 Political Corrections
with Margo Kingston
US Cannot Go It Alone
Now we know. The Americans spelt it out in black and white in their just released National Security Strategy of the United States.
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 effectively admits it has no evidence
that Iraq is preparing 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 that brutalise and disempower
citizens. They pay no heed to the disastrous results of such dictatorships when imposed in the past.
This week the man who Bush beat for the presidency, Al Gore, gave a speech detailing an alternative approach. His timing was impeccable - the German
people had just voted to stay out of the war, and it was time for the head-in-sand Democrats to seriously engage in debate. Until Gore's speech, the
big public debate had been between Republicans.
Gore was blunt. Bush "is proclaiming a new, uniquely American right to pre-emptively attack whomsoever he may deem represents a potential future
threat".
A unilateral US attack would hurt the anti-terrorism effort: "The war against terror manifestly requires broad and continuous international cooperation,"
he said.
"Our ability to secure this kind of cooperation can be severely damaged by unilateral action against Iraq.
"By shifting from his early focus after September 11th on war against terrorism to war against Iraq, the President has manifestly disposed of the
sympathy, good will and solidarity compiled by America and transformed it into a sense of deep misgiving and even hostility.
"If what America represents to the world is leadership in a commonwealth of equals, then our friends are legion; if what we represent to the world
is empire, then it is our enemies who will be legion."
While America bristles with debate at the highest levels, John Howard wants nothing said here, yet our interests are deeply effected by Bush's plan
to revolutionise the conduct of international affairs. Maybe it's because reality is slowing dawning on us. Australia has been exposed for what it's
become - a non-enfranchised satellite state of the United States. By joining a unilateral US attack on Iraq, we would join it in responsibility for
the invasion and become a legitimate target for those fighting to win back countries the Americans take by force. All we can do to avoid having our noses
rubbed in this reality is to fight like hell to save the United Nations.
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 Bush defence strategy and Al Gore's speech are on Webdiary at www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/webdiary
Email: mkingston@mail.fairfax.com.au
Margo's web diary - www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/webdiary/
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