An unfortunate discourse by the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi confirms the suspicion that this is a man totally out of his depth in the world of international politics, a clear sign that he is not only a racist, but also a fascist.
After a meeting in Berlin last Wednesday with President Vladimir Putin and the German Chancellor, Gerhardt Schroeder, Berlusconi declared “We cannot put all civilizations on the same level. We must be aware of our supremacy, of the superiority of Western civilization."
Such a declaration at such a delicate moment in the world scenario was bound to cause political shockwaves. Both in Italy and abroad, criticism has rained down on this political opportunist, who allied himself to fascist political parties to be elected prime minister for a second time, after a disastrous first period in the 1990s. The fact is that Berlusconi, time and time again, reveals what he is: a successful Italian businessman without the cultural or political preparation to hold the post he occupies.
Massimo D’Alema, the leader of the opposition, declared that Berlusconi should make a full apology for his “badly reflected” statement. The Italian prime minister made a half-apology, declaring that he was “desolated” if his comments angered the Arab world and that they had been taken out of context. The words were “taken out of context and badly interpreted."
However, upon analysis of Berlusconi’s speech, this was not a lapsus linguae based on one single statement. There was more: “The West will continue to Westernize the world and to impose itself on peoples. We already did this with the communist world and with part of Islam” and “Freedom is not the patrimony of the Islamic Civilization” and the admission that he was surprised at the growth of “hatred against Israel, the United States and the West."
The reaction by Berlusconi’s European Union counterparts was peremptory, isolating him to the annals of diplomatic history’s more ludicrous figures and worst jokes. Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel said, “We do not believe in this. All I can say is that the values of Europe do not allow us to consider that our civilization is superior to another." Chris Patten, the British EU Commissioner, went further: “The Islamic world was never responsible for the Holocaust."
The President of the EU, Romano Prodi, set the context in his statement: “What Europe and the USA want is to fight is terrorism, not Islam. No way do we wish to fall into a war between civilizations."
At a time when the Islamic and the Western countries are trying to forge a working relationship to form a basis for a prolonged fight against terrorist cells, irresponsible and potentially acts by people of Berlusconi’s calibre serve only to inflame the political scene. Understandably, the Islamic world was incensed.
Amr Moussa, the Secretary General of the Arab league, declared Berlusconi’s statements to be “racist” and “beyond the limits of reason and decency." The Iranian Foreign Minister, Kamal Kharazi, described the author of the statement as “irresponsible” and “ignorant”. In Turkey, the press called him “Fascist” and “Fascist Mafioso."
By trying to justify himself, Berlusconi digs his own political grave deeper. Now, all he has to do is to step into it.
Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY
PRAVDA.Ru
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