Li, an expert with the China Institute of International Studies, said the Iraq war was a complicated regional war, reflecting the unilateralism practiced by the Bush Administration.

It could be defined as a war in which the United States was trying to establish international relations led by itself in the new century after breaking the basic norms governing international relations formed after World War II.

He said the war displayed the imbalance of political power in the contemporary world.

"The United States launched the war regardless of the opposition from most UN member countries," he said.

"But the progress of the war indicates that no matter how powerful the United States is, it could not have its own way and will have to return to the United Nations after the war."

He said there were profound strategic purposes behind the US military actions against Iraq. The Iraq war would not only affect neighboring countries, but also the world at large, he said.

Occupying Iraq, the United States would have better strategic advantages in Europe and Asia, with the Gulf region as its strategic foothold.

He said that the United States had so far found no weapons of mass destruction after the US troops occupied a number of cities in southern Iraq.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan had said UN weapons inspectors should return to Iraq to resume their work as soon as possible.

The inspectors were best qualified to say whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, Annan said.

Li said the war would also have a significant impact on the balance of political strength and security in the Middle East as well as conflicts between Palestine and Israel.

Iraq was one of the most important Arab countries in terms of area, population and resources, he noted.

If the United States won the war, it could further prop up the pro-US forces in the Gulf region, which made the power balance in the Middle East more favorable to the United States, he added.

To control the Middle East, the United states had to control the Gulf region, he said.

The Iraqi people had not yielded to the United States, despite their greatly weakened national strength after 12 years of sanctions since the Gulf War in 1991, he noted.

Li said the United States regarded Iraq as the nucleus of anti-US forces in the Middle East, and to some extent, Iraq had become the emblem of anti-US and anti-Israeli forces in this region.

"Iraq is a thorn in the side of the United States," he said.

Iraq, together with Iran to its east and Syria to its west, were listed by the United States as "rogue states" supporting terrorism, he said, adding Iraq and Iran were also listed in the "axis of evil" by the United States.

The first target of the US counter-terrorism campaign was Afghanistan. After the Taliban regime was routed, the security situation to the east of Iran changed, he said.

"As long as the United States remains in Iraq, Iran will be in a more difficult situation," he said.

The war on Iraq would also pose a threat to the security and economy of Syria, which relied heavily on oil imports from Iraq at lower than market prices in its economic development, the expert said.

Li said the United States underestimated the national consciousness of the Iraqi people. "The US side said the war was to liberate the Iraqi people and expected to get support from them, but in fact the US troops were resisted by the indomitable Iraqi people," he said.

The war against Iraq deeply hurt their national pride, he said.

"Shattering the tranquillity of Iraqi people, the war brought a humanitarian catastrophe," he said. "I was great shocked at Iraqi children crying during the night lit up by US bombing."

(Xinhua News Agency April 3, 2003)