The world as we once knew it has gone forever. One of the only reasons why Europe flourished, was the dire state of affairs to our south and to the east, in the traditional Levant.

People think that the United States, Europe and Australia flourished thanks to hard work, freedom, democracy and the Western way of doing things. Only the latter is a true, hard and fast explanation.

As Michael Carabott alluded to in his report a few days ago, all of Europe was content to forgive and forget. Gaddafi confessed to Lockerbie and handed over two ‘martyrs’ in return for probable safety and reward for their own immediate families.

He renounced the weapons of mass destructions and Europe – Malta at the forefront – was only too pleased to hop across the water and honour the man with a gong. The same author of the above-mentioned article questioned, back in 2003, why the butcher was decorated. The answer was protocol.

In the same breath, Tony Blair sold his soul and hugged and kissed the beast in return for concessions to BP. The equally unctuous Berlusconi did the same on behalf of ENI. Malta did it because we just lie in the Mediterranean Sea. Gaddafi probably threatened to inundate us with boat people if we ever threatened ‘Libyan’ oil fields. The government obliged. As much as this publishing house respects the memory of Guido de Marco, we cannot but help recall his visit in 2003 to Libya, where Malta pandered and bootlicked Gaddafi. You must see the man in person and speak to him to actually realise just how repugnant he is (or was).

Some point the finger at the PL for its refusal to ditch him. We do the same. But we also point that same finger at the government of Malta for doing exactly the same. The mouse cowered in the shadow of the elephant, right down to the very end.

This newspaper, from day one, said Gaddafi must go. It was only weeks (and months) later that the government did the same. There is no hindsight. The government perhaps thought that it was trying to protect Maltese business, but the reality was that this situation spiralled out of control a long time ago. As we wrote six months ago, Malta needed to come down off the fence with two feet planted firmly on the ground, on the side of the people and not Gaddafi.

Although we probably did it just in the nick of time, we did it far too late. One only needs to look at the reports of the new Libya’s take on Chinese business interests, to see that we should have decided long ago. A loosely-guarded secret often bandied about by sources close to the government was that there was fear of a missile attack. We doubt this could even be possible, seeing as the Gaddafi weapons’ stockpile is ancient and unreliable (a walk in Dingli anyone?), but even so, even given the risk, we should have done it earlier. It is the beginning of the end. There is more in store, and one might even believe that Gaddafi has stores of chemical weapons. Eddie Fenech Adami once said that Malta was the best interlocutor for dialogue between Europe and our Southern neighbours. Now is the time.