Daphne, the point which I wanted to drive home here wasn’t whether we should attack or call for a ceasefire; my point was that if Tonio Borg is sticking to his guns for a ceasefire he’s being consistent when he does not send soldiers with the coalition.

[Daphne – It’s not up to Tonio Borg to ‘send soldiers’. The foreign minister is not the decision maker on that one.]

If we send soldiers, like some contributors here want, we will be dropping our ceasefire stand and support the attack on Libya.

[Daphne – Bollocks. Hillary Clinton keeps calling for a ceasefire and it hasn’t stopped the US launching 192 Tomahawk missiles. You’re speaking about unilateral disarmament – a Very Bad Idea. Divest yourself of your weapons when the enemy is still mad for killing, and you’re a dead man. Imagine if everyone had to follow Malta’s lead and not send in the military because we want a ceasefire. Where would we be then? Oh, that’s right – just exactly where we were on that panic-stricken Thursday when Benghazi was about to be attacked and the UN Security Council hadn’t voted yet. Can’t you see you’re talking hogwash.]

Gonzi and Tonio believe that through a ceasefire some sort of a solution for this crisis can be found. You and Baxxter think differently.

[Daphne – Yes, and guess what. We’re right and they’re wrong. What can I say? Too much friendship with Muammar Gaddafi has left them both hamstrung and unable to properly assess his personality.]

Today I heard Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici explaining on RTK that the offer for a hospital is not for Mater Dei but if say Médecins Sans Frontières want to set up a hospital for the wounded they will find the government’s cooperation for its setup. Mater Dei is bursting from the seams with patients waiting in the corridors.

[Daphne – Oh wonderful. So now they’ve started contradicting each other. The prime minister offers Materi Dei and the minister of the interior (who is not responsible for hospitals) says no. It’s so obvious that they don’t know whether they’re coming or going, and that they’re thinking on the hoof and not planning at all. As if Medecins Sans Frontieres needs Malta’s cooperation. Is that our government’s idea of humanitarian aid – waiting for an aid organisation to do it all? Pathetic. Tal-biki.]

I’m not contradicting myself at all. In my opinion and in the opinion of many others, it is not wise to send our willing and able soldiers (not operetta or coraggio fuggiamo soldiers) to this mission because Malta is not supporting an attack on Libya but as it said from the beginning, it wants a ceasefire.

The Maltese government wants a ceasefire and you want to attack.

[Daphne – You can’t stop at saying that you want a ceasefire. What do you want AFTER a ceasefire? And how do you plan to make what you want happen?]

Our soldiers were sent on peacekeeping and anti piracy missions.

It happens that Minister Borg is in command, not you Baxx.

[Daphne – He isn’t. The prime minister is. And he is obliged to consult the head of the Armed Forces.]

How can he be consistent if he sends Maltese soldiers to this operation when he is insisting on a ceasefire?

[Daphne – John, you ARE contradicting yourself. I’m butting in because Baxxter usually pops in late in the day.The UN itself has called for a ceasefire, but it is the UN which mandated the current military action. The fact remains that without shooting and killing, nothing is going to happen to force Gaddafi and his family out. Without shooting and killing, they will stay. That has become increasingly clear and that is why calls for a ceasefire have decreased and not increased. Sometimes it takes war to avert an even bigger disaster. It’s not as though you haven’t had the lessons of history on that. It’s all very well to talk about being on the side of life, but Tonio Borg has not had to answer the question: if he had been in Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici’s shoes in 1986, what would he have done? Would he have saved the lives of Gaddafi and his family, or would he have let them be killed, thereby saving the lives of the many thousands who have died because of them in the last 25 years, including the ones who are dying now?]

Now who’s stupid?
People in the army are good at following orders not dictating foreign policy.

[Daphne – Baxxter isn’t stupid at all. I think it is more than obvious (and I haven’t a clue who he is or even that it’s a he for that matter) that he is extremely sharp. Nobody said that the army should dictate foreign policy. But various people here have criticised our government’s foreign policy, and with good reason, too.]

Laughing stock is when you stay out of the coalition.

Besides, you contradict yourself from start to finish. When I give you an example of a mission on which we sent two soldiers, you imply that it was the right choice, and then you say that we’d be a laughing stock if we did the same in Libya.

The figure of two was an example of the smallest “contingent” possible. We could send fifty to join the coalition against Gaddafi. But you brush aside the argument with the ultimate in Maltese logic: “U hallina!”

Yes you are stupid, and now you’ve proved it yourself. And the tragedy is that our government is moulded in your image, not mine.

H.P . Baxxter, you’re good at calling names.

I find all this hullabaloo about sending two soldiers to the front as a token military aid which would make us the laughing stock.

“Oh look, we’re part of the coalition, we sent two Maltese soldiers to Sigonella” . U hallina!

I’m sure that you would have criticized our government even if it sent a whole platoon to Misurata.

You know as much as I do that we do send soldiers abroad.They are not only good for parades.

John Schembri, you leave me no choice but to call you ignorant, and stupid too, because of the conclusions that you draw.

The AFM’s contribution to the EU’s monitoring mission in Georgia (EUMM GEORGIA) is exactly two (2) soldiers. It was all over the newspapers when they were depoloyed and the government lauded their efforts and sang their praises. But you seem not to know this. That’s ignorance.

Then there’s stupidity. Because the whole point of a coalition, or of an alliance like NATO, is to allow every little member to bring their effort to bear, no matter how small.

As a token contribution we should send quantity two AFM soldiers to Sigonella.
You must be joking.

[Daphne – They’ll be fighting each other for the chance to go, John. Also, your reasoning is specious: the expression ‘it’s the gesture that counts’ applies also to these situations. Let’s say you invite somebody to a birthday party. He turns up and tell you ‘Sorry, but I didn’t buy you a present because I couldn’t afford to buy one as nice as those all your other guests have given you. So I’m giving you nothing.’ ]

Oh god. Go back a couple of weeks and find my posts back then. If we send even one soldier to Sigonella as teaboy, that’s a contribution. It is recognised by the coalition. It counts. It has political impact. It brings us economic return. It makes us new friends and allies. If you don’t understand this post, then go back to reading Tom Clancy or de Marco’s memoirs. I don’t know which.

But for your benefit, here’s a five-second lecture on “Micronation Contribution to Military Coalitions” by H.P. Baxxter:

http://www.isaf.nato.int/troop-numbers-and-contributions/iceland/index.php

See that? 2 soldiers. Two. But they’re on the list. NATO’s official list on NATO’s official website. They’re doing something. They’ll be at the final victory parade.

We’ll be nowhere.

“…..even our handkerchief-sized island armed forces can make a valid contribution.”
How?

How do you propose that the injured be brought to Malta, if not on an improvised hospital ship under armed guard?

Malta need not provide any of its own ships. That’s why charters exist.

Incidentally, a Malta-registered vessel was in Libya up to two nights ago, but in Tripoli, not Benghazi or Misurata. The Glyfada wasn’t shelled or prevented from leaving. How do you explain that?

You got it all wrong, John. The ones firing “coraggio fuggiamo’ jibes were saying that even our handkerchief-sized island armed forces can make a valid contribution. As part of a coalition. The ones praising Malta to high heaven, on the other hand, want an army of toy soldiers to man roadblocks outside Gianpula and parade on St George’s Square.