Message to Frank Thring on Libya

[David Johnson]

Hi Frank,

I seem to recall you had doubts about the Cameron policy on Libya. My view was that the stated objective i.e. to defend Libyan citizens purely by air was an unachievable objective.

This seems to be the case, so now attempts have been made to kill Gaddafi and unfortunately some of the air raids have led to the deaths of civilians.

On the subject of costs there were some interesting figures announced yesterday. Earlier this year, George Osborne estimated that the total, eventual cost of the Libyan operation would be "in the order of tens of millions, not hundreds of millions".

Yesterday Liam Fox, the Defence Minister announced that the costs so far of the operation are ?260 million. Not only are these costs regarded as an underestimate by many commentators, but there is no end in sight to the Libyan involvement.

As we know from Iraq and Afghanistan, easy to get in, difficult to get out.

Cheers
D

[Dave Wells]

What a fucking waste of money ! And don't forget to give those bankers their bonuses !

[frankthring]

I fail to see Mr Wells that apart from the usual involvement of banks in
most aspects of life that they are any more to blame than anybody else !
I`m happy to kick a banker anytime, especially mine, but they are also an
easy target......Mr Johnson, you are correct......... I said when
the whole Libyan thing started that it was a bad move for the UK to get
itself involved....foreign policy seems never to work out when a country
adopts a high moral tone and wants to be seen to be a "good guy", or
even if it just flexes its muscle, but overseas policy only really works when
it is in the vital interests of that country. Binding treaties might also play a
part, but Britain got involved in Libya in a showy moralistic style and with
the thought that Gaddhafi would be out in a couple of weeks. Big mistake!