Happy 1st year anniversary Iraq! Civilian deaths in "noble" Iraq invasion pass 10000. Misguided and still unjustified, "the war and its aftermath have aggravated global divisions between Muslim and Christian, rich and poor, north and south, and between allies" (Quentin Peel FT Mar18). The world is not closer to living free from fear today, quite the contrary.

Thank you Spain for ousting mediocrity and opportunism from your management, it is a great first step to living really free from fear. "European public opinion was always overwhelmingly against the Iraq war" (Lionel Barber FT Mar20). Luckily, "Spain is anxious to play a more constructive and friendly role" says the new socialist leader Zapatero.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Bush is struggling to keep his "coalition of the willing" really willing, with Poland Kwasniewski reporting to feel "mislead". Thanks to Democracy - or at least our poor little version of it - governments pay an electoral price for siding with the US, finally. Hopefully Bush, Blair, Berlusconi and Rasmussen will suffer the same fate. Osama might be right when he claims there is not fundamental difference between Bush and Kerry, but for the world community there is one: "Kerry would return to 'multilateral when it can, unilateral when it must', rather than Bush's multilateralism 'a la carte'." (Deborah McGregor FT Mar 12). Reelecting Bush can only convince him of the case for the aggressive use of US power to change the world.

So what next now? The world does not need more "wars on terror"! We do not need to unite against "terrorism". Terrorism only thrives because US and other countries foreign policies fail to give priority to human rights and global justice. More dangerously, wars against terrorism provide excuses for measures erroding our civil rights and liberties in the name of so-called "security", undermining the very values we claim to protect: democracy and freedom (book: The Changing Face of Justice - and Why It Matters to Us All by Helena Kennedy). "It is not terrorism that really threatens democracy, it is the danger of overreaction to it". Neo-conservatives are ideologically far from justice and human rights, they prefer simple solutions and concrete actions: law, order and self-interest. We must follow the Spanish example.

And about Iraq? Though the US is ultimately responsible, as a world community we are all responsible for the mess, whoever created it. Though it will not admit its mistakes, the US is paying for them, largely in loss of credibility. Spain's withdrawal must be used to force the return of ALL powers to the community of Nations, then to the Iraqis. The US should submit itself to the UN and pay its debt to the world. Maybe some claimed goals were fair, but the means were certainly wrong.

And Denmark? Maersk - the huge Danish shipping company - made money from this war and probably convinced the current right-wing government of its case for US support. Xenophobia towards Muslims helped make Denmark the only European country with more than 50% popular support for the war up until November 2003. A somewhat nationalistic but trusting mentality help the Danes feel remote and safe, while boarding a plane in Copenhagen is done without ever showing a passport. Denmark is an easy target and that makes me uneasy.. Again, Danes must proactively follow the Spanish example.

And the longer term? By our blunteness we are aleniating the very people we are claiming to be freeing. People are dying in vain and for the wrong reasons, and worse of all, it could have been prevented by our own governments if, in time, the right issues had been properly addressed in a fair and just way. Many issues are yet to be solved. We can, like Bush&Co, decide to protect the status quo at any cost and refuse to address the problems (rich and poor divide, international justice, the israelo-palestinian conflict, and numerous still simmering environmental issues affecting the world at large). We can attack those who criticize and gain control of what is needed to change nothing - and generate more and more very useful terrorism to focus on. Isn't terrorism the perfect scape-goat to create a never-ending state of fear and control? Or we can, courageously, open our minds, take a look at the world, find the issues that are the source of the biggest discontempt, and address them. Terrorists are NOT the source of the problem, they are the SYMPTOM of a problem. Governments and citizens need to cure the disease, not just pop the zid.

yann