After their ordeal lasted over 8 years, the Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian GP have finally been freed. We all know what kind of person Gaddafi is, there's no need to dwell on the matter.
Yet, I've always had the feeling that the nurses -although totally innocent of the crimes they were accused of- had their share of responsibility in what they had to endure. In the sense that our acts and choices engage our responsibility.
When the nurses went to Lybia in 1998, it was ten years after the Lockerbie terrorist attack which was ultimately attributed to the Libyan secret services, e.g. to Kadhafi. Even if there are many doubts about the real responsibility of the carnage, it remains that the Libyan leader is a dictator whose record is undisputed. Particularly among the French who had to wage war against the libyan forces.
Hadn't the nurses never heard of Kadhafi and who he was and what he was up to when they decided to go to Libya to make more money? Didn't they have no qualms? You'll tell me they did it for the Libyan children. But isn't there enough to do in Bulgaria or neighbouring Romania for children?
Do you remember Les Fourberies de Scapin by Molière? Particularly this tirade by Géronte, Act II, scene 7: "What the devil was he doing in that galley?.
The teaching of Les Fourberies de Scapin should be made compulsory in Bulgaria!
On a side note, my American readers know how their country had to deal with Libya since its very first days. It's called the First barbary war. It is remembered in the second line of the Marines' hymn:
"From the halls of Montezuma
To the shore of Tripoli"...
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On a side note, my American readers know how their country had to deal with Libya since its very first days. It's called the First barbary war.
salut tonton! of course, numerous "barbary pirates" were actually europeans (& perhaps americans, i'm not sure) who chose to "defect" to the other side in search of greater riches or to escape legal and other problems in christendom.
Quelle heureuse surprise! Salut ms.miami.
Indeed il y avait des pirates de tous bords mais certainement moins d'Européens à la fin du XVIII qu'au XVII siècle.
La prise d'ôtages notamment, était une pratique très répandue chez les "Ottomans", ce qui en faisait un sujet récurrent en littérature et en musique. L'Enlèvement au Sérail en est le plus illustre témoignage.
Merci de la visite... :-)
(pas de smiles sur blogger)
My understanding of the Barbary Pirate (also Ottoman Corsairs) is that they were principally Moors and Berbers who successfully preyed on Christian and non-Islamic ships for about 900 years from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, and from West Africa to Iceland. They not only attacked shipping, but they also conducted “Viking type” raids on coastal towns and taking Christian slaves. According to one source, these people captured and enslaved about 1 million Europeans between the 16th and 19th Century from seaside villages in Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, and England.
As a result of these raids, thousands of French, English, and Spanish ships were destroyed; it was so bad that people abandoned coastal areas, and the raids discouraged coastal settlement until well into the 19th Century.
I am less clear about the extent to which Europeans participated with the Muslim raiders; please send me a link to the source of that information here.
The "Viking type" raids shouldn't come as a surprise since the "original" Vikings settled in North Africa by the end of the 9th century...
Regarding the participation of Europeans to the raids, I was a bit surprised also but I thought the blogger had some information I hadn't. I supposed there may have been some renegades, apostates and other bandits?
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