EDITOR'S LETTER

摘要

Do we ever learn anything from history, and by that I mean hundreds of years ago the wars and invasions executed by the UK, Spain and France to name but three countries, were for territory gain, not to mention certain raw materials. Go back further to the Roman invasions and it was virtually the same scenario. But at the head of all these activities over the centuries was a King or Emperor with appetite for enormous power. Today the power reverts to governments to intervene in world disruptions, rightly or wrongly. But sadly, the reason for intervention is not always spelled out. The world's appetite for energy is growing at an enormous rate and raw materials have to be maintained. What is the most important raw material in the 21st century - it is OIL and whilst we may not have learned anything from our earlier conflictions, this commodity is the vital lifeline to the world's economy. So do we have to intervene in places such as Libya, the answer is of course yes, because of its oil reserves, but talking should be paramount and, not as it is at present, continual bombing of 'targeted' areas.