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BAUAW NEWSLETTER Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Saturday, December 18, 2004
BAUAW NEWSLETTER-SATURDAY, DEC. 18, 2004
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STOP THE WAR ON IRAQ! BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW! ALL OUT JANUARY 20TH, 5:00 P.M., CIVIC CENTER, S.F. ************BREAKING NEWS************** According to the A.N.S.W.E.R. Washington, DC news conference covered live on CSPAN on Friday, Dec. 17, (the news conference will be re-broadcast-see item following this) the U.S. government is not allowing antiwar/anti-Bush protestors onto Pennsylvania Ave. along the inauguration route. A.N.S.W.E.R. reported, there are three types of tickets available for the inauguration, Group A, is for personally invited guests; Group B, is for contributors to the Bush campaign (for both of these groups a list is carefully checked before tickets are sold;) tickets for Group C, for the general public, are not available. None. They are simply not sold. The Government, in a stalling move, has not denied permits to ANSWER for space for counter demonstrators, rather they are delaying as long as possible with the knowledge that the longer the permits are denied, the harder it will be for people to make arrangements to come to DC to protest. If and when permits are officially denied, A.N.S.W.E.R. declared they would challenge the government legally as they did in the last presidential inauguration "celebration." We have a constitutional right to protest the inauguration. BAUAW encourages all to show up in DC and come to Pennsylvania Avenue with your signs and banners and express your opposition to Bush and to the War. We demand, along with A.N.S.W.E.R., equal access along the rout for all. We have a right to protest our government or any of its official representatives. Nothing gives the government the right to disallow legal and peaceful protest. We say all out to Washington, DC if you can make it. If you can't go to DC, come out Jan. 20, 5pm, Civic Center, SF. in solidarity with all protestors in Washington and everywhere who oppose this war. We are encouraging everyone to participate somehow by wearing buttons and signs at work, at school and on the bus; hold banners at freeway entrances, and crowded shopping areas etc. on Jan. 20. Students should hold rallies and march to the Civic Center. Come to our next meeting and pick a place to flyer or table for Jan. 20 or hold a sign during the day, on Jan. 20 if you can. NEXT BAY AREA UNITED AGAINST WAR MEETING: SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 11AM CENTRO DEL PUEBLO 474 VALENCIA STREET (NEAR 16TH STREET IN SAN FRANCISCO) ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* A.N.S.W.E.R. January 20 Press Conference to be rebroadcast on C-Span Friday, December 17 8:13 pm ET on C-Span 1 11:45 pm ET on C-Span 1 Saturday, December 18 5:15 am ET on C-Span 1 Check the C-Span schedule for additional times and changes. Leaders from the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition and others involved in the January 20 Counter-Inaugural Protest in Washington DC held a press conference today (December 17). The press conference was broadcast live on C-Span 1 at 1 pm ET. At this time, the press conference is scheduled to be rebroadcast on C-Span 1 at 8:13 pm ET and 11:45 pm ET on Friday, December 17, and at 5:15 am ET on Saturday, December 18. Additional broadcast times are likely and can be found on the C-Span website schedule. Please note that all times are subject to change - so please check the schedule regularly. The program is called "Inaugural Parade Protests - Act Now to Stop War & End Racism (A.N.S.W.E.R.)". Programs can also be viewed on the C-Span website and heard on the radio. Show your support for this free speech fight and to help build the January 20 CounterInaugural demonstration along Pennsylvania Avenue. We cannot carry out this huge effort without the generous donations from those in the United States who believe in justice. You can make an urgently needed contribution for the January 20 mobilization through a secure server by clicking here, where you can also find information on how to contribute by check. Pledge now to support the January 20 demonstration. To endorse, click here. The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition will send out an email update in the next few days regarding logistics, bus drop off and other transportation information. If you are organizing transportation from your city, fill out the Transportation Form to list your information on the A.N.S.W.E.R. website and help spread the word. For downloadable flyers, click here. A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition Act Now to Stop War & End Racism http://www.ANSWERcoalition.org info@internationalanswer.org National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389 New York City: 212-533-0417 Los Angeles: 323-464-1636 San Francisco: 415-821-6545 For media inquiries, call 202-544-3389. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* Hello All, Lynne Stewart will be on Court TV tonight (a segment filmed earlier this month). The show begins at 5 pm goes until 6 pm. Interviewed by Joe Hamill we expect her segment to be in the latter part of the show. And another reminder - we have a wonderful Holiday Party planned for Saturday, Dec. 18th. Please be there!!!! From: "Larry Felson" Subject: Lynne Stewart case Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2004 07:56:15 +0000 [From Pat in New York] The trial portion of the case has concluded. We now face summations and charge. Govt. summations begin on December 29th and may go into December 30th. There will be a 4 day break for New Years until Monday, January 3rd. The Order of Summations : Summation in Chief by Mr. Dember, AUSA for the Government; followed by David Stern, Esq. for Mr. Yousry, and either Barry Fallick, Esq. or Kenneth Paul, Esq. for Ahmed Sattar; followed by Michael Tigar for Lynne Stewart. Then the Government will have rebuttal summation by Robin Baker, AUSA. Followed by Judge Koeltl's charge to the jury. To hear Michael Tigar it is probably best to be in court on January 3rd and 4th. Check the website for further updates and don't forget to come to The People's Holiday Party on Saturday, December 18th. COME TO THE PEOPLE'S HOLIDAY PARTY!!! JOIN US TO BENEFIT THE LYNNE STEWART DEFENSE COMMITTEE (LYNNE STEWART, ATTORNEY NOW ON TRIAL IN FEDERAL COURT NEW YORK) THE BRECHT FORUM (WORKING FOR SOCIAL CHANGE & RAISING MONEY FOR MOVING EXPENSES) SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18TH - 7:30 P.M. TIL FEATURING: MICHAEL SMITH - MASTER OF CEREMONIES LYNNE STEWART VINIE BURROWS - ACTRESS CULTURAL WORKER SPARLHA SWA - SINGER RANDY CREDICO - COMEDIAN AND ACTIVIST KHALIL JOHNSON - POET NORMAN MARSHALL - PORTRAYER OF JOHN BROWN LORCAN OTWAY OF SORCHA DORCHA, WITH DICK CHENEY AND THE QUAKERS DJ GRINGO LOCO - DANCING AN EVENING OF SOLIDARITY, FUN, MUSIC, DRINKS AND FOOD - SPEECHES AND SCHMOOZING SLIDING SCALE $10 - $20 & up appreciated PLACE: THE BRECHT FORUM 122 W27TH. ST.,10TH FLOOR, NEW YORK CITY (Between 6TH & 7TH Aves.) STOP BY ON YOUR WAY TO AND FROM OTHER EVENTS OR FOR THE WHOLE EVENING - SEE YOU THERE 212-625-9696 ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 1) Art & Resistance in Occupied Palestine Recent murals and Palestinian & Israeli Civil Disobedience 2) Nearly Half in U.S. Say Restrict Muslims By WILLIAM KATES ITHACA, N.Y. (AP) Associated Press Writer Dec 18, 9:43 AM EST http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MUSLIMS_CIVIL_LIBERTIES?SITE=NYSTA&SE CTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT 3) Bush looking at freezing domestic spending WASHINGTON (AP) http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/12/17/bush.spending.ap/index.html 4) U.S. Presses Co-Defendant Near Close of Terror Trial By JULIA PRESTON December 17, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/17/nyregion/17stewart.html 5) Arab media reports on US plan to attack Iran AzerNews (Azerbaijan) December 17, 2004 http://www.azernews.net/view.php?d=5536 6) Pentagon Seeks to Expand Role in Intelligence By DOUGLAS JEHL and ERIC SCHMITT WASHINGTON December 19, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/19/politics/19military.html?hp&ex=1103432400& en=0623190e8121e407&ei=5094&partner=homepage 7) In Congo War, Even Peacekeepers Add to Horror By MARC LACEY December 18, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/18/international/africa/18congo.html?hp&ex=11 03432400&en=962ad452438e18ef&ei=5094&partner=homepage 8) AARP Poll Shows Most Support Legalizing Medicinal Marijuana By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS December 19, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/19/national/19marijuana.html 9) PICTURES OF WAR Here are two sets of pictures. First set--- PLEASE ACCESS: http://dahrjamailiraq.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album28&page= 1 Second Set-- PLEASE ACCESS: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/coalitionforfreethoughtinmedia/message/26138 ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 1) Art & Resistance in Occupied Palestine Recent murals and Palestinian & Israeli Civil Disobedience Susan Greene, Eric Drooker, Dalit Baum, members of Jews for a Free Palestine recently returned from the West Bank, Monadel Herzallah and Special Guests A slide and video lecture, art auction, food, and raffle fundraiser Saturday, December 18th 7:00 New College of California, 777 Valencia Street $10-$100 no one turned away for lack of funds Proceeds go to medical aid for Gaza, victims of home demolition and Break the Silence Mural Project Sponsored by Break the Silence Mural Project and Jews for a Free Palestine, Middle East ChildrenÂs Alliance, Justice in Palestine Coalition, Anarchists Against the Wall The Slide and Video Lecture: In 2004 Break the Silence SF muralist and psychologist Susan Greene and renowned illustrator Eric Drooker traveled to the West Bank and Gaza to paint community murals with Palestinians. Dalit Baum is a member of Anarchists Against the Wall and Black Laundry, and will show video documentation of Israeli and Palestinian joint actions and civil disobedience protesting the Wall. The following murals were completed: 1) Hani Amer Family Mural: on the Israeli built wall that encircles the Hani Amer home in the West Bank that has been the site of many protests and Palestinian and Israeli peace camps. This mural was painted with the children and extended family and represented an act of creative control over their environment. 2) Memorial mural in Qadura refugee camp in Ramallah that honors an Italian journalist killed by the Israeli military and eleven young people who were killed during the first and second uprising or Intifada, 3) In the town of Beit Hanoun in the Gaza strip, several hundred thousand citrus trees were destroyed leaving the town unemployed and devasted. On a cultural center for youth Greene, Drooker and the center's staff painted a three story orange tree. The Center's director wanted the children to remember what the orange trees looked like. The Art Auction: A silent auction for works by some of the Bay Area's finest artists. Cheap Arts and Crafts: By some of the Bay Area's most crafty Raffle: For a wide range of exciting offerings Refreshments and delectable foods. Brief History of Break the Silence Starting in 1989 when a group of Jewish Women Artists travelled to Palestine to paint community murals in solidarity with Palestinian refugees, Break the Silence has worked to use art to raise awareness about what life is like for Palestinians in Israel. Our ultimate goal is to contribute to the struggle to end the occupation of Palestine. BTS has painted murals in refugee camps and cultural centers in the West Bank and Gaza, and to reach our aim has painted murals in San Francisco about Palestine, published articles, created videos and presented scores of slide shows across the country. Bay_Area_Activist list info: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bay_area_activist Archives: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bay_area_activist/messages Calendar: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bay_area_activist/calendar List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:bay_area_activist-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com> List-Subscribe: List subscription is by invitation only - Send an email to: <mailto:bay_area_activist-owner@yahoogroups.com> to request an invitation. WHEN SPIDERS UNITE, THEY CAN TIE DOWN A LION -- Ethiopian Proverb ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 2) Nearly Half in U.S. Say Restrict Muslims By WILLIAM KATES ITHACA, N.Y. (AP) Associated Press Writer Dec 18, 9:43 AM EST http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MUSLIMS_CIVIL_LIBERTIES?SITE=NYSTA&SE CTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT ITHACA, N.Y. (AP) -- Nearly half of all Americans believe the U.S. government should restrict the civil liberties of Muslim Americans, according to a nationwide poll. The survey conducted by Cornell University also found that Republicans and people who described themselves as highly religious were more apt to support curtailing Muslims' civil liberties than Democrats or people who are less religious. Researchers also found that respondents who paid more attention to television news were more likely to fear terrorist attacks and support limiting the rights of Muslim Americans. "It's sad news. It's disturbing news. But it's not unpredictable," said Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society. "The nation is at war, even if it's not a traditional war. We just have to remain vigilant and continue to interface." The survey found 44 percent favored at least some restrictions on the civil liberties of Muslim Americans. Forty-eight percent said liberties should not be restricted in any way. The survey showed that 27 percent of respondents supported requiring all Muslim Americans to register where they lived with the federal government. Twenty-two percent favored racial profiling to identify potential terrorist threats. And 29 percent thought undercover agents should infiltrate Muslim civic and volunteer organizations to keep tabs on their activities and fund-raising. Cornell student researchers questioned 715 people in the nationwide telephone poll conducted this fall. The margin of error was 3.6 percentage points. James Shanahan, an associate professor of communications who helped organize the survey, said the results indicate "the need for continued dialogue about issues of civil liberties" in a time of war. While researchers said they were not surprised by the overall level of support for curtailing civil liberties, they were startled by the correlation with religion and exposure to television news. "We need to explore why these two very important channels of discourse may nurture fear rather than understanding," Shanahan said. According to the survey, 37 percent believe a terrorist attack in the United States is still likely within the next 12 months. In a similar poll conducted by Cornell in November 2002, that number stood at 90 percent. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 3) Bush looking at freezing domestic spending WASHINGTON (AP) http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/12/17/bush.spending.ap/index.html WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House is telling federal agencies to expect lean budgets next year, with congressional aides and lobbyists saying President Bush appears ready to propose freezing or even slightly cutting overall domestic spending. Targeted would be all annually approved programs except for defense and domestic security. Excluding those two would leave a part of the budget the administration estimates will total $388 billion for the fiscal year that began October 1. Also excluded are automatically made payments like Social Security and interest on the federal debt. Bush's stringent approach comes as record federal deficits that hit $413 billion last year hinder his ability to pay for overhauling Social Security and extending his tax cuts. He also has tied the budget shortfalls to the weakening dollar, and pledged to reduce red ink to help prop up the currency. At his White House economic conference on Thursday, Bush said he made "good progress" in holding the growth of non- defense, non-homeland-security programs this year to about 1 percent. "What I'm saying is we're going to submit a tough budget," he said. "And I look forward to working with Congress on the tough budget." The president is still making final decisions about the $2.5 trillion budget for 2006 he will propose in February. But House and Senate aides, speaking on condition of anonymity, said cuts appeared destined for such programs as housing, grants for community development, purchases of new equipment for the Federal Aviation Administration, and Army Corps of Engineers water projects. Even the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, an administration favorite, was facing an increase of just 1 percent, pending appeals to the White House by outgoing NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, a lobbyist said. The zero-sum game that is federal budgeting means that if spending for next year is held flat, for every dollar increase that administration favorites like education or veterans receive, another dollar must be cut elsewhere. Even a program receiving the same as this year would lose purchasing power due to inflation, now running about 3 percent annually. Bush's spending blueprint would be among the toughest for domestic programs since President Reagan's budgets of the 1980s. Overall domestic spending has grown every year but three since 1987 -- in 1995 and 1996, when Republicans first recaptured Congress, and in 2000, immediately after a one- time influx of U.S. aid to help poor and debtor countries. Even as domestic spending growth has slowed, overall expenditures including defense and domestic security continue to climb, largely due to the costs of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Congress approved $87.5 billion for those wars in fall 2003 and $25 billion more last spring, and Bush is expected to request another $75 billion to $100 billion early in 2005. As word of Bush's still-evolving plans for domestic spending has seeped out, it has cheered conservative Republicans. They spent much of Bush's first term criticizing him for letting spending grow too rapidly and pressuring congressional leaders to try clamping down on spending. Excluding homeland security and emergencies like hurricanes, domestic spending has grown by 27 percent since Bush took office in 2001. "I really do believe that this White House gets it," said Rep. Mike Pence, R-Indiana, a leading House conservative. Last February, Bush proposed a 0.5 percent increase for domestic programs, which Congress eventually doubled. Advocates of cutting spending are hoping for better results next year, since November's elections will bring more conservatives to the House and Senate for the new Congress. "They've run out of excuses," said Stephen Slivinski, budget director of the conservative-leaning Cato Institute. "They can't blame anyone else." Still, Democrats and many moderate Republicans are certain to fight for their priorities when Congress begins translating Bush' budget proposal to actual spending legislation next year. "This tells you the administration's priority is tax cuts over fiscal responsibility and providing central services to the American people," said Thomas Kahn, Democratic staff director of the House Budget Committee. Last May, the White House budget office distributed a memo to federal agencies warning them to anticipate an overall domestic spending cut of about 0.7 percent next year. At the time, White House officials called the document an early step in the budget process. "The budget process is still under way," White House budget office spokesman Chad Kolton said Thursday. He said the administration still intends to cut the deficit in half in five years, and the next budget "will reflect our commitment to stay on that path." Copyright 2004 The Associated Press ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 4) U.S. Presses Co-Defendant Near Close of Terror Trial By JULIA PRESTON December 17, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/17/nyregion/17stewart.html A federal prosecutor in the terror trial of Lynne F. Stewart, a New York defense lawyer, battered one of her co-defendants yesterday with fierce questions, and then concluded a cross- examination with an outburst of indignation about the crimes alleged in the case. The rush of emotion came on the final day of testimony in the trial, which has lasted nearly six months. The prosecutor, Christopher Morvillo, bore down on the co-defendant, Ahmed Abdel Sattar, a postal worker from Staten Island who has worked as a paralegal with Ms. Stewart. Suddenly accelerating the pace of the testimony, Mr. Morvillo drew together many strands of evidence that the government has been weaving week after week in Federal District Court in Manhattan. He grilled Mr. Sattar about his state of mind in October 2000, when he helped write and release an Islamic edict "to mandate the killing of Jews wherever they are found." Mr. Sattar has testified that he wrote the edict, or fatwa, with Rifai Taha, a fugitive Egyptian militant who was then hiding in Afghanistan, probably in Al Qaeda training camps, and who had been named by the United States as one of the world's most dangerous terrorists. "It is a fact, is it not, Mr. Sattar, that you drafted this statement with the leader of a terrorist network?" Mr. Morvillo asked. "Yes, it is a fact," Mr. Sattar replied. "A person you knew was in Afghanistan with Osama bin Laden?" Mr. Morvillo fired back. "Yes." "A person that you knew was considered by the United States to be a threat to national security?" "Yes." "And a person who you knew had signed Osama bin Laden's fatwa calling for the murder of Americans, right?" "Yes." Mr. Morvillo was referring to a separate edict issued by Mr. bin Laden in February 1998, in which he called for the killing and kidnapping of Americans. Mr. Taha was one signer of Mr. bin Laden's fatwa. Mr. Sattar released the edict he had written Mr. Taha under the name of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, a fundamentalist Islamic cleric. The sheik, a client of Ms. Stewart's, is serving a life sentence in federal prison for conspiring in a failed 1993 plot to bomb tunnels and landmark buildings in New York. But the sheik, who was in solitary confinement at the time, did not find out about the fatwa until some time later, evidence in the trial has shown. Mr. Sattar is charged with soliciting violence and conspiracy to kidnap and kill in a foreign country. Ms. Stewart is accused of participating in a terrorist conspiracy by violating prison restrictions imposed on Mr. Abdel Rahman in order to pass him letters from Mr. Sattar, which contained messages discussing violence from the sheik's militant followers in Egypt. Visibly shaken by Mr. Morvillo's questions, Mr. Sattar sought to distance himself from his own words, saying they were "ugly and hateful." He said again that he was "outraged" by the violence in Israel after a September 2000 visit by Ariel Sharon to the site of Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. He was especially troubled, he said, by the shooting of a Palestinian boy by Israeli troops, which had been shown repeatedly on the news. He said he had only wanted to gain publicity for the sheik, and added, pounding his fist on the stand: "I did not mean to kill anybody. I was crying out loud, Mr. Morvillo." Mr. Morvillo concluded his cross-examination of Mr. Sattar by inquiring about phrases that the defendant edited out of the fatwa calling explicitly for attacks on Americans in the United States. "Mr. Sattar, is that what you were referring to last week when you told us that you defend the Constitution of the United States?" the prosecutor asked. "Yes," answered Mr. Sattar, who was born in Egypt but became a naturalized American citizen in 1989. "You are quite a patriot," Mr. Morvillo retorted. Judge John G. Koeltl struck the comment from the record and ordered the jury to disregard it. But Ms. Stewart's chief lawyer, Michael E. Tigar, denounced it as improper and asked the judge to declare a mistrial. The judge denied that motion but, in an unusual step, criticized Mr. Morvillo's remark to the jurors. The jury is to return on Dec. 29 for closing arguments and for instructions from the judge. Copyright 2004 The New York Times ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 5) Arab media reports on US plan to attack Iran AzerNews (Azerbaijan) December 17, 2004 http://www.azernews.net/view.php?d=5536 US forces will infiltrate Iran's territory through Azerbaijan, Iraq, and Georgia. The US ground troops plan to complete the invasion in two weeks, the London-based ash-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper reported. The publication said that the US National Security Council is currently developing the plan for the occupation of Iran. The White House plans to overthrow the Islamic regime in this country and destroy its nuclear resources. A Central Intelligence Agency employee David Cay, who headed the commission engaged in searching for nuclear weapons in Iraq, has been instructed to develop the plan for the operation. The occupation of Iran will be carried out in three stages. The first envisions destroying Iranian armed forces through an air attack. Afterwards, the country's military units producing nuclear weapons will be attacked. The number of such facilities is 125. After the nuclear facilities are destroyed, the ground operation will Be launched. The US plans to send a part of its contingent to Iran through Azerbaijan. According to the Pentagon, US troops will not attack Iran's capital, Tehran, but surround it. US military experts say that several commando Detachments will suffice to subdue the Iranian authorities. Arab media have Reported that such forces are training in Florida, USA. The ash-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper issued a similar report 18 months Before the US attack on Iraq. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 6) Pentagon Seeks to Expand Role in Intelligence By DOUGLAS JEHL and ERIC SCHMITT WASHINGTON December 19, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/19/politics/19military.html?hp&ex=1103432400& en=0623190e8121e407&ei=5094&partner=homepage WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 - The Pentagon is drawing up a plan that would give the military a more prominent role in intelligence- collection operations that have traditionally been the province of the Central Intelligence Agency, including missions aimed at terrorist groups and those involved in weapons proliferation, Defense Department officials say. The proposal is being described by some intelligence officials as an effort by the Pentagon to expand its role in intelligence gathering at a time when legislation signed by President Bush on Friday sets in motion sweeping changes in the intelligence community, including the creation of a national intelligence director. The main purpose of that overhaul is to improve coordination among the country's 15 intelligence agencies, including those controlled by the Pentagon. The details of the plan remain secret and are evolving, but indications of its scope and significance have begun to emerge in recent weeks. One part of the overall proposal is being drafted by a team led by Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, a deputy under secretary of defense. Among the ideas cited by Defense Department officials is the idea of "fighting for intelligence," or commencing combat operations chiefly to obtain intelligence. The proposal also calls for a major expansion of human- intelligence collection efforts under the Pentagon's auspices, both within the military services and the Defense Intelligence Agency, including more aggressive, offensive missions aimed at acquiring specific intelligence sought by policy makers. (The term human intelligence refers to information gathered directly by spies rather than by technological means.) The proposal marks the latest chapter in the fierce and long- running rivalry between the Pentagon and the C.I.A. for dominance over intelligence collection. White House officials are monitoring the Pentagon's planning, as is the C.I.A. The proposal has not yet won White House approval, according to administration officials. It is unclear to what extent American military forces have already been given additional authority to carry out intelligence-gathering missions. Until now, intelligence operations run by the Pentagon have focused primarily on gathering information about enemy forces, the main preoccupation of military commanders. But the overarching proposal being drafted in the Pentagon, which encompasses General Boykin's efforts, would focus military intelligence operations increasingly on counterterrorism and counterproliferation, areas in which the C.I.A.'s directorate of operations has always played the leading role. "Right now, we're looking at providing Special Operations forces some of the flexibility the C.I.A. has had for years," said a Defense Department official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plan has not yet been approved. "It would be used judiciously, and with all appropriate oversight controls." General Boykin's proposal would revamp military commands to ensure that senior officers planning and fighting wars work more closely with the intelligence analysts tracking threats like terrorists and insurgency cells. Another part of the Pentagon's plan was articulated in a recent directive by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that instructed regional commanders to expand the military's role in intelligence gathering, particularly in tracking terrorist and insurgent leaders. "What we're talking about with the combatant commanders is using their military forces in the field in a more thoughtful way, and having a level of awareness to gather information that's important," said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman. In public allusions to the plan, both General Boykin and Vice Adm. Lowell E. Jacoby, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, have stuck to generalities that have left unclear exactly what is being proposed. But some intelligence officials say they believe those remarks open the way to more clandestine military operations intended to gather intelligence on terrorists and weapons proliferators. One former intelligence official questioned the utility of the military's putting more resources into intelligence collection at a time when it is already stretched thin in dealing with the counterinsurgency in Iraq and addressing threats elsewhere. "If you're a shooter, go do that job," said the former intelligence official, who has opposed efforts by the Pentagon to expand its intelligence gathering role. "But don't put the shooter in a pinstripe suit and send him to Beirut to chase bad guys." He said he regarded the military's initiative as an attempt to make inroads into turf controlled by intelligence agencies. A current intelligence official who works outside the Pentagon described the relationship between the Pentagon and the C.I.A. as "closer than ever," but he added that "cooperation is strongest in the places where it counts most, like Iraq and Afghanistan." The official said, "There's a real sense that there's plenty of work for everyone, and the key for both agencies is close coordination and insisting that all of us apply the best possible tradecraft in human intelligence operations." General Boykin was traveling abroad and not available for comment this week. Over the last two weeks, he and his top aides have declined repeated interview requests on this subject. The general provided an overview of the plan in an address in October to the Association of the United States Army, a nonprofit educational organization, and copies of his briefing slides are posted on the group's Web site. A brief synopsis of General Boykin's plan was provided by Defense Department officials, as were remarks prepared for delivery in a Nov. 15 address by Admiral Jacoby. "Our present intelligence collection architecture - optimized to identify and track large conventional forces - is inadequate to warn against these new challenges for terrorists, provide sufficient information on insurgent groups, determine the status of discrete W.M.D. production capabilities, learn the intentions of leaderships from rogue states, or determine friend from foe when intermingled in a foreign country," Admiral Jacoby said in that speech. The admiral said intelligence agencies needed to put a new premium on acquiring "persistent surveillance" through " close-in and continuous collection against broader problem sets." General Boykin, who attracted controversy last year for saying in remarks to Christian groups that Muslims worship "an idol" and describing the battle against Muslim radicals as a fight against Satan, has been the prime architect of the proposal, which has been under review at the Pentagon since January 2004. The general reports to Stephen A. Cambone, who since 2003 has used his newly created post as under secretary of intelligence to assert a role in which he has competed with George J. Tenet, the former director of central intelligence, and his successors for dominance over American intelligence agencies. Among the proposals described by Defense Department officials is a plan to create a Joint Intelligence Operational Command within the Pentagon, which would elevate intelligence to much more power and prominence. The command being proposed could replace the Defense Intelligence Agency, Defense Department officials say. If approved, General Boykin's proposal would allow the Pentagon to be less reliant on other intelligence agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, for its operations, senior defense officials said. "It will give more options to the military for how they gather the intelligence, instead of having to depend on other agencies," said one senior military officer who has received a preliminary briefing on the proposal and spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan has not yet been approved. Maj. Gen. Charles W. Thomas, a retired senior Army intelligence officer who has worked as a consultant for General Boykin on his project, said he broadly supported the general's goals. But General Thomas warned that one possible danger in bringing battle commanders and intelligence officials so close together to fight a common enemy was the risk that the intelligence could be skewed to fit the commander's war plan and not the reality on the ground. A spokesman for the Special Operations Command in Tampa, Fla., Col. Samuel Taylor, said on Friday that the command had been briefed on an early draft of General Boykin's remodeling initiative, but that staff officers and senior commanders had not yet reviewed it in depth. President Bush last month ordered the C.I.A. and the Defense Department to review a plan that could expand the Pentagon's role in covert operations, perhaps replacing the C.I.A. in providing paramilitary forces for such missions. Mr. Bush's directive set a 90-day deadline for the review. The idea of transferring paramilitary authority from the intelligence agency to the military's Special Operations Forces was among several prominent recommendations made by the Sept. 11 commission. The proposal remains under review. But in public testimony in August, Mr. Rumsfeld and John E. McLaughlin, who was then the acting intelligence chief, expressed reservations about the idea, and it was not included in the measure Mr. Bush approved on Friday. Copyright 2004 The New York Times ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 7) In Congo War, Even Peacekeepers Add to Horror By MARC LACEY December 18, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/18/international/africa/18congo.html?hp&ex=11 03432400&en=962ad452438e18ef&ei=5094&partner=homepage BUNIA, Congo, Dec. 16 - In the corner of the tent where she says a soldier forced himself on her, Helen, a frail fifth grader with big eyes and skinny legs, remembers seeing a blue helmet. The United Nations peacekeeper who tore off her clothes had used a cup of milk to lure her close, she said in her high-pitched voice, fidgeting as she spoke. It was her favorite drink, she said, but one her family could rarely afford. "I was so happy," she said. After she gulped it down, the foreign soldier pulled Helen, a 12-year-old, into bed, she said. About an hour later, he gave her a dollar, put a finger to his lips and pushed her out of his tent, she said. In this same eastern outpost, another United Nations peacekeeper, unable to communicate with a 13-year-old Swahili-speaking girl who walked past him, held up a cookie and gestured for her to draw near. As the girl, Solange, who recounted the incident with tears in her eyes the other day, reached for the cookie, the soldier reached for her. She, too, said she was raped. The United Nations said recently that it had uncovered 150 allegations of sexual abuse committed by United Nations peacekeepers stationed in Congo, many of them here in Bunia where the population has already suffered horrendous atrocities committed by local fighters. The raping of women and girls is an all-too-common tactic in the war raging in Congo's eastern jungles involving numerous militia groups. In Bunia, a program run by Unicef has treated 2,000 victims of sexual violence in recent months. But it is not just the militia members who have been preying on the women. So, too, local women say, have some of the soldiers brought in to keep the peace. The United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, said recently that there was "clear evidence that acts of gross misconduct have taken place" in the United Nations mission in Congo, which began in early 2000 and is known by its French acronym, Monuc. Mr. Annan added, "This is a shameful thing for the United Nations to have to say, and I am absolutely outraged by it." The number of cases may be impossible for United Nations investigators to determine precisely. Helen and Solange said in recent interviews that they had not told their stories even to their parents, never mind to United Nations officials. Rape carries a heavy stigma here, both girls made clear. They told their stories when approached by a reporter. "I didn't tell my mother because she would beat me," said a grim-faced Solange, starring at the ground. Solange, a sixth- grade dropout, said she had no interest in visiting a health clinic or seeing one of the psychologists that Unicef has paid for to counsel the many rape victims in and around Bunia. If she seeks help, the girl said, her mother might find out. Helen's mother is dead, and Helen did not dare tell her father for fear of a beating. She said she knew he would blame her for going near the soldiers in the first place and might even throw her out of the house. Helen did go on her own to a health clinic soon after the assault because she said she hurt between her legs. The health worker gave her something to drink, which she paid for with the same dollar that the soldier had given her, she said. "I was so afraid when he took my clothes off," Helen said, fidgeting with her dirty T-shirt. "I was quiet. I didn't say anything." The allegations leveled against United Nations personnel in Congo include sex with underage partners, sex with prostitutes and rape, an internal United Nations investigation has found. Investigators said they found evidence that United Nations peacekeepers and civilian workers paid $1 to $3 for sex or bartered sexual relations for food or promises of employment. A confidential report prepared by Prince Zeid Raad al-Hussein, Jordan's ambassador to the United Nations, and dated Nov. 8, says the exploitation "appears to be significant, widespread and ongoing." Violators described in the investigation, which continues, appear to come from around the globe. Fifty countries are represented among the 1,000 civilian employees and 10,800 soldiers who make up the United Nations mission in Congo. Already, a French civilian has been accused of having sex with a girl, though it is unclear where that case stands, and two Tunisian peacekeepers have been sent home, where the local authorities will decide whether to punish them. The United Nations report details allegations of sexual misconduct by peacekeepers from Nepal, Pakistan, Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa and Uruguay, and lists incidents in which some soldiers tried to obstruct investigators. When they arrive for duty, peacekeepers are presented with the United Nations code of conduct, which forbids "any exchange of money, employment, goods or services for sex." The home countries are responsible for punishing any of their military personnel who violate the code while taking part in a United Nations peacekeeping mission. The United Nations, which has had previous scandals in missions in Cambodia and Bosnia, also warns the soldiers against sexual contact with girls under 18, even though the law in Congo permits sex with girls as young as 14. The United Nations policy says that mistakenly believing someone is older "cannot be considered a defense." The youth of Helen and Solange cannot be mistaken. They said they were abused while selling bananas and avocados to soldiers. Each girl said she was among the girls and women who have flocked to the camps that peacekeepers have set up around Bunia. These two girls walked from tent to tent with fruit balanced on their heads, using gestures to make deals. Helen would sell her fruit for 10 francs apiece, or a few cents, and would earn about $1 a day. She would give the money to her older sister. Solange would trade her fruit for the small containers of milk issued to soldiers. She would then sell the milk in town, making about $1.50 a day. She used the money to help her family buy food. Some of the girls and women who have entered the peacekeepers' camps concede that they had less-than- innocent intentions. Judith and Saidati, both 15 and sexually experienced with Congolese boys, acknowledged that they were looking for foreign boyfriends as they sold their fruit. The girls, who have the same father, said in a recent interview that they both found French boyfriends first, when the French Army controlled Bunia last year. Then they each found soldiers from Nepal, one of the countries supplying peacekeepers to the United Nations mission. After that, the girls spent time with soldiers from Morocco, who make up the bulk of the force now patrolling Bunia. The girls said they each stuck to one soldier apiece and switched to new ones only when their boyfriends were transferred out. Each time they had sex, the soldiers gave them $5, they said. Sometimes, they got other gifts, too, they said. One day, however, after their latest boyfriends had gone, a social worker visited them and told them of the dangers of having sex with soldiers. The woman sat them down and told them about AIDS and the other sexually transmitted diseases they might get. "She told us not to go anywhere near the soldiers," said Judith, who like the other girls agreed to be identified only by her first name. "She said we're still young and they might make our lives short." The two half sisters said the social worker's words frightened them, and they said they had not had any boyfriends for the last few months. But they also acknowledged that fewer Moroccan soldiers were propositioning them, reducing their temptation. The soldiers' new commander is keeping a closer eye on them, the girls said. "They want to come to us but their chief is watching them," Judith said. Judith and Saidati said they wanted the soldiers to remain in Bunia for many years. The girls said the United Nations troops had succeeded in stabilizing the town, which was a war zone just over a year ago. The foreigners also have much more money to spend than local boys, the girls said. "I like them," said Judith, smiling coyly. "They treat us so nice," added Saidati, who was beaming. But the two younger girls, Helen and Solange, were far more sober when they spoke of the foreign troops. They said they stopped selling fruit at the military camp immediately after they were attacked and had never been back. They said they had trouble sleeping at night and could not forget what the soldiers did to them. "Whenever I see one of them, I remember what happened," said Helen, who lives near a military checkpoint operated by soldiers wearing blue helmets just like the one she remembers seeing in the tent. "I'm afraid of them." Copyright 2004 The New York Times ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 8) AARP Poll Shows Most Support Legalizing Medicinal Marijuana By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS December 19, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/19/national/19marijuana.html WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (AP) - Nearly three-fourths of Americans middle age and older support legalizing marijuana for medical use, according to a poll taken for AARP. More than half of those questioned said they believed marijuana has medical benefits, while a larger majority agreed the drug is addictive. AARP, whose 35 million members are all at least 50 years old, says it has no political position on medical marijuana and that its local branches have not chosen sides in the scores of state ballot initiatives on the issue in recent elections. But with medical marijuana at the center of a Supreme Court case to be decided next year, and nearly a dozen states with medical marijuana laws on their books, AARP said, it decided to study the issue. "The use of medical marijuana applies to many older Americans who may benefit from cannabis," said Ed Dwyer, an editor at AARP The Magazine, which will report on the issue in its March-April issue, scheduled to appear in late January. Among the 1,706 adults age 45 and older who were polled in November, opinions varied along regional and generational lines and among the 30 percent of respondents who said they had smoked marijuana. AARP members represented 37 percent of the respondents. Over all, 72 percent of respondents agreed "adults should be allowed to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if a physician recommends it." Those in the Northeast (79 percent) and West (82 percent) were more receptive to the idea than in the Midwest (67 percent) and Southwest (65 percent). In Southern states, 70 percent agreed with the statement. Seventy-four percent of all those surveyed thought marijuana is addictive. Copyright 2004 The New York Times ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 9) PICTURES OF WAR Here are two sets of pictures. First set--- PLEASE ACCESS: http://dahrjamailiraq.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album28&page= 1 Second Set-- PLEASE ACCESS: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/coalitionforfreethoughtinmedia/message/26138 Now this is what I want you to do: First, sit down and make sure there is nothing near you that can be thrown at anyone, hurled at anything, smashed into pieces. I would assume that by now these have all been used up heaving them at the TV screen, but ya never know. Then, turn off everything, and make the room silent. Look at both sets. All of it. Very slowly. As slowly as it takes to bleed to death. As painfully as it takes to breath with a hole ripped in your lungs. With all the focused minute concentration of a USMC sniper narrowing a famished 12 year old in his sights. As the tears burn ineradicable traces down your face, and grief and rage shred your insides, and as you turn your face to the sky in voiceless open mouthed horror and shame, consumed by the truth of our complicity and cowardliness- I want you to sit there in it. Sit in it and donÂt move. Try to keep breathing. Now, we can decide What Is To Be Done. 1. STOP THE PARADE We must STOP the forward motion of what is going on. Not complain, not protest, no investigations, hearings, lawsuits, demonstrations, marches with signs. We must make this murderous machine STOP DEAD. We must make it all come to a complete and utter HALT. If even for an hour, a day. It is not enough to march, or to make some symbolic gesture, or to carry a placard with a pithy message, or to chant, or goddnoes change the Democratic Party Leadership. It is not enough to be Right. This is all very nice IÂm sure. None of this has done a goddam thing, and you know it. Nothing. On January 20, 2005, every blood-sucking bastard in the US Government will be in one place-- in Washington DC. Every no soldierÂs father, lobbyistÂs best boy, AIPAC Hooker. Every Connected Pseudo-Christian Crusading Son of Jesus, pension-robbing CEO, NRA sucking, air fouling, grandchild sodomizing profit monger maniac MF still breathing will be there. And all of the worldÂs so-called press, just flown in business class from Kiev and hunkered down in their 500 a night hotels will be there, with their million dollar cameras, and 100 dollar haircuts, and thousand dollar botox jobs, and their big salaries and big expense accounts, and even bigger egos- all slobbering over the Status Quo- they will be there and the World will be Watching. And we better be there too. And we better put a STOP to the Parade. Right there, for everyone to see. This is our Tiananmen Square  This is our Tiananmen Square Pennsylvania Avenue is our Tiananmen Square. One man standing in front of a tank, unafraid to die-can stop the Parade in its tracks. Bring the Government to its knees, with the world in witness. We have to show up. Show up at the route down Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House to the Capitol, and STOP the goddam Parade. With our bodies. We must lie down in the road, and not move. Tens and hundreds and thousands and tens of thousands of us. BEFORE the parade can get to The Capitol. We have this one chance to stop the goddam Parade, and we better take it. Peacefully. Non-violently. Passively. Assertively. This is our Tiananmen Square. 2. Walk OUT We have GOT to try to get to DC somehow. But if we cannot- Tiananmen Square can be wherever you are. We have to STOP everything everywhere at noon on January 20, 2005. The Parade must come to a complete and utter halt, wherever it is, wherever we are, whatever weÂre doing. We must walk off the job, walk out of school, stop our cars, our busses, our cabs, our bicycyles. Put down that sandwich, log off the chat room. Noon on Jan 20. Lie down in the street. And not get up. The Parade has to stop. We must say- NO. You go no further. This time there is only ONE Evil. And it has to be stopped. For an hour or a day, for ten minutes -- with the World watching. In a way that is undeniable- That the press cannot stash somewhere behind the potted plant of some celebrity catastrophe or bogus epidemic. In broad daylight, in every village and town. Walk OUT. Lie down. Do not get up. Look, we walked into the voting booths with full knowledge that we had no real choice, our humanity and citizenship made brutally vestigial waaaay before any votes were counted, our rights stolen before our votes were. We walked into the booths like Jews walking into the ovens. Because it was easier to believe that something acceptable was inside than to face the utter horror of the truth. We KNEW  and now weÂre whining. TimeÂs up. There has been a Radical Regime Change in the WORLD- and you cannot ever say you didnÂt know. If thatÂs OK with you, then do nothing. If not- January 20,2005. See you in Tiananmen Square. CALL TO ACTION: ONE-DAY PROTEST STRIKE AND DEMONSTRATIONS ON INAUGURATION DAY, JANUARY 20 inaugural.org counter-inauguration planning. We call for a one-day protest strike and demonstrations across the United States and for marches on US embassies in as many other countries as possible. We know that for most people January 20 is a workday, and that work conditions can vary drastically. We suggest people reach out to others in their workplaces, campuses and neighborhoods and either call in sick or walk out at noon on January 20. College and university students can easily take a day off from classes. Whether you then choose to join an organized protest action or form a local affinity group of friends to organize an action of your own, join us and others in the streets to reclaim our power. We donÂt consent, and we wonÂt obey! In the streets for real democracy! Act together for real alternatives! A Call for decentralized, local actions around the world on J20 DC Anti-War Network Working Group, Counter-Inauguration actions http://www.dawndc.net/events/j20_05 ) The Call http://www.dawndc.net ?.htm> "DAWN calls for people all over the nation and world to converge on Washington, DC, on the day of George W. Bush's Inauguration, January 20, 2005, for peaceful anti-war actions. While DAWN is coordinating with many groups for a day of actions, DAWN calls additionally for these specific actions: (1) A permitted nonviolent anti-war rally followed by a march to Bush's inaugural parade route; (2) A nonviolent civil disobedience die-in, following the rally, in memorial to the dead at the hands of Bush and his Administration." For more information, visit http://www.dawndc.net ?.htm> DAWN also calls for organizations, affinity groups, and individuals to partner with us in organizing these two actions. If you or your group or organization wants to endorse DAWN's call to action, please send an e-mail to info@dawndc.net. Write also if you wish to collaborate in the planning or offer financial donations or other material support. http://www.j20walkout.tsx.org Organizing is underway in several cities and in numerous schools for a massive walkut on January 20th against the Inauguration. Please visit the website and spread the word to students and youth (and everyone else!). Post updates or announcements of your walkouts and events in the forum and read up on others! Build, Organize, Walkout! -J20 Walkout! group What Will J20 Look Like? We call on the people of the empire to use their privilege of living within the empire to stop it from functioning on January 20th, 2005, the day that George W. Bush is to be inaugurated the next president of the U.S. Together, we can stop the gears of global capitalism from turning. We call for actions across the U.S. and around the world which are focused on stopping the machinery of war and global capitalism. These actions include both mass mobilizations, street parties, Civil Disobedience and Direct Action as well as Assembleas Populares, Encuentros and other forms of real, direct democracy. Alongside the bodies in the streets, we also call for networks of electronic civil disobedience, hacktivism, and tactical media to join in the struggle. Against the bio-electronic forms of empire dominating the conduits of capital, media, and everyday life, we make this call in the spirit of the Critical Art Ensemble, Conglomco, RTMArk, and all the radio pirates and Indymedia centers worldwide. The ORGANIC collective Opposing Repression Globally and Nurturing Independent Communities http://ORGANICcollective.org dc justice and solidarity legal collective: info@justiceandsolidarity.org: http://www.justiceandsolidarity.org working with lawyer's guild on legal support of the week jan. 20 legal office, street teams, training for affinity groups to do own legal support, what do to if you get arrested . Disgusted by Bush's election? Get active! * Visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org ?.htm> for links to events and groups * New "Bring the Troops Home Now" car magnets at http://www.unitedforpeace.org/merchandise ?.htm> * Donate at http://www.unitedforpeace.org/donate ?.htm> to enable us to keep fighting back ACTION ALERT * UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE http://www.unitedforpeace.org ?.htm> | 212-868-5545 To subscribe, visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org/email ?.htm> From Turn Your Back on Bush: "Turn Your Back on Bush is a new kind of event in an old tradition: direct nonviolent action. In the past four years, Bush has made it clear that dissent is unwelcome in his America, and his policies have created an atmosphere where demonstrators are corralled and their messages marginalized. Polls show that the majority of Americans disagree with Bush on numerous issues, but by refusing to talk to anyone but the most subservient press outlets and appearing only in highly staged events, he has cut himself off from all but his most ardent supporters. We want our audience with our President. "On inauguration day, we will gather as citizens for the public events of the day and join the rest of the crowd. At a given signal, we will turn our backs. Until the moment we turn around, there will be nothing to distinguish us from the rest of the crowd. By leaving our signs and buttons at home, we will avoid all of the obstacles that Bush and his supporters have used to keep anyone who disagrees with him out of sight. For this one moment we will speak as one and show Bush that winning an election does not mean he has the support of all Americans." For more information, visit http://www.turnyourbackonbush.org ?.htm> A Text Mob Group for the Counter-Inauguration: https://www.txtmob.com/group_info.php?listID=940 Subscribe to --- DRANT http://drrant.blogspot.com Francisco · CA · 94141 1197 Thanks. David Rubinson Back in The USA ! POB 411197 SF CA 94141-1197 LINKS AND INFORMATION RE: COUNTER INAUGURATION ACTIONS JANUARY 20, 2005: http://www.counter-inaugural.org for up-to-date counter-inauguration planning. http://www.dawndc.net ?.htm> DC actions http://www.dawndc.net/events/j20_05 Die In http://www.j20walkout.tsx.org actions http://www.inaugural05.com/ http://www.turnyourbackonbush.org www.newyork.notinourname.net http://www.unitedforpeace.org ?.htm> http://www.unitedforpeace.org/events ?.htm> http://mywebpages.comcast.net/pythian/billionaires/ http://www.afic.army.mil/events.htm http://www.velocitynyc.com/inaugural-balls.shtml http://www.scinauguralball.com/ http://www.enaugural.com/ http://sandiego.indymedia.org www.counter-inaugural2005.org http://groups.yahoo.com/group/counterinaugural_tc/ info@justiceandsolidarity.org http://www.justiceandsolidarity.org eve.lyman@bostonmobilization.org http://ORGANICcollective.org www.notinournmame-seattle.net https://www.txtmob.com/group_info.php?listID=940& http://www.contro-inaugurazione.it QUOTE OF THE DAY: Find out just what the people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress: Frederick Douglass
Friday, December 17, 2004
BAUAW NEWSLETTER-THURSDAY-FRIDAY, DEC. 16-17, 2004
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STOP THE WAR ON IRAQ! BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW! ALL OUT JANUARY 20TH, 5:00 P.M., CIVIC CENTER, S.F. ************BREAKING NEWS************** According to the A.N.S.W.E.R. Washington, DC news conference covered live on CSPAN this morning, the U.S. government is not allowing antiwar/anti-Bush protestors onto Pennsylvania Ave. along the inauguration route. A.N.S.W.E.R. reported, there are three types of tickets available for the inauguration, Group A, is for personally invited guests; Group B, is for contributors to the Bush campaign (for both of these groups a list is carefully checked before tickets are sold;) tickets for Group C, for the general public, are not available. None. They are simply not sold. The Government, in a stalling move, has not denied permits to ANSWER for space for counter demonstrators, rather they are delaying as long as possible with the knowledge that the longer the permits are denied, the harder it will be for people to make arrangements to come to DC to protest. If and when permits are officially denied, A.N.S.W.E.R. declared they would challenge the government legally as they did in the last presidential inauguration "celebration." We have a constitutional right to protest the inauguration. BAUAW encourages all to show up in DC and come to Pennsylvania Avenue with your signs and banners and express your opposition to Bush and to the War. We demand, along with A.N.S.W.E.R., equal access along the rout for all. We have a right to protest our government or any of its official representatives. Nothing gives the government the right to disallow legal and peaceful protest. We say all out to Washington, DC if you can make it. If you can't go to DC, come out Jan. 20, 5pm, Civic Center, SF. in solidarity with all protestors in Washington and everywhere who oppose this war. We are encouraging everyone to participate somehow by wearing buttons and signs at work, at school and on the bus; hold banners at freeway entrances, and crowded shopping areas etc. on Jan. 20. Students should hold rallies and march to the Civic Center. Come to our next meeting and pick a place to flyer or table for Jan. 20 or hold a sign during the day, on Jan. 20 if you can. NEXT BAY AREA UNITED AGAINST WAR MEETING: SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 11AM CENTRO DEL PUEBLO 474 VALENCIA STREET (NEAR 16TH STREET IN SAN FRANCISCO) ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* The only moral virtue of war is that it compels the capitalist system to look itself in the face and admit it is a fraud. HELEN KELLER, "The Menace of Militarism." ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* Where you can still see the "must-see" film, WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception. This film is being downplayed by the mass media. It must have something to do with the searing criticism of that very media that is the content of the film. Go and see it. WMD will play in the following theatres in the Bay Area on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2004: San Francisco, CA Landmark Opera Plaza Cinema 601 Van Ness Avenue San Francisco, CA 94102 (415) 267-4893 Berkeley, CA (currently playing) The Oaks Theater 1875 Solano Ave. Berkeley, CA 94707 (510) 526-1836 Orinda, CA Orinda Theater 2 Orinda Theater Square Orinda, CA 94563 (925) 254-906 Richard Castro Outreach & Special Distribution Cinema Libre Studio 818.349.8822 Ph. 818.349.9922 Fax www.cinemalibrestudio.com ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* Hey Peace Activists... Sorry for the massive crossposting, but I had to share this with you. In case anyone needed a reminder as to why we are doing this, please take a moment to watch Ian Rhett'"(Didn't know I was) UnAmerican" http://unamerican.haightfreetv.com/unamerican.56m041011.swf It's wonderful. Charles Shaw Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Newtopia Magazine www.newtopiamagazine.net --------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 1) Holiday Benefit Sale at the Middle East Children's Alliance Saturday, December 18th, 10 AM to 6 PM at 901 Parker Street, Berkeley (corner of 7th and Parker) 2) HUMOR: Iraqi leader to be announced at Jan. 16 Golden Globe Awards 3) Cuba, Venezuela Defy U.S. and Announce Their Own Plan To Create A FairTrade Alternative to FTAA! ----- Original Message ----- From: < nytr@olm.blythe-systems.com > " Castro, Chavez Defy US Trade Pact " 4) New Gallup Poll Raises Questions About Media Focus on 'Values' By E&P Staff NEW YORK Published: December 14, 2004 10:00 AM ET http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content _id=1000736658 5) War Funding Request May Hit $100 Billion By Bryan Bender WASHINGTON Published on Wednesday, December 15, 2004 by the Boston Globe http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1215-03.htm 6) Details of Marines Mistreating Prisoners in Iraq Are Revealed By Richard A. Serrano WASHINGTON Published on Wednesday, December 15, 2004 by the Los Angeles Times http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1215-01.htm 7) Eskimos Seek to Recast Global Warming as a Rights Issue By ANDREW C. REVKIN December 15, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/15/international/americas/15climate.html?oref =login&oref=login 8) The Thought Police - Cops Investigate Anti-American Statements of 11-Year-Old The Washington Post reports two police officers recently visited the home of an 11-year-old and questioned his parents for three hours about anti-American comments their son made in school The student had refused to participate in a Veterans Day exercise and criticized the Marines. The school claimed he had said, "I wish all Americans were dead and that American soldiers should die." The Police questioned his parents about their views on Sept. 11, the military and if they knew any foreigners who criticized US policy. They also inquired whether the parents might be teaching "anti-American values" at home. The mother, Pamela Allbaugh, told the Washington Post "It was intimidating. I told them it's like a George Orwell novel, that it felt like they were the thought police." She went on to say "If someone would have asked me five years ago if this was something my government would do, I would have said never." http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/16/1444215 9) World War 3 Report, issue 93, December 2003 http://www.ww3report.com/93.html#palestine6 Remote-control Machine Guns to Be Mounted on the Wall 10) Mark your calendar: Saturday, December 18, 6:00-8:00 (18th & CASTRO) 11) Chuck D keynotes "State of the Black Youth" convention By Diane Bukowski DETROIT The Michigan Citizen http://www.michigancitizen.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=73&twindow=Defaul t&mad=No&sdetail=1308&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restat us=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname= 12) Israeli Army Raid Into Gaza Kills 5 Palestinians By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) Fri Dec 17, 2004 08:29 AM ET http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7125113&src=eD ialog/GetContent§ion=news 13) Hungry and homeless ranks swell in US cities By Rick Kelly World Socialist Web Site www.wsws.org 17 December 2004 http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/dec2004/hung-d17.shtml 14) Joma Sison issued this statement in the wake of the deaths of over 1000 people due to typhoon-related mudslides and the government's request for 600 U.S. Marines to engage in "relief operations" near areas controlled by the NPA and National Democratic Front of the Philippines. --dp PS. CARHRIHL is an important human rights declaration signed by the Philippine government and the NDFP. Press Statement 16 December 2004 CARHRIHL DOES NOT ALLOW US COMBAT TROOPS TO INTRUDE INTO PHILIPPINE--GRP OR NDFP--TERRITORY UNDER PRETEXT OF RELIEF OPERATIONS By Prof. Jose Maria Sison Chief Political Consultant National Democratic Front of the Philippines 15) On Sunday December, 12, 2004, an Israeli sniper in Khan Younis refugee camp killed Rana Syiam, 7 years old, while she was sitting at home, eating supper with her family. The Israeli army gave no explanation for the attack. 16) COMMUNITY SPEAK OUT FOR IMMIGRANT RIGHTS Sat, Dec. 18th, 1:00 pm 24th & Mission St. (24th St. BART), San Francisco Call to Action for Immigrant Rights: 17) NEWS & COMMENTARY: Soldier has himself shot to avoid returning to Iraq 18) Days of Protest Jan. 20 Inauguration Day and Jan.22, 32nd Anniversary of Roe vs. Wade: 19) Guard Reports Serious Drop in Enlistment By ERIC SCHMITT WASHINGTON December 17, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/17/politics/17reserves.html?oref=login --------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 1) Holiday Benefit Sale at the Middle East Children's Alliance Saturday, December 18th, 10 AM to 6 PM at 901 Parker Street, Berkeley (corner of 7th and Parker) The subject of this email is Project Censored's #1 story for 2005 http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1118425,00.html In reality, every very "tax reform" since President Kennedy, federal, state, and local governments have been transfering taxes from the rich and to the poor, the working class, and small businesses. This process has been bipartisan and even occurred during the last Presidential Election. The overwhelming majority of us are being robbed by the government and deprived of essential services at the same time. FYI: The following is from the "PREFACE TO THE SIXTH EDITION" to the Media Monopoly: With a New Preface on the Internet and Telecommunications Cartels, by Ben H. Bagdikian. (2000) Beacon Press, 25 Beacon St., Boston Mass 02108-2892: "AS THE UNITED STATES ENTERS the twenty-first century, power over the American mass media is flowing to the top with such devouring speed that it exceeds even the accelerated consolidations of the last twenty years. For the first time in U.S. history, the country's most widespread news, commentary, and daily entertainment are controlled by six firms that are among the world's largest corporations, two of them foreign. "Even with the dramatic entry of the Internet and the cyber world with their uncounted hundreds of new firms, the controlling handful of American and foreign corporations now exceed in their size and communications power anything the world has seen before. Their intricate global interlocks create the force of an international cartel. "There are pernicious consequences. While excessive bigness itself is cause for economic anxieties, the worst problems are political and social. The country's largest media giants have achieved alarming success in writing the media laws and regulations in favor of their own corporations and against the interests of the general public. Their concentrated power permits them to become a larger factor than ever before in socializing each generation with entertainment models of behavior and personal values. "The impact on the national political agenda has been devastating, For years, the mainstream news has over dramatized its reporting of congressional and White House debate on the national debt and deficit beyond their intrinsic importance. Politicians raised the issue, but it was seized upon and overblown by the major media-- media that politicians use as a bellwether on what issues will get them the most public attention and partisan advantage. During these crucial years, the American economy was undergoing an astonishing phenomenon that the mainstream news left largely unreported or actually glamorized in its infrequent references: the largest transfer of the national wealth in American history from a majority of the population to a small percentage of the country's wealthiest families." http://www.projectcensored.org/publications/2005/1.html Wealth Inequality in 21st Century Threatens Economy and Democracy MULTINATIONAL MONITOR, May 2003, Vol. 24, No. 5 Title: "The Wealth Divide" (An interview with Edward Wolff) Author: Robert Weissman BUZZFLASH, March 26 and 29, 2004 Title: "A Buzzflash Interview, Parts I & II" (with David Cay Johnston) Author: Buzzflash Staff http://www.projectcensored.org/publications/2005/1.html LONDON GUARDIAN, October 4, 2003 Title: "Every third person will be a slum dweller within 30 years, UN agency warns" Author: John Vidal MULTINATIONAL MONITOR, July/August, 2003 Title: "Grotesque Inequality" Author: Robert Weissman Faculty Evaluators: Greg Storino, Phil Beard Ph.D. Student Researchers: Caitlyn Pardue, David Sonnenberg, Sita Khalsa THE DOMESTIC TREND In the late 1700s, issues of fairness and equality were topics of great debate- equality under the law, equality of opportunity, etc. Considered by the framers of the Constitution to be one of the most important aspects of a democratic system, the word "equality" is featured prominently throughout the document. In the 200+ years since, most industrialized nations have succeeded in decreasing the gap between rich and poor. However, since the late 1970s wealth inequality, while stabilizing or increasing slightly in other industrialized nations, has increased sharply and dramatically in the United States. While it is no secret that such a trend is taking place, it is rare to see a TV news program announce that the top 1% of the U.S. population now owns about a third of the wealth in the country. Discussion of this trend takes place, for the most part, behind closed doors. During the short boom of the late 1990s, conservative analysts asserted that, yes, the gap between rich and poor was growing, but that incomes for the poor were still increasing over previous levels. Today most economists, regardless of their political persuasion, agree that the data over the last 25 to 30 years is unequivocal. The top 5% is capturing an increasingly greater portion of the pie while the bottom 95% is clearly losing ground, and the highly touted American middle class is fast disappearing. According to economic journalist, David Cay Johnston, author of "Perfectly Legal," this trend is not the result of some naturally occurring, social Darwinist "survival of the fittest." It is the product of legislative policies carefully crafted and lobbied for by corporations and the super-rich over the past 25 years. New tax shelters in the 1980s shifted the tax burden off capital and onto labor. As tax shelters rose, the amount of federal revenue coming from corporations fell (from 35% during the Eisenhower years to 10% in 2002). During the deregulation wave of the '80s and the '90s, members of Congress passed legislation (often without reading it) that deregulated much of the financial industry. These laws took away, for example, the powerful incentives for accountants to behave with integrity or for companies to put away a reasonable amount in pension plans for their employees-resulting in the well -publicized (too late) scandals involving Enron, Global Crossing, and others. THE GLOBAL IMPACT As always, America's economic trends have a global footprint-and this time, it is a crater. Today the top 400 income earners in the U.S. make as much in a year as the entire population of the 20 poorest countries in Africa (over 300 million people). But in America, national leaders and mainstream media tell us that the only way out of our own economic hole is through increasing and endless growth-fueled by the resources of other countries. A series of reports released in 2003 by the UN and other global economy analysis groups warn that further increases in the imbalance in wealth throughout the world will have catastrophic effects if left unchecked. UN-habitat reports that unless governments work to control the current unprecedented spread in urban growth, a third of the world's population will be slum dwellers within 30 years. Currently, almost one-sixth of the world's population lives in slum-like conditions. The UN warns that unplanned, unsanitary settlements threaten both political and fiscal stability within third world countries, where urban slums are growing faster than expected. The balance of poverty is shifting quickly from rural to urban areas as the world's population moves from the countryside to the city. As rich countries, strip poorer countries of their natural resources in an attempt to re- stabilize their own, the people of poor countries become increasingly desperate. This deteriorating situation, besides pressuring rich countries to allow increased immigration, further exacerbates already stretched political tensions and threatens global political and economic security. UN economists blame "free-trade" practices and the neo-liberal policies of international lending institutions like the IMF and WTO, and the industrialized countries that lead them, for much of the damage caused to Third World countries over the past 20 years. Many of these policies are now being implemented in the U.S., allowing for an acceleration of wealth consolidation. And even the IMF has issued a report warning the U.S. about the consequences for its appetite for excess and overspending. In developing countries, the concentration of key industries profitable to foreign investors requires that people move to cities while forced privatization of public services strip them of the ability to become stable or move up financially once they arrive. Meanwhile, the strict repayment schedules mandated by the global institutions make it virtually impossible for poor countries to move out from under their burden of debt. "In a form of colonialisation that is probably more stringent than the original, many developing countries have become suppliers of raw commodities to the world, and fall further and further behind," says one UN analyst. World economists conclude that if enough of the world's nations reach a point of economic failure, such a situation could collapse the entire global economy. For further information on this story, please check out the following excellent websites: www.inequality.org http://www.dollarsandsense.org/ http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/income.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1118425,00.html David Cay Johnston interview also found on Democracy Now!, May 18, 2004. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 2) HUMOR: Iraqi leader to be announced at Jan. 16 Golden Globe Awards [The Borowitz Report scooped other media sources Wednesday with its announcement that the new president of Iraq will be chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and announced Jan. 16 at the 62nd annual awards ceremony. -- Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld said he foresaw criticism, but commented: "You choose a new Iraqi president with the awards ceremony you have, not the awards ceremony you might want." -- Thanks to Karen Havnaer for sending this piece. --Mark] http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/1913/ The Borowitz Report HOLLYWOOD FOREIGN PRESS ASSOCIATION TO CHOOSE NEW IRAQI PRESIDENT ** Awards Ceremony to Replace January Elections ** Borowitz Report December 15, 2004 http://www.borowitzreport.com/default.asp With prospects for IraqÂs January 30 elections appearing increasingly dim, the White House announced today that the new president of Iraq would be chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, best known for organizing the star-studded Golden Globe Awards. Under an unorthodox arrangement, the new Iraqi leader will be announced two weeks earlier than scheduled, on January 16, at the 62nd Annual Golden Globe Awards in Hollywood. ÂBy allowing the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to choose IraqÂs new leader, we will accomplish the most important thing: sticking to our arbitrary January deadline, said Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld. Mr. Rumsfeld added that handing over authority to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was the most practical way to choose a new Iraqi president in a timely fashion, since the security situation in Hollywood is Âconsiderably better than that in Iraq. And while the credibility of the Golden Globes has come into question in recent years, Mr. Rumsfeld argued,  You choose a new Iraqi president with the awards ceremony you have, not the awards ceremony you might want. The Golden Globes decision could spell trouble for interim Iraqi president Ghazi al-Yawar, who now faces a crowded field of Hollywood favorites including Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio. Buddy Schlantz, a veteran Hollywood talent agent, said that Mr. al-Yawar must begin aggressively courting the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association if he expects to prevail:  If I were al-Yawar, IÂd start ordering the fruit baskets now. Elsewhere, Bernard KerikÂs nanny resigned today, saying that she wanted to spend less time with his family. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 3) Cuba, Venezuela Defy U.S. and Announce Their Own Plan To Create A FairTrade Alternative to FTAA! ----- Original Message ----- From: < nytr@olm.blythe-systems.com > " Castro, Chavez Defy US Trade Pact " Agencia Cubana de Noticias (AIN) http://www.ain.cubaweb.cu Cuba and Venezuela will Support Alternative Initiative to the FTAA Havana, Dec 14 (AIN) Presidents Fidel Castro Ruz, of Cuba, and Hugo Chavez FrÃas, of Venezuela, signed a joint declaration and an accord on Tuesday in Havana to implement the Bolivarian Alternative of the Americas. The joint declaration strongly rejects the content and intentions of the Free Trade Zone of the Americas (FTAA), considered the clearest _expression of the imperialist desires to dominate the Latin American region. With the recent accord both governments expand and modify their Comprehensive Bilateral Cooperation Agreement, signed on October 30, 2000. They also take concrete steps towards integration of the Bolivarian Initiative for The Americas, known as ALBA by its Spanish acronyms and which is an alternative project to the FTAA. The document stipulates that both nations will draw up a strategic plan that guarantees the most beneficial productive complementation on the basis of rationality, the optimum use of advantages existing in both countries, the saving of resources, and others. Both nations will also exchange locally-developed integral technology packages for mutual benefit. Presidents Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez also agreed to subscribing a Reciprocal Credit Accord, the development of a two-way balanced trade and joint cultural initiatives. According to the document, Venezuela and Cuba are committed to undertake a series of actions including the immediate lifting of any kind of non-tariff barrier on all imports in both ways. In the context of Tuesday's agreement, Havana offers 2,000 scholarships annually to Venezuelan youths to take higher education courses in the fields of interest of Caracas, which will transfer technology in the energy sector. AFP via al Jazeera - Dec 15, 2004 http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/70FAE354-7832-4AC8-A714-604F65F6C78E. htm Castro, Chavez Defy US Trade Pact Cuban President Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez have announced an alternative trade bloc to the one proposed by the US for a free-trade area of the Americas. The alternative was conceived as "a battle fought with the same rules and regulations as those imposed by the [US] empire to divide the people," Castro said on Tuesday. Naming the new pact the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), the presidents said it would eliminate trade barriers and tax obstacles, provide incentives for investment, increase banking relations and tourism cooperation. Venezuela promised financing for Cuban industrial and infrastructure projects, while Cuba agreed to pay a minimum price of $27 per barrel of Venezuelan oil, as part of the accord "to apply the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas". FTAA dead Before the signing of the agreement, Castro and Chavez addressed a rally in Havana where both presidents declared the US-proposed Latin American Free Trade Zone dead. "It is an alternative to the perverse FTAA, which they have been trying to impose on us for years," Chavez said. "FTAA is dead." Chavez also accused Washington of pursuing imperialist intentions in free trade talks with Andean countries. Venezuela is one of the biggest suppliers of crude oil to the US, but their relations have been strained by disputes between Chavez and the White House. Washington has expressed concern over Chavez's close ties to Castro since Chavez won the presidency in 1998. And US President George Bush says the FTAA is the solution to the region's deepening poverty. Chavez visit Chavez is on a two-day visit to commemorate his first encounter in Havana with Castro 10 years ago when he was an army officer recently released from prison for leading a failed coup. At the time, Castro proclaimed him Venezuela's future leader. Venezuela currently provides Cuba with 53,000 barrels of oil a day at preferential prices, while Cuba has 13,000 doctors in Venezuela, is helping the country stamp out illiteracy and has treated thousands of Venezuelans in its hospitals. -AFP Search the NYTr Archives at: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr To subscribe or unsubscribe or change your settings via the web, visit: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org Carlos Rovira - "Carlito" ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 4) New Gallup Poll Raises Questions About Media Focus on 'Values' By E&P Staff NEW YORK Published: December 14, 2004 10:00 AM ET http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content _id=1000736658 NEW YORK In the aftermath of the Nov. 2 election, the press and various political partisans jumped on exit polls that seemed to suggest "moral values" was the top issue in voters' minds as they re-elected President George W. Bush. Some analysts have questioned that notion, but a new nationwide Gallup Poll, released Tuesday morning, could deal a death blow to the whole idea. Asked what they consider "the most important problem facing this country today" the issue of values was tied for fourth place with unemployment/jobs, with only one in ten of the Gallup sample choosing it. Far ahead, with 23%, was the war in Iraq, followed by terrorism and the economy in general, both at 12%, only then followed by unemployment and values. The modest vote for values is all the more surprising because it was broadly define to include a wide range of concerns including "ethics," "moral," "religious/family decline," "dishonesty," and "lack of integrity." This 10% total could also be compared to the 29% who named some aspect of the economy as the top issue, along with the 35% who mentioned Iraq or terrorism. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 5) War Funding Request May Hit $100 Billion By Bryan Bender WASHINGTON Published on Wednesday, December 15, 2004 by the Boston Globe http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1215-03.htm WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration plans to ask for between $80 billion and $100 billion to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan next year, rather than the $70 billion to $75 billion the White House privately told members of Congress before the election, according to Pentagon and White House officials. Administration officials said yesterday they have not concluded how much money they will request in a "supplemental" spending package that is scheduled to go to Congress in January. "There's work going on inside the department to understand what's needed, and there's work going on with the Office of Management and Budget," the Defense Department's chief spokesman, Lawrence Di Rita, told reporters yesterday. But some analysts and government officials said the request is expected to run as high as $100 billion, bringing the total cost of operations in Iraq alone to well over $200 billion since the March 2003 invasion. Earlier this fall, members of Congress said the Defense Department told them in private briefings the supplemental package would be between $70 billion and $75 billion. The budget request will be higher, sources said, because of the greater number of soldiers -- temporarily boosted to 150,000 -- needed to provide security around the time of the Jan. 30 Iraqi elections, and the loss of equipment due to the vigorous insurgency there. In June, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the 2005 supplemental to be submitted this January for Iraq and Afghanistan would be between $55 billion and $60 billion. The January supplemental will be the third special budget request to cover the military costs of Iraq. The administration asked for $55.8 billion in April 2003 and $71.8 billion in November 2003. In May of this year, Congress added $25 billion in war costs to the fiscal 2005 defense budget. In total, $152.6 billion in military funding for Iraq has been provided through the end of this year. Those statistics do not include emergency money to support the 20,000 US troops in Afghanistan, which brings the total bill to $162.3 billion. In addition, the military has been spending more than was approved for 2004, in anticipation of a fresh infusion of funds in early 2005. "They ran out of the 2004 budget a month early [and] had to borrow [from] 2005," said John Pike, a defense specialist at the military think tank GlobalSecurity.org, a military think tank in Alexandria, Va. "They're already starting to suggest that the 2005 budget is going to be $100 billion for one year alone." The Iraq operation, he said, has "been running over a billion a week thus far. I think we're probably getting up to $2 billion a week fairly soon." Few analysts expect the Iraq mission to be wrapped up in a year, and many question why the Bush administration is continuing to budget its war costs through supplementals -- usually reserved for one-time, emergency expenses -- rather than include them in the annual budget request that is sent to Capitol Hill every February. Democrats and some fiscally conservative Republicans believe the administration is trying to hide the effects of rising war costs on the federal deficit, thereby justifying President Bush's calls for making some tax cuts permanent and spending more on education and other domestic priorities. Although war costs ultimately get added to the deficit, keeping them off the annual budget creates a false picture of the government's commitments at a time when Congress is making funding decisions, critics said. Brian Reidl, an economist with the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation, said the Iraq funding should be put in the defense budget, because the Pentagon knows it will need money to pay for the operation. Leaving it out masks the true size of the deficit, he said. "There's an argument to be made that [early in the year] you don't know what you'll need" for Iraq funding, Reidl said. But "there's no reason why you can't put in a place-holder to at least estimate the cost." The administration separates the Iraq funding because "it's easier to sell the budget resolution with a smaller deficit and a smaller spending total because Iraq is excluded," Reidl said. Steve Kosiak, a defense budget specialist at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington, added that "the idea is [supplementals] are supposed to be used when there is a surprise. This is no longer a surprise that we are in Iraq." The actual cost of the military operations in Iraq is higher than any of the supplementals suggest, analysts said, because the wartime wear and tear on people and equipment will require expenditures long after the war ends. A soon-to-be-completed classified study by the Government Accountability Office requested by Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee concludes that the cost of "resetting" the worn-out armed forces for peacetime will require billions more than the money needed simply to maintain combat operations, according to congressional officials. "They will need new training and the sense is that the longer this thing goes on the deeper the problems get," said a congressional staff member who has been briefed on the GAO study. Meanwhile, the Pentagon yesterday alerted more units to be ready for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tens of thousands of Army soldiers from Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, New York, and Texas -- including a brigade of the Army's 10th Mountain Division based at Fort Drum in New York -- will prepare to deploy overseas by the middle of 2005. The planned rotations, and others to be announced in the coming weeks, would maintain a force of 138,000 US troops in Iraq well into 2006. However, Di Rita called the notifications "prudent planning" and cautioned that it does not necessarily mean the United States will need all those forces. "It would be wrong to say that, as far as the eye can see, this is the number," Di Rita said. "It may very well be less than this. It may be the same amount. It may be more." Copyright (c) 2004 the Boston Globe ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 6) Details of Marines Mistreating Prisoners in Iraq Are Revealed By Richard A. Serrano WASHINGTON Published on Wednesday, December 15, 2004 by the Los Angeles Times http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1215-01.htm WASHINGTON - Marines in Iraq conducted mock executions of juvenile prisoners last year, burned and tortured other detainees with electrical shocks, and warned a Navy corpsman they would kill him if he treated any injured Iraqis, according to military documents made public Tuesday. The latest revelations of prisoner abuse cases, obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union in a lawsuit against the government, involved previously unknown incidents in which 11 Marines were punished for abusing detainees. Military officials indicated that they had investigated 13 other cases, but deemed them unsubstantiated. Four investigations are pending. Military superiors handed down sentences of up to a year in confinement after finding Marines guilty of offenses ranging from assault to "cruelty and mistreatment," the documents show. The new documents are the latest in a series of reports, e-mails and other records that the ACLU has obtained to bolster its contention that the abuse of prisoners goes far beyond the handful of soldiers charged with abusing detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The photographs of naked Iraqi prisoners being tortured by American troops at the prison shocked the world in April. The scandal involved abuse by reservists and members of the Army and National Guard; the latest cases elaborated for the first time on numerous allegations of abuse by Marines. The mistreatment occurred as early as May 2003, months before the first allegations of abuse at Abu Ghraib were recorded. And the most recent case involving prisoner abuse by the Marines occurred in June, two months after the Abu Ghraib scandal broke. Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU in New York, placed responsibility for the abuse on the Pentagon. "This kind of widespread abuse could not have taken place without a leadership failure of the highest order," he said. Lawrence Di Rita, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said he could not comment on the latest cases because he was unfamiliar with them. The documents described Navy criminal investigators scrambling to keep pace in June with an "exploding" number of abuse cases. "Heads up," an assistant special agent in charge of the Navy's investigative field office in the Middle East wrote to his superiors in a 6 a.m. e-mail June 14, pleading for more investigators. "Case load is exploding, high visibility cases are on the rise," he warned. "We have scrubbed all of our personnel and have no other trained personnel available to deploy." Cases involving prisoner abuse continue to tarnish the U.S. military's involvement in Iraq. Since the Abu Ghraib scandal, revelations have surfaced of other detainee abuse in Iraq, Afghanistan and at the prison for terrorism suspects at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Authorities have charged eight prison guards for beating and sexually humiliating prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad last fall. At least two prisoners at Abu Ghraib died in custody. In all, about three dozen prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan are believed to have died in U.S. custody. The cases are in various stages of investigation or prosecution. The Pentagon confirmed this week that four soldiers were accused of killing a prisoner in Afghanistan in 2002, but charges against three of them were dropped. In the case that drew the stiffest punishment, a one-year prison sentence for the Marine, a detainee at Mahmoudiya was shocked with an electric transformer. Wires were held against his shoulders, and "the detainee danced as he was shocked," the documents state. The new records - which blacked out the names of soldiers - also show that a Marine was convicted of ordering four juvenile Iraqi looters to kneel down beside two shallow holes in Diwaniya. Then, "a pistol was discharged to conduct a mock execution." The Marine was sentenced to 30 days imprisonment with hard labor. Other Marines were punished for physically abusing prisoners. In Karbala, a Marine held a 9-millimeter pistol to the back of a detainee's head while another Marine snapped a picture. A glass of water then was poured on the prisoner's head, and he was photographed with an American flag draped over his body. Navy investigators found other allegations unsubstantiated, including sexual abuse cases alleging that a detainee's testicles had been squeezed and another prisoner had been sodomized with a rifle muzzle. Navy investigators also interviewed a group of corpsmen from Washington state who were dispatched to Iraq last year. Two of them spoke about being intimidated by Marines there. One corpsman said he was cautioned not to talk to others about prisoner abuse. "There was a lot of peer pressure to keep one's mouth shut," he said. Another corpsman said, "We were told not to exhaust our resources on the Iraqis. Several Marines told me that if I provided medical services to any Iraqi military or civilian personnel, that they [the Marines] would kill me." However, the corpsman later said that "there was a wounded Iraqi POW who needed his dressings changed" and that some Marines "actually called my attention to him to make sure he received treatment." He also recalled seeing Marines force detainees' heads into the dirt, "which was a cultural insult to them," and said that he saw a Marine striking a prisoner with an empty, 5-gallon plastic water jug. The records discuss the deaths of several detainees, but they do not identify them or say how the cases were resolved. One prisoner, who had attempted 20 escapes, reportedly died after breaking free of his restraints and jumping from a window, "landing on his head," the documents state. The examining Marine officer "surmised that the detainee died from internal cranial bleeding from the fall that was slow to kill him." Another prisoner was "ziplocked" - a military term for being handcuffed - and then died in custody. "Preliminary information is that the detainee died from an apparent heart attack," the reports state. In other cases, there was spirited debate, in reports and e-mails, about the corpses of prisoners. One dead Iraqi could not be found, and an e-mail ordered, "Try to find that body; we'll exhume if possible." In another e-mail exchange, military officials discussed whether autopsies should be conducted in Iraq, at military bases in Germany or in the United States. "Personally," responded one military officer, "I suspect that remains should probably NOT be brought to the U.S. for legal reasons." He did not elaborate. Two Marines were disciplined for claiming to have done things they didn't do. One was convicted of lying to a Las Vegas newspaper that he "personally executed two Iraqis." He forfeited a month's pay. The other Marine told a military surgeon that he broke his hand "punching an EPW [enemy prisoner of war] in the face" and told an officer that he broke it "punching an EPW in the back of the head." Back in the U.S., "he recanted, stating he punched the ground," the reports said. He lost two months' pay. Times staff writer Mark Mazzetti contributed to this report. (c) Copyright 2004 Los Angeles Times ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 7) Eskimos Seek to Recast Global Warming as a Rights Issue By ANDREW C. REVKIN December 15, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/15/international/americas/15climate.html?oref =login&oref=login The Eskimos, or Inuit, about 155,000 seal-hunting peoples scattered around the Arctic, plan to seek a ruling from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights that the United States, by contributing substantially to global warming, is threatening their existence. The Inuit plan is part of a broader shift in the debate over human- caused climate change evident among participants in the 10th round of international talks taking place in Buenos Aires aimed at averting dangerous human interference with the climate system. Inuit leaders said they planned to announce the effort at the climate meeting today. Representatives of poor countries and communities - from the Arctic fringes to the atolls of the tropics to the flanks of the Himalayas - say they are imperiled by rising temperatures and seas through no fault of their own. They are casting the issue as no longer simply an environmental problem but as an assault on their basic human rights. The commission, an investigative arm of the Organization of American States, has no enforcement powers. But a declaration that the United States has violated the Inuit's rights could create the foundation for an eventual lawsuit, either against the United States in an international court or against American companies in federal court, said a number of legal experts, including some aligned with industry. Such a petition could have decent prospects now that industrial countries, including the United States, have concluded in recent reports and studies that warming linked to heat-trapping smokestack and tailpipe emissions is contributing to big environmental changes in the Arctic, a number of experts said. Last month, an assessment of Arctic climate change by 300 scientists for the eight countries with Arctic territory, including the United States, concluded that "human influences" are now the dominant factor. Inuit representatives attending the conference said in telephone interviews that after studying the matter for several years with the help of environmental lawyers they would this spring begin the lengthy process of filing a petition by collecting videotaped statements from elders and hunters about the effects they were experiencing from the shrinking northern icescape. The lawyers, at EarthJustice, a nonprofit San Francisco law firm, and the Center for International Environmental Law, in Washington, said the Inter-American Commission, which has a record of treating environmental degradation as a human rights matter, provides the best chance of success. The Inuit have standing in the Organization of American States through Canada. Sheila Watt-Cloutier, the elected chairwoman of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, the quasi-governmental group recognized by the United Nations as representing the Inuit, said the biggest fear was not that warming would kill individuals but that it would be the final blow to a sturdy but suffering culture. "We've had to struggle as a people to keep afloat, to keep our indigenous wisdom and traditions," she said. "We're an adaptable people, but adaptability has its limits. "Something is bound to give, and it's starting to give in the Arctic, and we're giving that early warning signal to the rest of the world." If the Inuit effort succeeds, it could lead to an eventual stream of litigation, somewhat akin to lawsuits against tobacco companies, legal experts said. The two-week convention, which ends Friday, is the latest session on two climate treaties: the 1992 framework convention on climate change and the Kyoto Protocol, an addendum that takes effect in February and for the first time requires most industrialized countries to curb such emissions. The United States has signed both pacts and is bound by the 1992 treaty, which requires no emissions cuts. But the Bush administration opposes the mandatory Kyoto treaty, saying it could harm the economy and unfairly excuses big developing countries from obligations. That situation makes the United States particularly vulnerable to such suits, environmental lawyers said. By embracing the first treaty and signing the second, it has acknowledged that climate change is a problem to be avoided; but by subsequently rejecting the Kyoto pact, the lawyers said, it has not shown a commitment to stemming its emissions, which constitute a fourth of the global total. The American delegation at the Buenos Aires conference declined to comment on Tuesday on the petition or the arguments behind it. "Until the Inuit have presented a complaint, we are not responding to that issue," a State Department official said. "When they do, we will look at what they have to say, consider it and then respond." Christopher C. Horner, a lawyer for the Cooler Heads Coalition, an industry-financed group opposed to cutting the emissions, said the chances of success of such lawsuits had risen lately. From his standpoint, he said, "The planets are aligned very poorly." Delegates who flew to the conference from the Arctic's far-flung communities, where retreating sea ice imperils traditional seal hunts, said they planned to meet in Buenos Aires with representatives from small-island nations that could eventually be swamped by rising seas, swelled by meltwater from shrinking glaciers and Arctic ice sheets. Enele S. Sopoaga, the ambassador to the United Nations from Tuvalu, a 15-foot-high nation of wave-pounded atolls halfway between Australia and Hawaii, said he still saw legal efforts as a last resort. Tuvalu had threatened to sue the United States two years ago in the International Court of Justice, but held off for a variety of reasons. Larry Rohter contributed reporting from Buenos Aires for this article. Copyright 2004 The New York Times ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 8) The Thought Police - Cops Investigate Anti-American Statements of 11-Year-Old The Washington Post reports two police officers recently visited the home of an 11-year-old and questioned his parents for three hours about anti-American comments their son made in school The student had refused to participate in a Veterans Day exercise and criticized the Marines. The school claimed he had said, "I wish all Americans were dead and that American soldiers should die." The Police questioned his parents about their views on Sept. 11, the military and if they knew any foreigners who criticized US policy. They also inquired whether the parents might be teaching "anti-American values" at home. The mother, Pamela Allbaugh, told the Washington Post "It was intimidating. I told them it's like a George Orwell novel, that it felt like they were the thought police." She went on to say "If someone would have asked me five years ago if this was something my government would do, I would have said never." http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/16/1444215 Va. Boy's Defiant Words Draw Police Response Investigators Visit Home After Student Allegedly Wishes Harm on Americans By Rosalind S. Helderman Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, December 15, 2004; Page B01 Original Washington Post story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64726-2004Dec14.html?sub=AR When the two plainclothes Loudoun County sheriff's investigators showed up on her Leesburg doorstep, Pamela Albaugh got nervous. But when they told her why they were there, she got angry: A complaint had been filed alleging that her 11-year old son had made "anti-American and violent" statements in school. She was aware of an incident at Belmont Ridge Middle School in which her son, Yishai Asido, was assigned to write a letter to U.S. Marines and responded, according to his teacher, by saying, "I wish all Americans were dead and that American soldiers should die." Yishai and Albaugh deny that the boy wished his countrymen dead. Albaugh, a U.S. citizen, and her husband, an Israeli citizen who manages a Leesburg moving company, say the investigators' visit and the school's response were a paranoid overreaction in a charged post-9/11 environment. But law enforcement officials say the terrorist attacks and the Columbine school shootings require them to consider whether children who make threats might post a danger to their classmates. The case illustrates the balancing act that schools and law enforcement must find between the free speech of minors and community safety. Albaugh described her son as a rambunctious student who has long opposed armies of any kind. He refused the Veterans Day assignment and told his teacher that the Marines "might as well die, as much as I care." Whatever was said, the words had been the source of anguished conferences, phone calls and, ultimately, a day of in-school suspension. Albaugh thought the whole thing was resolved in school until Investigators Robert LeBlanc and Kelly Poland showed up last week. What followed, she said, was two hours of polite but intense and personal questioning. They asked how she felt about 9/11 and the military. They asked whether she knows any foreigners who have trouble with American policy. They mentioned a German friend who had been staying with the family and asked whether the friend sympathized with the Taliban. They also inquired whether she might be teaching her children "anti- American values," she said. Toward the end of the conversation, Albaugh's husband, Alon Asido, arrived home. Asido said the pair then spent another hour talking to him, mostly about his life in Israel and his more than four years in an elite combat unit there. Before the investigators left, one deputy said their "concerns had been put to rest," Albaugh said. "It was intimidating," she said. "I told them it's like a George Orwell novel, that it felt like they were the thought police. If someone would have asked me five years ago if this was something my government would do, I would have said never." Loudoun County Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson confirmed that investigators visited the house. "Whenever there is a complaint that a child in a school is using language that is threatening or with violent overtones, we have an obligation to look into it," he said. "We can't ignore something like that and have something tragic happen down the road that we could have prevented." Simpson declined to comment on details of the complaint or the kinds of questions investigators asked. "If you're looking at what [the school] said he said, I have to think you'd see where we came up with those questions," he said. A schools spokesman declined to comment, other than to release, at Albaugh's request, a one-page letter from Yishai's file that explained his suspension. His parents said the boy's words were those of a confused adolescent, whose views of the world are still being formed. They believe that authorities were called partly because he has a foreign-sounding name and accented English from years of living abroad. The family lived in India, Europe and Israel before moving to the United States in 2000. The couple have four children, with both U.S. and Israeli citizenship, enrolled in Loudoun schools. Albaugh said that Yishai is not violent and that the school could have used the classroom incident as a "teachable moment," helping him learn to say what he was feeling in a less offensive manner. Instead, Yishai said he has learned that it is not worth challenging authority. "At the end of the day, you lose," he said, adding: "All of these freedoms and things they're supposed to uphold, they bash them." The Columbine shootings, in which a teacher and 12 students were killed by two other students in Colorado in 1999, has changed the way schools view violent words uttered by their students, said Ronald D. Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center. In this case, he noted, no one was arrested, no charges were filed and the case was closed. "Sometimes the questions might be somewhat uncomfortable. But the final outcome was that [the investigators] got there and realized there was no 'there' there," he said. "We should give credit where credit is due." Georgetown law professor David Cole said Yishai's statement in class is protected by the Constitution. "There's no indication from the student making an anti-American statement that violence to the school would follow," he said. "The FBI and government officials should be investigating real terrorists, not children who criticize the United States." Charles Shaw Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Newtopia Magazine www.newtopiamagazine.net ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 9) World War 3 Report, issue 93, December 2003 http://www.ww3report.com/93.html#palestine6 Remote-control Machine Guns to Be Mounted on the Wall According to Haaretz reporter Amira Hass, a Sept. 21 [2003] article on the Israeli paper Yediot Ahronoth's Web site, Ynet, states that "the separation fence to be built in the Gilboa region will include remote-control machine guns that will be operated by female soldiers from their command posts and will shoot at those suspected of being terrorists." According to Ynet's reporter, the system is be installed in the coming months in the mountainous Gilboa region, along the path of the "Separation Wall." The army's purpose in installing the system is to compensate for the small amount of troops and the difficulties of moving in the area--"and to shoot at terrorists who try to cross the fence." In a concession to humanitarian considerations, rather than making the guns fire automatically at anything that moves they will be fired "by the female soldier who manages the lookout post and has been trained for this." Hass adds: "The report did not say how she would be trained to tell whether the figure who appears on her video screen is a terrorist or an innocent man." (Ha'aretz, Sept. 24) There is no explanation why the soldiers used will be female, but perhaps the Israeli army considers it a combat role that would be safe enough for a woman soldier. (Ha'aretz, Sept. 24) (David Bloom) 7. Remote-control Helicopter Stolen Industrial espionage is believed to be the explanation for the theft of a state-of-the-art remote-control pilotless helicoter under developoment by an Israeli company. The unit was stolen from Steadicopter's Kefar Maccabi plant, after it had finished it's final test flights. The BBC notes that Israel has "long been a world leader in developing pilotless reconnaissance aircraft and its Pioneer drone is currently in service with US forces in Iraq." (BBC, Nov. 12) (David Bloom) 8. Next: Remote-control Bulldozers The fearsome armor-plated D-9 Israeli army bulldozer, used to demolish Palestinian buildings and orchards as well as international activists, is being modified to be operated by remote control, a move the army insists will "save lives." An unnamed Israeli officer was quoted by the Israel Technion I nstitute of Technology, which designed the remote-control version, as saying, "today the bulldozer drivers are exposed to great danger when they knock down buildings that have militants hiding in them." Palestinian spokesmen Saeb Erakat denounced the move. "The whole idea is despicable," said Erekat. "If an unmanned bulldozer is used, human life is in much greater danger." As of the Oct. 31 press time of this BBC report, the robot dozer was to go "into service in the next few weeks. " (BBC, Oct. 31) According to the Israeli Committee of Housing Demolitions (ICAHD), 8,000 Palestinian houses have been destroyed by the Israeli occupation forces since 1967. (ICHAD:figure as of Spring, 2002) The D-9 bulldozer is a product of the US-based Catepillar Corporation. (See also: http://www.sustaincampaign.org/cat_actionkit.html) (David Bloom) - Modern "war" is state terrorism directed against civilians. - The purpose of u.s. actions toward Iraq over the last 14 years (2 horrific illegal bombing invasions, and 12 years of illegal, immoral sanctions) is to destroy Iraq as a nation, the fulfillment of the neo-con dream of "ending nations" that defy usrael. Forget what bush, klinton and others say, forget stated intentions, just look at what they do, and what they have done. - If my men could think, they would not fight. - Napoleon - The most outlandish conspiracy theory of them all (and the most widely accepted): 19 hijackers from a third world terrorist group armed with boxcutters forced 3 planes into 3 of the nation's most important and symbolic structures with no assistance from US government / intelligence insiders. -http://www.oilempire.us/conspiracy.html - It's too late for religions to fight over market share. Adopting a particular religion is not the way. It's no good for us to "become" Jews, or Christians, or Buddhists. Rather, we must be like Jesus, without necessarily being a Christian, be like Buddha, without necessarily being a Buddhist. In order to do this, we need to study these religions a little, not use them for political ends.. - paraphrase of Robert Thurman (author of Anger) being interviewed by Chris Welch on Living Room, KPFA-FM Radio, 11-18-04 Daniel Stone justice_freedom@earthlink.net ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 10) Mark your calendar: Saturday, December 18, 6:00-8:00 (18th & CASTRO) As anyone with a pulse knows, BADlands owner Les Natali has been veeeeery NAUGHTY this year. (THE CITY HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION HAS RECEIVED A TON OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT HIS BAD BEHAVIOR.) SO, this Saturday at 6PM, 18th & And Castro for All are TAKING ACTION FOR KINDNESS! After all, it's not very *nice* to violate city and state civil rights laws, ignore human rights investigations, etc. It is very nice, though, that on Saturday along with Grinch-spotting, And Castro For All will launch its new anti-discrimination hotline . We hope it's one gift that keeps on giving. Wear your Santa Hat, your favorite red outfit or elf shoes, and bring along your ho-ho-hos. Meet at Harvey Milk Plaza at 6:00 PM -Call 415.850.8580 if you're late and need to find us. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 11) Chuck D keynotes "State of the Black Youth" convention By Diane Bukowski DETROIT The Michigan Citizen http://www.michigancitizen.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=73&twindow=Defaul t&mad=No&sdetail=1308&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restat us=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname= DETROIT - Chuck D of the seminal rap group Public Enemy blasted the U.S. entertainment industry for perverting hip-hop music and culture during his keynote address Nov. 19 at the Third Annual State of the Black Youth in the New Millennium convention. Held at Wayne State University's General Lectures auditorium by the National Black Operations Business Association, the convention drew hundreds of high-school and college youth. "Hip hop is not drug culture, gun culture, thug culture or dumb culture," Chuck D said. "It comes out of the legacy and musicianship of Black people. It's an expression of our soul in vocalization. But the industry has substituted the style of a people for the soul of a people." The musician noted that the hip-hop phenomenon has established roots worldwide, including a thriving community in Brazil that has remained true to the original purpose of the genre. He said that community refused to have Snoop Dog and Ja Rule perform there, because they did not "represent the people." Chuck D also condemned the Bush administration and the prison- industrial complex in the United States. "The only gangsters that get away with anything are the gangsters in government," he said. "There are no Black gangsters." Noting that the same corporations are purchasing prisons and cemeteries, he said the only options being given Black youth are to go to prison or to war. "If they cared about rehabilitation in prison, they would make computers available there. Let three brothers in prison have laptops, and they'll be running their lives and the world," he said. Rico Hoye, ranked the number one light heavyweight boxer in the country, struck a similar chord, talking about the 10 years he spent in Michigan prisons after being sentenced at 16 for second-degree murder. "I watched the cells in adult prison filling up with our youth," Hoye said, "and they were getting younger and younger, 13 and 14 years old, going in and never going home, or going home and coming back again." Hoye said he got the opportunity to rewrite his life from the political education he received from the "positive brothers" he met while incarcerated. He called on the community to address conditions inside the prison, including the need to reinstitute college-level education there, and to provide support, including jobs for ex-prisoners coming home. "It's hard to get a job," he said. "I'm on TV, but I'm still putting in job applications and still getting turned down." Karinda Washington, a candidate for the Detroit City Council, called on young Black women to develop themselves, and to allow themselves the opportunity to develop deep, mutually respectful relationships rather than engaging in casual sex. "If you're not whole within yourself, Black woman, he cannot make you whole," she said. "Create opportunities for courtship. There are some good, qualified Black men available here in the city of Detroit." NBOBA president Mohammed Luwemba echoed Washington's plea for wholesome relationships. "The state of the women is the state of the race," he said. "If women are not respected and protected, then the men cannot be respected and protected." He announced a new NBOBA initiative, Operation Race Restoration, aimed at creating positive, dedicated young men and women who will devote themselves to confronting and overthrowing the Bush regime. "They get up every morning at the crack of dawn with one thing on their mind, 100-percent world domination," Luwemba said. "But we will get up every single morning with nothing but overthrowing these people on our minds." E-mail: dbukowski@michigancitizen.com ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 12) Israeli Army Raid Into Gaza Kills 5 Palestinians By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) Fri Dec 17, 2004 08:29 AM ET http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7125113&src=eD ialog/GetContent§ion=news GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli tanks and troops raided southern Gaza on Friday in response to increasing Palestinian mortar attacks, killing at least five Palestinians and prompting hundreds to flee their homes, witnesses and medics said. At least five other Palestinians were trapped in an arms- smuggling tunnel that collapsed as it was being dug under an army-controlled security strip between the Gaza town of Rafah and nearby Egypt, witnesses from Rafah said. Palestinian ambulances and rescue crews given clearance by Israeli forces rushed to the scene. Palestinian officials said earlier accounts that two men had been extracted from the tunnel were incorrect, citing poor communications in the area. "We are still digging, we cannot yet determine their fate," a security official said by telephone from Rafah. Israeli troops have raided Rafah many times to battle militants waging a four-year-old revolt, killing hundreds of Palestinians and leaving thousands homeless from demolitions of homes suspected of hiding tunnels. At least five Palestinians were killed and 22 wounded in Friday's army raid into Khan Younis, Gaza's second largest city and a hotbed of militants who frequently pepper nearby Jewish settlements with mortar and rocket fire. Four of the dead were militants and the other a civilian, local medics and witnesses said. NEW CHANCE FOR PEACE? The incursion unfolded hours after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told a high-profile security conference that there was a unique chance for Middle East peacemaking with new Palestinian leaders following the death of Yasser Arafat. Sharon said he was ready to coordinate a planned pullout from Gaza with a moderate post-Arafat leader, likely to be Mahmoud Abbas. He is favored to win a Jan. 9 presidential election and advocates a halt to violence and fresh talks. About 600 people, many carrying small children in freezing pre-dawn darkness, fled homes in neighborhoods bearing the brunt of the raid and were given shelter in a U.N.-run school. They said a number of homes were demolished. "What peace and what pullout? We only feel fear and cold. I do not know even if my house was still standing or if it was demolished," Kamilia Attobji, 36, a mother of 10, told Reuters. Israeli forces say buildings they raze in such raids are used as cover for militants targeting settlements. Residents uprooted by demolitions complain of collective punishment. An Israeli army commander in the Khan Younis area told Reuters that the raid would continue as long as was required. "We will carry on and I can say we will do all we can to reduce the threat to the local communities who should not have to live like this, " Lieutenant Colonel Dotan, who declined to give his surname, said in reference to mortar barrages. The incursion was only the second serious army sweep into Palestinian territory since a short period of calm following Arafat's death on Nov. 11. Rocket and mortar fire by militants has since restarted with some 30 attacks this month. A Thai farm labourer was killed and 17 settlers wounded in one attack. (Additional reporting by Ori Lewis) (c) Reuters 2004 ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 13) Hungry and homeless ranks swell in US cities By Rick Kelly World Socialist Web Site www.wsws.org 17 December 2004 http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/dec2004/hung-d17.shtml The demand for emergency shelter and food in US cities has risen significantly over the past year, straining a tattered social safety net beyond the breaking point, according to a report released Tuesday by the US Conference of Mayors. The "Hunger and Homeless Survey" covering America's 27 largest cities showed that requests for food aid increased by 14 percent in 2004, while the demand for shelter rose by 6 percent. The most striking conclusion of the survey was that working families now constitute one of the largest groups in need of regular emergency assistance. Contrary to the image portrayed by the mass media, those going homeless and hungry in America are not just the "down and out," the alcohol or drug-dependent, mentally ill or people otherwise unable to earn a living. They include many people who are working, but earn so little that they cannot make ends meet. Chronic poverty afflicts wide sections of the working class, particularly those employed in the predominantly low-paid and casual service industry. Of all adults requesting food assistance, 34 percent were employed. Children and their parents accounted for fifty-six percent of all recipients of food aid. Families now make up 40 percent of the total homeless population in the United States. These stark figures are another indication of the economic and social catastrophe confronting millions of Americans. While Bush boasted of an economic recovery during the presidential campaign, the reality is that only a small layer at the top has seen significant income gains in 2004. For millions of Americans, mass layoffs and the spiraling cost of living-particularly food, housing and fuel expenses-have made it increasingly difficult to get by. "Working poor, unemployed, multi-generational, single and traditional parent families have to make difficult decisions as whether to pay for utilities, rent, medicine, gas, health or car insurance," city authorities in Louisville reported. "Food is being pushed further down the list of priorities." "The time when households used food assistance facilities primarily for emergency situations is long over," noted officials in Philadelphia. "At least 86 percent of the people receiving assistance from the food cupboards return every month. The network is used to sustain families every month so they can use their limited resources on rent, heat, medical bills, and transportation." The report included a number of case studies. In Phoenix, the Robertsons, a married couple and their three children, became homeless after the father lost his job at a telemarketing company. He struggled to develop his own landscaping business, while his wife worked day labor jobs. "The family has no money and is having trouble accessing services because they do not have appropriate documentation, and do not have the money to pay for new birth certificates... Currently the Robertsons are on a waiting list of a large family shelter, but will need appropriate identification to enter the program." In St. Paul, a 24-year-old woman, Tara, her husband Martin, and their three young children became homeless after she lost her job as a home healthcare worker, which paid $6.20 per hour. The family was forced to move into a shelter run by the local Catholic church. Assistance for the poor remains grossly inadequate. Charity organizations are overwhelmed by the demand, and both the federal and state governments have gutted the budgets for social programs over a number of years. The survey reported that in the past 12 months, one in five requests for food assistance went unmet-nearly a 50-percent increase over the previous year. Twenty-three percent of requests for emergency shelter were turned down, and this rejection rate rose to 32 percent for homeless families. In many cities, the shortfalls are far higher than these averages. In New Orleans, 66 percent of food requests were rejected, and in San Francisco 50 percent. In Los Angeles, 66 percent of all shelter requests made by families were turned down, and in Boston 50 percent. The report provides a glimpse into some of the innumerable hardships and indignities suffered by those who seek assistance. More than half of the responding cities routinely forced homeless families to be broken up in order to be accommodated in emergency shelter. Food pantries forced to cut portions Two-thirds of all cities surveyed reported that emergency food assistance facilities, in a desperate attempt to meet demand, were forced to cut back on the quantity of food they provided. Restrictions are also enforced on the number of times people are permitted to receive food. Punitive government welfare cutbacks and restrictions, introduced by both the Clinton and Bush administrations, have only added to the hardship. "According to the Boston Medical Center Pediatric Emergency Department," the report noted, "25 percent of homeless families interviewed in their clinic had been cut off of welfare benefits within the past year (compared to 11 percent of non-homeless families) due to failure to comply with behavioral or procedural requirements, such as not being able to provide a mailing address to the welfare office." The swelling of the ranks of the working poor has seen a parallel increase in the demand for subsidized housing. Requests for such housing by low-income families and individuals increased in 68 percent in the surveyed cities. Applicants for public housing now wait an average of 20 months before they receive any assistance. Fifty-nine percent of the surveyed cities are refusing to accept any new applications because they already have long waiting lists. City authorities reported that they expect no improvement in hunger and homelessness in 2005. Eighty-eight percent said that they anticipate another increase in the demand for food assistance, and 92 percent expect a rise in requests for emergency shelter. The Conference of Mayors made a somewhat bizarre attempt to put a positive spin on the survey's findings. Bill Purcell, mayor of Nashville and chair of the conference's task force on hunger and homelessness, admitted that the "bad news is that the increased demand [for assistance] is all over the country." He then added: "The good news here is that the increase in demand overall has slowed somewhat." In other words, the "good news" is that things are getting worse but- at least for the moment- at a slower rate. Every year the survey, first conducted 20 years ago, has registered an increase in the demand food and shelter assistance. Over the last year, the demand for food aid increased 17 percent, while requests for emergency shelter rose by 13 percent. In 2003, the demand for both food and shelter increased by 19 percent. As the survey demonstrates, the continued growth in the numbers of working people who are unable to earn enough to house and feed themselves has already overwhelmed the limited assistance programs that exist in America. To focus on a decline in the rate at which hunger and homelessness is growing only confirms that the government and the corporate- controlled two-party system are unwilling and unable to take any action to alleviate the suffering. What emerges from the survey is a devastating portrait of the human cost of American society's unprecedented level of social inequality. While the wealthiest strata are anticipating a lucrative new year (see "America's super-rich look forward to a merry Christmas" ), millions of people will spend the holiday season in desperation and destitution. Copyright 1998-2004 World Socialist Web Site All rights reserved ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 14) Joma Sison issued this statement in the wake of the deaths of over 1000 people due to typhoon-related mudslides and the government's request for 600 U.S. Marines to engage in "relief operations" near areas controlled by the NPA and National Democratic Front of the Philippines. --dp PS. CARHRIHL is an important human rights declaration signed by the Philippine government and the NDFP. Press Statement 16 December 2004 CARHRIHL DOES NOT ALLOW US COMBAT TROOPS TO INTRUDE INTO PHILIPPINE--GRP OR NDFP--TERRITORY UNDER PRETEXT OF RELIEF OPERATIONS By Prof. Jose Maria Sison Chief Political Consultant National Democratic Front of the Philippines The entire Filipino people must condemn all pronouncements and actions of the US government and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) to justify and push the entry of US combat troops in the Philippines under such pretexts as joint military exercises, training, civic action, and relief operations. All these are violative of the national sovereignty of the Filipino people and territorial integrity of the Philippines. In this regard, the GRP and Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo are betraying the national sovereignty of the Filipino people and territorial integrity of the Philippines by allowing US combat troops to enter the country under the pretext of relief operations. Civilian agencies of foreign governments can offer civilian relief personnel and aid very properly and easily. There are also more than enough Filipinos who can do the relief work. Why should the GRP and Romulo allow US combat troops to enter the country under the pretext of relief operations, provocatively show off their military weapons and vehicles and conduct psywar and intelligence operations on Philippine territory? Is relief work really the objective or is it to make the escalation of US military intervention in the Philippines acceptable to the public? According to the CPP Information Department, the New People's Army is magnanimously not targeting the intrusive and marauding US combat troops and is giving them the chance to get out of the country as quickly as possible. But such magnanimity should not be linked to the wrong notion that the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) permits US combat troops to enter the Philippines under the pretext of relief operations. The GRP and the US government are in the first place condemnable for violating the national sovereignty of the Filipino people and the territorial integrity of the Philippines. It is erroneous for anyone to claim that CARHRIHL permits US combat troops to enter Philippine, GRP or NDFP territory for any length of time under the guise of relief operations and that the GRP can decide unilaterally the scope of operations and types of arms and equipment which the US combat troops can bring for their supposed security. 1. CARHRIHL does not allow the entry of US combat troops into the Philippines but allows only timely limited agreements between the GRP and NDFP as co-belligerents in a civil war to grant safe passage on certain humanitarian grounds to the Filipino troops of one side or the other or the International Committee of the Red Cross and other permitted civilian agencies. 2. Under CARHRIHL, the GRP and NDFP are contracting parties on an equal footing, with their respective political integrity. The GRP cannot unilaterally decide the scope of operations and types of arms and equipment of even GRP troops and police when they seek on certain humanitarian grounds to enter the territory of the NDFP or people's revolutionary government or contested areas. As NDFP chief political consultant, I advice all forces and personnel of the CPP, NDFP and NPA to study carefully the CARHRIHL and other agreements entered into by the NDFP with the GRP and appreciate how the NDFP has upheld revolutionary principles and made policy agreements, without leaving any ground for capitulation or submission to GRP authority by any revolutionary force or element. ### THE MACAPAGAL-ARROYO REGIME SPEWS OUT LIES LIKE GOEBBELS DID Vainly believing that by spewing out and repeating even the most outrageous lies it can deceive the people, the Macapagal-Arroyo regime has declared the New People's Army as the worst human rights violator and accused it of illegal logging and causing the death of many hundreds. The same tactic was used by Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda chief, who claimed that by continuously repeating lies, the lies would ultimately be accepted as truth. But the people cannot be deceived by the regime's lies. The experience of the people in the countrysides and in the cities proves that it is the regime's military and police that kill, maim and injure the people, destroy their properties, and violate their basic human and democratic rights in order to serve the interests of the foreign mining companies, the logging companies, the rest of the big comprador bourgeoisie, big landlords and bureaucrat capitalists. The brutal massacre at Hacienda Luisita on November 16, 2004 and the summary execution of the key witness of the massacre, Marcelino Beltran, on December 8, 2004 are stark examples of such atrocities against the people. The Arroyo regime, including the President herself as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Secretary of Labor Patricia Sto. Tomas, the Cojuangcos and Aquinos, the military and police officers who carried out the massacre, these are the worst human rights violators. The killers of the regime, such as General Jovito Palparan, are the big violators of human rights. No amount of spewing out lies that the NPA are the worst human rights violators can erase the truth of the bitter experience of the people. The records prove that the Macapagal-Arroyo regime, as did its predecessors, approved and allowed foreign and local logging firms to denude our forests as to cause the massive floods and landslides that have resulted in so many deaths. This is true not only in the areas of the latest catastrophe. It is true of so many other areas in our country. This regime and the cronies whose logging concessions it has approved are criminally liable for all the death and destruction they cause. On the other hand, it is also the experience of the people in the rural areas, wherever the New People's Army is active, that the NPA and other revolutionary forces protect the people against logging companies, foreign mining companies and other destroyers of the environment. On a related matter, President Macapagal-Arroyo has hailed the recent Supreme Court reversal of its earlier decision to declare unconstitutional the Mining Act of 1995. This means that Financial and Technical Assistance agreements (FTAAs) allowing foreign mining companies to plunder up to 100,000 hectares of land are to be promoted, causing not only the displacement of numerous indigenous people but further destruction of the environment and even more disastrous floods and landslides. This regime is surrendering our country's economic sovereignty, promoting the unbridled plunder of our country and in effect agreeing to the death and destruction that results from these. It is indeed a deceitful and murderous regime. It must be militantly opposed and isolated. Luis G. Jalandoni Chairperson, NDFP Negotiating Panel ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 15) On Sunday December, 12, 2004, an Israeli sniper in Khan Younis refugee camp killed Rana Syiam, 7 years old, while she was sitting at home, eating supper with her family. The Israeli army gave no explanation for the attack. [This week in Palestine: a service of the International Middle East Media Center imemc.org, for the week of December 10 - 17, 2004] Rana is just one of 231 Palestinians, mostly children and women, killed in the Khan Younis refugee camp over the four years of the current intifada. Khan Younis camp, one of the most crowded places on earth, shares a border with the illegal Israeli settlement of Gush Katif -- the largest Israeli settlement in the Gaza Strip. Population density in Gaza averages 65,800 persons per square mile, compared with 1,700 people per square mile in the illegal Israeli settlements that now control over 20% of Gaza. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, 3,478 Palestinians have been killed since September 2000, and 28,248 have been injured. (During the same time period, 694 Israeli civilians have been killed) The Health and Development Information Policy Center (HDIP) reports that 82% of the Palestinians killed by the army were civilians, 18.5% of them under the age of 18. 84% (699) of the Palestinians killed were shot in the head and neck, like Rana. Rana Syiam was one of six Palestinians killed this past week. Twenty four Palestinians were wounded, including a three year old child in Rafah. 64 palestinians were arrested this week, 26 homes were demolished, major checkpoints were closed at least six times, and Palestinian towns and villages were invaded at least 38 times by the Israeli military. Some examples of this week's violence: Nine Palestinian schoolchildren aged 8-12 were wounded as an army tank shell landed close to their classroom at Tareq Ben Ziad School in Khan Yunis on Sunday morning. In Nablus on Sunday, armed settlers barred residents from picking their olives, hurled stones at the residents and their cars, and forced them out of their fields. The Israeli army did not intervene in the settler's unprovoked attacks on the Palestinian farmers. Ateyya Mustafa Yassin, 15, was hospitalized Wednesday after being severely beaten by Israeli soldiers in Nablus. Soldiers claim that Yassin was among a group of youth who were throwing stones at armored military vehicles. In the West Bank town of Jayyous, 117 olive trees were uprooted on Saturday December 11. Residents of the town managed to obtain, with the help of their lawyer, a plan by Israeli contractors to build a new Israeli settlement on their land -- in violation of the "road map to peace", in which Israel pledged 'disengagement' from the Palestinian territories. All Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land are against the Geneva Convention, which Israel agreed to in 1951. Sharif Omar of Jayyous village is one of those whose homes are scheduled to be demolished and land confiscated for the building of this new settlement: If the wall is completed as planned by Israel, Palestinians will be left with ten percent of their original land, divided into a number of isolated islands with complete Israeli control of entrance and exit. This week the Wall's construction continued throughout the West Bank. On Tuesday a non-violent protest against the Wall in Bil'in, northwest of Jerusalem met with a violent military reaction. Four people were wounded, and Seven peace activists were arrested, including 4 Israelis, when they tried to intervene in the beating of a child by Israeli soldiers. in southern gaza on sunday, 4 israeli soldiers and 2 palestinian resistance fighters were killed in an attack on an israeli army base. Hamas and a group known as the Fatah Hawks claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack. The Fatah group said it was avenging the assassination" of Yasir Arafat, referring to rumours widespread among Palestinians that their veteran leader was poisoned. Fuad Kokali, a local secretary general of the fatah party, comments on the attack: <20> The Israeli army responded to Sunday's bombing by firing six missiles into various populated areas in Gaza and conducting daily incursions throughout the week with Apache helicopters, tanks and armored vehicles, killing at least four people. The attack came just two days after the Israeli army attempted to assassinate a Palestinian resistance leader by shooting a missile at his car. Abu Samhadana, who survived the attack, stated that, "Assassination attempts, even if they succeed, won't weaken the resistance, but will only strengthen it. We will continue fighting until we liberate all Palestinian land,". Meanwhile, on the Palestinian presidential campaign, jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, the leading candidate, has dropped out of the race. Five candidates for the municipal elections, scheduled for December 23, have been arrested by Israeli forces and remain in jail. Palestinian Local governing minister Jamal Shubaki this week urged the international community to immediately intervene to end Israeli actions that hinder the ability of Palestinians to run free and democratic elections, including the release of these five candidates. And palestinian administrative detainees reported that they will boycott Israeli courts starting from December 19, until the Israeli authorities releases all detainees whose detention period has ended. Palestinians are routinely held without charges in administrative detention -- the boycotting prisoners demand that they either be charged, or released. At least 760 palestinians are currently held in administrative detention, according to the israeli organization b'tselem. they are among the over 5000 palestinians currently imprisoned in Israel. And finally, 24-year-old peace activist Brian Avery from Albuquerque, New Mexico, petitioned the Israeli High Court of Justice for a police investigation of his shooting. Avery was shot in the face last year by a tank mounted machine gun in Jenin while volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement. The petition challenges the Israeli army's account of events, which contradict the accounts of numerous eyewitnesses, and states "the duty to investigate is part of the rule of law." ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 16) COMMUNITY SPEAK OUT FOR IMMIGRANT RIGHTS Sat, Dec. 18th, 1:00 pm 24th & Mission St. (24th St. BART), San Francisco Call to Action for Immigrant Rights: The immigrant community has become one of the main targets inside the country as part of the well-known Âwar at home, which is no different from the war against Iraq. After the result of the elections, immigrant communities face critical moments and should be ready for the next four years. The racism, discrimination, hostility, harassment, police brutality, the raids, among others, keep on growing. Today, more than ever, all immigrant communities are ONE COMMUNITY, that includes Latinos, Asians, Arabs, Philippines, and others, because we all are part of the same struggle and face the same problems. LetÂs be out on the street once more to talk about issues that concern us and only we can solve. Changes, historically, have not been gained because of the mercy or sympathy of any politician, whether he or she was a Democrat or a Republican, but because of the hard struggle people fought to gain their rights. Only a peopleÂs movement is capable of stopping this brutal war against our communities. ThatÂs why this Saturday December 18th we will be in the streets. We will utilize one of our basic rights, the right to speak, and gather in the streets to listen to each other and take action. EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO FIGHT FOR IMMIGRANT RIGHTS, JOIN US ON SATURDAY! For Unity, Peace and Justice! Sponsored by A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) For more information or flyers to distribute please call: Silvia or Alicia at (415) 821-6545 or Jess at the Arab-American Anti Discrimination Committee at (415) 726-3951. Sat, Dec. 18th, 11 am POSTERING FOR JANUARY 20th PROTEST Meet at ANSWER office  2489 Mission St, Rm. 24 (near 21st), San Francisco Before going to the Immigrant Rights Speak-Out, join other activists going out in teams around San Francisco to get the word out about the upcoming Counter-Inaugural protest on January 20. Or come by and pick up posters and leaflets for later. There will be no ANSWER Activist Meeting this Tuesday, Dec. 21st. Please join us throughout the week for postering, flyering and phonebanking to build the January 20 Counter-Inaugural Protest. Call 415-821-6545 for more details. MARK YOUR CALENDAR: On Tuesday, December 28, we will have a mass mailing for Jan. 20th a potluck dinner at the ANSWER office at 2489 Mission St, Rm 30 in San Franciso. The mailing will start at 1pm; we will eat at 6pm and continue the mailing through the evening. To subscribe to the list, send a message to: ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 17) NEWS & COMMENTARY: Soldier has himself shot to avoid returning to Iraq [Marquise Roberts of the Cedarbrook section of North Philadelphia didn't want to go back to Iraq. -- He'd already conquered Baghdad once, and thought that ought to be enough. -- So he had his cousin shoot him in the leg, and then drive him to Philadelphia's Albert Einstein Medical Center. -- But the two men's stories didn't jibe, and when the police found out he was due to report back to Fort Stewart, Georgia, the next day, they grew suspicious... -- Jay Ruskin of UFPPC looks beyond the headlines and asks: what does Marquise Roberts's act really mean? SOLDIER HAS HIMSELF SHOT TO AVOID RETURNING TO IRAQ By Jay Ruskin United for Peace of Pierce County (WA) December 17, 2004 http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/1931/ Marquise Roberts thought that seven months in the Middle East were enough for him. The supply specialist's two-week leave was about to end, and he was supposed to be back the next day at Fort Stewart, Georgia, to rejoin the Army's 3rd Infantry Division. With the 3rd Roberts had fought his way to Baghdad in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and then returned to the U.S. in the summer of 2003. Now he was scheduled to be redeployed to Iraq once again. It seemed to Marquise Roberts that conquering Iraq once ought to suffice. So around 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, a cloudy day with temperatures hovering in the low 30s, police say he had his wife's cousin shoot him in the leg with a .22-caliber pistol, then headed for the Albert Einstein Medical Center not far away. Unfortunately, the two men didn't get their stories straight. The four news reports below tell the sorry tale. Roberts has now been charged by police with filing a false report, and the cousin has been charged with aggravated assault, the Associated Press reported.[1] Local press gave more details. The *Philadelphia Daily News* identified the place where the incident was supposed to have occurred: Somerville Avenue near 15th in Olney.[2] The *Philadelphia Inquirer*, which gave the most detailed account of the plan, said that Marquise Roberts lived on Williams Ave. in the Cedarbrook section of Philadelphia.[3] Williams Avenue is near the City of Brotherly Love's northern border -- "heavily black North Philadelphia" near "the neighborhood where the various *Rockys* were filmed and the original Philadelphia cheesesteaks are sold," and where about one quarter of the population lives in poverty (*Almanac of American Politics 2004*, pp. 1363-66). None of the news reports really raised the issue of why Marquise Roberts was in the army in the first place. But critics like Charles Rangel (D-NY 15th) see people like Roberts as victims of an "economic draft," whereby low-income people with few job prospects sign up for military service. Activist Sam Anderson puts it this way: "For Black, Latino, Native American, Asian and poor white youth, there is a powerful economic draft that forces our children into the military with promises of discounted higher education, benefits, job skills development and traveling the world. The shrinking civilian job market with sweatshop labor conditions helps create this economic draft." (http://www.sfbayview.com/092904/draftingeveryone092904.shtml) Roberts's act also comes at a time of growing restiveness and resistance within the ranks of the military. The *Los Angeles Times* summarized the other forms of resistance and made clear the fact that Robert's self-inflicted wound is the expression of a widespread sentiment: "More than 5,000 soldiers have been charged with desertion from bases in the U.S. and overseas since the invasion of Iraq in early 2003. . . . Two soldiers have received publicity for resisting their return to duty in Iraq while on home leave. . . . More than 800 former soldiers have failed to comply with orders to report for duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, the Army reported in October. Those ex-soldiers [were] called back to duty under the military's Individual Ready Reserve program."[4] As for Marquise Roberts, at least his plan was not a total failure, since he won't be returning to Iraq. The *L.A. Times* reported he's sitting in a Philadelphia jail, "held under $50,000 bail pending a court hearing." 1. Nation/World SOLDIER CHARGED WITH HAVING HIMSELF SHOT By Randy Pennell Associated Press December 17, 2004 http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Sol dier%20Charged PHILADELPHIA -- A soldier who allegedly had a relative shoot him so he wouldn't have to return to Iraq could face military discipline. Army Spc. Marquise J. Roberts, of Hinesville, Ga., suffered a minor wound Tuesday to his left leg from a .22-caliber pistol, police said. He was treated at a hospital, then arrested after he and a relative allegedly admitted making up a story about the shooting. After giving differing accounts, "they just broke down and confessed that they concocted the whole story so he didn't have to go back to the war," police Lt. James Clark said Thursday. Police charged Roberts with filing a false report and charged a cousin, Roland Fuller, with aggravated assault and other charges. Roberts could face military discipline if the charges prove true, said Lt. Col. Cliff Kent, a spokesman for the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, but the civilian case probably would proceed first. Roberts, who was visiting family in Philadelphia, initially claimed he was shot during an attempted robbery, but Fuller had said the incident occurred at another location during an argument, according to Clark. Roberts, 23, was on a two-week leave from the 3rd Infantry Division, which led the assault on Baghdad in 2003. He had been scheduled to return this week to Fort Stewart, Ga., and to return to Iraq within the next few months. The division has been home since the summer of 2003. Police said Roberts, a supply specialist who had spent seven months in Iraq, was distraught about having to return to combat duty and wanted to stay with his family. 2. City and Local News COPS: SOLDIER HAD PAL SHOOT HIM TO AVOID IRAQ By Gloria Campisi Philadelphia Daily News December 17, 2004 http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/10437106.htm A soldier who police said was distraught at having to return to Iraq allegedly had another man shoot him in the leg so he wouldn't have to go back. Army Spc. Marquise J. Roberts, 23, stationed at Fort Stewart, Ga., was in Philadelphia on a two-week leave from the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, which led the assault on Baghdad in 2003, according to an Army spokesman. Lt. Col. Cliff Kent, a 3rd Infantry spokesman, said Roberts had been scheduled to return from leave this week. The 3rd Infantry is scheduled to return to Iraq within the next few months. Lt. James Clark of the Northwest Detective Division said Roberts, of Hinesville, Ga., admitted under questioning that "he did seven months there [Iraq] and he didn't want to go back." Clark said Roberts and Ronald Fuller, who police identified as Roberts' cousin, "concocted the whole story" that Roberts was shot in the left leg when two men tried to rob them Tuesday on Somerville Avenue near 15th in Olney. He was treated at Einstein Medical Center for a wound described as minor. A woman who answered the phone at a Cedarbrook address listed to Roberts said Fuller was not Roberts' cousin, but that the family didn't want to make any immediate statement. Fuller was identified as Roberts' cousin by marriage in a televised report. Clark said the deception was uncovered when the two men gave different accounts of the shooting. Roberts was charged with filing a false police report and obstruction of justice and Fuller with aggravated and simple assault. --campisg@phillynews.com 3. Local & Regional FACING IRAQ, SOLDIER GOT HIMSELF SHOT, POLICE SAY By Thomas J. Gibbons Jr. ** Rather than be redeployed, Marquise Roberts plotted with relatives to be hurt in a bogus robbery, officials said. ** Philadelphia Inquirer December 17, 2004 http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/10435471.h tm Marquise Roberts absolutely did not want to return to Iraq, where he previously served a seven-month Army tour, police said yesterday. So Roberts, they said, who lives on Williams Avenue in the Cedarbrook section of Philadelphia, concocted a plan to have a relative shoot him during a purported robbery. But detectives said they unraveled the plot after Roberts, 23, went to a city hospital for treatment of a bullet wound to one of his legs. Now, Roberts and his wife's cousin are charged with a series of offenses. In addition, Roberts missed his date Wednesday to return to Fort Stewart, Ga., where he probably will be extradited to face further action. "They are extremely interested," Philadelphia Police Lt. James Clark said yesterday, referring to inquiries from military officials. "He didn't want to go back." Police said Roberts' plan to desert the Army came to their attention about 2 p.m. Tuesday, when officers were notified that Roberts had arrived at Albert Einstein Medical Center with a gunshot wound. Roberts told police he was shot while walking in the 1500 block of Somerville Avenue in Logan. Roberts said he was walking with his wife's cousin, Roland Fuller, 28, when they passed two men arguing. Suddenly, Roberts said, shots rang out and he was shot in the back of the leg. Roberts went to the hospital for treatment and was released. However, detectives from the Special Investigations Unit of the Northwest Detective Division weren't through with Roberts. They drove him to the spot where Roberts said the shooting had occurred. No evidence of gunfire was found. Other investigators tracked down Fuller, whose account contradicted Roberts', police said. Fuller told investigators the shooting occurred in the 1500 block of Duncannon Avenue, several blocks from Somerville Avenue. Investigators later tracked down Roberts' wife, Donna Roberts, who gave yet a third version of events. Clark said the conflicting versions piqued detectives' interest. The victim and his two family members were kept separated and questioned at length. During that time, Fuller tried to escape but was caught, police said. Later, a different story began to emerge. Detectives said they discovered that Roberts was in the Army, assigned to Fort Stewart, and due to return there the next day. They said they found that Roberts, his wife, and Fuller concocted a plan in which Fuller would shoot Roberts, and all three family members would report that that the shooting was committed by two men during a robbery. The motive was to prevent Roberts from being redeployed to Iraq, detectives said. Roberts later told police he had served seven months in the war zone and did not want to return. Police said they recovered the gun used to shoot Roberts, who also lists an address in Hinesville, Ga. Fuller was charged with aggravated assault, weapons offenses, and filing a false police report. Roberts was charged with recklessly endangering another person and filing a false police report. Detectives said they were not ruling out charges against Donna Roberts. --Contact staff writer Thomas J. Gibbons Jr. at 215-854-2642 or tgibbons@phillynews.com. 4. The Nation SHOOTING ALLEGEDLY STAGED TO AVOID RETURNING TO IRAQ By David Zucchino ** Philadelphia police say a soldier whose unit has been ordered back to the war had his wife's cousin wound him in the leg as part of the scheme. ** Los Angeles Times December 17, 2004 PHILADELPHIA -- A U.S. Army combat veteran on leave from a unit headed back to Iraq arranged for a friend to shoot him in the leg in an attempt to avoid returning to the war zone, Philadelphia police said Thursday. Spc. Marquise Roberts, 23, told police he had been shot Tuesday afternoon as he walked past two men arguing on a North Philadelphia street. But police said their investigation found that Roberts actually was shot once in the leg by a friend as part of a scheme to avoid returning to Iraq. Roberts, who served seven months in Iraq during the U.S. invasion in 2003, was due to report back to Ft. Stewart, Ga., on Wednesday, police said. He is a supply specialist with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), according to commanders at Ft. Stewart. They said Roberts, who has been in the Army since 2001, was on a two-week holiday leave to his home in Philadelphia. The division, which helped topple the Saddam Hussein regime in Baghdad in April 2003, has been ordered to begin heading back to Iraq next month. Roberts had returned from Iraq in midsummer 2003. Philadelphia Police Inspector William Colarulo said Roberts was shot by his wife's cousin, Roland Fuller, 28, in North Philadelphia on Tuesday afternoon. Hospital officials called police after Roberts sought medical treatment -- standard policy for gunshot wounds, Colarulo said. Roberts told police he heard a gunshot as he walked past the men arguing in the street and realized he had been shot in the leg. But Fuller told detectives that Roberts had been shot during an attempted robbery, Colarulo said. Detectives who searched the scene where Roberts said he was shot found no bullet casings, blood or witnesses who recalled seeing or hearing gunshots. "The investigation determined that he didn't want to go back to Iraq and staged the shooting to avoid having to return," Colarulo said. Police Lt. James Clark, who directed the investigation, said Roberts "said he had done seven months there and he didn't want to go back. He wanted to stay with his family." Roberts was treated for the wound and handed over to police Wednesday. Roberts and Fuller were charged with conspiracy, recklessly endangering another person and filing a false police report. Fuller also was charged with aggravated assault and weapons offenses. Roberts was shot with a handgun, police said. Pentagon officials said they could recall no other instance in which a soldier on leave from Iraq or Afghanistan had been accused of deliberately harming himself or herself to avoid returning to duty. Of the 136,000 soldiers and Army civilians who took home leaves as of early November, they said, only one soldier had been classified as AWOL. An Army program entitles soldiers to two weeks at home midway through their deployment. More than 5,000 soldiers have been charged with desertion from bases in the U.S. and overseas since the invasion of Iraq in early 2003, according to Pentagon statistics. But the number of desertions in the fiscal year that ended in September was half the number for the fiscal year that ended the month of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, before troops were sent to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq. The military defines desertion as more than 30 consecutive days absent without leave. Two soldiers have received publicity for resisting their return to duty in Iraq while on home leave. Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia, 28, a National Guardsman from Florida, refused to return to Iraq after home leave in October 2003. He asked to be declared a conscientious objector. This month, Spc. David Qualls filed a lawsuit challenging the Army's authority to extend his service and threatened not to return to Iraq from home leave in Arkansas. A federal judge denied Qualls' request to remain in the U.S. until his case was heard, and his lawyer said he would return to Iraq. More than 800 former soldiers have failed to comply with orders to report for duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, the Army reported in October. Those ex-soldiers, called back to duty under the military's Individual Ready Reserve program, were not charged with desertion. Most had requested delays or exemptions for school, medical emergencies or family hardships. In Roberts' case, his return to duty is delayed indefinitely. He was being held under $50,000 bail pending a court hearing, police said. Army officials said Roberts also could face punishment under the military justice system. They said the Army normally waited until civilian courts had ruled before deciding whether to charge soldiers in military court. UNITED FOR PEACE & JUSTICE | 212-868-5545 This email list is designed for posting news articles or event announcements of interest to UFPJ member groups. It is not a discussion list. To engage in online discussion of UFPJ matters, join our discussion list by sending a blank email to ufpj-disc-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ufpj-news/ ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 18) Days of Protest Jan. 20 Inauguration Day and Jan.22, 32nd Anniversary of Roe vs. Wade: OK We all know at this point that January 20 is going to be a national day of protest against the re-crowning of the Emperor thief. Yes. ANSWER will be having a permitted march at 5pm that evening. It's a Thursday, unfortunately. The NLG will prepare for break-aways, as they tend to follow ANSWER or NION marches. Interestingly enough, the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade (turning 32 Jan. 22, 2004) occurs Sat. A group called Walk for Life West Coast will be having a permitted march through the embarcadero etc. that day. They are pro-life. There has been a call for action for counter protests that day. And so Jan. 21 has been called a day of teach-ins and awareness of issues related to abortion rights. Check out more on Indymedia: http://sfbay.indymedia.org/womyn/ http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/12/1708701.php Time to take to the streets my friends. In resistance, carey "Art begins with resistance-at the point where resistance is overcome. No human masterpiece has ever been created without great labor."-Andre Gide ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 19) Guard Reports Serious Drop in Enlistment By ERIC SCHMITT WASHINGTON December 17, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/17/politics/17reserves.html?oref=login WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 - In the latest signs of strains on the military from the war in Iraq, the Army National Guard announced on Thursday that it had fallen 30 percent below its recruiting goals in the last two months and would offer new incentives, including enlistment bonuses of up to $15,000. In addition, the head of the National Guard Bureau, Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, said on Thursday that he needed $20 billion to replace arms and equipment destroyed in Iraq and Afghanistan or left there for other Army and Air Guard units to use, so that returning reservists will have enough equipment to deal with emergencies at home. The sharp decline in recruiting is significant because National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers now make up nearly 40 percent of the 148,000 troops in Iraq, and are a vital source for filling the ranks, particularly those who perform essential support tasks, like truck drivers and military police. General Blum said the main reason for the Army National Guard's recruiting shortfall was a sharp reduction in the number of recruits joining the Guard and Reserve when they leave active duty. In peacetime the commitment means maintaining their ties to the military with a weekend of service a month and two weeks in the summer. Over the last 30 years, General Blum said, the Guard has counted on these soldiers with prior military service for about half of its recruits. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, however, many of these soldiers have been hesitant to join the Guard because of the increasing likelihood that America's citizen-soldiers will be activated and sent to Iraq or Afghanistan for up to 12 months. Indeed, many of the active-duty soldiers the Army would like to enlist in the Reserves have recently fought in Afghanistan or Iraq, and some have no inclination to do so again. In an effort to halt the slide, the Army National Guard this week approved recruiting incentives that triple the enlistment bonuses to $15,000 for soldiers with prior military experience who sign up for six years (tax-free if soldiers enlist overseas), Guard officials said. Bonuses for new enlistees will increased to $10,000 from $6,000. The Guard has already said it intends to increase the number of recruiters to 4,100 from 2,700 over the next three months, the first large increase since 1989. "We're in a more difficult recruiting environment, period," General Blum told reporters in disclosing the new figures and the new incentives. "There's no question that when you have a sustained ground combat operation going that the Guard's participating in, that makes recruiting more difficult." There are 42,000 Army National Guard soldiers serving in Iraq and Kuwait, and 8,200 serving in Afghanistan. Since Sept. 11, General Blum said, there have been about 100,000 Army National Guard troops activated for duty at home or abroad at any given time. General Blum's remarks come just a few days after the chief of the Army Reserve, Lt. Gen. James R. Helmly, told The Dallas Morning News that the Army Reserve recruiting was in a "precipitous decline" that if unchecked could inspire renewed debate over the draft. General Helmly told the newspaper that he personally opposed reviving the draft. For the first two months of the fiscal year 2005, which started Oct. 1, the Army Reserve has also stumbled, falling 315 recruits short of its goal of 3,170 soldiers, a drop of 10 percent. In November, the Guard recruited 2,902 enlistees, about 26 percent below its target of 3,925 recruits. In October and November combined, the Guard recruited 5,448 enlistees, nearly 30 percent below its goal of 7,600. At full strength, the Guard has 350,000 soldiers. In the 2004 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, the Guard missed its overall recruiting target of 56,000 soldiers by more than 5,000, the first time it had missed its yearly goal since 1994. The active-duty branches of the armed services all met their recruiting goals last year. As a result, General Blum said, the Guard has lowered its reliance on recruits with military experience to just 35 percent of its overall total and will seek a much larger pool of recruits with no military experience. "We are correcting, frankly, some of our recruiting themes and slogans to reflect a reality of today," he said. "We're not talking about one weekend a month and two weeks a year and college tuition. We're talking about service to the nation." General Blum expressed confidence that the nearly $300 million in recruiting bonuses in this year's budget and the increase in the number of recruiters would propel the Guard to meet its yearly goal but said that probably would not happen until August or so. "I think we'll recover," he said. Some military personnel specialists offered a much more pessimistic forecast and said the lower recruiting numbers were the harbingers of tougher times to come. "I don't think this is an aberration," said David R. Segal, a military sociologist who directs the Center for Research on Military Organization at the University of Maryland. "I think we're going to see significant shortfalls in recruitment, and I think we're to begin to see retention problems. We're also going to see increasing concerns at the state level about how the Guard will man itself and perform its state missions." The Guard's woes do not end with recruiting. General Blum said the Army National Guard needed $20 billion over the next three years to buy additional radios, trucks, aircraft, engineering equipment and other materiel that have been wrecked or left behind in Iraq or Afghanistan.. "Otherwise, the Guard will be broken and not ready for the next time it's needed, either here at home or for war," General Blum said. A spokesman for the Florida National Guard, Lt. Col. Ron Tittle, said Guard units in the state, which mobilized some 5,000 troops to deal with the three hurricanes in August and September, were already experiencing some shortages. "It could hinder us to some degree," Colonel Tittle said. "But we adapt and make do. We'll accomplish the mission." Soldier Accused of Asking to Be Shot PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 16 (AP) - A soldier on leave has been accused of having his cousin shoot him so he would not have to return to Iraq, the police say. The soldier, Specialist Marquise J. Roberts, 23, of Hinesville, Ga., suffered a minor wound to his left leg from a .22-caliber pistol on Tuesday, the police said. Specialist Roberts was treated at a hospital, then arrested after he and his cousin admitted having made up a story about the shooting, the authorities said. After giving differing accounts of the incident, "they just broke down and confessed that they concocted the whole story so he didn't have to go back to the war," Lt. James Clark of the Philadelphia police department said on Thursday. Specialist Roberts, who was visiting family members in Philadelphia, was charged with filing a false report. His cousin, Ronald Fuller, was charged with aggravated assault and other charges. Copyright 2004 The New York Times
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
BAUAW NEWSLETTER-WEDNESDAY, DEC. 15, 2004
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STOP THE WAR ON IRAQ! BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW! ALL OUT JANUARY 20TH, 5:00 P.M., CIVIC CENTER, S.F. NEXT BAY AREA UNITED AGAINST WAR MEETING: SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 11AM CENTRO DEL PUEBLO 474 VALENCIA STREET (NEAR 16TH STREET IN SAN FRANCISCO) ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* Where you can still see the "must-see" film, WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception. This film is being downplayed by the mass media. It must have something to do with the searing criticism of that very media that is the content of the film. Go and see it. WMD will play in the following theatres in the Bay Area on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2004: San Francisco, CA Landmark Opera Plaza Cinema 601 Van Ness Avenue San Francisco, CA 94102 (415) 267-4893 Berkeley, CA (currently playing) The Oaks Theater 1875 Solano Ave. Berkeley, CA 94707 (510) 526-1836 Orinda, CA Orinda Theater 2 Orinda Theater Square Orinda, CA 94563 (925) 254-906 Richard Castro Outreach & Special Distribution Cinema Libre Studio 818.349.8822 Ph. 818.349.9922 Fax www.cinemalibrestudio.com ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 1) Holiday Benefit Sale at the Middle East Children's Alliance Saturday, December 18th, 10 AM to 6 PM at 901 Parker Street, Berkeley (corner of 7th and Parker) 2) Respite ** Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches ** ** http://dahrjamailiraq.com ** December 14, 2004 3) Line the Inaugural Route on January 20 Be there by 9:00 am! Update on CounterInaugural Demonstration permits 4) Blast in Kandahar, Kidnap Victim Killed in Afghanistan By Mirwais Afghan KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) Wed Dec 15, 2004 08:26 AM ET http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7101445&src=eD ialog/GetContent§ion=news 5) The Voice's James Ridgeway reveals who controls what Raw Deals by Matthew Fleischer-Black Village Voice, December 13th, 2004 5:10 PM It's All For Sale By James Ridgeway Duke, 250 pp., $18.95 Buy this book 6) UK to keep foreign nuclear waste Paul Brown, environment correspondent Wednesday December 15, 2004 The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/nuclear/article/0,2763,1373964,00.html 7) Did British soldiers lose all control and decency at the notorious Camp Bucca? As the MoD investigates the death of a seventh Iraqi in British custody, attention is focused on one detention camp By Andrew Johnson and Robert Fisk - 15 February 2004 http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=491465 (Full Story) http://www.robert-fisk.com/articles357.htm 8) Attacking Wal-Mart's Supply Chain BY Yoshie Furuhashi Wal-Mart 's dedication to "low, low wages" is a satirist's dream. The Onion zeroes in on it in "Wal-Mart Announces Massive Rollback on Employee Wages" (December 8, 2004): 9) Faced with US Threats, Cuba Flexes Military Muscle Pensa Latina, Havana http://www.plenglish.com 10) New Year Glum As Prices Soar By Irina Titova STAFF WRITER The St. Petersburg Times #1029, Tuesday, December 14, 2004 TOP STORY 11) States and Cities Must Hunt Terror Plots, Mass. Governor Says By PAM BELLUCK BOSTON December 15, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/15/national/15secure.html?ex=1104131929&ei=1& en=9376916c110d0bab ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 1) Holiday Benefit Sale at the Middle East Children's Alliance Saturday, December 18th, 10 AM to 6 PM at 901 Parker Street, Berkeley (corner of 7th and Parker) There is something for every budget! There will be traditional embroidered work from Dheisheh, Olive Oil Soap from Nablus, Olive Oil from Jayyous, and ceramics from Jerusalem. There will also be beautiful hand-woven carpets, kilims and textiles from Turkey. These items are not easily available ... this is a very special opportunity. This is an opportunity to purchase a beautiful gift and make a humanitarian contribution at the same time. This sale benefits for the work of the Middle East Children's Alliance. Take a look at MECA's New Website!! www.mecaforpeace.org It is still a work in progress but we are working every day to bring you more and more information about the Middle East, in particular Occupied Palestine and Iraq. Today, you can contact us directly, join our emaol or snailmail list, donate, shop and find out more about us. Take a look at our: Palestine/Israel Delegations * Community Activism/Events * Resource List * Home page article and photos Coming Soon! Information about MECA projects and partners * Information about humanitarian aid programs * Background information on the issues * Take action! section * Photos documenting our work and and delegations Sign up Now! Join MECA's Palestine/Israel Delegation February 14-27 Meet with Palestinian and Israeli activists, academics, politicians, civil society leaders and healthcare workers. Our trips to Ramallah, Haifa, Hebron, Nablus and Gaza, among others areas, help North Americans get familiar with the social and geo-political landscape as well as learn more about the history of the current situation. Cost: $1600 for shared accomodation, three light meals and transport (not including airfare) For more information or to read reportbacks from past delegates go to http://www.mecaforpeace.org/ Delegations.html or call 510-548-0542 email: meca@mecaforpeace.org phone: 510-548-0542 web: http://www.mecaforpeace.org This email was sent to bonnieweinstein@yahoo.com, by meca@mecaforpeace.org Middle East Children's Alliance | 901 Parker Street | Berkeley | CA | 94710 ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 2) Respite ** Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches ** ** http://dahrjamailiraq.com ** December 14, 2004 December 11-13, 2004 11 Dec. "My list is now 32," says Salam as he arrives at the hotel, "Now 32 of my friends have been killed." He still has tears in his eyes, even though he's being stoic. Another of his friends has been shot and killed. "You know I feel like shit every time I add someone to my list. Sometimes it feels like it is every day," he says. Welcome to Iraq. Where the news gets better with each passing day. Heavy fighting is continuing in Fallujah. While the military claims to be in control of the situation, they are bombing areas of the city again with warplanes. Sources in and around the city continue to state that the mujahideen are in control of large sections of the city as they've somehow managed to get more weapons in the city. As far as Baghdad-fierce fighting in Adhamiya once again and Iraqi National Guard roam the streets with their black facemasks. The gas crisis grinds on, and now the cell service barely works as of late. It feels as though nothing is working right here. No gas, not much electricity, don't drink the water, prices of everything going up. People dying everyday. "This is the freedom," as Iraqis say, and the perfect title to the new book by my colleague Christian Parenti, "The Freedom," which I highly recommend. This is my birthday...which was celebrated by sharing a large meal with a Sheikh and some of my Iraqi friends. Capped off with the aforementioned news from Salam, more bombs going off, and the usual gunfire in the streets. Hence, my dark mood. The next day, the 12th, was grey and raining off and on in Baghdad. Salam and I said our prayers for safety and braved the airport road. Sitting in a long line of vehicles we were quiet. Holding our breath. Imagine sitting in a long line of cars knowing that any one of them could be a car bomb, waiting with you to inch closer to the checkpoint. I only saw one US soldier there-the horrible duties of searching cars and manning the checkpoint is being handled almost entirely by "Global" security contractors, most of them Nepalese. The rest are ING. Imagine that as your job. My bag was never searched, and the car wasn't searched thoroughly in the least. "Watch your ass and get the hell out of here habibi," I told Salam as we shook hands. Goodbyes in Iraq are always sincere...because the possibility of never seeing one another alive again is very real. Our eyes tell it all to one another. In the airport the electricity cuts. I just laugh, and finally I board the plane and we do the usual spiral take-off. Above the clouds we fly west towards the setting sun, and I being to really relax for the first time in 6 weeks. Relaxation accompanied with the usual sadness and guilt which stems from being able to leave, when most Iraqis are now trapped inside their own country. 13 Dec. 7 Marines have been killed in Al-Anbar province-read Fallujah. Does the military think it helps them to not announce that there has been ongoing heavy fighting in Fallujah for the last few days? How does this help the families of the soldiers there? What is this like for the loved ones back home who are living in an information blackout? When they know that the only hard news they will truly get from the military is when they are informed that their loved one is dead? Families of the soldiers watch the news for the horrible car bombs, hoping against hope someone they know wasn't there. Imagine living like that each day. Heavy fighting continues, as do the car bombs, as a relatively 'quiet' few days were followed by more blood. Thus has been the pattern throughout the occupation. Except the periods of 'calm' are shorter, and the bloodshed more widespread than ever. Expect this to continue until the 'elections' as well as afterwards. It's called escalation. I'm in Jordan for a break, and will return to Iraq in January well before the end of that month. I want to thank everyone for the amazing support and readership. Without your help, this work would not be possible. I'll be out of email contact for about a week, then back to work posting stories and blogs I'd written in Iraq, but didn't have time to post. More writing, photos and commentary at http://dahrjamailiraq.com You can visit http://dahrjamailiraq.com/email_list/ to subscribe or unsubscribe to the email list. Or, you can unsubscribe by sending an email to iraq_dispatches-request@dahrjamailiraq.com and write unsubscribe in the subject or the body of the email. (c)2004 Dahr Jamail. All images and text are protected by United States and international copyright law. If you would like to reprint Dahr's Dispatches on the web, you need to include this copyright notice and a prominent link to the DahrJamailIraq.com website. Any other use of images and text including, but not limited to, reproduction, use on another website, copying and printing requires the permission of Dahr Jamail. Of course, feel free to forward Dahr's dispatches via email. Iraq_Dispatches mailing list http://lists.dahrjamailiraq.com/mailman/listinfo/iraq_dispatches ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 3) Line the Inaugural Route on January 20 Be there by 9:00 am! Update on CounterInaugural Demonstration permits Four years ago as George W. Bush rode in his limousine along the Inaugural parade route, he was met by a sea of vocal protestors and anti-Bush signs. Vividly captured in a dramatic scene from the movie Fahrenheit 9/11, the anti-Bush demonstrators lining the inaugural route on Pennsylvania Avenue became the dominant feature of the inauguration, his first day in office. On January 20, 2005, 21 months after the criminal invasion and occupation of Iraq and 39 months after the adoption of the USA Patriot Act, the Bush administration is planning to privatize Pennsylvania Avenue so that Corporate America and the ultra- right can line the route of march. To succeed they must push antiwar demonstrators and all those defending civil rights and civil liberties off to the margins and try to scare people into silence. 7,000 Endorsers: "We'll Line the Parade Route" The January 20 call for a CounterInaugural antiwar demonstration was issued by the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition in June of 2004 and has now received the support of more than 7,000 endorsers. People are planning to come from all over the country to line the inaugural route. People are coming by bus, car and train because they are determined to line the inaugural route and let the world see that the people of the United States are taking a stand against the criminal war in Iraq and in defense of people's rights at home. The Bush White House, which has been greeted by massive condemnation and protests in every country he visits, is now worried about avoiding a huge political embarrassment in Washington, DC. They are fighting for legitimacy and working to divert or thwart the demonstrations. Working through the Bush-Cheney Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) and the U.S. government, the White House is doing everything in its power to prevent a repeat of the 2001 CounterInaugural demonstration when tens of thousands of anti-Bush demonstrators lined Pennsylvania Ave. between 3rd St. and 15th St. and became the major world news story. Don't Be Diverted Bush and his billionaire supporters want to enjoy a sanitized coronation and remove all evidence to the world of just how much the people of the United States stand against this administration and their criminal conduct. They want the protestors who come to Washington to go anywhere but the parade route. Just like during the RNC in New York, the Bush administration wants protest to be relegated to other parts of the city. The Bush administration and the government are trying to prevent people from effectively accessing the inaugural route. Some groups have announced plans that also divert protestors from lining the front of the inaugural route. Agreeing to permits from the government for demonstrations at far off places in Washington DC effectively removes anyone who attends these actions from being able to line the inaugural route. The Bush administration and the government know full well, from the experience of the January 20, 2001, CounterInaugural demonstration, that the only way anti-Bush protesters were able to secure a spot at the front of the inaugural route, and often even get in at all, was by arriving before 9 o'clock in the morning. In order to divert anti-Bush demonstrators four years ago, the government, using "national security" as a pretext (remember this was before September 11), established check points for the first time in the history of inaugural parades. Some groups have advocated that people who do go the parade route should conform to the administration's efforts to limit dissent by volunteering to be silent and carrying no signs. Those who were in DC four years ago well remember that the government and the Bush/Cheney PIC tried then to take our signs or scare people from bringing them, but we wouldn't let them - the route was packed with visible and undeniable opposition messages to the incoming administration. They tried to silence our voices, but we wouldn't let them - Pennsylvania Avenue echoed with the sound of thousands of people chanting against Bush. Free Speech and the Permit Battle It was only because of the determined effort of anti-Bush demonstrators, along with the legal efforts to secure protestors' rights initiated by the Partnership for Civil Justice and the National Lawyers Guild, that anti-Bush demonstrators overcame these obstacles and became a dominating political force at the inauguration. On Monday, protest organizers from A.N.S.W.E.R. and their lawyers met with the National Park Service, which has been delaying meeting to discuss the permit requests. Despite the fact that A.N.S.W.E.R. applied nearly a year ago for areas along the inaugural route of Pennsylvania Avenue, law enforcement has stated that it will not yet tell the protest organizers whether and where they will grant inaugural route permits. Instead, they are asserting that they are waiting for the Bush-Cheney Presidential Inaugural Committee to decide how much space along the route it wants to consume and privatize. Those who reflect an antiwar view or a view in opposition to the Bush administration's domestic policies, according to the government, will come last, if at all. Law enforcement authorities refused to confirm that there would be equal access for those who are not paying Bush and Cheney for the privilege of standing along Pennsylvania Avenue and they also would not tell the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition what areas would be available to construct antiwar bleachers similar to those it permits the Bush/Cheney PIC to construct for each inauguration. Corporate America Does Not Own Pennsylvania Avenue In fact, the National Park Service has for this inauguration, just as it did for the last inauguration, itself taken out a permit in advance to sublet to the PIC and thereby deprive any opposition group equal access to the inaugural parade. The PIC is a private corporate-funded organization that is expected to raise $40 million from solicitations to the president's biggest campaign contributors - that is, from the biggest banks, corporations, oil and energy companies, and military contractors. The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition asserts that the National Park Service has no right to privatize Pennsylvania Avenue on behalf of the Republican Party, the Bush administration, Corporate America and the Christian Right. The PIC sent letters to potential donors in early December asking them to purchase a $250,000 "Underwriter Package" that will give them the tickets to exclusive inaugural balls and tickets to possess spots along the inaugural parade route on January 20. A $100,000 "Sponsor Package" offers most of the same benefits but omits a special lunch with President Bush. Here is the civil rights, civil liberties issue at hand: Pennsylvania Avenue is described as "America's Main Street" on the White House website, on the website of the National Park Service and in a U.S. Senate Resolution. On January 20 every four years, the president-elect of the United States travels by limousine down "America's Main Street" before and after taking the Oath of Office on the steps of the Capitol. Bush wants to allow his supporters and his corporate constituents to take ownership over Pennsylvania Avenue to conduct a stage-managed sanitized spectacle bestowing legitimacy on his lawless enterprise. To accomplish this he must find a way to banish dissent from the scene of the planned spectacle. Be there by 9:00 am! We will not let this stand. The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition calls on all those who want to hold a visible demonstration to come to the site of the inauguration, where the whole world will indeed be watching. Be there by 9:00 a.m. Make a pledge to be at the site of the inauguration. Don't let Corporate America, the Bush administration and the U.S. government make you invisible. We are launching a political struggle, and a legal effort, to secure the rights of the people to be visible on Pennsylvania Avenue with signs and slogans denouncing the Bush administration for its criminal war on Iraq and its anti- people policies at home. At the same time as we are continuing to secure permits along the parade route we want to make it clear to everyone you do not need a permit to come to Pennsylvania Avenue and to make your views known. Pennsylvania Avenue does not belong to Corporate America and the ultra-right. Everyone organizing buses, car caravans or individual transportation should be at Pennsylvania Ave. by 9:00 am on January 20. We will demand: 1) US Out of Iraq Now, End the Occupation - Bring the Troops Home Now 2) End Colonial Domination from Palestine to Haiti, and Everywhere 3) Health Care, Education, Housing, and a Job at a Living Wage Must be a Right! Help Organize Transportation The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition will send out an email update in the next few days regarding logistics, bus drop off and other transportation information. If you are organizing transportation from your city, fill out the Transportation Form to list your information on the A.N.S.W.E.R. website and help spread the word. Pledge now to support the January 20 demonstration. To endorse, click here. Funds are urgently needed to make January 20 the visible and vocal display of opposition that Bush is trying desperately to thwart. You can make an urgently needed contribution for the January 20 mobilization through a secure server by clicking here, where you can also find information on how to contribute by check. * * * * * Media coverage of free speech fight at CounterInaugural Excerpt from the New York Times: First Inauguration Since 9/11 Spurs Tightest Security By Michael Janofsky December 13, 2004 Brian Becker, national coordinator for the Answer Coalition, an antiwar and antiracism group, said he expected thousands of protesters to line the parade route "in a legal, spirited, peaceful demonstration," carrying signs calling for the withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq and for Mr. Bush's impeachment. Excerpt from Fox News: Protesters Don't Feel the Love in D.C. By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos November 21, 2004 While the Department of Homeland Security recently designated the Jan. 20 inauguration a National Special Security Event, thus putting into place multi-agency security for the presidential swearing-in ceremony, parade and inaugural balls, protest organizers like Brian Becker of ANSWER (Act Now To Stop War And Racism) say the move is less a response to post-Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist threats, and more a way to discourage demonstrators. "It's not the first time that the Bush administration has used national security and the war on terrorism as a pretext to determine who can exercise free speech and whose free speech rights should be put on the back burner," Becker told FOXNews.com. "The idea that the Army must be mobilized and the most extreme national security precautions announced three months ahead of time - that's not designed to intimidate 'terrorists', it's designed to intimidate protesters." A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition Act Now to Stop War & End Racism http://www.ANSWERcoalition.org info@internationalanswer.org National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389 New York City: 212-533-0417 Los Angeles: 323-464-1636 San Francisco: 415-821-6545 For media inquiries, call 202-544-3389. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 4) Blast in Kandahar, Kidnap Victim Killed in Afghanistan By Mirwais Afghan KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) Wed Dec 15, 2004 08:26 AM ET http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7101445&src=eD ialog/GetContent§ion=news KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A blast in the Afghan city of Kandahar wounded at least four government soldiers on Wednesday, a day after security forces said they caught Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar's security chief. Elsewhere, the body of a kidnapped Turkish construction engineer was found in eastern Afghanistan, an Interior Ministry official said. He had been abducted by a militant gang on Tuesday on the road between the city of Jalalabad and Kunar province. Up to five people were wounded in the southwest in clashes between a district commander's militia and government forces, the governor of Helmand province, Shair Mohammad Akhundzada, told Reuters. Eight people were detained after the clash between troops supposedly on the same side. Police were not sure whether the blast in Kandahar was caused by a bomb or a rocket striking an ammunition store at a pro-government militia base near the city center. "This was carried out by an enemy of Afghanistan and it might have been a time bomb," police chief in the southern city, Khan Mohammad Khan, told Reuters. His deputy later said the blast may have been caused by a rocket. Reporters were stopped from approaching the scene. Security forces said on Tuesday they had captured Toor Mullah Naqibullah Khan, who they identified as Taliban leader Omar's household security chief and a dangerous killer, on the outskirts of Kandahar. He was among 27 suspected militants arrested in Afghanistan since Saturday. About half of them were detained in Kandahar, the Taliban's former power base. Seven militants were killed by U.S. artillery fire on Monday night in the southern province of Khost, said U.S. military spokesman Major Mark McCann. COUNTER CLAIMS Kandahar authorities said Naqibullah Khan was still heading Omar's security, leading to speculation he might have information about Omar's whereabouts. But a U.S. official in Washington, who said he could not confirm Naqibullah Khan's capture, said he was a former Taliban security official and not a "significant figure" now. Several reporters got phone calls from people claiming to speak for the Taliban denying knowledge of Naqibullah Khan, and from men purporting to be him, denying he had been captured. Kandahar's police chief Khan dismissed those claims. Official sources said they had a videotape of Naqibullah Khan asking for mercy which could be used to reinforce a call from President Hamid Karzai for Taliban fighters to lay down arms. Karzai was sworn in as Afghanistan's first democratically elected president last week and wants to wipe the slate clean with all but the most hardened Taliban loyalists. The kidnapping and killing of the Turkish engineer, identified by the Interior Ministry as Mohammad Ayub, in the east did not appear to be linked directly to the Taliban. A small militant group operating in forested mountains close to the border with Pakistan was suspected of being behind the abduction and murder. The man was killed on Wednesday morning as rescuers closed in on the kidnappers' hideout, the Interior Ministry said. His Afghan driver and interpreter were released. Karzai issued a statement condemning the killing. Police said the militant group suspected of kidnapping the man had about 20 members and was led by a commander who had links in the past with the Hezb-i-Islami group of renegade former Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who is now a Taliban ally. Ayub is the second Turk to be killed in a kidnapping in Afghanistan the past year. Two others were released. All of the victims were working on road projects. (Additional reporting by Yousuf Azimy) (c) Reuters 2004 ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 5) The Voice's James Ridgeway reveals who controls what Raw Deals by Matthew Fleischer-Black Village Voice, December 13th, 2004 5:10 PM It's All For Sale By James Ridgeway Duke, 250 pp., $18.95 Buy this book The aluminum pan you cooked your egg in this morning began as a bauxite deposit in a mountain in Jamaica. The cinnamon on your toast was once the bark of a tree in Sri LankaÂnot a cinnamon tree, either. The cut flowers on your table? From Colombia. Start questioning where everyday things come from, James Ridgeway tells us in It's All for Sale, and often you will get a surprisingly simple answer. Behind the scenes of it all, he says, a small group of private companies governs trade of the world's materials. Five companies control the flow of petroleum. Four corporations reign over the grain trade. Three each dominate timber, uranium, and tea. Two lead the way on fresh water and coffee, while one each runs diamonds and cigarettes. Ridgeway, the veteran Washington correspondent for the Voice, traces the journey made by many of the natural materials we depend on. The book is organized by resource. For each item, he sums up how its market developed, where in the world it comes from, and who controls the business now. Across the chapters, Ridgeway's preoccupied with compiling all the tactics that mega-corporations use to keep their invisible role supplying us. They take over an entire supply chain. They underreport reserves of exhaustible resources and overstate demand, inducing the public to fixate on shortages. (The natural-gas industry once failed to report to regulators 8.8 trillion cubic feet of fuel.) Less cleverly, they pay off military strongmen, hire mercenary armies, and exploit labor. People have long used violence and operated in bad faith to lock up vital goods, and Ridgeway has looked at the specifics industry by industry before. This book expands and updates his Who Owns the Earth? (1980), which was based on a natural-resources newsletter he edited, The Elements. A quarter-century later, not that much has changed among the core industrial-revolution items. Natural gas has taken on a larger role and coal use has doubled. He has added discussions of water ("the commodity that we most take for granted"), flowers, slavery, cadavers, body parts, oceans, sky, and genetics. The emergence of these new types of merchandise from formerly free entities does not inspire Ridgeway to any grand explanation beyond companies' competitive desire for profit. Still, that explains a lot: Some of the most sprawling of the conglomerates are trying to make money from the new products. Bechtel Corporation and Vivendi Universal, for instance, are now selling fresh water to governments. By laying out our possessions' material origins, the book should earn a place in homes next to other popular reference works like The Book of Lists. Ridgeway offers a canon of information that anyone might want to know and teach their kids. Plus, his book is skimmable, good to pick up for short sittings. (You could keep it in the bathroom.) Memorable factoids abound: Pepper accounts for one-quarter of the world spice trade. Sales of jewelry claim almost one-quarter of all dollars spent in the U.S.A. on retail goods. One-third of fish eaten in the industrialized world come from aquatic farms. And most cinnamon in the U.S. comes from cassia, a related plant. Broad popularity is a long shot, though. For one thing, It's All for Sale educates better than it entertains. Unlike the 1980 version, and many bestselling popular-reference books, it lacks illustrations or graphics. More frustrating is its inefficient provision of essential information. In many chapters, readers must dig to learn how the particular material figures into our average U.S. lives, whether we truly need it and whether alternatives exist, and even who controls its supply. As inevitably happens in a survey book, Ridgeway omits subjects that deserve entry. He fails, for instance, to look at coltan, a mineral used in mobile phones and laptop computers. It often is illegally mined and smuggled. Also, the book could use an index, or at least a chart, to keep track of the corporate giants it features. Like The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Ridgeway's book condenses knowledge of specific information essential to our cultureÂand which few discuss. A book that performs such a fundamental service deserves to be updated more often than every 25 years. Next time, its presentation should be even more elementary. www.marxmail.org Marxism mailing list Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 6) UK to keep foreign nuclear waste Paul Brown, environment correspondent Wednesday December 15, 2004 The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/nuclear/article/0,2763,1373964,00.html Anybody see the priceless episode of "The Simpsons" in which Homer is elected director of sanitation for Springfield, promising a lavish expansion of waste collection services? He is utterly profligate in his expenditures and exhausts his annual budget within a month. To generate the extra funds, he agrees to let nearby towns bury their trash in an abandoned mineshaft in Springfield. All goes swimmingly until we see Homer playing golf with Mayor Quimby, who is singing Homer's praises when suddenly garbage starts to burst through the surface of the putting green. Soon garbage is seen shooting out of the ground like a geyser, eventually burying the entire town in refuse. This forces Mayor Quimby to resort to "Plan B," Springfield's contingency plan for (un)natural disasters: picking up the entire town and moving it five miles away. The show amounts to a parable for the consequences of administrative short-sightedness and capitalism's tendency to resort to unsustainable practices in the service of short-term gain. Well, despite the UK's affinity for "The Simpsons," it seems New Labour wasn't watching the night they showed this episode. And unfortunately for Britons, "Plan B" doesn't look like an option for a country sitting on an island! This would all be quite funny if we weren't talking about NUCLEAR WASTE here. --CP UK to keep foreign nuclear waste Paul Brown, environment correspondent Wednesday December 15, 2004 The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/nuclear/article/0,2763,1373964,00.html The government has decided to bury Japanese, German, Italian, Spanish, Swiss and Swedish nuclear waste in Britain as a money- making venture to help pay for the UK's own unresolved nuclear waste problems. The decision, announced in a written Commons statement, has been taken by the trade secretary Patricia Hewitt despite the fact that Britain as yet has no depository for the waste. It overturns a 30-year-old policy that the UK would not become a dumping ground for other countries' nuclear waste. Previously both Conservative and Labour governments have said waste arising as a result of lucrative nuclear fuel reprocessing contracts at Sellafield in Cumbria should be returned to the country of origin. Successive governments had intended to return all highly dangerous waste contaminated with plutonium to its country of origin - a total of 225 nuclear shipments. This week's decision means keeping and disposing of the bulk of that toxic waste in Britain. Mrs Hewitt said: "The benefits are both environmental and economic." She said the additional income - up to £680m - would be "used for nuclear clean-up which will result in savings for the UK taxpayer over the longer term". Environmental groups warn that it will leave Britain with thousands of tonnes of waste for which there is currently no form of disposal. Jean McSorley, nuclear campaigner for Greenpeace, said: "The government is trying to encourage Japanese utilities, and others, to sign more reprocessing contracts at Sellafield knowing that they will not have to have their nuclear waste returned." The government has set up a committee to find a way of disposing of high- and intermediate-level nuclear waste safely. It considered 20 options, including burying the waste in the Antarctic and firing it at the sun. No preferred method has been established, but it is likely to be either storage above ground or disposal below ground in deep rock caverns. British Nuclear Fuels, which currently stores the foreign waste at Sellafield, said it was delighted by the decision. A spokesman said it would mean up to 3,000 cubic metres of radioactive waste would now not need to be shipped back to its place of origin, saving tens of thousands of tonnes of greenhouse gases in ship fuel. As a result of this week's decision, the foreign waste that will remain in Britain will be exchanged for much smaller quantities of waste of a higher radioactivity produced from British reactors - up to 38 shipments. The government says this trade amounts to an equal quantity of radioactivity. Critics though raise the prospect of the British waste being hijacked by terrorists. Llew Smith, Labour MP for Blaenau Gwent, last night asked a written question of Ms Hewitt about her assessment of any increased terrorist threat. "Intermediate level waste is bulky and difficult to handle but shipments of high level waste in smaller cannisters might be an attractive terrorist target," he said. The policy would mean very long-lived, high-activity radioactive waste from Sellafield being shipped to Japan. To European continental customers it will be carried on ferries and trains to Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden and Italy. The government says using armed police and transports mounted with guns to escort the high level waste minimizes the risk. Currently overseas nuclear waste is stored at Sellafield either in the form of glass blocks, untreated liquid waste, or in drums of solid waste. It is mixed up together with UK waste but British Nuclear Fuels keeps a log of how much radioactivity had been allocated to each country. Gordon MacKerron, head of the government's committee on radioactive waste management, said: "Of course the volumes of nuclear waste we will have to deal with in Britain will be substantially greater... but overall because of the large existing volume of UK waste it will not make a big difference in percentage terms. "In practical terms it does not make a lot of difference to our overall nuclear waste problem." ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 7) Did British soldiers lose all control and decency at the notorious Camp Bucca? As the MoD investigates the death of a seventh Iraqi in British custody, attention is focused on one detention camp By Andrew Johnson and Robert Fisk - 15 February 2004 http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=491465 (Full Story) http://www.robert-fisk.com/articles357.htm Photographs brought home from Iraq by a British soldier caused a scandal last year when he took them to be developed. One showed a prisoner of war, gagged and bound in netting, dangling from a forklift truck driven by a soldier. Others depicted squaddies performing sex acts close to Iraqi PoWs. It may be understandable, though not excusable, that in the heat of battle troops do not always accord prisoners the dignity to which they are entitled. But the Army is now facing accusations of mistreatment of civilian detainees, several of whom have died in custody, long after the war was officially declared at an end. Charges may soon be brought in the case of Baha Mousa, 26, who died after he and seven colleagues working at a Basra hotel were arrested by British soldiers of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment in September. The eight men had their hands tied and were all hooded during prolonged assaults in which the prisoners have described being "kick-boxed" by uniformed soldiers. Mousa repeatedly complained to his British attackers that he was having difficulty breathing. When Baha's father, Daoud, and brother, Alaa, went to see Kifah Taha, one of those arrested, in hospital, they did not know Baha had been killed. "Kifah looked like half a human, he was so badly beaten," Alaa said. "When we asked him about Baha, he said he didn't know. Then he said: 'I hope God will not show any human what I witnessed.'" Mr Taha said the soldiers had given their detainees the names of footballers. Ironically, the practice of giving false names to prisoners under assault or torture is common in Arab prisons. Iraqi inmates were often given fake names by their interrogators during torture sessions, and male prisoners have often been given female names by Egyptian prison wardens before being assaulted. Mousa's father, an Iraqi police colonel who was present at the arrest, saw two British soldiers looting cash from a hotel safe. He brought this to the attention of the troops' commanding officer, who disciplined the soldiers on the spot and took their weapons. As a result, the Iraqi policeman believes, his son may have been singled out for revenge. An Army spokesman confirmed last week that a soldier had been found on the date in question with a large sum of Iraqi money. He had been disciplined by his commanding officer and the other troops reminded of their duty in Iraq. British military investigations have been carried out or are continuing into 37 deaths of Iraqi civilians since the end of the war. Nineteen of those were judged to be "insurgents", and the rules of engagement followed. Of the others, the Ministry of Defence says three were the result of road accidents and nine, one of whom was a 14-year-old boy, were shot during demonstrations. Six were deaths in custody - a seventh case, which happened just before the war was declared over, is also being examined - but there are concerns over how long the investigations are taking. The names of the seven who died in custody have been released by the MoD, but in most cases no details of age, sex, occupation or cause of death were included. The first was Ather Karen al- Mowafakia, who died on 29 April. Radhi Natna was judged to have died from natural causes on 8 May after a heart attack. But his family say he had no history of heart trouble, and questions remain over his treatment. Abd Al Jubba Mousa, 53, a headmaster, was seen being beaten with rifle butts as he was led away. He died on 17 May. Nothing i s known about the deaths of Ahmad Jabber Kareem on 8 May, Said Shabram on 24 May, or Hassan Abbad Said on 4 August. Twenty-two MPs have called for an independent inquiry into Mousa's death. The Labour MP Harry Cohen said this should be extended to all deaths in custody, a call echoed by Amnesty International, which says the Army should not investigate itself. The director of Amnesty International UK, Kate Allen, said: "Justice must be done and be seen to be done. Amnesty International has been calling on the coalition forces to investigate all cases of civilian deaths by their troops, and we believe that it is imperative that all investigations into allegations of human rights violations by members of the armed forces against civilians should be civilian-led and supervised." "We've killed just one more terrorist than innocent civilians," said the Plaid Cymru MP Adam Price, who has asked a series of questions in Parliament on the issue. "It seems a little out of kilter. For every terrorist we kill, we kill an innocent civilian." Until Christmas, all British detainees were taken to the Camp Bucca prison near the southern port city of Umm Qasr, about 70 miles from Basra. The camp is run by the Americans, but the British have a "secure and discrete" unit within the camp. Three American reservists were discharged from the army last month after being found guilty of abusing Iraqi prisoners last May, kicking and beating them in the groin, head and abdomen. In their defence, they claimed there was poor morale among the troops and poor leadership. One of the soldiers wrote in an email to a family member: "We've had a couple of riots here in the ... holding area. We were attacked and assaulted with rocks and stones. Two prisoners had to be shot during the riot. This took place on Palm Sunday. Four days later, during another uprising, two more prisoners were shot, with one being killed because he attempted to kill an MP [military policeman] with a steel tent stake." Former prisoners speak of daily riots and poor conditions. Rahad Naif, 31, released from Camp Bucca in September, said: "The demonstrations happened almost every day at Bucca. Sometimes we'd fight the Americans with tent poles. The Americans would come at us behind riot shields, firing plastic bullets and electric pistols. We can't fight against that, we knew they'd win." He said that the prisoners were demonstrating against what they considered to be their poor treatment in the camp. They would have to share a desert floor with scorpions and snakes. They had only one blanket at night, when it was below freezing, while daytime temperatures could reach 48C. http://www.robert-fisk.com ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 8) Attacking Wal-Mart's Supply Chain BY Yoshie Furuhashi Wal-Mart 's dedication to "low, low wages" is a satirist's dream. The Onion zeroes in on it in "Wal-Mart Announces Massive Rollback on Employee Wages" (December 8, 2004): The Onion can take on "the $259 billion retail behemoth" (Liza Featherstone, "Will Labor Take the Wal-Mart Challenge?" The Nation,June 28, 2004 ) satirically, but can American trade unions organize it, whose managers are directed by Bentonville to make "a full-time commitment" to "staying union-free" ("Labor Relations and You at the Wal-Mart Distribution Center #6022," September 1991 , p. 7)? Wal-Mart has been reined in by the labor movement abroad: "in Germany, . . . many Wal-Mart workers are unionized and the company abides by a sectorwide agreement with a large retail union, and has been the target of pickets and warning strikes . . . . In Brazil Wal-Mart has had to reach agreement with unions on some workers' rights issues, while in Japan all of the company's workers are unionized, and Wal-Mart abides by an agreement reached with the stores' previous owner" (Featherstone, June 28, 2004). To the surprise of many, even Chinese workers (whose "right to strike was removed from China's constitution in 1982" [John Pomfret, "Labor Unrest in China Reflects Increasing Disenchantment," The Guardian Weekly, May 4, 2000, p.37]) recently saw Wal-Mart reluctantly agree to allow the All China Federation of Trade Unions to unionize Wal-Mart workers. The Chinese Communist Party and its unions, fearful of the political fallouts of naked capitalism ("[S]ome action by Beijing is crucial. Workers are increasingly taking to the streets. The number of protests reached 300,000 in 2003 estimates [Robin] Munro [research director at China Labor Bulletin]. This year more than 500 workers in Dongguan damaged facilities and injured a manager at a big Taiwanese shoemaker" [Dexter Roberts, "China: A Workers' State Helping The Workers?" BusinessWeek, December 13, 2004]), are at least willing to make a show of standing up for workers' rights. Will organized labor in the United States? So far, the United Food and Commercial Workers has spent little: "the UFCW devotes only 2 percent of its national budget to the Wal-Mart campaign" (Featherstone, June 28, 2004); and the UFCW has won nothing: "In the United States, only one group of Wal-Mart employees has successfully organized. In February 2000 ten meatcutters in Jacksonville, Texas, voted 7 to 3 to unionize their tiny bargaining unit. Two weeks later, Wal-Mart abruptly eliminated their jobs by switching to prepackaged meat and assigning the butchers to other departments, effectively abolishing the only union shop on its North American premises" (Featherstone, June 28, 2004). Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, wants to change that. Stern recently gave the AFL- CIO an ultimatum: adopt the changes he proposes, or the SEIU will pull out of the federation. Among the changes he demanded in his ten-point program, "he called for the AFL- CIO to return half of all dues to unions to fund aggressive organizing drives. And he said the federation should set aside about $25 million -- out of its $118-million annual budget -- for an effort to organize Wal-Mart Stores Inc. " (Nancy Cleeland, "The Service Employees International President Threatens to Leave the Umbrella Federation," Los Angeles Times, November 11, 2004). Whatever you think of the rest of Stern's program, you would have to agree that spending more on organizing is the way to go. The question is how the money will be spent, however. Peter Olney argued that union organizing should focus on "the most strategic sectors of the economy that are crucial to labor's overall power and place in society," one of which is the "logistics (transport and storage)" sector ("The Arithmetic of Decline and Some Proposals for Renewal," New Labor Forum, Spring/Summer 2002). Why logistics? First of all, it is impossible for capital to offshore the jobs of transport and warehouse workers. Furthermore, corporations' obsession with "just-in-time" inventory control makes them vulnerable to supply disruptions. Efficient supply chain management is the key to the profitability of Wal-Mart, which pioneered "just-in-time" inventory in the retail industry: "The 'Wal-Mart model' is the leading retail strategy (perhaps the leading business strategy in any sector) to emerge since the 1970s. This model features a super- efficient production process in which each operation -- buying products from manufacturers, distributing them to the retail stores, and selling them to customers -- is linked to the next in a continuous 'just-in-time' chain" (Annete Bernhardt, "The Wal-Mart Trap," Dollars & Sense 231, September-October 2000). Wal-Mart's zeal to "hold the lowest feasible [inventory] level while avoiding the risks of 'stock outs'" (Bahar Barami, "Productivity Gains from Pull Logistics: Tradeoffs of Internal and External Costs," Paper presented at the Transportation Research Board Conference on Transportation and Economic Development, September 23-25, 2001), its competitive advantage, is also the weak link in its anti-union empire. According to the Teamsters, Wal-Mart had 78 distribution centers that employed approximately 25,000 workers by the end of 2001 ("Wal-Mart: Driving Down Standards in the Food Industry," July 11, 2000) -- about 3% of the total Wal-Mart employees in the United States at that time. By now, it has more than 100 distribution centers, but the ratio of Wal-Mart distribution center workers to Wal-Mart store and office clerks is likely to have remained roughly the same (and it will decline further soon, upon the introduction of radio- frequency identification). It makes sense to concentrate on organizing distribution center workers, who represent a small proportion of the total Wal-Mart workforce and yet control the strategic points of the Wal-Mart supply chain, as several labor writers suggested (for instance, Marc Brazeau, "What Would a Successful Recognition Campaign for Wal-Mart Workers Look Like?" The Joe Hill Dispatch, April 30, 2004; and David Moberg, "The Wal-Mart Effect: The Hows and Whys of Beating the Bentonville Behemoth," In These Times, June 10, 2004 ). What if the unions spent $25 million salting the distribution centers? "Training and hiring new professional organizers, Olney argues, is not as important as encouraging potential organizers to take jobs themselves, in target workplaces. This 'salting' -- taking a job with the intent to organize -- was one factor in the massive drives of the 1930s," says Jane Slaughter ("Organizing for Numbers -- Or for Power?" Labor Notes, October 2002). Distribution centers are good targets from the point of view of using public subsidies already lavished upon them for an argument for working-class community control. Philip Mattera and Anna Purinton found that "90 percent of the company's distribution centers have been subsidized" and that Wal-Mart has received an average of about $6.9 million per subsidized distribution center, far more than $2.8 million that it captured per its subsidized store ("Shopping for Subsidies: How Wal-Mart Uses Taxpayer Money to Finance Its Never-Ending Growth," May 2004). A Wal-Mart distribution center generally employs "660 to 800 employees" (Mary Hopkin, "Grandview Official Wants Grant Put on Hold," Tri- City Herald, December 20, 2002). That's $8,600-10,000 per job in direct subsidies alone, not counting the costs of "food stamps, Medicaid, the earned income tax credit and other social safety-net programs that Wal-Mart retail workers (and their families) may be eligible for because of the low wages and limited health insurance coverage they receive": "A state survey [in Georgia] found that 10,261 of the 166,000 participants in the PeachCare program, which provides health care coverage for youngsters in low-income uninsured families, were children of Wal-Mart employees. This was more than 10 times the number for any other employer" (Mattera and Purinton, May 2004). The main obstacle is locations, locations, locations. Take a look at the map of Wal-Mart distribution centers: [map not shown...bw] Source: Teamsters, "Wal-Mart Organizing Update," Warehouse Newsletter, (August 2000) Many of them are in the South, especially outside metropolitan areas, where unions have had little success organizing. Wal- Mart's aggressive expansion, however, has brought it into the traditional strongholds of organized labor in the East, the West, and the Midwest, laying the ground for a coordinated national campaign. Then, there are choke points at ports. Chris Kutalik's article on the "[w] wildcat strikes, rallies, and highway blockades by port truck drivers [that] rocked West and East Coast ports in late April and early May" demonstrates their potential power to impact the bottom lines of many bosses, "from ship owners to port authorities to retailers like Wal-Mart": Wildcat strikes, rallies, and highway blockades by port truck drivers rocked West and East Coast ports in late April and early May. Angered by rising diesel fuel prices and other factors that keep them at or under the poverty line, hundreds of mostly African-American and Latino owner-operators (sometimes called troqueros) parked their trucks and blocked terminals . . .. The troqueros' unique position in the transportation system enabled them to shut down freight traffic and force powerful interests, from ship owners to port authorities to retailers like Wal-Mart, to listen to their demands. Troqueros move freight between ports and inter-modal terminals, the sites where truck cargoes are loaded onto rail cars or unloaded from them. All freight that enters the country must pass through a troquero's hands before being loaded onto other trucks or onto trains for its journey to warehouses, stores, and factories around the country. In West Coast ports truck drivers are paid $50-$200 per cargo container hauled (often a truckload), depending on length of the trip. After expenses for fuel, insurance, registration, and maintenance, earnings average $8-$9 an hour, according to Teamsters Port Division estimates. With diesel prices hitting record highs -- $2.39 per gallon in California on April 30 -- drivers' income has been eroded even further, pushing drivers to desperation.(Chris Kutalik, "Dockside Wildcats Halt Freight Traffic: Gas Prices Fuel Port Drivers' Revolt," Labor Notes ,June 2004 ) The issues that drove the port truckers to their direct actions -- "a 30 percent rise in freight rates paid by trucking companies," "fuel surcharge increases of 5 percent, plus 5 percent for each $.25 a gallon when diesel fuel tops $1.95 a gallon," "[r]ecognition of the drivers as workers" rather than "independent contractors" were their demands (Kutalik, June 2004 ) -- remain unresolved, providing opportunities for joint actions between them and Wal- Mart distribution workers, attacking Wal-Mart's supply chain simultaneously. #posted by Yoshie : 8:20 PM : :1 blogger comments :comments(0) http://montages.blogspot.com/2004/12/attacking-wal-marts-supply-chain.html Tuesday, December 14, 2004 ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 9) Faced with US Threats, Cuba Flexes Military Muscle Pensa Latina, Havana http://www.plenglish.com Havana, Dec 14 (PL) Having successfully passed its first day of military maneuvers, Cuba will carry on Tuesday its Strategic Bastion 2004 War Games, conceived as a deterrent to eventual military attacks on the island from the United States. On Monday, Army Commander Raul Castro, also Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), gave the go ahead to the exercise, which advocates the military doctrine of the War of the Entire Population, meaning that every Cuban will have the means, a place and a way to fight the enemy. The first of the exercise's three stages took place under a sham attack by US forces, as the prelude to large scale invasion. The Cuban FAR chief explained that tens of thousands soldiers and million citizens will participate in the exercises for seven days, warning Cuba will become a huge hornet nest if any enemy dares to attack it. After decreeing general mobilization and warning regular armies and reservists, units of the FAR and Interior Ministry checked that every order issued by the higher echelons was fulfilled, thus showing the high capacity of the local population to fight a war. In line with preparations, the exercise includes guaranteeing the protection of lives and adequate supplies such as water, food, medicines and other goods. Raul Castro, who holds the possition of Cuba's first vice president, recalled Cuban president Fidel Castro's words that defense must become a top priority, as history has eloquently demonstrated that those who forget this principle did not survive their mistake. ile/iff/asg * Search the NYTr Archives at: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org Carlos Rovira - "Carlito" ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 10) New Year Glum As Prices Soar By Irina Titova STAFF WRITER The St. Petersburg Times #1029, Tuesday, December 14, 2004 TOP STORY {As part of Russia's agreement to enter the World Trade Organization, expected to take place in 2007, the Putin regime agreed to European Union demands to allow energy prices in Russia to rise to "market levels". Natural gas in Russia had been selling at 20% of what E.U. customers had to pay. The following article shows the consequences for the workers of Russia's this further integration into the world imperialist system...Ernest Tate} With New Year just a couple of weeks away, many Russian are looking to the future not with joyful anticipation of holidays or optimism, but with dread of financial instability and rising prices. "I don't feel excited about the New Year holidays because, as usual, on Jan. 1 prices will shoot up," said Tatyana Rybkina, 42, a teacher. St. Petersburg residents already have an impending taste of the doom approaching them; long lines have formed at metro stations ever since it was announced that the cost of one ride on public transportation services in St. Petersburg price will rise from 8 rubles (28 cents) to 10 rubles (36 cents) on Jan. 1. As they did in Soviet times, people not only tried to buy as many tokens as they could to save money, but they also hoarded them because they feared that there might not be any left because others are also hoarding them. The metro first limited sales to 10 tokens at a time, but this has now been reduced to two tokens, meaning people have to line up every second ride. On Tuesday, a new type a plastic card will be issued in place of tokens. "It's very hard for me as a pensioner to have prices going up for transportation when from next year we pensioners will no longer be able to ride for free," said Tamara Sokolova, 60, who boosts her pension by working as a librarian. "My income is 3,000 rubles ($107), and now I'll have to pay about 500 rubles a month on public transportation all together." She doesn't "experience any joy expecting New Year, because nowadays New Year automatically means prices go up," she added. "It's a modern gift for this holiday from our government - they increase the prices of everything - food, fuel, services, etc," she said. In Soviet times prices would go down before the New Year holidays, she added. Food prices have been skyrocketing in recent months, she said. In early fall, Sokolova could buy 10 eggs for 23 rubles, while the same number costs 32 rubles. The price of meat in markets has doubled since spring; a kilo of beef or pork cost 100 rubles in May, today it's 200 rubles and more, Sokolova said. Consumer price inflation is 11.9 percent this year, RIA Novosti reported. According to the Federal Statistics Service, egg prices rose 12.9 percent in November and 24.3 percent for the year to date. The service said milk prices rose 6.6 percent and meat prices 1.7 percent in November. Experts say the rising food and transportation prices are related to rising fuel prices. Valery Nesterov, an oil and gas analyst at Moscow's office of brokerage Troika Dialog, said the prices for oil in Russia doubled between October 2003 and October 2004. Thus, if at the end of 2003 a liter of A-92 gasoline in St. Petersburg cost 8 or 9 rubles, this month it costs almost 16 rubles. The rise has been so great that it stimulated President Vladimir Putin last week to ask Vagit Alekperov, head of leading oil company LUKoil, to lower prices for oil products on the domestic market. Putin expressed his hope that if LUKoil did so, other big oil companies would follow suit, which would improve the situation that "one cannot describe as normal." On Friday, State Duma deputies also expressed their deep concern about fuel prices, saying they were holding back economic development. Alekperov said LUKoil will lower its domestic wholesale but that it is no less important that oil retailers do the same. Troika Dialog's Nesterov said that although Putin's approach to Alekperov was unusual, it was still a positive moment. "Such action creates an image that the government is working and cares about the economic situation in the country," Nesterov said in a telephone interview. "However, it's better not to rule by giving such kind of directions, but to do so by a providing well-balanced economy and preventing the influence of monopolies." Dmitry Belousov, an expert with the Center for Microeconomic Analysis and Short-Term Factors, named several other factors that he linked to rising prices. Rising grain prices led to higher meat prices because of the fodder feed to livestock. The stabilization of ruble in relation to the dollar led imported goods getting more expensive, there had been fears about banks, and the dollar had depreciated. At the same time prices for communal services had gone up. The effects of these had hit some sectors of the population harder than others, he said. "Today prices for the poor grow quicker than for the wealthy," Belousov said. "The prices for household equipment, which are products that mainly interest the well-off are stable. Prices for products such as bread and communal services, which are of bigger demand among the poor, are rising." Sokolova said that her librarian's wage, which is paid by the state, is supposed to be raised in line with rising costs, but the raises never catch up with runaway prices. "I feel that I'm catastrophically short of money," she said. "Today I have to think hard about buying meat. Usually, we buy it only by for a festive dinner." Ordinary Russians not only have to count their kopeks when it comes to buying food, they say they barely have enough money to buy clothes. "I can't afford to buy good clothes," Sokolova said. "That's why I can't buy good quality winter shoes for 2,500 rubles and I buy lower quality ones for 1,000 rubles. Such shoes wear out very quickly, I mend them, and wear them again." Nadezhda Chekhovich, 50, a historian who works at one of the city's scientific institutes, said her monthly salary is 1,700 rubles. "I buy only secondhand clothes," Chekhovich said. The prices for books and concerts, products that are important to her, have doubled in recent times, she said. However, not all are down about life, even if it is becoming more expensive. Pensioner Alexander Vasserman, 60, said he is not depressed about the economic situation despite his low income. "I'm sure there are always at least two ways out of a difficult situation," he said. "Sometimes there are even more ways out. It means we'll find a way out that will enable us to live no worse." "For instance, instead of complaining about the metro getting more expensive, I will ride a bicycle because it's healthy and free," he said. -- 30 -- Marxism mailing list Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 11) States and Cities Must Hunt Terror Plots, Mass. Governor Says By PAM BELLUCK BOSTON December 15, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/15/national/15secure.html?ex=1104131929&ei=1& en=9376916c110d0bab {The article below from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by fogel@marshall.edu. Here's the full article--let me know if it comes through. Thanks, Jerise fogel@marshall.edu} BOSTON, Dec. 14 - To protect America against terrorists, state and local agencies, as well as private businesses, need to gather intelligence themselves and not just rely on intelligence gathered by the federal government, Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, the leader of a national working group on safeguarding the nation, told homeland security officials on Tuesday. "The eyes and ears which gather intelligence need to be as developed in our country as they were in foreign countries during the cold war," Mr. Romney told the group. "Meter readers, E.M.S. drivers, law enforcement, private sector personnel need to be on the lookout for information which may be as useful." In a presentation by telephone to Tom Ridge, the secretary of homeland security, and members of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, who were meeting in San Diego, Mr. Romney said that local law enforcement agencies should stop believing that they could protect all possible targets of terrorism. "We could increase our law enforcement personnel tenfold, but we can't protect every target," Mr. Romney said. "There are just too many schools, churches, stadiums, bridges, tunnels, roads, subways. We have to be able to find the bad guys before they carry out their acts, and that can only be done through intelligence. The financial resources of our nation and our states should be increasingly devoted to this effort." The proposal by Mr. Romney's working group represents a new and more assertive role for many local law enforcement agencies and other public and private entities in fighting terrorism, some experts on domestic security said. Some cities and states, including Massachusetts, Colorado and Los Angeles, have set up or are planning "fusion centers," which collect information from local sources and seek to analyze it and draw conclusions. New York City goes beyond that, sending detectives to places like Israel and Singapore, as well as to other states to investigate businesses that sell explosives. But under Mr. Romney's proposal, every state would be urged to marshal local agencies and businesses, with the goal of collecting details and observations that might, when stitched together, point to a potential terrorist attack. "If you have a transit system that circles a major city and you get reports of people photographing trains at various locations, well, the report from one police station may be meaningless, but several of them may be a pattern," said John D. Cohen, senior homeland security policy adviser to Massachusetts. The proposal "makes a great deal of sense to me," said Dave McIntyre, who teaches about domestic security at Texas A&M University. "I don't see how you're going to protect every high school football stadium, every school bus, every theater. I do think that we might find that a better investment of resources is to look at intelligence and investigative development." Mr. Romney, who dealt with post-9/11 security issues as president of the organizing committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, said in an interview on Monday that his involvement with the domestic security working group was an outgrowth of the concern he felt as governor about the way the federal government was transmitting information and the lack of direction that the federal government was giving the states. "I was initially quite frustrated that the homeland security money came without any sense of what states should do," Mr. Romney said, saying that when he raised those concerns, he was asked to assemble and lead a working group on the subject. Mr. Romney, who is often mentioned as a Republican with potential or ambition to occupy a national office, insisted in the interview that he had no desire to be the next director of homeland security, or to take any other position in the Bush administration. He said that after the November elections, he told Andrew H. Card Jr., the White House chief of staff, "in case my name gets bandied about for any position, I'm filling my entire term" as governor, which expires in two years. Dr. McIntyre said a potential pitfall of the working group's proposal was the issue of making sure that local agencies and businesses did not violate civil liberties. "How do we properly ensure that we're investigating some Americans without investigating all Americans?" he asked. Mr. Cohen, the security adviser, said: "When we're talking about engaging frontline personnel, we're not asking them to go out and spy on people. In the course of them doing their jobs day to day, they collect information. And we're talking about teaching people to be more sensitive when information that is collected in the course of their day-to-day business may actually have a nexus with terrorism." At Tuesday's meeting in San Diego, with Mr. Romney presenting his report from Boston, Mr. Ridge asked about the cost of the working group's plan. Mr. Romney, whose group included state and local officials and business executives from around the country, said some of the money for training local officials and setting up fusion centers could come from federal homeland security grants to states. But, he added: "Whether I'm going to get funding from the federal government or not, this is a priority and I'm going to go after this. I went to the Legislature this year to get funding for our fusion center." Mr. Romney said the intelligence that states received from the federal government was "oftentimes confusing" and sometimes contradictory. His report recommended that information be disseminated through a single federal agency. Mr. Romney's report also said that too much information from the federal agencies was classified as secret or top secret, barring state officials from giving details to most local officials, who do not have adequate security clearance. "You're put in a position of not passing it on or passing it on to someone without the right clearance and violating the law," Mr. Cohen said.
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
BAUAW NEWSLETTER-TUESDAY, DEC. 14, 2004
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STOP THE WAR ON IRAQ! BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW! ALL OUT JANUARY 20TH, 5:00 P.M., CIVIC CENTER, S.F. NEXT BAY AREA UNITED AGAINST WAR MEETING: SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 11AM CENTRO DEL PUEBLO 474 VALENCIA STREET (NEAR 16TH STREET IN SAN FRANCISCO) ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* INFORMATION REGARDING TELEMARKETING AND YOUR CELL PHONE: Starting Jan 1, 2005, all cell phone numbers will be made public to telemarketing firms! This means as of Jan 1, your cell phone may start ringing off the hook with telemarketers, but unlike your home phone, most of you pay for your incoming calls. These telemarketers will eat up your free minutes and end up costing you money in the long run. According to the National Do Not Call List, you have until Dec. 15th 2004 to get on the national "Do not call list" for cell phones (to keep from having your cell number released to the telemarketing companies). That's only 3 days from now! To get on the Do Not Call list, call 1-888-382-1222 from the cell phone that you wish to have put on the "do not call list" and follow the simple instructions. It's easy and takes less than a minute. Or you can register online at http://www.donotcall.gov ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* Where you can still see the "must-see" film, WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception. This film is being downplayed by the mass media. It must have something to do with the searing criticism of that very media that is the content of the film. Go and see it. WMD will play in the following theatres in the Bay Area on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2004: San Francisco, CA Landmark Opera Plaza Cinema 601 Van Ness Avenue San Francisco, CA 94102 (415) 267-4893 Berkeley, CA (currently playing) The Oaks Theater 1875 Solano Ave. Berkeley, CA 94707 (510) 526-1836 Orinda, CA Orinda Theater 2 Orinda Theater Square Orinda, CA 94563 (925) 254-906 Richard Castro Outreach & Special Distribution Cinema Libre Studio 818.349.8822 Ph. 818.349.9922 Fax www.cinemalibrestudio.com ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 1) A Giant Falls GARY WEBB - PULITZER PRIZE WINNER, AUTHOR OF DARK ALLIANCE CIA-DRUG SERIES DEAD OF REPORTED SUICIDE Press Accounts Fail to Mention His Vindication by CIA Inspector General Reports and Congressional Investigations By Michael C. Ruppert c) Copyright 2004, From The Wilderness Publications, www.fromthewilderness.com . All Rights Reserved. May be reprinted, distributed or posted on an Internet web site for non-profit purposes only. December 13, 2004 1400 PDT (FTW) http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/121304_gary_webb.shtml [Please distribute widely] 2) Trashed by the CIA's Claque Gary Webb: a Great Reporter By ALEXANDER COCKBURN and JEFFREY ST. CLAIR December 13, 2004 http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn12132004.html 3) Silencing the Messenger Censoring NarcoNews March 21, 2001 By Gary Webb CounterPunch 4) Suicide by Multiple Gunshot wounds to the head? Multiple self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the head? Is that possible? http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/12/1709633.php 5) THE AMERICAN POLITICS OF MORALITY [Col. Writ. 11/20/04] Copyright 2004 Mumia Abu-Jamal 6) WHAT KIND OF 'DEMOCRACY' IS THIS? [Col. Writ. 11/18/04] Copyright 2004 Mumia Abu-Jamal 7) ENDING THE WAR AND PROTECTING OUR TROOPS AND VETERANS (adopted by the San Francisco Labor Council delegates' meeting on December 13, 2004) From: OWC CAMPAIGN NEWS - distributed by the Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights, c/o S.F. Labor Council, 1188 Franklin St., #203, San Francisco, CA 94109. To SUB/ UNSUBSCRIBE, contact the OWC at Phone: (415) 641-8616 Fax: (415) 440-9297. Visit our website at www.owcinfo.org - Notify if any change in email address. (Please excuse duplicate postings, and please feel free to re-post.) 8) Israeli Troops Raid Gaza, Told to Target Militants By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) Tue Dec 14, 2004 07:41 AM ET http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7088089&src=eD ialog/GetContent§ion=news 9) BUSH CALLS FOR "NEW WORLD ORDER / PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKES" http://www.freepressinternational.com/bushnwo_12112004_87493029871647684.htm l 10) US adopts National ID: Homeland Security Now In charge of Regulations for all US States Drivers Licenses and Birth Certificates Sent: Monday, December 13, 2004 11:59 PM Subject: Fwd: Congress Passes Law Mandating National ID Cards Jonathan Wheeler | December 10 2004 http://www.infowars.com/articles/ps/intelligence_bill_natl_id.htm 11) US Airways Workers Authorize Job Actions By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) Filed at 9:35 p.m. ET December 13, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-US-Airways-Flight-Attendants.htm l?oref=login&pagewanted=print&position= 12) If you go to http://www.narconews.com/petras1.html "Dirty Money" Foundation of U.S. Growth and Empire Size and Scope of Dirty Money Laundering by Big U.S. Banks From La Jornada, May 19, 2001 By James Petras 13) GI whistle-blower treated like madman Whitewashing torture? A veteran sergeant who told his commanding officers that he witnessed his colleagues torturing Iraqi detainees was strapped to a gurney and flown out of Iraq - even though there was nothing wrong with him. By David DeBatto 14) NLM Introduces New Environmental Site In a message dated 12/14/04 10:18:21 AM, holtlabor@igc.org writes: 15) Rights Group Reports Deaths of Men Held by U.S. in Afghanistan DETAINEES By CARLOTTA GALL KABUL, Afghanistan December 14, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/14/international/asia/14abuse.html 16) ITALIAN.QUEER.DANGEROUS a one-man show featuring Tommi Avicolli Mecca directed by Francesca Prada ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 1) A Giant Falls GARY WEBB - PULITZER PRIZE WINNER, AUTHOR OF DARK ALLIANCE CIA-DRUG SERIES DEAD OF REPORTED SUICIDE Press Accounts Fail to Mention His Vindication by CIA Inspector General Reports and Congressional Investigations By Michael C. Ruppert c) Copyright 2004, From The Wilderness Publications, www.fromthewilderness.com . All Rights Reserved. May be reprinted, distributed or posted on an Internet web site for non-profit purposes only. December 13, 2004 1400 PDT (FTW) http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/121304_gary_webb.shtml [Please distribute widely] December 13, 2004 1400 PDT (FTW) -Gary Webb, 49, the Pulitzer Prize winning reporter from the San Jose Mercury News made America hold its breath in 1996 when he showed us proof of direct CIA involvement in drug trafficking. For a few months many of us had hope. He reportedly died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head two days ago. His body was discovered at 8:20 AM Saturday as movers reportedly found a note on the door of his residence asking them not to enter but to call for paramedics. Webb's August 1996 series Dark Alliance for the San Jose Mercury News pulled deep covers away from US covert operations and American denial about connections between the CIA and drugs. Gary left a bigger historical footprint than anyone who has ever touched the subject including among others, Peter Dale Scott, Alfred McCoy, Jonathan Kwitny and me. His footprint was made possible in large part for two reasons. First, his reporting was meticulous and produced hard records that could not be effectively denied. Second, prominent African- American leaders like Jesse Jackson and representatives Maxine Waters and Juanita Millender-McDonald of Los Angeles and Compton respectively took up the torch lit by Gary and ran with it just before the 1996 presidential election which saw Bill Clinton win his second term just eight weeks after the stories broke. I was there at that time and it is not an understatement to say that much of this country was "up in arms". Waters at one point vowed to make the CIA-drug connections, fully documented by Webb, her "life's work" if necessary. In death the major press is beating him almost as ruthlessly as they did in real life. No part of the major press has acknowledged that Webb's work was subsequently vindicated by congressional investigations and two CIA Inspector General's reports released in 1997 and 1998. FTW did report on Webb's vindication and his legacy has - at least at the level of authentic journalism - not been lost. Please see: http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/pandora/RendGW.html , and http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ciadrugs/volii.html For more FTW coverage of Gary Webb's life please use the search engine at www.fromthewilderness.com . The LA Times obituary, in all of its meanness and inaccuracy is here . Of the six obituaries I have seen on him, the one from the L.A. Times was the most brutally Soviet in its attempt to crush out his memory as thoroughly as his work. Of course the Times would have to do that. It was in Los Angeles where Webb dug up and documented the direct connection between the CIA and cocaine smuggling/trafficking as crack cocaine ravaged this city in the 1980s and the Contra war decimated Central America. The Times already had known of this for decades. Starting in 1979 I dealt extensively with the Times trying to report the same connections with regard to heroin smuggling by the CIA. Cocaine did not become a national epidemic until around 1980. By 1996 I had 17 bitter years of funneling hard evidence to the Times and watching as staff writer David Rosenzweig -- among others including Ron Soble and David Johnston (now of the New York Times ) - kept taking the information, promising to do something, and then spiking the stories in exchange for promotions. When Gary autographed his 1998 best-seller Dark Alliance to me he wrote: "To Mike. You were there before I was." Richard Heinberg, author of The Party's Over and Powerdown observed after reading the Times' obituary, "The LA Times obit is disgusting. 'What's our attitude toward investigative journalism? Well, of course we try to discourage it wherever we can, but sometimes it happens anyway. Then we get especially nasty-- we have to, naturally, to protect our reputation.'" I always knew it was a fight to the death. I don't think he ever fully understood that. Retired DEA agent Cele Castillo who had reported on direct CIA drug involvement from Honduras and El Salvador in the 1980s and I both told him in 1996 what he was up against and what it might cost him. GRATITUDE There would be no FTW , or Crossing the Rubicon without Gary Webb. Catherine Austin Fitts and I would never have met had it not been for Gary Webb. Dick Gregory would not have made me his white son on the radio had it not been for Gary Webb. I would never have confronted John Deutch at Locke High had it not been for Gary Webb. I myself might have committed suicide in 1996 - broke, divorced and having given up all hope of making people listen -- had it not been for Gary Webb. For some years now it has been the farthest thing from my mind. I rediscovered my purpose and maybe Gary lost his. This is a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. KNOWN DETAILS I called the Coroner shortly after the first flash came in here from Bay Area journalist and producer Kellia Ramares. His time of death was listed at 8:20 AM. Since it was Saturday, the homicide detectives would have been off and had to be paged. I estimate two hours (minimum) for them to get to the crime scene (unless a uniformed supervisor handled it). Add three hours minimum f or crime scene, photos etc; that means he went to the Coroner's most likely around 1 PM. It could have been much later depending on response times on a Saturday before Christmas. When I called the Sacramento Coroner's Office at 8:20 PM on Saturday I spoke with an unidentified female who stated that he had just been there since late that afternoon. I identified myself as a friend, ex-cop and journalist and she confirmed a single shot to the head. I wasn't sure it was our Gary Webb so I got his date of birth, hair and eye color. They matched. Gary was a good looking man with a moustache and I asked if that fit. She hesitated for quite a while before answering, "I can't tell." This led me to suspect that the weapon used was a shotgun. I then confirmed his death with the San Jose Mercury News and the L.A. Times . We will see if later facts don't mesh with what has been reported thus far. I called the Times again at about 9:15 because I wanted to make sure someone said some good things about Gary. I dropped some names and got to the writer or the editor on the story who wouldn't ID himself. He said he'd have someone call me back to get my statement. No one ever called back and then the Times published their maliciously spiteful obituary just after midnight Sunday. It was clear to me that they wanted/needed to put a spin on his death. Gary Webb deserved better than this and those of us who knew him and benefited from his work will see that he gets it. I am going to the funeral and I will be asking questions in Sacramento. Given the disproportionate number of "suicides" of authors and journalists who have covered such stories, and the mainstream's horrendously dishonest coverage of such events, it is right to see if there are grounds to be cautiously suspicious of these accounts. But it is also right to avoid hysteria and unsupported conclusions until there are solid reasons to suspect foul play. Gary would have wanted us all to do this by the numbers, patiently and thoroughly. That was his style. That was why he was so good. When funeral arrangements are announced FTW will publish them and we encourage all of our subscribers to send flowers, write letters and show their thanks to this man who changed all of our lives forever. It wouldn't hurt if you wanted to let the L.A. Times know what you think of their obituary. Sleep well, Gary. Wherever men and women of honor gather together from now on, your name will be spoken with reverence, respect and gratitude. Mike Ruppert www.fromthewilderness.com ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 2) Trashed by the CIA's Claque Gary Webb: a Great Reporter By ALEXANDER COCKBURN and JEFFREY ST. CLAIR December 13, 2004 http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn12132004.html News came over the weekend that Gary Webb had died Friday from a gunshot wound to the head in his home in Sacramento, California. It appears to have been self inflicted. The news saddens us, and rekindles our anger at the fouls libels he endured at the hands of his colleagues. Webb was a great reporter whose best-known work exposed the CIA'S complicity in the import of cocaine into the United States in the 1980s, during the US onslaught on the Sandinista government of Nicaragua. His devastating series Dark Alliance, published in the San Jose Mercury News in 1996, provoked a series of wild attacks in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post, purporting to demolish Webb and exonerate the Agency. The attacks were without merit, but the San Jose Mercury News buckled under the pressure and undercut its own reporter with a groveling and entirely unmerited retraction by its publisher. It was a very dark day in the history of American journalism. We described the entire saga in detail in our book Whiteout: the CIA, Drugs and the Press which sets the story in the larger context of the Agency's complicity in drug smuggling since its founding. Webb left the Mercury News, and expanded his series into his excellent book Dark Alliance. He also did other fine journalism, notably  in Esquire  the definitive expose of what came to be known as "driving while black", about the system program of racial profiling by cops across the country. For now, here is Webb's own, briskly robust account, which he sent us and which we ran on this site in March, 2001, of the storm over his series, along with his generous appeal to help a crusading journalistic enterprise, Narco News. (see next article #3 below) Later this week we will run a longer reprise on Webb and his famous series. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 3) Silencing the Messenger Censoring NarcoNews March 21, 2001 By Gary Webb CounterPunch Not long after I wrote a series for the San Jose Mercury News about a drug ring that had flooded South Central Los Angeles with cheap cocaine at the beginning of the crack explosion there, a strange thing happened to me. I was silenced. This, believe it or not, came as something of a surprise to me. For 17 years I had been writing newspaper stories about grafters, crooked bankers, corrupt politicians and killers -- and winning armloads of journalism awards for it. Some of my stories had convened grand juries and sent important people to well-deserved jail cells. Others ended up on 20/20, and later became a best- selling book (not written by me, unfortunately.) I started doing television news shows, speaking to college journalism classes and professional seminars. I had major papers bidding against each other to hire me. So when I happened across information implicating an arm of the Central Intelligence Agency in the cocaine trade, I had no qualms about jumping onto it with both feet. What did I have to worry about? I was a newspaperman for a big city, take-no- prisoners newspaper. I had the First Amendment, a law firm, and a multi-million dollar corporation watching my back. Besides, this story was a fucking outrage. Right-wing Latin American drug dealers were helping finance a CIA-run covert war in Nicaragua by selling tons of cocaine to the Crips and Bloods in LA, who were turning it into crack and spreading it through black neighborhoods nationwide. And all the available evidence pointed to the sickening conclusion that elements of the US government had known of it and had either tacitly encouraged it or, at a minimum, done absolutely nothing to stop it. And that's when this strange thing happened. The national news media, instead of using its brute strength to force the truth from our government, decided that its time would be better spent investigating me and my reporting. They kicked me around pretty good, I have to admit. (At one point, I was even accused of making movie deals with a crack dealer I'd written about. The DEA raided my film agent's office looking for any scrap of paper to back up this lie and appeared disappointed when they came up emptyhanded.) To this day, no one has ever been able to show me a single error of fact in anything I've written about this drug ring, which includes a 600-page book about the whole tragic mess. Indeed, most of what has come out since shows that my newspaper stories grossly underestimated the extent of our government's knowledge, an error to which I readily confess. But, in the end, the facts didn't really matter. What mattered was making the damned thing go away, shutting people up, and making anyone who demanded the truth appear to be a wacky conspiracy theorist. And it worked. As a result, the CIA was allowed to investigate itself, release a heavily censored report admitting that it had worked with cocaine traffickers, and simultaneously declare itself innocent of any wrongdoing. And that's where our firebrand national news media has let the matter lie to this day. Now it's NarcoNews' turn for the silence treatment. And, if I had to guess, I'd venture to say that it's probably more important to the folks selling us the Drug War to shut up Al Giordano than it is to silence mainstream reporters who, in my father's eloquent words, wouldn't say shit if they had a mouth full of it. No one can lean on NarcoNews's editors, or their bosses, or its board of directors to reign Al in or, failing that, reassign him to the night copy desk. The only person they can lean on is Al, who doesn't take to being leaned on. And they can't shut down the Internet either. So two choices remain. They can grit their teeth and suffer Al's reporting, day after aggravating day, as he exposes the ugly underside of this endless war on drugs - and actually makes things happen, like real journalists are supposed to do. Or they can try to make it impossible for him to do his job by harassing him with specious lawsuits, bedevil him with lawyers and depositions and interrogatories and subpoenas, and reduce him to penury. Why? To silence him. To make him go away. To keep him from looking under rocks that reporters aren't supposed to look under. Make no mistake. This court fight isn't about any particular story NarcoNews has done. It's about ALL of them, and all of the ones yet to come. And it's a battle over the continued independence of Internet journalism as well. The silencing of Al Giordano and NarcoNews isn't a theoretical possibility that might happen a couple years from now. It's already happening. Al and his volunteer lawyers are hip-deep in it right now. And they need our help. Narco News and Al Giordano face an April 9th deadline to respond to the Banamex censorship lawsuit or they will be declared in default - guilty without a single fact being heard in a case where the facts prove them right. A civil lawsuit is different than a criminal case: complex legal issues require trained lawyers to dig through the law books on procedural issues so far from the basic truths about photographs of cocaine trafficking on the coast of Mexico. The bank's lawyers at Akin Gump are paid astronomic fees to raise every small point of process and delay the day when the facts come to light in New York City court. If this case goes to trial, that's when Narco News will triumph. And all of us will win with it as the real facts of the corruption of the international drug war come to light in the media center of New York. The hard part comes right now, in navigating the maze of irrelevant process issues, as any reporter who has covered the courts has seen. Narco News will either be able to have skilled attorneys get them through this complicated phase or - I can see it coming - Al will have to take a long trip to the law library himself, abandon reporting for the coming weeks or months in order to wage his own defense. Then you and I will not be able to read new reports on Narco News at this key moment when Plan Colombia explodes regionally and more Latin American voices are raised against the drug war, like the Mexican police chief yesterday, who, if not for Narco News, would never be heard by those of us who speak and read in English. That is what is at stake: Whether a skilled reporter has to retire for months to become a pro se lawyer, or whether he can continue reporting the facts to us. I was silenced but am not silenced any more. When, the other day, the film rights to my book Dark Alliance about US complicity in the cocaine trade were purchased for a television movie, I wrote Al to pledge part of those proceeds to his defense. In the years to come, there is no question that Narco News will be proven right and will be helping the next generation of reporters fight efforts to censor them. But wouldn't it be wonderful if this time the censors failed entirely to take Al and Narco News out of circulation, for a year, for months, even for a week? Wouldn't that be the best deterrent against bankers and lobbyists from waging these frivolous lawsuits against Free Speech on the Internet? I understand that Narco News needs only about $13,000 more to be able to have the most difficult stage of the lawsuit process - that which it faces immediately - handled with professional legal assistance, thus allowing Al to continue expending his energy and time in reporting to us the facts. One person of means could solve this problem with a check. Two dozen people giving $500 could do it. 130 people giving a hundred dollars... you can do the math: If half of Narco News' readers give one dollar each, Narco News will keep publishing. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 4) Suicide by Multiple Gunshot wounds to the head? Multiple self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the head? Is that possible? http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/12/1709633.php Use http://web.archive.org to find sites that have disappeared from the web, ie: http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://nakedgov.com income tax is voluntary http://web.archive.org/web/*/dcia.com DE-CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY No one is above the law. It was human folly for the UNITED STATES to empower an agency of government to specifically break its own laws. The CIA and the Constitution there after became mortal enemies --- until the day one will overpower the other in a final victory. Will we be a nation under law or a nation under law breakers? The CIA undermines and assassinates popular leaders abroad -- and at home --- and fixes elections abroad --- and at home. This organization that routinely gets away with murder finds little challenge dominating the world's narcotics trade. By reliable estimates the U.S. CIA and DOD usher in half of the narcotics that come into this country. The very same persons responsible for massive drug trafficking advocate "toughening" the drug laws that alone make this trade so obscenely profitable. In the last 5 years the CIA has had 5 directors --- none knowing what to do. The CIA is a staggering giant waiting to fall. The legislation to kill the CIA is waiting for acclaimation. Brian Downing Quig 12-11-96 Suicide by Multiple Gunshot wounds to the head? Multiple self inflicted gunshot wounds to the head? Is that possible? Obituary: Gary Webb, prize-winning investigative reporter --Gary Webb, a prize-winning investigative journalist whose star-crossed career was capped with a controversial newspaper series linking the CIA to the crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles, died Friday of self-inflicted gunshot wounds, officials said. Mr. Webb, 49, was found dead in his Carmichael home Friday morning of gunshot wounds to the head, the Sacramento County Coroner's Office said Saturday. [Hey, I hit the cerebrum. Let me try again.] http://www.legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_news%a0 Assassination of US Investigative Journalist Gary Webb? http://globalresearch.ca/articles/XYM412A.html Potential Witness Syndrome, one symptom of which is "suicide by multiple gun shot wounds to the head". This is apparently exactly what Gary Webb died of (watch as the stories are refined to change 'wounds' to 'a gunshot wound'). R.I.P. Gary Webb -- Unembedded Reporter http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1213-31.htm Support the CIA; Buy Crack Today! Cocaine Import Agency; that's "CIA" for you and me. Other journalists who followed in Gary Webb's footsteps, Exposing CIA importation of Cocaine, Opium, Heroin, etc: http://narconews.com http://copvcia.com Michael Ruppert http://counterpunch.org Alexander Cockburn http://dcia.com http://drugwar.com http://cispes.org ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 5) THE AMERICAN POLITICS OF MORALITY [Col. Writ. 11/20/04] Copyright 2004 Mumia Abu-Jamal It is utterly amazing to hear mouthpieces for the corporate media sound off about 'morality issues' now driving the American political machine. One wonders: what does morality mean? Does it have anything to do with life and death; with war and peace; with slaughter and genocide? Or does it only have to do with sex? What would a member of the first peoples, the so-called Indians, say about American morality? A man we now recall by the given name of Powhatan, who was called by his people, Wahunsonacock (1547-1618), who was principal chief of a confederacy of 32 tribes, and who ruled over an area of hundreds of miles, was threatened by Capt. John Smith with destruction. Chief Powhatan's reply gives us some insight into early American morality: ... Why should you take by force that from us which you can have by love? Why should you destroy us, who have provided you with food? What can you get by war? We can hide our provisions, and fly into the woods and then you must consequently famish by wronging your friends. What is the cause of your jealousy? [From *Great Speeches by Native Americans*, Bob Blaisdell, ed. (Mineola, NY: Dover, 2000). p. 4]. Smith owed his very life to Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas, who had saved him from execution a year before he threatened her father. Nor was Wahunsonacock's rap about the white colonists' near starving mere words. Smith himself wrote, in *The General History of Virginia*, "So great was our famine that a savage we slew and buried, the poorer sort took him up again and ate him; And one amongst the rest did kill his wife, powder her and had eaten part of her" [4th Book, p. 294]. How many Americans know that among their 'founding fathers' were cannibals? Some 200 years later, Americans would force a 'loyal' Indian tribe, the Cherokees, off of their ancestral lands, in what has become known as "The Trail of Tears." A leader of the Cherokees, a war chief known as Junuluska, had fought with Andrew Jackson in the Battle of the Horse Shoe against the Creek. Junuluska brought 500 of his young braves to assist Jackson, and saved Jackson's life when a Creek warrior had him at his mercy. Junuluska's tomahawk literally saved the man who would later become president. When white colonists in Georgia attacked Cherokee lands, and the U.S. government sought to remove them, Junuluska traveled to Washington, D.C. to plead for his tribe. Jackson received him coldly, telling him, "There is nothing I can do for you." Within a short time, over 7000 Army troops and volunteers struck Indian country, and men, women, and suckling babes were forced, at bayonet point, into stockades, where they would be imprisoned until the long walk, from Georgia to Oklahoma. Thousands would die, of hunger, sickness, fear, and broken hearts on this "Trail of Tears." Junuluska, seeing the way his people, who were called 'the civilized Indians' because of their Christian faith, their European style of building, and their literacy, were treated by Americans, said, "Oh my God, if I had known at the Battle of the Horse Shoe what I know now, American history would have been differently written" [See Zinn, Howard and Anthony Arnove, *Voices of A People's History of the United States* (NY: Seven Stories, 2004), pp. 144-5]. What do you think they would say about American political morality? What about the long train of coups, and counter-coups waged by the US CIA all over the world? There are more dictators, autocrats, tyrants than I have time to name, who owe their reigns to Washington. They have ravaged their countries, devastated their workers, sold away their souls, for their American masters. What kind of political morality unleashes psychopaths upon the peoples of the world, in the name of democracy? What kind of political morality seeks to keep the vast majority of the world's people in subjection, in peonage to the Empire? There is no such thing as political morality; it's an oxymoron, like compassionate conservative, or military intelligence. Copyright 2004 Mumia Abu-Jamal ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 6) WHAT KIND OF 'DEMOCRACY' IS THIS? [Col. Writ. 11/18/04] Copyright 2004 Mumia Abu-Jamal "Authority is never with hate." -- Euripides (480-406 B.C.E.), Greek Poet We live under the reign of almost universal political contempt. It doesn't matter which party, politicians are in the employ of others, and that isn't remotely those who voted for them, but rather those who could afford to finance them. Oh, they don't come out and say it (often); but look at how politicians treat those who claim to be their constituents. The only common denominator is betrayal. Former president, Bill Clinton perfected this to a high art. Virtually everybody who voted for him got betrayed, sooner or later. And the real deal is, it isn't personal; that's the way the system was designed, and has developed. To many of the men who we are accustomed to call 'the founding fathers', the word 'democracy' was a bad word. They hated, dreaded, and feared the very idea of a democracy. New York's delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1789, Alexander Hamilton admired monarchy, and sought ways to check "the amazing violence and turbulence of the democratic spirit" [see Jerry Fresia's *Toward an American Revolution: Exposing the Constitution & Other Illusions* (Boston: South End Press, 1988), p. 16]. Historian Brian Price put it neatly at a lecture at Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington, when he asked: Is it possible for a class which exterminates the native peoples of the Americas, replaces them by raping Africa for humans it then denigrates and dehumanizes as slaves, while cheapening and degrading its own working class -- is it possible for such a class to create democracy, equality, and to advance the cause of human freedom? (Fresia, p. 5) It took centuries of struggles by Africans, workers, women, and others to begin to erect some semblance of democracy, but, as in a pendulum, things swing from one end to another; nothing stands still. When folks stop fighting, other interests fight on. In the present political structure, wealthy anti-democratic elements continue to wage war through the purchase (or rental) of politicians, who then use their positions to advance the economic interests of their benefactors. That's how quietly, almost invisibly, through both Democrats and Republicans, the silent march of globalism has come to almost dominate all areas of our lives. The WTO, the IMF, and other international pacts, eat out the hearts of local communities, by supporting the efforts of international trade, while carving out spaces where little vestiges of democracy once reigned. And war, because it is used by States to mobilize people in ways they wouldn't accept otherwise, is but an instrument in this global trade war. I mean, seriously: does anybody *really* believe that the Iraq war is 'to bring democracy?' The great socialist leader, Emma Goldman, at her anti-war trial (for opposing World War I), said: "Verily poor as we are in democracy, how can we give of it to the world?" [Howard Zinn & Anthony Arnove, *Voices of a People's History of the United States*. (NY: Seven Stories Press, 2004), p. 23]. And even if we accept the present political structure, how can we reconcile this system of 'winner take all' with any idea of democracy? Even in the parliaments of Europe, in England, or France, or Germany, minority parties receive representation in proportion to their voting strength. Here, 51% of the votes means 100% of the power. The 49%? Nothing. We don't really believe in democracy in America, nor have we ever done so. America stands for domination. Period. It is domination that is being exported to the Middle East, just as it was exported 100 years ago to Indian Country; to Oklahoma, and to Mexican territories. 'Democracy' was a bad word then; it's a bad word now, used only as a mask for something else. How else, in the name of democracy, could we be so dominated, so controlled, so acquiescent? How else could we be so powerless, in the face of ever-growing repression? Copyright 2004 Mumia Abu-Jamal ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 7) ENDING THE WAR AND PROTECTING OUR TROOPS AND VETERANS (adopted by the San Francisco Labor Council delegates' meeting on December 13, 2004) From: OWC CAMPAIGN NEWS - distributed by the Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights, c/o S.F. Labor Council, 1188 Franklin St., #203, San Francisco, CA 94109. To SUB/ UNSUBSCRIBE, contact the OWC at Phone: (415) 641-8616 Fax: (415) 440-9297. Visit our website at www.owcinfo.org - Notify if any change in email address. (Please excuse duplicate postings, and please feel free to re-post.) Dear Sisters and Brothers: The resolution below was adopted unanimously by the San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO) regular delegates' meeting on December 13, 2004. The resolution was submitted by Alan Benjamin, Ed Rosario and Howard Wallace, all members of the SFLC Executive Board. The vote on this resolution was preceded by a report by Alan Benjamin on the December 4 National Leadership Assembly of US Labor Against the War. A full report on this leadership gathering is being prepared by the USLAW national organizers and should be available within the next few days. It will be posted on the USLAW website, which is http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org. Unionists and antiwar activists in the S.F. Bay Area are invited to a USLAW Leadership Assembly Report-Back on Wednesday, December 15 at 7 p.m. at the hall of SEIU Local 250 in Oakland: 560 - 20th Street (between San Pablo and Telegraph). Delegates from the Bay Area unions that participated in this Leadership Assembly will report on the decisions of this important gathering. Hope to see you there! Ed Rosario and Alan Benjamin, OWC Co-coordinators PS: This is the last OWC posting that will be signed by Ed Rosario while still in the Bay Area. After more than 20 years on the "Left Coast," Brother Rosario is returning to Brooklyn, N.Y., where he will continue his activities in the labor and social justice movements. At the SFLC delegates' meeting on Dec. 13, SFLC Secretary-Treasurer-Emeritus Walter Johnson presented Brother Rosario with a plaque to honor his distinguished service to the Council during these 20-plus years. Brother Rosario will continue to serve as co-coordinator of the Open World Conference Continuations Committee from New York. He will be sorely missed, however, by all of us in the Bay Area who have grown accustomed to his loud roar at the labor marches and picketlines and his constant presence and leadership in all the struggles waged by working people and our communities in the Bay Area. Hasta pronto, compañero Rosario. -- Alan B. ENDING THE WAR AND PROTECTING OUR TROOPS AND VETERANS (adopted by the San Francisco Labor Council delegates' meeting on December 13, 2004) WHEREAS, the Bush administration carried out an invasion of Iraq using the pretense that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, and therefore posed an immediate threat to the security of the United States. But no evidence has been found that Iraq possessed these weapons or the capability to deploy them, and WHEREAS, the administration has embraced a new and dangerous path of preemptive war without an imminent threat to the United States that has made us less, not more secure, that has stoked rather than reduced the threat of terrorism and that has put Iraqis on a path to civil war and brought them no closer to a democratic society, and WHEREAS, the war and military occupation of Iraq have cost the lives of over 1200 U.S. troops, the wounding and disabling of thousands more, the deaths of an estimated 100,000 Iraqi civilians, casualties among soldiers of other nations, and the devastation of the entire country, and WHEREAS, we recognize the courage of U.S. military personnel, many of whom are members or family of members of our unions. They have faced extraordinary danger and have made huge sacrifices in this war; they now want to come home; and bringing them home is the best means of protecting them, and WHEREAS, the Bush administration has used the Iraq war and national security hysteria as a pretext to create a climate of fear at home, to restrict civil liberties and to attack the rights of workers and unions, and WHEREAS, the war and occupation have cost over two hundred billion dollars, leading directly to cuts in social and human services, education and even benefits for the very veterans of this and other conflicts, while war spending has lined the pockets of immensely wealthy anti-labor corporations, and WHEREAS, the Bush administration has announced the wholesale privatization of Iraqi factories and workplaces, and kept in force a ban on unions in the public sector, to benefit corporate investors at the expense of Iraqi people, and WHEREAS, the Bush administration has divided us here at home while inspiring fear and distrust among other nations of the world community, and has sacrificed the unity and friendship our country enjoyed in the days and months after September 11, and WHEREAS, five national unions (SEIU, AFSCME, CWA, APWU, GCIU), and numerous state labor federations, central labor councils, local unions and other labor bodies representing millions of union members have passed resolutions calling for our troops to be brought home, and WHEREAS, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney has asked the labor movement at every level to discuss important issues, challenges and problems we confront in preparation for the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting in March and the national convention in July, and given that the issues of war and peace and destruction of the social safety net are paramount among them, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the San Francisco Labor Council calls on President Bush to bring our troops home from Iraq now and reject the philosophy of pre-emptive war without a clear imminent threat to the United States, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the San Francisco Labor Council calls on President Bush to provide adequate veterans' benefits and otherwise meet the needs of returning veterans, and our people in general, to jobs, education and healthcare, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the San Francisco Labor Council calls on the National AFL-CIO to demand an an immediate end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq, the return of U.S. troops to their homes and families, and the reordering of national priorities toward peace and meeting human needs, and BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the San Francisco Labor Council submits this resolution to the California Federation of Labor for its concurrence and immediate action, and also calls on the California Federation of Labor to distribute this resolution to all its affiliates for their concurrence and immediate action. (submitted to the San Francisco Labor Council by Alan Benjamin, Ed Rosario and Howard Wallace) ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 8) Israeli Troops Raid Gaza, Told to Target Militants By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) Tue Dec 14, 2004 07:41 AM ET http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7088089&src=eD ialog/GetContent§ion=news GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli troops demolished several Palestinian homes and raided an Islamist stronghold in Gaza City on Tuesday as the army intensified operations in the wake of a deadly militant attack. Growing violence in the occupied Gaza Strip has dampened hopes of a peace breakthrough after Yasser Arafat's death on Nov. 11. Israel ordered more efforts to target militants after an attack that killed five Israeli troops on Sunday. Touring the ruins of the army post blown up on the Gaza-Egypt border, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Israel would keep fighting until the Palestinian Authority began to act against the armed groups. "We will continue this fight against terror until someone else fights the terror," he told reporters. Troops blew up seven homes in the southern Gaza refugee camp of Khan Younis after telling residents to leave, Palestinian witnesses said. The army said it destroyed buildings used as cover for firing rockets and mortars at Jewish settlements. Israeli tanks later rolled up to Gaza City's Shijaia neighborhood, a stronghold of Islamic militant groups sworn to destroying the Jewish state. Gunfire erupted between soldiers and militants who rushed to the scene. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the clash. An Israeli soldier was hurt when a rocket fired by militants hit a collective farm near the Gaza Strip, the army said. PRESSURE ON PALESTINIAN LEADERS Violence in Gaza has soared ahead of a planned Israeli pullout next year from the territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war, but the latest bloodshed has also sent a strong message of militant muscle to new Palestinian leaders. A vote is scheduled on Jan. 9 for a successor to Arafat as Palestinian president. The only candidate with a realistic chance, Mahmoud Abbas, is a veteran official favored by Israel and the United States who is expected to try to revive peace talks that stalled in 2000 before the Palestinian uprising erupted. Resolving one dispute before the elections, Israel and the Palestinians agreed that Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem would cast votes at post offices in the holy city as they did during the last Palestinian election in 1996. Israel has promised to help ensure that the vote goes smoothly, but Sharon said on Monday that there would be no talks with Palestinian leaders unless they managed to rein in militants in a way that Arafat failed to. Criticizing the latest Israeli raids, Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said: "Bullets will breed bullets and hatred will generate more hatred. I urge the Israeli government to resume a meaningful peace process." Regardless of any negotiations, Sharon plans to abandon the Gaza Strip and four of 120 settlements in the West Bank next year under an initiative to "disengage" from the conflict. Palestinians fear Sharon's real aim is to strengthen Israel's hold on the West Bank in exchange for giving up impoverished Gaza, though Western countries support the plan as a possible step to peace. (c) Reuters 2004 ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 9) BUSH CALLS FOR "NEW WORLD ORDER / PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKES" http://www.freepressinternational.com/bushnwo_12112004_87493029871647684.htm l What I want to know is how come this was NOT COVERED in any Television News Media reports. Did you see a T.V. news report on this statement Bush made? If not, why was it not covered? I think I know why. If had been more widely covered, then all of the American public would be on to the real agenda of the Bush administration. In my opinion, Bush's agenda is to create a police-state-based New World Order, as he has said himself, "through pre-emptive action against enemies of democracy." The passing of the Patriot Act II was only the beginning of this agenda. So how many more wars, like the one in Iraq, are planned for our nations future? How many "dissidents" among the American public will be considered "enemies of democracy" for opposing Bush's plans? How many of our own citizens will be taken away in "pre-emptive action against enemies of democracy?" That, is what I'm pondering now. Free Press International 12.11.2004 http://www.freepressinternational.com/bushnwo_12112004_87493029871647684.htm l On December 2, 2004 while President Bush was in Canada, he challenged international leaders to create a 'new world order' through pre-emptive strikes against what he calls, 'enemies of democracy'. The Washington Post (WP) wrote, "President Bush yesterday challenged international leaders to create a new world order, declaring pre-September 11 multilateralism outmoded and asserting that freedom from terrorism will come only through pre-emptive action against enemies of democracy". The title of the WP story is, "Bush Calls For New World Order; Strikes Against Enemies of Democracy". Did you hear the television networks report on Bush's call for a new world order with pre-emptive strikes? ===================================== Bush Calls for Global Cooperation WASHINGTON TIMES | December 2, 2004 By Joseph Curl http://www.infowars.com/articles/us/bush_calls_for_nwo.htm HALIFAX, Nova Scotia - President Bush yesterday challenged international leaders to create a new world order, declaring pre-September 11 multilateralism outmoded and asserting that freedom from terrorism will come only through pre-emptive action against enemies of democracy. In his first major foreign-policy speech since his re-election, the president set out an expansive second-term agenda with three distinct goals: reforming multilateral institutions, prosecuting the war on terrorism and spreading democracy in the Middle East. But even as Mr. Bush urged a new effort by free nations to join forces, he criticized the multilateral process that splintered as his administration moved toward war in the absence of action by the United Nations against former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. "The success of multilateralism is measured not merely by following a process, but by achieving results," Mr. Bush said. "The objective of the U.N. and other institutions must be collective security, not endless debate." The president, who was seated near Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, did not bring up the United States' disagreement with Canada over the U.S.-led Iraq war or chastise other nations that opposed the pre-emptive strike on Saddam, such as France, Germany or Russia. But one day after declaring in Ottawa that Americans on Election Day had endorsed the Bush administration's foreign policy and its doctrine - which calls for pre-emptive action against states that harbor or aid terrorists - the president had a clear message for the rest of the world. "Defense alone is not a sufficient strategy," he said. "There is only one way to deal with enemies who plot in secret and set out to murder the innocent and the unsuspecting: We must take the fight to them." The president declared that multilateralism has, of late, resulted in little action. Although he vowed to make an effort to build coalitions with foreign powers, he said those efforts must be geared toward results. "My country is determined to work as far as possible within the framework of international organizations, and we're hoping that other nations will work with us to make those institutions more relevant and more effective in meeting the unique threats of our time," he said. While applauding Canada's expansive military role in the world, with its peacekeeping troops in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Haiti, Sudan, Cyprus and the Middle East, Mr. Bush recalled Canada's pre-emptive entry into World War II, noting, "Some Canadians argued that Canada had not been attacked and had no interest in fighting a distant war." The Canadian prime minister echoed Mr. Bush's view of the post-September 11 world, saying the terrorist attacks on America "have redefined many realities in the world and on our own continent." "We're in a war against terrorism, and we are in it together, Americans and Canadians. ... Together we have come to realize that the world is indeed smaller since 9/11. It's more complex, perilous, more challenging," Mr. Martin said. Both leaders called for renewed efforts in prosecuting the war on terrorism. "In the new era the threat is different, but our duties are the same. Our enemies have declared their intentions - and so have we. Peaceful nations must keep the peace by going after the terrorists," Mr. Bush said. He also called on all free nations to become more involved in spreading democracy in the Middle East. "By taking the side of reformers and democrats in the Middle East, we will gain allies in the war on terror and isolate the ideology of murder and help to defeat the despair and hopelessness that feeds terror. The world will become a much safer place as democracy advances," Mr. Bush said. But again, he urged all parties to avoid the endless debate over the decades-old issue, dismissing past efforts to accept small compromises over borders and settlement sites. "This approach has been tried before without success," he said. "The Palestinian people deserve a peaceful government that truly serves their interests, and the Israeli people need a true partner in peace." The president caused a bit of a stir when he mentioned the U.S. missile-defense program, which many Canadians oppose. The first U.S. missile bases in the shield have been set up in Alaska and California - and with Canada in between, the question of whether Canada will help out could become a sensitive point. Mr. Martin told reporters after Mr. Bush had left that whatever his government decides, it "will be in Canada's interests. We are a sovereign nation, and we will make our own decisions on our airspace," he said, but added, "We are opposed to the weaponization of space." During his speech, Mr. Bush was conciliatory toward Canada and its prime minister, who replaced Jean Chretien, a vehement opponent to the war in Iraq. He said that because the United States and Canada are neighbors that are engaged in "more multilateral institutions than perhaps any two nations on Earth" and conduct $1 billion in trade each day, "when frustrations are vented, we must not take it personally." Mr. Bush visited Halifax because on September 11, 2001, about 33,000 passengers on airplanes bound for U.S. airports were diverted to Canadian provinces, including Nova Scotia. "You opened your homes and your churches to strangers, you brought food, you set up clinics, you arranged for calls to their loved ones, and you asked for nothing in return," the president said. "Thank you for your kindness to America in an hour of need." Mr. Martin replied, "Well, Mr. President, that's what neighbors do." ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 10) US adopts National ID: Homeland Security Now In charge of Regulations for all US States Drivers Licenses and Birth Certificates Sent: Monday, December 13, 2004 11:59 PM Subject: Fwd: Congress Passes Law Mandating National ID Cards Jonathan Wheeler | December 10 2004 http://www.infowars.com/articles/ps/intelligence_bill_natl_id.htm In a chilling act more reminiscent of the now defunct Soviet Union or the Nazi regime of Adolph Hitler, the United States Congress passed legislation yesterday that requires the States to surrender their regulatory rights over driver's licenses and birth certificates to The Department of Homeland Security. The massive US Intelligence Reform Bill weighed in at over 3,000 pages and though unread by individual Members of either the House or Senate nevertheless passed all of the legislative hurdles needed in order to become law. President Bush lobbied hard for these provisions, only objecting when Senator Sensenbrenner attempted to require these same provisions for illegal aliens but which the President opposed. This provision was dropped from the final bill. Beginning in 2005, the Department of Homeland Security will issue new uniformity regulations to the States requiring that all Drivers Licenses and Birth Certificates meet minimal Federal Standards with regard to US citizen information, including biometric security provisions. Added to currently existing Federal Laws and Supreme Court rulings American citizens when born will be issued a Social Security Number that will be included on their Birth Certificates, along with DNA biometric markers. All birth certificates will also be registered in a Federal Government database maintained by the Department of Homeland Security. No child will be allowed enrollment to schools or be entitled to either State of Federal Government benefits programs without first presenting a certified Homeland Security registered Birth Certificate. Drivers Licenses will also contain DNA biometric markers and include the holders Social Security Number and be required for receiving and applying for all State and Federal benefits programs. Previous Supreme Court rulings have also upheld State and Federal Law Enforcement authorities right to request Identification from any American citizen, for any reason and at any time as not being violations of their, the citizens, constitutionally protected rights. Major Banks and credit card companies have applauded the adoption of a National ID system as being important to counter fraud and increasing instances of identity theft. National ID cards with biometric markers will eliminate them from having to issue Credit and Debit cards, which for the first time in US history have surpassed the usage of checks and cash. Utilizing The Department of Homeland Securities centralized federal database, Banks and credit card companies will only require the presentation of a citizens Driver's License to make purchases as all of the persons financial information, including credit and cash balances, will already be known in 'real time'. (The combining of Homeland Security and Banking databases on citizen's balances and purchases, along with their past and present purchasing information, has been allowed under previous Federal Laws including the Patriot Act.) Also included in this bill is a law to require The Department of Homeland Security to establish a separate ID system for citizens to use prior to boarding airplanes, and which is eerily reminiscent of the Soviet and Nazi regimes dreaded Internal Passport. Never before in our history have the words of Benjamin Franklin been so correct when he stated: "people willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both". Today, December 9, 2004 will be one of those moments in time that future historians will look back on and pin point as being the day that the United States of American, and as it was founded by its forefathers, ceased to exist. "Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them. These wrongs will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress." Frederick Douglas ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 11) US Airways Workers Authorize Job Actions By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) Filed at 9:35 p.m. ET December 13, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-US-Airways-Flight-Attendants.htm l?oref=login&pagewanted=print&position= WASHINGTON (AP) -- Flight attendants at US Airways have overwhelmingly authorized their union to engage in strike-related activities should a federal bankruptcy court permit management to cancel its collective bargaining agreement with its employees. Pat Friend, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, said Monday that flight attendants would engage in intermittent strikes on flights, with the union choosing the dates and locations. US Airways last month asked a bankruptcy judge in Alexandria, Va., to cancel the collective bargaining agreement for flight attendants and several other unions. The airline wants to impose a 15 percent pay cut on the flight attendants, with no pay raise until 2008, and eliminate their pension plan. US Airways, bankrupt for the second time in two years, is seeking to transform itself into a low-cost carrier in the mold of America West or JetBlue . The airline says it needs to drastically cut worker pay, change work rules, terminate its remaining pension plans and eliminate most medical benefits for retirees to become competitive with such airlines. Christina Ulosevich, manager of employee communications for US Airways, said the airline is continuing to negotiate with flight attendants and wants an agreement both sides can accept without a court ruling. She also said the company's position is that a strike by the flight attendants is illegal under the current contract. About 5,200 AFA flight attendants work for US Airways. Copyright 2004 The Associated Press ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 12) If you go to http://www.narconews.com/petras1.html "Dirty Money" Foundation of U.S. Growth and Empire Size and Scope of Dirty Money Laundering by Big U.S. Banks From La Jornada, May 19, 2001 By James Petras The first two paragraphs state: "There is a consensus among U.S. Congressional Investigators, former bankers and international banking experts that U.S. and European banks launder between $500 billion and $1 trillion of dirty money annually, half of which is laundered by U.S. banks alone. "As Senator Levin summarizes the record: 'Estimates are that $500 billion to $1 trillion of international criminal proceeds are moved internationally and deposited into bank accounts annually. It is estimated half of that money comes to the United States.'" These were the estimates in the year 2000. Imagine what they are like now, since Afghanistan is now the world's largest producer of Heroin. The CIA involvement with drugs is big business and is practically the only force capable to bring drugs of the magnitude that exists in the United States today. When one understands the impligation of these facts, one can realize why the attacks upon Gary Webb's integrity were so vicious and cruel. And why it appears that his gun shot wounds to have been self inflicted. (Or did the CIA make it look thatway?) The major media bears some of the blame for failing to tell the true story of Coxain and the CIA. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 13) GI whistle-blower treated like madman Whitewashing torture? A veteran sergeant who told his commanding officers that he witnessed his colleagues torturing Iraqi detainees was strapped to a gurney and flown out of Iraq - even though there was nothing wrong with him. By David DeBatto Dec. 8, 2004 | On June 15, 2002, Sgt. Frank "Greg" Ford, a counterintelligence agent in the California National Guard's 223rd Military Intelligence (M.I.) Battalion stationed in Samarra, Iraq, told his commanding officer, Capt. Victor Artiga, that he had witnessed five incidents of torture and abuse of Iraqi detainees at his base, and requested a formal investigation. Thirty-six hours later, Ford, a 49-year-old with over 30 years of military service in the Coast Guard, Army and Navy, was ordered by U.S. Army medical personnel to lie down on a gurney, was then strapped down, loaded onto a military plane and medevac'd to a military medical center outside the country. Although no "medevac" order appears to have been written, in violation of Army policy, Ford was clearly shipped out because of a diagnosis that he was suffering from combat stress. After Ford raised the torture allegations, Artiga immediately said Ford was "delusional" and ordered a psychiatric examination, according to Ford. But that examination, carried out by an Army psychiatrist, diagnosed him as "completely normal." A witness, Sgt. 1st Class Michael Marciello, claims that Artiga became enraged when he read the initial medical report finding nothing wrong with Ford and intimidated the psychiatrist into changing it. According to Marciello, Artiga angrily told the psychiatrist that it was a "C.I. [counterintelligence] or M.I. matter" and insisted that she had to change her report and get Ford out of Iraq. Documents show that all subsequent examinations of Ford by Army mental-health professionals, over many months, confirmed his initial diagnosis as normal. An officer at the California Office of the Adjutant General in Sacramento, Calif., Sgt. Maj. Patrick Hammond, has known Ford for over 15 years during their service in the California National Guard. Hammond said, "I have never had any reason to question his honesty and I don't do so now." This reporter served in the military with Ford in Iraq for seven months and can also attest that he is sane and level-headed. Ford, who has since left the military, claims that his superiors shipped him out of the country to prevent him from exposing the abusive behavior. "They were determined to protect their own asses no matter who they had to take down," he says. Col. C. Tsai, a military doctor who examined Ford in Germany and found nothing wrong with him, told a film crew for Spiegel Television that he was "not surprised" at Ford's diagnosis. Tsai told Spiegel that he had treated "three or four" other U.S. soldiers from Iraq that were also sent to Landstuhl for psychological evaluations or "combat stress counseling" after they reported incidents of detainee abuse or other wrongdoing by American soldiers. Artiga and other higher-ups in the 223rd M.I. Battalion deny Ford's charges. But in the aftermath of the Abu Ghraib scandal, federal agencies including the Department of Defense, the Army's Criminal Investigation Command (CID), and the FBI are finally looking into them. The Department of the Army's Office of the Inspector General has launched an investigation, according to Ford and his attorney, Kevin Healy, who have been contacted by investigators. If Ford's allegations are proven, the Army would be faced with evidence that its prisoner abuse problem is even more widespread than previously acknowledged -- and that some of its own officers not only turned a blind eye to abuses but actively participated in covering them up. The 223rd M.I. Battalion was one of the first divisions to enter Iraq after the U.S. "Shock and Awe" aerial bombardment ended, in mid-April 2003. (I also served in that unit in-country from April through October 2003. I met Ford in February 2003, at Fort Bragg, N.C., and continued to stay in contact with him until he was shipped out of the country. I have also since left the military.) The battalion's mission was to collect counterintelligence. Its agents, highly trained soldiers responsible for force protection and for investigating national security crimes committed against the Army, were divided into small units called Tactical Human Intelligence Teams, or THTs. Every day, these teams went out from their forward operating bases in Iraq and interacted with the local people in an effort to gather critical intelligence on such matters as the location of conventional and unconventional weapons and the whereabouts of the fugitives depicted on the Pentagon's 55-most-wanted playing cards. It was arguably one of the most sensitive and important jobs in the entire Iraqi theater of operations. As the team sergeant of his THT, Ford was second in command of his four-person team and responsible for training, discipline, logistics and supervision of day-to-day operations. He was also the team's designated combat life saver, or medic. Ford spent his first weeks in Iraq at Balad Air Base, also known as Camp Anaconda, about 50 kilometers north of Baghdad along the Tigris. In early May, he was assigned to a THT that was headed for Samarra, another 20 kilometers to the northeast. An ancient trading center that dates to the Mesopotamian era, Samarra was known as a hotbed of Sunni Arab loyalists, ex-Baath Party officials, and Islamist extremists. The two-story police station the Army occupied was located in the center of town, closely surrounded by taller buildings, giving anyone who cared to fire on the Americans an excellent field in which to do so. And fire they did. Almost every night, Ford and his teammates would be forced to dive from their bunks for cover as mortar rounds rocked the compound. The concussions shook the foundation and broke whatever glass windows remained. Fortunately, the Iraqi mortar crews proved wildly inaccurate, and no Americans were killed, but several were wounded and the attacks never let up. There was immense pressure on the THT to find out who was behind the attacks and to supply the information to the "gunslingers" of the 4th Infantry Division. It was in that environment that Ford says he saw the incidents that led to the end of his long military career. full: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/12/08/coverup/index.html Message: 21 Date: Wed, 08 Dec 2004 08:52:27 -0500 From: Louis Proyect To: marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Message-ID: <6.2.0.14.0.20041208085044.01f48080@pop.panix.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Salon.com Louis Proyect Marxism list: www.marxmail.org ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 14) NLM Introduces New Environmental Site In a message dated 12/14/04 10:18:21 AM, holtlabor@igc.org writes: The National Library of Medicine (NLM) announced an interactive Web site that showson mapsthe amount and location of certain toxic chemicals released into the environment in the U.S. The site, called TOXMAP (http://toxmap.nlm.nih.gov), is free and requires no registration. TOXMAP focuses on the geographic distribution of chemical releases, their relative amounts, and their trends over time. This release data comes from industrial facilities around the U.S., as reported annually to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). TOXMAP also links to NLM_s extensive collection of toxicology and environmental health references, as well as to a rich resource of data on hazardous chemical substances in its TOXNET databases (http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov). There are also fact sheets and summaries about the various chemicals, written by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. NLM has created a number of consumer-oriented Web sites in the last several years. TOXMAP joins Web resources for consumer health information (MedlinePlus.gov), research studies (ClinicalTrials.gov), and older Americans (NIHSeniorHealth.gov). Source: National Library of Medicine --- Shannon Sheppard, MLIS Director Holt Labor Library 50 Fell St. San Francisco, CA 94102 phone: (415) 241-1370 email: holtlabor@holtlaborlibrary.org web: http://www.holtlaborlibrary.org ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 15) Rights Group Reports Deaths of Men Held by U.S. in Afghanistan DETAINEES By CARLOTTA GALL KABUL, Afghanistan December 14, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/14/international/asia/14abuse.html KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec.13 - Human Rights Watch said Monday that new cases of deaths of men in American custody in Afghanistan had come to light. It accused the Defense Department of operating outside the law there and failing to investigate abuses, including killings. In an open letter to Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, Human Rights Watch, which is based in New York, described the deaths of three detainees, including a member of the newly established Afghan Army. Six men are now known to have died in American custody here, and only two people have been charged in the deaths, the organization said. The detention system operated by American forces in Afghanistan continues to operate outside the rule of law, the letter said. The United States continues to hold Afghan detainees in legal limbo and in many cases incommunicado, in violation of American obligations under the international laws of armed conflict and applicable Afghan law, it said. Accusations of abuse and arbitrary detention continue to surface at American bases around Afghanistan, it added. Failure to investigate and prosecute abuses created a culture of impunity among some interrogators, and allowed abuse to spread, in particular to the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, the organization said in a statement issued with the letter. "It's time for the United States to come clean about crimes committed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan," said Brad Adams, Asia division director for Human Rights Watch. The three deaths include one that occurred in 2002 but was disclosed only last week after internal Department of Defense documents were released to the American Civil Liberties Union in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. According to the documents, an Afghan man was killed in or before September 2002 by four American soldiers - a captain and three sergeants - after they detained him on suspicion of following their movements in Afghanistan. The case was investigated in 2002, but no one was prosecuted, Human Rights Watch said. The other two cases emerged in news media reports, Human Rights Watch said. It said Jamal Naseer, of the American-backed official Afghan Army, was killed in March 2003 after he and seven other soldiers were mistakenly arrested by American forces and taken to a base in Gardez. They were badly beaten, Human Rights Watch said, citing reports by the United Nations office in Gardez, the office of the attorney general of the Afghan Army, and the nongovernmental Crimes of War project. The Army Criminal Investigative Command opened an inquiry into the case in May 2004 but has not charged anyone, Human Rights Watch said. The latest case, Human Rights Watch said, is of Sher Mohammad Khan, who was arrested on Sept. 24, 2004, in a raid on his family's home near Khost in eastern Afghanistan and died the next day at an American base. His brother was fatally shot by American forces in the raid, the group said. Relatives reported bruises on Sher Mohammad Khan's body when they retrieved it, Human Rights Watch said, calling for an investigation of the death. Human Rights Watch had already documented the deaths of three other detainees. Two Afghan men died in detention at the United States air base at Bagram in December 2002, and American pathologists ruled at the time that their deaths were homicides. A third man, Abdul Wali, died in June 2003 in a forward operating base in Kunar Province. Only two people have been charged in the deaths, and the inquiries have stalled, the rights group said. A Pentagon spokesman in Washington, Lt. Col. Joe Yoswa, declined to comment on the letter to Mr. Rumsfeld, but said that as a matter of practice, "we go out and investigate the deaths of all detainees." Chris Grey, of the Army Criminal Investigation Command, said investigators had looked into the deaths of eight detainees in American military custody, Reuters reported. Other reports of deaths of detainees in Afghanistan were not mentioned by Human Rights Watch. In a case documented by the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, an Afghan named Abdul Wahed died in the American special forces bases at Gereshk in November 2003. He was tortured by the Afghan commander guarding the base and then given to American forces when close to death, the United States military has acknowledged. No charges have been brought, and the Afghan commander continues to work with the special forces at the base, Human Rights Watch said. Copyright 2004 The New York Times ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 16) ITALIAN.QUEER.DANGEROUS a one-man show featuring Tommi Avicolli Mecca directed by Francesca Prada Just a quick note to let you know that my one-man show, "Italian.Queer.Dangerous" will open at the Sims Center on January 14 and continue through the 29th, Friday and Saturday nights only. Info below. Please reserve tickets ASAP since space is limited. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Thanks and hope to see you all soon...Please feel free to share this e-mail with your lists...in other words, send it around, please! tommi ITALIAN.QUEER.DANGEROUS a one-man show featuring Tommi Avicolli Mecca directed by Francesca Prada JANUARY 14-29 (Friday and Saturday nights only: 14, 15; 21, 22; 28, 29) JON SIMS CENTER, 1519 Mission/between Van Ness and 11th 8pm, $5-10 sliding scale (no one turned away) seating is limited, for reservations: 415-554-0402 Through monologue and spoken word, well-known San Francisco queer activist and writer Tommi Avicolli Mecca tells his story of growing up gay in South Philly's Little Italy. At age 19, fired up with new pride in being gay, he came out to the world--and his traditional Roman Catholic southern Italian famiglia--on a TV talk show. The rest is history, and the subject of this performance.
Monday, December 13, 2004
BAUAW NEWSLETTER-MONDAY, DEC. 13, 2004---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* STOP THE WAR ON IRAQ! BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW! ALL OUT JANUARY 20TH, 5:00 P.M., CIVIC CENTER, S.F. NEXT BAY AREA UNITED AGAINST WAR MEETING: SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 11AM CENTRO DEL PUEBLO 474 VALENCIA STREET (NEAR 16TH STREET IN SAN FRANCISCO) ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win. Mahatma Gandhi ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* THIS ISSUE IS EXTRA LONG DUE TO THE SUMMARY OF THE PATRIOT ACT II (#10) AND AN ESSAY BY BY ARUNDHATI ROY, "People vs. Empire Only global resistance from below can counter repressive states." (#13) ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 1) DEAD AND BURIED ** Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches ** ** http://dahrjamailiraq.com ** The Sunday Herald 12 December 2004 http://www.sundayherald.com/46543 2) U.S. Military Obstructing Medical Care Inter Press Service Dahr Jamail BAGHDAD ** Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches ** ** http://dahrjamailiraq.com ** December 13, 2004 3) Pentagon Weighs Use of Deception in a Broad Arena By THOM SHANKER and ERIC SCHMITT WASHINGTON December 13, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/13/politics/13info.html?oref=login 4) First Inauguration Since 9/11 Spurs Tightest Security By MICHAEL JANOFSKY WASHINGTON December 13, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/13/politics/13security.html 5) Suicide Car Bombing Kills 13 in Baghdad By KATARINA KRATOVAC Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) Dec 13, 11:42 AM EST http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ?SITE=MSCLE&SECTION=HOME 6) Bush Regime Put On Notice - 'Cuba Is No Iraq!' Several Million Cubans In Defense Exercise Issue Invasion Warning To Washington. From: Mart VSCampaign@yahoogroups.com http://www.turkishpress.com/world/news.asp?id=041212194641.rbeqjbr4.xml 7) Illness linked to area ZIP codes SUNY Albany professor's study maps health risks and pollutants. Corydon Ireland Staff writer http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041209/NEWS 01/412090334/1002/NEWS 8) EMERGENCY! SPREAD THE WORD: STOP LENNAR'S BULLDOZERS! NO DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUNTERS POINT SHIPYARD UNTIL IT'S CLEAN! ATTEND TUESDAY'S BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING! BRING A CROWD! 9) Army Doctors Scrambling, Report Says The military medical system has been overwhelmed by the scope and severity of injuries among troops, a health expert writes. By Esther Schrader Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ December 9, 2004 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-casualties9dec09,1,72875 22.story 10) Subject: Fw: Secret Patriot Act II to give Hitler's Powers to Bush This Act will mean that our founding fathers will get their wish --a constitution without the Bill of Rights! Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 09:26:08 -0600 (Central Standard Time) From: "Bob Nichols" Details To: "Bob Nichols" 11) Unicef laments state of world's children www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20041209.wunicef1209/BNStory/Int ernational/ "It said Millennium Development Goals, which aim to improve the world through human development by 2015 and were agreed to by the UN's 191 member states in 2000, could be achieved at an annual cost of $40-billion to $70 billion. In comparison, world spending on military in 2003 was $956-billion." 12) U.S. Soldiers' Grilling Fields By Tim Harper The Toronto Star More talk heard of desertion, disgruntlement. `Backdoor draft' adding to worries for some troops. Sunday 12 December 2004 http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/121304X.shtml 13) People vs. Empire Only global resistance from below can counter repressive states By Arundhati Roy December 7, 2004 http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/print/1740/ 14) Subject: HE COMMITTED SUICIDE? YEAH. RIGHT. gary hicks Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2004 08:08:40 -0800 (PST) From: gary hicks To: newmajority announce THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 1) DEAD AND BURIED ** Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches ** ** http://dahrjamailiraq.com ** The Sunday Herald 12 December 2004 http://www.sundayherald.com/46543 *EYEWITNESS: Iraq's civilian body count may go officially undocumented but the widows and the orphans know the true extent of the toll By Dahr Jamail in Sadr City, Baghdad* The Sadr City area of Baghdad is a sprawling slum of nearly three million people. Predominantly Shia and the most poverty stricken area of the capital, most residents here celebrated the fall of Saddam Hussein and his Sunni dominated Ba'athist regime. For it was the Shia people of Sadr, perhaps more than any other group in Baghdad, that suffered the most under his brutal regime. In a small, one-room house in Sadr City lives Sua'ad, a widow with eight young children. "I can do nothing but look at my children and cry," she says, weeping throughout our conversation. "What are children to do without their father? No matter what I do, things will never be the same again." Three months ago Sua'ad's 30-year-old husband, Abdullah Rahman, was killed after being caught in crossfire between US forces and the Mahdi Army of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. In Sadr City - renamed from Saddam City - the economy is in ruins. Electricity supplies are erratic and the water is so dirty that there are constant outbreaks of cholera, Hepatitis-E and diarrhoea. Like many neighborhoods across Iraq, Sadr has seen more than its fair share of suffering. This the sort of place where civilian casualty figures, while difficult to monitor, are undoubtedly high. Last month The Lancet, the leading British medical journal, published a report that estimated there had been some 98,000 civilian casualties in Iraq as a result of the US-led invasion and occupation. The report which came in the wake of another assessment carried out by the non-governmental group Iraq Body Count (IBC) has resulted in calls to Tony Blair from a number of former diplomats, military men and academics to hold an inquiry into civilian deaths in Iraq. They say the UK like the US has a duty enshrined in international law to record the deaths - a claim Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has refuted. "This is an estimate relying on media reports, and which we do not regard as reliable. It includes civilian deaths at the hands of terrorists as well as of the coalition forces," insisted Straw in a written statement to the Commons in November. Whatever the real truth of the figures, they do little to convey the grief and economic impact on families like that of Sua'ad Rahman who lose a father, husband or child. "His last day he worked his job selling used clothing," Sua'ad said quietly. Abdullah had come home for his break to eat with his family. He played with his seven-year-old son, then went outside to see what was happening when fighting broke out. He returned shortly thereafter to tell Sua'ad he needed to go to close his small shop. Fighter jets thundered overhead dropping bombs, and small arms fire was audible across the streets. "His shop is all we have," explained Sua'ad, "I asked him not to go, but he said he would be right back." But her husband never came back. Sua'ad's oldest child, Ahmed, is 14. Their small house is nearly empty. Aside from infrequent hand-outs from neighbours, they have no income. "He was our father, and we are needing him so much," she explains holding her arms out while a small child sits in her lap, "He was everything in my life." She pauses to catch her breath, but never stops weeping. "We are living alone now. I have four children with asthma. Sometimes they can't breathe and I can do nothing for them. All I do is stand with them and cry. He was helping me by taking them to the hospital and bringing the medicines, but now I am knocking on the doors of the neighbours." She looks outside as tears run down her cheeks. "God will revenge the Americans for me. Now I have eight orphans, and I am the ninth. As they make us orphans, God is going to kick them out of our country. My husband did nothing." Sua'ad lives in the northern section of Sadr City, an area which saw the fiercest clashes last summer. While the US military does not keep a count of Iraqi casualties, the office of Muqtada al-Sadr estimates that 800 people were killed in the fighting in this area last summer before a ceasefire was reached. The area was frequently bombed by US warplanes and helicopters. People are still wounded from unexploded cluster bombs found in small alleys between the cramped houses. Across the street from Sua'ad, where crowded markets selling used clothing and shoes on old wooden stalls clutter the sidewalks, is the home of the Haider family. Fifty-year-old mother, Um Haider lives with 21 other family members and relatives in an old, three-room house which does not have a toilet. Pools of raw sewage stand near the outer walls of the ramshackle building. Her husband was killed in the Iran war, and her 20-year-old son, Ahmed, was killed during recent fighting in their area. His widow is pregnant and expecting a baby in the next month. "He was so polite and religious, but he was not a fighter," said Um Haider, crying as she spoke of her dead son. The day Ahmed was killed a tank had been destroyed by the Mahdi Army. She went outside with him to see what happened, and he was struck in the head by shrapnel from a rocket fired at fighters from a US helicopter. "His blood was all over me while he prayed for God to save us," she said. While her oldest son, Ali, and his two uncles work as labourers to support the family, Um Haider goes to her son's grave each day. Abu Khadim, sitting nearby sipping tea, spoke of his nephew's death. "The Americans were taking everyone from the hospital in Sadr City if they were wounded, because they thought they were all Mahdi Army," he said. "So we took him out of Sadr City. But the next day, he died anyway." Ali, Ahmed's 22-year-old brother, expressed the rage held by so many Iraqis who have lost loved ones to coalition forces. "When I grow older I will buy a Kalashnikov and I'm going to use it to shoot the Americans," he said. In another small home in the area, Salam Mussa lives with the six daughters, two sons and wife left behind by his brother Naim who was killed. Thirty-two year-old Naim was at the nearby market when fighting broke out between the Mahdi Army and occupation forces. He was shot by US troops. "I make $110 per month, but it is not enough," said Salam while telling of how the family gets by. "When the kids hear tanks outside they say these are the people who killed their father." Naim's mother Kussir wept as her husband recalled their dead son. "This is the third of my kids to be killed. The Americans are savages. They do nothing but bring injustice." Rheem, Naim's widow, cannot stop crying either. "My children keep looking at the pictures and remembering him too much. Zenab is the worst. Every day she is looking at the pictures and asking me when he'll come home." Zenab, a four-year-old girl wearing rumpled clothes, sat nearby close to tears. "I don't love the Americans because they shot my father. They frighten me with their helicopters every day. I want my dad to come back and have lunch with us again. That's all I want." More writing, photos and commentary at http://dahrjamailiraq.com You can visit http://dahrjamailiraq.com/email_list/ to subscribe or unsubscribe to the email list. Or, you can unsubscribe by sending an email to iraq_dispatches-request@dahrjamailiraq.com and write unsubscribe in the subject or the body of the email. (c)2004 Dahr Jamail. All images and text are protected by United States and international copyright law. If you would like to reprint Dahr's Dispatches on the web, you need to include this copyright notice and a prominent link to the DahrJamailIraq.com website. Any other use of images and text including, but not limited to, reproduction, use on another website, copying and printing requires the permission of Dahr Jamail. Of course, feel free to forward Dahr's dispatches via email. Iraq_Dispatches mailing list http://lists.dahrjamailiraq.com/mailman/listinfo/iraq_dispatches ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 2) U.S. Military Obstructing Medical Care Inter Press Service Dahr Jamail BAGHDAD ** Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches ** ** http://dahrjamailiraq.com ** December 13, 2004 BAGHDAD, Dec 13 (IPS) - The U.S. military has been preventing delivery of medical care in several instances, medical staff say. Iraqi doctors at many hospitals have reported raids by coalition forces. Some of the more recent raids have been in Amiriyat al-Fallujah, about 10km to the east of Fallujah, the town to which U.S. forces have laid bloody siege. Amiriyat al-Fallujah has been the source of several reported resistance attacks on U.S. forces. The main hospital in Amiriyat al-Fallujah was raided twice recently by U.S. soldiers and members of the Iraqi National Guard, doctors say. "The first time was November 29 at 5:40am, and the second time was the following day," said a doctor at the hospital who did not want to give his real name for fear of U.S. reprisals. In the first raid about 150 U.S. soldiers and at least 40 members of the Iraqi National Guard stormed the small hospital, he said. "They were yelling loudly at everyone, both doctors and patients alike," the young doctor said. "They divided into groups and were all over the hospital. They broke the gates outside, they broke the doors of the garage, and they raided our supply room where our food and supplies are. They broke all the interior doors of the hospital, as well as every exterior door." He was then interrogated about resistance fighters, he said. "The Americans threatened to do here what they did in Fallujah if I didn't cooperate with them," he said. Another doctor, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that all of the doors of the clinics inside the hospital were kicked in. All of the doctors, along with the security guard were handcuffed and interrogated for several hours, he said. The two doctors pointed to an ambulance with a shattered back window. "When the Americans raided our hospital again last Tuesday at 7pm, they smashed one of our ambulances," the first doctor said. His colleague pointed to other bullet-riddled ambulances. "The Americans have snipers all along the road between here and Fallujah," he said. "They are shooting our ambulances if they try to go to Fallujah." In nearby Saqlawiyah, Dr Abdulla Aziz told IPS that occupation forces had blocked any medical supplies from entering or leaving the city. "They won't let any of our ambulances go to help Fallujah," he said. "We are out of supplies and they won't let anyone bring us more." The pattern of military interference in medical work has apparently persisted for many months. During the April siege of Fallujah, doctors there reported similar difficulties. "The marines have said they didn't close the hospital, but essentially they did," said Dr. Abdul Jabbar, orthopedic surgeon at Fallujah General Hospital. "They closed the bridge which connects us to the city, and closed our road. The area in front of our hospital was full of their soldiers and vehicles." This prevented medical care reaching countless patients in desperate need, he said. "Who knows how many of them died that we could have saved." He too said the military had fired on civilian ambulances. They had also fired at the clinic he had been working in since April, he said. "Some days we couldn't leave, or even go near the door because of the snipers. They were shooting at the front door of the clinic." Dr. Jabbar said U.S. snipers shot and killed one of the ambulance drivers of the clinic where he worked during the fighting. "We were tied up and beaten despite being unarmed and having only our medical instruments," Asma Khamis al-Muhannadi, a doctor who was present during the U.S. and Iraqi National Guard raid on Fallujah General Hospital told reporters later. She said troops dragged patients from their beds and pushed them against the wall.. "I was with a woman in labour, the umbilical cord had not yet been cut," she said. "At that time, a U.S. soldier shouted at one of the (Iraqi) national guards to arrest me and tie my hands while I was helping the mother to deliver." Other doctors spoke of their experience of the raid. "The Americans shot out the lights in the front of our hospital, they prevented doctors from reaching the emergency unit at the hospital, and we quickly began to run out of supplies and much needed medication," said Dr. Ahmed, who gave only a first name. U.S. troops prevented doctors from entering the hospital on several occasions, he said. Targeting hospitals or ambulances is in direct contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which strictly forbids attacks on emergency vehicles and the impeding of medical operations during war. At several places doctors said U.S. troops had demanded information from medical staff about resistance fighters. "They are always coming here and asking us if we have injured fighters," a doctor at a hospital said. A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad told IPS that routine searches of hospitals are carried out to look for insurgents. He said it has never been the policy of coalition forces to impede medical services in Iraq. More writing, photos and commentary at http://dahrjamailiraq.com You can visit http://dahrjamailiraq.com/email_list/ to subscribe or unsubscribe to the email list. Or, you can unsubscribe by sending an email to iraq_dispatches-request@dahrjamailiraq.com and write unsubscribe in the subject or the body of the email. (c)2004 Dahr Jamail. All images and text are protected by United States and international copyright law. If you would like to reprint Dahr's Dispatches on the web, you need to include this copyright notice and a prominent link to the DahrJamailIraq.com website. Any other use of images and text including, but not limited to, reproduction, use on another website, copying and printing requires the permission of Dahr Jamail. Of course, feel free to forward Dahr's dispatches via email. Iraq_Dispatches mailing list http://lists.dahrjamailiraq.com/mailman/listinfo/iraq_dispatches ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 3) Pentagon Weighs Use of Deception in a Broad Arena By THOM SHANKER and ERIC SCHMITT WASHINGTON December 13, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/13/politics/13info.html?oref=login WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 - The Pentagon is engaged in bitter, high-level debate over how far it can and should go in managing or manipulating information to influence opinion abroad, senior Defense Department civilians and military officers say. Such missions, if approved, could take the deceptive techniques endorsed for use on the battlefield to confuse an adversary and adopt them for covert propaganda campaigns aimed at neutral and even allied nations. Critics of the proposals say such deceptive missions could shatter the Pentagon's credibility, leaving the American public and a world audience skeptical of anything the Defense Department and military say - a repeat of the credibility gap that roiled America during the Vietnam War. The efforts under consideration risk blurring the traditional lines between public affairs programs in the Pentagon and military branches - whose charters call for giving truthful information to the media and the public - and the world of combat information campaigns or psychological operations. The question is whether the Pentagon and military should undertake an official program that uses disinformation to shape perceptions abroad. But in a modern world wired by satellite television and the Internet, any misleading information and falsehoods could easily be repeated by American news outlets. The military has faced these tough issues before. Nearly three years ago, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, under intense criticism, closed the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Influence, a short-lived operation to provide news items, possibly including false ones, to foreign journalists in an effort to influence overseas opinion. Now, critics say, some of the proposals of that discredited office are quietly being resurrected elsewhere in the military and in the Pentagon. Pentagon and military officials directly involved in the debate say that such a secret propaganda program, for example, could include planting news stories in the foreign press or creating false documents and Web sites translated into Arabic as an effort to discredit and undermine the influence of mosques and religious schools that preach anti-American principles. Some of those are in the Middle Eastern and South Asian countries like Pakistan, still considered a haven for operatives of Al Qaeda. But such a campaign could reach even to allied countries like Germany, for example, where some mosques have become crucibles for Islamic militancy and anti-Americanism. Before the invasion of Iraq, the military's vast electronic-warfare arsenal was used to single out certain members of Saddam Hussein's inner circle with e-mail messages and cellphone calls in an effort to sway them to the American cause. Arguments have been made for similar efforts to be mounted at leadership circles in other nations where the United States is not at war. During the cold war, American intelligence agencies had journalists on their payrolls or operatives posing as journalists, particularly in Western Europe, with the aim of producing pro-American articles to influence the populations of those countries. But officials say that no one is considering using such tactics now. Suspicions about disinformation programs also arose in the 1980's when the White House was accused of using such a campaign to destabilize Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya. In the current debate, it is unclear how far along the other programs are or to what extent they are being carried out because of their largely classified nature. Within the Pentagon, some of the military's most powerful figures have expressed concerns at some of the steps taken that risk blurring the traditional lines between public affairs and the world of combat information operations. These tensions were cast into stark relief this summer in Iraq when Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the top commander in Iraq, approved the combining of the command's day-to-day public affairs operations with combat psychological and information operations into a single "strategic communications office." In a rare expression of senior-level questions about such decisions, Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, issued a memorandum warning the military's regional combat commanders about the risks of mingling the military public affairs too closely with information operations. "While organizations may be inclined to create physically integrated P.A./I.O. offices, such organizational constructs have the potential to compromise the commander's credibility with the media and the public," it said. But General Myers's memorandum is not being followed, according to officers in Iraq, largely because commanders there believe they are safely separating the two operations and say they need all the flexibility possible to combat the insurgency. Indeed, senior military officials in Washington say public affairs officers in war zones might, by choice or under pressure, issue statements to world news media that, while having elements of truth, are clearly devised primarily to provoke a response from the enemy. Administration officials say they are increasingly troubled that a nation that can so successfully market its cars and colas around the world, even to foreigners hostile to American policies, is failing to sell its democratic ideals, even as the insurgents they are battling are spreading falsehoods over mass media outlets like the Arab news satellite channel Al Jazeera. "In the battle of perception management, where the enemy is clearly using the media to help manage perceptions of the general public, our job is not perception management but to counter the enemy's perception management," said the chief Pentagon spokesman, Lawrence Di Rita. The battle lines in this debate have been drawn in a flurry of classified studies, secret operational guidance statements and internal requests from Mr. Rumsfeld. Some go to the concepts of information warfare, and some complain about how the government's communications are organized. The fervent debate today is focused most directly on a secret order signed by Mr. Rumsfeld late last year and called "Information Operations Roadmap." The 74-page directive, which remains classified but was described by officials who had read it, accelerated "a plan to advance the goal of information operations as a core military competency." Noting the complexities and risks, Mr. Rumsfeld ordered studies to clarify the appropriate relationship between Pentagon and military public affairs - whose job is to educate and inform the public with accurate and timely information - and the practitioners of secret psychological operations and information campaigns to influence, deter or confuse adversaries. In response, one far-reaching study conducted at the request of the strategic plans and policy branch of the military's Joint Staff recently produced a proposal to create a "director of central information." The director would have responsibility for budgeting and "authoritative control of messages" - whether public or covert - across all the government operations that deal with national security and foreign policy. The study, conducted by the National Defense University, was presented Oct. 20 to a panel of senior Pentagon officials and military officers, including Douglas J. Feith, the under secretary of defense for policy, whose organization set up the original Office of Strategic Influence. No senior officer today better represents the debate over a changing world of military information than Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, an operational commander chosen to be the military's senior spokesman in Iraq after major combat operations shifted to counterinsurgency operations in the spring of 2003. His role rankled many in the military's public affairs community who contend that the job should have gone to someone trained in the doctrine of Army communications and public affairs, rather than to an officer who had spent his career in combat arms. "This is tough business," said General Kimmitt, who now serves as deputy director of plans for the American military command in the Middle East. "Are we trying to inform? Yes. Do we offer perspective? Yes. Do we offer military judgment? Yes. Must we tell the truth to stay credible? Yes. Is there a battlefield value in deceiving the enemy? Yes. Do we intentionally deceive the American people? No." The rub, General Kimmitt said, is operating among those sometimes conflicting principles. "There is a gray area," he said. "Tactical and operational deception are proper and legal on the battlefield." But "in a worldwide media environment," he asked, "how do you prevent that deception from spilling out from the battlefield and inadvertently deceiving the American people?" Mr. Di Rita said the scope of the issue had changed in recent years. "We have a unique challenge in this department," he said, "because four-star military officers are the face of the United States abroad in ways that are almost unprecedented since the end of World War II." He added, "Communication is becoming a capability that combatant commanders have to factor in to the kinds of operations they are doing." Much of the Pentagon's work in this new area falls under a relatively unknown field called Defense Support for Public Diplomacy. This new phrase is used to describe the Pentagon's work in government-wide efforts to communicate with foreign audiences but that is separate from support for generals in the field. At the Pentagon, that effort is managed by Ryan Henry, Mr. Feith's principal deputy for policy. "With the pace of technology and such, and with the nature of the global war on terrorism, information has become much more a part of strategic victory, and to a certain extent tactical victory, than it ever was in the past," Mr. Henry said. However, a senior military officer said that without clear guidance from the Pentagon, the military's psychological operations, information operations and public affairs programs are "coming together on the battlefield like never before, and as such, the lines are blurred." This has led to a situation where "proponents of these elements jockey for position to lead the overall communication effort," the officer said. Debate also continues over proposed amendments to a classified Defense Department directive, titled "3600.1: Information Operations," which would lay down Pentagon policy in coming years. Previous versions of the directive allow aggressive information campaigns to affect enemy leaders, but not those of allies or even neutral states. The current debate is over proposed revisions that would widen the target audience for such missions. Mr. Di Rita, the Pentagon spokesman, says that even though the government is wrestling with these issues, the standard is still to tell to the truth. "Our job is to put out information to the public that is accurate," he said, "and to put it out as quickly as we can." Copyright 2004 The New York Times ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 4) First Inauguration Since 9/11 Spurs Tightest Security By MICHAEL JANOFSKY WASHINGTON December 13, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/13/politics/13security.html WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 - For nearly a year, the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies have been developing what they regard as the most comprehensive security plan ever devised for the inauguration of an American president. From the swearing-in ceremony for President Bush at the Capitol on Jan. 20 to the presidential parade review at the White House to the evening galas, the inaugural events will be the first in decades to be held in wartime and the first since the terrorist attacks of 2001. They will take place at buildings that symbolize American democracy, and hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend, including the highest-ranking government officials, other prominent Americans and dignitaries from around the world. It is hard to imagine, say security experts, a bigger target for terrorists. "This is a very, very serious event," said James J. Varey, a retired Secret Service officer and former chief of the United States Capitol Police who worked on security plans for every inauguration from 1973 to 2001. "The public has every right to be concerned if we've done enough and covered all of our bases." Since President Ronald Reagan's second inauguration, in 1985, nearly four years after he was shot in an assassination attempt, security efforts have steadily intensified. In January 2001, when the country was divided over a disputed presidential election, the newest development was security checkpoints along the parade route on Pennsylvania Avenue, from the Capitol to the White House, to minimize the ability of protesters to disrupt the procession. None did, although several people threw eggs and debris at Mr. Bush's limousine as it left the Capitol grounds. But Mr. Bush's second inauguration is vastly different from his first, with many Americans fearful of another terrorist attack. The atmosphere has prompted officials to devise a detailed security plan that they are reluctant to discuss. Security personnel involved with planning the events, in agencies like the Secret Service, the F.B.I. and the Joint Forces Headquarters for the National Capital Region, declined to disclose any details. But all promised that the efforts would surpass those of the past, building on tactics used at the 2001 inauguration and taking into account the symbolic importance of the day as well as its potential as a target for terrorists. "We're mindful of world events, and we adapt as necessary," said Lorie Lewis, a spokeswoman for the Secret Service, the lead agency in developing the security plan. "We are prepared to handle any potential situation that may arise during this. We're also prepared to respond tactically to any situation." Many of the resources that will protect the inauguration have been in place since the Sept. 11 attacks and the discovery of anthrax in Congressional offices weeks later. Anti-aircraft weapons sit atop a federal building near the White House. Monitors have been installed around the city to measure for airborne radiological, chemical or biological substances. The Capitol Police force has grown by several hundred officers to more than 1,500, a record number, and many of them now carry M-16 rifles. But security officials said safeguards for next month's events would involve more equipment and people than in 2001, including larger numbers of troops and uniformed and plainclothes officers. Besides the armed soldiers who will be deployed around the city, 4,000 others who routinely serve the capital region will be on call. "It's not like we're going from zero to full blast," said Chief Terrance W. Gainer of the Capitol Police. "This reflects a continual, gradual buildup with substantially more coordination, more personnel, more technology and greater sharing of intelligence." Not all involved with security efforts will have specialized assignments, like standing on rooftops along the parade route with binoculars and high-powered rifles. Many will draw more routine duties, such as operating pedestrian checkpoints on streets leading to Pennsylvania Avenue and mingling in crowds to watch for potential disruptions. Beyond increasing personnel, said Mr. Varey, who was part of President Reagan's security detail on the day he was shot in 1981, inauguration planners are also using public awareness as a tool. "This time," he said of planners, "they have made an appeal to the public to be the eyes and ears of security to get the public involved in security on a greater scale than I've ever seen." While terrorist activities are the prime concern, protests are also being addressed in security plans. Several groups say they intend to stage peaceful demonstrations, but political protests sometimes grow violent, as they did at world trade meetings in recent years in Seattle, Miami and Washington. Brian Becker, national coordinator for the Answer Coalition, an antiwar and antiracism group, said he expected thousands of protesters to line the parade route "in a legal, spirited, peaceful demonstration," carrying signs calling for the withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq and for Mr. Bush's impeachment. Another group is planning a protest in which participants would turn their backs to Mr. Bush's limousine as his motorcade passes. Jim McDonald, an organizer, said the action's effectiveness would depend on how close to the barricades the protesters could get. Both organizers worried that security would be so intense and access so difficult that their groups' messages would be muffled. The Bush administration, Mr. McDonald said, "is using national security as a pretext to stifle dissent and to marginalize dissenters." "They're not dissuading Osama bin Laden," he added. "They're dissuading protesters from coming out by creating a climate of fear." Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat and the District of Columbia's delegate to Congress, is working closely with the agencies planning the inauguration and said she was satisfied that security would be strong enough to discourage a terrorist attack. "And terrorists know it," Ms. Norton said. "Besides, they like the element of surprise." She said she worried more about the permanent changes on Capitol Hill and elsewhere, giving the city a militaristic feel that is amplified by the expanded presence of security personnel at important events like an inauguration. "Surveillance cameras are everywhere. You have to do everything you can, and I am willing to abide a lot of extra security for the inauguration. But I just don't think President Bush wants the city to look more like a military show than a celebration." Copyright 2004 The New York Times ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 5) Suicide Car Bombing Kills 13 in Baghdad By KATARINA KRATOVAC Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) Dec 13, 11:42 AM EST http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ?SITE=MSCLE&SECTION=HOME BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A suicide car bomber linked to al-Qaida killed 13 people in Baghdad on Monday, the first anniversary of Saddam Hussein's capture, and clashes resumed in Fallujah, a one-time insurgent stronghold that American forces believed they had conquered. Seven Marines died in combat in western Iraq. The violence underlines the difficulties U.S.-led forces have encountered in the year and a half since Saddam's ouster in trying to end a rampant insurgency and bring the country under control. U.S. military commanders acknowledge they initially underestimated the strength of the insurgent backlash and admit coalition-trained Iraqi security forces are not yet up to securing their own country. The fighting in Anbar, a vast province including Fallujah and Ramadi, was the deadliest for U.S. forces since eight Marines were killed by a car bomb outside Fallujah on Oct. 30. The deaths brought to nearly 1,300 the number of American troops killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. In Baghdad, a militant in an explosives-laden car waiting in line to enter the western Harthiyah gate of the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses the U.S. Embassy and Iraq's interim government, detonated the vehicle as he drove toward the checkpoint, police said. Dr. Mohammed Abdel Satar of Baghdad's Yarmouk Hospital said 13 people were killed and 15 wounded in the suicide blast. The U.S. military said there were no injuries to its troops. Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq group claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement posted on an Islamic web site regularly used by militants. "On this blessed day, a lion from the (group's) Martyrs' Brigade has gone out to strike at a gathering of apostates and Americans in the Green Zone," the group said in a statement, the authenticity of which could not be immediately verified. The international zone has been the scene of frequent insurgent attacks in the past 18 months, killing and wounding dozens of people in car bombings or mortar barrages. In Tarmiyah, north of Baghdad, a car bomb exploded and wrecked two U.S. Humvees, wounding three U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi civilian, Lt. Col. James Hutton said. Jubilant Iraqi men were seen holding up pieces of the Humvees and dancing around their charred hulks, with a large crater blown into the road. In Mishahda, 25 miles north of Baghdad, gunmen attacked an Iraqi National Guard patrol, killing three soldiers and wounding three others. The attackers fled, witnesses said. Iraq's interim President Ghazi al-Yawer said in an interview broadcast Monday that the U.S.-led coalition was wrong to dismantle the Iraqi security forces after last year's invasion. "Definitely dissolving the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior was a big mistake at that time," al-Yawer told British Broadcasting Corp. radio. It would have been more effective to screen out former regime loyalists than to rebuild from scratch, he added. "As soon as we have efficient security forces that we can depend on we can see the beginning of the withdrawal of forces from our friends and partners and I think it doesn't take years, it will take months," he said. U.S. forces retook Fallujah from insurgents in a bloody battle last month in which hundreds died, including at least 54 Americans. The city had fallen under the rule of radical clerics and their mujahedeen fighters after Marines lifted a three-week siege of the city in April. After the latest campaign, U.S. commanders claimed they had broken the back of the insurgency in the mainly Sunni Muslim areas of western Iraq and that Iraqi security forces would start being phased in to take over, but fighting in the region has continued. "We have come light years from April when they (Iraqi security forces) refused to even come out to Fallujah," Marine Lt. Col. Dan Wilson said. "We are in the process of phasing more ISF into Fallujah ... (and) are better equipped to intuitively know who belongs in the city, and who does not." On Sunday, American jets dropped 10 precision-guided missiles on insurgents' positions in Fallujah after militants fought running battles with coalition forces. It was unclear if there were any insurgent casualties. "We are still running into some of these die-hard insurgents that have either come back into the city or have been laying low," spokesman Lt. Lyle Gilbert said. "As we are bringing in contractors to help with the reconstruction of Fallujah, this (fighting) slows the process down." It also was unclear whether the latest Marine deaths were connected with those clashes. The military said only that seven Marines died in two incidents while conducting "security and stabilization operations" in Anbar province. In nearby Ramadi, 30 miles west of Fallujah, at least 10 explosions were heard early Monday, but no details were immediately available on their source nor whether there were any casualties. Insurgents had shelled U.S. forces in the city on Sunday resulting in retaliatory artillery fire by American troops. In the central Iraqi city of Samarra, insurgents attacked patrolling U.S. soldiers with small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. One missed the troops and detonated near a group of children, killing a 9-year-old boy and injuring another child, U.S. military spokesman Maj. Neal O'Brien said. On Sunday, eight of Saddam's 11 top lieutenants went on a hunger strike to demand visits in jail from the International Committee of the Red Cross, military spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Johnson said. The eight had resumed eating by Monday, he said. Saddam had not joined in the protest and remained in good health, Johnson said. (c) 2004 The Associated Press. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 6) Bush Regime Put On Notice - 'Cuba Is No Iraq!' Several Million Cubans In Defense Exercise Issue Invasion Warning To Washington. From: Mart VSCampaign@yahoogroups.com http://www.turkishpress.com/world/news.asp?id=041212194641.rbeqjbr4.xml Several Million Cubans In Defense Exercise In Warning To Washington Cuba put US on notice with Monday's massive war games Adalberto Roque Agence France-Presse December 12, 2004 [ "The determination of the US administration to destroy the (Cuban) revolution however they can, including militarily, determines the necessity of conducting these exercises"] ["Raul Castro said last week the exercises had been planned in part so Washington 'does not commit the errors it committed in Vietnam and that it is now committing in Iraq. So that they (Washington) do not underestimate our people, who are united and more powerful than those in Iraq', he added"] HAVANA - Cuba's armed forces are gearing up for their biggest military exercises in almost 20 years, with hundreds of thousands of troops and millions of civilians expected to take part, officials here said. General Leonardo Andollo told reporters on Sunday that MiG-29 jets, anti-aircraft batteries were to be deployed during the weeklong exercises meant to be a warning to Washington that Cuba would vigorously defend itself against US aggression. The mass war games start Monday and are due to run through to December 19. Senior military and Communist government officials here warned that the administration of US President George W. Bush should take note of the island's war footing. "The determination of the US administration to destroy the (Cuban) revolution however they can, including militarily, determines the necessity of conducting these exercises," Andollo, the deputy chief of Cuba's Armed Revolutionary Forces (FAR), said. His comments come days after President Fidel Castro's brother, Raul, warned Washington should closely observe Cuba's military prowess and civil defenses during the manoeuvres. Raul Castro is the head of the Caribbean island's armed forces. Operation "Bastion 2004" will involve about 100,000 soldiers, sailors and air force personnel as well as some 400,000 reservists. Air force MiG-29s, anti-aircraft units and elite troops will also support the operation, billed as Cuba's biggest military exercises since 1986. Officials said the exercises would also involve several million civilians who will participate in two days of civil defense exercises, including a simulated aerial assault. Raul Castro said last week the exercises had been planned in part so Washington "does not commit the errors it committed in Vietnam and that it is now committing in Iraq. "So that they (Washington) do not underestimate our people, who are united and more powerful than those in Iraq," he added. ===== Carlos Rovira - "Carlito" ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 7) Illness linked to area ZIP codes SUNY Albany professor's study maps health risks and pollutants. Corydon Ireland Staff writer http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041209/NEWS 01/412090334/1002/NEWS New York state residents who live near certain hazardous waste sites - including some in the Rochester area - are up to 20 percent more likely to be hospitalized for respiratory diseases than those who don't. That's according to a study by researchers at the State University of New York at Albany, to be published this month in Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology . Researchers blame the higher disease risk on pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other types of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Buried in landfills or trapped in polluted rivers and lakes, these chemicals can be released into the air and breathed in. The study, using state and federal health and waste site data, identifies 213 ZIP codes statewide that are near or contain waste sites with persistent organic pollutants. Living in these ZIP codes are more than 2.8 million New Yorkers, or about a sixth of the state's population. Included are 13 ZIP codes in the Rochester area, from Brockport, Spencerport and Greece on the west side to Irondequoit, Webster and Clyde, Wayne County on the east. Statewide, 1,382 ZIP codes contained no waste sites, the researchers said; another 244 ZIP codes had or abutted waste sites, but none with persistent organic pollutants. New York City was excluded. Among the hazardous waste sites used in the study's database is the Rochester Embayment, a polluted area comprised of the last six miles of the Genesee River and 35 square miles of Lake Ontario that the river pollutes. Embayment sediments and water contain traces of PCBs, pesticides and dioxins, which are all persistent organic pollutants. It's one of 46 "areas of concern," or toxic hot spots, in the Great Lakes region identified by the International Joint Commission, a binational advisory group. There are six such areas in New York. Linking real estate to disease "is obviously a politically charged thing," said chief study investigator David O. Carpenter, professor of environmental health and toxicology at SUNY Albany. But he said the paper, based on eight years of hospitalization data, has "high statistical power." Looking at it another way, the study "is another reason for citizens to demand action from their government," said Jeff Jones, spokesman for Environmental Advocates of New York, an activist group in Albany. Carpenter's study design was based on studies published in 1999 by Health Canada, which investigated health outcomes for those living near each of Canada's 17 areas of concern. Results showed some elevated risk of immune system, metabolic and thyroid disorders, as well as early or threatened labor. But the studies were not intended "to show cause and effect" between the waste sites and disease rates, a Health Canada spokeswoman said. Carpenter, on the IJC's science advisory board, was asked by the IJC to do a parallel study in the United States. Among the eight Great Lakes states, he said, only New York had data complete enough for investigation. Researchers looked at diagnoses recorded for 2.5 million hospitalizations a year between 1993 and 2000. They also mapped the locations of waste sites in New York. The sites include the six areas of concern, 89 federal Superfund sites in New York listed by the Environmental Protection Agency and 864 state Superfund sites registered by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The researchers found that near toxic waste sites with PCBs and pesticides there were more cases of acute respiratory infections, pneumonia, bronchitis and influenza. They used a more intensive study of ZIP codes along PCB-polluted (and wealthy) areas of the Hudson River, concluding that higher risk of hospitalization was not likely related to smoking rates, diet and exercise habits or socioeconomic status. Carpenter's study also supports an unusual hypothesis: that harm from PCBs and other persistent toxics is from breathing in affected air. Traditionally, exposure to these chemicals has been linked to eating, he said, especially the consumption of fish and other animal products. Nationally, there are attempts to explore the potential links between disease and environmental hazards, an emerging art that some call "medical geography." The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, an arm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has for 14 years been using geographic information system (GIS) technology and health data to assess potential risk to populations living near hazardous waste sites, said spokeswoman Paula Stephens. The New York state Department of Health has mapped some adult cancers by ZIP code statewide, but a spokesman said the department has not yet executed another part of the original project design: an overlay that would match environmental hazards such as landfills and waste sites with each ZIP code. That overlay "is a step that would go far in preventing cancers," said Dr. Leo Trasande, assistant director of the Center for Children's Health and the Environment at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. Research that links health outcomes to environmental factors is rare, he said. But Carpenter, a nationally known public health researcher who once studied the link between electromagnetic fields and childhood cancers, has done his part. In 2000, he published a study that said children in ZIP code areas with persistent organic pollutant waste sites had a 30 percent greater chance of being hospitalized for five infectious diseases, compared with children in "clean" ZIP codes. In 2001, a study by Carpenter on ZIP codes in the Niagara Falls area associated with three areas of concern showed higher rates of hospitalization for thyroid and genital disease in women. Last year, a similar study linked persistent organic pollutant waste sites with low birth weight in newborns. And a student of Carpenter's this year wrote a paper that showed increased rates of hypertension in residents living in ZIP codes within 15 miles of the Rochester Embayment. The paper, by SUNY Albany graduate student Pamela Kruger, has not yet been published. CIRELAND@DemocratandChronicle.com Copyright 2004 Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 8) EMERGENCY! SPREAD THE WORD: STOP LENNAR'S BULLDOZERS! NO DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUNTERS POINT SHIPYARD UNTIL IT'S CLEAN! ATTEND TUESDAY'S BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING! BRING A CROWD! The message below was forwarded to us. It's an excerpt of an update from Sophie's office. It shows that this week's Bay View editorial contains a big mistake. We'd been told that the Board of Supervisors had voted to postpone final action until January on this package of legislation that gives the green light to Shipyard development. NOT TRUE!!! The final vote is coming at this Tuesday's meeting of the Board of Supervisors. And at this point, we have ONLY TWO VOTES against it, Daly and Gonzalez. So it looks like we have two things to do - in a hurry! Lobby the rest of the Supes, especially Ammiano 554-5144, Peskin 554-7450, Sandoval 554-6975 and McGoldrick 554-7410. And we need bodies at the meeting. These items are second on the regular agenda, so people need to be there shortly after 2:00. Spread the word for all supporters of environmental and economic justice to be there: - SF Board of Supervisors Regular Meeting - Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2pm - Legislative Chamber, 2nd Floor, City Hall For folks who need more information about the crisis at the Shipyard, the 12/8 Bay View editorial, despite the error on the date of the vote, should be a big help. It's at http://www.sfbayview.com/120804/lennarbuyssupport120804.shtml . Remind the Supes that at least one of the sponsors of this legislative package, Mayor Gavin Newsom, should recuse himself due to egregious conflicts of interest! That alone should STOP LENNAR'S BULLDOZERS! Willie & Mary Ratcliff SF Bay View (415) 671-0789 From Supervisor Sophie Maxwell: LEGISLATION PENDING AT THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS 2. A package of legislation co-sponsored by Supervisor Maxwell and Mayor Gavin Newsom that would enable the first phase of development to proceed at the Hunters Point Shipyard passed the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday on a 9-2 vote. The legislation will be heard again for second reading this coming Tuesday, December 14, along with a few additional pieces of companion legislation, resolutions that require one vote for approval. Should this package of legislation pass, we anticipate demolition and grading activities at the Shipyard, closed by the Navy in 1974, will begin this February. Phase I of development will create 1,600 new units of housing, including at least 32% (and possibly 44%) of all units to be affordable based upon a Bayview-specific income standard. In addition, other benefits include: 30% of all development is set aside for community -based developers (with an additional 6 acres of land set aside for community development of community facilities), an estimated $35-40 million in net revenue from land sales will be reinvested in the Bayview Hunters Point community, and 35 acres of new open space and parks will be provided. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 9) Army Doctors Scrambling, Report Says The military medical system has been overwhelmed by the scope and severity of injuries among troops, a health expert writes. By Esther Schrader Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ December 9, 2004 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-casualties9dec09,1,72875 22.story WASHINGTON - A shortage of surgeons to treat the wounded in Iraq has left Army medical teams in the country scrambling to handle the largest number of military casualties since the Vietnam War, the New England Journal of Medicine reports today. The Army has fewer than 50 general surgeons and 15 orthopedic surgeons in Iraq at any one time to serve more than 138,000 troops. Despite the numbers, advances in battlefield surgical techniques and care mean a greater percentage of soldiers wounded in Iraq are surviving than in any previous American conflict. The article describes a military medical system that has undergone fundamental changes since the 1991 Persian Gulf War, but that nonetheless has been overwhelmed by the scope and severity of injuries occurring among troops in Iraq. It was written by Atul Gawande, an assistant professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and a former senior health advisor to the Clinton White House. Since March 2003, 1,276 U.S. military personnel have died in the Iraq war, with an additional 9,765 wounded, according to Pentagon figures. The number of deaths directly related to combat passed 1,000 this week, the Pentagon said. "Just as the rest of the military structure was unprepared for the length of the war and the evolution in the nature of the war, so has the military medical establishment been understandably unprepared for that," Gawande said in an interview. "What is striking is that they have been able to adapt in ways that allow them to keep a high rate of survival for the soldiers," he said. "But there are costs, and what you see is a potential problem on the horizon." Gawande did not specify the number of surgeons he thought the military should have in Iraq. He said there were several indications, though, that the current level was insufficient. With just 120 general surgeons on active duty, the Army has been forced to use urologists, plastic surgeons and cardiothoracic surgeons to perform general surgery on soldiers in Iraq. Many surgeons have been deployed for more than two years in the Iraq campaign, and military planners are contemplating pressing some to return, Gawande writes. The physicians are working under difficult circumstances. In many cases, the military has taken over Iraqi hospitals, and the facilities are flooded with civilian patients whom the Americans are unable to treat. With no clear directive from the Pentagon on treating civilians, some physicians refuse to help even pediatric patients out of fear the children could be booby-trapped with bombs, Gawande writes. Dr. Michael Kilpatrick, deputy director of deployment health support with the Pentagon's Office of Health Affairs, acknowledged that Army surgeons working in Iraq had had to improvise in some cases and had been forced to work outside their specialties in others. But he said the relatively low number of deaths proved the system was working. "There are certainly going to be times in any location where the workload is going to exceed the personnel present," Kilpatrick said. "There are going to be some extremely long hours at times." But, he added, "the fact that they have responded as well as they have speaks to the fact that they were well prepared. You can't anticipate every eventuality. I think the training and preparation that people had has stood them in good stead." Detailing the nature of combat injuries and their complications, Gawande says that blast injuries from suicide bombs and land mines are up substantially in recent months and have proved particularly difficult to treat without risking infection. Eye injuries have caused blindness among a "dismaying" number of soldiers, he says. Soldiers who survive the initial blasts and field treatment are suffering at high rates from later complications, including pulmonary embolisms (when a blood clot travels to the lungs) and deep venous thrombosis (blood clots in the legs). Some of those soldiers have died of the complications. Army medical teams are also worried about what Gawande calls an epidemic of multi-drug resistant bacterial infection in military hospitals. Among 442 medical evacuees seen at Walter Reed, 8.4% tested positive, a far higher rate than previously seen among wounded troops. Despite the challenges, Gawande credits nurses, anesthetists, helicopter pilots, other transport staffers and a rethinking of the combat medicine system for improvements in soldiers' survival rates. The system now focuses on damage control, not definitive repair, Gawande writes. Field doctors carry "mini-hospitals" in Humvees and field operating kits in backpacks so they can move with troops and undertake surgery on the spot. They limit surgery to two hours or less, often leaving temporary closures and even plastic bags over wounds, and send soldiers to one of several combat support hospitals in Iraq. The strategy seems to be working, Gawande finds. Although at least as many U.S. troops have been wounded in combat in the Iraq war as in the first five years of Vietnam, 90% are surviving, compared with 76% in Vietnam. Other experts also have credited superior body armor and equipment for improving combat injury survival. But the survivors often have injuries so severe that their future prospects are uncertain, Gawande writes. One airman lost both legs, his right hand and part of his face. "How he and others like him will be able to live and function remains an open question," Gawande said. Copyright 2004 Los Angeles Times ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 10) Subject: Fw: Secret Patriot Act II to give Hitler's Powers to Bush This Act will mean that our founding fathers will get their wish --a constitution without the Bill of Rights! Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 09:26:08 -0600 (Central Standard Time) From: "Bob Nichols" Details To: "Bob Nichols" Notice this interesting provision of the Intelligence Act they passed yesterday. "SECTION 202 allows corporations to keep secret their activities with toxic biological, chemical or radiological materials." [Emphasis added.] in case you are thinking of investigating Halliburton or Carlyle, here's this jem: "SECTION 205 allows top Federal officials to keep all their financial dealings secret, and anyone investigating them can be considered a terrorist. This should be very useful for Dick Cheney to stop anyone investigating Haliburton." The act also included the so-called PATRIOT Act II. Many would say we are now under Martial Law. The old COINTEL-PRO is alive and well. Bob http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=192635;article=4719;show_parent=1 Indybay http://www.indybay.org/ Secret Patriot Act II to give Hitler's Powers to Bush Wed Dec 8, 2004 2:11pm Secret Patriot Act II to give Hitler's Powers to Bush Indybay | November 17, 2004 Secret Patriot Act II to give Hitler's Powers to Bush that even some Republicans are scared about: Congressman Ron Paul (R-Tex) told the Washington Times that no member of Congress was allowed to read the first Patriot Act that was passed by the House on October 27, 2001. The first Patriot Act was universally decried by civil libertarians and Constitutional SECRET PATscholars from across the political spectrum. William Safire, while writing for the New York Times, described the first Patriot Act's powers by saying that President Bush was seizing dictatorial control. On February 7, 2003 the Center for Public Integrity, a non-partisan public interest think-tank in DC, revealed the full text of the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003. The classified document had been leaked to them by an unnamed source inside the Federal government. The document consisted of a 33-page section by section analysis of the accompanying 87-page bill. The Patriot Act II bill itself is stamped "Confidential -Not for Distribution." Upon reading the analysis and bill, I was stunned by the scientifically crafted tyranny contained in the legislation. The Justice Department Office of Legislative Affairs admits that they had indeed covertly transmitted a copy of the legislation to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, (R-Il) and the Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney as well as the executive heads of federal law enforcement agencies. It is important to note that no member of Congress was allowed to see the first Patriot Act before its passage, and that no debate was tolerated by the House and Senate leadership. The intentions of the White House and Speaker Hastert concerning Patriot Act II appear to be a carbon copy replay of the events that led to the unprecedented passage of the first Patriot Act. There are two glaring areas that need to be looked at concerning this new legislation: 1. The secretive tactics being used by the White House and Speaker Hastert to keep even the existence of this legislation secret would be more at home in Communist China than in the United States. The fact that Dick Cheney publicly managed the steamroller passage of the first Patriot Act, insuring that no one was allowed to read it and publicly threatening members of Congress that if they didn?t vote in favor of it that they would be blamed for the next terrorist attack, is by the White House?' own definition terrorism. The move to clandestinely craft and then bully passage of any legislation by the Executive Branch is clearly an impeachable offence. 2. The second Patriot Act is a mirror image of powers that Julius Caesar and Adolf Hitler gave themselves. Whereas the First Patriot Act only gutted the First, Third, Fourth and Fifth Amendments, and seriously damaged the Seventh and the Tenth, the Second Patriot Act reorganizes the entire Federal government as well as many areas of state government under the dictatorial control of the Justice Department, the Office of Homeland Security and the FEMA NORTHCOM military command. The Domestic Security Enhancement Act 2003, also known as the Second Patriot Act is by its very structure the definition of dictatorship. I challenge all Americans to study the new Patriot Act and to compare it to the Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence. Ninety percent of the act has nothing to do with terrorism and is instead a giant Federal power-grab with tentacles reaching into every facet of our society. It strips American citizens of all of their rights and grants the government and its private agents total immunity. Here is a quick thumbnail sketch of just some of the draconian measures encapsulated within this tyrannical legislation: SECTION 501 (Expatriation of Terrorists) expands the Bush administration'?s enemy combatant definition to all American citizens who may have violated any provision of Section 802 of the first Patriot Act. (Section 802 is the new definition of domestic terrorism, and the definition is any action that endangers human life that is a violation of any Federal or State law. ) Section 501 of the second Patriot Act directly connects to Section 125 of the same act. The Justice Department boldly claims that the incredibly broad Section 802 of the First USA Patriot Act isn?t broad enough and that a new, unlimited definition of terrorism is needed. Under Section 501 a US citizen engaging in lawful activities can be grabbed off the street and thrown into a van never to be seen again. The Justice Department states that they can do this because the person had inferred from conduct that they were not a US citizen. Remember Section 802 of the First USA Patriot Act states that any violation of Federal or State law can result in the enemy combatant terrorist designation. SECTION 201 of the second Patriot Act makes it a criminal act for any member of the government or any citizen to release any information concerning the incarceration or whereabouts of detainees. It also states that law enforcement does not even have to tell the press who they have arrested and they never have to release the names. SECTION 301 and 306 (Terrorist Identification Database) set up a national database of suspected terrorists and radically expand the database to include anyone associated with suspected terrorist groups and anyone involved in crimes or having supported any group designated as terrorist. These sections also set up a national DNA database for anyone on probation or who has been on probation for any crime, and orders State governments to collect the DNA for the Federal government. SECTION 312 gives immunity to law enforcement engaging in spying operations against the American people and would place substantial restrictions on court injunctions against Federal violations of civil rights across the board. SECTION 101 will designate individual terrorists as foreign powers and again strip them of all rights under the enemy combatant designation. SECTION 102 states clearly that any information gathering, regardless of whether or not those activities are illegal, can be considered to be clandestine intelligence activities for a foreign power. This makes news gathering illegal. SECTION 103 allows the Federal government to use wartime martial law powers domestically and internationally without Congress declaring that a state of war exists. SECTION 106 is bone-chilling in its straightforwardness. It states that broad general warrants by the secret FSIA court (a panel of secret judges set up in a star chamber system that convenes in an undisclosed location) granted under the first Patriot Act are not good enough. It states that government agents must be given immunity for carrying out searches with no prior court approval. This section throws out the entire Fourth Amendment against unreasonable searches and seizures. SECTION 109 allows secret star chamber courts to issue contempt charges against any individual or corporation who refuses to incriminate themselves or others. This sections annihilate the last vestiges of the Fifth Amendment. SECTION 110 restates that key police state clauses in the first Patriot Act were not sunsetted and removes the five year sunset clause from other subsections of the first Patriot Act. After all, the media has told us: this is the New America. Get used to it. This is forever. SECTION 111 expands the definition of the enemy combatant designation. SECTION 122 restates the government?s newly announced power of surveillance without a court order. SECTION 123 restates that the government no longer needs warrants and that the investigations can be a giant dragnet-style sweep described in press reports about the Total Information Awareness Network. One passage reads, thus the focus of domestic surveillance may be less precise than that directed against more conventional types of crime. SECTION 126 grants the government the right to mine the entire spectrum of public and private sector information from bank records to educational and medical records. This is the enacting law to allow ECHELON and the Total Information Awareness Network to totally break down any and all walls of privacy. The government states that they must look at everything to determine if individuals or groups might have a connection to terrorist groups. As you can now see, you are guilty until proven innocent. SECTION 127 allows the government to takeover coroners? and medical examiners operations whenever they see fit. SECTION 128 allows the Federal government to place gag orders on Federal and State Grand Juries and to take over the proceedings. It also disallows individuals or organizations to even try to quash a Federal subpoena. So now defending yourself will be a terrorist action. SECTION 129 destroys any remaining whistleblower protection for Federal agents. SECTION 202 allows corporations to keep secret their activities with toxic biological, chemical or radiological materials. SECTION 205 allows top Federal officials to keep all their financial dealings secret, and anyone investigating them can be considered a terrorist. This should be very useful for Dick Cheney to stop anyone investigating Haliburton. SECTION 303 sets up national DNA database of suspected terrorists. The database will also be used to stop other unlawful activities. It will share the information with state, local and foreign agencies for the same purposes. SECTION 311 federalizes your local police department in the area of information sharing. SECTION 313 provides liability protection for businesses, especially big businesses that spy on their customers for Homeland Security, violating their privacy agreements. It goes on to say that these are all preventative measures â?? has anyone seen Minority Report? This is the access hub for the Total Information Awareness Network. SECTION 321 authorizes foreign governments to spy on the American people and to share information with foreign governments. SECTION 322 removes Congress from the extradition process and allows officers of the Homeland Security complex to extradite American citizens anywhere they wish. It also allows Homeland Security to secretly take individuals out of foreign countries. SECTION 402 is titled Providing Material Support to Terrorism. The section reads that there is no requirement to show that the individual even had the intent to aid terrorists. SECTION 403 expands the definition of weapons of mass destruction to include any activity that affects interstate or foreign commerce. SECTION 404 makes it a crime for a terrorist or other criminals to use encryption in the commission of a crime. SECTION 408 creates lifetime parole (basically, slavery) for a whole host of crimes. SECTION 410 creates no statute of limitations for anyone that engages in terrorist actions or supports terrorists. Remember: any crime is now considered terrorism under the first Patriot Act. SECTION 411 expands crimes that are punishable by death. Again, they point to Section 802 of the first Patriot Act and state that any terrorist act or support of terrorist act can result in the death penalty. SECTION 421 increases penalties for terrorist financing. This section states that any type of financial activity connected to terrorism will result to time in prison and $10-50,000 fines per violation. SECTIONS 427 sets up asset forfeiture provisions for anyone engaging in terrorist activities. There are many other sections that I did not cover in the interest of time. The American people were shocked by the despotic nature of the first Patriot Act. The second Patriot Act dwarfs all police state legislation in modern world history. Usually, corrupt governments allow their citizens lots of wonderful rights on paper, while carrying out their jackbooted oppression covertly. From snatch and grab operations to warantless searches, Patriot Act II is an Adolf Hitler wish list. You can understand why President Bush, Dick Cheney and Dennis Hastert want to keep this legislation secret not just from Congress, but the American people as well. Bill Allison, Managing Editor of the Center for Public Integrity, the group that broke this story, stated on my radio show that it was obvious that they were just waiting for another terrorist attack to opportunistically get this new bill through. He then shocked me with an insightful comment about how the Federal government was crafting this so that they could go after the American people in general. He also agreed that the FBI has been quietly demonizing patriots and Christians and those who carry around pocket Constitutions. I have produced two documentary films and written a book about what really happened on September 11th. The bottom line is this: the military-industrial complex carried the attacks out as a pretext for control. Anyone who doubts this just hasn?t looked at the mountains of hard evidence. Of course, the current group of white collar criminals in the White House might not care that we?'re finding out the details of their next phase. Because, after all, when smallpox gets released, or more buildings start blowing up, the President can stand up there at his lectern suppressing a smirk, squeeze out a tear or two, and tell us that See I was right. I had to take away your rights to keep you safe. And now it?s your fault that all of these children are dead. From that point on, anyone who criticizes tyranny will be shouted down by the paid talking head government mouthpieces in the mainstream media. You have to admit, it?s a beautiful script. Unfortunately, it?s being played out in the real world. If we don?t get the word out that government is using terror to control our lives while doing nothing to stop the terrorists, we will deserve what we get - tyranny. But our children won?t deserve it. HOW THE PATRIOT ACT COMPARES TO HITLER?S ERMÃCHTIGUNGSGESETZ (ENABLING ACT): At http://www.furnitureforthepeople.com/actpat.htm you can read the following 4 Articles: 1) How the Patriot Act Compares to Hitler's Ermächtigungsgesetz (Enabling Act) 2) A 21st Century Comparison of The Enabling Act and The Patriot Act 3) Ten Key Dangers of The Patriot Act that Every American Should Know 4) Bill Moyers' NOW Comments on the Patriot Act ~~Please tell your congress and senators to repeal the Patriot Act and to throw out current legislation advocating a second act. Thank You, for your support!~~ ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 11) Unicef laments state of world's children www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20041209.wunicef1209/BNStory/Int ernational/ "It said Millennium Development Goals, which aim to improve the world through human development by 2015 and were agreed to by the UN's 191 member states in 2000, could be achieved at an annual cost of $40-billion to $70 billion. In comparison, world spending on military in 2003 was $956-billion." One can judge a society on how it treats its children. More wealth is created today, than at any time in history, and yet half of the world children live in poverty. How can anybody defend the capitalist system with its wars upon humanity? The following poem was written during the capitalism's "rise" during the "industrial revolution" in England. "The golf links lie so near the mill that almost every day The laboring children can look out And watch the men at play." -- Sarah Norcliffe Cleghorn In the present world starving children watch the rich eat. Or as the Beatles Sang: " You can see them out for dinner With their piggy wives Clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon." During this Christmas Season there wtll be no peace for the world's masses. Associated Press POSTED AT 8:35 AM EST Thursday, Dec 9, 2004 London - More than half the world's children are suffering the effects of poverty, war and HIV/AIDS, denying them a healthy and safe childhood, Unicef's annual report said Thursday. The United Nations children's fund report on The State of the World's Children found more than one billion children are growing up hungry and unhealthy, schools have become targets for warring parties and whole villages are being killed off by AIDS. A failure by governments around the world to live up to standards outlined in 1989's Convention on the Rights of the Child caused permanent damage to children and blocked progress toward human rights and economic advancement, the report said. "Too many governments are making informed, deliberate choices that actually hurt childhood," Unicef executive director Carol Bellamy said. A day before the report's release, an editorial published in The Lancet, the respected British medical journal, accused Ms. Bellamy of neglecting issues of child survival while emphasizing the rights of children. "A preoccupation with rights ignores the fact that children will have no opportunity for development at all unless they survive," said the journal's editor, Richard Horton. "Child survival must sit at the core of Unicef's advocacy and country work. Currently, and shamefully, it does not." Unicef spokesman Alfred Ironside said Mr. Horton ignored progress made on child survival rates. "Globally child deaths have fallen by 18 per cent since 1990," Ironside said in London. In his foreword to the report, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said poverty denied children dignity and endangered their lives, conflict robbed them of a secure family life and HIV/AIDS killed parents, teachers, doctors and children themselves. Compiled by Unicef and researchers at the London School of Economics and Bristol University, the report found more than half the children in developing countries lived in poverty without access to basic goods and services. It also said: - One in six children was severely hungry. - One in seven had no access to health care. - One in five had no safe water. - One in three had no toilet or sanitation facilities at home. The report found 640 million children did not have adequate shelter; 300 million had no access to information such as TV, radio or newspapers and 140 million children, the majority of them girls, had never been to school. Poverty was not confined to developing countries, the report said, as the proportion of children living in low-income households in 11 of 15 industrialized nations rose in the past decade. More than 10 million child deaths were recorded in 2003, with an estimated 29,158 children under 5 dying from mostly preventable causes everyday. Unicef reported that conflict round the world has seriously injured or permanently disabled millions of children, while millions more endure sexual violence, trauma, hunger and disease caused by wars. Nearly half of the 3.6 million people killed in conflict during the 1990s were children and around 20 million children were forced from their homes and communities by fighting. Unicef said almost half a million children under 15 died of AIDS in 2003, while another 630,000 children are infected with HIV. By 2003 some 2.1 million children under 15 were living with HIV/AIDS, most of whom were infected during pregnancy, birth or through breast-feeding. From 2001 to 2003, the number of children who had lost one or both parents to AIDS rose to 15 million from 11.5 million, and about 80 per cent of those were living in sub-Saharan Africa. The Unicef report said the world had the capacity to reduce poverty, conflict and HIV/AIDS and improve the plight of the world's children. It said Millennium Development Goals, which aim to improve the world through human development by 2015 and were agreed to by the UN's 191 member states in 2000, could be achieved at an annual cost of $40-billion to $70 billion. In comparison, world spending on military in 2003 was $956-billion. Ms. Bellamy said the quality of a child's life depends on decisions made by the global community and the world's governments. "We must make those decisions wisely and with children's best interests in mind. If we fail to secure childhood, we fail to reach our larger, global goals for human rights and economic development," she said. (c) 2004 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.marxist.com/Globalisation/unicef_report_billion.htm One billion children in extreme poverty: a holocaust on a world-scale By Maarten Vanheuverswyn UNICEF has just released its annual report, which reveals most shocking figures. Almost one billion children all over the world are denied at least one of seven commodities deemed essential: shelter, water, sanitation, schooling, information, healthcare and food. At least 640 million children lack adequate shelter, while 140 million have never been to school. Safe water is something that 400 million children are denied while 500 million live without basic sanitation. No less than 90 million starved. As pointed out by UNICEF itself, these conditions in effect deny them a childhood. More than one in six children are severely hungry. One in seven has no access to healthcare at all. "Too many governments are making informed, deliberate choices that actually hurt childhood," said Carol Bellamy, UNICEF director at the report launch in London. "When half the world's children are growing up hungry and unhealthy, when schools have become targets and whole villages are being emptied by Aids, we've failed to deliver on the promise of childhood." War on the people From the heart of Africa, where sectarian conflicts are raging through one nation after another, to Latin America, where hurricanes have ruined countless families, and Asia, where floods and landslides have swept whole towns away, it is clear that one group of people pays more than any other - the young and the weak. Half a million children under 15 died of Aids last year and 2.1 million children across the world live with HIV. Fifteen million children have lost a parent to Aids - no less than 80 per cent of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa. Perhaps the most shocking figure in the whole report is not on the terrible conditions half of the world's children have to suffer. It is the simple solution to this horror. Goals set by the UN in 2000 to lift poverty across the globe could be achieved at a cost of just £52 billion. That may seem a big amount of money but it could be raised in a matter of minutes. Last year, globally £712 billion was spent on weapons. Precisely these guns, mortars, mines and shells are maintaining the present catastrophe, with dirty wars all over the globe. Indeed, the major factor that keeps more than a billion children in a state of poverty is war. And as usual in our "best of possible worlds", these wars are fought over material interests, i.e. natural resources such as diamonds, oil and coltan. Ever heard of coltan? It is a mineral used in mobile phones, mined in Africa and exported to the West. According to the UNICEF report, about half of the 3.6 million people killed in wars since 1990 were children. Millions more have been displaced by wars and forced to become child soldiers. Incidentally, today it was also reported that six years of conflict in the Congo have claimed 3.8 million lives - half of them children - with most victims killed by disease and famine. More than 31,000 civilians die each month as a result of the conflict, the International Rescue Committee reported, citing mortality surveys prepared with the aid of on-site medical teams. As Carol Bellamy from UNICEF pointed out, "Poverty doesn't come from nowhere; war doesn't emerge from nothing; Aids doesn't spread by its own choice. These are our choices... What we are saying in this report is that choices made by political leaders in many cases are very often negative when it comes to children." The report further stated that, "bridging the gap between the 'ideal childhood' and 'reality' experienced by half the world's children is possible by adopting a human rights based-approach to social and economic development with special emphasis on reaching out to the most vulnerable." The questions remains, of course, what the vague "human rights based-approach" is supposed to mean. What is certain is that it won't be the approach of the Bushes and Blairs of this world. They were caught in a scandal involving torture in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. They are the ones who hypocritically talk about combating Aids while squeezing the African continent and the Middle East with their divide and rule policies. Darfur is only one of the latest examples of this game. As a side note, "The State of the World's Children 2005" also stated that even children in better off countries were victims of rising poverty rates. In 11 of 15 industrialized nations, the proportion of children living in low-income households over the last decade has risen. This list includes Austria, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland, where children living in poverty rose to 16.6 percent of all children in the late 1990s and early 2000s from the 14.0 percent it had been a decade earlier. The crisis does not only affect the ex -colonial world - it is a global problem. Charity or structural solutions? Today's Independent reports that 21,297 pounds were raised by its readers to help the sick and the poor in the Third World. Similar campaigns are being held all over the world, raising considerable amounts of money. This shows that a great lot of people do care about the current state of affairs in the world. It proves that all the talk about "inherently evil human beings" is nonsense. Human beings don't live in a vacuum but are social beings. They are embedded in a social context and will act accordingly. Workers may go on strike in solidarity with a sacked workmate; people appalled by the news they see on their TV screens every day may give something to a charity; and most of the people will simply try to survive and "get on with life" thinking it is not in their power to do anything. On the other hand, terrible living conditions will create atrocious reactions. That is why next to generous donations on the part of well-meaning people (apart from those like Bill Gates who give a tiny fraction of their wealth to brush up their image) and solidarity in general, we see the other side of the coin, i.e. that humans in certain conditions are indeed capable of committing horrible atrocities, not in the least in the proxy wars in the so-called Third World. There we see the ugly face of barbarism that is threatening the whole of the planet. In that sense, giving money to a particular cause should be seen as a will to change society. Having said that, we must point out that while charity may temporarily alleviate some suffering, in reality this relief is nothing compared to the big needs of the sick and the poor on this planet. It is not enough to do something "concretely here and now". For every child that is put into a charity programme, many others are dying at the same time from starvation. The tasks are far bigger. For example, can charity prevent the butchery in the Congo? No, it cannot. At most it can alleviate a small part of the mess that has been created after the damage has been done. Rwanda, where a million people were killed in 1994, is a tragic case in point. Capitalism is the name of the game First of all we need to start from a clear analysis of the situation. Why is it that 1.2 billion people are living on 1 dollar a day and 3 billion on 2 dollars a day? (World Bank figures) Utter reactionaries claim African people are inherently incapable of developing their countries. This racist argument is just not serious. Other people claim that the poor in the world should be patient and simply need to follow the example of the West. In the West itself, the argument goes, it also took a hundred years to achieve reasonable wages, social security and the welfare state in general. What they don't explain is that in the last century for each of these achievements a bitter struggle had to be waged. These reforms were achieved only through class struggle. It was also achieved in a period of world economic boom. The pressure of the revolutionary waves that followed the First and Second World War were decisive factors in this progress. After the First World War there were revolutions in Russia, Germany and other countries, which terrified the capitalists. They were afraid of a general revolt against their oppressive regimes, in which they risked losing everything. With their backs against the wall, they were forced to give concessions to the working class in the industrialised countries. However, that was not the end of the story. As a compensation for these reforms, the exploitation of the colonies was intensified. After the Second World War this trend was pushed through even more in order to avoid revolution in the West. The capitalist system can only survive by maintaining exploitation, oppression and inequality in a great part of the world. Within the so-called "free market" system Africa cannot reach the living standards of the West. It is clear that the way forward is not the capitalist road. We need to look further than the narrow perspective offered by most Third World organisations. The tactics of most NGOs and charity organisations won't ever solve the fundamental contradictions in society. For example, while in Latin America one revolution after another sweeps the continent, most NGOs propose to create yet another small cooperative or install an extra well. While the people try to overthrow the present regimes, they propose to set up Western style trade unions or to "democratise" their governments. They forget that these governments only serve the rich and survive thanks to the big landowners and American imperialism in particular. They forget that most Western trade unions have long abandoned the struggle for a better world and only adopt policies of softening serious conflicts with the bosses or government. Thereby they neglect the fact that bourgeois democracies and the state are not neutral but are there to serve capital. The bleak picture in the whole ex-colonial world contrasts sharply with the promises on children's rights about a healthy and protected life, as laid out in the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This latest report on these terrible conditions is only one more condemnation of the present system. It shows how futile the empty words of all bourgeois politicians are. In spite of their hollow promises (Kyoto, Aids, world poverty), they are not interested in solving these burning questions. Instead they continue their imperialist wars under the fig leaf of democracy and the "war on terror". But what about this war on the people? In a world with an abundance of resources, tens of thousands of people are dying on a daily basis. What else is this than a new, permanent holocaust? It is important to understand that there is a method in the madness. These kinds of problems won't simply go away by adding another drop in the ocean. Structural problems demand structural solutions. They require a radical change in the present economic system. We cannot solve these fundamental problems by adopting temporary, superficial remedies. We can have a charitable approach, but then a new war breaks out. More people are killed, more basic infrastructure is destroyed. The work of a hundred charities can be undone by one small war. Wars take place under capitalism because they are terribly profitable. To put an end to this nightmare it is necessary to destroy the very system that causes the wars, the hunger, the poverty. That system is called capitalism. It must be overthrown. That is what Marxists fight for systematically in every corner of the labour movement nationally and internationally. Join us! December 10, 2004. used to be a fact'ry hand when things were movin' slow When children worked in cotton mills; each mornin' had to go. Ev'ry mornin' just at five the whistle blew on time To get those babies out of bed at the age of eight or nine. Get out of bed little sleepy head and get your bite to eat. The fact'ry whistle's callin' you; There's no more time to sleep. The children all grew up unlearned; they never went to school. They never learned to read or write; they learned to spin and spool. Every time I close my eyes I see before me still. What textile work was carried out by Babies in the Mill. -Lyrics to "Babies in the Mill" by Dorsey Dixon ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 12) U.S. Soldiers' Grilling Fields By Tim Harper The Toronto Star More talk heard of desertion, disgruntlement. `Backdoor draft' adding to worries for some troops. Sunday 12 December 2004 http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/121304X.shtml WASHINGTON - David Qualls reluctantly returned to Iraq yesterday, but not before he made a louder statement about the state of U.S. troop morale than any of the pointed questions from soldiers to Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld this week. Qualls, an army specialist from Morrilton, Ark., and seven other soldiers who have remained nameless, have sued the Pentagon, claiming they are improperly being kept in Iraq beyond their agreed tour of duty. It is a burgeoning problem for Rumsfeld and the Bush administration because more and more soldiers in Iraq are questioning the rationale for their mission, the way in which they have been equipped and how long they've been deployed. In so doing, they are shining new light on the price being paid for what is widely seen as inadequate war planning and piecemeal responses as U.S. troops battle an insurgency better armed and more determined than any scenario drawn up. As the U.S. death toll in Iraq tops 1,270 and the looming Christmas season only magnifies the frustration of families at home, stories of desertions and disgruntled troops began dominating the airwaves. There was the now-famous grilling of Rumsfeld by troops stationed in Kuwait, who challenged him on a lack of armoured vehicles, lengthened deployments, antiquated equipment and unpaid benefits. The Toronto case of Jeremy Hinzman, a 26-year-old South Dakotan who said he fled to Canada instead of deploying to Iraq after realizing he could not kill another human being, was given prominence in many U.S. media outlets. A navy petty officer is at large and been declared a deserter after refusing to board a troop transport ship in San Diego, bound for Iraq. "I just couldn't sleep at night knowing that I took 3,000 people to a place where 100 of them might die," 23-year-old Pablo Paredes told National Public Radio. The U.S. Army wants to prosecute First Lt. Julian P. Goodrum of Knoxville, Tenn., for being away without leave (AWOL) after the 34-year-old, 16-year military veteran checked himself into a civilian psychiatric hospital, claiming he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The mysterious case of Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, a 24-year-old Lebanese-born U.S. Marine who disappeared from his camp near Falluja last summer, led to a charge of desertion this week. Dan Felushko, a 24-year-old marine, told the CBS program 60 Minutes this week that he left Camp Pendleton, Calif., and came to Canada rather than Kuwait, because he felt it would have been wrong to fight. "I didn't want, you know, `died deluded in Iraq' over my gravestone," he said. According to the CBS program, some 5,000 American men and women have deserted the military since the war began. They are largely accused of cowardice back home, but they say they are acting out of conscience. Some say they saw no link between the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the Iraq war, others lost faith when it became clear there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Many who remain are clearly becoming disillusioned. Erik Leaver, of the liberal Institute for Policy Studies, said this week's confrontation in Kuwait show many soldiers believe Washington is not being straight with them. "This is not a well-articulated mission," Leaver said. "More and more we are hearing from military families that their sons or daughters are coming home on leave and saying, `Mom, I don't know what I'm doing over there.' The soldiers on the front lines there understand U.S. policy is not working." Leaver said the shortage of armoured vehicles, coming on the heels of last year's controversy over a lack of body armour, is particularly distressing because this a war of choice for the Bush administration, which determined its timing and still did not prepare properly. The Qualls case focused attention again on a program known officially as "stop-loss,"but is more popularly known on the home front as a "backdoor draft." Many believe the program, which allows the Pentagon to extend voluntary deployments in time of war or national emergency, is the single most morale-damaging program in place. The Pentagon is not forthcoming on how many soldiers will have their stays extended, but many estimate it could affect 40,000 to 47,000 soldiers, both regular service and reservists - about a third of the 150,000 Americans who will be in Iraq for the run-up to scheduled Jan. 30 elections. Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, who appears to be mulling another presidential run in 2008, this week called the stop-loss program the single most damaging morale issue for the military and pointed the finger of blame at an ill-prepared Pentagon. "It just adds another layer of stress to families left at home who are not able to plan moves, or enrol kids in school," says Michelle Joyner of the National Military Families Association, a support group for those with loved ones in Iraq. Joyner, whose brother, Adam Smith, is serving in Iraq, said her group has fielded calls from families who lost college tuition deposits or are having difficulty getting straight answers from units as to when their family members could be expected to return. "It forces some families to live day to day without being able to plan for the future," she said. "If you can't get clear answers, it just feeds gossip and increases stress. So when we get some calls from families, we simply have to tell them there are some questions for which we have no answer." Many of those raising questions, like Qualls, are older and more experienced. About 45 per cent of the 138,000 troops now on the ground in Iraq are drawn from the U.S. Reserve and National Guard and tend to be less deferential to authority than younger active duty troops. The 35-year-old Qualls failed in his attempt to win a court injunction keeping him in the U.S. until his lawsuit could be heard. He left Camp Taji about 24 kilometres north of Baghdad last month and returned to Arkansas for U.S. Thanksgiving. He first enlisted in the army in 1986. He was on active duty until 1990 and then was a member of the Individual Ready Reserves before leaving the military in 1994. In July 2003, Qualls entered the service again, under an Army National Guard policy known as Try One, which allows veterans to serve for only one year on a trial basis before committing to a full enlistment, according to the lawsuit. Qualls was deployed to Iraq in March but has been told his stay will be extended. The news for those who have come home is equally bleak. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans reported this week that Iraqi war veterans are beginning to show up at shelters in California, raising fears of a repeat of the generation of homeless Vietnam vets. And another study released in the New England Journal of Medicine this week showed medical advances have saved the lives of many soldiers in Iraq who would have died in previous wars. However, many of the 10,300 soldiers wounded so far are attempting to re-integrate into their country with much more horrific and debilitating injuries than veterans of any other previous war. Meanwhile, the death toll mounts. Death dropped in this reporter's in-box three times during the writing of this story. The Pentagon confirmed the deaths of Sgt. Arthur C. Williams, IV, 31, of Edgewater, Fla.; Capt. Mark N. Stubenhofer, 30, of Springfield, Va.; and Sgt. 1st Class Todd C. Gibbs, 37, of Angelina, Texas. They came by way of separate e-mails that drop with such numbing regularity, they are often treated as spam - unless you remind yourself that three more families have paid the ultimate price. (c) Copyright 2004 by TruthOut.org ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* 13) People vs. Empire Only global resistance from below can counter repressive states By Arundhati Roy December 7, 2004 http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/print/1740/ In India, the word public is now a Hindi word. It means people. In Hindi, we have sarkar and public , the government and the people. Inherent in this use is the underlying assumption that the government is quite separate from "the people." However, as you make your way up India's complex social ladder, the distinction between sarkar and public gets blurred. The Indian elite, like the elite anywhere in the world, finds it hard to separate itself from the state. In the United States, on the other hand, the blurring of this distinction between sarkar and public has penetrated far deeper into society. This could be a sign of robust democracy, but unfortunately it's a little more complicated and less pretty than that. Among other things, it has to do with the elaborate web of paranoia generated by the U.S. sarkar and spun out by the corporate media and Hollywood. Ordinary people in the United States have been manipulated into imagining they are a people under siege whose sole refuge and protector is their government. If it isn't the Communists, it's al Qaeda. If it isn't Cuba, it's Nicaragua. As a result, the most powerful nation in the world is peopled by a terrified citizenry jumping at shadows. A people bonded to the state not by social services, or public health care, or employment guarantees, but by fear. This synthetically manufactured fear is used to gain public sanction for further acts of aggression. And so it goes, building into a spiral of self-fulfilling hysteria, now formally calibrated by the U.S government's Amazing Technicolored Terror Alerts: fuchsia, turquoise, salmon pink. To outside observers, this merging of sarkar and public in the United States sometimes makes it hard to separate the actions of the government from the people. Such confusion fuels anti-Americanism in the world-anti-Americanism that is seized upon and amplified by the U.S. government and its faithful media outlets. You know the routine: "Why do they hate us? They hate our freedoms," et cetera. This enhances the U.S. people's sense of isolation, making the embrace between sarkar and public even more intimate. Over the last few years, the "war on terrorism" has mutated into the more generic "war on terror." Using the threat of an external enemy to rally people behind you is a tired old horse that politicians have ridden into power for centuries. But could it be that ordinary people, fed up with that poor old horse, are looking for something different? Before Washington's illegal invasion of Iraq, a Gallup International poll showed that in no European country was support for a unilateral war higher than 11 percent. On February 15, 2003, weeks before the invasion, more than 10 million people marched against the war on different continents, including North America. And yet the governments of many supposedly democratic countries still went to war. We must question then: Is "democracy" still democratic? Are democratic governments accountable to the people who elected them? And, critically, is the public in democratic countries responsible for the actions of its sarkar? If you think about it, the logic that underlies the war on terror and the logic that underlies terrorism are exactly the same. Both make ordinary citizens pay for the actions of their government. Al Qaeda made the people of the United States pay with their lives for the actions of their government in Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. government has made the people of Afghanistan pay in the thousands for the actions of the Taliban and the people of Iraq pay in the hundreds of thousands for the actions of Saddam Hussein. Whose God decides which is a "just war" and which isn't? George Bush senior once said: "I will never apologize for the United States. I don't care what the facts are." When the president of the most powerful country in the world doesn't need to care what the facts are, then we can be sure we have entered the Age of Empire. Real choices So what does public power mean in the Age of Empire? Does it mean anything at all? Does it actually exist? In these allegedly democratic times, conventional political thought holds that public power is exercised through the ballot. People in scores of countries around the world will go to the polls this year. Most (not all) of them will get the governments they vote for. But will they get the governments they want? In India this year, we voted the Hindu nationalists of the BJP out of office. But even as we celebrated, we knew that on nuclear bombs, neoliberalism, privatization, censorship, big dams-on every major issue other than overt Hindu nationalism-the Congress and the BJP have no major ideological differences. We know that it is the 50-year legacy of the Congress Party that prepared the ground culturally and politically for the far right. And what of the U.S. elections? Did U.S. voters have a real choice? The U.S. political system has been carefully crafted to ensure that no one who questions the natural goodness of the military-industrial corporate structure will be allowed through the portals of power. Given this, it's no surprise that in this election you had two Yale University graduates, both members of Skull and Bones, the same secret society, both millionaires, both playing at soldier-solider, both talking up war, and arguing almost childishly about who would lead the war on terror more effectively. It's not a real choice. It's an apparent choice. Like choosing a brand of detergent. Whether you buy Ivory Snow or Tide, they're both owned by Procter & Gamble. The fact is that electoral democracy has become a process of cynical manipulation. It offers us a very reduced political space today. To believe that this space constitutes real choice would be naive. The crisis of modern democracy is a profound one. Free elections, a free press and an independent judiciary mean little when the free market has reduced them to commodities available on sale to the highest bidder. On the global stage, beyond the jurisdiction of sovereign governments, international instruments of trade and finance oversee a complex web of multilateral laws and agreements that have entrenched a system of appropriation that puts colonialism to shame. This system allows the unrestricted entry and exit of massive amounts of speculative capital into and out of Third World countries, which then effectively dictates their economic policy. Using the threat of capital flight as a lever, international capital insinuates itself deeper and deeper into these economies. Giant transnational corporations are taking control of their essential infrastructure and natural resources, their minerals, their water, their electricity. The World Trade Organization, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other financial institutions, like the Asian Development Bank, virtually write economic policy and parliamentary legislation. With a deadly combination of arrogance and ruthlessness, they take their sledgehammers to fragile, interdependent, historically complex societies, and devastate them, all under the fluttering banner of "reform." As a consequence of such reform, thousands of small enterprises and industries have closed; millions of workers and farmers have lost their jobs and land. Once the free market controls the economies of the Third World they become enmeshed in an elaborate, carefully calibrated system of economic inequality. Western countries flood the markets of poorer nations with their subsidized agricultural goods and other products with which local producers cannot possibly compete. Countries that have been plundered by colonizing regimes are steeped in debt to these same powers, and have to repay them at the rate of about $382 billion a year. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer- not accidentally, but by design . To put a vulgar point on all of this, the combined wealth of the world's billionaires in 2004 (587 "individuals and family units"), according to Forbes magazine, is $1.9 trillion-more than the gross domestic product of the world's 135 poorest countries combined. The good news is that there are 111 more billionaires this year than there were in 2003. Modern democracy is safely premised on an almost religious acceptance of the nation state. But corporate globalization is not. Liquid capital is not. So even though capital needs the coercive powers of the nation state to put down revolts in the servants' quarters, this setup ensures that no individual nation can oppose corporate globalization on its own. Public power Radical change cannot and will not be negotiated by governments; it can only be enforced by people. By the public . A public that can link hands across national borders. A public that disagrees with the very concept of empire. A public that has set itself against the governments and institutions that support and service Empire. Empire has a range of calling cards. It uses different weapons to break open different markets. There's no country on God's earth that isn't caught in the crosshairs of the U.S. cruise missile and the IMF checkbook. For poor people in many countries, Empire does not always appear in the form of cruise missiles and tanks, as it has in Iraq or Afghanistan or Vietnam. It appears in their lives in very local avatars-losing their jobs, being sent unpayable electricity bills, having their water supply cut, being evicted from their homes and uprooted from their land. It is a process of relentless impoverishment with which the poor are historically familiar. What Empire does is further entrench and exacerbate already existing inequalities. Until quite recently, it was sometimes difficult for people to see themselves as victims of Empire. But now, local struggles have begun to see their role with increasing clarity. However grand it might sound, the fact is, they are confronting Empire in their own, very different ways. Differently in Iraq, in South Africa, in India, in Argentina, and differently, for that matter, on the streets of Europe and the United States. Mass resistance movements, individual activists, journalists, artists and film makers have come together to strip Empire of its sheen. They have connected the dots, turned cash-flow charts and boardroom speeches into real stories about real people and real despair. They have shown how the neoliberal project has cost people their homes, their land, their jobs, their liberty, their dignity. they have made the intangible tangible. The once seemingly incorporeal enemy is now corporeal. This is a huge victory. It was forged by the coming together of disparate political groups, with a variety of stratigies. But they all recognized that the target of their anger, their activism and their doggedness is the same. This was the beginning of real globalization. The globalization of dissent. Meanwhile, the rift between rich and poor is being driven deeper and the battle to control the world's resources intensifies. Economic colonialism through formal military aggression is staging a comeback. Iraq today is a tragic illustration of this process. The illegal invasion. The brutal occupat | |