Blood on their hands – 270 people, including many children, died because Joseph Muscat and Manuel Mallia put image before humanity
Can you imagine Lawrence Gonzi doing something like that? I can’t. He wouldn’t have. He would have done it the other way round, and put humanity before his image. Rescuing those people in the speediest and most efficient way possible would have been the only priority and putting their lives at great risk to turn their rescue into a public relations stunt or instrument of leverage on other governments would never have been a consideration. I think even the merest suggestion that this be done would have shocked him.
Ask me again why I don’t vote Labour. Imagine voting for people who would risk the lives of a boat-load of children and their mothers (with the consequence that those lives were lost) – of anyone, really, but the fact that they were children makes it so much more terrible – in a gamble designed to improve their own image.
Scum, the vilest scum.
This is a repeat performance, driven by roughly the same sentiments and certainly by the same Partit Laburista mentality, of the Egyptair hijack ‘rescue’ in 1985, which led to the deaths of so many people held aboard because Labour prime minister KMB (for whom so many ‘cool gays’ had voted back in their teenage years) refused help from the United States and decided to go it alone with a bit of help from our then friends in the Middle East and with Alex Sceberras Trigona and that fat pig Joe Grima in the control tower negotiating with the terrorists.
The Malta Independent reports this morning (you can read the rest of the story in the link below):
Documents, maps and eye-witness accounts seem to indicate that the Maltese government took what was the riskiest and least logical of the six choices it had available on 11 October, when the country was charged with coordinating the rescue of hundreds of Syrian migrants off Lampedusa.
Any of the other five choices could have prevented the migrant tragedy, but all the available evidence leads to the conclusion that Malta had tried to rescue the migrants on its own, instead of asking for the assistance that was available.
This ill-fated decision seems to have backfired, and 270 Syrian men, women and children could very well have paid the ultimate price for that mistake.
Eye-witness accounts, official press releases and investigations by Italian journalist Fabrizio Gatti show that a number of vessels – Italian military, coast guard, fishing and merchant – could have reached the migrant boat hours before it capsized and sank with hundreds of passengers on board. But the Maltese authorities chose not to involve these assets and relied instead on sending an AFM patrol boat from 230 kilometres away.
Talking to The Malta Independent on Sunday, sources who preferred to remain anonymous insisted that this and other factors bear all the hallmarks of a political stunt gone wrong. They insist that it is very likely that the government’s decision to go it alone was prompted by a desire “look good” by saving the boatload of migrants by itself and without the assistance of the Italian authorities or commercial or fishing vessels which were in the area and readily available.
(…)
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http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-12-15/news/lampedusa-tragedy-a-case-of-political-bravado-gone-wrong-3465871382/
Honestly, they make me sick, I just don’t have it in me to fathom their rot.
Considering they’ve gone about their business like nothing happened for two months now is beyond words.
I believe that the case must now be discussed in Parliament and those responsible asked to carry the consequences.
Parliament? I think a full inquiry is in order here, parliamentary immunity or whatever it is they’ll go after doesn’t imply discretion to voluntary homicide.
Refusing to use assets in the area and to send a boat from 230km away meant a good six hour delay, minimum.
This was a cold-blooded decision to let those people perish. The fact this story comes a day after Muscat’s award to the AFM indicates people high up can’t take anymore of this rubbish.
I find the award to the AFM highly suspicious. Covering up, maybe?
This is voluntary homicide and they should be held accountable.
Said that, I think the matter should also be raised in the European Parliament. Let’s see what explanations the Maltese government has about this shocking information.
Joseph Muscat has been blaming Europe for the cemetry in the Mediterranean.
Fewer than 14% of immigrants enter the EU through the central Mediterranean. That includes the ones who go to Italy.
Intentional maybe?
Intentional, why?
If pushback was not an option this would have been an easier one.
Probably old news but just seen TVM crew with The North Face jackets.
When I read what the PM and Simon Busuttil had to say this morning about the citizenship obscene farce, I breathed a sigh of relief.
The feeling of relief only lasted for a few minutes.
The allegations being made about the fate of the poor Syrian refugees cannot be more serious.
They have to be investigated fully to everybody’s satisfaction.
Is the government intent on destroying the country completely by March 9th 2014, or what?
I believe that Muscat’s actions on this matter bring into question his mental health.
And may I add that, as a gay man, I resent being given the right to marry bythis Labour government. I resent having to thank people who show such a right wing and inhuman attitude to those suffering at sea.
We’re Maltese, helping those suffering at sea is supposed to be part of our identity, or have we forgotten our dear St Paul so quickly?
What use is my right to marry when children die because of the PL’s inability to act like humans? What good is my marriage certificate when I stand in front of the bodies of those lost at sea?
I hate that the gay community felt it had to vote for this scum and be indirectly responsible for such a tragedy. I hope they don’t feel any obligation to thank the PL for it. Any politician who legalises same-sex marriage for the right reasons would never do something like this.
It breaks my heart.
Did you ever ask someone to do a simple task and they fuck it up so badly that you never ask them again?
In the Egypt Air tragedy weren’t Egyptian soldiers called to storm the plane after days of negotiations by the Maltese government? I think these soldiers were called to end the crisis as the airline involved was Egyptian.
On the immigrants tragedy, didn’t Italy also intervene to save the migrants together with Malta?
[Daphne – I watched it live on television, David. You did not. But you could at least check the historical facts. The United States asked to send in a specialised unit to deal with the situation as there were many Americans on board (and they would have helped anyway, regardless of that). The Maltese government refused to have US military on Maltese soil because it would upset Muammar Gaddafi. They tried to deal with the situation themselves, then compromised on a solution which would not upset Gaddafi: calling in the Egyptian military. The result was disaster. The passengers were actually killed by the Egyptian military who were supposed to be there to rescue them.]
The USA offered to send in the Delta Force, at the time based in Naples. Egyptian forces didn’t have the necessary training to intervene in that type of situation.
What they did was to storm the plane the result being a major firefight and the use of live grenades.
The Maltese government couldn’t allow any US forces next to Luqa Airport let alone the control tower, manned and controlled by Libyan officers.
Perhaps David needs reminding that when Libyan gunboats attacked the Saipem oil rig in Maltese territorial waters, Mintoff tried to order our patrol boats out to intercept these, again Libyan officers manning these refused.
We were effectively in the Colonel’s clutches.
The Delta Force were already in Malta and they were asked to leave few minutes after they landed.
David, read this carefully.
The Egypt Air hijack was the bloodiest failed rescue in all of hijack history, thanks to the Maltese government of the time (Labour, led by Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici).
Get hold of the book ‘Massacre in Malta’ by John Zammit, and learn some history.
Any Maltese Labour government always makes world headlines for the wrong thing.
They will never learn, and the fact is that many people ignore history or never read history and these are precisely the idiots who voted in those other idiots to run this country.
The book you mention is by John Mizzi (not Zammit), which I edited and published.
The only thing the Egyptian military is capable of is shooting its own people as in the hijack case and in recent turmoil in Cairo and Alexandria.
Allow me to add to your excellent comments, Daphne, that the Egyptian commandos were to be led by American officers, highly trained and qualified to deal with such situations.
As soon as they landed in the same C-130 that brought the Egyptians to Malta the Americans were ordered to be taken to the US Embassy in Floriana where they were detained until after the disastrous raid.
To add further to Ms Caruana Galizia’s comments, hijacker Omar Rezaq only served 7 years of the 25-year sentence he was given – again, thanks to Malta’s subservience to Gaddafi at the time – and managed to escape to Ghana under an assumed name and almost moved on before Nigerian authorities handed him over to the American FBI. Malta thus proved itself to be incompetent even in the post-hijack meting out of justice, much to the chagrin of the international community and the USA.
If the facts are correct, this government has blood on its hands.
How can Muscat and fellow idiots sleep at night after such a tragedy?
My thoughts exactly.
Joseph Muscat has to answer to his creator.
Doesn’t the above quoted article contradict the recent Espresso article which blamed Italy for these deaths? Or are all these articles just sensationalism?
[Daphne Please go away, David. You really are very trying.]
David, the Espresso mentioned the exact same facts, without mentioning that it was Malta’s responsibility to request help before help could be given by anyone else.
Now we know the facts. Italy did not start the ball rolling (as accused by L’Espresso) because our dear government did not send the request for help.
If by any chance you are trying to find some excuse for your dear prime minister, I can only augur you and him to sleep well at night, although how you can accomplish that is far beyond my comprehension.
The historical facts can be checked here and they do not contradict what I stated. http://www.flightlinemalta.com/airaccidents/SU-AYH/. Some say that the Egyptian special soldiers were US trained.
On the immigrants tragedy what is the truth? Espresso said its the fault of Italy. The Malta Independent says its Malta’s fault. The known and sure truth is the Malta and Italy saved hundreds of immigrants.
L’Espresso condemned Italy for its inaction but it also said the AFM has questions to answer.
The number of survivors is irrelevant here. It’s the dead and the missing who matter. A proper account of ehat happened is yet to be give. Malta’s and Italy’s conspiracy of silence only makes it more urgent.
A throwback to the Egyptair hijacking disaster which was completely mishandled by prime minister Kamenu Mifsud Bonnici resulting in 60 deaths.
He had personally conducted the negotiations from the control tower, along with members of his cabinet, including the Fat Controller, and they botched it. Yes, blood on their hands too.
Remember most of that dramatic evening RAI transmitting live from Malta with the words: “qui c’e stato un massacro” while TVM news reported that the raid was successful and all hostages had been freed! At the very same time, flipping through channels, the situation was unbelievable.
This story needs to come out. Didn’t Malta Today have some interesting accounts. May I remind you these poor people were also shot at.
I believe the story given by Dr Jammo who lost his two sons in the tragedy, he claimed that he first called the Italian authorities via a satellite phone at 11 am.
The Italian authorities after repetitive calls from Dr Jammo gave him the AFM telephone number to call the Maltese authorities himself.
Dr Jammo has no reason to lie and invent stories. He called the Italian authorities and they did not bother to save them, even though they were less than 30 minutes away.
http://espresso.repubblica.it/internazionale/2013/11/28/news/lampedusa-buck-passing-on-the-massacre-so-they-left-syrians-children-drown-1.143363
Watch Dr Jammo’s interview here. He says that all he wants now is recognition for the mistake.
In one of the most poignant parts of his interview, he speaks of the onboard birth of a baby, delivered with the help of one of the doctors. The mother called her baby Mabrouk.
Now, Mabrouk is dead, his mother is dead and the doctor who helped with the delivery is dead.
If Muscat and Mallia are able to sleep at night, they must be on very strong medication
In fact, Muscat and Mallia do not sleep at night. Mallia keeps phoning Muscat. That’s what Muscat told that TV station – was it Al Jazeera?
This is so very sad. All those deaths could have been easily prevented.
How can they even sleep at night knowing they are responsible for all these lost lives?
Don’t they have any conscience at all?Would our prime minister have taken the same decision had his own children been on the boat?
[Daphne – Do you imagine they even think in those terms? His wife was busy organising a Spanish Infantas party for their daughters at the time, remember.]
It is not just sad. It is shocking, not least because no one outside government seems to think that this is anything to do with them.
I’ve had it up to here with whiners, moaners and whingers clamouring for their “rights”. When was the last time you saw or heard anyone demand anyone’s rights other than their own?
It’s a good thing you mentioned this whole ordeal being “a repeat performance”; it’s a perfect case study for the adage “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
Malta’s recent history is littered with examples of what Mintoffian-brand scum Labour have been and still are. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence or knowledge of such history would have immediately had alarm bells ringing when Muscat showed off his core values (for lack of a better term) being centred around Mintoff’s again and again. His adoration of Mintoff’s dead carcass, his pre-election relationship and bargaining with authoritarian leaders, his handling of the Arab Spring (Libya in particular) all echoed and emulated Mintoff and his policies.
So how can one trust someone like Muscat and his cronies with anything, let alone one’s vote? And now, why should anyone act surprised when they pull off stunts like this?
Indeed this is the legacy of the greed for power. It was december 1986 when that disaster happened. I never knew the real details, I just read them today on your account Daphne. Seriously I fear your welfare, God protect you. Fil bidu kont nahseb li inti mara kiesha, a snob. Illum ma nistax nimmagina lili innifsi minghajr kuntatt regolari mal blogg tieghek. Nassigurak li kieku kellek iggieghlna inhallsu, inkun min ta l’ewwel li nabbona. Konna nghidu li ser nmorru lura ghas snin 80. Aktar ghar mit 80. Kienu mietu xi 60, din id darba mietu 270. Hnizrija ta gvern immexxi min zatat mimli bieh innifsu, bhat tfal, basta taghddi tieghu.
Malta experienced other highjackings prior to the EgyptAir one. The only difference is that the latter was for real.
Gvern kriminali , proset Daphne , ibqa carrattlu il- maskra halli qatt u qatt iktar dawn il-mondizzia tal-politka maltija ma jergaw ikunu fil-gvern.
If Dr Jammo really did contact the Italian authorities and these proceeded to do precisely nothing, then the Italians must also share a part of the liability in the ensuing tragedy.
On no account does this fact expunge the (laughable) Maltese government’s role in the tragedy.
Having said that, if you decide to throw yourself at the mercy of others you have to take it as it comes – you cannot automatically expect that the rescuers will take the best possible decision out of the six, apparently, options that were available at the time.
Do f*ck off. It’s the only reply you deserve.