Is Violence the Solution To World Problems?

Junling Hu

The United States has won the war with Iraq, which is done by sheer military force. But will it also win the peace? The chaos after the war, the power struggle and assassination of a religious leader all indicate the breakdown of social order created by a destructive war. The road to peace in Iraq and around the world is hampered by a major factor, that is the United States itself.

First, very few people in Arab world and around the world will view this war as legitimate. Iraqi people did not welcome this war. How many Iraqis are going to love a foreign force, particularly American force, who bring destruction to them? On American TV, we see a small group of Iraqi people befriend American troops, but what about the general population? The American Media call this war a liberation. It’s in fact an occupation. Such occupation is not sanctioned by the United Nation

Secondly, if one country can arbitrarily invade another country, in spite of the objection of the United Nation and the international community, what does it say to the law and order around the world? It sends a simple message out: The more force you have, the easier you can get away from killing and invading. What does it say to people in small nations? They feel even more powerless and even more hatred toward US. We create more terrorists by this war, we make our citizens even less safe for traveling overseas. We have to put up more screening procedures for travelers coming to US, and that will hurt our international trade and US tourism. We have to put up more metal detectors in our airports, and raise our terrorist attack warning level again and again. By using violence, we create violence.

Thirdly, the US intention of this war is under serious doubt. The government claims that this war is to “bring democracy” to Iraq. If bringing democracy is US’s mission, why not bring it to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and other Middle East nations? All these governments are viewed by their people as repressive and corrupt. There is no free speech or free election in these countries. Demonstrations were cracked down, and oppositions are jailed and executed. Yet, the United States is the best ally to these repressive regimes. The king and princes of Saudi Arabia, who have shamelessly robbed their country billions of dollars, are warmly welcomed in the US. In another country, China, under a totalitarian government, more than 400 peaceful Fa Lun-gong practitioners were tortured to death in prisons. Yet the US leader and Chinese leader are happily visiting each other. In North Korea, tens of thousands of people have died from the hunger created by their government, and people who tried to escape the country were executed in front of their families. But the U.S. closes its eyes on North Korea, and did nothing. So what have we learned? You can be a repressive regime, as repressive as you like, as long as you sell oil to US. You can also get away with being a repressive regime if you don’t have oil, then your repression is none of US’s business.

Iraq has the world’s second largest oil reserves, about 11% of the world. Iraq’s oil is of high quality and inexpensive to produce, making it one of the world’s most profitable oil sources. US and UK companies long held a three-quarter share in Iraq’s oil production, but they lost their position with the nationalization of the Iraq Company. US and UK companies are eager to regain their access. Today, out of the five largest oil companies in the world, two are US-based, and two are UK-based. They are Exxon, Shell, BP and Chevron. Therefore it is easier to under that why this war is conducted by US-UK coalition. The role that oil plays in this war can be clearly seen from this simple fact: when the city of Baghdad was under chaos of looting and killing, American troops were not on the street to protect stores or hospitals, instead, they were called to guard the ministry of oil

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Finally, is war the road to democracy? Democracy comes from gradual social change, economic development and the establishment of rule of law. It cannot be imposed from the outside, nor can it be successfully achieved through violence. The most telling example is Haiti. Today’s Haiti has no social order and civil service. Its economy plunged after the US army reinstalled its president. People in Haiti today are living in dismay situation. Democracy cannot be brought from outside. It has to grow from inside. This is why we see success in democratic transition in South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Argentina and Chili. All of these countries were once under brutal military government, but non-violent civic movement has brought true democracy to these countries. Today they enjoy continuous economic growth

At the start of 21^st century, when science and technology have lifted people from ignorance, the Internet has linked people all around the world, new inventions are helping the blind, deaf and paralyzed, and new drugs are prolonging people’s life, we want peace. Only a peaceful world can bring real dignity and happiness to everyone on this planet.

-April 13, 2003