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G8 and Terror - Qui bono?

Thierry Blanc | 08.07.2005 13:57 | G8 2005 | Anti-militarism | Ecology | Globalisation | Terror War

comentary on yesterday's terror and G8 summit
Terror and who profits? The G8 becoming a farce.
terror in London compared to US-British involment in Iraq. The causes of terrorism and how we can fight them.

G8 & terror
Qui bono?

Forgotten the climate change – with terror striking now what do we have to worry about the future? Bush and Blair – the leaders against terror - can prove their agenda again.
Whoever is behind the terror – and there is no question that yesterday act is terror against the innocents – the beneficiary is the military industrial complex. Like last year's blast in Istanbul - when Bush visited England - pushing all the attention away from the demonstration against him, yesterday's bombs destroyed any attempts for real resolutions concerning global warming and true poverty alleviation.
No head of State can voice true critique against environmental degradation when terror strikes the host. Instead of real debt alleviation and major steps against global warming we hear the typical, empty phrases. Why - should we ask – did this act of terror just stroke now when the G 8 are meeting? So-called “Islamic terror” seems to work perfectly for those who do not want any agreements on carbon dioxide reduction or real poverty alleviation.
Fear is the main ingredient needed to justify the war on terror and to keep the taxpayer willing to pay – a billion dollar a day! When we look at Iraq – behind the frame the mass media lets us see – yesterday's terror in London pales compared to the horrors caused by US and British involvement there.
Speeches on the graves of the victims for a free world, for spreading democracy, for fighting evil shadow successfully the possibilities for real actions the G8 conference was supposed take.
US-Brittish involvement in war was and is not the answer to terror. On the contrary, it is one of the means to perpetuate it: The ongoing human rights violations against the local population in Iraq, the unspeakable humiliation of innocent prisoners, the war crimes – almost unmentioned in the media – from cluster bombs to depleted uranium munitions drive the people to the extremists far more efficient than any Islamistic tub-thumper.
The other cause of terrorism is the very poverty the G8 summit was supposed to address: In Gandhi's words “A non-violent system of government is clearly an impossibility so long as the wide gulf between the rich and the hungry millions persists. ... A violent and bloody revolution is a certainty one day unless there is a voluntary abdication of riches and the power that riches give and sharing them for the common good.” What we need is not a white-wash for the rich nations and transnational companies. What we need is true capacity building in and for the poorest nations, fair trade regulations and debt relieve without cancelling the aid. The masses of the poor in Asia and Africa are not a burden. They are the future and they might be the solution for an over-aging of western society. Instead of policies enriching a few (and greedy) and impoverishing millions we need policies that empower the poor, so that they can come out of poverty by themselves. We need policies for the modest, that ensures the basic needs of a human being. If we succeed to fulfil the poor's basic needs, lift them up so that they can earn a living in dignity, the overall improvement of efficiency will eventually help our own society in a few decades when young people are a scarcity. Proper development aid and fair trade regulations will not only dry out the causes of terrorism but in long term secure our own future. There is enough money around, it's just spent on the wrong sector. There are enough political organisations that can take steps, but they just white-wash the agenda of the greedy. There are enough ways to fight terrorism, it's just done by the wrong people in the wrong way.

Thierry Blanc
- e-mail: thierry.blanc@gmx.ch