ISSUE:
#. 85. May 12, 2003
MORE ANTI-U.S. PROTESTS IN BAGHDAD
--AND KABUL
ISRAEL CRACKS DOWN
ON INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
BENNY ELON: FEAR
OF A MUSLIM PLANET!
SPECTER OF SEPARATISM IN KURDISTAN
--AND NEW YORK CITY!!
NEW YORKERS SAY: NO NEW TERRORIST BAIT FOR GROUND ZERO!!
CURRENT HOMELAND SECURITY COLOR ADVISORY CODE: YELLOW
The words democracy, socialism, freedom, patriotic, realistic, justice,
have each of them several different meanings which cannot be reconciled
with one another. In the case of a word like "democracy," not only is there
no agreed definition, but the attempt to make one is resisted from all
sides. It is almost universally felt that when we call a country
democratic, we are praising it: consequently the defenders of every kind of
regime claim that it is a democracy, and fear that they might have to stop
using the word if it were tied down to any one meaning.
George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language," 1946
By Bill Weinberg 
THE IRAQ FRONT
1. U.S. Seeks U.N. Cover for Occupation; Anarchy Looms
2. Cholera in Basra; Doctors Protest in Baghdad
3. Hunger and Chaos in Umm Qasr
4. Baath Bureaucrats Back in the Saddle
5. U.S. Troops Dead in Helicopter Crash, Sniper Incidents
6. Patriot Missiles Not So Smart
7. U.S. Troops "Encouraged" Looters
8. Nuclear Materials on the Loose
9. WMD Search: Still Politicized
10. Did France Help Baathists Escape?
11. Iraqi Exile Faces Graft Charges in Paris
12. Iran-Exiled Shi'ite Revolutionary Back in Iraq
13. Mass Graves Unearthed in Najaf Area
14. U.S. in Showdown With Iranian Guerillas
15. Hezbollah Ready to Join Iraqi Revolt
16. Iraqis Evict Palestinian Refugees
17. Baghdad's Jews Watch and Wait
18. Ethnic Tensions Rise in Kurdistan
19. Saddam Speaks?
20. U.S. Courts Rule Against Iraq in 9-11 Case
ELSEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
1. Qatar Moves Towards Democracy--and White House
2. Bush: Free Trade Zone For Middle East
THE PALESTINE FRONT
1. Harsh Crackdown on I.S.M.; Access Barred to Gaza Strip
2. Child Shot Dead in Gaza; Clinics Raided in West Bank
3. Elon Schmoozes Bible Beltway, Foresees Islam-Free Planet
THE AFGHANISTAN FRONT
1. Anti-U.S. Protest in Kabul
2. Taliban Resurgence on Pakistan Border
3. Pakistan Seeks Debt Forgiveness
AFRICA
1. Halliburton in Nigeria Bribery Scandal
THE NEW GREAT GAME
1. Astronauts Stranded in Soyuz Snafu
2. France Arms India
THE WAR AT HOME
1. Mayday Now "Loyalty Day"
2. Bush: "Man on Horseback"
3. Secret Service Interrogates Oakland High School Kids
4. U.S. Buys Personal Data on Latin Americans
5. Wiretap Expansion Passes Senate
6. "Operation Homeland Resistance" at NYC Federal Building
NEW YORK CITY
1. Worker Hunger Strike to Demand Health Benefits
2. 9-11 Asbestos Still Lingers in Downtown Apartments
3. 9-11 Litigation Grinds On...And On
4. 9-11 Probe Faults Port Authority
5. Poll: No New Terrorist Bait!
6. City Council Bill Calls for Big Apple Secession
WATCHING THE SHADOWS
1. Prince of Darkness Advises Death Merchants
2. NYT's Miller Advisor to Pipes' Middle East Forum
3. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed: Dead or Alive?
4. Sen. Bob Graham: Bush in 9-11 "Cover-Up"
GLIMMERS OF HOPE
1. Hawaii State Resolution Calls for Repeal of Patriot Act
2. Norwegian Workers Burn Calories, Not Oil
THE IRAQ FRONT
1. U.S. SEEKS U.N. COVER FOR OCCUPATION; ANARCHY LOOMS
The US has drafted a resolution to introduce to the UN Security Council
calling for the lifting of sanctions imposed on Saddam Hussein's
regime--and ending UN control over Iraq's oil revenue. Under the proposal,
the US-led coalition, in consultation with Iraq's interim government, would
use the funds for Iraq's reconstruction. To blunt opposition from Russia
and France, the proposal calls for an international "advisory" panel--made
up of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the IMF and the World Bank--to
audit the spending until an elected government is in place.
Bush also announced a new US civilian administrator for Iraq, former
diplomat Paul Bremer, to replace retired general Jay Garner, who had come
under criticism for the continuing chaos in Iraq. Bremer is a former
managing director of Kissinger and Associates. Bush made it clear that
Bremer would be reporting directly to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
(Sydney Morning Herald, May 10)
Another member of the occupation government, former US ambassador to Yemen
Barbara Bodine, the de facto mayor of Baghdad, was also re-assigned by the
White House after less then three weeks in Iraq. While Garner is to remain
in Iraq despite losing his leadership position, Bodine is returning to
Washington. Emphasizing the housecleaning, one anonymous US official told
the Washington Post, "By the end of this month, you'll see a very different
organization." (Newsday, May 11)
Ahmad Chalabi, who hopes to become Iraq's new leader, is among those
warning that the U.S. is on a course towards further destabilization. Kanan
Makiya, a close Chalabi colleague, recently flew from Baghdad to Washington
to meet with Vice President Dick Cheney and top Pentagon officials, where
he warned that Iraq is descending into anarchy. "This is a recipe for the
break-up of Iraq," he said. He insisted that plans for the interim
government needed to be accelerated and its nucleus should include the
opposition exiles--such as Chalabi and himself. (Sydney Morning Herald, May
10)
Top Iraqi opposition groups have agreed to meet later this week in
US-brokered talks to establish an interim national council for post-Saddam
Iraq. As the meeting was announced, Chalabi himself announced that his
supporters had seized up to 60 tons of files from the Baath Party and
secret police headquarters documenting Saddam's relations with other Arab
leaders--and possibly the fate of thousands of disappeared opponents of the
regime. (NYT, May 6)
The US-led coalition radio station Voice of New Iraq is imploring Baghdad's
parents to keep children away from unexploded ordnance and avoid
approaching military vehicles, warning of potential attacks by supporters
of "the big traitor Saddam Hussein." Any "strange objects in the streets"
should be avoided because they might explode, the station repeatedly
broadcasts. There have been reports in recent weeks of children being
wounded by bomb fragments. (AP, May 3)
Interim Baghdad police chief Zuhair Abdul Razaq, a 36-year veteran of the
Baghdad force and Ministry of the Interior, selected April 22 by officers
from the US Army's 422nd Civil Affairs Battalion, announced he was stepping
down May 3. "I am retiring to allow others to be leaders, to make room for
them to rebuild the police without corruption," Zuhair said. "I ask all the
police forces to help the American forces." Lt. Col. Alan King, civilian
affairs battalion commander, said the US-led Office of Rehabilitation and
Humanitarian Assistance would appoint another interim chief soon. Over
3,000 Iraqi police have returned to work and are walking joint patrols with
US troops. US forces are to shortly begin a training program for the
police. (AP, May 3)
US troops are especially patrolling the hours-long lines at Baghdad's gas
stations, where supplies are extremely limited and tensions have erupted
into violence more than once. With Iraq's oil fields and refineries still
crippled by the war, the US has actually started importing petrol to Iraq
from neighboring Arab countries to relieve the shortages. (NYT, May 7)
On May 9, Rumsfeld pledged to keep as many US troops in Iraq as necessary
to stabilize the country and said it could be over a year before a new
Iraqi government assumes control. With some 135,000 US troops and another
40,000 British troops now in Iraq, Rumsfeld avoids estimating how many will
be necessary over what time period. (WP, May 10)
The web site Iraq Body Count continues to monitor world press reports to
arrive at a daily update of the total Iraqi civilian dead. Each incident is
listed separately, noting the location, number dead, weaponry used and
media source. At press time, the minimum estimate stands at 3,736 and the
maximum at 4,771.
Iraq Body Count disputes the Pentagon's claim that only one civilian has
been killed by cluster bombs, which scatter live explosive over a wide
area. The web site places the figure at approximately 200. (UK Guardian,
May 9)
See also WW3 REPORT #84
[top]
2. CHOLERA IN BASRA; DOCTORS PROTEST IN BAGHDAD
The World Health Organization has reported 17 confirmed cases of cholera in
the southern Iraqi city of Basra. The number pointed to a probable outbreak
of the waterborne disease among "several hundreds of people", the WHO said.
The city's water treatment system was shut down after US air strikes
damaged the electric grid, leaving large parts of the city without clean
water for several weeks.
Some 400 Baghdad doctors staged their own protest against the continuing
mismanagement and chaos--and the appointment of a Saddam holdover as
interim Health Ministry chief. One group of doctors peeled off from the
demonstration to confront Ali Shnan al-Janabi, number three at the Health
Ministry under Saddam and now appointed by the US-led Organization of
Reconstruction and Humanitarian Affairs to head the ministry. (UK
Independent, May 8)
[top]
3. HUNGER AND CHAOS IN UMM QASR
Iraq's port of Umm Qasr has been handed over to Spanish troops--who seem
barely in control of the city and rarely venture far beyond their heavily
guarded headquarters. Australia's daily The Age says the word on the street
is that remnants of Saddam's Baath Party are regrouping with supporters
from Iraq's military who have melted back into the civilian population.
Large quantities of weapons and ammunition--including rocket-propelled
grenades--have been stolen in recent days from poorly-guarded Iraqi
military stockpiles in the area.
"Everyone was happy when the soldiers came here to get rid of the old
regime but now people are wondering what this so-called freedom has brought
them," said the director of the local hospital, Dr Akram Gataa. Each day he
and six colleagues treat up to 1,000 patients in a dilapidated compound
with limited supplies. "The biggest problem is that the people have no
money and no jobs," he said. "The economy has collapsed. The cement
factory, the grain silos and the port have shut down. There is nothing in
the markets and the prices of everything have risen three and four times."
Limited emergency food relief and medical supplies have been trucked in
from Kuwait along with irregular tanker deliveries of water donated by
Kuwait's government. But it has not been nearly sufficient for the area's
population of 50,000. Due to poor coordination, some of the help has proved
useless. A shipment of Australian wheat that arrived with great fanfare had
to be sent back to Kuwait because there were no facilities to mill it into
flour. (The Age, May 5)
[top]
4. BAATH BUREAUCRATS BACK IN THE SADDLE
US occupation authorities have decided to allow hundreds of Baath Party
members to return to high-ranking posts. Scores of Baath members have
reclaimed jobs as managers, directors and directors-general--the highest
positions under ministers and their deputies--at several ministries,
including trade, industry, oil, irrigation, health and education. Numerous
Baathists are also back at the top ranks of the national police. Former
Baathists back in the saddle include Baghdad's newly-appointed police
chief, Gen. Hamid Othman--who had previously been the chief, a post that
required party membership. The acting industry minister Ahmed Rashid
Gailini admitted in an interview that he too was a member, at "a very low
rank." Others in the ministry--including at least one
director-general--held more significant posts in the party leadership,
according to ministry employees. Occupation officials said the only Baath
members automatically disqualified are the 55 most-wanted officials, and a
handful more believed to have been involved in serious human rights
violations or terrorism. (Washington Post, May 7)
Occupation forces are also reportedly restructuring special Baath
paramilitary units, for use in suppressing any potential unrest. US Army
intelligence, CIA and FBI agents are working on the new special units,
according to Iran's IRNA news agency. (Itar-Tass, May 5)
A leading voice in protest of Saddam loyalists being embraced by the
occupation is Prof. Hilal al-Bayyati, a US-trained computer scientist who
was imprisoned by Saddam in 2000 for speaking out against the regime. "It
is impossible for them to return," Bayyati said. "After two years in
prison, I am ready to die to prevent them." (NYT, May 8)
See also WW3 REPORT #83
[top]
5. U.S. TROOPS DEAD IN HELICOPTER CRASH, SNIPER INCIDENTS
A Black Hawk helicopter crashed into the Tigris river May 9, killing three
US soldiers on board and injuring a fourth. The helicopter, from the Army's
4th Infantry Division, reportedly hit a power line near Samarra, between
Baghdad and Tikrit. US officials said it was one of two helicopters sent to
rescue an Iraqi child wounded when ordnance exploded outside Samarra. The
helicopter carrying the child took off safely, but the other apparently
snagged a wire. The three deaths bring the number of US troops killed in
the Iraq war to 145.
Not far from the site of the helicopter crash, Boston Globe journalist
Elizabeth Neuffer was killed in a car accident along with her translator,
Waleed Khalifa Hassan Al-Dulami. Neuffer, who had reported from Rwanda and
Bosnia, was the author of "The Key to My Neighbour's House," a book on war
crimes in those two countries. She was the 14th journalist to die since the
Iraq conflict began. (UK Guardian, May 10)
Two more US troops were killed in separate Baghdad attacks May 8. In one
attack, an unidentified Iraqi reportedly approached a soldier on a bridge
and opened fire with a pistol at close range. The other was hit by a sniper
in east Baghdad. (AP, May 8)
[top]
6. PATRIOT MISSILES NOT SO SMART
The US Patriot missile can apparently mistake friendly aircraft for enemy
rockets--a problem which may have caused Patriots to shoot down two
coalition planes over Iraq, killing three airmen. Pentagon investigators
now suspect misidentification was to blame in the Patriot incidents, which
downed two of the four coalition planes shot down during the Iraq campaign.
The father of Navy Lt. Nathan White, killed by Patriots on April 2, said he
hopes the investigation will result in improvements that reduce the chance
US anti-missile systems will down friendly planes. "You go through the
normal anger, but I also know it's a war situation," said Dennis White, a
former Air Force pilot who flew C-130 cargo planes in Vietnam. "There'll be
some changes, I know, but you'd think you wouldn't have to put in stuff to
protect your own people." Besides White's F/A-18C, Patriots also shot down
a British Tornado jet on March 22, killing both men aboard. (AP, May 7)
[top]
7. U.S. TROOPS "ENCOURAGED" LOOTERS
Dr Khalid Majeed, acting dean at Nasiriya's Technical Institute, blames US
forces for the looting of the school, which remains closed a month after
the fall of Saddam Hussein. Dr Majeed, a community health lecturer at the
college, was at the institute when hundreds of looters gathered outside on
April 8. He said the crowd "had their faces covered, carried knives and
Kalashnikovs. They were shouting, saying 'We need everything from this
college.'" Dr. Majeed realized the school's seven security guards were no
match for the crowd. "I went to an American checkpoint at the college of
science and said we needed help, people wanted to steal from our institute.
They said they couldn't help because their job was only to serve the
checkpoint. "
US troops finally arrived in five vehicles, but refused to ward off the
looters. Instead, the soldiers fired several dozen rounds at the college's
south wall, said Dr. Majeed. "It was a green light to the looters. It told
them 'We are not going to do anything to stop you.'" Within five minutes
the US troops had gone. In the subsequent frenzy, about 100 computers and
100 air conditioning units were stolen; rooms were torched; the science
laboratories wrecked; and the main lecture hall ransacked.
In a statement to BBC News Online, US Central Command in Qatar refused to
accept
responsibility for the event: "The fact that the looting is happening in
Nasiriya is a sad event. However, coalition forces are not a police force.
Coalition forces have no orders
to protect universities. They have orders to protect places of interest
such as hospitals, museums and banks. Iraqis need to protect their own
cities; coalition forces will help the Iraqi people police themselves. For
example, in al-Kut--where people are cooperating with coalition
forces--they have stood up a city police force. The coalition has even
provided arms for the local police force. Iraqis will run Iraq and they
will govern themselves." (BBC, May 6)
[top]
8. NUCLEAR MATERIALS ON THE LOOSE
The caretaker of the village school in al-Wrdiya reports finding several
crates marked "radioactive" or "radio aktiv" (in German) along with "Made
in West Germany" or Hardigg, IND, USA." None of the warnings were in
Arabic. It is believed the crates were looted from the Tuwaitha nuclear
research station, and hidden in the schoolhouse when the looters realized
the danger of what they were carrying. (UK Independent, May 10)
Looting has been reported at nearly all of Iraq's nuclear facilities: the
Tuwaitha Yellowcake Storage Facility, the adjacent Baghdad Nuclear Research
Center, the Ash Shaykhili Nuclear Facility, the Baghdad New Nuclear Design
Center and the Tahadi Nuclear Establishment. (Washington Post, May 10)
[top]
9. WMD SEARCH: STILL POLITICIZED
With the US media still breathlessly awaiting a "smoking gun" on Iraq's
supposed program of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), the seizure of a
possible mobile lab at a Kurdish militia checkpoint made immediate
headlines. But Stephen Cambone, undersecretary of defense for intelligence,
was forced to say: "On the smoking gun, I mean, I don't know." (Newsday,
May 8)
In subsequent days it was announced that the 75th Exploitation Task Force
units searching for WMD will be heading home in June, turning operations
over to a smaller team called the Iraq Survey Group. The outgoing
Exploitation Task Force has found nothing tangible, citing the possible
hiding of evidence in the last days of Saddam's regime, or looting in the
aftermath of the regime's collapse. (BBC, May 11)
Some speculate on ulterior motives behind the arrest of at least one former
Iraqi official on charges of building Saddam's bio-war capacity--Dr. Huda
Salih Mahdi ("Mrs. Anthrax") Ammash, the only woman of the 55 Baath
bureaucrats on the White House most-wanted list. Boston's South End Press,
publishers of the 2002 book "Iraq Under Siege," which included Dr. Ammash's
essay "Toxic Pollution, the Gulf War, and Sanctions," says there may be
political imperatives behind her detention. Hiro Ueki, spokesperson for the
UN Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), confirmed
to South End Press that "UNMOVIC did not single Dr. Ammash out for
interviews because UNMOVIC did not have clear evidence to link Dr. Ammash
to BW [biological weapons] programs" when visiting Baghdad University in
January 2003.
Dr. Ammash, an environmental biologist and professor at Baghdad University,
received her PhD. from the University of Missouri, and has documented of
the rise in cancer among Iraqi children and war veterans since the 1991
Gulf War. In "Iraq Under Siege," she writes: "Iraqi death rates have
increased significantly, with cancer representing a significant cause of
mortality, especially in the south and among children." Dr. Ammash's other
publications include: "Impact of Gulf War Pollution in the Spread of
Infectious Diseases in Iraq," (Soli Al-Mondo, Rome, 1999), and
"Electromagnetic, Chemical, and Microbial Pollution Resulting from War and
Embargo, and Its Impact on the Environment and Health," (Journal of the
[Iraqi] Academy of Science, 1997).
(South End Press press release, May 7)
See also WW3 REPORT #83
[top]
10. DID FRANCE HELP BAATHISTS ESCAPE?
The French government secretly supplied fleeing high-level officials of the
Saddam Hussein regime with passports in Syria that allowed them to escape
to Europe, the Washington Times claimed May 6. The French passports, which
allow free travel throughout the European Union, have helped the Iraqis
avoid capture, anonymous officials told the paper, citing "intelligence
reports." "It made it very difficult to track these people," one official
said. Added another: "It's like Raoul Wallenberg in reverse," a reference
to the Swedish diplomat who supplied travel documents to help Jews escape
Nazi Germany. "Now you have the French helping the bad guys escape from
us." But French embassy spokesperson Nathalie Loiseau responded: "France
formally denies this type of allegation, which is not only contrary to
reality but is intended to discredit our nation. It is certainly time for
rumors of this type--totally unfounded and a dishonor to those who spread
them--to stop."
[top]
11. IRAQI EXILE FACES GRAFT CHARGES IN PARIS
Nadhmi Auchi, an Iraqi billionaire wanted in an embezzlement case involving
French oil giant Elf, has turned himself in to authorities in Paris. Auchi,
one of the richest men in the UK, is one of 37 defendants in the biggest
corporate corruption trial in French history. He is accused of conspiracy
relating to the takeover of Spanish company Ertoil by Elf in the 1990s.
Auchi was arrested in London last month on a French extradition request but
was released on bail. He risks a prison sentence if found guilty. British
officials have declined to comment on media reports that he had been
advising British ministers and seeking a role in postwar Iraq. Auchi's
General Mediterranean Holdings SA (GMH) bought Ertoil and then sold it to
Elf in an operation apparently designed to circumvent legal obstacles. GMH
received $7.6 million in secret commissions from Elf. Auchi was granted
British citizenship in the 1980s after claiming he was in danger if he
returned to Iraq, where he had run afoul of Saddam Hussein. His business
empire, ranging from shipping to hotels, is estimated at $1.9 billion. Elf
has since been privatized and is now part of TotalFinaElf. (Reuters, May 5)
[top]
12. IRAN-EXILED SHI'ITE REVOLUTIONARY BACK IN IRAQ
Ayatollah Mohammed Baqr al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council of the
Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), has returned to Iraq after 23 years of
exile in Iran. He was greeted by thousands of cheering followers in Basra,
where he issued a call for Islamic unity and Iraqi independence. Al-Jazeera
TV estimated the crowd that jammed a Basra stadium for his address at
100,000. "We Muslims have to live together," BBC quoted al-Hakim. "We have
to help each other stand together against imperialism. We want an
independent government. We refuse imposed government." (UPI, May 10)
Members of SCIRI's 15,000-strong armed wing, the Badr Brigade, are also
entering Iraq from their bases across the border in Iran. Days before
Ayatollah Hakim's return, one of his followers in the US, Imam Husham
al-Husainy of Michigan, met with deputy defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz
and other officials at the Pentagon and State Department. Al-Husainy carried a fatwa from the Ayatollah urging followers to cooperate with US
troops--but he also had a warning. He said he told the officials: "There is
too little attention being paid to the opposition, like the Supreme
Council, who have a big hand in Iraqi society. If you don't make a deal
with their representatives, the frustration level will go up. But if you
make a deal with their representatives, they will use their influence with
the people and things will cool down." (NYT, May 7)
SCIRI equivocates on whether it seeks "wilayat al-faqih"--revolutionary
Iran's notion of rule by clerics--or the secular democracy supposedly
favored by the US. Said Ayatollah Hakim's newly-appointed representative in
Najaf, Sayed Sader-Eddine Koubansi: "There has to be a role for the clergy
in any new government. We cannot stand on the sidelines like we were forced
to under Saddam. This does not mean that we want absolute rule by clergy;
there can be an Islamic democracy in Iraq." (Newsday, May 8)
See also WW3 REPORT #84
[top]
13. MASS GRAVES UNEARTHED IN NAJAF AREA
70 bodies, believed to be Shi'ites massacred by Saddam's forces in the 1991
uprising, were exhumed from a shallow mass grave about 13 miles northwest
of Najaf, one of Shia's holiest cities. Bullet casings were found in and
near the graves. Local Iraqis exhumed bodies with shovels and their bare
hands. Searches for mass graves are ongoing throughout the Najaf area. At
least one smaller site, now guarded by US Marines, turned up a few miles
away. (AP, May 5)
[top]
14. U.S. IN SHOWDOWN WITH IRANIAN GUERILLAS
AP reported May 9 that US Army forces had surrounded camps of the
Mujahedeen Khalq, an armed Iranian opposition group based in eastern Iraq,
pointing tanks at its sentinels and demanding it lay down arms.
Negotiations were reported underway, but with no resolution in sight. The
confrontation comes three weeks after a truce between the Iranian rebels
and the Army, under which the Mujahedeen forces could keep their weapons
for self-defense, but had to dismantle check-points.
The Mujaheddin Khalq was allied with Ayatollah Khomeini's Islamic
fundamentalists during the 1979 revolution that overthrew Shah Mohammad
Reza Pahlavi, but Khomeini's regime banned it along with other groups
advocating secular rule. In the 1970s, the group was accused of attacks
that killed several US military personnel and civilians working on defense
projects in Iran, although the group denies targeting Americans. It
reportedly backed the 1979 takeover of the US embassy in Tehran. (AP, May 9)
Writes the website IranMania.com: "Mujahedeen's largest base in Iraq is
practically a garrison town, not far from the border with Iran. US military
sources in the north-east of Iraq said they had been holding talks with
Mujahadeen chiefs on how to disarm the movement. They did not say, however,
whether the US is seeking total disarmament of the group, or whether it
could play a role in securing the Iran-Iraq border. The US fears that if
the Mujahadeen is fully disarmed, Shiite groups close to Iran could profit
from the resulting power vacuum and so boost Tehran's influence in the
country."
See also WW3 REPORT #84
[top]
15. HEZBOLLAH READY TO JOIN IRAQI REVOLT
Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah Shi'ite militia, told
al-Jazeera TV his fighters--who successfully resisted Israeli forces in
southern Lebanon--are ready to join Iraqis if they decide to launch an
insurgency against US forces. "It is a matter first for the Iraqi people to
decide," Sheik Nasrallah said. "All Arabs, Muslims and honorable people in
the world should support a people that decides to resist the occupation.
Hezbollah is part of the Arabs and Muslims... Our position in principle is
to support any oppressed people that is subjected to tyranny and
occupation." (AP, May 8)
[top]
16. IRAQIS EVICT PALESTINIAN REFUGEES
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is concerned about the fate
of up to 90,000 Palestinian refugees in Iraq. The Palestinians enjoyed
protection under Saddam Hussein, and Iraqi landlords were forced to charge
them very low rents. Since the fall of the regime, landlords have started
to evict their Palestinian tenants. About 1,000 Palestinians have already
been driven from their homes in Baghdad and are now living in camps on
waste ground or squatting vacant buildings. They have also been violently
attacked by Iraqis who accuse them of collaborating with Saddam's regime.
"I have two wounds here in my head," one of the evicted Palestinians told
the BBC Arabic Service. "A group of Iraqis attacked us. They said 'You're
Palestinian.' They beat me and my father up. And we were about to leave our
house because we had been given notice that we were evicted." The UNHCR is
sending an aid convoy to Baghdad to help the homeless Palestinians. (BBC,
May 9)
[top]
17. BAGHDAD'S JEWS WATCH AND WAIT
Six days before the bombing of Baghdad began, the 30 members of the Batawin
synagogue's congregation gathered for their last Sabbath service. Few have
returned. While Muslims congregated at mosques for prayers throughout the
bombing and its aftermath, the doors of the synagogue remained closed--even
through Passover two weeks ago. "The Muslims are many, but we are only 30,"
said Naji, 70, the elder who made the decision to close the synagogue until
further notice. Mahdi Saleh, the Muslim guard employed to protect the
synagogue, spoke for the group: "We don't want to draw attention to
ourselves. Holding prayers would draw attention to us. We are taking all
measures so that no one can come and attack us."
Most of Iraq's once-vibrant Jewish community fled to Israel after 1948.
Saddam's rise to power in the 1970s was accompanied by an anti-Jewish purge
and public hangings of so-called Zionist spies--in which hundreds more fled
to Israel or Europe. But having reduced the Jewish community to an
unthreatening few, Saddam made some amends, providing a modicum of
protection as evidence of the regime's secular credentials. Saddam had the
synagogue renovated, paid for a security guard and even doled out a small
subsidy. When a Palestinian gunman attacked the city's other synagogue six
years ago, killing two Jews and two Muslim guards, the regime made a public
show of hunting down the assailant, who was hanged.
In their own neighborhood, Baghdad's Jews seem secure. Their decrepit
Ottoman-era homes, originally built by wealthy Jewish merchants, are
watched over by Muslim and Christian and neighbors. But with demands for an
Islamic state growing in post-Saddam Iraq, few will now answer their doors
to strangers.
Said elder Jakub Yousef: "We do our prayers at home now, in the morning and
evening. These are difficult times, but what can we do?" The Baghdad Jews
said they will wait and see what kind of new regime develops before
re-opening the synagogue. But few said they wanted to leave the country.
When Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sent a Passover message inviting
the community to move to Israel, they politely declined. "Before I am a
Jew, I am Iraqi," said Khalida Saleh, 38, Yousef's niece and the
community's youngest member. She added that if she were to leave for
another country, it would be the UK or Netherlands--not Israel. "I've heard
it's a bad country. The people say so." (London Times, May 10)
Meanwhile, Judith Miller, the New York Times reporter embedded with MET
Alpha, the "mobile exploitation team" seeking evidence of weapons of mass
destruction, reports that the team did unearth evidence of Saddam Hussen's
special fixation on Israel and the Jews. On a mission to recover a
7th-century Talmud that a former official of Saddam's Mukhabarat secret
police said he had hidden in the agency's basement, MET Alpha waded through
muck in the flooded lower levels of Mukhabarat headquarters. The Talmud did
not surface, but the team reportedly did find a perfect and detailed
miniature mock-up of the Israeli Knesset building, as well as mock-ups of
downtown Jerusalem and other Israeli official buildings; satellite pictures
of the Israeli nuclear complex at Dimona; a map of Israel indicating where
Iraqi Scud missiles had hit during the 1991 Gulf War--and a bundle of
ancient Jewish texts including a Babylonian Talmud from Vilna. Also found
were accounting books from Baghdad's Jewish community dating to the 1940s,
and a wooden box with Hebrew writing which may have contained the missing
Talmud. (NYT, May 7)
[top]
18. ETHNIC TENSIONS RISE IN KURDISTAN
Arabs from the northern city of Kirkuk demonstrated outside Baghdad's
Palestine Hotel--a nerve center for the occupation--protesting that they
had been evicted from their homes by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
(PUK). PUK peshmerga (militia forces) took Kirkuk as Saddam's regime
collapsed, and ordered that formerly Kurdish homes and properties which had
been redistributed to Arabs under Saddam's regime be returned to their
original owners. Baath Party leaders and former police officers are
especially targeted for eviction. Although PUK has officially withdrawn
form Kirkuk and turned it over to US forces, the party has quietly moved
much of its administrative offices into the city. (Newsday, May 11)
Kurdish forces have threatened to secede unless the new regime recognizes
their autonomy and addresses Saddam's crimes against Kurds. Said PUK leader
Jalal Talabani, in Baghdad for a meeting of Iraqi opposition factions: "The
Arab governments must come and see those mass graves and decide what kinds
of crimes were committed by Saddam Hussein. And they must go to the Iraqi
people and apologize." (NYT, May 9)
See also WW3 REPORT #s 84 & 83
[top]
19. SADDAM SPEAKS?
Reporters with the Sydney Morning Herald claim they received a 14-minute
audio-tape allegedly made by Saddam Hussein from two men in Baghdad who
were trying to get the tape to al-Jazeera TV. On the recording, a
tired-sounding voice, interrupted once by coughing, urges Iraqis to
resistance: "I am talking to you from inside great Iraq and I say to you,
the main task for you, Arab and Kurd, Shiite and Sunni, Muslim and
Christian and the whole Iraqi people of all religions, your main task is to
kick the enemy out from your country." Noting that some Iraqis had
celebrated Saddam's 66th birthday April 28, the speaker said: "It was an
Iraqi decision... It is their true attitude toward Saddam Hussein." White
House officials said the tape was being studied to determine its
authenticity. (Newsday, May 8)
See also WW3 REPORT #84
[top]
20. U.S. COURTS RULE AGAINST IRAQ IN 9-11 CASE
Following testimony by ex-CIA director James Woolsey, US District Judge
Harold Baer in Manhattan ruled for the families of two 9-11 victims seeking
$104 million in damages from Iraq. Wrote Baer: "I conclude that the
plaintiffs have shown, albeit barely, 'by evidence satisfactory t the
court' that Iraq provided material support to bin Laden and al-Qaeda."
(Newsday, May 8)
[top]
ELSEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
1. QATAR MOVES TOWARDS DEMOCRACY--AND THE WHITE HOUSE
On May 8, President Bush hosted Qatar's foreign minister, Sheik Hamad bin
Khalifa al-Thani, at the White House to thank him for hosting Pentagon
Central Command during the Iraq campaign. The US military presence in Qatar
is set to expand as US forces relocate from Saudi Arabia. (NYT, May 9) The
new closeness to Washington come with other changes in the oil-rich
emirate. On April 29, a majority of over 96% approved a ballot measure
instating Qatar's first constitution. The country's first parliamentary
elections are to be held within two years, breaking the heretofore
near-absolute rule of the emirs. (Gulf News, May 5)
Moiz Mannan, a writer for Qatar's daily The Peninsula, summed up the
ambivalent feelings of his countrymen: "The Iraq war has made an impact on
the public psyche in terms of exposing the inherent weaknesses of the Arab
and Islamic world, but the Qatari people know that in their own national
interest they must deal with the West... With about 750,000 residents,
Qatar is home to a multi-religious expatriate population more than four
times in size than the natives. Civilian expatriates have been accepted
with open arms, but the presence of foreign military forces in the country
is not very comforting... But it seems quite inevitable." (Newsday, May 11)
See also WW3 REPORT #84
[top]
2. BUSH: FREE TRADE ZONE FOR MIDDLE EAST
President George Bush has called for a US-backed free trade area in the
Middle East within a decade, once peace is established. Bush said a free
trade zone for the region would combat corruption and strengthen the rule
of law. The comments came on the eve of a visit to Israel and Palestine by
Secretary of State Colin Powell. (UK Independent, May 10)
[top]
THE PALESTINE FRONT
1. HARSH CRACKDOWN ON I.S.M.; ACCESS BARRED TO GAZA STRIP
The two British nationals who carried out the April 29 suicide attack in
Tel Aviv were apparently among 15 people who visited an apartment office of
the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in Rafah, Gaza Strip, on April
25. Tthe group, which organizes non-violent resistance to the Israeli
occupation, said the men had no link to the ISM. The two men were among a
group of visiting volunteers that also included three Italians and four
Britons seeking to prepare a summer camp in Rafah, said the ISM's Raphael
Cohen. (CNN, May 5)
On May 9 the offices of the ISM and the Israeli-Palestinian peace group
Raprochement in Beit Sahour, West Bank, were both raided by the Israeli
Defense Forces (IDF) Three women were taken into custody. (Gush Shalom, May
9) The arrested women were Christine Razowsky, 28, from Chicago; Australian
national Miranda Sissons, an employee of the New York-based Human Rights
Watch; and local Palestinian Fida Gharib, 22. The foreigners are to be
deported. Over 20 jeeps surrounded the office in the raid, and computers
and files were also confiscated. (Haaretz, May 11)
Simultaneously, the IDF started requiring any foreigners passing into Gaza
Strip to fill out a form at the army checkpoint declaring that they have
"no association with the organization known as ISM (International
Solidarity Movement) nor any other organization whose aim is to disrupt IDF
operations." (Electronic Intifada, May 9) The form also requires
foreigners--including UN relief workers--to acknowledge that they are
entering a danger zone and state that they will not hold the IDF
responsible if they
are shot or injured. The document also warns visitors they are forbidden to
approach security fences next to Jewish settlements or to enter "military
zones." (BBC, May 8)
The new measures comes as the British government is demanding an
investigation into the death of British photojournalist James Miller,
killed--apparently by IDF fire--at Gaza's Rafah refugee camp. (Sydney
Morning Herald, May 9) The award-winning photojournalist was shot while
making a documentary on house demolitions in Palestinian areas. Witnesses
dispute the IDF's claim that he was caught in crossfire, asserting there
was no Palestinian fire. They said he was waving a white flag and walking
towards an Israeli military vehicle when it opened fire. (BBC, May 8)
The parents of a British ISM activist who was shot in the head by Israeli
troops came under fire themselves as they traveled to the spot where their
son was critically injured in the Gaza Strip. Anthony and Jocelyn Hurndall
were in a British diplomatic convoy entering the town of Rafah when IDF
troops at a checkpoint fired a shot, passing narrowly over the top of their
vehicles. The Hurndalls, whose eldest son Tom is in a coma at an Israeli
hospital, were accompanied by Tom's youngest brother and British embassy
military and political attaches. (UK Independent, May 6)
See also WW3 REPORT #84
[top]
2. CHILD SHOT DEAD IN GAZA; CLINICS RAIDED IN WEST BANK
Alian Bashiti, an 18-month-old Palestinian boy, was shot in the neck by IDF
fire in the Gaza Strip's Khan Yunis refugee camp May 7, and died shortly
afterwards. He was in his home when he was hit. Witnesses said IDF troops
fired at the camp from the nearby settlements of Morag and Ganei Tal. The
IDF expressed regret for the death of the baby, claiming soldiers at an
outpost guarding the settlements had returned fire after coming under
attack.
Two Hamas militants were also killed that day; one in an explosion in a
West Bank house and the second by IDF gunfire. Hamas accused the IDF of
setting off the mysterious blast. (Haaretz, May 7)
On May 5, IDF troops invaded two medical clinics in Nablus and Ramallah,
West Bank, destroying computers, furniture and equipment. Dr. Mohammed
Skafi, head of emergency services at the clinic, was arrested, along with
Nasaif al-Dik, coordinator of community health projects, and two volunteers.
(Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees action alert, May 5)
[top]
3. ELON SCHMOOZES BIBLE BELTWAY, FORESEES ISLAM-FREE PLANET
Israel's ultra-hardline Tourism Minister Benny Elon was among a group of 50
religious settlers who attacked a Palestinian home in East Jerusalem April
28, according to a report by the Israeli Committee Against House
Demolitions. The late-night attack resulted in two Palestinians
hospitalized--including a child who was thrown out a broken window. The
attackers were reportedly members of Elon's Homat Shalem organization.
Days after the attack, Minister Elon arrived in Washington DC, where he is
expected to meet with the leaders of the Christian Coalition of America and
the Christian Broadcasting Network, as well as right-wing Christian pundits
Gary Bauer and Janet Parshall. (Ekklesia, May 4) Elon insisted he was in DC
to discuss tourism, but acknowledged that he discussed the so-called
"roadmap" to peace in his meeting with House Majority Leader Tom DeLay
(R-TX), a born-again Christian and champion of Israeli hardliners. In the
Israeli cabinet meeting May 4, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon criticized Elon
for leaving for DC the previous night, and accused him of planning to lobby
members of Congress against the "roadmap," contrary to official Israeli
policy. (Haaretz, May 11)
Elon reportedly plans to tour the Bible Belt as well as the beltway. "I am
very much at home among the Christians who support Israel," Elon told the
Israeli daily Haaretz. "These are people who are wild about Israel and
believe in the annexation of Judea and Samaria and even in the transfer of
Palestinians from the soil of the Land of Israel. Compared to them, I am
considered a dove." He also told Haaretz: "It's clear that Islam is on the
way to disappearing...What we are now seeing across the Muslim world is not
a powerful surge of faith but the dying embers of Islam. How will it
disappear? Very simply. Within a few years a Christian crusade against
Islam will be launched, which will be the major event of this millennium.
Obviously, we will be up against quite a large problem when only the two
great religions of Judaism and Christianity remain, but that's still a long
way off." (Haaretz, May 1)
See also
WW3 REPORTs #65
, 61
, & 40
[top]
THE AFGHANISTAN FRONT
1. ANTI-U.S. PROTEST IN KABUL
About 300 Afghans chanted anti-US and anti-British slogans in Kabul May 6
in the first such protest since US-led forces toppled the Taliban in late
2001. The demonstrators, including government employees and university
students, protested growing insecurity, slow post-war reconstruction and
long delays in payment of state salaries by Hamid Karzai's US-backed
government. Some said it was time for Afghans to fight the "American
invasion," just as they had resisted the Russians and British. "We don't
want the Brits and the Americans!" shouted one Kabul University student.
"We want Islam to rule. We want security. They have failed to bring it to
us and we want them out!" Another shouted: "Death to Bush! Death to
America!"
The protest was organized by the Scientific Center, headed by Sediq Afghan,
a prominent Afghan intellectual known for criticisms of the Soviet-backed
regime in the 1980s, the Mujahedeen governments that replaced it and the
Taliban. "They are talking about reconstruction, but instead making
themselves rich," he told the crowd. Afghan said that about the only
changes people had seen since the Taliban fell were that some women had
stopped wearing burqa and introduction of the Internet. "Where is the
security and reconstruction that they boasted about?" he asked, pointing to
the downtown street's cracked pavement. (Reuters, May 6)
[top]
2. TALIBAN RESURGENCE ON PAKISTAN BORDER
The New York Times reported May 6 that Quetta, Pakistan, near the Afghan
border, has become "a home away from home for the Taliban. DCs of Taliban
leaders' speeches are on sale in the shops, the Friday sermons in the
mosques are openly supportive of those who consider themselves to be waging
a holy war against Americans or other non-Muslims, and young men speak
openly of their desire to go to Afghanistan to fight."
[top]
3. PAKISTAN SEEKS DEBT FORGIVENESS
Pakistan has announced it wants the US to write off another $1.8 billion in
debt to help its key regional ally fight poverty. The official APP news
agency reported that Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz asked for the
cancellation of Pakistan's remaining debt to Washington in a meeting with
US Ambassador to Pakistan Nancy Powell, a day before a visit by Deputy
Secretary of State Richard Armitage. The US signed a formal agreement with
Pakistan last month to write off $1.0 billion in debt, following through on
a promise made when Pakistan joined the US War on Terrorism after 9-11.
Armitage is in the region to encourage a diplomatic thaw between Pakistan
and rival India. (Reuters, May 6)
[top]
AFRICA
1. HALLIBURTON IN NIGERIA BRIBERY SCANDAL
Halliburton, the oil industry giant once run by Vice President Dick Cheney,
has admitted one of its subsidiaries paid millions of dollars to a Nigerian
official in return for tax breaks. The company said it had informed the US
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of about $2.4 million in improper
payments to the official, who the company claimed had posed as a tax
consultant. Halliburton admits they "clearly violated" the company's code
of conduct and says "several" employees have been fired. The SEC is
investigating, and the firm could face a $5 million tax bill in Nigeria.
The potentially illegal payments emerged during an audit. (UK Guardian, May
9)
See also WW3 REPORT #84
[top]
THE NEW GREAT GAME
1. ASTRONAUTS STRANDED IN SOYUZ SNAFU
The touchdown of a joint US-Russian crew from the International Space
Station took an unexpected turn when the Russian Soyuz space capsule landed
almost 300 miles off-target in the deserts of Kazakhstan, sparking an
hours-long search for the three-man crew. The men, who had been stuck in
space since November, two months longer than anticipated, were flown to a
Russian space facility outside Moscow. (Newsday, May 5) The incident
highlighted tensions between the US and Russia over maintenance of the
Soyuz fleet, which has had to pick up the slack since the grounding of the
US Space Shuttle fleet.
See WW3 REPORT #83
[top]
2. FRANCE ARMS INDIA
French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie met with her Indian
counterpart George Fernandes in New Delhi to discuss long-term
military-to-military cooperation, including joint training missions and
sales of high-tech weapons systems, Mirage 2000 fighter jets and six
diesel-powered Scorpion submarines. Alliot-Marie emphasized that France
would not consider arms sales to Pakistan, the top US ally in the region.
France and India were united in their opposition to the US war on Iraq.
(Weekly Mirror International, April 30)
[top]
THE WAR AT HOME
1. MAYDAY NOW "LOYALTY DAY"
President George Bush has declared May 1 Loyalty Day, a "day of
celebration...reaffirming our allegiance to our Nation." (White House press
release, April 30)
[top]
2. BUSH: "MAN ON HORSEBACK"
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is warning of a "Man on Horseback"
following President Bush's dramatic arrival last week on an aircraft
carrier to greet US troops returning from Iraq--via a fighter jet which he
co-piloted, dressed in a flight suit. Krugman notes that US presidents
traditionally do not wear military uniforms, emphasizing the principle of
civilian control over the armed forces. Krugman sees a dangerous departure
from this ethic in Bush's media stunt:
"George Bush's 'Top Gun' act aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln--c'mon, guys,
it wasn't about honoring the troops, it was about showing the president in
a flight suit--was as scary as it was funny. Mind you, it was funny. At
first the White House claimed the dramatic tail-hook landing was necessary
because the carrier was too far out to use a helicopter. In fact, the ship
was so close to shore that, according to the Associated Press,
administration officials 'acknowledged positioning the massive ship to
provide the best TV angle for Bush's speech, with the sea as his background
instead of the San Diego coastline.' A US-based British journalist told me
that he and his colleagues had laughed through the whole scene. If Tony
Blair had tried such a stunt, he said, the press would have demanded to
know how many hospital beds could have been provided for the cost of the
jet fuel. But US television coverage ranged from respectful to gushing.
Nobody pointed out that Mr. Bush was breaking an important tradition. And
nobody seemed bothered that Mr. Bush, who appears to have skipped more than
a year of the National Guard service that kept him out of Vietnam, is now
emphasizing his flying experience." (NYT, May 7)
[top]
3. SECRET SERVICE INTERROGATES OAKLAND HIGH SCHOOL KIDS
Teachers in Oakland, CA, are rallying behind two high school students who
were interrogated by the Secret Service following remarks they made about
the president in a class discussion about the war in Iraq. While the exact
wording is up for debate, the teacher in the class at Oakland High didn't
consider the remarks mere criticism but a direct threat, and called the
Secret Service. The students were grilled by federal agents without legal
counsel or their parents present, just the principal.
"When one of the students asked, 'do we have to talk now? Can we be silent?
Can we get legal council?' they were told, 'we own you, you don't have any
legal rights,'" said teacher Larry Felson. "We don't want federal agents or
police coming in our schools and interrogating our children at the whim of
someone who has a hunch something might be wrong," added teacher Cassie
Lopez. The union representing Oakland teachers requires that students be
afforded legal counsel and parental guidance before they're interrogated by
authorities. But it's too late for the two involved in this incident, and
teachers say it's something they'll carry with them for years. "I tell you
the looks on those children's faces. I don't know if they'll say anything
about anything ever again. Is that what we want? I don't think we want
that," said Lopez. (KRON Online, May 7)
[top]
4. U.S. BUYS PERSONAL DATA ON LATIN AMERICANS
Since 2001, the US government has been buying data on millions of residents
of 10 Latin American countries--apparently without their consent or
knowledge--from ChoicePoint, a private company based in suburban Atlanta,
GA. ChoicePoint collects the information abroad and sells it to US
government officials in three dozen agencies, including the Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS). According to a contract procured by the
Electronic Privacy Information Center, the INS paid $1 million last year
for unlimited access to ChoicePoint's foreign databases. An immigration
agency official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the files were
used by its investigators and "Quick Response Teams" to round up immigrants
inside the US. (Miami Herald, April 14)
ChoicePoint says it bought data legally from subcontractors who certified
they followed privacy laws. But several countries where the company buys
data--including Mexico, Nicaragua and Costa Rica--are now investigating.
ChoicePoint also buys data from subcontractors in Guatemala, Honduras, El
Salvador, Colombia and Venezuela. The company refuses to name the sellers
or reveal where they obtained the data. (AP, April 14) The ChoicePoint
corporate group includes Database Technologies, Inc. (DBT), which was
involved in the alleged purging of thousands of African-Americans from
Florida's voter lists before the 2000 presidential election in the US.
(Greg Palast, "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy," 2002)
( Immigration News Briefs, April 20)
See also WW3 REPORT #84
[top]
5. WIRETAP EXPANSION PASSES SENATE
A Senate measure sponsored by Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) was
approved, allowing federal agents to wiretap foreign terrorist suspects in
the US, without having to first prove they are agents of a foreign power or
terrorist group as mandated by the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Act. The measure, which still has to be approved by the House, was opposed
by Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who said she was "concerned about zealousness
and overreach." Schumer countered that "We do not give up any liberty in
this bill," pointing out that it does not apply to US citizens or
immigrants with green cards. He added: "We live in a new world. It's a
post-9-11 world. We have to adjust to those realities, and I believe we can
do both, have security and liberty." (Newsday, May 9)
See also WW3 REPORT #84
[top]
6. "OPERATION HOMELAND RESISTANCE" AT NYC FEDERAL BUILDING
Activists chanting "no more profiling, no more war" were arrested after
they linked arms to block the entrance to Manhattan's federal building May
5. On its Web site, the group, which calls itself Operation Homeland
Resistance, said: "As the United States government continues its war on
Iraq now in the form of occupation we must continue our struggle for
justice with peace.... New Yorkers are tired of politicians using the
tragedy of Sept. 11th to engage in military aggression abroad and domestic
repression at home. The bombings of Afghanistan and Iraq have not made us
safer or even brought us closer to any real answers." (AP, May 5)
[top]
NEW YORK CITY
1. WORKER HUNGER STRIKE TO DEMAND HEALTH BENEFITS
On May 6, low-income workers injured by toxic fallout in the 9-11 attacks
and other on-the-job incidents launched a seven-day public hunger strike in
front of Gov. Pataki's office at 633 Third Ave. The workers charge that
Pataki policies have further endangered their health by promoting longer
work hours and defunding health programs and the Workers' Compensation
Board (WCB). The WCB is accused of delaying or denying benefits and medical
treatment for those injured on the job.
The strikers are demanding that Pataki overhaul the WCB so that decisions
are made in three months and interim benefits are granted within a week;
the minimum benefit rate be raised from the current $40 a week; that the
Family Health Plus be expanded to assure that all New Yorkers have access
to health care; that the state ensure workers have the right to decline
overtime hours; and that the state undertake a long-term study and
treatment program for those affected by the 9-11 toxic air. (Campaign for
Workers' Health & Safety press release, May 6)
[top]
2. 9-11 ASBESTOS STILL LINGERS IN DOWNTOWN APARTMENTS
The EPA's voluntary asbestos testing and clean-up program set up in
response to the 9-11 disaster began last August in residences south of
Canal, Pike, and Allen Streets. But residents complain that the agency has
been unresponsive to calls and letters--even after EPA testing in
apartments found asbestos levels more than double the agency's risk-based
clearance level of .0009 fibers per cubic centimeter, a standard developed
specifically for post-9-11 downtown residents. Residents said they were
informed of the results by mail, but the EPA failed to follow through on
pledges to work with residents on addressing their health concerns. The EPA
says that of the total 3,008 apartments cleaned and tested as of April 24,
slightly under one percent showed elevated asbestos, while an additional
3.9 percent could not be evaluated due to clogged filters or other
mechanical complications. (Downtown Express, May 6-12)
See also WW3 REPORT #50
[top]
3. 9-11 LITIGATION GRINDS ON...AND ON
US Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in Manhattan dismissed three lawsuits
claiming the 9-11 Victim Compensation Fund, which is expected to cost US
tax-payers up to $5 billion, is unfairly biased against high-income
victims. The ruling vindicated the fund's embattled "special master"
Kenneth Feinberg, who was accused of trying to deny victims' families of
hundreds of millions of dollars. (NYT, May 9)
See also WW3 REPORT #s 84 & 75
[top]
4. 9-11 PROBE FAULTS PORT AUTHORITY
The investigation into the collapse of the Twin Towers by the Building &
Fire Research Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards &
Technology has brought back preliminary findings indicating that the NY-NJ
Port Authority, which owned the World Trade Center, never performed
fundamental tests to determine how the towers' innovative structure would
withstand fire. The finding undermines decades of public assurances by the
Port Authority that the buildings met or exceeded the requirements of New
York City's building code. (NYT, May 8)
See also WW3 REPORT #65
[top]
5. POLL: NO NEW TERRORIST BAIT!
In a poll conducted by Quinnipiac University, 57% of New York City
residents surveyed think that architect Daniel Libeskind's plan for a
1,776-foot spire at the World Trade Center site--which would make the site
again host to the world's tallest building--is a "bad idea." Said
Quinnipiac University Polling Institute's director Maurice Carroll: "He's
going to build the world's tallest building, and people don;t think its a
good idea. A fair number of people think it will taunt the terrorists, who
will attack again. It's already been attacked twice." (Newsday, May 9)
See also WW3 REPORT #84
[top]
6. CITY COUNCIL BILL CALLS FOR BIG APPLE SECESSION
New York City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. has introduced a bill to make
the Big Apple the 51st state, arguing that the city pays $3.5 billion more
to the state in taxes than it gets in return and can't afford it anymore.
"We need our money back," he said. The move came as legislators in Albany
wrestle over the state budget and Mayor Mike Bloomberg has announced
sweeping budget cuts. "In the past the idea of secession was romantic and
maybe cute," said Vallone. "Now it may be the only the way for the city to
survive."
The idea has periodically recurred throughout the city's history. Novelist
Norman Mailer argued for secession in his 1969 quixotic mayoral bid [with
columnist Jimmy Breslin]. A pro-slavery mayor [Fernando Wood] proposed New
York secede during the Civil War. Vallone's proposal calls for a ballot
referendum asking the public for approval to study secession for two years.
As a new name for the city-state, Vallone offered "Greater New York,"
"Gotham" or "New Amsterdam"--the city's name in the seventeenth century.
Secession would need the approval of both the state legislature and US
Congress. But Vallone displayed some bluster: "We fought a war over
secession. It was the Revolutionary War." (Reuters, May 9)
[top]
WATCHING THE SHADOWS
1. PRINCE OF DARKNESS ADVISES DEATH MERCHANTS
Pentagon adviser Richard Perle, who recently stepped down as head of the
Defense Policy Board, was accused of a new conflict of interests after it
was revealed that he had briefed investors on how to profit from a
potential war with Iraq or North Korea--after attending a classified
intelligence briefing on the two countries. Three weeks after the Defense
Policy Board was briefed by the Defense Intelligence Agency on Iraq and
North Korea in February, Perle gave a talk to Goldman Sachs investors,
delivered as part of a conference call, titled "Implications of an Imminent
War: Iraq Now. North Korea Next?" (UK Guardian, May 9)
See also WW3 REPORT #80
[top]
2. NYT'S MILLER ADVISOR TO PIPES' MIDDLE EAST FORUM
Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Judith Miller was called out
by legions of media-watchers for her spectacularly non-corroborated April
21 front-page story on Pentagon claims that an Iraqi scientist had revealed
the existence of a WMD program. (See WW3 REPORT #83)
Daniel Forbes of Global Vision News now points out Miller's relationship
with the Middle East Forum, run by the controversial Daniel Pipes, who has
been in the news of late as a Bush nominee to the Congressionally-chartered
US Institute of Peace. The Forum was founded in 1994 to influence US
foreign policy, and has come under attack for what critics call its
anti-Islamic views. Judith Miller is among its "List of Experts on Islam,
Islamism, and the Middle East." She is identified as a Times correspondent
with two areas of expertise: "Militant Islam, [and] Biological warfare."
Miller spoke at a forum "launch party" for her 1996 book on Islamic
extremism, "God Has Ninety-Nine Names," published by Simon & Schuster.
Miller also appeared in 2001 at a Forum event at hotel in New York. Asked
whether it was appropriate for a Times reporter to be on his organization's
list of experts, Pipes said, "If I didn't think it appropriate, why would
she be on our website?" (GVNews.Net, May 7)
See also WW3 REPORT #81
[top]
3. KHALID SHAIKH MOHAMMED: DEAD OR ALIVE?
The Memory Hole, a web watchdog on media inconsistencies maintained by the
group Students for Orwell, notes that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a presumed
high-level al-Qaeda operative reported by the New York Times March 2 to
have been arrested in Pakistan, was reported by Asia Times Oct. 30, 2002 to
have been killed in a police raid on his apartment in Karachi.
See also WW3 REPORT #75
[top]
4. SEN. BOB GRAHAM: BUSH IN 9-11 "COVER-UP"
U.S. Senator and presidential hopeful Bob Graham (D-FLA) told CBS's Face
the Nation that the Bush administration is hiding intelligence to "cover
up" failures both before and after the 9-11 attacks. Graham, former
chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, helped author a House-Senate
intelligence report on terrorism and the nation's intelligence community.
Speaking from a studio in Des Moines, site of the first presidential caucus
next year, Graham said the report completed in December remains classified
because the Bush administration is afraid to release it. Calling the Bush
White House "one of the most secretive administrations in American
history," Graham said even testimony given in public has been classified by
the White House. Restricted from revealing details, Graham said the report
provides detailed information that "the American people have been denied."
While saying "Saddam Hussein is an evil man," Graham voted against the Iraq
war, saying it t would distract from more urgent terror war priorities. "We
do not have the information so that we can hold the administration
accountable," said Graham. "I call that a cover up." (Palm Beach Post, May
11)
See also WW3 REPORT #84
[top]
GLIMMERS OF HOPE
1. HAWAII STATE RESOLUTION CALLS FOR REPEAL OF PATRIOT ACT
The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii applauded the state
legislature for being the first in the nation to pass a resolution calling
for the repeal of the most draconian provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act. The
Hawaii House of Representatives adopted the "Reaffirming the State of
Hawaii's Commitment to Civil Liberties and the Bill of Rights" Resolution
April 25, by a 35 to 12 vote. The Hawaii Senate had approved the measure
earlier that month. Ninety-three towns and counties in 23 states across
the country have passed similar resolutions. A resolution opposing the USA
PATRIOT Act passed overwhelmingly with strong bipartisan support in the New
Mexico House of Representatives, although it failed to reach the New Mexico
Senate floor in time for a vote before the end of the legislative term.
Juneau, Alaska's state capital, passed a similar resolution April 28.
(Hawaii ACLU press release, April 29)
The text of the Legislation is on-line
See also WW3 REPORT #72
[top]
2. NORWEGIAN WORKERS BURN CALORIES, NOT OIL
Norwegian government workers are being offered cash incentives to use
bicycles on the job as part of a drive to cut car use. Municipal employees
receive 43 cents for every kilometer they cycle while on business under the
"Healthy City" program in the southwest town of Sandnes. Meanwhile, an
estimated 75,000 cyclists pedaled to work May 5 to mark the annual "Bicycle
to Work" campaign, many stopping for a free breakfast organized along cycle
paths. (Reuters, May 6)
[top]
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