Re: Mandela: US Attack On Iraq Would Be 'Disaster' - AFP [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Nancy Hey]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- I don't get it.  Why does Mandela think that bombing Iraq is bad, but bombing Afghanistan is okay?  Sure, Iraq is a poor, besieged country who has suffered enough already, but so is Afghanistan!  Maybe he's under the misguided impression that all Afghanis are to be equated with the Taliban. Peacefully yours, Nancy Hey Stasi wrote: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------   MANDELA WARNS US ATTACK ON IRAQ WOULD BE 'DISASTER' CAPE TOWN, Dec 3 (AFP) - Former South African president Nelson Mandela warned here on Monday that it would be "a disaster" for the United States and Britain to extend the war on terrorism to bombing Iraq. "I think that would be a disaster," Mandela told reporters when asked if he would support such a step. The 83-year-old statesman criticized the United States and Britain for acting without a mandate from the UN Security Council and said it was wrong to "act unilaterally and bomb a sovereign country." "Already the US and Britain have acted without going through the United Nations," Mandela said. He said their action suggested that if a country feared a veto against it, it would act independently of the UN Security Council. "Now that is extremely dangerous. They are introducing chaos into international affairs," Mandela said. Referring to Washington's outstanding UN membership fees, he said it was "unacceptable" that that country was "dictating policy to the United Nations (though) they have not paid their dues". Mandela said he had assured President George W. Bush of his support for the attacks on Afghanistan but this only extended to action against terrorists taking refuge there. "I support him only in as far as military action is intended to flush out the terrorists. I support the strikes against Afghanistan as far as it is intended to flush out Osama bin Laden. I have no sympathy with terrorists who kill 5,000 innocent civilians. I cannot tolerate that." US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sunday said no decision had been taken to bomb Iraq but that Saddam Hussein should be "worried" and that ousting him was still a US foreign policy goal. ------=_NextPart_000_009F_01C17CFF.60079960-- ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================