Where Is The Truth?

There is an agreement over theIraqi war. It seems as if everybody prefers virtual to real reality: it applies equally to military experts,politicians and even the public! It is said that truth is the first victim of every war, but I am wonderingwhy it has to be the case in Macedonia nowadays. 

Why do people prefer not to hear the truth? Is it possiblethat the majority can calmly consent to the deceit and misinformation about this war in which Macedonia is an"honourable member of the Alliance of the Willing"? How is it possible in a country whose populationrecently declared over 80 percent disagreement with the war in all public opinion polls? Are people honestonly in their protected anonymity, or are there very few who dare say something which is not politicallycorrect and desirable, or maybe even risky?

Or perhaps our petty souls do not like to be bothered, and ourconscience distressed by the true picture of the war in which we take politically part? After all, why shoulda poor and depressed Macedonian citizen care about other people's sufferings, about the real motives andconsequences of a war that takes place so far away?

Can we actually just say: it does not concern us? Our grandparents used to say thatevery mountain has its own weight, and here in Macedonia we have too many mountainous of daily problems tocope with, such as post-war traumas, poverty, insecurity, corruption, lies and scandals. And after all, whatcan we do and how can our voice make a difference in global affairs far beyond our individual ability? 

Talkingabout the Iraqi drama, I have problems naming it war as the opponents have not been even nearly equal, andeverything resembles the old legend about David and Goliath. The only difference nowadays is that Goliath issupposed to be the good, just and endangered one. Without a visible reason, the memories of our 2001 conflictskeep coming back to my mind. In the spring of 2001, for us here in Skopje, it was so tempting to go out andsit with friends, to get away from all disturbing TV news coming from the war fronts (only 30-40 kilometresaway), all in a futile attempt to find temporary oblivion: to forget that everything was happening here andnow and not somewhere behind the hills...

We still owe ourselves an honest encounter with the truth about our own conflict, justas in this very moment we, as members of the global village, have no moral right to turn a blind eye to theevents that are changing this world, make it uglier, less secure and more unjust. The truth about what ishappening in Iraq is the truth about our own future and about ourselves.

As in 2001, I have been repeatedly overwhelmed by the feeling of helplessness andpowerlessness. To be an expert, to be able to foresee the tragic outcome, to be certain about the forthcomingterror which cannot be justified by any legal, political or moral arguments, and still to be doomed and unableto do anything in order to prevent it! At least, if only those around you had been willing to listen andunderstand...

The main defeat these days has been the obviously failure of the intellectuals in theBalkans to get together and sign a joint anti-war declaration. Two drafters (a colleague from Belgrade and I)were assisted by an Italian NGO in an attempt to join our voices against the war in Iraq, against theviolence, against anybody that uses terror and force, whether it be the USA or Saddam's regime. 

We tried tooffer an escape from the false trap imposed on us by saying that if one is against the war, it means s/he issupporting the cruel regime in Baghdad. We failed miserably. Many of us, alleged intellectuals from theBalkans, representative of peoples who have gone through the horror of inter- and intra-state wars, failed tofind common ground, a stand against the war and the violence, no matter where it comes from and who justifiesit. We are still hostages of our own divisions and hatreds, prejudices and traumas. Sadly, it appeared that weare still unable to heal our own wounds and to offer hands of understanding and reconciliation - thus wemiserably failed to offer the Iraqi people some moral support, understanding and empathy.

In a moment of despair, a wise and experienced colleague and friend described to methe destiny of peace researchers, i.e. the fate of the mythical Cassandra, who won Apollo's prophetic power inexchange for her love but was condemned to remain unable to convince others: no one believed her prophecies.Nevertheless, applied to the Iraqi tragedy, evoking Cassandra's syndrome is simply not enough, it would bepure exaggeration. It has been so unbelievably easy to foresee and to identify the real motives and goals ofthe invasion, even insultingly easy to get to the true explanations. All that increases the frustration withthe majority of "intellectuals" who seem to keep silent about or openly deny the obvious farce andlies and take the "right" side on a political and public scene in their own societies.

For weeks now I have been starting my day by reading the latest updates about Iraq,about that biggest war in the new millennium. And constantly, a thought has been bothering me and raising thequestion: Hey, wait a minute! What's happening with Afghanistan - that first war in the 21st century? What'sgoing on with those poor people showered with bombs and bread, and then generously "liberated" bythe US, overwhelmed with promises and commitments to the effect that after the fall of the Taliban regime abrighter future would be just around the corner, that there would be a dignified life for dignified people,progress and democracy, women's rights.

Even under the pressure of the latest developments, I do not want, I refuse to forgetabout the people who paid their "liberation" with 10,000 civilian casualties (collateral damage!).It's simply unfair, it's immoral to forget about them and to abandon them in their despair and renewed chaos.As it is equally unfair to forget about the victims of our Balkan conflicts and international"remedies". Alas, the world media cry for fresh blood and fresh news... 

But, see a miracle: there isagain a kind of virtual reality which provides interactive maps about what is really happening in Iraq,strategic analyses and serious military reports. The media ask their reporters not to display disturbingscenes of human sufferings (again called collateral damage and unfortunate mistakes). Allegedly, it would notbe in compliance with international humanitarian law. All of a sudden, after the most blatant breaches anddisregard of it, somebody has remembered that there is something called international law and Genevaconventions!? What a hypocrisy!

It feels unfair and unjust to prevent a tear from dropping - at least, a tear for achild, whose name I learned from Fisk's daily reports from Baghdad. In his and some other reports coming fromthe spot, from the eye-witnesses, be it journalists or ordinary people, I can hear people's screams,despair, their blood flows from each printed line... Still these testimonies do not feel like an insult, likethe "sensation hunting" of ambitious "embedded" journalists. These are not technicallysophisticated reports, but probably the only voices that can make Iraqi civilians heard. Only a handful lonelymoral giants have the courage to see the truth, to write it down, and to "disturb" the White House,Westminster, or the Macedonian President - who, by the way, is a priest, a man of God!

Still, how can we make these voices heard in a small country where the majority doesnot read English, and even rarely reads local newspapers? Despite everything, day by day, I have to begin myday by sending a motherly thought of care and consolation to a little boy or girl to whom these reports drawmy attention. If I fail to do so, I won't be able to go on into the day and face my little and big problems,if I may call them problems at all. The least I can do is to loudly translate the reports to my old mother, asin my intellectual loneliness and isolation I badly need a person to share with these thoughts and pains.While reading, my voice starts trembling and ends in weeping. As a good woman, my mother cannot stand seeingmy breaking down in front of her eyes, so she begs me to stop reading because it upsets me too much. She saysit is bad for my health. Poor woman, she cannot understand that this is the healthiest thing I can do for mymoral and mental well-being. I am going through the article to its very end, while tears are dropping on thekeyboard.

In the vast ocean of alleged "information" on strategic moves, sieges andurbocide, use of new and unknown weapons (but also for the well-known ones such as DU missiles, cluster bombs,etc.), about the "heroism" in an action in which one female POW was rescued, I clearly see - thereis no real information. The only meaningful and horrible information, the only thing that really matters is,in Fisk's words, the immorality and the total failure of the human spirit, about humiliation and humandegradation. 

How many are there like him, how many dare go behind official reports about the military advancesof the "coalition" (i.e. the lonely, isolated and robust allies, in alliance only with themselvesand their deceit about the war)? Again, only the lonely giants are there, those who are not afraid to look atthe eyes of the children in agony, to hear the voiceless cry of their parents, and to tell us that these arefellow human beings! As I fear for the civilians, I fear even more about these "heroes'" well-being.How would this world look like without such journalists, such human beings and their brave voices?

Why is it so difficult to understand that even the soldiers have names, that they arehuman beings, young recruits, not characters from some American comic strips? It is at all heroic to claimthousands of killed "enemy soldiers" when you possess so much superior militarily? The purpose ofinternational humanitarian law is to humanise war; the military goals should be to disable the enemy army notto destroy it. Not to talk about civilian casualties... Collateral damage in the international law vocabularyis called war crimes.

At the beginning of (the visible part of) this war, the media rushed to get someexpert opinions about its possible duration, development and outcome. It was certainly an absurd question: thewar had started long before the first missile was fired, and it had been lost for the Iraqis on the militaryfront. The "coalition" had been a political and moral loser before it really moved into Iraq.Today's media inquiries are even worse: they want to document the victory and the real end of this war. Theyrushed to picture the joy of the "liberated" and grateful Iraqis, applauding as the symbols of theregime were being toppled, and did nothing about the destruction of museums, cultural and national heritage ofthe Iraqi nation. Again there is just a lonely voice talking about the dark side of that victory, about theshame on the victors, on the occupying force which again turns a deaf ear to the demands arising from theGeneva conventions. The "heroic" American and British troops again care more about their own safety,shamefully and cowardly speaking about the necessity to protect their "boys", leaving the chaos,death and destruction to spread.

Will there be an end to this war? Will there be any visible outcome? Yes, the outcomeis here: it is called irresponsibility, immorality and ineptitude! It is called greediness, cowardice andchaos. Isn't it enough after just one war? However, the story is not over yet: the doors of the second Vietnamhave been opened, a spill-over effect induced in the region, while a highly divided, hypocritical and impotent"international community" remains idle. And definitely there will be many more stories aboutinnocent suffering written by the brave reporters and analysts.

Ages will pass before the Iraqi youth recovers from the quarter century of Saddam'srule, from twelve years of genocide due to UN blessed sanctions and the several weeks of the"victorious" military campaign of the most powerful military force in history. However, I amwondering how long it will take before the USA recovers from this moral decay: will American society eversummon the strength to face the truth about the crimes done by "our boys"? If our Balkan experienceteaches us anything, it is surely that it will be a painful and very long process.

Biljana Vankovska is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Military Law at the University ofSkopje, Macedonia. She also teaches at Peace Program and European Studies Program at the Faculty of Philosophyin Skopje. She is a member of numerous international associations, such as: ISA, IPRA, IPSA, IUS and the Executive Board of IPSA/Research Committee on Armed Forces and Society. Her research andteaching focus is on civil-military relations, Balkan security, international relations and peace research.She works with the Transnational Foundation for Peace and FutureResearch.