I read The Camp of the Saints soon after it was published in 1973. It did not seem realistic at the time, and I was turned off by the grotesque racist caricatures of the third world migrants who swarmed into Europe by sea in the novel.
Now, the book seems prophetic. The toppling of the Gaddafi government gave free rein to smugglers who operate on the beaches near Tripoli with the consent of the militias who control Libya. Of course, Europe was a main force behind the removal of Gaddafi and the resulting chaos.
For awhile, there was a robust search and rescue effort in the waters between Libya and Italy conducted by the Italian government, Operation Mare Nostrum. That was scaled back because it was bankrupting the Italian government, and was supposed to be replaced by a comparable EU effort, but the EU never stepped up. It's been damn unfair to Italy to have them bear the burden of search, rescue, housing and feeding these migrants. Then again, they bombed Libya, too.
The EU neglect seems to be a pretty clear decision to just do nothing in order to deter migrants.
Whether that's right or wrong, it's kind of interesting tracking the news coverage. In death terms, the last week has been like three full 747s crashing, but the coverage does not approach that of recent plane crashes or the Charlie Hebdo murders.
It's even difficult to find pictures of the floating corpses, a pretty clear example of government news management.
![[Image: 0.jpg]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nXpwvqacevM/0.jpg)
If Sp5 was in charge, he'd put a UN or EU force on the Libyan beaches and spread some money amongst the big Libyan militias like the Misrata one to stop this shit.
Now, the book seems prophetic. The toppling of the Gaddafi government gave free rein to smugglers who operate on the beaches near Tripoli with the consent of the militias who control Libya. Of course, Europe was a main force behind the removal of Gaddafi and the resulting chaos.
For awhile, there was a robust search and rescue effort in the waters between Libya and Italy conducted by the Italian government, Operation Mare Nostrum. That was scaled back because it was bankrupting the Italian government, and was supposed to be replaced by a comparable EU effort, but the EU never stepped up. It's been damn unfair to Italy to have them bear the burden of search, rescue, housing and feeding these migrants. Then again, they bombed Libya, too.
The EU neglect seems to be a pretty clear decision to just do nothing in order to deter migrants.
Whether that's right or wrong, it's kind of interesting tracking the news coverage. In death terms, the last week has been like three full 747s crashing, but the coverage does not approach that of recent plane crashes or the Charlie Hebdo murders.
It's even difficult to find pictures of the floating corpses, a pretty clear example of government news management.
If Sp5 was in charge, he'd put a UN or EU force on the Libyan beaches and spread some money amongst the big Libyan militias like the Misrata one to stop this shit.