PressInfo 2005

It is argued – strongly – that there is no way the EU can or should become an alternative military power to the United States; instead it can become the much-desired alternative to it by conceiving security and peace in a fundamentally new manner. And if it does not take the opportunity now while the United States is slowly but surely going down as an empire and finds few real friends around the world, the EU is losing the best chance it has ever had. Excerpts of this analysis are now being translated into English and other EU languages. Those who understand a bit of Danish are guided to this place on TFF’s site where the report can be downloaded free of charge. Whether or not this Treaty proposal will be revived – as Chancellor Angela Merkel intends – or it will be formally buried, rest assured that the defence,...

The American debate on the Iraq War has entered a dramatic new phase. For the first time, a prominent Democrat, Congressman John Murtha, has called for a withdrawal of American forces from the country. Murtha’s words have had a major impact because he was a former supporter of the war, and has had a career distinguished by his consistently pro-military profile. His argument is based on the inability to complete the American military mission in Iraq, making inexcusable the continued killing and loss of life. He also refers to the adverse effects of the unpopular and flawed occupation of Iraq on the wider goals of opposing global terrorism and to the failure of American reconstruction efforts. Murtha’s critique is widely shared by a majority of Americans at this point, and helps explain the declining popularity of the Bush presidency. Vietnam – a precursor but different But there is no sign that...

Again as the Vietnam experience should have made clear, when confronting a nationalist adversary, battlefield victories are difficult, if not impossible to translate into favorable political outcomes. The bloody occupation of Iraq has confirmed this lesson, dramatizing the limits of military superiority in wars associated with foreign occupation, especially of a country previously colonized.   Alternatives: do what seems right – it is not enough to be critical Understanding what has failed in the past and is unlikely to succeed in the present, is not enough. Without a positive alternative the blame game leads nowhere. In my view such an alternative does exist, although it contains big risks and like every proposed line of future policy in Iraq is enmeshed in uncertainty. We cannot know the risks of alternative lines of policy with any precision, but we can do what seems right under the circumstances, and appears to have the...

  BREAKING NEWS December 1, 2005 CNN State’s high court won’t spare Williams Schwarzenegger could still stop execution of gang founder   Nonviolence But what’s even more important: Stan Tookie Williams’ commitment is a vital impulse for a civil approach to violence. His history, personal chance and initiatives have yielded and will yield more positive results than all correctional institutions in the United States and, by their own example, call for a policy chance that at long last starts to again invest into the education of young people instead of prison expansion.   What you can do • Read the currently two best newspaper article “Dead Man Talking” in The Times and Clemency for a Crip in the International Herald Tribune • Inform yourself and read more: www.tookie.com, www.savetookie.org, www.againstthecrimeofsilence.de Wikipedia   • Sign the petition for clemency to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Or sign it here: • Mail your own...

Kosovo – mange andre muligheder end uafhængighed   PressInfo # 228  10. november, 2005 By Jan Oberg, TFF direktør & Aleksandar Mitic, TFF Associeret   Den serbiske provins Kosovo, er befolket af en albansk separatist-sindet befolkningsmajoritet, og har ikke imødekommet de krav om at opfylde grundlæggende menneskerettigheder og politiske standarder, som det internationale samfund satte som forudsætninger for statusforhandlinger. Alligevel begynder i de kommende måneder forhandlinger om provinsens fremtidige status. Denne grundlæggende konklusion findes i den længe ventede rapport fra FNs særlige udsending Kai Eide, som blev godkendt af Kofi Annan og som støttes fuldt ud af EU og USA – men rapporten afmystificerer ikke paradokset. For kun to et halvt år siden bestemte det internationale samfund, at forhandlinger om provinsens status ikke kunne begynde før, der var opnået et bestemt niveau af menneskerettigheder. Siden da er det kun blevet klarere, at Kosovos albanske flertal var uvilligt til at imødekomme...

Kosovo: Många valmöjligheter utom oberoende   PressInfo # 228 29 oktober 2005 Av Jan Oberg, TFF director & Aleksandar Mitic, TFF Associate Den serbiska provinsen Kosovo, huvudsakligen befolkad av den albanska separatistiskt inställda majoriteten, har inte lyckats tillgodose de grundläggande mänskliga rättigheter och den politiska standard som villkorats av världssamfundet, men icke desto mindre ska under de närmaste månaderna påbörjas samtal om dess framtida status. Denna grundläggande slutsats av en länge emotsedd rapporten av FN:s särskilda utsände Kai Eide har godkänts av FN:s generalsekreterare Kofi Annan och fått fullständigt stöd från EU och USA, men paradoxen med detta har man inte lyckats avmystifiera. För bara två och ett halvt år sedan krävde världssamfundet att samtal om Kosovos ställning inte skulle inledas innan man uppnått en viss standard i fråga om mänskliga rättigheter. Men då det sedan dess har blivit allt klarare att den kosovoalbanska majoriteten är ovillig att tillgodose kriterierna...

Kosovo: Many options but independence   PressInfo # 228  October 27 2005 By Jan Oberg, TFF director & Aleksandar Mitic, TFF Associate The Serbian province of Kosovo, largely populated by the Albanian separatist-minded majority, has failed to meet basic human rights and political standards set as prerequisites by the international community, but it should nevertheless enter in the months to come talks on its future status. This basic conclusion of the long-awaited report by UN special envoy Kai Eide was approved by the UN secretary general Kofi Annan and fully supported by the EU and the US, but it fails to demystify the paradox. Only two a half years ago, the international community had charged that talks on status could not start before a set of basic human rights standards was achieved. Since then, however, as it became clearer that the Kosovo Albanian majority was unwilling to meet the criteria...

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  Get free articles & updates Få gratis artikler og info fra TFF © TFF and the author 2005     Tell a friend about this article Send to: From: Message and your name    You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the source.   Would you – or a friend – like to receive TFF PressInfo by email?         S P E C I A L S & F O R U M S Iraq Forum Gandhi & India Burundi Forum Photo galleries Nonviolence Forum TFF News Navigator Become a TFF Friend TFF Online Bookstore Reconciliation project EU conflict-management Make an online donation Foundation update and more TFF Peace Training Network Make a donation via bank or postal giro Basic menu below  

Allt fler talar om bojkott av amerikanska produkter. Särskilt i Tyskland och Frankrike förefaller många vara mycket mindre intresserade av att köpa amerikanska produkter efter USA:s illegala invasion av Irak. Bakgrunden är de framgångsrika bojkotterna av den sydafrikanska apartheidregimen, av Deutsche Shell i Nordsjön och mot franska kärnvapenprov i Polynesien. Det finns nu skäl för att återuppliva metoden.   Några faktorer att överväga En total bojkott skulle gälla alla amerikanska konsumtionsvaror, från filmer, Coca-Cola och Mc Donald till bilar och bränsle, kapitalvaror av alla slag och särskilt militära produkter. Den skulle också innebära att man inte använder dollar utan hellre t ex Euro, att man undviker amerikanska kreditkortföretag och inte köper amerikanska värdepapper. Krav ställs på regimer och företag att undvika amerikanska företag, särskilt de mest kritiserade. En partiell bojkott kan fokusera på någondera av ovanstående. En bojkott kan rikta sig mot amerikanska företag inom alla eller några branscher eller...

Over hele verden tales der meget om boykot af amerikanske produkter. Specielt i Tyskland og Frankrig synes folk efter den ulovlige invasion af Irak at være meget mindre tilbøjelige til at købe amerikanske produkter. Det er interessant, at der ikke tales om at boykotte engelske eller britiske produkter, men der tales meget om Israel. Baggrunden er den vellykkede aktion mod apartheid regimet i Sydafrika, mod Deutsche Shell i Nordsøen og mod den franske atomprøvesprængning i Polynesien; alle som del af den politiske scene i 1990erne. Der er nu mulighed for en genoplivning !   Nogle af de mange faktorer og forhold, der skal overvejes En komplet boykot ville omfatte amerikanske forbrugsvarer, fra film, Coca Cola, McDonalds til biler og brændsel, kapitalvarer af enhver slags, især militært udstyr, finansvarer som dollars, ved i stedet at bruge Euro og Yen etc. til at sætte priser, indgå kontrakter, til turismen og også at...

Yet this tragedy only foreshadows much worse future catastrophes if the world continues on its current course. Tricycle and helmet found 1,500 m from hypocenter Hiroshima Memorial Museum © Jan Oberg 2004   The trappings of nuclearism As long as the big powers insist on maintaining nuclear weapons, claiming they need them to protect their security, they cannot expect to prevent other countries and terrorist organizations from acquiring such weapons–and some day using them. The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima killed over 200,000 people.Today’s nuclear bombs are vastly more powerful. If even one nuclear device had been detonated in a parked car or a boat on the Thames, the Center of London would be strewn with smoking, radioactive rubble and over a million people might have been killed outright, and scores more would die slowly from radiation disease. The double standard, “Nuclear weapons are good for us, but bad for...