PRESENT GENERATION MUST KNOW DEVASTATION BY WAR - DR MAHATHIR

KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 (Bernama) -- There was a dire need to impress upon the
present generation on the devastation caused by wars, Dr Mahathir Mohamad
said Thursday.

The former prime minister said, this would enable the generation to
understand
why the world must, at all costs, try to stop wars from happening.

As this year marked the 65th anniversary of World War Two (WWII) which
lasted
from 1939-1945, Dr Mahathir said the most violent and bloody war of the 20th
century should serve as a stark reminder to the ugliness of war.

"It was a war that killed millions, both soldiers and innocent civilians in
all corners of the world - Europe, Asia, America and Africa.

"It was a war, we hope, will never recur...though there have been talks that
World War III was already being fought by the neo-colonialists," he said in his
message at the International Conference on World War II and the Rise of
Multilateralism here Thursday.

The message was read out by an official of the conference's organising
committee.

The one-day event was organised by World Future, a Malaysia-based online
political Islam portal and attended by about 200 people.

According to Dr Mahathir, after WWII, many nations gained independence but
the Palestinians were however, denied the right to their nation as the colonial
powers carved up their country to create the state of Israel.

"They were actually forced to leave their country and they cannot even call
their remaining land Palestine," he said.

Meanwhile, speaking on 'China's Rise after WWII', Professor Albert Jansen
of Holland said that for the first time in history, the world witnessed
countries like China, emerging as an economic power without inducing war or
oppressing other countries, like what was done by some other countries in the
past.

"This never occured in history but hardly in the spotlight of the media," he
said, adding that it was not China's interest to cause a threat to any country.

Citing Sino-African relations, Jansen said Beijing's policy was based on
mutual help on equal footing, and that its policy was not guided by a long-term
strategy to impoverish other nations by burdening them with unpayable
debts, followed by exploiting the resources of these countries.

-- BERNAMA