THERE, SOMEONE HAS SAID IT – AT 8:17 A.M. ET:  No Western country has closer ties with Libya than does Italy, so the words of the Italian foreign minister carry some weight.  And he expresses a concern that too many pundits and journalists seem unwilling to echo.  From The New York Times:

ROME — Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini on Wednesday said the death toll from days of unrest in Libya was likely more than 1,000, and worried that violence there could spark Islamic extremism.

Europe has played ball with the Libyan dictatorship because of oil.  Now that the regime is under siege, the Libyan chickens – I think they're allowed to eat chicken – are coming home to roost.  Waiting in the wings in most Arab countries are the militant Muslim groups, often the best-organized political forces available.

Noting that the situation was chaotic, Mr. Frattini told reporters in Rome that he believed estimates that more than 1,000 Libyan civilians had been killed in the clashes with security forces and government supporters “appear to be true.”

Later, addressing the Italian parliament on Wednesday morning, Mr. Frattini added that he was concerned about a rise in “Islamic radicalism” and “the rise of an Islamic emirate” in Eastern Libya, including the Cyrenaica region, which he said was “no longer under the Libyan government’s control.”

“This radical Islamism worries us because it is only a few hundred kilometers from the European Union,” Mr. Frattini said, adding that, “nothing can justify the violent killing of hundreds of innocent civilians.”

COMMENT:  Frattini is a pretty decent guy, but I wish he'd convince some European leftists and "intellectuals" that nothing justifies the violent killing of hundreds of innocent civilians.  After our 9-11, plenty of Europeans justified the attacks as retribution for American "policies."  You'll notice the silence of those same European leftists and "intellectuals" today.   They apparently haven't figured out a way to blame the U.S. and Israel for the Arab uprisings, but they will.

I'm glad Frattini used the forbidden term "Islamic radicalism," a term banned by our own Defense Department.  There is enormous danger that legitimate revolution in the Mideast will be hijacked by the Islamists, and that we will all wind up worse off than before.  Don't expect much on this from the politically correct mainstream media.

February 23, 2011