Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Libya oh Libya, Our Martial Ad-libia...


From the BBC:
France evacuates French and British expats from Libya

The French government says it has evacuated French and British nationals from Libya, as battles rage between government forces and militias.

A French diplomatic source said 40 French nationals, including the ambassador, had been evacuated by ship along with seven British nationals.

France's embassy in Tripoli has been closed temporarily, the French foreign ministry said on its website.

Libya has been gripped by instability since the 2011 uprising.

The French government spokesman in Paris, Stephane Le Foll, announced that French and British nationals had been evacuated, without giving numbers.

An unnamed diplomatic source gave the numbers to France's AFP news agency, saying the expats had been evacuated by the French army.

They are aboard a warship bound for the southern French port of Toulon, the French foreign ministry said.

On Sunday, the US evacuated its embassy in Tripoli, citing a "real risk" because of the fighting.

Together with France, Germany and the UK, it advised its nationals in Libya to leave immediately.

The UN announced this week it was pulling its staff out.
...
Now that Libya is toddling towards the pyre of modern failed states, it seemed a sadly appropriate time to roll this out again:
Libya, Our Next War...Maybe. 


With great deference and respect for Julius Henry Marx, one of history's true, genius wordsmiths (and Yip Harburg, [thanks for the catch, Anon]) -- and to launch my Sixth Blogiversary Fundraiser:


3...2...1...

Libya oh Libya, say have you met Libya,
Libya, our next war...maybe.
Unknown rebels folks adore so,
And all that oil even more so.

Libya oh Libya, our martial ad-libia
Despoiled by Colonel Macbeth.
Beneath him's a footstool called Tripoli.
(Where he shared a few hot tubs with Berlusconi)
And from where he now murders by land, air and sea,
You can learn a lot from Libya.

La la la, la la la, la la la, la la la

Homicidally unbound, Muammar'll dance you around,
Like a pinata made by a Neocon.
If you squint you can see Kosovo or Granad-ee
Or Caesar crossing the Rubicon.

La la la, la la la, la la la, la la la

Libya oh Libya, say have you met Libya,
Libya, our next war...maybe.
When the bombs start to flyin',
That's when comes the real lyin'

Libya oh Libya, our martial ad-libia
Despoiled by Colonel Macbeth.
For a dime Billy Kristol will show you his dick
And explain what makes a Fox fascist tick
As 10 years vanish like a cheesy card trick
You can learn a lot from Libya.

La la la, la la la, la la la, la la la

Come along and see Newt with his ass out.
John McCain panting so hard he might pass out.
While side-kick Joe digs out his war pout.
And Beck doubles down on his freak out.

La la la, la la la, la la la, la la la

Republicans suddenly caring where the money goes.
Chickenhawks suddenly back on the talk shows.
Here are PNACers back rattling sabers.
Back to tossing kids 'round like flesh cabers.

La la la, la la la, la la la, la la la

Libya oh Libya, our martial ad-libia
Oh Libya the champ of them all.
Where once was a Commie who French-kissed big banks
('Til Ghadaffi started killing civilians with tanks)
Now that Kenyan Usurper has risen 10 ranks
For he went and conquered Libya!

I said Libya
{He said Libya}
They said Libya
{We said Syria}
La La! 

The Original, for those who have never heard it, or haven't seen it in far too long:


Update:

The"update" to this post is that a nice lady promised me candy if I hauled it out of mothballs.

And I do like candy.

Maybe, as a country, we could take a vacation from toppling other country's governments for awhile?

Just for awhile, to see how we like it.

And if during that interregnum should you have a burning desire to jump in there and democratize someplace about whose internal tensions and fractures we know fuck all, please feel free to set up your very own Chinese Ever Victorious Army.  Get a bunch of your friends, stock up on the incredibly lethal weapons which it is now apparently every American's inalienable right to stockpile by the ton and haul into any Target or Toys R' Us or Applebees they damn well please, and head off to distant lands to help right their wrongs.

We'll leave a light on for ya.

7 comments:

JerryB said...

My favorite version of the song you took the tune from is in the movie "The Philadelphia Story".

Anonymous said...

That damn George W. Bush and his foreign policy disasters! *Facepalm*

CM said...

**That damn George W. Bush and his foreign policy disasters!**

Was that sarcasm? And why?

Cliff said...

So, after America's bombing campaign wrapped up and Qaddafi was ousted, I posted a comment over on Balloon Juice, to the effect that I had been wrong and we hadn't had to send ground forces into Libya.

I guess the larger point stands: that intervening militarily in the Middle East is a bad idea, and leads to messy consequences down the road.

Seems like a simple point but somehow the West (Obama included) can't let go of this Great Game bullshit that's going to come back and bite us, hard.

And as for my sovereign right to stockpile weapons, just the other day a Tuscon neuroscientist was arrested in Phoenix Sky Harbor for pointing his assault rifle at a lady:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/07/29/brain-scientist-arrested-for-pointing-ar-15-at-women-during-open-carry-display-at-phoenix-airport/

Turns out you can carry a rifle into the airport, you just can't point it at anyone that happens to be nearby.
*Cue the Deliverance banjo music.*

dinthebeast said...

And maybe they can hold a bake sale or something to pay for it?
I don't wanna pay for it again.

-Doug in Oakland

Robt said...

If the GOP had the rains, they would put War in Libya on the Presidential platinum card. Then cut cut corporate taxes to raise money for it. Maybe repeal the inheritance tax to raise more revenues boot.
Thee next GOP presidential nominee
Can run on Fiscal responsibility and how America is broke and can't afford toilet paper. Maybe we can sell parts of America off to China for cash.

In my opinion, when they look to send American boots in.
-Let Cheney lead the way.
-recruit the Tea Party WHO claim they are all about fiscal responsibility.
-Collect a swath of American CEO's that know how to run things (or so they say).
- Finally, Send all those macho open carry extremists and put George Zimmermman in charge of them.
There again,
during the election Romney said in the same sentence that,
" America is broke and signaled he would go to war with Iran."
The press never once asked The Mitt, "if America is broke, how would you pay for your war with Iran?"
Never asked..........

Anonymous said...

At the time I felt that intervening in Libya was justified and to an extent I still do; however, the long aftermath of that war has made a few things abundantly clear.

The first is that our participation in an intervention like Libya cannot be based on any expectation higher than the bare minimum outcome. In this case that outcome is not-Gaddafi. That many Libyans escaped death at the hands of their dictator only to possibly lose their lives to bitter infighting is tragic but not a forgone conclusion. At least the US doesn't have the sunk costs in that conflict that they do in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The second realization is that the powers-that-be in Washington probably didn't intervene based on careful analysis of costs and benefits or geopolitics or anything of that sort. If their patter on Syria was any indication -- a conflict that looks like Libya on a superficial level -- they probably went in simply because they can't imagine a world where the US doesn't have the final say.

Not a day goes by that I pray the US Empire goes out with a whimper rather than a bang.

--Nonny Mouse