19 - 25 September 2002 Issue No. 604 Editorial	Current issue Previous issue Site map
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Recommend this page

Warnings to be heeded

Former South African President and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Nelson Mandela, spoke for the majority of nations when he stated that "the attitude of the United States of America is a threat to world peace."

By preparing for military action against Iraq, Mandela said, the United States "is saying ... that if you are afraid of a veto in the Security Council, you can go outside and take action and violate the sovereignty of other countries...That is the message they are sending to the world. That must be condemned in the strongest terms...That's why I criticise most leaders all over the world for keeping quiet when one country wants to bully the whole world."

Only the US, Britain and Israel are beating the war drums against Baghdad, deaf to all warnings by Iraq's closest neighbours that such move can only result in increased suffering for the Iraqi people and disastrous consequences for the entire region.

Now that Iraq has accepted the return of inspectors, according to the UN Security Council resolutions, it has to be given a chance, granted the benefit of the doubt. And should Iraq turn out not to be sincere, it is the Security Council -- and not the US, acting unilaterally, that must decide what the next move will be.

As one Arab commentator said, US President George W Bush would have made much more sense in his speech in front of the UN last week had he replaced Iraq's name with that of Israel. Israel has, after all, exceeded Iraq in violating Security Council resolutions over more than half a century.

Back to Mandela, who had a clear message for the United States: "They think they are the only power in the world -- they are not. They are following a dangerous policy."

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