«A new Doctor Strangeloves appears on the horizon, with claims that we should love the bombshell». To quote the 1964 satirical film directed by Stanley Kubrick, The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarellaspoke to the German Bundestag about new war scenarios. “After the war, the birth of the UN and the Geneva Conventions fueled hopes for peace based on law, reaffirming a basic principle: civilians must be protected in all circumstances. Subsequent news – from Biafra to the Balkans, from Rwanda to Syria, to Sudan, Ukraine and the Gaza Strip – shows us that war continues to impact primarily non-combatants. Today, according to the UN, more than 90% of conflict victims are civilians – he continued Mattarella- International humanitarian law, which is a barrier against inhumanity in war, is called into question by the facts. But there are no special circumstances that can justify this unjustifiable: the bombing of residential areas, the cynical use of starvation methods against the population, and sexual violence. The breakdown of the distinction between civilians and combatants is at the heart of humanitarian principles. This is the systematic implementation of a despicable practice of retaliation against innocent people.”
Once again the President of the Republic: «It must be reiterated: the sovereignty of a nation is not expressed in the right to make war on its neighbors.
A country’s desire for success does not necessarily result in injustice. Aggressive war is evil. This depends on our people, united in the suffering of the last world war and able, today, to unite in their outlook towards a better future. It is up to the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Italy – like everyone else in the international community – to challenge the legal force of the so-called right to coerce.”
Mattarella: how many more deaths will it take to stop the war?
“The lives of individuals, societies, nations are full of stumbles and tragedies, sometimes due to individual choices, more often due to the deliberate actions of others. The First World War left at least 16 million people dead, half of them civilians, as well as twenty million wounded and maimed. The Second World War, which spread to the Pacific region, caused an estimated seventy million deaths. The casualties, from one country to another, are impressive and it must always be remembered that we are not talking about numbers, but about people. How could all this happen and claim to be repeated? How many more deaths necessary before we stop viewing war as a tool to resolve disputes between countries? Should it be used for a deliberate desire to dominate others?”, he said in his speech before the Bundestag on the occasion of the “National Day of Mourning” ceremony, 80 years after the end of the Second World War. «Nie wieder, never again, was the expression adopted in the international community to condemn the Jewish Holocaust – recalled the Head of State – Nie wieder was contrasted with wieder, once again. We are witnessing this: war again, racism again, great inequality again, violence again, aggression again.”
