TFF PressInfo # 373: What Obama should do in Hiroshima tomorrowArticles by Jonathan Power & Richard Falkhttp://bit.ly/1U8PEq3 With an intro by Jan Oberg. Continue reading On Obama’s visit to Hiroshima – TFF PressInfo # 373
Hvad får vi egentlig at vide om det nordiske topmøde i Washington?
Svar: Andedamsjournalistik om middagen, salen, musikken, underholdningen og Lars Løkke Rasmussens morsomme (?) tale. Det er politik som et show – eller dække. Benovelsen over at blive modtaget med pomp og pragt i Washington er til at tage og føle på. Og sådan er det hele vejen på tværs af dansk medier inklusive Ritzaus Bureau.
Hvad savner vi i alle ledende medier – også Public Service-DR?
En analyse af (og lænke til) det omfattende, detaljerede og exceptionelt lange fællesdokument, der viljesløst binder landene til USAs udenrigs- og militærpolitik og gør dette møde til alt andet end en festlig begivenhed for Danmark og de andre nordiske lande.
Der er faktisk tale om totalt knæfald for imperiets præmisser – langt hen ad vejen i strid med hensynet til de nordiske landes egne sikkerhedsinteresser. Og de nordisk ledere gør det med smil, stolthed og intetanende hvad dette kan indebære ad åre – men da vil de selv være borte.
Er en skeptisk vinkel på dette overhovedet tilladt i det stadigt mere homogeniserede og research-frie mediebillede?
Tilsyneladende ikke – altså må andre gøre opmærksom på den større sammenhæng og udføre public service og folkeoplysning.
I en tid hvor spændingen øger mellem Rusland og NATO er der brug for alt andet end den ganging-up, militær ekspansion, konfrontation og polarisering mod Rusland – og hårdt pres på f.eks. Sverige og Finland for at blive ikke bare de facto men også de jure medlemmer af NATO – som USA/NATO kører på i disse år med henvisning til Ruslands aggressive politik og annekteringen af Krim.
Ruslands militære udgifter er 11% af USAs og 8% af NATO ifølge SIPRIs statistik. Der findes ikke én NATO general, der hellere ville være ansat i det russiske forsvar.
Continue reading “Nordiske ledere i Det Hvide Hus og dansk uvidenhedsjournalistik”For instance EU and other Western mainstream media. But we are getting out! The European Union is about to sign an agreement with non-EU Turkey to get rid of a large part of its refugees – by paying around € 6 bn to Turkey. Amnesty International and many others have pointed out – in strong words – that this agreement violates basic provisions of international … Continue reading If the EU becomes a criminal Union some don’t want you to know
Commenting on NATO S-G Jens Stoltenberg’s wish for dialogue with Russia – a bit odd after all the other provocative initiatives he has spearheaded the last good year or so. I felt like saying something more general about this outdated paradigm – and why it is dangerous for us all – referring also to the Russell-Einstein Manifesto of 1955. You may also see it as … Continue reading NATO outdated – Abolish war
Danmarks stadigt mere triste retning i verdens øjne: • Muhammetegningerne og afvisningen af diplomatisk samtale • Bombninger, krig, besættelse – fra Jugoslavien i 1999 til Irak 2 x, Libyen • Beredvilligheden at bombe Syrien • Medansvar for ISIS gennem besættelsen af Irak • Generel fremmedfjendtlighed – to say the least • Håndtering af terrorangreb, der ikke var det – … Continue reading Kunne Danmark også gøre noget godt for verden?
The UN Charter states clearly: • The equal rights of men and women• The equal rights of nations large and small• The norm to bring about peace by peaceful means The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states clearly: • The norm that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, … Continue reading We don’t want walls anywhere
E.U. Seeks U.N. Backing for Military Action to Stop Wave of Migrants Fleeing Horrific Abuse in Libya | Democracy Now!I’ve been around for a long time but I can still get both surprised and angry when I see things like this and try to connect the dots: 1) NATO bombs the hell out of Libya and kills its head of state and many others.2) Predictably … Continue reading Libya, “migrants” and EU military action
Burundi is a country with very special characteristics. It’s always been in the shadow of Rwanda and relatively neglected by the international community. A very very serious crisis is now unfolding because its president, Pierre Nkurunziza, is willing to risk everything to get elected for a third 5-year time which is very dubious according to the constitution. It’s a country with a GDP per capita … Continue reading Burundi – Early warning and violence prevention
This sunny Sunday morning, we wake up to yet another human catastrophe in the Mediterranean. The earlier ones have not caught much media attention – imagine if these had been luxury cruise ships with white Europeans and Americans. I listened carefully to the presenter at AlJazeera in this report Hundreds feared dead as boat capsizes off Libya coast He says that they come to seek … Continue reading Behind every refugee stands an arms trader
UN Yemen envoy Jamal Benomar resigns amid crisis – Al Jazeera English How conspicuous that Benomar – whom I happen to know a little bit – is choosing this moment to resign. It’s only a two days after the UN Security Council imposed an arms embargo on the Houthis but coming out in de facto support of the Saudi-led coalition bombing of Yemen by not … Continue reading The UN Yemen mediator resigns – conspicuously
Jan Oberg commenting on Iranian President Rouhani: “Tehran abides by commitments, if P5 1 fulfills promises” – YouTube/PressTV http://ow.ly/LbX3d In spite of the deal’s negative sides, Iran has chosen peace to the benefit of the world. In that perspective it is much more than a nuclear deal, it’s – potentially – a road to peace. Continue reading Iran nuclear deal – a road to peace
Deployment of UN peacekeepers should be agreed with both sides of Ukrainian conflict, says Lavrov — RT Russian politics.Ukraine has – wisely – suggested that UN Peacekeepers be stationed in Eastern Ukraine. Russia’s foreign minister sounds positive. That is important and good news – the most constructive for a year. To get the UN peacekeepers into the conflict zone has been one of TFF’s proposals since the … Continue reading UN Peacekeepers to be deployed in Eastern Ukraine? Yes, please!
War with Iran is probably our best option – The Washington PostBy Joshua Muravchik – one of the extremist neo-cons influencing U.S. foreign policy. Hardly one argument backed up by facts here. The professor advocates a series of violations of international law. He thinks it is fine to kill people and cause regime change. Two simple points: Why does Washington Post publish such crap? Answer: … Continue reading Like we use Islamism – why not USism
Today published a new TFF PressInfo # 314 with the above headline. I hope you’ll find it more constructive than most of the other things you may see and that you will hsrae it if you do. Also, you can subscribe to TFF PressInfos and get them by e-mail into your in-box – before they are posted on the Net – by writing to pressinfo@transnational.org … Continue reading From preventing to making peace in Ukraine
Senator Cotton – behind the Letter of 47 – has been promoted by pro-Israeli RJC’s Singer and Adelson • LobeLog Instructive reading for anyone who thinks – because they are manipulated by Western mainstream media – that economic corruption in politics and oligarchs are only found in Russia and China and not in the so-called democracy of the United States. It seems that not only … Continue reading And who funded Sen Tom Cotton’s and 46 other Senators’ mean, condescending letter?
Saudi Arabia recalled envoy to Sweden amid diplomatic row – YouTube video with Iranian PressTV. I comment on the Sweden-Saudi Aabia conflict, points out that it is good that Sweden introduces some ethical consideration but that it lacks a positive vision in Swedish foreign policy. Certainly Saudi Arabia – now the world’s largest arms importer – doesn’t need more weapons. It is wrong to cut … Continue reading The Saudi Arabia – Sweden row
My interview with RT, Russia Today – This military build up is not in our name !! While we speak there is a huge military exercise in Northern Norway – a NATO member, Joint Viking. There is NATO’s Atlantic Resolve in the Baltic region (see interesting maps on the link). There are smaller ones in Germany and one coming up in the Black Sea. Why … Continue reading The military game between NATO and Russia – it is dangerous and not in our name!
By Farhang Jahanpour & Jan Oberg, TFF Board membersRead the whole text “Ignore the 47 irresponsible US Republican senators – here” Now that Iran cannot trust the U.S. – what must be done to secure a nuclear deal? NATO and EU friends of the US as well as the other negotiating powers must come forward. Iran must be assured that a deal is a deal. … Continue reading TFF PressInfo # 313: Ignore the 47 irresponsible US Republican senators
Syrian Rebels in Aleppo Reject UN Peace Effort Perhaps understandable but tragic. When all this began in Syria some of us – a clear minority and without any media interest – suggested an arms embargo on all sides and involvement of the UN. But “Friends of Syria”, hot-headed politicians and media people knew that arming the opposition and never talk with Al-Assad was the only … Continue reading Gun in hand – less motivated to negotiate
Iran’s FM Zarif: “Any deal with P5 1 would cover all issues”I agree with the foreign minister and point out how a-symmetric this conflict is. I believe also that historic mistrust should have been dealt with before technicalitites.Then I ask how on earth it could be better for Israel if there is no deal than if there is one – as PM Netanyuahu argues and … Continue reading About the nuclear negotiations with Iran
Olof Palme – murdered today 29 years ago • Wikipedia A politician who willed a better society, to whom politics was a calling – working for justice, international law, nuclear disarmament, against big countries bullying small countries, a person who made Sweden stand ut. Then. And it was the Palme Commission on Common Security that broke the ice towards the end of the Cold War … Continue reading Olof Palme – murdered today 29 years
What the War on Terror Has Wrought: More TerrorismMy text for TFF PressInfo re-prited in CounterPunch – a “popular political sources in America, with a keen following in Washington” (The Observer). I’m proud to be re-printed there!TFF PressInfos are spread all over the place. You can get them by e-mail: write to PressInfo@transnational.org Continue reading What the War on Terror Has Wrought: More terrorism
Mossad contradicted Netanyahu on Iran nuclear programme – Al Jazeera PM Netanyahu repeatedly speaks and acts in bad faith with the aim of getting some kind of war started on Iran. A leader of a nuclear weapons state suffering from obsession and having such bad aims and political judgement is a threat to us all. With a population roughly 10 times bigger than Israel’s, the … Continue reading Help Netanyahu to come to his senses
TFF PressInfo # 310: Terrorism – small dot in a larger pictureWhat is terrorism? Why do we talk much more about that than other types of deaths? Why is the word misused?What has nuclear weapons – that politicians and media hardly ever talk about – got to do with terror?Why should we all be careful not to exaggerate the phenomenon of terror? Continue reading TFF PressInfo # 310: Terrorism – small dot in a larger picture
When I watch this documentary, Iraq: Shattered Heritage, I cannot but ask myself: Who are the barbarians of our time? What is the mote and what is the beam in this world? Who tells Russia that “big countries shall not bully smaller countries”? Isn’t it time for the Western world to acknowledge its own dark sides and stop projecting them on everybody else? I am … Continue reading Who are the barbarians of our time?
Freedom of expression fundamentalism – or what happened to Charlie?Four main reasons you need to be wise – and not make New Atheism your new creed! This is TFF PressInfo # 304. You can get these fast-growing PressInfos winging into you e-box too. Just write to pressinfo@transnational.org Continue reading Wisdom of expression
Interview with RT International on relationship between Sweden and Israel on YouTube.And we end it with a good laugh about my advice to PM Netanyahu! Continue reading The Swedish-Israeli crisis
Text: • Who of them will say: “My belief in my Western identity and our values and culture is strong. Therefore, I am Security, Police and Intelligence – but I am also Nonviolence, Dialogue and Reconciliation. And I feel safe when I take the first step away from the spiral of violence. • Let me repeat for a thousandth time that nonviolence is of the … Continue reading Would one European leader say “nonviolence” too?
Eleven points as a reflection on the terror in Paris and – not the least – the reactions to it*:
1. What was this an attack on?
Was that attack an attack on freedom of speech as such, on democracy, even on the whole Western culture and lifestyle, as was maintained throughout? Or was it, more limited, a revenge directed at one weekly magazine for what some perceive as blasphemy?
2. Is freedom of expression practised or curtailed for various reasons?
How real is that freedom in the West? Just a couple of days before the Paris massacre PEN in the U.S. published a report – Global Chilling – finding that about 75% of writers report that they are influenced by the NSA listening and abstain from taking up certain subjects or perspectives? Self-censorship, in other words. Finally, most of the political leaders marching in Paris on Sunday January 11 have clamped down on media, such as Turkey and Egypt.
I must admit that I have experienced limitations in the practise of that freedom in my work with Western media and it is decades ago I draw the conclusion that things like political correctness, ownership, commercial/market considerations and journalists’ need for good relations with power – e.g. to obtain interviews – play a role.
I’ve been on the ground in conflict zones and returning home to see reports so biased to tell very little of what I’ve seen myself. And we’ve recently seen lots of cases from the U.S. academic world where there’s been a clampdown on certain views, pulications, courses and professors – not the least in relation to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Or, you look at the proportions between government fund available for peace research and military research in virtually every Western society; free research is a vital element in the self-understanding of the West. But how much of do we have?
3. Freedom doesn’t mean duty.
Is freedom of expression really 100% irrespective of how much the practise of that freedom is hurtful, offending, humiliating or discriminatory against other peoples, religions and cultures? Even if you can express your opinions freely it is not always what we should do.
Or, rather, of violence against violence + terrorism against terrorism. Among the marchers against terrorism and for freedom of expression we find leaders from France, Denmark, Egypt, Italy, Turkey, Russia, the U.S., Israel, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Bahrein and Ukraine. What do they have in common? A deep belief in violence – violence of various types: 9-10 of them presently fighting foreign wars (mostly against or … Continue reading Depiction of the Spiral of Violence
TFF PressInfo # 288 – Where it all went wrong and lessons were never learnt Why the “conflict management” and “peace making” by the West during the dissolution of Yugoslavia was much more important for our time and what happens now than anticipated. Much of the terrible crisis we see today was started by policies and principles introduced for the first time in Yugoslavia from … Continue reading ► ► TFF PressInfo # 288 – Where it all went wrong and lessons were never learnt
TFF PressInfo 282 Instead of bombing ISIS – Concrete proposals (Part B) Lots of proposals, doable and much more efficient than war. Please SHARE, thanks. The alternative to war is not to do nothing, it is to do something else! Continue reading ► ► TFF PressInfo 282: Instead of bombing IS (Part B)
Interview med Jens Malling – Publiceret i Arbejderen Efterlader en verden i kaos Anders Fogh Rasmussen træder tilbage som Natos generalsekretær i dag efter fem år på posten. Aggressivitet over for Rusland og hykleri når det gælder Irak har ifølge fredsforsker Jan Øberg kendetegnet hans sidste år i spidsen for organisationen. Et udtryk for Vestens moralske forfald, mener han AF JENS MALLING ”Verden er et … Continue reading Fogh Rasmussen efterlader en verden i kaos
US-led coalition hits targets in Syria’s Homs province – YouTubeShort conversation with me about why I predict that the US-led bombing of ISIS structures will turn out to be an intellectual and moral disaster and that the Obama administration has neither a politico-military nor an exit strategy. Continue reading US-led coalition has neither a political nor an exit strategy
US to strike ISIL ‘sanctuaries’ in SyriaI venture the following predictions: 1) This will lead to mass-killing of innocents too. 2) This will further undermine the United Nations since there is no mandate for bombing Syria. 3) It will strengthen the resolve of ISIL and other groups (see end statement). 4) This is done either without President Al-Assad’s acceptance and is thus international aggression or … Continue reading US to strike ISIL ‘sanctuaries’ in Syria
Six Steps Short of War to Beat ISISBy eminent researcher Phyllis Bennis The speech President Obama ought to have held…based on brilliant intellectual points and the logics of ethics. With that the U.S. could lead. Without it, it just can’t. Continue reading Six Steps Short of War to Beat ISIS – the speech Obama should have held!
☮ ☮ Obama’s plan to stop ISIS – video of speech, about 13 min.This speech is a record low in terms of moral and intellectual analysis: What it boils down to is war – i.e. killing every single ISIS person anywhere. The war on terror has always been about killing terrorists but you can not kill an ism – terrorism. Do something about the causes … Continue reading Obama’s plan to stop ISIS
► A major event in peace and conflict research & policy studies • Three authors with 130+ man years of experience with Yugoslavia • All their writings, equivalent to 2000 A4 pages, written 1991-2014 ► Not a word changed: for anyone to see whose analyses and predictions stand the test of time • Freely accessible for anyone worldwide instead of publishing 7-8 books at exorbitant … Continue reading “YUGOSLAVIA – WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE ?”
Kære Berlingske redaktion
Kære Michael Ørtz Christiansen og Karen Clement, Berlingske Nyhedsbureau
I bringer kl 11.41 i dag en artikel hvori forsvarsminister Wammen – uden henvisning til nogen folkeretslig bestemmelse – mener at den forestående Irak-operation er folkeretsligt OK.
Det er den ikke.
De to argumenter han bruger – at den irakiske regering har bedt om det og at der er en forfærdelig humanitær situation har intet med folkeretten at gøre.
Derimod bryder aktionen klart mod FN-Pagtens Artikel 1 og 33.
Jeg citerer:
Continue reading “Forsvarsminister Wammen er galt afmarcheret *”Do you know that 6 countries in today’s Europe have 480 nuclear weapons (beyond France) and that Germany is the largest with 150 of them? The are all United States weapons stored here through secret arrangements. This report is written by Hans Kristensen, a Dane who has studied nuclear weapons since the 1980s and is an indisputable world authority. His report is 9 years old. How … Continue reading Do you know that 6 countries in today’s Europe have 480 nuclear weapons (beyond France)?
Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Philip M. Breedlove: A NATO for a Dangerous World – WSJ Here is the West’s intellectual high jumpers when they are at their best. Sorry to say it, it ain’t good enough. NATO is for a dangerous world. It couldn’t live without finding new enemies on a permanent basis. Here they omit every fact, including the US/EU-instigated regime change – for … Continue reading A NATO for a dangerous world – sure
☮ ☮ US warns Russia against Ukraine invasion – Al Jazeera English Does the United States want a war? Read this carefully! Samantha Power used to be a researcher one could respect, albeit not always agree with. Now she has turned into a war-monger. Here she has the guts to say that if Russia should deliver humanitarian aid to the suffering people in Eastern Ukraine, … Continue reading US warns Russia against Ukraine invasion
On Hiroshima Day 2014 and Nagasaki Day on the 9th.TFF on the need for nuclear abolition Continue reading ☮ ☮ On Hiroshima Day 2014: TFF on the need for nuclear abolition
Responsibility for wars and killing A number of Western/NATO politicians – Hillary Clinton foremost among them – and media people have recently introduced a new ethical principle in international affairs: When A delivers weapons to B, A is responsible for what B does with these weapons. The former Secretary of State and perhaps future U.S. President presents this new ethical principle here on CNN. This … Continue reading Wow, Hillary Clinton as moral philosopher
Ræson har bedt mig svare på syv spørgsmål vedrørende Ukraine og det ny modsætningsforhold mellem Vesten/NATO og Rusland. Læse de korte svar hér. Continue reading Om Rusland: Vesten har valgt ekspansion og konfrontation
Gad vide hvor mange mislykkede krige vi endnu skal igennem før især politikere og medier opdager det indlysende faktum, at der findes et temmeligt bredt spektrum af handlingsmuligheder mellem at gøre ingenting og at smadre et land når konflikter dukker op?
Det spektrum hedder konflikthåndtering og tilhører et fagområde, der undervises i rundt om på verdens universiteter. Det kræver at FNs medlemsstater etablerer ”styrker” af uddannede konfliktanalytikere, facilitatorer, mæglere, områdeeksperter, forhandlere og forsoningsterapeuter, der kan rykke ud endnu hurtigere end de kan sende krydsermissiler og F-16 fly.
For at dette spektrum kan blive inddraget forudsættes endvidere at regeringer ikke direkte ønsker krig under foregivende af at have gode og ofte humanitære motiver hvor de i virkeligheden har rå interesser.
Med andre ord, man kan gøre noget ved den manifeste konfliktanalfabetisme, der først søger militære løsninger og – som en række danske politikere – hurtigt tilsidesætter folkeretten og FNs fornemste norm, nemlig den at fred skal skabes med fredelige midler og først når de alle har været prøvet og vist sig uden effekt kan man gribe til militære midler, vel at mærke i FN-regi.
Eller anderledes udtrykt: fred kan læres. Når nu de fleste mennesker i verden – også 98% af de civile i konfliktzoner der ikke griber til vold men er dens ofre – ønsker fred skulle man kunne tage demokratiet alvorligt og gøre en kraftanstrengelse for at mindske (ikke afskaffe) militæret, der globalt koster 1700 milliarder dollar eller 30 gange mere end alt FN gør – og i stedet øge konflikthåndteringen.
Eksemplet Syrien – gal diagnose og prognose
Verden har brug for konflikt-lægevidenskab: diagnose, prognose og behandling.
Diagnosen turde være nok så klar: Det handler om endog meget komplekse indre konflikter, den arabiske vår (oprindeligt) men det handler også om hele Mellemøsten og især hér om Vestens ønske om at holde Iran nede og Israel oppe. Continue reading “Syrien – hvad kunne være gjort og hvad kan stadig gøres?”