A look at the Guardian Thursday 24/03/11

The main thrust of the article is that France was the only country to step up to the plate and take a firm position on the developing scene in Libya.

On the face of it this looks like good leadership and indeed it is, but is it only about leadership?

Why didn’t any of the other European leaders take a firm stand and declare their intention, which was to annihilate Gaddafi ASAP and this, was the first sign of weakness?

They all know him well

They have been doing business with him for 40 years. Was he all good for all that time? and has suddenly gone off the rails? Of course not:

As always there is at least one other side to it.

France has a much greater need to keep Libya as a going concern

(1) It imports oil from Libya and the French oil giant Total controls an important Libyan oilfield.

(2) For France, Libya is important because it borders four French-speaking countries of strategic importance to France: Tunisia, Algeria, Chad and Niger.

This makes good economic sense. The cynics would say that this is all about posturing on the world stage. “Look good internationally and the chances are you will benefit at home”.

Sarkosy needs to improve his poll ratings at home and this one move will help that process.

Is this what it’s all about –vanity? Well yes ---- mostly. It’s also about power, the narcotics of the vain.

As this story unfolds we will see many more “hidden agenda’s” surfacing.

The Guardian though has treated this with something of a sneer.

Cameron like the rest of Europe and the USA didn’t push to the front, happy to rely on well-delivered rhetoric. The paper seemed a bit miffed about that so they had to have few sideswipes at Sarkosy. We can’t do our side up so lets do the other side down.

Two quotes:

"Above all, it was a question of ego but he [Sarkozy] wasn't unhappy. The whole debate turned around him. After the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions and the fiasco of French diplomacy, he believed he had taken the initiative."

France's diminutive leader was in desperate need of a boost to his political stature.

This was petty stuff, way below the normal elegance that is this papers hallmark. That they resorted to this sort of Tabloid/schoolboy type sniggering. “mine is bigger than yours” attitude is disappointing.