Wars must be criminalized: Mahathir

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Wednesday that wars must be criminalized with the particular person initiating them punished accordingly.

He made this remark at the International Conference and Exhibition to Criminalize War held here from October 28 to 31 when delivering his keynote address.

Mahathir said while the killing of a person was considered a murder, the mass killing did not alter the fact, and therefore the party kicking start wars must be regarded as murderers who deserve severe punishment.

Mahathir, who is also chairman of the Perdana Global Peace Organization (PGPO) and the Kuala Lumpur Foundation to Criminalize War (KLFCW), stressed that war should no longer be an option in the settlement of disputes between nations.

He condemned the industrialists from strong military powers for inventing weapons of mass destruction and forcing other nations, rich and poor, to equip themselves with these new products.

"Should a country refuses to buy, the producers would hint at offering the weapons to the country's potential enemy. Fearing the enemy would possess the weapon, the country would be forced to acquire the new weapons," said Mahathir.

Mahathir said this was not his imagination as the same story was happening even to Malaysia when the country bought expensive aircraft and submarines although it did not expect to go to war with anyone.

He also condemned weapons merchants would try to create an arm race between neighboring or rival countries to create tensions in order to create markets for their products.

Touching on the tribunal set up by the PGPO to hear complaints from war victims, Mahathir said moral force was sought after as physical force was not available to the tribunal to jail or punish those who started wars.

When asked if he was against the United States, Mahathir said the conference and exhibition focused much on the Iraq war, where the U.S. was the principal player of it.

He said although the U.S. dragged other countries into the war, the rest did not involve as much as the U.S. did in the war.

Admitting that war could not be stopped overnight, Mahathir said every possible step must be taken to move towards the goal of ending war.

Source: Xinhua