NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former U.S. president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter on Sunday condemned preparations for a unilateral U.S. attack on Iraq saying it would be an unjust war "almost unprecedented in the history of civilized nations."
In an article in The New York Times, Carter said profound changes in U.S. foreign policy had reversed "consistent bipartisan commitments that for more than two centuries have earned our nation greatness."
Carter, who served as president from 1977 to 1981, said that during his term he 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," he said.
President Bush is facing widespread international opposition to his threats to invade Iraq and topple President Saddam Hussein, who Washington accuses of hiding chemical and biological weapons.
Bush has said he will not let the absence of U.N. approval stop him, describing U.S. security as paramount. Saddam has denied having weapons of mass destruction and several members of the U.N. Security Council want continued U.N. arms inspections rather than war.
Carter, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, said Iraq did not directly threaten U.S. security.
"But now ... 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," he wrote.
Carter described Bush's attempts to link Iraq to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America as unconvincing and said the president had no international authority to establish a "Pax Americana in the region, perhaps occupying the ethnically divided country for as long as a decade."
Jimmy Carter against war vs. SaddamSunday, March 9, 2003
NEW YORK (AP) - Former President Jimmy Carter says a unilateral attack on Iraq would not meet his criteria of a "just war" and would violate "basic religious principles" and "respect for international law."
In an opinion piece published in Sunday's editions of The New York Times, Carter says the United States has not exhausted all options for a peaceful resolution to the Iraq crisis. He says the Bush administration has presented an "unconvincing" case linking the al-Qaida terror network to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and should more aggressively seek international support before taking military action.
"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 writes in the editorial.
Carter, who was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, says a war with Iraq could destabilize the Middle East and increase the likelihood of terrorist attacks on American soil.
"American stature will surely decline further if we launch a war in clear defiance of the United Nations," Carter writes. "But to use the presence and threat of our military power to force Iraq's compliance with all United Nations resolutions _ with war as a final option _ will enhance our status as a champion of peace and justice."
