Obama's no prize as peacemaker
Stupid wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and possibly Iran give the lie to any notion that the US president supports peace.
by Bruce Wark
He's not known as Barack O'Bomber for nothing. Even as the bellicose US president snagged the Nobel Peace Prize last week, American military forces under his command were pounding Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. More than a million civilians have died and millions more have been forced to flee because of these senseless wars. Yet O'Bomber seems determined to fight on.
Never mind that as Sun Media columnist Eric Margolis pointed out last week, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are based on lies. Saddam Hussein's non-existent "weapons of mass destruction" justified the illegal invasion of Iraq, while in Afghanistan, we're supposedly fighting terrorists to keep them from attacking us here. "Many North Americans still buy this lie because they believe the 9/11 attacks came directly from the Afghanistan-based al-Qaeda and Taliban movements," Margolis writes. He argues, however, that the 9/11 attacks "were planned in Germany and Spain, and conducted mainly by US-based Saudis to punish America for supporting Israel."
Margolis notes that so far, the US has squandered $236 billion in Afghanistan while Canada has wasted $16 billion. Now, after eight years of carnage, the top US commander there warns that at least 40,000 more American troops will be needed to avoid defeat. To quote the old Pete Seeger tune, "When will they ever learn?" Or to quote Muriel Duckworth, "War is stupid."
Duckworth, who died in August, was formally inducted last week into the Order of Nova Scotia. That news reminded me of a similar quote from her friend and fellow Quaker, Ursula Franklin: "War does not work, not even for the warriors." Franklin points out that "violence begets more violence, war begets further wars, more enemies and more suffering." Both women called repeatedly for negotiations to resolve conflict---diplomacy instead of military force.
I know. Right-wing ideologues insist we just can't negotiate with the irrational, uncivilized evildoers who oppose enlightened, freedom-loving people like us. It's a good example of black-and-white thinking. The reality is that the world's richest and most powerful countries are using the pretext of the war on terrorism to pound the hell out of the poorest and most defenseless ones in the mad scramble for control of the world's resources.
As I worked on Ursula Franklin's Wikipedia entry last year, I learned the power of her argument that "peace is not the absence of war---peace is the absence of fear." Franklin points to what she calls the "threat system" which instills fear at all levels of society, not just fear of violence but of unemployment and poverty. Only social justice rooted in equality, she argues, can banish fear and bring peace.
Unfortunately, consumer-oriented societies like ours tend to promote acquisitiveness instead of equality. They rely on military force to impose their own global order and as they do, their economies become increasingly dependent on the production of sophisticated weapons systems. Franklin says that leads to a state of permanent war, either endlessly preparing for conflict or actively engaging in it. Implacable external enemies are needed to justify the trillions spent on weapons. No wonder the mainstream media is full of warnings these days from US and Canadian politicians that oil-rich Iran poses a dire nuclear threat. Iran's willingness to let international weapons inspectors into its nuclear facilities is reported as a clever ruse while the media play down the statement from the UN's chief weapons inspector that there's "no credible evidence" Iran is developing a nuclear bomb. Even US intelligence agencies have concluded the Iranians stopped nuclear weapons production in 2003. Yet the media and politicians continue to beat their war drums.
Given these pressures, O'Bomber may be tempted to launch an attack on Iran or acquiesce in an Israeli one. If he's wise, though, he'll steer clear of yet another stupid war while withdrawing US forces from Iraq and Afghanistan. Then, he really would be worthy of Nobel's golden medal.
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Hi willlegge: Sorry to say buddy, the million deaths figure is well established --- unless you're swayed by dismissive coverage in the mainstream media. (I was using the figure for both Iraq and Afghanistan, but in Iraq alone, the figure is well above one million.) I'll cite a source I trust: Project Censored which operates out of Sonoma State University in California. If you click on the link, you'll see where Project Censored got its information. As I say, Project Censored was founded by Carl Jensen in 1976. Its list is always based on reliable and in-depth research. In 2009, the million deaths figure was number one on the Best Censored list. Read it and weep: http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories…
Lesley Stahl: "We have heard that half a million children have died in Iraq. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And you know, is the price worth it?"
Madeleine Albright: "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price? We think the price is worth it."
Willegge, those figures you provided don't include death by sanctions. When you look at the course of American policy and action in Iraq since 1990, it hasn't changed direction at any point. It has only escalated. The goal under Obama has so far been the same as it was under Clinton and both Bushes: make Iraq do what we want it to do; control it; take its resources.
The same is true of Afghanistan. Is that what we call a 'good war' nowadays?
Dear Sir Bruce, While visiting the fair city of Halifax this past weekend and stopping for a brew at second cup, something I crave for, along with a good Tim's when i come home, being from Cape Breton but living in Chicago the past seven years.. I was amazed at the miss information I read in your column. Obama's No prize Peace Maker. Not that I am a fan of Obama, I'm not, I live in Illinois . He did zero as senator. I think he is in way over his head. Anyway, the two statements of false information you gave are these. "more than a million civilians have died", and, " senseless war". What is it with you guys ? Do you all go to the same ,push a left wing agenda journalism school? Or do you look at the evidence, and report that, even if it contradicts your ideology?
So how many civilians died in Iraq? The Associated Press wrote about it's tally for how many Iragi civilians have been killed since the US invasion. Associated Press is one of the few that keep it's own independent account. They have traditionally depended on those same ministry sources as others, but also look at press reports, and hospital records. Recently Associated Press was given access to new data collected by Iraqi Health Ministry, and searched through morgue records along with burials at the Shiite cemetery in the holy Shiite city of Najaf. Altogether Associated Press estimated 110,600 Iraqi's have died from May 2003 to March 2009. Iraq Body Count, one of the major sources of casualty counts in Iraq found 100,346 dead from March 2003 to April 2009. The Lancet Study led by Gilbert Burnham in the Lancet Medical Journal claimed 601,027 Iraqis died since the US invasion. But this report has faced major criticism because it's results were based upon polling, faulty polling questions, and numbers that were inflated for political reasons, and not precise numbers. The Grand Total of Iraqi deaths according to trust worthy sources. Associated Press, (March30 2003 -April 2009) 110,600 - Brooking Institution, (May 2003-March 2009) 110,387- Iraq Body Count ( March 2003- April 2, 2009) 100, 436. Over a million is quite a leap Mr. Wark. And as terrible as war is, war is not always senseless. What is better, Peace or Freedom. I'll take freedom any day. Take Care, from William Legge Chicago IL.
I don't think any gov't or politician or anyone...fuck not even a perfect computer designed to govern us to our own positive advancement, would make you happy Bruce. You are a fucking anarchist. There is no political system that will work for you. You have this hippie mind set that violence is a thing of the past and yada, yada, yada hippie blahhhhhhhh. Look around Bruce, the world is a piece of shit. People killing and fighting about everything from religion to parking spaces so I'm just glad that North America has at least one leader who is willing to look at peaceful options but not afraid to wipe out the nasty religious crazies who would kill you Bruce in a heart beat, just because you might and probably do disagree with their religion/politics/color of the sky. When will you hippies learn the world is not that place you dreamed about in the 60's and probably never will be. We are animals, we act like animals. Try "reasoning" your way out of a terrorist kidnapping and then tell me if you think we don't need some positive violence in the world. And yes I said positive violence. Your as bad as all the right wingers who want total constant war. Your an extreme, and any extreme is bad. Do you even understand the ramifications that pulling out of Iraq and Afganistan would have right now. Or do you care. Maybe you extreme leftists are the same as the right wingers when it comes to other countries. Fuck em. Is that it Bruce? First world first. Is that it? We shouldn't worry about whats happening "over there", lets just worry about Canada, right Bruce. Your as bad as G.W. Bush and co. and you don't even realize it. And we all know the wars are based on lies, but again do we just pull out and leave them after eight years of Bush ruining their lives. Or do we try and finish the terrorists off before we leave. Remember, Iraq was a false war. Afghanistan was not. You hippies don't understand the socio-political crisis that would be caused by just up and leaving. It might take a while for the rest of the world to evolve to your magical, peaceful hippie mindset. Until then we need to arm up. Would you hippie dreamers read a fucking history book and learn something. Oh wait those we're all written by people with agendas right Bruce? All the world's a conspiracy and Pres. Obama was only elected so they can get into Africa and get the resources right Bruce? Conspiracy bullshit. You hippies make me want to go to war.
Jared M.
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