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FROM:
http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/72_folder/72-articles/72_eagleburger.html
Summer
1999 (7.2)
PUNISHING
THE VICTIM
WE'RE DOING IT NOW, WE'VE DONE IT BEFORE
by
Lawrence Eagleburger, Former U.S. Secretary of State (Under the elder
Bush)
(Edited
remarks addressed to President Heydar Aliyev and 290 attendees of the
U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce at the Washington, D.C. dinner on
April 26, 1999.)
When
Machiavelli was dying, they arranged for a priest to come and give him
the Last Rites. The priest attending him at his deathbed said, "My
son, my son, do you repent of your sins and renounce the devil?"
There was no answer. So the priest asked again three or four more times.
But always there was no answer. So finally, out of frustration, the
priest said, "I ask you for the last time, do you repent of your
sins and renounce the devil?" Machiavelli looked up at him and
said, "This
is not the time to make a new enemy."
Nor
do I think this is the time to make new enemies, ladies and gentlemen.
This is the time for a little straight talk. The United States is now
engaged in a military operation in Kosovo with the worthy objective
of trying to end serious human rights crimes. It is a commitment for
which no one can argue against the objective, though some of us might
argue about the tactics.
Former
U.S. Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger criticizing the U.S. Congress
for failing to repeal Section 907, which denies aid to the Azerbaijani
government.
It
is in this context that I must ask how it is
possible for the United States Congress to pass legislation that punishes
a country that is itself the victim of major humanitarian crimes.
All you have to do is visit the refugee camps in Azerbaijan (as Senator
Howard Baker and I have done), and you'll learn very quickly what I'm
talking about. Those camps have existed for years, and despite the fact
that the Azeri government is doing all it can to help support those
refugees, these people are living under miserable conditions. Those
camps exist because of the aggression of another state [Armenia].
And
yet at the same time, this Congress of ours,
despite the firm commitment of the Administration to change it, I must
say, is punishing the victim of that aggression with legislation that
prohibits most aid to Azerbaijan. The resulting humanitarian
disaster may not be as awful as what we now see in Kosovo, but it comes
very close. I don't understand such a policy.
I
don't know how any American who believes in the justice of our own country
can accept the fact that our own Congress has taken such action and
continues to hold such a position, despite all the evidence that has
become evident over the course of the years. A humanitarian tragedy
has taken place.
Azerbaijan's major enemy [Armenia] receives arms from Russia, money
from Russia and support from Russia in all sorts of ways. And
we not only tolerate it, we offer generous support to the country that
has caused all this agony in Azerbaijan. It really must stop.
If
we're going to look at ourselves in the mirror and say we mean it when
we talk about our defense of humanitarian interests and our horror of
humanitarian crimes, then it's damn well time that we did away with
Section 907*. And it's damn well time that
we tell the Congress of the United States the facts, even if they don't
seem to want to understand. It's high time that the Senate and the House
of Representatives began to understand that they are actively supporting
terrorism and aggression and inhumanity.
So
before we pat ourselves on the back for our commitment to prevent this
humanitarian tragedy that is taking place in Yugoslavia, let us remember
that we have some other obligations. And, in
fact, what we have done is precisely the wrong thing.
Thank
you very much.
[TVOTW
NOTE: The preceding are comments
by Lawrence Eagleburger, Former U.S. Secretary of State on the conduct
and policy of the US.]
*
Editor's Note:
The
Freedom Support Act was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1992. This legislation
was originally intended to provide economic and humanitarian aid to
the former republics of the Soviet Union, trusting that such assistance
would help stabilize democratic forms of government and foster economic
growth. Section 907 refers to the restricting
clause that singles out Azerbaijan from the 15 former Soviet Republics
and denies all direct aid to the Azerbaijani government.
This
restriction, with its distorted logic and wording against Azerbaijan,
was initiated by the Armenian lobby. It came in retaliation for Azerbaijan's
decision to cut off one of the rail routes that carried supplies and
fuel to Armenia. However, the Armenians failed to point out to the U.S.
legislators that there was another rail route that they themselves had
blown up. Armenians claim that Azerbaijan blockaded their landlocked
country, but a simple glance of the map indicates that Armenia has numerous
options for access to trade and humanitarian aid, since it shares borders
with Iran, Georgia and Turkey.
At
the time that this legislation was passed, Armenians were at war with
Azerbaijanis, who considered it national suicide to provide supplies
to the neighbors who were attacking them. As
a result of this aggression, Armenians now occupy approximately 20 percent
of Azerbaijan's territory by military force (Nagorno-Karabakh
and seven regions beyond).
Azerbaijanis
consider this piece of U.S. legislature grossly unfair, as it rewards
the aggressors and punishes the victims, who are crushed under the economic
burden of approximately 1 million refugees.
Since the enactment of the Freedom Support Act, the U.S. Congress has
provided nearly $1.1 billion of aid to Armenia. Less than $150 million
of aid has been directed to Azerbaijan, and this only through non-governmental
agencies (NGOs), which are mostly American agencies. Obviously,
a disproportionate amount of that aid gets absorbed in the bureaucratic
administering of such U.S. agencies and does not result in the alleviation
of the desperate needs of the people who are the victims of this unjust
situation.
From
Azerbaijan International (7.2) Summer1999.
© Azerbaijan International 1999. All rights reserved.
FROM:
http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/72_folder/72-articles/72_eagleburger.html
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