control the weapons or the mind?

Elections are an important part of a free society. When the people have trust in the system to choose who is going to be the leader, that feeling expands into everyday life of the people. Right now we have an election process taking place in Burma. This process is taking place after years of harsh political censorship and control.

The ability of a government to control the people in such a manner (as has happened in Burma), usually employs violence. As a country begins to come out of that situation of violence and fear there is still the threat of violence. Mainly the threat continues because the old power structure is still fighting. To decrease the violence there needs to be a concerted effort to eliminate the flow of weapons.

We are witnessing this flow of weapons in Libya, Syria, Yemen, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and many other countries as well. The flow of weapons keeps the society destabilized and in fear. To combat the destabilization of society, disrupt the flow of weapons and bring peace is a multi-level task.

The problem is international in scope.  During July 2012, UN member states will meet to negotiate a legally binding international instrument governing the transfer of conventional arms: the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). The problem is, will this stop the weapons trade?

The war in Sierra Leone and Liberia was fuelled by diamonds and timber. As the war became as savage as a war has ever been, the world took measures to end the trade in “blood diamonds”. The measure taken is known as the Kimberely Process. This process did stem the flow of diamonds for a time. What we have to realize is that the people engaged in trading diamonds for weapons are criminals.  They will continue to work outside of treaties and laws.

The concern is that we must know the Arms Trade Treaty will not end the illegal trade of weapons. Of course having these laws is better than not. The largest demon in all of this is the desire to grab power/control through the use of fear, violence and oppression. The quick demise of peace in Cote D’ivoire is another example in the use of fear, weapons and oppression.

The battle of human relations is the largest demon we have to tackle. All the weapons in the world will have no bearing if the people who own them have no desire to use them. However, we live in a world where insanity is present, people will kill for power and build weapons to instil fear.

The positive element rests in the balance of peace. Most of us are peaceful. We wish to trust each other and enjoy the many differences of the world. We enjoy the process of debate, the camaraderie of sport and the challenge of opposition. Elections are filled with such elements. Furthermore, All of these elements in society are positives. It stops to be positive when fear, violence and oppression are used to gain power and control over another and that is where war begins to be fought ultimately  in the mind.

Ignorance/uncaring allows Corruption

The last few postings have been about UNESCO funding and weapons trading.  It may not seem like these two have much in common but as I have stated before I look for such broad connections.  The common factor here that ties UNESCO funding and weapons trade together is the exact situation Palestine lives with.  The situation deals with, corruption, war, oppression and dichotomy of law.

First of all we have to live with the fact that there is a two tiered law system (if not more).  The only reason that this situation exist is due to ignorance and uncaring.  For example, The legality of NATO entering Yugoslavia during 1995 has always been a legal debatable issue from the outset.  So too has Russia in Georgia, Britain in the Falkland Islands and USA in Iraq (2001) have each been circumvented around international law and the Securioty Council.  This is the dichotomy of a two tiered system that exists.  This two tiered system allows for corruption to reign, weapons to be sold and ultimately lives lost and/or seriously altered.

If you deal with any issue of injustice you are dealing with corruption that continues to take place through ignorance or sadly a severe lack of concern for a peaceful world.  For whatever reason, at some point the laws are not adhered to.  I firmly believe we have enough law to enforce any activity that takes place.  What we lack is the will to enforce these laws and the complete disregard of law.

Recently, 3 Nov 2010 Viktor Bout was convicted of selling weapons to a terrorist organization.  That in itself is not going to do much to end the violence of war.  What is more important is for the countries that produce weapons to stop or at least do a better job to monitor the life of each weapon and ammunition produced then sold.  The sale, training  and use of these weapons are mere steps to the impact that these weapons will have and it will last for many years to come.  

Looking at the countries that are listed in the bottom ten of the UNDP Human Development Index(HDI), most have experienced long violent wars.  The Democratic Republic of Congo has endured a violent society since the 1950’s and sits at the bottom of the 2011 Human Development Index.  So does Sierra Leone, Liberia, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Central African Republic, Chad, Niger and Burundi.  There is a direct link to illegal weapons trade and trade in resources such as minerals, oil, drugs and slave trading to name a few.

Compare the bottom ten of the UNDP HDI with the Transparency International (TI) list of most corrupt countries and you will notice some duplication.  In the TI list, the bottom ten include Chad, Burundi and Equatorial Guinea.  Also included on the TI list are Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan and Myanmar.  Each of these countries has/is experiencing violent war. 

Now I am not that naïve to think these wars take place because weapons are available.  I do think these wars are prolonged due to the trade in weapons and resources.  These wars are also prolonged due to a significant lack of accountability on the part of the entire world.