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Recent
Stories
April
15, 2003
Uzma
Aslam Khan
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What America Says Does Not Go
Robert
Jensen
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April
12 / 13, 2003
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Gagne
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April
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Oh Freedom
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Website
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Last Tango in Baghdad
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Rumors of War
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Nately's Old Man
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War Web Log 4/10
Website
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Saving Private Lynch: Hollywood and
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Davis
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America's Sovereign Right to Do
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Faruqui
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Gagne
Baghdad Babble
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I Understand There's a Boy in
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Steve
Perry
War Web Log 4/8
M. Shahid
Alam
The Israelization of America
April
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Todd
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Wooden Bullets & Grenades: Oakland
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N. Gibbs
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Harry Browne
War and Peace Summit a Royal Farce
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America is Not a Role Model
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Fisk
The Twisted Language of War
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Slaughter on the Road to Dibagah
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War and Art
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Wars and the Color Line
Steve
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War Web Log 4/7
April
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Alexander
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The Iraqi Humanitarian Relief is
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Anne
Gwynne
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Hell for Leather: Bombs, Bullets, Bibles and Bush
William
Cook
Would You Have Sent Your Son (or Daughter) Off to War If...
Gila
Svirsky
A Busy Day for Bulldozers
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Back from Baghdad: What Next for the Peace Movement?
Joanne
Mariner
Civilian Deaths and Official Apologies
John Stanton
Bush Takes His Killing Orders
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Romi
Mahajan
Learning to Count the Dead
Aluf Benn
After Iraq, US Vows to Deal with
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Mary
Ellen Peterson
Gay Marine Refuses to Fight
William
MacDougall
Country Music and the Crimes of Patriotism
Ron
Jacobs
War and Occupation
Bernie
Pattison
Aborigines and the Different God
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Engler
Iraq War as Arms Expo
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Li'l Box of Love: a Novelini
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Tripp, Albert, Katz
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Flesh and Its Discontents: the Paintings of Lucian Freud
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Canada and the War
April
4, 2003
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Colin Powell's Shame
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Chuckman
Was Einstein Right About Israel?
David
Krieger
The Meaning of Victory
Tom
Gorman
The Mantra of the Troops: Support
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Federman
The Absence of War
Vijay
Prashad
There Are No More Arguments
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Stephens
The End of the Innocence
Mickey
Z.
Makes Me Sic (Sic): Copy Editing
Bush Speak
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Tristam
War Coverage: a Dishonest Reality
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Guthrie
The Deadly Mihrab
Steve
Perry
War Web Log 04/04
April
3, 2003
Uri
Avnery
A Crooked Mirror: Presstitution and
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David
Vest
Can You Hear the Silence?
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Colin Powell Telemarketer
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Takoma: the Dolphin Who Refused
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Roberts
War, Debts and Deficits
Ramzy
Baroud
Now That Iraqis Are Being Killed Is Israel Any More Secure?
Jo Wilding
From Baghdad with Tears
Anton
Antonowicz
Cluster Bombs on Babylon
Alison
Weir
Israel, We Won't Forget Rachel Corrie
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Jackson
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War's First Week
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April 16,
2003
A Personal View
of Iraq
Where is the Truth?
by
BILJANA VANKOVSKA
There is an agreement over the Iraqi war. It seems
as if everybody prefers virtual to real reality: it applies equally
to military experts, politicians and even the public! It is said
that truth is the first victim of every war, but I am wondering
why it has to be the case in Macedonia nowadays. Why do people
prefer not to hear the truth? Is it possible that the majority
can calmly consent to the deceit and misinformation about this
war in which Macedonia is an "honourable member of the Alliance
of the Willing"? How is it possible in a country whose population
recently declared over 80 percent disagreement with the war in
all public opinion polls? Are people honest only in their protected
anonymity, or are there very few who dare say something which
is not politically correct and desirable, or maybe even risky?
Or perhaps our petty souls do not like to be bothered, and our
conscience distressed by the true picture of the war in which
we take politically part? After all, why should a poor and depressed
Macedonian citizen care about other people's sufferings, about
the real motives and consequences of a war that takes place so
far away?
Can we actually just say: it does not
concern us? Our grandparents used to say that every mountain
has its own weight, and here in Macedonia we have too many mountainous
of daily problems to cope with, such as post-war traumas, poverty,
insecurity, corruption, lies and scandals. And after all, what
can we do and how can our voice make a difference in global affairs
far beyond our individual ability? Talking about the Iraqi drama,
I have problems naming it war as the opponents have not been
even nearly equal, and everything resembles the old legend about
David and Goliath. The only difference nowadays is that Goliath
is supposed to be the good, just and endangered one. Without
a visible reason, the memories of our 2001 conflicts keep coming
back to my mind. In the spring of 2001, for us here in Skopje,
it was so tempting to go out and sit with friends, to get away
from all disturbing TV news coming from the war fronts (only
30-40 kilometres away), all in a futile attempt to find temporary
oblivion: to forget that everything was happening here and now
and not somewhere behind the hills...
We still owe ourselves an honest encounter
with the truth about our own conflict, just as in this very moment
we, as members of the global village, have no moral right to
turn a blind eye to the events that are changing this world,
make it uglier, less secure and more unjust. The truth about
what is happening in Iraq is the truth about our own future and
about ourselves.
As in 2001, I have been repeatedly overwhelmed
by the feeling of helplessness and powerlessness. To be an expert,
to be able to foresee the tragic outcome, to be certain about
the forthcoming terror which cannot be justified by any legal,
political or moral arguments, and still to be doomed and unable
to do anything in order to prevent it! At least, if only those
around you had been willing to listen and understand...
The main defeat these days has been the
obviously failure of the intellectuals in the Balkans to get
together and sign a joint anti-war declaration. Two drafters
(a colleague from Belgrade and I) were assisted by an Italian
NGO in an attempt to join our voices against the war in Iraq,
against the violence, against anybody that uses terror and force,
whether it be the USA or Saddam's regime. We tried to offer an
escape from the false trap imposed on us by saying that if one
is against the war, it means s/he is supporting the cruel regime
in Baghdad. We failed miserably. Many of us, alleged intellectuals
from the Balkans, representative of peoples who have gone through
the horror of inter- and intra-state wars, failed to find common
ground, a stand against the war and the violence, no matter where
it comes from and who justifies it. We are still hostages of
our own divisions and hatreds, prejudices and traumas. Sadly,
it appeared that we are still unable to heal our own wounds and
to offer hands of understanding and reconciliation - thus we
miserably failed to offer the Iraqi people some moral support,
understanding and empathy.
In a moment of despair, a wise and experienced
colleague and friend described to me the destiny of peace researchers,
i.e. the fate of the mythical Cassandra, who won Apollo's prophetic
power in exchange for her love but was condemned to remain unable
to convince others: no one believed her prophecies. Nevertheless,
applied to the Iraqi tragedy, evoking Cassandra's syndrome is
simply not enough, it would be pure exaggeration. It has been
so unbeliveably easy to foresee and to identify the real motives
and goals of the invasion, even insultingly easy to get to the
true explanations. All that increases the frustration with the
majority of "intellectuals" who seem to keep silent
about or openly deny the obvious farce and lies and take the
"right" side on a political and public scene in their
own societies.
For weeks now I have been starting my
day by reading the latest updates about Iraq, about that biggest
war in the new millenium. And constantly, a thought has been
bothering me and raising the question: Hey, wait a minute! What's
happening with Afghanistan - that first war in the 21st century?
What's going on with those poor people showered with bombs and
bread, and then generously "liberated" by the US, overwhelmed
with promises and commitments to the effect that after the fall
of the Taliban regime a brighter future would be just around
the corner, that there would be a dignified life for dignified
people, progress and democracy, women's rights.
Even under the pressure of the latest
developments, I do not want, I refuse to forget about the people
who paid their "liberation" with 10,000 civilian casualties
(collateral damage!). It's simply unfair, it's immoral to forget
about them and to abandon them in their despair and renewed chaos.
As it is equally unfair to forget about the victims of our Balkan
conflicts and international "remedies". Alas, the world
media cry for fresh blood and fresh news... But, see a miracle:
there is again a kind of virtual reality which provides interactive
maps about what is really happening in Iraq, strategic analyses
and serious military reports. The media ask their reporters not
to display disturbing scenes of human sufferings (again called
collateral damage and unfortunate mistakes). Allegedly, it would
not be in compliance with international humanitarian law. All
of a sudden, after the most blatant breaches and disregard of
it, somebody has remembered that there is something called international
law and Geneva conventions!? What a hypocrisy!
It feels unfair and unjust to prevent
a tear from dropping - at least, a tear for a child, whose name
I learned from Fisk's daily reports from Baghdad. In his and
some other reports coming from the spot, from the eyewithnesses,
being it journalists or ordinary people, I can hear people's
screams, despair, their blood flows from each printed line...
Still these testimonies do not feel like an insult, like the
"sensation hunting" of ambitious "embedded"
journalists. These are not technically sophisticated reports,
but probably the only voices that can make Iraqi civilians heard.
Only a handful lonely moral giants have the courage to see the
truth, to write it down, and to "disturb" the White
House, Westminster, or the Macedonian President - who, by the
way, is a priest, a man of God!
Still, how can we make these voices heard
in a small country where the majority does not read English,
and even rarely reads local newspapers? Despite everything, day
by day, I have to begin my day by sending a motherly thought
of care and consolation to a little boy or girl to whom these
reports draw my attention. If I fail to do so, I won't be able
to go on into the day and face my little and big problems, if
I may call them problems at all. The least I can do is to loudly
translate the reports to my old mother, as in my intellectual
loneliness and isolation I badly need a person to share with
these thoughts and pains. While reading, my voice starts trembling
and ends in weeping. As a good woman, my mother cannot stand
seeing my breaking down in front of her eyes, so she begs me
to stop reading because it upsets me too much. She says it is
bad for my health. Poor woman, she cannot understand that this
is the healthiest thing I can do for my moral and mental well-being.
I am going through the article to its very end, while tears are
dropping on the keyboard.
In the vast ocean of alleged "information"
on strategic moves, sieges and urbocide, use of new and unknown
weapons (but also for the well-known ones such as DU missiles,
cluster bombs, etc.), about the "heroism" in an action
in which one female POW was rescued, I clearly see - there is
no real information. The only meaningful and horrible information,
the only thing that really matters is, in Fisk's words, the immorality
and the total failure of the human spirit, about humiliation
and human degradation. How many are there like him, how many
dare go behind official reports about the military advances of
the "coalition" (i.e. the lonely, isolated and robust
allies, in alliance only with themselves and their deceit about
the war)? Again, only the lonely giants are there, those who
are not afraid to look at the eyes of the children in agony,
to hear the voiceless cry of their parents, and to tell us that
these are fellow human beings! As I fear for the civilians, I
fear even more about these "heroes'" well-being. How
would this world look like without such journalists, such human
beings and their brave voices?
Why is it so difficult to understand
that even the soldiers have names, that they are human beings,
young recruits, not characters from some American comic strips?
It is at all heroic to claim thousands of killed "enemy
soldiers" when you possess so much superior militarily?
The purpose of international humanitarian law is to humanise
war; the military goals should be to disable the enemy army not
to destroy it. Not to talk about civilian casualties... Collateral
damage in the international law vocabulary is called war crimes.
At the beginning of (the visible part)
of this war, the media rushed to get some expert opinions about
its possible duration, development and outcome. It was certainly
an absurd question: the war had started long before the first
missile was fired, and it had been lost for the Iraqis on the
military front. The "coalition" had been a political
and moral loser before it really moved into Iraq. Today's media
inquiries are even worse: they want to document the victory and
the real end of this war. They rushed to picture the joy of the
"liberated" and grateful Iraqis, applauding as the
symbols of the regime were being toppled, and did nothing about
the destruction of museums, cultural and national heritage of
the Iraqi nation. Again there is just a lonely voice talking
about the dark side of that victory, about the shame on the victors,
on the occupying force which again turns a deaf ear to the demands
arising from the Geneva conventions. The "heroic" American
and British troops again care more about their own safety, shamefully
and cowardly speaking about the necessity to protect their "boys",
leaving the chaos, death and destruction to spread.
Will there be an end to this war? Will
there be any visible outcome? Yes, the outcome is here: it is
called irresponsibility, immorality and ineptitude! It is called
greediness, cowardice and chaos. Isn't it enough after just one
war? However, the story is not over yet: the doors of the second
Vietnam have been opened, a spill-over effect induced in the
region, while a highly divided, hypocritical and impotent "international
community" remains idle. And definitily there will be many
more stories about innocent suffering written by the brave reporters
and analysts.
Ages will pass before the Iraqi youth
recovers from the quarter century of Saddam's rule, from twelve
years of genocide due to UN blessed sanctions and the several
weeks of the "victorious" military campaign of the
most powerful military force in history. However, I am wondering
how long it will take before the USA recovers from this moral
decay: will American society ever summon the strength to face
the truth about the crimes done by "our boys"? If our
Balkan experience teaches us anything, it is surely that it will
be a painful and very long process.
Biljana Vankovska is an Associate Professor of Political Science
and Military Law at the University of Skopje, Macedonia. She
also teaches at Peace Program and European Studies Program at
the Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje. She is a member of numerous
international associations, such as: ISA, IPRA, IPSA, IUS. She
is a member of the Executive Board of IPSA/Research Committee
on Armed Forces and Society. Her research and teaching focus
is on civil-military relations, Balkan security, international
relations and peace research. She works with the Transnational
Foundation for Peace and Future Research.
She can be reached at: bvankovska@hotmail.com
Today's
Features
Uzma
Aslam Khan
The Unbearably Grim Aftermath of War:
What America Says Does Not Go
Robert
Jensen
Self-Determination in Iraq? Then the
US Must Leave
Dr.
Susan Block
The Rape of Iraq
Ron Jacobs
Aiming at Syria: Stop Them Before They Kill Again
Robert
Fisk
The Final Sacking of Baghdad
Col. Dan
Smith
Post-War Iraq: Asking the Right Questions
Ali
Abunimah and Hussein Ibish
A Cycle of Chaos and Confrontation: Misadventures of the NeoCons
Steve
Perry
War Web Log 4/15
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