Deputy Prime Minister: After Iraq, who is next? Venezuela?

www.barbadosadvocate.com Web Posted - Wed Mar 19 2003 By David Hinkson

DEPUTY Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Billie Miller said that Barbados cannot support the premise on which United States President George W. Bush is proposing to invade Iraq, and is wondering which country in the world would be next to face a preemptive strike from the US armed forces.

Speaking during debate on the 2003-04 Estimates in Parliament, Miller said the conditions for preemptive strikes had not been clearly thought out and that the US, which was supposed to represent the leadership of the free world, “had shown no little disrespect for the UN in recent years” even though it expected other nations to follow the rules of that organisation and other international agencies.

She said the pending action indicated that the processes the United Nations had put in place for the peaceful resolution of disputes had been overtaken by new principles and concepts promoting regime changes and preemptive strikes.

The Deputy Prime Minister said it was a serious cause for concern, and in pointing out current trouble spots in the world such as Palestine, Venezuela and Haiti, wondered whether the day would come when a more developed nation would suggest to Barbados who its Prime Minister or Government ought to be.

She noted that CARICOM Heads of Government at their recent meeting in Trinidad had reached a consensus on the matter which stated that diplomacy and dialogue were the best way for the two countries to resolve the conflict, and were “deeply troubled” by the human tragedy of war and its adverse effects on global economic stability.

The Deputy Prime Minister said Barbados will have to divert slender and hard-fought for resources to prepare ourselves for the damage that a war will cause, including building up food supplies, looking at our food security, and upgrading the security at our air and sea ports as well as at our overseas missions, particularly those in the United States, the United Kingdom, Venezuela, Brussels and Geneva, “where the alert is shining on orange now and may move to red within hours”.

She said Government also had to be concerned about the security of our foreign service officers in those countries, and that the Ministry of Tourism was also trying to determine what contingency plans could be put in place to promote our tourism programme in case the war breaks out.