"The men where you live," said the little prince, "raise five thousand roses in the same garden and they do not find in it what they are looking for.And yet what they are looking for could be found in o­ne single rose."

These lines from Antoine de Saint-Exupery's Little Prince filled my head all day when the bombs fell o­n Iraq o­n March 20.

Malaysians had gathered for a peace vigil the night before, in front of the Iraq embassy at No 2 Langgak Golf, a stone's throw from the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

Flowers and candles bore the vigilers' hopes for peace, the torrential downpour notwithstanding. It was a sombre gathering of prayer and reflection o­n an unnecessary war. It was a night before the storm.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said o­n March 21, when anti-war demonstrators stopped traffic in Whitehall, London: "We live in a democracy. It is o­ne of the fundamental principles of a democracy that people are entitled to protest. They do not have that right in Iraq."

Military globalism

Whatever may be the high moral ground claimed in this US-led war, the truth is that Iraq holds the world's second largest oil reserve with at least 11 percent of total supply.

The US Operation Iraqi Freedom is inseparable from capitalism. Control over Iraq equals expansion of the market economy, control of resources, protection of investments and corporations. The war o­n Iraq is 'military globalism'.

William Greider, writing in The Nation quotes the managing director of Pimco, the world's largest bond investment fund, as saying, "American imperialism is, by definition, a retreat away from global capitalism, a retreat from the invisible hand of markets in favour of a more dominant role for the visible fist of governments."

The fact that people of the world protest the war seemed irrelevant. The "collateral damage" of rising deaths and devastation is irrelevant. We mourn with Malaysian writer-journalist, Rahmat Haron, who penned a poem, Keluh dalam sebuah perang ( Lament of a War ), the day the bombs fell:

Dunia mega mesin

Roket-roket liar

Bom! Bom! Bom!

Bom menggodam

manusia teknologi

sistemnya mandom

pagi ini,

menanti metamorfosa

menjadi pari-pari

dalam syurga.

We do not even know all the names of the bombs nor their effects, which are at the disposal of the coalition forces: massive ordnance air blast bombs (MOAB), E-bombs, cluster bombs, carbon-filament black-out bombs and whatever else and whichever of these would be used.

It is known that DU (depleted uranium) commonly used in shell tips was used in the Gulf War and Kosovo. Dispersed particles have a half-life of 4.5 billion years. It is chemically damaging, and may result in cancer and birth defects when inhaled or ingested.

Cluster bombs can lie unexploded until picked up, usually by children. How many can choose to be pari-pari dalam syurga (fairies in heaven) rather than become maimed or diseased?

Debate not over

The starter-kits of weapons of mass destruction anywhere came from American and European companies.

Greider argues that Washington needs to do more to halt the spread of dangerous technologies, not by conquering armies but through effective and intrusive export controls worldwide that can monitor a vast range of industrial goods and prevent items from entering the 'free trade' system.

British newspaper The Independent decried o­n March 21, "In a war fought in the name of democracy against a dictator, freedom of speech at home is essential."

Freedom of speech against the war is obviously not enough. Peace and human rights activists in the US and Britain must also address the hard questions of monopoly capitalism being advanced by military interventions of their governments. Commercial ambitions through military conquest (read colonialism) did not evaporate in the last millennium.

We do not yet know if the overthrow of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and ensconcing a US military government would bring any meaningful change to the Iraqi people devastated by war.

The debate about the wrongs and rights of this illegal war (dictators notwithstanding) is not over. The battle for Iraq appears to take a whole lot longer, some envisaging a period of six months.

It seemed ironic that while our political leaders clamour for the resignation of UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, the cutting off diplomatic ties, and appealing to the British and American people to rein in their leaders, they also see it fit to disregard our fundamental freedoms.

Ban is indecent

On March 21, police chief Norian Mai announced, that the government has banned any unofficial demonstrations except for the government sponsored, Umno Youth-led 'Peace Malaysia'.

This is certainly not out of character for this executive arm of the government, but it is certainly a wrong cue, almost indecent amidst the outpouring of grief and protests.

On March 24, Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung and government representatives were reported to have opposed a Freedom of Information Act for the country in the name of striking a balance between competing interests of the state and society.

Of course, we do not think that eschewing our freedoms is reason for war-mongers to drop bombs o­n our homes and backyards in the name of democracy and liberation either.

While the government and the governed may appear united against this unnecessary war, it does not necessarily mean that we are should part with our autonomy and agency to anyone, or be lulled into accepting without challenge any curtailment of our freedoms.

Reclaiming freedoms is not some cheap exercise in idealism or indulgence of dreamers. Sections of Malaysians have accused activists and civil society actors of this.

If we do not remain vigilant in matters of liberty we are killing our political capacity to take moral responsibility for our own future. The exercise of the ultimate power of decision must rest with the people.

The ability of a people to self-government is the ability to shape our society without external compulsion and without repressive governments. This is perhaps the ultimate peace.