I don't wish to speculate on why the United States has embarked on a war against Iraq at this time. What is clear is that U.S. President George W. Bush and the influential aides in his administration believed -- without appearing to entertain the slightest doubt -- that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is dangerous and that an Iraq under his leadership would soon move to harm U.S. national interests.
It seems the majority of Americans accepted this belief, too. Otherwise, the U.S. recourse would not have been to launch a preventive military attack on Iraq in clear contravention of international conventions that prohibit expanded interpretations of the right of self-defense -- for which the Tokyo Tribunal convicted Japanese war leaders -- or intervention in the internal affairs of other nations.
The U.S. may have in mind a grandiose plan for creating a new world order, with the Iraq war the first step. But at present we lack sufficient evidence to support this contention. So I will confine my comments solely to the war.