Belden Namah calls for apology from Biden
25 April 2024
MEDIA STATEMENT
| Thanks to Academia Nomad
PORT MORESBY - The chairman of Papua New Guinea’s parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, Belden Namah MP, has condemned utterances by United States president Joe Biden describing a situation in World War II when his uncle was ‘shot down and eaten by cannibals in New Guinea’.
“There is no such country called New Guinea in the Pacific,” Namah said. “But if President Biden was referring to Papua New Guinea, his utterances were unfounded, unacceptable and utterly disrespectful.
“The truth about the fate of his uncle Ambrose has never been established and president Biden knows that. Yet he chose to reverberate the mystery with cannibalism. This is no slip of the tongue.”
Namah said that for prime minister James Marape to repeat this was “an irresponsible statement unbecoming of the head of the government of Papua New Guinea.”
“Marape failed to condemn the despicable words from president Joe Biden. He instead chose to speak for Biden saying it may have been a slip of the tongue.
“Speak for yourself and your country, prime minister,” said Namah.
Namah added that Marape’s calls for USA to help clear its World War II mess showed that he is not aware of the Render Safe Program that has been ongoing in PNG to rid communities of unexploded wartime ordnance.
“There’s a lot to be desired from the conduct of James Marape as the chief state diplomat,” Namah said. “It’s laughable ‘wheezy whassy diplomacy’.
“Recently he came to the defence of his foreign minister who apparently labelled Papua New Guineans as primitive animals.
“Stand up for your country and people, prime minister, and defend Papua New Guinea without fear or favour,” he said.
Lindsay, I recall the Australian Army bomb disposal squad being stationed in Popondetta from 1971 to 1973. They were there before me and after.
In Oro Bay, Vince Saunders' salvage staff had collected a large pile of safe ordnance, as occurred in much of Papua New Guinea.
Posted by: William Dunlop | 27 April 2024 at 12:32 PM
The latter half of the year 1942 is what I can claim as my beginning (born in 1943) and 1942 has appearance in the photographic greys of the era of 'black and white' imaging. Grey days, dark days of world wide warfare.
In that breadth of combat came events that are recalled particularly at ANZAC Day.
In 1942, the United States of America came to aid nations and territories in the Pacific region, the lands now known as Papua New Guinea (PNG) as one of those, the people of PNG having resulting benefit.
About "Render Safe Program" and intended benefit, see items such as https://geneva.mission.gov.au/gene/Statement669.html and https://png.highcommission.gov.au/pmsb/358.html
On a personal note, in 1969 at Gona in Northern District (Oro Province) while standing at the gravel road next to the then mission house, I nudged the ground with my toe and unearthed a still live bullet of rifle calibre.
In the area back from the beach cleared of grasses for construction of a new mission house were a multitude of shallow depressions, evidently 'foxholes' from 1942.
Mention of a World War II mess may be deficient in coming to a worthy comprehension of past and task.
Posted by: Lindsay F Bond | 25 April 2024 at 01:28 PM