Continent of peace – decade of war

How then can it be that since 1989 more European soldiers have been at war in more places, killing more people, than during the time when we were lined up on the front line of The Cold War?

We list some of our wars and some of the reasons presented for them.

Daddy’s war

Iraq, 1991: A US led coalition drives Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait. The US Army estimates they have killed 100.000 enemy soldiers while only 148 US soldiers die, most in traffic accidents or from friendly fire. When civilian casualties are added up, as many as 250.000 may have died in the intensive bombardment, according to Medical Educational

Trust in London.

The good reason

The International Community must react when a country brazenly breaks the UN pact by conquering a peaceful neighbor state.

The bad reason

»The strategic objectives of the Western powers in the Middle East has been, for half a century, to control the flow of oil, and that means the maintenance of disunity among the Arabs and the super-armament of Israel«, writes Samir Amin, director of the Rorum Tiers Monde research institute in Senegal, in 1992.

Bombs for peace

Bosnia 1995: NATO bombs Serb nationalist forces in the Bosnian civil war to force them to the negotiation table. The following peace treaty – the Dayton agreement – ratifies the ethnic cleansing of the country and leaves it a EU protectorate.

The good reason

NATO must intervene to stop the ethnic cleansing operations perpetrated by Bosnian Serb militias against Bosnian Croat sand Muslims.

The bad reason

»The Western European powers (...) sought to contain Serbian nationalism by strengthening the Croatian nationalists, who were given a free rein to »cleanse« Croatia of its Serbs. Slobodan Milosevic took advantage of this to turn Kosovo into an »internal affair«, while proceeding to carve up Bosnia-Herzegovina with his Croat opposite number. The harsh realities make a mockery of the Western governments’ declared aim of a peaceful, stable community of states in the Balkans«, writes Catherine Samary of Le Monde Diplomatique in November 1998.

Swift punishment, sneaking death

Iraq 1991–2002: The US and EU pressure the UN to impose a blockade of Iraq to force Saddam Hussein to comply with demands to disarm and to desist from brutal repression of Kurd and Shiite rebels. The sanctions are supplemented by a food-for-oil program to safeguard the population. Nevertheless the UN estimates in 2002 that the embargo is killing more than 100 out of 1000 children under five.

The US and UK follow up with bombing missions against military and industrial targets. The EU is increasingly divided, in 1998 leaving the UK and Denmark as the only EU countries endorsing the bombing.

The good reason

Saddam Hussein is a power mad dictator. He is a threat to world peace and must be contained and isolated. If the UN is not willing, Western democracies must assume the responsibility.

The bad reason

»Linking comprehensive economic and financial sanctions to disarmament has held the Iraqi people responsible for the acts of their government. The impact of such a policy has been devastating for an innocent population«, says H.C. von Sponeck, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq (1998-2000), 26 November 2002.

The humane war

Kosovo 1999: After three year rebel insurgency and the collapse of peace negotiations NATO attacks Serbia. The Serbian army evacuates Kosovo after 72 days of NATO bombing of Serb forces and of military and civilian targets in Serbia. A NATO army occupies Kosovo together with a Russian contingent.

The good reason

»NATO stopped a planned, systematic attempt at ethnic cleansing and genocide«, stated US president Clinton.

The bad reason

The war could have been prevented, but American negotiators purposefully raised demands to a level they knew Serbia could not accept, admits US Secretary of State Albright after the war.

– NATO has for 10 years needed to find a new role, and now they have it: to be able to intervene without a UN mandate, and impose settlements that have been dictated beforehand, says Tue Magnussen of Roskilde University in 1999.

Just revenge

Afghanistan 2002: The US organizes broad alliance to invade Afghanistan after the Taliban regime refuses to deliver Osama Bin Laden to the US without being presented with evidence of guilt. A coalition of tribal leaders are put in power by force of Western arms, but Osama Bin Laden’s organization, Al Qaaeda, survives. In November they attack Israeli tourists in Kenya.

The good reason

If terrorists can find a safe haven after an attack such as September 11th, then we are all at their mercy. Terrorists must be hunted down wherever they try to hide.

The bad reason:

» It’s quite clear what has happened. When people with yellow or black or brownish skin, with Communist or Islamic or Nationalist credentials, murder their prisoners or carpet bomb villages to kill their enemies or set up death squad courts, they must be condemned by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and the »civilized« world. We are the masters of human rights, the Liberals, the great and good who can preach to the impoverished masses. But when our people are murdered – when our glittering buildings are destroyed – then we tear up every piece of human rights legislation, send off the B-52s in the direction of the impoverished masses and set out to murder our enemies«, writes Robert Fisk, The Independent’s Middle East correspondent.

Final countdown

Iraq 2003:The US declares it’s willingness to force a »regime change« in Baghdad with or without a UN mandate.

The good reason

Iraq is part of the Axis of terror, and it is time to once and for all deal with Hussein and his regime.

The bad reason

»The United States remains a prisoner of its energy dilemma. Iraq remains a destabilizing influence to ... the flow of oil to international markets from the Middle East... Therefore the US should conduct an immediate policy review toward Iraq including military, energy, economic and political/diplomatic assessments«, concludes Vice President Dick Cheney in a report that became White House policy in April 2001, five months before the September 11 attack.

By Sven Gårn Hansen/Moskito