“You’re Going To Need A Bigger Boat”

When I read this story, all I could think of was the line from JAWS, “You’re going to need a bigger boat.”

The U. K. Daily Mail reported today that 167 stranded U. S. citizens have left Tripoli this morning on the Maria Dolores.  There are 167 Americans on the ship and 118 people of other nationalities.  The ship is expected to reach port in Malta at about 3 o’clock EST.  The Americans have been on the boat since Wednesday.

The article explains that the ship was too small to handle the heavy weather in the Mediterranean Sea and had to wait for calmer seas.  Evidently, the Greeks had chartered a 204-meter boat and were able to evacuate their citizens earlier.  The Maria Dolores is a 68 meter boat.

The article also has a chart showing the nationalities of non-Libyans currently living in the country. 

The article states that Gadhafi is using foreign mercenaries to back up his regular forces in fighting the anti-Gadhafi forces.  Evidently, Gadhafi has no problem shooting or killing his own citizens.  That makes it very difficult to have a successful revolution.

Certainly Gadhafi is not a friend of the United States, however, I sincerely doubt that any regime coming in if his regime fails will be friendlier.

The anti-Gadhafi forces are very angry at the fact that none of the major nations of the world have taken a strong stand in favor of democracy.  That alone is an indication that the relationship between Libya and the democracies of the world may not improve after the revolution is over.