Honourable representatives of the General Assembly,
I am here on the invitation of Tomas Allais, Kanjorien Representative for the World Congress. I have encountered a main question that is being asked over and over again: ‘’In what way is Istalia responsible for the chain of events in the Badaran civil war and was the response on it justified and correct? ’’ Allow me to explicate the course of events in the Badaran civil war from Istalian point of view:
It all started when the government of Badara and the opposition party Quwwat Almuhafizin Almutahida and the MARINE armed group, together known as the Coalition, picked up arms and started fighting each other for power over the nation. At first, Istalia decided not to involve itself in this war, since it was a conflict between the Badaran people. However, when the death toll rose horribly fast, the then government of Istalia received a message from the government of Badara, in which they requested aid for the population of Badara, which had been suffering for more than a year by then. Let me be clear: the government of Badara never requested military aid against the Coalition, but humanitarian aid for the Badaran population that was heavily traumatised and impoverished since the war began. This operation was entirely Istalian, with no involvement from the WC whatsoever. This was because Istalia knew it was capable of sending much resources and personel within a short time. If the Istalian government would have organised a WC-organised humanitarian aid mission, it would have probably turned into an underequipped, unorganised group of volunteers created by sour isolationists like the Kanjorian and Rildanorian delegation. What I am trying to say is that Istalia does not need a mandate from the WC to send humanitarian aid in war zones. We are perfectly capable of doing so on our own.
After much debate within the then government of Istalia, a humanitarian aid mission was created to help the suffering people of Badara. The plan passed parliament quickly and two months later the first ships reached the Badaran soil. Approximately 700 aid workers had been installed in Badara and created several refugee camps. Along with the aid workers was a small security force to ensure the safety of the workers and order in the camps. This security force was very much needed since the refugee camps were still in a nation at war. To better protect the camps, the peacekeeping forces of Istalia created ‘safe zones’. These zones were perimeters around the refugee camps where no arms –accept security forces’- were allowed, and from which armed militants from both sides were actively excluded to remain peace within the zone.
The war continued, and the number of refugees grew faster and faster. The then Istalian government, with President Maggi as Head of State, invited both sides to negotiate a possible peace in the WC building in Romula. As a neutral nation in the war, Istalia was going to moderate the talks. The Istalian delegation was headed by myself, as representative of the Istalian government, and President Maggi as overseer. The first days of the negotiations went a little stiff, which was understandable, since the Coalition had to make their demands clear to the Yeudish delegation, whom they chose to be their representative instead of directly negotiating with the Badaran government.
On the eighth day of the negotiations, in the night/early morning, the Istalian delegation negotiated with the delegation of the Badaran government to formulate their demands for the upcoming negotiations with the Yeudish delegation. While the meeting was going on, an armed man in elite MARINE uniform infiltrated the WC building in Romula where the meeting was held, and killed several security guards after which he made his way to the Main Conference Room. The doors of the room opened and the room was filled with the sound of bullets breaking the windows. Two security guards and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Badara, Abu Bakir Sharik, were killed instantly.
*Inhales* … *sniffs*
I dove under the table, and was shot in the shoulder and hip before my chief of staff jumped in front of me and got hit in his chest three times. The man shouted: ‘’The negotiations are over! Long live the king!’’(referring to the leader of the Coalition). Then the gunman started to shoot in the direction of President Maggi, hitting her in her shoulder as well, after which he was neutralised by security agents. The whole drama took no less than a minute, but it put a clear mark on the further events.
After the attack, deputy Prime Minster Tutti received message from the Coalition that Yeudish forces were moments away from invading Istalia and doing ‘whatever they desire’, as well as videos of hanging Istalian soldiers and aid workers in raided refugee camps. Later that night, the Istalian embassy and the BNC headquarters in Badara were attacked as well, killing dozens of others. The Coalition claimed responsibility. It became clear that they used the ceasefire to prepare an international terror attack to create chaos and murder innocent lives for political gain. Tutti ordered the evacuation of all aid workers in Badara, as well as the fortification of refugee camps in Badara, to protect the peacekeeping forces and refugees from the Coalition’s militants.
*Silence* … *takes a sip of water*
A total of 237 relief workers were killed that day. Innocent people who meant to do no harm to anyone, were brutally slaughtered and hanged like felons. Hundreds of Badaran refugees were killed as well, and their corpses burned. The weeks after the attack, the Coalition started to point their anger towards civilians instead of the Badaran government, using explosives to destroy residential towers and throwing dead corpses on the streets to sow fear under the survivors.
The Istalian government immediately proposed resolution 28, branding the Coalition as terrorists and mandating military actions against terrorism in Badara, IF the civilians were not harmed. This resolution was meant to put to justice those who attacked us at our very center of unity: the WC headquarters in Romula, and to restore peace in Badara for the population who had been suffering for way too long in an endless war that turned into a political genocide. However, the resolution did not pass due to immobilisme of the members of the SC. The resolution was later condemned by other nations in the General Assembly, which I find very worrying. A resolution to protect innocent civilians against terror imposed by a terrorist group with no decency or humanity whatsoever set aside and branded as ‘imperialism’ or ’fascism’. Honourable representatives, what is wrong with helping other humans in need? Istalia acted in a sense of empathy with the Badaran people. Unlike certain other nations in this world, Istalia is not going to stand by and watch people suffer while it can help. To brand those humanitarian actions as ‘fascist’ or ‘imperialistic’ is utterly disgusting, but most of all, very deplorable. If you want my word, then here you have it: As soon as peace in Badara is restored and the Coalition stopped, Istalian soldiers will go home immediately, because we have no business in Badara other than stopping the Coalition and protecting the Badaran people from their monstrous acts, since the Badaran government is not capable of doing so since it needs too many resources fighting the Coalition.
As I look into the future, I hope the SC will pass through the new version of Resolution 28, condemning terrorism all over the world instead of one single act. I hope the general stand-by-and-behold attitude towards humanitarian disasters will change, and I hope most of all that we as WC will be able to protect more people from terrorism in the future. I want to make clear that Istalia has never operated under the name of the WC, and that all actions from Istalian side were responsive to vicious acts of terrorism.
Furthermore, I propose an official WC request to the International Post-War Aftercare Organisation to give aftercare as soon as the Badaran civil war is over, so Badara will not stay in this endless spiral of destruction.
Thank you.