Quotable notes

"So I have yet to understand why this president [George W. Bush], other than that he didn't like Saddam Hussein, went into Iraq.

"... Saddam Hussein is a terrible person, terrible human being. So is Robert Mugabe; so is the guy who runs the Ukraine, Kuchma; so is Lukashenka, who runs Byelorussia, or Belarus.

"... So there's a long list of people that you could go after. And we don't do that, as a matter of course. Why Saddam?"

- Howard Dean, then a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, speaking on "Meet the Press" on February 1, with Tim Russert.

"The Embassy of Ukraine in the United States expresses astonishment at the statements made by Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont, on February 1, 2004, in the program 'Meet the Press' on NBC. His comparison of Leonid Kuchma, the president of Ukraine, with Saddam Hussein who 'is a terrible person,' is absurd in terms of the content, incorrect in terms of the tone and tactless with regard to the leader of a country that is a U.S. ally in Iraq. The Embassy hopes that Howard Dean's statements are merely a regrettable misunderstanding, brought about by him lacking reliable information about Ukraine and the position of the president of Ukraine on human rights and democracy, displayed in Ukraine's participation to promote these principles after ousting Saddam Hussein."

- Response from the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington, February 3.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, February 29, 2004, No. 9, Vol. LXXII

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