28. April 2003
The flyer text below we published on October 16,
2002. In the meantime the war against Iraq has taken place. Peace in the
Middle East?
14. April 2004 At a press conference on April
13, 2004, George W. Bush said:
I thought it was very interesting that Charlie Duelfer who just came
back - he's the head of the Iraqi Survey Group - reported some
interesting findings from his recent tour there. And one of the things
was he was amazed at how deceptive the Iraqis had been toward Unmovic
and Unscom, deceptive at hiding things. We knew they were hiding
things. A country that hides
something is a country that is afraid of getting caught. And
that was part of our calculation. Charlie confirmed that. He also
confirmed that Saddam had the ability
to produce biological and chemical weapons. In other words, he was a
danger. He had long-range missiles that were undeclared to the
United Nations. He was a danger. And
so we dealt with him.
31. March 2005
The Guardianwrites:
US spy agencies were "dead wrong" in "almost all" of their pre-war
judgments about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) capability, a
commission appointed by the US president said in a final report today.
Text of a flyer
written by Gerta Manz for the Münchner Friedensbündnis
(Munich Peace Alliance) before October 2002:
War against
Iraq? Who ever wants peace, must prepare for peace!
In September 2001 the Münchner Friedensbündnis prepared a
large banner with the slogan:
War Is Not A Means Against Terror - War
Is Terror!
As a sign of protest against the warlike attacks on Afghanistan we put
up the large banner again and again at our regular vigils. It aroused
both enthusiatic agreement and violent refusal, and led to lively
discussions over war and peace.
We continue to have the vigils.
We protest against war plans against alleged rogue states, without
thereby supporting the dictator Saddam Hussein.
The civilized world can
be defended only with civilized means!
A short review
In the U.S.A. the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 led to a
polarization of the world into Good and Evil. Osama bin Laden and his
al-Qaida fighters were pinpointed as the wire-pullers of the terrorist
attacks. When the Afghan Taliban regime did not want to hand them over,
it was overthrown with bombs. As a "side effect" thousands of Afghan
civilians died, and the country
was destroyed and mined.
Peace did not come to Afghanistan.
Bin Laden escaped. His international terrorist organization has
apparently gained strength.
War against "Evil"?
The US president stated in January 2002 that he will wage war against
terrorism in sixty countries all over the world. The countries Iraq,
Iran and North Korea are the first goals, and first strikes with
tactical nuclear bombs have to be expected. Since then the threats
against Iraq have been
repeated often. Only the date seems to be open.
Political background
The Taliban regime and also bin Laden were established in Afghanistan
with the help of the American secret service CIA, in order to lead the
fight against the USSR at that time. The issue was the power structure
on the globe, the access to natural resources and pipelines. Whether
minorities and women in Afghanistan were suppressed or not played no
role in this. Bin
Laden and his followers originate from Saudi Arabia. The U.S.A.,
however, are closely allied with the Saudi government, which secures
both oil deliveries and US military bases. Therefore the terrorists
were not looked for there. On the other hand, the US government is
using the attacks of September 11, 2001 to pursue their energy and
geopolitical interests more intensively. It
retreats from all contractual bindings: NATO resolutions are ignored,
arms
controls abolished, international law no longer plays a role. Even the
International
Court of Justice is boycotted, although it corresponds particularly to
genuine
American thinking.
Why does the hatred of the USA and the Western world grow?
From the USA sounds the answer: They hate us, because we are the good
ones, because we are so democratic and just - the Islamists cannot not
bear this.
Self-critical voices arise in the western world: For decades the rich
countries have pursued their economic interests everywhere without
consideration of the consequences for the local people, nature and
economy. The Islamic countries and India, China, the African and the
Russian states have to
subordinate and adapt. People of many countries are embittered over the
destruction of their bases of life, above all, however, over the
ignoring
of their human dignity and their culture. They resist being objects of
Western
greed. Therefore, fanatics easily find followers among them.
An example of the misuse of power:
On September 11, 1973 - this date points to connections! - the American
secret service CIA had the democratically elected president of Chile,
Salvador Allende, murdered, the government overthrown and the Pinochet
regime installed. Allende had introduced economic reforms which ran
contrary to US interests.
The policy of the USA, determined by power-politics criteria,
contradicts its democratic and Christian traditions.
What can one do against terrorism?
Political steps are necessary on several levels:
Acts of terrorism are crimes, and the culprits must be treated as
criminals: Identification, detainment, sentence, punishment. Those are
the tasks of the police, of the secret service and of justice.
Safety precautions are an important protection, but they may not
be enforced at the expense of the civil rights of the citizens. There
is no absolute security against fanatics.
There has to be long term planning. Even the US military counts
on fighting for many years against international terrorism. Retaliatory
strikes only increase the violence as can be seen in Israel and
Palestine. The goal of a global policy planned in long terms must be
the securing of humane living conditions everywhere in the world - not
alliances with corrupt governments. A responsible and careful handling
of nature and its limited resources is necessary. Consumption in the
industrialized countries cannot be increased as in the past. We all
will have to reorient ourselves.
There are no patent prescriptions
However this principle is valid: A foresighted civilian policy in areas
of crisis deprives terrorism of fertile soil, because it also gives a
chance to those, who in these days are the losers who are only seeking
revenge.
