Trail of terror

Two weeks after US and British troops invaded Iraq without United Nations authorisation the heroic resistance of the Iraqi people continues. The contemptuous brushing aside of the UN and the shameless negation of its role as a forum for resolving international disputes has set a dangerous precedent. The world will not easily forget the manner in which the US and Britain sidelined the UN, nor will it forgive the disastrous repercussions.

The Iraqis have not recoiled in fear before the massed fire power of the invaders as was widely trailed by Washington and London. Apart from the small garrison town of Umm Qasr across the border from Kuwait no major Iraqi towns have succumbed to the invaders.

Humanitarian considerations have become paramount. It is clear that the Iraqi people do not regard the invading British and American troops as liberators.

The road to Baghdad has been strewn with cluster bombs, electromagnetic pulse bombs and the dreaded Missile Ordinance Air Blast (MOAB), the so-called Mother of All Bombs. The battle for Iraq's major cities, and especially the capital Baghdad, will necessitate a ruinous intermingling with the urban civilian population of Iraq. Such combat can only aggravate the already widespread anger felt by the Iraqi people, and by Arab and Muslim peoples.

The extensive damage and wanton destruction of Iraq's civilian infrastructure has to be repaired by the aggressors. Oil installations, power stations, water and sewerage systems must be repaired and rebuilt at no cost to Iraq.

Difficult moral and ethical issues must be confronted head on. The reconstruction of post-war Iraq must not become a nauseating jamboree for US businesses with close connections to the Bush administration.