1) Lynne Stewart Frame-Up Unravels
2) For those in the Chicago Area or coming to the
USLAW National Leadership Assembly there ---
Challenging the militarization of our schools:
A forum on the fight to save Senn High School
Friday December 3
6:00 pm
UNITE HERE union hall
333 S. Ashland
Chicago
The Chicago School Board and the U.S. Navy want to turn the
North Side's Senn High School into a naval academy.
3) Please come out this November 19-21 to Columbus, GA to
close the School of the Americas.
SOA Watch Updates and Actions
Converge on Ft. Benning, GA: November 19-21!
Together We Will Shut Down the School of Assassins!
4) 'This one's faking he's dead'
'He's dead now'
Fallujah: Video shows US soldier killing wounded insurgent
in cold blood
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
16 November 2004
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=583322
5) U.S. Marines Rally Round Iraq Probe Comrade
By Michael Georgy
FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters)
Tue Nov 16, 2004 09:29 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6828512&src=eD
ialog/GetContent§ion=news
6) U.S. Forces Launch Assault on Iraqi Rebels in Mosul
By Maher al-Thanoon
MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters)
Tue Nov 16, 2004 09:37 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6828657&src=eD
ialog/GetContent§ion=news
7) CKUT Radio: U.S. Military War Crimes in Fallujah
8) 800 Civilians Feared Dead in Fallujah
Inter Press Service
By: Dahr Jamail
{http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/hard_news/000121.php#more}
9) A short history of trade unionism in the Iraqi oil industry
August 24, 2004
http://www.iraqitradeunions.org/archives/000071.html
10) A City Lies in Ruins, Along with the Lives of the
Wretched Survivors
By Michael Georgy in Fallujah and Kim Sengupta
Published on Monday, November 15, 2004 by the lndependent/UK
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=582915
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1115-01.htm
11) THE CIVILIAN DEATH TOLL
By Harvey McGavin
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=582915
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1115-01.htm
12) GI SPECIAL 2#C22
thomasfbarton@earthlink.net
11.16.04
Huge Increase In Badly Wounded Floods U.S. Military Hospital;
419 Since Attack On Falluja Started
13) 'Twas a Famous Rollover, Continued
By Fred Feldman
14) CONSPIRING TO COMMIT MURDER FOR PROFIT!
In a message dated 11/16/04 9:22:58 AM, Jibasmil writes:
Following is a pre-written message which I am lazy enough
to use. The fact that this "study" has been delayed is, I think,
due the use of the internet -- word of it got around very quickly
and the EPA felt the heat. We need to keep that heat up so the
#$%@&#* EPA kills it. -judy
15) United for Peace and Justice
Development Coordinator
Job Announcement
16) Why I fear for the dream of my life
Commentary
Abdul Bariatwan
The Observer
Sunday November 14, 2004
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,1350959,00.html
17) Producer Prices Jump on Higher Energy Costs
By TERENCE NEILAN
November 16, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/business/16cnd-prices.html?hp&ex=11006676
00&en=3a278a97f6a5790e&ei=5094&partner=homepage
18) Presbyterian Church receives arson threat over Middle
East policies
From: "Justice Freedom"
Date: Mon, 15 Nov 2004 21:08:17 -0800
[From Wendy Campbell]
http://www.lex18.com/global/story.asp?s=2561665&ClientType=Printable
19) S0CIALIST CUBA--THE HOPE OF THE PLANET
To: ufpj-disc@yahoogroups.com
By Dave Silver
Tue, 16 Nov 2004 16:55:02 -0500
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1) Lynne Stewart Frame-Up Unravels
Dear Friends,
Here's an important article on the Lynne Stewart case. Please help
distribute it widely.
In solidarity,
Jeff Mackler
Lynne Stewart Frame-Up Unravels
by Jeff Mackler
Almost 17 weeks after some dozen federal government prosecutors had begun
their marathon presentation charging progressive New York attorney Lynne
Stewart with aiding and abetting terrorism, Stewart finally took the
witness stand in her own defense.
On Oct. 25, before a packed courtroom of her supporters and a myriad of
attorneys who were similarly outraged at Stewart's persecution-ordered by
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft-her defense counsel, Michael Tigar,
methodically queried Stewart to expose the fraud of the "evidence" against
her. In four days, shortened by technical and procedural delays, Stewart
effectively tore apart and reduced to ridicule every aspect of the
government's frame-up.
The multi-racial jury panel of eight women and four men seemed transfixed,
paying close attention as Stewart's responses to each key government
exhibit demonstrated the innocence of her actions.
There is no doubt this was to be a show trial designed to buttress the
government's contention that Americans face real terrorist threats, not the
least of which come from life-long radicals like Stewart, who has been a
partisan in the struggle for social justice since her youth.
Stewart is being tried in the very room in the Manhattan Federal District
Court House where Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were railroaded to the
electric chair in 1953 during the witch-hunt era of Joseph McCarthy and his
governmental and judicial associates. Much as the McCarthyites made a
mockery of the U.S. Constitution by executing the Rosenbergs, so their
modern-day incarnations seek Stewart's life. If convicted of the "aiding
and abetting terrorism" charges against her, Stewart, 65, faces 45 years in
prison.
Prosecutors spent more than four months presenting thousands of pages of
Middle Eastern and U.S. press clippings, wiretapped phone calls,
intercepted e-mails, and secret government video/audio recordings of
Stewart's confidential jailhouse meetings with her 1995 client, Sheik Abdel
Omar Rahman. Rahman was convicted on frame-up charges of conspiracy to blow
up historic landmarks in New York City.
The government's aim in the present trial is to postulate an intricate
scenario in which Stewart and her co-defendants-professional Arabic
translator, Mohamed Yousry and post office employee/paralegal, Ahmed Abdel
Sattar-had been involved in a vast terrorist conspiracy.
Press clippings refuted as evidence
A central part of the prosecution's case consisted in presenting a
seemingly never-ending series of Arabic and English-language press
clippings on terrorist activities in several countries. The clippings had
been confiscated from Stewart's office as well as from the home of Yousry.
This was designed to demonstrate that Yousry's home and Stewart's law
office were repositories of vast tombs of material that could only be of
interest to terrorists.
The procedural rules of law exclude the use of such press clippings. They
are legally considered hearsay since the views expressed or the facts
presented in them represent only those of the author and cannot be taken by
the jury as fact.
Early in the trial, however, at the government's request, presiding Judge
John Koeltl approved an exception to the hearsay rule allowing introduction
of the clippings, accompanied with instructions to the jury that the
material was to be considered not in regard to factual accuracy but only to
demonstrate "the state of mind" of the defendants. And what could be the
"state of mind," the government implied, of persons who collect press
clippings on terrorism, other than committing terrorist acts?
With this ruling, the jury was subjected to prosecution attorneys' reading,
line by line, countless press articles on terrorist activities into the
official record. The fact that none of these connected any of the
defendants to any of these activities, or any other terrorist acts, was
deemed irrelevant.
The government's verbal presentation of each article was accompanied by its
simultaneous visual presentation on a huge courtroom movie-size screen and
further elucidated with the aid of individual monitors placed in the jury
box itself.
In 16 weeks, with the exception of the testimony of a government bureaucrat
who attested to his drafting government documents mailed to Stewart, not a
single witness was produced to prove the government's charges.
When defense attorney Tigar opened his questioning, holding up one of the
government's press clippings, he blithely asked Stewart if this clipping
actually came from her office. "Yes," Stewart responded.
"And where did you get this press clipping?" Tigar continued. "From the
U.S. government," Steward answered. Stewart explained that many of the
press clippings in her alleged terrorist file box had been sent to her
office by government prosecutors.
This was a routine procedure employed as part of the 1995 trial
proceedings, in which Stewart served as the chief counsel for Sheik Rahman,
whom the U.S. government tried and convicted as a terrorist conspirator.
Stewart explained that press clippings that the government intended to
introduce as evidence were, in effect, required to be sent to her office.
Additionally, Stewart and her staff made it a practice, in the course of
the defense of their client, to collect such press clippings, as was her
longstanding practice when handling such cases. Thus, in the course of a
minute's testimony, the government's case began to unravel.
What about the collection of press clippings and other material directly
related to the Egyptian "Islamic Group" (which the U.S. government had
designated a terrorist organization) that were found in the home of
co-defendant Yousry?
Yousry told this writer and will testify in early November that in addition
to his professional work as a translator, he was a Ph.D candidate at a New
York City university preparing his doctoral dissertation on the very same
Islamic Group. At the suggestion of his doctoral adviser, who is also
expected to testify on Yousry's behalf along with a dozen other defense
witnesses, Yousry had long ago begun work on this subject. But his innocent
collection of material for his thesis was turned by the government into
"proof" of his engagement in criminal acts.
"To fight zealously for our clients"
The government seeks to associate the fact that Stewart represented Sheik
Rahman as legal counsel with her having agreement with Rahman's ideas.
Stewart, a radical political activist, supporter of Mumia Abu-Jamal, and
opponent of the U.S. war in Iraq, has been legal counsel to a host of
clients from left-wing socialists to members of the Mafia. She told the
jury in response to Tigar's inquiry about her view of Rahman's ideas, "I'm
not in the habit of fundamentalism."
"We are bound to accept the cases of even those who are hated by the
public," Stewart asserted. "We are abjured by the ethical system to fight
as hard and as vigorously and as zealously as we possibly can for our
clients." Stewart originally became involved in the Rahman case at the
behest of former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark and Abdeen Jabarra,
former head of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. In the
course of her testimony Stewart maintained that despite the government's
attainment of a "guilty" verdict in the 1995 Rahman "terrorist conspiracy"
trial, she still believed in her client's innocence.
Defense attorney Tigar, turning the tables on the government's use of
hearsay material, introduced into evidence a Wall Street Journal article
authored by a prominent staffwriter who had observed Rahman's trial. The
article held in essence that the government's prosecution of Rahman was
without foundation. It concluded that Rahman was likely innocent of the
charges against him.
Stewart's defense was bolstered by an honest representation of her work as
an attorney who provided her legal services to a blind Egyptian cleric with
fundamentalist ideas opposing the U.S.-backed Egyptian dictatorship.
Stewart's attention then turned to a critical government charge that she
consciously violated a government Special Administrative Measure (SAM) that
prohibited her from relaying messages or otherwise allowing her client to
communicate with terrorist groups. The government asserts that Stewart's
violation of this order took the form of her releasing to Reuters News
Service a press statement from Rahman that announced his withdrawal of
support to a cease-fire or "peace initiative" that had been in effect in
Egypt for several years. The peace initiative was declared by the Islamic
Group in the hope of reaching a rapprochement with the government of
President Hosni Mubarak.
The Mubarak regime is renowned for murder and incarceration of its
political opponents.
In the course of her defense Stewart introduced a key document, a decision
of a U.S. immigration judge who had rejected a government effort to deport
one of Rahman's associates to Egypt. The judge's decision was based on his
conclusion that, despite the Egyptian defendant's illegal entry into the
U.S., he would be granted political asylum based on the Egyptian
government's lack of any democratic structures. In short, the judge ruled,
Rahman would be punished, if not murdered, for his political opposition to
the Mubarak regime.
Stewart's 1995 client, Abdel Omar Rahman, is a leading Islamic
fundamentalist scholar and Ph.D, who was perhaps the leading critic of the
Egyptian government. The indictment and charges against Stewart focused on
the assertion that her release of Rahman's statement resulted in a series
of terrorist acts that took the lives of scores of innocent Egyptians. But
Stewart's testimony proved these charges were totally without foundation.
Stewart said that Rahman's 2000 press statement, when Stewart continued to
represent him, did not result in a single act of terror. To the contrary,
she told the jury, the Islamic Group virtually ignored Rahman's statement
and formally decided to maintain the cease fire or "peace initiative."
Stewart insisted that she had never violated any government SAM. Rather,
her interpretation of the SAM was that it was not designed to prevent her
from fully representing her client in accord with her sworn oath as an
attorney. This, she said, required her to make public Rahman's views.
Attorney Tigar proceeded to demonstrate that the government's response to
the press release was merely to state its disagreement with Stewart's
action and to bar her from further visits to Sheik Rahman until such time
as she agreed to sign an amended SAM. After months of negotiations with
government officials, a new SAM was indeed drafted by the government, and,
after being amended following negotiations with Stewart's attorney whom she
had hired as an advisor on this matter, signed by Stewart.
There were no government reprisals until years later, when the new U.S.
attorney general, John Ashcroft, appearing on the David Letterman
television talk show, announced his intention to prosecute Lynne Stewart as
a terrorist.
Stewart concluded her Oct. 28 testimony by responding to a question posed
by her attorney. "Ms. Stewart, looking back at the events of May and June
and July and August of 2000, if you had to do it over again, would you do
it the same way?"
"Sitting here today, Mr. Tigar," Stewart responded, with uncontrolled tears
coming to her eyes, "it's a very difficult question. I am diminished by the
loss of my clientele. My family has suffered tremendously. I don't know if
I would do it again."
Stewart was interrupted by an objection from the prosecution that was
overruled by Judge Koeltl. This was followed by another question from
attorney Tigar, "As you sit there today, Ms. Stewart, do you believe that
you violated any legal duty that you owed to the United States of America?"
Regaining her composure, Stewart first responded to Tigar's initial
question, "I'd like to think I would do it again because it was a duty owed
to a client. I do not believe I ever violated anything, any command, any
restriction by the United States of America."
Stewart is expected to complete her testimony by early November. This will
be followed by an expected period of three to four weeks when her
co-defendants will present their cases. Following closing remarks by both
sides, the case will go to the jury. A verdict is expected in late
December. I'm betting on Lynne Stewart.
Originally published in Socialist Action newspaper, November 2004
www.socialistaction.org
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) For those in the Chicago Area or coming to the
USLAW National Leadership Assembly there ---
Challenging the militarization of our schools:
A forum on the fight to save Senn High School
Friday December 3
6:00 pm
UNITE HERE union hall
333 S. Ashland
Chicago
The Chicago School Board and the U.S. Navy want to turn the
North Side's Senn High School into a naval academy.
SPEAKERS
JESSE SHARKEY, Chicago Teachers Union delegate, Senn High School
Students from Senn High School
STACEY PAETH, mother of a soldier wounded in Iraq,
Military Families Speak Out
BILL DAVIS, national coordinator, Vietnam Veterans Against the War;
president, International Association of Machinists Local 701*
CHUCK HUTCHCRAFT, Chicago area coordinator, American
Friends Service Committee
*organization for identification only
The Chicago School Board and the U.S. Navy want to turn the
North Side's Senn High School into a naval academy.
This proposal has met strong resistance from the Senn student
body-one of the most ethnically diverse in the city-as well
as the surrounding Rogers Park community.
The Navy's attempted takeover of Senn highlights the growing
militarization of our schools. For example, the federal No Child
Left Behind act has required high school enrollment lists to be
handed over to U.S. military recruiters.
Come to this important meeting to find out how teachers, union
members, community activists and antiwar activists are fighting back.
To endorse or for more information, send a message to
Chicago Labor Against the War
chi_labor_antiwar@yahoo.com
U.S. Labor Against War (USLAW)
www.uslaboragainstwar.org
PMB 153
1718 "M" Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
Gene Bruskin and Bob Muehlenkamp, Co-convenors Amy Newell,
National Organizer Michael Eisenscher, Organizer & Web
Coordinator Adrienne Nicosia, Administrative Staff
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
3) Please come out this November 19-21 to Columbus, GA to
close the School of the Americas.
SOA Watch Updates and Actions
Converge on Ft. Benning, GA: November 19-21!
Together We Will Shut Down the School of Assassins!
On November 20th and 21st, join Susan Sarandon, Martin Sheen;
Carlos Mauricio and Neris Gonzales, torture survivors and plaintiffs
in the successful lawsuit against Salvadoran generals now living in
the US; Betita Martinez, long time Chicana activist and historian;
Ruby Sales, prominent civil rights activist and native of Columbus,
Georgia; Bob King, vice president of the United Auto Workers; Bishop
Gabino Zavala, Bishop President of Pax Christi USA, Kathy Kelly,
Nobel Peace Prize nominee and founder of Voices in the Wilderness;
Sr. Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking, grassroots activists
from Mexico, labor leaders from Colombia and many more dynamic
speakers gathered on stage in front of the main gates of
Fort Benning, Georgia.
Join, also, rousing musicians from around the country, including
many of the long-time musicians that have been an essential part
of our November presence: Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls, Charlie
King and Karen Brandow, Pat Humphries and Sandy Opatow,
Francisco Herrera, Jon Fromer, David Rovics, Dave Lippman and
Llajtasuyo. Newcomers to the stage this year include Kim and
Reggie Harris, Utah Phillips and Chicago-based ska/reggae band
Los Vicios de PapĂ¡.
SOA Watch Victory Against Metal Detectors and Illegal Searches:
The Eleventh Circuit Court Upholds the Constitution!
On Friday, October 15, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
issued a groundbreaking ruling upholding the constitutional
rights of free speech, freedom of assembly and freedom from
unlawful search and seizure.
In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that the search policy
instituted by the Columbus City Police before the November 2002
vigil violates the First and Fourth Amendments to the Constitution
and that protesters may not be required to pass through metal
detectors to enter the rally site this November.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
4) 'This one's faking he's dead'
'He's dead now'
Fallujah: Video shows US soldier killing wounded insurgent
in cold blood
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
16 November 2004
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=583322
The US Marine Corps launched an investigation into possible war
crimes last night after video footage taken inside a mosque in
Fallujah apparently showed a Marine shooting dead an unarmed
Iraqi insurgent who had been taken prisoner.
The footage showed several Marines with a group of prisoners who
were either lying on the floor or propped against a wall of the bombed
-out building. One Marine can be heard declaring that one of the
prisoners was faking his injuries.
"He's fucking faking he's dead. He faking he's fucking dead," says
the Marine. At that point a clatter of gunfire can be heard as one of
the Marines shoots the prisoner. Another voice can then be heard
saying: "He's dead now."
The footage was obtained by a team from the American NBC network
that was embedded with the Marine Corps during last week's
seven-day battle to capture the city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad,
which military commanders say has been a focus of Iraqi resistance.
The film was then pooled and made available to other media.
On the footage that was broadcast last night, NBC correspondent
Kevin Sites said that the five wounded Iraqi fighters had been left
in the mosque after Marines had fought their way into that part of
the city on Friday and Saturday. Ten other Iraqis had been killed in
the battle for the mosque. Instead of being passed to the rear lines
for treatment the wounded Iraqis were left in the mosque until
a second group of Marines entered the building on Saturday, following
reports that the building may have been reoccupied. Sites said that
at this point one of the five Iraqis was dead and that three of the
others appeared to be close to death.
In his report accompanying the images, Sites said that one of the
Marines noticed that one of the wounded men was still breathing
before shouting that he was "faking it".
"The Marine then raises his rifle and fires into the man's head. The
pictures are too graphic for us to broadcast," said Sites. He added:
"The prisoner did not appear to be armed or threatening in any way".
Major Doug Powell, a spokesman for the Marine Corps in Washington,
told The Independent : "It's being investigated - I can't say much more
than that. It's being investigated for possible law of war violations.
A naval criminal investigation team is looking into it."
The footage - some of the first to show the situation inside Fallujah
and the bloody nature of the street-by-street battle that has taken
place there - is the latest to emerge from Iraq to contain possible
evidence of war crimes perpetrated by the US military.
Other footage has shown troops shooting wounded fighters lying
in open ground as well as attacks on Iraqis - some said to be
civilians - by US aircraft and helicopters. This latest footage is
among the most shocking given that it apparently shows without
obstruction the Marine shooting the prisoner in the head at close
range.
Kathy Kelly, a spokeswoman for the peace group Voices in the
Wilderness, said last night that such images would "recruit more
terrorists faster than they are being killed".
"I don't think the US is paying much attention to the Geneva
Conventions any more - that is the problem. This must be
investigated," she said.
NBC said in its report that the Marine who had shot the insurgent
had apparently been shot in the face the day before and that one
of his comrades had been killed the previous day by a booby-trap
bomb that had been placed on the body of a dead insurgent. He
has been withdrawn from the field and his unit removed from the
front lines, officials said.
Military experts said last night that rules of engagement prevented
US troops from shooting an enemy where there was no threat
being posed.
Yesterday, the Marines said they had taken more than 1,000 prisoners
in the battle for Fallujah. Colonel Michael Regner, operations officer
for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Fallujah, said at least 1,052
prisoners had been captured in the battle. No more than about two
dozen of them were "foreign fighters", he said.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
5) U.S. Marines Rally Round Iraq Probe Comrade
By Michael Georgy
FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters)
Tue Nov 16, 2004 09:29 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6828512&src=eD
ialog/GetContent§ion=news
FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. Marines rallied round a comrade
under investigation for killing a wounded Iraqi during the offensive
in Falluja, saying he was probably under combat stress in unpredictable,
hair-trigger circumstances.
Marines interviewed on Tuesday said they didn't see the shooting as
a scandal, rather the act of a comrade who faced intense pressure
during the effort to quell the insurgency in the city.
"I can see why he would do it. He was probably running around
being shot at for days on end in Falluja. There should be an
investigation but they should look into the circumstances," said
Lance Corporal Christopher Hanson.
"I would have shot the insurgent too. Two shots to the head," said
Sergeant Nicholas Graham, 24, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "You
can't trust these people. He should not be investigated. He did
nothing wrong."
The military command launched an investigation after video
footage showed a U.S. Marine shooting a wounded and unarmed man
in a mosque in the city on Saturday. The man was one of five
wounded and left in the mosque after Marines fought their way
through the area.
A pool report by NBC correspondent Kevin Sites said the
mosque had been used by insurgents to attack U.S. forces, who
stormed it, killing 10 militants and wounding the five. Sites
said the wounded had been left for others to pick up.
A second group of Marines entered the mosque on Saturday
after reports it had been reoccupied. Footage from the embedded
television crew showed the five still in the mosque, although
several appeared to be close to death, Sites said.
He said a Marine noticed one prisoner was still breathing.
A Marine can be heard saying on the pool footage provided
to Reuters Television: "He's fucking faking he's dead."
"The Marine then raises his rifle and fires into the man's
head," Sites said.
NBC said the Marine, who had reportedly been shot in the
face himself the previous day, said immediately after the
shooting: "Well, he's dead now."
THOROUGH PROBE PROMISED
The Marine commander in Falluja, Lieutenant General John
Sattler, said his men followed the law of conflict and held
themselves to a high standard of accountability.
"The facts of this case will be thoroughly pursued to make
an informed decision and to protect the rights of all persons
involved," he said.
Marines have repeatedly described the rebels they fought
against in Falluja as ruthless fighters who didn't play by the
rules. They say the investigation is politically motivated.
"It's all political. This Marine has been under attack for
days. It has nothing to do with what he did," said Corporal
Keith Hoy, 23.
Rights group Amnesty International said on Monday both
sides in the Falluja fighting had broken the rules of war
governing the protection of civilians and wounded combatants.
Gunnery Sergeant Christopher Garza, 30, favored an
investigation but like other Marines said the Pentagon should
weigh its decision carefully.
"He should have captured him. Maybe the insurgent had some
valuable information. There may have been mitigating
circumstances. Maybe his two buddies died in Falluja," he said.
Sites said: "I have witnessed the Marines behaving as a
disciplined and professional force throughout this offensive.
In this particular case, it certainly was a confusing situation
to say the least."
The U.S. military has been embarrassed by scandals in Iraq,
most prominently the Abu Ghraib affair in which at least eight
U.S. soldiers have been tried or face courts-martial over the
abuse of prisoners at the jail outside Baghdad.
There have also been several cases in which soldiers have
been charged with wrongfully killing Iraqis during operations.
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
6) U.S. Forces Launch Assault on Iraqi Rebels in Mosul
By Maher al-Thanoon
MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters)
Tue Nov 16, 2004 09:37 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6828657&src=eD
ialog/GetContent§ion=news
MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi forces launched an
offensive in Mosul on Tuesday to retake control of rebel-held
areas after a week of anarchy with insurgents rampaging through
Iraq's third largest city.
"Offensive operations have begun on the western side of the
river to clear out final pockets of insurgent fighting," said
Captain Angela Bowman, spokeswoman for U.S. forces in the
north.
"It's a significant operation to secure police stations in
the area and make sure they can be put to use again."
Violence in Mosul was part of a surge in unrest in Sunni
areas of Iraq that coincided with a major U.S. assault on the
rebel bastion of Falluja. The U.S. military says it has taken
control of Falluja, but scattered resistance remains.
On Tuesday morning a Marine was killed in a suicide car
bomb attack in the south of Falluja, a Marine officer told
Reuters. At least 39 U.S. troops have been killed since the
start of the Falluja offensive eight days ago.
U.S. and Iraqi forces had met little rebel resistance in
the early stages of the Mosul operation but said a 4 p.m. to 6
a.m. (8 a.m.- 10 p.m. EST) curfew would remain in place and
that the five bridges over the Tigris in the city were closed,
Bowman said.
Last week scores of guerrillas seized control of parts of
the city, attacking police stations, looting them of weapons
and flak jackets and setting them ablaze. Nine of 33 police
stations were overrun, and some were briefly held by
insurgents.
A few hundred U.S. troops, backed by Iraqi national guards
and a unit of police special commandos were involved in
Tuesday's operation, which would continue until all police
stations were secure and insurgents defeated, Bowman said.
A U.S. brigade, around 5,000 soldiers, and a brigade of Iraqi
national guards had been assigned to the operation, but
only a fraction of those assets were being used, she said.
CONTROVERSY OVER KILLING
Iraq's government has insisted that civilian casualties in
Falluja have been minimal, and says reports of a humanitarian
crisis in the city have been exaggerated.
But controversy over the Falluja offensive has been fueled
by video footage showing a U.S. Marine shooting a wounded and
unarmed Iraqi in a mosque in the city on Saturday.
The U.S. military says it is investigating the killing.
"This investigation commenced immediately when allegations
were brought forward and is continuing," the 1st Marine
Division said in a statement on Tuesday.
"The purpose of this investigation is to determine whether
the Marine acted in self-defense, violated military law or
failed to comply with the Law of Armed Conflict."
The Iraqi was one of five wounded left in the mosque after
Marines fought their way through the area on Friday and
Saturday. A pool report by NBC correspondent Kevin Sites said
the mosque had been used by insurgents to attack U.S. forces,
who stormed it, killing 10 militants and wounding the five.
A second group of Marines entered the mosque on Saturday
after reports it had been reoccupied. Footage from the embedded
television crew showed the five still in the mosque, although
several appeared to be already close to death, Sites said.
He said a Marine noticed one prisoner was still breathing.
"The Marine then raises his rifle and fires into the man's
head. The pictures are too graphic for us to broadcast," Sites
said.
Rights group Amnesty International said on Monday that both
sides in the Falluja fighting had broken the rules governing
the rules of war protecting civilians and wounded combatants.
NO FALLUJA CRISIS, GOVERNMENT SAYS
Iraq's government has dismissed reports that civilians in
Falluja are desperately short of supplies and lacked adequate
medical care. Most civilians were reported to have fled the
city ahead of the start of the offensive last week.
"The Iraqi government strongly rejects suggestions from
some sources that there are shortages of supplies in Falluja,"
a statement from Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's office said.
A Health Ministry team had visited the city and Falluja
hospital, seized by U.S. and Iraqi forces just before the
assault began eight days ago, and found no shortages, the
statement said, adding:
"They have confirmed that they found no citizens in need of
food or water. It is now clear there are very few citizens in
Falluja. Most have already fled from the terrorists."
The Falluja offensive sparked a surge in unrest in other
rebel strongholds. In Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, five
policemen and 26 guerrillas were killed in fighting on Monday.
U.S. troops were also fighting guerrillas on Tuesday in the
oil refining town of Baiji, witnesses said. They said
guerrillas had taken to the streets and were fighting gun
battles with American and Iraqi forces.
Insurgents killed a Turkish truck driver in the town in a
rocket attack on his truck, police said. Dozens of drivers have
been killed on the perilous roads in the area over the last few
months, with insurgents repeatedly targeting convoys.
(Additional reporting by Lin Noueihed and Luke Baker in
Baghdad and Haider Hamza in Falluja)
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
7) CKUT Radio: U.S. Military War Crimes in Fallujah
Listen to a live report on the current military siege of Fallujah, from
Dahr Jamail an independent journalist, currently based in Baghdad Iraq.
According to a Red Cross official in Iraq, at least 800 civilians have
been killed during the U.S. military siege of Fallujah, which has
destroyed large areas of the city and inflicted a humanitarian disaster.
This live report provides insight and context into the current siege of
Fallujah, while questions the distinction between "insurgents" and
"civilians" killed in Fallujah, created by official U.S. military
statements and widely reported on major North American media networks.
To listen / download the report visit:
http://radio.indymedia.org/news/2004/11/2909.php
To read Dahr Jamail's reports from Iraq visit:
http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
8) 800 Civilians Feared Dead in Fallujah
Inter Press Service
By: Dahr Jamail
{http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/hard_news/000121.php#more}
BAGHDAD, Nov 16 (IPS) - At least 800 civilians have been killed during the
U.S. military siege of Fallujah, a Red Cross official estimates.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of U.S. military reprisal, a
high-ranking official with the Red Cross in Baghdad told IPS that "at
least 800 civilians" have been killed in Fallujah so far.
His estimate is based on reports from Red Crescent aid workers stationed
around the embattled city, from residents within the city and from
refugees, he said.
"Several of our Red Cross workers have just returned from Fallujah since
the Americans won't let them into the city," he said. "And they said the
people they are tending to in the refugee camps set up in the desert
outside the city are telling horrible stories of suffering and death
inside Fallujah."
The official said that both Red Cross and Iraqi Red Crescent relief teams
had asked the U.S. military in Fallujah to take in medical supplies to
people trapped in the city, but their repeated requests had been turned
down.
A convoy of relief supplies from both relief organisations continues to
wait on the outskirts of the city for military permission to enter. They
have appealed to the United Nations to intervene on their behalf.
"The Americans close their ears, and that is it," the Red Cross official
said. "They won't even let us take supplies into Fallujah General
Hospital."
The official estimated that at least 50,000 residents remain trapped
within the city. They were too poor to leave, lacked friends or family
outside the city and therefore had nowhere to go, or they simply had not
had enough time to escape before the siege began, he said.
Aid workers in his organisation have reported that houses of civilians in
Kharma, a small city near Fallujah, had been bombed by U.S. warplanes. In
one instance a family of five was killed just two days ago, they reported.
"I don't know why the American leaders did not approach the Red Cross and
ask us to deal with the families properly before the attacking began,"
said a Red Cross aid worker, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.
"Suddenly they attacked and people were stuck with no help, no medicine,
no food, no supplies," he said. "So those who could, ran for the desert
while the rest were trapped in the city."
If the U.S. forces would call a temporary cease-fire "we could get our
trucks in and get the civilians left in Fallujah who need medical care, we
could get them out," he said.
Mosques have organised massive collections of food and relief supplies for
Fallujah residents as they did last April when the city was under attack,
but these supplies have not been allowed into the city either.
The Red Cross official said they had received several reports from
refugees that the military had dropped cluster bombs in Fallujah, and used
a phosphorous weapon that caused severe burns.
The U.S. military claims to have killed 1,200 "insurgents" in Fallujah.
Abdel Khader Janabi, a resistance leader from the city has said that only
about 100 among them were fighters.
"Both of them are lying," the Red Cross official said. While they agree on
the 1,200 number, they are both lying about the number of dead fighters."
He added that "our estimate of 800 civilians is likely to be too low."
The situation within Fallujah is grim, he said. If help does not reach
people soon, "the children who are trapped will most likely die."
He said the Ministry of Health in the U.S.-backed interim Iraqi government
had stopped supplying hospitals and clinics in Fallujah two months before
the current siege.
"The hospitals do not even have aspirin," he said. "This shows, in my
opinion, that they've had a plan to attack for a long time and were trying
to weaken the people."
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9) A short history of trade unionism in the Iraqi oil industry
August 24, 2004
http://www.iraqitradeunions.org/archives/000071.html
The history of trade unionism in the Iraqi oil industry began in
the 1930s, when union committees were formed in Baghdad,
Basra and Kirkuk.
In 1930, about 1600 workers were employed by the oil companies,
but improvements in production, the discoveries of new oil wells and
increase in exports meant that this soared very quickly to over 10,000
in 1957 and 48, 000 by 1975.
Oil union committees were formed and fought for workers' rights across
Iraq. The oil union at the Kirkuk plant organized the first strike on July
1946, but the government brutally suppressed the strike and 15 strikers
were martyred.
The state became increasingly dependent on oil revenue during the
1940s and 50s. This increased workers' awareness of importance of
trade unionism. New and determined leaders emerged through the
struggle for workers' democratic rights and membership of trade
unions also expanded. By 1969 18,000 members were part of 9 oil
workers branches but over the next two years this dropped to 16,000
in 8 branches due to political and economic instability.
By 1973 after the nationalisation of the oil industry, increased
efficiency and the significant jump in oil prices led to huge increases
in the workforce and union membership rose to 47,870.
It was in this context of mass unionisation of the lucrative oil industry
that Saddam's 1987 anti union Decrees (numbers 150 and 52) banned
public sector workers from joining or forming unions. These decrees
halved the number of unions from 12 to 6.
The Iraqi labour movement received a severe blow from Saddam's
fascist anti-union laws and state repression. A campaign of repression,
imprisonment and execution was carried out by Saddam's dictatorial
regime against oil workers. Many disappeared without trace.
But trade unionism in Iraq had deeper roots, which Saddam's brutal
regime could not manage to eradicate completely. A clandestine trade
union movement was formed. The Workers Democratic Trade Union
Movement (WDTUM) began organizing secretly in small trade union
groupings. But despite severe state repression, its leaders and activists
fought in defence of working people's legitimate rights to union
representation.
After the fall of Saddam's hated regime, many trade union activists
of different political persuasions, including oil worker activists,
initiated the rebuilding of Iraqi unions on a democratic and
pluralistic basis.
On 16 May 2003 the oil workers established their Oil and Gas Union
in an open meeting held at the Al Dora oil refinery in Baghdad and
a preparatory committee was established.
Since then 18 oil union committees have been formed in Baghdad.
Many tens of oil committees are also formed in Basra and Kirkuk.
Membership of the union runs into tens of thousands and the Oil
and Gas Union is affiliated to the Iraqi Federation of Trade Union
(IFTU).
Iraqi Oil workers like the rest of Iraqi working people are struggling
in the most difficult and complicated circumstances. They are
struggling to rebuild the infrastructure of the oil industry which
was destroyed as a result of wars, foreign invasion and occupation.
They are struggling along side other Iraqis for the return of full
Iraqi sovereignty.
Oil workers also struggle to defend their rights for decent job and
better pay. Wages are low and working conditions are dangerous.
Iraq has no labour code that guarantees and protects working people's
rights. Oil workers have been subjected to waves of bombing and
terrorist acts by local and foreign extremists which have killed
many oil workers.
The IFTU and the Oil and Gas Union back policies to ease oil workers
suffering, to improve wages and working conditions.
Oil workers along side other worker resist privatisation in the public
sector and especially in the oil sector. The Oil and Gas Union stated
clearly that oil must remain a property in the hands of Iraqi people.
Multinational companies should not be allowed to reap easy profits
at the cost of well-being of Iraqis.
Due the high level of unemployment not least of oil workers, the Oil
and Gas Union strongly oppose the importation of foreign workers,
whilst thousands of skilled Iraqis have no job. Jobs should go first
to Iraqi workers.
The Oil and Gas Union is working to strengthen its cooperation and
friendship with energy trade union centres around the world and
seeking their support and solidarity to enable the union better to
defend its members' rights.
Iraqi Oil and Gas Union
Baghdad
21 August 2004
U.S. Labor Against War (USLAW)
www.uslaboragainstwar.org
PMB 153
1718 "M" Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
Gene Bruskin and Bob Muehlenkamp, Co-convenors Amy Newell,
National Organizer Michael Eisenscher, Organizer & Web
Coordinator Adrienne Nicosia, Administrative Staff
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
10) A City Lies in Ruins, Along with the Lives of the
Wretched Survivors
By Michael Georgy in Fallujah and Kim Sengupta
Published on Monday, November 15, 2004 by the lndependent/UK
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=582915
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1115-01.htm
After six days of intense combat against the Fallujah insurgents,
US warplanes, tanks and mortars have left a shattered landscape
of gutted buildings, crushed cars and charred bodies.
A drive through the city revealed a picture of utter destruction, with
concrete houses flattened, mosques in ruins, telegraph poles down,
power and phone lines hanging slack and rubble and human remains
littering the empty streets. The north-west Jolan district, once an
insurgent stronghold, looked like a ghost town, the only sound the
rumbling of tank tracks.
[Photo not shown]
An Iraqi nurse treats 2-year-old child Mustafa Adnan, at a Baghdad
hospital, who lost a leg when his house in Falluja's Jolan district was
shelled by U.S. forces in the war-torn city November 14, 2004. U.S.
tanks shelled and machine-gunned rebels still holding out in Falluja
in heavy fighting that was preventing an Iraqi Red Crescent convoy
from getting aid to civilians trapped in the city for six days. Photo
by Ali Jasim/Reuters
US Marines pointed their assault rifles down abandoned streets,
past Fallujah's simple amusement park, now deserted. Four bloated
and burnt bodies lay on the main street, not far from US tanks and
soldiers. The stench of the remains hung heavy in the air, mixing
with the dust.
Another body lay stretched out on the next block, its head blown
off, perhaps in one of the countless explosions which rent the city
day and night for nearly a week. Some bodies were so mutilated it
was impossible to tell if they were civilians or militants, male or female.
Fallujah, regarded as a place with an independent streak where citizens
even defied the former leader Saddam Hussein at times, seemed lifeless.
The minarets of the city's dozens of mosques stood silent, no longer
broadcasting the call to holy war that so often echoed across the
rooftops, inspiring fighters to join the insurgency.
Restaurant signs were covered in soot. Pavements were crushed
by 70-ton Abrams tanks, and rows of crumbling buildings stood
on both sides of deserted streets. Upmarket homes with garages
looked as if they had been abandoned for years. Cars lay crushed
in the middle of streets. Two Iraqis in one street desperately trying
to salvage some of their smashed belongings were the only signs
of life.
As US soldiers walked through neighbourhoods, their allies in the
Iraqi forces casually moved along dusty streets past wires hanging
down from gutted buildings. They carried boxes of bottled water to
the rooftops of the upmarket villas they now occupy. The soldiers
sat on the roofs staring at the ruins.
As a small convoy of Humvees moved back to position on the edge of
the Jolan district, a rocket landed in the sand about 100ft away,
a reminder that militants were still out there somewhere, even if the
city that harboured them has fallen. The few civilians left in Fallujah
talked of a city left in ruins not just by the six days of the ground
assault, but the weeks of bombing that preceded the attack.
Residents have long been without electricity or water, abandoning
their homes and congregating in the centre of the city as the US
forces advanced from all sides. They had cowered in buildings as
the battle unfolded past the windows.
The reaction of US troops to attacks, say residents, have been out
of all proportion; shots by snipers have been answered by rounds
from Abrams tanks, devastating buildings and, it is claimed,
injuring and killing civilians. This is firmly denied by the
American military.
About 200,000 refugees fled the fighting, and there have been
outbreaks of typhoid and other diseases.
People leaving the city described rotting corpses being piled up
and thousands still trapped inside their homes, many of them
wounded and without access to food, water or medical aid. US
commanders insist civilian casualties in Fallujah have been low,
but the Pentagon famously claims it does not keep figures.
Escaping residents described incidents in which non-combatants,
including women and children, were killed by shrapnel or hit by
bombs. In one case last week, a nine-year-old boy was hit in the
stomach by shrapnel. Unable to reach a hospital, he died hours
later from blood loss. His father had to bury his body in their garden.
Those trapped inside the city say they are reaching a point of
desperation. "Our situation is very hard," said Abu Mustafa,
contacted by telephone in the central Hay al-Dubat neighbourhood.
"We don't have food or water," he told Reuters. "My seven children
all have severe diarrhoea. One of my sons was wounded by shrapnel
last night and he's bleeding, but I can't do anything to help him."
Aamir Haidar Yusouf, a 39-year-old trader, sent his family out of
Fallujah, but stayed behind to look after his home, not just during
the fighting, but the looting which will follow. "The Americans have
been firing at buildings if they see even small movements," he said.
As the fighting died down yesterday he said: "They are also
destroying cars, because they think every car has a bomb in it.
People have moved from the edges of the city into the centre, and
they are staying on the ground floors of buildings. There will be
nothing left of Fallujah by the time they finish. They have already
destroyed so many homes with their bombings from the air, and
now we are having this from tanks and big guns."
There was no sign of the guerrillas who scribbled graffiti along the
walls of the park, encouraging Fallujah's 300,000 residents to join
a holy war against US-led troops. "Long live the mujahedin," read
the graffiti.
Mohammed Younis, a former policeman, said: "The Americans
and [Iyad] Allawi [Iraq's interim Prime Minister] have been saying
that Fallujah is full of foreign fighters. That is not true; they left
a long time ago. You will find them in other places, in Baghdad.
We have been saying to Allawi and the Americans that they are
not here, but they do not believe us."
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
11) THE CIVILIAN DEATH TOLL
By Harvey McGavin
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=582915
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1115-01.htm
US military officials were last night counting the cost of their week
long assault on Fallujah in which they claim to have killed some
1,200 insurgents and some 44 servicemen lost their lives.
But in the city which was once home to 300,000 people there
were few reports of the number of civilians killed.
Many are thought to have fled the fighting, but reports from the
city say it is impossible to tell how many of the bodies that litter
its rubble-strewn streets are those of ordinary citizens.
Last week a report collated by the UN said 20 doctors had died
during a US air strike on a clinic and there have been numerous
reports of the US dropping huge bombs.
The US Defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld claimed last week that
Iraqi civilians had been warned how to avoid injury. "Innocent civilians
in that city have all the guidance they need as to how they can avoid
getting into trouble. There aren't going to be large numbers of civilians
killed and certainly not by US forces," he said.
In addition to the 38 Americans and six Iraqis killed in the assault,
more than 200 US soldiers were injured. About 400 suspected
insurgents have been arrested in Fallujah including "some" foreigners,
interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said.
The Iraq Coalition Casualties website reported that, as of Saturday,
1,181 US troops had been killed in Iraq. One Iraq-based report
estimates civilian casualties to be 37,000. A report in the British
medical journal The Lancet put the figure as high as 100,000.
Prime minister Iyad Allawi said there had been no civilian casualties
during the battle for Fallujah, contradicting accounts from residents
inside the city.
(c) Copyright 2004 lndependent/UK
###
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12) GI SPECIAL 2#C22
thomasfbarton@earthlink.net
11.16.04
Huge Increase In Badly Wounded Floods U.S. Military Hospital;
419 Since Attack On Falluja Started
November 15, 2004 USA TODAY
She added that the influx has not yet let up. "When I see a sustained
decrease over more than 24 hours, I'll believe it," Cornum said.
LANDSTUHL, Germany - The number of injured U.S. military personnel
arriving at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center this week, most from
the offensive against insurgents in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, reached
its highest level since April, a U.S. military official here said
Sunday.
The troops coming in over the past week have been more seriously injured
than usual, and twice as many have been wounded in battle, said Army
Col. Rhonda Cornum, commander of the hospital.
She added that the influx has not yet let up. "When I see a sustained
decrease over more than 24 hours, I'll believe it," Cornum said.
Patients treated here are not capable of returning to duty within seven
working days. Cornum said 419 patients, including one American
civilian, have been flown for treatment to Landstuhl since Nov. 8, the
day after the offensive began against militants in Fallujah, 40 miles
west of Baghdad.
She said 95% of those patients have come from Iraq, and 5% from
Afghanistan. Most of those from Iraq were wounded in Fallujah, but
Cornum could not say exactly how many.
There have been two peaks in the patient load: 98 arrived Thursday, 44
on Friday, 94 on Saturday, and 49 on Sunday, Cornum said. All of the
patients have been U.S. citizens.
Before the new offensive, the average number of patients admitted daily
had been 32. In the past week, that number has more than doubled to 70.
On Sunday, the number of patients in the hospital was 150, compared with
the typical average of 100. The injuries suffered include gunshot and
blast wounds and burns.
The seriousness of injuries is reflected by the number of inpatients.
About half the patients admitted since the Fallujah offensive began have
needed to be hospitalized. Hospital spokeswoman Marie Shaw said most
patients usually receive outpatient care.
More than 50% of incoming patients have had battle wounds this past
week, compared with 25% before the offensive. Among those seriously
injured patients, 37 are in the intensive care unit.
Because of the heavier-than-usual load and the increased seriousness of
injuries, the hospital has had to call in help from military facilities
in the area.
"This was not a holiday weekend for us," said Air Force Col. Todd Hess,
deputy commander for clinical services, referring to Veterans Day.
The number of beds in the medical-surgical ward has grown from 64 to
117. The number could be increased if necessary, Cornum said. The
intensive care unit has gone from 20 to 27 beds.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
13) 'Twas a Famous Rollover, Continued
By Fred Feldman
Clearly, the resistance forces decided not to stage an urban battle of
the Stalingrad-Warsaw Ghetto -- Khorramshahr -- Hue type. Except for
Hue, these were backs-against-the-wall battles by forces who faced utter
defeat and destruction if they could not hold the line. I was pointing
to the gravity of the battle they did fight.
One question I asked was whether any of the battles in the three Iraq
wars so far produced a comparable US death toll, let alone the injuries.
I don't think so. I think this is the most costly battle yet for the US
forces, that is, since the Gulf war of 91.
Dave said the Pentagon can accept 38 dead. The Pentagon can accept
100,000 US dead, or even a million. Maybe more than that, as long as
its not them that's dying.
The problem is what can the home front accept. I don't think the home
front will not tolerate 38 dead a week, I believe, or not for very long.
The public tolerance is lower, not higher or equal to the casulaltie
rates in Vietnam. For this reason, the entire methods of US warmaking
have been reorganized to prevent excessive casualties.
The US resistance to Vietnam led to a more advanced technology and
skillful organization of mass murder just as the proletarian struggle
for shorter hours and higher wages forces mechanization,
computerization, and so on of industry. The Rumsfeld reorganization is
built around the political limits imposed by the anti-Vietnam war
movement and the defeat in Indochina.
>From a political standpoint, 36 or 38 (the number is still rising for
some reason although the fighting has largely ended) is a very costly
price for a battle, and not one they will rush to repeat next week in
Mosul or wherever.
And the resistance has clearly gotten better at targeting GI'S than
they were in previous battles such as Najaf. Thirty-eight is a high
death toll, and its impact on the US public is going to be carefully
buried for as long as possible.
And the fighters were able to wage this gigantic (though not
world-historic scale) urban battle, and still take over Mosul and some
other cities. This seems to mark a shift in favor of the resistance in
the overall combat situation.
And yes, I suspect the US may for now -- precisely to stop the stream of
US dead -- be living with a significant degree of resistance strength IN
FALLUJAH, aside from the thousands who appear to have left to fight
another day somewhere else.
Overall, this seems to be neither a clear military victory for the
United States (aside from in the heavily propagandized US, which the
battle was substantially aimed at), nor a defeat or even a setback for
the national resistance, which seems to have become better organized
(more united?) and more effective militarily relative to the US-"Iraqi"
forces.
The low casualty rate among "Iraqi" government troops should be seen as
evidence that they carried little of the burden of fighting.
ffeldman@bellatlantic.net
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
14) CONSPIRING TO COMMIT MURDER FOR PROFIT!
In a message dated 11/16/04 9:22:58 AM, Jibasmil writes:
Following is a pre-written message which I am lazy enough
to use. The fact that this "study" has been delayed is, I think,
due the use of the internet -- word of it got around very quickly
and the EPA felt the heat. We need to keep that heat up so the
#$%@&#* EPA kills it. --judy
Dear friend, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced
plans to launch an outrageous new study in which participating low
income families will have their children exposed to toxic pesticides
over the course of two years. For taking part in these studies, each
family will receive $970, a free video camera, a T-shirt, and a framed
certificate of appreciation. The study entitled CHEERS (Children's
Environmental Exposure Research Study) will look at how chemicals
can be ingested, inhaled or absorbed by children ranging from babies
to 3 years old. Please take a moment to follow this link and join tens
of thousands of citizens in petitioning the EPA to terminate this study
prior to its proposed launch in early 2005. More information, related
newspaper headlines and petition here:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/epa-alert.htm
Please also forward this message.
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15) United for Peace and Justice
Development Coordinator
Job Announcement
About United for Peace and Justice
United for Peace and Justice, founded in October 2002, is a major
national anti-war coalition with over 800 member groups, ranging
from local groups such as Nebraskans for Peace and the Peoria Area
Peace Network to major national organizations like the American
Friends Service Committee, Black Voices for Peace, Peace Action,
and Global Exchange. Our primary areas of work include war and
occupation; immigrant rights and civil liberties; global justice;
and nuclear disarmament.
Job Responsibilities
United for Peace and Justice seeks a Development Coordinator
to oversee all aspects of fundraising for our coalition. Job
responsibilities will include the following:
- Seek out and cultivate relationships with major donors,
including direct solicitations.
- Oversee our direct mail program and donor database.
- Work with UFPJ member organizations on collaborative
fund raising efforts.
- Oversee foundation grant writing, including developing
strategies for foundation work and writing grant proposals.
- Improve UFPJ's online fundraising program.
- Develop plan for fundraising benefits and other activities.
- Work with UFPJ national coordinator and steering committee
to expand the existing funding base.
Qualifications
Applicant must be well organized, high energy, self-motivated
and creative. A commitment to UFPJ's peace and justice mission
is a must. Excellent written and oral communication skills are
essential. We are looking for someone with development experience
in social change and/or nonprofit organizations. Experience and
contacts in the progressive funding community is a plus but not
a requirement.
Salary: to be negotiated, plus benefits.
To Apply
UFPJ is an affirmative action employer and strongly encourages
people of color, women and lgtb people to apply. Send resume
and cover letter to:
Leslie Cagan
United for Peace and Justice
Times Sq. Station
PO Box 607
New York, NY 10108
or by email to: lesliecagan@igc.org
NO CALLS PLEASE.
UFPJ mailing list
UFPJ@mediajumpstart.net
https://secure.mediajumpstart.net/mailman/listinfo/ufpj
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16) Why I fear for the dream of my life
Commentary
Abdul Bariatwan
The Observer
Sunday November 14, 2004
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,1350959,00.html
I was born 54 years ago in a refugee camp in Gaza. My parents were
illiterate and, like thousands of others, were forced to leave their home
town in 1948 to create space for the Jewish immigrants pouring into
Palestine from Europe.
My parents' abiding dream was to go back to the farm and mud-brick
house in Ashoud, their sleepy home town on the Mediterranean. But
they spent their lives in transit, waiting for this dream to come true.
Their dream lives on in me and in my children, too.
Yasser Arafat worked very hard for 40 years towards the independent
Palestinian state he longed for, yet never saw. Despite his mistakes, he
brought this dream closer. He brought the Palestinian cause into the
global arena and the resolution of this struggle is now of enormous
significance in determining the security of the world, not only the
Middle East.
I was deeply saddened by Arafat's death, not only because I knew him
personally, but also because Arafat, like my parents, spent his life in
transit, from Amman to Beirut to Tunisia and thence to Palestine.
What an irony it is that, even in death, his coffin is in transit, awaiting
his final transfer to Jerusalem.
Last Friday, George W Bush and his closest ally, Tony Blair assured us
that we would see such a state within the next four years - but we have
heard this story before. Before the invasion of Iraq, Bush assured the
world that an independent Palestinian state would be in place before
the end of 2005.
The American project in Iraq is a fiasco. The war which was supposed
to be over on 9 April 2003 has started all over again.
This is the climate in which Bush and Blair have revived the notion of
an independent Palestinian state - without a single indication of how
this will be achieved.
Bush asserts that an independent Palestinian state must be a democracy.
But what constitutes democracy in this lexicon? Will this concept simply
become a useful tool, replacing Arafat as justification for Israeli
atrocities,
delays to the peace process and the establishment of a Palestinian state?
In 1996, Arafat was elected leader in an election supervised by US and
Israel, yet how easily he was written off three years ago when those
same powers found him insufficiently yielding in the peace process.
The US insists it is enabling democracy in Iraq - a benefit that has cost
100 000 lives. If this is the kind of democracy Bush wishes to impose
on the Palestinians, we have every reason to be afraid. Very afraid.
Ă·Abdul Bariatwan is editor of al Quds
Guardian Unlimited (c) Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
17) Producer Prices Jump on Higher Energy Costs
By TERENCE NEILAN
November 16, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/business/16cnd-prices.html?hp&ex=11006676
00&en=3a278a97f6a5790e&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Soaring energy costs and a surge in food prices contributed to
a surprising 1.7 percent rise in United States producer prices in
October, the Labor Department reported today, the biggest gain
in almost 15 years.
Excluding the volatile food and energy sectors, the Producer Price
Index climbed 0.3 percent last month, the same as in September,
but ahead of the 0.1 percent gain anticipated by Wall Street analysts.
Energy prices soared 6.8 percent last month, the steepest climb
since February 2003, as gasoline costs increased by 17.3 percent,
home heating oil prices rose 17.9 percent and the price for liquefied
petroleum gas gained 14.7 percent. Residential electricity costs
climbed 2.3 percent.
After climbing to $55 a barrel last month, however, crude oil prices
have come down sharply, with oil for December delivery trading at
$45.95 around midday today in New York.
The seasonally adjusted increase in the overall Producer Price Index
was the largest since January 1990, outstripping wide expectations
for an increase of 0.5 percent to 0.6 percent.
The financial markets reacted negatively to the report, with stocks
and bonds falling moderately. Around midday, the leading stock indexes
were down more than half a percent. The Treasury's benchmark
10-year note was down 6/32 of a point, pushing its yield up to
4.21 percent, from 4.19 percent late Monday.
Analysts said the surge in producer prices reinforced the Federal
Reserve's strategy of gradually increasing short-term interest rates
to dampen inflationary pressures in the economy.
Some analysts took the surge in the overall Producer Price Index
in stride, especially given the impact of higher oil prices.
"The rise in the energy component was more or less expected, and
there's actually reason to be sanguine on that front, knowing that
energy prices have fallen in the past few weeks,'' said Haseeb
Ahmed, senior economist at Economy.com, an economic analysis
firm. "In fact, we should expect that component to fall in the next
report."
But Mr. Ahmed argued that the 0.3 percent rise in the core number
was actually more worrisome than the headline 1.7 percent.
"If the core number remains close to the 0.3 level for the next few
months, that would be evidence that there is significant pass-
through from lower levels of production,'' he said. "If this trend
continues, businesses may start raising prices."
The Producer Price Index issued today showed that food prices
rose 1.6 percent in October, compared with an 0.1 percent gain
in September.
A 34.2 percent surge in fresh and dry vegetables, most probably
the result of the hurricanes that struck Florida and other southern
states, followed a 12.1 percent increase in September. The rise in
vegetables was the highest in more than eight years. Fruit prices
rose by 11.3 percent, slowing from a 23.1 surge in September.
Prices for beef and veal, pork, soft drinks, dairy products and
processed fruits and vegetables rose in October, compared with
decreases in September, the government report said.
Zubin Jelveh contributed reporting for this article.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times
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18) Presbyterian Church receives arson threat over Middle
East policies
From: "Justice Freedom"
Date: Mon, 15 Nov 2004 21:08:17 -0800
[From Wendy Campbell]
http://www.lex18.com/global/story.asp?s=2561665&ClientType=Printable
LOUISVILLE, Ky. Presbyterian Churches in the U-S have been put
on high alert. This after a letter received at the church's Louisville,
Kentucky, headquarters threatened arson attacks because of the
church's policies toward the Middle East.
A church spokesman says the letter threatened to set churches on
fire while people were inside in retaliation for "anti-Israel and anti-
Jewish attitudes."
The spokesman says the letter had no return address, but was
postmarked Queens, New York.
The church's General Assembly decided in June to begin the
process of selective divestment from corporations supporting
the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.
An FBI spokesman says the agency is investigating the letter
with help from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives.
- The Palestinian intifada is a war of national liberation. We
Israelis enthusiastically chose to become a colonialist society,
ignoring international treaties, expropriating lands, transferring
settlers from Israel to the occupied territories, engaging in theft
and finding justification for all these activities ... we established
an apartheid regime.
- Michael Ben-Yair, Israeli attorney general in the1990s, quoted
in The Guardian (U.K.), April 11, 2002
- I became convinced that non-cooperation with evil is as much
a moral obligation as is cooperation with good.
- Martin Luther King, Jr, Autobiography, Chapter 2
- The "Middle East Conflict" is not rooted in the Middle East, but
in the United States.
- Look, our strategy is to create chaos, to create a vacuum . . .
We will export death and violence to the four corners of the earth
in defense of our great nation.
- gw bush to his staff, after the Afghan war had started
- The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can
shield the people from the political, economic and/or military
consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for
the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth
is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth
becomes the greatest enemy of the State.
- Josef M. Goebbels
Daniel Stone
justice_freedom@earthlink.net
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
19) S0CIALIST CUBA--THE HOPE OF THE PLANET
To: ufpj-disc@yahoogroups.com
By Dave Silver
Tue, 16 Nov 2004 16:55:02 -0500
The nature of the relentless and continuing colonial and imperialist
domination of Cuba by Spain and the United States especially since
1898 changed dramatically with the triumph of the Cuban Revolution
in 1959. The imperialist vulture to the North was driven out militarily,
economically, politically and culturally. However the imperialists,
fearing that a new humane and just model for the overwhelming
masses of people would not be good for exploitation and their super
profits, used new methods of destabilizing the new Cuba . On October
8, 1987, the 20 th anniversary of the death of Ernesto Che Guevara,
Fidel said that Che "was totally opposed to using and developing
capitalist economic laws and categories in building socialism." Che
advocated that the "building of socialism and communism is not just
a matter of producing and distributing wealth but is also a matter of
education and consciousness."
It then becomes apparent why Cuba, a beacon of internationalist
solidarity for oppressed peoples worldwide, became anathema not
only to the transnational corporate ruling class and their political
puppets in Wall Street, western Europe and Tokyo but also those
who have rejected Marxism for more pragmatic philosophies;
liberals, neo-liberals, neo-marxists, anarchists and various trends
within social democracy. Those who have never recognized
a really existing socialism, who have embraced opportunism,
were not prepared for nor could they accept the arming of the
Cuban masses, or the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution,
the Peoples' Assemblies, the voluntary work or the use of moral
incentives which were later modified under the pressures of the
imperialist Blockade-an act of war-according to international law.
No these folk could not accept Revolutionary Cuba's attempts at
creatively applying Marxism-Leninism.
The revisionists and opportunists discount the terrorist acts, over
flights, the C.I.A. funded Radio Marti, assassination attempts and
the support for counter revolutionaries in and outside of Miami .
No, they call for "free elections" bourgeois style which offers the
evil of two lessers to the masses. Or they call for freedom for
"dissidents" another useful code word that masks their counter
revolutionary acts within Cuba and connections to western
imperialist sources. Some like the former Chief of the U.S.
Interests Section in Havana , Wayne Smith, calls for an end to the
"embargo" (a more benign term) not because Cuba is a sovereign
state which first and foremost means the right to self determination
including the right to build socialism, NO. He and his ilk want to
end the Blockade for ulterior motives namely to bring a little
perestroika and glasnost to the island. In short they, like the
gusanos, look to a smooth "post Castro transition" really meaning
a post socialist Cuba .
Cuba 's nationalization and collectivization under the guidance of
the Communist Party was a political and economic declaration of
war against the capitalist countries and their financial representatives
at the IMF and World Bank. ( Canada is a partial exception) Cuba 's
staunch international solidarity includes supporting the armed
struggle in Angola to providing doctors and training university
students from other countries. This too is deeply hated by those
who would like to bring the "benefits" of gangsterism, corruption
and poverty now "enjoyed" by the Russian people. Those whom
Brecht called the intellectual pimps for the bourgeoisie belittle the
heroic accomplishments of a Cuba under siege such as safeguarding
the high standard of health, education, and literacy services while
seeing to it that no one goes hungry or is homeless.
Does this mean that this beacon and alternative model to the "free
market" has solved all basic social, political and economic questions?
Of course not. In his eulogy honoring Che, Fidel asks "what are we
rectifying?" Self critically including his own mistakes he says that
"we're rectifying all those things -and there are many- that strayed
from the revolutionary spirit, revolutionary work, and revolutionary
responsibility; all those things that strayed from the spirit of
solidarity among people. We're rectifying all the shoddiness and
mediocrity that is precisely the negation of Che's ideas, his
revolutionary thought, his style, his spirit, and his example."
Of course Fidel had in mind a developing bureaucracy as well as
technocrats and some intellectuals that never appreciated the fact
that while there may be compromise in dealing with other states
and Parties there could never be a compromise of the fundamental
ideological underpinning of the Revolution-Marxism-Leninism.
Cuba is a multicultural mixture of Spanish, African and Indigenous
peoples. Yet quite legitimately many comrades and friends have
questioned Havana 's policies and efforts toward bringing more
people of color into higher government, Party and professional
positions. The Central Committee of the Party acknowledged this
problem 15 years ago and made decisions accordingly. About three
years ago I had the privilege of attending a meeting arranged by
Black comrades who invited a member of the Department of International
Relations of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party.
Our guest Adelina, is a Black woman who was in the U.S. on
a Fellowship to study the institutionalized racism in the U.S.
There were many hard and challenging questions as to the
proportionate representation of people of color and particularly
those of very dark complexion in all spheres of society. Our
guest provided data and policy decisions of the Party in the social,
economic and political areas whose goal was to significantly improve
this situation. The results of this truly affirmative action by the Party
and government more than doubled the number of people of color
in the leading bodies of society. This was accomplished in less than
5 years. Comrade Adelina indicated that the Party has made this an
ongoing priority.
Unlike China, who, while professing socialism and the supremacy of
the Party, is well on its way to dismantling its socialist infrastructure
and accepting the IMF version of globalisation meaning an entry of
transnationals into their economy using extremely cheap labor while
a comparatively few become wealthy. The Socialist Republic of
Vietnam is at a crossroads and seeking most favored nation status
while Nike sets up an outpost there for capital accumulation. It is
too early to tell whether North Korea will travel the same path. Of
course there are enormous contradictions between these countries
and the developed nations. Frequently the former are forced into
taking anti-imperialist positions which should be fully supported.
Cuba does have joint ventures with Canada and Germany for
instance but under conditions that guarantees benefits to its
economy. We must be crystal clear that there is no hybrid third
way. While certain compromises and even retreats are necessary
at a particular historic juncture, (such as Havana 's need for hard
currency and the development of a mini parallel economy around
tourism) the fundamental course is either socialist or capitalist.
Solidarity with and material and ideological support for Socialist
Cuba deserves the highest priority from all who seek to better.
the human condition.
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