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    		• BAUAW NEWSLETTER
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    Wednesday, October 27, 2004
     

    BAUAW NEWSLETTER-WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2004

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
    END THE U.S. OCCUPATION OF IRAQ!
    BRING ALL THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
    MARCH AND RALLY TO STOP THE WAR NOW!
    WEDNESDAY, NOV. 3RD, 5PM
    ASSEMBLE AT POWELL AND MARKET-
    MARCH TO 24TH & MISSION ST., S.F.
    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
    VOTE YES ON N! MEETING THURSDAY, OCT. 28, 7PM,
    GLOBAL EXCHANGE, 2017 MISSION STREET, SUITE 303
    (NEAR 16TH & MISSION STREETS)
    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
    NEXT BAUAW MEETING:
    TUESDAY, NOVEMBER, 9TH,7 P.M.
    1380 VALENCIA STREET
    (BETWEEN 24TH & 25TH STREETS)

    We will be tabling on 24th Street in front of the Farmers
    Market beginning at Noon this Saturday, Oct. 30th. Come help
    hand out posters, buttons and flyers for Yes on N and the
    Nov. 3rd march and rally against the war.

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    1) Not in Our Name: Anti-War March and Rally
    End the Occupation -
    Out of Iraq Now!
    No matter who is elected, we say no to war
    and repression!
    Wednesday, November 3
    5 PM at Powell & Market, San Francisco (map)
    March to 24th & Mission.
    Bring flashlights, drums, and noisemakers.
    Permitted event featuring the Loco Bloco
    Drum and Dance Ensemble. Volunteers needed,
    Get involved today!

    2) SAVE THE DATE !!! SAVE THE DATE !!! SAVE THE DATE !!!
    JUSTICE FOR CAMMERIN BOYD
    6 MONTHS - 5 OFFICERS - NO JUSTICE
    MARCH ON CITY HALL
    4:45 PM, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2004
    Meet at Laguna and Larch Street
    (between Eddie and Turk) in San Francisco -
    march to San Francisco City Hall
    Please forward

    3) NO ON MEASURE Y - OAKLAND, CA

    4) The Islamic Society of San Francisco
    Invites you to a break the fast (Iftar)
    Ramadan Dinner
    please forward widely
    Friday, October 29 Time: 5:00 PM: Reception
    Breaking of fast followed by Delicious spicy

    5) Stop the Eviction of a Blind Senior
    From: Mecca44@aol.com
    Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 09:44:39 EDT

    6) Special Taking Aim message -
    Lynne Stewart testimony has begun!
    Mon, 25 Oct 2004 11:36:41 -0700
    From: "Taking Aim"

    7) ANSWER "Adopts" a Local 2 Hotel
    Weekly Picket on Thursday 4:30 – 6:30 pm
    at Crowne Plaza Hotel Until Lock-Out Ends
    Community Support Urged for Hotel Workers

    8) Protest the U.S.-Led Occupation of HAITI
    This Haiti Solidarity protest on Thursday will march by
    several Local 2 pickets at Union Square, including the
    Crowne Plaza Hotel on Sutter Street, where ANSWER activists
    will join the picket line.
    Please show your solidarity with both
    "Break the Silence!" Tell the Truth About HAITI
    Take Your ANGER to BUSH and POWELL (Streets)
    Thursday, October 28 -- Emergency Demonstration
    4:30 p.m. Gather at Powell & Market, 5:00 p.m.
    March on Bush and Powell

    9) TOUR SCHEDULE OF ISAAC SANEY, AUTHOR OF CUBA:
    A REVOLUTION IN MOTION
    MENSAJE SOLO PARA MIEMBROS QUE VIVEN EN EL NORTE DE
    CALIFORNIA, EEUU
    MESSAGE ONLY FOR LISTSERVE MEMBERS WHO LIVE IN NORTHERN
    CALIFORNIA

    10) ONE MONTH UNTIL THOUSANDS GATHER AT FORT BENNING
    TO CLOSE THE SOA / WHINSEC!
    SOA Watch Update
    October 26, 2004
    "We must learn that when we oppose torture against others,
    we oppose it for ourselves, for the borders are closer than
    we think. Remember Abner Louima, Rodney King, Delbert Africa,
    people beaten and brutalized right before your eyes. Remember
    Archbishop Romero, the nuns raped and murdered in El Salvador
    by graduates of the SOA. Your tax dollars at work."
    -- Mumia Abu-Jamal, journalist and political prisoner, summer 2004

    11) U.S. considers ways to increase troops in Iraq for vote
    By Tom Squitieri,
    WASHINGTON
    USA TODAY
    http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-10-25-troops-increase_x.htm

    12) British Troops Head North for Mission Near Baghdad
    By Alistair Lyon
    BAGHDAD (Reuters)
    Wed Oct 27, 2004 09:08 AM ET
    http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6628503&src=eD
    ialog/GetContent§ion=news

    13) INSURGENTS
    Military Assault in Falluja Is Likely, U.S. Officers Say
    By ERIC SCHMITT
    CAMP FALLUJA, Iraq
    October 27, 2004
    http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/27/international/middleeast/27marines.html?hp
    &ex=1098936000&en=c904464482078c63&ei=5094&partner=homepage

    14) Iraq's Prime Minister Faults U.S. Military in Massacre
    By EDWARD WONG
    BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 26
    http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/27/international/middleeast/27iraq.html?oref=
    login

    15) Guerilla attacks increase as US forces continue air raids
    against Fallujah
    WSWS :News & Analysis :Middle East :Iraq
    By James Cogan
    27 October 2004
    http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/oct2004/fall-o27.shtml

    16) Congo war's 40,000 rape victims face HIV epidemic
    By Meera Selva in Nairobi
    27 October 2004
    http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp?story=576395

    17) Get well, Fidel!
    On Wednesday, October 20, 2004, Fidel Castro tripped
    and fell after giving a speech, injuring his knee and arm.
    On Thursday, October 21, 2004. the government of the
    United States publicly refused the common courtesy
    of wishing the Cuban leader a speedy recovery!
    (See State Department transcript provided below.)
    In June 2004, when U.S. President Ronald Reagan died,
    the Cuban government publicly declared:
    "President Ronald Reagan was a tenacious opponent of the Cuban Revolution,
    but Cuban revolutionaries possess a sense of ethics and honor that is
    incompatible with the idea of issuing critical judgements or attacks at what
    is a moment of profound sorrow for his family. That has been and will always
    be the conduct of the Cuban people and leadership."

    18) '04 Election Cost Estimate: Nearly $4 Billion
    From: alerts@crp.org
    October 21, 2004

    19) Children punished by Australian law
    Sarah Stephen
    http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2004/604/604p11.htm

    20) SOUTH AFRICA: ANC welcomes Apartheid Israel
    James Barrett, Johannesburg
    http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2004/604/604p20.htm

    21) US gave date of war to Britain in advance,
    court papers reveal
    By Colin Brown, Deputy Political Editor
    27 October 2004
    http://news.independent.co.uk/low_res/story.jsp?story=576429&host=3&dir=62

    22) The Bush Crony Full-Employment Act of 2003
    By Evelyn J. Pringle
    www.dissidentvoice.org
    October 26, 2004
    http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Oct04/Pringle1026.htm

    23) US Raids Computer Centers, Internet Cafes To Quell
    Resistance Reporting
    Oct 22, 2004
    By Omar Al-Fair, JUS
    http://www.jihadunspun.com/intheatre_internal.php?article=100181&list=/home.
    php

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    1) Not in Our Name: Anti-War March and Rally
    End the Occupation -
    Out of Iraq Now!
    No matter who is elected, we say no to war
    and repression!

    Wednesday, November 3
    5 PM at Powell & Market, San Francisco (map)
    March to 24th & Mission.
    Bring flashlights, drums, and noisemakers.
    Permitted event featuring the Loco Bloco Drum and
    Dance Ensemble. Volunteers needed, get involved today!


    "The lives of children around the world-especially in Palestine
    and Iraq-are in danger every day because of the militarism and
    misguided foreign policies of both political parties. Meanwhile,
    those who speak up for children and provide humanitarian aid
    are coming under increasing scrutiny and pressure. The Middle
    East Children's Alliance is proud to join Not in Our Name in its
    call to stand up to war and injustice-for the sake of all our
    children."

    Barbara Lubin, Executive Director of the Middle East Children's
    Alliance

    Not in Our Name: Anti-War March and Rally


    End the Occupation -
    Out of Iraq Now!
    No matter who is elected, we say no to war and repression!

    Wednesday, November 3
    5 PM at Powell & Market, San Francisco (map)
    March to 24th & Mission.
    Bring flashlights, drums, and noisemakers.
    Permitted event featuring the Loco Bloco Drum and Dance
    Ensemble. Volunteers needed, get involved today!

    On November 3rd, we will still be against the illegitimate occupation
    left in the aftermath of an unjust war, the police state restrictions
    of the Patriot Acts, and the ongoing attacks on our immigrant
    communities.

    Event initiated by Not in Our Name Bay Area, and endorsed by:

    * Siafu
    * Middle East Children's Alliance
    * Veterans for Peace-SF Chapter 69
    * International ANSWER-SF
    * American Muslim Voice
    * Northern California RAWA Supporters
    * American Friends Service Committee-SF
    * Bay Area United Against War
    * Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors
    * Queers for Peace and Justice
    * Jewish Voice for Peace
    * Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace
    * International Socialist Organization
    * Refuse & Resist!
    * Korea Solidarity Committee
    * War Resisters League-West
    * South Bay Mobilization to Stop the War
    * East Bay Food Not Bombs
    * Alameda Peace Network
    * Bay Area Radical Women
    * Peninsula Peace and Justice Center
    * United for Peace and Justice-Bay Area

    Rock the boat-not just the vote!

    Get involved today!
    Organizing Meeting
    Wednesday, October 27 ~ 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
    Not in Our Name Office
    3945 Opal Street, Oakland (map)
    At 40th Street, near Broadway - a short walk from Macarthur BART.

    Come get some paint on your hands!
    Work Party
    Sunday, October 31 ~ 10 AM to 2 PM
    Grassroots House
    2022 Blake Street, Berkeley (map)
    At Shattuck Street - five blocks south of Downtown Berkeley BART.

    Only a week to go! We need your help to make sure that the
    upcoming march and rally sends a loud and clear message that
    the Bay Area says "NO!" to war and repression no matter who
    wins the election. Volunteers are needed for flyering, phone
    banking, event logistics, and much more. Come to Wednesday's
    meeting and/or Sunday's work party, or call 510-601-8000 to
    get involved today.

    The Not in Our Name Project
    needs your support!

    Donate online
    donate.notinourname.net

    Or send your tax-deductible contribution today to:

    Not in Our Name
    3945 Opal Street, Oakland CA 94609
    www.notinourname.net

    phone: 510-601-8000
    email: bayarea@notinourname.net
    local: bayarea.notinourname.net

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    2) SAVE THE DATE !!! SAVE THE DATE !!! SAVE THE DATE !!!
    JUSTICE FOR CAMMERIN BOYD
    6 MONTHS - 5 OFFICERS - NO JUSTICE
    MARCH ON CITY HALL
    4:45 PM, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2004
    Meet at Laguna and Larch Street
    (between Eddie and Turk) in San Francisco -
    march to San Francisco City Hall
    Please forward

    What: Join family and friends of Cammerin Boyd in a march and
    vigil to mark the six months anniversary of the murder of
    Cammerin Boyd by San Francisco Police Officers.

    YOU CAN HELP GET JUSTICE FOR CAMMERIN:
    SEND A REPLY E-MAIL(malaika@ellabakercenter.org) TO:
    * Receive fliers to distribute via e-mail or mail
    * Sign on to the letter calling for a federal investigation into the
    police department
    * Let us know you will come to the rally and that you will bring
    5 friends with you


    BACKGROUND ON CAMMERIN BOYD
    On Wednesday, May 5, San Francisco Police Officers shot and
    killed 29 year-old Cammerin Boyd in front of dozens of witnesses.
    Cammerin, who was disabled, was clearly and vocally surrendering.
    He had his hands above his head, but the police shot him anyway.
    They stole his life and robbed his daughters of their father, his
    mother of her son, and his loved ones of a dear friend and relative.

    For years, SFPD has had a "shoot first, lie later" policy- especially
    when it comes to black people and disabled people. With no effective
    investigation or discipline mechanisms, the department has developed
    a culture of impunity for rogue officers. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH !!!!
    NO MORE KILLER COPS ON OUR STREETS

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    3) NO ON MEASURE Y - OAKLAND, CA

    The No on Measure Y campaign is organizing a press conference for
    5:30, Thursday, October 28th, and will put the voices of witnesses
    and victims of police brutality first. The Citizen Police Review Board
    is holding a public hearing at the Oakland City Hall (14th and Broadway)
    on the use of tear gas at the Carijama Festival. There are 11 complaints
    which have been consolidated into this hearing. Come and support police
    accountability and No on Meausre Y. E-mail Aaron at
    ashuman101@aol.com for more info.

    To see the agenda for the Civilian Police Review Board meeting,
    click here:
    http://www.oaklandnet.com/government/citizens/cprb_agenda_oct2804.html
    GET OUT THE VOTE!

    Saturday, October 30th, we will be walking precincts from
    10AM-2PM with Californians for Justice, meet at the CFJ office
    1611 Telegraph Ave, Suite 317 at 10AM, near the 19th Street
    BART Station. They will also be passing out -Yes on Prop 72
    (Increased Healthcare Coverage), and Yes on Prop 66
    (3 Strikes Amendment), and those of us who agree
    (I think that's all of us?) will do so as well.

    2-6PM We will be phonebanking along with Californians
    for Justice office (address above)

    Sunday, October 31st, we will meet at the ACORN office at
    3616 Fruitvale Ave at 10AM and go pass out flyers and our
    cool newspapers at the Dia de los Muertos celebration on
    International Blvd in Fruitvale- 10s of thousands of people
    from Oakland go to this festival.

    2-6PM we will be phone-banking along with Californians for
    Justice (address above)

    Monday, November 1st, we will meet at ACORN's office at
    3PM and disperse throughout the city to do rush hour
    publicity. We will hold up signs at busy intersections
    and pass out flyers at BARTs.

    Tuesday, November 2nd,we will meet at ACORN's office at
    6:30AM and again at 3PM and disperse throughout the city
    to do rush hour publicity. We will hold up signs at busy
    intersections and pass out flyers at BARTs. At noon we will
    meet up with BayLOC at 14th and Broadway in downtown
    Oakland (Bay Area Local Organizing Committee of the National
    HipHop Political Convention) and march to the courthouse
    where any registered voter in Alameda County can vote.

    JOIN US TO CELEBRATE!!!
    Saturday, November 6th - Sunday, November 7th - We're taking a
    "get-away" at the Point Reyes Youth Hostel, if you want to come
    hang out with us, go hiking, chill at the beach, this will be FUN
    trip to celebrate our victories in changing the debate about the
    role of police in making us safer and hopefully in defeating
    Measure Y! If you want to go e-mail Jonah at
    jzern1@yahoo.com
    ASAP, include
    your phone # in the e-mail!! It is $16 for the night at
    the hostel, so by confirming we're expecting you'll cover
    this expense even if you have to bail on the trip.


    NO ON MEASURE Y! NO MORE COPS!!!! http://noonmeasurey.org

    Education not Incarceration Coalition http://www.ednotinc.org
    KPFA: http://www.kpfa.org/
    Military Out of Our Schools!! http://www.militaryfreeschools.org
    Proyecto Linguistico http://www.hermandad.com
    Fast for Education http://www.fast4education.org


    Do you Yahoo!?
    Yahoo! Mail - CNET Editors' Choice 2004.
    Tell them what you think
    e> .

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    4) The Islamic Society of San Francisco
    Invites you to a break the fast (Iftar)
    Ramadan Dinner
    please forward widely
    Friday, October 29 Time: 5:00 PM: Reception
    Breaking of fast followed by Delicious spicy Dinner



    The Islamic Society of San Francisco
    Invites you to a break the fast (Iftar)
    Ramadan Dinner

    To help develop better communications, friendship, trust and
    relationships. We encourage dialogue among religions so that
    religions can rely on each other and not fight with each other.
    So that we can jointly take on projects of building peace and
    tranquility among the American Muslims and people of other
    faiths. We believe in cooperation and understanding to build
    a better America & the world.

    The civilized people use the strength of their arguments to win
    hearts and minds, the uncivilized use force... Sufi Master

    When: Friday, October 29 Time: 5:00 PM: Reception
    Sunset: Breaking of fast followed by Delicious spicy Dinner

    Hello everyone,

    We are forwarding the following invitation to the Iftar (breaking
    the fast) dinner at the Islamic Society of SF. We encourage
    everyone to attend in the name of friendship and solidarity.
    As we have since BTN was formed several years ago, we stand
    in solidarity with all our Arab, Muslim and South Asian brothers
    and sisters and in opposition to the detentions, deportations,
    harassment and other persecutions that these communities
    have unjustifiably been subjected to as a result of the phony
    and contrived "war on terror" (and real war for empire).
    In the latest of the uncountable outrages perpetrated by this
    government, are the October, "pre-election" deportations,
    interrogations and FBI snooping..

    Participating with the Muslim community at this time is an act
    of solidarity in the face of this kind of persecution. We hope
    you will join us in this important event.

    Ben for the BTN SF

    The Islamic Society of San Francisco
    Invites you to a break the fast (Iftar)
    Ramadan Dinner
    To help develop better communications, friendship, trust and
    relationships. We encourage dialogue among religions so that
    religions can rely on each other and not fight with each other.
    So that we can jointly take on projects of building peace and
    tranquility among the American Muslims and people of other faiths.
    We believe in cooperation and understanding to build a better
    America & the world.

    The civilized people use the strength of their arguments
    to win hearts and minds, the uncivilized use force.
    Sufi Master

    When: Friday, October 29 Time: 5:00 PM: Reception
    Sunset: Breaking of fast followed by Delicious spicy Dinner

    Islamic Society of San Francisco,
    20 Jones Street. San Francisco, CA 94102
    RSVP: issf@islamsf.com

    or Call: Souleiman Ghali 415-215-8929
    Umah82@hotmail.com
    Call:
    Iftekhar Hai 650-872-2578
    American Muslim Voice at samina_faheem@yahoo.com

    or call 650-387-1994

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    5) Stop the Eviction of a Blind Senior
    From: Mecca44@aol.com
    Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 09:44:39 EDT

    Hope you can all join us for a protest against a big time landlord
    who is evicting a low-income blind senior. Another SF story.
    tommi

    Julie Lee, a longtime anti rent-control activist and political insider,
    won't stop the Ellis eviction of Jeanette Guest, a longtime tenant who
    is blind. Nor will Julie Lee heed the calls for her to resign from the
    Housing Authority. Jeanette is being evicted so Lee "a multi-millionaire
    landlord" can demolish Jeanette's 3 unit apartment building and replace
    it with a new 3 unit apartment building, which will not be covered by
    rent control (pursuant to state law exempting new construction from
    rent control).

    Join the SF Tenants Union, Senior Action Network and Religious
    Witness With Homeless People as we protest Julie Lee at the next
    Housing Authority meeting

    Julie Lee Eviction Protest II
    Thursday, October 28
    4 PM
    SF Housing Authority
    440 Turk St

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    6) Special Taking Aim message -
    Lynne Stewart testimony has begun!
    Mon, 25 Oct 2004 11:36:41 -0700
    From: "Taking Aim"

    Note from the Lynne Stewart Defense Committee - please try to attend
    the court proceedings this week if you live in the greater NY area. Your
    presence sends a strong message to the jury and judge that the world
    is watching and cares about the outcome of Lynne's case. -- Mya

    Lynne Stewart will take the stand in her own defense today,
    October 25th at 2:15. She should be testifying all week please
    come down to court and show your support.

    Come and Fill the Courtroom for

    The Trial of Lynne Stewart

    United States District Court
    Southern District of New York
    40 Foley Square, New York, NY Rm. 110
    (the old federal courthouse)
    Hon. John G. Koeltl presiding

    Closest Subways:
    4,5 or 6 to Brooklyn Bridge
    or the A, C or E to Chambers
    1 or 2 to Franklin
    N or R to City Hall

    For more info go to:
    http://www.lynnestewart.org/
    or call 212-625-9696

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    7) ANSWER "Adopts" a Local 2 Hotel
    Weekly Picket on Thursday 4:30 – 6:30 pm
    at Crowne Plaza Hotel Until Lock-Out Ends
    Community Support Urged for Hotel Workers

    (please post and distribute widely)

    Four thousand of San Francisco’s hotel workers are in an intense
    struggle to save their health care coverage and pensions. After a
    4 week lock-out, the big transnational hotel chains are going all
    out to break the back of one of the strongest unions in the country.
    Despite warnings from the SF Board of Supervisors and even Mayor
    Gavin Newsom, the hotel chains aren’t budging. The workers
    represented by UNITE HERE Local 2 have kept 24-hour picket lines
    outside of 14 of San Francisco's high-end hotels.

    Labor and community support is needed to show solidarity with
    these workers and help keep the picket lines going. This labor battle
    represents the broader struggle to save affordable health benefits for
    all workers. The fierce fight that the hotel workers are waging to save
    their health care and other benefits will have a significant effect on
    the future of all working people in a period when more and more
    employers are trying to pass off rising health care costs to their
    workers.

    ANSWER has "adopted" the Crowne Plaza Hotel picket line on
    Thursdays from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm. Please join us this Thursday
    10/28! (The Crowne Plaza is in Union Square located at 480 Sutter
    between Powell & Stockton, a short walk from the Powell St.
    BART station.) We urge all ANSWER supporters to join us on this
    day to show our support of the Local 2 workers.

    If you can’t make it on Thursdays, please join the picket lines at
    any of the hotels listed below. You can pick up an ANSWER sign
    that says: "Health Care is a Right!" and "Support the Hotel Workers"
    at the office at 2489 Mission St., Rm. 24, San Francisco.


    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    8) Protest the U.S.-Led Occupation of HAITI
    This Haiti Solidarity protest on Thursday will march by
    several Local 2 pickets at Union Square, including the
    Crowne Plaza Hotel on Sutter Street, where ANSWER activists
    will join the picket line.
    Please show your solidarity with both
    "Break the Silence!" Tell the Truth About HAITI
    Take Your ANGER to BUSH and POWELL (Streets)
    Thursday, October 28 -- Emergency Demonstration
    4:30 p.m. Gather at Powell & Market, 5:00 p.m.
    March on Bush and Powell

    The Haitian people steadfastly demand the return of President Jean
    Bertrand Aristide since the culmination of the U.S.-sponsored coup
    on February 29th. The U.S.-appointed, Latortue government has
    responded by jailing hundreds of Lavalas supporters, including
    leading activists and several members of the former government.
    These political prisoners have been illegally detained for months--
    none have been tried.

    Undaunted, tens of thousands of Lavalas supporters marched in
    Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitian on September 30 to mark the
    anniversary of the previous coup from 1991-4. Units from the
    National Police fired on these peaceful demonstrations while United
    Nations “peacekeepers” stood by and did nothing. The next
    morning, de facto Prime Minister Gerard Latortue boasted at a press
    conference: "We opened fire on demonstrators; some of them have
    been killed, others injured, and still others fled.”

    Two days later, three leaders of Lavalas were arrested October 2 at
    Radio Caraibe after criticizing the interim government on air. On
    Wednesday, October 13 authorities arrested and roughed-up Father
    Jean-Juste – a beloved priest, activist and pacifist -- while he served
    600 hungry children in his parish. Hundreds more have been arrested
    and many dozens killed just in the past two weeks.

    As of October 15, the tenth anniversary of Aristide’s return from the
    previous coup, the popular neighborhoods such as Cite Soleil and Bel
    Air were under siege by the police -- augmented by the hated former
    military, as well as U.N. troops.

    While these deadly attacks continued, U.S. State Department
    chief-spokesman Richard Boucher absurdly blamed Lavalas supporters
    for this state-sponsored violence, calling on their movement to
    "break with [its] legacy of violence and criminality." The message
    from the Latortue government is clear: “Haitians no longer have
    human rights.”

    The people of Haiti will not back down. They will defend their
    neighborhoods. They will not give up their demand to return to
    the constitutional, elected government under President Aristide.

    The People of HAITI Need Your SOLIDARITY Now More Than Ever.

    For More Information, CONTACT the HAITI ACTION COMMITTEE:
    www.haitiaction.net
    haitiaction@yahoo.com 510.483.7481

    To donate to the ongoing work of ANSWER, or to get involved,
    call 415-821-6545 or go to www.ANSWERCoalition.org
    .

    To subscribe to the list, send a message to:


    To remove your address from the list, just send a message to
    the address in the ``List-Unsubscribe'' header of any list
    message. If you haven't changed addresses since subscribing,
    you can also send a message to:


    For addition or removal of addresses, We'll send a confirmation
    message to that address. When you receive it, simply reply to it
    to complete the transaction.

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    9) TOUR SCHEDULE OF ISAAC SANEY, AUTHOR OF CUBA:
    A REVOLUTION IN MOTION
    MENSAJE SOLO PARA MIEMBROS QUE VIVEN EN EL NORTE DE
    CALIFORNIA, EEUU
    MESSAGE ONLY FOR LISTSERVE MEMBERS WHO LIVE IN NORTHERN
    CALIFORNIA

    PALO ALTO
    Tuesday, October 26
    7:30 pm
    Peninsula Peace & Justice Center
    457 Kingsley St. (between Waverly and Cowper)
    Palo Alto
    For information contact Paul George, (650)326-8837

    SAN JOSE
    Wednesday, October 27
    San Jose State University
    Martin Luther King Library, Room 255-257
    12:00 - 1:30 p.m.
    Open to Students, Faculty, Community
    Price: Free
    For information contact Kathleen Densmore
    kmdensmo@pacbell.net
    phone (408)92403750, (415)441-7670

    SANTA CRUZ
    Wednesday October 27
    5 - 6:30 Stevenson College Fireside Lounge,
    University of California, Santa Cruz
    7-9pm Next Door-Rio Theatre
    1205 Soquel Avenue
    Santa Cruz
    $5 admission
    sponsored by Cuba Study Group
    info: Nancy Abbey nabbey@cruzio.com
    phone (831) 465-8272

    OAKLAND
    Thursday, October 28 6:30 pm
    The Eastside Arts Alliance
    2587 International Blvd. (between 25th & 26th Avenues)
    Oakland
    phone :510-533-6629
    Panel:
    Isaac Saney-author, Cuba, A Revolution in Motion
    Kali Akuno- Malcolm X Grassroots Movement
    Ana Perez -Global Exchange Cuba Program
    Moderated by Phil Hutchings -Oakland-Santiago de Cuba Sister City

    SAN FRANCISCO
    Saturday, October 30
    2 pm Modern Times Book Store
    888 Valencia St.
    SF
    (Talk, book signing)
    Info: 415-282-9246

    Saturday October 30
    6 pm RECEPTION followed by
    7:30 pm talk, Q&A and book-signing
    at Socialist Action Book Store
    298 Valencia Street (at 14th St.)
    SF
    Contact Jeff Mackler (415)255-1080

    OAKLAND - BERKELEY
    Sunday, October 31
    1 - 4 pm
    Grand Finale of Isaac Saney's Bay Area Speaking Tour
    and Introduction to the Casa Cuba Resource Center
    at the Niebyl Proctor Marxist Library (NPML)
    6501 Telegraph Ave (between Alcatraz and 65th)

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    10) ONE MONTH UNTIL THOUSANDS GATHER AT FORT BENNING
    TO CLOSE THE SOA / WHINSEC!
    SOA Watch Update
    October 26, 2004
    "We must learn that when we oppose torture against others,
    we oppose it for ourselves, for the borders are closer than
    we think. Remember Abner Louima, Rodney King, Delbert Africa,
    people beaten and brutalized right before your eyes. Remember
    Archbishop Romero, the nuns raped and murdered in El Salvador
    by graduates of the SOA. Your tax dollars at work."
    -- Mumia Abu-Jamal, journalist and political prisoner, summer 2004

    SOA Watch Update
    October 26, 2004

    ONE MONTH UNTIL THOUSANDS GATHER AT FORT BENNING
    TO CLOSE THE SOA / WHINSEC!

    >From our victory in the 11th Circuit Court to the stories we are hearing
    from all over the country of local groups organizing in bigger and bigger
    numbers, this year’s convergence at the gates of Fort Benning is shaping
    up to be our biggest and most exciting yet!

    Once again we have an amazing line up of dynamic speakers and rousing
    musicians who will grace our stage this November 20 and 21. This year we
    are proud to welcome such individuals as Ruby Sales, prominent civil
    rights activist from Columbus, Georgia; Carlos Mauricio and Neris
    Gonzalez, torture survivors and plaintiffs in the successful lawsuit
    against Salvadoran generals now living in the US; Betita Martinez, long
    time Chicana activist and historian; Bob King, vice president of the
    United Auto Workers; Sr. Dianna Ortiz, founder of Torture Abolition
    Survivors and Support Coalition International and MANY MORE.

    We are also happy to welcome back many of the long-time musicians that
    have been an essential part of our November presence, including Charlie
    King and Karen Brandow, The Chestnut Brothers, Pat Humphries and Sandy
    Opatow, Francisco Herrera, Jon Fromer, David Rovics and Llajtasuyo.
    Newcomers to the stage this year include Kim and Reggie Harris, Utah
    Phillips and Chicago-based ska/reggae band Los Vicios de Papá.

    See the schedule of events here:
    http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=822 . Check back often as this
    schedule will be regularly updated as we get closer to the vigil dates.

    To see these musicians and speakers, to hold a sign demanding the closure
    of the SOA/ WHINSEC, to participate in the funeral procession -- you WILL
    NOT have to pass through a metal detector or a police search this year,
    thanks to the ruling of the 11th Circuit Court on October 15. Visit
    http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=920 for more information on the
    ruling and links to media coverage of this great Constitutional victory.

    How YOU can continue to organize for the November vigil:

    ORGANIZE Buses and Vans to travel to Georgia and post your transportation
    information on the SOA Watch Ride Board at
    http://www.soaw.org/new/ride.php .

    RESERVE hotel rooms in Georgia for your friends and yourself. Visit the
    SOA Watch website for logistical information:
    http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=763 .

    DOWNLOAD flyers to promote the vigil at
    http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=763 . Continue to spread the word in
    your community and fill up those vans and buses!

    DONATE NOW to support the growing costs of the vigil - every dollars
    helps. Visit http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=546 .

    SOA Watch ~ PO Box 4566 ~ Washington DC 20017 ~ (202)234-3440 ~
    http://www.soaw.org/

    Search /RENEGADE/ for articles that mention the School of the Americas -
    http://fornits.com/renegade/peaars.cgi?keywords=School+Americas&how=all

    Search /RENEGADE/ for articles that mention human rights -
    http://fornits.com/renegade/peaars.cgi?keywords=human+rights&how=phrase

    /RENEGADE/ Search - GO TO: http://fornits.com/renegade/peaars.cgi?
    and just type in your topic. For differing results you may uncheck
    "article" and search on just "subject," etc. /RENEGADE/ also has
    "time-frame" in the search, so you can tailor your results that way, too.

    For more information about the School of the Americas and SOA Watch,
    see: http://www.soaw.org/
    or send email to info@soaw.org

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    11) U.S. considers ways to increase troops in Iraq for vote
    By Tom Squitieri,
    WASHINGTON
    USA TODAY
    http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-10-25-troops-increase_x.htm

    WASHINGTON - Concerned that they won't get enough new troops
    from allies to help provide security for Iraqi elections in January,
    Pentagon
    officials are considering increasing the current U.S. force by delaying the
    departures of some U.S. troops now in Iraq and accelerating the deployment
    of others scheduled to go there next year.

    The goal is to temporarily raise the number of U.S. troops in Iraq from
    the current 138,000 to almost 160,000 to help protect international
    and Iraqi election workers and secure polling locations.

    That addition would bring the sustained U.S. troop presence in Iraq to
    its highest level since President Bush declared an end to major combat
    operations on May 1, 2003.

    Defense officials were reluctant to discuss the options on the record. But
    Capt. Harold Pittman, a spokesman for Gen. John Abizaid, the commander
    of Central Command, said, "Obviously, we are looking at all of those
    options and taking everything into account. ... There are a lot of options,
    possibilities and venues on the table to provide additional security during
    the election time frame."

    Four Defense officials with direct knowledge of troop planning for Iraq
    discussed what the Pentagon must do to meet the need for more troops
    at election time. They asked not to be identified because troop matters
    are highly sensitive and decisions have not yet been finalized. Abizaid
    said in September that he would need more forces to secure the elections,
    but hoped they could be Iraqis or foreign troops. The Pentagon has
    been unable to persuade allies to send enough new forces, and U.S.
    commanders have so far been unable to train enough Iraqi troops to
    fill the gap.

    The easiest option, the Defense officials said, is to delay the departure
    from Iraq of the 1st Cavalry Division, which is set to begin leaving in
    January. At the same time, the Pentagon would move up the deployment
    of some elements of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division.

    The other options include using U.S. troops now being held in reserve
    in Kuwait or deploying elements of the Army's 82nd Airborne, which
    helped provide security for the elections in Afghanistan earlier this
    month, the officials said.

    The White House declined to discuss troop options. "The president
    will make sure that the commander and the troops in the field have
    what they need to win in Iraq," said Sean McCormack, a spokesman
    for the White House's National Security Council.

    A final decision will be made no later than December after U.S. Army
    Gen. George Casey, overall commander in Iraq, and Army Maj. Gen.
    David Petraeus, who is in charge of training Iraqi forces, go through
    a series of "decision points" to gauge if additional Iraqi forces are
    sufficiently trained and equipped and what mix of additional U.S.
    forces will be necessary, the Defense officials said.

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    12) British Troops Head North for Mission Near Baghdad
    By Alistair Lyon
    BAGHDAD (Reuters)
    Wed Oct 27, 2004 09:08 AM ET
    http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6628503&src=eD
    ialog/GetContent§ion=news

    BAGHDAD (Reuters) - British troops rolled north from Basra
    Wednesday to take over a deadly area near Baghdad and free up
    U.S. troops for a widely expected attack on Falluja.

    "The deployment has begun," a spokesman for the Ministry of
    Defense told Reuters in London. "For operational reasons I can
    give no further details. But they will be back for Christmas."

    A British column with Warrior armored vehicles on flatbed
    trucks headed north, a Reuters photographer said. The Warriors
    were fitted with extra slat armor to deflect rocket-propelled
    grenades -- a weapon of choice for Iraqi insurgents.

    About 850 British troops, mainly from the Black Watch
    regiment, are due to deploy in a restive region just south of
    Baghdad, allowing U.S. troops to reinforce units fighting
    insurgents in rebel-held Falluja and elsewhere.

    U.S. forces would spearhead any assault on the Sunni Muslim
    city, which Iraq's interim government has vowed to retake
    before nationwide elections planned for January.

    The Iraqi government believes pacifying Falluja would help
    contain relentless suicide car bombings and abductions.

    Kidnappers have seized scores of foreigners since April in
    a campaign to try and force U.S.-led troops and foreign workers
    to leave Iraq. More than 35 hostages have been killed.

    The Paris-based aid group Action contre la Faim said it was
    withdrawing its staff from Iraq due to security concerns,
    adding that aid activities by U.S.-led forces made it hard for
    charities to appear impartial.

    The group's announcement late Tuesday came just a week
    after unknown kidnappers seized British-Iraqi aid worker
    Margaret Hassan. Her employer, aid agency Care International,
    suspended its work in Iraq after the hostage-taking.

    "Like many other organizations, Action contre la Faim is
    now forced to leave a country in agony -- mainly due to
    permanent insecurity," the group said in a statement.

    A suspected motorcycle bomb attack on a U.S. convoy killed
    a soldier and wounded another north of Baghdad, the military
    said. That fatality raised the U.S. combat death to 847 since
    the start of last year's war to topple Saddam Hussein.

    U.S. officials said the Pentagon might increase U.S. forces
    in Iraq for the election period by delaying the departure of
    some troops and speeding the arrival of others.

    Hundreds of Falluja families have already left the city for
    safety. Local leaders said they would travel to Baghdad to
    renew on-off peace talks with the government Wednesday.

    The government has vowed to unleash military action unless
    the people of Falluja hand over foreign militants led by al
    Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said to operate in the city.

    Zarqawi's feared Islamist group threatened Tuesday to
    behead a Japanese hostage unless Tokyo pulls its 550 troops out
    of Iraq within 48 hours. Japan rejected the demand.

    The Qaeda Organization for Holy War in Iraq said in a video
    placed on the Internet that unless Japan complied "this infidel
    will meet the same fate as Berg ... and the other infidels" --
    a reference to American Nick Berg, who was beheaded in May,
    and five other hostages killed by Zarqawi's recently renamed
    group.

    HOSTAGE VIDEO

    Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who sent troops
    to Iraq despite public opposition, stood firm Wednesday.

    "We cannot tolerate terrorism and we will not give in to
    terrorism," he said. "We will not withdraw the Self-Defense
    Force (SDF)," he added, referring to the Japanese military.

    The video showed the hostage, identified as Shosei Koda,
    24, with long hair and a thin beard, seated in front of three
    masked men and a black banner bearing the group's name.

    "They want the Japanese government and Prime Minister
    Koizumi to withdraw Japanese troops from Iraq or they will cut
    my head (off)," Koda said in English.

    As one militant read out a statement, another grabbed Koda
    by the hair and pulled his head up to face the camera.

    Japan's non-combat troops work on reconstruction in Samawa,
    270 km (168 miles) south of Baghdad. It was not clear what Koda
    was doing in Iraq. His family said he was traveling abroad.

    Militants abducted five Japanese civilians in Iraq in April
    and threatened to kill three unless Japanese troops left.

    In July, the Philippines withdrew its 50 troops to save a
    Filipino hostage under a similar death threat.

    Interim Defense Minister Hazim al-Shaalan said a security
    breach in the Iraqi National Guard may have led to a weekend
    massacre of 49 army recruits that Zarqawi's group claimed.

    "I don't rule out infiltration inside the National Guard,
    he told London-based Asharq al-Awsat daily, adding that there
    could have been spies within the recruits' training camp.

    (c) Copyright Reuters 2004

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    13) INSURGENTS
    Military Assault in Falluja Is Likely, U.S. Officers Say
    By ERIC SCHMITT
    CAMP FALLUJA, Iraq
    October 27, 2004
    http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/27/international/middleeast/27marines.html?hp
    &ex=1098936000&en=c904464482078c63&ei=5094&partner=homepage

    CAMP FALLUJA, Iraq, Oct. 22 - A military offensive by American and
    Iraqi forces to reclaim rebel-held Falluja is probably inevitable and
    would be the largest and potentially the riskiest since the end of
    major combat in May 2003, senior American officers say.

    It would also involve major operations to seize control of Ramadi,
    another contested Sunni Muslim city 30 miles away, and to shut
    Syrian border crossings to prevent foreign fighters from streaming
    into Iraq, Marine commanders here say.

    This expanded set of combat operations reflects a growing consensus
    among American military commanders and Iraqi government officials
    that the insurgencies in the two nearby cities are linked and must be
    quelled at the same time.

    The timing and decision to carry out any attacks or close any border
    crossings is up to the prime minister, Ayad Allawi, senior Marine officers
    say. But as peace negotiations with representatives of Falluja have
    broken down, senior officers say it could be just weeks before air and
    ground attacks begin, in a battle that officers estimate could last from
    several days to two weeks.

    "If we're told to go, it'll be decisive," Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler, the
    commander of nearly 40,000 marines and soldiers in western and
    south-central Iraq, said in an interview. "The goal will be to limit the
    damage, limit the casualties and do it as rapidly and decisively as
    possible. We're not here to destroy the town. We're here to give it back."

    The issue extends far beyond Falluja and Ramadi. Military officials said
    smashing the resistance there would deal a blow to the insurgency
    nationally, because Falluja in particular has been a haven and staging
    ground for attacks. Defeating insurgents there could help to calm the
    nation and set the conditions for elections, commanders say.

    Senior officers say they are mindful that an attack on Falluja and Ramadi
    could set off uprisings in other Sunni towns and possibly in Sadr City,
    an impoverished Shiite area of Baghdad that exploded in violence
    during the revolts in April. But military officers say they are planning
    for such contingencies.

    Several important military and political decisions remain to be made
    before any attack, officers said. Britain is redeploying about 850 troops
    from Basra to an area south of Baghdad to free up American forces
    to swing into position near Falluja. Iraqi security forces have not yet
    moved into position, though General Sattler said that would happen
    quickly once the order is given. A last-minute settlement also is
    possible, as has happened before at Falluja.

    Commanders here insist that the planning and timing for any possible
    offensive has not been influenced by the American elections on Nov. 2
    and that political issues have not come up in discussions with their
    military and civilian superiors in Baghdad or at the Pentagon.

    In interviews at this dusty desert headquarters three miles east of
    Falluja and at other military headquarters in Iraq, commanders sketched
    out a broad outline for how the offensive would probably unfold. They
    declined to discuss specific troop numbers, tactics and important
    political and military decision points to protect operational security.
    But thousands of marines and soldiers, joined by thousands of newly
    trained and equipped Iraqi soldiers, police officers and commandos,
    would attack Falluja from multiple directions, unleashing direct tank,
    artillery and mortar fire against insurgent positions that had been
    weakened by allied airstrikes and internecine fighting in recent weeks.

    A great number of residents have fled the city in recent weeks, but
    thousands of insurgents remain, along with vestiges of the population.
    While keeping the city out of government control, the insurgents
    have also orchestrated attacks across much of Iraq. Abu Musab
    al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant who is believed to have organized
    attacks that have killed hundreds in Iraq from his base in Falluja,
    is of primary interest to the Americans.

    In the battle of Samarra last month, 3,000 American troops and
    2,000 Iraqis fought roughly 500 insurgents. Officers estimated that
    perhaps three to four times that number of hard-core insurgents are
    in Falluja, meaning that an American-Iraqi force much larger than
    5,000 troops is likely to be massed.

    As in allied operations in Najaf and Samarra, Iraqi forces would be
    relied on to clear and secure mosques and other culturally sensitive
    targets, with marines and soldiers providing backup.

    "We'll match capabilities with the mission to have an appropriate blend"
    of Iraqi and American forces, said Col. John Coleman, the First Marine
    Expeditionary Force chief of staff.

    Allied warplanes including Navy FA-18's and Air Force F-16's and
    F-15E's would conduct air strikes against insurgent safe houses,
    weapons caches and other leadership targets that have been carefully
    analyzed for possible damage to civilian infrastructure.

    The bombing would be an intensified version of the nearly nightly
    strikes the Americans have conducted in Falluja for the past two
    months but would not be a huge barrage, the commanders say.

    The weapons of choice have been laser-guided and satellite-guided
    500-pound bombs, which are considered better able to limit the
    risk of civilian casualties than 1,000-pound and 2,000-pound bombs.

    Commanders say the offensive would get off to a fast start, but the
    insurgents are likely to respond with roadside bombs and car bombs
    to slow it, and could try to initiate popular outbursts in nearby
    Sunni towns.

    Commanders also say the air campaign in Falluja has been largely
    directed against the network of Mr. Zarqawi, who is considered so
    dangerous that the Americans have put a $25 million bounty on him.

    Using information from informants, spy satellites, communications
    intercepts and other intelligence sources, commanders have assembled
    a target list that will change as sites are hit, checked and hit again
    during battle, or added based on fresh intelligence.

    Military engineers and civil affairs specialists would follow quickly
    behind the main combat force, with the job of assessing how to
    restore services like water, sanitation and electricity, and of assigning
    contractors or military experts to the task.

    General Sattler said he and his commanders were not in a rush to
    storm the city, contending that recent airstrikes have killed many
    of Mr. Zarqawi's top lieutenants and have seriously disrupted the
    operations of another Sunni militant leader, Omar Hadid.

    The insurgent leaders are wary of meeting in groups and have
    been forced to use couriers and trusted aides to pass messages,
    fearing that their telephone conversations would be monitored,
    General Sattler said. Indeed, American forces believe that they
    have come very close to killing or capturing Mr. Hadid at least
    twice, the general said.

    Mr. Zarqawi has been able to keep his leadership ranks filled
    but is no longer able to plot with his most trusted aides, officers
    said. "They are replaced by the second string and sometimes the
    third string," said General Sattler, who commands the First Marine
    Expeditionary Force. "It's a downward spiral for his organization."

    Checkpoints on the main roads leading in and out of Falluja have
    also disrupted the insurgents' operations, commanders said. Nearly
    100 people have been detained in a recent seven-day period at
    temporary barriers, which typically are created for an hour or two.
    Many of the detainees are still in American custody. In one car that
    was searched, American troops found rocket-propelled grenades
    in the trunk; in another, they found $80,000 in crisp $100 and
    $50 bills.

    But the insurgents are not giving up easily, commanders acknowledge.
    Car bombings and suicide attacks have increased here and in Baghdad.
    Mortar and artillery attacks against American troops and bases have
    increased, especially since the start of Ramadan in mid-October.

    An offensive on Falluja would be conducted nearly at the same time
    as parallel military operations, or possibly political negotiations, in
    Ramadi, the restive capital of Al Anbar Province, just 30 miles west
    of Falluja, General Sattler said. Insurgents, including leaders like
    Muhammad Daham, have seized control of most of the city from the
    local Iraqi police and municipal officials using a campaign of intimidation,
    officers said. Although marines are present in Ramadi, the city has
    become increasingly violent.

    To keep foreign fighters from joining the battles, General Sattler said,
    he is considering having military-aged men prevented from crossing
    into Iraq from Syria at the main border crossings unless they can
    show they have official business in Iraq. Dr. Allawi would decide
    that. Senior marines said Syria's recent agreement with Iraq to police
    its borders had yielded results.

    "Cooperation has actually risen," said Col. Ron Makuta, the chief
    intelligence officer for the Marines in Iraq.

    Copyright 2004 The New York Times

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    14) Iraq's Prime Minister Faults U.S. Military in Massacre
    By EDWARD WONG
    BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 26
    http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/27/international/middleeast/27iraq.html?oref=
    login

    BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 26 - Prime Minister Ayad Allawi blamed the
    American-led military forces on Tuesday for the weekend massacre
    of 49 freshly trained Iraqi soldiers, saying the military had shown
    "major negligence."

    In a speech before the interim National Assembly, the prime minister
    said a committee had begun investigating the ambush, the deadliest
    of the guerrilla war. The assault took place Saturday night in remote
    eastern Iraq, as three minibuses of unarmed Iraqi soldiers were heading
    south on leave. Insurgents dressed as policemen waylaid the men at
    a fake checkpoint, killed all 49 soldiers and their three civilian drivers,
    mostly with shots to their heads, and burned the vehicles.

    "I think there was major negligence by the multinational forces,"
    Dr. Allawi said before the 100-member assembly. "It was a way to
    damage Iraq and the Iraqi people."

    The massacre took place in an area of the country under the
    command of Polish forces.

    Dr. Allawi did not elaborate on his statement, and his aides could
    not be reached by phone for further comment. The prime minister's
    lacerating words marked the first time he has publicly criticized the
    American-led forces, disclosing his profound frustration at the
    assault and perhaps the deteriorating security situation as well.

    The American military defended itself in a statement released
    Tuesday evening. "This was a cold-blooded and systematic massacre
    by terrorists," the statement read. "They and no one else must be
    held fully accountable for these heinous acts."

    An American military official said the ambushed soldiers were
    members of the 16th Iraqi Army Battalion, Seventh Iraqi Army Brigade,
    and not of the Iraqi National Guard, as had been widely reported.
    They had left the main Iraqi Army training base in Kirkush, northeast
    of Baghdad, about 15 miles from the Iranian border. They were
    ambushed on an isolated road southeast of Baghdad, he said, not
    far from the border.

    The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said officers in
    his United States Army division, which has trained Iraqi national
    guardsmen, were baffled by the utter lack of protection given the
    Iraqi soldiers. He said when Iraqi guardsmen under his division's
    watch go on leave, they are sent off in armored convoys bristling
    with heavy guns. "We provide the gun trucks and protection, like
    when we go out ourselves," he said.

    "There's a lot of people stunned by this," he added. "There's a lot of
    people scratching their heads. It's a strange one."

    Capt. Steven Alvarez, a spokesman for Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus,
    whose command includes the Kirkush base, said in an e-mail message
    that the general was deferring all comment to the main military press
    office.

    The relentless assault on Iraqi security forces continued Tuesday, as
    a militant group called the Army of Ansar al-Sunna posted photos on
    the Internet showing that it had captured 11 Iraqi security officers.
    A message on the Web site said the insurgents had snatched the
    "infidels" of the "crusaders' militia" on a road between Baghdad
    and Hilla, about 50 miles south, where the men were apparently
    on patrol. The posting said the hostages were national guardsmen
    and part of an outfit called the Legion Security Force.

    In the photos, some of the guardsmen look frightened, sitting in
    a dirt pit at the feet of three guerrillas wearing black ski masks and
    brandishing AK-47's. Most of the hostages have on white T-shirts
    with "LSF," for "Legion Security Force," emblazoned across the chests.
    Two are wearing the brown camouflage uniforms of Iraqi national
    guardsmen, and one has on a plain khaki uniform with a blue "LSF"
    armband.

    [Early Wednesday, the television network Al Jazeera reported that
    an Internet videotape posted on a militant Islamist Web site threatened
    to behead a Japanese man taken hostage if Japanese forces were not
    removed within 48 hours, The Associated Press reported. It was not
    clear if the man, who was shown explaining the kidnappers' demands,
    was a member of the Japanese forces or was working with them, the
    agency reported.

    [There was no confirmation of anyone missing from Japan's forces,
    but in Tokyo, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told the chief cabinet
    secretary that Japanese troops would not pull out, Agence France-Presse
    reported, quoting a spokesman for Mr. Koizumi.]

    The Army of Ansar al-Sunna has claimed responsibility for several
    prominent killings in recent months, including the executions of a dozen
    Nepalese in August. It is an offshoot of Ansar al-Islam, whose mountain
    redoubt in northern Iraq was overrun by American Special Forces troops
    and Kurdish militiamen when the war began. It has proven to be one
    of the most extreme groups operating in Iraq and is suspected in many
    beheadings.

    The capture of the 11 guardsmen, the massacre on Saturday and
    numerous other attacks have shown the weak state of the Iraqi
    security forces, despite President Bush's assertion that local police
    officers and soldiers will soon be able to take over security duties
    from the 138,000 American troops here.

    An Iraqi national security aide said Monday that 5 percent of the Iraqi
    forces might be infiltrated by insurgents, and American troops regularly
    say Iraqi police officers and guardsmen are either worthless as fighters
    or working with insurgents. Western reporters also frequently encounter
    Iraqi security officers who say they are ready to take up arms against
    the occupation forces.

    The guerrillas who staged the ambush on Saturday probably had inside
    information on the movements of the soldiers, Iraqi officials have said.

    The interior minister, Falah al-Naqib, also appeared before the National
    Assembly on Tuesday and said the government was starting to remove
    police officers deemed to be bad workers. "Some of them are lazy," he
    said. "They came just for the sake of making a salary or earning a living.
    We have a real unemployment problem."

    In interviews, Iraqi police officers almost invariably cite the lack of jobs
    as the main reason they joined the security forces, despite the dangers.
    The nationwide unemployment rate is about 60 percent. The average
    police officer makes more than $220 a month, a solid middle-class
    income in this society.

    If the men are turned away from security jobs or fired, Mr. Naqib said,
    then insurgents will recruit them and pay them even more.

    Several recent prominent arrests have exposed potential senior-level
    corruption among the security forces. Last month, the First Infantry
    Division arrested a senior commander of the Iraqi National Guard in
    Diyala Province, where the Kirkush base is situated, accusing him of
    having ties to the insurgency. In August, marines arrested the police
    chief of rebellious Al Anbar Province on charges of corruption.

    Copyright 2004 The New York Times

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    15) Guerilla attacks increase as US forces continue air raids
    against Fallujah
    WSWS :News & Analysis :Middle East :Iraq
    By James Cogan
    27 October 2004
    http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/oct2004/fall-o27.shtml



    American-led occupation forces are confronting a surge in Iraqi
    guerilla activity in the predominantly Sunni Muslim regions of the
    country. Attacks on the occupation have increased by as much as
    30 percent in the last two weeks, with between 80 and 100 taking
    place each day.

    The escalation in resistance is taking place amidst an offensive by
    the American military, particularly against the city of Fallujah in
    Anbar province, one of the main centres of opposition to the US
    invasion and occupation of Iraq.

    Several thousand US marines have Fallujah under siege and it is being
    bombarded by air strikes every day. Iraqi defenders and American
    troops are skirmishing on the city outskirts, while tens of thousands
    of people have been turned into refugees, fleeing the city to escape
    the American bombing and shelling. Dozens of civilians-including
    women and children-have been killed or maimed this month alone.
    According to witnesses interviewed by the Arab cable network Al
    Jazeerah, US tanks shelled Fallujah's main al-Mathidi mosque on
    Monday, as fighters and civilians left the evening prayer service.

    The plight of Fallujah, and the criminal conduct of the US military,
    has fueled mounting resistance against the occupation.

    In the northern city of Mosul, two contract truck drivers transporting
    supplies for the American military were killed in an ambush on
    Saturday. On Monday, car bombs exploded outside government and
    police offices in the same city, killing a tribal leader working for the
    occupation and wounding a number of guards. The head of the local
    police only narrowly escaped death. On Tuesday, an American convoy
    was hit by multiple roadside bombs.

    Iraqi interim president Ghazi Ajil al-Yawar specifically warned earlier
    this month that there could be an eruption of unrest in Mosul if Fallujah
    were stormed. With close to three million people, it is the most
    populated Sunni Muslim city in Iraq.

    A video aired over the weekend showed an Iraqi who worked for the
    US military in the city being executed by masked men. Before being
    killed he was forced to state: "I am telling anybody who wants to work
    for the Americans, not to work for them. The mujaheddin have very
    accurate information."

    There are ample indications that resistance groups have thoroughly
    infiltrated the Iraqi government, along with the military and police
    institutions created by the occupation since the invasion. The timing
    and coordination of many ambushes suggest prior knowledge of the
    movement of occupation forces.

    On two occasions this month, mortar attacks have been carried out
    on buildings as they were being visited by US-installed Iraqi interim
    prime minister Iyad Allawi.

    On Saturday, insurgents reportedly dressed in Iraqi army uniforms
    used a fake checkpoint 95 kilometres east of Baghdad, in Diyala
    province, to stop three buses carrying around 50 unarmed US-recruited
    Iraqi national guardsmen. The interim government troops were taken
    from the vehicles and summarily executed as collaborators. The deputy
    governor of the province told the media: "There was probably collusion
    among the soldiers or other groups. Otherwise, the gunmen would not
    have gotten the information about the soldiers' departure from their
    training camp and that they were unarmed."

    In nearby Baqubah, guerillas attacked a US base on Tuesday and fought
    street battles with American troops. Iraqi national guard posts in the
    city have been attacked with car bombs for four consecutive days. At
    least 14 guardsmen have been wounded.

    In Baghdad, six US soldiers were wounded on Saturday in a dawn
    ambush as their convoy traveled to the airport. A roadside bomb
    set one of the American armoured vehicles ablaze.

    On Sunday, "Camp Victory", a major US base near the airport, was
    mortared. Ed Seitz, an agent with the US Bureau of Diplomatic Security,
    was killed and an unspecified number of people wounded. A car bomb
    exploded as a US patrol passed near the infamous Abu Ghraib prison,
    causing unknown casualties. According to Al Jazeerah, a massive bomb
    on the Kharnabat bridge in western Baghdad severely damaged an
    American tank. Before it could be salvaged, the tank reportedly fell
    into the Tigris River.

    The attacks continued on Monday. One US soldier was killed and five
    wounded by a roadside bomb in the west of the city. An explosion
    ripped through a market as an Estonian patrol passed by, killing one
    of the Estonian troops and wounding five. A car bomb exploded near
    the Australian embassy, hitting an Australian convoy just minutes after
    it had left the embassy and hurling one of the armoured vehicles off
    the road. Three Iraqi bystanders were killed and 13 wounded, while
    three Australian soldiers suffered injuries.

    In the Shiite city of Karbala, a car bomb killed a Bulgarian soldier and
    wounded two others on Sunday. This means that six Bulgarian troops
    have now been killed in Iraq. In British-controlled Basra, a police
    station was car-bombed over the weekend.

    Also in the south of Iraq, insurgents fired a rocket into the middle of
    the heavily fortified Japanese camp outside the town of Samawah. The
    rocket had no fuse and therefore did not explode. But it has been taken
    as a signal that Japanese troops can be targeted. A video released
    yesterday in the name of Al Qaeda-aligned terrorist Abu Musaab
    al-Zarqawi alleged that a Japanese citizen in Iraq is being held hostage
    and will be beheaded if the Japanese government does not agree to
    withdraw its forces.

    Fighting is continuing in Samarra, which was subjected to a bloody
    US assault in September and is still under curfew. A car bomb on
    Saturday reportedly killed four national guardsmen, while clashes
    took place on Sunday between guerillas and US troops in the city's
    suburbs. Two children were killed in the cross-fire. On Monday, an
    American vehicle was damaged by a roadside bomb.

    Guerillas have also launched attacks in recent days in Anbar province,
    the region surrounding Fallujah. On Saturday, a car bomb exploded
    outside a US base in the town of Baghdadi, near the provincial capital
    of Ramadi. At least 16 Iraqi police were killed and 40 other people
    injured. Another US base outside Ramadi was bombed on Monday
    and a convoy car-bombed near the town of Khaldiya. Two US
    convoys were hit by roadside bombs yesterday.

    The intensity of the fighting occurring in the vicinity of Ramadi was
    underscored by an article in the New York Times on October 21.
    The Second Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment, was deployed to the
    city in early September. In just six weeks, six of its personnel have
    been killed and 72 wounded. A sergeant told the newspaper: "They
    [the guerillas] know we're here; they know what we do; they know
    our routine. We're used to coming in [and] blowing stuff up. Now
    we wait to get hit."

    Roadside bombs have been found every 500 to 600 metres along
    major roads traveled by the marines. A young marine told the Times :
    "This is Vietnam. I don't even know why we're over here fighting.
    We're fighting for survival. The Iraqis don't want us here. If they
    wanted us here, they'd help us. They're certainly not helping us
    in this city." A 21-year-old marine from Nashville, Tennessee, said:
    "The funny thing that we laugh at sometimes is that the terrorists
    and us want the same thing. We don't want to be here and they
    don't want us here."

    In Fallujah, the US military is continuing to build up its forces for
    a full-scale assault. British troops of the Black Watch Regiment have
    begun moving into position around the town of Iskandariyah,
    relieving US marines to redeploy to Anbar province.

    As the prospect of a US entry into the city draws closer, Moqtada
    al-Sadr, the leader of the Shiite uprising that has flared on and off
    since April, broke weeks of silence on Saturday and declared his
    support for the resistance fighters in Fallujah. A spokesman for Sadr
    told the press he was only offering "moral support" at this stage and
    not calling for his Mahdi Army militiamen to take up arms.

    The main Sunni religious body, the Association of Muslim Scholars,
    however, has issued a call for a boycott of the elections being planned
    for January 2005 and is warning of a massive backlash from the Sunni
    population unless the occupation forces halt the offensive on Fallujah.

    A statement endorsed at a conference of 200 clerics last week was
    released on Sunday. The group's spokesman, Mohammed al-Faidhi,
    declared: "In the event that Fallujah is invaded or if it continues to be
    struck by planes, the clerics of Iraq will call on Iraqis to boycott the
    elections. This condition has already been breached as occupation
    forces have struck the town since the conference and it is now possible
    to take this decision. A follow-up committee will meet and announce
    this decision at the appropriate time...

    "We will consider the [election] results null and void. Elections that
    come with the blood of Iraqis, the burning of their properties and
    the killing of their women and children, are a farce that does not
    deserve respect."

    Copyright 1998-2004
    World Socialist Web Site
    www.wsws.org
    All rights reserved

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    16) Congo war's 40,000 rape victims face HIV epidemic
    By Meera Selva in Nairobi
    27 October 2004
    http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp?story=576395

    More than 40,000 women and girls were raped by soldiers and used
    as sex slaves in the six-year civil war in the Democratic Republic of
    Congo (DRC) and desperately need medical care, according to
    a report released yesterday.

    Amnesty International said soldiers from more than 20 armed groups,
    and government soldiers from the DRC, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda
    had taken part in the attacks, some on girls as young as five. Even
    soldiers from the UN peacekeeping mission, Monuc, are under
    investigation for sexual abuse. In some cases, militias have kept
    women for several months and attacked them repeatedly.

    Floriane, 21, was abducted from the forest and held in captivity by
    a militia from 2001 to 2004. "It was terrible. They used to beat me
    on my arms with an iron bar, just like an animal. I can't move my
    arm now. As we were considered sex slaves, sometimes as many
    as five soldiers would rape me, and I became pregnant. It was
    a very difficult birth, because I gave birth in the bush. The soldiers
    wouldn't let me go and the very day I gave birth, several soldiers
    raped me," she told Amnesty.

    The human rights group said the problem had been exacerbated
    by the fact that the DRC's one-year-old transitional government
    has been indifferent to the problem of sexual violence and had made
    no attempts to arrest or imprison rapists. It added that the government,
    headed by President Joseph Kabila, had been "far too slow" in setting
    up medical care and counselling to help the rape victims, who were
    usually also tortured.

    There are only two hospitals that can treat rape victims in the eastern
    Congo, where most of the fighting has taken place. Most of the
    treatment for rape victims has been provided by humanitarian
    aid agencies rather than the government, and even the agencies
    warn that they are not able to reach all the people who need help.
    Médecins Sans Frontières estimates that in some regions, it is
    helping only 5 per cent of women who have been sexually abused.
    In many cases, women were raped as they walked to medical centres
    to seek treatment.

    Health groups warn that the rapes have caused a massive increase
    in the rate of HIV/Aids infection. More than 20 per cent of the
    population in eastern Congo is estimated to be infected, and more
    than half of the population could catch the virus within the next 10
    years, making the rate of infection one of the highest in the world.
    As militias and soldiers from neighbouring countries move back
    home, they will spread the infection.

    Stephen Bowen, Amnesty International's campaigns director,
    said: "Rape in eastern DRC is a human rights and a health crisis.
    Countless women and girls are in desperate need of treatment
    but no organised or comprehensive response has been developed
    to assist them."

    Many of the victims have since been abandoned by their husbands
    and shunned by their communities. Soldiers from the Burundian
    FDD militia raped Eki, 50, in February 2003 while her husband
    was out fishing.

    She said: "The soldiers wanted money and when I told them I had
    no money, they slapped me and threw me to the ground. And there,
    in front of the children, two soldiers each held one of my legs,
    another slapped my face while a fourth soldier raped me. When
    my husband returned he accused me of being an FDD woman and
    abandoned me, leaving me alone with the children."

    The six-year war in the DRC began after Rwanda invaded the north
    and east of the country, saying it wanted to flush out Hutu militias
    who fled to the DRC after the Rwandan genocide. More than three
    and a half million people have died of violence, starvation and
    disease, and the armies of seven foreign countries have been
    involved in the fighting.

    A peace agreement was signed last year, but there have since been
    two attempted coups and militias continue to attack and rape civilians.


    (c) 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    17) Get well, Fidel!
    On Wednesday, October 20, 2004, Fidel Castro tripped
    and fell after giving a speech, injuring his knee and arm.
    On Thursday, October 21, 2004. the government of the
    United States publicly refused the common courtesy
    of wishing the Cuban leader a speedy recovery!
    (See State Department transcript provided below.)
    In June 2004, when U.S. President Ronald Reagan died,
    the Cuban government publicly declared:
    "President Ronald Reagan was a tenacious opponent of the Cuban
    Revolution, but Cuban revolutionaries possess a sense of ethics and
    honor that is incompatible with the idea of issuing critical judgements
    or attacks at what is a moment of profound sorrow for his family.
    That has been and will always be the conduct of the Cuban people
    and leadership."

    Ministry of Foreign Affairs
    Havana, June 10, 2004

    If you agree that, regardless of political differences common courtesy
    would have been to wish Cuba's Fidel a speedy recovery, send him
    a message:
    getwellfidel@hotmail.com

    (There is a Cuban saying "lo cortes no quita lo valiente." It means
    that one can have courtesy and courage at the same time.)


    http://www.danheller.com/cuba-flowers.html

    Boucher's Sour Mouthings

    October 23, 2004
    Granma Daily and Juventud Rebelde daily

    Nothing is as common for the government in Washington as
    ignorance, charlatanism and lack of scruples. It's very unlikely
    that the people there even know of the saying coined by the
    famous writer George Bernard Shaw that "Hatred is the vengeance
    of a frightened coward".

    This observation by the Nobel Prize winner for literature mirrors
    the behavior of US State Department spokesperson, Richard Boucher,
    who told the press last Thursday that he did not hope for a rapid
    recovery for Fidel Castro after an accident suffered Wednesday night
    in which the Cuban leader fractured his knee and cracked a bone in
    his arm

    Responding to questions on the subject of the Cuban leader's
    health, Boucher didn't stop there, but went on to say that Fidel
    Castro's fall was not the type that his government had hoped for,
    and that the Cuban government needs to come to an end.

    The State Department spokesperson is always ready with some
    witty remark, but shows little understanding of events. The little
    instruction manual he always carries with him to press conferences
    gives him away. It is obviously a bitter pill to swallow that the person
    he hates so much didn't fall apart, but rather endured his intense pain
    to explain to the young (graduating) teachers, the people of Santa
    Clara and the general public what had happened, adding with his
    usual tenacity: "I'm in one piece".

    However, Boucher is not an isolated case - it is proverbial that the
    idiots plotting treachery in the US State Department make fools of
    themselves.

    The press agencies are recording the joy in which State Department
    officials received the news of the accident, and the meanness of their
    loaded comments that have adorned US television transmissions with
    constant images of the mishap.

    According to a Europa Press dispatch, what happened to Fidel Castro
    is a topic of jokes in the corridors of the US State Department - a simple
    stumble evokes a 40-year-old dream in Washington of the toppling of
    the "maximum leader".

    The press agency reports: "'We have waited for Castro's fall for years but
    didn't think it would be in this way', said an official from Colin Powell's
    department. 'This is a sign that the regime is falling', joked another US
    high level official anonymously, seeking an omen in the Cuban leader's
    accident."

    What else could be expected of this hateful mendacity that harbors
    itself in the representatives of this right-wing, neo-conservative
    administration that howls at the slightest mention of the word "Fidel"?

    Respect for adversity evidently doesn't control such barbarous
    conduct by spokespeople and anonymous officials of the State
    Department.

    This attitude is part of the "doctrine" which they would impose on
    the world, where politics have nothing to do with morals. To anticipate
    or desire the death of even those that do not serve one's interests is
    a doctrine that goes against all ethical obligations.

    The leaders of the Cuban Revolution have distinguished themselves
    with exactly the opposite sentiment, never using taunts at the
    mishaps of others - not even their worst opponents.

    Thus history illustrates the principled position demonstrated in Cuba
    when the news of another assassination attempt against Ronald
    Reagan reached Havana - a man who was one of the worst enemies
    of the Island - and how Fidel himself informed the US authorities of
    the facts; or the immediate condemnation of the atrocious crime on
    September 11, and the offer to help the people of the USA.

    Compañero Fidel's unfortunate accident might have stirred up the
    destructive emotion of hate in State Department officials and others
    who hold grudges, but it also brought on an intense show of love
    and affection from many friends across the world.

    No one who knows him will doubt that, as much as he is indifferent
    to this primitive and derisory hatred, this avalanche of affection will
    enormously help in Compañero Fidel's recovery.

    Translation: Simon Wollers.

    TRANSCRIPT FROM U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT:

    QUESTION: Did you hear that Castro fell?

    MR. BOUCHER: We heard that Castro fell. There are, I think, various
    reports that he broke a leg, an arm, a foot, and other things, and I'd
    guess you'd have to check with the Cubans to find out what's broken
    about Mr. Castro. We, obviously, have expressed our views about
    what's broken in Cuba.

    QUESTION: Do you wish him a speedy recovery?

    MR. BOUCHER: No.

    QUESTION: No? Do you wish him a speedy demise?

    MR. BOUCHER: I'll leave the man's health alone. I think our view --

    QUESTION: Would you have preferred that his injuries be more
    life threatening? (Laughter.) People have come out, including your
    former boss --

    MR. BOUCHER: I know.

    QUESTION: -- and said things like, well, we hope the actuarial tables
    catch up with Mr. Castro. Are you disappointed that he wasn't more
    seriously wounded?

    MR. BOUCHER: I'm not going to express that kind of disappointment.
    I think, you know, the event speak for themselves. The situation in
    Cuban is of our primary concern. The situation of Mr. Castro is of
    little concern to us, but unfortunately of enormous importance to the
    people of Cuba, who have suffered very long under his role. And we
    think that the kind of rule that Cuba has had should be ended.

    QUESTION: Do you think if he stepped aside -- that's an "if" question,
    of course -- whoever succeeds him would provide any policy more
    to the U.S.'s liking than Castro has?

    MR. BOUCHER: It would be highly speculative for me to say that at
    this point, except to note that we do think the people of Cuba deserve
    democracy. They, like everybody else in the world, deserve a chance
    to choose their own fate and future, and that the Secretary of State
    co-chaired an effort on behalf of this Administration last year to
    identify what we can do to hasten that day and what we can do when
    that day comes to support the people of Cuba, as they have found
    their own democracy, which is something we have strong confidence
    that they will someday be able to do.

    http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2004/37313.htm


    GRATITUDE DEPARTMENT:
    To Nelson for inspiration.
    To Simon for translation.
    To Federico for web assistance.
    To Walter for persistence.


    WRITE TODAY:
    getwellfidel@hotmail.com

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    18) '04 Election Cost Estimate: Nearly $4 Billion
    From: alerts@crp.org
    October 21, 2004

    Center for Responsive Politics
    1101 14th Street, NW, Suite 1030
    Washington, DC 20005
    202/857-0044; 202/857-7809
    info@crp.org; http://www.opensecrets.org

    '04 ELECTIONS EXPECTED TO COST NEARLY $4 BILLION, PRESIDENTIAL
    RACE TO TOP $1.2 BILLION

    Contacts: Larry Noble (202/354-0108), Sheila Krumholz (-0104) or
    Steven Weiss (-0111)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The 2004 presidential and congressional
    elections will cost a record $3.9 billion, according to
    projections based on a study of campaign finance figures by the
    nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. The estimate
    represents a 30 percent increase over the $3 billion spent on
    federal elections four years ago.

    The presidential race alone, fueled by massive spending by
    President Bush, Sen. John Kerry, the political parties and a
    host of advocacy groups spending millions on ads and voter
    mobilization, is will cost an unprecedented $1.2 billion or
    more, according to the Center's estimates.

    The spending increases are due in significant part to the sharp
    rise in limited "hard" money contributions to federal candidates
    and party committees. The 2004 campaign is the first to take
    place under the new campaign finance law known as the Bipartisan
    Campaign Reform Act. The law raised contribution limits for
    individuals and banned unlimited "soft" money contributions to
    the national political parties.

    "The 2004 presidential and congressional elections will shatter
    previous records for spending, and the biggest reason is the
    increase in giving by individuals to candidates and parties,"
    said Larry Noble, the Center's executive director.

    The largest chunk of money in this year's elections--by far--is
    coming from individuals giving to federal candidates and
    political parties, continuing a years-long trend. Individual
    contributions will total $2.5 billion by the end of the current
    election cycle, according to the Center's estimate. That
    represents a significant jump over the $1.5 billion in
    individual contributions raised in the 2000 election cycle.

    Contributions from political action committees make up the next
    biggest portion of election funds. The Center estimates that PAC
    contributions will total $384 million in this year's elections,
    an increase of 33 percent over the elections four years ago,
    when PAC giving accounted for $288 million.

    Federal candidates will have poured $144 million in personal
    funds into their campaigns by the cycle's end, according to the
    Center's projections. Candidates in 2000 spent $205 million of
    their own money, but that included a record $60.2 million
    invested by former Goldman Sachs chairman Jon Corzine into his
    successful Senate campaign and $48 million spent by Steve Forbes
    on his failed presidential bid.

    Spending by 527 groups, named for a section of the tax code, is
    expected to reach $386 million this cycle. The total includes
    only 527s active in federal elections. Not included in the
    projection is election-related spending by 501c organizations,
    which need not disclose their contributions or expenditures.
    Beginning late in the 2000 cycle, 527s were required to file
    detailed financial reports with the Internal Revenue Service.

    --The Presidential Race-

    It has long been assumed that this year's presidential election
    will be the most expensive ever. The Center's $1.2 billion
    estimate bears that out. However, this figure includes a very
    conservative estimate of spending by advocacy groups.

    The Center has projected spending by five of the most active
    527s in the presidential election to be $187 million. But the
    total amount spent by 527s and 501c organizations on the
    presidential race is certain to be far higher than that. For
    example, the New York Times reported yesterday that advocacy
    groups will spend more than $350 million on get-out-the vote
    efforts alone.

    The total spent on the 2000 presidential race is difficult to
    estimate. Total receipts by the presidential candidates (private
    and government funds) and public funding for the party
    conventions equaled $529 million. But total spending also
    included an untold amount of money from the political parties
    and advocacy groups.

    --Other Findings-

    The Center's study also found the following:

    Maxing Out to Presidential Candidates -- Nearly as many
    individuals have given the maximum allowed to a presidential
    candidate in this cycle so far as in the entire 2000 cycle,
    despite the increase in contribution limits. This cycle's
    presidential candidates had raised the maximum $2,000 from
    106,595 individuals through August. That compares with the
    108,668 people who contributed $1,000, the old limit, to a
    presidential contender four years ago.

    Presidential candidates have become more reliant on maximum
    contributions under the new limit. This cycle's presidential
    hopefuls have raised nearly 29 percent of their total receipts
    in $2,000 contributions, while presidential candidates four
    years ago raised 22 percent of their money in contributions of
    $1,000.

    The figures include contributions to general election legal and
    accounting compliance (GELAC) funds. President Bush and Sen.
    John Kerry may no longer raise private funds for their campaign
    accounts because they accepted general election public funding,
    but they may still raise up to $2,000 per individual donor in
    their GELAC accounts. Third party candidates may continue
    raising private funds.

    Maxing Out to Congressional Candidates -- With contribution
    limits set at $2,000 per election, an individual can give a
    maximum of $4,000 to a congressional candidate who makes it past
    the primary to compete in the general election. More than 12,000
    individuals have contributed $4,000 to a congressional candidate
    in the current cycle so far.

    With a few months of the election cycle remaining, that figure
    is likely to approach the 15,135 individuals who contributed
    $2,000 to a congressional candidate under the old limit four
    years ago.

    Congressional candidates are less reliant on maximum
    contributions in the current cycle than they were in 2000. Just
    over 8 percent of the money to congressional candidates has been
    raised in $4,000 chunks this year, compared to the 11 percent
    raised under the old maximum in 2000.

    Maxing Out to Parties -- The political parties are raising the
    maximum from far fewer people in the current cycle than they did
    in 2000, a sign of their renewed effort to raise small
    contributions. Under current limits of $25,000 to a party
    committee per year, an individual may give up to $50,000 to a
    party committee per cycle. There are 530 people who have done so
    in the current election cycle so far.

    That's a little more than half of the 1,013 people who
    contributed $40,000 to a party committee in the 2000 cycle. (The
    old limit was $20,000 per year.)

    Giving by Women -- Women are contributing a bigger share of
    large individual contributions in the current election cycle
    than at any time since 1989. Female donors have given 28.9
    percent of the money collected in amounts greater than $200 by
    federal candidates, political action committees and parties, the
    Center found. Women contributed 26.1 percent of that money in
    the 2000 cycle and 24.4 percent in the 1996 cycle.

    The most significant change in female giving has been to the
    political parties. In the current cycle so far, women have
    contributed 29.2 percent of the money the parties have raised in
    amounts over $200. Women contributed 23.3 percent of the large
    individual contributions to the parties in the 2000 cycle, and
    21.3 percent of such contributions in the 1996 cycle.

    One reason for the change could be the ban on soft money
    contributions to the political parties. Women used to give a
    lower proportion of soft money than they gave of hard money,
    suggesting that when limits are in place, contributions from
    wealthy income-earners are often bolstered by donations from
    their spouses.

    The Center's estimates are based on campaign finance figures
    released this week by the Federal Election Commission and the
    Internal Revenue Service. Each election cycle is two years long.
    This report, with charts breaking down the Center's estimates of
    the cost of the 2004 elections, is available online at
    http://www.opensecrets.org/pressreleases/2004/04spending.asp

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    19) Children punished by Australian law
    Sarah Stephen
    http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2004/604/604p11.htm

    [PHOTO NOT SHOWN
    Born in Fiji, Sereana Naikelekele has lived in Australia for almost 16
    years. She is married to Maika Koroitamana and has five Australian-born
    children. Her eldest child, 12-year-old Sally, is a citizen. Her youngest,
    three-year-old Glen, is also a citizen. Jope, who turned 10 on August
    26, is due to receive a certificate confirming his citizenship. ]

    In July 2002, when Sereana was working to support her family, but
    without a permit, she was dobbed in to the Department of Immigration
    and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) and taken to Villawood
    detention centre. Two months later, her three youngest children, Glen,
    who was then only one and still being breast-fed, two-year-old Lomani
    and four-year-old Mereani, were brought to join her, because their father
    had been struggling to look after all five of the children on his own.

    For the past two years, Sereana has been fighting to get out of detention
    and for her right to stay in Australia.

    On October 20, she wiped away tears to argue her case at a Migration
    Review Tribunal (MRT) hearing to consider an application for a bridging
    visa. In a room packed with supporters, and with her five children
    around her, Sereana asked: "How can it be acceptable to place Australian
    citizens in detention? Do they not have the same rights as other
    Australian citizens? My kids need to get out of Villawood. I am a good
    and loving mother, and it is my right to be with them."

    The MRT member presiding over the case, Amanda MacDonald, found
    that Sereana did not meet the criteria necessary to be granted a
    bridging visa, and said that the only avenue left to her was to
    appeal to the immigration minister to intervene.

    Sereana and her lawyer Michaela Byers are trying every avenue to
    win the family's right to stay in Australia. A case currently before the
    Federal Court is aimed at proving that Australia's laws make her two
    youngest daughters, Lomani and Mereani, stateless. This is because
    neither Australia nor Fiji will grant them citizenship.

    Fiji's constitution recognises citizenship by birth, but doesn't
    automatically recognise citizenship by descent for children born
    outside Fiji.

    Legislation introduced in 1986 narrowed Australian citizenship by
    removing its automatic conferral at birth. It changed to a system of
    citizenship by descent, where at least one parent is required to be
    an Australian citizen or permanent resident. Children of non-residents
    born in Australia can only become citizens if they live in Australia
    until they are 10 years old.

    The High Court's 5-2 rejection of the Tania Singh case on September 9
    was a blow to Sereana and many other families in her situation, because
    it reaffirmed that, despite being born on Australian soil, children
    who were under the age of 10 could not be considered citizens.

    However, there was a clause inserted in the 1986 legislation to protect
    against the potential for statelessness, and it is this provision that
    Sereana is hoping they can prove should be applied to her two daughters.
    If all five of Sereana's children are found to be citizens, Sereana and
    her supporters believe it will strengthen the chances of the immigration
    minister intervening to grant the whole family the right to stay in
    Australia.
    At the beginning of 2004, ChilOut and the Bellingen group of Rural
    Australians for Refugees arranged pen-pals for Glen, Lomani and Mereani.
    They were flooded with dozens of letters from school children, parents
    and teachers.

    Sereana showed them to me when I visited her on October 20. She was
    moved to tears as she read out some of the messages. Hand-written
    and decorated, some are in the shape of doves. Others are covered with
    glitter and pictures of nice places.

    One card, signed by a child named Solomon, had a roughly cut-out
    picture of a happy, laughing family stuck on it, and reads: "We hope
    you can be happy here!"

    "Our government is not right in keeping you there", another card says.
    "Keep positive, you will be out soon. Priscilla."

    Sereana told me she often reads the cards to her children when they are
    feeling down, and they smile and feel a bit better.

    "Don't give up hope", said another card. "Most people in Australia are
    friendly, and want you here." And another: "We hope that our
    government will wake up soon and let you come outside to the
    world from which you belong, love Phillip."

    Sereana was very distressed about her five children being separated
    from each other. Sally was not doing well in school, and her teachers
    were concerned. She didn't talk much when she visited Sereana, who
    felt that contact between them was slipping away.

    Some problems with their father resulted in the children being placed
    in the care of their uncle.

    Sereana pleaded that she be released to look after them, but DIMIA
    told her that the only way she could be with her children was for them
    to be brought into detention as well.

    Despite the fact that DIMIA policy states that citizens will not be detained
    except as a last possible resort, Sally and Jope are now in detention as
    well.

    Jill Pearce, principal of Macarthur Adventist School, which Sally and Jope
    attended, has publicly expressed her concern at the children's detention.
    Pearce told ABC Radio Australia News on October 15 that she asked
    Villawood's management for the children to be allowed to return to
    school, but has not received a reply.

    "We want them to continue on with their education without having it
    interrupted", said Pearce. "The school is probably the only stable place
    they've got at the moment. They love their friends, they are secure here."

    Pearce recently notified Villawood management that the school was
    willing to waive the children's school fees and pick them up from the
    detention centre every day. To date, management has not responded
    to the offer.

    There is a growing call, endorsed by the National Council of Churches,
    to set up a new visa category for people who don't meet the criteria for
    refugee status but who have compelling humanitarian grounds for being
    able to stay, such as children born in Australia.

    Individuals and families who have lived for a long time in Australia are
    routinely denied the opportunity to become permanent residents. Many
    such cases involve sending children to countries they have never been
    to before, countries that are in every sense foreign to them, where they
    may not even speak the language.

    The vast majority of people living in Australia without valid visas (so-
    called "illegals") are making a valuable contribution to society, just like
    Sereana and her husband, who have worked, paid taxes and contributed
    to their community over a period of 15 years.

    In 1980 there was a general amnesty for anyone without a valid visa,
    but legislation was enacted disallowing any future amnesties and both
    major political parties agreed that there should not be any more.

    DIMIA argues that Sereana should return to Fiji with her children and
    apply come back with them when they turn 18. But Sereana knows that
    would not be possible because she would have to pay the costs of her
    detention before being allowed back into the country, something she
    would never have the money for.

    By end of September 2004, Sereana had been in detention for 791 days,
    and each of her three children for 740 days. Based on an estimated cost
    of $125 per day, the total cost of their detention would come to more
    than $380,000.

    Glen, Jope and Sally, all Australian citizens, deserve the right to grow
    up in the country where they were born. Lomani and Mereani deserve
    the right to have the country where they were born recognise their right
    to citizenship if the alternative is to remain stateless.

    All five children deserve to have the love and care of their parents.
    The 1986 amendment to Australian citizenship should be revoked
    so no families suffer the way Sereana's has.

    From Green Left Weekly, October 27, 2004.
    Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    20) SOUTH AFRICA: ANC welcomes Apartheid Israel
    James Barrett, Johannesburg
    http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2004/604/604p20.htm

    The streets of Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban reverberated
    on October 16 with cries of "Free Free Palestine", "Isolate Apartheid
    Israel", "Boycott Israel" and "No to Bantustans", to mark the forthcoming
    visit of Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to South Africa.

    Thousands of people took to the streets. On that Saturday's evening
    news, scenes from the vibrant protests interspersed with footage from
    the latest deadly Israeli raids into Gaza left viewers questioning why
    the ANC government, supposedly a staunch supporter of the
    Palestinian cause, could be entertaining such a key representative
    of Israel.

    While a stone-faced deputy foreign affairs minister Aziz Pahad
    attempted to downplay the visit, claiming it to be part of a strategy
    to encourage Israel's government to negotiate with the Palestinian
    Authority (PA), the real intentions behind the visit had begun to surface.

    Olmert, also Israel's trade minister, is the highest-ranking serving
    Israeli official to ever visit democratic South Africa. He was due to
    arrive on October 19 with a delegation of 23 elite business figures.
    Israeli high-tech, security and industrial exporters will visit South
    Africa in order to increase Israel's exports which already top US$4
    billion worth of goods (not including diamonds) every year. Olmert
    and his South African counterpart Mandisi Mpahlwa are expected to
    cement a protection of investment treaty during the course of the week.

    In Israel, Likud spokespersons boasted openly about the visit, while
    in South Africa, the government attempted to down-play the trip,
    embarrassed at how bluntly they have put profit before principle.
    While the Israeli trade department expects trade with South Africa
    to increase by 5% by the end of the year, more important for the
    Israeli Apartheid state is the use of South Africa as a launching pad
    for trade with the rest of the continent. Neoliberal politics overrides
    any moral considerations for trade with a rogue state. Israel depends
    on trade and international acceptance just like the Apartheid regime
    in South Africa did.

    At the recent United Nations Conference on the Inalienable Rights of
    the Palestinians, held in Cape Town, John Dugard the UN special
    rapporteur on Palestine and Jody Kollapen the chairperson of the
    South African Human Rights Commission supported the call from
    the Palestine Solidarity Committee of South Africa for sanctions and
    boycotts against Apartheid Israel.

    This view was vociferously challenged not only by South African
    cabinet ministers present, but also representatives of the Palestinian
    Authority, including Saeb Erakat. Ironically, the kind of concrete
    support offered by the South African state at the conclusion of the
    UN conference came in the form of an agreement between the Nablus
    mayor and a representative of the Cape Town municipality to supply
    pre-paid water technology to Palestinians! This technology is
    condemned by South African social movements as a form of water
    privatisation burdening poor communities even further.

    Last month, at a gathering of anti-war and anti-corporate globalisation
    movements in Beirut, close to 260 organisations from 41 countries
    unanimously endorsed a boycott campaign against Apartheid Israel.
    Recently, the Anglican Peace and Justice Network (APJN) agreed to
    support the many churches, universities and trade unions in the
    West that are increasingly calling for a divestment campaign modeled
    on the popular boycott of Apartheid South Africa. APJN said it would
    press leaders of the 75 million Anglicans and Episcopalians worldwide
    to impose sanctions on Israel after an eight-day visit to the occupied
    territories. In July, the general assembly of the Presbyterian Church in
    the United States which has 3 million members, voted overwhelmingly
    for a boycott of Israel.

    Following the South African government's laudable submission to the
    International Court of Justice on the Apartheid Wall that is cutting
    Palestinians off from their homes, the government should follow
    through by leading an international sanctions campaign against
    Israel, the kind of campaign that the ANC promoted during the
    darkest days of Apartheid in South Africa.

    Further trade and relations with Israel marks an important turning
    point in the strategy of the ANC, which smacks of hypocrisy and
    double talk given its previous strong support for the Palestinian
    cause. It is squandering the moral high ground earned by the people
    through great sacrifice.

    Yet, most dangerously, it gives legitimacy to the so called "peace"
    plans of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. These "peace" plans -
    the disengagement and creation of a prison state in the Gaza Strip
    while carrying out further extermination of the Palestinian people and
    the annexation of their remaining lands in the West Bank, is a
    declaration of war and imperialism that makes Apartheid South
    Africa in the 1980s appear moderate.

    It is up to us who are in solidarity with Palestine to initiate from the
    grassroots level an international campaign to isolate and boycott
    Israel. We have received numerous messages of support from
    grassroots Palestinian organisations to oppose Olmert's visit. It is in line
    with these calls from organisations in Palestine that we must begin
    the task to isolate Apartheid Israel - economically, culturally,
    academically and morally.

    In South Africa, the most ardent supporters of Palestinian liberation
    are the new social movements such as the Anti-Privatisation Forum,
    the Landless Peoples Movement, Anti-Eviction groups and Jubilee.
    The leadership of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and
    COSATU in alliance with the ANC while rhetorically supporting the
    Palestinian struggle stops short of active involvement in solidarity.
    This does not reflect the rank-and-file of these organisations who
    relate extremely warmly to the Palestinian solidarity movement.
    Fundamentally, when our own government gives in to the logic of
    neoliberalism and the market over a peoples struggle for freedom
    and justice, it is up to us to speak out and find spaces in the quest
    for democracy, peace and social justice.

    [James Barrett is a member of the Palestine Solidarity Committee
    and the Anti-War Coalition.]

    From Green Left Weekly, October 27, 2004.
    Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    21) US gave date of war to Britain in advance,
    court papers reveal
    By Colin Brown, Deputy Political Editor
    27 October 2004
    http://news.independent.co.uk/low_res/story.jsp?story=576429&host=3&dir=62

    Secret plans for the war in Iraq were passed to British Army chiefs
    by US defence planners five months before the invasion was launched,
    a court martial heard yesterday.

    The revelation strengthened suspicions that Tony Blair gave his
    agreement to President George Bush to go to war while the diplomatic
    efforts to force Saddam Hussein to comply with UN resolutions were
    continuing.

    Alan Simpson, the leader of Labour Against the War, said the documents
    were "dynamite", if genuine, and showed that Clare Short was right to
    assert in her book, serialised in The Independent , that Mr Blair had
    "knowingly misled" Parliament.

    The plans were revealed during the court martial of L/Cpl Ian Blaymire,
    23, from Leeds, who is charged with the manslaughter of a comrade
    while serving in Iraq. Sgt John Nightingale, 32, a reservist from Guiseley,
    West Yorkshire, died after being shot in the chest on 23 September
    last year.

    The court, at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, heard that contingency
    plans were drawn up by Lt Col Christopher Warren, staff officer at Land
    Command, Salisbury, Wiltshire, who was responsible for operational
    training.

    Lt Col Warren said US planners had passed on dates for which the
    invasion was planned. The hearing was told Army chiefs wanted the
    training for the Army to start at the beginning of December 2002.
    However, due to "sensitivities" the training was delayed.

    The court heard the training for the TA began two months late and
    for the regular Army one month late. Lt Col Warren was asked what
    the sensitivities were. He replied: "Because in December there was
    a world interest. If the UK had mobilised while all this was going on
    that would have shown an intent before the political process had
    been allowed to run its course."

    The hearing was adjourned.

    (c) 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd NEWS SERVICE

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    22) The Bush Crony Full-Employment Act of 2003
    By Evelyn J. Pringle
    www.dissidentvoice.org
    October 26, 2004
    http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Oct04/Pringle1026.htm

    Josh Marshall writes a column for The Hill , a Congressional newspaper.
    Josh says that every big new piece of legislation needs a catchy title to
    set it apart, and he came up with a good title for the $87 billion
    allocated to rebuilding Iraq. "The Bush Crony Full-Employment Act
    of 2003." I like that, it's very fitting.

    Who is Joe Allbaugh?

    Anybody remember Joe Allbaugh? He was part of the inner circle
    in Bush's 2000 presidential campaign, along with Karl Rove and
    Karen Hughes. In January 2001, Bush put Allbaugh in charge of
    the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which dispenses
    disaster money and loans after hurricanes, floods and fires.

    New Bridge Strategies

    I think Joe missed his calling. He should be a fortune teller, because
    somehow he knew a couple of weeks before Bush declared war on
    Iraq that he should quit his government job and go into the business
    of helping wealthy clients secure Iraqi reconstruction contracts.

    Of course Joe didn't say that at the time. When he announced his
    resignation from FEMA on March 1, 2003 he said, "Now I am going
    to take the opportunity to spend some time with my wife and children."
    Well his family could not have enjoyed too much quality time with Joe
    because in a matter of weeks he opened a new firm called New Bridge
    Strategies.

    True to form, with the press seemingly unwilling to publicize the war
    profiteering aspects of the war in Iraq, the formation of New Bridge
    basically went unnoticed by the American public and only briefly
    showed up in the headlines.

    It deserved public attention because of the Republican heavyweights
    on its board that were linked to one or the other Bush administrations
    or to the family itself. The members not only included Allbaugh, but
    also Ed Rogers and Lanny Griffith, former George H.W. Bush aids.

    The president of the company, John Howland, and principal Jamal
    Daniel were business partners of first brother Neil Bush.

    Josh Marshall says New Bridge is actually an outgrowth of Haley
    Barbour's lobbying firm, Barbour Griffith & Rogers (BGR). Josh says
    he came to this conclusion after he learned that both firms were located
    in the same office space. And also because Griffith is the CEO of New
    Bridge and Rogers is the vice president. Sounds to me like he reached
    the right conclusion.

    Others agree. "The bottom line on New Bridge is that it appears to be
    very closely linked to BGR, which has many overlapping ties to the
    highest levels of the Republican Party," said Thomas Ferguson,
    a campaign finance expert at the University of Massachusetts, the
    October 15, 2004 Village Voice reports.

    So here's the setup. Bush's main man Joe quits FEMA to spend time
    with his family, right before the bombs start falling in Iraq. He then
    moves into the offices of one of the biggest and most politically
    connected GOP lobbying firms in Washington and starts advertising
    services to clients who want to win reconstruction contracts in Iraq.
    How could it possibly get any sweeter than this?

    Allbaugh Has A Big Heart

    According to the Oct 6, 2003 New York Times , Allbaugh "is here to
    tell you that his new company, which advises clients on how to get
    business in Iraq, is not trading on his White House connections.
    The Iraqis need assistance ... and he can help."

    Although its connections to the administration may not have received
    much attention in the media, the company itself was not shy about
    advertising its contacts. Its website as much as brags about the
    company's links to Bush, by specifically pointing out that Allbaugh
    was "chief of staff to then-Gov. Bush of Texas and was the national
    campaign manager for the Bush-Cheney 2000 presidential campaign."

    It says New Bridge is "a unique company that was created specifically
    with the aim of assisting clients to evaluate and take advantage of
    business opportunities in the Middle East following the conclusion
    of the U.S.-led war in Iraq." I'm surprised that the site doesn't have
    a blinking neon sign saying AKA war profiteering.

    Initially, it said, "the opportunities evolving in Iraq today are of such
    an unprecedented nature and scope that no other existing firm has
    the necessary skills and experience to be effective both in Washington,
    D.C., and on the ground in Iraq." But someone must have warned
    Allbaugh that that particular sentence was a little too obvious because
    that phrasing has since been changed on the web site.

    Allbaugh himself didn't seem to give his ties to the administration
    a second thought. According to a Sept 30, 2003 article in Mother Jones ,
    he claimed, "It's beneficial to clients that I know who the players are and
    I know who the decision makers are."

    Middle East specialist, Richard Murphy, viewed it differently and was
    quick to point out that the Bush ties to New Bridge would only validate
    what was already suspected. "In the Middle East, it will be received as
    confirming the weary cynicism prevailing in the area about US intentions
    in launching the attack on Iraq in the first place," said Murphy.

    Allbaugh denied having any improper motives. "The stories I've seen
    have been couched as if people are trying to game the system, and
    that's not what we're about," he said. "We are trying to help Iraq become
    a capitalist country, and a leader throughout the Middle East. Iraqis
    themselves are asking for help," wrote the New York Times .

    That's funny, I thought the Iraqis had said they wanted us to get the
    hell out of their country and leave them alone. I wonder why I never
    knew that they asked Joe to help?

    Joe seems baffled that anyone would question his assertion about
    wanting to help the poor Iraqis. "We fought a war, we displaced
    a horrible, horrible regime, and as a part of that we have an obligation
    to help Iraqis," he said. "We can't just leave in the middle of the night."

    He gets downright defensive if you question his business practices.
    On Oct 6, 2003, he told a New York Times reporter, "Because my
    friend is president of the United States, I'm supposed to check out
    of life?"

    To that I would say no Joe, of course you don't have to check out of
    life. But you also don't quit your government job before the president
    even admits that he's taking the country to war and set up shop to start
    advertising to get contracts for work in a country that you somehow
    know we're about to destroy.

    Another Funnel: Diligence Security Company

    Its clear that BGR was instrumental in bringing other companies into
    New Bridge's fold, including Diligence, a security firm set up by former
    US and British intelligence officers.

    On Oct 6, 2003, Allbaugh told the New York Times that, "As part of his
    package for clients ... he offered security in the form of yet another
    new company, Diligence Iraq, which worked hand-in-hand with New
    Bridge. New Bridge is a minority partner in Diligence Iraq, which is just
    opening up in Baghdad. Mike Baker, the head of Diligence Iraq, serves
    as an advisory board member of New Bridge."

    In other words, explained the Times, "if your company wants to send
    over three people from New York to investigate business opportunities
    in Baghdad, Mr. Baker will secure the way in: a three-car convoy of
    armed S.U.V.s driving 90 miles an hour, to avoid bandits, in an eight-
    hour-plus streak across the desert from the border of Jordan or
    Kuwait," it said.

    BGR provided the initial funding for Diligence, according to Nick Day,
    a co-founder of the firm. Like New Bridge, it was given office space
    at BGR's Washington office. BGR also provided the firm's advisory board.
    Many of the names on the Diligence board, including the Carlyle Group's
    Ed Mathias, match the names on the board of New Bridge.

    And the web of ties in this grand war profiteering scheme just keeps
    getting more and more entwined. In return for finding an investor for
    Diligence in Iraq, New Bridge got a minority shareholding in the firm.

    According to a June 22, 2004 article on Corporate Watch , Diligence
    is now headed by Richard Burt, former US Ambassador to Germany
    and a consultant in the Carlyle Group (which also has George Bush Sr,
    John Major and James Baker on its payroll). Whitley Bruner, formerly
    head of the CIA Baghdad station, is now director of the Iraq branch
    of Diligence.

    And guess what? The deputy chairman of Diligence is none other
    than Joe Allbaugh.

    Objections to Cronyism and Privatization

    Is it any wonder that critics are questioning the propriety of the
    reconstruction effort? "I'm appalled that the war is being used by
    people close to the Bush Administration to make money for themselves,"
    Democratic Rep Henry Waxman said. "At a time when we're asking
    young men and women to make perhaps the ultimate sacrifice, it's
    just unseemly."

    Bush keeps bringing up the fact that Kerry and Edwards voted against
    the $87 billion. But he fails to mention their reasons, and specifically
    those that pertain to Allbaugh.

    On Sept 30, 2003, while the bill was being debated in the Senate,
    Edwards explained why he was against the bill. He said, "This is an
    administration of the insiders, for the insiders, and by the insiders.
    Learning that George Bush's campaign manager, Joe Allbaugh, has
    started his own consulting firm to profit from the war in Iraq proves
    this point," Edwards said. "First, Vice President Cheney's Halliburton
    receives more than $2 billion in Iraq reconstruction contracts and
    now this."

    Edwards said, "It is an outrage and disrespectful to the young men
    and women who are serving in Iraq today. President Bush should
    start addressing this credibility gap by calling on Joe Allbaugh and
    his friends to stop using their influence to secure government
    contracts in Iraq, and by agreeing to an independent oversight
    panel to ensure that contracts in Iraq are administered fairly."

    "In this enormously expensive mission, the American people ought
    to be assured that any dollar we spend there is for the rebuilding
    of Iraq, and not just the building of profit for the president's friends
    and political supporters," he said.

    On Oct 14, 2003, Edwards said he would vote against $87 billion
    because Bush had failed to outline a credible long-term plan for
    rebuilding the country, failed to persuade allies to help shoulder
    the costs, and failed to stop sweetheart deals for politically-
    connected companies.

    "We used to talk about this money as a blank check. Well, now we
    know it's not really a blank check. We know the president is writing
    it out to Joe Allbaugh and Halliburton, and it's all endorsed by Vice
    President Cheney," Edwards said.

    Always Close By: Bush Family Funnel

    True to form, if there's a tax dollar to be skimmed off a business
    deal a Bush family funnel will be there to grab it. This time it's
    First Brother Neil Bush. On Dec 11, 2003, The Financial Times
    of London reported that, "Two businessmen instrumental in setting
    up New Bridge Strategies, a well-connected Washington firm
    designed to help clients win contracts in Iraq, have previously
    used an association with Neil, the younger brother of President
    Bush, to seek business in the Middle East."

    That would be New Bridge president John Howland and Jamal
    Daniel, a principal. As it turns out, Neil landed a $60,000 a year
    consultant contract for which, according to his testimony in a divorce
    deposition, he is required to take phone messages for about
    3 hours a week.

    However, Neil is being far too modest about his consultant work.
    According to the Times , he is doing much more than answering
    phones. Three people contacted by the Financial Times said they
    have seen letters written by Neil that recommend business ventures
    promoted by New Bridge in the Middle East. So in a nutshell, Neil is
    being paid an annual fee to "help companies secure contracts in Iraq,"
    the Times reports.

    Bush Sends Bremer To Privatize Iraq

    According to a Sept 2004 article in Harper's Magazine by Naomi
    Klein, "before the fires from the 'shock and awe' military onslaught
    were even extinguished, [former US proconsul of Iraq L. Paul] Bremer
    unleashed his shock therapy, pushing through more wrenching
    changes in one sweltering summer than the International Monetary
    Fund has managed to enact over three decades in Latin America."

    In his first major act on the job, Bremer "fired 500,000 state workers,
    most of them soldiers, but also doctors, nurses, teachers, publishers,
    and printers. Next, he flung open the country's borders to absolutely
    unrestricted imports: no tariffs, no duties, no inspections, no taxes.
    Iraq, Bremer declared, was "open for business," says Harper's .

    Before the war, Iraq's non-oil-related economy consisted of 200 state
    -owned companies, that produced everything from cement to paper
    to washing machines. In June, Bremer attended an economic summit
    in Jordan and announced that the firms would be privatized
    immediately. "Getting inefficient state enterprises into private
    hands," he said, "is essential for Iraq's economic recovery,"
    according to Harper's .

    In September, to entice investors to buy the state-owned companies,
    Bremer enacted a new set of laws. For example, Order 37 lowered
    Iraq's corporate tax rate from roughly 40% to a flat 15%. Order 39
    allowed foreign companies to own 100% of Iraqi assets outside of
    the natural-resource sector.

    Investors could take 100% of the profits they made in Iraq out of
    the country. They would not be required to reinvest and would
    not be taxed. Under Order 39, they could sign leases and contracts
    that would last for forty years. Order 40 welcomed foreign banks
    to Iraq under the same favorable terms, said Harper's .

    At first, privatization seemed likely. For as Harper's notes, "Iraqis,
    reeling from violence both military and economic, were far too busy
    staying alive to mount a political response to Bremer's campaign.
    Worrying about the privatization of the sewage system was an
    unimaginable luxury with half the population lacking access to clean
    drinking water; the debate over the flat tax would have to wait until
    the lights were back on," it said.

    By fall, rebuilding trade shows were being held all over the place.
    The Economist described Iraq under Bremer as "a capitalist dream,"
    and a flurry of new consulting firms were launched promising to help
    companies get access to the Iraqi market, their boards of directors
    stacked with well-connected Republicans, Harper's said.

    The most prominent was New Bridge and it was absolutely jubilant
    over the potential opportunities in Iraq. "Getting the rights to distribute
    Procter & Gamble products can be a gold mine," one of the company's
    partners enthused. "One well-stocked 7-Eleven could knock out thirty
    Iraqi stores; a Wal-Mart could take over the country," Harper's quoted.

    Iraq seemed like a gold mine. There were rumors that a McDonald's
    would be opening, funding was almost in place for a Starwood luxury
    hotel, and General Motors was planning to build a factory. On the
    financial side, HSBC would have branches all over the country, Citigroup
    was preparing to offer loans guaranteed against future sales of Iraqi oil,
    and the bell was going to ring on a New York style stock exchange in
    Baghdad any day, said Harper's .

    However none of that came to pass. For good reason. Klein explained
    that Bremer's illegal changes to Iraqi law may have made the country the
    most friendly in the world to corporations, but they were the least useful
    to Iraqi workers suffering an unemployment rate over 60%.

    During the past year and a half, the whole world has watched as the
    Iraqis refused to hand over their country to Bremer and the plan for
    privatization went right down the tubes.

    Bush cronies who drooled at the prospect of making mega-bucks in
    Iraq are no longer drooling. According to Harper's , "New Bridge
    Strategies, the company that had gushed about how "a Wal-Mart
    could take over the country," is sounding distinctly humbled.
    McDonald's is not opening anytime soon," company partner Ed Rogers
    told the Washington Post . Neither is Wal-Mart."

    What Happens To Iraq Now?

    God only knows what will happen to Iraq now. The Financial Times
    has called it "the most dangerous place in the world in which to do
    business." Harper's described the mess created by the Bush gang:
    "It's quite an accomplishment: in trying to design the best place in
    the world to do business, the neocons have managed to create the
    worst, the most eloquent indictment yet of the guiding logic behind
    deregulated free markets."

    But don't worry about old Joe. Things may not have gone as planned
    in Iraq, but he's branching out and finding other ways to cash in on
    the war. According to the Sept 30, 2004 Fairfield County Weekly ,
    Allbaugh started yet another consulting company with Andrew
    Lundquist, the former director of Dick Cheney's secretive energy
    policy task force. The firm's first client? Lockheed Martin, one of
    the country's largest defense contractors.

    Never fear, wherever there's an opportunity for profiteering, a Bush
    funnel will be there.

    Evelyn J. Pringle is an Ohio-based investigative journalist, and
    a columnist for Independent Media TV. She can be reached at:
    e.pringle@sbcglobal.net . (C) Copyright 2004 Evelyn J. Pringle.

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    23) US Raids Computer Centers, Internet Cafes To Quell
    Resistance Reporting
    Oct 22, 2004
    By Omar Al-Fair, JUS
    http://www.jihadunspun.com/intheatre_internal.php?article=100181&list=/home.
    php

    In a continuing effort to silence information coming out of Iraq,
    US forces began early this week an offensive against Iraq's computer
    centers and Internet cafes. On Tuesday US occupation forces raided
    an internet center in the city of Bayji, 180km north of Baghdad. The
    owner of the establishment, Ali Hamid, told Reuters that "members
    of the US forces raided the center this [Tuesday] morning and took
    five computers and their equipment." Hamid noted, "This isn't the
    first time the Americans have raided the center and took computers.
    Some time ago they did the same thing and they took a number of
    computers then too."

    Residents of the city of Samarra', 100km north of Baghdad, were
    quoted by Mafkarat al-Islam as saying that similar raids had taken
    place on computer cafes in their area as well. There the American
    troops "confiscated the contents of the as-Safir Internet Center and,
    in particular, all its computers."

    In recent weeks, the US has employed a variety of strategies to stop
    the information flow, including bombing "strategic targets" of
    communications towers, Telecom switches and grids. In addition,
    satellite phone operators have become legitimate targets of US air
    strikes as signals are picked up on US GPS systems.

    Information Controls Stepped Up At Home

    The US has also stepped up its efforts to control information at home
    in advance of the elections. Several large ISPs in the Middle East have
    been blocked en mass, and pressure has been put on even the so called
    "uncensored" new outlets. Soldiers "blogs" have been shut down in some
    cases, particularly those that tell of unreported US casualties. Google
    has come either under either self inflicted censorship or pressure from
    the US government in recent weeks, with many alternate news sources
    being delisted from Google News.

    Further, mainstream news reports that provide some Iraq coverage
    is being pushed from the front pages and top searches on Google,
    making it difficult to obtain even mainstream news reports. In fact,
    if one searches Google News today, you would be hard pressed to
    know that there is even a war going on.

    The latest effort at censorship is critical for the US to tightly control
    the false perception that the "war on terrorism" , which is a war on
    Islam and its resources, is a war they can win and a war that is
    necessary. If and when the American people come to their senses,
    as they did eventually in Vietnam after thousands of unnecessary
    casualties had been incurred, Americans will demand an end to their
    governments terrorism and it is this the US administration and its
    allies must prevent at all costs. (JUS)





    posted 10:22 PM  0 comments

    Monday, October 25, 2004
     

    BAUAW NEWSLETTER-MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2004


    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
    END THE U.S. OCCUPATION OF IRAQ!
    BRING ALL THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
    MARCH AND RALLY TO STOP THE WAR NOW!
    WEDNESDAY, NOV. 3RD, 5PM
    ASSEMBLE AT POWELL AND MARKET-
    MARCH TO 24TH & MISSION ST., S.F.
    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
    VOTE YES ON N! MEETING THURSDAY, OCT. 28, 7PM,
    GLOBAL EXCHANGE, 2017 MISSION STREET, SUITE 303
    (NEAR 16TH & MISSION STREETS)
    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
    NEXT BAUAW MEETING
    TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 7 P.M.
    1380 VALENCIA STREET
    (BETWEEN 24TH & 25TH STREETS)
    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    1) THE ALLAWI TOUR - (SPONSORED BY THE CIA!)
    [Col. Writ. 9/24/04] Copyright 2004 Mumia Abu-Jamal

    2) SAUDI ARABIA: WITH ALLIES LIKE THESE...
    [Col. Writ. 9/26/04] Copyright 2004 Mumia Abu-Jamal

    3) AL-AWDA WEST COAST REGIONAL CONFERENCE
    EMPOWERING THE PALESTINE RIGHT TO RETURN MOVEMENT
    ON THE WEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA
    bayareapalestine

    4) TERRORISTS IN FALLUJA
    By Nermeen Al-Mufti
    ** Who are the terrorists in Falluja and how are they
    terrorizing the civilian population?
    Nermeen Al-Mufti finds out **

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    1) THE ALLAWI TOUR - (SPONSORED BY THE CIA!)
    [Col. Writ. 9/24/04] Copyright 2004 Mumia Abu-Jamal

    In recent days, the visage of a smiling Iyad Allawi has
    beamed from the screens of corporate media, to try to
    put a nice face on the disaster in Iraq.

    Alternately fawned over, and lauded, as Iraq's "interim"
    prime minister, Allawi is supposed to be the spokesman of
    an emergent 'democracy' in Iraq, and by projection, in the
    entire Middle East.

    One has to wonder, 'Why this guy?' 'Where does he
    come from?'

    The long career of Iyad Allawi is a long and winding road,
    one which brings him to the attention and the service of the
    Americans.

    When he was a student in Britain, he was an informer
    for the Ba'athist Saddam Hussein regime. Later, he
    conveniently switched his allegiance to work for MI6, the
    British intelligence agency. He would subsequently turn
    his coat to serve the CIA. This opened the door to a lucrative
    career as a consultant for various UN (United Nations)
    agencies, from which he would launch the Iraqi National
    Accord (INA), a group composed primarily of disaffected
    Ba'athists, who, on the payroll of the Saudi royal house,
    the CIA, and MI6, would stage a series of terrorist attacks
    in Iraq during the 1990s.

    The INA bombed, among other targets, an Iraqi movie
    theater, killing dozens of people. In 1996, when the CIA
    backed a failed military coup against the Saddam regime,
    the presence of the INA was severely reduced in the
    country.

    It is not an accident of history that the world's loudest
    claimants to the so-called 'war against terrorism' would
    enlist a former terrorist in their crusade to 'remake the
    Middle East.' Messrs. Bush and [Tony] Blair couldn't
    give a tinker's damn about terrorism -- this is about
    *control* of the Middle East, and domination of the
    oil-rich region, for generations.

    That's why Iraqis are fighting against the so-called
    'interim government!' They know that most of the
    people on the benches are puppets of foreign, imperial
    will, who also care nothing about 'democracy', nor
    'terrorism.'

    Every empire that has ever ruled over a foreign
    people has installed supple puppets to follow their
    orders, and do their bidding. That is the way of
    things.

    For the better part of two generations, we saw
    this same thing, as the West handsomely supported
    vile dictators like Mobutu in Zaire, Marcos in the
    Philippines, the Shah in Iran, and a hundred other
    various princes, generals, emirs and pashas.

    Allawi thus joins a rich historical entourage.

    With the exception of the Kurds, and several
    Islamic parties, (like al Dawa and the Supreme
    Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq [SCIRI]),
    few of the representatives in the so-called
    government have a real social base in the country,
    and have opposed Saddam's regime while he was
    in power.

    Most are, like the CIA's former poster boy --
    Ahmed Chalabi -- rich men who lived in wealth
    and comfort abroad for generations. And when
    Chalabi tried to build a real constituency of
    support among the majority Shia population,
    the CIA threw him to the wolves.

    Allawi, the henchman of the Americans
    and the British, is being positioned to emerge
    as the new Iraqi strongman; using American
    and British imperial might, to bolster his claim
    to 'democracy.'

    A war was waged on a lie, to bring forth
    this lie of an 'Iraqi democracy', where the wealth
    and future of the nation is mortgaged off to the
    highest, whitest bidder.

    This 'democracy' is but the newest form of
    colonialism.

    Copyright 2004 Mumia Abu-Jamal

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    2) SAUDI ARABIA: WITH ALLIES LIKE THESE...
    [Col. Writ. 9/26/04] Copyright 2004 Mumia Abu-Jamal

    For generations, Americans have been assured that
    the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an indispensable American
    ally, necessary for America's national security.

    That hasn't changed in over half a century.

    Even in the grim aftermath of 9/11, Saudi Arabia, at
    least to American leaders, is on quite good terms. George
    W. Bush, an oilman from the door, thinks of Saudi Arabia
    like a little bit of heaven.

    But, surely, to the people of Saudi Arabia, life ain't
    no 'crystal stair.'

    The government is the royal House of Saud, from
    which all government ministers are drawn. They are
    among the most conservative and repressive governments
    on earth.

    And while George and Exxon and Halliburton may
    adore the House of Saud, most Americans do not share
    that lofty opinion. According to public opinion polls
    taken in 1994, some 63% of Americans view Saudi
    Arabia in a 'very negative' light.

    By 2002, that number soared to 81%.

    Saudi practices torture. American political leaders
    knew this. They conveniently look the other way, or
    publish obscure reports that get read by equally obscure
    academics, who file it away in dusty tomes, or State
    Dept. reports.

    One political scientist who is pointing a critical finger
    at Saudi Arabia is As'ad AbuKhalil, who, in his new book,
    paints a nasty picture of the history and present of the
    kingdom. In *The Battle for Saudi Arabia: Royalty,
    Fundamentalism, and Global Power* (New York: Seven
    Stories Press, 2004), the California State University
    professor gives us some picture of Saudi torture:

    Torture is commonplace in Saudi Arabia...
    Torture can range from flogging (even of
    children) to lashes and bodily mutilation. Of
    course, with torture comes coerced
    confessions; when suspects refuse to confess
    to crimes, they are "intimidated, harassed,
    and repeatedly tortured, and may be held
    without trial indefinitely until they confess."
    In sum, *Saudi Arabia remains one of the
    worst violators of human rights worldwide*...
    [pp. 178-79]

    AbuKhalil tells of a society where 'torture is
    widespread', and women are treated as a race of
    juveniles, who can't leave the house without their
    husband's permission, and where it is illegal for
    them to drive a car.

    In 2002, after the events of 9-11, US President
    George W. Bush placed a phone call to the crown
    prince of Saudi Arabia. Did he call to criticize
    the country for unleashing Usama bin Laden? Did
    he call to complain about human rights abuses?

    No. He called to "reassure him of the countries'
    'eternal friendship'." [p. 28]

    AbuKhalil is especially critical of the country's
    religious establishment, which promotes the doctrine
    of Wahhabiyyah, or the doctrines taught by the
    Saudi teacher Muhammad Ibn 'Abdul-Wahab
    (1702-92). Wahab provided the doctrinal support
    for the House of Saud when it took power over the
    region then known as Jazirat Al-Arab, or the
    Peninsula of the Arab. With the clerics behind them
    the House of Saud waged war against other clans
    for domination of the region. They were supported
    by the arms and the money of the British (who
    wanted oil and influence).

    AbuKhalil reads like a headline from the Iraqi
    Occupation and subsequent resistance when he
    concludes that the war has changed the region,
    to be sure, but for the worst. Indeed, he argues
    that the Invasion has seriously weakened the
    hands of the Saudis by the one thing the ancient
    House has feared above all: instability.

    Copyright 2004 Mumia Abu-Jamal

    Subscribe: mumiacolumns-subscribe@topica.com
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    Subscribe ICFFMAJ email updates list by e-mailing
    icffmaj@aol.com!

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    3) AL-AWDA WEST COAST REGIONAL CONFERENCE
    EMPOWERING THE PALESTINE RIGHT TO RETURN MOVEMENT
    ON THE WEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA
    bayareapalestine

    [please read, respond and forward to your contacts]
    For Immediate Release
    24 October 2004
    AL-AWDA WEST COAST REGIONAL CONFERENCE
    EMPOWERING THE PALESTINE RIGHT TO RETURN MOVEMENT
    ON THE WEST COAST OF NORTH
    AMERICA

    Please Note - Because of space limitations, early registration is highly
    recommended: http://www.al-awdacal.org/west_conf/register.html
    San Diego, California 10/24/04 - Al-Awda San Diego in conjunction with
    Students for Justice at The University of California at San Diego will be
    hosting a one-day West Coast regional conference for the Right to Return
    Movement for Palestinian refugees.

    The conference will take place on Saturday 20
    November 2004 at UCSD in LaJolla, California.

    The objectives of the conference are to:

    1. Begin preparation and mobilization for Al-Awda's third International
    Convention, which will be held in Los Angeles California in the Spring of
    2005.

    2. Further develop and coordinate intra- and inter-state grassroots activism
    to further empower the Palestine Right to Return Movement on the
    West Coast.

    BACKGROUND

    Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition's Second Annual
    International Convention in New York City named California as the site of
    the organization's third convention. The convention is scheduled to take
    place in mid-April 2005.

    During the past year, new Al-Awda chapters have emerged on the West Coast of
    North America from San Diego, California to Vancouver, British Columbia in
    Canada.

    In order to solidify and strengthen the network of Palestine Right to Return
    chapters and action committees on the West Coast, it is vital that activists
    meet, plan and strategize to insure a successful Al-Awda convention in 2005
    while developing mechanisms to coordinate intra- and inter-state grassroots
    advocacy for the Palestinian refugees' right to return.

    The one-day regional conference, "Empowering the Palestine Right to Return
    Movement on the West Coast of North America", will take place on 20 November
    2004 at the University of California in La Jolla, San Diego. The conference
    is important. It represents the first regional meeting for the Right to
    Return Movement on the West Coast.

    INVITATION

    We are inviting Palestinian, Arab and other community members, grassroots
    activists, students, and solidarity organizational representatives to attend
    and share their thoughts, needs, and how they'd like to see our collective
    efforts for the rights of Palestinian refugees develop on the West Coast of
    North America and at Al-Awda's upcoming International Convention in Los
    Angeles California.

    ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

    1. Program http://www.al-awdacal.org/west_conf/prog.html
    2. Registration http://www.al-awdacal.org/west_conf/register.html
    3. Accommodation http://www.al-awdacal.org/west_conf/hotel.html
    4. Map, driving directions and transportation

    http://www.al-awdacal.org/west_conf/maps.html
    Al-Awda California
    The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
    PO Box 131352
    Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA
    Fax: 1-360-933-3568
    E-mail: info@al-awdacal.org
    WWW: http://al-awdacal.org
    Los Angeles Website: http://www.Al-AwdaLA.org/
    California Website- http://www.al-awdacal.org/
    Al-Awda National Website: http://www.al-awda.org/

    Unless indicated otherwise, all statements posted represent the
    views of their authors and not necessarily those of Al-Awda,
    The Palestine Right to Return Coalition.

    ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

    4) TERRORISTS IN FALLUJA
    By Nermeen Al-Mufti
    ** Who are the terrorists in Falluja and how are they
    terrorizing the civilian population?
    Nermeen Al-Mufti finds out **

    Al-Ahram (Cairo, Egypt)
    No. 713
    October 21-27, 2004

    http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/713/re8.htm

    Relatives of Ateka Abdel Hamid, 24,
    did not know that this seven-month
    pregnant woman was a terrorist until
    the day she died. As the family
    collected the mutilated bodies of
    Ateka and her family, a United States
    spokesman boasted that the "multinational
    forces" killed a number of
    terrorists and Al-Zarqawi supporters
    during an offensive in Falluja. The
    terrorists, it turned out, were Ateka,
    her three-year-old son Omar, her
    husband Tamer and six other members
    of her family.

    Abdul-Rahman Abdul-Hamid, Ateka's
    brother, said that the only survivor of his
    sister's family was her nine month-old
    daughter, whose picture has already
    been flashed across television screens
    worldwide. Ateka and her children had
    fled their home in the military district in
    Falluja to her parents' house. On
    the day she died, her mother-in- law
    had taken her home to the
    "relatively-safe" Al- Jumhuriya district.
    At midnight, US planes bombed the
    area and Ateka, her family and her
    husband's family were killed. Ateka's
    parents did not know of the tragedy until
    the morning of the next day.
    Relatives buried the nine bodies.
    Like many others in Falluja, their former
    home was now but a smouldering
    shell. This is a charred testimony to dashed
    hope -- Ateka and her family did not reach safety.

    Today, Abdul-Rahman is taking his
    family to Al- Taji, a neighbourhood of
    Baghdad where they have a relative.
    It is not an entirely safe area but it
    beats Falluja. Falluja inhabitants have
    been running away since mid-April
    2003, when the first US attacks were
    mounted against the city. The Iraqi
    government has even asked the
    inhabitants of Falluja to evacuate the city, and
    yet US forces have laid siege to it,
    cutting it off from the highway -- the
    only route linking Falluja to other Iraqi cities.

    Despite the government instruction
    to leave, the people of Falluja are finding
    it hard to do so. There are also those
    who cannot leave the city, those who
    are not fortunate enough to have relatives
    to house them elsewhere. They have
    stayed, alongside those who simply
    won't leave their homes.

    Falluja was once called the city of
    minarets. It once echoed the Euphrates in
    its beauty and calm. It had plentiful
    water and lush greenery. It was a
    summer resort for Iraqis. People went
    there for leisure, for a swim at the
    nearby Habbaniya lake, for a kebab meal.
    The Abu Hussein restaurant was one
    of Falluja's best Kebab houses.
    But US forces, acting on an Iraqi
    intelligence tip, decided that Abu
    Hussein was a terrorist den. They
    destroyed the establishment, killing
    its two guards. The bodies of the guards
    were never found, only the traces of blood.

    On both sides of the highway scenes
    of destruction abound. Mansions and tiny
    houses have become equal -- all were
    destroyed. Sometimes curiosity would
    bring a visitor, an adult or a child who
    used to know the owners, to stare at
    the rubble. The air is thick with tragedy.
    I wonder, with a lump in my
    throat, where are the Arab brothers?
    Where are the Muslim kinfolk? Where is
    the civilized world? What do they make
    of the orgy of blood in Iraq? Today,
    I know how the Palestinians feel, when
    they are slaughtered while the Arabs
    and the world look the other way.

    Are there Arab fighters in Falluja?
    "Some Arab brothers were among us, but
    when the shelling intensified, we
    asked them to leave and they did," says
    Ahmed Al-Deleimi. He added, "Why
    has America given itself the right to call
    on UK and Australian and other armies
    for help and we don't have the same
    right? We can't call on others for help."

    Kamel Mohamed, who was getting
    ready to leave Falluja, said that he had heard
    that there were Arab fighters in the
    city, but he never saw any of them. Then
    he had heard that they had left.
    "Regardless of the motives of those
    fighters, they have provided a pretext
    for the city to be slaughtered, exactly
    as the mass destruction weapons
    gimmick provided a pretext for Iraq to be
    slaughtered. It is our right to resist
    and it is the opponent's right to be
    honest, but is there such a thing as
    an honest occupier?"

    The suffering spreads along with the
    destruction. This is the second Ramadan
    under occupation, and bloodshed is
    everywhere. Iyad Allawi has visited Sadr
    City, which has laid down its arms,
    and said that he is determined to uproot
    terror. No Iraqi or US official has yet
    told the Iraqis, who live in constant
    danger, exactly what terror is. Does the
    US warning people to stay away
    because a force with a licence to kill
    operates, not qualify as terror? Does
    murder by "friendly" fire not qualify as
    terror? Does occupation by a foreign
    force not qualify as terror?

    These are all acts of terror and the
    Iraqis are paying a price that rises
    every day. Until Al-Zarqawi is
    apprehended, operations against the Iraqis are
    going to continue. These operations
    have bizarre code names, such as "Angry
    Ghost." The Angry Ghost is now
    screaming through Falluja. Will it ever be
    laid to rest?

















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