Malta denies claims by former US Congresswoman

[tabatha]

The Government of Malta this evening categorically denied claims being made by former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney that "12,000 U.S. troops (are) stationed in Malta and they are about to make their descent into Libya".

Ms McKinney made these statements on her public blog http://allthingscynthiamckinney.posterous.com.

"The allegations are completely false," the government said in a statement.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120116/local/malta-denies-claims-by-former-us.402629

[southernyankeebelle]

1. With friends like this who needs enemies? Obama seems to get it from both parties. What an idiot.

[msanthrope]

4. She's a Green, now, thank Jeebus. nt

[CTyankee]

2. Malta! Really?

Such a tiny island in the Mediterranean. What is the purpose?

I would love to go there to see Caravaggio's paintings and to visit the archeological sites.

But really...Malta...?

[southernyankeebelle]

13. I'm with ya.

[msanthrope]

3. Are these the 12k troops who killed 5k civilians in NOLA, and buried the

bodies in the swamps????

Or are these the 12k troops that helped the CIA assassinate Tupac Shakur?

So much tinfoil, so little time.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Nope, I had to look at a map though

Nope

[TheWraith]

6. McKinney is a lunatic.

Unfortunately, she used to be very popular on the left with the same type of people who now talk up Ron Paul, showing that they haven't learned a damned thing.

[msanthrope]

8. Used to be popular??? Oh, she's still got her supporters on DU.

If you google my name on this site, 'tupac' and 'mckinney' you will see a thread from a month ago--yes, a month ago, supporting her.

[Archae]

7. Once again McKinney proves her showing in the Encyclopedia of Loons...

http://americanloons.blogspot.com/2011/11/266-cynthia-mckinney.html

And the website and I were slammed by the "McKinney can do no wrong" fan club for pointing this out.

[msanthrope]

9. That was a legendary thread, my friend.

You and me both...

[greytdemocrat]

10. Is this a joke??? n/t

[Igel]

11. It can be both a joke and a serious claim.

Let's not let a little utter absurdity get in the way of recognizing reality.

Many things that actually do exist are exquisitely absurd. It pays to be able to step back from one's beliefs and identity to laugh at them when they occur. (Otherwise we risk joining them.)

[Archae]

12. Yes, it can be both.

HOWEVER...

If someone makes a serious claim but has zilch when it comes to evidence, (hello, Iraq WMD?) it becomes a joke.
In the case of the "Iraq WMD," a sick joke by Cheney and his cronies.

[Odin2005]

14. She needs mental help.

She has to have some kind of paranoid psychotic disorder.

[Enrique]

15. it appears not to be true, but...

but there's nothing inherently crazy about the idea of a U.S. military base in Malta. People ask, why Malta? Well, it's very close to Libya for one thing.

[CTyankee]

16. I'm no military historian, for sure. But I do know that Malta was a strategic outpost for

Europe back in the 16th century against the Turks. The Knights of Malta were a kind of bulwark against a Turkish invasion of the European mainland. Google "battle of Lepanto." Bloody awful that was!

Napoleon sent the Knights of Malta packing, back to Rome, once he took the island (and pretty much the rest of Europe) over. I don't know much about what happened later but it looks like an ethnically interesting place.

Malta is interesting for its archeology as well as its European history. Lots of paleolithic stuff there. Caravaggio, in flight from Rome for committing murder, fled there from Sicily and painted one of his masterpieces, The Beheading of John the Baptist, for the Cathedral in Valetta, its capital city, where it can be seen today.

Fascinating history (but I only know some of it cuz I did an Independent Study in grad school on Caravaggio...).

[Saving Hawaii]

19. Lepanto was over in Greece, but Malta has a huge military history.

Two huge sieges took place there: the first the Knights of Malta vs the Turks and the second the British vs the Nazis.

The siege in 1560 was probably one of the nastiest battles in military history. Huge losses for both sides, plenty of massacres. After the Turks took Fort St. Elmo and decapitated everybody they captured and floated their bodies in the harbor on crucifixes, the Knights responded by beheading their prisoners and using the heads as cannonballs. Pretty bloody warfare. It was an impressive defense though. 8000 defenders (maybe 1000 knights, the rest just locals who took up arms) vs 30-40k Turkish soldiers. I don't think either side really expected the Turks to lose.

In World War 2 the British held the island and were using it as a base for the RAF and Royal Navy to sink Italian and German troop and supply ships going to north Africa. They amassed a huge air force and tried to bomb the island into submission in preparation for an amphibious landing, but the defenders managed to fend them off and the landing was never tried. The island played a major role in breaking the Axis offensive in North Africa.

[CTyankee]

20. Fabulous history in WW2!. It shows how strategic these islands can be in even huge wars!

Is your guess that the Allies were counting on their own ability to fend off attacks in Southern Italy from the Germans or that it was really about North Africa (the Magreb?)

[JCMach1]

17. I like and have often defended McKinney- however she is now listening to the propaganda

of Qadaffi dead-enders, the Libyan Jahamiriya... read her blog post and you will see that is the source of her info.

Here is the only current extra ship, or troop presence in Malta over the last couple of weeks: http://maltaspotting.blogspot.com/2012/01/us-navy-uss-whidbey-island-in-valletta.html


Ummm doesn't look like 12,000.

Cynthia, please stick to what you know...

[tabatha]

18. Yes, I certainly defended McKinney in the past.

But when she bought Gaddafi's BS and did not even talk to the other side, she lost my respect.