May 2004

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...

Förre vänsterledaren Gudrun Schyman presenterade på onsdagen en feministisk appell som är tänkt att skilja agnarna från vetet i EU-valet. Tanken är att kandidaterna i EU-valet ska ställa till svars med uppropet som utgångspunkt, samtidigt ska kandidater som vill ändra “Europas patriarkala maktpolitik” stödjas. Uppropet har tagits fram av en arbetsgrupp kallad “Kvinnor och makt”, inom organisationen Socialt Forum. Organisationen samlar internationellt olika nätverk och organisationer, kritiska till globaliseringen. Appellen ska presenteras i flera europeiska länder och vid onsdagens presskonferens i riksdagshuset deltog förutom Schyman också arbetsgruppens ordförande Lilian Hals, Frankrike. Syftet är att utmana vad arbetsgruppen kallar den patriarkala makten i Europa. Kraven är att arbetet med att ta fram den nya konstitutionen avbryts, att konkurrensutsättning och privatiseringar som högsta mål tas bort, att vård, omsorg och social välfärd utvecklas i ett balanserat system och att kvotering tillämpas vid val till alla beslutsfattande poster. Schyman kritiserar det gammaldags patriarkala...

May 24, 2004 – This is the Prime Minister’s first interview since taking office. NEW DELHI – Has the Indian Congress party, in electing Manmohan Singh as the man to lead the nation, in a stroke won for India a leader attuned to the voices of the rural poor as well as those that “shine” in the information technology sector, a leader who happily and uncomplicatedly embraces Hindus, Moslems, Sikhs, Christians and non-believers, one who will exert all its strength to make peace with Pakistan, and one who is determined to put India’s economy on course to overtake China’s within a couple of decades (and maybe before if China’s precarious system of economic and political governance breaks down)? For now these unanswered questions are just hopes, although widely touted ones. The biggest question mark over his head is will his communist allies give him the room for maneuver he needs on...

An integrated project with 11 Burundian NGOsin the TFF Amahoro (Peace) Coalition This outline has been produced on the basis of the comprehensive proposals developed by each of our 11 coalition partners and submitted to TFF during spring 2004. It forms the basis on which TFF approaches potential donors in Sweden, Denmark and elsewhere. What is important is that each of the projects have been identified by the Burundian NGOs themselves and reflect the needs of the country as it goes through the peace process. The role of TFF has been only to identify connecting points and integrate them with each other and produce this short outline from the much larger project proposals. Thus, we have secured a genuinely Burundian character and stake in all we do in the future in the Amahoro Coalition together. 1. General background Burundi is moving from a thirty years old ethnic conflict towards peace....

Af Mads Stenstrup, Jyllands-Posten, 20. maj, 2004 “Skyd en perker og vær glad. Skyd to perkere og kom i himlen..” 1. april sagde militærsociolog Claus Kold sit job på Forsvars-akademiet op. Han følte sin forskning undertrykt i stedet for, at man tog ved lære af den. Drengestreger? – i givet fald nok af den grovkornede slags. Sådan vil de fleste i de danske militærlejre i udlandet kalde den slags lokumsgraffiti, som blandt utallige andre eksempler blev fundet i de danske lejre Camp Olaf Rye og Camp Holger Danske i Kosovo for nogle år siden og stadig kan findes i tilsvarende lejre i Afghanistan og Irak. Militærsociolog Claus Kold har lavet et feltstudie og en ph.d-afhandling om den slags og mere overordnet om de udsendte danske soldaters opfattelser og holdninger til deres opgave. Han er overbevist om, at lyrik som ovenstående dækker over meget mere end drengestreger. Det dækker bl.a. også...

[1]  When somebody declares “War on Terrorism” any counter-war should come as no surprise.  War is a two-way street as Anglo-Americans and Israelis with their punishment expeditions and military intervention against peoples unable to hit back are now learning. Today they hit back, military and civilians against military and civilians; USA-UK killing by far most. Terrorists possess less destructive force than the state terrorists, but their societies are more vulnerable.  Thus, a nonviolent Muslim strike in some of them will have a major impact. [2]  This also applies to members of the “US-led coalition” with military deployment in Afghanistan and Iraq like Spain. The 11-M Madrid-Atocha atrocity is in this category although other issues handled badly by Spain like Ceuta-Melilla may play a role.  US stupidity has generalized a simple 9/11 attack to a real clash, including with Australian sex, also pedophile, tourism in Bali. [3]  Spain is now making...

Belligerent occupation is governed by The Hague Regulations of 1907, as well as by the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, and the customary laws of belligerent occupation. Security Council Resolution 1322 (2000), paragraph 3 continued: “Calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to abide scrupulously by its legal obligations and its responsibilities under the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in a Time of War of 12 August 1949;…” Again, the Security Council vote was 14 to 0, becoming obligatory international law. The Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the West Bank, to the Gaza Strip, and to the entire City of Jerusalem, in order to protect the Palestinians living there. The Palestinian People living in this Palestinian Land are “protected persons” within the meaning of the Fourth Geneva Convention. All of their rights are sacred under international law. There are 149 substantive articles of the Fourth Geneva...

Krigsmæssig besættelse er reguleret i Haag Konventionerne af 1907, 4. Geneve Konvention af 1949 og af sædvaneret om krigerisk besættelse. Sikkerhedsrådets resolution 1322 (2000), paragraf 3, fortsat: “Opfordrer Israel, besættelsesmagten, til nøje at overholde sine lovmæssige forpligtelser og sit ansvar i henhold til den 4. Geneve Konvention om Beskyttelse af Civile Personer i Krigstid af 12. august 1949…” Her var Sikkerhedsrådets stemmeafgivning 14 mod 0, hvorved beslutningen blev bindende international ret. Den 4. Geneve konvention finder anvendelse på Vestbredden, Gazastriben og på hele byen Jerusalem for at beskytte de palæstinensere, der lever der. De palæstinensiske mennesker, der lever i dette palæstinensiske områder er “beskyttede personer” i den 4. Geneve Konventions betydning [af ordet]. Der er 149 væsentlige artikler i den 4. Geneve Konvention, der beskytter hver enkelt af disse palæstinensere som lever i det besatte Palæstina [og deres] rettigheder. Den israelske regering overtræder og har siden 1967 overtrådt næsten hver...

By Anders Brännström May 18, 2004 Translated article from the Swedish Daily Dagens Nyheter of May 3, 2004 “Do not abandon Kosovo!” Unless the Serbian minority is protected by a strong international military force, the part of the Kosovo Albanian population that is prone to violence will ethnically cleanse anything Serbian out of Kosovo as soon as it gets an opportunity. Until the violent riots in March, the external world believed that the situation in Kosovo had become stabilized. There were plans to strongly reduce the peacekeeping KFOR troops. Thanks to the disarmament not having gone very far, it was possible to prevent the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Serbs. Brigadier Anders Brännström, until recently brigade commander in Kosovo, writes that an international force must remain. Last Friday I returned to Sweden after serving as brigade commander in Kosovo. During the last six months, Sweden has been responsible for the Multinational...

May 18, 2004 An Idea for the Creative Destruction of Abu Ghraib Prison Injustice, pain, suffering and humiliation characterize Abu Ghraib Prison. The process of destroying the prison as symbol and reality should be used as one means for redress of past injury in addition to compensation for victims and justice for perpetrators. Let engineers place 1000 explosive charges to bring down the prison structure. Let each person who has suffered there push the button for a detonation. Let the prisoners and former prisoners organize themselves for this ceremony to regain and preserve their dignity. Let Coalition government and military representatives also participate in the detonation. Let one representative of the torturers also push a button to signal their remorse and an end to their inhumane and criminal activities. Give the metal gates and prison doors to artists to create a monument. If you agree with this idea, please forward...

LONDON – If the Iraq imbroglio has one blessing it is that it demonstrates that there are no actual or realistically imaginable military scenarios where nuclear weapons would be of any practical use for a major power attempting to subdue a smaller one. Yet the macho culture of nuclear weapons remains unassailed except by a brave few. General George Lee Butler, the commander of American nuclear forces in president George Bush senior’s time, has argued that nuclear weapons are “inherently dangerous, hugely expensive, militarily inefficient and morally indefensible.” Even back in the days of the U.S. nuclear monopoly, the moral sanction against use was such as to render them diplomatically useless, often counterproductive. This is why Stalin knew he could act with impunity when seizing control of Eastern Europe. Likewise Beijing and Hanoi went to war with American armies in Korea and Vietnam without fear of being halted by nuclear weapons....

Nu ved vi det: der anvendesrutinemæssigt tortur af USApå basen i Guantanamo Bay Trykt i The Guardian, 13 marts 2004 Vi lever virkelig i mørke tider. Et sikkert tegn påat nætterne bliver længere – selvom foråret nærmer sig – kommer fra intensiteten i angsten for tortur. Hele tiden er der rapporter om nye grusomheder – i Sudan, blandt britiske ofre i Saudi Arabien og om angsten for tortur. Senere i denne måned vil i Geneve Verdensorganisationen mod Tortur fortælle FNs menneskerettighedskommission, at “siden angrebene den 11. september har talrige stater vedtaget eller annonceret foranstaltninger, der er uforenelige med deres forpligtelser i forhold til international ret”. Samtidig som vi står over for nye grusomheder i Madrid, hører vi stemmerne af de første briter løsladt fra Guantanamo Bay, hvor de var udsat for et system af aldrig svigtende grusomhed, som beskrevet af den forhenværende fange, Jamal al-Harith. Han beskriver systematisk ydmygelse som...