INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS COMMENTARY: War games and war crimes

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS COMMENTARY: War games and war crimes

By Roshan Madawela – Research Intelligence Unit: www.riunit.com


Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad challenged President Bush to an open T.V debate on world issues earlier this week. As the UN deadline for the Iranian Republic to end its nuclear enrichment programme nears, the Iranian leader put his critics on their back foot by slating both the US and the UK. He claimed that "the political situation of World War II has been kept alive by the [super] powers. They have embarked on [an] arms race...in order to safeguard superiority over other nations," according to the Iranian news agency IRNA. He also delivered some blows to the UN security council’s structure with its five permanent members who distort the balance of power in the organization which he said permits them to act like the ‘owners of the world’.

Within hours of the Iranian offer, a White House spokesperson rejected it as a ‘diversion’ from the international concerns over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and refused to take part in the proposed live debate. Bush was in New Orleans marking the first anniversary of Katrina and facing wide criticism that not nearly enough has been done to help the victims during the past 12 months.


Military games

The intensification in the war of words between the US and its growing number of critics has been accompanied by military maneuverings in the form of war games and strategic diplomacy as the balance of regional power continues to remain in a state of flux. In 1904, Sir Halford Mackinder claimed that ‘who rules East Europe commands the Heartland; who rules the Heartland commands the world-island; Who rules the world-island controls the world.’ What he coined as the pivotal area during his time, a region that was once under the control of Mongol ruler Genghis Khan, would now have to include the Black Sea, the Caspian Basin and Central Asia in addition to Eastern Europe as being of pivotal significance.
When making allowance for the passage of time, Sir Halfords analysis appears to be as valid now as it was in 1904. In our current era, the US is locked-in on establishing its control over the region where the interests of regional powers China, Iran and the formers Soviet Federation are also closely entwined.

In a report released by Global Research, the recent buzz of military activity in the region since July 2006 is monitored closely with a view to analyzing the possible next step in the ‘game of Chess’ being played out by the world and regional powers.

In the document, it is reported that NATO and the US conducted military operations from bases in Europe that included movement to and from the US, the Middle East and Afghanistan. In the Balkan’s, the US military is currently involved in war games with NATO allies Bulgaria and Romania. Meanwhile, the Iranians have also been flexing their military muscle with war games, code named ‘Blow of Zolfaqar’. In the Caspian Basin and western Kazakhstan, signatories to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) were also playing out military maneuvers on the basis of protecting their energy resources.

Kazakhstan is also involved in military drills on its eastern borders, in the Almaty region, near China under the terms outlined in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The drills also include anti-terror exercises involving the security forces of the Russians, other CSTO members and the Iranians.

Running concurrently with these movements, the US is beefing up its position in the Balkans with re-newed cooperation arrangement with Bulgaria and Romania who used to be part of the Eastern bloc but are now firm backers of NATO. In December 2005, Condoleezza Rice signed a ten-year agreement with the Romanian Foreign Minister to build four military bases in efforts to boost the all important bases that support US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Romanians have also been accused of running secret prisons with the CIA during 2005.


Deep penetration

According to the analysis, the rivalry to control the ‘heartlands’ that are home to some of the worlds most abundant energy resources will lead the US to seek deeper penetration beyond Afghanistan and Iraq into Iran in order to access the Central Asian resources. Such a push, be it military of via diplomacy, would tend to meet with resistance, particularly with the regional powers who also have their eyes on the price.

The other resource price is of course in the Middle East, a region described as ‘a stupendous source of strategic power’ some 60 years ago and still one of the ‘greatest material prizes in world history’. A combination of client regimes, long-standing allies and direct military intervention as in Iraq appear to be the order of the day for US foreign policy makers.

However, as external interference in the region grows, public opinion is now turning away from the status quo. Increasingly, the mood of the region is changing away from apathy or the extension of tacit consent to the rulers by the ruled to one of consciousness and resistance. The resistance ideology has already been categorized by analysts as secular nationalists, ant-globalization socialists and those referred to as ‘Islamists.’

Whilst armed resistance may be a matter of circumstance for most people, un-armed resistance is set to play a more powerful role in a region that can no-longer afford to ignore the aspirations of its own people. The key point that binds all these interests together is the belief in having the freedom to manage and plan their own affairs.


War crimes

Destructive wars, such as the recent pummeling of Lebanon are serving to further export the anti-imperialist sentiments. In a report released earlier this week, the human rights group Amnesty International said the indiscriminate attacks against civilian infrastructure in Lebanon during the war could make the Jewish state guilty of war crimes. A third of the casualties were children.
In its report ‘Israel / Lebanon: Deliberate destruction of ‘collateral damage’”, Amnesty said that between 12 July and 14 August, some 7,000 air strikes were made whilst the navy carried out 2,500 bombardments and long-range artillery fired an untold number of shells. More than 1,100 were killed whilst more than 4,000 injuries occurred and 970,000 people were forced to flee. Many of the violations examined were said to be war crimes that can give rise to individual criminal responsibility.

Lebanese government estimates that 31 key facilities, including airports, water and sewage treatment plants and power plants were hit. Additionally, 80 bridges, 94 roads, 25 fuel stations, 900 businesses and more than 30,000 homes, offices and shops had been completely razed to the ground. The total estimated damage is said to be $3.5 billion with $2 billion needed for buildings and $1.5 for infrastructure.

None of the required funds are expected to come in the form of compensation ether for the civilian loss or the reconstruction effort. Under the prevailing environment, further polarization of opinion is likely to take place, as un-detonated ammunition and cluster bombs continue to explode causing further death and injury.


Positive change

In his analysis of the conflict, Noam Chomsky argues that the Western version of the invasion as justified by legitimate outrage over capture of two Israeli soldiers is cynical fraud. He notes that Israel and the West have little objection to the capture of soldiers or even the more severe crime of kidnapping civilians which had been the Israeli practice for many years. Thousands of civilians currently locked in Israeli jails are yet to be officially charged with any crime. The game of double-standards is further illustrated by the appallingly disproportionate response to the capture of a solider by Palestinian militants also in July. In response, 170 killings took place in Gaza in July compared to the more routine figure of 36 killings in June. As always, dozens of them were children.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez started a nationwide fund-raising drive to raise money for reconstruction in Lebanon and the Palestinian people. Chavez called the Lebanese and Palestinians ‘heroic people’ and pressed home his criticism of Israel and the US who he labeled as fascist. Earlier in August, Venezuela withdrew their diplomats to Israel in protest at the aggression.

With such a high degree of destruction and turbulence prevailing in the critical international policy arena’s it is difficult to find a positive note. In this endeavor, Chomsky notes that ‘we should not overlook the progress that has been made in undermining the imperial mentality that is so deeply rooted in Western moral and intellectual culture as to be beyond awareness. Nor should we forget the scale of what remains to be achieved, tasks that must be undertaken in solidarity and cooperation by people in the North and South who hope to see a more decent and civilized world.’

Copyrights Reserved (RIU 2006). Prepared exclusively for the Business Standard.