vessels, thereby gaining access to European states. (The idea is daft in its futile dangerousness, but the very fact that it is being floated is worth nothing.)
Egypt’s ambassador to the UK, Nasser Kamel, has also done his best to rattle nerves with suggestions that the increased number of refugees from north Africa pose a threat to European security, which is another way of suggesting that if you don’t assist such questionable regimes as those in Cairo, your own security is set for the chop.
Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, in an interview with a French radio station, has also called for a UN-backed military operation in light of the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians by associates of the Islamic State. The Egyptian president is also acutely aware of the large population of Egyptian workers stationed in Libya.
To that end, it all seems rather rich to see the statement, issued by the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Britain, that emphasises how the current forces of disruption “will not be allowed to condemn Libya to chaos and extremism”.
Britain’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, added a good dose of sauce to the cant with his statement that the world was clearly “better off” without Qaddafi at the helm. The reason? Qaddafi had been a key figure in arming the IRA with explosives during the period of the troubles. Instead, what Britain was doing was “giving Libya support through our aid budget.
Such sanctimonious attitudes have been typical for powers in the aftermath of regime change: we are doing our very best to stem the slide into vicious oblivion with “training budgets” and aid.
It is not an instability that will tolerate an occupation regime, or an intervention force based upon the principles of humanitarian restoration. That, after all, had been attempted – with calamitous results. Europe, the United States, and Libya’s neighbours, are now reaping the whirlwind.
Excerpted from: ‘Demolishing Libya’.
Courtesy: Counterpunch.org