Blair and Bush: Criminality or Cooperation? By Bill Henderson

Blair and Bush: Criminality or Cooperation?

By Bill Henderson

Al-Jazeerah, May 28, 2006

Re: Tony Blair calls for radical UN reform

So after flaunting international law and the UN Charter - severely corroding the effectiveness of both - in supporting the Bush Administration in a cynical war of aggression, Tony Blair calls for a reformed United Nations, "progressive pre-emption" and unity to solve emerging global problems.

It is now abundantly clear that the 'Coalition of the Willing' couldn't resist the temptation to seize Iraq in an attempt to control the crucial oil producing Middle East. Their arrogance and ineptitude has led to chaos and insurgency, possibly civil war in Iraq. Their action has led to a more de-stabilized Middle East and there is an alarming danger of new Cold War alliances and divisions over future energy supplies and access. Reasonable cooperation and global unity were not the signals Mr. Blair and Mr. Bush sent in choosing the resource war path instead of leading in finding lasting energy solutions.

Prosecute Mr. Blair, Mr. Bush and their cohorts for war crimes. Stop with the weasel words; no more insufferable 'vision'. What is needed is respect for the law, for the rule of law to be effective and seen to work. Prosecute those responsible for planning and obfuscating aggression for self-interest and get the whole sorry mess on the table. So that justice can be done. So that the next nation that contemplates 'pre-emptive' use of force for self-interest will be deterred from committing another crime with thousands or millions of innocent victims.

Get the occupying armies out of Iraq. Do so as fast as possible without leaving a power vacuum, without aggravating existing tensions or in any way enhancing the possibility of civil war. They should be replaced by effective international peacekeepers with no plans for military bases and oil contracts. (If the US and Britain acknowledged that Iraq was a mistake and renounced completely any territorial or contractual benefit - then healing and moving on becomes possible. This could end the insurgency and spiraling de-stabilization. In Iraq and in the Middle East.)

Reform electoral and governance legislation so that democracy is possible again in Britain and the US. Re-organize the military-industrial complex as a government/business innovation center, a much bigger and more powerful Manhattan Project to make money getting to a post-carbon economy faster. Pay for the mistakes of the past with Yankee ingenuity and can-do leadership in pro-actively developing and giving away solutions to Third World problems

Acknowledge the mistakes and criminality - not only in Iraq - and let the US and Britain once again lead in developing the emerging multilateral framework for cooperation that is our only hope of confronting global scale problems such as global warming, oil depletion, and nuclear proliferation which threaten our common future.

Earth, a planet hungry for peace

Apartheid Wall


The Israeli Land-Grab Apartheid Wall built inside the Palestinian territories, here separating Abu Dis from occupied East Jerusalem. (IPC, 7/4/04).

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python. (Alquds,10/25/03).

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