diamond geezer
Mar 31, 2004, 01:19 PM
link (http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/31/1080544556309.html)
The Iraq war increased the danger of global terrorism by alienating moderate Muslims and diverting resources from the hunt for terrorists, Australia's most senior official at the United Nations said yesterday.
Assistant Secretary-General Ramesh Thakur told a seminar in Federal Parliament that far from dealing with terrorism, the war had fed the threat by estranging large parts of the Islamic world from the US.
Professor Thakur said the war had damaged US relations with the UN and with Europe and left the world's most powerful nation more isolated than at any time in recent memory.
The links between terrorism and Saddam Hussein were tenuous and the war had diverted US resources that should have been used to deal with terrorism.
Professor Thakur said the invasion of Iraq did not fit the formula for legitimate humanitarian intervention because the coalition's main motivation was clearly not humanitarian. In contrast, the interventions in East Timor and Kosovo had been humanitarian.
Professor Thakur said the coalition's main motivation might have been strategic, payback time on behalf of George Bush snr or a wish to establish a foothold for democracy.
The whole world seems to know it, apart from Americans.
Why is that?
The Iraq war increased the danger of global terrorism by alienating moderate Muslims and diverting resources from the hunt for terrorists, Australia's most senior official at the United Nations said yesterday.
Assistant Secretary-General Ramesh Thakur told a seminar in Federal Parliament that far from dealing with terrorism, the war had fed the threat by estranging large parts of the Islamic world from the US.
Professor Thakur said the war had damaged US relations with the UN and with Europe and left the world's most powerful nation more isolated than at any time in recent memory.
The links between terrorism and Saddam Hussein were tenuous and the war had diverted US resources that should have been used to deal with terrorism.
Professor Thakur said the invasion of Iraq did not fit the formula for legitimate humanitarian intervention because the coalition's main motivation was clearly not humanitarian. In contrast, the interventions in East Timor and Kosovo had been humanitarian.
Professor Thakur said the coalition's main motivation might have been strategic, payback time on behalf of George Bush snr or a wish to establish a foothold for democracy.
The whole world seems to know it, apart from Americans.
Why is that?
