U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas J. Richard Blankenship has a “warmongering drumbeat,” and the Bahamas must not be pressured into supporting his government’s pending attack against Iraq, the Member of Parliament for Mount Moriah Keod Smith said Wednesday.
Mr. Smith said he was appalled that Mr. Blankenship is asking the Bahamas to stand with the United States in condemning Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and launching an attack on his regime.
The Mount Moriah MP was speaking on a resolution for the establishment of a select committee on foreign affairs which will deal with international issues affecting the Bahamian people.
Iraq has now agreed to subject itself to the democratic process it has signed up to through the United Nations, Mr. Smith said.
“But the United States is taking the stance that it will invade another country not abiding by the democratic rules of the UN,” he said.
Although he strayed from his written speech, Mr. Smith suggested in his text that the United States was being more undemocratic and more of a tyrant than Iraq.
He called on Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell to “lobby through the process available to him at the United Nations to pull the United States of America back in line with the rules governing us as a world body.
Mr. Mitchell reiterated that the Bahamas is party to United Nations conventions and thus supports and adheres to the UN’s procedures for conflict resolution.
But he pointed out that same freedom that allowed MP’s like Keod Smith to speak their minds on the Iraqi issue, allows Mr. Blankenship to promote his country’s position on military action against Iraq. “What I think is that we have a secure country and our citizens are secure in who they are,” said Mr. Mitchell, who also addressed the resolution on the foreign affairs committee Wednesday.
“In a free country, an Ambassador is free to conduct the affairs on behalf of his country because when he speaks, he speaks on behalf of his country. And that’s the way his country wishes him to conduct their diplomacy.
“But Bahamians also have the right in a free country to say what they wish to say and I’m certain that they would do that.”
Mr. Mitchell noted that the even though Mr. Blankenship and some Bahamians may be locking horns over the prospect of war, the Bahamas and the United States continue to enjoy good relations.
“They are our largest trading partners and they are also the largest source of and contributor to our tourist trade,” he reminded.
On Tuesday, Mr. Blankenship called upon the Bahamas to align itself with the United States and other nations against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
“The history of Hussein’s regime in Iraq is depressing and disgusting,” Mr. Blankenship said. “For the past 30 years he has launched wars of aggression against virtually of his neighbours, seeking to expand his territory. We have no doubt that he now has a significant arsenal of chemical and biological weapons to use, as well as the delivery systems to threaten the entire region.”
But Mr. Smith said it is imperative that a committee of foreign affairs be formed so that Bahamians will have a full understanding of such issues and the government would have a full understanding on the views of the people on foreign affairs matters.
By Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
