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| Sunday, 9 February 2003 |
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Editor, Sunday Observer. E-mail: [email protected] Snail mail : Sunday Observer, 35, D.R.Wijewardana Mawatha, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Telephone : 94 1 429239 / 331181 Fax : 94 1 429230 US The United States of America may wield the most formidable military capability ever in the history of human civilisation and Washington may have unleashed its powers of mass destruction in ways that no other nation may have done but, in doing so, the world's nations have largely been convinced that America has acted in defence of that civilisation. That is because the US is, and always has been, a bulwark of Western-style democracy. When the United States dropped atom bombs on Japanese cities in the ferocious closing stages of the Second World War, it had the moral support of countries and societies that upheld the strongest systems of modern democracy. And the States it fought against in that world war had not only politically regressed into dictatorships and authoritarianism but were also aggressively imposing their domination over other nations. It is this moral high ground that the United States and its Western allies held in that period and have held on many other occasions of international, political and military action since then. The United Nations Organisation was born in the aftermath of World War II specifically because the Western democracies realised the value of such international collective action and the need for a more structured system of inter-State relations that would ensure world peace. The US today, in keeping with its commitment to global peace and democracy is once again engaged in intensive international consultations in attempting to restrain a state, Iraq, that has recently not only acted very aggressively against neighbouring states but has also subjected its own citizens to repression. Iraq is known to have used weapons of mass destruction in at least one major inter-state war against Iran and also against selected sections of its own citizens in counter-insurgency campaigns. On the other hand Washington is firmly adhering to practices of democratic consultation and the observation of established international norms, the UN process and international law. Every action and policy adopted by the Bush administration has been done in consultation with the UN. Since it is only this commitment to the very body and global legal system it helped found that provides legitimacy to the United States' actions, the world community will do well to actively support Washington and encourage its continuing commitment to enforce world peace and democracy by means of internationally and collectively endorsed actions. Them Given the nature of the globalised world in which we live, many of the world's smaller countries and economies are already beginning to suffer the impact of war even before war has begun. This country's exports and imports have been affected while our industry has to make costly preparations in anticipation of the disruption of international trade routes and logistics. Whole communities are living in worry about the fate of their kin currently based in the Persian Gulf region as expatriate workers. This scenario is applicable to the whole South Asian region. But the South Asian nations are today bound together in a forum of international solidarity, SAARC, and are acutely aware of the need for collective action in order that the international system, both regional as well as global, remains stable and viable. Thus, the preparations for war in the neighbouring Gulf region must be seen not as some alien activity outside the concerns of our region. This 'us and them' attitude will not serve our regional interests. Rather, South Asia must actively and constructively join in the global community's collective action in enforcing peace and stability in our neighbourhood. |
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