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The
Reconstruction of Iraq Must Be Led By the United Nations,
Not the United States
By: Laurie
Manis
04/06/03
George W. Bush has taken the United States to
war in contempt of the U.S. Constitution and in criminal defiance of
the UN Charter. As a result, a horrifying majority of the
world's population now views America as the single greatest threat
to world peace.
"To initiate a war of aggression,
therefore, is not only an international crime, it is the supreme
international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it
contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole."
-- International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, 1946
We disregard this world-view at our
peril. Might not a preemptive, unilateral attack be launched
against this country, including a "regime change", in
order to safeguard peace and preserve the sovereignty of nations?
After all, we set the precedent.
We may never know how many scores of civilians
were killed or maimed by our invasion of Iraq. Nevertheless, Saddam
Hussein has shown remarkable restraint in the use of his
fabled weapons of mass destruction, leading one to wonder if he, in
fact, truly did not have them at his disposal.
Thus, the Administration's latest spin is that
we are fighting for Iraqi freedom, despite a dearth of Iraqi
citizens greeting our troops with kisses and flowers. Rather, they
are showing outright hostility to their liberators. It
would seem that as much as they may hate Saddam, they love
their homeland more.
Nevertheless, Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon
continue to press for a U.S. occupation of Iraq. In short, they want
to win the peace the way the U.S. pushed for war: alone.
Not including the United Nations in post-war
planning only will further enflame anti-American hatred in
the Arab world, which will breed more terrorism. The exclusion
of the United Nations also will further alienate estranged
allies, creating a permanent rift between us and the countries upon
which we rely for cooperation in the war on terrorism.
The decision on how post-war Iraq is to be
managed will be made in the next several days. Please contact your
elected representatives and urge them to oppose the unilateralism
that already has done so much damage.
It is time for America to mend her fences and
mend them fast; we must never forget what was achieved
with a few box cutters.
Laurie Manis
Military Families Speak Out
Rock Island, IL
"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger." -- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials
Bio:
Laurie Manis is the daughter of a WWII veteran, the widow of a Viet
Nam veteran and the mother of a Navy Reservist. She was a plaintiff
in the anti-war lawsuit against President Bush and is a member of
Military Families Speak Out.
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