Thanks to Neil of Surrey Hills for posting a hefty slice of David Lange’s speech on tolerance at Otago University in August 2004. Asked to speak on peace on the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, Lange provided some pertinent comments on the US invasion of Iraq.

Here’s a short extract to get you interested…

What the United States has done in response to the terrorist attacks is so remarkable and radical that it amounts to a revolution in international affairs. It is a revolution which has made the world a much more dangerous place.

When it invaded Iraq, the United States set aside its military doctrines of containment and deterrence and adopted a radical new doctrine of preventive war. It acted unilaterally, and made it plain that multilateral processes were worth very little to it. It set aside all respect for national sovereignty and attempted to reconstruct Iraqi society by the use of military force. It showed contempt for the rules of international law and from its position of overwhelming military might it poured scorn on anyone who dared to object to the damage it has done to international institutions.

David Lange Speech on Tolerance: Otago University Thursday 5 August 2004