December 2002

With these pictures I want you to get a sense of the simple fact that Iraq is not only Saddam Hussein, weapons and wars. Iraq is 24 million fellow human beings. It has been a civilisation for some 7,000 years. It has a distinct, rich culture; it has norms, and – above all – it has pride. I have never visited a country where there is so much kindness and hospitality – a genuine welcoming of the stranger. During the four weeks I spent in Baghdad, Babylon and Basra, I never felt insecure or had the feeling that I could not speak with the locals. Neither did I sense that they were afraid to speak with me as a foreigner. © 2003 Jan Oberg The future belongs to the children, doesn’t it? Iraq has a young population; about half the people are under 16 years old. They are innocent, they...

This comprhensive peace proposal was submitted to Feature editor Robert Donahue, the International Herald Tribune on December 5. On December 19, Donahue accepted the article for publication by e-mail. Then nothing happened. On February 6, however, Mr. Donahue told us that he had let another editor read the article. This editor “didn’t like the article and thought that many of its points were unrealistic – and I respect my colleague,” he said over the phone. So the International Herald Tribune changed its mind and hoped we would accept their apology. On February 17, the European Council of the EU came together and began formulating a common foreign policy in relation to the Iraq crisis. The International Herald Tribune made a politically motivated turnaround and effectively wasted exactly two months of this proposal’s life in the public debate. We are proud to publish the original manuscript with all its “unrealistic” points...

Governments, editors, commentators and even supporters of the United Nations currently express the view that a war against Iraq is, or will be, acceptable if the United States and others “go back” to the Security Council and obtain a “UN mandate” before they attack. But, this is false logic and could spell the end of the UN as a peace organisation. If you think that the planned war is or entails a violation of international law, such a mandate does not make it more legal. If you think that the war is morally wrong or unfair, such a mandate won’t make it right or just. If you think that war has nothing to do with conflict-resolution but must be categorised as aggression, a resolution – inevitably the result of horse-trading among the Five Permanent (and nuclear) Security Council members and the other ten under the leadership of Columbia – does...

LONDON – War in February now looks very likely. The die is almost cast. It will be a bitter, hard fought war, baring little comparison to the easy run of ten years ago. With his back to the wall Saddam Hussein will fight in the toughest, cruellest way imaginable, luring the American and British invaders into the Iraqi cities where they will be butchered one by one and they in turn will wreck vengeance, intended or not, on the innocent, the trapped city dwellers. “And there is this earth, this mud where the flesh rots, where eyes decompose. These arms, these legs that crunch in the jaws of the boars. The souls ulcerated and foul from killing, the bodies so starved for tenderness they haunt stables in search of pleasure. There is this gangrene that eats at the heart….” President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair, two men who...

Speech given Peace operations successful, the patients unfortunately died… Thank you very much, herzlichen Dank. It’s about 30 years ago that I spoke German, so I don’t want to make you a victim of whatever might be left of that language in my hard disk! I am honoured to be invited and discuss with you what is so terribly important and urgent, and could have such disastrous consequences for many. May I suggest to you that each one of you promise yourself to speak with at least ten people next week and discuss what you heard and learned during this conference? There’s only one way compatible with democracy: to spread the word and work with nonviolent means. Also, to show the contrast with the undemocratic leaders – including those in so-called democracies – who get their point through by violence. I’m not an expert on Iraq. I happen to know...

Hvad indebærer en krig mod Irak? Offentliggjort i Politiken 17. december 2002 En række humanitære organisationer og enkeltpersoner opfordrer i et åbent brev regeringen og Folketinget til at sikre sig det bedst mulige grundlag for beslutningen om, hvorvidt Danmark skal støtte en eventuel krig mod Irak. Der må gøres realistiske analyser af de mulige konsekvenser og skabes debat både i Folketinget og i den brede offentlighed. De sidste ugers internationale udvikling gør det sandsynligt at Irak bliver angrebet enten af USA og England eller af en større koalition. Danmark, der har formandskabet i EU, skal derfor tage stilling til to ting: For det første skal det endeligt besluttes, om Danmark vil støtte denne krig, med de politiske, humanitære, økonomiske og folkeretlige konsekvenser, den kan få. For det andet skal regering og folketing tage stilling til, om Danmark vil deltage aktivt i angrebet på Irak. Vi opfordrer hermed folketingets medlemmer og...

The threat of an outbreak of smallpox anywhere in the world is indeed a frightening prospect. It’s quite obvious that even a very small terrorist organisation could easily spread the disease globally without technically advanced vectors – provided it had access to the pathogenic virus. Furthermore, smallpox belongs to the category of biological weapons of mass destruction. It is extremely contagious and will easily spread outside the area of conflict. Thus completely “innocent” or only peripherally affected people can be stricken with disease. This is a severe, global threat against one and all! As a Swedish citizen one must ask: can we handle an attack even if we are affected only in the second-hand? Have those who have been delegated the power created a realistic preparedness against what may happen? In 1980 smallpox was officially declared eradicated following an internationally successful vaccination campaign. Simultaneously the former – sometimes compulsory –...

Hotet att smittkoppor skulle bryta ut någonstans i världen skrämmer många. Det står också klart att även en liten terroristorganisation skulle kunna sprida sjukdomen globalt utan särskilt avancerade vapenbärare – förutsatt att den hade tillgång till det sjukdomsframkallande viruset. Smittkoppor tillhör också kategorin biologiska massförstörelsevapen vilka utmärker sig framför allt genom att drabba många människor och sprida sig långt utanför en konflikthärd och i princip skada människor som inte alls, eller bara perifert, har med konflikten att göra. Detta skapar hot mot allas säkerhet. Som medborgare måste man fråga sig, kan vi klara en attack även om effekten bara når oss i andra hand. Och – har de som vi delegerat makten till verkligen byggt upp en realistisk beredskap mot det som kan hända? Smittkoppor förklarades 1980 som utrotad, efter en framgångsrik internationell vaccinationskampanj. Ungefär samtidigt avbröts i hela världen den tidigare ofta obligatoriska vaccineringen mot smittkoppor. Avsiktligt sparades smittkoppsvirus...

First we had talking Tigers, and now these Tigers are changing stripes.The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), denizens of the jungles in northern Sri Lanka, who in the past started speaking of peace with a promising roar only to end in a frustrating whimper, have just finished supping at the same table with their arch foes – representatives of the government in Colombo. And after three days of a sumptuous peace-meal, along with a belch of satisfaction, they have delivered themselves of the declaration that they will no longer demand a separate and independent nation for Tamils in the island republic. The Sri Lankan Tamils – different from the plantation Tamils who are descendents of indentured labour exported to work in the tea estates during British rule – constitute about 12.6 per cent of the population and are the main minority. Their separatist war been one of the bloodiest,...

The national security strategy (NSS) of president Bush, unveiled on September 20, has been seized by the government of India to assert its own right to “pre-emptive strikes”. This is a qualitative leap from the doctrine of deterrence. Yet the difference between pre-emptive strike and deterrence has been blurred with the declaration, on September 30, in Washington by Indian finance minister Jaswant Singh that “Pre-emption or prevention is inherent in deterrence”. This comes three days after Washington had asked India to show restraint despite Pakistan continuing cross-border terrorism, and underscores that New Delhi is determined to make the most of the NSS report. This is certain to heighten tension in the region especially with hostile rhetoric being revived in the aftermath of the attack on the Swaminarayan Temple complex in Gujarat on September 24. “ Where there is deterrence there is pre-emption. The same thing is there in Article 51...

Krig avvärjs av idéer som är bättre än krig, skriver fredsforskaren Jan Øberg. Krig presenteras som den enda lösningen på konflikten med Irak. FN:s säkerhetsråds resolution 1441 minskar inte risken för att USA i februari eller januari nästa år – med eller utan FN:s godkännande – angriper, besätter och kontrollerar Irak. Men krig ger inga hållbara lösningar. För detta finns bevis från Kroatien, Bosnien, Kosovo, Makedonien, Somalia och Afghanistan. Efter krigen här finns de underliggande konflikterna kvar. De krigförande parterna har inte rört sig en tum mot försoning eller mot gemensamma visioner för framtiden. Det kan finnas extrema situationer då våld måste tillgripas, som när man griper ett barn hårt i armen när det håller på att springa rakt ut i trafiken. Men internationellt måste vi lära oss att skilja mellan krig och konfliktlösning, mellan våld och äkta fredssträvanden. USA vägrar att förhandla eller använda politiska medel. EU, med Danmark som ordförandeland, har...

– Regeringerna i Norden anser att Irak utgör ett hot mot världsfreden. Det mest sannolika hotet är en smittkoppsepidemi, som kan utlösas av USA:s angrepp på ett Irak i panik. Det är egentligen bara smittkoppor som genom sin smittsamhet och höga dödlighet ur terroristens synpunkt utgör ett effektivt biologiskt massförstörelsevapen. – Om detta hot säger våra regeringar inget och stora delar av befolkningen är inte skyddade i dag. – Amerikanska beslutsfattare anser att risken för en global smittkoppsepidemi är överhängande. USA tar hotet om biologiska massförstörelsevapen på största allvar OCH fortsätter att rusta för krig mot Irak! Just nu genomförs i USA, England och Israel noggrant planerade åtgärder för att skydda befolkningen mot dessa vapen, främst smittkoppor. – Är det klokt att Sverige och de övriga nordiska länderna tiger? Så frågar TFF-rådgivaren, professor Bo Rybeck i en ny analys. Han är fd generalläkare och var chef för Försvarets Forskningsanstalt, FOA, 1985 -1994....