https://themilitant.com/2019/10/26/fidel-un-support-for-us-attack-on-iraq-is-shameful-day/
Fidel: UN support for US attack on Iraq is ???shameful day???
Vol. 83/No. 40
November 4, 2019
Protest against coming U.S. war on Iraq Dec. 8, 1990, in Salt Lake City,
Utah. U.N. Security Council unanimously backed Washington, except for
revolutionary Cuba, which voted ???No.???
Militant/Dave Wulp
Protest against coming U.S. war on Iraq Dec. 8, 1990, in Salt Lake City,
Utah. U.N. Security Council unanimously backed Washington, except for
revolutionary Cuba, which voted ???No.???
The Spanish edition of U.S. Hands off the Mideast! Cuba Speaks Out at
the United Nations by Fidel Castro and Ricardo Alarc??n, is one of
Pathfinder???s Books of the Month for November. This excerpt is from a
1990 speech by Fidel Castro to a ceremony celebrating the 30th
anniversary of Cuba???s Committees for the Defense of the Revolution. It???s
titled, ???We Had the Honor to Vote ???No.?????? In 1990, as U.S. imperialism
was preparing for a massive invasion of Iraq, the permanent members of
United Nations Security Council ??? Britain, China, France, the USSR and
the U.S. ??? voted to back the bloody slaughter. Cuba, serving a two-year
term on the Security Council, was the only country to vote against. ???End
the philosophy of plunder and the philosophy of war will be ended as
well,??? Castro had told the U.N. General Assembly 30 years earlier.
Copyright ??1990 by Pathfinder Press. Reprinted by permission.
BY FIDEL CASTRO
In recent days we have been more than a little concerned about the fate
of dozens and dozens of Third World countries. You will have noted the
conduct of our representative on the United Nations Security Council
around the crisis in the Arab-Persian Gulf. We have the privilege of
being able to act there in a completely selfless manner, in a completely
dignified manner, and with a spirit of complete fairness. We have made
extraordinary efforts to achieve peace. We have sought to find a
solution to the problem without war, a solution that is just.
We did not hesitate to reject and condemn the occupation and annexation
of Kuwait. We did so as a matter of principle and on the basis of norms
of international law that we believe should hold sway in our world. We
therefore did not hesitate to support resolutions condemning those
actions that, in our judgment, violated international law.
But at the same time, we have energetically opposed everything we
consider unjust. And one of the most unjust things is the attempt to
force an entire people to surrender through hunger. This is what the
embargo amounts to.
We first of all energetically fought to exclude food and medicine from
the embargo. For if one can condemn the practice of taking hostages and
turning innocent persons into hostages ??? a practice we oppose and will
always oppose ??? it is even more cruel to try to starve to death millions
of women, elderly people, and children to attain a given objective. And
this embargo does not affect the military forces primarily. Rather it
causes suffering to the civilian population, and among them to millions
of women, elderly people, and children.
This is a detestable practice. Yet this is what the United States has
sought to do and has done, in opposition to Cuba???s efforts to clearly
define the embargo and to exclude from it food and medicine. ???
But then something occurred that was truly shameful: the Security
Council passed a resolution giving its blessing to the unilateral
blockade by the United States, a resolution we opposed. I believe that
was a shameful day, a dishonorable day for the Security Council ??? the
day that body gave its blessing to unilateral military action by the
United States. At that moment it became clear that the United States was
running the show in the Security Council.
Now they have approved an air embargo. Cuba voted against it, the only
country to do so! We had the honor and glory of being the only country
to vote ???No???! [Prolonged applause] History will record the honor, the
dignity, and the courage with which Cuba acted during that moment of
such importance to the life of humanity. It was necessary to take a firm
position and we did not abstain ??? we voted ???No???! And we will vote
against everything we do not agree with, even if we are the only ones.
[Applause] ???
We believe there should be guarantees for all the countries of the
region. And we believe that if the United Nations is able to achieve a
political solution, it could also work out formulas to provide
guarantees to all the countries of the region. This would include both
the withdrawal of Iraqi troops to their border and their territory, and
the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from the Arab-Persian Gulf.
Failure to attain a political solution would be a defeat for humanity,
and we have concentrated our efforts on achieving such a political
solution. We have worked for this and continue to do so, although we are
aware that less and less time remains.
We do this not only because it flows from the political principles of
our people and our revolution, and not only to fulfill international
obligations. We do this because it genuinely pains us very much to see a
world catastrophe approaching, and not able to be halted. And here we
are not dealing with a catastrophe of nuclear weapons, no ??? although no
one knows what will happen there. No one can say for sure whether or not
chemical weapons and nuclear weapons will be used.
But such a war will not only cost many lives on the battlefield there.
Such a war would also be a catastrophe for the world economy, especially
for the economies of the developing countries, of the non-oil-producing
Third World countries, which are the vast majority. Just as some
countries will be swimming in money, others will be swimming in misery,
sacrifice, and suffering of every type. For every life lost on the
battlefields of the Arab-Persian Gulf, a thousand persons will die of
hunger in the Third World. Such a fate would be unavoidable.
The outbreak of a conflict in the Arab-Persian Gulf ??? the military
solution ??? would entail the risk of becoming a chemical war, and perhaps
a war involving the use of tactical nuclear weapons. In addition, there
would be incalculable destruction not only of lives but of energy
resources, which are becoming more and more each day the Achilles??? heel
of the world economy and the economies of Third World countries. ???
We will continue waging this honorable and at times solitary battle. We
will not give up our principles, we will not vacillate, and we will not
retreat!
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day???
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Albert Einstein
???Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.???
??? Albert Einstein