"My theme is that words matter," asserted Ambassador Holbrooke in his address to the conference. Ambassador Holbrooke recounted how in 1933, his grandfather in Hamburg decided to leave Germany after reading Mein Kampf.

Referring to the Bosnian experience, Ambassador Holbrooke noted that once the United States was engaged in Bosnia "we were able to force the parties to an agreement--not a perfect agreement, but the war was stopped and genocide was stopped."

Ambassador Holbrooke decried the possibility of granting an extension of 12 months to the conviction of Omar Al Bashir for genocide in Darfur. "This would weaken the Genocide Convention and weaken the pressure of the international community," he said. "If a person is guilty of genocide he must be prosecuted."

Ambassador Holbrooke lauded the work of Ambassador Dore Gold and his colleagues who "have done a brilliant job of bringing the issue of Ahmadinejad's incitement to world attention." But, Holbrooke cautioned that "people haven't focused energy on the core reason that Iran is uniquely dangerous--because of specific threats Iran has issued to another country based on ethnicity."

"I do want to underscore," Holbrooke continued "on the fact that the full title of the 1948 Genocide Convention is in fact the "Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide." Genocide is only defined after it occurs. We must focus on prevention.

"Unfortunately neither the US nor Israel nor Iran are signatories to the International Criminal Court--nevertheless, it is a treaty in force," Holbrooke asserted. Under the Rome Treaty there are provisions that clearly cover the Genocide Convention, he added.

"What can we do?" Holbrooke asked. "Ahmadinejad is at the UN--we can't stop him from speaking there." The UN should be a forum for all, Holbrooke stated. "I've never supported a ban against anyone there because we would damage ourselves--but we should never invite him to speak anywhere else. Not because I'm afraid his words will influence anyone who hears them, but because he uses these forums to legitimize himself in Iran. We need people in Iran to denounce him. There are many vulnerabilities in this man. By singling out Ahmadinejad on this issue we send a signal to the Iranian leadership that their ties to Hizbullah will not sell internationally."

"We want to generate debate over Iran--we want them to understand they'll face isolation in the international community.

Ambassador Holbrooke concluded by urging that Bashir's indictment not be deferred. "Think of the effect on Iran. What happens to Bashir will affect the attitude in Teheran," he said.

Biography of Ambassador Richard Holbrooke

Ambassador Holbrooke, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is a career diplomat, author, and businessman. Upon completion of his studies, Holbrooke joined the Foreign Service, serving as a staff assistant in Vietnam and later as an advisor to the Johnson administration. After serving in the Peace Corps in Morocco from 1970-1972, Holbrooke took a leave from public service to become the Managing Editor of Foreign Policy Magazine. In 1977, he was appointed Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs by President Carter and in 1993 was appointed Ambassador to Germany by President Clinton. Soon after, he lead the American team of negotiators at the Bosnian Peace Accords at Dayton. From 1999-2001, Holbrooke served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has since been as a foreign policy advisor to Hillary Clinton's Presidential campaign, a member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, and Managing Director of Lehman Brothers.

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