------- Index of Articles

NUCLEAR
Cold war is over, but the nuclear age isn't
Admiral going to Japan to apologize for sub tragedy
Navy to Probe Fourth Officer in Sub Crash
Blair Reassures Bush on Europe Defense Force
Leaders wrap up their get-acquainted session
Russia to tighten export control over n-tech
Bush, Blair agree on missile defense
Blair, Bush in accord on defense
Uranium Studies in Humans (1946)
MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS ON HUMANS (1947)
Why Nuclear Power is Not the Solution to Global Warming
U.S. Seeks Solution for Byproduct of Uranium

MILITARY
Chicago's New Federal Drug War Netting Small Fish,
U.S. MILITARY MOVES TO "CONTROL SPACE"

OTHER
Spy Suspect Seemed Fervent Catholic

ACTIVISTS
Mother's Day 2001
SPRING BREAK ACTION CAMP
Demonstrate Against Bush and Pastrana Feb 27

-
-------- NUCLEAR

Cold war is over, but the nuclear age isn't
A former director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory discusses the effort to help Russia upgrade its security.

February 24, 2001
St. Petersburg Times
By DAVID BALLINGRUD
http://www.sptimes.com/News/022401/TampaBay/Cold_war_is_over__but.shtml

TAMPA -- During the good old days of the Cold War, the Soviet Union could be counted on to run a tight ship.

No nuclear weapons were likely to go missing inside the secret city Arzamas-16, or any other nuclear facility behind the Iron Curtain. A suffocating Soviet security system saw to that.

"They depended on guns, guards and the Gulag," said Dr. Siegfried Hecker, director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1986 to 1997. "It was a rigid system, but one with a terrific security record."

Arzamas-16 was the Soviet Union's code name for a nuclear weapon research center in the city of Sarov, near Moscow. It was modeled after the Los Alamos Lab in the United States A fence and armed guards ringed the city which, despite being home to 80,000 people, appeared on no maps, said Hecker. Inside, Soviet scientists were pampered and carefully watched.

"Our society is transparent; theirs was opaque," said Hecker.

But the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and Hecker, now a senior fellow at Los Alamos, came to the University of South Florida on Friday to warn that the fresh air of freedom left the Russian nuclear arsenal vulnerable. Greed and corruption rushed into a leadership vacuum left by the failure of the Communist Party, he said.

"In a struggling country, where everything is for sale, how do you keep your secrets?" he asked. "How do you keep your weapons and weapons materials secure?"

Part of the answer, he said, is that newly friendly nations, such as the United States, must understand their own self-interest and offer help.

Hecker said he has been part of a nine-year, continuing U.S. effort to assist the Russians in upgrading their weapons security systems.

"We need to play a role in this," he said. "If Russia and the U.S. can pull in the same direction, we can isolate the potential troublemakers in the world."

The greatest danger comes not from bombs but from lost nuclear material, he said.

"Bombs have serial numbers," he said, and are typically subjected to strict inventory requirements. But the nuclear materials that might be used in a bomb -- plutonium and enriched Uranium, for example -- "are kept in hundreds of places and are used for many purposes."

At the height of the Cold War, the Soviet weapons production line was busy.

More than 100,000 nuclear weapons were built and tens of thousands remain in the Russian arsenal. A staggering 125 to 200 metric tons of plutonium, and 1,200 metric tons of enriched Uranium, were produced, he said. And only now are the Russians developing sophisticated ways to maintain accurate inventories.

Hecker has some personal knowledge of the difficulty of maintaining security in a weapons lab.

In 1999, former Energy Secretary Bill Richardson recommended that he and two others at Los Alamos be disciplined in the Wen Ho Lee spy case.

Lee was arrested on 59 counts of illegally copying design secrets on behalf of China. He was held for nine months in solitary confinement. The government never came up with much evidence to support the charges, however, and Lee eventually pleaded guilty to just one felony count: downloading nuclear weapons design secrets to a non-secure computer, his own. The other charges were dropped, and Lee has continued to deny spying.

Hecker said Friday he was not disciplined in the Lee matter, despite Richardson's recommendation. Nevertheless, he said, the Lee case troubled him greatly.

By downloading secret material to a non-secure computer, he said, Lee "created an extraordinary vulnerability.

"Why it was done, I can't say. But I can tell you that it was deliberate, systemic and egregious. He betrayed the trust of those of us in the lab, and he betrayed the trust of his country."

The damage caused by the Lee episode "is still being evaluated," Hecker said.

------

Admiral going to Japan to apologize for sub tragedy

02/24/2001
USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/2001-02-24-sub.htm

WASHINGTON (AP) - In a bid to assuage Japanese anger, the Bush administration is sending a senior Navy admiral to Tokyo next week with a presidential letter and an apology for the sinking of a Japanese trawler that left nine people lost at sea. Adm. William J. Fallon, the vice chief of naval operations, was named "special envoy to Japan" and will arrive in Tokyo with a letter from President Bush to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori.

Mori has called it "extremely deplorable" that civilians were at two control stations aboard the USS Greeneville when the submarine hit the fishing boat.

Fallon will "explain the progress of the ongoing investigation," the Navy said in a statement Friday, and will discuss prospects for salvaging the Japanese vessel, which was accidentally rammed Feb. 9 and sank in 2,000 feet of water off Honolulu. The boat was on a trip to teach Japanese high school students commercial fishing, and four of the missing are students.

U.S. officials say reports of serious crew errors aboard the Greeneville right before the collision raised the possibility that the Navy's formal investigation could spread beyond three officers already named as subjects of the probe to include a sailor whose job was to plot positions of nearby vessels and possibly other people.

The Washington Times and The Washington Post reported Friday that the enlisted man, known as the sub's "fire control technician," did not inform the skipper that sonar readings indicated a surface vessel was closing to within 2,000 yards.

The Times, quoting an unidentified Navy source, said if the ship's estimated range had been conveyed to the sub's captain, Cmdr. Scott Waddle, he would have conducted his periscope search of the surface differently. Shortly after Waddle did a periscope sweep and reportedly saw nothing problematic, the Greeneville went ahead with an emergency surfacing drill and rammed the Ehime Maru.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, acting in response to the accident, ordered an indefinite moratorium Friday on permitting civilian visitors to operate any item of military equipment, including ships, aircraft and vehicles, "when such operation could cause, or reasonably be perceived as causing, an increased safety risk."

Exempted are contractors and other civilian workers who must operate military equipment as a part of their official duties.

Two civilians were at control stations on the Greeneville at the time of the accident, although it has not been established that they caused it. Under the new Rumsfeld policy, civilians would be allowed aboard a submarine but could not be seated at positions such as the helm or the ballast controls.

"This moratorium is not designed to restrict civilian visitors from observing their military; it is designed to ensure their visits are conducted as safely as possible," Rumsfeld wrote, not mentioning the sub accident specifically.

Navy and Defense Department officials would not comment Friday on the newspaper reports about crew errors. The Times said its report was based on a confidential investigation report prepared by an admiral, portions of which were provided to the newspaper. The Post said its account was based on a three-page statement that Waddle gave to Navy investigators who came aboard the Greeneville the day of the accident.

Waddle; Lt. Cmdr. Gerald K. Pfeifer, the submarine's executive officer; and Lt. Michael J. Coen, the officer of the deck at the time of the accident, are subjects of a formal Navy investigation, known as a court of inquiry. It is to begin March 5 at the Navy's Pearl Harbor base in Hawaii. Waddle has been relieved of command.

The Times reported Saturday that Capt. Bob Brandhuber, who was on board the sub as host to the civilians, also will be scrutinized by the court at the request of his boss, the commander of the Pacific submarine force, Rear Adm. Albert Konetzni Jr.

Charles Gittins, a Washington-based civilian attorney who will represent Waddle at the court of inquiry, would not discuss the case Friday.

Officials speaking on condition of anonymity said Adm. Thomas Fargo, who ordered the court of inquiry based on the results of a preliminary investigation, could add other members of the crew as subjects, including the fire control technician.

The Post reported the sailor "arbitrarily moved" the plotted position of the Japanese ship to 9,000 yards from the submarine, even though he had calculated that the two ships were only 2,000 yards apart. He did not alert Waddle, the newspaper said.

The sailor told investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board that he stopped plotting sonar contacts before the accident because he was distracted by civilians in the control room.

It remains to be determined whether the presence of 16 civilians aboard the Greeneville contributed to mistakes that led to the accident.

-------

Navy to Probe Fourth Officer in Sub Crash

Saturday February 24
Yahoo News
By Dan Whitcomb
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010224/ts/submarine_leadall_dc_11.html
http://rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/*http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news?p=%22USS%20Greeneville%22&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=news
http://rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/*http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=USS%20Greeneville

HONOLULU (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy's official inquiry into the fatal collision of the USS Greeneville (news - web sites) and a Japanese fishing trawler will closely scrutinize the actions of a fourth officer on board the submarine, who held senior rank over the vessel's captain, Navy sources said on Saturday.

Capt. Bob Brandhuber, chief of staff for the Pacific Submarine Forces, was the host of civilian guests on board the sub when the accident occurred. He has not been named alongside three Greeneville officers as a subject of a court of inquiry, but will almost certainly be called as a witness, the sources told Reuters.

The court of inquiry was convened for March 5 to determine whether disciplinary action should be taken against any or all of the officers named as subjects, and could ultimately lead to a court martial. Under Navy rules, the presiding officers at a court of inquiry can name additional subjects or ``parties'' at any time during the proceedings.

Brandhuber ``will be scrutinized by the court because he was the senior officer on board and as the senior officer on board he has some responsibility,'' even though he was not in command on the sub, a Navy source said, especially if he directed the submarine's crew to allow civilians take the controls.

Brandhuber may face some tough questions because, according to reports in various newspapers, the Navy's preliminary report on the accident cites the presence of civilians as a factor in the Greeneville crew's failure to follow proper procedures once passive sonar detected the Ehime Maru.

Brandhuber ranks above the Greeneville's captain, Cmdr. Scott Waddle, and the other two officers named in the inquiry, Lt. Cmdr. Gerald Pfeifer and Lt. Michael Coen.

The Greeneville was practicing a fast-surfacing maneuver nine miles off Diamond Head on Oahu on Feb. 9 when it rammed the trawler, sinking it and sending nine people to their deaths. Another 26 people on the fisheries teaching vessel, carrying students from a Japanese high school on a fisheries training project, were rescued.

The tragedy has strained U.S.-Japan ties. The Washington Times reported in a story for Saturday's editions that Rear Adm. Albert Konetzni, Jr., commander of the Pacific submarine force, asked that Brandhuber -- his chief of staff -- be scrutinized by the court.

The paper said Adm. Konetzni asked the court to determine whether Brandhuber should have intervened to correct crew errors. ''While I do not believe Capt. Brandhuber should be named as a party, I must also recommend that the board address whether Capt. Brandhuber ... should have intervened to prevent the causal chain of this event,'' Adm. Konetzni wrote in a letter to the Pacific Fleet Commander, Adm. Thomas Fargo.

The paper said it was read excerpts of the letter by a Navy source.

Meanwhile, U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (news - web sites) (NTSB (news - web sites)) investigators, conducting a separate probe into the accident, left Hawaii on Saturday, having reached no conclusions.

The NTSB investigators left without speaking to Cmdr. Waddle, who told them he would not discuss the matter with them until after the Navy court of inquiry.

Other officers have given limited accounts of the incident, said NTSB spokesman John Hammerschmidt.

The Pentagon (news - web sites) announced on Friday that the Vice Chief of Naval Operations will go to Tokyo next week as a special envoy to discuss the accident with Japanese officials and deliver a letter of apology from the U.S. government, the Navy and the American people.

Adm. William J. Fallon also will deliver a formal letter of apology from President George W. Bush (news - web sites) for the disaster, the Navy said in a statement. Fallon will brief Japanese officials on the progress of investigations into the crash, including the court of inquiry.

-------- britain

Blair Reassures Bush on Europe Defense Force

Saturday, February 24, 2001
Washington Post
By Dana Milbank and Steven Mufson
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A48748-2001Feb23?language=printer

President Bush yesterday endorsed the idea of a European defense force after winning assurances from British Prime Minister Tony Blair that the separate force would not undermine NATO.

Though some policymakers have seen the move to establish a European military force capable of acting independently as a threat to exclude the United States from European security issues, the two leaders issued a communique from Camp David stating that as long as "NATO will remain the essential foundation of trans-Atlantic security," the United States "welcomes the European Union's European Security and Defense Policy."

"He assured me that NATO is going to be the primary way to keep the peace in Europe," said Bush, who wore a V-neck sweater and a bomber jacket with "Camp David" and "George W. Bush, President" emblems.

The British leader, also casually attired in a blue sweater, said he was "gratified" by Bush's position and vowed that the European force would be used only in "circumstances where NATO as a whole chooses not to be engaged."

The two leaders, in their first meeting, sought to establish some of the easy rapport that marked President Clinton's relationship with Blair, who shared many of Clinton's political views and instincts. Standing before a stone fireplace in a building located near the presidential retreat in Thurmont, Md., Bush declared Blair "a pretty charming guy" and Blair declared himself "really enthusiastic" about their sessions.

More importantly, Bush and Blair sought common ground on a broad range of troublesome issues where the two allies badly need each other's support, including missile defense and the containment of Iraq. The first threatens to divide the United States and Britain, and the second could leave the two isolated against countries weary of the 10-year campaign to isolate the regime of Saddam Hussein and of the regular bombing raids by U.S. and British fighter jets enforcing no-fly zones over Iraq.

The two leaders reached no agreement on the thorny issue of a missile defense system. Bush said he saw a "breakthrough" in a recent Russian proposal that acknowledged the possible usefulness of a missile defense system in Europe, calling it "a recognition that the Cold War has passed."

Separately, a State Department official said the nine-page Russian paper on missile defense presented to NATO Secretary General George Robertson in Moscow on Tuesday went "a little bit, but not a lot" further than statements Russian President Vladimir Putin made last June and was "rather vague" in its prescriptions.

Blair was noncommittal on the need for missile defense, saying only that "we welcome the dialogue." Adding that he shared Bush's concern about weapons of mass destruction and nuclear proliferation, Blair said, "It's very important in that context that we discuss all the ways that we can deal with this threat."

Bush didn't push Blair publicly on the subject, noting, "I've yet to propose to the prime minister what will work." Their communique, while mentioning the problem of weapons proliferation, avoided the subject of a missile defense system, of which Europeans are wary.

The president, who on Thursday spoke vigorously about concerns that China had been helping to build Iraqi air defenses, today said he had received a conciliatory response from the Chinese, which he characterized as: "If this is the case, we'll remedy the situation." Bush added that he was inclined to "begin with trust" in relations with China. The president referred the matter to his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, who said through a spokeswoman there was nothing to add.

Though Bush described it as news, a State Department official said that China's comments had come only in the context of a meeting earlier today between U.S. Ambassador to China Joseph W. Prueher and Wang Guangya, China's vice foreign minister. Prueher met with Wang to deliver a formal protest that China is providing fiber-optic cables to Iraq in violation of United Nations sanctions. Though the United States first raised the concern in early January, Wang provided no further response.

Diplomatic sources have said that British and American officials have been discussing ways to rewrite the sanctions policy on Iraq, but the two leaders gave no hints of how the sanctions might be modified. The president signaled his willingness to remove ineffectual sanctions against Iraq, which he again called "Swiss cheese." But he warned that such a gesture "should not embolden" Saddam Hussein. "A change in the sanction regime that is not working should not be any kind of signal whatsoever to him that he should cross any line," Bush said, adding his desire for "keeping this guy in check."

Earlier in the day, Blair and his wife, arriving by helicopter, were greeted by the president and first lady, who escorted their guests in a golf cart. The two leaders went on a walk of a couple of miles, from Laurel Lodge, where they lunched with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and Rice, to Holly Lodge, where Franklin Roosevelt once met Winston Churchill.

The men, who will dine privately with their wives tonight, took pains to show cordiality in their new relationship. Bush even volunteered that "we both use Colgate toothpaste," to which Blair noted, dryly, "They're going to wonder how you know that, George." Bush mentioned that the British leader had exercised in the morning, and Bush planned to do so after the news conference. There were multiple references to the "special relationship," a phrase commonly used to describe the affairs of the two countries.

When a reporter suggested that the two men were "poles apart," Bush defended Blair. "Quit slandering the man," the president said jokingly. "I can assure you that when either of us get in a bind there'll be a friend at the other end of the phone."

The meeting had high stakes particularly for Blair, who was eager to demonstrate to the British public that he could maintain a solid relationship with the United States after the departure of Clinton, whom Blair described again today as a friend.

Blair, who met earlier in the day in Washington with Vice President Cheney, also received an offer from Bush of assistance in negotiations over Northern Ireland, although Bush said he would "wait to be asked."

In a brief statement this morning before heading to Camp David, Bush, at a "budget review board" with Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill and other top economic advisers, said the budget for the National Institutes of Health, $20.4 billion this year, would be increased by $2.8 billion next year. Bush called it "the largest increase in that department's history," but it is in line with the current year's increase of $2.5 billion and Clinton's 1998 goal, stated with Congress, to double NIH funding over five years.

Also today, Bush placed a call to Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit to express support for Turkey's decision to float its currency amid an economic crisis.

-------- iraq

Leaders wrap up their get-acquainted session

02/24/2001
USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/2001-02-24-blair.htm

THURMONT, Md. (AP) - President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose get-acquainted session at the Camp David presidential retreat ended Saturday, explored their common desire to fix "Swiss-cheese" gaps in Iraqi sanctions while containing Saddam Hussein's aggression.

The two leaders stayed at the camp overnight with their wives. Blair and his wife, Cherie, left by helicopter Saturday morning for Andrews Air Force Base near Washington and the flight home to London. Bush and first lady Laura Bush were remaining through Sunday.

In their daylong meeting Friday, Bush and Blair made a general pledge to maintain the special tie between the United States and Britain despite polar differences in their political stations. Bush departed from his predecessor and Blair friend, Bill Clinton, saying he would take a hands-off approach to peace efforts in Northern Ireland.

"I'm going to wait to be asked by the prime minister," Bush said at a news conference. "And I will be standing by, anxious to help if I'm needed."

"It's difficult to foresee the exact circumstances in which I might pick up the phone and ask the president to help," Blair said. "But the fact that I know he is there and willing to do that is very important."

Friday's meeting was the first between Bush and Blair, and the president's first with a European leader since taking office five weeks ago.

As he did in his previous meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Mexican President Vicente Fox, Bush dispensed with formalities and set a casual tone, even down to the attire: a leather bomber jacket for Bush, a sweater and open-collared oxford shirt for Blair. They lunched at a lodge on Camp David, walking across snow-covered grounds to a cabin where Franklin D. Roosevelt once played host to Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Bush and Blair agreed to support establishing a European defense force, as long as it enhances NATO's capacities in peacekeeping and other missions. They also presented a unified front on Iraq, even while admitting that sanctions currently in place have taken a harsh toll on the Iraqi people and should be reviewed.

"Our sanctions are like Swiss cheese; that means they are not very effective," Bush said. "We're going to work together to figure out a way to make them more effective. ... A change in sanctions should not in any way, shape or form embolden Saddam Hussein. If we catch him developing weapons of mass destruction, we will take the appropriate action."

Blair said he shared Bush's concern about missiles being launched against allies by rogue states, but he stopped short of endorsing the president's push for a missile defense system.

He noted that Bush has not put a specific proposal on the table, allowing that "it's important that we look at every single way we possibly can of dealing with this threat."

On China, Bush said he accepted a promise from Beijing to "remedy" the situation if it had - as the United States suspects - helped Iraq build better defense systems.

"I think you always got to begin with trust until proven otherwise," Bush said. Condoleezza Rice, his national security adviser, declined to elaborate on the president's statement afterward.

At the State Department, an official said China's response came during a meeting Friday between Ambassador Joseph Prueher and senior Chinese officials. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Prueher expressed concern about Chinese activities in Iraq that might violate U.N. sanctions. The Chinese responded as Bush indicated in his comments at Camp David, the official said.

-------- missile defense

Russia to tighten export control over n-tech

Saturday, February 24, 2001
The Hindu
By Vladimir Radyuhin
http://www.indiaserver.com/thehindu/2001/02/24/stories/0124000e.htm

MOSCOW, FEB. 23. Russia is going to tighten export control over missile and nuclear technologies, but this will not affect its cooperation with India.

The National Security Council on Thursday called for additional measures to prevent illegal export of sensitive technologies, such as more severe punishment of offenders and mandatory Government screening of export contracts.

The meeting was closed to media, but in televised opening remarks the Russian President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, for the first time admitted that some Russian agencies may have violated export restrictions. He said he had ``questions'' to some agencies over defence technology exports, above all to the Atomic Ministry, as well as to Rosaviaprom, which oversees aviation and space industry, and some student training and research institutes.

However, a senior National Security Council official said the proposed tightening of export control will not affect Russian nuclear supplies to India despite objections from the United States.

``We did our best to reassure our Indian colleagues that we saw no reason for halting nuclear fuel supplies: it is an absolutely clean contract as regards our international obligations,'' Mr. Nikolai Uspensky, head of the international security department of the National Security Council, said in an interview. He was referring to this week's Indo-Russian Security Council consultations in Moscow.

The meeting was called a few days after the U.S. Defence Secretary, Mr. Donald Rumsfeld, labelled Russia as an ``active proliferator'' of missile and nuclear technologies to such countries as Iran, Iraq and India. However, Russia has brushed off the charges as groundless. ``We thoroughly verify all American complaints but none of them has so far been substantiated,'' said Mr. Oleg Chernov, deputy chief of the Russian Security Council.

Mr. Putin acknowledged that proliferation of mass annihilation weapons and delivery means was ``one of the main international threats'' today as a number of countries were ``trying to get access to technologies of building their own nuclear weapons and missiles''.

At the same time the Russian leader stressed that export controls ``must become an instrument for protecting Russia's economic interests''.

Russia claims to have one of the world's most secure export control systems and by further tightening controls Moscow wants to cut the ground from under Western accusations that it is a source of illegal nuclear and missile technology exports.

``Russia is willing to conduct a concrete dialogue with NATO and the Council of Europe about non-proliferation of mass destruction weapons,'' Mr. Putin, said.

---

Bush, Blair agree on missile defense

Saturday, February 24, 2001
Philadelphia Daily News
Reuters
by Steve Holland,
http://dailynews.philly.com/content/daily_news/2001/02/24/national/BUSH24.htm

CAMP DAVID, Md. - President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair succumbed to each other's "charm offensive" yesterday, agreeing on the need for missile defense, the rationale behind a European rapid-reaction force and a tough line against Iraq.

The two leaders, who met for the first time in the rustic serenity of the presidential mountain retreat, recommitted to the longstanding "special relationship" between the United States and Britain.

"He put the charm offensive on me and it worked," Bush told a joint news conference. "When either of us gets in a bind there'll be a friend on the other end of the phone."

Bush called Britain "our strongest friend and closest ally" and Blair responded in kind, describing the meeting as "absolutely excellent and very productive."

"Our countries have stood together in very hard times. . .the reason we came through those times stronger is that we share the same values, we share the same interests and we share the same perception of the world," he said.

Bush and Blair were joined by Secretary of State Colin Powell and Bush's national security adviser Condoleezza Rice for a working lunch at which they discussed possible refinements to the policy on Iraqi sanctions.

"Our beef is not with the people of Iraq, but with Saddam Hussein," Bush said. "A change in a sanctions regime that is not working should not be any kind of signal whatsoever to him that he should cross any kind of line," Bush said.

Bush and Blair, who authorized joint air strikes against Iraqi military installations a week ago, agreed to take "appropriate action" if Saddam were found to be building weapons of mass destruction.

Blair even had warm words for Bush's idea of building a controversial U.S. missile defense system, saying: "I understand and share the concern about weapons of mass destruction and nuclear proliferation. . ."

Blair assured Bush that European plans for a Rapid Reaction Force would not weaken NATO and that the force would be used only when the Atlantic alliance chose not to be engaged.

"I support his point of view," Bush told reporters. "He assured me that NATO was going to be the primary way to keep the peace in Europe and I assured him the United States would remain actively engaged in NATO," he added.

---

Blair, Bush in accord on defense

February 24, 2001
Chicago Sun-Times
BY BENEDICT BROGAN AND TOBY HARNDEN
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/camp24.html

CAMP DAVID, Md.--Prime Minister Tony Blair assured President Bush on Friday that Britain would be willing to help the United States develop a national missile defense system despite European fears.

Blair, holding his first meeting with the new president, told him he accepted the need to develop "defensive systems" to protect the West against nuclear threat from states such as North Korea, Iran and Iraq.

There was speculation Friday that the two sides would use a joint communique, which they have agreed to issue at the end of Blair's visit, to signal a deal on the two most contentious issues between them.

Sources suggested that in exchange for Britain's conditional backing for missile defense, the United States would accept Blair's assurances that the European Rapid Reaction Force would not be allowed to undermine NATO.

Blair risked alienating his European allies by indicating that Britain would allow America to improve its radar stations in Fylingdales, England, as part of the missile defense system.

"It is entirely right and sensible that we discuss with our American allies how we contain this threat both with offensive and defensive systems," Blair told CNN.

A British defense official who held talks in the White House hours before Blair's arrival said: "It would be unthinkable for us not to allow the Americans to upgrade Fylingdales."

Bush expressed confidence that he could persuade American allies to support the missile defense.

"I don't think I'm going to fail to persuade people," the president said.

The two leaders also discussed the EU's plans for a Rapid Reaction Force, with Blair eager to ease American fears that they were politically driven and could divert resources from NATO.

"He has an uphill task," said the defense official before the talks. "The Americans are quite right to be worried about it because it is far from clear how it will work in practice."

Richard Perle, a former aide to President Ronald Reagan and an adviser to Bush during the election, said the new administration agreed with Britain's view about how the European Strategic Defense Initiative should develop.

"But there's still no clear explanation for the inconsistencies between the British and French views. We need the real ESDI to stand up.

"If it's speaking English, there's no problem. If it's speaking French, then there's a real problem."

Bush's commitment to a "son of Star Wars" missile shield has been condemned by some members of NATO, led by France, as well as Russia and China, who say it would be destabilizing and violate Cold War missile treaties.

The two leaders spent the day in meetings at Camp David, the presidential retreat in the snow-covered Maryland mountains.

Blair flew into Washington late Thursday night. Accompanied by his wife, Cherie, he divided his time between meetings with Bush and his top officials and private exchanges with the president in the Holly cabin once used by Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt.

Daily Telegraph, with Associated Press contributing

-------- u.s. nuc weapons

Uranium Studies in Humans (1946)

24 October 1946
ARMY SERVICE FORCES
UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE
ROCHESTER AREA P.O. BOX 288, STATION 43. ROCHESTER 7, N. Y.
714356

Subject: Uranium Studies in Humans. To: The Area Engineer, Madison Square Area, New York, N. Y. (Attention: Mr. Joseph H. Hayner)

1. Attached is copy of letter received from Dr. Andrew H. Dowdy, Director of the Manhattan Department, University of Rochester, regarding request of Dr. Samuel H. Basset to give a departmental seminar on the excretion rate of uranium in humans.

2. As Dr. Dowdy states, all of the work on uranium experiments performed at the University of Rochester have been declassified. However, none of the work performed on humans has been declassified. Dr. Dowdy states that the patients were Dr. Bassett's, but it should be borne in mind that all the work performed by Dr. Bassett was performed at the request of the Manhattan District Medical Section. This seminar is to be conducted for persons who are all Doctors of Medicine and it is doubtful if this information would get out to any of the families of the patients or the patients on whom the experiments were performed. Other substances besides uranium which Dr. Bassett used are still on the classified list and this information will not be divulged at the seminar.

3. At the time these experiments were started, this office was given strict orders that the information should not be released to any but authorized persons. Almost all the correspondence and result of experiments were exchanged between Dr. Wright Langham at Santa Fe and Dr. Bassett of the University of Rochester. This rule is still in effect on some of the material that Dr. Bassett is using and knowledge of the experiments is kept from personnel at the Rochester Area.

4. With the above in mind, it is requested that the decision be advanced as soon as possible as Dr. Bassett would like to give this seminar within a month.

For the Area Engineer:
R. S. PEARSON Administrative Assistant.

---

MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS ON HUMANS (1947)

April, 17, 1947
UNITED STATES ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION
P. O. Box E Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Attention: Dr. Fidler

1. It is desired that no document be released which refers to experiments with humans and might have adverse effect on public opinion or result in legal suits. Documents covering such work field should be classified "secret". Further work in this field in the future has been prohibited by the General Manager. It is understood that three documents in this field have been submitted for declassification and are now classified "restricted". It is desired that these documents be reclassified "secret" and that a check be made to insure that no distribution has inadvertantly been made to the Department of Commerce, or other off-Project personnel or agencies.

2. These instructions do not pertain to documents regarding clinical or therapeutic uses of radioisotopes and similar materials beneficial to human disorders and diseases.

ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION

C. G. HAYWOOD, JR. Colonel, Corps of Engineers.

CLASSIFICATION CANCELLED AUTHORITY: DOE/SA-20 BY H. R. SCHMIDT, DATE: 2/22/1994

-------- u.s. nuc facilities

Why Nuclear Power is Not the Solution to Global Warming

geocities.com
http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/globalwarming2.html

The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER), Worldwatch Institute, and Sen. George Mitchell in his book, World on Fire have all spoken to the potential scale and cost of Carbon Dioxide offset through the use of nuclear.

"Slowing Global Warming: A Worldwide Strategy" by Christopher Flavin, World Watch Paper # 91 published by the Worldwatch Institute, October 1989

". ...for nuclear power to offset even 5 percent of global carbon emissions would require that worldwide nuclear capacity be nearly doubled from today's level. That means that nuclear is simply not a medium term option for slowing global warming."

World on Fire by Senator George Mitchell 1991

"...If nuclear plants replaced all coal-fired plants in the world, global warming could be cut by 20 to 30 percent by the middle of the next century (2050). But it would require bringing a nuclear power plant on line somewhere in the world every one to three days for the next forty years. The cost would be $9 trillion; the pace of construction would be ten times larger (greater?) than any the world has ever seen. Both figures are unthinkable. A totally safe reactor, a totally safe place to dispose of its deadly wastes, and a totally safe way to keep the wrong kind of nuclear materials from falling into the wrong hands none of these things have been resolved. By the time they are resolved, if they ever can be, it will be too late. The projected global warming will be full upon us."

Greenhouse Warming: Comparative Analysis of Nuclear and Efficiency Abatement Strategies by Bill Keepin and Gregory Katz, Energy Policy, December 1988

The authors posit a conservative scenario in which one-half of non-fossil energy is supplied by nuclear power with a construction program beginning in 1988.

"...This results in a total nuclear installed capacity of 8,180 GW by the year 2025, equivalent to some 8000 large nuclear power plants. This represents a 20-fold increase in world nuclear capacity, requiring that nuclear plants be built at an average rate of one new 1000 MW plant every 1.61 days for the next 37 years. At an assumed cost of $1.0 billion/1000MW installed, this results in a total capitol cost of 8.39 trillion (1987) dollars, an average of $227 billion each year for 37 years to build the required nuclear plants. Total electricity generation cost is $31.48 trillion, or an average of $787 billion/year. The required capitol investment is economically infeasible for the developing world..."

The authors point out that even with a massive nuclear construction program, the use of fossil fuels will continue to grow.

" Thus, in this scenario, even bringing a new nuclear plant on line every day and a half for nearly four decades does not prevent annual CO2 emissions from steadily increasing to a value 60% greater than they are today."

-------- us nuc waste

U.S. Seeks Solution for Byproduct of Uranium

New York Times,
24 February 1998,
From: magnu96196@aol.com

The federal government currently has 28,000 cylinders of toxic uranium byproduct that has been accumulating since the days of the Manhattan Project. The total amount now stands at 1.2 billion pounds of uranium hexafluoride; the government says it will convert the byproduct into a safer, more stable form when "`economically feasible.'" Critics say that means never because the process will not be feasible until the government has a buyer for the material, and there are no buyers in sight.

John A. Volpe, of the Kentucky Health Department, asked "Is there somebody we can sucker into this?"

The cylinders weigh 14 tons each and are rusting. Because of their weight, they sink into the dirt, which makes them rust even faster. When a cylinder rusts through, toxic smoke leaks out.Carl Frode, Jr., of the EPA said, "`You can't leave the uranium cylinders sitting out there and say "Bye, we're done.'"

(You can review Fluoride, Teeth, and the Atomic Bomb, by Joel Griffith and Chris Bryson, which went on to be nominated as the year's 18th most censored story in the 1998 Project Censored Series at http://www.fluoridealert.org/wastenot414.htm )


-------- MILITARY

-------- burma/myanmar

Chicago's New Federal Drug War Netting Small Fish,

Saturday February 24,
Yahoo news
Chicago Tribune
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010224/cgsa005.html

CHICAGO, Feb. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- A Chicago Tribune analysis of federal drug cases shows that although federal narcotics prosecutions in Chicago are on the rise in the last three years, increasingly the targets of this new drug war are small-time dealers rather than the kingpins who were once a hallmark of Chicago's federal war on drugs. This increase in prosecutions follows Mayor Richard Daley's call to the United States Justice Department to step up narcotics prosecutions in Chicago.

Bringing major drug organizations to court once was the hallmark of federal drug prosecutions in Chicago, but of the 171 federal narcotics cases filed in 2000 at least 70 involved small quantities of drugs totaling less than two kilograms and had no noteworthy link to major drug organizations. The story by reporter Cam Simpson is published in the Sunday, February 25, Chicago Tribune.

Government officials, including the region's chief federal judge and the local head of the FBI question whether resources are being siphoned away from fraud, public corruption and organized crime cases in exchange for more prosecutions of small drug cases. U.S. Attorney Scott Lassar disagrees that other areas of prosecution are suffering and said in an interview that the small cases were helping authorities move up the chain-of-command inside major narcotics groups.

However, after examining cases identified in the Tribune analysis, a Lassar spokesman acknowledged that the smaller prosecutions rarely, if ever, led to drug bosses.

The story is published in the Sunday, February 25, Chicago Tribune, which is available in Chicago beginning Saturday morning. The story is also available on chicagotribune.com.

-------- space

U.S. MILITARY MOVES TO "CONTROL SPACE" AND BE "ENFORCEMENT ARM FOR THE GLOBAL ECONOMY"

February 24, 2001
New York City
by Karl Grossman

Presentation at Technology and Globalization Teach-In

The United States is seeking to "control space" and from space "dominate" the Earth below and "control" and "dominate" are words used repeatedly in U.S. military documents. The U.S. military, further, would like to base weapons in space. The new Bush administration is gung-ho for U.S. projection of space military power. As last month's report of the "Space Commission" chaired by incoming Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld puts it: "In the coming period, the U.S. will conduct operations to, from, in and through space in support of its national interests both on the Earth and in space."

Star Wars is back.

But there's a difference since Star Wars first emerged under Ronald Reagan in 1983. Then it was purportedly needed to fend off what Reagan called the "evil empire," the Soviet Union. There is no Soviet Union any longer. And a key rationale for Star Wars now, U.S. military documents acknowledge, is the global economy of which the U.S. is the engine. The U.S. would, from the "ultimate high ground" of space, "dominate" the planet below in part to keep the global economy on track.

Says the U.S. Space Command's "Vision for 2020" report, its cover depicting a laser weapon shooting a beam down from space zapping a target below: "The globalization of the world economy will also continue with a widening between `haves´ and `have-nots.´" From space, the U.S. would keep those "have-nots" in line. The U.S. Space Command, set up by the Pentagon in 1985, describes itself in "Vision for 2020" this way: "US Space Command dominating the space dimension of military operations to protect US interests and investment. Integrating Space Forces into warfighting capabilities across the full spectrum of conflict."

"Vision for 2020" compares the U.S. effort to "control space" and Earth below to how centuries ago "nations built navies to protect and enhance their commercial interests," referring to the great empires of Europe that ruled the waves and thus the Earth to maintain their imperial economies. Consider the "Long Range Plan" of the U.S. Space Command. "The United States will remain a global power and exert global leadership," it says. "The United States won't always be able to forward base its forces. Widespread communications will highlight disparities in resources and quality of life contributing to unrest in developing countries.The global economy will continue to become more interdependent. Economic alliances, as well as the growth and influence of multi-national corporations, will blur security agreements.The gap between `have´ and `have-not´ nations will widen creating regional unrest.One of the long acknowledged and commonly understood advantages of space-based platforms is no restriction or country clearances to overfly a nation from space." The U.S. Space Command seeks to become "the enforcement arm for the global economy," as Bill Sulzman, director of Citizens for Peace In Space put it at the international conference last year of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power In Space.

U.S. citizens are not aware of the broad military plans of the U.S. for space because of the PR spin of the new Star Wars pitch (it's about protecting against a "Space Pearl Harbor," as the Rumsfeld Commission puts it, "just" about "missile defense") and due to communications media that are lazy and worse.

But other nations of the world do understand. That's why, at the United Nations last November 20, a resolution was introduced on which 163 nations voted yes for "Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space." It reaffirmed the basic international law on space, the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, and specifically its provision that space be set aside for "peaceful purposes." The United States abstained.

A country leading in the international effort to stop the U.S. plans by strengthening the Outer Space Treaty and barring all weapons from space is Canada no potential rival. As Marc Vidricaire, representing Canada, said at the UN last year: "It has been suggested that our proposal is not relevant because the assessment on which it rests is either premature or alarmist. In our view, it is neither. One need only look at what is happening right now." Moreover, stressed the Canadian statement, "There is no question that the technology can be developed to place weapons in outer space. There is also no question that no state can expect to maintain a monopoly on such knowledge -- or such capabilities -- for all time. If one state actively pursues the weaponization of space, we can be sure others will follow."

But the rogue state called the United States is blocking the Canadian initiative. For the U.S. thinks it can be as the motto of the Air Force Space Command terms it "Master of Space." It appears as a Space Command uniform patch and is in three-foot high letters over the entrance of the Air Force's 50th Space Wing. It pretty well sums up the attitude toward space of the U.S. power structure.

Working closely with the U.S. military in achieving this goal are major aerospace corporations. Indeed, the "Long Range Plan starts out by explaining how it has been U.S. Space Command's "#1 priority, investing nearly 20 man-years to make it a reality" and: "The development and production process, by design, involved hundreds of people including about 75 corporations." The "Long Range Plan" goes on to list those 75 corporations beginning with Aerojet and going through Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Sparta Corp. to TRW and Vista Technologies.

President Dwight Eisenhower warned in his "farewell address" in 1959 of the influence of a "military-industrial complex." Now, the U.S. military boasts about how giant corporations are helping set U.S. military doctrine.

Star Wars, with its powerful backers, never, in fact, went away. Funding at $6 billion-a-year plus monies in the "black" or secret for U.S. space military activities continued through the Clinton administration. Last December, Clinton's Department of Defense cleared the way for development of the "Space Based Laser Readiness Demonstrator"a project of Lockheed Martin, Boeing and TRW with a "lifecycle budget" of $20 to $30 billion. A second space-based laser weapon on which development continued through the Clinton years is the "Alpha High-Energy Laser," now test-fired more than 20 times. It was Clinton's Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Air Force for Space Keith Hall who said: "With regard to space dominance, we have it, we like it, and we're going to keep it."

And things are far worse now with Bush and Cheney, their administration intimately linked to the aerospace companies Cheney himself a former member of the TRW board, his wife Lynn a member of the Lockheed Martin board and tied to the ultra right-wing "think tanks" that, with the U.S. military, have been promoting Star Wars. The new administration is pushing hard and fast to make space a new arena of war.

Last month's report by the Rumsfeld "Space Commission" calls for U.S. "power projection in, from and through space." It seeks U.S. "superior space capabilities." It says the U.S. president should "have the option to deploy weapons in space." It emphasizes that it is "possible to project power through and from space in response to events anywhere in the world.

Unlike weapons from aircraft, land forces or ships, space missions initiated from earth or space could be carried out with little transit, information or weather delay. Having this capability would give the U.S. a much stronger deterrent and, in a conflict, an extraordinary military advantage." It proposes the U.S. Space Command become the nucleus of a U.S. Space Corps, to be like the Marine Corps and possibly "transition" to a fully separate Space Force or "Space Department" on par with the Army, Navy and Air Force several years hence. As the man whose legislation got the Rumsfeld "Space Commission" established, Senator Bob Smith of New Hampshire, said in an interview just taped with him to be part of my forthcoming "Star Wars Returns" video documentary, involved is the new "manifest destiny" of the U.S. "It is our manifest destiny," said Senator Smith. "You know we went from the East Coast to the West Coast of the United States of America settling the continent and they call that manifest destiny and the next continent if you will, the next frontier, is space and it goes on forever." Now it's U.S. cosmic "manifest destiny."

The book, "The Future of War: Power, Technology and American World Dominance in the 2lst Century," by think-tankers George and Meredith Friedman, concludes: "Just as by the year 1500 it was apparent that the European experience of power would be its domination of the global seas, it does not take much to see that the American experience of power will rest on the domination of space...Just as Europe expanded war and its power to the global oceans, the United States is expanding war and its power into space.Just as Europe shaped the world for half a millennium, so too the United States will shape the world for at least that length of time. For better or worse, America has seized hold of the future of war, and with it for a time the future of humanity."

The rest of the world will not sit back and accept U.S. "world dominance" from space. If the U.S. moves ahead on its program of astro-imperialism, deploys weapons in space, other nations China and Russia right off will meet the U.S. in kind. There will be an arms race and inevitably war in space. As First Secretary of China's UN delegation, Wang Xiaoyu, has declared: "Outer space is the common heritage of human beings. It should be used entirely for peaceful purposes and for the economic, scientific, and cultural development of all countries as well as the well-being of mankind. It must not be weaponized and become another arena of the arms race." "Space domination," he stated, "is a hegemonic concept. Its essence is monopoly of space and denial of others access to it." If the U.S. pushes ahead, "other countries would in response launch their own" space military programs, China vowed. However, China is, for now, holding off and, paralleling Canada's initiative, also seeking an international ban on weapons in space. But the U.S. has rebuffed the Chinese initiative, too.

Incidentally, the weapons the U.S. military wants to deploy in space especially lasers will need large amounts of power. And nuclear energy is seen by the U.S. military as the "natural" power source for them. As "New World Vistas: Air And Space Power For The 2lst Century," a U.S. Air Force board report, states: "In the next two decades, new technologies will allow the fielding of space-based weapons of devastating effectiveness to be used to deliver energy and mass as force projection in tactical and strategic conflict.These advances will enable lasers with reasonable mass and cost to effect very many kills." But "power limitations impose restrictions" on such-based weapons systems making them "relatively unfeasible..A natural technology to enable high power," it goes on, "is nuclear power in space." "Setting the emotional issues of nuclear power aside, this technology offers a viable alternative for large amounts of power in space," asserts "New World Vistas."

The Outer Space Treaty is a visionary document. It is a pact to keep war out of space. The U.S., incidentally, was a leader in getting it enacted. It is now signed now by most nations of the world. Based on the Antarctic Treaty, it calls for the "exploration and use of outer space [to] the benefit and in the interests of all countries" and prohibits the "placement in orbit around the Earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction." For nearly four decades, it has kept space war-free. What a legacy to be left for our children and their children at the dawn of this new century, this new millennium, if the U.S. succeeds in trashing the Outer Space Treaty and makes space a new place for war. No one will profit but Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon and TRW, and so on. We have a narrow window to keep space for peace, to strengthen the Outer Space Treaty and ban all weapons in space. We must join with peoples from around the world and stop this move by the United States to turn the heavens into a war zone.

Getting and spreading the information about what is going on is critical. And then: action, action, action. I urge you to join with the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power In Space and move against what is happening. We must challenge the anti-environmental, anti-democratic global economy and we must challenge its would-be "enforcement arm"the new U.S. space military establishment.

---

Karl Grossman, professor of journalism at the State University of New York/College at Old Westbury, has specialized in investigative reporting for more than 30 years. His books include "The Wrong Stuff: The Space Program's Nuclear Threat To Our Planet" (Common Courage Press) and his video documentaries include "Nukes In Space: The Nuclearization and Weaponization of the Heavens " (EnviroVideo). His new video documentary, "Star Wars Returns," is forthcoming from EnviroVideo (1-800-ECO-TV46 or http://www.envirovideo.com) and new book, "Weapons In Space," soon to be published by Seven Stories Press (http://www.info@sevenstories.com or 212-226-8760). Grossman is a charter member of the Commission on Disarmament Education, Conflict Resolution and Peace of the International Association of University Presidents and the United Nations. He is convenor of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power In Space (352-337-9274 or http://www.space4peace.org or E-mail: globalnet@mindspring.com Its address is PO Box 90083, Gainesville, Florida 32607. Grossman's home address: Box 1680, Sag Harbor, New York 11963. Telephone: 631-725-2858. Fax: 631-725-9338. E-mail: kgrossman@hamptons.com

-------- OTHER

-------- spying

Spy Suspect Seemed Fervent Catholic

Saturday February 24
Yahoo News
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010224/ts/crime_spying_dc_23.html

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Robert Hanssen, the senior FBI (news - web sites) official accused of selling secrets to Russia for 15 years, appeared to be a fervent Roman Catholic and anti-communist, according to a journalist who befriended him in the 1990s.

James Bamford, the author of a best-selling expose of the National Security Agency and a former investigative journalist and producer for ABC News, was struck by Hanssen's ''ostentatiously pious devotion to the Catholic faith'' and his involvement with Opus Dei, a lay organization devoted to promoting the church and proselytizing, Newsweek reported on Saturday.

Hanssen seemed ``almost obsessed'' with the church and Opus Dei, Bamford is quoted as saying in an article on the Web site that the magazine shares with MSNBC (http:/www.msnbc.com).

The author, who is about to publish a sequel to his book on the NSA, ``The Puzzle Palace,'' told Newsweek that Hanssen regularly wrote anti-communist papers for the FBI that seemed dogmatic and anachronistic, like ``something out of the 1950s.''

Bamford recalled ending his relationship with Hanssen in the late 1990s out of exasperation with his religious and ideological obsessions.

Bamford, who Newsweek said had ``apparently'' used Hanssen as a news source, remembered that the FBI man had been particularly interested in an interview he conducted several years ago in Moscow with Viktor Cherkashin, one of the former Soviet Union's legendary spymasters.

Hanssen wanted to hear every detail of the interview, Bamford said, which seemed perfectly reasonable at the time since Hanssen was one of the FBI's most senior counterintelligence agents.

Although they apparently never met, news reports have suggested that Cherkashin might have been Hanssen's handler in Moscow.

While at ABC News, Bamford broke the story of the FBI's ultimately unsuccessful espionage investigation of U.S. diplomat Felix Bloch. The probe fell apart, Newsweek said, because Bloch received a tip from a Soviet mole inside the U.S. government.

That mole is now suspected to have been Hanssen, it said.

-------- activists

Mother's Day 2001

Shundahai Network
<shundahai@shundahai.org>

An Invitation to Support Western Shoshone Sovereignty and Stewardship:

I'm inviting you all to come down to the Nevada Test Site for Mother's Day and have your voices heard, we all have concerns for the younger generation; so they can continue their life. The people are the backbone of the government. We should be dictating to the leaders instead of the government dictating to us how they are going to shorten our life.

So let's unite ourselves together and save something for the future. Come for sure for Mother's Day and stay as long as you can and we will all be together. That way, we'll have a cleaner life and enjoy our life for the younger generations. Let's talk together. So come and bring your stuff; your bedroll, your food and the water you survive on. As a person, I really appreciate you people.

Corbin Harney, Western Shoshone Spiritual Leader, Executive Director, Shundahai Network

We are contacting you to ask for your support for the 2001 Mother's Day Gathering that will take place May 11th -14th at the Nevada Test Site. If you want to lend your name this year, please contact us immediately. We are especially looking for active co-sponsors and supporters to co-host this year's gathering alongside the Western Shoshone National Council, Shundahai Network, Seeds of Peace, Nevada Desert Experience, and PooHaBah. ± Co-sponsor ($500 or equivalent in donations) ± Supporter (donations of any kind) ± Endorser (lend name only)

These are some other things you can do now:

Å Publicize this event in your literature or local calendars. Å Organize a carload, van load, or busload to come and participate. Å If you can't come, organize a solidarity event. Å Make banners to bring or send. Å Link your website to www.shundahai.org

This year's Mother's Day Gathering will "Celebrate Life & Sovereignty" as we unite and organize to stop nuclear contamination. The Nuclear Industry continues to poison all life on this planet, and continues to site its waste and processing facilities near people of color and impoverished communities. By uniting ourselves together we aim to stop this blatant environmental injustice. All over the world there are people dying from radiation contamination that is a direct result from business' and government's' disregard for our safety and lives. People need to come together to discuss and take action against these atrocities. The purpose of this gathering is to:

Support Environmental Justice on Western Shoshone Lands

Support, Host, & Welcome WSNC Spirit Run/Walk that will circle the test site

Protect Sacred Yucca Mountain from becoming a nuclear waste dump

Occupy & Pray for the land

Learn from Speakers & Trainers; Participate in Organizing Workshops

Take Action to STOP Nuclear Testing, Weapons, Waste, & Power

We are glad to announce that the Western Shoshone National Council will be conducting it's 2nd Annual Spirit Run/Walk to the Mother's Day Gathering. The walk will begin in Warm Springs, NV on May 7th and will circle the Test Site. Johnnie L. Bobb is the main organizer of this walk. If you would like to lend your support to this important event, you can contact Johnnie Bobb directly: HC 61 BOX 6250, AUSTIN, NV 89310 PHONE 775-964-2210

Gathering Schedule

May 11 (Friday)
Gathering Begins, Nonviolence trainings.

May 12 (Saturday)
Western Shoshone Spirit Walk arrives. Celebration of Life - Speakers from our communities, Workshops

May 13 (Sunday)
Sunrise Ceremony & Occupation, Mother's Day Brunch, Women's & Men's Councils

May 14(Monday)
Day of Action at the Nevada Nuclear Test Site

Be prepared for desert camping, hot days and cool nights. Bring plenty of drinking water, snacks and friends. Meals and local potable water will be provided, donations gladly accepted to help cover costs.

We thank you for taking the time to read this message. We hope that you will be able to support the Western Shoshone Nation in their work for environmental justice, and will attend the gathering. We look forward to hearing frm you soon!

SHUNDAHAI

----

SPRING BREAK ACTION CAMP

www.ruckus.org <http://www.ruckus.org/> or www.ran.org <http://www.ran.org/> * <http://www.ran.org/ran_campaigns/citigroup/homev3.html>

APPLY ASAP AND SEND US A NOTE AT freetheplanet@essential.org TO LET US KNOW YOU'VE APPLIED. SEND THIS INFO OUT TO OTHER STUDENTS IN YOUR GROUP. TAKE CARE AND TAKE ACTION, FREE THE PLANET!

APPLY NOW! APPLY NOW!

deadline is fast approaching applications must be in by Feb 20 Are you sick of a corporate global economy that puts profits ahead of the environment, democracy, workers, human rights, justice and local communities?

Does the vacuous debauchery of typical spring break fare bring you down? Wanna learn to raise hell and create a more just and sustainable future with a couple hundred other committed young people? If it's a yes & yes, alright. If it's a no & no, you're missin the boat, friend. If it's no, but YES, we might still figure somethin' out...

2nd Annual Ruckus Society Alternative Spring Break: 'Spank the Bank!' Action Camp Co-sponsored by Rainforest Action Network March 11-18 , Arcadia, Florida Endorsed by Free The Planet!, Just Act--Youth Action for Global Justice, Student Environmental Action Coalition, Student Peace Action Network, Student Alliance to Reform Corporations

'Spank the Bank!' Action Camp will be a week-long intensive skill-share in the strategies and tactics of nonviolent direct action for student organizers and activists engaged in campus and youth organizing for fundamental social change. This year's theme is SPANK THE BANK! focusing on the campaign to confront the world's most destructive financial institution-- Citigroup. This campaign is an effort to unite different social movements to attack the corporate globalization problem at its roots - the banks! Regardless of what issue you are working on Citi is involved. Whether its forest destruction, predatory lending, militarism, fighting the prison industrial complex, genetic engineering or the corporate take over of our political process Citigroup is involved. Comprised of Citibank, investment house Salomon Smith Barney and Traveler's Insurance Citi is a global slum lord, loan shark and ecoterrorist. The Wall St. bully who will make a buck of anything.

Unless of course all of us get together and STOP them!

Workshops will include: The History & Philosophy of Nonviolence, Building Unity: Confronting Imperialism and Oppression, Nonviolent Direct Action Planning, Campus Organizing 101, Campaign Strategy, Direct Action Climbing, Blockades, Political Theater, FTAA--Who Benefits From Trade Agreements?, How to Organize a Movement to Kick Wall St's Ass and Build an Ecologically Sane, Just and Democratic Society, etc.

We will also have inspiring and visionary panels & speakers, considerable campfire conspiring, and a last night graduation party that will make you wistful when you're rocking your chair in front of the fire in the old folks home. We ask only a sliding-scale donation from $75 bucks - $1million dollars (dare to dream) but no one's ever turned away for lack of funds. The world-famous roving Ruckus kitchen will dish out yummy vegetarian meals and juicy nuggets of wisdom. Bring your vision of a global economy based on social equality and ecological sanity and join in the fun! For more information contact: Beka Economopoulos, Rainforest Action Network - beka@ran.org <mailto:beka@ran.org> ph) 917-560-3609 JC, The Ruckus Society - jc@riseup.net <mailto:jc@riseup.net> - ph) 510.848.9565 Apply online now at www.ruckus.org <http://www.ruckus.org/> or www.ran.org <http://www.ran.org/>. <http://www.ran.org/ran_campaigns/citigroup/actioncamp.htm> Please fill the application out as completely as possible. This is not an elitist application process to find the best, brightest, or most experienced activists. Application responses help us bring a diverse pool of people together, with a diversity of politics and backgrounds. We hope to create a camp environment that promotes a rich and new experience on many levels for all attending. Absolute application deadline is Feb 20.

---

Demonstrate Against Bush and Pastrana Feb 27

Demonstrate Against Bush and Pastrana: Stop the Massacres! No To Plan Colombia! End the Phony "War on Drugs"!

Tuesday, February 27th 5:00pm White House, 16th Street and Pennsylvania Ave., NW For more information, call 202-347-9300 Email: npcdc@mnsinc.com

On February 27th, Colombian President Pastrana will visit George Bush in the White House to discuss the so-called "war on drugs". This war is really a war on the people of Colombia, and on Black and Latino youth in this country, who are being locked up in record numbers for petty drug offenses.

Key Bush advisers have talked about dropping the "false distinction" between the war on drugs and the counterinsurgency war against Colombia's popular movement.

The military phase of Plan Colombia has already begun. This Washington-inspired counterinsurgency plan is designed to provide the Colombian government with aid to impose its pro-IMF economic policies and crush all popular resistance. A campaign of death-squad terror is underway in the province of Putumayo.

We need to send a clear signal to the Bush administration and the Pentagon: the U.S. war against the Colombian people must end.

People in the United States have nothing to gain from a phony drug war that amounts to more money for the Pentagon, the mercenaries of death and for jails, and less for drug treatment, education, hospitals and jobs.

International Action Center 733 15th Street NW, #515 Washington, DC 20005 Phone 202-347-9300 email: npcdc@mnsinc.com

------- Onelist (submissions from subscribers)