March 18-24, 2004

slant

Our Year of War

Time to let the U.N. take over.

by Flavio Lotti

It’s the same omission from previous discussions about the efficiency of the United Nations in resolving conflicts. The current debate on the world body’s ability to rectify the disasters left by the war in Iraq, to rebuild the country and to lead it to democracy leaves out a fundamental fact: that the strength or weakness of the United Nations depends solely on the will of and resources provided by its member states, beginning with those that make up the Security Council.

In truth, only intervention by the United Nations, with the appropriate powers and resources, is capable of ending the reigning violence, preventing civil war, depriving terrorism of space and support and protecting the human rights of the Iraqis.

The Iraqis are the first to demand the intervention of the United Nations to accelerate and guide the devolution of sovereign powers to this occupied nation, such as the organization of free and democratic elections.

Recently, the dispatch of a U.N. mission to discuss with all Iraqi parties ways to hold free elections was enough to open up new and important perspectives on a basis of dialogue and consensus.

Thus far the countries responsible for the war have demonstrated that they know how to destroy but they are not capable of building freedom, peace or democracy. Their battle plans were excellent; their peace plans were terrible.

The resolution of the grave local and international problems created by the war cannot occur without consideration of the way it was conceived and waged:

• This war was conceived in clear violation of international law and was therefore an illegal act.

• The occupation, which was thus a consequence of an illegal act, is similarly illegal.

• The war was justified through manipulation, deceit and the invocation of false and inconsistent dangers and motives.

• The war brought about the end of the regime of Saddam Hussein but has submerged the country in chaos and violence. For the Iraqi people, the suffering not only is ongoing; in many ways it is even more severe. In this sense, the war isn't over but simply continues in new and terrible forms.

• Iraq of the so-called "postwar" has been transformed into one giant battlefield. What we now have is a war of wars: the U.S. war against terrorism, the war against the U.S. occupation, the war of the fundamentalists against the U.S. occupation and the domestic war to win power.

This alarming picture demonstrates yet another failure of the military option. War isn't a useful instrument to "improve the world." It doesn't resolve problems; it aggravates them. It plugs one hole but opens up another 10.

The reconstruction efforts of the occupying forces have thus far brought no palpable benefit to the Iraqi people. The U.S. plan for reconstruction, which was defined as oriented toward the establishment of a "free-market democracy," was very efficient in its destruction of existing institutions and the armed forces and in privatizing state industries, but it has been a complete failure in building a new democratic state. Similarly, the security concept of the occupation troops and its implementation -- in part delegated to private and mercenary companies -- simply does not address the needs of the civilian population.

The result is that insecurity, humiliation, frustration and discontent are rife in the population. Religious, ethnic and tribal groups are growing stronger. Organized crime is proliferating. The devastation of Iraqi society spreads and its fragmentation deepens as the country speeds toward Balkanization. And all of this is hailed as "the passage from dictatorship to freedom."

A radical change in policy is urgently needed that gives the U.N. intervention in Iraq credibility -- and support.

Flavio Lotti is secretary general of the Round Table for Peace. If you would like to respond to this Slant or have one of your own (850 words), contact Howard Altman, City Paper editor in chief, 123 Chestnut St., third floor, Phila., PA 19106 or e-mail altman@citypaper.net.