PressInfo 2004

Margaret Hassan has been murdered. That is the most probable conclusion from a video given to Al Jazeera yesterday. For one who met her and got to know her, even if just a little, it is hard to write and read that sentence. But Margaret Hassan – Umm Margaret – in Baghdad has been murdered. Who killed her? Desperate, fanatic people who thereby casts a dark shadow over their nationality, organisation, religion and philosophy. People who mistakenly believe that a better Iraq will emerge from such a crime and who cares nil for the welfare of the Iraqi people to whom she devoted most of her life and work. Or someone related to the occupation forces seeking to discredit the image of all Iraqi resistance. Why she of all? Because she was a courageous, principled and determined humanist who defied danger and could not be intimidated. She represented the best...

PressInfo # 202 Margaret Hassan has been murdered. That is the most probable conclusion from a video given to Al Jazeera yesterday. For one who met her and got to know her, even if just a little, it is hard to write and read that sentence. But Margaret Hassan – Umm Margaret – in Baghdad has been murdered. Who killed her? Desperate, fanatic people who thereby casts a dark shadow over their nationality, organisation, religion and philosophy. People who mistakenly believe that a better Iraq will emerge from such a crime and who cares nil for the welfare of the Iraqi people to whom she devoted most of her life and work. Or someone related to the occupation forces seeking to discredit the image of all Iraqi resistance. Why she of all? Because she was a courageous, principled and determined humanist who defied danger and could not be intimidated. She...

This is a follow-up to PressInfo 200. With some dialectical thinking, four more years with George W. Bush at the helm of the United States Empire may turn out to be a great opportunity for something new and better to emerge. In the ying-yang of crisis, there is both suffering in the old and seeds of visions about the new. And suffering there will be the next four years; none of the arguments below ignore that. However, the one who despairs too much over Bush’s re-election may contribute more to suffering than to realising the positive potentials we have at hand. Let’s at least try to roll up our sleeves now. 1. Criticism and protests without constructive alternatives is a waste of energy One lesson to be learnt from the most recent wars, the war on terrorism and the re-election of Mr. Bush is that it is not enough to protest...

This is a follow-up to PressInfo 200. With some dialectical thinking, four more years with George W. Bush at the helm of the United States Empire may turn out to be a great opportunity for something new and better to emerge. In the ying-yang of crisis, there is both suffering in the old and seeds of visions about the new. And suffering there will be the next four years; none of the arguments below ignore that. However, the one who despairs too much over Bush’s re-election may contribute more to suffering than to realising the positive potentials we have at hand. Let’s at least try to roll up our sleeves now. 1. Criticism and protests without constructive alternatives is a waste of energy One lesson to be learnt from the most recent wars, the war on terrorism and the re-election of Mr. Bush is that it is not enough to...

Do you wonder how the operatives of Al Qaeda sleep at night? No problem, I think. After swallowing the double narcotic of killing unbelievers and promised sensuality they sleep the peace of the just, despite the lack of approval for such beliefs in Islamic theology. A more interesting question is how George W. Bush and Tony Blair get a good night’s sleep. What have they imbibed? There are no virgins in the sky awaiting them and their wars have fallen well short of the Augustinian principles of the just war. Yet they are men of a religious conviction and it cannot be easy to switch off the light knowing one has given the orders for a greater slaughter of innocents that happened at the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. In our Western culture one is judged to be either fully engaged with one’s emotions and one’s deeds or...

Er der nogen der spekulerer på om Al Qaeda-krigere har det svært med deres nattesøvn? Selv tror jeg ikke at de har nogen problemer. Efter at være blevet høje af at slagte “de utro” sover de de retfærdiges søvn, på trods af den manglende godkendelse en sådan opførsel har fra den islamiske teologi. Det er mere interessant at spørge om hvorvidt George W. Bush og Tony Blair sover godt. Hvad slags narkotika har de kunnet indtage? Ingen hulde jomfruer venter i deres himmel, og deres krigsføring er langtfra inspireret af de Augustianske principper for den retfærdige krig. Men de er dog mænd af religiøs overbevisning, og burde det så ikke være svært at slukke sin sengelampe, når man ved at man har givet ordre til en langt større slagt af uskyldige end tilfældet var ved terrordådet d.11.september 2001. I vores vestlige kultur bliver man, hvis ens handlinger ikke er i...

Do you wonder how the operatives of Al Qaeda sleep at night? No problem, I think. After swallowing the double narcotic of killing unbelievers and promised sensuality they sleep the peace of the just, despite the lack of approval for such beliefs in Islamic theology. A more interesting question is how George W. Bush and Tony Blair get a good night’s sleep. What have they imbibed? There are no virgins in the sky awaiting them and their wars have fallen well short of the Augustinian principles of the just war. Yet they are men of a religious conviction and it cannot be easy to switch off the light knowing one has given the orders for a greater slaughter of innocents that happened at the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. In our Western culture one is judged to be either fully engaged with one’s emotions and one’s deeds or...

Det finns goda skäl till att George W Bush vann. Omkring två tredjedelar av USA – cirka 60% av den röstberättigade valmanskåren röstade, i runda tal hälften av dem för Bush – och vi andra måste nu leva med både de ackumulerade effekterna av de första fyra åren och med mer av samma slag, och troligen värre, under ytterligare fyra långa år. Ty i George Bushs värld har Guds mandat från ovan nu bekräftats från det amerikanska folkets mandat nerifrån. Därför råder en sorts treenighet bestående av Gud, Bush och de amerikanska gudstroende. Tyvärr fungerar inget av hans politik, utom den som rör återvalet, men det tycks inte bekymra vare sig Bush eller hans anhängare. Låt oss åtminstone hoppas att Gud känner ett slags skuld genom (påstått) samröre. 1. Framkallad rädsla – “fear-ology” Huvudskälet till att Bush vann är rädsla, framkallad rädsla, där man bygger politik på att till egna...

PressInfo # 200 /Coll_BushPerson_Oct27.html”>the world of George Bush, God’s mandate from above has now been confirmed by the American people’s mandate from below. So there is a kind of trinity of God, Bush and the American believers. Unfortunately none of his policies, except that for re-election, work – but that seems to bother neither Bush nor his followers. Let’s at least hope that God feels a kind of guilt by (alleged) association? 1. Fear-ology The major reason Bush won is fearology, the building of politics on manipulation of fear and the need for protection to one’s own advantage. From the perspective of mass psychology, George W. Bush had the most appealing program: “I am the Only One who can promise you protection against the evils of the world out there.” Since in response to 9/11 the President initiated the misguided and already failed “war on terror”, the deep reservoir of...

Der er flere gode grunde til at George W. Bush vandt. Rundt regnet to tredjedel af amerikanerne – cirka 60% stemte og af dem omkring halvdelen for Bush – og alle vi andre må nu leve både med de akkumulerede konsekvenser af de første fire år og med mere af det samme, eller værre, i de næste fire lange år. For, i George Bush’ verden er det mandat, han mener at have oppefra fra Gud, nu blevet bekræftet nedefra af folket. Så der er er en slags treenighed af Gud, Bush og de troende amerikanere. Uheldigvis er der ingen af hans politikker, udover den for at blive genvalgt, der fungerer – men det synes ikke at bekymre hverken ham eller hans skare. Dog må man formode at Gud føler en slags skyld gennem sin ganske vist postulerede forbindelse. Frygt-ologi Den vigtigste grund til at Bush vandt er frygtologi – udviklingen...

There are good reasons why George W. Bush won. About two-thirds of America – about 60 % of the eligible electorate voted, roughly a half of them for Bush – and the rest of us must now live with both the accumulated global effects of the first four years and with more of the same, and probably worse, for four more long years. For, in the world of George Bush, God’s mandate from above has now been confirmed by the American people’s mandate from below. So there is a kind of trinity of God, Bush and the American believers. Unfortunately none of his policies, except that for re-election, work – but that seems to bother neither Bush nor his followers. Let’s at least hope that God feels a kind of guilt by (alleged) association? 1. Fear-ology The major reason Bush won is fearology, the building of politics on manipulation of...

Der er flere gode grunde til at George W. Bush vandt. Rundt regnet to tredjedel af amerikanerne – cirka 60% stemte og af dem omkring halvdelen for Bush – og alle vi andre må nu leve både med de akkumulerede konsekvenser af de første fire år og med mere af det samme, eller værre, i de næste fire lange år. For, i George Bush’ verden er det mandat, han mener at have oppefra fra Gud, nu blevet bekræftet nedefra af folket. Så der er er en slags treenighed af Gud, Bush og de troende amerikanere. Uheldigvis er der ingen af hans politikker, udover den for at blive genvalgt, der fungerer – men det synes ikke at bekymre hverken ham eller hans skare. Dog må man formode at Gud føler en slags skyld gennem sin ganske vist postulerede forbindelse. Frygt-ologi Den vigtigste grund til at Bush vandt er frygtologi – udviklingen af en...