Britannia Radio

Comment on Colonel Gaddafi

Posted on 22 October, 2011 by Dr Sean Gabb|

By Sean Gabb

I suppose I should say something. The man was a tyrant, and probably got what he deserved. Even so, his death was made possible by British and French air power, and I don’t like what has happened. Here goes:

1. It was none of our business what the Libyan Government and people thought of each other and did to each other. We should never have got involved.

2. Collaborating in the assassination of foreign heads of state is a bad policy for accountability in our own country. Once it becomes a normal part of warfare to kill heads of government, our own politicians will withdraw behind squads of armed men in sunglasses. Fifty years ago, one of my grandmothers found herself sharing a railway carriage with the Prime Minister. Even today, I occasionally see Cabinet Ministers on the Underground. This is important for keeping a loose connection between rulers and ruled. The killing of Colonel Gaddafi puts further pressure on this relationship.

3. The obvious delight of western ruling classes at the videos of the death is distasteful. It may be their own moral degradation that made them take such delight, and allowed them to take it without worrying that we could see. It may have been relief that Colonel Gaddafi would never be brought to trial – and a question they have never felt inclined to answer is whether he became a bloody tyrant before or after they stopped selling weapons to him.

No, I don’t like it.

Sean Gabb

Director, The Libertarian Alliance (Carbon Positive since 1979)

sean@libertarian.co.uk Tel: 07956 472 199

Postal Address: Suite 35, 2 Lansdowne Row, London W1J 6HL, England

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What would England and the world have been like in 1959 if there had been no Second World War? For one possible answer, read Sean Gabb'snovel The Churchill Memorandum. If you like Bulldog Drummond and Biggles and the early James Bond, this will be right up your street. Or look here to see other books by Sean Gabb, or here to see books by Richard Blake.