Looking at the impending US war against Iraq, backed by poodle states UK, Spain and the like, the view from Malaysia looks superficially respectable. After all, the Mahathir government has stood out against this US intransigence, the opposition is against the war too. All that remains are a handful of cretins who believe the US is going to liberate the Iraqis.

Firstly though, has the Barisan Nasional been a consistent voice of peace?

In the interest of the peace movement that is enveloping the world, we must welcome the Malaysian government's sponsorship of the Feb 22 peace campaign even if their reasons for doing so are suspect. For wasn't it o­nly a few years ago in 1996 that the Barisan Nasional Youth organised a mob to smash the International Conference for peace in East Timor?

The Malaysian government must explain this inconsistency if we are to believe that religion has nothing to do with such policy flip-flops. And why did the police break up the peoples' peace gathering at the US embassy and KLCC o­n the same day that peace-loving citizens all over the world were demonstrating against the war o­n Feb 15?

The first principle in political correctness is consistency ! When a political party or organisation is inconsistent in its stand o­n such fundamental issues of policy, it is suspect.

The ruling party aside, what about the opposition then; has it been consistent in this regard?

Though we likewise welcome the stand taken by all the opposition parties against the US war mongering, nevertheless, we expect PAS to be as anti-war when it comes to other non-Muslim victims of aggression.

Nor has it escaped our notice that the DAP has not come out to denounce their soul-brother Tony Blair who is exposing the opportunism of the so-called "Third Way" through his pathetic support for Bush. (The third and final part of my Dummies Trilogy: Social democracy for dummies will be released in the not-too-distant future.)

US apologists

Coming to the handful of Malaysian apologists for the US war against Iraq, it is difficult to say whether they owe an obligation to the US establishment or they are really ignorant of the facts. To apologise for the US by bringing up evidence of past colonial and imperialist adventures of France, Germany and others is to ignore the reality of today's uni-polar world dominated by the US military-imperial state.

Anyway, who said that those of us who oppose US imperialism today condone past commissions by the Soviet Union or European imperialism? Such red herrings should not be allowed to cloud the issue at hand.

According to the US Defense Department, there is US military presence in 120 out of a total of 189 countries in the world. The New Internationalist has reminded us that since World War II, the US government has bombed in all, 21 countries - China 1945-46, 1950-53; Korea 1950-53; Guatemala 1954, 1960, 1967-69; Indonesia 1958; Cuba 1959-61; Congo 1964; Peru 1965; Laos 1964-73; Vietnam 1961-73; Cambodia 1969-70; Lebanon 1983-84; Grenada 1983; Libya 1986; El Salvador 1980s; Panama 1989; Bosnia 1995; Sudan 1998; Yugoslavia 1999; Iraq since 1991; Afghanistan 1998, 2001-02.

The US' vast military-industrial complex thrives o­n conflict to justify its existence. Anyone familiar with the US geo-political interests since World War II will know that Iraq is sitting o­n the second largest oil reserves in the world. Otherwise, how come it is not Kuwait nor Iran nor Europe who should be more afraid of Saddam? The o­nly people who seem to be most afraid of Saddam are the Bush regime and their allies!

The US presidential campaign starting next year is also an important factor since such jingoism usually goes down with an election year. The war will also help to keep corporate scandals and corruption such as Enron off the front pages.

US liberators?

Our Malaysian apologists for the US war against Iraq want us to believe that the US will bring about democracy in Iraq. They obviously are not aware that it was the CIA and US foreign policy that thwarted any moves toward democracy in March 1991 when Saddam's regime was about to collapse. The US helped to re-establish Saddam's rule because the rise of democratic forces would have curtailed US control.

The United Nations was created in the first place to defend the right of nations to self-determination. The nation state was here to stay and to replace the previous world order when empires held sway. Henceforth, national sovereignty could o­nly be violated in self-defence.

It is an appalling reflection o­n the calibre of such Malaysians who could approve of such US-imperialist wars. As if the lessons of Southeast Asian examples like the bombing of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia were not sufficient to show the callous disregard by US imperialism for human lives.

The US endorsement and support of the Chilean coup in 1973, the Indonesian coup in 1965 and the invasion of East Timor in 1975 are other examples of cynical slaughter of innocent lives. To use a more recent example, in the Afghan "liberation", 3,500 civilians were killed by US bombing while 10,000 combatants were killed and many more died from cold and hunger.

Strengthen Iraqi civil society

It is a fact that the last Gulf War and sanctions have o­nly served to bolster Saddam's rule and to make life difficult for ordinary Iraqis.

The world community should allow the general Iraqi economy to flourish as it can help to strengthen civil society and the rule of law. Iraqis have agreed the presence of inspectors have helped to keep check o­n the Saddam regime. If human rights were to be more vigilantly enforced in Iraq by the international community, the outlawing of torture and other atrocities can cut off Saddam's power base in the process.

To conclude, o­nly the absolutely nave or shameless apologist can believe the US war is motivated by the desire to liberate Iraqis.

It is clearly US adventurism and the sanctioning of the daily carnage in Palestine that is driving countries into developing weapons of mass destruction as a deterrent since they can't see any other deterrent. At the same time, such US actions are fueling terrorism across the world.

All who love peace, justice, democracy and human rights must stand up to say "NO TO US WAR IN IRAQ!"

Dr KUA KIA SOONG is a director of Suaram.