From: ASlater Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Re: stats Date: 01 Apr 1999 11:11:54 -0500 In response to Dave McReynolds stunning statistics, you may want to check out the World Game website, to see Buckminster Fuller's World Game Institute amazing one page chart on "What the World Needs and How to Pay For It Using Military Expenditures". http://www.worldgame.org/wwwproject/ Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob Tiller Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Nuclear Knife Aimed at America's Heart Date: 01 Apr 1999 12:05:54 -0500 Some thoughts in response: 1. If PDD-60 is top secret, how can we trust this (or any) report of what it says? 2. The U.S. military is required by current U.S. law to maintain deployment of nuclear weapons at the START I level, i.e. 6,000 warheads deployed. Period. No exceptions. It is ridiculous, but it's the law. (By the way, the START II level is not 2,500. It is 3,500.) 3. Launch-on-warning places everyone at greater risk, because or the possibility of misreading or misunderstanding the data. Incinerating others (and probably ourselves) in response to a warning seems a rather stupid way to act, because the warning could be about something as benign as a weather rocket. 4. Satellites will not be downed in a first strike, and communications capacity will not totally disappear in a first strike. It is absurd to say that U.S. naval strategic forces could not withstand a first strike. Even if half the U.S. Trident force were eliminated, the U.S. could still launch many hundreds of nuclear weapons from the remaining Tridents. 5. With the massive deterioration of Russia's military and the shrinkage of Russia's economy, no serious observer believes that Russia would be able to launch 4,000 to 6,000 warheads today. 6. Where is the evidence to support the claim that Russia has a nationwide ABM system? 7. No one in Congress or the Administration has claimed that missile defense would work against a massive first strike of nuclear weapons against the U.S. It just can't be done, and everyone knows that. The current debate about missile defense is about protecting against a small number of weapons (presumably launched by a "rogue" state.) 8. It is impossible for the Clinton Administration to assume credit or blame for actions taken by the U.S. in 1992. 9. The U.S. is not undertaking unilateral nuclear disarmament. Rather the opposite is occuring. The U.S. is engaging in "subcritical" tests on plutonium in order to perfect its nuclear weapons, is engaging in research on pure fusion weapons, and much more. (Also see #2 above.) 10. Finally, why would any sane person discourse about "taking out" all the nuclear weapons in Russia, or in the U.S.? If some nation (Russia, U.S., or any other) uses as few as 40 nuclear weapons, all life on earth would be radically transformed, especially in the industrialized world. Every single dimension of our lives -- agriculture, banking, medicine, transportation, communication, politics, education -- would be so totally different that we can not even imagine what things would be like following the use of a small number of nuclear weapons. After the launch of a few dozen nuclear warheads, millions of people would be dead and dying, while millions more would have no electricity, no food supply, no gasoline, etc. We can not pretend that using nuclear weapons is in anyway comparable to dropping some conventional bombs. Shalom, Bob Tiller David Crockett Williams wrote: > > [fwd]--One would think that it is a good idea to understand all perspectives > on the abolition issue. Here is one perspective supporting need for > multilateral abolition.... > > A Nuclear Knife Aimed at America's Heart > Joel M. Skousen > March 25, 1999 > > In November 1997, President Clinton signed a top-secret Presidential > Decision Directive (PDD-60) directing U.S. military commanders to > abandon the time-honored nuclear deterrence of "launch on warning." > Ironically, this was done in the name of "increased deterrence." > Every sensible American needs to understand why this reasoning is > fraudulent at best and deadly at worst. First, some background. > > The impetus to change U.S. strategic nuclear doctrine came on the > heels of Clinton's demand to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in early 1997 > that they prepare to unilaterally reduce America's nuclear warhead > deployment to 2,500 in eager anticipation of the ratification of the > START II disarmament treaty. This pact has yet to be ratified by the > Russian Duma. > > Gen. John Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, responded that > he couldn't comply, since the U.S. military was still operating on a > former Presidential Decision Directive of 1981 to prepare to "win a > protracted nuclear war." A winning strategy couldn't be implemented > without the full contingent of current nuclear strategic warheads. > > According to Craig Cerniello of Arms Control Today (November/December > 1997 issue), "the administration viewed the 1981 guidelines as an > anachronism of the Cold War. The notion that the United States still > had to be prepared to fight and win a protracted nuclear war today > seemed out of touch with reality, given the fact that it has been six > years since the collapse of the Soviet Union." > > Certainly, the apparent collapse of the Soviet Union is the linchpin > in every argument pointing toward the relaxation of Western vigilance > and accelerated disarmament. Indeed, it is the driving argument that > is trumpeted constantly before Congress, U.S. military leaders, and > the American people. > > Almost everyone is buying it -- even most conservatives who should > know better. However, the most savvy Soviet-watchers can point to a > host of evidence indicating that the so-called "collapse" was > engineered to disarm the West and garner billions in direct aid to > assist Russia while inducing the West to take over the economic > burden of the former satellite states. > > But the most ominous evidence is found in defectors from Russia who > tell the same story: Russia is cheating on all aspects of > disarmament, and is siphoning off billions in Western aid money to > modernize and deploy top-of-the-line new weapons systems aimed at > taking down the U.S. military in one huge, decapitating nuclear > strike. > > Contrast this with the Clinton administration's response. Incredibly, > while still paying lip service to nuclear deterrence, Assistant > Secretary of Defense Edward L. Warner III went before the Congress on > March 31, 1998, and bragged about the litany of unilateral > disarmament this administration has forced upon the U.S. military: > > Warner noted the "success" the Clinton administration has had in > recent years, which has: > > Eliminated our entire inventory of ground-launched non-strategic > nuclear weapons (nuclear artillery and Lance surface-to-surface > missiles). > > Removed all nonstrategic nuclear weapons on a day-to-day basis from > surface ships, attack submarines, and land-based naval aircraft > bases. > > Removed our strategic bombers from alert. > > Stood down the Minuteman II ICBMs scheduled for deactivation under > Start I. > > Terminated the mobile Peacekeeper and mobile small ICBM programs. > > Terminated the SCRAM-II nuclear short-range attack missile. In > January 1992, the second Presidential Nuclear Initiative took further > steps which included: > > Limiting B-2 production to 20 bombers. > > Canceling the entire small ICBM program. > > Ceasing production of W-88 Trident SLBM (submarine-launched missile) > warheads. > > Halting purchases of advanced cruise missiles. > > Stopping new production of Peacekeeper missiles (our biggest > MIRV-warhead ICBM). "As a result of these significant changes, the > U.S. nuclear stockpile has decreased by more than 50 percent," Warner > enthused. > > All of this has been done without any meaningful disarmament by the > Russians. > > The Clinton administration would counter this charge by citing the > "successful" dismantling of 3,300 strategic nuclear warheads by > Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus, and the destruction of their 252 > ICBMs and related silos -- all paid for with U.S. taxpayer funds to > the tune of $300 million per year. But the real story is otherwise. > > Yes, Americans paid for the dismantling of these systems -- the > oldest and most out-of-date in the Soviet inventory. They were > scheduled for replacement anyway, so the U.S. taxpayer ended up > saving the Russians over a billion dollars, allowing them to use this > and other Western aid to develop and build new systems, coming on > line right now. But that isn't all. > > What the administration doesn't say is that they allowed the Russians > to reclaim all the nuclear warheads, and paid them to recycle the > usable material into new, updated warheads. We didn't diminish the > threat at all. We only helped them to transform it into something > more dangerous. > > Thus, the Russians still maintain a more than 3-to-1 advantage over > the United States in both throw-weight and nuclear delivery vehicles. > That disparity is widening dramatically with the Clinton > administration's unilateral disarmament while at the same time > encouraging the Russians to proceed not only with the deployment of > 500 new Topol-M missiles (which are mobile-launched and therefore > difficult to target), but to put three MIRVed warheads on each > missile instead of the treaty limit of one warhead -- for a total > deployment of 1,500 warheads. > > Not counting the presumed minimum 4,000 to 6,000 warheads in the > current Russian inventory, these 1,500 new warheads would overwhelm a > measly 200-interceptor ABM system in North Dakota -- which the > Clinton administration is insisting should NOT be deployed before > 2005. I wonder why? > > With our 50 Peacekeeper ICBMs scheduled to be decommissioned in 2003, > that gives the Russians or Chinese a wide-open window for attack, > should they choose to exercise their first-strike, > nuclear-decapitation option. > > So much for the "new realism" of the Clinton disarmament team and > their assertion that Russia poses no threat. Judging strictly by > public data from establishment sources (which is always understated > due to Moscow's heavy shroud of secrecy) the Russian threat is much > greater than it ever was, both in quantity and quality of strategic > nuclear forces. This is thanks, in part, to ongoing technology > transfers by IBM and other defense contractors with the knowing > participation and encouragement of this administration. > > Now let's take a close look at this presumed "increased deterrence" > the Clinton Department of Defense is promising. The administration > claims its brand of deterrence is still based on the "mutual assured > destruction" (MAD) concept -- a truly appropriate acronym. > > This is the presumption that, since both sides have an overwhelming > capability to destroy each other, that no sane leadership would > engage in nuclear war. Let's examine this closely. MAD could only > stand as a viable assumption if: > > Both sides had sufficient weapons and delivery vehicles to inflict > total devastation. > > Neither side had an effective anti-ballistic-missile system. > > Neither side had electronic jamming capability on its incoming ICBMs. > > Neither side had hardened shelters protecting its population and > leadership. These assumptions clearly do not exist today: > > First, we barely have enough nuclear warheads to take out the Russian > arsenal as presently constituted if we used them all at once (which > no sane military commander could afford to do, leaving him with no > reserves). Russia, on the other hand, has enough to devastate our > entire strategic forces and still retain 60 percent of her weapons in > reserve, for a prolonged conflict. > > Second, we have no ABM system to protect against ICBMs at all. Our > dumbed-down and slowed-down Patriots are theater weapons (built to > conform to the flawed ABM Treaty) and can barely catch slow, > low-flying Scud missiles, let alone ICBMs that coming screaming in > from space at 6 to 12 kilometers per second. The Russians have (in > violation of the same ABM Treaty) a nationwide system of ABMs tied to > phased-array radars and satellite guidance systems. > > Third, we have no electronic jamming on our missiles to help them > penetrate the Russian ABM system, and the Russians claim their newest > Topol-M missiles do have such a capability. Whether or not this claim > is a bluff is immaterial. The fact is, they are building new, > high-tech missiles and our technology is 10 years old and stagnant. > We are not developing or building anything new. This aspect can only > worsen as time goes on. > > Fourth, our civilian population is totally unprotected, while a large > portion of the Russian cities have public fallout shelter facilities. > New bunkers are being constructed for the Russian leadership despite > the economic hardships the people suffer. This should tell us > something about Russian leadership intentions. > > Is this Mutually Assured Destruction? Hardly. It equates to United > States Assured Destruction! In every category of deterrence, we are > disarming and stagnant, and the Russians are building and deploying. > There is, in fact, only one type of deterrence that is capable of > somewhat balancing the scales: the nuclear response doctrine of > Launch on Warning. > > Launch on Warning takes advantage of the fact that long-range > ballistic missiles take time to arrive on target -- up to 25 minutes, > depending on where the missiles are fired from. If the Russians were > to launch a first strike, our satellites would detect and confirm > that launch within seconds. In a Launch on Warning doctrine, our > missiles (if on alert status) could be launched before the Russian or > Chinese missiles hit our silos. There is also time to retarget our > missiles so that they are not wasted on Russian silos that are now > empty. > > Thus, one of the great advantages for a Launch on Warning doctrine is > that it allows the nation that launches second to have an advantage > over the nation that launches first. The one to launch first wastes a > certain number of its missiles on our silos that are now empty. By > contrast, our missiles (utilizing real-time targeting data from > satellites) strike targets that are still viable. > > Now that is deterrence -- a deterrence that we presently do not have > due to PDD-60. > > Clinton national security aide Robert Bell proudly proclaimed to a > group of disarmament advocates, "In this PDD, we direct our military > forces to continue to posture themselves in such a way as to not rely > on Launch on Warning -- to be able to absorb a nuclear strike and > still have enough force surviving to constitute credible deterrence." > > This is patently preposterous. Respond with what? > > We have no mobile missiles to avoid being targeted. We have already > unilaterally agreed to keep over half of our ballistic missile > submarines in port at any one time, so they can easily be targeted. > After all, we don't want our Russian "allies" to feel insecure! > > All of our Navy and Air Force strategic forces are incapable of > withstanding a nuclear strike. Even the remaining Trident subs on > patrol would be unable to respond when communication links and > satellites are downed in a first strike. > > PDD-60 removes all alternate submarine launch codes so that our subs > cannot fire without direct communication with the president. Those > vital communications links will assuredly not survive a massive first > strike. When you tell the Russians we are going to absorb a first > strike, you induce them to make sure they hit us with everything > necessary to make sure we cannot respond. > > This is not deterrence. This is suicide. > > Joel M. Skousen is a political scientist by training and former > chairman of the Conservative National Committee. He is a specialist > in security matters and consults nationwide on "Strategic Relocation" > -- the title of his latest book. > > - > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Peter Weiss Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) In Belgrade, Ramsey Clark calls for end of NATO Date: 01 Apr 1999 11:17:19 -0500 While I would agree with Ramsey Clark that NATO should have been dissolved ten years ago and that the bombing violates the UN Charter, it should also be borne in mind that Ramsey is the lawyer for Radovan Karadzic in the class action suit brought against Karadzic by the victims of the anti-Bosnian genocide. And has he said anything about what is currently going on in Kosovo, or is that solely the fault of the US? Peter Weiss David Crockett Williams wrote: > > Last night at about 3AM I saw on CSPAN a Serbian Television account of > former > Carter Administration Attorney General Ramsey Clark now in Belgrade touring > hospitals, war damage, meeting with civilians, and an interview with SerbTV > journalist translated back to English apparently by CSPAN translator. The > gist of his message was that NATO should have been dissolved 10 years ago at > the end of the cold war and that the current military offensive by NATO was > a violation of the UN charter and should be stopped. I wonder if this > interview will make the mainstream news today. It was announced that the > University in Belgrade had awarded him an honorary Doctoral degree in > respect of his efforts for peace. > > - > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) Duma to vote on impeaching Russian President Yeltsin mid-April Date: 01 Apr 1999 12:49:11 -0800 -----Original Message----- Yeltsin mid-April >Peace. > >A friend who lives in Russia has just informed me that the Duma (Russian >parliament) will be voting on impeachment of Russian President Boris Yeltsin in >mid-April. Hard-liners are poised to take power in Russia, and if they take >power, they may well send forces to defend Serbia. > >Unless somebody makes NATO understand the consequences of their actions >(particularly the refusal to consider Serbian President Milosevic's agreement to >resume peace talks if the bombing is stopped), there is a realistic possibility >that NATO may be in direct conflict with Russia by the end of April or early >May. > >I'd like to suggest that PeaceBuilders who have contacts with high government >officials (particularly in Canda and other nations which might be receptive) use >those contacts to try to make NATO see reason. > >Yours, > >Habib >Host of The Garden >Web: http://www.thegarden.net >Email: habib@thegarden.net >ICQ: 7649155 > - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Timothy Bruening Subject: (abolition-usa) Russian Nuclear Missiles Are On Their Way! Date: 01 Apr 1999 21:55:53 -0800 (PST) Russia, angered by the continued bombing of Serbia, has just launched nuclear missiles from its subs. They will arrive at their targets in less than 15 minutes. April Fool! However, the above scenario is possible. The U.S. and Russia remain ready to launch more than 5,000 nuclear warheads on less than half-an-hour's notice, and nuclear missiles on subs can reach their targets in 15 minutes. Thus if either side's early warning system shows that nuclear missiles are on their way, military leaders and the country's leader have only a few minutes to determine if enemy missiles are really on their way and decide whether to launch their own missiles. This hair-trigger alert policy leaves the world vulnerable to an accidental nuclear war, especially with Russia and its military in chaos. Moreover, there is the possibility that the infamous Y2K bug will cause the Russian or the U.S. early warning system to falsely indicate an attack. This possibility has even the Pentagon worried. How can the U.S. and Russia continue to be one bad call away from a nuclear disaster? To reduce the risk of an accidental nuclear war, I believe that its imperative that the world's nuclear nations (the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France, India, Pakistan, and Israel, and I hope not North Korea, Iraq, or Iran) take their missiles off alert, remove the warheads from the missiles, and begin negotiating a treaty to abolish nuclear weapons. This would reduce the risk of an accidental war by reducing nuclear tensions and by increasing the amount of time it would take to launch nuclear weapons, thus giving the nuclear nations' militaries more time to determine whether or not reports of an attack are true. There is a precedent for such bold steps. In September 1991, as the USSR fell apart, President Bush unilaterally ordered a stand-down of U.S. strategic bombers, which had, for decades, been prepared to take off in minutes. Their bombs were later unloaded and stored. Some missiles were taken off alert in just a few days, and orders for some new weapons were canceled. Soviet President Gorbachev reciprocated within a week. He garrisoned the Soviet Union's rail-based missiles, de-activated submarines, and lowered the alert level of the USSR's strategic bombers. Within a few months, both nations had withdrawn most of their tactical nukes from forward positions. These steps made a time of turmoil safer. Let's demand that our leaders follow the bold example set by Presidents Bush and Gorbachev. Please contact President Clinton (1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington DC 20500; (202) 456-1111; president@whitehouse.gov) to urge him to de-alert our missiles, remove the warheads from the missiles, call on all the other nuclear nations to do the same, and call for a treaty to abolish nuclear weapons. Please also contact your Congressional Representatives to urge them to sponsor a resolution calling for the above steps to reduce the risk of an accidental nuclear war. (Members of Congress (202)224-3121. Senators Boxer and Feinstein (U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., 20510). Representatives (U.S. House, Washington, D.C., 20515)). - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) Balkan report from IWPR Date: 02 Apr 1999 04:07:29 -0800 fwd: THE KLA'S NEW MOBILISATION To turn back the Serbian onslaught, The KLA hopes to turn the wave of refugees into an army of the dispossessed. And they want Western military support to do it. By Fron Nazi in Kukes The Kosovars call it the "besa"--the sworn vow on which an Albanian stakes his life. Kosovo Liberation Army soldier Shkem Dragobia says NATO made such a pledge to his people. And broke it. "When we signed the Rambouillet agreement, we were led to believe that NATO and the US will help the Albanians. So we stopped arming and mobilising ourselves," he says. The KLA was strongly pressured to reduce its military activities. The talk in France was of decommissioning, and plans to convert the KLA into a force to peacefully police its own communities. At all costs, they were told, the KLA was not to take advantage of any NATO action to embark on an offensive of their own. The Albanians say they kept their word--on the expectation that NATO would do its part to prevent the kind of humanitarian catastrophe that is now unfolding. "NATO has failed to keep its part of the besa," he adds. He is speaking in a tight room, packed with rifles, machine guns, helmets and other basic military hardware, on the outskirts of the town of Kukes, Albania. Outside, every hour around a hundred wagons and carts pass the Albanian-Kosovo border, each one packed with ten, 15 desperate, despairing people, an entire extended family for each miserable transport. It is a devastating spectacle, and for Albanians the most bitter illustration of the failure of the West's strategy. But while the international refugee agencies and journalists count the numbers, at Dragobia's base in a small warehouse, others are counting potential recruits. According to Dragobia, a field commander reporting to the general staff, all agreements are now off. If NATO refuses to enter Kosovo with ground forces, the KLA is calling on the West to provide heavy arms, artillery and other materiel so that it can take up the fight itself. "We call on all Albanians and our friends to join us now," he says. "It's now or never." He asserts that if the West fails to find a way to turn the tide in the ground war now, the conflict between the KLA and Yugoslav forces could last for five years. But since the onset of the NATO campaign, behind the massive displacement of civilian refugees, despite the daily strikes at the Yugoslav military, the Belgrade troops have been giving the KLA a hammering. Like all KLA sources, Dragobia refuses to give details, but it is clear that fighting has stretched far beyond the central Decani area where the pre-strikes clashes were concentrated, and throughout the western part of the province. The town of Pec, the province's second city, has been emptied and reportedly largely destroyed, and Prizren and Djakovica are said to have suffered similar fates. Serbian TV continues to show coverage of the mass evacuation of Pristina. Refugees claim the Yugoslav forces are storing their military hardware in Albanian homes and other civilian buildings, especially throughout Pristina, to evade NATO air power. The KLA is still active in the mountains, but have suffered from loss of communications and limitations on movement. The roads and all the towns are firmly under Yugoslav Army control. Significantly, a strategy is emerging. Serb authorities are organising buses for the displaced, but appear to be directing them not to Macedonia--which for many would be the nearest refuge--but towards Albania. It suggests a calculated plan by Belgrade to unsettle Albania, which has directly supported the KLA, while easing the refugee burden on Macedonia. The West is particularly sensitive to the political disruption that a massive ethnic Albanian migration could cause to Macedonia's fragile multi-ethnic balance. It's a kind of strategic ethnic cleansing. "We are trying to stop Kosovars first from leaving Kosova by expanding our control over the territory, and secondly we are trying to stop them from leaving Albania," says Dragobia--a nom de guerre, taken from a mountain peak in the province. Like many other KLA members, Dragobia feels that if the West, in particular Italy and Greece, take the refugees, without clear hope of their return, they will be directly aiding Belgrade's campaign of ethnic cleansing. So the KLA is trying to reassemble a fresh army by recruiting among the streams of dispossessed, presently as many as 160,000 people, that are now entering Albania. Men freshly expelled from their homes and villages are presented with a quick choice: sign up for the KLA and join the counterattacks or resign themselves to an uncertain life in a refugee camp. Dragobia again declined to give numbers, but he said that Albanians from Albania are also joining the KLA, though they are being kept in reserve. But the main recruits are from Kosovo itself. Angry and in shock, many refugees sign on. To meet Dragobia we pass around 100 KLA soldiers, armed to the teeth with kalashnikovs and the mixed weaponry of a guerrilla force. Twenty or so young men, no more than 21 years old, in civilian clothes and possibly refugees, take the same route. "We want NATO and the US to keep their original promises," Dragobia stressed. That would mean the use of Western ground troops. "If not, we want them to furnish us with arms and to give us time to reorganise and equip ourselves," he said. That implies an escalation of the air war against Yugoslav forces and NATO supply routes and even military advisors within Kosovo. "If this cannot be done, then our wish is that they leave us alone to resolve our own problems. We're convinced we can handle the Serbs by ourselves, if we have to," he said. As we departed the warehouse, the 20 young Albanians, new recruits, had been freshly attired in neatly creased camouflage uniforms, new boots and bright red berets. They looked at each other awkwardly, like students just signed up to a college sports squad, and getting used to the new jerseys--yet about to play a very dangerous game. Fron Nazi is an IWPR senior editor. IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, NO. 15 -- ### -- - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: LCNP@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) LCNP's Events Schedule Date: 02 Apr 1999 16:00:07 EST Schedule of Upcoming Events as of April 2, 1999 April 3 *East Timor Action Network New York "East Timor: Prospects for Peace and Freedom" Nobel Peace Prize Winner Jose Ramos-Horta on the future of Indonesia-Occupied East Timor With Amy Goodman of WBAI and Pacifica Radio 777 UN Plaza-- 1:00 PM $5.00 Donation Requested April 5 *Abolition 2000 NY Metro "Voices from Kosovo and Belgrade: E-mails and letters from the war." Celebrity guests include Erica Jong, Tim Robbins, and Rosie Perez Helen Hayes Theater, 240 W. 44th St., 7:00 PM $10.00 Donation at the door Contact: MADRE, 212-627-0444 April 7 *Lawyers Alliance for World Security (LAWS) "The Role of Nuclear Weapons in the Post-Cold War World: Preventing the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction" General Charles Horner (USAF-Ret.) Case Western Reserve University School of Law Full registration, including meals and reception, $50.00 For more information call Damien LaVera at (202) 745-2450 or Christine Lucas at (216) 781-3730 April 7-10 * International Conference on Nonviolence Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia For more information, contact Ms. Arlie Holliday, Conference Coordinator 92 Piedmont Avenue, Suite C, Atlanta, GA 30303 Ph.: 404 221 1480 / Fax: 404 221 1569 / E-mail: arliea@radia1.com April 8, 1999 *DPI/NGO Briefing: Issues before the commission on Sustainable Development Speakers include: JoAnne DiSano ad Navid Hanif 10:30 AM Dag Hammarskjold Library April 15, 1999 *DPI/NGO Briefing: Emerging Disarmament Issues Speakers Include: Saul Mendlovitz, Randall Forsberg, and Jonathan Dean 10:30 AM Dag Hammarskjold Library April 16-May 27 *American Indian Community House Exhibit: "Unmentionables" Opening reception: Friday, April 16, 6:00-8:00 PM 708 Brodway, New York, NY 10003 Contact: 212-598-0100 April 22-23 *8th International Conference of the World Information Transfer (WIT) Health and Environment: Global Partners for Global Solutions-- Environmental Challenges to Health Through Key Stages of Life Starts 10:00 AM in the Dag Hammarskjold Library, co-sponsored by DPI April 22-26 * Global Peace Walk Walk from Taos to Santa Fe, New Mexico Global Emergency Alert Response Contact: David Crockett Williams-- 661-822-3309 April 23 *Demostration in Washington against NATO Call to eliminate nuclear weapons and to adopt a no-first-use policy Meet at 11:00 at 14th St. and Constitution Avenue on SW corner of the Mall Free bus ride from NY to DC. Contact Felicity Hill ASAP to make reservations--682-1265 April 23-25 * 50th anniversary summit of the NATO in Washington D.C. NPT PrepCom meeting will take place in New York (before or after the summit) The Fourth Freedom Forum will organize a two-day event in Washington D.C. before the summit Contact Alistair Millar (program director, Fourth Freedom Forum) for more information: 733 15th St, NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005 ph.: 202 393 5201, fax: 202 39305202 April 29, 1999 *Third UN Conference on Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III) Speakers to be confirmed May 7-10 * Honoring the Mother: Healing Global Wounds Spring Gathering 'Healing Global Wounds' is an alliance of organizations working to break the nuclear chain At Nevada Test Site (the camp is located on Western Shoshone land at the gates of the Test Site) Each day will begin with a Sunrise Ceremony led by Western Shoshone Spiritual Leader Corbin Harney Contact: Healing Global Wounds, P.O. Box 420, Tecopa CA 92389 Ph.: 760 852 4175 / Fax: 760 852 4151 / e-mail: hgw@scruznet.com May 11-15 * The Hague Agenda for Peace and Justice for the 21st Century Contact: The Hague Appeal for Peace c/o World Federalist Movement, 777 UN Plaza, New York, NY 10017 Phone: 212-599-1320, Fax: 212-599-1332 May 13-14 *Eliminating Weapons of Mass Destruction: Why Not Nuclear Abolition? General Lee Butler, Admiral Stansfield Turner, and Stephen Schwartz Physicians for Social Responsibility, Pittsburgh $65 Registration fee before April 15, $75 thereafter. Contact: Kathy McCauley at 412-486-9065 June 18-20 * Nuclear Policy and Security on the eve of the 21st century: St. Petersburg Conference Co-hosted by St. Petersburg Peace Council, RPPNW, IPPNW, SLMK etc. Themes to be covered: International Humanitarian Law and Nuclear Weapons, European Security, Russian nuclear policy, and Security in the Baltic Region, among other things… Contact: Xanthe Hall, IPPNW Germany Ph.: +49 30 693 0244 / e-mail: ippnw@oln.comlink.apc.org August 3-9 *World Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs Annual conference geared towards the total abolition of nuclear weapons Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan Contact: Organizing Committee, 6-19-23 Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0004 Japan. Phone: 81-3-3431-1014, Fax: 81-3-3431-8781, e-mail: antiatom@twics.com August 6-8, 1999 *Beyond the Bomb: A New Agenda for Peace and Justice Albequerque, N.M. Contact: Bruce Hall, Peace Action-panukes@igc.apc.org October 10-16 * The 1999 International Conference of NGOs-- The Role of NGOs in the 21st Century Seoul, Korea - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) fwd: North Korea on NATO bombing of Serbia (WWIII brewing) Date: 02 Apr 1999 20:09:18 -0800 North Korea's reaction to NATO's bombing of Serbia should not be surprising to observers of current global hotspots. According to DPRK officials, the bombing campaign has convinced Pyongyang that it is dealing with "a new Hitler" and that North Korean officials believe that the Unted States would attack the DPRK like a "vulture" given the slightest opportunity. Therefore, North Korea will speed up its missile development and related military programs to deter U.S. "aggression." The DPRK justifies this as a "matter of survival." More details in the following Special Report by The Northeast Asia Peace And Security Network. (http://www.nautilus.org/napsnet/latest.html) With the continuing air campaign in Iraq and U.S. Armed Forces spread throughout the globe such as Somolia, Germany, Japan, Haiti, South Korea, and other places - the U.S. Military is spread dangerously thin. Given the hollowing out of the U.S. Armed Forces over the last six years, the U.S. Military involvement in Yugoslavia puts a further strain on U.S. Military service personnel and resources. Our adversaries in North Korea, China, Russia and elsewhere are taking notes! NOTE: The "Ethnic Cleansing" taking place in Kosovo is of particular interest. The "wars and rumors of wars," which Jesus referred to in Matthew 24:6 as a sign of His coming, is translated by many as "Ethnic Cleansing." Rick Woodcock KIN Intelligence Director ----------- NORTHEAST ASIA PEACE AND SECURITY NETWORK: SPECIAL REPORT ---------- The following "DPRK Report" is the product of a joint project between the Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) of the Monterey Institute of International Studies (Monterey, California, USA) and the Center for Contemporary International Problems (ICIP) (Moscow, Russia). It is written by Russian analysts associated with the ICIP and edited by the CNS. THE DPRK REPORT, No. 17 (March-April 1999) 1. North Korea's Reaction to the NATO Bombing of Yugoslavia NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia has apparently had a very deep impact on the thinking of North Korean authorities. DPRK representatives say privately that their government now "has discarded all illusions about Washington's intentions." According to these officials, the bombing has "completely and irreversibly" convinced Pyongyang that it is dealing with "a new Hitler" who is "determined to conquer the entire world through intimidation, pressure, and aggression." Pyongyang reportedly now has no doubts that, given the slightest opportunity, the United States will attack the DPRK like a "vulture." To deter this aggression, North Korea, while continuing to talk and bargain with Washington, will reportedly speed up its missile development and related military programs. "It is a matter of our national survival," said one high-ranking North Korean official, "and the United States is mistaken if it thinks that it can check the DPRK's missile development through cooperation with other countries or by any other tricks." North Korean officials hint that their country intends to acquire such a significant deterrent force that Washington "will not dare even to think about attacking the DPRK." North Koreans believe that Washington, if confronted with stiff resistance by the Serbs and worldwide condemnation of "NATO aggression" against Yugoslavia, may become temporarily more flexible in other parts of the world, including Korea. In their view, the situation around Yugoslavia presumably broadens opportunities at this juncture to woo theUnited States into agreements favorable to the DPRK. The North hopes to use this advantage to develop formal diplomatic relations with the United States, remove U.S. economic sanctions, and join international financial institutions like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. The situation will be even better, North Korean representatives add, if the United States gets tied up in Yugoslavia for a long time. As one official notes: "Then, Washington will really have to act from the position of weakness. The myth of American invincibility will be destroyed. The prestige and influence of the United States in the world arena will vanish, and the Clinton administration will be seriously damaged at home." 2. The Status of North Korean Military Maintenance and Readiness According to various Russian assessments, North Korean conventional forces are suffering from a shortage of fuel, spare parts, ammunition, and repair facilities. Though quantitatively the armed forces are impressive, the qualitative side is rather backward. To overcome the widening gap compared to the armed forces of the Republic of Korea and the U.S. troops stationed there, Pyongyang is now trying to upgrade the technical level of its air force and army. Local research anddevelopment is being augmented by imports of high-tech weaponry from abroad, which is being acquired through the export of North Korean missiles. A particular emphasis is being made to develop the country's missile potential as the main deterrent against external threats. It cannot be also excluded that non-conventional arms are being made as well. While the technical component of the DPRK's military might leave much to be desired, the human component should not be underestimated. Experts believe that the fighting spirit and physical condition of the officers and soldiers remain very high. There is no lack of food for the DPRK's armed forces, so this factor should not be construed as one weakening the military's readiness. While they may not be well trained in dealing with sophisticated weaponry, North Korean troops may prove superior to their opponents in any prolonged conflict. --END-- Koenig's International News - Bill Koenig - http://watch.org/ Post Office Box 671164, Dallas, TX 75367 - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) RadWaste Remediation ACTION OPPORTUNITY Date: 04 Apr 1999 12:46:17 -0700 Following is forwarded request for emails to EPA official in support of RadWaste remediation technologies instead of Yucca Mountain and other radiation waste burials as now started in New Mexico under "Mobile Chernobyl" plan. Reference article below in today's Las Vegas newspaper. ----Original Message----- Awfully strange time of the day for a government official to be sending this out. I originally sent the e-mail about two months ago! Better late than never, I suppose. I suggest ALL of you send in some kind of a comment or question asking how come the DOE, EPA, and other agencies don't want to spend a dime on transmuting radioactive waste and still spend $6 billion so far on Yucca Mountain. Some of you are Las Vegas residents. Today's Review-Journal in its Las Vegas Sun section has some long articles on transmutation. [[DCW: See "Removing the sting from nuclear waste", By Mary Manning http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/1999/apr/04/508619786.html = ]] Not a word on the processes that we know about like Hal Fox's group or Paul Brown's photoremediation process. The blackout by the mass media still continues. I would protest to the EPA the blackout. [[[DCW: note; Low Energy Nuclear Transmutation (LENT) technologies, a "byproduct" of previously mis-labeled but viable "cold fusion" devices, actually neutralize radioactive materials. some website references are s= how here. Get more details from Gary Vesperman. Photo of flake of non-radioactive copper which had been transmuted from radioactive thorium using low-energy nuclear transmutation (LENT): http://web.gcis.net/cincygrp Stories of scientific skeptics proven wrong: http://www.padrak.com/ine/FABFACTS.html Possibly the most original alternative physics site is Mike Hanson=92s at= : http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Lab/6771/magnet.html I [Gary] am a member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for New Energy. Information on over 100 energy devices (and Hal Fox's work) is at: http://www.padrak.com/ine Cold Fusion Times magazine: http://www.world.std.com/~mica/cft.html Long list of cold fusion sites: http://www.skypoint.com/members/jlogajan Infinite Energy and Cold Fusion mag: http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/rei/CFdir/CFhome.html **Mallove, Infinite Energy Magazinehttp://www.infinite-energy.com ]]] [Gary, continued:] If you get any responses, forward them to me. I will forward them back to you all. -----Original Message----- > >Your Comment: >---------------------------------------------------------------- >Hello! >Below is an e-mail I sent to Hal Fox Thursday. >We are trying to arrange for sponsorship by the Nevada Governor's office for the >LENT demo at the Feb. 16 nuclear waste summit in Carson City. I thought some of >your members may like to drive over and see the demo, if it is held. We have a >few little nuclear problems like Iraq possibly acting up in preparation = for >smuggling uclear bombs next to some of our nuclear power plants. The figure I >remember is that a 1000-megawatt nuclear power plant running at full pow= er for >one year accumulates the radioactive equivalent of 2,300 Hiroshima atomi= c bombs. >One Hiroshima bomb killed, and is still killing, 300,000 people. > >Let's assume a complex of two large elderly nuclear power plants in Illinois has >in its waste fuel storage pools 10,000 Hiroshima bombs of radioactivity. Iraq >smuggles in just one bomb and blows it up. (Notice that I did not say th= at an >ICBM is needed to deliver the bomb.) We would then >have a situation in our agricultural heartland far worse than Chernobyl.= I >remember reading that Italy alone had to dispose of $750,000,000 worth o= f >radioactivity-contaminated food. I still try not to buy food imported fr= om >Europe. > >I recently saw a report that the inspectors never found and destroyed Iraq's >nuclear apparatus. Their technical people are now free to finish buildin= g their >own bombs within a few months. >Iraq has been acting strangely confident lately with its saber-rattling. What >the low-energy nuclear transmutation technology offers is a method of easily >transmuting the radioactivity out of the waste nuclear fuel. I had sent = out the >e-mail to the environmental community to try to wake them up and stop wasting >time and money on Yucca Mountain. Please support the development of the LENT >process so that we can reduce the risk of nuclear terrorism. I don't thi= nk we >have time to lose. Please forward this message to other nuclear activist= s. > >For more information about the conference, call the Nevada Governor's office >at 775-684-5670. >Thank you! >Gary Vesperman > >---------------------------------------------------------------- > >EPA's Reply: >---------------------------------------------------------------- >Dear Mr. Vesperman: > >You can learn more about radioactive waste disposal in the United States= by >visiting the following pages: > >General Overview - www.epa.gov/radiation/radwaste/ >Waste Isolation Pilot Plant - www.epa.gov/radiation/wipp/ >Yucca Mtn. - www.epa.gov/radiation/yucca/ > >Let me know if you have any specific questions. > >Sincerely, > >Carey Johnston >USEPA - Radiation Protection Division >johnston.carey@epa.gov >---------------------------------------------------------------- > >Please contact us if you have additional questions. > > > - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) fwd: Kosovo, a "leftist" perspective Date: 04 Apr 1999 15:08:56 -0700 >This from a leftist perspective, but who can doubt the relevance of the >information? When (and if) Kosovo is "liberated", who winds up in contr= ol >of the mines? Anyone who might be making campaign contributions? Remem= ber >the movers and shakers of the NWO are just as amused by the rantings of = the >"leftists" as they are by the rantings of "right wing extremists" -- as >long as the two blame each other and continue to fail recognize their >common serfdom. ICE >************************************************************************= *** * >Subject: The Serbian Cash Register A real Eye Opener > >Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the July 30, 1998 issue of >Workers World newspaper >------------------------- Kosovo: 'The war is about the mines' By Sara >Flounders > >Wars are at root about economics, and the rapidly expanding war in Kosov= o >is no different. So why have millions of dollars in high-tech weapons >suddenly become available to the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army by way= of >the U.S. and Germany? > >A July 11 report by New York Times Balkans bureau chief Chris Hedges >describes the KLA's new arsenal=97the latest anti-tank rocket-propelled >grenades and anti-aircraft weapons. These weapons are shifting the bala= nce >of power toward the KLA, which is funded fully by outside sources, mostl= y >from the U.S. and Germany. >The KLA is "fed by recruits, money and arms from outside Serbia," Hedges >confirms. It has an "inexhaustible supply line," he reports. > >"Rebel soldiers, in full uniform with the red and black patch of the Kos= ovo >Liberation Army, pull thick wads of German marks from their pockets. The= re >are also signs that the arrival of dozens of former professional soldier= s >as well as some mercenaries are turning the ragtag band into a viable >military force of several thousand fighters." In fact, the KLA is >primarily a mercenary army funded by the kind of shadowy sources that ha= ve >long been associated with U.S. and German intelligence services. It is= a >contra army. > >Kosovo is often portrayed in the media as an isolated mountainous region >that's poor and without resources. It might seem, from these accounts, = to >be an area of interest only to those who live there. >The New York Times, for example, has carried dozens of such articles by >Chris Hedges in the last six months. Only once, on July 8, did Hedges >write about the real wealth of Kosovo=97the Stari Trg mining complex. I= t was >a tip-off that something more was at stake in this war. > >Hedges' visit to the Stari Trg mining complex is an eye opener. He >describes the glittering veins of lead, zinc, cadmium, gold and silver i= n >Stari Trg. According to Hedges, "The sprawling state-owned Trepca mining >complex, the most valuable piece of real estate in the Balkans, is worth= at >least $5 billion." According to the mine's director, Novak Bjelic, "The = war >in Kosovo is about the mines, nothing else. This is Serbia's Kuwait=97t= he >heart of Kosovo. > >... In addition to all this, Kosovo has 17 billion tons of coal reserve= s." >The whole world knows and observed firsthand in the war against Iraq to >what horrendous extent the Pentagon was willing to go in order to guaran= tee >control of the oil wealth of Kuwait. But the enormous mineral wealth of >Kosovo is never publicly discussed by U.S. United Nations Ambassador >Richard Holbrooke, President Bill Clinton or the Pentagon generals. The= y >speak only of "self-determination" of the Albanian population of Kosovo. >Of course, they never mention what U.S.-imposed "self-determination" mea= ns. > It means colonization under the guise of "liberation," like what the U.= S. >did to Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Philippines a hundred years ago. > >An Internet search for reports on the mines of Kosovo=97the Trepca minin= g >complex or Stari Trg=97turned up only the one article by Hedges and a sm= all >piece in the June 22 Wall Street Journal. All other mentions are in >metallurgical journals. How could this vital fact be omitted from all >discussion of what is at stake in Kosovo? It is comparable to describin= g >Kuwait and the oil-rich Gulf states as barren deserts. The wealth of Kos= ovo >is greater than the rich veins of ore in the mines. Hedges describes the >mining complex: "The Stari Trg mine, with its warehouses, is ringed with >smelting plants, 17 metal treatment sites, freight yards, railroad lines= , a >power plant and the country's largest battery plant." > >The labor power of millions of workers throughout socialist Yugoslavia >built this mining complex into the powerhouse it is today. It was their >wealth that was invested in developing the complex. It belongs not just= to >those who live in Kosovo, but to the workers of all Yugoslavia. The >Yugoslav web site www.yugo slavia.com describes Trepca as the "richest l= ead >and zinc mines in Europe." Lignite deposits in the Kosovo mines are, >according to experts, sufficient for the next 13 centuries. The capacit= y >of the lead and zinc refineries ranks third in the world. > >Miners work round the clock, day and night, in six-hour shifts. Accordin= g >to the mine director, "In the last three years we have mined 2,538,124 >tons of lead and zinc crude ore and produced 286,502 tons of lead and zi= nc >and 139,789 tons of pure lead, zinc, cadmium, silver and gold." Although >the average person watching the news in the evening has never heard of >Stari Trg, it has been a prize changing hands for two thousand years. >The wealth of Stari Trg is legendary. Precious metals were mined there >more than 2,000 years ago, first by the Greeks, then by the Romans. > >These mines were the grand prize in the Nazi occupation of the Balkans >after Germany grabbed control from the British. The mines have great >industrial and military importance. The Nazis used batteries produced >there to power their U-boats. Today submarine batteries are still made >there. Profits from these mines are helping to keep the Yugoslav Federat= ion >afloat. > >U.S. and UN sanctions imposed on Serbia and Montenegro, the two remaini= ng >republics of Yugoslavia, have taken an enormous toll. Without investment >credits, loans for financing industry, imports and exports, the economy = has >been stifled. Inflation has weakened the currency. The mines, which onc= e >were the largest employer in the province, have also been affected. The >most important words in Hedges' article are the description of the compl= ex >as "state owned." Throughout this decade, as the capitalist market has >swept over the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe and the Sovi= et >Union, socialist Yugoslavia has attempted to resist privatization of its >industry and natural resources. To break this resistance, the Western >imperialist countries played a major role in the breakup of socialist >Yugoslavia. > >This huge complex of mines, refining, power and transportation in Kosovo >may well be the largest uncontested piece of wealth not yet in the hands= of >the big capitalists of the U.S. or Europe. The industry, natural resourc= es >and transportation of all the former Soviet republics, the socialist >countries of Eastern Europe, and the secessionist republics of Yugoslavi= a >are now being rapidly privatized. No one within the region has the weal= th >or connections to finance capital to buy controlling shares of these vas= t >state-owned industries. The major Western corporations are gobbling the= se >industries up. > >While the fate of some industries is still in negotiation, the lending a= nd >credit conditions of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank >require the breakup of all state-owned industries. This is true for the >oil and natural gas wealth in the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea as well a= s >the diamond mines of Siberia. >The decision on who will own or have controlling interest in the 22 mine= s >and the many processing plants of the Trepca complex will be made by >whoever wins the armed struggle raging in Kosovo. NATO domination on th= e >ground would put U.S. corporations in the best ownership position. >Nationalist strife advances their position. >Although being forced to privatize in order to survive in today's global >market, Yugoslavia has tried to control the process and to propose Balka= n >regional development. > >According to the June 22 Wall Street Journal, the Yugoslav Federation is= in >negotiations to sell shares in the Trepca mining complex. Forced by the >economic crisis, they have been negotiating with a Greek >investor=97Mytilineos Holdings SA=97for partial ownership. The former ma= nager >of the mines, Byrhan Kavaja=97who is now allied with the opposition to t= he >Yugoslav government=97has written to all corporations dealing in soft me= tals >to tell them not to make agreements with the Yugoslav government. Kavaj= a >says that once a new government is in power, all past decisions on >ownership will be invalidated. The opposition will make "new agreements= ." >Who is likely to be the beneficiary of these agreements? > >The progressive movement in the U.S. and throughout Western Europe must= be >at the forefront in explaining that the billions of dollars spent on the >U.S./NATO occupation of the region is not in the interests of any of the >people of the Balkans. Nor is it in the interests of poor and working >people in the U.S. or Europe. The war is destroying all that was built >through collective ownership and collaboration in the Balkans. This war >will mean higher taxes and even more cuts in social programs in the U.S = and >Europe. But the billions of dollars in profit will go to a few wealthy >stockholders in the U.S. or in Western Europe. >- END - > - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) [a response to] Kosovo, a "leftist" perspective Date: 04 Apr 1999 17:15:51 -0700 -----Original Message----- >Readers of Sara Flounders' propaganda for Milosevic need to know that >she is not exactly a "leftist" but a member of a tiny "revolutionary" >splinter party that is apparently loyal to Belgrade. Back in the old >days, there were "Marxist" parties sworn to Moscow, Beijing, Hanoi, >Yugoslavia and even Hoxha's Albania, plus others I'm sure. Each party >claimed it's particular workers' paradise or dead Communist leader had >the One True Way to Socialism, with all others being deviationist >enemies of the people. The Workers' World Party is one of the few of >these little groups to survive the Cold War. I suspect they are being >supported directly by Belgrade or else by Serbs living in the US. In >any case, Flounders in other documents and public speeches denies that >there has been any genocide or "ethnic cleansing" either in Kosovo or >Bosnia, in spite of the overwhelming body of evidence. It's bizarre. >She denies the Omarska concentration camp, the massacre at Srebrenica, >the mass rapes of Bosnian Muslim women, and the recent massacre at >Racak witnessed by the OSCE observers. Her party is a conspiratorial, >hierarchical organization which brings thugs to its public meetings in >order to silence any dissenters in the audience. > >As for her point about the mines, it is indeed likely that these mines >play a role in motivating the current holocaust -- on the Serbian side. >If, as she claims, the mines are worth $5 billion, that would certainly >explain Milosevic' determination to hold on to them. It would not >explain the US interest in the Kosovo genocide, which is going to end >up costing the United States a lot more than $5 billion, and in which >we are risking stakes potentially as high as a nuclear apocalypse. > >The notion that these mines are what the conflict is about for the US >would be laughable, if it were possible to laugh about any of this. > >Mark Gubrud > - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: hcaldic Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Nuclear Knife Aimed at America's Heart Date: 04 Apr 1999 20:35:42 -0400 Bob Tiller wrote: > > Some thoughts in response: > > 1. If PDD-60 is top secret, how can we trust this (or any) report of > what it says? > > 2. The U.S. military is required by current U.S. law to maintain > deployment of nuclear weapons at the START I level, i.e. 6,000 warheads > deployed. Period. No exceptions. It is ridiculous, but it's the law. > (By the way, the START II level is not 2,500. It is 3,500.) > > 3. Launch-on-warning places everyone at greater risk, because or the > possibility of misreading or misunderstanding the data. Incinerating > others (and probably ourselves) in response to a warning seems a rather > stupid way to act, because the warning could be about something as > benign as a weather rocket. > > 4. Satellites will not be downed in a first strike, and communications > capacity will not totally disappear in a first strike. It is absurd to > say that U.S. naval strategic forces could not withstand a first strike. > Even if half the U.S. Trident force were eliminated, the U.S. could > still launch many hundreds of nuclear weapons from the remaining > Tridents. > > 5. With the massive deterioration of Russia's military and the shrinkage > of Russia's economy, no serious observer believes that Russia would be > able to launch 4,000 to 6,000 warheads today. > > 6. Where is the evidence to support the claim that Russia has a > nationwide ABM system? > > 7. No one in Congress or the Administration has claimed that missile > defense would work against a massive first strike of nuclear weapons > against the U.S. It just can't be done, and everyone knows that. The > current debate about missile defense is about protecting against a small > number of weapons (presumably launched by a "rogue" state.) > > 8. It is impossible for the Clinton Administration to assume credit or > blame for actions taken by the U.S. in 1992. > > 9. The U.S. is not undertaking unilateral nuclear disarmament. Rather > the opposite is occuring. The U.S. is engaging in "subcritical" tests > on plutonium in order to perfect its nuclear weapons, is engaging in > research on pure fusion weapons, and much more. (Also see #2 above.) > > 10. Finally, why would any sane person discourse about "taking out" all > the nuclear weapons in Russia, or in the U.S.? If some nation (Russia, > U.S., or any other) uses as few as 40 nuclear weapons, all life on earth > would be radically transformed, especially in the industrialized world. > Every single dimension of our lives -- agriculture, banking, medicine, > transportation, communication, politics, education -- would be so > totally different that we can not even imagine what things would be like > following the use of a small number of nuclear weapons. After the > launch of a few dozen nuclear warheads, millions of people would be dead > and dying, while millions more would have no electricity, no food > supply, no gasoline, etc. We can not pretend that using nuclear weapons > is in anyway comparable to dropping some conventional bombs. > > Shalom, > Bob Tiller > > David Crockett Williams wrote: > > > > [fwd]--One would think that it is a good idea to understand all perspectives > > on the abolition issue. Here is one perspective supporting need for > > multilateral abolition.... > > > > A Nuclear Knife Aimed at America's Heart > > Joel M. Skousen > > March 25, 1999 > > > > In November 1997, President Clinton signed a top-secret Presidential > > Decision Directive (PDD-60) directing U.S. military commanders to > > abandon the time-honored nuclear deterrence of "launch on warning." > > Ironically, this was done in the name of "increased deterrence." > > Every sensible American needs to understand why this reasoning is > > fraudulent at best and deadly at worst. First, some background. > > > > The impetus to change U.S. strategic nuclear doctrine came on the > > heels of Clinton's demand to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in early 1997 > > that they prepare to unilaterally reduce America's nuclear warhead > > deployment to 2,500 in eager anticipation of the ratification of the > > START II disarmament treaty. This pact has yet to be ratified by the > > Russian Duma. > > > > Gen. John Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, responded that > > he couldn't comply, since the U.S. military was still operating on a > > former Presidential Decision Directive of 1981 to prepare to "win a > > protracted nuclear war." A winning strategy couldn't be implemented > > without the full contingent of current nuclear strategic warheads. > > > > According to Craig Cerniello of Arms Control Today (November/December > > 1997 issue), "the administration viewed the 1981 guidelines as an > > anachronism of the Cold War. The notion that the United States still > > had to be prepared to fight and win a protracted nuclear war today > > seemed out of touch with reality, given the fact that it has been six > > years since the collapse of the Soviet Union." > > > > Certainly, the apparent collapse of the Soviet Union is the linchpin > > in every argument pointing toward the relaxation of Western vigilance > > and accelerated disarmament. Indeed, it is the driving argument that > > is trumpeted constantly before Congress, U.S. military leaders, and > > the American people. > > > > Almost everyone is buying it -- even most conservatives who should > > know better. However, the most savvy Soviet-watchers can point to a > > host of evidence indicating that the so-called "collapse" was > > engineered to disarm the West and garner billions in direct aid to > > assist Russia while inducing the West to take over the economic > > burden of the former satellite states. > > > > But the most ominous evidence is found in defectors from Russia who > > tell the same story: Russia is cheating on all aspects of > > disarmament, and is siphoning off billions in Western aid money to > > modernize and deploy top-of-the-line new weapons systems aimed at > > taking down the U.S. military in one huge, decapitating nuclear > > strike. > > > > Contrast this with the Clinton administration's response. Incredibly, > > while still paying lip service to nuclear deterrence, Assistant > > Secretary of Defense Edward L. Warner III went before the Congress on > > March 31, 1998, and bragged about the litany of unilateral > > disarmament this administration has forced upon the U.S. military: > > > > Warner noted the "success" the Clinton administration has had in > > recent years, which has: > > > > Eliminated our entire inventory of ground-launched non-strategic > > nuclear weapons (nuclear artillery and Lance surface-to-surface > > missiles). > > > > Removed all nonstrategic nuclear weapons on a day-to-day basis from > > surface ships, attack submarines, and land-based naval aircraft > > bases. > > > > Removed our strategic bombers from alert. > > > > Stood down the Minuteman II ICBMs scheduled for deactivation under > > Start I. > > > > Terminated the mobile Peacekeeper and mobile small ICBM programs. > > > > Terminated the SCRAM-II nuclear short-range attack missile. In > > January 1992, the second Presidential Nuclear Initiative took further > > steps which included: > > > > Limiting B-2 production to 20 bombers. > > > > Canceling the entire small ICBM program. > > > > Ceasing production of W-88 Trident SLBM (submarine-launched missile) > > warheads. > > > > Halting purchases of advanced cruise missiles. > > > > Stopping new production of Peacekeeper missiles (our biggest > > MIRV-warhead ICBM). "As a result of these significant changes, the > > U.S. nuclear stockpile has decreased by more than 50 percent," Warner > > enthused. > > > > All of this has been done without any meaningful disarmament by the > > Russians. > > > > The Clinton administration would counter this charge by citing the > > "successful" dismantling of 3,300 strategic nuclear warheads by > > Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus, and the destruction of their 252 > > ICBMs and related silos -- all paid for with U.S. taxpayer funds to > > the tune of $300 million per year. But the real story is otherwise. > > > > Yes, Americans paid for the dismantling of these systems -- the > > oldest and most out-of-date in the Soviet inventory. They were > > scheduled for replacement anyway, so the U.S. taxpayer ended up > > saving the Russians over a billion dollars, allowing them to use this > > and other Western aid to develop and build new systems, coming on > > line right now. But that isn't all. > > > > What the administration doesn't say is that they allowed the Russians > > to reclaim all the nuclear warheads, and paid them to recycle the > > usable material into new, updated warheads. We didn't diminish the > > threat at all. We only helped them to transform it into something > > more dangerous. > > > > Thus, the Russians still maintain a more than 3-to-1 advantage over > > the United States in both throw-weight and nuclear delivery vehicles. > > That disparity is widening dramatically with the Clinton > > administration's unilateral disarmament while at the same time > > encouraging the Russians to proceed not only with the deployment of > > 500 new Topol-M missiles (which are mobile-launched and therefore > > difficult to target), but to put three MIRVed warheads on each > > missile instead of the treaty limit of one warhead -- for a total > > deployment of 1,500 warheads. > > > > Not counting the presumed minimum 4,000 to 6,000 warheads in the > > current Russian inventory, these 1,500 new warheads would overwhelm a > > measly 200-interceptor ABM system in North Dakota -- which the > > Clinton administration is insisting should NOT be deployed before > > 2005. I wonder why? > > > > With our 50 Peacekeeper ICBMs scheduled to be decommissioned in 2003, > > that gives the Russians or Chinese a wide-open window for attack, > > should they choose to exercise their first-strike, > > nuclear-decapitation option. > > > > So much for the "new realism" of the Clinton disarmament team and > > their assertion that Russia poses no threat. Judging strictly by > > public data from establishment sources (which is always understated > > due to Moscow's heavy shroud of secrecy) the Russian threat is much > > greater than it ever was, both in quantity and quality of strategic > > nuclear forces. This is thanks, in part, to ongoing technology > > transfers by IBM and other defense contractors with the knowing > > participation and encouragement of this administration. > > > > Now let's take a close look at this presumed "increased deterrence" > > the Clinton Department of Defense is promising. The administration > > claims its brand of deterrence is still based on the "mutual assured > > destruction" (MAD) concept -- a truly appropriate acronym. > > > > This is the presumption that, since both sides have an overwhelming > > capability to destroy each other, that no sane leadership would > > engage in nuclear war. Let's examine this closely. MAD could only > > stand as a viable assumption if: > > > > Both sides had sufficient weapons and delivery vehicles to inflict > > total devastation. > > > > Neither side had an effective anti-ballistic-missile system. > > > > Neither side had electronic jamming capability on its incoming ICBMs. > > > > Neither side had hardened shelters protecting its population and > > leadership. These assumptions clearly do not exist today: > > > > First, we barely have enough nuclear warheads to take out the Russian > > arsenal as presently constituted if we used them all at once (which > > no sane military commander could afford to do, leaving him with no > > reserves). Russia, on the other hand, has enough to devastate our > > entire strategic forces and still retain 60 percent of her weapons in > > reserve, for a prolonged conflict. > > > > Second, we have no ABM system to protect against ICBMs at all. Our > > dumbed-down and slowed-down Patriots are theater weapons (built to > > conform to the flawed ABM Treaty) and can barely catch slow, > > low-flying Scud missiles, let alone ICBMs that coming screaming in > > from space at 6 to 12 kilometers per second. The Russians have (in > > violation of the same ABM Treaty) a nationwide system of ABMs tied to > > phased-array radars and satellite guidance systems. > > > > Third, we have no electronic jamming on our missiles to help them > > penetrate the Russian ABM system, and the Russians claim their newest > > Topol-M missiles do have such a capability. Whether or not this claim > > is a bluff is immaterial. The fact is, they are building new, > > high-tech missiles and our technology is 10 years old and stagnant. > > We are not developing or building anything new. This aspect can only > > worsen as time goes on. > > > > Fourth, our civilian population is totally unprotected, while a large > > portion of the Russian cities have public fallout shelter facilities. > > New bunkers are being constructed for the Russian leadership despite > > the economic hardships the people suffer. This should tell us > > something about Russian leadership intentions. > > > > Is this Mutually Assured Destruction? Hardly. It equates to United > > States Assured Destruction! In every category of deterrence, we are > > disarming and stagnant, and the Russians are building and deploying. > > There is, in fact, only one type of deterrence that is capable of > > somewhat balancing the scales: the nuclear response doctrine of > > Launch on Warning. > > > > Launch on Warning takes advantage of the fact that long-range > > ballistic missiles take time to arrive on target -- up to 25 minutes, > > depending on where the missiles are fired from. If the Russians were > > to launch a first strike, our satellites would detect and confirm > > that launch within seconds. In a Launch on Warning doctrine, our > > missiles (if on alert status) could be launched before the Russian or > > Chinese missiles hit our silos. There is also time to retarget our > > missiles so that they are not wasted on Russian silos that are now > > empty. > > > > Thus, one of the great advantages for a Launch on Warning doctrine is > > that it allows the nation that launches second to have an advantage > > over the nation that launches first. The one to launch first wastes a > > certain number of its missiles on our silos that are now empty. By > > contrast, our missiles (utilizing real-time targeting data from > > satellites) strike targets that are still viable. > > > > Now that is deterrence -- a deterrence that we presently do not have > > due to PDD-60. > > > > Clinton national security aide Robert Bell proudly proclaimed to a > > group of disarmament advocates, "In this PDD, we direct our military > > forces to continue to posture themselves in such a way as to not rely > > on Launch on Warning -- to be able to absorb a nuclear strike and > > still have enough force surviving to constitute credible deterrence." > > > > This is patently preposterous. Respond with what? > > > > We have no mobile missiles to avoid being targeted. We have already > > unilaterally agreed to keep over half of our ballistic missile > > submarines in port at any one time, so they can easily be targeted. > > After all, we don't want our Russian "allies" to feel insecure! > > > > All of our Navy and Air Force strategic forces are incapable of > > withstanding a nuclear strike. Even the remaining Trident subs on > > patrol would be unable to respond when communication links and > > satellites are downed in a first strike. > > > > PDD-60 removes all alternate submarine launch codes so that our subs > > cannot fire without direct communication with the president. Those > > vital communications links will assuredly not survive a massive first > > strike. When you tell the Russians we are going to absorb a first > > strike, you induce them to make sure they hit us with everything > > necessary to make sure we cannot respond. > > > > This is not deterrence. This is suicide. > > > > Joel M. Skousen is a political scientist by training and former > > chairman of the Conservative National Committee. He is a specialist > > in security matters and consults nationwide on "Strategic Relocation" > > -- the title of his latest book. > > > > - > > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. > > - > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. Excellent commentary Bob, Helen Caldicott PS get it published in the same paper where he was published - demand equal time, it works! - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) Fw: Nuclear War-Related Links Date: 04 Apr 1999 18:52:04 -0700 -----Original Message----- >Below are some good links related to nuclear war, Y2K and nuclear >issues, and non-intervention. Remember even in the most peaceful >of times we are 1/2 hour from nuclear destruction--not to mention >when we are busy bombing two Russian allies, as we are now!! > >Nuclear Information Resource Center http://www.nirs.org/ >Nuclear Age Peace Foundation http://www.napf.org/ >The Bug in the Bomb http://www.basicint.org/y2krept.htm >Union of Concerned Scientists http://www.ucsusa.org/about/index.html >Physicians for Social Responsibility http://www.psr.org/ >Nuclear Control Institute http://www.nci.org/home.htm >Nuclear Information and Resource Service http://nuke.handheld.com/ >Big List of Nuclear Related Links >http://www.fas.org/nuke/hew/News/Bigbig.html >Proposition One Committee's Bigger List of Nuclear Related Links > http://prop1.org/prop1/azantink.htm >Bulletin of Atomic Scientists Atomic Clock >http://www.bullatomsci.org/clock.html >Daily Y2K articles, including nuclear related, at: >http://www.year2000.com/y2karticles > >Photos of nuke war http://pegasus.phys.saga-u.ac.jp/peace1e.html >Nuclear War Related Movies--The War Game, Testament, Miracle Mile, >Threads, >The Day After and By Dawn's Early Light--and other good links can be >found from: >http://www.ibp-intl.demon.co.uk/nuccult.htm > >NonIntervention Pages >Committee Against U.S. Intervention http://www.antiwar.com >International Action Center http://www.iacenter.org/ >NonViolence Web http://www.nonviolence.org >DC Demos Photos site http://www.sinkers.org > >from Carol Moore >http://www.kreative.net/carolmoore/C&C-news.html > - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Peter Weiss Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) LCNP's Events Schedule Date: 04 Apr 1999 23:26:16 -0400 Dear Jerrold: Glad to see some contact numbers for the Hague Appeal, but please let's get them right: Hague Appeal for Peace c/o WFM (no need to spell out), 777 UN Plaza, New York, NY 10017 phone 212 687 2623 fax 212 599 1332 e-mail hap99@igc.org http://www.haguepeace.org Thanks, Peter LCNP@aol.com wrote: >=20 > Schedule of Upcoming Events as of April 2, 1999 >=20 > April 3 > *East Timor Action Network New York > "East Timor: Prospects for Peace and Freedom" > Nobel Peace Prize Winner Jose Ramos-Horta on the future of > Indonesia-Occupied East Timor > With Amy Goodman of WBAI and Pacifica Radio > 777 UN Plaza-- 1:00 PM > $5.00 Donation Requested >=20 > April 5 > *Abolition 2000 NY Metro > "Voices from Kosovo and Belgrade: E-mails and letters from the war." > Celebrity guests include Erica Jong, Tim Robbins, and Rosie Perez > Helen Hayes Theater, 240 W. 44th St., 7:00 PM > $10.00 Donation at the door > Contact: MADRE, 212-627-0444 >=20 > April 7 > *Lawyers Alliance for World Security (LAWS) > "The Role of Nuclear Weapons in the Post-Cold War World: Preventing th= e > Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction" > General Charles Horner (USAF-Ret.) > Case Western Reserve University School of Law > Full registration, including meals and reception, $50.00 > For more information call Damien LaVera at (202) 745-2450 > or Christine Lucas at (216) 781-3730 >=20 > April 7-10 > * International Conference on Nonviolence > Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia > For more information, contact Ms. Arlie Holliday, Conference Coordina= tor > 92 Piedmont Avenue, Suite C, Atlanta, GA 30303 > Ph.: 404 221 1480 / Fax: 404 221 1569 / E-mail: arliea@radia1.com >=20 > April 8, 1999 > *DPI/NGO Briefing: Issues before the commission on Sustainable Developm= ent > Speakers include: JoAnne DiSano ad Navid Hanif > 10:30 AM Dag Hammarskjold Library >=20 > April 15, 1999 > *DPI/NGO Briefing: Emerging Disarmament Issues > Speakers Include: Saul Mendlovitz, Randall Forsberg, and Jonathan Dea= n > 10:30 AM Dag Hammarskjold Library >=20 > April 16-May 27 > *American Indian Community House > Exhibit: "Unmentionables" > Opening reception: Friday, April 16, 6:00-8:00 PM > 708 Brodway, New York, NY 10003 > Contact: 212-598-0100 >=20 > April 22-23 > *8th International Conference of the World Information Transfer (WIT) > Health and Environment: Global Partners for Global Solutions-- > Environmental Challenges to Health > Through Key Stages of Life > Starts 10:00 AM in the Dag Hammarskjold Library, co-sponsored by DPI >=20 > April 22-26 > * Global Peace Walk > Walk from Taos to Santa Fe, New Mexico > Global Emergency Alert Response > Contact: David Crockett Williams-- 661-822-3309 >=20 > April 23 > *Demostration in Washington against NATO > Call to eliminate nuclear weapons and to adopt a no-first-use policy > Meet at 11:00 at 14th St. and Constitution Avenue on SW corner of the= Mall > Free bus ride from NY to DC. > Contact Felicity Hill ASAP to make reservations--682-1265 >=20 > April 23-25 > * 50th anniversary summit of the NATO in Washington D.C. > NPT PrepCom meeting will take place in New York (before or after the = summit) > The Fourth Freedom Forum will organize a two-day event in Washington = D.C. > before the summit > Contact Alistair Millar (program director, Fourth Freedom Forum) for = more > information: > 733 15th St, NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005 ph.: 202 393 5201, = fax: > 202 39305202 >=20 > April 29, 1999 > *Third UN Conference on Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space > (UNISPACE III) > Speakers to be confirmed >=20 > May 7-10 > * Honoring the Mother: Healing Global Wounds Spring Gathering > 'Healing Global Wounds' is an alliance of organizations working to br= eak > the nuclear chain > At Nevada Test Site (the camp is located on Western Shoshone land at= the > gates of the Test Site) > Each day will begin with a Sunrise Ceremony led by Western Shoshone > Spiritual Leader Corbin Harney > Contact: Healing Global Wounds, P.O. Box 420, Tecopa CA 92389 > Ph.: 760 852 4175 / Fax: 760 852 4151 / e-mail: hgw@scruznet.com >=20 > May 11-15 > * The Hague Agenda for Peace and Justice for the 21st Century > Contact: The Hague Appeal for Peace c/o > World Federalist Movement, 777 UN Plaza, New York, NY 10017 > Phone: 212-599-1320, Fax: 212-599-1332 >=20 > May 13-14 > *Eliminating Weapons of Mass Destruction: Why Not Nuclear Abolition? > General Lee Butler, Admiral Stansfield Turner, and Stephen Schwartz > Physicians for Social Responsibility, Pittsburgh > $65 Registration fee before April 15, $75 thereafter. > Contact: Kathy McCauley at 412-486-9065 >=20 > June 18-20 > * Nuclear Policy and Security on the eve of the 21st century: St. Peter= sburg > Conference > Co-hosted by St. Petersburg Peace Council, RPPNW, IPPNW, SLMK etc. > Themes to be covered: International Humanitarian Law and Nuclear Weap= ons, > European Security, > Russian nuclear policy, and Security in the Baltic Region, among othe= r > things=85 > Contact: Xanthe Hall, IPPNW Germany > Ph.: +49 30 693 0244 / e-mail: ippnw@oln.comlink.apc.org >=20 > August 3-9 > *World Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs > Annual conference geared towards the total abolition of nuclear weapo= ns > Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan > Contact: Organizing Committee, 6-19-23 Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 10= 5-0004 > Japan. Phone: 81-3-3431-1014, Fax: 81-3-3431-8781, e-mail: > antiatom@twics.com >=20 > August 6-8, 1999 > *Beyond the Bomb: A New Agenda for Peace and Justice > Albequerque, N.M. > Contact: Bruce Hall, Peace Action-panukes@igc.apc.org >=20 > October 10-16 > * The 1999 International Conference of NGOs-- The Role of NGOs in the 2= 1st > Century > Seoul, Korea >=20 > - > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.= com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Chris Davenport" Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Fwd: US Test EMP Weapon in Yugoslavia? Date: 04 Apr 1999 23:35:53 -0400 I have received almost a dozen emails surrounding this report. Is it not possible that this weapon is related to recent tests (of sub-critical weapons) in the Nevada desert? Chris Davenport, ACT for Disarmament. -----Original Message----- >>Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 17:37:27 -0500 >>Subject: US Test EMP Weapon in Yugoslavia? >>Priority: non-urgent >>X-FC-MachineGenerated: true >>To: abolition-caucus@igc.apc.org >>From: robwcpuk@gn.apc.org (robwcpuk@gn.apc.org) >> >>Dear Abolitionists, >> >>During an interview yesterday on Vancouver's CKNW Radio with Stirling Faux, >>I was told that they had seen a report from the Russians that a B2 stealth >>bomber had dropped an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) weapon in Yugoslavia. >>Made by Los Alamos Laboratories, it apparently produces a similar effect to >>a large nuclear weapon in disrupting electronics and communications in >>order to weaken the enemy's ability to retaliate for some time, but without >>the destructive power and radioactive fallout. However, I haven't seen any >>further report of this. >> >>If true, then we are witnessing another field trial for new US weapons. >>Also, it means that, sensibly, the Russians have a sophisticated >>intelligence-gathering capability in Yugoslavia, to get first-hand >>information on how NATO is performing. I saw a report that the first people >>to inspect the downed F117 Stealth fighter-bomber were a Russian "trade >>mission"... >> >>Best wishes, >>Rob Green >>Chair, World Court Project UK >> >>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * >> >> Commander Robert D Green, Royal Navy (Retired) >> Chair, World Court Project UK >> >>NZ: Disarmament & Security Centre UK: 2 Chiswick House >> PO Box 8390 High Street >> Christchurch Twyford >> Aotearoa/New Zealand Berkshire RG10 9AG >> >>Tel/Fax: (+64) 3 348 1353 Tel/Fax: (+44) 1189 340258 >> >> Email: robwcpuk@gn.apc.org >> >>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * >> >Alice Slater >Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) >15 East 26th Street, Room 915 >New York, NY 10010 >tel: (212) 726-9161 >fax: (212) 726-9160 >email: aslater@gracelinks.org > >GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty >to eliminate nuclear weapons. > >- > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. > - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DavidMcR@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) Short and Urgent / Kosovo & black arm bands Date: 05 Apr 1999 01:24:43 EDT Friends, This comes off the Mennonite list. It strikes me as a powerful and simple idea - the wearing of black armbands. No slogans, no symbols. We don't even all have to agree on a single analysis. I assume most of us would wear them because we are horrified both at the bombing of Yugoslavia, and the expulsion from Kosova of the Albanians. It is a way of saying "NO" both to NATO and to Milosevic. It might take off on campuses particularly - therefore IF this idea appeals to you, consider forwarding it to friends and coworkers. Peace, David McReynolds << Subj: Re: Kosovo & black arm bands Date: 4/2/99 11:53:56 PM Eastern Standard Time From: rabone@aol.com (Art Pierson, Denver CO) Sender: err.processor@MennoLink.org Reply-to: rabone@aol.com (Art Pierson, Denver CO), menno.org.peace@MennoLink.org To: menno.org.peace@MennoLink.org Your idea is appealing to me. Many people in my world are already concerned about the US government's approach in the Balkans. I'm going to try wearing a black armband. I'll try to base my responses to questions on Romans 12:21: "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Sincerely, Art Pierson Denver, Colorado USA - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jackie Cabasso Subject: (abolition-usa) Bombings fuel Cold War sentiments Date: 05 Apr 1999 00:12:09 -0700 Dear friends, This article can be found at http://www.commondreams.org/kosovo/kosovo.htm This site is an excellent source for international news stories and perspectives on the war in Yugoslavia. I highly recommend it. -- Jackie Cabasso =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Attacks Stir Cold War Feelings in Russia Balkans Conflict Compounds Heightened Suspicions of U.S., West By David Hoffman Washington Post Foreign Service Sunday, April 4, 1999; Page A01=20 MOSCOW, April 3=97Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov was asked= in the lower house of parliament last weekend whether Russia= should send a few warships to the Mediterranean as a show of force against= the NATO bombardment of Yugoslavia. Ivanov quickly rejected the idea. "Just sending ships from Murmansk to Greece is not going to stop the aggression," he said. But four days later, Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev= announced that Russia was sending a reconnaissance ship to the Mediterranean,= and was preparing to send as many as six more. "We must ensure the security of Russia," he insisted. The abrupt turnabout speaks volumes about the whirlwind of antiWestern feeling that the NATO attack on Yugoslavia has stirred= here. For Russia, the airstrikes have been a moment of truth, revealing a= vein of unease and suspicion about the West especially the United States = that analysts say is stronger than at any time since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The doubts are the results of various factors and= perceived betrayals=20 from pledges that an expanded NATO would be purely= defensive to the U.S. decision to move ahead on an antiballistic missile system to Russia's economic meltdown last August, which discredited Western economic ideas here. "It's a fullblown crisis, the first real crisis since the= end of the Cold War" in RussianU.S. relations, said Sergei Rogov, director of the Institute for the Study of the U.S. and Canada here. "It covers economic relations, foreign credits, debts, sanctions, arms control, START II, the ABM treaty and, I am afraid, a few others. "It's a bad crisis which could have very longterm implications for RussianAmerican relations, producing something between disengagement, 'cold peace' and maybe even something more serious." In recent days, President Boris Yeltsin and Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov have been buffeted by the antiAmerican sentiment. They have responded with selective withdrawal from military= agreements while holding back from far more serious measures demanded by nationalists and Communists in parliament. The rhetoric has been whitehot, with Russians accusing the United States and NATO of "genocide" in Yugoslavia, of supporting Kosovo Albanian separatists with "narco money," of seeking world diktat= and of using the Balkans as a proving ground for new, hightechnology= weapons. In its actions, however, Russia has been more restrained. Russia canceled meetings with Western military experts, ousted NATO= military attaches, rejected plans for sharing early warning missile launch= data with the United States, and shelved, once again, parliamentary= ratification of the strategic arms treaty. The first ship that Russia is sending to the battle zone is the Liman, a 27yearold, 60man electronic spying vessel from= the Black Sea Fleet that carries eavesdropping gear but no rockets. Russia so far has not announced plans to break the United Nations arms embargo and ship weapons to Yugoslavia, and there has not been a major disruption of U.S.Russian cooperation on nuclear and= chemical arms dismantlement. However, Col. Gen. Leonid Ivashov, head of= the military's international department, told reporters today that the Russian Defense Ministry has severed all contacts for the next few months with countries in the "criminal organization" of NATO. And some analysts worry that sentiments are so strong that antiWestern reactions could spin out of control. "I'm afraid that now it is serious; we see some sort of consensus in society which we haven't seen since 1991," said Alexander Pikayev,= a nonproliferation specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Center here. "Then, it was a broad anticommunist consensus. Now, unfortunately, we face a strong antiNATO consensus, which could have a very dramatic impact on the overall U.S.Russian relationship. "In August, we saw the collapse of Yeltsin's marketreform policy and in March, we saw the collapse of Yeltsin's foreign and= security policy." Analysts have predicted that economic hardship and humiliation could trigger a retreat from market democracy here. But until recently, the economic woes of postSoviet Russia seemed to have created= a benign isolationism. Russians were too preoccupied with survival= to be outraged about their weakening influence abroad. But the Yugoslav crisis is changing that. "What you have today is, the antiAmerican sentiment is enormous," said Rogov, of the U.S.Canada institute. "This is very bad. It is something that can be used against economic reform, especially since the people who are= blamed for the economic collapse are also the people who are friends of= the United States . . . It was coming to the surface before. Now, it is a= sea change. "There is something personal in the attitude of Russian leaders," he added, recalling earlier claims of a friendship between President Clinton and Yeltsin. "The president feels that his friend Bill is not such a friend at all, who simply does not pay attention. 'What friend?' Boris is saying." [In Washington Friday, Clinton said he believes the= Russians "are looking for ways to continue to oppose what NATO is doing, but to leave open the prospect that they could play a very constructive role= in making peace. I don't think anyone wants to see this conflict escalate,= and I certainly don't believe the Russian government does."] In a nationwide survey last week, the Public Opinion Foundation, one of Russia's leading polling organizations, found overwhelming opposition to the NATO attacks. The group reported that 92 percent of= those surveyed were against the NATO bombing and only 2 percent supported it. The poll found an unusually high level of awareness about the NATO strikes; fewer than once percent said they knew nothing about it. Andrei Kortunov, a political analyst, said that Russia has lost confidence in the West in the wake of the ruble's devaluation and debt crisis last August. "One of the problems today is that we had a narrow but= vocal stratum which favored better relations with the West," he said.= "It is nearly nonexistent right now. The middle class was a major social base for better relations with the West, and it is now disintegrating.= There is very little to replace this. . . ." There are still some checks and balances. One is Russia's continuing dependence on Western financial aid, underscored by the ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for new loans. But this dependence is increasingly unpopular. According to the= Public Opinion Foundation poll, when asked last year whether the IMF= brings benefit or harm to Russia, 17 percent said benefit and 19 percent= said harm and 46 didn't know. But today there is a major shift: 14 percent= say benefit, 43 percent say harm, and 28 percent know nothing. However, one small contrary sign appeared in a callin= survey by Echo of Moscow, a popular radio station. When listeners were asked= if they were prepared to give up using American dollars to protest the airstrikes, the answer was unequivocal: 77 percent said no, and 23 percent said yes.=20 =A9 Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company =20 ****************************************************** Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director WESTERN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION 1440 Broadway, Suite 500 Oakland, California USA 94612 Tel: +(510)839-5877 Fax: +(510)839-5397 E-mail: wslf@earthlink.net ****************************************************** Western States Legal Foundation is part of ABOLITION 2000 A GLOBAL NETWORK TO ELIMINATE NUCLEAR WEAPONS - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DavidMcR@aol.com Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Bombings fuel Cold War sentiments Date: 05 Apr 1999 04:02:09 EDT Jackie, (and others getting her post), Thank God for helping provide these alternative sources of information. I do not think that either London or Washington realize we are about to "create our own Afghanistan" and instead of looking for a way out, searching for ways to step back, reaching out to the Russians (and perhaps the Eastern Orthodox church) to help mediate, Clinton is "bombing his way" more deeply into a quaqmire. The "talking heads", the "old grey men" who will not be doing any fighting, are now hot for arming the KLA (which would, given the chance, do the Serbs in Kosava, just what the Serb troops have done to the Albanians) and for sending in ground troops. We have no idea what we are doing. These people will fight and die against our forces. They Yugos - any part of them - are not Czechs, French, Italians, or English. Thanks again. David McReynolds - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob Tiller Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) fwd: North Korea on NATO bombing of Serbia (WWIII brewing) Date: 05 Apr 1999 09:18:20 -0400 I have never heard or read of a single scholar who believes that the original text of Matthew 24:6 should be translated "ethnic cleansing." Did you look at the Greek text before coming up with this translation? Shalom, Bob Tiller David Crockett Williams wrote: > > North Korea's reaction to NATO's bombing of Serbia should not be > surprising to observers of current global hotspots. According to DPRK > officials, the bombing campaign has convinced Pyongyang that it is > dealing with "a new Hitler" and that North Korean officials believe that > the Unted States would attack the DPRK like a "vulture" given the > slightest opportunity. Therefore, North Korea will speed up its missile > development and related military programs to deter U.S. "aggression." > The DPRK justifies this as a "matter of survival." More details in the > following Special Report by The Northeast Asia Peace And Security > Network. (http://www.nautilus.org/napsnet/latest.html) > > With the continuing air campaign in Iraq and U.S. Armed Forces spread > throughout the globe such as Somolia, Germany, Japan, Haiti, South > Korea, and other places - the U.S. Military is spread dangerously thin. > Given the hollowing out of the U.S. Armed Forces over the last six > years, the U.S. Military involvement in Yugoslavia puts a further strain > on U.S. Military service personnel and resources. > > Our adversaries in North Korea, China, Russia and elsewhere are taking > notes! > > NOTE: The "Ethnic Cleansing" taking place in Kosovo is of particular > interest. The "wars and rumors of wars," which Jesus referred to in > Matthew 24:6 as a sign of His coming, is translated by many as "Ethnic > Cleansing." > > Rick Woodcock > KIN Intelligence Director > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ----------- > > NORTHEAST ASIA PEACE AND SECURITY NETWORK: SPECIAL REPORT > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ---------- > > The following "DPRK Report" is the product of a joint project between > the Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) of the Monterey Institute > of > International Studies (Monterey, California, USA) and the Center for > Contemporary International Problems (ICIP) (Moscow, Russia). It is > written by Russian analysts associated with the ICIP and edited by the > CNS. > ------------------------------------------ > THE DPRK REPORT, No. 17 (March-April 1999) > > 1. North Korea's Reaction to the NATO Bombing of Yugoslavia > > NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia has apparently had a very deep impact on > the thinking of North Korean authorities. DPRK representatives say > privately > that their government now "has discarded all illusions about > Washington's intentions." According to these officials, the bombing has > "completely > and irreversibly" convinced Pyongyang that it is dealing with "a new > Hitler" who is "determined to conquer the entire world through > intimidation, pressure, and aggression." Pyongyang reportedly now has no > doubts that, given the slightest opportunity, the United States will > attack the DPRK like a "vulture." > > To deter this aggression, North Korea, while continuing to talk and > bargain with Washington, will reportedly speed up its missile > development and related military programs. "It is a matter of our > national survival," said one high-ranking North Korean official, "and > the United States is mistaken if it thinks that it can check the DPRK's > missile development through cooperation with other countries or by any > other tricks." North Korean officials hint that their country intends to > acquire such a significant deterrent force that Washington "will not > dare even to think about attacking the DPRK." > > North Koreans believe that Washington, if confronted with stiff > resistance by the Serbs and worldwide condemnation of "NATO aggression" > against Yugoslavia, may become temporarily more flexible in other parts > of the world, including Korea. In their view, the situation around > Yugoslavia presumably broadens opportunities at this juncture to woo > theUnited States into agreements favorable to the DPRK. The North hopes > to use this advantage to develop formal diplomatic relations with the > United States, remove U.S. economic sanctions, and join international > financial institutions like the World Bank and the Asian Development > Bank. > > The situation will be even better, North Korean representatives add, if > the United States gets tied up in Yugoslavia for a long time. As one > official notes: "Then, Washington will really have to act from the > position of weakness. The myth of American invincibility will be > destroyed. The prestige and influence of the United States in the world > arena will vanish, and the Clinton administration will be seriously > damaged at home." > > 2. The Status of North Korean Military Maintenance and Readiness > > According to various Russian assessments, North Korean conventional > forces are suffering from a shortage of fuel, spare parts, ammunition, > and repair facilities. Though quantitatively the armed forces are > impressive, the qualitative side is rather backward. To overcome the > widening gap compared to the armed forces of the Republic of Korea and > the U.S. troops stationed there, Pyongyang is now trying to upgrade the > technical level of its air force and army. Local research anddevelopment > is being augmented by imports of high-tech weaponry from abroad, which > is being acquired through the export of North Korean missiles. A > particular emphasis is being made to develop the country's missile > potential as the main deterrent against external threats. It cannot be > also excluded that non-conventional arms are being made as well. > > While the technical component of the DPRK's military might leave much to > be desired, the human component should not be underestimated. Experts > believe that the fighting spirit and physical condition of the officers > and soldiers remain very high. There is no lack of food for the DPRK's > armed forces, so this factor should not be construed as one weakening > the military's readiness. While they may not be well trained in dealing > with > sophisticated weaponry, North Korean troops may prove superior to their > opponents in any prolonged conflict. > > Subject: DPRK Report #17 > > Date: Fri, 02 Apr 1999 15:34:18 -0800 > > From: NAPSNet@nautilus.org (NAPSNet) > > --END-- > > Koenig's International News - Bill Koenig - http://watch.org/ > Post Office Box 671164, Dallas, TX 75367 > > - > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Radioactive weapons used by U.S./NATO in Kosovo Date: 05 Apr 1999 10:43:53 -0400 >Date: Fri, 02 Apr 1999 00:38:53 -0500 >Subject: Radioactive weapons used by U.S./NATO in Kosovo >To: depleted.uranium.list@killian.chelsea.net >From: iacenter@iacenter.org (iacenter@iacenter.org) > >International Action Center >39 West 14th Street, #206, New York, NY 10011 >212-633-6646 fax: 212-633-2889 >web site: http://www.iacenter.org >email: iacenter@iacenter.org > >Attention: Assignment Editor Press Contact: Sara Flounders or >For Immediate Release John Catalinotto, 212-633-6646 >April 1, 1999 > >Radioactive weapons used by U.S. and NATO in Kosovo > >The International Action Center, a group that opposes the use of >depleted-uranium weapons, called the Pentagon's decision to use the >A-10 "Warthog" jets against targets in Kosovo "a danger to the people >and environment of the entire Balkans." > >The A-10s were the anti-tank weapon of choice in the 1991 war against >Iraq. It carries a GAU-8/A Avenger 30 millimeter seven-barrel cannon >capable of firing 4,200 rounds per minute. During that war it fired >30 mm rounds reinforced with depleted uranium, a radioactive weapon. > >There is solid scientific evidence that the depleted uranium residue >left in Iraq is responsible for a large increase in stillbirths, >children born with defects, and childhood leukemia and other cancers >in the area of southern Iraq near Basra, where most of these shells >were fired. Many U.S. veterans groups also say that DU residues >contributed to the condition called "Gulf War Syndrome" that has >affected close to 100,000 service people in the U.S. and Britain with >chronic sickness. > >John Catalinotto, a spokesperson from the Depleted Uranium Education >Project of the International Action Center and an editor of the 1997 >book Metal of Dishonor: Depleted Uranium, said the use of DU weapons >in Yugoslavia "adds a new dimension to the crime NATO is perpetrating >against the Yugoslav people--including those in Kosovo." > >Catalinotto explained that the Pentagon uses DU, a waste product of >the uranium enrichment process used for making atomic bombs and >nuclear fuel, because it is extremely dense--1.7 times as dense as >lead. "DU is used in alloy form in shells to make them penetrate >targets better. As the shell hits its target, it burns and releases >uranium oxide into the air. The poisonous and radioactive uranium is >most dangerous when inhaled into the body, where it will release >radiation during the life of the person who inhaled it," said >Catalinotto. > >Sara Flounders, a contributing author of Metal of Dishonor: Depleted >Uranium and the Co-Director of the International Action Center, said, >"Warthogs fired roughly 940,000 rounds of DU shells during the Gulf >War. More than 600,000 pounds of radioactive waste was left in the >Gulf Region after the war. And DU weapons in smaller number were >already used by NATO troops during the bombing of Serbian areas of >Bosnia in 1995. > >"The use of Warthogs with DU shells threatens to make a nuclear >wasteland of Kosovo," Flounders said. " The pentagon is laying waste >to the very people_along with their children--they claim to be saving; >this is another reason for fighting to end NATO's attack on >Yugoslavia. > >"Worldwide protests against these bombings are growing. The U.S. use >of radioactive weapons must be linked to all the protests and >opposition that is taking place internationally to the bombing. These >protests must be joined by environmental activists, veterans groups, >anti-nuclear groups, and all those who know the long-term destruction >to the environment and to whole civilian populations that this type of >warfare will cause." > >Flounders said that Metal of Dishonor: Depleted Uranium, which has >been translated and published in Arabic and Japanese, will be coming >out soon with a second edition. > Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Depleted Uranium Date: 05 Apr 1999 10:45:31 -0400 > > Date: Fri, 02 Apr 1999 10:10:28 -0500 > Subject: Depleted Uranium > To: undisclosed.recipients@jcca.org > From: branka_j@yutarget.com (branka_j@yutarget.com) > > Depleted (DU) uranium is one of the largest categories of radioactive > waste produced for the nuclear weapons and nuclear reactor industry. It is > highly toxic to humans, both chemically as a heavy metal and radiologically > as an alpha particle emitter which is very dangerous when taken internally. > Recently it has been substitute for lead in bullets and missiles by the US > and UK, and was first used extensively by the West in the Gulf War. It is > most likely a major contributor to the Gulf War Syndrome experienced both > by the veterans and the people of Iraq. > > When used in war, the DU bursts into flame from the impact when it hits a > target. It can pierce tanks and armoured cars, releasing inside of them a > deadly radioactive aerosol of uranium, unlike anything seen before. > Concentrated like this, it can kill everyone in a tank. This ceramic > aerosol is much lighter than uranium dust. It can disperse in air tens of > kilometres from the point of release, or be stirred up in dust and > resuspended in air with wind or human movement. It is very small and can > be breathed in by anyone: a baby, pregnant woman, the elderly, the sick. > This radioactive ceramic can stay deep in the lungs for years, irradiating > the tissue with powerful alpha particles within about a 30 micron sphere, > causing emphysema and/or fibrosis. The ceramic can also be swallowed and > do damage to the gastro-intestinal tract. In time, it penetrates the lung > tissue and enters into the blood stream. It can be stored in liver, > kidney, bone or other tissues, again for years, irradiating all of the > delicate tissues located near its storage place. It can effect the blood, > which is the basis of our immune system, and do damage to the renal system > as it is eventually excreted in the urine. It can also initiate cancer or > promote cancers which have been initiated by other carcinogens. > > In October 1998 the WHO undertook a two year study of the increasing cancer > rates, especially leukemia in young children, which have been note in > southern Iraq where most of the war took place.The WHO report is not yet > out, but newer data from Iraq tells the story of even more dramatic > increases in cancer rates, especially among the Iraqi > veterans who participated in the war. In the West, thousands of veterans > are recognized as seriously ill with an unknown syndrome, and we have been > able to document DU in their urine as late as 7 or 8 years after the war. > There is no natural source of DU to explain this phenomena! > > It is imperitive that we all denouce this radiation and toxic chemical > warfare! It has been used by the US and Britain against Iraq and in > Bosnia. It is now being used in Kosovo (NATO announcement in Europe, 30 > March 1999). It has been condemed by the United Nations Human Rights > Tribunal (August 1996 Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, > Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of > Minorities). The Human Rights Commission has requested that the Secretary > General prepare a written report on DU and certain other weapons of mass > destruction (Resolution 1997/36, which also established a UN Rapporteur to > take over the study of DU and other weapons of mass destruction on behalf > of the UN). The damage being done will not only cause incredible and > unending suffering to today's victims, but the genetic damage it may cause > can be passed on to their offspring. Such weapons and war itself need to > be condemned as utter barbarianism! > > This is certainly not to be interpreted as condoning so called ethnic > cleasing or any of the nationalistic actions of the Yugoslave government. > However, as one of the Professors at the University of Toronto said, "I can > offer a different and more effective policy, but I would not start from > here". This Kosovo action is resulting from deep seated conflicting ideas > of "World Order" - that proposed by NATO's vision of itself as a world > police force, and that of the OSCE (Organization for Security and > Cooperation in Europe) which sees security rising out of honest cooperation > and legal resolution of conflicting opinions.>>> > > > Rosalie Bertell, Ph. D., GNSH > President, ACS (1998-2000) > President IICPH (1984+) > 710-264 Queens Quay West > Toronto ON M5J 1B5 CANADA > Tel: 1-416-260-0575 > Fax: 1-416-260-3404 > Email: IICPH@compuserve.com > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > eGroups Spotlight: > "Kosovo-Reports" - Direct reports from Kosovo/Serbia/Yugoslavia. > http://offers.egroups.com/click/252/0 > > eGroup home: http://www.eGroups.com/list/du-list > Free Web-based e-mail groups by eGroups.com > > Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) Why, is there a CIA war in Kosovo? Date: 05 Apr 1999 10:24:45 -0700 [Does any of this sound familiar to anyone?] Is there a CIA war in Kosovo? By Gary Wilson News reports here about the Yugoslav province of Kosovo have presented greatly exaggerated tales. The stories have been "enhanced" by those with an interest in either promoting a civil war or weakening the Yugoslav government. The Western big-business-controlled media all report the same thing. They say Yugoslav government forces are engaged in "ethnic cleansing" in Kosovo, forcing a flood of refugees from Kosovo to Albania. The Yugoslav government says its military operations against armed mercenaries entering over the Albanian border ended June 1. It also says there has been no significant exodus from Kosovo to Albania. So what is the truth of the situation? First, it should never be forgotten that the big media like the New York Times and CNN have close ties to the U.S. State Department, the CIA, the Pentagon and other U.S. government agencies. These media giants usually serve as propaganda arms for U.S. foreign policy. They can lie about events and frequently do. Sometimes they admit much later that their original reports weren=92t exactly true. KLA is mercenary army For example, most reports don=92t make it clear that the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army is a foreign mercenary army in the pay of the Western imperialist powers. The KLA did not exist until recently. It became active only in the last few months. The June 6 New York Times reported that KLA forces are entering Kosovo through Albania. But they are not from Albania. According to the report, most of them come from Germany- where they were born- and most speak only German, not Albanian. The report claims that many of them, but not all, have parents or grandparents who emigrated from Albania. All the funds for the mercenary army come from abroad, primarily from the United States, reported the May 26 Washington Post. The money is funneled through Albanian immigrant groups. These are the sort of anti-communist groups long promoted by the CIA. Since March, the Post reported, the U.S. group has sent $4 million to the KLA. These are the openly reported funds. There is more "cash carried in suitcases" that hasn=92t been disclosed, the Post said. The article said the U.S. State Department has encouraged the transfer of funds to the KLA. It is all legal, State Department spokesperson John Russell said, because the KLA has not been classified by the U.S. government as "terrorist." This is in contrast to every genuine national liberation movement in the world. The U.S. government routinely labels them all as terrorists. For example, groups like the Palestine Liberation Organization have been labeled as terrorist. Anyone in the U.S. sending funds to the PLO would risk arrest and prison. The KLA has no known leaders, political platform, publications or anything else to indicate that it is a liberation force. In fact, the tactics used by the KLA are more akin to those used by fascist terror squads. In its long report of May 26, the Washington Post buried a paragraph describing how KLA mercenaries have targeted Serbs. One out of every 10 people in Kosovo is Serbian. The paragraph described KLA mercenaries stopping a train. They proceed to search the train, and then abduct a man traveling with his family because he is a Serb. "About a dozen Serbs have been kidnapped in the past week. Two have been found dead," the Post reports. The mercenaries don=92t just kill Serbs. They also kill Albanians considered to be friendly to Serbs. As for the press reports of a mass exodus from Kosovo, none shows pictures of masses of people. A photo of a family of eight walking through a field, for example, accompanied the New York Times report. The caption said "thousands of refugees are fleeing." In the meantime, the United States is waging a two-pronged war against Yugoslavia. Since 1991, Washington has imposed sanctions on Yugoslavia. Sanctions are like an army surrounding your house. They may not be firing weapons at the house, but they are stopping all kinds of supplies and food from entering. It is a policy of starvation once favored during sieges by medieval armies. These sanctions continue to this day. Now the United States is proposing to stiffen them. Will U.S. troops be next? U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke said in London June 7: "The sanctions regime of the Contact Group led by the U.S. and Great Britain has been very tight and is poised to tighten further if the situation deteriorates, and NATO is already making contingency plans if everything falls apart." (French News Agency, June 7) The contingency plan Holbrooke referred to is the threat of military occupation by U.S./NATO forces. U.S. Senate leader Trent Lott supported a U.S. military operation in Kosovo on CNN=92s "Late Edition" June 7. According to news reports, the U.S. State Department recently confirmed that U.S. policy has not changed since December 1992. That is when President George Bush declared that the United States would intervene militarily in Kosovo if it decided that it was "necessary." The French News Agency reported on June 6 that the United States and Britain have put into place everything needed to assert authority for sending a military force into Kosovo. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if source is cited. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY,NY 10011; via e-mail: ww@workers.org. For subscription info send message to:info@workers.org. Web: http://www.workers.org) [but what could the "US" possibly want in Kosovo that is worth this?]: -----Original Message----- > -Caveat Lector- > >4-4-1999, Mark wrote: >>(snip) >>> As for her point about the mines, it is indeed likely that these >>> mines play a role in motivating the current holocaust -- on the >>> Serbian side. If, as she claims, the mines are worth $5 billion, >>> that would certainly explain Milosevic' determination to hold on >>> to them. It would not explain the US interest in the Kosovo >>> genocide, which is going to end up costing the United States >>> a lot more than $5 billion ... > > > Probably this should read '$5 trillion' - (not $5 billion) ... > > As posted recently here ( Kosovo: 'The war is about the mines' ) > [following the same article by Sara Flounders] : > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > from: http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a36fd198d79a4.htm > > Topic: Kosovo > > There is another factor in this, something the rapacious > World Bank, IMF and the UN are interested in -- the estimated > $17 trillion in natural resources in Serbia/Kosovo. > > Kosovo has one of Europe's largest reserves of coal and lignite > while Serbia alone has huge deposits of aluminum ore. Albania has > large reserves of crude oil, which was part of the reason why > Marshal Tito, after WWII, wanted to absorb Albania into Yugoslavia. > > The other was that Tito feared an extreme Maoist Albania (which > retained the USSR Stalinist policy until 1961) being a Red Chinese > version of Cuba in Europe, one whose seacoast straddled the > eastern part of the only seaborne way in and out of the Adriatic, > the Strait of Otranto. > > Given the fact that Albania was not absorbed into Yugoslavia, > Tito for years attempted to keep Tirane's Stalinist/Maoist maniacs > happy by allowing ethnic Albanian migration into Kosovo beginning > with some 400,000 being allowed in during 1945-48. Pre-WWII Serb > land deeds in Kosovo were cancelled and Albanians were given the > Eastern European version of "affirmative action" in jobs, housing > and the like. > > In the 1970s, the Albanians began their terror campaign against > the Serbs, banning the Serb Cyrillic alphabet, banning the works of > Serb authors and other artists and getting Serbs fired from their > jobs. Violence began to escalate in the early 1980s after Tito's > death, and got so bad by 1988 (the worst being mass rape of Serb > Orthodox nuns) troops had to be sent in. This is where Milosevich > rose to power, in successfully quelling the violence, at least for > a brief time. > > In 1991, the news media insisted that "Albanians represented 1.2 > million in Kosovo." In 1994 they said 1.4 million. In 1996 they > insisted it was 1.6 million. Today we are told Albanians are "90% > of 2 million" - as though we are unable to calculate this means > 1.8 million, another mysterious 200,000 increase. Borrowing from > Socrates, "scarcely a word of what they said is true." The media > continues to omit that more than 400,000 Albanians are illegal > aliens who crossed the border into Kosovo as easily as illegals > cross our border into San Diego, Tucson, El Paso and Brownsville > each night as we sleep. How compelling that US troops are > defending borders in 100 countries, we aren't defending our own. > > Today, the US State Department claims Serbs are 10% of Kosovo, > with no explanation that they claimed Serbs were 14% in 1991. > Were 4% killed, expelled, or just made invisible? They also > tell us the Gypsies are 7%, the Greeks 2.3%, the Turks 1.5%, the > Montenegrins 2%, and others 1%. By my calculations that means the > Albanians can't possibly represent more than 50% of Kosovo, after > subtracting the 400,000 illegals and the 300,000 who fled to > England, Switzerland, Italy and Germany, most of whom have no > desire to return to the poverty and terror in Kosovo. > > Another point that hasn't been raised much is that Tito, for all > of his faults and mistakes in postwar Yugoslavia, never subscribed > to gun control or disarming the populace. I recall when I visted > Yugoslavia in the late 1970s, every home at which I was a guest > had at least one modern firearm, be it a handgun, rifle or shotgun. > In fact, at the time, villagers could obtain surplus WWII German, > Italian, British and even US firearms very easily. > > I recall that many Serb villagers especially would coat the weapon > in some kind of heavy grease, wrap it in plastic and put it in a > box and bury it in the ground usually near the barn or house. > > From: MK (mkreca@connectnet.com) * > 03/27/99 10:02:32 PST > > ------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > >. > >DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER >=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D >CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic >screeds are not allowed. Substance=97not soapboxing! These are sordid matters >and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright >frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects >spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTR= L >gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; >be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial an= d >nazi's need not apply. > >Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. >=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D >Archives Available at: >http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html > >http://archive.jab.org/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/ >=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D >To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: >SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM > >To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: >SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM > >Om > - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: NATO citizen's summit: please sign on Date: 05 Apr 1999 18:50:11 -0400 >Date: Mon, 05 Apr 1999 15:41:20 -0500 >Subject: NATO citizen's summit: please sign on >Priority: non-urgent >X-FC-MachineGenerated: true >To: abolition-caucus@igc.org >From: bhall@peace-action.org (bhall@peace-action.org) > >To : Abolitionists Everywhere >From: Bruce Hall at Peace Action >Date: April 5, 1999 >Re : NATO citizen's sign-on > >Dear folks in NATO Countries - > Please have your organizations sign on to the statement below which we >will deliver to heads of state during the 50th anniversary commemorations >of >NATO in Washington, DC on April 23rd. > Please be sure to include your organization's name AND THE COUNTRY from >which you reside. The statement was drafted by the Fourth Freedom Forum and >Peace Action. > > See below, > > Bruce > > >Citizen's Summit >Washington, DC >Citizen's Communiqu=E9 >23 April 1999 > > >We, citizens of the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty >Organization, have come together in Washington, D.C. on the fiftieth >anniversary of the Alliance to call on NATO to end its reliance nuclear >weapons and work toward a nuclear weapons free world as we enter the 21st >century. The greatest danger the world faces today is the continued >reliance >on and physical existence of nuclear weapons. By clinging to these weapons, >the United States and its allies are violating solemn treaty obligations >under the Non-Proliferation Treaty and are encouraging other nations to >follow their example. The continued existence and spread of nuclear weapons >increase the likelihood that a nuclear catastrophe will occur somewhere on >the planet through anger, miscalculation, or accident. Such a catastrophe >would have unimaginable consequences and threaten the very fabric of >civilization. > >The only answer to the present nuclear dilemma is for the United States and >its NATO allies to disavow the use or threatened use of nuclear weapons. >The >World Court has ruled that any such use violates international humanitarian >law. Nuclear weapons must be stigmatized, de-legitimized, and eliminated. >For almost 50 years, Europe has been >the potential flashpoint for a catastrophic nuclear crisis. The Iron >Curtain, the Warsaw Pact, Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall itself--once >symbols of Europe's position on the front line of a dangerous nuclear >standoff--are now history. It is time to relegate NATO's nuclear weapons, >and all nuclear weapons, to the history books as well. > >NATO's nuclear weapons were introduced decades ago to counter a perceived >threat that no longer exists. Today nuclear weapons have no conceivable >role >in guaranteeing the peace and security of Europe and North America. The >safety of the region and of the entire would be enhanced if these weapons >were eliminated. > >We urge NATO to acknowledge the negative consequences of maintaining >nuclear >weapons as it updates its Strategic Concept and redefines its mission for >the 21st Century. We call upon NATO to commit itself to a >world without nuclear weapons and to work with other governments to achieve >a verifiable ban on the possession or use of nuclear weapons. We pledge as >citizens to work tirelessly to increase public awareness and support for >the >goal of a nuclear weapons free future. > > >______________________________________________ >Bruce Hall >Peace Action Field Organizer > >202.862.9740 x 3038 >Fax: 202.862.9762 > =20 Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jackie Cabasso Subject: (abolition-usa) Useful analysis: NATO action undercuts UN Date: 05 Apr 1999 21:19:05 -0700 The following commentary can be found at http://www.startribune.com=20 (search for the author=92s name). You=92ll also find an excellent =93primer= =94 on Kosovo, including basic facts, geography, regional politics, and a history= of regional conflicts. -- Jackie Cabasso =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =20 Published Sunday, April 4, 1999=20 Commentary: NATO action unwisely undercuts U.N. Peter Erlinder No matter what the outcome of the NATO bombing= =20 campaign, the fundamental architecture of international law, centered on=20 the United Nations during the 50 years since World War II, has suffered a=20 severe blow from which it may never recover. The delicate, and sometimes contradictory,=20 balance between "national sovereignty," upon which the U.N. Charter is=20 premised, and "the human rights of individuals against oppressive=20 governments," articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, has been altered forever. The result is likely to be more international chaos,= =20 war crimes and acts of genocide, and the American people will be asked to pay the price for= =20 generations to come. Under the United Nations Charter and subsequent= =20 U.N. resolutions, the use of force is banned unless specifically authorized= =20 by the Security Council, after the Security Council has determined that peaceful methods have failed, or when "selfdefense" is= =20 required in the case of an armed attack. It is a clear violation of fundamental United=20 Nations principles for one sovereign member state to attack another, even for "humanitarian=20 purposes."=20 While this may seem to be an inhumane=20 technicality in the face of apparent acts of brutality, like those alleged= =20 in Kosovo, there are important historical reasons for this seemingly irrational respect for national sovereignty. One of the important= =20 lessons of WWII was that militarily powerful states can use "humanitarian intervention"= =20 to justify military action that expands international conflicts and increases the=20 suffering of innocent civilians. Germany announced that it was "protecting the=20 rights of oppressed Germans" when it annexed part of Czechoslovakia.=20 Mussolini invaded Ethiopia to "liberate and civilize" the Ethiopian people.= =20 The Japanese invaded Manchuria to "defend the Manchurians from Chinese bandits." When the United Nations was founded in 1945, it was well= =20 understood that claims of humanitarian intervention were not always humane. Respect for national sovereignty was the=20 mechanism that the U.N. Charter adopted to prevent powerful nations from=20 using "humanitarian intervention" as a guise for military venturism and=20 imperialism. It is the cornerstone of all international legal systems. This respect for national sovereignty, however,= =20 does not mean that the United Nations and international law holds national= =20 sovereignty above all else, and ignores the plight of those oppressed by=20 their own governments. The Nazi War Crimes Tribunals made clear that brutal leaders cannot use "national sovereignty" as a defense for genocide= =20 and other crimes against humanity. In 1948 the United Nations Universal Declaration= =20 of Human Rights set out specific rights that all governments were obliged to= =20 respect. The United Nations also passed other resolutions outlawing=20 politically motivated rape and other crimes against humanity.=20 The recently established War Crimes Tribunals,= =20 set up in the aftermath of acts of genocide in Rwanda and Bosnia, was the=20 first step to creating international juridical bodies capable of punishing= =20 war criminals and acts of genocide. Under this emerging structure of international human rights law, leaders like Augusto Pinochet, Slobodan=20 Milosevic or Saddam Hussein can be held liable for war crimes or acts of genocide, if=20 these U.N. bodies and international legal principles are fully supported by the member= =20 states. Unfortunately, as the United States has risen to= =20 hyperpower status, it has repeatedly undermined the effectiveness and=20 authority of these international bodies. The United States has economically= =20 crippled the United Nations by refusing to pay more than $1 billion in back dues. It has refused to recognize the jurisdiction of the World Court= =20 when the decisions of that body, such as the decision declaring nuclear weapons=20 illegal, are contrary to current U.S. policy. The United States also opposed the creation of the= =20 War Crimes Tribunal and has refused to cooperate with its investigations, or with=20 seizing war criminals under indictment. Now, the NATO bombing has further degraded this emerging international legal structure. The world's only remaining superpower has=20 established the principle that, once again, claims of humanitarian=20 intervention can be used to justify acts of war against a sovereign nation without U.N. authorization. How this principle might be used to=20 justify U.S. military intervention in the future is anyone's guess. Should the United States=20 intervene to protect the Kurds from Turkish depredations? Will it defend the Chechens who are=20 surrounded and oppressed by hostile Russians? What about the Colombian people being=20 killed in their thousands by governmentsupported paramilitaries? Of course, the United States cannot intervene=20 every time a brutal regime oppresses its own people, because such oppression= =20 simply occurs too frequently. It is much more likely that America will only= =20 intervene for "humanitarian reasons" when it serves shortterm U.S. policy=20 interests. Even if the United States could apply the policy of humanitarian intervention evenly, consistently and fairly, the result will not be a more= =20 stable and humane world order. At the close of the 20th century, the most=20 powerful nation in the history of the world, and its allies, are=20 establishing the principle that nations with sufficient military power and= =20 claims of "humanitarian purpose" can act independently of the United Nations= =20 structure, as long as an even larger military power does not intervene to stop them. This=20 lesson will not be lost on future local and regional Hitlers, who have the military means to=20 "liberate" their "oppressed neighbors." When other countries begin their own=20 "humanitarian interventions" in the next century, the people of the United= =20 States may well come to regret the absence of a strong United Nations. Without the U.N. structure to rely on, the only alternative for=20 addressing future war crimes and genocide, as well as the "humanitarian intervention" of other= =20 nations, will be everescalating and virtually limitless demands on U.S. military power,=20 including the use of ground troops. Future generations of Americans will pay the longterm=20 costs of this last great military adventure of the 20th century, no matter what the outcome. Peter Erlinder, a professor at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul,= =20 is past president of the National Lawyers Guild. = =20 =20 =A9 Copyright 1999 Star Tribune. All rights=20 reserved.=20 ****************************************************** Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director WESTERN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION 1440 Broadway, Suite 500 Oakland, California USA 94612 Tel: +(510)839-5877 Fax: +(510)839-5397 E-mail: wslf@earthlink.net ****************************************************** Western States Legal Foundation is part of ABOLITION 2000 A GLOBAL NETWORK TO ELIMINATE NUCLEAR WEAPONS - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DavidMcR@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: MADRE on Yugoslavia Date: 06 Apr 1999 00:20:24 EDT I think this is a useful analysis - as we struggle to find our way through this mess. I personally have a couple of problems with the statement. It is one thing to brand Milosevic a war criminal - not sure he is really more of one than Tony Blair or Bill Clinton - but how do you settle the conflict if you try to make an arrest? Who is going to bell the cat, so to speak? If peace is to be made, don't we have to make it by negotiations with precisely the persons most unpleasant to us - in this case, Milosevic, Clinton, et al. And I would have thought it imperative to spell out the need to bring the Russians back into the negotiations as swiftly as possible. The conclusions of this statement - to negotiate peace and indicting Milosevic as a war criminal - seem to me to run "against each other". For example, the only way we can hope to see the Kosvars returned to their homes (which MUST be our objective) is to negotiate the matter and provide from non-NATO forces to insure their protection. I am glad that Madre correctly judged the KLA for what it is. They are not the protectors needed. Again, no answers, but this statement make some good solid points. Peace, David McReynolds I'd also think UN forces are less realistic than the OCSE (I may have put those initials in the wrong order!) << ubj: MADRE on Yugoslavia Date: 4/5/99 11:23:20 PM Eastern Daylight Time From: andypollack@juno.com (Andrew C. Pollack) To: DavidMcR@AOL.COM CC: GPASON@prodigy.net, iahthe@mailbox.syr.edu, sblm@erols.com, wrl@igc.apc.org, 71564.3573@compuserve.com, fbp@igc.apc.org, Zefalcon@AOL.COM, RBLepley@AOL.COM, lialliancepeace@hoflink.com, etandc@igc.apc.org, VOBARON@AOL.COM, jlucyny@enter.net, Lthurston8@AOL.COM, dhostetter@igc.apc.org, nonweb@nonviolence.org, eschwartz@peacenet.org, vickirov@worldnet.att.net, melkonian@erols.com, spusa@netscape.net, solidarity@igc.apc.org, lcagan@people-link.com, ANDOVER@delphi.com, fornatl@igc.apc.org, toplab@mindspring.com, LCNP@AOL.COM, JMahoneyP@AOL.COM, ypsl@sp-usa.org, jschaffner@labornet.org, jschul@people-link.com, jucelli@igc.apc.org, wnu@igc.apc.org, paintl@igc.apc.org, METROPEACE@AOL.COM, nypaxchristi@igc.org Sorry if this is too long, but I found it very useful (despite their illusions about the UN), covering many different aspects of the situation. This is copied from the web site; they also handed it out at their event tonight, which featured progressive artists reading messages from people in Kosovo and Belgrade -- more on that later. Andy Pollack ----------- Stop The Bombing, Stop The Genocide: MADRE's Notes On The Yugoslav Crisis MADRE, an international women's human rights organization, strongly condemns the US war against Yugoslavia and calls for a halt to the NATO bombing. We abhor the extreme ethno-nationalism promulgated by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and the gross human rights violations committed by his forces: more than 2,000 Albanian Kosovars were killed and over 400,000 made homeless before the NATO attack this year. But bombing has never achieved a reduction of violence and the current war is no exception. The air strikes will not end Milosevic's persecution of Albanian civilians in Kosovo. US officials stated from the start that bombing can only "degrade," and not stop, Yugoslav military capability. Furthermore, as US and NATO leaders themselves predicted, the bombing has spurred Milosevic to step up ethnic cleansing and a last-ditch effort to eradicate the Kosovo Liberation Army, fighting on behalf of the area's Albanian majority. The only guaranteed outcome of a bombing is mass killing and economic and social devastation for years to come. While the bombing is unacceptable, a halt to the airstrikes will not end the genocide being waged against Albanians in Kosovo. This is a crisis which must be addressed by the international community, through the United Nations and not through NATO, which is an exclusive Western military alliance being used to pursue US and Western European strategic interests. What is the root of the crisis? The Balkan war of the early 1990's left a fragmented Yugoslavia consisting two republics, Serbia and Montenegro, with the smal province of Kosovo (which is 90% ethnically Albanian) inside the borders of Serbia. The break-up of Yugoslavia as a peaceful, multi-ethnic republic fueled extreme ethno-nationalism in many communities engulfed by the war. In 1989, President Milosevic revoked the autonomous status that Kosovo had won in 1974. Since then his regime has brutally suppressed the cultural and political rights of the Albanian majority in Kosovo. In response, the Albanian Kosovars developed a mass, non-violent independence movement, which the West categorically ignored even as Serb repression escalated. As a consequence, more and more people were drawn towards the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), an ultra-nationalist armed group that effectively derailed the non-violent movement. Why did the situation deteriorate this year? Last fall, the US State Department drew up the Rambouillet peace plan that included the deployment of 28,000 NATO troops (4,000 of them US soldiers) in Yugoslavia. It is difficult to imagine any sovereign leader allowing a foreign army to replace his troops on their own >territory. This was the dominant Serb pereception of the US demand. Milosevic rejected the Rambouillet plan. The US then issued an ultimatum: capitulate or submit to NATO bombing. But an ultimatum is a double-edged sword. Like Milosevic, the US was left with only two choices: bomb or be perceived as making empty threats. Is the bombing legal? Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter states clearly that only the UN Security Council can mandate the use of force. Without UN authorization, the NATO bombing is flatly illegal. Why didn't the US seek a UN mandate for the bombing? Russia and China, which both oppose the NATO attack as a bid for Western hegemony, have veto power in the Security Council. Secretary of State Albright has acknowledged that the Security Council would not have endorsed the air strikes (ABC News, 3/23). The UN may authorize the use of force against threats to international peace. But Kosovo is inside Yugoslavia - a sovereign country. The crisis is therefore widely regarded as an internal Yugoslav conflict not subject to UN intervention. Why does it matter if the bombing is illegal? However flawed, the UN Charter represents the only agreed-upon global standard for governing states' conduct. Without it, people would have even fewer protections against the abuses of government and no basis upon which to claim their human rights. The UN Charter provides legal barriers to states' use of force, which promote diplomatic negotiations rather than violence. When the US scorns these provisions, it sets a dangerous precedent of lawlessness and undermines the principle of countries working together to resolve disputes (i.e., multi-lateralism). The US is being aptly described as a "rogue superpower," accountable only to its own narrowly defined interests and quick to destroy anyone that stands in its way. This year alone the US has bombed Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan and now Yugoslavia. Why does the US care about Kosovo? Unlike other conflicts areas (Rwanda, Sierra Leone, East Timor), where the US has ignored communal violence, Kosovo is situated at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and the Middle East: It holds a strategic interest for the US. The humanitarian crisis in Kosovo provides a smokescreen for military intervention that will secure US influence over the Balkans. Clinton has spoken about the "moral imperative" of defending Kosovo's population and its trampled autonomy. Human rights abuses in Kosovo are real and very serious. But we must ask why comparable abuses committed by Russia in Chechnya, the Turks in the Kurdish areas and the British in Northern Ireland do not warrant the same lofty rhetoric. What is the purpose of NATO? The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, made up of 19 European countries, the US and Canada, was formed by the US in 1949 to "deter and defend against" Soviet military might. Most of the world viewed NATO as an offensive military coalition from the start, created to threaten, and if necessary, attack, Socialist bloc countries. NATO also provided a much-needed vehicle for the reintegration and rearmamentof post-Nazi Germany, a critical US ally throughout the Cold War and in the current bombing. NATO has served as a cornerstone of the military industrial complex and the arms industry worldwide. The B-2 bombers used in the current attacks, for example, were built at a cost of over two billion each. NATO's recent inclusion of Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic is estimated to generate nearly $100 billion in weapons sales over the next 10 years. Why is NATO being used in this war? NATO lost its raison d'etre when the Cold War ended. But instead of dismantling NATO, the US broadened its mandate and membership. NATO is being transformed from an alliance that functioned inside the territories of its member states to a force that can secure the interests of those states outside their borders -- and interfere in the internal affairs of non-member states. Kosovo is the first real test of this new mission. On April 23, NATO's 50th anniversary summit will take place in Washington, D.C. The bombing is considered an ideal demonstration of NATO's new Post Cold War mission. The US has become increasingly dissatisfied with the UN as a vehicle for asserting its foreign policy. The structure of the Security Council makes US will subject to the veto power of other nations, most notably Russia and China. NATO, on the other hand, is an exclusive military club with the newly declared prerogative to disregard the UN, making it, as Madeleine Albright has said, the US "institution of choice" (New York Times, 10/18). What is the larger US strategy in the Balkans? Using NATO to assert a US-led military presence in the Balkans is seen as a way to secure the twin elements of US policy in Eastern and Central Europe: a) to prevent any move to reverse the "reforms" that dismantled the region's communist governments; b) to lock these countries into an economic role dictated by the US and Western Europe. In the post-Cold War order, former Soviet bloc countries are relegated to the same role as the Third World, namely, to provide cheap labor, raw materials and markets to benefit the elite in the US and Western Europe. Transferring the resources of the former Soviet Union to Western interests is a top priority of the US. Chevron has already signed a deal for rights to the vast oil deposits of Kazakhstan. Such multi-billion dollar endeavors require some assurance of regional stability: NATO is seen as the guarantee. "Stability"on US terms requires that leaders in the region be subservient to Western interests. Milosevic has repeatedly overstepped his bounds by refusing to allow a US army base in Yugoslav and resisting the incorporation of Yugoslavia into a global neoliberal economic order. Where should concerned people focus support? Neither Milosevic nor the KLA deserve support. Milosevic was a war criminal even before he instigated genocide in Kosovo. But opposition to Milosevic need not translate into support for the NATO bombing. The KLA espouses an ultra-nationalist ideology and a program of ethnic cleansing that differs from Milosevic mainly in that the KLA lacks the power to enforce its reactionary vision. But condemnation of the KLA does not mean accepting Milosevic's brutality in Kosovo. We must move beyond a yearning for "good guys" in the Yugoslav scenario and remember that behind the various political formations and armed groups are communities of people. In Kosovo, whole towns and villages are being burned out and butchered. In Serbia, people are being terrorized by a NATO bombing because of the intransigence of their government. But in both Kosovo and Serbia there are still some people who insist on a democratic, non-nationalist and multi-ethnic solution to the crisis. These are the people who MADRE is supporting. We call on the US to halt the NATO bombing immediately. We call on the international community to: Provide humanitarian support to the refugees through democratic, multi-ethnic opposition groups. Deploy UN forces in Kosovo to end the genocide and prevent renewed violence. Indict Milosevic as a war criminal under the UN Genocide Convention. MADRE has worked for 15 years with community-based women's organizations worldwide to provide emergency relief, health care & human rights advocacy to communities in crisis. MADRE has worked with multi-ethnic, democratic women's organizations in the Former Yugoslavia since 1993. For more information, contact us at: MADRE 121 West 27th Street, #301 New York, NY 10001 Tel: 212-627-0444; Fax: 212-675-3704; Email: madre@igc.org website: www.MADRE.org >> - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jackie Cabasso Subject: (abolition-usa) Kosovo: good arguments for negotiation Date: 05 Apr 1999 21:50:32 -0700 Check out http://www.commondreams.org/kosovo/kosovo.htm =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Negotiating to end war will hurt least=20 By Michael Mandelbaum, Globe Staff, 04/05/99=20 fter a week of NATO air attacks against military targets in Yugoslavia and Serb violence against ethnic Albanians producing tens of thousands of refugees from Kosovo, the Atlantic alliance and the United States have three unattractive options. A growing chorus of hawks in Washington advocate escalation. The Clinton administration insists on a continuation of the bombing campaign. But the third option, negotiation to end the war, is the least= bad course and the one NATO ought now to adopt. Escalation would involve expanding the war against the Serbs to include= more intensive bombing; military assistance to the Kosovo Liberation Army, which has been fighting= for Kosovo's independence; dispatch of NATO ground troops to Yugoslavia; or some or all= of these. Under this option, the goals of the war would expand to encompass winning independence for Kosovo and removing Slobodan Milosevic as the Serb leader. Those goals, if achievable, could be presented as a victory for NATO. But= the costs would be prohibitive. A more intensive air campaign would lead to the loss of NATO planes and pilots. Arming the Kosovars would risk spreading the conflict to other parts of the Balkans, notably neighboring Macedonia. Ground troops would have to fight the Serb army on its own soil, leading to substantial Western casualties. Public support for the war in NATO countries, already shaky, would likely vanish long before escalation achieved its objectives. Support is likely to erode even if NATO follows what now appears to be its preferred option: a continuation of the bombing. Perhaps the punishment the bombing inflicts= will persuade the Serb government to allow NATO troops into Kosovo to enforce the Americandesigned political settlement it has thus far refused to accept. But the record of air power alone in achieving such goals is not encouraging. And if Belgrade does not relent, NATO at the end= of its air campaign=20 will have failed to achieve the objective for which it went to war in the first place. Even worse, the world will have witnessed the spectacle of NATO governments refusing to order their own NATO troops, now in Macedonia, to cross the border to help beleaguered Kosovars only a few miles away on the grounds that the troops' mission was= peacekeeping and not combat. This would be like a fire brigade that refuses to cross the street to save= a family's burning home because its specialty is forests, not residences. If the Yugoslav government does not crack, continuing the bombing would= simply provide a showcase for the virtuosity of NATO's air power, which was not in question= in the first place and did not require a war in the Balkans to demonstrate. The third option, negotiation, would involve resuming talks with the Serb government, perhaps through Russian or United Nations intermediaries, but without the previous NATO demand that Belgrade unconditionally accept the text of an agreement for a political settlement in Kosovo. The goal would be a ceasefire throughout Yugoslavia, Serb acceptance of= monitors from some international organization other than NATO, and an effort to restore the political autonomy that Kosovo enjoyed under the terms of the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution, which was abrogated by Milosevic 15 years later. This option would go some way toward achieving NATO's initial goals:= stopping the Kosovo killing, securing better political arrangements for the Kosovar Albanians,= and maintaining political cohesion within NATO. The drawbacks of this option are both obvious and serious. It would require negotiations with Milosevic, who bears responsibility for the outrages in Kosovo that the war has triggered. Even if the NATO governments were willing, directly or indirectly, to negotiate= with him, the failed effort by Russia's Prime Minister Yevgeny to start talks suggests that the prospect= of halting the allied bombing may not be a sufficient incentive to persuade Milosevic to call off the killing of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, permit the return of refugees, and allow peacekeepers into the province. Even if he were willing to do so, such an outcome, however disguised or= spun, would count as a gain for him and a setback for the West, not to mention a personal= humiliation for the officials responsible for western Balkans policy. But a setback is now, alas, all but certain. Once the Clinton= administration committed the oldest of all strategic blunders by starting a war it did not know how to finish,= losses were unavoidable. Now is the time, and negotiation is the way, to cut them. Michael Mandelbaum, a professor at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, directs the EastWest P roject of the Council on= Foreign Relations. This story ran on page A17 of the Boston Globe on 04/05/99.=20 =A9 Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.=20 ****************************************************** Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director WESTERN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION 1440 Broadway, Suite 500 Oakland, California USA 94612 Tel: +(510)839-5877 Fax: +(510)839-5397 E-mail: wslf@earthlink.net ****************************************************** Western States Legal Foundation is part of ABOLITION 2000 A GLOBAL NETWORK TO ELIMINATE NUCLEAR WEAPONS - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: War Resisters League Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Fwd: NATO citizen's summit: please sign on Date: 06 Apr 1999 10:32:38 -0400 Please add my name, Chris Ney, Disarmament Coordinator War Resisters League, New York City At 06:50 PM 4/5/1999 -0400, you wrote: >>Date: Mon, 05 Apr 1999 15:41:20 -0500 >>Subject: NATO citizen's summit: please sign on >>Priority: non-urgent >>X-FC-MachineGenerated: true >>To: abolition-caucus@igc.org >>From: bhall@peace-action.org (bhall@peace-action.org) >> >>To : Abolitionists Everywhere >>From: Bruce Hall at Peace Action >>Date: April 5, 1999 >>Re : NATO citizen's sign-on >> >>Dear folks in NATO Countries - >> Please have your organizations sign on to the statement below which we >>will deliver to heads of state during the 50th anniversary commemorations >>of >>NATO in Washington, DC on April 23rd. >> Please be sure to include your organization's name AND THE COUNTRY >from >>which you reside. The statement was drafted by the Fourth Freedom Forum= and >>Peace Action. >> >> See below, >> >> Bruce >> >> >>Citizen's Summit >>Washington, DC >>Citizen's Communiqu=E9 >>23 April 1999 >> >> >>We, citizens of the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty >>Organization, have come together in Washington, D.C. on the fiftieth >>anniversary of the Alliance to call on NATO to end its reliance nuclear >>weapons and work toward a nuclear weapons free world as we enter the 21st >>century. The greatest danger the world faces today is the continued >>reliance >>on and physical existence of nuclear weapons. By clinging to these= weapons, >>the United States and its allies are violating solemn treaty obligations >>under the Non-Proliferation Treaty and are encouraging other nations to >>follow their example. The continued existence and spread of nuclear= weapons >>increase the likelihood that a nuclear catastrophe will occur somewhere on >>the planet through anger, miscalculation, or accident. Such a catastrophe >>would have unimaginable consequences and threaten the very fabric of >>civilization. >> >>The only answer to the present nuclear dilemma is for the United States= and >>its NATO allies to disavow the use or threatened use of nuclear weapons. >>The >>World Court has ruled that any such use violates international= humanitarian >>law. Nuclear weapons must be stigmatized, de-legitimized, and eliminated. >>For almost 50 years, Europe has been >>the potential flashpoint for a catastrophic nuclear crisis. The Iron >>Curtain, the Warsaw Pact, Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall itself--once >>symbols of Europe's position on the front line of a dangerous nuclear >>standoff--are now history. It is time to relegate NATO's nuclear weapons, >>and all nuclear weapons, to the history books as well. >> >>NATO's nuclear weapons were introduced decades ago to counter a perceived >>threat that no longer exists. Today nuclear weapons have no conceivable >>role >>in guaranteeing the peace and security of Europe and North America. The >>safety of the region and of the entire would be enhanced if these weapons >>were eliminated. >> >>We urge NATO to acknowledge the negative consequences of maintaining >>nuclear >>weapons as it updates its Strategic Concept and redefines its mission for >>the 21st Century. We call upon NATO to commit itself to a >>world without nuclear weapons and to work with other governments to= achieve >>a verifiable ban on the possession or use of nuclear weapons. We pledge as >>citizens to work tirelessly to increase public awareness and support for >>the >>goal of a nuclear weapons free future. >> >> >>______________________________________________ >>Bruce Hall >>Peace Action Field Organizer >> >>202.862.9740 x 3038 >>Fax: 202.862.9762 >> =20 >Alice Slater >Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) >15 East 26th Street, Room 915 >New York, NY 10010 >tel: (212) 726-9161 >fax: (212) 726-9160 >email: aslater@gracelinks.org > >GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty >to eliminate nuclear weapons. > >- > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. > > ********** War Resisters League 339 Lafayette St. New York, NY 10012 212-228-0450 212-228-6193 (fax) 1-800-975-9688 (YouthPeace and A Day Without the Pentagon) wrl@igc.apc.org web address: http://www.nonviolence.org/wrl - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "T.Damjanov" Subject: (abolition-usa) Infos re NATO's war Date: 06 Apr 1999 17:38:24 +0200 Being on the Project Staff of the "International Network of Scientists and Engineers for Global Responsibility" (INES), I have started, straight after NATO began its aggression, to mail to interested people a (daily updated) compilation of --- Internet references --- Articles --- Statements + Appeals Being aware of the email flood many people are angry about, I am distributing this only to those who send me a request to receive this compilation. Further, I do not send the items in full, but first a listing only. Then, you can make your choice which item you would like to reveice in full (either from me or from the source indicated) DO YOU WANT TO SEND ME A REQUEST? Simply send me an email with >> NATO War List << in the Subject line First, you will get the list in full. Following your request, I will send you daily updates. NOTE: Since I am based in Germany being involved in the German peace movement, this compilation also contains always information in German language, as well. IF YOU DO WANT TO ADDITIONALLY RECEIVE GERMAN LANGUAGE INFORMATION, PLEASE WRITE IN THE SUBJECT LINE: >> NATO War List+German << Separately, take note of the following: INES is publishing an electronic newsletter named "What's New In INES?" (WNII), of which I am the editor. WNII appears weekly. Its edition of last week (No. 13/1999) was a "SPECIAL ISSUE ON NATO AND YUGOSLAVIA": Contents: [+] Sources + references --- NATO war against Yugoslavia: press coverage overview --- Kosovo crisis resources --- Selected media --- Websites of state and military authorities --- References in other languages --- Reuters articles re Airstrikes, March 25, 1999 5 a.m. [+] Statements + Appeals --- NGOs' Appeal from Russia --- Statement of War Resisters=92 International on Kosovo --- Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Regarding the NATO-Yugoslavia conflict, the current edition (No. 14/1999, issued on 5 April 99) contains the following: --- Letter from INES member Branka Jovanovic (Belgrade) --- Letter from JoAnn M. Valenti, USA --- Russia: Statement of the Socio-Ecological Union International --- Letters to the German government coalition by INES member Dr. F. Greulich --- Statement by the German Scientists' Initiative Responsibility for Peace and Sustainability --- New mailinglist for discussion of Kosovo-related issues (Listserver yugoslavia-discuss) IF YOU WANT TO RECEIVE ONE OF THE WNII ISSUES; SEND ME A MAIL WITH THE FOLLOWING SUBJECT LINE: >> WNII 13/99 << and/or >> Extracts WNII 14/99 << =3D=3D=3D > It goes without saying, that you might forward this message t= o any other people/adresses interested! Peacefully yours, Tobias Damjanov Project Staff International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility (INES) Am Beckerkamp 12/app. 26 D-21031 Hamburg/Germany Tel.: (49-40) 7269 2394 (Fax: call before) e-mail: mailto:damjanov@math.uni-hamburg.de P.S.: TO AVOID CROSS-POSTINGS; PLEASE NOTE TO WHICH LISTS I HAVE MAILED THIS MESSAGE! ----- INES is a member of the Abolition 2000 Network - A Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons ----- - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: JTLOWE@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) NATO WAR LIST Date: 06 Apr 1999 11:58:59 EDT Please send, also include how to get off list. Thank you, Colby Lowe - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) WWIII? Articles (http://38.201.154.103/articles/?a=1999/3/30/63301) Date: 06 Apr 1999 11:23:38 -0700 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0006_01BE801F.EB195500 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit A nuclear WWIII brewing in Yugoslavia? http://38.201.154.103/articles/?a=1999/3/30/63301 ------=_NextPart_000_0006_01BE801F.EB195500 Content-Type: application/octet-stream; name=" Articles.url" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=" Articles.url" [InternetShortcut] URL=http://38.201.154.103/articles/?a=1999/3/30/63301 Modified=00F3AD5F5A80BE0198 ------=_NextPart_000_0006_01BE801F.EB195500-- - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) Fw: THE ECLIPSE OF FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY Date: 06 Apr 1999 12:45:14 -0700 -----Original Message----- Dr. Milos Aleksic Professor at the University of Belgrade THE ECLIPSE OF FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY (HAS THE WORLD LOST DEMOCRATIC HOPE AND THE IDEAL OF HUMAN LIBERTY?) Yugosavia has suffered aggression from the most powerful military force in the world - the NATO. This military organization carries out the USA policy and creates New Totalitarian World Order. The technological Fascism, contrary to the Nazi-Fascism, differs in the lack of ideology and abuse of the polysemic term "globalization". Technology and money, together with the organized mafia, represent the base of the new way of ruling the world, whereas new weapons for mass destruction of people and material goods are the means of its realization.Yugoslavia has been experiencing great horrors these days. We are being punished just because we do not want to accept the two great forces which want to solve our problems in their own way. It was never the case in the Original Fascism. The peoples of Yugoslavia have always aspired to freedom in this country. They were not able to gain any experience in liberal-democratic governing during the fight for national freedom in the past, as well as in the first half of this century. That is why the majority of citizens hopefully accepted the national-democratic as well as the self-managing political order after World War II. We really believed that it included the rule of the majority, not the minority, as it is the case in liberal societies. The social crisis which spread in the real-socialist countries in the beginning, and then in Yugoslavia, and the necessity for the transition of the social order were also provoked by the lack of political freedoms of a single-party system. That is why a new hope aroused in the policy of liberal democracy. We had had no experience with such a type of political organization in the past. It was believed that pattern of democracy brought rights and freedom to each man. In mean time, a new concept of the New World Order appeared, without any theoretical or ideological foundations, with the policy which indicated that new military totalitarianism would appear in all spheres of human life: economy, politics, culture, information. Individuals are totally depersonalized and passive in such systems. It is a new and most difficult eclipse of mankind and their freedoms. The peoples of Yugoslavia have been experiencing this horrible and traumatic eclipse these days: they hide their children, wives and old people in basements and shelters , they are witnessing the dead and the wounded all around, they watch the destroyed houses, streets, and ruined factories. The citizens of this country keep asking themselves: which are the long-term goals of the transition on the crossroads of our development, after tragical experiences in our socitey and the world-wide process of the NATO globalization as a new form of totalitarianism. After having searched for freedom and democracy in this century, after having lost hope in the western democracy pattern, we keep asking ourselves how people could realize their freedoms in a free society, and which type of democracy which would provide the rule of majority with paying due respect to the minorities was realistically achievable. During my recent visit to Moscow, I attended rallies against the American Globalization Pattern. What I could hear there was: rise Stalin the Great, while you lived, there was enough bread, enough hope and enough freedom. Today, we have no bread, no hope and no freedom at all! Shocked by all this, I managed to contact the organizers of a rally and I asked them what this unexpected message meant. They said that those people did not want Stalin back, but what the new world order offered was much more horrible and depersonalizing than in it was then. The way of thinking which is being created by the policy and practice of the NATO threatens and warns. Are the policy makers aware of the horrifying fact? The decisions of the world masters to "discipline" Yugoslavia by killing and occupation as well as by putting us in chains, all in the name of "human rights, freedom and democracy" will not make their conquering interests come true. It is also proved by the general protest of people all over the world. Only during the last four days of unjustified terrors against an innocent nation has the wave of protesting against an "open society" and the so called "western democracy" spread all over the world. The protest rallies, as the conscience of mankind, forced the majority, or a significant minority, in the parliaments of the great powers to ask themselves with shame: what are we doing, for whom are we doing that, where does it all lead at the dawn of the new millenium? The American Government must understand that the temporary submission under which the NATO holds or wants to hold some countries is not permanent. The submitted individual or a group of people are much more decisive in claiming their right to be free as soon as an opportunity appears, and their wish and urge to revenge because they lost their dignity and became slaves is much more expressive. This kind of regularity can be seen in the fall of all empires and tyranies throughout history, as well as the fight for liberty of the people from all over the world. The way the USA and NATO behave has denounced the Charter of the United Nations, who have been helpless for a long time and forced to carry out only the interests of the USA as the "the interests of mankind". The members of the NATO inspired other countries which are not the members of this organisation to think about forming an alternative community of people which will establish a new democratic order, since the USA and NATO destroyed and antagonized the world. The great bourgeous revolution of 1789 proclaimed: "liberty, fraternity, equality". Two hundred years after that epochal event, people all over the world tried to carry out this message. However, the New World Order has eclipsed and suspended the liberty, the freedom and the equality. Are we moving back two hundred years ago searching for the postulates of the free society? While I am writing these lines, I' m reading the official order of the NATO headquarters on SKY NEWS to start the second phase of the NATO aggression against Yugoslavia, which includes killing "personnel" on the roads, in bases and vehicles from the vicinity. The commanders of death claim that there are three phases more in the process of establishing the submissive democracy in this country and her "democratization" in accepting the NATO occupation. The citizens of Yugoslavia and the democratic people all over the world desperately ask this question: is the new world order establishing the Orwell conception of the world in which no one is free, in which the society itself is not free? As enthusiasts, we still hope that this will be stopped by the liberal and democratic world, and that people will be given some hope of a more just world. Still, the conscience of each and every individual forces them to ask themselves - are the tyrants who are violating freedom walking the world today, at the end of the twentieth century? Dr. Milos Aleksic March 31, 1999 Belgrade, Yugoslavia University of Belgrade ubginfo@rect.bg.ac.yu - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "T.Damjanov" Subject: (abolition-usa) NATO War List Date: 07 Apr 1999 02:35:12 +0200 NATO War List Dateline: 6 April 1999 PLEASE NOTE: When requesting any article listed here, please use the code number set a= head of the item's title you wish to receive. (in case there is no code number= , please copy the title(s) into your email response.) Thank you, Tobias Damjanov =3D=3D=3D> If you want to get off my mailing, just send me "Getting Off" = in the subject line of your mail. 1<><><><><><><><><><><><><>< ><><><><><><><><><><><><><> INTERNET REFERENCES <><><><><><><><><><><><><>< ><><><><><><><><><><><><><> =3D=3D=3D > New list for discussion of Kosovo-related issues The name of the mailinglist is yugoslavia-discuss If you would like to join the list, do one of the following things: -- EITHER: email to Ed Genochio (St John's College, Cambridge, UK): asking to be subscribed to the yugoslavia-discuss list. ** OR: go to http://www.coollist.com/ and at the bottom of that page, where it says Subscribe to a Coollist mailing list: enter < yugoslavia-discuss > in the "List Name" box and enter your email address in the "Your Email" box then click on "subscribe". A confirmation email will be sent out immediately to you. Once the list becomes operational, mail sent to will be directed to all list members. Archive: http://members.tripod.co.uk/STOPNATO/earch.htm [+] Anonymizer.com Surfing: http://www.egroups.com/list/kosovo-reports http://community.cnn.com/cgi-bin/WebX?14@@.ee721ec http://www.kosovo.com http://www.anonymizer.com/kosovo [+] Websites des serbischen Informationsministeriums und Informationszent= rums: http://www.gov.yu/kosovo http://www.serbia-info.com [+] Jugoslawische Nachrichtenagentur Tanjug: http://www.tanjug.co.yu [+] OSZE und Kosovo: http://www.osce.org/e/kosovo.htm [+] Britische Luftwaffe: http://www.raf.mod.uk/news/kosovonews.html [+] "Action against NATO Bombing in Yugoslavia" http://members.tripod.co.uk/~STOPNATO/ (NB case-sensitive: STOPNATO must be in CAPITAL LETTERS) [under construction; 31 March 1999] [+] Case against the bombing, prepared by the Coordinating Committee of T= he Greens/Green Party USA: http://www.lbbs.org/ZMag/greens.htm [+] BBC regularly-updated site, with links to sites representing all side= s of the conflict, on http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/special_report/1998/kosovo/ [+] NATO Headquarters Military Briefings: http://www.usia.gov/regional/eur/balkans/kosovo/ [+] The leader of the moderate Kosovo-Albanians, Ibrahim Rugova, called a= t the NATO to stop the air-raids against Yugoslavia: http://www.dwelle.de/today/nrdeu.htm [+] eGroups Spotlight: "Kosovo-Reports" - Direct reports from Kosovo/Serbia/Yugoslavia http://offers.egroups.com/click/252/0 [+] U.N. Security Council Resolution 1199 http://www.state.gov/www/regions/eur/un_980923_res_kosovo.html <><><><><><><><><><><><><>< ><><><><><><><><><><><><><> [+] Die besten Seiten (mit zahlreichen weiteren Verweisen): http://www.transnational.org/links/yu_alb.html http://www.basicint.org http://www.cdi.org/issues/Europe/kosovo.html [+] search "Yugoslavia" on Infoseek: (more than 44.000 sites) http://www.infoseek.com/Titles?qt=3Dyugoslavia [+] Kosovo crisis and Ex-Yugoslavia resources [+] Albania resources [+] Websites of state and military authorities [+] Selected media websites <><><><><><><><><><><><><>< ><><><><><><><><><><><><><> ARTICLES <><><><><><><><><><><><><>< ><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 2 #: Anonymizer.com launches Kosovo Privacy Project 30 #: Making the World Safer for Business. Instability and aggression are regarded as a threat to the global stability upon which U.S. markets depe= nd (Los Angeles Times, 2.4.99) http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/COMMENT/t000029304.html [+] Rambouillet Talks: --- Background on Rambouillet Accords (U.S. State Department): http://www.state.gov/www/regions/eur/fs_990301_rambouillet.html 0 /1: Statement NATO SecGen on the outcome (Press Release (99)21/23 Febru= ary 1999) 0 /2: Prof. Jan Oberg: Rambouillet - Imperialism in Disguise (TFF-Pressin= fo #55, 16.2.99) 0 /6: Von Dayton nach Rambouillet (Junge Welt, 01.03.1999) 0 /7: Rambouillet without Russia (Izvestia, 23.2.99) 0 /8: Ausz=FCge [Artikel 6, 8 und 10 des milit=E4rischen Annex B] aus de= m Abkommen von Rambouillet (nach: "die tageszeitung", 6.4.99) 0 /9: Weitreichende Bestimmungen im Annex des Kosovo-Abkommens ("taz", 6= .4.99) [+] "The Progressive Response", 2 April 1999, Vol. 3, No. 12: Kosovo (Publication of "Foreign Policy In Focus", a joint project of the Interhemispheric Resource Center and the Institute for Policy Studies in = the USA) Contents: -- False Assumptions (By Julianne Smith, BASIC) -- Bombing Can't Stop Serb Violence (By Rear Admiral Eugene J. Carroll Jr= ., USN (Ret.)) -- Hell Bent on Destroying National Sovereignty [+] The NATO attack 1 /5: Press Conference of NATO SecGen and SACEUR 25 March 1999 1 /6: Press Conference by NATO Spokesman Jamie Shea + Air Commodore David Wilby, SHAPE (26.3.99) 1 /7: Proposals Floated to Arm Kosovars, Target Milosevic (AP, 25.3.99) 1 /7a: Embassy Row: Arming the KLA? (Washington Times, 26.3.99) 1 /8: Press Conference by NATO Spokesman Jamie Shea + Air Commodore David Wilby, SHAPE (27.3.99) 1 /9: China Mounts All-Out Verbal Assault on Air Raids (NYT, 26.3.99) 1 /9a: China President Criticizes NATO (AP, 27.3.99) 1 /10: The Current Bombings (by Noam Chomsky) 1 /12: Press Conference by NATO Spokesman Jamie Shea + Air Commodore Davi= d Wilby, SHAPE (29.3.99) 1 /13: What if the bombing was 'legal?' (brief article by J. Vernon, UK) 1 /14: Press Conference by NATO Spokesman Jamie Shea + Air Commodore Davi= d Wilby, SHAPE (31.3.99) 1 /15: NATO sets precedent in deciding to violate a border (Christian Sci= ence Monitor, 25.3.99) http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1999/03/25/f-p8s1.shtml 1 /17: Clinton's Fraud: There is no "Kosovo Agreement" for the Serbs to S= ign (The Rockford Institute): http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/hotspots.html 2 /52: Polona Sepe (Slovenia) to Jean Hudon, Initiator of the Call for a = Global Peace Vigil 2 /11a: Notes on Kosovo by Karel Koster (Netherlands) + comments by Comma= nder Rob Green, Royal Navy (ret.) 7 /1: Georg Schoefbanker: NATO planes violating Austrian air space (31 Ma= rch 1999) 1 /26: Disagreement of the PCF and the Green Party in the French Governme= nt over the issue of the NATO Bombings (Le Monde, 29 March 1999) 1 /29: Lies, Deceit and Betrayal (by Robert Fisk, Correspondent, The Independent) 1 /20: (US) Military Fears Image May Be Damaged (AP, 1.4.99) http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-US-Kosovo-Air-Power.html 1 /21: The air war takes toll on pared-down U.S. military (The Washington Times, 31.3.99) http://www.washtimes.com/news/news2.html#link 1 /30: NATO's Balkan Blunders Dossier (by Commander R. Green, Chair, Worl= d Court Project UK) 1 /22: Press Conference by NATO Spokesman Jamie Shea + Air Commodore Davi= d Wilby, SHAPE (2.4.99) 2 /27b: Radio B92 Closed Down and Sealed Off 1 /31: Prof. David Lorge Parnas (Canada): Only NATO had a Choice 1 /32: Press Conference by NATO Spokesman Jamie Shea + Air Commodore Davi= d Wilby, SHAPE (3.4.99) 1 /37: Press Conference by NATO Spokesman Jamie Shea + Air Commodore Davi= d Wilby, SHAPE (4.4.99) 1 /33: "CounterPunch" Magazine (USA): How the US State Dept. Recruited Hu= man Rights Groups to Cheer On the Bombing Raids:Those Incubator Babies, Once = More? http://www.counterpunch.org/ 1 /34: Facts at Briefings Scarce, But Polemics Are Abundant (New York Tim= es, 3.4.99) http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/europe/040399kosovo-nato.html 1 /35: "Bombs Away!" (by Immanuel Wallerstein) http://www.zmag.org/waller.htm 1 /36: Alan Mayne (Union of International Associations, Brussels): And wh= en the bombing stops? 1 /39: Crimes against truth. The relentless propaganda war is trivialisin= g epic suffering (The Independent) 1 /40: There IS an Alternative to Bombing (by J. Power, Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research) 1 /41: Protecting the Kosovars ("Dawn" (Pakistan's leading English newspa= per), 3.4.99) http://www.dawn.com 1 /43: Military Analysis: NATO Force Sent to Albania Could Serve as Vangu= ard for a Kosovo Invasion (New York Times, , April 5, 1999) http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/europe/040599kosovo-military.html 1 /44: Press Conference by NATO Spokesman Jamie Shea + Air Commodore Davi= d Wilby, SHAPE (5.4.99) 1 /45: NATO action unwisely undercuts U.N. (Peter Erlinder, "Star Tribune= " [USA], 4.4.99) http://www.startribune.com (search for the author=92s name) 1 /46: Negotiating to end war will hurt least (Boston Globe [USA], 5.4.99= ) 1 /48: South African comment on Nato's campaign ("Business Day", South Af= rica, 6.4.99) http://www.bday.co.za [+] Two articles on possible ground attack from "Liberazione" (April 1-2,= 1999) [+] 2 /62: Wartime ZNetUpdate: information on NATO war on Yugoslavia: As of Monday morning (5 April 1999), the Kosovo/NATO section of ZNet, accessible from the top page of ZNet (www.zmag.org) or directly at http://www.zmag.org/ZMag/kosovo.htm, includes: --- The Current Bombings: Behind the Rhetoric - Noam Chomsky --- Protecting The Kosovars -- Edward Said --- Thoughts About Bombings - Michael Albert --- Atrocities Management - Edward Herman --- NATO's Humanitarian Trigger - Diana Johnstone --- Message from A Serbian Green in Belgrade --- Stop the Bombing, Stop the Genocide (MADRE's Excellent Statement on t= he events) --- Statement of the Belgrade Center for Human Rights --- Statement of the Greens/Green Party USA --- Statement of the War Resisters League --- Comment from TFF (Transnational Foundation) on NATO/KOSOVO --- The Clinton Doctrine - Michael Klare --- War is Peace? - Andre Gunder Frank --- Contextualizing the history and particularly the role of NATO --- Bombs Away - Immanuel Wallerstein --- Dismantling Yugoslavia...- by Michel Chossudovsky --- Another Diana Johnstone Link --- Refugee Chic - Mark Steel (An article from the English Guardian...not= your usual fare) --- CounterPunch Comments --- David McReynolds on NATO/Kosovo --- Bombing Serbia... - Stephen Zunes --- A Call for a New Peace Front - Jan Myrdal David Cortright/Alistair Millar (Fourth Freedom Forum, USA): Commentary o= n the Kosovo Crisis ("The Progressive Response", 30 March 1999, Vol. 3, No. 11) [+] Russia 3 /1: Russia Quits NATO Partnership 3 /2: Tactical n/missiles could be moved back into Belarus 3 /3: Azerbaijan Detains Russian Mig Shipment (NYT, 24.3.99) 3 /4: Report says Russia asked to deploy nukes in wake of NATO attacks 3 /6: U.S. Urges Russia Not To Arm Serbs (AP, 26.3.99) 3 /7: Peter Coombes: Kosovo, Russia and Nuclear Weapons? 3 /8: Russia Helping Iraq Upgrade Air Defenses [suspected collaboration b= etween Serbia, Iraq and Russia] (STRATFOR's Global Intelligence Update, March 31= , 1999) 3 /9: Valentin Yemelin: The Balkan Crisis [incisive summary of the Russia= n reaction] 3 /18: Oleg Odnokolenko: General Staff and Duma ponder pre-emptive nuclea= r strikes (Segodnya, 1.4. 1999) 7 #: Kosovo Crisis Deepens Political Divisions in Ukraine (26.3.99) 3 /19: UN Security Council rejection of Russian resolution re Kosovo on 2= 6.3.99 (extracts) 3 /20: Attacks Stir Cold War Feelings in Russia (Washington Post, 4.4.99) http://www.commondreams.org/kosovo/kosovo.htm or: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-04/04/166l-040499-idx.ht= ml [+] Albania 6 /1: Albania Would Allow Arms to Kosovo (NYT, 30.3.99) http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-UN-Albania.html [+] Macedonia 4 /1 To NATO via Kosovo (AIM Skopje, 11 March 1999) 4 /2 Macedonia - A Country on the Edge (Yves Debay) 4 /3 Anti-NATO Protest Rocks Macedonia (AP, 26.3.99) [+] Greece 5 /1: Greco Turkish Dispute Threatens to Deepen Fissures in NATO (30 Marc= h 1999) [+] Protests Reports 4 /1: White House Targeted by Protesters (NYT, 30.3.99) http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-US-Kosovo-Protests.html 4 /2 Russians protest air strikes (Philadelphia Inquirer, 28.3.99) http://www.phillynews.com/inquirer/99/Mar/28/national/RUSS28.htm 4 /3: Paris Kosovo demonstration 1 April 1999 (D. Durand, Mouvement de la= Paix) 4 /4: Arrests at NATO HQ, Brussels, over the war (Forum voor Vredesactie, Belgium) 4 /6: Peace movements from Europe met in Strasbourg on 4 April 1999 / Apr= il 9-10: days of action against the war in Yugoslavia and ethnic cleasing <><><><><><><><><><><><><>< ><><><><><><><><><><><><><> STATEMENTS + APPEALS <><><><><><><><><><><><><>< ><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 2 /10: McReynolds (War Resisters League, USA), quick analysis of Kosovo 2 /16: Quakers: Kosovo: Information & Analysis 2 /17: Mouvement de la Paix on Don=92t Add War To War! (25.3.99) 2 /17a: Mouvement de la Paix: Call for Strasbourg Demonstration 4 April 2 /19: Statement US Coalition for Peace and Justice 2 /22: Green Party of Canada condemns NATO strikes (26.3.99) 2 /23: War Resisters' International Statement on Kosovo 2 /24: WILPF Kosovo statement 2 /25: Appeal by the Federation of Peace and Conciliation, the Russian Pe= ace Committee, the Russian Fund for Peace, the UN Association of Russia and t= he Centre "Eco-Accord" 2 /26: Karel Koster (Netherlands): Comments on Developments on the Balkan (26.3.99) 2 /27: Support the B92 Campaign [Unterst=FCtzung f=FCr den freien jugoslavischen Radiosender B92: http://helpB92.xs4all.nl ] 2 /28: British Quaker opposition to UK/NATO bombing of Kosovo/a 2 /30: Australian Peace Committee (SA Branch): Open Letter to the Autrali= an Government 2 /31: Veterans Against Nuclear Arms, Canada 2 /32: Jan Myrdal calls for a new Peace Front 2 /39: Letter from INES member Branka Jovanovic (Belgrade) 2 /42: Appeal from Kosova trade unions, 25 March 1999 2 /43: US Fellowship of Reconciliation calls for End of US Bombing and fo= r Creative Resistance to Genocide 2 /50: Information Forum "Block-free Europe" (Czech Republic): Open lette= r to NATO member states 2 /55: Russia: Statement of the Socio-Ecological Union International on t= he Balkan Conflict 2 /56: Belgrade Law Professors Appeal for Help in Ending Attacks, Resumin= g Kosovo Talks http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/appeal.htm 2 /56a: Commentary by Carl S. Kaplan, New York Times, 3.4.1999 http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/04/cyber/cyberlaw/02law.html 2 /57: Statement from Amnesty International re: the war on Yugoslavia 2 /59: US Psychologists for Social Responsibility: Letter to President Cl= inton (5.4.99) 2 /60: MADRE: Stop The Bombing, Stop The Genocide [MADRE is a US-based international women's human rights organization] 2 /61: Philipp B. Smith (INES): Kosovo and Machiavelli (3.4.99) plus comm= ent by Haldun M. Ozaktas (Turkey) 2 /63: "Les Bombardements de l'OTAN ne sont pas la bonne reponse aux exac= tions des Forces Armees Serbes" (Statement Syndicat National des Chercheurs Scientifiques (France), 27.3.1999) 1 /38: Statement of the North Atlantic Council (following the meeting bet= ween representatives of the NATO Member States, the EU Member States, the OSCE= CiO, the UNHCR, the Council of Europe and the Western European Union), Brussel= s, 4 April 1999 [also available in French] <><><><><><><><><><><><><>< ><><><><><><><><><><><><><> - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Timothy Bruening Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) New brochure Date: 06 Apr 1999 18:43:46 -0700 (PDT) Please send me your brochures at 1439 Brown Drive, Davis, CA 95616. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DavidMcR@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) From Women's Centre Belgrade!! Date: 07 Apr 1999 11:31:02 EDT In a message dated 4/7/99 7:08:53 AM Eastern Daylight Time, vlerner@interpac.net writes: Subj: Fw: [GSN] (Fwd) From Women's Centre Belgrade!! Date: 4/7/99 7:08:53 AM Eastern Daylight Time From: vlerner@interpac.net (viviane lerner) To: editor@feminista.com (feminista), rkmoore@IOL.IE (Richard K Moore), sysop@zmag.org (Michael Albert), DavidMcR@aol.com (David Mc R), info@herspace.com, femfaxnet@aol.com, sigi@igc.apc.org, info@sojourner.org, daw@undp.org, unifem@undp.org, hrwnyc@hrw.org, ichrdd@ichrdd.ca, iwtc@igc.apc.org -----Original Message----- From: Janet M. Eaton To: GSN@onelist.com Date: Wednesday, April 07, 1999 3:37 AM Subject: [GSN] (Fwd) From Women's Centre Belgrade!! From: "Janet M. Eaton" ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date: Wed, 7 Apr 1999 10:58:04 +0100 (BST) Reply-to: ukantiwar@gn.apc.org From: "Euler, Catherine [CES]" > - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Strategy Meeting on Defense Spending Date: 07 Apr 1999 12:40:08 -0400 >Date: Tue, 06 Apr 1999 17:05:26 -0400 >Subject: Strategy Meeting on Defense Spending >Priority: non-urgent >X-FC-MachineGenerated: true >To: budgetgroups@lyris.ombwatch.org >X-FC-Forwarded-From: pwlester@chn.org >From: budgetgroups@lyris.ombwatch.org (budgetgroups@lyris.ombwatch.org) > >==================================== >STRATEGY MEETING ON DEFENSE SPENDING >==================================== > >Dan McGlinchey of Rep. Barney Frank's office asked me to pass >this meeting notice on to interested parties. > >- Patrick Lester, Coalition on Human Needs > > >-----Original Message----- >From: McGlinchey, Daniel >To: 'pwlester@chn.org' >Date: Tuesday, April 06, 1999 4:47 PM >Subject: invitation to strategy session on defense spending > > >JOIN US FOR A STRATEGY SESSION TO KEEP THE DEFENSE BUDGET FROM >DECIMATING >NON-MILITARY PROGRAMS > >The meeting will include a new release from the National >Priorities Project, "Choice that Matter: Federal Decisions and >Your Hometown," a report examining the negative impact of an >increased military budget on social programs in states and >communities across the nation. > > >TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 1999 >2237 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING >3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. > > >3:00 - 3:15 Cong. Barney Frank > >3:15 - 3:30 Senator Tom Harkin > >3:30 - 3:45 Greg Speeter, National Priorities Project > >3:45 - 5:00 Discussion > > >Please call Daniel McGlinchey in Cong. Frank's office >(202-225-5931) with >any questions. > >----------------------------------------------------------------- >Patrick W. Lester >Senior Program Associate >Coalition on Human Needs >1700 K Street, NW >Suite 1150 >Washington, DC 20006 > >Phone: 202-736-5886 >Fax: 202-785-0791 >Email: pwlester@chn.org > > > >--- >You are currently subscribed to budgetgroups as: [aslater@gracelinks.org] >To unsubscribe, forward this message to >leave-budgetgroups-5336Y@lyris.ombwatch.org > Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: NucNews-Yugoslavia Date: 07 Apr 1999 12:51:46 -0400 >7. Well-Armed and Very Dangerous > >Belgrade: The obstacles to Yugoslavia's acquisition >and use of unconventional weapons are not that great. > >April 4, 1999 Los Angeles Times, By WILLIAM C. POTTER, JONATHAN B. TUCKER >http://www.latimes.com/excite/990404/t000029798.html > >As NATO mounts its air campaign against Yugoslavia, much has been made of >the mismatch of the combatants' conventional weapons capabilities. Although >that imbalance is unlikely to change, too little attention has been given >to Belgrade's weapons of mass destruction potential. In the near term, this >danger principally involves chemical weapons. A longer-term, but not >distant, threat relates to nuclear arms. > >Before the breakup of socialist Yugoslavia in 1991, its army had an >advanced chemical weapons program dating back to the 1960s. According to >the late Croatian Gen. Zlatko Binenfeld, Yugoslavia produced the deadly >nerve agent sarin, mustard gas, the choking agent phosgene, the >hallucinogenic incapacitant BZ and tear gases. These toxic chemicals were >put into a variety of munitions, including artillery shells, aerial bombs, >rockets and chemical mines. > >Much of the former Yugoslavia's offensive chemical weapons infrastructure, >production capacity and expertise was inherited in 1991 by the Federal >Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro). Three of the four known >chemical weapons production facilities in the former Yugoslavia were on >Serbian territory, and equipment from the fourth such plant, near Mostar, >Bosnia, was reportedly dismantled by Yugoslav troops and moved to Serbia in >1992. > >Yugoslavia maintains a significant chemical defense posture. An offensive >capability also may have been demonstrated during the Bosnian war, which >saw repeated allegations of the use by the Bosnian Serbs of >Yugoslav-supplied tear gas and BZ. Moreover, Belgrade has refused to sign >the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention banning development, possession and >use of chemical arms. > >In contrast to the immediate chemical threat posed by Yugoslavia, the >principal nuclear danger is prospective. It derives from more than 50 years >of Yugoslav nuclear science research, a large and well-trained cadre of >nuclear scientists and engineers, a stock of weapons-usable material and a >history of at least two prior efforts during the Tito regime to acquire >nuclear arms. > >The latest of these attempts to "go nuclear" was launched immediately after >the first Indian nuclear detonation in 1974 and appears to have been >abandoned by the early 1980s. Much of the infrastructure to support a >nuclear weapons program remains intact, however, and is concentrated at the >Vinca Institute of Nuclear Science near Belgrade. These nuclear assets >include a 6.5-megawatt research reactor, 48 kilograms of weapons-usable >uranium (80% U-235) and extensive experience with uranium enrichment and >plutonium reprocessing. Although to date the Milosevic regime has done >nothing to suggest that it plans to resume a nuclear weapons program, the >proliferation incentives for Yugoslavia may grow as it assumes the position >of a pariah state--a profile closely resembling that of other nuclear >weapons aspirants such as South Africa in the past and Iraq and North Korea >today. > >The longer and more successful the NATO air campaign against Yugoslavia, >the greater the temptation for Belgrade to consider a nonconventional >weapons response. This action might involve the terrorist use of chemical >weapons or radioactive material against the Kosovo Albanians or NATO >peacekeepers in Bosnia and Macedonia. The Milosevic government might also >seek to acquire the funds needed to bolster its conventional arsenal by >trafficking in chemical weapons, nuclear material and associated production >equipment. To counter these potential threats, NATO and the >international community should undertake the following steps: > >First, NATO peacekeeping forces in the region must be prepared for possible >hostilities involving chemical weapons use. Second, increased scrutiny >should be given to Yugoslav chemical and nuclear trade with would-be >proliferators. Third, as part of any cease-fire settlement, Belgrade should >be required to sign and ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention and to >accept strengthened international safeguards at its nuclear facilities. >Finally, the U.S. and Russia must revive their traditional but increasingly >frayed cooperation in halting the spread of weapons of mass destruction. In >the case of Yugoslavia, this cooperation might take the form of a >U.S.-subsidized "buy-back" by Moscow of the Soviet-origin nuclear material >at Vinca. > >The technical and political obstacles to the development and employment of >weapons of mass destruction by Yugoslavia are not as great as often >assumed. Unless this danger is recognized and steps are taken to counteract >it, we may soon experience another shock to the nonproliferation regime. >- - - > >William C. Potter Is Director of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at >the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Jonathan B. Tucker Directs >the Center's Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Project > Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jackie Cabasso Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Gorbachev on Yugoslavia bombing Date: 07 Apr 1999 13:55:53 -0700 >>CNN - Larry King Live - April 3, 1999 > >MIKHAIL GORBACHEV, GENERAL SECRETARY, SOVIET COMMUNIST PARTY >(through translator): I think this is a big mistake because the political >solution was possible and the possibilities for a political solutions were >not used. As someone who has been involved in the politics for many years, >as someone who was involved in similar negotiations, I was really amazed that >during these negotiations, at all times the threat of force was used. And it >was said by NATO that the talks will be more successful if this threat is -- >or the use of force is used during the negotiations. > >KING: Does the president... > >GORBACHEV (through translator): The political part of the agreement was >already agreed and negotiated and then suddenly, the so- called military >part appeared in the form of an ultimatum. > >KING: Does the president have any disagreement with Mr. Milosevic? > >GORBACHEV (through translator): What happened was the result of mistakes >made by all sides, and of course, first of all, Milosevic, who liquidated >the autonomy of Kosovo. > >KING: Does the president fear the possibility of ground troops? GORBACHEV >(through translator): I think NATO has made a mistake and now this mistake >must be corrected. The air strikes are mistake enough. Those air strikes >were done without authorization from the United Nations. This regarding the >view, the views of countries like Russia, China, India and this has placed >the world in a very, very difficult situation. > >So, I don't even want to think about the use of ground troops. I believe >that, instead, the air strikes should be stopped because the situation is >difficult enough now. > >And Larry, I am really amazed at the kind of self-confidence -- >over-confidence that is being shown by President Clinton and today's >statement also by Tony Blair. They are too sure that the air strikes would >achieve their goal. I believe that instead this will boomerang and they will >certainly rue this and >the view of the people, not just the Yugoslav people, but the people >throughout the world, is very negative. Even in Europe, people are divided. >And of course, other people are saying, "Well that's what Western values are." > >KING: Mr. President, can Russia do any more to help? > >GORBACHEV (through translator): I believe that Russia should stick to the >position that it is for a >political settlement. This is very important. We should not lose our heads. >No one should lose their >heads. > >I believe that the signal -- the message -- that was carried by Primakov has >now been confirmed in >the talks between Milosevic and Rugova, the political leader of the ethnic >Albanians. So that shows >that there is a potential for a political solution. So, let us take >advantage of this and let us find a >political solution. > >I believe that Russia alone without cooperation with the United States >cannot change the situation readily for the better, cannot change this very >dangerous situation alone. Because after all, we understand that if Russia >acts alone, then the United States will perhaps fear that the U.S. >credibility is being undermined. > >So, the situation today is that every one should try and save face, but let >us think above all about the sufferings of the people. Let us think about >that, the people are suffering. > >KING: If you were president now... > >GORBACHEV (through translator): And Larry, I am very much concerned about the >consequences of what is happening in Yugoslavia and what is happening with >respect to this crisis. The international law has been (OFF-MIKE). Force has >been used. The position of the U.N. Security Council has been undermined. >And now Europe has been shown who's the boss. And I know this because I hear >this from the Europeans. Russia is being humiliated. > >And this will push a new arms race in every country in the world. People >will be thinking we must have more weapons, because the time will come when >we may, might have to use them. And there is a real threat that in many >countries there will be an effort made to get absolute weapons. To get >weapons of mass destruction. I believe this will also give impetus to >terrorism. > >We'll be dealing with terrible consequences and our attempt to create a new >peaceful world order, will be made extremely difficult. And our attempts to >create a new peaceful world order will be made extremely difficult. > >So, we must stop. And a joint effort, particularly by the United States and >Russia. The U.N. Security Council should also be given a role. And we must >build a new security structure, a new security architecture in Europe. NATO >cannot be the guarantor. NATO may participate but all Europeans should take >decisions rather than NATO alone. > >This is all very serious, and I would like President Clinton, and I would >like the United States to take the initiative in doing this, preferably in >cooperation with Russia, and other countries. Otherwise this process that we >are seeing now cannot be held in check, cannot be controlled. > >KING: Mr. President, I thank you very much. A very strong advocate of his >country... > >GORBACHEV (through translator): Thank you, Larry. Pleased to talk to you. I >was very pleased to talk to you because I have confidence in you and I trust >you, and respect you. I feel that you are as concerned as I am about what's >happening, and I believe that what happened between our countries -- the >improvement that happened after the end of the Cold War is now being threatened >and I am very concerned about this. > >KING: Thank you Mr. President. > >----------------------------------------------------------------------- >Sam Husseini sam@accuracy.org >Institute for Public Accuracy Tel: 202-347-0020 >915 National Press Building Fax: 202-347-0290 >Washington, DC 20045 http://www.accuracy.org >E-mail subject line "subscribe" to ipa@accuracy.org to sign on to IPA's list. >If you are a journalist, please include your name and outlet in the message. > ****************************************************** Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director WESTERN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION 1440 Broadway, Suite 500 Oakland, California USA 94612 Tel: +(510)839-5877 Fax: +(510)839-5397 E-mail: wslf@earthlink.net ****************************************************** Western States Legal Foundation is part of ABOLITION 2000 A GLOBAL NETWORK TO ELIMINATE NUCLEAR WEAPONS - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) Softwar: Tangled Web in Yugoslavia Date: 07 Apr 1999 13:19:49 -0700 Softwar is one reason governments would like to control the net. - J2 http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_smith/19990406_xcsof_how_clinto.shtml Clinton's war in the former Yugoslavia started within days of his taking office in 1993. In 1993, Croat and Bosnian Serbs, backed by the Milosevic regime in Belgrade, were battling with Croat and Bosnia Muslims. The war was dominated by a UN arms embargo against the fractured Yugoslavia. No new weapons could get into the country to feed the widening civil war. The arm embargo was strictly enforced by NATO and the newly elected Clinton. Initially, the Serbs were winning. They out-gunned the larger Croat and Bosnian forces, because they were backed by tanks from their friend in Belgrad, Milosevic. Starting in 1993, the Croats and Bosnians suddenly acquired loads of Chinese made artillery and anti-tank rockets. The new arms arrived in Bosnia on Iranian C-130 cargo planes, in violation of the NATO embargo. The Iranian arms shipments were credited with stopping a major Serbian offensive, and costing Milosevic victory in the long war. Ironically, the same weapons also cost former the Clinton National Security advisor, Anthony Lake, his bid to be CIA Director. During Senate hearings, Lake was forced to admit that the U.S. knew of the Iranian arms flights and did nothing to stop them. Lake, who was then up for the newly vacated CIA Directorship, admitted the misdeeds and resigned in disgrace. The sudden admission of a U.S./Iranian plot to arm the Muslims strained relations and embarrassed the Clinton administration. European allies and Russia had enforced the embargo with aircraft and naval warships. Yet, Iran did more than just send guns. Ali Fallahan, the top spy for Iran, was also sent into Yugoslavia along with the Chinese made AK-47s, artillery and rocket launchers. Ali Fallahan was then head of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security, or Vavak. Fallahan also is known to preside over the Iranian overseas operations planning committee. It is this committee that approves all Iranian sponsored terrorist attacks abroad. In 1996, the accidental discovery of a Vavak base in Bosnia by NATO forces provided the hard evidence of Iranian actions and of Fallahan's activities. NATO troops found a treasure trove of advanced communications and bugging devices from around the world purchased by Fallahan. The equipment was quickly tracked back to each respective supplier and thus the Germans re-constructed Fallahan's travels. Once in Europe, Fallahan drove anywhere he wanted, and frequently did. It was during one stop in Germany that Fallahan helped set up the assassination of Kurd rebel leaders exiled in Berlin. Fallahan also masterminded a huge buy of German, Russian and Japanese state-of-the-art listening devices, encryption and communications equipment which was shipped to Iran in 1994 and 1995. This equipment was used to outfit both the Iranian and Bosnian intelligence services, some of which was found by the NATO forces in the Bosnian Vavak raid. In 1997, Fallahan was found guilty - in absentia - by the Germans for the assassination of Kurdish leaders in Berlin. The discovery of Fallahan, the advanced equipment, plans and hordes of Iranian spies on euro soil finally shocked western Europe into demanding Bosnia disconnect itself from Tehran. Today, while American airpower hurls itself on the suburbs of Belgrad for CNN cameras, there is another war. The flashy shows of missile strikes and stealth attacks being played out in the skies dominate the press. The real dirty war in Kosovo is fought with an AK-47 or SKS rifle at close range. The initial supply of guns for the KLA was taken from the armories of the Yugoslavian and Albanian communist states as they disintegrated. The first batch of local guns were not enough to sustain a war. The aging equipment has since been re-enforced with brand new Chinese made rifles. In the 1980s, the CIA combined with middle eastern heroin smugglers and Chinese weapons makers to assist the Afghans during their long war against the ex-Soviet Union. The dirty war in Afghanistan bred the CIA trained, Saudi millionaire, Bin Laden. Bin Laden fought the Soviets with U.S. and Chinese made equipment. The KLA has rearmed using the same not-so-old religious connection through the Iranians and Chinese arms smugglers. The KLA "praise the lord and pass the ammunition" strategy includes drug smugglers well known to the CIA and former Albanian communists, now backing the KLA. Two benefactors from Clinton's dirty little war in Kosovo are Poly Technologies and NORINCO, both arms firms owned by Chinese Generals. Norinco SKS assault rifles currently grace the KLA forces operating inside Kosovo. NBC and CNN have shown KLA rebels, armed with Chinese SKS rifles and their distinctive, fixed, 10 round clip. You can see the same SKS rifles in the well known picture of Clinton reviewing Chinese troops in Tiananmen square on the cover of the book "Year of the Rat." Poly Tech is better known to the Clinton administration. Poly Technologies was busted in 1996 by U.S. Customs agents posing as drug dealers trying to buy a couple of AK-47s. The customs raid netted over 2,000 fully automatic AK-47s, hand grenades, anti-tank rockets and shoulder fired surface-to-air (SAM) missiles. The Chinese arsenal was hidden in a cargo container freshly unloaded from a COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company) ship, docked in Los Angeles. The Poly Tech workers have all been released by the inept Reno Dept. of Justice. Some fled the country and have returned to China. Following the fiasco, Clinton officials issued a statement, saying the arms were destined for "drug" dealers in the United States. Poly Tech is also known to Janet Reno for another reason. Charlie Trie and Poly Tech President Wang Jun met with Commerce Secretary Ron Brown after donating over $50,000 to the DNC. In fact, Poly Tech President Wang Jun met with Ms. General Reno's boss, Mr. Clinton, inside the White House just after that donation through Trie and Brown. In April, 1996, Secretary Brown lost his life in the former Yugoslavia. Brown died in a plane crash just outside of Dubrovnik, Croatia. Brown died along with a host of the highest and mightiest of U.S. Corporate heads. The death of the Secretary came as a blow to the White House and to the criminal investigations of Ron Brown's Commerce Dept. It was well known that a Special Prosecutor was preparing heavy evidence of corruption. Brown's death stopped that investigation just before the 1996 election. The blow to the White House was displayed by Clinton himself who personally burst into tears at Ron's funeral. Clinton had just stepped out of his limo, laughing his guts out, when he noticed several TV cameras were focused on him. It was then Clinton burst into the "boo-hoos" for Brown. However, another Commerce employee was involved in the fatal Croatia trip. Ira Sockowitz, a DNC fundraiser, New York banker and co-worker of John Huang at the Commerce Dept. was scheduled to fly into Cilipi airport along with Brown. Curiously, Sockowitz chose to leave ahead of Brown on an advance flight instead of going with the Secretary on a flight packed with DNC fat-cats. After the crash, Sockowitz was the man in Croatia that identified Ron Brown's body. Once he was safely back in D.C., Ira Sockowitz collected a vast array of information on Bosnia and Croatia given to Ron Brown for that last flight. In August of 1996, Ira Sockowitz quietly took detailed bios of the Bosnian and Croatian leaders out of the secured facility at the Commerce Department to his new job at the Small Business Administration. These secret documents would join a host of other classified material from the Department of State, NSA, CIA, Commerce, Russia, and France. All hidden in a personal safe just before the 1996 Presidential election. There are many questions about that last fatal flight. For example, there were several interesting companies represented on Brown's trip into Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik is an ex-Yugoslav submarine base and a few of the dead had their own under-water skills. For example, Stuart Tholan, President of Bechtel Corp., a well known contractor to the CIA and a prime contractor on sub base building for DOD. Another flyer was David Ford, President and Chief Executive Officer for Interguard Corp., a company that provides high tech security guards for Navy bases. Finally, there was Walter Murphy, Senior Vice President for AT&T Submarine Systems Sub Communications Systems. In July 1996, Secretary Kantor replaced Ron Brown and led a new delegation of corporate contributors to Bosnia. The list of big companies riding with Kantor is covered with blacked-out sections withheld by the Commerce Dept. Some of those traveling with Kanto include ABB, AT&T, Bechtel, Boeing, Enron, McDonalds, and Motorola. In his televised attempt to explain the NATO airstrikes, Clinton noted that there was some amount of money at stake in the crisis over Kosovo. So far, the Pentagon estimated we have spent $500 million in bombing Serbia. After the bombs, Clinton will propose a "re-building" package of U.S. aid to repair the Serb Police HQ and all the bridges destroyed by NATO forces. More billions to hand out as corporate pork. Yet, while the bombs fall and the innocent victims die, liberal lovers of Bill Clinton need to ask themselves, just what are we fighting for? Is it to save the Kosovo people or to protect the profits of war? ================================================================ source documents - http://www.softwar.net/kosovo.html ================================================================ - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DavidMcR@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) Congressman Ron Paul on War in Kosovo Date: 08 Apr 1999 13:09:41 EDT In a message dated 4/8/99 2:20:05 AM Eastern Daylight Time, reporter@mailhost.magicnet.net writes: << ------------ On March 29, Congressman Paul (R-Texas), the only libertarian in Congress, issued the following statement: Burning Bridges: Attacks on Kosovo Unjustified, Shameful This is not a proud moment for America, as the United States military has been used to invade a sovereign nation that threatened neither our security, nor even the borders of our allies or friends. Yet, for an Administration enthralled with the notion of a paternalistic government that cares for everyone, everywhere, all the time, President Clinton's actions in Serbia should not be surprising. Just as this president believes he and his government can best order the lives of each American citizen (he recently said that Americans shouldn't be given a tax cut because they would not spend the money as wisely as he and his administration would), he is confident that he can solve the problems of the world. His track record suggests otherwise; despite the fanfare and speeches, there is still violence raging from the Middle East to Ireland -- all great "successes" for this president. For as bad as the violence is toward the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, our ability to police and stop all ethnic fighting around the world is quite limited, and the efforts are quite simply not permitted under constitutional law. We do not even pretend to solve the problems of sub-Saharan Africa, Tibet, East Timor, Kurdistan, and many other places around the world where the violence is endless and just as tragic. Most importantly, though, is the simple fact that meddling in the internal affairs of a nation involved in civil war is quite dangerous. Both sides believe themselves to be correct, and neither side will appreciate the other side receiving assistance. If anything, our involvement threatens to escalate the situation. No successful military action has ever -- or likely will ever -- involve only air power; ground troops must be involved. While a stealth jet will likely always escape the "primitive" weapons of the Serbs, a bullet aimed at a soldier can be very primitive, yet just as effective as the most modern of firearms. Some argue the US is needed to stop the spread of war. Our presence will do the opposite. Peaceful and cooperative relations with Russia, a long-desired goal, are now greatly threatened. Our bombings are likely to provoke the Russians into now becoming a much more active ally of Serbia. Our determination to be involved in the dangerous civil war may well prompt a stronger Greek alliance with their friends in Serbia, further splitting NATO and offending the Turks, who are naturally inclined to be sympathetic to the Albanian Muslims. Contrary to his campaign slogan, President Clinton's actions are burning bridges to the 21st Century. The tragedy is that it will be our soldiers -- our brothers, sisters, sons and daughters -- who are trapped by these senseless actions, and it will be the innocent women and children of Serbia who will bear the brunt of the bombings. Sympathy and compassion for the suffering and voluntary support for the oppressed is commendable, even honorable. But as history shows, ethnic peace is not achieved by outside forces committing acts of war to pick and choose sides in fighting that dates back hundreds of years. The use of force and acts of war can only spread the misery and suffering, weaken our defenses, and undermine our national sovereignty. This is not a proud time for the United States. -- Congressman Ron Paul America Betrayed... "When we consider the original American vision -- of a peaceful, commercial republic that would be a beacon of freedom, trading with all and staying out of the endless quarrels of the Old World -- we can only be utterly alienated from the regime that rules a country conceived in liberty. It is clearer than ever that the U.S. warfare state must be dismantled, so that it can no longer threaten the world, or trample on true American ideals." -- from "Freedom vs. War," a WorldNetDaily column on the Kosovo crisis by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., president of the Ludwig von Mises Institute. ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] vegetarian, nonviolence, consensus -Food Not Bombs List fnb-l@tao.ca -distributing food in opposition to violence -archive: http://archive.foodnotbombs.ca -active cities: http://webcom.com/peace -send '(un)subscribe fnb-l' to majordomo@tao.ca -- "Red Youth" is the mailing list of the Young People's Socialist League (http://sp-usa.org/ypsl). The lefty.techsi.com server is not operated by the owners of the techsi.com domain. Views expressed in this email do not reflect the opinions of TSI, its officers, customers, or minions. To unsubscribe, e-mail RedYouth-request@lefty.techsi.com Subject: unsubscribe >> - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) Fw: Russian Military Hawks on Kosovo Date: 08 Apr 1999 10:43:07 -0700 -----Original Message----- >FYI. This is why we might end up in unintended or >accidental nuclear war within a matter of weeks. >Check out my just finished article: >"Four Reasons We May See Nuclear War in 1999" >http://www.kreative.net/carolmoore/4-reasons-nuke-war.html >Includes links. Carol in D.C. >(pardon duplicates--wanted to get out quick before leave today) This following story ran on page A01 of the Boston Globe on 04/08/99. >=A9 Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company. >------- >BOSTON GLOBE >RUSSIA'S MILITARY SEES A BALKAN OPPORTUNITY > >By David Filipov, Globe Staff, 04/08/99 > > MOSCOW - Remember ''The Peacemaker''? > The 1997 Hollywood flick in which a >maverick Russian general, disgruntled over the >sad state of his once proud country, steals nuclear >warheads for Bosnian Serb terrorists? > >That was the movie. Here is the reality. > >Today's maverick is Viktor Chechevatov, a >three-star general and commander of ground >forces in Russia's Far East region, who is >convinced that NATO's attacks on Yugoslavia >are ''the beginning of World War III.'' No matter >how often Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin says >Russia will stay away from the fighting, >Chechevatov keeps making public calls for >Moscow to send arms and men, preferably with him in charge, to fight the > >American-led alliance alongside the Serbs. > >At the very least, this is insubordination. But do not look for >Chechevatov to >be fired, or even reprimanded, anytime soon. Much of the country agrees >with Chechevatov when he says NATO's campaign against Yugoslavia >poses ''a direct threat to Russia.'' And the Kremlin, which yesterday >ordered >several more warships into the Mediterranean, may be listening, too. > >As Russians watch the US-led assault on Yugoslavia, political and >military >hawks are finding more support for their confrontational policies toward >the >West than at any time since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. They >miss the way the West feared the former USSR, and they want those days >back. > >That poses a number of dangers, analysts say. In the short run, the >Kremlin >may find itself forced to take an increasingly militaristic line, even >as Yeltsin >repeats his promise not to let Russia get caught up in the conflict. > >But there are other forces in the Russian leadership who listen when >Chechevatov and other military leaders say that World War III has begun, > >and that Moscow's best move is to aid the Serbs. > >Yesterday, Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, voted >overwhelmingly for a resolution advising Yeltsin and his government to >send >weapons and an unspecified military mission to Yugoslavia. Last week, >the >upper house passed a similar resolution. > >''There exists the risk of the military pressuring the civilian >leadership for a >military reaction,'' said Alexander Pikayev, an analyst for the Carnegie > >Center in Moscow. ''The political leadership is under greater pressure >from >the leftist and nationalist opposition, which wants to use the Balkan >crisis to >come to power.'' > >Publicly, the Kremlin has so far ignored Chechevatov's call to arms. >Meanwhile, hundreds of volunteers have offered to fight alonside the >Serbs, >thought of by some here as Russia's traditional allies because of the >two >cultures' common Slav heritage and Orthodox Christian religion. The >government has told them to stay home. > >Yesterday, Yeltsin urged Western leaders to accept a unilateral peace >proposal offered by Yugoslavia on Tuesday. Underscoring Moscow's >options if diplomacy fails, a naval spokesman said a squadron of >warships >had set out from the Black Sea base of Sevastopol, Ukraine. Moscow had >previously informed Turkey that as many as eight ships, including the >missile >cruiser Admiral Golovko and several destroyers and frigates, could be >passing through the Bosphorus Strait in the next few days. > >Russia says the ships are heading for exercises in the Mediterranean, >but it is >clear they are intended to send a message to NATO as well. > >Already, Moscow has sent an unarmed electronic reconnaissance ship to >monitor the conflict. The Liman entered the Adriatic Sea yesterday, >where it >will begin relaying information about NATO air strikes back to Moscow - >and possibly to the Serbs, although Russia denies that Belgrade will get > >direct information from the spy ship. > >The danger of all these vessels is not that some Russian officer might >go >freelancing, like that maverick general in ''The Peacemaker,'' and act >unilaterally to escalate the conflict. Military analysts say that even >given the >deterioration of the Russian armed forces over the past decade, the >command structure among field officers is still too rigid to allow that. >But >analysts say Russian ships pose a threat just by being there. > >''The presence of Russians in the area of the conflict could lead to an >uncontrolled escalation of the situation,'' Pikayev said. > >Since the bombing began, commentators have underlined how weak >Russia's military has become, implying that the Cold War-style rhetoric >coming out of Moscow, and such acts of suspending ties with NATO, are >no more than symbols because Russia can go no further. > >In a way this is true. Russia's military owes $1.5 billion in back >wages, >heating bills, and rent. According to the the newspaper Segodnya, it >fields >only 550 warplanes and 1,200 helicopters, 15 times less than 10 years >ago >and about 14 percent of NATO's 12,500 jets and helicopters. Those Black >Sea fleet warships, like many vessels in Russia's four fleets, have not >had >exercises in years. > >But Russia still has 6,660 nuclear warheads. Senior generals have warned > >that Moscow would use them if it felt threatened, and the Northern Fleet > >test-fired a ballistic missile in exercises last week. > >But what does ''threatened'' mean? Russia's defense minister, Igor >Sergeyev, >has said that the events in Yugoslavia are worrisome because they >''could >happen anywhere.'' Many Russians worry NATO could use Kosovo as a >precedent to intervene in Russia's breakaway province of Chechnya, or in > >any of a number of hot spots along proposed routes for oil pipelines out > >from the Caspian Sea. > >''The bombing of Yugoslavia could turn out in the very near future to be >just >a rehearsal for similar strikes on Russia,'' Chechevatov wrote in a >recent >letter to Yeltsin. Nearly two-thirds of Russians agree with the general, > >according to a poll by the Moscow-based Public Opinion Foundation. > >Meanwhile, the nuclear winter in Russia's relations with the West means >that >no significant arms-control initiatives will be signed anytime soon. >More >disturbing is the cancellation of an exchange program that would have >had >US and Russian nuclear weapons officers in constant contact at year's >end >to prevent any launches as a result of Year 2000 computer troubles. > >Someone is happy about what the Balkans crisis may do for Russia's >military: defense factories and military leaders for whom reduced >spending >on the army has been a disaster; officers who for the first time in >years are >holding exercises; officers like Chechevatov, who recently completed >exercises that ''had nothing to do with the Balkans'' in which his >troops >practiced shooting down Tomahawk cruise missiles. > >These people ''are partying 24 hours a day,'' in the words of Russian >defense >anlyst Pavel Felgenhauer. Parliament has already called for increases in > >defense funding, although it is hard to say where the money will come >from. >The Soviet military once enjoyed the lion's share of spending, but the >rest of >the country lived in relative squalor as a result. > >A long-term danger posed by the hawks' increasing influence is that >political >moderates, and those who favor constructive relations with the West, are > >finding their voices drowned out by what one legislator, Alexi Arbatov, >called ''the feeling of helpless rage'' experienced by many Russians. >This may >be the lasting legacy of the Balkan conflict for Russia. > >This story ran on page A01 of the Boston Globe on 04/08/99. >=A9 Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company. > > > > > > > > > - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: PSR Says Shutdown FFTF Date: 08 Apr 1999 17:26:58 -0400 >Date: Thu, 08 Apr 1999 16:55:54 -0400 >Subject: PSR Says Shutdown FFTF >Priority: non-urgent >X-FC-MachineGenerated: true >To: bananas@lists.speakeasy.org >Cc: btiller@psr.org, bmusil@psr.org, ruthy@wpsr.org >From: kcrandall@psr.org (kcrandall@psr.org) > >PSR Security Activists & Friends: >Please help us to finally put FFTF to rest.=20 >Richardson will make a decision soon, Faxes/ phone calls are urged.=20 >ENCLOSED PLEASE FIND:=20 >1) PSR Press Release & Resoulution, >2) Action Alert from Washington PSR > >For more information contact Kathy or Ruth Yarrow at >Washington PSR >*************************************************************** >Press Release >Contact: Ruth Yarrow > (206) 547-2630 > >NATIONAL DOCTORS GROUP DECLARES OPPOSITION TO RESTARTING HANFORD REACTOR > >Seattle, WA, April 8, 1999: =20 > > Doctors from across the nation, at Physicians for Social >Responsibility's national board meeting in Seattle today, voted >unanimously in favor of a resolution opposing the restart of the Fast >Flux Test Facility at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. They noted that >two of their prime concerns are 1) long-term public and environmental >health and 2) cleaning up the legacy of toxic waste from Cold War >nuclear weapons production. The resolution (attached) concludes that >any production violates those concerns by producing new waste stream >that threat public and environmental health. > >Physicians for Social Responsibility=20 > Resolution, April 8, 1999 > >Whereas two prime concerns of Physicians for Social Responsibility are >long-term public and environmental health, and addressing the Cold War >legacy of nuclear weapons production and testing, and > >Whereas nuclear wastes at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, generated by >nuclear weapons production and comprising two thirds of the nation's >burden of high level nuclear waste, threaten global long term public and >environmental health, and > >Whereas the Tri-Party Agreement between the Washington State Department >of Ecology, The US Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection >Administration makes cleanup, not nuclear weapons or any other >production resulting in further contamination, the legal mission of >Hanford Nuclear Reservation, and > >Whereas the Fast Flux Test Facility has been deemed inappropriate for >medical isotope production by the Institute of Medicine in its 1995 >report Isotopes for Medicine and the Life Sciences, > >Therefore, be it resolved, that Physicians for Social Responsibility >opposes the restart of the Fast Flux Test Facility for any production >mission, and supports the urgent cleanup mission of the Hanford Nuclear >Reservation as a prescription for disaster prevention for generations to >come. > >*********************************************** >ACTION ALERT > >Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility >Rapid Response Network for Hanford Clean-up > > ACTION: Please write to Secretary Richardson and Governor Locke, >asking them to protect public and environmental health in the Northwest, >preventing any addition of nuclear waste to the overburdened Hanford >clean-up, and opposing any production mission at the Hanford the Fast >Flux Test Facility (FFTF). =20 > >Thanks to the efforts of many of you, Secretary of Energy Bill >Richardson decided in December NOT to restart the FFTF at Hanford to >produce tritium for nuclear weapons. By mid-April he will make the final >decision about whether or not to permanently shut down the FFTF. NOW is >an important time to write him and our Governor on this issue. The >following are some points you could make in your letters. > >=B7 I am writing to urge that you shut down the Fast Flux Test Facility. = =20 >Any production missions for the FFTF would produce new high level >radioactive waste streams. The sole mission of Hanford in the legally >binding Tri-Party Agreement is clean-up. > >=B7 Keeping the FFTF on hot stand-by is already costing tens of millions >of dollars annually. The Department of Energy should be using these >funds to clean up Hanford; the most contaminated nuclear site in the >western world. > >=B7 The Institute of Medicine's report on medical isotopes, Isotopes for >Medicine and the Life Sciences, makes clear that the FFTF is an >inappropriate facility for the production of medical isotopes.=20 > >=B7 The Department of Energy made a commitment to use public process in >reaching recommendations on the future of the FFTF. But we have not >heard of any public hearings on proposed FFTF missions. Please ensure >that these meetings are held in sites available to citizens around WA >and OR. > > >Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson >US Dept. of Energy >1000 Independence Ave., SW >Washington, DC 20585 >TEL: 202 586 6210 >FAX: 202 586 4403 > >Governor Gary Locke >P.O. Box 40002 >Olympia, WA 98504-0002 >Email: governor.locke@governor.wa.gov >********************************************************** >Kathy Crandall >Associate Director, Nuclear Security Programs >1101 14th Street NW #700 Washington DC 20005 >TEL: 202 898 0150 ext. 222 >FAX: 202 898 0172 >E-MAIL: kcrandall@psr.org > =20 Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DavidMcR@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) Kosovo/useful websites and emails Date: 09 Apr 1999 01:58:55 EDT Subj: Kosovo/useful websites and emails Friends, Comrades, co-workers, This listing, while it comes from a "left" position (not, probably, too different from my own) does something very useful - it provides a genuine range of sites some of you may find helpful. Please note the senders request to help with providing other sites that should be listed. Fraternally, David McReynolds << Subj: Kosovo/useful websites and emails Date: 4/8/99 11:55:51 PM Eastern Daylight Time From: 100666.1443@compuserve.com (International Viewpoint) The following websites provide useful background on the Kosovo crisis and related information. Please send us your own suggestions to expand this list. Adam International Viewpoint ----------------------------------------------------- Radio B92 The backbone of the independent news service in Yugoslavia. Although banned, Radio B92 is still live on the web, with breaking news in English. www.b92.net Institution for War and Peace Reporting This is one of the few places to find dispatches, translated into English, from dissident journalists within Serbia and Kosovo, along with other good commentary. www.iwpr.net ZNet A page of up-to-the-minute articles regarding the current bombings. The lead piece by Noam Chomsky puts the entire situation into context, and other pieces posted include Andre Gunder Frank, Dave McReynolds, Diane Johnstone, Stephen Zunes and Michael Albert. www.zmag.org Common Dreams News Center Provides breaking news and views for progressive-thinking Americans, with ample information on the crisis in Kosovo, including maps and breaking updates from various news services. www.commondreams.org/kosovo/kosovo.htm Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting FAIR's coverage of the war in Yugoslavia includes "Rescued from the Memory Hole: Background of Serb/Albanian Conflict." www.fair.org Help B92 This group has been founded to try to insure the distribution of relevant information. It is named in honor of one of Yugoslavia's most important media entities, Without immediate financial support, this last source of independent news for the inhabitants of this region is endangered. A fundraising campaign is underway, with the objective of sending money and equipment to B92 and other independent radio stations in Serbia and Kosovo. http://helpB92.xs4all.nl Out There News Reports from Kosovo's frontlines, interviews with Kosovar pacifist leaders, photos of the destruction and historical background. www.megastories.com/kosovo/index.htm BBC News Online The BBC offers live audio coverage and many articles on Kosovo, as well as "Kosovo Conflict on the Web," with BBC News Online's guide to how the conflict is being represented on the Web. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/special_report/1998/kosovo North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO's site is occasionally unavailable, apparently because of a daily barrage by thousands of e-mails from hackers in Belgrade, which made their system crash. www.nato.int Against the NATO attacks/For the Support of Yugoslavia This Serb site provides an immediate responses to various Serbian and international news reports, a timetable of the day's air raids, photos of the destruction in Kosovo and a child's plea for peace. www.beograd.com/nato END _________________________________________________ International Viewpoint * Inprecor * Inprekorr PO Box 27410, London SW9 9WQ, Britain Fax +33-01 43 79 29 61 URL (1): URL (2): Free electronic subscription >> - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Peter Coombes" Subject: (abolition-usa) Letter to Prime Minister, NATO bombing of Yugoslavia Date: 08 Apr 1999 23:34:12 -0700 April 8, 1999 End the Arms Race Suite 405 825 Granville Street Vancouver BC V6Z 1K9 604/ 687-3223 Fax 604/ 687-3277 info@peacewire.org www.peacewire.org The Honourable Jean Chretien, Prime Minister of Canada House of Commons Parliament Buildings Ottawa ON K1A 0A6 Dear Prime Minister Chretien: End the Arms Race is one of Canada's largest and most active peace groups. We are writing to express our absolute opposition to the bombing of Yugoslavia by NATO and to Canada's support for this act of war. Foremost, we are fundamentally opposed to Canada's supporting this military action because it is not helping to resolve the political problems facing Yugoslavia and the province of Kosovo. NATO and Canada's goals seem to be narrowly focused on the military outcome and are at best fuzzy in respect to the expected political outcome. Indeed, NATO military involvement has only further exacerbated the humanitarian and political problems and may even widen the conflict to engulf the region and the rest of Europe. End the Arms Race has many concerns and many serious arguments for opposing the bombing of Yugoslavia. Allow me to briefly expand on issues of prime concern: 1) It is apparent that NATO did very little to defuse the conflict over the past few years and in the past months did not exhaust all diplomatic efforts to resolve this crisis. The offices and diplomatic resources of both the United Nations and OSCE were not fully utilized. For example, money and resources for diplomatic efforts by the OSCE were not as quickly forthcoming as were the hundreds of millions, and maybe even billions, of dollars to be spent without hesitation on military action. OSCE efforts to send observers were often slowed and stalled by the same nations that hastily sent their militaries to bomb Yugoslavia. The office of the United Nations General Secretariat was not called upon to intervene in the conflict. 2) Not only did Yugoslavia refuse to sign what it perceived to be an imposed peace deal but so did Russia. Russia's refusal to sign this deal should have sent a clear signal to NATO that this was a flawed proposal that needed further diplomatic negotiations. 3) There is no precedent or evidence to suggest that air strikes would have met the primary humanitarian goal of protecting the Kosovars. On the contrary, many commentators predicted that the air assaults would only worsen the situation. Unfortunately, the worst-case scenario has now been realized. 4) Little aid or support was given to neighbouring countries to deal with the influx of refugees stemming from the civil war before the NATO bombing campaign. Since the bombing campaign started, the refugee crisis has become a true catastrophe - an obvious indication that the bombing is making the situation worse. 5) The flow of small arms to the Kosovo Liberation Army has never been stemmed to help defuse the violent conflict. The obvious fact is that the western world turned a blind eye to the trading and smuggling of small arms into Kosovo. Serious efforts should have been made to stop the trafficking of these arms through Macedonia and other border areas. 6) Throughout the past few months, U.S. negotiators have obviously placed more value on the demands of the Kosovo Liberation Army than on the more moderate non-violent demands of the elected government in Kosovo. This is even more apparent now as moderate Albanian leaders call for a peaceful settlement of the conflict. 7) Under international law the bombing of Yugoslavia is blatantly illegal - NATO has no authority to bomb an independent country. 8) Canada has failed the United Nations. The unilateral military action of NATO has further undermined the authority of the United Nations and the new International Court of Justice and other UN bodies. Canada has contributed to international anarchy by demonstrating that international politics is governed not by law but by military power. 9) The bombing has clearly undermined western cooperation with Russia. This is among the most destabilizing outcomes of this war against Yugoslavia. Russia will likely rescind its efforts to adopt the Start II treaty and progress toward nuclear disarmament may come to a halt. Although Russia has stated that it does not intend to get involved in the conflict, mixed messages are being sent. The dispatching of Russian military ships to the region is alarming. 10) A goal of Canada and the international community should have been to contain the conflict. Instead, by involving NATO the conflict now threatens to involve neighbouring countries and provinces, including Montenegro, Bosnia, Macedonia, and Albania. 11) The primary goal of Canada and the collective international goal should have been to help resolve the internal conflict and to prevent a 'humanitarian disaster.' Instead NATO has taken sides in an internal conflict. NATO bombing has contributed to the mass exodus of refugees, the killing of civilians and the seemingly inevitable destruction of Yugoslavia's civilian infrastructure, further impoverishing millions of people. The outcome of NATO's bombing campaign is an unmitigated disaster that must be immediately stopped. Further bombing will only exacerbate and prolong the problems already outlined: more civilian deaths and refugees, destabilization of the region, worse relations between Russia and NATO members, and increased international anarchy. Political solutions are available but will only be found if all sides involved are willing to negotiate. This means that NATO, its members, and in particular the United States, cannot dictate the terms of peace as was done prior to the bombing campaign of Yugoslavia. Madeleine Albright publicly committed NATO to bombing Yugoslavia if the President refused to sign the 'peace' deal. No country, including Canada, would have accepted this type of bullying tactic. Instead of helping, the threat of bombing hardened positions on all sides. The peace deal was flawed from the beginning. Even the most casual observer realized the stationing of NATO troops in Kosovo would be unacceptable to Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia had brought proposals to the negotiations in Paris that NATO refused to consider. Thus, we can only conclude that NATO's priority was not a peaceful settlement and the prevention of a humanitarian disaster but instead was the imposition of western demands on an internal conflict. If Canada's goal is truly humanitarian - to save lives - then war is simply wrong. This is already clearly evident, given the humanitarian disaster now taking place in the Balkans. A peaceful resolution of conflict is often the more difficult route to take, but the right one. It is time to stop the bombing of Yugoslavia before we are pulled even further into this quagmire. The only solution is a diplomatic one. It is time to return to the negotiating table to correct the mistakes we have made and this will require compromise on all sides. Russia must be key to any negotiations and its approval will be required on any future agreements. Obviously, NATO troops will not be able to participate in any capacity as either observers or as peacekeepers. We must demonstrate the political will to put significant resources into the OSCE and the United Nations to help achieve and monitor a viable peace agreement. Sincerely yours, Peter Coombes President - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) CNN CAN'T FIND DISSENT FROM THE LEFT Date: 08 Apr 1999 23:57:33 -0700 FAIR ACTION ALERT: CNN CAN'T FIND DISSENT FROM THE LEFT April 8, 1999 On April 7, CNN's Bill Schneider offered this analysis of the anti-war sentiment in the country: "What's missing from the Kosovo story is anti-war protest, at least on the left." Schneider continued by saying that there was "no action out there on the streets or on campuses -- no marches, no demonstrations, no teach-ins." The statement is true, if one watches the media for signs of dissent from the left. In fact, contrary to Schneider's claim, there is plenty of dissent from the Clinton policy-on campuses, in the streets and from leading progressive writers and thinkers. Leading left-of-center publications like The Nation and The Progressive have editorialized against the NATO bombings. Groups like the War Resisters League and the International Action Center, led by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, have organized demonstrations and spoken out forcefully. Dozens of prominent commentators, like Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, have condemned the bombings. And a gathering of notables and activists like Tim Robbins, Erica Jong and Rosie Perez in New York City on April 5 attracted an overflow crowd. Since the day before the bombing of Yugoslavia began, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) has sent eight news releases to countless media outlets, featuring 25 independent analysts with critical perspectives on the bombing. Experts and commentators from IPA's roster have appeared on numerous media outlets--including MSNBC and Fox News Channel--but have not thus far been featured on CNN. When Schneider claims that dissent from the left boils down to criticizing Clinton "not for what he's trying to do, but for the way he's doing it," he is incorrect. Many of the most prominent critics are in fact questioning NATO's moral authority to intervene in this war. Schneider concludes the report with this: "The peace movement is leading the war. And for liberals who oppose the war, they don't have any Pat Buchanan to speak for them." Again, if Schneider's understanding of dissent is limited to the mainstream media, that is correct. Unfortunately, there is much more going on that fails to make the news. *** ACTION: Call on CNN to expand their coverage of the war in Yugoslavia to include progressive critics that have been marginalized by the media thus far. Ask them to consider some of the experts, journalists and commentators whose work is featured on the web sites listed below. Contact: CNN Senior Political Analyst William Schneider Phone: (202) 515-2852 Fax: (202) 515-2853 CNN President Richard Kaplan Phone: (404) 827-1500 Fax: (404) 827-1575 mailto:on-air@turner.com Relevant links: Institute for Public Accuracy-- a roster of leading anti-bombing experts available to the media ( http://www.accuracy.org/press.htm ) Z Magazine-- commentary by prominent NATO critics, like Noam Chomsky and Edward Said ( http://www.zmag.org/ZMag/kosovo.htm ) The Nation ( http://www.thenation.com/issue/990419/0419editors.shtml ) The Progressive ( http://www.progressive.org/latest.htm ) Common Dreams-- News and Views for Progressives ( http://www.commondreams.org ) War Resisters League ( http://www.nonviolence.org/wrl/ ) International Action Center ( http://www.iacenter.org ) - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: branka-urgently Date: 09 Apr 1999 12:52:02 -0400 >From: al.an.rom@www.yu (al.an.rom@www.yu) > >Branka Jovanovic >branka_j@yahoo.com > >Belgrade, 1999-04-09 > >ECOLOGICAL ASPECT OF BOMBING OF FRY WITH LONG-DISTANCE=20 >MISSILLES > >The initial fuel of long-distance destructive missiles represents >enormous powder filling=20 >which make a specific pressure which by burning out bring the missile in >the zone of=20 >action, i.e. explosion and destruction of civil objects. >However, the combustion products of initial fuels in the missiles are >much more=20 >damaging and more cancerous than the products of lead fuel combustion >which the=20 >Europeans banished from their streets by bringing into use, the so >called, "green" non- >leaded fuel. >The population of Europe should know that the initial powder fuel of the >missiles is=20 >comprised of highly toxic substances whose combustion products are toxic >and=20 >cancerous. They are as following: ammonium-perchlorat, nitro-glycerine, >nitro- >cellulose, organic compounds as unifying elements (polybutadien, >polyurethane,=20 >polyvinyl-chloride, polystyrene, polyacrylate, etc) organic leaden salts >- lead-salycilate,=20 >lead-ethylhexoat, lead-stearate, metal nitrate (alkali and soil-alkali), >metal perchlorate,=20 >fluor compounds especially fluorformals as energy components etc. As a >consequence=20 >of combustion of these substances, highly damaging acid nitrogen oxides >and=20 >hydrochloride acids, which destroy the forests and vegetation, are >released. The=20 >ammoniac, highly poisonous hydrocyanic acid, hydrocyanic acid compounds, >nitrogen=20 >oxides and fluorides (the compounds which are an essential component of >very=20 >poisonous pesticide) and cancerous compounds as a consequence of fuel >stabilisers=20 >combustion, which consist of ring-structured compounds medically proved >to be=20 >cancerous, together with lead compounds and fluor compounds (as a >consequences of=20 >combustion of fluor nitroformulas) release radicals with fluor which get >attached to=20 >everything in nature causing very painful and almost incurable wounds >and burns on=20 >humans and animals. >A perilous cloud filled with the above-mentioned combustion products >appears=20 >immediately after the launching of missiles from one of the ships or >bases of NATO=20 >members and due to the airflow it penetrates the whole Europe causing >great ecological=20 >disaster. Let us remember the illness of soldiers who participated in >war against Iraq=20 >where suchlike cruise missiles were also used. Wind carries the poisons >everywhere the=20 >air currents pass and does not choose where it will unload its dangerous >cargo filled=20 >with ecological pollutants. > Bombs with depleted uranium are drooped on civilian objects over >Kosmet. Depleted=20 >uranium is, in fact, atomic waste used for penetrating concrete layers. >Besides these=20 >hard metal and radioactive uranium bars, an especially energetically >strong explosive is=20 >used. As an energetic component this explosive uses FEFO and DFF >explosive, fluor- >nitrate compounds -formals which, we should bear in mind, are highly >poisonous and=20 >in contact with skin cause severe burns. All elements reacting to gas >and products of=20 >combustion (detonation) of these highly energetic compounds are >extremely toxic and=20 >cancerous. Combined with the above-mentioned initial fuels, depleted >uranium and its=20 >combustion products, they represent potential mortal danger for our >country, but for=20 >Europe as well, because the winds and waters transport these products >without stopping=20 >to ask which country they pass through. >An increased radiation over Kosmet is already detected. What do you >think, how long=20 >does it take for a cloud in these early mornings of spring to come to >your fields and=20 >parks?!!! >WE ARE NOT FAR AWAY! > >P.S. We apologise for the incorrect translation of chemical terms. After >all we are a=20 >group of "utopians" that had no need of professional knowledge of NATO >poisons, up=20 >until now. > >Branka Jovanovic >(The New Green Party- Belgrade) > >--=20 >=AD=9C=FD=B0=B1 > =20 Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jackie Cabasso Subject: (abolition-usa) Yeltsin Warns of World War Danger on Kosovo Date: 09 Apr 1999 15:30:31 -0700 Yahoo! NewsTop Stories Headlines Friday April 9 12:51 PM ET Yeltsin Warns Of World War Danger On Kosovo Reuters Photo Reuters Photo BELGRADE (Reuters) President Boris Yeltsin got tough with the West Friday, warning NATO not to drag Russia into Kosovo because it could spark a European or even world war. A flurry of highlevel contacts were made between Washington and Moscow after Russia's Interfax news agency reported that Yeltsin had ordered strategic missiles to be aimed at NATO states bombing Yugoslavia. The United States said it had been assured by Moscow that Russia would stay out of the Yugoslavia conflict and had not targeted NATO countries with nuclear weapons. ``We've been officially reassured at a high level that Russia will not be drawn into the conflict in the Balkans,'' White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said. Although the Kremlin denied the missile reports, Yeltsin changed tack dramatically from the hitherto unconditional line that Russia would not be sucked into the Kosovo conflict. ``I told NATO, the Americans, the Germans, don't push us toward military action,'' he said in televised comments during a meeting with parliamentary speaker Gennady Seleznyov. ''Otherwise there will be a European war for sure and possibly world war.'' Seleznyov had also quoted the president, who is under pressure from a hostile parliament weighing his possible impeachment, as saying he supported Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic's request to join the union of Russia and Belarus. Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov was the first to break hours of strange silence on parliamentary speaker Gennady Seleznyov's announcement that President Boris Yeltsin had ordered the retargeting of nuclear missiles at NATO. He denied that any new orders had been given to target NATO countries but fired a barrage of verbal missiles at the military alliance. ``If we assess the situation objectively, we clearly see that with every passing day the NATO operation is increasingly demonstrating its senselessness, both political and military,'' he said, adding that the West had forgotten its aim to resolve the Kosovo conflict. Seleznyov, who visited Belgrade this week, told reporters in the State Duma that a threeway union between Yugoslavia, Belarus and Russia would mean more than just military assistance for Yugoslavia in its fight with NATO. He said: ``I think that our army would be there too, that our navy would be in the appropriate seas.'' As NATO air strikes entered their 17th day, the U.N. refugee agency appeared to have solved the mystery of the 10,000 Kosovo Albanian refugees who went missing Wednesday. The UNHCR said they had been located in Macedonia and neighboring Albania. Britain said more grim reports of atrocities by Yugoslav forces were emerging from Kosovo, including accounts of dead refugees' bodies being burned and buried by the truckload. The defense chief of staff, General Sir Charles Guthrie, said that in one incident there was a mass killing of 35 people in one village. Another report spoke of four truckloads of bodies being buried and one truckload burned, he said. On the ground in Yugoslavia, there was an admission from NATO that one of three bombs aimed at the main telephone exchange (PTT) in the center of the Kosovo capital Pristina struck a residential area. There was no word of any casualties. NATO military spokesman David Wilby said the telephone exchange was a ``critical target'' because it was being used for communications between Serbian forces in the field in Kosovo and the Yugoslav capital Belgrade. He said NATO regretted any loss of civilian life. NATO said its warplanes had destroyed several armored vehicles, a surfacetoair missile site and other Serb forces Thursday morning. But Wilby added that ``the weather has turned against us,'' affecting operations Thursday and Friday. There had been a buildup of Serb forces in northern Kosovo and ``no evidence of withdrawal,'' he said. He did not elaborate. After a 16th straight night of NATO bombing raids, the Yugoslav news agency Tanjug reported that 100 workers had been badly injured when six missiles hit a car and smalls arms factory in the central town of Kragujevac. Workers at the plant, Serbia's biggest employer, had earlier organized a human shield to deter NATO bombing. British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook declared that Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic was feeling the heat and ``looking for a way out'' and signaled that NATO expected a new ceasefire offer from Belgrade this weekend. Cook said the only offer NATO would consider would be a complete capitulation by Milosevic to the alliance's demands for an end to ``ethnic cleansing'' in the rebel Yugoslav province of Kosovo and a return of refugees in safety to their homes. U.N. SecretaryGeneral Kofi Annan called on Yugoslavia to stop all action by military and paramilitary forces in Kosovo and withdraw them from the Serbian province. The call formed part of a fivepoint program of commitments to be presented to Belgrade to bring an end to what Annan, in a statement read to reporters in Geneva, called the ``tragedy taking place in and around Kosovo.'' Earlier, Cook said NATO was sending 8,000 ground troops to Albania to deal with the worsening refugee crisis in the Balkans but added that an invasion of Kosovo is ``not going to happen.'' UNHCR spokeswoman Paula Ghedini told reporters at a refugee camp near the Macedonian capital Skopje that the refugees bussed away from a makeshift camp near the Blace border crossing with Yugoslavia had been located. Ghedini said the UNHCR was still looking for their exact location but believed they were in refugee camps in Macedonia and Albania. ``It's just a matter of finding them. There are 320,000 refugees in Albania; it's just a needle in a haystack.'' U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata said she feared for the fate of ethnic Albanians prevented by Yugoslav forces from fleeing the southern Serbian province and admitted her body could do nothing to help them. Ogata said U.N. workers could not return to Kosovo for security reasons. ``I am helpless there,'' she said. Earlier Stories * Yeltsin Warns NATO: Don't Push Russia To War (April 9) * Russia Plays Down Missile Warning (April 9) * NATO Planes Bomb Targets In Belgrade (April 9) * NATO Planes Hit Targets In Eastern Belgrade (April 9) * NATO Hits Serb Forces, Fears For Refugees (April 8) Apr 08 | Apr 07 | Apr 06 | Apr 05 | Apr 04 | Apr 03 | Apr 02 | Apr 01 | Mar 31 | Mar 30 Home | Full Coverage | Top Stories | Business | Tech | Politics | World | Local | Entertainment | Sports | Science | Health Questions or Comments Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. ****************************************************** Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director WESTERN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION 1440 Broadway, Suite 500 Oakland, California USA 94612 Tel: +(510)839-5877 Fax: +(510)839-5397 E-mail: wslf@earthlink.net ****************************************************** Western States Legal Foundation is part of ABOLITION 2000 A GLOBAL NETWORK TO ELIMINATE NUCLEAR WEAPONS - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Janet Bloomfield" Subject: (abolition-usa) Abolition 2000 UK NATO Pack press release Date: 10 Apr 1999 10:49:24 +0100 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0114_01BE833F.CC034FE0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable PRESS INFORMATION: For Immediate Release. April10, 1999. NATO's NUCLEAR POLICY - TIME FOR RADICAL CHANGE As NATO takes its first military action in Europe since it was founded = in 1949 there is a great need to examine its current role and its future = strategy. NATO will be meeting in Washington from April 23-25 1999 to = commemorate its 5Oth Anniversary. This meeting was intended to be a = celebration but as events unfold in the Balkans it will be an occasion = for the asking of some hard questions about NATO's role and future. In recent months NATO has been conducting its first full Strategic = Review since the break-up of the Soviet Union. Two NATO states - Germany = and Canada - want the Strategic Review to include nuclear weapon policy. = Germany has suggested that it is time to downgrade the importance of = nuclear weapons, to support the world Non-Proliferation regime, and to = move to a policy of No First Use. The USA does not want any = reconsideration of NATO nuclear weapon doctrine. It wants to stay with a = policy of possible First Use. Indeed it wants to extend it. First Use = should be threatened and, if necessary, used against biological or = chemical threats from small =91rogue states=92. Britain is following the = US line. This is in spite of the fact that No First Use was part of = Labour Party policy up to June 1996, and had categorical support from = Robin Cook writing in June 1995. Public opinion polls show that most = people support the principle of No First Use. Indeed most people believe = No First Use is NATO policy.=20 President of Abolition 2000 UK and former head of Stockholm = International Peace Research Institute, Frank Blackaby, who is the = author of Abolition 2000 UK's new information pack on NATO and No First = Use of Nuclear Weapons said; " As NATO loses its way in the Balkans Britain should show leadership = and challenge the US view on nuclear weapons. At the moment there is a = proposal to set up a working group which will discuss the matter for = months in secret. NATO claims to believe in democratic values. We = propose that NATO conduct open hearings on its nuclear weapon policy - = hearings to which Non-Governmental Organisations and citizens should = give evidence." Further copies of the pack are available from Abolition 2000 UK, 88 = Islington High Street, London, N1 8EG, UK The text is on our web site at www.gn.apc.org/abolition2000uk A Summary is attached. NATO AND NO FIRST USE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS Summary a.. NATO is conducting its first full Strategic Review since the = break-up of the Soviet Union. The Review is to be agreed at a summit = meeting in Washington on April 23-25 1999 a.. Surely this review must cover NATO=92s nuclear weapon policy. = During the Cold War, NATO=92s nuclear weapons were not simply to deter, = or retaliate against, a Soviet nuclear attack. They were supposedly for = possible First Use against any massive Warsaw Pact attack with = conventional forces. a.. That policy is of course now dead. The Warsaw Pact no longer = exists. There are no Russian conventional forces on the German border. a.. Consequently two NATO states - Germany and Canada - want the = Strategic Review to include nuclear weapon policy. Germany has suggested = that it is time to downgrade the importance of nuclear weapons, to = support the world Non-Proliferation regime, and to move to a policy of = No First Use.=20 a.. The USA does not want any reconsideration of NATO nuclear weapon = doctrine. It wants to stay with a policy of possible First Use. Indeed = it wants to extend it. First Use should be threatened and, if necessary, = used against biological or chemical threats from small =91rogue = states=92. a.. Senior US military authorities have condemned this idea. They = point out that it has already been rejected. In the Gulf War, the US = military turned down any suggestion for using nuclear weapons, if Iraq = were to launch chemical or biological attacks. Conventional military = forces are fully capable of dealing with any such eventuality. a.. This new US First Use doctrine would violate solemn security = assurances which all the nuclear weapon powers have given to 182 = non-nuclear-weapon states. These states are all parties to the = Non-Proliferation Treaty. First Use would also be a clear violation of = international law, according to the Advisory Opinion of the = International Court of Justice at The Hague. a.. Britain is following the US line. This is in spite of the fact = that No First Use was part of Labour Party policy up to June 1996, and = had categorical support from Robin Cook writing in June 1995. Public = opinion polls show that most people support the principle of No First = Use. Indeed most people believe No First Use is NATO doctrine. a.. Britain should now come out on the side of Germany and Canada. a.. There is a danger that NATO will kick the matter into the long = grass, by setting up a working group which will discuss the matter for = months in secret. NATO claims to believe in democratic values. Let it = conduct open hearings on its nuclear weapon policy - hearings to which = Non-Governmental Organisations could give evidence. ------=_NextPart_000_0114_01BE833F.CC034FE0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

PRESS INFORMATION: For Immediate Release. April10, = 1999.

NATO's NUCLEAR POLICY - TIME FOR = RADICAL=20 CHANGE

As NATO takes its first military action in Europe = since it was=20 founded in 1949 there is a great need to examine its current role and = its future=20 strategy. NATO will be meeting in Washington from April 23-25 1999 to=20 commemorate its 5Oth Anniversary. This meeting was intended to be a = celebration=20 but as events unfold in the Balkans it will be an occasion for the = asking of=20 some hard questions about NATO's role and future.

In recent months NATO has been conducting its first = full=20 Strategic Review since the break-up of the Soviet Union. Two NATO states = -=20 Germany and Canada - want the Strategic Review to include nuclear weapon = policy.=20 Germany has suggested that it is time to downgrade the importance of = nuclear=20 weapons, to support the world Non-Proliferation regime, and to move to a = policy=20 of No First Use. The USA does not want any reconsideration of NATO = nuclear=20 weapon doctrine. It wants to stay with a policy of possible First Use. = Indeed it=20 wants to extend it. First Use should be threatened and, if necessary, = used=20 against biological or chemical threats from small ‘rogue = states’.=20 Britain is following the US line. This is in spite of the fact that No = First Use=20 was part of Labour Party policy up to June 1996, and had categorical = support=20 from Robin Cook writing in June 1995. Public opinion polls show that = most people=20 support the principle of No First Use. Indeed most people believe No = First Use=20 is NATO policy.

President of Abolition 2000 UK and former head of = Stockholm=20 International Peace Research Institute, Frank Blackaby, who is the = author of=20 Abolition 2000 UK's new information pack on NATO and No First Use of = Nuclear=20 Weapons  said;

" As NATO loses its way in the Balkans Britain = should show=20 leadership and challenge the US view on nuclear weapons. At the moment = there is=20 a proposal to set up a working group which will discuss the matter for = months in=20 secret. NATO claims to believe in democratic values. We propose that = NATO=20 conduct open hearings on its nuclear weapon policy - hearings to which=20 Non-Governmental Organisations and citizens should give=20 evidence."

Further copies of the pack are available from = Abolition 2000 UK,=20 88 Islington High Street, London, N1 8EG, UK

The text is on our web site at www.gn.apc.org/abolition20= 00uk

A Summary is attached.

NATO AND NO FIRST USE OF NUCLEAR = WEAPONS

Summary

  • NATO is conducting its first full Strategic = Review since=20 the break-up of the Soviet Union. The Review is to be agreed at a = summit=20 meeting in Washington on April 23-25 1999
  • Surely this review must cover NATO’s = nuclear weapon=20 policy. During the Cold War, NATO’s nuclear weapons were not = simply to=20 deter, or retaliate against, a Soviet nuclear attack. They were = supposedly=20 for possible First Use against any massive Warsaw Pact attack with=20 conventional forces.
  • That policy is of course now dead. The Warsaw = Pact no=20 longer exists. There are no Russian conventional forces on the = German=20 border.
  • Consequently two NATO states - Germany and Canada = - want=20 the Strategic Review to include nuclear weapon policy. Germany has = suggested=20 that it is time to downgrade the importance of nuclear weapons, to = support=20 the world Non-Proliferation regime, and to move to a policy of No = First Use.=20
  • The USA does not want any reconsideration of NATO = nuclear=20 weapon doctrine. It wants to stay with a policy of possible First = Use.=20 Indeed it wants to extend it. First Use should be threatened and, if = necessary, used against biological or chemical threats from small=20 ‘rogue states’.
  • Senior US military authorities have condemned = this idea.=20 They point out that it has already been rejected. In the Gulf War, = the US=20 military turned down any suggestion for using nuclear weapons, if = Iraq were=20 to launch chemical or biological attacks. Conventional military = forces are=20 fully capable of dealing with any such eventuality.
  • This new US First Use doctrine would violate = solemn=20 security assurances which all the nuclear weapon powers have given = to 182=20 non-nuclear-weapon states. These states are all parties to the=20 Non-Proliferation Treaty. First Use would also be a clear violation = of=20 international law, according to the Advisory Opinion of the = International=20 Court of Justice at The Hague.
  • Britain is following the US line. This is in = spite of the=20 fact that No First Use was part of Labour Party policy up to June = 1996, and=20 had categorical support from Robin Cook writing in June 1995. Public = opinion=20 polls show that most people support the principle of No First Use. = Indeed=20 most people believe No First Use is NATO doctrine.
  • Britain should now come out on the side of = Germany and=20 Canada.
  • There is a danger that NATO will kick the matter = into the=20 long grass, by setting up a working group which will discuss the = matter for=20 months in secret. NATO claims to believe in democratic values. Let = it=20 conduct open hearings on its nuclear weapon policy - hearings to = which=20 Non-Governmental Organisations could give = evidence.

 

------=_NextPart_000_0114_01BE833F.CC034FE0-- - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Peter Weiss Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Abolition 2000 UK NATO Pack press release Date: 11 Apr 1999 13:56:40 -0400 Hi Janet, COngratulations on a good statement. Please note that one of the wort aspects of NATO's nuclear policy is its "nuclear sharing" arrangement, under which non-nuclear NATO members receive training in delivering nuclear weapon strikes, with the understanding that, in an emergency, they may be brought in to perform this deadly service. Peter > Janet Bloomfield wrote: > > PRESS INFORMATION: For Immediate Release. April10, 1999. > > NATO's NUCLEAR POLICY - TIME FOR RADICAL CHANGE > > As NATO takes its first military action in Europe since it was founded > in 1949 there is a great need to examine its current role and its > future strategy. NATO will be meeting in Washington from April 23-25 > 1999 to commemorate its 5Oth Anniversary. This meeting was intended to > be a celebration but as events unfold in the Balkans it will be an > occasion for the asking of some hard questions about NATO's role and > future. > > In recent months NATO has been conducting its first full Strategic > Review since the break-up of the Soviet Union. Two NATO states - > Germany and Canada - want the Strategic Review to include nuclear > weapon policy. Germany has suggested that it is time to downgrade the > importance of nuclear weapons, to support the world Non-Proliferation > regime, and to move to a policy of No First Use. The USA does not want > any reconsideration of NATO nuclear weapon doctrine. It wants to stay > with a policy of possible First Use. Indeed it wants to extend it. > First Use should be threatened and, if necessary, used against > biological or chemical threats from small ‘rogue states’. > Britain is following the US line. This is in spite of the fact that No > First Use was part of Labour Party policy up to June 1996, and had > categorical support from Robin Cook writing in June 1995. Public > opinion polls show that most people support the principle of No First > Use. Indeed most people believe No First Use is NATO policy. > > President of Abolition 2000 UK and former head of Stockholm > International Peace Research Institute, Frank Blackaby, who is the > author of Abolition 2000 UK's new information pack on NATO and No > First Use of Nuclear Weapons said; > > " As NATO loses its way in the Balkans Britain should show leadership > and challenge the US view on nuclear weapons. At the moment there is a > proposal to set up a working group which will discuss the matter for > months in secret. NATO claims to believe in democratic values. We > propose that NATO conduct open hearings on its nuclear weapon policy - > hearings to which Non-Governmental Organisations and citizens should > give evidence." > > Further copies of the pack are available from Abolition 2000 UK, 88 > Islington High Street, London, N1 8EG, UK > > The text is on our web site at www.gn.apc.org/abolition2000uk > > A Summary is attached. > > NATO AND NO FIRST USE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS > > Summary > > * NATO is conducting its first full Strategic Review since the > break-up of the Soviet Union. The Review is to be agreed at a > summit meeting in Washington on April 23-25 1999 > > * Surely this review must cover NATO’s nuclear weapon policy. > During the Cold War, NATO’s nuclear weapons were not simply > to deter, or retaliate against, a Soviet nuclear attack. They > were supposedly for possible First Use against any massive Warsaw > Pact attack with conventional forces. > > * That policy is of course now dead. The Warsaw Pact no longer > exists. There are no Russian conventional forces on the German > border. > > * Consequently two NATO states - Germany and Canada - want the > Strategic Review to include nuclear weapon policy. Germany has > suggested that it is time to downgrade the importance of nuclear > weapons, to support the world Non-Proliferation regime, and to > move to a policy of No First Use. > > * The USA does not want any reconsideration of NATO nuclear weapon > doctrine. It wants to stay with a policy of possible First Use. > Indeed it wants to extend it. First Use should be threatened and, > if necessary, used against biological or chemical threats from > small ‘rogue states’. > > * Senior US military authorities have condemned this idea. They > point out that it has already been rejected. In the Gulf War, the > US military turned down any suggestion for using nuclear weapons, > if Iraq were to launch chemical or biological attacks. > Conventional military forces are fully capable of dealing with > any such eventuality. > > * This new US First Use doctrine would violate solemn security > assurances which all the nuclear weapon powers have given to 182 > non-nuclear-weapon states. These states are all parties to the > Non-Proliferation Treaty. First Use would also be a clear > violation of international law, according to the Advisory Opinion > of the International Court of Justice at The Hague. > > * Britain is following the US line. This is in spite of the fact > that No First Use was part of Labour Party policy up to June > 1996, and had categorical support from Robin Cook writing in June > 1995. Public opinion polls show that most people support the > principle of No First Use. Indeed most people believe No First > Use is NATO doctrine. > > * Britain should now come out on the side of Germany and Canada. > > * There is a danger that NATO will kick the matter into the long > grass, by setting up a working group which will discuss the > matter for months in secret. NATO claims to believe in democratic > values. Let it conduct open hearings on its nuclear weapon policy > - hearings to which Non-Governmental Organisations could give > evidence. > > - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) The CIA, The KLA & International Narco-Trafficking Date: 11 Apr 1999 18:02:47 -0700 This extremely well referenced document offers backgound on the war mechanations going on now which are heightening the potential for nuclear responses. _________________________________________________________________ THE CIA, THE KLA & INTERNATIONAL NARCO-TRAFFICKING _________________________________________________________________ Copyright by Michel Chossudovsky, (Ottawa, 1999) Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and author of The Globalisation of Poverty, Impacts of IMF and World Bank Reforms, Third World Network, Penang and Zed Books, London, 1997. * * * CONTENTS ------ 1. (AFIB) Editor's Introduction: Anatomy of a Disaster in the Balkans; selected bibliography - The CIA and Drugs 2. (MC) Michel Chossudovsky: Kosovo `Freedom Fighters' Financed by Organized Crime * * * `AFIB Editor's Introduction' _________________________________________________________________ ANATOMY OF A DISASTER IN THE BALKANS _________________________________________________________________ Recent history is replete with examples of how US intelligence operations have employed "assets" with links to international narco-trafficking and right-wing death squads in order to achieve policy objectives by "other means." Indeed, the practice is so pervasive that one is fully justified in using the term "narco-fascism" to describe the phenomenon. We are told that the purpose for NATO's "humanitarian intervention" in the Balkans is to halt ethnic cleansing and to secure "self-determination" for Kosovar Albanians. But are Washington's "freedom fighters" _de jure_, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), any more committed to "human rights" and "democracy" than the bankrupt regime of Slobodan Milosevic? Or do NATO actions confirm long-held suspicions that like other CIA "assets" a sizeable proportion of the KLA budget is procured through narco-trafficking and other organized criminal activity such as prostitution and the trafficking in women across borders? To cite one well-known European example of recent vintage to illustrate the point. In Italy during the 1970s, the "strategy of tension" implemented by CIA "assets" within Italian state security services and the military, employed neofascists and condemned war criminals with Mafia links in order to create widespread social chaos, and plant "false flags" which blamed terrorist violence on the left, thus laying the groundwork for "Plan Solo," a program for a fascist-led coup d'etat on the "Greek model" of 1967. One such operative, Stefano Delle Chiaie, the leader of the neofascist terrorist gang, Avanguardia Nazionale, a protege of convicted war criminal, Junio Valerio "Black Prince" Borghese, was forced to flee Italy after the 1980 bombing of the Bologna railway station with great loss of life. With connections to Pinochet's DINA, the neo-Nazi Argentine generals, the CIA and the World Anti-Communist League, Delle Chiaie surfaced in Bolivia at the time of the "cocaine coup" of General Luis Garcia Meza, a close associate of narco-king Roberto Suarez. One of Delle Chiaie's henchmen was a German pimp and neo- nazi, Joachim Fiebelkorn, a key lieutenant of escaped Nazi war criminal (and CIA "asset") Klaus Barbie, the "Butcher of Lyon." When the legally-constituted Bolivian government was overthrown in 1980, Barbie, Fiebelkorn and Delle Chiaie operated an international brigade of killers, torturers and dope dealers controlled by DINA and the Argentine military, the "Fiances of Death." According to Fiebelkorn's account, it was Delle Chiaie who served as a middle man between the Sicilian Mafia and Latin American drug lords. And as history also teaches, it was the Argentine military and drug traffickers (with a "nod and a wink" from the CIA) who helped organize another group of "freedom fighters," the Nicaraguan Contras. Given Gary Webb's fate, is it any wonder that "mainstream" reporters look the other way when allegations of KLA connections to narco-trafficking surface? Pious hand-wringing and cynical calls for NATO to "get the job done" won't solve the inhuman plight faced by Kosovo's refugees. As can be seen daily, their situation grows worse in direct proportion as NATO bombing intensifies. And as Michel Chossudovsky amply illustrates below, it would seem that Washington's "New World Order" allies bear striking resemblance to other well-known "patriotic forces" employed by the US during the Cold War. * * * SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY: The CIA and Drug Trafficking Henrik Kruger, The Great Heroin Coup: Drugs, Intelligence & International Fascism, 1980, South End Press, Boston. Stuart Christie, Stefano Delle Chiaie: Portrait of a Black Terrorist, 1984, Anarchy Magazine/Refract Publications London. Scott Anderson and Jon Lee Anderson, Inside the League, 1986, Dodd, Mead & Co., New York. Leslie Cockburn, Out of Control, 1987, The Atlantic Monthly Press, New York. William Vornberger, The CIA and Heroin: Afghan Rebels and Drugs, Covert Action Information Bulletin, Washington, D.C., Number 28, Summer 1987. Sayid Khybar, The Afghani Contra Lobby, Covert Action Information Bulletin, Washington, D.C., Number 30, Summer 1988. Alfred W. McCoy, The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade, 1991, Lawrence Hill Books, New York. Peter Dale Scott and Jonathan Marshall, Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies and the CIA in Central America, 1991, University of California Press, Berkeley. Michael Levine, The Big White Lie, 1993, Thunder's Mouth Press, New York. Martin A. Lee, The Beast Reawakens, 1997, Little, Brown & Co., New York. Gary Webb, Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion, 1998, Seven Stories Press, New York. Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair, Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press, 1998, Verso, London and New York. ***** _________________________________________________________________ KOSOVO `FREEDOM FIGHTERS' FINANCED BY ORGANISED CRIME _________________________________________________________________ * * * By Michel Chossudovsky Department of Economics, University of Ottawa Ottawa, K1N6N5 Voice box: 1-613-562-5800, ext. 1415 Fax: 1-514-425-6224 E-Mail: chossudovsky@sprint.ca - Wednesday, 7 April 1999 - ----- Heralded by the global media as a humanitarian peace-keeping mission, NATO's ruthless bombing of Belgrade and Pristina goes far beyond the breach of international law. While Slobodan Milosevic is demonised, portrayed as a remorseless dictator, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) is upheld as a self-respecting nationalist movement struggling for the rights of ethnic Albanians. The truth of the matter is that the KLA is sustained by organised crime with the tacit approval of the United States and its allies. Following a pattern set during the War in Bosnia, public opinion has been carefully misled. The multibillion dollar Balkans narcotics trade has played a crucial role in "financing the conflict" in Kosovo in accordance with Western economic, strategic and military objectives. Amply documented by European police files, acknowledged by numerous studies, the links of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) to criminal syndicates in Albania, Turkey and the European Union have been known to Western governments and intelligence agencies since the mid-1990s. ...The financing of the Kosovo guerilla war poses critical questions and it sorely test claims of an "ethical" foreign policy. Should the West back a guerrilla army that appears to partly financed by organised crime.1 While KLA leaders were shaking hands with US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at Rambouillet, Europol (the European Police Organization based in the Hague) was "preparing a report for European interior and justice ministers on a connection between the KLA and Albanian drug gangs."2 In the meantime, the rebel army has been skilfully heralded by the global media (in the months preceding the NATO bombings) as broadly representative of the interests of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. With KLA leader Hashim Thaci (a 29 year "freedom fighter") appointed as chief negotiator at Rambouillet, the KLA has become the de facto helmsman of the peace process on behalf of the ethnic Albanian majority and this despite its links to the drug trade. The West was relying on its KLA puppets to rubber-stamp an agreement which would have transformed Kosovo into an occupied territory under Western Administration. Ironically Robert Gelbard, America's special envoy to Bosnia, had described the KLA last year as "terrorists". Christopher Hill, America's chief negotiator and architect of the Rambouillet agreement "has also been a strong critic of the KLA for its alleged dealings in drugs."3 Moreover, barely a few two months before Rambouillet, the US State Department had acknowledged (based on reports from the US Observer Mission) the role of the KLA in terrorising and uprooting ethnic Albanians: ...the KLA harass or kidnap anyone who comes to the police, ... KLA representatives had threatened to kill villagers and burn their homes if they did not join the KLA [a process which has continued since the NATO bombings]... [T]he KLA harassment has reached such intensity that residents of six villages in the Stimlje region are "ready to flee.4 While backing a "freedom movement" with links to the drug trade, the West seems also intent in bypassing the civilian Kosovo Democratic League and its leader Ibrahim Rugova who has called for an end to the bombings and expressed his desire to negotiate a peaceful settlement with the Yugoslav authorities.5 It is worth recalling that a few days before his March 31st Press Conference, Rugova had been reported by the KLA (alongside three other leaders including Fehmi Agani) to have been killed by the Serbs. COVERT FINANCING OF `FREEDOM FIGHTERS' Remember Oliver North and the Contras? The pattern in Kosovo is similar to other CIA covert operations in Central America, Haiti and Afghanistan where "freedom fighters" were financed through the laundering of drug money. Since the onslaught of the Cold War, Western intelligence agencies have developed a complex relationship to the illegal narcotics trade. In case after case, drug money laundered in the international banking system has financed covert operations. According to author Alfred McCoy, the pattern of covert financing was established in the Indochina war. In the 1960s, the Meo army in Laos was funded by the narcotics trade as part of Washington's military strategy against the combined forces of the neutralist government of Prince Souvanna Phouma and the Pathet Lao.6 The pattern of drug politics set in Indochina has since been replicated in Central America and the Caribbean. "The rising curve of cocaine imports to the US", wrote journalist John Dinges "followed almost exactly the flow of US arms and military advisers to Central America."7 The military in Guatemala and Haiti, to which the CIA provided covert support, were known to be involved in the trade of narcotics into Southern Florida. And as revealed in the Iran-Contra and Bank of Commerce and Credit International (BCCI) scandals, there was strong evidence that covert operations were funded through the laundering of drug money. "Dirty money" recycled through the banking system -- often through an anonymous shell company -- became "covert money," used to finance various rebel groups and guerilla movements including the Nicaraguan Contras and the Afghan Mujahadeen. According to a 1991 Time Magazine report: Because the US wanted to supply the mujehadeen rebels in Afghanistan with stinger missiles and other military hardware it needed the full cooperation of Pakistan. By the mid-1980s, the CIA operation in Islamabad was one of the largest US intelligence stations in the World. `If BCCI is such an embarrassment to the US that forthright investigations are not being pursued it has a lot to do with the blind eye the US turned to the heroin trafficking in Pakistan', said a US intelligence officer.8 AMERICA AND GERMANY JOIN HANDS Since the early 1990s, Bonn and Washington have joined hands in establishing their respective spheres of influence in the Balkans. Their intelligence agencies have also collaborated. According to intelligence analyst John Whitley, covert support to the Kosovo rebel army was established as a joint endeavour between the CIA and Germany's Bundes Nachrichten Dienst (BND) (which previously played a key role in installing a right wing nationalist government under Franjo Tudjman in Croatia).9 The task to create and finance the KLA was initially given to Germany: "They used German uniforms, East German weapons and were financed, in part, with drug money."10 According to Whitley, the CIA was, subsequently instrumental in training and equipping the KLA in Albania.11 The covert activities of Germany's BND were consistent with Bonn's intent to expand its "Lebensraum" into the Balkans. Prior to the onset of the civil war in Bosnia, Germany and its Foreign Minister Hans Dietrich Genscher had actively supported secession; it had "forced the pace of international diplomacy" and pressured its Western allies to recognize Slovenia and Croatia. According to the Geopolitical Drug Watch, both Germany and the US favoured (although not officially) the formation of a "Greater Albania" encompassing Albania, Kosovo and parts of Macedonia.12 According to Sean Gervasi, Germany was seeking a free hand among its allies "to pursue economic dominance in the whole of Mitteleuropa."13 ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM IN SUPPORT OF THE KLA Bonn and Washington's "hidden agenda" consisted in triggering nationalist liberation movements in Bosnia and Kosovo with the ultimate purpose of destabilising Yugoslavia. The latter objective was also carried out "by turning a blind eye" to the influx of mercenaries and financial support from Islamic fundamentalist organisations.14 Mercenaries financed by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait had been fighting in Bosnia.15 And the Bosnian pattern was replicated in Kosovo: Mujahadeen mercenaries from various Islamic countries are reported to be fighting alongside the KLA in Kosovo. German, Turkish and Afghan instructors were reported to be training the KLA in guerilla and diversion tactics.16 According to a Deutsche Press-Agentur report, financial support from Islamic countries to the KLA had been channelled through the former Albanian chief of the National Information Service (NIS), Bashkim Gazidede.17 "Gazidede, reportedly a devout Moslem who fled Albania in March of last year [1997], is presently [1998] being investigated for his contacts with Islamic terrorist organizations."18 The supply route for arming KLA "freedom fighters" are the rugged mountainous borders of Albania with Kosovo and Macedonia. Albania is also a key point of transit of the Balkans drug route which supplies Western Europe with grade four heroin. 75% of the heroin entering Western Europe is from Turkey. And a large part of drug shipments originating in Turkey transits through the Balkans. According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), "it is estimated that 4-6 metric tons of heroin leave each month from Turkey having [through the Balkans] as destination Western Europe."19 A recent intelligence report by Germany's Federal Criminal Agency suggests that: "Ethnic Albanians are now the most prominent group in the distribution of heroin in Western consumer countries."20 THE LAUNDERING OF DIRTY MONEY In order to thrive, the criminal syndicates involved in the Balkans narcotics trade need friends in high places. Smuggling rings with alleged links to the Turkish State are said to control the trafficking of heroin through the Balkans "cooperating closely with other groups with which they have political or religious ties" including criminal groups in Albanian and Kosovo.21 In this new global financial environment, powerful undercover political lobbies connected to organized crime cultivate links to prominent political figures and officials of the military and intelligence establishment. The narcotics trade nonetheless uses respectable banks to launder large amounts of dirty money. While comfortably removed from the smuggling operations per se, powerful banking interests in Turkey but mainly those in financial centres in Western Europe discretely collect fat commissions in a multibillion dollar money laundering operation. These interests have high stakes in ensuring a safe passage of drug shipments into Western European markets. THE ALBANIAN CONNECTION Arms smuggling from Albania into Kosovo and Macedonia started at the beginning of 1992, when the Democratic Party came to power, headed by President Sali Berisha. An expansive underground economy and cross border trade had unfolded. A triangular trade in oil, arms and narcotics had developed largely as a result of the embargo imposed by the international community on Serbia and Montenegro and the blockade enforced by Greece against Macedonia. Industry and agriculture in Kosovo were spearheaded into bankruptcy following the IMF's lethal "economic medicine" imposed on Belgrade in 1990. The embargo was imposed on Yugoslavia. Ethnic Albanians and Serbs were driven into abysmal poverty. Economic collapse created an environment which fostered the progress of illicit trade. In Kosovo, the rate of unemployment increased to a staggering 70 percent (according to Western sources). Poverty and economic collapse served to exacerbate simmering ethnic tensions. Thousands of unemployed youths "barely out of their Teens" from an impoverished population, were drafted into the ranks of the KLA.22 In neighbouring Albania, the free market reforms adopted since 1992 had created conditions which favoured the criminalisation of State institutions. Drug money was also laundered in the Albanian pyramids (ponzi schemes) which mushroomed during the government of former President Sali Berisha (1992-1997).23 These shady investment funds were an integral part of the economic reforms inflicted by Western creditors on Albania. Drug barons in Kosovo, Albania and Macedonia (with links to the Italian mafia) had become the new economic elites, often associated with Western business interests. In turn the financial proceeds of the trade in drugs and arms were recycled towards other illicit activities (and vice versa) including a vast prostitution racket between Albania and Italy. Albanian criminal groups operating in Milan, "have become so powerful running prostitution rackets that they have even taken over the Calabrians in strength and influence."24 The application of "strong economic medicine" under the guidance of the Washington based Bretton Woods institutions had contributed to wrecking Albania's banking system and precipitating the collapse of the Albanian economy. The resulting chaos enabled American and European transnationals to carefully position themselves. Several Western oil companies including Occidental, Shell and British Petroleum had their eyes rivetted on Albania's abundant and unexplored oil-deposits. Western investors were also gawking Albania's extensive reserves of chrome, copper, gold, nickel and platinum... The Adenauer Foundation had been lobbying in the background on behalf of German mining interests.25 Berisha's Minister of Defence Safet Zoulali (alleged to have been involved in the illegal oil and narcotics trade) was the architect of the agreement with Germany's Preussag (handing over control over Albania's chrome mines) against the competing bid of the US led consortium of Macalloy Inc. in association with Rio Tinto Zimbabwe (RTZ).26 Large amounts of narco-dollars had also been recycled into the privatisation programmes leading to the acquisition of State assets by the mafias. In Albania, the privatisation programme had led virtually overnight to the development of a property owning class firmly committed to the "free marke." In Northern Albania, this class was associated with the Guegue "families" linked to the Democratic Party. Controlled by the Democratic Party under the presidency of Sali Berisha (1992-97), Albania's largest financial "pyramid" VEFA Holdings had been set up by the Guegue "families" of Northern Albania with the support of Western banking interests. VEFA was under investigation in Italy in 1997 for its ties to the Mafia which allegedly used VEFA to launder large amounts of dirty money.27 According to one press report (based on intelligence sources), senior members of the Albanian government during the Presidency of Sali Berisha including cabinet members and members of the secret police SHIK were alleged to be involved in drugs trafficking and illegal arms trading into Kosovo: (...) The allegations are very serious. Drugs, arms, contraband cigarettes all are believed to have been handled by a company run openly by Albania's ruling Democratic Party, Shqiponja (...). In the course of 1996 Defence Minister, Safet Zhulali [was alleged] to had used his office to facilitate the transport of arms, oil and contraband cigarettes. (...) Drugs barons from Kosovo (...) operate in Albania with impunity, and much of the transportation of heroin and other drugs across Albania, from Macedonia and Greece en route to Italy, is believed to be organised by Shik, the state security police (...). Intelligence agents are convinced the chain of command in the rackets goes all the way to the top and have had no hesitation in naming ministers in their reports.28 The trade in narcotics and weapons was allowed to prosper despite the presence since 1993 of a large contingent of American troops at the Albanian-Macedonian border with a mandate to enforce the embargo. The West had turned a blind eye. The revenues from oil and narcotics were used to finance the purchase of arms (often in terms of direct barter): "Deliveries of oil to Macedonia (skirting the Greek embargo [in 1993-4] can be used to cover heroin, as do deliveries of kalachnikov rifles to Albanian `brothers' in Kosovo".29 The Northern tribal clans or "fares" had also developed links with Italy's crime syndicates.30 In turn, the latter played a key role in smuggling arms across the Adriatic into the Albanian ports of Dures and Valona. At the outset in 1992, the weapons channelled into Kosovo were largely small arms including Kalashnikov AK-47 rifles, RPK and PPK machine-guns, 12.7 calibre heavy machine-guns, etc. The proceeds of the narcotics trade has enabled the KLA to rapidly develop a force of some 30,000 men. More recently, the KLA has acquired more sophisticated weaponry including anti- aircraft and anti-armor rockets. According to Belgrade, some of the funds have come directly from the CIA "funnelled through a so-called "Government of Kosovo" based in Geneva, Switzerland. Its Washington office employs the public-relations firm of Ruder Finn -- notorious for its slanders of the Belgrade government".31 The KLA has also acquired electronic surveillance equipment which enables it to receive NATO satellite information concerning the movement of the Yugoslav Army. The KLA training camp in Albania is said to "concentrate on heavy weapons training - rocket propelled grenades, medium caliber cannons, tanks and transporter use, as well as on communications, and command and control." (According to Yugoslav government sources).32 These extensive deliveries of weapons to the Kosovo rebel army were consistent with Western geopolitical objectives. Not surprisingly, there has been a "deafening silence" of the international media regarding the Kosovo arms-drugs trade. In the words of a 1994 Report of the Geopolitical Drug Watch: "the trafficking [of drugs and arms] is basically being judged on its geostrategic implications (...) In Kosovo, drugs and weapons trafficking is fuelling geopolitical hopes and fears"...33 The fate of Kosovo had already been carefully laid out prior to the signing of the 1995 Dayton agreement. NATO had entered an unwholesome "marriage of convenience" with the mafia. "Freedom fighters" were put in place, the narcotics trade enabled Washington and Bonn to "finance the Kosovo conflict" with the ultimate objective of destabilising the Belgrade government and fully recolonising the Balkans. The destruction of an entire country is the outcome. Western governments which participated in the NATO operation bear a heavy burden of responsibility in the deaths of civilians, the impoverishment of both the ethnic Albanian and Serbian populations and the plight of those who were brutally uprooted from towns and villages in Kosovo as a result of the bombings. NOTES 1. Roger Boyes and Eske Wright, Drugs Money Linked to the Kosovo Rebels The Times, London, Monday, March 24, 1999. 2. Ibid. 3. Philip Smucker and Tim Butcher, "Shifting stance over KLA has betrayed' Albanians", Daily Telegraph, London, 6 April 1999. 4. KDOM Daily Report, released by the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs, Office of South Central European Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC, December 21, 1998; Compiled by EUR/SCE (202-647-4850) from daily reports of the U.S. element of the Kosovo Diplomatic Observer Mission, December 21, 1998. 5. "Rugova, sous protection serbe appelle a l'arret des raides", Le Devoir, Montreal, 1 April 1999. 6. See Alfred W. McCoy, The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia Harper and Row, New York, 1972. 7. See John Dinges, Our Man in Panama, The Shrewd Rise and Brutal Fall of Manuel Noriega, Times Books, New York, 1991. 8. "The Dirtiest Bank of All," Time, July 29, 1991, p. 22. 9. Truth in Media, Phoenix, 2 April, 1999; see also Michel Collon, Poker Menteur, editions EPO, Brussels, 1997. 10. Quoted in Truth in Media, Phoenix, 2 April, 1999). 11. Ibid. 12. Geopolitical Drug Watch, No 32, June 1994, p. 4. 13. Sean Gervasi, "Germany, US and the Yugoslav Crisis", Covert Action Quarterly, No. 43, Winter 1992-93). 14. See Daily Telegraph, 29 December 1993. 15. For further details see Michel Collon, Poker Menteur, editions EPO, Brussels, 1997, p. 288. 16. Truth in Media, Kosovo in Crisis, Phoenix, 2 April 1999. 17. Deutsche Presse-Agentur, March 13, 1998. 18. Ibid. 19. Daily News, Ankara, 5 March 1997. 20. Quoted in Boyes and Wright, op cit. 21. ANA, Athens, 28 January 1997, see also Turkish Daily News, 29 January 1997. 22. Brian Murphy, KLA Volunteers Lack Experience, The Associated Press, 5 April 1999. 23. See Geopolitical Drug Watch, No. 35, 1994, p. 3, see also Barry James, In Balkans, Arms for Drugs, The International Herald Tribune Paris, June 6, 1994. 24. The Guardian, 25 March 1997. 25. For further details see Michel Chossudovsky, La crisi albanese, Edizioni Gruppo Abele, Torino, 1998. 26. Ibid. 27. Andrew Gumbel, The Gangster Regime We Fund, The Independent, February 14, 1997, p. 15. 28. Ibid. 29. Geopolitical Drug Watch, No. 35, 1994, p. 3. 30. Geopolitical Drug Watch, No 66, p. 4. 31. Quoted in Workers' World, May 7, 1998. 32. See Government of Yugoslavia at http://www.gov.yu/terrorism/terroristcamps.html 33. Geopolitical Drug Watch, No 32, June 1994, p. 4. * * * Copyright by Michel Chossudovsky, Ottawa, 1999. Permission is granted to post this text on non-commercial internet sites, provided the essay remains intact and the copyright note is displayed. To publish this text in printed and/or other forms contact the author at chossudovsky@sprint.ca A frequent contributor to Antifa Info-Bulletin, Michel Chossudovsky is Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and author of The Globalisation of Poverty, Impacts of IMF and World Bank Reforms, Third World Network, Penang and Zed Books, London, 1997. Recent articles by Chossudovsky on the global economic crisis at: http://wwwdb.ix.de/tp/english/special/eco/6373/1.html http://www.transnational.org/features/chossu_worldbank.html http://www.transnational.org/features/g7solution.html http://www.twnside.org.sg/souths/twn/title/scam-cn.htm http://www.interlog.com/~cjazz/chossd.htm http://www.heise.de/tp/english/special/eco/ http://heise.xlink.de/tp/english/special/eco/6099/1.html#anchor1 * * * ANTIFA INFO-BULLETIN (AFIB) 750 La Playa # 730 San Francisco, California 94121 E-Mail: tburghardt@igc.org * On PeaceNet visit ANTIFA INFO-BULLETIN on pol.right.antifa Via the Web --> http://burn.ucsd.edu/~aff/afib.html Archive --> http://burn.ucsd.edu/~aff/afib-bulletins.html - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) radiation fallout in Yugoslavia Date: 11 Apr 1999 20:22:24 -0700 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_045E_01BE8459.B186A660 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Might not this be resultant from the purported EMP weapons to take out = electrical facilities, the same as are being tested in "subcritical = tests" in Nevada? -----Original Message----- XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT FLASH XXXXX 04/12/99 02:10:31 UTC XXXXX=20 RUSSIA ACCUSES WEST OF SPREADING RADIATION IN KOSOVO=20 Over the weekend Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov charged that the = West was using new kinds of missiles -- missiles that are unleashing = radiation.=20 The TASS wire quoted Ivanov in urgent dispatches. Ivanov claimed that = there is an increased radiation level being registered by experts in the = air and on the surface in various areas of Kosovo.=20 http://www.drudgereport.com/matt.htm ------=_NextPart_000_045E_01BE8459.B186A660 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Might not this be resultant from the = purported=20 EMP weapons to take out electrical facilities, the same as are being = tested in=20 "subcritical tests" in Nevada?
-----Original = Message-----
From:=20 Remy C. <remyc@prodigy.net>
To: = Renergy=20 <renergy@lists.kz>
Date:=20 Sunday, April 11, 1999 7:42 PM
Subject: From=20 Drudge

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT FLASH XXXXX 04/12/99 02:10:31 UTC XXXXX =

RUSSIA=20 ACCUSES WEST OF SPREADING RADIATION IN KOSOVO

Over the weekend = Russian=20 Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov charged that the West was using new kinds = of=20 missiles -- missiles that are unleashing radiation.

The TASS = wire quoted=20 Ivanov in urgent dispatches. Ivanov claimed that there is an increased = radiation=20 level being registered by experts in the air and on the surface in = various areas=20 of Kosovo.
http://www.drudgereport.com= /matt.htm
------=_NextPart_000_045E_01BE8459.B186A660-- - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) Fw: So nukes don't blow up... Date: 11 Apr 1999 22:41:25 -0700 -----Original Message----- >This is a fascinating report on the technology used to prevent unauthorized >detonation of nuclear weapons. Of relevance to this list, perhaps, is how >encryption is used (or isn't). The author is Steven Bellovin of AT&T Research. > >-Declan > > >http://www.research.att.com/~smb/nsam-160/pal.html > >What is a PAL? > >A PAL -- a "Permissive Action Link" -- is the box that is supposed to >prevent unauthorized use of a >nuclear weapon. "Unauthorized" covers a wide range of sin, from terrorists >who have stolen bombs to >insane American military officers to our allies who may have some of their >own uses for bombs that are >covered by joint use agreements. It's supposed to be impossible to >"hot-wire" a nuclear weapon. Is it? > > > >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- >POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology >To subscribe: send a message to majordomo@vorlon.mit.edu with this text: >subscribe politech >More information is at http://www.well.com/~declan/politech/ >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DavidMcR@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: Bombing a monastery on Easter Date: 12 Apr 1999 12:07:41 EDT In a message dated 4/12/99 11:34:44 AM Eastern Daylight Time, jim_forest@compuserve.com writes: << April 9, 1999 Guest Opinions The Catholic Messenger Davenport, IA 52801 On Easter Sunday night, NATO bombed St. Gabriel's monastery in Zemun, a Serbian municipality. Father Filaret of St. Gabriel's was quoted as saying, "I cannot comprehend that the believers, some of them probably Christian, were able to bomb this monastery, built in 1786, on Roman Catholic Easter". St. Gabriel's has been a sanctuary for Serbian, Croatian, and Muslim refugees since 1991, when war broke out in Bosnia. Assuming that this was not an intended target of NATO's bombing campaign, I do not blame the soldiers who dropped the bombs on St. Gabriel's. But I find it very curious that this story did not make headlines back in the US. Once war breaks out, we usually hear only one side of the story. And part of the story that we do hear is about the pinpoint accuracy of our bombs, which supposedly discriminate between the innocent civilians and the military targets we wish to destroy. Wars bring out the nationalistic loyalties in all of us. That is true on all sides of a war. They say that truth is the first casualty of war. The bombing of their country binds the Serbian people closer together under the leadership of even a dictator like Milosevic, while we hear only the worst stories about the Serbs and their leaders. And vice versa. The people living in the areas being bombed by NATO have a hard time understanding why we are bombing their homeland, regardless of our intentions. Especially when we bomb sacred places like St. Gabriel's. What we see as settling one score creates another score for the losers of this war to settle some time in the future. As the flood of refugees continues to rush across the borders with unimaginable stories of ethnic cleansing, our immediate concern must certainly be for those who need food, shelter and medical care. As a church, we are already responding through Catholic Relief Services. The whole world needs to stand together against ethnic cleansing. But the intention of stopping these atrocities does not automatically justify the NATO bombing. For those of us opposed to both the ethnic cleansing and the NATO bombings, the question is: What are the alternatives? I would suggest three helpful steps: Meaningful dialogue. International authority. Conflict prevention. Without threatening to use violence against parties who do not agree with American terms of a peace agreement, as we did at Rambouillet, the US should use its vast influence to get all the parties to the negotiating table. And let them settle their differences through dialogue. This war will not end war in the Balkans. It will not make the world safe for democracy. Not will it make the world a safe place for Americans to travel. We cannot expect that dropping bombs will end the murderous assaults of a man like Milosevic. If we expect to enforce our will through the use of bombs, we had better be prepared to live in a dangerous world. If we wish to build peace and promote freedom, we need to sow the seeds of justice and reconciliation. Sincerely, Dan R. Ebener Coordinating Director of Social Action Diocese of Davenport - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DavidMcR@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: Write to Clinton, Urges Metropolitan Anthony Date: 12 Apr 1999 12:07:34 EDT In a message dated 4/12/99 11:27:39 AM Eastern Daylight Time, jim_forest@compuserve.com writes: << Subject: 1999.04.10 Voithia: Read Voithia at http://www.voithia.org Posted: Saturday, April 10, 1999, Written: Friday, April 9, 1999, Section: Articles Content: Archdiocese Write to Clinton, Urges Metropolitan Anthony April 9, 1999 By Stephen P. Angelides / Voithia Executive Editor OAKLAND, CA -- In a dramatic Good Friday homily at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension here this evening, Metropolitan Anthony urged each member of the congregation to "write a letter to President Clinton tomorrow." "Because it is Holy Saturday, tomorrow is a good day for each and every one of you to write a letter to President Clinton and ask him to stop the bombing of Yugoslavia," Metropolitan Anthony exhorted the approximately 1,000 Good Friday worshipers. The choir had just begun to sing the Doxology when Metropolitan Anthony dramatically interrupted and delivered his homily extemporaneously for about 15 minutes. "The reason for this war is not humanitarian, otherwise we would have been in Rwanda when people there were being killed by the thousands," Metropolitan Anthony asserted. "There is absolutely no justification for this war," Metropolitan Anthony said emphatically, "no matter how hard they try to convince us that this is a just war, or even a holy war." "President Clinton should fall down on his knees and beg for forgiveness," Metropolitan Anthony said. "Instead of continuing this bombing," he urged, "the parties should return to the table and exhaust every possibility." Metropolitan Anthony asserted that although the media was not reporting everything, the bombing was damaging or destroying civilian buildings, including "thousand-year-old churches and monasteries." Metropolitan Anthony said that Yugoslavian President Milosevich is "equally responsible" along with President Clinton. Then, speaking to the congregation, Metropolitan Anthony said, "each of you is also partially responsible." He illustrated this point by recounting a television interview with a 22 year old soldier responsible for firing guided missiles. When the soldier was asked what he felt when he launched a missile, according to Metropolitan Anthony, the soldier's response was, "nothing--they just give us some numbers to punch in and the computer does the rest." Metropolitan Anthony then spoke directly to the young people present, telling them "you should never, ever, let a computer do your thinking for you." Metropolitan Anthony urged the worshipers not to forget the history of the Balkans, and reminded them that two world wars had started there. "War never solves any problem," he asserted. Metropolitan Anthony said that he had experienced the second world war as a boy in Crete, and that he could still "hear the sound of bombs flying around," and has "scars in my heart" from that experience. Metropolitan Anthony concluded by wishing those present "the best Resurrection celebration possible under these circumstances." Although the Cathedral's Dean, Rev. Thomas Paris, had previously spoken out against the bombing, Metropolitan Anthony's homily was the first time parishioners here had been asked to take direct action against it. Although Metropolitan Anthony's anti-war homily was a unique Good Friday experience, most parishioners seemed to either be in agreement or to take it in stride. Many applauded softly at the conclusion of the homily to show their support for Metropolitan Anthony's message while maintaining their respect for the solemnity of the occasion. As they passed through the narthex of the church after the service, parishioners were handed flyers for a Peace Demonstration and Prayer Vigil on Holy Saturday afternoon in downtown San Francisco, sponsored by the Serbian Orthodox Churches of the Bay Area and the Serbian Unity Congress. * * * note: A page has been added to the Orthodox Peace Fellowship web site on Church response to the NATO attack on Yugoslavia: www.incommunion.org/nato.htm * * * - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Sally Light" Subject: (abolition-usa) Fw: New! On TVC's Web Page! Good Stuff! Date: 12 Apr 1999 11:43:35 +0100 ---------- > From: marylia > To: marylia@earthlink.net > Subject: New! On TVC's Web Page! Good Stuff! > Date: Monday, April 12, 1999 5:56 PM > > Attention peace and enviro people: > > New! On the web! From Tri-Valley CAREs at http://www.igc.org/tvc > > 1. Your sign-on wanted! Read the criteria by which the community (that's > all of us) can judge the adequacy of Livermore Lab's plans to clean up its > mess at site 300. Please sign on! And, if you have another polluted > facility in your neighborhood, consider using these to assist you in > developing your own criteria for cleanup. This is all about community > rights and stating affirmatively what kind of cleanup is needed from the > public's perspective. > > 2. Action alert! The text of House Concurrent Resolution 74 is now on our > web site. The is the Congressional Resolution offered by Rep. Ed Markey > (D-MA) to replace the DOE's stockpile stewardship program with a > "curatorship" program for the arsenal that will be less expensive, less > dangerous and will not cause the proliferation problems that the DOE's > current program entails. Cosponsors are listed, along with the number for > Markey's office. Is your Representative a co-sponsor yet? > > 3. Action alert! The text of House Resolution 82 is on our web site, with > co-sponsors. Offered by Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) to "recognize the security > interests of the United States in furthering complete nuclear disarmament," > this Resolution seeks to encourage the President to initiate multilateral > negotiations on a treaty on nuclear weapons elimination, in accordance with > Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Is your Rep. a co-sponsor yet? > > 4. The April 1999 edition of our newsletter, Citizen's Watch is now up on > our web site. You will find (a) all about the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant > in New Mexico, and why it is not the solution to our country's nuclear > waste problems, (b) all about the positive progress on nuclear abolition -- > giving an update on the grassroots campaign and the congressional actions, > (c) action alerts, Mother's Day events and the stirring poem and call to > action "Mother's Day Proclamation 1870," by Julia Ward Howe, from whence > the celebration stems, (d) print bites, Project Censored chooses > "subcritical" tests and the U.S. stockpile stewardship program as the #6 > most underreported story of the year, etc., etc. CHECK IT OUT! > > Don't forget to check out our (downloadable) postcards to Clinton asking > him to take this country's nuclear weapons off alert status, and our other > features on the site. Happy browsing... > > ++++ Please note that my email address has changed to > on 3/1/99 ++++ > > Marylia Kelley > Tri-Valley CAREs > (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment) > 2582 Old First Street > Livermore, CA USA 94550 > > - is our web site, please visit us there! > Our web site will remain at this location. Only my email address has > changed on 3/1/99. > > (925) 443-7148 - is our phone > (925) 443-0177 - is our fax > > Working for peace, justice and a healthy environment since 1983, Tri-Valley > CAREs has been a member of the nation-wide Alliance for Nuclear > Accountability in the U.S. since 1989, and is a co-founding member of the > international Abolition 2000 network for the elimination of nuclear > weapons. > > - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Sally Light" Subject: (abolition-usa) Fw: comm. accept. crit. for the abol-usa list serve Date: 12 Apr 1999 23:18:25 +0100 ---------- > From: marylia > To: sallight@earthlink.net > Subject: comm. accept. crit. for the abol-usa list serve > Date: Monday, April 12, 1999 7:36 PM > > Dear Sally: For whatever reason, I still cannot post to the abolition-usa > list serve. Can you please post this? Peace, MK > Dear friends and colleagues: > > Hi. I am posting these Community Acceptance Criteria to the abolition-usa > list serve for 3 reasons. (1) You are invited to please sign on at the end > and return the message to us; (2) You are invited to include comments in > your return message; and (3) Because so many of us are affected by > contaminated nuclear facilities, we at Tri-Valley CAREs want to encourage > other communities to develop their own criteria for other sites. You are > invited to let our posting below spark your thinking about community > acceptance of a cleanup plan in your area. > > Two quick notes -- I'm sorry that the cool formatting and our graphic get > lost by sending via email, and please note that this is a fairly long file. > There are 12 criteria. Read on... > > ** Livermore Lab's Site 300 Cleanup: Community Acceptance > Criteria > > ** please read, sign and return > > Dear environmental advocate: > > Livermore Lab's site 300 is a high explosives testing range located between > Livermore and Tracy. Site 300 is heavily polluted with toxic and > radioactive waste, including chemical solvents, high explosive compounds, > radioactive tritium and uranium. In 1990, the U.S. Environmental Protection > Agency (EPA) put site 300 on its "Superfund" list of worst contaminated > places in the country. > > The cleanup of site 300 is at a crucial phase, one where the public can > make a difference in determining whether the Lab chooses an appropriate set > of remedies to clean up soil and groundwater at the site, and also whether > it commits sufficient budget resources to do the job right. > > The Lab has recently produced a draft "Site Wide Feasibility Study" (SWFS) > to explain some of the options that could be used to clean up site 300. > Following completion of a final SWFS, the Lab will then prepare a proposed > Remedial Action Plan, which will form the legal basis for cleanup of the > site, including such things as cleanup levels, how radioactive wastes > should be controlled and the timing of cleanup activities. In order to be > accepted by the EPA and other regulatory agencies, the final plan will be > evaluated by nine criteria. > > One of EPA's criteria for "signing off" on a cleanup plan is community > acceptance. In the interest of achieving a real and lasting cleanup, > Tri-Valley CAREs is proposing 12 Community Acceptance Criteria. We welcome > your support. Please sign this form and return it to us. Also, we welcome > any suggestions for additional criteria or other comments you may have. > > ********* Community Acceptance Criteria ************* > > #1. Complete the cleanup project in a timely manner. Set a schedule for > cleanup activities and adhere to it. The goal should be to complete cleanup > ten years after the DOE's last scheduled Record Of Decision, with up to 30 > years thereafter for continued monitoring of residual contamination. As > part of the plan, schedule milestones addressing total contaminant mass > removal and trends toward achievement of cleanup goals should be > established and committed to by the Dept. of Energy, which is the Lab's > parent agency. Any areas at site 300 that will still be contaminated after > ten years should be identified up front and the reasons stated. > > #2. Cleanup levels should support multiple uses for the property. Those > uses should be unrestricted by environmental contamination. The Lab's > current assumptions about land-use need to be altered. As we can see, > residential development is beginning to take place up to the site boundary. > Therefore, assumptions should include the possibility of large residential > communities relying on the regional aquifer for drinking water, thus > speeding up groundwater movement. Second, we do not believe that site 300 > will necessarily always remain in DOE's custody. The "need" for testing > nuclear weapons and components (particularly of new and modified designs) > is a political decision, not a technically necessary mandate, and, in our > opinion this testing should cease. We recommend that site 300 future land > use assumptions include mixed residential, recreational, ecological > preserve and industrial activities. Without full cleanup to standards > appropriate for all of the above-listed uses, substantial residual > contamination may remain in soil and groundwater and restrict any > non-military use of the property. > > #3. Cleanup levels should be set to the strictest state and federal > government levels. We believe that the strictest cleanup levels should be > met in cleaning up the site. Federal and state Maximum Contaminant Levels > (MCLs) for all groundwater (on-site and off-site) should be the "bottom > line below which the cleanup will not fall." In many cases the technology > exists (and/or can be developed) that will clean up contamination to > "background" levels - that is to the level that existed in nature at the > site before Livermore Lab took over in 1955 and began polluting it. In all > cases where this can be achieved, it should be. In this regard, Tri-Valley > CAREs concurs with a strict interpretation of the CA Regional Water Quality > Control Board's non-degradation policy for groundwater. Migration of > pollutants into pristine waters must be halted. > > #4. Remedies that actively destroy contaminants are preferable. In > order of preference, Tri-Valley CAREs recommends the following types of > cleanup measures: a) remedies that destroy contaminants (i.e. by breaking > them down into non hazardous constituents), such as ultra-violet > light/hydrogen peroxide, permeable barriers, or biodegradation; b) active > remedies that safely treat or remove contaminants from the contaminated > media; c) monitored natural attenuation in so far as it relies on natural > degradation (and not further dispersion of the pollution) within a > reasonable time frame. What is called "risk and hazard management" (i.e., > restrictions on land use, fencing, signs and institutional controls), while > potentially useful for reducing short-term risks, is not a valid cleanup in > our eyes and should only be used as an interim measure. In no case do we > think that "point of use cleanup" (e.g., merely placing filters on off-site > drinking water wells) is appropriate. When soil excavation takes place, it > should be properly controlled to minimize releases of contaminated soil > into the air, and onto adjacent properties. > > #5. Radioactive wastes and the tritium-polluted underwater plume should > be controlled immediately in order to prevent further releases to the > environment. The tritium plume, nearly two miles long and growing, cannot > be cleaned up in the traditional sense of the word, since it is not > economically feasible to separate the radioactive hydrogen (tritium) from > the water. Therefore, Tri-Valley CAREs recommends the following: a) > isolation of the tritium contaminated wastes in the unlined dumps at site > 300 to prevent further and continuing contamination of the groundwater; b) > hydraulic control of the underground water plume to prevent further > migration; c) aggressive monitoring to ensure no migration occurs over time > while the tritium decays (tritium decays at a rate of 5.5% per year); and, > d) a stringent contingency plan in case these methods fail. As it currently > stands, groundwater rises into the unlined waste dumps during heavy > rainfall and, once that water mixes with the radioactive wastes there, it > picks up additional tritium contamination. Isolation of the wastes can be > accomplished by means of drains, by capturing groundwater upstream from the > dump sites before they are inundated, or by removing the > tritium-contaminated solid debris from the dumps and storing it above > ground in a monitored facility. This latter method has the highest > likelihood of actually preventing further tritium contamination. > > #6. Radioactive substances should be isolated from the environment. As > is the case with tritium (discussed above), there are several underground > plumes containing uranium 238. Technology exists to separate this > contaminant from the groundwater. We recommend that this radioactive waste > be stored in above ground monitored facilities after separation from > groundwater. > > #7. The ecosystem should be protected and balanced against the cleanup > remedies. Site 300 sits on 11 square miles of land, including a series of > steep hills and canyons, covered by grasslands. Seven major plant > communities occur at site 300, including: coastal sage scrub, native > grassland, introduced grassland, oak woodland and 3 types of wetland. > Twenty species of reptiles and amphibians, 70 species of birds, and 25 > species of mammals also live there. Special and rare and endangered species > include the burrowing owl, San Joaquin Kit Fox and the Large-Flowered > Fiddleneck. Ecological risks should be no greater than those for humans. > The Lab should update its ecological assessment of 1994, as there are more > complete data now. Moreover, cleanup activities should not inadvertently > destroy unique habitat. > > #8. Decisions should not rely on computer modeling. The draft SWFS > points out just how complex the hydrogeology of the site is, and how little > it is understood by the "experts". Given this, Tri-Valley CAREs believes > that over-reliance on computer modeling to predict the fate and transport > of pollution is not a good idea. Computer modeling should be used as a tool > only, and continually updated by field testing. > > #9. Additional site characterization is needed and therefore must be > adequately included in budget planning. It is also apparent from the draft > SWFS and other documents that additional characterization (e.g. of soil, > groundwater, unlined waste dumps etc.) is necessary, and will have to be > budgeted for many years to come. > > #10. A contingency plan should be completed and subject to public review. > We recommend that a site wide contingency plan be part of the SWFS, or part > of the upcoming Remedial Action Plan. This is needed because cleanup of > several areas at site 300 is not scheduled for some years to come and there > are many uncertainties regarding the effectiveness of cleanup. For example, > innovative technologies that have not been fully evaluated will be used > (because exotic bomb testing activities created a "toxic stew" of > contaminants). > > #11. The public should be involved in cleanup decisions. As it now stands, > public involvement takes place through Tri-Valley CAREs and at > Lab-sponsored public meetings and hearings which could end altogether after > "sign off" is obtained on the cleanup remedies. Instead, the Lab should > commit to keeping the public informed and getting public feed-back on a > regular basis. > > #12. Cleanup should be given priority over further weapons development. > Perhaps most important of all, Tri-Valley CAREs insists that cleanup of > site 300 be given a priority over further bomb-creating enterprises, and > that adequate, stable, long-term funding be assured in order that the > cleanup may be done right. The current allocation of approximately 1% of > Livermore Lab's annual budget to cleanup at site 300 (and only another 1% > to cleanup at the Lab's main site) is insufficient. Moreover, ongoing and > planned weapons activities must not be allowed to continue to pollute the > site. > > Please sign and return to Tri-Valley CAREs, 2582 Old First Street, > Livermore CA 94550. Fax: (925) 443-0177. Phone: (925) 443-7148. E-mail: > marylia@earthlink.net > > Name: > > Address: > > Phone: > > Additional comments: > > ++++ Please note that my email address has changed to > on 3/1/99 ++++ > > Marylia Kelley > Tri-Valley CAREs > (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment) > 2582 Old First Street > Livermore, CA USA 94550 > > - is our web site, please visit us there! > Our web site will remain at this location. Only my email address has > changed on 3/1/99. > > (925) 443-7148 - is our phone > (925) 443-0177 - is our fax > > Working for peace, justice and a healthy environment since 1983, Tri-Valley > CAREs has been a member of the nation-wide Alliance for Nuclear > Accountability in the U.S. since 1989, and is a co-founding member of the > international Abolition 2000 network for the elimination of nuclear > weapons. > > - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Sally Light" Subject: (abolition-usa) Fw: wipp for the abol-usa list serve Date: 12 Apr 1999 23:19:29 +0100 ---------- > From: marylia > To: sallight@earthlink.net > Subject: wipp for the abol-usa list serve > Date: Monday, April 12, 1999 7:39 PM > > Dear Sally: Please post this to the abolition-usa list serve if you think > it will be of interest. Peace, Marylia > Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: The Two Percent "Solution" > (with an Action Alert) > > by Marylia Kelley > from Tri-Valley CAREs' April 1999 newsletter, Citizen's Watch > > The flatbed truck left Los Alamos Lab in New Mexico at 7:49 PM on Thursday, > March 26, and headed south on U.S. 285 for about 270 miles - to the Waste > Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, NM. Loaded in the truck was 600 > pounds of plutonium-contaminated waste. The trip was reported to have taken > around 7.5 hours. > > In truth, that journey took the Dept. of Energy 25 years and $2 billion. > When the nuclear debris reached its destination at about 4 AM on Friday, > Energy Secretary Bill Richardson called it "a truly historic moment." > > Was it, really? What is WIPP? Will it solve the nuclear waste problem? If > so, why have environmentalists toiled such long hours for two decades and > more - in courtrooms, on picket lines and in offices piled high with > technical reports - to stop it? Why had the state of New Mexico also sought > to enjoin its opening? Why is DOE putting nuclear waste in WIPP without > first obtaining a hazardous waste permit? > > WIPP is the DOE's proposed deep geologic repository for nuclear > weapons-generated transuranic waste (containing radioactive elements > heavier than uranium, mostly plutonium). WIPP is being excavated in an > ancient salt bed 2,150 feet below the ground. Still under construction, > WIPP will ultimately contain 16 square miles of buried plutonium wastes, > including up to 850,000 55-gallon drums entombed in 56 rooms, each 300 feet > long by 33 feet wide. > > WIPP will leak. Much of the waste slated for WIPP is contaminated with > plutonium 239, which has a radioactive half-life of over 24,000 years. A > radioactive element's hazardous life is generally calculated at 10 > half-lives, in this case 240,000 years. > > The WIPP site is surrounded by proven oil and gas reserves and potash > deposits. Future mining and drilling operations could hit the waste rooms, > releasing massive amounts of radioactivity to the surface. Other drilling > operations, such as fluid injection, could cause radioactive releases at > WIPP even if the original operation is kept outside the site boundary. > Experts don't understand the groundwater system at WIPP very well. The > Rustler aquifer, which sits above the WIPP waste rooms has fractures and > caverns in it that could transport waste, eventually contaminating drinking > water supplies. Pressurized brine reservoirs under the WIPP site could > bring wastes to the surface as well. These reservoirs contain large amounts > of salt water under high pressure. > > DOE is seeking, but does not yet have, a hazardous waste permit from the > state of New Mexico. The permit is required because DOE will dispose of > mixed transuranic wastes at WIPP. These are wastes that are contaminated > with both a chemical hazard (like a solvent) and a radioactive element such > as plutonium. States can regulate DOE's hazardous (chemical) wastes. > Therefore, WIPP must have an operating permit. However, DOE is the sole > regulator for all the radioactive waste in the weapons complex. DOE is > essentially forcing the premature opening of WIPP by bringing in a shipment > of "purely" radioactive waste from Los Alamos. > > Never mind that this waste is from NASA activities at Los Alamos Lab, and > that WIPP is supposed to be for military wastes only. And, never mind that > significant controversy exists over whether the Los Alamos waste was > properly analyzed and classified. DOE's aim was to get waste, any waste, > into WIPP and preempt the state's ability to impose limits through its > permitting authority. > > DOE plans to bring 40,000 truck loads of transuranic waste to WIPP over the > next 30 years. Most of it will come from California (including from > Livermore Lab), Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, > Tennessee, North Carolina and Washington state. DOE estimates these > shipments will result in 6 deaths and 48 injuries from accidents and that > 3 people will die from radiation exposure during "accident free" shipments. > > WIPP is part of the DOE's nuclear waste "shell game," a dangerous > enterprise that puts deadly wastes on our highways, moving them around the > country and substituting "out of sight - out of mind" for a sound policy. > > Estimates are WIPP will cost around $20 billion. Storing waste where it is > would cost about $3 billion. Moreover, WIPP will not come close to solving > the country's nuclear waste problems, not by any standard of measurement. > WIPP is designed to handle less than 2% of the existing volume of nuclear > bomb-generated radioactive wastes. Even if one calculates the transuranic > wastes alone, WIPP is proposed for only about one-third of DOE's existing > TRU waste. > > Yet, Secretary Richardson sent out a press release to say that WIPP will > safely clean up the nuclear weapons complex. So, what gives? > > Perhaps, WIPP's main use is not for waste disposal, but rather for its > public relations value. If DOE can convince enough people that it has taken > care of its waste problems, then currently operational weapons facilities > like Livermore Lab will face less pressure to cut down on the future > production of nuclear wastes. > > Transuranic wastes will continue to be generated. And we will put them... where? > > WIPP action suggestion: > Write to Bill Richardson, Secretary of Energy, 1000 > Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20585. In your own words, tell him, > "Transuranic waste generation must be reduced at its source. Don't bury it, > Bill." > > WIPP legal update: > Four groups have appealed Judge Penn's decision to > lift the 1992 injunction against WIPP. This is the decision that now allows > DOE to send 17 shipments of Los Alamos waste to WIPP, of which the first > has been sent. (The Judge has not yet given a go-ahead for DOE to begin > waste shipments from other sites around the weapons complex.) If the appeal > is successful, the injunction would be fully reinstated. No hearing date > has been set as yet. The four groups filing the appeal are: Southwest > Research and Information Center, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, > Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Defense Fund. (The > state of New Mexico had been a party to the original suit as well.) > > In a separate legal action, SRIC, CCNS, the state > of New Mexico and Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping are > challenging the legality of the EPA certification for WIPP. A hearing is > scheduled for May 6. If the plaintiffs are successful, the DOE would have > to try and recertify WIPP, a process that would likely take several years > and, theoretically at least, its end result would not be assured. > > Meanwhile, the DOE's Idaho National Engineering and > Environmental Lab and Rocky Flats Plant are gearing up to ship waste to > WIPP, and may try to argue before the Judge that somehow "national secuity" > demands putting nuclear trash on the road. > > Meanwhile, the state of New Mexico has gotten an > earful from its citizenry through the public comment process, and must > ponder the permit issues and make that decision. > -- Stay tuned. > > ++++ Please note that my email address has changed to > on 3/1/99 ++++ > > Marylia Kelley > Tri-Valley CAREs > (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment) > 2582 Old First Street > Livermore, CA USA 94550 > > - is our web site, please visit us there! > Our web site will remain at this location. Only my email address has > changed on 3/1/99. > > (925) 443-7148 - is our phone > (925) 443-0177 - is our fax > > Working for peace, justice and a healthy environment since 1983, Tri-Valley > CAREs has been a member of the nation-wide Alliance for Nuclear > Accountability in the U.S. since 1989, and is a co-founding member of the > international Abolition 2000 network for the elimination of nuclear > weapons. > > - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Stephen Young Subject: (abolition-usa) Securing Peace In Europe - International Conference Date: 13 Apr 1999 12:24:23 -0400 Dear Colleagues, We would like to invite you an international conference on "Securing Peace in Europe" on 22 April 1999 in Washington, DC. The agenda of the conference appears below. NATO's war in Kosovo may overshadow plans for a celebration of the Alliance's 50th anniversary this April in Washington. The NATO Summit, 23-25 April, will be forced to focus on the on-going crisis in the former Yugoslavia, rather than lauding the success of the Alliance. At the same time, NATO must establish its vision for the Alliance's role in European security. Profound changes in the region's security environment have challenged the Alliance and will alter the roles and responsibilities of the European countries for the 21st century. The role of nuclear weapons will be a particularly important issue. On 22 April 1999, the day before the NATO Summit begins, the Berlin Information-center for Transatlantic Security (BITS), the British American Security Information Council (BASIC), the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Lawyers Alliance for World Security (LAWS) will be hosting an international conference in Washington, DC, entitled "Securing Peace In Europe". The conference will be held a short distance from the NATO Summit at the Renaissance Washington DC Hotel, 999 Ninth Street, NW. The aim of the conference is to take an informed look at core aspects of the future of European Security and to discuss them with a transatlantic audience. For this purpose the conference will bring together distinguished experts from Western Europe, the United States and Russia. Please let us know whether you will be able to attend. Please reply via email to Stephen Young at syoung@basicint.org or to Peter Cross via telephone on 202-785 1266 or fax 202-387-6298. Yours sincerely Otfried Nassauer Director, BITS Daniel T. Plesch Director, BASIC Sascha Mueller Kraenner CEO, Heinrich Boell-Foundation Amb. Thomas Graham Jr, President, LAWS + + + + + Securing Peace in Europe International Conference April 22, 1999 Renaissance Washington, DC Hotel Auditorium 999 Ninth St NW, Washington DC Conference organizers and hosts: Berlin Information Center for Transatlantic Security – BITS British American Security Information Council – BASIC Lawyers Alliance for World Security – LAWS Heinrich Böll Foundation, Washington Office Agenda 8.30 Coffee and Pastries 9.00 Welcome Keynote Speeches: European Security Architecture for the 21st Century – Joschka Fischer, Foreign Minister, Federal Republic of Germany (invited) – Robert MacNamara, former US Secretary of Defense (invited) 10.00 Panel I: The Future Role of NATO in European Security Chaired by Amb. Jonathan Dean, Union of Concerned Scientists, United States – Gen. George Joulwan, former NATO SACEUR (invited) – Charles William Maynes, Eurasia Foundation, United States (invited) – Dr. Esther Brimmer, Carnegie Commission on Preventing Violent Conflict, United States – Admiral Sir James Eberle, former director of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) – Dardan Gashi, OSCE Special Advisor on Kosovo, Austria – Angelika Beer, Defense and Disarmament Spokesperson, Alliance 90/The Greens, MP, Germany (invited) 12.00 Buffet Lunch 13.00 Panel II: NATO - Nuclear Weapons, Arms Control and Proliferation Chaired by Dr. Jo Husbands, National Academy of Sciences, United States – Mr. Vladimir Iakimets, Russian Academy of Sciences (invited) – Otfried Nassauer, Director, Berlin Information-center for Transatlantic Security, Germany 15.00 Coffee Break 15.30 Panel III: NATO, Russia and the Future of European Security Chaired by: Daniel T. Plesch, Director, British American Security Information Council, United Kingdom – Dr. Dmitri Trenin, Deputy Director Carnegie Moscow Center, Russian Federation – Amb. Thomas Graham, President Lawyers Alliance for World Security, United States – Bruce Clark, The Economist – Alexis Chahtahtinsky, Head of NATO Information Office in Moscow – Dr. Prof. Egon Bahr, former German minister (invited) – Andreas Zumach, freelance journalist, Geneva 17.30 Final Remarks: The Future of European Security and the Future of Europe – Guest Speaker: Akis Tsochatzopoulos, Greek Defense Minister (invited) + + + + + Directions: The Renaissance Washington, at 999 Ninth St NW, is directly opposite the Washington Convention Center. The nearest metro stop Gallery Place/Chinatown. If you need additional directions, please contact Peter Cross on (202) 785-1266 or email him at: pcross@basicint.org. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Appeal by the Serbian NGOs Date: 13 Apr 1999 12:24:38 -0400 >Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 01:00:00 -0400 >Subject: Appeal by the Serbian NGOs >Cc: ippnw-deutschland@vlberlin.comlink.de, > abolition-caucus@igc.apc.org >From: cna@bih.net.ba (cna@bih.net.ba) > >Forwarded to: >abolition-europe >abolition-caucus >ippnw.campaign >ippnw-deutschland > >Sorry for those who receive this message repeatedly, but it is VERY >important. >Xanthe > >APPEAL BY THE SERBIAN NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS > > >Deeply disturbed by NATO destruction and the ordeal of Kosovo Albanians, > >we, the representatives of nongovernmental organizations and trade union > >"Nezavisnost" (Independence), strongly demand from all those responsible > >for this tragedy to immediately create ground for the renewal of the >peace process. > >The most powerful military, political and economic powers of the world >are for two weeks incessantly killing people and destroying not only >military but also civilian objects, blowing up bridges and rail tracks, >factories and heating plants, warehouses and basins... At the same time, > >in fear of the bombing campaign and military actions by the regime and >the KLA, hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanians are, in an >unprecedented exodus, forced to leave their devastated homes and look >for salvation in the tragedy and uncertainty of fleeing. > >It is obvious that this is a road to catastrophe, and the peaceful and >fair solution to the Kosovo problem through international mediation we >have supported for years, today seems more distant than ever. > >The past activities of our organizations in the field of >democratization, development of a civil society and acceptance of FR >Yugoslavia into all international institutions have been under constant >pressure and intimidation by the Serbian regime. > >We, as members of civil society associations have courageously and >nationally fought against war and nationalistic propaganda and in >support of human rights. We emphasize that we have always raised our >voices against the repression against Kosovo Albanians and demanded the >respect of their liberties and guarantees for their rights. We have also > >requested the return of the autonomy of Kosovo. We stress that the only >connection and cooperation of Serbs and Albanians during all these years > >has been preserved among civil society institutions. > >NATO military intervention has undermined all results we have achieved >and endangered the very survival of the civil sector in Serbia. > >Faced with the tragic situation we have found ourselves in, and in the >name of human ideas and values, as well as in accordance with all our >past activities, we are demanding: > >- immediate stop to the bombing campaign and all armed movements; >- resuming of the peace process with international mediation at the >regional Balkan and European level, as well as in the framework of the >United Nations; >- share of responsibility between the European Union and Russia and >their contribution to the peaceful solution of the crisis; >- end of the ethnic cleansing process and immediate return of all >refugees; >- support to the citizens of Montenegro to preserve peace and stability, > >solve serious consequences of the refugee catastrophe and resume with >the democratic processes that are underway; >- we demand that the Serbian and international media inform the public >in a professional manner and not spur media war, incite interethnic >hatred, create irrational public opinion and glorify force as the > >ultimate accomplishment of the human mind. > >We cannot meet these demands by ourselves. > >We expect from you to support our demands and in your initiatives and >actions help their implementation. > > >* Association of Citizens for Democracy, Social Justice and Support to >Trade Unions >* Belgrade Circle >* Center for Democracy and Free Elections >* Center for Transition to Democracy-ToD >* Civic Initiatives >* European Movement in Serbia >*Forum for Ethnic Relations, and Foundation for Peace and Crisis >Management >* Group 484 >* Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia >* Student Union of Serbia >* Union for Truth about Antifascist Resistance >* United Branch Trade Unions NEZAVISNOST >* VIN-Weekly Video News >* Women in Black >* Yu Lawyers Committee for Human Rights >* EKO Centar > >In Belgrade, April 6, 1999 > Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: WIPP Call to action Date: 13 Apr 1999 12:30:22 -0400 >Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 10:17:41 -0400 >Subject: WIPP Call to action >To: nirsnet@nirs.org >From: nirsnet@nirs.org (nirsnet@nirs.org) > >Here is a call to action in New Mexico and Colorado. If you received an >earlier version, please disregard it and use this one. Circulate as >widely as you like. Please consider what role you can play in this. >Nuclear waste is the Achilles heal of the nuclear industry. We can stop >it. I think now is the time. We can build a movement around WIPP. The >immediate significance is to stop a precedent-setting environmental >disaster in the making. >The larger significance has to do with ending nuclear bomb production >and >bringing a little more democracy into our common life. Dream and act! >I just published an op-ed on the alternative to WIPP. If you want a >copy >let me know, preferably by e-mail. > >PS: The following came yesterday from Scott Myers-Lipton, who teaches >at St Mary's College in Calif.: "I have read your letter--very >convincing. >As a student of the Civil Rights, I am well aware that when a colleague >and respected elder puts out "a call", the person "called" responds. Is >that what you are asking? If it is, I am prepared to respond to your >call. >Just tell me when and where to show up for duty." > >STOP WIPP > >HALT TRANSPORT OF PLUTONIUM-LADEN WASTE TO WIPP > >NO MORE DUMPING OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE IN THE ENVIRONMENT > >A CALL TO ACTION > >IF YOU OPPOSE PLUTONIUM IN THE ENVIRONMENT >YOU ARE NEEDED IN NEW MEXICO AND COLORADO NOW! > >* DOE has begun shipment of plutonium-laden waste from Los Alamos to >WIPP, >the world's first site for deep geologic disposal of rad waste. >* Plutonium remains radioactive for 240,000 years; one speck in the >body >may result in cancer, damage to the immune system, genetic defects. Any >quantity of this material in the environment constitutes a permanent >danger. >* Waste at WIPP may eventually contaminate surface soil and water. >* Over 35 years DOE intends to send 38,000 truckloads of >plutonium-laden >waste to WIPP -- in Colorado 2 to 3 shipments per day on I-25 for 35 >years >(2,500 from Rocky Flats; the rest from Idaho and Washington). One >accident >that breaches a container could permanently contaminate an area. >* The transport container has not been tested for extreme heat or >impact. >* WIPP's opening sets a precedent for the opening of Yucca Mountain. >* Some WIPP space is reserved for waste to be generated from future >bomb-making; one purpose of WIPP thus is to make continued bomb-making >possible. >* The waste intended for WIPP should be isolated from the environment >at >sites of generation in monitored, retrievable state-of-the art storage. >* This approach keeps options open and allows for a national dialogue >to >develop a scientifically credible, publicly acceptable nuclear waste >policy. > >YOU'RE NEEDED. GET NONVIOLENCE TRAINING. DO SUPPORT WORK. >PARTICIPATE IN DIRECT ACTION IN NEW MEXICO NOW. >PREPARE FOR ACTION ALONG ROUTE FROM COLO. & IDAHO LATER. > >IF YOU CAN'T TAKE ACTION, GIVE FUNDS AND TIME. > >NEXT TRUCKS TO WIPP FROM LOS ALAMOS: APRIL 8, 15, 22, 29. > >Trucks are now moving to WIPP from Los Alamos. Next they'll move from >Rocky Flats and Idaho National Lab, then from Hanford, Savannah River, >Livermore, Oak Ridge, and all the other sites. What's done now in New >Mexico can later be implemented elsewhere. > >For more information contact: >New Mexico WIPP Action, Santa Fe, 505-984-8321 (effective 4-8-99) >Rocky Mountain Peace & Justice Center, Boulder, 303-444-6981 (4-6-99) > >LeRoy Moore, Ph.D. >Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center >P. O. Box 1156, Boulder, Colorado 80306-1156 USA >Phone 303-444-6981; FAX 303-444-6523 >E-mail address effective March 1, 1999: leroymoore@earthlink.net > Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: US: Corporate Buyout of NATO Date: 13 Apr 1999 12:31:18 -0400 >Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 09:43:24 -0400 >Subject: US: Corporate Buyout of NATO >Priority: non-urgent >X-FC-MachineGenerated: true >To: wilpf-news@igc.apc.org >From: dcintern@juno.com (dcintern@juno.com) > >This article appeared in today's Washington Post. > >Kelly Barber, >Jeanette Rankin Intern >********************************************************* > >Count Corporate America Among NATO's Staunchest Allies > > By Tim Smart > Washington Post Staff Writer > Tuesday, April 13, 1999; Page E01=20 > >For many Washingtonians, the NATO military alliance's upcoming >50th-anniversary bash may end up being notable only for nightmare traffic >tie-ups. For a few companies, though, the summit could be the ultimate >marketing opportunity.=20 >A handful of top-drawer U.S. companies -- including heavyweights such as >Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. as well as upstarts such as >Nextel Communications Inc., a McLean-based wireless communications firm >-- will be the gathering's hosts and as such will get to showcase their >wares and schmooze with top military and political leaders from 44 >nations at events taking place throughout the District. > >A dozen companies have paid $250,000 apiece in cash or "in-kind" >contributions for the privilege of having their chief executives serve as >directors of the NATO summit's host committee. The group is a >private-sector support system raising $8 million to finance the April >23-25 event. > >While company representatives express disdain at the notion they will be >lobbying NATO officials for business, many of the firms on the host >committee sell precisely the kinds of products most in demand by the >emerging economies of Eastern and Central Europe -- which include NATO's >newest members and some prospective additions. Ameritech, for instance, >is interested in running international phone networks. United >Technologies Corp. views emerging or developing countries as a big >potential market for its Otis elevators and Carrier air-conditioning and >heating units. Both Ford and GM have auto plants throughout Europe. Their >target audience? Heads of state and key cabinet ministers from the 19 >NATO members, accompanied by leaders from 25 nations that make up the >Partnership for Peace, countries with aspirations to join the alliance. >The guests will be accessible for the kind of low-key lobbying and wining >and dining customary at such international gatherings. About 1,700 >dignitaries are expected to attend -- along with a media contingent of >3,000. > > "The business community was in it from Day One," said Alan John Blinken, >a former U.S. ambassador to Belgium and investment banker who is heading >the host committee. "In a lot of these cases, they came to us -- we >didn't solicit them." > > A second tier of firms, including Washington powerhouse law and lobbying >firms Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, and Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, >McPherson and Hand, are members of the committee. Other companies, such >as Eastman Kodak Co. and missile manufacturer Raytheon Co., are >participating but taking a less public role. And more are still being >courted. "They're actually wooing our CEO right now," said Gerald Robbins >of 3Com Corp.'s Washington office. The communications networking company >has a contract with NATO to supply equipment for the military alliance's >AWACS surveillance and control planes that are being flown over Kosovo. >"NATO is a big customer," Robbins said. > >Some host committee members, including Nextel, also hope to attract the >attention of top U.S. government officials at the summit. The company is >providing almost 2,000 of Motorola Inc.'s I-1000 combination cell phone >and two-way radios to visiting foreign dignitaries and members of the >State Department's summit staff. Four hundred of the $299 phones will be >embossed with a special anniversary emblem. > >Hungary, one of NATO's three newest members, held a reception last week >at its embassy here, where Nextel's general manager, Nick Sample, proudly >displayed one of the phones. Beaming, he told of how the product had >recently been added to the General Services Administration's list of >approved merchandise, allowing government purchasing officers to order >the wireless communications gear. Having Nextel phones widely available >to high-level bureaucrats as well as foreign heads of state is the kind >of marketing that can only be labeled as priceless. > >For the guests, it's free, as Nextel is providing the phones gratis. >"We've had quite a few inquiries already from the FBI, the State >Department and the CIA," Sample said. > >Corporate support for the NATO summit is an outgrowth of the active role >many U.S. companies, particularly defense contractors such as Lockheed >Martin Corp. of Bethesda, have played in the move to enlarge NATO byond >its traditional U.S.-Western Europe axis. U.S. defense companies lobbied >hard in Congress in recent years to admit the former Soviet satellites >Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. > >"Companies like Lockheed Martin, for example, and all of them were active >with me overseas," said former congressman Gerald B.H. Solomon, who >headed a House task force appointed by former House speaker Newt Gingrich >to push the membership issue. > >Solomon, now a private lobbyist, said he traveled throughout Eastern and >Central Europe spreading the message that if the United States was going >to be NATO's principal military power, supplying most of its high-tech >weaponry, then U.S. defense firms should receive contracts to rearm the >former Soviet states. > >"We wanted them to buy American," Solomon said. > >Corporate representatives say private-sector underwriting of an >international meeting for sovereign nations is standard business practice >these days, though the NATO event is a far bigger draw than other >international get-togethers. > >"This is a very unique beast," said Sally Painter, a lobbyist for Tenneco >Inc. on leave from the auto parts and packaging conglomerate while >serving as chief operating officer of the host committee. Painter, >previously a top aide to then-commerce secretary Ronald H. Brown, was >involved in international business development for Tenneco. "These are >global corporations that understand the role stability plays with >investment. There's no quid pro quo at all." > >Jim Christy, vice president of government relations for TRW Inc., said it >makes sense for companies, rather than the member nations, to foot the >bill for such events. > >"Whether it's the [Group of Seven] summit in Denver or the Summit of the >Americas in Miami, there are not government funds available," Christy >said, noting that TRW Chairman Joseph Gorman was personally approached by >Blinken on behalf of the host committee. > >"My chairman is public-spirited and agreed to do so," Christy said. > >TRW, though it has no contracts to provide products to NATO, is one of a >handful of companies providing critical communications and defense >supplies to the U.S. military. Along with donating $250,000 in cash to >the summit, TRW is developing its World Wide Web site. > >"We were hit up for the Summit of the Americas" Christy said, adding that >TRW did not contribute money for the meeting but built the summit's Web >site for free. > >Blinken said that the expansion of NATO and the pro-Western tilt of >countries formerly tied to the Soviet Union have created "major new >trading partners" for the United States but that today the interest in >new markets comes not only from arms merchants but also from a variety of >technology firms, including Ameritech Corp., Lucent Technologies Inc. and >Nextel. > >"Most of the companies are not companies you would have expected in the >old day, companies selling bombs and missiles, what have you," Blinken >said. "You've got communications companies." > >Yet a good number of the firms on the host committee sell weaponry. >Although the economic crisis that spread throughout Asia and other parts >of the world last summer has somewhat cooled their enthusiasm, new NATO >members such as Poland and other countries such as Turkey are viewed as >prime candidates for U.S. weapons. Poland has been considering new >fighter jets from either Lockheed or Boeing Co. > >TRW's Christy said the summit was low on the radar of most companies just >a couple of months ago, when the events committee made its first >solicitations. But the fighting in Yugoslavia has focused attention on >the gathering. > >"All of a sudden," he said, "now this is beginning to burnish a little >into the consciousness." > >NATO Access > >Here are the 12 companies that have paid $250,000 to have an executive >(in parentheses) serve as one of the directors on the NATO summit's host >committee: > > Ameritech (Richard Notebaert) > DaimlerChrysler (Robert Liberatore) > Boeing (Christopher W. Hansen) > Ford Motor (Jacques A. Nasser) > General Motors (George A. Peapples) > Honeywell (Michael R. Bonsignore) > Lucent Technologies (Richard A. McGinn) > Motorola (Arnold Brenner) > Nextel Communications (Daniel F. Akerson) > SBC Communications (Edward E. Whitacre Jr.) > TRW (Joseph Gorman) > United Technologies (George David) > > SOURCE: NATO Anniversary Summit Host Committee=20 > >=A9 Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company >___________________________________________________________________ >You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. >Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html >or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] > =20 Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities Bus Tour Date: 13 Apr 1999 13:29:29 -0400 >Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 18:22:19 -0400 >Subject: Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities Bus Tour >Priority: non-urgent >X-FC-MachineGenerated: true >To: budgetgroups@lyris.ombwatch.org >X-FC-Forwarded-From: carterm@ombwatch.org >From: budgetgroups@lyris.ombwatch.org (budgetgroups@lyris.ombwatch.org) > > >Following is information on Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities >(BLSP), which is a non-profit organization of 400+ business >executives and senior military advisers working to increase >domestic investment. BLSP is planning a national bus tour, >starting in Washington DC on April 14th, that will deliver >presentations on the need for increased domestic investment. The >tour schedule follows, along with a form to request a stop in your >community and general information on BLSP. For more >information, please see the BLSP web site at >. >--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- > >Business Leaders, including Ben and Jerry's Co-Founder Ben >Cohen, and Federal Budget Analysts to Launch National Bus Tour >About Federal Spending > >Kickoff on the Mall to Feature the Money-Covered "U-Slice-the-Pie" >Bus, a 15-Foot-High Infant Mortality Baby, and More > >What: In an effort to educate Americans about the local impact of >federal spending choices, Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities >and the National Priorities Project will launch their national "U Slice >the Pie" bus tour, which will tour the nation for the next three years. > >At each stop on the tour, bus staff--using bright inflatable >sculptures and other props--will lead citizens through a theatrical >and educational presentation, including specific local data, of the >impacts of federal spending priorities in their community. >Information on 55 U.S. cities and every state will be available at the >news conference. > >A U Slice the Pie performance, complete with the unique props will >follow the event. > >Where: The National Mall in Washington, DC, West Side of >Third St, NW between Madison and Jefferson. > >When: The day before Tax Day, April 14, 12 Noon. > >Who: Ben Cohen, Co-founder of Ben & Jerry's, President Business >Leadersfor Sensible Priorities (BLSP). Greg Speeter, Executive >Director, the National Priorities Project (NPP). > >There will also be a retired military officer and representatives from >groups co-sponsoring the bus tour at the event. > >For more information contact: Stacy Roth (NPP) at (413) 584- >9556; or Andrew Greenblatt (BLSP) at (212) 964-1109 ext. 24 > > > >BUSINESS LEADERS FOR SENSIBLE PRIORITIES PRESENTS: > THE "U SLICE THE PIE" BUS TOUR > > WHO ARE WE? > >Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities is a national, non-profit >organization of 400+ business executives and senior military >advisers. Founded by Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's, B.L.S.P. >includes the CEO's of Hasbro, Phillips-VanHeusen, Newman's >Own, Scientific American and other major corporations. > > WHAT IS OUR GOAL? > >B.L.S.P.'s goal is to increase public investments in community >programs that address education, health care and children's needs >by shifting $40 billion annually from the Pentagon budget. > > WHAT IS OUR GAME PLAN? > >B.L.S.P. will use creative marketing techniques to spread this >message, including a bus tour that will travel the country delivering >informative and entertaining presentations on budget priorities. The >crew is scheduled to hit the road on April 15th in Washington, D.C. >and wrap up the first tour in November. > >The bus will travel to five cities each week, performing two shows in >each. The oral presentation will consist of a "U Slice the Pie" >exercise where the audience will learn how our federal budget "pie" >currently is allocated and then participate in an exercise to >reallocate that budget according to their local needs. The results >of these presentations will be shared with the media. Each >presentation will be non-partisan, objective and inclusive so that >people of all political leanings can hear our message. > >The bus tour will be a central facet of the B.L.S.P. campaign, >allowing us to take our agenda into communities large and small >across the country. It is also designed to be a media event and >generate local coverage that will reach a larger audience. >Combined with the inflatable billboard sculptures it carries and an >eye-catching paint-job, the bus is designed to provide both still and >video photo opportunities-as well as substantive content for a local >news story, feature story and national political story. We will >target the bus tour's audiences to reach key constituencies, before >crowds ranging from 50-100 to larger conferences or meetings. > > WHERE WILL THE BUS BE GOING? > >While the Bus Tour schedule is still fluid, the tour will kick off at a >Washington, D.C. press conference on April 14th (the day before >Tax Day). Other dates we are working to build into our schedule >include: the week ending 4/23/99 -- in Iowa; May 1st -- the >Children's Defense Fund National Conference in Houston, Texas; >June 1st -- the "Stand for Children" event in San Francisco. We >are looking for other events and conferences, as well as some >smaller local venues. > >CONTACT US TO SCHEDULE A BUS STOP IN YOUR >COMMUNITY: > >Dave Nelson / Bus Tour Director >1016 North 4th Street >Cottonwood, Arizona 86326 >Phone: (520) 649-9328 >Fax: (520) 649-9332 >Email: dave@businessleaders.org > >SCHEDULE REQUEST FORM > > >Name of group or >organization:_________________________________________ > >Contact >name:_________________________________________________ > >Mailing >Address:______________________________________________ > >______________________________________________________ > >Day Phone:_________________________ > >Evening phone:_____________________ > >Fax #:_____________________________ > >Email address:_____________________________ > >Requested >date(s):_____________________________________________ > >Location of >event:______________________________________________ > >_______________________________________ >(Street, town/city, state/zip) > >Time of event:_______________a.m. / p.m. (circle one) > >Sponsoring >organization:________________________________________ > >Approximate # of >attendees:_____________________________________ > >Please summarize the theme(s) or message(s) that you hope to >communicate or reinforce through your event(s) and how we might >be able to add to your program. (Attach extra paper if necessary >and please indicate when you need a commitment by. Also >include any additional information such as flyers or brochures >about your event or organization. Thank You!!) > >For more information about our campaign, visit our Web sites: >www.businessleaders.org www.moveourmoney.org > > >BUSINESS LEADERS FOR SENSIBLE PRIORITIES > GOALS AND OBJECTIVES > > * 3-year marketing and public relations campaign to redefine the >national debate on federal spending priorities. > > * Reductions in unnecessary Cold War-era military spending; >investing the savings in education, health and human needs here at >home. Our military advisors, including distinguished retired >admirals and generals, concur that the $271 billion military budget >can be cut 15% (or $40 billion annually) while maintaining the >world's strongest armed forces. > > WHAT'S NEW ABOUT THIS CAMPAIGN > > * The membership of Business Leaders is novel, as are our >techniques. The public believes business people understand >budgeting and investing scarce resources wisely. That's why we >believe that business leaders will be an effective new voice in the >debate over federal spending priorities. > > * Unlike past efforts to cut unnecessary military spending, this one >is designed as a sustained, strategic, comprehensive campaign >with a broad audience and a specific set of goals. > > * Through professional market research, public relations and paid >advertising, Business Leaders will market this issue to the >American public - giving voice to the people's beliefs and mobilizing >Americans to action. > > * The focus will not be on Washington, D.C., but on the public who >will see and hear our campaign in paid print, radio and television >advertising; in news stories; on radio and television talk shows; in >cartoons; in the popular culture of song, art, film and comedy; on >the Internet; via a coordinated college campus campaign and >through national membership organizations that share our vision. > > * These activities will create a national discussion of our >government's spending priorities and offer mobilized citizens >opportunities to make their voices heard to their elected >representatives. > > * With the traction of an educated and mobilized public, we will >take the campaign to Congress in 2001. >To collaborate with Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, return >the Menu for Collaboration (below) or contact Virginia Witt, Director >of Constituency Group Relations, (202)543-1604 (ph) (202)543- >2565 (fax) or virginia@businessleaders.org >Visit our NEW websites: www.businessleaders.org and >www.moveourmoney.org > > > BUSINESS LEADERS FOR SENSIBLE PRIORITIES (BLSP): > HOW YOUR ORGANIZATION CAN GET INVOLVED > >BLSP is a national non-profit public education organization >comprised of business leaders and military advisors, focused on >the issue of federal budget priorities. We invite your organization to >collaborate with us. This is a list of resources we can provide at >your request, tailored to your organization's issues and >constituency. Please check the items you are interested in and >return this form to Virginia Witt, Director of Constituency Group >Relations, at virginia@businessleaders.org or fax (202/543-2565) or >by mail (BLSP, 426 C Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002). We >will follow up. Thank you. > >__List my organization as a "National Collaborating Organization" >of BLSP. > >Please provide me with the following BLSP resources: > >__Draft Policy Resolution on shifting $40 billion in federal >investment from excess military spending to domestic investment. > The language of the resolution can be adapted to your >organization's needs and issue focus. Deadline____________ > >__Sample Newsletter Article tailored to your membership >addressing federal budget priorities and the BLSP campaign. > >Publication______________________ Deadline_______ >Length of Article _______ > > >__ Graphic Box Illustrating Budget Tradeoffs in your issue area (for >newsletters) >Publication Name _________________________ >Deadline_________ > > >__ Graphic Web Site "Banner Ad" providing direct link between >your group's web site and BLSP web site on budget priorities -- >www.businessleaders.org > > >My organization is interested in exploring the following collaborative >activities: > >__ Partnering with BLSP's "You Slice the Pie" National Bus Tour >on budget priorities, which kicks off April 15, 1999 in Washington, >D.C. > >__ Co-Authored Opinion Article on budget priorities by your >organization's CEO and a BLSP member CEO. > >__ A Presentation by a BLSP CEO or senior military expert at your >organization's national convention, conference or event. Date and >location____________________ > >__ Use of BLSP television or print advertising or public relations >team in spotlighting a joint message around budget priorities. > >Contact for Follow-up at Your Organization > >(Name)___________________(Title)_______________ > >(Org.)_____________________ > >(E-Mail) __________________ > >(Ph)________________(Fax)____________________ > > > > >--- >You are currently subscribed to budgetgroups as: [aslater@gracelinks.org] >To unsubscribe, forward this message to >leave-budgetgroups-5336Y@lyris.ombwatch.org > Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) LA Times on Nuclear War Danger Date: 13 Apr 1999 10:15:37 -0700 -----Original Message----- http://www.kreative.net/carolmoore/C&C-news.html > Los Angeles Times > 4/13/99 > > Cold War's End Leaves Danger of Nuclear War > Russia's disintegration threatens our security more by inadvertence than by > design. > By ROBERT SCHEER > > Back in the days of the Bush administration, Gen. Lee Butler, commander of > the Strategic Air Command, would once a month go through a practice phone > conversation with the White House concerning the end of the world. > > "Gen. Butler, what is your recommendation?" the Bush stand-in would ask > upon receiving an alert from NORAD that the Soviets had launched a nuclear > strike against the United States. Butler had to answer fast, because, in a > real attack, the president would have had only 12 minutes to decide whether > to launch thousands of nuclear missiles in retaliation. > > "Use them or lose them" would be the refrain running through Butler's > brain, well-versed in elegant nuclear deterrence theories of ladders of > escalation. "I had to say the words recommending the death warrant of tens > of millions of people, of civilization--20,000 weapons on both sides > exploding within 12 hours--knowing the planet can't withstand that." > > It still can't. Butler, a 33-year military veteran who rose to be > director of strategic plans and policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is > retired now, and the Soviet Union is but a memory. Yet what haunts him, and > what occasioned his rare willingness to be interviewed, is that the Cold > War's end has increased, not decreased, the prospect of accidental nuclear > war. > > Twenty-thousand nuclear weapons left over from the Cold War still stand > poised for launching, and the MAD doctrine that guided them is very much in > force. Neither the U.S. nor Russia has abandoned nuclear war fighting as the > cornerstone of their respective national defense policies. "We still target > them with nuclear weapons on hair-trigger alert," Butler observed. "The > world truly has been transformed, but what has not been transformed is our > thinking about it." > > Russia's political and economic disintegration now threatens our > security more by inadvertence than by design, prompting key Cold War > military establishment veterans like Butler to sound the alarm: > > "The Russian command and early warning system is in a state of great > decline; about two-thirds of the satellites they relied on for early warning > capability are inactive or failing. They're experiencing false alarms now on > almost a routine basis, and I shudder to think about the morale and > discipline of their rocket forces. There are worrisome aspects to all of > that. That's why people like myself are so puzzled and dismayed that our > government won't even address the problem." > > Addressing the problem requires bold leadership on nuclear disarmament > that's been sadly lacking in the Clinton years. There have been some > cosmetic arrangements with the Russians as to nuclear safety and targeting > issues but no real follow-up on arms control measures aggressively pursued > by George Bush. Give credit where due: Bush recognized that the end of the > Cold War permitted--nay, mandated--that the U.S. set an example by reducing > the size and lowering the alert status of its nuclear force. > > As Butler recalls, "The single most important arms controls were George > Bush's unilateral measures back in 1991, which took all of the tactical > nuclear weapons off the ships and brought many back from Europe, took the > bombers off alert and accelerated the retirement of the Minuteman II force. > And Mikhail Gorbachev followed suit. It's ironic that today we have a > Republican Congress that thwarts arms control progress, and yet it was a > Republican administration that really moved the ball down the field." > > Clinton has never been very interested in nuclear disarmament, and > these days seems bent on alarming the Russian leadership by expanding NATO's > membership and military role in Eastern Europe, including a NATO-led war > against Russia's neighbor, Yugoslavia. This has strengthened the hand of > hard-line communists and nationalists who control the Duma, undermining > chances for nuclear arms control progress. Those elements also point to > Clinton's endorsement of the harebrained effort to revive the "star wars" > Strategic Defense Initiative as further evidence that the U.S. is not > committed to arms control. > > Boris Yeltsin has his flaws, but humiliating him and undermining more > moderate forces in Russia is the path of disaster. In 1995, Yeltsin was > awakened in the middle of the night because one branch of his crumbling > military had failed to inform another of prior knowledge of a Norwegian > rocket launch, which they confused with a U.S. Trident missile. Fortunately, > this error was corrected before Yeltsin's 12 minutes of decision-making > passed. No wonder Butler is concerned. > - - - > Robert Scheer Is a Times Contributing Editor. ---------------- Global Emergency Alert Response http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000 ********************************************************* gear2000@lightspeed.net GENERAL AGENCY SERVICES David Crockett Williams 661-822-3309 20411 Steeple Court, Tehachapi CA 93561 USA ********************************************************* The Global Peace Walk 1999-2000 1999: 22APR Taos, NM, ---> Santa Fe 26APR 2000: 15JAN San Francisco --> New York 24OCT 19SEP* Washington, DC, Ceremony Rededicating The Washington Monument as a Symbol of Peace. *3rd Tuesday of September is annual opening of UN General Assembly & International Day of Peace October 24th is United Nations Day "GLOBAL PEACE NOW!" Global Peace Zone2000 Remove the scourge of war from future generations http://www.egroups.com/list/global-peace-walk FOR ONE HUMAN FAMILY: Love All, Serve All *DC date subject to change by May 1, 1999 - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Deadline for Supplemental Sign-on Letter Date: 14 Apr 1999 11:06:43 -0400 >Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 09:57:48 -0400 >Subject: Deadline for Supplemental Sign-on Letter >Priority: non-urgent >X-FC-MachineGenerated: true >To: chn2@lyris.ombwatch.org >X-FC-Forwarded-From: chn@chn.org >From: chn2@lyris.ombwatch.org (chn2@lyris.ombwatch.org) > >The deadline for last minute sign-ons for the FY 1999 >supplemental spending bill letter is COB today, April 14. > >The letter and list of organizations that have signed on thus far >can be found below. > >- Patrick Lester, CHN > > > > >April 14, 1999 > > > >Dear Conferee: > >We, the undersigned organizations, urge you to drop the offsets >affecting low-income and other vulnerable populations that are >contained in the Senate's version of the FY 1999 supplemental >spending bill. Specifically, we ask that you drop proposed budget >authority cuts affecting Section 8 housing, the food stamp >program, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). > >Today, one in five children in America lives in poverty, as >opposed to one in seven 25 years ago. The Census Bureau reports >that 34 million Americans are moderately or severely hungry or in >families so economically marginal that parents are taking steps >like skipping meals so children can eat. More than five million >families pay over half their incomes for housing, leaving little >or no income for other basic needs like food and health care. >Given the urgent needs of so many people in this country, there >is simply no valid justification for cuts targeting low-income >and vulnerable populations. Funds needed by America's poor must >not be diverted to other purposes in this supplemental >appropriation, or at any other point in the budget process. > >While emergency spending is often necessary, as in the case of >assistance to victims of Hurricane Mitch, it is not necessary for >Congress to offset such spending with cuts in vital domestic >programs. We urge you to drop these offsets from the final >emergency spending package that you send to the full House and >Senate for their consideration. > >Sincerely, > > > >Alliance for Children and Families >American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees >American Ethical Union, Washington Ethical Action Office >American Friends Service Committee >American Public Health Association >The Arc >Bread for the World >Campaign for America's Future >Center for Community Change >Center for Law and Social Policy >Center for Women Policy Studies >Children's Defense Fund >The Children's Foundation >Child Welfare League of America >Christian Children's Fund >Church Women United >Coalition on Human Needs >Communications Workers of America >Food Research and Action Center >Friends Committee on National Legislation >Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) >Jesuit Conference >Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs, ELCA >McAuley Institute >National Alliance to End Homelessness >National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) >National Association for the Advancement of Colored People >(NAACP) >National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems >National Association of WIC Directors >National Council of La Raza >National Health Care for the Homeless Council >National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition >National Low Income Housing Coalition >National Neighborhood Coalition >National Priorities Project >National Puerto Rican Coalition >National Women's Law Center >NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby >NISH >OMB Watch >RESULTS >Surface Transportation Policy Project >United Church of Christ, Office for Church in Society >Unitarian Universalist Service Committee >Volunteers of America >WAND >Welfare Law Center >Wider Opportunities for Women > >48 > >----------------------------------------------------------------- >Patrick W. Lester >Senior Program Associate >Coalition on Human Needs >1700 K Street, NW >Suite 1150 >Washington, DC 20006 > >Phone: 202-736-5886 >Fax: 202-785-0791 >Email: pwlester@chn.org > > > >---- >You are currently subscribed to chn2 as: aslater@gracelinks.org >To subscribe or unsubscribe contact Michele Friedman at >. If you are subscribing please indicate your name, >organization, phone, fax and email address. > Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Meatpackers to test-market irradiated hamburger meat Date: 14 Apr 1999 11:10:06 -0400 As if we didn't have enough nuclear waste already!! >Meatpackers to test-market irradiated hamburger meat > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Meatpackers are hoping that America is ready for beef >basted in gamma rays as they prepare to sell irradiated meat to the >public. > >Interest in irradiation, used to curb food-borne illnesses, has grown >since >recent contamination scares, including last summer's recall of 25 million >pounds of ground beef feared contaminated with E. coli bacteria. > >The process has been used for years on limited amounts of produce, spices >and >poultry, but the irradiation of red meat was just approved by the federal >government in February. > >Now, meatpacking giants IBP Inc and Excel Corp. are planning for the first >test-marketing of irradiated ground beef later this year or early next >year, >after the government approves rules governing meat irradiation. > >``We'll have to let people know that the technology is safe and that if >they're looking for that added measure of safety, they may very well want >to >try this,'' Excel spokesman Mark Klein said Tuesday. > >``I've tasted it,'' he said. ``I couldn't tell the difference between the >treated and untreated'' beef. > >During irradiation, meat is subjected to low-level doses of gamma rays or >electron beams. > >Scientists agree the process is safe in food. But antinuclear groups have >opposed the procedure if it involves gamma rays and some health advocates >worry that using irradiation might reduce other safety techniques such as >proper handling and plant sanitation. > >Even irradiated meat is subject to contamination if it is mishandled after >treatment. > >IBP and Excel said they will test-market beef irradiated by a system being >built in Sioux City, Iowa. They have not identified the test markets, but >the >meat will have to be labeled as having been irradiated. > >Titan Corp. of San Diego will build and operate the so-called ``E-beam >system,'' which is specifically designed to electronically irradiate >ground >beef, Titan president and chief executive office Gene W. Ray said. The >system >will only use electron beams. > >Ray believes the electron beam process is superior to gamma ray >irradiation >because the technology is easier and cheaper to implement. Both, he said, >are >equally safe. > >``It's as safe eating food that has been pasteurized with radiation as it >is >eating food that has been cooked with microwave ovens,'' he said. ``And we >do >that all the time.'' > > > >Copyright 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may >not >be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. > Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) [Fwd: [SAJA] Satis Nambiar condemns NATO aggression] Date: 14 Apr 1999 12:03:52 -0400 >Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 11:50:23 -0400 >Subject: [Fwd: [SAJA] Satis Nambiar condemns NATO aggression] >To: aslater@gracelinks.org >From: assar@york.cuny.edu (assar@york.cuny.edu) > >Alice: > >FYI > >Amardeep Assar >----------------------------------------- >Nambiar: NATO is Guilty for Humanitarian Disaster > April 13, 1999 > > New Delhi, April 13, 1999 (Tanjug) - Indian > general Satis Nambiar, who was the > commander of UN peace forces in Bosnia in > 1992 and 1993, condemned criminal NATO > aggression on Yugoslavia saying that western > military alliance is responsible for humanitarian > disaster. > > General Nambiar also said that NATO action > against sovereign and non-aligned Yugoslavia > is a violation of UN charter and that it presents > a threat to world peace. > > Reflecting on his engagement in peace forces, Nambiar >explained that his > withdrawal from Bosnia mostly resulted from the fact >that NATO there > started taking the leading role instead of the UN. > > "I wasn't prepared to stay there under those >circumstances. NATO was > deeply involved and conducted military operations in >Bosnia under the > cover of UN, which resulted in disapproval of many >officers," he said. > > Nambiar pointed out that NATO intervention raises >many >questions > regarding India and developing countries, because it >designates many > dangers, in the first place, humanitarian one. > > Stressing that his observations are based on his >personal experience, > Indian general warned about the destructive effects >of >western media that > are persistently defending all the actions of their >countries. > > "Since the world can watch only reports from CNN and >BBC, and the > press-conferences from NATO briefings, it is clear >that West is trying to > blame Yugoslavia for everything. From my own >experience in Bosnia I > can tell you that the mayor objective of western >electronic media is to > present only political views of their governments. >Let's not delude > ourselves with the freedom of media in "the greatest >democracy of the > world", said Nambiar. > > They are doing it now too, Nambiar says, persistently >showing pictures of > Albanian refugees in order to accuse Yugoslavia >although it is obvious that > NATO is responsible for that, or actually the >persistent bombing of > western alliance forces. > > "While the world grieves over 'innocent Albanians' no >one pays attention > to Serbian refugees from Croatia," says Nambiar >adding >that NATO > carries most of the responsibility for humanitarian >disaster on Kosmet, > while the rest of the world is responsible in as much >as it "doesn't raise its > voice against this unilateral military intervention." > > "Pressure on Yugoslavia to sign the draft of the >agreement in Rambouillet > under the threat of bombs is a violation of Vienna >convention," says > Nambiar. > > Asking the question - where does this lead >international affairs, Nambiar > says that the perspective "at least for the shorter >period is gloomy" > because UN are "weak and inefficient" and the western >world, led by > America insists on "imposing its norms" to the rest >of >the world. > > "Sovereignty and territorial integrity are no longer >sacred, because > secessionist movements in the world initiated by >terrorist activities are > becoming a formula for the destruction and breaking >up >of sovereign > states," says Nambiar. > > He stressed that US citizens and NATO members are >responsible for > what their leaders are doing, adding that he believes >people "will sooner > or later force their governments to reconsider their >policy and regard > world values with more responsibility". > > > > > >-------------------------------- >This is the SAJA discussion list. Subscription and help requests >should be sent to: saja-owner@jrn.columbia.edu. > Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: News: Cdn. Senate calls for Nuclear Review at NATO Summit Date: 14 Apr 1999 13:53:38 -0400 >Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 11:23:29 -0400 >Subject: News: Cdn. Senate calls for Nuclear Review at NATO Summit >Priority: non-urgent >X-FC-MachineGenerated: true >To: abolition@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca, cnanw@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca, > mashford@uvic.ca, abolition-caucus@igc.org, > sfp@physics.utoronto.ca >X-FC-Forwarded-From: delong@nucleus.com >From: abolition@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca (abolition@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca) > >Friends, >I am distributing this on behalf of Doug Roche. Kindly distribute >through other listservers. And congratulations and thanks to you Doug! > >Bev Delong, Canadian Network to Abolish Nuclear Weapons > >. >PRESS RELEASE > > On April 13, 1999, the Senate of Canada unanimously adopted >Motion >No. 128, introduced by Senator Douglas Roche, without a vote. The >Motion >states: > "That the Senate recommend that the Government of Canada > >urge NATO to begin a review of its nuclear weapons policies at >the Summit Meeting of NATO on April 23 to 25, 1999."In speaking during >the debate on the Motion in the Senate on March 23rd >Senator Roche indicated that at the upcoming NATO Summit three important > >documents will be presented: a new Strategic Concept; a Communiqu=E9 that > >would present NATO's policy agenda; and a vision statement on NATO's >future >purpose and mission. Indisputably, "NATO is the greatest military >alliance >in the history of the world and it is now about to celebrate its >fiftieth >anniversary. Canada has consistently made a great contribution over the > >years and thus it is perfectly appropriate for Canada, as an important >member of NATO, to press for this review." > >"The point at issue is that nuclear weapons in NATO have lost their >military >value and are being kept for their political value." > >The intention of the Motion is that leaders will instigate a review of >nuclear weapons policies at the time of the summit. > >Senator Douglas Roche, O.C. >Tel: (613) 943-9559 >Fax (613)943-9561 >Email: roched@sen.parl.gc.ca > =20 Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) Fw: Wire: Will NATO Hit Serb Nukes?? Date: 14 Apr 1999 11:20:07 -0700 -----Original Message----- >http://news.stocksmartpro.com/ss-news/CX1640756.html > >Wednesday April 14, 8:14 AM (EST) > >Yeltsin worried at possible ecological disaster in Balkans. > > >MOSCOW, April 14 (Itar-Tass) - President Boris Yeltsin worried over a >possibility of an ecological disaster in the >Balkans as a result of NATO air raids on Yugoslavia, Itar-Tass learned >on Wednesday from presidential press >secretary Dmitry Yakushkin. > >He explained Yeltsin's anxiety by the fact that two research nuclear >reactors are located close to Belgrade, while >several nuclear power plants operate around Yugoslavia. > >"Assessments by experts are very disquieting: air raids can entail a >fallout not only for Balkan but also for other >European countries bordering on the conflict zone," the press secretary >said. > >He noted that this problem was discussed by the president as well as >secretary of the Russian Security Council and >director of the Federal Security Service Vladimir Putin at their meeting >on Tuesday. > >"The president is now very concerned over a possibility of an ecological >disaster in the Balkans in connection with >the NATO strikes," Yakushkin continued. He noted that the threat of an >ecological disaster in the Balkans under the >influence of the NATO strikes is "one of new aspects of the situation in >the Balkans which is now studied by the >Russian president". > >bur/leb > > - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DavidMcR@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) Satis Nambiar condemns NATO aggression Date: 14 Apr 1999 14:31:27 EDT In a message dated 4/14/99 12:05:44 PM Eastern Daylight Time, aslater@gracelinks.org writes: << Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 11:50:23 -0400 >Subject: [Fwd: [SAJA] Satis Nambiar condemns NATO aggression] >To: aslater@gracelinks.org >From: assar@york.cuny.edu (assar@york.cuny.edu) > >Alice: > >FYI > >Amardeep Assar >----------------------------------------- >Nambiar: NATO is Guilty for Humanitarian Disaster > April 13, 1999 > > New Delhi, April 13, 1999 (Tanjug) - Indian > general Satis Nambiar, who was the > commander of UN peace forces in Bosnia in > 1992 and 1993, condemned criminal NATO > aggression on Yugoslavia saying that western > military alliance is responsible for humanitarian > disaster. > > General Nambiar also said that NATO action > against sovereign and non-aligned Yugoslavia > is a violation of UN charter and that it presents > a threat to world peace. > > Reflecting on his engagement in peace forces, Nambiar >explained that his > withdrawal from Bosnia mostly resulted from the fact >that NATO there > started taking the leading role instead of the UN. > > "I wasn't prepared to stay there under those >circumstances. NATO was > deeply involved and conducted military operations in >Bosnia under the > cover of UN, which resulted in disapproval of many >officers," he said. > > Nambiar pointed out that NATO intervention raises >many >questions > regarding India and developing countries, because it >designates many > dangers, in the first place, humanitarian one. > > Stressing that his observations are based on his >personal experience, > Indian general warned about the destructive effects >of >western media that > are persistently defending all the actions of their >countries. > > "Since the world can watch only reports from CNN and >BBC, and the > press-conferences from NATO briefings, it is clear >that West is trying to > blame Yugoslavia for everything. From my own >experience in Bosnia I > can tell you that the mayor objective of western >electronic media is to > present only political views of their governments. >Let's not delude > ourselves with the freedom of media in "the greatest >democracy of the > world", said Nambiar. > > They are doing it now too, Nambiar says, persistently >showing pictures of > Albanian refugees in order to accuse Yugoslavia >although it is obvious that > NATO is responsible for that, or actually the >persistent bombing of > western alliance forces. > > "While the world grieves over 'innocent Albanians' no >one pays attention > to Serbian refugees from Croatia," says Nambiar >adding >that NATO > carries most of the responsibility for humanitarian >disaster on Kosmet, > while the rest of the world is responsible in as much >as it "doesn't raise its > voice against this unilateral military intervention." > > "Pressure on Yugoslavia to sign the draft of the >agreement in Rambouillet > under the threat of bombs is a violation of Vienna >convention," says > Nambiar. > > Asking the question - where does this lead >international affairs, Nambiar > says that the perspective "at least for the shorter >period is gloomy" > because UN are "weak and inefficient" and the western >world, led by > America insists on "imposing its norms" to the rest >of >the world. > > "Sovereignty and territorial integrity are no longer >sacred, because > secessionist movements in the world initiated by >terrorist activities are > becoming a formula for the destruction and breaking >up >of sovereign > states," says Nambiar. > > He stressed that US citizens and NATO members are >responsible for > what their leaders are doing, adding that he believes >people "will sooner > or later force their governments to reconsider their >policy and regard > world values with more responsibility". > > > > > >-------------------------------- >This is the SAJA discussion list. Subscription and help requests >should be sent to: saja-owner@jrn.columbia.edu. > Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DavidMcR@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) ACTION ALERT: NATO'S "ASTONISHING" RADIOACTIVE WEAPONS Date: 14 Apr 1999 14:31:44 EDT In a message dated 4/14/99 11:09:54 AM Eastern Daylight Time, toplab@mindspring.com writes: << Subject: [FAIR-L] ACTION ALERT: NATO'S "ASTONISHING" RADIOACTIVE WEAPONS To: FAIR-L@AMERICAN.EDU FAIR-L Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting Media analysis, critiques and news reports ACTION ALERT: NATO'S "ASTONISHING" RADIOACTIVE WEAPONS On April 1st, ABC's Nightline did a segment that criticized the one-sided coverage of the war--on Serbian TV. Reviewing supposedly absurd claims, ABC aired what it described as "this astonishing claim" from a Belgrade news account: "They even use radioactive weapons...which are forbidden by the Geneva Convention." Astonishing, perhaps--but is it true? The fact is, the United States is using radioactive weapons against Yugoslavia--and this threatens to have health consequences in Kosovo for decades to come. The weapons in question are anti-tank shells and bullets made of depleted uranium (DU), a toxic, radioactive byproduct of nuclear fission. Favored for their ability to destroy tanks, this ammunition is carried by such U.S. forces as A-10 Warthogs and Apache helicopters, both of which received substantial media attention when introduced into the war. Ironically, only the day before Nightline's broadcast (3/30/99), ABC World News Tonight had reported the same "astonishing" news that Serbian TV had: Describing the A-10, ABC's John Martin noted that "it could pierce any armor by firing depleted uranium bullets at 3,900 rounds a minute." But depleted uranium has received almost no sustained media attention. One of the few reporters to discuss the substance, Kathleen Sullivan of the San Francisco Examiner (4/1/99), reported that Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon refused to answer questions about its use by A-10s, saying operational details were "verboten from this podium." Nonetheless, the health risks posed by inhaling the dust from depleted uranium, as well as the contamination of the physical environment, have raised the concerns of numerous public health and veterans rights groups. The World Health Organization is still studying the high cancer rates that plague southern Iraq, where much of the fighting during the Gulf War took place. Likewise, DU's possible role in causing or exacerbating Gulf War Syndrome is still a topic of fierce debate. CBS's Mark Phillips recently presented in-depth reporting on the possible health effects of DU in Iraq (12/1/98, 12/10/98). Since the U.S. began using DU in Yugoslavia, however, no network has returned to the subject. *** ACTION: Please contact national and local media and urge them to investigate the use of depleted uranium as a weapon in Yugoslavia. During the Gulf War, activists raised questions about the potential consequences of DU, but these issues were not explored until inexplicable illnesses began showing up in U.S. veterans and Iraqi children. This pattern should not be repeated in Kosovo. ABC-- Nightline mailto:Niteline@abc.com CBS News mailto:audsvcs@cbs.com For more media contacts, go to http://www.fair.org/media-contact-list.html For more on the current war in Yugoslavia, go to http://www.fair.org/international/yugoslavia.html >> - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: More info on the church leaders' meeting with the PM Date: 14 Apr 1999 16:25:35 -0400 Dear Friends, Is anyone in our network working specifically on outreach to US religious leaders? See the accomplishments in Canada, below. Regards, Alice Slater >Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 16:03:10 -0400 >Subject: More info on the church leaders' meeting with the PM >Priority: non-urgent >X-FC-MachineGenerated: true >To: abolition@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca >X-FC-Forwarded-From: gbirks@ploughshares.ca >From: abolition@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca (abolition@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca) > >Regarding tomorrow's meeting with the PM, here is the content of the media >release which was sent out today. > >Regards, > >Grant. > > >Church leaders, Prime Minister discuss Kosovo, nuclear weapons > >A delegation of church leaders representing the Canadian Council of >Churches >and major Canadian churches will meet with Prime Minister Chr=E9tien on= April >15th to discuss important security and defence policy issues. There will be >two major topics on the agenda: the military intervention in Kosovo, and >Canada=92s policies concerning nuclear disarmament. The latter item is a >follow-up to the Canadian Church Leaders=92 1998 Statement on Nuclear= Weapons >and occurs as the government is considering its response =AD due next month= =AD >to the recommendations contained in the Standing Committee on Foreign >Affairs and International Trade=92s December 1998 report Canada and the >Nuclear Challenge. > >Members of the church delegation will include: Archbishop Barry Curtis, >President, Canadian Council of Churches (CCC); Janet Somerville, General >Secretary, CCC; Rev. David Pfrimmer, Chair, Justice and Peace Commission, >CCC; Most Rev. Michael G. Peers, Primate, Anglican Church of Canada; >Monsignor Peter Schonenbach, General Secretary, Canadian Conference of >Catholic Bishops; Carol Dixon, Clerk, Canadian Friends Service Committee; >Bishop Seraphim, Orthodox Church of America (Canada Diocese); Rev. Stephen >Kendall, Principal Clerk, General Assembly, Presbyterian Church in Canada; >Virginia Coleman, General Secretary, United Church of Canada; and Ernie >Regehr, Director, Project Ploughshares. > =20 Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Russia, China oppose BMD Date: 14 Apr 1999 17:23:06 -0400 >Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 17:11:51 -0400 >Subject: Russia, China oppose BMD >Priority: non-urgent >X-FC-MachineGenerated: true >To: abolition@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca >X-FC-Forwarded-From: brobinson@ploughshares.ca >From: abolition@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca (abolition@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca) > >14 April 1999 > >Russia, China warn of new arms race over U.S. missile defense plans > >AP News Service > >MOSCOW (AP) _ Russia and China on Wednesday warned >of a new arms race if the United States goes ahead with plans >to develop a nationwide defense system against limited missile >attack. > >The U.S. Senate recently approved a bill calling for >construction of the defense system ``as soon as technologically >possible.'' The >Americans have grown concerned about the possibility of attack from >countries such as Iran, Iraq and North Korea. > >Russian politicians have been unanimous in assailing the U.S. plan to >develop >anti-missile defenses, saying the move would violate the 1972 >Anti-Ballistic >Missile treaty. Moscow strongly opposes U.S. proposals to amend the treaty >to allow for limited missile defenses. > >Russian and Chinese military officials and diplomats who met in Moscow to >discuss the situation issued a statement saying the two countries have >serious >concerns about the U.S. plans. > >``The fulfillment of these plans would violate the main obligation under >the >ABM treaty,'' said the statement, circulated by the Russian Foreign >Ministry. > >Russia and China ``believe that undermining or violating the ABM treaty >would >lead to a whole range of negative consequences: New factors would appear >that would be capable of destabilizing the international situation ... >and create >conditions for the resumption of the arms race,'' the statement said. > >Russia also contends the creation of a missile defense system would put on >hold any further nuclear weapons reductions. > >President Boris Yeltsin recently approved a bill by Russian lawmakers that >would make their approval of the START II arms reduction treaty, which the >United States is anxious to see ratified, dependent on a U.S. commitment >to >the ABM treaty. > >Copyright 1999 AP News Service. > >-- >Bill Robinson, Project Ploughshares, >Conrad Grebel College, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G6 >Phone: 519 888-6541 x264 Fax: 519 885-0806 >E-mail: brobinson@ploughshares.ca >http://www.ploughshares.ca > >Project Ploughshares is a member of the Canadian Network to Abolish >Nuclear Weapons (http://watserv1.uwaterloo.ca/~plough/cnanw/cnanw.html) > Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Robert Kinsey" Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Fwd: WIPP Call to action Date: 14 Apr 1999 13:07:46 -0600 For some strange reason I am receiveing two of every message you send out, identically addressed. Hope you can fix this. Thanks for your work. ____________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________ Bob Kinsey, Peace and Justice Task Force United Church of Christ, Rocky Mountain Conference bkinsey@peacemission.org 303-425-0348 "Two paths lie before us. One leads to death, the other to life." Jonathan Schell "Faith has need of the whole truth" Teilhard de Chardin "Jesus was non-violent. Shouldn't Christians be? - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DavidMcR@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) Military Industrial Complex Date: 14 Apr 1999 19:28:01 EDT In a message dated 4/14/99 4:40:57 PM Eastern Daylight Time, CharlesB@CNCL.CI.DETROIT.MI.US writes: << The Washington Post - April 13, 1999 COUNT CORPORATE AMERICA AMONG NATO'S STAUNCHEST ALLIES By Tim Smart For many Washingtonians, the NATO military alliance's upcoming 50th-anniversary bash may end up being notable only for nightmare traffic tie-ups. For a few companies, though, the summit could be the ultimate marketing opportunity. A handful of top-drawer U.S. companies -- including heavyweights such as Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. as well as upstarts such as Nextel Communications Inc., a McLean-based wireless communications firm -- will be the gathering's hosts and as such will get to showcase their wares and schmooze with top military and political leaders from 44 nations at events taking place throughout the District. A dozen companies have paid $250,000 apiece in cash or "in-kind" contributions for the privilege of having their chief executives serve as directors of the NATO summit's host committee. The group is a private-sector support system raising $8 million to finance the April 23- 25 event. While company representatives express disdain at the notion they will be lobbying NATO officials for business, many of the firms on the host committee sell precisely the kinds of products most in demand by the emerging economies of Eastern and Central Europe -- which include NATO's newest members and some prospective additions. Ameritech, for instance, is interested in running international phone networks. United Technologies Corp. views emerging or developing countries as a big potential market for its Otis elevators and Carrier air- conditioning and heating units. Both Ford and GM have auto plants throughout Europe. Their target audience? Heads of state and key cabinet ministers from the 19 NATO members, accompanied by leaders from 25 nations that make up the Partnership for Peace, countries with aspirations to join the alliance. The guests will be accessible for the kind of low-key lobbying and wining and dining customary at such international gatherings. About 1,700 dignitaries are expected to attend -- along with a media contingent of 3,000. "The business community was in it from Day One," said Alan John Blinken, a former U.S. ambassador to Belgium and investment banker who is heading the host committee. "In a lot of these cases, they came to us -- we didn't solicit them." A second tier of firms, including Washington powerhouse law and lobbying firms Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, and Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand, are members of the committee. Other companies, such as Eastman Kodak Co. and missile manufacturer Raytheon Co., are participating but taking a less public role. And more are still being courted. "They're actually wooing our CEO right now," said Gerald Robbins of 3Com Corp.'s Washington office. The communications networking company has a contract with NATO to supply equipment for the military alliance's AWACS surveillance and control planes that are being flown over Kosovo. "NATO is a big customer," Robbins said. Some host committee members, including Nextel, also hope to attract the attention of top U.S. government officials at the summit. The company is providing almost 2,000 of Motorola Inc.'s I-1000 combination cell phone and two-way radios to visiting foreign dignitaries and members of the State Department's summit staff. Four hundred of the $299 phones will be embossed with a special anniversary emblem. Hungary, one of NATO's three newest members, held a reception last week at its embassy here, where Nextel's general manager, Nick Sample, proudly displayed one of the phones. Beaming, he told of how the product had recently been added to the General Services Administration's list of approved merchandise, allowing government purchasing officers to order the wireless communications gear. Having Nextel phones widely available to high-level bureaucrats as well as foreign heads of state is the kind of marketing that can only be labeled as priceless. For the guests, it's free, as Nextel is providing the phones gratis. "We've had quite a few inquiries already from the FBI, the State Department and the CIA," Sample said. Corporate support for the NATO summit is an outgrowth of the active role many U.S. companies, particularly defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin Corp. of Bethesda, have played in the move to enlarge NATO beyond its traditional U.S.-Western Europe axis. U.S. defense companies lobbied hard in Congress in recent years to admit the former Soviet satellites Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. "Companies like Lockheed Martin, for example, and all of them were active with me overseas," said former congressman Gerald B.H. Solomon, who headed a House task force appointed by former House speaker Newt Gingrich to push the membership issue. Solomon, now a private lobbyist, said he traveled throughout Eastern and Central Europe spreading the message that if the United States was going to be NATO's principal military power, supplying most of its high-tech weaponry, then U.S. defense firms should receive contracts to rearm the former Soviet states. "We wanted them to buy American," Solomon said. Corporate representatives say private-sector underwriting of an international meeting for sovereign nations is standard business practice these days, though the NATO event is a far bigger draw than other international get-togethers. "This is a very unique beast," said Sally Painter, a lobbyist for Tenneco Inc. on leave from the auto parts and packaging conglomerate while serving as chief operating officer of the host committee. Painter, previously a top aide to then-commerce secretary Ronald H. Brown, was involved in international business development for Tenneco. "These are global corporations that understand the role stability plays with investment. There's no quid pro quo at all." Jim Christy, vice president of government relations for TRW Inc., said it makes sense for companies, rather than the member nations, to foot the bill for such events. "Whether it's the [Group of Seven] summit in Denver or the Summit of the Americas in Miami, there are not government funds available," Christy said, noting that TRW Chairman Joseph Gorman was personally approached by Blinken on behalf of the host committee. "My chairman is public-spirited and agreed to do so," Christy said. TRW, though it has no contracts to provide products to NATO, is one of a handful of companies providing critical communications and defense supplies to the U.S. military. Along with donating $250,000 in cash to the summit, TRW is developing its World Wide Web site. "We were hit up for the Summit of the Americas" Christy said, adding that TRW did not contribute money for the meeting but built the summit's Web site for free. Blinken said that the expansion of NATO and the pro-Western tilt of countries formerly tied to the Soviet Union have created "major new trading partners" for the United States but that today the interest in new markets comes not only from arms merchants but also from a variety of technology firms, including Ameritech Corp., Lucent Technologies Inc. and Nextel. "Most of the companies are not companies you would have expected in the old day, companies selling bombs and missiles, what have you," Blinken said. "You've got communications companies." Yet a good number of the firms on the host committee sell weaponry. Although the economic crisis that spread throughout Asia and other parts of the world last summer has somewhat cooled their enthusiasm, new NATO members such as Poland and other countries such as Turkey are viewed as prime candidates for U.S. weapons. Poland has been considering new fighter jets from either Lockheed or Boeing Co. TRW's Christy said the summit was low on the radar of most companies just a couple of months ago, when the events committee made its first solicitations. But the fighting in Yugoslavia has focused attention on the gathering. "All of a sudden," he said, "now this is beginning to burnish a little into the consciousness." NATO Access Here are the 12 companies that have paid $250,000 to have an executive (in parentheses) serve as one of the directors on the NATO summit's host committee: Ameritech (Richard Notebaert) DaimlerChrysler (Robert Liberatore) Boeing (Christopher W. Hansen) Ford Motor (Jacques A. Nasser) General Motors (George A. Peapples) Honeywell (Michael R. Bonsignore) Lucent Technologies (Richard A. McGinn) Motorola (Arnold Brenner) Nextel Communications (Daniel F. Akerson) SBC Communications (Edward E. Whitacre Jr.) TRW (Joseph Gorman) United Technologies (George David) SOURCE: NATO Anniversary Summit Host Committee ------ >> - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DavidMcR@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) Reporter challenges propaganda consensus Date: 14 Apr 1999 23:19:51 EDT << Subj:=09 jhurd_newparty: Reporter challenges propaganda consensus Date:=094/14/99 7:34:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time Sender:=09owner-jhurd_newparty@indiana.edu =20 The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Wednesday, April 14, 1999 =20 REPORTER CHALLENGES REPORTS OF MASSACRES IN PRISTINA =20 "There is no evidence that such a thing happened in Pristina"=20 =97 Paul Watson, journalist for the Los Angeles Times=20 =20 By Marcus Gee =20 One of the few Western journalists reporting from inside Kosovo=20 says his impressions clash with NATO reports of what is happening=20 in the war-torn province. Paul Watson, a Canadian who works for the Los Angeles Times,=20 says he has seen no evidence that Serb authorities have massacred=20 Albanians in the Kosovo capital of Pristina. In an interview yesterday with the CBC radio program As It=20 Happens, he said he has toured ethnic-Albanian neighbourhoods=20 several times and has not seen any bodies. "It is very hard to hide an anarchic wholesale slaughter of=20 people," said Mr. Watson, who has been in Kosovo since the North=20 Atlantic Treaty Organization began bombing on March 24. "There is=20 no evidence that such a thing happened in Pristina." NATO blames Serb troops for the exodus of hundreds of=20 thousands of ethnic Albanians in the past three weeks. It says they=20 have been raped, massacred and burned out of their homes. The=20 reports of refugees in border camps support that version. Yugoslavia, however, says the NATO bombings are forcing the=20 ethnic Albanians to flee. "I am certain it is a mixture of both," said Mr. Watson, who won=20 a Pulitzer Prize for news photography when he was covering the=20 international intervention in Somalia for The Toronto Star. "I have spoken personally to people who have been ordered to=20 leave their homes by police in black. I've also spoken to people who=20 are simply terrified." For example, he said, many people fled the area around Pristina's=20 airport after a NATO bombing there. "I see a pretty clear pattern of=20 refugees leaving an area after there were severe air strikes." Mr. Watson said the effect of the NATO bombing has been to=20 "stir the pot" in Yugoslavia. "We shouldn't be surprised that it has=20 spilled over. And in spilling over it has created anarchy in the=20 countryside." That does not excuse Serb atrocities, he said. "But I don't think=20 that NATO member countries can, with a straight face, sit back and=20 say they don't share some blame for the wholesale depopulation of=20 this country. "If NATO had not bombed, I would be surprised if this sort of=20 forced exodus on this enormous scale would be taking place." He said the centre of Pristina has been devastated by the NATO=20 bombing. The police headquarters, the post office and other=20 government buildings are in ruins. A graveyard and a children's=20 basketball court have also been hit. Even so, people continue to walk in the streets. "Even this=20 morning at 10 o'clock, as large explosions were rocking high-rise=20 buildings in the centre of the city, there were people strolling up and=20 down and oohing and aahing as if they were watching a fireworks=20 demonstration." Mr. Watson said most of the villages between Pristina and the=20 Albanian border to the southwest were deserted when he travelled=20 through them. He also saw large convoys of vehicles carrying=20 refugees. He did not see large groups of refugees living in the open, as=20 NATO has reported, but he stressed that does not mean it is not=20 happening.=20 =20 =20 Louis Proyect (http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html) =20 >> - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DavidMcR@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) WAS A PEACEFUL KOSOVO SOLUTION REJECTED BY ... Date: 14 Apr 1999 23:28:15 EDT Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 20:07:14 -0400 Reply-To: fair-l-request@AMERICAN.EDU Sender: "media analysis, critiques and news reports" From: FAIR Subject: [FAIR-L] ACTION ALERT: WAS A PEACEFUL KOSOVO SOLUTION REJECTED BY U.S.? To: FAIR-L@AMERICAN.EDU FAIR-L Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting Media analysis, critiques and news reports ACTION ALERT: WAS A PEACEFUL KOSOVO SOLUTION REJECTED BY U.S.? April 14, 1999 Since the beginning of the NATO attack on Yugoslavia, the war has been presented by the media as the consequence of Yugoslavia's stubborn refusal to settle for any reasonable peace plan, in particular its rejection of plans for an international security force to implement a peace plan in Kosovo. An article in the April 14 New York Times stated that Yugoslavian President Milosevic "has absolutely refused to entertain an outside force in Kosovo, arguing that the province is sovereign territory of Serbia and Yugoslavia." Negotiations between the Serb and Albanian delegations at the Rambouillet meeting in France ended with Yugoslavia's rejection of the agreement adopted, after much prodding, by the Albanian party. But is that the whole story? On February 21, the Yugoslavs assented to the terms of the political portion of the Rambouillet agreement. Their rejection stemmed from their opposition to the requirement that 28,000 NATO troops be stationed in Kosovo to oversee the implementation of the accord. This military clause, requiring NATO troops, was inserted without the knowledge of the Russian representatives, who opposed the provision. By the close of the first round of the Rambouillet talks in late February, Serb President Milan Milutinovic had already declared Serbia's willingness to to discuss "an international presence in Kosovo" to monitor the implementation of the accords. On February 21, Madeleine Albright responded by insisting that "We accept nothing less than a complete agreement, including a NATO-led force." On March 23, the day before the NATO bombing began, the Serbian parliament adopted a resolution again rejecting the military portion of the accords, but expressing willingness to review the "range and character of an international presence" in Kosovo. According to the Toronto Star's correspondent in Belgrade on March 24, "There have been hints Serbia might ultimately accept a U.N. force." But the U.S. appears to have been unwilling to consider any option other than NATO troops. At a March 24 State Department press briefing, spokesman James Rubin was asked about this development: QUESTION: Was there any follow-up to the Serbian Assembly's yesterday? They had a two-pronged decision. One was to not allow NATO troops to come in; but the second part was to say they would consider an international force if all of the Kosovo ethnic groups agreed to some kind of a peace plan. It was an ambiguous collection of resolutions. Did anybody try to pursue that and find out what was the meaning of that? MR. RUBIN: Ambassador Holbrooke was in Belgrade, discussed these matters extensively with President Milosevic, left with the conclusion that he was not prepared to engage seriously on the two relevant subjects. I think the decision of the Serb Parliament opposing military-led implementation was the message that most people received from the parliamentary debate. I'm not aware that people saw any silver linings. QUESTION: But there was a second message, as well; there was a second resolution. MR. RUBIN: I am aware that there was work done, but I'm not aware that anybody in this building regarded it as a silver lining. In other words, the State Department was aware that the Serbian parliament expressed openness to an "international presence," but this was not seen as a "silver lining," apparently because only a NATO force was acceptable to the U.S. Those who support the bombing of Yugoslavia argue that all peaceful options for arriving at a settlement in Kosovo had been exhausted. Journalists need to do more reporting on the Rambouillet process to see if that in fact was the case. *** ACTION: Please contact local and national media and call on them to report on the U.S. State Department's insistence that only a NATO-led force in Kosovo could keep the peace there. Did this position make it more or less likely that the rights of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo would be protected? You can contact the New York Times at: Andrew Rosenthal-- Foreign Editor mailto:letters@nytimes.com; andyr@nytimes.com Contact information for other media outlets can be found at: http://www.fair.org/media-contact-list.html For more information on media coverage of the war in Yugoslavia, see http://www.fair.org/international/yugoslavia.html . >> - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DavidMcR@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) NYC metro area / URGENT / Rally for Peace, Friday, April 23 Date: 15 Apr 1999 00:36:24 EDT Friends and co-workers, Please note the broad range of sponsors. If your group agrees with the statement below, you are invited to join as a sponsor. If you have problems with the statement but agree on the need for an immediate large rally for peace, endorse. War Resisters League is acting as a coordinating point for this time, you can reach them by phoning 212 / 228.0450 and asking for Chris Ney or Carmen Trotta. Leaflets are available. Get them out as widely as possible. PLEASE SEND THIS EMAIL ON TO ANY LIST YOU THINK WOULD BE INTERESTED, AND ANY FRIENDS WHO SHARE YOU CONCERN, AND ASK THEM TO RELAY THE NOTE IN TURN. TIME IS SHORT. PUBLIC OPINION MUST BE MOBILIZED. Thanks, David McReynolds Rally for Peace in the Balkans Friday, April 23, 1999, 4:30 PM Washington Square Park (West 4th St.) Stop the Bombing! Return Kosovars to their Homes! NATO Out of Yugoslavia! Sponsors: Catholic Worker, Debs Local Socialist Party, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Greenwich Village Coalition for Peace and Priorities, International Freedom Socialist Party, MADRE, New York Committees of Correspondence, Nicaragua Solidarity Network, NY CP/USA, Pax Christi USA, Peace Action, Radical Women, Shorefront Peace Action, Socialist Party USA, War Resisters League, West Side Peace Action, Women In Black For more information: War Resisters League, (212) 228-0450 ------------------------------------- Rally for Peace In the Balkans Washington Square Park 4:30 PM, Friday, April 23 Stop the Bombing! Stop the Expulsions! Peace in the Balkans now! We demand an immediate halt in the NATO air strikes against any part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and an immediate, unconditional end of NATO military actions. These actions are in violation of international law and of the Charter of the United Nations and thus the treaty obligations of the U.S. Constitution. We say "No!" to both NATO ground forces and to arming the Kosova Liberation Army, which will turn Kosovo/a* into a war zone where outside powers create permanent chaos. We call for an immediate return to diplomacy, by involving the good offices of the United Nations, and through a direct involvement of the Russian government, with every hope that this will result in the return of the refugees to their homes in Kosovo/a. We deplore the murder and forcible expulsion of the Albanian Kosovars, whose numbers are now in the hundreds of thousands, as both a human and a political tragedy. It is surely criminal to force people, through terror and intimidation, from their homes and from a nation where they have lived for centuries. At a human level, it is no less criminal for NATO to launch air attacks on Yugoslavia, hitting targets that clearly include civilian sites. And at a political level the forced expulsion has meant that NATO, rather than achieving its purported goal of protecting the people of Kosovo/a, has been a party to their being forced from their homes. The presence of the refugees in Montenegro, Macedonia, and Albania has now caused deep concern that what little stability exists in those nations will be destroyed as a result of the NATO actions. We underline the stark reality that with every day that passes, the tragedy deepens and the political problems become greater. Stop the war now. Catholic Worker, Debs Local Socialist Party, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Greenwich Village Coalition for Peace and Priorities, International Freedom Socialist Party, MADRE, New York Committees of Correspondence, Nicaragua Solidarity Network, NY CP/USA, Pax Christi USA, Peace Action, Radical Women, Shorefront Peace Action, Socialist Party USA, War Resisters League, West Side Peace Action, Women In Black For more information: War Resisters League, (212) 228-0450 * Kosovo is the Serbian spelling, Kosova the Albanian; we use Kosovo/a out of respect for all people of the area. >> >> - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: JGG786@aol.com Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Fwd: More info on the church leaders' meeting Date: 15 Apr 1999 15:46:03 EDT nancy ignatious at cns is working on this issue as I have also been. also, bettina gray from berkeley cal. is working on this issue jgg - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: JGG786@aol.com Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Fwd: More info on the church leaders' meeting Date: 15 Apr 1999 15:55:04 EDT alice, this was my contribution at united religions initiative DECLARATION ON GLOBAL ELIMINATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS: Declared by consensus at the Third Global Summit of the United Religions Initiative, June 25, 1998. ********************* We recognize that the United Nations General Assembly's first resolution, 1(I), in 1946 calling for the elimination of atomic weapons has yet to be fulfilled. The threat posed to all life by the sheer destructiveness of nuclear weapons presents an unacceptable risk for this and future generations. This unacceptable risk presents a moral imperative for the elimination of nuclear weapons. The International Court of Justice has called upon States to conclude a treaty on elimination of these weapons. The failure to fulfill this legal duty provides impetus for their hazardous proliferation. We diligently and passionately call upon all religious leaders and ethically conscious individuals to heed this moral imperative by pressing with all persuasive means available to raise public concern with the purpose of causing the nuclear weapons states to make an unequivocal commitment to nuclear disarmament demonstrated by immediate: 1) Commencement of multilateral negotiations leading to a treaty on the elimination of nuclear weapons; and 2) Implementation of practical first steps such as taking all nuclear forces off current hair-trigger alert and pledging no first use. The proposition that nuclear weapons can be retained in perpetuity and never used -- accidentally or by decision -- defies credibility. We refuse to accept living under an unworthy peace which might make us the earth's last generation. At present, the Vatican is the only religious voice at the level of government at the United Nations. It has declared that reliance on nuclear deterrence is immoral. We wish to join that voice and make it a clarion call that will resonate throughout the heart of humanity and move governments. As people of faith and moral conviction, we believe it is our duty to address this global evil, for no person is removed from its effect. It emphasizes the requirement that we learn to live in cooperation and harmony or we shall all perish together. May we continue to learn ways of peace. Signers: Bettina Gray, member of board, North American Interfaith Network, USA Jonathan Granoff, Temple of Understanding, USA Juana Albornoz Guevara, Chile Doreen Da Costa, La Salle Youth Centre, Malaysia Dr. Deri Joy Ronis, Interntl. New Thought Alliance, USA Stephen Fuqua, USA Rev. Mary E. Gaylord, Graduate Theological Union: Center for Women & Religion, USA Dr. Javid Iqbal, Pakistan Gurudev Singh Khalsa, SIGMA, USA Rev. Dale White, Wilgespirit Fellowship Center, S.A. Hugh Adamson, World Congress of Faiths, UK Catherine Margerin, Millenio, USA Christian De La Huerta, Q Spirit, USA Bruce Curtis, USA Fr. Luis Cabrera, Conferencia Episcopal Ecuatoriana, Ecuador Mary Finney, SIGMA, Case Western Reserve University, USA Lilian Curaming, Movement for Muslim-Chrisitian Dialogue, Philipines Barbara Bernstein, Association for Global New Thought, USA Rolf Carriere, UNICEF, Bangladesh Tom Mahon, Writer, USA Els Braeken, Brahma Kumaris, Belgium Sally Ackerly, United Religions Initiative, USA Patricia Elsberg, Alliance for Cooperative Economics, USA Rev. Deborah Light, Covenant of the Goddess, USA Socrates Olympio, Global Youth Alliance, Ghana Kay Lindahl, Alliance for Spiritual Community, USA P.K. McCary, USA Yoland Trevino, Transformative Collaborations Int., USA/India Ann Miller, Bosch Bahai Retreat Center, USA Ms Mary Page Sims, USA Alison Van Dyk, Temple of Understanding, USA Rev. James Parks Morton, Temple of Understanding, Interfaith Center of New York, USA Bawa Jain, Temple of Understanding, Interfaith Center of New York, USA Lois Gundlack, URI board member, USA Mr. Robert Walter, President, Joseph Campbell Foundation, USA The Hon. Guido Vansina - former Ambassador of Belgium, Belgium Reverend Betsy Stang, The Wittenberg Center for Alternative Resources, USA Ebrahim Patel, American Rhodes Scholar in Residence at Oxford, USA Rev. James Channan OP, Executive Secretary, National Commission for Christian-Muslim Relations, Pakistan Dr. Hum D. Bui, M.D., CaoDai Overseas Amanda Trosten-Bloom, Colorado, USA A. Dell Drake, USA Joel Beversluis, CoNexus Press, USA Rev. Heng Sure, Institute for World Religions, USA Michael N. Nagler, University of California, Berkeley, USA Mr Mussie Hailu, Representative - World Peace Prayer Society, Ethiopia Sr Laetitia S. Borg, Representative - Franciscan International, Ethiopia The Rev. Charles Gibbs, United Religions Initiative,USA William W. Rankin, United Religions Initiative, USA Elizabet Sahtouris, Author, Biologist,USA Dr. Weldon E. Woodard, Venezuela Dr. Carol Zinn, SSJ, Global Education Associates,USA Paul Chaffee, Presidio Interfaith Center, USA Dr Natubhai Shah. Chairman Jain Academy, UK David L Cooperrider, Professor of Organization Studies, Case Western Reserve University, USA Andrea Bartoli, Columbia University, USA The Right Rev. William E. Swing, Bishop of California, USA Mary Taylor Swing, USA Jack W. Lundin, vice-Chair, Board of Directors, United Religions Initiative Nahid Angha, Ph. D., Co-Director, Int. Assn. of Sufism; Founder, Int. Sufi Women Organization, USA Malcolm Stonestreet, United Religions Initiative, UK Ghazala Munir Zeenat Shaukat Ali, Professor Islamic Studies, St. Xaviers College, Mumbai, India Brahma Das, Media Chair, Parliament of the World's Religions, USA Media, Director, Kashi Foundation, USA Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati, Kashi Foundation, USA Krishnapriya Hutner-Kashi Foundation, USA DeAnna Martin, International Coordinator, Global Youth Alliance Sharon Franquemont, The Circle, USA Thomas One Wolf, USA, Sherri One Wolf, USA Phil Lane Jr., The Four Worlds International Institute form Human and Community Development, USA Dr Diana Whitney, Ph.D., Corporation for Positive Change, USA Avon Mattison, Pathways to Peace, USA Jane Hascall, Senior Partner, Hascall Consulting, USA Ravi Peruman, radio interview host, USA Marina Villalobos Diaz ?Cynthia Melea Melburn,representitive-Earth Council,Washington,D.C., USA *Jessica H. T. Forrest, USA *Clare Nolan, NGO representative, Sisters of the Good Shepherd, USA *Fr. Pasquino Panato, Comboni Missionaries, USA *Marjorie Sorensen, Association for World Education *Linda Sorrento, USA *Patrick McNamara - New York, USA *Diane Robbins, DBRobbins Consulting, Seattle WA. *Barry Bloom , USA *this declaration is being circulated beyond the United Religions Initiative Global Summit and those indicated have added their names. The additional list of names has not yet been returned. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) 2 Messages, Sacred Peace Pipe Keeper, Prayers for World Peace Date: 15 Apr 1999 18:21:21 -0700 April, 1999 *From Chief Arvol Looking Horse : IMPORTANT STATEMENT ON YUGOSLAVIA My name is Chief Arvol Looking Horse of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Nation, I would like to share a viewpoint about the "Ethnic Cleansing", mass killing of innocent people in Yugoslavia. I am the Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe of Peace, a gift of a sacred bundle given nineteen generations ago to my people providing guidance of teachings for assurance of Peace within our lives. The White Buffalo Calf Woman gave this gift of the Sacred Pipe providing guidance of teachings for assurance of Peace within our lives. Along with these teachings of this Sacred Pipe of Peace, has been prophecies passed down from significant people who walked their harmony. They based their lives on teachings given from sacred bundles, such as the Sacred Buffalo Calf Pipe or many other gifts of bundles and teachings from the Creator. They foretold of these times of great change, which coincide with many other Nations' archives recording their own Prophecies. The reality of the accuracy of these Prophecies which has predicted events upon Mother Earth, as well as the history of our own people, have come to pass, so we have learned to pay attention. There are foretold Prophecies of a very dark time, more significant than any other times in History. We will be at a crossroads in which a dark cloud will envelop the earth, chaos and diseases will erupt and we will witness blood from our relatives' eyes. Humankind has to make a decision and have courage to make a stand for Peace, even when their relatives' minds are restrained from spiritual awareness of healing the mind. We still have a chance to choose to make a change. Mother Earth is a living spirit that clothes, feeds and nourishes all walks of life, but when fighting erupts, the land and life cease to flourish, as well as the spirit of humankind. Mother Earth needs our help! I call upon the World to Pray at once for Peace, to make your stand spiritually, you must see the ignorance of this situation in Yugoslavia will only make us blinder to our own empowerment of making a positive change for our next generations to come. Pray with me every day at 10:00 AM Central Time for a peaceful resolution to this continuing destruction of the World. You must realize this "disease of the mind" will spread even faster, if we don't take control of our behavior. I have been initiating an event called "World Peace and Prayer Day" to bring awareness of these times by uniting the world spiritually on June 21st, praying at the sacred sites, for Global Healing, this being the fourth year to the South in Costa Rica. When this day arrives, please pilgrimage to your local sacred site and continue the daily praying that has been done at the time of 10:00 AM Central Time. This is an invitation to the Serbian and Yugoslavian representatives to participate, whether it be in Costa Rica or at your own sacred place of prayer. Please begin to learn to understand the meaning of "Walking in Harmony and Peace" in having the courage to transform our spiritual consciousness to love and compassion! This is the real challenge and courage in life. As one of our spiritual leaders, Black Elk once said: "One who walks a dark road is distracted, who is ruled by his senses and who lives for himself, rather than for his people". Please "Look upon your children, with their children in their arms, that they may face the winds and walk to the day of quiet." From which there is no beginning and no ending in the Sacred Hoop of Life, I am sending you this message of Peace from my heart and the sacred altar, may our prayers for Peace be heard, may peace with you all... Hetcetuyelo! Mitakuye Oyasin (all my relations), Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe of Peace COMPLETION CIRCLE OF THE FOURTH YEAR OF WORLD PEACE AND PRAYER DAY June 21, 1999 As keeper of the 19th generation Sacred White Buffalo Pipe of Peace, I, Chief Arvol Looking Horse of the Lakota, Nakota and Dakota Nation, would like to invite the world to recognize June 21st as a day of prayer for global healing. Our traditional indigenous ways are the way to strengthen our bonds and healing for our Mother Earth. We are the "root nation", Hutkan Oyate, with responsibility to turn the life of our Mother Earth around. It is now evident, with even the scientific findings, that our course is leading to the endangerment of our tired Mother Earth. We are now in the midst of what is prophesied as the crossroads, faced with either disaster, chaos, diseases, with tears from our relatives' (Mitakuye Oyasin) eyes, or uniting spiritually with all nations upon Mother Earth. This is a calling for the world to seek out the sacred sites and bring awareness to the energy and connection that exists there to our Mother Earth. In the past, there has been clear research findings of people coming together spiritually, praying for a healing, and our Mother Earth responded with a visible positive energy shift. This year we are completing the circle to the South direction in Costa Rica. This journey started in 1996 at Gray Horn Butte, Wyoming and circled to the North in 1997, to the Cree Nation of the Joseph Big Head Reservation, and then to the East at the Sacred Pipestone Quarries in 1998. Costa Rica has been chosen as the Southern site to complete the circle because of the need to support what is already established there with the efforts of the University of Peace and its non-military existence. We are inviting the surrounding Indigenous Peoples of the South and all Indigenous people of the world to either join us or go to their sacred site if it is not possible to journey to Costa Rica. According to our star knowledge, June 21st is a time to pray. We have this only chance to unite spiritually. In our way there is no beginning and no ending to continue to work toward peace and harmony for our Mother Earth so there is much healing for our nations of future generations. May peace be with you, all life upon Mother Earth. Mitakuye oyasin, (All my relations) Chief Arvol Looking Horse, Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe +~*~+~*+~*+~*+~*+~*+~*~+~*~+*~+~*~+~*~+~*~+~*~+~*~+~*~+~*~+~*~+~*~+~*~+~*~+ World Peace and Prayer Day is the fulfillment of prophecy from our ancestors, not only Lakota, but that of other Peoples' of Earth. Chief Looking Horse is the catalyst for the vision he keeps, an inherited responsibility of what the White Buffalo Calf Pipe stands for - Peace - with the ancestral vision of obtaining Peace through the help of the spirituality of all Peoples! The vision and endeavor is for all people from all cultures and beliefs to come together and pray for Global Healing. If we view our ways with ethnocentricity we destroy the very empowerment through which we fully obtain the connection with the Creator. May peace be with you, WPPD '99 Staff +~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~ Website for World Peace and Prayer Day '99: http://www.worldpeaceday.com/1999/ E-mail contact: mosa@rapidnet.com *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Michael Moore on Kosovo Date: 16 Apr 1999 14:05:10 -0400 >Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1999 13:56:28 -0400 >Subject: Michael Moore on Kosovo >Priority: non-urgent >X-FC-MachineGenerated: true >To: abolition@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca >X-FC-Forwarded-From: daren@ploughshares.ca >From: abolition@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca (abolition@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca) > >Here is Michael Moore of TV Nation and Downsize This! fame on the bombing >in >Kosovo. Where it says American or USA, I believe we can safely substitute >Canadian or Canada. > >Darren Puscas >Project Ploughshares Intern >(my email is dpuscas@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca not daren@ploughshares.ca as it >appears) > > > >The Bombing of Kosovo >By Michael Moore >April 15, 1999 > >Dear friends, > >As we file our taxes today (procrastinators, all of us), and we sign our >names on the bottom line of our 1040 tax forms, perhaps we should ask >ourselves if what we are doing is signing a death warrant for people we >don't even know. Because each night, for the past three weeks, millions of >dollars of bombs and missiles -- that you and I paid for -- are being used >to kill people in the former Yugoslavia. That makes you and I culpable in >their execution. > >Did you personally know any of the people who were killed in the village of >Pristina (capitol of Kosovo) last week? Had they ever done anything to harm >you? How about the children who were blown to bits in the building in >Prizren? Had they ever threatened you in any way to cause you to have to >kill them in self-defense? Perhaps you had met the people who were >incinerated by us on the train to Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Can you tell me why >you would want to take their lives? > >I'm sorry to personalize it in this way, but this slaughter is being >conducted in your name and mine, and I'll tell you, this is blood I don't >want on my hands. We will all have to answer for this some day, and I would >like to be able to say that I did not sit by silently while this was being >done, and that I did whatever I could to stop it as soon as possible. > >Right about now, some of you, with all good intentions, are saying, "But, >Mike, this Milosevic guy is a madman. He's committing genocide. We should >not ignore this as we did the Holocaust in the early days of World War II. >He must be stopped by any means necessary." > >Yes, he must be stopped. But bombing the people of his country is exactly >the wrong way to stop him. In fact, it has only strengthened him. There was >a growing dissident movement in Yugoslavia before the war, and every letter >I get from these brave souls tells me that the bombing has set back their >struggle so incredibly far that they worry they will now be stuck with >Milosevic for a long time. They are pleading with us to stop it. The >bombing >has made him a hero at a time when nearly half of the country was very >unhappy with his leadership. We did not consult the anti-Milosevic movement >in advance to see if they would like our help in the form of 10,000 bombing >sorties. We just went off half-cocked on our own, and started killing the >very people we were claiming to save. Anyone who remembers Vietnam knows >that sordid logic and insanity. We have strengthened Milosevic and >destroyed >his opposition. Happy now? > >Friends, Milosevic must be stopped, BUT BOMBING DOES NOT WORK. It has never >worked. It didn't work in Iraq -- Sadaam is still in charge no matter how >many bombs we have dropped. It didn't work in Vietnam. During the Christmas >week of 1972, the amount of bombs we dropped on North Vietnam was equal to >half the tonnage of bombs dropped on England during World War II.That >didn't >work, so one month later, we gave in and announced our complete pull-out. > >What a sad, pathetic man Bill Clinton is. Though many have criticized him >for dodging the draft, I actually admired the fact that he refused to go >and >kill Vietnamese. Not all of us from the working class had that luxury, and >tens of thousands of our brothers died for absolutely no damn reason. For >this "anti-war" President to order such a misguided, ruthless -- and, yes, >cowardly -- attack from the air is a disappointment of massive proportions. > >Bombing didn't work for either side in World War II. Hitler bombed Britain >mercilessly for years, but it didn't work. Our bombing did nothing to save >the lives of 6 million Jews, 4 million Catholics, Gypsies and other >"undesirables," and 20 million Russians. Our bombs couldn't even take out >one German machine-gun on top of the cliffs overlooking the beaches of >Normandy. World War II was won because my father and uncles and your >fathers >and grandfathers risked their lives pouring out of amphibious carriers like >sitting ducks on a beach, crawling through the dead bodies of their friends >and fellow soldiers, and climbing up those cliffs in France and Italy and >the South Pacific. Over a quarter of a million of them, including my uncle, >died doing this. > >And that, my friends, as some are known to say, is the awful truth. If >genocide is really taking place, the only way to stop it militarily is to >send our children in there and accept the fact that thousands upon >thousands >of them will be killed. Are you willing to do that? Or better yet, this is >the question I always ask myself when confronted with whether or not I >should ever support a war: Do I believe strongly enough in this cause that >I >MYSELF would be willing to risk my life to go over there and square it with >my conscience to kill Yugoslavians. > >I have a feeling I know the answer most of you would give. We know Clinton >is lying to us. We know there is no "Holocaust" taking place. What IS >happening is that two groups of people are carrying on their centuries-old >mission to annihilate each other. The Kosovo Liberation Army announced >their >intentions to rid Kosovo of all Serbs (the Albanians are the majority in >Kosovo, the Serbs, a minority). That's all a nutcase like Milosevic needed >to justify his campaign to rid Kosovo of all Albanians. This is true >madness >and a lot of innocent people are losing their lives in the process. > >So here's my solution: > >Stop the bombing immediately. >Get the Russians, whom the Serbs trust, in there to be the peacekeepers and >help resolved the situation.No American or NATO forces on Kosovo soil. >Russia can do this in spite of the wanker in charge, Mr. Yeltsin. The Serbs >will let them in. Let's get them on board instead of alienating the >Russians >even further. >Let the Orthodox Church play a major role in bringing about the peace. The >Serbs are mostly Orthodox and a strong move by its Patriarch could do a lot >to ending all the bloodshed. >Look, I'm not an expert on any of this. I'm mostly busy getting my show on >the air each week. But as I sign my 1040 today, I must admit that I am >partly responsible, as an American citizen who pays his taxes, for this war >and I must encourage whoever I can to join me in demanding an end to this >now. > >Last fall, many of us participated in an incredible act of protest by >throwing a bunch of right-wingers out of Congress. We believed that they >were trying to overturn an election on the basis of someone's private >sexual >life and his lies about it. We won, and the Republicans are now chopped >liver. Good riddance. > >Now, it is time for all of us to stop Clinton and his disgusting, >hypocritical fellow democrats who support him in this war. It is amazing to >watch all these "liberal" congress members line up behind the President. In >a way, I'm glad it's happening, if only to show the American people there >is >little difference between the Democrats and the usually war-loving >Republicans. Aren't you getting a kick watching the Pat Buchanans and the >Henry Hydes sounding like pacifists! These politicians can change stripes >at >the drop of a hat (or bomb) because, ultimately, they are the same animal, >participants in a one-party system that tries to fool the people by going >by >two names ("Democrat" and "Republican"). > >Please call or write your member of Congress, send a letter to the editor, >let the Democrats know we have had it with the whole lot of them. This is >OUR country, not theirs and the corporate interests they really represent. >It's time to start taking it back. > >Each cruise missile that is launched could have built a dozen schools or >hired another hundred teachers or provided health care to a thousand >people. >Those millions of dollars could have been spent saving lives and educating >children. Every night, Clinton isn't just bombing Yugoslavia, he's bombing >you. > >Yours, Michael Moore > >MMFlint@aol.com > >http://www.michaelmoore.com > >http://www.theawfultruth.com > Alice Slater Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) 15 East 26th Street, Room 915 New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 726-9161 fax: (212) 726-9160 email: aslater@gracelinks.org GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) A-Bomb Survivor on War in Yugoslavia Date: 16 Apr 1999 10:25:28 -0700 Dear David, I appreciate so much for your commitment to peace. Thank you for sharing your heart via e-mails. My heart has been crying out for the people of Yugoslavia. I still remember something about what I learned while I was in theological seminary studying the Jewish history. One of things that still stuck in my mind and heart is that the nation, any nation regress is not because lack of technology or knowledge, but it is disjunctiveness to its history. (something like that). As I think current Yugoslavia situation in which the President Clinton seems enjoying himself with what perceived "leadership," as the Commender-in-Chief, ordering and escalating bombing on Kosovo/Serbia. But to what end? I wish I could say so many things, but here are my thoughts. I've expressed two different format. Please bear with me as I share them with you. (unedited). AIR STRIKES ON KOSOVO/BELGRADE DO THESE AIR STRIKES CONSTITUTE AN ENDLESS RAGING WAR IN HUMAN HEARTS or A "CONTROLLING" POWER OVER 'WEAKER' NATION? As a survivor of Hiroshima, I have been profoundly troubled by our involvement in Yugoslavia and unable to support. Here are reasons: 1. Do the President Clinton and US Congress, and 18 NATO leaders believe that ethnic historical conflicts and hatred among Balkan's nations can be resolved by "air-strikes"? 2. Do ambivalent objectives of air strikes on Kosovo led me to believe that these leaders have no understanding of the single objective of war is to fight to "win"? 3. Their talks about "morality" is nothing but easy way out--the least possible risk -- to themselves, and have no perception of what true "price" of peace is! 4. Do NATO leaders have intention of "total reconstruction" of "defeated" nation of Serbia/Kosovo, as America did on Japan's and other Europe nations, after the World War II, let alone, over refugees' plight? 5. While Milosevic's "ethnic cleansing" is intolerable, escalating of exodus of refugees since the bombings, why the President Clinton and NATO leaders are unwilling to sacrifice their lives--to die in order that others may live! 6. It is only then I accept compelling "morality" as NATO's reason and our involvement in this "bloody-war". Sincerely, Thomas Takashi Tanemori Silkworm Peace Institute 3371 Morage Blve. #100 Lafayette, CA 94549-4641 USA Tel. (925) 284-2201 e-mail: SilkwormPI@aol.com An Opinion--An Essay on Kosovo Crisis By: Thomas Takashi Tanemori As we approach the coming 21st Century, we mark a time that has been distinguished by both copious bloodletting and enormous scientific advances. On a daily basis, we are overwhelmed with the horrors of international violence, cultural violence, religious and personal violence. Much of the suffering is a result of historical conflicts that have devolved into an unending cycle of revenge and despair. But now, we find that some of this violence is in danger of, and capable of, destroying the whole world. I often wonder whether or not President Clinton, as Commander-in-Chief, has idea of what true "price" of peace is! He himself, for an example, demonstrated his true color of who he is during Vietnam war; and he thinks his own conduct was vindicated by the former Defense Secretary MacNamara's Book: In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam is abominable. I'm afraid that talk about "morality" by President Clinton, the US Congress and political leaders of the 19 (NATO) nations is nothing but easy way out and the least possible risk -- to themselves. It is morality is one of convenience, when these leaders have neither political nor personal will to commit themselves for peace-UNWILLINGNESS to die in order that others may live. Ambivalently the President of United States committed our troops to this region in 1995, and four years later today in the same ethnic region the carnage of Kosovo/Serbia demonstrates their perennial ethnic conflicts/hatred as nations. "Why, with the hope for peace generated from the end of the Cold War, is the world increasingly proving that it is still too easy to go to war to settle human conflicts?" The air strikes on Kosovo by NATO, have led me to this inevitable question: Do the Prime Minister of Britain, the President of United States and its Congress, honestly believe that we can resolve their ethnic conflicts, hatred and historically complex political/cultural and national enmities? These are issues are difficult to extinguish when countries have been at war for so long; how ludicrous we have become? I cringed to learn what NATO calls as "all out" air campaign theatre is no longer stop or degrading, crippling Milosevic's own military power so that this "ethnic cleansing" does not spread to the rest of Europe. But NATO is now driven only by its rapacious will to political "unification" of the NATO alliance for the fiftieth Anniversary celebration, God forbid! As a survivor of Hiroshima, I can't help but wonder "how dare we ourselves continue on an endless cycle of revengeful actions that we can't reconcile with our own hearts, let alone our neighbors?" We survivors bear silent witness to the horrors of war. Our experience gives us the moral authority to stand for peace. It is essential that national enmity, ethnic hatred, cultural divisiveness, differing religious beliefs and personal conflicts and differences be put to an end. It is important to recognize that this is also a time of unparalleled opportunity to assist in the transition of a world order in the direction of peaceful co-operation. What is the solution? Let us fight the "The Final War"-the most difficult war of all-being waged in the name of healing, forgiving, and making peace with our painful past. The international community must do this not just for our own sake but also for the sake of our children and the future generations who will inherit this earth. Let us give them an earth that is better than the one we inherited. There may be ways to approach this seemingly insurmountable task. When I was young, my father instilled in me what I call the Three-Fold he taught me has held my heart intact for these decades of darkness wrought by war and the ghosts of history. Let us practice these principles in our daily human affairs' (1) "Jidai- Yusen " sacrifice of one's immediate needs for a higher moral purpose, (2) "Mugai-Kyoei": reverences for life-respecting others as different individuals, practicing nonviolence and (3). "Jita-Kyoei": the practice of living for the benefit of others. In the "I Ching," the ancient Chinese book of wisdom, the Hexagram of Breakthrough' ponders how to deal with evil and the horrors of the human experience. Its conclusion is that "the best way to fight evil is to make energetic progress in the good." We might surprise ourselves. When we practice these principles, they can guide us to work together for the common goal of making the world a peaceful place in which we all can live together. _______________________________________________ Thomas Takashi Tanemori, Founder of Silkworm Peace Institute based in Lafayette, CA 3371 Moraga Blvd. Lafayette, CA 94549-4641 SilkwormPl@aol..com The following article was appeared on The Sunday Times (Contra Costa Times in Walnut Creek, CA), March 28, 1999 Past visited at Seaborg memorial A Hiroshima bombing victim comes to make peace at service for Nobel laureate By Chuck Squatriglia, The Time Staff Writer BERKELEY - Literati converged on UC-Berkeley on Saturday to pay final tribute to Nobel laureate Glenn T. Seaborg. Thomas Takashi Tanemori came for a different reason. More than 53 years after he survived the nuclear bomb that Seaborg helped develop, Tanemori wanted to make peace with the past. Tears welled in his eyes as the last of the anger he had held in his heart for decades slipped away. "I want him to know my heart has changed," said Tanemori, 61, of Lafayette, who at age 8 watched the atomic bomb fall on Hiroshima. "I'm hoping his spirit senses my desire for peace." Tanemori joined more than 100 people Saturday in a "circle of sharing" to memorialize Seaborg. He died Feb. 25 at home in Lafayette at age 86. The informal ceremony preceded' a memorial service in which many of Seaborg's peers waxed lyrical about a man considered one of the finest scientists and scholars of this century. "He was a man whose accomplishments created an image of almost mythic proportions," said Charles Shank, director of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, where Seaborg remained an associate research director until his death. Seaborg is perhaps best-known for his discovery, with three colleagues, of plutonium - a feat that earned him the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1951-and his work on the Manhattan Project, which led to the atomic bomb used by the United States in World War Il. During a career that spanned more than 60 years, Seaborg expanded the periodic table with his discovery of 10 elements - more than any scientist in history! He received more than 40 patents, earned dozens of honorary degrees and wrote more than 500 articles and books. Beyond the laboratory, Seaborg devoted himself to nuclear nonproliferation and served on the Atomic Energy Commission under Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. His access to the highest levels of government shaped the nation's scientific policy and led to the ratification 1961 of the Limited Test Ban Treaty. "I think that legacy is an inspiration to all of us," David Seaborg said in his eulogy of his father. Seaborg also was an advocate for education, who instilled in many children a wonder of science, said Peggy House, director of the Glenn T. Seaborg Center for Teaching and Leaning Science and Mathematics at Northern Michigan University. "The message he conveyed (to children) was any one of them could be the next great scientist," House said during the informal gathering before the memorial service Saturday. Throughout his career, Seaborg remained dedicated to Cal. His tenure as chancellor from 1958 to 1961 helped forge UC-Berkeley's reputation as a top research institution, said Clark Kerr, who preceded Seaborg as head of the university. "We shall never see his like again," Kerr said. So deep was Seaborg's love for Cal that he named many of the elements he discovered in honor of the university, including berkelium (element 97, discovered in 1949) and californium (element 98, discovered in 1950). He also enjoyed reminding friends that the letters of his last name could be rearranged to spell "Go Bears," friends said. When colleagues immortalized him in 1997 by naming element 106 .seaborgium," Seaborg suggested they name it "gobearsium" instead, said legendary Cal Kapp, who was among 100 people who joined sharing. Seaborg remained a humble man who often chatted with Cal freshmen and cheer football team from the stands Memorial Stadium. He enjoyed picnic lunches with students am member the arcane detail of their research projects, said former student and one-time colleague John Rasmussen. "In retrospect, I realized what a wonderful mentor he was for me," said Darleane Hoffman, a noted research scientist who studied under Seaborg. Others in the circle spoke of Seaborg's love of hiking and civic endeavors, which included founding the Lawrence Hall of Science and helping the East Bay Regional Park District establish a network of trails. "There was never a man who did more in so many fields so willingly," said Dick Trudeau, who joined Seaborg in his efforts with the park But it was Tanemori's heartfelt testimonial that galvanized the audience. The crowd fell silent as the retired Baptist minister recounted the aftermath of the bomb that fell on August 5, 1945. The radiation killed his parents, grandparents and several siblings. Even today, he said, it continues to steal his eyesight. It also infected him with a deep hatred for the United States and an insatiable desire to avenge his loss. Feeling isolated and ashamed in a culture focused heavily on family, he attempted suicide at age 16. Finally he came to the United States in 1956 at age 18, and the anger grew. On the 40th anniversary of the bombing, Tanemori spoke at a service and realized he would not know happiness until he let go of his hatred. Slowly, Tanemori said, he grew to admire Seaborg's dedication to nuclear nonproliferation and his contributions to science and medicine. "That helped bring my own change and forgiveness," Tanemori said. Despite living in the same town as Seaborg, Tanemori never met the man who was the target of so much of his anger. "I was glad to have a chance to have a chance to speak my heart," he said. "I was able to find peace." [Staff writer John Hill contributed to this story] - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Weissdor@aol.com Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Michael Moore on Kosovo Date: 16 Apr 1999 23:48:22 EDT In a message dated 4/16/99 2:07:34 PM Eastern Daylight Time, aslater@gracelinks.org writes: << aslater@gracelinks.org (ASlater) >> +Hi, Alice, Is GRACE accredited to the UN? The question came up, and I wondered about it. Can you let me know whether you bothered to get accreditation? I hope you are well. I know you are busy. You are doing great work. Best, Dorrie - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) What Budget Surplus? Fraudulent Accounting Practices Date: 16 Apr 1999 21:26:37 -0700 One of those emails I received that has "slipped through the cracks" was one I received a couple of months ago and kept meaning to send out with a commentary but never got around to it and now can't find it. Perhaps someone can verify exact details. The gist of the story is that Barrons financial magazine, I believe, was quoted as publishing the Federal deficit for each of the last two years and the cumulative annual Federal deficit increased by something on the order of $300 billion I believe. What is the point? The much ballyhooed 1999 "Federal Budget Surplus" is a fraud perpetrated by a change in accounting procedures completely unreported in the mainstream media whereby all of a sudden without any public indication of what was happening, the money that normally goes into social security was reallocated as part of the federal budget. Then the actual annual deficit was subtracted from this amount and the balance was renamed the "budget surplus" and all this talk about how it should be spent "to save social security", etc., is a big con job because we are talking about an amount of money in fact equal to what was previously allocated to social security, LESS the actual last annual DEFICIT in the Federal budget. Now if my understanding is correct here, wouldn't this be quite a scandal with the media complicit in this coverup of the truth? That is: There is no budget surplus, only a change in accounting and nominclature to fool the people! wouldn't any accounting firm be censured and any company fined for using such deception in fiscal reporting? Now they are talking about "oh well , looks like we will have to use some of this budget surplus to pay for the war in Kosovo". This is in reality then the money that under last year's accounting vocabulary was the normal deposit to the social security program being used instead to fight a war. What do you think the vote would have been if people were asked, "shall we take money from the social security budget and use it to bomb a bunch of folks in Europe?" This is such a outright fraud on the American people that it amazes me almost as much as the history behind how the most valuable plant in human history, the hemp plant, has been fraudulently outlawed as marijuana, expunged from the historical record, and the government and media are still complicit in this parallel historical fraud on the American people and Congress. (see http://www.jackherer.com) I hope that my posting this poor excuse for the original email with the exact source of the deficit numbers will at least suffice to inspire someone to find the proper numbers and sources to verify this easy to confirm or refute thesis that I have faithfully depicted above, i.e., The "Federal Budget Surplus" is a Fraud - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob Tiller Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) What Budget Surplus? Fraudulent Accounting Date: 17 Apr 1999 16:57:39 -0400 This change in federal budgeting procedures is not new. It was made more than a decade ago, and over the years it has been widely reported in the press. Shalom, Bob Tiller David Crockett Williams wrote: > One of those emails I received that has "slipped through the cracks" was one > I received a couple of months ago and kept meaning to send out with a > commentary but never got around to it and now can't find it. Perhaps > someone can verify exact details. > > The gist of the story is that Barrons financial magazine, I believe, was > quoted as publishing the Federal deficit for each of the last two years and > the cumulative annual Federal deficit increased by something on the order of > $300 billion I believe. > > What is the point? The much ballyhooed 1999 "Federal Budget Surplus" is a > fraud perpetrated by a change in accounting procedures completely unreported > in the mainstream media whereby all of a sudden without any public > indication of what was happening, the money that normally goes into social > security was reallocated as part of the federal budget. Then the actual > annual deficit was subtracted from this amount and the balance was renamed > the "budget surplus" and all this talk about how it should be spent "to save > social security", etc., is a big con job because we are talking about an > amount of money in fact equal to what was previously allocated to social > security, LESS the actual last annual DEFICIT in the Federal budget. > > Now if my understanding is correct here, wouldn't this be quite a scandal > with the media complicit in this coverup of the truth? That is: There is > no budget surplus, only a change in accounting and nominclature to fool the > people! wouldn't any accounting firm be