End to Iraq war, secret in WWII truce

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 09/21/2007 3:06 PM

Harry Bhaskara, The Jakarta Post, Brisbane, Australia

Superpowers should attempt to find peace for the so called war on terror in Iraq -- and the secret may just be the truce that ended World War II, said the chief editor of the London-based Arabic newspaper, Al-Quds Al-Arabi.

Abdel Bari Atwan is the last Western journalist to have interviewed Osama bin Laden (November 1996) and he said, as it stands now, no one can predict what Iraq's situation will be five years from now.

""But the superpowers can make an agreement like they did in the Second World War in Europe,"" Atwan said referring to the Allies and the Axis forces who agreed to end the war in 1945.

The international editor was speaking at a University of Queensland lecture in Brisbane on Wednesday and said ""if the war persists, (the) Middle East (will) deteriorate into a group of failed states that would eventually lead to an anarchy in the region"".

In such a situation, Iran could possibly bomb tankers or disrupt the vital shipping lines in the Gulf Strait, where 80 million barrels of oil are being transported everyday.

""Imagine what would happen to the world's economy,"" said Atwan, a Palestinian who has lived in the United Kingdom for 30 years.

The world has a reserve of some 1.3 trillion barrels, but 65 percent of them are in the Middle East.

The U.S. war against terror has been a complete failure, he said, adding America has wasted more than US$ 600 billion on the war and more than 2,000 U.S. troops have been killed.

The sole superpower has more than 170,000 troops in Iraq and is this week embroiled in tensions with its close ally, the UK, because the Brits are considering withdrawing 5,000 troops from Basra.

""Americans are experts on destruction, not construction.

""On nation destruction, not nation building.""

The worst thing to have happened in Iraq is its middle class has left the country and its economy has come to a stand still, he said.

""The future of the Middle East is very bleak.""

The U.S. attack on Afghanistan and Iraq, he said, has made the world a more dangerous place.

The attack on Afghanistan destroyed 85 percent of the al-Qaeda force, he said, but then the U.S. invasion on Iraq strengthened the radical group.

""Al-Qaeda is now ten times stronger.

""The attacks have also made it a more dangerous and more brutal force,""

Atwan holds a critical view of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.

""What the U.S. wants is to keep its oil imports from Middle East flowing and to maintain Israel's supremacy in the region.

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