E r i c H o t u n g . c o m

Remembrance Day 2002 | Path To Peace Award 2003

Dedication Ceremony of the Eric Hotung International Law Center

Dedication Ceremony of the Eric Hotung International Law Center - October 27th 2004 More details...

Let me begin by thanking you, President DeGioia, the Georgetown faculty and staff for your hospitality done in Georgetown’s own inimitable style. We are gratified by the attendance of so many personages both national and international who have come here today, particularly Justice O’Connor who adds even more luster to this glittering assembly which includes our alumni and supporters.

Approximately 57 years ago I was first brought to Georgetown. The war had ended in Europe. There was great electricity in the air – a spirit of victory. American military commanders, the Pattons, the Halseys and the MacArthurs had carried out their duties to destroy the enemy. American prowess stood at the pinnacle of military achievement.

But 5 years earlier, the reverse had been true. The allies had taken a whipping in Europe at the hands of the Germans. The English Channel was the only bulwark preventing Germany from enslaving all of Europe.

At that time there emerged from the Western democracies, two geniuses -- Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt. Together, they forged a coalition of free nations, the gallant Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, the countries of the Caribbean, the Empire of India, and other commonwealth nations, the free French and the fighting Poles, who incidentally took Monte Cassino, the seemingly impregnable Benedictine fortress monastery fanatically defended by the elite First German a crack parachute division, leaving open the road to Rome, and shortening the time for ultimate victory to the Allies.

In a telling addition to the coalition -- the defiant and the indomitable Russians and Chinese -- these forces came together to form an army of a new day, that put to flight the Swastikarred Black Legions of Night together with their allies the knights of Boshido of Imperial Japan. The period of stability and peace that ensued for several decades seemed as though it would continue indefinitely.

There was another side to the coin of American military might and that was her compassion which has never been equaled in the history of the catalogue of nations. The Marshall plan introduced at that time was intended to rebuild the shambles that was Europe. As Churchill said so eloquently, this plan was the “most unsordid act in history.”

Nevertheless, 60 years later, on a bright September day, America was viciously attacked by a combination of fanaticism and modern machinery. Several thousand innocent American citizens and dozens of their colleagues from the international community were to perish in this vindictive assault. It aroused the American lion in the form of President Bush and unleashed the full fury and might of the enraged American nation. And the wrongdoers were sought out in their strongholds, in their caves and ravines, by elements of the special forces taking the fight to the enemy and buying valuable time for intelligence and financial agencies to prepare, investigate and act.

For those who are aware of the Bali, Madrid, and other atrocities, and even more, the repugnant treatment of hostages, these acts of terrorism indicate that the free world is locked in a mortal struggle with murderous thugs who neither ask nor give any quarter, who never give warning as to when, where, how, and who they will strike.

During a conversation with the Chinese Minister of Defense General Cao Gang-chuan, we agreed that once the poisonous mandrake of terrorism has been plucked from the earth, a substitute will have to be implanted before a young generation is inculcated with the same satanic hatred for the free world in general and the US in particular.

This education of the young must be based on the rule of law on which democracy rests, and without which no civilization can exist.

Georgetown has always been there for America military. Her first sons fought in the civil war. Hence our colours the Blue and Grey. Her sons and daughters have filled the ranks of past administrations, at the Senate and Congress, and even the White House. And she is today in the forefront of implementing the rule of law, a further gift of compassion for democracy, so that those who have never experienced the freshness of democracy or the sweetness of freedom will have a chance to rethink their basic philosophies.

I feel privileged to be a part of this effort where Georgetown is taking a leading role to bring about the rule of law to those whose paths will take them to this University, and from which I hope will shine -- a beacon of light and hope to the children of darkness.

I have said my piece. My moment is full. Thank you for your attention.

Remembrance Day 2002 | Path To Peace Award 2003

Dedication Ceremony of the Eric Hotung International Law Center