Debate US-Iraq in Leiden; report
Thorbecke - 28.04.2003 23:24
On Monday 28 April, there was a debate on Iraq in Leiden, The Netherlands. Speakers were Feisal Nasser of the Iraqi Platform, of refugees in The Netherlands; and Mr Robert Gerber of the United States embassy in The Hague; who rather overstated his government's love for the UN.
15 February 2003 Amsterdam: 100.000 demonstrators against Iraq war
US Embassy spokesman overstates his government’s love for United Nations at debate on Iraq in Leiden, The Netherlands
On Monday 28 April, there was a debate on Iraq in Leiden, The Netherlands. Speakers were Feisal Nasser of the Iraqi Platform, of refugees in The Netherlands; and Mr Robert Gerber of the Economic Affairs department of the United States embassy in The Hague; formerly in the embassy in Haiti.
The debate was organized by the VVD, the Dutch “liberal” party (“liberal” as usually meant in Europe, meaning pro “market economy”). Apart from Dutch far Right, mostly fringe, groups, the VVD is the most pro Atlanticist party in The Netherlands, the most friendly to George W. Bush’s war on Iraq.
Nevertheless, the atmosphere among the audience in Leiden was certainly not all gung-ho pro Bush. There were critical questions, for instance by an Iraqi refugee woman. She asked why US troops had taken away her family’s land for a military base. When would they leave there, and all of Iraq? Personally, she said, I would want to go to Iraq. However, US forces used depleted uranium in Iraq; so, will I get cancer?
The strategy of Mr Gerber of the United States embassy in the debate was mainly to represent his government’s views as more “liberal”, in the United States sense, than neo-conservative reality is. In this way, Mr Gerber claimed: “We agree that the United Nations should have a predominant role in Iraq”. Challenged from the audience that people of much higher rank in the US Government, like Mr Rumsfeld and Mr Pearle, were considerably less friendly to the UN, Mr Gerber did not give a direct answer. However, later in the debate he used the considerably weaker expression of a “significant role” for the UN, which he attributed to Colin Powell. He mentioned the looting of the Archeological Museum in Baghdad; however, he did not react to a question on the possible role in this looting of the American Council for Cultural Policy, a lobby for “free trade” in archaeological treasures. See for instance http//www.wsws.org/articles/2003/apr2003/loota19.shtml
Mr Gerber admitted that the same “democratic” system as in Florida should not be necessarily implemented in Iraq.
Feisal Nasser of the Iraqi Platform concluded the evening, mentioning someone in Iraq, who realized Saddam Hussein had fallen, and was happy. The next second he saw US tanks, and cried, as he realized this meant occupation. To the applause of many of those present, Faisal Nasser called on the international community to help the Iraqi people oppose the prospect of a United States military occupation.
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