Another excuse for attacking Iraq

THE EDITOR: I took pictures of the bombing of Baghdad and I can’t help but wonder if we have learned nothing from the Second World War. I see smoke and the red glow of fires and explosions lighting up the night sky over this beautiful city and wonder what will be left when it’s all over.

When the United Nations was established in 1945 there was one fundamental paramount in the hearts of all — the prevention of war. The world had seen the terrible destruction of the war against Germany and Japan and many thought that another war like that would be the end of the world. Since the inception of the UN there have been about 200 conflicts in the world — everything from the Korean War and Vietnam to Haiti and Grenada — so the UN does not have a particularly good record in this department, and certainly not now with this second Gulf War. It seems obvious that countries like Great Britain and the United States are prepared to ignore the Charter of the United Nations whenever they see fit.

What a sad situation when two of the founding members of the UN and two of the countries most responsible for much of the freedom we enjoy today are behaving just like the dictators they fought so hard to defeat in 1939-45. Britain and France declared war on Germany after Germany attacked Poland in August 1939. In 2003, we have Britain and the United States attacking Iraq without Iraq attacking anyone. Is this the new way of settling disputes? Very much like spanking the child before (on in case) he does anything wrong. Yet we have seen the escalation of events since September, 2001.

First, the Americans decided that Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein without a doubt had something to do with the attack on the World Trade Centre. No connection was ever established between Al Qaeda and Iraq, so they had to dump that excuse. The second excuse was that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction — Dr Blix has made it quite clear that further inspections were necessary. That didn’t work out either, so on to the third excuse — regime change. I wonder if Saddam had quietly stepped aside if the Americans would have manufactured yet another excuse for attacking Iraq. Food for thought.

JEREMY BOYD
Soogrim Street
Gulf View