Criminalise war

Excerpt Speech by H.E Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
Former Prime Minister of Malaysia
"Expose War Crimes : Criminalise War"
Imperial College London
25 April 2008

How can we object to the murder of an individual when we approve mass killings of innocent people. Yet that is what we do in war – we kill people, not always soldiers who may kill us but, now, more and more often, innocent civilians who can do us no harm. War was in ancient times a necessary option in the settlement of conflicts between primitive people or uncivilised nations. But in those days the capacity to kill and to destroy was limited. The weapons used were incapable of mass destruction or mass killings. Soldiers had to handle the swords, bows and arrows, spears and daggers themselves. They had to face enemies who were similarly armed. If they fail to kill the enemy they would be killed themselves.

We do not think of the smell of war, of the smell of rotting bodies, of gangrenous legs and arms, because our television cannot bring these odours to our comfortable sitting room. In fact the TV cameras avoid showing the horrors resulting from the war. They do not want to offend our sensitivities. Nor do they record and broadcast the screams of pain of the wounded and the dying.

The people who sent these young people to fight their wars will be safe.They will eat well, drink well and enjoy life’s luxuries. It is the young who will suffer, who will pay the ultimate price. That is what war really is – not a glorious struggle for democracy and human rights, but merely to satisfy the crazy ambitions of lying leaders of the powerful countries. In the old days leaders and generals lead from the front. The cowardly leaders of today stay clear thousands of miles from the front, sipping wine and gorging themselves on the finest food.

The cost of the war in Iraq for the U.S. is estimated by Joseph Stiglitz the Nobel Laureate to be more than US$ 3 trillion dollars so far. It is going to go on gulping more and more money. Even the U.S. cannot afford to lose this amount of money, especially when victory has not and will not be achieved. Imagine what we can do for the poor and the sick of the world with just a fraction of the 3 trillion.

In Vietnam the powerful U.S. military was soundly thrashed by pyjamaclad Viet peasants until the U.S. ran away helter-skelter. In Afghanistan the Taliban have successfully confined the NATO forces to certain towns only. In Baghdad the American and British forces have achieved none of their objectives. Killing Saddam has not resulted in ending the war. “Shock and Awe” have not overawed the Iraqis and forced them into submitting. nor do we find democracy
spreading.

The rise in oil prices are connected with war. And oil prices affect the prices of all goods. In other words, the increase in oil prices brings about inflation. The poor of this world will be the ones most affected. But the rich will suffer also. We are seeing this happening now.

We cannot claim to be civilised when we kill and destroy in order to prove how right we are or how just and fair we are.I say criminalise war and punish the leaders and the people who resort to war in order to settle disputes with other countries

(War is not the best solution to solve conflict in modern days & i believe being civilized doesn't mean to show the modern weapons who killed masses of people by saying it's PEACE. That's just show how Stupidity as human. STOP THIS POINTLESS WAR!!)