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| Sunday, 23 March 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 Awe Today, American and British soldiers are engaged heroically in the Gulf in an endeavour to make the world a safer place for all. Their courage and sacrifice will be historic and the world community will pray that their objective will be achieved with the minimum of tragedy and the maximum positive results. United States military commanders are describing the terrifyingly massive bombardment of Iraqi cities as a 'shock and awe' campaign. The stated intention seems to be to overawe the Iraqi establishment and reduce resistance to the invading forces. At the same time the international community is also reacting in shock to the actions of the United States and its allies, principally the United Kingdom and Australia - for reasons other than the impact of the raw fire power of the attacking forces. The world community is reacting, with shock rather than awe,over the way the US and its allies have, at least temporarily, side-stepped the democratic process and the decision-making institutions at global level in initiating the military onslaught. There is no question that the formally stated intentions of Washington and its allies in attacking Iraq are laudable and eminently reasonable. The primary issue in relation to Iraq has been its weapons capability, especially weapons of mass destruction, and Baghdad's propensity for aggression against its neighbours as well as its record of use of its deadly weaponry. Today humanity is no longer a collection of loosely linked or isolated polities and communities. The world is so closely knit that all communities and states are easily vulnerable to the actions of each other, whether it is in trade, ecological depredations or military action. The misbehaviour of individual states today destabilise whole regions and sometimes may negatively affect the whole Earth. That is why the role of the international institutions is of critical importance to global stability and the well-being of all communities and states. That is why the world community does have a responsibility and a right to intervene in any country and region to ensure that that overall stability is not endangered. That is why those nations that have shown leadership at global level and which possess the economic, political and military capability have a responsibility towards the world community to use their capability and contribute their resources to ensure that global stability and economic development. The US and the other rich and powerful nations have long played this leadership role. But the management of global affairs can only be done by collective decision-making institutions at a global level. The international community has grown, in the past half-century, to appreciate and uphold the United Nations system, along with other, subsequently established, institutions of global management such as the WTO and other bodies and international legal mechanisms. Today these are the ultimate,though yet imperfect, source of global democracy and governance. That is why the recent failure of the US and its allies to adhere to the UN process in relation to Iraq has sent shock waves through the international community. Indeed, the awe and esteem with which American and British democratic traditions have been held by all of humanity is suddenly endangered by the launching of a war sans the collective sanction of the community of nations gathered in the UN. The US and its allies now bear the challenge of returning as quickly as possible to the UN fold and proceeding with all future actions in relation to Iraq via the global collective decision-making process. It is only such a rapid submission to the global system of governance that will redeem these leaderships and legitimise their undeniably honourable intentions. More importantly, it will guarantee the future of this system so vital as it is for global peace and prosperity. Ultimately democracy in Iraq can only be built by people and forces who are themselves practising that democracy. It is only then that the shock will dissipate and awe return. |
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