ow Mother Nature’s wrath, in the form of Hurricane Irene, had wreaked havoc in cities along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, I switched news channels to watch how NATO’s wrath, in the form of fighter jets, had wreaked havoc on ancient cites like Tripoli and Sirte in Libya.
Never far from my mind was the fact that, despite so many NATO member countries being in a steep economic decline, they are always financially willing and able to wage war and cause destruction in foreign lands — even while their own infrastructures crumble into neglectful disrepair due to lack of funds.
Parts of Tripoli, founded by Phoenicians in the 7th century BC, lie in ruins as the world’s press cameramen gleefully lead us through the rubble; with little said about the NATO’s changing role.
It had quietly and quickly morphed from implementing a United Nations and Arab League-sanctioned No-Fly Zone to protect anti-government rebels, into an all-out bombing onslaught to decimate all sites Colonel Muammar Gaddafi controlled.
Tripoli and other cities weren’t devastated by the small machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades launched from the rebels’ pickup trucks; the depredation came from the military might of NATO.
I’m half expecting for the television cameras to focus on an all-too-familiar large Tory-Blue sign in the rubble that declares : “Canada’s Economic Action Plan — Brought To You By Your Conservative Government ...Your Tax Dollars Working For You!”
If that billboard is not there now, the chances are it very soon will be — when all NATO countries vie for the right to rebuild what they have destroyed.
Bernie Smith
Parksville