The sad moment has arrived. With the Afghanistan War still in progress, the Bush administration has declared war against Iraq. Cruise missiles launched by the U.S. military are beating down on Baghdad and other cities.

Three years ago I went to Iraq to gather material on the effects of depleted uranium. The faces of the persons I met then are indelibly imprinted on my brain. Countless children lying in hospital beds where they are being treated for leukemia and other cancers. Friendly boys and girls playing in the open spaces. People energetically selling their wares on the roadsides. These people are now subjected to artillery fire from the world' s most powerful military force, the U.S. military, which - unasked - is "liberating them from this outlaw regime."

Including civilians, the Iraqi dead from the 1991 Gulf War exceed 100,000. A legacy of the radioactive weapons known as depleted uranium rounds that were used then is Iraqis suffering from cancer, gastrointestinal problems, and other disorders. Before hostilities began, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan warned that since the Gulf War, "already one million Iraqi infants have died" from nutritional deficiencies caused by the economic sanctions. He expressed fear of what deaths the new war would bring.

Depleted uranium weapons also seriously harmed the health of the U.S. and other soldiers that participated in the multilateral forces during the Gulf War. Although this type of weapon hurts human bodies and the environment long after the war is over, the U.S. Department of Defense maintains that DU rounds are an effective weapon that will be launched by tanks and armored warplanes as necessary.

Cruise missiles, bunker busters to destroy underground facilities, cluster bombs to kill and maim large numbers of people on the ground, the super-powerful MOAB bomb (Massive Ordinance Air-burst Bomb). The destructive power of the current "conventional" weapons is immense. Even people who survive the immediate impact of such weapons will be physically harmed by the chemical substances they contain, and the environment will be damaged as well. The truth is, nothing causes greater environmental damage than war.

The Bush administration asserts, "Saddam Hussein is threatening the world by developing weapons of mass destruction." However, it is no exaggeration to say that depleted uranium rounds, which are highly toxic, have a half-life of 4.5 billion years, and are radioactive, are themselves weapons of mass destruction.

Since President George took office in January 2001, U.S. diplomatic and defense policies have become strikingly unilateralist. The U.S. has broken away from the Kyoto Protocol to combat global warming, backed out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM), defied the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), moved ahead to construct a missile defense network, refused to acknowledge the International Criminal Court, and developed small nuclear weapons.

At the same time, it has designated Iraq, Iran and North Korea as a threatening "axis of evil" and denounced them for "defying international agreements" and "lacking common sense."

It goes without saying that Hiroshima, which knows the horror of nuclear war, does not wish to see Iraq and North Korea develop and possess weapons of mass destruction. But we feel the same way about the U.S., Russia, and other countries that possess large numbers of nuclear weapons.

The Bush Administration is trampling on a broad spectrum of multi-lateral treaties and international agreements constructed by the United Nations and other entities. Acting entirely in response to self-interest, are they not the ones who lack common sense? Even I, with so many American friends and a pro-American stance, cannot help but feel anger.

The 9/11 attacks in 2001 that shocked and saddened the world have everything to do with the current attack on Iraq. The neo-conservative government leaders subscribe to the logic that a preemptive attack on an enemy country that is likely to threaten the United States is self defense is not a violation of international law. Even if they have a hidden agenda of seeking to lay a claim on Iraqi oil, decision makers can exaggerate the threat as much as they like to fulfill their goals.

The U.S. and British-led attack on Iraq has sent a strong message to Iran, Syria, North Korea, and other "dangerous countries" that "You could be next." But as long as these two powers make no move to eliminate their own weapons of mass destruction, how can they persuade their enemies to do so?

The future of humans, who failed to learn the lessons of the 20th century, the "century of war," does not appear bright. Animosity, mutual suspicion, violence, and pursuit of self-interest. As long as we are driven by these, we will never rid ourselves of terrorism or war. No matter how long it takes, we must find peaceful solutions to conflict. Japan, which has a Peace Constitution, can play this role.

There is reason to hope. It is in the great swell of anti-war actions by most than 10 million people around the world who understand the importance of such protest.

"To remember Hiroshima is to commit oneself to peace." "Let us not repeat the past, a past of violence and destruction." Remembering these words sent out to the world by Pope Jean Paul II when he visited the A-bombed city, we must call on the U.S. and British governments as well as the Japanese government to stop the war. Even now, it is far from too late.