Mahathir accuses US of planning more wars

New Straits Times – 16 Dec 2005

FORMER Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad yesterday accused the US of planning more wars and said the 'injudicious choice of leaders of militarily powerful countries' was a threat to world peace. Speaking at a global peace forum, he dwelled on a familiar theme - criticism of United States foreign policy - and called for a global movement to ensure that 'mass murderers' do not become world leaders. He said the US had prepared 'legal authority' for launching aggression against other countries after its invasion of Iraq by getting Congress to pass legislations that could allow the use of force on countries such as Syria and Iran. 

The war in Iraq, he said, was about getting at its oil wealth, and the foundation was laid with the enactment of the Iraq Liberation Act five years before the war. He said the Syrian Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act was signed into law in 2003, but 'fortuitously, (former premier) Rafik Hariri of Lebanon was assassinated and Syria was implicated'. He said: 'I am not being cynical, but remembering the lies about Iraq, I cannot help but just wonder.' 

Then, there is this year's Iran Freedom and Support Act 'which sounds like blackmail', he said. 

'Additional grounds for aggression against Iran have been provided by the new President asserting that Israel be removed from the map of the world. The call will soon be coming for the Iranian leader to be removed and a regime change effected,' said Tun Dr Mahathir, a long-time critic of the US. 

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for Israel to be wiped off the map, inciting outrage and condemnation across the world. He has also dismissed the Holocaust as a myth. 

Tun Dr Mahathir said the world could change the leaders of powerful nations by forcing peace onto national and election agendas. Outlining his idea of a peace movement which is anything but pacifist or passive, he said it should learn from environmental groups, even militant ones. These groups had successfully forced their concerns to be taken seriously, and peace-lovers could learn to do the same. They should ensure that the warmongers are defeated in elections, he said. 

He, however, had little faith in democracy resulting in good leaders as 'blatant liars and warmongers and the oppressors of the weak readily get re-elected'. His comments come a day after Malaysia hosted the first East Asia Summit, prompting some to dub the global peace forum his 'alternative summit'. The forum is organised by the Perdana Leadership Foundation which he chairs. Participants include ex-Australian prime minister Bob Hawke and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. Mr Hawke said the fight against terrorism would not succeed unless the US helped resolve the Palestinian problem. 

'This issue is used to encapsulate and dramatise the enemy syndrome, with America and its deemed supporters cast as the villains,' he said. Tun Dr Mahathir, meanwhile, said yesterday that North Korea should be included in the East Asia Summit.

Source: NST | www.nst.com.my