Vol. 8 No. 8 · 8 May 1986
page 3 | 2357 words
America and Libya
Edward Said
In the extracts from David Stockman’s memoirs published on Monday 14 April by Newsweek, Reagan’s former Budget Director spoke of the mediocrities, charlatans and power-hungry politicos who cluster around the disturbingly vague and incompetent Great Communicator. For them, Stockman said, ‘reality-time’ was the seven o’clock evening news on television. How did we look and sound? they ask themselves, as if public policy were some sort of show designed to entertain and please ‘the American people’ once a day, five nights a week. On 14 April reality-time began on each of the three networks with the same first indications of an American strike against Libya.
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Letters
Vol. 8 No. 10 · 5 June 1986
From Paul Fairey
SIR: Professor Said in his article ‘America and Libya’ (LRB, 8 May) attempts to relegate terrorism to a propagandist concept employed by the Americans to suit their own ends. The anger felt by America against Libya or any other regime seeking to advance their ends by terrorism is, I feel, shared fundamentally by a vast majority in the West, even if they do not support the retaliatory tactics used. In the West, the democracies have quite successfully secularised political life by making liberty of belief the right of every citizen. He is not asked to adhere to any particular religion, but he is required to be law-abiding. Other states and movements conceive of the state as a vehicle and expression of a religion or ideology and thus support any means which is available to render ‘loyal’, or simply eliminate, any adversary. This politicising of values must lead ultimately to totalitarianism. Nothing less than the basis of Western society is challenged by those states making terrorism an instrument of national policy.
Paul Fairey
Worcester Park, Surrey
From Editor, ‘London Review of Books’
We have arranged for Paul Fairey to meet Mrs Thatcher, with a view to his joining those whose work it is to secure a more successful presentation of her very successful policies. Unappealing as his complacency could be thought, it may be less so than that of the Times, which finds no difficulty in approving of Mrs Thatcher’s counter-terror while disapproving of President Botha’s.
Editor, ‘London Review of Books’
From Julian Barnes
SIR: In ‘America and Libya’ Edward Said cites American resentment at their bombers being obliged to ‘fly round France’ (and, by extension, Spain). But according to serious French rumour, they didn’t: they took the obvious short cut. As Le Canard Enchaîné characteristically put it, ils ont surviolé les Pyrénées.
Julian Barnes
London NW5
