- NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former
U.S. president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter on Sunday condemned
preparations for a unilateral U.S. attack on Iraq, saying it would be an
unjust war "almost unprecedented in the history of civilized nations."
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- In an article in The New York Times, Carter said profound
changes in U.S. foreign policy had reversed "consistent bipartisan
commitments that for more than two centuries have earned our nation greatness."
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- Carter, who served as president from 1977 to 1981, said
that during his term he was "severely provoked by international crises."
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- "I became thoroughly familiar with the principles
of a just war, and it is clear that a substantially unilateral attack on
Iraq does not meet these standards," he said.
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- President Bush is facing widespread international opposition
to his threats to invade Iraq and topple President Saddam Hussein, who
Washington accuses of hiding chemical and biological weapons.
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- Bush has said he will not let the absence of U.N. approval
stop him, describing U.S. security as paramount. Saddam has denied having
weapons of mass destruction and several members of the U.N. Security Council
want continued U.N. arms inspections rather than war.
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- Carter, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, said
Iraq did not directly threaten U.S. security.
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- "But now ... despite the overwhelming opposition
of most people and governments in the world, the United States seems determined
to carry out military and diplomatic action that is almost unprecedented
in the history of civilized nations," he wrote.
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- Carter described Bush's attempts to link Iraq to the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America as unconvincing and said the president
had no international authority to establish a "Pax Americana in the
region, perhaps occupying the ethnically divided country for as long as
a decade."
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