Quietness Be Given Back to the Gulf Region: Commentary

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, January 06, 2003

Quietness Be Given Back to the Gulf Region: Commentary

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At the turn of the year, while people are ringing out the old year and ringing in the new, they also concern themselves with the Iraq issue. The United States is waving the big stick of "toppling Saddam Hussein", busily preparing military deployments.

At the time when the intense situation may evolve into war at any time, rising voices against war to be launched against Iraq are heard from various parts of the world. People of many countries stage demonstrations and hold rallies, going hither and thither to cry for peace. Some champions of peace even risk their lives, ready to travel from thousands of miles away to Baghdad to voice support for the Iraqi people, in the hope of preventing the outbreak of war.

After a joint letter was sent by more than 100 performing artists of Hollywood to US President George W. Bush on December 20 last year, which earnestly called him not to launch war against Iraq, a well-known director and film star recently paid a three-day visit to Baghdad with an aim of seeing with his own eyes the living conditions of the Baghdad people, only in this way, he noted, "can I see whether or not my own hands are also stained with their blood". Earlier, this film star also had his open letter to Bush published in the "Washington Post" at his own expense of US$60,000, the letter criticizes the unwise move to be taken by the United States to drive Iraq to the blind alley, saying that Bush's policy toward Iraq can only bring more misfortune.

According to a recent report from the "British Observer", a former US marine corps member organized a group of anti-war personages, who will set off on January 10, 2003 to get across the entire continent of Europe, they will hold rallies in a dozen famous cities and gather together as many volunteers as possible to go to Baghdad. This marine member indicates that they will dwell in civil buildings, such as dams and power plants, and form a "human wall" with their own bodies to block the air raids by US fighter planes. What is more thought provoking is that the marine member once participated in the 1991 Gulf War and was awarded a medal. But this time he took the lead in joining the anti-war contingent. He indicated that his experience in the Gulf War made him bitterly hate the American policy of interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. He said the reason why he returns to Iraq is partly because he wants to express his apologies for what he had once done in the country.

Defending peace and promoting development are the themes of the present times. War does not help solve disputes, but can only plunge the people of the belligerent parties into misery of heavy disasters and hardships. At the time when all mankind are expecting peace and stability in the new year, stopping a possible Iraqi war has become the common aspirations of the people of all countries around the world. It is said that Prince Charles of Britain also has certain reservations about attacks on Iraq, and for this reason, his plan for visiting the United States has been rejected. Even in the government and the public of the United States, there are plenty of people who adopt an attitude of opposition to and reservation about military attacks against Iraq and advocate peacefully solving the Iraq issue. Actually, the present Iraqi crisis has many points different from the previous Gulf War, countries which once supported the use of force against Iraq also have different degrees of reservations, more importantly, popular will in the Middle East region and the world at large generally oppose the act of war. To avoid the flames of war, the overwhelming majority of countries emphasize solving differences through political channels, particularly solving the Iraq issue peacefully within the framework of the United Nations, not in the way that what one country or several countries say that count.

The beautiful and prosperous Mesopotamia Plain has bred splendid civilization of the two rivers and has nurtured the industrious and intelligent Iraqi people. Over the past dozen years or so, the Iraqi people have suffered a great deal from economic sanctions. Thousands upon thousands of Iraqi civilians and children have died of diseases and famine. There is now the tendency of "the city may crumble under the mass of dark clouds" in Baghdad, and this has burdened the world's peace-loving people with worries. They long for peace, hoping that the haze of war will be dispelled and that an auspicious and tranquil clear sky will be returned to the Gulf region.

By People's Daily Online

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