Another world war?
Due to their vanity, jealousy and anger, lack of wisdom, sincerity and statesmanship, Adolph Hitler of Germany, Henri Petain of France, Winston Churchill of UK, Joseph Stalin of USSR, Benito Mussolini of Italy, Franklin Roosevelt followed by Harry Truman of the USA and Tojo Hikeda of Japan went berserk and their armed forces killed millions of people.
At the end of the World War II, Franklin Roosevelt died of cerebral hemorrhage on 12 April, 1945, Adolph Hitler committed suicide on 30 April, 1945, Harry Truman dropped two atom bombs, one on Hiroshima on 6 August, 1945 and another on Nagasaki on 9 August 1945.
Benito Mussolini and Tojo Hikeda were summarily tried and executed, Henri Petain was convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment, Winston Churchill was defeated in the general election in 1945 and died in 1965, Joseph Stalin breathed his last in 1953, Harry Truman retired from politics in 1952 and passed away in 1972.
On October 24, 1945 the people of the world took the oath "We the people of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generation from the scourge of war which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind." We also vowed that we shall settle all international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security and justice are not endangered.
Whither the world today? After the World War II, there have been lots of changes in the international arena. More or less 45 Muslim countries freed themselves from the colonial rule/control of the UK, France, Italy, the Netherlands and the USSR. The USA created the state of Israel illegally within the state of Palestine. It has been blindly supporting Israel and giving vast military and economic aid to the Jewish state. The USA in collaboration with Israel has been denying the Palestinians their human rights, democracy, freedom and statehood since 1948. The USA and the USSR became arch rivals and enemies of each other after 1945. The USA fought the Korean War (1950-1953), Vietnam War (1954-1973), Gulf War 1990, occupied Afghanistan in 2001 and invaded Iraq in 2003. The USA insists on nuclear proliferation but refuses destruction of its own vast deposits of atom bombs and WMD. US President George Bush talks of the third world war if Iran goes with its nuclear energy programme to produce electricity for peaceful purpose.
The history of the world is the record of a man in quest of his daily bread and butter. Have the world leaders of the 21st century taken any lesson in the light of the World War II? How are we going to evaluate the character and conduct of the leaders of the USA, Russia, China, India, Japan, France, Pakistan, Germany, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Thailand, UK and Bangladesh?
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments