The war on Libya now being waged by the US, Britain and France must surely rank as one of the stupidest martial enterprises, smaller in scale to be sure, since Napoleon took it into his head to invade Russia in 1812.
Let’s start with the fierce hand-to-hand combat between members of the coalition, arguing about the basic aims of the operation. How does “take all necessary measures” square with the ban on any “foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory.” Can the coalition kill Qaddafi , and recognize a provisional government in Benghazi? Who exactly are the revolutionaries and national liberators in eastern Libya?
A week ago, Fukushima abruptly dropped out of the news headlines. The NATO onslaught on Qaddafi took over. This came after an initial week – following the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, of steadily escalating alarums about what the EU energy commissioner tactlessly called “apocalypse.” Suddenly the down-column stories about the situation at the Fukushima nuclear plant took on a tone of cautious reassurance: there were “improvements” in effort to keep units 5 and 6 at the Daiichi plant cool; “progress” in efforts to reconnect the stricken plant to the electrical power grid were proceeding; hydrogen explosions should be no cause for alarm; why, TEPCO workers could even switch on lights in a control room in Unit 1. Reports stressed the restraint and dignity of beleaguered Japanese citizens, thus implying that spreading alarmist reports was pretty much the equivalent of robbing refugees. Speaking personally, news of lynch parties of outraged Japanese prodding TEPCO executives into clean-up duty in the plant alongside George Monbiot and the 50 Japanese worker-martyrs would have been most welcome.
