[Peace] News notes 2005-01-23 (fwd)

[C. G. Estabrook]

        ========================================================
        Notes from last week's "global war on terrorism" [GWOT],
        for the AWARE meeting, Sunday, January 23, 2005.
        (Sources provided on request; a paragraph followed by a
        bracketed source is substantially verbatim.)
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	"Henry Kissinger, one of the most notorious war criminals of
	recent history, walks around a free man, as does Bill Clinton,
	responsible for invading the former Yugoslavia, imposing murderous
	sanctions on Iraq -- killing hundreds of thousands of Iraqis,
	mostly kids -- and blowing up a pharmaceutical factory in the
	Sudan (el-Shifa), an especially vile war crime that resulted in
	massive suffering a death. Bush Senior is responsible for
	deliberately bombing Iraq's water purification system, an act of
	premeditated savagery resulting in untold disease and death, and
	yet he walks around a free man too. Instead of war criminals,
	these guys are considered 'elder statesmen,' the substance of
	best-selling books and CNN and Fox News interviews. Millions of
	Americans revere them." --Kurt Nimmo <counterpunch.org>

TIMETABLE FOR WITHDRAWAL. The conservative British paper the Daily
Telegraph of London is reporting the British government is urging the Bush
administration to announce a possible timetable for the withdrawal of
troops from Iraq. Unnamed officials said a tentative timetable is needed
in part to serve as evidence that the United States is not planning to
occupy Iraq indefinitely. On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that
after the Jan. 30 elections, Iraqi officials are expected to ask the US to
set a timetable for withdrawal. [DN]

NEW IDEAS FOR IRAQ OUTTA LUCK. The New York Times leads with word that the
retired general who was sent to assess operations in Iraq will recommend
an increase in advisers to train Iraqi forces. The main mission of
American troops in Iraq after the elections will be to speed up the
training of local troops by adding as many as 10,000 advisers who will
work directly with Iraqi forces. [40 years ago, this was called
"Vietnamization."] As more Iraqi troops are trained, Gen. Gary E. Luck
will reportedly recommend that U.S. forces should take over responsibility
for securing Iraq's borders as well as supporting Iraqi forces who may
need their help. An article inside the WP about the changes in the role of
U.S. troops after the election mentions that more troops will be brought
in from Saddam Hussein's old army to increase the number of local forces.
[Slate]

"SPECIAL WEAPONS" IN FALLUJAH. An article from the Canadian Centre for
Research on Globalization (CRG) suggests the US is again bombing with
napalm (this time in Fallujah) and trying to cover it up by washing down
the streets and burying some bombed houses afterwards. [globalresearch.ca]

NEW SECRET PENTAGON SPY GROUP. The Washington Post leads with an
investigation into a previously undisclosed branch of the Department of
Defense called the Strategic Support Branch that has been carrying out
human intelligence missions over the last two years. This move to perform
work that was once solely coordinated by the CIA is seen by many as an
attempt by War Secretary Rumsfeld to take control of clandestine
operations as well as get around laws that restrict the movement of CIA
officers. As well as Iraq and Afghanistan, operations could take place in
countries that have good diplomatic relations with the United States.
Fewer restrictions placed on Department of Defense intelligence gathering
than at the CIA. Two members of the House Intelligence Committee contacted
by the Post did not know about the existence of this new branch. A sidebar
inside the paper also raises questions about the qualifications of the
Strategic Support Branch's leader, Col. George Waldroup. {Slate]

INAUGURATION LATEST DOMESTIC MISSION FOR SECRET MILITARY FORCES.  NYT
lede: "Somewhere in the shadows of the White House and the Capitol last
week, a small group of super-secret commandos stood ready with
state-of-the-art weaponry to swing into action to protect the presidency
in ways that have never been fully revealed before ... these elite forces
were deployed under a 1997 authorization that was updated and enhanced
after the Sept. 11 attacks but nonetheless departs from how the military
has historically been used on American soil. These commandos, operating
under a secret counterterrorism program code-named Power Geyser, were
mentioned publicly for the first time last week on a Web site for a new
book by a former Army intelligence analyst ... Three senior Defense
Department and Bush administration officials confirmed the existence of
the plan and mission but disputed [the author's] characterization of the
mission as 'extra-legal.' One of the officials said the units operated in
the United States under special authority from either the president or the
secretary of defense..."

THE ANTI-WAR MAJORITY. A WP poll shows 58% of respondents saying they
disapprove of Bush's handling of Iraq. While the president has signaled an
intention to focus on selected domestic issues, it's Iraq that dominates
public concern. 61% give it a "highest priority" rating for Bush and the
Congress to address, easily the most among a dozen issues tested in this
ABC News/Washington Post poll. 35%, by contrast, give that level of
priority to Social Security, and far fewer still to either immigration
issues or tort reform. Americans express doubt about the president's
inaugural plans, saying by more than a 2-1 margin, that because the
country is at war they'd prefer a smaller and more subdued inauguration to
the $40 million bash (largely privately funded) the administration held
this week.  Bush's overall job approval rating stands at 52 percent: of
the seven presidents elected to a second term in the last 56 years, only
one -- Richard Nixon -- received as tepid an approval rating on the eve of
his second inauguration.
	Another major poll, this one from the Los Angeles Times, shows
support for America's Iraq invasion continuing to slip. The poll found
that the percentage of Americans who believe the situation in Iraq was
"worth going to war over" has sunk to a new low of 39%, down 5% since
October. The Times also reported that 37% of the public advocates
withdrawing at least some troops now, a position very few newspaper
editorial pages have endorsed. Just 4% would like to send more troops, a
position supported by many newspapers, including The New York Times, along
with Rep and Dem legislators

OVER 10,000 PROTEST INAUGURATION. Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey
Clark calls for Bush's impeachment. (Of course we need to impeach Cheney
first, or simultaneously.) Pentagon turns away mothers of soldiers killed
in Iraq. Undercover police dressed like activists arrest anti-Inauguration
protesters. Bush's inaugural address consisted of 2,000 words, but "Iraq"
was not one of them. Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge lowered the terror
warning level for D.C., saying there's "absolutely nothing out there"
suggesting a threat for the Inauguration. (Compare his statement last
Tuesday.)  Performers in the Inaugural parade, including marching bands,
bell ringers, and Civil War reenactors, were instructed not to look
directly at Bush as they passed the parade stand, nor to make any sudden
moves.

CHENEY: ISRAEL MAY ATTACK IRAN. Hours before the inauguration, Vice
President Cheney warned that Iran had become the top threat to world
peace. He accused Iran of building a "fairly robust new nuclear program."
Cheney didn't rule out a U.S. attack but suggested that Israel might
strike Iran first.  Al-Jazeera reports, "This is the first time a senior
official in the U.S. government amplifies the threat by suggesting that
the United States could be unable to prevent military attack by its close
alley, Israel." On Tuesday Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice
named Iran as one of six so-called "outposts of tyranny." Also named were
North Korea, Burma, Cuba, Belarus and Zimbabwe.
	By now you have probably heard about the Bush Administration's
secret plan to attack Iran [as described by] Seymour Hersh for the New
Yorker. The Bush Administration, which has avoided going through Congress
to initiate its covert operations, is conducting this potential invasion
much differently than the Iraq incursion. The US public, or at least those
who opposed the Iraq war, made it somewhat difficult for Bush to instigate
war against Saddam Hussein's regime. But the Bush administration may not
have to worry about the opposition for round two: the Democrats have long
agreed that Iran must be dealt with militarily. Recently, the Democratic
Party's rising "progressive" star Barack Obama said he would favor
"surgical" missile strikes against Iran. John Kerry and Howard Dean agree
that Bush "has not been tough enough on Iran." [pressaction.com]
	A major new national opinion survey of released this week shows
that 42 percent would support the U.S. invasion of Iran to stop its
nuclear program. The survey shows that less than one in 10 American voters
-- 7 percent -- think that the primary focus of American foreign policy
and security should be on the "democracy building" that [the
administration says] is now the major thrust of U.S. efforts in Iraq and
elsewhere in the Middle East.

A POSSIBILITY: "Israel has a considerable nuclear arsenal, estimated
between 200 to 400 warheads. If Israel attacks Iran will attempt to take
out as many of these nukes as possible, or at least the Dimona complex. In
essence, this is what Cheney is telling us -- Israel will attack Iran,
Iran will naturally respond, and this response will be considered an
effort to destroy Israel, to push the Jews into the sea, as we are
repeatedly told is the desire of all Arabs and Iranians, and this
situation will require the United States to protect the tiny and outlaw
nation of Israel. Neocons far and wide are ecstatic. Cheney has used the
inauguration to signal the beginning of World War IV, a dream come true
for the Neocons and the Likudites in Israel. Soon as Bush and the
Strausscons can derail diplomatic efforts on the part of Europeans to
dissuade the Iranians from continuing their efforts to build a nuclear
program, Israel will attack, and America will throw its deadly weight
behind the effort." [Kurt Nimmo]

POLL: MOST PALESTINIANS READY FOR DEAL WITHOUT REFUGEES. Some 54 percent
of the Palestinians support a two-state solution on the basis of the 1967
lines, with border corrections and no massive return of refugees,
according to a new poll. And a parallel poll, conducted in Israel among a
representative sample of Jewish and Arab voters, showed that 64 percent
are now in favor of a permanent peace agreement compared to only 47
percent who supported such a deal in a similar poll last year. [Haaretz]

ICELANDERS TAKE ANTI-IRAQ-WAR CAMPAIGN TO US. A group of nationals from
tiny Iceland slammed their government's support of the US-led war in Iraq,
apologizing to Iraqis in a full-page advertisement in The New York Times
on Friday. The advertisement, paid for with donations from more than 4,000
citizens which constitutes about 1.4 percent of the population, demanded
"that Iceland be immediately removed from the list of invaders in the
'coalition of the willing."' Some critics say the government sided with
Washington in an effort to keep U.S. air force fighter jets at Keflavik
air base.  [Reuters]

WHITE HOUSE SCRAPS 'COALITION OF THE WILLING' LIST. In Washington, a
senior Bush administration official said the United States no longer keeps
a formal list of coalition countries, which numbered 30, including
Iceland, on the eve of the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. The official, who
spoke on condition of anonymity, could not immediately say when or why the
administration stopped maintaining the coalition list. Washington now
focuses instead on a list of 28 nations with forces in Iraq, known as the
multi-national forces list. The new list, maintained by the State
Department, contains: Albania, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria,
Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Italy, Japan,
Kazakhstan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia,
the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia,
Ukraine and the United Kingdom.  [REUTERS]

GONZALES SAYS '02 POLICY ON DETAINEES DOESN'T BIND C.I.A.  Officers of the
Central Intelligence Agency and other nonmilitary personnel fall outside
the bounds of a 2002 directive issued by President Bush that pledged the
humane treatment of prisoners in American custody, Alberto R. Gonzales,
the White House counsel, said in documents released on Tuesday. [NYT]
	A ban on torture by the CIA was removed from bill passed by
Congress at the special request of NSA Rice.  At her Senate hearings this
week, she got away with personalizing the issue by saying, "Don't question
my integrity." The committee obsequiously voted for her -- including Russ
Feingold and Brack Obama.  Only Kerry and Boxer voted agianst her. Rice
told Boxer. "I really hope that you will not imply that I take the truth
lightly." (Matthew Gross comments, "I'd really hope that Democrats
wouldn't imply such a thing, either. It should be shouted from the
rooftops, towed on a banner behind a light plane before all the lazy
sunbathers of this fine country of ours...")

US OFFICIAL CONFIRMS ALLAWI SHOT SIX DEAD. A former Jordanian government
minister has told The New Yorker that an American official confirmed to
him that the Iraqi interim Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, executed six
suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station last year.  One witness
said he approved of Allawi's act, adding that, in any case, the terrorists
were better off dead, for they had been tortured for days."  [Sydney
Morning Herald]

NEW CANADIAN AMBASSADOR TO US A CARLYLE MAN. Frank McKenna is the newly
appointed Canadian ambassador to the United States. He is also chairman of
the Canadian advisory board to The Carlyle Group. Carlyle bills itself as
the world's largest private equity-investment firm and has specialized in
weapons investments greased by the political connections of its executives
and board members such as George Bush, Sr.; former US secretary of state,
James A. Baker III; former British prime minister, John Major; former
secretary of defense and former deputy director of the CIA, Frank
Carlucci. McKenna has stated that he wants to see more Canadian investment
in Carlyle, while pitching military production as an economic stimulator
for his home province.  He is on record defending the Canada Pension
Plan's investment of US$60 million of Canadians' accumulated pension
contributions into a Carlyle venture fund. In 2002, McKenna hosted a
Carlyle meeting in Canada attended by George Bush Sr. and many of the
largest corporate players. During a press conference, McKenna dismissed
concerns about Carlyle's connections to military investments and
high-ranking political individuals. "We're not here to try and talk about
some military-governmental-industrial conspiracy or globalization," he
told reporters. "We're just here to try to help contribute to the Atlantic
economy. No more. No less." [Bill Blum, Anti-empire Report]

NEWS OF OTHER EMPIRES. Tsunami-struck Thailand has been told by the
European Commission that it must buy six A380 Airbus aircraft if it wants
to escape the tariffs against its fishing industry.  While millions of
Europeans are sending aid to Thailand to help its recovery, trade
authorities in Brussels are demanding that Thai Airlines, its national
carrier, pays 1.3 billion pounds to buy its double-decker aircraft.
[Scotsman]

AMERICAN GENEROSITY. A U.N. report concludes that rich countries can meet
their promise to halve extreme global poverty if they increase their
international aid to about half of one percent of GDP, up from the current
average of 0.25 percent. The difference would be about $50 billion
annually and could save millions of lives. The US currently donates 0.15
percent, last among rich nations.

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	C. G. Estabrook
	"News from Neptune" (Saturdays 10:00-11:00AM) and
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	www.newsfromneptune.com carl at newsfromneptune.com
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