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U.S. history of support for Saddam overlooked
| • | Hawai'i speaks up on threat of war |
By Vincent Kelly Pollard
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| Vincent Kelly Pollard, Ph.D., is a University of Hawai'i lecturer. |
The missing sentences in Secretary Powell's speech would have stated: "Members of the Security Council and the world community, I admit that two U.S. presidents were wrong to support Saddam Hussein for eight years during Iraq's horrific war with Iran. Without U.S. assistance, Saddam might not even be in power today. So, yes, you are right to question our moral fitness to lead the posse against an evil dictator who received a major boost from us in the past.
"U.S. presidents and members of Congress also supported Pol Pot in Cambodia (after 1978), the mujahideen in Afghanistan, and other scurrilous characters."
Selective U.S. support for European, Asian, African and Latin American dictators — and convenient, last-minute disenchantment with them once their brutality became unpopular — bulldozes the moral high ground claimed by Bush, Powell, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice.
Meanwhile, even if the United Nations stops a war, it will still need a major overhaul.
Veto power for five governments on the Security Council makes the United Nations an elitist club.
A new United Nations is needed to respond to serious problems while preventing unprincipled leaders from exploiting tragedies to promote one country's national power over all.
