Conversations on world peace

Long before September 11, the International and Interreligious Federation for World Peace (IIFWP) embarked on a mission to try and bring about a more peaceful world through periodic dialogues between different peoples and cultures. It is a United Nations of sorts but more down-to-earth, being a gathering of ordinary individuals rather than representatives of governments. Unlike the United Nations, individuals who attend IIFWP conferences generally speak for themselves or for their groups. Thematic conferences have been held in the past three years in various capitals, among them New York, London, Bangkok, Washington, D.C, and more recently, Seoul. In the main, the idea behind these conferences is to provide an occasion for peoples of diverse backgrounds to talk to each other. I have been to a few of the conferences and have met various personalities, both those who have influence and reach in their own countries and those who do not have, but who come, anyway, for their own personal enlightenment.

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The conference in Seoul was from February 14-18, just a few days before President George W. Bush would pay a visit. Its theme was Éstablishing a Culture of Peace – Worldviews, Institutions, Leadership and Practices. The broad-ranging theme drew personalities from more than 150 countries from former prime ministers and presidents to diplomats, academics, and media. There were Christians and Muslims, Jews and Protestants. In our Philippine group were Monsignor Nico Bautista, Justice Sheikh Saadudin A. Alauya, Prof. Taha Basman, Sister Lilian Curaming, Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, my husband, Ambassador Alberto A. Pedrosa and myself. We were Christians and Muslims, academe and media, government and civil society. That was how varied country groups in the conference were.

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In the convivial atmosphere of the Seoul Hilton, and an open working structure, participants were allowed freewheeling, informal conversations among themselves. I was able to speak to a few former prime ministers and presidents on what they thought of the IIFWP conferences in general, the present one in particular, its principal message and what they will do with the message when they returned home. Among those I was able to talk to after their speeches in the various sessions were former Belarus President Stanislav Shushkevich, Sir James Richard Marie Mancham, the founding president of the Republic of Seychelles, President Rodrigo Carazo of Costa Rica, H.E. Hamilton Green formerPrime Minister of Guyana, Mr. Arnaud de Borchgrave, Editor at large, United Presss International and Editor at Large, the Washington Times, Dr. Wittaya Masayna, a Thai Senator, and spokesman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs.

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War on America – seen from the Indian Ocean. I caught Sir James Mancham, founding president of the Republic of Seychelles on the last day of the conference but when I introduced myself as a Filipino journalist he quickly whipped up a book from his briefcase and said – "Here. Review this." This was all he could say as we both dashed out of the elevator on our way to our respective committee discussions. It was his answer to my queries on what he thought of the IIFWP conference. The book he gave me was: War on America –Seen from the Indian Ocean. Back at home, I must tell Sir Mancham that his book was not only well worth the read, it resolved some of my lingering doubts on the value of IIFWP conferences.

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As the Philippines embarks on what has been called a new phase in its relations with the the US, it would be good for President Macapagal-Arroyo to hear from Sir James Richard Marie Mancham,the founding President of the Republic of Seychelles, a tiny island nation and what he calls "one of the most beautiful countries in the world." The Seychelles became a ‘strategic US territory in the early sixties. It was then that the country extended hospitality to the US Air Force when it decided that it would be in the US national interest to build a satellite tracking station atop Seychelles’main island of Mahe, which is in the middle of the Indian Ocean. At the time, the US needed to gather mlitary intelligence over its main adversary, then a very aggressive Soviet Union. A back cover paragraph gives some clue to what Mancham is about in his book. It says, "He was not prepared for what followed. This book is an account of US foreign policy as seen from the Indian Ocean then and up to the present time."

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Like a true Oriental, I prefer to review this book from the ending chapters because that it where what it has to teach begins. In Chapter 20, Mancham tells us how his country was used after September 11 quoting from the Seychelles "The Nation" on October 16, 2001.: US warplanes conducted very heavy daylight strikes against troops and other Taliban targets yesterday as a fourth American aircraft carrier move near striking range of Afghanistan, defense officials said... The attacks were robust with about fifty Navy attack jets and as many as ten heavy Air Force B1 and B2 bombers used against military targets including troop concentrations of Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban . . .The strikes appeared to be the heaviest daylight raids yet in a nine-day-old bombing and missile campaign against Afghanistan’s leading Taliban, accused by Washington of harboring fugitive Osama bin Laden who is suspected of masterminding the September 11 attacks on America… The carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, the carrier USS Carl Vinson, the carrier USS Enterprise, the carrier USS Kitty Hawk are all in the Gulf and Indian Ocean region engaged in the strike against terror.

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In the same chapter he also cites some cartoons which may be funny but are sharp reminders of the grim truth. One cartoon is in the form of a letter from the Boeing Corporation to Mr. Bin Laden – Dear Mr. Bin Laden – Now that you have taken the time to get to know Boeing’s fine line of commercial aircraft, we would like to get you acquainted with Boeing’s other fine products." In another cartoon, a journalist was depicted asking the US president, "Mr. President, what evidence do you have that the Taliban have sophisticated weapons? "We have kept the invoices" President Bush is supposed to have replied. And a third cartoon depicted President Bush ordering an American general "Go and blast their tallest building" – which was represented as a three-story high shack." The cartoons are so funny, they make you want to cry. But if President James R. Mancham inserts humor in his very serious account of the involvement of his country and what it did to his country in the aftermath, he also wants no ambivalence about his position – he supports America’s war against terrorism. The book is more of an admonition from a friend rather than criticism. He sometimes wonders whether America is capable of the leadership it is being called upon to exercise after September 11.

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"The events of September 11, 2001, have certainly turned the world upside down and since it is said that there is no ill wind that does not blow anybody good, we must look at the situation with coolheadedness and wisdom as we analyze the situation realistically and take as many lessons from it as we can." Let us learn from Sir James Mancham. (to be continued).

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My e-mail address: [email protected]