ISSUE:
#. 64. Dec. 16, 2002
THIS WEEK:
BUSH ON IRAQ: NUKE 'EM!
ISRAEL USING CHEMICAL WARFARE ON WEST BANK?
AL-QAEDA TO OPEN CANADIAN FRONT?
GUERILLA MOVEMENT RE-EMERGING IN MEXICO?
ALSO:
GLIMMER OF HOPE: KISSINGER OUT!
Hail and farewell:
"Nuclear weapons are the scourge of the earth; to mine for them,
manufacture them, deploy them, use them, is a curse against God, the human
family, and the earth itself."
Philip Berrigan, 1923-2002
"For most of the Cold War, atomic bombs were commonly considered as
weapons. People like myself were little understood in our arguments that
such bombs were literally unspeakable; that, epistemically, they are not
within the realm of speech because they are not weapons, but acts of
self-annihilation. It is no longer tolerable to the common sense to think
of nuclear bombs as weapons, or of pollution as the price of development.
The disintegrating ozone layer and warming atmosphere are making it
intolerable to think of more development and industrial growth as progress,
but rather as aggression against the human condition. It is now imaginable
to the common mind that, as Samuel Beckett once said, 'this earth could be
uninhabited.'"
Ivan Illich, 1926-2002
By Bill Weinberg
with David Bloom, Special Correspondent
THE PALESTINE FRONT
1. Gaza: More Demolitions, "Indiscriminate" Fire
2. West Bank: Camp Raids, Curfew Claim More Lives
3. Israeli Troops in for Long Stay, Training for Urban Warfare
4. Israel Using Phosphorus as a Weapon?
5. Bush: Israel Needs Special US Aid
6. IMF: Israel Doesn't Need Special US Aid
7. Pro-"Transfer" Professor Joins Far-Right Party
8. Far-Right Lieberman Blasted by Ultra-Right Herut
9. Meretz: Ditch the Chief Rabbinate
10. Ben Eliezer Rushed out of Arab Village
11. ICC Will Not Consider Israeli War Crimes Charges
12. Palestinian Film Denied Oscars Consideration
13. Queer Settlers Colonize Starbucks
THE IRAQ FRONT
1. Bush: We'll Nuke You
2. US Covering Up Complicity in Saddam Chemical Warfare?
3. Does Iraq Arms Dossier Name US Firms?
4. CIA "Buying" Iraqi Tribal Militias?
ELSEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
1. Anti-War Protest Suppressed in Tunisia
THE ANDEAN FRONT
1. Venezuela Back to the Brink
2. Texaco Back in Ecuador; Indians Take Protest to California
3. IDB Approves Loan for Enron's Bolivia Pipeline
THE MEXICO FRONT
1. FARC Plot to Kidnap Giuliani in Mexico City?
2. Chiapas Teachers Protest Repression
3. "Ecotourism" Militarizes Chiapas Rainforest?
4. Government Peace Pointman: Marcos "Left Behind"
5. ERPI Rebels Pledge to Revive Guerilla Movement
6. Guerillas in Nayarit?
7. Convictions in Banamex Bomber Case
8. Mexico to Ask US to Declassify "Dirty War" Documents
9. Army Cover-Up in "Dirty War" Mass Murder Case
10. EPR Rebels Demand "Genocide" Charges Against Generals
11. Farmers Protest NAFTA
12. Victory in Oaxaca Anti-McDonalds Struggle
13. Cuernavaca Tree Defenders Face Charges
THE CANADIAN FRONT
1. Chretien Waffles on "Star Wars" Participation...
2. ...As Military Integration Advances
3. Al-Qaeda to Open Canadian Front?
4. Jew-Hatred in Saskatchewan
THE WAR AT HOME
1. Gen. Eberhart Warns of "McCarthyism"
2. Drones to Patrol Eastern Seaboard
3. Photographer Arrested for Taking Pictures of VP's Hotel
4. INS Expands "Registration"--Again
5. Judge Stays Somali Deportations
WATCHING THE SHADOWS
1. Bush Gives CIA License to Kill
2. Carlyle Gets Piece of QinetiQ
3. Cheney Wins a Round
GLIMMERS OF HOPE
1. Kissinger Out
THE PALESTINE FRONT
1. GAZA: MORE DEMOLITIONS, "INDISCRIMINATE" FIRE
On. Dec. 9, Israeli troops opened fire on a United Nations Relief and
Works Agency (UNRWA) bus in the southern Gaza Strip. The bus was carrying
Palestinian students studying at the one of the UNRWA polytechnic
institutions. One of the students was shot and wounded as gunfire emanated
from an Israeli checkpoint by the settlement of Gush Katif. (Xinhua, Dec.
10)
An statement from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said the army killed a
Hamas militant on Dec. 10 in southern Gaza. "Yassin al-Aghah , a wanted
Hamas militant, was killed by shots fired by soldiers and a special unit of
border guards operating near Khan Yunis after he resisted arrest" the
statement said. It also claimed that al-Agha had climbed on his home's
rooftop and "started throwing bricks and stones at soldiers... the soldiers
fired warning shots... the wanted terrorist started to flee and then was
hit by the army." The statement said the man "was given first aid on the
spot but died of his wounds... A bag was found next to him containing
several explosive devices including pipe bombs, an AK47 and several
magazines of ammunition." Palestinian security sources and al-Aghah's
family said he was killed after being arrested by the IDF. (AFP, Dec. 10)
The Israeli military says a missile was fired by Palestinian militants at a
greenhouse in Morag later that night. (EFE, Dec. 10)
The Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed on their
website Dec. 12 to have mounted a "daring and quality" attack on the
settlement of Netzer Hazani in the Gush Katif settlement bloc in the Gaza
Strip. "In the course of a bloody clash with the occupation troops that
lasted more than 15 minutes and in which many enemy personnel were killed
or wounded, as attested to by the surviving group members who returned
safely to base, the heroic comrade Nail Muhammad Zuhayr Abu-Libdah was
martyred," the statement says. (BBC Monitoring: PFLP web site, Dec. 12)
Voice of Palestine radio reported Dec. 12 that an Israeli soldier was
wounded near Morag settlement in Rafah "when an explosive charge went off
in a military vehicle." (BBC Monitoring: Voice of Palestine, Dec. 12)
On Dec. 13, three Islamic Jihad militants were wounded by the premature
explosion of a bomb under construction, according to Palestinian security
sources. (Ha'aretz, Dec. 15; AFP, Dec. 13)
Five members of the al-Astal clan of Khan Younis were shot and killed as
they approached the fence dividing Gaza and Israel on Dec. 13. The men were
desperate for work, and having tried to find it Gaza, decided to risk
crossing illegally into Israel. The men were unarmed. This brings to 19 the
number of members of the extended al-Astal family, including five children,
that have been killed in the current Intifada. (AFP, Dec. 13) About 70% of
Gazans are unemployed and live on less than $2 a day. (AP, Dec. 13) Israeli
Foreign Ministry spokesman Jonathan Peled called the killings a "tragic
event," but said "they were five suspicious persons in a prohibited area".
(Reuters, Dec. 13)
On Dec. 15, IDF bulldozers demolished two houses, home to 16 Palestinians,
near the Jewish settlement of Netzarim in the Gaza Strip ( Ha'aretz, Dec.
15) Two Palestinian sisters, 12 and 13, were seriously wounded by Israeli
army gunfire during a Dec. 15 incursion into the southern Gaza town of
Rafah on a mission to destroy seven houses near the settlement bloc of
Morag. Officials said the residents had been warned their houses were to be
destroyed. (AFP, Dec. 15) The official Palestinian news agency Wafa
contradicted that account: "Eyewitnesses and residents of the area said
that convoys of tanks and military vehicles, accompanied by a number of
bulldozers, set out from the settlement of Morag and advanced some 200 m.
into the area and started demolishing houses and razing farms without prior
notice. The eyewitnesses noted that the occupation forces have so far
destroyed five houses and three greenhouses and razed hundreds of donums
planted with vegetables and olive trees. The houses and lands that were
razed belong to Abd-al-Al family. During their incursion, the occupation
forces opened fire indiscriminately on scores of citizens who tried to
confront the Israeli occupation forces which started demolishing houses
savagely and mercilessly." Wafa also reported five Palestinians were
wounded in the incursion, and that the IDF shot at journalists who rushed
to cover the scene. (BBC Monitoring:Wafa, Dec. 15) (David Bloom)
[top]
2. WEST BANK: CAMP RAIDS, CURFEW CLAIM MORE LIVES
One woman was killed and her husband and mother were injured when Israeli
forces in Nablus opened fire on the car they were traveling in Dec. 10.
They were driving on a dark road in defiance of a dust-to-dawn
Israeli-imposed curfew. (BBC Monitoring: Voice of Palestine radio, Dec. 10;
AP, Dec. 10) Israeli troops shot and killed a mentally disabled Palestinian
at a military checkpoint near Tul Karm on Dec. 10. The army said soldiers
opened fire when the man refused an order to stop and started running. (AP,
Dec. 10)
Osama Basra, a member of the PFLP, was shot and killed by the IDF while
fleeing arrest in Nablus' Balata refugee camp on Dec. 11. (EFE, Dec. 11)
Three stone-throwing Palestinian youths were wounded by Israeli heavy
machine-gun fire from an Israeli tank inside Nablus' Balata refugee camp on
Dec. 11. (AFP, Dec. 11)
On Dec. 13, Israeli troops killed Tareq Abed Rabbo, a local Hamas military
leader in the Nur ash-Shams refugee camp in Tul Karm. "An undercover unit
of the Border Police found him in a closet and he was killed after he
refused to surrender," Ha'aretz wrote. (Ha'aretz, Dec. 15) Another four
Palestinians were wounded as fierce clashes broke out in response to the
Israeli raid on the camp, which deployed a dozen armored vehicles and four
helicopter gunships. (AFP, Dec. 13)
Also on Dec. 13: Two Hamas members were shot and killed in separate
firefights near Tul Karm and Bethlehem Dec. 13. (Ha'aretz, Dec. 15) Israeli
troops clashed with Palestinian students at Al-Najah University protesting
its closure. Three students were injured in the clashes. (Ha'aretz, Dec.
15) Senior Hamas activist Abed al-Yusef Abu-Moussa was shot and killed in a
village south of Bethlehem. The IDF said he died in a gunbattle while
fleeing arrest. (Ha'aretz, Dec. 15) Israeli troops said they shot and
killed an armed Palestinian militant in the village of Thabra south of
Bethlehem in attempt to evade capture. Palestinian witnesses say the IDF
surrounded the house where Jadallah Shoka, 32, an Islamic Jihad member, was
hiding and killed him in a barrage of gunfire before arresting three others
inside. They say the Israeli troops were not fired on. (Reuters, Dec. 13)
Palestine radio reported Dec. 15 that 10 Palestinians were wounded by
rubber-coated and metal bullets fired at them indiscriminately while
Israeli forces were trying to impose curfew by force in Nablus. (Voice of
Palestine radio, Dec. 15) Also that day, two Jewish settlers were wounded
by gunfire from Palestinian snipers near the settlement of Shilo, north of
Ramallah . (Ha'aretz, Dec. 15) (David Bloom)
[top]
3. ISRAELI TROOPS IN FOR LONG STAY, TRAINING IN URBAN WARFARE
lengthy stay in West Bank cities and villages. The plan calls for units to
remain in place long enough for reserves to replace them for usual
training, indicating a stay of at least one year. Infantry units will be
deployed in and around Palestinian towns, and artillery units and armored
corps will patrol the Green Line separating the West Bank from Israel,
where a security fence is being built. The infantry units will receive
additional training in urban warfare, and units patrolling the Green Line
will learn how to use sophisticated electronic surveillance equipment to
detect infiltrators. (AP, Dec. 13)(David Bloom)
[top]
4. ISRAEL USING PHOSPHORUS AS A WEAPON?
A Reuters photo on the Ha'aretz web site on Dec. 15 carried the caption: "A
Palestinian runs for cover as tanks fire phosphorous during clashes in
Nablus on Sunday." The picture shows the Palestinian man running while a
hail of white phosphorus scatters around him, burning bright white and
leaving thick smoke . Phosphorus is used in tracer fire,
which illuminates a battle scene. However, the photo was taken in daylight.
The Israeli army has been blamed in the past for use of phosphorus as a
weapon in Lebanon. Gideon Levy wrote in Ha'aretz on Jan. 9, 2000: "The
laws of war also prohibit the use of phosphorus against civilians. But
according to the report, at least two children and a number of adults have
been killed or injured by phosphorus bombs sent by Israel." (Reuters, Dec.
15; Ha'aretz, Jan. 9, 2000) (David Bloom)
[top]
5. BUSH: ISRAEL NEEDS SPECIAL U.S. AID
President George Bush favors bestowing special US aid to Israel to help the
country cope with its current economic problems. In a discussion with
Jewish leaders last week, Bush did not go into details about Israel's
recent assistance request, but those present at the conversation say there
is little doubt he is committed to granting the aid. A delegation of senior
Israeli officials is due to leave for Washington soon to discuss the
request with US officials. Israel has requested $4 billion in a special
defense grant, as well as US agreement to grant between $8 and $10 billion
in loan guarantees. This special assistance is in addition to $2.16 billion
in defense assistance and $480 million for economic/civilian spheres
already granted to Israel in the annual US aid package. (Ha'aretz, Dec. 15)
(David Bloom)
[top]
6. IMF: ISRAEL DOESN'T NEED SPECIAL U.S. AID
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says in its annual report that Israel
can survive its worst recession in fifty years without US aid. "It is clear
that the US aid will help, particularly in containing the fiscal deficit
and stabilizing the economy," IMF European Assistant Director Masahiko
Takeda said. "But the Finance Ministry is ready to cope with the situation
without counting on US aid." (BBC, Dec. 11) (David Bloom)
[top]
7. PRO-"TRANSFER" PROFESSOR JOINS FAR-RIGHT PARTY
A plastic surgeon and leading advocate of "transfer," Prof. Aryeh Eldad,
has joined National Union, the newly combined far-right agglomeration of
the Yisrael Beitanu, Moledet and Tekuma parties. The party, led by MKs
Avigdor Lieberman and Benny Elon, is projected to win 12 seats in the next
Knesset, doubling in size. The son of a Lehi (Stern Gang) pamphleteer who
wrote "Deal with foreigners via population exchanges" as one of Lehi's 18
principles, Eldad says: "I learned from my father that's the solution on
which to base a permanent resolution of the conflict in Eretz Yisrael. I
have no ethical problem with it." Eldad also grew up next door to transfer
evangelist Elon (See WW3 REPORT# 56)
Eldad, also a member of "Professors for a Strong Israel," says he has
occasional compunctions about his support of transfer, but then "usually
there's another terrorist bombing, and we're treating the Jewish and Arab
victims, and I feel like the moral delegitimization of transfer has
disappeared. I'm not hearing any more ethical arguments--at most, practical
comments about its being impractical."
The first map Eldad ever saw of Israel was printed in the Lehi movement's
organ, "Sulam," which showed a map of Israel extending to the Tirgris and
Euphrates. Eldad regards that as "Eretz Yisrael," the land of Israel, and
rightfully belonging to the Jewish people. As such, he regards setting
aside Jordan as a Palestinian state to be a compromise: "The criticism is
that we have no right to give up the land that was promised to us. I don't
think we're compromising on the moral level, only in terms of realpolitik.
There's a state in Jordan now of which 70 percent of the citizens are
Palestinians. The only justification for the existence of the Hashemite
king is a colonialist decision made 90 years ago. So when we say that
Jordan is Palestine, it's not a concession, it's coming to terms with an
existing political fact. In our opinion, this fact can be changed so that
the Palestinians would rule there, and not the Hashemite Bedouin... A
Palestinian state in Jordan would offer a political solution to the matter
of Palestinian identity." As to what he intends to accomplish in the
Knesset, Dr. Eldad replies, "preventive medicine"--echoing the sentiments
of IDF Chief of staff Gen. Moshe Ya'alon, who said he would deal with the
"Palestinian threat" as "like a cancer--there are all sorts of solutions to
cancerous manifestations. For the time being, I am applying chemotherapy."
(Ha'aretz, Dec. 17; Ha'aretz, Dec. 12; UK Independent, Oct. 21) (David Bloom)
[top]
8. FAR-RIGHT LIEBERMAN BLASTED BY ULTRA-RIGHT HERUT
Herut, a far-right faction consisting only of MK Michael Kleiner, took out
full-page newspaper ads in Israel recently blasting far-right National
Union chief Avigdor Leibeman for having reconciled himself to the "existing
reality of a Palestinian state." On his party's web site about a year ago,
Lieberman wrote: "On the ideological plane I believe in the vision of
Greater Israel, but on the practical level, I seek to stand with two feet
on the ground of reality, and whether we wish it or not, the reality is
that a Palestinian state is an existing reality, which it is impossible to
ignore. It is recognized in the world as a state and has all the markings
of sovereignty. Therefore, a diplomatic accord with the Palestinians, if
achieved, will have to be based on that reality of a Palestinian state."
The site also said: "It is possible that in historical hindsight we should
cry over spilled milk, because the creation of a Palestinian state was not
a historical necessity." (Ha'aretz, Dec. 10)
Kleiner has recently granted the number-two spot on Herut's list to Baruch
Marzel, a former leader of the racist Kach movement of the late Rabbi Meir
Kahane, which was banned in 1988 from participating in the Knesset.
Ha'aretz commentater Akiva Eldar noted recently, "Kahane symbolized
something of a more violent nature, 'non-voluntary' transfer, and something
that was racist to the Nth degree." Polls show Herut may not win any seats,
which Eldar sees as dangerous: "It's preferable to let these people into
the establishment. Then they tend to become somewhat more moderate, their
views change, rather than staying underground. It is important, also, that
this allows their true face to be made known to the public." Eldar
concludes that Kahane's type of rabid anti-Arabism doesn't resonate with
Israeli society today, despite the current conflict. "It exists, perhaps,
in the form of a vague dream that the Arabs will somehow disappear, but
people understand that this will not work, that this will not happen."
Meanwhile, pro-Kahane activists, who have spray painted hundreds of highway
signs with "Expel the Arab Enemy" and "No Arabs, No Terrorism," have lately
been plastering Jerusalem city walls with "Kleiner, the People are Behind
You." (Ha'aretz, Dec. 12) (David Bloom)
[top]
9. MERETZ: DITCH THE CHIEF RABBINATE
The left-wing Meretz party has added new secularizing provisions to its
platform. Under one provision, a person can be recognized as part of the
Jewish people and be eligible for Israeli citizenship without having to
undergo a religious ceremony. The platform also calls for abolishing the
Chief Rabbinate, guaranteed abortion rights, and public transportation on
the Sabbath and Jewish holidays. The platform also calls for allocating a
"reasonable" number of several hundred draft exemptions a year for
outstanding Torah scholars instead of the current system of wholesale
exemptions. Those receiving exemptions would also be allowed to work,
making them less dependent on the ultra-orthodox establishment. (Ha'aretz,
Dec. 16)(David Bloom)
[top]
10. BEN ELIEZER RUSHED OUT OF ARAB VILLAGE
Labor hawk MKs Benjamin Ben Eliezer and Sofa Landver had to be rushed out
of Sha'ab village in the western Galilee during a Dec. 6 visit to mark the
Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr and the Labor party primaries, because
security officials feared they would be attacked by demonstrators. The
parliamentarians had come for a dinner but were greeted at the towns
entrance by dozens of demonstrators, most of them not from Sha'ab. Police
denied that the MKs' car tires had been punctured, saying rather they had
blown out while they drove out of the village on a dirt road . (Ha'aretz,
Dec. 8) (David Bloom)
[top]
11. ICC WILL NOT CONSIDER ISRAELI WAR CRIMES CHARGES
In response to a question from a WW3 REPORT source, the International
Criminal Court in the Hague says that since Israel is not a party to the
treaty creating the ICC, it has no jurisdiction over possible Israeli war
crimes committed in the Palestinian territories. In response to the
source's inquiry, Claudia Perdomo, press officer for the court, replied:
"[P]lease know that in accordance with Article 12 of the Statute, the ICC
only has jurisdiction if a crime is committed in the territory of a State
Party or if the person/s accused are nationals of a State Party. Since both
Israel and US are not parties to the ICC Statute, the Court can not
investigate alleged crimes by Israel or US unless they sign a declaration
accepting the jurisdiction of the Court or the Security Council refers the
matter to the Court under Chapter VII of the Charter of the UN." (David
Bloom)
[top]
12. PALESTINIAN FILM DENIED OSCARS CONSIDERATION
Despite favorable reviews at several film festivals this year, the
Palestinian film "Divine Intervention" will not be considered among the 54
candidates for next year's Best Foreign Language Film category by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The reason the academy cited
is the film does not originate from a country that is formally recognized
by the UN. Despite this rule, the Academy has in the past considered movies
from Puerto Rico, Taiwan and Hong Kong. "Obviously we are disappointed,"
said Feda Abdelhadi Nasser of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine
to the UN. "What it comes down to is that the Palestinian people, in
addition to the denial of other rights...are now being denied the ability
to compete in a competition that judges artistic and cultural expression."
Hussein Ibish of the Anti-Arab Discrimination Commitee in Washington thinks
the Academy should review its entry rules. "I think it is unfortunate that
such an acclaimed film is not being allowed to compete," he said. "This is
a surprising move on the part of the Academy, given that events in Israel
and Palestine are so sensitive. A nomination for Divine Intervention would
have sent out a message of good intent." Divine Intervention, directed by
Elia Suleiman, is a comedy that tells the story of a love affair between
two people on opposite sides of an Israeli military checkpoint.
NYC Editors Guild Local 700 member Brian Kates wrote the following letter
of protest to the Academy:
"I am writing because I am saddened that the Academy has refused submission
of Elia Solaiman's 'Divine Intervention' to represent Palestine for the
foreign-language film category of the Oscars. I am curious to know by what
criteria the Academy recognizes a 'nation,' for although there is not a
Palestinian state, Palestinian 'nationhood'--spiritually, culturally,
historically--is undeniable except in the most closed-minded and
reactionary of circles. Hollywood's denial of this internationally
acclaimed film will set a precedent that that films made by Palestinians in
the Occupied West Bank and Gaza have little chance of finding they American
audience they deserve. Hollywood has often defined itself in terms of its
liberal values, fostered in no small part by its founding history by
first-generation American Jews seeking better lives than the ones they
endured in Europe in the early part of the century. Throughout Hollywood's
history, people in the film history have championed causes that some have
considered unpopular, and have justified their actions in the spirit of
this particular legacy. It is in the same spirit that I hope the Academy
will reconsider its decision to refuse 'Divine Intervention.' As an
American Jew, a Guild member, and a film industry professional I would like
the Academy to envision a Hollywood which holds to a vision of ethical
integrity rather than taking the easy way out. A recognition of the
Palestinian film industry through the film 'Divine Intervention' would be
one step."
You may write/contact the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at:
Academy Foundation
8949 Wilshire Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
Phone: 310-247-3000
Fax: 310-859-9351
www.oscars.org
Email: ampas@oscars.org
Divine Intervention will be screened Tues. Dec.17 at 6:30pm at The New
School's Tishman Auditorium, 66 West 12th St. in NYC
Divine Intervention by Elia Suleiman, France/Palestine, 2002, 35mm, 92 min.
Arabic with English subtitles, FREE to the public
Subway: A,C,E to West 4th Street 1,2,3,9,L to 14th Street-6th Avenue
4,5,6,N,R to 14th Street-Union Square
See location A (David Bloom)
[top]
13. QUEER SETTLERS COLONIZE STARBUCKS
Activists from Queer Resistance for Palestine (QRFP) made a brief incursion
into an upper west side Starbucks in Manhattan on Dec. 12. According to
settler Emmaia Gelman of Jews Against the Occupation (JATO),
fifteen queer activists took over the coffee shop during lunchtime rush,
claiming it as settled land. Hanging flags and banners announcing the
takeover, the settlers ejected patrons from their chairs, informing them,
"This is our coffee shop now." Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz recently
answered the call to help boost an Israeli economy drained by military
expenditure by pledging to open 20 new stores in Israel. "Since the CEO of
this company clearly believes it's okay for one group of people to grab
another people's land and claim a right to it, we're pretty sure he won't
mind if we just settle down right here in his store," said the settlers.
The queer colonists called for the immediate dismantling of settlements in
the West Bank and Gaza, and for an end to the occupation of Palestine by
the Israeli army. They asserted the right of Palestinians to resist
injustices committed against them by the Israeli government and military.
Human rights and democracy groups worldwide have called for a boycott of
Starbucks and have occupied Starbucks shops from California to London to
Beirut.
(QRFP press release, Dec. 12)
More on Shultz's views
On Aug. 17, "settlers" from Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism (QUIT!)
occupied a Starbucks in Berkeley, CA, proclaiming it "a city without people
for people without a city." They put up a banner that read, "Queerkeley--A
Prophecy Fulfilled." The "settlers" erected plastic palm trees in order to
"make the concrete bloom," and passed out the following tract, entitled
"Land of Fruits and Nuts":
"And the Lord saw that the queer people were harried in this land. And the
Lord spake onto the prophet Harvey, 'You will lead your people across the
wide waters unto a new land.' Harvey was fearful, and he cried to the Lord,
'How will we cross the wide waters? For they are cold, and they are filled
with all manner of hazardous substances and raw sewage and other
pollutants.' And the Lord responded, 'Fear not, Harvey, for a great bridge
will be built, and the people will cross into this land. And this land will
be called Berkeley. I say, Lo, I have promised the land of Berkeley to the
lesbians and to the gays, and to the bisexuals, and to the transgenders and
to the intersexed, and to all of the gender variant peoples. And this land
shall be blessed with fruits and nuts, unto 50 generations.'" -Book of
Reclamations and Realty, 4.0
(SF Indymedia, Aug. 18 ) (David
Bloom)
[top]
THE IRAQ FRONT
1. BUSH: WE'LL NUKE YOU
In a six-page White House strategy document released Dec. 10, President
Bush warned that the US "reserves the right to respond with overwhelming
force" to any use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) against the US
forces or allies. The paper makes clear the US maintains the right to
respond in kind to a WMD attack--including with nuclear weapons. "In
addition to our conventional and nuclear response and defense capabilities,
our overall deterrent posture against WMD threats is reinforced by
effective intelligence, surveillance, interdiction and domestic law
enforcement capabilities." The document, "National Strategy to Combat
Weapons of Mass Destruction" is clearly tied to possible military action
against Iraq, and recalls a warning from Bush's dad to Saddam in January
1991, on the eve of the Operation Desert Storm--when a White House letter
said Iraq would pay a "terrible price" if it used chemical or biological
weapons. The New York Post splashed the new warning on its front page Dec.
11, under the banner: "U.S. WARNS IRAQ: WE'LL NUKE YOU."
[top]
2. U.S. COVERING UP COMPLICITY IN SADDAM CHEMICAL WARFARE?
Writing in the Dec. 13 UK Independent, Robert Fisk sees a glaring omission
in all the propaganda being aimed at Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein: "Why
didn't Tony Blair and George Bush mention Saddam Hussein's most terrible
war crime? Why, in all their 'dossiers', did they not refer to the 5,000
young men and women who were held at detention centres when their
families--of Iranian origin--were hurled over the border to Iran just
before President Saddam invaded Iran in 1980? Could it be because these
5,000 young men and women were used for experiments in gas and biological
warfare agents whose ingredients were originally supplied by the United
States? Just months before his September 1980 invasion of Iran--in which
tens of thousands of Iranian soldiers died an appalling death by gas burns
and blisters--Saddam's Interior Ministry issued directive No 2884, dated 10
April 1980, stating that 'all youths aged between 18 and 28Émust be held at
detention centres until further notice.' Most, though not all, of the young
men and women affected by this order were Kurds. None of their families
ever saw their loved ones again, but they have since been told that the
detainees were killed during experiments in gas and chemical warfare
centres in IraqÉ Just before the September 1980 invasion of Iran, the
detentions began. At least 5,000 'Kurdish youths,' according to one Iraqi
refugee interviewed by The Independent, 'vanished into thin air.'
According to one Iraqi dissidentÉa large if unknown number of young
detainees may have perished as a result of being used as guinea pigs for
Saddam Hussein's research programmes at various chemical, biological and
nuclear warfare laboratoriesÉ"
One Iraqi Kurdish refugee in Lebanon--who Fisk makes clear does not support
the official US-supported Iraqi opposition--said that Western intelligence
has long known the fate of the 5,000 disappeared. "It is now clear," he
told Fisk, "that during the war with Iran many of the young detainees were
taken to secret laboratories in different locations in Iraq and were
exposed to intense doses of chemical and biological substances in a myriad
of conditions and situations. With every military setback at the front
causing panic in Baghdad, these experiments had to be speeded up - which
meant more detainees were needed to be sent to the laboratories, which had
to test VX nerve gas, mustard gas, sarin, tabun, aflatoxin, gas gangrene
and anthrax."
Fisk recalls that under the first President Bush, the US Department of
Agriculture sent Iraq samples of chemicals that could be used to produce
pesticide--or chemical warfare agents. The chemicals were sent "despite
repeated warnings from American officials" that they "could be of use
against human beings." Fisk speculates on the current silence about the
matter: "This could, of course, reflect the West's embarrassment at its
support for Iraq during that war. Or it could be an attempt to avoid any
inquiry into how President Saddam obtained the means to wage chemical
warfare against his opponents."
[top]
3. DOES IRAQ ARMS DOSSIER NAME U.S. FIRMS?
Iraq's 12,000-page declaration of its weapons programs lists US companies
that provided materials used to develop chemical and biological weapons in
the 1980s, Newsday reported Dec, 13, citing "a senior Iraqi official." The
official, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not name the companies or
discuss how much detail the dossier provides about them. He said the US
firms are named along with other foreign companies that provided Iraq with
arms and ingredients for making chemical and biological weapons. The
dossier is now only available to the governments of the five permanent UN
Security Council members. Notes Newsday: "The public release of such a list
could prove embarrassing for the United States and highlight the extent to
which the Reagan and first Bush administrations supported Iraq in its
eight-year war with neighboring Iran in the 1980s. US military and
financial assistance to Iraq continued until Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
invaded Kuwait in August 1990."
The newspaper recalled a 1994 report by the US Senate Banking Committee
concluding that "the United States provided the government of Iraq with
'dual-use' licensed materials which assisted in the development of Iraqi
chemical, biological and missile-system programs." This assistance,
according to the report, included "chemical
warfare-agent precursors; chemical warfare-agent production facility plans
and technical drawings; chemical warfare filling equipment; biological
warfare-related materials; missile fabrication equipment and missile system
guidance equipment."
The Senate report found that the US had licensed dozens of companies to
export various materials that helped Iraq make mustard gas, VX nerve agent,
anthrax and other biological and chemical weapons. The report also said
"the same micro-organisms exported by the United States were identical to
those the United Nations inspectors found and recovered from the Iraqi
biological warfare program." Shipments to Iraq continued even after the US
learned Hussein had used chemical weapons against Iranian troops and
Kurdish villagers in northern Iraq in 1988, according to Senate
investigators.
The US-Iraqi cooperation began in February 1986, when then-Vice President
George Bush met with Iraq's ambassador to Washington, Nizar Hamdoon, and
assured him that Baghdad would be permitted to receive more sophisticated
US technology. Over the next four years, the Reagan and Bush
administrations approved licenses for the export of more than $600 million
worth of advanced technology to Iraq, according to
congressional reports.
Susan Wright, a scientist at the University of Michigan and co-author of
the book "Biological Warfare and Disarmament," believes that all five
governments with access to the dossier-the US, UK, France, Russia and
China--have a common interest in suppressing the list. "All the permanent
five members are probably on the Iraqi supplier list," she said. "They all
have advanced chemical and biological industries."
Wright said the release of a supplier list "would bring people's attention
to something that the Bush administration would rather forget about: that
the United States was a supplier state to Saddam Hussein, even after it
became clear that he was producing and using chemical weapons."
[top]
4. CIA "BUYING" IRAQI TRIBAL MILITIAS?
Dozens of teams of elite US forces and intelligence operatives have been
sent into Iraq with millions of dollars in cash to woo key tribal leaders
away from Saddam Hussein. The secret campaign, based on tactics used
successfully in Afghanistan last year, aims to buy the support of tribal
leaders who command the allegiance of millions of Iraqis. US and British
strategists hope these leaders will be persuaded to revolt or to stop
co-operating with Saddam, fatally weakening his regime. The special teams
are said to be concentrating on the rural areas of central Iraq around
Baghdad, where Sunni Muslim tribal leaders are strongest. The CIA has been
given $200 million for covert actions in Iraq, and there are already
reports of clashes between tribal militias and security forces. Last year
members of the Bani Hasan tribe clashed with troops in the south of Iraq.
In 1999 members of the al Dulaimi tribe staged a rebellion in the
north-west. "Tribal leaders have acted as a parallel authority in Iraq for
many years," said Daniel Neep of the UK's Royal United Services Institute.
"Prising them away from Saddam certainly has the potential seriously to
weaken him." (UK Observer, Dec. 15)
[top]
ELSEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
1. ANTI-WAR PROTEST SUPPRESSED IN TUNISIA
Tunisia's government barred 11 opposition parties and civil groups from
demonstrating in central Tunis against the pending attack on Iraq Dec. 13.
Hundreds of riot and plainclothes police were deployed in downtown Tunis to
enforce the ban. "The Interior Ministry informed the leaders of the
political parties that the march planned for Friday was banned for security
reasons," the 11 groups said in a joint statement. "The ban constitutes a
denial of the right to protest as enshrined by the country's constitution."
(Reuters, Dec. 13)
[top]
THE ANDEAN FRONT
1. VENEZUELA BACK TO THE BRINK
On Dec. 13, the Bush administration called on President Hugo Chavez to hold
early elections to resolve Venezuela's political standoff as the national
strike paralyzing the country entered its 12th day. In concert with the
official White House statement, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Tom
Shannon arrived in Caracas for meetings with government and opposition
leaders to find what Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer called "a peaceful,
democratic, constitutional and politically viable electoral solution." But
Fleischer reiterated: "The United States is convinced that the only
peaceful and politically viable path out of the crisis is through the
holding of early elections."
The Washington Post noted an irony in the Bush administration stance:
"Venezuela's constitution, however, does not allow for early presidential
elections, leaving the White House in the contradictory position of calling
at once for a 'constitutional' solution and early elections." Opponents of
Chavez are calling for a constitutional amendment that would allow
elections, scheduled for 2006, to be moved up. But no agreement has been
reached in the negotiations mediated by Cesar Gaviria, secretary general of
the Organization of American States (OAS). Any constitutional change would
have to be approved by a referendum that could take months to arrange.
Chavez is resisting calls from strike leaders for his immediate
resignation. (WP, Dec. 14)
The class conflict behind the Venezuela crisis is made clear in the case of
the Pilin Leon, an oil tanker named for the former Miss Venezuela, whose
captain mutinied in support of the strike by dropping anchor in Lake
Maracaibo, principal source of Venezuela's oil. But the tanker's crew was
opposed the strike, and when Venezuelan marines boarded the ship on the
orders of Chavez, only the captain needed to be replaced. (UK Guardian,
Dec. 10)
Another rebellious tanker in Lake Maracaibo was also seized by Chavez's
marines. In a TV and radio address, Chavez told employees and managers at
the state oil company PDVSA that "abandoning one's functions is ground for
dismissal. The time has come to apply the law." He added: "I will not leave
under pressure from a group of managers, a group of coup-plotters, a group
of fascists, a group of entrepreneurs or mass media." (BBC, Dec. 16)
In the July/August issue of "Report on the Americas," Steve Ellner and Fred
Rosen reported that independent forces which support neither Chevez or the
official opposition persist in Venezuela despite the polarization. The
opposition is led by an unlikely alliance of the country's largest trade
union, the Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV) and the national
Chamber of Commerce (Fedecamaras). The working-class movement in support of
Chavez is organized around neighborhood committees called "Bolivarian
Circles." But the unions representing oil, steel and public employees have
criticized CTV's alliance with Fedecamaras, while remaining distant from
Chavez. Steel workers president Ramon Machuca entered into his own dialogue
with the government--from which the CTV was barred--months before the
strike wave brought both sides to the OAS-brokered talks. Wrote Ellner and
Rosen: "This middle ground between the pro and anti-Chavistas may be where
at least half the population is situated. Many of those in this bloc are as
critical of Chavez as are the anti-Chavistas, but oppose any attempt to
overthrow him. When asked who they would vote for if elections were held
tomorrow, they say 'Chavez.'" (NACLA Report, NYC, July/August 2002)
[top]
2. TEXACO BACK IN ECUADOR; INDIANS TAKE PROTEST TO CALIFORNIA
As ChevronTexaco contemplates renewed operations in the Ecuadorian Amazon,
local indigenous leaders traveled to San Francisco, CA, Dec. 9 to tell the
company: "CLEAN UP, PAY UP, AND NEVER COME BACK!" ChevronTexaco's current
seismic exploration in the remote region of Sarayacu ("Block 23") comes
more than three decades after Texaco first entered the country to extract
1.5 billion barrels of oil from the Amazon region known as Oriente. In
order to save millions of dollars--an estimated $3 per barrel--the company
simply dumped the toxic wastes from its operations into the rivers, forest
streams and wetlands, ignoring industry standards. The Cofan people, which
numbered 15,000 when Texaco's first well was built on their territory, now
number less than 300. 2.5 million acres of rainforest have been lost, and
20 billion gallons of highly toxic wastewater dumped into local waterways.
Some 350 poisonous open pools still remain in the region, filled with
benzene, toluene, arsenic lead, mercury and cadmium. Studies by a Harvard
medical team, British researchers and Ecuadorian health authorities have
found eight different types of cancer in communities affected by Texaco's
operations: bile duct, stomach, larynx, liver, melanoma, leukemia,
lymphoma, and cervical. In some villages near polluted water sources, the
rate of cancer is 1,000 times higher than the historical norm.
ChevronTexaco has thus far contributed just $40 million towards an
environmental cleanup cost widely valued in excess of $1 billion. The
company made approximately $6 billion in profits from its two decades of
Ecuadorian operations.
In 1993, Ecuadorian plaintiffs representing 30,000 indigenous people and
campesinos filed a class-action suit against Texaco in US court--the first
environmental lawsuit ever filed in the US by foreign plaintiffs against a
US corporation. ChevronTexaco sought to have the case dismissed, claiming
that Ecuador--not the US--was the appropriate jurisdiction. On Aug. 16,
2002, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled that ChevronTexaco
must agree to stand trial in the Ecuadoran courts, where the case is to be
reinstated, or else face a new trial in the US courts. The ruling also held
that parent company ChevronTexaco was liable even though the damages were
caused by Texaco before the 2001 merger.
At a press briefing held at San Francisco's World Affairs Council, the
indigenous leaders called on ChevronTexaco to accept responsibility for the
destruction of their homeland. "ChevronTexaco came to our home in Ecuador
more than thirty years ago promising hope but ended up giving us nothing
but misery," said Cofan leader Toribio Aguinda. "Today we come to
ChevronTexaco's home in the United States to seek justice for our people."
Vowed Luis Ahua, a leader of the Huarani people: "We will not roll over and
let this corporate killer bury our families. We will achieve justice and we
will muster every available tool and tactic--modern or traditional--to
prevent ChevronTexaco from returning to Ecuador."
Atossa Soltani, executive director of Amazon Watch, said, "Not even today's
most disgraced CEOs and captains of corruption can lay claim to the
devastation that ChevronTexaco leaders wreaked in the Ecuadorian Amazon. We
will engage a dialogue with ChevronTexaco CEO David O'Reilly and remind
consumers that ChevronTexaco's gasoline boasts more Amazon destruction per
gallon."
(Amazon Watch press release, Dec. 9)
See also AMAZONIA: PLANNING THE FINAL DESTRUCTION
[top]
3. IDB APPROVES LOAN FOR ENRON'S BOLIVIA PIPELINE
On Dec. 11, the board of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved
a $132 million loan for expansion of the Yacuiba-Rio Grande (Yabog) gas pipeline project in
Bolivia. The IDB's official statement announcing the loan conveniently
omitted any mention of the leading role in the project of the disgraced
Texas energy giant Enron. Environmental groups including Friends of the
Earth and Amazon Watch pointed out that the IDB is allocating more US tax
dollars to Enron and its partner Shell despite their egregious social and
environmental track records in Bolivia--and the ongoing investigations of
Enron's shady practices in the US and abroad. The US Justice Department
and Securities and Exchange Commission are currently investigating Enron
for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. "US tax dollars should
not be used for the destruction of pristine tropical forests," said Atossa
Soltani, executive director of Amazon Watch.
Despite its bankruptcy, Enron continues to operate Bolivia's network of oil
and gas pipelines in partnership with Shell through the recently-privatized
Bolivian company Transredes. The IDB--funded by the US and other OAS
members--approved the loan for the project after Bolivian President Sanchez
de Lozada met with IDB officials in Washington in an attempt to secure
financing for various projects in his country. Coincidentally, the
president himself is owner of a gold mine recently reopened in the middle
of the Chiquitano forest--which has been severely degraded by an
Enron-Shell/Transredes pipeline (itself insured by the US agency OPIC).
"Prior to construction of the Cuiaba pipeline three years ago, OPIC, Enron
and Shell pledged that valves to tap into the pipeline would not be built
in the Chiquitano forest," said Jon Sohn, policy analyst with Friends of
the Earth. "We warned that new extensions of the pipeline through the
forest would be disastrous as they would allow a number of industrial
projects to pop up in a sensitive ecological area. Now, that is exactly
what has happened." (Amazon Watch press release, Dec. 11)
(www.amazonwatch.org/video.html)
See also WW3 REPORT #62
[top]
THE MEXICO FRONT
1. FARC PLOT TO KIDNAP GIULIANI IN MEXICO CITY?
Rudolph Giuliani responded to reporter's questions about rumors that
Colombian guerillas are plotting to kidnap him in Mexico City, where he has
been hired to help oversee a new anti-crime campaign. "This isn't going to
interfere with doing our work in any way. It played no role in anything
we've done so far, and it's not going to play a role in anything we do in
the future," Giuliani said. He added: "I don't ever comment on security
issues." (Despite having just commented.) The rumors were first reported in
the New York Post, which said a private US security firm had discovered the
plot by the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) and tipped off
Giuliani's team. The Post also claimed that FBI agents in Miami heard about
the plot in a wiretapped conversation. The plot was revealed just days
after NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said there were "security concerns"
regarding Giuliani that justified a taxpayer-funded NYPD security detail
for the ex-mayor in Mexico City. (NYP, Dec. 8)
Giuliani's Mexico City team includes former New York police commissioner
Bernard Kerik and the city's former fire commissioner, Thomas Von Essen.
They will work with Mexico City Police Chief Marcelo Ebrard, a former
congressman known for his fight against corruption. (BBC, Oct. 10) Private
money donated by a group of business leaders will be used to pay for
Giuliani's services, but Mexico City authorities did not release the
amount. (AP, Oct. 11) Giuliani's arrival in Mexico City coincided with the
launching of a new elite police anti-crime unit which wears full body armor
and helmets with black visors, and carries heavy weaponry. Known officially
as the High Security Force, city residents have dubbed them the Robocops.
(San Diego Union-Tribune, Nov. 5)
Rudolph Giuliani, the former tough-guy mayor of New York who was Time
magazine's 2001 Person of the Year for his handling of the 9-11 disaster,
boasts that he asked US President George W Bush if he could personally
execute Osama bin Laden. In a new book entitled "Leadership," Giuliani says
he made the request three days after the WTC attacks. "I told him, 'If you
catch this guy Bin Laden, I would like
to be the one to execute him' ...I am sure he thought I was just being
rhetorical, but I was serious." (BBC, Sept. 30)
[top]
2. CHIAPAS TEACHERS PROTEST REPRESSION
Over 25,000 teachers marched through Tuxtla Gutierrez, state capital of
Chiapas, Dec. 9 to demand the resignation of governor Pablo Salazar and
blaming him for police violence during a teacher's protest the previous
week. On the same day, Salazar gave a report on his second year in office,
as protestors gathered in front of the government palace with placards
reading, "Come and visit Chiapas and enjoy the repression." The teachers
accused state police of using violence to break up a protest road block in
which five teachers were arrested and one pregnant woman lost her unborn
baby. The teachers were demanding more money for school infrastructure and
equipment. (The News, Mexico City, Dec. 10)
[top]
3. "ECOTOURISM" MILITARIZES CHIAPAS RAINFOREST?
After members of the ARIC campesino group reported seeing a convoy of
jeep-type vehicles full of foreigners in black military-style uniforms
heading into the Lacandon jungle, Chiapas state Government Secretary Emilio
Zebadua explained that they were part of a team hired by entrepreneurs
seeking to build an "eco-tourism" project. The campesinos reported that the
men had established a camp at El Sabinal near the Montes Azules Biosphere
Reserve. (Proceso, Dec. 12)
The Lacandon rainforest is the stronghold of the Zapatista guerillas, and
the Mexican federal government has been threatening to use the army to
evict peasant "squatters" from the Biosphere Reserve. See WW3 REPORT #60
[top]
4. GOVERNMENT PEACE POINTMAN: MARCOS "LEFT BEHIND"
President Vicente Fox's special peace envoy in charge of negotiating an end
to the conflict in southern Chiapas state said Dec. 9 that Zapatista rebel
commanders have lost the trust of many of their supporters. Most Zapatista
sympathizers are tired of rebelling against the government and want to
become eligible for state-sponsored social programs again, Luis Alvarez
told reporters in the Chiapas capital of Tuxtla Gutierrez. Alvarez singled
out Zapatista spokesman Subcommander Marcos, saying he and other rebel
commanders have turned their backs on their supporters. "I think Marcos has
been left behind," Alvarez said. While saying he still respected Marcos
because he "had the virtue to put his finger on the most important problem
in our country"--the marginalization of Mexico's Indians--Alvarez dangled
the carrot of government development funds and blamed the rebels for
holding them up. "The resources we have available are very great, but they
are resources that can only be distributed if there is dialogue with the
Zapatista commanders or with the communities themselves," Alvarez said. He
again called on Zapatista leaders to return to the negotiating table,
saying Fox's government "remains committed" to resolving the Chiapas
conflict. The rebels broke off talks with the government when their peace
plan--calling for local autonomy for indigenous communities--was gutted by
Congress last year. (AP, Dec. 10)
See also WW3 REPORT #60
[top]
5. ERPI REBELS PLEDGE TO REVIVE GUERILLA MOVEMENT
A southern Mexican guerilla group thought to be in decline since the arrest
of its leaders has announced new plans to coordinate efforts with other
rebel organizations, the newspaper Reforma reported Dec. 3. Speaking the
previous day in Pascua, 125 miles southeast of Mexico City, Commander
Emiliano said the Revolutionary Army of the Insurgent People (ERPI) planned
to centralize the operations of Mexico's various rebel factions. Commander
Emiliano said the group has no plans to disarm or start talks with the
government. "We are here. This is a reality. And we are ready to defend
ourselves in response to aggressions from the government," the paper quoted
Emiliano as saying. The ERPI formed as a splinter group of the People's
Revolutionary Army (EPR), which first emerged in 1996 in the southern state
of Guerrero and launched several attacks on military and police targets.
Officials are unclear how many members the ERPI has, or which other groups
it plans to coordinate with. Commander Emiliano said ERPI had no official
relations with the Zapatista rebels in Chiapas. (AP, Dec. 4)
See also WW3 REPORT #s 42 and 9
Gobernacion Secretary Santiago Creel responded to the ERPI's re-emergence
by insisting that Mexico is at peace, and that the government is open to
dialogue with the rebels. He said it isn't necessary for disaffected groups
to "go to the mountains" to get the changes they want. It was also reported
that the ERPI, thought to be isolated in the mountains of Guerrero and
Oaxaca, left propaganda posters in telephone booths in the central city of
Cuernavaca to commemorate the Dec. 2, 1974 death of '70s guerilla leader
Lucio Cabanas. (Milenio, Dec. 6)
[top]
6. GUERILLAS IN NAYARIT?
On Nov. 21, Antonio Echevarria, governor of west-central Nayarit state,
confirmed that the federal Attorney General's Office is investigating the
possibility that guerilla groups are carrying out attacks in the state's
mountain range, including a recent raid in which two officials in La Yesca
municipality were wounded. (La Jornada, Nov. 22)
(From Weekly News Update on the Americas, Nov. 24)
[top]
7. CONVICTIONS IN BANAMEX BOMBER CASE
On Dec. 11 a Mexican federal judge convicted four men on weapons and
terrorism charges in relation to a series of explosions outside Mexico City
banks last year. Judge Jose Gomez sentenced three brothers--Hector,
Alejandro and Antonio Cereso--to 13 years each. The judge also handed down
10 years to Pablo Alvarado, who studied with the Cereso brothers at the
National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). A fifth man, Sergio
Galicia, was found innocent of weapons charges. Federal agents raided the
men's homes and arrested them a few days after three small explosions
rattled local Banamex branches on Aug. 8, 2001. The agents reportedly found
guns, munitions and "subversive videos" in the homes of the four convicted
men. An urban guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of the People
(FARP), claimed responsibility for the explosions, though it said the five
men were not members of their organization. The explosions broke a few
windows, but caused no casualties. The defendants all claimed innocence,
and student groups argued that the government pinned the bank explosions on
them to discredit leftist protesters at UNAM. Attorney General Rafael
Macedo was criticized for calling the UNAM a "guerrilla hotbed" after the
students were arrested. National Human Rights Commissioner Jose Luis
Soberanes said the men had likely been tortured after their arrests. (The
News, Mexico City, Dec. 12)
See also WW3 REPORT #9
[top]
8. MEXICO TO ASK U.S. TO DECLASSIFY "DIRTY WAR" DOCUMENTS
Mexican law enforcement officials announced they will ask the US to
declassify documents that could shed light on crimes committed during
Mexico's "dirty war" against leftists and guerillas in the 1960s and '70s.
Ignacio Carrillo, special prosecutor assigned to investigating the "dirty
war," said he will ask the Mexican government to send the request to
Washington. The objective is "to declassify the greatest number of
documents from the varied US archives relating to the social and political
movements of the past," Carrillo told reporters after participating in a
ceremony with relatives of dirty-war victims in Guadalajara. Carrillo is
the head of the Special Prosecutor's Office for Political and Social
Movements of the Past, created by order of President Vicente Fox. According
to a report by the government's National Human Rights Commission, at least
500 activists disappeared between the late '60s and 1980. Some rights
groups say the number may actually approach 3,000. (EFE, Dec. 3)
See also WW3 REPORTS # 60
[top]
9. ARMY COVER-UP IN "DIRTY WAR" MASS MURDER CASE
With a secretive military trial underway against two Army generals accused
of killing scores of leftist activists in the 1970s, human rights groups
held a press conference to insist that only civilian courts should be
allowed to hear the case. "The military wants to appear as is if it is
investigating," said Mario Patron, a lawyer at the Miguel Agustin
Pro-Juarez Human Rights Center. "But, like in past cases, this will likely
end as a cover up." The Army announced in October military courts would
prosecute generals Francisco Quiros and Arturo Acosta--both already
convicted of drug trafficking--for the murders of 143 leftists between 1975
and 1979. Rights activists are concerned military courts will purposely
botch the cases, allowing double jeopardy laws to shield the two from
further prosecution. Though the military charges Quiros and Acosta ordered
Army pilots to dump victims' bodies off the Oaxacan coast, one of the
pilots called to testify reportedly said he only heard the story from
others. At least one other witness failed to appear for his testimony. The
rights groups claim Mexico's constitution orders cases involving both
soldiers and civilians to be heard before a civilian court. The Army
counters that military court jurisdiction can be claimed around any
military activity. (The News, Mexico City, Dec. 5)
See also WW3 REPORT #59
[top]
10. EPR REBELS DEMAND "GENOCIDE" CHARGES AGAINST GENERALS
The Revolutionary Popular Army (EPR), a small guerilla group based in
Mexico's southern states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, urged the Mexican people
to not allow an investigation into disappearances during Mexico's so-called
"dirty war" to be thwarted. The new communique said similar investigations
in Chile and Argentina were "grotesque farces" and such a result must be
prevented in Mexico. The EPR said Gen. Arturo Acosta and Gen. Francisco
Quiroz, under investigation by military prosecutors for the disappearances
of 143 dissidents in the 1970s, should be charged with genocide and tried
in a civilian court. The communique was issued on the eve of the second
burial of the remains of the legendary '70s guerrilla leader Lucio Cabanas.
Cabanas was killed in a shoot-out with the Army in 1974 and was buried in
an unmarked grave in Atoyac, in the mountains of Guerrero, until his
exhumation by investigators last December. He is to be reburied in the
plaza of Atoyac, his native town. (EFE, Dec. 3)
[top]
11. FARMERS PROTEST NAFTA
Mexican farmers blocked the entrances to the Senate building in Mexico City
with sacks of grain for three hours on Nov. 21 to demand renegotiation of
the sections of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that affect
agriculture. The protesters, from the National Movement of Agricultural
Workers, El Barzon Movement and the Coalition of Democratic Urban and
Campesinos Organizations, opposed NAFTA's scheduled elimination of several
tariffs on agricultural products on Jan. 1. The protesters said that trade
between Mexico and the other two NAFTA partners is "severely distorted" by
the subsidies the US and Canadian governments give their farmers. In
Washington, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture JB Penn announced that the
US rejects "any opening or renegotiation of NAFTA." Ironically, the
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which imposed NAFTA at a time when
it virtually monopolized government power in Mexico, is now attempting to
exploit the anti-NAFTA backlash, with PRI legislators proposing a national
front to demand renegotiation. PRI Federal Deputy and party coordinator for
Morelos state, was a leader of a 30-hour blockade of the Mexico
City-Cuernavaca highway starting at noon on Nov. 20 demanding relief for
drought-stricken farmers. (La Jornada, Nov. 22)
(From Weekly News Update on the Americas, Nov. 24)
[top]
12. VICTORY IN OAXACA ANTI-McDONALDS STRUGGLE
City authorities in Oaxaca announced that they had reached a decision not
to approve a McDonalds outlet for the town's central plaza. The decision
came after months of local protests. Municipal president Gabino Cue
Monteagudo admitted the decision was made to "safeguard the intangible
patrimony" of the city. (Reforma, Dec. 10)
See also WW3 REPORT #49
[top]
13. CUERNAVACA TREE DEFENDERS FACE CHARGES
The campaign continues in Cuernavaca to halt construction of a Costco
retail outlet on the historic site of the Hotel Casino de la Selva, one of
the city's last remaining green areas. The Civic Front for the Defense of
Casino de la Selva is also organizing to support members arrested blocking
the road to the site in August. 34 protesters were arrested, with many
suffering physical injury. Though most of the charges were thrown out, two
counts of obstructing a public thoroughfare still remain. Those facing
charges must report weekly to Cuernavaca's jail as a form of probation.
(Global Exchange press release, Dec. 13)
Civic Front for the Defense of Casino de la Selva
See also WW3 REPORT #49
[top]
THE CANADIAN FRONT
1. CHRETIEN WAFFLES ON "STAR WARS" PARTICIPATION...
Prime Minister Jean Chretien said Dec. 11 that his government has no plans
to take part in the US missile defense shield plan--a few days after his
foreign minister said Canada was prepared to examine the plan. Chretien
said his government is not interested in participating in a North American
shield against missile attacks. "The project of the Americans on the
so-called Star Wars, we're not participating in that, we have not been
asked to participate," he told New Democratic Party leaders. Earlier that
week, Chretein's own Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said he was
"quite prepared" to discuss the proposal with the US. (Toronto Globe &
Mail, Dec. 11)
The equivocation on the missile program comes at a time of dissension over
a proposed joint US-Canadian "Americas Command," being pushed by the
Pentagon. See WW3 REPORT #63
[top]
2. ...AS MILITARY INTEGRATION ADVANCES
US forces will be allowed to cross the border into Canada in an emergency
under a new international accord. The accord creates a new bi-national
planning group to coordinate joint military operations and emergency
services in the event of a terrorist attack or other disaster. The planning
group is to be headed by Canadian Lt. Gen. Ken Pennie, the deputy commander
of North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD), based at Colorado's Cheyenne
Mountain. Pennie will report to Canada's chief of defense staff and the US
general who commands NORAD and the Pentagon's new Northern Command.
(Toronto Star, Dec. 9)
[top]
3. AL-QAEDA TO OPEN CANADIAN FRONT?
Canadian intelligence reportedly believes Mohamed Harkat, an Algerian
immigrant recently arrested in Ottawa is connected with Osama bin Laden's
al-Qaeda network, reports say. The Canadian Security and Intelligence
Service (CSIS) says Harkat is associated with top bin Laden lieutenant Abu
Zubaydah, who was arrested in Pakistan in March and is being questioned by
US intelligence agents. A CSIS file quoted by Canada's Globe and Mail
newspaper Dec. 17 describes Harkat as "a member of the Bin Laden network"
who used his jobs at a car service station and pizza outlet as cover. The
CSIS file says an al-Qaeda sleeper cell is believed to be operating
in Canada, with "the capability and conviction to provide support for
terrorist activities in North America". Surveillance of Harkat reportedly
began after he and a companion were spotted taking pictures of the Canadian
parliament buildings and supreme court. According to the Globe and Mail,
the CSIS believes Harkat trained in the same camp in Afghanistan as Ahmed
Ressam, an Algerian accused of plotting a terrorist attack during the US
Millennium celebrations. Ressam was arrested in December 1999 while trying
to enter the US from Canada with a carload of explosives. The CSIS files
reportedly say Harkat arrived in Canada in 1995 from Malaysia with two
passports--one issued by Algeria in his own name and the other a fake Saudi
one bearing the name Mohamed S Mohamed. Harkat was granted refugee status
in 1997 after claiming that he faced persecution at the hands of the
Algerian government. The CSIS says Harkat earlier had links with the
militant Algerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA). "The Service believes that
Harkat has assisted some Islamic extremists who have come to Canada," the
CSIS file says. His lawyer, Bruce Engel, refuted the charges. "He
categorically and unequivocally denies any involvement, association--direct
or indirect--with any terrorist organization," he said after
visiting Harkat in detention. (BBC, Dec. 17)
[top]
4. JEW-HATRED IN SASKATCHEWAN
Respected Saskatchewan native leader David Ahenakew, former chief of the
Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) and the Assembly of First
Nations, was quoted in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix saying Hitler was trying
to clean up Europe when he "fried six million" Jews. The quotes reportedly
came following a speech at a Federation conference in which he said that
Israel and the US were going to start the next world war. When asked to
clarify, Ahenakew said that while serving in the army after World War II,
Germans told him Jews had started it. "The Jews damn near owned all of
Germany prior to the war," Ahenakew said. "That's how Hitler came in. He
was going to make damn sure that the Jews didn't take over Germany or
Europe. That's why he fried six million of those guys, you know. Jews would
have owned the goddamned world. And look what they're doing. They're
killing people in Arab countries." Asked how he could justify the
Holocaust, he reportedly answered: "How do you get rid of a disease like
that, that's going to take over, that's going to dominate?" In the same
interview Ahenakew called whites and Indo-Canadians "goddamned immigrants."
Current FSIN chief Perry Bellegarde distanced himself from Ahenakew's
statements. "He's expressing his view point and there's no way the FSIN has
adopted any position like that, and I have to be very clear on that our
mission statement is peaceful coexistence to respect other people and other
nations," he said. But members of the Jewish community expressed dismay.
"Because the First Nations people know what it's like to be persecuted or
to be treated unfairly, and so you don't do to others what others have done
to you," said Susanne Kaplan of the Agudas Israel Congregation. (CTV News,
Dec. 14)
Ironically, Hitler explicitly saw his inspiration for the conquest of
eastern Europe and the genocide of its "inferior" peoples in the white
conquest of America and genocide of the Indians, writing: "Neither Spain
nor Britain should be the models of German expansion, but the Nordics of
North America, who had ruthlessly pushed aside an inferior race to win for
themselves soil and territory for the future." See "Struggle for the Land"
by Ward Churchill, Common Courage Press, 1993, p. 73.
[top]
THE WAR AT HOME
1. GEN. EBERHART WARNS OF "McCARTHYISM"
Gen. Ralph E. Eberhart, head of the Pentagon's newly-created Northern
Command for domestic operations, told the New York Times, "I am not aware
of a significant threat to this nation" from so-called sleeper cells. But
he added: "To say that we're not aware of it, is not the same to say that
it doesn't exist." In an interview at his headquarters in Colorado Springs,
Gen. Eberhart said his command had established a strong working
relationship with law enforcement agencies, noting that the FBI has a
permanent representative on his staff. He warned that the need to combat
terrorism had to be balanced against the need to guard against abridgement
of civil liberties--"some of the things we did in the 50's with
McCarthyism, which I think was a very sad chapter in our history." Fourteen
military, law enforcement, intelligence and other agencies have
representatives at Northern Command headquarters who meet daily with Gen.
Eberhart. The new arrangement has raised fears of erosion of the Posse
Comitatus Act, which bars the military from domestic law enforcement. "Our
basic freedoms must be protected," Gen. Eberhart said, but acknowledged
that "those who attack us usually leverage those freedoms to do things that
they couldn't do in other countries." (NYT, Dec. 13)
See also WW3 REPORT # 44
[top]
2. DRONES TO PATROL EASTERN SEABOARD
The US Coast Guard is to start deploying "drones," remote-controlled
low-flying surveillance aircraft of the type used by the US Air Force in
Iraq and Afghanistan, along the Atlantic Coast. The Coast Guard, now part
of the new Homeland Security Department, says the unmanned aerial vehicles,
or UAVs, will enable more efficient monitoring of US coastal waters. The
acquisition of up to 76 drones nationwide is part of Deepwater, the Coast
Guard's $17 billion program to replace aging equipment and respond to new
security challenges. The program also includes the purchase of up to 91
ships, 35 planes and 34 helicopters, as well as upgrades of up to 49
cutters and 93 helicopters currently in use. (Hartford Courant, Dec. 13)
[top]
3. PHOTOGRAPHER ARRESTED FOR TAKING PICTURES OF VP's HOTEL
Amateur photographer Mike Maginnis was arrested on Dec. 3 in his home city
of Denver for taking pictures of buildings in an area where Vice President
Dick Cheney was staying. Maginnis told his story on the Dec. 4 edition of
"Off The Hook," on New York City's WBAI Radio. Maginnis's morning commute
took him past Denver's Adams Mark Hotel. Maginnis, who says he always
carried his camera, snapped about 30 pictures of the hotel and the
surrounding area--including shots of Denver police, army troops, and
rooftop snipers. Maginnis, who works in information technology, frequently
photographs such subjects as corporate buildings and communications
equipment. As he was putting his camera away, Maginnis was confronted by a
Denver police officer who demanded that he hand the camera ove. When he
refused to give up his Nikon F2, the officer pushed him to the ground and
arrested him. At a police precinct, Maginnis says he was interrogated by a
Secret Service agent who threatened to have him charged as a terrorist
under the USA PATRIOT act and badgered him to admit that he was taking the
photographs to analyze weaknesses in Cheney's security entourage. When
Maginnis refused to admit to being any sort of terrorist, the Secret
Service agent reportedly called him a "raghead collaborator" and a "dirty
pinko faggot." After approximately an hour of interrogation, Maginnis was
allowed to make a telephone call. Rather than contacting a lawyer, he
called the Denver Post and asked for the news desk. This was immediately
overheard by the desk sergeant, who hung up the phone and placed Maginnis
in a holding cell. Three hours later, Maginnis was released--but he
received no copy of an arrest report, and no receipt for his confiscated
possessions. He was told that he would probably not get his camera back, as
it was being held as evidence. Maginnis's lawyer contacted the Denver
Police Department for an explanation of the day's events, but the police
denied ever having Maginnis in custody. The Denver PD's Press Information
Office did not return telephone messages left by "Off the Hook" producers.
In related news, at a Dec. 6 vigil outside the New York City Federal
Building for detained Palestinian immigrant Farouk Abdel-Muhti, one
protester was himself detained by security guards after taking photos. The
protester, Ivo Skoric, was held in the Federal Building for over an hour,
and interrogated by the FBI. He was released without charges after he
voluntarily destroyed the digital film he had taken of the building. Skoric
told WW3 REPORT the first question the FBI agents asked him was whether he
is Muslim. Ironically, Skoric is an exile from Croatia, and has asylum
status for having been persecuted as an opposition activist under the
Communist Yugoslav regime. (Bill Weinberg on the scene at New York's
Federal Plaza)
For more on Farouk Abdel-Muhti, see WW3 REPORT # 62
[top]
4. INS EXPANDS "REGISTRATION"--AGAIN
In a Dec. 12 notice signed by Attorney General John Ashcroft, the INS
announced that male visitors age 16 or older from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan
and Armenia who entered the US on or before Sept. 30, 2002, must appear for
"special registration" under the National Security Entry-Exit Registration
System (NSEERS), between Jan. 13 and Feb. 21, 2003. Nationals of 18 other
countries were already required to register. ( Immigration News Briefs, Dec.
13)
See also WW3 REPORT #62
[top]
5. JUDGE STAYS SOMALI DEPORTATIONS
On Dec. 9, US District Judge Marsha Pechman issued a temporary restraining
order staying all deportations of Somalis pending a Jan. 10 hearing on a
lawsuit seeking a permanent ban. Pechman's decision halts the imminent
deportation of at least 39 Somalis currently held in INS detention around
the country, said Karol Brown, an attorney for the plaintiffs. (Seattle
Times; Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Dec. 10)
(From Immigration News Briefs, Dec. 13)
See also WW3 REPORT #63
[top]
WATCHING THE SHADOWS
1. BUSH GIVES CIA LICENSE TO KILL
Although the White House would not comment, anonymous military and
intelligence officials told the New York Times that the Bush administration
has prepared a "high-value target list" of around two dozen terrorist
leaders that the CIA is authorized to kill if capture is impractical and
civilian casualties can be minimized. (NYT, Dec. 15)
[top]
2. CARLYLE GETS PIECE OF QINETIQ
Britain's Ministry of Defense announced Dec. 5 that the private investment
firm Carlyle Group has bought a 33.8% stake in its research organization
QinetiQ. The ministry said it would sell its remaining stake within three
to five years, but "will retain a special share in the business to ensure
that the nation's defense and security interests continue to be protected,"
Defense Minister Lewis Moonie said in a statement. QinetiQ, which has 9,000
employee, was set up last year in the semi-privatization of the ministry's
former Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. (Reuters, Dec. 5)
See also WW3 REPORT #53
[top]
3. CHENEY WINS A ROUND
Bush-appointed US District Judge John D. Bates ruled that Vice President
Dick Cheney is not required to hand over the records of the White House
energy task force to the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm
of Congress. Judge Bates noted that no court has ever asked the White House
to produce information for Congress, but ruled on the grounds that the GAO
chief, Comptroller General David M. Walker, lacked standing to sue because
he had suffered no "personal, concrete and particular injury." The GAO
demanded the records at the prompting of Democratic Representatives John D.
Dingell of Michigan and Henry A. Waxman of California, who said, "it is
regrettable, but not surprising, that a newly appointed federal judge chose
to look the other way. Vice President Dick Cheney's cover-up will
apparently continue into the foreseeable future, unless the Republican
Congress demands appropriate disclosure. I'm not holding my breath." (NYT,
Dec. 10)
See also WW3 REPORT #19
[top]
GLIMMERS OF HOPE
1. KISSINGER OUT
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger abruptly stepped down Dec. 13 as
head of the panel charged with investigating the 9-11 attacks after
refusing demands to disclose his business clients. President Bush, who
appointed Kissinger Nov. 27, accepted the resignation "with regret" and
vowed to "work quickly" to select a replacement. "It's very disturbing
that... apparently some people think their clients are more important than the
security of this nation," said Stephen Push of Families of Sept. 11, a
survivors' group. Kristen Breitweiser of Sept. 11 Advocates, another
families' group, called Kissinger's resignation "admirable," adding, "This
commission needs to be beyond reproach." Kissinger had promised to give the
White House counsel--but not the Senate ethics committee-"all relevant
financial information" to check on possible conflicts of interest. But he
wrote in his resignation letter that "although specific potential conflicts
can be resolved in this manner, the controversy would quickly move to the
consulting firm I have built and own." Republican Congressional leaders
still must name three of their four members, having appointed only former
Sen. Slade Gorton. The Democrats must replace former Senate majority leader
George Mitchell, who also stepped down. (Newsday, Dec. 15)
In a recent column in the on-line Salon magazine, Joe
Conason points out that chapter 12 of the book "Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil & Fundamentalism
in Central Asia" by Ahmed Rashid (Yale, 2000) details that Kissinger was
one of the luminaries on hand for an Oct. 21, 1995 ceremony in New York
where the oil company Unocal and Turkmenistan's dictator Saparmurad
("Turkmenbashi") Niyazov signed an agreement to cooperate on a pipeline
linking Turkmenistan's oil fields to Pakistan's coast via Afghanistan.
"Which makes me wonder," writes Conason, "whether Kissinger should be
asking questions--or answering them."
See also WW3 REPORT #62
[top]
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