So Thursday’s CSM will be publishing the final column in the series I have published with them since 1990. It is here. (Also here.)
In it, I write:
- Can Washington disentangle itself from the lethal imbroglio of Iraq without radically revising the prickly, dismissive attitude it has maintained toward the United Nations for the past five years? I doubt it.
For if America’s very vulnerable troop presence in Iraq is to be drawn down, either partially or – as I believe is necessary – wholly, and in anything like an orderly way, then that withdrawal must be negotiated. And no body but the UN can successfully convene these negotiations.
At the end of the column, I put in this short note to readers:
- Because the Monitor is ending its regular columns, today’s essay is my last as a Monitor columnist – a post I’ve held for 17 years.
I have been proud to write for a paper guided by high standards, strong values, and a desire to understand all the nations of the world. And I have been grateful for the opportunity to contribute my expertise here.
Mine was one of the few voices in mainstream media that seriously questioned the grounds on which the Bush administration took the US into the war in Iraq and that warned strongly and consistently that this war would be disastrous.
While my work may well appear in the Monitor in the future, I invite you to keep up with my writing at www.justworldnews.org.
I had put a little more about this rather abrupt change of editorial policy at the Monitor, and how I felt about it, into this JWN post last week. It’s true, I am “looking at a number of options”, as I wrote there. One is a really engaging new book idea that I discussed with Jennifer Knerr, the Editor for Political Science and Communications at Paradigm Publishers, when I was able to spend some great time with her, Paradigm President Dean Birkenkamp, and some of their other colleagues, at their HQ in Boulder last week.
More on this later, I hope!
Another regular column slot elsewhere is also an option, of course… Also, doing some more pieces for the CSM under their new regimen…
Anyway, the Kissinger position, as referred briefly to in the latest column, is really quite interesting. Especially given the role he played, according to Bob Woodward, back in 2001-02, in supporting Cheney’s relentless push to get the US into invading Iraq…
It is unfortunate that the CS Monitor has made this choice-Let us hope that other fora, such as the Boston Review, etc. will in fact continue to
utilize your talents!
Thanks for all of your work-truly a loss for the CS Monitor.
Helena
I am sorry to see you come to the end of a chapter in your life, and glad to see you opening others.
Have you seen Laila al Haddads TV video on Tunnels in Gaza?
Her pal Heba (follow the link) has heartbreaking blog piece on being trapped all day on the fifth floor of an apartment block in Gaza with her two small daughters as the lead flies all around them. It is a bit similar to the story in Mahmoud Darwish “Memory and Forgetfulness.”
Good Luck
Frank
Hi Helena,
It’s really sad that the CSM has decided to suppress columnists like you. Thanks to the blogosphere, you’ll not loose your voice, you did well to inform your readers about your blog. I hope we will see new readers appreciating your work here.
Writing a colum in a dayly newspapers reaches more readers than a longer book, so I hope that you’ll be able to find another home for your column. But given the internet, you already have a larger reader constituency than before.
Best to you
I recently took a trial sub to the Monitor and was shocked by their arrogance and beltway elitism. They are no better than the other “elite” media. They do not speak for ordinary Americans in any way.
As for the UN it has yet again shown itself to be a tool in the hands of the imperialist west to provide propaganda cover for outrageous acts of aggression.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/32FDCBFD-5E06-40A0-B25B-2B8CCBD1A5D3.htm
Now concerning the content of your column and the reinforced role you ask for the UN aka :
I realize the UN has many organizational flaws. It also suffers from the deep distrust of many Iraqis. But there is no other organization that has the global legitimacy, political credibility, and institutional capacity that this job requires.
Any orderly US withdrawal from Iraq requires a leading role from the United Nations. It also requires a more capable and empowered UN than the one we see today, and this requires that the whole US political system undertake a serious recommitment both to the world body and to the egalitarian global values it embodies.
I’m very pessimist concerning what the UN can really do now for Iraq. The UN has recently published his Quarterly Report on the Situation in Iraq, showing how powerless they are. Presenting this report Ban Ki-moon seems however willing to accept an increasing role in Iraq, however he uttered a set of preconditions which may well delay the UN’s role for months :
Noting growing calls for a larger UN role in Iraq, the Secretary-General indicates he would consider an expanded role and presence in Iraq where possible. For the UN to play its role, he says several conditions are necessary, including adequate protection and security arrangements, air support and the construction of secure facilities.
Asked about the issue today by reporters at UN Headquarters, Mr. Ban saw the possibility of an expansion of the UN’s work. “Our mobility as well as presence have been largely dictated by the situation on the ground,” he said. “As we see the development of the situation, we will try to expand the role of political facilitation, constitutional review process, and there will be many areas where the United Nations can still contribute.”
(complete wire report here)
(BTW, note that the UNHCR is now speaking of 4 millions Iraqi refugees and internal displaced Iraqi, twice as much as some months ago and as the number often seen in the media)
(This is a repost, since the italic tags weren’t correct in the preceding entry)
Now concerning the content of your column and the reinforced role you ask for the UN aka :
I realize the UN has many organizational flaws. It also suffers from the deep distrust of many Iraqis. But there is no other organization that has the global legitimacy, political credibility, and institutional capacity that this job requires.
Any orderly US withdrawal from Iraq requires a leading role from the United Nations. It also requires a more capable and empowered UN than the one we see today, and this requires that the whole US political system undertake a serious recommitment both to the world body and to the egalitarian global values it embodies.
I’m very pessimist concerning what the UN can really do now for Iraq. The UN has recently published his Quarterly Report on the Situation in Iraq, showing how powerless they are. Presenting this report Ban Ki-moon seems however willing to accept an increasing role in Iraq, however he uttered a set of preconditions which may well delay the UN’s role for months :
Noting growing calls for a larger UN role in Iraq, the Secretary-General indicates he would consider an expanded role and presence in Iraq where possible. For the UN to play its role, he says several conditions are necessary, including adequate protection and security arrangements, air support and the construction of secure facilities.
Asked about the issue today by reporters at UN Headquarters, Mr. Ban saw the possibility of an expansion of the UN’s work. “Our mobility as well as presence have been largely dictated by the situation on the ground,” he said. “As we see the development of the situation, we will try to expand the role of political facilitation, constitutional review process, and there will be many areas where the United Nations can still contribute.”
(complete wire report here)
(BTW, note that the UNHCR is now speaking of 4 millions Iraqi refugees and internal displaced Iraqi, twice as much as some months ago and as the number often seen in the media)
Helena:
I just learned to my dismay that would no longer be writing for the CSM. Too bad for them and us. Your nuanced policy articles on the Middle East are the best that I have read, a voice of reason in an otherwise dismal media show. I’ll keep up with your blog.
Helena: Read every column, as I’ve told you previously. Am so in sync with CSM’s 6/14/07 “Negotiate a US exit from Iraq.”
Yes, United Nations should tackle this thornbush. We need world thought to provide some sort of resolution…not singular US partisan determination.
I feel US public is determined to stop killing in the name of “democracy.” I’d even accept a divided Iraq; always can reunite in common interests overcome social and political divisions.
Look forward to the Monitor using your excellent voice…stick with them, if you can.