For those of you who think pirates are limited to Errol Flynn or Johnny Depp, and hijackers to bearded Cubans of yore, a story out of Tripoli will update your perceptions on a related subject, illegal immigration, which has been somewhat in the news.
Wednesday over one hundred Libyan migrants, who had just been rescued at sea by a Turkish cargo ship, commandeered the vessel when it dawned on the erstwhile buccaneers they were being taken back to Tripoli. Their preferred destination was Malta and the welcoming arms of the European Union, followed by a relatively cushy life in self-hating Germany or some other nation full of guilty white liberals.
So, six miles from Tripoli they coerced the small crew into changing course. Next stop? Fat city!
Enter Matteo Salvini. He is the Italian Interior Minister and part of a tough government that has had enough of the unrestricted migration of those using the Mediterranean as a gateway to the European gravy train. When told of their approach he commented, “The only way they will see Italy is through a telescope.”
Shiver me timbers!
To facilitate Salvini’s vow, yesterday morning the Maltese Armed Forces (who are comprised of an elite one-man squadron of a highly trained falcon) boarded the ship and made fast work of the not so homesick Libyans.
While we applaud Salvini for his backbone and stand in awe of the heretofore unheralded Maltese military for the daring escapade of capturing twelve unarmed miscreants, we feel a bit of pity for those trying to escape another locale made worse by Western meddling.
Eight years ago Libya had a dictator who had been pretty much defanged by the U.S. after the Gipper’s flyboys paid him a surprise visit back in the 80s. Gaddafi also wore peaked caps, Spanish wraparound sunglasses, and was protected by an all-female bodyguard squad. Not too shabby as dictators go.
But then moronic Western nation building got the despot killed and plunged the place into chaos. We remember the tragic price the U.S. paid for that unrest in Benghazi. Someone (and I have a candidate in mind) should still hang for it. The joint has been a shambles ever since.
So the poor devils were only trying to unass a real merdehole that we helped create. I feel for the lads. I really do. However, essentially it remains their domestic dung heap and their responsibility to stay there and clean it up.
Sad and maybe unfair, as generally can be geopolitics.
