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http://www.dawn.com/2002/10/09/ed.htm#1 Dawn (Pakistan) October 9, 2002 Editorial More of war hysteria -Evidently, Washington is more interested in making a terrible example of Iraq than in preventing it from developing weapons of mass destruction. Obviously, it is regime change that Washington is after and not inspection or even Iraq's disarmament. -An attack on Iraq will be a grave mistake that will open the floodgates of chaos and anarchy in the region. The main beneficiary of a collapse of Iraq will be religious militants. -By accepting fresh inspections without any preconditions, Iraq has closed the door on war; let America, reciprocate. Let the inspectors go back and do their job, and let the sanctions - which have killed more than half a million Iraqi children - be lifted. Monday's speech by President George Bush seems to take his war rhetoric to a new pitch. Designed to garner more support from his people, the speech revealed a mind-set that is obsessed with Iraq and, more particularly, its president, Saddam Hussein. Clearly, Mr Bush is working overtime to build a war psychosis as a prelude to an invasion of Iraq. This at a time when opposition to a new war is growing within his own country, with the American people demanding more attention for the economy. There was, of course, no dearth of adjectives Mr Bush used against President Saddam Hussein, calling him a "murderous tyrant" whose "nuclear holy warriors" would unleash a war on the US. What surprises neutral observers is the continued hammering of the war theme in President Bush's speeches despite Iraq's decision to let the arms inspectors back in. Last week, Iraq and the UN reached complete agreement in which Baghdad agreed to give "immediate, unconditional and unrestricted access" to all sites, including the eight presidential palaces. If the Bush administration's aim is to prevent Iraq from developing weapons of mass destruction, it should welcome the Iraq-UN agreement. Instead, by ignoring Iraq's carte blanche to the inspectors, Mr Bush is giving an impression as if he feels disappointed that Saddam Hussein should have denied him the opportunity to have a go at Iraq. The permanent members of the Security Council are yet to hammer out an agreed draft on Iraq, but the Bush administration has already sabotaged the inspectors' early return by manipulating their departure plan. In fact, when Chief Inspector Hans Blix announced that the team would wait for a new UN resolution before going to Iraq, one knew what had caused the change in the earlier stance. Even then, Iraq's ambassador to the UN said his country would not reject any new resolution but consider it when it was available. He correctly said that Baghdad wanted to "finish" this problem and see sanctions lifted. If President Bush wants a strong resolution from the UN, he is most likely to get it. He will also have the kind of authorization he seeks from Congress. But the least he can do is to wait for the Iraqi reaction to a new UN resolution before pouncing on that hapless country. Evidently, Washington is more interested in making a terrible example of Iraq than in preventing it from developing weapons of mass destruction. Obviously, it is regime change that Washington is after and not inspection or even Iraq's disarmament. An attack on Iraq will be a grave mistake that will open the floodgates of chaos and anarchy in the region. The main beneficiary of a collapse of Iraq will be religious militants. They hate pro-US regimes in the Arab world more than they hate America. More important, moderate opinion in the Arab and Muslim world will then be swept aside by the extremists, thereby strengthening those very forces which preach and practise violence as a mode of political action. Common sense demands that America move away from the warpath. Iraq has already agreed to inspections; let the US, too, agree to this - something it has been demanding for long. By accepting fresh inspections without any preconditions, Iraq has closed the door on war; let America, reciprocate. Let the inspectors go back and do their job, and let the sanctions - which have killed more than half a million Iraqi children - be lifted. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos & More http://faith.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
