RE: Question to list members... [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- How about this? Source: whatreallyhappened.com MOCKINGBIRD The Subversion Of The Free Press By The CIA "You could get a journalist cheaper than a good call girl, for a couple hundred dollars a month." CIA operative discussing with Philip Graham, editor Washington Post, on the availability and prices of journalists willing to peddle CIA propaganda and cover stories. "Katherine The Great," by Deborah Davis (New York: Sheridan Square Press, 1991) As terrible as it is to live in a nation where the press in known to be controlled by the government, at least one has the advantage of knowing the bias is present, and to adjust for it. In the United States of America, we are taught from birth that our press is free from such government meddling. This is an insideous lie about the very nature of the news institution in this country. One that allows the government to lie to us while denying the very fact of the lie itself. The Alex Constantine Article Tales from the Crypt The Depraved Spies and Moguls of the CIA's Operation MOCKINGBIRD by Alex Constantine Who Controls the Media? Soulless corporations do, of course. Corporations with grinning, double-breasted executives, interlocking directorates, labor squabbles and flying capital. Dow. General Electric. Coca-Cola. Disney. Newspapers should have mastheads that mirror the world: The Westinghouse Evening Scimitar, The Atlantic-Richfield Intelligentser . It is beginning to dawn on a growing number of armchair ombudsmen that the public print reports news from a parallel universe - one that has never heard of politically-motivated assassinations, CIA-Mafia banking thefts, mind control, death squads or even federal agencies with secret budgets fattened by cocaine sales - a place overrun by lone gunmen, where the CIA and Mafia are usually on their best behavior. In this idyllic land, the most serious infraction an official can commit __is a the employment of a domestic servant with (shudder) no residency status. This unlikely land of enchantment is the creation of MOCKINGBIRD. It was conceived in the late 1940s, the most frigid period of the cold war, when the CIA began a systematic infiltration of the corporate media, a process that often included direct takeover of major news outlets. In this period, the American intelligence services competed with communist activists abroad to influence European labor unions. With or without the cooperation of local governments, Frank Wisner, an undercover State Department official assigned to the Foreign Service, rounded up students abroad to enter the cold war underground of covert operations on behalf of his Office of Policy Coordination. Philip Graham, __a graduate of the Army Intelligence School in Harrisburg, PA, then publisher of the Washington Post., was taken under Wisner's wing to direct the program code-named Operation MOCKINGBIRD. "By the early 1950s," writes formerVillage Voice reporter Deborah Davis in Katharine the Great, "Wisner 'owned' respected members of the New York Times, Newsweek, CBS and other communications vehicles, plus stringers, four to six hundred in all, according to a former CIA analyst." The network was overseen by Allen Dulles, a templar for German and American corporations who wanted their points of view represented in the public print. Early MOCKINGBIRD influenced 25 newspapers and wire agencies consenting to act as organs of CIA propaganda. Many of these were already run by men with reactionary views, among them William Paley (CBS), C.D. Jackson (Fortune), Henry Luce (Time) and Arthur Hays Sulzberger (N.Y. Times). Activists curious about the workings of MOCKINGBIRD have since been appalled to f__ind in FOIA documents that agents boasting in CIA office memos of their pride in having placed "important assets" inside every major news publication in the country. It was not until 1982 that the Agency openly admitted that reporters on the CIA payroll have acted as case officers to agents in the field. "World War III has begun," Henry's Luce's Life declared in March, 1947. "It is in the opening skirmish stage already." The issue featured an excerpt of a book by James Burnham, who called for the creation of an "American Empire," "world-dominating in political power, set up at least in part through coercion (probably including war, but certainly the threat of war) and in which one group of people ... would hold more than its eq
Scotsman: War threat crisis talks on anthrax [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- War threat crisis talks on anthrax == Fraser Nelson westminster editor The Scotsman http://www.thescotsman.co.uk AN international bioterrorism summit is to be held at a secret London location tomorrow when health ministers will discuss the risk of anthrax attacks and the ramifications of taking on Saddam Hussein. Alan Milburn, the Health Secretary, is to meet five of his counterparts to discuss their contingency plans for dealing with a biological weapon attack on civilians. The meeting comes after Tony Blair met Dick Cheney, the vice President of the United States, in London yesterday to give his personal support for taking action against Iraq. Health ministers from Japan, Mexico, France, Germany and the US will meet to share intelligence on vaccine stocks and methods of responding to a bioterrorism attack. Mr Milburn is expected to tell them how the NHS model has given Britain the capability to co-ordinate a national response to any epidemic. The two-day summit was organised by Mr Milburn before Iraq returned to the political agenda. However, discussions are now expected to centre on the implications of squaring up to Saddam while he still commands substantial stocks of anthrax. After meeting Mr Cheney in Downing Street, Mr Blair said they both agreed the need to act in a "calm and measured" way to deal with Saddam and his stock of weapons. "He is the only leader in the world who has actually used chemical weapons against his own people," the Prime Minister said. President George Bush yesterday gave the same message to relatives of the victims of 11 September, who gathered in New York to commemorate the six months since the attack. The second phase in the war against terrorism, he said, would be directed at the risk posed by such weapons. "Every nation in our coalition must take seriously the growing threat of terror on a catastrophic scale, terror armed with biological, chemical or nuclear weapons," he said. "America is now consulting with friends and allies about this greatest of dangers and we're determined to confront it." The US delegate to the bioterrorism conference is Claude Allen, the deputy health secretary, who is expected to admit that the US is buying anthrax vaccines and is still struggling to establish central control over its fractured network of privately-run hospitals. The conference will also be shown documents laying out worst-case scenarios for anthrax attacks. They suggest that 100kg of anthrax aerosol released over Washington could lead to between 130,000 and three million deaths. They also suggest that the release of 50kg of anthrax spores from an aircraft over a city with five million residents will leave 250,000 casualties - of which 100,000 would die without proper treatment. The state of vaccines will also be discussed. Worldwide stocks of smallpox vaccine will be measured at about 90 million - however, many of these were produced in the 1980s. Since President Bush's "axis of evil" speech in January, Saddam's anthrax stockpiles have been extensively detailed by intelligence reports from both London and Washington. It is feared he could easily liaise with terrorists willing to use anthrax spores to attack civilian targets in the West. The Foreign Office has produced a briefing note arguing that Saddam's "production of agents such as anthrax and the cancer-inducing aflatoxin has been clearly understated". The US State Department's briefing suggests that even if Saddam's anthrax stocks are low, he can start production in laboratories which currently produce legitimate vaccines and other pharmaceuticals. "Without effective United Nations monitoring, Baghdad could probably begin production within a few days," says the briefing. "For example, Iraq can convert production of biopesticides to anthrax simply by changing seed material." Officials from various health departments will start negotiations tomorrow and high-ranking ministers will arrive in London from Thursday. The World Health Organisation is sending Dr David Heyman, its executive director of communicable diseases, while the European Union is sending its health commissioner, David Bryne. The meeting sprang from a conference in Ottawa, Canada, in October last year. It was originally the health ministers from the G7 group of countries, but attracted interest from others. --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Uranium Tests For Kosovo And Gulf Troops [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/03/12/ngulf12.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/03/12/ixhome.html [A cover up. Note that no civilians in the affected countries are to be tested.] The Daily Telegraph March 12, 2002 Uranium tests for Kosovo and Gulf troops By Roger Highfield, Science Editor (Filed: 12/03/2002) VETERANS of the Gulf and Kosovo conflicts are to have urine tests to measure exposure to toxic and radioactive depleted uranium (DU) used in armour-piercing shells. The tests, part of a study of cancer, kidney damage and other potential health problems caused by DU, will produce results at the end of this year - two years after the plans were announced by the Government. Professor Brian Spratt, chairman of a Royal Society working group that publishes an independent study of DU today, also called for soldiers in future wars to be tested for the heavy metal. Their kidney function should also be assessed and they should be warned of the long-term risks to children who live where munitions were once used. DU munitions were first fired in the Gulf war of 1991, releasing 339 tons of the toxic metal into the environment. Although one survey said that around 17 per cent of UK soldiers believed they had Gulf war syndrome, it has been difficult to disentangle the health effects of DU from those of vaccinations, chemical warfare antidotes, insecticides, rodenticides, solvents, lubricants and smoke from burning oil wells. In January 2001, the Ministry of Defence said it would offer urine tests to veterans of the Gulf and Balkan conflicts. Its DU oversight board has monitored efforts to come up with a validated test using mass spectrometry. "We have get it right," said the MoD. Scientists believe that it should still be possible to tell whether a soldier who fought in the Gulf inhaled as little as 25 milligrams of DU. This level is linked with a small increased risk of lung cancer but no toxic effects on organs. "Just testing positive for DU is not necessarily of any consequence," said Prof Spratt. The highest intakes are thought to have been by around 100 US servicemen who cleaned up contaminated vehicles, said Prof Spratt. Alarming but anecdotal reports of deaths and illnesses among them should be independently investigated, says the study. __ Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email! http://mail.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Countries Targeted in U.S. Nuke Plan Demand Answers [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Fox News Countries Targeted in U.S. Nuke Plan Demand Answers Monday, March 11, 2002 -"The return of the nuclear nightmare in an age when the world believed it had escaped it makes clear the weakness of the United States not only to convince people about the rightness of their views, but also to properly wield the power they have." MOSCOW China, Russia and Iran expressed surprise and anger to learn that they are the targets of U.S. nuclear missiles despite their long running tensions with Washington. The countries were responding to published reports of the U.S. Nuclear Posture Review, a classified report required by Congress that lists possible scenarios of nuclear weapons use against countries that possess or are developing weapons of mass destruction. Seven possibly nuclear nations were identified by the Defense Department in the review: China, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Russia and Syria. Pakistan and India, both nuclear powers, were not named. On Monday, Vice President Dick Cheney played down the report, which first appeared in The Los Angeles Times on Saturday, and said, "Right now, today, the United States, on a day-to-day basis, does not target nuclear weapons on any nation." Speaking in London with Prime Minister Tony Blair, Cheney said press reports indicating that the document says the United States is preparing pre-emptive nuclear strikes against seven countries "is a bit over the top." Secretary of State Colin Powell and national security Adviser Condoleezza Rice both did damage control Sunday on the weekend news shows saying nuclear weapons are not trained on any countries. But Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov was not satisfied, and said he wanted answers to "make things clear and calm the international community, convincing it that the United States does not have such plans." Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, en route Monday to Washington on a previously scheduled trip, said he would ask Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for an explanation. China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said, "China, like other countries, is deeply shocked" to be in the group of seven. China, he said has no weapons in its small nuclear arsenal targeted on the United States, with which it has an agreement not to target. "The U.S. side bears the responsibility to make an explanation on this matter," Sun told the official Xinhua News Agency. Iran, a member of the "axis of evil" that President Bush singled out in January, labeled the United States terrorists based on the report. "The Islamic Republic believes that the era of using force to push forward international relations is long past, and those who resort to the logic of force follow exactly the same logic as terrorists, although they are in the position of power," government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh told the Islamic official Republic news agency. The Iraqi newspaper Babil, owned by President Saddam Hussein's eldest son, reported on the U.S. move without comment and officials said nothing. Iraq, another member of the axis of evil, is currently in the scopes of U.S. pilots monitoring the north and south no-fly zone. It is frequently mentioned as a potential next stop in the war against terrorism. Other nations not cited in the U.S. report were not so upset by the report. Japan's foreign ministry announced it opposes the use of weapons of mass destruction, but refused to comment on the document. The Times of London editorialized that the nuclear policy review is merely an exercise for the U.S. military to be alert to nuclear perils in the world. "This is less Dr. Strangelove than the territory that comes with superpower status," the paper said in an editorial. But Greece's TA Nea newspaper said revelations about a nuclear posture dont help the U.S. case against terrorism in the world. "The return of the nuclear nightmare in an age when the world believed it had escaped it makes clear the weakness of the United States not only to convince people about the rightness of their views, but also to properly wield the power they have," reads the editorial. The Associated Press contributed to this report. __ Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email! http://mail.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Patriotic stupor: White House junta is undermining democracy [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.
From: "Eleanor" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Fw: Patriotic stupor: White House junta is undermining democracy Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 23:57:29 -0500 HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Small glimmers of courage..? - Original Message - From: Dr. Sue McGregor Sent: Friday, March 08, 2002 10:58 AM Subject: Fw: Patriotic stupor: White House junta is undermining democracy The Daytona Beach News-JournalMarch 2, 2002 EditorialPatriotic stupor: White House junta is undermining democracy In the months following Sept. 11 the debate about waging war on terrorism has been understandably mute. With rare exceptions, the question boiling out of the nation's anger hasn't been whether to fight a war or where to fight it, but how quickly. Once it began, President Bush's strangely paradoxical promise that the war would certainly be won but that its duration would be open-ended should have been the first warning that such a colossal national commitment deserves less vagueness and clearer strategy, if not accountability. Nothing of the sort has happened. The president has instead redefined success to mean whatever his administration says it means. Victory was attained in Afghanistan, even though Osama bin Laden and the Taliban leader are still at large and anarchy promises to be the Afghan spring's bitterest crop. The war on terrorism is being won even though probable terrorists in custody can be counted on one hand. Meanwhile the Pentagon keeps announcing troop deployments Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Georgia, Pakistan, the Philippines as if Asian geography were a game of Risk. The rubble remains of Somalia, the Sudan and Yemen are being cobbled into a minor league axis of evil. And the president has all but set a television schedule for the war against Iraq. (The May sweeps, perhaps.) For all this, the Bush administration is demanding a free hand on the world stage, wartime allegiance at home, and a blank check on military spending, even if most of the coming billions are to be spent on weaponry useless in the war on terrorism or any foreseeable war. So the response to a few powerful Democrats on Thursday who questioned the direction of the war and the president's imperial wish list should not be "How dare you," as Trent Lott, the Senate minority leader put it, but "What took you so long?" And "Why so few questions?" It's an election year. Congress is naturally timid to seem critical of a president whose approval ratings are still flirting with stardust. But the nation's loyalty is turning into groupthink. How else explain a president who, playing on the war's most visceral slogan, gets away with justifying an obscene corporate tax cut as "economic security," a build-up of defense industry stock as "homeland security," and an exploitative assault on the nation's most pristine lands as "energy security"? How else explain his contempt for Congress, his Nixonian fixation on secrecy, his administration's junta-like demeanor in Washington since September? Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle merely asked for "a clearer understanding of what the direction" of the war will be: hardly a criticism, hardly a request for an accounting, hardly the reality check so needed at this point. That he was summarily vilified by the junta's Lott-like henchmen points to the real front in this alleged war on terrorism. The danger right now is not terrorism. It isn't even to those "troops in the field" Lott is so worried about (not when a minimalist army can invade a whole nation and lose only one man in the bargain). The danger is here at home, where zealotry is substituting for policy making, where the flag is turning into the administration's fig leaf, and where slander is any opposition's reward. Without robust dissent democracy might as well pack up and head for the hills. So far, Daschle's grumbles included, dissent has been non-existent. This is not unity. It's not patriotism. It's stupor. Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email!
BBC: Should action be taken against Iraq? - Talking Point [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Monday, 11 March, 2002, 15:49 GMT RealPlayer Online Video/Audio Reports : http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/36171000/rm/_36171439_iraq20_buchanan_vi.r am - The BBC's Emily Buchanan- "Few doubt Bush's desire to complete his father's unfinished business" http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/36171000/rm/_36171462_iraq20_baer_vi.ram - Robert Baer, former CIA field officer in Iraq: "The ex-military officers are the only ones who can hold the country together" Click here... http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/186/audio/_1861980_et10095.ram ..to listen to the BBC's Europewide debate Should action be taken against Iraq? = US vice-president Dick Cheney is visiting UK Prime Minister Tony Blair at Downing Street on Monday, amid continuing speculation of forthcoming military action against Iraq. Mr Cheney flew in to London on Sunday evening ahead of departing on a 10-day tour of the Middle East, where he will seek assistance in the war on terrorism and views on action against Iraq. His visit comes amid mounting pressure from the United States for tough action against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. US President George W Bush put Iraq at the heart of his "axis of evil" speech in January, and administration officials have been threatening to expand his war on terrorism to take in Saddam Hussein's regime. Do you think that the US and UK should take action against Iraq? What form, if any, do you think this action should take? How real a threat is Saddam Hussein's regime to current world stability? The BBC World Service programme Europe Today brought together George Galloway, the British Labour MP and former UN official in Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell for this week's Europewide debate. Readers Comments: (To add your own, click on link at end) I don't think action is required. Saddam knows that if he assists terrorists in any way he will be wiped out. The West will know if he has been involved, the intelligence network is in place, I have no doubt. Covert operations would help and also preserve Arab support around the world. Bill, UK Where is the Iraqi threat? Their weapons of mass destruction may be alarming to neighbouring states but without an effective delivery system they can hardly be said to threaten Europe or North America. Saddam escaped by the skin of his teeth last time he started a war in Gulf and he knows he wouldn't survive another. Would he load an aircraft with biological agent and crash it on Washington? I don¿t think so. He may be evil but he isn't stupid. He¿s not a crazed fanatic like Bin Laden, but a calculating despot too much in love with power to risk everything again. We may not like Saddam but that¿s not reason enough to make war on Iraq. There are still plenty of tyrants and distasteful regimes around the World - its hard even to imagine the suffering we would unleash if we set out to remove them all by force. Sure Saddam deserves to be overthrown, but that¿s not our job. Steve Sholl, UK I am in the Territorial Army in the UK, my unit would be very unlikely to actually be used in any war on Iraq, but there is certainly no support for any kind of attack among us. In fact the corporal in charge of my section said that if the UK did go ahead with an unprovoked attack on Iraq he would simply leave the army as soon as possible. The double standards the USA and UK are showing in the current situation are absurd, if the west had overthrown Saddam in the initial Gulf War I would have supported it. Attacking countries because you do not like them is a war crime, plain and simple. If the government's aims were really humanitarian why do you think they did nothing to help stop the massacres in Rwanda? The west might use humanitarian reasons to justify wars, but they have little to do with why they are fought in the first place. Patrick Heslip, UK The US will lose the support of the 'coalition against terror' - especially from Russia and China. ajf, UK The recent threat by the US administration to "if necessary" use tactical nuclear weapons against 'the seven target states' is an open invitation to Saddam Hussein to provide weapons of mass destruction (if he indeed has them) to terrorists. And the US will lose the support of the 'coalition against terror' - especially from Russia and China. In short the Bush administration has moved the nuclear war countdown clock several points closer to midnight and all of our assured destruction. American unilateralism, like the other threats facing us, is one we should be very wary of. ajf, UK Saddam has clearly indicated that he is willing to sit this period out quietly, which also means he does not plan to give in to any inspections. He just wants to drag time. In a match of peaceful world vs. Hussein in the last several years we have seen only losses on our side. And in the light of all this I still expect nothing more from Europe than Chamberlanian 'appeasement' politics
BBC: 'No neutrality', warns Bush [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Monday, 11 March, 2002, 17:40 GMT 'No neutrality', warns Bush http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1867000/1867101.stm Bush: 'No margin for error' President George W Bush has used strong strong words for countries which his administration feels have not made a strong enough commitment to the US-led war against terrorism. The US encourages and expects governments everywhere to help remove the terrorist parasites that threaten their own countries and the peace of the world US President George W Bush He was speaking at a ceremony on the White House lawn, attended by relatives of 300 victims of the disaster, foreign diplomats and congressmen. "There can be no neutrality," he said. "Every nation in out coalition must take seriously the growing threat of terror... it cannot be denied and must be confronted." "There is no margin for error and no chance to learn from mistakes." Victims remembered President Bush's speech acknowledged international support from 17 nations currently involved in the rebuilding of Afghanistan, honouring the German and Danish soldiers that had lost their lives in addition to American soldiers. He also thanked Britain, France and Australia for their continued military assistance, and mentioned America's work in other states Washington considers potential hotbeds of terrorist activity, such as Yemen, Georgia and the Philippines. A changed world World Trade Center death toll about 2,800; Pentagon 125 At least 3,600 civilian deaths in Afghanistan US military spending increased by 14% US forces deployed to Central Asian countries - including former Soviet republics War on Terror: Six months on "The US encourages and expects governments everywhere to help remove the terrorist parasites that threaten their own countries and the peace of the world," he said. "If governments need training or resources America will help." In his closing remarks, President Bush exhorted those present to remember those who had lost their lives in the 11 September attacks, from the rescuers in New York to those who fought back on Flight 93 which crashed in Pennsylvania. It was also a larger reminder to the coalition that, in his view, the war on terror was not finished. "Together we face the peril of the moment...God bless the coalition," he said. --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^ <<_1867101_bush300grab.jpg>> startquote.gif Description: GIF image endquote.gif Description: GIF image <<_36259775_collapse_150ap.jpg>> nothing.gif Description: GIF image blu_arrow_right.gif Description: GIF image
(Globe&Mail ) " Lies The Pentagon Tolds Us" [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
From: "Jim Yarker" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Lies the Pentagon told us Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 18:36:20 -0500 Globe & Mail, 3/11/02 Toronto Canada Lies the Pentagon told usAmerica still has an office of disinformation,says JOHN R. MacARTHUR. It's called the PentagonMonday, March 11, 2002 Print Edition, Page A11 U.S. Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld's abrupt abortion of the Office of Strategic Lying (a.k.a. the Office of Strategic Influence) -- in response to critics who feared for Washington's stellar reputation for honesty -- deserves to be ranked as one of the great propaganda coups of modern times. Mr. Rumsfeld sounded upset, I know, but that was just another aspect of his public relations brilliance. Reading the literal-minded, largely positive reaction to his announcement, I realized that a good many citizens must have inferred that the Pentagon and the White House have been routinely telling the truth over the past few decades. In all frankness, the only thing more dishonest than an Office of Strategic Influence aimed at deceiving foreigners is the suggestion that the Bush administration, or any other since the Second World War, likes to tell Americans the truth. "The office is done," a seemingly hurt, aggrieved Mr. Rumsfeld told a press conference. "It's over. What do you want, blood?" Thus, with three short phrases and a touch of martyrdom, the former drug company chief executive officer swept away the Pentagon Papers, the Church Committee hearings and the collected works of journalist Seymour Hersh, all of which speak to the vast array of lies perpetrated by the U.S. government since the world's greatest superpower took centre stage, at Hiroshima in 1945. The Washington Post reported Mr. Rumsfeld's retreat as a "victory for the military public affairs community," which "had worried that the new office would blur the line between their work of dealing with the media and the public and the 'black' world of covert operations, which sometimes involves disseminating false information." When was the line ever clear? Of course, it hardly seems to matter anymore whether the government lies or conceals, now that the war on terrorism justifies almost anything. The Bush administration set the tone immediately after the commencement of bombing with a strict military censorship policy that forbids reporters from covering U.S. troops engaged in what was initially dubbed "Operation Infinite Justice" (unless they work for Hollywood producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Bertram van Munster, who are making a Pentagon-approved "reality TV series" for ABC). Technically, this is a secrecy policy, not censorship. But it permits lying at a far more effective level. Censorship rules can always be broken by eyewitnesses, but it's harder to report what you can't see. If the government says such-and-such a target was surgically bombed and so many al-Qaeda members were killed, you can repeat it in the newspaper, but you can't refute or corroborate it. Lately, the military has gotten annoyed with pesky reporters concerned that the "military public affairs community" might be lying about its selection of military targets in Afghanistan -- and how it is that so many civilians have been killed and wounded when bombing has been likened to a delicate medical procedure. Last month, Washington Post reporter Doug Struck went to investigate some corpses in a village and was held at gunpoint by a U.S. Army officer who told him, perhaps truthfully, "Don't move or we'll shoot." In the lexicon of government-lying, there are specific lies, big, overarching lies, and there is propaganda. A specific lie is the Eisenhower administration saying that above-ground nuclear testing in Nevada posed no danger to the soldiers who were asked to witness it. A specific lie is the Johnson administration's version of the Gulf of Tonkin incident in which North Vietnamese gunboats were said to have fired, without provocation, on American vessels, this in order to justify a massive military buildup without having to resort to a straightforward declaration of war. A specific lie is the Kuwaiti/White House/Hill and Knowlton invention of the baby-incubator atrocity, allegedly committed by Nazi-like Iraqi soldiers, which whipped up popular support for liberating freedom-loving, tolerant Kuwait from the iron grip of tyranny. (All of these lies were disseminated through "regular" channels and "subcontractors," a practice that Mr. Rumsfeld said will continue.) A big, overarching lie is the assertion that the U.S. can impose a government on Afghanistan and that Prime Minister Hamid Karzai has anything like genuine control over his countrymen. And then there's the lie, ably distributed by Thomas Friedman of The New York Times, that the Saudi royal family really wants peace in the Middle East and a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli bloodletting. My own Israeli source, a diplomat based in New York, tells me that the Saudi
BBC: Cheney and Blair give Iraq warning [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Monday, 11 March, 2002, 19:12 GMT WATCH/LISTEN ON THIS STORY The BBC's David Chazan http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1865000/video/_1867206_cheyney16_chazan_vi.ram"Tony Blair is standing shoulder to shoulder with America" The BBC's David Shukman http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/36267000/rm/_36267928_iraq18_shuckman_vi.ram"Washington's number 1 target is now Iraq" The BBC's Mark Mardell http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/36267000/rm/_36267842_iraq18_mardell_vi.ram"The key to opinion is the strength of the evidence against Saddam Hussein" Cheney and Blair give Iraq warning Tony Blair and Dick Cheney stressed UK-US unity http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk_politics/newsid_1866000/1866909.stm Iraq poses a real threat to world stability but no decisions have been taken on how to tackle Saddam Hussein's build-up of weapons of mass destruction, Tony Blair has said. The British prime minister's warning about the threat posed by Iraq was backed by US Vice-President Dick Cheney as the pair met in Downing Street. There is a threat from Saddam Hussein and the weapons of mass destruction that he has acquired Tony Blair Their post-talks media conference came six months to the hour after the US terror attacks. A possible second phase of the war against terrorism was on the agenda at the meeting, which comes before Mr Cheney embarks on a 10-day tour of the Middle-East. Mr Blair said: "There is a threat from Saddam Hussein and the weapons of mass destruction that he has acquired. It is not in doubt at all." Mr Blair said the coalition partners now needed to "reflect and deliberate" on how that problem should be addressed. 10-day mission Mr Cheney and Mr Blair discussed the progress of the coalition formed in the wake of the US terror atrocities, as well as other issues such as US tariffs on steel imports. Downing Street has said it has no evidence that Iraq was involved in the 11 September attacks. Labour MPs are urging caution towards US "hawks" But the UK prime minister, who underlined the importance of restarting the Middle East peace process, stressed the progress that had been made in Afghanistan against the Taleban and al-Qaeda network. Mr Cheney said it was important to prevent the "potential marriage" between that network and states which had nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. Mr Blair faces growing domestic disquiet over military action against Iraq - many Labour MPs are among the 70 who have signed a motion opposing action. Labour MP Alice Mahon said Mr Blair should stop being the "little lapdog of America" and should steer away from a course that could start a third world war. There is unease elsewhere in Europe about such action. Richard Pearle, defence adviser to US President Bush, said he was disappointed a number of America's friends in Europe were "nowhere to be seen" when US security was under threat. Downing Street has published a document stressing that the war against international terrorism has a long way to run. Coalition 'steadfast' The 35-page document also says the war could include military action on targets other than Afghanistan. It said: "There are many countries where adoption of terrorist methods or the presence of terrorist or extremist networks causes us grave concern. "We will take action we deem necessary in support of this aim, including military action, if absolutely necessary." Downing Street has dismissed reports that the US had requested 25,000 UK troops to join a possible 250,000-strong ground attack on Iraq, aimed at overthrowing President Saddam Hussein. The US has threatened to remove Saddam Hussein by force Labour chairman of the Commons' foreign affairs committee, Donald Anderson, called on the UK government to calm any "reckless" elements in the Pentagon who were "on a roll". Appeal for clarity The US has threatened action against Iraq even if it lets UN weapons inspectors - who would establish how many weapons of mass destruction it has accumulated - back into the country. Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell said Mr Blair should make it clear that "military action is not the first option, but should only be considered when all other reasonable options have been excluded". Mr Cheney also met Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, who voiced his support for US action. Mr Duncan Smith added: "It is vital that the reasons for dealing with the threat posed by Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction are clearly spelled out." A new poll suggests most people in the UK would support US military action against Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein. Of 1,000
UNICEF: 11m children die each year from preventable causes [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Ananova : Experts say 11m children die each year from preventable causes === Leading health experts are seeking ways to extend resources to "the poorest and the youngest" at an international conference. The World Health Organization and UNICEF say pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, measles, HIV/AIDS and malnutrition are the main causes of death. WHO director-general Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland says 11 million die of preventable and treatable causes - eight million of them babies. The conference in Stockholm is placing a special focus on the health needs of newborn babies who die during the first weeks of their lives. The agencies say the science and medicine is available but more political will and resources are needed. Investment is also needed in helping communities and families to overcome health problems. "The resources needed to reach every child and adolescent are well within the means of our wealthy world," UNICEF chief Carol Bellamy said. "In a world where most deaths happen before children reach any health facility, the focus must be on bringing services to people rather than people to services." The "first global consultation on child and adolescent health and development" was called to come up with "a strategy to reach the poorest and the youngest" ahead of a UN special session on children in May. Delegates are also addressing the needs of adolescents since almost 1.5 million die annually from substance abuse, suicide, injuries, violence, disease and other causes. Story filed: 04:46 Tuesday 12th March 2002 --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
"And For The Crime of Water Purification" - Trial set for company accused of vio
Another small fact that "always free, fair and objective" AP leaves out of this story ( but is being repported by CBC radio here in Canada) is that these water purification cjhemicals were being shipped to Cuban hospitals! I guess AP didn't want to make the U.S embargo see "mean spirited"!! mart From:"Karen Lee Wald" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject:Fw: Trial set for company accused of violating Cuba embargoDate:Mon, 11 Mar 2002 18:53:03 -0800 HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Water purification as a crime!!?? [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, March 11, 2002 6:28 PM Subject: Trial set for company accused of violating Cuba embargo The Florida Times Union Monday, March 11, 2002 Story last updated at 5:45 p.m. on Monday, March 11, 2002 Trial set for company accused of violating Cuba embargo By MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press Writer PHILADELPHIA - Federal prosecutors this week will begin trying to prove that a suburban Philadelphia company circumvented the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba by selling products to foreign companies, which then shipped them to Cuba. Brotech Corp. of Bala Cynwyd, which also operates as Purolite Corp., allegedly sold $2.1 million worth of a chemical used in water purification to Cuba between 1992 and 2000, according to the 77-count indictment filed in October 2000. The company and its officers are charged with violating the Trading With the Enemy Act of 1917 and Cuban Assets Control Regulations. The defendants are company president Stefan E. Brodie, 58, of Philadelphia; vice president Donald B. Brodie, 54, of Bryn Mawr; and marketing director James E. Sabzali, 41, a Canadian citizen who lives in Wynnewood. The Brodies and Sabzali were charged with conspiracy to sell ion exchange resins to Cuba and attempting to hide the transactions. "We will defend ourselves vigorously and believe we will be fully vindicated," company officials said in a statement at the time. Catherine Recker, a lawyer representing Sabzali, declined comment Sunday. In news articles after the indictment, she said her client denied wrongdoing, noting that Canadians can legally trade with Cuba. The Brodies do not have listed telephone numbers, and their lawyers could not immediately be determined. The trial is expected to last about three weeks. The judge heard pre-trial motions Monday and opening statements were expected to begin late Tuesday or Wednesday. Purchasing director John H. Dolan, 45, of Thorndale, Delaware County, who is charged with a single count of making false statements to the government, will be tried separately. The U.S. Customs Office of Investigations began the probe in 1997. The trade-embargo charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years and a fine of $250,000 for each violation. Each conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of five years and a fine of $250,000. Brotech faces a fine of $1 million for each embargo violation and $500,000 for the conspiracy charge. Dolan faces a maximum sentence of five years and a fine of $250,000. Copyright 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Courtesy of: The Law Office of Jose Pertierra 1010 Vermont Avenue, NW #620 Washington, DC 20005 202 783 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email!
Site Mayi-Mayi [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- In a message dated 06/03/02 20:10:19 Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Subj:[AfricaT] communiqué Date:06/03/02 20:10:19 Eastern Standard Time From:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent from the Internet A la presse A tous les patriotes congolais A tous les amis du peuple congolais. Nous vous annonçons l'existence du site http://www.congo-mai-mai.net Sur ce site vous trouverez tous les communiqués, la présentation, l'historique et les autres informations concernant les Maï Maï. Comme vous savez les Maï Maï résistent contre l'agression, l'occupation et le pillage de nos territoires par les armées du Rwanda, de l'Ouganda et du Burundi. Puisque les ennemis du peuple congolais essaient de semer la confusion, nous trouvons qu'il est important que nous puissions nous adresser directement au public. Vous trouverez sur ce site entre autres le procès-verbal de la réunion tenu à Gabarone la semaine passée où les représentants des Maï Maï au Dialogue inter-congolais ont été désigné. Ce procès-verbal est très utile pour chacun qui veut voir clair dans la définition des Maï Maï et dans la question qui sont les vrai et les faux Maï Maï. En dehors des informations sur les Maï Maï vous trouverez aussi une rubrique "Tribune". Vous pouvez vous inscrire sur la lettre de nouvelles qui vous informera une fois par semaine des nouveautés sur notre site. Vous pouvez aussi participer à notre forum. Pour ces deux inscriptions, il suffit de lire l'information dans la rubrique "mailingliste". PATRIOTES RESISTANTS MAI - MAI ( PAREMA ) "Pour la défense des intérêt du peuple, nous résistons. Pour la cause juste, nous vaincrons" --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^ --- Begin Message --- A la presse A tous les patriotes congolais A tous les amis du peuple congolais. Nous vous annonçons l'existence du site http://www.congo-mai-mai.net Sur ce site vous trouverez tous les communiqués, la présentation, l'historique et les autres informations concernant les Maï Maï. Comme vous savez les Maï Maï résistent contre l'agression, l'occupation et le pillage de nos territoires par les armées du Rwanda, de l'Ouganda et du Burundi. Puisque les ennemis du peuple congolais essaient de semer la confusion, nous trouvons qu'il est important que nous puissions nous adresser directement au public. Vous trouverez sur ce site entre autres le procès-verbal de la réunion tenu à Gabarone la semaine passée où les représentants des Maï Maï au Dialogue inter-congolais ont été désigné. Ce procès-verbal est très utile pour chacun qui veut voir clair dans la définition des Maï Maï et dans la question qui sont les vrai et les faux Maï Maï. En dehors des informations sur les Maï Maï vous trouverez aussi une rubrique "Tribune". Vous pouvez vous inscrire sur la lettre de nouvelles qui vous informera une fois par semaine des nouveautés sur notre site. Vous pouvez aussi participer à notre forum. Pour ces deux inscriptions, il suffit de lire l'information dans la rubrique "mailingliste". PATRIOTES RESISTANTS MAI - MAI ( PAREMA ) "Pour la défense des intérêt du peuple, nous résistons. Pour la cause juste, nous vaincrons" Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED] URL to this page: http://www.egroups.com/group/africat L'utilisation du service Yahoo! Groupes est soumise à l'acceptation des Conditions d'utilisation et de la Charte sur la vie privée, disponibles respectivement sur http://fr.docs.yahoo.com/info/utos.html et http://fr.docs.yahoo.com/info/privacy.html --- End Message ---
Korea. KCNA Mar 11 [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Korean Central News Agency Extracts. Students in Pyongyang volunteer to join KPA Pyongyang, March 11 (KCNA) -- Students of the graduation course at senior middle schools in Pyongyang gathered at Kim Il Sung Square yesterday to earnestly volunteer to join the Korean People's Army. Jang Yong Chol, first secretary of the Pyongyang City Committee of the Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League, in his speech called on the students of the graduation course to become devoted fighters in defending the headquarters of the revolution at the risk of their lives, saying that there is no more honorable thing to them than to stand guard over the country. Students in their speeches said that though various sectors wait for them, it is their hope and aspiration to stand in the forefront of defending the country as soldiers of general Kim Jong Il in their youthful days. A parent, a discharged soldier student of a university and a war veteran in their speeches warmly congratulated the students on volunteering to join the KPA and asked all of them to be heroes in devotedly defending the general and the country with arms. After the meeting, the participants marched through the streets of the capital, singing wartime song "song of defending the motherland" and other militant and revolutionary songs. Present at the meeting were Kim Jung Rin, secretary of the central committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, KPA vice marshal Ri Jong San, officials concerned and war veterans. Removal of obstacle to reunification called for Pyongyang, March 11 (KCNA) -- For the independent national reunification it is necessary to remove a source of a threat to the peace of the country and an obstacle to the reunification. Rodong Sinmun today stresses this in a bylined article. The U.S. forces in South Korea are a dangerous force of aggression and a main obstacle to the peace and reunification of the country, the article says, and goes on: They are the root cause of the arms race and danger of war on the Korean Peninsula as they are aimed to invade the northern half of Korea. The U.S. strategic purpose is to turn the peninsula into a springboard from which to dominate the Asia-Pacific region. The "threat from the north" advertised by the U.S. bellicose elements to justify the U.S. military presence in South Korea is a sheer lie and fabrication. It is designed to describe the U.S. imperialist aggression forces as the "war deterrent force" and a "guardian of peace" in a bid to perpetuate their permanent military presence in South Korea and, furthermore, dominate the whole of Korea and northeast Asia. The South Korean anti-reunification elements label the people in the northern half of Korea as the "principal enemy" and make desperate efforts to unleash a war against the north, calling for "cooperation" with outsiders on the plea of what they call "security." It is a tragedy and a disgrace to the Korean people to allow them to remain as part of the nation. Fratricidal showdown and war lead to self-destruction because they only give a chance to outsiders to fish in troubled waters. The Korean people who call for the independent reunification of the country should not allow this land, their cradle, to be turned into shambles of a fratricidal war. The existence of the "security law" is very anachronistic as it is a chief obstacle to national concord and reunification at present. The Korean people will work hard to foil any attempt to hamstring the reunification movement and remain true to the idea "by the united efforts of the Korean people". Release of those involved in anti-U.S. action called for Pyongyang, March 11 (KCNA) -- The Chungchong provincial travelers federation under the "national federation of student travelers" in South Korea reportedly demanded the release of those who occupied the U.S. chamber of commerce and industry and staged a sit-in. The organization issued a statement on March 7 in which it declared that the occupation of the U.S. chamber and the sit-in strike staged by fellow student Pak Jun Ma of Kyongwon College and other students of the South Korean Federation of University Student Councils were an expression of the unanimous will of all the people opposed to bush's visit. It held that the above-said students should be set free as early as possible because they have always fought as the vanguard in the student actions. The federation declared that it would struggle against the authorities who commit treacherous acts after branding the student action as "terrorism" and that it would carry on its actions until Pak Jun Ma and other members of the death-defying corps are released and the U.S. imperialists quit South Korea. S. Korea-U.S. joint military drills under fire Pyongyang, March 11 (KCNA) -- The solidarity for implementing the south-north joint declaration reportedly released a
ISRAEL ATTACKING JABALIYA REFUGEE CAMP-- URGENT ACTION REQUESTED [WWW.STOPNATO.O
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- From: Ali Abunimah [[EMAIL PROTECTED]] March 11, 2002 -- 5.30 PM Eastern Time -- 12.30 AM GAZA ISRAEL ATTACKING JABALIYA REFUGEE CAMP-- URGENT ACTION REQUESTED 13 DEAD, DOZENS INJURED IN ONGOING ATTACK IN GAZA Dear Friends, This is an attempt to generate a mass reaction to a massacre BEFORE it happens. I need you to take a minute to help very urgently. PLEASE READ THIS SHORT ALERT THEN CALL THE PHONE NUMBERS BELOW. CNN is reporting that 2,000 Israeli troops and dozens of tanks have just attacked Jabaliya refugee camp in the occupied Gaza Strip and already 13 people have been killed. It is now just after midnight in Gaza, late afternoon in the United States. Jabaliya is very crowded with men, women and children refugees who are almost defenceless against the might of Israel's army which has shown it can do as it pleases, under orders from Sharon to inflict as many casualties as possible, and without any action from the international community. Over the past few weeks, Israel has carried out attacks on refugee camps throughout Palestine, killing and injuring hundreds of civilians, and causing widespread destruction. In addition, it has systematically prevented medical care from reaching the injured and has shot dead 15 medical personnel in the past week. Without forceful intervention, Israel will continue these massacres. Over the past twenty four hours, Israeli forces raided Dheisheh and Aida camps near Bethlehem, and Qalqilya, arresting every male child they could find over the age of 13, according to Haaretz, and any men up to the age of 45. WE CAN TRY TO STOP THE NEXT MASSACRE ACTION REQUESTED: Please call the United States Department of State IMMEDIATELY and tell them that you heard reports Israel is about to attack Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza, and that the United States has a responsibility to stop it. CALL THE OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL DIRECTLY. THEY WILL ATTEMPT TO PASS YOU OFF TO THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS BUREAU WHICH IS ALREADY CLOSED FOR THE DAY. TELL THEM IT CANNOT WAIT UNTIL THE MORNING AND INSIST MESSAGE ON LEAVING A MESSAGE FOR POWELL. OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE: (202) 647-5291 You might also call the 24-hour "SENIOR WATCH OFFICER" at: (202) 647-1512 The above telephone numbers are PUBLIC INFORMATION provided at the State Department website under the Freedom of Information Act. You have a right to know them and to use them. Ali Abunimah http://www.abunimah.org --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
US hegemony. Expansion of Forces in Asia. [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- [Hour by hour news & analysis... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] [Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ] . . - Original Message - From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, March 11, 2002 4:51 AM Subject: [kominform2] US hegemony. Expansion of Forces in Asia. From: "kulasisig" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Peoples War] Expansion of American Forces in Asia to Ensure U.S. Economic, Political Hegemony Expansion of American Forces in Asia to Ensure U.S. Economic, Political Hegemony Filipinos may view the presence of U.S. troops in Basilan as merely an attempt to flush out the Abu Sayyaf. What many may not know is that, as the U.S.-Asean Business Council and RAND reports clearly indicated, this war on terrorism is nothing but a justification for Washington to keep Asia in its grip. BY CARLOS H. CONDE Bulatlat.com The U.S.-Asean Business Council's position paper has striking similarities to the policy recommendations made by the RAND Corporation before and after the Sept. 11 attacks as well as its testimonies to the U.S. Congress after the attacks. RAND was created by the US Air Force in 1946 and was the first to be called a "think tank." It is a corporation that, according to its website "now assist all branches of the U.S. military community" and applies its expertise to social and international issues. Its policy recommendations, especially for the military, are more often than not implemented by the U.S. government. Last year, RAND commissioned a study (which was later published in a book) titled "The United States and Asia: Toward a New U.S. Strategy and Force Posture." This report analyzed the U.S, military presence in Asia and recommended courses of actions that, as the presence of U.S. troops in Basilan shows, the U.S. government apparently heeded. Like the US-Asean Business Council report, the RAND study identifies the emergence of China as a threat to the United States not only economically but also militarily. It points out that while defense spending by other Asian countries has dipped over the years, China and India have been doing the opposite. "Over the past several years, both China and India have -- in contrast to past behavior -- increased defense spending at rates exceeding their GDP growth. In 2000, for example, China's defense budget increased 12.7 percent compared to a 1999 GDP growth of 7.2 percent, while India's defense budget increased 28.2 percent compared with a 1999 GDP growth of 5.8 percent." The United States, the study said, should be concerned not only about China's military growth but India's as well. "Asia is home to two aspiring great powers -- India and China. China's rapid economic growth and its steadily growing military strength may ultimately prompt it to become more forceful in pressing its territorial and sovereignty claims. Both China and India may also want more of a say in shaping regional and continental institutions and events. Whether India and China will be able to assume the role of dominant regional or continental powers remains uncertain, but the fact that both countries aspire to great-power status may in itself prove to be a source of conflict in the years to come," the study said. World policeman The study, by way of advancing the idea of the United States as the policeman of the world, added: "Asia's political-military situation is thus becoming increasingly fluid. Many countries have more resources -- both economic and technological -- and may also have greater incentive to transform those resources into military power. Indeed, one analyst has termed the region 'ripe for rivalry.' Below the surface, various countries are building up their potential strength. If or when they enter the geo-political arena as confident 'actors,' they may find themselves engaged in heightened political-military competition or even conflict with their neighbors." And it emphasized the "threat" posed by China: "Assuming that China's economic, technological, and military development proceeds on its current course, its potential threat to the United States and its interests will rest on two major factors: first, the evolution of the Taiwan issue, and second, whether a more powerful China will seek to reduce U.S. influence and presence in East Asia." To address this threat, the study proposed that the United States "formulate a strategy aimed at a pivotal long-term objective: preventing a worsening of the security situation in Asia. Central to this objective is the need to preclude the rise of a regional or continental hegemon." This objective, it said, is crucial for two reasons: 1) to prevent the United States from being denied economic, political and military access to an important part of the globe; and 2) to prevent a concentration of resources that could support a global challenge to the United States on the order of that posed by the former Soviet Union. "
Re: THE TRUTH COMES OUT ISRAEL'S 9/11 CONNECTION EXPOSED [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- In a message dated 3/11/2002 5:09:25 PM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: In late November, the Washington Post ran a story that stopped me dead in my tracks: "60 Israelis on Tourist Visas Detained Since Sept. 11," but it was the subhead that really got my attention: "Government Calls Several Cases 'of Special Interest,' Meaning Related to Post-Attacks Investigation." This rebuttal article made me laugh. The making of Le Monde's conspiracy theory Daniel Pipes National Post In a spectacular scoop, the most serious and authoritative newspaper of France, Le Monde, announced on its front page last Tuesday that "An Israeli Spy Network Was Dismantled in the United States." The lengthy article asserts that "without doubt" this is the biggest spy story of its type in more than 15 years. But U.S. journalists found not a shred of evidence to support the claim. More important, it met with wall-to-wall derision from the U.S. and Israeli governments. The Justice Department spokeswoman, for instance, dismissed it as "an urban myth that has been circulating for months" and indicated there were no Israelis arrested for espionage. The FBI spokesman called it a "bogus story," adding "there wasn't a spy ring." Actually, any observant reader can sense that Le Monde's account -- with its crazy-quilt of unsourced allegations, drive-by innuendoes and incoherent obscurities, but no hard facts -- is nonsense. That one of the world's most prestigious newspapers promotes such twaddle prompts two observations. First, even the most sober media has a known weakness for sensational conspiracy theories. The New York Times found itself wiping egg off its collective face after lavishing attention in May, 1991, on the "October surprise" theory peddled by Gary Sick that, to win the presidential election in 1980, Ronald Reagan had conspired with the ayatollahs to keep Americans imprisoned in Iran. In June, 1998, CNN aired "Valley of Death," a would-be exposé of American troops' use of sarin nerve gas during a clandestine 1970 raid into Laos. The two producers and the on-air narrator (Peter Arnett) all lost their jobs as a result. Second, such conspiracy theories do not appear suddenly, but emerge piecemeal from the muck. In this case, the notion that found full flower in Le Monde apparently began life as a passing reference in, of all things, the September, 1998, Starr Report on president Bill Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky. During their final sexual encounter on March 29, 1997, Lewinsky reported that the couple had a lengthy conversation in which the president told her "he suspected that a foreign embassy [he did not specify which one] was tapping his telephones." This was red meat for conspiracy theorists, who immediately focused on Israel. For example, Gordon Thomas, a British journalist, in March, 1999, announced (in Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad) that Israel's intelligence service possessed tapes with 30 hours of Clinton-Lewinsky cooings. The usually responsible Insight magazine elaborated this theory in May, 2000, with a story on the "huge security nightmare" of Israeli spying on high-level U.S. officials by "using telephone-company equipment at remote sites to track calls placed to or received from high-ranking government officials, possibly including the president himself." Fox News immediately named an Israeli company involved: Amdocs, Ltd., which supposedly has the records (though not the contents) of virtually every call made in the United States. In June, 2001, a Justice Department task force issued a 61-page draft report noting a pattern of activities by Israelis in the United States and raised the possibility of their being part of an intelligence-gathering operation -- possibly of a drug-trafficking gang. In mid-December, 2001, Fox News named a second Israeli telephone company (Comverse Infosys, which it said has access to nearly all wiretaps placed by U.S. law enforcement), then added an explosive accusation: Israel had its own spying operation against militant Islamic groups in the United States and "may have gathered intelligence about the [9/11] attacks in advance, and not shared it." (Here, Fox News regurgitated a very tired theme. For example, in a 1990 exposé of the Mossad, By Way of Deception, Victor Ostrovsky claimed that Israeli agents knew in advance about the truck bomb that killed 241 U.S. Marines in October, 1983, but did not warn their American counterparts.) A Paris-based newsletter, Intelligence Online, in late February reported that the U.S. Department of Justice had neutralized a "vast network of Israeli intelligence agents" by arresting or expelling 120 Israelis. Finally, Le Monde (which is presently in negotiations to buy Intelligence Online) completed the process by broadcasting Intelligence Online's fantasy to the wide world. All this matters, for conspiracy theories are easier to kill than to b
Re: Third former militiaman with links to Sabra and Chatila is murdered. [WWW...
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- In a message dated 3/11/2002 1:49:04 PM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Michael Nassar, who was a former associate of Elie Hobeika – the Phalangist leader murdered in a car bombing in Beirut in January – was shot dead in Brazil by a man firing a pistol equipped with a silencer. His young wife, Marie, was shot down beside him. Where is the US outrage regarding international terrorism? --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
THE TRUTH COMES OUT ISRAEL'S 9/11 CONNECTION EXPOSED [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- In late November, the Washington Post ran a story that stopped me dead in my tracks: "60 Israelis on Tourist Visas Detained Since Sept. 11," but it was the subhead that really got my attention: "Government Calls Several Cases 'of Special Interest,' Meaning Related to Post-Attacks Investigation." More details http://english.pravda.ru/columnists/2002/03/11/26901.html --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
RE: Question to list members... [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- " cube321: I just wanted to ask what your opinion is as to the causes of all the support and apologetics for "our" governments'(/corporate backed) imperialism/crimes that comes out of the mainstream press?" I dont think the press supports the government - I think it is the other way around. The press is part of the monied establishment and the government does its bidding. When the monied establishment wants to roll, the government does as told and the press tries to create cover. There is a wonderful quote in the Columbia Journalism review Jan 1985 - quotes a memo by the publisher of 3 papers in Boston - basically telling his staff that they will write what he wants them to write. --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Tens of Thousands in Italy Call for Palestinian State [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
Title: Message HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Published on Sunday, March 10, 2002 by Agence France Presse Tens of Thousands in Italy Call for Palestinian State ROME (AFP) — Tens of thousands of people marched in Rome on Saturday to call for the creation of a Palestinian state and express solidarity with the Palestinian people. Demonstrators carry an effigy of Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made up as a butcher, during a protest against Israel's military actions in Palestinian refugee camps, in Rome, Saturday, March 9, 2002. Tens of thousands of demonstrators, most of them young people, marched through the Italian capital on Saturday in a noisy, peaceful show of support for Palestinians in their battle with Israel. Sign say: "Butcher Shop." (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)The protest — organized by the Democratic Left, the Green party and anti-globalization groups — brought traffic in central Rome to a standstill, as demonstrators marched in intermittent rain. Organizers said some 50,000 people participated in the three-kilometer march along the Italian capital's main thoroughfares. The demonstration ended at the Piazza Navona, where speakers called for peace in the Middle East and an end to the bloodshed, a day after the deadliest day in the 17-month conflict, which left more than 50 Palestinians dead. Many protesters — among them women wearing Islamic headscarves — said they believed Israelis and Palestinians could live together in peace. Demonstrators said they supported both the security of the state of Israel, and the creation of a Palestinian state. Police were out in force to maintain order — ahead of a Lazio-AS Roma football match set for today — but no incidents were reported. © Copyright 2002 Agence France Presse --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Bush's Nuclear Madness [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
Title: Message HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Published on Monday, March 11, 2002 in the Daily Mirror (UK) Bush's Nuclear MadnessHorror at Dubya's Secret Attack Plan on 7 Countries by Alexandra Williams and Bob Roberts PRESIDENT Bush faced world anger last night over America's seven-nation nuclear hit list. British MPs joined the outcry after a leaked Pentagon report revealed contingency plans to use nuclear weapons against China, Russia, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Syria and Libya. The secret policy was denounced as warmongering "lunacy". Alarmed officials from Moscow to Tehran warned that the "power crazy" President, buoyed up by the successful campaign in Afghanistan, could plunge the world into chaos. British politicians said the strategy threatened the stability of the NATO alliance. International tension mounted as Washington pressed Britain to back an attack on Iraq - including the possible commitment of 25,000 British troops to topple Saddam Hussein. Cabinet Minister Clare Short hinted that she might resign if Tony Blair supported a mass strike against Baghdad. She said: "We need to deal with the problem of Saddam Hussein - we don't need to inflict further suffering on the people of Iraq." Labour MPs Alice Mahon and Tam Dalyell will today deliver a letter to 10 Downing Street warning the Prime Minister against joining any military action. US Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in London last night for talks with Mr Blair which will cover the threat posed by Iraq. No 10 insisted last night: "No decisions have been taken." Amid mounting anger, the target nations accused America of intimidation and "wreaking havoc on the whole world" and branded the plans a "lunatic" threat to world peace. In Britain, MPs said the sensational disclosures threatened the stability of the Western alliance. Labour MP Alice Mahon said: "The lunatics have taken over the White House. This report must be ringing alarms throughout NATO" The Pentagon document, known as the Nuclear Posture Review, was leaked as the US lobbied Britain to join an invasion of Iraq. International Development Secretary and Cabinet Minister Clare Short hinted she might resign if a strike went ahead. The review says the US must be ready to use nuclear weapons against China, Russia, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Syria and Libya. It then identified four areas where the US should be prepared to press the button: In an Arab-Israeli conflict, in a war between China and Taiwan, in an attack by North Korea on South Korea and in an attack by Iraq on Israel or another neighbor. Additionally, the weapons could be used against targets able to withstand conventional attack and in retaliation for the use of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons. They could also be used in the event of "surprising military developments", reflecting fears that rogue states or terrorists could deploy weapons against the US. The review, leaked to the Los Angeles Times, orders the military to plan for the use of "smaller nuclear weapons" as a more effective deterrent against terrorist attacks. It also calls for cruise missiles to carry nuclear weapons. It is the first time the US has reviewed its nuclear strategy since 1994 and the first list of target nations to be made public. Last night it was seen as a warning to those states who might be harboring terrorists. In Russia, defense hawk General Leonid Ivashov said: "The heart of US political doctrine is to push powerful Russia off the political scene." Russian politician Dmitry Rogozin added: "This is a nuclear stick intended to intimidate us." Vyacheslav Nikonov, of the Politika think tank, branded the plans a "very negative signal" which would be "received in an appropriate fashion by Russia's leadership". Iran's former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, an aide to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said: "The US believes that by threatening countries they'll withdraw their demands. Their policy is one of intimidation.'' The Tehran Times newspaper said: "This indicates the US is going to wreak havoc on the world to establish its domination." Professor Michael Yahuda, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics, warned: "China won't be happy to be classified among rogue nations." Liberal Democrat spokesman Menzies Campbell said: "America seems to be moving from nuclear deterrence to nuclear war fighting. "It would drive a coach and horses throug
URGENT - PLEASE DISTRIBUTE - Update from Bethlehem! [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
From: suzanne adely To: Al-Awda News Sent: Monday, March 11, 2002 11:45 AM Subject: [AL-AWDA-News] Update from Bethlehem March 11, 2002New Yorkshirabe yamada ([EMAIL PROTECTED])Dear Friends,Israelis have detained 600 men, between the ages of 14-40 from Dheisheh, while going house to house. Among them are two brothers, Motasem (17) and Ahmad (16) Al-Ghrouz, members of Ibdaa Dance Troup that some of you may remember from their performance tour across the US in 1999, as well as other friends of mine.Soldiers had just left their home when I phoned my adopted family in Dheisheh. Their 15-year-old daughter reassured me that everyone was fine and their 16-year-old son had escaped in time, in a shaken voice. Thankfully their house was not damaged, unlike most of their neighbors whose furniture was turned and windows smashed. I rang up my friend Khulud, sister of Motasem and Ahmad. She, along tens of her neighbors, had just been forced out of her home by Israeli soldiers. A house in her neighborhood was to be blown up. Israelis have been blowing up houses in Dheisheh, and in such a densely crowded area I could easily imagine damages inflicted on an entire neighborhood. She was huddled in someone's house, and in the background of her broken voice I could hear much chaos. "Four of my brothers were taken," said Khulud. "What will happen to us, what can we do?" I felt helpless, not knowing what consolation to offer.Khulud is among 3 million Palestinians who are going through this as I write. Dheisheh is among hundreds of communities in the occupied territories subjected to this atrocity. Please write your policymakers today that this must stop.Below is another report from my friend Muna.shirabe---600 Rounded-Up in Dheisheh, House-to-House SearchesUnderwayIsraeli Defense Minister, Benyamin Ben-Elazar inDheishehBy Muna HamzehMonday, March 11, 2002At about 6:30 a.m. Palestine time today, Israeli troops called on all male residents of Dheisheh Refugee Camp between the ages of 14-50 to assemble in the courtyard of a stone factory at the western edge of the camp. Six huundred men are being detained. The majority of men between the ages of 14-40 have been outside the camp since Thursday. The men who were rounded-up today have been blindfolded and their hands tied. Some western camera crews were able to film the men. Local Bethlehem TV stations have broadcast the photos and the women and children in the camp are watching their loved ones on their TV screens being mis-treated by the soldiers. The children are in a state of hysterics after seeing their fathers and/or older brothers in this state on TV. As the soldiers approach each blindfolded man, they are spitting on him and beating him. One by one, the men are being taken into a side room inside the factory and interrogated. Masked Palestinian collaborators are at hand to tell the soldiers which of the men is an active member of the resistence. This is what Oslo has given us.The latest news from the camp is that the men who have been interrogated and will be released have been placed in one room and the plan is to release them at the end of the day. But the release won't take place until Israeli troops finish the house-to-house searched currently underway. About ten minutes ago, I called my friend Hourieh. "The searches are taking place about three blocks from my house. My only hope is that they will get to my house before it gets dark. All we can do is sit and wait our turn." Only women and children are inside the houses and according to one woman whose house was searched less than an hour ago, the soldiers aren't leaving anything inside in tact. The contents of all closets, cupboards, shelves, everything is being turned on the floor. The soldiers are destroying any furniture or belongings they feel like destroying. About three hours ago, Israeli Defense Minister Benyamin Ben Elazar was in Dheisheh to inspect the site where the men are being held. An exchange of gunfire was reported during his visit, but it is all quiet now.Dheisheh's entire civilian population is being subjected to the horror of Israel's military might. Every woman in the camp now does not know whether her husband will return home today or will be taken away. The detained 600 men have not had anything to eat or drink for the past 10 hours. Nor have they been able to relieve themsevles. The number of those who will be take away remains unclear. Yesterday (Friday, March 10, 2002), the Israeli military dynamited four houses in the camp. All four houses being to families who lost sons in this Intifada. Another family was notified that their house will be dynamited today. The close proximity of the houses - many houses share a wall with a neighbor, means that the destruction of the houses has caused extensive damage to neighboring homes. Keep in mind that the Palestinians have no insurance on their homes and there are government funds to compenstate anyone for their loss.The p
RE: Question to list members... [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- cube321: Don't we all in some degree (that is, westerners of all classes) benefit from the exploits of the third (and to a lesser extent, second) world? Right. Depressing as it is, the implication is that's why revolutions do not come about in such countries, only reforms (which are nationalist class struggles at best). Alas, capitalism -- in the oppressor nations -- forces collusion from, and makes hypocrites of, even its most ardent opponents (such as you and I, for example). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
RE: Question to list members... [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- As a general rule: 'The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the > ruling ideas.'> Of course. More specifically: In every oppressor (capitalist) nation, there is a > vast labor aristocracy which, directly benefiting from the (neocolonial) > exploitation of the Third (even 2nd) World, ideologically moves towards > a perspective which sustains their exploitation with a minimum of guilt. > These, of course, are the reporters and so on. Don't we all in some degree (that is, westerners of all classes) benefit from the exploits of the third (and to a lesser extent, second) world? That aside, you're more or less saying that it's not structural (as the Chomsky's of the world might argue)ie., in the sense that it's more of an intentional pattern. > > All of which corroborates your thesis.>>> > > > > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > > Barry Stoller > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews > > > Barry Stoller wrote: > > cube321: I just wanted to ask what your opinion is as to the causes of > all the support and apologetics for "our" governments'(/corporate > backed) imperialism/crimes that comes out of the mainstream press? I'm > also asked this question. And my answer is usually to the effect of: > well, it seems to be combination of naive,'right-thiking' people getting > hired for the job and then dishonest types -- the so-called "expects", > be they "reporters" or the think-tank commentators, etc -- who play a > more prominent role in influencing public opinion. Your thoughts? > > --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
RE: Milosevic trial [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Funny how you never hear the AFQUISLINGS label the Serbs "Kosovar"? Barry Stoller wrote: > > AFP. 11 March 2002. Turkish Kosovar farmer tells of deportations at > Milosevic trial. > > THE HAGUE -- The war crimes trial of Slobodan Milosevic entered its > fifth week on Monday with testimony from two witnesses detailing > killings and deportations allegedly committed by Serb forces in Kosovo. > > Saqir Thac, a farmer of Turkish descent, told the court that Serb > soldiers set fire to 30 homes in his village of Mamusa, killing seven > people. > > "The army came and set fire to our houses and drove us away from our > homes, it was the Yugoslav army that did this," he alleged. > > Milosevic looked relaxed during the farmer's testimony, leaning back in > his chair. > > Milosevic told the court that the Serbian army was in Mamusa as part of > its operations agains the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK). > > The former Yugoslav president said the UCK had set the fires in the > village and spoke of attacks launched by the UCK against Serbs living > around Mamusa. > > > > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > > Barry Stoller > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews > > > --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
French Intellectuals to be Deployed in Afghanistan!!! [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
From: "Karen Lee Wald" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: French intellectuals to be sent to Afghanistan Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2002 08:28:38 -0800 HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- *Amalgamated* Press : For Immediate Release: March, 2002 French Intellectuals to be Deployed in Afghanistan to Convince Taliban of Non-Existence of God Kabul---The clean-up portion of the ground war in Afghanistan heated up yesterday when the Allies revealed plans to airdrop a platoon of crack French existentialist philosophers into the country to destroy the morale of the remaining Taliban zealots by proving the non-existence of God. Elements from the feared Jean-Paul Sartre Brigade, or 'Black Berets', will be parachuted into the combat zones to spread doubt, despondency and existential anomie among the enemy. Hardened by numerous intellectual battles fought during their long occupation of Paris's Left Bank, their first action will be to establish a number of sidewalk cafes at strategic points near the front lines. There they will drink coffee and talk animatedly about the absurd nature of life and man's lonely isolation in the universe. They will be accompanied by a number of heartbreakingly beautiful girlfriends who will propagate fear, uncertainty and doubt by looking remote and unattainable. Their leader, Colonel Marc-Ange Belmondo, spoke yesterday of his confidence in the success of their mission. Sorbonne graduate Belmondo, a very intense and unshaven young man in a black pullover, gesticulated wildly and said, "The Taliban are caught in a logical fallacy of the most ridiculous proportions. There is no God and I can prove it." Marc-Ange plans to deliver an impassioned thesis on man's inescapapable lack of freedom of action, with special reference to the work of Foucault and the films of Alfred Hitchcock. However, humanitarian agencies have been quick to condemn the operation as inhumane, pointing out that the effects of passive smoke from the Frenchmens' endless Gauloises and Gitanes could wreak a terrible toll on civilians in the area. AP/March,2002 I have no idea where this piece of satire came from; it was passed on by Jose Pertierra. I suppose we should issue a disclaimer that we know this is not REALLY an AP cable, so AP doesn't get mad at us.:) ==Karen Lee Wald2175 Aborn Road, apt. 164 San Jose, CA 95121 telephone 408-532-6147[EMAIL PROTECTED]Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email!
Third former militiaman with links to Sabra and Chatila is murdered. [WWW.STOPNA
From:Karen Lee Wald2175 Aborn Road, apt. 164 San Jose, CA 95121 telephone 408-532-6147[EMAIL PROTECTED] - Original Message - From: Claude Marks To: Recipient list suppressed Sent: Monday, March 11, 2002 6:18 AM Subject: Third former militiaman with links to Sabra and Chatila is murdered By Robert Fisk in Beirut Third former militiaman with links to Sabra and Chatila is murdered. Robert Fisk in Beirut11 March 2002The secrets of the Sabra and Chatila Palestinian camp massacres in 1982 have gone to the grave with yet another former Phalangist militiaman, the third Lebanese to die mysteriously in little more than two months.Michael Nassar, who was a former associate of Elie Hobeika the Phalangist leader murdered in a car bombing in Beirut in January was shot dead in Brazil by a man firing a pistol equipped with a silencer. His young wife, Marie, was shot down beside him.A Belgian court has postponed a decision over whether to indict Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, for his role in the massacres he was held "personally responsible" by an Israeli commission of inquiry while lawyers for the survivors produce more evidence. But the vital evidence that may lie in the memories of those involved with the killers, who were allied to Israel at the time, is disappearing almost by the week as the death list grows.Nassar grew immensely wealthy from the Lebanese civil war, selling former Phalangist weapons to Croatian militias during the Balkan conflict. One of his ships ended up in the hands of the Serb navy, which sent Nassar a warehouse bill after the guns were impounded. He fled Beirut in 1997 after a Lebanese court demanded he explain his wealth, put at £70m .Nassar was apparently already worried when he pulled his car into a petrol station in the suburbs of Sao Paolo on Friday; he had used his mobile phone to tell a friend that he was being followed by men in a car. He made a second call telling his friend that his pursuers seemed to have vanished just before the gunman fired five bullets into his body and another seven into his wife.Israel has denied that Hobeika, who had agreed to testify against Mr Sharon less than 24 hours before he was killed, was murdered by its own death squads. The Lebanese authorities say the opposite. Nassar a nephew of the former general Antoine Lahd who commanded Israel's one-time proxy, the "south Lebanon army militia" might have been the victim of a Brazilian mafia killing. Certainly, robbery was not the motive.The first former right-wing Christian to be struck down was one of Hobeika's old colleagues, Jean Ghanem, who drove his car into a tree on New Year's Day. He died after being in a coma for two weeks. Then came Hobeika's murder and now Nassar's. Other former Phalangists live in fear of their lives, either from Israel or from Palestinians seeking revenge for the 1982 massacre in which up to 1,700 Palestinian civilians were slaughtered.One of them recently said that dozens of Palestinians who survived the massacres were executed at a former barracks near Jounieh, north of the capital, after being held in containers for two weeks. The prisoners had been handed over to the Phalangists, he said, by Israeli troops at the ruined sports stadium in Beirut. The location of their mass grave is known to The Independent. Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email!
Re: Question to list members... [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- cube321: I just wanted to ask what your opinion is as to the causes of all the support and apologetics for "our" governments'(/corporate backed) imperialism/crimes that comes out of the mainstream press? I'm also asked this question. And my answer is usually to the effect of: well, it seems to be combination of naive,'right-thiking' people getting hired for the job and then dishonest types -- the so-called "expects", be they "reporters" or the think-tank commentators, etc -- who play a more prominent role in influencing public opinion. Your thoughts? As a general rule: 'The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas.' More specifically: In every oppressor (capitalist) nation, there is a vast labor aristocracy which, directly benefiting from the (neocolonial) exploitation of the Third (even 2nd) World, ideologically moves towards a perspective which sustains their exploitation with a minimum of guilt. These, of course, are the reporters and so on. All of which corroborates your thesis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Milosevic trial [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- AFP. 11 March 2002. Turkish Kosovar farmer tells of deportations at Milosevic trial. THE HAGUE -- The war crimes trial of Slobodan Milosevic entered its fifth week on Monday with testimony from two witnesses detailing killings and deportations allegedly committed by Serb forces in Kosovo. Saqir Thac, a farmer of Turkish descent, told the court that Serb soldiers set fire to 30 homes in his village of Mamusa, killing seven people. "The army came and set fire to our houses and drove us away from our homes, it was the Yugoslav army that did this," he alleged. Milosevic looked relaxed during the farmer's testimony, leaning back in his chair. Milosevic told the court that the Serbian army was in Mamusa as part of its operations agains the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK). The former Yugoslav president said the UCK had set the fires in the village and spoke of attacks launched by the UCK against Serbs living around Mamusa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
RE: * China Issues "Human Rights Record of the United States in 2001" * [WWW.STO
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- What a *pleasant* surprise... :-) Steve Wagner wrote: > China Issues "Human Rights Record of the United States in 2001" > http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-03/11/content_310843.htm > -- > > Xinhuanet 2002-03-11 14:22:36 > > >BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhuanet) -- Following is the full text of the > "Human Rights Record of the United States in 2001," published by > the Information Office of the State Council of the People's > Republic of China Monday: > > Human Rights Record of the United States in 2001 > > By Information Office of the State Council of the People's > Republic of China > > I. Lack of Safeguard for Life, Freedom and Personal Safety > II. Serious Rights Violations by Law Enforcement Departments > III. Plight of the Poor, Hungry and Homeless > IV. Worrying Conditions for Women and Children > V. Deep-Rooted Racial Discrimination > VI. Wantonly Infringing upon Human Rights of Other Countries > >On March 4, 2002, the U.S. State Department published "Country > Reports on Human Rights Practices -- 2001." Once again the United > States, assuming the role of "world judge of human rights," has > distorted human rights conditions in many countries and regions in > the world, including China, and accused them of human rights > violations, all the while turning a blind eye to its own human > rights-related problems. In fact, it is right in the United States > where serious human rights violations exist. > >I. Lack of Safeguard for Life, Freedom and Personal Safety > >Violence and crimes are a daily occurrence in the U.S. society, > where people's life, freedom and personal safety are under serious > threat. According to the 2001 fourth issue of Dialogue published > by the U.S. Embassy in China, in 1998, the number of criminal > cases in the United States reached 12.476 million, including 1.531 > million violent crime cases and 17,000 murder cases; and for every > 100,000 people, there were 4,616 criminal cases, including 566 > involving violent crimes. From 1977 to 1996, more than 400,000 > Americans were murdered, almost seven times the number of > Americans killed in the Vietnam War. During the years since 1997, > another 480,000 people have been murdered in the country. > According to a report carried by the Christian Science Monitor in > its January 22, 2002 issue, the murder rate in the United States > at present stands at 5.5 persons per 100,000 people. According to > data provided by police stations in 18 major U.S. cities, the > number of murder cases in many big cities in 2001 increased > drastically, with those in Boston and Phoenix City increasing the > fastest. In the year to December 18, 2001, the number of murder > cases in the two cities increased by more than 60 percent over the > same period of the previous year. The number of murder cases > increased by 22 percent in St. Louis, 17.5 percent in Houston, 15 > percent in St. Antonio, 11.6 percent in Atlanta, 9.2 percent in > Los Angeles and 5.2 percent in Chicago. According to the same > report of the Christian Science Monitor, on campuses of colleges > and universities in the United States in 2001, the number of > murder cases increased by almost 100 percent over 2000, that of > arson cases by about 9 percent, that of break-ins by 3 percent. >The United States is the country with the biggest number of > private guns. On the one hand, worries about the threat of > violence have led to rush buying of guns for self-protection; on > the other hand, the flooding of guns is an important factor > contributing to high violence and crime rates. Statistics of the > FBI show that sales of weapons and ammunition in the United States > in the three months of September through November of 2001 grew > anywhere from 9 percent to 22 percent. October witnessed a record > 1,029,691 guns registered. Statistics also show that shooting is > the second major cause of non-normal deaths after traffic > accidents in the United States, averaging 15,000 deaths annually. > Over the history of more than 200 years, three U.S. presidents > were shot, with two dead and one wounded seriously. There is much > less personal safety for common people in the United States. Since > 1972, more than 80 people have been shot dead every day on average > in the United States, including about 12 children. >On March 5, 2001, a 15-year-old student killed two and wounded > 13 fellow students at Santana High School in California. This is > the deadliest school shooting following one in a high school in > the state of Colorado in April 1999, in which 13 were killed. Two > days later, that is, on March 7, a 14-year-old girl student shot > dead a schoolmate of hers in the cafeteria of a Roman Catholic > school in Pennsylvania. On the same day, police overpower
Question to list members... [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- I just wanted to ask what your opinion is as to the causes of all the support and apologetics for "our" governments'(/corporate backed) imperialism/crimes that comes out of the mainstream press? I'm also asked this question. And my answer is usually to the effect of: well, it seems to be combination of naive,'right-thiking' people getting hired for the job and then dishonest types -- the so-called "expects", be they "reporters" or the think-tank commentators, etc -- who play a more prominent role in influencing public opinion. Your thoughts? --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
* China Issues "Human Rights Record of the United States in 2001" * [WWW.STOPNAT
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- China Issues "Human Rights Record of the United States in 2001" http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-03/11/content_310843.htm -- Xinhuanet 2002-03-11 14:22:36 BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhuanet) -- Following is the full text of the "Human Rights Record of the United States in 2001," published by the Information Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Monday: Human Rights Record of the United States in 2001 By Information Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China I. Lack of Safeguard for Life, Freedom and Personal Safety II. Serious Rights Violations by Law Enforcement Departments III. Plight of the Poor, Hungry and Homeless IV. Worrying Conditions for Women and Children V. Deep-Rooted Racial Discrimination VI. Wantonly Infringing upon Human Rights of Other Countries On March 4, 2002, the U.S. State Department published "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices -- 2001." Once again the United States, assuming the role of "world judge of human rights," has distorted human rights conditions in many countries and regions in the world, including China, and accused them of human rights violations, all the while turning a blind eye to its own human rights-related problems. In fact, it is right in the United States where serious human rights violations exist. I. Lack of Safeguard for Life, Freedom and Personal Safety Violence and crimes are a daily occurrence in the U.S. society, where people's life, freedom and personal safety are under serious threat. According to the 2001 fourth issue of Dialogue published by the U.S. Embassy in China, in 1998, the number of criminal cases in the United States reached 12.476 million, including 1.531 million violent crime cases and 17,000 murder cases; and for every 100,000 people, there were 4,616 criminal cases, including 566 involving violent crimes. From 1977 to 1996, more than 400,000 Americans were murdered, almost seven times the number of Americans killed in the Vietnam War. During the years since 1997, another 480,000 people have been murdered in the country. According to a report carried by the Christian Science Monitor in its January 22, 2002 issue, the murder rate in the United States at present stands at 5.5 persons per 100,000 people. According to data provided by police stations in 18 major U.S. cities, the number of murder cases in many big cities in 2001 increased drastically, with those in Boston and Phoenix City increasing the fastest. In the year to December 18, 2001, the number of murder cases in the two cities increased by more than 60 percent over the same period of the previous year. The number of murder cases increased by 22 percent in St. Louis, 17.5 percent in Houston, 15 percent in St. Antonio, 11.6 percent in Atlanta, 9.2 percent in Los Angeles and 5.2 percent in Chicago. According to the same report of the Christian Science Monitor, on campuses of colleges and universities in the United States in 2001, the number of murder cases increased by almost 100 percent over 2000, that of arson cases by about 9 percent, that of break-ins by 3 percent. The United States is the country with the biggest number of private guns. On the one hand, worries about the threat of violence have led to rush buying of guns for self-protection; on the other hand, the flooding of guns is an important factor contributing to high violence and crime rates. Statistics of the FBI show that sales of weapons and ammunition in the United States in the three months of September through November of 2001 grew anywhere from 9 percent to 22 percent. October witnessed a record 1,029,691 guns registered. Statistics also show that shooting is the second major cause of non-normal deaths after traffic accidents in the United States, averaging 15,000 deaths annually. Over the history of more than 200 years, three U.S. presidents were shot, with two dead and one wounded seriously. There is much less personal safety for common people in the United States. Since 1972, more than 80 people have been shot dead every day on average in the United States, including about 12 children. On March 5, 2001, a 15-year-old student killed two and wounded 13 fellow students at Santana High School in California. This is the deadliest school shooting following one in a high school in the state of Colorado in April 1999, in which 13 were killed. Two days later, that is, on March 7, a 14-year-old girl student shot dead a schoolmate of hers in the cafeteria of a Roman Catholic school in Pennsylvania. On the same day, police overpowered a gunman who was about to shoot on the campus of the University of Albertus. On April 14, a 43-year-old man with two rifles and two short guns fired madly at a bar and its car park, killing two and wounding 20. On Septembe
China "Deeply Shocked" Over Pentagon's Secret Nuclear War Preparations [WWW.STOP
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- China "Deeply Shocked" Over Pentagon Secret Report: FM Spokesman http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-03/11/content_311552.htm Xinhuanet 2002-03-11 21:57:48 BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhuanet) -- The Chinese government is deeply shocked over news that the U.S. Defence Department has outlined the possible use of nuclear weapons against countries including China, Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said here Monday. China demands an explanation from the U.S. side about the issue, Sun said when answering a question from the press on the Los Angeles Times' recent report that the Pentagon has informed the U. S. Congress in a secret report of its plan which includes the possible use of nuclear weapons against China and six other countries in emergency situations. "Like many other countries, China is deeply shocked by this report," Sun said, "the U.S. side bears the responsibility to make an explanation on this matter." China is a peace-loving country and poses no threat to any other nation, Sun said. "China has always held that nuclear weapons should be comprehensively prohibited and thoroughly destroyed," he said. "Countries with nuclear weapons should undertake unconditionally not to be the first to use them, and not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states or nuclear-weapon-free regions," he said. The spokesman noted the fact that China and the United States have in place an agreement not to target each other with nuclear weapons. "Any Cold War mentality goes against the global trend of peace and development through cooperation, and is doomed to failure," he added. Enditem = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts & ends at the colonnade between Grand & Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email! http://mail.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Russian customs seize controversial tape [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- I'd like an opinion on this story. Russian customs seize controversial tape Published 3/10/2002 12:01 PM MOSCOW, March 10 (UPI) -- Customs officials in Russia's second-largest city of St. Petersburg on Sunday seized 100 copies of a videotape alleging that the Federal Security Service masterminded the 1999 bombings of residential areas in Russian cities that killed several hundred civilians. Just as Berezovsky was about to reveal the controversial tape, the Prosecutor General's office announced it was collecting evidence that could the link Berezovsky with the killing of Russian Police Gen. Gennady Shpigun, a top-level Interior Ministry official who was first abducted and then killed by his captors in Chechnya early in 1999. In case the collected evidence proved Berezovsky's involvement in the crime, Russia would have him placed on Interpol's wanted list, a spokesman for the Prosecutor General's office said Wednesday. Click here: United Press International: Russian customs seize controversial tape --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
China Calls U.S. Out on Human Rights [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- China Calls U.S. Out on Human Rights http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020311/ap_on_re_as/china_us_human_rights_14 Mon Mar 11,10:17 AM ET By TED ANTHONY, Associated Press Writer Responding to U.S. criticism of its human rights record, China returned fire in a blistering rebuttal Monday a point-by-point dismantling of American society that depicted a nation beset by crime, violent media images, indifference to poverty and arrogant foreign policy. Despite the harsh tenor of the Chinese report on American human rights, there was little to indicate that it, like its counterpart report issued by the U.S. State Department last week, would affect the increasing warmth of Beijing-Washington relations. Most of the Beijing report, the latest in a series issued annually in recent years by the government's State Council Information Office, was based on a single cornerstone: that the U.S. government has no business criticizing other nations' human rights records before it cleans its own house. "Once again the United States, assuming the role of `world judge of human rights,' has distorted human rights conditions in many countries and regions in the world, including China, and accused them of human rights violations, all the while turning a blind eye to its own human rights-related problems," the report said. Especially notable was the document's scant criticism of the U.S. response to the Sept. 11 attacks something China is loath to condemn, since it, too, has a vested interest in fighting terrorism, a term it uses to justify crackdowns on domestic dissent. The 20-page report was released on the English-language service of Xinhua, China's official news agency, thus assuring an audience of foreign reporters. There was no immediate comment from Washington, where it was late Sunday when the report was issued. "China understands that its own policies do not meet international standards. And it doesn't like to see that in these reports," said Ved Nanda, a University of Denver expert on international human rights. "China has no other way to hit back at the United States on human rights issues," he said. "It's trying to save face, and I think Washington understands that." Among the report's many other assertions, which it buttressed with a flurry of statistics and citations of news reports about violent incidents: _The United States is "wantonly infringing upon human rights of other countries" with military and political actions. _American mass media are "inundated with violent content," which in turn encourages more violence. "A culture beautifying violence has made young people believe that the gun can `solve' all problems," the report says. _Racism and discrimination continue unabated. _Police brutality, torture and forced confession "are common," and death row is full of "misjudged or wronged" inmates. Prisons are overcrowded and inhumane. _Americans living in poverty are "the forgotten `third world' within this superpower," and the gap between rich and poor is growing. _Violence against women and sexual abuse of children are common. It cited sexual molestations of children by American clergy, calling that "the greatest scandal in the United States following the Enron case." The criticism of American response to the Sept. 11 attacks was limited to this, a reflection of China's unease at the historical Western military presence in Asia: "Before the Sept. 11 incident, the United States had stationed its troops in more than 140 countries. Today, the United States has expanded its so-called security interests to almost every corner of the world." Despite improving relations during the past 10 months, Beijing and Washington remain deeply divided over human rights. In the years after China's bloody 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators centered on Beijing's Tiananmen Square, the rights issue threatened to affect the two nations' pivotal economic relationship. China says it has made great strides and insists that much of what the U.S. government criticizes as rights violations is simply efforts to maintain order. While the government says Chinese are not jailed for their beliefs, prisons and labor camps hold thousands of people detained for following the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, for praying at unofficial churches and for pushing for political reforms, labor rights and independence for Tibet. _ Copyright © 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2002 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved http://www.yahoo.com = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts & ends at the c
China 'deeply shocked' by US nuke hit list [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- AP. 11 March 2002. World Reacts to U.S. Nuclear Plan. LONDON -- Most governments responded gingerly Monday to the Pentagon's new study on using nuclear weapons, but China said it was "deeply shocked" and critics in many countries worried it could destabilize an already uncertain world. The U.S. Defense Department has sent Congress a classified report outlining the possible use of nuclear weapons against countries that possess or are developing weapons of mass destruction. The "nuclear posture review" identified seven nations: China, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Russia and Syria. China's Foreign Ministry on Monday demanded the United States explain the report, and spokesman Sun Yuxi told the official Xinhua News Agency that "China, like other countries, is deeply shocked" to be in the group of seven. "The U.S. side bears the responsibility to make an explanation on this matter," Sun was quoted as saying. Sun said China and the United States have an agreement not to target each other with nuclear weapons and said China's small nuclear arsenal didn't threaten any other nation.< "Countries with nuclear weapons should undertake unconditionally not to be the first to use them, and not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear state or nuclear-weapon-free regions," Sun said. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said such a review "can cause only regret and concern." "And not only Russia's concern, but the concern of the entire international community," he said. "Such plans can only destabilize and exacerbate the situation." Iran -- tagged by President Bush as part of an "axis of evil" -- offered an immediate angry response. Government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh compared the United States to terrorists and said the report showed that America would never observe international laws on the use of nuclear weapons, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. "The Islamic Republic believes that the era of using force to push forward international relations is long past, and those who resort to the logic of force follow exactly the same logic as terrorists, although they are in the position of power," the news agency said. "America thinks that if a military threat looms large over the head of these seven countries, they will give up their logical demands," IRNA quoted former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani as saying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Re: Museum Recalls Tokyo Firebombing [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- on 11/3/02 02:08, [EMAIL PROTECTED] at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK > --- > > Published on Sunday, March 10, 2002 by the HREF="http://www.ap.org/";>Associated Press > > Targeting Civilians > Museum Recalls Tokyo Firebombing > A survivor of the U.S. attack, which killed 100,000, started the project to > educate younger people. > > > by Mari Yamaguchi > > > TOKYO - When hundreds of American B-29 bombers sent waves of fire racing > through Tokyo 57 years ago today, Katsumoto Saotome ran for his life, > stumbling over burned corpses. All around him people were on fire, some of > them his neighbors. Now 69, Saotome recalled his narrow escape at the opening > of a museum dedicated to the firestorm on March 10, 1945, which killed more > than 100,000 civilians and razed nearly half of Tokyo in the final months of > World War II. ... Nice! While these are indeniable historical facts Japanese have been very good by presenting only their victim face in this war they deliberately provoke to give independence (dokuritsu wo saseru) to SE Asia. And they always forget to talk about the unfair treaties, the forced prostitution of the comfort women (ianfu), the rape of Nankin, the forced labour, the concentration camps, the human guinea pigs of the unit 731 and sure I am missing a lot. If somebody will ask Mr. Saotome, why Japan, he probably will not be able to answer the question. Japan's official line and ordinary Japanese' reaction is to lie and deny the above sited facts. And do not take my words for granted. Seek and you will find. A visit in today's Japan will convince you. Japan IMHO is walking the same path of the past. For Japanese (as for apes in "the planet of the apes") only Japanese are human beings. Other humans are less than animals. Having this little secret in mind becomes more easy to tell the untold. Cheers -- G. R. --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Re: Congo vs Zimbabwe [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Bravo, Kole. Alexander Pope: What oft was thought but ne'er so well expressed. I had read the same press wire report on the elections in Congo Brazzaville and knew there was a parallel/contrast to be drawn, but had no idea as to how to formulate it. I will never forget, in the late 1970s, hearing the news that the People's Republic of the Congo's president, Marien Ngouabi, had been murdered, certainly by the CIA. In fact, the long-suffering African continent has been Western imperialism's killing grounds, from Patrice Lumumba to Amilcar Cabral, from Eduadro Mondlane to Laurent Kabile. Currently, as was perhaps foreshadowed as early as Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness, having perfected the technique of assassination and coup-plotting in subsaharan Africa, the neo-imperialists have repatriated the model to Europe - to Yugoslavia, Belarus, Moldova and beyond. Yet how - conspicuously - quiet the U.S. and Western European government mouthpieces are when it comes to Congo Brazzaville, where the 'election results' turn out as desired. __ Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email! http://mail.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Georgia Denies U.S. Possible Use of Its Airfields [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Story Filed: Sunday, March 10, 2002 12:18 PM EST MOSCOW, Mar 10, 2002 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- The Georgian Foreign Ministry on Sunday denied the possibility of "Americans' use of airfields and territory of Georgia in case of an operation against Iraq," according to reports reaching here from Tbilisi. "The Georgian skies have been actively used for cargo shipments from Europe to Afghanistan within the past few months," said Kakhi Sikharulidze, a ministry spokesman. However, "there are no plans to use the Georgian skies for other purposes. The issue has not been discussed with anyone," he remarked. The press reports claiming the U.S. intention to set up military bases on the Georgian territory are "absolutely groundless," the spokesman said. Military bases of the United States in Georgia "have not been discussed," he stressed. Georgia and the U.S. have an agreement on the assistance of American servicemen to training a number of Georgian units only for special operations on the national territory. The training will be done this year under bilateral military cooperation program, Sikharulidze said. On the same day, the Georgian defense ministry also denied the reports that the U.S. is setting up its army bases in the ex- Soviet republic. Recently, some media said that American military experts are upgrading two Georgian airports for receiving U.S. air force planes. Copyright 2002 XINHUA NEWS AGENCY. --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
A Tale of Two Elections [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- [While most of us are being spoon-fed dollops of anti-ZANU-PF propaganda with our daily news it is interesting to note that another election, besides the one in Zimbabwe, is going on in Africa in much more repressive conditions and nobody in the West is saying a word. I am speaking of course of the elections in the Republic of the Congo (also known as Congo-Brazzaville, i.e. the DR Congo's smaller neighbor to the north). Since 1997, when Patrick Lissouba, Congo-Brazzaville's elected president was overthrown by a military coup backed by the French oil company Elf, the country has been wracked by civil war and massacres perpetrated by the new French-backed ruling clique. Five years after the coup elections are now finally being held, but in deplorable conditions and under the iron grip of the country's military dictator (euphamistically called a "military ruler" by the BBC). The only opposition candidate has withdrawn, the majority of the country is boycotting the elections (in order not to give them any false-legitimacy), and the ruling government continues to act with impunity as its thugs go on systematically murdering dissidents throughout the country in numbers that eclipse any of the inter-party political violence occuring in Zimbabwe (most of which is instigated from the outside anyway). Yet where are the election monitors? Where are the calls for sanctions on Congo-Brazzaville? Where are the self-righteous editorials and pronouncements of the Western press and the governments they serve? Nothing but a defening silence greets the subversion of democracy and the strangling of freedom in the Republic of the Congo, or the genocide in the neighboring DR Congo. Yet the press focuses on precisely the very same government that is actively opposing the genocide in the Congo and undertaking the final stage of decolonization by liberating farmland from the grasp of a racist settler-colonist elite and giving it back to the poor and landless! It seems that only when white bodies bleed does the West remember morality, for the rest it is subjugation and oppression as usual. While Zimbabwe has proven itself to be an open, vibrant democracy, the same cannot be said for the neoliberal puppet-regime on the north-side of the Congo river. The real "democrats" in Africa, I guess, are the new breed of "military rulers" like Nguesso (Congo-Brazaville), Kagame (Rwanda), Obasanjo (Nigeria), Museveni (Uganda), Buyoya (Burundi), and of course Tsvangirai - who was caught on tape saying he would support a military coup to remove Mugabe - all of which are Western darlings and dubbed "democrats" for their efforts in imposing neoliberal economic, political, and strategic policies on unwilling populations. That is why the BBC focuses so intensely on the "relief" that unamed persons feel that the elections in Congo-Brazzaville went off in peace and quiet - that of the grave by the way - in the most obviously rigged elections in Africa held in years.] Monday, 11 March, 2002, 12:55 GMT Congo's leader heads for re-election A team from the EU is monitoring the elections Congo's military ruler, Denis Sassou Nguesso, is well ahead of his rivals in the country's presidential election, according to early partial results.With under a third of ballots counted, Congo's state television credited General Sassou Nguesso with support of at least 80% in several key areas. Sassou Nguesso: Accused of rigging elections The general has been expected to win Sunday's election, after the main opposition candidate withdrew complaining of fraud and called for a boycott. Turnout in many parts of the capital, Brazzaville, was low. All vehicles were barred from using the roads. All shops, restaurants and markets were told to stay shut. So those who took this historic opportunity did so in unusual peace and tranquillity. Voters stay away But even with the streets practically empty the polling stations themselves were some of the quietest places to spend the day. Turnout got off to a slow start and remained that way for much of Sunday. Only once the temperature had dropped late in the afternoon did more people make their way to the nearest school or municipal office to cast their votes. Some voters blamed the low attendance on disorganisation saying many names had been left off the role. Others, who are opposition supporters, said they were following the advice of their leader, Andre Milongo, and were boycotting the election. Fears of violence Mr Milongo pulled out of the race on Friday saying Mr Sassou Nguesso had rigged the vote in advance. His supporters deny this and said people would vote for him because he guarantees the peace and stability of the country. The last presidential elections in Congo held in 1992 were followed by a decade of extremely violent civil wars. Even Mr Sassou Nguesso's harshest critics say their priority is to avoid history repeating itself and
Korea. KCNA Mar 10 [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Korean Central News Agency Mar 10 Extracts. U.S. escalated moves to throttle DPRK assailed pyongyang, March 10 (KCNA) -- The United States is becoming all the more pronounced in its moves to stifle the DPRK under the pretext of the non-existent "military threat" from it. In this regard Rodong Sinmun today says in a signed article: the u.s. policy-makers are going ahead with the plan to establish the Missile Defense System (MD) under the pretext of a "military threat" from the DPRK. The MD is, in essence, designed to reinforce offensive weapons to put the world under the u.s. control and part of its moves to militarize the space. The U.S. is keen to use the "military threat" from the DPRK as a pretext to realize its strategy for world domination. This is prompted by its calculation that it can convince the world by citing the DPRK increased self-defensive capability to cope with the U.S. policy to stifle the DPRK as a "threat" to someone and that this will help push ahead with its policy of aggression as it pleases. The U.S. bellicose forces threatened to continue demonstrating their strength in the "anti-terrorist war," absurdly asserting that the DPRK's "development of weapons of mass destruction" poses a "substantial threat" to the U. S. The situation on the Korean Peninsula is reminiscent of that on the eve of a war owing to the U.S. moves. The outcome of a new Korean war will be quite different from that of the wars fought by the U.S. in recent years. The DPRK is fully ready to respond to any form of war on its own initiative. Bush's remarks under fire abroad Pyongyang, March 10 (KCNA) Personages of different countries assailed U.S. President Bush for his provocative remarks against the DPRK. Chairman Thomas Ronstrom and vice-chairman Christer Lundgren of the Sweden-Korea Friendship Association, in a joint statement said that Bush's argument about "threat" of the DPRK's weapons of mass-destruction to the U.S. and other countries is little short of an open declaration of war against a peace-loving sovereign and independent state. Referring to the fact that the Bush administration scuppered the agreement reached between the Clinton administration and the DPRK and has systematically pursued a hostile policy towards it, the statement said: The prevailing situation calls on the world people to condemn the U.S. war policy in order to prevent another war on the Korean Peninsula and fully support the Korean people's efforts for the independent and peaceful reunification of the country. Emile Tompapa, chairman of the National Information Committee of Guinea, Ibrahima Soridien, editor-in-chief of the Guinean Newspaper Horoya, and Labiatou Serra Diallo, secretary general of the National Confederation of Guinean Workers, in their statements said Bush's argument about the "axis of evil" clearly proved that he is a political half-wit. A spokesman for the political bureau of the Palestinian popular struggle front in a statement denounced Bush's anti-DPRK remarks made during his junket to South Korea as a threat to the peace and stability of Asia and the rest of the world and as part of the U.S. moves to foil the Korean people's efforts for national reunification. U.S. anti-DPRK policy under worldwide criticism Pyongyang, March 10 (KCNA) Personages of different countries, who attended the joint Pyongyang meeting of organizations for friendship and solidarity with the Korean people and international democratic organizations last February, assailed the U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK. Marisol Luis, delegate of the Venezuela-Korea Friendship and Solidarity Association, said that the U.S. President's description of the DPRK as a "member of the axis of evil" is little short of the declaration of a war against it and an expression of the U.S. continued threat to the Korean people. The U.S. can never bring the DPRK to its knees by the policy of strength. Athanasios Pafilis, executive secretary of the world peace council, urged the U.S. to abandon its wild design to stifle the DPRK, a dignified socialist country, ascribing all the incidents that took place in the U.S. recently to its wrong policy. Om Prakash Mantri, secretary general of the Asian Regional Committee to Support Korea's Reunification who is also secretary general of the All India Indo-Korean Friendship Association, said: Since the publication of the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration, the U.S. has deliberately strained the situation on the Korean Peninsula. This evidently proves that the U.S. is a disturber of Korea's reunification. Bush's anti-DPRK war policy protested Pyongyang, March 10 (KCNA) -- The
US Seeking To Terrorize The World: Iran [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://frontierpost.com.pk/main.asp?id=20&date1=3/11/2002 The Frontier Post (Pakistan) March 11, 2002 -"American efforts are directed at instigating opposition groups in other countries and creating trouble for their governments under the pretexts of democracy, human rights and freedom for masses." -"The White House as well has been home to cartels involved in the sale of oil and weapons and has never been after upholding human objectives." US seeking to terrorise the world: Rafsanjani Updated on 3/11/2002 1:41:09 PM TEHRAN (NNI): The US intends to create an atmosphere of terror in the world and achieve its goals by causing trouble for world governments under various pretexts, former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said here Sunday."Given the widespread presence of US troops and those of its allies in every targeted point of the world, the American policy is definitely to cause terror," he told a meeting of police commanders. "American efforts are directed at instigating opposition groups in other countries and creating trouble for their governments under the pretexts of democracy, human rights and freedom for masses," Rafsanjani added. Security for citizens will be threatened in such an atmosphere and 'violent and adventurous gangs' will be encouraged, said Rafsanjani, who is the head of the arbitrative Expediency Council. Rafsanjani pointed to a report published in the daily Los Angeles Times that 'the US Administration has ordered its Defense Department to prepare plans to use nuclear weapons against at least seven countries' including Iran, reports IRNA. "This shows that America is taking its threats against the world seriously," Rafsanjani said. Los Angeles Times has cited classified Pentagon reports as saying that the US Administration had singled out Russia, China, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Syria and Libya for nuclear attacks. "America thinks that if a military threat looms large over the head of these seven countries, they will give up their logical demands," Rafsanjani said. The Iranian official further criticized US performance in Afghanistan in the course of its military blitz to smoke out suspected terrorists. "It was expected that poppy cultivation and production of heroin as well as drug trafficking will end with the ouster of Taliban. But, no effort has been made by the US in this respect," Rafsanjani said. "America has always supported drug trafficking mafia and operations relating to immoral acts as well as the establishment of shadowy intelligence networks. "The White House as well has been home to cartels involved in the sale of oil and weapons and has never been after upholding human objectives," Rafsanjani said. Tehran has strongly condemned US President George W. Bush's lumping of Iran as part of an 'axis of evil' along with Iraq and North Korea. Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when the Students Following the Line of Imam took over the American embassy, known as the 'den of spies', in Tehran. __ Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email! http://mail.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Their Own Worst Enemy [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/opinion.asp?ArticleID=43639 Gulf News March 11, 2002 Editorial Their own worst enemy The United States is its own worst enemy. At the same time that it is trying to improve relations with Russia and China, the Bush administration has asked the Pentagon to draw up plans on how it might target its nuclear weapons at those two countries, along with Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Libya and Syria. In one move, the U.S. has reinforced the image put about by its enemies that is the greatest threat to world peace, exactly the opposite of what the Bush administration has been trying to portray. It is ridiculous that the Bush administration is aiming nuclear weapons at countries with which it is trying to befriend. The Russians and Chinese feel betrayed; the Iranians are wondering why they have tried to achieve better relations with the U.S.; and the Syrians are horrified, just as they have been moving into the mainstream of diplomacy; the Iraqis will be delighted that their wilder statements on America have been proved real. In addition, the Pentagon wants to use nuclear weapons on a battlefield level, which creates far more opportunities to use the weapon of last resort. For example, they could have dropped a nuclear shell into the Tora Bora caves, and given the worst possible example to the two most recent nuclear states, Pakistan and India. Both these states would have drawn the lesson that tactical use of nuclear weapons was acceptable. Nuclear weapons are too awful to contemplate as part of the normal armoury of any nation because the destruction they offer is so total and all embracing. The Cold War is over, and the balance of terror is not required. Better understanding between nations is far more effective than aiming nuclear weapons at friends. __ Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email! http://mail.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Continuation Of Politics By Other Means [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://frontierpost.com.pk/editorials.asp?id=1&date1=3/11/2002 The Frontier Post (Pakistan) March 11, 2002 Editorial Nuke 'em! -The world is a much more dangerous place as a result of the US ascending to the position of sole superpower. It will require the will and united efforts of the rest of humanity to put a brake on its descent into unacceptable threatened mayhem globally. A report in the Los Angeles Times reveals that the Bush administration, in a secret policy review completed early this year, has ordered the Pentagon to draft contingency plans for the use of nuclear weapons against at least seven countries. The countries in question include not only old cold war enemies such as Russia, China and North Korea, but also Iraq, Iran, Libya and Syria. The Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) as the secret document is called, was delivered to Congress on January 8. The report details three scenarios in which nuclear weapons could be used: against targets able to withstand non-nuclear attack; in retaliation for an attack with nuclear, biological or chemical weapons; or in the event of "surprising military developments", a formulation that the NPR fails to explain.The NPR also asks the Pentagon to prepare for the possibility that nuclear weapons may be required in some future Arab-Israeli crisis. It includes calls for developing bunker-busting mini-nukes and nuclear weapons that reduce collateral damage. The document reveals evolving thinking in the Defence Department. While downgrading the threat from Russia and publicly emphasizing a commitment to the reduction of the number of long-range nuclear weapons, Defence Department strategists seek to promote tactical and so-called "adaptive" nuclear capabilities to deal with contingencies where large nuclear arsenals are not required. The call for developing new nuclear weapons that reduce 'collateral damage' is the most myopic of all, ignoring as it does the uncontrollable fallout of these weapons of mass slaughter, and their political, moral and military implications. The scenarios the Pentagon planners are asked to envisage are in the nature of what the PR calls "immediate, potential or unexpected" contingencies. North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Libya are named as countries that could be involved in all three kinds of threat. According to the NPR's view, all these countries have long-standing hostility towards the US and its security partners, all sponsor or harbour terrorists, and have active weapons of mass destruction and missile programmes. China, because of its nuclear forces and developing strategic objectives, is listed as a country that could be involved in the immediate or potential contingency, for example a war between China and Taiwan. A North Korean attack on South Korea or an Iraqi attack on Israel or any of its neighbours are other scenarios for which the NPR requires making nuclear weapons a tool for fighting a war, rather than deterring one. The strategic thinking contained in the NPR dispenses with the long-standing doctrine that saw nuclear weapons more as a deterrent, or at worst as weapons of last resort. It will not be lost on the countries named as potential targets or for that matter the world at large that the NPR represents a doctrinal escalation in the development, deployment and use of nuclear weapons. Nor is memory so short that the US's use of atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II can be forgotten. The US enjoys the dubious honour of being the only country to have actually used nuclear weapons in a conflict. It does not therefore surprise one to learn from the recently released Nixon archives that the former US President contemplated using nuclear weapons in the Vietnam war. Aggressive militarism, including a Dr Strangelove kind of dementia, characterizes the US posture in modern times. Given the impermissibility by any canons of war, peace, morality or humanity of the use of nuclear weapons, it is alarming in the extreme that the arrogance of Washington since the comparatively easy victory over the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan has so emboldened the hawks in the American establishment that they have thrown all restraint and caution to the winds and are talking about this kind of insanity. The world is a much more dangerous place as a result of the US ascending to the position of sole superpower. It will require the will and united efforts of the rest of humanity to put a brake on its descent into unacceptable threatened mayhem globally. __ Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email! http://mail.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/
'Biggest Exercise In NATO's History' Continues Near Russian Border [WWW.STOPNATO
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- NATO's Strong Resolve 2002 Exercises Continue in Poland Mar 11, 2002 -- (BBC Monitoring) Text of report in English by Polish news agency PAP. Gdansk, Warsaw, Szczecin, 10 March: Over 200 Swedish troops practiced a landing operation at a military port of Hel as part of the NATO's Strong Resolve 2002 exercise on Sunday [10 March]. Swedish troops accompanied by the Romanian army's special forces arrived at the Hel port in 19 barges. The operation was supported by a helicopter and a destroyer, and involved the total of 170 soldiers and 50 officers. On Saturday, the commander-in-chief of Poland's armed forces, President Aleksander Kwasniewski, watched the maneuvers in Drawsko Pomorskie and Gdynia and met with Polish, Danish, Swedish and British troops taking part in the exercise. "Strong Resolve 2002 is not only the biggest NATO exercise in Poland but also the biggest exercise in NATO's history. It shows that Poland is well prepared and that we want to be completely integrated with the North Atlantic alliance. This also is a chance to create something new in personal contacts between soldiers, officers or generals," the president said. Meanwhile Poland's defense minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski said [on] Friday [8 March] that Russia should not be concerned over the NATO's exercise in Poland. He noted that the aim of the exercise was to practice peace operations. Source: PAP news agency, Warsaw, in English 1538 GMT 10 Mar 02 (C) 2002 BBC Monitoring __ Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email! http://mail.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Latest 'Axis Of Evil' Villain: Ukraine [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Ukrainian Deputy Accuses President Kuchma of Illegal Arms Trading -Ukrainian media reports beginning in 1997 linked unnamed Kuchma associates with sales of Ukrainian weaponry to clients including the al Qaeda terrorist group, Afghanistan's Taliban, Yugoslavia's Slobodan Milosovic, and insurgents in Angola and Sierra Leone. KIEV, Mar 7, 2002 -- (dpa) A Ukrainian parliamentarian accused President Leonid Kuchma of involvement in illegal arms sales, the Interfax news agency reported Thursday. Deputy Oleksander Zhyr's claim marked the first time a government official named Kuchma as directly complicit in selling off Ukrainian military stocks for personal gain. Conversations recorded between Kuchma and the former head of Ukraine's weapons export monopoly Valery Malev showed both planned and benefited directly from illegal weapons sales during the late 1990s, Zhyr claimed. Zhyr said he had heard the allegedly incriminating discussions on audio tapes being reviewed by a parliament committee investigating the disappearance of opposition journalist Georgy Gongadze. Zhyr said he would make the recordings public if a criminal proceeding against Kuchma brought to court. Gongadze's headless body was discovered in a forest outside Kiev in November 2000. Though former Kuchma bodyguard Mykola Melnichenko made public audio tapes seemingly showing Kuchma ordering Gongadze's kidnapping, police have yet to arrest any suspects in the case. Malev died Monday in a car crash. Police said he had fallen asleep at the wheel. A December report in Kievsky Telegraf newspaper named Evhen Marchuk, head of Ukraine's National Security Council and a direct Kuchma subordinate, as a key figure in illegal arms shipments from Ukraine to Africa and the Middle East. A Turin court investigating arms smuggling charges against Ukrainian businessman Dmitro Streshevsky on Tuesday named Marchuk as an important Streshevsky associate and "initiator" in eight unsanctioned weapons shipments via Ukraine, France, Austria, and Belgium, the newspaper reported. Marchuk denied the allegations on Wednesday. In earlier statements the former secret police boss claimed he had only met with Streshevsky once, and for less than 10 minutes. Ukrainian media reports beginning in 1997 linked unnamed Kuchma associates with sales of Ukrainian weaponry to clients including the al Qaeda terrorist group, Afghanistan's Taliban, Yugoslavia's Slobodan Milosovic, and insurgents in Angola and Sierra Leone. (C)2002. dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur __ Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email! http://mail.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Holy NATO Empire Lures Bulgaria, Romania [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Romania and Bulgaria Partners in Quest to Join NATO, EU -The former Bulgarian king Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and his wife Margarita Gomez-Acebo y Cejuella were invited to a luncheon by Romania's ex-king Mihai I and his wife Anna. The two royal families are related. BUCHAREST, Mar 11, 2002 -- (dpa) Romania and Bulgaria are not rivals but partners in their efforts to be accepted into the fold of the NATO and European structures, Romanian President Ion Iliescu said Saturday. He was speaking after talks with visiting Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Sakskoburggotski, radio Bucharest reported. Sakskoburggotski, Bulgaria's ex-king, arrived in Bucharest earlier in the day for a two-day visit to Romania. Speaking to reporters, Sakskoburggotski stressed the "good neighborly and friendly ties" between the two country and "the positive aspects for the cooperation and mutual assistance" in the two countries' quest the join NATO and the European Union (EU). The former Bulgarian king Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and his wife Margarita Gomez-Acebo y Cejuella were invited to a luncheon by Romania's ex-king Mihai I and his wife Anna. The two royal families are related. The Bulgarian premier will have talks with Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase at his residence in Cornu, 80 kilometers north of Bucharest, later in the day. (C)2002. dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur __ Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email! http://mail.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Slaughter in the Name of God [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Slaughter in the Name of God By Salman Rushdie Washington Post Friday, March 8, 2002; Page A33 The defining image of the week, for me, is of a small child's burned and blackened arm, its tiny fingers curled into a fist, protruding from the remains of a human bonfire in Ahmadabad, Gujarat, in India. The murder of children is something of an Indian specialty. The routine daily killings of unwanted girl babies . . . the massacre of innocents in Nellie, Assam, in the 1980s when village turned against neighboring village . . . the massacre of Sikh children in Delhi during the horrifying reprisal murders that followed Indira Gandhi's assassination: They bear witness to our particular gift, always most dazzlingly in evidence at times of religious unrest, for dousing our children in kerosene and setting them alight, or cutting their throats, or smothering them or just clubbing them to death with a good strong length of wood. I say "our" because I write as an Indian man, born and bred, who loves India deeply and knows that what one of us does today, any of us is potentially capable of doing tomorrow. If I take pride in India's strengths, then India's sins must be mine as well. Do I sound angry? Good. Ashamed and disgusted? I certainly hope so. Because, as India undergoes its worst bout of Hindu-Muslim bloodletting in more than a decade, many people have not been sounding anything like angry, ashamed or disgusted enough. Police chiefs have been excusing their men's unwillingness to defend the citizens of India, without regard to religion, by saying that these men have feelings too and are subject to the same sentiments as the nation in general. Meanwhile, India's political masters have been tut-tutting and offering the usual soothing lies about the situation being brought under control. (It has escaped nobody's notice that the ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), or Indian People's Party, and the Hindu extremists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), or World Hindu Council, are sister organizations and offshoots of the same parent body.) Even some international commentators, such as Britain's Independent newspaper, urge us to "beware excess pessimism." The horrible truth about communal slaughter in India is that we're used to it. It happens every so often; then it dies down. That's how life is, folks. Most of the time India is the world's largest secular democracy; and if, once in a while, it lets off a little crazy religious steam, we mustn't let that distort the picture. Of course, there are political explanations. Ever since December 1992, when a VHP mob demolished a 400-year-old Muslim mosque in Ayodhya, which they claim was built on the sacred birthplace of the god Ram, Hindu fanatics have been looking for this fight. The pity of it is that some Muslims were ready to give it to them. Their murderous attack on the train-load of VHP activists at Godhra (with its awful, atavistic echoes of the killings of Hindus and Muslims by the train-load during the partition riots of 1947) played right into the Hindu extremists' hands. The VHP has evidently tired of what it sees as the equivocations and insufficient radicalism of India's BJP government. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is more moderate than his party; he also heads a coalition government and has been obliged to abandon much of the BJP's more extreme Hindu nationalist rhetoric to hold the coalition together. But it isn't working anymore. In state elections across the country, the BJP is being trounced. This may have been the last straw for the VHP firebrands. Why put up with the government's betrayal of their fascistic agenda when that betrayal doesn't even result in electoral success? The electoral failure of the BJP is thus, in all probability, the spark that lit the fire. The VHP is determined to build a Hindu temple on the site of the demolished Ayodhya mosque -- that's where the Godhra dead were coming from -- and there are, reprehensibly, idiotically, tragically, Muslims in India equally determined to resist them. Vajpayee has insisted that the slow Indian courts must decide the rights and wrongs of the Ayodhya issue. The VHP is no longer prepared to wait. The distinguished Indian writer Mahasveta Devi, in a letter to India's president, K. R. Narayanan, blames the Gujarat government (led by a BJP hard-liner) as well as the central government for doing "too little too late." She pins the blame firmly on the "motivated, well-planned out and provocative actions" of the Hindu nationalists. But another writer, the Nobel laureate V. S. Naipaul, speaking in India just a week before the violence erupted, denounced India's Muslims en masse and praised the nationalist movement. The murderers of Godhra must indeed be denounced, and Mahasveta Devi in her letter demands "stern legal action" against them. But the VHP is determined to destroy tha
CUBA: "Tiny Baby Steps" [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
Forward from mart. Please distribute widely END THE BLOCKADE! FREE THE MIAMI FIVE! NOW!!! = From: "Karen Lee Wald" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: tiny baby steps -- farm sales Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 19:33:58 -0800 HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Don't be fooled by the rhetoric. What has been passed so far and what is being talked about by Republicans and Democrats is NOT a giant step forward --barely a baby step. What was approved, contrary to the language in the article below, is not TRADE in food and medicines, but SALE of food and medicines TO Cuba. A significant step will be made when the US Congress agrees to allow the two countries to freely buy from and sell to each other... kw From The National Interest No. 67 The New Cuba Divide by Daniel P. Erikson . . . Although many religious organizations have opposed the Cuba embargo for years, the American farming lobby has now emerged as the most influential new voice in current policymaking. In Congress, it is led by several senior western Republicans who are being pressed by their constituencies to seek new markets. In Cold War days, these legislators would have supported anti-Castro initiatives as an easy way to accrue political capital within the party at little personal cost. The end of the Soviet Union and the beginning of a new farming crisis in the 1990s has changed all that, allowing a nascent coalition of liberal Democrats and western conservatives to pump new life into congressional momentum to repeal the Cuban embargo. . . . The farm lobby scored an important victory when the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act was signed into law in October 2000, just months after the PNTR vote. This act, sponsored by Nethercutt, finally does allow food and medicine trade (sic) with Cuba, and it made possible the all-cash purchases in the aftermath of Hurricane Michelle. It is clearly the most significant legislative initiative passed on Cuba since the 1996 Helms-Burton bill. Nor is congressional pressure against the embargo easing. The October 2000 act still prohibits public financing of food sales to Cuba, and that restriction has now become the focus of subsequent efforts. The American Farming Bureau Federation is seeking exemption of U.S. products from all existing embargoes and sanctions, which are estimated to cost U.S. farmers 14 percent of the export market for rice, 10 percent for wheat, 5 percent for vegetable oil and barley, and 4 percent of foreign corn sales. . . . Updated 03/06/2002 10:10:15 Copyright © 1998-1999 National Affairs, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Courtesy of: The Law Office of Jose Pertierra 1010 Vermont Avenue, NW #620 Washington, DC 20005 202 783 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ==Karen Lee Wald2175 Aborn Road, apt. 164 San Jose, CA 95121 telephone 408-532-6147[EMAIL PROTECTED]Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email!
China slams US [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- AP. 11 March 2002. China Human Rights Report: U.S. Has Own Problems and Shouldn't Criticize Others. BEIJING -- Long the subject of human rights criticism from the United States, China shot back Monday with a rebuttal, saying the U.S. government continually denounces other nations while "turning a blind eye to its own human rights-related problems." The report, issued annually in recent years by the government's State Council Information Office, features a panoply of accusations from a variety of sources. It comes a week after a U.S. State Department report accused China of serious human rights violations. Among its conclusions: American cities are plagued with violence and crime, racial discrimination remains endemic, guns are everywhere and there is no constitutional protection of equal rights for women. "Once again the United States, assuming the role of 'world judge of human rights,' has distorted human rights conditions in many countries and regions in the world, including China, and accused them of human rights violations, all the while turning a blind eye to its own human rights-related problems," the report said. "In fact," it said, "it is right in the United States where serious human rights violations exist." The report, 10,000 Chinese characters long, was released by Xinhua, China's official news agency. It includes some criticism of the U.S. domestic or military response to the Sept. 11 attacks - something China is loath to condemn, since it has a vested interest in fighting terrorism. The criticism was limited to this, a reflection of China's unease at the historical Western military presence in Asia: "Before the September 11 incident, the United States had stationed its troops in more than 140 countries. Today, the United States has expanded its so-called security interests to almost every corner of the world." American mass media are "inundated with violent content," which in turn encourages more violence. "A culture beautifying violence has made young people believe that the gun can 'solve' all problems," the report says. Police brutality, torture and forced confession are common, and death row is full of "misjudged or wronged" inmates. Prisons are overcrowded and inhumane. Americans living in poverty are "the forgotten 'third world' within this superpower," and the gap between rich and poor is growing. Violence against women and sexual abuse of children are common. It cited sexual molestations of children by American clergy, calling that "the greatest scandal in the United States following the Enron case." Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan called on the United States to "stop using the so-called human rights issue to interfere in China's internal affairs." . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
