Sir Roger Gale
Member of Parliament for Herne Bay and Sandwich (including West Thanet)
 

North Thanet`s MP, Roger Gale (Con.) has this (Monday) afternoon urged urgent action over Libya before it is too late.
 
Speaking in the Commons chamber following the Prime Minister`s statement on the issue the MP said:
 
“My Rt. Hon. Friend is to be commended for urging action, not words. But should not those who say “we must learn the lessons of Iraq” not also heed the lessons of Budapest in 1956 and the Prague Spring?  Is it not the case that on every occasion when the Western free world has failed to act the “defining moment” has been missed and tyrants have survived”?
 
After the exchange Roger Gale said:
 
“I believe that there are a very few days left during which we, with the backing of the Arab League, may take action to restrict Gaddafi`s airborne capability to inflict damage upon his own people.  If NATO, the United Nations and the United States fail to instigate decisive action against Gaddafi`s aircraft and airstrips then it will be open season upon lightly-armed rebels who have no air cover.  And if the rebel forces fall then we may expect a genocide on a Balkans scale.  That blood, if we have sat by and failed to intervene, will be on our hands.
 
Our own Prime Minister has taken a lead for many days now, seeking to goad the unwilling into movement, but to date we have heard only words of procrastination from most nations. It is almost as if they are waiting for the inevitable to happen before the hand-wringing and recriminations begin”

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