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Libya- The Cost

13

Comments

  • chucky
    chucky Posts: 15,170 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    It doesn't matter. They've got oil that we crave so we need to back the winning side so we can have the stuff.
    seeing that Libya has about 4% of the worlds oil reserves i can't see that being the case and if you want to look at them as oil producers they produce about 3% of the world.
  • mbga9pgf
    mbga9pgf Posts: 3,224 Forumite
    3% is a lot on thin margins.
  • grizzly1911
    grizzly1911 Posts: 9,965 Forumite
    I believe Russia have got the most oil are they next?;)
    "If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....

    "big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham
  • Outrageous:mad:
    That is 250 million more on the national debt:(
  • Outrageous:mad:
    That is 250 million more on the national debt:(

    Well, there's a very good chance that your Member of Parliament voted for this. I think that only 13 people in Parliament voted against it. Parliament voted for it for exactly the reasons that Graham Devon mentioned.
  • Graham_Devon
    Graham_Devon Posts: 58,560 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Well, there's a very good chance that your Member of Parliament voted for this. I think that only 13 people in Parliament voted against it. Parliament voted for it for exactly the reasons that Graham Devon mentioned.

    Seems to me it's more a political point against the spending.

    If we had stood back, and then heard about forced rape, massacre etc, there would be an outcry slamming the government for not doing anything.

    Its a lose lose situation for politics and political warfare.

    But believe it's a win for the UK in terms of helping out civilians in other countries. I know there is a reason we are there, but whatever the reason, it's better than standing back and watching. We do far too much of that as it is.

    On a spending front, £250m is nothing compared to some of the waste that goes on.

    The 10p tax blunder cost us 1 billion quid to put right in a single year. The failed NHS IT system cost us 6.4bn (approx) and it's now been axed after serving not a single NHS patient. It's cost less so far than the cost of sending us info on AV vote systems.

    It's small fry really for the benefit of attempting to save civilians from humiliation, torture, violence and possibly death.

    As I have stated, I do understand we do have an alterior motive, but that has always been the case throughout history unfortunately....whatever policitcal party, whatever country.
  • Graham - if our representatives are actually doing the right thing, and say that they are doing it for reasons with which we agree, what is the point of being cynical and saying that they have ulterior motives? To me, that's simply a waste of time and energy.

    MarkHarding - I wonder how popular your views are with people? Graham is absolutely right, that there would have been entirely justified outrage if we had left Ghaddafi to murder his people, as he said he would.
  • Wheezy_2
    Wheezy_2 Posts: 1,879 Forumite
    But believe it's a win for the UK in terms of helping out civilians in other countries. I know there is a reason we are there, but whatever the reason, it's better than standing back and watching. We do far too much of that as it is.

    Of course protecting civilians against terror inflicted by their own government is laudable.
    The issue here is we ended up - again - with an escalating conflict and no post-war planning whatsoever.
    IIRC, the whole campaign started out by imposing a protective no-fly zone and nothing more.
    Removing Ghadaffi was not a goal at first, now it is.
    And what if Ghadaffi goes? Do we really think we're going to see a peaceful transition to a western style democracy?

    http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/1d3f7c08-9d0e-11e0-8678-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1Q6GsiNsg

    The Department for International Development has 12 officials working on plans to follow the military mission. But neither the Foreign Office nor the Ministry of Defence has anyone looking solely at subsequent reconstruction.
    “Memories seem to be rather short,” said one senior military figure, pointing out that a failure to plan for a post-Gaddafi Libya echoed the west’s failure to consider how Iraq would look after Saddam Hussein’s fall.
  • mbga9pgf
    mbga9pgf Posts: 3,224 Forumite
    Outrageous:mad:
    That is 250 million more on the national debt:(


    Well at least its not gone on providing a 4 bed detatched to a pregnant single 16 year old.:beer:

    Quite a few rapes and murders prevented with that 250 million.
  • Graham_Devon
    Graham_Devon Posts: 58,560 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 23 June 2011 pm30 1:17PM
    Graham - if our representatives are actually doing the right thing, and say that they are doing it for reasons with which we agree, what is the point of being cynical and saying that they have ulterior motives? To me, that's simply a waste of time and energy.

    I don't mean to be cynical. Just opening my eyes to the truth really. We have a long standing bargaining history with Libya.

    Do I think we would really be there without other motives? Hmmm. Not sure. But the lack of the US is a telling point.

    Either way, over-riding all that, I'm glad we ARE there. As I say, we've watched too much human tradegy take place in the past while standing by and doing nothing....when we could have prevented many many deaths and suffering.

    Guess I'm also covering myself from the "you don't understand" comments I'm liable to get on here, by stating I understand the possibility any alterior motives could have on decisions taken.
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