Det danske Fredsakademi

Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 6. december 2005 / Time Line December 6, 2005

5. December 2005, 7. December 2005

12/06/2005
TFF Amahoro (Peace) Coalition in Burundi, December 6, 2005
APPEAL FOR AN OPEN CENTER FOR PEACE AND RECONCILIATIO N
Twelve of the best Burundian NGOs - youth, women, teachers, media, scholars, former militaries, etc - have joined forces to set up the first-ever learning center in support of one of the world's most promising - but internationally unknown - peace processes.
Competent and experienced, they will foster peace and improve life among their 7 million fellow citizens in Burundi, the world's third materially poorest country with so much talent and energy. Burundi must be rewarded for having recognised in earnest that war is rubbish and peace is realistic and possible.
This is your 2006 people-to-people peace project. It's a TFF-initiated project. Do something positive today: read, spread the message and donate! Even the smallest support will make a huge difference.
http://www.transnational.org/forum/meet/2005/AmahoroCoal_CenterProp.html

12/06/2005
National Call-In Day on Iraq War – Tuesday, Dec. 6
On Tuesday, December 6, Congress will reconvene in Washington, D.C. -- and United for Peace and Justice, in conjunction with Win Without War, is calling for a massive national grassroots call-in day against the war.
We have an extraordinary window of opportunity to press our position. The Bush Administration is on the political defensive as never before -- witness Bush's very weak speech today -- and every day calls for immediate withdrawal from Iraq are becoming more widespread.
We're excited to be making this call together with Win Without War. As the two largest peace coalitions in the U.S., we have the potential to generate millions of calls to Congress.
We need to flood every single Congressional office with phone calls, faxes and email messages urging an immediate end to the war! To make this day as successful as possible, we're asking you, our member groups, to do the following:
1) Send a note to your members today letting them know about the planned call-in day next Tuesday. Feel free to forward this message.
2) Download the leaflet from our website promoting the call-in day, and distribute it widely between now and Tuesday.
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=3151
3) Forward our email alert about the call-in day to your email lists. We will send out an alert very early on Tuesday morning.
4) Plan to send a press release to your local media outlets on Monday, December 5, regarding the call-in day. (A sample release will be sent to you before then.) It is important that the media know about our grassroots efforts.
5) Organize a phone bank for Monday, December 5, to remind your members to call their Representatives and Senators the next day.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact the United for Peace and Justice office at 212-868-5545.
All best,
Leslie Kauffman
Mobilizing Coordinator
United for Peace and Justice
lak@unitedforpeace.org

12/06/2005
More for military as cost of Iraq war nears £4bn
By Jimmy Burnsand ; Peter Spiegel
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/b5efcc36-65fc-11da-8f40-0000779e2340.html
An additional £580m had been allocated for all military operations overseas, the chancellor said yesterday, taking the total cost of the war in Iraq to almost £4bn.
The new spending, the bulk of which will go on Iraq, takes the cost of foreign wars and peacekeeping missions this year to £980m, compared with almost £1.1bn last year.
The total amount Britain has spent on military operations since 2002, when the build-up for Iraq began and the bulk of military spending in Afghanistan occurred, is £4.9bn.
Gordon Brown said funding for the security and intelligence services, significantly boosted since September 2001, was to be increased by £85m to help to finance an ongoing recruitment drive for officers, agents and analysts.
The Treasury is making available an extra ring-fenced allocation of £50m, expected to be matched by similar funds from other government departments, to boost other areas of counter-terrorism and security planning, including policing and special equipment for other emergency services.
Although the subject of terrorism and security was less prominent than in some previous statements from the Treasury, the chancellor said "defending our country is the first duty of government".
Yesterday's allocation brings the annual spending on counter terrorism and security capabilities to more than £2bn, more than double the spending level in the year leading up to the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
Under spending targets set by the Treasury in March's budget, investment in the area of counter-terrorism and resilience was planned to top £2bn by 2007-08. But the London bombings in July exposed gaps in intelligence on Islamic terrorists, within the UK and internationally, and led to a review of contingency plans for dealing with the threat of further attacks.
John Reid, defence secretary, yesterday reiterated his hope that British troop levels in Iraq could be reduced next year if security and Iraqi forces improved, but he noted that he had prepared the armed forces for an expected new deployment to Afghanistan. Although no final decision has been taken, Britain is poised to form part of a three-nation force that will take over security in southern Afghanistan early next year.

12/06/2005
Make Some Noise: John Lennon – inspiring change through music
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
As a solo artist, John Lennon’s unique talent and passionate campaign for world peace made him one of the most influential activists the world has ever seen. "Peace is no violence, no frustration, no fear," claimed Lennon – and with this lyrical mantra, he strived to promote the issues he believed in, inspiring change through music which both provoked and united communities.
Lennon’s first foray into a musical career beyond the Beatles came in 1968, when he recorded the experimental Unfinished Music, No. 1: Two Virgins with Yoko Ono. On 20 March, 1969, the couple married, and marked their honeymoon in Amsterdam with a now-legendary “Bed-In” for peace – a simple means of, in Lennon's words, "expending the least energy to maximum effect".
"Bed in" for peace
It was the newlywed’s second Bed-In, however, in Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel, which led to a defining moment in the peace movement. From 26 May to 2 June 1969, John and Yoko talked Peace to anyone who would listen, from the comfort of their own bed. The torrent of repetitive media interviews they gave led to the birth of a simple but powerful slogan, ‘Give Peace a Chance’, which in turn became an anthem for the peace movement when an impromptu studio was set up in the hotel room. On 1 June 1969, Lennon and Ono were joined by an eclectic backing group, including singer Petula Clark and a group of Hare Krishna devotees, who helped lay down the infectious chorus.
Lyrical activism
During his last two years as a member of The Beatles, Lennon spent much of his time with Ono publicly protesting against the Vietnam War. He sent back the MBE he had received during the height of Beatlemania, "in protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing and support of America in Vietnam”, and spread billboards with the slogan "War Is Over! (If You Want It)" across 12 cities. Instant Karma
In February 1970, Lennon wrote, recorded and released Instant Karma, in the space of just one week. The single questions why we spend so much time dwelling on unimportant matters, instead of thinking about the world around us and the people we share it with, and became a major top ten hit in both the U.K. and the U.S.
Music with a message
After the Beatles officially split on 31 December 1970, Lennon’s protest music took on a new intensity. The release of Power to the People in early 1971 highlighted Lennon’s belief that if people come together as one, anything was possible. Through the song, he urged people to take action: “Say you want a revolution, Well you get on your feet, And out on the street.”
Lennon released the Imagine album, which featured the top ten title track, in October 1971. During a period of civil unrest and war, the release was perfectly timed, and both the album and single immediately topped the charts. Imagine inspired people and brought hope, and became the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed of all John Lennon's post-Beatles efforts.
Whilst it was his work in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s that cemented Lennon ‘s standing as a true icon, both as a songwriter and as a social activist, he released five further albums over the course of the next nine years.
His untimely death on 8 December, 1980, shook the world to the core. Aged just 40, Lennon’s assassination left a void in the hearts of millions. His gift for capturing and igniting public consciousness through song is one that few artists have matched, and twenty-five years after his death, his extraordinary melodies and lyrics continue to inspire and empower new generations.
Yoko Ono's gift to Amnesty International
In 2002 Yoko Ono donated the rights to Lennon’s solo songbook to Amnesty International. Now, with Ms. Ono’s blessing, artists are coming together to record cover versions of Lennon’s most powerful and resonant songs, in an effort to revive his uniquely potent mix of art and activism. In a world still troubled by war and poverty Lennon’s message is just as relevant today as it was when he first wrote the tracks.

12/06/2005
Ukraine joins the Southeastern European Defense Ministerial
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 6, 2005 - Ukraine joined a regional European security organization today at a meeting being held here and hosted by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
The Dec. 5-6 Southeastern European Defense Ministerial marks the first time the organization, founded in 1996, has held its annual meeting in the United States, Defense Department officials said. Ukraine joined SEDM members Italy, Greece, Turkey, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, Slovenia and Croatia.

12/06/2005
U.S.-Romanian Basing Agreement Helps Both Countries, Rumsfeld Says
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 6, 2005 - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld praised an agreement signed today by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that will allow U.S. troops to establish temporary bases for training in Romania.
"It's a good thing for Romania. It's a good thing for the United States," Rumsfeld said during a news conference at the annual Southeastern Europe Defense Ministerial, held here Dec. 5 and today.
Rumsfeld cautioned that any U.S. military bases in Romania should be considered as rudimentary forward operating sites, rather than the large, permanent bases developed for American troops in Germany during the Cold War. In the 21st century, most U.S. forces will be based in the United States, Rumsfeld said. Those forces need to be flexible and rapidly deployable to confront transnational threats like terrorism and can't be tied down on large overseas installations, he said.
Romanian Defense Minister Teodor Atanasiu said his nation's military would benefit and learn much by training alongside American troops.
Rumsfeld also saluted the group's accomplishments during this conference, the first one the nine-year-old organization has held in the United States. "We had excellent discussions on the progress and the future of cooperation of southeastern Europe," Rumsfeld said, noting SEDM has come a long way since its inception in 1996.
Ukraine today joined SEDM members Italy, Greece, Turkey, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, the Macedonia, Slovenia and Croatia.
SEDM members also voted today to deploy the organization's Southeastern Europe Brigade headquarters to Kabul, Afghanistan, for a six-month peacekeeping mission starting in February 2006. "This effort will give the Afghan people some encouragement and confidence as the free people of southeastern Europe reach out to aid a region that is well beyond their borders," Rumsfeld said.

12/06/2005

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