Peace still has a chance January 18 2003
Iraq may yet be disarmed peacefully, if sufficient pressure is exerted on it.
If the peace movement could ever have been dismissed as a fringe movement, it clearly no longer can be. In an AC Nielsen AgePoll published today, 30 per cent of Australians said Australia should not be involved in war against Iraq. A far higher proportion - 62 per cent - said Australia should be involved only as part of a United Nations-approved force. Only 6 per cent of respondents supported war on Iraq without UN approval.
The results are similar to opinion polls in other countries, which find people are more likely to approve of military action if it has the backing of the UN Security Council. The majority of polls also indicate that support for war in general has dropped considerably since the last Iraq crisis more than a decade ago. If it is the case that mankind is slowly losing its appetite for war, this can only be applauded.
However, it is also encouraging that most people are able to understand the difference between one country waging war on another, and military action that has the sanction of the UN Security Council, the international body that has as its charter the maintenance of peace and security and the removal of threats to peace.
There is no doubt that a Saddam Hussein armed with nuclear, chemical or biological weapons is a serious threat to world peace and security. There is ample evidence that Iraq has been trying to develop such weapons, if it has not already succeeded, and that it has been devious and dishonest in its dealings with UN weapons inspectors. However, there remains a chance that war can be averted and that Iraq can be disarmed by diplomatic pressure.
The only way this will happen is for the international community to continue to heap warnings and pressure on Iraq - which is what the US and British administrations are doing, though with the added threat of acting without the imprimatur of the UN. The first official report of the UN weapons inspection team is due to be presented to the Security Council on January 27. The evidence must then be assessed before any decisions are made about further action. The best hope is that a final ultimatum from the Security Council will appeal to Saddam Hussein's instinct for survival.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has a task ahead if it wants to convince Australians either that this war is justified, or that we should be part of it. Part of the problem is the government's own apparent ambivalence. It has wavered between seemingly uncritical support for the US and, perhaps sensing the public mood, statements about the importance of UN backing. The opposition now says it will not support military action that does not have UN approval, while reserving its right to support a US-led strike in the event that a single member of the Security Council uses its veto to block UN action. But it has taken far too long to make its position clear. On such an issue, people are entitled to know exactly where their leaders stand. |
