Europe Seeks Peace, Not War. But Will It Be Ready If War Comes to Europe?

GUARDIAN EUROPE: To survive Russia’s neo-imperialism, Europe’s democracies must find a balance between their desire for peace and their own defence

In 2003, the philosophers Jürgen Habermas and Jacques Derrida published a joint article in Germany’s and France’s leading newspapers. In it, they criticised the American invasion of Iraq and called on Europeans to “assume a reflexive distance from themselves”, in particular their imperialism and colonialism.

The pair’s criticism of George W Bush’s imperialism was justified; and their suggestion that Europe could lead the world towards a post-imperial future was a nice idea. Today, however, confronted with Russia’s genocidal invasion of Ukraine, the question is whether such a post-imperial world can be achieved through the means that the two philosophers proposed.

The Europe they imagined was a Europe of dialogue, of conversation and the embrace of differences. This is, certainly, a dignified idea. The problem is that it is powerless when one is faced with evil. » | Volodymyr Yermolenko * | Tuesday, October 17, 2023

* Volodymyr Yermolenko is a Ukrainian philosopher, journalist and writer. He is the president of PEN Ukraine.

Pompeo Threatens Iran With Strongest Sanctions in History, Speeding US March Toward War

On Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used his first major policy address to threaten Iran with “the strongest sanctions in history.” Pompeo presented a list of 12 “basic requirements” for a new nuclear treaty with Iran, including “unqualified access” to all nuclear sites and an end to its interventions in Yemen. This comes just under two weeks after the Trump administration withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal. “Pompeo and Bolton have made the choice for the international community much, much easier,” says Trita Parsi, founder and president of the National Iranian American Council. “Either you collaborate with the Trump administration and go along with these sanctions, walk away from this nuclear deal and speed up this march toward war—or you resist.”

Is the Korean Peninsula Headed for War? - Inside Story

Syria Crisis: Russia Raises Prospect of War If It Is Given G7 Ultimatum as It Mocks Boris Johnson's No-show

THE TELEGRAPH: Russia has raised the prospect of war with the West as it mocked Boris Johnson for cancelling a trip to Moscow in the wake of the Syrian nerve gas attack.

The Russian Embassy in London posted a series of provocative tweets on its official account in which it suggested that "a conventional war" could be one outcome if the G7 group of nations presents it with an ultimatum later this week.

The Embassy also said it was "deplorable" that Mr Johnson was "unable to stand Western ground" by attending talks with his Russian counterpart.

It came as Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, warned Russia it is responsible for the deaths caused by the Syrian chemical weapons attack "by proxy". » | Gordon Raynor, Political Editor and Kate McCann, Senior Political Correspondent | Sunday, April 9, 2017

David Cameron's Legacy: Austerity, Brexit, War and Jihadi Terror

Ukraine Close to War, Says Germany

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Germany has formally advised its citizens to leave east and south Ukraine because it is just a "few steps" away from war

Ukraine is only a "few steps" away from "military confrontation", the German foreign minister warned on Tuesday, as his country formally advised its citizens to leave the eastern regions.

This deeply pessimistic assessment from Frank-Walter Steinmeier came as the airport serving Donetsk region – the most populous area of Ukraine – cancelled all international flights until further notice.

The information board in the departures hall of Sergei Prokofiev Airport showed a string of cancelled flights to destinations including Moscow, Munich and Istanbul. Read on and comment » | David Blair, Donetsk | Tuesday, May 06, 2014

Turkey Ready for War, Says PM Erdogan
The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, says Turkey does not want war, but warns Syria not to test its resolve. Speaking on Friday in Istanbul, Erdogan said: 'You have to be ready at every moment to go to war if necessary'

10 Things Libya Tells Us about Barack Obama and War
TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – TOBY HARNDEN: America’s intervention in Libya, riding on the coattails of Britain and France, may yet turn out for the best. There are indications that coalition air power has given the rebels the opportunity to stem and perhaps even turn the military tide against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s forces.

Regime change may not be a declared objective but if Gaddafi remains in power, that will be a huge blow to American prestige, not to mention the effect on the human rights of ordinary Libyans. But it is very possible that Gaddafi will be killed or overthrown in the coming days.

Much of the Republican opposition to President Barack Obama’s intervention strikes me as disingenuous and partisan. There is a moral case for war and the, er, rather unfortunate Western coddling of Gaddafi after 2003 does not alter the fact that his continued presence as Libyan leader represents a threat to America.

Be all that as it may, however, if success is achieved then this will be as much despite as because of Obama’s policies. The past few weeks have betrayed a number of startling truths about the way Obama views the world. Here are 10 of them: Continue reading and comment » | Toby Harnden | Monday, March 28, 2011

War Stories: Promoting the War in Libya

Bahrain Crackdown Can Trigger War: Iraq
PRESS TV: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has warned that the deployment of troops from Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf littoral states to protest-hit Bahrain could spark a sectarian war.

Maliki's warning came after Saudi Arabia and the UAE sent hundreds of troops to the tiny Persian Gulf state to help the Kingdom's brutal crackdown on Bahrain's anti-government protesters.

"The situation in Bahrain is different from those in Libya and Egypt. In Libya and Egypt the issue is not sectarian while in Bahrain it has become between Sunnis and Shias," Maliki said in an interview with the state-funded BBC Arabic television service aired on Friday.

His comments come in the wake of Bahrain's heavy-handed crackdown on anti-government protesters that have been seeking political reforms and an end to the two-century long rule of al-Khalifa dynasty.

"We did not move to support the Shias in Bahrain but we called for interference in Bahraini affairs to be stopped and don't want to make it a sectarian issue. Because if it happens, it will be like a snowball, it will get bigger if it is ignored ... The region may be drawn into a sectarian war," the Iraqi premier noted.

Maliki has previously criticized the military intervention in Bahrain by Persian Gulf Arab states. » | DB/HRF/MGH | Saturday, March 26, 2011

Britain Forms Plan for Gulf Evacuation in Event of War with Iran
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The British armed forces are drawing up contingency plans to evacuate hundreds of thousands of British residents and tourists from Dubai and other Gulf cities in the event of war with Iran.

The Coalition government under David Cameron ordered an immediate review of British military planning in the Gulf after the election last May. The Daily Telegraph can reveal that new proposals are being drawn up to coordinate military activity in the region with local allies hostile to Iran, particularly the United Arab Emirates.

Planners have realised they had to tear up existing emergency plans for local British residents. Since the previous review in the 1990s, the expatriate population has grown to more than 100,000 in the UAE alone, while a million British tourists, from businessmen on stopovers to England footballers with marital problems, come to Dubai every year.

It is feared they might be at risk if, as it has promised, Iran retaliates for any military strikes on its nuclear sites with missile attacks on "western interests" in the Gulf.

Royal Navy warships, along with their American and French counterparts, regularly patrol the Gulf and tie up in UAE ports, while Iran has also threatened to mine the strategically crucial Straits of Hormuz.

The region's gearing up for the possibility of a war stands in contrast to the relaxing tourists on beaches or the opulent expat villa compounds. >>> Richard Spencer, Dubai | Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Russia Warns of War within a Decade over Arctic Oil and Gas Riches
Photo credit: TimesOnline
TIMESONLINE: Russia raised the prospect of war in the Arctic yesterday as nations struggle for control of the world’s dwindling energy reserves.

The country’s new national security strategy identified the intensifying battle for ownership of vast untapped oil and gas fields around its borders as a source of potential military conflict within a decade.

“The presence and potential escalation of armed conflicts near Russia’s national borders, pending border agreements between Russia and several neighbouring nations, are the major threats to Russia’s interests and border security,” stated the document, which analysed security threats up to 2020.

“In a competition for resources it cannot be ruled out that military force could be used to resolve emerging problems that would destroy the balance of forces near the borders of Russia and her allies.”

The Kremlin has insisted that it is not “militarising the Arctic” but its warnings of armed conflict suggest that it is willing to defend its interests by force if necessary as global warming makes exploitation of the region’s energy riches more feasible.

The United States, Norway, Canada and Denmark are challenging Russia’s claim to a section of the Arctic shelf, the size of Western Europe, which is believed to contain billions of tonnes of oil and gas. >>> Tony Halpin in Moscow | Thursday, May 14, 2009

TIMESONLINE:
The very cold war >>>

NZZ Online: Neue Sicherheitsdoktrin Russlands: Die USA und die Nato als potenzielle Bedrohungen

Nach einem zähen Entstehungsprozess hat der russische Präsident Medwedew eine neue Sicherheitsdoktrin in Kraft gesetzt. Die nationale Sicherheit wird darin sehr weit gefasst. Besonders die USA und die Nato erscheinen als potenzielle Bedrohung.

Russland hat in diesen Tagen sicherheitspolitisch mit den neunziger Jahren abgeschlossen. Präsident Medwedew setzte am Dienstagabend mit seiner Unterschrift die Strategie über nationale Sicherheit bis 2020 in Kraft, nachdem deren Fertigstellung mehrmals ins Stocken geraten war.

Das Dokument, das auf der Internetseite des russischen Sicherheitsrates eingesehen werden kann, beginnt mit dem Satz, Russland habe die Folgen der systembedingten politischen und sozioökonomischen Krise des ausgehenden 20. Jahrhunderts überwunden. Die Wendung steht für das neue Selbstbewusstsein und die Abkehr von der in der heutigen politischen Elite mit Niedergang und aussenpolitischer Demütigung gleichgesetzten Ära Präsident Jelzins. Aus jener Zeit stammte die nun abgelöste bisherige Sicherheitskonzeption.

Das Grundlagenpapier, um das anscheinend hart gerungen worden war, versteht nationale Sicherheit in einem sehr umfassenden Sinn und leitet diese wesentlich von ökonomischen und sozialen Verhältnissen im Land ab. Die Ausrichtung auf das Jahr 2020 entspricht der vor einem Jahr vorgestellten «Strategie 2020», die einen Schwerpunkt auf wirtschaftliche, gesellschaftliche und infrastrukturelle Entwicklungen legt. >>> mac. Moskau | Mittwoch, 13. Mai 2009

Netanyahu's Vow to Syria: Israel Won't Provoke War
HAARETZ: Benjamin Netanyahu sent a message to Syria before last month's election promising that a government under him would "not provoke war" and would be interested in "seriously and genuinely exploring" a peace process.

Likud officials met with senior Syrian figures in January in Washington to prepare the ground for further exchanges after Israel's next government takes office, Likud sources said.

The officials, however, did not express any willingness to make concessions or withdraw from the Golan Heights, as Syrian President Bashar Assad says is necessary. >>> Yoav Stern | Wednesday, March 11, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Increasing Danger of War Through Incomprehension Between United States and Iran
LE FIGARO INTERNATIONAL: It must be acknowledged that in connection with the Iranian nuclear question a single line is now taking shape, and it is that of confrontation. It is as though two crazy trains were rushing headlong towards each other on the same track, without anyone being able to halt them or divert them onto a different track. The engineer on the US train is called Dick Cheney (the conservative vice president who orchestrated the disastrous attack on Iraq in 2003,) and the engineer on the Iranian train is called Mahmud Ahmadinezhad (the highly nationalistic and religious president of the Islamic Republic.) In English, this is what is known as a collision course.

Why is the US train still racing towards disaster (a bombardment of Iran, which would immediately bring about a blaze throughout the Persian Gulf, as a pasdaran general has just warned?) Three factors in Washington could explain it. The first is that George W. Bush, convinced by Cheney, does not want to go down in history as the US president that allowed Iran to become a nuclear military power. The second is that the policy of steadfastness with Tehran enjoys strong bipartisan support in Congress. The third is that the two foreign lobbies that exert the strongest influence on Bush (the Israeli and the Saudi lobbies) are agreed on the principle of US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The Israelis, because they do not believe that the rationale of deterrence would work with such an «enlightened» leader as Ahmadinezhad. And the Saudis, because they cannot bear the idea of Iranian hegemony over the Gulf.

The Iranian train is also racing inexorably towards a collision. Ali Larijani’s resignation, announced Saturday morning, from his post as secretary general of the Iranian Security Council, points to a radicalization of the regime and a concentration of power in Ahmadinezhad’s hands. Having hitherto been Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Larijani, a refined, cultivated, and thoughtful man, advocated finding a compromise solution with the West. Neither the United States nor the radicals in his own country gave him the time to devise one and establish it. By adhering to its precondition for a start to direct negotiations (Iran’s suspension of its uranium enrichment programme,) the United States has destroyed any prospect of negotiations. Indeed, Iran believed that if it suspended its enrichment activities (which were declared to have an exclusively civilian purpose,) it would no longer have anything left to negotiate. >>

Mark Alexander

US Cannot Fight, Says Mottaki of Iran
Photo of Mottaki courtesy of the BBC
Washington's military commitments to Iraq and Afghanistan would hamstring an attempt to wage war on Iran, the Iranian foreign minister has said.

"Our analysis is clear: [the] US is not in a position to impose another war in our region, against their taxpayers," Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters.

He warned Washington against making such a "mad decision". Iran says US too tied up to fight (more)

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Iran Warns US Over War

Mark Alexander

A Typical Weak UN Response: “Force Should Be a Last Resort”
BBC: A warning by France's foreign minister that the world should prepare for war over Iran's nuclear programme has drawn an angry response from Iran.

Iran's foreign ministry said the remark had damaged the credibility of France, while the official Iranian news agency accused Paris of aping Washington.

On Sunday France's Bernard Kouchner said: "We have to prepare for the worst, and the worst is war." Iran scorns French warning of war (more) »

BBC VIDEO:
France Warns of War with Iran

Mark Alexander

France Warns of War with Iran
BBC: A warning by France's foreign minister that the world should prepare for war over Iran's nuclear programme has drawn an angry response from Iran.

Iran's foreign ministry said the remark had damaged the credibility of France, while the official Iranian news agency accused Paris of aping Washington.

On Sunday France's Bernard Kouchner said: "We have to prepare for the worst, and the worst is war." Iran scorns French warning of war (more) »

FAZ:
Eine Drohung – nichts anderes Von Günther Nonnenmacher

Mark Alexander

US Prepares for War with Iran
THE TELEGRAPH: Senior American intelligence and defence officials believe that President George W Bush and his inner circle are taking steps to place America on the path to war with Iran, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.

Pentagon planners have developed a list of up to 2,000 bombing targets in Iran, amid growing fears among serving officers that diplomatic efforts to slow Iran's nuclear weapons programme are doomed to fail.

Pentagon and CIA officers say they believe that the White House has begun a carefully calibrated programme of escalation that could lead to a military showdown with Iran.

Now it has emerged that Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, who has been pushing for a diplomatic solution, is prepared to settle her differences with Vice-President Dick Cheney and sanction military action.

In a chilling scenario of how war might come, a senior intelligence officer warned that public denunciation of Iranian meddling in Iraq - arming and training militants - would lead to cross border raids on Iranian training camps and bomb factories.

A prime target would be the Fajr base run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds Force in southern Iran, where Western intelligence agencies say armour-piercing projectiles used against British and US troops are manufactured.

Under the theory - which is gaining credence in Washington security circles - US action would provoke a major Iranian response, perhaps in the form of moves to cut off Gulf oil supplies, providing a trigger for air strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities and even its armed forces. Bush setting America up for war with Iran (more) »

Mark Alexander