(Killing and being killed is not a career choice!)
Come to an organizing meeting to get the military
out of our schools!
Saturday, 11:00 a.m., February 5, 2005
Centro del Pueblo, 474 Valencia Street
(near 16th St. in S.F.)
2) CRITICAL Hearing Friday January 28, 2005 for
SHEILA DETOY17-Year-Old Girl Shot In Head By
Rogue Cop In 1998 ...
January 28, 2005
9:30 AM
Superior Court
CIVIC CENTER COURTHOUSE
400 McAllister Street Dept. 301
San Francisco, CA 94102
CASE # CPF04-504029
LAST CHANCE FOR JUSTICE!
The San Francisco Police Department is trying
to get away with MURDER!!!
for more information call (510)428-3939
3) TAKING AIM with Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone
January 23,2005
From: "Taking Aim"
Taking Aim schedule during the WBAI fund drive during
the next four weeks.
4) Israel Resumes Building West Bank Barrier Segment
By Allyn Fisher-Ilan
JERUSALEM (Reuters)
Mon Jan 24, 2005 09:08 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7410159&src=eD
ialog/GetContent§ion=news
5) Bending it
** Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches **
** http://dahrjamailiraq.com **
January 24, 2005
Kevin Benderman is a mechanic who is trained to fix
Bradley armored vehicles. On December 20, 2004, he applied
for conscientious objector status. Yesterday he made time
to talk with us about his decision.
The following is the interview conducted by Omar Khan,
editor and'forum' manager of www.dahrjamailiraq.com
http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/covering_iraq/archives//000180.php#more
6) March 19: The World Says
End the War!
by United for Peace and Justice
January 10th, 2005
7) Low Fuel, High Violence
** Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches **
** http://dahrjamailiraq.com **
January 24, 2005
8) Countdown to global catastrophe
Climate change: report warns point of no return may be
reached in 10 years, leading to droughts, agricultural
failure and water shortages
By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor
24 January 2005
Countdown to global catastrophe
Leading article: No delay
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/story.jsp?story=603975
9) Election Divides a Nation
Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
January 24, 2005
Inter Press Service
Dahr Jamail
http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/hard_news/000182.php#more
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) We ain't gonna study war no more!
(Killing and being killed is not a career choice!)
Come to an organizing meeting to get the
military out of our schools!
Saturday, 11:00 a.m., February 5, 2005
Centro del Pueblo, 474 Valencia Street
(near 16th St. in S.F.)
Our children are being recruited to military service right out of
High School. They are being offered Junior ROTC for class credit as
an alternative to Physical Education. Junior ROTC advocates the
military as a career choice. Every day we hear of schools and
hospitals closing. Our children have fewer job opportunities
available to them with far fewer benefits. And they are finding
it increasingly more difficult to go to college because of increased
college costs and the general increase in the cost of living. Junior
ROTC makes the military attractive to them. But these are not the
job opportunities we want for our children-or that our children
want for themselves!
Meanwhile, due to an ever-increasing war budget, most of our
tax dollars are being spent on a war with no end in sight; and
on overall defense spending that dwarfs even the war budget!
And while corporations are raking in billions, two-thirds of them
pay no taxes at all. This puts a severe strain on the taxes left
over-after military and defense expenditures-for all social
services and human needs-taxes that come from the poor and
all working people. We want our children to have an opportunity
to learn and thrive to the best of their potential not to kill and
be killed. Stop the war. Bring all our troops home now. End all
military recruitment in public schools and institutions of higher
learning. Use our tax dollars for schools, healthcare, housing,
jobs-all human needs not war!
Number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq as of Jan 11: 1,357
http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/USfatalities.html
Number of U.S. soldiers wounded in Iraq: over 10,000
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0104-12.ht
Number of Iraqis killed: est. over 100,000
http://www.iraqbodycount.net/press/
Number of Iraqis wounded: Untold.
Not counted but estimated in the millions.
Cost of the war: $149.5 billion spent as of Jan. 12, 2005
http://costofwar.com/index.html
With the money spent so far on the war we could have
hired over 2,600,566 public schoolteachers for one year.
http://costofwar.com/index-public-education.html
Total U.S. Defense spending: nearly $754 billion
as of fiscal year 2004.
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1253
The people of San Francisco voted last November 2004
by a 63 percent majority to bring all our troops home now.
We haven't changed our minds!
Bay Area United Against War (www.bauaw.org) (415) 824-8730
P.O. Box 318021, S. F., CA 94131-8021
Labor Donated...BW
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) CRITICAL Hearing Friday January 28, 2005 for
SHEILA DETOY17-Year-Old Girl Shot In Head By
Rogue Cop In 1998 ...
January 28, 2005
9:30 AM
Superior Court
CIVIC CENTER COURTHOUSE
400 McAllister Street Dept. 301
San Francisco, CA 94102
CASE # CPF04-504029
LAST CHANCE FOR JUSTICE!
The San Francisco Police Department is trying to get away
with MURDER!!!
If the cops get their way, the Superior Court will DISMISS
THE CASE against killer cop GREGORY BRESLIN !!!
With no punishment for Breslin - or anyone - in the 1998
cold-blooded police shooting of Sheila Detoy !!!
Don't let police murder go unpunished !!!
SIX YEARS - NO JUSTICE FOR SHEILA DETOY
* May 13, 1998: San Francisco police officers shot up a car
full of unarmed teenagers and killed 17-year-old Sheila Detoy.
SFPD then blamed her friends for her death.
* The Office of Citizen Complaints found that Officer Gregory
Breslin is responsible for her death. The OCC also sustained
complaints against the other officers involved in Sheila's killing.
* In 2003 the San Francisco Police Commission decided they
wanted to file charges against the officers, but the Police Officers
Association is trying to get Breslin off on a technicality but we
say: THERE IS NO TIME LIMIT ON PUNISHING KILLER COPS!!!
for more information call (510)428-3939
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
3) TAKING AIM with Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone
January 23,2005
From: "Taking Aim"
Taking Aim schedule during the WBAI fund drive during
the next four weeks.
We are pre-empted this Tuesday and return to the WBAI airwaves
next week, Tuesday, February 1 with a three-hour special: Torture
and the Capitalist State featuring excerpts from the 3-hour
program, "Buried Alive: Torture in America (our premium for
this WBAI fund drive) focused on prisoners here in the United
States as well as discussion of U.S. treatment of prisoners
abroad (Guantanamo, Afghanistan and Iraq).
We are pre-empted again Tuesday, February 8, and return to
the WBAI airwaves, Tuesday, February 15, for another 3-hour
special, our "Vision of Hell: The Unspeakable Torment of Other
Species." This program will include excerpts from the 2-hour
program of that name as well as new material about animal
intelligence and how our attitudes towards other species impact
our relations with each other.
New material will be interspersed with excerpts from these
classic Taking Aim programs.
The specials will air: Tuesday, February 1, 3:00 p.m. to
6:00 p.m. (EST) which is noon to 3:00 p.m. (PST) premium:
"Buried Alive: Torture in America" (3-CD)
Tuesday, February 15, 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. (EST) which is
noon to 3:00 p.m. (PST) premium: "The Unspeakable
Torment of Other Species" (2-CD)
Please support WBAI (KPFA for those of you in the San
Francisco Bay area) with your contributions during the
upcoming fund drives. These stations enable us to bring
our voices (information and analysis) to you.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
4) Israel Resumes Building West Bank Barrier Segment
By Allyn Fisher-Ilan
JERUSALEM (Reuters)
Mon Jan 24, 2005 09:08 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7410159&src=eD
ialog/GetContent§ion=news
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel resumed building one of the most
controversial parts of its West Bank barrier, deep in occupied land,
in a move Palestinians said on Monday clouded new President
Mahmoud Abbas's efforts to revive peacemaking.
Israel's attorney-general approved construction of the 4-km
(2.5 mile) segment along a new route near the large Jewish
settlement of Ariel after residents of the adjacent Palestinian
village of Salfit petitioned a court against land
expropriation.
"How we are going to convince our people and factions that
we are trying to end Israeli occupation while Israel is
imposing facts on the ground," Palestinian cabinet minister
Saeb Erekat said.
"This will have a deep and negative impact on our efforts
to reach a cease-fire."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wrapped up a week of
truce talks with militants in Gaza on Monday without any formal
agreement but with violence in the area sharply reduced.
Israel has built about a third of the planned 600-km
(370-mile) barrier, which it says is necessary to keep suicide
bombers away from its cities.
The International Court of Justice has said it is illegal
to construct the network of razor wire-tipped electronic fences
and concrete walls on occupied land. Palestinians call the
project a land grab aimed at denying them a viable state.
An Israeli court had ordered work on the barrier around the
Ariel enclave halted last June after the appeal was filed and
then asked the sides to resolve the issue through negotiations.
Changes were subsequently made to the route -- one of the
most disputed because it dips deep into occupied territory --
although Salfit's mayor denied on Monday reaching any deal with
Israeli authorities.
Mushir al-Masri, a spokesman for the militant Hamas group
in Gaza, condemned the barrier but stopped short of saying the
new construction work could disrupt cease-fire efforts.
CALM
An end to more than four years of bloodshed is key to
revival of a U.S.-backed peace road map envisaging a
Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.
"It is clear that there is calm on the ground as part of a
Palestinian initiative," said Ziad Abu Amr, a Palestinian
Authority negotiator with militant groups in Gaza.
"This calm can be a preamble to a truce if Israel agrees to
the Palestinian conditions," he told Reuters.
Palestinian demands on Israel include a halt to attacks on
militants and release of Palestinian prisoners in its jails.
Israel had said it would not agree to a formal cease-fire
with militant groups, some of which advocate its destruction,
but would respond in kind to a cessation of violence.
Giora Eiland, head of Israel's National Security Council,
signaled the military would largely hold off on raids for the
time being while Abbas, due back in the West Bank city of
Ramallah later in the day, pursued a truce.
"I think that in the next few days everything that is not
absolutely essential to do (right away) can be delayed," he
told Army Radio, referring to military operations.
Abbas, elected on Jan. 9 on a platform calling for an end
to armed struggle in pursuit of statehood, was due to go
later in the week to Egypt and Jordan, the only two Arab countries
that have made peace with Israel, to report on his cease-fire
moves.
"Now the ball is in the Israeli court and if the
international community really seeks calm and stability they
have to press Israel to agree to halt its attacks in order to
resume the political process," Abu Amr said.
(c) Reuters 2005
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
5) Bending it
** Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches **
** http://dahrjamailiraq.com **
January 24, 2005
Kevin Benderman is a mechanic who is trained to fix
Bradley armored vehicles. On December 20, 2004, he applied
for conscientious objector status. Yesterday he made time
to talk with us about his decision.
The following is the interview conducted by Omar Khan,
editor and'forum' manager of www.dahrjamailiraq.com
http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/covering_iraq/archives//000180.php#more
Omar Khan: Kindly tell us your name and a little about your
background-your age, where you live, where you born and raised, where
you went to school, things of that sort.
Kevin Benderman: My name is Kevin Mitchell Benderman. Currently I'm
living in Hinesville, Georgia, with my wife, Monica, and my stepson
Ryan. I was born in Alabama. I was raised between there and Tennessee.
I've gone to various schools, and I'm currently studying Criminal
Justice out of Ashworth College for a Bachelor's Degree.
OK: A Thursday, January 13 CNN article whose subtitle tells of your
"claim" that others "just don't know how bad it is." But that article
gives none of your or any other observations of how bad it is. Can you
tell take a few moments to tell us something about how bad it is?
KB: The things that I have seen in the war zone that I've been to-and I
am referring to this as all war, because my father told me about things
he saw during World War II, and I've talked to Vietnam War veterans,
I've talked to Korean War veterans, and they've all told me similar
things that they've seen. And that is how peoples homes are destroyed.
That's how people are destroyed. And just how insane, really, the entire
thing is. War destroys everything in its path. It's the most destructive
force on the planet that mankind has come up with, I can tell you that.
When we were moving from the southern part of that country to the north,
we saw numerous people that were having to get drinking water from mud
puddles on the side of the road. One thing that really sticks out in my
mind, is that young girl-probably 8, 9, no older than 10 years
old-standing there with her arm burned, black-you know, charred all the
way up to her shoulder. And her mother was there and they were both
crying, both begging for help [whom the executive officer refused to
help because troops had limited medical supplies]. I saw mass grave
sites full of old men, old women, children, you know-I saw them all over
that country.
OK: Article 3 of the 21 October 1950 Geneva Conventions reads: "Persons
taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed
forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de [outside
of] combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in
all circumstances be treated humanely."
To the extent that your experience in Iraq sheds any light on the
matter, can you comment on the commitment with which this principle has
been held up by the armed forces of the United States in Iraq?
KB: I don't want to discuss specific wars. But I'll tell you that by the
very virtue of war itself-what is humane treatment? I mean, you answer
that question, if any one can answer that question: what is humane about
war period? There's nothing humane about it. The very virtue of what war
is the design to inflict casualties on other human beings.
OK: The Nuremberg Tribunal was adopted by the International Law
Commission of the United Nations in 1950. It lists under the heading
"war crimes" the "wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages" and
other actions against persons that constitute "devastation not justified
by military necessity." Please share any thoughts you have on this.
KB: I'm not a government, I'm just a man. And I feel that the only true
way to prevent any of those things that you're describing is for men-and
women-to reach across the table and open themselves up for discussion so
that this stuff won't happen between people. If war is a tool to achieve
peace, then why do we still have war?
Monica Benderman: War is not a necessity. Necessity is defined in
alternatives to war.
OK: Lt. Col. Robert Whetstone, a Fort Stewart spokesman, was quoted by
MSNBC on January 20th. He said-referring to you, Kevin-"We're still
going to treat him with honor and respect. He's a soldier, he's wearing
the uniform and he's a veteran," Whetstone said. "But when regulations
are broken and orders are disobeyed, we've got to do what we've got to do."
Now, the same Nuremburg Tribunal says that "the fact that internal law
does not impose a penalty for an act which constitutes a crime under
international law does not relieve the person who committed the act from
responsibility under international law." But it says more: "The fact
that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior
does not relieve him from responsibility under international law,
provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him." Can you tell us a
little bit about that "moral choice" today?
KB: Well, I'll tell you where I've exercised that moral choice. When
that captain, who I was with over there, ordered the people-including
me-to shoot small children that were throwing rocks at us, and I refused
to obey that order, I exercised that moral choice in that particular
case, that particular incident. When that order was given, we ignored
it. We all looked at each other like, that man has lost his mind. So I
would say that everyone who was with me at that time exercised their
moral choice not to follow that illegal order.
OK: Mark Stevens, a military defense lawyer and retired Marine Corps
judge advocate has been quoted repeatedly in our media, with reference
to you. He asked, "If he went to Iraq and then comes back and says, 'I'm
now opposed to war,' the issue is are you opposed to all wars or just
this one you don't want to go back to?" said. "He wasn't opposed to war
two years ago, why is he opposed to it now?" Now, the same media that
energized the country for this war-telling nothing of its gross
illegality-is being used as a forum to say, "why didn't you know earlier?"
KB: I can't tell you about international law violations or anything of
that nature, but that man who made that statement about me: he doesn't
know me. You don't know me either. You don't know how long I've been
thinking about a particular subject before I decide to speak out about
it. And I think about a lot of things that no one knows what I think
about. But this one was important enough for me that I needed to speak
out about it to anyone that would listen.
More writing, photos and commentary at http://dahrjamailiraq.com
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
iraq_dispatches-request@dahrjamailiraq.com and write unsubscribe in the
subject
or the body of the email.
(c)2004 Dahr Jamail.
Iraq_Dispatches mailing list
http://lists.dahrjamailiraq.com/mailman/listinfo/iraq_dispatches
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
6) March 19: The World Says
End the War!
by United for Peace and Justice
January 10th, 2005
SATURDAY, MARCH 19: GLOBAL DAY OF PROTEST
ON THE TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE IRAQ WAR
* End the War *
* Bring the Troops Home Now *
* Rebuild Our Communities *
March 19-20 marks the two-year anniversary of the U.S. bombing
and invasion of Iraq. After all of the death and destruction, and with
the Bush administration claiming a mandate to continue their war,
there's a new urgency and a stronger determination within the
global antiwar movement to bring the troops home now.
LOCAL ACTIONS NATIONWIDE
UFPJ calls on supporters of peace and justice in every corner of
the country, in communities large and small, to organize local
protests against the war on Saturday, March 19. These can take
many forms: vigils, rallies, marches, nonviolent civil disobedience.
We especially encourage creative efforts to put the spotlight on
the institutions of militarism at home by organizing actions outside
military bases or military recruitment offices. List your activities
on the UFPJ website calendar
(select "March 19" under Event Type).
On the first anniversary of the war, at least 319 cities
and towns
across the United States organized protests. This year there is
the potential to organize even more demonstrations, and to
bring more people than ever out into the streets. The Bush
Administration will soon ask Congress to pump as much as
$100 billion more into the war; March 19 is an opportunity to
call for an end to this disaster, and to demand that the billions
be allocated instead for rebuilding our communities at home
and paying for the damage in Iraq.
MAJOR REGIONAL PROTEST IN FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.
UFPJ is also supporting a major regional demonstration in
Fayetteville, North Carolina. We hope those of you within
driving distance of Fayetteville will make this action your
priority. Fayetteville is home to Fort Bragg - ground zero for
the 82nd Airborne Division and many of the Army's elite
units. Beyond Fort Bragg, North Carolina hosts four other
of the nation's largest military bases, making the state one
of the friendliest to the military-industrial complex.
Less well-known is the fact that Fayetteville is also home to
a growing base of anti-war activists and organizations. They
are military folks, veterans, families of active-duty soldiers
and veterans, students, workers, housewives, clergy, educators,
and all are part of a vibrant, and growing, statewide network.
They stand firm in the knowledge that organizing in
Fayetteville is a key to bringing the troops home from Iraq.
Military Families Speak Out
Them Home Now
Iraq Veterans Against the War
Veterans For Peace
Quaker House
Peace with Justice, the North Carolina Peace and Justice
Coalition
Carolina Council of Churches
are spearheading the Fayetteville action. Please do all you can to
be in Fayetteville this year; by actively building and participating
in this demonstration, we have the opportunity to support the
efforts of Southern organizers to build a Southern network,
and a Southern movement, to replace war and occupation
with justice and self-determination.
BE PART OF A GLOBAL ANTIWAR MOVEMENT
In addition to the many protests already being planned in the
United States, people all around the world will be taking action
on March 19 as well. Responding to a call from the European
Social Forum's Assembly of Social Movements, European
activists are organizing national mobilizations across Europe.
Brussels will be the site of a central demonstration on the eve
of a meeting of the European Council, where demonstrators will
march against war, racism, and a corporate-dominated Europe.
India's national Anti-War Assembly recently committed to major
protests on the second anniversary of the war. And we
anticipate that the World Social Forum will join this call when
it meets later this month in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
GET OUT THE WORD
Circulate this email wide and far. UFPJ will soon have flyers,
stickers, and other resources available to help you get out
the word.
HAVE YOUR GROUP ENDORSE MARCH 19
Visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org/m19endorse today.
BEGIN PLANNING LOCAL MARCH 19 ACTIONS
Bring together local groups to plan March 19 actions in your
community. Post your plans at on the UFPJ calendar
U.S. Labor Against War (USLAW)
www.uslaboragainstwar.org
info@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
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
7) Low Fuel, High Violence
** Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches **
** http://dahrjamailiraq.com **
January 24, 2005
Last night I peered out my hotel room window into the vast darkness of
Baghdad. Aside from random lights powered by generators, the blackened
capital city seemed to lay dormant under high winds and a cold, driving
rain.
This morning as we're driving under clear, crisp skies on the harrowing
streets Abu Talat tells me, "We have had neither water nor electricity
at our house since 9am yesterday morning. It is as if we are camping in
our house!"
He laughs his usual deep laugh as I shake my head. I noticed he hadn't
shaved in a couple of days.
Sirens wail in the distance as Apaches rumble low overhead and we make
our way to our interviews. Looking out the window I see a rough looking
man wearing a black leather jacket ambling along the street. He wears a
wide leather belt with a pistol strapped on his right side, and a knife
which runs down to his middle thigh on his left. Welcome to occupied
Baghdad.
A little further we begin what is often a quest to find some
"reasonably" priced black market petrol. The first man we ask tells us
8,000 Iraqi Dinar (ID) for 20 Liters ($1.06 per gallon). While the
prices have dropped from a recent 20,000 ID per 20 liters, they are
still unacceptable to Abu Talat, who paid 100 ID for 20 liters prior to
the invasion at pumps where maybe one car was in front of him.
He is irked at the 8,000 ID, so we drive past a miles long gas line to
find a boy selling for 8,000 again, so we continue on to find another
boy selling for 6,500 ID.
Abu Talat asks him some questions then drives off again.
"Why didn't you take it for 6,500," I ask perplexed.
"He wouldn't swear to me it wasn't watered down," he replied with a smile.
Another block further we find another boy
selling for 6,000. He passes the swear test so we wait as he dumps 20
liters through his old plastic half of a soda bottle into the tank.
Nearby is his cache of fuel
on a handy push cart so he can make a quick getaway if Iraqi or US
soldiers decide to break up his little black market, as they so often do
when the feel compelled.
We continue on over towards Khadamiya while listening to the radio. The
Iraqi resistance appears to be spreading to the south as a few days ago
an Italian soldier was killed when his helicopter took ground fire. Just
yesterday a Polish soldier died when his helicopter took fire near
Babil, while today 6 Iraqi soldiers were wounded when a car bomb
detonated at their checkpoint in front of the Polish military HQ in Hilla.
In case you missed it, recently the Bush administration quietly
downgraded the list of members of the famed "coalition of the willing"
from 45 countries to under 30.
Then of course there's always Mosul-another US soldier died there today
in clashes, bringing the Pentagon number of dead troops to 1,372 since
the invasion. Also, just north of Ramadi today a police station was
raided by resistance fighters who made off with equipment and weapons.
They didn't kill any policemen, but after forcing them out of their
station they warned them they would kill them if they returned inside.
After interviewing some folks in a mosque (more on that at a later
date), we decide to venture into a gas station
to see how the manager is faring with the crisis. We're walking after we
park the car and I'm startled by nearby gunfire. Abu Talat doesn't even
flinch.
"You're not even going to look," I ask him.
"Why? This is nothing for me anymore," he says back smiling, "This is
the freedom of Iraq!"
Riyad Atoush
sits slumped behind his old desk in a small office. Beeping cars
impatiently wait outside for their chance at the pump.
"We stay open from 6am to 6pm every day," he tells me, "But yesterday we
closed at 4pm since we ran out of fuel."
They normally get two tanker trucks each day, each one holding 32,000
liters of the now precious liquid, but today only one showed up.
"There is a rumor that the government will be raising the prices at the
pumps," adds Mr. Atoush, "But for now we just continue to ration the
fuel; even plates one day, odd the next, 30 liters (7.5 gallons) per
vehicle."
He concludes by saying that they hope to receive three tankers per day
soon; that is if there are no more attacks on pipelines or stolen tanker
trucks.
Back on the streets it is the usual cacophony of honking traffic jams,
rumbling choppers overhead, and Iraqi and US soldiers on the streets.
We sit in a traffic jam and I notice a small child
next to us.
He is peering out at an Iraqi soldier
standing with his Kalashnikov on the other side of our car.
More writing, photos and commentary at
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
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
iraq_dispatches-request@dahrjamailiraq.com and write unsubscribe in the
subject or the body of the email.
(c)2004 Dahr Jamail.
Iraq_Dispatches mailing list
http://lists.dahrjamailiraq.com/mailman/listinfo/iraq_dispatches
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
8) Countdown to global catastrophe
Climate change: report warns point of no return may be
reached in 10 years, leading to droughts, agricultural
failure and water shortages
By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor
24 January 2005
Countdown to global catastrophe
Leading article: No delay
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/story.jsp?story=603975
The global warming danger threshold for the world is clearly marked
for the first time in an international report to be published tomorrow -
and the bad news is, the world has nearly reached it already.
The countdown to climate-change catastrophe is spelt out by a task
force of senior politicians, business leaders and academics from
around the world - and it is remarkably brief. In as little as 10 years,
or even less, their report indicates, the point of no return with global
warming may have been reached.
The report, Meeting The Climate Challenge , is aimed at policymakers
in every country, from national leaders down. It has been timed to
coincide with Tony Blair's promised efforts to advance climate
change policy in 2005 as chairman of both the G8 group of rich
countries and the European Union.
And it breaks new ground by putting a figure - for the first time
in such a high-level document - on the danger point of global
warming, that is, the temperature rise beyond which the world
would be irretrievably committed to disastrous changes. These
could include widespread agricultural failure, water shortages and
major droughts, increased disease, sea-level rise and the death of
forests - with the added possibility of abrupt catastrophic events
such as "runaway" global warming, the melting of the Greenland
ice sheet, or the switching-off of the Gulf Stream.
The report says this point will be two degrees centigrade above
the average world temperature prevailing in 1750 before the
industrial revolution, when human activities - mainly the
production of waste gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2),
which retain the sun's heat in the atmosphere - first started
to affect the climate. But it points out that global average
temperature has already risen by 0.8 degrees since then, with
more rises already in the pipeline - so the world has little
more than a single degree of temperature latitude before
the crucial point is reached.
More ominously still, it assesses the concentration of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere after which the two-degree rise
will become inevitable, and says it will be 400 parts per
million by volume (ppm) of CO2.
The current level is 379ppm, and rising by more than 2ppm
annually - so it is likely that the vital 400ppm threshold will
be crossed in just 10 years' time, or even less (although the
two-degree temperature rise might take longer to come
into effect).
"There is an ecological timebomb ticking away," said Stephen
Byers, the former transport secretary, who co-chaired the task
force that produced the report with the US Republican senator
Olympia Snowe. It was assembled by the Institute for Public
Policy Research in the UK, the Centre for American Progress
in the US, and The Australia Institute.The group's chief
scientific adviser is Dr Rakendra Pachauri, chairman of the
UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The report urges all the G8 countries to agree to generate
a quarter of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025,
and to double their research spending on low-carbon energy
technologies by 2010. It also calls on the G8 to form
a climate group with leading developing nations such as
India and China, which have big and growing CO2 emissions.
"What this underscores is that it's what we invest in now
and in the next 20 years that will deliver a stable climate,
not what we do in the middle of the century or later," said
Tom Burke, a former government adviser on green issues
who now advises business.
The report starkly spells out the likely consequences of
exceeding the threshold. "Beyond the 2 degrees C level,
the risks to human societies and ecosystems grow
significantly," it says.
"It is likely, for example, that average-temperature increases
larger than this will entail substantial agricultural losses,
greatly increased numbers of people at risk of water
shortages, and widespread adverse health impacts. [They]
could also imperil a very high proportion of the world's coral
reefs and cause irreversible damage to important terrestrial
ecosystems, including the Amazon rainforest."
It goes on: "Above the 2 degrees level, the risks of abrupt,
accelerated, or runaway climate change also increase. The
possibilities include reaching climatic tipping points leading,
for example, to the loss of the West Antarctic and Greenland
ice sheets (which, between them, could raise sea level more
than 10 metres over the space of a few centuries), the shutdown
of the thermohaline ocean circulation (and, with it, the Gulf
Stream), and the transformation of the planet's forests and
soils from a net sink of carbon to a net source of carbon."
(c) 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
9) Election Divides a Nation
Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
January 24, 2005
Inter Press Service
Dahr Jamail
http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/hard_news/000182.php#more
The elections due Jan. 30 appear to have brought more chaos and
division amongst Iraqis than unity and hope. And they have brought
greater security fears.
BAGHDAD, Jan 24 (IPS) - The elections due Jan. 30 appear to have
brought more chaos and division amongst Iraqis than unity and hope.
And they have brought greater security fears.
U.S.-appointed prime minister Iyad Allawi acknowledged last week
that full security will be impossible. This despite the rather draconian
measures his interim government will have in place.
The government has announced plans to close borders Jan. 29-31.
It will cut mobile and satellite phone services, ban travel between
Iraq's 18 provinces, lengthen curfew hours and restrict use of vehicles.
Security at polling stations will be heavy. The government plans
to set up three security rings around each of the 9,000 polling
stations.
But the government is preparing for a bloody day despite such
measures. The health ministry has announced it will provide
more hospital beds, medical supplies and staff for the day.
The U.S. military will run extra patrols to respond faster to
attacks.
With at least eight candidates killed, and many others receiving
daily death threats, campaigning has mostly consisted of parties
employing staff to post leaflets and set up posters. Many of the
posters are torn down the same day, while others are burned.
The polling process itself is confusing many people. With 7,785
mostly unnamed candidates on the lists of 83 coalitions of
political parties, voters have little idea who they will be voting
for. Each list contains between 83 and 275 candidates, running
on platforms championing all sorts of causes.
The 'candidates' lists have names such as 'The Security and
Stability List', 'The Security and Justice List' and the 'Iraq List'.
Many include fancy graphics, but few carry candidate
photographs.
Allawi is a member of a list running under the slogan 'For a
strong, secure, prosperous, democratic and unified Iraq'. Most
candidate lists do not mention the occupation of Iraq.
One election poster reads, "Let the polls be our answer to the
car bombings and insecurity". Another has a smiling face of
a man with the promise that this list will focus on restoring
electricity.
The lists are mostly sectarian. Kurdish lists are focused on
winning Kirkuk for Kurds, and obtaining a top government
post. Shias have their own lists, some seeking federalism,
others an Iranian-style regime.
The Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni group, has called
for a boycott in protest against the destruction of Fallujah by
the U.S.. military. Local people estimate that 90 percent of
Sunnis will not vote. Members representing Sunni Muslims
would in that event have to be appointed..
Most voters are expected to be Shia Muslims. Their revered
Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has issued a fatwa instructing his
followers to vote.
"I will vote because Sistani has told us this will help the
country," said Abdel Hassan, a shoemaker in the
predominantly Shia district Karrada in Baghdad.
"And I am ready to do anything to help my country."
Other Iraqis appear to be firmly against the elections.
"How can we vote when we don't know any of the candidates,"
said a Shia man who gave his name as Ghassan. "And how can
any of them help a country that is occupied by invaders?"
Just the fear of violence is certain to keep many voters at
home. "We don't know when the next bullet will come so we
are staying in our homes most of the time," said Abdulla
Hamid, a 35-year-old father of five who sells vegetables in
Baghdad. "I would vote if there was security, but this election
is confusing to me and seems to be causing so many
problems already."
Some believe voting will help security. "I will be voting for
Allawi because I think he can help Iraq," says Suthir Hamiz,
whose husband works in the supply department at
a U.S. military camp. "I think he can bring security."
Hamoudi Aziz, who drives his car as a taxi while looking for
a better job, says the elections themselves have brought
a worsening of the security situation. "I'm not even safe in
my own home under this martial law," he said when asked
if he will vote. "So how am I expected to vote for this crazy
parliament?"
Posted by Dahr_Jamail at January 24, 2005 05:35 PM
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
No comments:
Post a Comment