Castro Blasts U.S.-Led War in Iraq

President Fidel Castro called the U.S.-led war in Iraq a "brutal bombing spectacle," and criticized the Bush administration for its spending on the war. In comments televised Friday from a speech two days earlier, Castro said the billions of dollars being spent in Iraq "won't cure AIDS, won't cure any disease, won't cure anybody." Meanwhile, he said in the speech to a workers' congress in Havana, Cuba exports thousands of doctors to needy countries. "Mr. Bush put forth 15 billion dollars, and with that the world moved on to the stage of the Iraq war, that brutal bombing spectacle," Castro said in remarks lasting nearly three hours. "But what is needed over there is a man, a revolutionary doctor who can save lives. And that's what we have." Castro also criticized several developed nations - especially those who frequently voice concerns about human rights - for not doing more in the field of health. "All of Europe together couldn't pull together the 500 doctors and health care workers we have over there," he said, referring to Cuban teams of specialists working in Haiti. Cuba was internationally criticized for a crackdown on political opposition in the spring of 2003, when 75 dissidents were arrested and sentenced to long prison terms. Fourteen of them have since been released for health reasons. Castro advised those who continue to accuse Cuba of human rights violations to focus on their own problems. "They'll have to shut their mouths, or ... start admitting that revolution can be just," he said, calling his brand of socialism much more humane than the "imperialism" he said is being imposed around the world. [more]