Alternative Mar del Plata Declaration for the Summit of the Americas

Alternative Mar del Plata Declaration for the Summit of the Americas

US MILITARISM AND US Contribution to GLOBAL INSECURITY
Joan Russow (PhD)
Global Compliance Research Project

The US Ballistic missile scheme and many other actions by the US, and other states, by corporations, by institutions, and individuals have provoked directly or indirectly conflict around the world.

Time to condemn: the following are 52+ actions, primarily those of the US administration and US corporations but aided and abetted by institutions and individuals, that have to be addressed if the global community is to eliminate global insecurity and to be able to promote true security: common security.

(i) engaged in covert and overt "Operations" against independent states; from "Operation Zapata", and "Operation Northwoods" against Cuba, through "Operation Condor" in Chile, through years of euphemistic operations such as "Operation Just Cause" against Panama and more recently "Operation enduring freedom" against Afghanistan, and "Operation Iraqi Freedom" against Iraq

(ii) promoted the spread of Evangelical Christianity around the world, undermining local indigenous cultures, and instilling fear through the dangerous, and absurd belief in the "rapture", "Armageddon" and "left behind" and denigrating other established beliefs and practices

- catered to the fundamentalists inspired by Ed McAteer, recently raptured, who in 1983 stated that "nuclear weapons are part of God's design;

- promulgated “premillennial dispensationalism"end times" scenario which has serious irreversible consequences.

(iii) propped and financed military dictators that furthered its vested national interests and targeted and assisted in the assassination of leaders of other sovereign states, who interfered with US national interests.

(iv) continued to maintain over 750 military bases in sovereign states around the world, and to circulate nuclear powered or nuclear arms capable vessels throughout the world, and to berth these vessels in urban ports

(v) produced weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear, chemical, and biological, in defiance of the global commitment made at Stockholm in 1972 to eliminate the production of weapons of mass destruction.

(vi) opposed disarmament, and profited more than any other country on the sale of arms

Recognizing the impact on development of enormous amount of material and human resources expended on the arms race
...In this respect special attention is drawn to the final document of the tenth special session of the General Assembly, the first special session devoted to disarmament encompassing all measures thought to be advisable in order to ensure that the goal of general and complete disarmament under effective international control is realized. This document describes a comprehensive programme of disarmament, including nuclear disarmament; which is important not only for peace but also for the promotion of the economic and social development of all, but also for the promotion of the economic and social development of all, particularly in the developing countries, through the constructive use of the enormous amount of material and human resources otherwise expended on the arms race (Par 13, The Nairobi Forward Looking Strategy, 1985)

(vii) planted land mines throughout the world, and failed to sign and ratify the Convention for the Banning of Landmines

in disregard of the 1981 Convention on Prohibition or restriction on the Use of Mines, Booby Traps and other devices;

Undertake to work actively towards ratification, if they have not already done so, of the 1981 Convention on Prohibitions or
Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects, particularly the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby Traps and Other Devices (Protocol II), with a view to universal ratification by the year 2000

(viii) withdrew from the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, and not only failed, as a nuclear arms power, to reduce nuclear weapons as agreed under Article VI but also has resumed development of nuclear weapons (Article VI: commits all parties to pursue negotiations in good faith on measures to end the nuclear arms race and to achieve disarmament.)

and
- failed to link civil nuclear energy with the development of nuclear arms
[Canada selling uranium to the US-probably a little bit of uranium in every one of the US nuclear bombs)

Further convinced that a prohibition of the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons would be a step towards the complete elimination of nuclear weapons leading to general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control (draft Convention on the prohibition of the use of nuclear weapons A/RES/38/75, 1983)

(ix) used weapons such as Depleted Uranium and cluster bombs that would be prohibited under the Geneva Protocol II

Prohibiting or restricting use of certain conventional weapons which may be deemed to be excessively injurious or to have indiscriminate effects
Recalling with satisfaction the adoption, on 10 October 1980, of the
Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects, together with the Protocol on Non-Detectable Fragments (Protocol I), the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby Traps and Other Devices (Protocol II) and the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary Weapons (Protocol III) (United Nations Resolution, 38/71, 1993)

(x) continued to support NATO'S first strike policy, and uses its control over NATO to circumvent the United Nations, and opposed the disbanding of NATO

(xi) perceived justice in terms of revenge through military intervention rather than seeking justice from the International Court of Justice,
and misconstrued Art 51 (self defence) of the Charter of the United Nations to justify premeditated non provoked military aggression
by illegally invading against Afghanistan

Article 51
Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by Members in the exercise of this right of self-defence shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security.

The fundamental purpose of the Charter of the United Nations is to prevent the scourge of war. Chapter VI --peaceful resolution of disputes of the Charter, provides the means to prevent war, including the application of article 27-the requirement for parties to a conflict to abstain from the vote, and the requirement under article 37 to take potential situations of conflict to the International Court of Justice

(xiii) misconstrued prevention of war by adopting a policy of pre-emptive/preventive attack to aggressively attack sovereign states that are designated as being on the axis of evil, by illegally invading Iraq in violation of
the UN Charter article 2 and international law and has committed the
'supreme' international crime of a war of aggression

The fundamental purpose of the Charter of the United Nations is to prevent the scourge of war. Chapter VI of the Charter, provides the means to prevent war, including the application of article 27-the requirement for parties to a conflict to abstain from the vote, and the requirement under article 37 to take potential situations of conflict to the International Court of Justice

(xiv) attempted to undermine the international resolve to prevent the scourge of war by intimidating or offering economic incentives in exchange for support for military intervention; (the US continually cajoles, intimidates, and bribes other members of the United Nations)

The UN Security Council which is an affirmative action program for nuclear powers violates the fundamental principle of the sovereign equality enshrined in the un charter. removal of chapter vii, and strengthening the role of the UN General Assembly should be disbanded.

and undermined the use of the Uniting for Peace resolution to prevent the scourge of war. by intimidating the members of United Nations General Assembly into not holding an emergency session of the UN General Assembly under the Uniting for Peace resolution

1. Resolves that if the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security in any case where there appears to be a threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression, the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately with a view to making appropriate recommendations to Members for collective measures, including in the case of a breach of the peace or act of aggression the use of armed force when necessary, to maintain or restore international peace and security. If not in session at the time, the General Assembly may meet in emergency special session within twenty-four hours of the request therefore. Such emergency special session shall be called if requested by the Security Council on the vote of any seven members, or by a majority of the Members of the United Nations; (1951, Uniting for peace resolution)

(xv) participated in the assassination of or assassinated state leaders who interfere with US interests or who are deemed to be a potential threat 9-1-73 (in Chile);

(xvi) promulgated propaganda for war in violation of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights;

(xvii) ignored the provisions in the Convention on the Right to Correction which affirmed:
",,, to protect mankind [humanity] from the scourge of war, to prevent the recurrence of aggression from any source, and to combat all propaganda which is ether designed or likely to provoke or encourage any threat to peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression;

(xviii) failed to reduce their military budget and reallocate military expenses and transfer the savings into global social justice as undertaken through numerous UN Conference Action Plans and UN General Assembly Resolutions. (The US spends over 500 billion per year on the military and is the major exporter of arms);

(xix) demonstrated disdain for the international rule of law, and refused to accept the jurisdiction or decision of the International Court of Justice;

(xxiv) disregarded obligations incurred through conventions, treaties, and covenants; and made commitments through conference action plans related to Common security - peace, environment, human rights and social justice;

(xx) failed to sign, failed to ratify, failed to enact the necessary legislation to ensure compliance with, or respect for Common Security international Conventions, Covenants and Treaties;

(xxi) undermined international obligations incurred through Conventions, Treaties, and Covenants, and commitments through UN Conference Action Plans, related to Common Security -peace, environment, human rights and social justice;

(xxii) failed to act on commitments made through UN Conference Action Plans, or failed to fulfill expectations created through General Assembly Resolutions;

(xxiii) extended "human security" to mean "humanitarian intervention" and "Responsibility to protect have become a licence to intervene militarily in the name of humanitarian intervention; these expressions are used to legitimize military intervention;

(xxiv) violated Geneva conventions on the treatment of civilians, and has violated both international human rights and humanitarian law during the occupations of both Iraq and Afghanistan;

Undertaking to not make works or installations releasing dangerous forces [substances and activities] that could impact on civilians
Works or installations containing dangerous forces, namely dams, dykes and nuclear electrical generating stations, shall not be made the object of attack, even where these objects are military objectives, if such attack may cause the release of dangerous forces and consequent severe losses among the civilian population. Other military objectives located at or in the vicinity of these works or installations shall not be made the object of attack if such attack may cause the release of dangerous forces from the works or installations and consequent sever losses among the civilian population. (Art. LVI.1 Bern [Geneva] Protocol II of 1977 on the Protection of Victims of Non-international Armed Conflicts in Force 1978)

Protecting victims of International armed conflicts
• Protected persons are entitled, in all circumstances, to respect
for their persons, their honour, their family rights, their religious
convictions and practices, and their manners and customs. They shall at all times be humanely treated, and shall be protected especially against all acts of violence or threats thereof and against insults and public curiosity.
• Women shall be especially protected against any attack on their honour, in particular against rape, enforced prostitution, or any form of indecent assault.
• Without prejudice to the provisions relating to their state of health, age and sex, all protected persons shall be treated with the same consideration by the Party to the conflict in whose power they are, without any adverse distinction based, in particular, on race, religion or political opinion (Art. 27 Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, 1949)

Prohibiting the starvation of civilians through attacking objects indispensable to the survival of civilian population
Starvation of civilians as a method of combat is prohibited. It is therefore prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless, for that purpose, objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as foodstuffs, agricultural areas for the production of foodstuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water installations and supplies and irrigation works. (Art. XIV Bern [Geneva] Protocol II of 1977 on the Protection of Victims of Non-international Armed Conflicts in force 1978)

(xxv) violated the Convention against Torture through Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

counseling other parties to engage in torture, through being a party to the offence of torture, and through counseling another person to be a party to the offence of torture in Guantanamo Bay prison, and in Abu Ghraib prison; and through the act of “rendering” – sending individuals to countries that engaged in torture

(xxvi) engaged in cruel and inhumane punishment through the practice of capital punishment, in violation of accepted international norms

(xxvii) promulgated globalization, deregulation and privatization through promoting trade agreements, such as the WTO/FTAA/NAFTA etc that undermine the rule of international public trust law, and condoned and actively facilitated corporations benefiting and profiting from war;

(xxviii) advocated and supported IMF structural adjustment program, and exploited vulnerable and indigenous peoples around the world;

(xxix) opposed an international commitment to transfer .7% of the GDP for overseas aid, and the canceling of third world debt;

(xxx) promoted the privatization of public services such as water, and health care, and reduced funding for universities, and promoted corporate funding of education and corporate direction of research;

(xxxi) promulgated globalization, deregulation and privatization through promoting trade agreements, such as the WTO/FTAA/NAFTA etc that undermine the rule of international public trust law;

(xxxii) subsidized and invested in companies that have developed weapons of mass destruction, that have violated human rights, that have denied social justice, that have exploited workers, that have destroyed the environment;

(xxxiii) failed to ensure that corporations, including transnational corporations comply .. with international law, and to revoke charters of corporations that violate human rights, destroy the environment, denies social justice and contributes to war and conflict;

(xxxiv) opposed Mandatory International Ethical Normative (MIEN) standards and enforceable regulations to drive industry to conform to international law, and supported corporate "voluntary compliance";

(xxxv) failed to revoke charters and licences of corporations that have violated human rights, including labour rights, that have contributed to war and violence, and that have led to the destruction of the environment;

(xxxvi) promoted the privatization of public services such as water, and health care, and reduced funding for universities, and promoted corporate funding of education and corporate direction of research;

(xxxviii) contributed to environmentally induced diseases and poverty related health problems and denied universal access, to publicly funded not for profit health care system;

(xxxix) produced or permitted the production of toxic, hazardous, atomic waste, and failed to prevent the transfer to other states of substances and activities that are harmful to human health or the environment as agreed at the UN Conferences on the Environment and Development, 1992;

(xl) produced, promoted, grown or approved genetically engineered foods and crops and led to a deterioration of the food supply, and heritage seeds;

(xl)i disregarded obligations to not defeat the purpose of the Convention on Biological Diversity which the US has signed but not yet ratified;

(xlii) ignored the warnings of the Intergovernmental panel on Climate change, disregarded obligations under the Framework Convention on Climate Change (to which the US is a signatory) and refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol;

(xliii) discriminated on the following grounds:
- race, tribe, or culture;
- colour, ethnicity, national ethnic or social origin, or language; nationality, place of birth, or nature of residence (refugee or immigrant, migrant worker);
- gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, or form of family,
- disability or age;
- religion or conviction, political or other opinion, or - class, economic position, or other status;

(xliv) denied women's reproductive rights, in contravention of commitments made under the International Conference on Population and Development;

(xlv) denied fundamental rights through the imposition of religious beliefs;

(xlvi) enacted anti-terrorism legislation that violates civil and political rights, and engaged in racial profiling

(xlvii) targeted and intimidated activists and discriminated on the grounds of political and other opinion (a listed ground in the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights- to which the US is a signatory):

The FBI has included the following in their designation of terrorists:
"... category of domestic terrorists, left-wing groups, generally profess a revolutionary socialist doctrine and view themselves as protectors of the people against the "dehumanizing effects" of capitalism and imperialism. They aim to bring about change in the United States through revolution rather than through the established political process."
"Anarchists and extremist socialist groups -- many of which, such as the Workers’ World Party, Reclaim the Streets, and Carnival Against Capitalism -- have an international presence and, at times, also represent a potential threat in the United States. For example, anarchists, operating individually and in groups, caused much of the damage during the 1999 World Trade Organization ministerial meeting in Seattle."
"Special interest terrorism differs from traditional right-wing and left-wing terrorism in that extremist special interest groups seek to resolve specific issues, rather than effect more widespread political change. Special interest extremists continue to conduct acts of politically motivated violence to force segments of society, including, the general public, to change attitudes about issues considered important to their causes. These groups occupy the extreme fringes of animal rights, pro-life, environmental, anti-nuclear, and other political and social movements."

(xlviii) failed to distinguish legitimate dissent from criminal acts of subversion;

(xlix) engaged in racial profiling;

(l) discriminated against immigrants, and failed to sign the Convention for the Protection of Migrant Workers and their Families;

(li) Continued to be an international rogue state, intruding and intervening, unilaterally and abandoning multilateralism;

(lii) Undermined the notion of democracy by couching a plutocracy/theocracy in democratic notions of "freedom";

Perpetuated a double standard by castigating states that harbour terrorists while condoning the harbouring of terrorists on its own territory, and by decrying the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction while maintaining the largest arsenal of weapons of mass destruction


Opposed the proposal to Move the United Nations from the United States, because of the disregard, by the current administration of the United States for International law and institutions, and because of the discriminatory access to visas and thus to wide participation in International conferences taking place in the United Nations based in the United States.


Solutions have never resided in the fragmentation of issues; if real global change is to occur this change will be found in a willingness to address the complexity and interdependence of issues.

True security- is not “collective security”, or "human security" which has been extended to "humanitarian intervention" and used along with the "responsibility to protect" notion to justify military intervention in other states.

True security is common security and involves the following objectives:

• to promote and fully guarantee respect for human rights including labour rights, civil and political rights, social and cultural rights- right to food, right to housing, right to universally accessible not for profit health care system , right to education and social justice;
• to enable socially equitable and environmentally sound employment, and ensure the right to development;
• to achieve a state of peace, social justice and disarmament; through reallocation of military expenses
• to create a global structure that respects the rule of law ; and
• to ensure the preservation and protection of the environment, respect the inherent worth of nature beyond human purpose reduce the ecological footprint and move away from the current model of overconsumptive development.

For years, through conventions, treaties and covenants, through Conference Action plans, and through UN General Assembly resolutions, member states of the United Nations have incurred obligations, made commitments and created expectations related to the furtherance of Common Security.