[Peace-discuss] News notes 030112

[C. G. Estabrook]

        Notes on the week's news
        from the "War on Terrorism"
        for the AWARE meeting,
        Sunday, January 12, 2003

[1] OH, SHUCKS.  U.N. weapons inspectors have not found any smoking guns
in Iraq during their search for weapons of mass destruction, the chief
U.N. weapons inspector said Thursday.  "We have now been there for some
two months and been covering the country in ever wider sweeps and we
haven't found any smoking guns," Hans Blix told reporters at the United
Nations.  Blix and his counterpart Mohamed ElBaradei, who heads the
International Atomic Energy Agency, briefed Security Council Thursday on
their assessments of Iraq's 12,000-page weapons declaration. [AP]

[2] NEVER MIND. On Thursday the Times (UK) reported that DONALD RUMSFELD,
the US Defence Secretary, has suggested that Washington may present little
or no evidence of Iraq's quest for banned weapons even if President Bush
decides to go to war.  Mr Rumsfeld said that disclosing such details to
the world or even to the United Nations Security Council could jeopardise
any military mission by revealing to Baghdad what the United States knows.

[3] AND YOU'RE ONE IF THE PRESIDENT SAYS YOU ARE. U.S. citizens overseas
who take up arms against their country can be held as enemy combatants
without the constitutional rights afforded other Americans, a federal
appeals court ruled Wednesday. The decision by a three-judge panel of the
4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond VA affirms President Bush's
authority to detain indefinitely American citizens [whom he designates as
"enemy combatants"]. But the ruling stopped short of approving those same
powers over American citizens arrested on U.S. soil, which legal experts
said leaves a major question for future courts to settle.  "They have
substantially cooled what has been a legal hot potato," said Michael
Greenberger, a former senior Justice official under President Clinton and
director of the University of Maryland's Center for Health and Homeland
Security [sic]. The appeals decision overturned a lower court's ruling
that 22-year-old Yaser Esam Hamdi, a Louisiana native captured last year
in Afghanistan, must see the government's evidence supporting its claims
that he fought with al-Qaida and Taliban forces against the United
States.Courts, the judges ruled, must be "highly deferential" to the
government's prosecution of battle during wartime, even an unconventional
war such as that against global terrorism. Hamdi, they added, is being
held under "well-established laws and customs of war ... the fact that he
is a citizen does not affect the legality of his detention as an enemy
combatan." ... Constitutional activists, however, called the decision an
abdication of the judicial system's duties to protect the rights of U.S.
citizens. Some compared it to the decisions upholding internment of
Japanese-Americans during World War II, when the government was given
broad latitude and later was forced to apologize ... the court's rejected
arguments that Hamdi should be treated either as a prisoner of war,
subject to rights under the Geneva Convention, or prosecuted for crimes
using traditional methods ... According to the government, Hamdi was
captured in Afghanistan in November 2001 after his Taliban unit was
overrun by Northern Alliance forces. He was at the prison uprising in
Mazar-e-Sharif -- where fellow U.S. citizen John Walker Lindh was captured
- and later transported with hundreds of others to a prison at the U.S.
Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He was transferred to the naval brig in
Norfolk, Va., after it was discovered that Hamdi had been born in
Louisiana to Saudi parents ... The appeals court in Richmond VA agreed
that the case raises serious questions about the rights of citizens but
concluded that, in wartime, the government's authority is supreme in
deciding who may be held indefinitely. Hamdi was "squarely within the zone
of active combat" when captured and was in possession of an AK-47 rifle,
the judges said. They added that courts have only limited authority to
intervene in such national security matters. "Any effort to ascertain the
facts concerning the petitioner's conduct while amongst the nation's
enemies would entail an unacceptable risk of obstructing war efforts
authorized by Congress and undertaken by the executive branch," the
54-page opinion said ... The three circuit judges who unanimously decided
the Hamdi case were James Harvie Wilkinson III and William W. Wilkins,
both appointed by President Reagan, and William B. Traxler, who was
appointed by President Clinton.

[4] TRANSFERRING WEALTH FROM POOR TO THE RICH. President Bush unveiled his
$674 billion tax cut plan Tuesday. He called for the acceleration of
across the board tax cuts and a $400-per-child increase in tax credits for
families with children. The centerpiece of his plan is the scrapping of
taxes investors pay on dividends. The White House claims 92 million
Americans would gain an average tax cut this year of around $1,000 under
the plan. But even Democrats attack the proposal as a windfall for the
wealthy. Reuters reports Vice President Dick Cheney would have saved over
one hundred thousand dollars in 2001 under the plan. (Cheney himself is
expected to promote the proposal in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce on Friday.) President Bush would have saved $16,000. The Los
Angeles Times reports the huge tax cuts could reshape the federal
government's role in society as profoundly as the tax and spending plans
President Reagan drove into law more than 20 years ago. By proposing
nearly $700 billion in additional tax cuts when the government is already
facing large budget deficits and projecting steady increases in military
spending, Bush has laid out a fiscal blueprint that could constrict
spending for years to come on social programs. The New York Times reports
Bush's proposal is raising alarm among state and local officials. Budget
experts say scrapping taxation of corporate dividends will cost state and
local governments tens of millions of dollars a year. States are already
facing their largest shortfall in half a century, as much as $85 million
for 2004. [DN]

[5] REAGAN WAR ON THE POOR, AGAIN. The Tax Policy Center calculates the
wealthiest 1 percent of all taxpayers will receive 42 percent of the
savings from making dividends to shareholders tax-free. Bush's
announcement comes on the heels of reports that he is seeking to freeze
all domestic spending programs except for Homeland Security. White House
officials say the spending cap on welfare, the environment, job creation
and other government programs is needed to put the budget on a war
footing. [DN]

[6] WHAT WE'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR. The United Nations is predicting that
there will be as many as half a million Iraqi casualties in the early
stages of a war on Iraq. The total includes some 100,000 expected to be
injured as a direct result of combat and a further 400,000 wounded as an
indirect result of the devastation. The confidential U.N. assessment was
drafted a month ago. The U.N. staff has been quietly planning for months
how to cope with the humanitarian fallout from a conflict in Iraq. In
addition, the UN predicts U.S. war against Iraq would cause 2 million
Iraqis to become refugees and a total of 10 million would be put at risk
of hunger and disease. The impact of a U.S. invasion in Iraq would likely
be far worse than the humanitarian crisis caused by the Gulf War in 1991.
A decade of U.N. sanctions has made the Iraqi population almost totally
dependent on government handouts for survival. [DN]

[7] A USEFUL ANTI-WAR TACTIC? Rep. Charles Rangel introduced a bill in
Congress Tuesday to reinstate the military draft. The New York Democrat
says his goal is two-fold: to ensure that America's fighting forces more
closely match the class and racial makeup of the nation. And to help
people think more personally about the consequences of going to war. As he
wrote in a The New York Times op-ed last week, "I believe that if those
calling for war knew that their children were likely to be required to
serve -­ and to be placed in harm's way -­ there would be more caution and
a greater willingness to work with the international community in dealing
with Iraq." Almost no member of Congress has a son or daughter in the
military. Most recent presidential candidates from the Vietnam generation
managed to avoid the draft. President George W. Bush sat out the war with
the Texas Air National Guard. [NYT]

[8] MEANWHILE, THE WORLD IS BEING ORGANIZED FOR THE RICH. The Bush
administration officially opened negotiations Wednesday to create a free
trade agreement with five Central American countries within a year, a big
leap in its ambitious plans for a Nafta-like zone throughout the Western
Hemisphere ... It gives the United States trade representative, Robert B.
Zoellick, chief responsibility for promoting improved American relations
in the region at a time much of the administration is focused on Iraq and
terrorism ... And the initiative intensifies competition between
Washington and the European Union for access to the Latin American market,
where Europe is the second-largest trading partner after the United
States. European officials in Brussels have taken note of Mr. Zoellick's
Latin American push since Congress granted trade promotion authority ·once
called fast track ·to President Bush in August. And now the Europeans are
working to complete negotiations for a similar free trade agreement with
Mercosur, the world's third-largest trade group, comprising Argentina,
Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay as well as Bolivia and Chile as associate
members ... At the beginning of the month, Brazilian officials were
insulted when Mr. Zoellick led the American delegation to the inauguration
of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, leader of the leftist Workers
Party. Not only was he considered too junior, but he has been held in some
disdain for warning Brazil that it would be reduced to exporting to
Antarctica if it failed to join in the Americas trade pact.

[9] RESISTANCE IN THE UK.  Two train drivers refused to move a freight
train carrying ammunition believed to be destined for British forces being
deployed in the Gulf. Railway managers cancelled the Ministry of Defense
service after the crewmen, described as "conscientious objectors" by a
supporter, said they opposed Tony Blair's threat to attack Iraq. The
anti-war revolt is the first such industrial action by workers for decades
[GUARDIAN]

[10] WHAT'S THE REASON FOR THIS WAR? Bush administration officials are
seriously considering proposals that the United States tap Iraq's oil to
help pay the cost of a military occupation, a move that likely would prove
highly inflammatory in an Arab world already suspicious of U.S. motives in
Iraq ... there are strong advocates inside the administration, including
the White House, for appropriating the oil funds as "spoils of war" ...  
Another source who has worked closely with the office of Vice President
Dick Cheney said that a number of officials there too are urging that
Iraq's oil funds be used to defray the cost of occupation. [NEWSDAY]

[11] AND WAR IS USEFUL FOR OTHER THINGS, TOO. The head of the
Transportation Security Administration moved to block attempts to unionize
as many as 56,000 airport screeners, saying granting them collective
bargaining rights could jeopardize national security. [WP]

[12] RESISTANCE IN THE US. San Francisco, long a stronghold of the
Democratic Party, got a jolt Wednesday when Green Party candidate Matt
Gonzalez made history by landing the powerful post of Board of Supervisors
president. [SF CHRONICLE]

[13] THE PEOPLE'S REPRESENTATIVES.  Republicans opened loopholes in the
House gift ban yesterday that will allow lobbyists to send them lobster,
caviar, prime steaks -- as well as more modest fare. Buried in the package
of rules for the new Congress is one that permits supporters to reward
lawmakers generously with catered meals worth thousands of dollars
delivered to their Capitol Hill offices. Lobbyists and supporters still
may not take Congress members out to a lunch or dinner costing more than
$50, but a group such as the National Restaurant Association could feed
the staff of the Ways and Means Committee filet mignon dinners every night
they worked on a bill with a minimum wage provision or other issue of
interest to them. One House aide described the change as a "loophole you
can drive a truck through." [HILL]

[14] NK REACTS TO US CONTEMPT. Friday N Korea announced that it is
withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, effective
immediately "The nonproliferation treaty is being used as a tool for
implementing the hostile U.S. policy toward [North Korea] aimed to disarm
it and destroy its system by force," read a statement released by
government-controlled media outlets in North Korea. The LAT lead reports
that Pyongyang's position is that it already gave 90 days advance warning
when it made similar noises about exiting the NPT in 1993. Without the
treaty, North Korea has no obligation under international law to admit
weapons inspectors. Israel, India and Pakistan, all of whom are thought to
have nuclear capabilities, never signed on to the 1985 treaty. Owing to
heavy-handed Soviet influence, North Korea did -- and has been grumbling
about it ever since. For the record, the official statement from the North
Korean government -- as quoted in the NYT -- disavowed the use of nuclear
weapons: "We have no intention to produce nuclear weapons and our nuclear
activities at this stage will be confined only to peaceful purposes such
as the production of electricity." A late-breaking story from the WP says
the North Korean government has let it be known that it might change its
mind about the NPT if the United States agreed to resume oil shipments.
The shipments were stopped last October, as part of the U.S. reaction to
the discovery that Pyongyang had resumed the production of nuclear
materials. [SLATE]

[15] THE PEOPLE'S REPRESENTATIVES (II).  At the first meeting of the
President's new accounting board, six months after it was established in
response to corporate scandals, the body charged with ensuring the
integrity of the accounting profession voted each member an annual salary
of $452K per year, "$52,000 more than the pay of the President." [NYT]

[16] PROFILING.  Friday was the deadline for immigrants, in the U.S.
legally, to register with the Federal Government.  During this
"registration" they face intense interrogation, fingerprinting and
photographing.  Finally, it is only for males between 16-45 from 19
countries where Al Queda may operate.

[17] ISRAELI GOVERNMENT'S POLICY. Since the last suicide bombing on
November 21, escalating Israeli military assaults have killed over sixty
Palestinian civilians, culminating in the December 26 wave of killing and
abductions, in which Israeli occupying forces killed at least nine
Palestinians, injured more than 30 and abducted several others.  On that
day alone, Israeli execution squads assassinated three prominent members
from three different militant Palestinian groups ... As if on cue, the
horrific double suicide bombing near the old Tel Aviv bus station took
place within two weeks of these assassinations and reports have now
confirmed that the bombers were members of the Al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigades.
Twenty two Israeli's and foreign workers were killed and a hundred more
injured. Any observer with elementary skills in discerning cause and
effect could see this latest suicide bombing atrocity coming. In fact, the
vast majority of the nearly 100 Palestinian suicide bombings since they
began in 1994 have followed an almost predictable sequence: Israeli
attacks that cause major Palestinian civilian casualties or Israeli
assassinations of important militant leaders are the most common trigger
leading to suicide bombing cycles ... Israel could easily refrain from
actions that kill Palestinian civilians and could suspend the
assassination campaign of militants. It could also lift the deadly curfews
that have created a major humanitarian crisis in many parts of the West
Bank and Gaza Strip ... However, none of this will happen for the simple
reason that Ariel Sharon's entire political career has been based on his
long-standing opposition to a viable Palestinian state in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip and his relentless support for colonizing these lands with
Israeli settlements. Suicide bombings have become a crucial pretext for
enabling the brute force and violence needed to achieve this objective. In
a scathing August 2, 2002 editorial in Israel's prestigious Ha'aretz
newspaper, Doron Rosenblum declared that "In short, any four-year-old
child who examined this pattern of events would conclude that this
government, whether consciously or not, is simply not interested in the
cessation of the terrorist attacks, for they constitute its raison
d'etre". [COUNTERPUNCH.ORG]

[18] AND FINALLY, A GOVERNOR DOES SOMETHING RIGHT. Saying the death
penalty system was broken, the governor of Illinois granted clemency to
more than 150 death row inmates on Saturday, a move unprecedented since
capital punishment was reinstated and likely to inflame a national death
penalty debate ... Democrat Rod Blagojevich, who takes over as governor on
Monday, criticized Ryan's decision. "A blanket anything is usually wrong,"
he said. "There is no one-size-fits-all approach. We're talking about
people who committed murder." On Friday Ryan pardoned four men convicted
of murder, saying confessions were tortured out of them by police in
Chicago ... Sen. Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, called for a
national review of the death penalty and a moratorium on executions.
Illinois is one of 38 states with death penalty laws. The federal
government also has reinstated the death penalty and carried out its first
two executions of the modern era last year. A commission Ryan created to
review the Illinois system found the poor were at a disadvantage, too many
crimes drew the death penalty and police abuse and jailhouse informants
too often resulted in capital convictions. The United States is the only
Western democracy in which the death penalty is still used. The punishment
has been abolished by its closest neighbors and allies, who routinely
denounce the practice in the United States. From 1976 when capital
punishment was reinstated through the end of 2002 there have been 820 U.S.
executions, 71 of them last year. There are nearly 3,700 men and women
under death sentence in the United States currently. [REUTERS]

  ==============================================================
  Carl Estabrook, Ph.D., Visiting Scholar
  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign [MC-190]
  109 Observatory, 901 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana IL 61801 USA
  office: 217.244.4105 mobile: 217.369.5471 home: 217.359.9466
  <www.carlforcongress.org>
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