Šéf euroskeptiků se vysmál "evropskému prezidentovi" za to, že se kamarádil s Kaddáfím a teď ho chce sesadit
Nigel Farage confronts EU leaders with their hypocrisy on Libya
There was a delicious moment in the chamber just now. Herman Van Rompuy made a sonorous statement to the effect that Muammar Gaddafi was a frightful chap who really ought to stand down. Then Nigel Farage stood up and brandished an excruciating photograph, taken as recently as four months ago, of the two unelected leaders grinning and holding hands (see above clip). “I have to say, I’ve never seen you smiling more or looking happier,” he teased the EU President.
The prize for shamelessness, however, must go to the leader of the Euro-liberals, Guy Verhofstadt, who called with manufactured passion for military intervention against Gaddafi, while making it clear that he expected Britain, France and the US to supply the men and matériel. This is, of course, the same Guy who, as prime minister of Belgium, welcomed Gaddafi with full military honours. Indeed, I hope Nigel won’t mind if I point out that he lifted his little wheeze from a hilarious speech, a couple of days earlier, by the Belgian ECR MEP Derk-Jan Eppink (see clip below).
I am genuinely nonplussed by the attitude of those British commentators calling for the deployment of force against the Libyan government. There have been three moments in my lifetime when, under all the norms of international relations, a case could be made for military intervention: the murder of Yvonne Fletcher; the Lockerbie atrocity; and the revelation that Gaddafi had been supplying arms to the IRA. As far as I can remember, there was almost no demand for a military strike on any of those occasions; indeed, Margaret Thatcher came in for a great deal of criticism for allowing US bombers to fly from RAF bases in retaliation for Libyan state terrorism. Yet many of the same people who criticised her are now beating their chests and demanding action. Have we reached the point where military action is thought to be justified only when there isn’t any national interest at stake?
For the avoidance of doubt, here are six good reasons not to get involved.