STOP THE WAR ON IRAQ! BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!
ALL OUT JANUARY 20TH, 5:00 P.M., CIVIC CENTER, S.F.
NEXT BAY AREA UNITED AGAINST WAR MEETING:
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 7:00 p.m.
1380 Valencia Street
(Between 24th & 25th Streets, S.F.)
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San Francisco's Prop N calling on the US Gov to
Bring Our Troops Home from Iraq won by over 63%.
To find out how you can pass a similar proposition in
your town go to:
www.bringourtroopshomenow.org
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Bay Area United Against War Presents
a film screening of:
"WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception"
Meet film director Danny Schechter "The News Dissector."
Danny will be available for a question and answer period
right after the movie.
Saturday, Dec. 11th, 2004
(Check the newspaper for showtime and ticket price.)
Embarcadero Center Cinema
One Embarcadero Center, Promenade Level
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 267-4893
" 'WMD' paints a meticulous and damning portrait of the media's
coverage of the Iraq war. In sobering detail, Danny Schechter
shows us how the TV networks now prefer the role of cheerleader,
to that of objective journalist," says Mike Nisholson of
austinnforkerry.org.
"Schechter tackles his subject like a cross between Errol Morris
and a Dashiell Hammet detective, following close on the tail of
big media reporters as they in turn track the march toward war,
embed themselves in the military industrial complex and then
get out when the fighting gets tough and leave the cleanup work
to stringers, " writes Shandon Fowler of film's Hamptons
International Film Festival appearance, Oct. 20-24.
To learn more about the film visit:
www.wmdthefilm.com
www.bauaw.org
(Distributed by Cinema Libre Studio, www.cinemalibrestudio.com)
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1) JUSTICE FOR CAMERIN BOYD
SPEAK OUT AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY
5:30pm, Wednesday, December 1, 2004
San Francisco City Hall, Room 400,
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
Police Commission Meeting
** Please forward **
2) Reflect, Recharge, and Renew: A Planning Retreat for
United for Peace and Justice-Bay Area 12/11/04
3) Letter from Iraqi Patriotic
Alliance addressed to our brothers all around the world
4) The Quiet of Destruction and Death
December 02, 2004
** Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches **
** http://dahrjamailiraq.com -
link of the week at MichaelMoore.com **
5) ACLU Seeking FBI Files on Activist Probes
By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON
Thu Dec 2,12:49 AM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041202/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/fbi_a
clu_1
6) Peru Says Court Upholds Berenson Sentence
LIMA, Peru (Reuters)
Thu Dec 2, 2004 09:03 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6978477&src=eD
ialog/GetContent§ion=news
7) U.S. Troop Numbers in Iraq to Hit Record 150,000
By Charles Aldinger
WASHINGTON (Reuters)
Thu Dec 2, 2004 12:16 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6973206&src=eD
ialog/GetContent§ion=news
8) UN Reform Confronts 'Irrelevancy'
By Michael J. Jordan,
Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
NEW YORK
December 02, 2004 edition -
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1202/p07s01-wogi.html
9) Special screening of the hip-hop documentary film
'Straight Outta Hunters Point'
CNET's Digital Dispatch Daily Newsletter
10) Sheriff Keylor Arrests 10 Armed Strikers in Hannibal, Ohio
Steelworkers try to stop scabs
From: Howard Keylor
howardkeylor@comcast.net
11) It's an Ill Wind
The dust clouds drifting from Africa to the Caribbean have
a dangerous secret - bacteria and microbes that leave
a trail of disease in their wake. Ian Sample reports
Thursday, December 2, 2004
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1363670,00.html
12) Dear supporters of Justice for New Americans:
We are forwarding you an Urgent BORDC
(www.bordc.org
Congress is working on passing some anti-immigrant provisions
pushed by Representative Sensenbrenner in the intelligence
reform bill. They are voting this bill on Friday Dec 6th.
So pick up the phone and made a few phone calls before Friday.
13) Here is your war
From: "Justice Freedom"
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 2004 19:08:26 -0800
[from Len Carrier via Dusty Schoch]
Here is your war. -- L.C.
http://fallujapictures.blogspot.com
14) Hamash Family Fund
From Barbara Lubin
15) Protest at AIPAC dinner
Monday, December 13th at 6:00 p.m. at Oakland Marriot
From: "Justice Freedom"
16) Bush Says U.S. Is Committed to Jan. 30 Elections in Iraq
By CHRISTINE HAUSER
December 2, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/02/international/middleeast/02cnd-iraq.html?h
p&ex=1102050000&en=ca82faef20165f0c&ei=5094&partner=homepage
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) JUSTICE FOR CAMERIN BOYD
SPEAK OUT AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY
5:30pm, Wednesday, December 1, 2004
San Francisco City Hall, Room 400,
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
Police Commission Meeting
** Please forward **
It's been over six months since Cammerin was killed by SFPD.
Cammerin is among 26 uresolved cases of officer involved
shootings in San Francisco. The SF Police Commission will
be discussing the open cases Wednesday. Come join the
Boyd Family and the Justice for Cammerin Boyd campaign
to demand answers and action. Enough is enough!
This action alert was brought to you by the Justice for
Cammerin Boyd campaign.
For more information and ways to get involved, e-mail
justiceforcammerinboyd@yahoo.com
or call 415 724-2704.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) Reflect, Recharge, and Renew: A Planning Retreat for
United for Peace and Justice-Bay Area 12/11/04
We invite you and your organization to join in setting the strategic
direction for United for Peace and Justice-Bay Area (UPJ-BA). For an
antidote to activism fatigue come spend a day, and, if you wish,
a night in a beautiful setting while energizing yourself and the
peace and justice movement.
Who We Are: United for Peace and Justice (UPJ) began in the Bay Area,
as a response to the 9-11 backlash. With the support of Global Exchange,
a national coalition was created. Currently comprised of over 800
organizations, National UPJ was most recently in the news as the
organizer of the huge Republican National Convention demonstration
in New York. The Bay Area, always in the progressive vanguard, has
maintained a special role even as the national organization was
focused in New York. UPJ-BA has organized, or helped organize,
many of the local anti-war events. UPJ-BA includes both organizations
and unaffiliated individuals. We have enclosed a draft brochure
describing ourselves further.. You can also visit
www.unitedforpeace.org to learn more about the national
organization.
Purpose of the Retreat: The retreat will develop a strategic plan for
UPJ-BA. Many peace and justice organizations in the Bay Area are
already part of UPJ nationally. With better coordination of our local
activities and resources we can translate the broad popular support
for peace and justice in the Bay Area into a more effective movement.
A strategic plan will enable us to cooperate more effectively on mass
demonstrations and to coordinate other actions as well. With neither
major Presidential advocating for peace, regardless of who wins or
steals the election in November, we will have plenty of work to do.
Developing a strategic plan for UPJ-BA will enable us to use all of
our activist resources most effectively.
We are fortunate that Hilary McQuie has agreed to facilitate the
retreat. An experienced facilitator, Hilary has over 20 years
experience in non-violent direct action organizing. She facilitates
trainings to prepare activists for non-violent direct action, non-
hierarchical organizing strategies, and consensus decision-making.
Practical Details: We will be holding this event at 10:00 on Saturday
December 11, at the beautiful Montara Youth Hostel
http://www.norcalhostels.org/montara/index.html , only 30 minutes
from SF. We can help arrange transportation. In the evening we will
have a communal dinner and a party -a chance to make friends and
renew acquaintances. Significant others and children are welcome.
Those who wish to can spend the night at the hostel and enjoy the
hot tub and beautiful surroundings. The cost of the event-including
a working lunch and dinner-will be $30 (no one turned away for lack
of funds). There is an additional cost of $20 per person for those who
want to spend the night in this beautiful spot (there is even a hot tub!).
To join the retreat, or to find our more, please contact Marvin
Feldman at 415 282-5330 <:tikkun@resourcedecisions.net>
or Eve Lindi at 510-339-1716. Please reply by November 10th.
In struggle for a better world,
/s/
For United for Peace and Justice-Bay Area
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
3) Letter from Iraqi Patriotic
Alliance addressed to our brothers all around the world
Dear brothers
Hereby an open letter from the Iraqi Patriotic Alliance addressed to
everyone. In this letter we try to explain the character of the Iraqi
Resistance and its strategy.
In solidarity,
Long lives the Iraqi resistance
Nada Al-Rubaiee
Letter from Iraqi Patriotic Alliance addressed to our brothers all
around the world
The Iraqi resistance is confronting the illegitimate and brutal Zionist
Imperialist occupation of Iraq. Our resistance is legitimate according
to international law and the UN Charter, including the right to resort
to armed means. We are claiming our right to national self-
determination and a real sovereignty.
The different resisting groups in Iraq have developed a network
between each other in order to achieve their ultimate goal.
This goal was clearly addressed in their political program released
after the liberation of Fallujah in April this year (2004).
The program of the Iraqi resistance is as follows:
1. End the occupation and liberate the country
2. Transition period of 2 years
3. Iraqi united- National government for all
4. Iraqi constitution written by Iraqis themselves
5. Democratic rules
6. Free election and full participation of the different
political parties
To implement the strategy of liberation, the Iraqi resistance is
attacking occupying forces and their institutions and those who
serve them with food, oil and other supplies. On the other hand,
the Iraqi resistance is preventing the occupiers from using Oil
as a political means.
Schools, churches, mosques and other civilian places have never
been the target of the Iraqi resistance. Besides, we have to be very
critical and careful about any kidnapping or killing process of
a foreigner-worker in Iraq. The resistance has no benefit in
attacking people like Margaret Hassan, two Simona's or others.
These actions are meant to discredit the legal resistance of
our people
Here, we would like to share with you some of the heroic
achievements of the Iraqi resistance:
€ The Iraqi resistance was able to cause a high number of
casualties in material and soldiers among the occupying forces.
€ The resistance fighters were able to liberate 30 cities:
creating a suitable environment for the resistant fighters by
forming a death-zone for the occupying forces and their agents.
€ The Iraqi resistance has defeated Spanish imperialism and
has forced 9 out of the occupying/ allying countries to leave Iraq.
The Netherlands, Hungary and Poland are leaving Iraq next year.
€ The Iraqi resistance was able to pull plunder companies out
of Iraq; the so-called contractors "rebuilding companies."
€ The Iraqi resistance has renewed the spirit of resistance in
the whole world by defeating the US imperialism in Fallujah,
Al-Samawa, Najaf and other Iraqi cities.
€ The heroic resistance in Iraq has isolated UK and US in
Iraq, preventing temporarily the go-on of the "war on terror"
against: Syria, Cuba and North Korea.
The resistance in Iraq is the resistance of the Iraqi people and
it is mainly represented by the major political groups; the
Patriotic, Islamic and the Pan- Arab groups.
By this, we want to emphasis on the fact that our resistance
has an anti-imperialistic profile with Islamic and patriotic
elements. Adding on that, the effective participation of
members of the dismantled Iraqi army and the Ba'ath party.
We could expect some objections about the participation of
the Ba'ath party in the resistance. There are more than three
million active Ba'ath party members in Iraq. So, when we
mention members of this party we do not mean -only- those
who were in the former Iraqi government. But those who
believe in the Ba'ath ideology expressed in their slogan:
Unity, Liberty and socialism.
The fear of the Islamic character of the Iraqi resistance could
be answered by the fact that after the liberation of Iraq, the
Iraqi resistance will then be the only legitimized representative
of the Iraqi people. A transition period will then give the Iraqi
people the chance to choose their representatives to form
a united national government with full participation of all
parties including the Islamic forces. We have then to accept
the choice of the Iraqi people.
As to the Iraqi Patriotic Alliance, we are proud to inform you
that our secretary general in Iraq Mr. Abduljabbar al-Kubaysi
was arrested on 3rd of September in Baghdad. The house he
had temporarily stayed in was surrounded and stormed by
about 50 US occupation soldiers employing helicopters and
tanks. Mr. Al-Kubaysi was leading the IPA since the 90's against
the economic sanctions and the Zionist and imperialist plans
of the US in Iraq.
During his latest activities building a united political front of
the resistance against the occupation, he was arrested without
any charges. At this moment we know nothing about his situation.
Even his family is unable to contact hem. We hold the occupying
forces responsible for the health and life of Mr. Al-Kubaysi and
all other prisoners in Iraq.
We hope for further coordination between you and us in our
shared struggle against occupation and imperialism.
Long lives the Iraqi Resistance
In Solidarity,
Nada Al-Rubaiee [on behalf of the Iraqi Patriotic Alliance (IPA)]
Tel: 0031- (0)-645542498
patrioticalliance@zonnet.nl
Iraqi_women@hotmail.com
http://home.zonnet.nl/patrioticalliance/
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
4) The Quiet of Destruction and Death
December 02, 2004
** Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches **
** http://dahrjamailiraq.com -
link of the week at MichaelMoore.com **
It's a late morning start today...as I'm waiting for Abu Talat, who calls
to tell me he is snarled in traffic and will be late once again, huge
explosions shake my hotel. Shortly thereafter mortars are exploding in
the "green zone" as the loud warning sirens there begin to blare across
Baghdad.
Automatic weapon fire cracks down the street.
The good news is that interim prime minister Ayad Allawi has announced a
shortening of the curfew that most of Iraq is under. So now rather than
having to be off the streets by 10:30pm, we can stay out until 11pm
before we are shot on sight.
This past Sunday a small Iraqi Red Crescent aid convoy was allowed into
Fallujah at 4:30pm. I interviewed a member of the convoy today. Speaking
on condition of anonymity, (so I'll call her Suthir), the first thing
she said to me was, "I need another heart and eyes to bear it because my
own are not enough to bear what I saw. Nothing justifies what was done
to this city. I didn't see a house or mosque that wasn't destroyed."
Suthir paused often to collect herself, but then as usual with those of
us who have witnessed atrocities first hand, when she started to talk,
she barely stopped to breath.
"There were families with nothing. I met a family with three daughters
and two sons. One of their sons, Mustafa who was 16 years old, was
killed by American snipers. Then their house was burned. They had
nothing to eat. Just rice and cold water-dirty water...they put the rice
in the dirty water, let it sit for one or two hours, then they ate the
rice. Fatma, the 17 year-old daughter, said she was praying for God to
take her soul because she couldn't bear the horrors anymore."
The families' 12 year old boy told Suthir he used to want to be a doctor
or a journalist. She paused then added, "He said that now he has no more
dreams. He could no longer even sleep."
"I'm sure the Americans committed bad things there, but who can discover
and say this," she said, "They didn't allow us to go to the Julan area
or any of the others where there was heavy fighting, and I'm sure that
is where the horrible things took place."
She told me the military took civilian cars and used them, parked in
groups, to block the streets.
Suthir described a scene of complete destruction. She said not one
mosque, house or school was undamaged, and said the situation was so
desperate for the few families left in the city that people were
literally starving to death, surviving as the aforementioned family was.
Rather than burying full bodies, residents of Fallujah are burying legs
and arms, and sometimes just skeletons as dogs had eaten the rest of the
body.
She said that even the schools in Fallujah had been bombed. Suthir also
reported that the oldest teacher in Fallujah, a 90 year-old man, while
praying in a mosque was shot in the head by a US sniper.
The US military has not given a date when the hundreds of thousands of
refugees from Fallujah would be allowed to return to their city, but
estimated it would be 2 months.
The Minister of Education announced today that schools will reopen in
Fallujah next week.
"There was no reconstruction there," Suthir added, "I just saw more
bombs falling and black smoke. There is not a house or school undamaged
there. I went to a part of the city that someone said was not bombed,
but it was completely destroyed."
"The Americans didn't let us in the places where everyone said there was
napalm used," she said, "Julan and those places where the heaviest
fighting was, nobody is allowed to go there."
She said that there were many military checkpoints, but most of the
soldiers she saw were not doing much.
"It was quiet, but this wasn't the quiet of peace," she told me, "It was
the quiet of destruction and death."
As helicopters rumble overhead, she added with frustration and anger,
"The military is doing nothing to help people. Only the Iraqi Red
Crescent is trying to help-but nobody can help the traumatized people,
even the IRC."
Later this afternoon, back in my room one of my Iraqi friends stops by.
We talk work until the sun sets, so she stands to prepare to leave as
she doesn't like to be out after dark.
Pulling her jacket on she tells me, "You know, it is only getting worse
here. Everyday is worse than the last day. Today will be better than
tomorrow. Right now is better than the next hour. This is our life in
Iraq now."
More writing, photos and commentary at http://dahrjamailiraq.com
You are subscribed to the Dahr Jamail's email Iraq Dispatches
because you requested a subscription at some point.
You can visit http://dahrjamailiraq.com/email_list/ to subscribe
or unsubscribe to the email list.
Or, you can unsubscribe by sending an email to
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subject
or the body of the email.
(c)2004 Dahr Jamail.
All images and text are protected by United States and international
copyright law. If you would like to reprint Dahr's Dispatches on the
web, you need to include this copyright notice and a prominent link
to the DahrJamailIraq.com website. Any other use of images and text
including, but not limited to, reproduction, use on another website,
copying and printing requires the permission of Dahr Jamail.
Of course, feel free to forward Dahr's dispatches via email.
Iraq_Dispatches mailing list
http://lists.dahrjamailiraq.com/mailman/listinfo/iraq_dispatches
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
5) ACLU Seeking FBI Files on Activist Probes
By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON
Thu Dec 2,12:49 AM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041202/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/fbi_a
clu_1
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union ( news -web
sites ) is seeking information from the FBI ( news -web sites ) on
why bureau task forces set up to combat terrorism also looked into
anti-war, animal rights and environmental groups.
Dozens of organizations have been subjected to scrutiny, according
to the ACLU, which was filing Freedom of Information Act requests
with the FBI on Thursday to try to find out why.
"We think it's clear that the public is interested in the possible return
of FBI spying on political and religious groups," said Ann Beeson, the
ACLU's associate legal counsel.
The FBI denies singling out individuals or groups for surveillance
or investigation based solely on activities protected by the
Constitution's guarantees of free speech.
Officials say agents adhere strictly to Justice Department
( news -web sites ) guidelines requiring evidence of criminal
activity or indications that a person may know something
about a crime.
"Any investigation conducted by the FBI is done under the
attorney general's guidelines and in full compliance with the
guidelines," FBI spokesman Bill Carter said.
There are terrorism task forces in 100 cities and with more
than 3,700 members, including at least 2,000 FBI agents, state
and local police, and other federal law enforcement officials.
More than half of the task forces were formed after the terror
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The ACLU was seeking FBI files on a broad range of individuals
and groups that have been interviewed, investigated or subjected
to searches by the task forces. The requests also seek information
on how the task forces are funded, to determine if they are
rewarded with government money by labeling high numbers of
cases as related to terrorism, Beeson said.
"What we're afraid is happening is that these cities and towns
can get federal anti-terrorism money by identifying local groups
as threats in their areas," Beeson said.
The ACLU provided a list of examples, including the Quaker-
affiliated American Friends Service Committee that had been
monitored by Denver police and was listed as an "active case"
by a local terrorism task force.
Others who contend they were improperly monitored or investigated
include Rocky Mountain Animal Defense, the Washington-based
Campaign for Labor Rights and a number of peace and
environmental activists.
The information requests were being filed with FBI headquarters
in Washington as well as field offices in Colorado, Iowa, Illinois,
Michigan, Oregon, New York, Virginia and Massachusetts, Beeson
said. ACLU affiliates in California and New Jersey have previously
filed lawsuits seeking similar information.
If the FBI declines to turn over the information, the ACLU can sue
in federal court.
On the Net:
American Civil Liberties Union: http://www.aclu.org
FBI: http://www.fbi.gov
Copyright (c) 2004 The Associated Press.
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6) Peru Says Court Upholds Berenson Sentence
LIMA, Peru (Reuters)
Thu Dec 2, 2004 09:03 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6978477&src=eD
ialog/GetContent§ion=news
LIMA, Peru (Reuters) - The top human rights court in Latin
America has upheld a 20-year sentence for Lori Berenson, an
American imprisoned in Peru on terrorism charges, President
Alejandro Toledo said on Thursday.
The Costa Rica-based Inter-American Court of Human Rights
ruled a 2001 conviction that rights groups argued was flawed
was still valid, Toledo told RPP radio.
"Fortunately, the intelligence, balance and experience of
the court judges has ratified the sentence," Toledo said.
The 35-year-old New Yorker has already had two trials. A
hooded military judge convicted her of treason as a leader of
the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, or MRTA, in 1996,
and jailed her for life. That conviction was overthrown in 2000.
She was then convicted of the lesser charge of terrorist
collaboration at a civilian retrial in 2001 and sentenced to 20
years. She says she is innocent of all charges.
(c) Reuters 2004
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
7) U.S. Troop Numbers in Iraq to Hit Record 150,000
By Charles Aldinger
WASHINGTON (Reuters)
Thu Dec 2, 2004 12:16 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6973206&src=eD
ialog/GetContent§ion=news
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military will boost its
troops in Iraq to 150,000 this month, the highest level since
the war began in March 2003, in order to improve security for
scheduled Jan 30. elections, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.
The increased total from 138,000 now in Iraq will continue
until March and extend the promised year-long Iraq tours of
8,100 Army soldiers to 14 months and the seven-month tours of
2,300 Marines to nine months.
In addition to the battle-hardened troops whose tours are
being extended to face a growing insurgency, 1,500 members of
the elite 82nd Airborne Division based in Fort Bragg, North
Carolina, will be sent to Iraq within days and remain for about
three months to help bolster security.
Previously, the largest number of U.S. troops on the ground
in Iraq during the 20-month war was 148,000 in May 2003,
defense officials said
"At this point in time, it's going to be (a new total of)
150,000," Army Brig. Gen. David Rodriguez told a Pentagon news
conference.
"The purpose is mainly to provide security for the
elections. But it's also to keep up the pressure on the
insurgency after the Falluja operation," he added.
The extended troops will remain in Iraq for two extra
months even after their normal rotation replacements have
arrived in the coming weeks, Rodriguez said.
Current plans are to reduce the 150,000 troops, requested
by U.S. Central Command chief Gen. John Abizaid, back to
current levels of less than 140,000 by mid-March.
Army troops whose tours will be extended include 4,400
soldiers from the 2nd Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division
based in Hawaii, 3,500 from the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry
Division based at Fort Hood, Texas, and a small truck
transportation unit of about 160 troops based in Kleber
Klasern, Germany.
MARINES ALSO EXTENDED
About 2,300 Marine troops from the 31st Marine
Expeditionary Unit based in Okinawa will also be extended to
about nine months until March, Rodriguez said.
The U.S. military previously sent 1,100 82nd Airborne
soldiers to Afghanistan in September to boost security for the
presidential election there. Polling took place in Afghanistan
on Oct. 9 with little violence.
The Pentagon said that the airborne troops being sent to
Iraq in the coming days would not be the same personnel who
were sent to Afghanistan.
The Pentagon also temporarily raised the U.S. military
presence in Iraq by about 20,000 troops last spring to provide
security for the handover of sovereignty to Iraq. It then
delayed the scheduled departure of some troops by three months
and hastening the arrival of others.
Abizaid had said more troops would be needed to safeguard
the election but that would be achieved primarily through more
U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces. The Pentagon, however, has
acknowledged previous broad problems in training and equipping
Iraqi security forces.
Rodriguez said on Wednesday that even if the Iraq election
were postponed, the troops who are currently being extended
would be coming back to the United States in March.
"The plan is flexible," he said. "They will not be extended
any further than this."
Wednesday's announcement brought quick reaction from the
U.S. Congress with one senator charging that there were not
enough American troops in Iraq to respond to insurgent attacks
throughout that country.
"The Pentagon's announcement today is no surprise," said
Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island,
"While our forces in Iraq have been very effective in
defeating the insurgents in Falluja, there are not enough
troops to respond to terrorist attacks in all areas of the
country - and there are certainly not enough U.S. or Iraqi
trained forces to provide adequate security for the elections
in January," he added.
(Additional reporting by Will Dunham and Vicki Allen)
(c) Reuters 2004
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8) UN Reform Confronts 'Irrelevancy'
By Michael J. Jordan,
Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
NEW YORK
December 02, 2004 edition -
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1202/p07s01-wogi.html
NEW YORK - Fending off critics who claim it has grown "irrelevant,"
the United Nations this week released "the most comprehensive
blueprint for change" in its six decades.
The report outlines expansion of UN Security Council membership from
15 to 24, and suggests that the "nightmare scenarios" that mix
terrorists with weapons of mass destruction may justify preventive
action "before a latent threat becomes imminent."
In a world body badly bruised by failure to fully enforce 12 years of
resolutions against Saddam Hussein and the US decision to invade Iraq
without Council approval, this will spur needed debate, analysts say.
"There's recognition the world security situation has changed," says
Terence Taylor, director of the US office of the London-based
International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Yet the obstacle to real reform remains unchanged, say Taylor and
others: the decisive veto that the five permanent Council members -
the United States, Great Britain, France, Russia, and China - will
neither relinquish nor share.
"You're not going to have a major power acting in contravention of
its national interest," says Mr. Taylor.
That self-interest, embodied by the veto, will determine if the
Security Council acts or doesn't act when the next crisis emerges.
Nevertheless, the recommendations produced by a blue-ribbon panel of
former diplomats and world leaders may represent a stride forward.
The report endorses Council proactivity in the face of global
terrorism, genocide and ethnic cleansing, and "soft threats" like
poverty, HIV/AIDS and environmental degradation. It seeks to define
"terrorism," a traditional source of UN disharmony. And from
Washington's perspective, the reference to "latent" threats comes
close to the "grave and gathering threat" the Bush administration
applied to Iraq.
The UN Charter has always allowed for self-defense against "imminent"
attack, but not against a suspected "threat." This report lays out
five "criteria of legitimacy" for using force: seriousness of the
threat, proper purpose, last resort, proportional means, and balance
of consequences. But it reaffirms the need for Council authorization,
which carries the weight of international law.
Some critics are already pouring cold water on the report.
For example, they say, all five criteria are open to partisan
interpretation. Consider the statement: "Force, if it needs to be
used, should be deployed as a last resort." Who determines whether
all means have been exhausted? Any of five veto-wielding nations may
decide otherwise.
"The devil is always in the details," says Brett Schaefer, a fellow
at the conservative Heritage Foundation. "If I were the US, I
certainly wouldn't support these ambiguous actions, because it's
actually a recipe for preventing Security Council action."
On this point, ideological foes find some common ground. "One
fundamental problem of the Council is that its inner club doesn't
want any rules to govern their action," says James Paul, of the
left-leaning Global Policy Forum, which advocates UN reform. "They
want 'ad hoc-ism' - to do whatever, whenever."
To be adopted, the report will require two-thirds support of the 191
member-states when the UN General Assembly convenes for its annual
session next fall.
Annan is particularly embattled today:
• The Iraqi oil-for-food scandal has embroiled his son, Kojo, for pay
he received from a company involved.
• His point man in the Palestinian territories, Peter Hansen, was
recently quoted suggesting Hamas members may be "on the UN payroll."
• And UN staff unions are in open revolt against some of Annan's
lieutenants for charges ranging from sexual harassment to favoritism.
Some US conservatives are clamoring for his resignation. "Of course
he'd like to see reforms, but he needs a diversionary tactic and this
is a wonderful way to do it," says a UN insider.
The panel proposes an expansion that includes either six new
permanent members - with no veto - or new regionally distributed
seats renewable every four years. That would boost membership from
Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Muslim world.
But critics say adding more voices at the table means more debates,
more lobbying, more gamesmanship - and less action.
"Yes, it will make it slower, but ... it will be more representative,
will boost the ego of the other continents, and make them happier by
opting them in," says Yusuf Juwayeyi, the former UN ambassador for
Malawi.
While the veto of the "Permanent Five" will continue to dictate how
and when the Council responds to crises, two other factors also look
unlikely to change: the widespread lack of political will among UN
member-states to act against friends and neighbors - regardless of
the transgression - and the vital role the US plays in UN success.
But the US is not expected to embrace any UN reforms that would
dilute its influence there or constrain its ability to act
unilaterally.
"The United States should exercise its moral authority to work
through the UN and really find a way to forge these solutions to
common problems," says Suzanne DiMaggio, of the UN advocacy group
United Nations Association of the USA. "It's not that I'm not holding
France, China, and Russia to the same standard, but the US is a
special case, as the world's only superpower. It's beholden upon us
to be a leader."
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
9) Special screening of the hip-hop documentary film
'Straight Outta Hunters Point'
CNET's Digital Dispatch Daily Newsletter
Special screening of the hip-hop documentary film
'Straight Outta Hunters Point'
Plus update on the fight against
Environmental Racism in Bayview Hunters Point
Thursday, December 2nd at 7 PM
New College Theater
777 Valencia Street, S.F.
Speakers:
Tessie Esther, Community Activist, Hunters View
Tenants Association
Marie Harrison, Greenaction, Community Organizer
for Bayview Hunters Point
$5 - $20 sliding scale (no one turned away for lack of $)
A benefit to shut down the PG & E Hunters Point Power Plant
For more information: 415-248-5010
Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice
www.greenaction.org / 415-248-5010
Co-sponsored by
New College Center for Education and Social Action
New College Center for Education & Social Action (CESA)
Listing of peace and social justice events emailed weekly
To subscribe or unsubscribe: cesainfo@newcollege.edu
For information: Jon Garfield: (415) 437-3425
New College CESA: http://www.newcollege.edu/cesa
New College of California: http://www.newcollege.edu
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
10) Sheriff Keylor Arrests 10 Armed Strikers in Hannibal, Ohio
Steelworkers try to stop scabs
From: Howard Keylor
howardkeylor@comcast.net
[ This story is of interest for two reasons. First - These "hillbilly"
Steelworkers are obviously violating a Taft-Hartley Court injunction
with knives, baseball bats, an ax, and wooden clubs in defense of
their jobs. They have the right idea! They don't appear to have
faith in "informational picket lines". Second - The Monroe County
Sheriff, Manifred Keylor, is a relative of mine. Monroe County -
Ohio, where my father was born, has the largest number of people
with the family name Keylor in the United States. Actually, only
about 300 people in the entire country carry my family name.
I grew up in the hills of Washington County Ohio, just south of
Monroe County. During the Vietnam war a U.S. Navy sailor
named Keylor (another relative no doubt) was court martialed
for sabotaging the engines of the aircraft carrier in which he was
serving of the coast of Vietnam. - Howard ]
=================
Ohio Police: Ten Armed Picketers Arrested
Sat Nov 27, 8:16 PM ET Business - AP
HANNIBAL, Ohio - Ten striking factory workers armed with knives,
bats and clubs were arrested after attempting to block vans
entering an Ormet Corp. aluminum plant, police said.
The picketers were charged Friday with violating a court order
requiring them to stay at least 2,000 feet away from the plant's
entrance, Monroe County Sheriff Manifred Keylor said in
a statement.
Additional charges of resisting arrest and assaulting law
enforcement officers were pending, the statement said.
Police said they seized various weapons from the picketers,
including a sledgehammer, an ax, knives, baseball bats and
wooden clubs.
Danny Longwell, a local steelworkers union representative,
said picketers blocked the vans because they believed they
were carrying replacement workers into the plant on Friday.
A call to the union seeking additional comment Saturday was
not immediately returned.
But Ormet chief executive Mike Williams said Saturday the
vans were carrying food, additional security personnel and
one salaried worker, not replacement workers.
About 1,300 workers at two plants in Hannibal went on strike
Monday against Ormet, which has sought U.S. Bankruptcy Court
approval to void its labor agreements and impose new ones.
The company is trying to cut $23 million in costs by freezing
pension benefits, raising worker health plan contributions and
changing work rules.
Union officials want the court to rule on its motion to have the
company consider bids to buy the plants, which are located
about 115 miles southeast of Columbus.
The situation outside the plants has been tense since the
strike began. A truck was turned away Monday morning by
crowds of picketers at the company gates and the driver of
another truck was arrested after hitting a striker several
hours later. The striker was treated at a hospital and released.
Wheeling, W.Va.-based Ormet has about 2,000 employees
and plants in Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana and Louisiana.
Workers are striking only at the two Hannibal plants.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
11) It's an Ill Wind
The dust clouds drifting from Africa to the Caribbean have
a dangerous secret - bacteria and microbes that leave
a trail of disease in their wake. Ian Sample reports
Thursday December 2, 2004
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1363670,00.html
"The dust falls in such quantities as to dirty everything on board, and
to hurt people's eyes; vessels even have run on shore owing to the
obscurity of the atmosphere. It has often fallen on ships when several
hundred miles from the coast of Africa, and at points 1,600 miles
distant in a north and south direction."
Charles Darwin's note from 1832 suggests the dust clouds that
engulfed HMS Beagle as it anchored in St Jago in the Cape de Verd
Islands off the African coast were dramatic, if unsettling. But they
were by no means freak events. Such clouds - which can be as large
as the Spanish mainland - form all year round, as dust is whipped
up from the continent's arid savannahs and carried across the north
Atlantic to the Caribbean and beyond.
The dust blowing off Africa contributes most of some 2bn tonnes'
worth shunted around the atmosphere each year (the rest originating
in Asia, South America, the US and Australia). But while those
immediately downwind of the clouds know well the mayhem they
can cause, new research is revealing a hitherto unforeseen danger
the dust clouds may pose.
Suspicions were raised back in the 1990s when Eugene Shinn,
a scientist with the US Geological Survey in St Petersburg, Florida,
was reviewing a series of environmental knocks that had hit the
Caribbean in previous years. First, the coral reefs had gone into
serious decline, then the sea urchins dwindled. Finally, a smattering
of disease outbreaks struck the region's marine life. Many scientists
believed that for each event, a change in the local environment was
to blame. But Shinn thought otherwise. What if there was one cause
behind them all?
It was not until later, while looking at some satellite images that
Shinn formalised his hypothesis. The images - snapshots of the
atmosphere over the Atlantic - showed enormous clouds of dust
climbing up to heights of 10km and stretching across the ocean
from the Sahara and arid Sahel region in northern Sudan. Shinn
suspected something in the dust - bacteria, viruses, fungi or
chemicals - was adding a deadly edge to the clouds.
When Shinn publicised his thoughts on a link between African
dust and the demise of Caribbean corals, he divided the scientific
community. "He got a lot of resistance," says survey colleague and
microbiologist Chris Kellogg. "People said the microbes would never
make it so far, that they would be destroyed by the ultra-violet (UV)
in sunlight on the way."
But Shinn was on to something. In 1996, Garriet Smith, a biologist
at the University of South Carolina, was investigating the rapid deaths
of Caribbean sea fans. The creatures had died of a disease called
aspergillosis, but Smith was stumped because the fungus responsible
for the disease, though common in African soils, couldn't thrive in
seawater. It wasn't long before an explanation was found. Tests on
airborne dust samples collected in the Caribbean were found to
contain infectious spores of the fungus. Scientists suspect the spores
had been carried on the wind from Africa, before landing on the
ocean surface, sinking and infecting the sea fans. Enough had built
up on the ocean floor for the disease to spread.
Since then, several outbreaks have been linked to dust clouds. Last
year, Kim Ritchie at the Mote marine laboratory in Sarasota, Florida,
showed that bacteria in diseased sea urchins matched those carried
by African dust clouds and settling in sea water. Earlier this year,
scientists blamed a case of septicaemia in a loggerhead turtle found
off the Canary islands on Staphylococcus xylosus, a bacterium found
in dust samples from Mali. And recently, Michelle Monteil, a doctor
in St Augustine, Trinidad, discovered that more children were
admitted to hospital with asthma immediately after a dust cloud
had passed. Perhaps, she says, infectious agents in the dust irritate
the lungs of those susceptible to asthma. It could help to explain
why the Caribbean has some of the highest rates of asthma in the
world.
With so much evidence implicating dust clouds as a health threat,
Kellogg and her colleagues decided to carry out an audit on dust,
initially that coming out of Africa. Since a single gram of soil can
contain upwards of 10,000 bacteria, it was no simple task. "What
we really need to get a grip on is what's there, how much is there
and how often does it arrive," says Kellogg. "Once we have a sense
of that, we can start thinking about what advice should be given."
From air monitoring stations set up in the Virgin Islands, and from
samples taken in Africa, Kellogg found that not only were microbes
able to travel the thousands of miles from Africa, but that nearly
a third of those that survived were known pathogens. In the right
circumstances, they could cause disease in plants, livestock or
humans, although only humans with a poorly developed or
suppressed immune systems were likely to contract infections.
Kellogg says many microbes survive such lengthy trips because
they are shaded from the sun's baking UV rays by dust particles
above them. "Those at the top of the cloud will fry, but the ones
beneath can, and do, survive," she says. Of the microbes Kellogg's
team managed to grow from dust samples, many were heavily
pigmented, making them bright pink, orange or yellow. "We think
the pigments might act as some kind of sunscreen," she says.
Because microbes, at around a micron long, are usually much
smaller than dust particles, they can also hunker down for the
ride. "From a microbe's eye view, there are lots of nooks and
crannies you can tuck yourself into."
Kellogg has so far identified at least 170 different bacteria and
76 types of fungus in airborne dust collected on the Virgin Islands.
Among them are Cladosporium and Aureobasidium fungi, which
can cause skin and respiratory infections, and several bacillus
species that can cause gastrointestinal illnesses and septicaemia.
That dust clouds don't leave obvious trails of disease in their
wake suggests that the infectious bacteria or other microbes
are usually too few to cause significant problems when they
settle. But as Kellogg points out, the recent spate of outbreaks
linked to dust clouds may indicate that the clouds are becoming
larger, or are carrying more microbes than they used to. She
may well be right. Since the 1970s, a weather system called the
North Atlantic Oscillation has imposed a high pressure over
Africa, exacerbating drought conditions and increasing the
amount of dust in the deserts. The weather system also boosts
the trade winds, so more dust is whipped up than before. Couple
these with the fact that more animals and humans in Africa mean
more soil microbes - sewage water often ends up drying out on
flood plains - and you have a recipe for more dangerous dust
clouds. "That nothing big has happened yet may be just lucky,"
says Kellogg.
The team's next move is to set up air monitoring stations in
other parts of the world, to get an idea of the variety of microbes
being carried in dust clouds from Asia and elsewhere. One day,
Kellogg hopes scientists will be able to monitor dust clouds as
they travel and predict their impact. "If we know a certain type
of bacteria is going to arrive, we can think about warning farmers
or the health services," she says. "We've yet to find anything to
alarm healthy people, but that's always a chance."
·What did you think of this article? Mail your responses to
life@guardian.co.uk and include your name and address.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
12) Dear supporters of Justice for New Americans:
We are forwarding you an Urgent BORDC
(www.bordc.org
Congress is working on passing some anti-immigrant provisions
pushed by Representative Sensenbrenner in the intelligence
reform bill. They are voting this bill on Friday Dec 6th.
So pick up the phone and made a few phone calls before Friday.
This is all you have to say
"I want you to keep the anti-immigrant provisions pushed by
Rep. Sensenbrenner out of the intelligence reform bill."
Whom to call:
White House at (202) 456-1111
Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) at (202) 225-2976
Rep. Sensenbrenner (202)225-5101
Rep. Harman (D-CA) at (202) 225-8220
Your own senators and representative:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/
The above information was provided by BORDC Action alert
Cecilia L. Chang
Justice for New Americans
www.j4na.org
510 537-2929
(for more information read below)
BORDC Action Alert Continued
9/11 Intelligence Reform: Stop Anti-Immigrant/
Refugee Provisions from Becoming Law
Please take 30 seconds to send an automated email
or fax message: Visit the Human Rights First link below
and send an automated message urging the White House
and key Congressional leaders to keep provisions that
would hurt immigrants and refugees out of the 9/11
legislation:
http://action.humanrightsfirst.org/campaign/refugees_911bill_whitehouse. You
may also let the
conferees know that you favor the strong civil liberties
board called for in the Senate bill, to ensure government
accountability. Feel free to forward the link to friends and
colleagues. (Go online for more information on the Status
of 9/11 Intelligence Reform
Or, if you prefer to call, feel free to use these suggested
talking points from the Rights Working Group
Immigration Forum
and BORDC
The Senate-led compromise already contains border security
measures; the additional provisions pushed by Rep. Sensenbrenner
are extreme and were not part of the 9/11 Commission's
recommendations. I want you to enact the real recommendations
of the 9/11 Commission, not the agenda of House immigration
restrictionists. We need comprehensive immigration reform-not
non-solutions that will only drive people further underground
and cause panic in immigrant communities.
J4na mailing list
J4na@justicefornewamericans.org
http://justicefornewamericans.org/mailman/listinfo/j4na
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
13) Here is your war
From: "Justice Freedom"
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 2004 19:08:26 -0800
[from Len Carrier via Dusty Schoch]
Here is your war. -- L.C.
http://fallujapictures.blogspot.com
- 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 in 2002, 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
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
14) Hamash Family Fund
From Barbara Lubin
Dear Friends,
Earlier today I sent you an email about the destruction of the
Hamash family home in Dheisheh refugee camp. This large
extended family has lost nearly all their belongings and is
now living with other families in the camp. I have known the
Hamash family for many years and I told them that I would
ask MECA friends to help in this very difficult time.
Please join MECA in the community effort to rebuild the
Hamash home by donating online or sending a check to the
address below.
Thank you for your compassion and support,
Barbara Lubin
Please earmark checks for "Hamash Family Fund" and send
to Middle East Children's Alliance, 901 Parker Street,
Berkeley, CA 94710
To donate online to the Hamash Family Fund click on the link
below. Please make sure to fill in the "donate on behalf of"
box with the words "Hamash Family Fund."
https:// secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=1171
email: meca@mecaforpeace.org
phone: 510-548-0542
web: http://www.mecaforpeace.org
Middle East Children's Alliance | 901 Parker Street | Berkeley | CA | 94710
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
15) Protest at AIPAC dinner
Monday, December 13th at 6:00 p.m. at Oakland Marriot
From: "Justice Freedom"
Friends,
Stopping the occupation of Palestine, and making peace, starts
right here.
AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, will be holding
its annual membership dinner in Oakland on Monday, Dec.13th at
6 pm ( we meet at 5:30 p.m. and go to 7:30 p.m.) at the Oakland
Marriot Hotel at 1001 Broadway at 10th Street, at the end of
Broadway. The 12th Street BART station is at 12th Street and
Broadway, so walk 2 blocks south on Broadway to the Marriott
Hotel.
AIPAC, as most folks know, is an important lobby that makes sure
that Israel is the recipient of over $5,000,000,000 of U.S. taxpayer
money year after year. This enables Israel to equip an army that
commits atrocity after atrocity, day in and day out. This is madness.
It must stop, and it will only stop with citizen pressure.
Last year at the AIPAC dinner, we had over 100 people from a wide
range of groups, including members of Tikkun, Jewish Voice for
Peace, International Solidarity Movement, and others, stand outside
and protest this celebration of fleecing of U.S. taxpayers money
for war and occupation. This year we hope to have more people,
and a stronger message. We expect groups like Middle East
Children's Alliance, Students for Justice in Palestine, labor people,
and others to join us.
We also would like to convince local politicians who attend this
dinner that they are sending the wrong message, and will
consequently pay a political price. AIPAC promotes unconditional
aid to all of Sharon's military adventures, something our local
politicians would not grant President Bush (for good reason).
Why unconditional aid to Sharon and his madness?
I hope that many people on this list and their comrades will join
us, and that we think of creative ways to protest this spectacle.
Please, if there are any questions, feel free to contact me.
mailto:jim@tomjoad
Also, please check http://tomjoad.org/Act.htm
for updates on organizing (see below)
Jim Harris
Volunteer, ISM
from: http://tomjoad.org/Act.htm
Monday, December 13th, 5:30pm - 7:30pm ****Protest of
AIPAC Dinner**** Oakland Marriot City Center (Tenth & Broadway)
While schools, health clinics, jobs programs are being closed
in the U.S. due to lack of funding, AIPAC (American Israel Public
Affairs Committee) works to make sure Congress fully funds
the brutal military occupation in Palestine. This must stop!
See the supporters of militarism website here.
As AIPAC celebrates its raid on U.S. taxpayer's pockets, we will
be outside protesting. Organizers needed!! Please contact Tom
& Check back here for updated info as it becomes available.
(Leaflet here in PDF format!)
Speak up to local leaders who attended last years AIPAC dinner
and advise them not to cross our picket line this year.
Assemblyperson Loni Hancock (510) 559-1406 [Loni is planning
to attend, according to her office]
Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates (510) 981-7100 (out of town till the
week of December 6th, but we need to let his office know that
attending this banquet is unacceptable behavior, and that it is
unwise of him to go this year) . Bates has repeatedly said that
"Berkeley should not take sides" but is often taking the side of
support for funding of the occupation.
State Senator Don Perata , who is not yet under indictment,
attended in 2003. Contact his office at 510-286-1333
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
16) Bush Says U.S. Is Committed to Jan. 30 Elections in Iraq
By CHRISTINE HAUSER
December 2, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/02/international/middleeast/02cnd-iraq.html?h
p&ex=1102050000&en=ca82faef20165f0c&ei=5094&partner=homepage
President Bush said today that the United States was committed to
having elections take place as planned late next month in Iraq,
despite reports that Iraqi security forces are not adequately trained
to control the violence that threatens to hamper voting.
"It's time for the Iraqi citizens to go to the polls," Mr. Bush told
reporters at a White House. "And that's why we are very firm on
the Jan. 30 date."
The president was responding to a question whether it would not
be "so bad" if the elections for an Iraqi national assembly were
postponed because local forces appeared unprepared to maintain
security and because of the risk the voting might be seen as
illegitimate.
The continuing violence in Iraq has raised questions about the
viability of the national and provincial elections scheduled for
Jan. 30.
Today, mortar barrages slammed into the heavily fortified Green
Zone and elsewhere in central Baghdad, killing two Iraqis and
wounding 14. The attacks underscored the vulnerability of even
Iraq's best-protected areas ahead of the elections.
Last week, a number of prominent Sunni Arab and Kurdish political
leaders, citing the violence, urged that the elections be delayed for
six months. But leaders of the country's majority Shiite community
have insisted that the vote take place as scheduled, and the interim
government here has said it has no plans to defer them.
The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that the American military
presence in Iraq would grow by nearly 12,000 troops by January,
to 150,000, the highest level since the invasion last year, to provide
security for the elections in January and to quell insurgent attacks
around the country.
Mr. Bush said today he was honoring the requests of American
commanders to delay the departure of troops from Iraq and expedite
the deployment of reinforcements. That, coupled with the American
training of Iraqi forces, would help the elections go forward, he said.
"And the idea, of course, and strategy, of course, is have the Iraqis
defend their own freedom," Mr. Bush said. "And we want to help them
have their presidential elections."
In Baghdad, Senator Joseph Biden, one of four senators visiting Iraq,
told reporters at a news conference inside the Green Zone that the
increased American troop strength was welcome but long overdue,
and that the Bush administration's handling of the issue had angered
him.
"I think it's necessary, and I wish we had taken some of this action
earlier," said Mr. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware, who had spent
the morning meeting with military commanders near Falluja alongside
his three colleagues.On Wednesday, Prime Minister Ayad Allawi of Iraq
met with Iraqi exiles and tribal and religious leaders in Amman, Jordan,
as part of a campaign to coax reluctant Sunni Arabs into taking part
in the coming elections.
Robert F. Worth contributed reporting from Baghdad for this article.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times
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