A new American directive to militarize space is on the way..

"I don't think the United States would find it very comforting if China were to develop a death star, a 24/7 on-orbit weapon that could strike at targets on the ground anywhere in 90 minutes." Despite this obvious statement, history continues to be written today, as the US military confirms "space supremacy is our vision for the future" and aims to "expand the choices that we might be able to offer to the president in crisis". A safer world, the American way?

One Air Force program, neo-conveniently nicknamed "Rods From God", aims to hurl cylinders of tungsten, titanium or uranium from the edge of space to destroy targets on the ground, striking with the force of a small nuclear weapon. Or how about "bouncing laser beams off mirrors hung from space satellites redirecting the lethal rays down to targets around the world"? Or let us be more reasonable and create a "military space plane carrying precision-guided weapons armed with a half-ton of munitions that can strike from halfway around the world in 45 minutes". (That'll teach 'em)

The new directive would replace a 1996 Clinton administration policy that emphasized a more pacific use of space. With little public debate, the Pentagon has already spent billions of dollars developing space weapons and preparing plans to deploy them. (Air Force Seeks Bush's Approval for Space Weapons Programs New York Times)

Solution? A global public debate and a UN resolution: space must be sanctified and no weapons ever put in space. Oh yes, and a continuing boycott on the US until it brings its 'defense' budget down to reasonable levels (now more than 50%) and submits fully to democratic principles and institutions on a global scale.

Happy 1st year anniversary Iraq! Civilian deaths in "noble" Iraq invasion pass 10000. Misguided and still unjustified, "the war and its aftermath have aggravated global divisions between Muslim and Christian, rich and poor, north and south, and between allies" (Quentin Peel FT Mar18). The world is not closer to living free from fear today, quite the contrary.

Thank you Spain for ousting mediocrity and opportunism from your management, it is a great first step to living really free from fear. "European public opinion was always overwhelmingly against the Iraq war" (Lionel Barber FT Mar20). Luckily, "Spain is anxious to play a more constructive and friendly role" says the new socialist leader Zapatero.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Bush is struggling to keep his "coalition of the willing" really willing, with Poland Kwasniewski reporting to feel "mislead". Thanks to Democracy - or at least our poor little version of it - governments pay an electoral price for siding with the US, finally. Hopefully Bush, Blair, Berlusconi and Rasmussen will suffer the same fate. Osama might be right when he claims there is not fundamental difference between Bush and Kerry, but for the world community there is one: "Kerry would return to 'multilateral when it can, unilateral when it must', rather than Bush's multilateralism 'a la carte'." (Deborah McGregor FT Mar 12). Reelecting Bush can only convince him of the case for the aggressive use of US power to change the world.

So what next now? The world does not need more "wars on terror"! We do not need to unite against "terrorism". Terrorism only thrives because US and other countries foreign policies fail to give priority to human rights and global justice. More dangerously, wars against terrorism provide excuses for measures erroding our civil rights and liberties in the name of so-called "security", undermining the very values we claim to protect: democracy and freedom (book: The Changing Face of Justice - and Why It Matters to Us All by Helena Kennedy). "It is not terrorism that really threatens democracy, it is the danger of overreaction to it". Neo-conservatives are ideologically far from justice and human rights, they prefer simple solutions and concrete actions: law, order and self-interest. We must follow the Spanish example.

And about Iraq? Though the US is ultimately responsible, as a world community we are all responsible for the mess, whoever created it. Though it will not admit its mistakes, the US is paying for them, largely in loss of credibility. Spain's withdrawal must be used to force the return of ALL powers to the community of Nations, then to the Iraqis. The US should submit itself to the UN and pay its debt to the world. Maybe some claimed goals were fair, but the means were certainly wrong.

And Denmark? Maersk - the huge Danish shipping company - made money from this war and probably convinced the current right-wing government of its case for US support. Xenophobia towards Muslims helped make Denmark the only European country with more than 50% popular support for the war up until November 2003. A somewhat nationalistic but trusting mentality help the Danes feel remote and safe, while boarding a plane in Copenhagen is done without ever showing a passport. Denmark is an easy target and that makes me uneasy.. Again, Danes must proactively follow the Spanish example.

And the longer term? By our blunteness we are aleniating the very people we are claiming to be freeing. People are dying in vain and for the wrong reasons, and worse of all, it could have been prevented by our own governments if, in time, the right issues had been properly addressed in a fair and just way. Many issues are yet to be solved. We can, like Bush&Co, decide to protect the status quo at any cost and refuse to address the problems (rich and poor divide, international justice, the israelo-palestinian conflict, and numerous still simmering environmental issues affecting the world at large). We can attack those who criticize and gain control of what is needed to change nothing - and generate more and more very useful terrorism to focus on. Isn't terrorism the perfect scape-goat to create a never-ending state of fear and control? Or we can, courageously, open our minds, take a look at the world, find the issues that are the source of the biggest discontempt, and address them. Terrorists are NOT the source of the problem, they are the SYMPTOM of a problem. Governments and citizens need to cure the disease, not just pop the zid.

yann

Boycott America? Not yet. We have seen the consequences of electing wrong presidents: rhetorics of fear, unjustified and dangerous preemptive wars, huge financing of friend's army industries at the expense of global agreements and institutions (the foundation for peace in the last 50 years) and the environment. It is time to make sure the right ones get onboard.

In an ideal world, ~30% of the votes in any country should be given to the world population. After all, citizens of other countries are directly affected by one country's foreign policy, which makes them stakeholders in elections. This probably will not happen for a while, but as the current US administration proved it can be a danger to the world, it is everyone responsability to help countries elect officials that will care for their population as well as for the good of the global civil society in the longer term.

The internet makes this more possible. Watch and buy:

Child's pay
What are we teaching our children
What I have been up to..


(MoveOn has become a major contributor in Democrat financing. CBS banned the ads, but CNN will air them. Buy the full DVD here)

Come on. There are enough issues to watch upon. I need your insight. Lets continue publishing here. Any comment on this new, social and environmental budget? What do we do if voters actually do (in)conciously ellect Bush this time? How about having 20% of every country's election votes being given to the international community, since we are all also stakeholders? Anyway, here is something on Denmark, if you like: Proud to be modest. Arrogance camouflaged behind modesty. Denmark.

China to adopt a green GDP index to measure economic growth:

"Development should be balanced and sustainable. It should pursue harmony between cities and rural areas; between regions; between society and the economy; between man and nature; and between domestic and external economies" (Wen Jiabao, China premier).

At 8% GDP growth per year for the past 25 years, the environmental cost of expansion in China has been huge. The Yellow River often runs dry, 90% of cities suffer serious water pollution, the atmosphere is often choked with smog, wildlife is scarce and the desert is advancing. Adopting a green GDP index is a step toward sustainable development: the index would be calculated by subtracting values for resource depletion and pollution from gross domestic product. "We might end up with a green GDP figure that is negative" (Financial Times)

"Communication is a universal right, not a priviledge" says the chairman of Nokia at the opening of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva. The WSIS, hosted under the auspices of the United Nations, brings together Heads of State, United Nations agencies, NGOs, civil society entities, industry leaders and media representatives to promote the urgently needed access of all countries to information, knowledge and communication technologies for development. A good reason to work for a socially responsible Finnish company .. :-)

From the "Iraq and peace in the world" European Comission poll (full pdf)
Europeans were asked if the following countries presented a threat to peace in the world and .. Israel and the US rank as high, even higher, than Iran and North Korea.

Israel	United States North Korea Iran	Afghanistan	Pakistan	Syria Libya Arabia	China	India Russia	Somalia	EU
59%	53%	50%	48%	36%	30%	21%	16%	8%

Denmark is the only country where a majority of respondents (57%) believe that military intervention in Iraq was justified. EU countries as a whole believe that the war was not justified (68%). Read some reaction from the Jewish press, the Arab press, and an analysis from the World Socialist Web Site.

Real success in Iraq, the American way: "I like grease and I need the weight". Believe it or not, the former Saddam International Airport now houses Iraq's first Burger King! (Courrier International, Washington Post)