Crimson > I note that only a handful of counties -- Iran, Cuba, North Korea, and Venezuela -- have strongly condemned the US invasion of Iraq as a criminal war of aggression.
Where did you see that? This article I found shows that many more countries did, and that was before the invasion took place when the lies about the WMDs etc were being disseminated.
answers.com
>>Europe
On January 29, 2003, the European Parliament passed a nonbinding resolution opposing unilateral military action against Iraq by the United States. According to the resolution, "a pre-emptive strike would not be in accordance with international law and the UN Charter and would lead to a deeper crisis involving other countries in the region".
France, Germany and Russia were, from the get-go, publicly opposed to US war plans at all levels. As the US took a more militaristic position, these countries became increasingly opposed to the invasion. In the end, France made it clear it would use its UN Security Council veto against any proposed resolution for war in Iraq. (See The UN Security Council and the Iraq war.) On March 17, 2003, the US and Britain stated that they would not submit a resolution to the Security Council, admitting they did not have enough votes to force France or Russia to use a veto. In fact, only Bulgaria and Spain (in addition to the US and UK) declared outright that they wanted to vote for the U.S./U.K. resolution, while a few more nations, such as Chile and Guinea, had only said they would consider supporting it. Though Bush and Blair were optimistic that the 9 out of 15 votes of approval necessary to pass a UN resolution would have been reached, France's threatened veto would have immediately quashed the resolution, as any one of the United Kingdom, the United States, Russia, the PRC, and France, has the unilateral power to veto any resolution, even if the vote is 11-1 in favor. Russia and China expressed that they likely would have supported the UN resolution if some more diplomatic channels had been exercised first, but Bush and Blair stopped trying to appease those two nations once France voiced its unconditional opposition to the resolution. Amid US anger at what they considered France's reckless use of its veto power, the French government pointed to example after example of times when the USA had vetoed such resolutions that otherwise had an 11-1 margin. This controversial abuse of power that France, Britain, China, Russia, and USA could, and often do, make use of prompted harsh international criticism of the UN resolution process, with many calling to reform it, as it gives unfair emphasis to those five nations over all other and just one of the five's dissent could, and often does, have drastic effects on international affairs.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder made his opposition to the invasion an issue in his electoral campaign. Some analysts credited Schröder's come-from-behind victory on September 22 to tapping a broad anti-war sentiment among the German people. His critics and the proponents of the Iraq war suggested that he was using the controversy of the war and appealing to the anti-American sentiment felt by the German public for the sole purpose of gaining popularity and winning. This notion deeply offended the American people and government and led to a straining of relations between the two nations. However, Schröder met Colin Powell and a rapprochement was established after the Iraqi regime was overturned.[12] At present the governments of the two nations have agreed to put the Iraq issue behind them and move forward.
Belgium [13], Switzerland [14], Sweden [15] [16], Norway [17], Greece [18], Austria, Liechtenstein, and Serbia also condemned the war. The Czech Republic, Croatia [19], and Slovenia [20] were already mentioned above.
In Finland, Anneli Jäätteenmäki of the Center Party won the elections after she had accused her rival Paavo Lipponen, who was prime minister at the time, of allying neutral Finland with the United States in the war in Iraq during a meeting with President George W. Bush. Lipponen denied the claims and declared that "We support the UN and the UN Secretary-General." Jäätteenmäki resigned as prime minister after 63 days in office amid accusations that she had lied about the leak of the documents about the meeting between Bush and Lipponen. The Finnish government stated that they took a stronger stand on the Iraq question at a meeting chaired by President Tarja Halonen.
The meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Foreign and Security Policy issued a statement according to which the use of force against Iraq would not be acceptable without the authority of the UN Security Council. [21] [22]
Vatican City
The Roman Catholic Church took a firm stance against the U.S. plan to invade Iraq, as violence in all forms goes against the Catholic teachings and the Vatican's politics are directly taken from Biblical teachings. Pope John Paul II's Peace Minister, Pío Cardinal Laghi, was sent by the Church to talk with George W. Bush to express opposition to the war on Iraq. The Catholic Church said that it was up to the United Nations to solve the international conflict through diplomacy. According to the Church, the Iraq war, and indeed most modern wars, did not satisfy the just war requirements set by St. Thomas Aquinas and other theologians. The method of total war, sometimes called terrorism (i.e. any non accidental attacks on non combatants, or civilian infrastructure), which has been used in most modern wars since the Civil War and which was used in Iraq, are not permitted. The Church was also worried of the fate of the Chaldean Catholics of Iraq. The Vatican worried that they might see the same destruction as happened to the Churches and Monastaries after the war in Kosovo. The Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Jean Louis Tauran, said that only the UN can decide on a military attack against Iraq, because a unilateral war would be a "crime against peace and a crime against international law". The Cardinal Secretary of State of the Vatican, Angelo Cardinal Sodano, indicated that only the United Nations Security Council had the power to approve an attack in self-defense, and only in case of a previous aggression. His opinion was that the attack on Iraq did not fall into this category and that a unilateral aggression would be a "crime against peace and a violation of the Geneva Convention". [23]
Russia
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov joined France and Germany and said the council could not ignore the fact that "substantial progress" had been made since chief weapons inspector Hans Blix and International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed El Baradei visited Iraq in January.
Belarus
President Alexander Lukashenko said Belarus unanimously denounced US aggression in Iraq. [24]
Americas
Canada
While Canada participated in the Gulf War of 1991, it refused to engage in a war on Iraq without UN approval. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien said on October 10, 2002 that Canada would be part of any military coalition sanctioned by the United Nations to invade Iraq. With the subsequent withdrawal of American and British diplomatic efforts to gain UN sanction, Jean Chrétien announced in Parliament on March 17, 2003 that Canada would not participate in the pending invasion, though he offered the US and its soldiers his moral support. It is worth noting that only two days earlier, a quarter million marched against the pending war in Montreal.
While this is the official policy of the government, the Canadian Navy has been engaged in Operation Apollo in the Arabian Sea, escorting American convoys in the "War on Terrorism". During the Iraq war, the Canadian Minister of National Defence, John McCallum, said that if an American ship was attacked while under a Canadian warship's protection, the captain would not have asked if the shells were from terrorists or the Iraqi military before firing back.
Canada has indicated that it would take an active part in the reconstruction of Iraq following the war. Major anti-war demonstrations took place in several Canadian cities, for example: Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Ottawa, Montréal, Québec, Halifax, and Toronto.
Chrétien restates opposition to Iraq war
Latin America and Caribbean
Mexico, Venezuela [25], Brazil [26], Argentina and Chile condemned the UN-opposed war, even though Chile had expressed the likelihood of its voting to approve of a UN war resolution, had one been submitted. In addition to Chile, Mexico also had a seat on the Security Council and had considered approving of the resolution. Major demonstrations were reported from La Paz, Bolivia; Lima, Peru; Bogotá, Colombia; Santiago, Chile; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Pierre Charles, the late Prime Minister of the Caribbean island nation of Dominica also condemned the war.
After Costa Rica's Constitutional Court ruled that the war broke international law and that the country's support for the war contradicted its constitution, the government declared its withdrawal of support, which was merely moral anyways as Costa Rica has no army. Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic retreated their troops.
Africa
The African Union, with all of its 52 members, condemned the war. Guinea, Cameroon and Angola had seats on the Security Council, and amid talks of American financial donations would have likely voted in approval of a UN war resolution against Iraq. [27] Major protests were reported from Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt; Rabat, Morrocco; Mombasa, Kenya; Mogadishu, Somalia; Nouakchott; Tripolis, Libya; Windhoek, Namibia; Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa.
Asia
China
The People's Republic of China pressed for continued U.N. weapons inspections in Iraq after two arms inspectors told the Security Council they had found no evidence of weapons of mass destruction.[28] Although it stated its wish that the situation be resolved peacefully, China did not threaten to exercise its Security Council veto and had abstained in many previous decisions on Iraq. Demonstrations were reported from Hong Kong and Taiwan, and even in mainland China, where exercising free speech is usually shunned, some protests were tolerated. [29]
Pakistan
Major anti-war demonstrations took place in the cities of Peshawar, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. General Pervez Musharraf faced already fierce opposition from his mostly Muslim population for his support of the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan. Pakistan also had a seat on the UN Security Council during the pre-war period, though would not have likely voted in favor of the resolution at the time Bush had planned to present it, in an attempt to quell civilian dissent.
India
India did not support the war on Iraq. According to a Statement by the Ministry of External Affairs "The military action [...] lacks justification" [30] Delhi, Calcutta, Srinagar, and Mumbai saw major peace demonstrations.
The Middle East
The Arab League unanimously condemned the war, with the exception of Kuwait. [31] Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud publicly claimed that the U.S. military would not be authorized to use Saudi Arabia's soil in any way to attack Iraq. However, this was later revealed to have been a front, as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kuwait, and some other Arab states did, in fact, provide support to American troops, but they did not wish to risk offending Saddam pre-war by making those statements publicly.([32]) After ten years of U.S. presence in Saudi Arabia, cited among reasons by Saudi-born Osama bin Laden for his September 11, 2001 al-Qaeda attacks on America, most of U.S. forces were withdrawn from Saudi Arabia in 2003. ([33]) For the duration of the war, the Saudi public remained strongly against the US action, even regardless of a UN mandate. Prior to the war, the government repeatedly attempted to find a diplomatic solution, generally agreeing with the US position on Saddam's menace, even going so far as to urge Saddam to go into voluntary exile--a suggestion that angered him a great deal.
Anti-war demonstrations took place in Damascus, Syria;Baghdad, Iraq; Sanaa; Maskat; Amman, Jordan; Widhat, Maan, Irbid, Beirut, Sidon, Lebanon; Bethlehem, Nablus, Tulkarem, Jenin, Ramallah and Gaza, Palestinian cities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; Tel Aviv, Israel, and in the nation of Bahrain. As is the case in Egypt, demonstrations are not common in many of these less-than-democratic countries and some regimes saw themselves in danger because of riots.
Other Asian states
Bangladesh, Malaysia [34] and Indonesia [35], all largest muslim countries of world and Vietnam condemned the war. Bangladesh urged to solve the problem through discussion rather than war. Huge anti-war demonstrations took place in Dhaka,Bangladesh; Kathmandu, Nepal; Colombo , Sri Lanka; Kelantan; Jakarta and Java, Indonesia; Surabaya; and Bangkok, Thailand.
New Zealand
The New Zealand government disagreed with its antipodean neighbour, Australia, and did not support the war in principle. However, New Zealand did send a group of non-combatant engineers to "help rebuild Iraq". There were major anti-war demonstrations in the New Zealand cities Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland.[36]<< |
