May 2003

Är irakier som bakterier som måste utrotas??Fredsforskaren Jan Öberg skäms för västmediernas hållning och utgår särskilt från rapporteringen från gripandet av Hoda Ammash, som presenterades som “Fru Mjältbrand”. Hoda Ammash arresterades i Bagdad på krigets 48:e dag, den 5 maj. Låt mig använda hennes mänskliga drama till att diskutera rasismen i medierna och politiken. CNN presenterade henne som “Dr Bakterie” och senare som “Fru Mjältbrand. Den enda bilden av henne, som använts om och om igen, visar henne i grön uniform. Hon kliver på en amerikansk och en israelisk flagga, medan hon med knuten näve hälsar på en stor skara av Baathungdomar. Hoda Ammash har inte befunnits skyldig till något brott. Ändå demoniserades hon också av våra medier, som sällan vågar motstå det amerikanska psykologiska kriget. Vidare nämndes att hon tagit sin doktorsexamen i USA och att hon kunde vara användbar då det gällde att finna de massförstörelsevapen man hävdat...

Vad slags utbildning kommer Iraks barn att få under ockupationen? Vi har hört det gång på gång och vi känner det som en gammal sanning: våra barn är vår framtid. Under dessa veckor inriktar sig medierna nästan helt på kriget, på militären som “återuppbygger” Irak (efter att ha förstört Irak) och inriktningen är på politik. Men förutom säkerheten är det ingen sida av återuppbyggnaden, försoningen och utvecklingen efter kriget som är viktigare än utbildningsystemet i bred mening. Det förtjänar verkligen mer uppmärksamhet från mediernas sida än vad det får. Det USA:s administration gör just dessa veckor är avsett att få långvarig inverkan på det irakiska samhället – det vill säga om de lyckas. Jag blir därför givetvis mycket nyfiken när en vän för ett par dagar skickar mig en epost och frågar om jag har sett att ett företag som heter Creative International Associates Inc, CAII, och som är baserat...

21 maj 2003 Den delade ön Cypern är inte sig lik. Sedan en tid strömmar grek- och turkcyprioter över gränsen mellan den turkcypriotiska norra och grekcypriotiska södra delen av ön, en gräns som sedan 1974 varit i det närmaste hermetiskt sluten. Det är nu möjligt för var och en att besöka platser som varit utom räckhåll i nära tre decennier. Den 21 april meddelade den turkcypriotiska regeringen överraskande att man beslutat tillåta fri passage i båda riktningarna. Turkcyprioter skulle inte längre behöva tillstånd från sina egna myndigheter för att besöka den södra delen av ön. Grekcyprioter, som endast kunnat passera gränsen undantagsvis och under hårt kontrollerade former, skulle nu till och med kunna ta bilen över för ett besök i norr. Besöken tidsbegränsades dock i båda riktningarna: grekcyprioterna tillåts stanna i tre dagar medan turkcyprioterna måste vända åter innan midnatt. Redan två dagar senare trädde de nya reglerna i kraft...

LONDON – The latest polls tell us that a majority of American public opinion doesn’t care that much if no proof comes to light of Iraq possessing significant numbers of weapons of mass destruction. Not just for President George Bush but for America as a whole it has been “a good war”. Nevertheless, deep down the Administration is a little nervous about the course of events in Iraq. How else to explain the rapid change in American senior personnel supposedly running Iraq? But it can’t be that concerned about its long-time bete noire, nation-building, as otherwise it would have asked for a sizeable appropriation in the 2004 budget for reconstruction in Iraq. But not only did it not ask Congress for any money for Iraq, neither did it for Afghanistan. The old jibe that America only does wars not peace has a sad ring of truth. If one wanted to be...

There are always lessons to be learned after a war. Often governments and pundits focus only on lessons having to do with military strategies and tactics, such as troop deployments, engagement in battles, bombing targets and the effectiveness of different weapons systems. There are, of course, far bigger lessons to be learned, and here are some of the principal ones from the Iraq War. 1. In the eyes of the Bush administration, the relevance of international organizations such as the United Nations depends primarily upon their willingness to rubberstamp US policy, legal or illegal, moral or immoral. 2. The Bush Doctrine of Preemptive War may be employed against threats that have no basis in fact.  3. The American people appear to take little notice of the ìbait and switchî tactic of initiating a war to prevent use of weapons of mass destruction and then celebrating regime change when no such...

Continued from Part 2.  ORHA, the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance L. Paul Bremer and General Jay Garner and a team of some 300 retired military men, diplomats and functionaries from numerous government agencies have been “recruited” or “appointed” by the Bush administration and, especially, by the Pentagon to administer postwar Iraq through the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance that comes under Pentagon. Here are the backgrounds and profiles about some of them. Interestingly, there are very few questions asked in the free press about this completely undemocratic, ambiguous method to take over a country and shape its future. JAY GARNER Governor – Co-ordinatorRetired US general, pro-Israel from the defence industry, with a past job in Northern Iraq, supposed to be the highest authority Sometimes called the new “viceroy” of Iraq, Retired Lieutenant General Jay Garner is the man in charge of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. Here is how the New York Times presents...

Continued from Part 1. DONALD RUMSFELD, PAUL WOLFOWITZ & RICHARD PERLE Secretaries.Ideologists with their own Special Plans. Masters of a war meaning peace and other “Newspeak” With the illegal war on and occupation of Iraq, the first two personalities need no further introduction. They are Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Secreary of Defence, Paul Wolfowitz. Then there one of the leading architects of the whole Iraq imbroglio, “The Prince of Darkness”, Richard Perle of the American Enteprise Institute and of the Defense Policy Board. It’s objective is to “serve the public interest by providing the Secretary of Defense, Deputy Secretary and Under Secretary for Policy with independent, informed advice and opinion concerning major matters of defense policy. Nine members of the Board have ties to defense contractors. Further, Perle is well-connected to the international media world through Hollinger Digital Inc., the media management and investment arm of Hollinger International Inc. whose online newspapers and holdings include The Daily Telegraph in London and Jerusalem...

They are people with a background in the far-right of the Republican Party, the Israel lobby, Perle and Wolfowitz henchmen, central to the war on terror, to the Homeland Defence authorities, to anti-ABM and pro-Ballistic Missile Defence (Star Wars), close to conservative think tanks, affiliated with mercenary companies, the military-industrial complex (MIC) and CIA. They are former “stabilisers” in Bosnia and Kosovo, and Marine Corps-people (many in Vietnam); they are private consulting firm executives affiliated with the inner circles of power in Washington. And, of course, several are associated with the oil industry, the computer industry as well as the media and public relations industry. With a few exceptions they are Pentagon and not State Department people, they are generals and technocrats. Less than a handful have any prior experience in Iraq or in nation-building, conflict-resolution, reconciliation, post-war trauma healing, civil society empowerment and other quite relevant matters. In short,...

PressInfo # 183 – Part 2 Continued from Part 1. DONALD RUMSFELD, PAUL WOLFOWITZ & RICHARD PERLE Secretaries.Ideologists with their own Special Plans. Masters of a war meaning peace and other “Newspeak” With the illegal war on and occupation of Iraq, the first two personalities need no further introduction. They are Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Secreary of Defence, Paul Wolfowitz. Then there one of the leading architects of the whole Iraq imbroglio, “The Prince of Darkness”, Richard Perle of the American Enteprise Institute and of the Defense Policy Board. It’s objective is to “serve the public interest by providing the Secretary of Defense, Deputy Secretary and Under Secretary for Policy with independent, informed advice and opinion concerning major matters of defense policy. Nine members of the Board have ties to defense contractors. Further, Perle is well-connected to the international media world through Hollinger Digital Inc., the media management and investment arm of Hollinger International Inc. whose online newspapers and...

/0214prepare.htm”>Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance that comes under Pentagon. Here are the backgrounds and profiles about some of them. Interestingly, there are very few questions asked in the free press about this completely undemocratic, ambiguous method to take over a country and shape its future. JAY GARNER Governor – Co-ordinatorRetired US general, pro-Israel from the defence industry, with a past job in Northern Iraq, supposed to be the highest authority Sometimes called the new “viceroy” of Iraq, Retired Lieutenant General Jay Garner is the man in charge of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. Here is how the New York Times presents Jay Garner. And here follows a critical background from The Guardian: “There is no argument among Arab opinion formers, who with rare unanimity have been condemning his appointment as another sign of American contempt for Iraqi feelings,” “One is the general’s work since retiring from the army as president of defence contractor SY Coleman, now...

PressInfo # 183 – Part 1 By They are people with a background in the far-right of the Republican Party, the Israel lobby, Perle and Wolfowitz henchmen, central to the war on terror, to the Homeland Defence authorities, to anti-ABM and pro-Ballistic Missile Defence (Star Wars), close to conservative think tanks, affiliated with mercenary companies, the military-industrial complex (MIC) and CIA. They are former “stabilisers” in Bosnia and Kosovo, and Marine Corps-people (many in Vietnam); they are private consulting firm executives affiliated with the inner circles of power in Washington. And, of course, several are associated with the oil industry, the computer industry as well as the media and public relations industry. With a few exceptions they are Pentagon and not State Department people, they are generals and technocrats. Less than a handful have any prior experience in Iraq or in nation-building, conflict-resolution, reconciliation, post-war trauma healing, civil society empowerment...

en hurtig patentløsning på Iraks uddannelsessystem Hvilken slags uddannelse vil Iraks børn få under den amerikanske besættelse ? Vi har hørt det igen og igen og vi ved det er en gammel sandhed: Vore børn er fremtiden. I disse uger fokuserer medierne næsten udelukkende på krigen, på militærfolk som “genopbygger” Irak (efter, at de har ødelagt det) og de fokuserer på politikken. Men sammen med sikkerheden er der intet aspekt af efterkrigstidens genopbygning, forsoning og udviklingen, som er vigtigere end uddannelsessystemet i bredeste forstand. Det fortjener bestemt større medieopmærksomhed end det får. Hvad den amerikanske besættelsesadministration gør i disse uger og måneder, har til hensigt at have en langsigtet indflydelse på det irakiske samfund – altså hvis de lykkes. Det er derfor naturligt, at jeg blev nysgerrig for nogen få dage siden, da jeg modtog en e-mail fra en ven, som spørger om jeg har set, at Washington-firmaet Creative Associates...