We in World without Wars and Violence are horrified to see the latest UN “preventative” war: an action which is as much hypocritical as it is doomed to failure and to produce the contrary.
The situation is really complex, but we can outline some basic points. We denounce:
– the hypocrisy of Western countries that supported the Libyan dictator for years and sold him weapons to protect their interests and now for the same reason assault him. See how the French planes attacking Libya now are the newer models of the Mirage Jets that belong to Gaddafi! No doubt once this is over France will rush to sell even newer versions of their planes to Tripoli.
– the hypocrisy of countries who although express their concern for the wellbeing of the civilians in Benghazi show almost complete indifference for the wellbeing of the citizens in Bahrain and Yemen, where non-violent demonstrators are attacked and killed by the armed forces every day, not to mention the Ivory Coast, where the killing of innocent civilians trapped in a struggle for power between two presidents has been going on for months.
– and the policy of preventative wars. This policy, used in Iraq and again in Afghanistan, has led to the military of those countries involved killing hundreds of thousands of Afghans and Iraqis, the use of depleted uranium weapons that has left the civilians of vast areas of Iraq prone to cancer, birth defects, and other horrors, and what’s worse, a situation that appears unsolvable and likely to lead the kinds of governments that the USA specifically hoped to avoid. “When you force something towards an end you produce the contrary. ”
We call on:
– those countries involved in the UN mission to immediately withdraw their military support for such actions,
– we call on the Libyan army commanders to protect all Libyan people – as is their function,
– we call on all those opposed to the current Libyan regime to lay down their weapons and seek non-violent methods to achieve their aims—including dialogue,
– and we call on all nations of the world to immediately stop all trade of any sort with the Tripoli regime, with the exception of the supply of food, humanitarian and medical supplies – this means NO MORE OIL TRADE.
We call for the end of all dictatorships all around the world and a transition to a truly democratic form of government, beyond the formal democratic models of Western nations, based on principles of peace, nonviolence and the central value of human life and the eradication of all forms of violence.
We are desperately concerned for the innocent civilians on all sides of the Libyan conflict who will be killed by the UN attacks and by the attacks of armed Libyan militias of all sides. A war is underway and we believe that if it is not stopped immediately it will lead to a massive disaster affecting all the countries of the Mediterranean and beyond.
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[1] Silo’s words at the First Annual Celebration of Silo’s Message, Punta de Vacas, Argentina May 4th, 2004
[2] The second principle of Valid Action, taken from chapter XIII of the book, Silo’s Message
