Friday, December 06, 2013

Nelson Mandela on Invading Iraq

Nelson Mandela Delivered One Of The Most Scathing Critiques Of Invading Iraq
12/06/2013 - Nelson Mandela, who died Thursday at age 95, has received near-universal praise for his commitment to social justice and brokering peace. One often overlooked example came in February 2003 when he gave an impassioned speech against a potential war in Iraq.

Speaking to the International Women's Forum in Johannesburg, he not only took on then-President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair for their attitudes toward the United Nations, but criticized the United States for dropping atomic bombs on Japan at the end of World War II.

"Bush is now undermining the United Nations," he said. "He is acting outside of it. Notwithstanding the fact that the United Nations is the idea of President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill."

"Both Bush as well as Tony Blair are undermining an idea that was sponsored by their predecessors. They do not care. Is it because this Secretary General of the United Nations is now a black man?" he said, referring to Kofi Annan. "They never did that when secretary generals were white." read more>>>


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