October 2004

War of civilizations? Violence-prone Muslims living out the inheritance of their prophet, Mohammed who, in marked contrast to Jesus Christ, established his creed on earth by vigorous use of the sword. It’s all there in Princeton professor Bernard Lewis’ new book, “From Babel to Dragomans”. Labeled the neo-conservatives’ Islamic expert, the Wall Street Journal says, “the Lewis doctrine has become U.S. policy.” And if George W. Bush wins re-election it will continue unchallenged. Only last week Attorney General John Ashcroft was claiming that the Bush administration was assisting “the hand of Providence”. Those who read both the future and the past this way still appear to have the intellectual upper hand in the Anglo-Saxon political arena, even if there is a division of opinion on how best to confront it. Harvard professor, Samuel Huntington, author of the seminal “The Clash of Civilizations”, whose title he borrowed from Lewis, wrote in...

Et spørgsmål til Amerika: Hvornår bliver det for meget? 11. oktober, 2004 Kort efter at George W Bush slap "krigens hunde" løs mod Irak sidste år og lige efter, at modstandsbevægelsen var begyndt at vokse, spurgte Bush: "Hvad er der i vejen med de mennesker: ved de ikke, hvor gode vi (amerikanere) er ?" Og det er lige præcis det, jeg ser som et meget stort problem med så mange af mine amerikanske medborgere – og et problem der bliver værre i stedet for bedre. Her i USA er der "en dybt følt tro på at ligegyldigt, hvad denne nations regerende organer gør i udlandet, ligegyldigt hvor galt det ser ud til at være, ligegyldigt hvilke rædsler der kommer ud af det, så mener den amerikanske regering det godt". At regeringen har gode hensigter og mener det godt. Og generelt undrer den amerikanske offentlighed sig over, hvorfor resten af verden...

Af Jack Dalton* Information Clearing House jack_dalton@ommp.org 11. oktober, 2004 Kort efter at George W Bush slap “krigens hunde” løs mod Irak sidste år og lige efter, at modstandsbevægelsen var begyndt at vokse, spurgte Bush: “Hvad er der i vejen med de mennesker: ved de ikke, hvor gode vi (amerikanere) er ?” Og det er lige præcis det, jeg ser som et meget stort problem med så mange af mine amerikanske medborgere – og et problem der bliver værre i stedet for bedre. Her i USA er der “en dybt følt tro på at ligegyldigt, hvad denne nations regerende organer gør i udlandet, ligegyldigt hvor galt det ser ud til at være, ligegyldigt hvilke rædsler der kommer ud af det, så mener den amerikanske regering det godt”. At regeringen har gode hensigter og mener det godt. Og generelt undrer den amerikanske offentlighed sig over, hvorfor resten af verden ikke kan...

Vaclav Havel On July 9, 1955, the Russell-Einstein Manifesto was issued in London. Its concern was with the new, powerful H-bombs, which the signers of the Manifesto believed placed the human race in jeopardy of annihilation. “Here, then, is the problem,” the Manifesto stated, “which we present to you, stark and dreadful and inescapable: Shall we put an end to the human race; or shall mankind renounce war? People will not face this alternative because it is so difficult to abolish war.” Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein were two of the leading intellectual figures of the 20th century. Russell was a philosopher, mathematician and Nobel Laureate in Literature. Einstein was a theoretical physicist, considered the greatest scientist of his time, and a Nobel Laureate in Physics. Both men were tireless advocates for peace throughout their lives. Russell was primarily responsible for drafting the Manifesto, but it contained ideas that Einstein...

The U.S. is history’s militarily strongest power. It’s global influence is second to none. The personality at the helmet of such an actor in global affairs cannot but attract curiosity and scrutiny. Over the last couple of years, TFF has collected articles about Mr. Bush, his personality, mode of operation, leadership, his family background, etc. Below we offer you a mini library of links to the essential reading. We have avoided all that smacks political propaganda, anti-Americanism and hate. Each is based on considerable knowledge and scholarship, some on personal experience. Virtually all are from American sources. The lack of similar discussions in Europe and elsewhere – Japan for instance – is conspicuous, if not mind-boggling. There are aspects in these article that should make every concerned reader ask: will democracies survive without a minimum of quality control of their leaders? Browse, read here and there and ask yourself: Should...

Are you sick and tired of only hearing and seeing negative stuff about the world? Do you feel powerless, losing hope?Then be inspired and charge you social change batteries by reading some of these stories…stories about civil courage, standing up, speaking out, showing solidarity, about inventiveness, new ideas – in short, about the fact that individuals do make a difference!We hope to make this a recurrent theme in TFF’s work. Daniel Ellsberg – Common DreamsA call to patriotic whistleblowing The Japan TimesFormer Japanese hostage in Iraq to help rebuild Fallujah school– moving story about courage and the Japanese government misunderstanding it all…Here is another, from Asahi ShimbunTrauma notwithstanding, former hostage continues humanitarian battle Transnational Institute, HollandWalden Bello: Beirut 2004 is a Milestone in the global struggle against injustice and war The Beirut Declaration – representing millions of people, it has hardly been mentioned in the mainstream press…and neither has this one:...

LONDON – In 1967 when he was a presidential candidate Richard Nixon caused a sensation with his Foreign Affairs article, “Asia after Vietnam”, anticipating a more conciliatory policy towards China. In his first presidential debate Bill Clinton tore into George Bush Senior accusing him, in effect, of being soft on China and promising that if he were elected the age of conciliation would end. Now in the recently held presidential debates between George W. Bush and Bob Kerry China policy appears to have come to a silent stop. Judging by the total lack of debate China is a non-issue between them, not even worth a few sentences of analysis. Before Nixon came to power “Red China” was portrayed in America and much of the West as a nation bent on the domination of Asia. Its admission to the United Nations was firmly refused. Nixon turned all this on its head....

Lund, Sverige & Nagoya, Japan, 19. oktober 2004 Hvis denne overskrift var sand ville den skabe bestyrtelse, sorg og debat i Danmark. Elleve dræbte irakere gør det derimod ikke – skønt dræbt af danske fredsskabende soldater. Da jeg ikke noget sted kunne finde det samlede tal på hvor mange irakere, der er blevet dræbt af danske soldater, henvendte jeg mig til Hærens Operative Kommando (HOK). Svaret er at danske soldater hidtil har dræbt 11 irakere og såret 16. HOK skilter ikke med det på sin hjemmeside (www.hok.dk). I tredje niveau fra førstesiden skal man lede i et arkiv med godt 300 artikler og dér finde enkelte beretninger om nogle af de skudepisoder, danske styrker har været involveret i – af hvilke nogle har medført irakeres død. Det er ret så enslydende situationer: for eksempel ville nogle civilklædte irakere ikke standse ved et checkpoint; de danske soldater opførte sig korrekt, men...

Tributes to Iraq’s Mother TeresaHeartbreak over Margaret Hassan’s fate November 3 – Breaking and alarming newsNew video: Margaret’s kidnappers threaten to hand her over to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, she faints on the video that Aljazeera calls “too graphic”. November 3 – Alarming newsNew video: Margaret’s kidnappers threaten to hand her over to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, she faints on the video that Aljazeera calls “too graphic”. Google News to world news about Hassan’s fate BBC – Profile of Margaret Hassan BBC – Charity worker kidnapped in Iraq CNN – Charity chief kidnapped in Iraq CARE International’s work in Iraq Outpuring support by the Iraqi people – CARE international UK Aljazeera.Net, October 20, 2004 International Herald Tribune, October 20, 2004 CNN – CARE suspends its operation in Iraq after kidnapping, October 20, 2004 GOOGLE News – Numerous very informative articles from all over the world, October 21, 2004 ABC – PM, Australia –...

LONDON – Diminutive Taiwan’s (population 23 million) best defense against massive China (population: 1.3 billion) is its vibrant democracy that gives it its telling sense of community. If there were a final showdown between the two it is true that guns probably wouldn’t count. What would matter would be Taiwan’s ability to amount a popular passive resistance to a Chinese occupation, including ending all high-tech investment in the Shanghai region which would have a devastating impact since this is the single most important factor in China’s current boom. But that is no excuse for the moves afoot by France and Germany to push the European Union into ending its arms embargo to China. A looser gun policy by Europe sends just the wrong signal. What we need is a reaffirmation of the status quo policy, the one in effect today most of the time, a policy that the EU now...

Om vi ska förstå samhälllet,  och vad som händer i samhället,  så måste vi också kunna analysera  utifrån grupper.. Vi gör det ofta när vi talar ekonomi (överklass, medelklass, arbetarklass/underklass) men vi kan också använda “kön” för att analysera. Gör vi det så ser vi  att det är stor skillnad mellan gruppen kvinnor och gruppen män. Inom samtliga områden finns en struktur som ger män makt och privilegier och som underordnar och diskriminerar kvinnor. Det visar sig bl.a. i lönediskriminering,  men också mer brutalt, i form av mäns våld mot kvinnor. Det finns tonvis med statistik som visar detta. Det handlar om 5 mordförsök i veckan, mer än en kvinna mördas varje vecka, 62 misshandlas varje dag, 6 våldtas varje dag. Detta är siffror från Brottsoffermyndigheten och gäller antalet anmälda brott år 2003. Mörkertalet är stort, påtalar både myndigheten och kvinnojourerna, dvs många väljer att inte anmäla. Realistiskt är att...

Spørsmålene som ikke stilles Etter 11. september 2001 har vi sett en utvikling der stadig flere deler av samfunnet er blitt angrepet av “sikkerhetsmafiaen”. Alt som med rikelig fantasi kan defineres som et “sikkerhetsproblem” blir utnyttet av vaktselskaper, journalister, låsesmeder, gjerdeprodusenter, fredsforskere, produsenter av overvåkningssystemer, politifolk og politikere. Budsjettene til sikkerhetstiltak ser ut til å stige raskere enn høstens oljepriser og dessuten er budsjettbevilgningene like selvklare som naturlover. Den offentlige debatten hopper lett over det grunnleggende spørsmålet om hvorfor? og henger seg opp i detaljer om tekniske løsninger. Det kan være på sin plass å få noe perspektiv på dette med “terror”. Hva er det som fasinerer? Hvorfor er det på alles lepper og i alle medier? Hva er drivkreftene som så lett åpner planboka til så vel stater som private bedrifter? Og hvorfor får visse faremomenter så uproporsjonerlig stor oppmerksomhet og store ressurser? “Terrorisme” er suspekt – Mandela var...