At last, Tripoli has fallen
It’s going to be a long night glued to the news channels, something I haven’t done since the UN vote and the subsequent first bombing raids on Tripoli.
So it took just six months, after all. Six months of utter hell for the people living there, but still only six months.
Those who thought it would happen overnight, as with Egypt and Tunisia, were obviously off the mark, but at a certain stage it looked like those who had predicted a protracted civil war and the partition of Libya might be correct.
But they were wrong.
Libya is free, Tripoli has fallen, Seif Al-Islam Gaddafi has been apprehended, so has his brother Saadi, but the whereabouts of their father are not known.
The newscasters and commentators are all talking about how it is crucial that the Gaddafis and those who were loyal to them are now treated properly as they face prosecution.
I wonder how that John Dalli is feeling now, or whether that lacklustre twerp who heads up Labour has prepared his words of wisdom for reporters who – if they have the balls and the brains – will ring him at the crack of dawn to ask whether he thinks it is finally time to stop being cautious.
“Best to say nothing because we want to be cautious in the national interest.” Famous last words, Dr Muscat, and ha ha ha to that.
You were wrong on the European Union and wrong on Libya, and yet there are people who think you’d make a terrific prime minister. Count me out.
All those who said that ‘they’ should never have bombed Tripoli, that ‘they’ should have had no help from Malta, that ‘they’ are doing it only For The Oil, should now hang their sorry little heads in shame.
Our government has a great deal to be embarrassed about, too – there have been 7,549 air sorties into Libya and Malta has contributed not one dime or done anything to play a part in getting rid of Gaddafi.
But Malta is rushing in already to cream off the benefits of other people’s bravery, commitment, sound decisions and above all, money.
The fact remains that without Gaddafi, many people in Malta are lost on the subject of Libya, and even as we watch our close neighbours shout with joy, they will be shaking their heads with regret for their contacts, their network and their cash.
So sad for Karmenu Vella, future minister of finance, that he’s lost all his sleazy contacts there. No more trips on Gaddafi’s jet while castigating the current incumbent for taking a trip on George Fenech’s. How sad for Joseph Muscat – just when he thought he was mixing with the high-rollers (no, not his wife’s).
If that idiotic Muscat had any insight into how People Like Me think, he would understand that the fall of Tripoli and the end of Gaddafi bring closure to us too. Not as it does for Libyans – no, not at all. Of course not. But it brings closure to a really dark period in our lives and the history of our little islands.
I’m cracking open the champagne to mark the fall of Gaddafi. But I’m saving the really good stuff for when Dom Mintoff snuffs it. I’m so glad he’s lived this long though, and I hope he’s lucid enough to register the end of his blood-thirsty, money-hungry friend.
I can’t wait for Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici’s crackpot comments, and this time, I might be able to laugh.
38 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
A huge country, 60 billion dollars in annual oil revenues and just 6 million people. After 42 years what legacy is Gaddafi leaving to his fellow men?
I just can’t understand why the MLP has not yet condemned this man? Why aren’t the Libyans in Malta not demonstrating in front of the MLP headquarters?
Why are they not demonstrating? Probably because the enormity of it all has not yet sunk in for them.
I can kind of understand them because I remember when, after the results of the local 1987 elections were out (on RAI, not Xandir Malta), many people remained inside their homes – due to a mixture of disbelief and of still being afraid to celebrate publicly, for fear of reprisal.
Excellent. We can now kiss goodbye to lucrative business deals with our regional neighbour and long-time “friend”. Serves us right for “being cautious” on the outcome. I expect another platitudinous speech by our PM. Bleat, unmitigated bleat.
The moment has finally arrived! Just like you I’m gonna be glued to the TV watching the news.
What an achievement! I had found a new admiration for that nation from the day the uprising started and now they have shown the entire world that dreams can be achieved.
It pains me to see that the majority of the Maltese did not and won’t post anything as a Facebook status to mark this important historical moment.
The mentality of “ma ghandniex x’naqsmu ahna” is, unfortunately, prevalent amongst the majority , and not just amongst the Laburisti.
[Daphne – I know.]
Oh come. Is this the way wars will be fought in the 21st century? By posting statuses on Facebook?
It helps.
These revolutions were led, primarily, by people posting updates on Facebook and other social media networks with the help of Al Jazeera. Seems like you haven’t been following closely.
And yes, it would be nice to see some Maltese people express their satisfication that the world got rid of Gaddafi. Why not?
Me not following closely? Pfft! These revolutions were WON by bullets and blood, and the sooner we internet-numbed serfs realise that, the sooner we can understand our world.
Still, let us not fall over this detail. Today is a day for rejoicing. I hope Daphne has brought some good champagne, because the occasion calls for an uncommon vintage.
Last PM to have tea with the Colonel. http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110209/local/prime-minister-meets-col-gaddafi.349269
A couple of days later it was the official anti-divorce position.
Yep, February 2011 was not a good month for GonziPN.
Libya’s euphoric and all the mealy-mouthed have to say is that Lawrence Gonzi had visited Gaddafi.
Perhaps you should ask the Libyans who are celebrating what matters most to them right now.
Bring on the clown to sing his praises of Gaddafi and to urge the Maltese to return to their workplace in Libya and prop up the tottering dictator by a semblance of normality!
At last! The end of another dictatorship…and screw all those who profited from blood money.
“The end of another dictatorship”, but let’s hope and pray it is not the begining of another one.
I feel optimistic that it won’t be.
Does it matter? Our interests are best served by not having Ghaddafi in power.
“I can’t wait for Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici’s crackpot comments, and this time, I might be able to laugh.”
I recommend Smash news at 19.00 (?) to those who never experienced KMB.
For the Maltese ther fall of Gadaffi should be the equivalent of the fall of the Berlin Wall for the Germans. Apparently, for many it has not had the same effect and that includes the government.
Let’s bear in mind a few facts:
1. Malta still recognises the Gadaffi Regime (we still have his embassy here),
2. the Malta government has not given diplomatic recognition to the Benghasi interim government and probably with good cause. How can we recognise a government that does not recognise our maritime boundaries, especially Malta’s right to the Medina Bank?
1. The Libyan Embassy has announced that it now represents the National Transition Council and that it has always maintained that it represents the Libyan people.
2. If Malta recognised Gaddafi – and accepted his handouts in exchange for parts of our constitution – then it can recognise anything.
Most countries including many European states recognized Gaddafi. I do not understand the reference to the Constitution.
The infamous neutrality clause – the one that led to much dithering over Malta’s position in relation to military action against Gaddafi’s forces – was an appeasement to Gaddafi ghax kontra l-imperjalizmu.
Joe Grima famously said that Malta accepted handouts from Gaddafi to cover welfare payments etc.
Reminds me of that glorious May 1987.
That’s what I just thought, too. I remember the feeling of disbelief amongst many of my contemporaries. I was one of the few of my group who wanted to go out to celebrate; the rest were apprehensive.
I think that what happened overnight is now irreversible; Gaddafi’s regime just imploded.
I had been following Alex Crawford’s newscasts yesterday on Sky News; in the morning at Zawiqa dodging sniper’s bullets, barely twelve hours later in Green (now Martyrs ) Square. Off course it’s not over yet but the Rais is finished, yesterday’s man.
At last we have got rid of a malign influence which influenced and interfered directly in both our internal and external policies in the “golden years”between 1971 and 1987 . This could still be felt to the present day with talks of “prudence” (remember Tonio Borg’s cringe-inducing interview on Sky News on Day 1 of the Nato (read French) intervention with his “I would’nt say so”) and our not recognising the Benghazi Transitional Council until the 11th hour. What are we waiting for ? Oh, the PM must still be on holiday!
We waited until the (Ghaddafi-appinted) Libyan ambassador himself recognised the Transitional Council.
What a joke of a nation.
Our foreign policy dictated by a foreign emissary. I told you we should never have been independent. When the moment came to use our much-vaunted national sovereignty, we pissed our pants and did nothing,
Our foreign policy and the foereign policy of other countires must respect the sovereignty of other countries. A few months ago most countries recognised and had excellent relations with the Gaddafi government.
The PM and the leader of the opposition have the right to take a holiday. As far as I know there is no national emergency in Malta.
[Daphne – X’mentalita. The presence of the prime minister and the leader of the Opposition are required on the spot for the sake of it – and for their own sake, so that they don’t look like quantum idiots who don’t give a damn and who holiday regardless. By the same token, if a member of my family is seriously injured in a traffic accident, I will return from my holiday even if I ‘can’t do anything about it’.]
Would you return from your holiday if your next door neighbour was seriously injured?
[Daphne – No, because my fortunes are not intimately bound up with those of my nextdoor neighbour. But Malta’s fortunes are so with Libya.]
The British PM was right to come back from his holiday in Italy during the recent riots. However the Irish PM had no reason to act similarly.
[Daphne – Ireland is not affected by riots in London and Manchester. Malta is deeply affected by whatever happens in Libya.]
Our PM has in the meantime returned to his holiday. Ah, maybe he decided to do so after reading my previous comment.
Malta’s fortunes should not be tied to any country, especially a country which is politically and socially under-developed. Italy, France and other countries have also many intrerests in Libya, but there is no sense of an emergency situation there.
And why did we join the EU? Our fortunes, if anywhere, should be in the EU. Besides, when the PM is abroad, there is always an acting PM appointed who stands in for the PM if necessary.
Ireland has strong social and economical links with the UK and will be affected by what happens in the UK.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110822/local/Labour-remembers-Lord-Strickland.381250
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14611549
hasra hasra…………….issa mhux ser ikollna lil xi hadd biex jaghtina ic-children`s allowance u noqghodu nittalbu mieghu ghal xi flus.
Iran must be watching these latest developments with trepidation. The road to Teheran, via Damascus, Baghdad and Afghanistan, is getting clearer…
You’ve been served:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110822/local/kmb-gaddafi-has-no-choice-but-to-fight-till-the-end.381367
Where is Gaddafi?
It might be the end of Gaddafi (not so fast), but it’s not the end of chaos. What I see is a loose mob of armed men clamouring for power. Welcome to Stage 2.
Ara min hawn. Where have you been hiding? Hanging out with your friends from Russia Today?
We were discussing whether the second phase had in fact begun, La Redoute. Do you think your friends at the defence department will send in regular troops now that the ramshackle mob has failed to impress as predicted (and ensured)?
The NWO loves chaos and conflict for their enabling capacity, which is why the West, as a tool, engages in pointless perpetual wars… but you wouldn’t know anything about that, so let’s just stick to the British Brainwashing Corporation’s spectacle: ‘it’s all about democracy, peace and security’.
It’s all about a friendly regime and cheap oil. No shame in that. And if we bring democracy and freedom in the process, why, so much the better.
Another one bites the dust. I have a feeling though that if Gaddafi is not killed he will always cause trouble to Libya. It could be bombs, guerrila tactics etc.
Let us hope too that Libya will have free elections, respect for human rights and compassion for those who supported Gaddafi. Is there an other ‘Nelson Mandela ‘ somewhere ?