A WMD Of A Different Sort

Some things have been disappearing recently in the wake of the Libya crisis but thanks to the little miracle that is the internet, they're still with us, floating around in the ether.

This photo was hastily removed last week from the walls of the EC's  Justus Lipsius* building; it shows Javier Solana, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs before Ashton, with Gaddafi when he was feted by the EU in 2004.

Something else to disappear last week was from the FCO website, no doubt now hidden deep in the vaults awaiting FoI requests.   It's the joint communique issued and signed personally by Blair and Gaddafi in 2007.  The DT has the details, including the fact that Blair was willing to hand over NATO secrets.  Here's an extract:

Under the terms of the deal, Britain was committed to “exchanges of information and views on defence structures, military and security organisations; exchanges of visits by experts and exchange of printed materials in the field of military education and science; exchanges of information on current and developing military concepts, principles and best practice, and the conduct of joint exercises’’.

The two countries also agreed to co-operate in “training in operational planning processes, staff training, and command and control; training of personnel in peace support operations; training co-operation relating to software, communications security, technology and the function of equipment and systems; exchanges of information and experience in the laws of armed conflict; and the acquisition of equipment and defence systems’’.

In case anyone thinks Britain acted alone, here's a quick rundown on EU arms deals to Libya.

The double-dealings with Libya exposes the gulf between what the people are told and what is true.  Before the birth of the internet there would be no real mechanism to challenge their re-writing of history so long may our political 'elite' keep their grubby mitts off it and may all their attempts at censorship continue to fail.

*  Justus Lipsius is the Latinized name of Joest Lips, a 16thC Flemish philosopher & humanist, credited with the revival of Stoicism.

"...he argued that no State should permit more than one religion within its borders and that all dissent should be punished without mercy. Experience had taught him that civil conflict enflamed by religious intolerance was far more dangerous and destructive than despotism. "

Also:

"The central theme of the work is clear from the outset. Lipsius – pre-empting Hobbes – places order and peace far above civil liberties and personal freedom. Individual political rights are little consolation when surrounded by violent anarchy. The first task for politics is to secure peace for all and this can only be done if power is concentrated in one individual. It can also only be achieved if only one religion is allowed in any particular State."

IEP

I wonder what part of Lipsius' philosophy was so admired by the movers & shakers of the EU that they were moved to name a building in his honour.

Calling England