Editorial
Hiatus in NATO on mend
G-8 summit proves a catalyst
It was a welcome return of normality between North Atlantic partners hitherto cast adrift by their differences centring around Iraq war. The first healing touch was glimpsed on the opening day of the G-8 summit at Evian, Sunday. The host French President Jacques Chirac and US President George Bush burying their Iraq hatchet smiled and shook hands firmly before the latter was ushered by the former on to the hotel patio where leaders from other countries were waiting. The differences over Iraq caused an unprecedented breach between long time NATO partners and western powers; the house seemingly divided, had on one side the US, UK, Spain and Belgium and on the other France, Germany and Russia. Set against this backdrop, we welcome the unfolding signs of rapprochement which hopefully will have a sobering influence on the shape of things to come by way of fostering a just world order. The war on Iraq was unjustified when it was launched and it looks equally so even after its execution. The US' touting of the presence of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq ostensibly as the reason for waging the war stands negated; even after two months of the total US-British control of the country no traces of WMD have been found. The world has more grounds to say now that the war was eminently avoidable. The reality is, after the war we have a more complicated world calling for a unified, collectively statesmanlike approach to be steered clear of the confusion besetting it. The whole world would like to believe that the voice of the people will be truly echoed and represented by their leaders in future. The Iraq war highlighted differences between the world public opinion and the avowed policy of some powerful western countries. No good can come to the world from triumphalism of the few. What the NATO partners experienced was, to our mind, differences of opinion rather than a crack or cleavage in the fold. On that note, we would like to see the US appreciate why Germany, France and Russia behaved the way they did on the Iraq crisis. That their position was closer to world public opinion is also a fact of life. The point is, for a stronger fight against terrorism there is no substitute for a consensual coordinated approach addressing the roots of the complex phenomenon. The blend of participation by leaders of developed and developing nations at the G-8 summit and the focus on Africa, poverty and AIDS in developing nations are a welcome path-breaker for such an otherwise exclusive gathering of big powers.
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