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| Tuesday, 14 September 2004 |
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The challenge of making peace with the West by Lynn Ockersz
If current opinion polls are anything to go by, US President George Bush's tough policy line on "terror" seems to be winning favour with most US voters. Opinion polls conducted recently by both the Time and Newsweek magazines registered a clear lead for Bush in voter acceptance against Democratic Presidential contender John Kerry. Among other issues, the polls indicated that the handling of "terror" continued to be a prime concern among US voters. What should set conflict-resolution experts wondering is that this seemingly clear preference for Bush comes in the wake of the news that US deaths in Iraq have crossed the 1000 mark - a steadily mounting human toll. This is in marked contrast to the Vietnam war, where the human costs of the US military involvement there, contributed substantially towards the building of an anti-war movement in the US. This anti-war movement is today credited with having contributed substantially towards defusing the Vietnamese conflict. Right now, apparently, the prospects of a parallel, US-based anti-war process on Iraq seem to be somewhat dim. Meanwhile, Bush's September 11, commemoration speech, has done nothing to foster optimism that a more constructive approach to handling "global terror" is coming out of Washington. "The United States is determined to stay on the offensive and to pursue the terrorists wherever they train or sleep or attempt to set down roots.... We know that there is still a danger to America, so we will not relent until the terrorists who plot murder against our people are found and dealt with," Bush was quoted as telling the American public. Apparently, all-out war against "terror" will continue to top Bush's foreign policy agenda. If Bush is voted back into the White House, this would be the clearest evidence at hand that his strident pro-war rhetoric is continuing to strike a responsive chord among a substantial number of US citizens. Fortunately, the Western military alliance is not without its more constructive, far seeing voices. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, for instance, in his September 11 commemorative comment said that".... no cause can ever justify acts of terror; but by working to resolve conflicts and to promote justice we can deny the terrorists the opportunity to exploit mistrust and feed off division." The world is singularly unfortunate that voices of reason, such as that of the British Foreign Secretary, are not coming out loud and clear over the cacophony of strident pro-war rhetoric in the Western military alliance. Moreover these moderate voices need to multiply among Western ruling elites and should make a positive impact on the decision-making process of Western governments. Besides, the voices of reason need to be consistent and vibrant. The fact that these advocates of moderation are hardly heard is proof that war mongerism is at the pinnacle of power in the West. However, evidence of the presence of what may be called a moderate camp in the Western alliance presents a challenge to staunchly anti-Western militant opinion in particularly those states which are confronting a US military threat, such as Iraq. On the one hand, anti-Western militancy isn't paying off because sections of US opinion are only hardening their stance against "terrorism". On the other hand, the few hands of cooperation and constructive help emerging from the West need to be grasped for the purpose of finding peaceful solutions to current conflicts with the West. It takes two to make peace. |
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