PAKISTAN REFUGEES

The worst disasters arise from moral failures of human beings, and war has to be the principle example.

Even seeming natural disasters, such as famines have been attributed to human agency. Earthquakes and storms will always be with us. There are now over 2 million refugees in Pakistan, and their plight has been caused by clear intention, a policy of cruelty. So who is responsible for this crime against humanity? Why did this tragedy have to happen?

These questions are seldom raised by the corporate and government media who seek not to explain events, but merely report them. After all, it seems by some devious and inexplicable reasons we are now at war with the Taliban who have morphed into an existential threat on the verge either of establishing Pashunistan or seizing the Pakistan nuclear weapons.

Incidentally, if anyone wished to know why they hate the United States, that beacon of righteousness, they might consider the evidence on the ground of the behavior of American soldiers. One Mother set off by telling her son not to do anything he might regret for the rest of his life and a litany of tragedy unfolded before her. .

I had not realized why Nuremberg called “aggressive war as the supreme international crime”.Benjamin Ferencz, who was chief prosecutor at Nuremberg said in 2006:

Ferencz said that after Nuremberg the international community realized that every war results in violations by both sides, meaning the primary objective should be preventing any war from occurring in the first place.

He said the atrocities of the Iraq war–from the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and the massacre of dozens of civilians by U.S. forces in Haditha to the high number of civilian casualties caused by insurgent car bombs–were highly predictable at the start of the war.

“Every war will lead to attacks on civilians,” he said. “Crimes against humanity, destruction beyond the needs of military necessity, rape of civilians, plunder–that always happens in wartime. So my answer personally, after working for 60 years on this problem and [as someone] who hates to see all these young people get killed no matter what their nationality, is that you’ve got to stop using warfare as a means of settling your disputes.”

It seems that the Afghan War had the permission of the UN Security Council – that makes it OK. And by extension makes it OK to unleash constant drone attacks in Pakistan and now induce the Pakistan Government to attack and displace its own people. There is a figleaf of legality, but the consequences of war do not change, nor can they be predicted.

Both Australia and the United States, doubtless among other countries are providing aid. Al Jazeera reports that Zardari, the Pakistan President, is promising to extend the war and extend the suffering and misery:

“We’re going to go into Waziristan, all these regions, with army operations,” the paper quoted the president as saying.

“Swat is just the start. It’s a larger war to fight.”

Our correspondent said the number of displaced is expected to increase, as thousands of people reportedly are leaving the Mehsud area in South Waziristan.

“They are not being helped entirely by the government. The people of this country are going out of their way to give them some kind of shelter.”

President Zardari convened a meeting of government and UN officials on Wednesday on relief and rehabilitation efforts.

Yousuf Raza Gilani, the prime minister, said Pakistan was fighting the Taliban on two fronts – in the mountains and in trying to cope with the humanitarian crisis.

An earlier report  carried by ABC Online from AFP described the progress of  the war waged by the Pakistan Army to retake Mingora, once a tourist spot noted for its scenic beauty. The implication, as suggested by Al Jazeera, is that the number of refugees will increase:

The UN estimates that about 1.4 million people have been displaced since fighting in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) started at the end of April.

That estimate is in addition to about 550,000 people already displaced by fighting across the NWFP and in other Pakistani regions.

John Holmes, the UN humanitarian chief, said only about 20 per cent of displaced civilians are inside about 24 refugee camps at the moment.

Then there are the numbers of the opposing forces, which presumably do not tell the full story. It is not as if, for example, that “the Taliban”, the tribal groups, “the miscreants”, the religious fundamentalists have heavy artillery, aerial bombers or drones. According to Al Jazeera:

Pakistan’s military has said up to 15,000 troops are fighting 4,000 well-armed Taliban in Swat.

No problems, “the war should be over by Christmas”.

ELSEWHERE:

The BBC reports support for the Government and the Army in reaction to the brutal methods employed by the fundamentalists in the Swat Valley that included beheadings. Various people told the BBC Jounalist, Owen Bennett-Jones:

“They were beheading people, they were shooting innocent people without any warning, they were terrifying us,” one woman tells me.
“They were stopping our kids from going to school, they were kidnapping young boys.”
A man standing nearby is also eager to talk.
“With my own hands I have buried 18 people who were beheaded, even children,” he tells me grimly.
“They are not friends, they are not our allies, they’re our enemies, they are criminals, they are gangsters.”

Some in the US Congress are asking where did the $12B in aid go, if the army is not equipped for this conflict. The journalist concludes:

The militants are well equipped and well trained. This is a conflict that could go on for years.

Where did the brutality come from? Afghanistan? Terrorizing the civilian population as a whole – rather than selectively – is not a good war to run a guerrilla war.

I would not justify brutal and murderous behavior on anybody’s part, but did negotiation stop between the tribal leaders and the Pakistan Government and why?

Since we live in a global society, we now more than ever need rules of behavior and laws that apply to everybody without exception. Those that transgress humanitarian law should be subject to criminal indictment.

I suspect that this BBC report does not fully represent the wider debate occurring in Pakistan. Secondly, crimes committed by others, including the so-called “collateral damage” of drone (and helicopter) attacks need to be acknowledged.

As might be said, commenting is not enough, we have to find a way to act so as to create a more just and peaceful world. What are the twenty ways each of us can engage this project?

Susanne Koelbl, Sohail Nasir and Shazada Zulfiqar have an article in Speigel, “The Fight for the Swat Valley”. What is different about this article is that they have interviews with members of “the Taliban” as a demonstration that both sides can be represented. The article as well illustrates the fate of one family who are trapped in Mingora by the religious fundamentalists and subject to shelling from the army. What passes for journalism by some media outlets might not meet the standard of best practice.

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