The Guardian reported on Friday's selection by the Nobel Committee of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) as the winner of the 2013 Peace Prize. "The international chemical weapons watchdog, a relatively new global body, set up in 1997 in The Hague, with a relatively tiny annual budget of around £60m, trumped the established bookmakers' favourites of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl turned advocate for female education, and Denis Mukwege, the Congolese gynecologist who has helped huge numbers of rape victims." The announcement was made by Nobel Committee chair Thorbjørn Jagland. The prize was awarded for OPCW's " 'extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons'and nudge the few remaining nations that had not yet signed up to the organization." Angola, Egypt, North Korea, South Sudan, and Syria (which have not yet signed the Chemicals Weapons Convention) plus Israel and Myanmar (which have signed but not yet ratified the convention) are considered non-member states. "Addressing reporters, Jagland said the award was a reminder to nations with remaining chemical weapons, such as the US and Russia, to get rid of them, "especially because they are demanding that others do the same, like Syria". He added: "We now have the opportunity to get rid of an entire category of weapons of mass destruction … That would be a great event in history if we could achieve that."
In the October issue of Le Monde Diplomatique, Serge Hamili takes on Obama detractors, who claim America's credibility was lost when Obama did not bomb Syria. "The warmongers urged him to take a strong line in Syria: to violate international law by resorting to force without Security Council authorisation; to take no notice of anything Congress had to say; to disregard what it did say if that contradicted his expressed wishes; and to launch a military operation with far fewer allies than Bush’s “coalition of the willing” in 2003." As for credibility, he notes America lost much of its credibility in pursuing unjustifiable, misguided wars such as "domino-theory" Vietnam ("Three million Indochinese perished. In 1979, four years after the US defeat, China and Vietnam were [engaged in a border] war") and "axis-of-evil" Iraq ("Today, Iraq is in ruins and the Baghdad government established by US soldiers is closer than ever to Iran.") In October 2002, a young Senator Obama, in defining his opposition to the coming invasion of Iraq declared his opposition to what he called "dumb wars." By pursuing a diplomatic solution to Syria, Obama "seems to have concluded that his credibility would easily survive a refusal to enter another dumb war in the Middle East."
In the same issue of Le Monde Diplomatique, Philippe Rekacewicz writes of the West's inadvertent role in the spread of the influence of jihadist terrorists: "Since 9/11 there have been four major western interventions in the Middle East and North Africa (not counting Israel’s wars in Lebanon and Gaza), which have contributed to the weakening of states and spread of jihadist groups." He cites Afghanistan ("...the Taliban are stronger than ever [since their expulsion]. The conflict has spread to Pakistan, mainly through the use of drones."), Iraq ("Al-Qaida, not previously present, forms, drawing thousands of volunteers, mainly from the Caucasus and the Gulf, and mujahedin who first took up arms in Afghanistan. The state is struggling to rebuild itself."), Libya ("Thousands of fighters, largely African, who were enrolled in the Libyan army, swarm across the region, abandoning their arsenals, which are plundered. No one controls the border areas."), and Mali ("Although UN troops take over, France remains the central pivot of security in a phantom state. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) fighters are scattered across the region.")
Al Jazeera reports on the start of the regimen to destroy the Syrian weapons. "On Sunday [Oct 6], the U.N. began the long process of securing and destroying Syria's estimated 1,000-ton stockpile of chemical weapons. Syrian personnel, under the supervision of international disarmament inspectors, are working under a Nov. 1 deadline set by the U.N. to destroy the Assad government's capability to produce and use the weapons." But Al Jazeera also reminds us that the Syrian civil war continues "Syrian government warplanes bombed rebel positions near a strategic northern town Tuesday...The warfare is a reminder that the agreement to destroy the Assad regime's unconventional weapons doesn't address an ongoing civil war that has seen more than 100,000 killed with conventional arms." "Angela Merkel and her Christian Democrat party (CDU/CSU) have won a resounding victory in Germany’s general election," writes Chris Bickerton in October's Le Monde Diplomatique. This is not surprising since Germany has uniquely survived the Eurozone crisis. German industry "reformed itself in the early 2000's and rode an export-led boom that continues today....Germany’s current account surplus, at $246bn over the last year (6.6% of GDP), is greater than China’s." Another factor in the victory was Merkel's steady drift leftwards. Her adopting "policies that first came from the left...had the effect of emptying much of the campaign of any traditional ideological conflict.... Instead, the campaign was fought around the language of risk and of personality. Germans preferred Merkel’s low-key, homely aspect to Steinbrück’s debonair image and, seeking reassurance in the widespread depoliticisation, voted for Merkel’s motherly, risk-averse approach." As for the meaning of Merkel's victory for the rest of Europe: "It is possible that Merkel will soften her stance to some extent now the election is over... [She also] may compromise...on measures to boost domestic demand. If Germans were to consume a little more rather than save so much, that would help pull other Eurozone economies out of their deep depression."
An October 10 article in The Guardian shows once again the divergence between the United States and other advanced industrialized nations on executions. "A German manufacturer confirmed on Thursday it had taken the extraordinary step of suspending shipments of a widely used drug to a US distributor this year after 20 vials were mistakenly sent to the state of Missouri to be used in executions." The death penalty is banned in the European Union, and it bans the export of drugs for use in executions. Missouri had been expected to "become the first US state to use the drug in an execution scheduled for 23 October...The German company's confirmation it had suspended the shipments came a day after Missouri announced that it would return the drugs to the distributor. Missouri is taking the unusual step some 11 months after the distributor frantically pleaded for the return of the vials, according to emails recently made public." The Death Penalty Information Center reported on October 11 that "Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has stayed the execution of Allen Nicklasson, which was scheduled for October 23, due to concerns surrounding the use of propofol in executions. Gov. Nixon has directed the Department of Corrections to modify the execution protocol to include a different form of lethal injection."
The qualifying rounds for the 2014 World Cup move towards completion over the next few weeks, with many important games occurring through October 15. The Guardian lists "10 things to look out for" in these qualifiers in an entertaining October 11 post. Some European teams that haven't been to the World Cup tournament for a while (e.g., Belgium) are in a position to qualify for the slate of 32.
Photos
Map of the multiplying jihadist paths is from Le Monde Diplomatique
Photo of chemical weapons inspectors by Mohamed Abdullah/Reuters was published in Al Jazeera.
Are You in a Death Penalty State?
32 states in the US still have a death penalty. 18 states plus the District of Columbia have abolished it. Link to DPIC fact sheet on the death penalty. Want to do something about it? Click on the link for your state at the DPIC's State Information page then scroll down to "Resources". Information there will include organizations that work for the abolishment of the death penalty in your state.
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