[Peace-discuss] Fwd: Mandela Says US is a Threat to World Peace

Wed Sep 11 16:00:58 CDT 2002

----Original Message Follows----
From: Pan-African News Wire <ac6123 at wayne.edu>
Subject: Mandela Says US is a Threat to World Peace
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2002 16:09:33 -0400

Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2002 06:39:39 -0700
From: "Walter Lippmann" <walterlx at earthlink.net> Add To

(An extraordinary interview by one
whose moral credentials can only
be described as "impeccable".

(He is now putting his prestige on the
line both to speak out against the
impending suicidal invasion of Iraq,
but as well in support of Marwan
Barghouti, the Palestinian leader
whose trial by Israel is like the
Rivonia trial. Viva Mandela!)
==========================

Nelson Mandela: The United States
of America is a Threat to World Peace

In a rare interview, the South African demands that George
W. Bush win United Nations support before attacking Iraq

Sept. 10 -  Nelson Mandela, 84, may be the world's most
respected statesman. Sentenced to life in prison on desolate
Robben Island in 1964 for advocating armed resistance to
apartheid in South Africa, the African National Congress
leader emerged in 1990 to lead his country in a transition
to non-racial elections. As president, his priority was
racial reconciliation; today South Africans of all races
refer to him by his Xhosa clan honorific, Madiba.

Mandela stepped down in 1999 after a single five-year term.
He now heads two foundations focused on children. He met
with NEWSWEEK'S Tom Masland early Monday morning in his
office in Houghton, a Johannesburg suburb, before flying to
Limpopo Province to address traditional leaders on the
country's AIDS crisis. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: Why are you speaking out on Iraq? Do you
want to mediate, as you tried to on the Mideast a couple
of years ago? It seems you are reentering the fray now.

Nelson Mandela: If I am asked, by credible organizations,
to mediate, I will consider that very seriously. But a
situation of this nature does not need an individual, it
needs an organization like the United Nations to mediate.
We must understand the seriousness of this situation. The
United States has made serious mistakes in the conduct of
its foreign affairs, which have had unfortunate
repercussions long after the decisions were taken.

Unqualified support of the Shah of Iran led directly to the
Islamic revolution of 1979. Then the United States chose to
arm and finance the [Islamic] mujahedin in Afghanistan
instead of supporting and encouraging the moderate wing of
the government of Afghanistan. That is what led to the
Taliban in Afghanistan.

But the most catastrophic action of the United States was to
sabotage the decision that was painstakingly stitched
together by the United Nations regarding the withdrawal of
the Soviet Union from Afghanistan. If you look at those
matters, you will come to the conclusion that the attitude
of the United States of America is a threat to world peace.

Because what [America] is saying is that if you are afraid
of a veto in the Security Council, you can go outside and
take action and violate the sovereignty of other countries.
That is the message they are sending to the world. That must
be condemned in the strongest terms. And you will notice
that France, Germany Russia, China are against this
decision.

It is clearly a decision that is motivated by George W.
Bush's desire to please the arms and oil industries in the
United States of America. If you look at those factors,
you'll see that an individual like myself, a man who has
lost power and influence, can never be a suitable mediator.

What about the argument that's being made about the threat
of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and Saddam's efforts
to build a nuclear weapons. After all, he has invaded other
countries, he has fired missiles at Israel. On Thursday,
President Bush is going to stand up in front of the United
Nations and point to what he says is evidence of...

  ...Scott Ritter, a former United Nations arms inspector who
is in Baghdad, has said that there is no evidence whatsoever
of [development of weapons of] mass destruction. Neither
Bush nor [British Prime Minister] Tony Blair has provided
any evidence that such weapons exist. But what we know is
that Israel has weapons of mass destruction. Nobody talks
about that. Why should there be one standard for one
country, especially because it is black, and another one for
another country, Israel, that is white.

So you see this as a racial question?

Well, that element is there. In fact, many people say
quietly, but they don't have the courage to stand up and say
publicly, that when there were white secretary generals you
didn't find this question of the United States and Britain
going out of the United Nations. But now that you've had
black secretary generals like Boutros Boutros Ghali, like
Kofi Annan, they do not respect the United Nations. They
have contempt for it. This is not my view, but that is what
is being said by many people.

What kind of compromise can you see
that might avoid the coming confrontation?

There is one compromise and one only, and that is the United
Nations. If the United States and Britain go to the United
Nations and the United Nations says we have concrete
evidence of the existence of these weapons of mass
destruction in Iraq and we feel that we must do something
about it, we would all support it.

Do you think that the Bush administration's U.N. diplomatic
effort now is genuine, or is the President just looking for
political cover by speaking to the U.N. even as he remains
intent on forging ahead unilaterally?

Well, there is no doubt that the United States now feels
that they are the only superpower in the world and they can
do what they like. And of course we must consider the men
and the women around the president. Gen. Colin Powell
commanded the United States army in peacetime and in
wartime during the Gulf war.

He knows the disastrous effect of international tension and
war, when innocent people are going to die, young men are
going to die. He knows and he showed this after September 11
last year. He went around briefing the allies of the United
States of America and asking for their support for the war
in Afghanistan. But people like Dick Cheney

. I see yesterday there was an article that said he is the
real president of the United States of America, I don't know
how true that is. Dick Cheney, [Defense secretary Donald]
Rumsfeld, they are people who are unfortunately misleading
the president. Because my impression of the president is
that this is a man with whom you can do business. But it is
the men who around him who are dinosaurs, who do not want
him to belong to the modern age. The only man, the only
person who wants to help Bush move to the modern era is Gen.
Colin Powell, the secretary of State.

I gather you are particularly concerned
about Vice President Cheney?

Well, there is no doubt. He opposed the decision to release
me from prison (laughs). The majority of the U.S. Congress
was in favor of my release, and he opposed it. But it's not
because of that. Quite clearly we are dealing with an
arch-conservative in Dick Cheney.

I'm interested in your decision to speak out now about Iraq.
When you left office, you said, "I'm going to go down to
Transkei, and have a rest." Now maybe that was a joke at the
time. But you've been very active.

I really wanted to retire and rest and spend more time with
my children, my grandchildren and of course with my wife.
But the problems are such that for anybody with a conscience
who can use whatever influence he may have to try to bring
about peace, it's difficult to say no.

© 2002 Newsweek, Inc.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/806174.asp?cp1=1#BODY
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Amira Nuha
www.staff.uiuc.edu/~mgdavis

"Educate a man & you educate an individual.  Educate a woman & you 
educate a nation."
Ghanaian Proverb

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