With respect to President George W. Bush’s address before the United Nations General Assembly last Sept. 12, we are once again reminded of his warmongering to capture or kill Osama bin Laden, only to have resulted in the deaths of 3,500, possibly 4,000 innocent Afghanistan civilians. Only this time, President Bush wants to topple Saddam Hussein, which also will undoubtedly result in the deaths of thousands of innocent lives in addition to the more than 55,000 children who died from his father’s bombing and sanctions imposed on Iraq.

Now, we are reminded by Human Rights Watch of President Bush’s flouting of fundamental international humans rights and humanitarian law.

Although a new government has been installed in Kabul, Afghanistan and many Afghan refugees have returned to their devastated country, the United States and its allies have failed to provide adequate security throughout the country for the rebuilding and reconstruction of Afghanistan.

Rather than relying on international law as an essential tool in the fight against terrorism, the Bush Administration increasingly treated it as an encumbrance. An increasingly powerful faction within the Bush Administration pursued a radical vision of the United States as above international law. The unilateralist and exceptionalist ideology found its clearest and most damaging expression in attacks against the International Criminal Court.

Looking ahead, Human Rights Watch concluded there is a need to reconfirm what the campaign against terrorism is really about — upholding human rights and the rule of law. By indiscriminately attacking civilians, the United States breaches the most basic values of human rights. Combating terrorism requires a reaffirmation of human rights values and a rebuilding of human rights culture.

If only President Bush would include the key elements of international human rights and humanitarian law in his defeat of terrorism, we would all win the war against terrorism.

E-mail the author: Richard MaltbyMidland resident