Mugabe says criticism of US and Britain is based on principles

President Robert Mugabe told the United Nations that Zimbabwe did not enjoy criticising the United States and Britain. The criticism was based on sound, fundamental principles.

Addressing the United Nations on Zimbabwe’s opposition to the US invasion of Iraq, Mugabe said Zimbabwe was in the chair when the Security Council authorised the first Gulf War.

“We stood firmly by the US, Britain and many other nations that removed Iraq from Kuwait. We did so on the basis that expansionism and occupation of a sovereign country and people cannot be right, can never be just and warranted under any circumstance….

“It is the absence of the same ingredients that explain our indignation, our sharp censure of the so-called coalition of the willing that does not seem to recognise that both the Iraqis and the world are unwilling to sanction the means employed, and the end achieved,” said Mugabe.

Full cable:

Viewing cable 03HARARE1975, MEDIA REACTION MUGABE’S BROADSIDE AGAINST WEST;

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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

300813Z Sep 03

UNCLAS HARARE 001975

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/PDPA FOR DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS; AF FOR

MRAYNOR

IRAQ PD FOR SMITH, PINESS AND ROOKARD

NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER

LONDON FOR GURNEY

PARIS FOR NEARY

NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER

E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: PREL KPAO KMDR ZI

SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION MUGABE’S BROADSIDE AGAINST WEST;

HARARE

¶1.   Robert Mugabe’s broadside against the West, especially

the United States and Britain, while addressing the 58th

United nations General Assembly in New York, made the lead

story in the September 27 edition of the government-

controlled daily “The Herald” (circulation 5-70,000).

Under headline “Don’t dictate to us, West told: Zim’s

criticism of Britain, United States based on principles:

President,” the newspaper’s Presidential Reporter Innocent

Gore, who accompanied Mugabe to New York, filed the

following report:

¶2.   “Zimbabwe does not criticize Britain and the United

States for the sake of it but its criticism is based

on fundamental principles, President Mugabe said

(09/26/03). Addressing the 58th U. N. General

Assembly in New York, Mugabe attacked the emergence

of unipolarism in world affairs in which powerful

nations such as Britain and the U. S. sought to

dominate the world and dictate to other countries

how they should govern themselves. He lamented the

invasion of Iraq by the U. S. and Britain without

the mandate of the U. N. `Let it not be said that

Zimbabwe enjoys criticizing the U. S. and Britain

for the sake of criticism. Our criticisms are

founded on sound, fundamental principles. Let it

not be forgotten that Zimbabwe was in the chair when

the Security Council authorized the first Gulf War.

We stood firmly by the U. S., Britain and many other

nations that removed Iraq from Kuwait. We did so on

the basis that expansionism and occupation of a

sovereign country and people cannot be right, can

never be just and warranted under any circumstance.

We admired the deployment of power under the

auspices of the U. N. It is the absence of the same

ingredients that explain our indignation, our sharp

censure of the so-called coalition of the willing

that does not seem to recognize that both the Iraqis

and the world are unwilling to sanction the means

employed, and the end achieved,’ said Mugabe.

“. . .Mugabe said at the heart of the tragedy in the

Persian Gulf was the unprecedented assault on

multilateralism in world affairs represented by the

Security Council which is the only guarantor of

global peace, order and security. `Some powerful

western nations, led by the U. S. and Britain, went

to a war of unclear objectives in the face of clear

opposition from the rest of the world and as we now

know, with clear opposition from their own people.

It was and remains (an) unjust and illegitimate war,

unjust to the extent that it was founded and

prosecuted on falsehoods; illegitimate to the extent

that it was not sanctioned by the U. N. and has

transformed itself into effective occupation of a

sovereign people.’ Mugabe said there could never be

world peace under conditions of foreign invasion and

occupation. There could never be world security and

order when naked power suspended and substituted

with unilateralism the hallowed principle of

multilateralism, on the basis of which peace had

been made, kept, preserved and expanded since the

Second World War. . .’ It is a strange logic that

the Iraqis pay for a bad president, a bad government

and a bad war by occupation and loss of their

sovereignty. Let us state here quite clearly to

both Britain and the U. S. that the Iraqi people

must have the sovereign right to determine the

affairs of their country. . . .'”

SULLIVAN

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