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ヨハン・ガルトゥング ノルウェー出身、平和学者。TRANSCEND創始者、代表者。 主な著作(日本語訳) 『グローバル化と知的様式 社会科学方法論についての七つのエッセー』(東信堂、2004年) 『ガルトゥング平和学入門』(共編著、法律文化社、2003年) 『平和的手段による紛争の転換 超越法』(平和文化、2000年) TRANSCEND website : http://www.transcend.org |
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4. The War in Iraq
Let us assume, however, that the only motive behind the US/UK war on Iraq that started March 20 2003 (Baghdad time) was human security, the protection of the Iraqi people against the Hussein-Ba'ath-Sunni regime. By May 1 the secular, state-capitalist, Ba'ath regime had been demolished and the power was in the hands of the USA/CPA-Coalition Provisional Authority. Nine months after the war started Saddam Hussein was a POW. Freedom? A success story? Within the simplistic logic of Hussein-in-power vs Hussein-not-in-power, yes. But that logic hides two important questions:(25) There is a rider, however, that one day may become significant. One day human security against violence by one's own government might also be interpreted to include the economic violence of shifting acquisitive power so much upwards in society that the bottom X% of the population is left with insufficient means to cover basic needs, even to the point of excessive morbidity and premature mortality. This usually comes as structural violence due to unintended action, sustained by acts of omission. But it could also come as acts of commission, as direct violence, as war on the poor rather than as war on poverty, but by economic, not by military/secret police means. One day, later than some hope but earlier than some fear, economic violence may be included in the definition of genocide and become a reason to intervene to bring about regime change for human security. The term "security" is often used in connection with the war in Iraq, early 2004, still in its second guerrilla phase. If "security" is defined, more traditionally, as low/zero probability of becoming a victim of violence, then Iraq certainly is a "security problem". A violent attack tends to trigger violent resistance, and battlefields, regardless of type of violence or who attacked, tend to be a security problem for all concerned, "them or us", military or civilian. Of the 28 countries that had sent troops to Iraq as of December 8 2003, according to the Foreign Ministry of Japan,(26) 10 were listed as engaged in "security", under "main activities". The countries are United States, Britain, Albania, Bulgaria, El Salvador, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Ukraine. Since the security discourse tends to see the solution to violence in terms of counter-violence, "security" is essentially a euphemism for "combat". The outcome is uncertain, given Iraqi deep culture with a very long time perspective and courage, dignity and honor as or more important than winning.(27) To assess the "cost-benefits in Iraqi human terms", since the humanitarian intervention was for their human security, we shall use basic human needs, BHN, as a benchmark. The possible justification of the intervention would depend on the outcome of comparing
This comparison could then be carried out on an annual basis after March 20 2003 as some BHN benefits might be long term. However, in that case one might also have to adjust upwards the benefits without intervention, with the costs of deep UN inspection certifying the absence of weapons of mass destruction, a human rights regime, and the benefits of sanctions lifted. Most regime atrocities were in the past.(28) The following is only indicative of ways of thinking, using the four BHN classews above. Data are very limited indeed. In the wake of the US military came Christian fundamentalist missionaries(34) to convert, and political missionaries to impose a separation between church and state, the sacred and the secular, contrary to the Islamic faith that they are inseparable. There may be a road to democracy via the mosque and the ulema, but that was not the road traveled by the USA. Nor by Saddam Hussein. No identity benefit, only heavy identity costs imposed by the intervention. General conclusion: neither security, nor human. NEXT >>
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