In every war, battle and conflict, psychological pressure is a major factor. Why did Winston Churchill go down in history for his speeches? Because they were brilliant pieces of writing? They weren’t. They were brilliant pieces of encouragement, keeping people’s spirits up.]

I can’t understand the Arab league’s involvement in this; Libya is no longer a member of this league it is part of the African Union .

Islamists observe Sharia law , but not all Muslims are Islamists.

Ciccio, Mintoff’s law is still on the books. The last time these Labour assholes were in power (1996), they stuck me in Kordin. Seems to me that other than their dwarfish, naive leader, the same Neanderthals who drew up that law are now back in power. Next election will be a sorry sight.

There are those who say that our politicians have not been forthright enough.

Others say – hold it! We have a ‘neutrality clause’ in our Constitution – so hands off, don’t dare let foreign forces make use of our little rock should a no-fly zone be agreed on (eventually) by the procrastinating UN and the slow as molasses EU and the almost nonexistent NATO.

So the first question is: What can Malta, all 122 square miles of it, do? We can be bold, spell it out to Gaddafi and tell him to go, we don’t like you any more, send those damned medals back – or else?

The second question is this: Should Gaddafi succeed in conquering Benghazi, does he think for a moment that it will be back to business as usual?

There are sanctions in place, he, his family and close friends are banned from leaving Libya (unless somehow stowed away illegally), so sooner or later they have to face justice at both national and international courts.

So, if we accuse our politicians of being soft spoken, spineless and a bunch of other adjectives, why can these accusations be leveled first at those leaders who are much more powerful with almost limitless resources but who, so far, have done little more than talk and some of whom have even said hardly anything about the Libyan crisis?

Did we expect that Malta, big in some minds, insignificant in others’, jump the gun like Sarkozy did?

Isn’t that funny – our Opposition is praying, or maybe rather wishing that Gaddafi prevails while Sarkozy has already written him off and recognized the Benghazi Council. I hope Sarkozy was right but now it appears that his foregone conclusion may have been a bit premature especially since he did not sound off the other EU leaders first before taking the bold step and which leaves him looking either foolish or a real genius. Let’s hope it’s the latter. And then, if Sarkozy is right, let the others, Obama included, jump on the bandwagon.

Actually, have they been discussing “bloody divorce” or just a referendum question about divorce?

They can’t. Their phones are being tapped.

OK. I’ve signed it.
Who’s next?

In summary, we can divest him from our honors when he no longer controls our investments in Libya, which is also when he no longer controls our oil.

Purdie, the Mintoffian law on Foreign Interference is not enforced any more, so you can comment and take a clear position.