USA-Iraq
There are Alternatives!
And Resistance is Possible
By
Johan
Galtung
Director and Founder,
TRANSCEND
TFF
associate
February 14, 2003
Lecture at the Social Summit in Porto Alegre,
January 2003
The ceaseless bombing and imminent invasion of Iraq by
the USA and allies, particularly the UK, is one more step
in the geo- fascist march toward world hegemony. It is
"fascist" because of ruthless use of blunt state power,
only "geo" as long as some US democracy is left. Serving
a three-point agenda - oil, bases and Israel - other
points have been brought up to legitimize war.
But these points can all be solved by governments,
building on successful governmental diplomacy after the
Second World War. A Conference for Security and
Cooperation in the Middle East, CSCME, modeled on the
Helsinki Conference for Security and Cooperation in
Europe, CSCE, 1973-75. The initiative was taken by a
small country, Finland, the veto making the UN
inadequate. Today Germany could take the imitative, or,
even better, the EU. Participants would be Middle
Eastern/West Asian countries, with Germany/EU as
facilitators, and the conference would last years. Iraq,
Kurdistan and Israel-Palestine would be on the
agenda.
An image of a possible outcome for Iraq:
- as a federation with a Kurdish, a Sunni and
a Shia part;
- Kuwait as an independent state could be associated
with Iraq, with open borders, shared harbor
facilities, joint oil regime;
- a lasting UN inspection regime for weapons of mass
destruction, making the point that this also applies
to Israel;
- a UN election monitoring of free elections for a
possible regime change, making the point that this
also applies to the USA;
- lifting of sanctions, with emergency relief for
hunger, DU, etc.
An image of a possible outcome for Kurdistan:
- guaranteed human rights for Kurds in the
countries they live;
- high level autonomy for Kurds but no division with
secession;
- a confederation of Kurdish autonomies with passport,
governance.
An image of a possible outcome for
Israel-Palestine:
- full recognition of Palestine within UN
242/338, capital in EJ;
- Jordan and Egypt lease some land to Palestine for
some time;
- two Palestinian cantons in Israel (with some right
of return);
- two Israeli cantons on the West Bank (with some
right to remain);
- a Middle East Community
Syria-Lebanon-Palestine-Israel-Jordan- Egypt modeled
after the European Community, with open borders for
trade and tourism, and economic/cultural/political
cooperation;
- a Truth and Reconciliation process to undo horrors
of the past Massive boycott of US export products.
In most countries civil society is ahead of
governments in massively protesting US belligerence and
exploitation. There is talk of boycott of US products all
over, building on successful action against the apartheid
regime in South Africa, against Deutsche Shell in the
North Sea, and against the French nuclear testing in
Polynesia. The triggering event would be an invasion of
Iraq, boycott would include the UK and participating
countries, and would apply to Israel if a transfer
operation is started.
The purpose of the boycott would go beyond material
protest to try to change US corporate behavior and to
turn them against US belligerence and disrespect for
treaties and world cooperation.
The boycott would cover consumer goods from movies,
CocaCola- MacDonald to cars, capital goods of all kinds
and finance goods like dollars (use euros, yen and
others) and US bonds and stocks, demanding that
governments do not buy and with corporations divest from
US firms, starting with the vertically most
reprehensible.
The average profit of a US corporation is around 6%,
meaning that even modest participation will have major
impact. Even a 3% decline in buying will place the
trustees/executives in a dilemma between loyalty to
Washington geofascism and their own profits.
Likely counter-measures against a boycott will
include:
- pressure on governments to outlaw boycott;
problematic because market freedom is a major part of
neoliberal ideology;
- corporations asking Washington for compensation;
problematic given the US economy in general and the
federal budget;
- corporations cutting expenses to keep profits,
laying off employees, problematic because the high
level of unemployment already;
- US boycott of products from boycotting countries;
problematic given US consumer dependence on foreign
products and solidarity (others may start buying from
US-boycotted countries).
The boycott should be informed by gandhian
nonviolence. The task is to reduce and eliminate the US
military and economic grip on the world, not to kill US
children. An emergency relief program for those who
suffer in the US should be considered. Massive human
presence in Iraq
One hundred thousand Western foreigners in Iraq, among
them some hundred prominent persons, would probably stave
the hands even of these aggressors; notorious for their
warfare against German and Japanese cities. They/we would
be there not to protect the Saddam Hussein regime but to
help protect the Iraqi people against one more wave of
Western genocidal violence, and US and UK people against
being co-responsible for this mass murder. Travel to
Iraq, on foot, by bus/truck/car, by plane has already
started, and nervousness has been observed at the top of
the US Army, falsely alleging that this "human shield" is
forced, organized by Saddam Hussein, and hence against
the Geneva Convention.
Their claims to be democracies notwithstanding, the
USA and the UK work with governments, by stick and carrot
(like oil shares for France and Russia?). These
Anglo-Saxon empire-builders should learn what democracy
means: that people stand up for what is right, and put
nonviolent power behind it. They should know that there
are perfectly feasible alternatives to their bellicose
fantasies in building sustainable peace and development.
And that peace has to be based on equality of all,
including for the law.
©
TFF & the author 2003
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