SEPTEMBER 30-13, 02 Archives

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Why? Because We Can September 30, 2002 By MAUREEN DOWD WASHINGTON ˜ The Boy Emperor's head hurt. All the oppressive obligations of statecraft were swimming through his brain like hungry koi.
He summoned the imperial war tutor to the oval throne.
"I'm confused, Wise Rummy," he confessed. "Is the war pre-emptive, preventive or preventable? Is Saddam fissile or fissible? What in creation is counterproliferation? Everything's moving so fast. It's a puzzlement. Why are we mad at Saddam?"
"Because he wants to attack our country," the mandarin replied
"Why?" the Boy pressed.
"Because we want to attack his country," the tutor said.
"Why?" The Boy was insatiable.
"Because Saddam tried to destroy your dad."
"Why?"
"Because your dad tried to destroy Saddam."
"Why?"
"Because he's evil."
"Why?"
"Because he's pretending to go along with inspections so he can get bombs."
"Why?"
"Because we're pretending to go along with inspections so we can bomb."
nytimes.com

Anti-war protesters march to Cheney's house
September 30, 2002 WASHINGTON (AP) -- Thousands of people opposing a war with Iraq marched to the residence of Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday, culminating three days of smaller-than-expected demonstrations. Protesters, some holding signs that said "No Blood for Oil," blamed Cheney for pushing the nation toward war. Police estimated about 2,500 people turned out for the peaceful event. cnn.com

White House under pressure to reveal Sept. 11 information Sep. 30, 2002 A steady stream of disclosures about unheeded warnings and missed clues before Sept. 11 is intensifying pressure on the White House and intelligence agencies to reveal who knew what before the attacks and to improve the nation's defenses against terrorism. With five public hearings and three staff reports, the joint House-Senate investigation into the intelligence community has produced more revelations and moments of drama than many in Washington expected. "I've been surprised at what they have been able to get out of the intelligence community - these hearings are putting some heat on the agencies," said Dennis DeConcini, a former Arizona senator who chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee in the early 1990s. Relatives of Sept. 11 victims have seized on the disclosures to push for more information. Leaders of the two intelligence committees from both parties have joined the chorus, as they digest what the investigation has found so far. macon.comA steady stream of disclosures about unheeded warnings and missed clues before Sept. 11 is intensifying pressure on the White House and intelligence agencies to reveal who knew what before the attacks and to improve the nation's defenses against terrorism. With five public hearings and three staff reports, the joint House-Senate investigation into the intelligence community has produced more revelations and moments of drama than many in Washington expected. "I've been surprised at what they have been able to get out of the intelligence community - these hearings are putting some heat on the agencies," said Dennis DeConcini, a former Arizona senator who chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee in the early 1990s. Relatives of Sept. 11 victims have seized on the disclosures to push for more information. Leaders of the two intelligence committees from both parties have joined the chorus, as they digest what the investigation has found so far. macon.com

Analysts see US as bigger risk than Argentina, Brazil September 29, 2002 TREPIDATION: Finance chiefs will meet this weekend for the annual IMF summit, anxious about the US economy, Iraq and foot-dragging on free-trade by rich countries NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE, WASHINGTON Despite near-daily news of economic strife in Brazil and Argen-tina, a growing number of econo-mists and governments around the world worry that the biggest risks to the global economy are emanating not from Latin America or Asia but from the US and Europe. Bankers and finance ministers will descend on Washington this weekend for the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, anxious about economic imbalances in the US, the possibility of war in Iraq and foot-dragging on free-trade by rich countries. In its newest assessment of world economic prospects, the IMF joined other forecasters on Wednesday in reducing its expectations for growth in the US and noted that neither Europe nor Japan show any sign of picking up the slack. The fund also stepped up its criticism of the US for running up huge trade imbalances, calling them "unsustainable" and a possible source of instability if they lead to a sudden a steep drop in the dollar. taipeitimes.com

Half Million Say No to Blair and War
September 29, 2002 In the largest peace demonstrations in the U.K. since the Vietnam era, up to a half million persons demonstrated [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 ] in the streets of London on Saturday, September 28 against war in Iraq. This powerful output of opposition to U.S. and U.K. support for war focused particularaly on PM Tony Blair's singular support for a war of aggression. http://indymedia.org/

No war without UN, warns poll September 29, 2002 Kamal Ahmed, Peter Beaumont and Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow A vast majority of the public opposes military action against Iraq unless there is clear sanction from the United Nations, one of the most comprehensive surveys of public opinion on the issue reveals. Nearly three-quarters of people asked if they would support an attack on Saddam Hussein said it would require international agreement. Just 18 per cent would support unilateral action if a new UN resolution was not passed. The findings are a blow to Tony Blair's attempts to win 'hearts and minds' on the argument that action must be taken whether or not there is a new UN resolution. guardian.co.uk September 29, 2002 Kamal Ahmed, Peter Beaumont and Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow A vast majority of the public opposes military action against Iraq unless there is clear sanction from the United Nations, one of the most comprehensive surveys of public opinion on the issue reveals. Nearly three-quarters of people asked if they would support an attack on Saddam Hussein said it would require international agreement. Just 18 per cent would support unilateral action if a new UN resolution was not passed. The findings are a blow to Tony Blair's attempts to win 'hearts and minds' on the argument that action must be taken whether or not there is a new UN resolution. guardian.co.uk

Market woes, war talk and slowing job market worry U.S. consumers Michigan index slips again
September 29, 2002 Peter Morton Financial Post WASHINGTON - Consumer confidence began to slip in the U.S. this month as relentless stock market turmoil, a slow labour market and increasing worries about war with Iraq began to take their toll. Even though the U.S. economy staged a better performance in the spring than first reported, the latest consumer confidence poll from the University of Michigan, released yesterday, showed Americans becoming increasingly worried about their prospects. Consumer spending, which represents two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, had been one of the few bright spots in a slugglish recovery. But the University of Michigan's consumer confidence index slipped to 86.1 in September from 87.6 in August, the fourth month in a row it has declined. The move tracks a similar fall in consumer sentiment tracked by the New York-based Conference Board announced earlier this week."This economy has got to turn around soon," said Joseph LaVorgna, senior economist at Deutsche Bank Securities. nationalpost.com

Ashcroft's control September 29, 2002 Two Justice Department agencies relied upon for their impartiality should be left alone by Attorney General John Ashcroft. Only a handful of agencies associated with the federal government can be trusted to release information that is fact rather than spin. The Congressional Budget Office, for example, has earned a reputation for providing members of Congress with reliable, objective and nonpartisan projections on the economy. Until recently, this kind of independence was the hallmark of two agencies within the Justice Department: the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the office that collects statistics on crime in the United States; and the National Institute of Justice, the entity in charge of crime-related research. But changes in the way these agencies are organized and run are threatening their ability to operate outside the push and pull of politics. There is growing evidence that Attorney General John Ashcroft is trying to exert control in a way that could compromise the agencies' independence, and by extension, the dependability of their data and research. Whether crime is increasing or declining has significant political implications. Yet if those numbers are subject to manipulation by the party in power, citizens may have no way to know the truth about national trends. Similarly, research into identifying the causes of criminality and the success of various schemes for controlling it could lack validity if grants are directed toward those with a political agenda. sptimes.com

US media begins preparing the public for mass slaughter in Iraq 28 September 2002 By Bill Vann In the midst of the Bush administration’s drumbeat for an invasion of Iraq, the government and the media have begun to prepare public opinion for a massive slaughter of innocent Iraqi civilians, as well as substantial American military casualties. For the most part, both the Bush administration and the media have portrayed an invasion as a simple matter of “taking out” Saddam Hussein and “liberating” a grateful Iraqi people. Such a feat, they maintain, will be accomplished with satellite-guided precision bombs destroying a few presidential palaces and bunkers, while leaving the general population largely unscathed. A few retired senior military officers—undoubtedly expressing deep misgivings within the Pentagon’s uniformed command—have attempted to throw cold water on this scenario, warning that the war could prove protracted and bloody. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee September 23, Gen. Joseph Hoar, who was the senior US commander in the Middle East after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, cautioned that US invaders could confront 100,000 Iraqi troops with thousands of artillery pieces defending Baghdad. wsws.org

Repression Hits D.C. as Peace Actions Begin on Saturday September 28, 2002 The first of protests in Washington D.C. against the World Bank and IMF was marked by egregious repression of free speech and assembly, while misreported in terms of events and issues by corporate media outlets. Thousands also came out against Bush in Denver. Meanwhile, activists across the world have begun to protest against war in Iraq on Saturday. Protests have already been held in Aotearoa (New Zealand), while the largest expected peace demonstration in decades is set to begin in London. Hundreds are also expected to gather for peace in St. Louis. Back in D.C., the rallies and protests continue. Breaking news of all of these events is available from DC Indymedia, UK Indymedia, Aotearoa Indymedia, Rocky Mountain Indymedia, and St. Louis Indymedia.Tranlated coverage of Saturday actions in D.C. is available from La Haine (es). indymedia.org

Whales beached after NATO exercises 27 September, 2002 WWF-Spain yesterday protested against military manoeuvres at sea that disturb cetaceans (whales, porpoises, and dolphins). The incident of 24 September, where 15 beaked whales from 3 different species became stranded on the coasts of the Canary Islands during NATO exercises in the area involving many ships and submarines, is not the first time that Spain's Ministry of Defence has been confronted with a cetacean incident. WWF has asked the Ministry of Defence to ensure that similar events do not happen again. Many whales and dolphins depend on sound for their navigation and communication, and all toothed cetaceans use echolocation to catch their food. The negative effects of high levels of underwater noise, for example noise from intensive marine traffic, on these species have been known for a long time. A report released by WWF-Spain last year documented that the low frequency sonar used by NATO and US navies to detect the motors of nuclear submarines was causing serious problems for cetaceans. In 1996, there was a massive beaching of Cuvier's beaked whales in Greece during testing of this type of device. According to Jose Luis Garci'a Twigs, in charge of the marine programme at WWF-Spain: "This species is especially sensitive to low frequency sonar, and the strandings in the Canary Islands indicate that military manoeuvres were being undertaken with the presence of submarines. Clearly the manoeuvres were testing these kinds of low frequency devices." panda.org

Gore: Bush ignored signs of al-Qaida threat Sept. 27, 2002  |  By Tom Raum -- Democrat Al Gore, criticizing President Bush as he tests the waters for another possible presidential bid, accused the administration Thursday of an "attack on civil liberties" and ignoring signs that Osama bin Laden had been planning a terrorist attack on U.S. soil. It was the former vice president's second scathing attack on Bush in a week. Speaking at a Democratic fund-raising breakfast in Wilmington, Del., Gore took issue with the administration's handling of intelligence information prior to the Sept. 11 attacks and for its treatment of some terrorism suspects since then. "The warnings were there" before the attacks, Gore said. He asserted that Bush's Justice Department had devoted more time and agents to investigating a suspected brothel in New Orleans than to monitoring bin Laden and his al-Qaida network. salon.com

ACLU Says Padilla's Detention Without Charges Violates His Rights September 27, 2002 NEW YORK, In legal papers filed in federal court today, the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the government's decision to detain U.S. citizen Jose Padilla in a military jail without charges or trial and without access to a lawyer. "If the government has a case against Padilla, it can and should charge him and try him, just as it is trying others who have been accused of terrorist acts," said Steven R. Shapiro, Legal Director of the ACLU, which together with the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Padilla's case. aclu.org

Daschle Was More Right Than He Knew About Bush Demagogy about government reorganization is worse than demagogy about war. September 27, 2002 By Timothy Noah On Sept. 5, at a Republican fund-raiser, President Bush declared that the Democratically controlled Senate is "not interested in the security of the American people." Bush repeated the slur in a Sept. 23 speech in Trenton, N.J. Not surprisingly, this comment infuriated Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, who on Sept. 25 gave a speech denouncing Bush for politicizing the debate about whether to go to war with Iraq. "We ought not politicize this war," Daschle said. "We ought not politicize the rhetoric about war and life and death." To do so, Daschle said, was "outrageous." slate.msn.com

Daschle Demands White House Apology September 26, 2002 By JIM ABRAMS WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle lashed out at President Bush for suggesting that Democrats were putting politics ahead of the nation's security, igniting a fierce response from Republicans and complicating efforts by Congress to find a unified position with the president on Iraq. The president, Daschle said Wednesday on the Senate floor, should "apologize to every veteran who has fought in every war who is a Democrat in the Senate. He ought to apologize to the American people." dailypress.com

dailypress.com

US congressional hearings on September 11: more evidence of provocation and cover-up 26 September 2002 By Patrick Martin The first week of public hearings before the joint congressional committee investigating the September 11 terrorist attacks has been a clear demonstration of why the White House fought so bitterly to derail any official investigation into the events of one year ago. Despite the Bush administration’s stonewalling and the cowardice of the congressional Democrats, the current hearings have produced significant new information on US government foreknowledge of the terrorist attacks and its failure—or refusal—to prevent them. Among the new facts not previously made known to the American public:
* From 1998 on, the CIA and FBI received repeated warnings about Al Qaeda using airplanes to strike targets inside the United States.
* In 2000 the FBI’s Newark, New Jersey office received details of plans to hijack a Boeing 747 jumbo jet with a team of five or six men, and either fly it to Afghanistan or blow it up.
* The volume of warnings about terrorist attacks within the US increased sharply in the spring of 2001, and a CIA informant specifically warned of “spectacular and traumatic” attacks on buildings like the World Trade Center.
wsws.org

Actions Begin as Police and Corporate Media Rhetoric Escalates September 26, 2002 Protests have begun in DC as activists prepare for the major demonstrations against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund on Friday and Saturday. At the same time, police and corporate media attention towards the event has emerged amid threats of preemptive arrests. On the afternoon of September 23, the Washington D.C.-based corporate accountability organization Essential Action, held a press conference [ video ] outside the IMF headquarters. They presented their case against the deregulation of tobacco trade policies, which the IMF pushes upon developing nations such as Bulgaria, Mali, Djibouti, Peru, and Uganda among others, and leads to increased smoking rates and attendant health problems. indymedia.org

US press enlists for war on Iraq 25 September 2002 By Bill Vann As the Bush administration prepares for a colonial-style war against Iraq, the US media increasingly assumes the role of a semi-official propaganda arm for the White House and the Pentagon. On the television networks, news announcers speculate on when and how the US will “take out” Saddam Hussein. Even more significant is the near unanimity of the editorial pages of the major US daily papers in parroting the line of the administration and offering friendly advice on how best to prepare an Iraqi invasion. wsws.org

Bush administration proposes sharp cuts in Medicare 9/25/02 an Associated Press report NEW YORK - Medicare payments allocated to hospitals to cover many drugs and outpatient medical procedures would be reduced sharply under a Bush administration proposal, a newspaper reported Sunday. The cuts would affect a wide range of drugs, including those used to treat cancer and arthritis, the New York Times said. It also would reduce payments used to cover medical procedures ranging from the implantation of battery-operated pacemakers to routine breast biopsies, it said. Technology enhancements have allowed many hospitals to increase the number of outpatient services that they provide. There were more than 110 million Medicare claims for outpatient services filed by hospitals last year, the Times said. But the government is expected to target some of these same services in its attempt to balance the budget. wfts.com

ACLU Says Homeland Security Bill Step Backward; Demands Senate Include Civil Liberties Protections September 25, 2002 WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today strongly criticized a new version, unveiled this morning, of the legislation establishing the cabinet-level Homeland Security Department, saying that it is a "constitutionally bankrupt" measure that lacks privacy or civil rights protections. "Homeland security is too important an issue to be handled so recklessly," said Timothy Edgar, an ACLU Legislative Counsel. "A department so large must have robust oversight and proper civil rights and privacy protections. Without these, what's to stop the Department from abusing the very citizens it is responsible for protecting?" The new legislation, sponsored by Sens. Zell Miller (D-GA) and Phil Gramm (R-TX), is designed as a substitute for the Senate Homeland Security Department plan drafted by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT). Its supporters may try to ram through the bill by invoking cloture, which would forestall debate and preclude needed amendments. aclu.org

Gore blasts Bush's war plans Sept. 24, 2002  |  SAN FRANCISCO -- By Edward W. Lempinen The former vice president takes the gloves off, saying Bush has squandered the world's goodwill, is failing to focus on the war on terrorism and could be creating a global "reign of fear." With Congress already debating a resolution that would allow a U.S. invasion of Iraq, former Vice President Al Gore warned Monday that unilateral military action to topple Saddam Hussein would divert the nation from the more crucial war on terrorism, possibly increase the threat from Iraq, anger the rest of the world and saddle the staggering American economy with a huge war bill. Gore's speech, delivered to a cheering crowd in San Francisco, was the most comprehensive and the most withering attack on Bush policies to date by a potential Democratic presidential contender. While acknowledging Iraq as a "serious threat" and describing Saddam as "evil," Gore charged that Bush's inept handling of the war against Afghanistan and his near-unilateral campaign against Saddam were undermining U.S. foreign policy goals and the nation's credibility abroad. He blasted Bush for failing to stabilize Afghanistan, nine months after routing the Taliban from power. He accused Bush and the Republicans of cynically using Iraq as a political issue in the weeks leading up to November's midterm elections. He charged that Bush's stated policy of unilateral action is turning even allies against the United States. And he warned that the new doctrine announced last week by the administration, asserting the right of the United States to take unilateral, preemptive action against any country perceived as a threat, would set a precedent encouraging other countries to take preemptive action, creating a global "reign of fear." salon.com

Are these the detailed battle plans for the most heavily trailed military attack in modern history? 24 September 2002 By Rupert Cornwell in Washington The plans are on the President's desk. The variants are several, and no final, irrevocable decision has been taken by George Bush. But there is every sign that Washington wants the seemingly inevitable Gulf War II to topple Saddam Hussein to be a nimbler, more focused and even fiercer enterprise than the campaign waged by Mr Bush's father to drive him from Kuwait in 1991. A spate of news stories in Washington at the weekend provided yet more details about what is surely the most heavily trailed, unprovoked military attack by one nation on another in modern history. "I am not saying there is no plan on the President's desk," Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman declared, confirming a report in The New York Times that General Tommy Franks, head of Central Command and the man who would run the campaign, had submitted to Mr Bush a detailed set of options for war. news.independent.co.uk

Global imbalances are “unsustainable” says IMF 24 September 2002 By Nick Beams According to the US Treasury Secretary, Paul O’Neill, there is no need for any concern about the widening American trade gap. The current account deficit, he maintains, is a “meaningless concept.” But that view is not shared in global financial institutions, in particular the International Monetary Fund, which has added its voice to warnings that sooner or later the growing external indebtedness of the US will have major international consequences. In its World Economic Outlook report published last week, the IMF devoted part of a chapter to the growing structural imbalance in the world economy between the deficit nations, headed by the US, and the surplus nations, Japan and Europe. wsws.org

Global Justice Movement Gears Up for D.C. Sept. 24, 2002 "What ever happened to the 'anti-globalization' movement?" has been a common refrain heard from corporate media outlets for more than a year. At the end of the week, activists hope to set the answer straight by staging another round of major World Bank and International Monetary Fund protests in Washington, DC. Some consider the protests an opportunity for the global justice movement amid the continuing corporate implosion. Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and the subsequent war in Afghanistan and on civil liberties throughout the world, obituaries on the first planet-wide movement for human rights appeared consistently in the corporate media. Despite such pronouncements, the global justice movement has expanded in both breadth and depth over the last year, particularly outside of North America. indymedia.org

Williams attacks Bush 'cabal' September 23, 2002 Patrick Wintour A dangerous cabal around George Bush, ignorant of world affairs and contemptuous of Europe, is threatening to destroy the world order, Lady Williams, the Liberal Democrat leader in the Lords, warned yesterday. Known as she is for her close connections with the US, her remarks underline the gap growing between the Bush administration and mainstream European politicians. Lady Williams said the new Bush doctrines of pre-emptive action and regime change were "wildly dangerous". The US president set out the doctrines in a strategy paper to Congress last week. Lady Williams commented: "In effect you are exchanging the opinion of the international community for the opinion of the most powerful state. Yet the same doctrines could equally be applied by India vis-à-vis Pakistan, or in any dispute where a state feels threatened. It is throwing a match into a barrel of oil." She described the cabal, including the vice-president, Dick Cheney, and the defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, as "very strongly unilateralist. They don' talk much to foreign governments, they are contemptuous of Europe, particularly now Germany. They regard allies as just codpieces." Some of them she suggested wanted to take the US out of the UN. "To destroy the effectiveness of the UN and to make it a laughing stock would be terribly dangerous." guardian.co.uk

No War With Iraq September 22, 2002 Recent events have confirmed that the American political establishment is not united in support of the Bush Administration's policy of forcible "regime change" in Iraq. The rest of the world, and a good part of the American public, also seem unconvinced of the necessity of an attack. "Iraq: The Doubters Grow," from the September 2/9 issue of The Nation, outlines nine critical questions that should be asked before any possible military invasion is even considered. Clip or copy these questions and include them in letters to your representatives, friends, family and foes. Write your senators urging them to show restraint, prudence and respect for international opinion. Help make the war against Iraq a key issue in this fall's Congressional elections--see how at the website of the National Network to End the War Against Iraq. Sign the MoveOn petition. And consider participating in one of the many antiwar marches and protests scheduled coast to coast. You can also add your name to the Campaign of Conscience Peace Pledge to Stop the Spread of War to Iraq, sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee and the Fellowship of Reconciliation, among many other groups. thenation.com

Dow Industrials Settle Below 8000 as Bad News Inundates Market September 22, 2002 The Wall Street Journal Online The market's recent selloff accelerated Thursday, and there was plenty of blame to go around. Weakness in the technology and financial sectors was again a primary factor amid dour earnings news from Morgan Stanley and Electronic Data Systems. Merrill Lynch fired some top executives in connection with the Enron imbroglio. And another suicide bombing in the Middle East reminded investors of the tenuous global political situation. Familiar themes, and none of them good. The market reacted in kind, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling 230.06, or 2.8%, to close at 7942.39. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 35.68, or 2.9%, to 1216.45. It was the blue-chip indicator's first close below 8000 since late July when major indexes hit their lows. As it stood Thursday, the Dow industrial average was a mere 5.7% above its July 24 low. Analysts had predicted major indexes might retest those levels as an ugly preannouncement season progressed, and it looked as though the call was coming true. quicken.com

Bush's war plans are a cover-up, Byrd says September 21, 2002 By Paul J. Nyden Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., said President Bush’s plans to invade Iraq are a conscious effort to distract public attention from growing problems at home. “This administration, all of a sudden, wants to go to war with Iraq,” Byrd said. “The [political] polls are dropping, the domestic situation has problems.... So all of a sudden we have this war talk, war fervor, the bugles of war, drums of war, clouds of war. “Don’t tell me that things suddenly went wrong. Back in August, the president had no plans.... Then all of a sudden this country is going to war,” Byrd told the Senate on Friday. “Are politicians talking about the domestic situation, the stock market, weaknesses in the economy, jobs that are being lost, housing problems? No.” Byrd warned of another Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. Passed on Aug. 7, 1964, that resolution handed President Lyndon Johnson broad powers to escalate the war in Vietnam, a conflict that cost 58,202 American lives and millions of Asian lives. wvgazette.com

Declaration of strategy also promises 'distinctly American internationalism' September 21, 2002 WASHINGTON The Bush administration on Friday published its first comprehensive rationale for shifting American military strategy toward preemptive action against hostile states and terrorist groups developing weapons of mass destruction. The strategy document states, for the first time, that the United States will never allow its military supremacy to be challenged the way it was during the Cold War. In the 33-page document, President George W. Bush also sought to answer critics of growing American muscle-flexing by insisting that the United States would use its military and economic power to encourage "free and open societies," rather than seek "unilateral advantage." The document called this "a distinctly American internationalism." The document, titled "The National Security Strategy of the United States," is one that every president is required to submit to Congress. It is the first comprehensive explanation of the Bush administration's foreign policy, from defense strategy to global warming. A copy of the final draft was obtained by The New York Times, and the document was published Friday. It sketches out a far more muscular and sometimes aggressive approach to national security than any since the Reagan era. It includes the discounting of most nonproliferation treaties in favor of a doctrine of "counterproliferation," a reference to everything from missile defense to forcibly dismantling weapons or their components. iht.com

FBI Agent Warned About 9 / 11 Hijacker September 21, 2002 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) -- Thirteen days before the Sept. 11 attacks, a frustrated FBI agent warned headquarters that ``someday, someone will die'' after he was denied permission to pursue a man who would become one of the hijackers, a congressional panel was told Friday.The agent's efforts were among many missed opportunities to stop two of the hijackers after they were spotted attending an al-Qaida meeting in Malaysia in January 2000, according to the report to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees.It was the latest revelation of missed clues by intelligence and law enforcement authorities before the attacks. nytimes.com

World Bank's Billions for Oil and Gold Enrich Corporations,
Impoverish People Say Global Activists
21 Sep 2002 U.S. Newswire Underscoring the growing demand from civil society around the world that the World Bank immediately stop funding socially and environmentally destructive projects, citizens from the Caspian region, Cameroon, and Romania will speak about the impact of oil and gold projects on their lives, communities, and lands. New findings will be released which documents the impact of tens of billions of dollars in World Bank Group support for fossil fuels and mining over the last decade. Activists will further describe their efforts later in the week to demand an end to World Bank financing of destructive oil, mining and gas projects. usnewswire.com

Vigilers Confront Former Union Carbide CEO Outside Long Island Mansion
September 21, 2002 Eighteen years after Bhopal, a representative of Greenpeace following an investigation by a British newspaper, tracked down former Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson in mid-August. He has been in hiding, living in luxury in the wealthy Long Island community of Bridgehampton, which is about 75 miles east of New York City. Anderson has been facing charges of culpable homicide and an extradition order from the government of India for the past 11 years for his culpability in the 1984 Bhopal plant explosion. He has never appeared in court to face charges for crimes in Bhopal or even to explain why his company did not apply the same safety standards at its plant in India that it did at a sister plant in West Virginia. On August 29, the Bhopal District Court rejected an application to reduce outstanding criminal charges against Mr Anderson and called on the Indian government in the sternest language to move immediately for the extradition of Anderson from the U.S. indymedia.org

"Harry Potter" Series Tops List of Banned Books in Texas, According to ACLU Report
September 21, 2002 AUSTIN, TX -The popular "Harry Potter" books by J.K. Rowling were the top target of censors during the 2001-2002 school year, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas said today in its sixth annual report on banned books. "When public schools remove a book from their shelves, they close a door for school kids," said Will Harrell, Executive Director of the ACLU of Texas. (When they ban books, they censor ideas and stifle education." aclu.org

German leader links Bush's 'style' to Hitler's September 20, 2001 By Nicholas Kralev BERLIN — A German Cabinet minister yesterday stirred outrage at home and abroad by comparing President Bush's political style to that of Adolf Hitler, an analogy the White House called "outrageous and inexplicable." The remark by Justice Minister Herta Daeubler-Gmelin, which spurred immediate opposition calls for her resignation, came at the end of a fierce campaign in which Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has boosted his re-election prospects by strongly opposing U.S. military action against Iraq. Mrs. Daeubler-Gmelin told a small group of labor union members that Mr. Bush was using the Iraq issue to divert attention from domestic problems, such as the economy and corporate scandals, the German Schwaebisches Tagblatt newspaper reported. "That's a popular method — even Hitler did that," the minister was quoted as saying by a reporter who attended the Wednesday discussion in the southern city of Stuttgart. washtimes.com

Bush Expected to Issue Executive Order Rolling Back Landmark Environmental Law September 20, 2001 NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) has learned that President Bush is expected tomorrow to issue an executive order to weaken federal environmental protections in the name of "streamlining" regulations. The law under attack is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which requires federal agencies to study and disclose the environmental effects of their actions and to include the public in their decision-making. This expected action is ill-timed to say the least. Last May, the White House established a special task force -- headed by president's Council on Environmental Quality -- to review the NEPA process. Although the task force has asked the public to submit comments on NEPA -- the deadline is next Monday, September 23rd -- the administration apparently is moving ahead with changes to the law without considering the citizen input it requested. washtimes.com

Don King and George W. Bush September 20, 2001 By Thomas Hauser In January 2001, I reported on how Don King counseled George W. Bush in the art of trickeration, thereby helping him capture Florida's 25 electoral votes and the presidency of the United States. Now, beset by mounting problems, George Bush has again turned to King for help. SecondsOut has received a tape of a recent telephone conversation between the two men. As a service to the boxing community and to the world at large, a transcript of that tape follows: Don King: Hey!!! How's my main man? George Bush: Not so good. This is a difficult time for all Americans. And it's particularly difficult for me because I have no idea what I'm doing. secondsout.com

Probe: U.S. Knew of Jet Terror Plots Sep 19, 2002 By KEN GUGGENHEIM, (AP) - Intelligence agencies failed to anticipate terrorists flying planes into buildings despite a dozen clues in the years before the Sept. 11 attacks that Osama bin Laden ( news - web sites) or others might use aircraft as bombs, a congressional investigator told lawmakers Wednesday as they began public hearings into the attacks. Just a month before the attacks, intelligence agencies were told of a possible bin Laden plot to hit the U.S. Embassy in Kenya or crash a plane into it. story.news.yahoo.com

Wilderness Society Statement on Proposals to Repeal Rights to
Judicial Review of Timber Sales
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following is a statement of William H. Meadows, president, The Wilderness Society on proposals to repeal rights to judicial review of timber sales: In the course of Senate debate on the Interior Appropriations Bill, there have been alarming attempts to undermine some of our most fundamental rights of public participation in government decision making. We oppose in the strongest possible terms any change to existing rights to judicial review and court remedies. The facts are clear -- the right to judicial review has had virtually no impact on the Forest Service's ability to reduce the risk of fire to communities or to reduce the level of hazardous fuels in our national forests. The General Accounting Office reports that of 1671 hazardous fuel reduction projects in 2001, none were litigated. Proposals to change existing law on judicial review must be seen for what they are -- an unprecedented effort to undermine the authority of the courts. This rider is designed not to protect communities from fire, but to further an unrelated anti-environmental agenda. No other interpretation is possible. usnewswire.com

The Bush administration wants war
18 September 2002 By David North If it achieved nothing else, the offer of the Iraqi government to accept without conditions the return of United Nations weapons inspectors has exposed the most essential truth of contemporary international politics: the Bush administration wants war. Its hysterical claims of “weapons of mass destruction” have never been anything else but a means of manufacturing a public justification for war. The Bush administration has responded angrily to the diplomatic note of the Iraqi foreign minister—demanding that it be ignored by the UN—because it knows that Saddam Hussein’s concession deprives the United States of the fig leaf of a pseudo-legal pretext for invading Iraq, destroying its government, seizing its oilfields and reducing the country to what would be, in effect, semi-colonial status. wsws.org

The Grand Chessboard and Black Gold September 18, 2002 History has shown that wars are, more often than not, fought over resources and territory. In the rhentoric of world dominance emanating from Washington, "national intrest" is often a code word for access to fossil fuels, the life-blood of the Western world. While some observers deny that securing potential oil or gas pipelines was high on the Bush administration's agenda for invading Afghanistan (a position refuted by others and perhaps by common sense), there's little doubt that unfettered access to Iraq's rich oil reserves is one of the prime unspoken motives of the present campaign to invade Iraq. Some sources believe Iraq may actually have more oil than Saudi Arabia, another potential U.S. target. indymedia.org

Russia, US on collision course
September 18, 2002 By Hooman Peimani The September 11 meeting in Moscow of an American State Department delegation with Russian Foreign Ministry officials failed to help the Americans secure Russia's approval of their proposed war against Iraq. Unsurprisingly, the Russians expressed their opposition to such war to the delegation led by John Bolton, the American under-secretary of state. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov warned that a new war in the Persian Gulf could ruin international cooperation against terrorism, while his deputy Vyacheslav Trubnikov stressed that the proposed war was "absolutely unacceptable" for Russia. atimes.com

US bribes and threatens “allies” over Iraq 17 September 2002 By Bill Vann In the wake of Bush’s ultimatum to the United Nation’s General Assembly to back a US war against Iraq, Washington has launched a multi-sided campaign to bribe and threaten governments around the world. “A thieves’ kitchen” was Lenin’s apt designation for the UN’s predecessor, the League of Nations. Today’s campaign by Washington at the UN to win support for another war on Iraq makes it clear that the appellation still applies. The flurry of quid pro quos and dirty deals has all the dignity of mobsters divvying up the spoils. While in his speech to the General Assembly the US president claimed that his goal was world peace, a piece of the action is what he is offering to world leaders in return for acquiescence to US aims. wsws.org

HHS Seeks Science Advice to Match Bush Views September 17, 2002 By Rick Weiss The Bush administration has begun a broad restructuring of the scientific advisory committees that guide federal policy in areas such as patients' rights and public health, eliminating some committees that were coming to conclusions at odds with the president's views and in other cases replacing members with handpicked choices. In the past few weeks, the Department of Health and Human Services has retired two expert committees before their work was complete. One had recommended that the Food and Drug Administration expand its regulation of the increasingly lucrative genetic testing industry, which has so far been free of such oversight. The other committee, which was rethinking federal protections for human research subjects, had drawn the ire of administration supporters on the religious right, according to government sources. A third committee, which had been assessing the effects of environmental chemicals on human health, has been told that nearly all of its members will be replaced -- in several instances by people with links to the industries that make those chemicals. One new member is a California scientist who helped defend Pacific Gas and Electric Co. against the real-life Erin Brockovich. washingtonpost.com September 17, 2002 By Rick Weiss The Bush administration has begun a broad restructuring of the scientific advisory committees that guide federal policy in areas such as patients' rights and public health, eliminating some committees that were coming to conclusions at odds with the president's views and in other cases replacing members with handpicked choices. In the past few weeks, the Department of Health and Human Services has retired two expert committees before their work was complete. One had recommended that the Food and Drug Administration expand its regulation of the increasingly lucrative genetic testing industry, which has so far been free of such oversight. The other committee, which was rethinking federal protections for human research subjects, had drawn the ire of administration supporters on the religious right, according to government sources. A third committee, which had been assessing the effects of environmental chemicals on human health, has been told that nearly all of its members will be replaced -- in several instances by people with links to the industries that make those chemicals. One new member is a California scientist who helped defend Pacific Gas and Electric Co. against the real-life Erin Brockovich. washingtonpost.com

With White House Approval, E.P.A. Pollution Report Omits Global Warming Section September 16, 2002 By ANDREW C. REVKIN For the first time in six years, the annual federal report on air pollution trends has no section on global warming, though President Bush has said that slowing the growth of emissions linked to warming is a priority for his administration. The decision to delete the chapter on climate change was made by top officials at the Environmental Protection Agency with White House approval, White House officials said. "Some people at pretty high levels in my organization were saying, `Take it out,' " said an E.P.A. official outside Washington who helped prepare the report. Others at the agency confirmed his account. "White House censors may have made global warming disappear from this report, but that won't make it disappear as a serious threat to our environment," said Jeremy Symons, an authority on climate policy at the National Wildlife Federation. nytimes.com

Bush planned Iraq 'regime change' before becoming President September 15, 2002 By Neil Mackay A SECRET blueprint for US global domination reveals that President Bush and his cabinet were planning a premeditated attack on Iraq to secure 'regime change' even before he took power in January 2001. The blueprint, uncovered by the Sunday Herald, for the creation of a 'global Pax Americana' was drawn up for Dick Cheney (now vice- president), Donald Rumsfeld (defence secretary), Paul Wolfowitz (Rumsfeld's deputy), George W Bush's younger brother Jeb and Lewis Libby (Cheney's chief of staff). The document, entitled Rebuilding America's Defences: Strategies, Forces And Resources For A New Century, was written in September 2000 by the neo-conservative think-tank Project for the New American Century (PNAC). The plan shows Bush's cabinet intended to take military control of the Gulf region whether or not Saddam Hussein was in power. sundayherald.com

Little new evidence found in Bush’s documents on Iraq September 15, 2002 By DANA PRIEST and JOBY WARRICK WASHINGTON, The Washington Post – The White House document released Thursday as evidence that it is time to overthrow Saddam Hussein is a concise summary of his regime’s brutal abuses of Iraqis and its past use or possession of chemical and biological agents. But it contains little new information – and no bombshells – showing that Saddam is producing new weapons of mass destruction or has joined with international terrorists to threaten the United States or its interests abroad. Administration officials, seeking to persuade the public, members of Congress and foreign allies that it is time to go to war, had indicated recently that their strongest case rested on evidence of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction program and its efforts to develop ballistic missiles to launch them beyond its borders. But on this subject the white paper, with few exceptions according to experts on Iraq’s weaponry, recycles a mix of dated and largely circumstantial evidence. montanaforum.com

In Iraqi War Scenario, Oil Is Key Issue September 15, 2002 U.S. Drillers Eye Huge Petroleum Pool By Dan Morgan and David B. Ottaway Washington Post A U.S.-led ouster of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein could open a bonanza for American oil companies long banished from Iraq, scuttling oil deals between Baghdad and Russia, France and other countries, and reshuffling world petroleum markets, according to industry officials and leaders of the Iraqi opposition. Although senior Bush administration officials say they have not begun to focus on the issues involving oil and Iraq, American and foreign oil companies have already begun maneuvering for a stake in the country's huge proven reserves of 112 billion barrels of crude oil, the largest in the world outside Saudi Arabia. washingtonpost.com

Bush pushes plan for Iraq invasion, calls on U.N. to "show some backbone." September 15, 2002 Camp David, Maryland-AP -- President Bush isn't easing up his pressure on the U-N to confront Saddam Hussein. And at the same time, he's making it clear he's ready to act alone. Bush met with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi at Camp David yesterday. The Italian leader supports Saddam's removal but insists any action should be taken with the U-N's approval. Bush challenged the U-N to "show some backbone" in the dispute over weapons inspectors -- or the U-S will "deal with the problem" on its own. Vice President Cheney echoed Bush's sentiments in an interview with C-N-N -- saying the confrontation with Iraq is such an important issue, the U-S will take care of it alone, "if we have to." wcax.com

Gore lashes out at the Bush administration September 15, 2002 Washington-AP -- Former Vice President Al Gore says Attorney General John Ashcroft is failing to respect civil liberties. Gore says he believes one of the tests of a nation is whether it can be true to its "deepest principles" during a time of "grave challenge." He also criticizes the Bush administration for its economic policies. Gore says they've helped reverse the successes of the Clinton-Gore administration. And he took a shot at Florida Governor Jeb Bush -- after this past week's Democratic gubernatorial primary in Florida. It was plagued by voting problems reminiscent of those from the 2000 presidential race. Gore says after what happened two years ago, if he were Florida's governor, he "would have fixed that by now." abc28.com

Protestors Oppose Bush Speech at UN September 15, 2002 As George W. Bush addressed the U.N. General Assembly on September 12 regarding military action against Iraq, a coalition of activists protested the Bush administration's plans to escalate violence in the region. Responding to a call issued by Voices in the Wilderness (VITW), a network of activists which has worked to end U.S. economic sanctions against Iraq since 1996, the Green Party USA, Citizens of Legitimate Government, NOW-NYC and others, peace advocates gathered to oppose Bush's plans for war at Dag Hammerskjold Plaza on 47th Street and First Avenue. Among the actions taken was the breaking of a forty day fast by hunger strikers opposed to war, amid hopes that more people will reject an attack on Iraq. http://indymedia.org

UK faces 'global warming disaster 'Sunday, 15 September, 2002, Sunday, 15 September, 2002, Homes and businesses in Britain are threatened by devastating flooding as global warming takes hold, it has been claimed. And the government must encourage motorists to abandon their cars if it wants to make any impact on the causes of global warming, a report by the Energy Savings Trust is said to show. The study into rising seas and increased rainfall concludes five million people and most of the country's best farmland are at risk, says the Independent on Sunday. news.bbc

ACLU Says Military Action in Iraq Without Congressional Approval Would Be Unconstitutional September 14, 2002 WASHINGTON - While remaining neutral on whether the United States should go to war with Iraq, the American Civil Liberties Union today said that the Bush Administration must -- if it wants to remain within the bounds of the Constitution -- receive Congressional approval before taking any military action against Saddam Hussein. "The decision to go to war should lie with the American people and the American people alone," said Timothy Edgar, an ACLU Legislative Counsel. "We are a democratic republic - the President must seek Congressional approval before moving against Iraq." In a letter to Congress today, the ACLU urged the House and Senate to avoid a vague or open-ended war resolution, such as that passed in 1964 after the Gulf of Tonkin incident, and to clearly demarcate what, if anything, Congress intends to authorize. By policy, the ACLU is stridently neutral in questions of military action overseas, but has - from Vietnam to Kosovo - fought to retain legislative oversight over American war-making. The Administration's lawyers are gravely mistaken, the ACLU's letter says, in their assertion of President Bush's unilateral authority to take preemptive action against Hussein. The letter points out that under the very language of the Constitution, the President has absolutely no authority to initiate a war -- absent the immediate and imminent threat of an armed attack on American soil. aclu.org

NAACP Blasts Florida Officials For Second Voting Debacle Fiasco Underscores Urgency For Congress To Pass Federal Election Reform Bill September 14, 2002 NAACP Planning Another Voter Lawsuit Against Florida The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People blasted Florida's poor handling of Tuesday's gubernatorial primary and pointed to Congress as the source for the remedy. Kweisi Mfume, NAACP President & CEO, said: "It is a sheer travesty of justice that many voters in Florida were disenfranchised for the second time in as many years. Congress bears much of the blame for not passing a federal bill that would institute minimum election standards for voting across the nation." Mfume said: "The NAACP is planning to file another lawsuit against the Florida election officials amid reports that voters complained about polls opening late, election workers struggling with new touch screen voting machines, and voter confusion about polling places because of new precinct boundaries. It is as if Florida officials totally ignored the election debacle of November 2000." naacp.org

"THE OVERTHROW OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC", 9/13/02 Part 17 by Sherman H. Skolnick  FBI SOUGHT CLAMP ON BUSH STORIES White House and network reporters as well as U.S.-based foreign journalists are using national security leaks to pursue proposed stories about George W. Bush's reputed relationship with a male sex-mate since his college days up to now. So contends the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in a Justice Department request to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act secret court that met in sound-proof facilities in the Justice Department Building, Washington, D.C. The Bush reputed male sex-mate details have enabled Red China, perceived by some as a sworn enemy of the U.S., and others reportedly to blackmail or otherwise unlawfully compromise the current occupant and resident of the White House, causing the disclosure of U.S. industrial, financial, and military secrets. Various reporters, including those of British Broadcasting Company, BBC, and Canadian Broadcasting Company, CBC, have, on their own, verified and corroborated the exclusive stories by this reporter as to the Bush relationship causing a breach itself by Bush of national security. The FBI/Justice requests to the secret court acting as a type of U.S. District Court under FISA, included
[1] that the FBI/Justice Department be empowered and authorized to use all means necessary to surveil the reporters, foreign and domestic, working on the story;
[2] that the FBI/Justice Department be authorized and empowered as to the War Powers, or similar provisions, to forcibly or otherwise stop the publishing and electronic transmission of any stories or pictures relating to George W. Bush in a Skull & Bones Society satanic ritual coffin engaging in homosexual acts with his reputed male sex-mate.
9/13/02 Part 17 by Sherman H. Skolnick  FBI SOUGHT CLAMP ON BUSH STORIES White House and network reporters as well as U.S.-based foreign journalists are using national security leaks to pursue proposed stories about George W. Bush's reputed relationship with a male sex-mate since his college days up to now. So contends the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in a Justice Department request to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act secret court that met in sound-proof facilities in the Justice Department Building, Washington, D.C. The Bush reputed male sex-mate details have enabled Red China, perceived by some as a sworn enemy of the U.S., and others reportedly to blackmail or otherwise unlawfully compromise the current occupant and resident of the White House, causing the disclosure of U.S. industrial, financial, and military secrets. Various reporters, including those of British Broadcasting Company, BBC, and Canadian Broadcasting Company, CBC, have, on their own, verified and corroborated the exclusive stories by this reporter as to the Bush relationship causing a breach itself by Bush of national security. The FBI/Justice requests to the secret court acting as a type of U.S. District Court under FISA, included
[1] that the FBI/Justice Department be empowered and authorized to use all means necessary to surveil the reporters, foreign and domestic, working on the story;
[2] that the FBI/Justice Department be authorized and empowered as to the War Powers, or similar provisions, to forcibly or otherwise stop the publishing and electronic transmission of any stories or pictures relating to George W. Bush in a Skull & Bones Society satanic ritual coffin engaging in homosexual acts with his reputed male sex-mate. skolnicksreport.com

 

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