Stop the Bombing and Bring in the U.N.
Only multilateral action can win the war against terror
By David Krieger
Nov. 6, 2001
SANTA BARBARA -- The U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan is failing.
Many innocent Afghans are being killed, and the United States is still no closer to finding the terrorists responsible for the September 11 atrocities. Meanwhile, international relief organizations warn that millions of Afghans could die of starvation and exposure this winter unless the bombing is halted soon. In other words, the bombing of Afghanistan is leading to a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions.
The time has come for U.S. and British forces to halt the bombing to allow relief organizations to care for the Afghan people. It also time to turn over the campaign against terrorism to the U.N. Security Council.
If the international community joins together in a serious effort to combat terrorism, it could lead to unprecedented cooperation between national police and intelligence services. Such efforts could leave terrorists with no place to hide.
While an effective U.N. effort effective will require U.S. leadership and support, global action also will also demonstrate that the war on terror is not simply a unilateral American campaign of retaliation.
To bolster this global effort, the United Nations also should establish a special tribunal for terrorist crimes until the International Criminal Court is established. A trial before such an impartial court would enjoy international respect, avoiding the inevitable accusations of bias that would accompany any terrorist trial in the United States.
So far, military force has succeeded only in deepening the crisis without producing significant results. Civilization’s vulnerability to determined suicidal terrorists makes prevention the key to victory. Our security, and that of the rest of the world, now depends on cooperative multilateral efforts under an internationally accepted legal framework. We should first stop the bombing and then utilize the United Nations before it is too late.
David Krieger is president of the Santa Barbara-based Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
Copyright 2001, Global Beat Syndicate, 418 Lafayette Street, Suite 554, New York, NY 10003 http://www.nyu.edu/globalbeat/syndicate.