Left I on the News

One of the classic ways in which imperialism and its media try to build support for its interventions is to demonize its enemies. Of course there's the obvious "next Hitler" line, about how dangerous they are. But the other frequently invoked line is how fabulously wealthy they are (implicitly, at the expense of their people). But this, describing the house of the Gaddafi associate where 15 people were just killed by NATO bombs, is a pretty pathetic attempt:

The tour of the devastated property revealed the lavish lifestyle available to those close to Colonel Qaddafi. According to the photographs and the accounts of journalists who made the trip, the property included at least five large villas; vast stores of pasta and bottled water; at least one large swimming pool; aviaries; and a menagerie including horses, camels, antelope, lamas, ostrich and deer.

Wow. Vast stores of pasta (!) and bottled water (!!). And a pool! I'm going to guess there at a minimum tens of thousands, if not indeed millions of houses, in the United States which would put this one to shame, starting with every single house in Beverly Hills, Montecito, Los Altos Hills, and dozens of other cities populated by the rich and famous.