The resurgence of Italy’s imperialist ambitions in Libya http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/mar2011/ital-m10.shtml

The Italian bourgeois “left,” which is supporting plans for intervention, is perfectly fluent in this type of language. Former Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema, leading figure of the Democratic Party and former leader in the Stalinist Communist Party, declared his unconditional support to the imperialist ambitions of the Berlusconi government: “In times like these an opposition force must identify the objectives and push the government to act.”In 1999, covering the post of prime minister, he authorized NATO to use Italian air space against Serbia during the Kosovo War. It was the second time since World War II (the first one was the 1991 Gulf War) that Italy participated in a military offensive. This, too, was considered a “humanitarian” effort.According to Nichi Vendola, leader of Sinistra Ecologia Libertà, the final goal is the ousting of Gaddafi. He is “grateful to [state] president Napolitano for having told another story, enemy of Gaddafi and friend of the Libyan people.” Vendola is prepared to legitimize the Libyan National Council, a heterogeneous group of reshuffled Gaddafi ministers and functionaries, so long as Gaddafi is ousted.