------- Index of Articles
NUCLEAR
*Austria Fights Nuclear Plant Near Border in Czech Hills
*US to demand N Korea action
*Putin aims to pare down, redesign Russia's ailing military machine
*Carreras Dedicates Concert to Kursk
*U.S. Official Concerned About Lee's Civil Rights
*Richardson Backs Justice Dept.
*Polls push some campaign issues to sidelines
*Vive What Difference?
*Nader Fades in Polls but Draws Crowds
*THIS WEEK ON @ISSUE AT AJC.COM
*Teen Gets 6 Months for Hacking NASA
*Teen hacker now regrets ''fun''
MILITARY
*Japan Is Urged to Improve Ties to North Korea
*Following Up: Ordeal Takes Colombia Off Bird-Watchers' Map
*Gov. Cellucci urged transit officials to resist settling a lawsuit
*Iraq: Embargo cost more than 10,000 lives in August
*Gore Assures Kuwait of U.S. Backing in Iraq Dispute
*S.Korea President Warns of N.Korea Food Shortage
*Putin aims to pare down, redesign Russia's ailing military machine
*Putin Bringing Stability to Russia
*employees have been passed over for promotion because of discrimination
OTHER
*Cheney calls for increased oil drilling in Alaska
*U.S. Buys Big Sur Parcel to Expand National Forest
*Davis to Sign School Pesticide Bill
*Houston, Smarting Economically From Smog, Searches for Remedies
*Clinton Expands Big Sur Coastland Protection
*Taco Bell says no to shell recall
*Proposed emissions rules for the state's five dirtiest power plants
*Canada Calls for Moratorium on Debt Repayments From Poor Countries
*China's Opportunities, And Ours
*National Security Agency Offers Veiled Tour of Top-Secret Operations
*Peru's spy chief lands in Panama in asylum bid
*Ex-Peruvian Spy Chief Not Welcome in Panama
*A Nod, a Smile: Trying to Decipher Iran's Message on Jailed Jews
*Sleight of Hand in Peru
*Disgraced Peru spy chief flees to Panama
*U.S. Blunders Undermined Lee Case
*In Real Life, N.Y.P.D. Blue Has Soft Side
ACTIVISTS
*IMF, World Bank Face Off With Critics
*Hundreds March Through Prague on Debt Relief
*Lebanese Women Protest Against Discrimination
-------- NUCLEAR (by country)
-------- austria
Austria Fights Nuclear Plant Near Border in Czech Hills
New York Times
September 24, 2000
By LADKA BAUEROVA
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/24/world/24NUKE.html
PRAGUE, Sept. 23 - The four cooling towers of the Temelin nuclear power station overlook the rolling hills of the southern Czech Republic like a gigantic castle. But for most Austrians, whose country begins just 40 miles away, this castle is haunted.
As the Czech authorities make final preparations to switch on the first reactor at the Soviet-designed plant, fiercely antinuclear Austria has intensified its threats to block the Czech Republic's effort to join the European Union.
Austria is the only country in the world to have built a complete nuclear power plant and then to have decided - in a 1978 referendum - not to put it or any other nuclear plant on line. The country, which suffered from the radiation cloud released by the 1986 Chernobyl accident, has become a vigorous campaigner against nuclear power.
Calling the Czech authorities "arrogant" and "irresponsible" for deciding to put Temelin on line, Austria's Parliament voted unanimously on Sept. 5 not to approve the energy chapter of the Czech Republic's application to join the European Union. A Czech government spokesman, Libor Roucek, replied by saying that the Austrian reaction to Temelin was "hysterical to the point of being embarrassing."
On Sept. 7, the European Parliament in Brussels passed a nonbinding resolution urging the Czech Republic to carry out additional studies on Temelin's environmental impact before it is put into operation.
The Czech government, which has already invested nearly $2.5 billion in the power plant, had refused to do more testing, arguing that the safety features bought from Westinghouse meet American standards.
The only Czech leader who appeared to sympathize with the concerns about Temelin was President Vaclav Havel, who wields little actual political power. "It would be unwise, even suicidal," to prevent a further check of Temelin's safety, Mr. Havel said.
On Sept. 12, a group of Czech members of Parliament visited Austria and told their counterparts that they would agree to have a panel of experts and politicians review safe.
Most members of the Czech cabinet and Temelin's director, Frantisek Hezoucky, were critical of the Brussels vote. "It is irritating that the European Parliament wants to vote on a thing it knows nothing about," Mr. Hezoucky said. "The Czech delegates were not even allowed to speak."
Last week, Edmund Stoiber, the premier of the German state of Bavaria, sent a letter to Prime Minister Milos Zeman, protesting the plan for the plant. And for the fourth time, Austrian environmental activists blocked virtually the whole border with the Czech Republic on Friday.
Construction on Temelin began in 1987. Its opening has been postponed several times for financial and technical reasons. Temelin officials now say the reactor could be operational in October, at the earliest.
The environment ministers of Austria and Germany say the plant will not pass the rigorous nuclear safety standards in their countries.
"You can argue about the technical details endlessly," said David Kyd, the spokesman for the International Atomic Energy Agency. "The truth is, this is more a political issue than a technical one."
Mr. Kyd noted that Austria's protests at new nuclear power plants in other countries have usually fizzled once the facility is on line. He said that although Temelin has weak spots, the United Nations agency does not anticipate any difficulties.
Rosina Luger, a representative of the Austrian antinuclear organization, Mothers Against Nuclear Hazard, disagrees. "We are sure that Temelin is not safe," she said.
"E.U. countries are phasing out nuclear energy, so why should we accept countries that are just opening new plants now?" she said. Josef Pýhringer, the spokesman for the Upper Austrian Platform Against Nuclear Danger, said, "Temelin is not only Austria's matter, it is a problem for all of Europe."
-------- korea
US to demand N Korea action
Australian Broadcasting Corpration
This Bulletin: Sun, 24 Sep 2000 14:20 AEDT
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newslink/weekly/newsnat-24sep2000-43.htm
The United States will demand action rather than words from North Korea at a new round of talks in New York this week.
Senior negotiators will meet from Wednesday to wade through a raft of contentious issues, including Pyongyang's missile program, its alleged sales of military technology and support for terrorism.
While the Clinton administration welcomed the summit between North and South Korea in June, it has reacted cautiously to subsequent developments.
The United States lifted a series of sanctions on Stalinist North Korea after the summit, but says it will not further reward that country's diplomatic emergence without concrete evidence of reform.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has coined the phrase "balanced euphoria" to outline the US position and lingering suspicion over the motives behind North Korea's diplomatic coming-out party through the last year.
Like much of the rest of the world, the United States is still unclear about Pyongyang's intentions of if its reclusive leader Kim Jong-Il ready to make peace with the South, to welcome foreign influences and permit greater freedoms inside his country.
"North Korea remains the major threat to stability and security in north-east Asia and is the country most likely to involve the United States in a large-scale war," a new Pentagon report says.
"There is little or no evidence of economic reform, or reform-minded leaders, reduction in military forces or a lessening of anti-US rhetoric."
US Defence Secretary William Cohen has hinted at US impatience.
"You cannot have a situation where all the economic aid flows into the North and they continue to build up the military and there is no reduction in tension," Mr Cohen said.
In New York, US officials will be keen to learn more about North Korea's offer to give up its missile program in return for access to satellite launches.
The apparent concession was offered to Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Pyongyang.
But South Korean media executives were quoted as saying later that Kim had told them he made the offer "laughingly" and had mocked US concern about North Korea's missile program.
Washington also wants to discuss the Agreed Framework, the 1994 deal under which Pyongyang committed to end its nuclear weapons program in exchange for two nuclear reactors worth $4.6 billion.
US-North Korea relations have been through a familiar cycle of political manoeuvering, confrontation and damage control in recent months.
Pyongyang angrily cancelled its delegation's plans to attend the United Nations Millennium summit last month, after officials claimed they were "rudely" searched before boarding an American Airlines flight in Germany.
The United States apologised for the incident, but North Korea's Foreign Minister, Paek Nam Sun, decided not to show up for the subsequent UN General Assembly.
That spat dashed hopes for a second meeting between him and Dr Albright.
-------- russia
WORLD Putin aims to pare down, redesign Russia's ailing military machine
Pioneer Planet
Published: Sunday, September 24, 2000
DAVE MONTGOMERY KNIGHT RIDDER FOREIGN SERVICE
http://www.pioneerplanet.com/seven-days/2/news/docs/010110.htm
MOSCOW - Six weeks after the Kursk submarine disaster, President Vladimir Putin's government is embarking on an ambitious effort to slim the nation's creaking military machine into a trim and affordable force.
The plan, which would slash the 1.2 million-member armed forces by nearly a third, is hotly opposed by pro-military factions within the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament. Advocates say the reduction is long overdue.
A similar debate is taking place in the United States, though without the urgency imposed by Russia's economic troubles, the loss of the Kursk and Moscow's battle to defeat rebels in Chechnya. Both nations are struggling to remodel their militaries to fight different enemies, to purchase new technology without shortchanging staffing and to balance their spending on nuclear and conventional forces.
The Aug. 12 sinking of the Kursk, which killed all 118 crew members, gave new weight to arguments that Russia no longer can afford its huge Soviet-scale military and must tailor the armed forces to meet shrinking budgets and changing times. And if Russia does put its military on a diet, there may be greater political pressure on a new American president to follow suit.
Russia's force is the world's fourth largest but it is funded by a budget roughly the size of the Swiss army's. Advocates of change envision a lean, highly mobile force able to respond quickly to regional conflicts and low-intensity skirmishes on the nation's borders.
Military strength would be cut to 850,000 from 1.2 million over the next three years, under a plan outlined by Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev.
Some defense experts say a cut of 350,000 troops should be accompanied by other structural changes, including conversion to a mostly volunteer force and greater civilian control. But they see progress in the proposed reduction.
``This is really an important step forward,'' said Alexei Pikayev, an analyst with the Moscow Carnegie Center, an independent think tank. ``Given the current economic situation, Russia cannot afford to maintain 1.2 million troops.''
Moscow's military budget, while secret, is believed to be as little as $5 billion a year, compared with about $300 billion in the United States.
Russian military leaders and lawmakers who back them would rather expand the budget than slash troops.
``From the viewpoint of many military experts, these proposed cuts of 350,000 people will have a very negative impact,'' said retired Maj. Alexander Belgin, executive director of Moscow's independent Council on Foreign and Defense Policy. Belgin argues that budget cutters should look instead at whacking Russia's 1.1 million-person bureaucracy, which has nearly doubled since 1990.
Nikolai Bezborodov, deputy head of the Duma's defense committee, said the proposed troop cuts unveiled Sept. 7 caught lawmakers by surprise. Although Putin's forces dominate the 450-member Duma, Bezborodov said the cuts' severity is likely to produce strong opposition.
His Duma committee has invited Sergeyev to a hearing Oct. 6 to justify them.
``We're concerned about low financing of the military, but we don't see this as a way out,'' Bezborodov said. ``There are 1.2 million people in the military and this is the absolute limit. Further cuts will hurt combat units and support troops.''
Sergeyev, named by former President Boris Yeltsin and kept on by Putin, initiated an earlier reduction from 1.8 million troops to the present level. Bezborodov and other defense advocates argue that even those cuts were excessive.
``If we want to have a strong state, a strong state does not have a weak military,'' said Bezborodov. ``If Russia had a strong army, NATO would have never dared bomb Yugoslavia'' last year over Moscow's protests.
Roy Allison, a Russia analyst with the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, said Russian advocates of military change have accomplished little beyond troop reductions since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
``I'm not terribly optimistic that much is going to happen very quickly,'' said Allison. ``There has got to be a big change in thinking and priorities.''
Allison and other analysts say Russia needs to shift to a professional volunteer force from its unmotivated and poorly trained conscripts.
``Basically the cuts are a step in the right direction,'' said Moscow defense analyst Pavel Felgengauer, ``but smaller doesn't mean good. What needs to be done is to establish a more professional army.''
Allison said the force reduction would be costly, requiring pensions and severance packages to sweeten early retirements. Opponents warn that the cuts will further strain Russia's overburdened economy by sending thousands of former military personnel into the private sector.
The cuts and other moves also are likely to worsen a division within the military, which pits proponents of upgrades for conventional forces against proponents of modernized nuclear and missile capabilities. So far, Putin generally has sided with the latter.
---
Carreras Dedicates Concert to Kursk
Associated Press
September 24, 2000 Filed at 4:05 p.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Jose-Carreras.html
MOSCOW (AP) -- Tenor Jose Carreras dedicated his concert to the 118 Russian sailors killed when the Kursk nuclear submarine sank last month.
``I know what pain and suffering is,'' the 53-year-old Spanish singer said during a concert Saturday. ``Music always gives strength and allows a person to fight on.''
The Kursk suffered two explosions Aug. 12. and sank to the Barents Sea floor. Officials have not determined what caused the disaster.
Carreras, who performed in the grandiose Kremlin Palace of Congresses, said the music of Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff had helped him overcome a battle with leukemia.
-------- u.s. nuc facilities
-------- new mexico
U.S. Official Concerned About Lee's Civil Rights
Los Angeles Times
Sunday, September 24, 2000
http://www.latimes.com/wires/wpolitics/20000924/tCB00a0799.html
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000924/ts/crime_scientist_dc_50.html
WASHINGTON--U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said on Sunday he was concerned about nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee's civil rights during the nine months he was in solitary confinement but wanted to know what happened to classified information that Lee downloaded.
Richardson took issue with statements by U.S. District Judge James Parker, who criticized prosecutors for "embarrassing our entire nation" with its case against Lee.
"I disagree with that. Confinement, shackles, I wouldn't have done that," said Richardson on NBC's "Meet the Press." "But there's no question that I think that the (plea bargain) deal is good because it would enable us to get what happened with that very, very sensitive classified information.
"He misplaced it. He absconded with it," said Richardson. "He was terminated at Los Alamos for mishandling classified information."
Initially portrayed as a spy for China, the Taiwanese-born Lee, 60, pleaded guilty to one felony count of downloading nuclear weapons design secrets to a non-secure computer at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
Under a plea agreement, government prosecutors dropped 58 charges filed against Lee. No espionage charges were ever filed.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Lee must still be interviewed about the data. He has maintained that he destroyed all copies of classified material that he made.
Asian-American leaders have demanded the White House appoint a special commission to investigate whether racism played a role in the treatment of Lee.
Asked if Lee had been a spy, Richardson said: "That is something that the legal process will determine."
The energy secretary, who oversees the nuclear laboratories, said that there had been spying at the labs but that security should not hamper the scientists working there.
"I believe that we have made dramatic security improvements. We still need to do better," he said. "It is critical that security be upgraded at all our labs."
---
Richardson Backs Justice Dept.
Associated Press
September 24, 2000 Filed at 1:52 p.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Scientist-Richardson.html
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Energy Secretary Bill Richardson offered support Sunday for the Justice Department's handling of the Wen Ho Lee case, rejecting a judge's claim that the department ``embarrassed our nation.''
Richardson said he had been concerned about the treatment that the former scientist at the federal nuclear weapons laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M., received during more than nine months of solitary confinement.
But he said he ``fully'' supports the Justice Department's pursuit of the main objective -- finding out what happened to missing classified tapes.
``Confinement, shackles -- I wouldn't have done that. But there's no question that I think the deal is good, because it would enable us to get what happened with that very, very sensitive, classified information,'' Richardson said on NBC's ``Meet the Press.''
Though concerned about Lee's civil rights, Richardson said, ``I support the decision of the Justice Department that leads us to hopefully recover whatever happened to those tapes.''
Lee faced 58 felony charges that accused the scientist of illegally downloading nuclear secrets from secure Energy Department computers. The 60-year-old Lee went free on Sept. 13 after pleading guilty to one felony of mishandling weapons secrets.
Lee placed sensitive information on portable computer tapes, some of which are now missing. Under the plea agreement, Lee agreed to tell the government what he did with the tapes.
U.S. District Judge James Parker criticized the Justice Department for keeping Lee in custody so long, saying Lee's detention ``embarrassed our entire nation.''
President Clinton said the length of detention ``just can't be justified.'' Attorney General Janet Reno has asked for an internal review of the case, the White House said Friday.
Lee had been under investigation since 1996 after U.S. intelligence obtained a Chinese document suggesting that China had obtained details about the W-88, a multiwarheaded weapon. He was never charged with espionage.
Asked if he thought Lee was a spy, Richardson said, ``That is something the legal process will determine.''
Richardson added that while security has been improved at Los Alamos, ``We still need to do better.''
But he said he does not want to go too far.
``There's been a little bit of morale problems there because of excessive security,'' he said. ``We have to alter the balance now to ensure that productive science, national security work goes on at the labs.''
-------- us nuc politics
Polls push some campaign issues to sidelines
Kansas City Star
Date: 09/24/00 22:15
By SCOTT CANON - The Kansas City Star
http://www.kcstar.com/item/pages/home.pat,local/3774c8ba.924,.html
For a look at some of the issues the two major presidential candidates are largely overlooking in this election, see chart on Page A-X.
Why do Al Gore and George W. Bush talk so endlessly about how to pay for your mother-in-law's thyroid prescription?
Because they want to be president.
Because prescription drugs are expensive. Because elderly people need lots of prescription drugs. Because elderly people vote in great numbers.
"They talk about what's showing up in the polls," said
Sid Milkis, co-author of Presidential Greatness. The candidates "understand that the way to get elected is to look at what the surveys say and then talk about things in terms of fine-tuning middle-class entitlements."
But polls, note academics and activists, are far better at recording what average folk find interesting than underlining the most serious issues likely to confront the new president.
Campaigning by survey leaves out issues such as the effects of globalization -- on both the economy and the environment. It skips the increasingly complicated dilemmas over how to deploy American troops on missions other than all-out war. It forgets policy on a post-Cold War planet, on agriculture and on the Internet.
"These aren't forgotten issues," said Richard Lamm, former governor of Colorado. "They're ignored."
Ignored, say he and others disappointed in modern presidential campaigns, because the dash for votes is a short-term venture fashioned for pivotal voter blocs, such as those prescription drug-buying seniors. And the discussion of issues must fit into 30-second commercials, 10-second sound bites for the evening news or one-paragraph quotes. It must be connect-the-dots simple.
What's more, the dominant messages coming from the two major party camps focus almost exclusively on domestic affairs and typically appeal to voter
self-interest.
"The problem with that is that prescription drugs are not the world's biggest problem," said Kirkpatrick Sale, an environmentalist author. "Nuclear proliferation in the world -- now that's something serious."
Serious, perhaps, but it is neither a domestic nor a pocketbook issue. Remember, Bill Clinton won the presidency in 1992 with the mantra, "It's the economy, stupid."
It may be fitting that the men who want to govern listen attentively to those who are governed. Bush, then, is acting appropriately by talking of tax cuts and Medicare reforms. And Gore is right to voice popular notions such as channeling budget surpluses toward strengthening Social Security and hiring more teachers.
Yet the candidates, complained diplomatic historian Dennis Merrill, are missing a chance to educate the public about challenges ahead and to reveal whose thinking on the world makes the most sense.
"We ought to have some sort of discourse about what America's role in the world should be in the coming decade," said Merrill, who teaches the history of foreign relations at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
"But there's no votes in it," he said. "You don't see the candidates talking about spending taxpayer money to develop rural India because there's not much constituency for that."
What that can do, said Merrill and others, is leave the country largely blind to truly pressing issues and surprised at what happens later. The trend is not new, and has caught presidents napping.
"It would be an irony of fate if my administration had to deal with foreign problems," Woodrow Wilson told a Princeton chum shortly after his inauguration in 1913, "for all my preparation has been in domestic matters." Before he left office, Wilson would be sending soldiers to fight and die in World War I.
Economy-obsessed candidate Clinton would become globe-trotting President Clinton. He oversaw a minor military disaster in Somalia, sent American troops into Haiti, dispatched peacekeepers to Bosnia and Kosovo.
It's not that candidates have thoughts only about the few things on which they focus their campaigns. They have position papers and dueling advisers to stake out all manner of public affairs. Even their own expertise.
Gore, for one, built a reputation in Congress as a deep thinker about nuclear arms control. He wrote a well-received book about the environment. Yet he defers a clear position on a missile defense system to another day. In the campaign, his speeches mostly gloss over the tough choices needed to curb pollution.
Bush has been governor for five years in Texas, a state where the oil industry and an influx of Mexicans shape much of modern life. Yet his talk of both energy and immigration has been passing at best.
Consider the Internet. It's relatively new. It's a driving force in popular culture. It's a vital cog in the vaunted new economy. And it's not much talked about -- certainly not on the more controversial areas of privacy and monopolies and censorship -- on the campaign trail.
"There's virtually no argument about matters virtual," said Jacob Weisberg on Microsoft's Slate.com. "There's no discussion of the Internet tax moratorium, electronic privacy, the Microsoft trial, Internet pornography, the AOL-Time Warner merger, or the Napster case."
Weisberg postulates two reasons Bush and Gore don't talk about cyberspace. High-tech money, he notes, already flows to both parties. And states such as California and Washington are not seen as being at play in the battle for Electoral College votes.
Other times, Bush and Gore's particular agreement on an issue or their personal history argues for avoiding a topic.
Both candidates, for instance, favor the death penalty and have said they are not moved by trends in some states to call for a moratorium while the fairness of the criminal justice system is studied. They both want more Internet terminals in schools. They agree on the North American Free Trade Agreement and China's entry into the World Trade Organization.
They differ somewhat on campaign finance reform, but neither has much to gain by raising the issue. Bush hauled in record amounts of money on his way to the Republican nomination. Gore is sullied by the Democrats' 1996 fund-raising practices.
Even when the candidates do tackle issues, complain critics, they engage them in superficial ways. Education, said Dale Neuman, a political scientist at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, is discussed in terms that are 25 years old. Why not, for instance, challenge the whole framework of assigning children to grades based on their age instead of their academic ability?
"Instead," Neuman said, "they talk about simple things."
The Star next week will begin running short summaries of the candidates' stands on the issues on Page A-2.
To reach Scott Canon, national correspondent, call (816) 234-4754 or send e-mail to scanon@kcstar.com.
---
Vive What Difference?
Washington Post
Sunday, September 24, 2000 ; B07
By Robert Kagan
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1116-2000Sep23.html
Dick Cheney blasted the Clinton administration this past week for letting Saddam Hussein "slip off the hook" and for being "helpless" to do anything about Saddam's ongoing weapons program. It's an excellent point. Except for one problem: Don't ask Dick Cheney what he would do differently.
Only a month ago Tim Russert did ask Cheney what he thought the United States should do if Saddam refused to allow U.N. weapons inspectors to return to Iraq. Cheney's answer? "I think we have to monitor the situation very carefully." According to Cheney, the "ultimate sanction" would be to launch air strikes against "specific targets" related to weapons production. Never mind that the Clinton administration has already tried this "ultimate sanction" a couple of times to no effect. And Cheney isn't really sure he wants to go that far. As he told Russert, "I think we want to maintain our current posture vis-a-vis Iraq." Keep the international coalition together. Keep the economic sanctions in place. "And hopefully, there'll be a change to the government of Iraq before too long."
No wonder Cheney's upset at the Clinton-Gore administration: They're carrying out his policy!
As a matter of fact, on this and other major issues of foreign and defense policy, a question now looms. When it comes to international affairs, is there really any difference between Bush and Gore?
Take Condoleezza Rice's China policy. Rice thinks we cannot afford four more years of Clinton and Gore coddling China. Her alternative: four years of Republicans coddling China. While George W. occasionally mumbles something about China being a "strategic competitor" of the United States, Rice believes there is an "iron law" by which economic reform leads to political reform in China. In other words, eventually everything is going to be fine. "Our problem as Americans," she argues, "is that we are really impatient." Isn't that Sandy Berger's line?
True, Rice admits that China is "a rising power that resents the American presence in the Asia-Pacific, a rising power that is improving its strategic military capabilities rapidly," a rising power that "threatens Taiwan," a rising power that Rice believes will expand its nuclear arsenal to as many as 100 warheads, enough, she says, "to threaten our missile defenses." But Rice is not worried, any more than Bill Clinton is worried: "I'm not putting China in a category of states that would try to blackmail the United States." And would a George W. Bush administration change U.S. policy toward the increasingly "threatened" and increasingly democratic Taiwan, even just a smidgen? No. When it comes to Taiwan, says Rice, "no one changes the status quo."
At least we know that if W. is elected he will do more than Gore to strengthen the military, right? Well, that's not clear either. As The Post's Roberto Suro reported last week, Gore's budget plan increases national security spending by $100 billion over the next decade. Bush's budget plan increases defense spending by $45 billion. Now, to the untrained eye that looks like Bush is proposing to spend less. Maybe we're just supposed to have faith that a Republican president will spend more on defense than a Democrat, even if the Republican candidate refuses to come out and say so during the campaign.
Privately, of course, Bush aides whisper that they might increase spending by more than a paltry $4.5 billion a year, especially once Bush figures out what kind of missile defense system he wants to build, something Rice says he hasn't had time to do yet. And also don't forget: One way the Bush administration plans to save more is by having the military do less. When Bush is president, Rice says, the United States will not be the world's "911." We will be the world's busy signal.
That is at least one difference between Bush and Gore. Gore still defends the idea of American involvement in the world's trouble spots, though sometimes he seems a bit preoccupied with deploying American power against microbes and automobile exhaust. Bush has had his own moments of larger vision. Several months ago he talked of a foreign policy shaped by a "distinctly American nationalism" filled with grand ambition and moral purpose--in a speech given at the Reagan Library. But now it looks as if that soaring rhetoric was just another tactic to get past Sen. John McCain in the primaries, the foreign policy equivalent of "reformer with results."
These days Team Bush, parroting Rice, sounds more like the neo-isolationist John Kasich than the neo-Reaganite John McCain. Their call for a "review" of all America's overseas commitments is pernicious as well as absurd. Cheney, for one, talks of pulling American troops out of the Balkans, apparently oblivious to the dangerous effect his words are already having throughout Europe and especially in the mind of Slobodan Milosevic.
Throughout the campaign, Bush's people have insisted we not worry too much about what W. does or doesn't know about foreign policy. As Rice put it, "the presidency is not just the president. It's a whole team of people who are going to get things done." As the campaign reaches it's final phase, we now know a lot about the team, too. We know that on a number of big issues most of Bush's vaunted advisers agree with Clinton and Gore. On the biggest issue where they don't agree, American intervention abroad, Gore is probably more right than they are.
So remind us again why Bush would make the better commander in chief?
The writer, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, writes a monthly column for The Post.
---
Nader Fades in Polls but Draws Crowds
New York Times
September 24, 2000
By JAMES DAO
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/24/politics/24NADE.html
MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 23 - The main act came dressed in a wrinkled blue suit, file folders tucked under his arms. As he stepped onto the stage, squinting into the klieg lights, he looked more like an accountant than a performer. Yet the 12,000 boisterous fans who paid $7 each to get inside the Target Center erupted like teenagers at a Smashmouth concert, chanting his name and waving signs that read, "Let Ralph Debate."
Ralph Nader, superstar?
Yes, Mr. Nader, the Green Party candidate for president, is getting plenty of star treatment these days. Though he has been locked out of the presidential debates, struggling for media attention and fading in many polls, he has managed to attract huge and adoring crowds in the college towns and union strongholds he has visited in recent weeks.
Last week, as part of his "nonvoter tour" of the Midwest, Mr. Nader addressed capacity audiences of 1,800 in Madison, Wis., and 1,000 in Flint, 1,200 in Ann Arbor and 1,700 in East Lansing, Mich. Last month, he drew more than 10,000 fans in Portland, Ore., in what his campaign claimed was the largest political rally for any candidate this year - until last night.
To Mr. Nader and his supporters, those crowds are clear evidence that his campaign has finally gained steam, building a movement of disaffected voters - one might call them angry white liberals - that will put the Green Party on the political map.
"To the spinners and handlers of the major parties who would dismiss us as a distraction, we want you to know we will not go away," Phil Donahue, the former talk-show host and a Nader supporter, told the Target Center crowd last night.
But it is the paradox of the Nader campaign that as his crowds have grown, his poll numbers have shrunk. When once Mr. Nader seemed headed to break double digits in vital states like California, he has dropped below 5 percent there and in most other states.
And suddenly, Democrats who not long ago feared he would undermine Vice President Al Gore are increasingly viewing Mr. Nader as a storm whose thunder has passed.
"I think Nader is fading," said Amy Isaacs, national director for Americans for Democratic Action, a liberal group that has endorsed Mr. Gore. Mark Mellman, a Democratic pollster, said, "The Nader vote has really collapsed, and that is another indication that Democrats are coming home to Gore."
Odd as it might sound, Mr. Nader does not mind that Mr. Gore's supporters are feeling so confident. For months, he has battled the perception that a vote for him would essentially be a vote for the Republican nominee, Gov. George W. Bush.
So, Mr. Nader now asserts, if the race begins to seem like a runaway, many liberals and independent voters will feel freer to vote for him. And for that reason, Mr. Nader and his supporters have begun telling audiences not to worry, because Mr. Gore is going to win anyway.
The filmmaker Michael Moore, who has been touring with Mr. Nader, put it this way: "This podium I'm leaning on is smarter than George W. Bush," he told a crowd at Michigan State University on Thursday. "You have to trust me on this one. He is not going to win."
The crowd roared, but not everyone was convinced. "I really want to vote for him," Pat Lee, 53, who teaches at a prison near East Lansing, said of Mr. Nader. "But I really don't want Bush to be president."
Ed Garvey, a lawyer in Madison who ran for governor of Wisconsin on the Democratic line in 1998, admires Mr. Nader so much that he appeared with him in Madison this week. But Mr. Garvey said he would vote for Mr. Gore because he believed the race would remain tight to the end.
If his recent events are any indication, Mr. Nader has no plans to slink quietly into the night. At every stop, he slashes at Mr. Gore's credibility, using language that might make a Republican blush. In Lansing, the vice president is "forked-tongued, Pinocchio-nosed Al Gore." In Minneapolis, he is "a certified political coward." In Milwaukee, he is an "identity thief," guilty of stealing Mr. Nader's populist oratory.
But if Mr. Nader can sound like the Republicans in attacking Mr. Gore's character, his platform is a smorgasbord of liberal ideas.
He would place a moratorium on federal death penalty cases, push for decriminalizing marijuana and increase federal drug treatment programs. He would require public financing of campaigns and same-day voter registration.
He would also seek to establish universal health care and a guaranteed minimum income. He would abolish the Taft-Hartley Act, which prohibits certain kinds of labor organizing. He would step up enforcement of federal civil rights and antitrust laws, and work to "end corporate welfare as we know it." And he would cut the military budget by a third, push for the complete dismantling of the nation's nuclear forces and bring all American troops home.
And unlike the two major-party candidates, Mr. Nader would do nothing to the Social Security system, which he argues is in sound shape. Talk of the system being in crisis is "a hoax," he says.
Winona LaDuke, a Native American activist from Minnesota who is Mr. Nader's running mate, brings her own agenda to the ticket. She has proposed a "seventh generation" Constitutional amendment that would require federal officials to consider the impact of all decisions on seven generations to come. She also advocates the return of all federal lands improperly seized from Indian tribes and payment of reparations to descendants of slaves.
With his left-tilting platform and shoestring budget, Mr. Nader is not out to win any states; his goal is to take 5 percent of the vote nationwide, a figure that would entitle the Green Party to millions in federal matching funds for the 2004 campaign.
To do that, he plans to focus his energies on states where either Mr. Bush or Mr. Gore holds a commanding lead.
Nader events always draw eclectic crowds of ex-hippies with graying ponytails, well-dressed professionals, purple-haired 20-somethings and blue-jeaned union activists.
As one might expect, his campaign is loose-knit to the point of disorganization. Planes and meetings are routinely missed or almost missed.
"The Greens, they think we photosynthesize," Tarek Milleron, Mr. Nader's nephew and travel companion, said with a touch of disgust after campaign volunteers forgot to provide lunch on Wednesday.
At another point during the tour, Mr. Donahue asked Mr. Nader and his aides for advice about how to handle a radio interview. When no one answered, Mr. Donahue said with some exasperation, "It's hard to march without orders."
Though a funny man in private, Mr. Nader, 66, makes little effort to indulge in the small gestures of politicking, like mingling with supporters or making small talk with voters. Neither does he try to soften his sometimes sharp-edged manner or warm up his cool, intellectual demeanor in quest of votes.
Mr. Nader rarely takes time to work the crowds. Asked why, he replied: "Bishops do that. This is deliberative democracy."
Yet many people at his events this week seemed to get just what they had come for: bristling indignation with American politics, sweeping ideas about how to fix it and strong advice about how to vote.
"I'm fed up with voting for the lesser of two evils," said John Sherman, 61, a coordinator for a food cooperative in Minneapolis, as he left the Target Center last night. "I think it's time to make a statement."
-------- u.s. nuc weapons
THIS WEEK ON @ISSUE AT AJC.COM
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SUNDAY • September 24, 2000
http://www.accessatlanta.com/partners/ajc/epaper/editions/sunday/news_93dce851107322960041.html
Have a Dialogue with Atlanta Constitution Associate Editorial Page Editor Jay Bookman about school vouchers. Click on his column online to e-mail comments.
DIALOGUE WITH JIMMY CARTER: Talking over treaties
Last week, @issue readers were invited to e-mail former President Jimmy Carter on his opposition to the proposed national missile defense system. A sample of President Carter's responses is below. More responses are available online.
Timothy Furnish, Alpharetta: You mention the "1972 ABM treaty between Russia and the United States that provides the foundation for existing arms control treaties." There are two problems with this premise:
The treaty was signed between the United States and the Soviet Union, not Russia. The U.S.S.R. no longer exists. Under international law (and, more importantly, common sense), states are not expected to honor obligations incurred after a revolution or other similar drastic change of government. When the Ottoman Empire dissolved in the 1920s, its successor state, Turkey, was not bound by agreements the sultan had made and neither were the nations with which Turkey had diplomatic relations. So why should the United States be hamstrung by treaties with an empire that no longer exists?
The ABM treaty is NOT the "foundation" for existing arms control treaties. SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) I and II, as well as START (Strategic Arms Reductions Talks) are, if any treaty can be given credit for the greatly reduced number of nuclear weapons in the world today. . . .
Jimmy Carter: Presidents Gorbachev, Yeltsin and Putin, who led the Soviet Union and then Russia, have all recommitted themselves to honoring the ABM Treaty of 1972. Maybe the situation was different with the Ottoman Empire. This treaty doesn't "hamstring" the United States, but there is little doubt that SALT I, II, the Vladivostok agreement and START are all based to a major degree on the proposition that neither major power would end the deterrent effect by putting up a ballistic shield.
If you think that Ronald Reagan's pressure, including his ill-fated "Star Wars" proposal, is responsible for nuclear arsenal reduction, you should take another look at the history of these agreements.
CONTACT US
Lea Donosky, @issue editor
404-526-5498
ldonosky@ajc.com
---
Teen Gets 6 Months for Hacking NASA
Associated Press
September 24, 2000 Filed at 4:43 p.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Hacker.html
MIAMI (AP) -- A teen-age hacker sentenced to six months at a juvenile detention center for invading NASA and Pentagon computers now regrets what he did.
``Never again,'' 16-year-old Jonathan James told The Miami Herald. ``It's not worth it, because all of it was for fun and games and they're putting me in jail for it. I don't want that to happen again. I can find other stuff for fun.''
James told the newspaper he had also hacked into other networks, including BellSouth and the Miami-Dade school system. His claims could not be verified immediately.
Armed federal agents raided his home in January, seizing four desktop computers, a laptop and a hand-held computer.
He was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to invading NASA computers that support the international space station, as well as Pentagon systems that monitor the potential for nuclear, chemical and biological attacks against the United States and its allies.
James, known on the Internet as ``c0mrade,'' downloaded 3,300 e-mails from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
He fooled government computers into thinking he was a system administrator who could delete files and change or appropriate passwords, although he said he never deleted any files, changed passwords or introduced viruses.
As part of his sentence, he will not be allowed to use the Internet except for school work.
---
Teen hacker now regrets ''fun''
USA Today
09/24/00- Updated 06:16 PM ET
http://www.usatoday.com/news/digest/nd1.htm#taco
MIAMI - A teen-age hacker sentenced to six months at a juvenile detention center for invading NASA and Pentagon computers now regrets what he did. ''Never again,'' 16-year-old Jonathan James told The Miami Herald. ''It's not worth it, because all of it was for fun and games and they're putting me in jail for it. I can find other stuff for fun.'' He has also admitted to hacking into other networks, including BellSouth and the Miami-Dade school system. His claims could not be immediately verified. He pleaded guilty to invading NASA computers that support the International Space Station, as well as Pentagon systems that monitor the potential for nuclear, chemical and biological attacks against the United States and its allies.
-------- MILITARY (by country)
Japan Is Urged to Improve Ties to North Korea
New York Times
September 24, 2000
By REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/24/world/24KORE.html
ATAMI, Japan, Sept. 23 - The South Korean president, Kim Dae Jung, urged Japan today to improve its ties with Communist North Korea to contribute to detente on the divided peninsula and to regional security.
"Improved relations between Japan and North Korea will serve our national interests and will have a great impact on regional security and the development of South-North relations," Mr. Kim said after talks with the Japanese prime minister, Yoshiro Mori, in this hot-spring resort southwest of Tokyo.
Experts say that a three-way relationship between North and South Korea and Japan - including Japanese financial aid to the North - is vital to rapprochement on the peninsula.
At a banquet in his honor today, Mr. Kim also urged the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Asia Development Bank to help North Korea with economic recovery.
In another development today, Red Cross negotiators from North and South Korea agreed to two more reunions for families separated by the heavily fortified border.
One hundred elderly people from each side will cross the usually sealed border for a brief meeting with their families in the two capitals, Seoul and Pyongyang, from Nov. 2 to 5 and from Dec. 5 to 7.
But four days of negotiations in southeastern North Korea at the Mount Kumgang resort failed to settle differences over outstanding issues like the exchange of letters and pinpointing the whereabouts of long- lost relatives.
The reports quoted South Korea's chief Red Cross negotiator as saying details of the reunions would be arranged through the liaison office at the United Nations truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone, which divides North and South Korea. About 94,000 South Koreans have already applied to take part.
Red Cross officials had been meeting in Mount Kumgang since Wednesday to plan a second round of the reunions. At the first round in August, 100 people from each side were allowed to visit relatives across the border in one of the most high- profile developments between the two Koreas since they held their first meeting in June.
-------- colombia
Following Up: Ordeal Takes Colombia Off Bird-Watchers' Map
New York Times
September 24, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/24/nyregion/24FOLL.html
They are still passionate about bird- watching. Three have traveled together to South America. The other remains a fixture in Central Park, hoisting his binoculars and jotting down observations.
But one place that these four bird-watchers won't be visiting anytime soon is Colombia.
In March 1998, Peter Shen and Thomas Fiore, of New York City; Todd R. Mark, of Houston; and Louise Augustine, of Chillicothe, Ill., were kidnapped by Colombian guerrillas during a birding trip to a mountainous region 35 miles south of Bogotá. The guerrillas, members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the country's largest and most powerful rebel group, said they would kill the captives if they tried to escape.
On April 2, Mr. Fiore, above, did escape, marching through rugged terrain for six hours before being discovered by a television crew. Three weeks later, the others were released, unharmed.
Upon their return to America, the four had difficulty, at first, talking about their ordeal, which included forced marches in difficult mountain terrain during the day and handcuffs at night. Gradually, though, they bounced back, said Mr. Mark, a flight attendant. In fact, several months after the abduction, Mr. Shen, Mr. Mark and Ms. Augustine traveled to Peru and Chile to - what else? - go bird-watching.
These days, Mr. Fiore, a bicycle repairman, spends much of his time in Central Park. Ms. Augustine, a retired teacher, still travels frequently on bird-watching trips. Mr. Shen, a former cell biologist at New York University, is now a law student and a new father, Mr. Mark said.
"We had some close scrapes," said Mr. Mark, who still harbors a deep hatred toward the rebel group. "We weren't treated well; two people were almost killed. So when you go through a danger like that, and everyone comes out O.K., I think we're all just relieved to be released."
DAVID W. CHEN
Appeals Continue for 2 Convicted in 1991 Unrest
The violent images, the headlines and the public recriminations have faded, but the legal battles quietly continue long after the disturbances that rocked Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and took the life of a Hasidic scholar nine years ago.
Yankel Rosenbaum, 29, a doctoral student in history from Australia, was stabbed during four days of violence in August 1991 after an accident in which a car driven by another Hasidic man struck and killed a black 7-year-old, Gavin Cato.
Lemrick Nelson Jr. and Charles Price were convicted in 1997 on federal charges of violating Mr. Rosenbaum's civil rights: Mr. Nelson by stabbing him and Mr. Price by inciting the crowd at the scene of the accident and later urging the assault on Mr. Rosenbaum several blocks away. Mr. Nelson had been acquitted of murder charges in a state trial.
Mr. Nelson, now 25, is serving a 19 1/2- year sentence at a federal prison in Beaumont, Tex. Mr. Price, 47, is serving 21 years at a prison in Leavenworth, Kan.
But their convictions are still being appealed. Among the arguments being made in the United States Court of Appeals in Manhattan is that in an effort to have the verdict perceived as fair, the trial judge, David G. Trager of Federal District Court in Brooklyn, improperly allowed racial considerations in the jury selection. The jury included three blacks and two Jews. The defense also says a recent Supreme Court decision invalidates the statutory basis for the Crown Heights prosecution.
A prosecutor, Alan Vinegrad, said that both sides agreed on the jury selection process, and that the Supreme Court ruling did not undermine the Crown Heights case.
Mr. Price is hopeful that his appeal will succeed, said Darrell L. Paster, one of his lawyers. A lawyer for Mr. Nelson, Trevor Headley, said his client "looks forward to the day when he'll be released, whether by appeal or by serving his sentence."
JOSEPH P. FRIED
-------- drug war
USA Today
09/24/00
States
http://usatoday.com/news/states/all50.htm
Massachusetts
Boston - Gov. Cellucci urged transit officials to resist settling a lawsuit aimed at forcing them to accept advertising from a group that wants the penalties for marijuana possession reduced. Change The Climate sued the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority for refusing to display its ads on buses, trains and stations. Some officials earlier this week suggested an out-of-court settlement.
-------- iraq
Iraq: Embargo cost more than 10,000 lives in August
The health ministry said 7,436 children died of diarrhoea, pneumonia, malnutrition or respiratory problems
September 24, 2000, 01:00 PM
http://www.arabia.com/article/0%2C1690%2CLife%7C29537%2C00.html
BAGHDAD (AFP English) - The decade-old UN embargo slapped on Iraq for its invasion of Kuwait cost more than 10,000 lives in August, almost three-quarters of them young children, the health ministry said Saturday.
It said 7,436 children died of diarrhoea, pneumonia, malnutrition or respiratory problems, while 2,831 adults were struck down by heart disease, hypertension, diabetes or cancer.
Iraq has been under embargo ever since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait but is authorised to export crude under UN supervision to finance imports of food, medicine and essential goods.
----
Gore Assures Kuwait of U.S. Backing in Iraq Dispute
Yahoo News
Sunday September 24 10:47 AM ET updated 9:58 PM ET Sep 24
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000924/ts/kuwait_usa_dc_1.html
KUWAIT (Reuters) - Vice President Al Gore (news - web sites) has assured Kuwait of Washington's commitment to the security of the Gulf Arab state in a new dispute with former occupier Iraq, the Kuwaiti government said Sunday.
The cabinet said in a statement following its weekly meeting that Democratic presidential candidate Gore had made the pledge in a letter to Kuwait's acting Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah.
It said the letter dealt with ``further boosting the distinct ties between the two friendly countries in view of the latest Iraqi threats.''
Washington warned Baghdad earlier this month that it would use force if it threatened its Gulf Arab neighbors after several Iraqi officials accused Kuwait of stealing its oil from a border field.
The Iraqi officials also vowed to take unspecified measures against the much smaller southern neighbor.
Kuwait has strongly denied the Iraqi charges and noted that Iraq made similar allegations two weeks before invading the emirate in August 1990.
The Kuwaiti cabinet statement said Gore's message stressed that the United States ``stands by Kuwait in the face of any threats to its security and stability.''
The United States has a large military force deployed in and around Kuwait to act as a deterrent against Iraq.
-------- korea
S.Korea President Warns of N.Korea Food Shortage
Yahoo News
Sunday September 24 7:42 AM ET updated 10:26 PM ET Sep 24
By Teruaki Ueno
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000924/wl/japan_korea_dc_2.html
ATAMI, Japan (Reuters) - South Korean (news - web sites) President Kim Dae-Jung said Sunday that North Korea (news - web sites), hard hit by recent droughts and typhoons, could face even worse food shortages next year and urged Japan to send more food aid.
Kim made his appeal for Tokyo to act to help stave off famine in the isolated communist state of North Korea during talks with Japan's Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori.
``North Korea suffered damage caused by the worst droughts in 100 years as well as typhoons this year. The food situation in North Korea could worsen further next year and become a major problem,'' Kim was quoted as telling Mori.
But in a move highlighting the sensitivity of ties between Tokyo and Pyongyang, North Korea warned Japan Sunday not to pursue accusations that North Korean agents have in the past abducted Japanese nationals -- an issue Japan insists must be cleared up before the historic foes establish diplomatic ties. South Korea's Kim and Mori devoted most of their talks to North Korea at a working breakfast Sunday in this hot spring resort southwest of Tokyo.
The two leaders had Saturday held their first meeting since an historic summit between North and South Korea in June.
Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said on Friday that typhoons and rain had destroyed 29,000 houses, damaged nearly 100,000 more and killed many people.
The Rome-based World Food Program (WFP) said last week it needed 194,876 tons of food costing $100 million over the next four months for the most vulnerable North Koreans -- children, pregnant women and the elderly.
Western aid workers in Beijing said Saturday that some areas of North Korea might face renewed famine after two typhoons and torrential rains devastated transport routes.
Pressure, Hurdles
Kim urged Japan to extend food aid to the communist North.
``I believe that North Korea will appreciate it if Japan can give as much food aid as possible,'' a Japanese foreign ministry official quoted Kim as telling Mori.
Tokyo has reopened talks with Pyongyang on establishing diplomatic ties and Mori is willing to hold a summit with the North Korean leader, but Japan's push for improved ties with Pyongyang remains hampered by politics.
North Korea is demanding an apology and compensation for Tokyo's harsh 1910-1945 rule of the peninsula, while Japan is pushing to resolve the issue of the Japanese nationals it believes were kidnapped by North Korean agents.
Mori, who faces opposition within his ruling party to boosting food aid to North Korea, stopped short of pledging any to Pyongyang immediately. ``Japan is now considering food aid to North Korea,'' he told Kim.
The idea of expanded food aid has met strong opposition from some lawmakers in the dominant Liberal Democratic Party (news - web sites), who argue North Korea must first settle the alleged abduction of 10 Japanese nationals by North Korean agents.
Pyongyang has denied abducting the Japanese and Sunday told Japan to stop raising the issue or it would call off its search for what it refers to as ``missing Japanese nationals.''
``The 'suspected kidnapping' cases raised by the Japanese authorities are premeditated moves to evade the issue of redressing their past and get a sort of political concession from the DPRK (North Korea),'' Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency quoted an official Rodong Sinmun commentary as saying.
``If Japan sets the non-existent issue of 'suspected kidnapping' as preconditions for the establishment of Japan-DPRK diplomatic relations, the DPRK will turn round,'' it said.
South Korea's Kim also urged Japan to give North Korea economic aid to help improve its battered infrastructure.
But Mori said: ``North Korea has a big military force and there are fears that economic aid could help the North Korean military to expand...There are difficult issues such as the abduction case. But we will make efforts patiently to resolve those issues and normalize relations with North Korea.''
-------- russia
WORLD Putin aims to pare down, redesign Russia's ailing military machine
Pioneer Press
Published: Sunday, September 24, 2000
DAVE MONTGOMERY KNIGHT RIDDER FOREIGN SERVICE
http://www.pioneerplanet.com/seven-days/5/news/docs/010110.htm
MOSCOW - Six weeks after the Kursk submarine disaster, President Vladimir Putin's government is embarking on an ambitious effort to slim the nation's creaking military machine into a trim and affordable force.
The plan, which would slash the 1.2 million-member armed forces by nearly a third, is hotly opposed by pro-military factions within the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament. Advocates say the reduction is long overdue.
A similar debate is taking place in the United States, though without the urgency imposed by Russia's economic troubles, the loss of the Kursk and Moscow's battle to defeat rebels in Chechnya. Both nations are struggling to remodel their militaries to fight different enemies, to purchase new technology without shortchanging staffing and to balance their spending on nuclear and conventional forces.
The Aug. 12 sinking of the Kursk, which killed all 118 crew members, gave new weight to arguments that Russia no longer can afford its huge Soviet-scale military and must tailor the armed forces to meet shrinking budgets and changing times. And if Russia does put its military on a diet, there may be greater political pressure on a new American president to follow suit.
Russia's force is the world's fourth largest but it is funded by a budget roughly the size of the Swiss army's. Advocates of change envision a lean, highly mobile force able to respond quickly to regional conflicts and low-intensity skirmishes on the nation's borders.
Military strength would be cut to 850,000 from 1.2 million over the next three years, under a plan outlined by Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev.
Some defense experts say a cut of 350,000 troops should be accompanied by other structural changes, including conversion to a mostly volunteer force and greater civilian control. But they see progress in the proposed reduction.
``This is really an important step forward,'' said Alexei Pikayev, an analyst with the Moscow Carnegie Center, an independent think tank. ``Given the current economic situation, Russia cannot afford to maintain 1.2 million troops.''
Moscow's military budget, while secret, is believed to be as little as $5 billion a year, compared with about $300 billion in the United States.
Russian military leaders and lawmakers who back them would rather expand the budget than slash troops.
``From the viewpoint of many military experts, these proposed cuts of 350,000 people will have a very negative impact,'' said retired Maj. Alexander Belgin, executive director of Moscow's independent Council on Foreign and Defense Policy. Belgin argues that budget cutters should look instead at whacking Russia's 1.1 million-person bureaucracy, which has nearly doubled since 1990.
Nikolai Bezborodov, deputy head of the Duma's defense committee, said the proposed troop cuts unveiled Sept. 7 caught lawmakers by surprise. Although Putin's forces dominate the 450-member Duma, Bezborodov said the cuts' severity is likely to produce strong opposition.
His Duma committee has invited Sergeyev to a hearing Oct. 6 to justify them.
``We're concerned about low financing of the military, but we don't see this as a way out,'' Bezborodov said. ``There are 1.2 million people in the military and this is the absolute limit. Further cuts will hurt combat units and support troops.''
Sergeyev, named by former President Boris Yeltsin and kept on by Putin, initiated an earlier reduction from 1.8 million troops to the present level. Bezborodov and other defense advocates argue that even those cuts were excessive.
``If we want to have a strong state, a strong state does not have a weak military,'' said Bezborodov. ``If Russia had a strong army, NATO would have never dared bomb Yugoslavia'' last year over Moscow's protests.
Roy Allison, a Russia analyst with the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, said Russian advocates of military change have accomplished little beyond troop reductions since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
``I'm not terribly optimistic that much is going to happen very quickly,'' said Allison. ``There has got to be a big change in thinking and priorities.''
Allison and other analysts say Russia needs to shift to a professional volunteer force from its unmotivated and poorly trained conscripts.
``Basically the cuts are a step in the right direction,'' said Moscow defense analyst Pavel Felgengauer, ``but smaller doesn't mean good. What needs to be done is to establish a more professional army.''
Allison said the force reduction would be costly, requiring pensions and severance packages to sweeten early retirements. Opponents warn that the cuts will further strain Russia's overburdened economy by sending thousands of former military personnel into the private sector.
The cuts and other moves also are likely to worsen a division within the military, which pits proponents of upgrades for conventional forces against proponents of modernized nuclear and missile capabilities. So far, Putin generally has sided with the latter.
---
Putin Bringing Stability to Russia
Associated Press
September 24, 2000 Filed at 12:36 p.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Steadying-Russia.html
MOSCOW (AP) -- Despite a fiasco over a sunken submarine and a feud over control of the media, President Vladimir Putin has brought a fragile political stability to his unwieldy nation, replacing the chaos that paralyzed Russia for much of the 1990s.
Since he was elected six months ago, the former spy has confounded critics' predictions that his administration would succumb to the corruption that stained Boris Yeltsin's tenure or smother Russia's nascent democracy.
Yet observers warn that Putin's position is precarious. Poverty and crime remain pervasive. Putin has stressed the need to tackle the problems that matter most to the majority of Russians -- poverty and unemployment. But the economy remains in deep trouble and the government has yet to come up with a strategy to revive the economy beyond promises to continue market reforms.
``The people believe in Putin. But they cannot wait forever. He must show through real actions that wages will always be paid on time, and that they will someday grow, and that the country has become safer than before,'' said Andrei Ryabov of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Putin has pushed through tax reforms and nuclear arms control pacts that snagged under Yeltsin. He has brought autocratic regional leaders to heel. While trying to revive Russia's international influence, he has been realistic in admitting that Moscow can't afford to be a superpower and has begun to trim the bloated military. He has charmed foreign leaders and wooed Western investors -- and let a 10-year-old Japanese girl toss him on a judo mat.
Political stability also has been boosted by major changes in parliament, where centrist parties recently ended the domination of the Communists, who fought Yeltsin and reform for years, often deadlocking the government.
Human rights groups paint a darker picture. They say the security services under Putin have covered up atrocities in Chechnya and persecuted minorities, environmentalists and journalists. They are wary of Putin's KGB background and note that he rose to power with the help of the scandal-tinged Yeltsin.
Still, Putin remains Russia's most popular politician. His ratings barely dipped amid criticism of his bungled reaction to the Kursk submarine disaster last month. Clearly surprised by public anger over the Kursk, Putin showed himself more sensitive to public opinion than any other modern Russian leader.
Support for Putin has come from broadly differing camps -- including renowned dissident writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn, persecuted by the Soviet KGB that Putin served for 15 years, and former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.
Solzhenitsyn said after meeting with Putin this week, ``the president has an excellent understanding of the incredible difficulties ... which he has inherited.''
Putin has ``a lively mind and a quick imagination, he has no personal thirst for power or intoxication with power,'' said Solzhenitsyn, who has derided almost every other Russian politician in recent years.
Gorbachev said recently that he had observed ``a change for the better'' since Putin came to power.
Putin's loudest opponents are two tycoons, Boris Berezovsky and Vladimir Gusinsky, who accuse him of cracking down on the media -- and are using TV networks they control, ORT and NTV, to air their complaints. Independent journalists also say Putin's government and security services pressure the media, a charge Putin denies.
The Russian public has largely sided with Putin in this debate. That's because Berezovsky and Gusinsky represent a class of superrich, well-connected -- and widely reviled -- businessmen who built empires through shady privatization deals in the 1990s and who came to represent the worst excesses of the Yeltsin years.
Putin has vowed to end the political power of these so-called oligarchs, and to tackle the corruption that bedevils Russian life. Russian media reports suggest Putin may fire Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, who some say is too oligarch-friendly.
Putin's success or failure in tackling corruption will be a key test of his presidency. For all his early talk, little has been done to take on government corruption. Nor have there been any major moves against the organized crime that grips large parts of the economy.
Some analysts say Putin remains popular because he hasn't faced any major challenges.
``He's been lucky,'' said Yevgeny Volk, director of the Heritage Foundation Moscow office.
The economy is buoyed by high world prices for oil, Russia's top export commodity, but a drop could leave the government scrambling to pay wages and pensions in a painful encore of the Yeltsin years. And the year-old war in Chechnya, which Russians initially cheered, is dragging on with no end in sight.
Sympathetic observers say Putin, who never before held elected office, is still finding his footing.
``Russia has already left the Yeltsin road but doesn't know where to go next,'' Ryabov said.
-------- u.s.
USA Today
09/24/00
States
http://usatoday.com/news/states/all50.htm
Alabama
Huntsville - The commander at Redstone Arsenal said some employees have been passed over for promotion because of discrimination and a "buddy system" that favors friends. Army Major Gen. Al Sullivan told a special meeting of about 700 employees that he will hire an outside reviewer to ensure that promotions are based on merit. He was responding to complaints from black employees claiming systematic discrimination exists at the Army Aviation and Missile Command. Nineteen percent of the command's 6,800 employees are black.
-------- OTHER
-------- environment
Cheney calls for increased oil drilling in Alaska
CNN
September 24, 2000 Web posted at: 3:25 p.m. EDT (1925 GMT)
http://www.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/09/24/cheney.oil/index.html
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Republican vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney said Sunday the United States ought to boost its oil production by expanding drilling in Alaska and building more refineries.
Cheney, who left a lucrative post with a Texas oil-services company to join the GOP ticket, suggested some environmental standards might have to be relaxed to accomplish that goal.
"If you're not going to develop our domestic resources, you'd better get used to liking Iraqi oil," Cheney said on "CNN's Late Edition."
"You get to the point here where you can't have it both ways," Cheney said.
'A pollution policy'
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said Republican policies would only increase dependence on oil and said Cheney's proposal of expanded drilling was not the answer to the expected heating oil shortage.
"That is not an energy policy," Harkin said. "That is a pollution policy."
Harkin expressed skepticism about Cheney's statement that he would not support expanded oil drilling off the environmentally sensitive California coast.
"I don't trust him on the coastlines," Harkin said.
Cheney said he would support legislation to "free up" anti-drilling regulations in Alaska's Arctic Natural Wildlife Refuge, which environmentalists want to keep off-limits to drilling.
He also called for reducing "bureaucratic red tape" to allow more oil refineries to be built, saying a new one had not been constructed in the United States in 10 years.
'More dependent than ever'
Appearing also on Fox News Sunday, Cheney was asked whether the government should relax environmental standards to allow the construction of more refineries.
"I think you've got to go look at them and see whether or not that's appropriate," Cheney said. "The bottom line is, without additional crude and without additional refinery capacity, we've become more dependent than ever before on foreign sources. This administration has allowed that to happen."
Cheney: Clinton performed a 'charade'
Cheney also joined a host of other Republicans who have criticized the Clinton administration decision on Friday to tap into the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a supply intended for emergency use only.
On Saturday Clinton defended his decision to release 30 million barrels of oil as "prudent" to guard against a projected shortage this winter of higher-priced heating oil.
Cheney called Clinton's action a "charade," saying there was no guarantee the additional oil would reduce prices. He dismissed the decision as a political ploy to benefit the Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Al Gore.
"They're now using it to try to buy him some relief in terms of the campaign this fall," Cheney said on "Late Edition."
'Not meant to manipulate'
But Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, appearing Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," defended Clinton.
Richardson explained that Clinton's reserve release was not meant to manipulate oil prices but to increase this winter's supply of heating oil.
Clinton, Richardson added, might also call for more oil to be tapped from the reserve. "I think, after 30 days, an assessment will be made," he said.
Stocks of home-heating oil are particularly low in the Northeast, Richardson said, down 65 percent from what they were last year.
Richardson welcomed the $3 to $4 drop in the price of a barrel of oil since Friday, saying: "The main objective was to ensure we had adequate stocks this winter."
National energy policy
Also appearing on NBC, Gov. Tom Ridge, R-Pennsylvania, called Clinton's decision to tap the reserve "politics as usual ... The bottom line is we don't have the (refining) capacity to take it from crude."
Ridge said a long-term energy policy, "which this government doesn't have," is needed to solve the problem.
Sen. Joe Biden, D-Delaware, responded by accusing congressional Republicans of blocking Clinton administration efforts to legislate a national energy policy.
---
U.S. Buys Big Sur Parcel to Expand National Forest
Los Angeles Times
Sunday, September 24, 2000
By ROBERT A. ROSENBLATT, Times Staff Writer
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/20000924/t000090525.html
SAN JOSE--President Clinton will announce today that the U.S. Forest Service has purchased 784 prime acres at the southern gateway to Big Sur, expanding a national forest that contains some of the most scenic and rugged landscapes in California.
The $4.5-million acquisition, though relatively small in acreage, is large in symbolism: It highlights the president's waning quest to establish permanent funding for national conservation projects and to define his own environmental legacy.
The announcement comes during Clinton's long fund-raising weekend in California and New Mexico.
Before leaving Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Clinton took time to defend his decision to sell 30 million barrels of oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve as "the right thing to do" in the face of the global oil shortage. He then bolstered his decision by ordering $400 million in emergency funds to help the nation's poor pay for heating oil this winter.
The Big Sur land acquisition is the largest of several made in recent years in the region, which is considered a priority by the Forest Service because of the area's scenic desirability and endangered species. It also is the southernmost home to the state's coastal redwoods.
The parcel, which stretches north from the Pacific Ocean shores along the San Carpoforo Creek, now forms the southernmost tip of the adjoining 1.75-million-acre Los Padres National Forest, and on its land live the endangered steelhead trout and Smith's blue butterflies. It was purchased Friday from the national nonprofit Trust for Public Land, which had just acquired it from a cattle ranching family.
Hikers probably will be the first to benefit from the public land, accessible from Highway 1, because there is no parking or established trails, said Bruce Emmens, forest lands staff officer for the Forest Service.
"This purchase will provide public enjoyment of the land and protection of incredible scenic and natural resource values," Emmens said.
Today's announcement will be teamed with a renewed call by Clinton to urge Congress to approve a new category of federal funding--a conservation endowment.
Clinton has asked Congress for permanent funding "to protect open spaces, farmland, forests, ocean and coastal resources, and urban and suburban parks," according to a White House fact sheet.
"Every community should have the resources to protect" desirable property such as a "spectacular stretch of coastline like this," White House spokesman Elliot Diringer said Saturday, referring to the Big Sur purchase.
Currently, conservation projects are funded each year by congressional appropriations. If the Clinton plan becomes law, the money would be a permanent and restricted part of the federal budget. Any unused funds would roll over to the next year.
The president's proposal, calling for at least $1.4 billion a year, with half the money reserved for state and local conservation programs, is proceeding on a two-track schedule in Congress. It needs authorizing legislation as well as the funding appropriation.
The authorizing bill passed the House, cleared a Senate committee and is awaiting Senate floor action.
The appropriation bill is being considered in a House-Senate conference. The administration says the conferees are hung up on various legislative additions tacked onto the bill by Republicans.
The proposed additions, called riders, have been criticized by Clinton as "anti-environmental" because, he said, they would undermine efforts to improve air quality and reform mining procedures, among other issues.
The president will announce the Big Sur acquisition today when he receives an environmental leadership award from the California League of Conservation Voters. The event will be at the home of singer-songwriter Carole King.
"The president has shown farsighted leadership on land conservation, and this is the latest example," said Robert Perez, communication director for the environment group.
The 25,000-member organization hopes to raise $1,000 from each of the 400 guests expected to attend today's event. The money will be funneled to various congressional races, in which the league is backing many Democratic candidates.
Following his decision Friday to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Clinton on Saturday ordered federal agencies to begin buying heating oil now to prevent sharp price increases when winter comes. He also said he will ask state public utility regulators to encourage factories and businesses that use heating oil to build and hold adequate reserves.
The moves, combined with his release of $400 million to help Americans pay heating bills this winter, are aimed at avoiding any further price surges that could come from short supplies or panicky consumers.
Clinton's itinerary Saturday included an address at a Democratic National Committee lunch in San Jose, a barbecue for California Assemblyman Mike Honda of San Jose, who is running for Congress, and a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee dinner in Brentwood.
In addition to the conservation event, Clinton is scheduled today to address a fund-raising lunch for Rep. Lois Capps of Santa Barbara and a Democratic National Committee dinner in Los Angeles.
---
Davis to Sign School Pesticide Bill
Health: New rules will encourage, but not require, use of less harmful chemicals on campuses and ensure that parents are notified.
Los Angeles Times
Sunday, September 24, 2000
By MIGUEL BUSTILLO, Times Staff Writer
mailto:Miguel.Bustillo@latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/calpol/20000924/t000090551.html
SACRAMENTO--Despite opposition from farmers, Gov. Gray Davis has agreed to sign legislation that will encourage use of less harmful pesticides at schools and will require that parents be notified of pesticide use around their children's classrooms.
The bill, by Assemblyman Kevin Shelley (D-San Francisco), is weaker than a similar Shelley measure that Davis vetoed last year and is not as strong as some environmentalists wanted. It does not actually require use of less toxic pesticides at schools.
Nevertheless, a wide coalition of environmental and education groups--from the Sierra Club to the PTA of California--strongly supported AB 2260 as a step toward attacking what has become a growing concern. A recent study by the California Public Interest Research Group found that pesticide use at the state's 15 largest school districts was "the rule rather than the exception" and that the pesticides used were often "particularly hazardous" ones.
Though the bill specifically deals with pest control measures at schools and in no way affects agricultural pesticides used around schools, groups such as the Farm Bureau objected on grounds that it could lead to new measures against agribusiness. The use of agricultural pesticides near schools has become an increasingly heated issue as more suburban schools are built on the fringes of farmland.
Davis is scheduled to sign the legislation Monday in the playground at Balboa Gifted Magnet School in Northridge. He has already included $608,000 in the budget to help schools adapt to the new rules.
Under the so-called Healthy Schools Act, each school will be required to maintain records of all pesticides used at the school site for four years, including copies of the warning signs posted after pesticides are applied.
Moreover, schools will have to notify parents annually of expected pesticide applications in the coming year. Schools must provide notices to parents 72 hours before a pesticide is used, if the application was not included in the annual notice, or if a parent requests the extra information.
The state Department of Pesticide Control will also develop a model pest-management program for school districts that will advocate fighting pests as much as possible without using toxic chemicals. It will also develop a training program and guidebook for school districts that choose to adopt the program. Several districts, including San Francisco Unified and Los Angeles Unified, already have similar policies.
Davis vetoed the following measures:
Bicycle registration--Would have allowed cities and counties to require that bicycles be registered on the Internet to assist in the recovery of lost and stolen bikes. In his veto message, Davis said he sympathized with the problem, but said the database needed to be much more organized to help. SB 1997 by Sen. Don Perata (D-Alameda).
Medi-Cal costs--Would have required the state Department of Health Services to review Medi-Cal cost reporting and auditing processes, which some consider outdated, and to make recommendations to the Legislature by 2002. In his veto message, Davis said the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development already conducts similar reviews. SB 2103 by Sen. Bill Morrow (R-Oceanside).
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Houston, Smarting Economically From Smog, Searches for Remedies
New York Times
September 24, 2000
By JIM YARDLEY
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/24/science/24TEXA.html
HOUSTON, Sept. 23 - For decades, the stench of the nearby refineries never seemed to concern city leaders here. The hot summer breezes often carried a brown haze over the downtown skyline and, with it, an odor that the business elite regarded as the sweet smell of money.
"Smell that," went a popular local refrain during the 1960's. "That's prosperity."
But no one is bragging about the city's bad air anymore. This year, Houston is narrowly leading Los Angeles for the unwanted title of the nation's smog capital. It had 38 days in which smog levels exceeded federal standards. The Environmental Protection Agency is threatening sanctions if something is not done. On Monday, readings of ozone, a primary ingredient in smog, were so high that residents in some neighborhoods were advised to stay indoors.
So, for Houston, famous for its lack of zoning and its pursuit of free- wheeling capitalism, the polluted skies are forcing the city to do something that once seemed almost blasphemous here - submit to government regulation. Even more, the proposed remedy calls for self-restraint that represents a major philosophical shift in this city.
Yet, ultimately, the same economic self-interest that fueled Houston's unchecked growth is shaping its response to its air quality problems. In a new economy that prizes "clean" industries over polluting manufacturers, Houston is at a competitive disadvantage. Local technology companies are finding it harder to recruit employees, while business leaders fear that the city's image as the "pollution capital" is hurting its efforts to recruit companies and industries.
"It's absolutely necessary that we solve this problem if we want to continue having economic growth and the lifestyle to which we are accustomed," said George Beatty Jr., an official with the Greater Houston Partnership, the region's chamber of commerce.
Despite broad agreement on the severity of the problem, there is plenty of opposition to the proposed solution. This week, state officials held public hearings on a 19-point proposal to bring Houston into compliance with the federal Clean Air Act by 2007. The plan mandates a 90 percent reduction of industrial emissions, bans the use of heavy construction equipment and lawn mowers in the morning, reduces speed limits on highways and calls for coating new air-conditioning condensers with an experimental spray that supposedly eats ozone.
On Monday, 800 furious people in suburban Brazoria County threatened to sue. They said they should be exempted because most of the pollution is generated elsewhere. On Tuesday, the air-conditioning industry argued that the condenser spray is unproven and would double prices. Landscape architects and contractors blanched at restricting work hours, and leaders of the petrochemical industry suggested that a 90 percent reduction in emissions might be impossible.
"It's going to be tough on a lot of people," Commissioner Ralph Marquez of the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission said at a hearing Tuesday in downtown Houston. "But the consequences of not doing it are greater."
The heaviest burden falls on the petrochemical companies that dominated the local economy until the collapse of the oil economy during the 1980's. The companies are responsible for the bulk of the pollution. Even today, nearly half of the petrochemical capacity in the United States remains on the eastern side of Harris County, which includes Houston.
"Clean air is important and has to be achieved, but at the same time we have to maintain a strong economy," said Paula McLemore, a chemical company executive speaking for the East Harris County Manufacturers Association, which represents 120 plants and refineries.
Ms. McLemore said her group was encouraging its members to do everything possible to meet the proposed goals, but she added that technology might not exist to enable every industry to reduce emissions 90 percent. "Technology exists to get us to the 70 or 75 percent level," she said. "Beyond that, it remains to be seen." She added, "We're going to support this to the best of our ability."
For decades, the same men who ran the city's refineries also ran the city, and did so with the attitude that government should stay out of the way of business and development. As a result, Houston has perhaps the worst urban sprawl in the nation; its borders encompass 617 square miles, enough space to contain Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Detroit.
"It was a place where you could make a lot of money, a place where the entrepreneurial spirit was unmolested," said Stephen Klineberg, a Rice University sociologist.
But public criticism of the refineries is becoming increasingly acute. At Tuesday's hearing, one man called for a moratorium on new petrochemical plants, an unthinkable proposition in the past. Another woman criticized state officials for approving plans to expand the Port of Houston and to build a chemical plant near the suburb of Clear Lake.
"My first recommendation is simple, and it falls under what is called common sense," said Tamara Maschino of Clear Lake. "You clean up what you got before you add any more pollution."
Mr. Klineberg, who conducts an annual survey of attitudes in Houston, said the changing attitudes partly reflect the fact that the city's economy is no longer dominated by the petrochemical industry. He described the willingness of groups like the Greater Houston Partnership to embrace pollution reduction as "a sudden 180-degree turn in the business leadership," even if the motives remain largely unchanged.
"The goal has always been the same - exploit whatever advantages you have to maximize profits," he said. "That's exactly what's happening now. Suddenly, in the new world, our location next to the East Texas oil fields is no longer enough to get people to move here."
The deadline for completing a plan is approaching. The last of 14 public hearings is scheduled for next week, and state officials will accept written comments through September. The conservation commission must make a recommendation to the Environmental Protection Agency by December. The agency will spend about a year negotiating with state officials before implementation begins in 2002.
Environmentalists note that much of this could have been avoided had state officials heeded warnings more than five years ago to seek reductions in emissions of nitrogen oxide, a primary raw material in the creation of ozone. Ground-level ozone is formed in hot, sunny climates when nitrous oxides from smokestacks, automobiles and other sources react in the air with hydrocarbons such as unburned gasoline. Unlike Houston, Los Angeles began fighting nitrous oxides roughly a decade ago, and its ozone levels have dropped significantly.
About 55 percent of Houston's nitrogen oxide is generated by industry, 25 percent comes from cars and trucks and 20 percent can be traced to airplanes, trains, ships, lawn mowers and construction equipment.
In the end, the home of NASA and the first indoor baseball stadium, the Astrodome, must find creative ways to clean up the air without killing the golden egg of its economy. Jim Marston, head of the Environmental Defense Fund, which is part of a task force working on the ozone plan, said Houston's businesses must consider an array of ideas: paying employees the value of a monthly parking spot as an incentive for them to car-pool; encouraging more telecommuting; charging lower registration fees and insurance rates for people who buy gas-efficient cars; and other strategies.
None is a panacea, but Houston must consider just about anything. At the Tuesday hearing, for example, one woman recommended using robotic emission-free lawn mowers. It was an interesting concept with a familiar angle - her company makes them.
-------- genetics
Clinton Expands Big Sur Coastland Protection
Yahoo News
Sunday September 24
By Randall Mikkelsen
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000924/ts/environment_clinton_dc_2.html
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - President Clinton (news - web sites) on Sunday announced a small expansion of the Los Padres National Forest, extending protection of the ruggedly picturesque Big Sur region of the central California coast.
The $4.55 million acquisition of a 784-acre parcel of former ranchland protects habitat for endangered trout and butterflies at the southern gateway to Big Sur.
The purchase underscores President Clinton's push to create a permanent endowment to finance land conservation, and to highlight the environment as an election-year campaign issue.
``I want the national government and every community in our country to be able to have the resources to make gifts like this well into the future,'' Clinton said in unveiling the acquisition at a $400,000 fund-raising appearance for the California League of Conservation Voters.
The environmental advocacy group has endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore (news - web sites) and a slate of Democratic U.S. House and Senate candidates in California.
The state's most-in-the-nation 54 electoral votes are expected to be won by Gore, but environmental issues are also expected to play a big role in congressional races Democrats are targeting in their quest to recapture Congress.
``Every House seat and every Senate seat and this White House matters,'' Clinton said. He accused Republicans of planning to repeal protection of roadless areas in national forests, relax clean air standards and reexamine lands given national monument status.
The 1.75 million-acre Los Padres forest embraces about half of California's dramatic Big Sur region, a hilly expanse of broad grassy meadows, redwood forests and rugged cliffs.
The so-called San Carpoforo Creek parcel, the acquisition of which was announced on Sunday, was bought by the U.S. Forest Service from the Trust for Public land, which had bought it from a local family.
It is the southernmost range of the towering coast redwood trees and a habitat for endangered steelhead trout and the Smith's blue butterfly. The acquisition also ensures protection of a rare public access to the Big Sur coastline.
Clinton is seeking in his 2001 budget to establish an endowment for land conservation funded by U.S. offshore oil leases. The endowment would provide at least $1.4 billion per year, compared with $652 million in federal land conservation spending in fiscal 2000.
While in Los Angeles, Clinton also raised money for Democratic U.S. Rep. Lois Capps and the Democratic National Committee (news - web sites). He is to return to Washington on Monday after a stop in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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Taco Bell says no to shell recall
USA Today
09/24/00
http://www.usatoday.com/news/digest/nd1.htm#taco
Taco Bell will continue selling taco shells obtained from the same supplier as those recalled by Kraft Foods, according to a CNN report. Kraft Foods is recalling millions of packages of taco shells after tests confirmed they were made with genetically engineered corn that isn't approved for human consumption. Kraft says the product is being recalled because of questions about whether it could cause allergic reactions. But Taco Bell Senior Vice President Jonathan Blum told CNN that he has "no reason to believe" the recall should extend to taco shells sold in the restaurants.
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USA Today
09/24/00
States
http://usatoday.com/news/states/all50.htm
Conneticut
Hartford - Proposed emissions rules for the state's five dirtiest power plants do not do enough to reduce harmful pollutants for residents who live closest to the plants, critics said. But supporters said the proposal offers enough flexibility to reduce pollution without jeopardizing the reliability of electrical power. The five dirtiest plants - in Bridgeport, Norwalk, New Haven, Middletown and Montville - began operating before the 1977 Clean Air Act took effect.
Florida
Gainesville - The endangered red-cockaded woodpecker is on the road to recovery. "This species has been turned around," said Ralph Costa, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist who heads the recovery effort. Red-cockaded woodpeckers were on the first Endangered Species List when it was released in 1973. The birds can be found in pockets throughout the Southeast, but Florida has twice as many as any other state.
Idaho
Coeur d'Alene - Air pollution likely contributed to the death of a Rathdrum woman, the Kootenai County coroner said. Marsha Mason died of an acute asthma attack, Dr. Robert West said. He ruled out trouble with medications as a contributing factor. Heavy northern Idaho field burning filled area skies with a thick brown haze of smoke Sept. 13, the day before Mason died. Mason suffered from severe asthma and smoked cigarettes for years before she quit in February.
Wyoming
Cheyenne - An environmental group has sued the federal Environmental Protection Agency for not responding to its two-year-old request seeking stricter emissions monitoring at two southwest Wyoming power plants. The Wyoming Outdoor Council wants a federal judge to require the EPA to grant or deny the council's petition for continuous monitoring at the Jim Bridger and Naughton power plants. Dave Kvamme, a spokesman for Pacific Power which operates the plants, said the company is confident it is complying with state and federal clean air rules.
-------- imf / world bank
Canada Calls for Moratorium on Debt Repayments From Poor Countries
New York Times
September 24, 2000
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/24/world/24AFP-CANA.html
PRAGUE, Sept. 24 -- Canada on Sunday called for a moratorium on debt repayments for poor countries that commit themselves to effective, corruption-free governance.
Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin, in a speech prepared for delivery here, told International Monetary Fund policymakers that a debt relief scheme they launched four years ago with the World Bank was moving too slowly.
He recalled that the IMF last year had made a commitment to stepping up the pace of the heavily indebted poor countries initiative (HIPC), which offers relief to impoverished nations that adhere to IMF economic reforms and draft action plans to eliminate poverty.
"We made a commitment last year to faster action and we must make good on this commitment," Martin told a meeting of the IMF's International Monetary and Financial Committee.
"Too many heavily indebted countries have still not benefited from the faster, deeper and broader debt relief promised under the enhanced HIPC initiative ...We must ask ourselves whether we cannot do more. For example, why should we not consider an immediate moratorium on debt payments from eligible reforming HIPC countries?"
He said the moratorium could be extended to countries "committed to principles of good governance and are not in conflict."
But the actual cancellation of the debt would not take place until countries have been deemed finally eligible for relief under HIPC.
Such an approach, according to Martin, would "create an incentive for countries to continue to implement good policies."
Of some 40 countries that are in principle eligible for HIPC treatment, only 10 -- Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Honduras, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda -- have actually been approved for debt relief.
Canada is currently owed $1 billion from 17 countries.
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China's Opportunities, And Ours
New York Times
September 24, 2000
By WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/24/opinion/24CLIN.html
WASHINGTON - China's imminent entry into the World Trade Organization, made possible by the agreement we negotiated to open its markets and Congress's passage of permanent normal trade relations, can be the most important development in our relationship with that country since we normalized ties in 1979.
The most immediate benefits will be economic. Chinese tariffs from telecommunications to autos to agriculture will fall by half or more. We will be better able to sell and distribute American-made goods in China without relocating our factories, or selling through the Chinese government, or transferring technology. In return, we have agreed only to maintain the access China already enjoys to our market.
But if we viewed the passage of permanent normal trade relations solely as an economic opportunity, we would be missing the main point. At stake is how China evolves over a decade or more. Will it resist globalization, or harness it to meet human needs? Will it reject popular demands for more freedom and accountability, or achieve the stability that comes only from letting people shape their own lives? Will it disregard global rules, or work within them?
Trade with China will not automatically bring freedom or peace. But opening China's markets can influence the choices it is making at this important moment in its history.
In the last 20 years, China has established the right to own property and lifted more than 200 million people from poverty. Yet the state still dominates China's economy. Environmental damage is hurting the quality of life and economic growth. Some 800 million Chinese still live off the land; many millions want to migrate to cities, where unemployment already is high.
Hard-liners in China opposed W.T.O. membership because China's closed economic system reinforces their political control. More reform-minded leaders understand that in a global economy, the system must become more open and competitive - that despite political risks, this is the only way for China to meet its mounting challenges and avoid internal upheaval and disintegration.
In other words, there is a debate under way in China, as elsewhere, about how to adapt to globalization. We have a stake in the course China chooses. Membership in the W.T.O. puts China on a course that will diminish the role of government in its economy and its people's lives, while bringing China into an international system of rules and responsibilities.
As tariffs fall, competition will speed the dismantling of China's state enterprises, meaning that tens of millions of Chinese citizens will no longer depend on the government for everything from their paycheck to their housing to their health care. There will also be tensions - more short- term unemployment, labor and political activism - and China's leaders will face hard political choices. We don't know how they will choose when the moment of truth arrives. But there will be great pressure to accommodate popular demands, by expanding local elections, letting workers take grievances to court, and broadening outlets for dissent.
Open markets will also accelerate the information revolution in China. In the past year, the number of Internet addresses in China has more than quadrupled to nine million. This year, the number is expected to grow to more than 20 million. China's effort to restrict access to some Web sites only proves how these changes threaten the status quo.
By agreeing with us on its terms of entry into the W.T.O., China has chosen to work within the international system. By enacting permanent normal trade relations, we have validated that choice, bolstering leaders who favor cooperation, taking an emotional issue away from hard-liners who seek to stoke anti-American nationalism. We still have significant differences with China, but through engagement we have a better mechanism to resolve them. This includes working toward a peaceful resolution of tensions between China and Taiwan. Taiwan will join the W.T.O. immediately after China. Their economic ties will deepen further, and so will the costs of confrontation.
To seize these opportunities, we must clearly understand our interests in China's future. We do not want to see a strong China that seeks confrontation. Nor do we want to see a weak China, beset by internal conflicts and social dislocation, becoming a vast zone of instability in Asia. Ironically, the one sure path to stability for China, as for any nation in this global age, lies in change: in liberating the potential of its people economically and politically, and reducing barriers to international cooperation. We must encourage China to see its success in those terms. How can we do that?
First, China must make enormous changes to meet its W.T.O. obligations - restructuring industries, publishing long-secret laws and regulations, establishing formal procedures to adjudicate disputes, and leveling the playing field for foreign companies. It has asked us for help in building the expertise to make these changes, developing its legal system, and in addressing its devastating environmental problems. It is in our interest to provide it.
Second, we should continue to bring China into international regimes and institutions that set global rules. China has been more willing to adjust its conduct to meet international standards it has freely embraced than to respond to unilateral demands. For example, it has joined the Nonproliferation Treaty, the Chemical and Biological Weapons Conventions, and has strengthened its export controls in accordance with each. We are encouraging it to join the global regime that limits the transfer of missile technology, and to ratify the international human rights treaties it has signed.
That is not a substitute for direct efforts to press China on the transfer of dangerous technology, or peaceful resolution of differences with Taiwan. And America must continue to support from the outside the struggle for human rights on the inside - as we have by sponsoring resolutions at the United Nations Human Rights Commission and by shining the spotlight on violations of religious freedom - as we will by working with the new commission Congress has established to monitor China's progress on human rights. But we will be even more effective if we act in concert with others in the context of international rules.
Finally, we must maintain our military presence and our alliances in Asia. There remain enough uncertainties that we must be ready if there is a crisis. If tensions between North and South Korea decrease and if China continues to open up, we may be tempted to draw back. We must not do so. For we are not in Asia simply to respond to danger, but to be a balance wheel for stability that prevents danger from arising. We can play that role even better if adoption of P.N.T.R. and China's entry into the W.T.O. reduces mutual suspicion, while accelerating the pace of constructive change in China.
Of course, that is only an opportunity, not a guarantee. We cannot control the choices China makes. But we do have control over what we do. With permanent normal trade relations, we have made the right choice, to extend our hand rather than merely clenching our fist. Now we must build on it. The 21st century world will be a far better place with China moving in the right direction.
William Jefferson Clinton is the 42nd president.
-------- spying
National Security Agency Offers Veiled Tour of Top-Secret Operations
Los Angeles Times
Sunday, September 24, 2000
From Reuters
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/20000924/t000090525.html
FORT MEADE, Md.--The super-secret National Security Agency, which eavesdrops on communication worldwide as part of U.S. spying operations, opened its doors Saturday to offer outsiders a rare glimpse of facilities that test antennas and print nuclear code books.
About 16,500 employees and their families were expected at the first "family day" since 1996 held at NSA headquarters, about 25 miles outside Washington, as the spy agency makes a greater effort to inform Americans about its mission.
"American people need an image of this agency so its identity is not a vacuum," NSA Director Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden told reporters.
There was the "anechoic chamber," which looked like a science-fiction movie set, with blue foam spikes of different sizes poking out of the floor, walls and ceiling of the 42-foot-high room.
It is echo-free and one of five rooms at NSA for testing antennas used to collect information. The antenna revolves on a high pedestal at one end, while information is transmitted from the other end of the room.
The Air Force has a similar room big enough to test an entire airplane, an NSA official said.
"Each cone is sized to absorb a different frequency," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Areas opened to visitors were sanitized to ensure no classified material was lying around. A 66,000-square-foot printing plant produces code books--160 million pages a year--used in U.S. military operations.
Nuclear code books for use in the event the United States orders a nuclear strike are produced about four times a month, compared with nearly every day during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
The book is in a sealed plastic pouch that has a unique pattern of pink splotches and is puffy because of air inside.
If there is any change in the package, such as the amount of air inside or the design of the splotches, which is videotaped before being sent out, the codes are considered compromised.
"We'll go back and see if the splatter diagram is the same. We've got a video of the package," said Dan Shirko, chief of publishing.
The nuclear code books are in the hands of nearly 1,000 people, mostly military officers, such as pilots and sailors on submarines and battleships.
Also displayed was security equipment that identifies a user by the iris, face, fingerprint and voice. NSA produced the equipment with private industry partners.
Once the computer recognizes the user by one of those methods, it allows access.
"The face system actually distinguishes between twins," said Dave Murley, technical director of identification and authentication research.
The iris recognition, which scans the front of the eyeball, was the most accurate of the four methods and voice recognition the least accurate, he said.
Reminders of the need for security were all around. In the cafeteria, one sign read, "Don't spill the beans pardner, the steaks are too high. No classified talk."
---
Peru's spy chief lands in Panama in asylum bid
CNN
September 24, 2000 Web posted at: 5:17 p.m. EDT (2117 GMT)
From staff and wire reports
http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/americas/09/24/peru.montesinos.01/index.html
PANAMA CITY, Panama -- Disgraced Peruvian spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos landed in Panama City early Sunday in a bid to persuade Panama's government to reconsider its earlier decision denying him asylum, the foreign ministry said.
http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/americas/09/24/peru.montesinos.01/map.panama.panama.canal.jpg
"In the early morning hours Vladimiro Montesinos arrived in the country and requested asylum," Deputy Foreign Minister Harmodio Arias told a news conference.
Arias said Panamanian President Mireya Moscosa had agreed to reconsider Panama's unusual rejection of the asylum request, at the urging of several Latin American presidents whom he did not identify.
"We believe it's important to be a facilitator for the process of democratic reforms in Peru," Arias told CNN, adding he did not know when a decision would be made on whether to grant Montesinos asylum.
"We're taking into consideration the political situation in Peru. We're not going to enter into a political debate with anybody in Peru," Arias said, acknowledging that granting asylum would generate "a lot of criticism."
Fled on private jet
Montesinos apparently slipped out of Lima around midnight Saturday, flying to Panama even though the Central American nation had denied him an asylum request that same day.
http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/americas/09/24/peru.montesinos.01/map.peru.lima.jpg
Until he arrived at dawn in Panama, Montesinos' whereabouts had not been known for about a week. Peru's news media abounded with reports Sunday that the shadowy right-hand man of President Alberto Fujimori had secretly fled aboard a private jet.
Earlier this month, Peruvians were stunned when local television channels aired a secretly made videotape that apparently showed Montesinos offering an opposition congressman a $15,000 bribe to support Fujimori.
The unfolding scandal saw Fujimori fire Montesinos, vow to disband the feared National Intelligence Service that he headed, and promise fresh elections for next year, in which he pledged not run.
Concerns over military coup
But with the spy chief's whereabouts unknown, political analysts raised concerns of a possible coup. They speculated that Montesinos, who exerts strong influence over the military, was resisting Fujimori's decision to fire him.
Once the military publicly supported Fujimori Thursday, speculation centered on the possible flight into exile of the man whom the opposition insists should face corruption charges after a decade as the power behind Fujimori.
Hoping to defuse the ongoing crisis, Peru had prevailed upon Panama to grant the ex-spy chief asylum. According to a statement by the office of Panama's president, Fujimori's top Cabinet officer made the asylum request late Friday in a telephone call.
But Panama, which has provided haven to some of Latin America's most disgraced and reviled former leaders, had apparently drawn the line at accepting Montesinos.
Opposition leader Alejandro Toledo has said he would not participate in elections if Montesinos is not charged.
'They don't want a trial'
Analysts say Montesinos, who enjoyed an aura of impunity despite a string of corruption and human rights abuse accusations, would have demanded a deal to avoid prosecution. Otherwise, they say, he could have released compromising material that could damage many public figures.
Diplomatic sources and analysts believe Fujimori was forced to sacrifice his own political career as well as his adviser because he was now too weak to rule without Montesinos and the security apparatus he had constructed.
Still, they said Fujimori was determined to exit with his legacy as the president who stamped out leftist rebel violence, brought peace with neighboring Ecuador, curbed hyperinflation and put the poor Andean nation on the path toward growth.
"They don't want a trial. That could implicate Fujimori and others in the government," said independent political analyst Fernando Rospigliosi.
Peru's government had pledged at a meeting brokered by the Organization of American States (OAS) on Friday to finalize Montesinos' departure from all public functions by Monday, sparking a race against the clock to decide his fate.
Fujimori defends spy agency
Speaking Sunday at an annual ceremony honoring the armed forces, Fujimori did nothing to confirm or dispel reports of Vladimiro Montesinos' departure. He instead praised the military and intelligence services for loyalty in the fight against leftist guerrillas.
Beset by the guerrilla threat, he said, "the Peruvian state did not respond with massive and savage repression, but by way of the intelligence service as the nucleus of an anti-terrorist strategy."
"This strategy was designed precisely to avoid a blood bath," he added in a speech calling Peru's "pacification" an example for the world.
Martha Chavez, a staunchly pro-Fujimori congresswoman with close ties to the military, said there was nothing to stop Montesinos from legally departing Peru.
"The government has made clear that he performs no public function. Nor is there any judicial order that prohibits his departure," she said.
A retired Peruvian army general, Daniel Mora, said that the manner in which the Montesinos case has been handled so far represents a "travesty of justice."
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
---
Ex-Peruvian Spy Chief Not Welcome in Panama
Scandal: Disgraced Vladimiro Montesinos had requested asylum there.
Los Angeles Times
Sunday, September 24, 2000
From Times Wire Services
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/20000924/t000090540.html
PANAMA CITY--Panama on Saturday rejected a request to give asylum to Vladimiro Montesinos, a shadowy former spy chief suspected in a bribery scandal that quashed Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori's plans to remain in power.
Panama has provided asylum to some of Latin America's most disgraced and reviled former leaders, but it apparently drew the line at accepting Montesinos, whom Peruvian opposition leaders want tried.
"After studying the request, the Cabinet recommended that this petition not be accepted," read a terse statement issued by the office of the presidency.
The unusual decision was made in an urgent meeting between Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso and her Cabinet officials Saturday.
The asylum request was made late Friday in a telephone call by Fujimori's top Cabinet officer, according to the statement.
Brazil and Argentina also reportedly made clear that Montesinos would not be welcome. Some political analysts said Cuba might consider taking him in.
Montesinos, viewed as Fujimori's right-hand man throughout the 1990s, has remained out of sight since earlier this month, when Peruvian broadcasters aired a videotape showing him allegedly bribing an opposition lawmaker.
Fujimori sent his Congress urgent legislation late Friday to disband Peru's National Intelligence Service, which Montesinos had headed, after opening talks with the opposition on holding new elections.
The bribery scandal prompted Fujimori to promise the new elections, in which he said he would not participate, and to pledge to dismantle the spy agency.
Peruvian opposition groups warned Friday that the talks with Fujimori on the new elections would be damaged unless Montesinos is arrested.
Some of the disgraced Latin American leaders to whom Panama has provided asylum are former Ecuadorean President Abdala Bucaram, former Haitian dictator Gen. Raul Cedras and former Guatemalan President Jorge Serrano Elias.
---
A Nod, a Smile: Trying to Decipher Iran's Message on Jailed Jews
New York Times
September 24, 2000
By ELAINE SCIOLINO
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/24/world/24IRAN.html
WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 - The reports flowed steadily into the White House and State Department in recent days: Iran's foreign minister, Kamal Kharazi, was telling foreign officials, members of the Jewish and Iranian-American communities and human rights leaders that some of the 10 Iranian Jews convicted of cooperating with Israel would go free, and that the rest would have their sentences reduced sharply.
Mr. Kharazi's spokesman, Hamid- Reza Asefi, said today that the foreign minister had said no such thing.
The confusion underscores the difficulty of communicating with Iran through third parties in the absence of an official dialogue with the United States. It also reflects the personal negotiating style of Mr. Kharazi, a reserved, English-speaking former ambassador to the United Nations who speaks in a barely audible voice and is inclined to reply to questions with a nod or a monosyllable.
In the end, an appeals court on Thursday reduced the sentences of the 10 Jews by two to six years. But all were kept behind bars, a ruling that has been sharply criticized outside Iran.
"Did we have assurances? Not exactly," a White House official said. "This was more a case of drawing inferences from Kharazi's body language."
Other administration officials said they had listened to the various second-hand reports about clemency and imminent freedom with hope, but not certainty.
"We did have the impression that at least some of the prisoners would be released," a senior State Department official said. "But we had no basis to think that this was a commitment or an authoritative prediction. I also suspect there was a lot of wishful thinking."
The conviction of the Jews has been loudly condemned as a miscarriage of justice that flouted international norms for a free and fair trial. On Friday, Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright added her voice to the chorus, telling reporters at the State Department: "We do not think that due process existed, either, in the whole way this was set up. So I think this is a disappointing decision."
In a telephone interview from Los Angeles, where he is accompanying Mr. Kharazi, Mr. Asefi denied that the minister had given any concrete pledges during his meetings at the United Nations this month.
Mr. Asefi said that in all of his meetings with his counterparts, Mr. Kharazi "underscored the separation of powers in the Islamic Republic," adding that the court was handling the case with full independence and uninfluenced by political considerations.
Mr. Asefi also said, "The defendants have experienced Islamic compassion to the extent possible under the circumstances." All that Mr. Kharazi did was to "express his hope that within the framework of the laws in Iran, the sentences for those convicted would be mitigated on appeal."
But Scott Horton, president of the International League for Human Rights, said he had heard things differently. Pulling Mr. Kharazi away for a brief private conversation during a speech and dinner last Wednesday at the Century Club in New York, Mr. Horton said, he had been told the Jews would be granted a new trial.
"I have no particular interest in embarrassing him," Mr. Horton said. "His heart is in the right place on this issue. Obviously he doesn't want to appear as a fool or out of touch at home. I don't think he was attempting to mislead me on this. But I know I didn't mis-hear him."
---
Sleight of Hand in Peru
Nes York Times
September 24, 2000
By LARRY ROHTER
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/24/world/24PERU.html
LIMA, Peru, Sept. 23 - Hoping to blunt the crisis that threatens to drive him from office, President Alberto K. Fujimori has promised to dismantle the powerful National Intelligence Service. But the spy agency has so thoroughly penetrated Peruvian government and society, experts and diplomats say, that a complete purge of the security system will be hard to carry out even if Mr. Fujimori really means what he says.
"It doesn't matter what name they have or what laws change, they are going to continue to do what they want," said Fernando Rospigliosi, author of "The Art of Deceit" and other books about Peruvian politics.
"This is a personalized dictatorship, rather than an institutional one, in which a very corrupt elite has maintained control through blackmail and bribes. And only if they lose power altogether can you take the state security apparatus apart."
Mr. Fujimori has been fighting to remain in power since the broadcast of a video late last week that shows his national security adviser, Vladimiro Montesinos, paying $15,000 to an opposition congressman, apparently to get him to go over to the government side. Mr. Fujimori's response was to call new elections in which, he said, he will not be a candidate and to announce the "deactivation" of the intelligence agency, which Mr. Montesinos controls.
A week later, though, Mr. Montesinos's whereabouts and status continue to be a mystery. On Thursday, the armed forces announced their support for Mr. Fujimori, ending fears of a coup. But they conspicuously avoided any reference to Mr. Montesinos, who had a hand in the selection of most of the members of the military high command.
Today, Reuters quoted the Canadian ambassador to the Organization of American States, Peter Boehm, as saying that Mr. Montesinos was out of the job and could well leave the country. And hours later, Panama said it had refused a request by Prime Minister Federico Salas of Peru to grant asylum to Mr. Montesinos.
Mr. Fujimori has said that Mr. Montesinos still has a full security detail to protect him and that no criminal charges have yet been filed against him. On Friday the government sent a bill to Congress that would formally disband the spy agency within 15 days and also promised to announce Mr. Montesinos's dismissal by Monday.
The location of an estimated 2,500 videotapes that were said to have been in Mr. Montesinos's possession - an electronic dossier on leading political, business and military figures - is also unclear. Susana Higuchi, Mr. Fujimori's former wife and now a member of the opposition group that released the tape showing Mr. Montesinos, said this week that the group had other tapes but hesitated to release them because "the result could be chaos."
Even before the video scandal, the government, trying to deflect a barrage of criticism of Mr. Montesinos, had presented legislation that would create a new National Intelligence Center to oversee state security affairs. But independent experts dismissed the efforts as inadequate.
"Montesinos has suffered a major blow and is not going to be able to regain the position of supreme power he had," said Carlos Tapia, a former lecturer at the Army Intelligence School. "But the apparatus he created, though weakened, remains in place."
In fact, all three branches of the armed forces as well as the National Police have intelligence services. But they too have been implicated in human rights abuses and what José Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the Americas division of Human Rights Watch, called "the whole system of bribes, threats, extortion, privileges and surveillance by which this government has preserved and accumulated power."
On paper, the National Intelligence Service, known by the Spanish acronym SIN, is meant to be a supervisory body, with fewer than 100 employees divided among three divisions: terrorism, counternarcotics and public security. But Mr. Tapia estimates that the agency's ranks have swelled to more than 1,200 people, not including several thousand informants in the military and the police.
Mr. Montesinos and his associates have infiltrated other important institutions - from the customs service and electoral commission to the news media and the court system. That makes it highly unlikely, experts maintain, that he will ever be held legally accountable for any actions that violated the law.
"I believe there is a better chance to eventually prosecute Pinochet in Chile than Montesinos in Peru," Mr. Vivanco said, referring to Chile's former military strongman. "I don't see an independent court or judge in a country where Montesinos, and not Fujimori, has been able to rule the country for seven years by firing and transferring judges, drafting legislation and changing constitutions."
The intelligence service was created during the authoritarian military government that ruled Peru in the 1970's, when there were fears that border disputes with Ecuador and Chile could turn to war. The complaints about its domestic activities accelerated after Mr. Fujimori was first elected in 1990 and set about crushing left-wing guerrilla groups like Shining Path, and they intensified after Mr. Fujimori shut down Congress and the courts in 1992.
"Everyone closed their eyes because it was the most difficult period of the war against terrorism, so the attitude was that anything that works is fine," Mr. Tapia said. "But then it became a monster."
Throughout the 1990's, Mr. Montesinos and the intelligence service also gave valuable help to the United States that resulted in a pronounced drop in coca cultivation and trafficking here. But experts contend that Mr. Montesinos has exhausted American patience, pointing to accusations of his involvement in a still- unresolved scandal over the sale of arms to Colombian guerrillas.
"It's like a Noriega situation," Mr. Rospigliosi said, referring to the Panamanian strongman who after years as an American ally was deposed. "The C.I.A., which has been his support, has now let him fall."
But experts also say that any effort to reform the apparatus Mr. Montesinos created is certain to run into practical obstacles. This country, they argue, does not have the legal framework, institutional capacity or civilian expertise that would be required to bring the agency to heel.
"The key to any dismantling of the intelligence service is to create mechanisms of control, and right now we don't have those," said Santiago Pedraglio, a political expert. "Even if Montesinos and his people leave, no laws enable any entity outside of the executive to monitor and supervise the intelligence service by looking into its activities and accounts, and so what you are left with is an untouchable power."
---
Disgraced Peru spy chief flees to Panama
USA Today
09/24/00- Updated 06:23 PM ET
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/nw1.htm#milo
PANAMA CITY, Panama - The disgraced spy chief who touched off Peru's political crisis fled to Panama on Sunday, and officials here are reconsidering an earlier decision to deny him asylum. ''The gentleman is in Panama,'' said Panama's Assistant Foreign Minister, Harmodio Arias, who said his government is ''evaluating'' Vladimiro Montesinos' request for asylum. Brazil had reportedly turned down a similar request earlier. Montesinos, viewed as Fujimori's right-hand man throughout the 1990s, has remained out of sight since Peruvian broadcasters aired a videotape showing him allegedly bribing the opposition lawmaker. According to Peruvian media, Montesinos left Lima about midnight Saturday on a jet accompanied by security personnel.
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U.S. Blunders Undermined Lee Case
By Walter Pincus and David A. Vise
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, September 24, 2000 ; Page A1
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A61030-2000Sep22&language=printer
On the top floor of the Justice Department, behind a locked door in a windowless conference room, FBI Director Louis J. Freeh argued that it was time for the government to cut a deal with Wen Ho Lee.
It was Sept. 5, the day after the long Labor Day weekend, and everyone seated around the table had cause for concern, according to participants. Attorney General Janet Reno came with a list of about nine questions, including the potential damage to the government's case from an FBI agent's inaccurate testimony. Prosecutors from Albuquerque were worried that the trial judge was leaning against them and might require them to disclose nuclear secrets in open court.
Freeh wanted to head off courtroom disclosure of FBI internal memos critical of the lead agent on the case, memos that still have not been made public. The FBI director also feared that, even if the government won a conviction, it might never learn why the Los Alamos physicist had transferred nuclear secrets to computer tapes, seven of which were missing.
"What I care about more than punishing this guy," Freeh declared, "is finding out where those tapes are."
Since months earlier Freeh had been one of the original advocates of an aggressive prosecution of Lee, his words had a profound impact on Reno and others at the meeting. Five days later, the attorney general, Freeh and federal prosecutors in New Mexico unanimously blessed a plea bargain that set Lee free in exchange for a guilty plea to a single felony count and a requirement that he explain, under oath, why he made the tapes and exactly what he did with them.
After months of arguing that Lee should not even be released on bail, the government's turnaround seemed sudden and unexplained. "It's very difficult to reconcile the two positions, that one day he's a terrible risk to the national security, and the next day, they're making a plea agreement for an offense far more modest than what had been alleged," President Clinton said after Lee's release.
By the time Freeh urged prosecutors to make a deal, however, the government's case was in far deeper trouble than senior officials have ever acknowledged. Beginning with what some lawyers now view as a fundamental miscalculation – charging Lee with intent to harm the nation's security, when his motives remain cloudy to this day – prosecutors made a series of tactical missteps that alienated the judge and undermined the government's key arguments.
The prosecution may go down in history as a failure by federal authorities to balance the rights of a frail, 60-year-old scientist against national security, pressure from Capitol Hill and key officials' own political ambitions.
This week, Congress will begin hearings on the case. Reno and Freeh have ordered internal investigations to determine whether prosecutors or FBI agents bungled their responsibilities. Asian American groups have demanded an inquiry and asked Clinton to pardon Lee.
FBI spokesman John Collingwood says the FBI and prosecutors remain convinced that Lee committed an egregious security breach and that if they had gone to trial, they would have won. But lawyers and officials connected with the case reluctantly acknowledged in interviews last week that the prosecution had made telling blunders and was suffering the consequences in court:
Even though there was no evidence of espionage, Reno, Freeh and Energy Secretary Bill Richardson approved bringing felony charges under the Atomic Energy Act that required prosecutors to prove Lee acted with intent to harm the United States and to aid a foreign power.
After persuading U.S. District Judge James A. Parker to hold Lee without bail, prosecutors ignored the judge's entreaties to soften the conditions of Lee's incarceration, earning the judge's ire.
Less than a month after Lee's indictment, U.S. Attorney John J. Kelly, a college classmate and longtime friend of Clinton, resigned to run for Congress. A few months later, the lead prosecutor changed when Robert J. Gorence was removed from the case because of an improper office relationship.
Gorence's successor altered the prosecution's basic theory of the case, arguing that Lee's motive for making the tapes might have been to impress prospective employers in Taiwan, Australia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore or Switzerland, rather than to help China's nuclear weapons program.
The FBI's lead investigator conceded that key testimony he gave at Lee's first bail hearing about the scientist's "deceptive" behavior had been inaccurate, raising the judge's hackles and making senior officials worry about the damage that might result if internal memos about the agent's conduct came out in court.
Prosecutors were blindsided when the defense came up with expert witnesses who questioned the secrecy and importance of the information Lee had downloaded onto tapes.
After a string of adverse rulings by the judge, prosecutors were afraid that Parker would be swayed by the defense's ingenious argument that the data downloaded by Lee contained significant flaws and would not be much help to a foreign power. Officials all the way up the line to Reno worried that the judge would allow Lee's lawyers to introduce the classified data in open court, forcing the government to choose between revealing national secrets and abandoning the case.
Intense Political Pressure
On the chilly morning in March 1999 when Energy Secretary Richardson directed the University of California to fire Wen Ho Lee from Los Alamos National Laboratory, where Lee had worked for nearly 20 years, the FBI's three-year investigation into suspected espionage at the nuclear weapons lab was winding down.
The FBI had found no evidence that Lee, or anyone else at Los Alamos, had passed secrets to China. But Richardson, a former congressman from New Mexico with vice presidential aspirations, was under intense political pressure to tighten security and make an example of Lee.
A House select committee chaired by Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.) had written a dire report on Chinese nuclear spying, and congressional Republicans accused the Clinton administration of dragging its feet. The ranking Democrat on Cox's committee, Rep. Norman D. Dicks (D-Wash.), had gone to Richardson's office to warn him privately that the allegations were serious and that as secretary of energy he had to act.
The grounds for Lee's dismissal were a series of minor security breaches, including his failure to report fully on his contacts with Chinese scientists. Then, a week after his firing, FBI agents and lab security officers searched Lee's office computers and discovered that he had downloaded 806 megabytes of classified information – the equivalent of 430,000 pages – from Los Alamos's secure computer network to an unsecure desktop and portable tapes.
Energy officials, FBI agents and federal prosecutors saw the massive downloads as confirming all their worst fears about Lee's "deceptive" behavior, which they had tracked in the long but inconclusive espionage probe, code-named "Kindred Spirit."
But even then, prosecutors were left wrestling with the question of exactly what law Lee might have violated. No government employee, at that point, had ever been criminally charged for transferring data from a classified to an unclassified computer.
Kelly, the U.S. attorney in New Mexico, put Gorence, a tenacious prosecutor and the son-in-law of Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.), in charge of the downloading case, code-named "Sea Change." In a key memo in May, Gorence and his colleagues recommended that Lee be the first person ever charged with mishandling nuclear secrets under the 1954 Atomic Energy Act, which carried a possible sentence of life imprisonment.
As the prosecutors saw it, the 1954 law "fit like a glove" because it was written in the McCarthy era specifically to cover cases in which government insiders exposed nuclear secrets but there was no proof of espionage.
To convict Lee under the Atomic Energy Act would require the government to show that he acted "with intent to injure the United States or . . . to secure an advantage to any foreign nation." But the U.S. attorney's office felt it could meet that burden because the law defines "injury" as any action that denies the U.S. government "exclusive use" of classified nuclear information. Thus, taking the information for any unofficial purpose – whether to give to China, or to help get a new job at a university, or even for a private archive – legally could be considered injuring the nation.
The prosecutors could not proceed, however, until the Department of Energy reviewed all of Lee's downloads and determined how much of the secret information could be made public in court without damaging national security. That took all summer and continued into the fall.
Finally, Kelly and Gorence took seven copies of a detailed prosecution memo to Washington in early November. Their aggressive recommendations prompted Reno to summon John C. Browne, the director of Los Alamos, and Stephen M. Younger, the lab's chief nuclear weapons official. The attorney general wanted to make doubly sure that Lee's downloads really did represent a major threat to national security. Both officials assured her that they did.
"We wouldn't have [sought the indictment] if we thought it would come down to a battle of experts," said one government official. "It always hinged on the value of the information."
In hindsight, some government lawyers wonder whether they looked hard enough for dissenters at the lab and in the scientific community. "Going straight to the lab's top brass was kind of a tactical blunder, in my opinion," said John Richter, a veteran nuclear weapons designer who dealt a severe blow to the government's case by testifying at a bail hearing in August that 99 percent of the information Lee downloaded was available in open literature.
A Serious Blow
The decision to prosecute Lee was made at a meeting in Reno's conference room shortly before Thanksgiving. Despite lingering questions about Lee's motives, according to participants, there was unanimity among the federal prosecutors from New Mexico and their superiors in Washington that the government should bring a massive, 59-count indictment against Lee using the Atomic Energy Act. Indeed, officials in Washington had decided to charge Lee with intent to injure U.S. national security and (not "or") to aid a foreign adversary.
Crossing a final hurdle, Reno called a meeting of senior national security officials in the White House Situation Room on Dec. 4, 1999, to explain how much classified information prosecutors were prepared to reveal in court. In addition to Reno, Kelly, Freeh and Richardson, those present included national security adviser Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger, CIA Director George J. Tenet and deputy defense secretary John J. Hamre.
Robert D. Walpole, the national intelligence officer for strategic and nuclear programs, began the meeting with a formal assessment that loss of the data downloaded by Lee would be a serious blow to national security.
The meeting ended after Reno offered her assurance that prosecutors were prepared to drop the case immediately if the judge were to grant a motion, sure to come from the defense, that the data downloaded by Lee had to be introduced, in full, in open court.
Six days after the meeting, Lee was indicted and arrested on 39 counts of violating the Atomic Energy Act and 20 counts of unlawfully retaining classified information. The Atomic Energy Act violations, carrying maximum life sentences, enabled Kelly and Gorence to ask for Lee to be held in jail while awaiting trial.
Richardson, as secretary of energy, also signed a directive for jail authorities to keep Lee in solitary confinement, segregated from other inmates through whom he might be able to communicate with the outside world.
Richardson and other senior administration officials contended at the time, and still contend today, that it was necessary to hold Lee without bail because he posed a danger to national security. But some officials also acknowledge that they threw the book at Lee and kept him in solitary confinement to squeeze him into confessing why he had downloaded the data and what he had done with the missing tapes.
"We pushed for solitary confinement to make life as difficult as possible, because if he were sent home, there would not be a lot of incentive for him to come clean," said one senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Lawyers who are not involved in the case have questioned that decision, saying it is unethical to deny bail in an effort to coerce a confession.
"I truly understand the concern that the Justice Department and the intelligence community have over the potential ramifications of the loss of that information," said E. Lawrence Barcella Jr., a former federal prosecutor. "But that is not an excuse for using a law in a way that it wasn't intended to be used, and abusing a defendant's rights along with it."
Judge Denies Bail
After a magistrate initially ordered Lee to be kept in jail, Parker held a three-day bail hearing in late December.
The government called three key witnesses. Richard Krajcik, deputy director of Los Alamos's top-secret X Division, testified that Lee had downloaded the "crown jewels" of America's nuclear weapons program. Paul Robinson, president of Sandia National Laboratories, testified that Lee's downloads could change the global strategic balance, if they were to fall into the wrong hands. And Robert Messemer, the FBI's lead agent, testified that Lee had repeatedly deceived both the FBI and his colleagues at Los Alamos about his computer downloads and his contacts with Chinese weapons scientists.
At one point, according to Messemer, Lee told a colleague that he wanted to borrow some equipment in order to download a "reÂ"sumeÂ"" onto a tape. The testimony would come back to haunt the government in August, when Messemer admitted in court that Lee had never said anything about a reÂ"sumeÂ" and, in fact, told his colleague that he wanted to download "some files."
Kelly personally summed up the government's case in a lengthy closing argument, calling for "extraordinary measures" to keep Lee in solitary confinement and limit his communications. A few days later, on the heels of the biggest indictment of his career, Kelly resigned to run for Congress.
Parker, meanwhile, denied bail. But the judge was troubled by the harsh conditions of Lee's incarceration and urged prosecutors to consider loosening them. He also urged the government to accept Lee's standing offer to take a polygraph examination on the question of what became of the tapes.
Gorence and other prosecutors ignored Parker's exhortations. Indeed, Gorence has told friends that his "single greatest mistake" in handling the case was not insisting that Lee receive more humane treatment while in custody.
The Santa Fe jail where Lee spent nine months is run by a private, Houston-based firm, the Cornell Companies Inc. A spokesman for Cornell said the Justice Department requested that Lee be placed in the facility's "administrative segregation unit," which is usually reserved for "disruptive or dangerous detainees." Like others in that unit, Lee was required to wear leg shackles during his daily hour of exercise, and a dimmed light was kept burning over the sink in his cell so that he could be watched at all times, said the spokesman, Paul Doucette.
"Because of the high profile nature of the Wen Ho Lee case, Cornell Companies received a special administrative management order (SAM) from the Justice Department prescribing Dr. Lee's conditions of confinement. Those requirements were met," the firm said in a written response to questions from The Washington Post. "During the period of Dr. Lee's confinement, the Justice Department periodically sent changes to the SAM and those changes were implemented immediately," Cornell added.
According to government officials, it was not until May, five months after Lee's arrest, that Richardson requested the jail to allow Lee reading materials, longer exercise periods and more frequent meetings with family members.
By then, defense attorneys were attacking the government's case on multiple fronts. They alleged that Lee had been singled out for investigation and prosecution because he is an Asian American. And they were challenging the legality of a warrant used to search his home in April 1999.
But their most devastating tactic was a form of "graymail," trying to force the government either to reveal classified information in court or to drop the case.
One of Lee's attorneys, John Cline, a "graymail" expert who had helped to defend Oliver L. North in the Iran-contra scandal, first tipped his hand in April, referring obliquely to "flaws" in the downloaded data in a little noticed court filing. In a closed hearing on July 12 in Parker's chambers, defense lawyers fleshed out the argument, contending that much of the data was available to the public and that the tapes contained significant mathematical errors.
On Aug. 1, Parker ruled that the content of the tapes was relevant to Lee's defense, and ordered the government to find a way to describe to a future jury the nuclear secrets that Lee was accused of mishandling.
In early September, Cline filed a brief, under seal, arguing that declassified summaries of the data would not suffice in court, and that the entire contents of the tapes had to be made public so that Lee could show jurors precisely how they were flawed.
By the time Reno and Freeh sat down after Labor Day in the conference room at Justice to review the status of the case, prosecutors were deeply worried that they could not hold off Lee's graymail defense.
The judge had already ordered the government to provide voluminous records in response to Lee's selective-prosecution motion. Parker also had signaled growing skepticism toward the government's case when he held another bail hearing and ordered Lee's release, which the government quickly appealed.
By then, the judge had heard Richter – who was acknowledged even by the government's witnesses as a preeminent nuclear weapons designer – testify that the data Lee copied were not America's "crown jewels" after all. And he had heard Messemer, the FBI agent, admit to providing inaccurate testimony. He apparently did not know – and the government did not want him to find out – that Messemer's supervisor had written a withering critique of the agent's performance to FBI superiors.
By agreeing to the plea bargain, the government quickly secured a conviction, albeit on a single count, and averted the risk that its case might crumble altogether on Sept. 19, when Parker had scheduled a hearing on the question of what classified material could be admitted at trial.
It appears to have been a shrewd choice. The depth of Parker's discontent did not become fully apparent until he spoke from the bench 11 days ago, as he formally sentenced Lee to the time the scientist had already served. "I tell you with great sadness," the judge said in a profuse apology, "that I feel I was led astray last December by the executive branch of our government through its Department of Justice, by its Federal Bureau of Investigation and by its United States attorney for the District of New Mexico, who held the office at that time."
Staff writers Susan Schmidt and Vernon Loeb contributed to this report.
-------- terrorism
Reporter's Notebook: In Real Life, N.Y.P.D. Blue Has Soft Side
New York Times
September 24, 2000
By BENJAMIN WEISER
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/24/nyregion/24NOTE.html
As a member of the F.B.I.'s Joint Terrorist Task Force for more than 15 years, Detective Thomas Corrigan of the New York City Police has interviewed many suspects in terrorism investigations.
But as he questioned an Algerian man arrested in Brooklyn last Dec. 30, the detective was struck by how differently that interview was going. "I mean he was friendly, wanted to be cooperative," the detective said in Federal District Court in Manhattan last week. "I found him actually kind of streetwise, almost loosey-goosey."
The man, Abdel Ghani Meskini, 32, has been charged with assisting a suspected terrorist plot timed around the New Year's celebrations that authorities said was interrupted with the arrest Dec. 14 of another man, Ahmed Ressam, as he crossed the border into Washington in a car the police said contained explosives.
Detective Corrigan and several agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation kept Mr. Meskini talking for almost 11 hours after taking him into custody, records show, and by the detective's account, the conversation was good-humored, even with Mr. Meskini in leg irons and handcuffed to a railing.
At one point, Detective Corrigan recalled, Mr. Meskini said that he liked to watch "N.Y.P.D. Blue," and was familiar with its star character, Andy Sipowicz, a tough-talking detective known for his willingness to rough up suspects who will not talk.
"I guess he felt that we were treating him fairly decently as opposed to some of the characters on that show," Detective Corrigan testified in court. Mr. Meskini told him something like, "This isn't like N.Y.P.D. Blue," Detective Corrigan said. "I just remember that I took a lot of ribbing for being Sipowicz."
As for Mr. Meskini, who also testified about his interrogation, he made clear that he wanted to talk because he felt wrongly accused. "I said, `I have nothing to do with terrorism. The only thing I do is I'm a thief. I do credit card scams. That's all.' "
That was putting it mildly. By his own account, Mr. Meskini was an inveterate liar and fraud. When he lived in Boston in the mid-1990's, he became so successful at defrauding banks that he decided to leave the country and go to Canada so that he would not be caught.
When he arrived at the border, he said, he lied to the immigration officials there, saying he wanted political asylum. Once in Canada, he said, he turned around and sneaked back into the United States.
When he was arrested in Brooklyn last December, false forms of identification were found in his apartment. He said these were used to defraud credit card companies.
"So you are generally a dishonest person, right?" the judge, John F. Keenan, asked him at one point.
"Yes," Mr. Meskini replied.
Mr. Meskini, who came to the United States from Algeria in 1995, had a good command of the English language, as well as American slang, Detective Corrigan said.
Mr. Meskini, who has pleaded not guilty, confirmed this in his own testimony. He said one of his interrogators warned that he had better assist in the investigation or he would face a long prison sentence.
"He told me that I'm the `big fish' and I better, you know, cooperate or I'm going to go for 25 years."
He said the agent told him that he would no longer have to worry about "rent or the problem of Y2K."
It was like a line from "N.Y.P.D. Blue."
Mr. Meskini's testimony was intended to support the case he and his lawyer had made in court papers that Mr. Meskini was treated unfairly by the authorities, deprived of his rights and pressured to talk.
But on the witness stand, Mr. Meskini largely acknowledged that his interrogators did not threaten him, or even raise their voice.
His lawyer, Roland Thau, gamely pushed on, trying to elicit some useful testimony. Sometimes, Judge Keenan grew testy, but the frostiness did not last long. The judge and Mr. Thau go back a long way. Mr. Thau, 66, practiced as a young lawyer in the criminal courts when Judge Keenan, now 70, was a prosecutor for the Manhattan district attorney.
So it seemed natural when Judge Keenan paused last Tuesday to say that he had discovered a typographical error in the record of the previous day's hearing.
"Mr. Thau, just one thing," the judge said, "because the record is always important."
Judge Keenan pointed out the mistake, which showed Mr. Thau forming an illogical sentence, and said he would correct it.
Mr. Thau said he was grateful for the catch.
"My experience up to now has been that judges only correct language that makes them look like fools," Mr. Thau told the judge. "but never language that makes the lawyers look like fools."
"It's a sincere thanks," Mr. Thau added, "believe me."
-------- activists
IMF, World Bank Face Off With Critics as Protesters Come to Prague
Finance: Czech president hosts a forum for an exchange of views ahead of the organizations' formal meeting. Rallies are expected to be smaller than feared.
Los Angeles Times
Sunday, September 24, 2000
By DAVID HOLLEY, Times Staff Writer
mailto:David.Holley@latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/20000924/t000090536.html
PRAGUE, Czech Republic--Czech and foreign anarchists, Communists and extreme right-wing groups staged protests here Saturday against the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, marching through a city that otherwise was eerily quiet, with far fewer people and cars than usual.
But the main face-off of the day was a verbal one, hosted by President Vaclav Havel at Prague Castle, where the heads of the IMF and the World Bank, who are to begin a formal meeting here Tuesday, joined some of their fiercest critics for a panel discussion that resolved no issues but left each side crystal clear about the feelings of the other.
"My belief is that there is a great body of work that the bank does which is highly constructive, where a lot of people, including myself, spend our lives trying to deal with issues of poverty and issues of making the world a better place," James D. Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank, said after the discussion.
"Now, you can say we're idiots and we don't know what we're doing, we don't care, and we've got bad motives and we're immoral," he added. "But that's not the way I see the team, and it's certainly not the way I perceive myself."
The scale of the street protests and the violence associated with them was much less than had been feared by police mindful of the rioting during a World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle last year. The only serious trouble reported as of Saturday evening was an assault by self-described anarchists on a group of rightist skinheads at the main Prague train station, with some victims taken away by ambulance.
A much broader coalition of human rights, environmental and anti-globalization groups committed to nonviolence is planning major protests against Tuesday's opening session of the annual three-day meeting of the IMF and the World Bank.
But there were indications that far fewer demonstrators might show up Tuesday than the 20,000 predicted by both protest organizers and Czech police. A special tent city set up in a sports stadium, with the capacity to house thousands of protesters to keep them from sleeping in city parks, still had only about 200 guests Saturday.
About 2,000 protesters took part in the demonstrations Saturday, which had been publicly announced as the day that radical left organizations would show their strength.
"I came here to fight the IMF because it's an international organization for repression and international domination," said Decaevel Gilles, 20, a French university student who attended a rally of several hundred people that drew members of Marxist organizations from across Europe.
"We are Trotskyite," but others at the gathering were "Stalinist" or "socialist," he said. Usually "Stalinists and Trotskyites fight," he added, but in this case, "we want the same thing."
"The police had no problems. They only monitored the protests--there was no collision," Jiri Kolar, head of the Czech police, said Saturday evening. About 11,000 police, including reinforcements from provincial towns, have been mobilized in Prague, the capital, to provide security for the meetings.
Meanwhile, many banks here, which fear being targeted by protesters, have taken down identifying signs and boarded up their windows. Part of Havel's declared purpose in hosting Saturday's forum was to provide a venue at which protesters could deliver their message through dialogue rather than in the streets.
Speakers on the panel included Walden Bello, a prominent Philippine activist; Katerina Liskova, a Czech university student who called for the IMF and the World Bank to be dismantled; and Ann Pettifor, a leader of the Jubilee 2000 movement, which is campaigning for cancellation of debts owed by poor countries to the IMF and the World Bank.
All three harshly criticized the two institutions and their leaders. Members of the audience, which included many representatives of nongovernmental organizations, also posed sharply critical questions to Wolfensohn and IMF head Horst Koehler.
In a reference to deposed Indonesian leader Suharto, Bello accused Wolfensohn of having helped to "legitimize Mr. Suharto's dictatorship."
"That is something that the people of the world will never forgive the World Bank for, particularly the people of Indonesia," he said.
Pettifor said that if the IMF and World Bank refuse to write off the debts of the poorest countries, "then you will continue to be attacked in the way you're going to be attacked this week."
The two institutions already have launched a program to forgive debts of 20 of the world's poorest countries, but there are conditions attached that many of these countries have not fulfilled. Officials of the institutions say that unless those terms are met, there is no assurance that the money saved will be used in ways that really help reduce poverty.
Wolfensohn charged that critics' complaints make the World Bank's work more difficult.
"Images that have been put to you today" are "simple, clear, aggressive and destructive," he told the audience. "You should not regard us as a black and evil force. Maybe we've gotten things wrong. I'm sure we have in many cases. Our objectives are very similar to those of the people in the streets."
Koehler declared: "I have a heart. But I also have to use my brain to find solutions."
He stressed that one of the key steps that should be taken to ease poverty is for rich countries to open their markets more fully to products from poorer countries.
Financier George Soros, who also was on the panel, warned that much of the criticism of the IMF and the World Bank plays into the hands of conservatives who wish to slash funding for the two organizations and leave development even more dependent on the spread of global capitalism.
"It's a very strange and tragic situation that people who want to alleviate poverty are lined up with those who want to rely only on market forces," Soros said.
---
Hundreds March Through Prague on Debt Relief
Yahoo News
Sunday September 24
By Ashley Seager
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000924/wl/imf_protests_dc_1.html
PRAGUE (Reuters) - International debt relief campaigners took to the streets of Prague on Sunday angrily demanding that the world's creditors finally make good on promises to write off large swathes of poor countries' debts.
Over a thousand people marched through the historic streets of Prague in a demonstration organized by the campaign group Jubilee 2000, which has been highly effective in forcing the issue of debt relief right up the international agenda. They staged a mock funeral march in protest at the 19,000 children they say die every day in the world's poor countries because those countries spend far more money servicing debts to rich countries than they do on basic health care.
The International Monetary Fund (news - web sites) and World Bank are holding their annual meetings here this week. Finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrial countries met on Saturday.
``Here in Prague, the finance ministers and the World Bank and IMF have once again claimed they are solving the debt crisis. But the initiative they have created will do no such thing,'' said Ann Pettifor, Jubilee 2000's director.
We Will Not Be Moved, Say Campaigners
``We will not settle for the half measures they seem so proud of. We want them to know that we will not go away until they have canceled 100 percent of the debts of the poorest countries.''
She was referring to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), launched by the IMF and World Bank in 1996 with the aim of ridding 41 of the world's poorest countries -- mostly in Africa -- of the bulk of their debt. But the initiative has stalled, caught in a tangle of over-complex conditions required of countries who wanted debt relief and an unwillingness by many rich countries to stump up the cash for the scheme.
HIPC was overhauled at a Group of Seven (G7) meeting in Cologne last year but there has still been little progress. Only 10 countries have so far entered the process but are still unlikely to see any serious debt reduction for some years.
Only one country -- Uganda -- has completed the process but it's finance minister Gerald Ssendaula told Reuters last week many creditor countries had still failed to honor their side of the agreement to cancel debt.
Many other HIPC hopefuls were also at the IMF meetings in Prague to protest about the lack of real action on the issue.
The G7 has pledged to get 20 countries into the process by the end of the year but Jubilee 2000 says they still have to jump through too many hoops to get a big cut in their debts.
Canada Suggests Moratorium
Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin urged creditor countries to freeze poor country debt repayments as a way of speeding up HIPC.
``Why should we not consider an immediate moratorium on debt payments from the eligible HIPC reforming countries?'' he told a meeting of the IMF's International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC).
Campaigners were initially excited until it became clear Martin was only referring to the 10 countries which have already qualified for HIPC and only to bilateral debt payments, which are in any case supposed to cease at decision point.
Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown made the same point to a press conference.
The IMFC meeting backed a recent IMF/World Bank statement in which the two bodies promised to try to be more flexible with the HIPC conditionality as a way of speeding the process up.
``What we have done, because we recognize the need for speedy implementation, without removing the conditionality, is decide on measures that can get more countries through...we believe we can get 20 countries through by the end of the year,'' Brown told Reuters after the meeting.
But that was not good enough for Jubilee 2000.
``We are angry and deeply disappointed...the credibility of this initiative has evaporated. Finance ministers seem incapable of understanding that the poorest countries are effectively insolvent and need a 100 percent cut in debt service, not the one third that is on offer,'' said Pettifor.
Bono, lead singer of rock group U2 and a key supporter of Jubilee 2000, was set to meet new IMF chief Horst Koehler on Monday to put the case for debt relief. Koehler has pledged to speed up HIPC and then go beyond it.
---
Lebanese Women Protest Against Discrimination
Yahoo News
Sunday September 24
By Mariam Bassam
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000924/wl/lebanon_women_dc_2.html
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Thousands of women marched through Beirut streets Sunday, demanding women's rights and a halt to sexual discrimination and violence.
About 2,000 women of all ages carried Lebanese flags and banners and women in wheel chairs sang popular songs asking men to listen to the suffering of women.
``No violence, no poverty, no tyranny and no humiliation,'' a banner read. ``Our rights will not wait until political and sectarian problems are solved,'' another banner read.
Notwithstanding its reputation as a cosmopolitan banking center, Lebanon is a conservative and male-dominated society. Of 128 members of parliament, only three are women and successive governments have yet to include a woman minister.
The march began at the National Museum on the former Green Line battlefront which divided Beirut into Muslim and Christian sectors during the 1975-1990 civil war.
About 50 men participated in the march which was organized by the Lebanese Council to Resist Violence Against Women (LCRVAW).
``The idea of the march started in 1997 when 800 women demonstrated in the streets of Quebec, Canada to protest against poverty and to support women's rights,'' Ibtisam Atallah, LCRVAW Director, told Reuters.
``Later on, the march became a wave of action that swept throughout Europe, Asia, the Americas and the Middle East. In 1999, a follow-up meeting for delegates from 156 countries took place in Canada where preparations for the World March began,'' she said.
Certificates Of Participants
Five handicapped women marched at the front of the demonstration and were the most enthusiastic participants.
``We suffer twice more than the normal woman. One time because we are women and another time because we are handicapped,'' Silvana al-Laquis, President of the Union of Handicapped People, told Reuters. ``Some of us became handicapped because of the men's violence against them.''
Men who participated in the march had different reasons.
``I consider the woman a vital element to develop society,'' Anwar Mahmoud said.
Another said he participated in the march to please his wife: ``Its better to march with her than walk out of the house.''
-------
NucNews - Please circulate -- help educate! - http://prop1.org
1. VOTE/REMEMBER Speaker of the House Danny Hastert and other mediocrities
From: easlavin@aol.com
2. http://www.micronetix.net/virus/sept22/sept22.html
From: FlapsC@aol.com
3. Warren Gooch, Lockheed Lobbyist, Gore Fundraiser and Next Federal Judge?
From: easlavin@aol.com
4. Check out Tin Cup Couple
From: easlavin@aol.com
5. OCT 7 FINAL NEWS RELEASE
From: "Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space" <globalnet@mindspring.com>
7. Check out Why Vote - from Sierra Club
From: easlavin@aol.com
8. DOE releases weapons sites list
From: Steve Wagner <hanforddownwinder@yahoo.com>
9. NYTimes.com Article: Austria Fights Nuclear Plant Near Border in Czech Hills
From: Steve Wagner <hanforddownwinder@yahoo.com>
10. Public interest groups, secret sellouts & alternative dispute resolution
From: easlavin@aol.com
11. Russia Talks Re Soviet Nuclear Weapons "Capabilities" In New Book
From: "Bill Smirnow" <smirnowb@ix.netcom.com>
-------------
Message: 1
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000
From: easlavin@aol.com
VOTE/REMEMBER Speaker of the House Danny Hastert and other mediocrities
Good morning:
As you go to the polls on November 7th, remember that we are surrounded and inundated by mediocre legislator-politicians who will say or do anything to get your votes. This year, they are not unlike dazed rats in search of cheese.
Think of who was in the U.S. Senate thirty and forty years ago and compare them to who serves now. There are few statesmen left these days. Mostly, we have "Pander Bears," like Senator Fred Dalton Thompson, Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson, Speaker of the House Danny Hastert, Rep. Zach Wamp, etc. Watching such gasbags every Sunday morning TV interview programs is enough to turn people off to politics -- which is perhaps what the Fortune 500 and many politicians would prefer. Did you know that the generation 18 to 24 is now the most politically apathetic in our Nation's history? Look who they have as "leaders."
From the secretive drafting of the DOE $100k CONpensation bribe bill to the delay in introducing it to its fawningly obeisant acceptance as the archetype by the Republicans in Congress as "the" way, to its being stopped by Speaker of the House Hastert, the sick workers and residents have been had, used and abused by ineffectual, ill-advised, oleaginous politicians -- one-dimensional guys who make Mayor Frank Skeffington in Edwin O'Connor's "The Last Hurrah" look like a man of extraordinary vision.
Go visit any of these dull guys' web pages and see how they talk down to you: in baby talk, just like they did when they were pushing the $100k bribe bill. What ignorant, arrogant goofiness.
With the right TV advisors, I reckon our dog Samson could make a more appealing candidate, with more ethics, charisma, warmth and intelligence. Come to think of it, Caligula sent his horse to the Roman Senate: I can't say that the ancient Romans were worse off than Tennesseans are today with their "representation" by Fred Thompson and Bill Frist, both "Pander Bears."
Former Senator Gary W. Hart's U.S. Senate campaign TV ads in 1974 showed a picture of Senator Peter Dominick with his arm around Richard M. Nixon, accompanied by the caption, "They've had their turn. Now it's our turn."
Remember to vote on November 7. Vote like your life depended on it -- it does.
With kindest regards, Ed Slavin
---------
Message: 2
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000
From: FlapsC@aol.com
For information, articles and photos of the National Day in Solidarity with the People of Vieques, Puerto Rico, please access:
http://www.micronetix.net/virus/sept22/sept22.html
-----------
Message: 3
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000
From: easlavin@aol.com
Warren Gooch, Lockheed Lobbyist, Gore Fundraiser and Next Federal Judge?
Knoxville, Tennessee corporate law firm Kramer, Rayson, Leake, Rodgers & Morgan has a partner who is a corporate lobbyist, Warren Gooch, who is the Gore-Lieberman Campaign Chairman for East Tennessee. Warren Gooch is also the Chairman of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, and a corporate lobbyist who represents Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, Lockheed Martin Energy Research and Baptist Health Care Systems.
Warren Gooch may expect a Federal Judgeship in return for his work, which includes raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds for the Gore campaign. Or perhaps he might wish to be United States Attorney, a post that former Carbide/Lockheed Oak Ridge General Counsel G. Wilson Horde unsuccessfully campaigned for in 1976, with dozens of planted letters sent to then-freshman U.S. Senator Jim Sasser, whose first form letter was to respond to the host of pro-Horde letters.
Former Lockheed Martin Energy Systems General Counsel Patricia McNutt is already serving as the Court Clerk for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, now affectionately known to afficionados as the United States District Court for the Eastern District of DOE/LOCKHEED. What do you reckon?
--------------
Message: 4
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000
From: easlavin@aol.com
Check out Tin Cup Couple
By MAUREEN DOWD
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/24/opinion/24DOWD.html
The Clintons have redefined the nature of friendship so that its highest expression becomes the writing of a check.
----------------
Message: 5
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000
From: "Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space" <globalnet@mindspring.com>
OCT 7 FINAL NEWS RELEASE
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST
OCTOBER 7 ACTIONS OPPOSE PLANNED STAR WARS PROGRAM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Bruce Gagnon (352) 337-9274
On October 7 an "International Day of Protest to Stop the Militarization of Space" will be held worldwide. Currently protest events are planned in 16 nations and in over 34 U.S. cities.
The October 7 actions are being organized by the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space and have been endorsed by organizations around the world.
President Clinton's recent decision to postpone deployment of National Missile Defense (NMD) was largely a result of recent testing failures and growing worldwide opposition to a new Star Wars program. "However, elements of this new Star Wars program are still moving ahead," said Bruce Gagnon, Coordinator of the Global Network. "In the next few weeks, for example, the U.S. government will finalize plans for the testing of a space-based laser - a critical weapon in the Pentagon's scheme to 'control' space, and from the 'ultimate high-ground' of space to 'dominate' the Earth below."
"We won't rest for a moment," said Gagnon. "The October 7 protests represent the largest grassroots global expression against moving the arms race into space ever held. We will utilize Clinton's delay decision to expand our organizing and opposition. More people are getting involved every day."
October 7 actions include rallies and demonstrations in:
1. Adelaide, Australia
2. Albuquerque, N.M. (Lockheed Martin - Oct 6)
3. Amherst, MA (Oct 8)
4. Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD)
5. Asheville, NC (Downtown at Vance monument)
6. Baku, Azerbaijan
7. Bathe, Maine (Oct 5)
8. Beale AFB, CA (Space Command Radar Facility)
9. Berlin, Germany (Bundestag)
10. Brookfield, CT
11. Bucharest, Romania (American Embassy)
12. Buckingham Peace Fair (Bucks County, PA)
13. Cambridge, England
14. Cape Canaveral AFS, FL (Key Launch Facility)
15. Chicago, IL (Kluzynski Federal Building)
16. Colorado Springs, CO. (Space Command HQ)
17. Edwards AFB, CA (Flight Testing Center)
18. Flic en Flac, Mauritius
19. Fort Bragg, CA
20. France
21. Fylingdales, England (U.S. Radar Base)
22. Greece
23. Hartford, CT (Oct 4)
24. Holland, MI
25. Huntsville, AL (TMD Directorate)
26. Kalamazoo, MI
27. Kathmandu, Nepal (U.S. Embassy)
28. Kirtland AFB, N.M. (Key Laser Development Center - Oct 6)
29. Leicester, England
30. London, England (U.S. Embassy)
31. Los Angeles AFB, CA (Space-Based Laser Directorate)
32. Madison, WI
33. Mays Landing, NJ (Rep. Frank LoBiondo's office - Oct 6)
34. Menwith Hill, England (U.S. Spy Satellite Base)
35. Nevada Test Site
36. New York, N.Y. (Wall Street - Oct 6)
37. Northampton, MA
38. Osaka, Japan (Navy TMD Deployment Site)
39. Oslo, Norway (Parliament)
40. Pathanamthitta, India
41. Penn State University
42. San Francisco State University Planetarium (Cosmic Cabaret - Oct 6)
43. Schwaebisch Gmuend (Germany)
44. Seattle, WA (Boeing Corporation)
45. Seoul, Korea (TMD Deployment Sites)
46. Stockton, CA
47. St. Paul, MN (Lockheed Martin)
48. Sunnyvale, CA (Lockheed Martin)
49. Sydney, Australia (TMD testing expected in Western Australia)
50. Tokyo, Japan
51. Toronto, Canada (Oct 14 at U.S. Consulate)
52. Tucson, AZ (Raytheon)
53. Valley Forge, PA. (Lockheed Martin)
54. Vandenberg AFB, CA (Key Launch Facility)
55. Vancouver, Canada
56. White House, Washington DC
57. White Sands Missile Test Range, N.M.
Meanwhile, testing of the NMD system is scheduled to resume in January, 2001 from Vandenberg AFB in California. The Pentagon is also dangerously promoting Theatre Missile Defense (TMD) deployments in the Middle East and Asia which will provoke regional escalations of nuclear weapons development.
October 7 protest sites are still being added each day. To see the current list of actions, and worldwide sponsoring groups, check the Global Network's web site at: http://www.space4peace.org
Note to Editors & Assignment Desks: Media seeking the actual Pentagon plans for "control and domination" of space can obtain them by clicking on Space Command's web site at: http://www.spacecom.af.mil/usspace/index.htm
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space PO Box 90083 Gainesville, FL. 32607 (352) 337-9274 http://www.space4peace.org globalnet@mindspring.com
--------
Message: 7
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000
From: easlavin@aol.com
Check out Why Vote - from Sierra Club
http://www.toledo-bend.com/whyvote.html#why
The Polluters' President|Sierra|ND99
http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/199911/bush.frame.html
----------
Message: 8
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000
From: Steve Wagner <hanforddownwinder@yahoo.com>
DOE releases weapons sites list
The Oakland (California) Tribune
Sunday, September 24, 2000:
From Staff and Wire Reports
WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department posted a list on its Web site this week of more than 500 government and commercial sites across the country that may have been used to help build nuclear weapons.
The department created the list in 1995, when the agency was trying to determine sites for an environmental cleanup program. The list, which includes 20 California sites, is identified by department officials as a working document subject to revision.
It is referred to as the FUSRAP list, which is an acronym that refers to sites reviewed for possible past involvement in nuclear weapons-related activities.
Though that specific cleanup program has since been moved to the Army Corps of Engineers, the Energy Department is reviewing the list to see which sites need to be cleaned up.
The list documents weapons activity that took place as early as the 1940s, when the government was building the first atomic bomb. Some small, private businesses secretly participated in the effort known as the Manhattan Project.
File and field reviews of the sites on the list began in the early 1970s, when governement officials realized the sites should be evaluated to determine the risks posed to workers and the environment.
-----------
Message: 9
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000
From: Steve Wagner <hanforddownwinder@yahoo.com>
Austria Fights Nuclear Plant Near Border in Czech Hills
NYTimes.com Article
September 24, 2000
By LADKA BAUEROVA
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/24/world/24NUKE.html
PRAGUE, Sept. 23 The four cooling towers of the Temelin nuclear power station overlook the rolling hills of the southern Czech Republic like a gigantic castle. But for most Austrians, whose country begins just 40 miles away, this castle is haunted.
As the Czech authorities make final preparations to switch on the first reactor at the Soviet-designed plant, fiercely antinuclear Austria has intensified its threats to block the Czech Republic's effort to join the European Union.
Austria is the only country in the world to have built a complete nuclear power plant and then to have decided in a 1978 referendum not to put it or any other nuclear plant on line. The country, which suffered from the radiation cloud released by the 1986 Chernobyl accident, has become a vigorous campaigner against nuclear power.
Calling the Czech authorities "arrogant" and "irresponsible" for deciding to put Temelin on line, Austria's Parliament voted unanimously on Sept. 5 not to approve the energy chapter of the Czech Republic's application to join the European Union. A Czech government spokesman, Libor Roucek, replied by saying that the Austrian reaction to Temelin was "hysterical to the point of being embarrassing."
On Sept. 7, the European Parliament in Brussels passed a nonbinding resolution urging the Czech Republic to carry out additional studies on Temelin's environmental impact before it is put into operation.
The Czech government, which has already invested nearly $2.5 billion in the power plant, had refused to do more testing, arguing that the safety features bought from Westinghouse meet American standards.
The only Czech leader who appeared to sympathize with the concerns about Temelin was President Vaclav Havel, who wields little actual political power. "It would be unwise, even suicidal," to prevent a further check of Temelin's safety, Mr. Havel said.
On Sept. 12, a group of Czech members of Parliament visited Austria and told their counterparts that they would agree to have a panel of experts and politicians review safety.
Most members of the Czech cabinet and Temelin's director, Frantisek Hezoucky, were critical of the Brussels vote. "It is irritating that the European Parliament wants to vote on a thing it knows nothing about," Mr. Hezoucky said. "The Czech delegates were not even allowed to speak."
Last week, Edmund Stoiber, the premier of the German state of Bavaria, sent a letter to Prime Minister Milos Zeman, protesting the plan for the plant. And for the fourth time, Austrian environmental activists blocked virtually the whole border with the Czech Republic on Friday.
Construction on Temelin began in 1987. Its opening has been postponed several times for financial and technical reasons. Temelin officials now say the reactor could be operational in October, at the earliest.
The environment ministers of Austria and Germany say the plant will not pass the rigorous nuclear safety standards in their countries.
"You can argue about the technical details endlessly," said David Kyd, the spokesman for the International Atomic Energy Agency. "The truth is, this is more a political issue than a technical one."
Mr. Kyd noted that Austria's protests at new nuclear power plants in other countries have usually fizzled once the facility is on line. He said that although Temelin has weak spots, the United Nations agency does not anticipate any difficulties.
Rosina Luger, a representative of the Austrian antinuclear organization, Mothers Against Nuclear Hazard, disagrees. "We are sure that Temelin is not safe," she said.
"E.U. countries are phasing out nuclear energy, so why should we accept countries that are just opening new plants now?" she said. Josef Pýhringer, the spokesman for the Upper Austrian Platform Against Nuclear Danger, said, "Temelin is not only Austria's matter, it is a problem for all of Europe."
The New York Times on the Web http://www.nytimes.com Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company
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Message: 10
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000
From: easlavin@aol.com
Public interest groups, secret sellouts & alternative dispute resolution
Good morning: Here are is an interesting University of Texas article that is suggestive about what happens when public interest groups cut deals in private under the guise of so-called "Alternative Dispute Resolution":
http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~journal/1997/winkle.html
Alternative Dispute Resolution: Approaches for Public Policy
by Kim Mae Van Winkle
Sound vaguely familiar to anyone?
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Message: 11
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000
From: "Bill Smirnow" <smirnowb@ix.netcom.com>
Russia Talks Re Soviet Nuclear Weapons "Capabilities" In New Book
Russia bares all in new book about nuclear weapons
By Bradley Perrett, European aerospace & defence
correspondent
LONDON, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Just 10 or 15 years ago, Western strategic analysts would pore over grainy satellite photographs, guessing dimensions and counting exhaust nozzles, to estimate roughly how a Soviet nuclear missile would perform.
Today they can just order a book on the Internet.
The Russian military has backed the publication of an astonishingly frank book detailing the specifications of its doomsday weapons -- ballistic missiles, bombs, bombers and submarines.
And a lot of them, it seems, are rather more powerful than has been thought.
One example: The 1988-89 edition of Jane's Weapon Systems, the bible of missilery, gave the standard estimate of an 11,000 km (6,800 mile) range with multiple warheads for a terrifying Soviet missile that Nato code-named SS-18 Satan.
The Western analysts who assembled those estimates -- similar to current figures -- would be mortified to discover that a multiple-warhead version of the SS-18 can actually reach 15,000 km (9,300 miles).
It can hit a lot more cities than they thought, according to the newly published Strategic Nuclear Forces.
Oh, and by the way, the Soviet designation for that variant is RS-20B, author Nikolai Spassky tells us, helpfully offering a cutaway diagram of another version to reveal the innards of a weapon that has captivated Western strategic planners.
``We can say with confidence that this encyclopaedia will be of interest to specialists who work in the field of development and production of defence hardware...'' Russian Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev writes in a foreword, with some understatement.
Indeed, U.S. distributor Tommax Inc says the Pentagon and U.S. nuclear-weapons laboratories have been the book's keenest buyers.
``This is the first time Russians have published about their own military equipment,'' Spassky told Reuters. ``There are books about Russian equipment, but not written by us.''
That makes a difference, because only the Russians really know how these strategic weapons perform.
ACCURACY
Russian tactical weapons, such as fighters and tanks, have been sold to many other countries, and their exact details are widely known. Since the thaw of the Cold War, the Russian manufacturers have been happy to publish the figures.
But strategic weapons -- designed to hit targets deep behind the front line -- are not generally operated by other countries.
Moreover, since this equipment embodies Russia's nuclear security, Moscow has always had a strong reason to keep the figures to itself.
The West has relied mostly on estimates about Russian strategic weapons, with some of the guesses supplied to Jane's and other publishers, which mix in their own judgements to produce the best publicly available assessments.
Russia has divulged some figures in arms limitations talks. The West discovered in the early 1990s, for example, that the RS-22 (or SS-24) ballistic missile was bigger than it thought.
But Spassky has revealed perhaps the most sought-after secret of all for the RS-22: after an intercontinental trip from Russia to, say, the U.S. mid-west, its warhead will come down no more than 500 metres (yards) from its target.
The accuracy of any nuclear missile is a crucial statistic, since it determines whether the weapon can land reliably close enough to bust open structures designed to resist it -- such as bunkers or underground silos housing other missiles.
DETAILED PHOTOS OF SECRET WEAPONS
``There are no photographs available of AS-15...'' the current Jane's directory, Jane's Strategic Weapon Systems, notes in its entry for the missile that the Russians call Kh-55.
But in Strategic Nuclear Forces we find five very clear photographs, plus two apparently precise line drawings, which show the design of this bomber-launched cruise missile to be rather different to what the West has estimated.
Spassky confirms the Western belief that the missile comes in two versions, but one turns out to be rather lighter and more efficient than Western analysts have assumed. And its range and nuclear charge are both greater than the figures in Jane's.
But some Russian weapons are perhaps less effective than thought, the book reveals.
Jane's credits the Kh-15 bomber-launched missile (called AS-16 by Nato) with a range of 150 km (93 miles). Spassky says it will go 60 to 150 km, presumably depending on how fast and high the bomber is flying when it launches the weapon.
Since he also specifies high launch speeds of 1,080 to 2,160 km per hour (670 to 1,340 mph), it seems that the weapon can achieve the Western-estimated estimated performance only with a lot of help from the bomber.
Strategic Nuclear Forces, published by Russian-based Arms and Technologies with text in English and Russian, is available on the internet at www.tommax-military.com.
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1. Ex-nuclear workers fear help won't come From: magnu96196@aol.com
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Message: 1
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000
From: magnu96196@aol.com
Ex-nuclear workers fear help won't come
September 24, 2000, in The State.
By MICHELLE R. DAVIS Washington Bureau
http://www.thestate.com/headlines/a1docs/web_doe.htm
David Shepard is only 41, but when he looks into his future he doesn't see much. A disease called pulmonary sarcoidosis has permanently damaged his lungs and heart. He can't work and relies on oxygen and a walker to perform even the smallest task. The Lugoff father of two has spent three years on a waiting list for a double lung/heart transplant.
Shepard believes he got the disease by going to work. From 1984 to 1992, he was a construction and sheetmetal worker at the Savannah River Site nuclear plant near Aiken.
Like thousands of other former workers at nuclear sites in 10 states across the country, Shepard spent his days at a factory that made nuclear bombs or parts for them. Many workers used radioactive and toxic substances while on the job designing, testing and building nuclear weapons.
"I don't see myself seeing my grandchildren," Shepard said. "That's reality. I have to deal with that."
For years, the federal government refused to acknowledge that its weapons workers were made sick by the careers they chose. Missing or faulty records and a thicket of red tape have prevented them from applying for workers' compensation benefits that would pay for their illnesses and medical care.
But earlier this year U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson announced a dramatic shift in federal policy regarding nuclear workers. He admitted that many were made ill by working in the nation's bomb factories, especially during World War II and the Cold War.
In April, Richardson unveiled a plan to compensate these "warriors," who contracted various types of cancer and other diseases they believe is a direct result of their work at nuclear sites. Richardson put the burden of proof on the Department of Energy, saying victims would not have to prove their cancers and illnesses directly were related to work they did.
There was a catch, however. The proposal had no money behind it.
Now a feud has erupted on Capitol Hill over the details of a compensation package and how to pay for it.
Some say Congress must pass a plan and funding this year, while public outcry over the situation is loud. Others say the proposal needs more serious study. Some victims worry that it will be years -- if ever -- before they see a dime. And their time is running out.
A panel of sick workers paid their own way to Washington last week to testify before a U.S. House subcommittee studying the issue. One woman had only months to live; a man had had his larynx removed and spoke using an electronic amplifier pressed to his throat; another woman's husband already had died.
"We don't have any 'later,' " said Ann Orick, who has been given only a few months to live after a career of working at the government nuclear facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn. "If you keep postponing it much longer, you're going to have to put some type of entitlement in for funeral expenses because that's where we are headed."
'I was wondering'
Though Shepard did not work directly with radioactive materials -- that he's aware of -- he often made repairs or worked on projects near "hot areas" at the Savannah River Site. There were times he worried about his health.
"I thought about it when I saw the places that were roped off," he said. "I was wondering how they could contain it and keep people from being exposed."
Though Shepard was diagnosed in 1987 with the lung disease, which causes scarring and has damaged his heart through lack of oxygen, he kept working at SRS until he could no longer do his job. Then bills piled up, he and his wife lost their house and the family declared bankruptcy.
Shepard has no proof that his illness is directly related to SRS. But Larry Elliott, branch chief at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, says sarcoidosis is similar to diseases found in workers at other nuclear sites.
"These are the expected diseases that would have occurred in this work force given the types of things they were doing over the years," Elliott said.
Elliott's organization is doing several studies at DOE sites across the country, including SRS, where leukemia and lung cancer rates are being analyzed. Other studies being done on former and current SRS workers include an examination of hazardous waste workers, chemical laboratory workers and building trade workers like Shepard.
For Shepard, the thought that he could receive some government compensation for his ailments gives him hope.
"I've got two kids on the honor roll and looking forward to going to college," Shepard said. "I hope their dreams will come true."
'Time is of the essence'
Hundreds of miles away in Washington, however, politicians are fighting jurisdictional battles, disagreeing over what compensation plan is the right one.
The Senate has approved a proposal from U.S. Sens. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., and Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. It offers medical care, reimbursement of lost wages or a lump-sum payment of $200,000. Supporters say the program would cost under $1 billion over five years and would not need annual congressional approval.
The Thompson proposal was attached to the Senate's Defense Authorization bill but not to the House bill. House and Senate negotiators are trying to work out a compromise. But some House members say the Senate plan is too open-ended, needs more study or is flawed.
U.S. Rep. Lindsey Graham, a Seneca Republican whose district includes part of SRS, said he supports action on a plan this year but not exactly the Senate proposal. Graham has been working behind the scenes on a compromise but there's been little movement.
Graham said he wants to go forward with a preliminary program that will make some payments available now. But, under Graham's plan, the major cost would come later after more study.
At Thursday's subcommittee hearing, however, a long line of House members urged their colleagues to adopt the Senate proposal and move on.
U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said he thought the Senate proposal was the "best way to take the essential first step toward the vital goal of doing justice to these workers."
"I'm sure that this Senate-passed legislation could be further refined," he said. "But we are rapidly nearing the end of this Congress and time is of the essence."
Energy Secretary Richardson agreed.
"We've got impetus for this legislation and we need to take advantage of it," he said Thursday. "It would be a cop-out for Congress to say this issue has not been studied."
Spence: It's 'complex'
Earlier in the week, Richardson wrote a letter urging cooperation from U.S. Rep. Floyd Spence, the Lexington Republican who chairs the House Armed Services Committee and whose district also includes portions of SRS. Spence is working on hammering out differences between the House and the Senate defense bills, which includes Thompson's proposal.
Spence has received the letter but has not responded, said his chief of staff Craig Metze. Spence has not taken a position on whether to back the Senate proposal or delay the program for another year, Metze said.
"It's a very complex issue and we're still assessing it. That's the most we could say at this time," Metze said, adding, Spence "is in favor of compensation, but working it out is the complex part."
Graham said it's essential that workers be treated fairly and quickly.
"Some of the people who we asked to do heroic and dangerous stuff and who got sick as a result of that sacrifice, for years the source of their illness was hidden," Graham said. "We need to right a wrong and this is wrong."
Shepard, however, is worried.
"If they don't do it now, it's going to be harder after this election," he said. "There's going to be a different bunch of people there and they might forget about it."
Michelle R. Davis covers Washington issues from a South Carolina perspective. Reach her at (202) 383-6023 or by e-mail at mdavis@krwashington.com.
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NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS
1 Judge dismisses lawsuit over water
2 Soviet clean-up jobs given to British Nuclear Fuels
3 Anti-nuclear protesters block Czech borders--Appeared
4 Tang denies nuke stance a KMT ruse
5 Nuke plant worries land Taipower on S&P's watch list
6 IAEA CALLS FOR RENEWED NUCLEAR SAFEGUARDS IN NK
7 Nuclear Power for Energy Needs
8 State questions latest report
9 WIPP Elevated to 'Field Office'
10 In Nukes We Trust
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NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES
1 Judge dismisses lawsuit over water
Associated Press
September 24th, 2000
Reno Gazette-Journal
LAS VEGAS - Nevada won a major victory in the battle to keep highly radioactive waste from being stored at Yucca Mountain when a federal judge tossed a key decision back to a state court.
ANevada court will now decide whether the Department of Energy will be allowed to use ground water at Yucca Mountain to build and operate a proposed high-level nuclear waste repository.
On Thursday U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt refused to hear the DOE's challenge of the state's Feb. 2 denial of water rights for the project.
Nevada officials called Hunt's ruling a significant victory in the state's battle to keep highly radioactive waste stored at commercial reactors and federal weapons sites across the nation from coming to Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
"That's tremendous news," said Deputy Attorney General Marta Adams, who argued the case for the state.
Yucca Mountain is the only site being studied to store the 77,000 tons of waste. If it is found scientifically suitable, a repository could open by 2010.
The DOE has temporary permission to use the ground water to study Yucca Mountain through March 2002, but sought permanent rights to use 430 acre-feet a year to build and operate a repository. An acre- foot is enough water to supply a family of four or five for a year.
Former state engineer Michael Turnipseed, in denying the DOE's request for the ground water earlier this year, cited threats to public health, safety and Nevada's tourism-based economy.
DOE officials said at the time that a lack of water rights would not stop a repository, only slow it down, because water could be trucked in to the site.
Hunt said in his Thursday decision that the DOE did not have a constitutional right to usurp state jurisdiction on water rights.
"We have no comment until we have had an opportunity to review the decision," DOE's Yucca Mountain Project spokeswoman Gayle Fisher said.
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2 Soviet clean-up jobs given to British Nuclear Fuels
Independent
By Jo Dillon, Political Correspondent
24 September 2000
British Nuclear Fuels, its reputation tarnished after a run of safety scandals, has been chosen to clean up nuclear installations in the former Soviet Union and other eastern bloc countries.
BNFL will benefit from an œ85m fund set up by the Department of Trade and Industry as its traditional business becomes increasingly embattled.
Over the next three years the controversial company will provide detailed training in decommissioning to the Ignalina power plant in Lithuania.
The DTI is also supporting work by the UK nuclear consulting company NNC to form a strategy to promote development in towns near the plant. Similar work is being carried out by the firm at Chernobyl.
This new role was grudgingly welcomed by environmentalists who have long argued that the company would have a more useful and prosperous future in clearing up the world's nuclear debris than its traditional role of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel at Sellafield.
It comes after an annus horribilis for the company, which started when the Independent revealed that it had falsified safety data on mixed plutonium and uranium fuel exported to Japan.
In the row which followed, Sellafield lost contracts with Japanese and German customers, costing the company œ113m. This included œ40m compensation paid to Japan's Kansai Electric Power and a further œ73m set aside to pay for bringing the shipment fuel back to Britain under armed guard. BNFL's annual report for 2000 reported a œ337m loss in the financial year 1999/2000.
Launched later this month, the DTI programme will encourage UK firms to expand into new markets in the former Soviet Union. Government ministers insist there are "huge opportunities in clean-up right across the former Soviet Union"which could prove lucrative for British business.
The new contracts in eastern Europe could provide a crucial lifeline for the firm. But there are concerns about the track record of BNFL and whether the company should be rewarded for presiding over the string of safety scandals.
But environmental pressure group Greenpeace was last night sceptical about the company's overseas role.
Dr Helen Wallace, Greenpeace nuclear campaigner, said: "There is some irony there. Unfortunately, most of the nuclear companies have quite a bad record. Clearly, BNFL has a record that is insupportable in what it has done, particularly this year.
"However, when it comes to dealing with existing waste we do believe the company can change as any company could to deal properly with this waste. At the moment there is no sign of them doing that and they haven't even done the management of waste and clean-up needed in Britain let alone anywhere else."
The DTI will publish a brochure at the end of this month designed for businesses who, like the nuclear companies, could benefit from trade with countries in eastern Europe.
"The enlargement countries have huge opportunities for business in Britain but some are more geared up for it than others," a ministerial source said. "British businesses are looking for areas into which they can expand their markets but they don't have good information about these markets at present. This is a way they can find out more information."
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3 Anti-nuclear protesters block Czech borders--Appeared
September 23, 2000
Dominion Post Newspaper
A girl with "Stop Temelin" painted on her face stands with other protesters during a demonstration at the Wullowitz-Dolni Dvoriste border crossing between Austria and the Czech Republic on Friday. Hundreds blocked border crossing points between Austria a nd the Czech Republic Friday, demanding activation of the reactors at the Temelin nuclear plant be halted, local media reported. The Temelin plant, located 90 miles south of Prague and 30 miles north of the border with non-nuclear Austria, is scheduled t o be fully activated by early October.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP)--Hundreds of anti-nuclear protesters blocked border points between Austria and the Czech Republic on Friday, demanding that activation of the reactors at a Czech nuclear plant be halted, local media reported.
The blockades stopped traffic at most border crossings between the two countries. Austrian radio reported no incidents during the roadside protest, which ended Friday evening.
Protesters from Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic are demanding Czech officials meet with them to discuss delaying activation of the Temelin plant, located near the border with Austria. The demonstrators say the plant does not meet safety standards .
But most EU governments have said nothing against the power station, and chances that Austrian protests can delay or even stop activation of the reactor are slim.
In a new development Friday, Temelin spokesman Pavel Pitterman said one steam generator valve test failed Thursday. He did not say whether the incident would mean a delay in the plant's start-up.
''We want the Czech side to stop activation of Temelin for six months. During this time the safety and environmental damage should be tested,'' Josef Puehringer, the governor of Upper Austria province who has put himself repeatedly at the head of the ant i-
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4 Tang denies nuke stance a KMT ruse
The Taipei Times Online: 2000-09-23
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23RD, 2000
BY STEPHANIE LOW STAFF REPORTER
POWER GAMES: The premier yesterday refuted charges that he supports nuclear power because of a deal he had made with the KMT's Lien Chan
Premier Tang Fei (ð¸) yesterday denied that he had taken a pro- nuclear stance in exchange for KMT Chairman Lien Chan's (³s3/4Ô) approval for him, as a KMT member, to act as premier in the DPP-lead government.
"[The reports] are totally incorrect," Tang told lawmakers during interpellation in the legislature.
In what signified a clash between Tang and the DPP's long-standing position on the issue, Tang on Monday said that he personally was in favor of the project on the grounds that safety at the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant was 10 times better than the existing first nuclear power plant.
The project, which was proposed by the former KMT government as a solution to Taiwan's power shortage, has been a source of great controversy over the past decade and the focus of protests from environmental groups.
The DPP, meanwhile, has been a major mover in the campaign against the project and has officially adopted an anti-nuclear power energy platform.
Although the project is already 30 percent complete, it may never be finished now that the DPP is in power.
The Fourth Nuclear Power Plant Re-evaluation Committee ((r)Ö¥|¦Aµû¦ô(c)eû·| ) under the Ministry of Economics Affairs, which was set up soon after President Chen Shui-bian's (³¯¤ô"ó) inauguration to evaluate the feasibility of the project, voted nine to six in favor of stopping construction of the plant last week.
The Cabinet, however, is preparing to invite another group of experts to review the project and reserves the right to overturn the committee's verdict.
Tang yesterday repeated that he would have to make a choice between quitting and staying if the Cabinet's final decision on the project was inconsistent with the DPP's platform.
Also yesterday, Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Hsin-yi (ªL"H¸q) said that the government would need to spend another NT$120 billion on the project if it were to continue.
If the project were to stop, it would leave the government NT$75 billion to NT$90.3 billion out of pocket and electricity rates would have to be raised to make up the expense, Lin said.
Lin estimated that under these circumstances electricity rates would see a hike of NT$0.12 per kilowatt/hour over the course of the next five years.
Based on an electricity consumption of 300 kilowatt/hour per month, a typical household would need to spend an additional NT$30 per month on electricity, Lin added. This story has been viewed 161 times.
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5 Nuke plant worries land Taipower on S&P's watch list
The Taipei Times Online:
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23RD, 2000
STAFF WRITER
Standard & Poor's has placed AA rated Taiwan Power Company (Taipower, ¥x¹q) on its credit watch list in response to the possibility that Taipower may be forced to scrap its Fourth Nuclear Plant project. Taipower is already in a tenuous financial situation.
S&P said that, "Cancellation of the fourth nuclear power plant would cause losses of about NT$90 billion for Taipower, putting significant pressure on the company's profitability."
No clear details of an alternative plan to meet Taiwan's power requirements had yet been announced, S&P said, but "given the potential environmental concerns and public protests that any alternative is likely to cause, the feasibility of bridging the supply gap is uncertain."
Taipower would likely have to swallow losses amounting to NT$48 billion in funds already spent, and NT$42 billion in compensation, S&P said, adding that "large contingent liabilities could emerge from potential lawsuits" from vendors already contracted to build and outfit the plant.
"The compensation costs in particular may require the company to borrow extensively, raising its debt leverage to an estimated 47 percent, compared with its current level of 43.5 percent," S&P said. Taipower's AA rating means that the company has a strong capacity to meet financial obligations.
S&P's ratings adjustment comes only days after Minister of Economic Affairs (¸gÀÙ³¡) Lin Hsin-yi (ªL"H¸q) said that if the nuclear plant is cancelled domestic electricity prices may have to be raised over five years to help Taipower cover massive losses from the cancelled project.
S&P said that its decision had also been motivated out of concern over the deterioration of Taipower's financial performance.
"While Taipower's operations still reflect its strong franchise ... the company's net income decreased 41 percent to NT$19.2 billion at June 30, 2000 from NT$32.5 billion as of June 30, 1999, as a result of extraordinary losses related to the [921] earthquake, a blackout in July 1999, and the rising cost of fuel," S&P said. About 60 percent of the drop in net income can be attributed to damage caused by the earthquake, the report said. This story has been viewed 104 times.
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6 IAEA CALLS FOR RENEWED NUCLEAR SAFEGUARDS IN NK
Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition)
09/23(Sat)19:50
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFA) Saturday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted a declaration Friday, which calls for speedy cooperation from North Korea to improve global safeguard network. During its 44th annual meeting, the IAEA announced, "The IAEA is deeply concerned that we were not able to verify the accuracy and reliability of an initial report from Pyongyang. Moreover, we were also unable to conclude whether North Korea converted the use of nuclear materials."
Based on these concerns, the IAEA said, "the organization calls for North Korea to carry out measures required by the IAEA." The IAEA has monitored North Korea's nuclear system since 1994 at the request of the UN Security Council and has adopted the declaration annually since 1993 requesting Pyongyang to carry out its responsibilities.
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7 Nuclear Power for Energy Needs
Saturday, September 23, 2000
*Bertram Wolfe, in "Nuclear Power Is the Answer to Energy Scarcity" (Commentary, Sept. 18), says he believes we need nuclear power and that high-level nuclear waste disposal is a "political" and not a technical issue. Exactly how does he plan to guarantee to future generations, for over 10,000 years, that the disposal techniques will be satisfactory? Engineering principles say that a prototype has to be tested for a life cycle (at least 10,000 years, in this case) to provide such a guarantee. This is certainly a technical matter and hardly political.
As for nonpolluting energy sources, the solar thermal units at Kramer Junction could not be expanded by Luz some years ago because no utility would buy the electric power. Maybe we had better revisit the subject of the expansion of our solar and wind alternatives.
SHELDON C. PLOTKIN Exec. Board Member, Southern California Federation of Scientists
Los Angeles
It was gratifying to see a positive commentary on nuclear power. After 25 years of research, development and field operations in alternative energy sources, the conclusion is that solar, wind and geothermal together can provide only a fraction of our electricity needs into the future. While nuclear power is fully capable of providing 100% of our electricity, only 15% is currently produced by nuclear generating plants in the U.S. France now produces 80% of its electricity from nuclear power and has demonstrated it can do so both economically and safely.
We cannot expand the use of nuclear power overnight, but we can begin now to plan an expanded role for nuclear-generated electricity that will relieve an even greater energy crisis in the future.
NICK SIMON San Juan Capistrano
Rather than make a point-by-point refutation of the disingenuous arguments made in Wolfe's commentary, it is sufficient to note that the actions of those most familiar with nuclear power belie their expressed confidence in the safety of the industry. For example, nuclear power plant owners and operators will not agree to repeal the Price-Anderson Act, which limits their liability in the case of a nuclear meltdown. Owners and operators are not willing to pledge themselves financially responsible for any damage caused by a radiation disaster and post sufficient bond as a surety of that pledge. Insurance companies specifically exempt themselves from issuing homeowner insurance that covers damage caused by a meltdown.
Verbal assurances of nuclear power safety ring hollow when the captains of industry most familiar with the risks refuse to put their pocketbooks on the line as a show of confidence in the safety of the industry. They know full well that the risks involved are very real and potentially catastrophic. The public should not accept the building of a new nuclear power plant until the industry shows its good faith by being fully liable for the nuclear-related calamities it claims can never happen.
THOMAS DOBRZENIECKI Costa Mesa
Los Angeles Times
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8 State questions latest report
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2000
The Hawk Eye
Officials call report 'terribly imprecise.'
The Iowa Department of Public Health has questioned the timeliness of an Army report to Congress about the cleanup of radiation contamination at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant.
Dan McGhee, a health physicist in the department's radiological division, also complained that department officials never received a copy of the report until it was faxed to them by a reporter.
The department is charged with overseeing any matters that relate to nuclear or radiation activities at the plant, which for about 25 years manufactured nuclear weapons.
McGhee also said it was unclear who at the Army prepared the report, released earlier this week, which he called "terribly imprecise, " and what resources were used.
"We're still trying to figure out who did it," McGhee said.
In fact, Army officials themselves seemed at a loss as to where in the vast Army bureaucracy the report originated.
"I haven't found anybody who knows," said Steve Abney, a spokesman at the Army's Operations Support Command in Rock Island, Ill., which has jurisdiction over the IAAP.
The report, which was overdue by two months, was prepared for several congressional committees at the request of Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.
The 10-page report concluded that although some cleanup remains to be done from Atomic Energy Commission operations, there are no immediate dangers posed to human health or the environment.
The report also concluded that, during AEC operations, "plant management was committed to monitoring the employees and either eliminating contamination in the work areas or maintaining acceptable levels."
Accounts by workers themselves have called into question whether the AEC and its contractor, Mason & Hanger, adequately protected workers and the environment.
Dave Bourne, the Energy Department's project manager for the survey of past nuclear-weapons operations at the plant, said it was his impression the authors of the report worked out of the Pentagon in Washington.
McGhee said the Army's research apparently was done before mid-August.
"It looks like it's a decent summary of what's been going on up until about the middle of August," McGhee said of those portions of the report that pertain to environmental cleanup. "There's nothing in there about events that have taken place since the middle of August."
The report tells Congress that DOE-Army surveys of possible leftover contamination from AEC activities are expected to be released in the spring of 2001.
Since August, however, it has become apparent that the DOE surveys will continue into the spring, McGhee said.
319-754- sp; 1-800-397-1708 Outside Burlington [I]c 2000 THE HAWK EYE, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 169261329291016348400396
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9 WIPP Elevated to 'Field Office'
Copyright Albuquerque Journal
Saturday, September 23, 2000
Journal Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant outside Carlsbad will soon become much more than a high-tech nuclear dumping ground, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson announced Friday.
During a ceremony celebrating the arrival of three trucks of nuclear waste, Richardson elevated Department of Energy's Carlsbad office to "field office" status, meaning more important science should occur at WIPP.
Under the new designation, the Carlsbad office and WIPP will create cutting-edge waste storage technologies that can be shared with the international community, Richardson said.
And the office will develop new strategies for monitoring and cleaning up environmental problems along the U.S.- Mexico border.
The elevated status also should entice more scientists to the area to conduct advanced repository and particle physics research.
"WIPP is not just a disposal site but a center for scientific study," said Richardson, who spoke by telephone from Washington to local, state and federal officials gathered at the WIPP site.
Richardson also announced that the Carlsbad office will receive $1.5 million for trucks and trailers used in monitoring and classifying the wastes shipped to WIPP from around the country.
Federal and local officials said the new designation will not create jobs right away. But Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said the change creates a potential for economic development.
"This new status reflects well on the good work you've done here and highlights the expertise you've developed that could lead to more economic opportunity for Eddy and Lea counties, " Bingaman told officials gathered at the site.
Friday's arrival of waste shipments from three sites - Rocky Flats, Colo.Hanford, Wash.and Idaho Falls, Idaho - signaled that WIPP is "fully operational," Richardson said.
The site first opened in March 1999 after years of legal wrangling and public protests. Eventually, about 37,000 nuclear waste shipments will be stored at the site.
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., a longtime proponent of the WIPP project, said he was glad the site is fully up and running. He also praised the work and support of the local community.
"I'm proud of the progress that has been made on many fronts, although some of the issues - like your permit - sure seemed a lot harder to achieve than I thought they would be," Domenici said in a prepared statement. "Your accomplishment today with (three) shipments arriving is a testament to preparations at WIPP."
Rep. Joe Skeen, R-N.M., said WIPP is "showing the world what a first-class operation looks like."
"This ceremony also reinforces the important role Carlsbad plays in the nation's efforts to safely clean up the nuclear weapons legacy, and how much that means to the communities surrounding the generator sites," Skeen said.
Carlsbad Mayor Gary Perkowski said the field office status is great news for the community.
"We're extremely pleased," he said in a telephone interview. "Now we are more of a research and development center instead of just a place to dump radioactive waste."
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10 In Nukes We Trust
PUBLIC CONCERNS HAVEN'T SLOWED THE INDUSTRY
By Gregory Beals and Hideko Takayama
NEWSWEEK INTERNATIONAL
October 2 issue When Toru Ogawa was called to a uranium-processing plant in Tokaimura, Japan, on Sept. 30, 1999, the young firefighter assumed it was a minor emergency. According to the initial call, a worker at the facility, located just outside Tokyo, had fainted. But what Ogawa encountered was a major disaster the worst nuclear accident in Japan's history.
WORKERS AT THE PLANT had mishandled uranium- 235, causing high levels of radioactivity to spread throughout the site and into the town itself. Two plant workers died from radiation sicknessand Ogawa, among others, was exposed. Ogawa, 28, says he feels healthy, but frets that the radiation may affect his health and perhaps that of his familyin the future.
Japanese in general are growing uneasy about nuclear power. In a poll released last February, 90 percent of the respondents said they were `anxious' about safety issues. But such concerns have done little to slow Japan's commitment to nuclear technology. Japan has 51 nuclear plants that generate 36.8 percent of the country's electricity. And with Japan's energy needs on the rise, says Hajime Furuya, deputy director for nuclear energy at Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry, `nuclear power will continue to play a role in Japan's overall energy policy.' A big role: four new plants are now under construction, and an additional nine will be built by 2010.
Japan has a fairly good nuclear-safety record. Still, the government has moved to toughen standards. After Tokaimura, the Nuclear Safety Division doubled the number of safety inspectors and gave them more authority. Before last year's disaster, plant inspections took place only with the consent of the power companies themselves, and they weren't very thorough. `We assumed that the industry obeyed the rules,' said Shigeaki Shiraishi, director of the Nuclear Safety Division. ` Now we don't.
.MSNBC.com
Critics argue that Japan's nuclear fancy has more to do with pork-barrel politics than the country' s energy needs. For towns that don't mind the risk, the plants are an economic bonanza. Tokyo spends heavily to subsidize community projectsa powerful incentive for areas languishing in recession. In the remote coastal village of Higashidoori, in Aomori prefecture, many of the fishermen used to leave town during the off season to find work. But now a new nuclear plant is going up, and Higashidoori is flush with cash. The village is currently receiving $50 million in development money from the governmenta huge sum for a town with 8,000 residents. At the construction site, engineers say they' ve prepared for anythingpotential leaks and also earthquakes. `We're very confident about the plant's [safety], ' says assistant manager Noboru Murakami. `Tokaimura doesn't apply to us.' Everyone in Higashidoori, and throughout Japan, hopes he's right.
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NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS
1 IAEA demands Iraq allow full nuclear inspections
2 Russian vessel to examine Kursk submarine wreck -
3 DOE releases list of U.S. weapons sites
4 Few clear solutions to glassification woes
5 Ex-nuclear workers fear help won't come (9/24/2000)
6 Commentary : Science cannot be stopped, but it must be used
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NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES
1 IAEA demands Iraq allow full nuclear inspections
Times Internet
23 September 2000 :
VIENNA: The IAEA nuclear watchdog called on Iraq on Friday to agree to full inspections of its nuclear material, rather than "limited" IAEA visits which resumed this year after all inspections were cut short in 1998.
A resolution tabled by the European Union was backed by 54 members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), while 27, including Russia, China, Iran, Libya, Pakistan and Egypt abstained from the vote.
The resolution noted that Iraq had cooperated with agency officials who visited the country in January, for the first time in over a year.
IAEA inspectors were withdrawn from Iraq in December 1998 along with the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM), under whose umbrella they were working, and which pulled out due to safety concerns.
UNSCOM was tasked with inspecting all material potentially connected with weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and biological material. IAEA inspectors simply look at nuclear-related materials.
Nonetheless this inspection "had the limited objective of verifying nuclear material under safeguard in Iraq and cannot serve as a substitute" for the range of inspections demanded by the UN Security Council.
The resolution also noted "that the status of the agency's technically coherent picture of Iraq's past clandestine programme has not evolved in the last year".
It demanded that "Iraq cooperate fully with the agency" and "provide the necessary access to enable the agency to carry out its mandate."
Iraq has been under a UN embargo since its invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
The British delegation at this 44th annual conference of the IAEA said this week that progress in nuclear inspections would be a factor in reviewing the sanctions against the country.
"As soon as Iraq begins co-operating, it will be on the road towards the suspension and eventual lifting of sanctions, something we all want to see," said the delegation head for Britain and Northern Ireland, Susan Haird, of the Department of Trade and Industry.
Britain has been a forthright proponent of the wide-ranging sanctions against Iraq. (AFP)
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2 Russian vessel to examine Kursk submarine wreck -
9/23/2000 - ENN.com
Saturday, September 23, 2000 [I]
A Russian research vessel was on its way to the site where Russia's nuclear submarine Kursk sank last month to investigate the extent of the damage, naval officials were quoted as saying on Saturday.
Itar-Tass news agency quoted the Northern Fleet as saying the Mstislav Keldysh, which once filmed the wreck of the Titanic, would refuel on the Arctic coast near Murmansk and sail to the spot in the Barents Sea where the nuclear-powered Kursk plummetted to the bottom.
The ship has two deep water submersibles. It would film the wreck as part of preparations to recover the remains of the Kursk's 118 crew.
The Kursk sank with all hands on August 12 and is lying 354 feet below the surface.
Russia has said the Kursk sank after a collision with a foreign vessel. But many experts outside Russia say the submarine probably sank after one or more explosions on board, possibly caused by a defective torpedo.
The Mstislav Keldysh has filmed the wreck of the Titanic, around 13,120 feet under the sea, several times. Footage obtained by its subermisibles was used in the Hollywood film about the 1912 sinking of the ocean liner by an iceberg.
President Vladimir Putin last week gave his approval for operations to recover the Kursk's crew to begin and a senior official said work would probably begin next month.
But Russia has so far failed to strike a deal with the Norwegian company whose divers confirmed the sailors were dead after days of fruitless rescue efforts by the Russian navy.
Newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta said officials from the Stolt Offshore company had met representatives of the Rubin design bureau in St Petersburg on Friday but had disagreed over the cost of the operation.
The newspaper said Stolt had said it would cost $20 to 25 million while the Russians were only offering $5 to 7 million.
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3 DOE releases list of U.S. weapons sites
September 23, 2000
FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
WASHINGTON--The Energy Department posted a list on its Web site this week of more than 500 government and commercial sites across the country that may have been used to help build NUCLEAR weapons.
The department created the list in 1995, when the agency was trying to determine sites for an environmental cleanup program. The list, which includes 20 California sites, is identified by department officials as a working document subject to revision.
It is referred to as the FUSRAP list, which is an acronym that refers to sites reviewed for possible past involvement in NUCLEAR weapons- related activities.
Though that specific cleanup program has since been moved to the Army Corps of Engineers, the Energy Department is reviewing the list to see which sites need to be cleaned up.
The list documents weapons activity that took place as early as the 1940s, when the government was building the first atomic bomb. Some small, private businesses secretly participated in the effort known as the Manhattan Project.
File and field reviews of the sites on the list began in the early 1970s, when government officials realized the sites should be evaluated to determine the risks posed to workers and the environment.
The following is a list of California sites on the list and the agencies with jurisdiction at those sites:
Chemistry Building and Radiation Laboratory at UC Berkeley--Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
Gilman Hall at University of California, Berkeley.
Mare Island Navy Yard, Defense Department (DOD).
Stauffer-Tenescal Co. in Richmond--NRC.
General Electric Co. in San Jose--NRC.
U.S. Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory in San Francisco--DOD.
Laboratory for Energy Related Health Reseaerch at University of California, Davis--Energy Department (DOE).
Northrup Aircraft Co. Inc. in Hawthorne--NRC.
Shannon Luminous Metals Co. in Hollywood--NRC.
California Institute of Technology in Pasadena--DOE.
Naval Ordnance Test Station at China Lake--DOD.
Santa Susana Field Laboratory in Canoga Park--DOE.
Hunter Douglas Aluminum Plant in Riverside--NRC.
Gulf General Atomic in San Diego--NRC.
The department still is trying to sort out which sites need to be cleaned up, according to Carolyn Huntoon, who oversees cleanup issues for the department.
"We are reconstructing the history of these former and present sites to see if questions remain about contamination," Huntoon said. " ... In the near future, we expect to have a more thorough and comprehensive list and a plan for addressing health and environmental concerns."
Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said earlier this month he wanted to publicize the list. Huntoon said the agency did not want to delay posting it any longer "in an effort to be candid with workers."
http://www2.em.doe.gov/sitelist.
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4 Few clear solutions to glassification woes
The lack of competition raises questions about cleaning up Hanford's radioactive tank wastes.
By John Stang
9/24/2000
Herald staff writer
Hanford's radioactive waste glassification project is like the monster from the sci-fi horror flick Alien.
Every time you look at it, the creature changes into something drastically different and elusive.
Something that knocks off cast members one by one.
The Department of Energy should get a better idea of this mutating monster after Oct. 16, when bidders must submit their proposals for taking over the 10-year, $4 billion project.
DOE is to award the contract--the biggest and longest in Hanford's history--by Jan. 15.
Earlier this month, DOE unveiled a revised request for proposals to potential bidders--outlining what the new contract will probably look like. In one of the biggest changes, DOE delayed the deadline for full-speed waste glassification by 13 months, from December 2009 to January 2011.
That change has angered state officials because the 2009 deadline is part of the Tri-Party Agreement, the legal pact governing Hanford's cleanup.
State Attorney General Christine Gregoire charges that DOE moved the deadline without getting the state's approval--or even informing state officials.
Others also are wondering whether DOE's new request for proposals leaves room for any real competition.
For one thing, DOE is requiring bidders to use the initial designs left by BNFL and Bechtel before those two were removed from the project because of skyrocketing costs.
Observers say that requirement obviously gives a significant advantage to any bidding team that includes BNFL or Bechtel.
In any event, probably only two--with an outside chance of three -- corporate teams are even likely to submit bids.
Hanford observers are keeping an eye on a Boise-based corporate conglomerate -- Washington Group International--which owns or is linked to several firms that could team up to bid.
Those firms include two of the world's three companies that can claim extensive radioactive waste glassification experience, making the conglomerate a leading contender.
DOE's revised bid request also made moot some of the reasons for replacing Dick French as head of the glassification project.
French, former manager of DOE's Office of River Protection, which supervises Hanford's tank waste issues, opposed his superiors in Washington, D.C., over the required makeup of the bidding team.
He argued that with only three companies qualified to do the extensive four-year shakedown tests and two of them linked to Washington Group International, there was not sufficient competition for the contract.
French lost the argument--and his post.
Then DOE's final request for proposals partly adopted what French had fought for--separating the eventual operating contractor from the bids for building and designing the plant.
A huge problem, troubled past
What is at stake is whether DOE can solve Hanford's most troubling environmental problem: 177 massive underground tanks filled with 53 million gallons of highly radioactive wastes.
Sixty-seven are suspected of leaking at least 1 million gallons, and probably much more, of the liquid wastes into the ground. There, the contaminants are oozing into the aquifer and toward the Columbia River.
DOE's master plan is to convert the wastes into glass. But the problem is so huge and complex that the most ambitious scenario calls for treating just 10 percent of the most radioactive wastes by 2018.
"The bottom line for the Tri-Cities is that we want that (glassification) plant as soon as we can get it. This community can't afford to have DOE stumble again," said Harold Heacock, the Tri-City Industrial Development Council's representative to the Hanford Advisory Board.
"If Congress loses faith (and stops appropriating money to the project), we face the prospect of those wastes sitting in the tanks indefinitely, " he said.
The project has gone through a few incarnations. Each version predicted an eventual price tag of $1 billion a year.
To deal with the project's huge costs, DOE came up with the "privatization" concept in the late 1990s. The plan called for a team of companies to foot all the upfront costs to design and build glassification plants--being paid only when waste was processed.
That meant the construction team would spend several billion dollars up front, and then get repaid at a rate expected to be at least $1 billion a year starting in 2007.
Two teams led by Lockheed Martin and BNFL competed for this contract in 1997. DOE eliminated Lockheed's team because it proposed using technology without a proven track record.
So, from 1998 to early 2000, BNFL's team, including construction giant Bechtel, worked on designs and financing to build and operate the glassification plants. DOE planned to accept BNFL's preliminary designs and financial packages on April 24 and give final approval by mid-August.
But two weeks before the April submittal date, BNFL's cost estimate went to $13 billion, instead of the expected $6.9 billion. Next, BNFL's Hanford project manager Mike Lawrence resigned, contending his bosses had kept him out of the loop.
Then BNFL submitted its final cost estimate: $15.2 billion, more than double the initial price tag. In early May, DOE fired BNFL.
Originally, Bechtel was to continue the design work until DOE named BNFL's replacement in January. But potential bidders grumbled that Bechtel's interim role gave it an unfair advantage in the competition, so in late June, DOE removed Bechtel.
After promising it won't compete for the upcoming contract, CH2M Hill Hanford Group became the project's interim caretaker.
But any calm the change created was short-lived. On July 28, DOE put French on indefinite administrative leave and replaced him with Harry Boston, another top Hanford official.
DOE's new bid plan angers state
All this turmoil served as a backdrop for the final request for proposals that was unveiled Sept. 1.
The request calls for DOE to hire a team to design and build the plants by Jan. 15. An operations company is to be added by April 15. The start of construction will be delayed until 2002 because of BNFL's firing.
The first glass is to be produced by 2007. Then the operations company will start a four-year shakedown aimed at getting the plants to full speed by January 2011. Finally, a separate company will run the plants until 2018.
But the Tri-Party Agreement requires that construction begin by July 2001, although the state likely will accept the delay until 2002. The agreement also calls for the first glass to be produced by 2007 and for glassification to be at full speed by December 2009.
Gregoire complains that the new deadlines amount to DOE "unilaterally deciding" to change the Tri-Party Agreement's milestones without consulting the state or the Environmental Protection Agency, the other parties to the agreement.
Gregoire said her main concern is that regulators are being ignored. "That says to me (DOE) has an attitude problem. ... I find that disconcerting."
Gregoire described relations between the state and DOE as already strained. Tri-Party and other legal negotiations on various tank waste issues have gone slowly or stalled, she said.
Last week, Deputy Energy Secretary T.J. Glauthier met with Gregoire and Tom Fitzsimmons, the state Ecology Department's director in Olympia, to discuss tank waste issues.
On Wednesday, Glauthier said DOE will work harder to improve communications with the state. But he and Boston are defending the unilateral decision to delay the full-glassification deadline.
One reason is BNFL's termination slowed the design work and delayed the start of construction. Also, BNFL figured the plants will need a much longer shakedown period than originally planned.
Glauthier said if the plants are fully functional by 2011 and operate at 60 percent efficiency until 2018, DOE will meet its legal obligation of glassifying 10 percent of the most radioactive wastes by then. Those wastes are supposed to contain 25 percent of the tanks' radioactivity.
"Those are the key numbers and the key commitments," Glauthier argued.
New approach means big money
French and TRIDEC's Heacock, who is a retired Hanford project manager, both see the 2011 date for full-speed glassification as conservative, with plenty of cushion. But both also prefer tighter schedules, saying experience has taught them any contractor will use up any extra time it's given.
The deadlines could be further threatened if DOE and Congress fail to provide adequate money for glassification, and that could be a tough sell.
On one hand, abandoning the original "privatization" concept should save a lot of money. That's because the long-term financial risks BNFL was asked to assume translated to huge contingency budgets, high interest rates and massive debts to repay. Those factors pushed BNFL's estimate over $15 billion.
The basic construction and operating costs--with all the privatization factors removed--would come to $6 billion through 2018. A DOE-sponsored study predicts a $4 billion cost through 2011.
On the other hand, the new plan means Congress has to put up real money a lot sooner.
Under privatization, cash wasn't supposed to change hands until 2007. Now, construction is supposed begin in 2002, driving the budget from $759 million in 2001 to roughly $1 billion annually beginning in 2002.
"We're going to find that budget spike is monster," said Todd Martin, an environmental issues consultant and chairman of the Hanford Advisory Board's tank wastes committee.
Martin expects to see the rising construction costs lead to conflict between the Office of River Protection in Richland and DOE's headquarters.
To encourage prospective bidders to work faster and cheaper, DOE is replacing privatization with an incentive-based approach.
The glassification team will be reimbursed for its expenses. But its profits will be calculated according to how much work is done ahead of schedule and under budget. Slow or over-budget work could mean no profits.
But if the project is completed for $3 billion instead of $4 billion, for example, the team can earn a $200 million fee and the federal government will still save $800 million, DOE officials said.
Boston said: "This contractor will have every incentive on the face of the Earth to get this job done ASAP."
- REPORTER JOHN STANG CAN BE REACHED AT 582-1517 OR VIA E-MAIL AT JSTANG@TRI-CITYHERALD.COM.
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5 Ex-nuclear workers fear help won't come (9/24/2000)
Sunday, September 24, 2000, in The State.
Washington Bureau David Shepard is only 41, but when he looks into his future he doesn't see much.
A disease called pulmonary sarcoidosis has permanently damaged his lungs and heart. He can't work and relies on oxygen and a walker to perform even the smallest task. The Lugoff father of two has spent three years on a waiting list for a double lung/heart transplant.
Shepard believes he got the disease by going to work. From 1984 to 1992, he was a construction and sheetmetal worker at the Savannah River Site nuclear plant near Aiken.
Like thousands of other former workers at nuclear sites in 10 states across the country, Shepard spent his days at a factory that made nuclear bombs or parts for them. Many workers used radioactive and toxic substances while on the job designing, testing and building nuclear weapons.
"I don't see myself seeing my grandchildren," Shepard said. "That's reality. I have to deal with that."
For years, the federal government refused to acknowledge that its weapons workers were made sick by the careers they chose. Missing or faulty records and a thicket of red tape have prevented them from applying for workers' compensation benefits that would pay for their illnesses and medical care.
But earlier this year U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson announced a dramatic shift in federal policy regarding nuclear workers. He admitted that many were made ill by working in the nation's bomb factories, especially during World War II and the Cold War.
In April, Richardson unveiled a plan to compensate these "warriors, " who contracted various types of cancer and other diseases they believe is a direct result of their work at nuclear sites. Richardson put the burden of proof on the Department of Energy, saying victims would not have to prove their cancers and illnesses directly were related to work they did.
There was a catch, however. The proposal had no money behind it.
Now a feud has erupted on Capitol Hill over the details of a compensation package and how to pay for it.
Some say Congress must pass a plan and funding this year, while public outcry over the situation is loud. Others say the proposal needs more serious study. Some victims worry that it will be years--if ever--before they see a dime. And their time is running out.
A panel of sick workers paid their own way to Washington last week to testify before a U.S. House subcommittee studying the issue. One woman had only months to live; a man had had his larynx removed and spoke using an electronic amplifier pressed to his throat; another woman's husband already had died.
"We don't have any 'later,' " said Ann Orick, who has been given only a few months to live after a career of working at the government nuclear facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn. "If you keep postponing it much longer, you're going to have to put some type of entitlement in for funeral expenses because that's where we are headed."
'I was wondering'
Though Shepard did not work directly with radioactive materials - - that he's aware of--he often made repairs or worked on projects near "hot areas" at the Savannah River Site. There were times he worried about his health.
"I thought about it when I saw the places that were roped off," he said. "I was wondering how they could contain it and keep people from being exposed."
Though Shepard was diagnosed in 1987 with the lung disease, which causes scarring and has damaged his heart through lack of oxygen, he kept working at SRS until he could no longer do his job. Then bills piled up, he and his wife lost their house and the family declared bankruptcy.
Shepard has no proof that his illness is directly related to SRS. But Larry Elliott, branch chief at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, says sarcoidosis is similar to diseases found in workers at other nuclear sites.
"These are the expected diseases that would have occurred in this work force given the types of things they were doing over the years, " Elliott said.
Elliott's organization is doing several studies at DOE sites across the country, including SRS, where leukemia and lung cancer rates are being analyzed. Other studies being done on former and current SRS workers include an examination of hazardous waste workers, chemical laboratory workers and building trade workers like Shepard.
For Shepard, the thought that he could receive some government compensation for his ailments gives him hope.
"I've got two kids on the honor roll and looking forward to going to college," Shepard said. "I hope their dreams will come true."
'Time is of the essence'
Hundreds of miles away in Washington, however, politicians are fighting jurisdictional battles, disagreeing over what compensation plan is the right one.
The Senate has approved a proposal from U.S. Sens. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., and Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. It offers medical care, reimbursement of lost wages or a lump-sum payment of $200,000. Supporters say the program would cost under $1 billion over five years and would not need annual congressional approval.
The Thompson proposal was attached to the Senate's Defense Authorization bill but not to the House bill. House and Senate negotiators are trying to work out a compromise. But some House members say the Senate plan is too open-ended, needs more study or is flawed.
U.S. Rep. Lindsey Graham, a Seneca Republican whose district includes part of SRS, said he supports action on a plan this year but not exactly the Senate proposal. Graham has been working behind the scenes on a compromise but there's been little movement.
Graham said he wants to go forward with a preliminary program that will make some payments available now. But, under Graham's plan, the major cost would come later after more study.
At Thursday's subcommittee hearing, however, a long line of House members urged their colleagues to adopt the Senate proposal and move on.
U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said he thought the Senate proposal was the "best way to take the essential first step toward the vital goal of doing justice to these workers."
"I'm sure that this Senate-passed legislation could be further refined, " he said. "But we are rapidly nearing the end of this Congress and time is of the essence."
Energy Secretary Richardson agreed.
"We've got impetus for this legislation and we need to take advantage of it," he said Thursday. "It would be a cop-out for Congress to say this issue has not been studied."
Spence: It's 'complex'
Earlier in the week, Richardson wrote a letter urging cooperation from U.S. Rep. Floyd Spence, the Lexington Republican who chairs the House Armed Services Committee and whose district also includes portions of SRS. Spence is working on hammering out differences between the House and the Senate defense bills, which includes Thompson's proposal.
Spence has received the letter but has not responded, said his chief of staff Craig Metze. Spence has not taken a position on whether to back the Senate proposal or delay the program for another year, Metze said.
"It's a very complex issue and we're still assessing it. That's the most we could say at this time," Metze said, adding, Spence "is in favor of compensation, but working it out is the complex part."
Graham said it's essential that workers be treated fairly and quickly.
"Some of the people who we asked to do heroic and dangerous stuff and who got sick as a result of that sacrifice, for years the source of their illness was hidden," Graham said. "We need to right a wrong and this is wrong."
Shepard, however, is worried.
"If they don't do it now, it's going to be harder after this election, " he said. "There's going to be a different bunch of people there and they might forget about it."
Michelle R. Davis covers Washington issues from a South Carolina
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6 Commentary : Science cannot be stopped, but it must be used responsibly
postnet.com
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2000
Posted: Sunday, September 24, 2000 | 2:09 a.m. Commentary : Science cannot be stopped, but it must be used responsibly By Shimon Peres Copyright Shimon Peres
THE HUMAN GENOME
WE parted from the last century by marking a half-century since an atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. And we inaugurated this century with the premiere of the completed map of the human genome.
If we had the impression that we had touched the depths of the universe with the splitting of the atom, in the case of the genome we felt we had found the key of genesis.
The discovery of nuclear power occasioned great confusion. We had no idea whether we would control it. It cast a dark cloud on our future.
The genome is also a source of great confusion. Amazing secrets have been uncovered without the ethical preparation of the species. Will we clone human beings? Will we produce human beings on demand? Will we be able to live forever? And who will control these actions? Governments? Individuals? Societies? Doctors? Dictators?
GLANCING backward to the mid-20th century, the turn of events was dark. The power of Hitler impelled a group of scientists, headed by Albert Einstein, to bring to the attention of the American president the potential of a nuclear weapon. Later, the scientists were conscience- stricken. They feared they had put into the hands of the politicians an instrument of destruction that could obliterate mankind.
Reality proved to be somewhat less grim. The end of World War II, secured by nuclear blasts, precipitated the creation of the European Union, a revolutionary structure in which economics replaced politics. The Nazi abomination also accelerated the founding of the state of Israel, in which a people believed to be annihilated was reborn.
Unlike nuclear arms, the genome was not spawned in military laboratories. For the first time, research of this magnitude was born out of a lust for life rather than fear and war. This discovery also represents a victorious rejoinder to the racial code because it transpires that the difference between one man and another, regardless of origin or color, is minimal. Science has come out in defense of the Creator's declaration that all men are born equal in the image of God.
Naturally, many questions crop up. But the tendency to halt this scientific development until we work out how to better deal with it is nonsense. Just as it is impossible to stop a plane mid-sky, scientific research cannot be arrested. The key question is whether the genome should become a government monopoly, or whether non-governmental research should be permitted.
Perhaps we shall have to reach an accord on the genome not unlike that for nuclear research. The Non-Proliferation Treaty places governmental control over nuclear research, yet it can be conducted by private companies. As with nuclear research, so with genome research: It is necessary to draw a line between development and implementation.
Not one among us will aspire to a homogeneous world--comprising only intelligent people, athletes and blue-eyed inhabitants. The human experience is that greater richness and beauty can be found in diversity. Certainly, it beats the boredom of being all alike. The discovery of the genome map also proves that it is just as wise for the benefit of mankind to invest in basic research as in production. And it is more worthwhile to invest in laboratories than in military barracks.
It might even be wiser to invest in improving the quality of life rather than extending the life span. It pays to fight the agony of old age that can rob us of the taste for life.
And, clearly, rather than competing with the Creator, we should turn our attention to correcting the world that has already been created. Inequality produces poverty; poverty then produces more poverty, illness and bitterness in the hearts of hundreds of millions of human beings.
In this respect the picture that appears before our eyes is acute.
The world population grows at a pace of 250,000 people a day, while nature's reserves to feed them dwindles daily. We are losing 107, 000 cubic feet of forests a minute, and the land suitable for cultivation is shrinking at the rate of 50,000 acres a second. More than 2.5 billion acres of agricultural land have already turned to desert through erosion alone.
Given these facts, the importance of the genetic design of crops cannot be underestimated.
These amazing discoveries, however, cannot be put at the disposal of only part of humanity, subjecting the rest to poverty, sickness and wars. Along with becoming more knowledgeable and richer, we must become more responsible or jeopardize what may be the greatest potential yet in the hands of man.
Shimon Peres, Tel Aviv, is a former Israeli prime minister and a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Peres was also responsible for the development of Israel's nuclear program.