PD Commentary on US Start of War against Iraq

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, March 26, 2003

PD Commentary on US Start of War against Iraq

The People's Daily, the Communist Party newspaper of China, on Friday issued a commentary on the United States-led war against Iraq, terming it a war lacking legality and a war lacking moral strength.

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At 10:15 in the night of March 19 local time (11:15 on the morning of March 20 Beijing time), US President George W. Bush declared the start of the war launched by the United States and its allies to overthrow the Iraqi government while making a televised speech in White House to the whole nation. At the same time, US forces launched air strikes on Baghdad. The Iraqi crisis that has been plaquing the world has unfortunately evolved into the Iraqi War.

This is a war lacking legality. The already erupted Iraqi War lacks the authorization of the United Nations, most of the 15 member countries of the UN Security Council as well as the Arab League, the European Union and other important regional international organizations all expressed their objection or dissent in regard to this war. Since the Resolution 1441 was passed by the UN Security Council on November 8 last year, the inspection work by the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UN MOVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had been proceeding effectively, the mainstream opinion of the Security Council members hold that the inspection work should be continued, and the road to a political solution has not ended.

This is a war lacking moral strength. During the period when the Iraqi crisis persisted, extensive anti-war peaceful actions rose one after another across the world, reflecting the human society's general resentment against the acts of the abuse of armed forces.

War will inevitably bring humanistic disasters and will exert adverse effects on the peace, stability and development of the Mid-east region and the whole world. At present, people are particularly concerned about the fate of the civilians in the war areas, praying for fewer harms to them.

The war broke out without the approval of the world and amidst the voice of objection. This reflects the objective existence of power politics in present-day international relations, it also mirrors the force of peace restricting war, and the multi-polar tendency's containment of unilateralism, and its limitations.

The war that broke out in the Middle East region full of complicated contradictions will bring many unpredictable uncertain factors on the regional pattern and a lot of volatility to the future world. Nevertheless, this war is, after all, a regional war, it will not go to the length of changing the basic global trend and development orientation.

After the start of US military attacks on Iraq, China expressed serious concerns over the situation. On the very day the war broke out, Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement, strongly appealing the countries concerned to stop military actions and return to the framework of the United Nations and seek a political solution of the Iraq issue by peaceful means. China holds that launching military strife on Iraq in defiance of world people's objection and bypassing the United Nations goes against the UN Charter and international law.

The Iraq War gives a warning to the peace-loving people: Peace should not be merely a kind of wish. The Chinese people have deeply realized from their historical experiences that in the era when hegemony and power politics still exist, the most important thing is to concentrate our efforts on running our own affairs well. Only by working hard for the prosperity of the country and concentrating our energy on pushing up the country's comprehensive strength, can we have strength to defend our own peaceful life and can we make more contributions to the defense of world peace.

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