The Peace Top 121

The Economist Intelligence Unit has for the first time compiled a peace index, listing 121 countries according to peacefulness, based on 24 criteria. (The Economist: Give peace a rating) Norway comes out on top, followed by New Zealand, Denmark, Ireland and Japan. The bottom rung of shame is made up of (from the bottom up) Iraq, Sudan, Israel, Russia and Nigeria. Belgium in No 11, China No 60, the U.S. No 96. (The Guardian: Norway rated world's most peaceful country)

You can find the list at PRNewswire: First Global Peace Index Ranks 121 Countries.

Every list is a bit arbitrary, from the best restaurants to the best rock songs,... Even if the list is based on scientific criteria, the bare listing doesn't tell you much. Sure, Norway is pretty peaceful and Iraq definitely is not. But why is Belgium (11) more peaceful than the Netherlands (No 20), Taiwan (36) more peaceful than China (60), Vietnam (35) more peaceful than Madagascar (41)? Japan (5) wouldn't rank so high if it wasn't sheltering under the American nuclear umbrella. Without a detailed description of the underlying parameters, the list doesn't tell you much.

One of the major criteria should be whether a country has military bases or soldiers abroad. China doesn't have any (except for U.N. peace keepers), while Belgian soldiers are patrolling Kabul airport. You can legally buy a gun in Belgium, but not in China. The EIU should explain its methodology.

China deserves better, while the U.S. should be at the very bottom. The U.S. is the major exporter of war and destruction and the cause of Iraq's mess.

So this is Christmas...

"A very merry Christmas, and a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one, without any fear
War is over, if you want it, war is over, now..."
(John Lennon, part of the lyrics of 'Happy X Mas')

Well, John, unfortunately, war ain't over yet... Baghdad, Ramadi, Kandahar, Bethlehem...

And so Bush, the war criminal, visited the wounded soldiers... Who does he think is responsible for their lost legs and bandaged heads, their weeping wifes, girlfriends, sons and daughters? And did he ever visit the morgues in Baghdad, the dead and wounded Iraqis who have been slaughtered as a result of the American invasion?

And let's not forget Bethlehem! Israel's Wall of Apartheid is strangling Bethlehem, 65% of its inhabitants are unemployed and its employees have not been paid for four months. And nobody cares... The Catholics and the Pope celebrate Jesus, while the people of Bethlehem suffer under Zionist occupation.

The Archbishop of Canterbury did accuse Bush and Blair of endangering the lives of thousands of Christians in the Middle East (The Times: Christians suffer for Iraq, says archbishop). But did he offer a solution? Did he call for a boycott of Israel?

Bethlehem 2002. A Palestinian pregnant woman was trying to get to the hospital, bleeding heavily on the back seat of a car. An Israeli soldier looked at the blood and laughed! (The Independent: 'What would happen if the Virgin Mary came to Bethlehem today?') Since then 36 babies have died because their mothers were detained during labor at Israeli checkpoints. And some idiots still do not let us compare the Zionists to the Nazis...

Meanwhile, 'Christian' Bush signed a law to block U.S. aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian government and Islamic Hamas is spending 50,000 dollars on Christmas decorations in Bethlehem. The Hamas Minister of Finance wished “our Christian brothers a happy Christmas”.

Israel (let's say this gently at Christmas time) must be dissolved and replaced by the People's Republic of Palestine, where Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and atheists can live in peace.