Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Arundhati Roy sulla guerra irachena

The Most Cowardly War in History
    By Arundhati Roy
Opening Statement of Arundhati Roy on behalf of
the jury of conscience of the world tribunal of Iraq.
This is the culminating session of the World Tribunal on Iraq. It is of
particular significance that it is being held here in Turkey where the
United States used Turkish air bases to launch numerous bombing missions to
degrade Iraqs defenses before the March 2003 invasion and has sought and
continues to seek political support from the Turkish government, which it
regards as an ally. All this was done in the face of enormous popular
opposition by the Turkish people. As a spokesperson for the jury of
conscience, it would make me uneasy if I did not mention that the government
of India is also, like the government of Turkey, positioning itself as a
ally of the United States in its economic policies and the so-called War on
Terror.
 The testimonies at the previous sessions of the World Tribunal on Iraq in
Brussels and New York have demonstrated that even those of us who have tried
to follow the war in Iraq closely are not aware of a fraction of the horrors
that have been unleashed in Iraq.
The Jury of Conscience at this tribunal is not here to deliver a simple
verdict of guilty or not guilty against the United States and its allies. We
are here to examine a vast spectrum of evidence about the motivations and
consequences of the US invasion and occupation, evidence that has been
deliberately marginalized or suppressed. Every aspect of the war will be
examined - its legality, the role of international institutions and major
corporations in the occupation, the role of the media, the impact of weapons
such as depleted uranium munitions, napalm, and cluster bombs, the use of
and legitimation of torture, the ecological impacts of the war, the
responsibility of Arab governments, the impact of Iraqs occupation on
Palestine, and the history of US and British military interventions in Iraq.
This tribunal is an attempt to correct the record. To document the history
of the war not from the point of view of the victors but of the
temporarily - and I repeat the word temporarily - anquished.
 Before the testimonies begin, I would like to briefly address as
straightforwardly as I can a few questions that have been raised about this
tribunal.
 The first is that this tribunal is a Kangaroo Court. That it represents
only one point of view. That it is a prosecution without a defense. That the
verdict is a foregone conclusion.
 Now this view seems to suggest a touching concern that in this harsh world,
the views of the US government and the so-called Coalition of the Willing
headed by President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair have somehow
gone unrepresented. That the World Tribunal on Iraq isn't aware of the
arguments in support of the war and is unwilling to consider the point of
view of the invaders. If in the era of the multinational corporate media and
embedded journalism anybody can seriously hold this view, then we truly do
live in the Age of Irony, in an age when satire has become meaningless
because real life is more satirical than satire can ever be.
 Let me say categorically that this tribunal is the defense. It is an act of
resistance in itself. It is a defense mounted against one of the most
cowardly wars ever fought in history, a war in which international
institutions were used to force a country to disarm and then stood by while
it was attacked with a greater array of weapons than has ever been used in
the history of war.
 Second, this tribunal is not in any way a defense of Saddam Hussein. His
crimes against Iraqis, Kurds, Iranians, Kuwaitis, and others cannot be
written off in the process of bringing to light Iraqs more recent and still
unfolding tragedy. However, we must not forget that when Saddam Hussein was
committing his worst crimes, the US government was supporting him
politically and materially. When he was gassing Kurdish people, the US
government financed him, armed him, and stood by silently.
 Saddam Hussein is being tried as a war criminal even as we speak. But what
about those who helped to install him in power, who armed him, who supported
him - and who are now setting up a tribunal to try him and absolve
themselves completely? And what about other friends of the United States in
the region that have suppressed Kurdish peoples and other peoples rights,
including the government of Turkey?
 There are remarkable people gathered here who in the face of this
relentless and brutal aggression and propaganda have doggedly worked to
compile a comprehensive spectrum of evidence and information that should
serve as a weapon in the hands of those who wish to participate in the
resistance against the occupation of Iraq. It should become a weapon in the
hands of soldiers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy,
Australia, and elsewhere who do not wish to fight, who do not wish to lay
down their lives - or to take the lives of others - for a pack of lies. It
should become a weapon in the hands of journalists, writers, poets, singers,
teachers, plumbers, taxi drivers, car mechanics, painters, lawyers - anybody
who wishes to participate in the resistance.
 The evidence collated in this tribunal should, for instance, be used by the
International Criminal Court (whose jurisdiction the United States does not
recognize) to try as war criminals George Bush, Tony Blair, John Howard,
Silvio Berlusconi, and all those government officials, army generals, and
corporate CEOs who participated in this war and now profit from it.
 The assault on Iraq is an assault on all of us: on our dignity, our
intelligence, and our future.
 We recognize that the judgment of the World Tribunal on Iraq is not binding
in international law. However, our ambitions far surpass that. The World
Tribunal on Iraq places its faith in the consciences of millions of people
across the world who do not wish to stand by and watch while the people of
Iraq are being slaughtered, subjugated, and humiliated.

This is the culminating session of the World Tribunal on Iraq.
Un tribunale del ca**o inventato da un gruppetto di persone e che non ha
alcun collegamento con le vere istituzioni internazionali.
Quindi valore e autorevolezza pari a *ZERO*.
-Stefano

 ha scritto nel messaggio 
news:43538703...@people.it...


 *LOL*
Appunto.  Lui.  :)  LOL.
http://website.lineone.net/~jon.simmons/roy/

illegale della forza", I suppose
Certo.
-Stefano