They think we are idiots

Hey everybody! Have a look at this. This is what they think of us. We're idiots.

Stupid

Yes, they think we are just plain stupid.

Last week, the UK government was in the vanguard of the great and the good, seeking a UN resolution to establish a no-fly zone over Libya. We had to stop mad-man Gaddafi from murdering everyone in Libya. It was for their good and it was not - I repeat - not about waging war on Gaddafi. It was simply a humanitarian mission - not regime change, OK?

So, the UN passed the resolution - with the added garnish that the coalition of the good could take 'any necessary action' to reduce the risk to the Libyan people. What a useful little phrase for the ambitious to ponder.

Today, however, after a week of all-out bombing in Libya, Justice Secretary Ken Clarke pipes up with an observation. Gaddafi, he reminds us, has sponsored terrorism aimed at us in the past. Remember Lockerbie! Well, now that we have taken part in smiting the mad colonel, is it not likely that he will do so again. You know, in revenge. What a puzzler, eh? What to do, what to do...

Clarke - pointing out the obvious

I think we know exactly what the suggestion is. We have disturbed the wasps' nest and now there is nothing left to do but to kill the wasps - to stop them from stinging us, of course. Clarke isn't actually calling for the NATO forces to deliberately kill Gaddafi, but we do know that's exactly what Britain and the U.S. would like to do. But how do you convince the british public - already cynical about war-mongering in the middle east - to accept the need to turn a humanitarian intervention into another war. Well, now we know.

Gaddafi - prepared to sting us back

Mind you, Clarke's musings shouldn't really come as a surprise to anyone. It's fairly obvious - if you don't want to be stung, then you shouldn't be throwing stones at the wasps' nest in the first place. Was this just some innocent and idle speculation on Ken Clarke's part, or was this the beginning of the argument to be made for further military action? Are Britain and the U.S. going to be content with anything less than Gaddafi's removal? Once again, we see the public being set up, waiting for the war to be first justified and then waged. We are being treated like idiots, again.

Still, we should be used to it by now. And, being british, we will just let it happen. Be prepared for the softening up process to begin. More politicians will start raising their concerns. 'What if we let him off the hook?' 'Will we be a target for his terrorist tendencies again?' 'Won't anybody think of the children?' It will be Bush and Blair once more. The world can do without that pair of comedians - or their successors. And we can do without being treated like idiots all over again.

Is anyone smiling now?

Footnote - The spell-checker suggests that I should be capitalizing the word 'british'. I'm sorry. I just can't bring myself to do it - for the people of this nation or for any other for that matter. It just feels wrong - too much respect, or something, being attributed to belonging to the state.