With allies like this, who needs enemies?
Remember, this was spoken by the leader of a country whose last military victory was to take Ethiopia from Haile Selassie in 1936. Italy used tanks, modern aircraft, and chemical weapons against a primitive, third world, rag-tag army who even then, gave the Italians some bad moments.
The Italian government is typically a coalition du jour made up of splinter groups covering the gamut of the political spectrum.
Any experienced player must be a master of compromise and the stab in the back.
Regards,
GtG