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Military - new material (48)

01 January 2004

Europäische Luftmacht [European Air Power], Jan Kuebart. Europäische Sicherheit 1/2004 pp. 22-28

The world is the stage - a global security strategy for the European Union, Sven Biscop and Rik Coolsaet. Notre Europe Policy papers No. 8, December 2003

War in Iraq: Not a humanitarian intervention, Ken Roth. Human Rights Watch 2003. The failure to locate a single one of Saddam Hussain's alleged weapons of mass destruction led UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, to declare that they were not the reason for invading Iraq and, contrary to what was said before the war, the invasion was carried out on humanitarian grounds. This report points out that, unlike the 1988 anfal genocide of Iraqi Kurds, "by the time of the March 2003 invasion, Saddam Hussain's killing had ebbed" and the USA/UK had no justification for invading Iraq either on grounds of alleged threats from illicit weapons of mass destruction nor as a humanitarian mission. "Humanitarianism, even understood broadly as a concern for the welfare of people, was, at best, a subsidiary motive for the invasion of Iraq" the report concludes. Available at: http://hrw.org/wr2k4/3.htm

"Enduring Freedom": Abuses by U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, John Sifton. Human Rights Watch 2004. This report says that "U.S. forces operating in Afghanistan have arbitrarily detained civilians, used excessive force during arrests of non-combatants, and mistreated detainees." It concludes that "The United States is setting a terrible example in Afghanistan on detention practices" and that the "system of arrest and detention in Afghanistan exists outside the rule of law."