* Chinese Official Visits Israeli Aircraft Plant
* Russia Says Nuclear Ships Y2K Ready
* Minor Accident Shuts Ukraine's Chernobyl Reactor
* A Contamination Of Confidence
Japanese Town's Pride, Reputation Suffer Despite Assurances After Nuclear Accident
* Cohen Warns Allies About Missiles
* USEC to Retain Role in Russian Uranium Deal
* Missile defense could zap presidential race
* GOP Presidential Hopefuls Outline Foreign Policy
* Energy's Security Initiative Lacks Fuel
Funding Falls Far Short of Request
* Today In History
* Pentagon Study Blames Rocket Makers for Launch Failures
* Chemical Plants' Readiness for Year 2000 Is Debated
* Reports from Seattle from Peter Bergel, Save Ward Valley
* Clinton receives chilly response in Seattle
* Seattle Cracks Down On Rioters, as Ministers Wage Trade Battles
* In Stormy Seattle, Clinton Takes Up Protesters' Cause
* THE OVERVIEW
In Stormy Seattle, Clinton Chides World Trade Body
* THE BLAME
Clenched Fists in Seattle Lead to Pointed Fingers
* THE HOSTS
Seattle Is Stung, Angry and Embarrassed as Opportunity Turns to Chaos
* THE VISITORS
Seeing the Fear of Free Trade Made Concrete
* THE REACTION
Internationally, Embarrassment for U.S.
* Rebels in Search of Rules
* The Fight in Seattle Over Trade
* Forum
Join a Discussion on the Protests Against the World Trade Organization
* Protest's Architect 'Gratified'
* Clinton Defends Open Trade
* Extensive Security Planning Fails Test Tactics Wrong, Officials Concede
* Across the Atlantic, Free Trade's Victors
* Hell, No! We Won't WTO!
-------- israel
Chinese Official Visits Israeli Aircraft Plant
New York Times December 2, 1999 By WILLIAM A. ORME Jr.
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/mideast/120299israel-china.html
Related Articles
China Denies It Bought Israeli Radar (Nov. 17, 1999)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/global/111799china-israel-arms.html
U.S. Seeks to Curb Israeli Arms Sales to China (Nov. 11, 1999)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/global/111199israel-china.html
JERUSALEM -- A top Chinese official concluded a five-day visit to Israel on Tuesday with an unannounced stop at a state company that is outfitting Chinese aircraft with sophisticated surveillance radar.
The project has been criticized by some Pentagon officials and congressional leaders.
Israeli press reports said the official, Li Peng, personally inspected the Chinese-owned, Russian-made aircraft at Israel Aircraft Industry's headquarters outside Tel Aviv. The military contractor, owned by the Israeli government, is receiving a reported $230 million to equip the plane with its airborne radar system.
Li, a former prime minister, is the speaker of China's parliament and the second-highest official in its Communist Party.
Company officials declined to comment publicly on Li's visit but confirmed that it had taken place. "There was nothing unusual about it," said one executive. "Li Peng's visit to Israel was not a secret, and all the previous Chinese government delegations have visited IAI as well."
But the tour of the military aircraft plant was omitted from the Israeli Foreign Ministry's detailed official itinerary for Li, whose extended visit here included publicized stops at three other Israeli companies.
And it took place against a backdrop of continuing friction between the United States and Israel over the sale to China of advanced Israeli military technology -- technology that American critics contend has been developed with American financial and technological aid.
The Pentagon has expressed deep concerns about the technology sales, and the Clinton administration said last month that it had raised the issue with the Israelis. In Washington Wednesday, a spokesman for Sen. Jesse Helms, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Helms had written to the Israeli ambassador, Zalman Shoval, asking Israel to reconsider the sale and its relations with China.
Chinese officials in Beijing denied the existence of the contract, but Israeli officials confirmed that a Chinese-owned, Russian-built Ilyushin cargo plane was being equipped with an Israeli-made Falcon early warning radar system, similar to the aerial reconnaissance radar in Boeing AWACS planes.
The Israelis said further that despite U.S. concerns, they were offering to equip three more aircraft for China, in what would be one of Israel's largest foreign military contracts to date. The Israeli radar was developed by Elat, a subsidiary of Israeli Aircraft Industries.
Throughout the controversy, the distinctive Russian plane has been parked in open view near the runways of Ben-Gurion International Airport, which is next to the headquarters of Israel Aircraft Industries.
State Department officials have reiterated the U.S. position that arms sales to China remain "an active subject of our dialogue with Israel."
But they also say they accept Israel's word that there is no "U.S.-controlled technology" in the Falcon radar system. They also note that there are no legal prohibitions against sales of conventional weapons to China.
Still, U.S. officials also emphasize concerns about the strategic balance between China and its neighbors, especially Taiwan, which recently acquired U.S. Navy airborne radar planes, which are less sophisticated than the AWACS, to patrol the Taiwan Strait.
"We have made clear to the government of Israel that promoting regional stability should be an important consideration in their arms transfer policy," a State Department official said Wednesday, echoing earlier American statements on the issue.
Some Israeli military officials were clearly rankled at the reports of U.S. opposition to the radar sale. They insisted that U.S. officials had been notified about the contract when it was first proposed by Israel several years ago and were satisfied then that the Israeli-developed system did not incorporate restricted U.S. technology.
Since then, the Israelis noted, there have been numerous published reports about the radar contract.
Li, the highest-ranking Chinese leader to make an extended official visit to Israel, was accompanied by more than a hundred aides and officials, most of them trade and industry specialists.
His itinerary included a day in the Palestinian territories, where he met with Yasser Arafat, who noted warmly that a decade ago China backed the cause of Palestinian independence and extended diplomatic recognition to his Palestine Liberation Organization.
Li spent five nights and four days in Israel, alternating trips to a kibbutz and the Holocaust memorial with receptions at parliament and Prime Minister Ehud Barak's office and visits to local technology industry leaders.
Li's trip to Israel came just a month after a visit by China's Defense Minister, Qi Haotian, who also met with Barak. Israeli officials said they had discussed "security cooperation" between the two countries.
Though no details were disclosed officially, it was reported here that Israel had proposed a range of military supply ventures to the Chinese for as much as $2 billion in potential commercial orders.
Like Li, Qi was received at Israeli Aircraft Industries during his stay here.
Neither Israel nor China will disclose details of military exports or imports, and Israel and China did not establish full diplomatic relations until 1997. But it is widely acknowledged that Israel supplied China with military technology throughout the 1980s, when the United States was also selling arms to Beijing.
After the suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in 1989, Congress ended all military sales to China, though American arms that had been ordered before the ban were delivered at least until 1992.
Since then, China has turned to Russia for most of its major armaments purchases, international arms monitoring groups say. But Israel has remained involved in at least one major military project there, the development of a fighter jet that is expected to carry air-to-air missiles modeled on the Israeli Pitun missile.
Israel, meanwhile, has its own technology transfer issues with China. In his meetings with Li and Qi, Barak is said to have voiced concerns about Chinese military cooperation with Iran, which is believed by Israel to be drawing on Chinese ballistic missile expertise for the development of nuclear weapons.
It has been widely reported, though never officially confirmed, that Israel had a hand in helping China develop that expertise.
-------- russia
Russia Says Nuclear Ships Y2K Ready
New York Times December 2, 1999 Filed at 9:52 a.m. EDT By The Associated Press
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Y2K-Russia-Navy.html
MOSCOW (AP) -- The year 2000 computer glitch presents no danger to the Russian navy's nuclear-powered fleet, contrary to a report released earlier this year by a prominent Norwegian environmental group, a Russian official said Thursday.
The Oslo, Norway-based environmental watchdog Bellona warned that Russia's Northern Fleet doesn't have the money to deal with the so-called ``millennium bug,'' which threatens to foul up computers that can't distinguish between 1900 and 2000.
It said the bug could wreak havoc with the fleet and might make its computers report false missile attacks, raising the possibility of a mistaken counterstrike.
In a news conference Thursday, Northern Fleet commander Vyacheslav Popov said the fleet had long ago taken care of the Y2K glitch. He dismissed Bellona's claims as ``nonsense.''
Popov did not say where the navy, which has been nearly broke since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, found the funds to deal with Y2K.
The Northern Fleet is based on the Kola Peninsula of northwestern Russia, and operates 40 nuclear-powered submarines and three nuclear surface ships, according to Bellona, which specializes in studying the region.
Russia has been far behind other countries in preparing for possible Y2K problems. But the U.S. military has been working with Russian officials to ensure that the computer bug does not threaten Russia's nuclear missile systems, and both sides say accidental launches will not occur.
-------- ukraine
Minor Accident Shuts Ukraine's Chernobyl Reactor
New York Times December 2, 1999 Filed at 5:35 a.m. ET By Reuters
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-energy-.html
KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's troubled Chernobyl nuclear power plant has shut down its only remaining reactor because of a cooling system leak just a few days after restarting it from an earlier shutdown, atomic authorities said on Thursday.
A spokeswoman for the state-run nuclear energy company Energoatom said radiation levels remained normal after Wednesday's accident and shutdown.
The minor leak was similar to one which had shut the Chernobyl reactor five months ago. It had been restarted on Saturday.
``Chernobyl's engineers switched off the reactor and it is expected to be restarted on December 9,'' Nadiya Shumak said by telephone.
A Chernobyl reactor exploded in April 1986, spewing a cloud of radioactive dust over Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and parts of Western Europe in the world's worst nuclear accident.
Thirty-one people were killed in the blast and thousands were affected by the radiation.
Cash-strapped Ukraine promised the Group of Seven industrial nations in 1995 to close Chernobyl in 2000 in exchange for international aid to complete the building of two replacement reactors at its Rivne and Khmelnytska nuclear power plants.
But Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said the station might continue functioning after the 2000 deadline if the G7 group does not provide the promised funds in time.
-------- japan
A Contamination Of Confidence
Japanese Town's Pride, Reputation Suffer Despite Assurances After Nuclear Accident
Washington Post Thursday, December 2, 1999; Page A29 By Kathryn Tolbert
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-12/02/248l-120299-idx.html
TOKYO-Doctors have tried everything they could think of to keep Hisashi Ouchi alive during these past two months. But they are not hopeful he will make it.
Ouchi was standing at a tank, holding a funnel while another worker poured in a highly enriched uranium mixture from a steel bucket. Suddenly a flash of blue light appeared, the telltale sign of a nuclear chain reaction. Ouchi had never been trained for this possibility and didn't realize at first that he was witnessing the start of Japan's worst nuclear accident.
The workers quickly left the room, but Ouchi almost immediately lost consciousness and began to vomit. He suffered severe radiation burns, and his chances of recovery are "very slim," Dr. Kazuhiko Maekawa of Tokyo University Hospital said this week.
The man with the bucket also received a high dose of radiation, but he was about 1 1/2 feet away from the tank's deadly liquid, just enough that he is given a chance of surviving. A third worker in the room on Sept. 30 was standing about four feet away and is expected to live.
The men's struggle for life is one among many dramas taking place in the aftermath of the accident at a nuclear processing plant in the town of Tokaimura, 75 miles northeast of Tokyo. The 69 people exposed to radiation--workers who tried to halt the 20-hour chain reaction by cutting water pipes and pouring in boric acid, along with people nearest the plant--will be monitored for years. More than 75,000 people have received contamination checks, and about 1,800 people have undergone blood and urine tests; three required further testing.
Many other residents worry about the accident's long-term effect, especially on their children, despite assurances that the amount of radiation carried beyond the plant was not enough to be harmful. They also are trying to cope with the loss of confidence in their town and destructive rumors about it.
Farmers strip the Tokai-region label from sweet potatoes, green onions and other crops they grow, and mark down prices of their products because of persistent rumors of radiation contamination. Businesses have stopped boasting of being in the home of nuclear power, and instead suffer under Tokaimura's new image as a zone of pollution.
JCO Co. the Tokyo-based company responsible for the accident, no longer processes uranium for nuclear power plants. Its workers spend their days monitoring radiation levels, apologizing for what it has admitted were illegal shortcuts in their procedures, answering questions in the community and helping people fill out compensation request forms.
The International Atomic Energy Agency concluded after an investigation that the accident did not release a significant amount of radioactive material. The accident has been rated Level 4 on the international scale of seven; the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident in Pennsylvania in 1979 was Level 5. Although the chain reaction continued for 20 hours, once it was stopped and shields were put in place, radiation levels beyond the site returned to normal, the IAEA said in a preliminary report issued Nov. 15. The nearby farms and family gardens were then declared safe.
But it takes more than official statements to restore confidence.
The Tani sushi shop across the street from the plant now finds its only customers are the regulars. "People who don't know us don't stop by," said Mai Sumiya, 24, who runs the restaurant with her parents.
Rumors, town residents said, have caused the most damage.
"The direct effect of radiation was not found in any agricultural produce," said Tsuyoshi Terunuma, head of the local farmers' cooperative. But they are being forced to accept 10 to 20 percent less for their current crops. "Even if brokers want our produce, they'll hammer down the price," Terunuma said. "Our next crop will be carrots. We've already been advised to erase the name of Tokai from the carrots."
People said they are resigned to the existence of the nuclear power facilities--there are 15 in Tokaimura. A third of the households in the town of 34,000 have some connection to the plants, and residents are not clamoring for their removal.
Many blame accident on the government and lax enforcement of safety regulations more than JCO Co. for taking illegal shortcuts.
"This is nothing but sloppy," said Kazuko Hagiya, a physician at the Tokaimura Hospital. "I feel that in everything, including society as a whole in every field, things are being handled sloppily."
JCO Co., a subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal and Mining, has stopped its operations while the government considers whether to revoke its license.
The plant is quiet. The only workers in view during a recent visit were adjusting barriers at the accident site--a small building that looks like a prefabricated warehouse. A series of 12-inch-thick concrete walls have been added along parts of the building where radiation levels were detected higher than normal.
A block from the train station, JCO has opened an office in a shabby second floor room. Every day from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. several JCO employees wait in an atmosphere of penance. They are among 20 employees working in shifts to take questions and help people fill out compensation request forms for business losses.
Farmers and businessmen have filed $13 million in requests; a survey by the prefecture government estimated the economic damage at nearly $150 million.
"I am very sorry for the residents," said Makoto Morita, a managing director of the plant. "We betrayed the confidence they had given us."
The JCO facility is primarily used to process low-enriched uranium for nuclear power plants. But a few times a year one building is used to process highly enriched uranium for an experimental, fast breeder reactor.
A nuclear reaction is prevented by limiting the amount of uranium handled at one time. A buffer cylinder prevents too much from being processed in one batch and is thus a safeguard against criticality--the point at which a nuclear chain reaction starts. But the workers bypassed the buffer on Sept. 29 and 30. They used steel buckets to pour a uranium solution into a precipitation tank, starting with four batches on the 29th and continuing the next morning, according to the IAEA.
When yet another bucketful passed through Ouchi's funnel and raised the tank volume up to about 35 pounds, a critical mass was reached and the nuclear fission chain reaction began, causing the blue flash.
At mid-afternoon about 150 residents closest to the plant were asked to evacuate, although not everyone did. Sumiya of the sushi shop said she and her parents stayed in their house which adjoins the restaurant. "The accident happened at 10:30, they told us about it at 12 o'clock and at 3 o'clock told us to leave. We figured that by then we might as well just stay here," she said.
More than 300,000 people living within six miles were advised to stay indoors with windows shut tightly until the following day. The evacuation order was lifted two days after the accident.
The government is scheduled to finish its investigation by month's end. The IAEA and other preliminary reports have emphasized that the workers did not understand the danger of the material or the meaning of the word criticality.
The company said that it believed a nuclear chain reaction was not a possibility. "If you ask, 'Do you teach employees about criticality?' we haven't been teaching employees how to handle the material with the possibility of criticality in mind," said Morita. "We teach them rules and the procedure. Our factory is more like a chemical factory. So we teach everything, including how to lift heavy objects."
JCO modified its work procedures in 1996 to allow the use of steel buckets as a shortcut, without permission of authorities, and that method had been used several times before the accident. This time, the workers took an added shortcut to speed up the process and skipped the buffer cylinder.
Researcher Akiko Yamamoto contributed to this report.
-------- nato
Cohen Warns Allies About Missiles
New York Times December 2, 1999 Filed at 2:46 p.m. EDT By The Associated Press
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Europe-Defense.html
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen, armed with the latest U.S. intelligence, warned the NATO allies Thursday about the increasing missile threat from rogue states and outlined Washington's plans for a defense system to combat it.
Those plans, however, worry not only the Russians, but some of America's allies as well.
``I think it's very important for the allies to understand that the threat is real,'' Cohen told reporters after briefing defense ministers from the other 18 NATO nations.
He also outlined Washington's National Missile Defense program, now under development, a limited system aimed at intercepting and destroying ballistic missiles launched from a rogue nation.
The ministers, gathered here for their regular year-end meeting, also discussed European efforts to close the military capabilities gap with the United States, Europe's desire for more defense autonomy, and the situation in Bosnia and Kosovo.
Washington's latest intelligence shows North Korea has embarked on a program to develop long-range ballistic missiles, according to an unclassified summary of the report. They are working on a new missile that could reach large parts of the United States and some of Europe.
Iran also has a program and within the next decade will have a missile capable of striking all of NATO territory, the report says. Iraq, which has expelled U.N. inspectors, could develop such a missile too. Nuclear tests by India and Pakistan are also a worry.
No decision on the American missile defense plan will be made before next summer. But if it goes ahead it would require renegotiation of part of the U.S.-Russia Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, something Moscow opposes.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov says the treaty ``represents the core of strategic stability. Should this core be disrupted, then strategic stability could also be disrupted.''
Cohen acknowledged that ``there is by no means a consensus in the alliance'' about the American missile system.
Lord Robertson, the NATO secretary-general, said ``some of the European allies have some profound questions to ask.''
``We are conscious of the arguments put forward by the United States,'' he said. ``There is room for debate here.''
French Defense Minister Alain Richard said it remained to be seen if the system the Americans envisage ``will be a gain in security equivalent to the expenditure. We remain cautious.''
The ministers discussed the European Union's plans to develop the capability for taking military action on its own in cases where the Americans are not interested in participating. This is part of a program originated in NATO four years ago called the European Security and Defense Identity.
The United States supports the principle of Europe developing such a capability, which coincides with a new push for the European NATO members to close the military capabilities gap with the United States. But Washington does have concerns that the EU's entry into military matters may eventually draw the European allies away from NATO.
``We welcome this as long as it is understood ... that this is done within the context of having a European capability that will strengthen NATO itself,'' Cohen said. ``We would not want to see the development of a separate capability which is not compatible with the NATO capability.''
The NATO air campaign against Yugoslavia this spring, in which the United States bore by far the heaviest burden, highlighted European shortcomings in all-weather air attacks, precision-guided weaponry, communications, intelligence and logistics.
The allies have pledged to close the gap, but that will cost money and European defense budgets will have to swell.
``The time for the peace dividend is over, because there is no peace that is permanent,'' said Robertson, adding that the Europeans will have ``to spend more and to spend it on the right things.''
-------- us uranium
USEC to Retain Role in Russian Uranium Deal
Washington Post Thursday, December 2, 1999; Page E03 By Martha M. Hamilton
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-12/02/195l-120299-idx.html
Bowing to pressure from the Clinton administration and Congress, the uranium-processing firm USEC Inc. yesterday dropped its threat to resign as the federal government's executive agent in a nuclear nonproliferation deal with Russia.
The Bethesda-based company, which was sold by the government to investors in July 1998, had raised the possibility that it would resign as the agent in the Russian deal if it failed in its efforts to win as much as $200 million in federal financial aid.
USEC had said that it needed the federal financial support because the deal with the Russians--under which Russians convert highly enriched uranium from dismantled nuclear warheads into low-enriched uranium used as fuel in power plants--was costing the company money. USEC buys the processing from the Russians at a price it says is higher than its own cost of processing.
But the administration countered by saying that it was negotiating with other companies to take over the executive agency, which could have created a competitor to USEC in the market to sell fuel-quality uranium to utilities.
Yesterday USEC's board blinked, voting to continue as executive agent until the deal with the Russians expires at the end of 2001. The company estimated that doing so will result in approximately $10 million in lost earnings next year, but USEC President William H. Timbers Jr. said that "the company would incur greater economic costs in the long run from not being the manager of this program."
Investors sent the company's shares tumbling 7.6 percent, or 62 1/2 cents, to close at a new low of $7.62 1/2.
The company also may have incurred costs in ill will created by its lobbying campaign. Members of Congress and the administration have said they were unconvinced that federal aid of the magnitude that USEC was seeking was warranted, noting that the company is spending $100 million a year in dividends to shareholders and another $100 million to buy back its stock.
Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said yesterday that he doesn't rule out helping USEC. But he said that the amount the company had been seeking and its unwillingness to give assurances about employment and the continued operation of its uranium-processing plants in Paducah, Ky., and Portsmouth, Ohio, were "unacceptable."
"We will work with USEC. We will try to straighten out some of our differences," Richardson said, but he also said that he is keeping alive the idea of introducing additional agents into the Russian deal. "This is not a threat," but a step to make sure national security considerations are protected, he said.
House Commerce Committee Chairman Rep. Thomas J. Bliley Jr. (R-Va.) said yesterday that "today's announcement does not mean this problem has disappeared." Bliley has been sharply critical of the administration for what he has said is a failure to provide adequate oversight for USEC after it was privatized. "The Clinton administration dodged the bullet today," he said.
In a written statement yesterday, USEC's Timbers said that to meet the needs of shareholders "the relationship between our cost structure, including the purchase price of enriched uranium from Russia and the market price of our products must come into better alignment." Rep. Ted Strickland (D-Ohio) said he was concerned that USEC's next step might be to lay off workers.
USEC pays Russia $88 per unit of processed uranium now and will pay $91 in 2001, which the company says is higher than its own cost of processing and above the market price, which is in the low $80s, according to company spokesman Charles Yulish.
-------- us nuc weapons
Missile defense could zap presidential race
USA Today 2/01/99- Updated 02:40 PM ET
http://www.usatoday.com/news/e98/omicinski/007.htm
WASHINGTON - This year's successful test of a Star Wars-generation space-shooter that zaps incoming missiles with pinpoint accuracy at speeds up to 15,000 mph is another remarkable feat of American technology.
Called an exoatmospheric vehicle - EAV - the weapon makes construction of a national missile defense not only possible, but likely.
Not surprisingly, the space-shooter's accuracy rattled the Chinese and Russians. Sha Zakung, Beijing's chief of arms control, said a U.S. national missile defense will ''tip the global balance'' and ''trigger a new arms race.'' Col. Gen. Vladimir Yakovlev, Russia's strategic missile commander, said a national missile defense system - NMD - could upset the ''balanced system'' of arms control agreements.
But let's get real: The old arms control regime is as broken as Humpty Dumpty, despite an epidemic of wishful thinking about the good old days of the Cold War. All the king's horsemen cannot put it back together.
The world is a different place since India and Pakistan got the A-bomb, since Iran started building and selling three-stage missiles, and since Russia's armed forces were so shattered that Moscow's generals have abandoned their Cold War promise of never being the first to use nuclear weapons.
Moscow says its conventional forces are so weak that it considers its nukes a ''deterrent'' against possible attack. Face it: If either Moscow or Beijing could build a workable national missile defense, they would do so, despite their whining.
Indeed, let's hope neither Russian moles nor Chinese agents are allowed to climb through the holes in our national security system and steal the EAV secrets. That would be a disaster worse than Moscow and Beijing's thefts of U.S. nuclear and missile technology over the years.
Make no mistake, the Chinese and Russians would love to get their hands on the super-modern EAV technology.
In this new and shaky post-Cold War atmosphere, nations will pursue their own best interests. That leaves the U.S. political system with the difficult question of whether to go ahead with a nuclear shield, probably in South Dakota and Alaska, that may cost $11 billion or more.
All candidates have various levels of enthusiasm for such a system - generally the Democrats the least and Republicans the most.
But the NMD is likely to become a major political question in the 2000 presidential race next year after the initial testing is over and the Pentagon sends a formal recommendation to President Clinton whether to go ahead.
Foreign policy and security matters completely escaped political press scrutiny in the past two elections. That's unlikely to occur again in the 2000 campaign. NMD is too big to ignore.
Clinton initially questioned or opposed the need for NMD, but switched sides when Congress sent him a resolution overwhelmingly supporting it. An NMD decision is likely to press upon him next summer or early fall, in the very heat of the campaigning. All the candidates will be pressed for their opinions.
China, the sharp-toothed rising power, and Russia, the old bear in diseased and dangerous decline, will growl. Questions of appeasement may arise. The national missile defense issue is likely to make next year's campaign an even longer and hotter political summer.
John Omicinski writes for Gannett News Service
---
GOP Presidential Hopefuls Outline Foreign Policy
Washington Post Thursday, December 2, 1999; Page A18 By Edward Walsh
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-12/02/244l-120299-idx.html
Arizona Sen. John McCain outlined his foreign policy views yesterday, promising to preserve American preeminence in world affairs far into the future, as he and the five other contenders for the Republican presidential nomination made separate appearances before an organization of Jewish Republicans.
On the day that the front-runner for the nomination, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, proposed a major tax-cut plan in a speech in Iowa, McCain chose to deliver his most extensive foreign policy remarks since formally announcing his candidacy.
Accusing the Clinton administration of conducting a foreign policy marked by "strategic incoherence and self-doubt," McCain said the next president must craft a foreign policy that recognizes that the threats posed by the post-Cold War era are "more immediate and more likely to be realized than a massive intercontinental ballistic missile attack once was."
"Ethnic and religious hatreds, violent expressions of nationalism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them, and international terrorism now constitute the clear and present danger," he added.
Specifically, McCain promised a more "realistic" approach to Russia, including opposition to Russian military intervention in Chechnya, to "engage" China but oppose Chinese attempts to undermine U.S. interests and values, and to implement a concerted policy of "rogue state rollback" aimed at regimes such as Saddam Hussein's in Iraq.
Speaking to a largely Jewish audience, the six candidates--including Utah Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, publisher Steve Forbes, activist Gary Bauer and radio talk show host Alan Keyes--all pledged to continue strong U.S. support for Israel and not to pressure Israel into accepting a flawed peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority.
Bush, the last candidate to speak, said a lasting peace in the Middle East will not be achieved "if our government tries to get Israel to conform to our vision of national security."
The GOP front-runner largely delivered his standard stump speech and repeated some of the tax-cut proposals that he made earlier in the day in Iowa. He also reiterated his strong support for free-trade policies and said of the protest at the World Trade Organization meeting, "They've got it wrong out in Seattle, Washington."
Hatch said he was "sick and tired of U.S. meddling [in the Middle East peace process] in an effort to build a legacy but on which the Israelis have to bet their lives."
Forbes accused the Clinton administration of turning "a blind eye" toward mounting economic problems in Russia and of the threat posed to Israel by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Keyes and Bauer stressed the moral and religious underpinnings of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and said those values should be reflected in U.S. foreign policy.
"We are way down the road to abandoning those moral principles," Keyes said.
"If you look at all the major problems facing the country, racial reconciliation, foreign policy, almost all those things end up being a moral question," Bauer said.
McCain, who was introduced and endorsed by Jeane Kirkpatrick, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, reiterated several positions that he shares with Bush. These included opposition to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and support for China's entry into the World Trade Organization. Like Bush, McCain pledged to deploy a missile defense system and said he would withdraw the United States from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty if necessary to accomplish that.
Yesterday's forum, sponsored by the Republican Jewish Coalition, came the day before all six of the GOP hopefuls will appear together for the first time in a debate in New Hampshire. McCain, who has emerged as Bush's main rival in the New Hampshire primary, said at an informal news conference that he expected to be the target of stepped-up attacks by the others. Asked how he hoped to be seen in contrast to Bush in the first debate in which the Texas governor will participate, McCain said, "In a word, that I'm presidential."
That debate could set the tone for the intense campaigning from now until the Jan. 24 Iowa caucuses and the Feb. 1 primary in New Hampshire. It comes as Bush has seen his once-formidable lead in New Hampshire evaporate, with the Texas governor now running even with McCain in Time/CNN poll released over the weekend and other private data.
The Time/CNN poll showed McCain with 37 percent and Bush with 35 percent, a statistically insignificant difference. Forbes was third with 8 percent, followed by Keyes with 3 percent, Bauer with 2 percent and Hatch an asterisk.
"McCain is certainly at least even with Bush, perhaps leading Bush right now," said Andy Smith of the University of New Hampshire Survey Research Center. "He's got momentum on his side and he's been campaigning very effectively."
Bush was hurt in New Hampshire by his decision to skip two candidate forums in October and has promised to make up for that by steadily increasing the amount of time he spends campaigning in the state. Bush advisers expect that he will be the target of criticism tonight, particularly from Forbes, but said he would attempt to stay above the fray.
The 90-minute debate, hosted by WMUR-TV and Fox News, will begin at 8 p.m.
The Republican Jewish Coalition has been running a television commercial in New York assailing first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton for failing to denounce immediately remarks made by Suha Arafat, wife of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Introducing Clinton at an event in the West Bank, Arafat accused Israel of using "poison gases" against Palestinians, causing cancer among women and children.
Clinton later said Arafat's charges were "baseless," but the episode caused a furor among Jewish voters in New York, where Clinton is running for the Senate. Hatch, Bauer and Forbes praised the coalition for broadcasting the ad, but Bush, McCain and Keyes ignored the issue.
Staff writer Dan Balz in New Hampshire contributed to this report.
-------- us nuc weapons facilities
Energy's Security Initiative Lacks Fuel
Funding Falls Far Short of Request
Washington Post Thursday, December 2, 1999; Page A37 By Roberto Suro http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-12/02/237l-120299-idx.html
Gen. Eugene E. Habiger, left, chief of security, and Energy Secretary Bill Richardson testified recently on Capitol Hill of the need for increased funding to protect the laboratories and safeguard computers from encryption.
Plans to protect the nation's nuclear weapons laboratories from foreign espionage have fallen behind schedule because Congress failed to appropriate enough money for security measures, the Energy Department's new "security czar" said yesterday.
Even if Congress now approves a request for emergency supplemental funding, plans to have a new security program fully in place by next September are off-track. "I'm not going to be able to do it," said retired Air Force Gen. Eugene E. Habiger, who heads the department's Office of Security and Emergency Operations.
While he had expected to be hiring new personnel and buying new computer hardware by now, Habiger said, emergency money will not be available until April or May, meaning at least a six- or seven-month delay and even longer if Congress declines to provide the extra funds.
In a major report last spring, a congressional panel headed by Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.) alleged that the People's Republic of China had stolen an array of nuclear secrets from the laboratories, and the legislators blamed the Energy Department, which oversees the labs, for failing to maintain adequate safeguards.
But, Habiger complained, when it came time to pay for beefed up protection, Congress cut his funding request from $65 million to $10 million in the federal budget signed into law Monday. Republicans dispute his contention, arguing that the Clinton administration failed to produce a coherent plan for security improvements.
Habiger, a former chief of the Strategic Air Command, said his office is carrying out a dozen policy initiatives that cost little or nothing, such as new requirements for safeguarding personal passwords on laboratory computers. As a result, he said, "we have turned the corner" and begun to remedy some of the security flaws uncovered during investigations of alleged Chinese espionage.
Without the necessary funds, however, the department cannot fully train computer system administrators on security measures, tighten the screening of foreign visitors to the labs, beef up protection for nuclear materials or buy encryption equipment to protect computers from electronic intrusions, Habiger said in recent congressional testimony.
The Cox committee reported last May that "stolen U.S. nuclear secrets give [China] design information on thermonuclear weapons on par with our own." It also alleged that espionage at the three national laboratories that design and develop nuclear weapons had allowed China to test modern nuclear weapons much sooner than it would have otherwise.
Speaking to Pentagon reporters yesterday, Habiger acknowledged serious vulnerabilities in the nuclear laboratories, saying that since the end of the Cold War, a dangerously "relaxed" attitude had developed. And he said the Cox report and other investigations helped point out these security problems. But he played down the allegations of Chinese spying.
"The jury is still out" on whether China acquired any information that will allow it to significantly improve its nuclear weapons program, he said. Even after reviewing all the relevant intelligence reports, Habiger said, he has not seen conclusive evidence that China acquired important information through espionage at the laboratories.
Cox said in an interview yesterday that Habiger has failed to provide Congress with a detailed spending plan since he took over the newly created security office in June. "There is no explanation of what they want to do," Cox said. He also noted that the Clinton administration did not seek money for major improvements in nuclear security until last spring, after the political furor over alleged Chinese spying.
To remedy his short-term budget woes, Habiger said, he will ask Congress to approve the reallocation of $3 million to $5 million of Energy Department funds. For the longer term, he said, he will seek $35 million in an emergency supplemental appropriation that Congress is expected to consider early next year.
-------- nuc other
Today In History
New York Times December 1, 1999 Filed at 7:01 p.m. EDT By The Associated Press
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/a/AP-History.html
Today is Thursday, Dec. 2, the 336th day of 1999. There are 29 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
In 1942, a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was demonstrated for the first time at the University of Chicago.
-------- us military
Pentagon Study Blames Rocket Makers for Launch Failures
Washington Post Thursday, December 2, 1999; Page A13 Associated Press
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-12/02/255l-120299-idx.html
A recent string of multibillion-dollar U.S. space launch failures can be traced to flawed workmanship and engineering by the contractors who built the Titan IV and Delta III rockets, a Pentagon study concludes.
The report released yesterday also cites the government's fragmented lines of authority for overseeing the space launch program.
"There is an urgent need to clearly identify authority and responsibility" for putting satellites into proper orbit, the report says. It also says the Air Force has allowed its in-plant engineering support to erode.
The Air Force ordered the study after a Delta III rocket malfunctioned in May, leaving a commercial communications satellite in a useless, lopsided orbit. It was the fifth failed space launch since August 1998 and the second botched flight in a row for the Delta III, built by Boeing Co.
The trouble dates to Aug. 12, 1998, when an Air Force Titan IV rocket carrying a spy satellite blew up less than a minute into its flight.
An Air Force investigation uncovered faulty wiring, as well as questionable quality control by Lockheed Martin Corp., the manufacturer. A Titan IV carrying a missile launch detection satellite failed on April 9, and a few weeks later another Titan IV put a military communications satellite in a wrong orbit.
In a letter to Defense Secretary William S. Cohen, President Clinton said he is pleased that the Air Force study has identified the root causes behind each of the recent launch failures and that corrective action is being taken.
"Now and in the next century, our national security, civil and commercial space sectors will continue to depend on reliable access to space to achieve our broader national goals," Clinton wrote in the letter, released by the White House yesterday.
Clinton said his science and technology adviser, Neal Lane, and his national security adviser, Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger, will review the Air Force report.
The report concludes that the main causes of the rocket failures were related to engineering and workmanship flaws at the factory. The shortcomings seem to have arisen from a premature shifting of attention--by both the contractors and their government overseers--away from executing successful launches with existing rockets to the future task of using a new generation of launch vehicles, the study says.
It cites a "premature 'going-out-of-business' mind-set," particularly in the Titan IV program. That program is "chronically understaffed," it says.
The report also raises concern about the risk of failure in flying the fleet of 39 existing Titan, Delta and Atlas rockets, which are valued at $20 billion and include critical systems with no spares.
-------- us chemical plants
Chemical Plants' Readiness for Year 2000 Is Debated
New York Times December 2, 1999 By STEVE STRUNSKY
http://www.nytimes.com/99/12/02/news/national/regional/nj-chemical-y2k.html
Workplace safety advocates in New Jersey say state regulators and the chemical industry are heading blindly into the new millennium, relying on voluntary efforts by companies to avert accidents connected to Year 2000 computer problems.
State and industry officials acknowledged that companies were not required to report on their state of readiness. But they said existing regulations, as well as companies' economic self-interest and concern for safety, were adequate safeguards.
The New Jersey Work Environment Council of Lawrenceville, a nonprofit research center supported by labor and environmental groups, warned this week that the state's laissez-faire approach was irresponsible and possibly dangerous. "It's a wait and see attitude," said Jim Young, special projects coordinator for the council. "We're asking government to be more aggressively proactive."
Specifically, Young said, the state should conduct on-site audits of at least a sampling of chemical plants around the state, with interviews of plant managers to determine whether adequate steps have been taken.
The chemical industry is a contentious topic in New Jersey, a densely populated and heavily industrialized state that leads the country in the number of federal environmental superfund sites. A chemical explosion in 1995 killed five workers at the Napp Technologies plant in Lodi.
Amy Collings, a spokeswoman for the State Department of Environmental Protection, said chemical companies, like those in other industries, were effectively required to be Year 2000-ready through the permitting process. While that readiness is not specifically addressed in permits, Ms. Collings said they did specify limits on chemical discharges and other emissions, and prohibit excessive releases for any reason, including accidents linked to computer problems. In any event, she said, most processes at chemical plants are not computerized.
Still, the state has sent letters to companies urging them to be prepared, and a section of its Web site is devoted to the issue. Links to related sites include the Federal Environmental Protection Agency's Y2K Chemical Alert.
Nina Habib Spencer, a spokeswoman for the Environmental Protection Agency's Region II, which includes New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, said her agency also sent letters to 9,500 companies in the region. But, she said, there was no way her agency could track Year 2000 readiness in private industry because, like New York, New Jersey and other states, the federal government has no laws requiring companies to be ready. "We can't require companies to tell us their status if there is no law that requires them to be Y2K compliant," she said.
Such rules do exist for the nuclear industry. All 103 plants across the country have been inspected and are ready for New Year's, said Diane Screnci, a spokeswoman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
But, Ms. Collings said, actively ensuring that companies' computers are ready is not feasible. "We cannot imagine that the Work Environment Council would suggest that the taxpayers of New Jersey provide free computer consulting services to the chemical industry of New Jersey," Ms. Collings said.
Young said that given the unique situation, his group could not imagine why the state was not doing more. "These are extraordinary circumstances," he said.
Young said a survey conducted by the Work Environment Council during the last two weeks was not encouraging. Among the 50 chemical plants asked by the group for information about their readiness, 23 did not respond. Still, most did, including a Union Carbide plant in Franklin Township in Somerset County, which Young said was impressive in its precautions.
Julie Booth, a spokeswoman for the Chemical Industry Council of New Jersey, a trade group with 105 members, said the group was committed to Year 2000 readiness, which was the subject of its annual lunch yesterday. In February, Ms. Booth said, two-thirds of the members, those with computerized manufacturing processes, were sent readiness guidelines.
Related Sites
N.J. Dept. of Environmental Protection's Y2K Alert Page
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/special/y2k
Federal Environmental Protection Agency's Y2K Chemical Alert
http://www.epa.gov/ceppo/pubs/y2k
http://www.nytimes.com/99/12/02/news/national/regional/nj-chemical-y2k.html#offsite
-------- wto
[Following are reports from Seattle from two friends of mine, who also happen to be very committed and experienced activists. A committed activist, Peter Bergel has published the Oregon PeaceWorker (www. teleport.com/~opw) for some years, and has just sent this post from the streets of Seattle. I have known Peter since meeting him in Las Vegas when I went out with Seeds of Peace to help shut down the Nevada Test Site in 1988. Peter was a founder of American Peace Test and is an incredible friend, person, organizer and non-violence trainer. I met Troy through direct action also. She has worked with Earth First! Seeds of Peace and Greenpeace, to name a few organizations. She is a well seasoned activist, and a dear friend. guinstigator@yahoo.com]
Seattle report from Peter Bergel:
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 06:38:47 -0800 (PST) Subject: Peter Bergel's WTO Report
Dear Friends, Here is an account of the WTO actions in Seattle from my perspective. I have been doing nonviolence training for several days and I was on the street all day today. -- Peter
--> Notes on 11-30-99 WTO Protest Actions Overall Impressions
* The protests today represented a new beginning of cooperation between labor, environmental, peace, human rights and other groups. Many were represented and worked together very well.
* The direct action was carried out by mainly young activists who had been trained for the week before and handled themselves superbly, by and large. They were disciplined, radical, well-educated and had a good grasp of the value of nonviolence, at least as a tactic. I found that they knew a remarkable amount about WTO, free trade, capitalism and related topics.
* The City of Seattle's downtown area was completely shut down. The people took over the streets and the police were not able to exercise more than token control over them.
* For the most part, the police behaved well. They were seriously outnumbered, stressed, provoked at times and probably felt frightened. Nevertheless, they used force sparingly and overstepped the need infrequently.
* The protesters did a magnificent job of policing themselves. The minor outbreaks of violent anger were contained by the demonstrators with surprising skill and commitment.
* The WTO meetings were seriously impacted. The opening was delayed, many delegates were prevented from attending at all, and those who did could not get to their meetings without running the gantlet of angry protesters making their message clear in both mass and invidual ways.
* It was probably a very significant day in the history of people's power, "free" trade evolution and defense of democracy.
Personal Experiences After gathering at Steinbrueck Park at 7 a.m. today, we marched downtown in a huge march which stretched for many blocks. How many I couldn't tell from my position within it, but we were only half of the total since another march started from another location, converging on the WTO meeting place from another direction.
Once downtown, we split into different sub-groups to occupy different parts of downtown. The area around the WTO had been divided into thirteen sectors with clusters of affinity groups (small autonomous action groups) responsible for deciding upon 3/4 and carrying out 3/4 a blockade of their sector. My group marched around downtown a bit and wound up in front of the Sheraton Hotel, where many delegates were staying. Human blockades were set up by dedicated affinity groups at every entrance, including the parking garage. Protesters lined up across the entrances, linked arms and stood their ground. At several points there were face-to-face standoffs between protesters and police. The police wore face shields, gas masks (at times) and body armor and carried long sticks, sidearms, pepper spray and sometimes plastic riot shields. The protesters wore old clothes, rain protection and bandannas against tear gas. Some were wildly costumed and a few had gas masks.
There was some pushing and rough stuff now and then when delegates tried to get out of the hotel or get back in. Protesters tried to prevent any entry or egress and sometimes the delegates tried to push through. When they did, police interfered, if they were close by.
About 10 a.m. tear gas was used by the police to clear the immediate area. By that time I had moved up the street and was not gassed. When the gas dispersed, I went back down to find out what had occasioned the use of the gas. It had been used to clear the intersection along Union to afford meeting access to some WTO delegates. However, rather few of them appeared to be using it. The police lined both sides of the intersection to keep it clear. As the delegates walked through, the crowd booed them loudly and then began shouting "shame, shame." A few minutes later, another tear gas attack back up the street drove people down toward my position and the gas followed them. I was gassed slightly.
As I walked around downtown, I found that practically every intersection was filled with people dancing, drumming and blockading and the numbers were truly amazing. The police were mostly holding various lines and not letting people through them. Then periodically they would use tear gas to clear an area. People would leave the area, circle around to another block and come back when the gas dispersed. The police would shortly abandon the intersection they had just secured and move to another one and the process would begin again. The upshot of this was that the police were unable to protect much of anything at all, yet hey could not spare the manpower to arrest demonstrators without losing control of the areas they were trying to protect. The downtown was firmly in the protesters' hands and it was clear that without the consent of the governed not much could be accomplished, if enough of the governed decided to resist.
Some of the signs that impressed me included: * The Senators who ratified the WTO Treaty should be tried for treason. * Do YOU remember voting for the WTO? * Keep the sweatshop in the sauna. * More health, less wealth. * I hope you can eat your money. * No legislation without representation.
I saw two police cars parked in the street as part of a police counter blockade. One had a flat rear tire and both had such graffiti as "Pig" and "Fuck cops" spray-painted to them. There was also some glass breakage,overturning of dumpsters and paper boxes and defacing of buildings, but the damage was trivial considering the huge numbers of people in the area, the anger that the tear-gassing triggered and the wealth of those against which the property damage was directed. More important, though, was the response of the demonstrators to virtually every outbreak of property damage or hot-headedness. Demonstrators moved immediately to quell property damage and equally determinedly to break up conflicts. Others immediately began to chant "Nonviolent protest! Nonviolent protest! The effect was to put the rowdier elements on notice that their tactics were not appreciated by the vast majority of those present. I even saw a line of demonstrators link arms to successfully protect the windows of a VoiceStream Wireless store from window-breakers.
The favorite chant of the day was "Hey, hey! Ho, ho! WTO has got to go!" Not too imaginitive, perhaps, but easy to learn and it had a good rhythm. At one point, a group sang the Star Spangled Banner. When they got to the line about the land of the free, people stopped singing and went into wild applause. Another favorite chant was "Whose streets? Our streets! Whosestreets? Our streets!"
Crowd size estimates on the news seem to have been characteristically small: one early report said there were 5,000 downtown in the morning. I would guess the number at 4-6 times that, though that is only a guess. All I can say is that all the streets I went to were full of people and I would guess that a tightly packed block would probably hold about 1,000 people. Even a loosely packed block would have to have 3-400 in it. And there were blocks like that up and down many streets. I can't imagine there were less than 10-20,000 downtown in the morning and possibly as many as 30,000. Then there must have been a good 40-50,000 in the "Big" labor march which came downtown in the afternoon. That would boost the count to 50-60,000, maybe even as high as 70,000. Honest estimates based on helicopter pictures could be made, but I don't know if they will be.
In many intersections, protesters "locked down." They connected themselves to each other and to heavy blocks or concrete-filled pipes to make it impossible for the police to move them. This was another reason the cops didn't arrest people. They just couldn't. Some of those locked down were still in the intersections when the police used tear gas in the area and they just had to endure it.
I spoke briefly to a WTO delegate from Trinidad and Tobago 3/4 a small country of less than 2,000 square miles 3/4 which has what he called "manageable debt." He seemed to understand what we were protesting about quite well. Especially he understood the trade-offs forced by the requirements of debt repayment.
People on the streets were often very helpful towards one another, sharing water, helping them out of areas in which they didn't want to be, washing each other's eyes and so on. A few medical types are carrying saline solution for severe tear gas victims. There are also legal observers wearing specially printed white T-shirts and taking notes on what they see going on.
Two kinds of tear gas seemed to be in use. One was whitish-grey and seemed to remain relatively local where it was shot. The other was dark, almost black, and seemed to blanket much larger areas quickly. It obscures vision like smoke even if you don't get anywhere near it.
I heard many fascinating conversations about the relative power of violence and nonviolence. It was wonderful to hear so many people who weren't me carrying the defense of nonviolence in these circumstances.
In some places there was plastic yellow tape marked "Police crime scene. Do not cross." In many others there was identical looking tape which said instead, "Unseen crimes."
A very disciplined drum corps with drums, cymbals, flags and a whistle-blowing majorette dressed in dark, revolutionary-looking clothing showed up from time to time throughout the day. They would march in tight formation along the street, playing and responding to the whistled commands of the majorette. Then, at a whistled signal, they would begin to deploy in various patterns. They were entertaining, clever, humorous and good at what they do. At one point, as they marched down a street, they suddenly veered sharply left and walked right into Starbucks, playing and marching around several times to the shock of the customers, some of which left at once.
The vanguard of the "Big" march arrived downtown about 1:30, occupying the whole street. Although it came in fits and starts, it flowed past my vantage point for 50 minutes before I found my Salem friends and joined them. We looped through a number of blocks of downtown and then began to head out of downtown a block over from where the march came in. To my amazement, we could see a steady stream still coming in! It was 2:45. I left the march and stood on the corner to view the rest of the march. By 3 p.m. the march's end had passed the point at which is could see it entering downtown a block up the street. However, it was still another 20 minutes before the end passed my vantage point. This means that a march that often filled the entire street took about an hour and a half to pass one point. Could that be less than 50,000?
I saw signs for at least these unions: steelworkers, electrical workers, teachers, bricklayers, ILWU (Longshoremen), painters, Stanford workers, service employees, teamsters, sheet metal workers, marine engineers,transit workers, boilermakers, plumbers steamfitters and refigerations workers, public service workers of Canada, cement masons, pulp paper and woodworkers, nurses, Canadian airways workers and carpenters.
When the march had left, I went back to one of the lockdowns on 6th Avenue right next to the Sheraton Hotel. There were still a lot of people downtown. There were clearly less than before, but they still filled many blocks and the occupation continued. At one point there was a disturbance as two men appeared to be trying to break though a line of protesters which was linked to prevent delegates from getting past. Behind them was a line of police. There was a scuffle and I went right over there to see if I could help maintain the peace. One of the two fell down and immediately got up, very freaked out. I began to calm him only to have my attention drawn to the other who was a few feet away. His suit coat was open and he had a sidearm holster from which he had already removed the gun. It was pointing down, but I had a moment of serious fear as I realized that, should he raise the weapon, I would be right in his immediate line of fire. However, he did not raise it. Rather, he and the other man crossed through the police line and were gone. The crowd had responded at once, shouting "He's got a gun. He's got a gun." and pointing. The police responded by spraying the entire scene, including me, with pepper spray. Although I have seen tear gas a number of times before, I had never confronted pepper spray before. It's pretty painful just to have on your skin. It must be really awful to have in your eyes.
At 5 p.m., the police moved to clear the entire area. They began firing off large amounts of tear gas and people began to run down 6th. A number of us shouted for them to walk to prevent panic and stampede. Then we moved slowly out of the area. The tear gas overtook us and I was gassed more heavily this time. The stuff isn't as nasty as what they used to use in the 60s, but it's bad enough. Shortly after that I left. I later heard that the police used gas to clear most of the protesters out, but some remained and the day's first arrests took place that evening. I heard numbers like 22 and 25 3/4 a tiny number considering how many had been there during the day. Taken as a whole, the day was an unquestioned success. The WTO could not help but get the message about how they were viewed by the many thousands present. Moreover, they had not been able to agree on their agenda before they arrived for this meeting and then they lost a good deal of yesterday because the downtown area was so congested and even more of today due to delays and absence of delegates.
Thanks for reading this far, if you have. Please forward this to people who should be informed.
Thank you.
Peter Bergel, Save Ward Valley, 107 F Street, Needles, CA 92363, ph. 760/326-6267, fax 760/326-6268
http://www.shundahai.org/SWVAction.html http://earthrunner.com/savewardvalley http://www.ctaz.com/~swv1 http://banwaste.envirolink.org http://www.alphacdc.com/ien/wardvly4.html http://www.greenaction.org
---
Here is the report from Troy --
Thank you soo much for the support - we are hearing stories like this from out there and it makes us happy to know its happening everywhere. This is a war zone.
i stepped out last night for the first time, i had to sleep. Two days ago more than 35,000 people took the streets and shut down the WTO we stood face to face with riot squad cops all around the convention center and blocked the deligates from entering.
The first attack came at 9 am and was wholey unprovoked. The cops opened fire with pepper spray, tear gas, and rubber bullets at close range on a group of activists who were sitting with their backs to them. We were all hit with gas at some point that day as they attempted to regain the streets. I believe they are frightened because they can not stop us and we will not react in kind.
When they gased the street i was on, we all moved away (i got hit in the head with a canister of the damn stuff) caught breath and went back in - there were so many people everywhere you looked thousands of people. Chanting non-violence in the face of extreme violenc.
There was a small group of less than 20 black masked individuals who went round -breaking windows and spray painting. I didn't see them - but the news did. As though a broken window could somehow justify the violence against us. Later when the non-violent activists left the streets. Riot cops and chaos ruled the streets, opportunists took advantage of the night to loot and destroy, of course we are being painted in with that element. People can be short sighted.
Yesterday we met with the steel workers union for a legal rally and when we marched out of there we were not in the zone that has been designated "a non protest zone'" The cops don't seem to have their facts straight. They showed up quickly with tanks, pepper spray, (not the normal stuff its in a canister that looks like a fire extinguisher and it hoses people) more tear gas, this time it was not the crowd control variety i believe it is war grade, and as usual the rubber bullets and this time some kind of grenade that explodes without schrapnel but makes a huge noise and shakes the air, inspiring panic. They would meet us at the intersections and when we marched passed them - they started to divide us with these things. I was out in front stopping traffic on the first attack and had to run back through the gas to get to the larger group. The folks who did not make it back were beaten up and arrested. They continued this technique again and again as we retreated down to the water front. Molly, one of the medics, was treating someone, not even an activist, an older woman who was caught in the frey (there were many non activists gassed yesterday) a cop came up from behind, peppered them both, and struck them with his baton. Then they began to target the medics who were clearly designated, and beating them up taking their medical supplies.
They followed us to Pike Street Market, an open vegetable market, and tear gassed that place as well. One woman with a baby was gassed. The child was unconsious, but eventualy recovered. Cut off from the group again, with no way to meet them down at the water front, i left (with at least a hundred confused individuals following me). From the ridge i could see the march heading down to the water, where they were trapped and gassed all to hell. Many arrested, a few escaped, my friend mike got away, only to collapse choking two hours later from the cumulative poison of the gas.
When i finaly arrived at the warehouse space, i also collapse. But am fine now. That's why i left for the night after two days of being attacked and then coming back to treat the more injured parties. i was exauhsted, i'm feeling well rested, washed the poison off and am going back soon. Watched the live tv last night saw what was left of my few thousand new friends, gassed in even the worst attack only a few blocks from the warehouse. Hope they didn't hit the space.
Oddly enough people are in good spirits, we are shocked, beaten and gassed - but determined to hold our peace and speak our mind and shut the WTO down. I have seen the best and worst from humans in these few day.
More later -- Troy
---
Clinton receives chilly response in Seattle
USA Today 12/02/99- Updated 10:36 AM ET
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/ncsthu03.htm
--
Seattle Cracks Down On Rioters, as Ministers Wage Trade Battles
New York Times December 2, 1999 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/late/02trade.html
In Stormy Seattle, Clinton Takes Up Protesters' Cause
New York Times December 2, 1999
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/global/120299wto-talks.html
THE OVERVIEW
In Stormy Seattle, Clinton Chides World Trade Body
New York Times December 2, 1999 By DAVID E. SANGER
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/global/120299wto-talks.html
THE BLAME
Clenched Fists in Seattle Lead to Pointed Fingers
New York Times December 2, 1999 By TIMOTHY EGAN
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/global/120299wto-protest.html
THE HOSTS
Seattle Is Stung, Angry and Embarrassed as Opportunity Turns to Chaos
New York Times December 2, 1999 By SAM HOWE VERHOVEK
http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?13@@.f0816c0
THE VISITORS
Seeing the Fear of Free Trade Made Concrete
New York Times December 2, 1999 By JOSEPH KAHN
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/global/120299wto-delegates.html
THE REACTION
Internationally, Embarrassment for U.S.
New York Times December 2, 1999 By SARAH LYALL
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/global/120299wto-react.html
Rebels in Search of Rules
New York Times December 2, 1999 By NAOMI KLEIN
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/oped/02klei.html
The Fight in Seattle Over Trade
New York Times December 2, 1999
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/letters/l02wto.html
Forum
Join a Discussion on the Protests Against the World Trade Organization
http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?13@@.f0816c0
---
Protest's Architect 'Gratified'
D.C.-Based Activist Brought Diverse Groups Together
Washington Post, , December 2, 1999; Page A01 By Steven http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-12/02/233l-120299-idx.html
Clinton Defends Open Trade
President Condemns Seattle Violence; 400 Arrested as Response Toughens
Washington Post, December 2, 1999; Page A01 By Charles Babington and John Burgess
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-12/02/259l-120299-idx.html
Extensive Security Planning Fails Test Tactics Wrong, Officials Concede
Washington Post, December 2, 1999; Page A35 By Rene Sanchez http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-12/02/228l-120299-idx.html
Across the Atlantic, Free Trade's Victors
Washington Post, December 2, 1999; Page A34 By Anne Swardson http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-12/02/226l-120299-idx.html
Hell, No! We Won't WTO!
Washington Post, December 2, 1999; Page C01
By Joel Achenbach Washington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-12/02/158l-120299-idx.html