February 5, 2003
HOW MANY UNIS MAKE A MULTI?:
Statement of the Vilnius Group Countries (5 February 2003)Statement by the Foreign Ministers of Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia in response to the presentation by the United States Secretary of State to the United Nations Security Council concerning Iraq:Earlier today, the United States presented compelling evidence to the United Nations Security Council detailing Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs, its active efforts to deceive UN inspectors, and its links to international terrorism.
Our countries understand the dangers posed by tyranny and the special responsibility of democracies to defend our shared values. The trans-Atlantic community, of which we are a part, must stand together to face the threat posed by the nexus of terrorism and dictators with weapons of mass destruction.
We have actively supported the international efforts to achieve a peaceful disarmament of Iraq. However, it has now become clear that Iraq is in material breach of U.N. Security Council Resolutions, including U.N. Resolution 1441, passed unanimously on November 8, 2002. As our governments said on the occasion of the NATO Summit in Prague: "We support the goal of the international community for full disarmament of Iraq as stipulated in the UN Security Council Resolution 1441. In the event of non-compliance with the terms of this resolution, we are prepared to contribute to an international coalition to enforce its provisions and the disarmament of Iraq."
The clear and present danger posed by the Saddam Hussein's regime requires a united response from the community of democracies. We call upon the U.N. Security Council to take the necessary and appropriate action in response to Iraq's continuing threat to international peace and security.
These are the people we left in slavery while we "contained" the Soviet Union. Is it really too much to expect that ten years from now a democratic Iraq might be signing something similar? Posted by Orrin Judd at February 5, 2003 10:32 PM
I read that Robert scheer said this is an alliance of "nations you could buy on E-Bay." So labeled by Scheer, how might we label him? Perhaps as a lout; but I would offer, that the quintessential "ugly American" would be appropriate. His public remark embarrasses me as an American.
Posted by: Genecis at February 6, 2003 10:51 AMThese people know what totalitarian regimes are capable of. They have first-hand information on what can occur to their countrymen when these regimes are criticized openly. The namby-pamby Hollywood elite as well as most other Americans have absolutely NO IDEA what we are dealing with here.
Posted by: Bartman at February 6, 2003 7:10 PMAre you suggesting the US-led forces did
not contain Stalin? I guess that means
he held back on his own accord.
In fact, that is exactly what I think; he was
into picking up scraps, not picking fights.
But there were plenty of scraps lying around
in the late '40s, just the other side of the
U.S. Army outposts.