[Peace] News notes, Mar. 17 (part 1 of 2)

[C. G. Estabrook]

NOTES ON THIS WEEK'S "WAR ON TERRORISM" FOR AWARE MEETING 2002.03.17

[This week's notes are followed by two columns, both on what's going on
beneath the cover of the War on Terrorism, the first on the Bush
administration's domestic policy, the second on the misleading language in
which the media present events in the Middle East.  As usual, comments in
caps are mine throughout.  Regards, Carl]

Noam Chomsky, on the effect of September 11: "One instantaneous reaction
to Sept. 11, predictable and instantaneous, is that every harsh,
repressive force in the world, virtually, regarded it as a window of
opportunity to pursue their own agenda. So in, say, Russia, it meant
stepping up their atrocities in Chechnya. In Turkey, it meant increasing
repression against freedom of speech, particularly against the Kurdish
population, and in Israel it meant sending tanks into refugee camps. In
the United States, Britain, India, and other such democracies, it means
increasing efforts to control the domestic population. The elite groups in
the political system, the economic system, and the ideological system
despise democracy, for perfectly good reasons: they want to control
things. They don't want the people to be involved. So, if they can find
ways to marginalize the public and to protect state power from public
scrutiny, they'll naturally use those methods, and the Bush administration
is using them." [ZNET 20020308]

**SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2002

THEY SAID THEY WERE GOING TO DO IT, AND THEY HAVE. "Since Sept. 11, the
U.S. government has secretly transported dozens of people suspected of
links to terrorists to countries other than the United States, bypassing
extradition procedures and legal formalities, according to Western
diplomats and intelligence sources. The suspects have been taken to
countries, including Egypt and Jordan, whose intelligence services have
close ties to the CIA and where they can be subjected to interrogation
tactics -- including torture and threats to families -- that are illegal
in the United States, the sources said. In some cases, U.S. intelligence
agents remain closely involved in the interrogation, the sources said."
[WASH POST]

THE ANTI-CORPORATE MOVEMENT IN EUROPE. Some 100,000 trade unionists filled
the streets of Barcelona calling for a "social Europe" in a protest called
ahead of this weekend's EU summit in the Catalan capital, police and
organizers said. Demonstrators marched behind a banner demanding full
employment and social rights in the European Union, in a protest called by
the Confederation of European Trade Unions, with representatives from
across the 15-member body . . . The snaking demonstration was dominated by
the red flags of Spanish and French left-wing trade unions as it left the
city center . . . Italy's conservative prime minister Silvio Berlusconi,
whose government announced plans to make it easier for employers to lay
off workers, dismissed the protesters as "professional globetrotters" in
search of a reason to party. [AFP]

ANTI-CORPORATE AND ANTI-COLONIAL. Tens of thousands of people marched in
Rome on Saturday to call for the creation of a Palestinian state and
express solidarity with the Palestinian people. The protest - organized by
the Democratic Left, the Green party and anti-globalization groups -
brought traffic in central Rome to a standstill, as demonstrators marched
in intermittent rain. Organizers said some 50,000 people participated in
the three-kilometer march along the Italian capital's main thoroughfares.
[AFP]

THE POETS ALWAYS GET THERE FIRST. A Dutch academic has in the "aftermath
of Sept. 11 been struck by the similarity to George Orwell's "1984" -- in
which a never-ending, faraway war against ever-changing enemies serves as
a rationale for political and social repression? ... There was no genuine
war after Sept. 11 -- there could not have been ... A huge crime was
committed, the biggest mass murder ever seen directly by hundreds of
millions all over the globe. A vast police action, backed by emergency
powers, to uncover and destroy any network of the guilty -- an action
primarily to prevent a recurrence -- would be a rational, responsible
strategy ... All those who still applaud new steps in the "war strategy"
will have to come to terms with the fact that, while the regimes of Iraq
and North Korea are truly evil, any comparison to the threat of the Axis
powers who menaced the civilized world during World War II is the product
of minds that have lost themselves in political opportunism of unspeakable
indecency ... They should remember that the regime in Orwell's dystopia
kept the people meek with slogans like "Ignorance is strength." The world
can only hope that the vast majority of decent Americans will save the
political system of their country ... The rest of us can only hope, for
all of us, that when this awakening comes, Americans will sober up to a
point at which they can undo the developments that have made the current
situation possible. Otherwise, the legal and security measures taken in
recent months may change the United States into a country that its
admirers no longer recognize. To prevent further decay, they must regain
the power they have lost to special interests that have labored to obscure
the true national public interest. They must quell the power of those on
the religious right, whose personal insecurities and fear of their lack of
control over social realities have led to a pervasive inchoate hatred.
They must reverse the policies that have led to a massive transfer of
wealth from the middle class to a minuscule moneyed elite, an elite that
has lost all justification for its claims to be an aristocracy of skill,
good judgment and concern for the public good. They must realize how their
transnational business bureaucracies, their public officials, their
journalists and their professors have promoted a version of capitalism
that is, inadvertently, deepening poverty and heightening social
dislocation among the least advantaged in the world. If Americans can do
this, they might then join Europeans and others in reversing gears and
striving to seize the genuine opportunity that was created when the Berlin
Wall came down -- an opportunity to build a more equitable, more peaceful
and more humanly rewarding global civilization ... Many Europeans and, as
I know for sure from numerous conversations, many Japanese and other
Asians, want to say: Americans, please draw back from the abyss that
demagoguery has opened up before you, and come back to the world of shared
concerns -- a humane world we have been working on, notwithstanding tragic
lapses, at least since the Enlightenment. Come back and help re-create a
world in which a phrase like Bush's "values dear to our hearts" still has
meaning. An improved global order cannot come about if the label of
"anti-American" is automatically and unthinkingly slapped on any serious
analysis of antidemocratic trends, of political excesses and abuse when,
as so often happens, the United States provides the clearest examples.
Cries of "anti-American" amount to intimidation, as do the labels
"leftist" and "bleeding-heart liberal" thrown at those whose conscience
and intelligence drive them to rethink political purpose amid their
country's technocracy and corrupted media. [NYT]

**MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2002

STRANGELOVE IN DC. The "leak" of the US nuclear hit list continues to
cause consternation, particularly abroad. Speaking on a Sunday news
program, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice said that Bush wants
to "put the world on notice that the status quo with Saddam Hussein is
unacceptable." The plans are meant "to send a very strong signal to anyone
who might try to use weapons of mass destruction against the United
States," said Rice -- implicitly admitting that the White House purposely
leaked the plans? After all, the plans were supposed to be secret. How
were they going to send a signal if they stayed that way? [SLATE]

BUSH DOES HIS COLORS, MAKES HARD DECISIONS. Next week the White House is
planning to announce a [color-coded] threat-warning system designed to
warn the public and help guard against future terrorist attacks. Starting
with green - the most relaxed status - the system assigns blue, yellow,
orange and red as the danger increases, and offers guidelines for how to
respond to each level. When U.S. intelligence receives reliable
information about a new threat, Director Tom Ridge's Homeland Security
Council will huddle to determine which color fits the situation ... White
was once considered a possible warning color, but last Thursday Bush
discarded the designation as too neutral and confusing. [TIME.COM]

TERRORISM. Sharon emphasizes that Israel will keep up its attacks against
terrorists. Israeli soldiers have invaded a refugee camp near Bethlehem.
"There was no word on casualties. In recent assaults on refugee camps,
Israeli forces have blocked ambulances from reaching the wounded." [WASH
POST] Israel launched a major raid in the Gaza Strip late Monday.
Palestinians said at least 11 people were killed in a raid on the Jabalya
refugee camp. [MSNBC]

**TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2002

SEE CHOMSKY COMMENT ABOVE. Israeli forces killed 29 Palestinians in a
fierce new military offensive on Tuesday and launched the biggest tank
raid in 17 months of conflict on the eve of a U.S. envoy's truce mission.
Gunmen killed six Israelis in a shooting attack in northern Israel near
the border with Lebanon ... The attack on a bus and cars in the Galilee
region raised the specter of a new front opening in the conflict. The
identity of the attackers could not be immediately confirmed. Witnesses
said 150 tanks thrust overnight into Ramallah, the West Bank headquarters
of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, and nearby refugee camps in the
largest show of force since a Palestinian uprising erupted in September
2000. In Ramallah's main square, angry Palestinians strung up the corpse
of an alleged collaborator with the Israelis. The young man, blood
staining his face and bare chest, dangled upside down by his feet from a
metal pylon. Heavy shooting broke out in some parts of the city of more
than 200,000, and Israeli helicopter gunships opened fire on the al-Am'ari
refugee camp on the city's outskirts. Israeli troops killed at least 25
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and four in the West Bank. Two gunmen
killed in the Galilee attack and an Israeli shot dead in the West Bank
took to 38 the total killed on both sides in less than 24 hours. The army
said its assaults were intended to root out militants, but Palestinians
accused Israel of trying to reoccupy the entire West Bank and Gaza Strip
and sabotage Zinni's visit, which is expected to start Thursday.
Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites)'s son, Omri, had told the
Palestinians that Israel would reoccupy Ramallah but not attack Arafat's
office, where tanks sat some 20 meters (yards) away. "This is a major
offensive aimed at reoccupying the West Bank and Gaza Strip," Abed Rabbo
said. "Sending Zinni to the region was a maneuver because we believe the
United States was informed of Sharon's major offensive and intentions" ...
Ramallah, just north of Jerusalem, is a major commercial hub and the seat
of Palestinian power in the West Bank. Shooting erupted as Israeli troops
entered the edges of the al-Am'ari refugee camp in Ramallah. In an unusual
call, the Palestinian leadership urged residents to resist attempts to
round up men and interrogate them to seek out militants ... In the Gaza
Strip, four of the Palestinians who were killed died in an attempted raid
on a Jewish settlement. Three were killed in a missile strike on a
metal-working factory, Palestinian hospital officials and witnesses said.
Earlier, tanks and troops backed by helicopter gunships had battled into
Jabalya refugee camp near Gaza City late Monday, sparking fighting that
left hospitals barely able to cope. People ran screaming for cover down
the camp's many alleys and ambulance sirens wailed as the tanks surged
forward. Hospital sources said 17 people were killed, at least eight of
them gunmen, and 50 injured in the densely populated camp of about 90,000
people before the tanks withdrew four hours later. Witnesses said the
soldiers blew up three foundries and two adjacent homes. An Israeli
military source said at least one of the foundries had been used by the
Hamas militant group to make short-range Qassam rockets. In the central
Gaza Strip, the Israeli navy struck overnight at targets near Deir
al-Balah town. Palestinian security sources said one man died. The
Israelis have repeatedly raided refugee camps for the past two weeks in
what they call sweeps of "bastions of terror." More than 1,000
Palestinians and almost 350 Israelis have been killed since the uprising
began after peace talks stalled. [REUTERS]

BOTH SIDES OF HIS MOUTH? Vice-President Cheney was in London on the first
stage of a hectic 10-day tour of 12 nations to discuss the war in
Afghanistan, the Israeli- Palestinian conflict and possible action against
Iraq. Exactly six months since the 11 September atrocities, the symbolism
of such a senior US politician standing literally shoulder to shoulder
with Mr Blair as they contemplated the "second phase" of the war on
terrorism was wholly intended. The heavy security that surrounded the
Vice-President's visit, marked by the constant buzz of helicopters
overhead and bodyguards with bulky overcoats on the ground, certainly
formed an appropriate backdrop. For a man who is used to the mangled
syntax of George Bush, it was perhaps fitting that the Vice-President was
greeted by John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, before his meeting
with Mr Blair. Downing Street said that Mr Prescott discussed the Kyoto
treaty on climate change with his opposite number, although given that one
of President Bush's first decisions was to pull out of the agreement,
quite what their discussions involved remains unclear. John Nance Garner,
FDR's deputy, famously said the vice-presidency "isn't worth a pitcher of
warm piss". History does not yet record whether Mr Prescott views his own
job in a similar vein, but the comment clearly does not apply to the
undeniably powerful Mr Cheney. A right-winger, he has served under three
presidents in a variety of jobs, ranging from chief of staff to Gerald
Ford to Defence Secretary under George Bush senior. Given Mr Cheney's four
heart attacks, or "episodes" as the White House prefers to call them, it
is ironic that he is described as a heartbeat away from the Presidency.
Vice-President Cheney is undoubtedly no stranger to military action,
having played a key role in the Gulf War in encouraging the President to
"draw a line in the sand" over which Saddam Hussein could be shoved. With
President Saddam still firmly entrenched in power, many believe that he,
with Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary, is whispering in the
President's ear that now is the time to finish the job his father began.
During his half-hour formal meeting and hour-long working lunch, the
Vice-President discussed with Mr Blair the tactics needed to dismantle the
Iraqi dictator's weapons of mass destruction. A quietly spoken man, Mr
Cheney proved his reputation as a skilled back-room operator rather than a
political showman with a series of deadpan answers to reporters'
questions. Speaking in the equally understated Pillared Room overlooking
Horseguards Parade, he said it was "inappropriate" to link the Middle East
peace process with the war on terrorism. America's tariffs against British
steel were "not without controversy", he added. As if to underline his
reputation as the President's ventriloquist, Mr Cheney displayed an
unnerving habit of talking out of the side of his mouth as he tried to
play down reports of the US considering nuclear strikes against Iran and
Iraq. [INDEPENDENT UK]

KEEPING THE MEDIA IN LINE. Israeli forces fired for 10 to 15 minutes from
tank-mounted machine guns on a hotel where journalists were photographing
armor targeting the al-Amari refugee camp early Tuesday. No one was
injured in the shooting, which sprayed the glass-enclosed stairwell and
nearby rooms where about 40 journalists were working. An ABC television
camera left running on a tripod when the journalists took cover was hit by
seven bullets - one directly in the lens. The army said the tanks were
returning fire from a gunman located somewhere on the upper floors of the
hotel and that they were unaware journalists were working from the
building. ``It was dark,'' a spokesperson said. An investigation was
continuing, the army said. The reporters said there were no gunmen in the
four-story New City Inn, where about 40 television and photo journalists
covering the army assault on al-Amari were working from the upper floors.
``If there is a gunman, I would not stay in the building for one minute,''
said ABC television news producer Nasser Atta, who has 13 years experience
covering conflicts in the Middle East. The journalists, working mostly for
U.S. and European media outlets, had chosen the hotel some 300-400 yards
from the camp's perimeter because it was well-situated to observe the army
assault without being caught in the cross fire, Atta said. All the rooms
were occupied by journalists, except for four rented to a Swedish company,
he said. He said the tanks earlier had driven by the hotel parking lot
containing about 20 media vehicles clearly marked with large lettering.
The journalists recorded the assault on the camp undisturbed for about 40
minutes before a two tanks turned and opened fire from machine guns
without warning about 3 a.m. The army surrounded the al-Amari camp in
Ramallah as part of raids on several Palestinian towns and refugee camps
in recent days aimed at detaining militants and seizing weapons. ``The
minute the first round hit, we just all hit the ground,'' Atta said. ``It
was a terrifying experience. We did not expect it.'' The fire shattered
glass in the stairwell and adjoining rooms, damaging walls and furniture
and bursting a water pipe, Atta said. The firing stopped after the
journalists contacted the army to inform officials they were in the hotel,
Atta said. The army said it apologized to the journalists for any damaged
caused to equipment. Journalists in the hotel at the time were working for
the U.S. networks ABC and CNN, Italy's Rai Uno, Germany's ARD, the
Qatar-based satellite broadcaster Al-Jazeera, Reuters, AFP and The
Associated Press. [AP]

'ISRAEL UNDER SEIGE.' The Israeli invasion of Jabalya lasted just three
hours, from 10:30 p.m. Monday to 1:30 this morning, but it exacted a heavy
toll. Eighteen Palestinians, some of whom tried to fight back, were killed
in the raid. Several dozen were wounded, including gunmen as well as
paunchy middle-aged tailors and construction workers who were shot in
their homes for no apparent reason. There were no Israeli casualties.
[WASH POST]

**WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2002

WHERE'S OUR NORTHERN ALLIANCE? The United States is orchestrating secret
contacts between Iraqi opposition factions with the aim of finding
agreement on a new leader to replace Saddam Hussein. A grand opposition
conference has been provisionally scheduled for May, and it is hoped to
hold it in Bonn, symbolically echoing the Bonn meeting that set up the
Afghan interim government. Meeting in May will increase pressure on
Baghdad as the UN security council begins its six-monthly review of
sanctions, which is expected to be the trigger for a confrontation between
the US and Iraq. London has become a hub of opposition contacts,
especially those involving the so-called Group of Four: the Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the Supreme Islamic
Council for Revolution in Iraq and the Iraqi National Accord. [GUARDIAN
UK]


KEEPING THE MEDIA IN LINE (II). An Italian photographer was killed by
machine gun fire from an Israeli tank in Ramallah early Wednesday,
Palestinian hospital officials and witnesses said. Two other journalists
were also shot at in separate incidents in the West Bank town. The Israeli
army expressed regret over the death of Raffaele Ciriello, 42, but said
its investigation had not yet determined the source of the gunfire. [AP]

**THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2002

TERRORISTS ARE WHO WE SAY THEY ARE. A United Nations observer has
described the dismissal of the Lockerbie bomber's appeal as "a spectacular
miscarriage of justice". Professor Hans Köchler was speaking after five
Scottish judges rejected Abdelbaset ali Mohmed al-Megrahi's attempt to
overturn his conviction for murdering 270 people in the 1988 atrocity.
Libya condemned the outcome as a "political decision under pressure from
Washington and London" but it was welcomed by the US Government.
Al-Megrahi is now preparing to be flown by helicopter from the special
Scottish Court in the Netherlands to Scotland's largest prison in Glasgow
to serve his life sentence of at least 20 years. Professor Köchler, 53,
who teaches philosophy at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, was one
of five UN observers who followed the Lockerbie case. They were appointed
as part of the deal between the UN and Libya which allowed the extradition
of al-Megrahi and a co-accused, who was found not guilty at the trial last
year, to face the charges. The observers are not bound to report back
formally to the UN but Professor Köchler said that under the
circumstances, he felt compelled to do so. He told BBC Radio Scotland's
Newsdrive programme: "I am sorry to admit that my impression is that
justice was not done and that we are dealing here with a rather
spectacular case of a miscarriage of justice. I am at a loss to explain
how this decision of the appeal court can have been passed unanimously in
light of some of the questions asked and analysis presented by one or the
other of the appeal court judges during the appeal. "I see a kind of gap
between how the sessions of the appeal court went and the unanaimity of
this decision... which did not give any credence at all to any of the
grounds of appeal which were presented. "I base my observation only on
logic and reason. "Frankly speaking I am not convinced, I was not
convinced when I read the opinion of the court after the trial last year
and I was not convinced when I went through the text presented today. "I
am not convinced at all that the sequence of events that led to this
explosion of the plane over Scotland was as described by the court.
Everything that is presented is only circumstantial evidence." Asked if he
spoke for the entire UN observation team, he said: "Based on the informal
conversations we had today - you can imagine that we have spoken to each
other after the verdict - I have the impression that this concern is
shared by the large majority of the observers." Clare Connelly, a member
of the Lockerbie Trial Briefing Unit at Glasgow University, said Professor
Köchler's comments displayed a "profound misunderstanding" of Scotland's
adversarial legal system. Judge's comments Al-Megrahi showed no emotion as
Scotland's senior judge, Lord Justice General Lord Cullen, announced the
decision at a three-minute hearing in the Scottish Court. He said: "For
the reasons given in the judgement, in which we all concur, we have
concluded that none of the grounds of appeal is well founded. "The appeal
will accordingly be refused." Professor Köchler spoke to al-Megrahi after
the hearing and revealed: "He is rather composed but of course frustrated
and he feels himself to be a victim of international politics. "He is in
an angry mood but composed." Scotland's most senior law officer, Lord
Advocate Colin Boyd QC, said: "I believe that these proceedings have
demonstrated what the judicial process can achieve when the international
community acts together. "I hope that this can be the enduring legacy of
the Lockerbie trial. It is one that cannot and must not be forgotten".
Legal history Al-Megrahi's defence team lodged grounds for his appeal a
week after the guilty verdict at the end of his trial in January 2001 at
the custom-built court in Camp Zeist. The 14-day appeal hearing made
Scottish legal history by being broadcast live on television and the
internet. For the Libyan, Bill Taylor QC argued that new evidence
presented to the appeal pointed to a miscarriage of justice. He said it
raised the possibility that the bomb had been placed on board the aircraft
at Heathrow and not in Malta, as the trial judges had concluded. However,
Alan Turnbull QC, for the prosecution, said the new evidence was weak and
flawed, and did not affect the original case. Commenting on the decision,
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said: "The completion of the appeal
does not end U.S. sanctions against Libya, but should spur Libya to take
quick action to fully comply with the requirements of the UN Security
Council." UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called on Libya to honour its
obligations in respect of Lockerbie and to co-operate fully with UN
Security Council resolutions. The UK Government would study the judgement
before deciding on whether or not it would hold an inquiry into the
bombing, he added. Final option Only one avenue of appeal remains open to
him under the Scottish legal system. The Judicial Committee of the Privy
Council, which sits in London, has a supervisory jurisdiction over
constitutional matters within the UK. However, al-Megrahi can only ask the
body to re-examine the case under the European Convention on Human Rights.
[BBC]

**FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2002

SAME AGAIN PLEASE? Igor Ivanov, the Russian Foreign Minister, said that
Moscow opposed any US strike on Baghdad which would cause turmoil not only
in the Gulf but throughout the Middle East. In talks next week in London
with Jack Straw, the British Foreign Secretary, he will remind him that
Moscow opposed the Anglo-American strikes on Baghdad in 1998. In an
interview with The Times, Mr Ivanov said: "We would hope that the US and
UK do not make the same mistake again." A strike would deal "a serious
blow" to the coalition. But he stopped short of any threat to cut off
Russian help for the anti-terrorist campaign, which he insisted Russia
supported. "It would not be expedient to issue any ultimatums to say that
we would withdraw from the coalition," he said. "Participation in this
coalition is not some present or gift to give to someone, but in our own
interests. We have common positions with Britain on this." Mr Ivanov said
that only the United Nations was authorised to act against any country
breaking UN resolutions, and he urged Britain and America to focus on
talks to return weapons inspectors to Iraq. But he acknowledged the signs
from Washington that it was preparing to take military action. Russia was
therefore now urging President Saddam Hussein to implement all UN
resolutions and allow the weapons inspectors to return. [TIMES UK]

BIO GRAVE ROBBERS? The NYT and USA Today headline reports with news that
American forensic experts are testing DNA samples taken from human remains
from the battle at Shah-e-Kot in the hopes of finding some dead senior
al-Qaida or Taliban leaders in the mix. According to the NYT, the
commander of the coalition forces, Maj. Gen. Hagenbeck, said finding
anyone significant was unlikely, but the paper guessed that Osama Bin
Laden and his top lieutenants, such as Ayman al-Zawahiri, were among those
the U.S. is seeking in the remains. [SLATE]

[continued in part 2]