Re: The Palestinian H-Bomb: Terror's Winning Strategy [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Rolf Martens]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---

An extremely reactionary article, making propaganda
precisely for the wrong, innefective and discrediting
methods of struggle for the Palestinians.

Therefore interesting. This article should be read
"upside-down".

"Gal Luft is a *former* Lieutenant Colonel in the Israel
Defense Forces, the into text says.

A "former"?

I don't think so.

Rolf M.
Malmö, Sweden

At 12:59 2002-06-22 -0400, you (Miroslav Antic <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>)
wrote:

>HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
>---
>
>The Palestinian H-Bomb: Terror's Winning Strategy
>By Gal Luft
>
>
>
>
>
>print
> 
>this article | 
>send
> 
>to a friend
>
>
>
>On newsstands July 1, the JULY/AUGUST 2002 issue of Foreign Affairs will 
>feature:
>
>Gal Luft is a former Lieutenant Colonel in the Israel Defense Forces and 
>the author of The Palestinian Security Forces: Between Police and Army.
>
>Never in Israel's history, to paraphrase Churchill, has so much harm been 
>inflicted on so many by so few. Since the onset of the second intifada in 
>late September 2000, dozens of exploding humans -- Palestinian H-bombs -- 
>have rocked the Jewish state and transformed the lives of its people. As 
>little as a year ago, suicide bombings were seen as a gruesome aberration 
>in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, an expression of religious fanaticism 
>that most Palestinians rejected. But in recent months a new, unsettling 
>reality has emerged: the acceptance and legitimation of the practice among 
>all Palestinian political and military factions.
>
>Increasingly, Palestinians are coming to see suicide attacks as a 
>strategic weapon, a poor man's "smart bomb" that can miraculously balance 
>Israel's technological prowess and conventional military dominance. 
>Palestinians appear to have decided that, used systematically in the 
>context of a political struggle, suicide bombings give them something no 
>other weapon could: the ability to cause Israel devastating and 
>unprecedented pain. The dream of achieving such strategic parity is more 
>powerful than any pressure to cease and desist. It is therefore unlikely 
>that the strategy will be abandoned, even as its continued use pushes the 
>Middle East ever closer to the abyss.
>
>FROM MORTARS TO MARTYRS
>
>The Palestinian endorsement of suicide bombings as a legitimate tool of 
>war was not hasty. At the start of the second intifada, the Palestinians' 
>preferred method of fighting was based on the strategy that Hezbollah used 
>to drive the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) out of southern Lebanon after 15 
>years of occupation -- a mix of guerrilla tactics such as ambushes, 
>drive-by shootings, and attacks on IDF outposts. It was thought that the 
>"Lebanonization" of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip would cause the 
>Israeli public to view these territories as security liabilities (as they 
>had with southern Lebanon), and to pressure the government to withdraw 
>once more.
>
>Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat's division of labor was clear. His 
>political wing, Fatah, authorized its paramilitary units, spearheaded by 
>the Tanzim militias along with segments of the security services of the 
>Palestinian Authority (PA), to carry out a guerrilla campaign against 
>Israeli settlements and military targets in the West Bank and Gaza. The 
>militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, meanwhile, were given the liberty 
>to carry out attacks against civilian targets inside Israel.
>
> From the Palestinian perspective, however, the results of the guerrilla 
> campaign in the first year were poor, especially considering the duration 
> of the fighting and the volume of fire. Palestinian forces launched more 
> than 1,500 shooting attacks on Israeli vehicles in the territories but 
> killed 75 people. They attacked IDF outposts more than 6,000 times but 
> killed only 20 soldiers. They fired more than 300 antitank grenades at 
> Israeli targets but failed to kill anyone. To demoralize the settlers, 
> the Palestinians launched more than 500 mortar and rocket attacks at 
> Jewish communities in the territories and, at times, inside Israel, but 
> the artillery proved to be primitive and inaccurate, and only one Israeli 
> was killed.
>
>Israel's response to the guerrilla campaign, moreover, was decisive. Using 
>good intelligence, the Israeli security services targeted individual 
>Palestinian militants and destroyed most of the PA's military 
>infrastructure. Israeli soldiers also moved back into "Area A," the 
>territory that had been turned over as a result of the Oslo peace 
>negotiations to exclusive Palestinian control, to raze suspected mortar 
>activity sites. At first these incursions met with international rebuke, 
>even from the United States. Secretary of St

South Korean Ship Sunk in Naval Battle [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Steve Wagner]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A311-2002Jun29.html
 
South Korean Ship Sunk in Naval Battle
By Christopher Torchia 

SEOUL, South Korea – A North Korean warship sank a South Korean patrol
boat in the Yellow Sea Saturday, killing at least four sailors and
wounding 19 in the worst border clash in recent years on the world's
last Cold War frontier.

  The South accused the North of violating the armistice that ended
the Korean War, but a defiant North said the South shot first.
 
  The confrontation lasted 21 minutes, dealing a new blow to Korean
reconciliation efforts and embarrassing the South during its moment
in the sun as host to the World Cup soccer tournament.
 
  There was no immediate word on North Korean casualties or missing. A
Northern warship was seen being towed away from the battle scene in
flames, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.
 
  "This provocative act by North Korea is a serious violation of the
Armistice Agreement and could have serious implications in many
areas," said Gen. Leon LaPorte, who commands some 37,000 U.S. troops
stationed in South Korea as a deterrent against North Korea.
 
  LaPorte's statement did not elaborate about the implications, but
said U.S. and South Korean forces were in "close contact" after the
attack. He has asked for a command meeting with North Korean officers
to investigate the action, but said the North has not responded.
 
  A Pentagon spokesman, Cmdr. Randy Sandoz, said there was no
"heightened alert" and South Korea had not made any request for U.S.
assistance.
 
  President Kim Dae-jung called an emergency meeting of the National
Security Council, while South Korea's military sent a 1,200-ton
battleship to the poorly marked border, accompanied by a squadron of
fighter jets.
 
  "The military provocation of pre-emptive firing by a North Korean
navy patrol ship is a clear violation of the armistice and an act
that raises tension on the Korean peninsula. We cannot keep silent,"
the presidential Blue House quoted Kim as saying at the hourlong
meeting.
 
  In a statement afterward, Defense Minister Kim Dong-shin demanded an
apology, punishment of those responsible and a promise from North
Korea to refrain from such actions in the future.
 
  The clash occurred at 10:25 a.m. as South Korean navy vessels tried
to repel two North Korean navy warships and an unspecified number of
Northern fishing boats, the Southern military said.
 
  Two North Korean warships ventured three miles into the South's
waters, ignoring loudspeaker warnings to withdraw, the military said.
 
  One of the Northern boats then fired a heavy caliber gun from about
500 yards, scoring a direct hit on the steering room of a South
Korean patrol boat with 27 sailors aboard, the South's military said.
 
  North Korean state-run media denied the claim, saying the northern
vessel was defending itself against an intrusion into the North's
waters.
 
  The clash was the worst in three years, killing at least four South
Koreans  –  a lieutenant and three enlisted men. At least one South
Korean was missing. The South Korean military said 22 sailors were
injured, but later revised the number to 19.
 
  The skirmish was a setback to Kim's so-called "sunshine" policy of
trying to engage the isolated, communist North, which shares a
sealed, heavily fortified border with the South. The 1950-53 Korean
War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
 
  South Korea's opposition Grand National Party, which has criticized
Kim's policy toward the North as too lenient, speculated that North
Korea was trying to disrupt the World Cup soccer tournament, which is
being co-hosted by South Korea and Japan and ends Sunday.
 
  President Kim canceled plans with Cabinet ministers and aides to
watch the South Korean team's evening playoff game against Turkey on
television. Big crowds gathered in the streets of major cities to
cheer their national soccer team, which lost 3-2.
 
  Kim planned to go ahead with a trip Sunday to Japan to attend the
World Cup final between Brazil and Germany, said presidential
spokeswoman Park Sun-sook.
 
  It was unclear how the incident would affect prospects for a revival
of long-suspended dialogue between North Korea and the United States,
South Korea's chief ally.
 
  U.S.-North Korean tensions have undermined Korean reconciliation
efforts, which stalled soon after the first-ever Korean summit in
2000 gave rise to a flurry of exchanges. The peninsula has been
divided since 1945.
 
  On Thursday, a U.S. State Department official proposed to North
Korean diplomats at the United Nations that talks resume in the
second week of July in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.
 
  South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles North Korea
policy, said exchanges between local non-governmental groups and
North Korea would continue despite the clash.
 
  The gun battle Saturday followed a series of border incursi

Support for kicking the USA out of the UN (#01) [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Rolf Martens]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---

Support for kicking the USA out of the UN (#01)
[30.06.02]

In reply to my "UNITE! Info #173en: Kick the USA out of the
UN!" on Friday, 28.06.2002, the signature Fisk, who manages
the Socialism and Communism Forum at
http://www.pwrhouse.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum&f=272,
wrote, likewise on 28.06, to the Forum mentioned:

 >I agree- and Israel!
 >The two nations that continually vote against peace and
 >progress!

We thus now so far have 2 (individual) supporters of this
call, which will be brought to the attention of as many
people, organizations and governments (above all those of
internationally-oppressed and -exploited countries, in-
cluding those today under direct US military attack or
threat) as possible.

Fisk also showed us others on that forum an article (a UN
resolutions-voting compilation 1978-1992) by William Blum,
which he gave the title:

"The United States versus the World at the United Nations:
Kick the USA out!".

This will be forwarded separately.

Rolf M.
Malmö, Sweden 

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Fwd: US vs. World at the UN: Kick the USA out! [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Rolf Martens]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---

Fwd: US vs. World at the UN: Kick the USA out!
[30.06.02]

 From the Socialism and Communism Forum at
http://www.pwrhouse.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum&f=272



Topic:  The United States versus the World at the United
Nations : Kick the USA out!

Author: Fisk


posted June 28, 2002 09:28 PM (EST)
--
The United States versus the World at the United Nations

America, we have all been taught for half a century, is the
leader of "The Free World". If this is so, it's proper to
ask: Where are the followers? Where is the evidence that
Washington's world view sways the multitude of nations?

To enlist support for its wars in Korea, Vietnam and the
Persian Gulf, the United States had to resort to bribery and
threats.

At the United Nations, the US has, with noteworthy regula-
rity, been on the minority side in voting on resolutions. The
table below shows a portion of this pattern. It covers an ar-
bitrarily chosen 10-year period, 1978 through 1987, and is
composed of the following sections:

1978-1981: All voting in the General Assembly examined;
only those resolutions for which the US cast a solitary "no"
vote or were joined by one or two other nations are listed.

1982-1983: All voting in the General Assembly examined; only
those resolutions for which the US cast a solitary "no" vote
are listed.

1984-1987: Only a portion of the General Assembly resolutions
are examined, and a sample has been selected, primarily for
diversity.

[Note: Naturally enough, the question of the voting
of the then existing likewise important pillar of
international reaction, the social-imperialist
Soviet Union (up until 1991), in general (with one
exception) is not dealt with in this compliation, by
the writer Wiliam Blum. - RM, June 2002]

The number of abstentions is not shown. There were many reso-
lutions where Israel cast a solitary "no" vote and the US was
the sole abstainer. Voting on resolutions of the Security
Council and the Economic and Social Council are not included
here, but these votes show a very similar pattern. In the
Council -- where its solitary "no" vote is enough to defeat a
measure -- the United States is free to play its role of in-
ternational school bully.

We were all also taught that the Communists had no respect
for world opinion.

"... a decent respect to the opinions of mankind ..."
The Declaration of Independence

Date/ Resolution Yes-No vote
Issue Number

1978
Dec. 15 33/75 119-2 (US, Israel)
Urges the Security Council, especially its permanent members,
to take all necessary measures for insuring UN decisions on
the maintenance of international peace and security.

Dec. 18 33/110 110-2 (US, Israel)
Living conditions of the Palestinian people

Dec. 18 33/113C 97-3 (US, Israel, Guatemala)
Condemnation of Israeli human rights record in occupied
territories

Dec. 19 33/136 119-1 (US)
Calls upon developed countries to increase quantity and
quality of development assistance to underdeveloped
countries.

1979
Jan. 24 33/183M 114-3 (US, France, UK)
To end all military and nuclear collaboration with apartheid
South Africa

Jan. 29 33/196 111-1 (US)
Protectionism of developing countries' exports

Nov. 23 34/46 136-1 (US)
Alternate approaches within the UN system for improving the
enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms

Nov. 23 34/52E 121-3 (US, Israel, Australia)
Return of inhabitants expelled by Israel.

Dec. 11 34/83J 120-3 (US, UK, France)
Negotiations on disarmament and cessation of nuclear arms
race.

Dec. 12 34/90A 111-2 (US, Israel)
Demand that Israel desist from certain human rights viola-
tions

Dec. 12 34/93D 132-3 (US, UK, France)
Strengthening arms embargo against South Africa

Dec. 12 34/93I 134-3 (US, UK, France)
Assistance to the oppressed people of South Africa and their
liberation movement.

Dec. 14 34/100 104-2 (US, Israel)
Against support for intervention in the internal or external
affairs of States.

Dec. 14 34/113 120-2 (US, Israel)
Request for report on the living conditions of Palestinians
in occupied Arab countries.

Dec. 14 34/133 112-3 (US, Israel, Canada)
Assistance to Palestinian people.

Dec. 14 34/136 118-2 (US, Israel)
Sovereignty over national resources in occupied Arab terri-
tories.

Dec. 17 34/158 121-2 (US, Israel)
Prepare and carry out the UN Conference on Women

Dec. 17 34/160 122-2 (US, Israel)
Include Palestinian women in agenda of UN Conference on Women

Dec. 19 34/199 112-1 (US)
Safeguarding rights of developing countries in multinational
trade negotiations

1980
Nov. 3 35/13E 96-3 (US, Israel, Canada)
Requests Israel to return displace persons.

Dec. 5 35/57 134-1 (US)
Establishment of a New International Economic Order to pro-
mote the growth of underdeveloped countries and international
economic co-operation.

Dec. 5 35/75 118-2 (US, Israel)
Condemns Israeli policy

Thousands mark anniversary of Milosevic's extradition [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Steve Wagner]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---

http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/06/28/milosevic020628

Thousands mark anniversary of Milosevic's extradition
 
Last Updated Fri, 28 Jun 2002 18:12:37 

BELGRADE - About 4,000 supporters of former Yugoslav president Slobodan
Milosevic demonstrated in a square in Belgrade on Friday. 

  They marked the anniversary of Milosevic's extradition to the UN war
crimes tribunal. 

  The extradition happened after the United States threatened to
withdraw support for the new government in Belgrade unless Milosevic
was handed over. 

  His supporters, right wing and nationalist parties, consider his
extradition high treason. 

Written by CBC News Online staff 
http://cbc.ca/


=
Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace.  Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in 
Oakland.  For directions &
public transportation info go to
http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/where_when.htm
Every Sunday at 3 P.M.  Info:  (510)763-8712, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or 
http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP

__
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com

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All India Nepali Unity Society has gone underground [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[poblachtach dearg]

Magnus Bernhardsen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: 
http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2002/jun/jun29/index.htm#5AINUS goes underground  By Ujir MagarKATHMANDU, June 28:All India Nepali Unity Society (AINUS) has goneunderground after the Indian government publicised its intention to crackdown on it. A source at New Delhi told The Kathmandu Post that the Society has haltedits activities there. “Though the Indian  government has not formally announced the decisionyet, the activists of the society has gone underground considering the evildays for them ahead on the wake of King’s India Visits and growinginternational pressure against India to curb on Maoists’ activities,”the source told The Kathmandu Post on telephone. The Maoists, sheltering in the Indian soil have been launching theiractivities through AINUS. It may be said that the Indian government mighthave taken the decision to curb on their activities  as the response to theallegations that India has played dualistic role by giving shelter to theMaoist top brass. Maoists’  policy revealed two years ago seemed moderate and it renderedthe critics to allege India of providing shelter to the Maoists. Maoist leader KB Mahara in an interview to an Indian paper “AmarUjala”,   showed loyalty by pledging not to allow the Pak militants toenter India via Nepal’s border and insisting for construction of RamMandir at Ayoddhya. Deepak Pandey, a mainstream member of the AINUS affiliated to  CPN (Masal)said that the Maoist supporters from the AINUS have halted their actionafter the Indian government’s “decisions” were publicized throughnewspapers. Ram Prasad Sharma, cousin of Maoist supremo Prachanda, is active in thesociety for 22 years. In 1982 Dr Baburam Bhattarai had joined the Societyduring his student days. Relive the FIFA World Cup goals with exclusive video highlights!
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/fc/en

Venezuela: Alleged Paramilitary Force Most Likely Fictitious - Stratfor [WWW.STO

[Stasi]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---

STRATFOR

Venezuela: Alleged Paramilitary Force Most Likely Fictitious
=
28 June 2002

Summary

A videotape released earlier this week alleges that a 2,200-strong
paramilitary group is forming in Venezuela to fight Colombian rebels. Such a
development would be dramatic for Venezuela, which has no history of
paramilitary activity. The group is more likely a fiction created to put
more pressure on embattled President Hugo Chavez.

Analysis

A clandestine paramilitary organization calling itself the United Self
Defense Forces of Venezuela (AUV) announced its existence June 26 in a video
broadcast by RCN television network in Bogota. The group's putative leader,
using the pseudonym Commander Antonio del Billar, said the AUV's mission is
to "expel Colombian narco-guerrillas from Venezuelan territory," according
to the videotape broadcast by RCN.

The spokesman said the AUV has 2,200 members drawn mainly from Venezuela's
National Armed Forces (FAN). He also said the group would receive
"logistical and military" support from the United Self-Defense Forces of
Colombia (AUC) paramilitary, which has an estimated 10,000 fighters deployed
throughout Colombia. However, the AUV has not attacked any Colombian rebel
units in Venezuelan territory yet.

The group might be a real paramilitary organization, especially since many
Venezuelan ranchers have been affected by violence from across the border.
But the situation has not reached the level at which such a paramilitary
could be organized and funded. The idea of the AUV is more likely the
invention of a handful of individuals or groups bitterly opposed to
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's regime and who are engaging in
psychological warfare in an effort to heighten tensions in the country.

During the 1960s, Venezuela's government and armed forces battled domestic
insurgencies that were supported logistically and financially by Cuban
leader Fidel Castro. But the country has no history of organized right-wing
paramilitary activity.

Nevertheless, during the past year, Venezuelan ranching associations in
border states like Apure, Tachira and Zulia have been warning with growing
insistence that some ranchers are recruiting and arming private security
forces to protect themselves against kidnapping and extortion attempts by
Colombian guerrillas.

These warnings have coincided with multiple reports of more incursions by
the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and National Liberation
Army (ELN) rebel groups into Venezuela. In fact, Caracas dailies El
Universal and El Nacional, as well as Bogota daily El Tiempo, have published
several reports since mid-2001 confirming the existence of FARC and ELN base
camps inside Venezuela.

Earlier this year, the FARC's 33rd Front also launched attacks against
Colombian targets from a staging area inside Venezuelan territory and then
retreated to Venezuela to escape pursuing Colombian army and AUC forces.

Although Chavez repeatedly has denied that he supports the FARC and ELN
politically, his actions since assuming the presidency in early 1999 show
that he sympathizes with the Colombian guerrillas in their nearly
4-decade-old conflict against their country's government. For example,
Chavez has lashed out publicly at what he calls Colombia's "rancid
oligarchy," and his government provides security and vehicles to FARC and
ELN emissaries when they are on official visits in Venezuela.

Unofficially, the Chavez regime also has ignored the mounting number of
attacks by FARC and ELN units against Venezuelan ranchers near the border
while deep budget cuts have significantly deteriorated the military's combat
readiness

Chavez's flirtations with the FARC and ELN, the military's budget woes and
the fury of ranchers who feel threatened by their president's redistribution
plans for rural land have promoted a sense of growing instability in
Venezuela's border territories, an image that those behind the AUV videotape
are seeking to intensify to undermine his support. This only adds to the
pressure on a president who, after having already been removed briefly from
the presidency earlier this year, still faces strong opposition within the
military and middle class.

---
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Iraq: Pentagon Plan the Last One Standing - STRATFOR [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Stasi]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---



STRATFOR
Iraq: Pentagon Plan the Last One Standing28 
June 2002 SummaryRetired Gen. Wayne Downing, a key figure in 
the debate over how to fight Iraq, has resigned, leaving a clearer path for a 
Pentagon proposal nicknamed "Desert Storm Lite." But even without the opposition 
posed by Downing, the Pentagon's plan for ousting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein 
may prove unworkable.AnalysisGen. Wayne Downing, who was 
brought out of retirement after Sept. 11 to serve as a deputy national security 
adviser, resigned suddenly from the anti-terrorism position on June 27. Downing, 
who was a four-star Army general and the former chief of Special Operations 
Command, departs only nine months after taking the White House 
job.Although his official duties focused on the al Qaeda threat, Downing 
was one of the loudest voices in the debate over the necessity and methods for 
destroying the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. An unabashed hawk, 
Downing countered the Pentagon's Iraq proposal, nicknamed "Desert Storm Lite," 
with an unconventional plan that relied on air power, special operations forces 
and Iraqi defectors to oust Hussein. The general's departure removes one of the 
last nodes of opposition to the Pentagon's approach, but this does not 
necessarily mean an acceleration in war-planning or preparations, or even a 
final decision on a military strike. Earlier this year, when war cries 
against Iraq were at a much higher pitch, the Pentagon hatched a plan for a 
military campaign against Baghdad that was very similar to that followed during 
the Gulf War. A 200,000-strong force of armor, infantry and aircraft would be 
assembled over two to three months, presumably in Kuwait and Turkey, and 
unleashed against Iraq's 500,000 soldiers.Both U.S. President George W. 
Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld publicly blasted Pentagon planners 
for their lack of creativity. However, between the lines the Pentagon was 
advising caution -- suggesting that the White House should ease off its strident 
anti-Hussein posture. Downing played a key role in this debate. He had 
advised the opposition Iraqi National Congress since 1998 and helped the group 
refine a plan for overthrowing Hussein. That plan, drawn up before Sept. 11, 
looked quite similar to the later U.S. campaign against the Taliban: Special 
Operations troops would advise and train local fighters, who would seize a 
deserted air base in southern Iraq under U.S. air cover. Any Iraqi units massed 
to attack the airfield would be destroyed from the air while isolated units 
would be encouraged to defect.Downing's plan had a few advocates, 
especially among civilian staff in the Pentagon and White House. And his 
anti-terrorism position gave him a soapbox from which to plug the 
issue.The reasons behind Downing's departure are unclear. Media reports 
suggest everything from frustration with the slow pace of government to 
disenchantment with his inability to exercise sole control over anti-terrorism 
efforts. Whatever the reason, his departure means "Desert Storm Lite" is 
essentially the sole remaining proposal for ousting Hussein -- but that doesn't 
mean an invasion of Iraq is imminent. From a logistical perspective, executing 
the Pentagon's strategy would require a substantial amount of planning and 
material preparation, which would be made even more difficult by the current 
dispersal of U.S. forces around the globe.However, the strategy is 
complicated mainly by political factors. Washington almost certainly wants the 
Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan to calm down somewhat before it gets 
involved in an entirely new crisis. Also, Arab states would need to be in 
relative agreement with the U.S. plan.The complexity of the Pentagon's 
plan actually may push back the start of a campaign or cause it to be shelved 
indefinitely.
 
 
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Stratfor: Common "Chinese Dollar" - Serious Proposal or Political Rhetoric [WWW.

[Stasi]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---

___
>
>
> S T R A T F O R
>
> THE GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE COMPANY
>
> http://www.stratfor.com
> ___
>
>   28 June 2002
> Common "Chinese Dollar" -- Serious Proposal or Political
> Rhetoric?
>
> Summary
>
> A series of statements about currency is emanating from China --
> from the suggestion of a common currency for the mainland and
> Taiwan to floating the yuan to creating an Asian currency system
> centered on the Chinese currency. With many of these appearing
> little more than wishful thinking, it raises the question of
> whether Beijing's rhetoric is simply that of a government nearing
> a highly sensitive political transition or if these reveal the
> unfolding of a new Chinese policy -- one that could spell the end
> of centralized, one-party rule.
>
> Analysis
>
> China floated a trial balloon June 28 positing a common Chinese
> currency for the mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao that
> eventually could evolve into the core of an Asian common
> currency. An article in the official People's Daily suggested the
> formation of a "Chinese dollar" following the pattern of Europe's
> common currency, the euro. The optimistic 10-year plan could lead
> to the creation of an "Asian dollar," which could protect the
> region against currency fluctuations and economic crises,
> according to the report.
>
> China's common currency proposal is obviously a non-starter,
> given that Taiwan would lose all economic independence if it
> acceded to the plan. Yet in some respects, it is a logical
> extension of a dual-track Chinese policy intended to bring about
> the peaceful integration of China and Taiwan and to reassure its
> Asian neighbors that China's economic growth is not a cause for
> alarm but a force for regional stability.
>
> With China heading for one of its biggest leadership shakeups in
> the five-decade history of the People's Republic, the question
> that arises is whether the statements reflect simple posturing or
> in fact reveal new and unfolding economic and political policy.
>
> In the People's Daily article, four benefits were put forward for
> the formation of an integrated Chinese currency. First, China's
> financial reforms could be guided by experts from Hong Kong and
> Taiwan, stabilizing the Chinese economy and strengthening the
> common system. Second, Hong Kong would gain a much broader market
> for its products and services. Third, Macao's vital tourist
> industry would be boosted by the more convenient single currency.
> The fourth and final benefit would be for Taiwan, which would be
> able to use the scale of China's economy to resist "external
> financial attack."
>
> Although on some level, these are logical arguments, they
> overlook the central issue: that of Taiwan's political autonomy.
> Despite rapidly growing economic ties between Taiwan and the
> mainland, Taipei is still intent on remaining at least de facto
> independent of Beijing. The same argument seems to supersede
> another mainland proposal for economic ties with Taiwan. A
> spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office said earlier this
> week that Beijing is ready to open the so-called three direct
> links with Taiwan -- as long as they are treated as domestic
> business affairs. The three direct links are mail, trade, and air
> and shipping services directly between Taiwan and China rather
> than through Hong Kong or other nations.
>
> The spokesman said the key reason for the "domestic" label would
> be to avoid allowing foreigners to take over the shipping routes,
> as even with Taiwan and China's WTO entry, the United Nations
> allows countries to retain the rights to coastal transportation,
> fishing and commerce for its own business. Like the proposal for
> an integrated currency, this too avoids the question of Taiwan's
> sovereignty -- or rather it automatically assumes Taiwan is part
> of one China, something Taipei is steadily moving away from.
>
> Beyond Taiwan, however, China is trying to project an image of
> economic magnanimity to all of Asia. Beijing has been campaigning
> hard to convince its Asian neighbors that China's economic growth
> does not challenge their economies. By floating the idea of a
> giant Chinese economy anchoring Asia amid a sea of financial
> instability and foreign pirates bent on "financial attack,"
> Beijing seeks reshape the perception of China as an unscrupulous
> giant bent on economic conquest.
>
> Building on this, China has taken the initiative in promoting the
> formation of a free trade zone with the Association of Southeast
> Asian Nations (ASEAN), basically suggesting to it that since
> China's growth is inevitable (if not unstoppable), they may as
> well come along for the ride. More tactically, Beijing

Fortess Europe: NATO War Planes vs Protestors [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Rick Rozoff]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---

Czech Happenings
June 25, 2002

Allies to take part in air defence during Prague NATO
summit

   PRAGUE, June 25 (CTK) - Allies from NATO will help
the Czech Republic to ensure the increased protection
of its air space during the Prague NATO summit in
November, government commissioner for the preparation
of the summit Alexander Vondra told journalists today.
   "I think that the Defence Ministry approaches the
task very responsibly and sufficiently in advance. I
believe that we will be able to fully ensure the
protection of our air space," Vondra said, referring
to a classified document on the protection of the air
space drafted by the Defence Ministry.
   Vondra stressed that the protection of the recent
NATO- Russian summit in Rome was also ensured in a
similar way.
   The Czech air force has out-dated MiG-21 fighter
jets, four of which have been allocated for NATO
needs, has started operating the subsonic L-159
fighters which, however, are not yet completely
equipped, and it has combat helicopters.
   The government intended to purchase new supersonic
Jas-39 Gripen fighters but the parliament did not
approve the purchase. Anyway, even if the government
bill had been approved the Czech Republic would have
only received first Gripens in 2004, at a time when
the life span of MiGs expires.
   The Czech Republic also has its own anti-aircraft
protection force and land-air missiles. Following last
year's September 11 attacks on New York and Washington
increased security measures have been introduced,
including special measures of the protection of the
air space over nuclear power plants which are still in
effect.
   During the NATO summit Prague will host 46 heads of
state, including 19 NATO member states and another 27
states participating in the Partnership for Peace
programme.
   Besides about 2,000 official guests are expected to
arrive in Prague and about 3,000 journalists.
   The Prague event may attract an expected 10,000 to
15,000 demonstrators.
   The summit is to invite new candidate countries to
join NATO. The candidates are Albania, Bulgaria,
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Romania,
Slovakia and Slovenia.  
Publikovano na serveru Ceske noviny
(www.ceskenoviny.cz)


__
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Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup
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Fwd: [WW] Milosevic cross-examines war criminal [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Hcottin]

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-
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the June 27, 2002
issue of Workers World newspaper
-

TURNING THE TABLES ON U.S.: 
MILOSEVIC CROSS-EXAMINES WAR CRIMINAL

By Heather Cottin

The prosecution has brought in its heavy hitters for the 
show trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic 
in The Hague.

They trotted out William Walker, the head of a U.S. 
"peacekeeping" mission in Kosovo, on June 12, followed by 
the head of the German army, Gen. Klaus Neumann, the next 
day.

Even with Judge Richard Mays' open displays of hostility, 
Milosevic was not intimidated.

The major NATO powers, notably the United States and 
Germany, created the International Criminal Tribunal for the 
Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 1993 to criminalize Serb and 
Yugoslav leaders and personnel as part of their plan to 
dismember and re-colonize Yugoslavia.

Milosevic confronted William Walker first. Walker worked for 
the U.S. State Department from 1985-1988 on Central America 
policy. He was U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador during the 
Sumpul River massacre. So he knows about massacres. He knows 
how to cover them up.

Walker was an integral part of the Reagan-Bush war against 
the people of El Salvador that took nearly 100,000 lives.

Walker was directly involved in another campaign of terror 
while in Central America. He supported the anti-Sandinista 
Contra fighters in Nicaragua with proceeds from secret arms 
sales to Iran. The CIA-organized counter-revolutionaries 
killed over 20,000 people in Nicaragua.

'MASSACRE' ALLEGATION BY U.S. WAR CRIMINAL

It was Walker who first reported the story that the U.S. and 
NATO used to justify the 78-day bombing war against 
Yugoslavia in 1999. As the Associated Press noted in its 
coverage of the testimony, "William Walker, the former U.S. 
head of an OSCE Kosovo peacekeeping mission, claimed he saw 
'piles of bodies at Racak,' a massacre that focused world 
attention on atrocities by Serb forces."

An analysis by Armen Georgian and Arthur Neslen in the April 
5, 2001, edition of the New Statesman showed that the 
January 1999 "Rakac Massacre" came at a convenient time, 
when the Clinton administration was looking for an excuse to 
begin the war against socialist Yugoslavia.

It was, according to the New Statesman article, reminiscent 
of the Gulf of Tonkin incident, "the CIA-manipulated story 
... that escalated the Vietnam War." The report is notable, 
since the New Statesman is not friendly to Milosevic or the 
Yugoslav socialists.

Georgian and Neslen pointed out that on Aug. 12, 1998, the 
U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee had commented: 
"Planning for a U.S.-led NATO intervention in Kosovo is now 
largely in place. The only missing element seems to be an 
event--with suitably vivid media coverage--that could make 
the intervention politically saleable."

The Sunday Times of London reported in 2001 that Walker was 
"inextricably linked with the CIA." In the Times story, 
diplomatic and intelligence sources alleged that the team 
led by Walker which discovered the "Rakac Massacre" was a 
CIA front that also gave logistical and technical support to 
the Kosovo Liberation Army.

Milosevic knew all this. Cross-examining Walker, he charged 
that the CIA had recruited the OSCE team.

"In Kosovo, you supported a different kind of Contras," 
Milosevic charged, "the Contra Kosovo Liberation Army." He 
also suggested Walker was involved in the murder of Jesuit 
priests and nuns in El Salvador.

Clearly flustered on the witness stand, Walker said he had 
only supplied humanitarian aid to El Salvador from the air 
base used by U.S. authorities to provide illicit arms to the 
Contras.

His credibility was clearly damaged.

GERMAN GENERAL'S INCREDIBLE STORY

The next day, General Neumann gave his testimony to the 
ICTY. His story was even more incredible.

Neumann claimed, on the stand, that Milosevic told him in 
1999 "that Yugoslavia's problems would be solved if ethnic 
Albanians were murdered."

Neumann was the commanding officer of KSK, the elite 
commando unit of the Bundeswehr, or German army. His unit 
trained the KLA in Albania and at NATO bases in Turkey in 
1998.

Milosevic's defense of himself and of Yugoslavia during the 
trial has proven that he knew intimately what NATO forces 
were doing to destabilize and destroy Yugoslavia.

Milosevic knew Germany's role in dismembering the socialist 
federation. He knew tha

Guardian: Our son, the rebel (Mordechai Vanunu) [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Stasi]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---


 

Real lives 

Our son, the rebel 

As he approaches the end of his 18-year jail sentence for exposing Israel's 
nuclear secrets, Mordechai Vanunu is still full of rage and refusing to be 
silenced. Suzanne Goldenberg meets the American couple who adopted him so they 
could meet him in prison 
Suzanne 
GoldenbergWednesday 
June 5, 2002The 
Guardian 
He won't sit down to lunch on time. 
He won't shake the hand of an old legal acquaintance. And he won't let his dad 
admonish him for that rudeness. It is, at times, exasperating to be the adoptive 
parents of a 47-year-old rebel, particularly when your son is Mordechai Vanunu, 
now in his 16th year of imprisonment for exposing Israel's secret nuclear 
programme. 
The years have seen a world of changes since Vanunu was convicted of treason 
and sentenced to 18 years in Israel's highest-security prison. In 1986, the 
former technician at the desert plant near the town of Dimona leaked photographs 
of and information about Israel's nuclear facilities to the Sunday Times, 
destroying Israel's policy of "nuclear ambiguity". Using his pictures and 
testimony, nuclear experts estimated that Israel had the world's sixth-largest 
stockpile of nuclear weapons - about 200 warheads. 
Israel's revenge was swift. Vanunu was lured from Britain to Italy by a 
female Mossad agent, kidnapped, drugged, put on a ship to Israel, and tried in a 
secret court. His first 11 years were spent in solitary confinement in a tiny 
cell, with a canvas cover over the window to shut out the tiniest glimpse of 
grass or trees. 
Since then, the Soviet empire has withered and died. The cold war has ended, 
and America and Russia agreed this month to scrap thousands of nuclear warheads. 
Israel has seen one Palestinian uprising and seven years of peace, and is now in 
the midst of a second intifada. The Dimona nuclear plant is still not open to 
international inspection. 
Vanunu remains locked inside the squat, dull yellow blocks of the Shikma 
prison at Ashkelon, with two more years to go until his release in April 2004. 
Most Israelis had probably forgotten his existence until a photograph, the first 
newly recorded image of Vanunu in three years, appeared in newspapers last 
month. But while public anger towards Vanunu has been lost in the passions of 
the intifada, his blood relatives cannot forgive him. Vanunu's parents, who 
brought their family to Israel from Marrakech in 1961, are orthodox Jews, as are 
most of his seven brothers and sisters, and the family disowned him for 
converting to Christianity. He became an Anglican in Australia in 1985. That is 
where Nick and Mary Eoloff stepped in. 
At 12.30pm on a hot summer day, the couple appear at the entrance of Shikma, 
peering through the bars of the electronic gate before a guard arrives with the 
key to set them free. The Eoloffs, a tall, angular couple in their 70s from the 
American midwest, are on a small list of people who are allowed to visit Vanunu, 
which consists of his lawyer and members of his immediate family. Improbable as 
it may seem, the Eoloffs count as family members as they legally adopted Vanunu 
in 1997. Radical Catholics from St Paul, Minnesota, they had read about Vanunu 
and joined the international campaign to win his release, writing to their 
congressmen and senators. When that did not work, the Eoloffs - who already had 
six grown-up children - seized on the idea of adoption, imagining that it would 
allow Vanunu to be transferred to a prison in the US. It did not, and so, twice 
a year, the elderly couple make the long journey to Israel for their prison 
visits. 
On their May 14 visit, they found Vanunu in good form. He was tanned, had put 
some weight on his rangy form, and had shed his usual guardedness, producing two 
bags of candy for the Eoloffs' grandchildren. 
The couple were warned that the visit would be cancelled if they raised any 
taboo topics: the kidnapping, nuclear weapons, the Dimona plant. A prison social 
worker took notes of the entire conversation, but Vanunu remained calm. Two 
hours later, he walked the Eoloffs down the corridor, stopping at the red line 
on the floor that prisoners are not allowed to cross. "He was very upbeat," says 
Mary. "He felt very positive." For the first time in their four years of 
acquaintance, he made a point of thanking the Eoloffs for visiting, and asked 
about the rest of the family. 
Otherwise, Vanunu's whole being as he enters the home stretch of his 
confinement is devoted to small acts of defiance, fuelled by a powerful rage. I 
put some questions to the Eoloffs for Vanunu, and the answers come back, full of 
conviction and anger. He tells them that he still believes it was worth 18 years 
of his life to expose Israel's nuclear secrets, and that he will resist Israel's 
efforts to muzzle him. 
That bitterness informs even the smallest of decisions inside Shikma, 
confining Vanunu in another 

Fwd: [WW] India, Pakistan anti-imperialist unity [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Hcottin]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---

 

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--- Begin Message ---

-
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the June 27, 2002
issue of Workers World newspaper
-

INDIA AND PAKISTAN: 
ANTI-IMPERIALIST UNITY REACHES ACROSS BORDERS

By Gery Armsby

In response to mounting tensions and the specter of all-out 
war between their two countries, numerous groups and 
thousands of workers in India and Pakistan took to the 
streets June 13 to denounce threats of war by the Vajpayee 
and Musharraf governments.

Left parties, workers' organizations, women's groups and 
anti-globalization forces in Pakistan and India carried out 
a day of joint anti-war demonstrations throughout their 
respective countries.

A protest of more than 1,000 in Lahore, the Kashmiri capital 
within Pakistan's borders, was jointly called by four left 
parties of Pakistan: the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party, 
National Workers Party, Labor Party of Pakistan and the 
Peoples Party (Shaheed Bhutto). Several labor union 
federations, human rights and community organizations, and 
youths also participated.

Despite a heavy police presence, the anti-war activists took 
their demands before the public at the Lahore Press Club, 
chanting, "No to war," and "U.S. imperialism out of South 
Asia." The Lahore demonstration demanded an immediate 
withdrawal of Indian and Pakistani troops from border areas 
and demilitarization of the part of Kashmir known as the 
Line of Control.

Demonstrators also demanded an end to preparations for large-
scale--and potentially nuclear--war being made by both India 
and Pakistan, an immediate withdrawal of all U.S. and other 
imperialist forces from the region, and respect for the 
right to self-determination of the Kashmiri nation.

At a rally before the international press, speakers stressed 
that the policies of the U.S. government were largely to 
blame for the increase in tensions between India and 
Pakistan. They spoke against unprecedented nuclear 
proliferation in the region and demanded cuts in military 
spending.

Many speakers expressed deep appreciation for Indian groups 
that showed solidarity by holding similar actions in the 
region and across India that day. They were optimistic that 
further coordinated actions of progressive forces in India 
and Pakistan would occur again in the near future.

WORKER SOLIDARITY ACROSS SUBCONTINENT

After learning of the Pakistani groups' plans for a June 13 
demonstration, a coalition of left groups in India 
coordinated simultaneous anti-war, anti-imperialist protests 
in Delhi, Chennai, Calcutta, Lucknow, Patna, Ranchi, 
Vijaywada and other major cities.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist)-Liberation, 
Socialist Unity Center of India, CPI (ML)-Red Flag, CPI (ML)-
Unity Initiative, CPI (ML)-New Democracy, Communist 
Organization of India (ML) and the Marxist Communist Party 
of India collaborated to bring out their supporters among 
the Indian working class in a show of anti-imperialist 
solidarity against the mounting war crisis.

More than a dozen rallies across India protested the 
warmongering of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party as well as 
the likelihood of increased imperialist intervention in the 
subcontinent as a result of the conflict.

Six of the Indian groups issued a joint statement calling 
for unity "against imperialist globalization, 
communalization and Gujarat genocide, war jingoism and 
subservience to imperialism, particularly U.S. imperialism." 
Gujarat is the scene of a vicious police campaign against 
minority groups and the poor. More than 2,000 Gujarat 
Muslims have been killed since late February.

The joint statement, announcing a June 19-27 campaign of 
people's actions throughout India, warns, "Though the war 
threat has receded apparently under imperialist maneuvers, 
[U.S. and other imperialist powers] continue to flood the 
subcontinent with arms and ruin the economy of both India 
and Pakistan further.

"The danger of U.S.-UK military presence in Kashmir has 
increased. With the military bases of the U.S. and its 
allies already in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the war moves on 
the border have provided opportunity for the aggravation of 
imperialist intervention in the region as part of the global 
policing by the U.S."

The current phase of the conflict over Kashmir--which has 
its historical roots in the colonization of the region by 
the British--was ostensibly sparked by a May 14 attack 
against an Indian army base in Jammu that l

Fwd: [WW] What's behind worldwide hunger crisis? [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Hcottin]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---

 

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--- Begin Message ---

-
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the June 27, 2002
issue of Workers World newspaper
-

WHAT'S BEHIND WORLDWIDE HUNGER CRISIS?

By Monica Moorehead

In mid-June the United Nations hosted a food summit in Rome 
that focused attention on the rise of hunger worldwide. The 
conference brought together over 6,600 participants 
representing 181 countries and 1,000 organizations. Seventy-
five government leaders were also present.

High-level representatives of many of the major imperialist 
countries--including the United States, Britain, Germany, 
Canada, France and others--boycotted the conference.

The notable absence of these leaders infuriated many 
conference participants, most of whom represent the poorest 
developing countries that are dealing with hunger and 
malnutrition on a massive scale. Many of these countries are 
located on the continents of Africa, Asia and Latin America 
and in the formerly socialist region of Eastern Europe.

In southern Africa alone, an estimated 13 million people go 
to bed hungry each night. The African continent is bracing 
itself for another major drought. On top of this, Africa is 
losing a whole generation of young people, numbering in the 
millions, to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The four-day food summit was called to develop a program of 
action to try to alleviate hunger, which affects 800 million 
of the 1.2 billion people who are officially impoverished by 
UN standards. This means that they subsist on $1 a day or 
less.

An estimated 24,000 people die needlessly from hunger every 
day.

The vast majority of those living in poverty are women and 
children trying to survive in semi-feudal conditions.

One goal the conference agreed on was to develop projects to 
cut the number of hungry people in half by 2015. This was 
the same goal set at the 1996 summit on world hunger.

Last September, former Pakistani Agriculture Minister Sartaj 
Aziz spoke on a panel on hunger in Bonn. He put forth some 
startling statistics: within the 48 least developed 
countries (LDCs), the number of malnourished people doubled 
between 1980 and 1998, to 40 percent of their total 
population or 240 million people.

Aziz said the dependence of the developing countries on 
importing food rather producing food for their own 
consumption has increased dramatically over the past 26 
years.

The opposite is true for the industrialized countries that 
are able to export food because of a surplus. This surplus 
does not negate the reality that millions of people in the 
industrialized countries suffer from hunger and are 
malnourished.

The LDCs are enslaved to the International Monetary Fund and 
World Bank, institutions controlled by U.S. and European 
banking conglomerates, with unrealistic debt payments. This 
neocolonial relationship has played an integral role in 
exacerbating the poverty and hunger crisis for the poorest 
countries.

THERE'S ENOUGH TO FEED THE WORLD

But these statistics alone don't tell the whole story.

According to Saskatchewan Interactive, worldwide food 
production is greater than the needs of the total global 
population. There is enough food to supply 2,700 calories a 
day per person to everyone in the world.

Only 20 percent of the world's food production actually 
reaches people. Some of this food goes to livestock, while 
much is destroyed because it cannot be sold at a profit.

The root cause of all the hunger, poverty and disease is the 
worldwide system of capitalism and imperialism--a cold-
hearted economic system that treats every developing country 
as a potential market on which to dump its cheap goods, 
while at the same time destroying any semblance of 
independent social development for the well-being of the 
people.

Imperialism destroys the livelihoods of farmers throughout 
the developing world. Local farmers' products can't compete 
after the industrialized countries flood the world market 
with cheaper goods.

And who understands this social phenomenon better than the 
imperialists themselves? This is one of the reasons they did 
not take the Rome conference on hunger seriously and 
boycotted it. They knew that many delegates would rightly 
point the finger of blame for so much poverty and suffering 
at them.

ZIMBABWE'S PLIGHT

During the 1970s and 1980s, the southern African nation of 
Zimbabwe produced enough food to feed its population. Today 
Zimbabwe is forced to import food, which

Re: The Empire Whimpers: Corporate Amerika Implodes [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[TOOLGT]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---

In a message dated 6/29/2002 3:35:27 AM Pacific Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:


"I hope these people go to jail," says Tobias.

  Not Prison

Some of these folks might not make it to prison. The police had to be called to WorldCom yesterday.
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Re: NY Green party candidate [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[davidquarter]

Hence, the Times...





To: 	[EMAIL PROTECTED]
From:   	[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject:	NY Green party candidate [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
Date sent:  	Sat, 29 Jun 2002 06:38:01 EDT
Send reply to:  	[EMAIL PROTECTED]

aram>HREF="HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK"HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Pu02 in the HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/"New York Times   The Anti-Canthe Rich by Chris HedgesEVERY election year, it seems, a candidate emerges and the erosion of our political system, the vapid sound bites, the fleeing from real debate, the fusion of entertainment and political campaigning, declares that it is not worth playing by the rules.       Enter Stanley Aronowitz, 69, the Green Party's nominee this year for governor of New York, who, when you listen to him call for higher taxes to increase money for schools, pay for campaign finance reform and establish state-subsidized health insurance, is the anti-candidate this time around. He has set out to anger the powerful and the rich who, he says, pull the strings of the "Cheney-Rumsfeld-Bush regime," stressing that the troika is listed in order of importance. And, like all of those who believe in a cause, he is willing to go down with the ship rather than compromise.  "My job is to start a public conversation, to show voters they have a choice and to get enough of a vote so we can stay on the ballot and speak out," he said. "I am an intellectual. My work as a teacher and a writer is to elaborate on views and talk about them in detail."  Mr. Aronowitz drives himself to campaign gatherings around the state in his 1995 Volvo. He sleeps in the homes of supporters and keeps within his allotted daily campaign travel budget of $50 a day. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat who is running without the support of most of the party establishment, has raised millions so far for his campaign. Mr. Aronowitz, who has never run for public office, has raised $25,000. The Green Party has no budget for television advertising or to hire campaign workers. The whole campaign, he estimates, will cost about $150,000.  He blasts the money spent by corporations on the two major parties and those candidates, like Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who can use personal fortunes to run for office.  "In many local communities we cannot get into the conversation because we have no television advertising," he said. "How can parties like ours have a conversation when a $78 million expenditure by a private businessperson buys an election?"  He began to admire President François Mitterrand of France once he heard him speak in Paris without notes on a range of complex political issues.  "When you give stump speeches you end up boring yourself and your audience," he said. "I heard Mitterrand and thought that if I ever ran for public office I would like to do it like that."  Mr. Aronowitz wants to be the little red light blinking on citizens' dashboards to tell them the system needs repair. And if, he said, "a few more thousand people" get the message he will have considered the time and energy worth it.  OUR democracy is in trouble," he said. "The Democratic and Republican Parties have converged. Their economic policies are not different. They believe that anything that hurts business is not a viable position."  Mr. Aronowitz, who teaches sociology at the City University of New York, is not, however, a man who stepped out of the cloistered garden of academia. He has always been a rebel. He was thrown out of Brooklyn College as a freshman in 1951 for leading a campus demonstration after the administration banned a radical newspaper. He was married at 19 and had two children by the time he was 23. He is on his third marriage; his wife is the writer and N.Y.U. journalism professor Ellen Willis. He has five children. He and Professor Willis live in Washington Square Village.  Mr. Aronowitz worked for a decade as a steelworker in Harrison, N.J., and for seven years as an organizer for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers. Fifteen years after leaving college he went to the New School for Social Research and got a B.A. in sociology, and later got a doctorate in sociology from Union Graduate School.  Ideas spill out of his head — he speaks in long machine-gun bursts — with a Brooklyn twang. He has always had a voracious appetite for books and relishes discussing Hannah Arendt or Herbert Marcuse as much as he does global warming. When he ended his night shift in the steel mill, he ate breakfast and went to the company library for an hour or two before going home. He started a reading group with other workers — they read mostly novels — and would get home at noon and sleep until his shift began again.  "One of the reasons I chose the steel mill, rather than an automobile factory where I could have made more money, was because when you work near furnaces you work 40 minutes on and 20 minutes off," he said. "I spent part of the 20 minutes politicking, becau

Re: Corporate America hit by biggest scandal in history [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[davidquarter]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---




<<<>>>


 Oops!









To: Stop Nato <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" 
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED], Communist Internet News 
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
From:   Bill Howard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject:Corporate America hit by biggest scandal in history 
[WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
Date sent:  Fri, 28 Jun 2002 01:09:35 +0100
Send reply to:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]

> HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
> ---
> 
> 
> .
> .
> Capitalist Imperialism or Socialist Communism? ... 
> http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ]
> 
> [Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ]
> .
> .
> - Original Message - 
> From: info <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2002 4:04 PM
> Subject: [mobilize-globally] Corporate America hit by biggest scandal in history
> 
> 
> 
> -- Forwarded Message
> From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 23:57:24 -0700 (PDT)
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: [MLNews!*2002] Corporate America hit by biggest scandal in history
> 
> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-338704,00.html
> 
> The Times (London)
> June 26, 2002
> 
> Corporate America hit by biggest scandal in history
> From Chris Ayres in New York
>   
>  
> CORPORATE America suffered its biggest scandal to date
> last night when it was claimed that WorldCom, a
> telecommunications company founded by a devout
> Mississippi Christian, had lied about making about
> $3.85 billion (?2.6 billion) of profits over 15
> months. 
> The size of the alleged profits overstatement at
> WorldCom is more than double the previous record, set
> by the pharmacy chain Rite Aid, and makes the
> accounting irregularities at Enron Corporation look
> like a rounding error. WorldCom, already crippled by
> nearly $30 billion of debt, is now expected to go
> bust. 
> 
> Brad Burns, a WorldCom spokesman, could not be reached
> for comment by The Times last night. The alleged
> WorldCom fraud comes amid a crisis of confidence in US
> capitalism, after a series of accounting scandals at
> Tyco International, Kmart, Enron and Global Crossing.
> 
> The accounting problems at WorldCom, described as a
> ?massive fraud? by sources last night, were discovered
> during an internal investigation at the firm. WorldCom
> has fired its chief financial officer, Scott Sullivan.
> 
> 
> Last night?s revelation is likely to result in
> questioning of Bernie Ebbers, WorldCom?s cowboy-booted
> founder and former chief executive, who was ousted in
> May. 
> 
> Until yesterday, Mr Ebbers, 60, was most famous for
> giving himself a $366 million personal loan from
> WorldCom?s bank account. The loan, to cover some of Mr
> Ebbers?s share trading debts, caused widespread
> outrage on Wall Street.
> 
> The former WorldCom chief was one of Wall Street?s
> most charismatic chief executives. He still drives a
> tractor on his brother?s cattle ranch and takes Sunday
> school classes at a Baptist church in Mississippi.
> According to The Wall Street Journal, ?it isn?t
> beneath him to occasionally castrate a bull?.
> 
> WorldCom?s auditing firm during the period of the
> accounting problems was Andersen, which was also
> Enron?s auditor. 
> 
> It is thought that WorldCom exaggerated its profits by
> billions of dollars using a simple accounting trick:
> it booked many of its day-to-day expenses as capital
> expenditure. That meant that corporate expenses did
> not show up on its profit-and-loss account, making the
> firm appear far more profitable than it was.
> 
>  
>  
>  
> 
> 
> __
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup
> http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com
> 
> 
>  Main Line News 2002
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MainLineNews/
> 
> Amnesty International today expressed its dismay and disappointment at the
> Canadian authorities' refusal to grantaccreditation to the organization's
> observer of the policing at the G8 summit
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MainLineNews/message/24202
> 
> NYC Live Webcast: Protesting the G8 Agenda
> The leaders of the G8, "an exclusive grouping of the wealthiest advanced
> industrialized nations," will convene this week for their annual summit in
> Kananaskis, Alberta. To
> protest against the G8's dominance over global affairs, activists are
> presently converging in Kananaskis, Calgary and Ottawa.
> http://nyc.indymedia.org/archive/features/2002/06/2002-06.html#4095
> 
> Radio Free Ottawa is Now Live [OttawaIMC]
> gretchen k. - 24.06.2002 11:05
> IMC Ottawa is now broadcasting live from the media centre, with our stream
> available at http://microradio.net/ecb.pls or open the following URL in your
> MP3 player: http://r1.loudeye.com/ottawa.mp3 .
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MainLineNews/message/24204
> 
> AltaVista.Com: Translate with Babel Fish
> http://world.al

NY Green party candidate [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[TOOLGT]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---

Published on Friday, June 28, 2002 in the New York Times 

The Anti-Candidate, Out to Anger the Rich 

by Chris Hedges


EVERY election year, it seems, a candidate emerges and, citing the erosion of our political system, the vapid sound bites, the fleeing from real debate, the fusion of entertainment and political campaigning, declares that it is not worth playing by the rules. 




Enter Stanley Aronowitz, 69, the Green Party's nominee this year for governor of New York, who, when you listen to him call for higher taxes to increase money for schools, pay for campaign finance reform and establish state-subsidized health insurance, is the anti-candidate this time around. He has set out to anger the powerful and the rich who, he says, pull the strings of the "Cheney-Rumsfeld-Bush regime," stressing that the troika is listed in order of importance. And, like all of those who believe in a cause, he is willing to go down with the ship rather than compromise.

"My job is to start a public conversation, to show voters they have a choice and to get enough of a vote so we can stay on the ballot and speak out," he said. "I am an intellectual. My work as a teacher and a writer is to elaborate on views and talk about them in detail."

Mr. Aronowitz drives himself to campaign gatherings around the state in his 1995 Volvo. He sleeps in the homes of supporters and keeps within his allotted daily campaign travel budget of $50 a day. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat who is running without the support of most of the party establishment, has raised millions so far for his campaign. Mr. Aronowitz, who has never run for public office, has raised $25,000. The Green Party has no budget for television advertising or to hire campaign workers. The whole campaign, he estimates, will cost about $150,000.

He blasts the money spent by corporations on the two major parties and those candidates, like Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who can use personal fortunes to run for office.

"In many local communities we cannot get into the conversation because we have no television advertising," he said. "How can parties like ours have a conversation when a $78 million expenditure by a private businessperson buys an election?"

He began to admire President François Mitterrand of France once he heard him speak in Paris without notes on a range of complex political issues.

"When you give stump speeches you end up boring yourself and your audience," he said. "I heard Mitterrand and thought that if I ever ran for public office I would like to do it like that."

Mr. Aronowitz wants to be the little red light blinking on citizens' dashboards to tell them the system needs repair. And if, he said, "a few more thousand people" get the message he will have considered the time and energy worth it.

OUR democracy is in trouble," he said. "The Democratic and Republican Parties have converged. Their economic policies are not different. They believe that anything that hurts business is not a viable position."

Mr. Aronowitz, who teaches sociology at the City University of New York, is not, however, a man who stepped out of the cloistered garden of academia. He has always been a rebel. He was thrown out of Brooklyn College as a freshman in 1951 for leading a campus demonstration after the administration banned a radical newspaper. He was married at 19 and had two children by the time he was 23. He is on his third marriage; his wife is the writer and N.Y.U. journalism professor Ellen Willis. He has five children. He and Professor Willis live in Washington Square Village.

Mr. Aronowitz worked for a decade as a steelworker in Harrison, N.J., and for seven years as an organizer for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers. Fifteen years after leaving college he went to the New School for Social Research and got a B.A. in sociology, and later got a doctorate in sociology from Union Graduate School.

Ideas spill out of his head — he speaks in long machine-gun bursts — with a Brooklyn twang. He has always had a voracious appetite for books and relishes discussing Hannah Arendt or Herbert Marcuse as much as he does global warming. When he ended his night shift in the steel mill, he ate breakfast and went to the company library for an hour or two before going home. He started a reading group with other workers — they read mostly novels — and would get home at noon and sleep until his shift began again.

"One of the reasons I chose the steel mill, rather than an automobile factory where I could have made more money, was because when you work near furnaces you work 40 minutes on and 20 minutes off," he said. "I spent part of the 20 minutes politicking, because I was a union activist. But many times I would go into the bathroom and read. At that period in my life I read American history."

"I learned as a labor organizer how to translate substantive, often difficult ideas, into the vernacular," he said. "I learne

Re: The Empire Whimpers: Corporate Amerika Implodes [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[davidquarter]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---



<<<>>>

  Not Prison







To: Stop Nato <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, 
[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], Communist Internet 
News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
From:   Bill Howard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject:The Empire Whimpers: Corporate Amerika Implodes 
[WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
Date sent:  Fri, 28 Jun 2002 01:24:17 +0100
Send reply to:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]

> HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
> ---
>
>
> .
> .
> Capitalist Imperialism or Socialist Communism? ...
> http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ]
>
> [Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ]
> .
> .
> - Original Message -
> From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2002 5:26 AM
> Subject: [kominform2] The Empire Whimpers: Corporate Amerika Implodes
>
>
>
>
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> Subject: The Empire Whimpers: Corporate Amerika Implodes
>
> The Empire Whimpers: Corporate Amerika Implodes
>
> Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
>
>
> The Empire Whimpers
>
> WORLDCOM'S $3.8 BILLION SCANDAL SENDS STOCKS, US DOLLAR INTO THE MUD;
> AMTRAK MIGHT LIMP THROUGH SEPTEMBER WITH $200 MILLION FROM FEDS
>
> [George Bush might just be the US President to preside over the
> nationalization of major strategic national industries -- railroads,
> telecommunications, airlines... Fidel Castro, who has aptly described
> international capitalism as a "giant casino," might be able to give
> the po' boy from Texas some lessons on how it's done.
>
> With the help of his team of thieves who've stolen everything they
> can get their hands on (including the 2000 Presidential election),
> the half-wit occupying the White House has brought down the Empire --
> he needed no help from Osama bin Laden. Global Crossing's value
> evaporated in an overnight bankruptcy; Qwest Communications seems to
> be next in the line of collapsing houses of cards; the value of the
> yankee dollar is in the toilet while investors flock to gold; despite
> three Japanese interventions overnight on June 25-26 to prop up the
> dollar, the Euro made gains and is now at near-parity with the yankee
> buck.
>
> The shell game of American Capitalism is folding. The casino is
> exposed for what it is. Too bad for investors, too bad for employees
> who lose their pensions and their jobs. The corporate directors walk
> with billions in loans, bonuses and obscene salaries skimmed off
> during the boom years of merger mania.
>
> It's all such poetic justice -- after all, it was Daddy Bush who
> privatized the Internet.]
>
>  *
>
> Reuters Market News - June 26, 2002 via Yahoo
>
> US, Amtrak in tentative deal to end crisis
>
> WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - The Transportation Department and
> Amtrak reached a tentative deal late on Wednesday for a bailout that
> would resolve the railroad's immediate financial crisis and avert a
> shutdown threatened for as early as next week.
>
> In a joint statement Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and
> Amtrak Chairman John Robert Smith said the two sides had made
> "excellent progress" in bringing the crisis to an end, and were on
> track to finalize the deal possibly by Thursday.
>
> While details were not disclosed by the Transportation Department or
> Amtrak, a government source said the two sides agreed to take a
> two-stage approach.
>
> First, the government would directly lend Amtrak $100 million to
> cover spending priorities for the first half of the summer. In the
> second stage, the Bush administration would work with Congress to
> come up with another $100 million at least to keep the trains running
> through September.
>
> Congress, which leaves town on Friday for its July Fourth recess,
> could either appropriate the additional funds or agree to a loan
> guarantee. That would enable Amtrak to borrow the money it needs from
> its banks.
>
>*
>
> BBC online - Wednesday, 26 June, 2002
> http://www.bbc.co.uk
>
> Shares Plunge on WorldCom Scandal
>
> Shares on Wall Street have plunged in response to news of a massive
> accounting fraud at US telecoms firm WorldCom.
>
> Within half an hour of the opening bell at 1330 GMT, the blue-chip
> Dow Jones index was down 133.19 points or about 1.3% to 8,993.63.
>
> Meanwhile, the Nasdaq index - where  WorldCom and the bulk of its
> fellow technology stocks are listed - had dropped 3%, or 44.12 points
> to 1,379.87, a new low for the year.
>
> The falls followed a torrid morning on the  European exchanges after
> WorldCom's announcement that it had overstated its profits.
>
> By 1400 GMT, London's FTSE 100 blue-chip share index was down 131.6
> points to 4,499.4, not far above the five-year lows hit just after 11
> September.
>
> Germany's Dax index and the French Cac-40 had fallen even further,
> each losing about 4% of their value by the same time.
>
> The euro,

Re: `America' and `the world' not the same thing [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[davidquarter]

And America as overseer!


To: 	[EMAIL PROTECTED]
From:   	[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject:	Re: `America' and `the world' not the same thing [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
Date sent:  	Sat, 29 Jun 2002 04:47:03 EDT
Send reply to:  	[EMAIL PROTECTED]

aram>HREF="HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK"HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- In a message dated 6/28/2002 9:09:43 AM Pacific Daylight  Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:  

 `America' and `the world' not the same thing     ``She found herself walking through an Israeli town  wearing ... a backpack that was too heavy, laden as it  was with nails and a bomb,'' goes a story that  appeared recently in The New York Times. ``But  (she) was now starting to wonder, as she walked  along the pedestrian mall, if she was doing the right  thing, or hell rather than Heaven awaited her.''  The story is about a 20-year-old Palestinian suicide  bomber who aborted her mission at the last moment.  ``I look at the sky,'' she recalled. ``I look at the  people.'' She said she remembered a childhood belief  ``that nobody has the right to stop anybody's life.''  Mideast security experts concur that not all would-be  suicide bombers today are trained terrorists.  On the contrary, ``ordinary'' women and boys have  been volunteering in growing numbers-a fact that  underscores how desperate the situation has  become.  I have always wondered whether these people ever  have second thoughts about their missions.  Personally, I think they do, even if only for a split  second. And I believe such a flicker of hesitation is  invaluable.  U.S. President George W. Bush has proposed a  Mideast peace formula that aims to create a  Palestinian state. Bush, however, is effectively telling  the Palestinians they must first institute an American- style ``democracy.''

 This means that Arafat can be appointed as president. :)
--- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST

The Empire Whimpers: Corporate Amerika Implodes [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Bill Howard]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---


.
.
Capitalist Imperialism or Socialist Communism? ...
http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ]

[Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ]
.
.
- Original Message -
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2002 5:26 AM
Subject: [kominform2] The Empire Whimpers: Corporate Amerika Implodes




From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Subject: The Empire Whimpers: Corporate Amerika Implodes

The Empire Whimpers: Corporate Amerika Implodes

Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit


The Empire Whimpers

WORLDCOM'S $3.8 BILLION SCANDAL SENDS STOCKS, US DOLLAR INTO THE MUD;
AMTRAK MIGHT LIMP THROUGH SEPTEMBER WITH $200 MILLION FROM FEDS

[George Bush might just be the US President to preside over the
nationalization of major strategic national industries -- railroads,
telecommunications, airlines... Fidel Castro, who has aptly described
international capitalism as a "giant casino," might be able to give
the po' boy from Texas some lessons on how it's done.

With the help of his team of thieves who've stolen everything they
can get their hands on (including the 2000 Presidential election),
the half-wit occupying the White House has brought down the Empire --
he needed no help from Osama bin Laden. Global Crossing's value
evaporated in an overnight bankruptcy; Qwest Communications seems to
be next in the line of collapsing houses of cards; the value of the
yankee dollar is in the toilet while investors flock to gold; despite
three Japanese interventions overnight on June 25-26 to prop up the
dollar, the Euro made gains and is now at near-parity with the yankee
buck.

The shell game of American Capitalism is folding. The casino is
exposed for what it is. Too bad for investors, too bad for employees
who lose their pensions and their jobs. The corporate directors walk
with billions in loans, bonuses and obscene salaries skimmed off
during the boom years of merger mania.

It's all such poetic justice -- after all, it was Daddy Bush who
privatized the Internet.]

 *

Reuters Market News - June 26, 2002 via Yahoo

US, Amtrak in tentative deal to end crisis

WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - The Transportation Department and
Amtrak reached a tentative deal late on Wednesday for a bailout that
would resolve the railroad's immediate financial crisis and avert a
shutdown threatened for as early as next week.

In a joint statement Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and
Amtrak Chairman John Robert Smith said the two sides had made
"excellent progress" in bringing the crisis to an end, and were on
track to finalize the deal possibly by Thursday.

While details were not disclosed by the Transportation Department or
Amtrak, a government source said the two sides agreed to take a
two-stage approach.

First, the government would directly lend Amtrak $100 million to
cover spending priorities for the first half of the summer. In the
second stage, the Bush administration would work with Congress to
come up with another $100 million at least to keep the trains running
through September.

Congress, which leaves town on Friday for its July Fourth recess,
could either appropriate the additional funds or agree to a loan
guarantee. That would enable Amtrak to borrow the money it needs from
its banks.

   *

BBC online - Wednesday, 26 June, 2002
http://www.bbc.co.uk

Shares Plunge on WorldCom Scandal

Shares on Wall Street have plunged in response to news of a massive
accounting fraud at US telecoms firm WorldCom.

Within half an hour of the opening bell at 1330 GMT, the blue-chip
Dow Jones index was down 133.19 points or about 1.3% to 8,993.63.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq index - where  WorldCom and the bulk of its
fellow technology stocks are listed - had dropped 3%, or 44.12 points
to 1,379.87, a new low for the year.

The falls followed a torrid morning on the  European exchanges after
WorldCom's announcement that it had overstated its profits.

By 1400 GMT, London's FTSE 100 blue-chip share index was down 131.6
points to 4,499.4, not far above the five-year lows hit just after 11
September.

Germany's Dax index and the French Cac-40 had fallen even further,
each losing about 4% of their value by the same time.

The euro, which has been creeping higher against the dollar in recent
weeks, broke through $0.99 for the first time since 1999.

The legacy of Enron

In the aftermath of the collapse of US energy company Enron late last
year, investors have become nervous about both the honesty of
accounting practices at big firms, and the fundamental health of
corporate America.

Now WorldCom, the number two long-distance phone company in the US,
has revealed that its profits between January 2001 and March 2002
were overstated by $3.8bn (=A32.5bn).=20

The result has been a rout in technology, media and telecom stocks -
first in Asia, where Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell more than 4%, then in
Europe.

Banks

Re: `America' and `the world' not the same thing [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[TOOLGT]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---

In a message dated 6/28/2002 9:09:43 AM Pacific Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:



`America' and `the world' not the same thing 



``She found herself walking through an Israeli town wearing ... a backpack that was too heavy, laden as it was with nails and a bomb,'' goes a story that appeared recently in The New York Times. ``But (she) was now starting to wonder, as she walked along the pedestrian mall, if she was doing the right thing, or hell rather than Heaven awaited her.''

The story is about a 20-year-old Palestinian suicide bomber who aborted her mission at the last moment.

``I look at the sky,'' she recalled. ``I look at the people.'' She said she remembered a childhood belief ``that nobody has the right to stop anybody's life.''

Mideast security experts concur that not all would-be suicide bombers today are trained terrorists.

On the contrary, ``ordinary'' women and boys have been volunteering in growing numbers-a fact that underscores how desperate the situation has become.

I have always wondered whether these people ever have second thoughts about their missions. Personally, I think they do, even if only for a split second. And I believe such a flicker of hesitation is invaluable.

U.S. President George W. Bush has proposed a Mideast peace formula that aims to create a Palestinian state. Bush, however, is effectively telling the Palestinians they must first institute an American-style ``democracy.''

This means that Arafat can be appointed as president. :)
---
ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST

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FT: Conflict that threatens to undo the special bond between Bush and Blair [WWW

[Stasi]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---




  
  

  NATIONAL NEWS: Financial Times
   
   Conflict that threatens to undo the special bond 
  between Bush and Blair
  
By Christopher Adams and Richard WolffeFT.com site; Jun 
  27, 2002
  

  In the summer sunshine and pine trees of Kananaskis, deep in the 
  Canadian Rockies, Tony Blair and George W. Bush were circling each other warily yesterday.
  The intimacy and warmth that characterised their meeting in Texas this 
  spring was looking distinctly strained, as Britain reiterated its 
  opposition to the US president's call for the removal of Yassir Arafat, 
  the Palestinian leader, and insisted the Palestinians should be allowed to 
  elect their own leader.
  Mr Blair is anxious to dismiss suggestions of a 
  big rift in the relationship. He shares the president's view, expressed 
  earlier this week, that Mr Arafat has become a significant obstacle to 
  restarting the peace process in the Middle East. But Mr Blair lobbied hard against the fundamental implication of 
  Mr Bush's speech - that the US will only use its 
  diplomatic muscle in the region if and when the Palestinian leader is 
  replaced.
  For Mr Blair, the president's decision to tilt 
  towards the Richard Cheney/ Donald Rumsfeld hard line also marks a 
  personal setback. In the months since September 11, Mr Blair has prided himself on his capacity to influence the 
  US administration - particularly over Iraq. The sense that Mr Blair had leverage in Washington increased the prime 
  minister's influence in debates with fellow European leaders.
  At last week's Seville summit Mr Blair was 
  instrumental in persuading other European Union leaders not to say 
  anything on the Middle East that might be seen as putting pressure on Mr 
  Bush ahead of this week's statement. His European 
  colleagues may henceforth be less inclined to follow Mr Blair's lead.
  It is all very different from Crawford, Texas. Just three months ago, 
  Mr Bush and Mr Blair were 
  joking about their similar tastes in toothpaste at the president's county 
  ranch. They were best buddies, lingering over a weekend together with 
  their wives, and inseparable in the war against terrorism being waged in 
  Afghanistan.
  British officials even suggested President Bush's religious commitment was a welcome relief after 
  the strains placed on the US-UK relationship as Mr Blair voiced his support for the then president Bill 
  Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
  Mr Blair's apparent closeness to the US 
  president angered many in his own party, who criticised him for joining Mr 
  Bush in sabre-rattling against Iraq.
  Now, though, it seems there is a limit to how far the British leader is 
  prepared to go. While September 11 cemented friendship between the two, 
  the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is threatening to push them apart.
  Before Mr Bush became US president in 2000, he 
  had never met Mr Blair or spoken to him. When he 
  took over, it seemed as though the transatlantic relationship had cooled. 
  The new US president did not share the urbane liberalism of his 
  predecessor, Mr Clinton, that had helped forge a bond with Mr Blair. Yet, while they are not political soulmates, the 
  two leaders share a pragmatic approach to foreign policy. Since September 
  11, they are said by government officials to have talked more regularly 
  over the phone than many other world leaders.
  But there are persistent sources of tension. The EU-US dispute over 
  steel has strained relations. And, as violence spirals in the Middle East 
  and the US raises the pressure on Iraq, alarming allies and adversaries 
  with its policy stance, Mr Blair has become wary of 
  the possible backlash from within Labour - especially so when there is 
  limited evidence as yet that his privileged access to Mr Bush is bringing any increased 
  influence.
---
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Guardian: FBI investigates anthrax scientist [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

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FBI investigates anthrax 
scientist 
Duncan Campbell in Los 
AngelesFriday June 
28, 2002The 
Guardian 
FBI agents investigating the 
anthrax attacks that killed five people have searched the Maryland home of a 
former US military scientist who commissioned a study into similar attacks three 
years ago. 
The scientist, who claims that he is the victim of a witch-hunt, once studied 
close to a school which bears the same name as the bogus address on the 
envelopes containing the fatal doses of anthrax. 
Dr Steven J Hatfill, 48, is a bio-defence researcher whose home in Fort 
Detrick, Maryland, was searched by FBI agents earlier this week. 
He has been the focus of media inquiries for several weeks and claims that 
his career has been ruined as a result. He is one of a small group of scientists 
who have complained that one week they are treated as experts and the next as 
suspects. 
According to the Baltimore Sun, Dr Hatfill commissioned a study in 1999 into 
a hypothetical anthrax attack by mail while he was working in McLean, Virginia, 
for the defence contractor Science Applications International. 
In a further twist to the investigation, ABC News reported that Dr Hatfill 
attended a medical school in Zimbabwe where he lived near a school called the 
Greendale elementary school. The bogus return address used by the sender of the 
fatal anthrax letters was also a Greendale school. 
The FBI is thought to have been put under pressure by Barbara Hatch 
Rosenberg, the head of a biological weapons working group at the Federation of 
American Scientists. In a briefing to the US Senate staff last week she claimed 
that the FBI had a "likely suspect" they should have pursued more aggressively. 
Ms Rosenberg was not available for comment yesterday. 
The FBI said that nothing was removed from Dr Hatfill's home and agents are 
said to be annoyed that his name has surfaced. They are anxious to avoid a 
repetition of the investigation into the bombing at the Atlanta Olympics in 
which the security guard initially identified as a suspect turned out to be 
innocent. 
Dr Hatfill, who worked in the virology division of the US army medical 
institute of infectious disease at Fort Detrick, has strenuously denied any 
involvement and volunteered to have his home searched to clear his name. 
He had complained that his career has now been ruined by media inquiries into 
his background which started earlier this year. 
Dr Hatfill was quoted in the press after September 11 saying how easy a 
bio-terrorism attack would be to carry out. 
"I've been in this field for a number of years, working until three in the 
morning, trying to counter this type of weapon of mass destruction, and, sir, my 
career is over at this time," Dr Hatfill told the Baltimore Sun. 
The study commissioned by Dr Hatfill describes placing 2.5 grams of bacillus 
globigii, an anthrax simulant, in a standard business envelope, according to the 
report. 

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian 
Newspapers Limited 2002 
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ROK: A Letter of Protest to Commander, US 2nd Infantry Division [WWW.STOPNATO.OR

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A Letter of Protest to 
Commander, US 2nd Infantry Division
 
Photo: US troops used clubs, water hoses, dogs and other crowd-control 
methods to fight off the marchers. One reporter was almost choked to 
death.  Courtesy - Tongil News and Ohmynews. 


To: Commander, the US 2nd Infantry Division: 
Dear Sir: 
At about 10:40 AM of June 13th, an armored vehicle belonging to your US 2nd 
Infantry Division crushed dead two innocent young girls, Shin Hyo Soon and Sim 
Mi Sun, both residents of Hyochon-ri, Kwangjuk-myon, Yangju-goon, Kyonggi 
Province. 
We believe this incident was not an accident caused by a driver 
mistake.  It was caused by your long-standing practice of safeguarding 
American vehicles at any costs with little respect for the life of the Korean 
people. This practice is an affront to the dignity of the Korean people.  
Your casual attitude regarding this wanton murder of two young Korean girls is 
in line with your practice of disrespect for Korean lives.  
You have completely ignored and suppressed the just demand for accurate facts 
on the incident by the bereaved families and civic groups.   Your 
so-called 'investigation' of the incident made at 8 PM on June 14th was a sham. 
The bereaved families were a mere 30 min of advance notice and the 'result 
reaffirmed' that the driver did nothing wrong.  There was no expression of 
regret or sorrow for the dead teenagers.    
We have some questions for you:  

  "The armored car was moving at a low speed and had ample time to notice 
  the victims walking by the road. Is it true that the driver did not see the 
  girls?" 
  "Why didn't the crew's director order the driver to stop?" 
  "Tracks show that the armored car went off the road. In addition, the 
  victims' bodies show that they were crushed by tracks with dirt off the 
  road.  Yet you claim that the armored car stayed on road." 
At the briefing held on the 19th, the 'joint' US and Korean fact finding team 
evaded these key questions and reiterated your line of "no fault".  This 
briefing was nothing but a sham to whitewash this incident.  It is clear to 
us that your only intent to suppress the facts of this incident and move on as 
business as usual as if nothing has ever happened.   
On June 15th funeral, your officers told the bereaved family members and the 
civil groups that you would meet with them in person at the end of the funeral. 
However, when the funeral was over, your officers about-faced and claimed that 
they had promised no such meeting with you.  We could not but interpret 
this action by your officers as an shameless to speed up the funeral and put it 
behind for fear that the funeral might have triggered incidents unfavorable to 
you.  
At the June 19th briefing, your officers admitted, in an apparent attempt to 
cool down the situation, that you would personally apologize to the victims' 
families and that not only the driver of the death vehicle but also those senior 
officers who had ordered him into an exercise at a place unsuitable for armored 
cars were at fault.  There was no mention of any punishment of the guilty. 
Your officers left the briefing hurriedly even while the victims' families and 
friends were demanding more information. Your officers restricted new coverage 
of the briefing and attempted to silence the voice calling for justice. 
Instead of prosecuting all guilty parties according to your laws, you have 
acknowledged only that the driver was at fault and have nothing about the guilty 
senior officers or what, if any, you plan to do with the guilty.  You say 
you have not received any request for criminal proceedings from the Korean 
Justice Department.  We can hardly suppress our angered at your 
stone-walling actions and inactions for justice.  You are trying to squash 
the dead girls once more with your shameless deep-six attitude. You belittle the 
Korean people and drive stakes through the hearts of the victims. 
Once again, we implore you for justice:  admit your guilt in the death 
of Hyo Soon and Mi Sung and do what is right - be totally responsible for their 
death and come clean. More specifically, we demand: 
1) .You, the commander of the 2nd IF as well as the commander of the US 
troops in Korea and the US ambassador to Korea make a public apology to the 
bereaved families and the Korean people using major news media. 
2) Form a joint fact finding commission with active participation of the 
victims' families and civic groups for the purpose of getting to the truth, 
nothing but truth. 
3) Let the Korean court prosecute not only the guilty driver but also the his 
superiors.   
4) Compensate the victims' families without any further delay. 
5) Erect a memorial for the victims at the site of their death as a gesture 
of your apology. 
6) In order to prevent similar incidents in the future, stop using Hyochon-ri 
and its neighboring roads and close down your training fields n

BBC: Korean ship battle kills four [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Stasi]

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Saturday, 29 June, 2002, 05:08 GMT 06:08 UK 
 


  
  
WATCH/LISTEN
  

  
 ON THIS 
  STORY
  


  


  The BBC's Caroline 
  Gluck
  http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/38105000/rm/_38105613_korea05_gluck_vi.ram"The international media is focused very clearly 
  on South Korea at the moment" 
  
 
Korean ship battle kills 
four
 
Four South Korean sailors have been killed as North and 
South Korean warships exchanged gunfire near the western sea border, South 
Korea's defence ministry said. 
One South Korean sailor is missing and 18 others were injured in the 
20-minute clash near Yeonpyeong island in the Yellow Sea. 


  
  

  The North Korean patrol boat, trailing plumes of smoke, 
  was towed back to the North 
  

  Defence Ministry spokesman Hwang Eui-don 
  One South Korean 
frigate was sunk and a North Korean vessel was towed from the scene in flames, 
defence officials said. 
The incident follows a series of recent reported border violations by North 
Korean vessels. 
Warships 
"One of our frigates caught fire in the cabin," ministry spokesman Hwang 
Eui-don said. 
"The North Korean patrol boat, trailing plumes of smoke, was towed back to 
the North," he added. 


  
  

   
  Two ships between the two sides clashed three 
  years ago
The South's national news agency Yonhap, quoting an unidentified military 
source, said the clash occurred at 1025 (0125 GMT). 
Firing broke out when South Korean navy vessels tried to repel two North 
Korean navy warships that were escorting a number of Northern fishing boats well 
inside South Korean waters, it said. 
Warning signal 
Defence Ministry spokesman Chung Sung-yeop said that a warning signal was 
given and that one of the North Korean warship opened fire first. 
The South Korean Navy ships immediately returned fire, touching off the gun 
battle, he said 
More than 100 nearby fishing boats fled the scene as the violence broke out. 
The BBC's correspondent in Seoul, Caroline Gluck, said that the incident 
marks the lowest point in North - South relations since the historic summit 
between the two sides two years ago. 
Our correspondent says South Korea's authorities are now discussing 
counter-measures in the wake of the gun battle. 
Repeat offenders 
On Friday South Korean officials said that two Northern patrol boats briefly 
crossed the Northern limit line, the de facto but disputed maritime border 
between the two Koreas, before returning to the North. 
They said another patrol boat entered South Korean waters on Thursday. 
Three years ago a series of border violations by North Korean ships sparked 
the first naval clash between the two Koreas since the end of the Korean War in 
1953. 
One North Korean warship sank and about 30 sailors were believed to have 
died. 
Our correspondent says North Korea does not recognise the border which was 
unilaterally imposed by the UN after the Korean 
War.
---
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Re: On St. Vitus Day (by Nebojsa Malic) [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[G.R.]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---

on 29/6/02 00:37, KKE Thessaloniki at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
> ---
> 
> www.action-salonika2003.org

...

Kardasia, thn Ellhnikh polh thne lene Thessaloniki. H Salonika den einai
polh ellhnikh, einai polh allwnw.

Diavaste kai ligo thn istoria ths polhs ;-)

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Xinhua: China Submits New Agreement on Security of Outer Space [WWW.STOPNATO.OR

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---


 



  
  

  

  China Submits New Agreement on Security of Outer Space 
  
  

  

  

  
  Xinhuanet 2002-06-28 
  01:47:06
  

  
  

     GENEVA, June 27 (Xinhuanet) -- The 
  delegations of China and the Russian Federation submitted a draft 
  Legal Agreement on the Prevention of the Deployment of Weapons in 
  Outer Space to the Conference on Disarmament (CD) on 
  Thursday.   This working paper has also won the 
  co-sponsorship of the delegations of Viet Nam, Indonesia, Belarus and 
  Zimbabwe, said Hu Xiaodi, Chinese Ambassador for Disarmament Affairs, 
  said at the Plenary of the 2002 Session of CD on 
  Thursday.   It is learned from the conference that the core 
  of the new legal agreement is "Not to place in orbit around the Earth 
  any objects carrying any kinds of weapons, not to install such 
  weaponson celestial bodies, or not to station such weapons in outer 
  spacein any other manner".   The Chinese Ambassador 
  pointed out at the conference that prevention of the weaponization of 
  and an arm race in outer space has become a pressing task for the 
  entire international community.   Hu said that existing arms 
  control and disarmament agreements related to outer space are far from 
  sufficient in arresting the worrying slide towards the weaponization 
  of and an arms race in outer space, although they have played a 
  positive role in peacefuluse of outer space and regulating relevant 
  activities in outer space.   He said "We believe that 
  only a treaty-based prohibition of thedeployment of weapons in outer 
  space and the prevention of the threat or use of force against outer 
  space objects can eliminate the emerging threat of the weaponization 
  of and an arms race in outer space and ensure the security for outer 
  space assets of all countries." Enditem  

---
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SCMP: US, N. Korea hold talks in New York [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

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---




  
  

  South China Morning 
  Post
  US, N. Korea hold talks in New 
  York 
  

  


  REUTERS in 
Washington
  
  Prev. 
Story | Next 
Story
  

  

  
  
Updated at 9.34am:The United 
  States and North Korea held talks in New York on Thursday about resuming a 
  formal dialogue, a senior US official said. 
  ''Nothing was immediately settled,'' the official said, referring to 
  the outcome of the contacts. 
  
  


  







 Earlier, 
  the official had mistakenly said the meeting would occur on Friday. 
  US envoy Jack Pritchard met Pak Gil-yon, the head of the North Korean 
  mission to the United Nations, in New York two weeks ago to prepare for 
  the next stage of a dialogue proposed by US President George W. Bush and 
  accepted by North Korea. 
  That meeting was to ''confirm that we wanted to talk'' and that the US 
  approach would be on ''a whole game plan,'' the official said. 
  The contacts Thursday in New York focused on more specific details of 
  scheduling the anticipated formal negotiations - the ''who, what and 
  when,'' he said. 
  North Korea had criticized the Bush administration for not moving 
  quickly enough to re-establish dialogue. 
  Secretary of State Colin Powell recently said the United States will 
  hold talks with North Korea this month, and his deputy, Richard Armitage, 
  said Washington wanted to send an official to the North Korean capital. 
  The aim is to renew the high-level dialogue initiated under President 
  Bill Clinton that ended when the Bush administration took office in 
  January 2001. 
  The main issues of interest to the United States are North Korea's 
  missile sales, management of international food aid, conventional military 
  forces along the border with South Korea and compliance with international 
  obligations on nuclear safeguards. 
  Although much of the public speculation has focused on Pritchard going 
  to Pyongyang for the formal resumption of negotiations, it is looking 
  increasingly as if the administration will send a higher-level envoy. 
  ''We never said it would be Pritchard,'' one US official said. 
  Officials said the director of the State Department's office of Korean 
  affairs, a working-level official below Pritchard, attended the Thursday 
  meeting. 
  North Korea indicated months ago that it was interested in resuming the 
  dialogue, even on the tougher terms proposed by the Bush administration. 
  The United States, Japan and South Korea agreed at a meeting in San 
  Francisco last week that they faced a ''critical opportunity'' to improve 
  relations with North Korea, urging comprehensive talks to end its 
  international isolation.
 
---
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Workers Online: Seoul Destroyers [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

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International 
Seoul Destroyers
Compiled by Andrew Casey The rise and rise of the Korean 
national football team in the World Cup competition was more than matched by the 
rise and rise of the number of imprisoned Korean trade unionists. 

  
  
  
 
As voices around the world became soarer and soarer cheering on the Korean 
underdog team the host country's government has used the cover of the World Cup 
championships to arrest and jail another twenty-three trade unionists. 
The latest batch of arrests puts the score for the total number of imprisoned 
trade unionists in that country to 52. 
Just before all the tumult and the shouting dies down union activists around 
the world have held protests and demonstrations in front of Korean consulates to 
tell the Korean government that they have not been able to completely hide their 
anti-worker activity. 
Thursday June 27 had been declared International Day of Action in solidarity 
with Korean workers. 
Key international union groupings such as the Metal Workers Federation, the 
Public Sector International and the Food and Hotel Workers International asked 
affiliates around the world to organise co-ordinated protests on this day. 

In Sydney more than 80 union members - mainly organised by the Australian 
Manufacturing Workers Union - met in front of the Korean Consulate in Martin 
Place where they were addressed by John Parkin of the AMWU, John Robertson from 
the NSW Labor Council and Ian Cohen, Green MP. 
The key role of the AMWU in organising the Sydney rally was appropriate 
because only this week, more than 20 unionists at Korea's largest heavy industry 
firm, Doosan were targeted for arrest, including Kim Chang Keun, the President 
of the Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU) a member of the Korean Metal Workers' 
Federation (KMWF). 
A strike which started at the end of May at Doosan has hit the company hard 
costing it, according to some reports, more than $A400 million in business. 
Because of the strike it has not been able to ship heavy equipment that it 
produced for various overseas projects, including a desalination plant in the 
United Arab Emirates, and for overseas clients, including General Electric of 
the United States. 
Rather than sit down and negotiate, the company has stepped aside and allowed 
union leaders to be targeted by police for beatings and arrest. 
This is a regular industrial tactic in Korea when talks between the company 
and union members collapse riot police are called in to bash protesters and drag 
away key union leaders. 
To avoid the violence union leaders and activists have regularly claimed 
sanctuary in Catholic Cathedrals where the police - in this increasingly 
Christian country - dare not enter. 
From inside the walls of the Cathedral the union leaders seek to negotiate a 
final agreement. 
Union Has Win Setting Up Political Party 
To try to change this confrontational style of industrial relations one of 
Korea's national trade union centres - the militant left-wing KCTU - launched 
earlier this year its own affiliated political party - the Democratic Labor 
Party (DLP). 
In local government elections - just completed - it won a significant base of 
support making it the third largest political grouping in Korea. 
During the June 13 local government elections, the DLP won 8 percent of votes 
nationwide - pushing out some older more traditional parties and marking a new 
milestone in Korean politics. 
Emboldened by the party's performance in the local government elections, the 
best showing by a progressive party in Korean history, the DLP leader Kwon 
Young-ghil announced he wanted to unite all progressive forces against what he 
calls "neo-liberals" in the run-up to the presidential election slated for Dec. 
19. 
Kwon, a former journalist and labour union leader, ran in the 1997 
presidential election as the candidate of People's Victory 21, the predecessor 
of the DLP. At that time his party managed to earn only 1.2 percent of the vote. 

"The election result points to the fact that a growing number of the Korean 
people have begun to regard progressive forces as an alternative to a political 
establishment tainted by corruption scandals and endless partisan struggles," 
Kwon told local media outlets. 
Kwon attributed the success of the DLP to its wide support base among young 
voters, the working class and the underprivileged. 
"The DLP is the nation's first genuine progressive party deeply rooted in 
people of lower social strata and local grassroots organisations," he said. 
The DLP was founded in 2000 as a political alliance of organisations 
representing labourers, farmers and intellectuals, including the militant Korean 
Confederation of Trade Unions. Kwon was a former KCTU chairman. 
The party's calls for socialist policies and dissolution of the chaebol 
conglomerates, has made the new union- created political party a target for 
conser

Xinhua: Iraq Slams Turkey for Extending Mandate for U.S.-British Forces [WWW.STO

[Stasi]

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---


 



  
  

  

  Iraq Slams Turkey for Extending Mandate for U.S.-British 
  Forces
  

  

  

  
  Xinhuanet 2002-06-27 
  19:19:56
  

  
  

  
  BAGHDAD, June 27 (Xinhuanet) -- Iraq on Thursday blasted a 
  decisionmade by the Turkish parliament earlier this month to extend the 
  mandate for U.S.-Britain warplanes to continue to use its base to enforce 
  the no-fly zone in northern Iraq. 
  "Iraq denounces the Turkish decision, through which the United 
  States and Britain have kept on their aggressions against Iraq," anIraqi 
  Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by theofficial 
  Iraqi News Agency (INA). 
  The spokesman said that the decision by the Turkish parliament 
  "contradicts its deeds to enhance the good terms between the two 
  neighboring countries." 
  "Iraq holds Turkey wholly responsible for aggressions that may 
  inflict more harm on the Iraqi people," the spokesman added. 
  Iraq has repeatedly condemned Turkey's extension of the mandate of 
  the U.S.-British planes in its territory as a violation of the United 
  Nations Charter, the international law and norms of good neighborhood. 
  The Turkish parliament on June 18 extended the mandate of joint 
  U.S.-British forces in the Muslim country for another six months, starting 
  from June 30. 
  Turkey has been hosting U.S.-British planes to monitor Iraq's 
  northern no-fly zone, set up by the U.S.-led Western coalition in the wake 
  of the 1991 Gulf War with the claimed aim of protecting the Kurds in 
  northern Iraq from the persecution of the Iraqi government. 
  A similar air exclusion zone was also set up in southern Iraq 
  toprotect the Shiite Muslims there. 
  Iraq does not recognize the two no-fly zones for lack of clear 
  authorization by the U.N. Security Council and has regularly fired at 
  Western planes patrolling the two air exclusion zones. Enditem 
   
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Xinhua: China, U.S. to Further Military Relations [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

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---


 



  
  

  China, U.S. to Further Military 
  Relations
  

  

  

  
  Xinhuanet 2002-06-27 
  18:18:37
  

  
  

  
  BEIJING, June 27 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese Defense Minister Chi 
  Haotian said Thursday that China is ready to make joint efforts with the 
  U.S. to improve military relations. 
  He stated this during a meeting with Peter W. Rodman, 
  assistantsecretary of the U.S. defense department. Rodman also expressed 
  the same view on bilateral military relations. 
  "The U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has dispatched me 
  here to explore ways to promote relations between the two armedforces," 
  Rodman said. 
  Rodman is the highest U.S. defense official to visit China since 
  the collision between a U.S. surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter 
  plane last April. 
  Sino-U.S. military relations have had their ups and downs over the 
  past two years and Chi said that the U.S. should take full responsibility 
  for the twists and turns in bilateral ties. 
  "We hope that the two sides will pay full consideration to the 
  development of Sino-U.S. military relations and develop military 
  cooperation on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and trust," he added. 

  This year, the Chinese and the U.S. presidents have met twice in 
  four months, reached consensus on developing constructive and cooperative 
  relations, and given their support to the developmentof military 
  relations. 
  Earlier this year, Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao visited 
  theU.S., and reached common ground with Rumsfeld on improving 
  contactbetween the two armed forces. 
  Chi said that China and the U.S. are both influential countriesand 
  both shoulder responsibility for world peace and human development, and 
  therefore developing stable and healthy Sino-U.S.relations would be in the 
  interest of the peoples of the two countries. 
  He said that Chinese military values its relations with its 
  U.S.counterpart, and over two decades of contact between the two 
  armedforces have promoted mutual understanding, reduced the differencesand 
  mistrust, improved their friendship, and pushed forward relations between 
  the two countries. 
  During the meeting, Chi, also vice chairman of the Central Military 
  Commission and a state councilor, reaffirmed the Chinese government's 
  stance on the Taiwan issue, the most important and sensitive issue in 
  Sino-U.S. relations. 
  He said that China will settle the Taiwan issue according to 
  "peaceful reunification, one country and two systems," and the eight 
  proposals raised by President Jiang Zemin, and China's stance on the issue 
  is unambiguous and consistent. 
  He stressed that the Taiwan issue relates to Chinese territorial 
  integrity, and China hopes that the U.S. will conscientiously observe the 
  three Sino-U.S. joint communiques, adhere to the one-China policy and 
  handle the Taiwan issue correctly so as to play a constructive role in 
  promoting peaceful reunification. 
  Chi expressed appreciation for the reiteration by the U.S. defense 
  department on one-China policy and on its not supporting Taiwan's 
  independence. 
  Rodman arrived in Beijing Tuesday evening, and Xiong Guangkai, 
  deputy chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, 
  and Li Zhaoxing, vice foreign minister met with him Wednesday. Zhan 
  Maohai, director of the foreign affairs officeof the national defense 
  ministry, also held talks with him. 
  Rodman said that his talks with the Chinese side are "frank" and 
  "constructive". 
  He said that relations between the U.S. and China are important,and 
  the U.S. hopes to further improve the military relations with China. 
  Enditem 
---
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SCMP: Chinese Fighters in near-miss with American spy plane [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK

[Stasi]

HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
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South China Morning Post
 


  
  
Fighter jets in 
  near-miss with American spy plane
  

  


  JASON 
BLATT
  
  Prev. 
Story | Next 
Story
  

  

  

  


  A 
pair of Chinese fighter jets narrowly missed colliding with a US 
navy spy plane off the northern coast of Taiwan, the Washington 
Times reported yesterday. 
Citing unnamed US officials "familiar with intelligence reports 
of the incident", the newspaper said two Jian-7 fighter jets came 
within 45 metres of a US navy P-3 surveillance aircraft that was 
collecting intelligence of large-scale Chinese military manoeuvres 
being held across from Taiwan on Monday. 


  
  

  

  

  

  
   While 
the officials were said to be "troubled" by Chinese fighter jets 
coming ever closer to US spy planes, one official said pilots had 
remained "professional and non-threatening" in Monday's incident. 
The fighters apparently flew close to the P-3 plane for "a period 
of minutes". It was the closest Chinese jets had come to US spy 
planes since the collision between a US spy plane and Chinese 
fighter jet off Hainan Island in April last year. 
While the newspaper is known for its links to right-wing 
officials critical of China, yesterday's report cited Pentagon 
spokesman navy Lieutenant-Commander Jeff Davis as saying that while 
Chinese intercepts were again routine, there had been "an 
improvement" in the way Chinese fighters approached US aircraft. 

 
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