"Bush chooses to ignore world opinion and launch an illegal, immoral and unjust war against Iraq," charged Samydorai

By Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia Correspondent

KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 (IslamOnline.net) - A non-governmental organization (NGO) in Singapore, a country that has given full support to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, asserted that civilian casualties caused by the U.S. war on the Middle Eastern nation should be classified as war crimes.

The Think Center which is based in Singapore also said the fact that the U.S. invaded Iraq without the support of the United Nations made it an illegal act, Bernama news agency of Malaysia reported on Saturday, March 22.

"But U.S. President George W. Bush chooses to ignore world opinion and launch an illegal, immoral and unjust war against Iraq," said the president of the Think Center, Sinapan Samydorai, in a statement released Friday, March 21.

The group joined a chorus of lawyers and lawmakers in Malaysia , Australia and Indonesia who earlier said the U.S. attack on Iraq would make the leaders of the U.S. , Britain and Australia liable for the International war crimes tribunal.

In Indonesia , some lawyers are even saying they will make sure the three "rogue" leaders and their countries are targeted for the crimes against the Iraqi nation and the "murder" of civilians in this war.

Although the Bush Administration wanted the world to believe that the only victim of this war would be Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, war meant the death of thousands on innocent Iraqi people in the unjust and unnecessary war, Samydorai charged.

He said most countries rejected the two arguments of the Bush Administration, that Iraq had links with al Qaeda and that its alleged weapons of mass destruction posed a clear and imminent threat.

"Unless the U.N. adequately addresses the increasing ‘state terrorism’ by the U.S. , such unilateral action by U.S. will continue to pose severe threat to world peace.

"This war would be the first war under the Bush doctrine that the U.S. can without provocation confront any nation that might pose threats to America ," said Sinapan.

"To declare a war of aggression is, a crime against humanity, in breach of the U.N. Charter. The majority of the U.N. member nations support a peaceful solution," he said.

"The outbreak of war is not the end of the call for peace -- only the beginning. Around the globe, millions are joining together calling for peace. They demand for diplomacy and peace - stop the war," said Sinapan.

Think Center , supported the call to "stop the crime against humanity and hold Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and their partners in the so-called coalition of the willing accountable before international law."

On Friday, several members of the Malaysian Law Association said they could not find any legal basis for the U.S. attacks against Iraq , adding that the U.S. did not have the right to start this war.

Like the Think Center , the lawyers called for an end to the Bush Administration's "state terrorism" the doctrine of pre-emptive attack and the reckless use of military power.