- Global Torment - 26.03.2003
We came from the chaos of the world’s creation. What about today? At the beginning of this new century, the world seems to have fallen into confusion and uncertainty and plunges towards international barbarism. After the collapse of communism and the cold war we are now chanting the rhythms of war against terrorism and Iraq. But what about the conflicts we ignore? The war in Chechnya continues; in the Republic Democratic of Congo more than 4 million victims have lost their lives. The list is long.
Many in our cynical and blinded world passively accept the plans of war and total extermination of the Iraqi people of Bush and his bloody associates; many accede to this new violation of human rights and disregard for state sovereignty.
It is shameful that the United Nation continues to prove its unwillingness to resolve conflict and implement peace. Human rights are still unlegislated in large parts of our world. We know where the devil is coming from. Poor and miserable people are ignored and marginalized by most western media who collaborate in the selfish foreign policy of western governments who savagely victimize the poor in the majority world through their form of globalization. Globalization is a worldwide problem, said the Secretary of the U.N. on the 17th October 2001, International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. He said, while addressing to the U.N. assembly, “many less developing countries, L.D.C, particularly in the Sub-Saharan Africa are not currently on track to meeting the goal of reducing by half their population living under one dollar or less a day by 2015”. Today we are already in 2003 and poverty still growing phenomenally. More than a billion people are in extreme poverty.
We can clearly see that the enraged thirst for war under the guise of the war against terrorism or the fight against evil does not help the world economy. Instead of using their power and resources for peace and justice in the world, the rich countries tend to legitimize the practice of terrorism by waging meaningless wars, suffocating people economically; one wonders who is a terrorist and who is not. We assist the globalization of barbarism which leads to greater economic concentration and financial power in the hands of the minority while the number of excluded and poor grows dramatically. Globalization has changed the agenda of all national and internal institutions. The world economy is based on maximizing profit. We are faced with an economic system that has an imperative of money and profit by any means and where human values have no place. We should remember that when society does not consider the human needs, the lack of a future creates feelings of insecurity, individualism, and greed. Violence increases, giving rise to movements based on anger and hatred. Millions of women, men and children have lost their life since the 90s, the culmination of a century of violence.
The only instrument which has been easily globalized is the gun, symbolized by the “Kalashnikov”. Even in remote parts of the world in deep forest rural people use guns for deadly purposes. The propaganda of unscrupulous leaders with an uncontrolled thirst for financial gain and the control of oil under the cover of neutralization of weapons of mass destruction justify war and massacres of innocent civilians. Those leaders are the first to sustain and finance the trade of weapons with countries who once were allies and later were branded enemies.
There were no weapons of mass destruction in the Balkans, only more than a hundred thousand innocent victims. In 1994 in Rwanda more than a million lost their life; in the Republic Democratic of Congo more than four million people died and the genocide continues in the central Africa region. And there are forgotten wars elsewhere, including Sudan and the Ivory Coast. The many, who lost their lives before and after the September 11th attack – were they victims of these so-called weapons of mass destruction? We should remember that the USA first used nuclear weapons and that depleted uranium weapons, a form of nuclear warfare, were used and are being used by USA and UK in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq and leave a lasting effect on local populations and their environment. Let us not be distracted by the lies of those unlawful governments.
The example of the election of President Bush is clear; the USA cannot teach us how to make democracy. We know that democracy is base on truth, clarity and liberty. The people of the world have to unite in solidarity and help each other to create democracy based on equality and human rights. There is a need for international and national institutions to resolve conflict. We need to remove eminent threat of nuclear war and extinction. Since war and many other problems are global, we need a global agency like U.N. with integrity and legitimacy to enforce laws and to maintain peace.
We need to go beyond national boundaries to a world agency with legal and moral accountability and credibility. We need a new understanding of nature; only if we respect and preserve nature will we preserve ourselves. Instead of respecting and implementing resolutions adopted by the United Nation, our leaders lie and fabricate any excuse for waging war. Now is the time for us, as activists and citizens of the world to take responsibility for the destiny of our world if we want peace and sustainability for future generation.
Remember that as long as misery and poverty exist, the world will never experience any time of rest or security. Even if we try to construct walls or shields against, we shall never be in peace. Food and dignity for all are prerequisites for global justice and equality.