NEXT BAUAW MEETING:
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3, 3:00 p.m.
1380 Valencia Street
(Between 24th & 25th Streets, S.F.)
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VOTE YES ON PROP. 'N'! BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!
Come to the
BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW COMMITTEE MEETING
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 7:00 p.m.
AFSC - First Floor
65 NINTH STREET
(1/2 block from Market St., SF)
Help get the word out about Prop. 'N'. Bring your ideas for
community outreach, media, action, and more to make sure
we win by a landslide!
No matter who wins the elections this year, the war will not
be over. This ballot initiative will set the example for cities across
the country to do the same in future elections.
Pick up material to distribute!*
PROPOSITION 'N' ON THE NOVEMBER 3
SAN FRANCISCO BALLOT DECLARES:
"It is the policy of the people of the City and County of
San Francisco that: The Federal government should take
immediate steps to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq and
bring our troops safely home now."
Visit: www.yesonn.net
* Material costs money. Already thousands of brochures have
been printed and we need more! We need posters and buttons--
we need to cover the city with YES on 'N' campaign material!
Please send a contribution to help with these costs!
Make your check payable to:
Bring Our Troops Home Now
and mail to :
David Looman, Treasurer
325 Highland Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94110
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1) The following is a transcribed excerpt from
'FOX News Sunday,' September 26, 2004:
Sen. Biden on FOX News:
2) VT AFL-CIO affiliates to USLAW
Report from Hal Leyshon Vermont AFL-CIO
Executive Board member and central labor council president
3) FLEET WEEK PROTEST:
NOW HEAR THIS! NOW HEAR THIS:
ALL PEACE NAVY SEAWOMEN & SEMEN are hereby ordered and
requested to report for duty on Saturday 10/9 at Gas House Cove
at 0930 hours. You will provide diversion from the obscene spectacle
of the US Navy Parade of Death Ships
4) Australia's samidzat
By John Pilger
http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2004/600/600p16.htm
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1) The following is a transcribed excerpt from
'FOX News Sunday,' September 26, 2004:
Sen. Biden on FOX News:
"I said, "Mr. President [Allawai], you know me." And he said, "Yes,
I do." I said, "I guarantee you that John Kerry as president — you will
continue to have the full support of the United States of America in
order to be able to establish a representative republic. He said,
"Thank you, and I know it.""
And later, he explains how Kerry would have finished the massacre
in Fallujah:
WALLACE: Would he wait until the Iraqi — excuse me, sir. Would he
wait until the Iraqi troops are trained? What specifically would he do
in these so-called no-go zones?
BIDEN: John Kerry would have listened to his Marines at the time
when in fact they said we should have finished the job then.
Transcript: Sen. Biden on 'FOX News Sunday'
Monday, September 27, 2004
The following is a transcribed excerpt from 'FOX News Sunday,'
September 26, 2004:
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS: We turn now to Sen. Joe Biden (search),
senior Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee and a key
foreign policy adviser to John Kerry (search). He joins us from
Wilmington, Delaware.
And, Sen. Biden, welcome. Always good to have you with us.
SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN, D-DE: Good to be with you, Chris.
WALLACE: This is the week that John Kerry became the anti-war
candidate, in some cases seeming to contradict what he has said
earlier in the campaign.
BIDEN: How's that?
WALLACE: Let's look at what Kerry said this week about the fall of
Saddam Hussein (search) and what he said last December when he
was running against Howard Dean (search). Let's look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
U.S. SENATOR JOHN KERRY (D-MA): The satisfaction that we take in
his downfall does not hide this fact: We have traded a dictator for
a chaos that has left America less secure.
KERRY: Those who doubted whether Iraq or the world would be
better off without Saddam Hussein and those who believe today
that we are not safer with his capture don't have the judgment to
be president or the credibility to be elected president of the
United States.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
WALLACE: Sen. Biden, how do you reconcile those two statements
as anything more than saying what would get you the most votes
at two different times?
BIDEN: Well, that's easy. There's nothing at all contradictory at the
time. The assumption was, when Saddam Hussein was knocked out,
that we'd act rationally and we'd manage the situation in Iraq, that
there wouldn't be chaos.
And the fact of the matter is, that what we have done, we have traded
a dictator, who, in fact, no one wanted to stay there, happy they're
gone, like to have him gone, thinks it's good we're gone, and it's
resulted in chaos because of the incredible mismanagement, as
Dick Lugar said, of this president.
That's a statement of fact. It's very, very good he's gone. Kerry's
happy he's gone. Kerry would have done everything to get rid of
him. But he would not have mismanaged and sent so many mixed
signals that this administration has, so that the end result is today
we have something close to chaos in that region.
WALLACE: But, senator...
BIDEN: That's totally consistent.
WALLACE: First of all, the situation back last December when he
was saying this was bad. That's why Howard Dean was doing...
BIDEN: No, nothing like this. It wasn't even remotely like this,
Chris. It wasn't remotely like this.
WALLACE: Forgive me, but there were heavy casualties. That's
why Howard Dean was doing so well.
BIDEN: Chris, there weren't. There are 700 causalities since he
said that. Seven hundred casualties since he said that, Chris.
Over probably somewhere in the order of 6,000 or 7,000 wounded
since then, Chris. Five, six, seven, eight times the number of
bombings, Chris.
Come on, as they say where I come from, get real. It wasn't
remotely the situation it is now.
At the time, you had the international community saying they
wanted the G-8 and the neighbors to get together. They
weren't talking about anything massive. John Kerry back then,
Joe Biden back then said, "We should have the G-8."
I met with Allawi right after — in Baghdad with him immediately
after he got sworn in. He said to me he wanted a regional meeting.
He asked if I could help. He said the G-8 should be involved.
I came back and wrote a report to that effect. The administration
and Rumsfeld said, "We don't want any meeting over there."
And now all of a sudden they're deciding on a meeting?
At the time that John Kerry said that back in December, it was
the expectation was we would have spent by now $12 billion to
$14 billion rebuilding Iraq. This administration has spent less
than $500 million of the appropriated money.
WALLACE: Senator Biden, let's talk about the allies, because
John Kerry says that the key difference between what he would
do in Iraq and what President Bush has failed to do is he would
engage the allies.
I want to play for you two comments that John Kerry made this
week, first talking about Iraqi Prime Minister Allawi and then
talking about the Saudi government.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
KERRY: The prime minister and the president are here obviously
to put their best face on the policy.
KERRY: As president, I will do what President Bush has not done.
I will hold the Saudis accountable.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
WALLACE: Is that how Kerry intends to engage the allies, sir,
by insulting them?
BIDEN: Do you think the Saudis are our allies?
WALLACE: Do you not?
BIDEN: I do not think they're our full allies. We're talking about
NATO. We're talking about our friends who have the capacity to
help somehow. We're talking about people who are real allies,
guys who can raise guns and shoot straight and help kill the
bad guys with us. Come on.
WALLACE: What about Prime Minister Allawi, who's risking his
life and who...
BIDEN: He is risking his life.
WALLACE: If I may just ask the question, sir...
BIDEN: You already did, but go ahead.
WALLACE: Well, no, I didn't get it out.
(LAUGHTER)
... who President Kerry, if he's elected, would have to deal with.
What about Prime Minister Allawi, is he an ally?
BIDEN: I've met with President Allawi — sure, he's an ally. All John
Kerry pointed out — look, President Allawi's in a tough spot. He
comes over here on the eve of the election. He's put in a position
where, what's he going to do? Put a positive face public on it. He
did. And God bless him, he did the right thing.
Privately with all of us he let his ministers speak. He said privately,
look, the borders are porous. We now have all these international
guys, the bad guys, the Al Qaida types in our towns. We're in a
position where we have parts that are no-go zone.
And he says, I sure hope — to all of us, to the leadership — I sure
hope you actually spend the money now; we need more money
spent now. He laid out in detail what he needs and what has not
been done for the last 10, 12 months or so since he's been president.
But God love him. Look, when I saw him, you ask Frist, who's the
leader of the Senate. We actually met each other in the hall. He
walks over and gives me a bug hug and he said, "I know this man.
He knows my country. He's my friend."
BIDEN: I've been this guy's friend before he became prime minister.
This guy has more guts than most people have —- any
other 10 people.
But the truth of the matter is, just like Karzai came — Karzai's an
old friend. The first time Karzai came, he said everything's going
fine. He gets back home and calls me. And he said, "I'm not getting
the help I need." And I said, "Because he told everybody things were
going fine, Mr. President." So he says, "Will you help me tell people
it's not going fine?" He comes back the second time and says, "By
the way, we need more help."
Look, this guy's in a tough, tough, tough spot. John Kerry wasn't
criticizing him. John Kerry was pointing out — why is it you guys —
I mean, here the president of the United States of America stands
up there and sends this signal to the entire world that our intelligence
community isn't worth a damn, all it does is guess. And you guys say
when he says, "Well, he really meant to say estimate," you say, "well, OK."
Kerry says something, you know what he means, and you make it
sound like he's indicting Allawi. That's malarkey, pure malarkey. He
wasn't indicting Allawi. He was saying, "Level with the American
people, Mr. President, for god's sake.
And the last thing I want to make this point: I find the way the
opposition is dealing with this is really, really dangerous. They're
telling everybody that basically if Kerry becomes president of the
United States, he's not going to stick with Iraq.
I personally was authorized by Kerry in front of all my colleagues to
say the first thing in a private meeting, I said, "Mr. President, you
know me." And he said, "Yes, I do." I said, "I guarantee you that John
Kerry as president — you will continue to have the full support of the
United States of America in order to be able to establish a representative
republic. He said, "Thank you, and I know it."
WALLACE: Senator Biden, let me get one last question in here. We've
got less than a minute left.
John Kerry says he's going to finish the job in Iraq. Let me ask you
specifically, what would he do about Fallujah? Would he send in
troops now?
BIDEN: He...
WALLACE: Would he call in for more troops?
BIDEN: Well, first of all...
WALLACE: Would he wait until the Iraqi — excuse me, sir. Would he
wait until the Iraqi troops are trained? What specifically would he
do in these so-called no-go zones?
BIDEN: John Kerry would have listened to his Marines at the time when
in fact they said we should have finished the job then. John Kerry will
listen to his military on the ground. John Kerry will listen to the people
who know, not the politicians in the White House.
WALLACE: Sen. Biden, thank you so much. I think you ought to stick
to the decaf. You're really keyed up today. Thank you so much.
BIDEN: Well, I tell you, these guys so misrepresent things, it just is
disgraceful.
WALLACE: Thank you, sir.
BIDEN: Thank you.
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2) VT AFL-CIO affiliates to USLAW
Report from Hal Leyshon Vermont AFL-CIO
Executive Board member and central labor council president
On September 25th the Vermont State Labor Council's annual
convention voted, nearly unanimously, to support bringing our
troops home and to affiliate to US Labor Against the War. The
discussion and vote had been prepared by months of discussions
with union leaders and activists and holding public forums together
with Military Families Speak Out. Activists manned a USLAW table,
distributing literature, asking delegates and observers to sign a
pledge to support the anti-war resolution, and getting some one
third of the delegates to wear USLAW buttons.
Speakers from the CWA's Alliance@IBM, UAW 1981 and the AFT
cited the growing number of international unions (CWA, AFSCME,
SEIU, APWU, Mail Handlers), the California, Washington, Maryland/DC
Federations of Labor, the AFL-CIO constituency groups, as well as the
dozens of labor councils and local unions that had already taken
similar action.
With this vote, the Vermont AFL-CIO joins with the Vermont Workers
Center/ Jobs with Justice and the Washington-Orange-Lamoille
Central Labor Council in building a Vermont component of US Labor
Against the War. State Federation Dan Brush has appointed an
official representative to USLAW's Steering Committee. Delegates
met immediately following the vote to begin to organize an official
Vermont AFL-CIO committee to take USLAW's message and
educational materials deeper into the rank-and-file membership
of our affiliates.
End the occupation of Iraq-Bring our troops home!
Submitted by: Washington-Orange-Lamoille Central Labor
Council, AFL-CIO
WHEREAS, there is general agreement in the United States and
throughout the world that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass
destruction that posed an imminent threat to this country or to
Iraq's neighbors, and that the government of Iraq had few if any
discernable ties to those who perpetrated the 9/11 attacks on
the World Trade Center and the Pentagon; and
WHEREAS, the pretexts for war have been systematically revealed
to have been fabricated, manipulated, exaggerated, or distorted
to justify an invasion of Iraq planned long before
September 11, 2001; and
WHEREAS, the federal government has approved $150 billion
in public funds for the U.S. war in Iraq, draining those funds
away from domestic priorities including transportation, health
care, and national security; and
WHEREAS, working families have paid a heavy price for the U.S.
involvement in Iraq with dead and wounded loved ones and
Vermont has paid a disproportionate share of the loss of
citizens to the war, and
WHEREAS, the Bush Administration has kept in force Saddam
Husseins ban on public sector labor unions and used the Iraq
war as an excuse to attack labor unions in this country; and
WHEREAS, the Bush Administration has used the Iraq War and the
"War on Terrorism" as a platform to advocate for restrictions of
civil liberties, with measures such as the Patriot Act; and
WHERAS, the best way to support our troops is to bring them
home; and
WHEREAS, US Labor Against the War was founded to represent
the millions of working people who oppose the war and who pay
a disproportionate cost in dollars and the lives of our sons and
daughters; be it therefore
RESOLVED, that the Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO
recognizes the courage and sacrifices of U.S. military personnel
who have faced extraordinary dangers in the U.S. war in Iraq
and who now want to come home; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO calls
on Vermont Governor James Douglas to demand the discharge
from duty in Iraq and the immediate return of all Vermont National
Guard and Reserves to Vermont; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO calls
on the National AFL-CIO to demand an immediate end to the US
military occupation of Iraq and speedy return of all U.S. military
personnel to their homes and families, and to support the repeal
of the Patriot Act and the reordering of national priorities toward
the human needs; and be it finally
RESOLVED. that the Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, in
recognition and furtherance of its position in opposition to current
U.S. policy in Iraq, will affiliate with and help actively support and
promote U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW) to protect our members,
their families, communities and jobs, and the lives and livelihoods of
working people everywhere.
U.S. Labor Against War (USLAW)
www.uslaboragainstwar.org
info@uslaboragainstwar.org
P.O. Box 153
1718 "M" Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
Bob Muehlenkamp and Gene Bruskin, Co-convenors Amy Newell,
National Organizer Michael Eisenscher, Organizer & Web
Coordinator Erin McGrath, Administrative Staff Sam McAfee
and Angelina Grab, Radical Fusion - Website Design
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3) FLEET WEEK PROTEST:
NOW HEAR THIS! NOW HEAR THIS:
ALL PEACE NAVY SEAWOMEN & SEMEN are hereby ordered and
requested to report for duty on Saturday 10/9 at Gas House
Cove at 0930 hours. You will provide diversion from the obscene
spectacle of the US Navy Parade of Death Ships
Report in any wind or human powered vessel, or let the Commoder
know if you need a berth in someone else's vessel (rudimentary
kayaking or sailing skill needed). Instant promotion to the rank
of your choice for showing up in the uniform of the day
(peace/anti-war) regalia, Best decorated vessel gets an all
expense paid tour of the Fab Sunni Triangle.
We also need Marines and landlubbers to hit the beach and
hand out flyers to the crowds about the Peace Navy, how militarism
makes the world unsafe and how we are failing to fund domestic
needs, for San Francisco Prop N (Bring the Troops Home Now).
Short Planning MEETING this Thursday 9/30
1830 hours (that's 6:30 PM landlubber) at Muddy Waters Cafe
(Valencia and 24th St) in the Mission.
We will work out the logistics of the decorations, the literature,
media outreach and activist outreach. I seriously need help with
this stuff. I am off to a United for Peace and Justice steering
committee meeting in DC this weekend so others will have to
show their leadership skills.If you can't make it to the meeting
please let me know: a. If you plan to show up on 10/9 b. What you
can do in terms of media or activist outreach c. If you have or need
an extra berth d. If you can write some literature for distribution e.
Logistical Support Yes I know that many are discouraged or burnt
out, but we can't let the ship of state sink on our watch. Protest
now, while you still can. Anyway, the Peace Navy at Fleet Weak is
really soft duty (like the Texas Air National Guard). Hot tub party
at my house afterwards.
ANSWER THE CONTRARY AT YOUR PERIL!
Rear Commoder Marvin
415-282-5330
Marvin Feldman, Ph.D., Principal
Resource Decisions
San Francisco
415-282-5330
mfeldman@resourcedecisions.net
www.resourcedecisions.net
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4) Australia's samidzat
By John Pilger
http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2004/600/600p16.htm
In 1983, the principal media in the Western world, which dominate much
of the media in the rest of the world, were owned by 50 corporations. In
2002, this had fallen to nine transnational companies. Rampant
deregulation has ended even a semblance of diversity.
In February this year, Rupert Murdoch predicted that, within three
years, there would be just three global media corporations and his
company would be one of them. He may have exaggerated, but not by much.
Consider the situation in Australia, where Murdoch controls 70% of the
capital city press, including the only newspapers serving Adelaide and
Brisbane. (In Adelaide, he controls all the printing presses.)
On the Internet, the leading 20 websites are now owned by the likes of
Fox (Murdoch), Disney, AOL Time Warner, Viacom and a clutch of other
giants; just 14 companies attract 60% of all the time Americans spend
online. The owners of these vast enterprises make no secret of their
global ambition: to produce not informed, free-thinking citizens, but
obedient customers and to reinforce the rapacious ideology of neoliberalism.
Never, in my experience, has free journalism been as vulnerable to
subversion on a grand, often unrecognisable scale. Giant public
relations companies, employed by the state and other vested interests,
now account for much of the editorial content of the media, however
insidious their methods and indirect their message. This is another kind
of "embedding", known in military circles as "information dominance",
which in turn is part of "full spectrum dominance". The objective is the
merging of information control and the nominally free media.
How do we react to this? My own view is that the immediate future lies
with the emerging samidzat, the word for the unofficial media during the
late Soviet period. Given the current technology, the potential is huge.
On the worldwide web, the best alternative websites are already read by
an audience of millions. The courageous reporting of a new breed of
"citizen reporters" from besieged Iraq has provided an antidote to the
"embedded" coverage of the official media. In the United States,
independent newspapers flourish alongside popular independent
community-based radio stations, such as Pacifica and Amy Goodman's
Democracy Now.
In Australia, against the odds, the samidzat is growing, and I would say
its model is Green Left Weekly (http://www.greenleft.org.au), which is
produced and published by volunteers and provides a wider coverage of
the "other" world - a world that often does not exist in the so-called
mainstream - than any newspaper with resources of which GLW has not even
a fraction.
Those of us who report this "other" world - actually the majority of
humanity - know that true internationalism has returned and that public
opinion has been aroused in so many countries, perhaps as never before.
People have the right for their voices to be heard, and those who
provide the means deserve all our support.
[John Pilger's new book, Tell Me No Lies: Investigative Journalism and
Its Triumphs, is published in Australia in November by Random House.]
From Green Left Weekly, September 29, 2004.
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