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Friday, October 01, 2004
URGENT! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!
Dear all,
Help defend ³The Struggle for Palestine² conference! Please
show up Saturday, October 2nd, at 8 a.m. to help defend the
conference from attack!
***********************************************************
This is an urgent message concerning "The Struggle for
Palestine: 4th Anniversary of the Intifada" conference tomorrow,
Saturday, October 2nd. The details of the conference are listed
in #2, below.
But I am writing all of you because of an article that came out
October 1, 2004, in FrontPageMagazine.com, entitled "Schools
For Jihad" by Lee Kaplan. (#1, below.)
Please read this article to get the extent of the attack that is
being waged against this conference, and against the whole
antiwar movement. Recently, at every demonstration called
against the war or in defense of the Palestinian people and
their fight for their land and their basic human rights,
a forceful group of Israeli Zionists has attempted to
disrupt the event.
Even though permits were secured by organizers for specific
areas such as Civic Center, Powell and Market, etc., Zionist
counter-demonstrators have been turning up in larger numbers
to disrupt our events. They occupy the area we have permits
for and carry out disruptive tactics such as heckling, taking
photos of demonstrators and speakers, etc. The police do
nothing. "It's still freedom of speech" they say.
At a community speakout on 24th and Mission, in solidarity
with Palestinian prisoners of war who were on a hunger strike,
a large group of Zionists attempted to surround our rally and
disrupt it with bullhorns and a giant boom box. Every one of
them had a camera and an Israeli flag and attempted to
photograph each of us and block us off from view of the
street.
At the June 30th demonstration at Union Square, a Zionist
supporter informed us that, "The Palestinians love the wall!"
Now they have termed all those who oppose the war on Iraq
and who defend the rights of Palestinians "terrorists"! They
claim we are "aiding the enemy" and thereby killing U.S. soldiers.
They are demanding that the School Board prohibit pro-Palestinian
or Antiwar groups the use of Public School facilities and more.
They will not go away on their own.
We can't allow them to disrupt this conference or any more
of our events. Please consider showing up and peacefully
supporting this conference tomorrow. It is up to us to defend
our right to freedom of speech and opinion and the public
expression of such.
While the U.S, is currently on the offensive in Iraq, Israel is
on the offensive in Palestine-lengthening the wall, bulldozing
homes, murdering and maiming children and preventing all
Palestinians from pursuing a happy and free life.
We have a right and an obligation to all of humanity to organize
opposition to these atrocities! This is not about anti-Semitism.
Many Jewish people are appalled at what is being done by Israel
in the name of all Jewish people around the world. Many are
opposed to sending $5 billion of our tax dollars to fund Israel's
murderous and larcenous rampage. Many Jewish people are part
of the antiwar and Free Palestine movements.
This is not about religion. This is about universal human rights
and freedom!
We must stand up to this attack! Show your support for peace
and solidarity. Attend this conference to demand:
FREE PALESTINE!
END ALL U.S. AID TO ISRAEL-NOT ONE MORE DIME!
END THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ AND AFTGHANISTAN!
BRING ALL OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!
MONEY FOR HUMAN NEEDS NOT WAR!
If you can, show up tomorrow, Saturday, October 2nd,
at 8 am at Horace Mann to help defend the conference.
Yours for peace and solidarity,
Bonnie Weinstein, Bay Area United Against War
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) San Francisco Schools For Jihad
By Lee Kaplan
FrontPageMagazine.com | October 1, 2004
http://frontpagemagazine.com/
2) The Struggle for Palestine:
4th Anniversary of the Intifada
Conference:
October 2nd, 2004, beginning 9:00 a.m.
Horace Mann Middle School -
3351 23rd Street, San Francisco
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) San Francisco Schools For Jihad
By Lee Kaplan
FrontPageMagazine.com | October 1, 2004
http://frontpagemagazine.com/
The San Francisco Unified School District will host an event tomorrow
(Saturday, October 2) in support of overseas terrorist groups given by
the International Solidarity Movement and its affiliate, International
ANSWER. Taking place at Horace Mann Middle School in San FranciscoÂs
Mission District, the event is titled ÂThe Struggle for Palestine: 4th
Anniversary of the Intifada. The Intifada means the violent insurrection
started by the PLO in September, 2000 that has resulted in over 25,000
terror attacks and more than 1,000 innocent people deliberately murdered
in cold blood.
For the radical Left, this event is especially timely, since it follows
the beheadings of two American citizens in Iraq last week, a crime and
tragedy that undoubtedly will not be condemned during the proceedings at
the Horace Mann Middle School this weekend.
Overall, this event is only one example of the support for terrorism
(euphemistically called ÂresistanceÂ). The fourth purpose listed for
holding the event on some of the organizers websites is especially
intriguing. It is to garner:
Support for resistance in Palestine, and to make links with others who
are fighting against the U.S. occupation of Iraq, and against U.S.
imperialism around the world.
Can you guess what the organizers of this event mean by Âfighting against
the U.S. occupation in Iraq? They mean killing of our sons and daughters
in Iraq who are in the U.S. military. And can you guess whoÂs fighting
against them? The terrorists from al-Qaeda, the Ba'ath Party, Ansar
Al-Islam and any other members of the terrorist network.
The organizers of this event misrepresented themselves to the San
Francisco Unified School District by claiming their event would be an
impartial meeting of progressives to discuss the Middle East. If that
were really so, it should certainly fall under the parameters of free
speech. However, internal emails broadcasted by the organizers to their
email lists and on their websites tell another story of supporting
terrorism -- an illegal activity not covered by free speech provisions.
Simply put, this event is being staged in San Francisco with workshops
designed to train Âactivists to undermine anti-terrorism efforts abroad
and to help devise ways to aid the Âresistance in Iraq that is killing
American soldiers and other Coalition forces. Some of the groups
participating also actively fundraise fungible assets that, once they
arrive overseas, can go toward financing more terrorism.
One canÂt really blame the Palestine Solidarity Movement (an affiliate of
the International Solidarity Movement, or ISM), and the alphabet soup of
names its proxy groups go under, for utilizing a publicly funded junior
high school to hold another series of workshops and training sessions.
After all, radicals bent on destroying Israel and attacking U.S. forces
in Iraq need a place to practice Âdirect action, plot strategy and plan
fundraising. The public officials who rented the school to them for 12
hours on October 2nd, meanwhile, bear more blame for their lack of scrutiny.
The application form, filled out in the name of International ANSWER, a
group that supports North Korean communism, states the event is merely an
ÂEducational Forum on the Middle East. There is no mention of
celebrating the Intifada or supporting the Iraqi Insurgency.
International ANSWER and its affiliate, the International Action Center
(IAC), advocate a communist revolution. The IAC is led by Ramsey Clark,
Saddam Hussein's defense attorney.
When the deception was pointed out to Phillip Smith, the head of the Real
Estate Department for the San Francisco Unified School District, he
claimed by email he was unable to say no to the organizers, citing
California Education Code 38130 which allows use of school facilities for
political groups.
This is erroneous, as I explained to the school districtÂs attorney,
Miguel Marquez. California Education Code 38130 also states, ÂThe school
district may grant the use of the school facilities and grounds upon
certain terms and conditions deemed proper by the governing board,
subject to specified limitations, requirements, and restrictions set
forth within the law. (Emphasis added.)
If thatÂs the case, the event should come under Title 18 Section 2339A of
the Federal Criminal Code and Rules and amended Sections 702 and 703
regarding aid to terrorism that extends criminal penalties to those who
engage in aiding terrorism overseas from within the United States.
Marquez claims the rights of freedom of speech are broad and that this
event in San Francisco is an Âeducational event, like the organizers
claimed it is. However, he had no reply for me when I told him the event
at Horace Mann Middle School will contain workshops to deal with damaging
the Caterpillar CorporationÂs business in the U.S. (placing the school
district at liability also from Caterpillar), as well as other ways to
aid terrorist movements overseas as outlined for the event on multiple
websites. The Israeli army uses Caterpillar tractors to demolish the
homes of suicide bombers because those homes are used as bomb factories
or to house terrorist cells. And any other aid to those Âfighting against
the US occupation in Iraq would also fall into the category of aiding
terrorism overseas, whether by financial or material support as well as
through propaganda.
The copy of the rental agreement, filled out by a Saul Kanowitz of
International ANSWER, had no clauses in the event of misrepresentation of
events to be held on school property. Certainly, the San Francisco
Unified School District would not permit a similar event by the Ku Klux
Klan or the American Nazi Party on school grounds if such organizations
said they were holding educational discussions on American race in their
applications. In any case, the federal statues related to aiding
terrorists overseas gives the school district the right to act in a case
of clear misrepresentation by the organizers.
Kanowitz, who is gay, came to media attention when he sponsored a float
in the San Francisco Gay Pride parade equating the gay rights movement
with the Palestinian struggle to dismantle Israel. Jewish gay rights
activists in San Francisco were infuriated. Kanowitz was also active in
supporting Saddam HusseinÂs Iraq against the United States. Kanowitz is
hardly someone who was seeking to organize an objective educational forum
on the Middle East at Horace Mann Middle School.
Most agreements of other school districts in California regarding the
renting of school property for events all contain provisions such as this:
Persons or organizations applying for the use of school facilities shall
submit a statement of information indicating that the organization
upholds the state and federal constitutions and does not intend to use
school premises to commit unlawful acts.
The San Francisco Unified School District might consider adding such a
clause to its own rental applications.
To verify some information, I called one of the organizers of this event
listed on the Al Awda website who answered the phone saying, ÂADCÂ (the
acronym for the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee). The ADC
claims to be an Arab civil rights group fighting discrimination against
Arabs and Muslims since 9/11. So why is it conducting events designed to
aid terrorist movements overseas, especially in Iraq?
Rayan Elamine, who identified himself as an employee of the ADC during my
telephone interview, told me the San Francisco event was organized for
people who could not make it to the bigger national conference being held
at Duke University, October 15th-17th, which will also host workshops on
how to aid the Âresistance in Iraq against U.S. soldiers and damage the
Caterpillar CorporationÂs business . He also spoke of Âneo-conservativesÂ
(Jews) in the U.S. government that are Ârunning things. When I asked him
to specifically condemn attacks by al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups in
Iraq, he refused to condemn such activities even after I gave him several
opportunities to do so. ÂWe donÂt make statements about occupations first
and foremost, he said, refusing even to condemn suicide bombings that
kill both U.S. soldiers and Israelis. However, all media about this event
on the websites run by the organizers list Âfighting against the
occupation as the eventÂs goal. Jess Ghannam, who is also on the Board
of the ADC, is listed as another contact for the event on the Al-Awda
website.
The Duke Conference will be mimicked in San Francisco by other local
sponsors besides International ANSWER. These include the ADC, the ISM,
Al-Awda, SUSTAIN (Stop U.S. Taxpayer Support Against Israel Now), Jews
for a Free Palestine (a group that includes Jamie Spector, who was
exposed and deported from Israel due to another Front Page Magazine
article), as well as a new group called QUIT (Queers Undermining the
Occupation), no doubt led by Kanowitz. The Stalinist National Lawyers
Guild and even a current attorney from the ACLU will round out the program.
I also asked the school districtÂs attorney, Marquez, if the district
would require that people with dissenting views be admitted to this
Âeducational event or would they be forced to sign statements supporting
the dismantling of Israel or against U.S. forces in Iraq in order to get
in. Again, he had no reply, claiming state law tied his hands.
Apparently, Âfreedom of speech isnÂt as broad a topic as Marquez says it
is.
On many occasions, FrontPage Magazine has exposed how our colleges, high
schools and now even junior high schools are being used by
terrorist-supporting groups.
This support of terrorism has to stop.
The San Francisco Unified School District administrators refuse to stop
their complicity with terror -- even after they learned they are giving
support to murder overseas. No doubt, the administrators were duped by
the organizers of this event. However, instead of acknowledging their
error, they claim they are preserving the very freedoms that the
organizers of this event are working to destroy.
Let San Francisco Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman know how you feel:
ackermana@sfusd.edu . So far her office has stonewalled any common sense
solution
to not letting this event go forward. While youÂre at it, contact Governor
Schwarzenegger as well: http://www.govmail.ca.gov/.
Lee Kaplan is a contributing editor to Frontpagemag.com.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) The Struggle for Palestine:
4th Anniversary of the Intifada
Conference:
October 2nd, 2004, beginning 9:00 a.m.
Horace Mann Middle School -
3351 23rd Street, San Francisco
9:00-9:30: Registration
9:30-11:00: Morning Plenary Session:
The Current Status of Resistance in Palestine
11:00-12:15: Workshop Session #1
Continuations of Plenary: Status of Resistance
History of Palestine, The Nekbah and the Right of Return
Iraq and Palestine: 2 Struggles, One cause
Zionism
12:15-1:30: Lunch (Catered, with Music)
1:30-2:45: Workshop Session #2
Direct Action: Skills Development
The Impact of Palestine on the US Elections
Political Prisoners, Here and in Palestine
Globalization in the Arab World
2:45-3:00: Tea/Coffee Break
3:00-4:15: Workshop Session #3
Women and Resistance
The Targets of Empire: Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti,
Iran, Philippines, and Africa
US Solidarity Groups
Repression/Occupation in the US
(patriot Act, profiling, attacks on civil liberties)
4:30-6:00 Closing Plenary
Closing Summation and the Future in Palestine
6:00-7:00: Dinner with music
Cultural Performances
for more information:
info@justiceinpalestine.net
or visit
www.justiceinpalestine.net
Help defend ³The Struggle for Palestine² conference! Please
show up Saturday, October 2nd, at 8 a.m. to help defend the
conference from attack!
***********************************************************
This is an urgent message concerning "The Struggle for
Palestine: 4th Anniversary of the Intifada" conference tomorrow,
Saturday, October 2nd. The details of the conference are listed
in #2, below.
But I am writing all of you because of an article that came out
October 1, 2004, in FrontPageMagazine.com, entitled "Schools
For Jihad" by Lee Kaplan. (#1, below.)
Please read this article to get the extent of the attack that is
being waged against this conference, and against the whole
antiwar movement. Recently, at every demonstration called
against the war or in defense of the Palestinian people and
their fight for their land and their basic human rights,
a forceful group of Israeli Zionists has attempted to
disrupt the event.
Even though permits were secured by organizers for specific
areas such as Civic Center, Powell and Market, etc., Zionist
counter-demonstrators have been turning up in larger numbers
to disrupt our events. They occupy the area we have permits
for and carry out disruptive tactics such as heckling, taking
photos of demonstrators and speakers, etc. The police do
nothing. "It's still freedom of speech" they say.
At a community speakout on 24th and Mission, in solidarity
with Palestinian prisoners of war who were on a hunger strike,
a large group of Zionists attempted to surround our rally and
disrupt it with bullhorns and a giant boom box. Every one of
them had a camera and an Israeli flag and attempted to
photograph each of us and block us off from view of the
street.
At the June 30th demonstration at Union Square, a Zionist
supporter informed us that, "The Palestinians love the wall!"
Now they have termed all those who oppose the war on Iraq
and who defend the rights of Palestinians "terrorists"! They
claim we are "aiding the enemy" and thereby killing U.S. soldiers.
They are demanding that the School Board prohibit pro-Palestinian
or Antiwar groups the use of Public School facilities and more.
They will not go away on their own.
We can't allow them to disrupt this conference or any more
of our events. Please consider showing up and peacefully
supporting this conference tomorrow. It is up to us to defend
our right to freedom of speech and opinion and the public
expression of such.
While the U.S, is currently on the offensive in Iraq, Israel is
on the offensive in Palestine-lengthening the wall, bulldozing
homes, murdering and maiming children and preventing all
Palestinians from pursuing a happy and free life.
We have a right and an obligation to all of humanity to organize
opposition to these atrocities! This is not about anti-Semitism.
Many Jewish people are appalled at what is being done by Israel
in the name of all Jewish people around the world. Many are
opposed to sending $5 billion of our tax dollars to fund Israel's
murderous and larcenous rampage. Many Jewish people are part
of the antiwar and Free Palestine movements.
This is not about religion. This is about universal human rights
and freedom!
We must stand up to this attack! Show your support for peace
and solidarity. Attend this conference to demand:
FREE PALESTINE!
END ALL U.S. AID TO ISRAEL-NOT ONE MORE DIME!
END THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ AND AFTGHANISTAN!
BRING ALL OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!
MONEY FOR HUMAN NEEDS NOT WAR!
If you can, show up tomorrow, Saturday, October 2nd,
at 8 am at Horace Mann to help defend the conference.
Yours for peace and solidarity,
Bonnie Weinstein, Bay Area United Against War
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) San Francisco Schools For Jihad
By Lee Kaplan
FrontPageMagazine.com | October 1, 2004
http://frontpagemagazine.com/
2) The Struggle for Palestine:
4th Anniversary of the Intifada
Conference:
October 2nd, 2004, beginning 9:00 a.m.
Horace Mann Middle School -
3351 23rd Street, San Francisco
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) San Francisco Schools For Jihad
By Lee Kaplan
FrontPageMagazine.com | October 1, 2004
http://frontpagemagazine.com/
The San Francisco Unified School District will host an event tomorrow
(Saturday, October 2) in support of overseas terrorist groups given by
the International Solidarity Movement and its affiliate, International
ANSWER. Taking place at Horace Mann Middle School in San FranciscoÂs
Mission District, the event is titled ÂThe Struggle for Palestine: 4th
Anniversary of the Intifada. The Intifada means the violent insurrection
started by the PLO in September, 2000 that has resulted in over 25,000
terror attacks and more than 1,000 innocent people deliberately murdered
in cold blood.
For the radical Left, this event is especially timely, since it follows
the beheadings of two American citizens in Iraq last week, a crime and
tragedy that undoubtedly will not be condemned during the proceedings at
the Horace Mann Middle School this weekend.
Overall, this event is only one example of the support for terrorism
(euphemistically called ÂresistanceÂ). The fourth purpose listed for
holding the event on some of the organizers websites is especially
intriguing. It is to garner:
Support for resistance in Palestine, and to make links with others who
are fighting against the U.S. occupation of Iraq, and against U.S.
imperialism around the world.
Can you guess what the organizers of this event mean by Âfighting against
the U.S. occupation in Iraq? They mean killing of our sons and daughters
in Iraq who are in the U.S. military. And can you guess whoÂs fighting
against them? The terrorists from al-Qaeda, the Ba'ath Party, Ansar
Al-Islam and any other members of the terrorist network.
The organizers of this event misrepresented themselves to the San
Francisco Unified School District by claiming their event would be an
impartial meeting of progressives to discuss the Middle East. If that
were really so, it should certainly fall under the parameters of free
speech. However, internal emails broadcasted by the organizers to their
email lists and on their websites tell another story of supporting
terrorism -- an illegal activity not covered by free speech provisions.
Simply put, this event is being staged in San Francisco with workshops
designed to train Âactivists to undermine anti-terrorism efforts abroad
and to help devise ways to aid the Âresistance in Iraq that is killing
American soldiers and other Coalition forces. Some of the groups
participating also actively fundraise fungible assets that, once they
arrive overseas, can go toward financing more terrorism.
One canÂt really blame the Palestine Solidarity Movement (an affiliate of
the International Solidarity Movement, or ISM), and the alphabet soup of
names its proxy groups go under, for utilizing a publicly funded junior
high school to hold another series of workshops and training sessions.
After all, radicals bent on destroying Israel and attacking U.S. forces
in Iraq need a place to practice Âdirect action, plot strategy and plan
fundraising. The public officials who rented the school to them for 12
hours on October 2nd, meanwhile, bear more blame for their lack of scrutiny.
The application form, filled out in the name of International ANSWER, a
group that supports North Korean communism, states the event is merely an
ÂEducational Forum on the Middle East. There is no mention of
celebrating the Intifada or supporting the Iraqi Insurgency.
International ANSWER and its affiliate, the International Action Center
(IAC), advocate a communist revolution. The IAC is led by Ramsey Clark,
Saddam Hussein's defense attorney.
When the deception was pointed out to Phillip Smith, the head of the Real
Estate Department for the San Francisco Unified School District, he
claimed by email he was unable to say no to the organizers, citing
California Education Code 38130 which allows use of school facilities for
political groups.
This is erroneous, as I explained to the school districtÂs attorney,
Miguel Marquez. California Education Code 38130 also states, ÂThe school
district may grant the use of the school facilities and grounds upon
certain terms and conditions deemed proper by the governing board,
subject to specified limitations, requirements, and restrictions set
forth within the law. (Emphasis added.)
If thatÂs the case, the event should come under Title 18 Section 2339A of
the Federal Criminal Code and Rules and amended Sections 702 and 703
regarding aid to terrorism that extends criminal penalties to those who
engage in aiding terrorism overseas from within the United States.
Marquez claims the rights of freedom of speech are broad and that this
event in San Francisco is an Âeducational event, like the organizers
claimed it is. However, he had no reply for me when I told him the event
at Horace Mann Middle School will contain workshops to deal with damaging
the Caterpillar CorporationÂs business in the U.S. (placing the school
district at liability also from Caterpillar), as well as other ways to
aid terrorist movements overseas as outlined for the event on multiple
websites. The Israeli army uses Caterpillar tractors to demolish the
homes of suicide bombers because those homes are used as bomb factories
or to house terrorist cells. And any other aid to those Âfighting against
the US occupation in Iraq would also fall into the category of aiding
terrorism overseas, whether by financial or material support as well as
through propaganda.
The copy of the rental agreement, filled out by a Saul Kanowitz of
International ANSWER, had no clauses in the event of misrepresentation of
events to be held on school property. Certainly, the San Francisco
Unified School District would not permit a similar event by the Ku Klux
Klan or the American Nazi Party on school grounds if such organizations
said they were holding educational discussions on American race in their
applications. In any case, the federal statues related to aiding
terrorists overseas gives the school district the right to act in a case
of clear misrepresentation by the organizers.
Kanowitz, who is gay, came to media attention when he sponsored a float
in the San Francisco Gay Pride parade equating the gay rights movement
with the Palestinian struggle to dismantle Israel. Jewish gay rights
activists in San Francisco were infuriated. Kanowitz was also active in
supporting Saddam HusseinÂs Iraq against the United States. Kanowitz is
hardly someone who was seeking to organize an objective educational forum
on the Middle East at Horace Mann Middle School.
Most agreements of other school districts in California regarding the
renting of school property for events all contain provisions such as this:
Persons or organizations applying for the use of school facilities shall
submit a statement of information indicating that the organization
upholds the state and federal constitutions and does not intend to use
school premises to commit unlawful acts.
The San Francisco Unified School District might consider adding such a
clause to its own rental applications.
To verify some information, I called one of the organizers of this event
listed on the Al Awda website who answered the phone saying, ÂADCÂ (the
acronym for the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee). The ADC
claims to be an Arab civil rights group fighting discrimination against
Arabs and Muslims since 9/11. So why is it conducting events designed to
aid terrorist movements overseas, especially in Iraq?
Rayan Elamine, who identified himself as an employee of the ADC during my
telephone interview, told me the San Francisco event was organized for
people who could not make it to the bigger national conference being held
at Duke University, October 15th-17th, which will also host workshops on
how to aid the Âresistance in Iraq against U.S. soldiers and damage the
Caterpillar CorporationÂs business . He also spoke of Âneo-conservativesÂ
(Jews) in the U.S. government that are Ârunning things. When I asked him
to specifically condemn attacks by al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups in
Iraq, he refused to condemn such activities even after I gave him several
opportunities to do so. ÂWe donÂt make statements about occupations first
and foremost, he said, refusing even to condemn suicide bombings that
kill both U.S. soldiers and Israelis. However, all media about this event
on the websites run by the organizers list Âfighting against the
occupation as the eventÂs goal. Jess Ghannam, who is also on the Board
of the ADC, is listed as another contact for the event on the Al-Awda
website.
The Duke Conference will be mimicked in San Francisco by other local
sponsors besides International ANSWER. These include the ADC, the ISM,
Al-Awda, SUSTAIN (Stop U.S. Taxpayer Support Against Israel Now), Jews
for a Free Palestine (a group that includes Jamie Spector, who was
exposed and deported from Israel due to another Front Page Magazine
article), as well as a new group called QUIT (Queers Undermining the
Occupation), no doubt led by Kanowitz. The Stalinist National Lawyers
Guild and even a current attorney from the ACLU will round out the program.
I also asked the school districtÂs attorney, Marquez, if the district
would require that people with dissenting views be admitted to this
Âeducational event or would they be forced to sign statements supporting
the dismantling of Israel or against U.S. forces in Iraq in order to get
in. Again, he had no reply, claiming state law tied his hands.
Apparently, Âfreedom of speech isnÂt as broad a topic as Marquez says it
is.
On many occasions, FrontPage Magazine has exposed how our colleges, high
schools and now even junior high schools are being used by
terrorist-supporting groups.
This support of terrorism has to stop.
The San Francisco Unified School District administrators refuse to stop
their complicity with terror -- even after they learned they are giving
support to murder overseas. No doubt, the administrators were duped by
the organizers of this event. However, instead of acknowledging their
error, they claim they are preserving the very freedoms that the
organizers of this event are working to destroy.
Let San Francisco Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman know how you feel:
ackermana@sfusd.edu . So far her office has stonewalled any common sense
solution
to not letting this event go forward. While youÂre at it, contact Governor
Schwarzenegger as well: http://www.govmail.ca.gov/.
Lee Kaplan is a contributing editor to Frontpagemag.com.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) The Struggle for Palestine:
4th Anniversary of the Intifada
Conference:
October 2nd, 2004, beginning 9:00 a.m.
Horace Mann Middle School -
3351 23rd Street, San Francisco
9:00-9:30: Registration
9:30-11:00: Morning Plenary Session:
The Current Status of Resistance in Palestine
11:00-12:15: Workshop Session #1
Continuations of Plenary: Status of Resistance
History of Palestine, The Nekbah and the Right of Return
Iraq and Palestine: 2 Struggles, One cause
Zionism
12:15-1:30: Lunch (Catered, with Music)
1:30-2:45: Workshop Session #2
Direct Action: Skills Development
The Impact of Palestine on the US Elections
Political Prisoners, Here and in Palestine
Globalization in the Arab World
2:45-3:00: Tea/Coffee Break
3:00-4:15: Workshop Session #3
Women and Resistance
The Targets of Empire: Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti,
Iran, Philippines, and Africa
US Solidarity Groups
Repression/Occupation in the US
(patriot Act, profiling, attacks on civil liberties)
4:30-6:00 Closing Plenary
Closing Summation and the Future in Palestine
6:00-7:00: Dinner with music
Cultural Performances
for more information:
info@justiceinpalestine.net
or visit
www.justiceinpalestine.net
Thursday, September 30, 2004
BAUAW NEWSLETTER-THURSDAY, SEPTMEBER 30, 2004
1) Yes on N!
End the Occupation---Bring Our Troops Home Now!
COME OUT ON SUNDAY AND TABLE FOR PROP N !!!
Enjoy the Castro Street Fair while distributing lit for Prop N
2) The Struggle for Palestine:
4th Anniversary of the Intifada
Saturday, October 2nd, 2004
Horace Mann Middle School - 3351 23rd Street, San Francisco
3) Continued US Airstrikes in Baghdad Draw Criticism
Sadr City neighborhood is attacked for a second day.
Interim president of Iraq likens the tactics to Israeli
military actions in the Gaza Strip.
By Ashraf Khalil
BAGHDAD
Published on Wednesday, September 29, 2004
by the Los Angeles Times
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0929-24.htm
4) US bases in Iraq: sticky politics, hard math
By David R. Francis
If a new Iraq government should agree to let American
forces stay on, how many bases will the US request?
[In a message dated 9/30/04 4:26:08 AM,
rkallen@myrealbox.com writes:
from the September 30, 2004 edition]
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0930/p17s02-cogn.html
5) "On to Baghdad, back to home."
Subj: Fw: Please Forgive The Mass-Mailing!
Date: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 11:14:50 PM
From: dmg011@usadatanet.net
Please disperse this message on behalf of those who were
pushed even further last year, as the armed forces dangled
a carrot for months.
"For those of you unaware, I will be shortly on my way to Iraq
again. I write now as a plea for help on behalf of the combat
veterans forced to return to hostile areas against their will.
I am talking about the Army's policy regarding "Stop-Loss",
a procedure whereby the Army does not allow a soldier to
separate from service when his contract expires.
Effectively, we are being held hostage..."
6) Ashcroft Says Likely to Appeal U.S. Patriot Act Ruling
SCHEVENINGEN, Netherlands (Reuters)
Thu Sep 30, 2004 05:54 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6375762&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
7) Car Bombs Kill 34 Children in Baghdad
By Luke Baker
BAGHDAD (Reuters)
Thu Sep 30, 2004 09:36 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6378394&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
[What are 34 children doing near a U.S. military convoy?
Could they have been human shields? ...BW]
8) Twelve Palestinians, 3 Israelis Die in Gaza Violence
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA (Reuters)
Thu Sep 30, 2004 08:10 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6377165&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
9) The war's littlest victim
... and as the article mentions many, many Iraqi babies.
This was the cover story in today's News.
New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
The war's littlest victim
Tuesday, September 28th, 2004
10) Forbes 400 list of richest Americans: snapshot of a
financial oligarchy
By Joseph Kay
27 September 2004
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/sep2004/forb-s27_prn.shtml
11) Former Soldiers Slow to Report
500 Ready Reservists Seek Exemptions From Reactivation,
Risk AWOL Status
By Tom Squitieri, USA TODAY
(Sept. 28) Updated: 01:48 PM EDT
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20040928070809990037
12) Campaign to End the Death Penalty.
Books Not Bars
13) Anti-war Activists 4 the Million Worker March-
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org
14) Books Not Bars presents:
THE WORLD PREMIERE OF
***********************************
"SYSTEM FAILURE:
VIOLENCE, ABUSE & NEGLECT IN CYA"
***********************************
Tuesday October 19th 7pm
Grand Lake Theater
3200 Grand Avenue, Oakland
15) Urgent Appeal from Gaza
Thu, 30 Sep 2004 11:39:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Barbara Lubin"
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Yes on N!
End the Occupation---Bring Our Troops Home Now!
COME OUT ON SUNDAY AND TABLE FOR PROP N!!!
Enjoy the Castro Street Fair while distributing lit for Prop N
The Castro Street Fair is happening this Sunday, Oct. 3rd from about
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Prop N campaign will be working out of two booths:
The Harvey Milk LGBT Demo Club (booth 748) and Pride at Work
(booth 750). Both will be located at the North side of Market probably
near the middle of the 2300 block (between Noe & Castro). Enter at
the Noe & Castro Gate. You should ask for a map at the gate and look
for the booth #s marked in front of each booth.
Well over 100,000 people will be there. We will be passing out
brochures about Prop N in the morning and window signs proclaiming:
End the Occupation---Bring Our Troops Home Now, Yes on N in the
afternoon.
This is one of our best opportunities before the election to bring
visibility to the campaign. We can use help for 1 or 2 hours or all
day. Wear sunblock and look for our red, black and yellow banner
With the aforementioned slogan.
Thanks, Howard Wallace - 415/861-0318
PS: Check out our web site and note our broad array of endorsers:
YesonN.net
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) The Struggle for Palestine:
4th Anniversary of the Intifada
October 2nd, 2004
Horace Mann Middle School - 3351 23rd Street, San Francisco
9:00-9:30: Registration
9:30-11:00: Morning Plenary Session:
The Current Status of Resistance in Palestine
11:00-12:15: Workshop Session #1
Continuations of Plenary: Status of Resistance
History of Palestine, The Nekbah and the Right of Return
Iraq and Palestine: 2 Struggles, One cause
Zionism
12:15-1:30: Lunch (Catered, with Music)
1:30-2:45: Workshop Session #2
Direct Action: Skills Development
The Impact of Palestine on the US Elections
Political Prisoners, Here and in Palestine
Globalization in the Arab World
2:45-3:00: Tea/Coffee Break
3:00-4:15: Workshop Session #3
Women and Resistance
The Targets of Empire: Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti,
Iran, Philippines, Africa
US Solidarity Groups
Repression/Occupation in the US (patriot Act, profiling,
attacks on civil liberties)
4:30-6:00 Closing Plenary
Closing Summation and the Future in Palestine
6:00-7:00: Dinner with music
Cultural Performances
for more information:
info@justiceinpalestine.net
or visit
www.justiceinpalestine.net
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
3) Continued US Airstrikes in Baghdad Draw Criticism
Sadr City neighborhood is attacked for a second day.
Interim president of Iraq likens the tactics to Israeli
military actions in the Gaza Strip.
By Ashraf Khalil
BAGHDAD
Published on Wednesday, September 29, 2004
by the Los Angeles Times
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0929-24.htm
BAGHDAD - U.S. forces launched airstrikes Tuesday on the Baghdad
neighborhood of Sadr City for the second consecutive day, and two
British soldiers were killed in an ambush in the southern city of Basra.
'COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT"
A relative cries as a coffin carrying the body of Ahmed Abdul Muttalib
is taken for burial in Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday Sept. 29, 2004.
Muttalib died in an U.S. airstrike early on Wednesday morning and his
wife was gravely injured. (AP Photo/ Karim Kadim)
Sadr City, a Shiite Muslim-dominated area in the eastern part of the
capital, is a stronghold of the Al Mahdi militia led by radical cleric
Muqtada Sadr. Though his forces have been weakened by their
August expulsion from the southern city of Najaf after a prolonged
U.S. siege, attacks against American and Iraqi patrols have become
a daily occurrence in Sadr City, and visitors report that the streets
are dotted with bombs.
U.S. forces have launched multiple offensives targeting Shiite rebels
in the densely populated district. U.S. forces said a "precision strike"
Monday killed four insurgents, but hospital officials said 10 people,
including civilians, were killed.
Tuesday's attack injured at least three people, officials at Sadr City's
Jawader Hospital said. It was unclear whether any insurgents were
killed or injured.
In recent weeks, U.S. forces have also launched regular airstrikes
on the town of Fallouja, west of Baghdad, which is controlled by
Sunni Muslim insurgents. Although U.S. military operations
supposedly are coordinated with Iraqi leaders, the Americans'
increasing reliance on air attacks drew criticism Tuesday from
the U.S.-backed interim Iraqi president.
Drawing a parallel between U.S. tactics in Iraq and Israeli actions
in the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip,
President Ghazi Ajil Yawer said the U.S. strikes were viewed by
the Iraqi people as "collective punishment" against towns and
neighborhoods.
Footage of injured and dead women and children being pulled
from bombed buildings "brings to mind Gaza," Yawer said in an
interview on CNN.
Yawer's comments echo criticism of American military tactics in
the spring, when members of the now-disbanded Iraqi Governing
Council stridently protested a Marine siege of Fallouja.
Also Tuesday, insurgents armed with machine guns and rocket-
propelled grenades launched a morning attack on a two-vehicle
British army convoy in the southern city of Basra.
Shakir Hashem, a 28-year-old auto repair shop owner, identified
the attackers as Al Mahdi militiamen. They "were setting a trap
to attack the British troops.... When the convoy passed, they
opened fire," he said.
British troops returned fire, and during the ensuing gun battle
a grenade launched by one of the attackers struck a nearby
auto shop, setting it ablaze, Hashem said. Two British soldiers
who were injured in the ambush died at a military hospital.
The U.S. military identified a soldier killed Monday by a sniper
in Balad, north of Baghdad, as Sgt. 1st Class Joselito O. Villanueva,
36, of Los Angeles.
Two other soldiers who died last week in Iraq also have been
identified. Spc. Robert Unruh, 25, of Tucson was killed Saturday
when his unit was attacked in Al Anbar province west of Baghdad.
On the same day, Spc. Clifford L. Moxley Jr., 51, a National
Guardsman based in Berwick, Penn., died of "non-combat
related injuries."
(c) 2004 Los Angeles Times
(c) Copyrighted 1997-2004
www.commondreams.org
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
4) US bases in Iraq: sticky politics, hard math
By David R. Francis
If a new Iraq government should agree to let American
forces stay on, how many bases will the US request?
[In a message dated 9/30/04 4:26:08 AM,
rkallen@myrealbox.com writes:
from the September 30, 2004 edition]
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0930/p17s02-cogn.html
One, as the United States Army currently maintains in Honduras?
Six, the number of installations it lists in the Netherlands.
Or maybe 12?
The Pentagon isn't saying.
But a dozen is the number of so-called "enduring bases" located
by John Pike, director of GlobalSecurities.org. His military affairs
website gives their names. They include, for example, Camp Victory
at the Baghdad airfield and Camp Renegade in Kirkuk. The Chicago
Tribune last March said US engineers are constructing 14 "enduring
bases," but Mr. Pike hasn't located two of them.
Note the terminology "enduring" bases. That's Pentagon-speak for
long-term encampments - not necessarily permanent, but not just
a tent on a wood platform either. It all suggests a planned indefinite
stay on Iraqi soil that will cost US taxpayers for years to come.
The actual amount depends on how many troops are stationed there
for the long term. If the US decides to reduce its forces there from the
138,000 now to, say, 50,000, and station them in bases, the costs
would run between $5 billion to $7 billion a year, estimates Gordon
Adams, director of Security Policy Studies at George Washington
University in Washington, D.C. That's two to three times as much
as the annual American subsidy to Israel. Providing protection for
Israel is one of several reasons some analysts cite for the
US invasion of Iraq.
If more troops are based in Iraq for the long haul, the cost would
be higher. US Army planners are preparing to maintain the current
level of forces in Iraq at least through 2007, The New York Times
reported this week. But no decision has been made at the political
level.
So far, the Bush administration has not publicly indicated that it
will seek permanent bases in Iraq to replace those recently given
up in Saudi Arabia, a possibility mentioned by Deputy Defense
Secretary Paul Wolfowitz before US forces moved into Iraq. The
US already has bases in Kuwait and Qatar.
At an April 2003 press conference, Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld said any suggestion that the US is planning a permanent
military presence in Iraq is "inaccurate and unfortunate." With the
presidential election weeks away, he is unlikely to alter that
pronouncement on such a politically touchy matter. Such a
move would almost certainly attract fire from Democratic
candidate John Kerry.
Nonetheless, several military experts in Washington assume Iraq's
new government will need the support of American troops - and
thus "permanent" bases - for years, perhaps decades, to come.
The US already has 890 military installations in foreign countries,
ranging from major Air Force bases to smaller installations, say
a radar facility. Perhaps bases in Iraq would enable the Pentagon
to close a few of those facilities. As part of a post-cold-war shift
in its global posture, the Defense Department has been cutting
the number of its installations in Germany, which total more than
100. Last week Mr. Rumsfeld testified about a global "rearrangement"
of US forces to the Senate Armed Forces Committee.
"Who needs Germany when we have Iraq?" asks Mr. Pike of
GlobalSecurities.org.
Building bases in Iraq has risks. Two Americans beheaded last
week were working as civil engineers constructing the Taji
military base north of Baghdad, one of the bases Pike lists as
"enduring."
The bigger risk: Polls find that at least 80 percent of Iraqis -
whatever their views on the insurgency, democracy, the removal
of Saddam Hussein, and other issues - want US armed forces to
leave their nation. Making the bases permanent could stir up
more opposition to the US occupation.
Another fear, however, is that without US bases, the various
Iraqi factions - the Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds - would fall into
civil war. In turn, this conflict could drag in Iran, Syria, and
Turkey, leading to a widespread conflict in the Middle East.
Hope of establishing a democracy in an Arab nation would fade.
To avoid these risks, an Iraq government will accept a US military
presence despite popular disapproval, Pike says. "An indefinite
American presence in Iraq is the ultimate guarantor of some
quasi-pluralistic government."
Also, withdrawal of US forces would be seen by Iraqi insurgents
as a victory, prompting them to redouble their efforts to kill
Americans, says Thomas Donnelly, a military expert at the
American Enterprise Institute in Washington.
The US can afford maintaining bases in Iraq, he argues. US defense
spending now amounts to a bit more than 4 percent of gross
domestic product, the nation's output of goods and services.
It might rise as a result of Iraq bases to 5 percent of GDP, still
less than the 6.5 percent of GDP in the cold war or the 10 percent
during the Vietnam War.
Not everyone agrees. Permanent bases in Iraq are a "disastrously
bad idea," says Jessica Mathews, president of the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace in Washington. It reinforces
Iraqi suspicions that the US launched the war to get a hand on
Iraqi oil, control the region, and wants to maintain a puppet
government in Baghdad.
The total cost of the Iraq war has reached $125 billion to
$140 billion, estimates Mr. Adams. Reconstruction boosts the
total to as high as $175 billion. Permanent bases would keep
the tab running for years to come.
www.csmonitor.com | Copyright (c) 2004 The Christian Science
Monitor. All rights reserved.
For permission to reprint/republish this article, please email
Copyright
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
5) "On to Baghdad, back to home."
Subj: Fw: Please Forgive The Mass-Mailing!
Date: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 11:14:50 PM
From: dmg011@usadatanet.net
Please disperse this message on behalf of those who were
pushed even further last year, as the armed forces dangled
a carrot for months.
"For those of you unaware, I will be shortly on my way to Iraq
again. I write now as a plea for help on behalf of the combat
veterans forced to return to hostile areas against their will.
I am talking about the Army's policy regarding "Stop-Loss",
a procedure whereby the Army does not allow a soldier to
separate from service when his contract expires.
Effectively, we are being held hostage..."
----- Original Message -----
From: omit my name
To: Relatives
Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 12:36 PM
Subject: Please Forgive The Mass-Mailing!
My friends,
For those of you unaware, I will be shortly on my way to Iraq again.
I write now as a plea for help on behalf of the combat veterans
forced to return to hostile areas against their will. I am talking
about the Army's policy regarding "Stop-Loss", a procedure
whereby the Army does not allow a soldier to separate from
service when his contract expires. Effectively, we are being
held hostage by a policy designed to discourage soldiers from
terminating their service before war. For those of us who have
been to war, it seems unfair to send us back. We understand,
though, that these are difficult times, and we are ready to stand
against those who threaten the security of our freedom. We are
even willing to return to the combat zone, so long as the
commitment does not exceed that for which we enlisted.
Men and women of the Third Infantry Division were told
yesterday that not one of them would be permitted to
terminate their service until after a twelve month deployment
to Iraq, an area as hostile as the first days of the war in which
the division lost over a hundred American soldiers in two weeks.
This policy unfairly targets soldiers who have already served
in The War On Terror. We (myself and many unnamed others)
believe it is unethical and a disgusting, flagrant abuse of the
trust of the men and women in uniform.
We merely ask that you write a letter to your senators,
representatives, state governors, and newspapers. The public
needs to know about the atrocity that they are doing unto their
protectors. I will be busy writing form letters for you, and any
of your friends who are willing to help me. You may forward this
message to anyone you see fit. I only ask that, for my protection,
you omit my name. If you are willing to help, please write me
back with your state of residence, and I will send you a form
letter, the names of your congresspersons, and the contact
information for local, state, and federal media.
Even if you do not have the time to do anything, please remember
what is happening to us the next time you hear about Iraq in
conversation or in the news and let someone know about us.
Maybe they will carry on our plight. Thank you for your time.
Warmest regards,
omit my name
Opinions expressed in this electronic mailing do not
necessarily represent those of The United States Government,
The Department of Defense, or The Department of The Army.
All contents are sole proprietary of the author and are
protected by numerous state, federal and international laws.
Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Half a league, half a league, half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death rode the six hundred.
Their's not to make reply, their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death rode the six hundred.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
6) Ashcroft Says Likely to Appeal U.S. Patriot Act Ruling
SCHEVENINGEN, Netherlands (Reuters)
Thu Sep 30, 2004 05:54 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6375762&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
SCHEVENINGEN, Netherlands (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General
John Ashcroft said on Thursday the Bush administration was
likely to appeal against a U.S. District Court ruling that part
of the Patriot Act was unconstitutional.
"Without knowing the specifics, I wouldn't be able to
assure you that the case would be appealed, but it is almost a
certainty that it would be appealed," Ashcroft told reporters
after meeting European Union justice and interior ministers.
"We believe the act to be completely consistent with the
United States' Constitution," he added.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero ruled that
surveillance powers granted to the FBI under the Patriot Act, a
cornerstone of the U.S. war on terror, were unconstitutional.
In the first decision against a surveillance portion of the
act, Marrero ruled for the American Civil Liberties Union in
its challenge against what it called "unchecked power" by the
FBI to demand secret customer records from communication
companies, such as Internet service providers or telephone
companies.
Ashcroft said the Bush administration would continue "to
use every tool" available under the constitution to fight
terrorism.
EU and U.S. officials met in the Dutch sea-side resort to
discuss how to boost the fight against terrorism, including
improved information exchange, cutting off financing and
safeguarding borders without hampering trade and travel.
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
[What are 34 children doing near a U.S. military convoy?
Could they have been human shields? ...BW]
7) Car Bombs Kill 34 Children in Baghdad
By Luke Baker
BAGHDAD (Reuters)
Thu Sep 30, 2004 09:36 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6378394&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Insurgents detonated three car bombs
near a U.S. military convoy in Baghdad Thursday, killing 41
people, 34 of them children, and wounding scores.
In two other attacks, a suicide bomber blew up his vehicle
near a U.S. checkpoint outside the capital, killing two
policemen and a U.S. soldier, and a car bomb killed four people
in the restive northern Iraq town of Tal Afar.
The Baghdad blasts coincided with crowds gathering to
celebrate the opening of a new sewage plant. It was not clear
if the event or a U.S. convoy passing nearby was the target.
The first explosion was followed by two more that struck
those who rushed to the aid of the initial victims.
Ten U.S. soldiers were wounded in the attack, two of them
seriously, the military said. Iraq's Health ministry confirmed
41 dead and 139 wounded, the vast majority children.
Instability is steadily mounting just weeks before the U.S.
presidential election in November and four months before Iraq
is due to hold its own nationwide polls. Attacks on American
troops have risen to around 80 a day from 40 a month ago.
Doctors at Yarmouk hospital struggled to treat the flood of
victims, as pools of blood formed on the floor.
One boy lay swathed in bandages on a stretcher, his severed
leg on a table beside him. Others were scarred by shrapnel,
their clothes blown off by the force of the explosion.
The attack gouged a crater in the road and wrecked a dozen
burned-out cars and a bus. U.S. troops sealed off the area with
tanks, and helicopters circled overhead.
POLICE AND SOLDIERS DEAD
Hours earlier, a suicide bomber had killed two Iraqi police
and a U.S. soldier by blowing up his car near a U.S. checkpoint
at a crowded intersection in Abu Ghraib, just west of Baghdad.
Around 60 people, including women and children, were wounded.
Another soldier was killed when a rocket hit a U.S.
logistics base near Baghdad. The confirmed deaths of the two
soldiers raised to at least 802 the number of U.S. troops
killed in action since the start of the war.
In northern Iraq, another car bomb blew up near an Iraqi
police convoy in the center of Tal Afar, a rebellious town
close to the Syrian border. Hospital officials said four
civilians had been killed and 16 wounded. Four policemen were
also hurt.
In rebel-held Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad,
U.S. forces destroyed a building they said was being used by
fighters loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose group is
threatening to behead a British hostage.
The strike was the latest in a series of almost daily
attacks in Falluja intended to crush Zarqawi's network, which
has claimed responsibility for many of Iraq's bloodiest suicide
bombings and the killings of foreign captives.
Zarqawi's group beheaded Americans Eugene Armstrong and
Jack Hensley this month after U.S. forces and the Iraqi
government refused to release women prisoners.
BRITISH HOSTAGE
The group says it will also kill the Briton Kenneth Bigley,
62, who was snatched along with the American pair.
Wednesday, footage was released showing a haggard Bigley
squatting chained in a cage, pleading for his life.
In a barely audible voice, Bigley said British Prime
Minister Tony Blair was not doing enough to free him: "Tony
Blair is a liar. He doesn't care about me. I'm just one person."
Blair has said Britain will not negotiate with the
kidnappers, but told reporters on Wednesday: "They've made no
attempt to have any contact with us at all. If they did make
contact, it would be something we would immediately respond to."
Separately, a militant group said it had seized 10 people,
including two Indonesian women, working for an electronics firm
in Iraq, Al Jazeera television reported.
Lebanon said three of its nationals had been seized. It was
not clear if this was the same incident.
The U.S. military says it has sound intelligence that
Zarqawi and his followers are hiding out in Falluja, although
residents say the U.S. strikes regularly hit civilians.
U.S. marines pulled out of the city after weeks of fighting
in April that killed hundreds of Iraqis, and handed over
responsibility for security to an Iraqi force that has since
collapsed. The city is now run by insurgents.
The U.S. military says that with the help of Iraqi forces
it will retake rebel strongholds such as Falluja, Ramadi,
Samarra and the Baghdad neighborhoods of Sadr City and Haifa
Street by December so elections can go ahead as
planned a month later.
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
8) Twelve Palestinians, 3 Israelis Die in Gaza Violence
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA (Reuters)
Thu Sep 30, 2004 08:10 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6377165&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
GAZA (Reuters) - Twelve Palestinians and three Israelis
were killed Thursday as tanks thrust deep into the Gaza Strip's
largest refugee camp for the first time after a rocket attack
killed two Israeli children in a border town.
In one of Gaza's bloodiest days for months, gunmen shot
dead an Israeli soldier and a woman jogger, and Israeli forces
raiding the Jabalya camp killed at least six militants plus
several civilians during fierce fighting.
The army's push into the militant stronghold in north Gaza
came after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered troops
to use all means necessary to put a stop to rocket fire that
has persisted despite repeated Israeli raids and air strikes.
A Hamas rocket attack on the southern Israeli town of
Sderot Wednesday killed two Israeli children, aged 2 and 4, as
they played outside while visiting their grandparents on the
eve of the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot.
The latest spiral of violence has sent Sharon scrambling to
counter rightist critics who say his plan to withdraw troops
and settlers from occupied Gaza next year has emboldened
militants trying to give the impression that Israel is being
driven out.
Israel's army appears determined to smash militant groups
before leaving.
"The formula is clear -- blood for blood, bombardment for
bombardment," a Hamas gunman said in Jabalya, where Israeli
forces used tanks and armored bulldozers to clear a path into
the crowded camp of 100,000 inhabitants.
It was Israel's deepest and strongest thrust into Jabalya's
narrow street and alleys in four years of conflict -- a move
the army had long avoided for fear that troops and armored
would be vulnerable to militant attack.
Palestinians condemned the Israeli offensive, which
intensified early Thursday when a column of tanks entered the
camp and battled scores of armed militants.
"Israel is expanding its military operations in Gaza. This
is a dangerous indicator which will lead to failure," said
Nabil Abu Rdainah, an aide to Palestinian President Yasser
Arafat.
PALESTINIAN AMBUSHES
Under cover of fog and darkness, two gunman from Hamas --
an Islamic faction behind a campaign of suicide bombings and
sworn to Israel's destruction -- attacked an army position near
Jabalya before dawn, opening fire and launching grenades.
One soldier was killed and two wounded before troops shot
dead the militants.
Hours later, gunmen killed an Israeli woman as she went for
a morning jog on a road connecting two Jewish settlements in
northern Gaza, military sources said. Soldiers who rushed to
the scene returned fire and killed one gunman, the sources
said.
Israeli Radio said a second Israeli was also killed in the
incident. Palestinian medical sources said a 60-year-old
Palestinian was later killed by Israeli fire in the area, and a
27-year-old man was shot dead working in a nearby field.
Violence surged Wednesday when Palestinian militants
eluding an army crackdown carried out the deadly rocket attack
on Sderot, and troops killed nine Palestinians in raids in the
coastal strip and the West Bank.
Two makeshift Qassam rockets hit a residential block in the
town, close to Israel's fenced border with Gaza, killing a girl
aged 2 and a boy aged 4.
"I saw one little child without his legs. We tried to help
the other one but it was too late," said neighbor Haviv Ben
Abbo, who rushed to the scene when he heard the boom.
Thirteen other residents were injured in the town that has
borne the brunt of Qassam attacks, emergency services said.
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
9) The war's littlest victim
... and as the article mentions many, many Iraqi babies.
This was the cover story in today's News.
New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
The war's littlest victim
Tuesday, September 28th, 2004
In early September 2003, Army National Guard Spec. Gerard Darren
Matthew was sent home from Iraq, stricken by a sudden illness.
One side of Matthew's face would swell up each morning. He had
constant migraine headaches, blurred vision, blackouts and a
burning sensation whenever he urinated.
The Army transferred him to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in
Washington for further tests, but doctors there could not explain
what was wrong.
Shortly after his return, his wife, Janice, became pregnant.
On June 29, she gave birth to a baby girl, Victoria Claudette.
The baby was missing three fingers and most of her right hand.
Matthew and his wife believe Victoria's shocking deformity has
something to do with her father's illness and the war - especially
since there is no history of birth defects in either of their families.
They have seen photos of Iraqi babies born with deformities
that are eerily similar.
In June, Matthew contacted the Daily News and asked us to
arrange independent laboratory screening for his urine. This
was after The News had reported that four of seven soldiers
from another National Guard unit, the 442nd Military Police,
had tested positive for depleted uranium (DU).
The independent test of Matthew's urine found him positive for
DU - low-level radioactive waste produced in nuclear plants
during the enrichment of natural uranium.
Because it is twice as heavy as lead, DU has been used by the
Pentagon since the Persian Gulf War in certain types of "tank-buster"
shells, as well as for armor-plating in Abrams tanks.
Exposure to radioactivity has been associated in some studies
with birth defects in the children of exposed parents.
"My husband went to Iraq to fight for his country," Janice Matthew
said. "I feel the Army should take responsibility for what's happened."
The couple first learned of the baby's missing fingers during a
routine sonogram of the fetus last April at Lenox Hill Hospital.
Matthew was a truck driver in Iraq with the 719th transport unit
from Harlem. His unit moved supplies from Army bases in Kuwait
to the front lines and as far as Baghdad. On several occasions, he
says, he carried shot-up tanks and destroyed vehicle parts on his
flat-bed back to Kuwait.
After he learned of his unborn child's deformity, Matthew
immediately asked the Army to test his urine for DU. In April,
he provided a 24-hour urine sample to doctors at Fort Dix, N.J.,
where he was waiting to be deactivated.
In May, the Army granted him a 40% disability pension for his
migraine headaches and for a condition called idiopathic angioedema -
unexplained chronic swelling.
But Matthew never got the results of his Army test for DU. When
he called Fort Dix last week, five months after he was tested, he
was told there was no record of any urine specimen from him.
Thankfully, Matthew did not rely solely on the Army bureaucracy -
he went to The News.
Earlier this year, The News submitted urine samples from
Guardsmen of the 442nd to former Army doctor Asaf Durakovic
and Axel Gerdes, a geologist at Goethe University in Frankfurt,
Germany. The German lab specializes in testing for minute
quantities of uranium, a complicated procedure that costs up
to $1,000 per test.
The lab is one of approximately 50 in the world that can detect
quantities as tiny as fentograms - one part per quadrillionth.
A few months ago, The News submitted a 24-hour urine sample
from Matthew to Gerdes. As a control, we also gave the lab 24-hour
urine samples from two Daily News reporters.
The three specimens were marked only with the letters A, B and C,
so the lab could not know which sample belonged to the soldier.
After analyzing all three, Gerdes reported that only sample A -
Matthew's urine - showed clear signs of DU. It contained a total
uranium concentration that was "4 to 8 times higher" than
specimens B and C, Gerdes reported.
"Those levels indicate pretty definitively that he's been
exposed to the DU," said Leonard Dietz, a retired scientist
who invented one of the instruments for measuring uranium
isotopes.
According to Army guidelines, the total uranium concentration
Gerdes found in Matthew is within acceptable standards for
most Americans.
But Gerdes questioned the Army's standards, noting that
even minute levels of DU are cause for concern.
"While the levels of DU in Matthew's urine are low," Gerdes
said, "the DU we see in his urine could be 1,000 times higher
in concentration in the lungs."
DU is not like natural uranium, which occurs in the environment.
Natural uranium can be ingested in food and drink but gets
expelled from the body within 24 hours.
DU-contaminated dust, however, is typically breathed into
the lungs and can remain there for years, emitting constant
low-level radiation.
"I'm upset and confused," Matthew said. "I just want answers.
Are they [the Army] going to take care of my baby?"
We track soldiers' sickness
For the last five months, Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez
has chronicled the plight of soldiers who have returned from
Iraq with mysterious illnesses.
His exclusive groundbreaking investigation began with a
front-page story on April 4 that suggested depleted uranium
contamination was far more widespread than the Pentagon
would admit.
* At the request of The News, nine soldiers from a New
York Army National Guard company serving in Iraq were tested
for radiation from depleted uranium shells - and four of the
ailing G.I.s tested positive.
* The day after Gonzalez's story appeared, Army officials
rushed to test all returning members of the company, the
442nd Military Police, based in Rockland County.
* By week's end, the scandal had reverberated all the way
to Albany, as Gov. Pataki joined the list of politicians calling
for the Pentagon to do a better job of testing and treating sick
soldiers returning from the war.
* Gonzalez's exposé sparked a huge demand for testing.
By mid-April, 800 G.I.s had given the Army urine samples, and
hundreds more were waiting for appointments.
* Two weeks later, the Pentagon claimed that none of the
soldiers from the 442nd had tested positive for depleted uranium.
But The News' experts found significant problems with the
testing methods.
UNITED FOR PEACE & JUSTICE | 212-868-5545
This email list is designed for posting news articles or event
announcements of interest to UFPJ member groups.
It is not a discussion list.
To engage in online discussion of UFPJ matters, join our
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10) Forbes 400 list of richest Americans: snapshot of a
financial oligarchy
By Joseph Kay
27 September 2004
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/sep2004/forb-s27_prn.shtml
The current issue of Forbes Magazine contains the publication's
annual list of the wealthiest Americans, ranked by net worth.
While one's first instinct might be to turn away in disgust from
such a flaunting of individual wealth and greed, it is instructive
to consider the figures, for they provide an important indication
of the nature of American society.
According to Forbes , "The economy's recovery may be a little
shaky, but you wouldn't know it from looking at this year's
Forbes 400. The combined net worth of the nation's wealthiest
climbed to $1 trillion, up $45 billion in 12 months. With a
$750 million admission price, 9-digit fortunes are an
endangered species here: 78 percent of the people on this
year's list are billionaires."
The richest individual remains Microsoft's Bill Gates, who has
a net worth of $48 billion. Other notables include Warren Buffet,
who is number two with $41 billion; the Walton family, which
controls Wal-Mart, with five individuals on the list, each of
whom has a net worth of $18 billion; Lawrence Ellison of Oracle,
who ranks tenth with $13.7 billion; media tycoon Rupert Murdoch,
27th with $6.9 billion; and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg,
who comes in at 24th with $5 billion.
The figure of $1 trillion marks something of a milestone, not only
because the 400 richest Americans have a combined net worth that
requires 13 digits to write out, but also because it is a return to the
sort of numbers that were last seen during the stock market boom
of 1999-2000. It was in 1999 that the $1 trillion figure was first
reached, then climbing to $1.2 trillion at the height of the boom in
2000. The figure dropped in 2001 and 2002 before climbing again
in 2003 and 2004.
The number of billionaires in the country has followed a similar
pattern. In 1996, before the stock market really took off in the
late 1990s, there were 79 individuals with a net worth of at least
$1 billion. Bill Gates, who topped the list then as now, had
a relatively paltry $18 billion. By 2000, the number of billionaires
had shot up to 298, before falling to 266 in 2001 and 228 in 2002.
The super-rich have experienced a comeback in recent years,
however, with the number of billionaires rising to 262 in 2003
and 313 in 2004.
The figure of $1 trillion, because of its enormity, is somewhat
difficult to comprehend. To put it in perspective, if the wealth
were divided into sums of $10,000, there would be 100 million
portions-enough to hand out $10,000 checks to approximately
one in three people living in the United States.
One trillion dollars is also approximately equal to the gross
domestic product of Canada ($957 billion).
California's budget deficit, which has wreaked havoc across the
state and prompted massive spending cuts affecting millions of
people, is $40 billion. But this is less than one-twentieth the net
worth of the 400 richest individuals in the country.
State budget shortfalls that have prompted similar cuts in social
programs and education throughout the country total about
$100 billion-one tenth of $1 trillion held by those on the Forbes
list. Earlier this month, the Congressional Budget Office projected
a record budget deficit for the United States in 2004 of $422 billion-an
unprecedented sum, but still less than half of the wealth of
America's most fortunate sons and daughters.
One trillion dollars is approximately the amount spent on the
military throughout the world, about half of which is spent in
the United States.
The Forbes list provides a snapshot of what can only be called
an economic oligarchy. Such staggering sums of wealth concentrated
in the hands of a tiny percentage of the population coincides with
growing poverty for tens of millions of Americans, declining living
standards and worsening economic insecurity for tens of millions
more, an intensified assault on social services, and an ongoing
decline in the basic infrastructure of the country.
The Census Bureau released figures last month reporting that
poverty rose for the third straight year in 2003. In 2003, nearly
36 million people, or 12.5 percent of the population, lived at or
below the official (and patently unrealistic) poverty level of
$18,660 for a family of four. In 2000, the number of individuals
living in poverty was 31.6 million, and the figure has consistently
risen over the past four years. The Bureau also reported that the
number of people without medical insurance in the United States
rose to 45 million in 2003.
The same week that Forbes released its list, Citizens for Tax Justice
issued a report entitled "Corporate Income Taxes in the Bush Years."
The study looked at taxes paid by the 275 companies listed on the
Fortune 500 list of America's largest corporations from 2001 to
2003 that reported profits in each of the three years.
According to the report, "Eighty-two of the 275 companies, almost
a third of the total, paid zero or less in federal income taxes in at
least one year from 2001 to 2003. In the years they paid no income
tax, these companies reported $102 billion in pretax US profits."
Instead of paying taxes, they received tax rebates of a combined
$12.6 billion. The nominal tax rate on profits for large corporations
is 35 percent, however the 275 companies combined paid an
effective tax rate of only 18.4 percent over the three years.
Corporate taxation has declined over the past three years, with the
help of legislation passed by the Bush administration. According to
the report, "corporate income taxes in fiscal 2002 and 2003 fell to
their lowest sustained share of the economy since World War II.
(Only a single year during the early Reagan administration was lower.)
From 2001 to 2003, the Commerce Department reports that pretax
corporate profits grew by 26 percent. But over that same period,
corporate income tax payments to the federal government fell by
21 percent."
Taken together, the Forbes 400 list, the Census report on poverty,
and the Citizens for Tax Justice study on corporate taxation reveal
a stark trend. The stock market crisis of 2001 evoked a response
within the ruling elite to escalate the attack on working people
and secure the staggering wealth controlled by the top 1 percent
of the population.
The war in Iraq and the growing assault on democratic rights
must be understood in this context: they are actions taken by
a ruling elite determined to safeguard, by whatever means
necessary, its social position.
The Detroit News , in a front-page article on the results of the
newspaper's own investigation, headlined "Working Poor Suffer
Under Bush Tax Cuts," reported Sunday: "The Bush administration
and Congress have scaled back programs that aid the poor to help
pay for $600 billion in tax breaks that went primarily to those who
earn more than $288,800 a year.... The affected programs-job
training, housing, higher education and an array of social services-
provide safety nets for the poor."
These statistics serve as a stark indictment of the irrationality and
anti-social character of a system based on the accumulation of
personal wealth and profit.
There will be no letup in this assault. The economic position of
American capitalism grows increasingly precarious, with a
burgeoning debt and intensifying internal social contradictions.
The response will be a continued attack on working people. Already,
nearly all of the major airlines are demanding massive pay and
benefits cuts while continuing to slash jobs.
The November election will do nothing to address these issues.
Politicians of all stripes repeat the refrain that "there is no money"
to seriously deal with the crisis in medical care, education, housing
and employment. But as the Fortune 400 list shows, there are
abundant resources. They are, however, systematically diverted
into the coffers of a tiny elite.
The Bush campaign openly speaks for the most rapacious sections
of the ruling elite. But the policies of the Bush administration
represent a continuation-compounded and intensified-of the
policies carried out by the preceding Democratic administration
of Bill Clinton, who sponsored and signed into law the measure
ending the federal welfare entitlement for the poor.
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's campaign
proposals for health care and other social services hardly
rise to the level of token reforms, and even these would be
quickly shelved in a Kerry administration. The main plank of
the Democratic Party on domestic issues is "fiscal conservatism,"
which means the further gutting of social services in order to
place the burden of deficit reduction on the working class.
No significant piece of social reform legislation has been
introduced by either party for 40 years. The Democratic Party
long ago abandoned any suggestion of wealth redistribution
or economic equality.
No problem confronting the American people today can be
resolved without tackling the problem of social inequality
and the subordination of the needs of the people to the
financial interests of an economic oligarchy. This, in turn,
cannot be resolved without building an independent political
movement of the working class, breaking the monopoly of
the two parties of big business, and setting out to dislodge
the financial aristocracy and carry through a revolutionary
transformation of society on the basis of socialist principles.
Copyright 1998-2004
World Socialist Web Site
All rights reserved
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
11) Former Soldiers Slow to Report
500 Ready Reservists Seek Exemptions From Reactivation,
Risk AWOL Status
By Tom Squitieri, USA TODAY
(Sept. 28) Updated: 01:48 PM EDT
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20040928070809990037
(Sept. 28) - Fewer than two-thirds of the former soldiers being
reactivated for duty in Iraq and elsewhere have reported on time,
prompting the Army to threaten some with punishment for desertion.
The former soldiers, part of what is known as the Individual Ready
Reserve (IRR), are being recalled to fill shortages in skills needed
for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Of the 1,662 ready reservists ordered to report to Fort Jackson,
S.C., by Sept. 22, only 1,038 had done so, the Army said Monday.
About 500 of those who failed to report have requested exemptions
on health or personal grounds.
"The numbers did not look good," said Lt. Col. Burton Masters, a
spokesman for the Army's Human Resources Command. "We are
tightening the system, reaching the people and bringing them in."
Masters said most of the requests for exemptions are likely to be
denied: "To get an exemption, it has to be a very compelling case,
such as a severe medical condition."
The figures are the first on the IRR call-up. They reflect the
challenges the Pentagon faces in trying to find enough troops
for ongoing operations and show resistance among some
service members who returned to civilian life.
The ready reserve is an infrequently used pool of former
soldiers who can be called to duty in a national emergency
or war. On June 29, the Army announced it would call 5,674
members of its IRR back to active duty this year and next.
Several of those who received recall notices have already been
declared AWOL (absent without official leave) and technically
are considered deserters. "We are not in a rush to put someone
in the AWOL category," Masters said. "We contact them and
convince them it is in their best interests to show up. If you
are a deserter, it can affect you the rest of your life."
· Army May Reduce Length of Tours
· Rumors of Draft Are Hard to Kill
· AOL Military Center
· AOL Search: Recruitment
search.jsp>
Fourteen people were listed as AWOL last week; six subsequently told
the Army they would report. Punishment for being AWOL is up to the
unit commander and can include prison time and dishonorable
discharge, said Col. Joseph Curtin, an Army spokesman.
With a force that generals say is stretched thin, the Army is
considering $1,000-a-month bonuses to ex-soldiers who
volunteer to return for overseas duty.
Ready reservists are soldiers who were honorably discharged
after finishing their active-duty tours, usually four to six years,
but remain part of the IRR for the rest of their original eight-year
commitment. The IRR call-up is the first major one in 13 years,
since 20,277 troops were ordered back for the Persian Gulf War.
09/28/2004 07:04
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
12) Campaign to End the Death Penalty.
Books Not Bars
Dear Friends,
Check out this upcoming conference, put together by our
allies at the Campaign to End the Death Penalty.
Sincerely,
Books Not Bars
******Please Forward Widely*******
The Death Penalty in CA: Too Flawed to Fix!
An activist and educational conference to stop the
death penalty in California
October 9-10th
UC Berkeley
For more information visit www.2flawed2fix.org
or call 510-333-7966
$5-25 sliding scale donations,
no one turned away for lack of funds
Saturday, October 9th
7:00 pm
Dwinelle Hall room 145, UC Berkeley
Opening plenary of the conference: celebrating the victories and
struggles of the movement against the death penalty. Featuring
Barbara Becnel, co-producer of the movie, "Redemption: The Stan
Tookie Williams Story." Also: musical performances, spoken word
artists, a video message from death row inmate Stan Tookie
Williams, videos and more!
Sunday, October 10th
Doors open at 10:00 am, welcome session at 11:00 am
Dwinelle Hall, UC Berkeley
Workshops on the following topics (2 sessions)
--Racism and the Criminal Injustice System
--The struggles for Stan Tookie Williams and Kevin Cooper
--Family members of death row inmates speak out
--Women on death row in California
--What's wrong with the death penalty in California?
--How they won in Illinois/Lessons for our fight
--The fight free death row prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal
4:00 closing plenary: We can end the death penalty in California
Featuring: Madison Hobley--exonerated death row inmate from
Illinois, Donna Larsen--mother of death row inmate Keith Doolin,
Robert R. Bryan -- attorney for Mumia Abu-Jamal and death
penalty expert, activists and more! Also invited: the
Reverend Jesse Jackson.
6:00 Dinner and strategy session: what's next for the anti-death
penalty movement? Come share ideas and get involved!
Sponsored by the following organizations:
Amnesty International, American Friends Service Committee,
CA People of Faith Working Against the Death Penalty,
Campaign to End the Death Penalty, Death Penalty Action Team,
Death Penalty Focus, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights,
First Mennonite Church of SF, Idriss Stelley Foundation,
International Socialist Organization, LEGAI-Queer Insurrection,
Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, Out of Control,
Socialist Action
*****
Get more information about the Books Not Bars
"Alternatives for Youth" Campaign:
http://ellabakercenter.org/bnb/campaign
*****
We can't survive without the support of individuals like
you. Please take a moment to support Books Not Bars
today. Donate here:
http://www.ellabakercenter.org/donate
*****
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forwarded to you.) Sign up to get e-mail updates
directly by going this web page:
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* If you are on our list-serve, you can update your
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* UNSUBSCRIBE here: http://www.ellabakercenter.org/lists/
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13) Anti-war Activists 4 the Million Worker March-
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org
We have just 18 more days until the Million Worker March
and excitement is growing everywhere-
Keep talking to your friends, co-workers, students and
neighbors.
Get them on the bus--in your car--get them to D.C.
Start making your signs and making your plans.
**Important People's Alert:
Hotel Workers Are Calling for Support from Washington D.C.
to California--
San Francisco Workers Are Presently on a Two Week Strike
Action
Who are the hotel workers? They are some of the lowest
paid workers who clean rooms in luxury suites, carry heavy
bags, greet the guests and keep things running in some of
the largest chain hotels in the world. They are women who
are struggling to support children; and they are immigrant
and oppressed workers who face fear, harassment and
discrimination.
They want health care, decent wages and a workload that is
manageable. And they want a union contract. On the West
Coast in Los Angeles and San Francisco, hotel workers who
are represented by UNITE-HERE, have been working without a
contract since April and September respectively. The
hotel industry has refused to negotiate fairly.
In Washington D.C., 3,800 workers in 14 hotels represented
by UNITE-HERE Local 25 have voted overwhelmingly (94%) to
authorize a strike over the same issues. Community, labor
and anti-war groups are now preparing to volunteer in food
kitchens and are beginning food drives.
When we come to Washington D.C. for the Million Worker
March-let's make sure these workers have our support.
They are asking customers not to stay in any of the 14
hotels. For a list of hotels see
http://www.hotelworkersunited.org/pdf/FactsheetDC.pdf
For more information on the hotel workers and their
campaign for justice see the following websites:
http://www.hotelworkersunited.org and
http://www.hotellaboradvisor.info.org
***Momentum is building for the Million Worker March---new
organizing centers are springing up all over the country
(see http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/organizingcenters.htm)
and new endorsers are being added to the list daily
(http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/endorsers.htm).
It is more important than ever that we turn out by the
thousands to say "Jobs, Healthcare, and a Living Wage, Not
War!" on October 17. We need your help in these last two
weeks to make this happen.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
**Get the Word out!
1) download leaflets from
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/pdfdownload.htm
and take them to your school, workplace, house of worship,
union, and community organization.
2) Link to the Anti-war for the Million Worker March
Website :
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/index.htm
3) Forward this email to your email lists
**Organize transportation from your area!
We need hundreds of local organizers. Contact us about
becoming a local organizer:
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/signupantiwarorganizer.htm
**Donate!
We need help with the enormous expenses involved with this
massive mobilization of working people. You can donate
online at: http://www.peoplesrightsfund.org/
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org
October 17 Washington DC
Anyone can subscribe.
Send an email request to
AntiWar4theMillionWorkerMarch-subscribe@organizerweb.com
To unsubscribe
AntiWar4theMillionWorkerMarch-unsubscribe@organizerweb.com
Subscribing and unsubscribing can also be done on the Web at
http://www.organizerweb.com/mailman/listinfo/antiwar4themillionworkermarch
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
14) Books Not Bars presents:
THE WORLD PREMIERE OF
***********************************
"SYSTEM FAILURE:
VIOLENCE, ABUSE & NEGLECT IN CYA"
***********************************
Tuesday October 19th 7pm
Grand Lake Theater
3200 Grand Avenue, Oakland
*** please forward *** please forward widely *** please forward
Come see our new 30-minute, grassroots-driven documentary
about the California Youth Authority, produced in collaboration
with Witness (www.witness.org).
The California Youth Authority (CYA) is notorious as the most
abusive juvenile justice system in the nation. See exclusive
interviews with former wards, parents, advocates and activists
about the human rights crisis in CYA -- and about the movement
to end this crisis and revolutionize juvenile justice in California.
* A panel discussion with filmmakers, former wards and parents
will follow the screening.
* Suggested donation: $5 - $10 (no one turned away for
lack of funds)
* For more information or to request postcard flyers to be
mailed to you please contact:
bnb@ellabakercenter.org
415-951-4844 ext 230
*****
Find out about the Books Not Bars "Alternatives for Youth" Campaign:
http://ellabakercenter.org/bnb/campaign
*****
We can't survive without the support of individuals like you.
Please take a moment to support us today. Donate here:
http://www.ellabakercenter.org/donate
*****
SIGN UP: Not on our list-serve yet? (Maybe this message was
forwarded to you.) Sign up to get e-mail updates directly by
going this web page: http://ellabakercenter.org/subscribe )
UPDATE: If you are on our list-serve, you can update your
information and preferences: http://www.ellabakercenter.org/lists/
?p=preferences&uid=1cbafa757fe7202cf8cf4d4af079434d
UNSUBSCRIBE here: http://www.ellabakercenter.org/lists/
?p=unsubscribe&uid=1cbafa757fe7202cf8cf4d4af079434d
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---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
15) Urgent Appeal from Gaza
Thu, 30 Sep 2004 11:39:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Barbara Lubin"
Dear Friends,
All of us at the Middle East Children's Alliance are again shocked and
saddened by the news coming from our friends and colleagues in Gaza. We
are alarmed to see the number of casualties, injuries, and homes
demolished increase by the hour.
We are sharing with you the latest appeal from the Union of Health Work
Committees (UHWC), an organization that provides medical services to
residents throughout the Gaza Strip.
Here's what you can do:
* Make a donation for food and medical aid by clicking the link
below. We will wire any money collected to the UHWC to help them continue
their work.
* Call the Congressional switchboard (1-800-839-5276) and ask your
representatives to take a stand against the invasions in Gaza and to stop
US Aid to Israel. Remind them that though Israel is violating
International Law and US military aid to Israel violates the US Arms Export
Control Act, the US government continues to give Israel over $5 billion in
aid each year. Tell them that as a tax payer, you do not approve of
your money being used to violate US Law or International Law.
* Call the United Nations (212-963-1234) and ask them to intervene
since these incursions are in violation of International Law and 80% of
Gazans are refugees under the protection of UNRWA.
Thank you,
Barbara Lubin
Founder and Executive Director https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/
index.php?aid=1171&rkey=9977&rdata=1148404:-1:9454549 Urgent Appeal
For the last 48 hours, the Union of Health Work Committees (UHWC),
medical facilities are in state of top emergency in the northern
governorate of Gaza Strip.
The medical teams are working continuously to cope with the increasing
no. of causalities, due to massive Israelis forces incursion to the
northern governorate especially Jabalia.
The Israeli tanks Helicopters and different Military forces are
attacking the area through four main sectors. The Israeli forces are
demolishing houses, destroying infrastructure and bulldozing trees at the
same
time they snap every moving target disregarding if being a child, women,
old man or youth.
The chicken farms and different animal farms had their share in
destruction, e.g. a chicken farm at Abed Rabuh Quarter in Jabalia has been
completely bulldozed at this morning.
Al -AwdaHospitalreceived till this moment 42 injured people, 17 of them
are under 15 years old, 8 women, in addition to 8 martyrs (most of the
injuries are due to explosive pullets). Another governmental hospital
in the same area has received tens of causalities also.
UHWC,Al-QudsMedicalCenterin Beit - Hanoun has been working 24 hours/
day to cover the expected increasing number of injuries and to offer
other emergency medical help because Beit - Hanoun has been isolated from
the rest of Gaza Strip.
Al-Assria (Al-Luhiedan) Medical Center - Jabalia refugees camp is now
at the middle of battle, the Israeli tanks and snappers are just 50
meters away from the center, all the other health and community activities
of Al-Luhiedan Community Health Center have been hanged up as it works
as a front first aid medical center.
The first aid medical teams and the ambulance service of the UHWC (138
volunteers men and women) are working day and night to rescue and
evacuate the injured people. At the same time they offer some highly needed
medical and food supplies.
UHWC teams who are doing all this call all International and human
rights organization, Red Cross, United Nations, and all those who are
seeking just peace in the area to urgently interfere to stop this massacre
against our Palestinian people. At the same time to pressure on the
Israeli government to stop its harassments against the medical teams and
civilians.
For more information, please contact Dr. Sayed Ajadbah - Executive
-director.
Union of Health Work Committees -Gaza
Related Articles:
18 residents shot dead in Jabalia, 85 shot wounded and 35 homes leveled
http://
www.imemc.org/headlines/2004/September/week4/093004/11_killed.htm Israelis
Kill 23 Palestinians in Gaza Offensive http://news.scotsman.com/
latest.cfm?id=3567511 Violence flares up in Gaza
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/
exeres/396DCFA4-0F47-41DA-BEAA-2C1C399BC9DD.htm 901 Parker Street
Berkeley, California 94710
United States
End the Occupation---Bring Our Troops Home Now!
COME OUT ON SUNDAY AND TABLE FOR PROP N !!!
Enjoy the Castro Street Fair while distributing lit for Prop N
2) The Struggle for Palestine:
4th Anniversary of the Intifada
Saturday, October 2nd, 2004
Horace Mann Middle School - 3351 23rd Street, San Francisco
3) Continued US Airstrikes in Baghdad Draw Criticism
Sadr City neighborhood is attacked for a second day.
Interim president of Iraq likens the tactics to Israeli
military actions in the Gaza Strip.
By Ashraf Khalil
BAGHDAD
Published on Wednesday, September 29, 2004
by the Los Angeles Times
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0929-24.htm
4) US bases in Iraq: sticky politics, hard math
By David R. Francis
If a new Iraq government should agree to let American
forces stay on, how many bases will the US request?
[In a message dated 9/30/04 4:26:08 AM,
rkallen@myrealbox.com writes:
from the September 30, 2004 edition]
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0930/p17s02-cogn.html
5) "On to Baghdad, back to home."
Subj: Fw: Please Forgive The Mass-Mailing!
Date: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 11:14:50 PM
From: dmg011@usadatanet.net
Please disperse this message on behalf of those who were
pushed even further last year, as the armed forces dangled
a carrot for months.
"For those of you unaware, I will be shortly on my way to Iraq
again. I write now as a plea for help on behalf of the combat
veterans forced to return to hostile areas against their will.
I am talking about the Army's policy regarding "Stop-Loss",
a procedure whereby the Army does not allow a soldier to
separate from service when his contract expires.
Effectively, we are being held hostage..."
6) Ashcroft Says Likely to Appeal U.S. Patriot Act Ruling
SCHEVENINGEN, Netherlands (Reuters)
Thu Sep 30, 2004 05:54 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6375762&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
7) Car Bombs Kill 34 Children in Baghdad
By Luke Baker
BAGHDAD (Reuters)
Thu Sep 30, 2004 09:36 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6378394&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
[What are 34 children doing near a U.S. military convoy?
Could they have been human shields? ...BW]
8) Twelve Palestinians, 3 Israelis Die in Gaza Violence
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA (Reuters)
Thu Sep 30, 2004 08:10 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6377165&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
9) The war's littlest victim
... and as the article mentions many, many Iraqi babies.
This was the cover story in today's News.
New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
The war's littlest victim
Tuesday, September 28th, 2004
10) Forbes 400 list of richest Americans: snapshot of a
financial oligarchy
By Joseph Kay
27 September 2004
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/sep2004/forb-s27_prn.shtml
11) Former Soldiers Slow to Report
500 Ready Reservists Seek Exemptions From Reactivation,
Risk AWOL Status
By Tom Squitieri, USA TODAY
(Sept. 28) Updated: 01:48 PM EDT
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20040928070809990037
12) Campaign to End the Death Penalty.
Books Not Bars
13) Anti-war Activists 4 the Million Worker March-
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org
14) Books Not Bars presents:
THE WORLD PREMIERE OF
***********************************
"SYSTEM FAILURE:
VIOLENCE, ABUSE & NEGLECT IN CYA"
***********************************
Tuesday October 19th 7pm
Grand Lake Theater
3200 Grand Avenue, Oakland
15) Urgent Appeal from Gaza
Thu, 30 Sep 2004 11:39:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Barbara Lubin"
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Yes on N!
End the Occupation---Bring Our Troops Home Now!
COME OUT ON SUNDAY AND TABLE FOR PROP N!!!
Enjoy the Castro Street Fair while distributing lit for Prop N
The Castro Street Fair is happening this Sunday, Oct. 3rd from about
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Prop N campaign will be working out of two booths:
The Harvey Milk LGBT Demo Club (booth 748) and Pride at Work
(booth 750). Both will be located at the North side of Market probably
near the middle of the 2300 block (between Noe & Castro). Enter at
the Noe & Castro Gate. You should ask for a map at the gate and look
for the booth #s marked in front of each booth.
Well over 100,000 people will be there. We will be passing out
brochures about Prop N in the morning and window signs proclaiming:
End the Occupation---Bring Our Troops Home Now, Yes on N in the
afternoon.
This is one of our best opportunities before the election to bring
visibility to the campaign. We can use help for 1 or 2 hours or all
day. Wear sunblock and look for our red, black and yellow banner
With the aforementioned slogan.
Thanks, Howard Wallace - 415/861-0318
PS: Check out our web site and note our broad array of endorsers:
YesonN.net
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) The Struggle for Palestine:
4th Anniversary of the Intifada
October 2nd, 2004
Horace Mann Middle School - 3351 23rd Street, San Francisco
9:00-9:30: Registration
9:30-11:00: Morning Plenary Session:
The Current Status of Resistance in Palestine
11:00-12:15: Workshop Session #1
Continuations of Plenary: Status of Resistance
History of Palestine, The Nekbah and the Right of Return
Iraq and Palestine: 2 Struggles, One cause
Zionism
12:15-1:30: Lunch (Catered, with Music)
1:30-2:45: Workshop Session #2
Direct Action: Skills Development
The Impact of Palestine on the US Elections
Political Prisoners, Here and in Palestine
Globalization in the Arab World
2:45-3:00: Tea/Coffee Break
3:00-4:15: Workshop Session #3
Women and Resistance
The Targets of Empire: Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti,
Iran, Philippines, Africa
US Solidarity Groups
Repression/Occupation in the US (patriot Act, profiling,
attacks on civil liberties)
4:30-6:00 Closing Plenary
Closing Summation and the Future in Palestine
6:00-7:00: Dinner with music
Cultural Performances
for more information:
info@justiceinpalestine.net
or visit
www.justiceinpalestine.net
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
3) Continued US Airstrikes in Baghdad Draw Criticism
Sadr City neighborhood is attacked for a second day.
Interim president of Iraq likens the tactics to Israeli
military actions in the Gaza Strip.
By Ashraf Khalil
BAGHDAD
Published on Wednesday, September 29, 2004
by the Los Angeles Times
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0929-24.htm
BAGHDAD - U.S. forces launched airstrikes Tuesday on the Baghdad
neighborhood of Sadr City for the second consecutive day, and two
British soldiers were killed in an ambush in the southern city of Basra.
'COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT"
A relative cries as a coffin carrying the body of Ahmed Abdul Muttalib
is taken for burial in Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday Sept. 29, 2004.
Muttalib died in an U.S. airstrike early on Wednesday morning and his
wife was gravely injured. (AP Photo/ Karim Kadim)
Sadr City, a Shiite Muslim-dominated area in the eastern part of the
capital, is a stronghold of the Al Mahdi militia led by radical cleric
Muqtada Sadr. Though his forces have been weakened by their
August expulsion from the southern city of Najaf after a prolonged
U.S. siege, attacks against American and Iraqi patrols have become
a daily occurrence in Sadr City, and visitors report that the streets
are dotted with bombs.
U.S. forces have launched multiple offensives targeting Shiite rebels
in the densely populated district. U.S. forces said a "precision strike"
Monday killed four insurgents, but hospital officials said 10 people,
including civilians, were killed.
Tuesday's attack injured at least three people, officials at Sadr City's
Jawader Hospital said. It was unclear whether any insurgents were
killed or injured.
In recent weeks, U.S. forces have also launched regular airstrikes
on the town of Fallouja, west of Baghdad, which is controlled by
Sunni Muslim insurgents. Although U.S. military operations
supposedly are coordinated with Iraqi leaders, the Americans'
increasing reliance on air attacks drew criticism Tuesday from
the U.S.-backed interim Iraqi president.
Drawing a parallel between U.S. tactics in Iraq and Israeli actions
in the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip,
President Ghazi Ajil Yawer said the U.S. strikes were viewed by
the Iraqi people as "collective punishment" against towns and
neighborhoods.
Footage of injured and dead women and children being pulled
from bombed buildings "brings to mind Gaza," Yawer said in an
interview on CNN.
Yawer's comments echo criticism of American military tactics in
the spring, when members of the now-disbanded Iraqi Governing
Council stridently protested a Marine siege of Fallouja.
Also Tuesday, insurgents armed with machine guns and rocket-
propelled grenades launched a morning attack on a two-vehicle
British army convoy in the southern city of Basra.
Shakir Hashem, a 28-year-old auto repair shop owner, identified
the attackers as Al Mahdi militiamen. They "were setting a trap
to attack the British troops.... When the convoy passed, they
opened fire," he said.
British troops returned fire, and during the ensuing gun battle
a grenade launched by one of the attackers struck a nearby
auto shop, setting it ablaze, Hashem said. Two British soldiers
who were injured in the ambush died at a military hospital.
The U.S. military identified a soldier killed Monday by a sniper
in Balad, north of Baghdad, as Sgt. 1st Class Joselito O. Villanueva,
36, of Los Angeles.
Two other soldiers who died last week in Iraq also have been
identified. Spc. Robert Unruh, 25, of Tucson was killed Saturday
when his unit was attacked in Al Anbar province west of Baghdad.
On the same day, Spc. Clifford L. Moxley Jr., 51, a National
Guardsman based in Berwick, Penn., died of "non-combat
related injuries."
(c) 2004 Los Angeles Times
(c) Copyrighted 1997-2004
www.commondreams.org
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
4) US bases in Iraq: sticky politics, hard math
By David R. Francis
If a new Iraq government should agree to let American
forces stay on, how many bases will the US request?
[In a message dated 9/30/04 4:26:08 AM,
rkallen@myrealbox.com writes:
from the September 30, 2004 edition]
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0930/p17s02-cogn.html
One, as the United States Army currently maintains in Honduras?
Six, the number of installations it lists in the Netherlands.
Or maybe 12?
The Pentagon isn't saying.
But a dozen is the number of so-called "enduring bases" located
by John Pike, director of GlobalSecurities.org. His military affairs
website gives their names. They include, for example, Camp Victory
at the Baghdad airfield and Camp Renegade in Kirkuk. The Chicago
Tribune last March said US engineers are constructing 14 "enduring
bases," but Mr. Pike hasn't located two of them.
Note the terminology "enduring" bases. That's Pentagon-speak for
long-term encampments - not necessarily permanent, but not just
a tent on a wood platform either. It all suggests a planned indefinite
stay on Iraqi soil that will cost US taxpayers for years to come.
The actual amount depends on how many troops are stationed there
for the long term. If the US decides to reduce its forces there from the
138,000 now to, say, 50,000, and station them in bases, the costs
would run between $5 billion to $7 billion a year, estimates Gordon
Adams, director of Security Policy Studies at George Washington
University in Washington, D.C. That's two to three times as much
as the annual American subsidy to Israel. Providing protection for
Israel is one of several reasons some analysts cite for the
US invasion of Iraq.
If more troops are based in Iraq for the long haul, the cost would
be higher. US Army planners are preparing to maintain the current
level of forces in Iraq at least through 2007, The New York Times
reported this week. But no decision has been made at the political
level.
So far, the Bush administration has not publicly indicated that it
will seek permanent bases in Iraq to replace those recently given
up in Saudi Arabia, a possibility mentioned by Deputy Defense
Secretary Paul Wolfowitz before US forces moved into Iraq. The
US already has bases in Kuwait and Qatar.
At an April 2003 press conference, Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld said any suggestion that the US is planning a permanent
military presence in Iraq is "inaccurate and unfortunate." With the
presidential election weeks away, he is unlikely to alter that
pronouncement on such a politically touchy matter. Such a
move would almost certainly attract fire from Democratic
candidate John Kerry.
Nonetheless, several military experts in Washington assume Iraq's
new government will need the support of American troops - and
thus "permanent" bases - for years, perhaps decades, to come.
The US already has 890 military installations in foreign countries,
ranging from major Air Force bases to smaller installations, say
a radar facility. Perhaps bases in Iraq would enable the Pentagon
to close a few of those facilities. As part of a post-cold-war shift
in its global posture, the Defense Department has been cutting
the number of its installations in Germany, which total more than
100. Last week Mr. Rumsfeld testified about a global "rearrangement"
of US forces to the Senate Armed Forces Committee.
"Who needs Germany when we have Iraq?" asks Mr. Pike of
GlobalSecurities.org.
Building bases in Iraq has risks. Two Americans beheaded last
week were working as civil engineers constructing the Taji
military base north of Baghdad, one of the bases Pike lists as
"enduring."
The bigger risk: Polls find that at least 80 percent of Iraqis -
whatever their views on the insurgency, democracy, the removal
of Saddam Hussein, and other issues - want US armed forces to
leave their nation. Making the bases permanent could stir up
more opposition to the US occupation.
Another fear, however, is that without US bases, the various
Iraqi factions - the Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds - would fall into
civil war. In turn, this conflict could drag in Iran, Syria, and
Turkey, leading to a widespread conflict in the Middle East.
Hope of establishing a democracy in an Arab nation would fade.
To avoid these risks, an Iraq government will accept a US military
presence despite popular disapproval, Pike says. "An indefinite
American presence in Iraq is the ultimate guarantor of some
quasi-pluralistic government."
Also, withdrawal of US forces would be seen by Iraqi insurgents
as a victory, prompting them to redouble their efforts to kill
Americans, says Thomas Donnelly, a military expert at the
American Enterprise Institute in Washington.
The US can afford maintaining bases in Iraq, he argues. US defense
spending now amounts to a bit more than 4 percent of gross
domestic product, the nation's output of goods and services.
It might rise as a result of Iraq bases to 5 percent of GDP, still
less than the 6.5 percent of GDP in the cold war or the 10 percent
during the Vietnam War.
Not everyone agrees. Permanent bases in Iraq are a "disastrously
bad idea," says Jessica Mathews, president of the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace in Washington. It reinforces
Iraqi suspicions that the US launched the war to get a hand on
Iraqi oil, control the region, and wants to maintain a puppet
government in Baghdad.
The total cost of the Iraq war has reached $125 billion to
$140 billion, estimates Mr. Adams. Reconstruction boosts the
total to as high as $175 billion. Permanent bases would keep
the tab running for years to come.
www.csmonitor.com | Copyright (c) 2004 The Christian Science
Monitor. All rights reserved.
For permission to reprint/republish this article, please email
Copyright
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
5) "On to Baghdad, back to home."
Subj: Fw: Please Forgive The Mass-Mailing!
Date: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 11:14:50 PM
From: dmg011@usadatanet.net
Please disperse this message on behalf of those who were
pushed even further last year, as the armed forces dangled
a carrot for months.
"For those of you unaware, I will be shortly on my way to Iraq
again. I write now as a plea for help on behalf of the combat
veterans forced to return to hostile areas against their will.
I am talking about the Army's policy regarding "Stop-Loss",
a procedure whereby the Army does not allow a soldier to
separate from service when his contract expires.
Effectively, we are being held hostage..."
----- Original Message -----
From: omit my name
To: Relatives
Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 12:36 PM
Subject: Please Forgive The Mass-Mailing!
My friends,
For those of you unaware, I will be shortly on my way to Iraq again.
I write now as a plea for help on behalf of the combat veterans
forced to return to hostile areas against their will. I am talking
about the Army's policy regarding "Stop-Loss", a procedure
whereby the Army does not allow a soldier to separate from
service when his contract expires. Effectively, we are being
held hostage by a policy designed to discourage soldiers from
terminating their service before war. For those of us who have
been to war, it seems unfair to send us back. We understand,
though, that these are difficult times, and we are ready to stand
against those who threaten the security of our freedom. We are
even willing to return to the combat zone, so long as the
commitment does not exceed that for which we enlisted.
Men and women of the Third Infantry Division were told
yesterday that not one of them would be permitted to
terminate their service until after a twelve month deployment
to Iraq, an area as hostile as the first days of the war in which
the division lost over a hundred American soldiers in two weeks.
This policy unfairly targets soldiers who have already served
in The War On Terror. We (myself and many unnamed others)
believe it is unethical and a disgusting, flagrant abuse of the
trust of the men and women in uniform.
We merely ask that you write a letter to your senators,
representatives, state governors, and newspapers. The public
needs to know about the atrocity that they are doing unto their
protectors. I will be busy writing form letters for you, and any
of your friends who are willing to help me. You may forward this
message to anyone you see fit. I only ask that, for my protection,
you omit my name. If you are willing to help, please write me
back with your state of residence, and I will send you a form
letter, the names of your congresspersons, and the contact
information for local, state, and federal media.
Even if you do not have the time to do anything, please remember
what is happening to us the next time you hear about Iraq in
conversation or in the news and let someone know about us.
Maybe they will carry on our plight. Thank you for your time.
Warmest regards,
omit my name
Opinions expressed in this electronic mailing do not
necessarily represent those of The United States Government,
The Department of Defense, or The Department of The Army.
All contents are sole proprietary of the author and are
protected by numerous state, federal and international laws.
Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Half a league, half a league, half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death rode the six hundred.
Their's not to make reply, their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death rode the six hundred.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
6) Ashcroft Says Likely to Appeal U.S. Patriot Act Ruling
SCHEVENINGEN, Netherlands (Reuters)
Thu Sep 30, 2004 05:54 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6375762&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
SCHEVENINGEN, Netherlands (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General
John Ashcroft said on Thursday the Bush administration was
likely to appeal against a U.S. District Court ruling that part
of the Patriot Act was unconstitutional.
"Without knowing the specifics, I wouldn't be able to
assure you that the case would be appealed, but it is almost a
certainty that it would be appealed," Ashcroft told reporters
after meeting European Union justice and interior ministers.
"We believe the act to be completely consistent with the
United States' Constitution," he added.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero ruled that
surveillance powers granted to the FBI under the Patriot Act, a
cornerstone of the U.S. war on terror, were unconstitutional.
In the first decision against a surveillance portion of the
act, Marrero ruled for the American Civil Liberties Union in
its challenge against what it called "unchecked power" by the
FBI to demand secret customer records from communication
companies, such as Internet service providers or telephone
companies.
Ashcroft said the Bush administration would continue "to
use every tool" available under the constitution to fight
terrorism.
EU and U.S. officials met in the Dutch sea-side resort to
discuss how to boost the fight against terrorism, including
improved information exchange, cutting off financing and
safeguarding borders without hampering trade and travel.
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
[What are 34 children doing near a U.S. military convoy?
Could they have been human shields? ...BW]
7) Car Bombs Kill 34 Children in Baghdad
By Luke Baker
BAGHDAD (Reuters)
Thu Sep 30, 2004 09:36 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6378394&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Insurgents detonated three car bombs
near a U.S. military convoy in Baghdad Thursday, killing 41
people, 34 of them children, and wounding scores.
In two other attacks, a suicide bomber blew up his vehicle
near a U.S. checkpoint outside the capital, killing two
policemen and a U.S. soldier, and a car bomb killed four people
in the restive northern Iraq town of Tal Afar.
The Baghdad blasts coincided with crowds gathering to
celebrate the opening of a new sewage plant. It was not clear
if the event or a U.S. convoy passing nearby was the target.
The first explosion was followed by two more that struck
those who rushed to the aid of the initial victims.
Ten U.S. soldiers were wounded in the attack, two of them
seriously, the military said. Iraq's Health ministry confirmed
41 dead and 139 wounded, the vast majority children.
Instability is steadily mounting just weeks before the U.S.
presidential election in November and four months before Iraq
is due to hold its own nationwide polls. Attacks on American
troops have risen to around 80 a day from 40 a month ago.
Doctors at Yarmouk hospital struggled to treat the flood of
victims, as pools of blood formed on the floor.
One boy lay swathed in bandages on a stretcher, his severed
leg on a table beside him. Others were scarred by shrapnel,
their clothes blown off by the force of the explosion.
The attack gouged a crater in the road and wrecked a dozen
burned-out cars and a bus. U.S. troops sealed off the area with
tanks, and helicopters circled overhead.
POLICE AND SOLDIERS DEAD
Hours earlier, a suicide bomber had killed two Iraqi police
and a U.S. soldier by blowing up his car near a U.S. checkpoint
at a crowded intersection in Abu Ghraib, just west of Baghdad.
Around 60 people, including women and children, were wounded.
Another soldier was killed when a rocket hit a U.S.
logistics base near Baghdad. The confirmed deaths of the two
soldiers raised to at least 802 the number of U.S. troops
killed in action since the start of the war.
In northern Iraq, another car bomb blew up near an Iraqi
police convoy in the center of Tal Afar, a rebellious town
close to the Syrian border. Hospital officials said four
civilians had been killed and 16 wounded. Four policemen were
also hurt.
In rebel-held Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad,
U.S. forces destroyed a building they said was being used by
fighters loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose group is
threatening to behead a British hostage.
The strike was the latest in a series of almost daily
attacks in Falluja intended to crush Zarqawi's network, which
has claimed responsibility for many of Iraq's bloodiest suicide
bombings and the killings of foreign captives.
Zarqawi's group beheaded Americans Eugene Armstrong and
Jack Hensley this month after U.S. forces and the Iraqi
government refused to release women prisoners.
BRITISH HOSTAGE
The group says it will also kill the Briton Kenneth Bigley,
62, who was snatched along with the American pair.
Wednesday, footage was released showing a haggard Bigley
squatting chained in a cage, pleading for his life.
In a barely audible voice, Bigley said British Prime
Minister Tony Blair was not doing enough to free him: "Tony
Blair is a liar. He doesn't care about me. I'm just one person."
Blair has said Britain will not negotiate with the
kidnappers, but told reporters on Wednesday: "They've made no
attempt to have any contact with us at all. If they did make
contact, it would be something we would immediately respond to."
Separately, a militant group said it had seized 10 people,
including two Indonesian women, working for an electronics firm
in Iraq, Al Jazeera television reported.
Lebanon said three of its nationals had been seized. It was
not clear if this was the same incident.
The U.S. military says it has sound intelligence that
Zarqawi and his followers are hiding out in Falluja, although
residents say the U.S. strikes regularly hit civilians.
U.S. marines pulled out of the city after weeks of fighting
in April that killed hundreds of Iraqis, and handed over
responsibility for security to an Iraqi force that has since
collapsed. The city is now run by insurgents.
The U.S. military says that with the help of Iraqi forces
it will retake rebel strongholds such as Falluja, Ramadi,
Samarra and the Baghdad neighborhoods of Sadr City and Haifa
Street by December so elections can go ahead as
planned a month later.
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
8) Twelve Palestinians, 3 Israelis Die in Gaza Violence
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA (Reuters)
Thu Sep 30, 2004 08:10 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6377165&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
GAZA (Reuters) - Twelve Palestinians and three Israelis
were killed Thursday as tanks thrust deep into the Gaza Strip's
largest refugee camp for the first time after a rocket attack
killed two Israeli children in a border town.
In one of Gaza's bloodiest days for months, gunmen shot
dead an Israeli soldier and a woman jogger, and Israeli forces
raiding the Jabalya camp killed at least six militants plus
several civilians during fierce fighting.
The army's push into the militant stronghold in north Gaza
came after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered troops
to use all means necessary to put a stop to rocket fire that
has persisted despite repeated Israeli raids and air strikes.
A Hamas rocket attack on the southern Israeli town of
Sderot Wednesday killed two Israeli children, aged 2 and 4, as
they played outside while visiting their grandparents on the
eve of the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot.
The latest spiral of violence has sent Sharon scrambling to
counter rightist critics who say his plan to withdraw troops
and settlers from occupied Gaza next year has emboldened
militants trying to give the impression that Israel is being
driven out.
Israel's army appears determined to smash militant groups
before leaving.
"The formula is clear -- blood for blood, bombardment for
bombardment," a Hamas gunman said in Jabalya, where Israeli
forces used tanks and armored bulldozers to clear a path into
the crowded camp of 100,000 inhabitants.
It was Israel's deepest and strongest thrust into Jabalya's
narrow street and alleys in four years of conflict -- a move
the army had long avoided for fear that troops and armored
would be vulnerable to militant attack.
Palestinians condemned the Israeli offensive, which
intensified early Thursday when a column of tanks entered the
camp and battled scores of armed militants.
"Israel is expanding its military operations in Gaza. This
is a dangerous indicator which will lead to failure," said
Nabil Abu Rdainah, an aide to Palestinian President Yasser
Arafat.
PALESTINIAN AMBUSHES
Under cover of fog and darkness, two gunman from Hamas --
an Islamic faction behind a campaign of suicide bombings and
sworn to Israel's destruction -- attacked an army position near
Jabalya before dawn, opening fire and launching grenades.
One soldier was killed and two wounded before troops shot
dead the militants.
Hours later, gunmen killed an Israeli woman as she went for
a morning jog on a road connecting two Jewish settlements in
northern Gaza, military sources said. Soldiers who rushed to
the scene returned fire and killed one gunman, the sources
said.
Israeli Radio said a second Israeli was also killed in the
incident. Palestinian medical sources said a 60-year-old
Palestinian was later killed by Israeli fire in the area, and a
27-year-old man was shot dead working in a nearby field.
Violence surged Wednesday when Palestinian militants
eluding an army crackdown carried out the deadly rocket attack
on Sderot, and troops killed nine Palestinians in raids in the
coastal strip and the West Bank.
Two makeshift Qassam rockets hit a residential block in the
town, close to Israel's fenced border with Gaza, killing a girl
aged 2 and a boy aged 4.
"I saw one little child without his legs. We tried to help
the other one but it was too late," said neighbor Haviv Ben
Abbo, who rushed to the scene when he heard the boom.
Thirteen other residents were injured in the town that has
borne the brunt of Qassam attacks, emergency services said.
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
9) The war's littlest victim
... and as the article mentions many, many Iraqi babies.
This was the cover story in today's News.
New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
The war's littlest victim
Tuesday, September 28th, 2004
In early September 2003, Army National Guard Spec. Gerard Darren
Matthew was sent home from Iraq, stricken by a sudden illness.
One side of Matthew's face would swell up each morning. He had
constant migraine headaches, blurred vision, blackouts and a
burning sensation whenever he urinated.
The Army transferred him to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in
Washington for further tests, but doctors there could not explain
what was wrong.
Shortly after his return, his wife, Janice, became pregnant.
On June 29, she gave birth to a baby girl, Victoria Claudette.
The baby was missing three fingers and most of her right hand.
Matthew and his wife believe Victoria's shocking deformity has
something to do with her father's illness and the war - especially
since there is no history of birth defects in either of their families.
They have seen photos of Iraqi babies born with deformities
that are eerily similar.
In June, Matthew contacted the Daily News and asked us to
arrange independent laboratory screening for his urine. This
was after The News had reported that four of seven soldiers
from another National Guard unit, the 442nd Military Police,
had tested positive for depleted uranium (DU).
The independent test of Matthew's urine found him positive for
DU - low-level radioactive waste produced in nuclear plants
during the enrichment of natural uranium.
Because it is twice as heavy as lead, DU has been used by the
Pentagon since the Persian Gulf War in certain types of "tank-buster"
shells, as well as for armor-plating in Abrams tanks.
Exposure to radioactivity has been associated in some studies
with birth defects in the children of exposed parents.
"My husband went to Iraq to fight for his country," Janice Matthew
said. "I feel the Army should take responsibility for what's happened."
The couple first learned of the baby's missing fingers during a
routine sonogram of the fetus last April at Lenox Hill Hospital.
Matthew was a truck driver in Iraq with the 719th transport unit
from Harlem. His unit moved supplies from Army bases in Kuwait
to the front lines and as far as Baghdad. On several occasions, he
says, he carried shot-up tanks and destroyed vehicle parts on his
flat-bed back to Kuwait.
After he learned of his unborn child's deformity, Matthew
immediately asked the Army to test his urine for DU. In April,
he provided a 24-hour urine sample to doctors at Fort Dix, N.J.,
where he was waiting to be deactivated.
In May, the Army granted him a 40% disability pension for his
migraine headaches and for a condition called idiopathic angioedema -
unexplained chronic swelling.
But Matthew never got the results of his Army test for DU. When
he called Fort Dix last week, five months after he was tested, he
was told there was no record of any urine specimen from him.
Thankfully, Matthew did not rely solely on the Army bureaucracy -
he went to The News.
Earlier this year, The News submitted urine samples from
Guardsmen of the 442nd to former Army doctor Asaf Durakovic
and Axel Gerdes, a geologist at Goethe University in Frankfurt,
Germany. The German lab specializes in testing for minute
quantities of uranium, a complicated procedure that costs up
to $1,000 per test.
The lab is one of approximately 50 in the world that can detect
quantities as tiny as fentograms - one part per quadrillionth.
A few months ago, The News submitted a 24-hour urine sample
from Matthew to Gerdes. As a control, we also gave the lab 24-hour
urine samples from two Daily News reporters.
The three specimens were marked only with the letters A, B and C,
so the lab could not know which sample belonged to the soldier.
After analyzing all three, Gerdes reported that only sample A -
Matthew's urine - showed clear signs of DU. It contained a total
uranium concentration that was "4 to 8 times higher" than
specimens B and C, Gerdes reported.
"Those levels indicate pretty definitively that he's been
exposed to the DU," said Leonard Dietz, a retired scientist
who invented one of the instruments for measuring uranium
isotopes.
According to Army guidelines, the total uranium concentration
Gerdes found in Matthew is within acceptable standards for
most Americans.
But Gerdes questioned the Army's standards, noting that
even minute levels of DU are cause for concern.
"While the levels of DU in Matthew's urine are low," Gerdes
said, "the DU we see in his urine could be 1,000 times higher
in concentration in the lungs."
DU is not like natural uranium, which occurs in the environment.
Natural uranium can be ingested in food and drink but gets
expelled from the body within 24 hours.
DU-contaminated dust, however, is typically breathed into
the lungs and can remain there for years, emitting constant
low-level radiation.
"I'm upset and confused," Matthew said. "I just want answers.
Are they [the Army] going to take care of my baby?"
We track soldiers' sickness
For the last five months, Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez
has chronicled the plight of soldiers who have returned from
Iraq with mysterious illnesses.
His exclusive groundbreaking investigation began with a
front-page story on April 4 that suggested depleted uranium
contamination was far more widespread than the Pentagon
would admit.
* At the request of The News, nine soldiers from a New
York Army National Guard company serving in Iraq were tested
for radiation from depleted uranium shells - and four of the
ailing G.I.s tested positive.
* The day after Gonzalez's story appeared, Army officials
rushed to test all returning members of the company, the
442nd Military Police, based in Rockland County.
* By week's end, the scandal had reverberated all the way
to Albany, as Gov. Pataki joined the list of politicians calling
for the Pentagon to do a better job of testing and treating sick
soldiers returning from the war.
* Gonzalez's exposé sparked a huge demand for testing.
By mid-April, 800 G.I.s had given the Army urine samples, and
hundreds more were waiting for appointments.
* Two weeks later, the Pentagon claimed that none of the
soldiers from the 442nd had tested positive for depleted uranium.
But The News' experts found significant problems with the
testing methods.
UNITED FOR PEACE & JUSTICE | 212-868-5545
This email list is designed for posting news articles or event
announcements of interest to UFPJ member groups.
It is not a discussion list.
To engage in online discussion of UFPJ matters, join our
discussion list by sending a blank email to
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---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
10) Forbes 400 list of richest Americans: snapshot of a
financial oligarchy
By Joseph Kay
27 September 2004
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/sep2004/forb-s27_prn.shtml
The current issue of Forbes Magazine contains the publication's
annual list of the wealthiest Americans, ranked by net worth.
While one's first instinct might be to turn away in disgust from
such a flaunting of individual wealth and greed, it is instructive
to consider the figures, for they provide an important indication
of the nature of American society.
According to Forbes , "The economy's recovery may be a little
shaky, but you wouldn't know it from looking at this year's
Forbes 400. The combined net worth of the nation's wealthiest
climbed to $1 trillion, up $45 billion in 12 months. With a
$750 million admission price, 9-digit fortunes are an
endangered species here: 78 percent of the people on this
year's list are billionaires."
The richest individual remains Microsoft's Bill Gates, who has
a net worth of $48 billion. Other notables include Warren Buffet,
who is number two with $41 billion; the Walton family, which
controls Wal-Mart, with five individuals on the list, each of
whom has a net worth of $18 billion; Lawrence Ellison of Oracle,
who ranks tenth with $13.7 billion; media tycoon Rupert Murdoch,
27th with $6.9 billion; and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg,
who comes in at 24th with $5 billion.
The figure of $1 trillion marks something of a milestone, not only
because the 400 richest Americans have a combined net worth that
requires 13 digits to write out, but also because it is a return to the
sort of numbers that were last seen during the stock market boom
of 1999-2000. It was in 1999 that the $1 trillion figure was first
reached, then climbing to $1.2 trillion at the height of the boom in
2000. The figure dropped in 2001 and 2002 before climbing again
in 2003 and 2004.
The number of billionaires in the country has followed a similar
pattern. In 1996, before the stock market really took off in the
late 1990s, there were 79 individuals with a net worth of at least
$1 billion. Bill Gates, who topped the list then as now, had
a relatively paltry $18 billion. By 2000, the number of billionaires
had shot up to 298, before falling to 266 in 2001 and 228 in 2002.
The super-rich have experienced a comeback in recent years,
however, with the number of billionaires rising to 262 in 2003
and 313 in 2004.
The figure of $1 trillion, because of its enormity, is somewhat
difficult to comprehend. To put it in perspective, if the wealth
were divided into sums of $10,000, there would be 100 million
portions-enough to hand out $10,000 checks to approximately
one in three people living in the United States.
One trillion dollars is also approximately equal to the gross
domestic product of Canada ($957 billion).
California's budget deficit, which has wreaked havoc across the
state and prompted massive spending cuts affecting millions of
people, is $40 billion. But this is less than one-twentieth the net
worth of the 400 richest individuals in the country.
State budget shortfalls that have prompted similar cuts in social
programs and education throughout the country total about
$100 billion-one tenth of $1 trillion held by those on the Forbes
list. Earlier this month, the Congressional Budget Office projected
a record budget deficit for the United States in 2004 of $422 billion-an
unprecedented sum, but still less than half of the wealth of
America's most fortunate sons and daughters.
One trillion dollars is approximately the amount spent on the
military throughout the world, about half of which is spent in
the United States.
The Forbes list provides a snapshot of what can only be called
an economic oligarchy. Such staggering sums of wealth concentrated
in the hands of a tiny percentage of the population coincides with
growing poverty for tens of millions of Americans, declining living
standards and worsening economic insecurity for tens of millions
more, an intensified assault on social services, and an ongoing
decline in the basic infrastructure of the country.
The Census Bureau released figures last month reporting that
poverty rose for the third straight year in 2003. In 2003, nearly
36 million people, or 12.5 percent of the population, lived at or
below the official (and patently unrealistic) poverty level of
$18,660 for a family of four. In 2000, the number of individuals
living in poverty was 31.6 million, and the figure has consistently
risen over the past four years. The Bureau also reported that the
number of people without medical insurance in the United States
rose to 45 million in 2003.
The same week that Forbes released its list, Citizens for Tax Justice
issued a report entitled "Corporate Income Taxes in the Bush Years."
The study looked at taxes paid by the 275 companies listed on the
Fortune 500 list of America's largest corporations from 2001 to
2003 that reported profits in each of the three years.
According to the report, "Eighty-two of the 275 companies, almost
a third of the total, paid zero or less in federal income taxes in at
least one year from 2001 to 2003. In the years they paid no income
tax, these companies reported $102 billion in pretax US profits."
Instead of paying taxes, they received tax rebates of a combined
$12.6 billion. The nominal tax rate on profits for large corporations
is 35 percent, however the 275 companies combined paid an
effective tax rate of only 18.4 percent over the three years.
Corporate taxation has declined over the past three years, with the
help of legislation passed by the Bush administration. According to
the report, "corporate income taxes in fiscal 2002 and 2003 fell to
their lowest sustained share of the economy since World War II.
(Only a single year during the early Reagan administration was lower.)
From 2001 to 2003, the Commerce Department reports that pretax
corporate profits grew by 26 percent. But over that same period,
corporate income tax payments to the federal government fell by
21 percent."
Taken together, the Forbes 400 list, the Census report on poverty,
and the Citizens for Tax Justice study on corporate taxation reveal
a stark trend. The stock market crisis of 2001 evoked a response
within the ruling elite to escalate the attack on working people
and secure the staggering wealth controlled by the top 1 percent
of the population.
The war in Iraq and the growing assault on democratic rights
must be understood in this context: they are actions taken by
a ruling elite determined to safeguard, by whatever means
necessary, its social position.
The Detroit News , in a front-page article on the results of the
newspaper's own investigation, headlined "Working Poor Suffer
Under Bush Tax Cuts," reported Sunday: "The Bush administration
and Congress have scaled back programs that aid the poor to help
pay for $600 billion in tax breaks that went primarily to those who
earn more than $288,800 a year.... The affected programs-job
training, housing, higher education and an array of social services-
provide safety nets for the poor."
These statistics serve as a stark indictment of the irrationality and
anti-social character of a system based on the accumulation of
personal wealth and profit.
There will be no letup in this assault. The economic position of
American capitalism grows increasingly precarious, with a
burgeoning debt and intensifying internal social contradictions.
The response will be a continued attack on working people. Already,
nearly all of the major airlines are demanding massive pay and
benefits cuts while continuing to slash jobs.
The November election will do nothing to address these issues.
Politicians of all stripes repeat the refrain that "there is no money"
to seriously deal with the crisis in medical care, education, housing
and employment. But as the Fortune 400 list shows, there are
abundant resources. They are, however, systematically diverted
into the coffers of a tiny elite.
The Bush campaign openly speaks for the most rapacious sections
of the ruling elite. But the policies of the Bush administration
represent a continuation-compounded and intensified-of the
policies carried out by the preceding Democratic administration
of Bill Clinton, who sponsored and signed into law the measure
ending the federal welfare entitlement for the poor.
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's campaign
proposals for health care and other social services hardly
rise to the level of token reforms, and even these would be
quickly shelved in a Kerry administration. The main plank of
the Democratic Party on domestic issues is "fiscal conservatism,"
which means the further gutting of social services in order to
place the burden of deficit reduction on the working class.
No significant piece of social reform legislation has been
introduced by either party for 40 years. The Democratic Party
long ago abandoned any suggestion of wealth redistribution
or economic equality.
No problem confronting the American people today can be
resolved without tackling the problem of social inequality
and the subordination of the needs of the people to the
financial interests of an economic oligarchy. This, in turn,
cannot be resolved without building an independent political
movement of the working class, breaking the monopoly of
the two parties of big business, and setting out to dislodge
the financial aristocracy and carry through a revolutionary
transformation of society on the basis of socialist principles.
Copyright 1998-2004
World Socialist Web Site
All rights reserved
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
11) Former Soldiers Slow to Report
500 Ready Reservists Seek Exemptions From Reactivation,
Risk AWOL Status
By Tom Squitieri, USA TODAY
(Sept. 28) Updated: 01:48 PM EDT
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20040928070809990037
(Sept. 28) - Fewer than two-thirds of the former soldiers being
reactivated for duty in Iraq and elsewhere have reported on time,
prompting the Army to threaten some with punishment for desertion.
The former soldiers, part of what is known as the Individual Ready
Reserve (IRR), are being recalled to fill shortages in skills needed
for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Of the 1,662 ready reservists ordered to report to Fort Jackson,
S.C., by Sept. 22, only 1,038 had done so, the Army said Monday.
About 500 of those who failed to report have requested exemptions
on health or personal grounds.
"The numbers did not look good," said Lt. Col. Burton Masters, a
spokesman for the Army's Human Resources Command. "We are
tightening the system, reaching the people and bringing them in."
Masters said most of the requests for exemptions are likely to be
denied: "To get an exemption, it has to be a very compelling case,
such as a severe medical condition."
The figures are the first on the IRR call-up. They reflect the
challenges the Pentagon faces in trying to find enough troops
for ongoing operations and show resistance among some
service members who returned to civilian life.
The ready reserve is an infrequently used pool of former
soldiers who can be called to duty in a national emergency
or war. On June 29, the Army announced it would call 5,674
members of its IRR back to active duty this year and next.
Several of those who received recall notices have already been
declared AWOL (absent without official leave) and technically
are considered deserters. "We are not in a rush to put someone
in the AWOL category," Masters said. "We contact them and
convince them it is in their best interests to show up. If you
are a deserter, it can affect you the rest of your life."
· Army May Reduce Length of Tours
· Rumors of Draft Are Hard to Kill
· AOL Military Center
· AOL Search: Recruitment
search.jsp>
Fourteen people were listed as AWOL last week; six subsequently told
the Army they would report. Punishment for being AWOL is up to the
unit commander and can include prison time and dishonorable
discharge, said Col. Joseph Curtin, an Army spokesman.
With a force that generals say is stretched thin, the Army is
considering $1,000-a-month bonuses to ex-soldiers who
volunteer to return for overseas duty.
Ready reservists are soldiers who were honorably discharged
after finishing their active-duty tours, usually four to six years,
but remain part of the IRR for the rest of their original eight-year
commitment. The IRR call-up is the first major one in 13 years,
since 20,277 troops were ordered back for the Persian Gulf War.
09/28/2004 07:04
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
12) Campaign to End the Death Penalty.
Books Not Bars
Dear Friends,
Check out this upcoming conference, put together by our
allies at the Campaign to End the Death Penalty.
Sincerely,
Books Not Bars
******Please Forward Widely*******
The Death Penalty in CA: Too Flawed to Fix!
An activist and educational conference to stop the
death penalty in California
October 9-10th
UC Berkeley
For more information visit www.2flawed2fix.org
or call 510-333-7966
$5-25 sliding scale donations,
no one turned away for lack of funds
Saturday, October 9th
7:00 pm
Dwinelle Hall room 145, UC Berkeley
Opening plenary of the conference: celebrating the victories and
struggles of the movement against the death penalty. Featuring
Barbara Becnel, co-producer of the movie, "Redemption: The Stan
Tookie Williams Story." Also: musical performances, spoken word
artists, a video message from death row inmate Stan Tookie
Williams, videos and more!
Sunday, October 10th
Doors open at 10:00 am, welcome session at 11:00 am
Dwinelle Hall, UC Berkeley
Workshops on the following topics (2 sessions)
--Racism and the Criminal Injustice System
--The struggles for Stan Tookie Williams and Kevin Cooper
--Family members of death row inmates speak out
--Women on death row in California
--What's wrong with the death penalty in California?
--How they won in Illinois/Lessons for our fight
--The fight free death row prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal
4:00 closing plenary: We can end the death penalty in California
Featuring: Madison Hobley--exonerated death row inmate from
Illinois, Donna Larsen--mother of death row inmate Keith Doolin,
Robert R. Bryan -- attorney for Mumia Abu-Jamal and death
penalty expert, activists and more! Also invited: the
Reverend Jesse Jackson.
6:00 Dinner and strategy session: what's next for the anti-death
penalty movement? Come share ideas and get involved!
Sponsored by the following organizations:
Amnesty International, American Friends Service Committee,
CA People of Faith Working Against the Death Penalty,
Campaign to End the Death Penalty, Death Penalty Action Team,
Death Penalty Focus, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights,
First Mennonite Church of SF, Idriss Stelley Foundation,
International Socialist Organization, LEGAI-Queer Insurrection,
Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, Out of Control,
Socialist Action
*****
Get more information about the Books Not Bars
"Alternatives for Youth" Campaign:
http://ellabakercenter.org/bnb/campaign
*****
We can't survive without the support of individuals like
you. Please take a moment to support Books Not Bars
today. Donate here:
http://www.ellabakercenter.org/donate
*****
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forwarded to you.) Sign up to get e-mail updates
directly by going this web page:
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* If you are on our list-serve, you can update your
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13) Anti-war Activists 4 the Million Worker March-
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org
We have just 18 more days until the Million Worker March
and excitement is growing everywhere-
Keep talking to your friends, co-workers, students and
neighbors.
Get them on the bus--in your car--get them to D.C.
Start making your signs and making your plans.
**Important People's Alert:
Hotel Workers Are Calling for Support from Washington D.C.
to California--
San Francisco Workers Are Presently on a Two Week Strike
Action
Who are the hotel workers? They are some of the lowest
paid workers who clean rooms in luxury suites, carry heavy
bags, greet the guests and keep things running in some of
the largest chain hotels in the world. They are women who
are struggling to support children; and they are immigrant
and oppressed workers who face fear, harassment and
discrimination.
They want health care, decent wages and a workload that is
manageable. And they want a union contract. On the West
Coast in Los Angeles and San Francisco, hotel workers who
are represented by UNITE-HERE, have been working without a
contract since April and September respectively. The
hotel industry has refused to negotiate fairly.
In Washington D.C., 3,800 workers in 14 hotels represented
by UNITE-HERE Local 25 have voted overwhelmingly (94%) to
authorize a strike over the same issues. Community, labor
and anti-war groups are now preparing to volunteer in food
kitchens and are beginning food drives.
When we come to Washington D.C. for the Million Worker
March-let's make sure these workers have our support.
They are asking customers not to stay in any of the 14
hotels. For a list of hotels see
http://www.hotelworkersunited.org/pdf/FactsheetDC.pdf
For more information on the hotel workers and their
campaign for justice see the following websites:
http://www.hotelworkersunited.org and
http://www.hotellaboradvisor.info.org
***Momentum is building for the Million Worker March---new
organizing centers are springing up all over the country
(see http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/organizingcenters.htm)
and new endorsers are being added to the list daily
(http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/endorsers.htm).
It is more important than ever that we turn out by the
thousands to say "Jobs, Healthcare, and a Living Wage, Not
War!" on October 17. We need your help in these last two
weeks to make this happen.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
**Get the Word out!
1) download leaflets from
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/pdfdownload.htm
and take them to your school, workplace, house of worship,
union, and community organization.
2) Link to the Anti-war for the Million Worker March
Website :
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/index.htm
3) Forward this email to your email lists
**Organize transportation from your area!
We need hundreds of local organizers. Contact us about
becoming a local organizer:
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/signupantiwarorganizer.htm
**Donate!
We need help with the enormous expenses involved with this
massive mobilization of working people. You can donate
online at: http://www.peoplesrightsfund.org/
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org
October 17 Washington DC
Anyone can subscribe.
Send an email request to
AntiWar4theMillionWorkerMarch-subscribe@organizerweb.com
To unsubscribe
AntiWar4theMillionWorkerMarch-unsubscribe@organizerweb.com
Subscribing and unsubscribing can also be done on the Web at
http://www.organizerweb.com/mailman/listinfo/antiwar4themillionworkermarch
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
14) Books Not Bars presents:
THE WORLD PREMIERE OF
***********************************
"SYSTEM FAILURE:
VIOLENCE, ABUSE & NEGLECT IN CYA"
***********************************
Tuesday October 19th 7pm
Grand Lake Theater
3200 Grand Avenue, Oakland
*** please forward *** please forward widely *** please forward
Come see our new 30-minute, grassroots-driven documentary
about the California Youth Authority, produced in collaboration
with Witness (www.witness.org).
The California Youth Authority (CYA) is notorious as the most
abusive juvenile justice system in the nation. See exclusive
interviews with former wards, parents, advocates and activists
about the human rights crisis in CYA -- and about the movement
to end this crisis and revolutionize juvenile justice in California.
* A panel discussion with filmmakers, former wards and parents
will follow the screening.
* Suggested donation: $5 - $10 (no one turned away for
lack of funds)
* For more information or to request postcard flyers to be
mailed to you please contact:
bnb@ellabakercenter.org
415-951-4844 ext 230
*****
Find out about the Books Not Bars "Alternatives for Youth" Campaign:
http://ellabakercenter.org/bnb/campaign
*****
We can't survive without the support of individuals like you.
Please take a moment to support us today. Donate here:
http://www.ellabakercenter.org/donate
*****
SIGN UP: Not on our list-serve yet? (Maybe this message was
forwarded to you.) Sign up to get e-mail updates directly by
going this web page: http://ellabakercenter.org/subscribe )
UPDATE: If you are on our list-serve, you can update your
information and preferences: http://www.ellabakercenter.org/lists/
?p=preferences&uid=1cbafa757fe7202cf8cf4d4af079434d
UNSUBSCRIBE here: http://www.ellabakercenter.org/lists/
?p=unsubscribe&uid=1cbafa757fe7202cf8cf4d4af079434d
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---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
15) Urgent Appeal from Gaza
Thu, 30 Sep 2004 11:39:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Barbara Lubin"
Dear Friends,
All of us at the Middle East Children's Alliance are again shocked and
saddened by the news coming from our friends and colleagues in Gaza. We
are alarmed to see the number of casualties, injuries, and homes
demolished increase by the hour.
We are sharing with you the latest appeal from the Union of Health Work
Committees (UHWC), an organization that provides medical services to
residents throughout the Gaza Strip.
Here's what you can do:
* Make a donation for food and medical aid by clicking the link
below. We will wire any money collected to the UHWC to help them continue
their work.
* Call the Congressional switchboard (1-800-839-5276) and ask your
representatives to take a stand against the invasions in Gaza and to stop
US Aid to Israel. Remind them that though Israel is violating
International Law and US military aid to Israel violates the US Arms Export
Control Act, the US government continues to give Israel over $5 billion in
aid each year. Tell them that as a tax payer, you do not approve of
your money being used to violate US Law or International Law.
* Call the United Nations (212-963-1234) and ask them to intervene
since these incursions are in violation of International Law and 80% of
Gazans are refugees under the protection of UNRWA.
Thank you,
Barbara Lubin
Founder and Executive Director https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/
index.php?aid=1171&rkey=9977&rdata=1148404:-1:9454549 Urgent Appeal
For the last 48 hours, the Union of Health Work Committees (UHWC),
medical facilities are in state of top emergency in the northern
governorate of Gaza Strip.
The medical teams are working continuously to cope with the increasing
no. of causalities, due to massive Israelis forces incursion to the
northern governorate especially Jabalia.
The Israeli tanks Helicopters and different Military forces are
attacking the area through four main sectors. The Israeli forces are
demolishing houses, destroying infrastructure and bulldozing trees at the
same
time they snap every moving target disregarding if being a child, women,
old man or youth.
The chicken farms and different animal farms had their share in
destruction, e.g. a chicken farm at Abed Rabuh Quarter in Jabalia has been
completely bulldozed at this morning.
Al -AwdaHospitalreceived till this moment 42 injured people, 17 of them
are under 15 years old, 8 women, in addition to 8 martyrs (most of the
injuries are due to explosive pullets). Another governmental hospital
in the same area has received tens of causalities also.
UHWC,Al-QudsMedicalCenterin Beit - Hanoun has been working 24 hours/
day to cover the expected increasing number of injuries and to offer
other emergency medical help because Beit - Hanoun has been isolated from
the rest of Gaza Strip.
Al-Assria (Al-Luhiedan) Medical Center - Jabalia refugees camp is now
at the middle of battle, the Israeli tanks and snappers are just 50
meters away from the center, all the other health and community activities
of Al-Luhiedan Community Health Center have been hanged up as it works
as a front first aid medical center.
The first aid medical teams and the ambulance service of the UHWC (138
volunteers men and women) are working day and night to rescue and
evacuate the injured people. At the same time they offer some highly needed
medical and food supplies.
UHWC teams who are doing all this call all International and human
rights organization, Red Cross, United Nations, and all those who are
seeking just peace in the area to urgently interfere to stop this massacre
against our Palestinian people. At the same time to pressure on the
Israeli government to stop its harassments against the medical teams and
civilians.
For more information, please contact Dr. Sayed Ajadbah - Executive
-director.
Union of Health Work Committees -Gaza
Related Articles:
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http://
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Kill 23 Palestinians in Gaza Offensive http://news.scotsman.com/
latest.cfm?id=3567511 Violence flares up in Gaza
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/
exeres/396DCFA4-0F47-41DA-BEAA-2C1C399BC9DD.htm 901 Parker Street
Berkeley, California 94710
United States
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Iraq Study Sees Rebels' Attacks as Widespread
Iraq Study Sees Rebels' Attacks as Widespread
By JAMES GLANZ and THOM SHANKER
BAGHDAD, Iraq
September 29, 2004
INSURGENCY
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/29/international/middleeast/29attacks.html
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 28 - Over the past
30 days, more than 2,300 attacks by
insurgents have been directed against
civilians and military targets in Iraq, in a
pattern that sprawls over nearly every
major population center outside the Kurdish
north, according to comprehensive data
compiled by a private security company with
access to military intelligence reports and
its own network of Iraqi informants.
The sweeping geographical reach of the
attacks, from Nineveh and Salahuddin
Provinces in the northwest to Babylon
and Diyala in the center and Basra in the
south, suggests a more widespread
resistance than the isolated pockets described
by Iraqi government officials.
The type of attacks ran the gamut:
car bombs, time bombs, rocket-propelled
grenades, hand grenades, small-arms
fire, mortar attacks and land mines.
"If you look at incident data and you
put incident data on the map, it's not a few
provinces, " said Adam Collins, a security
expert and the chief intelligence official in
Iraq for Special Operations Consulting-
Security Management Group Inc., a private
security company based in Las Vegas that
compiles and analyzes the data as a regular
part of its operations in Iraq.
The number of attacks has risen and fallen
over the months. Mr. Collins said the
highest numbers were in April, when there
was major fighting in Falluja, with attacks
averaging 120 a day. The average is now
about 80 a day, he said.
But it is a measure of both the fog of war
and the fact that different analysts can look
at the same numbers and come to opposite
conclusions, that others see a nation in
which most people are perfectly safe and
elections can be held with clear legitimacy.
"I have every reason to believe that the
Iraqi people are going to be able to hold
elections," said Lt. Col. William Nichols of
the Air Force, a spokesman for the
American-led coalition forces here.
Indeed, no raw compilation of statistics
on numbers of attacks can measure what is
perhaps the most important political equation
facing Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and
the American military: how much of Iraq
is under the firm control of the interim
government. That will determine the
likelihood - and quality - of elections in January.
For example, the number of attacks is not a
n accurate measure of control in Falluja;
attacks have recently dropped there, but the
town is controlled by insurgents and is
a "no go" zone for the American military
and Iraqi security forces. It is a place where
elections could not be held without dramatic
political or military intervention.
The statistics show that there have been just
under 1,000 attacks in Baghdad during
the past month; in fact, an American military
spokesman said this week that since
April, insurgents have fired nearly 3,000
mortar rounds in Baghdad alone. But those
figures do not necessarily preclude having
elections in the Iraqi capital.
Pentagon officials and military officers like
to point to a separate list of statistics to
counter the tally of attacks, including the
number of schools and clinics opened. They
cite statistics indicating that a growing
number of Iraqi security forces are trained
and fully equipped, and they note that
applicants continue to line up at recruiting
stations despite bombings of them.
But most of all, military officers argue
that despite the rise in bloody attacks during
the past 30 days, the insurgents have
yet to win a single battle.
"We have had zero tactical losses; we have
lost no battles," said one senior American
military officer. "The insurgency has had
zero tactical victories. But that is not what
this is about.
"We are at a very critical time," the officer
added. "The only way we can lose this battle
is if the American people decide we don't
want to fight anymore."
American government officials explain
that optimistic assessments about Iraq from
President Bush and Prime Minister Allawi
can be interpreted as a declaration of a
strategic goal: that, despite the attacks,
elections will be held. The comments are
meant as a balance to the insurgents'
strategy of roadside bombings and mortar
attacks and gruesome beheadings, all
meant to declare to Iraq and the world that the
country is in chaos, and that mayhem
will prevent the country from ever reaching
democratic elections.
In a joint appearance last week in the
White House Rose Garden, Mr. Bush and Dr.
Allawi painted an optimistic portrait of
the security situation in Iraq.
Dr. Allawi said that of Iraq's 18 provinces,
"14 to 15 are completely safe." He added
that the other provinces suffer "pockets of
terrorists" who inflict damage in them and
plot attacks carried out elsewhere in the
country. In other appearances, Dr. Allawi
asserted that elections could be held in
15 of the 18 provinces.
Both Mr. Bush and Dr. Allawi insisted
that Iraq would hold free elections as scheduled
in January.
"The question is not whether there are
attacks," said one Pentagon official. "Of course
there are. But what are the proper measurements
for progress?"
Statistics collected by private security
firms, which include attacks on Iraqi civilians
and private security contractors, tend to
be more comprehensive than those collected
by the military, which focuses on attacks
against foreign troops. The period covered
by Special Operations Consulting's data
represents a typical month, with its average
of 79 attacks a day falling between the
valleys during quiet periods and the peaks
during the outbreak of insurgency in April
or the battle with Moktada al-Sadr's militia
in August for control of Najaf.
During the past 30 days those attacks
totaled 283 in Nineveh, 325 in Salahuddin in
the northwest and 332 in the desert
badlands of Anbar Province in the west. In the
center of Iraq, attacks numbered 123 in
Diyala Province, 76 in Babylon and 13 in
Wasit. There was not a single province
without an attack in the 30-day period.
Still, some Iraqis share their prime
minister's optimism when it comes to the
likelihood that elections, and a closely
related census, can be carried out successfully
amid so much violence. "We are ready
to start," said Hamid Abd Muhsen, an Iraqi
education official who is supervising parts
of the census in Baghad. "I swear to God."
James Glanz reported from Baghdad for
this article and Thom Shanker from
Washington.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
BAUAW NEWSLETTER-WEDNESDAY, SEPTMEBER 28, 2004
Castro Street Fair is Sunday, Oct. 3rd!
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
NEXT BAUAW MEETING:
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3, 3:00 p.m.
1380 Valencia Street
(Between 24th & 25th Streets, S.F.)
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
VOTE YES ON PROP. 'N'! BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!
Come to the
BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW COMMITTEE MEETING
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 7:00 p.m.
AFSC - First Floor
65 NINTH STREET
(1/2 block from Market St., SF)
Help get the word out about Prop. 'N'. Bring your ideas for
community outreach, media, action, and more to make sure
we win by a landslide!
No matter who wins the elections this year, the war will not
be over. This ballot initiative will set the example for cities across
the country to do the same in future elections.
Pick up material to distribute!*
PROPOSITION 'N' ON THE NOVEMBER 3
SAN FRANCISCO BALLOT DECLARES:
"It is the policy of the people of the City and County of
San Francisco that: The Federal government should take
immediate steps to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq and
bring our troops safely home now."
Visit: www.yesonn.net
* Material costs money. Already thousands of brochures have
been printed and we need more! We need posters and buttons--
we need to cover the city with YES on 'N' campaign material!
Please send a contribution to help with these costs!
Make your check payable to:
Bring Our Troops Home Now
and mail to :
David Looman, Treasurer
325 Highland Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94110
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Israel Kills 6 Palestinians in Gaza, W.Bank Raids
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
JABALYA, Gaza Strip (Reuters)
Wed Sep 29, 2004 09:36 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6365775&src=eD
ialog/GetContent§ion=news
2) Iraq Rebel Cities to Be Retaken in October - Minister
BAGHDAD (Reuters)
Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:19 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6367016
3) Judge Rules Against Patriot Act Provision
NEW YORK (Reuters)
Wed Sep 29, 2004 12:07 PM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6367548
4) They're burned, or blinded, or sparring with death
The story of the military hospital where there's no escaping
the horrors of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan
BY MATTHEW MCALLESTER
STAFF CORRESPONDENT
LANDSTUHL, Germany
September 27, 2004
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/health/ny-wohosp3986566sep27,0,7903420.story
5) Crude dudes
U.S. oil companies just happened to have billions
of dollars they wanted to invest in undeveloped oil reserves
LINDA MCQUAIG
Sep. 20, 2004. 09:56 AM
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Artic
le_Type1&c=Article&cid=1095545411401&call_pageid=968332188854&col=9683500607
6) ... Unless It's All Greek to Him
By Barbara Garson
September 24, 2004
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=4920&CategoryId=5
7) Former Soldiers Slow to Report
500 Ready Reservists Seek Exemptions From Reactivation,
Risk AWOL Status
By Tom Squitieri, USA TODAY
(Sept. 28)
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20040928070809990037
8) Cinemayaat, the Arab Film Festival
8th Annual Event
October 2-10 & 24, 2004
San Francisco, San Jose, Berkeley
www.aff.org
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Israel Kills 6 Palestinians in Gaza, W.Bank Raids
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
JABALYA, Gaza Strip (Reuters)
Wed Sep 29, 2004 09:36 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6365775&src=eD
ialog/GetContent§ion=news
JABALYA, Gaza Strip (Reuters) - Israeli forces killed six Palestinians
including three teenagers on Wednesday as they thrust deep into
Gaza to quell rocket fire into Israel and raided two West Bank cities
in search of wanted militants.
Youths of 17 and 14 in a stone-throwing crowd that confronted
Israeli forces were shot dead in Gaza's Jabalya refugee camp.
Fifteen others, many of them students in school uniforms, were
taken to hospital with gunshot wounds, medics said.
Israeli troops backed by tanks also killed a 24-year-old gunman
in Jabalya, a stronghold of Islamist militants who have fired
hundreds of crude rockets into nearby Israel.
In a separate incident in central Gaza, Israeli troops shot
dead a boy of 13 and wounded four others in a crowd of
stone-throwers who approached the entrance to an isolated
Jewish settlement, according to medics.
Another Palestinian gunman was killed in an army raid into
the West Bank city of Nablus. In Jenin, a militant died when a
taxi he was in overturned while trying to elude pursuing
Israeli soldiers. A comrade was shot dead as he fled on foot.
Israeli troops also blew up the Jenin home of a high-profile
militant commander in the Fatah faction of Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat. The militant leader was
not there at the time.
Violence surged on the heels of the fourth anniversary of a
Palestinian revolt. Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie urged his people
and Israel on Tuesday to reconsider tactics that have locked
the two sides in a chronic cycle of bloodshed.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is bent on crushing
militant groups to prevent them claiming victory after a
planned evacuation of 8,000 Jewish settlers from Gaza and
a few from the 230,000 in the West Bank next year.
But Islamist militants vowed to keep fighting until Israelis
had evacuated "all of Palestine." They are dedicated
to destroying Israel as well as regaining the West Bank and
Gaza, occupied by the Jewish state in the 1967 Middle East war.
BATTLE AT REFUGEE CAMP
Israeli tanks and troops charged into north Gaza on Tuesday
night in another bid to stamp out elusive squads of Hamas
militants who launch makeshift Qassam rockets over Gaza's
fenced border into Israel almost daily.
"We begin the fifth year of the intifada (uprising) and we
will keep firing rockets and mortars, we will continue our
jihad until all of Palestine is returned," said Nizar Rayan, a
Jabalya Hamas leader brandishing an assault rifle and grenade
launcher.
"We are operating (again) in north Gaza in order to try to
stop the launching of Qassam rockets that are terrorizing
nearby Israeli communities," an Israeli army spokeswoman
said.
Israeli forces besieged Beit Hanoun, a town adjacent to
Jabalya, for a month in the summer in a hunt for rocket squads.
The incursion killed 20 Palestinians and left a trail of
destruction, but the rocket volleys soon started again. Israeli
forces spent four more days in north Gaza three weeks ago. But
again rocket salvoes resumed against the border town of Sderot.
The rockets have killed two people in four years but have
become psychologically important for militants now that Israel
has succeeded in limiting their suicide bombings inside Israel.
Critics of the raids into Gaza say Israel risks getting
sucked back into heavy fighting to stop the rockets just as it
is preparing to withdraw from the territory.
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) Iraq Rebel Cities to Be Retaken in October - Minister
BAGHDAD (Reuters)
Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:19 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6367016
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi forces will retake
rebel-held cities in Iraq in October, Defense Minister Hazim
al-Shalaan told Reuters on Wednesday.
"You wait and see what we are going to do. We are going to
take all these cities in October," Shalaan said.
The western cities of Falluja and Ramadi, as well as some
parts of Baghdad and the town of Samarra, north of the capital,
are effectively controlled by insurgents.
The U.S. military has previously said it will retake these
areas by the end of the year so elections can go ahead as
scheduled in January.
U.S. commanders say they are waiting until Iraqi forces are
large enough and sufficiently trained for the offensive.
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
3) Judge Rules Against Patriot Act Provision
NEW YORK (Reuters)
Wed Sep 29, 2004 12:07 PM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6367548
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Part of the Patriot Act, a central
plank of the Bush Administration's war on terror, was ruled
unconstitutional by a federal judge on Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Victor Marreo ruled in favor of the
American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the power the
FBI has to demand confidential financial records from companies
as part of terrorism investigations.
The ruling was the latest blow to the Bush administration's
anti-terrorism policies.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that terror suspects
being held in places like Guantanamo Bay can use the American
judicial system to challenge their confinement. That ruling was
a defeat for the president's assertion of sweeping powers to
hold "enemy combatants" indefinitely after the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks.
The ACLU sued the Department of Justice, arguing that part
of the Patriot legislation violated the constitution because it
authorizes the FBI to force disclosure of sensitive information
without adequate safeguards.
The judge agreed, stating that the provision "effectively
bars or substantially deters any judicial challenge."
Under the provision, the FBI did not have to show a judge a
compelling need for the records and it did not have to specify
any process that would allow a recipient to fight the demand
for confidential information.
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
4) They're burned, or blinded, or sparring with death
The story of the military hospital where there's no escaping
the horrors of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan
BY MATTHEW MCALLESTER
STAFF CORRESPONDENT
LANDSTUHL, Germany
September 27, 2004
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/health/ny-wohosp3986566sep27,0,7903420.story
LANDSTUHL, Germany -- The medical team that accompanied
the soldier on the Thursday morning flight from Iraq had worked
the whole way to keep him alive, his body burned and lacerated
by the fire and metal of a roadside bomb.
They were low on oxygen by the time the green military ambulance
reached the front door of the hospital.
"Get me more O2," shouted out a visibly upset nurse, Maj. Pat
Bradshaw. She had been up and working for 28 hours, ferrying
the wounded out of Iraq.
"She's stressed," said Capt. George Sakakini, a physician in
charge of the team that greets the wounded. He watched from
the curbside through the early-morning drizzle, keeping an eye
on his highly trained squad of doctors, nurses and chaplains.
"Someone's trying to die on her."
Full green oxygen tank in place, its contents filtering into the
unconscious man's lungs, the team lowered the soldier on his
stretcher to the ground. His scorched face was a painter's
palette of the colors of pain: yellow, mauve, bright red.
In the intensive care unit, nurses quickly worked to make sure
his wounds were as clean as possible. An infection could kill
him. A couple of rooms over, more nurses worked on another
young soldier, also unconscious, burned and sparring with
death. Another roadside bomb victim. Dabbing gently, they
spread thick white antimicrobial cream on the raw flesh of
his forearms. Twenty percent of his body was burned.
It was an average morning at Landstuhl Regional Medical
Center, which has become the American military's museum
of pain and maiming, doubt and anger. The planes from Iraq
land every day, sometimes two or three of them.
Like his staff, who brim with frustration at what they see as
the irresponsible disinclination of the American people to
understand the costs of the war to thousands of American
soldiers, the hospital's chief surgeon feels that most Americans
have their minds on other things.
"It is my impression that they're not thinking about it a whole
lot at all," said Lt. Col. Ronald Place. As he spoke, the man who
has probably seen more of America's war wounded than anyone
since the Vietnam War sobbed as he sat at a table in his office.
First stop for injured
Nowhere is it less possible to escape the horrors of the war in
Iraq for American soldiers than Landstuhl. Nestled among the
tall trees of a forest on the outskirts of this small town in
southwestern Germany, the largest American military hospital
outside the United States is the first stop for nearly all injured
American personnel when they are flown out of Iraq or Afghanistan.
Dedicated and compassionate doctors, nurses and support staff
push aside curtains of fatigue and what the hospital's psychologists
call "vicarious trauma" to patch up and tend to soldiers before they
fly to the United States for longer-term care.
This month, politicians focused on the unwelcome tally of the
1,000th American soldier to die in Iraq. Landstuhl has its own
set of figures, numbers that flesh out the suffering occurring
on the battlefields of Iraq and in homes across the United States.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, more than 18,000 military personnel
have passed through the hospital from what staff refer to as
"down range": Iraq and Afghanistan. Of those, nearly 16,000
have come from Iraq.
Last month, 23 percent of those were casualties from combat,
slightly higher than most months; the rest had either accidental
or disease-related complaints.
Thirteen have died at the hospital.
Each day, an average of 30 to 35 patients arrive on flights
from Iraq. The most on a single day was 168.
More than 200 personnel have come in with either lost eyes
or eye injuries that could result in sight loss or blindness.
About 160 soldiers have had limbs amputated, most of them
passing through the hospital on their way home to more surgery.
And it's not just their bodies that come in needing fixing. More
than 1,400 physically fit personnel have been admitted with
mental health problems.
Then there are the Pentagon's figures that touch on all casualties
from the war in Iraq: 1,042 dead; 7,413 injured in action,
including 4,026 whose injuries have prevented them from
returning to duty. In Afghanistan, there have been 366 injuries
and 138 deaths.
One other number tells a slightly different tale, a story of
selflessness in the face of suffering: one third. That's about
how much money surgeons at Landstuhl make compared to
what they could make if they chose to work in the civilian world.
"There is nothing more rewarding than to take care of these
guys," said Place, the skin around his eyes reddening with the
tears that he failed to hold inside. "Not money, not anything."
Every day starts in the same way at Landstuhl. The staff get up
early to greet the buses and ambulances that come from nearby
Ramstein air base, where the planes from Iraq touch down as
early as 6 a.m. Most soldiers can walk off the buses, with broken
bones or noncombat illnesses. But those who come in ambulances,
like the two blast-injured soldiers, go straight to the ICU.
On Thursday morning, the 20-bed ICU was a busy, but not rushed,
place. As so often these days, the staff there were dealing with the
effects of roadside bombs rather than bullets. That means taking
care of scorched, lacerated bodies that may have less obvious
internal injuries.
Col. Earl Hecker sat outside the room where nurses were applying
the white antimicrobial cream to one of the burned soldiers.
Twenty-seven-years-old, Hecker remarked, looking at the patient's
notes. (Hospital officials were not able to get these patients' consent
to be named or photographed because of their medical conditions.)
Hecker, at 70, is a few generations older than his patient. A surgeon
who had retired from the Reserves but recently rejoined, he has
forsaken his private practice in Detroit for now to help at Landstuhl,
working past his assigned 90-day tour to stay nearly 150 days.
This experience "has changed my whole life," he said, his jovial
demeanor fading to introspection. "I'm never going to be the same."
The day before, Hecker had been taking care of an 18-year-old
soldier who, thanks to an Iraqi bullet, will forever be quadriplegic.
Hecker sat gazing through the window at the burned soldier and
thought of the kid he had sent off to the States the day before.
"Terrible, terrible, terrible," he said, staring into the distance.
"When you talk to him he cries."
A month ago, Hecker took four days off to fly home to see his
family. He needed a break. They went out for dinner at a nice
restaurant. Hecker realized during dinner that he was suddenly
seeing the world differently. He looked around at the chattering
people, eating their fine food, drinking good wine and he thought
to himself: "They have no idea what's going on here. Absolutely none."
He doesn't think people want to see it. He thinks the nation is still
scarred by Vietnam and would prefer not to see the thousands of
injured young men coming home from Iraq.
"I just want people to understand - war is bad, life is difficult,"
he said.
Maybe it was the stress, maybe it's because Hecker has no military
career to mess up by speaking out of line, but it just came out:
"George Bush is an idiot," he said, quickly saying he regretted the
comment. But then he continued, criticizing Bush as a rich kid who
hasn't seen enough of the world. "He's very rich, you'd think he'd
get some education," Hecker said.
"He's my president. I'll follow him in what he wants to do," he
continued, "but I'm here for him." Hecker leaned forward and
pointed through the glass at the unconscious soldier fighting for
his life 2 yards away.
'It's just not right'
Not all of the staff can get away with criticizing their
commander-in-chief or his decisions, but many use more
opaque ways of communicating their unease.
"It's not right," said Maj. Cathy Martin, 40, head nurse of the
ICU, when asked how she felt seeing so many soldiers pass
through her unit. She paused. "It's just not right."
She declined to elaborate on what exactly she meant.
Comments such as Hecker's about the president can lead
to severe consequences for those with careers ahead of them.
But Martin did add: "People need to vote for the right people
to be in office and they need to be empowered to influence
change."
What she did feel comfortable saying, echoing the head
surgeon, Hecker and others, was that people back home
just don't get it.
"Everyone's looking but no one's seeing," added Staff Sgt.
Royce Pittman, 32, who works with her. "I had no idea this
was going on. ... What we see every day is not normal.
There's nothing normal about this."
In private, some hospital workers said they wished they
could openly air their feelings about the war. And if reporters
could somehow quote people's facial expressions, a
number of those staff members would probably be facing
disciplinary hearings. Only one staff member interviewed
expressed solid support for the war.
"I do believe, I truly do believe that those that are fighting
and defending for liberty and freedom ... that that is a truly
worthy cause," said Maj. Kendra Whyatt, head nurse of
inpatient orthopedics.
Is it all worth it? the head surgeon was asked. "That's not
for me to say, but I'll be here for them," Place said.
The staff do talk among themselves, said Maj. Stephen Franco,
chief of the clinical health psychology service at the hospital.
He recalled one doctor's comments after attending a memorial
service for a young soldier who had died. "I wish some of the
lawmakers could attend some of these more often so they can
think a little more about their decisions," Franco recalled the
doctor telling him.
But like all the staff in the hospital, politics comes second to
healing with Franco. He has a lot of it to do.
"It's probably the biggest challenge to mental health since
Vietnam," said his boss, Col. Gary Southwell, chief of
psychology services.
Soldiers come in carrying guilt about leaving their unit behind,
haunting visions of seeing friends dying, nightmares, frayed
nerves and deep anxieties about their future, Franco said. Place
noted that for a single man facial disfigurement, for example,
can be particularly traumatizing. Who's going to want someone
with a face like this? the young men wonder.
Care taken not to sugarcoat
Franco and his colleagues - the number of psychologists
and psychiatrists has doubled since the Iraq war began,
reflecting large staff increases throughout the hospital -
make a point of visiting all new patients to see how they're doing.
"We provide assurance, look to the future," he said. "We're careful
not to sugarcoat anything."
Franco doesn't attempt quick miracle fixes for traumatized soldiers,
most of whom are flown to the United States after a few days. "When
your world is rocked like that it's not a smooth process necessarily
to get that to make sense," he said.
On Sept. 18, Army Sgt. 1st Class Larry Daniels' world was rocked.
So was his wife's.
With other men from his platoon, Daniels was standing on a bridge
over a highway near Baghdad International Airport while an Iraqi
contractor fixed a fence by the side of the road. Daniels, 37, was
waving Iraqi vehicles past the three American Humvees while the
contractor worked as quickly as possible to fix the wire fence.
An orange and white Chevy Caprice, a type of car usually driven
as a taxi in Baghdad, veered toward the soldiers. It exploded;
a suicide car bomb.
"I felt my body went up in the air," said Daniels, in his Texas
drawl. "I was upside down looking back at where the car had
been and landed on the ground. Three seconds later it hit me
what happened."
Lying on the pavement, Big Daddy Daniels, as his men call him,
had the presence of mind to keep ordering his soldiers around,
even though he couldn't move. Another unit arrived soon and
ferried the survivors to safety. Two were dead.
Two days later, Daniels was flown to Landstuhl. Both of his arms
have multiple fractures. Steel pins and thick casts keep his bones
in place. Part of his hand is missing. And as he puts it, he's got
"holes from my ankle to my ear." The doctors have taken some of
the shrapnel out. Some fragments are still there.
Wife's opinion has changed
Daniels is an experienced, professional soldier. He's been in the
Army for 17 years. His dad was a draftee in the Vietnam War. He
can trace his family's military history back to the Civil War. So
perhaps it's not surprising that he says he wishes he were still
in Iraq with his men.
His wife, Cheryl, has had enough. While the staff at Landstuhl
move the injured on, usually after five days, the families of the
wounded have to face up to the long-term consequences of the
violence in Iraq. Many are embittered.
From a military family herself, the mother of two had been changing
her mind about a lot of things even before her husband became so
badly injured that he can't do even the most basic of tasks for himself.
She supported the war and voted for Bush. Now, she says, she
wants to pull the troops out of Iraq. "I will vote for Kerry. Not
because I prefer Kerry over Bush but because I don't want Bush
back in office."
Her 12-year-old son has been saying he wants to go to West
Point. Her 8-year-old daughter wants to be a military veterinarian.
She's stopped encouraging those ambitions.
Speaking alone, without her husband, she said she knew that the
Army wasn't going to like what she had to say. Like Hecker,
she hasn't got much to lose by speaking her mind, which she
did, calmly and thoughtfully.
"I don't feel we have any business being there," she said Friday.
"I think this is an area of the world that has been fighting for
thousands of years, and I don't think our presence will change
anything. If anything, we've given them a common target to
focus on. Rather than fight each other, they're fighting us.
I don't see why my husband has to lose two soldiers or
question why he's here or see his other guys that are hurt.
The minute we pull out, things will go back to the culture
that is established."
Cheryl Daniels is looking at a tough future. She has to parent
her kids, hold down a job at Fort Hood Army base in Texas,
where the family lives, and finish the management degree she
is studying for at night. Soon her disabled husband will be home,
and she finds it hard to believe, as the doctors have told her, that
"in a year or two he's going to be back to normal. I can't see that
right now because he's got nerve damage in his arms."
She doesn't feel that her country, her military, is giving her
enough support. She had to pay her own way to Germany
and her own way back. The Army was doing almost nothing
for her, she said.
"I feel like we've paid our dues," she said. "And I'm done."
Copyright (c) 2004, Newsday, Inc.
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5) Crude dudes
U.S. oil companies just happened to have billions
of dollars they wanted to invest in undeveloped oil reserves
LINDA MCQUAIG
Sep. 20, 2004. 09:56 AM
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Artic
le_Type1&c=Article&cid=1095545411401&call_pageid=968332188854&col=9683500607
From his corner office in the heart of New York's financial district,
Fadel Gheit keeps close tabs on what goes on inside the boardrooms
of the big oil companies. An oil analyst at the prestigious Wall
Street firm Oppenheimer & Co., the fit, distinguished-looking
Gheit has been watching the oil industry closely for more than
25 years.
Selling the modern world's most indispensable commodity has
never been a bad business to be in - particularly for the small
group of companies that straddle the top of this privileged world.
But never more so than now.
"Profit-wise, things could not have been better," says Gheit,
"In the last three years, they died and went to heaven ....
They are all sitting on the largest piles of cash in their history."
But to stay rich they have to keep finding new reserves, and
that's getting tougher. Increasingly it means cutting through
permafrost or drilling deep underwater, at tremendous cost.
"The cheap oil has already been found and developed and
produced and consumed," says Gheit. "The low-hanging
fruit has already been picked."
Well, not all the low-hanging fruit has been picked.
Nestled into the heart of the area of heaviest oil concentration
in the world is Iraq, overflowing with low-hanging fruit. No
permafrost, no deep water. Just giant pools of oil, right beneath
the warm ground. This is fruit sagging so low, as it were, that it
practically touches the ground under the weight of its ripeness.
Not only does Iraq have vast quantities of easily accessible oil,
but its oil is almost untouched. "Think of Iraq as virgin territory
.... This is bigger than anything Exxon is involved in currently
.... It is the superstar of the future," says Gheit, "That's why
Iraq becomes the most sought-after real estate on the face
of the earth."
Gheit just smiles at the notion that oil wasn't a factor in the
U.S. invasion of Iraq. He compares Iraq to Russia, which also
has large undeveloped oil reserves. But Russia has nuclear
weapons. "We can't just go over and ... occupy (Russian) oil
fields," says Gheit. "It's a different ballgame." Iraq, however,
was defenceless, utterly lacking, ironically, in weapons of mass
destruction. And its location, nestled in between Saudi Arabia
and Iran, made it an ideal place for an ongoing military presence,
from which the U.S. would be able to control the entire Gulf
region. Gheit smiles again: "Think of Iraq as a military base
with a very large oil reserve underneath .... You can't ask for
better than that."
There's something almost obscene about a map that was
studied by senior Bush administration officials and a select
group of oil company executives meeting in secret in the
spring of 2001. It doesn't show the kind of detail normally
shown on maps - cities, towns, regions. Rather its detail is
all about Iraq's oil.
The southwest is neatly divided, for instance, into nine
"Exploration Blocks." Stripped of political trappings, this
map shows a naked Iraq, with only its ample natural assets
in view. It's like a supermarket meat chart, which identifies
the various parts of a slab of beef so customers can see the
most desirable cuts .... Block 1 might be the striploin,
Block 2 and Block 3 are perhaps some juicy tenderloin,
but Block 8 - ahh, that could be the filet mignon.
The map might seem crass, but it was never meant for
public consumption. It was one of the documents studied
by the ultra-secretive task force on energy, headed by
U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney, and it was only released
under court order after a long legal battle waged by the
public interest group Judicial Watch.
Another interesting task force document, also released
under court order over the opposition of the Bush administration,
was a two-page chart titled "Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfields."
It identifies 63 oil companies from 30 countries and specifies
which Iraqi oil fields each company is interested in and the
status of the company's negotiations with Saddam Hussein's
regime. Among the companies are Royal Dutch/Shell of the
Netherlands, Russia's Lukoil and France's Total Elf Aquitaine,
which was identified as being interested in the fabulous,
25-billion-barrrel Majnoon oil field. Baghdad had "agreed in
principle" to the French company's plans to develop this
succulent slab of Iraq. There goes the filet mignon into the
mouths of the French!
The documents have attracted surprisingly little attention,
despite their possible relevance to the question of Washington's
motives for its invasion of Iraq - in many ways the defining event
of the post-9/11 world but one whose purpose remains
shrouded in mystery. Even after the supposed motives for
the invasion - weapons of mass destruction and links to
Al Qaeda - have been thoroughly discredited, talk of oil
as a motive is still greeted with derision. Certainly any
suggestion that private oil interests were in any way
involved is hooted down with charges of conspiracy theory.
Yet the documents suggest that those who took part in the
Cheney task force - including senior oil company executives
- were very interested in Iraq's oil and specifically in the
danger of it falling into the hands of eager foreign oil
companies, rather than into the rightful hands of eager
U.S. oil companies.
As the documents show, prior to the U.S. invasion, foreign
oil companies were nicely positioned for future involvement
in Iraq, while the major U.S. oil companies, after years of
U.S.-Iraqi hostilities, were largely out of the picture. Indeed,
the U.S. majors would have been the big losers if U.N.
sanctions against Iraq had simply been lifted. "The U.S.
majors stand to lose if Saddam makes a deal with the U.N.
(on lifting sanctions)," noted a report by Germany's Deutsche
Bank in October 2002.
The disadvantaged position of U.S. oil companies in Saddam
Hussein's Iraq would have presumably been on the minds of
senior oil company executives when they met secretly with
Cheney and his task force in early 2001. The administration
refuses to divulge exactly who met with the task force, and
continues to fight legal challenges to force disclosure.
However a 2003 report by the General Accounting Office,
the investigative arm of Congress, concluded that the task
force relied on advice from the oil industry, whose close
ties to the Bush administration are legendary.
(George W. Bush received more money from the oil
and gas industry in 1999 and 2000 than any other U.S.
federal candidate received over the previous decade .)
The Cheney task force has been widely criticized for
recommending bigger subsidies for the energy industry,
but there's been little focus on its possible role as a venue
for consultations between Big Oil and the administration about
Iraq. One intriguing piece of evidence pointing in this direction
was a National Security Council directive, dated February
2001, instructing NSC staff to co-operate fully with the task
force. The NSC document, reported in The New Yorker
magazine, noted that the task force would be considering
the "melding" of two policy areas: "the review of operational
policies towards rogue states" and "actions regarding the
capture of new and existing oil and gas fields." This certainly
implies that the Cheney task force was considering geopolitical
questions about actions related to the capture of oil and gas
reserves in "rogue" states, including presumably Iraq.
It seems likely then that Big Oil, through the Cheney task force,
was involved in discussions with the administration about
getting control of oil in Iraq. Since Big Oil has sought to
distance itself from the administration's decision to invade
Iraq, this apparent involvement helps explain the otherwise
baffling level of secrecy surrounding the task force.
It's interesting to note that the Cheney task force deliberations
took place in the first few months after the Bush administration
came to office - the same time period during which the new
administration was secretly formulating plans for toppling
Saddam. Those early plans were not publicly disclosed, but
we know about them now due to the publication of several
insider accounts, including that of former Treasury secretary
Paul O'Neill. So, months before the attacks of 9/11, the Bush
White House was already considering toppling Saddam, and
at the same time it was also keenly studying Iraq's oil fields
and assessing how far along foreign companies were in their
negotiations with Saddam for a piece of Iraq's oil.
It's also noteworthy that one person - Dick Cheney - was
pivotal both in advancing the administration's plans for
regime change in Iraq and in formulating U.S. energy policy.
As CEO of oil services giant Halliburton Company, Cheney
had been alert to the problem of securing new sources of oil.
Speaking to the London Petroleum Institute in 1999, while still
heading Halliburton, Cheney had focused on the difficulty of
finding the 50 million extra barrels of oil per day that he said
the world would need by 2010. "Where is it going to come
from?" he asked, and then noted that "the Middle East with
two-thirds of the world's oil and the lowest cost, is still
where the prize ultimately lies."
Cheney's focus on the Middle East and its oil continued
after he became Bush's powerful vice-president. Within
weeks of the new administration taking office, Cheney
was pushing forward plans for regime change in Iraq and
also devising a new energy policy which included getting
control of oil reserves in rogue states. His central role in
these two apparently urgent initiatives is certainly suggestive
of a possible connection between the U.S. invasion of Iraq
and a desire for the country's ample oil reserves - the very
thing that is vehemently denied.
One reason that regime change in Iraq was seen as offering
significant benefits for Big Oil was that it promised to open
up a treasure chest which had long been sealed - private
ownership of Middle Eastern oil. A small group of major
international oil companies once privately owned the oil
industries of the Middle East. But that changed in the 1970s
when most Middle Eastern countries (and some elsewhere)
nationalized their oil industries. Today, state-owned
companies control the vast majority of the world's oil
resources. The major international oil companies control
a mere 4 per cent.
The majors have clearly prospered in the new era, as
developers rather than owners, but there's little doubt that
they'd prefer to regain ownership of the oil world's Garden
of Eden. "(O)ne of the goals of the oil companies and the
Western powers is to weaken and/or privatize the world's
state oil companies," observes New York-based economist
Michael Tanzer, who advises Third World governments on
energy issues.
The possibility of Iraq's oil being reopened to private ownership
- with the promise of astonishing profits - attracted considerable
interest in the run-up to the U.S. invasion. In February 2003, as
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell held the world's attention with
his dramatic efforts to make the case that Saddam posed an
imminent threat to international peace, other parts of the
U.S. government were secretly developing plans to privatize
Iraq's oil (among other assets). A confidential 100-page
contracting document, drawn up by the U.S. Agency for
International Development and the U.S. Treasury Department,
laid out a wide-ranging plan for a "Mass Privatization Program
... especially in the oil and supporting industries."
The Pentagon was also working on plans to open up Iraq's oil
sector. In the fall of 2002, months before the invasion, the
Pentagon retained Philip Carroll, a former CEO of Shell Oil
Co. in Texas, to draft a strategy for developing Iraqi oil.
Carroll's plans apparently became the basis of a proposed
scheme, which became public shortly after the war, to
redesign Iraq's oil industry along the lines of a U.S. corporation,
with a chairman, chief executive and a 15-member board of
international advisers. Carroll was chosen by Washington to
serve as chairman, but the plans were shelved after they
encountered stiff opposition inside Iraq.
Still, the prospect of privatizing Iraq's oil remained of great
interest to U.S. oil companies, according to Robert Ebel, from
the influential Washington-based Center for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS). Ebel, former vice-president of
a Dallas-based oil exploration company, retains close ties
to the industry. In an interview in his Washington office, Ebel
said it was up to Iraq to make its own decisions, but he made
clear that U.S. oil companies would prefer Iraq abandon its
nationalization. "We'd rather not work with national oil
companies," Ebel said bluntly, noting that the major oil
companies are prepared to invest the $35 to $40 billion
to develop Iraq's reserves in the coming years. "We're looking
for places to invest around the world. You know, along comes
Iraq, and I think a lot of oil companies would be disappointed
if Iraq were to say `we're going to do it ourselves' "
Along comes Iraq ?
How fortuitous. U.S. oil companies just happened to have
billions of dollars that they wanted to invest in undeveloped
oil reserves when Iraq presented itself, ready for invasion.
Along comes Iraq, indeed.
In the past 14 decades, we've used up roughly half of all the
oil that the planet has to offer. No, we're not about to run out
of oil. But long before the oil runs out, it reaches its production
peak . After that, extracting the remaining oil becomes
considerably more difficult and expensive.
This notion that oil production has a "peak" was first conceived
in 1956 by geophysicist M. King Hubbert. He predicted that
U.S. oil production would peak about 1970 - a notion that was
scoffed at at the time. As it turned out, Hubbert was dead on;
U.S. oil production peaked in 1970, and has been declining
ever since. Hubbert's once-radical notion is now generally
accepted.
For the world as a whole, the peak is fast approaching. Colin
Campbell, one of the world's leading geologists, estimates the
world's peak will come as soon as 2005 - next year. "There is
only so much crude oil in the world," Campbell said in a telephone
interview from his home in Ireland, "and the industry has found
about 90 per cent of it."
All this would be less serious if the world's appetite for oil were
declining in tandem. But even as the discovery of new oil fields
slows down, the world's consumption speeds up - a dilemma
Cheney highlighted in his speech to the London Petroleum
Institute in 1999. For every new barrel of oil we find, we are
consuming four already-discovered barrels, according to
Campbell. The arithmetic is not on our side.
Particularly worrisome is the arithmetic as it applies to the
U.S. With its oil production already long past peak, and yet
its oil consumption rising, the U.S. will inevitably become
more reliant on foreign oil. This is significant not just for
Americans, but for the world, since the U.S. has long
characterized its access to energy as a matter of "national
security." With its unrivalled military power, the U.S. will
insist on meeting its own voracious energy needs - and it
will be up to the rest of the world to co-operate with this
quest. Period.
Canada plays a greater role in this "keep-the-U.S.-energy
-beast-fed" scenario than many Canadians may realize.
A three-volume report prepared by a bipartisan Congressional
team and CSIS, the Washington think tank, highlights how
important Canada is in the U.S. energy picture of the future.
The report, The Geopolitics of Energy into the 21st Century ,
notes that Canada is "the single largest provider of energy
to the United States," and that "Canada is poised to expand
sharply its exports of oil to the United States in the coming
years."
Fine - as long as Canada doesn't want to change its mind
about this. Well, in fact, Canada can't change its mind
about this - a point celebrated in the report. When Canada
signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
in 1993, we gave up our right to cut back the amount of oil
we export to the U.S. (unless we cut our own consumption
the same amount). Interestingly, Mexico, also a party to
NAFTA, refused to agree to this section, and was granted
an exemption.
The U.S. report points out that that, under NAFTA, Canada
is not allowed to reduce its exports of oil (or other energy)
to the U.S. in order to redirect them to Canadian consumers.
Redirecting Canadian oil to Canadians isn't permitted -
regardless of how great the Canadian need may be . Some
outside observers, like Colin Campbell over in Ireland, find
the situation striking. "You poor Canadians are going to be
left freezing in the dark while they're running hair dryers in
the U.S.," says Campbell. It's a situation that comforts the
U.S. senators, congressmen and think-tank analysts who
wrote the report. With obvious satisfaction, they conclude:
"There can be no more secure supplier to the United States
than Canada."
Alas, for the U.S., not every part of the world is as pliant as
Canada. Most of the world's oil is in the Middle East. And
while different oil regions will reach their production peaks
at different times, the Middle East will peak last, underlying
Cheney's point that the region is where "the prize ultimately
lies." Whoever controls the big oil reserves of the Middle
East will then be positioned to, pretty much, control the world.
But we're supposed to believe that, as the Bush administration
assessed its options just before invading Iraq in the spring of
2003, the advantages of securing vast, untapped oil fields
- in order to guarantee U.S. energy security in a world of
dwindling reserves and to enable U.S. oil companies to reap
untold riches - were far from mind. What really mattered to
those in the White House, we're told, was liberating the people
of Iraq.
Adapted from It's The Crude, Dude: War Big Oil, And The Fight
For The Planet , by Linda McQuaig, 2004. Published by
Doubleday Canada. Reproduced by arrangement with the
Publisher. All rights reserved. Toronto-based political
commentator Linda McQuaig is a past winner of a National
Newspaper Award and an Atkinson Fellowship for journalism
in public policy. Her column appears Sundays on the Star's
op-ed page.
Additional articles by Linda McQuaig
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6) ... Unless It's All Greek to Him
By Barbara Garson
September 24, 2004
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=4920&CategoryId=5
During a lull in the war between Athens and Sparta, the Athenians decided
to invade and occupy Sicily. Thucydides tells us in "The Peloponnesian
War" that "they were, for the most part, ignorant of the size of the
island and the numbers of its inhabitants . and they did not realize that
they were taking on a war of almost the same magnitude as their war
against the Peloponnesians."
According to Thucydides, the digression into Sicily in 416 BC - a sideshow
that involved lying exiles, hopeful contractors, politicized intelligence,
a doctrine of preemption - ultimately cost Athens everything, including
its democracy.
Nicias, the most experienced Athenian general, had not wanted to be chosen
for the command. "His view was that the city was making a mistake and, on
a slight pretext which looked reasonable, was in fact aiming at conquering
the whole of Sicily - a considerable undertaking indeed," wrote
Thucydides.
Nicias warned that it was the wrong war against the wrong enemy and that
the Athenians were ignoring their real enemies - the Spartans - while
creating new enemies elsewhere. "It is senseless to go against people who,
even if conquered, could not be controlled," he argued.
Occupying Sicily would require many soldiers, Nicias insisted, because it
meant establishing a new government among enemies. "Those who do this
[must] either become masters of the country on the very first day they
land in it, or be prepared to recognize that, if they fail to do so, they
will find hostility on every side."
The case for war, meanwhile, was made by the young general Alcibiades, who
was hoping for a quick victory in Sicily so he could move on to conquer
Carthage. Alcibiades, who'd led a dissolute youth (and who happened to own
a horse ranch, raising Olympic racers) was a battle-tested soldier, a
brilliant diplomat and a good speaker. (So much for superficial
similarities.)
Alcibiades intended to rely on dazzling technology - the Athenian armada -
instead of traditional foot soldiers. He told the Assembly he wasn't
worried about Sicilian resistance because the island's cities were filled
with people of so many different groups. "Such a crowd as this is scarcely
likely either to pay attention to one consistent policy or to join
together in concerted action.. The chances are that they will make
separate agreements with us as soon as we come forward with attractive
suggestions."
Another argument for the war was that it would pay for itself. A committee
of Sicilian exiles and Athenian experts told the Assembly that there was
enough wealth in Sicily to pay the costs of the war and occupation. "The
report was encouraging but untrue," wrote Thucydides.
Though war was constant in ancient Greece, it was still usually justified
by a threat, an insult or an incident. But the excursion against Sicily
was different, and Alcibiades announced a new, or at least normally
unstated, doctrine.
"One does not only defend oneself against a superior power when one is
attacked: One takes measures in advance to prevent the attack
materializing," he said.
When and where should this preemption doctrine be applied? Alcibiades gave
an answer of a sort. "It is not possible for us to calculate, like
housekeepers [perhaps a better translation would be "girlie men"], exactly
how much empire we want to have. The fact is that we have reached a state
where we are forced to plan new conquests and forced to hold on to what we
have got because there is danger that we ourselves may fall under the
power of others unless others are in our power."
Alcibiades' argument carried the day, but before the invasion, the
Athenian fleet sailed around seeking allies among the Hellenic colonies
near Sicily. Despite the expedition's "great preponderance of strength
over those against whom it set out," only a couple of cities joined the
coalition.
At home, few spoke out against the Sicilian operation. "There was a
passion for the enterprise which affected everyone alike," Thucydides
reports. "The result of this excessive enthusiasm of the majority was that
the few who actually were opposed to the expedition were afraid of being
thought unpatriotic if they voted against it, and therefore kept quiet."
In the face of aggressive posturing, Nicias appealed to the Assembly
members to show true courage.
"If any of you is sitting next to one of [Alcibiades'] supporters," Nicias
said, "do not allow yourself to be browbeaten or to be frightened of being
called a coward if you do not vote for war.. Our country is on the verge
of the greatest danger she has ever known. Think of her, hold up your
hands against this proposal and vote in favor of leaving the Sicilians
alone."
We don't know how many Athenians had secret reservations, but few hands
went up against the war.
In the end, the Athenians lost everything in Sicily. Their army was
defeated and their navy destroyed. Alcibiades was recalled early on;
Nicias was formally executed while thousands of Athenian prisoners were
left in an open pit, where most died.
The Sicilians didn't follow up by invading Attica; they just wanted Athens
out. But with the leader of the democracies crippled, allies left the
Athenian League. Then the real enemy, Sparta, ever patient and cautious,
closed in over the next few years. But not before Athens descended, on its
own, into a morass of oligarchic coups and self-imposed tyranny.
http://www.miftah.org
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7) Former Soldiers Slow to Report
500 Ready Reservists Seek Exemptions From Reactivation,
Risk AWOL Status
By Tom Squitieri, USA TODAY
(Sept. 28)
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20040928070809990037
(Sept. 28) - Fewer than two-thirds of the former soldiers being reactivated
for duty in Iraq and elsewhere have reported on time, prompting the Army to
threaten some with punishment for desertion.
The former soldiers, part of what is known as the Individual Ready Reserve
(IRR), are being recalled to fill shortages in skills needed for the
conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Of the 1,662 ready reservists ordered to report to Fort Jackson, S.C., by
Sept. 22, only 1,038 had done so, the Army said Monday. About 500 of those
who failed to report have requested exemptions on health or personal
grounds.
"The numbers did not look good," said Lt. Col. Burton Masters, a spokesman
for the Army's Human Resources Command. "We are tightening the system,
reaching the people and bringing them in."
Masters said most of the requests for exemptions are likely to be denied:
"To get an exemption, it has to be a very compelling case, such as a severe
medical condition."
The figures are the first on the IRR call-up. They reflect the challenges
the Pentagon faces in trying to find enough troops for ongoing operations
and show resistance among some servicemembers who returned to civilian life.
The ready reserve is an infrequently used pool of former soldiers who can be
called to duty in a national emergency or war. On June 29, the Army
announced it would call 5,674 members of its IRR back to active duty this
year and next.
Several of those who received recall notices have already been declared AWOL
(absent without official leave) and technically are considered deserters.
"We are not in a rush to put someone in the AWOL category," Masters said.
"We contact them and convince them it is in their best interests to show up.
If you are a deserter, it can affect you the rest of your life."
· Army May Reduce Length of Tours
· Rumors of Draft Are Hard to Kill
· AOL Military Center
· AOL Search: Recruitment
Fourteen people were listed as AWOL last week; six subsequently told the
Army they would report. Punishment for being AWOL is up to the unit
commander and can include prison time and dishonorable discharge, said Col.
Joseph Curtin, an Army spokesman.
With a force that generals say is stretched thin, the Army is considering
$1,000-a-month bonuses to ex-soldiers who volunteer to return for overseas
duty.
Ready reservists are soldiers who were honorably discharged after finishing
their active-duty tours, usually four to six years, but remain part of the
IRR for the rest of their original eight-year commitment. The IRR call-up is
the first major one in 13 years, since 20,277 troops were ordered back for
the Persian Gulf War.
09/28/2004 07:04
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8) Cinemayaat, the Arab Film Festival
8th Annual Event
October 2-10 & 24, 2004
San Francisco, San Jose, Berkeley
www.aff.org
********TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW********
ON-LINE TICKET SALES DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO SEPTEMBER 29th
The 8th Annual Cinemayaat, the Arab Film Festival, an internationally
recognized festival dedicated to providing the San Francisco Bay Area
community with a unique opportunity to screen films from and about
the Arab World - a world often misunderstood and misrepresented runs
from October 2-10 & 24th, 2004 in San Francisco, San Jose and
Berkeley.
In contrast to mass media's frequently negative portrayal of Arab
culture, the Arab Film Festival showcases in depth perspectives and
stories about and by Arabs and Arab Americans in an ever more complex
world. We aim to bridge a gap through artistic expression and share
the experience of history, humanity, love, and life in a time where
the distance between American and Arab cultures ever expands.
Please join us as we strive to bring the Bay Area community a program
that is both stunning in artistic merit and educational - a program
that brings you a magnificent perspective of the richness of the Arab
World. We work very hard to keep these channels of communication open
so that all may share in Art, its beauty, humanity and personal
expression.
Please visit the Arab Film Festival website for film schedule and
descriptions.
WWW.AFF.ORG
Middle East Children's Alliance
901 Parker Street
Berkeley, California 94710
United States
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
NEXT BAUAW MEETING:
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3, 3:00 p.m.
1380 Valencia Street
(Between 24th & 25th Streets, S.F.)
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
VOTE YES ON PROP. 'N'! BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!
Come to the
BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW COMMITTEE MEETING
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 7:00 p.m.
AFSC - First Floor
65 NINTH STREET
(1/2 block from Market St., SF)
Help get the word out about Prop. 'N'. Bring your ideas for
community outreach, media, action, and more to make sure
we win by a landslide!
No matter who wins the elections this year, the war will not
be over. This ballot initiative will set the example for cities across
the country to do the same in future elections.
Pick up material to distribute!*
PROPOSITION 'N' ON THE NOVEMBER 3
SAN FRANCISCO BALLOT DECLARES:
"It is the policy of the people of the City and County of
San Francisco that: The Federal government should take
immediate steps to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq and
bring our troops safely home now."
Visit: www.yesonn.net
* Material costs money. Already thousands of brochures have
been printed and we need more! We need posters and buttons--
we need to cover the city with YES on 'N' campaign material!
Please send a contribution to help with these costs!
Make your check payable to:
Bring Our Troops Home Now
and mail to :
David Looman, Treasurer
325 Highland Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94110
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Israel Kills 6 Palestinians in Gaza, W.Bank Raids
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
JABALYA, Gaza Strip (Reuters)
Wed Sep 29, 2004 09:36 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6365775&src=eD
ialog/GetContent§ion=news
2) Iraq Rebel Cities to Be Retaken in October - Minister
BAGHDAD (Reuters)
Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:19 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6367016
3) Judge Rules Against Patriot Act Provision
NEW YORK (Reuters)
Wed Sep 29, 2004 12:07 PM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6367548
4) They're burned, or blinded, or sparring with death
The story of the military hospital where there's no escaping
the horrors of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan
BY MATTHEW MCALLESTER
STAFF CORRESPONDENT
LANDSTUHL, Germany
September 27, 2004
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/health/ny-wohosp3986566sep27,0,7903420.story
5) Crude dudes
U.S. oil companies just happened to have billions
of dollars they wanted to invest in undeveloped oil reserves
LINDA MCQUAIG
Sep. 20, 2004. 09:56 AM
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Artic
le_Type1&c=Article&cid=1095545411401&call_pageid=968332188854&col=9683500607
6) ... Unless It's All Greek to Him
By Barbara Garson
September 24, 2004
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=4920&CategoryId=5
7) Former Soldiers Slow to Report
500 Ready Reservists Seek Exemptions From Reactivation,
Risk AWOL Status
By Tom Squitieri, USA TODAY
(Sept. 28)
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20040928070809990037
8) Cinemayaat, the Arab Film Festival
8th Annual Event
October 2-10 & 24, 2004
San Francisco, San Jose, Berkeley
www.aff.org
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Israel Kills 6 Palestinians in Gaza, W.Bank Raids
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
JABALYA, Gaza Strip (Reuters)
Wed Sep 29, 2004 09:36 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6365775&src=eD
ialog/GetContent§ion=news
JABALYA, Gaza Strip (Reuters) - Israeli forces killed six Palestinians
including three teenagers on Wednesday as they thrust deep into
Gaza to quell rocket fire into Israel and raided two West Bank cities
in search of wanted militants.
Youths of 17 and 14 in a stone-throwing crowd that confronted
Israeli forces were shot dead in Gaza's Jabalya refugee camp.
Fifteen others, many of them students in school uniforms, were
taken to hospital with gunshot wounds, medics said.
Israeli troops backed by tanks also killed a 24-year-old gunman
in Jabalya, a stronghold of Islamist militants who have fired
hundreds of crude rockets into nearby Israel.
In a separate incident in central Gaza, Israeli troops shot
dead a boy of 13 and wounded four others in a crowd of
stone-throwers who approached the entrance to an isolated
Jewish settlement, according to medics.
Another Palestinian gunman was killed in an army raid into
the West Bank city of Nablus. In Jenin, a militant died when a
taxi he was in overturned while trying to elude pursuing
Israeli soldiers. A comrade was shot dead as he fled on foot.
Israeli troops also blew up the Jenin home of a high-profile
militant commander in the Fatah faction of Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat. The militant leader was
not there at the time.
Violence surged on the heels of the fourth anniversary of a
Palestinian revolt. Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie urged his people
and Israel on Tuesday to reconsider tactics that have locked
the two sides in a chronic cycle of bloodshed.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is bent on crushing
militant groups to prevent them claiming victory after a
planned evacuation of 8,000 Jewish settlers from Gaza and
a few from the 230,000 in the West Bank next year.
But Islamist militants vowed to keep fighting until Israelis
had evacuated "all of Palestine." They are dedicated
to destroying Israel as well as regaining the West Bank and
Gaza, occupied by the Jewish state in the 1967 Middle East war.
BATTLE AT REFUGEE CAMP
Israeli tanks and troops charged into north Gaza on Tuesday
night in another bid to stamp out elusive squads of Hamas
militants who launch makeshift Qassam rockets over Gaza's
fenced border into Israel almost daily.
"We begin the fifth year of the intifada (uprising) and we
will keep firing rockets and mortars, we will continue our
jihad until all of Palestine is returned," said Nizar Rayan, a
Jabalya Hamas leader brandishing an assault rifle and grenade
launcher.
"We are operating (again) in north Gaza in order to try to
stop the launching of Qassam rockets that are terrorizing
nearby Israeli communities," an Israeli army spokeswoman
said.
Israeli forces besieged Beit Hanoun, a town adjacent to
Jabalya, for a month in the summer in a hunt for rocket squads.
The incursion killed 20 Palestinians and left a trail of
destruction, but the rocket volleys soon started again. Israeli
forces spent four more days in north Gaza three weeks ago. But
again rocket salvoes resumed against the border town of Sderot.
The rockets have killed two people in four years but have
become psychologically important for militants now that Israel
has succeeded in limiting their suicide bombings inside Israel.
Critics of the raids into Gaza say Israel risks getting
sucked back into heavy fighting to stop the rockets just as it
is preparing to withdraw from the territory.
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) Iraq Rebel Cities to Be Retaken in October - Minister
BAGHDAD (Reuters)
Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:19 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6367016
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi forces will retake
rebel-held cities in Iraq in October, Defense Minister Hazim
al-Shalaan told Reuters on Wednesday.
"You wait and see what we are going to do. We are going to
take all these cities in October," Shalaan said.
The western cities of Falluja and Ramadi, as well as some
parts of Baghdad and the town of Samarra, north of the capital,
are effectively controlled by insurgents.
The U.S. military has previously said it will retake these
areas by the end of the year so elections can go ahead as
scheduled in January.
U.S. commanders say they are waiting until Iraqi forces are
large enough and sufficiently trained for the offensive.
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
3) Judge Rules Against Patriot Act Provision
NEW YORK (Reuters)
Wed Sep 29, 2004 12:07 PM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6367548
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Part of the Patriot Act, a central
plank of the Bush Administration's war on terror, was ruled
unconstitutional by a federal judge on Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Victor Marreo ruled in favor of the
American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the power the
FBI has to demand confidential financial records from companies
as part of terrorism investigations.
The ruling was the latest blow to the Bush administration's
anti-terrorism policies.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that terror suspects
being held in places like Guantanamo Bay can use the American
judicial system to challenge their confinement. That ruling was
a defeat for the president's assertion of sweeping powers to
hold "enemy combatants" indefinitely after the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks.
The ACLU sued the Department of Justice, arguing that part
of the Patriot legislation violated the constitution because it
authorizes the FBI to force disclosure of sensitive information
without adequate safeguards.
The judge agreed, stating that the provision "effectively
bars or substantially deters any judicial challenge."
Under the provision, the FBI did not have to show a judge a
compelling need for the records and it did not have to specify
any process that would allow a recipient to fight the demand
for confidential information.
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
4) They're burned, or blinded, or sparring with death
The story of the military hospital where there's no escaping
the horrors of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan
BY MATTHEW MCALLESTER
STAFF CORRESPONDENT
LANDSTUHL, Germany
September 27, 2004
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/health/ny-wohosp3986566sep27,0,7903420.story
LANDSTUHL, Germany -- The medical team that accompanied
the soldier on the Thursday morning flight from Iraq had worked
the whole way to keep him alive, his body burned and lacerated
by the fire and metal of a roadside bomb.
They were low on oxygen by the time the green military ambulance
reached the front door of the hospital.
"Get me more O2," shouted out a visibly upset nurse, Maj. Pat
Bradshaw. She had been up and working for 28 hours, ferrying
the wounded out of Iraq.
"She's stressed," said Capt. George Sakakini, a physician in
charge of the team that greets the wounded. He watched from
the curbside through the early-morning drizzle, keeping an eye
on his highly trained squad of doctors, nurses and chaplains.
"Someone's trying to die on her."
Full green oxygen tank in place, its contents filtering into the
unconscious man's lungs, the team lowered the soldier on his
stretcher to the ground. His scorched face was a painter's
palette of the colors of pain: yellow, mauve, bright red.
In the intensive care unit, nurses quickly worked to make sure
his wounds were as clean as possible. An infection could kill
him. A couple of rooms over, more nurses worked on another
young soldier, also unconscious, burned and sparring with
death. Another roadside bomb victim. Dabbing gently, they
spread thick white antimicrobial cream on the raw flesh of
his forearms. Twenty percent of his body was burned.
It was an average morning at Landstuhl Regional Medical
Center, which has become the American military's museum
of pain and maiming, doubt and anger. The planes from Iraq
land every day, sometimes two or three of them.
Like his staff, who brim with frustration at what they see as
the irresponsible disinclination of the American people to
understand the costs of the war to thousands of American
soldiers, the hospital's chief surgeon feels that most Americans
have their minds on other things.
"It is my impression that they're not thinking about it a whole
lot at all," said Lt. Col. Ronald Place. As he spoke, the man who
has probably seen more of America's war wounded than anyone
since the Vietnam War sobbed as he sat at a table in his office.
First stop for injured
Nowhere is it less possible to escape the horrors of the war in
Iraq for American soldiers than Landstuhl. Nestled among the
tall trees of a forest on the outskirts of this small town in
southwestern Germany, the largest American military hospital
outside the United States is the first stop for nearly all injured
American personnel when they are flown out of Iraq or Afghanistan.
Dedicated and compassionate doctors, nurses and support staff
push aside curtains of fatigue and what the hospital's psychologists
call "vicarious trauma" to patch up and tend to soldiers before they
fly to the United States for longer-term care.
This month, politicians focused on the unwelcome tally of the
1,000th American soldier to die in Iraq. Landstuhl has its own
set of figures, numbers that flesh out the suffering occurring
on the battlefields of Iraq and in homes across the United States.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, more than 18,000 military personnel
have passed through the hospital from what staff refer to as
"down range": Iraq and Afghanistan. Of those, nearly 16,000
have come from Iraq.
Last month, 23 percent of those were casualties from combat,
slightly higher than most months; the rest had either accidental
or disease-related complaints.
Thirteen have died at the hospital.
Each day, an average of 30 to 35 patients arrive on flights
from Iraq. The most on a single day was 168.
More than 200 personnel have come in with either lost eyes
or eye injuries that could result in sight loss or blindness.
About 160 soldiers have had limbs amputated, most of them
passing through the hospital on their way home to more surgery.
And it's not just their bodies that come in needing fixing. More
than 1,400 physically fit personnel have been admitted with
mental health problems.
Then there are the Pentagon's figures that touch on all casualties
from the war in Iraq: 1,042 dead; 7,413 injured in action,
including 4,026 whose injuries have prevented them from
returning to duty. In Afghanistan, there have been 366 injuries
and 138 deaths.
One other number tells a slightly different tale, a story of
selflessness in the face of suffering: one third. That's about
how much money surgeons at Landstuhl make compared to
what they could make if they chose to work in the civilian world.
"There is nothing more rewarding than to take care of these
guys," said Place, the skin around his eyes reddening with the
tears that he failed to hold inside. "Not money, not anything."
Every day starts in the same way at Landstuhl. The staff get up
early to greet the buses and ambulances that come from nearby
Ramstein air base, where the planes from Iraq touch down as
early as 6 a.m. Most soldiers can walk off the buses, with broken
bones or noncombat illnesses. But those who come in ambulances,
like the two blast-injured soldiers, go straight to the ICU.
On Thursday morning, the 20-bed ICU was a busy, but not rushed,
place. As so often these days, the staff there were dealing with the
effects of roadside bombs rather than bullets. That means taking
care of scorched, lacerated bodies that may have less obvious
internal injuries.
Col. Earl Hecker sat outside the room where nurses were applying
the white antimicrobial cream to one of the burned soldiers.
Twenty-seven-years-old, Hecker remarked, looking at the patient's
notes. (Hospital officials were not able to get these patients' consent
to be named or photographed because of their medical conditions.)
Hecker, at 70, is a few generations older than his patient. A surgeon
who had retired from the Reserves but recently rejoined, he has
forsaken his private practice in Detroit for now to help at Landstuhl,
working past his assigned 90-day tour to stay nearly 150 days.
This experience "has changed my whole life," he said, his jovial
demeanor fading to introspection. "I'm never going to be the same."
The day before, Hecker had been taking care of an 18-year-old
soldier who, thanks to an Iraqi bullet, will forever be quadriplegic.
Hecker sat gazing through the window at the burned soldier and
thought of the kid he had sent off to the States the day before.
"Terrible, terrible, terrible," he said, staring into the distance.
"When you talk to him he cries."
A month ago, Hecker took four days off to fly home to see his
family. He needed a break. They went out for dinner at a nice
restaurant. Hecker realized during dinner that he was suddenly
seeing the world differently. He looked around at the chattering
people, eating their fine food, drinking good wine and he thought
to himself: "They have no idea what's going on here. Absolutely none."
He doesn't think people want to see it. He thinks the nation is still
scarred by Vietnam and would prefer not to see the thousands of
injured young men coming home from Iraq.
"I just want people to understand - war is bad, life is difficult,"
he said.
Maybe it was the stress, maybe it's because Hecker has no military
career to mess up by speaking out of line, but it just came out:
"George Bush is an idiot," he said, quickly saying he regretted the
comment. But then he continued, criticizing Bush as a rich kid who
hasn't seen enough of the world. "He's very rich, you'd think he'd
get some education," Hecker said.
"He's my president. I'll follow him in what he wants to do," he
continued, "but I'm here for him." Hecker leaned forward and
pointed through the glass at the unconscious soldier fighting for
his life 2 yards away.
'It's just not right'
Not all of the staff can get away with criticizing their
commander-in-chief or his decisions, but many use more
opaque ways of communicating their unease.
"It's not right," said Maj. Cathy Martin, 40, head nurse of the
ICU, when asked how she felt seeing so many soldiers pass
through her unit. She paused. "It's just not right."
She declined to elaborate on what exactly she meant.
Comments such as Hecker's about the president can lead
to severe consequences for those with careers ahead of them.
But Martin did add: "People need to vote for the right people
to be in office and they need to be empowered to influence
change."
What she did feel comfortable saying, echoing the head
surgeon, Hecker and others, was that people back home
just don't get it.
"Everyone's looking but no one's seeing," added Staff Sgt.
Royce Pittman, 32, who works with her. "I had no idea this
was going on. ... What we see every day is not normal.
There's nothing normal about this."
In private, some hospital workers said they wished they
could openly air their feelings about the war. And if reporters
could somehow quote people's facial expressions, a
number of those staff members would probably be facing
disciplinary hearings. Only one staff member interviewed
expressed solid support for the war.
"I do believe, I truly do believe that those that are fighting
and defending for liberty and freedom ... that that is a truly
worthy cause," said Maj. Kendra Whyatt, head nurse of
inpatient orthopedics.
Is it all worth it? the head surgeon was asked. "That's not
for me to say, but I'll be here for them," Place said.
The staff do talk among themselves, said Maj. Stephen Franco,
chief of the clinical health psychology service at the hospital.
He recalled one doctor's comments after attending a memorial
service for a young soldier who had died. "I wish some of the
lawmakers could attend some of these more often so they can
think a little more about their decisions," Franco recalled the
doctor telling him.
But like all the staff in the hospital, politics comes second to
healing with Franco. He has a lot of it to do.
"It's probably the biggest challenge to mental health since
Vietnam," said his boss, Col. Gary Southwell, chief of
psychology services.
Soldiers come in carrying guilt about leaving their unit behind,
haunting visions of seeing friends dying, nightmares, frayed
nerves and deep anxieties about their future, Franco said. Place
noted that for a single man facial disfigurement, for example,
can be particularly traumatizing. Who's going to want someone
with a face like this? the young men wonder.
Care taken not to sugarcoat
Franco and his colleagues - the number of psychologists
and psychiatrists has doubled since the Iraq war began,
reflecting large staff increases throughout the hospital -
make a point of visiting all new patients to see how they're doing.
"We provide assurance, look to the future," he said. "We're careful
not to sugarcoat anything."
Franco doesn't attempt quick miracle fixes for traumatized soldiers,
most of whom are flown to the United States after a few days. "When
your world is rocked like that it's not a smooth process necessarily
to get that to make sense," he said.
On Sept. 18, Army Sgt. 1st Class Larry Daniels' world was rocked.
So was his wife's.
With other men from his platoon, Daniels was standing on a bridge
over a highway near Baghdad International Airport while an Iraqi
contractor fixed a fence by the side of the road. Daniels, 37, was
waving Iraqi vehicles past the three American Humvees while the
contractor worked as quickly as possible to fix the wire fence.
An orange and white Chevy Caprice, a type of car usually driven
as a taxi in Baghdad, veered toward the soldiers. It exploded;
a suicide car bomb.
"I felt my body went up in the air," said Daniels, in his Texas
drawl. "I was upside down looking back at where the car had
been and landed on the ground. Three seconds later it hit me
what happened."
Lying on the pavement, Big Daddy Daniels, as his men call him,
had the presence of mind to keep ordering his soldiers around,
even though he couldn't move. Another unit arrived soon and
ferried the survivors to safety. Two were dead.
Two days later, Daniels was flown to Landstuhl. Both of his arms
have multiple fractures. Steel pins and thick casts keep his bones
in place. Part of his hand is missing. And as he puts it, he's got
"holes from my ankle to my ear." The doctors have taken some of
the shrapnel out. Some fragments are still there.
Wife's opinion has changed
Daniels is an experienced, professional soldier. He's been in the
Army for 17 years. His dad was a draftee in the Vietnam War. He
can trace his family's military history back to the Civil War. So
perhaps it's not surprising that he says he wishes he were still
in Iraq with his men.
His wife, Cheryl, has had enough. While the staff at Landstuhl
move the injured on, usually after five days, the families of the
wounded have to face up to the long-term consequences of the
violence in Iraq. Many are embittered.
From a military family herself, the mother of two had been changing
her mind about a lot of things even before her husband became so
badly injured that he can't do even the most basic of tasks for himself.
She supported the war and voted for Bush. Now, she says, she
wants to pull the troops out of Iraq. "I will vote for Kerry. Not
because I prefer Kerry over Bush but because I don't want Bush
back in office."
Her 12-year-old son has been saying he wants to go to West
Point. Her 8-year-old daughter wants to be a military veterinarian.
She's stopped encouraging those ambitions.
Speaking alone, without her husband, she said she knew that the
Army wasn't going to like what she had to say. Like Hecker,
she hasn't got much to lose by speaking her mind, which she
did, calmly and thoughtfully.
"I don't feel we have any business being there," she said Friday.
"I think this is an area of the world that has been fighting for
thousands of years, and I don't think our presence will change
anything. If anything, we've given them a common target to
focus on. Rather than fight each other, they're fighting us.
I don't see why my husband has to lose two soldiers or
question why he's here or see his other guys that are hurt.
The minute we pull out, things will go back to the culture
that is established."
Cheryl Daniels is looking at a tough future. She has to parent
her kids, hold down a job at Fort Hood Army base in Texas,
where the family lives, and finish the management degree she
is studying for at night. Soon her disabled husband will be home,
and she finds it hard to believe, as the doctors have told her, that
"in a year or two he's going to be back to normal. I can't see that
right now because he's got nerve damage in his arms."
She doesn't feel that her country, her military, is giving her
enough support. She had to pay her own way to Germany
and her own way back. The Army was doing almost nothing
for her, she said.
"I feel like we've paid our dues," she said. "And I'm done."
Copyright (c) 2004, Newsday, Inc.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
5) Crude dudes
U.S. oil companies just happened to have billions
of dollars they wanted to invest in undeveloped oil reserves
LINDA MCQUAIG
Sep. 20, 2004. 09:56 AM
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Artic
le_Type1&c=Article&cid=1095545411401&call_pageid=968332188854&col=9683500607
From his corner office in the heart of New York's financial district,
Fadel Gheit keeps close tabs on what goes on inside the boardrooms
of the big oil companies. An oil analyst at the prestigious Wall
Street firm Oppenheimer & Co., the fit, distinguished-looking
Gheit has been watching the oil industry closely for more than
25 years.
Selling the modern world's most indispensable commodity has
never been a bad business to be in - particularly for the small
group of companies that straddle the top of this privileged world.
But never more so than now.
"Profit-wise, things could not have been better," says Gheit,
"In the last three years, they died and went to heaven ....
They are all sitting on the largest piles of cash in their history."
But to stay rich they have to keep finding new reserves, and
that's getting tougher. Increasingly it means cutting through
permafrost or drilling deep underwater, at tremendous cost.
"The cheap oil has already been found and developed and
produced and consumed," says Gheit. "The low-hanging
fruit has already been picked."
Well, not all the low-hanging fruit has been picked.
Nestled into the heart of the area of heaviest oil concentration
in the world is Iraq, overflowing with low-hanging fruit. No
permafrost, no deep water. Just giant pools of oil, right beneath
the warm ground. This is fruit sagging so low, as it were, that it
practically touches the ground under the weight of its ripeness.
Not only does Iraq have vast quantities of easily accessible oil,
but its oil is almost untouched. "Think of Iraq as virgin territory
.... This is bigger than anything Exxon is involved in currently
.... It is the superstar of the future," says Gheit, "That's why
Iraq becomes the most sought-after real estate on the face
of the earth."
Gheit just smiles at the notion that oil wasn't a factor in the
U.S. invasion of Iraq. He compares Iraq to Russia, which also
has large undeveloped oil reserves. But Russia has nuclear
weapons. "We can't just go over and ... occupy (Russian) oil
fields," says Gheit. "It's a different ballgame." Iraq, however,
was defenceless, utterly lacking, ironically, in weapons of mass
destruction. And its location, nestled in between Saudi Arabia
and Iran, made it an ideal place for an ongoing military presence,
from which the U.S. would be able to control the entire Gulf
region. Gheit smiles again: "Think of Iraq as a military base
with a very large oil reserve underneath .... You can't ask for
better than that."
There's something almost obscene about a map that was
studied by senior Bush administration officials and a select
group of oil company executives meeting in secret in the
spring of 2001. It doesn't show the kind of detail normally
shown on maps - cities, towns, regions. Rather its detail is
all about Iraq's oil.
The southwest is neatly divided, for instance, into nine
"Exploration Blocks." Stripped of political trappings, this
map shows a naked Iraq, with only its ample natural assets
in view. It's like a supermarket meat chart, which identifies
the various parts of a slab of beef so customers can see the
most desirable cuts .... Block 1 might be the striploin,
Block 2 and Block 3 are perhaps some juicy tenderloin,
but Block 8 - ahh, that could be the filet mignon.
The map might seem crass, but it was never meant for
public consumption. It was one of the documents studied
by the ultra-secretive task force on energy, headed by
U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney, and it was only released
under court order after a long legal battle waged by the
public interest group Judicial Watch.
Another interesting task force document, also released
under court order over the opposition of the Bush administration,
was a two-page chart titled "Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfields."
It identifies 63 oil companies from 30 countries and specifies
which Iraqi oil fields each company is interested in and the
status of the company's negotiations with Saddam Hussein's
regime. Among the companies are Royal Dutch/Shell of the
Netherlands, Russia's Lukoil and France's Total Elf Aquitaine,
which was identified as being interested in the fabulous,
25-billion-barrrel Majnoon oil field. Baghdad had "agreed in
principle" to the French company's plans to develop this
succulent slab of Iraq. There goes the filet mignon into the
mouths of the French!
The documents have attracted surprisingly little attention,
despite their possible relevance to the question of Washington's
motives for its invasion of Iraq - in many ways the defining event
of the post-9/11 world but one whose purpose remains
shrouded in mystery. Even after the supposed motives for
the invasion - weapons of mass destruction and links to
Al Qaeda - have been thoroughly discredited, talk of oil
as a motive is still greeted with derision. Certainly any
suggestion that private oil interests were in any way
involved is hooted down with charges of conspiracy theory.
Yet the documents suggest that those who took part in the
Cheney task force - including senior oil company executives
- were very interested in Iraq's oil and specifically in the
danger of it falling into the hands of eager foreign oil
companies, rather than into the rightful hands of eager
U.S. oil companies.
As the documents show, prior to the U.S. invasion, foreign
oil companies were nicely positioned for future involvement
in Iraq, while the major U.S. oil companies, after years of
U.S.-Iraqi hostilities, were largely out of the picture. Indeed,
the U.S. majors would have been the big losers if U.N.
sanctions against Iraq had simply been lifted. "The U.S.
majors stand to lose if Saddam makes a deal with the U.N.
(on lifting sanctions)," noted a report by Germany's Deutsche
Bank in October 2002.
The disadvantaged position of U.S. oil companies in Saddam
Hussein's Iraq would have presumably been on the minds of
senior oil company executives when they met secretly with
Cheney and his task force in early 2001. The administration
refuses to divulge exactly who met with the task force, and
continues to fight legal challenges to force disclosure.
However a 2003 report by the General Accounting Office,
the investigative arm of Congress, concluded that the task
force relied on advice from the oil industry, whose close
ties to the Bush administration are legendary.
(George W. Bush received more money from the oil
and gas industry in 1999 and 2000 than any other U.S.
federal candidate received over the previous decade .)
The Cheney task force has been widely criticized for
recommending bigger subsidies for the energy industry,
but there's been little focus on its possible role as a venue
for consultations between Big Oil and the administration about
Iraq. One intriguing piece of evidence pointing in this direction
was a National Security Council directive, dated February
2001, instructing NSC staff to co-operate fully with the task
force. The NSC document, reported in The New Yorker
magazine, noted that the task force would be considering
the "melding" of two policy areas: "the review of operational
policies towards rogue states" and "actions regarding the
capture of new and existing oil and gas fields." This certainly
implies that the Cheney task force was considering geopolitical
questions about actions related to the capture of oil and gas
reserves in "rogue" states, including presumably Iraq.
It seems likely then that Big Oil, through the Cheney task force,
was involved in discussions with the administration about
getting control of oil in Iraq. Since Big Oil has sought to
distance itself from the administration's decision to invade
Iraq, this apparent involvement helps explain the otherwise
baffling level of secrecy surrounding the task force.
It's interesting to note that the Cheney task force deliberations
took place in the first few months after the Bush administration
came to office - the same time period during which the new
administration was secretly formulating plans for toppling
Saddam. Those early plans were not publicly disclosed, but
we know about them now due to the publication of several
insider accounts, including that of former Treasury secretary
Paul O'Neill. So, months before the attacks of 9/11, the Bush
White House was already considering toppling Saddam, and
at the same time it was also keenly studying Iraq's oil fields
and assessing how far along foreign companies were in their
negotiations with Saddam for a piece of Iraq's oil.
It's also noteworthy that one person - Dick Cheney - was
pivotal both in advancing the administration's plans for
regime change in Iraq and in formulating U.S. energy policy.
As CEO of oil services giant Halliburton Company, Cheney
had been alert to the problem of securing new sources of oil.
Speaking to the London Petroleum Institute in 1999, while still
heading Halliburton, Cheney had focused on the difficulty of
finding the 50 million extra barrels of oil per day that he said
the world would need by 2010. "Where is it going to come
from?" he asked, and then noted that "the Middle East with
two-thirds of the world's oil and the lowest cost, is still
where the prize ultimately lies."
Cheney's focus on the Middle East and its oil continued
after he became Bush's powerful vice-president. Within
weeks of the new administration taking office, Cheney
was pushing forward plans for regime change in Iraq and
also devising a new energy policy which included getting
control of oil reserves in rogue states. His central role in
these two apparently urgent initiatives is certainly suggestive
of a possible connection between the U.S. invasion of Iraq
and a desire for the country's ample oil reserves - the very
thing that is vehemently denied.
One reason that regime change in Iraq was seen as offering
significant benefits for Big Oil was that it promised to open
up a treasure chest which had long been sealed - private
ownership of Middle Eastern oil. A small group of major
international oil companies once privately owned the oil
industries of the Middle East. But that changed in the 1970s
when most Middle Eastern countries (and some elsewhere)
nationalized their oil industries. Today, state-owned
companies control the vast majority of the world's oil
resources. The major international oil companies control
a mere 4 per cent.
The majors have clearly prospered in the new era, as
developers rather than owners, but there's little doubt that
they'd prefer to regain ownership of the oil world's Garden
of Eden. "(O)ne of the goals of the oil companies and the
Western powers is to weaken and/or privatize the world's
state oil companies," observes New York-based economist
Michael Tanzer, who advises Third World governments on
energy issues.
The possibility of Iraq's oil being reopened to private ownership
- with the promise of astonishing profits - attracted considerable
interest in the run-up to the U.S. invasion. In February 2003, as
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell held the world's attention with
his dramatic efforts to make the case that Saddam posed an
imminent threat to international peace, other parts of the
U.S. government were secretly developing plans to privatize
Iraq's oil (among other assets). A confidential 100-page
contracting document, drawn up by the U.S. Agency for
International Development and the U.S. Treasury Department,
laid out a wide-ranging plan for a "Mass Privatization Program
... especially in the oil and supporting industries."
The Pentagon was also working on plans to open up Iraq's oil
sector. In the fall of 2002, months before the invasion, the
Pentagon retained Philip Carroll, a former CEO of Shell Oil
Co. in Texas, to draft a strategy for developing Iraqi oil.
Carroll's plans apparently became the basis of a proposed
scheme, which became public shortly after the war, to
redesign Iraq's oil industry along the lines of a U.S. corporation,
with a chairman, chief executive and a 15-member board of
international advisers. Carroll was chosen by Washington to
serve as chairman, but the plans were shelved after they
encountered stiff opposition inside Iraq.
Still, the prospect of privatizing Iraq's oil remained of great
interest to U.S. oil companies, according to Robert Ebel, from
the influential Washington-based Center for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS). Ebel, former vice-president of
a Dallas-based oil exploration company, retains close ties
to the industry. In an interview in his Washington office, Ebel
said it was up to Iraq to make its own decisions, but he made
clear that U.S. oil companies would prefer Iraq abandon its
nationalization. "We'd rather not work with national oil
companies," Ebel said bluntly, noting that the major oil
companies are prepared to invest the $35 to $40 billion
to develop Iraq's reserves in the coming years. "We're looking
for places to invest around the world. You know, along comes
Iraq, and I think a lot of oil companies would be disappointed
if Iraq were to say `we're going to do it ourselves' "
Along comes Iraq ?
How fortuitous. U.S. oil companies just happened to have
billions of dollars that they wanted to invest in undeveloped
oil reserves when Iraq presented itself, ready for invasion.
Along comes Iraq, indeed.
In the past 14 decades, we've used up roughly half of all the
oil that the planet has to offer. No, we're not about to run out
of oil. But long before the oil runs out, it reaches its production
peak . After that, extracting the remaining oil becomes
considerably more difficult and expensive.
This notion that oil production has a "peak" was first conceived
in 1956 by geophysicist M. King Hubbert. He predicted that
U.S. oil production would peak about 1970 - a notion that was
scoffed at at the time. As it turned out, Hubbert was dead on;
U.S. oil production peaked in 1970, and has been declining
ever since. Hubbert's once-radical notion is now generally
accepted.
For the world as a whole, the peak is fast approaching. Colin
Campbell, one of the world's leading geologists, estimates the
world's peak will come as soon as 2005 - next year. "There is
only so much crude oil in the world," Campbell said in a telephone
interview from his home in Ireland, "and the industry has found
about 90 per cent of it."
All this would be less serious if the world's appetite for oil were
declining in tandem. But even as the discovery of new oil fields
slows down, the world's consumption speeds up - a dilemma
Cheney highlighted in his speech to the London Petroleum
Institute in 1999. For every new barrel of oil we find, we are
consuming four already-discovered barrels, according to
Campbell. The arithmetic is not on our side.
Particularly worrisome is the arithmetic as it applies to the
U.S. With its oil production already long past peak, and yet
its oil consumption rising, the U.S. will inevitably become
more reliant on foreign oil. This is significant not just for
Americans, but for the world, since the U.S. has long
characterized its access to energy as a matter of "national
security." With its unrivalled military power, the U.S. will
insist on meeting its own voracious energy needs - and it
will be up to the rest of the world to co-operate with this
quest. Period.
Canada plays a greater role in this "keep-the-U.S.-energy
-beast-fed" scenario than many Canadians may realize.
A three-volume report prepared by a bipartisan Congressional
team and CSIS, the Washington think tank, highlights how
important Canada is in the U.S. energy picture of the future.
The report, The Geopolitics of Energy into the 21st Century ,
notes that Canada is "the single largest provider of energy
to the United States," and that "Canada is poised to expand
sharply its exports of oil to the United States in the coming
years."
Fine - as long as Canada doesn't want to change its mind
about this. Well, in fact, Canada can't change its mind
about this - a point celebrated in the report. When Canada
signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
in 1993, we gave up our right to cut back the amount of oil
we export to the U.S. (unless we cut our own consumption
the same amount). Interestingly, Mexico, also a party to
NAFTA, refused to agree to this section, and was granted
an exemption.
The U.S. report points out that that, under NAFTA, Canada
is not allowed to reduce its exports of oil (or other energy)
to the U.S. in order to redirect them to Canadian consumers.
Redirecting Canadian oil to Canadians isn't permitted -
regardless of how great the Canadian need may be . Some
outside observers, like Colin Campbell over in Ireland, find
the situation striking. "You poor Canadians are going to be
left freezing in the dark while they're running hair dryers in
the U.S.," says Campbell. It's a situation that comforts the
U.S. senators, congressmen and think-tank analysts who
wrote the report. With obvious satisfaction, they conclude:
"There can be no more secure supplier to the United States
than Canada."
Alas, for the U.S., not every part of the world is as pliant as
Canada. Most of the world's oil is in the Middle East. And
while different oil regions will reach their production peaks
at different times, the Middle East will peak last, underlying
Cheney's point that the region is where "the prize ultimately
lies." Whoever controls the big oil reserves of the Middle
East will then be positioned to, pretty much, control the world.
But we're supposed to believe that, as the Bush administration
assessed its options just before invading Iraq in the spring of
2003, the advantages of securing vast, untapped oil fields
- in order to guarantee U.S. energy security in a world of
dwindling reserves and to enable U.S. oil companies to reap
untold riches - were far from mind. What really mattered to
those in the White House, we're told, was liberating the people
of Iraq.
Adapted from It's The Crude, Dude: War Big Oil, And The Fight
For The Planet , by Linda McQuaig, 2004. Published by
Doubleday Canada. Reproduced by arrangement with the
Publisher. All rights reserved. Toronto-based political
commentator Linda McQuaig is a past winner of a National
Newspaper Award and an Atkinson Fellowship for journalism
in public policy. Her column appears Sundays on the Star's
op-ed page.
Additional articles by Linda McQuaig
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using our webmaster form . www.thestar.com online since 1996.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
6) ... Unless It's All Greek to Him
By Barbara Garson
September 24, 2004
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=4920&CategoryId=5
During a lull in the war between Athens and Sparta, the Athenians decided
to invade and occupy Sicily. Thucydides tells us in "The Peloponnesian
War" that "they were, for the most part, ignorant of the size of the
island and the numbers of its inhabitants . and they did not realize that
they were taking on a war of almost the same magnitude as their war
against the Peloponnesians."
According to Thucydides, the digression into Sicily in 416 BC - a sideshow
that involved lying exiles, hopeful contractors, politicized intelligence,
a doctrine of preemption - ultimately cost Athens everything, including
its democracy.
Nicias, the most experienced Athenian general, had not wanted to be chosen
for the command. "His view was that the city was making a mistake and, on
a slight pretext which looked reasonable, was in fact aiming at conquering
the whole of Sicily - a considerable undertaking indeed," wrote
Thucydides.
Nicias warned that it was the wrong war against the wrong enemy and that
the Athenians were ignoring their real enemies - the Spartans - while
creating new enemies elsewhere. "It is senseless to go against people who,
even if conquered, could not be controlled," he argued.
Occupying Sicily would require many soldiers, Nicias insisted, because it
meant establishing a new government among enemies. "Those who do this
[must] either become masters of the country on the very first day they
land in it, or be prepared to recognize that, if they fail to do so, they
will find hostility on every side."
The case for war, meanwhile, was made by the young general Alcibiades, who
was hoping for a quick victory in Sicily so he could move on to conquer
Carthage. Alcibiades, who'd led a dissolute youth (and who happened to own
a horse ranch, raising Olympic racers) was a battle-tested soldier, a
brilliant diplomat and a good speaker. (So much for superficial
similarities.)
Alcibiades intended to rely on dazzling technology - the Athenian armada -
instead of traditional foot soldiers. He told the Assembly he wasn't
worried about Sicilian resistance because the island's cities were filled
with people of so many different groups. "Such a crowd as this is scarcely
likely either to pay attention to one consistent policy or to join
together in concerted action.. The chances are that they will make
separate agreements with us as soon as we come forward with attractive
suggestions."
Another argument for the war was that it would pay for itself. A committee
of Sicilian exiles and Athenian experts told the Assembly that there was
enough wealth in Sicily to pay the costs of the war and occupation. "The
report was encouraging but untrue," wrote Thucydides.
Though war was constant in ancient Greece, it was still usually justified
by a threat, an insult or an incident. But the excursion against Sicily
was different, and Alcibiades announced a new, or at least normally
unstated, doctrine.
"One does not only defend oneself against a superior power when one is
attacked: One takes measures in advance to prevent the attack
materializing," he said.
When and where should this preemption doctrine be applied? Alcibiades gave
an answer of a sort. "It is not possible for us to calculate, like
housekeepers [perhaps a better translation would be "girlie men"], exactly
how much empire we want to have. The fact is that we have reached a state
where we are forced to plan new conquests and forced to hold on to what we
have got because there is danger that we ourselves may fall under the
power of others unless others are in our power."
Alcibiades' argument carried the day, but before the invasion, the
Athenian fleet sailed around seeking allies among the Hellenic colonies
near Sicily. Despite the expedition's "great preponderance of strength
over those against whom it set out," only a couple of cities joined the
coalition.
At home, few spoke out against the Sicilian operation. "There was a
passion for the enterprise which affected everyone alike," Thucydides
reports. "The result of this excessive enthusiasm of the majority was that
the few who actually were opposed to the expedition were afraid of being
thought unpatriotic if they voted against it, and therefore kept quiet."
In the face of aggressive posturing, Nicias appealed to the Assembly
members to show true courage.
"If any of you is sitting next to one of [Alcibiades'] supporters," Nicias
said, "do not allow yourself to be browbeaten or to be frightened of being
called a coward if you do not vote for war.. Our country is on the verge
of the greatest danger she has ever known. Think of her, hold up your
hands against this proposal and vote in favor of leaving the Sicilians
alone."
We don't know how many Athenians had secret reservations, but few hands
went up against the war.
In the end, the Athenians lost everything in Sicily. Their army was
defeated and their navy destroyed. Alcibiades was recalled early on;
Nicias was formally executed while thousands of Athenian prisoners were
left in an open pit, where most died.
The Sicilians didn't follow up by invading Attica; they just wanted Athens
out. But with the leader of the democracies crippled, allies left the
Athenian League. Then the real enemy, Sparta, ever patient and cautious,
closed in over the next few years. But not before Athens descended, on its
own, into a morass of oligarchic coups and self-imposed tyranny.
http://www.miftah.org
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7) Former Soldiers Slow to Report
500 Ready Reservists Seek Exemptions From Reactivation,
Risk AWOL Status
By Tom Squitieri, USA TODAY
(Sept. 28)
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20040928070809990037
(Sept. 28) - Fewer than two-thirds of the former soldiers being reactivated
for duty in Iraq and elsewhere have reported on time, prompting the Army to
threaten some with punishment for desertion.
The former soldiers, part of what is known as the Individual Ready Reserve
(IRR), are being recalled to fill shortages in skills needed for the
conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Of the 1,662 ready reservists ordered to report to Fort Jackson, S.C., by
Sept. 22, only 1,038 had done so, the Army said Monday. About 500 of those
who failed to report have requested exemptions on health or personal
grounds.
"The numbers did not look good," said Lt. Col. Burton Masters, a spokesman
for the Army's Human Resources Command. "We are tightening the system,
reaching the people and bringing them in."
Masters said most of the requests for exemptions are likely to be denied:
"To get an exemption, it has to be a very compelling case, such as a severe
medical condition."
The figures are the first on the IRR call-up. They reflect the challenges
the Pentagon faces in trying to find enough troops for ongoing operations
and show resistance among some servicemembers who returned to civilian life.
The ready reserve is an infrequently used pool of former soldiers who can be
called to duty in a national emergency or war. On June 29, the Army
announced it would call 5,674 members of its IRR back to active duty this
year and next.
Several of those who received recall notices have already been declared AWOL
(absent without official leave) and technically are considered deserters.
"We are not in a rush to put someone in the AWOL category," Masters said.
"We contact them and convince them it is in their best interests to show up.
If you are a deserter, it can affect you the rest of your life."
· Army May Reduce Length of Tours
· Rumors of Draft Are Hard to Kill
· AOL Military Center
· AOL Search: Recruitment
Fourteen people were listed as AWOL last week; six subsequently told the
Army they would report. Punishment for being AWOL is up to the unit
commander and can include prison time and dishonorable discharge, said Col.
Joseph Curtin, an Army spokesman.
With a force that generals say is stretched thin, the Army is considering
$1,000-a-month bonuses to ex-soldiers who volunteer to return for overseas
duty.
Ready reservists are soldiers who were honorably discharged after finishing
their active-duty tours, usually four to six years, but remain part of the
IRR for the rest of their original eight-year commitment. The IRR call-up is
the first major one in 13 years, since 20,277 troops were ordered back for
the Persian Gulf War.
09/28/2004 07:04
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8) Cinemayaat, the Arab Film Festival
8th Annual Event
October 2-10 & 24, 2004
San Francisco, San Jose, Berkeley
www.aff.org
********TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW********
ON-LINE TICKET SALES DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO SEPTEMBER 29th
The 8th Annual Cinemayaat, the Arab Film Festival, an internationally
recognized festival dedicated to providing the San Francisco Bay Area
community with a unique opportunity to screen films from and about
the Arab World - a world often misunderstood and misrepresented runs
from October 2-10 & 24th, 2004 in San Francisco, San Jose and
Berkeley.
In contrast to mass media's frequently negative portrayal of Arab
culture, the Arab Film Festival showcases in depth perspectives and
stories about and by Arabs and Arab Americans in an ever more complex
world. We aim to bridge a gap through artistic expression and share
the experience of history, humanity, love, and life in a time where
the distance between American and Arab cultures ever expands.
Please join us as we strive to bring the Bay Area community a program
that is both stunning in artistic merit and educational - a program
that brings you a magnificent perspective of the richness of the Arab
World. We work very hard to keep these channels of communication open
so that all may share in Art, its beauty, humanity and personal
expression.
Please visit the Arab Film Festival website for film schedule and
descriptions.
WWW.AFF.ORG
Middle East Children's Alliance
901 Parker Street
Berkeley, California 94710
United States
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
BAUAW NEWSLETTER-TUESDAY, SEPTMEBER 27, 2004
NEXT BAUAW MEETING:
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3, 3:00 p.m.
1380 Valencia Street
(Between 24th & 25th Streets, S.F.)
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
VOTE YES ON PROP. 'N'! BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!
Come to the
BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW COMMITTEE MEETING
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 7:00 p.m.
AFSC - First Floor
65 NINTH STREET
(1/2 block from Market St., SF)
Help get the word out about Prop. 'N'. Bring your ideas for
community outreach, media, action, and more to make sure
we win by a landslide!
No matter who wins the elections this year, the war will not
be over. This ballot initiative will set the example for cities across
the country to do the same in future elections.
Pick up material to distribute!*
PROPOSITION 'N' ON THE NOVEMBER 3
SAN FRANCISCO BALLOT DECLARES:
"It is the policy of the people of the City and County of
San Francisco that: The Federal government should take
immediate steps to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq and
bring our troops safely home now."
Visit: www.yesonn.net
* Material costs money. Already thousands of brochures have
been printed and we need more! We need posters and buttons--
we need to cover the city with YES on 'N' campaign material!
Please send a contribution to help with these costs!
Make your check payable to:
Bring Our Troops Home Now
and mail to :
David Looman, Treasurer
325 Highland Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94110
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) The following is a transcribed excerpt from
'FOX News Sunday,' September 26, 2004:
Sen. Biden on FOX News:
2) VT AFL-CIO affiliates to USLAW
Report from Hal Leyshon Vermont AFL-CIO
Executive Board member and central labor council president
3) FLEET WEEK PROTEST:
NOW HEAR THIS! NOW HEAR THIS:
ALL PEACE NAVY SEAWOMEN & SEMEN are hereby ordered and
requested to report for duty on Saturday 10/9 at Gas House Cove
at 0930 hours. You will provide diversion from the obscene spectacle
of the US Navy Parade of Death Ships
4) Australia's samidzat
By John Pilger
http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2004/600/600p16.htm
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) The following is a transcribed excerpt from
'FOX News Sunday,' September 26, 2004:
Sen. Biden on FOX News:
"I said, "Mr. President [Allawai], you know me." And he said, "Yes,
I do." I said, "I guarantee you that John Kerry as president  you will
continue to have the full support of the United States of America in
order to be able to establish a representative republic. He said,
"Thank you, and I know it.""
And later, he explains how Kerry would have finished the massacre
in Fallujah:
WALLACE: Would he wait until the Iraqi  excuse me, sir. Would he
wait until the Iraqi troops are trained? What specifically would he do
in these so-called no-go zones?
BIDEN: John Kerry would have listened to his Marines at the time
when in fact they said we should have finished the job then.
Transcript: Sen. Biden on 'FOX News Sunday'
Monday, September 27, 2004
The following is a transcribed excerpt from 'FOX News Sunday,'
September 26, 2004:
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS: We turn now to Sen. Joe Biden (search),
senior Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee and a key
foreign policy adviser to John Kerry (search). He joins us from
Wilmington, Delaware.
And, Sen. Biden, welcome. Always good to have you with us.
SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN, D-DE: Good to be with you, Chris.
WALLACE: This is the week that John Kerry became the anti-war
candidate, in some cases seeming to contradict what he has said
earlier in the campaign.
BIDEN: How's that?
WALLACE: Let's look at what Kerry said this week about the fall of
Saddam Hussein (search) and what he said last December when he
was running against Howard Dean (search). Let's look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
U.S. SENATOR JOHN KERRY (D-MA): The satisfaction that we take in
his downfall does not hide this fact: We have traded a dictator for
a chaos that has left America less secure.
KERRY: Those who doubted whether Iraq or the world would be
better off without Saddam Hussein and those who believe today
that we are not safer with his capture don't have the judgment to
be president or the credibility to be elected president of the
United States.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
WALLACE: Sen. Biden, how do you reconcile those two statements
as anything more than saying what would get you the most votes
at two different times?
BIDEN: Well, that's easy. There's nothing at all contradictory at the
time. The assumption was, when Saddam Hussein was knocked out,
that we'd act rationally and we'd manage the situation in Iraq, that
there wouldn't be chaos.
And the fact of the matter is, that what we have done, we have traded
a dictator, who, in fact, no one wanted to stay there, happy they're
gone, like to have him gone, thinks it's good we're gone, and it's
resulted in chaos because of the incredible mismanagement, as
Dick Lugar said, of this president.
That's a statement of fact. It's very, very good he's gone. Kerry's
happy he's gone. Kerry would have done everything to get rid of
him. But he would not have mismanaged and sent so many mixed
signals that this administration has, so that the end result is today
we have something close to chaos in that region.
WALLACE: But, senator...
BIDEN: That's totally consistent.
WALLACE: First of all, the situation back last December when he
was saying this was bad. That's why Howard Dean was doing...
BIDEN: No, nothing like this. It wasn't even remotely like this,
Chris. It wasn't remotely like this.
WALLACE: Forgive me, but there were heavy casualties. That's
why Howard Dean was doing so well.
BIDEN: Chris, there weren't. There are 700 causalities since he
said that. Seven hundred casualties since he said that, Chris.
Over probably somewhere in the order of 6,000 or 7,000 wounded
since then, Chris. Five, six, seven, eight times the number of
bombings, Chris.
Come on, as they say where I come from, get real. It wasn't
remotely the situation it is now.
At the time, you had the international community saying they
wanted the G-8 and the neighbors to get together. They
weren't talking about anything massive. John Kerry back then,
Joe Biden back then said, "We should have the G-8."
I met with Allawi right after  in Baghdad with him immediately
after he got sworn in. He said to me he wanted a regional meeting.
He asked if I could help. He said the G-8 should be involved.
I came back and wrote a report to that effect. The administration
and Rumsfeld said, "We don't want any meeting over there."
And now all of a sudden they're deciding on a meeting?
At the time that John Kerry said that back in December, it was
the expectation was we would have spent by now $12 billion to
$14 billion rebuilding Iraq. This administration has spent less
than $500 million of the appropriated money.
WALLACE: Senator Biden, let's talk about the allies, because
John Kerry says that the key difference between what he would
do in Iraq and what President Bush has failed to do is he would
engage the allies.
I want to play for you two comments that John Kerry made this
week, first talking about Iraqi Prime Minister Allawi and then
talking about the Saudi government.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
KERRY: The prime minister and the president are here obviously
to put their best face on the policy.
KERRY: As president, I will do what President Bush has not done.
I will hold the Saudis accountable.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
WALLACE: Is that how Kerry intends to engage the allies, sir,
by insulting them?
BIDEN: Do you think the Saudis are our allies?
WALLACE: Do you not?
BIDEN: I do not think they're our full allies. We're talking about
NATO. We're talking about our friends who have the capacity to
help somehow. We're talking about people who are real allies,
guys who can raise guns and shoot straight and help kill the
bad guys with us. Come on.
WALLACE: What about Prime Minister Allawi, who's risking his
life and who...
BIDEN: He is risking his life.
WALLACE: If I may just ask the question, sir...
BIDEN: You already did, but go ahead.
WALLACE: Well, no, I didn't get it out.
(LAUGHTER)
... who President Kerry, if he's elected, would have to deal with.
What about Prime Minister Allawi, is he an ally?
BIDEN: I've met with President Allawi  sure, he's an ally. All John
Kerry pointed out  look, President Allawi's in a tough spot. He
comes over here on the eve of the election. He's put in a position
where, what's he going to do? Put a positive face public on it. He
did. And God bless him, he did the right thing.
Privately with all of us he let his ministers speak. He said privately,
look, the borders are porous. We now have all these international
guys, the bad guys, the Al Qaida types in our towns. We're in a
position where we have parts that are no-go zone.
And he says, I sure hope  to all of us, to the leadership  I sure
hope you actually spend the money now; we need more money
spent now. He laid out in detail what he needs and what has not
been done for the last 10, 12 months or so since he's been president.
But God love him. Look, when I saw him, you ask Frist, who's the
leader of the Senate. We actually met each other in the hall. He
walks over and gives me a bug hug and he said, "I know this man.
He knows my country. He's my friend."
BIDEN: I've been this guy's friend before he became prime minister.
This guy has more guts than most people have Â- any
other 10 people.
But the truth of the matter is, just like Karzai came  Karzai's an
old friend. The first time Karzai came, he said everything's going
fine. He gets back home and calls me. And he said, "I'm not getting
the help I need." And I said, "Because he told everybody things were
going fine, Mr. President." So he says, "Will you help me tell people
it's not going fine?" He comes back the second time and says, "By
the way, we need more help."
Look, this guy's in a tough, tough, tough spot. John Kerry wasn't
criticizing him. John Kerry was pointing out  why is it you guys Â
I mean, here the president of the United States of America stands
up there and sends this signal to the entire world that our intelligence
community isn't worth a damn, all it does is guess. And you guys say
when he says, "Well, he really meant to say estimate," you say, "well, OK."
Kerry says something, you know what he means, and you make it
sound like he's indicting Allawi. That's malarkey, pure malarkey. He
wasn't indicting Allawi. He was saying, "Level with the American
people, Mr. President, for god's sake.
And the last thing I want to make this point: I find the way the
opposition is dealing with this is really, really dangerous. They're
telling everybody that basically if Kerry becomes president of the
United States, he's not going to stick with Iraq.
I personally was authorized by Kerry in front of all my colleagues to
say the first thing in a private meeting, I said, "Mr. President, you
know me." And he said, "Yes, I do." I said, "I guarantee you that John
Kerry as president  you will continue to have the full support of the
United States of America in order to be able to establish a representative
republic. He said, "Thank you, and I know it."
WALLACE: Senator Biden, let me get one last question in here. We've
got less than a minute left.
John Kerry says he's going to finish the job in Iraq. Let me ask you
specifically, what would he do about Fallujah? Would he send in
troops now?
BIDEN: He...
WALLACE: Would he call in for more troops?
BIDEN: Well, first of all...
WALLACE: Would he wait until the Iraqi  excuse me, sir. Would he
wait until the Iraqi troops are trained? What specifically would he
do in these so-called no-go zones?
BIDEN: John Kerry would have listened to his Marines at the time when
in fact they said we should have finished the job then. John Kerry will
listen to his military on the ground. John Kerry will listen to the people
who know, not the politicians in the White House.
WALLACE: Sen. Biden, thank you so much. I think you ought to stick
to the decaf. You're really keyed up today. Thank you so much.
BIDEN: Well, I tell you, these guys so misrepresent things, it just is
disgraceful.
WALLACE: Thank you, sir.
BIDEN: Thank you.
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---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) VT AFL-CIO affiliates to USLAW
Report from Hal Leyshon Vermont AFL-CIO
Executive Board member and central labor council president
On September 25th the Vermont State Labor Council's annual
convention voted, nearly unanimously, to support bringing our
troops home and to affiliate to US Labor Against the War. The
discussion and vote had been prepared by months of discussions
with union leaders and activists and holding public forums together
with Military Families Speak Out. Activists manned a USLAW table,
distributing literature, asking delegates and observers to sign a
pledge to support the anti-war resolution, and getting some one
third of the delegates to wear USLAW buttons.
Speakers from the CWA's Alliance@IBM, UAW 1981 and the AFT
cited the growing number of international unions (CWA, AFSCME,
SEIU, APWU, Mail Handlers), the California, Washington, Maryland/DC
Federations of Labor, the AFL-CIO constituency groups, as well as the
dozens of labor councils and local unions that had already taken
similar action.
With this vote, the Vermont AFL-CIO joins with the Vermont Workers
Center/ Jobs with Justice and the Washington-Orange-Lamoille
Central Labor Council in building a Vermont component of US Labor
Against the War. State Federation Dan Brush has appointed an
official representative to USLAW's Steering Committee. Delegates
met immediately following the vote to begin to organize an official
Vermont AFL-CIO committee to take USLAW's message and
educational materials deeper into the rank-and-file membership
of our affiliates.
End the occupation of Iraq-Bring our troops home!
Submitted by: Washington-Orange-Lamoille Central Labor
Council, AFL-CIO
WHEREAS, there is general agreement in the United States and
throughout the world that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass
destruction that posed an imminent threat to this country or to
Iraq's neighbors, and that the government of Iraq had few if any
discernable ties to those who perpetrated the 9/11 attacks on
the World Trade Center and the Pentagon; and
WHEREAS, the pretexts for war have been systematically revealed
to have been fabricated, manipulated, exaggerated, or distorted
to justify an invasion of Iraq planned long before
September 11, 2001; and
WHEREAS, the federal government has approved $150 billion
in public funds for the U.S. war in Iraq, draining those funds
away from domestic priorities including transportation, health
care, and national security; and
WHEREAS, working families have paid a heavy price for the U.S.
involvement in Iraq with dead and wounded loved ones and
Vermont has paid a disproportionate share of the loss of
citizens to the war, and
WHEREAS, the Bush Administration has kept in force Saddam
Husseins ban on public sector labor unions and used the Iraq
war as an excuse to attack labor unions in this country; and
WHEREAS, the Bush Administration has used the Iraq War and the
"War on Terrorism" as a platform to advocate for restrictions of
civil liberties, with measures such as the Patriot Act; and
WHERAS, the best way to support our troops is to bring them
home; and
WHEREAS, US Labor Against the War was founded to represent
the millions of working people who oppose the war and who pay
a disproportionate cost in dollars and the lives of our sons and
daughters; be it therefore
RESOLVED, that the Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO
recognizes the courage and sacrifices of U.S. military personnel
who have faced extraordinary dangers in the U.S. war in Iraq
and who now want to come home; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO calls
on Vermont Governor James Douglas to demand the discharge
from duty in Iraq and the immediate return of all Vermont National
Guard and Reserves to Vermont; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO calls
on the National AFL-CIO to demand an immediate end to the US
military occupation of Iraq and speedy return of all U.S. military
personnel to their homes and families, and to support the repeal
of the Patriot Act and the reordering of national priorities toward
the human needs; and be it finally
RESOLVED. that the Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, in
recognition and furtherance of its position in opposition to current
U.S. policy in Iraq, will affiliate with and help actively support and
promote U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW) to protect our members,
their families, communities and jobs, and the lives and livelihoods of
working people everywhere.
U.S. Labor Against War (USLAW)
www.uslaboragainstwar.org
info@uslaboragainstwar.org
P.O. Box 153
1718 "M" Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
Bob Muehlenkamp and Gene Bruskin, Co-convenors Amy Newell,
National Organizer Michael Eisenscher, Organizer & Web
Coordinator Erin McGrath, Administrative Staff Sam McAfee
and Angelina Grab, Radical Fusion - Website Design
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
3) FLEET WEEK PROTEST:
NOW HEAR THIS! NOW HEAR THIS:
ALL PEACE NAVY SEAWOMEN & SEMEN are hereby ordered and
requested to report for duty on Saturday 10/9 at Gas House
Cove at 0930 hours. You will provide diversion from the obscene
spectacle of the US Navy Parade of Death Ships
Report in any wind or human powered vessel, or let the Commoder
know if you need a berth in someone else's vessel (rudimentary
kayaking or sailing skill needed). Instant promotion to the rank
of your choice for showing up in the uniform of the day
(peace/anti-war) regalia, Best decorated vessel gets an all
expense paid tour of the Fab Sunni Triangle.
We also need Marines and landlubbers to hit the beach and
hand out flyers to the crowds about the Peace Navy, how militarism
makes the world unsafe and how we are failing to fund domestic
needs, for San Francisco Prop N (Bring the Troops Home Now).
Short Planning MEETING this Thursday 9/30
1830 hours (that's 6:30 PM landlubber) at Muddy Waters Cafe
(Valencia and 24th St) in the Mission.
We will work out the logistics of the decorations, the literature,
media outreach and activist outreach. I seriously need help with
this stuff. I am off to a United for Peace and Justice steering
committee meeting in DC this weekend so others will have to
show their leadership skills.If you can't make it to the meeting
please let me know: a. If you plan to show up on 10/9 b. What you
can do in terms of media or activist outreach c. If you have or need
an extra berth d. If you can write some literature for distribution e.
Logistical Support Yes I know that many are discouraged or burnt
out, but we can't let the ship of state sink on our watch. Protest
now, while you still can. Anyway, the Peace Navy at Fleet Weak is
really soft duty (like the Texas Air National Guard). Hot tub party
at my house afterwards.
ANSWER THE CONTRARY AT YOUR PERIL!
Rear Commoder Marvin
415-282-5330
Marvin Feldman, Ph.D., Principal
Resource Decisions
San Francisco
415-282-5330
mfeldman@resourcedecisions.net
www.resourcedecisions.net
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------
4) Australia's samidzat
By John Pilger
http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2004/600/600p16.htm
In 1983, the principal media in the Western world, which dominate much
of the media in the rest of the world, were owned by 50 corporations. In
2002, this had fallen to nine transnational companies. Rampant
deregulation has ended even a semblance of diversity.
In February this year, Rupert Murdoch predicted that, within three
years, there would be just three global media corporations and his
company would be one of them. He may have exaggerated, but not by much.
Consider the situation in Australia, where Murdoch controls 70% of the
capital city press, including the only newspapers serving Adelaide and
Brisbane. (In Adelaide, he controls all the printing presses.)
On the Internet, the leading 20 websites are now owned by the likes of
Fox (Murdoch), Disney, AOL Time Warner, Viacom and a clutch of other
giants; just 14 companies attract 60% of all the time Americans spend
online. The owners of these vast enterprises make no secret of their
global ambition: to produce not informed, free-thinking citizens, but
obedient customers and to reinforce the rapacious ideology of neoliberalism.
Never, in my experience, has free journalism been as vulnerable to
subversion on a grand, often unrecognisable scale. Giant public
relations companies, employed by the state and other vested interests,
now account for much of the editorial content of the media, however
insidious their methods and indirect their message. This is another kind
of "embedding", known in military circles as "information dominance",
which in turn is part of "full spectrum dominance". The objective is the
merging of information control and the nominally free media.
How do we react to this? My own view is that the immediate future lies
with the emerging samidzat, the word for the unofficial media during the
late Soviet period. Given the current technology, the potential is huge.
On the worldwide web, the best alternative websites are already read by
an audience of millions. The courageous reporting of a new breed of
"citizen reporters" from besieged Iraq has provided an antidote to the
"embedded" coverage of the official media. In the United States,
independent newspapers flourish alongside popular independent
community-based radio stations, such as Pacifica and Amy Goodman's
Democracy Now.
In Australia, against the odds, the samidzat is growing, and I would say
its model is Green Left Weekly (http://www.greenleft.org.au), which is
produced and published by volunteers and provides a wider coverage of
the "other" world - a world that often does not exist in the so-called
mainstream - than any newspaper with resources of which GLW has not even
a fraction.
Those of us who report this "other" world - actually the majority of
humanity - know that true internationalism has returned and that public
opinion has been aroused in so many countries, perhaps as never before.
People have the right for their voices to be heard, and those who
provide the means deserve all our support.
[John Pilger's new book, Tell Me No Lies: Investigative Journalism and
Its Triumphs, is published in Australia in November by Random House.]
From Green Left Weekly, September 29, 2004.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Monday, September 27, 2004
The Struggle for Palestine: 4th Anniversary of the Intifada
The Struggle for Palestine:
4th Anniversary of the Intifada
October 2nd 2004.
Horace Mann Middle School
3351 23rd Street, San Francisco
bayareapalestine
PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY*
The Justice in Palestine Coalition,
a group of progressive organizations who
have come together to work for a
free Palestine, is hosting a day-long
conference to:
1. Educate ourselves and our allies, and deepen our knowledge &
understanding of the struggle in Palestine.
2. Link the work of our individual organizations and
strengthen our networks and activism through discussion,
debate, and collaborative planning.
3. Organize for future solidarity and develop concrete
a concrete plan of action for the coming months.
4. Support the resistance in Palestine, and make links with
others who are fighting against the US occupation of Iraq,
and against US Imperialism around the world.
The conference will include panels, workshops and cultural
performances. A complete schedule of events is listed below.
Please reply to this email to find out about the next meeting
of Justice in Palestine and help us build for this important event.
............
** Program **
The Struggle for Palestine: 4th Anniversary of the Intifada
October 2nd, 2004
9:00-9:30: Registration
Morning Plenary Session: The Current Status of
Resistance in Palestineworkshops throughout the day include:
    Â
-Continuations of Plenary:Â Status of Resistance
-History of Palestine, The Nekbah and the Right of Return
-Iraq and Palestine: 2 Struggles, One cause
-Zionism
-Women and Resistance
-Direct Action: Skills Development
-The Impact of Palestine on the US Elections
-Political Prisoners, Here and in Palestine
-Globalization in the Arab World
-The Targets of Empire: Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, Iran,
Philippines, Africa
-Arab World Solidarity/Resistance
-US Solidarity Groups
-Repression/Occupation in the US (patriot Act,
profiling, attacks on civil liberties)
Report Back From Workshops
Closing Summation and the Future in Palestine
Cultural Performances
for more information:
info@justiceinpalestine.net
or visit
www.justiceinpalestine.net
Yahoo! Groups Links
* To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bayareapalestine/
Â
* To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
bayareapalestine-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Â
* Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
BAUAW NEWSLETTER-MONDAY, SEPTMEBER 27, 2004
NEXT BAUAW MEETING:
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3, 3:00 p.m.
1380 Valencia Street
(Between 24th & 25th Streets, S.F.)
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
VOTE YES ON PROP. 'N'! BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!
HELP GET THE WORD OUT ABOUT THIS CHOICE IN THE UPCOMING
ELECTIONS! HELP US WIN BY A LANDSLIDE!
Come to the
BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW COMMITTEE MEETING
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 7:00 p.m.
AFSC - First Floor
65 NINTH STREET
(1/2 block from Market St., SF)
Help get the word out about Prop. 'N'. Bring your ideas for
community outreach, media, action, and more to make sure
we win by a landslide!
No matter who wins the elections this year, the war will not
be over. This ballot initiative will set the example for cities across
the country to do the same in future elections.
Pick up material to distribute!*
PROPOSITION 'N' ON THE NOVEMBER 3
SAN FRANCISCO BALLOT DECLARES:
"It is the policy of the people of the City and County of
San Francisco that: The Federal government should take
immediate steps to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq and
bring our troops safely home now."
Visit: www.yesonn.net
* Material costs money. Already thousands of brochures have
been printed and we need more! We need posters and buttons--
we need to cover the city with YES on 'N' campaign material!
Please send a contribution to help with these costs!
Make your check payable to:
Bring Our Troops Home Now
and mail to :
David Looman, Treasurer
325 Highland Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94110
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Powell Says Iraqi Security Situation Worsening
By Tabassum Zakaria
WASHINGTON (Reuters)
Sun Sep 26, 2004 12:38 PM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6334211&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
2) U.S. on Terror Offensive Ahead of Election- Report
WASHINGTON (Reuters)
Mon Sep 27, 2004 05:32 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6339311&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
3) Army May Reduce Length of Tours in Combat Zones
By THOM SHANKER and ERIC SCHMITT
WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 - MILITARY
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/27/international/middleeast/27army.html?hp
4) "I Won't be Quiet Until Everyone Knows How Badly It Hurts"
By KARYN STRICKLER
Weekend Edition: Counterpunch
September 25 / 6, 2004
http://www.counterpunch.org/strickler09252004.html
5) Even Near Home, a New Front Is
Opening in the Terror Battle
By ERIC LIPTON and ERIC LICHTBLAU
CLIFTON, N.J.
September 23, 2004
WEB WAR
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/23/international/worldspecial2/23qaeda.html?h
p
6) U.S., Bowing to Court, to Free 'Enemy Combatant'
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
WASHINGTON
September 23, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/23/politics/23hamdi.html?hp
7) U.S. Plans to Offer Guidance for a Dirty-Bomb Aftermath
By MATTHEW L. WALD
WASHINGTON
September 27, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/27/politics/27nukes.html
8) ALL STAR ARTISTS PERFORMING FOR MILLION WORKER MARCH
9) The Dignity of the Cuban People:
The Legacy of the Revolution
10) J4NA Weekly News Bulletin September 24, 2004
As Alan Dershowitz wrote at the culmination of the
Wen Ho Lee Bail Hearings: "Plead innocent, stay in jail.
Plead guilty, be released."
How Soviet. Espionage case ends with Syrian American
Al Halabi pleading guilty on three minorcharges [ReadMore]
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Powell Says Iraqi Security Situation Worsening
By Tabassum Zakaria
WASHINGTON (Reuters)
Sun Sep 26, 2004 12:38 PM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6334211&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell on
Sunday said anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world had
increased and the insurgency in Iraq was worsening, but the
United States was taking action to improve security ahead of
elections.
Afghanistan and Iraq, where U.S.-led military forces
toppled the former leadership, both plan to hold elections in
the next several months.
"We have seen an increase in anti-Americanism in the Muslim
world ... I'm not denying this," Powell said on ABC's "This
Week" program.
"But I think that that will be overcome in due course
because what the Muslim world will see as well as the rest of
the world is that in Afghanistan 10 million people who have
registered to vote will vote on the ninth of October and bring
in place a freely elected president, and I think we're going to
do the same thing in Iraq if we stay the course, if we defeat
this insurgency," Powell said.
Iraq plans to hold elections in January, but U.S. officials
warn that insurgents will aim violence at preventing voting,
including shooting at polling places.
"We are fighting an intense insurgency," Powell said. "Yes
it's getting worse and the reason it's getting worse is that
they are determined to disrupt the election."
"And because it's getting worse we will have to increase
our efforts to defeat it, not walk away and pray and hope for
something else to happen," Powell said.
His comments were less optimistic than those of President
Bush, who as recently as last Thursday insisted Iraq was moving
slowly toward better days. Democratic presidential candidate
Sen. John Kerry says Bush is refusing to accept the reality of
the situation.
U.S. forces have launched a military offensive on areas
considered strongholds of insurgents and foreign fighters. Over
the weekend, the U.S. military conducted several air strikes on
Falluja aimed at militants loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the
most wanted man in Iraq.
"There is a military offensive under way now, you can see
the aggressive action we've been taking in Falluja lately,
there is a political and military offensive under way to take
back Samarra," Powell said on CNN's "Late Edition."
"What we're going to do over the next several months is to
go into these areas and bring them back under government
control," Powell said. "Now it remains to be seen how
successful we will be, but right now we are moving to have
elections at the end of January of 2005."
Last week, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld suggested
partial elections might be acceptable. Powell said it was
premature to suggest there would not be full elections.
On "Fox News Sunday," Powell said the administration was
"getting the U.N. to stand up its electoral support activity.
We're going to provide security to U.N. personnel, so that the
numbers could be increased in the country." He gave no further
details.
Gen. John Abizaid, head of U.S. Central Command that covers
Iraq and Afghanistan, said he was confident elections would be
possible in the "vast majority" of Iraq.
He said U.S. troop strength would mainly be current force
levels with additional Iraqi troops.
Abizaid, speaking from Doha, Qatar, told NBC's "Meet the
Press" that the number of foreign fighters in Iraq was probably
less than 1,000.
"We're under no illusions about the entire country being
stable and we're also under no illusion that the entire country
is dangerous," Abizaid said.
"It is a very complex environment," with stable areas in
the north and south and dangerous ones in Falluja and elsewhere
in the majority Sunni Muslim area, he said.
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) U.S. on Terror Offensive Ahead of Election- Report
WASHINGTON (Reuters)
Mon Sep 27, 2004 05:32 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6339311&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government begins an
unusually open offensive this week aimed at disrupting
potential terrorist plots before and during the November
election, The Washington Post reported Monday.
The effort includes heavy surveillance by the FBI,
increased checks of terrorism watch lists by local police and
heightened security at polling places on Nov. 2, the newspaper
reported, citing U.S. officials.
Officials said they had no new or specific intelligence
about plans for an attack, the Post said. But by publicizing
the government's actions, authorities hope to forestall any
plans by al Qaeda or others who might try to influence the
presidential election, the newspaper reported.
A national election security planning bulletin will be sent
Monday to the 50 states and Washington, with guidelines for
coordination of law enforcement, polling place and
ballot-counting security, according to the Post.
An FBI spokesman was not immediately available for
comment.
The newspaper said authorities were focused on several
dates, starting with the annual meetings that begin Friday at
the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
State and federal officials said the threat window will
remain open through the presidential inauguration in January,
the newspaper reported.
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
3) Army May Reduce Length of Tours in Combat Zones
By THOM SHANKER and ERIC SCHMITT
WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 - MILITARY
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/27/international/middleeast/27army.html?hp
WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 - Fearing a sharp decline in recruiting
and troop retention, the Army is considering cutting the length
of its 12-month combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, senior
Army officials say.
Senior Army personnel officers, as well as top Army Reserve
and National Guard officials, say the Army's ability to recruit
and retain soldiers will steadily erode unless combat tours are
shortened, to some length between six and nine months,
roughly equivalent to the seven-month tours that are the
norm in the Marine Corps.
But other Army officials responsible for combat operations
and war planning have significant concerns that the Army -
at its current size and as now configured - cannot meet projected
requirements for Iraq and Afghanistan unless active duty and
reserve troops spend 12 months on the ground in those
combat zones.
Officials say it is too early to predict if or when a new deployment
policy might take effect or how it would be carried out. But the
proposal to shorten combat tours collides with the immediate
need to maintain current troop strength in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Army planners say they must at least prepare for the possibility
that it will be necessary to keep troops at the current levels in
Iraq - 138,000 - through 2007, even though no political decision
has been made in that regard.
"All the Army leadership agrees that 12 months is too long,"
said Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau,
which oversees 460,000 members of the Air and Army National
Guard.
"We need to move to a shorter rotational base," General Blum
said in an interview last week.
The prospect of lengthy combat tours already appears to be
affecting recruitment. For example, the Guard had set a goal
of 56,000 recruits for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, but is
likely to end up with about 51,000, he said. It would be the first
time since 1994 that the Guard has missed its signup goal.
"Twelve months is an awfully long time to be in a hostile
environment," said General Blum, adding that he and other
senior commanders hear growing complaints from soldiers,
their families and employers.
Since the Vietnam War, the Army has largely deployed its forces
in overseas combat situations in six-month tours of duty. The
major exception has been in South Korea, where soldiers serve
for one year. The 12-month deployment was introduced last year
after the end of major combat operations in Iraq, when a vigorous
insurgency persuaded the military that it would need to maintain
large numbers of troops in the country. The Army decided then
that only 12-month tours would meet its needs.
Pentagon and Army officials said a major force driving the
consideration of shorter combat tours was Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld, who sent personal queries to the Army
and Marine Corps about a month ago.
According to two Army officials and a Pentagon adviser to
Mr. Rumsfeld, those memorandums - known as "snowflakes" within
the Pentagon, although they land with anything but the silent
gracefulness of their namesake - demanded a clear justification
for why the two armed services that supply American ground
forces - the Army and the Marines - have different tour lengths
in Iraq.
Army war planners and combat commanders do not discount
General Blum's assessment of the impact of 12-month tours
on morale and recruitment, even as they say that demands of
the missions in Iraq and Afghanistan will require 12-month
tours for now.
But those same officers say that assessment may change as
security improves in those countries, as the number of
sufficiently trained and equipped Iraqi and Afghan security
forces grows, and as an Army plan to increase the number
of brigades that can be deployed to combat zones comes
to fruition.
Those officers also say that longer deployments give troops
more time at home between tours, and ensure they have
enough time to rearm, reequip and train for their next
mission. Moreover, the 12-month tours allow troops to gain
more expertise about local conditions and insurgents, and
pass that knowledge on to their replacements.
"Twelve-month rotations give you continuity in the area
you're dealing with," a senior Army official said.
But several factors are pushing the service toward shortening
the 12-month rotation cycles that the Army adopted last
summer as the military reversed its initial plan to decrease
American combat forces in Iraq, and instead decided to sustain
the current level.
One factor, which senior Army officers disclosed last week, is
how to preserve the ability to maintain the current level of
American troops in Iraq at least through 2007, if longer tours
of duty end up discouraging recruitment and re-enlistment.
"Our all-volunteer force is the issue here," one Army officer
said. "The volunteer forces and their families - when will
they draw the line? That's the question uppermost on our
mind."
On the campaign trail, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts,
the Democratic presidential candidate, has repeatedly
promised he would end what he calls the "backdoor draft,"
a reference to the long overseas tours now required of Reserve
and National Guard soldiers, as well as "stop-loss" orders,
which halt retirements or transfers of active-duty troops in
units ordered to Iraq or Afghanistan.
Army officials have steadfastly denied that their consideration
of shorter combat tours was influenced in any way by the
heated campaign debate, and they insist that those changes
are being driven by an internal analysis that has been under
way for weeks. But there is little doubt that Mr. Kerry's
statements have kept the issue front and center.
The varying length of combat tours has also become a point
of public friction between Army and Marine personnel in Iraq
and Afghanistan, although Army officials note that their service
is responsible for supplying much of the Marines' long-term
logistical needs in Iraq.
Marine units rotate more frequently, after seven months on
the ground, to fit the service's training and worldwide
deployment schedules of a force that historically has been
more expeditionary. The Army historically has prepared to
sustain longer campaigns, although both services are
reconfiguring how they deploy to meet current demands.
Army officials say 12-month deployments will decrease as a
restructuring is completed during the next few years to increase
the number of combat brigades to 43, and perhaps to 48, from
the current 33.
That would produce a significant increase in combat units that
could be deployed, offering the opportunity of shortening
deployment as more brigades were readied to move into and
out of Iraq and Afghanistan. But Army officers warned that
similar changes must be made to increase the ability to deploy
units that perform combat service and service support duties,
as the Army is committed to a single deployment term regardless
of whether a soldier is in a combat or a support role.
During a visit on Sept. 14 to Fort Campbell, Ky., home of the
Army's 101st Airborne Division, Mr. Rumsfeld was quizzed by
a soldier who advocated a switch to six-month deployments.
The soldier's question was greeted with applause from the
assembled troops.
Mr. Rumsfeld responded that the length of combat tours
depended on the security situation on the ground and the
number of other coalition and Iraqi forces willing to pick up
responsibilities.
"One would hope that as the need on the ground, the
circumstances on the ground, the security situation, permitted
a reduction in coalition forces, we would see a reduction in
U.S. forces in addition to the reduction in other coalition
countries' forces," Mr. Rumsfeld said.
"As that happened, the need for people there lessened, it is
possible it could be met in one of two ways," he continued.
"The Army could decide that they want to either shorten the
periods somewhat and come down closer to where the
Marines are at seven months, or to just have people go
back fewer times. And at the present time, the Joint Staff,
and the Army particularly, are working on the rhythm to
determine how to do that."
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
4) "I Won't be Quiet Until Everyone Knows How Badly It Hurts"
By KARYN STRICKLER
Weekend Edition: Counterpunch
September 25 / 6, 2004
http://www.counterpunch.org/strickler09252004.html
The inclination of a mother to protect her children is instinctual
and when violated, renders a pure form of justice that is powerful,
swift and decisive. George W. Bush's illegitimate war in Iraq is
becoming the corporeality that got between the proverbial mother
bear and her cub. Threaten a Grizzly bear's cub and with unblinking
furor, momma will take your head off with one swipe of her paw--
just lookin' out for her baby. Nature expects nothing less, neither
should humankind.
Bush has raised the ire of the mommas who are sacrificing their
babies as cannon fodder in his imperial oil war. As the death toll
rises, so do the voices of the mommas who aren't mincing words
in opposition to George W. Bush for killing their babies.
First Lady Laura Bush was interrupted at a campaign event at a
Hamilton, NJ firehouse last week by Sue Niederer. Mrs. Niederer,
a member of Military Families Speak Out, was wearing a shirt with
a picture of her son Army Lt. Seth Dvorin that read "President Bush
You Killed My Son." Dvorin died in Iraq in February, 2004.
After Neiderer wondered out loud at the rally about why the Bush
children and the kids of other politicians are not serving in Iraq,
she was descended upon by people in black suits with earphones,
pushed, shoved and arrested for trespassing. Sue Niederer said
she had tickets to the event.
Seth Dvorin was 24 years old and joined the Army in order to
enhance his employment prospects with the FBI or CIA. Seth
was married to Kelly Harris just before he departed for Iraq.
Seth, whose only training was on-the-job, was assigned to
find bombs similar to the one that killed him in February.
Mrs. Neiderer was never a fan of the war, but when she heard
that the entire "weapons of mass destruction" justification for
going to war was a sham, she told Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
during an interview for CounterPunch , "I wanted to rip the
president's head off. Curse him, yell at him, call him a self
righteous bastard and a lot of other words. I think if I had him
in front of me I would shoot him in the groin area. Let him suffer...
Put him through misery, like he's doing to everyone else. He
doesn't deserve any better."
Rosemarie Dietz Slavenas, mother of an Illinois National Guard
pilot, 1st Lt. Brian Slavenas killed in Iraq in 2003, emerged from
her son's funeral to tell the press that she holds George W. Bush
personally responsible for her son's death. She would not allow
military trappings of any sort at the funeral. Speaking of her baby,
she said, "George [W.] Bush killed my son. I request in Brian's
name a stop to the killing. No more preemptive wars."
Brian's mom spoke out bravely, even in opposition to other
family members who publicly disagreed with Rosemarie's
conclusion that Bush killed her son. In an interview with
Socialist Worker Online, the long-time peace activist said,
"There is...one man who's responsible for it, and that's George
Bush. I hope he will live in history as George V. Bush--for
George 'Vendetta' Bush. Or 'Bush the Barbarian' works for me.
Or 'Bush the Baby Butcher'--he butchered my baby."
Celeste Zappala lost her son Sgt. Sherwood Baker, a husband
and father who died In Iraq on April 27, 2004. In an interview
with The New Standard , Zappala said, "What about all the others
who have died since [my son] and will keep on dying? I want to
see it stop for all the families and the soldiers most of all. How sad.
How sad that we are still letting this go on. Our voices must make
an impression on the people. They have to hear us because we are
the ones suffering the most."
In the same interview, Jane Bright of California, who lost her
son, Sergeant Evan Ashcraft, on July 24, 2003, said she feels
compelled to speak out as a way of coping with her loss. She
refuses to "move on," as if she did not lose her son and says,
"I won't be quiet until everyone knows how bad it hurts. I won't
be able to 'get over it' as long as more of our children are dying
in Iraq."
Lila Lipscomb, from Michael Moore's hometown of Flint,
Michigan has emerged as one of the most powerful players
in both the documentary film, Fahrenheit 911 and as a
spokesperson against Bush's bungled foray into Iraq. In the
film, Lipscomb reads a letter from her oldest son Michael
Pedersen, written just days before his death. It urges his family
to work for Bush's defeat. Michael Pedersen wrote: "We are just
out here in the sand and windstorms waiting. What in the world
is wrong with George (trying to be like his dad) Bush? He got us
out here for nothing whatsoever. I am so furious right now,
Momma. I really hope they don't re-elect that fool . . ."
Lipscomb's experience has transformed her from an
unquestioning matriot into a passionate, anti-war activist,
who also works with Military Families Speak Out. In an
interview in the The Guardian Unlimited , the mom from
Michigan says that her entire world view was shattered as
a result of the loss of her son and she is teaching her
grandchildren to question authority.
Mommas of America are wise to Dubblyak. They know that
they are sacrificing their babies to a war that violates
precedent that has guided America's entry into war from
the beginning of our nation's history. A declaration of war
is usually spurred, either by a direct attack on the United
States or our allies; or a broad consensus among our allies;
or an imminent threat to our national security. None of these
conditions existed for war in Iraq. Secretary-General of the
United Nations Kofi Annan, recently told the BBC that he
believe that this war is "illegal," under the U.N. Charter.
This historically unprecedented war is brought to those
sacrificing their children, by a man who would not deign to
put his regal butt in harms way during the Vietnam War,
going AWOL while he was supposed to be serving in the
National Guard. There are no weapons of mass destruction
and no connection between 9-11 and the war in Iraq. Our
children are dying for no legitimate reason.
Mother Freedom is shaking her fist at the President of the
United States of America for needlessly sacrificing our
children in the Iraq war. Right now the ranks of the armed
forces are being filled by volunteers, many of whom have
no alternative route out of poverty. Mommas of every income-
level, shape, size, color, creed, and national origin need to join
together and loudly resist this war. Because as the death toll rises,
the situation in Iraq becomes increasingly chaotic, more people
are needed and fewer people volunteer, George W. Bush is likely
to advocate a national draft, putting all of our children at risk.
He's got nothing to lose.
Karyn Strickler is a political activist, and writer living outside
Washington, DC. You can reach her at fiftyplusone@earthlink.net .
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
5) Even Near Home, a New Front Is
Opening in the Terror Battle
By ERIC LIPTON and ERIC LICHTBLAU
CLIFTON, N.J.
September 23, 2004
WEB WAR
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/23/international/worldspecial2/23qaeda.html?h
p
CLIFTON, N.J. - The flags that sprouted after the Sept. 11 attacks
still flap on lawns and flutter on poles outside well-tended homes
here, about 15 miles from Manhattan. Looming above them is a
concrete tower that houses a real-estate firm, an office supplies
company - and, until recently, investigators fear, an outpost of
Al Qaeda.
On the second floor, an Internet company called Fortress ITX
unwittingly played host to an Arabic-language Web site where
postings in recent weeks urged attacks against American and
Israeli targets. "The Art of Kidnapping" was explained in electronic
pamphlets, along with "Military Instructions to the Mujahedeen," and
"War Inside the Cities." Visitors could read instructions on using a
cellphone to remotely detonate a bomb, and one even asked for
help in manufacturing small missiles.
"How can this be?" asked Cathy Vasilenko, who lives a few doors
away from the Fortress ITX office. "How can this be going on in
my neighborhood?"
Federal investigators, with the help of a small army of private
contractors monitoring sites around the clock and across the world,
are trying to find out. Ever since the United States-led coalition
smashed Al Qaeda's training grounds in Afghanistan, cyber
substitutes, which recruit terrorists and raise money, have
proliferated.
While Qaeda operatives have employed an arsenal of technical
tools to communicate - from e-mail encryption and computer
war games to grisly videotapes like the recent ones showing
beheadings believed to have been carried out by Jordanian militant
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - investigators say they worry most about
the Internet because extremists can reach a broad audience with
relatively little chance of detection.
By examining sites like those stored inside the electronic walls
of the Clifton business, investigators are hoping to identify who
is behind them, what links they might have to terror groups, and
what threat, if any, they might pose. And in a step that has raised
alarms among civil libertarians and others and so far proven
unpersuasive in the courtroom, prosecutors are charging that
those administering these sites should be held criminally
responsible for what is posted.
Attempting to apply broad new powers established by the
Patriot Act, the federal government wants to punish those who
it claims provide "expert advice or assistance" and therefore
play an integral part of a global terror campaign that increasingly
relies on the Internet. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz,
in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee recently,
called such Web sites "cyber sanctuaries."
"These networks are wonderful things that enable all kinds of
good things in the world," Mr. Wolfowitz said of the Internet.
"But they're also a tool that the terrorists use to conceal their
identities, to move money, to encrypt messages, even to plan
and conduct operations remotely."
Many question the government's strategy of trying to combat
terrorism by prosecuting Web site operators. "I think it is an
impossible task," said Thomas Hegghammer of the Norwegian
Defense Research Establishment, an agency that monitors the
use of the Internet by Al Qaeda. "You can maybe catch some
people. But you will never ever be able to stem the flow of
radical Islamic propaganda."
He pointed out that it is difficult to distinguish between a real
terrorist and a make-believe one online. "You would end up
prosecuting a lot of angry young people who do this because
it is exciting, not because they want to actually participate in
terrorist attacks," he said. "I don't think it helps you fight
Al Qaeda."
The government faces many hurdles in pursuing virtual
terrorists. While many militant Islamic message boards
and Web pages reside on computer servers owned by
North American Internet companies, outfits like Fortress
ITX say it would be impractical - and unethical, given that
the company sells server space to clients who then resell
it - for them to keep track of all of the content stored
within their equipment.
"It is hideous, loathsome," said Robert Ellis, executive vice
president of Fortress, after viewing postings from the Abu
al-Bukhary Web site his company hosted. "It is the part of
this business that is deeply disturbing." His company shut
down the site within the last month after learning of it from
a reporter. The intense focus on Muslim-related sites like
Abu al-Bukhary, in an era when domestically produced
anarchist manuals are commonly available on the Web, has
provoked charges that the anti-cyber sanctuary effort is
really a misguided anti-Muslim campaign that is
compromising important First Amendment rights.
This effort "opens the floodgates to really marginalizing a
of the free speech that has been a hallmark of the American
legal and political system," said Arsalan Iftikhar, legal director
for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "Globally it
really does nothing but worsen the image of America in the
rest of the world."
Tracking Cyber-Terror
The detective work begins in a northeast city in a compact
office set up by a self-proclaimed terrorist hunter. This is
the headquarters of Rita Katz, an Iraqi-born Jew whose father
was executed in Baghdad in 1969, shortly after Saddam
Hussein's Baath Party came to power.
Finding terrorists has become a crusade for Ms. Katz, who
began going to pro-Palestinian rallies and fund-raisers
disguised as a Muslim woman in the late 1990's, then
presented information to the federal government in an
effort to prove there were ties between Islamic fundamentalist
groups in the United States and terror organizations like
Hamas or Al Qaeda.
Federal agencies, including the National Security Agency, the
F.B.I. and the Department of Homeland Security, monitor
suspected terror sites on the Internet and sometimes track
users. Private groups like Ms. Katz's Search for International
Terrorist Entities Institute and The Middle East Media Research
Institute are also keeping track of the ever-changing content
of these sites. Ms. Katz's institute, which relies on government
contracts and corporate clients, may be the most influential
of those groups, and she is among the most controversial of
the cyberspace monitors. While some experts praise her
research as solid, some of her targets view her as a vigilante.
Several Islamic groups and charities, for example, sued for
defamation after she claimed they were terrorist fronts, even
though they were not charged with a crime.
Sitting under wall maps of Europe, the Middle East and the
United States - including one pinpointing locations of suspected
terror cells or possible supporters - Ms. Katz and her team of
computer technicians and researchers spend their days searching
the Internet for any new messages from militant groups and
new addresses for terror sites. Her institute, based in a city she
does not disclose, also has a small crew in Israel, which allows the
organization to monitor sites around the clock.
"We are trying to think the way terrorist organizations think,"
said Ms. Katz, "The Internet today has become a front in the
war itself."
Keeping tabs on these jihadist sites - several hundred exist -
requires vigilance, as videos and statements uploaded by different
groups often appear only briefly. A recent Tuesday was a particularly
busy day. The Islambouli Brigade, a militant Islamic group, turned to
one popular message board site called islamic-minbar.com, operated
out of the Netherlands, to release the names of two women it said were
responsible for the Aug. 24 explosions of two Russian planes and to
claim responsibility for an attack at a Moscow subway station. "When
we pledge to avenge our Chechen brothers, we do not break our
promise," the Aug. 31 posting said.
Jaish Ansar al-Sunna, a group that has surfaced in Iraq, posted a
video on its Internet site showing the bodies of 12 Nepali contractor
workers who it had taken hostage and killed. The site was taken
down that same day, but then reappeared on a computer server
of a Utah-based Web hosting company.
While staffers at Ms. Katz's office rushed to translate these postings,
others were busy snooping by using a special software program to
electronically suck up more than 15,000 computer files from a Web
site, or referring to a custom-made database to identify sites with
common administrators, an assignment initiated by a government
request. This week, they watched postings on the Web site
Ansarnet.ws/vb alerting followers that a hostage had been killed,
then directing them to a video showing the beheading of an
American engineer held hostage in Iraq.
A crucial question, of course, is whether a site is simply offering
inspirational rhetoric or is genuinely linked to terror strikes. Often,
Web site exhortations are followed by acts of violence, but that
doesn't necessarily mean they are connected.
In late May, for example, shortly after a kidnapping guide appeared
on an online magazine called Al Battar, a wave of kidnappings and
beheadings started in Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Last December, a
42-page essay published on a Web site called Global Islamic Media
observed that "the Spanish government could not tolerate more than
two, maximum three blows, after which it will have to withdraw as a
result of popular pressure" from Iraq. Three months later, bombs tore
apart trains in Madrid, resulting in the eventual departure of Spanish
troops from Iraq.
In Clifton, the digital images and terrorist manuals from
Abu al-Bukhary's site resided, like data from thousands of other
Internet pages hosted at Fortress ITX, inside a sprawling computer
room. Pointing to the wall of boxes with blinking lights, Fortress
executives said they did not know who controlled most of the
Web sites on their servers, as they sell space to clients who then
resell it to countless others. "It is like an orange you buy at the
supermarket," Mr. Ellis said. "Try figuring out what farm that
came from."
Strategy of Prosecution
Knocking militant groups off the Internet for a day or two by
urging individual Web hosting companies to shut down the
sites didn't accomplish much, Ms. Katz believed. So the
government, in an unusual alliance with Ms. Katz, has been
testing a different strategy in the last year.
Sami Omar al-Hussayen would be their first target. The
35-year-old father of three had arrived at the University of
Idaho in 1999 to pursue a doctorate in computer science. In
his spare time, Mr. Hussayen, who lived in Moscow, Idaho,
established a series of Internet sites with names like
liveislam.net or alasr.ws ("the generation") and served as a
regional leader of the Islamic Assembly of North America, a
group that described itself as a charitable organization, but
which prosecutors said recruited members and instigated "acts
of violence and terrorism."
Along with news from the Middle East and interviews with
scholars, the sites included more disturbing information.
Videos displayed the bodies of dead suicide attackers as a
narrator declared "we had brethren who achieved what they
sought, and that is martyrdom in the cause of Allah." Requests
were posted for donations to Chechen groups that were trying
to "show the truth about Russian terrorism." Clerical edicts
appeared on topics including "suicide operations against the
Jews."
The Justice Department, which declined to comment for this
article, did not claim that Mr. Hussayen had authored the most
militant items. Instead, by registering the Web sites, paying for
them and posting the material, he was charged with providing
material support to a banned terrorist group.
But Mr. Hussayen's lawyers said their client was expressing
his free-speech rights. The Internet is the modern equivalent
of the soap box, said David Z. Nevin, one of the lawyers. "They
were wildly too zealous," Mr. Nevin said about Ms. Katz and the
Justice Department. "This was not within a country mile of the
kind of behavior that this nation has any business trying to
criminalize."
The jury was unconvinced by the government's case, and
acquitted Mr. Hussayen in June after a monthlong trial. "We
went through files and files and files of evidence - transcripts
of telephone calls, bank statements, all the e-mails, information
from the Internet - and we could not substantiate that he was
directly involved with a terrorist organization," said Claribel
Ingraham, one of the jurors. "It just wasn't there."
The setback in Idaho has not stopped the government from
pursuing similar cases. In late July, a warrant was issued in
Connecticut for Babar Ahmad, resulting in his arrest in
London Aug. 5. The 30-year-old computer technician at a
London college is accused of setting up Internet sites from
1997 to 2003, most prominently azzam.com, to recruit
terrorists and raise money for them. "If you're going to use
cyberspace, we're there and we're paying attention," said
Kevin J. O'Connor, the United States Attorney from Connecticut,
after Mr. Ahmad's arrest.
The trial has not started - the United States is trying to persuade
British authorities to extradite him - but already Muslim groups
and civil libertarians in Britain are assailing the case. In a letter
from his prison cell that was posted on the Internet, Mr. Ahmad
asserted that he was imprisoned "to strike terror and fear into
the hearts of the docile, sleeping Muslim community."
Ms. Katz said she was not discouraged by the criticism of the
prosecutions. "When you call for the death of people and then it
results in actions - that is beyond the First Amendment," she said.
"You are organizing a crime."
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
6) U.S., Bowing to Court, to Free 'Enemy Combatant'
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
WASHINGTON
September 23, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/23/politics/23hamdi.html?hp
WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 - Yaser E. Hamdi, an American citizen
captured in Afghanistan and once deemed so dangerous that the
American military held him incommunicado for more than two years
as an enemy combatant, will be freed and allowed to return to Saudi
Arabia in the next few days, officials said Wednesday.
After weeks of negotiations over his release, lawyers for the Justice
Department and Mr. Hamdi announced an agreement requiring him
to renounce his American citizenship. The agreement also bars him
from leaving Saudi Arabia for a time and requires him to report
possible terrorist activity, his lawyer said, although legal analysts
said the arrangement would be difficult for the United States to
enforce.
The agreement was driven by a Supreme Court decision in June.
In the ruling, a major setback for the Bush administration, the
court found that Mr. Hamdi and enemy combatants like him had
to be given the chance to challenge their detention. The court
declared that "a state of war is not a blank check for the president."
The administration decided that rather than give Mr. Hamdi a
hearing, it would simply negotiate his release.
Mr. Hamdi will probably be flown back to Saudi Arabia on an
American military aircraft by early next week, said a government
official who asked not to be identified. Although Mr. Hamdi was
born in 1980 in Louisiana, where his father worked for an oil
company, the family left the United States when he was a toddler
and returned to Saudi Arabia. He lived there most of his life, and
most of his family remains there.
The agreement freeing Mr. Hamdi reflects a striking reversal in
a hotly debated test case regarding the limits of the Bush
administration's powers in its pursuit of terror suspects.
Mr. Hamdi was captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan in late
2001 after the fall of the Taliban and imprisoned by the American
military, first at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba and most recently in a
Navy brig in South Carolina. But the military gave few details about
his suspected links to the Taliban, and the discovery that he was
born in Louisiana and retained his American citizenship set off
a public debate about his rights to due process and the
government's power to incarcerate prisoners in wartime.
The Bush administration declared Mr. Hamdi an enemy combatant
and denied him the chance to contest the accusations against him
at a judicial hearing. He has been held in solitary confinement and
was denied access to a lawyer until recently, in part because of what
officials described as national security concerns.
In a statement Wednesday announcing the agreement to free
Mr. Hamdi, the Justice Department said: "Like many other enemy
combatants captured and detained by U.S. armed forces in Afghanistan
who have been subsequently released, the United States has
determined that Mr. Hamdi could be transferred out of United
States custody subject to strict conditions that ensure the interests
of the United States and our national security. As we have repeatedly
stated, the United States has no interest in detaining enemy combatants
beyond the point that they pose a threat to the U.S. and our allies.''
One final point of discussion resulted in the agreement to have
Mr. Hamdi renounce any claims to his American citizenship upon
his arrival in Saudi Arabia, where he remains a citizen.
The citizenship issue was not a terribly important one to
Mr. Hamdi, his lawyer, Frank W. Dunham Jr., said in an interview.
"He has always thought of himself as a Saudi citizen, and he
wasn't willing to spend an extra day in jail over it," Mr. Dunham said.
Travel arrangements for Mr. Hamdi's return are still being
completed, officials said. But Mr. Dunham said that "as long as
they put him in civilian clothes and don't put a bag over his head
and give him some ice cream for the ride, I don't care how they
get him back there."
When Mr. Hamdi was told in recent days that he was on the
verge of release, he smiled and said, "That's what I'm talking
about!" Mr. Dunham recounted.
Mr. Hamdi will also have to abide by what the Justice Department
described as "strict travel restrictions" in Saudi Arabia.
Mr. Dunham said the agreement required Mr. Hamdi to remain
within Saudi Arabia for a set period before being allowed to
travel outside the country, but he would not discuss precise
details because the pact has not yet been filed in federal court.
Saudi officials were unavailable for comment on the agreement
late Wednesday.
Mr. Hamdi would also be obligated to report certain suspicious
activity, Mr. Dunham said. "If somebody recruits him to become
a terrorist, he's got to tell somebody that," he said.
Civil liberties advocates and some legal analysts said Mr. Hamdi's
release underscored weaknesses in the administration's rationale
for locking up terror suspects and could have implications for
other suspects held in Cuba and elsewhere.
"It's quite something for the government to declare this person
one of the worst of the worst, hold him for almost three years
and then, when they're told by the Supreme Court to give him
a fair hearing, turn around and give up,'' said David Cole, a law
professor at Georgetown University who has been critical of the
administration.
Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties
Union, added in an interview that "this clearly shows that the
government was not able to meet the burden of proof that the
Supreme Court had set for it, and rather than risk further
embarrassment in a failed prosecution, they've decided to just
send him out of the country."
"The whole case makes you wonder," he added, "why was he
really being held in the first place?"
Espionage Charge Dropped
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 22 (AP) - A military judge dropped an
espionage charge on Wednesday against Senior Airman Ahmad
al-Halabi, an interpreter accused of spying at the camp for terror
detainees at Guantánamo Bay. The decision all but resolved a case
that once carried the potential for the death penalty.
It was the third Guantánamo spy case to fall apart this year. A fourth
case is pending in Boston.
The airman pleaded guilty to four "minor infractions," his lawyer,
Donald Rehkopf Jr., said. Specifically, the lawyer said, he admitted
taking two photographs and lying about taking those pictures. He
also mishandled classified documents, which led to a fourth guilty
plea, to a charge of "conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline."
Airman al-Halabi, 25, a naturalized American born in Syria, was a
supply clerk at Travis Air Force Base in California until the military's
demand for Arabic speakers increased sharply and he was sent to
Cuba for temporary duty. He was arrested in July 2003 as he headed
to Syria to get married.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
7) U.S. Plans to Offer Guidance for a Dirty-Bomb Aftermath
By MATTHEW L. WALD
WASHINGTON
September 27, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/27/politics/27nukes.html
WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 - The federal government is preparing to
publish advice for state and local governments on how to react if
terrorists set off a "dirty bomb," including how much radiation
exposure from such an attack is acceptable for the public.
The document is intended for the officials who would oversee public
health and safety after such an attack, to help them decide when
activity could return to normal.
"There's a lot of consternation over what the cleanup levels should
be," Brooke Buddemeier, a radiation specialist for the Department
of Homeland Security, told a group of nuclear specialists during
a presentation last week. "We had a pretty good idea what they
should be for Superfund sites or a Nuclear Regulatory Commission
power plant release."
But an attack using conventional explosives to spread radioactive
materials - a dirty bomb - would probably occur in a far more
prominent location than a toxic-waste site or a power plant, and
the need to resume using the site would be higher, said
Mr. Buddemeier, in his presentation to a National Academy
of Sciences group.
When balancing the risk of radiation exposure against the benefit
of returning to normal activity, the government safety
recommendations will weigh the importance of the
contaminated location to economic or political life, said
a radiation scientist who works for one of seven federal
agencies drafting the document.
Thus a major train station, cargo port or building in Lower
Manhattan might be reoccupied sooner than a suburban
shopping mall, said the scientist, who asked not to be
identified because the document had not yet been published.
The federal government already has guides for use by local
officials in case of accidental release of radioactive material
from a nuclear power plant or fuel fabrication plant.
One reason for drafting advice on radiological bombs now,
participants say, is to reinforce the idea that a dirty bomb is
primarily a psychological weapon that distributes radiation in
quantities too small to make any measurable difference to health.
In fact, the effect of small radiation doses is a highly charged
subject, usually coupled with a debate over nuclear power.
Opponents of power reactors argue that even tiny doses of
radiation raise long-term risks of cancer and birth defects
and are not worth the benefits of power generation.
In the current effort, however, the balance would be completely
different.
Federal officials stumbled upon this problem in May 2003 when
they conducted a drill to practice their communications and
decision-making for cleaning up after a terrorist attack. The
drill, called "Top Off 2," which simulated a release of radioactive
materials in Seattle, revealed confusion about how the radioactive
materials would spread and how decisions should be made about
when it would be safe to return to normal.
The radiation scientist said, "Do you really want to shut down the
port of Seattle because you don't want to get 5 or 10 million millirem
of dose? Do you want to economically cripple an entire country
because of that, an infinitesimally small risk, if it is any risk at all?"
The exposures contemplated for the public would be small relative
to the average dose received from natural sources, perhaps 10 times
as large, experts say. The biggest health risk of a dirty bomb would
most likely be from the blast itself, and outside the blast area doses
would be quite small.
But people involved in drafting the document say that public fear of
radiation may make it hard to communicate that idea.
The document is part of a much larger effort to prepare for all kinds
of attacks and accidents. It is to be published as a draft, for public
comment, and when completed would still be only advisory.
Don Jacks, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management
Agency, said that the document was now in the hands of the
director of the agency and would go from there to the secretary
of homeland security, Tom Ridge, and then to the White House's
Office of Management and Budget before publication. Mr. Jacks
said he hoped it would be published by the end of this year.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
8) ALL STAR ARTISTS PERFORMING FOR MILLION WORKER MARCH
Where: First Congregational Church of Oakland
2501 Harrison Street at 27th Street
Oakland, CA
Accessible from the 19th Street BART and
AC Buss Lines 41, 11, 40, and 43
When: Saturday, October 2, 2004
Time: 12 Noon to 10 PM
Cost: $10 all-day show
$20 all-day show and dinner
Contact: Ray Turner (510) 835-5348 raymond@upsurgejazz.com
Some of the San Francisco Bay Area's brightest stars will shine on
Saturday, October 2, 2004 from moon until 10 PM at the First
Congregational Church of Oakland in a benefit for the nations
Million Worker March.
An all-day stage will host an incredible array of music, theatre,
speakers, and kids activities. ASAP! Promises to have something
for every family member.
Performing Artists: Asheba, Yancy Taylor, Annie and the Vets,
Richard Howell, Destiny, Wayne Wallace, Judith Kate Friedman,
EW Wainwright of African Roots of Jazz. John Santos of Machete
Ensemble, ILWU Drill Team, Robert Temple, Rhythm Doctors,
Dr. Anthony Brown, Street Sounds, UpSurge!
Theatrical performances: Michael Lange
Storytelling: Marijo
Hard-hitting social critics: Ralph Schoenman
(Pacific Radio's "Taking Aim"),
Leo Robinson (anti-apartheid labor activist), and the "real"
Clarence Thomas(ILWU Local 10), will speak on issues facing
and impacting the working-class communityÃOakland's schools,
the current homicide crisis in the city, etc.
Powerful short film: "The Making of a March"
The Million Worker March's agenda is to reshape America,
restore democracy, and secure power for the overwhelming
majority of working people.
Endorsed by Danny Glover, Dick Gregory, Casey Kasem and
many others; peace and justice coalitions nationally, along
with many, many union organization locals across the country.
The historic Million Worker March takes place in Washington, DC
October 17, 2004 at the Lincoln Memorial.
For more information on the Million Worker March
E-mail: mwm_committee@yahoo.com Web:
www.millionworkermarch.org
Telephone: (415) 771-2028
Raymond Turner, Chairperson
ASAP for Million Worker March
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
9) The Dignity of the Cuban People:
The Legacy of the Revolution
An exhibit of photographs by ANSWER activist
and social documentary photographer
Bill Hackwell
Reception; Wednesday September 29, 8pm-10pm
The Transfer
198 Church (at Market)
San Francisco
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---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
10) J4NA Weekly News Bulletin September 24, 2004
As Alan Dershowitz wrote at the culmination of the
Wen Ho Lee Bail Hearings: "Plead innocent, stay in jail.
Plead guilty, be released."
How Soviet. Espionage case ends with Syrian American
Al Halabi pleading guilty on three minorcharges [ReadMore]
AlHalabi unfairly singled out, defense [ReadOut
ThousandsArrested, Few Convicted in U.S. Terror War [ReadMore]
MuslimChaplain James Yee will receive honorable discharge effective
January2005[Read More
Photosof J4NA Benefit Concert to commemorate the 4th
Anniversary of Wen Ho LeeReturn to Freedom
[ReadMore
Justice for New Americans P.O. Box 120, Fremont, Ca 94537
510 537-2929
www.j4na.org All Rights Reserved
J4na mailing list
J4na@justicefornewamericans.org
http://justicefornewamericans.org/mailman/listinfo/j4na
Sunday, September 26, 2004
BAUAW NEWSLETTER-SUNDAY, SEPTMEBER 26, 2004
NEXT BAUAW MEETING:
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3, 3:00 p.m.
1380 Valencia Street
(Between 24th & 25th Streets, S.F.)
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
VOTE YES ON PROP. 'N'! BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!
Come to the
BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW COMMITTEE MEETING
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 7:00 p.m.
AFSC - First Floor
65 NINTH STREET
(1/2 block from Market St., SF)
Help get the word out about Prop. 'N'. Bring your ideas for
community outreach, media, action, and more to make sure
we win by a landslide!
No matter who wins the elections this year, the war will not
be over. This ballot initiative will set the example for cities across
the country to do the same in future elections.
Pick up material to distribute!*
PROPOSITION 'N' ON THE NOVEMBER 3
SAN FRANCISCO BALLOT DECLARES:
"It is the policy of the people of the City and County of
San Francisco that: The Federal government should take
immediate steps to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq and
bring our troops safely home now."
Visit: www.yesonn.net
* Material costs money. Already thousands of brochures have
been printed and we need more! We need posters and buttons--
we need to cover the city with YES on 'N' campaign material!
Please send a contribution to help with these costs!
Make your check payable to:
Bring Our Troops Home Now
and mail to :
David Looman, Treasurer
325 Highland Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94110
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Gates Tops Forbes List of Richest in U.S. -- Again
Thu Sep 23, 2004 07:00 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters)
2) Don't Worry - It's Only a 'Soft Patch'
By John Peterson
http://www.socialistappeal.org/econnews/soft_patch.html
3) STATEMENT BY H.E. MR. FELIPE PÃREZ ROQUE, MINISTER
OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA, AT THE
59TH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
NEW YORK, 24 SEPTEMBER 2004.
4) Why We Cannot Win
By Al Lorentz
September 20, 2004
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig5/lorentz1.html
5) For the troops on the ground, Iraq might as well be Vietnam
September 20, 2004
http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-ARMYPAPER-319026.php
[There is no name of author...BW]
6) Anguish over Iraq war resonates in Missouri
By Tim Jones, Tribune national correspondent
September 24, 2004
Chicago Tribune
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/chitribts/20040924/
ts_chicagotrib/anguishoveriraqwarresonatesinmissouri&cid=2027&ncid=1480
7) The Triple Crises in the U.S.
By James Petras
www.antiterroristas.cu/index.php?tpl=noticia/
anew¬iciaid=99¬iciafecha=2002-09-11
8) Clash Over Prisoners Exposes Power Struggle
US overrules Iraqi government plan to free women scientists
By Rory McCarthy in Baghdad
Published on Thursday, September 23, 2004 by the Guardian/UK
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0923-01.htm
9) US Hand Seen in Afghan Election
Some candidates say the embassy pressured them not to run a
gainst President Karzai
By Paul Watson
KABUL, Afghanistan
Published on Thursday, September 23, 2004
by the Los Angeles Times
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0923-26.htm
10) 100+ Organizing Centers for the Million Worker March!
Momentum is growing for the Million Worker March. There
are now more than 100 organizing centers across the
country as the word spreads and working people answer the
call to organizize in our own name.
http://www.AntiWar4theMillionWorkerMarch.org
***Become an organizer!
11) DROP THE DEBT! STOP THE WAR! WE DEMAND JUSTICE!
12) Who Is Ayad Allawi?
September 23, 2004
13) Mistrial in Pepper Spray Suit
Jurors Deadlock 6-2 in Favor of Demonstrators
By Bob Egelko
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0923-20.htm
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/09/23/
BAGHJ8T65U28.DTL
14) Subject: Mural dream...Idriss Stelley Foundation
From: Iolmisha@cs.com
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 14:05:14 EDT
15) Action Alert- "Anti-Semitism" Bill, Weapons Sale to Israel
From: "Middle East Children's Alliance"
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Gates Tops Forbes List of Richest in U.S. -- Again
Thu Sep 23, 2004 07:00 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Nasdaq may be well off its highs
of the dot-com era, but tech tycoons still top the list of the
wealthiest Americans.
For the 11th consecutive year, Microsoft Corp. co-founder
Bill Gates took first place on the "Forbes 400" list of the
richest people in the United States. Forbes magazine will
publish its annual list in its Oct. 11 issue.
Joining Gates in the top 10 are fellow tech titans Paul
Allen (No. 3), Michael Dell (No. 9) and Larry Ellison (No. 10).
Allen co-founded Microsoft, Dell is the founder and chairman of
Dell Inc., and Ellison is the co-founder and chief executive of
Oracle Corp. .
One of the year's most anticipated initial public offerings
helped Google Inc. founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page make
their debut on the list, tied for No. 43.
Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Michael Eisner dropped off
the list this year, but first lady hopeful Teresa Heinz Kerry
returned to it.
For the first time since 2000, the total net worth of the
richest Americans topped $1 trillion in 2004, up $45 billion
from last year. The list includes a record number of
billionaires at 313, or 78 percent of the list.
Legendary investor Warren Buffett remains in the No. 2
slot, adding $5 billion to his $41 billion in the past 12
months, the largest dollar increase seen this year. Rounding
out the top 10 are the five heirs to Sam Walton's Wal-Mart
Stores fortune, each with $18 billion.
Casino operator Steve Wynn was the biggest percentage
gainer this year, doubling his worth to $1.3 billion.
Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos dropped the most, losing $800 million,
but still ranked at No. 38.
Notably missing from this year's list is Disney's Eisner,
who earlier this week announced his intent to leave the
company's board when he steps down as CEO in 2006.
Also excluded is long-time list member buyout king Theodore
Forstmann, who suffered losses on his investments in XO
Communications and McLeodUSA .
Several family fortunes are included in the list for the
first time, including 10 members of the Pritzker family, heirs
to the Hyatt hotel chain, and five members of the S.C. Johnson
family, all of whom are billionaires.
Teresa Heinz Kerry, the wife of Democratic presidential
nominee John Kerry, returned to the list in 2004, with an
estimated inheritance of $750 million.
The youngest person on the list is 31-year-old Google
co-founder Brin, while the oldest is investor Max Fisher, 96,
with $775 million.
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) Don't Worry - It's Only a 'Soft Patch'
By John Peterson
http://www.socialistappeal.org/econnews/soft_patch.html
Alan Greenspan and the officers of the Federal Reserve Bank would
have us believe that "the fundamentals of the economy are very strong."
US GDP is still growing - albeit at its slowest pace in over a year - and
corporate profits are up 18 percent from a year earlier, at an annual
$898 billion. Although the stock market has its ups and downs, it has
recovered a substantial amount of the ground lost when the IT boom
collapsed in 2000. Generally speaking, all is rosy in the best of all
possible worlds - recent data suggesting the recovery is faltering
reflects nothing but a "soft patch" in Mr. Greenspan's opinion. This
may be the view from the heights of corporate and financial power,
but what's the reality for millions of workers down here on planet earth?
The real state of the economy is reflected in the following figures
from the U.S. Census Bureau:
The number of impoverished Americans grew by 1.3 million from
2002 to 2003 to 35.9 million. The number of Americans living
in poverty now stands at 12.5 percent, up from 21.1 percent in
2002. The poverty line is set at an annual income of $9,573 or
less for an individual, or $18,660 for a family of four with two
children. These official thresholds are unrealistic, and in reality,
the poverty rate is much higher.
The rate of child poverty rose to 17.6 percent from 16.7 percent in
2002 - boosting the number of poor children to 12.9 million.
The poverty rate of African Americans remained nearly twice the
national rate, with 24.4 percent of blacks living below the poverty
line in 2003, up from 24.1 percent a year earlier.
The number of Americans without health insurance increased by 1.4
million to 45 million, which represents 15.6 percent of the population.
Most of those who do have insurance have to pay exorbitant
premiums and co-pays, and often have to go to court to receive
health services covered by their plans.
In 1973, the wealthiest 20 percent of households accounted for 44
percent of total U.S. income. Their share jumped to 50 percent in
2002, while everyone else's fell. For the bottom fifth, the share
dropped from 4.2 percent to 3.5 percent.
The above figures make it clear the income gap between rich and
poor is expanding rapidly. This is graphically illustrated by booming
sales of luxury items. Porsche Cars North America Inc. says sales
are up 17 percent for the year. Strong sales at higher-end
department stores Neiman
Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue overshadow lackluster
sales at stores frequented by working people such as Wal-Mart,
Sears and Payless Shoes.
The truth is, most American workers are scratching their
heads and asking themselves the following question: "what
economic recovery?" The numbers that affect our day-to-day
lives are not so rosy. Inflation has risen over 3 percent in each
of the first two quarters of 2004, with the rise in food and energy
costs taking a further bite out of stagnant or shrinking real wages.
The cost of health care, tuition, and housing has also soared. The
consumer debt burden is unbearable, quality jobs are hard to find,
and as single mother Annie Clark recently put it, millions of
Americans live in a "perpetual state of panic financially."
According to Clark: "I barely make $10 an hour, and I get no health
insurance. I can't get through the week without an empty bank
account. I make generally between 10 and 11 grand a year - I make
nothing. I can't afford to be given a car. I won't have the money to
register it, to get the insurance, to do repairs; inflation is just eating
up my paycheck. There's no safety net, and there are so many people
who are so worse off than me." (Reported on Yahoo! News)
Ms. Clark's words are an eloquent and tragic summing up of the
situation facing millions of employed Americans, and for those out
of work the situation is often worse. Finding a low-paying "McJob"
is often seen as a bit of good fortune, and homelessness is a very
real fear for many who were lead to believe that a comfortable and
affordable home, 2 car garage, and white picket fence were a given
in America. Debbie Reames of Raytown, Missouri, whose bank job of
24 years was sent overseas in February, said the following in a recent
interview: "We're just trying to get ahead. But it seems like we climb
a few rungs and then we fall back again."
As we have explained in the past, the key to any real improvement
in the situation is job creation. But the capitalists are not in the
business of creating jobs; they are in the business of making money.
If they can increase profits with fewer workers by making their
existing employees work longer and squeezing more out of them
in the same amount of time, they will do that rather than invest in
productive capacity or new job positions. It's true that more than a
million jobs have been added back to the nearly 3 million lost since
Bush took office, but they pay less, are less secure, and offer fewer
benefits, such as health insurance. Most new jobs are concentrated
in health care, food services, and temporary employment firms, all
lower-paying industries. Temp agencies alone account for about a
fifth of all new jobs. Three in five pay below the national median
hourly wage of $13.53. On a weekly basis, the average wage of
$525.84 is at the lowest level since October 2001.
This situation has little to do with which big-business political
party is in power, but rather with the organically dysfunctional
nature of the capitalist system itself. According to Sung Won Sohn,
chief economist of Wells Fargo Bank, "This really has nothing to
do with Bush or Kerry, but more to do with the longer-term shift
in the structure of the economy."
The capitalist system always has its ups and downs, but in the
current period, the overall trend is downward - the booms are
weak and uneven and don't make up for the losses suffered
during the slumps. Working people have it nearly as bad during
the "booms" as during the slumps. If this is a "soft patch", what
will happen to millions of workers when the economy inevitably
sinks back into a full-blown recession at some point in the future?
American workers are very pragmatic, energetic, and creative
when looking for ways to get things done. Annie Clark proposes
some very basic and reasonable solutions to the crisis facing
millions like her: "What could help me get out of this is universal
health care. What could get me out of this is fairness in the taxing
situation." However, these apparently simple solutions cannot be
implemented without the most ferocious resistance on behalf of
the ruling class. The profit-based capitalist system cannot
significantly improve our living standards. On the contrary, the
bosses have launched an all-out offensive against the gains we
have struggled for in the past. Workers make up the vast majority
of American society. We need to build a real alternative that can
truly address our class interests and solve the dire crisis confronting
us. That alternative is socialism.
Economic News
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
3) STATEMENT BY H.E. MR. FELIPE PÃREZ ROQUE, MINISTER OF
FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA, AT THE 59TH
SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
NEW YORK, 24 SEPTEMBER 2004.
Mr. President:
Every year at the United Nations we go through the same ritual. We
attend the general debate knowing beforehand that the clamor for
justice and peace by our underdeveloped countries will be ignored
once again. However, we persist. We know that we are right. We know
that one day we will accomplish social justice and development. We
also know that such assets will not be given away to us. We know
that the peoples will have to seize them from those who deny us
justice today, because they underpin their wealth and arrogance on
the disdain for our grief. But it will not be always like this. We
say so today with more conviction than ever before.
Having said this and knowing  as we do  that some powerful ones,
just a few, present here will be chagrined, and also knowing that
they are shared by many, Cuba will now tell some truths:
First: After the aggression on Iraq, there is no United Nations
Organization, understood as a useful and diverse forum, based on the
respect for the rights of all and also with guarantees for the small
States.
It is living through the worst moment of its already forthcoming 60
years. It pales, it pants, it feigns, but it does not work.
Who handcuffed the United Nations named by President Roosevelt?
President Bush.
Second: US troops will have to be withdrawn from Iraq.
After the life of over 1,000 American youths was uselessly
sacrificed to serve the spurious interests of a clique of cronies
and buddies, and following the death of more than 12,000 Iraqis, it
is clear that the only way out for the occupying power faced with a
revolting people is to recognize the impossibility of subduing them
and to withdraw. In spite of the imperial monopoly over information,
the peoples always get to the truth. Someday, those responsible and
their accomplices will have to deal with the consequences of their
actions in the face of History and their own peoples.
Third: For the time being, there will be no valid, real and useful
reform to the United Nations.
It would take the superpower, which inherited the immense
prerogative of governing an order conceived for a bipolar world, to
relinquish its privileges. And it will not do so.
Since now, we know that the anachronistic privilege of the veto will
remain; that the Security Council will not be democratized as it
should or expanded to include Third World countries; that the
General Assembly will continue to stand ignored and that at the
United Nations there will be more actions driven by the interests
imposed by the superpower and its allies. We, as non-aligned
countries, will have to entrench ourselves in defending the United
Nations Charter  because, otherwise, it will be redrafted with the
deletion of every trace of principles such as the sovereign equality
of States, non-intervention and the non-use or the threat to use
force.
Fourth: The powerful collude to divide us.
The over 130 underdeveloped countries must build a common front for
the defense of the sacred interests of our peoples, of our right to
development and peace. Let us revitalize the Non-Aligned Movement.
Let us strengthen the G-77.
Fifth: The modest objectives of the Millennium Declaration will not
be accomplished. We will reach the fifth anniversary of the Summit
in a worse situation.
 We endeavored to halve by 2015 the 1.276 billion human
beings in abject poverty that existed in 1990. There had to be a
yearly reduction of 46 million poor people. However, excluding
China, between 1990 and 2000 extreme poverty rose by 28 million
people. Impoverishment does not decline, it grows.
 We wanted to halve by 2015 the 842 million starving people
recorded in the world. There had to be a yearly reduction of 28
million. However, there has barely been a reduction of 2.1 million
hungry people per year. At this rate, the goal would be attained by
2215, two hundred years after what was envisaged  and only if our
species survives the destruction of its environment.
 We proclaimed the aspiration to achieve universal primary
education by 2015. However, more than 120 million children, 1 in
every 5 in that school age, do not attend primary school. According
to UNICEF, at the current rate the goal will be accomplished after
2100.
 We endeavored to reduce by two-thirds the mortality rate in
children under five years of age. The reduction is symbolic: out of
86 children who died per 1,000 live births in 1998, now the figure
is 82. Every year, 11 million children continue to die of diseases
that can be prevented or cured, whose parents will rightfully wonder
what our meetings are for.
 We said that we would pay attention to Africa's special
needs. However, very little has been done. African nations do not
need foreign advice or models, but financial resources and access to
both markets and technologies. Assisting Africa would not be an act
of charity, but an act of justice; it would be tantamount to
settling the historical debt resulting from centuries of
exploitation and pillage.
 We undertook to put a halt to and start reverting the AIDS
pandemic by 2015. However, in 2003 it claimed nearly 3 million
lives. At this rate, by 2015 some 36 million people will have died
of this cause.
Sixth: Creditor countries and the international financial agencies
will not seek a just and lasting solution to the foreign debt.
They prefer to keep us in debt; that is, vulnerable. Therefore, even
though we have paid off US$ 4.1 trillion in debt service over the
last 13 years, our debt increased from US$ 1.4 trillion to US$ 2.6
trillion. It means that we have paid three times what we owed and
now our debt is twice as much.
Seventh: We, as underdeveloped countries, are the ones that finance
the squandering and the opulence of developed countries.
While in 2003 they gave us US$ 68.400 billion in ODA, we delivered
to them US$ 436 billion as payment for the foreign debt. Who is
helping who?
Eighth: The fight against terrorism can only be won through
cooperation among all nations and with respect for International
Law, and not through massive bombings or pre-emptive wars
against "dark corners of the world."
Hypocrisy and double standards must cease. Sheltering three Cuban-
born terrorists in the United States is an act of complicity to
terrorism. Punishing five Cuban youths who were fighting terrorism,
and punishing their families, is a crime.
Ninth: General and complete disarmament, including nuclear
disarmament, is impossible today. It is the responsibility of a
group of developed countries that are the ones that most sell and
buy weapons.
However, we must continue to strive for it. We must demand that the
over US$ 900 billion set aside every year for military expenditures
be used on development; and
Tenth: The financial resources to guarantee the sustainable
development for all the peoples on the planet are available, but
what is lacking is the political will of those who rule the world.
A development tax of merely 0.1% on international financial
transactions would generate resources amounting to almost US$ 400
billion per annum.
The cancellation of the foreign debt incurred by underdeveloped
countries would allow these to have available for their development
no less than US$ 436 billion on a yearly basis  money which is
currently used to pay off the debt.
If developed countries complied with their commitment to set aside
0.7% of their Gross National Product as ODA, their contribution
would increase from the current US$ 68.400 billion to US$ 160
billion per annum.
Finally, Excellencies, I want to clearly express Cuba's profound
conviction that the 6.4 billion human beings on this planet  who
have equal rights according to the United Nations Charter  urgently
need a new order in which the world is not left in suspense, as is
the case now, awaiting the outcome of the elections in a new Rome in
which only half the voters will participate and nearly US$ 1.5
billion will be spent.
There is no discouragement in our words, I must say so clearly. We
are optimistic because we are revolutionaries. We have faith in the
struggle of the peoples and we are certain that we will accomplish a
new world order based on the respect for the rights of all; an order
based on solidarity, justice and peace, resulting from the best of
universal culture and not from mediocrity or gross force.
About Cuba, which cannot be detoured from its course by blockades,
threats, hurricanes, droughts or human or natural force, I will not
say anything.
Next 28 October, for the 13th time, this General Assembly will
debate and vote on a resolution about the blockade imposed against
the Cuban people. Once again, morality and principles will defeat
arrogance and force.
I would like to conclude by recalling the words spoken right here 25
years ago by President Fidel Castro:
"The noise of weapons, of the menacing language, of the haughtiness
on the international scene must cease. Enough of the illusion that
the problems of the world can be solved by nuclear weapons. Bombs
may kill the hungry, the sick and the ignorant, but bombs cannot
kill hunger, disease and ignorance. Nor can bombs kill the righteous
rebellion of the people "
Thank you very much.
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---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
4) Why We Cannot Win
By Al Lorentz
September 20, 2004
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig5/lorentz1.html
Before I begin, let me state that I am a soldier currently deployed in
Iraq, I am not an armchair quarterback. Nor am I some politically
idealistic and naïve young soldier, I am an old and seasoned
Non-Commissioned Officer with nearly 20 years under my belt. Additionally,
I am not just a soldier with a muds-eye view of the war, I am in Civil
Affairs and as such, it is my job to be aware of all the events occurring
in this country and specifically in my region.
I have come to the conclusion that we cannot win here for a number of
reasons. Ideology and idealism will never trump history and reality.
When we were preparing to deploy, I told my young soldiers to beware of the
"political solution." Just when you think you have the situation on the
ground in hand, someone will come along with a political directive that
throws you off the tracks.
I believe that we could have won this un-Constitutional invasion of Iraq
and possibly pulled off the even more un-Constitutional occupation and
subjugation of this sovereign nation. It might have even been possible to
foist democracy on these people who seem to have no desire, understanding
or respect for such an institution. True the possibility of pulling all
this off was a long shot and would have required several hundred billion
dollars and even more casualties than we've seen to date but again it would
have been possible, not realistic or necessary but possible.
Here are the specific reasons why we cannot win in Iraq.
First, we refuse to deal in reality. We are in a guerilla war, but because
of politics, we are not allowed to declare it a guerilla war and must label
the increasingly effective guerilla forces arrayed against us as
"terrorists, criminals and dead-enders."
This implies that there is a zero sum game at work, i.e. we can simply kill
X number of the enemy and then the fight is over, mission accomplished,
everybody wins. Unfortunately, this is not the case. We have few tools at
our disposal and those are proving to be wholly ineffective at fighting the
guerillas.
The idea behind fighting a guerilla army is not to destroy its every man
(an impossibility since he hides himself by day amongst the populace).
Rather the idea in guerilla warfare is to erode or destroy his base of
support.
So long as there is support for the guerilla, for every one you kill two
more rise up to take his place. More importantly, when your tools for
killing him are precision guided munitions, raids and other acts that
create casualties among the innocent populace, you raise the support for
the guerillas and undermine the support for yourself. (A 500-pound
precision bomb has a casualty-producing radius of 400 meters minimum; do
the math.)
Second, our assessment of what motivates the average Iraqi was skewed,
again by politically motivated "experts." We came here with some fantasy
idea that the natives were all ignorant, mud-hut dwelling camel riders who
would line the streets and pelt us with rose petals, lay palm fronds in the
street and be eternally grateful. While at one time there may have actually
been support and respect from the locals, months of occupation by our
regular military forces have turned the formerly friendly into the recently
hostile.
Attempts to correct the thinking in this regard are in vain; it is not
politically correct to point out the fact that the locals are not only
disliking us more and more, they are growing increasingly upset and often
overtly hostile. Instead of addressing the reasons why the locals are
becoming angry and discontented, we allow politicians in Washington DC to
give us pat and convenient reasons that are devoid of any semblance of
reality.
We are told that the locals are not upset because we have a hostile,
aggressive and angry Army occupying their nation. We are told that they are
not upset at the police state we have created, or at the manner of picking
their representatives for them. Rather we are told, they are upset because
of a handful of terrorists, criminals and dead enders in their midst have
made them upset, that and of course the ever convenient straw man of "left
wing media bias."
Third, the guerillas are filling their losses faster than we can create
them. This is almost always the case in guerilla warfare, especially when
your tactics for battling the guerillas are aimed at killing guerillas
instead of eroding their support. For every guerilla we kill with a "smart
bomb" we kill many more innocent civilians and create rage and anger in the
Iraqi community. This rage and anger translates into more recruits for the
terrorists and less support for us.
We have fallen victim to the body count mentality all over again. We have
shown a willingness to inflict civilian casualties as a necessity of war
without realizing that these same casualties create waves of hatred against
us. These angry Iraqi citizens translate not only into more recruits for
the guerilla army but also into more support of the guerilla army.
Fourth, their lines of supply and communication are much shorter than ours
and much less vulnerable. We must import everything we need into this
place; this costs money and is dangerous. Whether we fly the supplies in or
bring them by truck, they are vulnerable to attack, most especially those
brought by truck. This not only increases the likelihood of the supplies
being interrupted. Every bean, every bullet and every bandage becomes
infinitely more expensive.
Conversely, the guerillas live on top of their supplies and are showing
every indication of developing a very sophisticated network for obtaining
them. Further, they have the advantage of the close support of family and
friends and traditional religious networks.
Fifth, we consistently underestimate the enemy and his capabilities. Many
military commanders have prepared to fight exactly the wrong war here.
Our tactics have not adjusted to the battlefield and we are falling behind.
Meanwhile the enemy updates his tactics and has shown a remarkable
resiliency and adaptability.
Because the current administration is more concerned with its image than it
is with reality, it prefers symbolism to substance: soldiers are dying here
and being maimed and crippled for life. It is tragic, indeed criminal that
our elected public servants would so willingly sacrifice our nation's
prestige and honor as well as the blood and treasure to pursue an agenda
that is ahistoric and un-Constitutional.
It is all the more ironic that this un-Constitutional mission is being
performed by citizen soldiers such as myself who swore an oath to uphold
and defend the Constitution of the United States, the same oath that the
commander in chief himself has sworn.
Al Lorentz [alorentz@truevine.net] is former state chairman of the
Constitution Party of Texas and is a reservist currently serving with the
US Army in Iraq.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
5) For the troops on the ground, Iraq might as well be Vietnam
September 20, 2004
http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-ARMYPAPER-319026.php
[There is no name of author...BW]
Anyone who studies how certain kinds of war fighting affect the human
psyche would have already figured out what the New England Journal of
Medicine reported recently: that "many of our troops in Iraq are
struggling" with the dark psychiatric fallout from this conflict.
After surveying thousands of soldiers and Marines, the Journal authors
concluded that "roughly one in six show signs of distress - ranging from
anxiety, all the way to full-blown post-traumatic stress disorder."
For me, a Vietnam veteran and former counselor in the Veterans
Administration's Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Counseling Program, the
study's conclusions were predictable and betray a sad truth about the Iraq
war. For the boots on the ground, it might as well be Vietnam.
Highly regarded PTSD researcher John P. Wilson of Cleveland State
University, who studied the psychological aftereffects of Vietnam, tells me
he is also gravely concerned. Wilson sees the Iraq war as a perfect petri
dish for culturing residual psychological problems among our troops.
He posits that the rate for various forms of distress in troops engaged in
Operation Iraqi Freedom combat operations will be even higher than reported
in the Journal study- and that they could go as high as 30 percent.
Such dire predictions are supported by an understandable limitation in the
Journal study's methodology. The authors admit their survey included data
from troops who had been home from Iraq for "only a few months." This
probably means that their figures are artificially low - they don't reflect
cases that will emerge over time. Some Vietnam veterans didn't manifest
symptoms of PTSD until years after their return to the United States.
"There is a perception in this country that the young people fighting in
Iraq will return home, take off their uniforms and pick up where they left
off," Wilson told me. "The relentless stressors during their Iraq
deployment tell us that for thousands of them, this isn't going to happen
without therapeutic intervention."
A table attached to the Journal study suggests that fighting in Iraq
mirrors some of the soul-destroying horrors experienced by my generation.
Titled "Combat Experiences Reported by Members of the U.S. Army and Marine
Corps after Deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan," it is a chilling document
and offers the first real taste of what life is like for our country's
troops.
It indicates that of the soldiers and Marines serving in Iraq and surveyed
by the investigators, 89 percent and 95 percent, respectively, report
having being attacked or ambushed. The vast majority know someone who has
been seriously injured or killed; 69 percent of soldiers and 83 percent of
Marines saw ill or injured women and children they were unable to help.
Perhaps worst of all, 14 percent of soldiers and 28 percent of Marines
reported that they "experienced being responsible for the death of a
non-combatant." The high number of harrowing episodes occurred for troops
whose maximum stay in Iraq had been only six to eight months.
What may drive the levels of PTSD far beyond what we saw in Vietnam is the
imposition of stop-loss on soldiers who already have witnessed more than
their fair share of traumatic and stress-inducing events. Some troops in
Iraq will likely end up serving tours far longer than their predecessors in
Vietnam.
Underpinning it all is a lesson from Vietnam that it seems this country has
yet to learn: It is psychiatric folly to send American troops into combat
in service of shaky foreign policy initiatives. Many Iraqi Freedom troops
likely carried with them strongly held convictions that they were keeping
the world safe from Saddam's weapons of mass destruction and that Saddam
was connected to al-Qaida and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
Now that the reasons for their mission are losing credibility, some
soldiers will question the legitimacy of being there at all. When this
happens, another set of psychological stressors takes hold as soldiers
struggle internally to attach a redemptive meaning to their hellish war
experience.
For those of us who counseled the psychiatric casualties who came home from
Vietnam, it is painful to watch as history repeats itself.
The writer was a combat medic in Vietnam. He was also a counselor in the
then-Veterans Administration's Vietnam Veterans' Readjustment Counseling
Program. He now is with the Alliance for Security, a program of the Vietnam
Veterans of America Foundation in Washington. He can be reached at
afs@vi.org. For more on the foundation, log on to www.alliance
forsecurity.org.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
6) Anguish over Iraq war resonates in Missouri
By Tim Jones, Tribune national correspondent
September 24, 2004
Chicago Tribune
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/chitribts/20040924/
ts_chicagotrib/anguishoveriraqwarresonatesinmissouri&cid=2027&ncid=1480
Carroll Meierer was all for getting rid of Saddam Hussein .
"We had to do something," she said.
But 18 months of war and more than 1,000 American fatalities
later, the resolution she felt about Hussein has turned to grim
resignation about the state of the war.
"We could stay there forever and it wouldn't be any different," she
said at the little red fruit stand she runs on the edge of Lexington,
about 30 miles east of Kansas City.
Meierer, who grew up in a military family, is losing patience with
the war. Her 20-year-old son, Justin, a lance corporal in the Marine
Corps, is likely headed to Iraq early next year.
"He's my baby boy and he's my best friend," she said. "I want this
war over and I want it over NOW."
In Missouri, the debates over Iraq and the fight against terrorism
have lost much of the moral and patriotic clarity that defined last
year's march to Baghdad. American flags hanging from houses aren't
as plentiful. Neither are yard signs that say, "Support our troops."
As prospects for Iraq's political stability seem to fade, frustration,
anger, cynicism and bewilderment have seeped into arguments about
the war, fueled by reminders that--for some--have become incendiary:
Weapons of mass destruction. "Mission Accomplished." "Bring 'em on."
Osama bin Laden .
In Missouri, a key battleground state that mirrors much of the nation
demographically and has the uncanny knack of picking presidential
winners, President Bush is leading Sen. John Kerry in the most recent
public opinion polls. Kerry, to the surprise of the Bush campaign, even
pulled back his television advertising in the state.
Yet the poll numbers and campaign stratagems do not reflect the
roiling mix of often anguished feelings about Iraq. Voters--even
those who supported the war--are in turmoil over the purpose of
the conflict, whether it is part of the war on terror, whether it is
winnable anytime soon and whether it has made America safer.
"I don't know how it's our responsibility to fix Iraq when we can't
even handle things here," Meierer said.
The war became the dominant theme in the presidential campaign
this week, with the election a little more than five weeks away. And
it is likely to be Topic A in the first debate between Bush and Kerry
next Thursday in Florida.
Churchill's call
It was nearly six decades ago that Winston Churchill delivered his
famous "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Mo.
But this April, that small college was the setting for some of the
campaign's earliest partisan sniping over security.
Vice President Dick Cheney set the tone when he questioned Kerry's
fitness to be president in such difficult times. "The senator from
Massachusetts has given us ample grounds to doubt the judgment
and the attitude he brings to bear on vital issues of national security,"
Cheney said.
On Monday, Kerry warned that if Bush is re-elected, he will
"repeat . . . the same reckless mistakes that have made America
less secure than we can or should be."
Not since citizens in coastal communities turned off their lights
and patrolled shorelines more than 60 years ago to watch for German
and Japanese submarines have voters been so emotionally focused
on security within their borders.
The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks created tremendous insecurity for
Americans and instilled national unity against terrorism. Now Bush
argues vociferously that Iraq is part of the war on terrorism. Kerry
says they are not only separate, but that Bush's prosecution of the
war has been a disaster and has drained resources from the fight
on terror, making the nation less safe.
Bush and Kerry rely mainly on generalities about how they will
make us safer. And they don't say when or how the war will be
concluded.
In the absence of specific answers, fear of one sort or another--
what might happen in Iraq or another country, what might happen
at some unsuspecting location in the United States, even in middle
America--has taken root.
On Sept. 7, the same day Bush declared in the Kansas City suburb
of Lee's Summit that "America and the world are safer" as a result
of removing Hussein from power, Cheney told Republicans at a
fundraiser in Des Moines that there's a greater danger of another
domestic terrorist attack if Americans elect Kerry.
Cheney's remark has prompted Rev. Robert Hill, pastor of the
Community Christian Church in Kansas City, to prepare a sermon
for this Sunday on the "politics of fear."
"These are the tactics of fear-mongering, and they are absolutely
despicable," Hill said.
Bush, who won the state by about 3.5 percentage points in 2000,
has visited Missouri nine times this year, while Kerry has campaigned
here 12 times since March. Recent polls have shown Bush extending
his lead in the state. But Missourians remain split on the war,
suggesting that they are not necessarily assigning blame to the
president.
"We should have gone over there and flattened the country," said
Diane Wolf, a florist in the St. Louis suburb of Pagedale, speaking
of Afghanistan , Iraq or "whoever did 9/11."
But Meierer, who blames Bush for the situation in Iraq, said, "These
guys shouldn't be over there."
The war in Iraq and the battle against terrorism are "totally separate,"
she said.
Nona Sanders, a travel agent in St. Joseph, disagreed, saying, "Iraq
and terrorism are connected, and we can't just quit."
Criticism of the war and Bush are not right and should not be
publicized, Sanders said.
Hogwash, said Albert Vandendaele, a retired farmer from North
Kansas City. "Now if anybody speaks out against it, you're
unpatriotic," he said. "I have a yellow ribbon on my truck. I
support the troops. Who doesn't? But does that mean you've
got to support Bush also? No. No."
While there is no agreement on either the claim of safety or
the charge from Cheney, there is plenty of anguish in Missouri
about the war--what it has accomplished, where it is headed
and whether it has made America safer.
"A lot of people just don't know, they don't have a solid opinion,"
said Rep. Ike Skelton, a staunch supporter of the Pentagon and
the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.
Skelton, who has represented the increasingly Republican 4th
congressional district in western Missouri since 1977, said, "A
lot of people are just asking questions. I think there is deep
concern."
What people think about the war here could prove important in
November. In many ways Missouri is an amalgam of America--
an uneasy confluence of urban and rural, North and South.
Veterans make up 14 percent of Missouri's adult population,
the highest state percentage in the Midwest and two points
higher than the national average. And western Missouri is
steeped in military history. It was the Missouri theater of the
bloody battleground with Kansas over slavery. William Quantrill,
the guerrilla fighter, terrorized the region.
The southern part of Skelton's congressional district is home to
Ft. Leonard Wood, a key Army training facility, and Whiteman Air
Force Base, the launchpad for B-2s flying bombing missions to
Afghanistan. In Independence, production has been cranked up
at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, the military's largest
producer of small-arms ammunition. The plant is operating at
near full capacity, on track to manufacture 1.2 billion rounds
this year, its highest output since the Vietnam War, and a clear
measure of the intensity of the conflict in Iraq.
Skelton is part of the region's military heritage. The Skelton
family has two children on military active duty.
But Skelton, now 72, has long had doubts about the war. In a
letter to the White House in September 2002, when Congress
was considering Bush's request to authorize military action in
Iraq, Skelton said, "I have no doubt that our military would
decisively defeat Iraq's forces and remove Saddam. But like
the proverbial dog chasing the car down the road, we must
consider what we would do after we caught it."
Those kinds of questions are a daily concern in tiny Missouri
City, where two homes in particular, one on Walnut Street and
the other on Main, bear yellow ribbons and American flags,
public reminders that children who once lived here are far
away and too close to danger.
The war in Iraq has put the mayor and school superintendent
into separate camps. Ray Lynn, mayor of this town of 295, has
a son, Jeremy, stationed in Tikrit, Iraq, Hussein's hometown.
Mayor Lynn is steadfast: Going to war was the right thing to do.
Jay Jackson, the school superintendent--and bus driver--in
this one-building district of 41 students, has two sons in the
Army. Aaron is in Kuwait and Miles returned from Iraq in May.
Jay Jackson is adamant: The war is a huge blunder.
`The pain is just too great'
Their homes sport the flags and the ribbons, and the men
endure the well-meaning remarks of friends who tell them,
"We're praying for your son." Neither man served in the military
himself. Lynn, an autoworker, chafes at criticism he hears from
co-workers about Bush and the war. Jackson is discreet about
airing his views. When the two get together, as they do in the
front yard of the Civil War-era house that Jackson is restoring,
their friendship and delicate diplomacy govern the relationship.
"We talk about our boys, how they're doing," Jackson said. "We
don't talk about the war, the policy and the conduct of it. The
pain is just too great."
In the privacy of living rooms, though, the divisions come out.
Lynn sits near a color photo of son Jeremy, daughter Heather
and their spouses. All four are wearing dress green Army uniforms.
Attacking Iraq "definitely needed to be done" because Hussein was
a "player in terror" and represented a threat to the U.S., Lynn said.
Lynn is convinced there are weapons of mass destruction. He is
sure they will be found and the decision to go after Hussein will
be vindicated
"I have to trust that George Bush is doing the right thing. He is a
godly man," said Lynn's wife, Wanda, sitting in a rocker with an
American flag comforter. "We're all praying, and it's real hard."
War protests, especially those involving entertainers, push her
over the edge.
"They make me angry as hell. They obviously don't have a child
in the military. It sickens me," she said. "I just wish Hollywood
would drop off the face of the Earth. They're tearing down the
morale of our children."
The Lynns believe the war in Iraq and the war against terrorism
are one and the same. They believe the job should be finished.
They will vote for Bush.
The Lynns also agree with Cheney and his charge that America
would be more vulnerable under Kerry.
"Kerry wants to make us a sitting duck, and we'll be sitting ducks,"
Wanda Lynn said.
Barely a mile down the road at Jay Jackson's home, which is part
Civil War shrine with battle jackets and 30 handmade Confederate
caps, the view is starkly different. To Jackson, the ducks are already
lined up in Iraq and are getting picked off every day.
"We've created a new theater of operations for the terrorists,"
Jackson said in his kitchen overlooking the Missouri River.
"I just keep thinking about the Missouri-Kansas border war and
how smaller guerrilla forces repeatedly terrorized much larger ones.
For me it's a dilemma so easy to see," he said. "We're in a guerrilla
war, we're in a jihad, and I think both candidates need to
acknowledge that."
A soldier's view
Miles Jackson, an Army sergeant and paratrooper who returned
in May after five months in Baghdad and eight months in Afghanistan,
said the U.S. should have focused on Afghanistan and finished the
job there before moving on.
"You should have seen us on Sept. 11. We were ready to go.
American soldiers still feel that way about the terrorists. . . . It
was a political thing to slide attention over to Iraq," Miles Jackson
said, sitting with his father at the kitchen table. Invading Iraq
should have waited, he added, until it was clear the country
presented a threat to the U.S.
Miles Jackson said he doesn't believe that electing Kerry will
jeopardize the nation's security. "It's ridiculous to say that we're
more threatened or vulnerable by putting someone else in," he
said. "They'll find a way, no matter who's in office."
Jackson said he doesn't believe there is anyone who doesn't support
the troops. He is troubled, though, by anti-war demonstrations.
"If you get them [soldiers] believing that what they are doing is
wrong, it hurts morale," he said.
His father disagrees, albeit gently. "The only reason we got out of
Vietnam was because of the protesters. . . . A voice against the
war is not a voice against the military," Jay Jackson insisted.
There is no neat or quick fix in Iraq and little likelihood of winning
the hearts and minds of Iraqis, both said. Miles Jackson, who is
on inactive reserve and hopes to return to the Army after attending
college, said as long as Americans are in Iraq, "there will be problems.
No matter what time limit you put on this, there is no end."
"I don't believe most Americans understand how hard this is," he
added. "A lot of people think this is just cut and dried."
Bush repeatedly talks about how Iraq is on the road to democracy.
But Kerry warned Monday that "if we do not change course, there is
the prospect of a war with no end in sight."
To Pat McElroy this looks and sounds like Vietnam. McElroy, an
Army veteran who served in Vietnam from February 1969 to
February 1970, criticizes the political and public attitudes toward
the war.
"You have all these people saying `Yeah, we're the United States,
let's go over there and kick some ass, we're not gonna let them
push us around.' But when it comes to sending their kids over to
fight, they all say they wouldn't let their kids go," McElroy said.
"They're happy to hold your coat while you send yours."
He was speaking to a sentiment in Missouri, and elsewhere, that
the absence of a draft has enabled most people to back the war
without bearing a personal cost.
"If you had a draft there would be a huge change in attitude,"
said McElroy, who is a battalion chief in the North Kansas City
Fire Department. McElroy says a Vietnam-era draft would never
fly politically, and that has created a situation where "somebody
else's kids" are fighting the war.
McElroy has a son, Brandn, who is an Army Ranger. He
completed tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq.
A change of attitude
"If you have a chance of getting your arms and legs blown off, it
changes the whole attitude. Everybody has to have a stake in this,"
said the father.
Seventeen Missouri soldiers have been killed since the war began
in March 2003.
"Now if you speak out against the war, you're unpatriotic," McElroy
said. "I'm afraid this is Vietnam all over again."
Even among those who supported the war and continue to support
it, frustration is building.
Louis George, who runs an army surplus store in Lexington, said the
U.S. was right to go in and remove Hussein. But the situation in Iraq
"is not going to get stabilized. You can put a democracy in there, but
it won't last," he said.
George, who served in the Army from 1975 through 1988 and has
an autographed photo of Bush behind his store counter, said he will
vote for Bush, but he also said the strategy in Iraq has to change.
"When you fight a war against terrorism, you cut off the head of the
snake, and then ask `Who's next?'"
More than 890 American soldiers have died since Bush declared in
May 2003 that "major combat" in Iraq had ended.
Rex Jones, a city employee in St. Joseph, said rising fatalities are
the price Americans will have to pay for safety.
In Smithville, which was the hometown of Missouri's first fatality in
the Iraq war--Marine Sgt. Nicolas Hodson, who died March 22, 2003,
in a vehicle accident--Richard Pendleton talked about his early support
of the war. Hussein was a threat who needed to be dealt with, he said.
"They needed to go over there, but they should have handled it
differently. They should have disarmed everyone after they moved
in. Instead, now we've got civilians running up and down the street
with grenade launchers. That doesn't work," said Pendleton, who is
supporting Kerry.
The bar on Main Street sports bumper stickers that read "Semper Fi"
and "Osama Yo Mama." All across town opinions about Iraq are plentiful
as the conflict drags on.
Mardy Lyle, a retired beautician from Smithville, invokes the name of
Harry Truman, the nation's 33rd president and the only one from Missouri.
"Every once in a while I look up and say `Harry, come back, we need
you.'"
Time has helped burnish Truman's image and smooth over the fact
that the Korean War, which began on his watch, helped drive him
from office.
Talking on the day U.S. fatalities in Iraq passed the 1,000 mark
earlier this month, Denise Messick said she is not impatient with
Bush. "He had to go in," said Messick, who runs a candle and craft
shop on Main Street in Smithville. When asked whether she feels
safer since the capture of Hussein, she paused and said, "That's a
good question." Then she said "no," adding: "I don't think any of
us feel safe after 9/11."
`Who am I to judge'
Messick and her husband have two sons in the Navy--one stationed
in California, the other in Washington. She doesn't want either one
to go to Iraq, but if they do she says she'll understand. "It's real easy
for us to second-hand quarterback what they did. I personally would
like to see a withdrawal starting, but who am I to judge?" she said.
Skelton, for one, is willing to judge.
"The truth of the matter is there are two wars. The real war is the
war against the terrorists in Afghanistan. . . . Afghanistan has not
gotten the attention it should have," Skelton said. "If it had, we
would have bin Laden, and if not him then his forces where they
couldn't breed around the world.
"I have given a number of speeches around Missouri, and most of
the time people don't disagree," he said.
Meierer hasn't heard any of those speeches. She's not inclined to
listen much to politicians. She doesn't trust Kerry, and Bush, she
said, did exactly what she feared he would do--take the country
to war. That's why she didn't vote for him four years ago. The only
person who impresses her is John Edwards , Kerry's running mate.
Meierer describes herself as a political independent and undecided.
"I can't rely on either one of them," she said of Bush and Kerry.
The Meierer family is part of the Missouri military tradition. Her
uncle was killed in Vietnam. Her husband has 12 brothers and
sisters, and all of them, including her husband, served in the
military.
"My son didn't know what he wanted. I was hesitant when Justin
enlisted, but I thought it would be a good opportunity for him,"
she said. "Now I worry about car bombings and `silly things' as
much as I do combat."
"I've had it with Iraq," she added. "It's time for us to take care of
people here in the United States."
Copyright (c) 2004 Chicago Tribune
Copyright (c) 2004 Yahoo! Inc.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
7) The Triple Crises in the U.S.
By James Petras
www.antiterroristas.cu/index.php?tpl=noticia/
anew¬iciaid=99¬iciafecha=2002-09-11
The concept 'crises' has been overused and abused by writers on
the left - especially with regard to the capitalist economy. One
result is that when a real crises emerges - it is not taken seriously.
The US political and economic system today is in serious crises - a
triple crises affecting its biggest multinational corporations and
therefore the economy, a political crises affecting the state in its
relationship to internal security, and external belligerancy, and a
crises of the political system that not only fails to represent the
electorate but is incapable of responding to the political and
economic crises.
The economic crises, referred to in the financial press as the "crises
of corporate governance", involves multi-billion dollar fraud by many
of the biggest energy, oil, media companies, investment banks,
accounting firms and mega-conglomerates in the US and in the
world. The names are familiar - Credit Suisse First Boston, ENRON,
El Paso Oil, Merrill Lynch, Xerox, Adelpha, Tyco, Worldcom, Dynergy,
Southeby and dozens of other banks and firms. The number of
pensioners, employees and investors who have lost their savings
number in the tens of millions.
The chief executive of Goldman Sachs, Henry Paulson, a financial
leader on Wall Street declared that US corporations are in a "position
of low repute not seen in my lifetime." According to the Financial
Times and the Wall Street Journal, the problem is "corporate greed"
and "loss of investor trust".
The real problem is not just individual greed, but the entire
deregulation of the banking and corporate sectors and the
speculative nature of the US economy. The problem is systematic:
the concentration of economic power and the corporate control
over the political system mean that CEO's design the legislation
and write the rules which allow them a free hand to commit large
scale fraud and take huge short- term profits - before their
companies collapse. The case of ENRON and El Paso Oil and their
dominant role in shaping the Bush-Cheney energy policy is
emblematic of the symbiotic relationship, just as Clinton's ties
to Wall Street led to the deregulation of financial and banking
sectors.
The systematic consequences of large scale and all pervasive
fraud has been the de-legitimation of the big investment banks
among investors and a massive decline in foreign investment in
the US. From January to February 2001, $78 billion flowed in to
the US, during the same two months in 2002 only $14.6 billion
of foreign funds were invested in US stocks and bonds. The
decline of foreign flows has substantially weakened the dollar.
It threatens to push the US external accounts deficit to crises
levels, forcing a major retrenchment in imports and living
standards. The precipitous decline in foreign investment in
the US is because investors no longer trust corporate reports
on profits, and particularly, no longer trust US auditors' reports
and US CEO's. The result is that the stock market has declined,
stock losses in 2002 continue for the third straight year, big
corporate bankruptcies are on the rise, while profits decline -
truly an economic crises.
The political crises is deeply embedded in the larger political
context of the events preceding and following 9/11. The
revelations of Washington's prior knowledge of a terrorist plot
to hijack airplanes in the US - including warnings of an attack
on public and private buildings - has raised fundamental questions.
The official version of the Bush Administration , State Department,
CIA/FBI and the Congressional Democrats is that there was a
" failure of intelligence " - individual bureaucrats failed to act,
the bureaucracy was not "efficient" or was "understaffed".
Among most critical intellectuals, journalists and experts on
intelligence, the official explanations fail to deal with several
important discrepancies. First of all , Condaleeza Rice, the National
Security Adviser, publically stated that during the summer of 2001
the Bush Administration believed the " al Qaeda might hijack an
aircraft and use it to bargain for the release of prisoners... I don't
think anyone could have predicted that these people would take
an airplane and slam it into the World Trade Center" ( Financial
Times 5/18-19 2002, p.6 ) Rice admitted that "We only expected
a traditional hijacking." The Bush Administration ignored warnings
from France, Egypt, Israel, England that a terrorist action was
imminent; it ignored warnings from FBI agents in Arizona and
Minnesota of possible airplane hijackings by terrorists training
as airline pilots, and it ignored a CIA briefing to President Bush
on August 6, 2001 stating that al Qaeda was planning a hijacking.
Most observers believe that with so many warnings converging
from so many responsible sources to high level Bush officials,
according to Condoleeza Rice, there is another explanation: that
the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld regime was prepared to allow a
"traditional" hijacking to take place - in order to exploit it for
both narrow and global political interests. They did not suspect
that the terrorists would attack the WTC and the Pentagon.
Several other issues raise suspicion that high officials in he Bush
Administration were involved in facilitating the hijackings: the
terrorist leaders had multiple entry visas - not easy to obtain for
ordinary tourists. The terrorists functioned openly - entering
flight schools, and even seeking U.S. Department of Agriculture
loans to buy "crop-duster" airplanes. Thirdly many received their
visas from Saudi Arabia, where a former US Consul official has
stated that many visas were issued under pressure from the CIA -
probably to recruits for US-sponsored Islamist wars in Bosnia,
Kosova, Chechnya and Central Asia. There is a good possibility
that at least some of the terrorists were 'double agents' - one
reason for the so-called "intelligence failures" and the refusal
after 9/11 to reveal prior knowledge.
There is a large body of historical studies on US foreign policy
which demonstrates that Washington "manufactures crises" to
justify war. The examples range from the "bombing of the Maine"
as a prelude to the US-Spanish-Cuban War, to Roosevelt's
foreknowledge of Pearl Harbor, to President Johnson's infamous
" Tonkin Incident " during the Vietnam War, to Bush father's invention
of the Iraqi destruction of infant incubators in Kuwait. In each case
the President declared an "unprovoked attack" and mobilized the
public for large scale warfare of conquest and colonization. In the
case of the US war in Afghanistan, it is on public record that on
September 10 2001, the Bush Administration had prepared a plan
to attack the Taliban and al Qaeda - which it fully implemented
after September 11.
The manufacture and use of provocations has a long and ignoble
history in US, European and Japanese expansion - as Mexicans can
painfully recall from the frequent invasions and annexations justified
on the grounds of eliminating "terrorist bandits".
War had been an essential instrument of empire building for the last
four US presidents. President Reagan's successful wars against
Grenada and Panama contributed to his popularity, weakened the
'Vietnam Syndrome' and allowed his regime to reverse progressive
social legislation. This pattern was repeated and extended by Bush
(father) in the US war against Iraq - the military victory led to the
proclamation of a 'New World Order' based on Washington's
supremacy. Clinton's war against Yugoslavia and the continuation
of the bombing of Iraq was accompanied by the total deregulation
of the economy, the savaging of the remnants of the welfare
program, and the information technology, bio-tech, fiber optics
speculative bubble. Bush ( son ) as a minority president, elected
through voter fraud in Florida used the Afghan war to increase
public backing, vastly expanded military and secret police budgets
and powers, to subsidize big business and vastly increase US
political and military empire throughout Asia, Latin America and
the former Soviet Union. The initial terrorist act, and the cover-up
of US involvement, has led to serious decline in democratic
freedoms and the constant threat of new terrorist plots to
increase police state intervention in all aspects of civil society.
Both the admissions of "mistakes" by the Bush administration
the Congressional critics' charges of "incompetence" has
served the police-military apparatus very well. "Home defense" -
extended police powers and personnel received an additional
$37 billion dollars, on top of the original $29 billion dollars.
The newly created Department of Homeland Security will have
170,000 agents and staff.
As State spending on the police and military skyrockets, private
investors are pushed aside, budget deficits soar, foreign investors
turn to more lucrative sites and the US economy destabilizes. While
the empire expands - the domestic political and economic system
weakens and the dollar plunges.
There are no corrective mechanisms in sight. Unlike previous epochs
when large scale corporate-banking scandals occurred, major reforms
were implemented. Today there is neither a popular reform movement
nor congressional opposition. The Financial Times states, it is "politics
as usual". The reason for the lack of a corporate reform movement is
that the same corrupt banks and corporations - like ENRON, Merril
Lynch etc - contribute and finance both political parties.
Washington's cover-up of its linkages leading to 9/11 is related to
their cover-up in the Anthrax attacks. Leading journalists and micro-
biologists have identified the US military research laboratory at Fort
Detrick, Maryland as the source and even have identified two US
micro-biologists as likely suspects. The FBI has refused to act. The
reason is that the scientists were engaged in weaponizing Anthrax
and other chemical and biological agents - work which violates the
Chemical and Biological Treaty of 1991. No Congressional investigation.
No mass media expose. No public outcry. The triple crises deepens,
the apologists for the empire brush off systemic critics as " conspiracy
theorists " - but the critical intellectuals continue to prod the public
conscience, hoping for a revival and renewal of democratic politics.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
8) Clash Over Prisoners Exposes Power Struggle
US overrules Iraqi government plan to free women scientists
By Rory McCarthy in Baghdad
Published on Thursday, September 23, 2004 by the Guardian/UK
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0923-01.htm
The confusion yesterday over whether two "high-value" women
prisoners being held in Iraq would be released has underlined the
limits of the interim government's authority.
The apparent differences between the statements of Iraqi ministers
and US officials will raise questions yet again over both the coherence
of the new administration and the degree of independence it actually
enjoys.
By the end of the day, US and Iraqi officials appeared to have agreed
that neither Rihab Rashid Taha, a biological weapons scientist held in
custody in Baghdad, nor Huda Salih Amash, a microbiologist, would
be released imminently.
But this followed a series of conflicting statements, which were
provoked by Iraq's justice minister insisting on Tuesday that Dr Taha
was expected to be freed on bail today - a move that offered a
glimmer of hope to the family of the last remaining hostage,
Kenneth Bigley.
The announcement took the British and the Americans by surprise
at a time when both governments were saying they were determined
not to give any concessions to terrorists.
As yesterday wore on, it became increasingly clear that the release
of either woman was not within the gift of the Iraqi government.
The US embassy in Baghdad appeared to have finally ruled out the
possibility of an immediate release when a spokesman insisted that
"the two women are in legal and physical custody of the multinational
forces in Iraq and neither will be released imminently".
Though the US occupation authorities formally handed over
"sovereignty" to the Iraqi government in late June, key decisions
including those involving big combat operations and the detention
of high-security suspects from the former regime are still taken
by the US.
There is supposed to be dialogue between the Iraqi government
and the US forces concerning the military operations, but the Iraqi
government has no power of veto.
In the case of the two scientists - regarded as "high-value" detainees
when they were arrested - the buck still stops with the Americans.
They are being held by US troops in a prison thought to be at the
base around Baghdad airport.
There is little doubt that the final say in such high-security cases
rests with the American commanders.
Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson, a US military spokesman on
detention operations, said responsibility for approving each release
lay "primarily with the multinational forces," although he said there
was "consultation" with the Iraqi government.
"There has been an ongoing process of reviewing specifically the
cases of high-value detainees that has proceeded over the last
couple of months," he said.
"That process continues and we are not prepared to indicate when
a final decision may be made on any high-value detainees. I am
not prepared to comment on the timing of what might happen."
Dr Taha, known as "Dr Germ," is the wife of Iraq's former oil minister
and has a PhD from the University of East Anglia. Amash, dubbed
"Mrs Anthrax", received a masters from Texas Women's University
and studied microbiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
The Iraqi government clearly believes that the inmates do not pose
an imminent threat to security in Iraq.
Iraq's justice ministry insisted yesterday it still wanted to release
the women, although it said this had nothing to do with the
kidnapping of Mr Bigley and the two executed Americans, Eugene
Armstrong and Jack Hensley.
"We have discussed this issue and I do think they should be
released.
"We started this process two months ago," said Noori Abdul-Rahim,
a spokesman for the ministry.
He said the final legal procedures were being completed for the
release on bail of Dr Taha, including finding an Iraqi community
leader to act as a guarantor for her future behaviour.
He said the ministry wanted her to be released today or in the
coming days.
Iraq's new national security adviser, Qasim Daoud, took a slightly
different tack.
He said the investigation into whether the two women could be
released was over but that "security measures" were still under
way before the sci entists could be allowed to go home. "Until
now the security measures are still going on," he told a news
conference in Baghdad.
"I say they will not be released today, tomorrow or after tomorrow -
but after they undergo a medical checkup and security measures.
The investigation is over but we are still going on with the security
measures."
Amid the confused promises of release yesterday, it remained
unclear whether the kidnappers knew that only two women were
still in jail or even hoped for their release. Tawhid and Jihad, the
militant group behind the kidnappings, is the most violent in Iraq
and has been responsible for a series of videoed killings in recent
weeks.
Far from making specific demands over prisoners, their messages
usually talk of leading an epic battle against the US and its allies
and destroying the current Iraqi government.
Copyright (c) Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
9) US Hand Seen in Afghan Election
Some candidates say the embassy pressured them not to run a
gainst President Karzai
By Paul Watson
KABUL, Afghanistan
Published on Thursday, September 23, 2004
by the Los Angeles Times
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0923-26.htm
KABUL, Afghanistan - Mohammed Mohaqiq says he was getting
ready to make his run for the Afghan presidency when U.S.
Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad dropped by his campaign office
and proposed a deal.
"He told me to drop out of the elections, but not in a way to put
pressure," Mohaqiq said. "It was like a request."
After the hourlong meeting last month, the ethnic Hazara warlord
said in an interview Tuesday, he wasn't satisfied with the rewards
offered for quitting, which he did not detail. Mohaqiq was still
determined to run for president - though, he said, the U.S.
ambassador wouldn't give up trying to elbow him out of the race.
"He left, and then called my most loyal men, and the most educated
people in my party or campaign, to the presidential palace and told
them to make me - or request me - to resign the nomination. And
he told my men to ask me what I need in return."
Mohaqiq, who is running in the Oct. 9 election, is one of several
candidates who maintain that the U.S. ambassador and his aides
are pushing behind the scenes to ensure a convincing victory by
the pro-American incumbent, President Hamid Karzai. The Americans
deny doing so.
"It is not only me," Mohaqiq said. "They have been doing the same
thing with all candidates. That is why all people think that not only
Khalilzad is like this, but the whole U.S. government is the same.
They all want Karzai - and this election is just a show."
The charges were repeated by several other candidates and their
senior campaign staff in interviews here. They reflected anger over
what many Afghans see as foreign interference that could undermine
the shaky foundations of a democracy the U.S. promised to build.
"This doesn't suit the representative of a nation that has helped us
in the past," said Sayed Mustafa Sadat Ophyani, campaign manager
for Younis Qanooni, Karzai's leading rival. "You have seen
Afghanistan suffering for 25 years, from the Russians, then the
Taliban. Why is the U.S. government now looking to make people
of Afghanistan accept whatever the U.S. government says?"
Qanooni said he and 13 other presidential candidates planned to
meet today in Kabul, the capital, to air complaints about Khalilzad's
interference.
In a statement released this week, Khalilzad denied the allegations
that he and his staff were meddling in the election.
"U.S. Embassy officials regularly keep in touch with all presidential
candidates, and we listen to their ideas and proposals," he said in
an e-mailed response from New York, where he was attending the
opening of the U.N. General Assembly.
"Officials from the U.S. mission support the elections process, not
individuals," the statement added. "No U.S. official can or will endorse
or campaign on behalf of any individual presidential candidate."
Khalilzad also said he "has never asked a candidate to withdraw -
this is a decision for each candidate to make for him or herself."
Since coming to power after the American-led invasion that
overthrew the Taliban in 2001, the interim Afghan government
largely has been beholden to the United States for its survival.
The U.S. has deployed about 18,000 troops and is spending about
$1 billion a year on reconstruction in the Central Asian nation.
Karzai depends on the Americans for his safety: DynCorp, a
Virginia-based firm, has provided his bodyguards since November
2002 under a contract with the State Department.
Khalilzad has been nicknamed "the Viceroy" because the influence
he wields over the Afghan government reminds some Afghans of
the excesses of British colonialism. Some of Karzai's rivals think that
the ambassador has taken on a new role: presidential campaign
manager.
This is not the first time Khalilzad has been accused of meddling
in Afghan politics. Delegates to gatherings that named Karzai
interim president in 2002 and ratified Afghanistan's new
Constitution last December also accused the ambassador of
interfering, even of paying delegates for their support. Khalilzad
denies the claims.
The latest allegations are perhaps more serious because the Bush
administration is portraying Afghanistan's presidential election as
a democratic victory for the country's people, who suffered under
more than two decades of strife. President Bush has touted bringing
Afghan democracy as a foreign policy success in his election
campaign.
There are 18 candidates in the Afghan election. Such a divided
field is expected to favor Karzai, whom Afghans hear and see
frequently on state-controlled radio and television.
The president, who is usually holed up in his heavily fortified palace
because of threats to his life, has made only one campaign trip
outside Kabul since the election campaign began Sept. 7. That trip
last Thursday was aborted when a rocket missed the U.S. military
helicopter in which he was traveling.
Mohaqiq commands strong loyalty among Hazaras and, if he chooses
to step aside and endorse Karzai, probably could deliver a large bloc
of votes. Mohaqiq said Tuesday that he might still do so - for the
right deal.
Mohaqiq said his senior aides met the U.S. ambassador at the
presidential palace, without Karzai. The aides agreed try again to
persuade their candidate to drop out of the race and throw his
support behind the incumbent, Mohaqiq said.
The pressure was so intense that he agreed to quit under certain
conditions, he added.
Mohaqiq said his demands, in the event of Karzai's victory, would
be four Cabinet posts for his party, four governorships in the
mainly Hazara provinces of central Afghanistan and a new road
from Kabul into the region, informally known as Hazarajat.
Mohaqiq said Khalilzad told him that the new road would not be
a problem, but that his party would have to settle for two ministerial
posts, two deputy spots in other ministries and one governorship.
"I was very interested in taking part in the elections, but since many
of my men were asking me to accept Khalilzad's ideas - and he was
also telling me to do so - I didn't have much choice, and I was ready
to agree," Mohaqiq said.
"But a good thing happened, and Karzai didn't agree with those terms,"
he added. "I don't know why."
Several leaders of the Northern Alliance, whose troops ousted the
Taliban regime in late 2001 with the help of U.S. air power, met in
Kabul on Friday to discuss what they said was Khalilzad's electoral
arm-twisting, said Mohammed Qasem Mohseni, one of presidential
candidate Abdul Latif Pedram's two running mates.
Mohseni said the summit participants included Foreign Minister
Abdullah, who goes by one name; former President Burhanuddin
Rabbani, who like Abdullah is a member of the Tajik minority; and
Ustad Abdul Rasul Sayyaf who, like Karzai, is a Pushtun, Afghanistan's
largest ethnic group.
"In this meeting, Ustad Sayyaf said that we have been under pressure
for 25 days by the U.S. government, by Khalilzad, to make Younis
Qanooni resign from the post of candidate for the presidency,"
Mohseni said.
Qanooni is not expected to win the race. However, he could
prevent Karzai from gaining more than 50% of the votes, forcing
a runoff and prolonging a campaign that already has drawn violent
attacks by Taliban and other insurgents.
Qanooni's campaign aides said Khalilzad was trying to persuade the
candidate to accept defeat before any ballots were counted and to
agree to join Karzai in a coalition government after the vote.
"Our hearts have been broken because we thought we could have
beaten Mr. Karzai if this had been a true election," Ophyani said.
"But it is not. Mr. Khalilzad is putting a lot of pressure on us and
does not allow us to fight a good election campaign."
Some say Khalilzad is working to draw Rabbani, the former president,
to Karzai's side, which would deepen the split in Qanooni's Northern
Alliance.
Qanooni supporters say that Rabbani, whose son-in-law is one of
Karzai's running mates, visited Badakhshan province last month
with Khalilzad and urged local militia commanders to back the
incumbent. The former president insists that the discussions in his
home province dealt only with reconstruction.
"I told Mr. Khalilzad, 'The people of Badakhshan are waiting for you,
and they are always asking, what is the U.S. government doing?' "
Rabbani said. "I told him to go there and see the people, and he
promised to construct a road and a dam for them."
There is nothing wrong with the U.S. ambassador working closely
with Afghanistan's president as long as he only offers advice and
doesn't make decisions, Rabbani added.
"I believe that Mr. Karzai and Khalilzad are linked very closely with
each other now and they were in the past too," Rabbani said. "And
when they have links, they probably have political links or any
other kind of links."
(c) 2004 Los Angeles Times
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
10) 100+ Organizing Centers for the Million Worker March!
Momentum is growing for the Million Worker March. There
are now more than 100 organizing centers across the
country as the word spreads and working people answer the
call to organizize in our own name.
http://www.AntiWar4theMillionWorkerMarch.org
***Become an organizer!
We need your help! We need more activists to become bus
organizers in their area. you can sign up online to
become an organizer:
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/organizingcenters.htm
We also need help with the enormous expenses involved with
organizing Anti War 4 the Million Worker March. You can
donate online at :
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/index.htm or by
mail. Make checks payable to: People's Rights Fund/Oct.17
Buses, and send to:
Antiwar4the Million Worker March
39 W. 14th St. #206
NY NY 10011
New endorsers are signing up daily. The executive board
of SEIU 1199 in NYC just voted to endorse. This is the
largest union in New York, with over 250,000 members. The
union also agreed to provide buses for their members who
wish to paticipate in the Million worker March,
Other recent endorsers include: Rainbow/PUSH, the Green
Party, AFSCME District Council 37, and many others. (for
an updated list of endorsers, see
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/endorsers.htm)
**NYC Rally & Fundraiser for the Million Worker March
Friday, September 24th 2004 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
New York, New York
Food, drinks, music, comedy, poetry, and even a few
speeches. Let's get together to have fun and show the
bosses we can build a big militant labor movement that
fights for jobs, education, health care and not war on
other poor and working people around the world. For more
information go to our organizing web site or contact by
email.
Location:
SEIU-32 BJ Union Hall 101 Sixth Ave. near Canal St, Grand
and Watts St. New York New York 10013
6-9 pm
For Ticket Information, contact Chris Silvera 718-389-1900
x 21, Brenda Stokely 212-219-0022 x5185, Hetram (Chuck)
Mohan 212-210-0022 x5119
http://www.AntiWar4theMillionWorkerMarch.org
Anyone can subscribe.
Send an email request to
AntiWar4theMillionWorkerMarch-subscribe@organizerweb.com
To unsubscribe AntiWar4theMillionWorkerMarch-unsubscribe@organizerweb.com
Subscribing and unsubscribing can also be done on the Web at
http://www.organizerweb.com/mailman/listinfo/antiwar4themillionworkermarch
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
11) DROP THE DEBT! STOP THE WAR! WE DEMAND JUSTICE!
THE MOBILIZATION FOR GLOBAL J
USTICE calls all activists to
WASHINGTON DC on OCTOBER 1ST
AND 2nd to protest the meetings of the G-7, the
World Bank and the IMF and to join
a Memorial Procession to end the war in
Iraq.
In 2002, developing countries received
$58 billion in loans and development
"aid", much of it from the World Bank
and the International Monetary Fund
(IMF). The same countries, in the same
year, REPAID OVER 5 TIMES THAT AMOUNT
in servicing their debt: $324 BILLION.
For many countries, paying back their
debt diverts public funds that would
otherwise go to public education,
healthcare, food subsidies, and other
essential services.
For the first time in history, 100%
multilateral debt cancellation for
impoverished nations is on the table.
An agreement could be reached on
October 1st during a meeting of the
G7 Finance Ministers. The joint annual
meeting of the IMF and World Bank take
place October 2nd and 3rd, and any
agreement on multilateral debt
cancellation would have to be ratified and
implemented there. THEY MUST FEEL THE
PRESSURE FROM US.
At the same time thousands of U.S. troops and
Iraqis continue to be killed
in Iraq while US corporations
like Halliburton reap the benefits.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1
"TIME'S UP! DROP THE DEBT!"
PICKET OF THE G-7 AT THE WORLD BANK/IMF MEETINGS
Friday, October 1, 12:00 noon, location TBA
Join Jubilee USA Network in front of
the G-7 Finance ministers meeting in a
spirited picket. We will be there
demanding that the voices of the millions
living under the harsh economic
regime of international debt be heard - 100%
Debt Cancellation Without Harmful
Conditions from the Resources of the World
Bank and the IMF! Money for health,
education, the environment, not for debt
payments!
For more information: Jubilee USA
Network, 202-783-3566, www.jubileeusa.org
WATCH AND WAIT_.
VIGIL AT THE WORLD BANK AND IMF MEETINGS
Friday, Oct. 1, 2:30pm through Saturday, Oct. 2, 6:00pm
Location: Outside the World Bank
and IMF, 18th and H Streets, NW
The 50 Years Is Enough Network,
the Religious Working Group on the World
Bank and the IMF, the Jubilee USA
Network, and Africa Action will keep vigil
outside the World Bank and IMF
meetings. We will honor the victims of 60
years of tragic policies and crippling
debt; we will call on the
institutions to cancel the debt. In
solidarity with the successful peoples
movements everywhere, we will
keep vigil in front of the World Bank and the
IMF, watching and waiting... for a
measure of justice! Please join us!
For more information: 50 Years Is
Enough Network, 202-463-2265,
www.50years.org
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2
A TRAIL OF MOURNING AND TRUTH
FROM IRAQ TO THE WHITE HOUSE
October 2, 12:00 noon: Gathering:
Arlington National Cemetery, Women's
Memorial
*Opening reflections by Andy Shallal,
Veterans, Families who have lost loved
ones in Iraq, and Others *Please wear
black mourning clothes befitting a
funeral or memorial *Arlington
National Cemetery Metro stop
(recommended) or
paid parking at the Cemetery
*The Women's Memorial is at the end of
Memorial Drive near the cemetery's entrance
1:00pm: Memorial Procession from
Arlington Cemetery to the White House
*Solemn procession across Memorial
Bridge, past the Lincoln Memorial, and to
the Ellipse side of the White House (approx 3 miles)
2:00pm: Closing Ceremony: The
White House, Ellipse
*Reading the names of the dead
and remembering the wounded *Speakers: Arun
Gandhi, Lila Lipscomb, Celeste
Zappala, Michael Berg, and Others
*Peacemakers risking arrest will
try to deliver the names of the dead to the
White House at the conclusion of
the ceremony. Those taking part are urged
to have nonviolence training, an
affinity group & observe nonviolence
guidelines. Max: 410-323-7200
mobuszewski@afsc.org.
Sponsored by a coalition of groups
including Iraq Pledge of Resistance,
Military Families Speak Out, Peace
Action, American Friends Service
Committee, DC Antiwar Network,
Washington Peace Center, and others.
For more information:
In Washington DC: 301-589-2355
or pledgecoordinator@starpower.net
Baltimore: 410-323-7200
Philadelphia/Wilmington: 302-656-2721
NYC: 212-228-0450 x104
FOLLOWING THE MEMORIAL PROCESSION,
MGJ WILL MARCH TO JOIN THE VIGIL AT THE
WORLD BANK AND IMF MEETINGS
The vigil will culminate in a closing ceremony 4:00-6:00pm
THE MOBILIZATION FOR GLOBAL
JUSTICE is a Washington DC based group that
works on issues of global economic
and social justice and sustainability. We
believe another world is possible and
necessary. We envision a world free of
corporate domination and crushing debt,
particularly in communities of
color. We act to expose and change the
institutionalized violence wrought by
international financial and trade institutions
such as the World Bank,
International Monetary Fund, and World
Trade Organization.
The Mobilization is committed to nonviolence
and recognizes militarism as a
tool used by the global corporate elite
to keep money flowing to the
privileged few while restricting the
rights of people worldwide. We oppose
corporate practice which places short-
term profits ahead of human dignity,
sustainable development and a healthy
earth. We stand for the globalization
of our rights to speech, thought, religion,
assembly, a clean environment,
self-determination, freedom from fear
and persecution and freedom from
poverty.
We stand for the rights of women,
children, elderly, affordable health care,
strong labor rights and social and
economic policies that put people and the
environment before profits. Finally,
we are committed to linking the IMF and
World Bank policies to similar ones
that are being implemented in Washington
DC which are resulting in decreased
access to vital human services for DC's
most needy residents. To that other
globalization--the globalization of
greed and obscene concentrations of
wealth--we say that Another World Is
Possible and Necessary.
MGJ is a non-hierarchical nonviolent
organization of individuals and
organizations that promotes the arts,
conducts workshops, facilitates
nonviolent direct actions, educates,
organizes, campaigns, empowers, and
aims to rip injustice from its roots.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
12) Who Is Ayad Allawi?
September 23, 2004
Ayad Allawi spoke before a joint session of the U.S. Congress this
morning. He spoke of "the values of liberty and democracy." For
general information on Allawi, see the resource Disinfopedia:
www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Iyad_Allawi .
Here are some relevant articles:
The New York Times , "Ex-C.I.A. Aides Say Iraq Leader Helped
Agency in 90's Attacks" (June 9, 2004)
by Joel Brinkley
The article states: "Dr. Allawi's group, the Iraqi National Accord,
used car bombs and other explosive devices smuggled into
Baghdad from northern Iraq, the officials said."
www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0609-02.htm
The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), "Allawi Shot Inmates
in Cold Blood, Say Witnesses" (July 17, 2004)
by Paul McGeough, Chief Herald Correspondent, in Baghdad
www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0716-01.htm
The Guardian (UK), "Who Seized Simona Torretta? -- This Iraqi
Kidnapping has the Mark of an Undercover Police Operation"
(Sept. 16, 2004)
by Naomi Klein and Jeremy Scahill
The article states: "...witnesses said that several attackers
wore Iraqi National Guard uniforms and identified themselves
as working for Ayad Allawi, the interim prime minister."
www.commondreams.org/views04/0916-11.htm
The Independent (UK), "Exiled Allawi was Responsible
for 45-Minute WMD Claim" (May 29, 2004)
by Patrick Cockburn
www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0529-02.htm
The Guardian (UK), "Al-Jazeera closure 'a blow to
freedom'" (August 9, 2004)
by Lisa O'Carroll and agencies
The article states: "The Iraq prime minister's
decision to throw al-Jazeera out of Baghdad
and ban it from operating for 30 days is 'a
serious blow to press freedom,' Reporters Sans
Frontieres has said.'"
http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1279410,00.html
The Egyptian Gazette (Cairo, via AP),
"On the Selection of Ayad Allawi as Iraq's
Prime Minister" (June 1, 2004)
The editorial states: "The U.S.-installed
Interim Governing Council named Ayad
Allawi, a member of the IGC, to head the
government that takes over on June 30.
Allawi's selection could be seen as a pre-
emptive bid to consolidate the council's
grip on power and turn the transitional
government into a U.S. puppet. It is a slap
in the face for the U.N. as well. The IGC is
unpopular with most Iraqis for comprising
Iraqi exiles. Even Lakhdar Ibrahimi, the U.N.
envoy to Iraq, was taken aback by the
announcement of Allawi as the new prime minister."
WILLIAM BLUM, bblum6@aol.com ,www.killinghope.org
Blum is author of the books Killing Hope: U.S.
Military and CIA Interventions Since World War
II and Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only
Superpower .
DOUGLAS VALENTINE, redspruce@comcast.net ,
www.douglasvalentine.com
Author of the book The Phoenix Program , about
U.S. "counter-insurgency" operations in Vietnam,
Valentine said today: "Allawi worked for Saddam,
then for the British secret services, then the CIA.
The U.S. government clearly needs a strongman
to do its bidding; someone who acts on self-interest
and not in the interest of the Iraqi people he's
supposed to represent. It looks like Allawi fits that
bill quite well."
For more information, contact at the Institute for
Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan,
(541) 484-9167
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
13) Mistrial in Pepper Spray Suit
Jurors Deadlock 6-2 in Favor of Demonstrators
By Bob Egelko
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0923-20.htm
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/09/23/
BAGHJ8T65U28.DTL
SAN FRANCISCO - The second trial of a lawsuit filed by anti-logging
protesters whose eyes were doused with pepper spray ended Wednesday the
same way the first did -- with jurors unable to agree whether police and
sheriff's deputies in Humboldt County had inflicted unnecessary pain to
break up sit-ins.
These images taken from a video that was shot by the Eureka, Calif.,
Police Department, according to Headwaters Forest Defenders, show what
Headwaters Forest Defenders allege are officers swabbing the eyes of
demonstrators with liquid pepper spray at the office of U.S. Rep. Frank
Riggs in Eureka, Calif., Oct. 16, 1997. A federal judge declared a
mistrial Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2004, when a second jury deadlocked on the
question of whether police went too far by swabbing pepper spray on the
eyes of bound, nonviolent logging protesters in 1997. (AP
Photo/Headwaters Forest Defenders, File)
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston declared a mistrial after jurors in
her San Francisco courtroom told her they were hopelessly deadlocked in
6 1/2 hours of deliberations over two days. Several jurors told
reporters afterward that the vote had been 6-2 in favor of the
plaintiffs, who argued that the use of pepper spray on nonviolent
demonstrators was excessive force.
The jury in the first trial in 1998, a year after the incidents,
deadlocked 4-4. The activists and their lawyers quickly announced plans
Wednesday for a third trial.
"We will win next time,'' declared attorney J. Tony Serra. "It'll be a
different kind of trial. It'll still be political. It'll still be
vehement.''
"It is a long haul,'' said plaintiff Spring Lundberg, 24. "Post-Sept.
11, it may be hard for people to realize that a badge, a uniform may be
misused.''
The defendants -- Humboldt County, its current and former sheriff and
the city of Eureka -- argued that pepper spray was a temporarily painful
but safe option for dislodging demonstrators who occupy private property
and resist legitimate demands to leave. They noted that a state advisory
commission approved guidelines for applying liquid pepper spray
alongside the eyes of demonstrators in 1998.
Defense lawyer Nancy Delaney said she would ask Illston to dismiss the
suit rather than retry it. U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker granted
Delaney's request for a dismissal after the first trial, saying no
reasonable juror could find excessive force, but he was overruled by an
appeals court and later removed from the case.
The suit stems from demonstrations during a three-week period in
September and October 1997 at Pacific Lumber Co. headquarters in Scotia,
at a company logging site and at the Eureka office of a pro-logging
congressman.
The protesters, including the eight plaintiffs, locked themselves
together inside heavy metal sleeves and refused to leave. After
warnings, officers applied liquid pepper spray to the corners of their
eyes with Q-tips, then sprayed the chemical in the faces of those who
still refused to unlock. Videotapes of demonstrators screaming in pain
were shown on national television and played for the jury.
In the past, the sheriff's office had used electric grinders to cut
through the metal sleeves. But Sheriff Dennis Lewis and his chief
deputy, Gary Philp, who is now the sheriff, said they changed their
policy in 1997 after officers voiced fears that the grinders would
injure someone or start a fire, and after they reviewed studies that
concluded pepper spray was safe.
The plaintiffs said they suffered lasting physical and psychological
effects from the pepper spray, and accused the sheriff's office of
acting at the behest of Pacific Lumber, the county's largest employer,
to crack down on a growing movement protesting the logging of old-growth
forests.
After the mistrial, juror Elva Ibarra of Livermore said the officers had
gone too far.
"They used pepper spray on nonviolent people,'' she said. "They had
other options.''
The two jurors who voted for a finding of reasonable force declined to
speak to reporters. But the jury foreman -- E.M. Feigenbaum, a
psychiatrist from San Rafael who sided with the plaintiffs -- said the
dissident jurors "thought pepper spray was not so terrible, that it was
only temporary. I tried to point out that there was post-traumatic
stress disorder.''
Illston made a last-minute attempt to settle the case Wednesday, calling
lawyers into her chambers after jurors first reported they were stymied.
But the judge ran into the same obstacle that has thwarted settlement
efforts for years: The plaintiffs want Humboldt County and Eureka to
stop using pepper spray against political demonstrators, a demand the
law enforcement agencies reject.
"We cannot resolve a legal case by urging the sheriff to change policy
in a way that would potentially pose a greater risk of injury,'' Delaney
said.
(c) 2004 San Francisco Chronicle
The material in this post is distributed without profit to those
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Via: earthfirstalert list - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/earthfirstalert
List-Subscribe: mailto:earthfirstalert-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
14) Subject: Mural dream...Idriss Stelley Foundation
From: Iolmisha@cs.com
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 14:05:14 EDT
Hello!
My name is mesha Monge-Irizarry, CO-Director of Idriss Stelley
Foundation. (For background, you may log on justice4idriss.org, or
idrissonelove.com, or google serach under mesha Irizarry, Idriss
Stelley, or Idriss Stelley Foundation).
My only child, 23, was killed by SFPD at the SF Sony Metreon on
6-13-01, 48 bullets, 9 cops, while standing alone in an empty
theater. With the proceedings of the settlement, I created our
foundation along with sandra-juanita Cooper. We provide free,
confidential services to the biological &extended families of loved
ones endangered, traumatized, disabled or killed by law
enforcement. Idriss was a community activist and is sorely
missed by his family and community. His case as well as Amadou
Diallo's are landmarks nationwide around use of deadly force
against young Black males, and Idriss' case is at the root of Prop
H, Police Reform which won by a substantial margin on SF Nov 03
Ballot, and of the expanded SFPD Mental Health training since
March 2002.
We have dreamed for a long time to do a mural in memory of
Idriss alongside our house on Hawes and Ingerson, 1 block from
3COM Park, and for the past year to combine it with end youth
violence, and violence against youth of color in SF. The message
would be that the youth ain't the criminal, the institution is !
Poverty and environmental racism is the cause of criminalization
of youth of color. The 29 Sunset bus, which transports all BVHP
youth to public schools turns in front of the house, and we get a
huge crowd passing by every 49ers game. The impact of the
mural would be phenomenal and would definitely make history in SF.
Although several artists have expressed an interest in working
on the project, we would love working on a collaboration with
your organization because of its dynamism and long track record
of fighting for social justice.
Our original idea is to pay minimum wage to youth from several
Bayview Hunters Point public housing projects and make the site
a Violence/Drug Free zone, have them "Paint by numbers" and add
their own personal touch to end youth violence in SF. Such project
is similar to the initial efforts to bring truce in LA between the
Bloods and the Crips.
It would be a healing focal point for all groups currently working
on ending youth violence in SF, and an inspiration for our
criminalized youngsters in Bayview.
We would be grateful, regardless of your decision, to get your
advise on possible grant sources, deals for renting scuffles,
supplies, covering kids salaries. The area to cover is approximately
50 ft on wood. We will also approach Reclaiming the Commons and
Green Earth Alliance (we already have a collaboration), to create a
resting space w/ cultures and benches by the mural.
Please give us a response if interested at your earliest convenience.
This would mean the world to our Bayview Hunters Point community
as well as expanding your already shining proactivity in our troubled
city!
_In solidarity,
mesha
I S F
Idriss Stelley Foundation
(415) 595-8251
(Bilingual Spa. 24-HR Crisis Line)
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
15) Action Alert- "Anti-Semitism" Bill, Weapons Sale to Israel
From: "Middle East Children's Alliance"
Throughout this past year Rep. Tom Lantos (CA) has been pushing for a
new bill that would create a new office in the State Department to
monitor "anti-Semitism" in the US and abroad. The Global Anti-Semitism Act
that Lantos co-authored this spring states that, "Anti-Semitism has at
times taken the form of vilification of Zionism...and incitement against
Israel."
This action by Lantos follows on the heels of House Resolution 3077 in
fall of 2003. HR 3077, now pending, would create an advisory board that
monitors anti-American and anti-Israeli statements at universities
receiving government funding. This resolution severely restricts academic
freedom and is meant to intimidate professors whose work challenges
mainstream views on Middle East history and US foreign policy.
This bill does not stand in isolation; it is part of a growing trend in
the United States to construe anti-Israel and anti-Zionist views as
"anti-Semitic". The silencing of criticism of the State of Israel and its
discriminatory policies is a dangerous abridgement of our First
Amendment rights. Even the State Department has objected to this bill
stating
that "[i]t could erode our credibility by being interpreted as
favoritism in human rights reporting."
This week 104 prominent Americans sent a letter to Colin Powell
supporting the bill and Lantos won backing for this bill from Rep. Chris
Smith
(NJ).
Please contact Lantos and Smith to express your concern about the
abridgement of our civil rights and liberties.
We cannot allow our government to stifle debate and discussion on these
important issues.
Representative Lantos
Web Site: www.house.gov/lantos
Washington Office:
2413 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0512
Phone: (202) 225-3531
Fax: (202) 226-4183
Main District Office:
400 S. El Camino Real, #410
San Mateo, CA 94402
Phone: (650) 342-0300
Fax: (650) 375-8270
Representative Smith
Web Site: www.house.gov/chrissmith
Washington Office:
2373 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3004
Phone: (202) 225-3765
Fax: (202) 225-7768
Main District Office:
1540 Kuser Rd., Ste. A9
Hamilton, NJ 08619
Phone: (609) 585-7878
Fax: (609) 585-9155
US to Sell 5,000 Smart Bombs to Israel
from Haaretz http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/479587.html "The United
States will sell Israel 5,000 smart bombs, for $319
million, according to a report made to Congress a few weeks ago. The funding
will come from the U.S. military aid to Israel...
"The Pentagon told Congress that the bombs are meant to maintain
Israel's qualitative advantage, and advance U.S. strategic and tactical
interests.
"Among the bombs the air force will get are 500 one-ton bunker busters
that can penetrate two-meter-thick cement walls; 2,500 regular one-ton
bombs; 1,000 half-ton bombs; and 500 quarter-ton bombs.
"Government sources said the bomb deal, one of the largest weapons
deals of recent years, did not face any political difficulties, despite the
use Israel has made of U.S.-made F-16s in some of its assassinations in
the territories... The government sources said Israel will not be
asking for any new weapons systems or purchases until after the upcoming
November elections..."
Ask Your Representatives to Oppose the Sale of So-Called "Smart" Bombs
to Israel
TALKING POINTS
* The illegal use of these one-ton bombs in civilian residential areas
of the Palestinian territories has resulted in the mass killing of
hundreds of Palestinian civilians, including many children. In July of
2002, the Israeli occupation forces dropped a one-ton bomb into an
apartment building to kill a single person.
*In the last four years, 3,300 Palestinians (including over 600
children) have been killed by the Israeli military with American weapons.
Giving these bombs to Israel is akin to giving them a green light to
continue targeting Palestinian civilians and children.
*Since 1967, Israel has acted against the occupied Palestinian
population in direct violation of international law, humanitarian
conventions
ad 33 United Nations Security Council Resolutions.
*The US State Department has reported on systematic Israeli violations
of Palestinian human rights: house demolitions, illegal settlement
building, and closures. Furthermore US military aid to Israel is in
violation of US Arms Export Act, which forbids the US government from giving
military assistance to any country that violates internationally
recognized human rights.
*Despite the above information, the US government continues to reward
Israel with over $5 billion a year in aid (at least $500 million of
which is military aid) which is paid entirely by US tax dollars.
*Tell your representatives that U.S. support for Israeli human rights
violations will affect how you vote in the next election.
To find contact information for your representatives go to
www.congress.org
Middle East Children's Alliance
901 Parker Street
Berkeley, California 94710
United States
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3, 3:00 p.m.
1380 Valencia Street
(Between 24th & 25th Streets, S.F.)
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
VOTE YES ON PROP. 'N'! BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!
Come to the
BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW COMMITTEE MEETING
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 7:00 p.m.
AFSC - First Floor
65 NINTH STREET
(1/2 block from Market St., SF)
Help get the word out about Prop. 'N'. Bring your ideas for
community outreach, media, action, and more to make sure
we win by a landslide!
No matter who wins the elections this year, the war will not
be over. This ballot initiative will set the example for cities across
the country to do the same in future elections.
Pick up material to distribute!*
PROPOSITION 'N' ON THE NOVEMBER 3
SAN FRANCISCO BALLOT DECLARES:
"It is the policy of the people of the City and County of
San Francisco that: The Federal government should take
immediate steps to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq and
bring our troops safely home now."
Visit: www.yesonn.net
* Material costs money. Already thousands of brochures have
been printed and we need more! We need posters and buttons--
we need to cover the city with YES on 'N' campaign material!
Please send a contribution to help with these costs!
Make your check payable to:
Bring Our Troops Home Now
and mail to :
David Looman, Treasurer
325 Highland Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94110
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Gates Tops Forbes List of Richest in U.S. -- Again
Thu Sep 23, 2004 07:00 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters)
2) Don't Worry - It's Only a 'Soft Patch'
By John Peterson
http://www.socialistappeal.org/econnews/soft_patch.html
3) STATEMENT BY H.E. MR. FELIPE PÃREZ ROQUE, MINISTER
OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA, AT THE
59TH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
NEW YORK, 24 SEPTEMBER 2004.
4) Why We Cannot Win
By Al Lorentz
September 20, 2004
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig5/lorentz1.html
5) For the troops on the ground, Iraq might as well be Vietnam
September 20, 2004
http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-ARMYPAPER-319026.php
[There is no name of author...BW]
6) Anguish over Iraq war resonates in Missouri
By Tim Jones, Tribune national correspondent
September 24, 2004
Chicago Tribune
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/chitribts/20040924/
ts_chicagotrib/anguishoveriraqwarresonatesinmissouri&cid=2027&ncid=1480
7) The Triple Crises in the U.S.
By James Petras
www.antiterroristas.cu/index.php?tpl=noticia/
anew¬iciaid=99¬iciafecha=2002-09-11
8) Clash Over Prisoners Exposes Power Struggle
US overrules Iraqi government plan to free women scientists
By Rory McCarthy in Baghdad
Published on Thursday, September 23, 2004 by the Guardian/UK
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0923-01.htm
9) US Hand Seen in Afghan Election
Some candidates say the embassy pressured them not to run a
gainst President Karzai
By Paul Watson
KABUL, Afghanistan
Published on Thursday, September 23, 2004
by the Los Angeles Times
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0923-26.htm
10) 100+ Organizing Centers for the Million Worker March!
Momentum is growing for the Million Worker March. There
are now more than 100 organizing centers across the
country as the word spreads and working people answer the
call to organizize in our own name.
http://www.AntiWar4theMillionWorkerMarch.org
***Become an organizer!
11) DROP THE DEBT! STOP THE WAR! WE DEMAND JUSTICE!
12) Who Is Ayad Allawi?
September 23, 2004
13) Mistrial in Pepper Spray Suit
Jurors Deadlock 6-2 in Favor of Demonstrators
By Bob Egelko
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0923-20.htm
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/09/23/
BAGHJ8T65U28.DTL
14) Subject: Mural dream...Idriss Stelley Foundation
From: Iolmisha@cs.com
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 14:05:14 EDT
15) Action Alert- "Anti-Semitism" Bill, Weapons Sale to Israel
From: "Middle East Children's Alliance"
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Gates Tops Forbes List of Richest in U.S. -- Again
Thu Sep 23, 2004 07:00 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Nasdaq may be well off its highs
of the dot-com era, but tech tycoons still top the list of the
wealthiest Americans.
For the 11th consecutive year, Microsoft Corp. co-founder
Bill Gates took first place on the "Forbes 400" list of the
richest people in the United States. Forbes magazine will
publish its annual list in its Oct. 11 issue.
Joining Gates in the top 10 are fellow tech titans Paul
Allen (No. 3), Michael Dell (No. 9) and Larry Ellison (No. 10).
Allen co-founded Microsoft, Dell is the founder and chairman of
Dell Inc., and Ellison is the co-founder and chief executive of
Oracle Corp. .
One of the year's most anticipated initial public offerings
helped Google Inc. founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page make
their debut on the list, tied for No. 43.
Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Michael Eisner dropped off
the list this year, but first lady hopeful Teresa Heinz Kerry
returned to it.
For the first time since 2000, the total net worth of the
richest Americans topped $1 trillion in 2004, up $45 billion
from last year. The list includes a record number of
billionaires at 313, or 78 percent of the list.
Legendary investor Warren Buffett remains in the No. 2
slot, adding $5 billion to his $41 billion in the past 12
months, the largest dollar increase seen this year. Rounding
out the top 10 are the five heirs to Sam Walton's Wal-Mart
Stores fortune, each with $18 billion.
Casino operator Steve Wynn was the biggest percentage
gainer this year, doubling his worth to $1.3 billion.
Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos dropped the most, losing $800 million,
but still ranked at No. 38.
Notably missing from this year's list is Disney's Eisner,
who earlier this week announced his intent to leave the
company's board when he steps down as CEO in 2006.
Also excluded is long-time list member buyout king Theodore
Forstmann, who suffered losses on his investments in XO
Communications and McLeodUSA .
Several family fortunes are included in the list for the
first time, including 10 members of the Pritzker family, heirs
to the Hyatt hotel chain, and five members of the S.C. Johnson
family, all of whom are billionaires.
Teresa Heinz Kerry, the wife of Democratic presidential
nominee John Kerry, returned to the list in 2004, with an
estimated inheritance of $750 million.
The youngest person on the list is 31-year-old Google
co-founder Brin, while the oldest is investor Max Fisher, 96,
with $775 million.
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) Don't Worry - It's Only a 'Soft Patch'
By John Peterson
http://www.socialistappeal.org/econnews/soft_patch.html
Alan Greenspan and the officers of the Federal Reserve Bank would
have us believe that "the fundamentals of the economy are very strong."
US GDP is still growing - albeit at its slowest pace in over a year - and
corporate profits are up 18 percent from a year earlier, at an annual
$898 billion. Although the stock market has its ups and downs, it has
recovered a substantial amount of the ground lost when the IT boom
collapsed in 2000. Generally speaking, all is rosy in the best of all
possible worlds - recent data suggesting the recovery is faltering
reflects nothing but a "soft patch" in Mr. Greenspan's opinion. This
may be the view from the heights of corporate and financial power,
but what's the reality for millions of workers down here on planet earth?
The real state of the economy is reflected in the following figures
from the U.S. Census Bureau:
The number of impoverished Americans grew by 1.3 million from
2002 to 2003 to 35.9 million. The number of Americans living
in poverty now stands at 12.5 percent, up from 21.1 percent in
2002. The poverty line is set at an annual income of $9,573 or
less for an individual, or $18,660 for a family of four with two
children. These official thresholds are unrealistic, and in reality,
the poverty rate is much higher.
The rate of child poverty rose to 17.6 percent from 16.7 percent in
2002 - boosting the number of poor children to 12.9 million.
The poverty rate of African Americans remained nearly twice the
national rate, with 24.4 percent of blacks living below the poverty
line in 2003, up from 24.1 percent a year earlier.
The number of Americans without health insurance increased by 1.4
million to 45 million, which represents 15.6 percent of the population.
Most of those who do have insurance have to pay exorbitant
premiums and co-pays, and often have to go to court to receive
health services covered by their plans.
In 1973, the wealthiest 20 percent of households accounted for 44
percent of total U.S. income. Their share jumped to 50 percent in
2002, while everyone else's fell. For the bottom fifth, the share
dropped from 4.2 percent to 3.5 percent.
The above figures make it clear the income gap between rich and
poor is expanding rapidly. This is graphically illustrated by booming
sales of luxury items. Porsche Cars North America Inc. says sales
are up 17 percent for the year. Strong sales at higher-end
department stores Neiman
Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue overshadow lackluster
sales at stores frequented by working people such as Wal-Mart,
Sears and Payless Shoes.
The truth is, most American workers are scratching their
heads and asking themselves the following question: "what
economic recovery?" The numbers that affect our day-to-day
lives are not so rosy. Inflation has risen over 3 percent in each
of the first two quarters of 2004, with the rise in food and energy
costs taking a further bite out of stagnant or shrinking real wages.
The cost of health care, tuition, and housing has also soared. The
consumer debt burden is unbearable, quality jobs are hard to find,
and as single mother Annie Clark recently put it, millions of
Americans live in a "perpetual state of panic financially."
According to Clark: "I barely make $10 an hour, and I get no health
insurance. I can't get through the week without an empty bank
account. I make generally between 10 and 11 grand a year - I make
nothing. I can't afford to be given a car. I won't have the money to
register it, to get the insurance, to do repairs; inflation is just eating
up my paycheck. There's no safety net, and there are so many people
who are so worse off than me." (Reported on Yahoo! News)
Ms. Clark's words are an eloquent and tragic summing up of the
situation facing millions of employed Americans, and for those out
of work the situation is often worse. Finding a low-paying "McJob"
is often seen as a bit of good fortune, and homelessness is a very
real fear for many who were lead to believe that a comfortable and
affordable home, 2 car garage, and white picket fence were a given
in America. Debbie Reames of Raytown, Missouri, whose bank job of
24 years was sent overseas in February, said the following in a recent
interview: "We're just trying to get ahead. But it seems like we climb
a few rungs and then we fall back again."
As we have explained in the past, the key to any real improvement
in the situation is job creation. But the capitalists are not in the
business of creating jobs; they are in the business of making money.
If they can increase profits with fewer workers by making their
existing employees work longer and squeezing more out of them
in the same amount of time, they will do that rather than invest in
productive capacity or new job positions. It's true that more than a
million jobs have been added back to the nearly 3 million lost since
Bush took office, but they pay less, are less secure, and offer fewer
benefits, such as health insurance. Most new jobs are concentrated
in health care, food services, and temporary employment firms, all
lower-paying industries. Temp agencies alone account for about a
fifth of all new jobs. Three in five pay below the national median
hourly wage of $13.53. On a weekly basis, the average wage of
$525.84 is at the lowest level since October 2001.
This situation has little to do with which big-business political
party is in power, but rather with the organically dysfunctional
nature of the capitalist system itself. According to Sung Won Sohn,
chief economist of Wells Fargo Bank, "This really has nothing to
do with Bush or Kerry, but more to do with the longer-term shift
in the structure of the economy."
The capitalist system always has its ups and downs, but in the
current period, the overall trend is downward - the booms are
weak and uneven and don't make up for the losses suffered
during the slumps. Working people have it nearly as bad during
the "booms" as during the slumps. If this is a "soft patch", what
will happen to millions of workers when the economy inevitably
sinks back into a full-blown recession at some point in the future?
American workers are very pragmatic, energetic, and creative
when looking for ways to get things done. Annie Clark proposes
some very basic and reasonable solutions to the crisis facing
millions like her: "What could help me get out of this is universal
health care. What could get me out of this is fairness in the taxing
situation." However, these apparently simple solutions cannot be
implemented without the most ferocious resistance on behalf of
the ruling class. The profit-based capitalist system cannot
significantly improve our living standards. On the contrary, the
bosses have launched an all-out offensive against the gains we
have struggled for in the past. Workers make up the vast majority
of American society. We need to build a real alternative that can
truly address our class interests and solve the dire crisis confronting
us. That alternative is socialism.
Economic News
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
3) STATEMENT BY H.E. MR. FELIPE PÃREZ ROQUE, MINISTER OF
FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA, AT THE 59TH
SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
NEW YORK, 24 SEPTEMBER 2004.
Mr. President:
Every year at the United Nations we go through the same ritual. We
attend the general debate knowing beforehand that the clamor for
justice and peace by our underdeveloped countries will be ignored
once again. However, we persist. We know that we are right. We know
that one day we will accomplish social justice and development. We
also know that such assets will not be given away to us. We know
that the peoples will have to seize them from those who deny us
justice today, because they underpin their wealth and arrogance on
the disdain for our grief. But it will not be always like this. We
say so today with more conviction than ever before.
Having said this and knowing  as we do  that some powerful ones,
just a few, present here will be chagrined, and also knowing that
they are shared by many, Cuba will now tell some truths:
First: After the aggression on Iraq, there is no United Nations
Organization, understood as a useful and diverse forum, based on the
respect for the rights of all and also with guarantees for the small
States.
It is living through the worst moment of its already forthcoming 60
years. It pales, it pants, it feigns, but it does not work.
Who handcuffed the United Nations named by President Roosevelt?
President Bush.
Second: US troops will have to be withdrawn from Iraq.
After the life of over 1,000 American youths was uselessly
sacrificed to serve the spurious interests of a clique of cronies
and buddies, and following the death of more than 12,000 Iraqis, it
is clear that the only way out for the occupying power faced with a
revolting people is to recognize the impossibility of subduing them
and to withdraw. In spite of the imperial monopoly over information,
the peoples always get to the truth. Someday, those responsible and
their accomplices will have to deal with the consequences of their
actions in the face of History and their own peoples.
Third: For the time being, there will be no valid, real and useful
reform to the United Nations.
It would take the superpower, which inherited the immense
prerogative of governing an order conceived for a bipolar world, to
relinquish its privileges. And it will not do so.
Since now, we know that the anachronistic privilege of the veto will
remain; that the Security Council will not be democratized as it
should or expanded to include Third World countries; that the
General Assembly will continue to stand ignored and that at the
United Nations there will be more actions driven by the interests
imposed by the superpower and its allies. We, as non-aligned
countries, will have to entrench ourselves in defending the United
Nations Charter  because, otherwise, it will be redrafted with the
deletion of every trace of principles such as the sovereign equality
of States, non-intervention and the non-use or the threat to use
force.
Fourth: The powerful collude to divide us.
The over 130 underdeveloped countries must build a common front for
the defense of the sacred interests of our peoples, of our right to
development and peace. Let us revitalize the Non-Aligned Movement.
Let us strengthen the G-77.
Fifth: The modest objectives of the Millennium Declaration will not
be accomplished. We will reach the fifth anniversary of the Summit
in a worse situation.
 We endeavored to halve by 2015 the 1.276 billion human
beings in abject poverty that existed in 1990. There had to be a
yearly reduction of 46 million poor people. However, excluding
China, between 1990 and 2000 extreme poverty rose by 28 million
people. Impoverishment does not decline, it grows.
 We wanted to halve by 2015 the 842 million starving people
recorded in the world. There had to be a yearly reduction of 28
million. However, there has barely been a reduction of 2.1 million
hungry people per year. At this rate, the goal would be attained by
2215, two hundred years after what was envisaged  and only if our
species survives the destruction of its environment.
 We proclaimed the aspiration to achieve universal primary
education by 2015. However, more than 120 million children, 1 in
every 5 in that school age, do not attend primary school. According
to UNICEF, at the current rate the goal will be accomplished after
2100.
 We endeavored to reduce by two-thirds the mortality rate in
children under five years of age. The reduction is symbolic: out of
86 children who died per 1,000 live births in 1998, now the figure
is 82. Every year, 11 million children continue to die of diseases
that can be prevented or cured, whose parents will rightfully wonder
what our meetings are for.
 We said that we would pay attention to Africa's special
needs. However, very little has been done. African nations do not
need foreign advice or models, but financial resources and access to
both markets and technologies. Assisting Africa would not be an act
of charity, but an act of justice; it would be tantamount to
settling the historical debt resulting from centuries of
exploitation and pillage.
 We undertook to put a halt to and start reverting the AIDS
pandemic by 2015. However, in 2003 it claimed nearly 3 million
lives. At this rate, by 2015 some 36 million people will have died
of this cause.
Sixth: Creditor countries and the international financial agencies
will not seek a just and lasting solution to the foreign debt.
They prefer to keep us in debt; that is, vulnerable. Therefore, even
though we have paid off US$ 4.1 trillion in debt service over the
last 13 years, our debt increased from US$ 1.4 trillion to US$ 2.6
trillion. It means that we have paid three times what we owed and
now our debt is twice as much.
Seventh: We, as underdeveloped countries, are the ones that finance
the squandering and the opulence of developed countries.
While in 2003 they gave us US$ 68.400 billion in ODA, we delivered
to them US$ 436 billion as payment for the foreign debt. Who is
helping who?
Eighth: The fight against terrorism can only be won through
cooperation among all nations and with respect for International
Law, and not through massive bombings or pre-emptive wars
against "dark corners of the world."
Hypocrisy and double standards must cease. Sheltering three Cuban-
born terrorists in the United States is an act of complicity to
terrorism. Punishing five Cuban youths who were fighting terrorism,
and punishing their families, is a crime.
Ninth: General and complete disarmament, including nuclear
disarmament, is impossible today. It is the responsibility of a
group of developed countries that are the ones that most sell and
buy weapons.
However, we must continue to strive for it. We must demand that the
over US$ 900 billion set aside every year for military expenditures
be used on development; and
Tenth: The financial resources to guarantee the sustainable
development for all the peoples on the planet are available, but
what is lacking is the political will of those who rule the world.
A development tax of merely 0.1% on international financial
transactions would generate resources amounting to almost US$ 400
billion per annum.
The cancellation of the foreign debt incurred by underdeveloped
countries would allow these to have available for their development
no less than US$ 436 billion on a yearly basis  money which is
currently used to pay off the debt.
If developed countries complied with their commitment to set aside
0.7% of their Gross National Product as ODA, their contribution
would increase from the current US$ 68.400 billion to US$ 160
billion per annum.
Finally, Excellencies, I want to clearly express Cuba's profound
conviction that the 6.4 billion human beings on this planet  who
have equal rights according to the United Nations Charter  urgently
need a new order in which the world is not left in suspense, as is
the case now, awaiting the outcome of the elections in a new Rome in
which only half the voters will participate and nearly US$ 1.5
billion will be spent.
There is no discouragement in our words, I must say so clearly. We
are optimistic because we are revolutionaries. We have faith in the
struggle of the peoples and we are certain that we will accomplish a
new world order based on the respect for the rights of all; an order
based on solidarity, justice and peace, resulting from the best of
universal culture and not from mediocrity or gross force.
About Cuba, which cannot be detoured from its course by blockades,
threats, hurricanes, droughts or human or natural force, I will not
say anything.
Next 28 October, for the 13th time, this General Assembly will
debate and vote on a resolution about the blockade imposed against
the Cuban people. Once again, morality and principles will defeat
arrogance and force.
I would like to conclude by recalling the words spoken right here 25
years ago by President Fidel Castro:
"The noise of weapons, of the menacing language, of the haughtiness
on the international scene must cease. Enough of the illusion that
the problems of the world can be solved by nuclear weapons. Bombs
may kill the hungry, the sick and the ignorant, but bombs cannot
kill hunger, disease and ignorance. Nor can bombs kill the righteous
rebellion of the people "
Thank you very much.
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---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
4) Why We Cannot Win
By Al Lorentz
September 20, 2004
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig5/lorentz1.html
Before I begin, let me state that I am a soldier currently deployed in
Iraq, I am not an armchair quarterback. Nor am I some politically
idealistic and naïve young soldier, I am an old and seasoned
Non-Commissioned Officer with nearly 20 years under my belt. Additionally,
I am not just a soldier with a muds-eye view of the war, I am in Civil
Affairs and as such, it is my job to be aware of all the events occurring
in this country and specifically in my region.
I have come to the conclusion that we cannot win here for a number of
reasons. Ideology and idealism will never trump history and reality.
When we were preparing to deploy, I told my young soldiers to beware of the
"political solution." Just when you think you have the situation on the
ground in hand, someone will come along with a political directive that
throws you off the tracks.
I believe that we could have won this un-Constitutional invasion of Iraq
and possibly pulled off the even more un-Constitutional occupation and
subjugation of this sovereign nation. It might have even been possible to
foist democracy on these people who seem to have no desire, understanding
or respect for such an institution. True the possibility of pulling all
this off was a long shot and would have required several hundred billion
dollars and even more casualties than we've seen to date but again it would
have been possible, not realistic or necessary but possible.
Here are the specific reasons why we cannot win in Iraq.
First, we refuse to deal in reality. We are in a guerilla war, but because
of politics, we are not allowed to declare it a guerilla war and must label
the increasingly effective guerilla forces arrayed against us as
"terrorists, criminals and dead-enders."
This implies that there is a zero sum game at work, i.e. we can simply kill
X number of the enemy and then the fight is over, mission accomplished,
everybody wins. Unfortunately, this is not the case. We have few tools at
our disposal and those are proving to be wholly ineffective at fighting the
guerillas.
The idea behind fighting a guerilla army is not to destroy its every man
(an impossibility since he hides himself by day amongst the populace).
Rather the idea in guerilla warfare is to erode or destroy his base of
support.
So long as there is support for the guerilla, for every one you kill two
more rise up to take his place. More importantly, when your tools for
killing him are precision guided munitions, raids and other acts that
create casualties among the innocent populace, you raise the support for
the guerillas and undermine the support for yourself. (A 500-pound
precision bomb has a casualty-producing radius of 400 meters minimum; do
the math.)
Second, our assessment of what motivates the average Iraqi was skewed,
again by politically motivated "experts." We came here with some fantasy
idea that the natives were all ignorant, mud-hut dwelling camel riders who
would line the streets and pelt us with rose petals, lay palm fronds in the
street and be eternally grateful. While at one time there may have actually
been support and respect from the locals, months of occupation by our
regular military forces have turned the formerly friendly into the recently
hostile.
Attempts to correct the thinking in this regard are in vain; it is not
politically correct to point out the fact that the locals are not only
disliking us more and more, they are growing increasingly upset and often
overtly hostile. Instead of addressing the reasons why the locals are
becoming angry and discontented, we allow politicians in Washington DC to
give us pat and convenient reasons that are devoid of any semblance of
reality.
We are told that the locals are not upset because we have a hostile,
aggressive and angry Army occupying their nation. We are told that they are
not upset at the police state we have created, or at the manner of picking
their representatives for them. Rather we are told, they are upset because
of a handful of terrorists, criminals and dead enders in their midst have
made them upset, that and of course the ever convenient straw man of "left
wing media bias."
Third, the guerillas are filling their losses faster than we can create
them. This is almost always the case in guerilla warfare, especially when
your tactics for battling the guerillas are aimed at killing guerillas
instead of eroding their support. For every guerilla we kill with a "smart
bomb" we kill many more innocent civilians and create rage and anger in the
Iraqi community. This rage and anger translates into more recruits for the
terrorists and less support for us.
We have fallen victim to the body count mentality all over again. We have
shown a willingness to inflict civilian casualties as a necessity of war
without realizing that these same casualties create waves of hatred against
us. These angry Iraqi citizens translate not only into more recruits for
the guerilla army but also into more support of the guerilla army.
Fourth, their lines of supply and communication are much shorter than ours
and much less vulnerable. We must import everything we need into this
place; this costs money and is dangerous. Whether we fly the supplies in or
bring them by truck, they are vulnerable to attack, most especially those
brought by truck. This not only increases the likelihood of the supplies
being interrupted. Every bean, every bullet and every bandage becomes
infinitely more expensive.
Conversely, the guerillas live on top of their supplies and are showing
every indication of developing a very sophisticated network for obtaining
them. Further, they have the advantage of the close support of family and
friends and traditional religious networks.
Fifth, we consistently underestimate the enemy and his capabilities. Many
military commanders have prepared to fight exactly the wrong war here.
Our tactics have not adjusted to the battlefield and we are falling behind.
Meanwhile the enemy updates his tactics and has shown a remarkable
resiliency and adaptability.
Because the current administration is more concerned with its image than it
is with reality, it prefers symbolism to substance: soldiers are dying here
and being maimed and crippled for life. It is tragic, indeed criminal that
our elected public servants would so willingly sacrifice our nation's
prestige and honor as well as the blood and treasure to pursue an agenda
that is ahistoric and un-Constitutional.
It is all the more ironic that this un-Constitutional mission is being
performed by citizen soldiers such as myself who swore an oath to uphold
and defend the Constitution of the United States, the same oath that the
commander in chief himself has sworn.
Al Lorentz [alorentz@truevine.net] is former state chairman of the
Constitution Party of Texas and is a reservist currently serving with the
US Army in Iraq.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
5) For the troops on the ground, Iraq might as well be Vietnam
September 20, 2004
http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-ARMYPAPER-319026.php
[There is no name of author...BW]
Anyone who studies how certain kinds of war fighting affect the human
psyche would have already figured out what the New England Journal of
Medicine reported recently: that "many of our troops in Iraq are
struggling" with the dark psychiatric fallout from this conflict.
After surveying thousands of soldiers and Marines, the Journal authors
concluded that "roughly one in six show signs of distress - ranging from
anxiety, all the way to full-blown post-traumatic stress disorder."
For me, a Vietnam veteran and former counselor in the Veterans
Administration's Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Counseling Program, the
study's conclusions were predictable and betray a sad truth about the Iraq
war. For the boots on the ground, it might as well be Vietnam.
Highly regarded PTSD researcher John P. Wilson of Cleveland State
University, who studied the psychological aftereffects of Vietnam, tells me
he is also gravely concerned. Wilson sees the Iraq war as a perfect petri
dish for culturing residual psychological problems among our troops.
He posits that the rate for various forms of distress in troops engaged in
Operation Iraqi Freedom combat operations will be even higher than reported
in the Journal study- and that they could go as high as 30 percent.
Such dire predictions are supported by an understandable limitation in the
Journal study's methodology. The authors admit their survey included data
from troops who had been home from Iraq for "only a few months." This
probably means that their figures are artificially low - they don't reflect
cases that will emerge over time. Some Vietnam veterans didn't manifest
symptoms of PTSD until years after their return to the United States.
"There is a perception in this country that the young people fighting in
Iraq will return home, take off their uniforms and pick up where they left
off," Wilson told me. "The relentless stressors during their Iraq
deployment tell us that for thousands of them, this isn't going to happen
without therapeutic intervention."
A table attached to the Journal study suggests that fighting in Iraq
mirrors some of the soul-destroying horrors experienced by my generation.
Titled "Combat Experiences Reported by Members of the U.S. Army and Marine
Corps after Deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan," it is a chilling document
and offers the first real taste of what life is like for our country's
troops.
It indicates that of the soldiers and Marines serving in Iraq and surveyed
by the investigators, 89 percent and 95 percent, respectively, report
having being attacked or ambushed. The vast majority know someone who has
been seriously injured or killed; 69 percent of soldiers and 83 percent of
Marines saw ill or injured women and children they were unable to help.
Perhaps worst of all, 14 percent of soldiers and 28 percent of Marines
reported that they "experienced being responsible for the death of a
non-combatant." The high number of harrowing episodes occurred for troops
whose maximum stay in Iraq had been only six to eight months.
What may drive the levels of PTSD far beyond what we saw in Vietnam is the
imposition of stop-loss on soldiers who already have witnessed more than
their fair share of traumatic and stress-inducing events. Some troops in
Iraq will likely end up serving tours far longer than their predecessors in
Vietnam.
Underpinning it all is a lesson from Vietnam that it seems this country has
yet to learn: It is psychiatric folly to send American troops into combat
in service of shaky foreign policy initiatives. Many Iraqi Freedom troops
likely carried with them strongly held convictions that they were keeping
the world safe from Saddam's weapons of mass destruction and that Saddam
was connected to al-Qaida and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
Now that the reasons for their mission are losing credibility, some
soldiers will question the legitimacy of being there at all. When this
happens, another set of psychological stressors takes hold as soldiers
struggle internally to attach a redemptive meaning to their hellish war
experience.
For those of us who counseled the psychiatric casualties who came home from
Vietnam, it is painful to watch as history repeats itself.
The writer was a combat medic in Vietnam. He was also a counselor in the
then-Veterans Administration's Vietnam Veterans' Readjustment Counseling
Program. He now is with the Alliance for Security, a program of the Vietnam
Veterans of America Foundation in Washington. He can be reached at
afs@vi.org. For more on the foundation, log on to www.alliance
forsecurity.org.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
6) Anguish over Iraq war resonates in Missouri
By Tim Jones, Tribune national correspondent
September 24, 2004
Chicago Tribune
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/chitribts/20040924/
ts_chicagotrib/anguishoveriraqwarresonatesinmissouri&cid=2027&ncid=1480
Carroll Meierer was all for getting rid of Saddam Hussein .
"We had to do something," she said.
But 18 months of war and more than 1,000 American fatalities
later, the resolution she felt about Hussein has turned to grim
resignation about the state of the war.
"We could stay there forever and it wouldn't be any different," she
said at the little red fruit stand she runs on the edge of Lexington,
about 30 miles east of Kansas City.
Meierer, who grew up in a military family, is losing patience with
the war. Her 20-year-old son, Justin, a lance corporal in the Marine
Corps, is likely headed to Iraq early next year.
"He's my baby boy and he's my best friend," she said. "I want this
war over and I want it over NOW."
In Missouri, the debates over Iraq and the fight against terrorism
have lost much of the moral and patriotic clarity that defined last
year's march to Baghdad. American flags hanging from houses aren't
as plentiful. Neither are yard signs that say, "Support our troops."
As prospects for Iraq's political stability seem to fade, frustration,
anger, cynicism and bewilderment have seeped into arguments about
the war, fueled by reminders that--for some--have become incendiary:
Weapons of mass destruction. "Mission Accomplished." "Bring 'em on."
Osama bin Laden .
In Missouri, a key battleground state that mirrors much of the nation
demographically and has the uncanny knack of picking presidential
winners, President Bush is leading Sen. John Kerry in the most recent
public opinion polls. Kerry, to the surprise of the Bush campaign, even
pulled back his television advertising in the state.
Yet the poll numbers and campaign stratagems do not reflect the
roiling mix of often anguished feelings about Iraq. Voters--even
those who supported the war--are in turmoil over the purpose of
the conflict, whether it is part of the war on terror, whether it is
winnable anytime soon and whether it has made America safer.
"I don't know how it's our responsibility to fix Iraq when we can't
even handle things here," Meierer said.
The war became the dominant theme in the presidential campaign
this week, with the election a little more than five weeks away. And
it is likely to be Topic A in the first debate between Bush and Kerry
next Thursday in Florida.
Churchill's call
It was nearly six decades ago that Winston Churchill delivered his
famous "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Mo.
But this April, that small college was the setting for some of the
campaign's earliest partisan sniping over security.
Vice President Dick Cheney set the tone when he questioned Kerry's
fitness to be president in such difficult times. "The senator from
Massachusetts has given us ample grounds to doubt the judgment
and the attitude he brings to bear on vital issues of national security,"
Cheney said.
On Monday, Kerry warned that if Bush is re-elected, he will
"repeat . . . the same reckless mistakes that have made America
less secure than we can or should be."
Not since citizens in coastal communities turned off their lights
and patrolled shorelines more than 60 years ago to watch for German
and Japanese submarines have voters been so emotionally focused
on security within their borders.
The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks created tremendous insecurity for
Americans and instilled national unity against terrorism. Now Bush
argues vociferously that Iraq is part of the war on terrorism. Kerry
says they are not only separate, but that Bush's prosecution of the
war has been a disaster and has drained resources from the fight
on terror, making the nation less safe.
Bush and Kerry rely mainly on generalities about how they will
make us safer. And they don't say when or how the war will be
concluded.
In the absence of specific answers, fear of one sort or another--
what might happen in Iraq or another country, what might happen
at some unsuspecting location in the United States, even in middle
America--has taken root.
On Sept. 7, the same day Bush declared in the Kansas City suburb
of Lee's Summit that "America and the world are safer" as a result
of removing Hussein from power, Cheney told Republicans at a
fundraiser in Des Moines that there's a greater danger of another
domestic terrorist attack if Americans elect Kerry.
Cheney's remark has prompted Rev. Robert Hill, pastor of the
Community Christian Church in Kansas City, to prepare a sermon
for this Sunday on the "politics of fear."
"These are the tactics of fear-mongering, and they are absolutely
despicable," Hill said.
Bush, who won the state by about 3.5 percentage points in 2000,
has visited Missouri nine times this year, while Kerry has campaigned
here 12 times since March. Recent polls have shown Bush extending
his lead in the state. But Missourians remain split on the war,
suggesting that they are not necessarily assigning blame to the
president.
"We should have gone over there and flattened the country," said
Diane Wolf, a florist in the St. Louis suburb of Pagedale, speaking
of Afghanistan , Iraq or "whoever did 9/11."
But Meierer, who blames Bush for the situation in Iraq, said, "These
guys shouldn't be over there."
The war in Iraq and the battle against terrorism are "totally separate,"
she said.
Nona Sanders, a travel agent in St. Joseph, disagreed, saying, "Iraq
and terrorism are connected, and we can't just quit."
Criticism of the war and Bush are not right and should not be
publicized, Sanders said.
Hogwash, said Albert Vandendaele, a retired farmer from North
Kansas City. "Now if anybody speaks out against it, you're
unpatriotic," he said. "I have a yellow ribbon on my truck. I
support the troops. Who doesn't? But does that mean you've
got to support Bush also? No. No."
While there is no agreement on either the claim of safety or
the charge from Cheney, there is plenty of anguish in Missouri
about the war--what it has accomplished, where it is headed
and whether it has made America safer.
"A lot of people just don't know, they don't have a solid opinion,"
said Rep. Ike Skelton, a staunch supporter of the Pentagon and
the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.
Skelton, who has represented the increasingly Republican 4th
congressional district in western Missouri since 1977, said, "A
lot of people are just asking questions. I think there is deep
concern."
What people think about the war here could prove important in
November. In many ways Missouri is an amalgam of America--
an uneasy confluence of urban and rural, North and South.
Veterans make up 14 percent of Missouri's adult population,
the highest state percentage in the Midwest and two points
higher than the national average. And western Missouri is
steeped in military history. It was the Missouri theater of the
bloody battleground with Kansas over slavery. William Quantrill,
the guerrilla fighter, terrorized the region.
The southern part of Skelton's congressional district is home to
Ft. Leonard Wood, a key Army training facility, and Whiteman Air
Force Base, the launchpad for B-2s flying bombing missions to
Afghanistan. In Independence, production has been cranked up
at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, the military's largest
producer of small-arms ammunition. The plant is operating at
near full capacity, on track to manufacture 1.2 billion rounds
this year, its highest output since the Vietnam War, and a clear
measure of the intensity of the conflict in Iraq.
Skelton is part of the region's military heritage. The Skelton
family has two children on military active duty.
But Skelton, now 72, has long had doubts about the war. In a
letter to the White House in September 2002, when Congress
was considering Bush's request to authorize military action in
Iraq, Skelton said, "I have no doubt that our military would
decisively defeat Iraq's forces and remove Saddam. But like
the proverbial dog chasing the car down the road, we must
consider what we would do after we caught it."
Those kinds of questions are a daily concern in tiny Missouri
City, where two homes in particular, one on Walnut Street and
the other on Main, bear yellow ribbons and American flags,
public reminders that children who once lived here are far
away and too close to danger.
The war in Iraq has put the mayor and school superintendent
into separate camps. Ray Lynn, mayor of this town of 295, has
a son, Jeremy, stationed in Tikrit, Iraq, Hussein's hometown.
Mayor Lynn is steadfast: Going to war was the right thing to do.
Jay Jackson, the school superintendent--and bus driver--in
this one-building district of 41 students, has two sons in the
Army. Aaron is in Kuwait and Miles returned from Iraq in May.
Jay Jackson is adamant: The war is a huge blunder.
`The pain is just too great'
Their homes sport the flags and the ribbons, and the men
endure the well-meaning remarks of friends who tell them,
"We're praying for your son." Neither man served in the military
himself. Lynn, an autoworker, chafes at criticism he hears from
co-workers about Bush and the war. Jackson is discreet about
airing his views. When the two get together, as they do in the
front yard of the Civil War-era house that Jackson is restoring,
their friendship and delicate diplomacy govern the relationship.
"We talk about our boys, how they're doing," Jackson said. "We
don't talk about the war, the policy and the conduct of it. The
pain is just too great."
In the privacy of living rooms, though, the divisions come out.
Lynn sits near a color photo of son Jeremy, daughter Heather
and their spouses. All four are wearing dress green Army uniforms.
Attacking Iraq "definitely needed to be done" because Hussein was
a "player in terror" and represented a threat to the U.S., Lynn said.
Lynn is convinced there are weapons of mass destruction. He is
sure they will be found and the decision to go after Hussein will
be vindicated
"I have to trust that George Bush is doing the right thing. He is a
godly man," said Lynn's wife, Wanda, sitting in a rocker with an
American flag comforter. "We're all praying, and it's real hard."
War protests, especially those involving entertainers, push her
over the edge.
"They make me angry as hell. They obviously don't have a child
in the military. It sickens me," she said. "I just wish Hollywood
would drop off the face of the Earth. They're tearing down the
morale of our children."
The Lynns believe the war in Iraq and the war against terrorism
are one and the same. They believe the job should be finished.
They will vote for Bush.
The Lynns also agree with Cheney and his charge that America
would be more vulnerable under Kerry.
"Kerry wants to make us a sitting duck, and we'll be sitting ducks,"
Wanda Lynn said.
Barely a mile down the road at Jay Jackson's home, which is part
Civil War shrine with battle jackets and 30 handmade Confederate
caps, the view is starkly different. To Jackson, the ducks are already
lined up in Iraq and are getting picked off every day.
"We've created a new theater of operations for the terrorists,"
Jackson said in his kitchen overlooking the Missouri River.
"I just keep thinking about the Missouri-Kansas border war and
how smaller guerrilla forces repeatedly terrorized much larger ones.
For me it's a dilemma so easy to see," he said. "We're in a guerrilla
war, we're in a jihad, and I think both candidates need to
acknowledge that."
A soldier's view
Miles Jackson, an Army sergeant and paratrooper who returned
in May after five months in Baghdad and eight months in Afghanistan,
said the U.S. should have focused on Afghanistan and finished the
job there before moving on.
"You should have seen us on Sept. 11. We were ready to go.
American soldiers still feel that way about the terrorists. . . . It
was a political thing to slide attention over to Iraq," Miles Jackson
said, sitting with his father at the kitchen table. Invading Iraq
should have waited, he added, until it was clear the country
presented a threat to the U.S.
Miles Jackson said he doesn't believe that electing Kerry will
jeopardize the nation's security. "It's ridiculous to say that we're
more threatened or vulnerable by putting someone else in," he
said. "They'll find a way, no matter who's in office."
Jackson said he doesn't believe there is anyone who doesn't support
the troops. He is troubled, though, by anti-war demonstrations.
"If you get them [soldiers] believing that what they are doing is
wrong, it hurts morale," he said.
His father disagrees, albeit gently. "The only reason we got out of
Vietnam was because of the protesters. . . . A voice against the
war is not a voice against the military," Jay Jackson insisted.
There is no neat or quick fix in Iraq and little likelihood of winning
the hearts and minds of Iraqis, both said. Miles Jackson, who is
on inactive reserve and hopes to return to the Army after attending
college, said as long as Americans are in Iraq, "there will be problems.
No matter what time limit you put on this, there is no end."
"I don't believe most Americans understand how hard this is," he
added. "A lot of people think this is just cut and dried."
Bush repeatedly talks about how Iraq is on the road to democracy.
But Kerry warned Monday that "if we do not change course, there is
the prospect of a war with no end in sight."
To Pat McElroy this looks and sounds like Vietnam. McElroy, an
Army veteran who served in Vietnam from February 1969 to
February 1970, criticizes the political and public attitudes toward
the war.
"You have all these people saying `Yeah, we're the United States,
let's go over there and kick some ass, we're not gonna let them
push us around.' But when it comes to sending their kids over to
fight, they all say they wouldn't let their kids go," McElroy said.
"They're happy to hold your coat while you send yours."
He was speaking to a sentiment in Missouri, and elsewhere, that
the absence of a draft has enabled most people to back the war
without bearing a personal cost.
"If you had a draft there would be a huge change in attitude,"
said McElroy, who is a battalion chief in the North Kansas City
Fire Department. McElroy says a Vietnam-era draft would never
fly politically, and that has created a situation where "somebody
else's kids" are fighting the war.
McElroy has a son, Brandn, who is an Army Ranger. He
completed tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq.
A change of attitude
"If you have a chance of getting your arms and legs blown off, it
changes the whole attitude. Everybody has to have a stake in this,"
said the father.
Seventeen Missouri soldiers have been killed since the war began
in March 2003.
"Now if you speak out against the war, you're unpatriotic," McElroy
said. "I'm afraid this is Vietnam all over again."
Even among those who supported the war and continue to support
it, frustration is building.
Louis George, who runs an army surplus store in Lexington, said the
U.S. was right to go in and remove Hussein. But the situation in Iraq
"is not going to get stabilized. You can put a democracy in there, but
it won't last," he said.
George, who served in the Army from 1975 through 1988 and has
an autographed photo of Bush behind his store counter, said he will
vote for Bush, but he also said the strategy in Iraq has to change.
"When you fight a war against terrorism, you cut off the head of the
snake, and then ask `Who's next?'"
More than 890 American soldiers have died since Bush declared in
May 2003 that "major combat" in Iraq had ended.
Rex Jones, a city employee in St. Joseph, said rising fatalities are
the price Americans will have to pay for safety.
In Smithville, which was the hometown of Missouri's first fatality in
the Iraq war--Marine Sgt. Nicolas Hodson, who died March 22, 2003,
in a vehicle accident--Richard Pendleton talked about his early support
of the war. Hussein was a threat who needed to be dealt with, he said.
"They needed to go over there, but they should have handled it
differently. They should have disarmed everyone after they moved
in. Instead, now we've got civilians running up and down the street
with grenade launchers. That doesn't work," said Pendleton, who is
supporting Kerry.
The bar on Main Street sports bumper stickers that read "Semper Fi"
and "Osama Yo Mama." All across town opinions about Iraq are plentiful
as the conflict drags on.
Mardy Lyle, a retired beautician from Smithville, invokes the name of
Harry Truman, the nation's 33rd president and the only one from Missouri.
"Every once in a while I look up and say `Harry, come back, we need
you.'"
Time has helped burnish Truman's image and smooth over the fact
that the Korean War, which began on his watch, helped drive him
from office.
Talking on the day U.S. fatalities in Iraq passed the 1,000 mark
earlier this month, Denise Messick said she is not impatient with
Bush. "He had to go in," said Messick, who runs a candle and craft
shop on Main Street in Smithville. When asked whether she feels
safer since the capture of Hussein, she paused and said, "That's a
good question." Then she said "no," adding: "I don't think any of
us feel safe after 9/11."
`Who am I to judge'
Messick and her husband have two sons in the Navy--one stationed
in California, the other in Washington. She doesn't want either one
to go to Iraq, but if they do she says she'll understand. "It's real easy
for us to second-hand quarterback what they did. I personally would
like to see a withdrawal starting, but who am I to judge?" she said.
Skelton, for one, is willing to judge.
"The truth of the matter is there are two wars. The real war is the
war against the terrorists in Afghanistan. . . . Afghanistan has not
gotten the attention it should have," Skelton said. "If it had, we
would have bin Laden, and if not him then his forces where they
couldn't breed around the world.
"I have given a number of speeches around Missouri, and most of
the time people don't disagree," he said.
Meierer hasn't heard any of those speeches. She's not inclined to
listen much to politicians. She doesn't trust Kerry, and Bush, she
said, did exactly what she feared he would do--take the country
to war. That's why she didn't vote for him four years ago. The only
person who impresses her is John Edwards , Kerry's running mate.
Meierer describes herself as a political independent and undecided.
"I can't rely on either one of them," she said of Bush and Kerry.
The Meierer family is part of the Missouri military tradition. Her
uncle was killed in Vietnam. Her husband has 12 brothers and
sisters, and all of them, including her husband, served in the
military.
"My son didn't know what he wanted. I was hesitant when Justin
enlisted, but I thought it would be a good opportunity for him,"
she said. "Now I worry about car bombings and `silly things' as
much as I do combat."
"I've had it with Iraq," she added. "It's time for us to take care of
people here in the United States."
Copyright (c) 2004 Chicago Tribune
Copyright (c) 2004 Yahoo! Inc.
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7) The Triple Crises in the U.S.
By James Petras
www.antiterroristas.cu/index.php?tpl=noticia/
anew¬iciaid=99¬iciafecha=2002-09-11
The concept 'crises' has been overused and abused by writers on
the left - especially with regard to the capitalist economy. One
result is that when a real crises emerges - it is not taken seriously.
The US political and economic system today is in serious crises - a
triple crises affecting its biggest multinational corporations and
therefore the economy, a political crises affecting the state in its
relationship to internal security, and external belligerancy, and a
crises of the political system that not only fails to represent the
electorate but is incapable of responding to the political and
economic crises.
The economic crises, referred to in the financial press as the "crises
of corporate governance", involves multi-billion dollar fraud by many
of the biggest energy, oil, media companies, investment banks,
accounting firms and mega-conglomerates in the US and in the
world. The names are familiar - Credit Suisse First Boston, ENRON,
El Paso Oil, Merrill Lynch, Xerox, Adelpha, Tyco, Worldcom, Dynergy,
Southeby and dozens of other banks and firms. The number of
pensioners, employees and investors who have lost their savings
number in the tens of millions.
The chief executive of Goldman Sachs, Henry Paulson, a financial
leader on Wall Street declared that US corporations are in a "position
of low repute not seen in my lifetime." According to the Financial
Times and the Wall Street Journal, the problem is "corporate greed"
and "loss of investor trust".
The real problem is not just individual greed, but the entire
deregulation of the banking and corporate sectors and the
speculative nature of the US economy. The problem is systematic:
the concentration of economic power and the corporate control
over the political system mean that CEO's design the legislation
and write the rules which allow them a free hand to commit large
scale fraud and take huge short- term profits - before their
companies collapse. The case of ENRON and El Paso Oil and their
dominant role in shaping the Bush-Cheney energy policy is
emblematic of the symbiotic relationship, just as Clinton's ties
to Wall Street led to the deregulation of financial and banking
sectors.
The systematic consequences of large scale and all pervasive
fraud has been the de-legitimation of the big investment banks
among investors and a massive decline in foreign investment in
the US. From January to February 2001, $78 billion flowed in to
the US, during the same two months in 2002 only $14.6 billion
of foreign funds were invested in US stocks and bonds. The
decline of foreign flows has substantially weakened the dollar.
It threatens to push the US external accounts deficit to crises
levels, forcing a major retrenchment in imports and living
standards. The precipitous decline in foreign investment in
the US is because investors no longer trust corporate reports
on profits, and particularly, no longer trust US auditors' reports
and US CEO's. The result is that the stock market has declined,
stock losses in 2002 continue for the third straight year, big
corporate bankruptcies are on the rise, while profits decline -
truly an economic crises.
The political crises is deeply embedded in the larger political
context of the events preceding and following 9/11. The
revelations of Washington's prior knowledge of a terrorist plot
to hijack airplanes in the US - including warnings of an attack
on public and private buildings - has raised fundamental questions.
The official version of the Bush Administration , State Department,
CIA/FBI and the Congressional Democrats is that there was a
" failure of intelligence " - individual bureaucrats failed to act,
the bureaucracy was not "efficient" or was "understaffed".
Among most critical intellectuals, journalists and experts on
intelligence, the official explanations fail to deal with several
important discrepancies. First of all , Condaleeza Rice, the National
Security Adviser, publically stated that during the summer of 2001
the Bush Administration believed the " al Qaeda might hijack an
aircraft and use it to bargain for the release of prisoners... I don't
think anyone could have predicted that these people would take
an airplane and slam it into the World Trade Center" ( Financial
Times 5/18-19 2002, p.6 ) Rice admitted that "We only expected
a traditional hijacking." The Bush Administration ignored warnings
from France, Egypt, Israel, England that a terrorist action was
imminent; it ignored warnings from FBI agents in Arizona and
Minnesota of possible airplane hijackings by terrorists training
as airline pilots, and it ignored a CIA briefing to President Bush
on August 6, 2001 stating that al Qaeda was planning a hijacking.
Most observers believe that with so many warnings converging
from so many responsible sources to high level Bush officials,
according to Condoleeza Rice, there is another explanation: that
the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld regime was prepared to allow a
"traditional" hijacking to take place - in order to exploit it for
both narrow and global political interests. They did not suspect
that the terrorists would attack the WTC and the Pentagon.
Several other issues raise suspicion that high officials in he Bush
Administration were involved in facilitating the hijackings: the
terrorist leaders had multiple entry visas - not easy to obtain for
ordinary tourists. The terrorists functioned openly - entering
flight schools, and even seeking U.S. Department of Agriculture
loans to buy "crop-duster" airplanes. Thirdly many received their
visas from Saudi Arabia, where a former US Consul official has
stated that many visas were issued under pressure from the CIA -
probably to recruits for US-sponsored Islamist wars in Bosnia,
Kosova, Chechnya and Central Asia. There is a good possibility
that at least some of the terrorists were 'double agents' - one
reason for the so-called "intelligence failures" and the refusal
after 9/11 to reveal prior knowledge.
There is a large body of historical studies on US foreign policy
which demonstrates that Washington "manufactures crises" to
justify war. The examples range from the "bombing of the Maine"
as a prelude to the US-Spanish-Cuban War, to Roosevelt's
foreknowledge of Pearl Harbor, to President Johnson's infamous
" Tonkin Incident " during the Vietnam War, to Bush father's invention
of the Iraqi destruction of infant incubators in Kuwait. In each case
the President declared an "unprovoked attack" and mobilized the
public for large scale warfare of conquest and colonization. In the
case of the US war in Afghanistan, it is on public record that on
September 10 2001, the Bush Administration had prepared a plan
to attack the Taliban and al Qaeda - which it fully implemented
after September 11.
The manufacture and use of provocations has a long and ignoble
history in US, European and Japanese expansion - as Mexicans can
painfully recall from the frequent invasions and annexations justified
on the grounds of eliminating "terrorist bandits".
War had been an essential instrument of empire building for the last
four US presidents. President Reagan's successful wars against
Grenada and Panama contributed to his popularity, weakened the
'Vietnam Syndrome' and allowed his regime to reverse progressive
social legislation. This pattern was repeated and extended by Bush
(father) in the US war against Iraq - the military victory led to the
proclamation of a 'New World Order' based on Washington's
supremacy. Clinton's war against Yugoslavia and the continuation
of the bombing of Iraq was accompanied by the total deregulation
of the economy, the savaging of the remnants of the welfare
program, and the information technology, bio-tech, fiber optics
speculative bubble. Bush ( son ) as a minority president, elected
through voter fraud in Florida used the Afghan war to increase
public backing, vastly expanded military and secret police budgets
and powers, to subsidize big business and vastly increase US
political and military empire throughout Asia, Latin America and
the former Soviet Union. The initial terrorist act, and the cover-up
of US involvement, has led to serious decline in democratic
freedoms and the constant threat of new terrorist plots to
increase police state intervention in all aspects of civil society.
Both the admissions of "mistakes" by the Bush administration
the Congressional critics' charges of "incompetence" has
served the police-military apparatus very well. "Home defense" -
extended police powers and personnel received an additional
$37 billion dollars, on top of the original $29 billion dollars.
The newly created Department of Homeland Security will have
170,000 agents and staff.
As State spending on the police and military skyrockets, private
investors are pushed aside, budget deficits soar, foreign investors
turn to more lucrative sites and the US economy destabilizes. While
the empire expands - the domestic political and economic system
weakens and the dollar plunges.
There are no corrective mechanisms in sight. Unlike previous epochs
when large scale corporate-banking scandals occurred, major reforms
were implemented. Today there is neither a popular reform movement
nor congressional opposition. The Financial Times states, it is "politics
as usual". The reason for the lack of a corporate reform movement is
that the same corrupt banks and corporations - like ENRON, Merril
Lynch etc - contribute and finance both political parties.
Washington's cover-up of its linkages leading to 9/11 is related to
their cover-up in the Anthrax attacks. Leading journalists and micro-
biologists have identified the US military research laboratory at Fort
Detrick, Maryland as the source and even have identified two US
micro-biologists as likely suspects. The FBI has refused to act. The
reason is that the scientists were engaged in weaponizing Anthrax
and other chemical and biological agents - work which violates the
Chemical and Biological Treaty of 1991. No Congressional investigation.
No mass media expose. No public outcry. The triple crises deepens,
the apologists for the empire brush off systemic critics as " conspiracy
theorists " - but the critical intellectuals continue to prod the public
conscience, hoping for a revival and renewal of democratic politics.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
8) Clash Over Prisoners Exposes Power Struggle
US overrules Iraqi government plan to free women scientists
By Rory McCarthy in Baghdad
Published on Thursday, September 23, 2004 by the Guardian/UK
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0923-01.htm
The confusion yesterday over whether two "high-value" women
prisoners being held in Iraq would be released has underlined the
limits of the interim government's authority.
The apparent differences between the statements of Iraqi ministers
and US officials will raise questions yet again over both the coherence
of the new administration and the degree of independence it actually
enjoys.
By the end of the day, US and Iraqi officials appeared to have agreed
that neither Rihab Rashid Taha, a biological weapons scientist held in
custody in Baghdad, nor Huda Salih Amash, a microbiologist, would
be released imminently.
But this followed a series of conflicting statements, which were
provoked by Iraq's justice minister insisting on Tuesday that Dr Taha
was expected to be freed on bail today - a move that offered a
glimmer of hope to the family of the last remaining hostage,
Kenneth Bigley.
The announcement took the British and the Americans by surprise
at a time when both governments were saying they were determined
not to give any concessions to terrorists.
As yesterday wore on, it became increasingly clear that the release
of either woman was not within the gift of the Iraqi government.
The US embassy in Baghdad appeared to have finally ruled out the
possibility of an immediate release when a spokesman insisted that
"the two women are in legal and physical custody of the multinational
forces in Iraq and neither will be released imminently".
Though the US occupation authorities formally handed over
"sovereignty" to the Iraqi government in late June, key decisions
including those involving big combat operations and the detention
of high-security suspects from the former regime are still taken
by the US.
There is supposed to be dialogue between the Iraqi government
and the US forces concerning the military operations, but the Iraqi
government has no power of veto.
In the case of the two scientists - regarded as "high-value" detainees
when they were arrested - the buck still stops with the Americans.
They are being held by US troops in a prison thought to be at the
base around Baghdad airport.
There is little doubt that the final say in such high-security cases
rests with the American commanders.
Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson, a US military spokesman on
detention operations, said responsibility for approving each release
lay "primarily with the multinational forces," although he said there
was "consultation" with the Iraqi government.
"There has been an ongoing process of reviewing specifically the
cases of high-value detainees that has proceeded over the last
couple of months," he said.
"That process continues and we are not prepared to indicate when
a final decision may be made on any high-value detainees. I am
not prepared to comment on the timing of what might happen."
Dr Taha, known as "Dr Germ," is the wife of Iraq's former oil minister
and has a PhD from the University of East Anglia. Amash, dubbed
"Mrs Anthrax", received a masters from Texas Women's University
and studied microbiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
The Iraqi government clearly believes that the inmates do not pose
an imminent threat to security in Iraq.
Iraq's justice ministry insisted yesterday it still wanted to release
the women, although it said this had nothing to do with the
kidnapping of Mr Bigley and the two executed Americans, Eugene
Armstrong and Jack Hensley.
"We have discussed this issue and I do think they should be
released.
"We started this process two months ago," said Noori Abdul-Rahim,
a spokesman for the ministry.
He said the final legal procedures were being completed for the
release on bail of Dr Taha, including finding an Iraqi community
leader to act as a guarantor for her future behaviour.
He said the ministry wanted her to be released today or in the
coming days.
Iraq's new national security adviser, Qasim Daoud, took a slightly
different tack.
He said the investigation into whether the two women could be
released was over but that "security measures" were still under
way before the sci entists could be allowed to go home. "Until
now the security measures are still going on," he told a news
conference in Baghdad.
"I say they will not be released today, tomorrow or after tomorrow -
but after they undergo a medical checkup and security measures.
The investigation is over but we are still going on with the security
measures."
Amid the confused promises of release yesterday, it remained
unclear whether the kidnappers knew that only two women were
still in jail or even hoped for their release. Tawhid and Jihad, the
militant group behind the kidnappings, is the most violent in Iraq
and has been responsible for a series of videoed killings in recent
weeks.
Far from making specific demands over prisoners, their messages
usually talk of leading an epic battle against the US and its allies
and destroying the current Iraqi government.
Copyright (c) Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
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9) US Hand Seen in Afghan Election
Some candidates say the embassy pressured them not to run a
gainst President Karzai
By Paul Watson
KABUL, Afghanistan
Published on Thursday, September 23, 2004
by the Los Angeles Times
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0923-26.htm
KABUL, Afghanistan - Mohammed Mohaqiq says he was getting
ready to make his run for the Afghan presidency when U.S.
Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad dropped by his campaign office
and proposed a deal.
"He told me to drop out of the elections, but not in a way to put
pressure," Mohaqiq said. "It was like a request."
After the hourlong meeting last month, the ethnic Hazara warlord
said in an interview Tuesday, he wasn't satisfied with the rewards
offered for quitting, which he did not detail. Mohaqiq was still
determined to run for president - though, he said, the U.S.
ambassador wouldn't give up trying to elbow him out of the race.
"He left, and then called my most loyal men, and the most educated
people in my party or campaign, to the presidential palace and told
them to make me - or request me - to resign the nomination. And
he told my men to ask me what I need in return."
Mohaqiq, who is running in the Oct. 9 election, is one of several
candidates who maintain that the U.S. ambassador and his aides
are pushing behind the scenes to ensure a convincing victory by
the pro-American incumbent, President Hamid Karzai. The Americans
deny doing so.
"It is not only me," Mohaqiq said. "They have been doing the same
thing with all candidates. That is why all people think that not only
Khalilzad is like this, but the whole U.S. government is the same.
They all want Karzai - and this election is just a show."
The charges were repeated by several other candidates and their
senior campaign staff in interviews here. They reflected anger over
what many Afghans see as foreign interference that could undermine
the shaky foundations of a democracy the U.S. promised to build.
"This doesn't suit the representative of a nation that has helped us
in the past," said Sayed Mustafa Sadat Ophyani, campaign manager
for Younis Qanooni, Karzai's leading rival. "You have seen
Afghanistan suffering for 25 years, from the Russians, then the
Taliban. Why is the U.S. government now looking to make people
of Afghanistan accept whatever the U.S. government says?"
Qanooni said he and 13 other presidential candidates planned to
meet today in Kabul, the capital, to air complaints about Khalilzad's
interference.
In a statement released this week, Khalilzad denied the allegations
that he and his staff were meddling in the election.
"U.S. Embassy officials regularly keep in touch with all presidential
candidates, and we listen to their ideas and proposals," he said in
an e-mailed response from New York, where he was attending the
opening of the U.N. General Assembly.
"Officials from the U.S. mission support the elections process, not
individuals," the statement added. "No U.S. official can or will endorse
or campaign on behalf of any individual presidential candidate."
Khalilzad also said he "has never asked a candidate to withdraw -
this is a decision for each candidate to make for him or herself."
Since coming to power after the American-led invasion that
overthrew the Taliban in 2001, the interim Afghan government
largely has been beholden to the United States for its survival.
The U.S. has deployed about 18,000 troops and is spending about
$1 billion a year on reconstruction in the Central Asian nation.
Karzai depends on the Americans for his safety: DynCorp, a
Virginia-based firm, has provided his bodyguards since November
2002 under a contract with the State Department.
Khalilzad has been nicknamed "the Viceroy" because the influence
he wields over the Afghan government reminds some Afghans of
the excesses of British colonialism. Some of Karzai's rivals think that
the ambassador has taken on a new role: presidential campaign
manager.
This is not the first time Khalilzad has been accused of meddling
in Afghan politics. Delegates to gatherings that named Karzai
interim president in 2002 and ratified Afghanistan's new
Constitution last December also accused the ambassador of
interfering, even of paying delegates for their support. Khalilzad
denies the claims.
The latest allegations are perhaps more serious because the Bush
administration is portraying Afghanistan's presidential election as
a democratic victory for the country's people, who suffered under
more than two decades of strife. President Bush has touted bringing
Afghan democracy as a foreign policy success in his election
campaign.
There are 18 candidates in the Afghan election. Such a divided
field is expected to favor Karzai, whom Afghans hear and see
frequently on state-controlled radio and television.
The president, who is usually holed up in his heavily fortified palace
because of threats to his life, has made only one campaign trip
outside Kabul since the election campaign began Sept. 7. That trip
last Thursday was aborted when a rocket missed the U.S. military
helicopter in which he was traveling.
Mohaqiq commands strong loyalty among Hazaras and, if he chooses
to step aside and endorse Karzai, probably could deliver a large bloc
of votes. Mohaqiq said Tuesday that he might still do so - for the
right deal.
Mohaqiq said his senior aides met the U.S. ambassador at the
presidential palace, without Karzai. The aides agreed try again to
persuade their candidate to drop out of the race and throw his
support behind the incumbent, Mohaqiq said.
The pressure was so intense that he agreed to quit under certain
conditions, he added.
Mohaqiq said his demands, in the event of Karzai's victory, would
be four Cabinet posts for his party, four governorships in the
mainly Hazara provinces of central Afghanistan and a new road
from Kabul into the region, informally known as Hazarajat.
Mohaqiq said Khalilzad told him that the new road would not be
a problem, but that his party would have to settle for two ministerial
posts, two deputy spots in other ministries and one governorship.
"I was very interested in taking part in the elections, but since many
of my men were asking me to accept Khalilzad's ideas - and he was
also telling me to do so - I didn't have much choice, and I was ready
to agree," Mohaqiq said.
"But a good thing happened, and Karzai didn't agree with those terms,"
he added. "I don't know why."
Several leaders of the Northern Alliance, whose troops ousted the
Taliban regime in late 2001 with the help of U.S. air power, met in
Kabul on Friday to discuss what they said was Khalilzad's electoral
arm-twisting, said Mohammed Qasem Mohseni, one of presidential
candidate Abdul Latif Pedram's two running mates.
Mohseni said the summit participants included Foreign Minister
Abdullah, who goes by one name; former President Burhanuddin
Rabbani, who like Abdullah is a member of the Tajik minority; and
Ustad Abdul Rasul Sayyaf who, like Karzai, is a Pushtun, Afghanistan's
largest ethnic group.
"In this meeting, Ustad Sayyaf said that we have been under pressure
for 25 days by the U.S. government, by Khalilzad, to make Younis
Qanooni resign from the post of candidate for the presidency,"
Mohseni said.
Qanooni is not expected to win the race. However, he could
prevent Karzai from gaining more than 50% of the votes, forcing
a runoff and prolonging a campaign that already has drawn violent
attacks by Taliban and other insurgents.
Qanooni's campaign aides said Khalilzad was trying to persuade the
candidate to accept defeat before any ballots were counted and to
agree to join Karzai in a coalition government after the vote.
"Our hearts have been broken because we thought we could have
beaten Mr. Karzai if this had been a true election," Ophyani said.
"But it is not. Mr. Khalilzad is putting a lot of pressure on us and
does not allow us to fight a good election campaign."
Some say Khalilzad is working to draw Rabbani, the former president,
to Karzai's side, which would deepen the split in Qanooni's Northern
Alliance.
Qanooni supporters say that Rabbani, whose son-in-law is one of
Karzai's running mates, visited Badakhshan province last month
with Khalilzad and urged local militia commanders to back the
incumbent. The former president insists that the discussions in his
home province dealt only with reconstruction.
"I told Mr. Khalilzad, 'The people of Badakhshan are waiting for you,
and they are always asking, what is the U.S. government doing?' "
Rabbani said. "I told him to go there and see the people, and he
promised to construct a road and a dam for them."
There is nothing wrong with the U.S. ambassador working closely
with Afghanistan's president as long as he only offers advice and
doesn't make decisions, Rabbani added.
"I believe that Mr. Karzai and Khalilzad are linked very closely with
each other now and they were in the past too," Rabbani said. "And
when they have links, they probably have political links or any
other kind of links."
(c) 2004 Los Angeles Times
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
10) 100+ Organizing Centers for the Million Worker March!
Momentum is growing for the Million Worker March. There
are now more than 100 organizing centers across the
country as the word spreads and working people answer the
call to organizize in our own name.
http://www.AntiWar4theMillionWorkerMarch.org
***Become an organizer!
We need your help! We need more activists to become bus
organizers in their area. you can sign up online to
become an organizer:
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/organizingcenters.htm
We also need help with the enormous expenses involved with
organizing Anti War 4 the Million Worker March. You can
donate online at :
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/index.htm or by
mail. Make checks payable to: People's Rights Fund/Oct.17
Buses, and send to:
Antiwar4the Million Worker March
39 W. 14th St. #206
NY NY 10011
New endorsers are signing up daily. The executive board
of SEIU 1199 in NYC just voted to endorse. This is the
largest union in New York, with over 250,000 members. The
union also agreed to provide buses for their members who
wish to paticipate in the Million worker March,
Other recent endorsers include: Rainbow/PUSH, the Green
Party, AFSCME District Council 37, and many others. (for
an updated list of endorsers, see
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/endorsers.htm)
**NYC Rally & Fundraiser for the Million Worker March
Friday, September 24th 2004 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
New York, New York
Food, drinks, music, comedy, poetry, and even a few
speeches. Let's get together to have fun and show the
bosses we can build a big militant labor movement that
fights for jobs, education, health care and not war on
other poor and working people around the world. For more
information go to our organizing web site or contact by
email.
Location:
SEIU-32 BJ Union Hall 101 Sixth Ave. near Canal St, Grand
and Watts St. New York New York 10013
6-9 pm
For Ticket Information, contact Chris Silvera 718-389-1900
x 21, Brenda Stokely 212-219-0022 x5185, Hetram (Chuck)
Mohan 212-210-0022 x5119
http://www.AntiWar4theMillionWorkerMarch.org
Anyone can subscribe.
Send an email request to
AntiWar4theMillionWorkerMarch-subscribe@organizerweb.com
To unsubscribe AntiWar4theMillionWorkerMarch-unsubscribe@organizerweb.com
Subscribing and unsubscribing can also be done on the Web at
http://www.organizerweb.com/mailman/listinfo/antiwar4themillionworkermarch
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
11) DROP THE DEBT! STOP THE WAR! WE DEMAND JUSTICE!
THE MOBILIZATION FOR GLOBAL J
USTICE calls all activists to
WASHINGTON DC on OCTOBER 1ST
AND 2nd to protest the meetings of the G-7, the
World Bank and the IMF and to join
a Memorial Procession to end the war in
Iraq.
In 2002, developing countries received
$58 billion in loans and development
"aid", much of it from the World Bank
and the International Monetary Fund
(IMF). The same countries, in the same
year, REPAID OVER 5 TIMES THAT AMOUNT
in servicing their debt: $324 BILLION.
For many countries, paying back their
debt diverts public funds that would
otherwise go to public education,
healthcare, food subsidies, and other
essential services.
For the first time in history, 100%
multilateral debt cancellation for
impoverished nations is on the table.
An agreement could be reached on
October 1st during a meeting of the
G7 Finance Ministers. The joint annual
meeting of the IMF and World Bank take
place October 2nd and 3rd, and any
agreement on multilateral debt
cancellation would have to be ratified and
implemented there. THEY MUST FEEL THE
PRESSURE FROM US.
At the same time thousands of U.S. troops and
Iraqis continue to be killed
in Iraq while US corporations
like Halliburton reap the benefits.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1
"TIME'S UP! DROP THE DEBT!"
PICKET OF THE G-7 AT THE WORLD BANK/IMF MEETINGS
Friday, October 1, 12:00 noon, location TBA
Join Jubilee USA Network in front of
the G-7 Finance ministers meeting in a
spirited picket. We will be there
demanding that the voices of the millions
living under the harsh economic
regime of international debt be heard - 100%
Debt Cancellation Without Harmful
Conditions from the Resources of the World
Bank and the IMF! Money for health,
education, the environment, not for debt
payments!
For more information: Jubilee USA
Network, 202-783-3566, www.jubileeusa.org
WATCH AND WAIT_.
VIGIL AT THE WORLD BANK AND IMF MEETINGS
Friday, Oct. 1, 2:30pm through Saturday, Oct. 2, 6:00pm
Location: Outside the World Bank
and IMF, 18th and H Streets, NW
The 50 Years Is Enough Network,
the Religious Working Group on the World
Bank and the IMF, the Jubilee USA
Network, and Africa Action will keep vigil
outside the World Bank and IMF
meetings. We will honor the victims of 60
years of tragic policies and crippling
debt; we will call on the
institutions to cancel the debt. In
solidarity with the successful peoples
movements everywhere, we will
keep vigil in front of the World Bank and the
IMF, watching and waiting... for a
measure of justice! Please join us!
For more information: 50 Years Is
Enough Network, 202-463-2265,
www.50years.org
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2
A TRAIL OF MOURNING AND TRUTH
FROM IRAQ TO THE WHITE HOUSE
October 2, 12:00 noon: Gathering:
Arlington National Cemetery, Women's
Memorial
*Opening reflections by Andy Shallal,
Veterans, Families who have lost loved
ones in Iraq, and Others *Please wear
black mourning clothes befitting a
funeral or memorial *Arlington
National Cemetery Metro stop
(recommended) or
paid parking at the Cemetery
*The Women's Memorial is at the end of
Memorial Drive near the cemetery's entrance
1:00pm: Memorial Procession from
Arlington Cemetery to the White House
*Solemn procession across Memorial
Bridge, past the Lincoln Memorial, and to
the Ellipse side of the White House (approx 3 miles)
2:00pm: Closing Ceremony: The
White House, Ellipse
*Reading the names of the dead
and remembering the wounded *Speakers: Arun
Gandhi, Lila Lipscomb, Celeste
Zappala, Michael Berg, and Others
*Peacemakers risking arrest will
try to deliver the names of the dead to the
White House at the conclusion of
the ceremony. Those taking part are urged
to have nonviolence training, an
affinity group & observe nonviolence
guidelines. Max: 410-323-7200
mobuszewski@afsc.org.
Sponsored by a coalition of groups
including Iraq Pledge of Resistance,
Military Families Speak Out, Peace
Action, American Friends Service
Committee, DC Antiwar Network,
Washington Peace Center, and others.
For more information:
In Washington DC: 301-589-2355
or pledgecoordinator@starpower.net
Baltimore: 410-323-7200
Philadelphia/Wilmington: 302-656-2721
NYC: 212-228-0450 x104
FOLLOWING THE MEMORIAL PROCESSION,
MGJ WILL MARCH TO JOIN THE VIGIL AT THE
WORLD BANK AND IMF MEETINGS
The vigil will culminate in a closing ceremony 4:00-6:00pm
THE MOBILIZATION FOR GLOBAL
JUSTICE is a Washington DC based group that
works on issues of global economic
and social justice and sustainability. We
believe another world is possible and
necessary. We envision a world free of
corporate domination and crushing debt,
particularly in communities of
color. We act to expose and change the
institutionalized violence wrought by
international financial and trade institutions
such as the World Bank,
International Monetary Fund, and World
Trade Organization.
The Mobilization is committed to nonviolence
and recognizes militarism as a
tool used by the global corporate elite
to keep money flowing to the
privileged few while restricting the
rights of people worldwide. We oppose
corporate practice which places short-
term profits ahead of human dignity,
sustainable development and a healthy
earth. We stand for the globalization
of our rights to speech, thought, religion,
assembly, a clean environment,
self-determination, freedom from fear
and persecution and freedom from
poverty.
We stand for the rights of women,
children, elderly, affordable health care,
strong labor rights and social and
economic policies that put people and the
environment before profits. Finally,
we are committed to linking the IMF and
World Bank policies to similar ones
that are being implemented in Washington
DC which are resulting in decreased
access to vital human services for DC's
most needy residents. To that other
globalization--the globalization of
greed and obscene concentrations of
wealth--we say that Another World Is
Possible and Necessary.
MGJ is a non-hierarchical nonviolent
organization of individuals and
organizations that promotes the arts,
conducts workshops, facilitates
nonviolent direct actions, educates,
organizes, campaigns, empowers, and
aims to rip injustice from its roots.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
12) Who Is Ayad Allawi?
September 23, 2004
Ayad Allawi spoke before a joint session of the U.S. Congress this
morning. He spoke of "the values of liberty and democracy." For
general information on Allawi, see the resource Disinfopedia:
www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Iyad_Allawi .
Here are some relevant articles:
The New York Times , "Ex-C.I.A. Aides Say Iraq Leader Helped
Agency in 90's Attacks" (June 9, 2004)
by Joel Brinkley
The article states: "Dr. Allawi's group, the Iraqi National Accord,
used car bombs and other explosive devices smuggled into
Baghdad from northern Iraq, the officials said."
www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0609-02.htm
The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), "Allawi Shot Inmates
in Cold Blood, Say Witnesses" (July 17, 2004)
by Paul McGeough, Chief Herald Correspondent, in Baghdad
www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0716-01.htm
The Guardian (UK), "Who Seized Simona Torretta? -- This Iraqi
Kidnapping has the Mark of an Undercover Police Operation"
(Sept. 16, 2004)
by Naomi Klein and Jeremy Scahill
The article states: "...witnesses said that several attackers
wore Iraqi National Guard uniforms and identified themselves
as working for Ayad Allawi, the interim prime minister."
www.commondreams.org/views04/0916-11.htm
The Independent (UK), "Exiled Allawi was Responsible
for 45-Minute WMD Claim" (May 29, 2004)
by Patrick Cockburn
www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0529-02.htm
The Guardian (UK), "Al-Jazeera closure 'a blow to
freedom'" (August 9, 2004)
by Lisa O'Carroll and agencies
The article states: "The Iraq prime minister's
decision to throw al-Jazeera out of Baghdad
and ban it from operating for 30 days is 'a
serious blow to press freedom,' Reporters Sans
Frontieres has said.'"
http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1279410,00.html
The Egyptian Gazette (Cairo, via AP),
"On the Selection of Ayad Allawi as Iraq's
Prime Minister" (June 1, 2004)
The editorial states: "The U.S.-installed
Interim Governing Council named Ayad
Allawi, a member of the IGC, to head the
government that takes over on June 30.
Allawi's selection could be seen as a pre-
emptive bid to consolidate the council's
grip on power and turn the transitional
government into a U.S. puppet. It is a slap
in the face for the U.N. as well. The IGC is
unpopular with most Iraqis for comprising
Iraqi exiles. Even Lakhdar Ibrahimi, the U.N.
envoy to Iraq, was taken aback by the
announcement of Allawi as the new prime minister."
WILLIAM BLUM, bblum6@aol.com ,www.killinghope.org
Blum is author of the books Killing Hope: U.S.
Military and CIA Interventions Since World War
II and Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only
Superpower .
DOUGLAS VALENTINE, redspruce@comcast.net ,
www.douglasvalentine.com
Author of the book The Phoenix Program , about
U.S. "counter-insurgency" operations in Vietnam,
Valentine said today: "Allawi worked for Saddam,
then for the British secret services, then the CIA.
The U.S. government clearly needs a strongman
to do its bidding; someone who acts on self-interest
and not in the interest of the Iraqi people he's
supposed to represent. It looks like Allawi fits that
bill quite well."
For more information, contact at the Institute for
Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan,
(541) 484-9167
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
13) Mistrial in Pepper Spray Suit
Jurors Deadlock 6-2 in Favor of Demonstrators
By Bob Egelko
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0923-20.htm
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/09/23/
BAGHJ8T65U28.DTL
SAN FRANCISCO - The second trial of a lawsuit filed by anti-logging
protesters whose eyes were doused with pepper spray ended Wednesday the
same way the first did -- with jurors unable to agree whether police and
sheriff's deputies in Humboldt County had inflicted unnecessary pain to
break up sit-ins.
These images taken from a video that was shot by the Eureka, Calif.,
Police Department, according to Headwaters Forest Defenders, show what
Headwaters Forest Defenders allege are officers swabbing the eyes of
demonstrators with liquid pepper spray at the office of U.S. Rep. Frank
Riggs in Eureka, Calif., Oct. 16, 1997. A federal judge declared a
mistrial Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2004, when a second jury deadlocked on the
question of whether police went too far by swabbing pepper spray on the
eyes of bound, nonviolent logging protesters in 1997. (AP
Photo/Headwaters Forest Defenders, File)
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston declared a mistrial after jurors in
her San Francisco courtroom told her they were hopelessly deadlocked in
6 1/2 hours of deliberations over two days. Several jurors told
reporters afterward that the vote had been 6-2 in favor of the
plaintiffs, who argued that the use of pepper spray on nonviolent
demonstrators was excessive force.
The jury in the first trial in 1998, a year after the incidents,
deadlocked 4-4. The activists and their lawyers quickly announced plans
Wednesday for a third trial.
"We will win next time,'' declared attorney J. Tony Serra. "It'll be a
different kind of trial. It'll still be political. It'll still be
vehement.''
"It is a long haul,'' said plaintiff Spring Lundberg, 24. "Post-Sept.
11, it may be hard for people to realize that a badge, a uniform may be
misused.''
The defendants -- Humboldt County, its current and former sheriff and
the city of Eureka -- argued that pepper spray was a temporarily painful
but safe option for dislodging demonstrators who occupy private property
and resist legitimate demands to leave. They noted that a state advisory
commission approved guidelines for applying liquid pepper spray
alongside the eyes of demonstrators in 1998.
Defense lawyer Nancy Delaney said she would ask Illston to dismiss the
suit rather than retry it. U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker granted
Delaney's request for a dismissal after the first trial, saying no
reasonable juror could find excessive force, but he was overruled by an
appeals court and later removed from the case.
The suit stems from demonstrations during a three-week period in
September and October 1997 at Pacific Lumber Co. headquarters in Scotia,
at a company logging site and at the Eureka office of a pro-logging
congressman.
The protesters, including the eight plaintiffs, locked themselves
together inside heavy metal sleeves and refused to leave. After
warnings, officers applied liquid pepper spray to the corners of their
eyes with Q-tips, then sprayed the chemical in the faces of those who
still refused to unlock. Videotapes of demonstrators screaming in pain
were shown on national television and played for the jury.
In the past, the sheriff's office had used electric grinders to cut
through the metal sleeves. But Sheriff Dennis Lewis and his chief
deputy, Gary Philp, who is now the sheriff, said they changed their
policy in 1997 after officers voiced fears that the grinders would
injure someone or start a fire, and after they reviewed studies that
concluded pepper spray was safe.
The plaintiffs said they suffered lasting physical and psychological
effects from the pepper spray, and accused the sheriff's office of
acting at the behest of Pacific Lumber, the county's largest employer,
to crack down on a growing movement protesting the logging of old-growth
forests.
After the mistrial, juror Elva Ibarra of Livermore said the officers had
gone too far.
"They used pepper spray on nonviolent people,'' she said. "They had
other options.''
The two jurors who voted for a finding of reasonable force declined to
speak to reporters. But the jury foreman -- E.M. Feigenbaum, a
psychiatrist from San Rafael who sided with the plaintiffs -- said the
dissident jurors "thought pepper spray was not so terrible, that it was
only temporary. I tried to point out that there was post-traumatic
stress disorder.''
Illston made a last-minute attempt to settle the case Wednesday, calling
lawyers into her chambers after jurors first reported they were stymied.
But the judge ran into the same obstacle that has thwarted settlement
efforts for years: The plaintiffs want Humboldt County and Eureka to
stop using pepper spray against political demonstrators, a demand the
law enforcement agencies reject.
"We cannot resolve a legal case by urging the sheriff to change policy
in a way that would potentially pose a greater risk of injury,'' Delaney
said.
(c) 2004 San Francisco Chronicle
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---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
14) Subject: Mural dream...Idriss Stelley Foundation
From: Iolmisha@cs.com
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 14:05:14 EDT
Hello!
My name is mesha Monge-Irizarry, CO-Director of Idriss Stelley
Foundation. (For background, you may log on justice4idriss.org, or
idrissonelove.com, or google serach under mesha Irizarry, Idriss
Stelley, or Idriss Stelley Foundation).
My only child, 23, was killed by SFPD at the SF Sony Metreon on
6-13-01, 48 bullets, 9 cops, while standing alone in an empty
theater. With the proceedings of the settlement, I created our
foundation along with sandra-juanita Cooper. We provide free,
confidential services to the biological &extended families of loved
ones endangered, traumatized, disabled or killed by law
enforcement. Idriss was a community activist and is sorely
missed by his family and community. His case as well as Amadou
Diallo's are landmarks nationwide around use of deadly force
against young Black males, and Idriss' case is at the root of Prop
H, Police Reform which won by a substantial margin on SF Nov 03
Ballot, and of the expanded SFPD Mental Health training since
March 2002.
We have dreamed for a long time to do a mural in memory of
Idriss alongside our house on Hawes and Ingerson, 1 block from
3COM Park, and for the past year to combine it with end youth
violence, and violence against youth of color in SF. The message
would be that the youth ain't the criminal, the institution is !
Poverty and environmental racism is the cause of criminalization
of youth of color. The 29 Sunset bus, which transports all BVHP
youth to public schools turns in front of the house, and we get a
huge crowd passing by every 49ers game. The impact of the
mural would be phenomenal and would definitely make history in SF.
Although several artists have expressed an interest in working
on the project, we would love working on a collaboration with
your organization because of its dynamism and long track record
of fighting for social justice.
Our original idea is to pay minimum wage to youth from several
Bayview Hunters Point public housing projects and make the site
a Violence/Drug Free zone, have them "Paint by numbers" and add
their own personal touch to end youth violence in SF. Such project
is similar to the initial efforts to bring truce in LA between the
Bloods and the Crips.
It would be a healing focal point for all groups currently working
on ending youth violence in SF, and an inspiration for our
criminalized youngsters in Bayview.
We would be grateful, regardless of your decision, to get your
advise on possible grant sources, deals for renting scuffles,
supplies, covering kids salaries. The area to cover is approximately
50 ft on wood. We will also approach Reclaiming the Commons and
Green Earth Alliance (we already have a collaboration), to create a
resting space w/ cultures and benches by the mural.
Please give us a response if interested at your earliest convenience.
This would mean the world to our Bayview Hunters Point community
as well as expanding your already shining proactivity in our troubled
city!
_In solidarity,
mesha
I S F
Idriss Stelley Foundation
(415) 595-8251
(Bilingual Spa. 24-HR Crisis Line)
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
15) Action Alert- "Anti-Semitism" Bill, Weapons Sale to Israel
From: "Middle East Children's Alliance"
Throughout this past year Rep. Tom Lantos (CA) has been pushing for a
new bill that would create a new office in the State Department to
monitor "anti-Semitism" in the US and abroad. The Global Anti-Semitism Act
that Lantos co-authored this spring states that, "Anti-Semitism has at
times taken the form of vilification of Zionism...and incitement against
Israel."
This action by Lantos follows on the heels of House Resolution 3077 in
fall of 2003. HR 3077, now pending, would create an advisory board that
monitors anti-American and anti-Israeli statements at universities
receiving government funding. This resolution severely restricts academic
freedom and is meant to intimidate professors whose work challenges
mainstream views on Middle East history and US foreign policy.
This bill does not stand in isolation; it is part of a growing trend in
the United States to construe anti-Israel and anti-Zionist views as
"anti-Semitic". The silencing of criticism of the State of Israel and its
discriminatory policies is a dangerous abridgement of our First
Amendment rights. Even the State Department has objected to this bill
stating
that "[i]t could erode our credibility by being interpreted as
favoritism in human rights reporting."
This week 104 prominent Americans sent a letter to Colin Powell
supporting the bill and Lantos won backing for this bill from Rep. Chris
Smith
(NJ).
Please contact Lantos and Smith to express your concern about the
abridgement of our civil rights and liberties.
We cannot allow our government to stifle debate and discussion on these
important issues.
Representative Lantos
Web Site: www.house.gov/lantos
Washington Office:
2413 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0512
Phone: (202) 225-3531
Fax: (202) 226-4183
Main District Office:
400 S. El Camino Real, #410
San Mateo, CA 94402
Phone: (650) 342-0300
Fax: (650) 375-8270
Representative Smith
Web Site: www.house.gov/chrissmith
Washington Office:
2373 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3004
Phone: (202) 225-3765
Fax: (202) 225-7768
Main District Office:
1540 Kuser Rd., Ste. A9
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Phone: (609) 585-7878
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US to Sell 5,000 Smart Bombs to Israel
from Haaretz http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/479587.html "The United
States will sell Israel 5,000 smart bombs, for $319
million, according to a report made to Congress a few weeks ago. The funding
will come from the U.S. military aid to Israel...
"The Pentagon told Congress that the bombs are meant to maintain
Israel's qualitative advantage, and advance U.S. strategic and tactical
interests.
"Among the bombs the air force will get are 500 one-ton bunker busters
that can penetrate two-meter-thick cement walls; 2,500 regular one-ton
bombs; 1,000 half-ton bombs; and 500 quarter-ton bombs.
"Government sources said the bomb deal, one of the largest weapons
deals of recent years, did not face any political difficulties, despite the
use Israel has made of U.S.-made F-16s in some of its assassinations in
the territories... The government sources said Israel will not be
asking for any new weapons systems or purchases until after the upcoming
November elections..."
Ask Your Representatives to Oppose the Sale of So-Called "Smart" Bombs
to Israel
TALKING POINTS
* The illegal use of these one-ton bombs in civilian residential areas
of the Palestinian territories has resulted in the mass killing of
hundreds of Palestinian civilians, including many children. In July of
2002, the Israeli occupation forces dropped a one-ton bomb into an
apartment building to kill a single person.
*In the last four years, 3,300 Palestinians (including over 600
children) have been killed by the Israeli military with American weapons.
Giving these bombs to Israel is akin to giving them a green light to
continue targeting Palestinian civilians and children.
*Since 1967, Israel has acted against the occupied Palestinian
population in direct violation of international law, humanitarian
conventions
ad 33 United Nations Security Council Resolutions.
*The US State Department has reported on systematic Israeli violations
of Palestinian human rights: house demolitions, illegal settlement
building, and closures. Furthermore US military aid to Israel is in
violation of US Arms Export Act, which forbids the US government from giving
military assistance to any country that violates internationally
recognized human rights.
*Despite the above information, the US government continues to reward
Israel with over $5 billion a year in aid (at least $500 million of
which is military aid) which is paid entirely by US tax dollars.
*Tell your representatives that U.S. support for Israeli human rights
violations will affect how you vote in the next election.
To find contact information for your representatives go to
www.congress.org
Middle East Children's Alliance
901 Parker Street
Berkeley, California 94710
United States
