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I think Buddhism can give us some special insight into why this crazy, stupid war seems about to happen. A huge international antiwar movement has sprung up almost overnight because the “official” reasons for attacking Iraq simply do not add up. Despite extreme efforts to prove otherwise, no connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda has been discovered. Saddam is a brutal dictator? Of course; but since when is that something that bothers the U.S. government? We have supported many brutal dictators around the world, as long as they serve our interests &endash; as we armed and supported Saddam when he attacked Iran and gassed his own Kurds. If his weapons of mass destruction make him so dangerous, why have been they so difficult to find? And why aren’t his neighbors more worried about them? Because Saddam’s military threat is a fragment of what it was 12 years ago. There is...

Sanctions – our moral problem For many decision-makers it is convenient to focus on the brutality of the Iraqi regime under Saddam Hussein and leave the deeply inhuman consequences of our sanctions over the last 12 years untold. But, in the eyes of a visitor to Iraq, the moral high ground of the West has crumbled. Before going to Iraq, we too were quite ignorant about the facts and complexities; we were shocked by the reality. During our fact-finding missions we collected statistics from international organisations, interviewed virtually all the heads of missions of the United Nations and humanitarian organisations. We met with Iraqi officials and visited hospitals. Playing down the effects of our sanctions – without evidence Governments that have no embassies and no independent fact-finding in Iraq can hardly know much. They must base their policies on what is politically correct and convenient for their policies in relation...

The West does not understand Iraq: Perhaps we need an intellectual Intifada? November 19, 2002 The demonising of the enemy before the war is intense. The Swedish media, for instance, take for granted that a war against Iraq will take place. No alternatives to war are mentioned. Iraq has become a synonym for Saddam Hussein in the Swedish media, leaving 23 million human beings in oblivion. Iraq as a society and culture, from now on, belongs to the zone of silence. It is above all very important that not even the tiniest element of humanness affects our perception of the country. Iraqis must not be pictured as human beings, mothers, fathers, children with hopes and fears, poverty or wealth. We must only imagine Saddam and his palaces that we will pulverize in a technological inferno. None of the potential consequences of a full-fledged war are being discussed. Millions of refugees;...

Tillbaka på Balkan – November 15, 2002 Utdrag ur Veckobrev Jag kom i går kväll till Belgrad. Här skall vi tala om hur den europeiska och atlantiska integrationsprocessen påverkar förutsättningarna för fred i denna plågade del av Europa. Men utöver detta blir det självfallet diskussioner om vart utvecklingen egentligen är på väg. Jag är oroad. För något år sedan skrev och talade jag om att vi hade en andra chans att få till stånd en mer stabil ordning i regionen efter det att först Tudjman försvann i Kroatien och därefter Milosevic försvann i Serbien. Regionens politik var plötsligt öppen, och det fanns möjlighet att påverka. Budskapet var inte bara mitt. Det var samma budskap som FN:s generalsekretare Kofi Annan i diskreta papper gav till säkerhetsrådets medlemmar. Men av detta blev i stort sett ingenting alls. Eftersom det inte var någon akut kris, ansågs det inte finnas anledning att göra någonting....

Avoiding War: Using International Law to Compel a Problem-Solving Approach Necessity has been called "the mother of invention." Although the precise relationship between these concepts may be open to debate, they are certainly closely related in international law: The requirement that force may be used only when necessary should compel a search for alternatives to force and violence. After September 11, however, no such search occurred. There were and are alternatives to the U.S. war against Afghanistan, but the U.S. and the UN failed to work together to find any. As such, the war against Afghanistan is illegitimate under international law. (2) This short paper argues that the search for alternatives to violence in international responses to terrorism is not merely an idealistic whim: it is a legal requirement. This paper thus also argues that U.S. and UN Security Council should have worked together to seek, and try, alternatives to...

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...

Migrated from the TFF legacy site archive. Global Capitalism in Crisis Globalisation and Business for the Common Good: Theology and Economics working together By Kamran Mofid Economist, Oxford, UK TFF associate October 10, 2002 Pope John Paul II. Castel Gandolfo, 25th August, 2002 A reasonable estimate of economic organisation must allow for the fact that, unless industry is to be paralysed by recurrent revolts on the part of outraged human nature, it must satisfy criteria that are not purely economic. R.H. Tawney, Religion and the Rise of Capitalism Dr. H.J.Witteveen, ex-President of IMF, in Het Financieele Dagblad, Jan. 2002. The practices of the unscrupulous money-changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men…faced by the failure of credit, they have proposed only the lending of more money. They have no vision and, when there is no vision, the people perish. The measure...

Wanted: Regime Change in the USA October 4, 2002 SYNDICATED DISTRIBUTION TO 400 NEWSPAPERS IN ASIA, EUROPE, LATIN AMERICA, AND AFRICA IN 27 LANGUAGES. For information on subscribing to INTERPRESS SERVICE (IPS) Rome, contact: Pablo Pacientini, fax: 390-6-481-7877. For permission to syndicate or reprint, contact: Teddy Jefferson (IPS) New York, phone: 1-212-924-9102; fax: 1-212-924-9120. For InterPress Service © Hazel Henderson, September 2002 www.hazelhenderson.com Popular US comedian Jon Stewart announced recently on his mock news show’s headlines, that there were plans for a regime change in Florida. After another botched election, Florida had become an embarrassment to the nation. Bombing would begin with targeting the city of Pensacola. On a more serious note, politics and elections in democracies are always about regime change. How far will the Bush II Administration go with its new preemptive strike policy, now officially spelled out in the latest White House document? Few have any doubts...

The new world disorder: October 4, 2002 Introduction This time last year the September Board Meeting was overshadowed by the appalling terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York. In my introductory talk to donors then, I noted that this horror would prove to be a "hinge event" which would seriously challenge many taken for granted assumptions about international relations and the international rule of law. I noted that such a brazen attack on the most powerful nation in the world would generate a strong and decisive military response. I signalled that the strong instinct for revenge, which 9/11 generated, should be tempered by respect for the international rule of law under the leadership of the United Nations. In the light of the events of the past week the question is whether the rule of international law or the rule of force and power will prevail. If I...

A Roadmap for War: September 27, 2002 One year later, September 11 has certainly lived up to the early claim of being a transformative moment, at least for Americans. One of the least noticed sea changes has been the abrupt shift in the past year from diplomacy to war talk as the foundation of national security. And what is most surprising about this shift is that it bears only the loosest connection with the genuine threat that continues to be directed at the well being of the nation by the deadly al Qaeda challenge. It is extraordinary that the US Government at such a time seems to be recklessly determined to wage a preemptive war against Iraq that is contrary to international law and morality, constitutionally dubious, and strategically imprudent, risking catastrophic side effects. A disturbing element in this gathering war momentum is the deeply disappointing quality of the debate...

NEJ TILL KRIGET MOT IRAK 13 september 2002 FN:s ekonomiska sanktioner mot Irak har nu pågått i tolv år och drabbat det irakiska folket med svåra lidanden. Enligt FN:s egna siffror har mer än 1,5 miljoner människor, varav ca 600 000 barn, dött som en direkt följd av sanktionerna. Dessutom har ett lågintensivt bombkrig mot landet pågått under dessa år. Av all denna förödelse- orsakad huvudsakligen av amerikansk och brittisk politik- har Saddam Husseins brutala och diktatoriska regim snarast stärkts än försvagats. Nu förbereder USA under president Bushs ledning ett storskaligt bombkrig mot Irak som kommer att innebära ett ännu större lidande för civilbefolkningen. Ett sådant krig kommer dessutom att ytterligare undergräva freden och säkerheten i världen. Att upprätta en demokratisk regim i Irak är det irakiska folkets angelägenhet och får enligt folkrätten inte ske med krigshandlingar utifrån. Folkrätten och FN:s stadgar måste respekteras. Vi vädjar till vår regering att...

To end terrorism, end state terrorism September 6, 2002 One year ago, two dates punctuated a continuing cycle of violence and counter-violence: the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, with about 3,000 civilians killed, and the October 7 start of the attack on Afghanistan, with about 6,000 civilians killed so far. How can we break out of this vicious cycle? Some days after September 11, a psychologist gave advice on CNN to parents with children asking difficult questions. One young boy had asked "What have we done to make them hate us so much that they do such things?" A mature question, unlike the answer: "You could tell your child that there are good people in the world, and evil – -". That boy had arrived at the stage of reciprocity on psychologist Jean Piaget’s scale of child development, seeing the actions of others at...