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Failure of the Iraq Compact Conference in Stockholm, May 29, 2008 By Jan Oberg ccun.org, June 5, 2008
Ten days ago TFF's Board sent an Open Letter addressed to the UN
Secretary-General, Iraq's Prime Minister, Sweden's Prime
Minister, and Sweden's Foreign Minister (Readers can find it
below).
Regrettably, our concern therein has been confirmed today.
The conference is broadcast on Swedish Television. I've watched
it and write to you while it happens. Here some scattered
observations:
Opening speeches by Iraq's PM and Dep PM which are pure PR
speeches well suited for the upcoming elections. "A new chapter"
or "the New Iraq" is repeated monotonously, Iraq is almost at
peace, security is so much better, most problems solved, people
largely reconciled and the country is ready for integration in
the global economy. (They speak more than twice the time
allotted and the program is derailed).
Apart from a lunch break that also lasts too long, the rest of
the day consists of foreign ministers from around the world
reading written speeches of 3 minutes.
Standard ingredients of the speeches: 1) Thanks to Sweden for hosting this, 2) We welcome the good news from Iraq, 3) My country has done so much for Iraq (even Denmark, an occupying country forgot the war and destruction), 4) There are still a few problems, and 5) We will help Iraq in the future. 6) Thank you!
After a few speeches - a yawning void.
It's as uniform as the dress code in the conference hall of 99%
men. It's is predictable and intellectually poor. It lacks
humanism, creativity and empathy with anyone outside the Green
Zone in Iraq. Women and children in Iraq are hardly mentioned.
In the lunch break, Swedish Television broadcasts another
"peace" discussion where actor Sharon Stone speaks about what
peace is. It's pretty basic instincts such as "peace is the
person next to you" and similar jewels of banality.
Is there any field in the modern world so devoid of basic
knowledge, intellectualism, and critical thinking? Is there any
better illustration of conflict illiteracy than the Iraq war?
How on earth is the world ever going to be a better place if
this is the best the world's foreign ministers can present to us
and media willingly broadcast without a question - on one of the
most serious problem areas in the world?
Whatever the answers, this PR event hosted by Sweden and the
United Nations for the repair of the consequences of the
unmentioned U.S. policies in Iraq is a seminal disgrace to the
Iraqi people. And to the very idea of peace and reconciliation.
***
TFF's Open
Letter about
the Iraq Compact Conference in Stockholm, May 29, 2008 May 19, 2008
Prime Minister of Sweden
Fredrik Reinfeldt
Your Excellency It is beyond doubt that Iraq and its people need the earliest international community's constructive attention and assistance after decades of dictatorship, wars with Iran and Kuwait, 13 years of mass-destructive economic sanctions and now 5 years of occupation and a multitude of internal civil war-like violence. For this reason, we welcome that the Swedish Government gives attention to the persisting Iraq catastrophe. We, however, would like to express our wish that the forthcoming Iraq Compact Annual Review Conference on May 29 in Stockholm will be an important step in the direction of creating sustainable peace, welfare, freedom (including freedom for the people from occupation and other violence) and democracy in Iraq and trustful relations between the Iraqis and the international community. However, from a professional peace and reconciliation perspective, we find it necessary to express our deep concerns about this UN-Swedish Iraq initiative for the reasons we explain below based on the ICI description that: "The International Compact is an initiative of the Government of Iraq for a new partnership with the international community. Its purpose is to achieve a National Vision for Iraq which aims to consolidate peace and pursue political, economic and social development over the next five years."
The time perspective There is a considerable risk that a conference over only one day will function more as a media event - the Annapolis conference serves as a stark reminder - than promote substantial, on-the-ground progress on the various ICI goals – not to speak of the security, environmental and other costs of bringing some 600 dignitaries to Sweden from all over the world for a few hours of deliberations. The opportunity costs seen in light of the misery of the Iraqi people are undoubtedly worth a reflection.
The participants It seems clear from materials provided on the homepage of the conference and at webcast press briefings that the ICI is a governments-only conference. The implicit assumption must be that governments in general and governments that have participated in the systematic destruction of Iraq over the last 15+ years in particular are now able, indeed the only actors able, to bring knowledge, creativity and fresh perspective of how to create peace and, in particular, reconciliation. We are of the opinion that this assumption is simply not realistic. As persons with many years of professional engagement in conflict analysis, peace education, academic studies in a variety of peace-related fields as well as peace work on the ground in places such as all parts of the former Yugoslavia, Somalia, Palestine, Iraq in 2002-2003, Burundi and a few other hot spots, we would like to share our basic conviction with you that peace and reconciliation - just like economics, law, military and energy issues – requires a minimum of expertise and professionalism. We regret deeply, therefore, that the following three types of resource persons and inputs seem to be conspicuously absent from your conference: - specialists in peace - making
and building, conflict-resolution, reconciliation and forgiveness; The tragic state of affairs in Iraq is predominantly a result of massive amounts of outdated philosophies and policies residing both within the dictatorship and in circles who believe in international military-based problem-solving. If your conference opened up to a broader participation, you would likely obtain, inspiration, concepts and perspectives which embody at least some lessons learned from the past and new philosophies and policies for a better Iraq, a better region and a more humane world. It would be particularly regrettable if a democratic country such as Sweden does not want to grasp this unique opportunity to invite citizens' voices or peace expertise given its earlier tradition of peace and disarmament policies and intellectual innovative policies such as that of ‘common security’ that featured prominently in the process which spelled the end of the Cold War structure. What we hear from around the world is that civil society is increasingly disappointed with Scandinavian hesitancy to get involved on a broad-based debate about conflict resolution not only in Iraq but elsewhere. Likewise, the United Nations, its Secretaries-General and countless declarations emphasize the importance of "we, the peoples" and how desirable government-civil society co-operation and co-ordination is. When it matters most, as in the case of Iraq, these words remain devoid of any substance.
The occupation This conference as well as UNSC Resolution 1770 omits every mention of the U.S.-led invasion, the occupation and its consequences since 2003. To discuss the future of Iraq – a “Shared Vision” – without addressing a) the urgent, necessary withdrawal of every occupation soldier and b) the simultaneous introduction of an entirely new, predominantly civilian international presence, is and will remain an intellectual, moral and political cul de sac.
The existing peace plans for and with Iraq We take the opportunity to inform
you that there exist three, only three, publicly known proposals or
plans for the long-term peace and reconciliation inside
Iraq and between Iraq and the international community. The
latter is entirely ignored in your initiative. - Former US Senator George
McGovern’s and William R. Polk, The Way Out of War: A Blueprint
for Leaving Iraq Now (2006); - The Swedish Transnational
Foundation for Peace and Future Research, TFF’s 10 Point Plan
Towards Peace In and With Iraq (evolving 2007-2008) Incidentally, in contrast to the ICI conference and the UN, they mention the occupation and consider it imperative that it comes to an urgent end sooner rather than later. They also share that withdrawal is not enough but must be accompanied by a new partnership with the international community. We take pleasure in enclosing the TFF Plan for your inspiration and hope to hear your views in response to our concerns. As a Swedish think tank with an international reputation in academia and in on-the-ground conflict-mitigation since 1986, we are ready at any time to place our experience and professional peace and reconciliation knowledge at your disposal.
Sincerely The Board of the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, TFF:
Jan Oberg,
Dr.hc,co-founder
Ina Curic,
MA,
Vicky Samantha Rossi,
MA
Annette Schiffmann
Christina Spännar
Hans von Sponeck http://www.transnational.org/Area_MiddleEast/2008/TFFBoard_IraqCompStockholm.html
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