The demand by the so called International Community that Iran gives up any ambition to develop its nuclear weapons, or the recently leaked document which described how the leader of the free world, George W. Bush, had to be persuaded not to bomb the head office of one of the world’s most popular new stations Al Jazeera, or the attack on Syria for alleged complicity in the assassination of Lebanese leader Mr Rafik Hariri, all these well planned acts will have serious repercussions on the fragile stability and peace in the Middle East.

However, the world is right in asking for the need to find those responsible for the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister. Any official complicity in such nefarious acts must be investigated and the perpetrators punished. But it seems that the international community is as incapable of finding out who the assassin is just as it was unable to find out whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or not. Or is it just propaganda put out by the US and backed by the United Nations and the Security Council against some countries in the Middle East? The American administration is accusing Syria and Iran of supporting terrorism, of interfering in the affairs of neighbouring countries and of having a destabilising influence in the Middle East. It is easy to put all the blame on Syria and Iran when it comes to what is happening in the Middle East, if not the whole world! But one has to understand that Syria did not cause the 1975–1990 civil war in Lebanon, which it helped to end. The US administration is blaming Syria and Iran for what is happening in the Middle East mainly because these countries do not support American policies of self-interest in the region.

Both Syria and Iran

did not support the “liberation armies” that went

to “liberate’ the Iraqi people from one of the most

vicious dictators of modern times.

Unfortunately, this “liberation army”, which went to spread democracy and freedom to this part of the world, has a record in Iraq which is even more disgraceful and inhuman, if not downright criminal. This morally motivated “liberation army” used phosphorus chemical weapons to bombard civilians in the Iraqi city of Fallujah. So this is one outcome of the civilizing mission in Iraq – men, women and children burnt to death! In the past, Saddam Hussein had used chemical weapons to kill 5000 Kurds in the north, and his campaigns to suppress rebellious Shiite and Kurds in the 1980s left 175,000 people missing, presumed dead.

So what is the point of going to war to liberate the Iraqi people from the oppression of the dictator Saddam Hussein, who committed hideous crimes against humanity, if you are going to behave just as badly? The death or torture of every Iraqi by the Americans, or Palestinian by the Israeli forces, is a setback for all those who defend the values and morals of civilised society.

In 1987, Israel became the only country in the world to effectively legalise torture. In addition to this, since September 2000 Israeli occupying forces have killed some 4,000 Palestinians, 1,000 of whom the Israelis said were fighters. The Jewish State has implemented the policy of mass demolition of Palestinian houses in the occupied territories; since September 2000 it has destroyed some 4,170 Palestinian homes. The annihilation of these houses is a form of collective punishment and it also maximises the area available for Jewish settlers. In fact, Amnesty International described Israel’s destruction of Palestinian homes as war crimes. The award winning New York Times journalist Chris Hedges reported that Israeli occupation forces lure children like mice into a trap and murder them for sport.

Getting Tehran to give up any ambition to develop nuclear weapons would depend on whether Israel was brought into the equation or not. The situation is not really sustainable when there is Israel with the capability of 200 nuclear heads while everyone else is part of the non-proliferation programme. Israel’s arsenal of nuclear weapons is a real and dangerous threat to the whole Middle East region. This is a very emotional issue in the Middle East, and Israel like the rest of the region should be part of the non-proliferation programme.

After failing to put an end to the Iraqi war, the international community must now be well aware of what could happen if another country in the Middle East is pushed into another war – the consequences will be tragic. The latest developments in the Middle East require that all the powers involved in the Middle East problems to cool down a little, and think twice about the likely grim future of more destruction, more killing and more chaos.

Moustafa Megawer

QAWRA