It's All There

Old habits die hard. i'm still on the Multikulti Amnesty International-Hungary mailing list and yesterday received this: Two Protests! Against Reagan Statue & for Iranian Democracy! Ah, the irony of it all, n'est-ce pas? Evidently the de-republicanized nationalist government now wants to look out the windows of parliament and see Ronald Reagan, standing tall, gazing out over the Danube over an inscription that reads There's nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse. As Molly Ivins put it: 'This is the man who proved that ignorance is no handicap to the presidency." Such are the iconic values of the current Hungarian government.

On the topic of nationalist cajones, tomorrow is Army Day in Azerbaijan and Baku has been awash in camoflaged-clad men all week, setting up for the big display, apparently to be a classic 'we will protect ourselves against all forms of aggression' parade (in lieu of other parade themes seen throughout the world this month). It will be interesting to see who from the US government is in attendance, since they've just concluded talks on the 'importance of ensuring security of energy infrastructure in the Caspian Sea and ... the readiness to continue joint efforts to prevent the threats to it.' Considering that no progress was made in this week's Russian-sponsored summit to come up with a peace process for Nagorno-Karabakh, i suppose some Azeris may want reassurance that their military is ready and willing to prevent further national tragedy. Some here believe that if Azerbaijan is forced to go to war again with Armenia, Turkey will have to fight alongside them - or maybe for them - but right now, the Turks are busy doing this, and have more pressing, internal issues to worry about.

Personally, i'm with Ronald Reagan when it comes to wasteful government spending, though there's a bit of divergence in what we each would delete from the national budget. In that spirit, the hope that the entire Caspian region may one day evolve into a conflict-free zone, i give you this from the late great John Lennon. 'All we are saying' blahblahblah but you know, if we don't at least think it, we can be relatively certain it will never come to pass. Happy Nuclear Abolition Day!

Nobel Appease Prize

The Obama love fest marches on. How utterly bizarre that he has received this honor immediately after declining to meet with another Nobel Laureate... hard not to notice that among all the commentaries and congratulations, the Dalai Lama's reaction is conspicuously absent. Is the Nobel Committee trying to subvert Obama's stated intention to intensify military action in Afghanistan by handing him a check that reads 'Man of Peace', or do they just want their own private audience with the guy? Historically, the prize has been awarded to individuals who've taken real, substantive personal risks in the interests of justice, peace and planet, or embraced platforms crucial for moving in that direction (think of Al Gore and the IPCC); i may be missing something in his background, but it doesn't seem to me that Obama qualifies under either of these criteria.

Last weekend i met a Danish woman who asked if i was happy about Obama becoming president, flashing me that semi-glazed over, starry-eyed look that i've come to recognize as the spell of saviordom. People so desperately want to believe that Obama is "the answer", the man who will make all things bad in the world go away or transform into bite-sized bits of goodness. It feels too cynical to dispel anyone's optimism; yet, from another perspective, one could argue that encouraging the worship of a well-marketed elected official reflects an even deeper level of psychic despair. Thus far, Obama has not managed to deliver much more than drone attacks on impoverished villages, appeasement towards zionist extremists and guaranteed, unrestrained profits to big pharmaceutical companies. My conversation with the woman from Denmark demonstrated yet again the extent to which Europeans still want to believe that the US can set things right in the world, and how willing we all are to ignore what we don't want to see in order to keep whatever dream we harbor alive - be it a savior nation or a savior from Chicago.

There are those who have argued that the Nobel Peace Prize lost all credibility back in 1973, when it was awarded to Henry Kissinger - in the same year that he orchestrated the overthrow of Allende, condemning the Chilean people to over a decade of inexcusable repression. i am not going to shame myself by challenging that position, since i think the Norwegians would have better served the interests of peace by arresting Kissinger the minute he stepped off the plane. Perhaps my reaction to Obama winning is just a matter of selective or short-term memory, of not wanting to accept that something i'd like to believe has substantive meaning has actually been devoid of it for at least several decades. i suppose i should be thankful that if persona marketability was their main criteria, at least the Committee didn't select Angelina Jolie.

At this time, one hopes that the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize recipient will take a moment to reflect on the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. when he accepted his award in 1964.

I am mindful that debilitating and grinding poverty afflicts my people and chains them to the lowest rung of the economic ladder.

Therefore, I must ask why this prize is awarded to a movement which is beleaguered and committed to unrelenting struggle; to a movement which has not won the very peace and brotherhood which is the essence of the Nobel Prize.

After contemplation, I conclude that this award which I receive on behalf of that movement is profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral question of our time -- the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression.

Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts.

This morning i received an email from moveon.org which claimed that the primary reason Obama won the award is his push for nuclear disarmament. On this, i would refer you to Thomas Pickering's recent commentary in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists: "...the Obama administration will at least continue to look seriously at the possibility of missile defense, focusing less on a frenetic commitment to early deployment and more on bringing it to its full technical capability." Their clock is still set at 5 minutes to midnight, so while the potential to move away from nuclear war may be greater than it was a year ago, our experts at the Bulletin have yet to lower the threat level.

Also want to tag on a quote from someone at Israel Radio, just to illustrate how convoluted perspectives on the Nobel Prize - or perhaps peace, itself - can become. "Almost nine months of pregnancy at the White House has not given birth to one peace or any [significant] progress under the inspiration of American president.... Whoever had hope that President Obama would lead a military operation against Tehran, today those hopes have evaporated. A Noble Peace Prize laureate doesn't rush into to any war." Does that need deconstruction?? According to the Secret Service, death threats to Obama are up 400% since his inauguration. The racist anti-sanity birthers [sic] are taunting him left and right, but who would be surprised if the first tangible attack came from an agent of zionism? Yet that surely won't happen in Oslo, so we can all start stocking up on popcorn and rhetoric, in preparation for another monumental speech and a blogophere frenzy to prove it so.

Sorting out the mess in Congo

After confessing to my lack of understanding re the recent explosion of violence in eastern Congo (DRC), i've been reading through article threads on the Mail & Guardian and elsewhere, getting the situation sorted out historically and otherwise in my under-fired cerebral cortex. i recall a retired government bureaucrat in Dar es-Salaam telling me "there is no tragedy like an African tragedy," and what's happening in Congo now unfortunately seems to confirm this. From what i've been able to digest, here are the main issues being grappled with, all very intertwined so the order i'm presenting them in is irrelevant.

* Kabile's government (DRC) has been harboring Hutus (the FDLR) who fled after the massacres in Rwanda and continued to attack Tutsis in eastern Congo. Protecting his people from them has been one of the rationales given by Nkunda for pursuing this sweep of the region. A lot of Africans seem to view this conflict as the ultimate call for addressing the rampant racism that continues to plague the continent.

* Foreign countries are intent of stripping the resources from this area, signing agreements in Kinshasa without giving the inhabitants a voice and supporting violence against them for refusing to have their territory sold to the highest bidder. China is a main player on this stage. This is Nkunda's other rationale, and he says he's willing to march all the way to Kinshasa if that's what it takes to stop the resource rape.

* The UN needs to broker a cease fire in order to get the refugees out, and thought they had done so but no dice. Peacekeeping troops come from a variety of countries and are not operating under a unified command, so they can't stop the fighting any more than they can protect the civilians caught in it. Nkunda now says he won't deal with the UN until they set up a joint meeting with Kabile.

* President Kagame of Rwanda claims the UN's mission in DRC has been supporting Kabile's support of the FDLR, and there is some speculation that Rwanda is aiding Nkunda in an act of tribal solidarity. The consensus among African commentators is that racism is a major element driving the conflict and needs to be tackled on the broadest level possible within the entire continent.

* The African Union, which has essentially blown off the conflicts in Somalia, Darfur and Zimbabwe, is not seen as having any chance of being effective in this even more complex conflict. This is particularly true with respect to its younger partner/offshoot, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which is discredited with having done nothing to force Mugabe out of power. Since some SADC members, e.g. Angola, have an apparent interest in seeing Kabile stay in power, the credibility of this organization - which the world community would love to see solve this whole business so they don't have to - is next to nil in the eyes of just about every african writing about it.

* The EU is prepared to send forces into the region, yet without a coordinated mission, what they can accomplish in terms of securing a long-term peace is unclear. There are some who see the entire mess, going back to the uprising in Rwanda, as the responsibility of francophone europe; ergo, opinions as to whether the fox can be trusted and effective in really cleaning out the henhouse are extremely varied and contentious.

There's no question that nearly all of the problems found in sub-saharan africa converge in the DRC: lots of horses, lots of carts, i'm not sure that the world can rise to the occasion when it comes to ironing them all out... at least in the near-term, it's clear that's impossible. The question of respecting national sovereignty seems to be used here as an excuse for non-aggressive intervention, just as it always is when it comes to Africans raping and killing each other with all those non-interventionists' arms. Staying out of your neighbor's business is a value highly espoused in the US and, in my experience, most of the rest of the world as well, perhaps excluding arabs. With all the fanfare internationally about Savior Obama coming to set the world right (liberal rapture is truly without comparison in its naivety), there is a chance that this sovereignty-intervention question will start to be addressed. Start - and that's a start. In the meantime, more tragedy in equatorial Africa - prophesy or proverb? Take your pick.

Peace Committee of Georgia

Seems like something Code Pink might have issued about the US...

Declaration of the Georgian Peace Committee

Once more Georgia was launched into a situation of chaos and bloodshed. A new fratricide war exploded with renewed strength on Georgian soil. To our great disillusion, the alerts of the Georgian Peace Committee and of progressive personalities of Georgia on the pernicious character of the militarization of the country and on the danger of a pro-fascist and nationalist policy had no effect.

The authorities of Georgia, organized, again, a blood war, feeling the support of some western countries and of regional and international organizations. The shame poured by the current holders of the power over the Georgian people will take decades to be cleansed.

The Georgian army armed and trained by American instructors and using also American armaments, subjected the city of Tskhinvali to a barbaric destruction. The bombings killed Ossetians civilians, our brothers and sisters, children, women and elderly people. Over two thousand inhabitants of Tskhinvali and of its surroundings died.

There also died hundreds of civilians of Georgian nationality, both in the conflict zone as well as on the entire territory of Georgia. The Georgian Peace Committee expresses its deep condolences to the relatives and friends of those who have perished.

The entire responsibility for this fratricidal war, for thousands of children, women and elderly dead people, for the inhabitants of South Ossetia and of Georgia falls exclusively to the current President, to the Parliament and to the Government of Georgia. The irresponsibility and the adventure ship of the Saakachvili regime have no limits. The President of Georgia and his team, undoubtedly, are criminals and must be held responsible. The Georgian Peace Committee, together with all the progressive parties and social movements of Georgia, is going to struggle so that the organizers of this monstrous genocide have a severe and legitimate punishment.

The Georgian Peace Committee declares and asks the broad public opinion not to identify the current Georgian leadership with the people of Georgia, with the Georgian nation, and appeals to all to support the Georgian people in the struggle against the criminal regime of Saakachvili.

We appeal to all the political forces of Georgia, the social movements and the people of Georgia to unite in order to free the country of the anti popular regime, russianfobic and pro-fascist of Saakachvili!

The Georgian Peace Committee

Tbilissi, 11th of August de 2008

(Unofficial translation)