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i-NSIDER/No.107/March 23, 2003
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WAR AGAINST IRAQ Journal (1)
-- Isn't this a terror attack by America? |
In the afternoon of March 20 Japan Time, the US bombing started. The first strike came a few days earlier than expected. It was of a smaller size and with limited targets. The US intelligence agencies had been informed, according to the American press, that President Hussein and his entourage were to gather at a private house in southern Baghdad. Mr. Bush judged this was the best chance to hit him. Iraqi officials later announced that a presidential palace and Hussein's family's residences were among the targets, but that their hosts, Hussein's wives, and his daughters were away at that moment and were safe and sound. The way the US started the strikes tells you what kind of war it is. Their objective is to eliminate Saddam Hussein. Both the international community and the UN previously asked Iraq to
clarify and respond to the widespread fear that the Iraqis may possess
weapons of mass destruction(WMD). If they possessed WMD, they should disarm
themselves completely and bona fide. To achieve this goal, UN inspectors
should be given enough time for their activities. Suppose the UN inspection did not work for Iraq. Would war be a legitimate
and effective means to disarm the country? It is not so clear. We are
still wondering whether it was right to invade Afghanistan because of
the 9/11 terror attack. Even if the US could give a good reason to persuade the international community about Iraqi WMD, they could only wage a war whose purpose is to remove those weapons. They should not add other purposes, such as to assassinate Hussein or to "democratize" the Iraqi people. It is not justified until they have shown us enough proofs and reasons why they should topple the regime, which was established supposedly by general election. Ignoring all these arguments, the US started the war. We can see the White House mentality in Vice-President Dick Cheney's words; "The world has changed since 9/11. People in other countries don't understand this change." Mr. Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who is the director of the International Division of the Yomiuri, quoted this in his article of March 21, commenting that "The war against Iraq is justifiable from this viewpoint... President Hussein continued to betray the UN weapons inspections, and it is America's nightmare to get another attack from terrorists who may be provided weapons by a ferocious and cunning dictator like Saddam Hussein." He showed sympathy for fearful Americans. If it is OK to kill anyone who seems threatening, then how about Takeshi Hattori's case? Hattori was a Japanese student who was shot by a fearful American when Hattori was making a Halloween visit. Generally speaking, trying to kill a president and his family is an act of terrorism. When you try to kill a foreign leader, you are an international terrorist. America was so shocked by the terror attack of 9/11 and has become so paranoid that it now behaves like a terrorist group. |
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