Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded the coalition forces in the Gulf War to liberate Kuwait from the Iraqi occupation, has expressed opposition to the proposed US war on Iraq to oust President Saddam Hussein.

Nothing strange in a US military commander criticizing his country’s policies and joining the ranks of the opposition. America is a democratic country, which honors differences of opinion even if they concern strategic political and military issues.

Schwarzkopf, the Gulf War veteran, had genuine reasons for opposing the war. He wanted diplomacy to be given more chance before launching the war, because the war will have dangerous consequences, not only in terms of human and economic losses but also in terms of losing friends in the region.

Almost all Arab countries, especially the influential ones, have opposed the war and this should not be ignored by the US president.

A war against Iraq by the US without the support of a broader coalition would definitely affect its credibility in Arab countries. It will thus harm American diplomacy and have far reaching consequences. America is in need of these countries in its war on terrorism to provide intelligence and information to stop threats against its security.

The American general also believes that the war’s success could not be determined in advance and its objectives could not be guaranteed. He also insisted that the administration look at the war on Iraq with a perspective different from the one they had at the Gulf War to oust Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

By launching a new war, the US aims to oust Saddam and change the regime in Baghdad. But according to Schwarzkopf, it would not be an easy task and US would face a lot of difficulties. First, it would not be easy to locate the Iraqi president due to lack of information. Storming Baghdad will not be a difficult task, but to reach Saddam they have to shed a lot of blood by killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people. In light of these facts the general fears that Iraq would become another Somalia or Lebanon for US forces.

According to the general, a hasty decision on war would destabilize the region and divide the US-led coalition against terrorism. The views expressed by a military commander of Schwarzkopf stature, having long-standing experience, should not be ignored and dismissed as useless prattle.

After voicing his opposition to the war, the general has proposed other methods to oust Saddam from power.

Schwarzkopf wants America not to antagonize its friends in the region and make more preparations to cobble together a broader coalition like the one which liberated Kuwait from Iraqi forces. He believes that launching a war to oust Saddam ignoring the wishes of its friends and endangering Iraq’s unity would be a big blunder on the part of the Bush administration.

The Iraq war will also weaken the US position on the war on terrorism. Schwarzkopf’s views are a reflection of the thoughts of many US politicians and thinkers in both Democratic and Republican parties, and I don’t have any doubt that they would influence President Bush and the hawks in his administration.

We have seen the impact. Bush did not include Iraq in the agenda during his recent meeting with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Pentagon commanders at his Texas ranch. This indicates that the beating of the war drum has receded in recent weeks. While the whole world was waiting for a decision on the war on Iraq after the Texas meeting, Bush surprised everybody by just repeating what he had been saying about Saddam Hussein, without indicating whether he had any plans to launch a war in the near future. This clearly indicates that Bush is still hesitant.