The Last Harumph on Libya
You Wish

Yet another in a seemingly endless series of news analyses about the Mideast.

I could do without this summary of fears, in particular about the violent upheaval in Libya. The facts, as we know them, have already been assembled in the Times, on PBS, in other papers: Libya is tribal, Libya's army is weak, and so on. Like many an analysis in the paper, it looks to the future to ask questions that cannot be answered. It is as if they are trying to write history before the event.

Besides being boring and tedious they consume the publishers resources and distract curious readers. Once again, the analysis is presented above real reporting that tells us something: Stranded migrants in Libya, an account of the people stuck in the crossfire of war. In this case, poor black African migrant workers who came to Libya to earn some money, and found themselves targeted because they look like the black African mercenaries hired by Qaddafi.