January 2003

Lecture at the Social Summit in Porto Alegre, January 2003 The ceaseless bombing and imminent invasion of Iraq by the USA and allies, particularly the UK, is one more step in the geo- fascist march toward world hegemony. It is “fascist” because of ruthless use of blunt state power, only “geo” as long as some US democracy is left. Serving a three-point agenda – oil, bases and Israel – other points have been brought up to legitimize war. But these points can all be solved by governments, building on successful governmental diplomacy after the Second World War. A Conference for Security and Cooperation in the Middle East, CSCME, modeled on the Helsinki Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe, CSCE, 1973-75. The initiative was taken by a small country, Finland, the veto making the UN inadequate. Today Germany could take the imitative, or, even better, the EU. Participants would be...

LONDON – On November 25th 1969 in the midst of the war in Vietnam, President Richard Nixon, besieged by protests that he was a war monger, threw out a sop to public opinion. The U.S., he announced, had decided to renounce the possession and use of lethal and incapacitating biological weapons. He declared that the government would destroy its stockpile of biological weapons. “These important decisions”, said Nixon, “have been taken as an initiative towards peace. Mankind already carries in its own hands too many of the seeds of its own destruction.” Privately Nixon was convinced that they had little military utility for the U.S. whilst at the same time he feared that, if the big powers continued to depend on biological weapons, one day a “rogue” state might one day get its hands on the knowledge of how to make them and use them against American cities. Sending the...

Krig förvandlas inte till fred av ett FN-mandat Regeringar, redaktörer, kommentatorer och till och med de som verkar för att stödja Förenta nationerna uttrycker för närvarande som sin uppfattning att ett krig mot Irak är, eller kommer att vara, godtagbart om Förenta staterna och andra “går tillbaka” till FN:s säkerhetsråd och får ett “FN-mandat” innan de går till anfall. Men detta är ett felaktigt resonemang och skulle kunna medföra att FN som fredsorganisation upphör att existera. Om man anser att det planerade kriget innebär eller medför en kränkning av folkrätten, blir det inte mer folkrättsenligt av ett sådant mandat. Om man anser att kriget är moraliskt felaktigt eller orättfärdigt gör inte ett sådant mandat att det blir riktigt eller rättfärdigt. Om man anser att kriget inte har något att skaffa med konfliktlösning utan måste placeras i kategorin angreppskrig, förvandlas inte kriget till klok politik genom en resolution &endash; som oundvikligen...

Published bySoka Gakkai SGI President Ikeda’s Essay Series LIFE IS WONDERFUL “We live in crazy times, we are crazy,” said a young Muslim mother in Sarajevo.(1) Ten million land mines were planted in the former Yugoslavia. Some of them were designed to resemble chocolate eggs or ice creams. Why? To tempt children to pick them up. One little girl was instantly killed by a bomb planted in a teddy bear. Who deployed such weapons? Who built them? Who profited by selling them? Why can’t we stop them? What can we do? Interview after Interview According to Scandinavian peace researcher Dr. Jan Øberg, cofounder and director of the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research (TFF), the important thing is not to leave the area of conflict, but to stick close to the ground and listen to the voices of ordinary citizens, and to then make those voices heard around the...

LETTER FROM BAGHDAD Dear Friends, From 3rd- 8th January 2003 a group of NGO representatives and former UN officials was able to meet with cabinet ministers in Baghdad including Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, Foreign Minister Nagi Sabri and Oil Minister Amer Mohammed Rashid, as well as to talk with doctors, teachers and scientists. We had the opportunity to meet ordinary Iraqis and visit sites recently inspected for weapons of mass destruction. The aim was to contribute to efforts to prevent war and to gather information not available in the western press, particularly with regard to the human situation. Attached is a brief summary of a very intense series of visits, as well as suggestions responding to the frequent question asked by citizens of western countries “What can we do to help prevent war?” Please circulate these documents as widely as possible, asking NGOs and individuals to act quickly on...

LONDON – For the moment the great debate about going to war with Iraq is cast almost exclusively in the dark shades of realpolitik- will it achieve its objective and disarm Iraq once and for all? Will it lead to the introduction of a pro Western democratic regime? Will it open the way for a realignment of dictatorial Arab regimes that tolerate, even encourage, anti-American feeling? But the morality of war is given very short shrift. This week Pope John Paul 11 spoke out, saying war in Iraq “would be a defeat for humanity”. Many people, of many different cultures and persuasions often tack to a common standard when it comes to the making of war- at least in principle. Buddhist teaching asks, “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hateful”. Confucianism asks, “Do not to others what you would have them do to you.” Hindu teaching...

Et FN mandat laver ikke krig til fred. Regeringer, journalister og kommentatorer, ja selv FN-sympatisører udtrykker for tiden den opfattelse at en krig mod Irak er eller vil være acceptabel, hvis USA og andre “går tilbage” til Sikkerhedsrådet og får et “FN-mandat” før man går til angreb på Irak. Men det er en vildfarelse, der kunne indebære enden på FN som en fredsorganisation. Hvis man har den opfattelse, at krigen er eller medfører et brud på international ret, så gør et sådant mandat den ikke mere lovlig. Hvis man mener, at krigen er moralsk forkert eller urimelig, så gør et sådant mandat den ikke mere rigtig eller rimelig. Hvis man mener, at krig ikke har noget at skaffe med konfliktløsning, men udgør en aggression, så vil en resolution – der uundgåeligt vil være et resultat af en studehandel mellem de fem permanente sikkerhedsrådsmedlemmer (kernevåbenmagter) og de øvrige 10 medlemmer –...

LONDON – Washington and its closest allies- at least those who try to put themselves in Washington’s shoes- now realize they are beleaguered by the Pandora’s Box of nuclear and missile proliferation and that they have no adequate policy to deal with them. Their moral authority is all but used up, just when they need it most, to deal with Iraq first and now North Korea. George Bush must be wishing he were Lula in Brazil- cancel the order for new military jets, tell the nation the money is going to relieve poverty and meanwhile use the credibility earned to keep the Brazilian economy on a responsible course, even though that will incur quite a bit of belt-tightening for everybody. Lula, a week into office, must be already set to win re-election. But what equivalent moral authority does George Bush have in order to win over the hearts and minds...