January 2002

Helsingborgs Dagblad, 31 januari 2001 Av en slump faller mina ögon på en liten notis i InternetWorld 1-2002: “Somalias enda internetleverantör, Somali Internet Company, tvingades stänga i december eftersom USA misstänker att företaget har kopplingar till terroristnätverket al-Qaida. Resultatet är att alla internetkaféer har tvingats slå igen. Stängningen drabbar inte bara somalier som vill hålla kontakt med släktingar utomlands, utan även näringslivet och alla internationella hjälporganisationer i landet.” Jag arbetade i Somalia 1977-81. Då skickade jag brev och telegram hem. Somalia var en samtalets kultur; ett skriftspråk hade just införts under Siad Barres första år av visionär (sedan sorgligt diktatorisk) statsledning. Somalierna träffades på marknaderna med sin boskap och sina kameler, berättade historier och nyheter och reciterade poesi medan de drack sött kanel-te och tuggade khat. På så sätt, och tack vare släkt- och klanstrukturer, visste alla 3,5 miljoner somalier allt om varandra. Och dygnet om lyssnade de på BBC:s Somalia-sektion ty...

Beskyttet fra Londons og hele verdens støj, mode, tant og flygtighed og langt fra ligegyldighed og forbrugerisme kommer jeg bag Tate Moderns tykke maskinrumsmure ind i et mørkegråt kapellignende rum med dæmpet belysning. Her vises Mark Rothkos kæmpestore, afrundede rektangler i rødbrune nuancer, mystisk vibrerende i brunt og sort og, aner man, i alle jordens andre farver. I kompositionen kan de minde om tibetanske mandalas, former man stiller øjnene ind på og som derpå begynder at bevæge sig. Ind i et mørklilla univers, som indgyder mig ro. Konturløse kuber, som er skabt af en udramatisk, og blød – tilsyneladende – anvendelse af farver. Men mandalans detaljerigdom savnes – eller måske er hvert et billede netop en detalje i universet, et hologram i olie? Dystre bevæger de sig ind og ud af hinanden, som vinduer i – eller ud mod – et grænseløst rum. Skønhed? Ubeskrivelighed? Hvile? Intensitet? Fred? I krop og sjæl...

The idea behind the EU Europe after the Second World War developed a strong culture of pacifism. Part of this was driven by internal motives. The movement towards European Union was undoubtedly stimulated by the felt need to eliminate tensions between France and Germany, and to make impossible new eruptions within the European continent. The establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community was, amongst other things, a deliberate attempt to fuse resources and overcome the national economic competition which could bring about a renewal of militarism. Of course, all this unwound within the context of the Cold War, which, as it became more and more dependent on nuclear confrontation, aroused our own peace movements, for nuclear disarmament. Whilst not wishing to sentimentalise these different pacifisms , they undoubtedly became part of a wider culture, which was only partially eclipsed by the end of the Cold War, as a result...

LONDON – Chris Patten, the European commissioner for foreign affairs, said the other day that America had to be careful that after winning the war it didn’t lose the peace. But who can say that America has won the war? It hasn’t “smoked out” Osama bin Laden, the supposed objective. As for losing the peace, yes, the indications are indeed worrying. No one in Washington with their hand over their heart could say that world opinion is now behind America. It may have been momentarily in the immediate aftermath of September 11th but over the months that support has been whittled away. The treatment of the prisoners in Guantanamo has brought it all to a head. Indeed, the very fact that this issue has become so hot, particularly in Europe, is an indication of the deep doubts and reservations in the chancelleries of Western Europe about America’s on-going call to arms....

During his first year in office, George W. Bush has engaged in three wars. His war against terrorism is widely known and discussed. His resolve to fight against evildoers with America’s military might is said to have defined his presidency. The president’s other two wars have received far less attention, but they may end up defining his presidency even more than his war against terrorism. These are his war against international law and his war against the international control of armaments. In the war against international law, the president has shown remarkable boldness in his disdain for the remainder of the international community. He has pulled out of the Kyoto Accords on Global Warming, perhaps the most critical environmental treaty of our time. He has also demonstrated his contempt for the creation of an International Criminal Court that would hold individuals accountable for the types of serious international crimes that...

Gandhi, Arun. Lord Richard Attenborough. Kasturba: a lifeNew Delhi: Penguin Books Ltd., 2000.315 pp, 295 Indian Rs, US $22.51 January 29, 2002 Arun Gandhi, grandson to Mohandas and Kasturba, has written a thorough account of Kasturba’s life. Arun begins with a description of Kasturba’s childhood in Porbandar in the late1800s, before she met Mohandas. By having chosen to embark on difficult research into his grandmother’s life, including her first years which are not well-documented, Arun ensures that the reader receives an intimate and life-long portrait of this amazing woman. Kasturba is presented as a lively woman &endash; obedient, yet with a mind of her own. As the relationship between Kasturba and Mohandas developed, Arun maintains that Kasturba’s influence over Mohandas in her own quiet way also grew, to which some of Mohandas’ writings also attest.  Arun paints a vivid picture of the beginnings of Mohandas’ non-violence movement in South Africa, a...

In a surprise announcement, President Bush has called for a restructuring that would convert the United States of America into a wholly owned subsidiary of the Department of Defense. “This will be a good move for both sides,” the President said. “It will give the Defense Department what they want and it will make the American people feel more secure.” The new entity will be known as the Department of Defense USA (NYSE symbol: DOD). Mr. Bush said that under the new structure he would remain on as president, while Donald Rumsfeld, currently Secretary of Defense, would assume the position of Chairman and Dick Cheney would continue as CEO. The president announced that an important step toward achieving this goal would be to turn over another $48 billion to the Defense Department in fiscal 2003, raising their annual budget to nearly $400 billion. This comes on the heels of a...

Åbent brev til regeringen Som andre EU-lande iagttog Danmark tre minutters stilhed for de uskyldigt dræbte i terror-angrebet på World Trade Center og Pentagon den 11. september sidste år. Der blev også afholdt en mindegudstjeneste i København med repræsentaner for regering, kongehus og for De forenede Stater i Danmark. Ud fra et lignende humanistiskt hensyn mener jeg Danmark og ligesindede lande bør vise de uskyldigt dræbte i Afghanistan den samme ære. Af principielle grunde og fordi der er en indlysende sammanhæng mellem de to begivenheder. Alle religioner understreger at ethvert menneskeliv er helligt. Humanisme bygger blandt andet på den ufravigelige grundværdi at alle og ethvert menneskeliv er lige så værdifuldt som ethvert andet uanset nationalitet, race, hudfarve, køn osv. Der er således ingen tvivl om at et uskyldigt dræbt menneskeliv i Afghanistan har eksakt samme værdi som ethvert af de knapt 3000 uskyldige liv, der blev taget 11. september. Særdeles...

Dagbladet Information 6 februar 2002 Danmark skal deltage med elitesoldater, F16-fly og diverse andet i krigen i og over Afghanistan. Beslutningen ligger i forlængelse af de danske regeringers håndtering af begivenhederne siden 11. september. Da denne håndtering har været analysefri og uden tegn på selvstændig holdning eller anvendelse af etiske principper har denne konkrete beslutning samme karaktér. Mens man nok kan forstå daværende statsminister Nyrup Rasmussens panikreaktion – svøbt som den var i statsmandsretorik og landsfaderlige opfordringer til at nationen måtte stå sammen – findes der ikke et rimeligt intellektuelt eller moralsk ansvar for at også den nuværende regering sælger sig til global militarisme og amerikansk verdensdominans. Der er gået godt fire måneder. Der har været tid nok til både ministerielle analyser og til en mangesidet offentlig debat om hvad vi skal stille op med de dødsensalvorlige problemer, der er forbundet med 11 september. På nuværende tidspunkt må det imidlertid...

LONDON – Winston Churchill who invented the phrase “Iron Curtain” did not dream up the term “Cold War”. That- La Guerra Fria- was coined by thirteenth century Spaniards to describe their uneasy coexistence with Muslims in the Mediterranean. This is perhaps the time to bring it back into its correct historical usage. For there can be no doubt that if Saudi Arabia goes ahead with its apparent decision to ask the U.S. to close down its important military base in Saudi Arabia, many Americans will conclude that a Cold War of sorts between the U.S. and the Islamic world will have begun. Everyone knows that removing America’s military presence from the sacred soil of Saudi Arabia has been Osama bin Laden’s number one demand. In meeting it America, however brave a face it puts on it, will feel deep inside itself that its 50-year long relatively benign relationship with the oil...

Tilfældigt falder mine øjne på en lille notits i ‘InternetWorld’ 1-2002. ‘Somalias eneste internet provider, Somali Internet Company, blev tvunget til at lukke i december, fordi USA har mistanke om, at virksomheden har forbindelse til terrornetværket al-Qaida. Resultatet er, at alle Internet-kafeer blev tvunget til at lukke. Lukningen rammer ikke bare somaliere, som vil holde kontakt med slægtninge i udlandet, men også erhvervslivet og alle de internationale hjælpeorganisationer i landet’. Jeg arbejdede i Somalia i 1977 – 81. Dengang sendte jeg breve og telegrammer hjem. Somalia har en samtalens kultur; et skriftsprog var netop skabt under Siad Barré’s første år med visionær statsledelse (siden udviklet i sørgeligt diktatorisk retning). Somalierne mødtes på markedet med deres kvæg og kameler, fortalte historier og nyheder og reciterede poesi, mens de drak sød kanel-te og tyggede khat. Således og takket være slægts- og klanstruktur vidste alle 3.5 millioner somaliere alt om hinanden. Og døgnet...

My President, Right or Wrong On the catastrophic fallibility of U.S. presidents and their men Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers By Daniel Ellsberg Commenting on public disclosure of The Pentagon Papers, the official government history which documents the pervasive lying and misjudgement that characterized the United States’ conduct of its war against Vietnam, White House chief-of-staff R.J. Haldeman paraphrased a colleague’s assessment of the political implications: “To the ordinary guy, all this is a bunch of gobbledygook. But out of the gobbledygook comes a very clear thing: You can’t trust the government; you can’t believe what they say; and you can’t rely on their judgement. And the implicit infallibility of presidents, which has been an accepted thing in America, is badly hurt by this, because it shows that people do things the president wants to do even though it’s wrong, and the president can be wrong.”...