Editorial

The Decline of the American Empire

Despite several weeks of the most brutal bullying, threats of economic retaliation and offers of billions of dollars in "aid", the United States and Britain have failed to coerce members of the UN Security Council to back their resolution authorizing war on Iraq. They have now issued an ultimatum to the United Nations that today is the final day for the Security Council to rubber-stamp a U.S.-led war and it appears that the war will begin within days.

The Americans needed nine of the 15 Security Council votes and no vetoes to pass their de facto declaration of war. To accomplish that, they needed to win over five votes from six "undecided" members. To date, of the six, Pakistan has vowed to abstain, while Chile has pledged to vote against the Anglo-American resolution. Angola, Cameroon, Guinea and Mexico have not stated how they intend to vote, but have spoken in opposition to a rush to war.

Having failed to line up the UN Security Council to rubber stamp its war of aggression, the Bush administration is now debating which would be less damaging to it politically to force a vote and then defy the will of the Security Council or to go to war without a Security Council resolution. Either course places the United States squarely in violation of the United Nations Charter and the principles of international law, but the advisors surrounding U.S. President George W. Bush do not appear to be concerned about that. Nor do they appear very concerned anymore about the fate of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is almost certain to face a challenge to his leadership if he commits British forces to war without UN authorization.

Adding to the problems facing the Americans is the apparent refusal by the Turkish government to call for a new vote on authorizing the United States to use Turkey as a base to launch an invasion of Iraq from the north. The Americans were stunned by the decision of the Turkish parliament, confident that their bribe of $30 billion would be sufficient to buy Turkey's collaboration. Even after that defeat, spokespersons for Bush expressed confidence that another vote was on the agenda and would pass with no difficulty. Not only has such a vote not materialized, at this point it appears to be too late even if it did. The Americans are set to launch their war within days and simply cannot afford to wait the several weeks it would take to reorganize a second front from the north.

These repeated diplomatic failures have placed the United States in a very precarious situation. Both Bush and Blair are betting their political futures on a quick and easy victory over Iraq. They are counting on everything working out perfectly and the war being over in a matter of a few weeks, gambling that such a success will silence their critics and defuse the growing anti-war movement. One can only question the source of such optimism, given the fact that not a single thing has gone their way so far.

For all of the arrogance and bravado of the Bush administration and its war machine, the steady stream of diplomatic setbacks suffered over the past few months underlines the strategic weaknesses of U.S. imperialism. A decade ago it would have been inconceivable for France to threaten to veto an American resolution. It would have been sheer fantasy to suggest that a small and economically vulnerable country like Chile might stand up to American pressures. There is every indication that the world is witnessing the decline of the American empire.