Is the relentless bombing of Afghanistan justified? My answer is
no.
I must immediately couple that answer with my belief that the criminals
who committed the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 must be apprehended
and
brought to justice. But that goal does not justify killing innocent
people and destroying the infrastructure of a country that already
has a
million refugees.
The alternative to bombing is to send in ground troops to comb the
countryside and all the caves to find Osama bin Laden and his
fellow-plotters. This is not done because the U.S.-led coalition fears
that troops would be killed by the mines planted throughout Afghanistan.
Thus, air attacks have been chosen as the response to terrorism. The
response is unworthy of nations that pride themselves on upholding
international human rights. For, as the Kosovo bombing of only two
years
ago showed, even "smart" bombs cannot distinguish between military
targets and civilians. The human misery left in the wake of a bombing
campaign is horrendous.
The world must move beyond the tears, grief and anger of Sept. 11 and
finally establish a just and stable foundation for international peace
and security.
Let it not be said that I am insensitive to the thousands of lives lost
in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I went to
New
York a week ago, took the subway down to the financial district and
saw
the World Trade wreckage with my own eyes. The devastation was
overpowering. Mounds of debris, six stories high, assaulted the eyes.
People were stunned, just looking at such a grotesque sight.
I then went to the United Nations and talked with Jayantha Dhanapala,
Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, who said that, bad
as
this tragedy was, it could have been worse.
"Consider if weapons of mass destruction had been used by these
terrorists. We need urgently to eliminate all weapons of mass
destruction because they could fall into the hands of terrorists."
The UN leadership wants rapid progress on eliminating nuclear weapons
and is preparing to debate a draft convention suppressing nuclear
terrorism. But unless Canada comes out four-square opposing all nuclear
weapons -- which will offend the U.S. -- our words about keeping nuclear
weapons from terrorists will be empty.
I am concerned that the path of militarism is leading the world to even
greater dangers. Nuclear terrorism is only a matter of time.
We have been attacked. Our first response is to attack back. Public
sentiment, driven by a culture that still sees war as the means to
peace, seeks retaliation. In this climate, militarism expands
constantly.
But Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General, sees the needs of peace and
fighting terrorism differently. While the UN Security Council
unanimously passed a resolution expressing "its readiness to take all
necessary steps to respond to the terrorist attacks," that is not carte
blanche to bomb at will.
The bombing has gone beyond the intent of the resolution, but Annan
cannot stop the use of such military might once unleashed. What he
has
done -- and what Canada must insist upon -- is to include in the
implementation of this resolution other means to combat terrorism.
This
includes political, legal, diplomatic and financial means.
Another Security Council resolution spelled out a host of actions
ranging from police work to cutting off funding to new communications
technologies that must be taken. Rather than assenting to a bombing
campaign, it would be better to concentrate Canada's resources on
security and anti-terrorism measures. The extra $250 million announced
yesterday by Foreign Minister John Manley announced should be only
the
beginning.
These steps will be far more effective in rooting out the terrorist
cells in many countries than bombing in the hope of cutting off the
head
of a terrorism that has tentacles spread around the world.
It is both ironic and disingenuous to couple the bombing with dropping
food and medicine. This is a chaotic and ineffectual way of meeting
humanitarian needs that are mounting by the hour. Rather, the
international community should be mounting -- with the same vigour
displayed in the bombing campaign -- a massive assault on poverty.
It is
the inhuman conditions that so many millions of people are subjected
to
that breed the conditions that terrorists exploit.
Also, as Annan has urged, there must be a "redoubling" of international
efforts to implement treaties to cut off the development of nuclear
and
other weapons of mass destruction before terrorists get them.
Militarism is not the answer to terrorism. The building of an
international legal system that promotes social justice is.
Douglas Roche is an Independent Senator from Alberta and the author
of
"Bread NotBombs: A Political Agenda for Social Justice."