conflict

Western Sahara: Forgotten Conflict

The Western Sahara conflict, notes analyst Yahia Zoubir, is now in the 35th year, with no sign of resolution. While the United Nations is ostensibly responsible for its resolution, France and the United States provide implicit support for Moroccan occupation of the territory, failing to support a referendum which might include the option of independence. The issue continues to poison relations between Algeria and Morocco, blocking hopes of regional economic integration in the Maghrib. (...) read

Sri Lanka: A year after

The political topography of Sri Lanka has changed beyond recognition since the military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the death of its leader, Velupillai Prabakaran, in May last year. Contrary to the apprehensions in several quarters, there are no apparent signs of a revival of the LTTE within the geographical boundaries of Sri Lanka. It is significant that not a single incident of violence, ethnic or otherwise, has occurred for a whole year. For Sinhalese Sri (...) read

Nigeria and the politics of massacre

In Nigeria, patterns of “religious” massacre are many decades old, but it is wrong to see this as simple “sectarianism”. A poor society facing modernisation at the hands of corrupt elites is vulnerable to the use of violence as a means of asserting economic and political power and the mobilisation of “religion” to foment social divisions. Even before the latest clashes, the decade since the restoration of democracy in Nigeria 1999 had seen 14,000 lives destroyed by “communal violence” with 3 (...) read

Afghanistan as a Drug War

Since Afghanistan now grows the opium poppies that provide more than 90% of the world’s opium, the raw material for the production of heroin, it’s not surprising that drug-trade news and war news intersect from time to time. More surprising is how seldom poppy growing and the drug trade are portrayed as anything but ancillary to our Afghan War. Fortunately, TomDispatch regular Alfred McCoy has been focused on the drug trade — and the American role in fostering it — in Southeast, Central, and (...) read

Unhappy Yemen

In the London Review of Books, Tariq Ali tells about his recent trip to Yemen, after Obama and other US politicians started hinting that this country might become a new frontline yet in the ’war on terror’. Recounting the country’s history since World War II, and in particular the war and divisions between North and South Yemen, Ali describes in particular the repressive policies carried out by the country’s current government. Read article Also read, with a different point of view (but (...) read

Modern and Mobile: Pastoralism in Africa and why it’s worth defending

African pastoralism has been dismissed as outdated and inefficient. But awareness of its social and environmental benefits is growing. Read more here (Part 1) and here (Part 2). read

Worldwide arms trade flourishing despite recession, report warns

The average volume of arms sales increased by 22% over the past five years, compared to the previous five-year period, says the report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The last two of these years were marked by worldwide economic turbulence which has far from stabilised, yet the arms trade is booming, it finds. Read more Also read : Frida Berrigan, Pimping Weapons to the World, (...) read

Reconceptualising war

What if defeating the enemy was the justification for war, but not its real goal? What if its goal was a certain kind of power-brokerage? On Opendemocracy.net, Mary Kaldor attempts a redefinition of war in line with contemporary developments: "Clausewitz defined war as an ‘an act of violence designed to compel our opponent to fulfil our will.’ From that definition he derived his theory that war tends to extremes as each side tries to crush his opponent. I want to suggest an alternative (...) read

Reforming Pakistan’s Civil Service

If Pakistan’s deteriorating civil service is not urgently repaired, public disillusionment and resentment could be used by the military to justify another spell of authoritarian rule. Reforming Pakistan’s Civil Service, the latest report from the International Crisis Group, analyses the structure and functioning of Pakistan’s civil bureaucracy. It identifies critical flaws as well as measures to make it more accountable and able to provide essential public services. Military rule has left (...) read

Israel Declares War on Peace NGOs

One year after the devastating attack on Hamas in Gaza a new wave of reports castigating Israel for war crimes has emerged. Now, Israel is fighting back with a report on the reports, picking on international NGOs such as Amnesty, Christian Aid, Oxfam, Trocaire , Finn Church Aid, Diakonia and Cordaid. As Israel feels increasingly isolated in the wake of the Goldstone Report, about alleged war crimes during its Gaza war, the hard-line right-wing Israeli government is choosing to wage war by (...) read

The heart of India is under attack

The government has announced Operation Green Hunt, a war purportedly against the "Maoist" rebels headquartered in the jungles of central India. Of course, the Maoists are by no means the only ones rebelling. There is a whole spectrum of struggles all over the country that people are engaged in–the landless, the Dalits, the homeless, workers, peasants, weavers. They’re pitted against a juggernaut of injustices, including policies that allow a wholesale corporate takeover of people’s land and (...) read

After Gaza

> Interview with Michael Warschawski

What are the larger implications of the current ceasefire between Gaza and Israel and why do you think it happened right now? The timing of the cease-fire agreement has two reasons. One, a cease-fire was necessary for Israel because there was a fear that what could be seen as a successful operation could, in one single incident, change into a political defeat. Like what happened in the past with the Qana massacre, or Sabra and Shatilla. One lesson the Israeli rulers have drawn from past (...) read

Afghanistan: chaos central

> Chris Sands

A correspondent looks back at the deterioration across the country over the past three years: the resurgence of both the Taliban and the old corrupt elites, the failure of the occupation forces, and the worsening conditions of life for everybody else. As the summer of 2005 faded, everyone in Kabul had forgotten there was a war on. American soldiers bought carpets in Chicken Street bazaar; mercenaries downed vodka in restaurants before wandering upstairs to sleep with Chinese prostitutes. (...) read

How Many Divisions?

> Uri AVNERY

Nearly seventy years ago, in the course of World War II, a heinous crime was committed in the city of Leningrad. For more than a thousand days, a gang of extremists called “the Red Army” held the millions of the town’s inhabitants hostage and provoked retaliation from the German Wehrmacht from inside the population centers. The Germans had no alternative but to bomb and shell the population and to impose a total blockade, which caused the death of hundreds of thousands. Some time before that, (...) read

Israel: Boycott, Divest, Sanction

http://www.naomiklein.org/articles/2 (...)

It’s time. Long past time. The best strategy to end the increasingly bloody occupation is for Israel to become the target of the kind of global movement that put an end to apartheid in South Africa.
In July 2005 a huge coalition of Palestinian groups laid out plans to do just that. They called on "people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era." The campaign Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions—BDS for short—was born.
Every day that Israel pounds Gaza brings more converts to the BDS cause, and talk of cease-fires is doing little to slow the momentum. Support is even emerging among Israeli Jews. In the midst of the assault roughly 500 Israelis, dozens of them well-known artists and scholars, sent a letter to foreign ambassadors stationed in Israel. It calls for "the adoption of immediate restrictive measures and sanctions" and draws a clear parallel with the antiapartheid struggle. "The boycott on South Africa was effective, but Israel is handled with kid gloves.… This international backing must stop."  read

UN says women must promote peace and security

Peacekeepers must ensure security for women in post-conflict situations. Gender issues needed special focus, especially when sexual violence was routinely used as a tactic of war, said a top UN official during a Security Council meeting. A comprehensive and sustainable peace is not possible in post-conflict situations unless women’s security and participation is a primary objective for peacekeepers, senior United Nations officials told the Security Council today. Gender issues must be (...) read

Take action to control the arms trade

Every year, millions of people suffer as a result of the irresponsible and reckless arms trade. Over 1,000 people are killed by arms every day. Countless more are injured, bereaved, abused and displaced by state security forces, armed groups, criminal gangs and other armed individuals. Two years ago, 153 governments voted at the United Nations to start work on developing an international Arms Trade Treaty. We want as many people as possible to take action to control the arms trade. Tell (...) read

Culture of misogyny, illegal occupation, fuel sexual violence in military.

> by Helen Benedict

An alarming number of women soldiers are being sexually abused by their comrades-in-arms, both at war and at home. This fact has received a fair amount of attention lately from researchers and the press — and deservedly so. But the attention always focuses on the women: where they were when assaulted, their relations with the assailant, the effects on their mental health and careers, whether they are being adequately helped, and so on. That discussion, as valuable as it is, misses a (...) read

South Africa: The army is called in

> IRIN Africa

The South African army has been called in to bolster police efforts to end the xenophobic clashes that have gripped the country’s richest province. According to a statement by President Thabo Mbeki’s office on 21 May, "[He] has approved a request from the South African Police Service [SAPS] for the involvement of the South African National Defence Force [SANDF] in stopping ongoing attacks on foreign nationals in Gauteng Province." Read (...) read

Latin America: the attack on democracy

> by John Pilger

John Pilger argues that an unreported war is being waged by the US to restore power to the privileged classes at the expense of the poor Beyond the sound and fury of its conquest of Iraq and campaign against Iran, the world’s dominant power is waging a largely unreported war on another continent - Latin America. Using proxies, Washington aims to restore and reinforce the political control of a privileged group calling itself middle-class, to shift the responsibility for massacres and drug (...) read

The Gaza strip: a humanitarian implosion

> Amnesty International UK, CARE International UK, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Médecins du Monde UK, Oxfam, Save The Children UK and Trócaire, March 2008, 15 p. (pdf)

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/resources/do (...)

The situation for 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is worse now than it has ever been since the start of the Israeli military occupation in 1967. The current situation in Gaza is man-made, completely avoidable and, with the necessary political will, can also be reversed. Gaza has suffered from a long-term pattern of economic stagnation and plummeting development indicators. The severity of the situation has increased exponentially since Israel imposed extreme restrictions on the movement of goods and people in response to the Hamas take over of Gaza and to indiscriminate rocket attacks against Israel. This report illustrates the gravity of the current situation across key sectors.
In the report, the coalition warns that Israel’s blockade of Gaza is a collective punishment of the entire Gazan civilian population of 1.5 million. The report concludes that the Israeli government’s policy of blockade is unacceptable, illegal and fails to deliver security for Palestinians and Israelis alike.  read

Sri Lanka: Escalating war takes toll on children

Children in Sri Lanka are increasingly being killed and injured and having their education disrupted as bomb attacks blamed on the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) as well as government security forces drive families from their homes in search of safety. Read more read

Gaza hours away from water and sewage crisis

Oxfam Release Gaza hours from water and sewage crisis as fuel for pumps run dry Gaza’s water and sewage systems are a matter of hours from almost total shut down as stocks of fuel to run vital pumps runs out according to international agency Oxfam. Only 37 of the 122 water supply pumps have fuel and most will run out of fuel within hours. Only six water pumps have fuel to run for more than a day. Oxfam fears the risks of an outbreak of water borne diseases if the water and sanitation (...) read

Refugees for the Second Time: The Forced Eviction of Palestinian Villagers from Khirbet Qassa

> by Ahmad Jaradat and Anahi Ayala Iacucci

Beit Jibrin was a small village with a long history, located in the territory allotted to the Arab state under the 1947 UN Partition Plan. Despite this, it was captured on 27 October 1948, by Israel’s Givati Brigade during the last stage of Operation Yoav, an Israeli offensive of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Beit Jibrin, which was already hosting many Palestinian refugees from neighboring villages that had been caught in earlier fighting, was attacked by Israeli forces from both the land and (...) read

Gujarat Chief Minister Endorses Unlawful Killings

Government Should Investigate Narendra Modi for Seeming Incitement to Violence Press realease : Human Rights Watch The Indian government should immediately order an investigation of Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat, for statements apparently endorsing the extrajudicial execution of a terrorism suspect by the police, Human Rights Watch said today. Gujarat’s antiterrorism squad in November 2005 gunned down Sohrabuddin Sheikh, whom police claimed was a militant conspiring to kill (...) read

Somalia: Puntland warns of looming humanitarian crisis

Somalia’s northeastern self-declared autonomous region of Puntland has appealed for assistance for hundreds of displaced families from Sool region, which was overrun by forces loyal to the self-declared republic of Somaliland on 15 October. "We are issuing this appeal to assist the displaced from Sool who are scattered around Puntland," said Abdullahi Abdirahman, the head of Puntland Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management Agency (HADMA). "We would like to alert our humanitarian (...) read

A Quarter of a Century Later, Sabra and Shatilla Massacre Still Alive

September 16 marks the 25th anniversary of the massacre in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Lebanon. During the course of the two-day attack, a reported 2,000 Palestinians - mainly women, children and elderly - were slaughtered in their homes at the hands of the pro-Israeli Lebanese Maronite Phalangist militia under the direct eye of the occupying Israeli army. While Israel puts the death toll at 700, some Palestinian and Lebanese estimates put it as high as 3,500. The massacre took (...) read

Angola Report

According to UNICEF, Angola was among the worst places in the world to be a child, at least until 2002. One out of every three children used to die before the age of five. This was equal to one child dying every three minutes and 420 children dying every day. More than half of Angola’s population is under 18, yet little attention is paid to the urgent needs of youth and the consistent violations of their rights by the government and the opposition armed forces during the war. Both the (...) read

Sudan: Press Under Pressure

> Human Right Watch

While international media attention has been focused on Darfur, the Sudanese authorities in Khartoum have been stepping up their harassment of Sudanese journalists and newspapers,” said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The harassment is symptomatic of Khartoum’s fear of mounting popular dissent and frustration at government policies and actions.” In recent months government security forces have carried out numerous acts of censorship, arrests of journalists, and (...) read

The 10 Most Brazen War Profiteers

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security (...)

The history of American war profiteering is rife with egregious examples of incompetence, fraud, tax evasion, embezzlement, bribery and misconduct. As war historian Stuart Brandes has suggested, each new war is infected with new forms of war profiteering. Iraq is no exception. From criminal mismanagement of Iraq’s oil revenues to armed private security contractors operating with virtual impunity, this war has created opportunities for an appalling amount of corruption. What follows is a list of some of the worst Iraq war profiteers who have bilked American taxpayers and undermined the military’s mission.
In early 2005 CIA officials told the Washington Post that at least 50 percent of its estimated $40 billion budget for that year would go to private contractors, an astonishing figure that suggests that concerns raised about outsourcing intelligence have barely registered at the policymaking levels.
In 2004 the Orlando Sentinel reported on a case that illustrates what can go wrong: Titan employee Ahmed Fathy Mehalba, an Egyptian translator, was arrested for possessing classified information from the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.
Critics say that the abuses at Abu Ghraib are another example of how the lines can get blurred when contractors are involved in intelligence work. CACI provided a total of 36 interrogators in Iraq, including up to 10 at Abu Ghraib at any one time, according to the company. Although neither CACI, Titan or their employees have yet been charged with a crime, a leaked Army investigation implicated CACI employee Stephen Stefanowicz in the abuse of prisoners.  read

The rise of the relief and reconstruction complex

> 50 Years is Enough, This article first apeared in the Journal of International Affairs, Spring/Summer 2006, vol. 59, no. 2.

http://50years.org/cms/updates/story (...)

Massive infrastructure damage and great social dislocation have been common consequences of natural disasters and social disasters like wars. Up until a few years ago, the aims of relief and reconstruction efforts were fairly simple: immediate physical relief of victims, reduction of social dislocation, restoration of a functioning social organization and reparation of physical infrastructure. In major disasters or wars, international actors were central players-most prominently United Nations agencies and the Red Cross Movement. In recent years, however, the objectives of both disaster relief and post-conflict reconstruction have become more complex. Strategic considerations have become more prevalent in military-led disaster relief operations. Post-disaster and post-conflict reconstruction planning and implementation are increasingly influenced by neoliberal market economics. A new militant humanitarianism infuses not only post-conflict reconstruction work but, in a number of cases, has itself helped to precipitate conflicts.  read

Sudan: No Justice for Darfur Victims

Special Courts Failing to Prosecute War Crimes

http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006 (...)

The Office of the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced it had opened an investigation into the events in Darfur. The next day Sudan’s chief justice announced the establishment of the Special Criminal Courts on the Events in Darfur (SCCED), telling the Sudanese media that the court was “considered a substitute to the international criminal court.” “The cases before the court so far involve ordinary crimes like theft and receiving stolen goods, which don’t begin to reflect the massive scale of destruction in Darfur,” said Sara Darehshori, senior counsel to the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch and author of the briefing paper. “The Sudanese government must do more than pay lip service to the idea of justice.”  read

Research Guide on Internal Displacement

> FMO, October 2005, 30pp

http://www.forcedmigration.org/guide (...)

An introduction to some of the main debates regarding internal displacement, focusing mainly on conflict induced displaced.
"This research guide aims to summarise the challenge of internal displacement at a policy level, but also to address its social consequences and explore the experiences of many internally displaced persons (IDPs) of physical dislocation, separation from everyday practices and familiar environments, social disruption and material dispossession."

• [See also the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, formerly the "Global IDP Porject"]

Water, privatization and conflict

> April 2004, Fundación Solon, 54 p., (pdf)

An analysis of the role of women in the struggle against water privatisation, with a focus on the events in the Cochabamba Valley, Bolivia, where the community was able to kick out the private water company Betchel. « In both city and rural areas, women are at the heart of managing water for their communities (...) In a district where water is scarce, women have been forced to develop strategies to provide water for daily life. Women are the ones who get up at 3 or 4am to collect water from (...) read

Water Could Become Major Catalyst For Conflict

> 16 September 2005, RadioFreeEurope

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle (...)

"Throughout history, access to water has spawned and escalated both domestic and international conflicts. In recent decades, population growth and global warming have both played a major role in raising the demand for and availability of potable water. The U.S. government has predicted that by 2015 almost half of the world’s population will be "stressed" for water. Water — rather than oil — could become the world’s next biggest catalyst for conflict." This article explains the effects the coming "water crunch" will have on food supplies, the regions on which it will impact hardest and the different types of conflicts this could spark off.  read