PressInfo 2005

Denna PressInfo finns på engelska och danska “Jag gick inte med i armén för att tjäna mitt land utan för att fly från ett förbaskat tråkigt liv i min hemtrakt, Orange County, och för att komma från mitt gäng och knarket.” Robert Acosta hade precis fyllt 18 när han gick in i USAs militär. Han var 19 när han blev förflyttad från Hanau i Tyskland till Irak, där tre månader senare en handgranat, som någon hade kastat emot hans pansrade manskapsvagn (Humwee), exploderade. “Det finns ingen möjlighet i världen att vara beredd på en situation där plötsligt din hand ligger framför dig på marken och små, blodiga bitar av dig själv klibbar på väggarna”, säger han. Medan han berättar vrider vänsterhanden hela tiden på kroken som numera ersätter hans högerhand. Det är alltid svårt för honom att tala om detta. Robert Acosta, Photo by Nina Berman © 2005 Den New York-baserade fotografen Nina...

Denne artikel på dansk og på svensk “I didn’t join the army to serve my country, but to escape from the awful boredom in Orange County, to get away from my gang, and from the drugs.” Robert Acosta had just reached the age of 18 when he signed up with the US military. He was 19 when he was deployed to Iraq from his base in Hanau in Germany, and three months later a hand grenade someone had thrown at his Humvee exploded. “There’s no way on earth to get you prepared for the situation where all of a sudden you see your own hand lying on the ground in front of you and everywhere across the walls there are little, bloody pieces of you,” he says. While he speaks, again and again with his left hand he turns and twists the hook that now substitutes for his right – it is disturbing...

Denne artikel på engelsk og på svensk “Jeg meldte mig ikke til hæren for at tjene mit land, men for at flygte fra den forfærdelige tristhed i min hjemegn, Orange County, for at komme væk fra kammeraterne og fra stofferne.” Robert Acosta var lige blevet 18 da han meldte sig til USA’s militærtjeneste. Han var 19 da han blev flyttet fra sin tyske base i Hanau til Irak, hvor tre måneder senere en håndgranat, som nogen havde kastet på hans pansrede mandskabsvogn, eksploderede. “Der er ingen chance i verden for at være forberedt på en situation, hvor du pludselig ser din egen hånd ligge på gulvet foran dig og små blodige stumper af dig selv spredt på væggene”, siger han. Mens han taler bliver hans venstre håndled ved med at vride og vende på den krog, som nu erstatter hans højre hånd. Det er stadig, hver eneste gang, lige svært for ham at...

Mother Jones – The Damage Done Digital Journalist – Purple Hearts thumbs – Nina Berman’s photos Nina Berman’s book, Purple Hearts Information Clearing House – Purple Hearts. A Documentary by Roel van Broekhoven A photo series that the New York-based Nina Berman made of wounded Iraq veterans led to the making of this documentary. She also wrote the book ‘Purple Hearts, Back from Iraq’, in which soldiers tell their stories. Documentary filmmaker Roel van Broekhoven crossed the United States to visit the people portrayed in Berman’s photos.  In detail, they recount what happened on the day they got injured; how they arrived back home, blind or legless; how they have to try to forget the war now, in small towns around Alabama and Pittsburgh, or in Washington and L.A. Officially recognised as “heroes,” a Purple Heart on the uniform in the closet, most of these soldiers long to go back...

Mother Jones – The Damage Done Digital Journalist – Purple Hearts thumbs – Nina Berman’s photos Nina Berman’s book, Purple Hearts Information Clearing House – Purple Hearts. A Documentary by Roel van Broekhoven En fotoserie av New York baserade Nina Berman om sårade Irak-veteraner har lett till skapandet av denna dokumentär. Hon har också skrivit boken “Purpurhjärtan – Hem från Irak”, där soldater berättar sina historier. Dokumentärfilmaren Roel van Broekhoven reste runt i USA för att träffa de personer, som porträtterades av Bermans foton. I småstäder runt Alabama och Pittsburgh, eller i Washington och Los Angeles berättar de detaljerat om vad som hände den dagen när de sårades, hur de kom tillbaka hem – blinda eller utan ben – hur de nu måste försöka att glömma kriget. Officiellt är de “hjältar” med ett Purpurhjärtan på uniformen som de har hängande i garderoben. De flesta längtar efter att komma tillbaka till...

Mother Jones – The Damage Done Digital Journalist – Purple Hearts thumbs – Nina Berman’s photos Nina Berman’s book, Purple Hearts Information Clearing House – Purple Hearts. A Documentary by Roel van Broekhoven En fotoserie, som New York-baserede Nina Berman har lavet over sårede irakveteraner, gav ophav til denne dokumentar. Hun skrev også bogen “Purpurhjerter, hjem fra Irak”, i hvilken soldater fortæller deres historie. Dokumantarfilmeren Roel van Broekhoven rejste rundt i USA for at besøge de personer der er portrætteret i Bermans fotografier. I små byer omkring Alabama og Pittsburgh, eller i Washington og Los Angeles fortæller de detaljeret om hvad der var sket den dag de blev såret, om hvordan de kom hjem – blinde eller uden ben, om hvordan de nu må forsøge at glemme krigen. Overalt bliver de officielt betraktet som “helte” med et purpurhjerte på uniformen, der hænger i deres klædeskab. Men de fleste af dem...

You’ve heard it like a mantra: the EU is an actor for peace in Europe (8 pct of the world’s population) and outside it (92 pct). True, it has made a contribution to heal Europe after 1945.True, as one actor it has done nothing like the US in Iraq. True, it is great that it young people can learn and work in different parts of Europe. True, it gives much more development aid than others. And true, that integration of countries seems to have reduced the risk of future inter-national warfare on European soil. But then there is the famous other side of the coin: it’s Treaty text is devoid of peace philosophy, policies and institutions. Read it and you are in for a surprise! It lacks every strategy to reduce direct, structural, cultural and environmental violence inside and outside Europe. Its basic security “philosophy” is outlined in “A Secure Europe in a...

The American debate on the Iraq War has entered a dramatic new phase. For the first time, a prominent Democrat, Congressman John Murtha, has called for a withdrawal of American forces from the country. Murtha’s words have had a major impact because he was a former supporter of the war, and has had a career distinguished by his consistently pro-military profile. His argument is based on the inability to complete the American military mission in Iraq, making inexcusable the continued killing and loss of life. He also refers to the adverse effects of the unpopular and flawed occupation of Iraq on the wider goals of opposing global terrorism and to the failure of American reconstruction efforts. Murtha’s critique is widely shared by a majority of Americans at this point, and helps explain the declining popularity of the Bush presidency. Vietnam – a precursor but different But there is no sign that...

Again as the Vietnam experience should have made clear, when confronting a nationalist adversary, battlefield victories are difficult, if not impossible to translate into favorable political outcomes. The bloody occupation of Iraq has confirmed this lesson, dramatizing the limits of military superiority in wars associated with foreign occupation, especially of a country previously colonized.   Alternatives: do what seems right – it is not enough to be critical Understanding what has failed in the past and is unlikely to succeed in the present, is not enough. Without a positive alternative the blame game leads nowhere. In my view such an alternative does exist, although it contains big risks and like every proposed line of future policy in Iraq is enmeshed in uncertainty. We cannot know the risks of alternative lines of policy with any precision, but we can do what seems right under the circumstances, and appears to have the...

The Serbian province of Kosovo, largely populated by the Albanian separatist-minded majority, has failed to meet basic human rights and political standards set as prerequisites by the international community, but it should nevertheless enter in the months to come talks on its future status. This basic conclusion of the long-awaited report by UN special envoy Kai Eide was approved by the UN secretary general Kofi Annan and fully supported by the EU and the US, but it fails to demystify the paradox. Only two a half years ago, the international community had charged that talks on status could not start before a set of basic human rights standards was achieved. Since then, however, as it became clearer that the Kosovo Albanian majority was unwilling to meet the criteria and the UN unable to enforce them, there was a permanent watering down of prerequisites, until the proclaimed policy of “standards before...

Den serbiska provinsen Kosovo, huvudsakligen befolkad av den albanska separatistiskt inställda majoriteten, har inte lyckats tillgodose de grundläggande mänskliga rättigheter och den politiska standard som villkorats av världssamfundet, men icke desto mindre ska under de närmaste månaderna påbörjas samtal om dess framtida status. Denna grundläggande slutsats av en länge emotsedd rapporten av FN:s särskilda utsände Kai Eide har godkänts av FN:s generalsekreterare Kofi Annan och fått fullständigt stöd från EU och USA, men paradoxen med detta har man inte lyckats avmystifiera. För bara två och ett halvt år sedan krävde världssamfundet att samtal om Kosovos ställning inte skulle inledas innan man uppnått en viss standard i fråga om mänskliga rättigheter. Men då det sedan dess har blivit allt klarare att den kosovoalbanska majoriteten är ovillig att tillgodose kriterierna och att FN inte förmår genomdriva dem, har förutsättningarna oavbrutet urvattnats tills den proklamerade politiken “standard före status” slutligen begravdes med Eides...

  BREAKING NEWS December 1, 2005 CNN State’s high court won’t spare Williams Schwarzenegger could still stop execution of gang founder   Nonviolence But what’s even more important: Stan Tookie Williams’ commitment is a vital impulse for a civil approach to violence. His history, personal chance and initiatives have yielded and will yield more positive results than all correctional institutions in the United States and, by their own example, call for a policy chance that at long last starts to again invest into the education of young people instead of prison expansion.   What you can do • Read the currently two best newspaper article “Dead Man Talking” in The Times and Clemency for a Crip in the International Herald Tribune • Inform yourself and read more: www.tookie.com, www.savetookie.org, www.againstthecrimeofsilence.de Wikipedia   • Sign the petition for clemency to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Or sign it here: • Mail your own...