Press Releases 2003

April 4, 2003

Doing the Right Thing in Iraq - By Ambassador Linda E. Watt

Some 50 countries have committed themselves publicly to removing Saddam Hussein from power and restoring peace and freedom to the Iraqi people. The United States is pleased that Panama has chosen to be a part of this broad coalition of nations from every continent and representing every major race, religion, and ethnicity in the world. Many members of the alliance know what it means to live under tyranny and to be liberated from oppression.

In contrast to the criticism of the war effort that has dominated the editorial pages, our embassy has been receiving numerous calls and messages from Panamanian citizens around the country indicating strong underlying support and understanding for the position that Panama and the United States share for removing Saddam Hussein from power. The shock of 9/11 changed the world forever. Panama felt our pain in the aftermath of that dreadful day and has committed itself to cooperate with us in the battle against international terrorism.

No sovereign country, no socially responsible citizen, can maintain a neutral opinion in the struggle against terrorism and tyranny.

As Sen. John McCain recently said: “No one can plausibly argue that ridding the world of Saddam Hussein will not significantly improve the stability of the region and the security of American interests and values.”

Someone who understands that is Sam Kareem, a Baghdad University engineering graduate now living in the United States. When asked recently by reporters why Iraqi civilians were not being more effusive in welcoming coalition troops, Kareem said:

“They need proof that this regime will be gone forever…. Until the regime is gone, they’re not going to welcome the U.S. forces…. Try to realize that if you have a gun pointed at your head, you’re not going to go out and greet the U.S. forces until that gun is gone.... This is not a fight between the U.S. and Iraqis; this is a struggle between good and evil. Thirty-five years of torture and oppression, and you still want us to tell you stories.”

Fortunately, many leaders around the world also understand, as these comments from a few of them attest:

• We are part of the coalition, along with countries such as the U.S., Spain, England... Many of these peoples, such as Colombians, have withstood terrorism and, like us, they know that this scourge -- terrorism -- must be made to end so that we can live peacefully... Fellow countrymen: To request solidarity, we have to express solidarity. – Colombian President Uribe
• If on every occasion we allow a ruthless dictator to go free, because we do not like war, we risk paying a very high price... That is why we must move into action. We cannot simply stand by and watch as a ruthless dictator seriously and persistently violates UN decisions. – Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen
• The game is in play between those who historically have been committed to the liberty of men and those who have transformed their country into a chamber of torture. -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
• How to rid the world of such weapons of mass destruction is now a major challenge for the international community and will continue to be in the future... Japan, too, supports the policy course of President Bush. –Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi
• They should act when they are right to act because the Security Council can be wrong. It was wrong in Rwanda... You might avoid war and have a worse situation... That is why I was giving a comparison with our case. People avoided a war or doing very much and it ended up with genocide. –Rwandan President Paul Kagame

It is impossible to see the daily reports of fighting in Iraq and not feel deep sympathy for what innocent civilians there are going through. Coalition forces have made an unprecedented attempt to avoid hitting civilian targets and have put themselves at risk to provide supplies of food and water that the Iraqi regime has willfully denied and long failed to deliver to its own people.

When the war ends, coalition forces will be poised to rebuild Iraq into an independent, democratic, and peaceful country. They will remain in Iraq long enough to ensure the territorial integrity of the country, to stop factional ethnic fighting, to destroy weapons of mass destruction, and to establish a civilian administration that will lead to an Iraqi administration as quickly as possible.

The United States is providing $140 million to international aid agencies to help the Iraqi people with relief and post-conflict rehabilitation and 610,000 metric tons of food worth $300 million. Coalition partners are donating many millions of dollars for other humanitarian aid.

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council, regaining much of the unity it lost before the start of hostilities in Iraq, has unanimously adopted a resolution authorizing the secretary general to use money in the oil-for-food program to provide emergency humanitarian aid to Iraqi civilians.

All members of the coalition will be able to take pride that we did the right thing, each in our own way, to liberate a people from the darkness of repression and bring them into the light of freedom.