October 2002

New Delhi – The slumbering giant may be about to awaken again. The danger of returning to the Hindu growth rate will be washed away at next year’s election. The era of indecision and drift, with only the decision to become an open nuclear weapons state as evidence of decisiveness, will hopefully be consigned to the dustbin of history. This is how senior members of the Congress party would like it to be – and maybe they are largely right, although very few in the electorate of the largest democracy in the world will forget that while Congress, the party of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, led their country to independence from the British, it also produced the “emergency” of Mrs Indira Gandhi (Nehru’s daughter) when democracy was suspended and when it finally was allowed to return she was swept out of office, and the corruption of the administration of Rajiv...

Helsingborgs DagbladIraq 2 This is what one can expect to see when zapping through the TV channels on a random night in Baghdad. TV1 shows an English-American action movie with axe murderers. TV2 transmits a live football match. Another channel offers an interview with a British activist who brought medicine to Iraq and discusses how important it is to inform the people at home. The interview is going on in English without any translation. As the logo pops up on the screen, I learn that I am watching Iraq Highlight, one of the two programmes that I have seen with an international profile. Here, viewers are briefed on what happened during the day: diplomatic meetings of various leaders, the regime’s political focus, and of course, whom Saddam Hussein has met, written a letter to or received a letter from today. Another evening I hear him praise the air force’s heroic...

London – At first the news from North Korea seemed like an almighty setback to thoIse who believe we can deal with grave security problems more by engagement rather than confrontation. Not only did it appear to knock the shine off Jimmy Carter’s Nobel Peace Prize, since his greatest achievement, apart from Camp David, was his successful diplomacy that brokered the 1994 freeze on the country’s nuclear bomb making, it appeared it might well open the doors again to those Republicans who eight years ago were arguing for the U.S. to bomb North Korea. A strange thing appears to have happened in those eight years. For all the bluster with President George Bush’s notion of an “axis of evil”, no longer is the talk this wild. The accent is all on diplomacy and an emphasising of what is still apparently being honoured in the old 1994 agreement, the freezing of plutonium...

Norges rolle under Sikkerhetsrådets behandling av Irak-spørsmålet 25 oktober 2002 New York, 16. oktober 2002 Utenriksminister Jan Petersen Oslo I egenskap av Norges Fredsråds observatør i den norske delegasjon ved FNs 57. generalforsamling, i dagene 8. – 18. oktober 2002, vil jeg gjerne få takke for den store innsats den norske FN-ambassaden gjør for at alle tilreisende delegater og observatører får best mulig utbytte av oppholdet ved FN. Jeg har i de senere år arbeidet mye med folkerettslige spørsmål som gjelder krig, fred og FNs rolle. Iraks mulige besittelse av masseødeleggelsesvåpen (det er i øyeblikket uvisst om Irak har masseødeleggelsesvåpen) og mulig bruk av dem, skal drøftes i en ekstraordinært møte Sikkerhetsrådet onsdag den 16. og torsdag den 17. oktober 2002. Forslag til resolusjon som mer eller mindre klart autoriserer USA til å gå til militært angrep på Irak vil trolig om kort tid bli lagt fram i Sikkerhetsrådet. Forutsatt...

Af Professor dr.juris Ståle Eskeland NORGES FREDSRÅDNorwegian Peace AllianceMember of the International Peace Bureau, IPB 25 oktober 2002 New York, 16. oktober 2002 Utenriksminister Jan Petersen Oslo I egenskap av Norges Fredsråds observatør i den norske delegasjon ved FNs 57. generalforsamling, i dagene 8. – 18. oktober 2002, vil jeg gjerne få takke for den store innsats den norske FN-ambassaden gjør for at alle tilreisende delegater og observatører får best mulig utbytte av oppholdet ved FN. Jeg har i de senere år arbeidet mye med folkerettslige spørsmål som gjelder krig, fred og FNs rolle. Iraks mulige besittelse av masseødeleggelsesvåpen (det er i øyeblikket uvisst om Irak har masseødeleggelsesvåpen) og mulig bruk av dem, skal drøftes i en ekstraordinært møte Sikkerhetsrådet onsdag den 16. og torsdag den 17. oktober 2002. Forslag til resolusjon som mer eller mindre klart autoriserer USA til å gå til militært angrep på Irak vil trolig om kort...

Helsingborgs Dagblad Irak 3 Demoniseringen av fienden inför kriget är bastant. Svenska medier tar för givet att kriget kommer. Irak har också i svenska medier blivit synonymt med Saddam Hussein, inte med 23 miljoner medmänniskor. Irakiska folket tillhör numera tystnadens zon. Det ska framför allt inte krypa in något litet element av mänsklighet i vår syn på landet. De ska inte framstå som människor, mödrar, fäder, barn med hopp och fruktan, fattiga och rika. Det är ju bara Saddam och hans palats och militär vi ska pulverisera i ett överlägset teknoinferno! Inget om de tänkbara konsekvenserna av ett storkrig: miljoner av flyktingar, tiotusentals döda och skadade (såväl irakier som amerikaner, inte minst om kemiska stridsmedel tas i användning); miljöförstörelse, oljeprisets himmelflykt, möjlig spridning av kriget till Israel-Palestina, behov av hundratusentals miljarder dollar till återuppbyggnad under kanske 10-20 år, eventuell upplösning av Irak i tre delar, krig i Turkiet mot kurderna...

Helsingborgs DagbladIrak 3 Demoniseringen af fjenden, med krig i sigte, er bastant. De svenske medier tager det for givet at der bliver krig. Og også i svenske medier er Irak blevet synonym med Saddam Hussein, ikke med 23 millioner medmennesker. Det irakiske folk er blevet fortrængt til den lydfri zone. Der må frem for alt i verden ikke smyge sig det mindste lille element af menneskelighed ind i vores syn på landet. De må ikke fremstå som mennesker, mødre, fædre, børn med håb og frygt, fattige og rige. Det handler jo bare om Saddam og hans palads og militær, som vi skal pulverisere i et overlegent teknoinferno! Intet om de mulige konsekvenser af en storkrig: Millioner flygtninge, titusinde døde og skadede (såvel irakere som amerikanere, ikke mindst hvis der tages kemiske kampmidler i brug); ødelæggelse af miljøet, oljeprisernes himmelflugt, mulighed for at krigen breder sig til Israel-Palestina, behovet for hundredetusinde...

The Problem of Cultural Paranoia My topic today is Terrorism and Cultural Diversity. The tragic events of September 11 are still reverberating around the world. I am sure that the question of the role of cultural diversity in providing the breeding ground for “terror” is on many people’s minds. Does “terror” arise from cultural distance? Is it the “foreigners”, those people we do not understand, who are the “troublemakers”? To be anxious about strangers in our midst is a natural reaction. In times of fear and panic, the “aliens”, the “foreigners” become suspect. We must be very careful to distinguish between realistic threats to security from those paranoid reactions against all foreigners. The very great danger in times of crisis is the focusing of anxiety and anger on outsiders. This leads to “ethnic profiling”, or “stereotyping”, and then, as a direct result of this, the “scapegoating” of innocents. Such times...

This table contains quotes from three sources concerning two Iraqi biological weapons production facilities. Below please see von Sponeck’s contrasting on-site observations.  Al Dora Foot & Mouth VaccineProduction Unit Al Fallujah IIICastor Oil Production Plant IISS:”Work appears to have started. The facility has about 25% of its 1991 capacity.” (1a) IISS:”Plant destroyed in Dec. 1998. Current status unknown.” (1b) US Government:“One of two known bio-containment level-three facilities that have an extensive air-handling and filtering system.” (2a) US Government:No reference. UK Government:“Facility of concern”. (3a) UK Government:“Facility of Concern. The castor oil plant was damaged in UK/US air attacks in 1998 but has been re-built. The residue from the castor bean pulp can be used in the production of the biological agent ricin.” (3b) NOTES: 1. International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS): “Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction – A Net Assessment.”, London, 9 Sept.2002, (1a) & (1b), p.30 2. US Government.:”A...

Today is a bleak day for America, and for all Americans. Congress, in its fear and conformity, has voted to grant authority to the President to conduct a preemptive war against another nation. Congress has joined the President in assuming an imperial mantle, granting powers above and beyond our obligations under international and domestic law. Would that Congress had heeded its wiser and saner voices, such as Senator Robert Byrd, who cautioned restraint and warned that the vote to authorize the rush to war undermined our Constitution. Only Congress has the power to declare war under the US Constitution. It cannot legally give this power over to the president. We are at the gravest of moments,î Senator Byrd told his colleagues. Members of Congress must not simply walk away from their Constitutional responsibilities. We are the directly elected representatives of the American people, and the American people expect us to...

By Patti M. Marxsen of the Boston Research Center for the 21st CenturyandNur Yalman, Nur Yalman is Professor of Social Anthropology and of Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University. He has published numerous books and articles, from his first entitled Under the Bo Tree: Studies of Caste, Kinship, and Marriage in the Interior of Ceylon (University of California Press, 1967) to recent essays on the role of science in international conflicts and the relationship between terror and cultural diversity. Since September 11, 2001, Professor Yalman has been a compassionate critic of the U.S. military response to global terrorism. In the Fall of 2001, his course entitled Thought and Change in the Contemporary Middle East was overwhelmingly popular among students. Patti Marxsen, BRC publications manager, spoke with Professor Yalman as the first anniversary of September 11th approached. —————— PM: I’d like to start by just asking you about your own journey. Could share with...

Helsingborgs DagbladIrak 2 Såhär kan det se ut om man en slumpmässig kväll zappar på en TV i Baghdad. TV 1 har en engelsk-amerikansk action film med yxmord. TV 2 fotboll live. En annan kanal har en intervju med en brittisk aktivist som tagit med medicin till Irak och talar om hur viktigt det är att informera människor hemma. Det försiggår på engelska utan översättning och jag förstår det som en del av Iraq Highlight, det ena av två program jag ser med internationell profil. Här får tittarna ta del av vad som hänt under dagen; olika ledares möten med diplomater, regimens politiska fokus och, naturligtvis, vem Saddam Hussein har träffat i dag, skrivit till eller fått brev ifrån. En kväll prisar han således flygvapnets heroiska kamp och beredskap mot aggression. På Iraq Satellite Channel visas det kring midnatt Press Review. Den berättar vad tidningar i utlandet, speciellt i väst,...