Ambassador outlines Belize’s position on Iraq
We don’t usually deal with international news on this broadcast, but sometimes it’s hard not to. In case viewers haven’t noticed, there is a war about to begin and one way or another, Belize will be affected. Much of the diplomatic drama has been playing out in the halls of the United Nations…and today News 5’s Stewart Krohn sat down with our U.N. Ambassador, Stuart Leslie, to see how Belize is dealing with the situation.
Stuart Leslie, Belize’s U.N. Ambassador
“Our position of course, is one of non-interference. We believe in self-determination, but this is not a self-determination issue. This is an issue about one country, the United States, looking at Iraq and saying that they are a threat to international peace and security. We do not see that in Belize, that is not Belize’s position. But it is not our place to determine that either, it is for the people in the Security Council, who are members of the Security Council in the United Nations to determine whether Iraq is a threat to the international community.”
“Our position is always where you can find a peaceful solution to a problem, you seek that solution. What we are saying exactly is that Belize does not support an act of aggression against the people of Iraq at this time. We do not believe that it is good for international relations. It will hurt the United Nations if you have countries there saying, look we don’t have enough information yet, give the inspectors time. If this is the position and then you go into a war, what you have here is serious credibility of the United Nations, which Belize is a product of the United Nations. We believe that you must always seek the diplomatic route first. So in simple words, no we do not want to see a war in Iraq.”
Stewart Krohn
“Ambassador, it’s one thing to work in the United Nations, it’s another to be a diplomat in the real world. In terms of bilateral relations with the United States, their attitude is, especially at this time, you’re either with us or against us. Where does Belize fall by that standard?”
Stuart Leslie
“We are in what you call political hot water as a small nation that is living as they would say, United States’ backyard. Everything that we do in the international community, we have to think about what our partners out there are thinking and what they are saying, especially the most powerful country in the world. Of course that is not to say that one must sell out their sovereignty. So for us, this matter is not as simple as well let’s brush it under the carpet, why not just ignore it. We cannot, because the United States won’t let us. They are going to say, well listen, just as you say, if you are my friend, you are going to come on my side. What we have to do is to take a principled position. Belize’s position with respect to non-interference in internal affairs of other country, Belize’s position with respect to international law and to following the United Nations resolutions that are set out that have a very clear step by step process in how you arrive at war. And these are the things that we have to use to safeguard our position. But at the end of the day, we will not be respected if we do not have a principled position. We have got to pay attention to this and we have got to stand by our principled position and we have got to let the international community lead.”
Stewart Krohn
“Let me give you another side to that principled position. The two most important guarantors of Belize’s territorial integrity happen to be the United States of America and Great Britain. Both of whom are on the same side, both of whom are ready at this moment to jointly invade Iraq. Do we jeopardise our position looking toward these two great powers as guarantors of our safety by going against them on the Iraq issue?”
Stuart Leslie
“No. I don’t think that the United States would sit down and say, look, because you did this I am going to punish you for that.”
Stewart Krohn
“But they do that everyday.”
Stuart Leslie
“Not in this case, in the sense of protecting another country’s territorial integrity. They too have an issue with territorial integrity. The United States is making its case to the international community, saying look, we believe that the state of Iraq, under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, is a threat to international peace and security. We believe the man has weapons of mass destruction, we believe he is capable or using them, we believe he will use them. What Belize is saying, is not to say United States you are wrong. What Belize is saying, is look, there is a process in place here at the United Nations through the Security Council. We have inspectors on the ground, let the inspectors do their job. If they come back and they find that Iraq and Saddam Hussein have weapons of mass destruction, if they believe that he is presenting clear and imminent danger to anywhere in the world, then we are on side, tell us what we need to do. We were on side in 1991. So I don’t believe that it is a situation where the United States would punish those who are against them. There would be too many countries to punish in the first place.”
Leslie also pointed out that there will be immense practical consequences from a war, including higher oil prices, greatly reduced tourism and an increased risk of terrorism. A large number of Belizeans–perhaps several hundred thousand–also live in the U.S.A., many of them serving in that country’s armed forces.
