December 2002

LONDON – It always feels nice to open a New Year with good news. But that indeed is the message on the democracy front this week. It began in Kenya with the defeat last Sunday of the hand-picked candidate of the long time corrupt autocrat of Kenya, Daniel arap Moi. On Friday, January 3rd, the election winner, Mwai Kibaki takes over as president and there is some hope that this clever ex-finance minister will be skilled enough to start to put the country back on its feet and to release the wealth of talent and energy that it has in abundance. Despite the gloomy headlines that speak of war and dictatorship, Africa is in fact becoming more democratic. A decade and a half ago few African countries held open elections. Now most do. On January 1st the working class hero, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, will be sworn in as...

Special FeaturesPeace Movements Esther Kaplan, The Nation, December 31, 2002A Hundred Peace Movements BloomThis article is part of the “Waging Peace” series, covering the movement that is emerging across America to oppose war on Iraq. Iraq Peace Team, December 31, 2002The Iraq Peace Team websiteIn the face of recent threats against Iraq, Voices in the Wilderness has initiated an “Iraq Peace Team” plan. Since September 2002, seasoned nonviolent activists have been on the ground in Iraq standing in solidarity with the people of Iraq while at the same time working to prevent a US attack. Observer Comment, Guardian, December 31, 2002Back to Iraq as a human shieldToday’s Observer reports plans by peace activists to go to Iraq as human shields. In this online commentary, protest organiser and former US veteran Ken Nichols O’Keefe explains why he believes that this is the most effective way to oppose the war. Special FeaturesWar...

A presentation at the Zayed Centre for Coordination & Follow-upAbu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 26 November 2002 The Beginning of Sanctions 1. The 2 August 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Iraq led to UN Security Council resolution 661 of 6 August 1990 imposing military, economic and financial sanctions on Iraq with the objective of ending Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait. 2. Following the Gulf War and Iraq’s withdrawal from Kuwait, the UN Security Council on 3 April 1991 adopted resolution 687. This resolution extends comprehensive economic and financial sanctions to Iraq to be lifted only when the UN Security Council confirms that Iraq has carried out the destruction, removal or rendering harmless, under international supervision, of all chemical and biological weapons as well as ballistic missiles with a range of more than 150 kilometers. (a) 3. Resolution 661 demanded ‘withdrawal from Kuwait’; resolution 687 calls for Iraq’s disarmament as a condition...

LONDON – War in February now looks very likely. The die is almost cast. It will be a bitter, hard fought war, baring little comparison to the easy run of ten years ago. With his back to the wall Saddam Hussein will fight in the toughest, cruellest way imaginable, luring the American and British invaders into the Iraqi cities where they will be butchered one by one and they in turn will wreck vengeance, intended or not, on the innocent, the trapped city dwellers. “And there is this earth, this mud where the flesh rots, where eyes decompose. These arms, these legs that crunch in the jaws of the boars. The souls ulcerated and foul from killing, the bodies so starved for tenderness they haunt stables in search of pleasure. There is this gangrene that eats at the heart….” President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair, two men who...

LONDON – War in February now looks very likely. The die is almost cast. It will be a bitter, hard fought war, baring little comparison to the easy run of ten years ago. With his back to the wall Saddam Hussein will fight in the toughest, cruellest way imaginable, luring the American and British invaders into the Iraqi cities where they will be butchered one by one and they in turn will wreck vengeance, intended or not, on the innocent, the trapped city dwellers. “And there is this earth, this mud where the flesh rots, where eyes decompose. These arms, these legs that crunch in the jaws of the boars. The souls ulcerated and foul from killing, the bodies so starved for tenderness they haunt stables in search of pleasure. There is this gangrene that eats at the heart….” President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair, two men who...

Speech given Peace operations successful, the patients unfortunately died… Thank you very much, herzlichen Dank. It’s about 30 years ago that I spoke German, so I don’t want to make you a victim of whatever might be left of that language in my hard disk! I am honoured to be invited and discuss with you what is so terribly important and urgent, and could have such disastrous consequences for many. May I suggest to you that each one of you promise yourself to speak with at least ten people next week and discuss what you heard and learned during this conference? There’s only one way compatible with democracy: to spread the word and work with nonviolent means. Also, to show the contrast with the undemocratic leaders – including those in so-called democracies – who get their point through by violence. I’m not an expert on Iraq. I happen to know...

LONDON – Of all the rogues there is no question that Kim Jong-Il and his odious regime in North Korea are the furthest advanced in threatening the outside world with nuclear weapons. Yet an honest administration in Washington has to ask itself how much the U.S. has been responsible for bringing about this state of affairs, one that threatens to escalate fast with North Korea announcing in October it was enriching uranium to build a nuclear weapon and now last week in effect abrogating the landmark 1994 agreement. The 1994 agreement avoided war, one that President Bill Clinton was convinced could lead to a nuclear attack on South Korean cities and American troops based in the South. In the circumstances it was an amazing deal, midwifed by former president, Jimmy Carter. The North agreed to close its plutonium-producing nuclear power plant, and seal up the cooling rods from which weapons-grade...

KALEJDOSKOP 2001 Oliemålning av Mark Rothko 24 december 2001 i Helsingborgs DagbladMark Rothko och slumpens gåvå – illustrerad Jan Öberg, TFF direktör, 2 december, 2001Makedonien och krigets psykologi – illustrerad 5. oktober 2001Terrorangrebet, hvad betyder det, hvordan skal det besvares?Samtale med Frederikshavns Multietniske Radio på RealAudio, cirka 50 minutter. 20 april 2001FN-förbundet på krigsstigenSveriges FN-förbund vill tydligen inte ha “prat och politik”, dvs förebyggande diplomati och tidig varning. I stället vill man ha konfliktlösning genom våldsanvändning. Regeringen beslutade i februari att fördubbla sitt organisationsstöd till FN-förbundet… 14 januari 2001, i Helsingborgs DagbladKosovo självständigt? Kanske men inte likgiltigt hur

7. dec. 2000, i Aktuelt, KøbenhavnEU’s militarisering – farlig lærdom af Kosovo 29 nov, 2000 i Politilken, KøbenhavnKosovo/a selvstændigt? Måske, men ikke ligegyldigt hvordan 26 nov, 2000, i Helsingborg DagbladFundamentalism som skolämneHur ska framtidens Sverige bli om vi nu utbildar ungdomar till att tro att Monopol är livet och inte ett spel? Det undrar Jan Öberg, apropå “Kapitalisten”, det nya utbildningspaketet i skolan. (Helsingborg Dagblad) 22 nov. 2000, i Avisen, StockholmOm demokratiskt förankrad utrikespolitik för en mångfaldig världSedan mitten av 1980-talet har Sverige rört sig i riktning mot EU och USA. SAP har kommit att också stå för den Stora Anpassningens Politik. 17 nov. 2000, i Aktuelt, KøbenhavnHvis Vesten vil forsones med JugoslavienDet er i vor egen interesse at forsones med folkene på Balkan. Det er en rent humanitær forpligtelse. Her finder begrebet humanitær intervention sin rette plads. 6 nov. 2000, i Helsingborg DagbladOhridsjön, jaktplan och Albaniens berg 15 februari...

23 december 1998Avskaffa kärnvapnen – som en gång slaveriet ! 16 december 1998Er Danmark ikke for atomnedrustning? 24 november 1998Nej till de existerande kärnvapnen 10 mars 1998Våldet i Kosovo – ett nederlag för alla 30 jan 1998Menneskerettigheder og konfliktløsning

Hvad indebærer en krig mod Irak? Offentliggjort i Politiken 17. december 2002 En række humanitære organisationer og enkeltpersoner opfordrer i et åbent brev regeringen og Folketinget til at sikre sig det bedst mulige grundlag for beslutningen om, hvorvidt Danmark skal støtte en eventuel krig mod Irak. Der må gøres realistiske analyser af de mulige konsekvenser og skabes debat både i Folketinget og i den brede offentlighed. De sidste ugers internationale udvikling gør det sandsynligt at Irak bliver angrebet enten af USA og England eller af en større koalition. Danmark, der har formandskabet i EU, skal derfor tage stilling til to ting: For det første skal det endeligt besluttes, om Danmark vil støtte denne krig, med de politiske, humanitære, økonomiske og folkeretlige konsekvenser, den kan få. For det andet skal regering og folketing tage stilling til, om Danmark vil deltage aktivt i angrebet på Irak. Vi opfordrer hermed folketingets medlemmer og...

The threat of an outbreak of smallpox anywhere in the world is indeed a frightening prospect. It’s quite obvious that even a very small terrorist organisation could easily spread the disease globally without technically advanced vectors – provided it had access to the pathogenic virus. Furthermore, smallpox belongs to the category of biological weapons of mass destruction. It is extremely contagious and will easily spread outside the area of conflict. Thus completely “innocent” or only peripherally affected people can be stricken with disease. This is a severe, global threat against one and all! As a Swedish citizen one must ask: can we handle an attack even if we are affected only in the second-hand? Have those who have been delegated the power created a realistic preparedness against what may happen? In 1980 smallpox was officially declared eradicated following an internationally successful vaccination campaign. Simultaneously the former – sometimes compulsory –...