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UN Poised to Back Pre-emptive Strikes: Report
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UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan is to present his recommendations at a
summit in September next year
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CAIRO, December 1 (IslamOnline.net) – In the first major overhaul of the
world body, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is expected to give his
backing of the use of pre-emptive military strikes against certain
countries with the approval of the Security Council, a leading British
newspaper reported Wednesday, December 1.
A
team of 16 high-level experts, formed by Annan a year ago, is to
present a report on Thursday suggesting solutions for dealing with the
challenges to global peace and security in the 21st
century, The Independent said.
The
report said the international community should now be concerned about
the “nightmare scenarios combining terrorists, weapons of mass
destruction and irresponsible states and much more besides, which may
conceivably justify the use of force, not just reactively, but
preventively and before a latent threat becomes imminent”.
The
93-page report further tackles major failures of the international
body, namely the Rwandan genocide and the massacres during the Bosnian
conflict, arguing that “there is urgent need to stop the killing and
prevent any further return to war.”
Russia
said on September 8 it was willing to
launch pre-emptive strikes on “terrorist bases” worldwide
few days after the hostage-taking tragedy that ended in
a bloodbath at a school in the southern city of Beslan.
“Last
Resort”
The
report, however, stresses that military action should be used as a
“last resort.”
It
further suggests the creation of a peace-building commission that
would improve the UN’s dismal record in rebuilding countries after
wars.
The
UN panel was formed a year ago in the midst of the Iraqi crisis
following the fierce polarization of positions in the run-up to the
Iraq
war, that pitted the US
and UK
against France
and Russia, the British daily added.
The
United States
has launched war on Iraq without a UN authorization under claims that the Arab country
possessed weapons of mass destruction.
At
the time, observers hit out
at the world body, accusing it of proving impotent,
obsolete and a handy tool of the superpower to be used when
convenient and discarded when unwieldy.
Outgoing
US Secretary of State Colin Powell admitted in October that Iraq had no “actual stockpiles” of WMDs.
In
April, Powell only acknowledged that the pre-war intelligence he gave
the United Nations to justify the invasion-turned
occupation was not
"solid", heaping the blame on the intelligence
community.
Eighteen
months into the occupation, Annan called the US-led onslaught “illegal”
and contravenes the UN charter.
The
UN report includes 101 recommendations to overhaul the United Nations,
including a proposal to enlarge the 15-member Security Council to 24
nations, with Japan and Germany expected to be first in line for a
permanent seat, albeit without veto power, the paper said.
The
report further calls for strengthening measures to prevent the
proliferation of nuclear material by calling for a moratorium on the
construction of any further enrichment or reprocessing facilities.
The
UN chief Secretary General is expected to hold consultations with
influential governments over the next three months to see what ideas
have traction so he can press for firm decisions at a special summit
in September next year.
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