[Peace] News notes 2005-01-16

Tue Jan 18 14:06:03 CST 2005

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        Notes from last week's "global war on terrorism" [GWOT],
        for the AWARE meeting, Sunday, January 16, 2005.
        (Sources provided on request; a paragraph followed by a
        bracketed source is substantially verbatim.)
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	"Liberal democrats are scrambling in the wake of Bush's victory to
	recast themselves as a loyal opposition, but this enterprise comes
	through as desperate, unprincipled, and confused. The Democratic,
	liberal establishment, of which the [NY] Times is one of the chief
	pillars, may be in the final phase of a political unraveling that
	began with the Vietnam War four decades ago. Liberals have long
	ceased to provide a viable vision and moral compass for US foreign
	policy. Progressives must aggressively fill this role, and
	standing firm on the demand of unconditional withdrawal from Iraq
	is the place to start." --Walden Bello

[1. PRESIDENCY] In his first newspaper interview since before the
election, Bush says that his re-election is a ratification of his Iraq
policy.  In Bushspeak, he said "We had an accountability moment, and
that's called the 2004 elections." He wouldn't confirm that US. troops
would begin leaving Iraq this year, but he did contend that he would not
expand the size of the Army or National Guard. When asked why Osama Bin
Laden has not yet been caught, he said, "Because he's hiding."
	This triumph of democracy in America will be inaugurated to a
second term as chief magistrate on Thursday, and the USG has told the city
of Washington to cover inauguration costs by diverting $12m from the
city's homeland security funds.
	"The security for this occasion will be unprecedented," Homeland
Security Secretary Tom Ridge declared at a Tuesday media event. "Our goal
is that any attempt on the part of anyone or any group to disrupt the
inaugural will be repelled by multiple layers of security." (Who's he
talking about?)
	The administration wants to lower barriers to building nuclear
power plants, and the lobby that promotes nuclear energy could not be
happier. To show its thanks, the group has given $100,000 to help pay for
his inauguration. The nuclear energy industry's contribution is part of a
record-breaking outpouring of corporate cash for the inaugural
festivities. At least 88 companies and trade associations, along with 39
top executives -- all with huge stakes in administration policies -- have
already donated $18 million toward a $40 million goal for the country's
55th inaugural celebration.

[2. TORTURE] The non-commissioned officer in the pictures from Abu Ghraib
is sentenced to ten years.  His defense that he was following orders is
dismissed by the court on the astonishing grounds that accounts of orders
would be "hearsay."  Meanwhile, a US soldier is sentenced to one year
[sic] for murdering an Iraqi teenager, and the companies involved in the
Abu Ghraib torture (CACI and Titan) are awarded new multi-million dollar
contracts.
	Amazingly enough, at the urging of the White House, Congressional
leaders scrapped a legislative measure last month that would have imposed
new restrictions on the use of extreme interrogation measures by American
intelligence officers. In a letter to members of Congress, sent in October
and made available by the White House on Wednesday in response to
inquiries, Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, expressed
opposition to the measure on the grounds that it "provides legal
protections to foreign prisoners to which they are not now entitled under
applicable law and policy." [Let's see if that come up at her confirmation
hearings.]

[3. IRAQ] A letter from 16 house Democrats call for US. withdrawal from
Iraq, as does ten term republican congressmember from north Carolina
Howard Coble. former Sec. of State James Baker calls for "a phased
withdrawal."  Meanwhile, though, the Pentagon is building a permanent
military communications system in Iraq that suggests American soldiers
will be in Iraq for the foreseeable future.
	In one of the most remarkable stories of the week, the US rejected
a proposal from the Sunni Association of Muslims Scholars that the US
declare a timetable for withdrawal of its troops from Iraq. In return the
leading Sunni organization would lift its boycott of the elections and
would accept the resulting government as legitimate even if it was
Shiite-dominated. The US spokesman said that the US was not prepared to
announce a timetable for withdrawal.
	Refugees can vote in Iraq (including tens of thousands of
Israelis) but refugees could not vote in the recent Palestinian elections
	If Vietnam was the "TV war," Iraq is the "outsourced war,"  and
some are getting rich from it.  The war is costing $4.8B/month and is
described in a CIA report this week as a training ground for terrorists.
The northern city of Mosul, once a model of occupation, is now a
battleground; US. forces carried out a series of raids there this weekend.
Even more important is the continuing attacks on infrastructure,
especially the oil production and piping facilities, but the US admitted
this week that the $1billion search for WMD in Iraq has quietly been
wrapped up.
	A British paper (not of course an American one) runs a joint
investigation into "WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN THE SIEGE OF FALLUJA?" And
another British paper, in concert with an Italian business journal, shows
that the single largest and boldest smuggling operation in the
oil-for-food programme was conducted with the knowledge of the US
government. [GUARDIAN/FT]

[4. IRAN] The US is conducting secret military forays into Iran, according
to an article in the New Yorker magazine released today. The article by
Seymour Hersh said that the secret missions have been going on at least
since last summer with the goal of identifying three dozen or more sites
for attack. Hersh quotes a government consultant as saying, "The civilians
in the Pentagon want to go into Iran and destroy as much of the military
infrastructure as possible." One former high-level intelligence official
said, "Iraq is just one campaign ... Next, we're going to have the Iranian
campaign."
	An American commando task force is reported to be working with
Pakistani scientists who had dealt with their Iranian counterparts. In
exchange for this cooperation, Hersh was told, Pakistani President
Musharraf of Pakistan has received assurances that his government will not
have to turn over Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb,
to face questioning about his role in selling nuclear secrets to Iran,
Libya and North Korea.
	Hersh reported that Bush has already "signed a series of
top-secret findings and executive orders authorizing secret commando
groups and other Special Forces units to conduct covert operations against
suspected terrorist targets in as many as 10 nations in the Middle East
and South Asia."
	Defining these as military rather than intelligence operations,
Hersh reported, will enable the Bush administration to evade legal
restrictions imposed on the CIA's covert activities overseas.

[5. LAW] Human Rights Watch says that US policy 'erodes' global human
rights.  Bush's nomination of Michael Chertoff as head of homeland
security may revisit the case of a US citizen seized in Afghanistan.
Chertoff, then in the DOJ, is charged with lying about how John Walker
Lindh was treated by us authorities.  Again, let's see if that come up in
his confirmation hearing...

[5. PELF] A leaked White House memo describes ending social security as a
paramount :conservative governing achievement." As the USG propaganda
campaign on that subject intensifies, a WP columnist compares it to the
run-up to the Iraq invasion and describes Bush as "president of fabricated
crises." Meanwhile it's revealed that "tax-farming" -- private companies
collecting taxes and keeping 25% -- is now permitted by the "omnibus
budget bill" signed last month.  Bush continues to concentrate on doing
well for his base.

[6. IMPERIALISM] in this hemisphere'
	--Bolivian protests force the gov't to cancel water contract in a
second city;
	--Colombia admits it had bounty hunters seize a FARC member inside
Venezuela; While Venezuela protests, three US senators said on Monday that
the USG should "build on mutually reliant energy ties with oil supplier
Venezuela and seek better cooperation with president Hugo Chavez to fight
terrorism and drug-trafficking";
	--in Haiti the US-installed gov't forces out judges who release
Aristides supporters; but
	--CARICOM refuses to recognize US.-backed Haiti gov't.

[7. ENABLING] With no fanfare, the US. House has passed a controversial
doomsday provision that would allow a handful of lawmakers to run Congress
if a terrorist attack or major disaster killed or incapacitated large
numbers of congressmembers ... a majority of living congressmembers no
longer will be needed to do business under "catastrophic circumstances."  
Instead, a majority of the congressmen able to show up at the House would
be enough to conduct business, conceivably a dozen lawmakers or less.  
The circumstances include "natural disaster, attack, contagion or similar
calamity rendering Representatives incapable of attending the proceedings
of the House."  The House could be run by a small number of lawmakers for
months, because House vacancies must be filled by special elections.
Governors can make temporary appointments to the Senate. [BH]

[8. JOURNALISM] Murder is the leading cause of work-related deaths for
journalists in 2004, according to an analysis from the Committee for the
Protection of Journalists.

[9. BARBARISM] Troops from the US-led force in Iraq have caused widespread
damage and severe contamination to the remains of the ancient city of
Babylon, according to a damning report released today by The British
Museum.

[10. PROPAGANDA] Meanwhile, our elected congressional representative
doesn't hesitate to tackle the big issue of the day: Reps. Tim Johnson
(R-IL15) and Steve Israel (D-NY2) announce, "To get beyond childish
bickering and address fundamental issues, we are organizing a
Congressional Civility Caucus."
	What is their leading example of incivility?  Questioning Bush and
Kerry's military records. [CUNG]

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  C. G. Estabrook
  "News from Neptune" (Saturdays 10:00-11:00AM) and
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