It's Vietnam, Jim - and we all know it
green-party
Fri Jan 12 2007 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
It's Vietnam, Jim - and we all know it
Friday, 12 January 2007, 11:58 am
Press Release: Green Party
12 January 2007
It's Vietnam, Jim - and we all know it
The true colours are beginning to show on Helen Clark and her Government when she doesn't have the mettle to back her own duty minister's criticisms of the US President George Bush's bumbling in Iraq.
"It is clear to all New Zealanders that the US-led Iraq invasion has been a disaster from the start, and it is also very clear that throwing another 21,500 troops at the problem will not fix it," Green Party Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says.
"This reliance on failed military solutions, and the lack of any fresh plans in the Bush speech to create internal dialogue with the leaders of the Sunni and Shi'ite factions or regional dialogue with Iraq's neighbours, is making Iraq into a failed state, and a breeding ground for terrorism.
"The Government's duty minister Jim Anderton is right on the button when he described George Bush's war in Iraq as another Vietnam, but Clark and her Foreign Minister Winston Peters seem more concerned about not offending George Bush than telling it like it is," Ms Fitzsimons says.
"Even some of Bush's own Republican senators have the courage to stand up and publicly state Bush's plan is a mistake. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel likened it, like Anderton, to Vietnam, saying it was 'the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam'.
"The fact that Clark has been willing to bag her closest coalition partner in order to keep relations with the US friendly is not something I would have expected from a leader who just three years ago inspired New Zealand by refusing to bow to pressure to join the 'coalition of the willing'.
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"If our Government no longer has the courage to speak out then it's time for New Zealand's smaller political parties to stand up and speak truth to power.
"A solution can't be found without the diplomatic engagement of Syria and Iran, Iraq's neighbours, as recommended by the Iraq Study Group in December. However, when just last night US troops stormed an Iranian diplomatic mission in Irbil taking prisoners and seizing documents and equipment, diplomacy to seek a regional solution is clearly not part of Bush's strategy.
"At least 3000 US troops and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have so far lost their lives in this futile war and nothing can be achieved by sending more young men and women to die. The Greens salute Mr Anderton for having the courage to say this as a Government minister," Ms Fitzsimons says.
ENDS
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