Remarks at a Special Meeting of the Joint Commission for the Implementation of the Lusaka Protocols

This is a historic moment for me and for all of us sitting here today when we see former adversaries sit around the table of peace to discuss reconciliation and discuss the future of Angola, the future of this country and the future of its people.

It is only fitting that the representatives of the Angolan government and UNITA, working with the United Nations, have the support of Portugal, the former colonial power which has itself undergone a remarkable two decades of democratization, and that they have the support of the United States and of Russia, former adversaries who now work together around the globe for peace and prosperity.

The United States has been an active member of this Troika, urging reconciliation. For the past six months the United States has worked with Angola, laying the foundation for reconciliation. This year our humanitarian assistance to Angola is nearly $100 million.

Angola is facing enormous challenges as millions of displaced Angolans become reintegrated into society. And I want to assure all here that the United States stands ready to help, to do as much as we can to make this a successful reintegration.

I would like to commend the Government of Angola and UNITA for demonstrating true commitment to peace during the last six months. You have made a promising start. Now for peace to hold, reconciliation to be achieved, and for hope to return, both the government and UNITA must reach out to all concerned Angolans in search of deep reconciliation.

We know this from our own history. One hundred and thirty-seven years ago Abraham Lincoln -- and I thank you for referring to him earlier -- was inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States, and he was speaking at the end of a bloody civil war where Americans had killed other Americans for four long years. Hundreds of thousands of brothers lay dead. And in this time of great crisis, and this time of great need for reconciliation, for coming together of the societies, President Lincoln, at his second inauguration, gave an address that means still so much to all Americans. It is an address that is so powerful that I think it fits the situation that we have here in Angola, and I hope you will find some inspiration and comfort from these very simple words uttered by Abraham Lincoln as we came to the end of our crisis, the Civil War. What he said, in addressing the American people, as the way to go forward is that we should move forward "with malice toward none, with charity for all. Let us strive to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves."

President Lincoln did not discriminate between victors and vanquished: he just saw hurting people who needed to be healed.

Similarly, this Joint Commission is not just about ending the war: it is also about an opportunity to heal wounds and frame the future and shape a new political dynamic for Angola. If it is to succeed, the Joint Commission cannot become merely a mechanical exercise without meaning to anyone other than the participants. The Joint Commission and the healing it is meant to foster must be a tool to help build a new Angola, a peaceful, prosperous, and democratic Angola.

Reconciliation will not be easy, but it must begin now. The people of Angola have suffered enough. This opportunity that is now before us must not be squandered. We must all join together, hand in hand, to help Angola enter a peaceful and prosperous future.