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Local Actions and Campaigns: Good Anti-War Calendars: Next BAUAW Meeting: |
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Friday, September 09, 2005
BAUAW NEWSLETTER-FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2005
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$300 BILLION FOR WAR YET ONLY
$10 BILLION FOR HURRICANE VICTIMS
Not one more casuality in Bush's
war against working people!
If you would like to help get the word
out about Proposition I--and why it's important
that San Francisco vote YES to banning
military recruiters in schools--as well as help
us raise funds, join us at the Power to
the Peaceful festival this Saturday, September
10th. It is ever so important as we try to
rebuild a movement that can demand not
just an end to the war, but also money
or education, jobs, and victims of disasters
that didn't have to be.
MEET US AT OUR TABLE
We'll be near the main entrance (not 25th
and Fulton), on the end opposite of the
main stage, on the side near Fulton. We'll
have big banners that say, "YES ON PROP i"
and a GREEN TENT. We'll be set up from
10am to 5pm. See you there!
Brian Cruz
Treasurer, Committee for Proposition I,
"College Not Combat"
SEPTEMBER 24
ANSWER Organizing Meetings:
Tuesdays, 7:00 p.m.
2489 Mission St., suite 24 (at 21st St., S.F.)
COLLEGE NOT COMBAT Planning Meeting:
Saturday, September 17th, 2:00 P.M.
110 Capp Street (Buzz #202) San Francisco
For more information:
college_not_combat@yahoo.com
(415) 248-1701
http://www.collegenotcombat.org/
NEXT BAUAW MEETING:
TUESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 20, 7:00 P.M.
474 VALENCIA STREET, S.F. NEAR 16TH STREET
Letter from Cindy Sheehan
March on Washington, Sept. 24, 2005
www.unitedforpeace.org/septmobe
STOP THE WAR AND OCCUPATION!
IRAQ, PALESTINE, HAITI....
MARCH AND RALLY SEPTEMBER 24
11:00 A.M. DOLORES PARK, S.F.
COLLEGE NOT COMBAT CONTINGENT
10:00 A.M. 16TH AND MISSION BART PLAZA, S.F.
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BAUAW NEWSLETTER-WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2005
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1) Memorandum of Understanding between United for Peace and
Justice and the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Many of the member groups of United for Peace and Justice
have asked about the content of the agreement we reached
with the ANSWER Coalition about the joint rally and march
on Sept. 24th. Because there is a lot of interest in this
issue we are sending you, the groups that are part of UFPJ,
a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding between the two
coalitions. Please feel free to contact us if you have any
additional questions of concerns.
And, most importantly, let's all use these next two weeks to
make sure everyone knows about the mobilization in Washington,
DC. Many people don't decide about going to a demonstration
like this until the last minute. Now is the time to sell bus
tickets, organize van and car caravans, get people onto trains
and planes. Now is the time to let people know their voice
needs to be heard!
peace,
Leslie Cagan
National Coordinator
UFPJ
Memorandum of Understanding between United for Peace
and Justice and the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Scope of agreement
The below constitutes an agreement between United for
Peace and Justice and the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition on behalf
of the September 24 National Coalition. This document covers
agreements for a joint pre-march rally and a joint march on
September 24, 2005, between United for Peace and Justice and
the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition. It does not apply to activities
either party is organizing or involved in separately from
these two activities on the day of September 24 or any
other day.
Announcement of agreement
No agreement exists, nor will any announcement of an agreement
between the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition (Act Now to Stop War &
End Racism) and United for Peace and Justice for a joint
rally and march on September 24 be made until the details
below have been agreed to and this document is signed by
authorized representatives of each coalition.
Joint rally and march
United for Peace and Justice and the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
have agreed to hold a joint pre-march rally and a joint march
in Washington DC on Saturday, September 24. The rally will be
held on the Ellipse and will begin at 11:30 am. The march
will leave from that location at 12:30 pm on a route agreed
upon by the coordinating team (see below) and will end at
15th Street and Constitution Ave. The rally will end at 1 pm.
Each party will have one banner of equal size on the stage
during the portions of the rally they control. The language
on the banners will be determined by the two parties
independently.
Each coalition will decide what signage they would like on the
podium during the portion of the rally they control. The
language on the signage will be determined independently by
the two parties.
Dividing the time of the rally
The 90 minutes of the pre-march rally will be evenly divided,
with each coalition having complete and sole control of
45 minutes, which is one-half of the time. The coordinating
team will decide if one coalition has its 45 minutes and
then the other coalition takes the stage, or if the time
is broken into smaller units. If the coordinating team is
unable to agree who begins and ends, a coin flip will be
used to determine this.
Lead banner and lead contingent
The front of the march will be configured with one handheld
20-30 foot banner. There will be 20 people literally holding
the banner: 10 selected by UFPJ and 10 selected by
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition / September 24 National Coalition.
The names of the people on the lead banner will be given
to the media. The people holding the banner will hold only
this banner. As part of the front of the march and directly
behind the lead banner there will be 500 people, half of them
selected by the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition / September 24 National
Coalition and half selected by UFPJ. Both coalitions will
be free to carry the slogans chosen by their coalition on
placards (it is understood that the size of placards is
no larger than 3 feet by 3.5 feet).
Slogans for the demonstration
Each coalition will carry banners, signs and flags with their
own slogans. Each coalition will have their own stage banner
at the joint rally and there will be one unsigned banner
slogan on the handheld banner in the front of the march.
This lead banner will say: Stop the War on Iraq, Bring the
Troops Home Now. The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition/Sept. 24th National
Coalition stage banner and signs in the lead contingent will
address the war in Iraq and issues connected to that war
including the colonial occupation of Palestine and the
Right of Return, the occupation of Haiti and other anti-
imperialist positions. The United for Peace and Justice
stage banner and signs in the lead contingent will address
the war in Iraq and issues connected to that war.
Each coalition agrees that we will only refer to our own
slogans and banners, and if there is any public referencing
of any slogans used by the coalitions in the joint pre-march
rally or the joint march, the slogans of both coalitions
in both the rally and march will be explicitly stated.
Security
There will be a shared security team, led by two security
coordinators from UFPJ and two from the
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition. The security coordinators shall
develop a plan for security at the pre-march rally and
march on September 24. For the security plan to be implemented,
the security coordinators will have to agree. The areas they
will develop a plan for will include:
-Security when lining up the lead banner and first contingent
-Security at the head of the march and throughout the whole march
-Security at the stage for the pre-march joint rally
-Security at any other sensitive location, such as money
collection points
-How security people will be identified
-The training of the people working on security
-How the security teams will be organized and the chain of
command
-The communication system the security operation will use
No member of the security team will carry signs, banners,
flags or other materials not directly related to carrying
out their security duties.
Media
There will be one joint press conference announcing the
pre-march rally and march as soon as possible, preferably the
last week in August. The next press conference that either
coalition participates in announcing activities for the
weekend of September 24 will be the joint press conference.
Each coalition will determine who will represent them at
the press conference, and there will be an equal number
of people from each coalition.
Each coalition will be able to do its own press work, and
in such press work both coalitions will clearly state that
the rally and march are being jointly organized by
A.N.S.W.E.R. / September 24 National Coalition and
United for Peace and Justice.
The details of the joint press conference, as well as
issues related to press work on and before September 24,
will be worked out by the media coordinators for both
coalitions.
If other joint press activities are organized, the same
principles will apply.
Finances
The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition will pay for the stage, sound,
press riser and backstage set up for the pre-march joint
rally at the Ellipse.
The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition and UFPJ will divide evenly the
costs related to the security operation (walkie talkies
or other communication system, security vests, etc.) and
any costs related to the money collection (buckets,
barrels, etc.) and the cost of the lead banner. They
will also divide evenly any costs related to the joint
press conference.
There shall be a money pitch and collection at the rally
and at least one collection along the march route.
The money collection coordinators for each coalition
shall jointly develop the plans for these operations,
as well as the plans for the counting and dividing of
the money after the march. Any plan will have to be
agreed upon by both coordinators. The money collected
at the rally and at the march will be evenly divided
between United for Peace and Justice and
the A.N.S.WE.R. Coalition.
Coordinating team and dispute resolution
The whole effort will be coordinated by a team of three
people from each of the two coalitions. These people
shall have the authorization from their respective
coalitions to carry out the items agreed upon above.
Should new issues arise, these people will have the
right to go back to their respective coalitions before
final decisions are made. If the coordinating team is
unable to resolve the dispute, the matter will be
referred back to the same facilitation mechanism that
was used in the weeks prior to the signing of the
agreement to hold a joint rally and joint march on
September 24, including the participation of Jos Williams
and Nancy Wohlforth. If, in that process, the dispute
is unresolved and is considered by either side to be
an unremedied violation of the agreement then this
agreement will no longer be binding on either coalition.
No attacks on each other
Between now and the end of the demonstration on
September 24, each coalition agrees to not attack
the other coalition.
Public announcement about the joint rally and joint march
The following language will be the announced statement
from the two coalitions. This statement will be sent out
simultaneously.
Statement about a joint rally and joint march for
September 24:
The two major antiwar coalitions that have initiated and
organized for a massive anti-war March on Washington for
September 24 have agreed to organize a joint rally followed
by a joint march. Both coalitions will organize under
their own banners, slogans and with their own literature
for the September 24 demonstration. The joint rally will
begin at 11:30 am at the Ellipse in the front of the White
House. We urge everyone around the country to unite and
come out for the largest possible anti-war demonstration
on September 24.
Signed by: United for Peace and Justice, and
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition (on behalf of the September
24 National Coalition)
Signed by
Brian Becker for
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
(on behalf of the September 24 National Coalition)
Leslie Cagan for
United for Peace and Justice
UFPJ mailing list
Post: UFPJ@lists.mayfirst.org
List info: https://lists.mayfirst.org/mailman/listinfo/ufpj
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2) IMPORTANT MEETING FOR THE ARAB COMMUNITY IN THE BAY AREA
Monday September 12th, 7:00 PM
522 Valencia, San Francisco, 3rd Floor
Bayareapalestine
The coalition to organize the September 24th Protest against
the US occupation of Iraq, dispossession of the Palestinian
people and the persecution of Arabs in the US is holding an
urgent and important meeting for the Arab Community in San
Francisco. We urge our community organizations to attend
in maximum capacity and our members and friends to attend
in full force.
We will be discussing the following:
* Political fallout of the Katrina Hurricane and impact
on the war and its recent developments;
* Reviving conventional racist campaigns in the US
South and the abandonment of whole sectors of society;
* Israeli withdrawal and the decolonization of Gaza;
* Our contingent to the September 24th protest and
political discourse surrounding the recent events and
future developments.
These events and our actions are not only affecting
global events, but they will have direct and critical
impacts on students, immigrants, our community in US
society and Arab labor in the bay area and elsewhere.
Families are welcome.
* Visit your group "bayareapalestine" on the web.
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3) Not in Our Name ,CodePink , and US Tour of Duty present
Report back from Camp Casey, Crawford, Texas
In the wake of the Katrina disaster, many are asking,
"why are tens of thousands of National Guard troops in Iraq?"
Out of Iraq now!
Photos from Camp Casey
Susan and Melanie House, widow and mother of John House,
a Navy corpsman killed in Iraq. Cindy Sheehan. Marine LCpl
Jeff Key. Joan Baez.
Cindy Sheehan greets Rubin Flores whose son was killed in
Iraq only a couple of months ago. His two daughters are
in the background.
Actor Martin Sheen and Cindy Sheehan with Iraq Veterans
Against the War
Karen Meredith, Gold Star Families for Peace
Photos by Not in Our Name organizer Jeff Paterson.
His two-week Camp Casey photo journal is available
online here .
Monday, September 12
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Grand Lake Theater, Oakland
3200 Grand Avenue ( map )
Zero to $10 donation requested
Thousands came to Crawford, Texas in August to support
Cindy Sheehan's challenge to President Bush to explain
his administration's war in Iraq. A simple request from
a bereaved mother inspired and galvanized the peace
movement. Come find out what Camp Casey was like on
the ground from people who were there, hear first-hand
accounts of the war being fought in our name, and learn
why the movement launched in Crawford by military families,
vets, and activists is turning the tide.
A benefit for the Veterans for Peace "Camp Casey" in
Covington, Louisiana currently providing relief, including
food, shelter, and a communications center, to hundreds
displaced by the Katrina disaster in coordination with
the local Red Cross ( more info ).
Event hosted by AIMEE ALLISON , Army conscientious
objector and Green Party candidate for Oakland City Council
Featuring special guests direct from Camp Casey:
KAREN MEREDITH , member of Gold Star Families for Peace –
her son Kenneth Ballard was killed last year in Iraq
JEFF PATERSON , former Marine, official Camp Casey
blogger/photographer, Not in Our Name organizer
NANCY MANCIAS , CodePink Women's March to Bush Ranch
organizer
SEAN O'NEILL , Purple Heart Iraq War veteran, member
of Iraq Veterans Against the War
RAY McGOVERN , former CIA analyst, featured in
"Uncovered: The War on Iraq"
JESSE DYEN , singer-songwriter, Camp Casey volunteer
Plus a 16-minute film by MARK MANNING ,"CAUGHT IN
THE CROSSFIRE"
Featuring exclusive footage of the U.S. bombardment
of Falluja and its aftermath
For more information call 510.452.3556
Special thanks to Allen Michaan and the Grand Lake Theater .
The Not in Our Name Project needs your support!
Donate online
donate.notinourname.net
Or send your tax-deductible contribution today to:
Not in Our Name
3945 Opal Street, Oakland CA 94609
www.notinourname.net
phone: 510-601-8000
email: bayarea@notinourname.net
local: bayarea.notinourname.net
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4) New Orleans Officials Grapple With How to Pull Out Residents
By ALEX BERENSON and SEWELL CHAN
Published: September 8, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/national/nationalspecial/08storm.html
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5) Street Scene
Macabre Reminder: The Corpse on Union Street
By DAN BARRY
Published: September 8, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/national/nationalspecial/
08orleans.html?hp&ex=1126238400&en=a7ff2832a9df65b3&ei=5094&partner=hom
epage
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6) UN Hits Back at US in Report Saying Parts of America are
as Poor as Third World
by Paul Vallely
Parts of the United States are as poor as the Third World,
according to a shocking United Nations report on
global inequality.
Published on Thursday, September 8, 2005 by the lndependent/UK
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0908-06.htm
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7) Old-Line Families Escape Worst of Flood And Plot the Future
by Christopher Cooper
Published on Thursday, September 8, 2005
by the Wall Street Journal
The green expanse of Audubon Park, in the city's Uptown area,
has doubled in recent days as a heliport for the city's rich
-- and a terminus for the small armies of private security
guards who have been dispatched to keep the homes there safe
and habitable. Mr. O'Dwyer has cellphone service and ice cubes
to cool off his highballs in the evening. By yesterday, the
city water service even sprang to life, making the daily trips
to his neighbor's pool unnecessary. A pair of oil-company
engineers, dispatched by his son-in-law, delivered four cases
of water, a box of delicacies including herring with mustard
sauce and 15 gallons of generator gasoline.
Despite the disaster that has overwhelmed New Orleans, the
city's monied, mostly white elite is hanging on and maneuvering
to play a role in the recovery when the floodwaters of Katrina
are gone. "New Orleans is ready to be rebuilt. Let's start
right here," says Mr. O'Dwyer, standing in his expansive
kitchen, next to a counter covered with a jumble of weaponry
and electric wires.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0908-09.htm
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8) "The entire community is now a toxic waste dump"
The Gulf Coast is drowning in a poisonous stew, people are
dying from waterborne bacteria, and federal funds have been
drained by years of pro-industry policies. Katrina is one
of the worst environmental catastrophes in U.S. history.
By Rebecca Clarren
[This article is accompanied by
a photograph showing people
on top of their roof surrounded
by an ocean of water with an "oil"
rainbow floating on top.
"Water, Water everywhere yet not
a drop to drink."...bw]
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/09/09/wasteland/index_np.html
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9) The Fall 2005 Wheels of Justice bus tour needs your
active participation and support
Dear friends and activists:
I urge you to respond to this Wheels of Justice call with
generous donations and support, invitation etc. I do not
exaggerate when I say that this is the most effective
outreach effort I have seen within the United States.
Its impact has been phenomenal. For me personally,
volunteering for it with the hundreds of other people
involved has been the most rewarding and humbling
volunteer effort I ever engaged in.
Mazin Qumsiyeh
http://qumsiyeh.org
The Fall 2005 Wheels of Justice bus tour needs your active
participation and support.
The Wheels of Justice Bus Tour has
already covered 40 states and we spoke
and mobilized at hundreds of events
but we must intensify our efforts at
this crucial stage. The new fall
season begin as we see significant changes
in the political landscape
regarding occupation in Iraq, colonization in
Palestine, and oppression of
civil liberties here at home. The bus team is
growing and adapting to changing
circumstances but with your help will
continue to offer the very best
in compelling witness, testimony and
expertise on our roles and
responsibilities as taxpayers
and world citizens.
New speakers are added and other
speakers traveled recently to update
their knowledge in Iraq and Palestine.
With your much-needed help, we will
continue to speak and mobilize at more
high schools, more colleges, more
churches, and more community centers
and to a wider audience. We lined up
excellent speakers to accompany our
mobile educational center in the form of
the colorful bio-diesel operated bus.
Now what you should do:
- If you live in the areas along the
route (see below) or know people there
consider hosting the Wheels Tour and
participating fully. Contact Ceylon
Mooney: 917-567-5048, ceylon@vitw.org.
- Spread the word. Call and email
people you know along the present rout or
people you think might be interested
in being added o the route. Also hold
fundraising events and raise needed funds.
- DONATE. Everyone is a volunteer
but it takes money to operate this
educational platform. It takes money
for speaker travel, biodiesel, food,
literature, mailing, and logistics.
To donate send checks to Wheels of
Justice, 740 Roundlake Rd., Luck, WI 54853.
On line donations via paypal
can be made at
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr
The Fall '05 Wheels of Justice tour
is shaping up great. We will spend Sept
9 - Nov 19 in the Midwest, the plains,
and the Rockies. We start out in
Minnesota Sept 9 - 16, then head towards
the Sioux Falls area and a bit of
Wyoming for a few days before spending
the rest of September and early
October in Montana. We are still
looking for venues Oct 9-11 in Pocatello
and Idaho Falls. We then have
engagements in the Salt Lake City area for
three days. We'll enter Colorado from
the west around the 16th of October,
and we hope to visit more of Wyoming
and Nebraska in November. We always
welcome new ideas and invitations
in other areas. Contact us
http://justicewheels.org (there you
will also find schedules, background,
reports on previous engagements,
speaker biographies, endorsements, photos,
etc).
Donations and support to this all-
volunteer project are appreciated.
http://justicewheels.org
Have a look at our educational resources:
http://al-awdacal.org/resources.html
Become one of our Donors!
Go to: http://al-awda.org/donatenow/
Unless indicated otherwise, all
statements posted represent the
views of their authors and not
necessarily those of Al-Awda,
The Palestine Right to Return Coalition.
Visit your group "Al-Awda-News
" on the web.
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10) Let the People
Rebuild New Orleans
Naomi Klein
lookout | posted September 8, 2005 (September 26, 2005 issue)
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050926/klein
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11) The Siege of New Orleans;
a beachhead for the new world order
Mike Whitney
September 6, 2005
"We have been abandoned by our own
country.Bureaucracy has committed murder
here in the greater New Orleans area,
and bureaucracy has to stand trial." Aaron Broussard
"In times of universal deceit, telling
the truth is a revolutionary act". George Orwell
Neither the Mainstream media nor the alternative-Leftist web sites
have told the truth about what really happened in the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina. For the people of the region it was the greatest
natural catastrophe they'd ever faced. For the Bush administration
it was just another opportunity to use fear and anarchy to advance
their global agenda.
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m15454&l=i&size=1&hd=0
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12) Congressman: Hurricane 'finally
cleaned out public housing in
New Orleans'
RAW STORY
From the paid-restricted Wall Street Journal's Washington
wire: "LOUISIANA LAWMAKERS aim to cope with political fallout."
Sen. Landrieu, in spotlight now, could find margins squeezed
if thousands of Democratic-leaning African-Americans don't
return by her 2008 re-election. Louisiana political analyst John
Maginnis says state could even lose one of seven House seats
in next redistricting.
Two shaky House incumbents, Democrat Melancon and
Republican Boustany, hope response to hurricane rallies
voters behind them. House Republican campaign chief
Reynolds touts chance to market conservative social-policy
solutions; Rep. Baker of Baton Rouge is overheard telling
lobbyists: "We finally cleaned up public housing in New
Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did."
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/
Congressman_Hurricane_finally_cleaned_out__public_housing_in_N_0909.html
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13) Police Trapped Thousands in New Orleans
Rogers Cadenhead
As the situation grew steadily worse in New Orleans last week,
you might have wondered why people didn't just leave on foot.
The Louisiana Superdome is less than two miles from a bridge
that leads over the Mississippi River out of the city.
The answer: Any crowd that tried to do so was met by
suburban police, some of whom fired guns to disperse
the group and seized their water.
Friday, September 09, 2005
http://www.cadenhead.org/workbench/news/2748
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14) September 24 – National March to
Stop the Iraq War – PeaceNovato will
be marching with the origami peace
cranes in the National March on Saturday,
September 24 in San Francisco.
We need your help! Since July 4th the number
of American Service persons killed in
the Iraq war has grown from 1744 to 1893
(as of 9-7-05). In order to carry all of
the cranes we need more volunteers to
march with us. Please give Don (897-0516)
or Julie (883-8324) a call if you
are interested in joining us.
Also, PeaceNovato is organizing
another Great North Bay Peace Caravan to
San Francisco just prior to the march.
Peace groups from all over the North
Bay area will be converging on the
Rowland Blvd. Park and Ride Lot at
9:00 A.M Saturday the 24th to drive
into San Francisco as a car caravan.
We encourage each car to be decorated
with peace signs and banners and then
we’ll drive as a group into the city.
On our way we will stop in Sausalito
where we will meet up with the last
contingent of caravan autos. We hope
to have over 100 cars in our caravan
crossing the Golden Gate Bridge at one
time as a statement of the North Bay’s
opposition to the war. Again, please
call Don (897-0516) or Julie (883-8324)
if you are interested in joining us
or need a ride.
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$300 BILLION FOR WAR YET ONLY
$10 BILLION FOR HURRICANE VICTIMS
Not one more casuality in Bush's
war against working people!
If you would like to help get the word
out about Proposition I--and why it's important
that San Francisco vote YES to banning
military recruiters in schools--as well as help
us raise funds, join us at the Power to
the Peaceful festival this Saturday, September
10th. It is ever so important as we try to
rebuild a movement that can demand not
just an end to the war, but also money
or education, jobs, and victims of disasters
that didn't have to be.
MEET US AT OUR TABLE
We'll be near the main entrance (not 25th
and Fulton), on the end opposite of the
main stage, on the side near Fulton. We'll
have big banners that say, "YES ON PROP i"
and a GREEN TENT. We'll be set up from
10am to 5pm. See you there!
Brian Cruz
Treasurer, Committee for Proposition I,
"College Not Combat"
SEPTEMBER 24
ANSWER Organizing Meetings:
Tuesdays, 7:00 p.m.
2489 Mission St., suite 24 (at 21st St., S.F.)
COLLEGE NOT COMBAT Planning Meeting:
Saturday, September 17th, 2:00 P.M.
110 Capp Street (Buzz #202) San Francisco
For more information:
college_not_combat@yahoo.com
(415) 248-1701
http://www.collegenotcombat.org/
NEXT BAUAW MEETING:
TUESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 20, 7:00 P.M.
474 VALENCIA STREET, S.F. NEAR 16TH STREET
Letter from Cindy Sheehan
March on Washington, Sept. 24, 2005
www.unitedforpeace.org/septmobe
STOP THE WAR AND OCCUPATION!
IRAQ, PALESTINE, HAITI....
MARCH AND RALLY SEPTEMBER 24
11:00 A.M. DOLORES PARK, S.F.
COLLEGE NOT COMBAT CONTINGENT
10:00 A.M. 16TH AND MISSION BART PLAZA, S.F.
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BAUAW NEWSLETTER-WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2005
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1) Memorandum of Understanding between United for Peace and
Justice and the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Many of the member groups of United for Peace and Justice
have asked about the content of the agreement we reached
with the ANSWER Coalition about the joint rally and march
on Sept. 24th. Because there is a lot of interest in this
issue we are sending you, the groups that are part of UFPJ,
a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding between the two
coalitions. Please feel free to contact us if you have any
additional questions of concerns.
And, most importantly, let's all use these next two weeks to
make sure everyone knows about the mobilization in Washington,
DC. Many people don't decide about going to a demonstration
like this until the last minute. Now is the time to sell bus
tickets, organize van and car caravans, get people onto trains
and planes. Now is the time to let people know their voice
needs to be heard!
peace,
Leslie Cagan
National Coordinator
UFPJ
Memorandum of Understanding between United for Peace
and Justice and the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Scope of agreement
The below constitutes an agreement between United for
Peace and Justice and the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition on behalf
of the September 24 National Coalition. This document covers
agreements for a joint pre-march rally and a joint march on
September 24, 2005, between United for Peace and Justice and
the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition. It does not apply to activities
either party is organizing or involved in separately from
these two activities on the day of September 24 or any
other day.
Announcement of agreement
No agreement exists, nor will any announcement of an agreement
between the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition (Act Now to Stop War &
End Racism) and United for Peace and Justice for a joint
rally and march on September 24 be made until the details
below have been agreed to and this document is signed by
authorized representatives of each coalition.
Joint rally and march
United for Peace and Justice and the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
have agreed to hold a joint pre-march rally and a joint march
in Washington DC on Saturday, September 24. The rally will be
held on the Ellipse and will begin at 11:30 am. The march
will leave from that location at 12:30 pm on a route agreed
upon by the coordinating team (see below) and will end at
15th Street and Constitution Ave. The rally will end at 1 pm.
Each party will have one banner of equal size on the stage
during the portions of the rally they control. The language
on the banners will be determined by the two parties
independently.
Each coalition will decide what signage they would like on the
podium during the portion of the rally they control. The
language on the signage will be determined independently by
the two parties.
Dividing the time of the rally
The 90 minutes of the pre-march rally will be evenly divided,
with each coalition having complete and sole control of
45 minutes, which is one-half of the time. The coordinating
team will decide if one coalition has its 45 minutes and
then the other coalition takes the stage, or if the time
is broken into smaller units. If the coordinating team is
unable to agree who begins and ends, a coin flip will be
used to determine this.
Lead banner and lead contingent
The front of the march will be configured with one handheld
20-30 foot banner. There will be 20 people literally holding
the banner: 10 selected by UFPJ and 10 selected by
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition / September 24 National Coalition.
The names of the people on the lead banner will be given
to the media. The people holding the banner will hold only
this banner. As part of the front of the march and directly
behind the lead banner there will be 500 people, half of them
selected by the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition / September 24 National
Coalition and half selected by UFPJ. Both coalitions will
be free to carry the slogans chosen by their coalition on
placards (it is understood that the size of placards is
no larger than 3 feet by 3.5 feet).
Slogans for the demonstration
Each coalition will carry banners, signs and flags with their
own slogans. Each coalition will have their own stage banner
at the joint rally and there will be one unsigned banner
slogan on the handheld banner in the front of the march.
This lead banner will say: Stop the War on Iraq, Bring the
Troops Home Now. The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition/Sept. 24th National
Coalition stage banner and signs in the lead contingent will
address the war in Iraq and issues connected to that war
including the colonial occupation of Palestine and the
Right of Return, the occupation of Haiti and other anti-
imperialist positions. The United for Peace and Justice
stage banner and signs in the lead contingent will address
the war in Iraq and issues connected to that war.
Each coalition agrees that we will only refer to our own
slogans and banners, and if there is any public referencing
of any slogans used by the coalitions in the joint pre-march
rally or the joint march, the slogans of both coalitions
in both the rally and march will be explicitly stated.
Security
There will be a shared security team, led by two security
coordinators from UFPJ and two from the
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition. The security coordinators shall
develop a plan for security at the pre-march rally and
march on September 24. For the security plan to be implemented,
the security coordinators will have to agree. The areas they
will develop a plan for will include:
-Security when lining up the lead banner and first contingent
-Security at the head of the march and throughout the whole march
-Security at the stage for the pre-march joint rally
-Security at any other sensitive location, such as money
collection points
-How security people will be identified
-The training of the people working on security
-How the security teams will be organized and the chain of
command
-The communication system the security operation will use
No member of the security team will carry signs, banners,
flags or other materials not directly related to carrying
out their security duties.
Media
There will be one joint press conference announcing the
pre-march rally and march as soon as possible, preferably the
last week in August. The next press conference that either
coalition participates in announcing activities for the
weekend of September 24 will be the joint press conference.
Each coalition will determine who will represent them at
the press conference, and there will be an equal number
of people from each coalition.
Each coalition will be able to do its own press work, and
in such press work both coalitions will clearly state that
the rally and march are being jointly organized by
A.N.S.W.E.R. / September 24 National Coalition and
United for Peace and Justice.
The details of the joint press conference, as well as
issues related to press work on and before September 24,
will be worked out by the media coordinators for both
coalitions.
If other joint press activities are organized, the same
principles will apply.
Finances
The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition will pay for the stage, sound,
press riser and backstage set up for the pre-march joint
rally at the Ellipse.
The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition and UFPJ will divide evenly the
costs related to the security operation (walkie talkies
or other communication system, security vests, etc.) and
any costs related to the money collection (buckets,
barrels, etc.) and the cost of the lead banner. They
will also divide evenly any costs related to the joint
press conference.
There shall be a money pitch and collection at the rally
and at least one collection along the march route.
The money collection coordinators for each coalition
shall jointly develop the plans for these operations,
as well as the plans for the counting and dividing of
the money after the march. Any plan will have to be
agreed upon by both coordinators. The money collected
at the rally and at the march will be evenly divided
between United for Peace and Justice and
the A.N.S.WE.R. Coalition.
Coordinating team and dispute resolution
The whole effort will be coordinated by a team of three
people from each of the two coalitions. These people
shall have the authorization from their respective
coalitions to carry out the items agreed upon above.
Should new issues arise, these people will have the
right to go back to their respective coalitions before
final decisions are made. If the coordinating team is
unable to resolve the dispute, the matter will be
referred back to the same facilitation mechanism that
was used in the weeks prior to the signing of the
agreement to hold a joint rally and joint march on
September 24, including the participation of Jos Williams
and Nancy Wohlforth. If, in that process, the dispute
is unresolved and is considered by either side to be
an unremedied violation of the agreement then this
agreement will no longer be binding on either coalition.
No attacks on each other
Between now and the end of the demonstration on
September 24, each coalition agrees to not attack
the other coalition.
Public announcement about the joint rally and joint march
The following language will be the announced statement
from the two coalitions. This statement will be sent out
simultaneously.
Statement about a joint rally and joint march for
September 24:
The two major antiwar coalitions that have initiated and
organized for a massive anti-war March on Washington for
September 24 have agreed to organize a joint rally followed
by a joint march. Both coalitions will organize under
their own banners, slogans and with their own literature
for the September 24 demonstration. The joint rally will
begin at 11:30 am at the Ellipse in the front of the White
House. We urge everyone around the country to unite and
come out for the largest possible anti-war demonstration
on September 24.
Signed by: United for Peace and Justice, and
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition (on behalf of the September
24 National Coalition)
Signed by
Brian Becker for
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
(on behalf of the September 24 National Coalition)
Leslie Cagan for
United for Peace and Justice
UFPJ mailing list
Post: UFPJ@lists.mayfirst.org
List info: https://lists.mayfirst.org/mailman/listinfo/ufpj
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2) IMPORTANT MEETING FOR THE ARAB COMMUNITY IN THE BAY AREA
Monday September 12th, 7:00 PM
522 Valencia, San Francisco, 3rd Floor
Bayareapalestine
The coalition to organize the September 24th Protest against
the US occupation of Iraq, dispossession of the Palestinian
people and the persecution of Arabs in the US is holding an
urgent and important meeting for the Arab Community in San
Francisco. We urge our community organizations to attend
in maximum capacity and our members and friends to attend
in full force.
We will be discussing the following:
* Political fallout of the Katrina Hurricane and impact
on the war and its recent developments;
* Reviving conventional racist campaigns in the US
South and the abandonment of whole sectors of society;
* Israeli withdrawal and the decolonization of Gaza;
* Our contingent to the September 24th protest and
political discourse surrounding the recent events and
future developments.
These events and our actions are not only affecting
global events, but they will have direct and critical
impacts on students, immigrants, our community in US
society and Arab labor in the bay area and elsewhere.
Families are welcome.
* Visit your group "bayareapalestine" on the web.
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3) Not in Our Name ,CodePink , and US Tour of Duty present
Report back from Camp Casey, Crawford, Texas
In the wake of the Katrina disaster, many are asking,
"why are tens of thousands of National Guard troops in Iraq?"
Out of Iraq now!
Photos from Camp Casey
Susan and Melanie House, widow and mother of John House,
a Navy corpsman killed in Iraq. Cindy Sheehan. Marine LCpl
Jeff Key. Joan Baez.
Cindy Sheehan greets Rubin Flores whose son was killed in
Iraq only a couple of months ago. His two daughters are
in the background.
Actor Martin Sheen and Cindy Sheehan with Iraq Veterans
Against the War
Karen Meredith, Gold Star Families for Peace
Photos by Not in Our Name organizer Jeff Paterson.
His two-week Camp Casey photo journal is available
online here .
Monday, September 12
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Grand Lake Theater, Oakland
3200 Grand Avenue ( map )
Zero to $10 donation requested
Thousands came to Crawford, Texas in August to support
Cindy Sheehan's challenge to President Bush to explain
his administration's war in Iraq. A simple request from
a bereaved mother inspired and galvanized the peace
movement. Come find out what Camp Casey was like on
the ground from people who were there, hear first-hand
accounts of the war being fought in our name, and learn
why the movement launched in Crawford by military families,
vets, and activists is turning the tide.
A benefit for the Veterans for Peace "Camp Casey" in
Covington, Louisiana currently providing relief, including
food, shelter, and a communications center, to hundreds
displaced by the Katrina disaster in coordination with
the local Red Cross ( more info ).
Event hosted by AIMEE ALLISON , Army conscientious
objector and Green Party candidate for Oakland City Council
Featuring special guests direct from Camp Casey:
KAREN MEREDITH , member of Gold Star Families for Peace –
her son Kenneth Ballard was killed last year in Iraq
JEFF PATERSON , former Marine, official Camp Casey
blogger/photographer, Not in Our Name organizer
NANCY MANCIAS , CodePink Women's March to Bush Ranch
organizer
SEAN O'NEILL , Purple Heart Iraq War veteran, member
of Iraq Veterans Against the War
RAY McGOVERN , former CIA analyst, featured in
"Uncovered: The War on Iraq"
JESSE DYEN , singer-songwriter, Camp Casey volunteer
Plus a 16-minute film by MARK MANNING ,"CAUGHT IN
THE CROSSFIRE"
Featuring exclusive footage of the U.S. bombardment
of Falluja and its aftermath
For more information call 510.452.3556
Special thanks to Allen Michaan and the Grand Lake Theater .
The Not in Our Name Project needs your support!
Donate online
donate.notinourname.net
Or send your tax-deductible contribution today to:
Not in Our Name
3945 Opal Street, Oakland CA 94609
www.notinourname.net
phone: 510-601-8000
email: bayarea@notinourname.net
local: bayarea.notinourname.net
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4) New Orleans Officials Grapple With How to Pull Out Residents
By ALEX BERENSON and SEWELL CHAN
Published: September 8, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/national/nationalspecial/08storm.html
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5) Street Scene
Macabre Reminder: The Corpse on Union Street
By DAN BARRY
Published: September 8, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/national/nationalspecial/
08orleans.html?hp&ex=1126238400&en=a7ff2832a9df65b3&ei=5094&partner=hom
epage
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6) UN Hits Back at US in Report Saying Parts of America are
as Poor as Third World
by Paul Vallely
Parts of the United States are as poor as the Third World,
according to a shocking United Nations report on
global inequality.
Published on Thursday, September 8, 2005 by the lndependent/UK
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0908-06.htm
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7) Old-Line Families Escape Worst of Flood And Plot the Future
by Christopher Cooper
Published on Thursday, September 8, 2005
by the Wall Street Journal
The green expanse of Audubon Park, in the city's Uptown area,
has doubled in recent days as a heliport for the city's rich
-- and a terminus for the small armies of private security
guards who have been dispatched to keep the homes there safe
and habitable. Mr. O'Dwyer has cellphone service and ice cubes
to cool off his highballs in the evening. By yesterday, the
city water service even sprang to life, making the daily trips
to his neighbor's pool unnecessary. A pair of oil-company
engineers, dispatched by his son-in-law, delivered four cases
of water, a box of delicacies including herring with mustard
sauce and 15 gallons of generator gasoline.
Despite the disaster that has overwhelmed New Orleans, the
city's monied, mostly white elite is hanging on and maneuvering
to play a role in the recovery when the floodwaters of Katrina
are gone. "New Orleans is ready to be rebuilt. Let's start
right here," says Mr. O'Dwyer, standing in his expansive
kitchen, next to a counter covered with a jumble of weaponry
and electric wires.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0908-09.htm
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8) "The entire community is now a toxic waste dump"
The Gulf Coast is drowning in a poisonous stew, people are
dying from waterborne bacteria, and federal funds have been
drained by years of pro-industry policies. Katrina is one
of the worst environmental catastrophes in U.S. history.
By Rebecca Clarren
[This article is accompanied by
a photograph showing people
on top of their roof surrounded
by an ocean of water with an "oil"
rainbow floating on top.
"Water, Water everywhere yet not
a drop to drink."...bw]
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/09/09/wasteland/index_np.html
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9) The Fall 2005 Wheels of Justice bus tour needs your
active participation and support
Dear friends and activists:
I urge you to respond to this Wheels of Justice call with
generous donations and support, invitation etc. I do not
exaggerate when I say that this is the most effective
outreach effort I have seen within the United States.
Its impact has been phenomenal. For me personally,
volunteering for it with the hundreds of other people
involved has been the most rewarding and humbling
volunteer effort I ever engaged in.
Mazin Qumsiyeh
http://qumsiyeh.org
The Fall 2005 Wheels of Justice bus tour needs your active
participation and support.
The Wheels of Justice Bus Tour has
already covered 40 states and we spoke
and mobilized at hundreds of events
but we must intensify our efforts at
this crucial stage. The new fall
season begin as we see significant changes
in the political landscape
regarding occupation in Iraq, colonization in
Palestine, and oppression of
civil liberties here at home. The bus team is
growing and adapting to changing
circumstances but with your help will
continue to offer the very best
in compelling witness, testimony and
expertise on our roles and
responsibilities as taxpayers
and world citizens.
New speakers are added and other
speakers traveled recently to update
their knowledge in Iraq and Palestine.
With your much-needed help, we will
continue to speak and mobilize at more
high schools, more colleges, more
churches, and more community centers
and to a wider audience. We lined up
excellent speakers to accompany our
mobile educational center in the form of
the colorful bio-diesel operated bus.
Now what you should do:
- If you live in the areas along the
route (see below) or know people there
consider hosting the Wheels Tour and
participating fully. Contact Ceylon
Mooney: 917-567-5048, ceylon@vitw.org.
- Spread the word. Call and email
people you know along the present rout or
people you think might be interested
in being added o the route. Also hold
fundraising events and raise needed funds.
- DONATE. Everyone is a volunteer
but it takes money to operate this
educational platform. It takes money
for speaker travel, biodiesel, food,
literature, mailing, and logistics.
To donate send checks to Wheels of
Justice, 740 Roundlake Rd., Luck, WI 54853.
On line donations via paypal
can be made at
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr
The Fall '05 Wheels of Justice tour
is shaping up great. We will spend Sept
9 - Nov 19 in the Midwest, the plains,
and the Rockies. We start out in
Minnesota Sept 9 - 16, then head towards
the Sioux Falls area and a bit of
Wyoming for a few days before spending
the rest of September and early
October in Montana. We are still
looking for venues Oct 9-11 in Pocatello
and Idaho Falls. We then have
engagements in the Salt Lake City area for
three days. We'll enter Colorado from
the west around the 16th of October,
and we hope to visit more of Wyoming
and Nebraska in November. We always
welcome new ideas and invitations
in other areas. Contact us
http://justicewheels.org (there you
will also find schedules, background,
reports on previous engagements,
speaker biographies, endorsements, photos,
etc).
Donations and support to this all-
volunteer project are appreciated.
http://justicewheels.org
Have a look at our educational resources:
http://al-awdacal.org/resources.html
Become one of our Donors!
Go to: http://al-awda.org/donatenow/
Unless indicated otherwise, all
statements posted represent the
views of their authors and not
necessarily those of Al-Awda,
The Palestine Right to Return Coalition.
Visit your group "Al-Awda-News
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10) Let the People
Rebuild New Orleans
Naomi Klein
lookout | posted September 8, 2005 (September 26, 2005 issue)
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050926/klein
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11) The Siege of New Orleans;
a beachhead for the new world order
Mike Whitney
September 6, 2005
"We have been abandoned by our own
country.Bureaucracy has committed murder
here in the greater New Orleans area,
and bureaucracy has to stand trial." Aaron Broussard
"In times of universal deceit, telling
the truth is a revolutionary act". George Orwell
Neither the Mainstream media nor the alternative-Leftist web sites
have told the truth about what really happened in the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina. For the people of the region it was the greatest
natural catastrophe they'd ever faced. For the Bush administration
it was just another opportunity to use fear and anarchy to advance
their global agenda.
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m15454&l=i&size=1&hd=0
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12) Congressman: Hurricane 'finally
cleaned out public housing in
New Orleans'
RAW STORY
From the paid-restricted Wall Street Journal's Washington
wire: "LOUISIANA LAWMAKERS aim to cope with political fallout."
Sen. Landrieu, in spotlight now, could find margins squeezed
if thousands of Democratic-leaning African-Americans don't
return by her 2008 re-election. Louisiana political analyst John
Maginnis says state could even lose one of seven House seats
in next redistricting.
Two shaky House incumbents, Democrat Melancon and
Republican Boustany, hope response to hurricane rallies
voters behind them. House Republican campaign chief
Reynolds touts chance to market conservative social-policy
solutions; Rep. Baker of Baton Rouge is overheard telling
lobbyists: "We finally cleaned up public housing in New
Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did."
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/
Congressman_Hurricane_finally_cleaned_out__public_housing_in_N_0909.html
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13) Police Trapped Thousands in New Orleans
Rogers Cadenhead
As the situation grew steadily worse in New Orleans last week,
you might have wondered why people didn't just leave on foot.
The Louisiana Superdome is less than two miles from a bridge
that leads over the Mississippi River out of the city.
The answer: Any crowd that tried to do so was met by
suburban police, some of whom fired guns to disperse
the group and seized their water.
Friday, September 09, 2005
http://www.cadenhead.org/workbench/news/2748
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14) September 24 – National March to
Stop the Iraq War – PeaceNovato will
be marching with the origami peace
cranes in the National March on Saturday,
September 24 in San Francisco.
We need your help! Since July 4th the number
of American Service persons killed in
the Iraq war has grown from 1744 to 1893
(as of 9-7-05). In order to carry all of
the cranes we need more volunteers to
march with us. Please give Don (897-0516)
or Julie (883-8324) a call if you
are interested in joining us.
Also, PeaceNovato is organizing
another Great North Bay Peace Caravan to
San Francisco just prior to the march.
Peace groups from all over the North
Bay area will be converging on the
Rowland Blvd. Park and Ride Lot at
9:00 A.M Saturday the 24th to drive
into San Francisco as a car caravan.
We encourage each car to be decorated
with peace signs and banners and then
we’ll drive as a group into the city.
On our way we will stop in Sausalito
where we will meet up with the last
contingent of caravan autos. We hope
to have over 100 cars in our caravan
crossing the Golden Gate Bridge at one
time as a statement of the North Bay’s
opposition to the war. Again, please
call Don (897-0516) or Julie (883-8324)
if you are interested in joining us
or need a ride.
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Wednesday, September 07, 2005
BAUAW NEWSLETTER-WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2005
*************************************************************
SEPTEMBER 24
ANSWER Organizing Meetings:
Tuesdays, 7:00 p.m.
2489 Mission St., suite 24 (at 21st St., S.F.)
COLLEGE NOT COMBAT Planning Meeting:
Saturday, September 17th, 2:00 P.M.
110 Capp Street (Buzz #202) San Francisco
For more information:
college_not_combat@yahoo.com
(415) 248-1701
http://www.collegenotcombat.org/
NEXT BAUAW MEETING:
TUESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 20, 7:00 P.M.
474 VALENCIA STREET, S.F. NEAR 16TH STREET
Letter from Cindy Sheehan
March on Washington, Sept. 24, 2005
www.unitedforpeace.org/septmobe
STOP THE WAR AND OCCUPATION!
IRAQ, PALESTINE, HAITI....
MARCH AND RALLY SEPTEMBER 24
11:00 A.M. DOLORES PARK, S.F.
COLLEGE NOT COMBAT CONTINGENT
10:00 A.M. 16TH AND MISSION BART PLAZA, S.F.
*************************************************************
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BAUAW NEWSLETTER-WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2005
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
1) An Angry 'Times-Picayune' Calls for Firing of FEMA Chief,
and Others, in Open Letter to President Bush
By E&P Staff
Published: September 04, 2005 10:40 A
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001054586
2) First By the Floods, Then By Martial Law
Trapped in New Orleans
By LARRY BRADSHAW
and LORRIE BETH SLONSKY
September 6, 2005
http://www.counterpunch.org/bradshaw09062005.html
3) (Very excellent and powerful statement...bw)
Iraq War Has Made a Mockery of Genuine 'Homeland Security'
by Mark T. Harris
September 6th, 2005
The current administration in the White House is fast
becoming one whose "accomplishments" are measured now
more in terms of body bags and the availability of
potable water than anything remotely resembling genuine
progress. From the streets of Fallujah and Baghdad now
to the gulf coast of the United States, the consequences
of a White House that worships the supposed miracle
solution of "free markets" and digital warfare in all
things has finally come full circle.
Within this circle now we see only failure, suffering,
and the death of innocents.
http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=9095
4) LaBOR aRT & MuRAL PRoJECT AGITPROP NEWS: 9.5.5
In this Issue:
1. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
2. The Funny
5) Katrina children seeking parents shown on Web site
Mon Sep 5, 2005 08:01 PM ET
http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=9565493&src=eDialog/GetContent
6) ON THE FRONTLINES
National Counter-Recruitment Conference
October 22-23 at UC-Berkeley
7) Gloria LaRiva: Eyewitness report from New Orleans
8) Hurricane Katrina disaster shows the failure of the profit system
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/sep2005/stat-s06.shtml
9) The Two Americas
By Marjorie Cohn
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090305Y.shtml
10) Navy Pilots Who Rescued Victims Are Reprimanded
By DAVID S. CLOUD
Published: September 7, 2005
PENSACOLA, Fla., Sept. 6 - Two Navy helicopter pilots and
their crews returned from New Orleans on Aug. 30 expecting
to be greeted as lifesavers after ferrying more than
100 hurricane victims to safety.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/07/national/nationalspecial/07navy.html?ex=1126756800&en=e44a962361b06a6e&ei=5070&emc=eta1
11) US offensive near the Syrian border
Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
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1) An Angry 'Times-Picayune' Calls for Firing of FEMA Chief,
and Others, in Open Letter to President Bush
By E&P Staff
Published: September 04, 2005 10:40 A
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001054586
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
2) First By the Floods, Then By Martial Law
Trapped in New Orleans
By LARRY BRADSHAW
and LORRIE BETH SLONSKY
September 6, 2005
http://www.counterpunch.org/bradshaw09062005.html
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3) (Very excellent and powerful statement...bw)
Iraq War Has Made a Mockery of Genuine 'Homeland Security'
by Mark T. Harris
September 6th, 2005
The current administration in the White House is fast
becoming one whose "accomplishments" are measured now
more in terms of body bags and the availability of
potable water than anything remotely resembling genuine
progress. From the streets of Fallujah and Baghdad now
to the gulf coast of the United States, the consequences
of a White House that worships the supposed miracle
solution of "free markets" and digital warfare in all
things has finally come full circle.
Within this circle now we see only failure, suffering,
and the death of innocents.
http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=9095
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4) LaBOR aRT & MuRAL PRoJECT AGITPROP NEWS: 9.5.5
In this Issue:
1. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
2. The Funny
1. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Our fabulous New Orleans, one of the world's great cultural treasures,
lies in ruins. The destruction of this city's artistic life, just as
with the loss of life and property, is a tragedy of immense proportions
New Orleans was a product of many influences - but its character was
indelibly stamped by slaves and their descendants. Slavery was a
holocaust of such magnitude that it resulted in the deaths of millions
of Africans and enormous human suffering. It was a holocaust, as we
see today, that never really ended.
African-Americans responded to their cruel treatment by creating art
and music that ultimately became Americas great gift to the world.
While the former slave masters built a powerful empire based on
military conquest and exploitation, the former slaves fostered a
unique culture based on their African roots. New Orleans was a magical
world where music was vibrant, Tabasco flowed freely and human
sexuality was celebrated in fantastic spectacles.
Even after many years, I can still remember the people and music that
surrounded Southern Railroads Oliver Yard, where I worked and
frequently walked the tracks. Day or night, we could leave work and be
swept up in festivities. More than in any other city, the
neighborhoods of the Big Easy responded to official consumer culture
with a lively, organic art that expressed the aspirations and optimism
of working people. Our loss is immeasurable.
Why the Fuss
The unwillingness and inability of the US government to prevent or
alleviate this crisis is not an oversight, miscalculation or mistake.
We all knew it would happen, and so did they.
Two days ago, I watched in astonishment as a jocular George Bush held
a press conference in Mississippi to begin his tour of the gulf coast.
There is great suffering in the land, he said. Why, my friend,
Senator Trent Lott (who stood at his side,) is one of the suffering
masses - his oceanfront home was destroyed. The President pledged to
rebuild the house.
This was his starting point.
I don't think that Bush and Company is any more inept or insensitive
than other politicians. The same congress that was able to rush to
Washington in one day to keep the deceased Terri Schiavo plugged to a
machine likewise turned a blind eye to the desperate plight of living
thousands. And the liberal politicians who only now are so indignant
were previously nowhere to be found.
They live in a different world. The circumstances of the great
unwashed are not their concern, any more than you or I might worry
about the sport of polo. They are worried about their summer homes and
investment portfolios. The fate of the working poor is not a priority.
If not for the massive public outcry, people might have been left on
their rooftops until Mardi Gras came around. Had they been expensive
horses instead of poor people, they might have been evacuated more
quickly. After all, Bush's appointee to direct FEMA honed his
emergency skills as the head of the International Arabian Horse
Association.
Even now, with normally docile news reporters actually moved to ask
some real questions, the blank expressions of administration
spokespeople reveal that they just don't get what all the fuss
is about.
The Chickens Come Home to Roost
The death and destruction is a man-made, criminal act - the logical
outcome of corporate and governmental policies that thrived under
Democratic and Republican administrations alike. The authorities have
known of the storm dangers for decades. Don't blame Mother Nature -
she was just being herself (with some help from global warming.)
As a traveling muralist, I have seen firsthand the dreadful
consequences of US foreign policy in places like Nicaragua
and Iraq.
Washington's callousness to suffering is no revelation to most of the
world. It's old news to the Iraqi people - the US embargo and
occupation has killed over a million of them. The indifference to life
is certainly no eye-opener for the abandoned of Darfur.
Now, in New Orleans, the ugly face of American capitalism stands
revealed.
This nation, though born with the horror of slavery and slaughter of
indigenous people, at one time was vigorous and forward-looking. But
we are witnessing the empire in decline. Starving people in New
Orleans? Let them eat beignets. City under water? Bush waves from
the window of his jet while he heads home from his five-week vacation.
He plays golf the next day.
Oil companies, already bloated with record profits - immediately took
advantage of the crisis by jacking up gas prices. You can bet that
the food companies and every other industry will soon follow suit.
Cheney and his Halliburton pals are licking their lips in anticipation
of lucrative reconstruction contracts. They take everything and
produce nothing.
We were told we were different. We were told that this could not
happen to "Americans." But you're only an American when it's time to
go to war or speed up production. The rest of the time you're just a
worker - like workers in Nigeria or Haiti. If you are not making a
profit for your employer, your usefulness is over. You will be left to
drown in your attic or die of thirst or starve to death.
A Different Example
In Cuba, so vilified by the US government, the population is informed
and educated about the hurricanes that frequently slam into the
island. The scant resources of the entire country are used to evacuate
hundreds of thousands of people. Electricity is turned off to prevent
death by electrocution. Water is turned off to protect against
contamination. Medical facilities are prepared - and health care is
always free in Cuba. At times, over a million people have been
evacuated with no loss of life.
In fact, Castro has offered to send 1100 doctors, completely at Cuban
expense, to aid in gulf coast relief efforts. He has refused to
criticize Washington in this hour of crisis.
Venezuela has offered to provide inexpensive gas to poor Americans.
The demonized Chavez has offered to send two mobile hospitals, 120
specialists in rescue operations, 10 water purifying plants, 18 large
electricity generators, 20 tons of bottled water, and 50 tons of
canned food.
Ever faithful to her corporate masters, these offers have been
rejected by Condoleezza Rice. Better the poor should die than be
exposed to socialist ideas. (Rice made sure to have a photo-op
unloading some relief supplies from the back of a truck.)
The Victims Become the Criminals
As always, the poor will be blamed for their own misery.
The war-makers who cut federal funding earmarked to strengthen
the levees and gave it instead to a fake rebuilding of Iraq;
the politicians who lined their pockets and ignored public
safety; the real estate moguls who made millions of dollars
with rampant, unplanned development; the graft-ridden cops
who ran away in fear of a city of needy black people; the
CEOs of profit-hungry oil companies - all will now
hypocritically point their fingers at the victims –
desperate workers taking food or medicine for their
families - and brand them as looters.
The authorities and the press are promoting racist
hysteria. Black people are portrayed as marauding
animals and rapists - all without a shred of evidence.
Troops are sent to protect Gucci bags in upscale malls.
Yet there is little to indicate any civil problem that
compares to a single night of drunken revelry by middle-
class tourists at Mardi Gras.
Bush, the spoiled child of wealth and privilege, could not
wait to start talking tough about "law and order." The
returning cops have already murdered more people than
were murdered during the past week, when there was no
"security." Yes, there are individuals who have struck
out in anger and desperation. But the tens of thousands
of poor people who were left to suffer and die displayed
more self-control, caring and dignity than any of their
so-called leaders. We should all be proud of them.
March on Washington
This catastrophe is only beginning. Yet to come is the
spread of disease, skyrocketing prices, increasing
unemployment, food shortages, environmental destruction
and the curtailment of democratic rights. The cost of
the storm and the looting by corporations will be born
by working people. Tuitions will increase, education
will deteriorate, our bridges and roads will fall into
further disrepair, healthcare will become more
inaccessible - life will become more difficult for
all of us.
Bush has blithely promised to rebuild a new and better
New Orleans. Along with developing the hydrogen car,
I suppose.
I can imagine his new city: Mardi Gras Mall to replace
Fauberg Marigny and the French Quarter. Starbucks
instead of the Café du Monde. Britney Spears performing
the songs of Professor Longhair and Alan Toussaint.
McGumbo.
No - the people of the gulf coast will pick themselves up
from the toxic silt. Working people from all over the
world will come to their aid. They will respond to ruling
class indifference with solidarity and caring. The eyes
of many have been opened - Americans will never look at
the suffering of others in the same way.
September 24 will be massive march on Washington, San
Francisco and Los Angeles to demand that the troops be
brought home from Iraq. We will demand that the enormous
resources of the occupation be used instead for a massive
public works program to rebuild the gulf coast. We will
demand money for jobs and education. We will repudiate the
actions of Bush and his creepy-crawly administration.
They do not speak for the American people.
We will eventually force the war-makers to withdraw from
Iraq, just as we forced them out of Vietnam. Working
people - the true source of all wealth and the great
incubator of ideas - will absorb this experience and
spit it back in the form of new art and music. The
great culture of New Orleans is part of our collective
consciousness, and will live on in a thousand new ways.
Corporate greed will never destroy our humanity or
silence our music.
Mike Alewitz
2. The Funny
Some needed comic relief
This is a bricklayer's accident report, which was printed
in the newsletter of the Australian equivalent of
The Workers' Compensation Board. This is a true story.
Dear Sir:
I am writing in response to your request for additional
information in Block 3 of the accident report form.
I put "poor planning" as the cause of my accident.
You asked for a fuller explanation and I trust the
following details will be sufficient.
I am a bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident,
I was working alone on the roof of a new six story building.
When I completed my work, I found that I had some bricks
left over which, when weighed later, were found to be
slightly in excess of 500 lbs.
Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to
lower them in a barrel by using a pulley, which was
attached to the side of the building on the sixth floor.
Securing the rope at ground level, I went up to the roof,
swung the barrel out and loaded the bricks into it.
Then I went down and untied the rope, holding it tightly
to ensure a slow descent of the bricks.
You will note in Block 11 of the accident report form
that I weigh 175 lbs. Due to my surprise at being
jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence
of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to
say, I proceeded at a rapid rate up the side of the building.
In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel
which was now proceeding downward at an equal,
impressive speed.
This explained the fractured skull, minor abrasions and
the broken collar bone, as listed in section 3 of the
accident report form. Slowed only slightly, I continued
my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my
right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley.
Fortunately by this time I had regained my presence
of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope,
in spite of beginning to experience a great deal of pain.
At approximately the same time, however, the barrel
of bricks hit the ground and the bottom fell out of
the barrel. Now devoid of the weight of the bricks,
that barrel weighed approximately 50 lbs. I refer you
again to my weight. (Block 11).
As you can imagine, I began a rapid descent, down the
side of the building. In the vicinity of the third
floor, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for
the two fractured ankles, broken tooth and several
lacerations of my legs and lower body.
Here my luck began to change slightly. The encounter
with the barrel seemed to slow me enough to lessen
my injuries when I fell into the pile of bricks and
fortunately only three vertebrae we re cracked.
I am sorry to report, however, as I lay there on the
pile of bricks, in pain unable to move, I again lost
my composure and presence of mind and let go of the
rope and I lay there watching the empty barrel begin
its journey back down onto me. This explains the two
broken legs.
I hope this answers your inquiry.
Bill Fuller
MIKE ALEWITZ Artistic Director LaBOR aRT & MuRAL PRoJECT
Art Department Central CT State University
1615 Stanley Street New Britain, CT 06050
Office: 860.832.2359 Fax: 860.832.2634
Mobile: 860.518.4046 alewitzm@ccsu.edu
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5) Katrina children seeking parents shown on Web site
Mon Sep 5, 2005 08:01 PM ET
http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=9565493&src=eDialog/GetContent
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6) ON THE FRONTLINES
National Counter-Recruitment Conference
October 22-23 at UC-Berkeley
Sponsored by the Campus Antiwar Network and Military Out of Our
Schools - Bay Area
ON THE FRONTLINES is a national counter-recruitment conference
bringing together college and high school students, teachers, parents,
and veterans. Come learn the truth about military recruiting; hear
first-person stories from veterans and military families; and plan to
take this movement to the next step -- to get military recruiters out
of our schools and bring the troops home from Iraq!
STUDENT-LED WORKSHOPS include:
Do military recruiters have a right to free speech?
Are they going to bring back a draft?
What would happen if the troops left now?
Palestine and the Antiwar Movement
What will it take to end the occupation of Iraq?
Campus repression & student rights
How to start an antiwar chapter at your school
ROTC and "career" recruiting
High School student organizing
...and more! Student organizing sessions will also bring together
students from around the country to plan national actions and
campaigns, and determine the direction of the growing student movement
demanding College, Not Combat!
Speakers include:
AIDEN DELGADO, Iraq war veteran and conscientious objector
PETER CAMEJO, Green Party candidate in 2003 California gubernatorial
elections
KEVIN RAMIREZ, Central Committee of Conscientious Objectors
And COLLEGE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS opposing recruiters at their
schools
$5-20 registration fee sliding scale (no one turned away). Some travel
scholarships are available. FOR MORE INFORMATION, or to find other
students near you who will be attending, email
frontlines.conference@gmail.com or visit: http://www.campusantiwar.net
http://www.objector.org/moos-bay.html
ON THE FRONTLINES is sponsored by the Campus Antiwar Network (CAN) and
Military Out of Our Schools - Bay Area (MOOS-Bay).
Other participating organizations include: American Friends Service
Committee, Alternatives to War Through Education/Central Committee for
Conscientious Objectors, Art in Action, Code Pink, Courage to Resist,
East Bay Peace Action, Global Exchange, International Socialist
Organization, Just Think, Peace Action of San Mateo County, PEACE-
Popular Education and Action Collective, Making Changes Freedom
School, Not in Our Name, Peninsual Raging Grannies, Presente! Affinity
Group, School of the Americas Watch West, Solano County Peace and
Justice Coalition, Veterans for Peace, War Resisters League West ...
and college and high school antiwar organizations all around the
United States.
Yahoo! Groups Links
To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/college_not_combat/
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7) Gloria LaRiva: Eyewitness report from New Orleans
From: Alicia Jrapko [mailto:ajrapko@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, September 05, 2005 12:20 PM
To: Walter Lippmann
Subject: Eyewitness report from New Orleans
On Saturday September 3, award-winning filmmaker Gloria La Riva,
internationally-acclaimed photographer Bill Hackwell and A.N.S.W.E.R.
Youth & Student Coordinator Caneisha Mills arrived in New Orleans as
an A.N.S.W.E.R. delegation to document an accurate account of the
situation and provide solidarity and support to those in need
The following is an eyewitness report of the crisis in the area
written on Sunday, September 4.
Media reports on September 2 describe anarchy and general chaos as
the climate in all of New Orleans. The national media reports that
hope, supplies and food were now being distributed in the area.
However, once we arrived in the Algiers district of New Orleans after
seven checkpoints, the reality shows otherwise.
Algiers
While 80 percent of New Orleans was submerged in water, Algiers is
one of the few districts that has been spared as it sits higher than
most of the city. An historic district established in 1719, Algiers
is on the west bank of the Mississippi river, across from the French
Quarter. Probably 15% of the residents still remain behind, most of
them determined to stay in their homes. The majority of homes are
still intact, although many have suffered damage. While their houses
survived, the peoples' chance of survival seemed very bleak since
there was no electricity or disbursement of food, water or other
supplies.
"Imagine being in a city, poor, without any money and all of a sudden
you are told to leave and you don't even have a bicycle," stated
Malik Rahim, a community activist in the Algiers section of New
Orleans. "90% of the people don't even have cars."
One woman told us it was not possible for her to evacuate. She said,
"I can't leave. I don't have a car and I have nine children." She and
her husband are getting by with the help of several men in the
community who are joining resources to provide for their neighbors.
The government claims that people can get water, but residents have
to travel at least 17 miles to the nearest water and ice distribution
center. Only one case of water is available per family. Countless
people have no way to drive.
There is a huge military and police presence but none of it to
provide services. All of them, north and south of the river, are
stationed in front of private buildings and abandoned stores,
protecting private property.
The goods they are driving in are for their own forces.
Not one of them has delivered water to Algiers or gone to the houses
to see if sick or elderly people need help. There is no door-to-door
survey to see who was injured. The overwhelming majority of people
who have stayed in Algiers are Black but some are white. One white
man in his late 50s in Algiers pointed across the street to a 10-acre
grassy lot. It looks like a beautiful park. He said, "I had my
daughter call FEMA. I told them I want to donate this land to the
people in need. They could set up 100 tractor trailers with aid, they
could set up tents. No one has ever called me back." He is clearly
angry.
Although some of the residents do express fear of burglaries into
houses, acts of heroism, sacrifice and solidarity are evident
everywhere.
Steve, a white man in his 40s, knocks on Malik's front door. He tells
us, "Malik has kept this neighborhood together. We don't know what
we'd do without his help." He has come in because he needs to use the
phone. Malik's street is the only one with phones still working.
Malik and three of his friends have been delivering food, water and
ice to those in need three times a day, searching everywhere for
goods.
There is a strong suspicion among the residents that this is a
deliberately forced removal. Algiers is full of quaint, historic
French-style houses, with a high real estate value, and signs of
gentrification are evident.
Downtown New Orleans
Although entry is prohibited into downtown New Orleans north and east
of the Mississippi, because of extensive flooding and the almost
total evacuation, we were able to get in on Sunday.
The Superdome is still surrounded by water and all types of military
- helicopters, army trucks, etc - are coming in and out of the area;
however, most of the people have already left. On US-90, the only
road out of New Orleans, convoys of National Guard troops are pouring
into the city, too late for many. According to an emergency issue of
The Times-Picayune, 16,000 National Guard troops now occupy the city.
Water is premium and not available. One African American couple
approached our car. The woman asked us, "Do you have water you could
give us? We have four kids. When they told us to leave before the
hurricane we couldn't. We have no car and no money."
Undoubtedly it is similar in the other states that got the direct hit
of Katrina, Mississippi and Alabama. On the radio we hear reports of
completely demolished towns. What differentiates the rest of the Gulf
coast from New Orleans is that the many thousands of deaths in New
Orleans were absolutely preventable and occurred after the hurricane.
On everyone's lips is the cutting in federal funds to strengthen the
levees of Lake Pontchartrain.
Two reporters from New York tell us they just came from the New
Orleans airport emergency hospital that was set up.
New Orleans International Airport
The New Orleans International Airport was converted into an emergency
hospital center. Thousands of people were evacuated there to get
supplies and food, and for transportation that would take them out of
the city. Many people arrived with only one or two bags, their entire
lives minimized to a few belongings.
Some people did not want to leave their homes, but say they were
forced to do so. For example, one white woman and her husband,
Pauline Noble and Jerome Hill, were forced to evacuate. Pauline said,
"The military told us that we had one minute to evacuate. We said
that we weren't ready and he said they can't force us to leave but if
we don't leave anybody left would be arrested . but it was the end of
the month. The two of us have been living for a couple of months on
$600 a month and rent is $550. At the end of the month, we only had
$20 and 1/8 of a tank of gas. There was no way we could leave."
When it became apparent that nobody was coming back to pick them up,
the couple walked five miles to the airport to see if they could get
help.
Disaster Medical Assistance Teams, doctors, nurses and community
organizations came from as far as San Diego, California and Kentucky
to provide support during the crisis. None of them were dispersed
into the community. When we arrived at the airport on Sunday,
September 4, there were approximately 20 medical people for every one
patient while people in regions such as Algiers and the 9th ward were
left to fend for themselves.
The majority of people in New Orleans blame the local and national
government for the catastrophe. One young Black man said, "The
government abandoned us . [it's] pre-meditated murder." Another said,
"Why would you [the government] protect a building . instead of
rescuing people that have been without food or water for three or
four days? It seems like that was the plan. . We couldn't starve them
out, the hurricane didn't kill them, it seems planned."
Baton Rouge
As we drive to Baton Rouge tonight to visit evacuated people, we hear
on local radio that possibly 10,000 people have died in the flooded
areas of New Orleans. Tonight in one announcement, we hear the names
of some of the missing people still being searched for, a 90-year-old
woman named Lisa, a man 102 years old, two women 82 and 85 years old.
The elderly, the most vulnerable, left to their own devices.
Bodies are lying everywhere, and hidden in attics and apartments. The
announcer describes how one body, rotting after days in the sun, was
surrounded by a wall fashioned from fallen bricks by survivors, and
given a provisional burial to give her some dignity. The sign placed
next to her body said, "Here lies Vera, God Help Us."
At a Red Cross shelter outside of Baton Rouge, we meet Emmanuel, who
can't find his wife and three sons after the floods. His story is
shocking. His home is near the 17th Street Canal, where the
Pontchartrain levee broke through.
"I stayed behind to rescue my neighbors while I sent my wife and kids
to dry land," he says. It is difficult for him to relate what
happened. He had a small boat so he went from house to house picking
up neighbors. While doing so, he encountered many bodies in the
water.
"My best friend's body was floating by in the water. One mother whose
baby drowned tied her baby to a fence so she could bury him after she
returned." Because troops kept driving by him and others without
helping them, he had to walk 30 miles north until he was picked up.
This crisis is a crime of the highest magnitude. The Bush
Administration is always able to find money to fund wars that will
benefit the rich of this country; however, when it comes to providing
aid to respond to a disaster of this magnitude, funds, supplies and
resources are lacking. From Bush on down, they should be indicted.
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ufpj-news/
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8) Hurricane Katrina disaster shows the failure of the profit system
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/sep2005/stat-s06.shtml
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9) The Two Americas
By Marjorie Cohn
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090305Y.shtml
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10) Navy Pilots Who Rescued Victims Are Reprimanded
By DAVID S. CLOUD
Published: September 7, 2005
PENSACOLA, Fla., Sept. 6 - Two Navy helicopter pilots and
their crews returned from New Orleans on Aug. 30 expecting
to be greeted as lifesavers after ferrying more than
100 hurricane victims to safety.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/07/national/nationalspecial/07navy.html?ex=1126756800&en=e44a962361b06a6e&ei=5070&emc=eta1
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11) US offensive near the Syrian border
Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
The following is the latest press release from the 'Doctors for Iraq
Society' regarding the most recent US offensive near the Syrian border.
For those of you in the US reading this, please keep this in mind when
viewing the catastrophe in New Orleans. -DJ
HUNDREDS OF CIVILIANS ARE FORCED TO FLEE AS US/IRAQI FORCES ATTACK
TALLAFA, NORTH-WESTERN IRAQ. DOCTORS FOR IRAQ WARNS OF MEDICAL
HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
Doctors for Iraq is deeply concerned at the fate of hundreds of
civilians trying to flee the sieged town of Tallafa, 80 km from Mousel
City. Thousands of residents from the town have been told to leave the
area by US/ Iraqi forces who have been attacking the area for the past
three- four days.
Eyewitnesses report that heavy bombs were dropped on targets in the town
a few days ago and on Monday 5^th September the US army has been firing
missiles onto the town from aircraft. The entire town in under siege and
is in preparation for a new military attack. .
^Doctors for Iraq has received reports that at least twenty civilian
have been killed in the attack. It is impossible to check these reports
for accuracy.
^US / IRAQI forces have forced frightened civilians to leave the sieged
town and and women and children are making their way to a refugee camp
set up outside the Tallafa.
^Civilians have told Doctors for Iraq that many young men aged between
20- 35 are being stopped and detained at checkpoints and are being taken
to a US military building near an airport.
^It is not known how many men have been detained and why they are being
held. It is impossible for Doctors For Iraq to check this reports as
media and health workers are being prevented form entering the area.
^What is know is that during the military siege of Falluja in 2004 young
men were also prevented from leaving the city and were detained by US/
Iraqi military.
^Doctors inside the town are concerned about the lack of medicine and
health care facilities for people who are being forced to flee their homes.
^Tallafa's medical infrastructure has been badly damaged by the ongoing
military attacks on the area over the past few weeks. Doctors and
medical convoys are unable to enter the sieged town and assist the
desperate civilians.
^Doctors for Iraq is particularly concerned about the fate of the
refugees. There is concern about the lack of clean drinking water for
displaced civilians and the threat of disease is very real as hygiene
conditions in the area are very poor.
^*
Ends
Doctors for Iraq is calling for :
*
^A complete and immediate *END *to the military attack on the town so
all civilians can be evacuated safely
^For the US/ IRAQI military to uphold the Geneva Convention and allow
doctors and medical supplies into the town.
^For international human rights organisations to carry out an immediate
investigation into allegations that young men are being detained by the
military and reports of civilian deaths during the attack.
^For more information contact:
^Dr. Salam Ismael ^_salam.obaidi@doctorsforiraq.org_ : Aisha Ismael
_^press.officer@doctorsforiraq.org _
More writing, photos and commentary at http://dahrjamailiraq.com
Iraq_Dispatches mailing list
http://lists.dahrjamailiraq.com/mailman/listinfo/iraq_dispatches
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SEPTEMBER 24
ANSWER Organizing Meetings:
Tuesdays, 7:00 p.m.
2489 Mission St., suite 24 (at 21st St., S.F.)
COLLEGE NOT COMBAT Planning Meeting:
Saturday, September 17th, 2:00 P.M.
110 Capp Street (Buzz #202) San Francisco
For more information:
college_not_combat@yahoo.com
(415) 248-1701
http://www.collegenotcombat.org/
NEXT BAUAW MEETING:
TUESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 20, 7:00 P.M.
474 VALENCIA STREET, S.F. NEAR 16TH STREET
Letter from Cindy Sheehan
March on Washington, Sept. 24, 2005
www.unitedforpeace.org/septmobe
STOP THE WAR AND OCCUPATION!
IRAQ, PALESTINE, HAITI....
MARCH AND RALLY SEPTEMBER 24
11:00 A.M. DOLORES PARK, S.F.
COLLEGE NOT COMBAT CONTINGENT
10:00 A.M. 16TH AND MISSION BART PLAZA, S.F.
*************************************************************
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
BAUAW NEWSLETTER-WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2005
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
1) An Angry 'Times-Picayune' Calls for Firing of FEMA Chief,
and Others, in Open Letter to President Bush
By E&P Staff
Published: September 04, 2005 10:40 A
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001054586
2) First By the Floods, Then By Martial Law
Trapped in New Orleans
By LARRY BRADSHAW
and LORRIE BETH SLONSKY
September 6, 2005
http://www.counterpunch.org/bradshaw09062005.html
3) (Very excellent and powerful statement...bw)
Iraq War Has Made a Mockery of Genuine 'Homeland Security'
by Mark T. Harris
September 6th, 2005
The current administration in the White House is fast
becoming one whose "accomplishments" are measured now
more in terms of body bags and the availability of
potable water than anything remotely resembling genuine
progress. From the streets of Fallujah and Baghdad now
to the gulf coast of the United States, the consequences
of a White House that worships the supposed miracle
solution of "free markets" and digital warfare in all
things has finally come full circle.
Within this circle now we see only failure, suffering,
and the death of innocents.
http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=9095
4) LaBOR aRT & MuRAL PRoJECT AGITPROP NEWS: 9.5.5
In this Issue:
1. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
2. The Funny
5) Katrina children seeking parents shown on Web site
Mon Sep 5, 2005 08:01 PM ET
http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=9565493&src=eDialog/GetContent
6) ON THE FRONTLINES
National Counter-Recruitment Conference
October 22-23 at UC-Berkeley
7) Gloria LaRiva: Eyewitness report from New Orleans
8) Hurricane Katrina disaster shows the failure of the profit system
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/sep2005/stat-s06.shtml
9) The Two Americas
By Marjorie Cohn
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090305Y.shtml
10) Navy Pilots Who Rescued Victims Are Reprimanded
By DAVID S. CLOUD
Published: September 7, 2005
PENSACOLA, Fla., Sept. 6 - Two Navy helicopter pilots and
their crews returned from New Orleans on Aug. 30 expecting
to be greeted as lifesavers after ferrying more than
100 hurricane victims to safety.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/07/national/nationalspecial/07navy.html?ex=1126756800&en=e44a962361b06a6e&ei=5070&emc=eta1
11) US offensive near the Syrian border
Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
1) An Angry 'Times-Picayune' Calls for Firing of FEMA Chief,
and Others, in Open Letter to President Bush
By E&P Staff
Published: September 04, 2005 10:40 A
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001054586
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
2) First By the Floods, Then By Martial Law
Trapped in New Orleans
By LARRY BRADSHAW
and LORRIE BETH SLONSKY
September 6, 2005
http://www.counterpunch.org/bradshaw09062005.html
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
3) (Very excellent and powerful statement...bw)
Iraq War Has Made a Mockery of Genuine 'Homeland Security'
by Mark T. Harris
September 6th, 2005
The current administration in the White House is fast
becoming one whose "accomplishments" are measured now
more in terms of body bags and the availability of
potable water than anything remotely resembling genuine
progress. From the streets of Fallujah and Baghdad now
to the gulf coast of the United States, the consequences
of a White House that worships the supposed miracle
solution of "free markets" and digital warfare in all
things has finally come full circle.
Within this circle now we see only failure, suffering,
and the death of innocents.
http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=9095
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
4) LaBOR aRT & MuRAL PRoJECT AGITPROP NEWS: 9.5.5
In this Issue:
1. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
2. The Funny
1. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Our fabulous New Orleans, one of the world's great cultural treasures,
lies in ruins. The destruction of this city's artistic life, just as
with the loss of life and property, is a tragedy of immense proportions
New Orleans was a product of many influences - but its character was
indelibly stamped by slaves and their descendants. Slavery was a
holocaust of such magnitude that it resulted in the deaths of millions
of Africans and enormous human suffering. It was a holocaust, as we
see today, that never really ended.
African-Americans responded to their cruel treatment by creating art
and music that ultimately became Americas great gift to the world.
While the former slave masters built a powerful empire based on
military conquest and exploitation, the former slaves fostered a
unique culture based on their African roots. New Orleans was a magical
world where music was vibrant, Tabasco flowed freely and human
sexuality was celebrated in fantastic spectacles.
Even after many years, I can still remember the people and music that
surrounded Southern Railroads Oliver Yard, where I worked and
frequently walked the tracks. Day or night, we could leave work and be
swept up in festivities. More than in any other city, the
neighborhoods of the Big Easy responded to official consumer culture
with a lively, organic art that expressed the aspirations and optimism
of working people. Our loss is immeasurable.
Why the Fuss
The unwillingness and inability of the US government to prevent or
alleviate this crisis is not an oversight, miscalculation or mistake.
We all knew it would happen, and so did they.
Two days ago, I watched in astonishment as a jocular George Bush held
a press conference in Mississippi to begin his tour of the gulf coast.
There is great suffering in the land, he said. Why, my friend,
Senator Trent Lott (who stood at his side,) is one of the suffering
masses - his oceanfront home was destroyed. The President pledged to
rebuild the house.
This was his starting point.
I don't think that Bush and Company is any more inept or insensitive
than other politicians. The same congress that was able to rush to
Washington in one day to keep the deceased Terri Schiavo plugged to a
machine likewise turned a blind eye to the desperate plight of living
thousands. And the liberal politicians who only now are so indignant
were previously nowhere to be found.
They live in a different world. The circumstances of the great
unwashed are not their concern, any more than you or I might worry
about the sport of polo. They are worried about their summer homes and
investment portfolios. The fate of the working poor is not a priority.
If not for the massive public outcry, people might have been left on
their rooftops until Mardi Gras came around. Had they been expensive
horses instead of poor people, they might have been evacuated more
quickly. After all, Bush's appointee to direct FEMA honed his
emergency skills as the head of the International Arabian Horse
Association.
Even now, with normally docile news reporters actually moved to ask
some real questions, the blank expressions of administration
spokespeople reveal that they just don't get what all the fuss
is about.
The Chickens Come Home to Roost
The death and destruction is a man-made, criminal act - the logical
outcome of corporate and governmental policies that thrived under
Democratic and Republican administrations alike. The authorities have
known of the storm dangers for decades. Don't blame Mother Nature -
she was just being herself (with some help from global warming.)
As a traveling muralist, I have seen firsthand the dreadful
consequences of US foreign policy in places like Nicaragua
and Iraq.
Washington's callousness to suffering is no revelation to most of the
world. It's old news to the Iraqi people - the US embargo and
occupation has killed over a million of them. The indifference to life
is certainly no eye-opener for the abandoned of Darfur.
Now, in New Orleans, the ugly face of American capitalism stands
revealed.
This nation, though born with the horror of slavery and slaughter of
indigenous people, at one time was vigorous and forward-looking. But
we are witnessing the empire in decline. Starving people in New
Orleans? Let them eat beignets. City under water? Bush waves from
the window of his jet while he heads home from his five-week vacation.
He plays golf the next day.
Oil companies, already bloated with record profits - immediately took
advantage of the crisis by jacking up gas prices. You can bet that
the food companies and every other industry will soon follow suit.
Cheney and his Halliburton pals are licking their lips in anticipation
of lucrative reconstruction contracts. They take everything and
produce nothing.
We were told we were different. We were told that this could not
happen to "Americans." But you're only an American when it's time to
go to war or speed up production. The rest of the time you're just a
worker - like workers in Nigeria or Haiti. If you are not making a
profit for your employer, your usefulness is over. You will be left to
drown in your attic or die of thirst or starve to death.
A Different Example
In Cuba, so vilified by the US government, the population is informed
and educated about the hurricanes that frequently slam into the
island. The scant resources of the entire country are used to evacuate
hundreds of thousands of people. Electricity is turned off to prevent
death by electrocution. Water is turned off to protect against
contamination. Medical facilities are prepared - and health care is
always free in Cuba. At times, over a million people have been
evacuated with no loss of life.
In fact, Castro has offered to send 1100 doctors, completely at Cuban
expense, to aid in gulf coast relief efforts. He has refused to
criticize Washington in this hour of crisis.
Venezuela has offered to provide inexpensive gas to poor Americans.
The demonized Chavez has offered to send two mobile hospitals, 120
specialists in rescue operations, 10 water purifying plants, 18 large
electricity generators, 20 tons of bottled water, and 50 tons of
canned food.
Ever faithful to her corporate masters, these offers have been
rejected by Condoleezza Rice. Better the poor should die than be
exposed to socialist ideas. (Rice made sure to have a photo-op
unloading some relief supplies from the back of a truck.)
The Victims Become the Criminals
As always, the poor will be blamed for their own misery.
The war-makers who cut federal funding earmarked to strengthen
the levees and gave it instead to a fake rebuilding of Iraq;
the politicians who lined their pockets and ignored public
safety; the real estate moguls who made millions of dollars
with rampant, unplanned development; the graft-ridden cops
who ran away in fear of a city of needy black people; the
CEOs of profit-hungry oil companies - all will now
hypocritically point their fingers at the victims –
desperate workers taking food or medicine for their
families - and brand them as looters.
The authorities and the press are promoting racist
hysteria. Black people are portrayed as marauding
animals and rapists - all without a shred of evidence.
Troops are sent to protect Gucci bags in upscale malls.
Yet there is little to indicate any civil problem that
compares to a single night of drunken revelry by middle-
class tourists at Mardi Gras.
Bush, the spoiled child of wealth and privilege, could not
wait to start talking tough about "law and order." The
returning cops have already murdered more people than
were murdered during the past week, when there was no
"security." Yes, there are individuals who have struck
out in anger and desperation. But the tens of thousands
of poor people who were left to suffer and die displayed
more self-control, caring and dignity than any of their
so-called leaders. We should all be proud of them.
March on Washington
This catastrophe is only beginning. Yet to come is the
spread of disease, skyrocketing prices, increasing
unemployment, food shortages, environmental destruction
and the curtailment of democratic rights. The cost of
the storm and the looting by corporations will be born
by working people. Tuitions will increase, education
will deteriorate, our bridges and roads will fall into
further disrepair, healthcare will become more
inaccessible - life will become more difficult for
all of us.
Bush has blithely promised to rebuild a new and better
New Orleans. Along with developing the hydrogen car,
I suppose.
I can imagine his new city: Mardi Gras Mall to replace
Fauberg Marigny and the French Quarter. Starbucks
instead of the Café du Monde. Britney Spears performing
the songs of Professor Longhair and Alan Toussaint.
McGumbo.
No - the people of the gulf coast will pick themselves up
from the toxic silt. Working people from all over the
world will come to their aid. They will respond to ruling
class indifference with solidarity and caring. The eyes
of many have been opened - Americans will never look at
the suffering of others in the same way.
September 24 will be massive march on Washington, San
Francisco and Los Angeles to demand that the troops be
brought home from Iraq. We will demand that the enormous
resources of the occupation be used instead for a massive
public works program to rebuild the gulf coast. We will
demand money for jobs and education. We will repudiate the
actions of Bush and his creepy-crawly administration.
They do not speak for the American people.
We will eventually force the war-makers to withdraw from
Iraq, just as we forced them out of Vietnam. Working
people - the true source of all wealth and the great
incubator of ideas - will absorb this experience and
spit it back in the form of new art and music. The
great culture of New Orleans is part of our collective
consciousness, and will live on in a thousand new ways.
Corporate greed will never destroy our humanity or
silence our music.
Mike Alewitz
2. The Funny
Some needed comic relief
This is a bricklayer's accident report, which was printed
in the newsletter of the Australian equivalent of
The Workers' Compensation Board. This is a true story.
Dear Sir:
I am writing in response to your request for additional
information in Block 3 of the accident report form.
I put "poor planning" as the cause of my accident.
You asked for a fuller explanation and I trust the
following details will be sufficient.
I am a bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident,
I was working alone on the roof of a new six story building.
When I completed my work, I found that I had some bricks
left over which, when weighed later, were found to be
slightly in excess of 500 lbs.
Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to
lower them in a barrel by using a pulley, which was
attached to the side of the building on the sixth floor.
Securing the rope at ground level, I went up to the roof,
swung the barrel out and loaded the bricks into it.
Then I went down and untied the rope, holding it tightly
to ensure a slow descent of the bricks.
You will note in Block 11 of the accident report form
that I weigh 175 lbs. Due to my surprise at being
jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence
of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to
say, I proceeded at a rapid rate up the side of the building.
In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel
which was now proceeding downward at an equal,
impressive speed.
This explained the fractured skull, minor abrasions and
the broken collar bone, as listed in section 3 of the
accident report form. Slowed only slightly, I continued
my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my
right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley.
Fortunately by this time I had regained my presence
of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope,
in spite of beginning to experience a great deal of pain.
At approximately the same time, however, the barrel
of bricks hit the ground and the bottom fell out of
the barrel. Now devoid of the weight of the bricks,
that barrel weighed approximately 50 lbs. I refer you
again to my weight. (Block 11).
As you can imagine, I began a rapid descent, down the
side of the building. In the vicinity of the third
floor, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for
the two fractured ankles, broken tooth and several
lacerations of my legs and lower body.
Here my luck began to change slightly. The encounter
with the barrel seemed to slow me enough to lessen
my injuries when I fell into the pile of bricks and
fortunately only three vertebrae we re cracked.
I am sorry to report, however, as I lay there on the
pile of bricks, in pain unable to move, I again lost
my composure and presence of mind and let go of the
rope and I lay there watching the empty barrel begin
its journey back down onto me. This explains the two
broken legs.
I hope this answers your inquiry.
Bill Fuller
MIKE ALEWITZ Artistic Director LaBOR aRT & MuRAL PRoJECT
Art Department Central CT State University
1615 Stanley Street New Britain, CT 06050
Office: 860.832.2359 Fax: 860.832.2634
Mobile: 860.518.4046 alewitzm@ccsu.edu
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
5) Katrina children seeking parents shown on Web site
Mon Sep 5, 2005 08:01 PM ET
http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=9565493&src=eDialog/GetContent
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
6) ON THE FRONTLINES
National Counter-Recruitment Conference
October 22-23 at UC-Berkeley
Sponsored by the Campus Antiwar Network and Military Out of Our
Schools - Bay Area
ON THE FRONTLINES is a national counter-recruitment conference
bringing together college and high school students, teachers, parents,
and veterans. Come learn the truth about military recruiting; hear
first-person stories from veterans and military families; and plan to
take this movement to the next step -- to get military recruiters out
of our schools and bring the troops home from Iraq!
STUDENT-LED WORKSHOPS include:
Do military recruiters have a right to free speech?
Are they going to bring back a draft?
What would happen if the troops left now?
Palestine and the Antiwar Movement
What will it take to end the occupation of Iraq?
Campus repression & student rights
How to start an antiwar chapter at your school
ROTC and "career" recruiting
High School student organizing
...and more! Student organizing sessions will also bring together
students from around the country to plan national actions and
campaigns, and determine the direction of the growing student movement
demanding College, Not Combat!
Speakers include:
AIDEN DELGADO, Iraq war veteran and conscientious objector
PETER CAMEJO, Green Party candidate in 2003 California gubernatorial
elections
KEVIN RAMIREZ, Central Committee of Conscientious Objectors
And COLLEGE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS opposing recruiters at their
schools
$5-20 registration fee sliding scale (no one turned away). Some travel
scholarships are available. FOR MORE INFORMATION, or to find other
students near you who will be attending, email
frontlines.conference@gmail.com or visit: http://www.campusantiwar.net
http://www.objector.org/moos-bay.html
ON THE FRONTLINES is sponsored by the Campus Antiwar Network (CAN) and
Military Out of Our Schools - Bay Area (MOOS-Bay).
Other participating organizations include: American Friends Service
Committee, Alternatives to War Through Education/Central Committee for
Conscientious Objectors, Art in Action, Code Pink, Courage to Resist,
East Bay Peace Action, Global Exchange, International Socialist
Organization, Just Think, Peace Action of San Mateo County, PEACE-
Popular Education and Action Collective, Making Changes Freedom
School, Not in Our Name, Peninsual Raging Grannies, Presente! Affinity
Group, School of the Americas Watch West, Solano County Peace and
Justice Coalition, Veterans for Peace, War Resisters League West ...
and college and high school antiwar organizations all around the
United States.
Yahoo! Groups Links
To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/college_not_combat/
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
7) Gloria LaRiva: Eyewitness report from New Orleans
From: Alicia Jrapko [mailto:ajrapko@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, September 05, 2005 12:20 PM
To: Walter Lippmann
Subject: Eyewitness report from New Orleans
On Saturday September 3, award-winning filmmaker Gloria La Riva,
internationally-acclaimed photographer Bill Hackwell and A.N.S.W.E.R.
Youth & Student Coordinator Caneisha Mills arrived in New Orleans as
an A.N.S.W.E.R. delegation to document an accurate account of the
situation and provide solidarity and support to those in need
The following is an eyewitness report of the crisis in the area
written on Sunday, September 4.
Media reports on September 2 describe anarchy and general chaos as
the climate in all of New Orleans. The national media reports that
hope, supplies and food were now being distributed in the area.
However, once we arrived in the Algiers district of New Orleans after
seven checkpoints, the reality shows otherwise.
Algiers
While 80 percent of New Orleans was submerged in water, Algiers is
one of the few districts that has been spared as it sits higher than
most of the city. An historic district established in 1719, Algiers
is on the west bank of the Mississippi river, across from the French
Quarter. Probably 15% of the residents still remain behind, most of
them determined to stay in their homes. The majority of homes are
still intact, although many have suffered damage. While their houses
survived, the peoples' chance of survival seemed very bleak since
there was no electricity or disbursement of food, water or other
supplies.
"Imagine being in a city, poor, without any money and all of a sudden
you are told to leave and you don't even have a bicycle," stated
Malik Rahim, a community activist in the Algiers section of New
Orleans. "90% of the people don't even have cars."
One woman told us it was not possible for her to evacuate. She said,
"I can't leave. I don't have a car and I have nine children." She and
her husband are getting by with the help of several men in the
community who are joining resources to provide for their neighbors.
The government claims that people can get water, but residents have
to travel at least 17 miles to the nearest water and ice distribution
center. Only one case of water is available per family. Countless
people have no way to drive.
There is a huge military and police presence but none of it to
provide services. All of them, north and south of the river, are
stationed in front of private buildings and abandoned stores,
protecting private property.
The goods they are driving in are for their own forces.
Not one of them has delivered water to Algiers or gone to the houses
to see if sick or elderly people need help. There is no door-to-door
survey to see who was injured. The overwhelming majority of people
who have stayed in Algiers are Black but some are white. One white
man in his late 50s in Algiers pointed across the street to a 10-acre
grassy lot. It looks like a beautiful park. He said, "I had my
daughter call FEMA. I told them I want to donate this land to the
people in need. They could set up 100 tractor trailers with aid, they
could set up tents. No one has ever called me back." He is clearly
angry.
Although some of the residents do express fear of burglaries into
houses, acts of heroism, sacrifice and solidarity are evident
everywhere.
Steve, a white man in his 40s, knocks on Malik's front door. He tells
us, "Malik has kept this neighborhood together. We don't know what
we'd do without his help." He has come in because he needs to use the
phone. Malik's street is the only one with phones still working.
Malik and three of his friends have been delivering food, water and
ice to those in need three times a day, searching everywhere for
goods.
There is a strong suspicion among the residents that this is a
deliberately forced removal. Algiers is full of quaint, historic
French-style houses, with a high real estate value, and signs of
gentrification are evident.
Downtown New Orleans
Although entry is prohibited into downtown New Orleans north and east
of the Mississippi, because of extensive flooding and the almost
total evacuation, we were able to get in on Sunday.
The Superdome is still surrounded by water and all types of military
- helicopters, army trucks, etc - are coming in and out of the area;
however, most of the people have already left. On US-90, the only
road out of New Orleans, convoys of National Guard troops are pouring
into the city, too late for many. According to an emergency issue of
The Times-Picayune, 16,000 National Guard troops now occupy the city.
Water is premium and not available. One African American couple
approached our car. The woman asked us, "Do you have water you could
give us? We have four kids. When they told us to leave before the
hurricane we couldn't. We have no car and no money."
Undoubtedly it is similar in the other states that got the direct hit
of Katrina, Mississippi and Alabama. On the radio we hear reports of
completely demolished towns. What differentiates the rest of the Gulf
coast from New Orleans is that the many thousands of deaths in New
Orleans were absolutely preventable and occurred after the hurricane.
On everyone's lips is the cutting in federal funds to strengthen the
levees of Lake Pontchartrain.
Two reporters from New York tell us they just came from the New
Orleans airport emergency hospital that was set up.
New Orleans International Airport
The New Orleans International Airport was converted into an emergency
hospital center. Thousands of people were evacuated there to get
supplies and food, and for transportation that would take them out of
the city. Many people arrived with only one or two bags, their entire
lives minimized to a few belongings.
Some people did not want to leave their homes, but say they were
forced to do so. For example, one white woman and her husband,
Pauline Noble and Jerome Hill, were forced to evacuate. Pauline said,
"The military told us that we had one minute to evacuate. We said
that we weren't ready and he said they can't force us to leave but if
we don't leave anybody left would be arrested . but it was the end of
the month. The two of us have been living for a couple of months on
$600 a month and rent is $550. At the end of the month, we only had
$20 and 1/8 of a tank of gas. There was no way we could leave."
When it became apparent that nobody was coming back to pick them up,
the couple walked five miles to the airport to see if they could get
help.
Disaster Medical Assistance Teams, doctors, nurses and community
organizations came from as far as San Diego, California and Kentucky
to provide support during the crisis. None of them were dispersed
into the community. When we arrived at the airport on Sunday,
September 4, there were approximately 20 medical people for every one
patient while people in regions such as Algiers and the 9th ward were
left to fend for themselves.
The majority of people in New Orleans blame the local and national
government for the catastrophe. One young Black man said, "The
government abandoned us . [it's] pre-meditated murder." Another said,
"Why would you [the government] protect a building . instead of
rescuing people that have been without food or water for three or
four days? It seems like that was the plan. . We couldn't starve them
out, the hurricane didn't kill them, it seems planned."
Baton Rouge
As we drive to Baton Rouge tonight to visit evacuated people, we hear
on local radio that possibly 10,000 people have died in the flooded
areas of New Orleans. Tonight in one announcement, we hear the names
of some of the missing people still being searched for, a 90-year-old
woman named Lisa, a man 102 years old, two women 82 and 85 years old.
The elderly, the most vulnerable, left to their own devices.
Bodies are lying everywhere, and hidden in attics and apartments. The
announcer describes how one body, rotting after days in the sun, was
surrounded by a wall fashioned from fallen bricks by survivors, and
given a provisional burial to give her some dignity. The sign placed
next to her body said, "Here lies Vera, God Help Us."
At a Red Cross shelter outside of Baton Rouge, we meet Emmanuel, who
can't find his wife and three sons after the floods. His story is
shocking. His home is near the 17th Street Canal, where the
Pontchartrain levee broke through.
"I stayed behind to rescue my neighbors while I sent my wife and kids
to dry land," he says. It is difficult for him to relate what
happened. He had a small boat so he went from house to house picking
up neighbors. While doing so, he encountered many bodies in the
water.
"My best friend's body was floating by in the water. One mother whose
baby drowned tied her baby to a fence so she could bury him after she
returned." Because troops kept driving by him and others without
helping them, he had to walk 30 miles north until he was picked up.
This crisis is a crime of the highest magnitude. The Bush
Administration is always able to find money to fund wars that will
benefit the rich of this country; however, when it comes to providing
aid to respond to a disaster of this magnitude, funds, supplies and
resources are lacking. From Bush on down, they should be indicted.
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ufpj-news/
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
8) Hurricane Katrina disaster shows the failure of the profit system
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/sep2005/stat-s06.shtml
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
9) The Two Americas
By Marjorie Cohn
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090305Y.shtml
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10) Navy Pilots Who Rescued Victims Are Reprimanded
By DAVID S. CLOUD
Published: September 7, 2005
PENSACOLA, Fla., Sept. 6 - Two Navy helicopter pilots and
their crews returned from New Orleans on Aug. 30 expecting
to be greeted as lifesavers after ferrying more than
100 hurricane victims to safety.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/07/national/nationalspecial/07navy.html?ex=1126756800&en=e44a962361b06a6e&ei=5070&emc=eta1
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11) US offensive near the Syrian border
Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
The following is the latest press release from the 'Doctors for Iraq
Society' regarding the most recent US offensive near the Syrian border.
For those of you in the US reading this, please keep this in mind when
viewing the catastrophe in New Orleans. -DJ
HUNDREDS OF CIVILIANS ARE FORCED TO FLEE AS US/IRAQI FORCES ATTACK
TALLAFA, NORTH-WESTERN IRAQ. DOCTORS FOR IRAQ WARNS OF MEDICAL
HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
Doctors for Iraq is deeply concerned at the fate of hundreds of
civilians trying to flee the sieged town of Tallafa, 80 km from Mousel
City. Thousands of residents from the town have been told to leave the
area by US/ Iraqi forces who have been attacking the area for the past
three- four days.
Eyewitnesses report that heavy bombs were dropped on targets in the town
a few days ago and on Monday 5^th September the US army has been firing
missiles onto the town from aircraft. The entire town in under siege and
is in preparation for a new military attack. .
^Doctors for Iraq has received reports that at least twenty civilian
have been killed in the attack. It is impossible to check these reports
for accuracy.
^US / IRAQI forces have forced frightened civilians to leave the sieged
town and and women and children are making their way to a refugee camp
set up outside the Tallafa.
^Civilians have told Doctors for Iraq that many young men aged between
20- 35 are being stopped and detained at checkpoints and are being taken
to a US military building near an airport.
^It is not known how many men have been detained and why they are being
held. It is impossible for Doctors For Iraq to check this reports as
media and health workers are being prevented form entering the area.
^What is know is that during the military siege of Falluja in 2004 young
men were also prevented from leaving the city and were detained by US/
Iraqi military.
^Doctors inside the town are concerned about the lack of medicine and
health care facilities for people who are being forced to flee their homes.
^Tallafa's medical infrastructure has been badly damaged by the ongoing
military attacks on the area over the past few weeks. Doctors and
medical convoys are unable to enter the sieged town and assist the
desperate civilians.
^Doctors for Iraq is particularly concerned about the fate of the
refugees. There is concern about the lack of clean drinking water for
displaced civilians and the threat of disease is very real as hygiene
conditions in the area are very poor.
^*
Ends
Doctors for Iraq is calling for :
*
^A complete and immediate *END *to the military attack on the town so
all civilians can be evacuated safely
^For the US/ IRAQI military to uphold the Geneva Convention and allow
doctors and medical supplies into the town.
^For international human rights organisations to carry out an immediate
investigation into allegations that young men are being detained by the
military and reports of civilian deaths during the attack.
^For more information contact:
^Dr. Salam Ismael ^_salam.obaidi@doctorsforiraq.org_ : Aisha Ismael
_^press.officer@doctorsforiraq.org _
More writing, photos and commentary at http://dahrjamailiraq.com
Iraq_Dispatches mailing list
http://lists.dahrjamailiraq.com/mailman/listinfo/iraq_dispatches
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