The U.S. is a threat to world peace!

As the US was banging the drum for war with Iraq, former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, was interviewed by Newsweek on 10 September 2002.

This is what he said:

“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 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…

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…

Scott Ritter, a former United Nations arms inspector who is in Baghdad, has said that there is no evidence whatsoever of mass destruction. Neither Bush nor 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… and another one for another country…

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…

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… 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… He opposed the decision to release me from prison. The majority of the U.S. Congress was in favor of my release, and he opposed it…

Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld, they are people who are unfortunately misleading the President… It is the men who around him who are dinosaurs.”

Well said, Nelson. Sometimes peope forget that it wasn't just the multitude of ordinary Joes who were against the Iraq war. A good few of the world's leaders stood out against it also.

However, your righteousness in this instance does make me wonder why you never bothered to 'condemn, in the strongest terms' the wholesale slaughter of the white farming community by rampaging black gangs in your own country? I mean, since the time you came to power in 1994 to the present day, around 4,000 of them have been slaughtered in South Africa. What kind of 'message' do you think that is 'sending to the world?'

Never mind, as long as the majority are happy to pretend that black-on-white slaughter out your way is, if not deserved, no more than a Fascist fantasy, your reputation as a smiley old nice guy will continue to flourish.