THERE WILL NO DOUBT BE THOSE who are upset at recent revelations about the policy paid for by the Italian Government to protect its army in Afghanistan and avoid bloodshed all round, involving paying money to Taleban commanders so they would “not shoot at the Italian troops”. The Italians, according to Taleban Commander Mohammed Ishmayel and two Afghan government officials, also promised not to attack any local forces, although I myself could have told them there would be precious little chance of that happening. All of this has been fiercely denied by Italian defence minister Ignazio Benito Maria La Russa (above), who helpfully tells us “When our secret services bribe other people’s troops I know about it.”
THE ITALIAN NOTION OF AVOIDING BATTLE at all costs has been shown in other events involving possible personal danger, such as World War I and World War II, when Italy made deals before both wars with both sides, and then joined the war after having decided which side was going to win, although always allowing the possibility of changing sides later on. During the latter conflict, except for in Stanley Kramer’s movie The Secret of Santa Vittoria, in which Anthony Quinn’s village actually stands up to the occupiers, Italian villagers generally clubbed together to pay the Germans not to shoot at them.
ITALIANS SHOULD NOT BE EMBARRASSED about this behaviour, as the only obviously disastrous result of this policy has been hyper-inflation, bound to happen when word gets about. Yet while protection money seems to be one of the particularly successful approaches used by Italians over the years to deal with bella detesta matribus, one does have to wonder whether this is the true way to avoid deaths in the future, or to waste public money. Otherwise Gordon Brown would be using it to pay would-be terrorists on the streets of Leeds, Oldham and Luton to stop them joining “radical mosques” and fighting against our country.
THE ITALIAN NOTION OF AVOIDING BATTLE at all costs has been shown in other events involving possible personal danger, such as World War I and World War II, when Italy made deals before both wars with both sides, and then joined the war after having decided which side was going to win, although always allowing the possibility of changing sides later on. During the latter conflict, except for in Stanley Kramer’s movie The Secret of Santa Vittoria, in which Anthony Quinn’s village actually stands up to the occupiers, Italian villagers generally clubbed together to pay the Germans not to shoot at them.
ITALIANS SHOULD NOT BE EMBARRASSED about this behaviour, as the only obviously disastrous result of this policy has been hyper-inflation, bound to happen when word gets about. Yet while protection money seems to be one of the particularly successful approaches used by Italians over the years to deal with bella detesta matribus, one does have to wonder whether this is the true way to avoid deaths in the future, or to waste public money. Otherwise Gordon Brown would be using it to pay would-be terrorists on the streets of Leeds, Oldham and Luton to stop them joining “radical mosques” and fighting against our country.
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