Brexit isn’t David Cameron’s Legacy – Libya is
The MSM’s total disregard for the apocalyptic destruction of the most developed nation in Africa is a crime
Kit Knightly
“The strong man with the dagger is followed by the weak man with the sponge.”
Lord Acton
David Cameron has a book out. You’ve probably heard. There’s a lot of press coverage. The BBC did a retrospective documentary about him to coincide with it, The Guardian had a review of the book, a review of the documentary, and an interview with the man himself.
Oh, and then another article about how it’s selling less well than Blair’s biography.
This is obviously just about journalists reporting the news, you understand.
It is absolutely not at all a mass marketing strategy camouflaged as “current events”.
Shame on you for thinking otherwise.
Naturally, as is always the case when ex-Prime Ministers make appearances or churn out autobiographies, there is plenty of talk about “legacy”.
Well…what is David Cameron’s legacy?
The media are pretty clear: Brexit.
The BBC documentary is entitled The Cameron Years. It’s in two parts, somehow bloated out to two whole hours in runtime, and is only concerned with the Brexit vote. The first part is entirely dedicated to it, that’s literally all it’s about, with the second half being more general, but still very Brexit-centric.
The reviews of the book are no better. In fact they are worse.
The Telegraph liked it, as did the Times. The Guardian and Independent didn’t, as much, but still praised its “honesty”. They all talk almost entirely about Brexit. Bloomberg headline “David Cameron Wants You to Remember Him for More Than Just Brexit”, pointing out: “The former prime minister’s new memoir, For the Record, spends just 50 of 700 pages on the disastrous referendum”…before going on to review just those fifty pages.
In fact, I’ve read over half-a-dozen reviews of this book, and none of them talks about anything but Brexit.
There is not a single use of the word “Libya” in any of them. Not anywhere. Not in even in passing.
Not. One. Single. Use.
For those of you foggy on the details, Libya was a place that used to look like this:
…and now looks like this:
You would think that the total and complete destruction of the most developed nation on the African continent would warrant at least brief discussion in the “legacy” of the Prime Minister responsible but, apparently, you would be wrong.
(I know we’re only Britain, and we only do what America tells us, but “Only following orders” didn’t work for Goering and probably shouldn’t work for anybody else. Cameron included).
The press silence on Libya is on another level.
They grudgingly discuss Iraq as a “mistake” or “blunder”, they carry on their insane propaganda-war on Syria with fresh gusto every few months (or whenever they need a distraction), but Libya…Libya is the country that must not be named.
Take Jonathan Freedland. He was ALL OVER Libya back in 2011. He campaigned for NATO to do something, preaching about the West’s “responsibility to protect”. Does he mention Libya once in his review of this book? Nope.
He even has the gall to open the piece with this:
Just as the 700 pages of Tony Blair’s autobiography could not escape the shadow of Iraq, so the 700 pages of David Cameron’s memoir are destined to be read through a single lens: Brexit.
As if his decision to totally disregard a war crime he not only apologised for, but cheerfully encouraged, was somehow just fate and totally beyond his control.
That’s probably got something to do with the organ trafficking and open-air slave markets.
This was no accident, you understand, Libya is exactly what NATO set-out to make it – a failed state where absolutely everything is for sale. A true capitalist paradise. But discussing that would make it harder to sell “R2P” in the future.
Better to just endlessly rant on about Brexit instead.
Now, obviously, Brexit is (potentially) an important decision for the fate of the country. You can’t deny that.
BUT – let’s be real here – Even IF we leave the EU (and right now that is far from guaranteed), and even IF our leaving is as bad as the worst doom-sayers are predicting, London isn’t going to end up like this…
….or this:
….or this:
And at the end of the day, THAT is Cameron’s legacy.
Just as it’s the legacy of the all slimy apologists who cheered him on, and the narrow-minded, self-centred xenophobes who clean up after him.
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i like this word counter
Cameron’s record on austerity and Libya is diabolically dishonest and outright criminal. But in elite media circles he is still perceived to be a decent, well-mannered, well-meaning sort. As are Tony Blair, Alaistair Campbell, Gordon Brown, Theresa May, etc. The only prominent politician considered to be truly beyond the pale of decency and respect is Jeremy Corbyn.
I always thought the deaths of 130k victims of austerity was his legacy.
I really don’t know where to post this but it is vital the message gets out:
https://www.ukcolumn.org/article/foreign-affairs-british-government-collaboration-eu-global-strategy
Brexit …. leaving the eu — this is high treason
Why any right minded person gives one flying copulation about anything Jonathan Freedland says is beyond me. I filed him long ago under ‘unprincipled, amoral whore’.
As I have said before many times, campaigns should centre on weaning others off the MSM, not trying to change the irredeemable. Jonathan Freedland articles should be ignored, not read…..
When the MSM shrivels up because 80% ignore it, the people can start again. The manipulation attempts will forever continue, but there will be far fewer junkies…..
“Libya is exactly what NATO set-out to make it – a failed state where absolutely everything is for sale. A true capitalist paradise.”
Dude, get a clue.
Look at those “before” and “after” photos above that witless comment.
Does a muddy pool surrounded by wreckage look like a “capitalist paradise” to you?
Or the “before” photo above it with shiny buildings and cars and PROSPERITY.
THAT’s a capitalist paradise. That’s where the MONEY is!
O Capn, my Capn! clap the glass to your other eye. That’s not where the Capitalist found their Libyan Paradise: they found their paradise in Libya’s black oil, its white water and its golden, golden gold — all gone to swell Anglo Zio Capitalist hearts I mean wallets.
Cute, but I don’t buy it. If you think BP and Total are capitalist, then we can’t discuss. There’s CRONY capitalist and real capitalist. To confuse them muddies the discussion. So you see, we may agree more than would appear at first blush.
and the billions and billions of dollars worth of Libyan gold that was stolen from the people of Libya
Perhaps somebody who has read Cameron’s book could enlighten us as to how many pages he himself devoted to his “success for democracy” in Libya
It’s just warped – the repeated demonising and fear mongering about the Empire’s designated enemies, but on the horrors the so civilised Western ‘democracies’ have unleashed on Libya as well as Yemen, and the presstitutes literally have nothing to say. ‘It never happened, its not happening, nothing is happening’ to paraphrase Harold Pinter. Thanks Kit.
Britain is a prodigious terror state and Libya is but one episode in a long roll-call of shame.
It won’t change so long as the MSM continue to lie about the reasons for military violence, or until a more powerful force breaks up the US axis.
As it stands Cameron, Blair, Trump, Bush, Clinton, Obama, are all above the law.
Those who expose their wrong doing can expect to be tortured or persecuted while the likes of Freedland, Hyde, Ball, Freeman and Moore cheer on the authorities.
The liberal media express outrage over trivia while ignoring decades of human rights abuses committed by those who claim they represent a more civilised culture (lol).
Put another way given how grotesque senior politicians are what does it say about the values of a society that fails to reign them in?
Of course the fascists don’t want to discuss Libya!
Of course the corporate fascists want to discuss Libya!
LONDON (Reuters) – Italy’s Eni has agreed to buy half of BP’s 85 percent stake in a Libyan oil and gas license…
Very powerful essay. The total absence of any horror (or even interest or awareness) about Libya or Yemen on the Western “progressive woke anti-racist left” tells us everything we need to know.
‘The total absence of any horror (or even interest or awareness) about Libya or Yemen on the Western “progressive woke anti-racist left” tells us everything we need to know.’ – hammer, welcome to head of nail.
The ‘progressive woke anti-racist left’ still seem to believe lies the Guardian tell them – for them the actions of Louis C.K. seems to be a source of greater outrage than the implosion of entire regions.
I just don’t get it.
just another thought;
Well…what is David Cameron’s legacy?
The media are pretty clear: Brexit
But it hasn’t officially happened after 3 and half years – even if some think we left on 31st March – we are left with the anti-democratic mess to clear up!
TBH I can’t think of a single thing he did in his time in office that didn’t turn to crap (predictably) straight away or is now rapidly turning to crap:
Canals and Rivers ‘trust’, Big Society, NHS “reforms”, pension “reforms, tuition fees, Free schools, electoral reform, fixed-term Parliament act, crackdown on tax havens and tax evasion, bonfire of red tape, welfare “reforms”, extended rail franchising…that’s all I can remember so far, I’m sure there are many more.
The third worst Prime Minister ever.
The “citizen’s service”? Hahahahahahhaha
I will ecstatically cheer the collapse and disintegration of Brutain. The most evil empire in the history of the planet – Amerikastan hasn’t yet come close – deserves no less.
Yep, utter cunts
Gutter cunts. Take your pick
And I, Colin, shall cheer the demise of the Anglo Zio Capitalist Empire and the return of Merry England, foreseen by GKC a century ago. Perhaps this century will see it.
Thank you immensely, Kit!
—
Let’s clarify something.
In this so-called Western civilisation, where democracy is sacred and defending human rights is paramount, how come the masses happen to be governed by a piece of shit war criminal who is hellbent on destruction and killing?!
And when one leaves the helm, another piece of shit comes to replace them. Is this really a ‘civilisation’?
No it isn’t. Nor is an economy based on two centuries of looted wealth an economy.
“As if his decision to totally disregard a war crime he not only apologised for, but cheerfully encouraged, was somehow just fate and totally beyond his control.”
I think you mean a war crime he was an apologist for.
Absolutely agree Kit: but Bevin and Sharon M have already said anything I would have about Libya. Except to perhaps add that the wanton rape of an advanced economy was itself propagated by greed. As Wikileaks revealed – among the tactical reasons – it was all about gold. Which Germany wanted to repatriate: and we can only assume that the Fed had none. I can quote Ron Paul on that: as he spent a considerable amount of his political energy trying to get the Fed audited. The Fed even attempted to pass off tungsten bar dipped in gold as real bullion. One turned up in Germany and another in China, as I remember it. Carrying the assayed mark of sexual predator Clinton (Bill). Details maybe a bit shaky: but that is the gist of it. And among the tactical reasons: I can also surmise that Soros wanted to ‘take the… Read more »
hey BigB – don’t tell Craig Murray any of this – especially EU miltary Union – he deleted everything on this topic – his elitism is beginning to show!
Hey Jenny 234:
Sorry, Craig Murray fans: but if he knows about it and he is trying to cover it up – he is complicit. ‘Qui tacit …’ and all that!
It was not only British politicians who did their reputations no favours during the Libyan regime change. The armed forces and intelligence acted without decency or professionalism. The Royal airforce destroyed Libyan civil society and killed thousands safely from afar, while our spooks acted more like Johnny English than James Bond: Libyan villagers apprehended a force of special forces escorting MI6 spooks who came ashore from a submarine. They were all wearing Calvin Klein underpants with hidden pockets containing gold coins.
Excellent. I especially liked
‘I know we’re only Britain, and we only do what America tells us, but “Only following orders” didn’t work for Goering and probably shouldn’t work for anybody else. Cameron included’
Is the belief that America yanks Britain’s chain completely misguided? Should not the question be WHO controls America, and through America – the WORLD?
Well yes, to a point, but being fair to Cameron, I would say that Hilary Clinton was the main mover re Libya, although the UK and France were happily complicit. With that in mind, although I despise Cameron, the worst British prime minister up to his successor, I was happy to see Donald beat Hilary. Frankly, she would have been a disaster as president with the US already at war in Iran, quite possibly in the Donbass, with quite possibly another major standoff with Russia over Syria.
Agree 100% re La Clinton, but I think that Sarkozy was more than just complicit. Remember who had contributed to his campaign and was a bit worried about it?
“.. but being fair to Cameron ..”
Fair to Cameron?
Are you Ghandi? Why are you even ‘thinking’ about being fair to Cameron, a genocidal lowlife war criminal?
Was he fair to anyone?. ‘To be fair to him’ is very charitable.
We left wingers really are a miserably self righteous lot aren’t we? Have you never heard the expression ‘to damn with faint praise?
Collectively, ‘faint praise’ is energy sapping for extremely limited resources available to us to fight the mongrel dictators ruling our life.
Whether to use any kind of praise should depend on their position on, and steps taken to free Assange!
I recall very clearly Sarkozy being the main proponent for Libyan action, especially after Gaddafi revealed that he funded his election campaign!
I recall Obama being very resistant, but obviously Clinton persuaded him otherwise.
I think you are wrong in that the prime mover against Libya was the USA, I am quite confident it was France. It was French interests in North Africa that were under direct threat and French influence that was eroding as Qaddafi was achieving some success in establishing a North African Union. If you look back at the news media it was France that was demanding something be done in the beginning, followed enthusiastically after a while by Cameron in a likely childish desire to match Blair as a warmonger, and only then was the USA pulled in. As is typical the USA then took command and directed things in the way they wanted to serve Washington purposes. Not that France was bothered, as long as Libya was crushed France was content.
Cheers Kit. Great article, but it just made me angry. I need a sit down now.
Freedland is a disgusting excuse for a human being.
He lies, distorts and omits. Perfect journalism, in fact. He’s a clueless gaslighting agitator
He’s so sure of himself that none of his articles are open BTL unless he’s talking about tea cosies or something. He actually makes me shout at my iPad.
Er – Yarkob, surely that should read ‘Perfect mediawhoring, in fact’. Give Freedland his right description: ‘Rectification of Names’. (qv)
Freedland is just a typical lying Zionist mouthpiece for a lying Zionist toilet rag.
Be fair to Freedland, his pain ( and the liberal left’s pain ) is the greatest felt pain of all.
It’s so personal.
Brexit will make him and his fellow pain feelers more pained.
Whereas, Libyan pain or Iraqi pain is not his pain as it’s usually over there and not over here.
Selfless as ever.
Quite shocked to read that Freedland article from the time. I must admit, even after Kosovo and Iraq I took some of the regime change rhetoric at face value at the time. Only after seeing the mess of Libya and Syria did I appreciate that a pattern of lies and aggression was unfolding. But, unlike sections of the public who read his lies, someone like Freedland can’t claim ignorance – he’s supposed to be a journalist. Journalists have a responsibility to tell the truth as they see it. How can Freedland remain a journalist with his track record? He should do the decent thing and apologise to the people of the countries he’s helped destroy. And considering that its common knowledge the Guardian is under control of the security services, perhaps it is a good time for Guardian jounalists to resign on mass and come over to the side of… Read more »
I don’t wish to be overly sentimental about somewhere I’ve never visited but in order to get some local knowledge of Libya, I read the comments posted on a website for expats working in the oil industry giving a snap-shot of Libyan life under the Colonel. They were all favourable. There wasn’t much in the way of nightlife, most people went to each other’s houses in the evenings. It was a quiet, safe country and the only complaints I could find was about Libyan’s driving. The coast road between Tripoli, Sirt and Benghazi was like taking your life in your hands, they (Libyans) all drove at full speed.
Haven’t we improved things? Thanks Cameron, Hague, Sarkozy, Clinton and Obama.
It had the highest educational level of the whole of Africa; the best health service (free and modelled on the NHS) the highest literary levels; the most gold reserves etc – and this is, in fact, why he was bayoneted up the arse; because he had the temerity to suggest Africa could have its own gold-backed currency, and that he would no longer buy oil in $
I completely agree and would add, the great manmade River, which the allies bombed, was set to irrigate music desert and would have provided the Libyans, and European with cheap citrus.
Yes, these are the real reasons.
I should add that Cameron’s legacy also includes the deaths and mistreatment of thousands of disabled people in Britain – and is still active today as I write this.
At least things are totally different now, with a different member of the Bullingdon Club to rule over us.
Spot on, brilliant – thanks for reminding us of this slimeball’s true nature
“David Cameron Wants You to Remember Him for More Than Just Brexit”
Oh the irony!
Libya signalled the end of my reading the Guardian. Until they got to grips with taking them down, Youtube was full of videos of the torture and execution of sub-Saharan Africans in Benghazi. All the while, The Guardian was peddling “the peaceful protest outside Benghazi police station that was put down viciously” by the regime. Benghazi police station was destroyed by a suicide bomber. The news, of course, showed virtually nothing beyond the Libyan armies line of stationary tanks, outside Sirte I think. This was also the time I personally became aware of fake news and centrist trolling of the government cause, I used to argue pointlessly with people who insisted that Gaddafi was the devil incarnate and that they’d be adding Libya as a Mediterranean holiday destination in a couple of years. It was a horrible vicious little war, planned in London and Paris to the extent that as… Read more »
Sorry, my first paragraph doesn’t make sense. I ment to say that I used to link to Youtube videos that showed what was going on in my comments in the Guardian. They got removed and I got banned. Also, the tanks were outside Benghazi, it was when the narrative was “mad-dog Gaddafi was going to kill everyone in the city if the west didn’t come to their rescue. I also recall that some of the most anti-Gaddafi comments came from prominent “cif watch” (UK Media Watch) commenters who all expected to holidaying in the “new Doha” after Libya was saved.
All true, except that this was planned in Israel. Another war to serve Zionist interests with the usual goy stooges supplying the muscle.
edited by Admin to correct typo
Basically, the West didn’t like what Gaddafi had done to Libya in 1969, just as they didn’t like what Mossadegh did in Iran in 1953.
How dare these people look out for their own interests and put their people first. How dare they make decisions for themselves. How dare they make a profit from their oil. How dare they instal a form of socialism which gave women equal rights.
When we speak about the destruction of Libya, we need to speak about three countries, not just the UK, we need to shine the spotlight on the US, UK and France, and we need to stop referring to the 2011 conflict as the Libyan Civil War.
There is a good compendium of documentaries called ‘ThoughtMaybe’. No advertising. Nor are there the usual social media type hypes about fame and wealth. Thoughtmaybe is not for weak nerves. They have documentaries that deal with Libya, too. ‘Hypernormalization‘ by Adam Curtis sheds light on the machinations that ultimately ended Colonel Gaddafi’s life in a way that reflects the so called Western ‘values’. Based on these ‘Western values’, war criminals and murderers are giving book signings for their autobiographies, that strangely always omit their crimes against humanity. This omitting of the crimes and whitewashing of the monster in question is then propagated by the propaganda arms of the respective regimes. There will be no MSM mentioning of the truth. At that, the publishers are complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity, as are those who call themselves ‘journalists’. Cameron is a monster belonging to the club of psychopathic people… Read more »
Very well said, nottheonly1. And thanks for mentioning thoughtmaybe. It looks an excellent website.
Thoughtmaybe is indeed second to none when it comes to the free access to stellar documentaries. It was there, that I first discovered ‘Plutocracy’ and ‘The Century of the Self’, that I regard as milestones in the publication of the most important pretext to our present conundrum. Unfortunately, I am on a 30 GB data limit with painful penalty for exceeding this limit. Otherwise I would watch more than those that I can’t resist. Ironically that was the title of the last one I watched: “Do Not Resist”. A masterpiece about an extremely disturbing development in the U.S. specifically. A must see – if you got the data volume…
All the slime at the top of the predator class of wealth extractors hide behind corporate plausible deniability. Cameron is no different than the others. He writes speaking tour doublespeak that pays well and the drinks are always free.
A good gig if you can get it.
And Cameron & Blair sleep well at night knowing they killed fewer than Stalin did. Their conscience is clear on that.
If you really want a hate on you should focus on Margaret Thatcher ‘the milk thief’.
If you wrote the headline…” Iron Lady steals milk from school children & is a thief ” you would get a few hits to be sure.
” When the going gets weird the weird turn pro.”
Hunter S. Thompson
MOU
Great article, Kit Knightly:) Where I’m at, the U.S., Libya is Barack Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s legacy. In France, it’s Nicholas Sarkozy’s legacy. I would like to add the video below as a part of this excellent article:
“Dr Moussa Ibrahim welcoming the press 28.2.2011”
In this 9 minute video, we see Dr. Ibrahim tell the world how peaceful protests were usurped. It’s quite riveting. We will see what he explains happened to Libya repeated in Syria. The video should be viewed more than it has:)
What you say about Cameron is true. But the real horror is that Libya was a collective crime of the western elites- it was Obama and Clinton’s crime, Sarkozy’s too and BH Levy’s as well Jonathan Freedland’s and just about everyone else’s. Russia was involved only to the extent that Medvedev lacked the common sense to realise that the western imperialists that so impressed him were western imperialists. And what made these accomplices even worse was the way in which the cover stories-Ghadaffi was about to wipe Benghazi off the map and when he has done so a bridge in Brooklyn has unparalleled income opportunities for the wise investor-dissolved as soon as they were annunciated. And then there were the tales that only a Clinton could come up with: Ghadaffi employed black African mercenaries pumped full of viagra raping their way from the Sahara to the sea. It was a… Read more »
“But the real horror is that Libya was a collective crime of the western elites- it was Obama and Clinton’s crime, Sarkozy’s too”
Looks like your comment came first, but I was writing the same thing! I’m glad when that happens–it’s an important memory to keep and share with as many people as possible:)
The Western elites were not profiting enough from Libyan oil. The West prefers to destroy if they cannot get their profit paths. Economists say that there are 50 idle trillions (USD I think) in the tax havens accounts, profits from underpaying workers, tax evasion, cancelling of social and health programs, plus monopolization through US software companies.
Libya is destroyed, tick. They will get tired of living like that and will soon beg Washington to send money and Washington will send their demands. The Western elites now move towards China and Russia, supporting demonstrators there.
Maybe these two countries can be destroyed as well? Britain needs to do Brexit because we want the Western Elites in USA and UK to take blows. Kicking those two should go a long way.
Not to forget post-Gaddafi the old smuggling trails were reopened and Libya became the major staging point for immigrants trying to reach Europe.
and slave markets. Never let the pig-fucker forget that. Slave trading. in 2019
Amnesty International, Bernard Levy, and Human Rights Watch were the prime movers peddling the atrocity stories and Viagra fuelled black rapists. A lot of African migrant workers found themselves lynched from lamp posts as a result.
Mention of false emphasis, omissions and distortions by the MSM prompts the following observations. This week in Australia, ABC Radio in particular is framing its entire coverage of modern China’s 70th anniversary around the so-called “pro-democracy protests” in Hong Kong. Never mind the achievements of the Chinese people. There have been interviews with angry/excited HK teenagers who have never experienced life under western imperialist rule and would suffer a rude awakening if they did. If the ABC and MSM in general were remotely interested in reporting the facts in their proper context, we would be hearing less about the ‘brutality’ of HK police and much more about the greater violence of French police against the Yellow Vest protesters and the even greater violence of the Israeli military against unarmed protesters in the Palestinians’ great march of return, which saw the killing of at least two hundred people. We might even… Read more »
The illustrations you use are appalling – they should be reproduced as large scale hoardings and displayed in the major European cities as a salutary warning to all those who may be pressed by the Western Hegemony into going to war with Iran. Another reason to rid our nation of the “British Trump”