What Lawrence Gonzi should have said but didn't
David Cameron, at the party conference in Perth, yesterday (Friday) afternoon:
“Against the risks of action we have to weigh up the risks of inaction, of condemning violence while doing nothing about it”.
And in a statement to the House of Commons, yesterday (Friday) morning:
“If you will the end, then you should also will the means to that end.”
“We cannot allow this man to go on butchering and brutalising his own people”
“We cannot ignore the cries for democracy. If we act, there will be a better future for this region, and thefore the world.”
“It is not in the national interest to sit back and do nothing.”
“To suggest that we should pass a resolution like this and then sit back and hope that somebody somewhere in the Arab world will act instead of us is profoundly wrong.”
What our prime minister said instead:
“The interests and security of Malta and the Maltese are paramount.”
“We will not allow Malta to be used as a military base for the enforcement of a no-fly zone.”
“This afternoon I took a call from Libyan prime minister Bagdadi”
“Malta has already done its bit in terms of humanitarian assistance in the evacuation effort.”
“There is no need for our commitment to a no-fly zone because there are others to do that.”
“There is no need for Malta to be used as a military base because there are other military bases that can be used instead.”
“We hope that they will stop fighting and that enforcement will not be necessary.”
“We have received no requests for Malta to be used as a military base, but if we do we will say No.”
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Daphne, the contrast you have highlighted is superb. Here we have one Prime Minister who is a ‘Prime’ Minister. then we have a local Prime Minister who is a ‘Sub Prime’ Minister. What the hell happened to his balls?
Cameron has been behaving like a Prime Minister. Gonzi has been behaving like a lawyer.
Your point has merit, however, I believe our prime minister acted prudently in this crisis. He is a crafty statesman. It is true what they say- the cream always rises to the top.
The reality is that even if the prime minister used harsh or belligerent language the international community will not take us seriously for the simple reason we have no military might to back our harsh language.
[Daphne – Nobody in this situation has been using harsh or belligerent language except Gaddafi and his son. The language you interpret as ‘belligerent’and ‘harsh’ is direct. It is common to many cultures but not those of the southern Mediterranean. Our use of language, like Italy’s and North Africa’s, is designed to obscure meaning and intention and not to make meaning clear. This cultural difference is the reason many people in Malta, whose culture is different to mine, think I am ‘harsh’ and ‘belligerent’ when all I am is clear and direct. The reason our prime minister sounds weak compared to other international leaders like those of the United States, France and Britain to name just three, is because his use of language is obscurantist and deliberately unclear. One e.g.: ‘the end of Gaddafi is evident’ rather than ‘Gaddafi should step down at once’. In that statement, we are deliberately left uncertain as to whether he wants Gaddafi to go or whether he is just making the observation that Gaddafi’s time is up. Western leaders do not speak like that, because their people (and the media) hold them to account, and also because it is not in their linguistic culture to do so. This obscurantism works to a certain extent in Maltese which, like Arabic and Italian, seems designed for it, but it does not work in English, which is why our prime minister’s comments translate with difficulty and badly.]
I don’t think the harsh language sits well with the Maltese people. Mentally, we are not like the British or the American people but we are very similar to the Italians – don’t do, say or act tough.
[Daphne – I disagree with you completely. We are not like “the Italians”. The culture we share is that of the remoter parts of Sicily and the far south of the Italian ‘boot’. It is a culture that grew out of survival in the harshest conditions while being completely disenfranchised and powerless. The result over time was a brutal amoral pragmatism. This makes up the bulk of the Maltese population even today, because most of the population is even now only at one or two generations’ remove from peasants or urban beggars. The difference in Malta is the 150 years of British colonialism, in which a swathe of society developed which had largely British values and attitudes and, over the course of that length of time, became completely distinct from the rest of Maltese society and culture. This has led to a real ‘culture clash’ within Maltese society itself. It is the reason why, for example, I have more in common with British attitudes, ways of talking and thinking, than I do with that ‘other part’ of Maltese society, which I find completely alien, even though we have shared a small island for four decades and counting. There appear to be lots of Maltese people on this website who feel the same way. The opposite extreme are the people who comment on timesofmalta.com’s comments-board, and then there are those who are caught between the two cultures, possibly because their families were raised in the ‘Sicilian’ culture but exposure to other ways of thinking through the internet, travelling, reading and so on has begun to pull them the other way. These are my observations.]
The Italian mentality drove Hitler nuts. You have to like the Italians.
[Daphne – I don’t. I like some Italians, but in general, I have nothing in common. Even the sound of Italians talking irritates me no end – all that pointless use of 50 words to say something that you can say in five words.]
Gonzi is in denial that Gaddafi is finished. Sad really.
Lawrence Gonzi said that Mahmoudi Bagdadi called him to inform him about the ceasefire.
Now, according to international news media, Gonzi was being very economical with the truth.
It appears that the Libyan PM contacted the German, Chinese, Turkish and Maltese governments to ask for help to monitor the ceasefire.
If this is true, it would have been much better if our PM had not called that press conference at all.
The UK is already under continuous threat from the anti west, mainly UK and US terrorists. Malta is not. That’s the difference.
A Libyan airforce jetfighter circling over Benghazi has just been shot down by the city’s defenders.
Somebody at Castille should phone Mahmoudi Bagdadi to tell him that the whole world is monitoring his ceasefire from its living rooms.
He will reply that the military aircraft was spraying the city with petits fours.
If the Libyan dictatorship believe that they can take the rest of the world for a ride, they must be really on their last leg.
The less said about the PM’s speech the better. I still hope he backtracks about his position but somehow feel he now compromised our international reputation especially after we we were ‘chosen’ by the Libyan regime to act as observers and did not refuse immediately but are considering it.
I hope I am wrong.
What Lawrence Gonzi shouldn’t have said but did: “Listen I know this is slap bang in my back yard but I am a committed nimby”….sad. Now Gaddafi is bombing Benghazi – some ceasefire that was.
A speechwriter is sorely needed at Castille.
What is sorely needed at Castile is a proper understanding of the obligation to keep Malta’s electorate informed in a timely and appropriate manner.
Imagine if the ginger magician was incumbent.
And accurate, truthful manner.
They need PEOPLE WHO CAN COMBINE TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE WITH POLITICAL ACUMEN.
The only one who comes close cannot be employed there, since he’s a politician – George Pullicino.
Right now, the Maltese political system is stuffed with 1) lawyers (ZOMFG), 2) engineers (double ZOMFG), 3) entrepreneurs with connections.
damn spelling.
How many Maltese are prepared to show THEIR balls and join the allied forces if they decide to invade/attack Libya? A simple question.
[Daphne – Our entire AFM would go with alacrity, Mr De Martino. It’s what they joined up for. Do you think they enjoy kicking their heels and manning road blocks for teenagers with a joint or an ecstacy pill? And I bet there’ll be loads of volunteers too, except that they wouldn’t be allowed because untrained volunteers will only cause chaos in times like this. But do you know why all those young men in their teens and 20s are rushing out to fight in Libya? It’s because biology and evolution have designed young men for that purpose. Look at their faces on television. They’re not frightened; they’re having the time of their lives. The young human male’s instinct for action, when frustrated by urban culture and desk jobs, ends up in ‘Paceville’ and trouble of entirely a different sort. What do you think all those young men are doing going to the gym day after day in places like urban Malta? They’re building up their strength for action that never happens. Young men were not meant to sit behind desks. That’s how society has evolved, but at the first flash, the veneer of civilisation drops off. That’s why the Libyan ‘rebels’ include throngs of bankers, clerks and teachers who look almost delirious with joy as they rush around with their rifles and machine guns in their guerrilla outfits and checkered scarves. They probably burned their suits and ties with relish.]
Giovanni, we are not saying that Malta should send troops to Libya – that would go against the UN resolution anyway.
.
What we could and should do is to help in the military effort by, for example, serving as a refuelling and supply base for allied ships.
Ciccio pointed out in a comment somewhere that having armed warplanes and airliners using the same airfield would create safety problems but there are also unarmed planes, such as AWACS aircraft, that would pose no danger.
Above all, what most of us here object to is the timid language. Giovanni, you are a veteran, like me, and you know that we would never have overcome Mintoff if we hadn’t taken risks. Sometimes you have to stick your neck out.
[Daphne – Thank you for pointing out that it’s the timid language that has caused us most offence.]
AWACS do not pose safety problems, but from AWACS it will be fighters and from fighters, bombers. Giving permission to use a civilian airport as an airforce staging post presents scheduling problems affecting civilian travel.
Air sorties do not stick to rigid schedules and if a crippled plane returns to base, it may crash land and burn, closing the airport for hours if not days. Then we will all be crying that the tourism industry is shot, revenue is down and the government would have to find means to make up the shortfall.
And, please, you smarties out there don’t come back with ‘some compensation will surely be forthcoming from the EU or the US’. Yes, we will be compensated as much as we received the Marshall aid after WWII.
Modern communications make it possible for us to sit in front of a television set and fight a war from the couch, believe every picture we see because it is repeated a thousand times and eventually sticks in the thickest of minds.
In the meantime the politician makes calculations you and I do not have to bother with, assesses the risks which we do not need to make and arrive at decisions which the politician knows beforehand that can never please everybody one hundred percent.
It is much better to speak timidly and stop there rather than talk hard and bold and follow up with no action, not that it is not desireable but because we do not have the power or resources to back up the bold rhetoric.
Gonzi is probably embarrassed as well. Only a few weeks ago he was taking tiffin with the loony.
Who advises Gonzi on press briefings anyway?
Maybe DCG would be ideal for that role.
I’d go. Better than studying for uni exams.
There speaks a real man.
Five to One
When Malta joined PFP way back in 2004/2005, I spoke with two different AFM soldiers who were very excited about the prospects of joint training with NATO. Unfortunately those prospects were short lived.
And it’s not just the young men in their 20s either:
http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/5548/x800.jpg
When I read the comments of Purdie and Bystander and others, I get the impression that Malta is a military power-house in Europe able to dictate its terms on rogue countries if it needs to and able to defend itself no matter what happens.
I also get the impression that Malta has military bases and airstrips located miles away from residential areas and from vital infrastructure.
Cameron did the right thing. He also did a great speech in Perth, Scotland yesterday. But he is Prime Minister of a country which has the military might to back up words with action. He is Prime Minister of a country which any country in its right mind would think twice before threatening or attack. The UK has the military might to retaliate if and when the need arises.
If one is to compare what Cameron and Gonzi said, one should also compare the context and the specific circumstances including, for example, any potential impacts on economic activity that involvement in military action would have.
If you want to have a go at someone have a go at those countries like Germany and Italy, which have the military might but which have gone out of their way to drag their feet throughout. Or countries like Russia and China, who in spite of the attacks on civilians, were intent on vetoing the UN motion and required a lot of convincing eventually to abstain.
I was not referring to our AFM who would have to go whether they like it or not.
Neither was I referring to the young Libyan rebels who are fighting for their own cause.
I was referring to all those who expect OTHERS to go but wouldn’t even dream of going themselves.
Remember when Malta joined the PFP? Ever seen the anguish on the faces of American and/or European parents when the dead bodies of their sons were returned to their respective countries. Imagine the reaction of Maltese, the vast majority of the Maltese, had our PM decided otherwise! But those who are in authority are always at fault!
I am being misunderstood. Personally I am against neutrality and if it depended on me I would welcome the armed forces of the western powers with open arms.
I wouldn’t mind offering them a base here, but I hate those who expect OTHERS to send soldiers when they are not prepared to go there themselves.
[Daphne – Do you mean civilians or soldiers? If you’re saying that we should not talk about sending the AFM if we are not prepared to go ourselves, the short answer is: the AFM are soldiers and we are not. One assumes that’s why they are soldiers, because they are prepared to go and fight, so your argument is illogical. If what you mean is that Malta should not expect others to send its soldiers when Malta doesn’t want to send its own soldiers, then I agree with you. That’s hateful.]
Sur Demartinu,
Il-Papa li tahlef bih inti, Giovanni Paolo II kien qal “Non abbiate paura”. Dak kellu bajd ghax sfida l-kommunizmu.
Issa jekk trid tkun veru dixxiplu ta’ Papa Woytila suppost ma toqghodx iddur mal-lewza bhal dak il-hmar li jwahhal f’denbu.
Why did they join the AFM? For the wages?
When Malta joined PFP way back in 1994/1995, I spoke with two different AFM soldiers who were very excited about the prospects of joint training with NATO. Unfortunately those prospects were short lived.
Innutaw li hafna minn dawk li qed jilabghuha tal-heroes anqas ghandhom kuragg juru isimhom. Ahseb u ara kemm imorru l-Libja jiggieldu.
[Daphne – You are confusing issues. The people who are prepared to fight are in the army already. This does not mean that the rest of us should shut up.]
No, I am not confusing anything. Some commentators above are “so eager” to go to Libya but do not have the “courage” to show their identity.
A CERTAIN “GADDAFI” said that the pope had balls. Hu, imma, ma jidhirx li ghandu ghax heba ismu. Everyone wants to bell the cat. The problem is: Who is going to bell it?
[Daphne – The coalition forces. Without Malta.]
Daphne, you sound like you want a Mintoff on the right side and not a prudent PM!
[Daphne – What gave you that impression? If you were able to read properly you would see that what I want for Malta is somebody who at least tries to be a pale version of Cameron or Sarkozy in this mess. MIntoff be damned.]