September 2002

One year later, September 11 has certainly lived up to the early claim of being a transformative moment, at least for Americans. One of the least noticed sea changes has been the abrupt shift in the past year from diplomacy to war talk as the foundation of national security. And what is most surprising about this shift is that it bears only the loosest connection with the genuine threat that continues to be directed at the well being of the nation by the deadly al Qaeda challenge. It is extraordinary that the US Government at such a time seems to be recklessly determined to wage a preemptive war against Iraq that is contrary to international law and morality, constitutionally dubious, and strategically imprudent, risking catastrophic side effects. A disturbing element in this gathering war momentum is the deeply disappointing quality of the debate on policy toward Iraq. President Bush most...

Evil should not be tolerated. Acquiescing to mass destruction is wrong. Those who love America must speak out. If we the people of the United States bomb thousands of innocent people then we become guilty of the horrors we are trying to prevent. If we use creative intelligence and diplomatic channels to limit violence, if we hold fast to those Constitutional rights which our ancestors won with imagination and courage, if we act as an inspiring member of the community of nations, then we may have a marvelous future. I do not understand why thousands of innocents should be slaughtered so that one tyrant may be removed. The goodness of one Kurdish grandmother is more precious than a thousand Husseins. Not one of my students should die! Should Charles or David or John die to satisfy George Bush’s or Saddam Hussein’s bellicosity? Both George Bush and Saddam Hussein seem to...

Peacekeeping operations, PKOs, have direct aims, mandates and consequences directed towards the de-escalation of conflict and the maintenance of peace. Such aims are usually analysed in research reports and discussed in the media. But there are also more or less intended, indirect or hidden objectives and consequences of PKOs which are seldom highlighted. More specifically, peacekeepers are transferred from a number of UN member states to the troubled area. They bring along values, norms, habits and ways of doing and organising things. In the best of cases, their training before departure creates some awareness among personnel about this type of “luggage” and how it may differ from the local values, norms, and habits in the region of operations. But, invariably, they can have a tremendous impact on local society and culture. The ways in which local people negotiate the social encounter with peacekeeping forces – a social process that brings...

George Bush may be averse to reading up on the Vietnam war, which he managed to duck, but how about recalling the famous  “rumble in the jungle” in the Congo, the heavy weight fight between the unbeatable George Foreman, none of whose opponents had lasted more than three minutes in the ring, and the up and coming, always boasting, Muhammad Ali? The fight was at 4.a.m so that the air was cooler and the American TV audience could watch it in prime time. In round two, the weaker Ali appeared to cower against the ropes and Foreman pounded him again and again, whilst Ali whispered taunts in his ear, “George, you’re not hittin'” and “George, you disappoint me”. Foreman lost his temper and his punches began to flow wild, while Ali let the spring in the ropes help him absorb those he landed. By the fifth round Foreman was exhausted...

George Bush may be averse to reading up on the Vietnam war, which he managed to duck, but how about recalling the famous  “rumble in the jungle” in the Congo, the heavy weight fight between the unbeatable George Foreman, none of whose opponents had lasted more than three minutes in the ring, and the up and coming, always boasting, Muhammad Ali? The fight was at 4.a.m so that the air was cooler and the American TV audience could watch it in prime time. In round two, the weaker Ali appeared to cower against the ropes and Foreman pounded him again and again, whilst Ali whispered taunts in his ear, “George, you’re not hittin'” and “George, you disappoint me”. Foreman lost his temper and his punches began to flow wild, while Ali let the spring in the ropes help him absorb those he landed. By the fifth round Foreman was exhausted...

The author was a member of the Danish government’s Commission on Security and Disarmament Affairs (SNU) from 1981 to 1994, served as Secretary-General of the Danish Peace Foundation 1985-1987 and wrote his PhD on Denmark’s post-1945 security policy in a global perspective, entitled Myth of Our Security (1981). Continued from PressInfo 159 Due to the influence of the American paradigm and an acquiescing research orientation, important scholarly themes have been under-prioritised in Denmark and the rest of Scandinavia in the last few decades. For instance: 1) Systematic research of American society and its international role. At the same time, the Nordic countries have experts who know about every country in Europe, Africa and Asia. The US, friend and leader, was seen as easy to understand, sympathise with and as unproblematic. 2) Studies of non-violent conflict-resolution were perceived as irrelevant in the world of the old cold war and are seen...

Boken, Propagandans Makt,av David Barsamian och Noam Chomsky Propagandans MaktSamtal med Noam ChomskyAv David Barsamian och Noam ChomskyÖversättning: Gunnar SandinOrdfront(Utkommer i dag) Den amerikanske dissidenten Noam Chomsky kommer i veckan till Sverige och bokmässan i Göteborg, där hans besök mötts med större intresse än någon tidigare författare. På söndag blir det stor Chomsky-“gala” på Scandinavium, de vanliga seminariesalarna räckte inte alls. Chomsky är professor i lingvistik i Bosnien, knappast en karismatisk talare, snarare lågmält klok. Som språkmänniska varnar han inte minst för verbala övergrepp och falska termer, vad är “i nationens intresse”, “humanitär intervention”. Besöket är efterlängtat. Vi lever i en tid där sanningar sällan kan hävda sig mot massmedialt marknadsförda lögner, där vad som är rätt ofta avgörs med vapenmakt. Bara få vågar eller orkar ifrågasätta. Noam Chomsky hör till de outtröttliga motståndsmännen. Stora amerikanska medier recenserar eller kommenterar sällan eller aldrig det han skriver. Många söker smutskasta honom, också...

Now that President Bush has put the argument for preemptive war against Iraq before the United Nations as the centerpiece of the war against terrorism, it becomes a matter on national urgency to consider the merits and drawbacks of this position. I believe that threatening a preemptive war against Iraq represents a momentous failure of American foreign policy, whether considered from the perspective of international law, international morality, or national interest, and so does the rest of the world, including many of America’s closest allies. The evident insistence on initiating such a war in the face of this international opposition would likely lead to further anti-Americanism overseas and might even ignite a grassroots revolt against US unilateralism. It may still not be too late, but if this slide toward a disastrous war is to be averted, the American people must become quickly aroused and vocal in their opposition before it...

It took the public expression of doubts by Brent Scowcroft, a former national security adviser to presidents Gerald Ford and George Bush, to initiate finally a national debate on the merits of preemptive war against Iraq. Before Scowcroft spoke out it was nearly impossible to be heard above the drumbeats of war being orchestrated from the White House. Scowcroft was careful to couch his criticism in ultra-pragmatic terms relating to the dangers of undertaking such a war at this time and its likely diversion of energy from what he rightly depicts as America’s number one security priority, the continuing challenge posed by al-Qaida. Persuasively, also, Scowcroft downplays the regional threat posed by Saddam Hussein, and is highly skeptical about Iraq’s purported links to Sept. 11 or to terrorism generally. Scowcroft relies for political closure on an American call for a renewal of inspections, this time on an unrestricted (anytime, anywhere,...

Denmark, like many traditional allies of the United States, will have to rethink and reorient its foreign and security policies away from dependence upon the United States. For countries that have held the United States as their role model and authority in security affairs – and as a sort of protective father figure – the rapid demise of the United States as a responsible and respected super power is so shocking that it is likely to be denied. The regime of George W. Bush represents a very dangerous combination of historically overwhelming physical power, intellectual poverty, and decreasing legitimacy in the eyes of the rest of the world. Responsible powers, big or small, look in vain to Washington for leadership or vision. They must begin to learn to stand on their own feet. At the end of the old cold war, a wealth of new possibilities arose to create a...

One year ago, two dates punctuated a continuing cycle of violence and counter-violence: the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, with about 3,000 civilians killed, and the October 7 start of the attack on Afghanistan, with about 6,000 civilians killed so far. How can we break out of this vicious cycle? Some days after September 11, a psychologist gave advice on CNN to parents with children asking difficult questions. One young boy had asked “What have we done to make them hate us so much that they do such things?” A mature question, unlike the answer: “You could tell your child that there are good people in the world, and evil – -“. That boy had arrived at the stage of reciprocity on psychologist Jean Piaget’s scale of child development, seeing the actions of others at least partly as influenced by our own actions (and...

In the event of nuclear war, as well as death and destruction there will be serious political consequences. Social activists should be prepared. The confrontation between Indian and Pakistani governments earlier this year showed that military use of nuclear weapons is quite possible. There are other plausible scenarios. A US military attack against Iraq could lead Saddam Hussein to release chemical or biological weapons, providing a trigger for a US nuclear strike. Israeli nuclear weapons might also be unleashed. Another possibility is accidental nuclear war. Paul Rogers in his book Losing Control says that the risk of nuclear war has increased due to proliferation, increased emphasis on nuclear war-fighting, reduced commitment to arms control (especially by the US government) and Russian reliance on nuclear arms as its conventional forces disintegrate. A major nuclear war could kill hundreds of millions of people. But less catastrophic outcomes are possible. A limited exchange might kill...