Diplomacy?
What Diplomacy?
by
Firas Al-Atraqchi
Dissident Voice
March 15, 2003
The
catch phrases "last ditch effort for diplomacy," "going the
extra mile for diplomacy," and "nobody wants a war" have been
regurgitated time and again by the media to lend a compassionate,
psychologically balanced, and moral face to the impending war on Iraq.
All three of the above are
misconceptions; they are mechanisms to beguile the world, and specifically the
American public.
Chile's representatives in
the United Nations today suggested giving Iraq three weeks to meet certain
disarmament objectives. The initiative was compiled to bridge differences
between U.N. Security Council members who were feeling pressured by U.S.
efforts to secure the necessary nine votes for a U.N. resolution to pass. The
Chilean initiative seems to combine Canadian, Mexican, and British efforts to
overcome the diplomatic impasse.
The White House flatly rejected
the initiative, saying three weeks was far too much time.
Far too much time for what?
For diplomacy?
The word
"diplomacy" is not a difficult word to understand; simply put, it
refers to "the art or practice of conducting international relations, as
in negotiating alliances, treaties, and agreements." Apparently, the words
"war," "invasion," and "preemptive action" are
missing from this definition. In fact, diplomacy is indeed the act of avoiding
war through alliances, treaties, and agreements!
That is what diplomacy means
to the rest of the world and certainly to the Canadian government.
To the war cabal in the U.S.
government, however, diplomacy means the securing of international legalization
for an illegal war. Diplomacy is a smokescreen, a carte blanche (do not pardon
my French!), an authorization to wage war. A laissez-faire for U.S. policies in
Iraq.
Consequently, the war is
broken up into two political spheres: one advocating diplomacy to avoid
bloodshed, and one advocating diplomacy to wage war.
The fact that such a
metaphysical conflict is even occurring flies in the face of every major
historic development in the manner in which nations "deal" with one
another since the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, which marked the end of the
Thirty Years War and was the first initiative towards international law.
Now, every international institution,
every international law that creates an obstacle in the face of war efforts is
classified 'irrelevant'.
How cheap and shameful! We
are on the verge of regressing in historical international development.
McLuhan's notion of a global village has now bastardized itself into global
suspicion, hatred, and open warfare.
So, why was the Chilean
proposal called a "non-starter"? Simple: It sets back the timetable
for an invasion of Iraq and risks the prospect of derailing infantry morale in
elevated desert temperatures. The war must start before temperatures reach 125
degrees Fahrenheit.
We are going to war, ladies
and gentlemen. Nothing Iraq or the Security Council could have done (or can do)
stood a chance of stopping this juggernaut.
On Friday, six members of
the Security Council dared to tell the U.S. they would not be dictated to even
if they faced economic and political reprisals. The State Department went into
damage control, pleading with the president to make a hasty speech regarding
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and calling for an emergency summit in the
Azores, off the coast of Portugal.
The U.S., Great Britain, and
Spain are to meet to discuss "last ditch diplomatic efforts."
In today's language, that
means war.
Postscript: So the House
changed French fries to Freedom fries. I suggest they also take out the words
justice, liberty, fraternity, egality, policy, police, cosmopolitan,
resistance, stamina, art deco, au pair, avante garde, blond(e) (oh, this should
be a tough one, eh!), brunette, critique, coup, debutante, deja vu, encore, en
masse, finale, and 30 percent of the English language. These words, and others,
are originally French.
Firas Al-Atraqchi, B.Sc (Physics), M.A. (Journalism and
Communications), is a Canadian journalist with eleven years of experience
covering Middle East issues, oil and gas markets, and the telecom industry. He
is a columnist for YellowTimes.org,
where this article first appeared. He can be reached at: firas6544@rogers.com