U.S. quest for hegemony has no prospect for success -- Akahata editorial, January 22U.S. President George W. Bush in his State of the Union address on January 20 (local time) expressed the U.S. intention to launch a preemptive attack against other nations without a U.N. resolution, saying, "America is on the offensive against the terrorists." Bush also said, "Our greatest responsibility is the active defense of the American people," adding that "America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country."
He also sought to justify the lawless U.S. war against Iraq by saying, "Had we failed to act, the dictator's weapons of mass destruction programs would continue to this day." However, he failed to offer grounds for such an argument.
Lawless war will provoke further terrorist attacks
In last year's State of the Union address, President Bush declared the U.S. intention of attacking Iraq on the allegations that Iraq may possess "weapons of mass destruction". One year has passed since then, but no "weapons of mass destruction" have been unearthed. Bush had to push the "war on terrorism" as the main theme of his State of the Union address this year. This shows that the war, which started on false allegations, was unjustifiable.
President Bush said, "The world without Saddam Hussein's regime is a better and safer place." But the reality in Iraq is that even the headquarters of the U.S. occupation forces are targeted and U.S. forces are attacked everyday.
The lawless war and the subsequent illegal occupation are contributing to creating a convenient atmosphere for terrorism and violence, attracting terrorists to Iraq. Even before the Iraq War, President Bush couldn't present any evidence that connects Iraq and the 9/11 attack. It's obvious that he can no longer justify the lawless war of aggression on the pretext of the "war on terrorism".
Nevertheless, President Bush expressed the U.S. intention to wage wars under the name of "war on terrorism" without U.N. backing. Such an act destroys the international peace and imposes an order of war and oppression on the world.
The president said, "America is pursuing a forward strategy of freedom in the greater Middle East." This is a manifestation of the U.S. ambition for hegemony and unilateralism that is seeking to control the world by military strength.
This ambition of the U.S. Bush administration has come under fire from the international community and its failure becomes deeper.
The United States declared war on Iraq in defiance of anti-war calls of the world's peoples and objections expressed by about 70 percent of the world's governments. The United States, having failed to have the United Nations adopt a resolution approving the use of force, is still operating without any U.N. resolution endorsing the war and occupation.
The increasing confusion in Iraq mainly stems from the fact that the lawless war and the subsequent military occupation have faced resistance from a wide range of the Iraqi people.
The Bush administration's plan to establish a puppet government under the cover of "a transition to full Iraqi sovereignty" in an attempt to continue de facto occupation is further rousing the Iraqi people's anger.
Their anger is expressed by the call of thousands of demonstators for a direct election, who are shouting "No to America" at the U.S. occupation forces.
In the world in the 21st century, the call for an international order based on the peace principles of the United Nations Charter will develop to have the power to influence international politics, representing the majority opinion of U.N. members.
This movement will not condone the ambition of a great power to proceed unhindered to set up a puppet regime after waging a lawless war of aggression.
Join the international movement for a hopeful future
Unilateralism seeking hegemony through war and suppression has no hope.
The U.S. president mentioned Japan and some other "coalition of the willing" partners that are deploying troops to Iraq. But these countries are a minority, accounting for less than 20 percent of U.N. members.
The Japanese people's struggle in opposition to sending the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq is important in that it is an expression of solidarity with the peoples of the rest of the world in calling for a hopeful international community in which rules of peace established in the U.N. Charter are respected. (end)