Issue No. 606
Editorial
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3 - 9 October 2002 Issue No. 606 Editorial |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Closer than ever
The United States is pressing the Security Council for a resolution setting draconian rules and deadlines for UN weapons' inspectors to return to Iraq. Washington also wants authorisation to use military force against Iraq if Saddam Hussein does not comply. But while the international community, including the Arab and Muslim worlds, is unequivocal in its determination to resolve the Iraqi disarmament problem and to combat the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, it has grave reservations about the US approach to the crisis.
Washington's newly declared preemption doctrine and its relentless determination to strike Iraq regardless of world opinion is clearly not directed at monitoring Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons' facilities. Washington's seeming contempt for international legitimacy is exasperating even its closest European allies as well as politically alienating Arab and Muslim states.
The international community is at a defining moment in its history. Growing resentment among the US's Arab and European allies over Washington's Iraq policy cannot help the fight against terrorism. A deeply divided Western alliance will hamper the fight against terror, and terrorists will take heart as the world ponders the ramifications of Washington's head- strong policy.
Positive signals are emanating from Baghdad and public opinion in the Arab and Muslim worlds, emphatically against a US strike against Iraq, hopes that Washington will reciprocate and be more conciliatory. Baghdad has agreed to supply details on changes in its plants and equipment with a dual civilian and military use for the first time since the United Nations inspectors left Iraq in December 1998. Baghdad has made known its acceptance of the unconditional return of the international inspectors. The Iraqi authorities seem on the verge of accepting unfettered access by UN inspectors to the Iraqi Ministry of Defence facilities and the headquarters of the Republican Guard. A peaceful resolution of the Iraqi crisis might be closer than many suspect. Washington must give peace a chance.
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