I have been following the US invasion of Iraq for some time — ever since the Americans began their campaign to convince the world of the necessity for such an action until now.
I have come to the conclusion that it is not in the interest of global security that the US succeeds in its mission in Iraq.
There are certain principles that the US is trying to establish, through its adventure in Iraq, in the field of international relations that are of a highly dangerous and pernicious nature.
One of these is that the end justifies the means.
This principle is one that has been rejected by most legal systems around the world; it is seen as the remnant of a barbarous past the world is trying to forget.
The other principle is that might is right.
The Americans would have us believe that simply because they are stronger than most other countries they have the right to dictate to the weaker states how they must behave.
The last principle is that the US can and must pursue its own narrowly defined national interest with absolutely no regard to international treaties, impact on other countries or world public opinion.
In other words it is legitimate for the US to behave as though its own interests were the only ones that mattered in an increasingly globalized world.
To support all of this the US now advocates the policy of pre-emptive wars.
This policy legitimizes the US attack on any country that is identified by the US government as being a potential threat to the US sometime in the future.
What kind of a threat? When will it be a threat? Does this justify a full-scale military attack?
These are all questions at the sole discretion of US administration and with absolutely no reference to any kind of international law. At this point, it is important to note that what is sauce for the goose is also sauce for the gander.
By that I mean that the American people must understand that if they accept the legitimization of “might is right” and “end justifies means” and “pre-emptive war” in the international field, it will only be a matter of time before those same principles will be applied at the national level by their government.
They will soon (if not already) be at the business end of their own F-16s unless they wholeheartedly reject these principles at all levels and by any state.
By pursuing these policies the US has put itself in direct opposition to the trends in international law and world public opinion that have been laboriously formulated after the end of World War I.
It is also destroying the principles on which international bodies such as the United Nations were founded.
It is legitimate to ask: Just what is the role of the US in world politics today? Why should they continue to be regarded as the leaders of the free world?
Therefore we must pray for an abject failure of US policy in Iraq. Their failure will mean the failure of this dangerous, precedent-setting experiment and will discredit the advocates within the US of the immoral and illegitimate use of US power and will strengthen the cause of international law and public opinion.
