SENZA CENSURA N.17

JULY 2005

 

"IMPERIALIST DEMOCRACY"
A political head to war machine

The USA demand of a higher NATO involvement in the management of the Iraqi occupation and in the application on the field of the political and military decisions of the american middle-class, produced clear difficulties in the imperialistic relations. Even if, at the present, we can see the birth of an important opponent to the expansionistic politics (Iraqi Resistance), in the same time we are also witness of the enlargement of the western middle-class influence (under the USA control), of the involvement of countries -that previously were deeply related to the Soviet sphere first, and then to the Russian one- in its rule chain. The so-called orange or pink "revolutions", scented by the stink of the imperialistic "flower of Evil" and for the most part financed by USA, are showing another war that, in the same way of the low-intensity wars on Latin America or the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, represents the other side of the same coin. NATO is now called to this new task.
Surely, even if pockets of opposition of the involved countries honestly worked for the fall of the previous power, it's a reality that the current processes of transformation are totally directed to a systematic alignment to the Nato sphere of influence, to a full political and military collaboration with the great american leadership.
The Vilnius meeting on April ratified the aceleration of the Ukrainian process of integration, giving to this country a strategic essential importance and a possible leadership role for the south-eastern Asian and Caucasian security. "Ukraina needs us, we need Ukraina", said the General NATO Secretary interviewed at the end of the meeting.
This declaration is explaining clearly by the planned steps of the integration process: the enforcement of "democratic institutions" (the allignment of the superstructure to the imperialistic middle-class interests with resources of NATO or other institutional partners like the Geneve Centre for Democratic Control of Armed Forces -DCAF-); the increase of the Joint Working Group on Defence Reform (JWGDR) action, to substain the creation of a political-economical-military structure; the enforcement of the roles of the structures in collaboration with NATO, using the Action Plans (AP)/ Annual Target Plans (ATP) as confrontation instruments and, if necessary, to eliminate the "critical points".
The political dialogue will also assume the purpose to transfer the "positive meaning" of the real change of relations between NATO and Ukraina on a public level, in particular on popular or institutional sectors that "have an old idea about the role of the NATO". In the context of the Joint Working Group o Defence Reform (JWGDR), the Ukrainian government will be supported, during the reorganization of its information and security system, by a better exchange of experiences with the support of the International Staff (IS)/International Military Staff (IMS) and with a cooperation during the demilitarization process on the internal front - it doesn't mean a cut of the repressive system, but an allignement to the new current requirements.
An higher cooperation between NATO Defence College's (NDC) and Ukraine's National Defence Academy will represent the idelogical support to produce a new approach to the main themes about defence and security reforms for a complete integration to NATO.
The battle on the cultural and ideological fields provides the realization of propaganda resources translated in russian language, to change the negative outlook of the eastern people and political power of Ukraina, traditionally related to the sovietic area of influence and also the creation of a synergy between the government and not-government Ukrainian sectors, seminars and public initiatives with political, economical representetives, journalists and opinion makers that will support the ideological homogenization strategy on the public level.
Also the defence industry must be deeply reformed to conform it to the international market and the transatlantic market, dealing the possible reorganization of some sectors.
In the meanwhile the integration process of Georgia is increasing. In March, was ratified an agreement with NATO for the transit of the Isaf troops to Afghanistan.
The necessity of a total prohibition of demonstrations during the Bush visits, shows that the choice of prostration to the NATO-USA interests doesn't seem to be totally shared in the country.
A possible agreement about the transit of troops towards Afghanistan on Lithuanian lands (using logistic structures on Lithuanian territories) is more difficult, because of the possible results that an agreement beetween NATO and Russia can produce. This agreement represents for Russia the chance to obtain, through the NATO, the utilization of the Lithuan territories, till now denied by the Lithuan government.
The refusal of the Kyrgyz government -that judged the USA demand to transfer the AWACS airplanes in the country not necessary and not compatible with the Isaf mission- clearely shows that agreements on the utilization of territories really meet other strategic needs.
The aim to balance the political and the military roles is the target on wich the debate pushed by USA into NATO turns around, in particular to enforce its political supremacy on the countries that seemed to be a menace of destabilization on the Transatlantic Alliance in the contest of the Iraqi war, counting on the total control on the political choises of the last countries joined NATO.
In the opinion of a member of the Transatlantic Programme at the Royal United Services Institute of London, all that happened between USA and some European countries about Iraq is the reason to concentrate the efforts to assure the Alliance a greater political role and to define the condition to put this role in practice, formalizing the NATO entity in a "structure of compensation" of the competing imperialistic interests. He said that, from the document "A Secure Europe in a Better World" (the so-called "White Book" of the european political-military strategy against terrorism) up to the results of the debate on February while Bush and Rice were in Europe, was clear a progressive advance of the activity of "public promotion" of the European criticism to American strategy and the "unscrupolous idea" of a return to a "freedom strategy", in competition with the idea of "preventive war". This criticism is realized by the indipendent initiative of Great Britain, France and Germany to resume relations with Iran against the american menaces, and in the almost homogeneous unilateral strategy adopted by the European countries with China.
On the month of April, at the summit on "NATO's political and military transformation: Two sides of the same coin", the NATO General Secretary in his speech dealed with the problem of the political transformation, declaring useless any transformations of the military structure in necessity of esternal protection, if the "alliance will be not able to decide how, where and when employ them".
NATO -he said- must become a place where the allies can assume a joint idea, reassemble the disagreements, search a shared consent and, if necessary, act as one; an alliance for freedom and security of its members, guaranteed by political and military means, which effectiveness depends by the ability to understand that the operations made in all the world belong to a particular political contest and which effects must be ruled to produce the hoped results. All that must be done in a common and clear way able to guarantee the transformations full legitimacy. Disagreements and breaches with Europe must be exceeded as soon as possible and an increase in cooperation with EU is inevitable, since the presence of USA is in the same European areas of interest and action (Balcans, Middle East, Maghreb, ecc.).
At the same summit, the German Foreign Minister underlined that NATO is the only structure able to set up a formal place of relation between USA and Europe, reconfirming its power to re-establish the disagreements between the two shores of the Atlantic Sea. The worry of the European countries must concern not only all that happens into NATO, but also the effects of the French vote on the European Consitution on NATO, that can begets an embitterment of the internal discussion in the EU and a possible transformation of its set-up in a widening stage to countries related to the atlantic structure. All that must be done also in case of a possible stoppage of the ratification by the countries are waiting for the results of the French vote to decide.
The disagreements showed by the various national politicians, impose a new settlement of the disagreements inside NATO Council and the re-establishment of common opinions on details or specific themes to show them as a joint position of the alliance. Some themes about the leading structure will be developed (for example the Danish hypotesis about an integration of the military leading sctructure with the civilian one) without forget the inevitable disputes between the competing interests of the american middle-class and the european one.
The necessity to have a decision-making hierarchy at disposal to define the conditions of the political or military interventions, is the main requirement for NATO in order to be "the first to intervene and not only to ratify decisions".
If in a first stage won't be an agreement, they suppose to create an open structure (NATO with the "esternal" countries); if the solutions will fall, they will create a coalition of "the helpful ones", confirming so the idea of "variable alliances" of a joint opinion.
They think this proposal possible in this stage because it bears out the USA leadership and a greater involvement and influence of the european countries in the decision-making process -from which they are now left out.
The German opinion shows the meaning of disagreements between the USA middle-class and the "hard core" of the "Old Europe"; even if it's part of the same imperialistic entity, put the supremacy of the USA in the centre of the quarrel. This supremacy enforced itself with the international military offensive, absorbing in the imperialistic dimension a part of the european opposition against the war -submitted to some europeanist opinions of the Left.
This can be a lesson on the opportunistic strategies, doomed to a inexorable recovery and utilization and not able in their growth to become indipendent by the institutional structure, real manager of the many contradictions developing in all fronts.
NATO keep on with the drilling of the Iraqi collaborationist forces but the management of the Afghan occupation is decisive to test its real role. The example of the Afghan mission (that in a first time had military action as central target and now is unable to end military clashes against the occupation forces) and its joint management, represented a progress for the aknowledgement of the alliance as "catalyst of the demand of reforms in the area".
The idea of the "Provincial Reconstruction Team" enforces first of all the importance to link together the military intervention and the civilian one; this idea is used to get the control of the political and economical reconstruction of the country, that is not the one descripted by the president Karzai: "a country of men and women going work, partecipate the economical, political and social activity", the country where millions of people shouted "Death to America", attacking the Government and ONU offices and the Consulate of Pakistan against the bad conditions of the Guantanamo prisoners.
The Provincial Reconstruction Teams represented the mean to involve other countries like New Zealand, under the terrorism menace and the need to guarantee "security and democracy". This involvement belongs to the overall project to expand to Pacific, it was realized with the appointment of an Australian military representative in Bruxelles and the draft of a document about security and intelligence cooperation in the war on terrorism. Shoepper, NATO General Secretary, went to Japan on April to realize the first steps of a cooperation with NATO; during his visit he said that Japan is "the example of globalization that creates prosperity but hides a dark side, the vulnerability of societies to an enemy not represented by any state". Japan is one of the biggest donors of the Afghan "infrastructures reconstruction" with the 800 military units of the Japanese Self Defence Force.
The riots in Uzbekistan, suppressed with a bloodshed -probably wanted by USA to destabilize the Uzbekistan power after collaborating with this country in the repression on the groups of the Islamic opposition- showed another missing link of the american expansionistic strategy.
On March Robert Simmons, NATO Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia went to Uzbekistan to reaffirm the close bonds with the first country of the area interesting in a cooperation with NATO about the war on terrorism.
The same low intensity opinions of NATO representetives and american government, limited to a generical demand of opening to an indipendent delegation that can give an "usefull" justification to the repression on the riots, show a situation different by the previous year.
NATO and USA can't endanger the identity of "exporters of democracy" that hardly they try to build. This identity was aknowledged by mistake by the workers that striked and demonstrated at the USA embassy in the capital city Tashkent against the privatizations of the economical reforms, the increase in poverty and unemployment, asking to the american administration an intervention to stop the deterioration of life conditions in Uzbekistan. But economical reforms, supported by USA, already produced their results and also many protests, like the hunger strike against the bad work conditions of 400 workers of the Shorsuv Metal Works, demonstrations of hundreds of women that blocked the streets against the economical politics that took away them the necessary for life. A demonstration followed one another during the trials against the members of Islamic unions and opposition. The Opposition criticized more the governement support to the "international campaign against terrorism", that produced hard relapses on the internal front. Relapses involve also the near countries with the creation of an asian "black list" of the Islamic groups of opposition, like in Kazakistan. This country realized on march a joint drill to improve the joint reconnaissance and the planning of the operations against terrorism with NATO.
Even if the opposition against NATO control on our lands goes on, the new war machine demands us to unmask its gears, its variety of civilian, propaganding and not-governative structures standing on our lands.