Wednesday, 8 March 2023 — The Dissenter
Former President Jimmy Carter, who had won the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, shakes hands with President George W. Bush (Bush Archives)
March 8, 2003: In an op-ed for the New York Times, former President Jimmy Carter opposes going to war in Iraq.
“As a Christian and as a president who was severely provoked by international crises, I became thoroughly familiar with the principles of a just war, and it is clear that a substantially unilateral attack on Iraq does not meet these standards,” Carter declares. “This is an almost universal conviction of religious leaders, with the most notable exception of a few spokesmen of the Southern Baptist Convention who are greatly influenced by their commitment to Israel based on eschatological, or final days, theology.”
“[W]ith our own national security not directly threatened and despite the overwhelming opposition of most people and governments in the world, the United States seems determined to carry out military and diplomatic action that is almost unprecedented in the history of civilized nations.”
For the past month, there have been bitter political disputes in Iraq that have divided and polarized different communities, making it impossible to elect representatives to the country’s highest bodies. These divisions have deeply engrained themselves into the different strata of the society through social media, creating disputes and barriers not only between communities but also between ordinary Iraqis, preventing them from achieving social cohesion, partnership in governance, and socioeconomic integration. As a result, Iraqis experience high levels of hopelessness and frustration with their state. The current Iraqi government has little chance of addressing the current challenges and problems. The low voter turnout in the last Iraqi elections in October 2021, especially among the younger population, is a clear indication that people no longer trust the current state institutions and political parties.
Awards and honours bestowed by States or private committees, republican or monarchical, are bound to be corrupted by considerations of hypocrisy, racketeering and general, chummy disposition. From the Nobel Peace Prize to the range of eccentric and esoteric orders bestowed each year in Britain by Her Majesty, diddling and manipulating is never far behind. You are bestowed such things as a reminder of your worth to the establishment rather than your unique contribution to the good quotient of humanity. Flip many a peace prize over and you are bound to find the smouldering remains of a war criminal’s legacy.
The New Dark Age 
