From: Phil deHaan (dehp@calvin.edu)
Date: Wed Feb 12 2003 - 12:12:18 EST
February 12, 2003 == MEDIA ADVISORY
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation last week to United
Nation's Security Council members was watched around the world and since has
been the subject of much analysis. Among the many interested observers was
Calvin political science professor Robert DeVries.
That's because DeVries is not only a foreign policy and international politics
expert, he visited the United Nations for 18 days this past January with a
Calvin interim class. Among the briefings that DeVries and the Calvin students
received from U.N. officials and diplomats of member nations was an audience
with Iraq's Mohammed al-Douri, the country's ambassador to the U.N.
"We did not go into great detail about inspections," says DeVries, "but he
(al-Douri) did make a legal, political and moral case against war, saying that a
preemptive attack on Iraq would be illegal because it would violate the Charter
of the UN and that politically it would add fuel to the fire of anger against
the U.S. throughout the Middle East, while morally it would cause a tremendous
number of casualties and human suffering."
After watching Powell's presentation, DeVries says the U.S. also has a strong
case.
"Powell," he says, "showed a pattern of deception by Iraq regarding weapons of
mass destruction. This is especially true regarding the stockpiles of chemical
and biological weapons that Iraq admitted having at one time, but since has
failed to account for."
DeVries notes that in a statement prepared before Powell's presentation,
al-Douri denounced all the evidence as fabrications.
"But," he says, "all Security Council members will now be given the evidence to
determine how valid and convincing it is."
Differences with key allies are likely to remain says DeVries.
"The Germans have opposed the war option altogether," he says, "and the French
have argued for more time and much greater capabilities for the inspectors as a
preferable option to war. The U.S. argues that the only way to avoid war is for
Iraq to show a dramatic change in behavior by fully cooperating with
inspectors."
Another report is due from the inspectors to the Security Council on February
14. DeVries says that report will still likely leave a number of questions
unanswered, including: is war the only or the best option and is Iraq a greater
threat to U.S. interests and security than a country such as Iran, which has an
Al Qaeda training camp. Also unanswered is the question of what a war with Iraq
would cost, both financially and politically.
"These questions and more," says DeVries, "suggest that the decision to go to
war against Iraq is a momentous one and needs to be weighed very seriously and
carefully."
Contact DeVries at 616-526-6230 (note all Calvin prefixes are changing from 957
to 526)
-end-
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