Portrayed simple and flawed

While our Democratic and Republican presidential candidates are making oversimplified assertions about Iraq and the US occupation (one side arguing the war was completely wrong, the other making similarly simple argument that the war was right and our occupation should continue), international law scholars are examining the real complexity of the issues. Their conclusions are sophisticated and derive from knowledge of international law concepts. While they acknowledge that under the formal international law parameters the invasion of Iraq was unlawful, they also are beginning to admit that it had some collateral positive effects (as well as negative, of course) ultimately. They have tried to trace and acknowledge some transformative trends in Iraq as a result of the US occupation. Their views may collide with mine or yours, but I encourage everyone to examine them more closely and understand how both political camps, Democrats and Republicans, are flawed in their assertions... It is because their views stem largely from the standpoint of 'national security', not international law. And 'national security' in their eyes unfortunately is composed of many dogmas and ideologically flawed assumptions which are diametrically in opposition to the philosophy behind international law... They also simplify things to get votes of many uninformed people... Sadly, even those who are pretty informed fall into the trap of oversimplification...

Click here for more information regarding a Symposium at Loyola Law School on this subject.

Click here for an article by Peter Danchin on this subject.

Sun setting?

I would like to bring to everyone's attention a brilliant article on US foreign policy and role in the world in Le Monde Diplomatique by Philip S. Golub (here). It is a short but insightful expose of the underpinnings of the Iraq war, the failure, the loss of hegemony in the world and possible scenarios for the future. A comparison with the history of the British empire once more supports my position that history is the lighthouse for the future, for it gets repeated over and over again... Needless to say, most people in the US would have a difficulty of agreeing with the author, because of institutional and historic reasons. Also because unfortunately our public is largely misinformed and misled by the pundits about the reality. Even the media, with some rare exceptions, has been coopted by the politicians and has learned to puppet those in power... Of course, that happens everywhere in the world. But since the US poses itself, quite justifiably, as a strong functioning democracy, it is quite distressing when it does not walk the walk in foreign policy and acts as a despot (historically benevolent until the 9/11) abroad... Clever commentators, such as this author have been alerting to the weakening of the US hegemony...

As expressed by this author, "History is moving on and the world is slipping, slowly but inexorably, out of US hands." It is time for the US to understand that search for absolute world hegemony is suicidal and the best means for survival is to share the crown with others and often keep a low profile... There are other powers in the world who would be pleased to share in the responsibilities of a 'world policeman.'

It must be remembered, no one single country in the world is destined to dominate over the rest. World domination is inconsistent with the very existence of Earth that belongs to all peoples from all continents, countries and units inhabiting it... While we will always choose leaders-- with willpower, courage and moral character to lead, they will always be bound by the collective will of the international community...

History can neither be erased nor rewritten...

The current protests in Turkey here regarding the Armenian Genocide vote are puzzling, besides the fact that they are absolutely abhorring. How can Turkey even pose itself a civilized nation, denying its past atrocities? How can the people living in Turkey, intelligentsia and educated people, not condemn what their ancestors did to the Armenians? How can they not label what happened as a Genocide? How do they explain the 'events' and official proclamations that energized and gave fuel to the Genocide... How do they explain the killing of almost 2 million of Armenians, most of whom were innocent civilians... How do they explain the signature of genocidaires that was used later, very successfully, by the Nazis, who were encouraged by the silence of the world over the first 20th century genocide... The historical chronicle is very alive and cannot be erased... The Nazi leaders had this chronicle fresh in their minds, when justified their actions over the Jews...

Puzzling as these protests are, they show how the humanity has become distorted, demoralized and really mutilated by injustice and political blackmail. Turkey is using whatever political cards it has to stop America from recognizing the Genocide.. All right. Let America not recognize it and let America succumb to this blackmail (because of its realpolitik national interests). What will Turkey accomplish by that? Temporary support of its denial of the Genocide? Alliance with the US? Will that gain Turkey a favorable position in the European Union? In the world? Turkey will become a 'rogue nation' for the rest of its existence... It is for the US to determine which nations it should ally itself-- for its image and future as a world leader...

Will justice prevail?

Sometimes we get good news! The House Foreign Affairs Committee adopted the resolution on Armenian Genocide by 27 to 21 vote (here and here). This is after Bush repeatedly alarmed them not to do so! Unbelievable and truly unacceptable that to this day there is still doubt as to whether the US should fully admit the fact of the Genocide. This is not about human rights any longer! This is about history and the idea of how history can get distorted miserably... Moreover, this is about humanity understanding ramifications of denying historical realities... and accepting atrocities as natural events, not punishable and without consequences... How can Turkey still maintain its position about the Genocide in the face of history, still alive in the victims and their children... This is not only immoral, but reprehensible... I do believe, that even if man-made justice does not prevail, there is something always higher than the humanity-- the Universal Will will have its judgment and its higher justice will prevail... Sooner or later, will prevail...

Sputnik

Just like the 9/11 shook the world, the launch of the Soviet Sputnik into cosmos shook the world on October 4, 1957. On that day the Soviets launched the first artificial Sputnik into space. On April 12, 1961 Gagarin, the first man ever was sent to cosmos, further shaking the world. The era of human conquering of the outer space began... The launch of the Sputnik was done by the military and was directed by the great academician Sergei Korolyov.

The US was in flames. Eisenhower was under a siege to resign. The US politicians who were not taking the atomic bomb of the Soviets seriously now had to rethink and reconsider the Soviet potential for hegemony. This event marked a new era in the Cold War and influenced the US in further restructuring of its domestic policies to countermand these developments. John F. Kennedy was to set the goal for sending America to the Moon... It was also John F. Kennedy who was able to courageously stop the Soviets placing nuclear weapons in Cuba. The Cuban Missile Crisis showcase was perhaps the closest that the world came to the nuclear war...

But looking back at these events, it is really instructive to learn how the great powers were able to influence and 'check and balance' each other by constant challenge... Challenge is good (as long as non-violent) because it makes one search inside and learn the truth... Unfortunately, the US as a superpower, while challenged in a major way by Islamic fundamentalists at 9/11, has not really searched inside and has not really learned the truth... It has been ignoring the rest of the world for more than a decade and has increasingly become isolated as a world leader... We are in need of new leadership that can indeed redefine and repaint the image of the US... Who can take up that enormous task? Will the American people choose the right person this time? Who is the right person when people have vastly different understandings about global leadership and foreign policy? When the general population is misinformed and not fully educated about issues driving this world...