January 13, 2005
METRO BRIEFING
NEW YORK
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/13/nyregion/13mbrf.html
(For more information about the case go to: www.lynnestewart.org
Or call: 212-625-9696)
2) NEXT BAUAW MEETING:
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 11:00 a.m.
CENTRO DEL PUEBLO
474 VALENCIA STREET
(NEAR 16TH ST. IN S.F.)
HELP GET THE MILITARY OUT OF OUR SCHOOLS!
KILLING AND BEING KILLED
IS NOT A CAREER CHOICE!
BRING ALL THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
MARCH AND RALLY JANUARY 20, 5 P.M.
CIVIC CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO
3) [Alerts] Fw: Antiwar bleachers at 4th & Pennsylvania Ave. (
north side) for Jan. 20 CounterInaugural
alerts at lists.iww.org alerts at lists.iww.org
Wed Jan 12 16:54:34 PST 2005
-----Forwarded Message-----
From: "VoteNoWar.org" < Action at VoteNoWar.org >
Sent: Jan 12, 2005 4:45 PM
WE HAVE WON THE RIGHT
TO SET UP ANTIWAR BLEACHERS
AND HOLD A RALLY ON THE NORTH SIDE OF
4TH ST. & PENNSYLVANIA AVE. NW!
http://lists.iww.org/pipermail/alerts/2005-January/001354.html
4) Let's Hit the Streets
On the 32nd Anniversary of Roe v. Wade
To Defend Abortion Rights!
Saturday, January 22
* 10 am - Rally at Powell and Market Streets, San Francisco
(Powell Street BART)
* 11 am - March up Market Street, along the Embarcadero
to Aquatic Park
www.indybay.org/womyn
Driving? Need a ride? Visit
http://drivingvotes.org/rides/sfprochoice.php
ALSO: Join the Women‚s Rights Contingent in the
San Francisco Counter-Inaugural Protest on January 20th.
Meet at 5 pm at the corner of Grove and Polk in
Civic Center Plaza.
5) PICTURES OF WAR
6) You are invited To Celebrate and claim victory on
James Yee's case and his Honorable Discharge from
the U.S. Army
Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday
JOIN THOUSANDS in the Freedom March
When: Monday, January 17, 2005
11:30 A.M. TO 12:30 p.m.
Where:J4NA members will meet at
3rd & Mission at 11:30 a.m and join the parade.
The big march will start at the San Francisco
Caltrain Station
(4th St. and Townsend St.,) proceeding to Mission Street @
Third Street, continuing to the Bill Graham
Civic Auditorium
7) ITALIAN.QUEER.DANGEROUS
a one-man show featuring Tommi Avicolli Mecca
directed by Francesca Prada, Jan. 14-19, 8:00pm,
JON SIMS CENTER
1519 Mission, Between Van Ness and 11th Sts., SF
8) Kin of Marine Who Shot Policemen Ask if He Is a Casualty of War
By DEAN E. MURPHY
CERES, Calif.
January 14, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/14/national/14marine.html?oref=login
9) War's 'hidden cost' called heavy
Billions eyed to replenish forces
By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | January 14, 2005
WASHINGTON
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/01/14/wars_hidden
_cost_called_heavy/
10) Protesters Plan to Mark Bush Inauguration
By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON (Reuters)
Wed Jan 12, 2005 04:06 PM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=OTRG3I0BD0I3ECRBAE0CFEY?
type=domesticNews&storyID=7309119
11) US military relief operations in Asia far worse than
the tsunami
International League of Peoples' Struggle
Press Statement of the ILPS-Philippines Chapter
January 11, 2005
Postbus 1452, NL 3600 BL
Utrecht, Netherlands
Email: ilp515@runbox.com
Website http://www.ilps2001.com
12) Indonesia Defends Restrictions in Aceh
By Jeff Franks and Karima Anjani
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters)
Thu Jan 13, 2005 07:48 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7316499&src=eD
ialog/GetContent§ion=news
13) U.S. High Court Gives Judges Sentencing Discretion
By James Vicini
WASHINGTON (Reuters)
Wed Jan 12, 2005 11:07 PM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7311683&src=eD
ialog/GetContent§ion=news
14) NEWS: Iraq war worth it? -- Bush: 'Oh,
absolutely' -- 57% of US: 'No'
15) Fear Stalks Baghdad
The City Where Even Police Hide Behind Masks
By ROBERT FISK
The Independent
January 12, 2005
http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2005/01/1708886.php
16) URGENT Call to Action - January 22!
NARAL Pro-Choice California
17) Working Towards Peace
Forum on Israel/Palestine
Sponsored by: Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center
Tuesday, January 25, 2005 at 7:00 p.m.
Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church,
55 Eckley Lane, Walnut Creek
Admission: FREE!
18) "A Message from the 'Iraq Resistance.'"
19) U.S. Army Sergeant Defies Order, Refuses Re-Deployment:
2 Soldiers Attempt Suicide at 2-7 Infantry, 17 Go AWOL
By Robert S. Finnegan
http://207.44.245.159/article7659.htm
20) The Normalization of Horror:
American Gulags Become Permanent
By Ted Rall
January 11, 2004
http://www.uexpress.com/tedrall/
21) Abu Ghraib prisoners escape
Baghdad election center director killed
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi police are on the lookout for 28 Abu
Ghraib prisoners who escaped while en route to Baghdad for trial.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/01/14/iraq/index.html
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) MANHATTAN: JURY DELIBERATES IN TERROR TRIAL
January 13, 2005
METRO BRIEFING
NEW YORK
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/13/nyregion/13mbrf.html
(For more information about the case go to: www.lynnestewart.org
Or call: 212-625-9696)
MANHATTAN: JURY DELIBERATES IN TERROR TRIAL
The jurors in the trial of Lynne F. Stewart, a lawyer accused of aiding
terrorism, began to deliberate yesterday [Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2005],
after the judge cautioned that they could not convict on the basis of
her political views. The decisions must be unanimous on 16 questions
concerning Ms. Stewart and two co-defendants, Ahmed Abdel Sattar
and Mohamed Yousry, who are charged with conspiring to lie to the
government and to help terrorists in Egypt. Judge John G. Koeltl,
who read 139 pages of instructions, told them that "expression of
opinion alone, even an opinion advocating violence, is not a crime
in this country." Julia Preston (NYT)
Compiled by Anthony Ramirez
Copyright 2005 The New York Times
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) NEXT BAUAW MEETING:
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 11:00 a.m.
CENTRO DEL PUEBLO
474 VALENCIA STREET
(NEAR 16TH ST. IN S.F.)
HELP GET THE MILITARY OUT OF OUR SCHOOLS!
KILLING AND BEING KILLED
IS NOT A CAREER CHOICE!
BRING ALL THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
MARCH AND RALLY JANUARY 20, 5 P.M.
CIVIC CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO
Help work on a campaign to get the military off our school
campuses. The recent passing of Proposition N, to Bring our
troops home now, by a 63% majority of San Francisco voters,
mandates that the military should keep their hands off our
kids. Killing and being killed is not the career choice we
want for our kids or anyone's kids. We want them to have an
education so that they can make things better, not training
in the art of killing. We want our tax dollars to go for
schools, housing, healthcare and good jobs instead of war.
Don't forget to protest on Jan. 20th. If you can take a day
off, Join Not In Our Name's outreach campaign. We want to
hold banners near freeway on/off ramps, and in other public
locations to encourage everyone to protest in some way that
day-even if you can only wear a button on your job or honk
your horn in solidarity. For more information go to:
http://www.notinourname.net/~bayarea/
Jan. 20th is not a happy day for us. It's a day of protest!
Don't forget to show up at 5 p.m., Jan. 20, at the
Civic Center for a March and rally.
Bay Area United Against War
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
3) [Alerts] Fw: Antiwar bleachers at 4th & Pennsylvania Ave.
(north side) for Jan. 20 CounterInaugural
alerts at lists.iww.org alerts at lists.iww.org
Wed Jan 12 16:54:34 PST 2005
-----Forwarded Message-----
From: "VoteNoWar.org" < Action at VoteNoWar.org >
Sent: Jan 12, 2005 4:45 PM
WE HAVE WON THE RIGHT
TO SET UP ANTIWAR BLEACHERS
AND HOLD A RALLY ON THE NORTH SIDE OF
4TH ST. & PENNSYLVANIA AVE. NW!
http://lists.iww.org/pipermail/alerts/2005-January/001354.html
*Updated Jan. 20 CounterInaugural
logistics, bus transportation and more*
Dear VoteNoWar member,
VoteNoWar members will be able to join together at antiwar
bleachers and a rally at 4th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. NW (north side)
on January 20. This is the first time in history that people have won
the right to establish antiwar bleachers along the presidential
inaugural parade route.
The National Park Service has acknowledged the right of the
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition to set up antiwar bleachers at 4th St. and
Pennsylvania Avenue NW (north side). Our movement has obtained a
permit to hold this large convergence along the Inaugural route.
George Bush - as he rides in the inaugural motorcade - will be forced
to pass a large bleacher set up filled with signs demanding "U.S. Out
of Iraq Now, End the Occupation - Bring the Troops Home Now," "End
Colonial Domination from Palestine to Haiti, and Everywhere," "Health
Care, Education, Housing, and a Job at a Living Wage Must be a Right!"
and more.
You can bring your own signs or pick up signs, banners and other
materials at this location. Any sign that is made of cardboard,
posterboard or cloth and that is no larger than 3 feet by 20 feet and
1/4 inch in thickness can be brought to the parade route.
To cover the cost of the bleachers, the sound system, stage,
transportation, printing placards and other materials, we will need to
raise $30,000 in the next few days. We can't do it without your help.
Please make a generous donation. You can make a contribution through a
secure server, where you can also find information on how to contribute
by check, by clicking here:
http://www.pephost.org/site/R?i=7R-E-j-EqAi72suC2Mm5YQ..
We want to make it clear to everyone that while we have obtained
permitted space at 4th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. (north side), we are
continuing to fight the government's attempts to prohibit the general
public from gaining access to all the areas along the parade route
while reserving those areas for the exclusive use of Bush
supporters and donors. Pennsylvania Avenue is not the private
property of Corporate America and the ultra-right.
The only way to maintain our right to demonstrate along the route of
the inaugural parade is to come to Pennsylvania Avenue in large
numbers as close to 9 am - 10 am as possible on January 20.
Those organizing bus transportation, vans, car caravans, or planning
individual transportation should do everything in their power to be at
4th St. and Pennsylvania Avenue, and along the Pennsylvania Avenue
parade route, as close to 9 am - 10 am as possible.
* * * * *
Click below for UPDATED DOWNLOADABLE MAPS
of the site of the antiwar bleachers and mass rally
Color PDF http://www.pephost.org/site/R?i=MUzn9TOqkEC72suC2Mm5YQ.. Black &
White PDF http://www.pephost.org/site/R?i=3nyMcihbq-G72suC2Mm5YQ.. * *
FUNDS ARE URGENTLY NEEDED
Funds are urgently needed for the January 20th mobilization. If you
cannot personally attend but would like to help cover the costs of
transportation, printing banners, signs and literature you can make a
contribution through a secure server, where you can also find information
on how to contribute by check, by clicking here:
http://www.pephost.org/site/R?i=RWuhIllZbmC72suC2Mm5YQ..
Click the link below to change your email preferences:
http://www.pephost.org/site/R?i=51Db-MEKhTi72suC2Mm5YQ..
If the method for unsubscribing, above,
do not work for you, then write us at IWantOff at VoteNoWar.org and
we'll remove you manually.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
4) Let's Hit the Streets
On the 32nd Anniversary of Roe v. Wade
To Defend Abortion Rights!
Saturday, January 22
* 10 am - Rally at Powell & Market Streets, San Francisco
(Powell Street BART)
* 11 am - March up Market Street, along the Embarcadero
to Aquatic Park
Jan. 22 is the 32nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court
decision that established the constitutional right to reproductive freedom.
On the same day, anti-choice extremists plan to march in San Francisco
against women‚s health and rights. The anti-choice minority might be
emboldened by the climate in Washington, DC but they are not
welcome here!
Join the San Francisco Area Pro-Choice Coalition to Stand Up for
Reproductive Freedom and Demonstrate that San Francisco is PRO-CHOICE!
Sponsored by the San Francisco Area Pro-Choice Coalition. For more
information or to get involved, visit www.indybay.org/womyn
Driving? Need a ride? Visit http://drivingvotes.org/rides/sfprochoice.php
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
5) PICTURES OF WAR
PLEASE ACCESS:
** Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches **
** http://dahrjamailiraq.com **
I have obtained the originals of the photos I recently posted which were
taken from inside Fallujah.
These are of much higher quality.
Some of the comments have been updated, and there are some additional
pictures added which I did not have before.
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/gallery/
view_album.php?set_albumName=album28&page=1
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.
(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
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/gallery/
view_album.php?set_albumName=album28&page=1
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/coalitionforfreethoughtinmedia/message/26138
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/coalitionforfreethoughtinmedia/message/26138
Virginion Pilot via AP - Photos - click here
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=79598&ran=187050
TSUNAMI PHOTOS:
A Community Labor News E-Zine
http://homepage.mac.com/demark/tsunami/2.html
This one has a BUNCH of different sources. I liked the
CTV site and the maps on the Washington Post site.
ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/asl/guides/indian-ocean-disaster.html
Readers may email your article submissions
or your comments to ListAdmin@CLNews.org
http://www.clnews.org/MailList/subscribtion.htm
"Freedom is always and exclusively
freedom for the one who thinks differently"
--Rosa Luxemburg
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
6) You are invited To Celebrate and claim victory on
James Yee's case and his Honorable Discharge from
the U.S. Army
Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday
JOIN THOUSANDS in the Freedom March
When: Monday, January 17, 2005
11:30 A.M. TO 12:30 p.m.
Where:J4NA members will meet at
3rd & Mission at 11:30 a.m and join the parade.
The big march will start at the San Francisco
Caltrain Station
(4th St. and Townsend St.,) proceeding to Mission Street @
Third Street, continuing to the Bill Graham
Civic Auditorium
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
7) ITALIAN.QUEER.DANGEROUS
a one-man show featuring Tommi Avicolli Mecca
directed by Francesca Prada, Jan. 14-19, 8:00pm,
JON SIMS CENTER
1519 Mission, Between Van Ness and 11th Sts., SF
JANUARY 14-29 (
Friday and Saturday nights only: 14, 15; 21, 22; 28, 29)
JON SIMS CENTER, 1519 Mission/between Van Ness and 11th
8pm, $5-10 sliding scale (no one turned away)
Seating is limited, for reservations: 415-554-0402
To volunteer to help with the show, call 415-552-6031
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
8) Kin of Marine Who Shot Policemen Ask if He Is a Casualty of War
By DEAN E. MURPHY
CERES, Calif.
January 14, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/14/national/14marine.html?oref=login
CERES, Calif., Jan. 13 - A surveillance camera captured the gun battle
in this small central California farm town in terrifying detail.
A marine on weekend leave from Camp Pendleton on Sunday night
instructed a clerk in George's Liquor Store to call the police. When patrol
cars arrived, the marine pulled an assault rifle from beneath his poncho
and began firing. Both Sgt. Howard Stevenson and Officer Sam Ryno
were hit.
"He walked over to where Sergeant Stevenson laid suffering from
several gunshot wounds and shot him in the back of the head," said
Lt. Bill Heyne, the lead investigator on the case for the Stanislaus
County sheriff. "It was an execution of that officer."
The marine, Lance Cpl. Andres Raya, 19, who spent seven months
in Iraq last year as a motor transportation operator, then walked to
a muddy alley around the corner, a place where he used to pick
oranges as a student on his way to Ceres High School. He slipped
from one backyard to the next, telling some residents they were
"innocent civilians" and would not be harmed.
Before the evening ended, as police officers from across the region
responded to the shootings, more than 200 rounds had been fired,
both Sergeant Stevenson and Corporal Raya were dead, and "small
town America," as the police and fire chief here (he has to do both
jobs) called Ceres, was desperately debating whether the young
marine had deliberately gotten himself killed to escape possible
return to Iraq.
"It is going to take a great deal of work to sort out what happened,"
Lieutenant Heyne said.
Some here blame the violence on Corporal Raya's wartime experience,
which friends and relatives say was so traumatic that he cried during
his home leave at Christmas about having to report back to Camp
Pendleton. They suggest Corporal Raya, whose wish throughout high
school was to be a marine and then a Ceres firefighter, might have
invited the confrontation with the intention of erasing forever the
awful images in his head.
But others say they see a vicious criminal who authorities say had
a past association with gangs. They see drugs or alcohol as the more
likely spark of his deadly rage, and they question how he was able
to get the outlawed assault rifle used in the shooting spree.
The sharply differing viewpoints have spiked tensions between the
authorities and many Hispanic residents, some of whom have repeatedly
tried to erect a shrine to Corporal Raya on a dirt patch in the alley
where he died only to have it removed by the city. At one point, graffiti
against the police was splattered on a garage and fence in the alley.
On Wednesday night, the authorities blocked access to the alley with
barricades.
At a meeting about the killings in the high school cafeteria on Tuesday
night, some angry and tearful Hispanic residents accused the police
of ignoring their grief. One woman, Hilda Mercado, said after the
meeting that no matter the circumstances, she was proud that
Corporal Raya "died like a true Mexican: He died standing on his
feet." Others said there were rumors that Corporal Raya had been
trying to surrender, but that the police killed him anyway, something
the police dismiss as unfounded.
Law enforcement and other city officials are scheduled to meet with
some Hispanic community leaders on Friday to try to breach the
divide. The Rev. Dean McFalls, a priest and former police chaplain
in Ceres, said that the tensions were not new, but that the Corporal
Raya he knew several years ago would have disapproved of them.
"There is a general sentiment among some people against authority
and against the police," said Father McFalls, who accompanied
Corporal Raya's parents and a dozen other relatives to the police
station on Tuesday where they prayed at a memorial to Sergeant
Stevenson. "This young man in his earlier life would not have
encouraged any of this anti-police rhetoric."
Corporal Raya grew up in The Camp, a neighborhood of subsidized
housing near the high school where Mexican immigrants, including
his father, found shelter for their families while working in the nearby
fields. For many teenagers in The Camp, a job fighting in Iraq is
considered a dream ticket to somewhere better, which has made
ever more poignant the mystery about why one life from The Camp
ended so badly.
"Somewhere along the line, somebody let this young man down,
and what it did was just domino right back into our neighborhood,"
said Frankie Haney, who lives near the alley and saw some of the
shooting. "I feel the government owes us answers."
An investigation is under way at Camp Pendleton. Art de Werk, the
Ceres police chief, said military authorities were cooperating with
the police. "They have asked themselves what might have happened
that could have contributed to this man's state of mind," Chief de
Werk said. Whatever they find out, he added, "may be a reason, but
it is no excuse."
Corporal Raya's friends and family say they are also looking for
answers, but they are deeply offended by the presumption among
some in Ceres that the blame lies solely with him. In an interview
Thursday, his father, Tomas Raya, said the family was especially
saddened at the thought that he might not be given special military
honors at his funeral on Friday. "It is very painful," said Mr. Raya,
who works in a canning company. "He served his country. He loved
his country as we do."
The police said they were investigating one notion that even if
Corporal Raya had a death wish, his decision to engage in a gun
battle with police officers in his hometown was an indication that
he hoped to impress local gang members. Sergeant Stevenson, 39,
an 18-year veteran and a father of three, is the first Ceres police
officer to be killed in the line of duty. Officer Ryno, 50, a 22-year
veteran, was listed in good condition on Thursday.
"He wanted to take as many cops with him as he could," Lieutenant
Heyne said.
Lalo Madrigal, 19, a friend of Corporal Raya since they were small
children, said the authorities were trying to smear his friend by
raising the possibility of gang involvement. He said that Corporal
Raya was not a gang member but a "proud Mexican" and that most
young people in Ceres had friends in gangs.
"He shouldn't be known as a cop killer," he said. "No one is saying
glorify what he did, but it should be understood. The best way to
look at it was he was a casualty of war."
Though Corporal Raya had no adult criminal record, Mr. Madrigal
said the marine had sparred with the police as recently as October
when several officers stopped him near Ceres High School during
a home leave, and Corporal Raya insisted the officers show him
"more respect" now that he was a marine.
It was about the same time, friends and relatives said, that
Corporal Raya began acting strangely. A cousin, Rebeca Raya,
said he visited her in Texas in October and was unable even to
order food in a restaurant without viewing the waiter fearfully.
After they went to see the Michael Moore film "Fahrenheit 9/11,"
Ms. Raya said, her cousin told her: "That is only some of it. There
are worse things to it."
Ms. Raya said she was so disturbed by his behavior that she called
one of her sisters in California. "I said, 'He is just not right,' "
Ms. Raya recalled. "I grew up with him. He wasn't the same person."
The police said Corporal Raya had several brushes with the law
as a juvenile, but those records are sealed. Officials at the Marine
recruitment station in neighboring Modesto, where Corporal Raya
enlisted in July 2003, said that it had taken him about eight months
to pass a qualifying exam but that a background check had raised
no red flags.
Representative Dennis Cardoza, a Democrat who represents the
area and who was briefed by the authorities before attending
a candlelight vigil for Sergeant Stevenson on Wednesday night,
said he was convinced that Corporal Raya was not "a poor
soldier who has post-traumatic syndrome."
He said, "We have to be very careful in this case not to make
this out to be something that it isn't."
On Thursday, family members gathered at the home of one of
Corporal Raya's relatives in a subdivision that a few years ago was
planted with strawberries. Final preparations were under way for the
funeral. A poem the young man wrote in eighth grade with the
refrain, "I am a person with fears and desires," was faxed to
the funeral home.
"I pretend I can never die.
I feel my heart beating when I am scared.
I touch the clouds in my dreams.
I worry how will I die."
Copyright 2005 The New York Times
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
9) War's 'hidden cost' called heavy
Billions eyed to replenish forces
By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | January 14, 2005
WASHINGTON
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/01/14/wars_hidden
_cost_called_heavy/
WASHINGTON -- A forthcoming request for additional funds to
continue waging war in Iraq will not begin to address the "hidden
cost" of the conflict, according to Pentagon officials and other
government authorities who say that tens of billions of dollars more
will eventually be needed to repair or replace heavily used equipment
and to compensate for the wear and tear on members of the armed
services.
The Pentagon next month plans to ask Congress for up to
$100 billion in supplemental funds to pay for the ongoing combat
in Iraq and Afghanistan, bringing the total budgeted so far to well
over $200 billion. But military officers say the administration's
estimates do not include the investment that will be necessary to
fix what they say they fear is becoming a broken ground force.
"We're going to be paying for this war for years to come," Representative
Martin T. Meehan, a Lowell Democrat and member of the House
Armed Services Committee, said by telephone yesterday from the
Middle East, where he has been touring US military bases in Iraq.
"We are not preparing for much of the cost."
If the war were to end today, according to a preliminary estimate
by the Congressional Budget Office that was described by officials
who have been briefed on it, the Army would still need at least
$20 billion more than budgeted over the next three years just to
be at the same level of preparedness as before the war.
All four branches of the military recently completed a "stress study"
ordered a year ago by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to
determine the impact the war is having on equipment. "What they
found was an amazing toll on combat vehicles, generators, just
about everything," said a defense analyst involved in the study.
"At some point it doesn't make sense to overhaul the equipment,
you have to replace it."
The forthcoming Iraq supplemental request is expected to include
several billion dollars to replace lost and damaged equipment and
pay for maintenance in Pentagon equipment depots, according to
a Pentagon official who spoke on condition that he not be identified.
However, that money will largely cover current expenses, not the
long-term costs specialists say will burden the federal budget for
years to come.
The Army and Marine Corps, and a growing number of National
Guard and Reserve units, are burning through trucks and armored
vehicles at rates between five and 10 times the peacetime average,
according to a confidential briefing prepared by budget analysts
and Army officials.
As a result, tanks, trucks, aircraft, and other equipment are aging
much more quickly than anticipated. By some estimates, up to 40
percent of certain classes of ground equipment will have to be
overhauled or replaced.
Yet the Bush administration's current practice of only asking Congress
for money to cover the operating costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan
wars does not account for the need to fund readiness for future
missions.
"We have to account for the overall cost of this war -- not just the
public cost, but the hidden cost," Meehan said.
The stress on Army equipment, and growing concerns about the
impact of the Iraq war on military readiness, has led to calls from
members of Congress to immediately begin increasing the size of
the Army and Marine Corps.
Led by Senator John F. Kerry, who called for adding 40,000 ground
troops to the ranks during his failed presidential bid last year, 21
Democratic senators sent a letter to President Bush yesterday urging
him to set aside money in the fiscal 2006 defense budget -- also
headed to Congress for review in February -- to increase the Army
and Marine Corps.
"The United States military is too small for the missions it faces," the
lawmakers wrote. "Simply put, success in modern war requires
sufficient boots on the ground. With nearly 150,000 troops and
Marines in Iraq, nearly 20,000 in Afghanistan, and tens of thousands
more in Korea and elsewhere, we are left to conclude that the American
military is too small, not simply for the challenges we face today,
but also as an appropriate hedge against future dangers."
Concerns that the Iraq war will ultimately cost billions more than
estimated before the end of the decade stem from the grinding
toll the conflict is taking on the US military machine -- ground
forces in particular.
Already the Iraq operation has uncovered funding shortages in the
Army that will have to be met with funds not included in the
supplemental spending packages. An estimate by the Army, which
was obtained by the Globe, paints an even bleaker picture than
did the Congressional Budget Office analysis. The Army briefing
estimates that in fiscal years 2005, 2006, and 2007, more than
$35 billion could be needed to pay for backlogged equipment
maintenance, battle losses, and to replace dwindling stocks
prepositioned in the Persian Gulf.
"The cost of the war will continue for a decade," said Brett Lambert,
a defense budget specialist at Defense Forecasters International,
a Washington consulting firm. "The roughly $500 billion we spend
annually on defense is just the retainer. On top of that you have the
supplementals, but they pay mostly for operations and maintenance,"
or what is needed in the short term to keep the war going.
Steve Kosiak, a defense budget analyst at the Center for Strategic
and Budgetary Assessments in Washington, believes that equipment
costs as a result of the Iraq war will not be as great as some others
predict, noting that much of the equipment being overused would
have to be replaced anyway because it has already been in service
for several decades.
Nevertheless, he said, "the supplemental was designed to replace
equipment directly destroyed in combat or damaged. It hasn't paid
for replacing equipment because of the wear and tear."
Such hidden equipment costs now being estimated will even be larger
when financial packages to keep soldiers in the ranks and attract new
recruits, disability and death benefits, and other healthcare costs are
factored in, specialists said. "That is a cost burden that continues
for generations," said Lambert.
Bryan Bender can be reached at bender@globe.com.
(c)Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
10) Protesters Plan to Mark Bush Inauguration
By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON (Reuters)
Wed Jan 12, 2005 04:06 PM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=OTRG3I0BD0I3ECRBAE0CFEY?
type=domesticNews&storyID=7309119
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Protesters will march through Washington,
stage a "die in" across from the White House and turn their backs on
President Bush's limousine during his inaugural celebration next week,
organizers said on Wednesday.
As U.S. authorities prepared unprecedented security for the Jan. 20
event, organizers said thousands of protesters will stage a noisy
counterpoint to the lavish $40 million celebration.
One group of anti-war activists said it would carry 1,000 coffins to
the White House and stage a "die in" to protest the lives lost in Iraq.
Another group said it had obtained a permit to protest along a
200-foot (60-meter) section of the parade route but planned to sue
for more access to the large sections of Pennsylvania Avenue set
aside for Bush supporters.
"The Bush administration, in conjunction with the National Park
Service, is trying to stage-manage democracy," said Mara
Verheyden-Hilliard, a lawyer for the anti-war group
International ANSWER.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Secret Service, which is overseeing
security for the event, declined immediate comment.
U.S. authorities plan to involve thousands of police, troops and
bomb-sniffing dogs in the first inaugural event since the
Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Spectators will pass through metal
detectors before attending any inaugural events or watching
the parade from the street.
Organizers said the protests were to express opposition to
a range of Bush policies, from the war in Iraq to economic
programs.
"We're facing a right-wing future that has no sympathy for
the concerns of black people and the poor in this country,"
said Shazza Nzingha, founder of the National Alliance of Black
Panthers.
One organization called Turn Your Back on Bush wants people
to stake out spots along the parade route and turn their backs
on Bush's limousine when it rolls by.
"There are a lot of people who feel Bush has turned his
back on them," said field director Sarah Kauffman, who said she
is expecting busloads of participants from across the country.
In a separate event, black-clad anarchists will wave
puppets and beat drums to protest capitalism and organized
government, said Lila Kaye of Anarchist Resistance.
Bush's inauguration plans have also drawn protest from the
District of Columbia government, which says its security costs
for the event should not come out of its Homeland Security
budget.
"We the people of Washington, D.C., rejected Bush by over
90 percent (in the last election)," said Washington resident
Nancy Shia. "Maybe this is our punishment."
(c) Reuters 2005
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
11) US military relief operations in Asia far worse than
the tsunami
International League of Peoples' Struggle
Press Statement of the ILPS-Philippines Chapter
January 11, 2005
Postbus 1452, NL 3600 BL
Utrecht, Netherlands
Email: ilp515@runbox.com
Website http://www.ilps2001.com
The ILPS Philippines Chapter condemns the US for making political
capital out of the catastrophic tsunami which engulfed a wide swath
of Asia, including some parts of Africa, and killed 160,000 people.
The ILPS Philippines Chapter denounces the crass opportunism
expressed by US State Secretary Colin Powell when he said that the
US military relief and aid that it is giving Aceh "should change the
battered image of the US" around the globe after its arrogant
disregard of international public opinion against the invasion of
Iraq. He likewise boasted that this aid is a manifestation of US
"generosity" and "American values in action".
Instead of sending skilled civilians, the US seized the opportunity
to send an array of US warships, planes, helicopters, and more than
13,000 US military personnel purportedly to help Indonesia, Thailand,
and Sri Lanka, countries most affected by the December 26 disaster.
The USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier with 6,000 sailors on
board, is currently stationed about 28 kms or 15 nautical miles off
Aceh while a fleet of Sea Hawk helicopters from same carrier has
been flying food, water, and medical supplies in said region where
there is an armed rebellion against the Indonesian government.
One thousand and five hundred US troops, meanwhile, are deployed
in Sri Lanka where there is also an armed rebellion waged by the
Tamil Tigers which is fighting for self-determination.
US forces are also using Thailand's Vietnam era air base of Utapao
as an airlift hub for the so-called "humanitarian" mission,
strengthening potential US military logistical support through
Southeast Asia. Conducting the largest operation in Asia since
the Vietnam War, the US military said that its forces could remain
in the region for up to six months. Six months can always be
extended of course until it becomes permanent.
It is well known that strengthening US military presence in
Southeast Asia is a major element in the neocons' imperialist
project of Pax Americana in the 21st century that presupposes
US imperialism's unchallenged global hegemony.
Given US imperialism's proven record of economic plunder
and destructive wars, the US military deployment augurs
a calamity far worse than the tsunami that devastated
these Asian countries. ###
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
12) Indonesia Defends Restrictions in Aceh
By Jeff Franks and Karima Anjani
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters)
Thu Jan 13, 2005 07:48 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7316499&src=eD
ialog/GetContent§ion=news
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters) - Indonesia said on Thursday
restrictions on aid workers in Aceh were for their own safety in a
province troubled by a decades-old insurgency, and voiced
readiness to sit down with the rebels to seek a cease-fire.
As aid agencies and Indonesian government officials put the
limitations into effect, palpable signs emerged that the
devastated region was beginning to pull itself together after
the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami.
In a grim sign of progress, Aceh Vice Governor Azwar
Abubakar said that by Thursday relief workers had buried 75,500
bodies from the disaster.
More markets opened in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh,
where excavators cleared debris and rubble and more bodies from
the streets. But public transport was scarce, making it
difficult for people to begin rebuilding their lives.
Fishermen in the Sri Lankan coastal town of Beruwela cast
their nets for the first time since the tsunami, saying they
had previously been too afraid to go down to the sea shore.
In Banda Aceh, officials said about 80 foreigners working
for aid groups and media companies had already sought the
official approval needed to work beyond the provincial capital
and the other main city, Meulaboh.
"If someone is shot from a United Nations agency, the whole
United Nations agency will withdraw," chief social welfare
minister and Aceh chief administrator Alwi Shihab told
reporters.
"Who will be responsible if a foreigner is kidnapped? The
responsible party is us."
Asked if the restrictions would hamper the aid effort as
the United Nations feared, Information Minister Sofyan Djalil
said: "I don't think so."
Djalil said these were security measures and should not be
regarded "from a political point of view."
"It's related to the fact that the situation on the ground
is not normal," Djalil told Reuters. "We're simply trying to
give a maximum protection for the workers, and for that they
need restrictions."
Jakarta has long been edgy about a foreign presence in
Aceh, where separatists have fought the army for three decades
for a homeland on Sumatra island's northern tip.
The disaster has raised the possibility of reconciliation
between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
CEASE-FIRE POSSIBILITY
The chief administrator said Indonesia was willing to sit
down with the rebels to seek a cease-fire.
"This is the moment of reconciliation. This is the moment
of establishing peaceful Aceh and prosperous Aceh ... If they
want to have a cease-fire, reconciliation, we're open to any
reconciliation term," Alwi Shihab told reporters in Banda Aceh.
The comments followed an offer by GAM leaders to stop the
fighting to facilitate the international aid effort.
Both sides have called repeatedly for a cease-fire since
the calamity that killed at least 110,000 Indonesians, almost
all of them in Aceh, but there have been few signs that the
rhetoric is translating into action.
Of the 158,000 killed across Asia by the disaster, more
than 100,000 were in Aceh. More than 30,000 died in Sri Lanka,
15,000 in India and 5,300 in Thailand.
In Berlin, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda told
a news conference that he welcomed the presence of foreign
troops helping relief efforts.
"You can rest assured that we welcome even ... foreign
troops. Their presence is based on our request," said Wirajuda.
On Wednesday, the Indonesian government said all foreign
troops should leave the country by the end of March.
WELCOME DEBT RELIEF
Australia, the United States, Singapore, Malaysia, Germany,
China, Spain, Pakistan, Japan and Switzerland all have forces
aiding the relief efforts in Aceh.
Indonesia welcomed an agreement by Western governments for
an interim freeze of debts owed by Indian Ocean countries
devastated by the tsunami, but Sri Lanka said it did not go far
enough.
The 19 members of the Paris Club of sovereign creditors
agreed to an initial three-month debt moratorium while the
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund assess the cost
of recovery.
The Paris Club made it clear that debt relief could then be
extended.
"The length of the moratorium has not been decided, but if
we can have it for one year, that's good," Indonesia's chief
economics minister, Aburizal Bakrie, told reporters.
Jakarta owes $48 billion to Paris Club creditors and is due
to pay them $4.5 billion in principal and interest this year.
Sri Lanka, which has multilateral and bilateral debt
amounting to $8.82 billion, was less enthusiastic. Colombo had
hoped for at least a two-year freeze and still hoped for
outright debt forgiveness, presidential spokesman Harim Peiris
said.
"We recognize this is an interim measure and, after the
assessments, further decisions on debt moratoriums or whatever
may be taken," he said. "Debt forgiveness, a step beyond a
moratorium, is certainly one that would be very welcome."
The Asian Development Bank said nearly two million people
could fall into poverty as a result of the tsunami.
The ADB's report said one million people could fall below
the poverty line in Indonesia alone, mostly in Aceh.
The number of poor in India could rise by 645,000, and by
250,000 in Sri Lanka, the ADB report found.
The global response to the disaster has been unprecedented.
Governments have promised $5.5 billion in aid, with individuals
and corporations pledging at least $2 billion more.
Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin landed on Thailand's
Phuket island on Thursday with two film crews and an entourage
filling four vans to find out what his foundation could do to help.
"It's all about the most vulnerable, the children of
Phuket," Martin said. "It's all about learning and seeing which
ways I can help."
(c) Reuters 2005
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
13) U.S. High Court Gives Judges Sentencing Discretion
By James Vicini
WASHINGTON (Reuters)
Wed Jan 12, 2005 11:07 PM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7311683&src=eD
ialog/GetContent§ion=news
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a major criminal law decision, a
closely divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that
federal judges no longer must follow the long-criticized
sentencing guidelines in effect since 1987.
The 5-4 ruling was a defeat for the U.S. Justice
Department, which had defended as constitutional the federal
sentencing guidelines that apply to more than 60,000 criminal
defendants each year.
Thousands of cases nationwide have been on hold awaiting a
high court ruling. The decision, which makes the guidelines
advisory instead of mandatory, was seen as the most important
criminal law decision of the court's term.
Legal experts said it would have broad impact. Craig
Margolis, a former federal prosecutor who now practices law in
Washington, D.C., said tens of thousands of imprisoned
defendants will seek to be resentenced and federal courts will
have to decide if the ruling applied to them.
The court reaffirmed the principle in its ruling in June,
striking down a similar state law that any facts necessary to
support a longer sentence must be admitted by the defendant or
proven to the jury.
In the court's main opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer said
federal judges are no longer required to apply the guidelines,
and only can consider them, along with certain other sentencing
criteria, in deciding a defendant's punishment.
The guidelines, long criticized by criminal justice reform
advocates for imposing overly harsh sentences on a mandatory
basis, set rules for judges to calculate punishment and attempt
to reduce wide disparities in sentences for the same crime.
Even some judges have criticized the guidelines for taking
away their sentencing flexibility. The guidelines say which
factors can lead to a lighter sentence and which ones can
result in a longer sentence. The experts said the ruling will
shift power back to judges.
BREYER: UP TO CONGRESS TO ACT
Breyer said the U.S. Congress could act next. "Ours, of
course, is not the last word: The ball now lies in Congress'
court."
Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican and the
Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, vowed to "thoroughly
review the ... decision and work to establish a sentencing
method that will be appropriately tough on career criminals,
fair, and consistent with constitutional requirements."
But Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the committee's ranking
Democrat, said, "Congress should resist the urge to rush in
with quick fixes that would only generate more uncertainty and
litigation and do nothing to protect public safety."
Critics of the guidelines welcomed the ruling and said
Congress should now reform the sentencing laws.
"Congress must not react with a 'quick fix' and miss the
chance to solve a lingering and serious national problem. They
need to get it right this time," said Barry Scheck, president
of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Breyer said the court removed two provisions that make the
guidelines mandatory and that provide standards for appellate
review. The new standard would be whether the sentence was
"reasonable," he said.
Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Sandra Day
O'Connor, Anthony Kennedy and Ruth Bader Ginsburg joined Breyer
in the opinion.
The dissenters complained about making the guidelines
advisory and warned it will result in a return to sentencing
disparities. Justice Antonin Scalia said the ruling will "wreak
havoc" in the courts for the indefinite future.
Assistant Attorney General Christopher Wray told reporters
the Justice Department was disappointed in the decision. "In
the wake of this ruling, judges have greater discretion," he
said. "Greater discretion tends to mean greater disparity."
(c) Reuters 2005
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
14) NEWS: Iraq war worth it? -- Bush: 'Oh,
absolutely' -- 57% of US: 'No'
[A pre-inauguration interview of George W. Bush conducted by Barbara Walters
will be broadcast Friday at 10:00 p.m. -- In it, the president answered
with
two words a question about whether the war was worth it despite the
non-existence of the WMDs that were its chief rhetorical justification:
"Oh,
absolutely." -- The majority of the U.S. public disagrees. -- A
*Washington Post*-ABC News poll (http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/1960/)
conducted Dec. 16-17 showed that 57% of U.S. adults disagree. -- Here's
how
the results broke down: Question: All in all, considering the costs to the
United States versus the benefits to the United States, do you think the war
with Iraq was worth fighting, or not? -- Answer #1: "No, not worth
fighting, STRONGLY": 47% (Male 45% - Female 48% - White 43% - Black 64% -
Democrats 71% - Republicans 12% - Independents 48% - High School or less 49%
-
Some College 43% - College Graduate 45% - 18-30 47% - 31-44 47% - 45-60 42%
-
61+ 51% - East 57% - Midwest 41% - South 42% - West 50%). -- Answer #2:
"No, not worth fighting, SOMEWHAT": 10% (Male 9% - Female 10% - White 10% -
Black 8% - Democrats 11% - Republicans 7% - Independents 11% - High School
or
less 10% - Some College 9% - College Graduate 10% - 18-30 12% - 31-44 12% -
45-60 6% - 61+ 8% - East 13% - Midwest 17% - South 10% - West 8%). --
Answer
#3: "Yes, worth fighting, STRONGLY": 31% (Male 34% - Female 28% - White
35%
- Black 10% - Democrats 10% - Republicans 65% - Independents 27% - High
School
or less 28% - Some College 34% - College Graduate 34% - 18-30 26% - 31-44
32%
- 45-60 36% - 61+ 31% - East 25% - Midwest 29% - South 37% - West 29%) --
Answer #4: "Yes, worth fighting, SOMEWHAT": 11% (Male 10% - Female 12% -
White 10% - Black 17% - Democrats 8% - Republicans 13% - Independents 12% -
High School or less 11% - Some College 13% - College Graduate 10% - 18-30
12%
- 31-44 8% - 45-60 15% - 61+ 8% - East 10% - Midwest 13% - South 10% - West
11%) -- Answer #5: "DonÂ’t know/Undecided": 2% (Male 2% - Female 2% -
White
2% - Black 1% - Democrats 0% - Republicans 3% - Independents 2% - High
School
or less 2% - Some College 1% - College Graduate 1% - 18-30 3% - 31-44 1% -
45-60 1% - 61+ 2% - East 5% - Midwest 0% - South 1% - West 2%). --Mark]
http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/2072/
ABC News Home
20/20
BUSH: IRAQ INVASION WORTH IT DESPITE NO TRACE OF WMD
** President Bush Speaks with Barbara Walters **
ABC News
January 12, 2005
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Inauguration/story?id=406639&page=1
The invasion of Iraq, which ousted Saddam Hussein and has cost the lives of
some 1,300 U.S. military personnel and billions of dollars, was "absolutely"
worth it, despite the absence of any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq,
President Bush told ABC News' Barbara Walters in an exclusive interview that
will air this Friday.
Watch Barbara Walters' full interview with President Bush this Friday at 10
p.m. on "20/20."
The White House acknowledged today that there is no longer an active search
for Iraqi weapons. The final report from chief U.S. weapons inspector
Charles
Duelfer, due out next month, has concluded that "the former regime had no
formal written strategy or plan for the revival of WMD."
The Bush administration does not hold out hopes that any weapons will ever
be
found.
Duelfer's predecessor David Kay reached the same conclusion a year ago.
"It's
taken them another year, and in fact we were right a year ago. There were
no
weapons there," Kay said in response to Duelfer's announcement.
Bush told Walters, "I felt like we'd find weapons of mass destruction --
like
many here in the United States, many around the world. The United Nations
thought he had weapons of mass destruction. So, therefore: one, we need to
find out what went wrong in the intelligence gathering. . . . Saddam was
dangerous and the world is safer without him in power."
When asked if the war was worth it even if there were no weapons of mass
destruction in Iraq, Bush responded, "Oh, absolutely."
Saddam insisted he had no weapons of mass destruction, and U.N. inspectors
failed to uncover them. But the Bush administration was adamant that Saddam
was deceiving the international community. The administration justified its
decision to wage war on Iraq largely on its contention that Iraq possessed
weapons of mass destruction.
Kay estimates that more than $1 billion and countless man hours were spent
looking for weapons.
Today House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said, "Now that the
search is finished, President Bush needs to explain to the American people
why
he was so wrong."
The 1,700-member Iraq Survey Group, a U.S. team responsible for the weapons
search, is now tasked with what commanders had long wanted them to do --
gather intelligence about the real threat now in Iraq: the insurgents.
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---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
15) Fear Stalks Baghdad
The City Where Even Police Hide Behind Masks
By ROBERT FISK
The Independent
January 12, 2005
http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2005/01/1708886.php
Journalism yields a world of clichés but here, for once, the first
cliché that comes to mind is true. Baghdad is a city of fear. Fearful
Iraqis, fearful militiamen, fearful American soldiers, fearful
journalists.
That day upon which the blessings of democracy will shower upon us, 30
January, is approaching with all the certainty and speed of doomsday.
The latest Zarqawi video shows the killing of six Iraqi policemen. Each
is shot in the back of the head, one by one. A survivor plays dead. Then
a gunman walks up behind him and blows his head apart with bullets.
These images haunt everyone.
At the al-Hurriya intersection yesterday morning, four truckloads of
Iraqi national guardsmen--the future saviours of Iraq, according to
George Bush--are passing my car. Their rifles are porcupine quills,
pointing at every motorist, every Iraqi on the pavement, the Iraqi army
pointing their weapons at their own people. And they are all wearing
masks--black hoods or ski-masks or keffiyahs that leave only slits for
frightened eyes. Just before it collapsed finally into the hands of the
insurgents last summer, I saw exactly the same scene in the streets of
Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad. Now I am watching them in the capital.
At Kamal Jumblatt Square beside the Tigris, two American Humvees
approach the roundabout. Their machine-gunners are shouting at drivers
to keep away from them. A big sign in Arabic on the rear of each vehicle
says: "Forbidden. Do not overtake this convoy. Stay 50 metres away from
it."
The drivers behind obey; they know the meaning of the "deadly force"
which the Americans have written on to their checkpoint signs. But the
two Humvees drive into a massive traffic jam, the gunners now screaming
at us to move back.
When a taxi which does not notice that US troops block their path, the
American in the lead vehicle hurls a plastic bottle full of water on to
its roof and the driver mounts the grass traffic circle. A truck
receives the same treatment from the lead Humvee. "Go back," shouts the
rear gunner, staring at us through shades. We try desperately to turn
into the jam.
Yes, the Russians would probably have chucked hand grenades in Kabul.
But here were the terrified "liberators" of Baghdad throwing bottles of
water at the Iraqis who are supposed to enjoy an American-imposed
democracy on 30 January.
The rear Humvee has "Specialist Carrol" written on the windscreen.
Specialist Carrol, I am sure, regards every damn one of us as a
potential suicide bomber--and I can't blame him. One such bomber had
just driven up to the police station in Tikrit, north of Baghdad, and
destroyed himself and the lives of at least six policemen.
Round the corner, I discover the reason for the jam: Iraqi cops are
fighting off hundreds of motorists desperate for petrol, the drivers
refusing to queue any longer for the one thing which Iraq possesses in
Croesus-like amounts--petrol.
I drop by the Ramaya restaurant for lunch. Closed. They are building a
20-floor security wall around the premises. So I drive to the Rif for a
pizza, occasionally tinkling the restaurant's piano while I watch the
entrance for people I don't want to see. The waiters are nervous. They
are happy to bring my pizza in 10 minutes. There is no one else in the
restaurant, you see, and they watch the road outside like friendly
rabbits. They are waiting for The Car.
I call on an old Iraqi friend who used to publish a literary magazine
during Saddam's reign. "They want me to vote, but they can't protect
me," he says. "Maybe there will be no suicide bomber at the polling
station. But I will be watched. And what if I get a hand-grenade in my
home three days' later? The Americans will say they did their best;
Allawi's people will say I am a 'martyr for democracy'. So, do you think
I'm going to vote?"
At Mustansiriya University--one of Iraq's best--students of English
literature are to face their end-of-term exam. January marks the end of
the Iraqi semester. But one of the students tells me that his fellow
students had told their teacher that--so fraught are the times--they
were not yet prepared for the examination. Rather than giving them all
zeros, the teacher meekly postpones the exam.
I drive back through the al-Hurriya intersection beside the "Green Zone"
and suddenly there is a big black 4x4, filled with ski-masked gunmen.
"Get back!" they scream at every motorist as they try to cut across the
median. I roll the window down. The rear door of the 4x4 whacks open. A
ski-masked Westerner--blond hair, blue eyes--is pointing a Kalashnikov
at my car. "Get back!" he shrieks in ghastly Arabic. Then he clears the
median, followed by three armoured pick-ups, windows blacked, tyres
skidding on the road surface, carrying the sacred Westerners inside to
the dubious safety of the "Green Zone", the hermetically-sealed compound
from which Iraq is supposedly governed. I glance at the Iraqi press.
Colin Powell is warning of "civil war" in Iraq. Why do we Westerners
keep threatening civil war in a country whose society is tribal rather
than sectarian? Of all papers, it is the Kurdish Al Takhri, loyal to
Mustafa Barzani, which asks the same question. "There has never been a
civil war in Iraq," the editorial thunders. And it is right.
So, "full ahead both" for the dreaded 30 January elections and
democracy. The American generals--with a unique mixture of mendacity and
hope amid the insurgency--are now saying that only four of Iraq's 18
provinces may not be able to "fully" participate in the elections.
Good news. Until you sit down with the population statistics and
realise--as the generals all know--that those four provinces contain
more than half of the population of Iraq.
Robert Fisk is a reporter for The Independent and author of Pity the
Nation. He is also a contributor to CounterPunch's hot new book, The
Politics of Anti-Semitism.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
16) URGENT Call to Action - January 22!
NARAL Pro-Choice California
You've been asking for more ways to get involved. You know we have
another four years of fighting to protect and defend our fundamental
freedoms against any attacks by the Bush Administration - and you
are a critical part of that fight. Now you have an opportunity to hit
the streets to show your support for women's choices, health, and
reproductive freedom.
Rally in support of reproductive freedom with NARAL Pro-Choice
California and the San Francisco Area Pro-Choice Coalition on the
32nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Anti-choice extremists are going
to march in San Francisco on Saturday, January 22, and we need to
show them that their anti-choice, anti-woman agenda is NOT
welcome in our pro-choice city!
Saturday, January 22
10:00 am Rally at Powell and Market Streets
11:00 am March along the Embarcadero to Aquatic Park
For more information visit www.prochoiceca.org or to volunteer,
email Nicole at NYelich@prochoiceamerica.org.
Need transportation? Let us know!
We want as many people as possible to stand with us on this
important day - if you're already driving or if you need a ride,
visit the Driving Votes website to post on the ride board and
connect with others traveling to San Francisco on that day!
Spread the word!
Click here to tell your friends about this important call to
action-and help us make this demonstration of our
pro-choice values a BIG success!
We look forward to standing with you on January 22.
Sincerely,
Amy, Lauren, and Nicole
NARAL Pro-Choice California Staff
Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this.
Tell-a-friend!
If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up
for NARAL Pro-Choice America's Choice Action Network.
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America's Choice Action Network or update your account
settings, please click here.
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17) Working Towards Peace
Forum on Israel/Palestine
Sponsored by: Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center
Tuesday, January 25, 2005 at 7:00 p.m.
Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church,
55 Eckley Lane, Walnut Creek
Admission: FREE!
Speakers:
AMIR TERKEL,
Israeli Defense Force Veteran/Reservist turned Refusenik
HANAN RASHEED,
Palestinian-American peace and reconciliation activist
Learn more about the historical/political
context of the conflict, current conditions
in the Occupied Territories, the human
effects of the Occupation on both the
Occupied and the Occupier, and what
steps can be taken toward a just and
peaceful resolution of the conflict.
Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center,
55 Eckley Lane, Walnut Creek, CA * 925-933-7850
PLEASE FORWARD TO INTERESTED PARTIES...
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18) "A Message from the 'Iraq Resistance.'"
Reuters obtained from Iraqi guerrillas "an English-language video
urging U.S. troops to lay down their weapons and seek refuge in
mosques and homes" (Michael Georgy, "Iraq Rebels in Video Taunt,"
January 12, 2005 ), promising protection to soldiers who heed their call.
The Information Clearing House has made the video and a transcript
of its content available: "A Message from the 'Iraq Resistance.'"
http://montages.blogspot.com/2005/01/video-message-from-iraqi-resistance.htm
l
The messenger's delivery is clear and effective, and the tone is
very confident. And the message is politically sophisticated:
Know that by helping the Iraqi people you are helping yourselves,
for tomorrow may bring the same destruction to you.
In helping the Iraqi people does not mean dealing for the Americans
for a few contracts here and there. You must continue to isolate
their strategy.
This conflict is no longer considered a localized war. Nor can the
world remain hostage to the never-ending and regenerated fear
that the American people suffer from in general.
We will pin them here in Iraq to drain their resources, manpower,
and their will to fight. We will make them spend as much as they
steal, if not more.
We will disrupt, then halt the flow of our stolen oil, thus, rendering
their plans useless. ( "A Message from the 'Iraq Resistance'" )
They value the contribution of anti-war movements abroad and
ask us to "form a world wide front against war and sanctions":
We thank all those, including those of Britain and the U.S., who
took to the streets in protest against this war and against Globalism.
We also thank France, Germany and other states for their position,
which least to say are considered wise and balanced, till now.
Today, we call on you again.
We do not require arms or fighters, for we have plenty.
We ask you to form a world wide front against war and sanctions.
A front that is governed by the wise and knowing. A front that will
bring reform and order. New institutions that would replace the
now corrupt.
Stop using the U.S. dollar, use the Euro or a basket of currencies.
Reduce or halt your consumption of British and U.S. products.
Put an end to Zionism before it ends the world. Educate those
in doubt of the true nature of this conflict and do not believe
their media for their casualties are far higher than they admit.
( "A Message from the 'Iraq Resistance'" )
The message is said to come from "the media platoon of the
Islamic Jihad Army" and dated December 10, 2004.
If all Iraqi resistance fighters can unite behind a message like
this one and stick to it in deed as well as rhetoric, it will be
a political body blow against not only the George W. Bush
administration but liberal imperialists who, like Lakshmi Chaudhry
(Senior Editor of AlterNet ), claim to speak for the so-called "silent
majority" of Iraqis and urge "our European counterparts to reverse
their resistance and demand that their governments send troops
to join a multinational force in Iraq" (as Tom Hayden paraphrases
their position in his surprisingly sharp critical response
[ January 13, 2005 ] to Chaudhry's article "Rethinking Iraq"
[ January 6, 2005 ]). At least, the video message gives us hope
that we may see an emergence of a national liberation front in
Iraq sooner than many of us thought we would.
#posted by Yoshie : 7:39 PM : :0 blogger comments :comments(0)
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19) U.S. Army Sergeant Defies Order, Refuses Re-Deployment:
2 Soldiers Attempt Suicide at 2-7 Infantry, 17 Go AWOL
By Robert S. Finnegan
http://207.44.245.159/article7659.htm
(courtesy of Information Clearing House)
01/11/05 -- On Friday, January 7, 2005 Sergeant Kevin Benderman,
stationed with the 2-7 Infantry Battalion at Ft. Stewart Georgia,
refused an order from the Command Sergeant Major of his unit Samuel
Coston to deploy to Iraq and requested a General Courts-Martial.
Benderman, 40 is a combat veteran, having served one tour in Iraq in
2003 during which a Captain in his command ordered soldiers from
Benderman's outfit to fire on children throwing rocks at unit
personnel. Having personally witnessed this and other illegal acts by
military personnel during his tour, Benderman now says that under no
circumstances will he participate further in the war in Iraq, a war
Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan has labeled
"illegal".
Benderman has applied for Conscientious Objector status. His
commanders have not yet acted on his request, as required by Army
regulations.
In further developments this weekend, it has been confirmed that
Specialist J.R. Burt and Specialist David Beals, also of 2-7 attempted
suicide rather than deploy to Iraq, and an additional seventeen
soldiers in 2-7 Infantry Battalion have gone AWOL for the same reason.
Army sources who have been granted anonymity because they feared
retaliation stated that both Burt and Beals are being harassed and
mistreated on the Psychiatric Ward of Winn Army Hospital by unit
commanders and a civilian, Dr. Capp who in apparent violation of state
law is reported as informing them of the harsh punishments they may
expect should they refuse deployment. In addition, SFC Johnson, 2-7
platoon sergeant for Spec. Beals reportedly told him recently ".when I
get you to Iraq, I'm going to get you killed," in the presence of
several witnesses who say this incident was a catalyst in Beals'
attempted suicide.
Winn Army Hospital Public Affairs Officer Laurie Kemp refused to even
confirm that the two Specialists had been admitted to the hospital.
The 2-7 Chaplain, Captain Matt Temple in a letter addressed to
Benderman today stated that: "It is unfortunate that you have chosen
the course of action you have taken. You should have had the moral
fortitude to deploy with us and see me here in Kuwait to begin your CO
application. To expect me to complete an interview with you within 48
hours of a major deployment was unreasonable and quite inconsiderate of
my own time. I would have gladly helped you once we got here. As an NCO
in the US ARMY, I expected a greater display of maturity from you.
Furthermore, for you to have media personnel contacting me at my
personal email address without first acquiring my permission was very
unprofessional of you. You should be ashamed of the way you have
conducted yourself. I certainly am ashamed of you. I hope you will see
your misconduct as an opportunity to upgrade your character and moral
behavior for your own good and the good of your fellowman." Benderman
said the letter disgusted him, stating "Nothing in my career as a
professional soldier has prepared me to respond to something like that
letter from the Chaplain."
Benderman's congressional representative, Congresswoman Cynthia
McKinney has written a letter to his Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Todd
Wood expressing her concern for Benderman's rights and suggesting that
Wood designate him as non-deployable to Iraq.
Support for Sergeant Benderman has been overwhelming, says his wife,
Monica. "We are being swamped for interview requests by the media," she
said on Monday.
Benderman has also garnered the support of an American icon and war
hero, Colonel James "Bo" Gritz, USA (Ret.), who profiled Benderman for
three days running on his radio show "Freedom Call". Gritz has labeled
previous charges by the Army in connection with Benderman's refusal to
deploy and statements to the press "ridiculous," and savaging the
officers of 2-7, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and President Bush
on the air while calling Benderman "a hero" and his immediate superiors
"weenies." Colonel Gritz is one of the most decorated soldiers in U.S.
Army history, having led the only raid on a prisoner of war camp during
the Vietnam War at Son Tay, North Vietnam.
On Monday afternoon, Benderman says he is still in the dark as to what
the Army plans for him. "I have learned nothing from anyone in my chain
of command informing me on the disposition of my case, despite my
attempts to communicate with them. Perhaps tomorrow," he said.
Telephone calls to 2-7 Public Affairs Officer Lt.Col. Kent and the
Pentagon requesting comment on Benderman, Burt, Beals and the
additional 2-7 AWOL cases were unanswered by press time.
Southeast Asia News Managing Editor Robert S. Finnegan is an
internationally published investigative reporter and former Marine
Corps Non-Commissioned Officer. Working most recently as a Senior
Editor and lead investigator on the Bali Bombings for The Jakarta Post,
he may be reached at seanews1@yahoo.com.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving the included information for research and educational
purposes. Information Clearing House has no affiliation whatsoever with
the originator of this article nor is Information Clearing House
endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
€ To subscribe to this group, send an email to:
govtwatch4-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
20) The Normalization of Horror:
American Gulags Become Permanent
By Ted Rall
January 11, 2004
http://www.uexpress.com/tedrall/
New York--A new documentary, "Hitler's Hit Parade," runs 76 minutes without
narration. Comprised entirely of archival footage, the film prompts its
reviewers to remark upon Hannah Arendt's famous observation about the
banality of evil. German troops subjugated Europe and shoved millions of
people into ovens; German civilians went to the movies, attended concerts,
and gossiped about their neighbors. People lived mundane, normal lives while
their government carried out unspeakable monstrosities.
Sound familiar?
As Congress prepared to rubberstamp the nomination of torture aficionado
Alberto Gonzales as the nation's chief prosecutor, the Washington Post broke
news that would have torn a saner nation apart. The Bush Administration, the
paper reported January 2, is no longer planning to keep hundreds of Muslim
prisoners currently rotting away in U.S. concentration camps at Guantánamo,
Abu Ghraib and Bagram merely "indefinitely." The Defense Department and CIA
are now planning "a more permanent approach for potentially lifetime
detentions" for these innocents.
We're locking them up forever. Without due process.
Before gangsters like Alberto Gonzales seduced us into abandoning our
values, a person was considered innocent before being proven guilty. Now
we're locking people away because "the government does not have enough
evidence to charge [them] in courts." And everyone, including Democrats, is
OK with this.
Untold thousands of people are being held without charges, tortured and
occasionally murdered in the system of gulags hastily strung together by the
CIA, FBI, INS and Pentagon. According to the government itself, only a few
dozen are former Al Qaeda officials. Most of these postmodern misérables
were farmers, truck drivers, grunt militiamen and political enemies sold
into bondage by Afghan warlords and similarly trustworthy souls for cash
bounties on a no questions asked basis. We know they have no ties to
terrorism, but they've already spent years getting beaten up. Releasing them
would serve as a tacit admission that we were wrong to describe them as--in
Dick Cheney's words--"the worst of the worst." They would sue our
government, and eventually win. Worst of all, they have unpleasant tales to
tell about systemic sodomy and countless other forms of horrific
taxpayer-funded abuse. We can never let them out.
Bush plans to divide U.S. concentration camp victims into two groups. One
set of "lifers" will end up in U.S.-run stalags like Gitmo's new Camp 6,
built to hold 200 "detainees who are unlikely to ever go through a military
tribunal for lack of evidence, according to defense officials." But not to
worry: Camp 6 would "allow socializing among inmates."
Others captured in the "war on terrorism" will be outsourced "to third
countries willing to hold them indefinitely and without proceedings" in
foreign-run gulags that pledge to make victims available for torture by
American interrogators. This practice, some claim, is "an effective method
of disrupting terrorist cells and persuading detainees to reveal
information."
"The threat of sending someone to one of these countries [where they are
likely to be tortured] is very important," said Rohan Gunaratna, author of
"Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror."
But the so-called "ticking time bomb" rationale for torture is patently
fallacious. We've heard the scenario repeatedly: wouldn't it be worth
torturing someone who knew the location of a nuclear bomb that was
about to destroy Manhattan? The short answer, to a moral person,
is obviously no.
Moreover, its logic is ludicrous.
Suppose we had captured Osama bin Laden on 9/10 and immediately
gone to work on him with our Alberto Gonzales-approved
psychotropic drugs and our AlbertoGonzales-approved "waterboard"
dunking technique. It wouldn't take long forOsama's pals to notice that
he'd failed to show up at the Terrorcave. They'd
assume that we had him and were torturing him. They'd assume
that he'd tell us everything he knew. So they'd delay 9/11 to 10/11
or 11/12 or 9/11/02. Or
go to Plan B. Or develop a Plan C. No one in an underground organization,
not even its top leader, is indispensable. Arrests are inconvenient, not
debilitating.
The information a person possesses at the moment of his capture
ages like a ripe cheese in hot sun. Even if what he told you at the
beginning was true, anything you'd get out of him days and weeks
and months and years later would be completely worthless.
Wait a minute.
Look at what we're talking about. Consider the breezy way we
Americans--Americans!--are debating the pros and cons of torture.
Marvel at our moral bankruptcy. The liberal argument against torture
used to be that it was wrong. Now it's that it doesn't work.
So.
Read any good books lately?
Marxism mailing list
Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
21) Abu Ghraib prisoners escape
Baghdad election center director killed
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi police are on the lookout for 28 Abu
Ghraib prisoners who escaped while en route to Baghdad for trial.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/01/14/iraq/index.html
The detainees, which included several Arabs from other countries, were
traveling aboard a bus from the prison to the courthouse late Thursday,
according to a police official.
But due to a shortage of handcuffs, several had their hands bound with
rope and were able to loosen the knots before overpowering police and
security guards in the western Baghdad neighborhood of Sa'alam.
Iraqi police found handcuffs and rope scattered in the streets.
One prisoner managed to seize an officer's AK-47 and critically wounded
him with it.
Four guards and the bus driver were severely beaten.
All 38 detainees escaped, but multinational and Iraqi forces were able to
capture 10 of them shortly afterward.
The mass escape comes as violence batters Iraq in the run-up to election
day.
Three Kurdish Peshmerga fighters died Thursday while fighting alongside
Iraqi national guard forces against insurgents in the northern Iraqi city
of Mosul, according to a Kurdish Democratic Party official.
The incident happened around 7 p.m. (11 a.m. ET) in Mosul's southwest
district of al-Zira'i.
The Kurdish Democratic Party, led by Massoud Barzani, is one of two
main factions of Iraq's Kurdish minority.
The U.S. military had no comment and said they are investigating the
incident.
Two U.S. Marines were killed in action Thursday "while conducting
security and stability operations" in Iraq's vast al-Anbar province,
according to a military release.
The Marines were assigned to the I Marine Expeditionary Force. The
military, citing security risks, released no other details.
Also Thursday, a 1st Infantry Division soldier died near the northern
Iraqi city of Mosul in a non-combat-related death, which is still under
investigation, according to the 1st ID.
With the deaths, 1,364 U.S. troops have died in Operation Iraqi
Freedom. Of those, 1,076 were killed in combat.
On Thursday morning, around ten gunmen opened fire on a minibus
in central Baghdad -- killing all six Iraqis on board -- before abducting
a Turkish businessman waiting for the bus outside a hotel, according
to police.
The deputy chief of mission for the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad,
Aydin Selcen, identified the kidnap victim as Abdulkadir Tanrikulu,
a crane operator working for a Turkish construction firm in Baghdad.
Later, a car bomb outside a Shia mosque in the town of Khan Bani
Saad, south of Baquba, killed four Iraqi policemen and three civilians.
The blast also wounded 30 other people.
Meanwhile, gunmen killed the director of a Baghdad election center
Thursday, another in a series of attacks targeting election officials
and candidates as the vote set for January 30 approaches.
Baghdad police, who reported the slaying, did not release the director's
name. He was in charge of an election center in the al-Khadoumiyah
neighborhood in the northern part of Baghdad.
Insurgents also made an apparent assassination attempt on Iraqi
presidential candidate Mithal al-Alousi, the second bid in two weeks.
Al-Alousi, who supports normal relations between Iraq and Israel,
was attacked Tuesday at midnight in western Baghdad.
On Wednesday, a representative for prominent Shiite cleric Ali
al-Sistani was shot to death in Salman Pak, east of Baghdad. The
representative's son and four bodyguards were also shot, police said.
Al-Sistani is Iraq's most influential Shiite leader and strongly
supports the general elections. ( Full story )
Group explains boycott
In a separate election-related development, an organization claiming
about 3 million Iraqi tribesmen as members said it expects many of
them to follow its lead and boycott the elections.
The organization said it was withdrawing from the elections because
of security and fairness concerns.
The Patriotic Front of Iraqi Tribes comprises Sunni and Shiite Muslims
as well as Turkmen and Kurds, according to the group's spokesman,
Ibrahim Al-Nahar.
The majority are Sunni, he said. The group announced Wednesday
it will withdraw from the elections.
Formed in April 2004, the group appears on the election list as the
Patriotic Front of the Unity of Iraq, as the country's election
commission refused to allow them to register with the word "tribes"
in the name, Al-Nahar said Thursday.
It could not be confirmed how many candidates representing the
group are on the ballot.
The organization initially submitted 275 names for the ballot,
Al-Nahar said.
The group's main goal is to have a united, democratic Iraq,
Al-Nahar said. While it is opposed to the presence of occupying
troops, it believes in legal, not armed, resistance, he said.
The tribal system and allegiances remain important to Iraqis,
Al-Nahar said, and many tribesmen are expected to follow them
as far as political and social decisions.
Quick reaction forces
A U.S. commander overseeing security in north-central Iraq said
Iraqi forces will lead security efforts there on election day and U.S.
troops will lend support.
Maj. Gen. John R.S. Batiste, commander of the 1st Infantry Division,
said quick-reaction forces will be on hand to "stomp on the insurgent
when he raises his ugly head."
And despite some problems in certain provinces, "the bottom line is,
north-central Iraq is ready for elections," Batiste said.
Under no circumstances should the election be delayed, Iraqi national
security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie told CNN on Thursday.
"This will send ... the whole country into absolute chaos," he said.
"We will be in a deep constitutional crisis, because the transitional
administrative law did not make any permission or allowance [for
an election delay]."
Al-Rubaie acknowledged that Iraq's security situation "is not
100 percent."
"There are still some trouble pockets here and there, especially in
the [Sunni] triangle," he said. "But I feel and I believe the overall
security situation in the country will allow us to carry a fair and free
election."
The White House said Iraqis' interest in the elections is strong.
"In survey after survey, the Iraqi people say, 'We want to choose our
leaders,'" White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters
in Washington.
CNN's Dana Bash, Elise Labott, Nermeen al-Mufti, Barbara Starr,
Mohammed Tawfeeq, Ayman Mohyeldin and Jennifer Yuille contributed
to this report.
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