August 1999

  “Da li se jos secate Kim, 9-togodisnje vijetnamske devojcice koju su 1972. godine pogodili napalmom americki ratni avioni? Ta slika je 24 godine proganjala Dzona Plamera; on je pilotirao helikopterom koji je omogucio taj napad napalmom. Njegov brak je propao, on se izolovao od prijatelja i rodbine i propio; posle svega postao je metodisticki pastor u Virdziniji. Kim i Dzon su se sreli 1996. godine i on kaze: “Kim je videla moj bol, moju tugu, moje sazaljenjeÖ Ispruzila je ruke i zagrlila me. Jedine reci koje sam uspevao da prozborim bile su: ” Zalim, zao mi je ñ i to sam ponavljao i ponavljao. Ona je tada govorila: ” U redu je, u redu, oprastam ti.” Njih dvoje su sad dobri prijatelji koji se cesto se cuju i razgovaraju. * Mozda je ovo jeste jedinstvena prica, no kako uopste mozemo govoriti o obnavljanju mira posle ratom nanesenih ozleda, stete...

“Do you remember Kim, the 9-year old Vietnamese girl, running as she was hit by napalm from U.S. warplanes in 1972? That picture haunted John Plummer for 24 years; he’d been a helicopter pilot and helped organise the napalm raid. His marriage crashed, he isolated himself and took to drinking; he eventually became a Methodist pastor in Virginia. In 1996, Kim and John met and he says: ‘Kim saw my grief, my pain, my sorrow…She held out her arms to me and embraced me. All I could say was ‘I’m sorry; I’m sorry – over and over again. And at the same time she was saying, ‘It’s all right, I forgive you.’ They are now good friends, and call each other regularly.* This may be a unique story, but how can we talk about restoring peace after wars’ hurt and harm without paying attention to the human aspects of conflicts in general...

Kommer du ihåg den lilla vietnamesiska flickan som springer ifrån amerikanska napalmbombar? Piloten kunde inte bära vad han hade gjort och blev präst. För ett par år sedan träffades de två, hon förlät honom omedelbart och kramade om honom med ett leende. Och – inom kort – visas i USA en film om Pete Peterson, en annan bombpilot som satt i vietnamesisk fängelse i 6 år, kom hem och blev medlem av kongressen och deltog i försoningsarbete mellan de två länderna – “jag kan inte göra om det som hände, men jag kan hjälpa till att bygga framtiden.” Han blev USA:s ambassadör i Hanoi 1996 och gifte sig förra året med vietnamesiskan Vi Ly. Tillåt mig påståendet att vi aldrig kommer att lyckas med att hjälpa krigförande och krigsdrabbade till fred, med mindre vi sätter de mänskliga dimensionerna av konflikter, krig och återuppbyggnad i centrum. Förstörda hus och infrastruktur är...

Husker Du den lille vietnamesiske pige, der løb fra amerikanske napalmbomber? Piloten kom aldrig over sin ugerning og blev præst. For et par år siden traf de to hinanden, hun tilgav ham på stedet og omfavnede ham med et smil. Og – om kort tid vises i USA en film om Pete Peterson, en anden bombepilot, som sad i vietnamesisk fængsel i 6 år, kom hjem og blev medlem af kongressen og deltog i forsoningsarbejdet mellem de to lande – “jeg kan ikke gøre det om der skete, men jeg kan hjælpe til med at bygge fremtiden.” I 1996 blev han USAs ambassadør i Hanoi og sidste år giftede han sig med vietnamesiske Vi Ly. Tillad mig den påstand at vi aldrig vil lykkes at hjælpe krigsførende til fred, medmindre vi sætter de menneskelige dimensioner af konflikter, krig og genopbygning i centrum. Ødelagte huse og infrastruktur er det principielt let nok...

Can We Learn to Do Better Than We Did in Kosovo? This article was commissioned by the editors of  World Bank Institute Journal “Development Outreach” and written in August 1999. I was asked to write a thought-provoking piece. Whether it is, only the readers can judge. But the editors of Development Outreach seem to have thought it reached a bit too far …It would read so much better if “edited” down to two text bits boxed inside articles by other authors; they also threw in another full article so that, unfortunately, there was no space available for all my contribution. Below find the full article. The blue sections are those printed by the World Bank Institute Journal. Judge for yourself why this “editing” was done and what they didn’t want to print. And remember they said it wasn’t censorship. Deficient diagnosis, failed conflict-resolution A conflict is a problem that arises out of incompatible...

LONDON- Although you would not know it from Madeleine Albright, the North Korean rocket you can see coming towards you could be a light at the end of the tunnel! The North Koreans are at it again but, each time, fearing the worst, the U.S. and Japan get into a serious panic. They have convinced themselves of a mighty calamity. The U.S. , Japan and South Korea have now threatened a total embargo of the renegade outlaw country if it dare test-fire its new inter-continental ballistic missile. But it should not be a cause for fear, rather the excuse for some highly creative diplomacy. First, there was the row in 1994 over the plutonium-rich cooling rods unloaded from North Korea’s main nuclear reactor. Washington convinced itself that North Korea was on a fast-track to building an armoury of nuclear weapons. President Bill Clinton was heavily leaned on to threaten war with...