- Now we know. The Americans have spelt it out in black
and white. There will be a world government, but not one even pretending
to be comprised of representatives of its nation states through the United
Nations. The United States will rule, and not according to painstakingly
developed international law and norms, but by what is in its interests.
-
- In declaring itself dictator of the world, The United
States will have no accountability to non-United States citizens. It will
bomb who it likes when it likes, and change regimes when and as it sees
fit, it will not be subject to investigations for war crimes, for torture,
or for breaches of fundamental human rights.
-
- When it asks the United Nations to move against Iraq,
it is not demanding agreement to a strong case for action. It now admits
it has no evidence that Iraq is preapring to use weapons of mass destruction
against any other country. The Americans have stopped pretending, and now
demand outright capitulation to its hegemony. The world will be policed
in American interests. Full stop.
-
- So now American history screams from background discussion
to the forefront of debate. The Americans - despite their promises to be
a benevolent dictatorship, do not aim to build, stabilise, and promote
democracies. They aim to impose puppets, and agree to Faustian deals which
brutalise and disempower citizens. They pay no heed to the disastrous results
of such dictatorships when imposed in the past.
-
- Australia's choice is to become a non-enfranchised satellite
state of the United States - and thus responsible for its aggression and
a legitimate target for those fighting to win back countries the Americans
take by force, or to fight like hell to save the United Nation's dream
of world government by negotiation.
-
- The United Nations itself - the dream of multilateral
solutions to problems only the world acting together can solve, is on the
brink of collapse. This could be one hell of a debate, and I can't see
Labor going for American unilateralism and the crushing of the UN. Yes,
it's true, much of the sentiment against United State's behaviour is anti-American.
It's also pro-Australian, French, or whatever country you feel you belong
to.
-
- The stunning New York Times scoop - publishing President
Bush's new national security strategy, to be given to Congress - is a frightening
document. But as David Plumb said in The Crusade's progress, "It is
time to stop being outraged by the directness and aggression of realpolitic".
What can the rest of the world do?
-
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- First published September 22, 2002
- http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/09/22/1032055033082.html
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