------- Index of Articles
NUCLEAR
Putin, Khatami say no hurdle blocking Iran-Russia ties
Russia to Sell Iran More Weapons
Russia to sell weapons to Iran
Russia and Iran vow more weapons deals
Admiral Says Cruise Just for Sake of Civilians Violated Policy
Admiral Blames Skipper for Crash
Hearing: Sub Officer Didn't See Ship
Captain defends sub commander's role
Putin to Sell Arms and Nuclear Help to Iran
Officer's actions on sub questioned
U.N. says uranium arms risk low
U.N.: Kosovo Uranium Threat Remains
Depleted Uranium in Kosovo
No panic about depleted uranium: UN report
U.N. Reports Says Kosovo Uranium Threat Remains
Re-Isolating North Korea Isn't in U.S. Interest
N. Korea cancels talks with S. Korea
Selling Nuclear Fear
Labor holds out against missile defence
Russia Won't Dump ABM if U.S. Deploys Missile Shield
Russia Plans Floating Nuclear Plant
Khatami visits Russian space agency
Ukraine Nuclear Reactor Shut Down After Malfunction
9 BILLION CURIES RELEASED FROM CHERNOBYL
Bush probes radical warhead cut
New CIA Unit to Track Spread of Weapons
Threshold ready to wed small-caps
Rocketdyne's Radioactive Rock & Roll
Project planned for NTS shelved
Geologists learning uranium containment from nature
MILITARY
U.S. and Kuwait to Investigate Errant Bombing That Killed 6
Bombing Accident Kills 5 Americans at Site in Kuwait
BRITAIN: MILITARY GETS HELP
Colombian Governors Protest U.S.-Backed Spraying of Coca
A New Plan to Roll Back Drug Terms
150 Miles Up, Mir Begins Final Journey
Spacewalkers get space station ready for fixes
U.N. chief tours Afghan refugee camps
A U.N. Paradox
Officials: Ground controller cleared mistaken attack
U.S. soldier acquitted in shooting death
Navy jet kills 6 in Kuwait accident
Senate military panel chief asks Rumsfeld to review beret order
OTHER
DR Jay Gould On Cancer, Disease & Nuclear Power
U.S. Bans Imports of Meat From European Countries
Foot-and-Mouth Disease Confirmed in French Cattle
A 24-Hour Lab Meeting on Mad Cow llness
Bush Won't Regulate Carbon Dioxide
Government Institute to Study Climate Change
Dangerous Pipelines
Bush reverses stance on gas limits
Argentina confirms case of foot-and-mouth disease
France confirms case of foot-and-mouth disease
U.S. bans EU animal imports
Bush decides against carbon dioxide regulations
Mailbag
Incendiary language
Because Its Force Is Shrinking, Police Dept. Loses $55 Million
LAPD adopts discipline guidelines
Not everyone loves Girl Scout cookies
MANHATTAN: BERENSONS LEAVING FOR PERU
Jury Selection Begins in Terrorism Trial
ACTIVISTS
Green Jobs Available
Coventry Journal: In Britain, a Global Call to Peel It Off
MEXICO: ZAPATISTAS TURN TO LOBBYING
Stop the Torture Trade
-------- NUCLEAR
Putin, Khatami say no hurdle blocking Iran-Russia ties
Islamic Republic News Agency
Tuesday, 13-Mar-2001
http://www.irna.com/en/tnews/010313213319.etn00.shtml
Moscow, March 12, IRNA -- Iranian and Russian presidents, Mohammad Khatami and Vladimir Putin stressed Monday that there is no obstacle before development of bilateral cooperation between Tehran and Moscow.
They made the remark in a joint press conference after they signed a bilateral agreement and issued a joint statement on the Caspian Sea.
President Khatami said the improved ties between Iran and Russia not only would benefit the tow nations but also would be to the benefit of other regional states.
He said that the Iranian and Russian authorities have strong political will to boost the bilateral ties, adding that there exists no obstacle to prevent expansion of bilateral ties between Tehran and Moscow.
Khatami stated that Iran-Rusia improved ties would contribute to the regional peace and stability.
Khatami invited his Russian counterpart to pay a state visit to Iran.
Putin termed Iran as "a great and important country" and said that Tehran-Moscow relations have become an important factor on the international stage.
He voiced Russia's readiness to cooperate with Iran in the area of combating drug trafficking and terrorism. The two sides also agreed to expand the bilaterl ties in the economic field.
Khatami said after a luncheon given in his honor by Russian President Vladimir Putin that a world, based on peace, understanding and detente, is the world of cooperation among governments and nations.
He added that all potentials should be used to promote Tehran-Moscow cooperation to a level that deserve the Iranian and Russian nations.
He said thanks to the victory of Iran's 1979-Islamic Revolution and formation of Russian Federation, mutual cooperation has been expanding and that Iranian and Russian officials are firmly determined to upgrade bilateral ties and cooperation.
He expressed hope that Iran and Russia would implement formerly reached contracts, use all potentials available and sign new contracts and agreements to bolster mutual cooperation.
Putin said the talks held by Iranian and Russian officials signified the high level of mutual trust and understanding. He said the talks could serve as a firm basis for deepening cooperation and collaboration between Iran and Russia at regional and international levels.
Putin expressed hope that Iran-Russia cooperation would serve their mutual interests and positively affect the region and the world.
He referred to restoration of peace in Tajikistan as a good example of cooperation between Tehran and Moscow.
Iran and Russia are playing a key role in finding a just and political settlement to the Afghan crisis and in fighting extremism, terrorism and drug trafficking, he added.
Putin said talks between Iran and Russia on international security and stability have been totally fruitful and Russia believes that a new mechanism, that would ban proliferation, stockpiling and use of all forms of weapons of mass destruction, should be drawn up and the present mechanisms should be strengthened.
He said that in Russia people closely follow social and economic reforms in Iran and consider themselves as partners of Iranians in their drive to play an active economic and political role in the world. He added that Russians praise the policy of moderation that Iran follows.
President Khatami said that Iran-Russia cooperation will not be against a third country or the region rather is aimed at guaranteeing stability and security at the regional and international levels.
President Khatami said at the end of his talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that both Iran and Russia need development and progress and the goal would be achieved only through security and stability.
Meanwhile, Putin said Tehran-Moscow cooperation serve as an important factor for stability and security in the region. He said Iran-Russia ties have entered a new phase and are growing.
He stressed the expansion of bilateral relations and called on the Iranian Majlis to agree to the protocol on avoiding double taxation.
He said President Khatami's visit to Moscow would breathe a new life into mutual cooperation.
President Khatami arrived in Moscow on Monday on a three-day visit and was welcomed by Russian officials at the airport.
Besides Putin, the president is also to hold talks with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and Gennady Seleznev, head of the Russian State Duma.
Khatami, the highest Iranian official to visit Moscow after the triumph of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, is also to visit Saint Petersburg and Kazan, capital of the Tatarstan republic.
---
Russia to Sell Iran More Weapons
San Francisco Chronicle
Tuesday, March 13, 2001
Maura Reynolds, Los Angeles Times
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/03/13/MN141733.DTL
Moscow -- Russia and Iran consecrated their ever-closer relationship yesterday with a pair of agreements signed by Presidents Vladimir Putin and Mohammad Khatami intended to increase the kind of military and economic cooperation that causes jitters in Washington.
Khatami's visit to Moscow seals a long, deliberate attempt by Russia to curry favor with states outside the U.S. sphere of influence, especially those that are customers for its arms and weaponry.
"We consider (the military) sphere of our joint activity to be a very important one. It is important both for Iran and the Russian Federation," Putin said after signing the accords. "We believe that Iran must be an independent state capable of defending its national interests."
The United States has tried for years to limit Russian military cooperation with Iran, which Washington accuses of fomenting terrorism and seeking to develop nuclear weapons. In 1995, Russia secretly agreed to curb such cooperation, but it formally renounced the pact several months ago after it was made public.
Khatami's visit is the clearest example to date of the waning state of U.S.- Russian relations, which have been strained by NATO expansion and the alliance's intervention in Yugoslavia. Moreover, Russia's rhetoric has hardened in recent weeks as the new Bush administration has made clear that relations with Russia will not be a high priority.
Russia's increasing coziness with Iran is designed to earn Moscow much- needed hard currency as well as to demonstrate its independence and defiance of Washington.
Col. Gen. Leonid Ivashov, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said, "Some may like this cooperation, others not. Our countries will continue working together to their advantage."
However, Putin insisted that any arms sales would not violate Russia's international commitments, including those designed to curb nuclear proliferation.
"The applications that Iran and Iranian partners have filed with Russian weapons manufacturers are focused entirely on defensive arms," Putin said.
Russian and Iranian officials said that no specific arms sales contracts are expected to be signed during Khatami's visit. Russian officials said Iran would like to buy the S-300 air defense missile system, as well as parts for fighter jets and armored vehicles. Russian news reports have said that total arms sales could reach $7 billion.
Putin also pledged that Russia would complete construction of a nuclear power plant at Bushehr, which the United States fears could be used to produce nuclear weapons. Iran has complained of construction delays.
"We intend to implement our obligations to the full," Putin said.
---
Russia to sell weapons to Iran, assist nation in developing nuclear reactor
San Jose Mercury News
Tuesday, March 13, 2001
BY DAVE MONTGOMERY Mercury News Moscow Bureau
http://www0.mercurycenter.com/premium/world/docs/russia13.htm
MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday said Russia would sell weapons to Iran and help the country build a nuclear reactor, despite U.S. concerns that the cooperation would bolster a nation that sponsors terrorism.
Putin signaled Russia's intention to begin economic and military cooperation with Iran at the start of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami's four-day visit to Moscow. Putin and Khatami on Monday signed the first cooperation agreement between the nations since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.
``Iran has the right to ensure its country's defensive capability and security,'' Putin said after the signing. He did not specify what weapons Russia would sell to Iran, but stressed that they would be strictly defensive and within ``the framework of international practice and Russia's corresponding obligations.''
Prospective arms sales to Iran have been a growing source of tension between the United States and Russia since November, when Russia announced it was scrapping a secret 5-year-old agreement with Washington to halt arms sales to Iran. Former Vice President Al Gore and former Russian Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin negotiated the agreement.
Iran's ambassador to Moscow, Mehdi Safari, has said that Russia could earn up to $7 billion through future arms deals with Iran, but weapons experts in Russia said the figure is likely to be less. Iran hopes to acquire anti-ship missiles and air defense systems and is looking to Russia to upgrade Soviet-era MiG-29 fighters and Su-24 bombers. Anti-ship missiles would be especially troubling to the Bush administration because they would threaten U.S. aircraft carriers in the gulf.
The United States has repeatedly tried to persuade Russia not to sell arms to Iran, and the Bush administration reacted cautiously to Putin's announcement Monday. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington would be ``particularly concerned'' if the sales included advanced conventional weapons or sensitive items such as missile technology.
The CIA reported last month that Russian firms supplied Iran last year with ballistic missile technology, civilian nuclear know-how, and material that could be used in chemical and biological weapons.
``The Russian government's commitment, willingness and ability to curb proliferation-related transfers remain uncertain,'' the report stated.
``For this administration, Iran is an enemy of the state and is seen as such,'' said Michael McFaul, a senior Russia expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. ``Therefore, any cooperation is going to be viewed very negatively.''
Russia is building one reactor at an Iranian nuclear power plant and hopes to build three more, at a total cost of $2 billion. China also has helped Iran obtain nuclear technology.
The United States and other Western nations contend that such technology can be used to build nuclear weapons, but Russia maintains its assistance is strictly for peaceful purposes.
Col.-Gen. Leonid Ivashov said that the nations' defense ministers -- Gen. Igor Sergeyev of Russia and Adm. Ali Shamkhani of Iran -- will meet Wednesday to discuss ``the development of bilateral military and military-technical cooperation,'' including Russian arms supplies to Iran and training Iranian servicemen at Russian bases.
---
Russia and Iran vow more weapons deals
Philadelphia Inquirer
Tuesday, March 13, 2001
By Vladimir Isachenkov ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/03/13/national/RUSSIA13.htm
MOSCOW - The presidents of Russia and Iran promised yesterday to increase trade in weapons and cooperation in nuclear energy, despite U.S. efforts to discourage their nations' blossoming ties.
Vladimir V. Putin and Mohammad Khatami also spoke out against foreign involvement in the energy-rich Caspian Sea area - an implicit criticism of U.S. interest in the region.
"Our region, more than at any time in the past, needs calm and stability. . . . Any alien presence may undermine the stability," Khatami said at the start of Kremlin talks between the two leaders.
"Iran is a key country in the region," Putin said after he and Khatami had signed the first broad cooperation accord between Moscow and Tehran since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. "Our assessments of the situation in the region and the world coincide to a large degree."
No agreements on arms sales were signed, but Putin pledged to provide Iran with weapons despite strong U.S. protests. For years, Moscow's military cooperation with Tehran has caused concern in the United States, which accuses Iran of sponsoring terrorists.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said it was unclear what weapons would be traded between the two countries. "It's up to the Russians and the Iranians to specify in more detail what they may or may not be doing," he said. "But this is an issue of great concern to us."
Iran's ambassador to Moscow said recently that Tehran might buy up to $7 billion worth of Russian weapons in coming years.
The Russian government has not divulged details of possible arms deals. However, officials have indicated that Iran has expressed interest in buying S-300 air defense missiles, fighter jets, helicopters, patrol boats and other military equipment.
Putin said that Russia would provide Iran only with "defensive" weapons, and that such sales would not violate international agreements.
Russia says it has abided by international accords banning the proliferation of nuclear and missile technologies, but warned the United States in November that it was abandoning a 1995 pledge not to sell tanks and other battlefield weapons to Iran.
Russia has brushed off U.S. demands that it cancel an $800 million contract to build a nuclear plant for Iran. The United States says the Russian technology could be used to develop nuclear weapons, but Russia and Iran say the plant can be used only for civilian purposes and will remain under international control.
Putin said Russia might bid on contracts to construct more nuclear reactors in Iran. "Iran has plans to expand its nuclear energy sector," he said, "and Russia is interested in taking part in such work."
---
Admiral Says Cruise Just for Sake of Civilians Violated Policy
By STEVEN LEE MYERS
New York Times
March 13, 2001
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/13/national/13HAWA.html
HONOLULU, March 12 - The commander of the Navy's Pacific submarine fleet said today that he would not have allowed the submarine Greeneville to take 16 civilians on a day cruise if he had known that was its only mission the day it collided with a Japanese trawler off Hawaii last month.
Appearing before the court of inquiry investigating the incident, the commander, Rear. Adm. Albert H. Konetzni Jr., said he had been traveling in South Korea and Japan and had not been aware that the Greeneville's captain had canceled a regularly scheduled training mission but went ahead with a six-hour cruise for the visitors.
Admiral Konetzni testified that when he had initially seen a request to play host to the visitors around the day of the collision, back in January, he approved it but wrote across the bottom of the memorandum, "Don't break china."
At the same time, he dismissed any suggestion that the civilians had contributed to the collision, as investigators testified last week.
"They had nothing to do with this," he declared. "Forget about it."
Instead, Admiral Konetzni laid responsibility squarely on the Greeneville's captain, Cmdr. Scott D. Waddle. He said Commander Waddle had failed to prepare adequately to raise the submarine to its periscope depth, by not confirming sonar contacts in the area and by not spending enough time searching through the periscope.
"He has the obligation, truly the obligation, to make sure the area above is clear" before the Greeneville surfaced that day, said Admiral Konetzni, who relieved Commander Waddle of duty the day after the collision.
While he cited several mistakes by Commander Waddle, he also attributed the accident to factors beyond the captain's control, including the timing of the Ehime Maru's voyage, the haze that obscured the periscope search and even "the stars and the moon." And he praised the captain, at times emotionally, as "one of my best friends" who he had hoped would rise to the rank of admiral.
"You couldn't replicate this in a million years," he said of the accident.
Since taking over as the submarine fleet commander here, Admiral Konetzni has been a vigorous advocate of the Navy's promotional program to take "distinguished visitors" aboard its fighting vessels. And he strongly defended it in his testimony today.
"Since we have been an all-volunteer military for 25 years," he said, "it's very, very critical that we, as a military, educate America."
It was not clear who authorized the Greeneville to make a brief cruise, after having canceled a training mission involving safeguarding the submarine's nuclear reactor. Admiral Konetzni indicated Commander Waddle and his squadron commander, Capt. Richard L. Snead, had made that decision, as well as the one to go ahead with the voyage solely for the civilians, even though it contradicted policy.
Admiral Konetzni also played down the role of his chief of staff, Capt. Robert L. Brandhuber, who accompanied the civilian visitors on the Greeneville and was the senior officer aboard.
By late afternoon, Captain Brandhuber himself began testifying, becoming the first witness from the Greeneville itself to recount the events aboard. He said that when he boarded, he had not known that the voyage had been scheduled only to accommodate the visitors.
While Admiral Konetzni said Captain Brandhuber had not seen any operations that warranted his intervention, the captain testified that he had had reservations about the pace of preparations for surfacing. Even so, he said, he did not speak up.
"Did they do things a little quicker than I would have? Yes, sir," said Captain Brandhuber, who has not been formally named a "party" to the investigation but whose role is a focus of it. "Did they do it in a way that was unreasonable or unsafe? No, sir."
As the court's investigation entered its second week, a defense official said that the Navy was expected to approve a proposal by a Dutch company, Smit International Group, to try to salvage the Ehime Maru, which lies 2,003 feet beneath the surface roughly nine miles south of Diamond Head.
The plan would not raise the ship, but rather move it to waters shallow enough to allow divers to retrieve the bodies of the nine people believed to have been trapped inside when the ship sank, the official said.
-----
Admiral Blames Skipper for Crash
Captain's Boss Rejects Other Causes for Submarine Tragedy
Washington Post
Tuesday, March 13, 2001; Page A02
By Rene Sanchez Washington Post Staff Writer
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58976-2001Mar12.html
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii, March 12 -- The admiral in charge of Navy submarines in the Pacific said today that although he considers Cmdr. Scott D. Waddle "at least my brother, maybe my son," the fatal collision between the USS Greeneville and a Japanese fishing ship was solely the skipper's fault.
In tough, tormented testimony to a Navy court of inquiry, Adm. Albert H. Konetzni scoffed at many of the possible causes of the crash being examined, such as broken equipment or the presence of civilians on the submarine. In the blunt, salty language of an old seaman, he blamed Waddle.
"This is the meat of the matter," Konetzni said. "The commanding officer has the absolute obligation to make sure the area is safe" before ordering his submarine to surface.
The admiral, who has spent 32 years in the submarine force, also adamantly defended the Navy's practice of allowing civilians on its ships during training maneuvers. Sixteen guests were crowded into the Greeneville's control room when it rammed and sank the Ehime Maru off Honolulu last month.
Since the accident, which killed nine Japanese men and boys, President Bush has ordered the Pentagon to review civilian participation in military exercises. But Konetzni argued that Americans must have close-up opportunities to observe the soldiers, sailors and airmen "who guard the walls at night."
Describing Waddle as a beloved protégé, someone in whom "I saw a little of myself," Konetzni said the collision would not have occurred if the skipper had shown more caution and more willingness to rely on his crew.
"If you're going to take it all on, you better make sure you know all the facts," he said, "because you stand alone when you go that way."
The Navy inquiry, which is a fact-finding procedure and not a trial, is now in its second week. Three Greeneville officers are subjects of the probe but the focus is on Waddle's conduct. Konetzni told the three admirals presiding over the inquiry that they should rule out the submarine's broken sonar video equipment or its civilian guests as having any role in the accident.
"They had nothing to do with this," he said. "Not a thing."
The crash occurred, Konetzni said, only because the Greeneville conducted a hurried periscope check and then surfaced "without all the damn inputs."
He looked at Waddle in the courtroom this afternoon and said, "I'd like to go over there and punch him for not taking more time."
Konetzni also said Waddle should not have felt pressure to rush back to Pearl Harbor on schedule that day, or to perform the rapid-surfacing maneuver known as an emergency main ballast blow.
"I can't imagine anything pressing . . . other than a mariner's pride in being somewhere on time," Konetzni said, adding later: "If he was crowded [by civilians], if he was rushed, don't do an emergency blow. Who cares?"
In daylong testimony, Konetzni often praised Waddle's seafaring skill, saying, "I wanted this man to be, if possible, what I had become." But he also recalled a ride on the Greeneville last year in which he noticed that perhaps Waddle did not delegate enough tasks to his crew because of his great talent. He said he told Waddle then, "'Let your people catch up.'"
"I said to him, 'Hey, slow it down, give them the opportunity to grow. You're smart, but give them an opportunity,'" Konetzni recalled.
A Navy investigator testified last week that in the moments before the crash, one of the Greeneville's officers worried that Waddle was rushing periscope sweeps but did not express his concern to the commander. The investigator also said that a technician failed to relay to Waddle critical sonar data on the proximity of the Ehime Maru.
The Navy court also has been examining the role of Konetzni's chief of staff, Capt. Robert L. Brandhuber, who was escorting the 16 civilians and who outranks Waddle. Konetzni defended Brandhuber, saying he was not responsible for the safety of the nuclear-powered ship.
"It's the captain, the captain, the captain," Konetzni said.
The Greeneville set out to sea on the day of the crash solely to give the civilians a tour despite Navy guidelines discouraging such trips except when training is scheduled. The Greeneville's plans to train had been scrapped a few days earlier.
Late today, Brandhuber told the court that the tour for the civilians was not canceled, too, because the Navy did not want to be "embarrassed."
Waddle, the Greeneville's executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Gerald K. Pfeifer, and the officer of the deck, Lt. j.g. Michael J. Coen, are the subjects of the Navy's rare public probe. The court of inquiry could recommend a court-martial or administrative punishment, such as a reprimand, for any or all of them. Waddle already has been relieved of his command of the Greeneville.
Even as he expressed anger and regret over the collision, Konetzni also said that he was still puzzled by it. He called the waters off Hawaii "one of the easiest areas in the world" for a submarine to navigate.
"I was shocked when I got the word on this one," he told the court. "It's too easy. Shocked, sir."
In his defense of the Navy's ride-along program, Konetzni said that without demonstrations of the speed and power of attack submarines, civilians would enjoy the tours as much as "watching the grass grow." And Konetzni insisted that a submarine's officers and crew get important training on such trips.
"This was not a joy ride," he said. "I detest those words."
--------
Hearing: Sub Officer Didn't See Ship
InfoBeat News
Morning Coffee Edition - 3/13/2001
http://www.infobeat.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/IBFrontEnd.woa/wa/fullStory?article=406377515
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) - The failure of USS Greeneville Cmdr. Scott Waddle to detect a Japanese trawler through his periscope led to the fatal collision between the two ships, the head of the Pacific Fleet's submarine force testified Monday.
``This is the meat of the matter: The commanding officer ... has the absolute obligation to make sure the area is free,'' said Waddle's boss, Rear Adm. Albert Konetzni. ``That's what caused this collision, plus the fact that the stars and the moon and a few other things weren't going right.''
Konetzni took the stand as a Navy court of inquiry into the Feb. 9 accident entered its second week. He called Waddle ``one of my best friends,'' but also squarely placed responsibility for the accident on the commander's shoulders.
``I hold him accountable,'' Konetzni said, although he added under questioning from Waddle's attorneys that he doesn't believe the skipper acted criminally negligent.
The investigative hearing could lead to courts-martial of Waddle; the Greeneville's executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Gerald Pfeifer; and the officer of the deck, Lt. j.g. Michael Coen.
The submarine was demonstrating a rapid-surfacing drill for 16 civilian guests when it rammed the Ehime Maru and sent it plunging to the ocean floor. The vessel, carrying 35 people, was on an expedition to teach high school students the commercial fishing trade. Nine people, including four students, were killed.
A Navy investigator testified last week that several factors contributed to the accident, including a communications barrier created by the civilian guests being crammed into the control room.
Konetzni dismissed that, however, insisting the civilians ``had nothing to do with this _ not a thing.''
``Joy ride?'' he scoffed. ``Forget it.''
Voicing his support for civilian ride-alongs, Konetzni noted that thousands of guests have toured submarines safely prior to this accident. He called the public relations program critical for ``understanding what our sailors are doing on the line to defend freedom. We need to continue these.''
He admitted, however, that this particular tour probably shouldn't have gone forward because a training mission it was to coincide with was canceled. Waddle, after conferring with his squadron commander, deemed the training unnecessary but decided not to cancel the tour.
The Pacific Fleet had 21 at-sea tours for 307 guests on fast-attack submarines like the Greeneville last year, an average of 15 guests per trip, according to Navy estimates. Emergency surfacing blows were conducted during 17 of those tours, Konetzni said.
Konetzni said the collision comes down to Waddle's inability to see the Ehime Maru through his periscope and the fact that sonar operators didn't have enough time to properly analyze data tracking surface vessels.
Coen and Waddle performed an 80-second periscope search at depths of 60 and 58 feet. Testimony has shown periscope scans are typically done in three minutes and that the officers had several more feet available on the periscope that they didn't use.
``You'd better get as much pole out there as you possibly can, because that's your obligation,'' Konetzni said, adding that more time would have allowed sonar analysts to determine a vessel was close.
``It's a team endeavor, and when the team doesn't work right, bad things happen,'' he said. ``Time allows integration of the team.''
Konetzni choked back tears several times throughout his testimony, particularly when one of Waddle's military lawyers, Lt. Cmdr. Kimberlie Young, assured him the commander would ``give his own life to bring back those missing crewmen.''
``I know that,'' the admiral said, almost breaking down.
The Greenville's fire control technician had data showing another ship was close but never reported it. He told investigators he assumed his data was incorrect when Coen and Waddle reported seeing no other boats during the periscope search. He also said the civilians blocked his access to the officers.
The technician, Petty Officer 1st Class Patrick Seacrest, and the sonar room supervisor have been appointed military attorneys at their request, the Navy said Monday. The three admirals presiding over the court of inquiry could name additional parties to the investigation at any time.
Also under scrutiny during the hearing has been Capt. Robert Brandhuber, Konetzni's chief of staff. Brandhuber accompanied the civilians aboard Greeneville and was the senior officer on the ship. The court panel has questioned whether he should have sensed something was amiss and stepped in.
Brandhuber testified that he was in the back of the control room when the ship went to periscope depth and during the surfacing maneuver. He said he felt in his gut the crew was moving fast, but he didn't think they were being unsafe.
``I don't feel good at all about what happened, and I wish I could have done anything to make it not happen,'' he said. ``But, sir, I don't believe that the actions of the ship were so unreasonable that it should've necessitated that I step in.''
---
Captain defends sub commander's role
InfoBeat News
Afternoon Edition - 3/13/2001
By JEAN CHRISTENSEN Associated Press Writer
http://www.infobeat.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/IBFrontEnd.woa/wa/fullStory?article=406381638
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) - A senior Pacific Fleet submarine officer said he had a gut feeling that USS Greeneville Cmdr. Scott Waddle was rushing his crew before the submarine fatally struck a Japanese fishing trawler.
But Capt. Robert Brandhuber said he didn't think the crew was being unsafe, so he didn't intervene.
``Did they do it a little quicker than I would do it? Yes, sir,'' he said. ``But did I think it was unreasonable or unsafe the way they were doing it? No, sir.''
Brandhuber, chief of staff of the Pacific Fleet submarine force and escort for 16 civilian guests on the Greeneville that day, was the first eyewitness to testify in a Navy court of inquiry that entered its second week Monday. His testimony continues Tuesday.
Nine of the 35 people on board the Ehime Maru were killed when the high school fisheries training vessel was struck by the Greeneville off Oahu on Feb. 9.
Brandhuber is not a member of the Greeneville crew.
``I don't feel good at all about what happened, and I wish I could have done anything to make it not happen,'' Brandhuber told the three admirals presiding over the inquiry. ``But, sir, I don't believe that the actions of the ship were so unreasonable that it should've necessitated that I step in.''
He said he didn't know Waddle was planning to conduct an emergency rapid-ascent drill, and was surprised when the maneuver began. The drill sent the submarine from a depth of 400 feet into the hull of the Ehime Maru, which sank in 2,000 feet of water.
Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Thomas Fargo has ordered the court to explore several issues, including Brandhuber's actions and responsibilities as the highest-ranking officer on the Greeneville Feb. 9.
The inquiry could lead to the courts-martial of Waddle; his executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Gerald Pfeifer; and the officer of the deck, Lt. j.g. Michael Coen. Brandhuber has not been named as a party to the investigation.
Another area being examined is whether the visitors' and Brandhuber's presence may have made Greeneville crew members more wary of speaking up if they thought safety was at risk.
Navy investigators have said Waddle ordered the crew to prepare to go to periscope depth in five minutes, while 10 minutes is the standard. Waddle and Coen conducted an 80-second periscope sweep instead of a more typical three-minute sweep. The periscope search failed to spot the fishing vessel less than 1 1/2 miles away.
While the preparations seemed fast, Brandhuber said he had confidence in the crew because it had just successfully completed a series of highly difficult vertical and horizontal turns.
Brandhuber also said he wondered why Waddle took the submarine to a greater depth than usual with civilians on board but he ``wasn't going to make it an issue with the commanding officers while the visitors were right there.''
Brandhuber's role on the Greeneville was defended by Rear Adm. Albert Konetzni, commander of the Pacific Fleet submarine force.
``I don't think that Capt. Brandhuber had a thing to do with this at all,'' Konetzni said, adding that the civilian guests also were blameless.
Meanwhile, the Navy announced Monday it had identified a ``potentially feasible salvage option'' for the Ehime Maru.
The estimated $40 million operation would require a two-phase lift that would bring the 180-foot ship into shallow water. It would take about six months after an environmental assessment was completed. The assessment could take several months, Navy officials said.
``I feel so relieved to hear that,'' said Ryosuke Terata, who believes his 17-year-old son Yusuke is trapped inside the ship. ``I really hope they can settle the remaining issues quickly and recover the boat.''
Japanese leaders and relatives of the nine missing have been pressing the United States to raise the ship. A final decision on whether to proceed with the salvage will be made by the federal government.
---
Putin to Sell Arms and Nuclear Help to Iran
New York Times
By MICHAEL WINES
March 13, 2001
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/13/world/13RUSS.html?pagewanted=print
MOSCOW, March 12 - Breaking openly with both the United States and his predecessor Boris N. Yeltsin, President Vladimir V. Putin formally agreed today to resume sales of conventional arms to Iran after a hiatus of more than five years.
At a meeting in the Kremlin with President Muhammad Khatami of Iran, Mr. Putin also reiterated Russia's intention to help Iran complete a long-stalled nuclear power plant that some American experts contend could advance Iran's nuclear weapons program.
The two announcements, neither unexpected, came during the first meeting in four decades between Iranian and Russian heads of state, a warm session billed in advance as a diplomatic turning point.
Just as clearly, it was a pointed signal to the Bush administration that the Iranians and the Russians intend to limit American influence in the Middle East by both diplomatic and military means. "Economically, Russia is interested in cooperation," Mr. Putin said. "And politically, Iran should be a self-sufficient, independent state that is ready to protect its national interests."
The chief foreign affairs official at the Russian defense ministry, Gen. Leonid Ivashov, said the scope of the arms accord was a private matter between two sovereign states. "Some may like this cooperation, some not," he said. "Our countries will continue working together to our advantage."
The advantages for Russia are considerable: hard currency from the sales, work for idle weapons factories and more influence from military training and repair work in a crucial Persian Gulf nation. Mr. Putin has employed much the same formula of arms sales and diplomacy to revive faded alliances with India, China and other nations that drifted from the Russian orbit after the end of the cold war.
For its part, Iran finds an ally who shares many of its predilections, among them opposition to Turkey and expansion of NATO, and a desire to limit American influence in central Asia, where American- and Russian-backed oil pipelines are fiercely competing to control the flow of new finds in the Caspian Sea.
Washington has quietly sought to improve relations with Iran but to little avail. Officially, Iran remains on a list of rogue nations that American experts believe could threaten the Middle East with nuclear or chemical weapons and ballistic missiles within a few years.
The United States said today that it was disappointed at Mr. Putin's announcement. But its immediate effect on American relations with Moscow is unclear, in part because the scope of cooperation with Iran remains unclear. No deals were actually signed today, and it was not clear when arms deliveries would begin.
"We are particularly concerned about sales of advanced conventional weapons or sensitive technologies, things like nuclear technology," said the State Department spokesman, Richard A. Boucher. "It's up to the Russians and the Iranians to specify in more detail what they may or may not be doing."
Last month, in an annual report on weapons proliferation, the Central Intelligence Agency identified Russia as a supplier of ballistic missile technology to Iran. Russia strongly denies the accusation, although officials at some Russian research institutes have acknowledged training Iranians in areas the United States considers sensitive.
Mr. Putin said today that Iran seeks only defensive arms and that Russia would adhere strictly to international weapons-proliferation restrictions.
Russia sold some $5 billion in weapons to Iran from 1989 to 1995, in no small part for defense against President Saddam Hussein of Iraq and his army, which waged war against Iran for much of the 1980's. The sales stopped after 1995, when Mr. Yeltsin, then the president, signed a secret accord with the United States foreswearing further sales or technical aid to Iran's military programs.
The Kremlin repudiated that accord after it became public last year, and in December the Russian defense minister, Igor Sergeyev, paid the first high-level Russian visit to Iran since 1979 to lay the groundwork for new arms sales.
The Moscow daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported that weapons shipments could begin in the second half of this year, and include spare parts for existing Russian-made aircraft and cold-war-era tanks.
Russia's deputy prime minister, Ilya Klebanov, told the Interfax news service that Iran hopes to buy one of Russia's most advanced air-defense systems, the S-300 antimissile complex, which is said to track and destroy as many as six low-flying cruise missiles or aircraft at a time.
"The question is what this does for the regional military balance," said Thomas Graham, a political analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "Does it give Iran a certain capacity in the Persian Gulf region that it didn't have before? And will it be destabilizing or not? That's what we'll be looking to find out."
The agreement to finish a nuclear reactor at Bushehr, the Persian Gulf military port, raises different issues.
The United States has argued that Iran has little need for new nuclear generating capacity and that the reactor could be used to aid what it says is Iran's clandestine nuclear- weapons program. In 1999 the United States placed sanctions on seven Russian companies and three institutes that it accused of aiding Iran's nuclear efforts.
Both Russia and Iran adamantly deny that the Bushehr reactor has any military use, and Russia says its construction work is supervised by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran says it is prepared to spend some $1 billion with Russian companies for work on the plant and related facilities.
---
Officer's actions on sub questioned
USA Today
03/13/2001
http://usatoday.com/news/nation/2001-03-13-sub.htm
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) - A senior Pacific Fleet submarine officer said he had a gut feeling that USS Greeneville Cmdr. Scott Waddle was rushing his crew before the submarine fatally struck a Japanese fishing trawler. But Capt. Robert Brandhuber said he didn't think the crew was being unsafe, so he didn't intervene. "Did they do it a little quicker than I would do it? Yes, sir," he said. "But did I think it was unreasonable or unsafe the way they were doing it? No, sir."
Brandhuber, chief of staff of the Pacific Fleet submarine force and escort for 16 civilian guests on the Greeneville that day, was the first eyewitness to testify in a Navy court of inquiry that entered its second week Monday. His testimony continues Tuesday.
Nine of the 35 people on board the Ehime Maru were killed when the high school fisheries training vessel was struck by the Greeneville off Oahu on Feb. 9.
Brandhuber is not a member of the Greeneville crew.
"I don't feel good at all about what happened, and I wish I could have done anything to make it not happen," Brandhuber told the three admirals presiding over the inquiry. "But, sir, I don't believe that the actions of the ship were so unreasonable that it should've necessitated that I step in."
He said he didn't know Waddle was planning to conduct an emergency rapid-ascent drill, and was surprised when the maneuver began. The drill sent the submarine from a depth of 400 feet into the hull of the Ehime Maru, which sank in 2,000 feet of water.
Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Thomas Fargo has ordered the court to explore several issues, including Brandhuber's actions and responsibilities as the highest-ranking officer on the Greeneville Feb. 9. The inquiry could lead to the courts-martial of Waddle; his executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Gerald Pfeifer; and the officer of the deck, Lt. j.g. Michael Coen. Brandhuber has not been named as a party to the investigation.
Another area being examined is whether the visitors' and Brandhuber's presence may have made Greeneville crew members more wary of speaking up if they thought safety was at risk.
Navy investigators have said Waddle ordered the crew to prepare to go to periscope depth in five minutes, while 10 minutes is the standard. Waddle and Coen conducted an 80-second periscope sweep instead of a more typical three-minute sweep. The periscope search failed to spot the fishing vessel less than 1.50 miles away.
While the preparations seemed fast, Brandhuber said he had confidence in the crew because it had just successfully completed a series of highly difficult vertical and horizontal turns.
Brandhuber also said he wondered why Waddle took the submarine to a greater depth than usual with civilians on board but he "wasn't going to make it an issue with the commanding officers while the visitors were right there."
Brandhuber's role on the Greeneville was defended by Rear Adm. Albert Konetzni, commander of the Pacific Fleet submarine force.
"I don't think that Capt. Brandhuber had a thing to do with this at all," Konetzni said, adding that the civilian guests also were blameless.
Meanwhile, the Navy announced Monday it had identified a "potentially feasible salvage option" for the Ehime Maru.
The estimated $40 million operation would require a two-phase lift that would bring the 180-foot ship into shallow water. It would take about six months after an environmental assessment was completed. The assessment could take several months, Navy officials said.
"I feel so relieved to hear that," said Ryosuke Terata, who believes his 17-year-old son Yusuke is trapped inside the ship. "I really hope they can settle the remaining issues quickly and recover the boat."
Japanese leaders and relatives of the nine missing have been pressing the United States to raise the ship. A final decision on whether to proceed with the salvage will be made by the federal government.
-------- depleted uranium
U.N. says uranium arms risk low
CNN
March 13, 2001
http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/03/13/du.balkans/index.html
GENEVA, Switzerland -- Depleted uranium (DU) deposits in Kosovo can pose risks to people in the area, a United Nations report has said.
But levels of DU contamination left in the vicinity of NATO-allied bombing targets in 1999 are low, it stated.
A U.N. team carried out tests at 11 sites last November after suspicions were raised among some NATO-members when seven servicemen who had been stationed in the region died from cancer-related illnesses.
The U.N. Environment Programme said in its final report on Tuesday that ammunition buried in the soil could contaminate ground water, leading to anything up to an 100-fold increase in uranium levels in drinking water.
"While the radiation doses will be very low, the resulting uranium concentration might exceed World Health Organisation health standards for drinking water," the report said.
A child swallowing a small amount of contaminated soil also could obtain a dose which would be above normally approved biochemical standards, the agency said.
Touching a piece of ammunition would not be dangerous, but if it were kept in a pocket for several weeks the carrier could suffer "quite high local radiation doses."
Mild contamination exists from DU dust also, the 153-page report said.
"These scientific findings should alleviate any immediate anxiety that people living or working in Kosovo may have been experiencing," said UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer.
"Under certain circumstances, however, DU can still pose risks."
U.S. aircraft used munitions containing DU, a partially radioactive heavy metal, during the 78-day air campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999, as well as in Bosnia in 1994 and 1995.
A number of European nations also use munitions containing DU, which has about 40 percent less radiation than natural uranium, which itself is not considered a health hazard.
Concerns arose in several European countries earlier this year when Italy started studying the illnesses of 30 veterans of Balkans peacekeeping missions -- seven of whom died of cancer, including five from leukaemia.
UNEP recommended that visits should be made to all 112 sites in Kosovo where NATO has admitted it used DU ammunition, so that pieces of ammunition can be removed, de-contamination carried out and information given to the local population.
UNEP also recommends similar work to be undertaken in Bosnia, "where depleted uranium ordnance has persisted in the atmosphere for over five years."
It had already reported finding small quantities of plutonium in weapons fired by NATO during the 1999 bombing campaign, but said "the amount of transuranic isotopes found... is very low and does not have any significant impact on their overall radioactivity."
---
U.N.: Kosovo Uranium Threat Remains
Las Vegas Sun
March 13, 2001
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/archives/2001/mar/13/031303004.html?nuclear+OR+plutonium+OR+uranium+OR+radioactiv
http://www.enn.com/news/wire-stories/2001/03/03132001/ap_uranium_42488.asp
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/health/latestap/A62046-2001Mar13.html
GENEVA (AP) - Contamination from depleted uranium ammunition used in Kosovo is low, but the threat of radiation in the water supply remains, the United Nations Environment Program said Tuesday.
In its final report on samples taken from 11 sites across the province last November, the agency said it found low levels of radiation in the immediate vicinity of targets and mild contamination from depleted uranium dust.
UNEP reported in February that it had found small quantities of plutonium in penetrators fired by NATO during the 1999 bombing campaign, but Tuesday's report said "the amount of transuranic isotopes found ... is very low and does not have any significant impact on their overall radioactivity."
However, remaining radioactive debris could cause contamination above normal health standards, UNEP said. Ammunition buried in the soil could contaminate ground water, leading to anything up to a 100-fold increase in uranium levels in drinking water.
"While the radiation doses will be very low, the resulting uranium concentration might exceed World Health Organization health standards for drinking water," the report said.
Touching a piece of ammunition would not be dangerous, but if it were kept in a pocket for several weeks the carrier could suffer "quite high local radiation doses," the report said.
People were seen collecting ammunition, in some cases wearing bullets around their neck, said Pekka Haavisto, who led the agency's mission to Kosovo. Investigators did not, however, see anyone wearing depleted uranium ammunition, he said.
A child swallowing a small amount of contaminated soil also could obtain a dose above normally approved biochemical standards, the agency said.
U.S. aircraft used munitions containing depleted uranium, a slightly radioactive heavy metal, during the 78-day air campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999, as well as in Bosnia in 1994 and 1995.
A number of European nations also use munitions containing depleted uranium, which has about 40 percent less radiation than natural uranium, which itself is not considered a health hazard.
Concerns arose in several European countries earlier this year when Italy started studying the illnesses of 30 veterans of Balkans peacekeeping missions. Seven of the veterans died of cancer, including five from leukemia.
Haavisto said the investigations did not cover the effect on soldiers who were on the ground when depleted uranium ammunition struck because the survey was not carried out until 18 months after the end of bombing.
UNEP recommended removing ammunition, decontaminating the 112 Kosovo sites where NATO has admitting using depleted uranium munitions and informing residents about the ordnance.
UNEP also recommended similar work in other places where the ammunition has been used, including Bosnia and Iraq.
---
Depleted Uranium in Kosovo - Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment
First Published in Switzerland in 2001 by the United Nations Environment Programme.
United Nations Envrionment Programme.
balkans.unep.ch
http://balkans.unep.ch/du/reports/report.html
DISCLAIMER: The contents of this report do not necessarily reflect views of UNEP, or contributory organizations. The designations employed and the presentations do not imply the expressions of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNEP or contributory organizations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authority, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
The provisory report is available in PDF format, by choosing the chapters below.
The report is also available from our ftp server: ftp://194.54.80.239 Login: unep Password: unep
Table of Contents
Foreword
1. Introduction
2. Background 2.1 UNEP's role in post-conflict environmental assessment 2.2 Depleted uranium 2.3 Assessing the risks
3. UNEP mission to Kosovo 3.1 Mission objectives 3.2 Composition of the team 3.3 Selection of sites 3.4 Fieldwork, sampling and laboratory analysis
4. Findings
5. Conclusions
6. Recommendations
7. Site-by-site findings 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Gjakove/Djakovica garrison 7.3 Vranoc/Vranovac 7.4 Radoniq/Radonjic 7.5 Irzniq/Rznic barracks 7.6 Bandera and Pozhare/Pozar 7.7 Rikavac 7.8 Ceja mountain 7.9 Planeje/Planeja village 7.10 Bellobrade/Belobrod 7.11 Kuke/Kukovce 7.12 Buzesh/Buzec
Foreword-Chapter 7 (PDF-277Kb)
Appendices
Appendix I Risk Assessment (PDF-53Kb)
http://balkans.unep.ch/du/reports/finalreport.pdf
http://balkans.unep.ch/du/reports/appendix1.pdf
Appendix II Prerequisites and limitations (PDF-15Kb)
http://balkans.unep.ch/du/reports/appendix2.pdf
Appendix III Methodology and quality control (PDF-87Kb)
http://balkans.unep.ch/du/reports/appendix3.pdf
Appendix IV Military use of DU (PDF-11Kb)
http://balkans.unep.ch/du/reports/appendix4.pdf
Appendix V Possible effects of DU on groundwater (PDF-24KB)
http://balkans.unep.ch/du/reports/appendix5.pdf
Appendix VI Lichen as a bio-indicator of DU (PDF-10Kb)
http://balkans.unep.ch/du/reports/appendix6.pdf
Appendix VII Analysis of DU penetrators found (PDF-340Kb)
http://balkans.unep.ch/du/reports/appendix7.pdf
Appendix VIII List of NATO coordinates (PDF-19Kb)
http://balkans.unep.ch/du/reports/appendix8.pdf
Appendix IX Formulas and data (PDF-55Kb)
http://balkans.unep.ch/du/reports/appendix9.pdf
Appendix X Table of results (PDF-111Kb)
http://balkans.unep.ch/du/reports/appendix10.pdf
Appendix XI References (PDF-18Kb)
http://balkans.unep.ch/du/reports/appendix11.pdf
Appendix XII Contributors (PDF-8Kb)
http://balkans.unep.ch/du/reports/appendix12.pdf
Pictures
http://balkans.unep.ch/du/pictures/index.html
Maps
http://balkans.unep.ch/du/maps/index.html
---
No panic about depleted uranium: UN report
CBC News
Tue Mar 13 08:14:07 2001
http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/2001/03/13/du_report010313
GENEVA-- The United Nations says there is no need to panic about the impact spent depleted uranium ammunition will have on either the environment or human health.
FROM THE NATIONAL: Silver Bullet: Depleted Uranium
http://www.tv.cbc.ca/national/pgminfo/du/
BACKGROUND: A Depleted Uranium FAQ
http://cbc.ca/news/indepth/background/du.html
A new report downplays the short-term effects of the weapons, which have been a cause of growing concern recently, as some NATO countries wondered if they are linked to veterans' health problems.
The armour-piercing ammunition was used extensively by U.S. forces in the Balkan conflicts.
The UN report finds contamination caused by the bombardment in Kosovo to be low, causing little risk to air quality or plant life.
It does, however, acknowledge scientific uncertainty about the long-term environmental consequences of the contamination. In particular, the UN worries that buried depleted uranium could find its way into the ground water, and the drinking water supply.
Because of that, the report contains several recommendations.
They include:
continued monitoring of ground water
marking of all areas contaminated by depleted uranium
decontamination where possible
The report also calls for a scientific mission to Bosnia, where shells are buried.
Concerns were aroused late last year, after Italy discovered six of its Balkan veterans had contracted leukemia. Several other countries began to wonder if their troops who had served in the Balkans had been exposed to dangerous materials.
NATO has denied any link between the weapons and health problems, as have the United States, Britain and France.
The weapons were also used by the United States in the Gulf War.
---
U.N. Reports Says Kosovo Uranium Threat Remains
New York Times
March 13, 2001 Filed at 8:32 a.m. ET
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-UN-Depleted-Uranium.html
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis/web/vortex/display?slug=uranium14&date=20010314
GENEVA (AP) -- Contamination from depleted uranium ammunition used in Kosovo is low, but the threat of radiation in the water supply remains, the United Nations Environment Program said Tuesday.
In its final report on samples taken from 11 sites across the province last November, the agency said it found low levels of radiation in the immediate vicinity of targets and mild contamination from depleted uranium dust.
UNEP reported in February that it had found small quantities of plutonium in penetrators fired by NATO during the 1999 bombing campaign, but Tuesday's report said ``the amount of transuranic isotopes found ... is very low and does not have any significant impact on their overall radioactivity.''
However, remaining radioactive debris could cause contamination above normal health standards, UNEP said. Ammunition buried in the soil could contaminate ground water, leading to anything up to a 100-fold increase in uranium levels in drinking water.
``While the radiation doses will be very low, the resulting uranium concentration might exceed World Health Organization health standards for drinking water,'' the report said.
Touching a piece of ammunition would not be dangerous, but if it were kept in a pocket for several weeks the carrier could suffer ``quite high local radiation doses,'' the report said.
People were seen collecting ammunition, in some cases wearing bullets round their neck, said Pekka Haavisto, who led the agency's mission to Kosovo. Investigators did not, however, see anyone wearing depleted uranium ammunition, he said.
A child swallowing a small amount of contaminated soil also could obtain a dose above normally approved biochemical standards, the agency said.
U.S. aircraft used munitions containing depleted uranium, a slightly radioactive heavy metal, during the 78-day air campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999, as well as in Bosnia in 1994 and 1995.
A number of European nations also use munitions containing depleted uranium, which has about 40 percent less radiation that natural uranium, which itself is not considered a health hazard.
Concerns arose in several European countries earlier this year when Italy started studying the illnesses of 30 veterans of Balkans peacekeeping missions. Seven of the veterans died of cancer, including five from leukemia.
Haavisto said the investigations did not cover the effect on soldiers who were on the ground when depleted uranium ammunition struck because the survey was not carried out until 18 months after the end of bombing.
UNEP recommended removing ammunition, decontaminating the 112 Kosovo sites where NATO has admitting using depleted uranium munitions and informing residents about the ordnance.
UNEP also recommended similar work in other places where the ammunition has been used, including Bosnia and Iraq.
-------- korea
Re-Isolating North Korea Isn't in U.S. Interest
San Francisco Chronicle
Tuesday, March 13, 2001
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/03/13/ED204911.DTL
THE CLINTON administration made some mistakes in foreign policy. But the decision in 1994 to engage, rather than confront, North Korea was the right choice then and is the right choice now.
When President Bush met last week with South Korean President Kim Dae Jung, Bush wanted to sound realistic, tough and skeptical of North Korea's motives and its penchant for secrecy.
Bush's tough stand may be great for domestic politics. But after the new administration completes its policy review, the conclusion should be inescapable: Continue to negotiate. Even if you have to give up something to get something from a regime you despise.
What did the Clinton administration give up? It delivered 100,000 tons per year of heavy fuel oil (current cost: $100 million) to North Korea and promised that North Korea would get two light-water nuclear power plants to be built and financed, not by us but, by Japan and South Korea.
What did the Clinton administration get? North Korea shut down a nuclear power plant that was producing weapons-grade plutonium. Our first concern is -- and should be -- weapons of mass destruction. That's why we're considering building an anti-missile defense at a cost of tens of billions of dollars.
Here was a chance to stop a nuclear bomb project. You can call this paying blackmail or making a sensible deal.
Negotiations to stop the development and spread of North Korean missiles were in progress as Clinton left office.
We don't want North Korea to make or distribute weapons of mass destruction.
We don't want North Korea to threaten South Korea or our troops there. We don't want North Korea to implode and spill chaos across its borders. The goal, then, must be to bring North Korea into the family of nations -- as Kim Dae Jung advocates. He is next door to this menace, not thousands of miles away.
The important thing to remember about the Bush-Kim meeting is that nothing happened. There were no talks between the United States and North Korea to call off. Bush's bravado was cost-free, except to Kim's standing at home. And even the strongest advocates of the policy of negotiations realize that U.S. positions can be refined, and that one does not deal with North Korea with eyes wide shut.
North Korea is a ridiculous, sad country with a comic-book dictatorship. But we have to live with it -- not because we are generous, but because we are rational. This is not a time to play chicken.
--------
N. Korea cancels talks with S. Korea
InfoBeat News
Morning Coffee Edition - 3/13/2001
http://www.infobeat.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/IBFrontEnd.woa/wa/fullStory?article=406377447
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - In a blow to reconciliation on their divided peninsula, North Korea called off Cabinet-level talks with South Korea just hours before they were to begin Tuesday.
North Korean chief delegate Jon Kum Jin did not give a reason for the cancellation of talks in Seoul, but South Korean analysts speculated that the Pyongyang government was concerned by tougher talk from the new U.S. administration.
South Korean President Kim Dae-jung returned Sunday from Washington, where President Bush told him that he was skeptical of North Korea and would not immediately resume negotiations on the North's missile program.
``North Korea may have delayed the meeting because it has not yet set its stance on how to cope with last week's Kim-Bush summit,'' said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korea studies at Seoul's Dongguk University.
Bush said he supports Kim's policy of engaging the North, but South Korean officials worry privately that a hardline U.S. approach would slow the reconciliation process with the North that began last year.
In recent weeks, North Korea has angrily threatened to pull out of missile and nuclear accords with Washington.
``Considering various circumstances, we cannot participate in today's meeting,'' the South Korean government quoted Jon as saying in a telephone message relayed to his South Korean counterpart, Unification Minister Park Jae-kyu. There was no offer by North Korea to reschedule the talks.
Park expressed strong regret and urged that the meeting be held as soon as possible, his ministry said in a statement.
At the Cabinet-level talks, South Korean officials had planned to discuss and set new reconciliation projects for the rest of 2001.
Topics were to include the arrangement of more reunions of separated family members, sports games and other exchanges, and a planned visit to South Korea by North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
South Korean officials did not speculate on why North Korea scuttled the meeting.
Kim Sung-han, a North Korea expert at the state-funded Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, also said the abrupt cancellation may have been an ``indirect protest'' against the Bush-Kim summit.
But he said it was unlikely to effect negotiations on the North Korean leader's expected visit to Seoul, an event viewed as a major gesture of friendship between two once-bitter enemies.
``Kim's visit, I believe, will be discussed by higher-level authorities in a more secretive environment,'' Kim Sung-han said.
On Monday, South Korea said it would ship $18 million of aid to the impoverished North in hopes of boosting rapprochement. Supplies include children's clothing, fruit, potatoes and medicine.
At Cabinet-level talks with the South in December, North Korea appealed for 500,000 kilowatts of free electricity but rejected a South Korean proposal to conduct an extensive joint survey of the North's energy situation, instead suggesting a limited study.
The Korean peninsula was divided into the communist North and pro-Western South in 1945. The 1950-53 Korean War between the two ended without a peace treaty, and their border remains sealed and heavily fortified.
-------- missile defense
Selling Nuclear Fear
March 13, 2001
David Beers,
http://www.alternet.org
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10588
The graying peace movement is looking for fresh blood to oppose America's latest "Star Wars" scheme. But how do you lure recruits who may have been playing with Cabbage Patch dolls and Transformer toys when the Cold War ended?
The answer for an American -- and global -- audience is being test marketed in Canada at the moment. In Vancouver and Toronto, billboards and transit ads project day-glo images of a rave-cool young people dueling with a warhead beneath the words "Don't Blow It." The ads and the Web site they promote are the direct result of a close study of how to sell nuclear fear, and activism, to 18-35-year-olds.
Irony works. Tugging at heart strings doesn't. Make plenty of neutral-toned information available to your inherently skeptical audience. And avoid even a whiff of hippy-dippy. If there's one thing youth distrust more than the military industrial complex, it's their parents' nostalgia.
These are findings of an agency hired to research and craft a just launched media campaign for the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. The aim of the campaign is to mobilize youth against support for the U.S. national defense system that sits at the top of President George Bush's agenda.
Proponents of NDM say the system will shield North America by intercepting nuclear-tipped missiles fired by "rogue" nations. Opponents claim the unproven technology is an expensive boondoggle in the making, may violate anti-ballistic missile treaties, and will trigger a new global nuclear weapons buildup.
"If the U.S. goes ahead on this, China and Russia have said they will respond by heightening the arms race," notes 24-year-old Sarah Kelly, who was one of several Bombs Away campaign spokespeople on hand at the unveiling of the Don't Blow It billboard in Vancouver. "Keep heightening the arms race," reasons the fourth year medical student at the University of British Columbia, "and eventually a nuclear weapon will be used."
Articulate, imbued with energy to not only study medicine but wrestle with geopolitics, Kelly is just what the doctor ordered for a flagging movement.
Indeed, as the Star Wars debate rekindles, peace activists in North America and Europe see a golden opportunity to replenish their membership, which plummeted as soon as the Berlin Wall came down. Fresh troops are essential, they say, to tackle their larger aim: abolishing nuclear weapons altogether.
Seizing public attention for that cause proved daunting in an era when "presidents Bush and Clinton told people that we no longer lived under the threat of nuclear war and that the world was a much safer place," says Lynn Martin, Communications Director for the U.S. branch of IPPNW.
"While it is true that the numbers of nuclear weapons decreased under these administrations," Martin says, "there are still 30,000 nuclear weapons in the world today and the nuclear war-fighting plans and strategies remain unchanged. The U.S. and Russia each have about 2,500 strategic nuclear weapons on hair-trigger alert status and these are targeted at hundreds of cities. If just one modern nuclear weapon exploded over a large city -- either by accident or intent -- millions of people would die and millions more would be injured. The threat of nuclear war remains the greatest immediate public health threat in the world today."
If so, not just politicians, but popular culture fails to reflect such urgency. In 1964, Stanley Kubrick's black comedy Dr. Strangelove made a splash by ridiculing the notion that America's nuclear arsenal was failsafe. In 1983, the television movie The Day After used realism to shock viewers into imagining the consequences of nuclear war. In cineplexes now we find Thirteen Days, a retelling of the Cuban missile crisis that gets good reviews, but implies nuclear doom was confronted 40 years ago and, through cool Kennedy thinking, defused.
Sarah Kelly was born 15 years after that near conflagration. She was but nine years old in 1986, when the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War received the Nobel Peace Prize. Forgive her, then, if the anti-nuclear movement of old is little more than a grainy Life magazine photo in her mind. She and her friends "have seen pictures of our parents' generation marching for peace." But for Kelly, the persistent risk of Armageddon comes as a fresh discovery, and she says she is hungry to know and do more about it.
The 18 to 35 age group that includes Sarah Kelly is the subject of much scrutiny by marketing types. One research firm, D-Code, has named them the Nexus generation, caught as they are between the Industrial and Information Ages, and sandwiched between the Baby Boom and Echo generations.
This demographic is the focus, too, of Amanda Gibbs, whose job at the Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society (www.impacs.org) is to help put together media campaigns for non-profit organizations. According to Gibbs, the Nexus generation is "realistic, confident, optimistic, activist" and "incredibly media literate. Yet members of the nexus gang are also born skeptics, steeped in the irony of the age."
When the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War decided it needed to appeal to the Nexus generation, it hired Gibbs and IMPACS to figure out how.
Gibbs developed some campaign approaches, then hired D-Code to run the ideas by a Nexus-aged focus group. Among the group's six carefully selected members: A social activist who'd worked at addiction recovery and sexual assault centers. An arts publicist who'd sailed the Pacific on youth cultural exchange program. A restaurant owner and wine grower who specializes in organic ingredients. A hip-hop artist studying commerce and information technology. A screenwriter/graphic designer. And the founder of her own ecological gardening company.
Gibbs herself casually throws around terms like "marketing to the Web" and "fashion forward" and would seem to be naturally in tune with these Nexusers. But at age thirty, she felt a bit dated as the cultural biases of the focus group revealed themselves.
For example, Gibbs is in love with atomic kitsch like those 1950s instructional films telling school kids to "duck and cover" at the first sign of a nuclear flash, or that famous Dr. Strangelove scene of Slim Pickens riding a falling H-bomb like bronco. But such retro-iconography doesn't register with the Nexus group. "They thought it was moldy," Gibbs says.
A concept called "We said No Nukes" was intended to connect younger people with the peace protests of the past. But it fared no better. "Several of the D-Coders [saw] the activism in the 1960s as largely ineffective and its adherents as sell outs to big business (or worse, their parents)," read the final report.
Many in the group liked a concept that blamed corporate greed for driving the nuclear arms industry. But they doubted the broader appeal of that message across their generation. "'Sticking it to the man' is not going to push your 'social hot button' if you work in a bank," said the report. Some might "feel as though the campaign message is attacking them, their lifestyle, etc."
More popular was a straightforward approach declaring that we face, even today, immediate risk of a nuclear catastrophe. But again, a caveat specific to those of Nexus age. "The message was traumatic in the eighties when Nexus was growing up. It made them feel vulnerable to powers beyond their control and it could still elicit a disempowering response if not supported by actionable steps," D-Code reported. As the gardening company owner said: "No more missile horror messages for me . . . I still feel traumatized by the nuclear war movies of the eighties. . . . It was such a negative way to be brought up in this world, thinking that it might blow up any second because of power freak grown-ups."
Though the billboards are generating productive attention, the real engine of the campaign is the www.bombsaway.ca web site. A month after the site went up, it has had some 25,000 hits, half of them from the U.S., and over 1000 visitors have used the site's capacity to send faxes in opposition to the NMD program.
"Before you can activate younger people, you have to educate them," theorizes Gibbs, who grew up on military bases. The younger half of the Nexus generation, those aged 18 to 25, "don't watch, much less trust, TV," Gibbs maintains. Instead, surveys show they get more of their information from the Web than anywhere else. The Web fits their skeptical, hype-averse nature by allowing them to read as deeply and broadly on a topic as they desire, and it can give them timely updates and action advisories. When a notice gets picked up and spread exponentially in cyberspace, Gibbs says, that is a sign that the "viral marketing" approach to "web activism" is working, and very inexpensively.
Such buzz phrases were foreign to Dr. Mary-Wynn Ashford, co-president of IPPNW, when she came to Gibbs and IMPACS for help. Ashford, who is 60, intended to hire the group to make a 20-minute video, a standard tool for her group in the past. Now she fully buys into the Web-driven strategy for youth who she's come to see are "information savvy and steeped irony."
It did startle Ashford her to see this age bracket reject "our traditional approach: forthright and emotional, based on love for the planet, wanting to protect children. Young people said all this stuff sounds like the 70s and our parents' generation."
If veteran nuclear dissenters are having to start from scratch with a new pool of potential activists, the U.S. military establishment suffers no such loss of institutional memory. Vice President Dick Cheney was Secretary of Defense under Dubya's father, and today's point man on NMD -- current Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld -- held the same post in the mid-1970s under President Gerald Ford.
Bush vows to up military spending by a third, adding another $100 billion a year, and he made NMD a cornerstone of his campaign. If the program goes forward, firms like Boeing and Lockheed stand to gain at least $60 billion in new contracts, according to a conservative estimate by the Congressional Budget Office.
Dr. Ashford expects lessons learned from www.bombsaway.ca to be applied in campaigns in the nine other countries. Top of that list is the United States, where public opinion is the only weapon against well financed lobbyists for military contractors. "We have to affect voting in the U.S. Congress," Ashford declares. "If we do, other countries will fall in line."
Vancouver-based writer David Beers is author of Blue Sky Dream: A Memoir of America's Fall from Grace (Doubleday and Harvest). He can reached at davidbeers@ca.inter.net
---
Labor holds out against missile defence
The Age
Tuesday 13 March 2001
By GERARD HENDERSON
http://www.theage.com.au/news/2001/03/13/FFXKD7F17KC.html
What a difference a word makes - apparently. Late last week the Bush administration announced that it had changed the name of the United States' National Missile Defence (NMD) plan to missile defence.
This was communicated to NATO's Secretary-General, Lord George Robertson, by President George W. Bush and US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld during meetings in Washington. Australia, no doubt, will be formally advised in due course.
Lord Robertson told reporters that "taking the `N' out of NMD has changed perceptions" - meaning that missile defence indicated a US willingness to work with other nations in a joint effort to shoot down missiles, whereas the "national" in NMD implied that the US was focused on its self-interest.
So far, among the NATO nations, only Britain has demonstrated any empathy with Bush's missile defence proposals. Even such traditional US allies as Canada and Germany have expressed misgivings. Moreover, Russia and China strongly oppose the policy - even though missile defence is aimed at "rogue" states with the potential to develop and deliver a few nuclear weapons, namely North Korea, Iraq, Iran and the like.
During his second term as opposition leader in 1995, John Howard alleged that Labor (during Paul Keating's prime ministership) had developed an "Asia only" policy. This implied that Australia's relations with the US, among others, had been downgraded markedly in favor of a complete focus on the Asian region. However, from the election of the Hawke government in 1983 until the defeat of the Keating government 13 years later, the Australian-US relationship was in fine shape.
With only one possible exception. Soon after he became prime minister, Bob Hawke encountered opposition from the left of his party over Australia's planned cooperation with the Reagan administration's Strategic Defence Initiative. In the event, the Hawke government backed down on an agreement that an unarmed SDI missile could be tested in Australian waters.
As it turned out, disagreement over the SDI did not harm the Australia-US relationship during the Labor years. Unlike New Zealand, Labor in Australia did not prevent the visits of nuclear-armed warships.
Also, Australia committed a naval contingent to the US-led, UN-endorsed forces in the Gulf War.
Neither John Howard nor Kim Beazley have had much to say about the US plans concerning, and Australia's possible involvement with, missile defence. Rather, the debate has been conducted at the foreign minister/shadow minister level. There the disagreement is unambiguous.
On July 18 last year, Alexander Downer was interviewed on ABC TV's 7.30 Report. Asked about formed Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser's opposition to the Clinton administration's missile defence plans, the Foreign Minister was direct. He commented that it would be a "tough call" for Australia to "say we wouldn't give any support whatsoever to the Americans setting up some sort of system which could stop a missile from North Korea or somewhere landing on Los Angeles or Seattle".
It was a sound point. If the US is able to establish an effective missile defence system, in all likelihood this would involve the US-Australian joint facility at Pine Gap. The particular role of Pine Gap would be to provide early information about missile launches.
If missile defence were a reality, then it's difficult to imagine any Australian government (Coalition or Labor) denying the US information about a missile directed at a North American target. Not if the Australian-US alliance was to continue as a viable entity.
Clinton never fully committed the US to missile defence. But Bush is a firm believer in the concept.
There have been no formal discussions between Washington and Canberra since Bush came to office. However, in an interview with the 7.30 Report on February 6, Downer indicated that the Howard Government's attitude has not changed. He did acknowledge, however, that the Bush administration had not determined its preferred missile defence system.
The Foreign Minister also directed attention away from the rogue states and towards "the countries that have been transferring missile technology". He named Russia as a nation "that has been involved in the proliferation of missile technology".
Labor takes a quite different position. On July 17 last year, opposition foreign affairs spokesman Laurie Brereton issued a media statement on the NMD. He was quite direct, declaring that the NMD (as it then was) had "the potential to severely damage world prospects for nuclear disarmament and trigger a vicious spiral of proliferation - a new arms race".
Certainly Brereton was restating ALP policy, which had been decided at the party's March 2000 national conference. It is just that he did so with alacrity. Following the change of administration in Washington, Brereton has reinforced the ALP's position.
It is early days yet. Missile defence, if it works, is a long time off. Yet in the short term at least, there is a real difference between the Coalition and Labor on foreign policy. The Howard Government has given in-principle support to Australia's involvement in missile defence as part of the Australia-US alliance. The Beazley Opposition acknowledges that missile proliferation is a serious problem, but maintains that what the Bush administration has in mind will be counter-productive in that it could lead to an expansion of China's nuclear capability.
Lord Robertson may be impressed that the US is not using the "national" word any more, but it is unlikely Laurie Brereton will be so taken. In opposition, at least.
Gerard Henderson is the executive director of the Sydney Institute. E-mail: mail@sydneyins.org.au
---
Russia Won't Dump ABM if U.S. Deploys Missile Shield
Russia Today
Mar 13, 2001
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=308671§ion=default
MOSCOW -- (Reuters) A senior Russian general ruled out on Monday any hasty reaction by Moscow if the United States started deploying the national missile shield Russia opposes.
Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, head of the Defense Ministry's international cooperation department, said Russia would not immediately abandon the key 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty even if it saw Washington violating it.
"Russia will not precipitate the collapse of ABM. We will consult with European and other states and try to stop the process even after the United States clearly begins to deploy the system," Ivashov told a news conference. "On this road, there is such thing as a point of no return."
Ivashov repeated Russia's opposition to Washington's proposal to create a National Missile Defense (NMD) umbrella to protect its territory from a surprise rocket attack by "rogue states", such as Iran or North Korea.
He also dismissed as meaningless President George W. Bush's suggestion to drop the term "national" to make the scheme more palatable for west European countries still suspicious of it.
Russia says NMD is primarily aimed against its own nuclear arsenal and would amount to tearing up ABM, which it sees as the cornerstone of nuclear deterrence. The treaty limits the anti-missile systems the United States and Russia can deploy.
The comments by Ivashov, a hawk within Russia's military establishment, appeared to suggest that cash-strapped Moscow would have to live with the system since Bush appears determined to proceed with it. His Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, has called the ABM treaty "ancient history".
Ivashov said that even if U.S. workers started pouring the concrete foundations of missile launch pads in Alaska for the shield Moscow would keep using political means to try to persuade Washington to change its mind.
Last year, President Vladimir Putin threatened Russian withdrawal from all disarmament agreements if Washington proceeded with the anti-missile shield.
The United States has offered to extend NMD to cover Europe to encourage its NATO allies to back the plan.
Moscow has tried to rally European support behind an alternative scheme, submitted to NATO, which stresses diplomatic efforts to defuse any crisis but could ultimately involve stationing missiles close to countries causing concern.
A senior Russian arms control diplomat dismissed what he said were suggestions in the West that Moscow's plan amounted to an acknowledgement that "rogue states" posed a real missile threat which had to be tackled by military means.
"I tell you, this absolutely does not correspond to our view," Yuri Kapralov, director of the Foreign Ministry's Security Affairs and Disarmament Department, told Reuters in an interview. "It's wishful thinking."
-------- russia
Russia Plans Floating Nuclear Plant
Las Vegas Sun
March 13, 2001
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/archives/2001/mar/13/031303306.html?nuclear+OR+plutonium+OR+uranium+OR+radioactiv
MOSCOW (AP) - An Atomic Energy Ministry spokesman said Tuesday that Russia will build a floating nuclear power plant, the latest indication the country intends to go ahead with plans for a project it has mentioned repeatedly in the past.
The $109 million plant is to be built in Severodvinsk, a military port on Russia's northern coast 30 miles west of Archangelsk, and will float in the White Sea, said ministry spokesman Yuri Bespalko.
He said the plant would have a generating capacity of 60 megawatts, but did not provide further details.
Russia has long expressed interest in using floating plants to supply electricity to remote northern and eastern regions, where severe weather make construction on land difficult and expensive.
Bespalko said Tuesday's announcement was a firm commitment and that "this may become a prototype for a series of this type of station."
But Bellona, a Norway-based environmental group that closely monitors Russia's nuclear programs, was skeptical. Igor Kudrik, a researcher in Moscow for Bellona, said he doubted Russia would find the money to build the plant - and that if the plan went ahead it would be risky.
Nuclear experts in the United States said the plan to build floating nuclear plants was feasible, but expressed concern about Russia's ability to build and operate them safely.
"Russia has a problem with construction quality," said Daniel Lochbaum, nuclear safety engineer for the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, D.C.
He said the first nuclear reactors were designed in the 1950s for Navy ships and submarines, and that the United States and Russia now have extensive nuclear-powered fleets. He said a floating nuclear plant would differ little from a land-based plant, except that all the systems would have to be smaller.
Of special concern is the containment shell that would hold contaminated water and steam if there was a leak. Other concerns include protecting the floating reactor from violent weather, high seas and collisions, Lochbaum said.
Henry Kelly, president of the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, also pointed to the containment structure as a cause for concern, saying it would be "very tough" to build one sufficiently large and stable on a barge.
"The temptation to cut corners to make the economics work would be huge," he added.
Lochbaum said the concept of a floating nuclear power plant originated in the United States. Westinghouse and other companies designed a prototype in the 1970s that was to be located off Cape May, N.J., but the project was canceled.
Bespalko dismissed safety concerns.
"There are nuclear submarines and icebreakers. The Americans have nuclear aircraft carriers," he said.
Russia now has 10 nuclear plants that produce about 12 percent of the nation's electricity.
------
Khatami visits Russian space agency
InfoBeat News
Afternoon Edition - 3/13/2001
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press Writer
http://www.infobeat.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/IBFrontEnd.woa/wa/fullStory?article=406380590
KOROLEV, Russia (AP) - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Tuesday toured Russia's mission control facility, which guides the Mir space station and where officials communicate with the new International Space Station.
Russia's willingness to supply arms and technology to Iran has provoked the anger of the United States, which says Iran sponsors terrorism. In the past, the United States has imposed sanctions against Russian companies accused of providing missile technology to Iran.
At mission control in Korolyov, just outside Moscow, Khatami looked at a huge screen showing Mir's orbit and toured the room from which Russian officials communicate with the multinational ISS, controlled out of NASA's Houston space center.
Khatami and his delegation showed intense interest in mission control's work, asking whether Mir flies over the United States on its orbits and even asking whether they could chat with the ISS crew. The ISS was out of contact, Russian officials said.
Yuri Koptev, head of the Russian Aerospace Agency, said the tour underlined Russia and Iran's intentions to cooperate in the field of space and aviation.
``Iran has plans to develop high-tech industries and join in all areas of scientific and technical progress,'' said Koptev. ``Cooperation with Russia in this field is a natural move.''
Russia is bidding to build a telecommunications satellite for Iran, and the two countries are discussing deals under which Iran would build Russian-designed Tu-334 and Tu-204 jetliners under license. A jet deal could pump badly needed money into Russia's aircraft industry.
Russia and Iran are also talking about weapons sales. The Russian government has not divulged details of possible deals, but officials have indicated that Iran has expressed interest in buying the S-300 air defense missile system, fighter jets, helicopters, patrol boats and other weapons.
Putin said that Russia would provide Iran only with ``defensive'' weapons, adding that such sales wouldn't violate international agreements.
Russia says it obeys international agreements banning the proliferation of nuclear and missile technologies, but warned Washington in November that it was abandoning a 1995 pledge not to sell tanks and other conventional weapons to Iran.
Moscow has also brushed off U.S. demands that it cancel an $800 million contract to complete the Bushehr nuclear plan.
-------- ukraine
Ukraine Nuclear Reactor Shut Down After Malfunction
Russia Today
Mar 13, 2001
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=308866
KIEV -- (Agence France Presse) Reactor number two at Ukraine's southern Pivdeno-Ukrainskaya nuclear power plant was shut down overnight in order to repair a fault in its steam generation system, a plant spokeswoman said Tuesday.
"No increase in radioactivity has been detected," the spokeswoman Svitlana Kyashko said, adding that the reactor would be restarted on March 22.
The Pivdeno-Ukrainskaya, located about 300 kilometers (187 miles) south of Kiev, is equipped with three Soviet-era VVER-1000 (1000-megawatt) water-pressure reactors. In addition to the Pivdeno-Ukrainskaya plant, Ukraine has three other nuclear plants at Khmelnitsky, Rivne and Zaporizhiya, with a total of 10 VVER-type reactors.
The nuclear plants produced 45.8 percent of the country's electricity in February, according to the authorities.
The last reactor at Ukraine's Chernobyl plant, scene of the world's worst civilian nuclear disaster in April 1986, was finally shut down on December 15, 2000.
-------
NRC: 9 BILLION CURIES RELEASED FROM CHERNOBYL & MEDIA DISTORTIONS
From: "Bill Smirnow" <smirnowb@ix.netcom.com>
Tue, 13 Mar 2001
The U.S. government's Argonne Nat. Lab has said that 30 percent of the reactor's total radioactivity 3/4 3 billion of an estimated 9 billion curies 3/4 was released.6 And scientists at the U.S. Lawrence Livermore Nat. Lab suggested that one-half of the core's radioactivity was spewed 3/4 4.5 billion curies, according the World Information Service on Energy, quoting Science, 6-13-86.
Vladimir Chernousenko, the chief scientific supervisor of the "clean up" team responsible for a 10-kilometer zone around the exploded reactor, says that 80 percent of the reactor's radioactivity escaped, something like seven billion curies.7 At the Union of Concerned Scientists, senior energy analyst Kennedy Maize, concluded that "the core vaporized" 3/4 all 190 tons of fuel, and all 9 billion curies.8
Former Chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Joseph Hendrie, concluded likewise, saying "They have dumped the full inventory of volatile fission products from a large power reactor into the environment. You can't do any worse than that."9
YOU SHOULD ASK FOR AN EMAIL COPY OF MY ARTICLE ON CHERNOBYL FROM EARTH ISLAND JOURNAL, VOL. 12, NO. 3, SUMMER 1997, P. 28 TOO.
SINCERELY, JOHN LaFORGE
Nukewatch P.O. Box 649 Luck, WI 54853
Phone (715) 472-4185 Fax (715) 472-4184
Web http://www.nukewatch.com
- -
Chernobyl: For 14 years, the industry has downplayed the damage to humans and the planet
John M. LaForge
MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE
Published Sunday, May 7, 2000
With a heavy dose of half-truth, the commercial press works overtime to reduce the results of the April 26, 1986, Chernobyl catastrophe to a "nervous disorder" confined to the former Soviet Union and Europe. Understated anniversary reports of the worldwide radiation disaster help the nuclear industry hold on against overwhelming opposition, in spite of what should have been the final insult from nuclear power.
Efforts at psychological "cleanup" often sound like Peter Crane, a lawyer at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), who says that "the explosion . . . sent a radioactive cloud into the atmosphere of Eastern Europe." This is a true statement. It merely neglects to mention the rest of planet Earth.
Journalist Michael Specter reports, "The fire, which burned out of control for five days, spewed more than 50 tons of radioactive fallout across Belarus, Ukraine and Western Russia." This loaded sentence is true, in a limited sense. That the fire burned uncontrolled for two weeks after a series of three explosions; that perhaps 190 tons of reactor fuel was catapulted into the atmosphere; or that the radioactive fallout spread worldwide, reaching Minnesota's milk, for example, doesn't make Specter a liar, only a miser with the truth.
The Associated Press' Dave Carpenter's description that "deadly reactor fuel shot into the atmosphere, contaminating some 10,000 square miles and reaching as far as Western Europe" is likewise "correct," but Reuters reported on Nov. 28, 1995, that the contaminated areas include about 61,780 square miles. What is it to understate the total of irradiated territory by a factor of six? It isn't the pot calling the kettle black; it's the cesium calling the strontium a cancer agent.
Carpenter's AP lullaby was published widely and included the comment that "those living in the shadow of Chernobyl will be living with its deadly health and environmental legacy for years."
For years? The word "centuries" would have been more accurate, if conservative, since radiation's health effects are multigenerational and not limited in time. Indeed, some genetic effects appear to be increasing with each successive generation.
The AP's Angela Charlson reported that the explosions sent "a radioactive cloud across parts of Europe." Understatement was practiced as well by the New York Times, which said the disaster "spewed radiation across much of Europe" and that "a plume of toxic gases and dust . . . spread across the western Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia." While this uncomfortable fact is nowadays passe, the contamination of the whole world was hinted at when the Times reported that the radiation spread across western Russia "and beyond."
'Irrational fears'?
While Chernobyl's long-lived carcinogens -- primarily cesium, plutonium, strontium and iodine -- are well known to be deadly for decades or centuries, Soviet officials, the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and U.S. editors have all ridiculed the common-sense fear of Chernobyl's radioactive fallout.
The official Soviet paper Izvestia said in 1988 that doctors in the Ukraine were "spending more time on trying to dispel irrational fears than on treating the effects of radiation."
The IAEA, which at first refused to conduct a post-Chernobyl health study, claiming that all the accident's effects were confined within Soviet borders, dared to say in a 1991 study that Chernobyl's health effects were mainly "psychological." The heavily criticized report did not consider the health of the emergency-response workers or of the evacuees from the 18-mile exclusion zone, 8,000 of whom are now known to have died from radiation-related diseases.
The IAEA study failed to mention the lengthy latency period for observed cancer incidence. This cavalier whitewash of the disaster's inevitable results came from a nominal nuclear watchdog. "After all, the IAEA is in the business of promoting nuclear energy, not discouraging it. For 10 years the agency has attempted to downplay the consequences of the accident," wrote Alexander R. Sich in a cover story for the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. The IAEA, still downplaying in 1995, said any increase in cancer caused by Chernobyl would be "undetectable."
Editors across the country have embraced the IAEA's dismissive attitude, distracting readers with headlines like "Citizens still suffering radiation phobia" and "The legacy of Chernobyl: Fear is the deeper wound." A dread of radiation doesn't appear irrational in view of 1995's report that "A second catastrophic explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine could happen 'at any time,' Western scientists have warned."
A short review of Chernobyl's fallout pattern shows how irresponsible the reporting has become.
AP, May 15, 1986: "Airborne radioactivity from the Chernobyl nuclear accident is now so widespread that it is likely to fall to the ground wherever it rains in the United States, the EPA said."
AP, May 14, 1986: "An invisible cloud of radioactivity spewed over the Soviet Union and Europe, and has worked its way gradually around the world."
AP, May 15, 1986: "State authorities in Oregon have warned residents dependent solely on rainwater for drinking that they should arrange other supplies for the time being."
Star Tribune, May 17, 1986: "Since radiation from the Chernobyl nuclear accident began floating over Minnesota last week, low levels of radiation have been discovered in . . . the raw milk from a Minnesota dairy."
AP, April 4, 1996: "Plutonium and other dangerous particles released in the accident . . . have now found their way to Ukraine's major waterways . . . . 'We have billions of tons of radiated earth that can't be dumped anywhere, and which will pour plutonium, cesium and strontium into Europe for decades,' the chief consultant to the Ukrainian Parliament's Chernobyl commission said."
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, May 1996: "radiation contamination was detectable over the entire Northern Hemisphere."
Well beyond "Belarus, Ukraine and Western Russia," and further than "parts of Europe," Chernobyl's contamination doused at least half the world. But with so much disparity among estimates, we may never know the true biological, ecological, psychological and economic dimensions of Chernobyl's radiation bomb.
-- John M. LaForge is codirector of Nukewatch, a peace group based in Wisconsin, and editor of its quarterly newsletter, the Pathfinder.
--
Chernobyl at Ten:
Half-lives and Half Truths
By John M. LaForgeã
With a heavy dose of half-truth, the commercial press worked over-time to reduce the results of the Chernobyl catastrophe to a "nervous disorder" confined to the C.I.S. and Europe. Understated reports on the 10th anniversary of the world-wide radiation disaster help the nuclear reactor industry hold on against overwhelming opposition, in spite of what should have been the final insult from nuclear power.
The latest psychological "clean up" often went like this. Peter Crane, a lawyer at the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), said that "...the explosion... sent a radioactive cloud into the atmosphere of Eastern Europe." (1) This is a true statement. It merely neglects to mention the rest of planet Earth.
Reporter Michael Specter wrote that, "The fire which burned out of control for five days, spewed more than 50 tons of radioactive fallout across Belarus, Ukraine and Western Russia." (2) This loaded sentence is also literally true. The fact that the fire burned uncontrolled for two weeks, after a series of three explosions; that perhaps 190 tons of reactor fuel was catapulted into the atmosphere; or that the radioactive fallout spread world-wide 3/4 reaching Minnesota's milk for example 3/4 doesn't make of Mr. Specter a liar, only a miser with the truth.
Associated Press (AP) correspondent Dave Carpenter's descriptio n 3/4 that "deadly reactor fuel shot into the atmosphere, contaminating some 10,000 square miles and reaching as far as Western Europe" (3) is likewise "correct," but Reuters News Service reported on 28 Nov. 1995 that the contaminated areas include about 61,780 square miles.
Carpenter practiced perfect obfuscation in his dispatch, saying of the reckless nuclearists over there: "In a big lie, Soviet officials. . . first hushed up the disaster then played down its severity." What is it to understate the sum of irradiated territory by a factor of six? It isn't the pot calling the kettle black; it's the cesium calling the strontium a cancer agent.
Carpenter's AP lullaby was published widely and included the comment that, ". . . those living in the shadow of Chernobyl will be living with its deadly health and environmental legacy for years." (4)
For years? The word centuries would have been more accurate, if conservative, since radiation's health affects are multi-generational and not limited in time. Indeed, some genetic effects appear to be increasing with each successive generation.
The AP's Angela Charlson went so far as to say the reactor sent "a radioactive cloud across parts of Europe ..." (5) Understatement of the overwhelming facts was practiced as well by the editors of The New York Times, who said on April 21 that the disaster "spewed radiation across much or Europe" (6) and on the anniversary, that "...a plume of toxic gases & dust...spread across the western Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia." (7) Although the contamination of the rest of the world was hinted at as lately as 6 Oct. 1995, when the Times reported that the radiation spread across western Russia "and beyond," this uncomfortable fact is nowadays passé.
The Disaster's in Your Head
While the explosions' long-lived carcinogens 3/4 primarily cesium, plutonium, strontium and iodine 3/4 are well known to be deadly for decades and even centuries, Soviet officials, the U. N's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and U.S. editors have all ridiculed the common sense fear of Chernobyl's radioactive fallout.
The official Soviet paper Izvestia said in 1988 that doctors in the Ukraine were, ". . .spending more time on trying to dispel irrational fears than on treating the effects of radiation." (8)
The IAEA which at first refused to conduct a post-Chernobyl health study, claiming that all the accident's effects were confined within Soviet borders (9), dared to say in a 1991 study that Chernobyl's health effects were mainly "psychological." This heavily criticized report didn't even consider the health of the "liquidators," or the evacuees from the 18-mile exclusion zone, 8,000 of whom are now known to have died from radiation related diseases. (10)
The IAEA study failed to mention the lengthy latency period for observed cancer incidence. This cavalier white-wash of the disaster's inevitable results came from a nominal nuclear watchdog, which in fact is only the most prestigious booster of nuclear power. "After all the IAEA is in the business of promoting nuclear energy not discouraging it. For ten years the agency has attempted to downplay the consequences of the accident," wrote Dr. Alexander R. Sich in a cover story for the May/June Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. (11) The IAEA, still sticking in its vacuum, said in 1995 that any increase in cancer caused by Chernobyl would be "undetectable." (11.1)
Editors across the country have embraced the IAEA's dismissive attitude, distracting readers with headlines like, "Area Frozen In Fear," "Citizens Still Suffering Radiation Phobia," and "The Legacy of Chernobyl: Fear is the Deeper Wound." A dread of radiation doesn't appear irrational in view of last year's report that "A second catastrophic explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine could happen "at any time," Western scientists have warned." (12)
Reality Officially Forgotten
A short review of Chernobyl's fallout pattern shows how irresponsible the late reporting has become. AP, 15 May 1986: "Airborne radioactivity from the Chernobyl nuclear accident is now so widespread that it is likely to fall to the ground wherever it rains in the United States, the EPA said." AP, 14 May 1986: "An invisible cloud of radioactivity spewed over the Soviet Union and Europe, and has worked its way gradually around the world." AP, 15 May 1986: "State authorities in Oregon have warned residents dependent solely on rainwater for drinking that they should arrange other supplies for the time being." Minneapolis Star Tribune, 17 May 1986: "Since radiation from the Chernobyl nuclear accident began floating over Minnesota last week, low levels of radiation have been discovered in... the raw milk from a Minnesota dairy." AP, 4 April 1996: "Plutonium and other dangerous particles released in the accident...have now found their way to Ukraine's major waterways. ... 'We have billions of tons of radiated earth that can't be dumped anywhere, and which will pour plutonium, cesium and strontium into Europe for decades,' [the chief consultant to the Ukrainian parliament's Chernobyl commission] said." Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, May 1996, p. 38: "...radiation contamination was detectable over the entire northern hemisphere."
With so much disparity among so many figures, we may never know the true dimensions of Chernobyl's radiation bomb.
Notes:
(1) NYT, Op-Ed, 5 April 1996.
(2) International Herald Tribune, 2 April 1996.
(3) Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 14 April 1996.
(4) Minneapolis Star Tribune, 21 April 1996.
(5) St. Paul Pioneer, 27 April 1996.
(6) NYT, 21 April 1996, The Week In Review.
(7) NYT, 26 April 1996, signed editorial by Philip Taubman
(8) Los Angeles Times, 11 Feb. 1988.
(9) In These Times, 22 April 1987.
(10) AP, 23 April 1992; WISE News Communiqué, (Amsterdam) No. 449, 10 April 1996.
(11) Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, May 1996, p. 38.
(11.1) Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, May/June 1996, p. 8.
(12) The London Observer, 26 March 1995; Milwaukee Journal, 27 March 1995.
--
(Second of two parts)
The 10th anniversary was no party.
"I have seen the beginning of the end of the world," is how Michael Mariotte, editor of The Nuclear Monitor, put it after visiting Chernobyl's doomed landscape, everything dead or dying for miles around. "The end of the world begins in Pripyat, Ukraine, a once-thriving city of 45,000. Now it sits crumbling, abandoned, a mute but overwhelming testament to technological arrogance gone amok."1
Pripyat was the city nearest Chernobyl's Unit 4, the reactor that exploded on April 26, 1986 and burned dangerously until October, spewing tons of cancer-causing isotopes around the world.2
Mr. Mariotte is not known for emotional writing in The Monitor, but anyone who can stand to investigate the unfolding human consequences of the world's worst industrial catastrophe can understand his choice of words. Izvestia called it "the greatest technological catastrophe in world history."3
Cancers and other disease caused by Chernobyl's radioactive poisons are being recorded thousands of kilometers from the reactor site. The ninety million people who lived in the path of the very worst fallout are learning the hard way that damage done by ionizing radiation is unrelenting, cumulative and irreversible.
In the first part of this article (Spring 1996 Pathfinder) I compared the recent trivialization of Chernobyl's consequences to news accounts that appeared soon after the explosions and fire. For example, while the commercial press now tell us that the disaster "spread radiation across parts of Europe," the fact is that the federal EPA announced in mid-May 1986 that, "Airborne radioactivity from the Chernobyl nuclear accident is now so widespread that it is likely to fall to the ground wherever it rains in the United States."4
In this part I look at how much radiation Chernobyl evidently dumped added to the "background," at official skewing of the its inevitable long-term effects, and at recent reports of its human health consequences.
Answers are Blowin' in the Wind
How much radiation was released? What percentage of which isotopes were thrown into the atmosphere. Was it mostly iodine-131? How much of the total was made up of the far more dangerous cesium-137, strontium-90 and plutonium?
Piecing together the truth is a dizzying job of ferreting out bias and vested interest. The pro-nuclear Time magazine reported in 1989 that perhaps "one billion or more" curies were released, rather than the 50 to 80 million estimated by Russian authorities.5 One curie is the amount of radiation equal to the disintegration of 37 billion atoms 3/4 37 billion becquerels 3/4 per second. It is a very large amount of radiation.
The U.S. government's Argonne Nat. Lab has said that 30 percent of the reactor's total radioactivity 3/4 3 billion of an estimated 9 billion curies 3/4 was released.6 And scientists at the U.S. Lawrence Livermore Nat. Lab suggested that one-half of the core's radioactivity was spewed 3/4 4.5 billion curies, according the World Information Service on Energy, quoting Science, 6-13-86.
Vladimir Chernousenko, the chief scientific supervisor of the "clean up" team responsible for a 10-kilometer zone around the exploded reactor, says that 80 percent of the reactor's radioactivity escaped, something like seven billion curies.7 At the Union of Concerned Scientists, senior energy analyst Kennedy Maize, concluded that "the core vaporized" 3/4 all 190 tons of fuel, and all 9 billion curies.8
Former Chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Joseph Hendrie, concluded likewise, saying "They have dumped the full inventory of volatile fission products from a large power reactor into the environment. You can't do any worse than that."9
The Russians and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) claimed in a 1986 report, that 50 million curies of radioactive debris, plus another 50 million curies of rare and inert gasses were discharged. However, the rocketing incidence of cancers, leukemias and other radiation-induced illnesses, leads scientists to suspect that the higher radioactive fallout estimates are likely. Pandemic numbers of thyroid cancers led even the cautious Dr. Alexander Sich, in his Chernobyl cover story for the May 1996 Bulletin of Atomic Scientists to conclude that the "higher [radiation] release estimates support the conclusions drawn by medical experts."
Geneticist Valery N. Soyfer, founder of the former Soviet Union's first molecular biology laboratory, analyzed the 1986 report to the IAEA, which has since been condemned as a cover-up. Dr. Soyfer says that if only 100 million curies were vented, then world "background radiation doubled at once."10 This claim was unsupported by accompanying evidence, but if "background" was doubled by 100 million curies, then it was multiplied 180 times by the release of Chernobyl's "full inventory." Nineteen months after the disaster, in Nov. 1987, the U.S. government officially doubled its estimate of the "background" radiation to which we are exposed every year.11
Thyroid Cancers: More, Sooner, Untreatable
Dr. Soyfer further discovered that the Soviets focused on and publicized the fallout's radioactive iodine content, but understated the amounts of other far more dangerous isotopes. While 10 to 15 percent of the fallout was iodine-131, the long-lived radionuclides strontium-90 and cesium-137 made up more than two thirds of the total contamination.12
Furthermore, the Soviet's 1986 estimate of future cancer deaths was based only on the impact of iodine-131, and then only on external doses. As a result, the IAEA misled the world about Chernobyl's cancer threat. People contaminated with iodine-131 ingested it, first by breathing, then by drinking contaminated milk for six weeks. Thyroid cancer is caused by the iodine-131. Its rates are today ten times higher than the increase any scientist had anticipated. The U. N. has said that the number of thyroid cancers among children in Belarus 3/4 where 70 percent of the fallout landed 3/4 are 285 times pre-Chernobyl levels.13
The British Medical Journal reported in 1995 that the rate of thyroid cancer in the region north of Chernobyl3/4 Ukraine and Belarus3/4 is 200 times higher than normal, and the (British) Imperial Cancer Research Fund found a 500 percent increase in thyroid cancers among Ukrainian children between 1986 and 1993.14
Fear is growing among physicians treating the young radiation victims, because the thyroid cancers are appearing sooner than expected and growing quicker than usual. Dr. Andrei Butenko, at Kiev Hospital No. 1 in Ukraine, says of his patients, "Routine chemotherapy seems to have lost its effectiveness; something has changed in the immune system."15
Cesium's Genetic Assault: the 300 Years War
Cesium-137 contamination is probably Chernobyl's most devastating and ominous consequence. The body can't distinguish cesium from potassium, so it 's taken up by our cells and becomes an internal source of radiation. Cesium-137 is a gamma emitter and its half-life of 30 years means that it stays in the soil, to concentrate in the food chain, for over 300 years. While iodine-131 remains radioactive for six weeks, cesium-137 stays in the body for decades, concentrating in muscle where it irradiates muscle cells and nearby organs.16
Strontium-90 is also long-lived and, because it resembles calcium, is permanently incorporated into bone tissue where it may lead to leukemia.
The Soviet's acknowledged in 1986 that the influence of cesium-137 on cancer death rates would be nine times that of iodine-131. They said that the effects of strontium-90 would "perhaps have, along with cesium-137, the most important meaning."17
Early Findings Go from Bad to Worse
Exposure to radiation more often results in genetic and reproductive damage than cancer. These hereditary disorders are unlimited in time, since they pass from generation to generation in the sperm and ovum. So, as geneticist Soyfer points out, Chernobyl's enduring biological legacy will be that of inherited diseases, deformities, developmental abnormalities, spontaneous abortions and premature births.
Some recent epidemiological studies confirm the worst of these inevitable effects. The June 25, 1995 Washington Post reported that birth defects in the areas most heavily poisoned have doubled since 1986.
In a long page one story, the Aug. 2, 1995 New York Times reported that life expectancy has plummeted in Russia, making it the first nation in history to ever experience such a public health status reversal. Male life expectancy is now the lowest in the world (below even India or Bolivia) and, at the same time, infant mortality rose 15 percent in both 1993 and 1994, and there are now epidemic rates of heart disease and cancer. dr. David Hoel, an epidemiologist at the Medical University of S. Carolina, is studying whether Chernobyl's radiation is a major factor in the spread in cancers and birth defects. "Everyone assumes the connection," he said.
The journal Nature has published a study of children born in 1994 to mothers exposed to Chernobyl's fallout in 1986. Researchers studied 79 families 186 miles from Chernobyl and found never-before-observed "germ-line" mutations: changes in DNA of the sperm and ovum. Such mutations are passed on from generation to generation.18
Nature has also reported that in Greece, 2,800 kilometers from Chernobyl, where radiation exposures were far lower than in areas close to the reactor, leukemia has been diagnosed at rates 2.6 times the norm in young people who were in the womb when the reactor exploded. The British epidemiologist Dr. Alice Stewart found long ago that only one diagnostic X-ray to the pregnant abdomen increases the risk of leukemia in the offspring by 40 percent.19 However, the report from Greece is the first to link Chernobyl's wreckage to increased leukemia incidence in children exposed in utero.20 The report has moved some experts to again warn that the low levels of radiation to which people are exposed every day "could contribute to cancer."
Even the stodgy New York Times has reported that "cancers are now believed to be the result of smaller [radiation] doses, and the amount of damage inflicted by a given dose is now believed to be larger."21
In a related study, two U.S. geneticists analyzing animals inside Chernobyl's 6-mile radius found that small rodents known as voles "sustain an extraordinary amount of genetic damage." The study found that "the mutation rate in these animals is...probably thousands of times greater than normal." Two findings called "ominous" were, first, that one-third of the mutations that the scientists expected to see were not even detected 3/4 probably because they were lethal. "It could be that the animals were never born," said Dr. Robert Becker of Texas Technical Univ. Second, "the vole mutations were cumulative, increasing with each succeeding generation." Both researchers doubted that any species could sustain such a mutation rate indefinitely.22
Acceptable Whole-Earth Poisoning
The extent of Chernobyl's radioactive, biological and ecological damage, and the depth its psychological and economic devastation are incalculable.
What everyone does know about nuclear reactors is that they have a record of whole-earth poisoning, and that their potential for more of the same is considered acceptable 3/4 authorized in advance. This potential, for unlimited and uncontrollable radiation "accidents," has been deliberately developed, promoted, protected, ignored and then denied, or forgotten.
Sadly, denial and forgetfulness only make another Chernobyl inevitable.
Notes:
1 The Nuclear Monitor, newsletter of Nuclear Information Resource Service (NIRS), April 1996.
2 St. Louis Post Dispatch (SLPD), 7-23-90.
3 SLPD, 4-26-90.
4 Associated Press, 5-15-86.
5 Time, 11-13-89.
6 The Chicago Tribune, 6-22-86.
7 "The Truth About Chernobyl," Critical Mass: Voices for a Nuclear-Free Future, Ruggiero and Sahulka, Eds., 1996 by Open Media, p. 127.
8 Not Man Apart, the journal of Friends of the Earth, March 1987.
9 The Minneapolis Star Tribune, 5-19-86.
10 SLPD, 4-24-87.
11 The New York Times, 11-20-87.
12 SLPD, 4-24-87.
13 The New York Times, 11-29-96.
14 The Washington Post, 3-25-95.
15 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 12-12-94.
16 Caldicott, H., Nuclear Madness, 1994, Norton, p. 137.
17 SLPD, 4-24-87.
18 The New York Times, 4-25-96.
19 Caldicott, Ibid., p. 43.
20 St. Paul Pioneer, 7-25-96.
21 The New York Times, 6-23-96.
22 The New York Times, 5-7-96, B6. --end--
(Part One ran in NUKEWATCH The Pathfinder, Summer 1996, part Two in Winter 1996/1997 EDITION; an edited compilation of both parts is published in Earth Island Journal, Summer 1997, EIJ, 300 Broadway, No. 28, San Francisco, CA 94133.)
-------- u.s. nuc weapons
Bush probes radical warhead cut
A strategic nuclear review is considering whether to reduce the number from 7,500 to 2,500, or lower.
Christian Science Monitor
TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2001
By Peter Grier (grierp@csps.com)
http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/03/13/fp1s1-csm.shtml
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is studying changes to America's arsenal of offensive nuclear weapons that, in their own way, would be as radical a departure from past policies as the erection of a national missile defense.
A strategic review ordered by the White House earlier this year is considering whether to reduce the number of US warheads from today's 7,500 to 2,500, or lower. The study is also weighing whether such reductions should be made unilaterally, outside the framework of arms-control agreements that has shaped the nation's nuclear stockpile for so long.
Packaging missile defense with arms cuts might make the former more palatable to Moscow, say Bush officials. If it doesn't, the White House insists that it is prepared to move alone toward a more-defense, less-offense doctrine.
"While the president will seek to persuade Russia to join us in further reducing nuclear arsenals, he is also prepared to lead by example," according to the Bush administration's newly released budget.
The presidential order directing the nuclear review is classified. It's likely, however, that officials are weighing the manner in which targets are selected, plus potential future threats, and comparing that with the number and nature of US atomic bombs and missile warheads.
As a candidate, Mr. Bush promised to look into "de-alerting," or removing nuclear warheads from ready-to-launch status, so it is probable the review is considering that, too.
Officials are tight-lipped about study details. But experts in and outside government point to a recent National Institute for Public Policy (NIPP) report as a rough guidebook to Bush administration nuclear thinking.
One of the report's authors, Stephen Hadley, is now deputy national security adviser. Another, Stephen Cambone, has become a special aide to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
US nuclear requirements may, indeed, be met with forces reduced from current levels, concludes the NIPP report.
Emphasis on flexibility
But its primary emphasis is on the need for flexibility. While the US may need fewer warheads today, it would be wrong to lock in those lower levels via arms pacts with the Russians, study authors argue. If the world turns more dangerous in years ahead, America would then be unable to increase its arsenal - or build new types of nuclear warheads.
"The ability to adjust the US offensive and defensive force posture to a changing strategic environment is critical," says the NIPP study.
For the most part, critics of the Bush administration's proposed nuclear reductions do not object to shrinking the US arsenal, per se. During the Clinton administration, US and Russia had preliminary START III discussions aimed at cutting warheads to 2,000 or 2,500, about one-third of current deployed levels.
Rather, what they object to is the unilateral aspect of the administration's whole approach to nuclear policy. "It gives the illusion that we can control our own destiny ... and that other countries will just have to deal with that," says William Hartung, a nuclear studies fellow at the World Policy Institute in New York.
Mr. Hartung charges that nuclear-force reduction proposals are simply meant to mask the Bush administration's real strategic desires - missile defense, plus development of a new generation of nukes, such as so-called "bunker-buster" small weapons.
Others say that whether that is the case or not, moving alone to reduce nuclear forces is not necessarily a good idea. Unilateral reductions could easily become unilateral additions, in this view. The rest of the world would know that, and worry and watch accordingly.
Informal, nation-by-nation moves have played a role in arms control in recent years - witness the moratoria on nuclear tests adopted by the declared nuclear powers in the early 1990s. But in the end, arms-control agreements are meant to both control weapons and ensure predictability. In that regard, binding pacts, however imperfect, are more effective than any alternative.
"The whole point of these agreements is to put structure into the world," says Jack Mendelsohn, executive director of the Lawyers Alliance for World Security and a longtime Washington expert on nuclear affairs.
Some bipartisan support
The Bush administration's declared interest in arms cuts has received some bipartisan support. Earlier this month, Bob Kerrey, the former Democratic senator from Nebraska who now heads New York City's New School University, called the move "an important step in the right direction" in an opinion piece in The New York Times.
But as Mr. Kerrey pointed out, such reductions would be illegal under current US law.
For years, Congress has voted to bar any unilateral US move to reduce its arsenal below START I levels, pending ratification of the 1993 START II treaty by the Russian parliament. Russia finally ratified the pact last May - but made its approval contingent on the US Senate passing a package of Antiballistic Missile Treaty protocols.
This the current Senate is unlikely to do. The result, to this point: arms-cut stalemate.
The new Republican president would thus have to persuade the GOP-controlled Congress to reverse itself if he in fact decides upon unilateral reductions.
---
New CIA Unit to Track Spread of Weapons
International Herald Tribune
Tuesday, March 13, 2001
Vernon Loeb Washington Post Service
http://www.iht.com/articles/13229.htm
WASHINGTON The director of central intelligence, George Tenet, has created a unit with 500 analysts, scientists and support personnel to focus on nonproliferation and arms-control issues, calling the spread of missile technology and "weapons of mass destruction" a growing global threat.
The Weapons Intelligence, Nonproliferation and Arms Control Center will bring three existing Central Intelligence Agency analytic staffs together under Alan Foley, a veteran analyst of Soviet military affairs.
As head of the Arms Control Intelligence Staff, Mr. Foley has spent the past three years supporting arms control treaty negotiators. In his new role, Mr. Foley will also assume responsibility for the existing Nonproliferation Center, which dealt with a broad range of proliferation issues, and the Office of Transnational Issues' Weapons Intelligence Staff. He will report to Mr. Tenet. A senior CIA official said last week that the U.S. intelligence community was stretched "very thin" trying to keep pace with the spread of nuclear arms in South Asia, proliferating ballistic-missile technology in Asia and the Middle East, and attempts by terrorists and governments to acquire or develop nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The creation of the center last week and the increased emphasis on nonproliferation reflects heightened congressional interest, particularly among conservatives who are concerned about China's activities.
-------- u.s. nuc facilities
Threshold ready to wed small-caps
Excite News
March 13, 2001
http://news.excite.com/news/cbsmw/010313/01/stockpicks-threshold-ready
ST. LOUIS (CBS.MW) - Tim Hasara's fund is so new -- and so miniscule - that it's not yet gained much attention, much like the little-tracked stocks that its manager likes to buy.
The Threshold Advisor Small-Cap Value Fund, run by $1.5 billion Kennedy Capital Management, has about $250,000 in assets following its January launch. Hasara, who manages $500 million in institutional money for Kennedy, appropriately specializes in finding companies that are "underfollowed and undervalued."
"We generally like to buy stocks that have lower institutional ownership and less than average analyst coverage than the Street in general," said Hasara, whose fund was up 15 percent year-to-date through Friday.
One of Hasara's top picks is defense contractor United Industrial Corp. (UIC) "Their primary product is an unmanned and they have won significant contracts on that program," he said. The company has no debt, no analysts cover it and "they've gone through a restructuring, selling off underperforming divisions. The defense environment is very favorable -especially for the smaller companies - and I think they can earn $1.50 a share this year." Its shares fell 13 cents to $13.48 on Monday.
IDT Corp. (IDT) is also looking good, Hasara said. While the telecommunications company and Internet service provider recently lowered its earnings estimates, he said the company "has $30 per share in cash and a book value of $35. It's definitely a survivor in the industry and should be profitable this year." Its stock fell 44 cents to $22.70.
Hasar gives leading enriched uranium supplier USEC (USU) a glowing review. Spun-off from the federal government a few years ago, the company "is a great cash flow story" that may get better since the price of enriched uranium has been rising, Hasara said. USEC has no debt; the Bush administration is "much friendlier" to its industry and, perhaps best of all, when the feds sold it off, "they assumed all environmental liability," he said. Thus, the company is essentially indemnified from any lawsuits that might arise as a result of a nuclear boo-boo involving its product. Its stock rose 9 cents to $6.69.
-------- california
Rocketdyne's Radioactive Rock & Roll
Tue, 13 Mar 2001 23:51:32 -0800
HardGreenHerald #9
Protesters gathered last week at the gates of Rocketdyne's Santa Susana Field Laboratory as trucks rolled out, hauling 14,000 tons of radioactivity-contaminated soil from the military contractor's site above the San Fernando Valley to a dump in Kern County. Over residents' objections, the Department of Health Services had approved dumping the hot soil at a landfill near Buttonwillow, a town heavily populated by migrant workers. Two years ago, Health Services objected when Buttonwillow received radioactive waste from an old Manhattan Project bomb facility in New York state, saying the gunk should go to a licensed facility. Now the department has reversed position, declaring that radioactive waste can go anywhere - a municipal trash dump, a chemical-waste facility - as long as its radiation dosage is calculated at less than 25 millirem per year, the equivalent of 170 additional chest X-rays over a lifetime. That level is estimated to increase the cancer risk to one death for every 1,000 people exposed - a standard about 1,000 times more lax than is permitted for other carcinogens, the nuclear-watchdog group Committee To Bridge the Gap says. The Kettleman city dump refused the Rocketdyne shipment, but Buttonwillow let it through.
Rocketdyne's own tests showed that seven out of eight radionuclides in the Rocketdyne soil emitted radiation above normal background levels. One radionuclide, plutonium 238, was measured at 13.5 times the background level. Health officials and Rocketdyne portrayed the radiation as negligible.
"We live, whether we like it or not, in a sea of radiation," Health Services official Robert Gregor said.
The soil also contains PCBs, dioxin, mercury and the highly toxic rocket-fuel oxidizer perchlorate. The dumping is expected to continue for up to five months.
"The trucks have started rolling out of Rocketdyne, creating the precedent for free release of radioactive material throughout the state," said Dan Hirsch, president of Committee To Bridge the Gap. "If you thought deregulation of electricity hurt California, just wait until you see the consequences of deregulating radioactive waste."
-Michael Collins
"We're all downwinders!" Check out http://www.downwinders.org
-------- nevada
Project planned for NTS shelved
Las Vegas Sun
March 13, 2001
By Mary Manning <manning@lasvegassun.com>
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/text/2001/mar/13/511556526.html
The Energy Department may have to mothball a high-tech experimental facility scheduled to be moved to the Nevada Test Site, a project that was seen as a key link between the prestigious national DOE laboratories and University of Nevada system.
The DOE did not request funding to operate the $49 million Atlas pulse-powered generator, a major nuclear physics project being built at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, an inspector general investigation has concluded.
The lack of funding would not stop the move, which is scheduled for sometime in the next two years. It would only mean that the project would stand idle once it arrives at the Test Site.
Congress last year approved $12 million to assemble the unit in Los Alamos, then move it to the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
"We were informed that the department plans to seek a (fiscal year) 2002 appropriation for the Atlas operating funds, however, at the time this report was issued there had been no resolution of the operating fund situation," Inspector General George H. Friedman said. Fiscal year 2002 begins in October, and the DOE has already submitted its budget request the White House.
DOE managers said they still plan to request funds from Congress this year. The project is expected to require $35 million a year to run.
Democratic Sen. Harry Reid, Nevada's senior senator, wasn't surprised when informed of the funding shortage.
Reid, the second highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate, secured the funds to move Atlas and is prepared to request operating funds.
"There's never been enough money for the Atlas," said David Cherry, Reid's press secretary for the Senate Energy and Public Works Committee.
The DOE's Office of Defense Programs, when it was selling the program to Congress in 1998 and 1999, insisted the Atlas, a powerful machine that allows scientists to validate certain elements of nuclear weapons' computer codes, was vital to protect the U.S. nuclear arsenal short of full-scale nuclear testing.
It was to be moved to the Test Site because of subcritical experiments on nuclear weapons that occur there. The experiments do not create a nuclear chain reaction but allow scientists to see how the metals in a nuclear weapon react to an explosion.
A smaller part of the project, Pegasus, is scheduled to come to UNLV. It was seen as strengthening the link between the national labs and Nevada's universities.
The inspector general found that the Atlas did not appear that important within the division when it came to funding.
"Defense Programs has not effectively managed the Atlas project, because program officials did not assign the facility a priority high enough to fund its operations," Friedman wrote in the report.
The inspector general advised the DOE to rank the Atlas as a funding priority in relation to its weapons program, ensure future projects have operating funds and to notify Congress if there is any change in plans to operate the project when it comes to the Test Site.
The department did not agree with the inspector general's conclusions.
The DOE Nevada Operations Office is aware of the funding shortage, but the project is important to the Test Site's future, spokeswoman Nancy Harkess said.
The DOE's Defense Programs division is now under the guise of the National Nuclear Security Administration.
-------- virginia
Geologists learning uranium containment from nature
EurekAlert!
13 MARCH 2001
Contact: Dr. A.K. Sinha pitlab@vt.edu 540-231-5580
PR CONTACT: Susan Trulove STrulove@vt.edu 540-231-5646
Virginia Tech
http://www.vt.edu:10021/ur/news/newsndex.html
http://www.eurekalert.org/releases/vt-glu030701.html
Blacksburg, VA, March 13, 2001 -- Three decades ago, possibly one of the richest uranium deposits in the US was discovered at Coles Hill in rural South-central Virginia. Although the deposit was considered for mining, it was never developed. However, this site may yield knowledge of great value as a natural laboratory for radioactive waste containment.
"The uranium has just been sitting there for hundreds of thousands of years," says A. K. Sinha, professor of geological sciences at Virginia Tech. "Sitting there" are the operative words. "There is a water table about 11 meters (36 feet) down, and the uranium-rich bedrock about 20 meters (66 feet) down. The uranium should have migrated to the next county, but it hasn't."
"You would expect ground water in this type of natural system to have carried the uranium away from the site into the surrounding environment, but we don't see that," says Virginia Tech Ph.D. student Jim Jerden, of Atlanta, Ga. "We think we can learn something from this site that can be applied to existing contaminated sites and nuclear waste repositories."
Sinha explains, "Uranium is toxic, particularly when it is concentrated, such as in nuclear fuel, weapons, and radioactive wastes. In nature, there are deposits that are extremely concentrated and they should be of great concern, as uranium may be transported in solution through ground water activity. But, in nature, things have a way of reaching a 'steady state'. The Coles Hill deposit, for instance, shows no measurable evidence of leakage into the surrounding soils and rocks. This 'natural analog' provides a scientific window where we can study what prevents uranium from contaminating its surroundings."
As geologists, Sinha and Jerden are looking at the natural system that contains the Coles Hill uranium deposit as a unique geologic analog for uranium-contaminated sites and nuclear waste repositories. "Nature may present a model for the scientifically sound management of nuclear wastes and contaminated sites," says Jerden.
Jerden will present some of his research from Coles Hill at the 36th annual meeting of the Northeastern Section of the Geological Society of America (GSA) in Burlington, Vermont, March 12-14. "I will talk about the interaction of soil, rock, and ground waters, and the details of the minerals that inhibit uranium from being transported into the surrounding environment. Specifically, we have discovered that the abundance of phosphorous and its interaction with uranium is likely the cause for the lack of migration," he says.
Later this month, Sinha, Jerden, and Lucian W. Zelazny, professor of soil sciences at Virginia Tech, will meet with scientists from the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL) and the University of South Carolina medical program to discuss a research partnership for using advanced technologies for a better understanding of the behavior of uranium in soils.
"SREL scientists have been experimenting with phosphorous and uranium in the laboratory. The goal of these experiments was to develop new cost effective technologies that can be applied for remediation of uranium contaminated sites, so they were very interested when we told them we were researching a natural system in which uranium and phosphorus are combining to naturally limit uranium transport," explains Jerden.
It is not just the richness and the self-containment of the deposit located only two hours away from Virginia Tech's Blacksburg campus (south east of Chatham, Virginia, near the little town of Gretna) that makes it such a unique resource for researchers. "The corporation that discovered the site did extremely good exploration of this deposit," explains Sinha. "They drilled approximately 70,000 feet of solid rock (70 1,000-foot cores). They created an enormous database. It would cost the government tens of millions of dollars to do that today, but this cost was borne by industry." When the mining activities were abandoned the corporation donated their information to Virginia Tech, and gave the cores for storage to the Virginia Museum of Natural History.
"We have an infrastructure database already generated at no cost to the taxpayer," says Sinha. "Virginia Tech has augmented this database through shallow drilling supported by the Virginia Division of Mineral Resources and is using the data and the samples to prove the site is a world class scientific target for research.
"We are asking basic questions," he says. "What are the natural processes that inhibit migration of uranium? If we can understand that, then our colleagues in engineering and other sciences can apply that knowledge to develop better strategies for cleaning up and managing contaminated sites and nuclear waste repositories.
"We are working in partnership with other institutions that wish to characterize this site so that all the people interested in the environment can use these resources to understand the transport of uranium," Sinha concludes.
The subject of Jerden's doctoral research is to understand the geology of the uranium containment at the Coles Hill deposit. His GSA presentation, "Uranium transport in weathered bedrock: Application of environmental petrology," will be presented at 10:50 a.m. March 13, at the Sheraton Conference Center, Diamond Salon II
For additional information, reach Dr. Sinha at 540-231-5580 or pitlab@vt.edu and Jim Jerden at 540-231-7083 or jjerden@vt.edu.
The following illustrations are posted at www.rgs.vt.edu/resmag/ColesHill/ Additional figures may be available from Jerden.
FIGURE CAPTIONS:
Figure 1. Three-dimensional visualization of the uranium ore body at Coles Hill, Virginia. The environmental response of the uranium ore within the soils represents the predicted fate of nuclear wastes at contaminated sites or repositories. This location thus represents a world class "natural analog" for studying and monitoring the interaction of uranium with ground waters in the near-surface environment. Results of research at Virginia Tech suggest that abundant uranium present in the soil is not being removed by ground waters leading to a "closed system" behavior of uranium.
Figure 2. Soils developed over the Coles Hill uranium deposit yield information on the formation of new uranium minerals being produced as a result of the interaction of ground water with primary uranium ore minerals. Research at Virginia Tech is leading the way in demonstrating the geologic mechanisms controlling the growth of new uranium minerals. The availability and stability of these minerals in the soil environment lead to low abundances of uranium in the ground waters. The multidisciplinary science team is investigating the application of these observations towards developing technologies for sound management and remediation of uranium contaminated sites and repositories.
Figure 3. Specimen of rock core extracted from the chemically weathered uranium ore. This photograph was taken in ultra-violet light. The green material is the new uranium mineral that is forming within the weathering environment. These new minerals are effectively trapping the uranium so that it can not be moved by ground water away from the site.
Figure 4. Remediation technologies require an assessment of uranium in the soils at all different scales. These chemical maps of the new uranium mineral forming within the soils above the uranium deposit illustrate the scale at which these minerals must be characterized (one micron is one millionth of a meter).
-------- MILITARY
U.S. and Kuwait to Investigate Errant Bombing That Killed 6
New York Times
March 13, 2001
By JAMES DAO
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/13/world/13CND-NAVY.html
WASHINGTON, March 13 - The United States and Kuwait prepared today to launch a joint investigation into Monday's errant bombing of a desert firing range in Kuwait that killed six military observers, five of them American, and wounded at least seven others. There was speculation that faulty targeting might have caused the casualties.
One or more of the three 500-pound gravity bombs dropped by a United States Navy fighter over Kuwait in the dark Monday evening tore apart an observation post filled with military personnel, American military officials said.
Four American soldiers and an airman, as well as an army major from New Zealand, died in the exercise on the Udairi Range, a live-fire training area in the Kuwaiti desert 20 miles south of the Iraq border.
At least one of the seriously injured Americans has been flown to a medical center in Landstuhl, Germany for treatment. Two other injured servicemen remained hospitalized in Kuwait until they were fit enough to be flown to Landstuhl, a Pentagon spokesman, Rear Admiral Craig Quigley, said today.
The other military personnel were treated for minor injuries at the accident scene and released.
Pentagon officials, speaking privately said that several theories about the cause of the accident were being considered, including the possibility that the bomb went awry because of a targeting mistake, rather that pilot error or a technical malfunction. They said the investigation would look into whether a forward air controller directed the aircraft, a F/A-18 Hornet, to the wrong place and then tried unsuccessfully to contact the pilot to call the strike off.
Another theory was that the targeting computer aboard the Hornet might have given him the bad coordinates. The pilot, who was wearing night-vision goggles at the time, was a seasoned aviator, with more than 3,000 flying hours.
The Pentagon identified him as Navy Cmdr. David O. Zimmerman, who commanded the Hornet fighter squadron aboard the U.S.S. Harry S. Truman, an aircraft carrier deployed in the Persian Gulf.
Admiral Quigley declined to discuss the possibility of targeting error. "These are all perfectly valid issues for the investigation to look at," the admiral said.
A panel of American investigators is being assembled at the Central Command, which oversees United States military operations in the Persian Gulf. The panel is scheduled to depart Wednesday for Kuwait under the direction of Marine Lt. Gen. Michael P. DeLong, the Central Command's deputy commander in chief.
Lt. Col. Joseph LaMarca of the Air Force, a spokesman for the Central Command, said in a telephone interview from MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla. that the investigators would seek to "determine what happened and what we can do to prevent this from happening again."
In Kuwait, the defense minister, Sheikh Jaber Mubarak al-Sabah, today told reporters that the United States and his country had set up a joint committee to investigate the accident. The minister said that joint maneuvers by the two countries would continue, despite the tragedy.
Admiral Quigley said the accident happened during joint exercises involving 85 aircraft sorties, 79 of which had been completed when the accident occurred. He said two of the three bombs dropped on the fatal mission landed near an observation post where service members were watching the air strikes. Military officials have provided few details of the accident itself.
The bombing in Kuwait was the third Navy incident in recent months that involved fatalities. It occurs on the heels of a terrorist attack on the destroyer Cole in Yemen that killed 17 sailors in October and the sinking of a Japanese training vessel by the submarine Greeneville last month off Honolulu. Nine Japanese were killed in that accident.
Officials said that four of the dead were from the Army and that the fifth was from the Air Force. The New Zealander was identified by his army as Maj. John McNutt, 27.
Several Kuwaiti military personnel were treated at the scene for minor injuries, American military officials said. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has promised that the Pentagon would conduct a vigorous investigation. "Tragedies such as this occur without warning and for reasons that are difficult to understand," Mr. Rumsfeld said Monday. "We will work hard to take care of the families involved and to find out how such an accident could occur."
Military experts said the accident was the worst in memory that involved live-fire training. In April 1999, a guard was killed and four others were wounded when a F/A-18, in another training exercise, dropped two bombs a mile and a half from the intended target on Vieques, a small island off Puerto Rico.
The latest accident occurred near the end of an exercise that simulates what military officials call close air support for ground troops.
Such missions are intended to cut down enemy tanks, soldiers and artillery that are blocking advancing troops or to rescue units that have been ambushed or surrounded. The exercises are considered complicated because they involve coordinating soldiers, aircraft and ships, and they require attacks relatively close to the ground troops, military officials said.
"It is definitely training that takes a lot of work and a lot of effort to ensure that things go as planned," Colonel LaMarca said. "A lot of planning goes into these things. We don't just go out and do them."
The 500-pound MK-82 bomb is a medium-size weapon than can kill a person several hundred feet away, military experts said. The bomb usually does not have an advanced guidance system.
"It is a quintessential plain vanilla dumb bomb," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a defense policy organization in Washington. "But it is quite lethal at hundreds of feet. If I was at one end of a football field and one of these things went off at the other end, I would duck."
The United States has been using the Udairi Range, 45 miles northwest of Kuwait City, since the gulf war. A 35-square-mile patch of open desert, it is widely considered the best live-fire training ground for desert warfare available to the Americans.
---
Bombing Accident Kills 5 Americans at Site in Kuwait
New York Times
March 13, 2001
By JAMES DAO
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/13/world/13NAVY.html
WASHINGTON, March 12 - An errant 500-pound bomb dropped by a Navy fighter over Kuwait today tore apart an observation post filled with military personnel, killing six and seriously wounding three others, American military officials said.
Four American soldiers and an airman, along with an army major from New Zealand, died in a training exercise on the Udairi Range, a live- fire training area in the desert 20 miles south of the Iraq border.
Military officials were unable to provide many details of the accident, which involved an F/A-18 Hornet fighter, saying only that the observation post was within the sprawling bombing range. The officials said it was not clear whether the bomb, a Mark 82, went awry because of poor targeting, pilot error or a technical malfunction.
The bombing was the third Navy incident in recent months that involved fatalities. It occurs on the heels of a terrorist attack on the destroyer Cole in Yemen that killed 17 sailors in October and the sinking of a Japanese training vessel by the submarine Greeneville last month off Honolulu. Nine Japanese were killed in that accident.
The Pentagon withheld the Kuwait victims' names pending family notification, as well as the Navy pilot's name. Officials said that four of the dead were from the Army and that the fifth was from the Air Force. The New Zealander was identified by his army as Maj. John McNutt, 27.
Several Kuwaiti military personnel were treated at the scene for minor injuries, American military officials said. The three seriously wounded service members, all Americans, were treated at a Kuwaiti military hospital, the officials said. At least two other American military personnel with minor wounds were treated and released.
Gen. Thomas R. Franks of the Air Force, chief of the Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Persian Gulf, appointed a panel of investigators that will arrive in Kuwait this week to begin the official inquiry.
President Bush, who appeared at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., to promote his military policies shortly after the accident, opened his remarks to a business group later in the day by asking for a moment of silence for the dead.
"It was my honor to go to Tyndall today to see the good folks who wear the uniform of the United States military," Mr. Bush said in Panama City, Fla., "to tell them how much I appreciate their service to the country. I'm reminded today of how dangerous service can be."
In a statement, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld promised that the Pentagon would conduct a vigorous investigation but provided no details about the accident. "Tragedies such as this occur without warning and for reasons that are difficult to understand," Mr. Rumsfeld said. "We will work hard to take care of the families involved and to find out how such an accident could occur."
Military experts said the accident was the worst in memory that involved live-fire training. In April 1999, a guard was killed and four others were wounded when a Navy F/A-18, in another training exercise, dropped two bombs a mile and a half from the intended target on Vieques, a small island off Puerto Rico.
The accident today occurred after sunset, about 7 o'clock Kuwait time, near the end of an exercise that simulates what military officials call close air support for ground troops. The F/A-18's were from the carrier Harry S. Truman in the Persian Gulf.
Such missions are intended to cut down enemy tanks, soldiers and artillery that are blocking advancing troops or to rescue units that have been ambushed or surrounded. The exercises are considered complicated because they involve coordinating soldiers, aircraft and ships, and they require attacks relatively close to the ground troops, military officials said.
"It is definitely training that takes a lot of work and a lot of effort to ensure that things go as planned," said Lt. Col. Joe LaMarca of the Air Force, a spokesman for the Central Command, whose headquarters are at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla. "A lot of planning goes into these things. We don't just go out and do them."
Pentagon officials said the casualties were probably in units helping direct the air strikes. The officials said it was not clear whether they were standing outside or were in vehicles, a bunker or a building.
The 500-pound MK-82 bomb is a medium-size weapon than can kill a person several hundred feet away, military experts said. The bomb usually does not have an advanced guidance system.
"It is a quintessential plain vanilla dumb bomb," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a defense policy organization in Washington. "But it is quite lethal at hundreds of feet. If I was at one end of a football field and one of these things went off at the other end, I would duck."
The United States has been using the Udairi Range, 45 miles northwest of Kuwait City, since the gulf war. A 35-square-mile patch of open desert, it is widely considered the best live- fire training ground for desert warfare available to the Americans.
-------- britain
New York Times
March 13, 2001
World Briefing
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/13/world/13BRIE.html
BRITAIN: MILITARY GETS HELP The British Army has hired private recruiters to help fill a shortfall of 6,000 troops in the force's target strength of 106,000. A Defense Ministry spokesman said the armed services were having trouble competing with private and public sector employers at a time when unemployment in Britain is at a postwar low. Warren Hoge (NYT)
-------- colombia
Colombian Governors Protest U.S.-Backed Spraying of Coca
New York Times
March 13, 2001
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/13/world/13COLO.html
WASHINGTON, March 12 - Four governors from Colombia charged today that American-supported aerial spraying of illicit crops is jeopardizing the health and food supply of small-scale farmers.
The governors are urging President Andrés Pastrana and the Bush administration to rethink what the governors call a militaristic approach toward peasant farmers, in exchange for a plan involving social pacts and alternative crops in southern drug-growing states, which the governors represent. They plan to publicize their objections at a news conference here on Tuesday.
Ivan Gerardo Guerrero, governor of Putumayo Province, which produces 60 percent of the nation's coca, said intensified herbicide spraying since December might unintentionally drive the poorest farmers deeper into the arms of drug traffickers by ruining their food crops and alienating people from their national government.
"Fumigation is not the solution," said Mr. Guerrero, who spoke for his fellow governors from the states of Narino, Cauca and Tolima in an interview tonight. "It has a great defect. It doesn't really take into account the human being. All it cares about are satellite pictures."
The Bush administration vigorously defended the eradication program, saying it has destroyed tens of thousands of acres of illicit crops, slashed the drug income of leftist rebels and has already induced about 1,500 peasants to sign agreements to plow up their coca fields in return for future subsidies in alternative crops.
"The turnout of farmers who are voluntarily offering to agree to sign these pacts and eradicate has really been quite promising," William R. Brownfield, the deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, said today at what was the Bush administration's first detailed briefing related to its policy in Colombia.
The defoliation effort is part of an aggressive assault on coca-growing regions dominated by leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or right-wing paramilitary groups. The United States, which is providing the Pastrana government with nearly $1 billion in mostly military aid, is training three army battalions to protect the low-flying spray planes against rebels, and it is furnishing combat helicopters and even some pilots for the task.
After a six-week assault that ended in January, American and Colombian officials claimed to have destroyed a quarter of all coca crops in the key provinces of Putumayo and Caquetá. Mr. Brownfield acknowledged today that those boasts may have been premature, since "it's too soon to say scientifically" how much of the crop would withstand defoliation.
Mr. Brownfield and other American officials at the briefing here vowed to continue the Clinton administration's support for Colombia, but broaden it considerably to include aid to neighboring nations already feeling a "spillover effect" from its struggle.
"You cannot deal with Colombia in isolation," Mr. Brownfield said. "We need a more regional approach to address the issues."
-------- drug war
A New Plan to Roll Back Drug Terms
New York Times
March 13, 2001
By SOMINI SENGUPTA
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/13/nyregion/13DRUG.html
ALBANY, March 12 - Assembly Democratic leaders offered their proposal to loosen New York's stringent drug sentencing laws today, calling for the expansion of treatment options for drug offenders, for a reduction in the range of mandatory minimum sentences and for more discretion for judges to decide which drug felons should be given treatment rather than prison.
The proposal, drafted by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's office and shared with the Democratic conference this afternoon, goes considerably further than the legislation Gov. George E. Pataki offered Friday. The new plan lays the groundwork for a battle expected to unfold over the rewriting of New York's Rockefeller-era drug laws. By all accounts, the chances of amending the laws are better this year than ever before, in large part because of Governor Pataki's pledge to do so.
The differences between his proposal and the Assembly's are substantial, and the main sticking point will probably be over the scope of judicial discretion. The governor's bill would allow judges to decide whether some low-level drug offenders, those convicted of C-, D-, and E-level felonies, could receive treatment instead of being imprisoned. The Assembly bill would extend judicial discretion to Class B felons, by far the largest batch of drug criminals.
"We returned discretion to the judges in a significant way, in contrast to what's been proposed by the governor," said Assemblyman Jeffrion L. Aubry, a Queens Democrat who has repeatedly and unsuccessfully introduced legislation to overturn mandatory- sentencing laws. "I think judicial discretion is going to be the heart of the battle."
Less politically fraught is the Assembly's proposal to expand drug treatment options. It would set aside savings from the state's declining prison rolls to create 2,000 new treatment beds. Roughly 9,300 such resident treatment beds exist now, but they are not all for drug offenders. The governor's bill does not specifically set aside money for treatment; his aides have said such financing would come later.
Moreover, the governor's bill seeks to eliminate the parole board's authority over early release and proposes stiffer penalties for marijuana charges; the Assembly said nothing about marijuana, and is unlikely to countenance either of those pieces, Mr. Silver said.
Mr. Pataki's bill includes the most significant reductions for drug felons facing the most serious charges. Those convicted of A-1 felonies, for instance, for the possession of four or more ounces of a controlled substance would see their mandatory sentences reduced to 8 1/2 years to life from a minimum of 15 years to life. The Assembly bill, meanwhile, would raise the threshold for the harshest penalties: possession of eight ounces would result in an A-1 felony charge, and the minimum sentence would be reduced to 5 to 15 years.
Like the governor's bill, the Assembly speaker's proposals for treatment alternatives would apply only to nonviolent felons. In an apparent effort to appeal to moderates, the proposal would also increase penalties for certain kinds of drug felons: those who are dubbed "major drug traffickers" would face stiffer penalties, though it is unclear how they are to be defined. It will take at least a couple of weeks for the proposal to be drafted into a bill.
"It's going to be a smart program in that it will reduce sentences and mandate treatment on the less serious crimes," Mr. Silver said. "It will increase sentences on the most serious crimes."
New York's so-called Rockefeller drug laws, enacted in 1973, largely apply to hard drugs, like heroin and cocaine, and sentencing is based solely on the quantity of drugs and the defendant's felony record. Critics say these laws have crowded prisons with low-level drug dealers and addicts who need treatment. While those critics have pressed for greater judicial discretion over sentencing, the state's prosecutors have vigorously opposed it. The current law gives prosecutors far greater control of cases, allowing them to use the threat of long mandatory sentences to squeeze plea bargains from some prisoners and to force others into drug treatment.
Until this year, the Assembly leadership had not backed substantial drug law changes. Mr. Silver had nary a word to say about the issue publicly, and some upstate Democrats in particular feared that addressing it would put them at risk of being perceived as soft on crime. The political calculations changed when the governor took the first step earlier this year. But the speaker was pressured from within the Assembly as well. Mr. Silver's silence about drug law reform was one of the issues raised in attempts last year to unseat him as speaker. The attempted coup was unsuccessful, thanks in some measure to the support of black lawmakers. Revamping drug laws is one of their chief legislative priorities.
-------- space
150 Miles Up, Mir Begins Final Journey
New York Times
March 13, 2001
By WARREN E. LEARY
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/13/science/13MIR.html?pagewanted=print
WASHINGTON, March 12 - After much speculation and many delays, Mir is finally coming down - hard, hot and soon.
The massive Mir space station, one of the most successful space ventures in history, is to end 15 years of circling the earth in about a week. With final nudging from the rockets of an attached cargo ship, Mir will dive into the atmosphere in a last, searing display of bravado as its blazing remains head for an isolated target spot in the South Pacific.
The space station, which was a pinnacle in the space program of the former Soviet Union and a source of pride in Russia, has been slowly sinking into lower orbits for months. In January, Russia sent an unmanned Progress cargo ship with extra fuel to Mir to guide it on a final controlled plunge into the ocean.
Mir, weighing more than 135 tons with all its connected modules and parts, will be the largest object ever brought down from space. Most of the station is expected to burn up as it enters the atmosphere, but 20 to 25 tons will probably continue to plunge toward the earth, including chunks weighing hundreds of pounds. Russia has spent months planning the descent and assuring the world that it can be done safely.
Last week the Russians changed their plan for bringing down Mir, which is in an orbit about 150 miles up and dropping more than a mile a day as atmospheric drag slows it. Instead of taking Mir out of orbit at the 150-mile altitude, as originally planned, they decided to let the station continue to descend ever faster and begin a series of rocket firings to guide it in when Mir reaches an altitude of about 137 miles.
"Mir's deorbit is tentatively set for March 20, give or take a day," said Viktor Blagov, deputy chief at Russia's mission control in Korolyov, near Moscow. Waiting until the station is closer leaves more fuel for the final maneuvers, officials said.
On Mir's final day in space, controllers plan to stabilize the slowly rolling station before the attached Progress freighter fires its engines at least twice to push the low point of the spacecraft's orbit deeper into the atmosphere at a point above the target area. When the station is aligned with its target, the Progress will perform a long final engine burn to drop Mir out of orbit and into the atmosphere at a steep angle toward its target in the Pacific.
Mir is now so close to the earth that scientists predict it will have come down on its own at the end of the month in an uncontrolled plunge somewhere along its flight path, which covers 80 percent of the planet. The Russians have worked hard to avoid this potentially destructive alternative and bring Mir down in a safe place.
Mir's remains are supposed to come down in the Pacific in an area 1,850 miles east of the southern tip of New Zealand, a region with no islands and little air and sea traffic. The debris is supposed to fall in an elliptical "footprint" midway between New Zealand and Chile, a target area perhaps 1,000 miles long, and about 120 miles wide at the beginning, tapering down to 20 or 25 miles at the end.
The Mir complex consists of a large core launched in 1986 and five major laboratory and systems modules attached over 10 years. Also aboard is a docking compartment for visiting American space shuttles and the Progress freighter. Four of the laboratory sections are attached at right angles to the core like a clover leaf and most of the segments have winglike solar panels attached to their sides.
As Mir dives into the atmosphere, experts said, aerodynamic forces will first strip off the solar panels and thermal radiators of sheet aluminum, which should flutter to the ocean. Ruptures caused by parts tearing off and air friction generating heat as high as 3,000 degrees will probably cause the pressurized modules to break loose and explode, creating a display of smoking, incandescent fragments plummeting through the sky.
Experts expect 40 propellant tanks, many large batteries, metal storage boxes and heavy metal bulkheads to survive re-entry to hit the ocean at the narrow end of the target area at speeds of up to 150 miles an hour. Some lighter debris, possibly including clothing and insulating foam, should float down into the broad end of the impact zone.
Nicholas Johnson, chief scientist for orbital debris studies at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, and other experts say the Russians have more experience bringing down used spacecraft than anyone else. Since 1978, they have taken five early Salyut space stations and 80 Progress spacecraft out of orbit in the same Pacific area, Mr. Johnson said.
"The most recent space station to descend over the Pacific was Salyut 6," he said. "That weighed 40 tons and came down in July of 1982. The deorbiting technique is exactly the same. Mir's just a bit bigger."
While experts are confident that the Russians can bring down Mir as planned, there are concerns. Japan, Australia and New Zealand, near Mir's final orbit, have set up monitoring groups that could rush aid to citizens should debris hit their countries. Last week, the 16 states of the South Pacific Island Forum, including Papua New Guinea and the Cook Islands, asked Russia for assurance that debris would not threaten them.
To help relieve this anxiety, the Russian Aviation and Space Agency took out a $200 million insurance package with three Russian companies, backed by Western insurance syndicates, to pay for any damage by Mir.
History shows some reason for concern when large spacecraft come down, though none are known to have caused serious injuries, deaths or major property damage.
When Mir's predecessor, Salyut 7, re-entered on Feb. 7, 1991, Soviet ground controllers ran low on fuel and tried to direct the 80,000-pound craft into the Atlantic Ocean by putting it into a tumble. The maneuver failed and Salyut 7 came in over Argentina, scattering debris over land.
Perhaps the most memorable re- entry was that of the first American space station, Skylab, on July 11, 1979. NASA engineers had limited control over the 165,000-pound station, which had no rockets to guide it in.
Controllers changed the Skylab's orientation in space to increase or reduce atmospheric drag to shift its entry point.
Skylab fell into the Indian Ocean, as NASA predicted, but the craft proved sturdier than engineers had predicted and did not break up as quickly as forecast.
Pieces traveled farther than expected, falling harmlessly in western Australia.
Dr. William Ailor, director of space debris studies for the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, Calif., said the chances were quite small that a person would be hurt by space debris, which is constantly raining in, unnoticed by most people. The risk of being hurt by a piece of a falling spacecraft is about one in a trillion, he said, compared with the 1 in 1.4 million chance of being hit by lightning.
But Dr. Ailor said Mir's controlled re-entry still posed risks because so many things could go wrong, like engine misfirings, the station tumbling too much or too little in its final stages or coming apart in an unexpected way.
"Everything has to go right for this to work as designed," he said. "A lot of things can happen in the lower atmosphere that you can't predict."
The United States has encouraged Russia for years to abandon Mir and concentrate its meager resources on the new International Space Station being built in orbit by a consortium of 16 nations, led by the United States and Russia. Now that Mir is coming down, NASA is careful to say that this is Russia's decision and that the United States is playing only a minor role by passing along tracking information.
Although NASA has no major role in Mir's re-entry, the agency is interested in what happens as a lesson that may apply when the larger International Space Station has to be brought down in 20 or 30 years, said Dr. Jack Bacon, a space station engineering expert at the Johnson Space Center.
"We are anxious to get any information we can about bringing in an object of this size so that we can refine our own re-entry scenarios," Dr. Bacon said.
Because Russia can track Mir only when it is over its territory, Moscow has asked the United States and Europe to monitor the space station's descent as well. Information from this will help Russian controllers refine their maneuvers and determine whether Mir comes down where it is supposed to.
The United States Space Command, which monitors 8,300 earthly objects in space from its headquarters in Cheyenne Mountain, Colo., will use radar and telescopes to provide Russia with information about Mir's trajectory, and about atmospheric conditions.
Maj. Perry Nouis, a spokesman for the command, said the data would be fed to Johnson Space Center, which would then relay it to the Russian control center using high-speed links set up between the two for the International Space Station.
As the Russians fine-tune Mir's descent, Major Nouis said, the Air Force will relay increasingly precise predictions about where the station will enter the deep atmosphere on its final pass. About two hours before entry, the Space Command will issue its main prediction of the time Mir will leave orbit, plus or minus 15 minutes. Space Command involvement will end after it verifies that Mir is no longer in orbit, Major Nouis said.
The American tracking information will also be fed to the Pentagon's National Military Command Center, where it will be shared with the White House and interested agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the State Department and the Federal Aviation Administration.
---
Spacewalkers get space station ready for fixes
USA Today
03/13/2001 - Updated 09:39 AM ET
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2001-03-13-shuttle2.htm
SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) - Shuttle Discovery astronauts early Tuesday prepped the international space station to receive a robotic arm and fixed a sticky solar-panel latch during a nearly 6.50-hour spacewalk.
Andrew Thomas and Paul Richards completed critical wire connections that will provide power, data and video links between space station Alpha and its robotic arm - set to be delivered in April.
"You all did an outstanding job," Mission Control said at the end of the spacewalk.
This was the second and final spacewalk of Discovery's mission. Besides continuing work on the space station, the shuttle is delivering Alpha's first replacement crew, made up of astronauts Jim Voss, Susan Helms and their Russian commander Yuri Usachev, and an Italian-made module filled with 5 tons of supplies.
The wiring was considered the most difficult task of the two spacewalks. The work was left undone during Sunday's record-breaking nine-hour spacewalk by Voss and Helms.
Thomas and Richards got a late start and did not exit the shuttle until well after midnight Monday.
The astronauts also climbed to the top of the station and fixed a latch on one of the station's giant solar wings that wasn't deployed when the electricity-producing wings were installed in early December. Thomas used a crowbar-like tool to tap the latch into place.
"Yup, that tap worked. You got it, Andy, good job," Richards said.
The wing had been secure without the latch.
Before Thomas went up to the solar wings, his safety tether line got tangled up and he had to be helped by Richards. He also had some trouble positioning himself to reach the latch.
Thomas and Richards also installed a platform on the U.S. science lab Destiny and a spare ammonia pump on the platform, and inspected a static-electricity monitor on the outside of Alpha. The monitor appeared not to be working. Engineers are still determining how to fix it.
Richards also inspected a condensate vent on the lab and determined it was securely in place.
Thomas, who is from Australia, took some time during the spacewalk to admire the view.
"I'm passing over South Australia and I can see the coastline, my hometown all very clearly. Quite extraordinary," Thomas said.
Richards was thrilled to use the power tool that he designed almost 10 years ago for a repair mission on the Hubble Space Telescope.
"I designed it, hoping to use it someday, and today's the day," Richards said.
NASA said a 10- to 15-pound viselike device that was accidentally let go of and floated away during the first spacewalk does not present a hazard to the shuttle or space station. It's about eight miles in front and about a mile below the station and will continue to get lower and farther away.
Usachev and Voss have settled in aboard Alpha. Helms will join them Tuesday. They will spend the next four months living aboard the station.
The three will relieve American Bill Shepherd and his two Russian crewmates, who have been aboard the orbiting outpost for the past four months.
Inside the space station, its crew started removing some of the gear in the module, which was attached to Alpha early Monday. Once emptied and refilled with trash, the module, named Leonardo, will be put back in the shuttle and brought back to Earth next Tuesday.
Leonardo was carrying power-distribution equipment for Destiny. The equipment was installed and began receiving electricity from the solar wings early Tuesday.
It also contained such things as the first set of experiments for the laboratory, a defibrillator and other emergency medical gear.
-------- u.n.
U.N. chief tours Afghan refugee camps
Washington Times
March 13, 2001
World Scene Combined dispatches and staff reports
SHAMSHATOO, Pakistan - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan toured a squalid camp sheltering tens of thousands of Afghan refugees yesterday, trying to convince the world to help in Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis despite anger over the Taleban's destruction of historic statues.
About 70,000 refugees have been living in Shamshatoo camp since early January, when they fled here from war and devastating drought in their homeland.
Some 80,000 more refugees live in even more dire conditions at Jalozai Camo, where there are almost daily deaths from disease among children and the elderly.
--------
A U.N. Paradox:
Some on Rights Panel Are Accused of Wrongs
New York Times
March 13, 2001
By BARBARA CROSSETTE
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/13/world/13NATI.html
UNITED NATIONS, March 12 - The United Nations Human Rights Commission, the focal point of debate among nations on a range of political and civil liberties, is growing steadily less free and tolerant in its membership, human rights groups say.
The 53-member commission, elected from and by the United Nations' 189 member governments, begins its annual six-week session next Monday in Geneva. It will be the first opportunity for the Bush administration to speak out on major international human rights issues, including on how to deal with China, which usually avoids criticism by mustering enough support to keep its record off the commission's agenda.
As the meeting nears, several rights groups are warning that with each passing year, the makeup of the commission, whose members are elected for staggered three-year terms, becomes more problematic.
On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch plans to hold a a news conference in Geneva where it will question commission members' attitudes toward rights practices.
Last week, U.N. Watch, a small group based in Geneva, compared the list of current commission members with the annual "freedom index" compiled by Freedom House, a New York group that monitors civil and political rights. It found that about half the commission's member governments were in the lower half of the index, which ranks countries on a scale of 1.1 for the freest, to 7.7 for the most repressive.
Five members of the commission - Cuba, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Vietnam - have 7.7 ratings. Only four commission countries - the United States, Canada, Norway and Portugal - get a 1.1 ranking by Freedom House, closely followed by 14 nations that are mostly from Europe, plus Japan, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Mauritius and South Africa.
The commission censures governments for failing to abide by international rights agreements, sends out monitors and exerts a powerful control over access to an international platform to report on claims of abuses. A number of commission members bar human rights monitors from visiting their countries.
------- u.s.
Officials: Ground controller cleared mistaken attack
USA Today
03/13/2001 - Updated 09:11 PM ET
http://usatoday.com/news/washdc/2001-03-13-kuwait-accident.htm
WASHINGTON (AP) - A U.S. serviceman at the scene of the accidental bombing in Kuwait cleared the F/A-18 Hornet pilot to release his bombs and then tried belatedly to abort the training strike, U.S. officials said Tuesday. It appeared that two of three released bombs hit near the serviceman's observation post, Rear Adm. Craig Quigley said Tuesday. Quigley, speaking for the Pentagon, would not otherwise confirm the sequence of events. Five American servicemen and a New Zealand Army major were killed in the bombing Monday; three Americans were seriously injured.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Jason M. Faley, a tactical air controller with the 19th Air Support Operations Squadron based at Fort Campbell, Ky., was identified as one of the dead.
The four other Americans killed were members of the Army, officials said. Their names were not being released until their families were notified.
Acting Army Maj. John McNutt, 27, was identified as the New Zealander killed.
Many details remained unclear. But officials speaking on condition of anonymity Tuesday said the forward air controller gave the pilot clearance to launch his weapons and the three bombs were dropped.
It was not clear whether the controller was among those killed.
One of the seriously injured Americans was taken to a hospital in Germany; two others will also be flown there when they are able to travel, Quigley said. Officials said other Americans and Kuwaitis hurt in the bombing were treated and released at the scene.
Quigley said the accident happened in darkness, with night-vision goggles in use, but weather was not a problem.
"Tragically, they hit near the service members that were at an observation post on the range," he said of the bombs.
Quigley said the accident came near the scheduled end of a large-scale training exercise, with 79 of 85 sorties completed. Three 500-pound bombs were released by the Navy plane, none laser-guided.
He said the bombs were "very low tech" without a navigational or self-guidance system.
Officials said the forward air controller told the pilot as his plane approached the target area, "Cleared, hot," an unambiguous instruction to release the plane's weapons. Suddenly realizing the mistake, the controller then said, "Abort, abort," but it was too late.
Quigley would not discuss those details. "Those are all perfectly valid issues for the investigation to look at," he said.
The Pentagon identified the Hornet pilot as Cmdr. David O. Zimmerman, who commands the VFA-37 Hornet squadron aboard the USS Harry S. Truman, on patrol in the Persian Gulf. The squadron is home based at Oceana Naval Air Station, Va.
Asked about the status of Zimmerman, Quigley said: "No one from the air wing flew today. That was across the board. I don't know if his flight status has changed."
Zimmerman, a native of Orange Park, Fla., has more than 3,000 Navy flying hours; his decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal and the Navy Achievement Medal.
At the White House, press secretary Ari Fleischer said the Defense Department has been in contact with the New Zealand government and "expressed the opinions of the government yesterday, informed them of the news."
A U.S. Embassy official in New Zealand sent a letter of condolence to the government, said National Security Council spokeswoman Mary Ellen Countryman.
The New Zealand government was pressing for answers in the death of McNutt, who was killed instantly.
"This was a live bomb basically dropped on observers, said Defense Minister Mark Burton. "It shouldn't happen and we all need to know precisely what went wrong."
Pentagon officials are scrambling to understand what went wrong in the training exercise.
The Hornet was participating in live-fire "close air support" for ground troops at the Udairi bombing range near the Iraqi border when it dropped explosive ordnance "on or near" an observation post, the U.S. Central Command said.
An accident investigation board has been appointed and will arrive in Kuwait this week, the command said.
"We will work hard to take care of the families involved, and to find out how such an accident could occur," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said.
It was the second major accident involving the U.S. Navy in a little more than a month. On Feb. 9, the submarine USS Greeneville struck a Japanese fisheries training vessel while surfacing near Hawaii, sinking the Japanese vessel and leaving nine dead, including four teen-agers.
The accident happened at about 7 p.m. Monday in Kuwait, or 11 a.m. EST, about 28 miles from the Iraqi border, during a multinational training exercise in which ground forces direct strike aircraft to specific targets.
The Navy plane was flying from the aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf.
The U.S. military has operated regularly from airfields and an Army base in Kuwait since the 1991 Gulf War, when a U.S.-led coalition expelled the occupying Iraqi army from the tiny Persian Gulf nation. The continuing presence of U.S. forces in Kuwait is meant as a deterrent to Iraq.
Aircraft from the Harry S. Truman battle group, such as the Hornet involved in Monday's accident, participated in a joint U.S.-British bombing of Iraqi air defense installations around Baghdad last month.
------
U.S. soldier acquitted in shooting death
USA Today
03/13/2001 - Updated 11:35 AM ET
http://usatoday.com/news/world/2001-03-13-soldieracquit.htm
GIESSEN, Germany (AP) - A soldier charged with negligent homicide and dereliction of duty in the death of an ethnic Albanian boy in Kosovo was acquitted Tuesday by a U.S. Army panel.
Pfc. Nicholas Young, who was 19 and serving as a peacekeeper at the time of the accidental shooting of 6-year-old Gentrit Rexhepi, could have been sentenced to 3 years in prison, dishonorable discharge, reduction in rank to private and forfeiture of all pay and allowances if convicted.
Young was part of a detail helping repair a fence at a school in Gornja Slatina last July 10, guarding military vehicles and surrounded by a group of children.
He let the children handle his weapon before he pointed it away from them to check if the safety was on and fired three shots that ricocheted off a vehicle and fatally struck the child in the chest and arm. Gentrit later died of his wounds.
Young, of Sacramento, Calif., burst into tears and threw his arms around his mother, Sharon Springs, as he left the courtroom.
He had pleaded innocent. ''I think it's fair to say that our client and his mother are pleased with the result,'' said Maj. Mark Johnson, one of the lawyers for Young. ''That's all we'd like to say at this time.''
Gentrit's father, Deli Rexhepi, said Monday he forgave Young and now thinks of him as a member of the family. Testifying for the defense, Deli Rexhepi, said he believed the shooting was an accident.
''I consider Mr. Young as a member of my family,'' Rexhepi told the military court through a translator.
But in closing arguments for the prosecution earlier Tuesday, Capt. Marie Anderson urged the seven-member panel - the military equivalent of a jury - to find Young guilty of all charges, noting that he set his weapon on the ground and allowed children to touch it before he pulled the trigger to see if it was on safety.
''It's not an accident when you give up control of a loaded weapon,'' said Anderson.
''It's not an accident when you pull the trigger.''
The jury asked to see the weapon before they reached the verdict and wanted to test itself how easy it was to turn the safety on and off.
The prosecution dismissed the defense argument that Young was not properly trained on the weapon, an M249 automatic, as he apparently knew enough to load the gun and pull the trigger.
The M249 is a heavier, more powerful firearm than the M16 rifle that recruits learn to use in basic training.
Capt. Tom Fleener, one of the lawyers defending Young, argued that someone commanding the private should have known he was not qualified to be carrying that weapon.
The Army has since added instructions on how to deal with civilians and children, as well as making sure all soldiers are trained on the weapons they are issued before sending them into Kosovo.
---
Navy jet kills 6 in Kuwait accident
Washington Times
March 13, 2001
By Rowan Scarborough
http://www.washtimes.com/national/default-200131322476.htm
A U.S. Navy jet accidentally dropped a 500-pound bomb on a group of forward controllers yesterday at a training range in Kuwait, killing five American service members and one New Zealander.
U.S. Central Command, which overseas operations in the Persian Gulf, said an F-18 Hornet was participating in a close-air support exercise when its bomb hit on or near an observation post manned by personnel designating targets on the Udairi range, 45 miles northwest of Kuwait City.
A Pentagon official said the supersonic fighter dropped a "dumb" bomb - a munition not directed by precision guidance such as a laser or satellites.
The Hornet took off from the carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Persian Gulf and was flying over the desert bombing range shortly after 7 p.m. local time (11 a.m. EST).
Five American service members were injured. Three remained hospitalized last night with "non-life-threatening injuries," the military said. Two were treated and released from a military hospital. The U.S. Central Command last night had not released the identities of the dead or injured.
In a statement, the command, based in Tampa, Fla., said, "The F-18 aircraft was participating in a routine close air support training exercise involving joint and coalition forces. This exercise involved both day and night training. Such exercises are held quarterly for the purpose of practicing air operations against hostile ground targets in close proximity to friendly forces. The exercises involve friendly ground and airborne forces pointing out targets to friendly fighter aircraft orbiting overhead. The fighter aircraft then deliver weapons on the targets."
The statement said an accident investigation board has been appointed to determine the cause and will arrive in Kuwait later this week.
A command spokesman said he did not know whether the Navy pilot mistook the observation post for his target, or whether the bomb went astray, or was launched inadvertently.
A Reuters dispatch from Kuwait quoted an Arab defense source as saying, "The Americans missed their target during the air bombing exercise and killed probably six soldiers on the ground."
President Bush, touting his tax-cut plan in Panama City, Fla., put aside domestic politics to pay homage to the dead service members.
"I'm reminded today of how dangerous service can be. We lost some servicemen today in Kuwait in a training accident," Mr. Bush said. "I hope you'll join me in a moment of silence for those soldiers and their families. God bless."
The bombing range is 30 miles from Iraq, which invaded Kuwait in 1990, triggering the 1991 Gulf war and the subsequent open-ended deployment of U.S. forces in the small oil emirate.
The misfire was the second embarrassing training accident for the Navy in six weeks. On Feb. 9, the attack submarine USS Greeneville, while executing an emergency surfacing drill, crashed into a Japanese fishing vessel. Nine of 36 Japanese passengers and crew were killed.
The Navy says its aviation accident rate is declining. Still, naval aviators have committed major in-flight blunders overseas, straining relations with the local populaces.
In April 1998, a Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler, an electronic jamming aircraft, sliced through a cable supporting a ski gondola in northern Italy, killing 20 persons.
A year later, two Marine jets dropped bombs on a post at the Vieques bombing range in Puerto Rico, killing a security guard. That accident stirred up continuing civilian protests against the "live-fire" bombing range used by Navy carrier battle groups before deploying overseas.
The United States has forged close military ties with Kuwait since coalition forces expelled Iraqi troops from that country and reinstated the emir to power. Central Command maintains in Kuwait a contingent of Army and Air Force troops on a rotating basis who train with the Kuwaiti military.
Last month, Secretary of State Colin Powell visited Kuwait City on the 10th anniversary of Kuwait's liberation. Former President George Bush, who ordered the deployment of more than 500,000 U.S. troops to defeat Saddam Hussein's army, also visited the country and toured the Udairi range.
The Pentagon had released scant information last night on why the bomb hit spectators. Military pilots said an investigation will center on whether the controllers were at the proper location and whether the bomb went off course.
"There are a whole host of things that could have gone wrong," said a Marine pilot. "The aircraft's systems could have been in error, or the pilot may have entered incorrect data before launch or while in flight."
---
Senate military panel chief asks Rumsfeld to review beret order
Washington Times
March 13, 2001
By Rowan Scarborough
http://www.washtimes.com/national/default-2001313224014.htm
The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee urged Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld yesterday to suspend Army plans to hand out black berets to every soldier in time for the service's birthday June 14.
Sen. John W. Warner, Virginia Republican, released his letter to Mr. Rumsfeld after meeting with ex-Army Rangers who are protesting soldiers receiving the same black beret they have exclusively worn for 40 years.
"I am requesting a 'stand down' to permit officials of the Bush administration an opportunity to review the policy and report to you," Mr. Warner told Mr. Rumsfeld. "This was a decision made during the Clinton administration which I believe, in light of the outpouring of conscientious concern from both active and former soldiers, deserves a second look by the Bush administration."
In an interview, Mr. Warner stopped short of saying the policy should be reversed. "The letter clearly does not render a judgment. It simply renders a process," he said.
Rear Adm. Craig Quigley, a Pentagon spokesman, said the department had yet to receive the letter and would therefore have no comment.
The letter marked the first time such a senior member of Congress has called on the Pentagon to, in effect, overrule Gen. Eric Shinseki, the Army chief of staff. Gen. Shinseki wants procurement to continue uninterrupted. He announced the beret policy last October, saying the universal head wear will symbolize the Army's transition to a lighter, more agile force.
His decision brought a torrent of protest from ex-Rangers and other soldiers. The brouhaha was further inflamed last week when The Washington Times reported the Pentagon had waived a "buy America" law to allow the purchase of over 660,000 of a planned 3.8 million berets from factories in communist China.
"I am also troubled by reports of the manner in which the berets are being procured," Mr. Warner wrote.
Last week, three former Rangers completed an arduous, 750-mile protest march from Fort Benning, Ga., home of the 75th Ranger Regiment, to Washington. They and about 200 others staged a rally Saturday at the Lincoln Memorial.
"I just wiped the tears off my face," said marcher and former Ranger David Nielsen, after Mr. Warner handed him the letter. "I couldn't believe it. I thought he was going to tell us to cool down."
He said he offered Mr. Warner a black beret, but the senator turned it down, saying, "I'm not going to take it because I didn't earn it."
The Rangers are a specialized airborne contingent of 3,000 troops. They began wearing the black beret in 1951. Twenty years later, it became their official headgear, one that distinguishes them from Special Forces' Green Beret and Airborne's maroon.
"I believe there is sufficient evidence that many on active duty and many Army alumni are concerned that this proposed change of headgear will lessen the historic recognition of a special professional qualification," Mr. Warner told Mr. Rumsfeld.
Mr. Warner, a former sailor and Marine, added one caveat. Unless the procurement program, which began last December, is too far along to be stopped, he wrote, "I strongly recommend that you suspend procurement of the black berets until the next secretary of the Army can complete his review of the policy.
Gen. Shinseki made the decision during the tenure of Louis Caldera, who left office Jan. 20 with the outgoing Clinton administration.
Sources say President Bush plans to name Thomas E. White, a retired Army one-star general and Texas energy executive, as the next secretary.
An Army spokesman last week said the service has no plans to stop the beret program.
Mr. Warner's statement is the latest in a series of letters from Senate and House members criticizing the black beret policy.
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, Mississippi Republican, wrote to Mr. Rumsfeld on Friday, saying, "Taking the black beret away from Rangers complicates the laudable goal of creating esprit d'corps in the Army."
The Times reported last week that the Defense Logistics Agency, the military's buying agent, bypassed a law that requires the Pentagon to buy clothing made in American factories of American components. The agency said it needed to buy most black berets overseas to meet Gen. Shinseki's June 14 deadline.
The berets are being made in factories in China, India, Sri Lanka, and other Third World countries. One U.S. manufacturer is producing them.
American apparel representatives contend their industry could have competed for contracts if they had more time.
-------- OTHER
DR Jay Gould On Cancer, Disease & Nuclear Power
From: "Bill Smirnow" <smirnowb@ix.netcom.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2001 22:08:59 -0500
Any journalists wanting to contact Dr Gould can reach him at: JayMGould@aol.com
Jay M. Gould, Director Radiation and Public Health Project PO Box 330, Unionville NY 10988 2001
Dear Friend
I enclose an exchange of letters carried in a recent issue of The Nation magazine, which describes the remarkable success of our Tooth Fairy study. We have to date analyzed the radioactive strontium levels (called Sr90) in 2500 baby teeth of children, mainly born in recent years near nuclear reactors, and have found that about half have levels far above the expected trace levels, in some cases 30 or 40 times higher! When we have about 10,000 baby teeth we hope then to collect medical histories of each child to ascertain the degree to which children with high levels have had such childhood illnesses as asthma, learning disabilities, infections etc. We already know that a disproportionate number have cancer, extremely rare for children.
We think that our findings may eventually replicate the success of the first baby teeth study started by Dr. Barry Commoner in St. Louis in 1958, which found, after collecting 60,000 teeth ,that Sr90 levels rose one-hundred fold from 1948 to 1963. In that year President Kennedy asked Dr. Ernest Sternglass to testify to Congress on radiation-induced childhood cancer, to accelerate the ratification of the ban on above-ground nuclear bomb tests. Dr. Sternglass is the scientific director of our current baby teeth study.
We are however now facing an embarrassment of riches. The number of baby teeth that we are now collecting from our web site (www.radiation.org) and from appeals by Alec Baldwin and Christie Brinkley as concerned parents, is rising so rapidly that we may reach our goal of 10,000 teeth within the next year or two. But since the cost of testing each tooth cannot fall below $50, we will need to raise far more funds for testing than the one million dollars raised so far from a small number of family foundation and individuals. So we are turning to all our friends and teeth donors, who generally cannot afford more than $50--the cost of testing one tooth. If you feel that our study merits support, please send a check for $50, (or more) to the above address as a tax-deductible contribution. At the same time copy this letter and enclosure to send to all your friends who you believe may also respond positively, by again copying this letter for their friends. (This letter will also be available on our web site). We believe in this way we will have enough small donations to move the big foundations to help complete our study.
The enclosed letter exchange illustrates the irony that our study is opposed by the federal government which has been measuring Sr90 levels in adult vertebra each year since 1954 but inexplicably terminated these efforts in 1982. Passionate appeals from Baldwin and Brinkley moved the New Jersey Legislature to approve a grant of $75,000 to analyze baby teeth from children living near the notoriously malfunctioning Oyster Creek reactor, but Governor Christie Whitman (now EPA administrator) vetoed this tiny grant from a multi-billion dollar state budget. Similar grants of $60,000 from the legislatures of Suffolk and Westchester counties have been blocked by the New York State Department of Health, so that it is clear that our only resource is the potential support of the millions of persons who are learning that our health is threatened by nuclear reactor emissions, the only possible source of the ominous Sr90 levels we are finding in baby teeth.
Sincerely
Jay M. Gould Letters to the Nation March 26,2001 NUCLEAR POWER & US
New York City I would like to provide an update on some remarkable events that followed Joseph Mangano's epidemiological discovery that closing the Rancho Seco reactor in 1989 was followed by an enormous improvement in infant mortality and childhood cancer (Harvey Wasserman, "No Nukes--Better Health" Jan.29). Mangano has now found that mortality rates for all age groups in these areas have, since 1989, improved for all diseases mediated by the immune response. San Francisco, for example (only 70 miles from Rancho Seco) had in 1998 the lowest age-adjusted mortality rate of any large US county, with extraordinary declines since 1990 in all cancers, including breast and prostate, and in all infectious diseases. Even AIDS death rates by1998 have declined to the level of 1979.
As a result of local grassroots dissemination of these facts and a generous grant from the CEO of a large San Francisco company, Mangano may soon be able to offer clinical as well as epidemiological proof of the benefits of closing reactors. As national coordinator of our Tooth Fairy Project, which has been finding ominously high levels of bone-seeking radioactive strontium (Sr90) in the baby teeth of about 2000 children born in recent years that could not be the result of past superpower above-ground nuclear bomb tests, he may soon be able to ascertain the change, if any, in the ratios of Sr90 to calcium in the baby teeth of children born before and after reactor closings.
Nation readers can give us invaluable support by collecting baby teeth from anyone born in recent years, or even from baby boomers born as far back as the bomb test years of the 1950s, for we have found that they have the same incredibly high levels, after correction for the 29 year half life of Sr90, that prompted President Kennedy to terminate such above-ground tests in 1963. Please visit our website, www.radiation.org, and/or call 800 582 3716 for envelopes for baby teeth. JAY M. G0ULD
Radiation and Public HealthProject Inc
Oak Ridge,Tenn
Harvey Wasserman has shown again how adept he is at picking out a tidbit of bad science to support his views ,while ignoring the vast storehouse of real science. He claims nuclear power is causing cancers and other health effects, based on a largely debunked study sponsored by an anti-nuclear group. Not mentioned is the National Cancer Institute study that examined 90,000 cancer deaths near nuclear plants spanning 34 years and found no connection between the operation of reactors and cancer. This is only one of several highly reputable studies that have come to the same conclusion.
Ironically. The Nation recently published Ross Gelbspan's editorial on the seriousness of global warming. Any plan to deal effectively with this potentially devastating problem must contain signifiacnt levels of nuclear energy, which produces no greenhouse gases. Even the Clinton Administration's strategy to meet the Kyoto goals required substantial electricity production from nuclear plants.
The fair-minded observer must agree that US nuclear plants have been a safe source of electricity. And as we try to find our way out of the increasingly frequent power crisis, it will probably be an important component for the foreseeable future.
Dr. THEODORE M. BRESMANN Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Wasserman replies
Columbus Ohio
It's great fun when pro-nukers confirm the realities of global warming even while denying the devastating health and environmental impacts of their brand of radiation poisoning. No government or industry-funded will admit to the connection between nuclear power and cancer. But hidden in virtually all of them is damning hard evidence to the contrary. The cure for global warming lies in wind, solar and efficiency, not in an economically catastrophic technology that kills people and the planet. And kudos as always to Jay Gould and the vital work done by him and his colleagues in searching out the health impacts of this failed technology. See-no-evil doesn't cut it when radiation is being dumped into our bodies--and those of our children.
HARVY WASSERNAN
Gould rejoinder to Besmann (to be published later)
As explained in my book The Enemy Within: The High Cost of Living Near Nuclear Reactors, reviewed by Blanche Cook in the Dec.7, 1997 issue of The Nation, the National Cancer Institute study that found no connection between reactor emissions and cancer, compared cancer deaths in counties with reactors with cancer deaths in adjoining counties with the bizarre assumption that reactor emissions would stop at the county border!
JAY M. GOULD
As an aside, please read this to see why the concept of nuclear power as a "solution" to global warming is a pathetic joke: http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/globalwarming2.html
-Bill Smirnow
-------- environment
U.S. Bans Imports of Meat From European Countries
New York Times
March 13, 2001
By CHRISTOPHER S. WREN
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/13/world/13CND-BAN.html
In an attempt to prevent foot-and-mouth disease from spreading into the United States from Europe, the Department of Agriculture announced today that it is temporarily prohibiting the import of animals and most animal products from the member countries of the European Union.
Exempted from the ban are hard cheeses and canned meat products, provided the containers are still sealed. The decision to ban the European imports came after foot-and-mouth disease was reported today to have infected cattle on a French farm that had imported sheep from Britain, where the disease was discovered last month. On Feb. 21, the Department of Agriculture temporarily suspended the import of meat and other animal products originating in Britain and Northern Ireland.
"These measures are part of a coordinated prevention program to ensure the disease does not spread into the United States," the Department of Agriculture said in a statement.
The United States, which has been free of foot-and-mouth disease for more than seven decades, has already banned beef imports from European Union countries following an outbreak of mad-cow disease in Europe. The new prohibition is likely to particularly hurt countries like Denmark and the Netherlands that export pork to the United States.
Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious virus affecting cattle, swine and other cloven-hoofed animals. Though many infected animals survive the disease, it is so debilitating that meat and milk production is sharply reduced.
While the disease is not considered medically harmful to humans, it is economically devastating to farmers because it spreads so rapidly, including by shoes and vehicle tires, that once it is diagnosed, entire herds and flocks of livestock must be destroyed.
The United States has been free of foot-and-mouth disease since 1929, when the last of nine outbreaks was eradicated.
The latest move bars travelers from carrying in agricultural products, primarily involving animals, from Europe that could spread the disease. Travelers will also be asked whether they visited any farms while in Europe and have their luggage inspected.
Additional inspectors with sniffer dogs will be deployed at airports and other entry points. Travelers who violate the ban could be fined up to $1,000, the department said.
The Department of Agriculture plans a public education campaign about the disease, with more airport signs, public service announcements and an information hotline.
The department will also send a team of 40 experts from federal and state agencies and universities to Europe to monitor efforts to contain the disease and to provide whatever assistance is needed.
The bans on meat and animal products from the European Union was urged by American farmers' groups and representatives of agricultural states in Congress, notably the Senate Minority Leader, Tom Daschle, a Democrat from South Dakota.
---
Foot-and-Mouth Disease Confirmed in French Cattle
New York Times
March 13, 2001
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/13/world/13CND-FRANCE.html
PARIS, March 13 - The first outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease to spread from Britain to the European continent has been found on a dairy farm in western France, health officials said today.
The disease was found in a herd of 114 cows that had been grazing near a neighboring farm's sheep imported from Britain, where the epidemic was discovered on Feb. 19.
The sheep were all slaughtered last week as a precaution; none of their carcasses tested positive for the disease. But six cows showed symptoms of foot-and-mouth disease on Monday, so the entire herd was killed Monday night and were to be incinerated today. Two carcasses tested positive, French officials said.
In response to the spread of foot-and-mouth disease, the United States Department of Agriculture announced today that it is temporarily prohibiting the importation of animals and animal products from the European Union into the United States.
"This temporary action is being taken following confirmation of foot-and-mouth disease in France," the federal agency said in a statement.
France, like the rest of the Continent, has been on edge for weeks, fearing such an outbreak. The confirmed cases, near the village of La Baroche-Gondouin in the northwestern Mayenne district, could cause the same kind of widespread panic and isolation of farmers that it has in Britain and northern Ireland.
How much panic ensues will depend on how confidently France's national veterinary service can show that it has contained the outbreak, said Costa Golfidis, director of livestock for Copa, the European farm lobby.
"So here we are," said Mr. Golfidis. "We'll cross our fingers and burn candles - what else can we do?"
Because of the suspect sheep nearby, the dairy farm was already inside a containment zone. Trucks were stopped at roadblocks, no animals were allowed out, vehicles were sprayed with disinfectant and people were asked to wade through shallow baths of it. Milk from local cows had to be pasteurized - a practice less universal in France than America because many cheeses can be made only with raw milk.
France's director-general of food, Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle, tried to calm the situation, telling reporters: "At this stage, we shouldn't speak of an epidemic - we have a concentration."
Yves Salmon, spokesman for the national confederation of farmers unions, said: "We are still confident. If we can isolate it to one or two places, it will be a success."
In Italy on Monday, a veterinary official said about 400 sheep imported from France to the Abruzzi area had been quarantined after blood tests showed disease antibodies, which shows only that they were exposed, not infected.
A week ago, France announced a nation-wide 15-day ban on moving any cattle, sheep, pigs, goats or horses, except those taken for slaughter. It has already killed 50,000 sheep as a precaution; 20,000 imported from Britain after Feb. 1 and 30,000 French sheep that had contact with them.
Other countries imposed similar restrictions. Television has been broadcasting footage of vast cattle-market pens standing empty. Horse-racing, too, has been suspended; horses do not suffer from the disease but can transmit it.
At the same time, individual countries from Bulgaria to Japan banned the import of cloven-footed animals from western Europe as well as meat and fodder made from them.
The confirmed outbreak can only hurt Europe's frustrated and angry farmers. Continental beef prices have already fallen dramatically because of mad-cow disease, and French farmers protested so furiously over the need to slaughter all older cattle to eradicate it that the government broke European Union rules and began paying large subsidies.
Unlike mad-cow disease, foot-and-mouth rarely infects humans and meat from infected animals is safe to eat. But it is a far greater threat to the meat and milk industries. It decimates herds, killing the young and causing older animals to lose weight, produce less milk or abort spontaneously. It is so contagious that it can be spread on a car antenna, a walking shoe, a pet's fur, or even on the wind.
France's food-safety agency said today that it was studying recent weather charts for Mayenne to see where the disease might have spread, Agence France Presse reported.
Suspect herds are not taken to incinerators for fear the microbes could jump to other trucks. Instead, animals are killed and burned in the field on pyres of gasoline-soaked wood, then buried there.
Rural Britain has 191 reported cases of the disease so far, and the area has been virtually closed - public footpaths cut off, farms quarantined even from human visitors, the $18 billion-a-year countryside tourism industry crippled
France's huge appetite for lamb chops makes it Britain's biggest customer for sheep exports, and sheep had been treated as the most likely vector if the disease was to arrive in France.
Ben Gill, president of Britain's National Farmer's Union, said France would have to adopt the same strict measures Britain had.
"I'm enormously saddened that this scourge is spreading there," Mr. Gill said. "They have my utmost sympathy."
---
A 24-Hour Lab Meeting on Mad Cow llness
New York Times
March 13, 2001
By SANDRA BLAKESLEE
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/13/health/13CONV.html
Dr. Thomas Pringle, a biochemist, never planned to become an authority on mad cow disease.
After years of teaching college biology, an inheritance allowed him to set up a small foundation dedicated to environmental issues in the Pacific Northwest. He became interested in chronic wasting disease - a related malady in deer and elk - and that led him to mad cow disease.
Today Dr. Pringle, 55, runs the Sperling Biomedical Foundation out of his home in Eugene, Ore., gathering information on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, including mad cow disease, chronic wasting disease, the human ailment Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease or C.J.D., and a new variant of C.J.D., which people contract from eating affected beef. All are believed to be caused by aberrant proteins called prions.
"My main interest is in annotating the prion gene family within the Human Genome Project," Dr. Pringle said recently. The project recently identified more than 30,000 human genes and published their DNA sequences on public databases. Each day, Dr. Pringle's prion disease Web site (www.mad-cow.org) collects articles and research papers written about these diseases, from this country and abroad. "It is intended as a model for intensive annotation of any supergene family," he said. "I believe it is ethically important for scientists to inform public debate on highly complex topics with major policy components."
He spoke by phone from his home.
Q. You have been tracking mad cow disease for five years now and have established a Web site on the topic (www.mad-cow.org). How did you get involved with this project?
A. I got interested in mad cow disease via chronic wasting disease in deer and elk. I went on the Internet and found information that was just an eye-opener to me involving the risks to wildlife and humans. The scientist who was maintaining the site had other things to do, so I sort of took it over. I meant to add a few links and stories, but here I am five years later. The story never died.
Q. What do you want to achieve with the Web site on mad cow disease?
A. In 1996 the Web was just getting started. I wanted to do a disease Web site that showed how the Internet could be used to do original research based on published information and how it can become the scientific medium of the future. As the paradigm for a disease Web site, madcow carries news and has unlimited space for scientific papers, complex graphics, annotations and interactive models. I would not carry nearly so much news on the Web site if the news would only let up.
Q. Who visits the Web site on mad cow disease?
A. It's a meeting ground for scientists from all over the world. The Web site is a place where they can place a research paper after it's been accepted for publication. But instead of waiting six months for it to appear in print, they can share information right away, unless the journal in question objects, which most do not. It's also a place where families can get help. My dad died from a dementia at age 80, so I can relate to what people are going through. When families get a diagnosis of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, they don't understand what it means. They get it mixed up with the new variant of the disease in England that is related to mad cow disease. So they come to me really confused. Their needs are not being met by health professionals. I put them in touch with support groups on the Web, and that can help a lot.
Q. Where do you get your information for the mad cow Web site?
A. Many scientists are more than happy to share information with me. Some information gets leaked to me. I try to develop a relationship with a postdoc in every major lab, and I talk to many principal investigators. I see myself as directing a virtual mega-lab. All these other labs are there to report back to mission central, where some sense is made out of it. One frustration for me is that research results have really gone underground in last five months. A race is on to develop diagnostic tests for live animals and blood tests for humans. The big companies funding the research don't want any information put on the Web. But I think open dissemination of all information is the only answer to this disease.
Q. What are your qualifications to run a mad cow Web site, and how much time do you spend on it?
A. On the sheepskin side, Harvard undergraduate, graduate work in molecular biology at U.C. San Diego and Ph.D. in mathematics at University of Oregon. Former college professor at the University of Texas medical school and Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. I've gotten very fast at assembling and synthesizing data. I have a lot of people helping me.
Q. Do you ever feel you are a threat to officials in government laboratories or the cattle industry who don't like what you have to say?
A. When I first started this, friends said, "Tom, some rancher is going to come by your house at night and poison your dog." Well, now I know they wouldn't do that. They've hired a public relations agency instead that is trying to discredit me as just another gadfly. I don't make the news. I don't write the articles. I don't create the events. I'm basically a clearinghouse for information that everyone wants. The problem for industry and government is that this disease is out of anybody's control. Companies can't prevent, say, Taiwan from banning the import of cosmetics containing cow by-products. It can't change the number of positive tests for mad cow disease in German cows.
Q. What can companies be doing about mad cow disease that they are not?
A. Where industry has gone wrong is in listening to P.R. people. The mad cow epidemic is not an information management issue. It is not a perception problem. It's a disease that won't go away. Instead of saying it was not a problem in the United States, they could have started a research program years ago. Now when the press asks them, "Is there a risk in the United States; is it zero; or is it small; and if it's small, how small?" the government doesn't have answers. Industry doesn't have answers. Without ultrasensitive tests, it's hard to provide a satisfactory answer to the public.
Q. How big a threat is mad cow disease in American-born and-bred animals?
A. I don't expect the British strain of mad cow disease to be much of a problem here. The main fear is that our own cattle may carry a different strain of the disease that is distinct from the British strain. There's no evidence one way or another if such a homegrown disease would be a threat to humans. But we've had many potential sources of infection including deer, elk and sheep infected with similar diseases.
Q. Are we likely to see a case of the human form of mad cow disease in this country?
A. Yes. But I'm not one of those who believes that the disease has already occurred in the United States and has been covered up. But based on the number of Americans exposed while living in or visiting Europe, it is just a matter of time.
Q. What is it about mad cow disease that is so frightening?
A. Dementias are very disturbing to people because they are so embarrassing. You lose bowel and bladder control, go blind and become entirely dependent on others. It's especially hard to see this in a 20- to 40-year-old person. And there is so much uncertainty. There are too many routes of exposure. You'll never know how a person got the disease.
Q. Should Americans be worried about mad cow disease?
A. People tell me that they know the risk of being exposed to an infected cow is very small, but if one in a million American cows are naturally infected with the disease and those cows make it into the food supply, somebody's got to eat them. At the same time, we have no evidence that American cattle have ever caused this disease in humans. Nor do we know what causes 85 percent of cases of sporadic C.J.D. So much is unknown.
Q. What should Americans who have lived abroad, especially in England, do about possible exposure to mad cow disease?
A. I tell them that they should not worry all that much but should monitor developments. There are 60 million people living in Britain who are massively exposed and who ate many more hamburgers. We need to wait and see how big the problem gets in England.
Q. When people ask you what you eat, what do you say?
A. I read a fair number of autopsy reports and see what this disease can do. So I'm much more conscious of what I eat. I wouldn't touch a lambchop given the levels of scrapie here in the Willamette Valley. I would not eat oxtail soup or a T-bone steak. I occasionally eat fish and chicken. But canned tuna fish weirdly can have bovine casings, so I don't eat that. French wine is sometimes clarified with bovine blood, and I probably unwittingly drank some of that at some point. I avoid English cheeses. Basically all my food is locally produced. I'm not interested in food that I don't know where it came from.
Q. Is there any cause for optimism about containing mad cow disease?
A. I don't see this as the collapse of Western civilization. But I feel that the English opened a Pandora's box pretty badly, pretty widely. It was because of their various rounds of half measures that they failed to restrain themselves on exports and brought everyone else into this disease. We are at a real watershed. How much should we focus on containment and how much on cure? Containment efforts pit one country against the next with every nation looking out for itself. We should put a larger effort into curing the disease.
---
Bush Won't Regulate Carbon Dioxide
New York Times
March 13, 2001
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Bush-Energy.html
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Backing off a campaign pledge, President Bush told Congress Tuesday he will not regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
The decision, outlined in a letter sent to a Republican senator, came after furious lobbying from the coal industry. It was a blow to conservationists who see curbing emissions of such ``greenhouse gases'' as key to reducing global warming.
The letter cited skyrocketing energy costs, particularly in the West, as one reason for Bush's about-face.
Bush said he supports a ``comprehensive and balanced energy policy that takes into account the importance of improving air quality.''
``I do not believe, however, that the government should impose on power plants mandatory emissions reductions for carbon dioxide, which is not a 'pollutant' under the Clean Air Act,'' Bush wrote to Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.
The decision drew sharp criticism from the Natural Resources Defense Council. ``He's turned his back on the weight of all the alarming scientific consensus that global warming is real, and that carbon dioxide is the main cause,'' said David Doniger, a spokesman for the environmental group.
Greenhouse gases -- primarily carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels like coal and oil -- are widely believed to trap heat in the atmosphere, causing the phenomenon known as global warming.
Vice President Dick Cheney told senators of the administration's decision at a weekly policy gathering Tuesday, said an official on Capitol Hill.
Bush promised in the campaign to treat carbon dioxide emissions as pollutants, and Christie Whitman, his Environmental Protection Agency administrator, said last month that the administration was strongly considering such regulations.
Bush pledged last year to require electric utilities to ``reduce emissions and significantly improve air quality.'' The legislation Bush proposed would have established ``mandatory reduction targets for emissions of four main pollutants: sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and carbon dioxide.''
Explaining the shift, Bush aides said they did not realize there was a contradiction when the president's energy policy was released during the campaign -- that the Clean Air Act does not identify carbon dioxide as a pollutant.
In the campaign, Bush said he would move to ``phase in the reductions'' of all four ``pollutants ... over a reasonable time period.'' Cheney said the campaign position was in error.
He told senators that Whitman was being ``a good soldier'' in repeating the campaign pledge.
Bush also cited an Energy Department study in December that said regulating carbon dioxide would lead to higher electricity prices, particularly in the hard-hit West. It would ``lead to an even more dramatic shift from coal to natural gas for electric power generation and significantly higher electricity prices compared to scenarios in which only sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides were reduced,'' Bush wrote.
Bush's energy task force, chaired by Cheney, is trying to develop a national energy policy.
Carbon dioxide is emitted whenever fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas are burned. It also is found in everyday products such as cola and is emitted when people breathe.
Bush has argued that the nation's energy woes can largely be addressed by tapping domestic supplies of fossil fuels.
``Coal generates more than half of America's electricity supply,'' Bush wrote. ``At a time when California has already experienced energy shortages, and other Western states are worried about price and availability of energy this summer, we must be very careful not to take actions that could harm consumers,'' he said.
The Bush administration has been lobbied aggressively by energy industry officials who vehemently oppose regulating carbon dioxide. They question its role in global warming.
Whitman said last month that Bush recognizes the importance of the challenges posed by climate change, a subject she said has been discussed as part of the administration's emerging energy plan.
``There's no question but that global warming is a real phenomenon, that it is occurring,'' Whitman said after a Senate hearing on other environmental issues.
Bush pledged in the letter to continue seeking ways to reduce global warming through market incentives and other techniques. At the same time, however, he questioned the science behind global warming.
``My administration takes the issue of global climate change very seriously,'' Bush wrote. But later in the letter, he cited the ``incomplete state of scientific knowledge of the causes of, and solutions to, global climate change.''
---
Government Institute to Study Climate Change
New York Times
March 13, 2001
National News Briefs
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/13/national/13NATI.html
WASHINGTON, March 12 (Reuters) - The Energy Department said today that it would create a research institute to study the economic impact of global warming and to seek the most cost-effective ways to curb carbon dioxide emissions.
The institute, to be called the Joint Global Change Research Institute, will be run by the department and the University of Maryland.
Carbon dioxide, a heat-trapping gas that is thought to contribute to global warming, is usually produced by the burning of fossil fuels. President Bush has been under pressure from lawmakers and environmentalists to cap the release of carbon dioxide by power plants. The gas is a byproduct of coal combustion.
---
Dangerous Pipelines
New York Times
March 13, 2001
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/13/opinion/L13PIP.html
To the Editor:
"Weighing a Demand for Gas Against the Fear of Pipelines" (front page, March 8) showed why public opposition to new pipelines is well founded. Tragedies like the explosion in New Mexico last year that killed 12 people are part of the pipeline industry's legacy of spills and accidents, which are increasing as enforcement fines decrease.
The weak bill passed by the Senate last month failed to remove an archaic provision barring states from setting safety protections that are stronger than the weak federal requirements. The bill also failed to remove a "cost-benefit" provision that biases regulators in favor of industry profits, and it stopped short of granting communities a real right to know about the hazards of local pipelines. Before even wading into the debate over building 38,000 more miles of pipelines, the House should pass true pipeline safety legislation.
JEREMIAH BAUMANN Environmental Health Advocate U.S. Public Interest Research Group Washington, March 8, 2001
---
Bush reverses stance on gas limits
USA Today
03/13/2001 - Updated 09:55 PM ET
By Traci Watson
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/2001-03-13-bushco2.htm
WASHINGTON - President Bush told Congress on Tuesday that he won't impose mandatory limits on power plants' emissions of carbon dioxide, a gas that has been linked to global warming.
The decision reversed a promise Bush made during the presidential campaign. In September, he released an energy policy saying that as president, he would "establish mandatory reduction targets for emissions of carbon dioxide" from power plants.
But in a letter to Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., Bush wrote, "I do not believe that the government should impose on power plants mandatory emissions reductions for carbon dioxide, which is not a 'pollutant' under the Clean Air Act."
The letter says a cap on carbon dioxide would require more use of costly natural gas. That could raise electricity prices "at a time of rising energy prices and a serious energy shortage," the letter says.
Many scientists have tied the rise in the Earth's temperature over the past century to higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, where it traps heat.
The burning of fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, produces the gas.
The administration's decision delighted many industry groups but was a blow to environmentalists.
"They just walked away from one of the most explicit environmental promises in his campaign," said Phil Clapp of the National Environmental Trust.
Tom Kuhn of the Edison Electric Institute called the decision "balanced and reasonable."
---
Argentina confirms case of foot-and-mouth disease
USA Today
03/13/2001
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2001-03-13-argentina-foot.htm
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - Officials in Argentina, the world's fourth-largest beef-producing nation, on Tuesday confirmed at least one case of foot-and-mouth disease in a heavy cattle farming area in the northwest.
A statement from SENASA, the country's agricultural sanitation agency, said the case in one cow had been found in a remote part of Buenos Aires province, a popular cattle grazing area in the Pampas region, some 250 miles northwest of Buenos Aires.
The announcement came shortly after European Union veterinary experts decided to ban imports of livestock and dairy products from Argentina, citing rumors of "outbreaks in large parts of the country." SENASA said it was also investigating "various" claims by farmers in other regions of the country, but did not say how many.
The United States, Canada and Chile - all among the biggest buyers of Argentine beef - introduced similar bans on Tuesday. In an effort to show its serious approach to the problem, Argentina formally pre-empted those bans earlier in the day by deciding to voluntary restrict beef exports to certain markets.
Last month, Argentina announced a $22 million dollar plan to vaccinate cattle herds against foot-and-mouth disease after media reports of possible cases in the countryside. The plan included vaccination of some 12 million cattle plus the heavy restriction of herd movements.
Earlier Tuesday, the EU panel recommended a ban on the export of livestock from France, where the first confirmed cases of foot-and-mouth disease were confirmed on the continent following an outbreak last month in Britain.
For Argentina, the news comes as the country is grappling with a grinding 32-month recession. As mad cow and foot-and-mouth concerns swept Europe in recent months, Argentine farmers had hoped to increase exports there.
---
France confirms case of foot-and-mouth disease
USA Today
03/13/2001 - Updated 08:05 AM ET
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2001-03-13-foot.htm
PARIS (AP) - France on Tuesday announced its first case of foot-and-mouth disease, confirming suspicions that the highly contagious livestock disease had spread from Britain to continental Europe. Officials immediately set up a 1.5-mile security parameter, limiting access to the farm in the Mayenne region, and a further "surveillance parameter" of 6 miles, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.
Mainland Europe has been taking drastic steps in an attempt to prevent the disease from crossing the Channel from Britain, where the outbreak that was first discovered Feb. 19 has severely hurt the livestock industry.
Though the disease is not dangerous to humans, an outbreak on the continent would be another economic problem for an industry suffering from plummeting beef sales and consumer panic.
Foot-and-mouth disease strikes cloven-hoofed animals such as sheep, pigs and cows, and in those it does not kill it reduces the production of milk and meat. Its danger is heightened by the ease of its transmission: The virus can be carried for miles by the wind, people or cars, or spread by contaminated hay, water and manure.
The origin of the afflicted cows in France was not immediately clear. The ministry said they belonged to a farm that is near one that imported British sheep in February.
The ministry said tests had confirmed the cases in the cows from a herd of 114 cattle on the farm. All 114 cows were destroyed, it said, and their carcasses were to be incinerated on Tuesday.
This first case "justifies all the draconian measures that we have taken over the past 15 days," Agriculture Minister Jean Glavany said on French radio.
Veterinary officials had had a "strong suspicion" on Monday that the farm was infected, the ministry said. Overnight analysis of tests by France's food safety agency, AFSSA, confirmed the suspicions, the ministry said.
Britain halted dairy, meat and livestock exports shortly after the first case of foot-and-mouth was confirmed on Feb. 19. More than 150,000 livestock have been destroyed or earmarked for slaughter. So far, 183 infected areas have been reported in Britain and Northern Ireland.
Movement by people in the countryside has also been discouraged, and those who travel to rural areas are being asked to walk through troughs of disinfectant.
After tests on nine herds in France raiused suspicions of the disease, France moved Monday to virtually shut down its livestock business, barring the export of animals at risk for 15 days and banning all movement of such animals inside the country, except those being taken to slaughterhouses. Horses were also banned from traveling inside France.
The government had already decided to kill 20,000 imported sheep and 30,000 French sheep that had been in contact with the British animals.
Germany, meanwhile, said it was still free of foot-and-mouth disease Tuesday, after tests on suspect animals from a farm showed no trace.
The farm at Damme, in Lower Saxony state, was sealed off after symptoms similar to those of the highly contagious disease were detected among 99 calves. The animals were slaughtered Sunday. An official from the state Agriculture Ministry said subsequent tests proved negative.
---
U.S. bans EU animal imports
USA Today
03/13/2001 - Updated 08:04 PM ET
http://usatoday.com/news/nphoto.htm
http://usatoday.com/news/nation/2001-03-13-usda-beef-ban.htm
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Agriculture Department on Tuesday suspended imports of livestock and fresh meat from the European Union after foot-and-mouth disease was found in France. The ban, which also applies to unpasteurized dairy products, would have the biggest impact on imports of pork from the Netherlands and Denmark. Imports of beef from the European Union already were banned because of mad cow disease. Some processed products are exempt from the ban.
The United States suspended all meat and animal imports from Britain Feb. 21 and ordered stepped-up checks of travelers arriving from the United Kingdom. Airline passengers who have visited the British countryside are required to have their shoes disinfected if they appear soiled.
Now, travelers from the European Union also may be subject to additional scrutiny, including disinfection of their footwear if they have been on a farm.
Foot-and-mouth disease is not harmful to humans, but it spreads so quickly that entire herds and flocks must be destroyed to contain it. The virus can be transmitted by footwear and motor vehicles.
"We want to make sure we're taking the appropriate steps to make sure it doesn't cross the ocean by means of our ports or travelers," said USDA spokesman Kevin Herglotz, adding that "if foot-and-mouth disease were to enter the United States, the cost is in the billions."
French officials said Tuesday that the disease was found in cattle on a farm that had earlier imported sheep from Britain.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., last week urged the Agriculture Department to block imports of livestock from anywhere in the world, including Canada, until the department assessed the adequacy of its controls for foot-and-mouth disease.
In addition to the ban on shipments from the European Union, USDA said it was sending a team of 40 federal, state and university experts to Europe to monitor and assist in the efforts to contain the disease.
The department said it also will increase its public education efforts in the United States by installing more signs in airports, sponsoring public service announcements and providing a telephone hotline for information.
The appearance of foot-and-mouth in France sent soybean and corn prices tumbling on the Chicago Board of Trade because of fears that the disease could lead to wholesale slaughtering of hogs in Europe, depressing markets for feed ingredients. Soybean prices lost 1% of their value.
The United States imported $294 million worth of fresh, chilled or frozen pork, lamb, mutton and goat from the European Union last year, according to USDA. Ninety% of the imports were pork.
Less than $1 million worth of livestock is imported annually from the EU, mostly purebred hogs.
Chuck Lambert, a spokesman for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, said the department was acting properly.
"As conditions change, they've adapted their monitoring and surveillance," he said.
---
Bush decides against carbon dioxide regulations
USA Today
03/13/2001 - Updated 06:12 PM ET
http://usatoday.com/news/nlead.htm
WASHINGTON (AP) - Backing off a campaign pledge, President Bush is telling Congress that he will not regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
The decision, outlined in a letter being sent to a Republican senator Tuesday, was a blow to conservationists who see curbing emissions of such "greenhouse gases" as a key to reducing global warming.
The letter cites skyrocketing energy costs, particularly in the West, as the reason for Bush's about-face, according to GOP sources in Congress and the administration who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Bush promised in the campaign to treat carbon dioxide emissions as pollutants, and Christie Whitman, his Environmental Protection Agency administrator, said last month that the administration was strongly considering such regulations.
Vice President Dick Cheney told a weekly policy gathering with senators that the administration was preparing a letter that would say carbon dioxide was not a pollutant, said one official on Capitol Hill. The letter was being sent to Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., late Tuesday, said an administration official briefed on the letter.
Bush pledged during his presidential campaign to require electric utilities to "reduce emissions and significantly improve air quality." The legislation Bush proposed would have established "mandatory reduction targets for emissions of four main pollutants: sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and carbon dioxide."
The letter to Hagel said Bush is committed to a balanced energy policy that improves air quality by curbing nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and mercury but that Bush no longer believes the government should impose mandatory emissions caps on carbon dioxide.
Explaining the shift, Bush noted that the Clean Air Act does not include carbon dioxide as a pollutant. Bush aides said they did not realize there was a contradiction when the president's energy policy was released during the campaign.
The White House also is citing a December study by the Department of Energy that said regulating carbon dioxide would lead to higher electricity prices, particularly in the hard-hit West.
Bush's energy task force, chaired by Cheney, is trying to develop a national energy policy.
Carbon dioxide is emitted whenever fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas are burned. It also is found in everyday products such as cola and is emitted when people breathe.
Bush has argued that the nation's energy woes can largely be addressed by tapping domestic supplies of coal and natural gas.
The Bush administration has been lobbied aggressively by energy industry officials who vehemently oppose regulating carbon dioxide. They contend it does not lead to global warming.
In the campaign, Bush said he would move to "phase in the reductions" of all four products "over a reasonable time period." Cheney said the campaign position was in error.
He told senators that Whitman was being "a good soldier" in repeating the campaign pledge.
Whitman said last month that Bush recognizes the importance of the challenges posed by climate change, a subject she said has been discussed as part of the administration's emerging energy plan.
"There's no question but that global warming is a real phenomenon, that it is occurring," Whitman said after a Senate hearing on other environmental issues.
Bush pledged in the letter to continue seeking ways to reduce global warming through market incentives and other techniques.
As a possible response to global warming, Whitman raised the possibility of the administration supporting legislation that would for the first time regulate carbon emissions.
---
Washington Times
March 13, 2001
Inside the Beltway
John McCaslin
http://www.washtimes.com/national/inbeltway.htm
Mailbag
"I'm a retired nuclear submarine captain and have operated north of the Arctic Circle several times," writes retired Navy Cmdr. Steve Jarrett, captain of the USS Daniel Boone, SSBN 629, regarding our item on global warming and rising sea levels.
"It amazes me that people accept the pseudo-scientific statement that the melting of the polar ice cap will cause a drastic rise in the ocean level. The North Pole ice cap floats, all of it. If it all melted, you would get the same level increase you get with a glass of ice tea melting at the kitchen table - in short, nothing.
"The level would probably actually go down a little due to the higher density of the liquid water than of the ice block. So I guess all the sensationalists need to look only at the South Pole melting for their ocean-level measurements."
John McCaslin, a nationally syndicated columnist, can be reached at 202/636-3284 or by e-mail: mccasl@twtmail.com.
---
Incendiary language
Washington Times
March 13, 2001
Inside Politics
Greg Pierce
http://www.washtimes.com/national/inpolitics.htm
Trent Lott, the Senate majority leader, says he will be delighted if Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, carries out his threat to filibuster energy legislation that would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.
"I'd be willing to run a campaign on energy - delighted," the Mississippi Republican told Roll Call, suggesting that a filibuster would hurt the Democrats.
Said reporter Ed Henry: "In a lengthy interview, Lott repeatedly used incendiary language to accuse the Democrats of making a grave political mistake by pushing conservation over increased production to handle the energy shortage."
Among Mr. Lott's remarks about Democrats: "They don't understand what happened in California? Don't they understand it's going to happen again this summer, and that we're headed for rolling brownouts and blackouts?"
Mr. Lott said the energy legislation will be brought up in June or July.
-------- police
Because Its Force Is Shrinking, Police Dept. Loses $55 Million
New York Times
March 13, 2001
By KEVIN FLYNN
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/13/nyregion/13POLI.html
New York City has failed to qualify for more than half of a $93 million federal subsidy intended to help pay for additional police personnel, police officials said yesterday.
The failure stems from problems the department has encountered in retaining officers and recruiting new ones, they said.
The federal money had been set aside to help pay three years of salaries for new police officers under a Justice Department program that rewards police departments that increase their staffs.
The city had hoped to add 1,230 officers by July to increase the force to 41,440. But so many officers retired in recent months, and a recruitment drive fell so short of expectations, that the force grew by only 500. As a result, the city will receive only $38 million.
Just as many other police departments, New York's has had to struggle to maintain its manpower as officers seize opportunities in the private sector. The predicament has been complicated by an unusually high number of officers reaching retirement age and by lackluster wages that have failed to attract replacements.
Police officials said they might have been able to obtain additional funds this year. But they said they did not to apply because the Justice Department requires that municipalities maintain the higher staffing level over a four-year period.
"We did not want to be in a situation where we had taken the money in anticipation of reaching a certain head count that we might not have reached," said Maureen Casey, the deputy commissioner of policy and planning, "and then be in a position of having to return the money when we didn't."
Even with the problems, the police force has not shrunk. It simply has not grown as much as anticipated. New York still has more officers per capita than any of the nation's largest cities, according to the city's Independent Budget Office. But the department has recently increased its attrition projections. And any manpower reductions could affect Police Commissioner Bernard B. Kerik's plan to increase the number of officers on patrol. He is trying to cut the response time to 911 calls.
"We should respond more quickly to calls for service, and we will," Mr. Kerik told the committee. He said the response time had begun to drop in recent months since he began requesting weekly reports on the matter from each precinct in the city.
---
LAPD adopts discipline guidelines
USA Today
03/13/2001 - Updated 07:02 AM ET
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2001-03-13-lapd.htm
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The mayor, police chief and police union president have announced new discipline guidelines that for the first time set out how specific infractions by police officers will be punished.
The guidelines, long sought by officers, represent a historic step that will improve lagging morale in the troubled Los Angeles Police Department, the officials said.
"No longer will morale plummet because officers consider their punishment to be arbitrary," Mayor Richard Riordan said Monday. "We did it. We finally did it."
Previously, there were no binding, written discipline guidelines, and punishment for officers' infractions was left to the discretion of department managers. That led to complaints of favoritism and allegations that rank-and-file officers were punished more severely than department commanders for the same offenses.
The new guidelines, which take effect immediately, lay out specific punishments for nine pages of offenses, from alcohol consumption to being late to work to sexual misconduct.
Managers will be permitted to stray from the guidelines, but only if they justify that decision in writing.
Los Angeles Police Protective League President Mitzi Grasso welcomed the guidelines as "a historical and significant step toward achieving a fair and objective discipline process."
Police officers have long wanted such guidelines but department commanders objected, fearing their authority would be undercut.
Police Chief Bernard C. Parks said he supports the guidelines now because they "give sufficient flexibility to management" by giving commanding officers discretion while requiring them to justify their decisions.
Riordan, Parks and Grasso said they hope the guidelines will be a first step toward shoring up police morale, which is at a troubling low in part because of a scandal involving allegations that officers in the Rampart station anti-gang unit framed and abused people.
Grasso has said some officers were so upset with the disciplinary process they were trying to leave the department.
---
Not everyone loves Girl Scout cookies
USA Today
03/13/01
Offbeat
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nweird/nweird.htm
DECATUR, Ga. - Troop leader Angelia Latners was with a group of girls selling in the parking lot of a closed restaurant when a DeKalb County police officer ticketed her troop for selling cookies without a permit. Latners was unaware of a DeKalb ordinance that requires a permit for anyone soliciting in neighborhoods.
After Police Maj. Ron Slade received several media inquiries and calls from irate Girl Scout Leaders, he apologized and voided the tickets. He said soliciting by youths in that area had gotten out of hand recently, and the officers apparently were overzealous.
-------- terrorism
New York Times
March 13, 2001
Metro Briefing http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/13/nyregion/13MBRF.html
MANHATTAN: BERENSONS LEAVING FOR PERU The parents of Lori Berenson, a Manhattan woman whose life sentence was overturned by a Peruvian military court, said yesterday that they were going to South America to attend her new civilian trial, scheduled to start March 20. In 1996, a Peruvian military court sentenced Ms. Berenson, a former student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to life in prison on charges of treason for helping the leftist Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement plan a takeover of Congress. But Peru's top military court overturned her conviction in August. (AP)
---
Jury Selection Begins in Terrorism Trial
New York Times
March 13, 2001
National News Briefs
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/13/national/13NATI.html
LOS ANGELES, March 12 (AP) - Jury selection began today under heavy security in the trial of an Algerian man accused of conspiring to plant bombs at millennium celebrations in Seattle and other cities.
The Algerian, Ahmed Ressam, 33, listened to the process with earphones through which the proceedings were translated.
Two sets of metal detectors, one at the entry to the building and another outside the courtroom, were used to check for weapons. Federal officers patrolled outside, and dogs sniffed packages and briefcases being brought into the building.
Mr. Ressam, who prosecutors suspect is connected to the terrorist network believed to be headed by Osama bin Laden, is accused of entering Washington State aboard a ferry from Canada with a car loaded with bomb-making materials.
-------- activists
Green Jobs Available, March 2001
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 10:32:22 -0800
From: <jzern1@yahoo.com> (by way of Jonah Zern <jzern1@yahoo.com>)
GREEN JOBS AVAILABLE THE GALLON ENVIRONMENT LETTER 506 Victoria Ave., Montreal, Quebec H3Y 2R5 Ph. (514) 369- 0230, fax (514) 369 -3282, Email ggallon@pcstarnet.com, Vol. 4, No. 3, March 12, 2001
PEMBINA INSTITUTE WISHES TO HIRE A RENEWABLE ENERGY ANALYST FOR TO WORK IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
The Pembina Institute, an environmental NGO based in Drayton Valley, Alberta, wishes to hire a Renewable Energy Analyst. She or he will provide significant analytical support for its project related to renewable energy for a variety of municipal, First Nations, and corporate clients. These include working with First Nations, municipal governments, industry, NGOs and the commercial sector on renewable energy applications. The issues include: wind power, mini- hydroelectricity, solar thermal heating, biomass electricity and heat generation, and/or solar photovoltaic applications. The person will undertake research on renewable energy with emphasis on identifying case studies of the successful implementation of renewable energy; undertake technical analysis of renewable energy technologies including resource assessment, technical design options, energy production levels, and environmental impacts; and, undertake financial and business analysis including project capital, development, operating and maintenance costs. The successful candidate will have technical and business background in renewable energy heating and/or electricity; have experience in the implementation of renewable energy, preferably at a community scale; have an understanding of the market and political barriers to the implementation of renewable energy; have knowledge of existing renewable energy technology manufacturers, suppliers, and project developers. Salary range will be $35,000 to $46,000/year depending on qualifications and experience. The preferred location for this position is Vancouver or southern British Columbia (home office based) however, flexibility is provided for considering other locations. Please send your resume and a one page statement of your interest in this position to Andrew Pape-Salmon immediately, preferably by email to andrewp@pembina.org. If that is not possible, please fax to 604-904-8578. Please see a more detailed job description at http://www.pembina.org/
--
PEMBINA INSTITUTE WISHES TO HIRE A MANAGER OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY SERVICES TO BE BASED IN CALGARY, ALBERTA
The Pembina Institute plans to hire a Manager of Energy Efficiency Services to work in Calgary. This person will manage projects for the Pembina Institute related to end-use energy efficiency for a variety of municipal, First Nations, and corporate clients. He/she will work with First Nations, municipal governments, industry, and the commercial sector on energy efficiency technologies and management practices. These include: district heating, building retrofits, efficient boilers/furnaces, building-scale renewable energy, and smart energy controls, among others. The person will develop designs for energy efficiency programs for delivery at a community level; undertake technical and financial analysis; facilitate the implementation of energy efficiency technologies and management practices through the development of feasibility studies and business plans, establishing financing mechanisms, assessing various benefits, coordinating development, and monitoring benefits; and, establish and implement performance monitoring frameworks. The successful candidate will have technical and business background in energy efficiency technologies and management practices in the commercial, institutional, and/or residential sectors; have a professional engineers registered with a provincial association; have five years of experience in the implementation of energy efficiency at a community level; have knowledge of utility demand side-management programs and energy service companies; and, have understanding of the market and political barriers to the implementation of energy efficiency. The salary range is from $40,000 to $46,000 per year, depending on qualifications and experience. The preferred location for this position is Calgary. However, flexibility may be provided for considering other locations and home office arrangements. Send your resume and a one page statement of your interest in this position to Andrew Pape-Salmon preferably by email to andrewp@pembina.org. If that is not possible, please fax to: 604-904-8578. The start date is April, 2001 (negotiable). Please see a more detailed job description at http://www.pembina.org/
--
SIERRA LEGAL DEFENSE FUND WANTS A SENIOR LAWYER
The Sierra Legal Defence Fund based in Toronto seeks to hire a Senior Environmental Lawyer. Responsibilities will include participating in the development and conduct of strategic public interest environmental litigation within Ontario and other jurisdictions, and a specific responsibility for providing senior counsel to SLDF's lawyers. The successful candidate will have over 10 years litigation experience; a strong interest in and commitment to public interest environmental law; a desire to work in a dynamic non-profit organization; and the initiative to take on and develop cases and issues within a teamwork setting. The person will have knowledge of areas of the law fundamental to our work (environmental and administrative), as well as Federal Court and/or prosecutorial experience are also strong assets. The position is full-time with a 6 month probationary period. Competitive non-profit salary and benefits offered - applicants seeking private sector compensation need not apply. Send your application to Suzana Stos - Office Manager, Sierra Legal Defence Fund, 30 St. Patrick Street - Suite 900, Toronto, Ontario M5T 3A3, Fax: (416) 363-2746, E-mail: sstos@sierralegal.org. Visit their website at http://www.sierralegal.org/
--
CH2M HILL CANADA WISHES TO HIRE TECHNICAL PUBLICATIONS SPECIALISTS
CH2M Hill is a major environmental consulting engineering firm based in the United States with offices in Canada. CH@M Hill Canada Ltd. works in the fields of water, wastewater, transportation and environmental services. It wishes to hire two or more Senior Technical Publications Specialists in its Waterloo and Toronto offices, Ontario. The Specialists will write and edit hard copy and online material, ensure the use of corporate style standards, and coordinate all aspects of document production. This will include day-to-day leadership of the Publications Group. The successful candidate will have an academic and practical background in technical communications, fluency in Microsoft Office and leadership experience. Send your letter of application and resume (quote file No. 87) and your location preference to CH2M Hill Canada Ltd., 255 Consumers Road, North York, Ontario M2J 5B6, fax (416) 499-4687, email canadiancareers@ch2m.com. Visit the CH2M Hill website at http://www.ch2m.com
--
COME-BY-CHANCE NORTH ATLANTIC REFINERY WISHES TO HIRE A DIRECTOR OF ENVIRONMENT, SAFETY, AND HEALTH
North Atlantic Refining Ltd., in Come-by-Chance, Newfoundland plans to hire a Director, Safety, Health & Environment. The Director will establish, promote and maintain the effectiveness of a safe and healthy workplace environment. This person will recommend measures to reduce or eliminate industrial accident and health/environmental hazards in compliance with Company policy and Provincial and/or Federal acts or regulations. The successful candidate will have 10 to 15 years experience in progressively more responsible management roles, including at least five year s managing safety programs. This person's strengths will include visioning, communicating and participatory decision-making. Qualities will include candour, insight, sensitivity and an ability to articulate principles and adapt them to daily practice. The deadline for application is March 23, 2001. Send your letter of application and resume to Alfred Efford, Director, Human Resources, North Atlantic Refining Ltd., PO Box 40, Come-by-Chance, Newfoundland A0B 1N0, fax (709) 463-8122. Visit their website at http://www.na-refining.nf.ca/
--
SASKATCHEWAN RESEARCH COUNCIL LOOKING FOR A SENIOR HYDRO GEOLOGIST/QUATERNARY GEOLOGIST
The Saskatchewan Research Council is a Saskatchewan crown corporation that is widely respected for the products and services it provides to businesses in Saskatchewan and around the world. Its purpose is to "create wealth through the responsible application of science and technology to assist Saskatchewan industry to be globally competitive." This position is located in Saskatoon. To complement its Hydro geology Section, the Saskatchewan Research Council is looking for a Hydro geologist with significant knowledge of Quaternary geology (or a Quaternary Geologist with relevant experience of applying Quaternary geology to Hydro geology). The candidate will participate in existing applied research projects, such as developing frameworks for groundwater management and the preparation of GIS based geology and groundwater maps, and pursue the development and delivery of her/his own projects. The ideal candidate will: have a Masters or Ph.D in Hydro geology or Quaternary geology, with 5 to10 years of relevant experience and a demonstrated ability to initiate and manage projects. In addition, a strong background in digital databases, and in the application of GIS in hydro geological and geological investigations are required. Experience in costing and negotiating projects, and management of projects is essential. Strong communication skills, the ability to work with clients and staff effectively and the ability to explain complex technical issues and results is essential. The deadline for application is April 9, 2001. Send your application to Staff Resource Services, Saskatchewan Research Council, 15 Innovation Blvd., Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. S7N 2X8, or fax to (306) 933-7446, or e-mail wright@src.sk.ca
--
LURA CONSULTING IN TORONTO SEEKS AN ASSOCIATE CONSULTANT
LURA Consulting, an environmental and resources consulting firm based in Toronto, has an immediate opening in our Toronto office for an "Associate Consultant", who will join its team of consulting professionals in Toronto and Oakville. The associate will coordination of consultation and stakeholder processes; documentation of public and consultation meetings; writing of communication materials, reports and proposals; development and management of computer databases; and, research for projects and new initiatives. The Company: LURA Consulting is a national firm specializing in strategic process planning, stakeholder and community consultation, facilitation, and communications. Our clients include government and public sector agencies at all levels, ranging from local municipalities to international institutions. While much of our consulting work has traditionally been in the environmental field, LURA is now providing services to clients in the transportation, health and education sectors, among others. The successful candidate will have a minimum of 3 years experience, preferably in a consulting environment. He/she will be a proven team player, self-starter, and possess excellent written and oral communications skills, as well as flexibility and tact. A relevant university degree is highly desirable, as are computer word processing and design capabilities, and bilingualism. Send a cover letter and resume to Kathryn Ouellette at email kouellette@lura.ca. Tell them why you would like to join their team.
--
ESG INTERNATIONAL WISHES TO HIRE AN SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER in GUELPH, ONTARIO
ESG International wants to employ a Senior Marketing Manager. ESG International is a leading Canadian environmental science firm offering multidisciplinary services in environmental consulting, ecotoxicity testing and environmental technologies. The Manager will focus on client relationship and alliance development and will contribute significantly to the successful cross-sectoral development of its business. It is seeking an individual with knowledge of the environmental industry, sound marketing management experience and an ability to work with enthusiasm in a very team oriented, energetic environment. A business degree and skills in web site development would be assets. Based in its Guelph office, the successful candidate will lead the corporate marketing program and will oversee the development and delivery of marketing information systems; strategic proposal response; special events coordination; promotional materials; and an advertising/public relations program. Send your resume to Human Resources, ESG International, 361 Southgate Drive, Guelph, Ontario N1G 3M5, Fax (519) 836-2493, E-mail: hr@esg.net. To learn more about ESG International visit the website at http://www.esg.net.
--
GVRD VANCOUVER WANTS TO APPOINT A SENIOR PROJECT ENGINEER FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY
The Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) plans to hire a Senior Project Engineer- Energy Efficiency, in Air Quality Department. GVRD is a partnership of 21 municipalities and one electoral area that delivers regional services to the population in the Greater Vancouver metropolitan area. The Senior Project Engineer will be responsible for developing the technical components of the Better Building Partnership Program. Specific functions include: analyzing the environmental impact of regional energy usage; identifying and implementing energy efficiency/emissions reduction opportunities; developing program performance monitoring and reporting systems; establishing and maintaining a stakeholder advisory group; and, coordinating educational programs. The successful candidate will have a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical or Energy related engineering discipline. Additional accreditation as a certified energy professional and completion of any ASHRAE courses are an asset. Candidates must be registered or eligible for registration with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia; have a minimum of 6 years of post-registered relevant and progressive technical and project management experience; have extensive knowledge of the energy field including energy efficiency opportunities for municipal infrastructure and services associated with buildings and applications of renewable energy technologies; and have detailed knowledge of energy conservation practices and technologies in commercial, industrial and residential buildings and related infrastructure. The salary ranges is from $2,094.38 to $2,617.98 bi-weekly plus a comprehensive benefits package. Please submit your resume, citing file number E1012, immediately to Human Resources, Greater Vancouver Regional District, 4330 Kingsway, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5H 4G8, Fax: 604.432.6455, email: hr@gvrd.bc.ca
--
CINE AT MC GILL UNIVERSITY SEEKS AN EXECUTIVE MANAGER
The Centre for Indigenous Peoples' Nutrition and Environment (CINE), an independent research and education resource for Indigenous peoples created by Canada's aboriginal leaders and McGill University in Montreal, is seeking an Executive Manager experienced with aboriginal issues for a 2-year appointment. CINE's goal is to enhance the quality of life of Indigenous peoples around the world by addressing topics related to traditional food systems. Reporting to the Director, the incumbent will be responsible for managing the response strategy requests received from communities of indigenous peoples and for managing the human resources of the Centre; will promote CINE through community relations and as resource for communities; will initiate and coordinate fund-raising efforts, manage media communications, prepare proposals, represent CINE in meetings, manage budget and report preparation and undertake related managerial duties as well as acting as Associate Director. The successful candidate will possess a degree in Business Administration or Management, relevant management and fund-raising experience, and will be an outstanding self-starter and result-oriented individual with proven leadership, communication and negotiating skills. Ability to speak French an asset. Salary commensurate with experience. Please submit your curriculum vitae (including names of three references), and a sample of your written work (i.e. proposals, communiqués, etc.) by March 16, 2001 to The Director, CINE, Macdonald Campus of McGill University, 21,111 Lakeshore Road, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC H9X 3V9, Fax 514-398-1020, Email: Laduke@macdonald.mcgill.ca
--
MC MASTER UNIVERSITY, HAMILTON, OFFERING GRADUATE STUDENT ASSISTANTSHIP IN CLIMATOLOGY
The School of Geography and Geology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, is inviting applications from students seeking M.Sc. or Ph.D. degrees in Earth and Environmental Science program with specialization in climatology starting from August 2001 (Fall Session). Candidates who wish to start in early in May 2001 (Summer Session) would be entitled to summer funding. The goal of this research is to improve McMaster University's understand the processes controlling energy. water vapour and carbon dioxide fluxes from a white pine forest in Southern Ontario. Sensitivity of net ecosystem productivity of this forest to seasonal and annual climate variability will also be investigated. The students will participate in continuous micro-meteorological field data measurements using eddy correlation technique and other related meteorological instruments. Qualified candidate will be eligible for normal university support and teaching assistantship with an opportunity of full-time employment during the summer. For more details contact Dr. M. Altaf Arain, School of Geography and Geology, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Room BSB-317, Hamilton, Ontario L8S4K1, Ph: (905) 525-9140 Ext. 27941, fax (905) 546-0463, Email: arainm@mcmaster.ca . See department web site at http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/geo/geomain.html
--
IZAAK WALTON LEAGUE, MARYLAND, WANTS A POPULATION CAMPAIGNER
The Izaak Walton League of America (IWLA) has a position opening for "Sustainable Population Campaign Coordinator," at their Gaithersburg, Maryland, headquarters. They are a diverse group of 50,000 men and women dedicated to protecting the United State's nation's soil, air, woods, waters and wildlife. Its strength lies in its grassroots, commonsense approach to solving local, regional and national conservation issues. The Izaak Walton League interests span the spectrum of outdoor recreation and conservation activities, from angling and birding to stream monitoring, wildlife photography and hunting. Also its goal is to protect and use sustainably America's rich resources to ensure a high quality of life for all people, now and in the future. The deadline for application is March 31, 2001. Please send a resume and two samples of your written work to Jim Baird, Sustainability Education Program Director, IWLA, 707 Conservation Lane, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20878, ph. (301) 548-0150, fax (301) 548-0146, email general@iwla.org . Visit the Izaak Walton League website at http://www.iwla.org/siteindx.htm
--
RTR CONSULTANTS SEEKING SEVERAL PROFESSIONALS TO WORK ON SEABIRD ECOLOGY AND RESTORATION PROJECT INTO THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
Real Time Research RTR Consultants, based in Oregon, has announced that several positions are available with its seabird ecology/restoration project based in Washington. There is a need for field technicians and bird colony monitors to monitor Caspian terns, double-crested cormorants, and brown pelicans in the Columbia River estuary and along the Washington Coast (see below for job descriptions). All applicants should have a strong interest in avian ecology, feel comfortable working in boats, and be able to swim. Successful applicants can expect to spend long hours in bad weather, to learn quickly in the field, and to live and work closely with others. Positions for the colony monitors run from the beginning of May to the end of August 2001, and from September onwards for the field technicians. This project is a collaboration of researchers from the USGS - Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Oregon State University, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Real Time Research, a private consulting firm. Seasonal staff will be hired as employees of Oregon State University. All positions will provide excellent field research experience and field assistants can expect to learn a great deal about seabird biology, ecology, and research. These positions pay $1,500/mo for 5 months (May - September), plus room andboard. Those that have knowledge of radio telemetry (from fixed-wing aircraft), boat operation, and seabird behaviour will be the most competitive. Please indicate in your cover letter for which position(s) you are applying. Deadline for application is April 15, 2001. To apply, send cover letter, resume, and a list of at least three references with their e-mail addresses and phone numbers to Ken Collis, Real Time Research (RTR), 201 Yellowtail Hawk Ave., Bend, Oregon 97701, phone (541) 382-3836, fax (541) 382-3786, email kcollis@bendcable.com, (preferred). Further information about this project can be viewed at the website http://www.columbiabirdresearch.org
--
U.S. NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY SEEKS A SENIOR PROJECT LEADER
The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has a Senior Project Leader position available to lead implementation of climate change programs with developing countries and the donor community. This Senior Project Leader will be responsible for leading implementation of clean energy investment and technology transfer projects with developing countries and will direct efforts to integrate these activities with related bilateral and multilateral donor programs. This work will support NREL's leadership of programs for implementation of technology transfer under the UNFCCC in collaboration with the U.S. Government, the Climate Technology Initiative, and the donor and business community. This project leader will also assist with implementation of other NREL climate change and air pollution programs. Candidates must have a master's degree and at least 6 years' of relevant work experience, including experience working with developing countries on energy and/or climate change projects and with the bilateral and multilateral donor community on the implementation of energy and development programs. Experience with development and financing of clean energy business investment projects is also desired. Interested applicants should send resumes to email nrel_employment@nrel.gov. Further information on this position can be found at http://www.nrel.gov/hr/employment/jobs_files/785.html. Further information on NREL's work on climate change and clean energy technology transfer with developing countries can be found at http://www.nrel.gov/tcapp
--
NEW YORK HEALTH DEPARTMENT SEEKS A RESEARCH SCIENTIST IN TOXICS
The Division of Environmental Health Assessment, Bureau of Toxic Substance Assessment, with the New York State Department of Health, wishes to hire a research scientist in toxics to work in Troy, New York. The successful candidate will have a Bachelor's degree in Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Health/Science, or a related field and at least one year (grade 14) or two years (grade 18) of applied research experience in an area related to human health risk assessment, evaluating human exposure to environmental contaminants. An advanced degree in a related field may substitute for one year of the required experience. The candidate will have a Master's degree or Doctoral degree with experience in toxicology, pharmacokinetics, epidemiology or environmental health, and experience with database management. The incumbent will evaluate toxicological data and assist in qualitative and quantitative assessments of the health risks from exposure to toxic substances in environmental media, and assist in development of standards/guidelines for contaminants in environmental media. The salary range is from US $30,488 to $47,463. Submit resume to Human Resources Management Group, AIW/RS, Room 2276, Corning Tower Building, Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 12237-0012, or by email to b0010L@health.state.ny.us with a subject line AIW/RS.
--
U.S. EPA OFFICE OF WATER AND ECONOMICS WANTS AN INTERN
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Water and the office of the National Center for Environmental Economics, are seeking to hire a graduate student intern for Summer 2001 to participate in a research project estimating an econometric cost function for drinking water treatment plants. Economists in these offices have developed an initial framework and performed model runs. The intern's tasks will include model specification, integration and expansion of data sets, and written and oral presentation of results. The intern will also learn about the policymaking process with the Office of Water and be exposed to a wide variety of economic seminars and other experiences. Minimum qualifications are graduate-level training and experience in applied microeconomics and econometrics, an understanding of the policymaking process, and excellent written communication skills. Applicants should also have experience with a database program such as Microsoft! Access and an econometrics package such as Limdep or Gauss. The ideal candidate would have experience working with large economic and water quality data sets, and with the application and econometrics of cost functions (specifically the translog). To qualify, a student must be enrolled in a graduate program, or (if they have completed a graduate program) must be accepted into another graduate program and be scheduled to resume studies within 9 months. U.S. Citizenship or permanent residence in the U.S. is required (no exceptions). Interested applicants should submit a cover letter describing their qualifications, a vita, the names of three references, and any papers, projects, or other materials supporting their qualifications. Questions may be sent to Will Wheeler email wheeler.william@epa.gov or Charles Griffiths griffiths.charles@epa.gov). Application materials should be sent to Will Wheeler (additional contact information below; email applications preferred). Will Wheeler, U.S. EPA, Office of Water Engineering and Analysis Division (4303), 401 M. Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460, phone: 202-260-7905, fax 202-260-7185, email wheeler.william@epa.gov
---
THE TED TURNER FOUNDATION OFFERS NEW ENVIRONMENTAL GRANT PROGRAM
The Turner Foundation, Inc. is soliciting new grant proposals for the protection of rivers, lakes, wetlands, aquifers, oceans, and other water systems from contamination, degradation, and other abuses. Priorities include strengthening the advocacy, outreach, and technical capabilities of organizations addressing the protection of water systems; stopping further degradation of water-dependent habitats from new dams, diversions, and other large infrastructure projects; reducing wasteful water use by conservation; promoting allocation of water specifically for environmental purposes, including habitat restoration and fish and wildlife protection; supporting efforts to improve public policies affecting water protection, including initiatives to secure pollution prevention and habitat protection; reducing pesticide use; and strengthening the advocacy, outreach, and technical capabilities addressing the disproportionate use and location of toxic material in poor and rural areas. Although the geographic focus of this program is the states of New Mexico, Montana, Colorado, Nebraska, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, consideration will be given to some national and international programs as well. Contact Peter Bahouth, Executive Director, Turner Foundation, Inc. One CNN Center, Suite 1090 - South Tower, Attn: Program Department, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, Contact Phone: +1 (404) 681-9900, Contact Email turnerfi@mindspring.com. Visit their website at http://www.turnerfoundation.org/turner/water.html
--
SCHOOL FOR FIELD STUDIES, MASSACHUSETTS WANTS A DEAN
The School for Field Studies in Beverly, Massachusetts wishes to appoint a Program Dean. The School for Field Studies provides motivated young people from the US and abroad with an excellent practical education in environmental studies, in order that they may become more environmentally literate and aware and make immediate and future contributions toward the sustainable management of the world's natural resources. The purpose of this position is to oversee the delivery of the academic programs at three of the SFS field Centers in order to ensure that they meet the mission of the School. The Program Dean will supervise Center Directors and working with faculty to design academic program content and research directions; approve faculty hires; and provide training to field staff on an as needed basis. The successful candidate will have a Ph.D. in marine resource management, marine ecology, marine policy, or community-based conservation; have applied, international community-based research and field experience; have a minimum two years university teaching and curriculum development experience; have a demonstrated ability to be part of an interdisciplinary team; and, have a demonstrated ability to supervise field staff. Send CV and cover letter outlining relevant experiences to: Job Reference 1380 The School for Field Studies, 16 Broadway, Beverly Massachusetts, 01915, USA; Fax: 1-978-927-5127; Email: jobs@fieldstudies.org. For more information on the School for Field Studies, please access our web page at http://www.fieldstudies.org.
--
CDM CONSULTING CO. SEEKS A RISK ASSESSMENT SPECIALIST TO WORK IN ST. LOUIS OR DENVER
CDM has an immediate job opening for a Risk Assessment Specialist with 4 to 6 years of experience to assist current staff in providing a variety of biological services related to assessment of environmental impacts. The current position is expected to be filled in either CDM's St Louis or Denver offices. Successful candidate will have a Master's degree in an appropriate environmental/biological science and familiarity with federal risk assessment guidelines, methods and procedures. Additional experience will be considered in lieu of degree requirements. Experience in ecological risk assessment and associated analyses (e.g. habitat evaluation, rapid bio-assessment, wetlands delineation), and familiarity with common computer software (EXCEL, ACCESS, WORD)required. Experience in human health risk assessment will be weighed favourably in consideration of candidates, but is not mandatory. The position will require fieldwork. Candidates should be prepared to participate as part of a multidisciplinary team to serve a variety of public and private clients nationwide. Camp Dresser & McKee Inc. (CDM) is a consulting, engineering, construction, & operations firm helping public & private clients improve the environment. With more than 3,000 staff in 90 offices worldwide, CDM focuses on drinking water, water resources, wastewater, solid & hazardous waste, transportation, & infrastructure management. Interested candidates please e-mail resume to James M. LaVelle, Ph.D., Principal and Senior Toxicologist, CDM Camp Dresser & McKee Inc., 1331 17th Street, Suite 1200, Denver, Colorado 80202, ph. (303) 298-1311, fax (303) 293-8236, or email your application to DM@RPC.WEBHIRE.COM, or fax to Attn: Human Resources at (617) 452-8183.
--
UNDP, NEW YORK IS HIRING FOR A NUMBER OF POSITIONS, APPLY NOW
The United Nations Development Program's Bureau for Development Policy is hiring for various positions. UNDP is a 'thinking and learning' organization at the forefront of today's development dialogue in championing the poor and disadvantaged. Its focus is on providing developing countries with knowledge-based consulting services and building national, regional and global coalitions for change. It is now hiring a new generation of expert practitioners who want to contribute to those partnerships by offering strategic approaches to long-standing problems. They are seek individuals who can communicate advice and new ideas across cultures and all strata of society, primarily in developing countries. They are recruiting in each of UNDP's six major practice areas: Energy and Environment; Technology; Democratic Governance; Pro-Poor peoples Policies; Peace-Building and Disaster Mitigation; Information and Communications; and, HIV/Aids. They have a wide range of international opportunities at various levels, at our global headquarters in New York, and at locations including Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Beirut, Bogota, Bratislava, Dakar, Harare, Kathmandu, Kiev, Oslo, Pretoria and San Jose, Costa Rica. We offer competitive salaries commensurate with experience. Applications are being considered on a rolling basis, so please apply immediately. Please do use their on-line application form. For more information and to APPLY ONLINE, please visit their website at http://www.undp.org/jobs
--
ICIMOD MOUNTAIN DEVELOPMENT PROTECTION WISHES TO FILL SEVEN (7) PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS IN NEPAL
The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is an independent organisation based in Nepal, that protects the environment and resources of mountains and helps promote the rural communities that depend upon them. ICIMOD provides for (i) Documentation and Information Exchange, (ii) Research, (iii) Training, and (iv) Advisory Services. Activities are implemented in close collaboration with partner institutions in the regional member countries. The Centre has five core thematic programmes. The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is a diverse, knowledge-based institution that spans the Hindu Kush-Himalayan range east to west and north to south and brings together mountain scientists and farmers in a common cause from diverse nationalities in a region that is difficult politically, physically, and economically. During the first quarter of 2001, the Centre intends to fill at least seven (7) positions which include: 1. Senior Agriculture Specialist; 2. Senior Gender Specialist; 3. Planning Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist; 4. Water Resources Specialist; 5. Coordinator, Research Programme on Equity and Poverty in the Management; 6. Coordinator, International Year of Mountains; and, 7. Mountain Forum - Asia Pacific Coordinator. The successful candidates will have a post graduate degree; a Ph.D. in related field; a demonstrated ability to communicate professionally in English and, preferably, a regional language; the ability to prepare project proposals, progress reports, etc; skill in project planning, negotiation and assessment; a record of publications in related subjects; experience in managing/working with multidisciplinary teams; particularly with international/regional agencies; part of the work experience should preferably have been gained in the HKH region; and, have computer and Internet literate with knowledge of specific technical programmes. Interested persons should apply with complete bio data and names and contact address of three referees to Personnel Section, ICIMOD, Jawalakhel, GPO Box 3226, Kathmandu, Nepal, Fax (977-1) 524509/536747, or by email to admin@icimod.org.np. You can refer to the application guidelines (available on the website) at http://www.icimod.org.sg/whats_new/vacancies/vacancy_announcement.htm
--
GERMAN-SPEAKING PROFESSIONAL WANTED FOR CLIMATE CHANGE JOB IN GERMANY
GTZ Co. based in Eschborn, Germany, wishes to hire a climate change specialist. GTZ is supporting developing countries in the implementation of the UNFCCC. The programme that is implementing these activities called, "Measures to implement the UNFCCC", is financed by the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. To intensify the GTZ's involvement in the challenge to address the anticipated climate change, the programme will enlarge its staff. It wishes to hire a number of German-speaking people. Since the job offered below can only be fill by someone with full command of the German language, even though the person can have any nationality, the job description is given in German. Contact Holger Liptow, Climate Change, GTZ 44, Postfach 5180, 65726 Eschborn, Germany, Tel.: +49(0)6196-791352, Fax: +49(0)6196-796320, Mobil: +49(0)171-1954114, Email: holger.liptow@gtz.de
---
Coventry Journal: In Britain, a Global Call to Peel It Off
New York Times
March 13, 2001
By SARAH LYALL
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/13/world/13COVE.html
COVENTRY, England - It evolved over time, Vincent Bethell's particular branch of libertarianism, but the final spur was a summer so sweltering that even the skimpiest item of clothing seemed superfluous.
"I was walking around in just shorts, and even the shorts were dripping with sweat," he said. "And then I thought: `This is ridiculous. Why should I have to wear clothes?'"
As a sudden thunderbolt of clarity, it was perhaps less earth-shaking than Archimedes's "Eureka" moment in the bath (though that involved nudity, too). But for Mr. Bethell, an unemployed artist, it was the beginning of a new career as a campaigner for the right to go naked in public.
So far, Mr. Bethell's Freedom to Be Yourself movement has involved stripped-down protests in front of places like the House of Lords, the Royal Courts of Justice, and New Scotland Yard. For Mr. Bethell, 29, it has also included sending scores of letters to politicians; sitting on a lamppost, dressed only in a knapsack with the word "freedom" written across it; being arrested numerous times; spending five months in Brixton Prison; and going through a trial in which he argued, nude, that nudity is not a crime.
Mr. Bethell takes his campaign very seriously, even if he does not walk around unclothed all the time. He was not naked, for instance, during a recent interview at home in Coventry - which, coincidentally, was the scene of Lady Godiva's ride through town in her birthday suit. ("It's about freedom of choice," he said of his philosophy. "And there's no heating in my flat.")
Although the Freedom to be Yourself movement is hardly sweeping the nation, it has tickled the fancy of a country with a strong libertarian streak and a tendency to celebrate eccentric challenges to authority.
Mr. Bethell has a Web site (www.geocities.com/thehumanmind) and he has drawn several hundred admiring e-mails. And on Nov. 13, a number of residents in the town of Virginia Water in Surrey decided to spend the day with nothing on. "Vincent Bethell is a hero to us," a town councillor told The Daily Express.
And, with interest from France and Germany, Mr. Bethell is organizing what he hopes will be a giant nude-in on July 1, when he is inviting everyone around the world to take off his or her clothes at 2 p.m., London time.
The seeds of the campaign were planted in art school, when Mr. Bethell was struck by how difficult it was to behave maturely when sketching the nude models in class. "I thought, `This is interesting, that people have such a strange reaction to something that should be quite normal - the human body,'" he said.
He began to see clothes in a new way, as a barrier separating people the way plastic partitions separate customers from tellers in a bank. "It was quite a profound thing - the beauty, openness and honesty of it," he said of nudity. "The more you cover yourself up, the more you lose yourself as a human being."
Mr. Bethell began writing letters to public figures, asking why public nakedness was illegal. "Quite often there were no replies," he related. "Or there would be some sort of intolerant, condemnatory dimissal."
As he became immersed in the campaign, his friends tried to talk him out of it, arguing that people might not want to see him naked - what about their rights? But he argued that there was no rational reason to object to the visual appearance of the human body.
"What if someone said, `I don't like his nose,' or, `I find his clothes upsetting,' or `fat people shouldn't be allowed in public' " Mr. Bethell continued. "You shouldn't be discriminated against because you're a blonde or a brunette or a redhead, and you shouldn't be discriminated against because you are naked."
His family was none too thrilled, either. "I was fairly aghast," said his father, Michael, 54, a clerical worker in a factory in Manchester, who said that young Vincent had never seemed predisposed to nudity. "There was nothing like this at home at all." But eventually, he came around. "I can see his point of view - that it has to do with freedom and so on and so forth - and obviously I support him on that," he said.
Mr. Bethell began his first naked protest, accompanied by a handful of friends, in Piccadilly Circus in the summer of 1998. There were some abusive comments and some double-takes, but in general, he said, passers-by tended to respond with smiles and quizzical laughter.
"It's such a powerful thing," he said of public nakedness. "It really does have a profound, invigorating quality that stimulates people's minds."
The minds of the Metropolitan Police were not stimulated in quite the same way, though, and Mr. Bethell was arrested. He was released as soon as he put his clothes back on.
After that, Mr. Bethell organized protests around London, getting arrested each time, along with anyone he could persuade to go naked with him. Finally, he was formally charged with causing a public nuisance and sent to Brixton Prison to await trial (the other suspects put their clothes back on, so they were not charged). Much to the authorities' dismay, Mr. Bethell decided to remain nude.
"They said, `You're insane - why don't you get dressed?' " he said.
Mr. Bethell is not insane, according to a prison psychiatrist who examined him. But because of his persistent nudity, he was put in a segregated unit, ostensibly so that he would not be attacked. His fellow prisoners, though, seemed much taken by his challenge to authority. "Respect!" they would shout, or "Hey, naked guy! Keep fighting the system!"
Mr. Bethell's solicitor, Michael Schwarz, was also impressed by his client's strength of purpose, and by the fact that he was clearly not an exhibitionist. "At first, I was intrigued and amused," Mr. Schwarz said. "But then my interst became much more serious, as I could see that the points he was making were very serious in challenging assumptions about society and the law and tolerance."
Mr. Bethell's trial, last October, was unique in the annals of British courtroom drama. "This was the first court case in British history where the defendant was naked throughout," he said proudly. In the end, he was able to convince the jury - with the help of several witnesses who testified that they had not been offended by his bareness - that he was not guilty.
Being human is not a crime!" Mr. Bethell shouted from the dock, standing up and raising his arms above his head.
He went outside, and - though it was freezing cold and he was still naked - made a ringing statement of victory. But he was reminded of the hurdles he still faces in his fight for public acceptance when the first taxi he tried to hail drove off. "Not on your life, sunshine," the driver said.
---
New York Times
March 13, 2001
World Briefing
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/13/world/13BRIE.html
THE AMERICAS
MEXICO: ZAPATISTAS TURN TO LOBBYING After a triumphant arrival in Mexico City, the Zapatista rebel entourage pitched camp at local universities and turned to lobbying legislators for passage of a major Indian rights law. The legislation was written to enact a 1996 agreement between the government and the Zapatista National Liberation Army. Former President Ernesto Zedillo opposed the bill, saying it went beyond the accord, but President Vicente Fox, who took office Dec. 1, endorsed the measure. (AP)
--------
Stop the Torture Trade
From: Walter Miale <wmiale@acbm.qc.ca>
Tue, 13 Mar 2001
By Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman
Torture predates the development of the corporation. But corporations are entangled in the modern-day commerce in devices of torture.
In a new report, Amnesty International shines a spotlight on the makers of law enforcement equipment and how their devices are used by torturers around the world (including in the United States).
Amnesty has compiled a list of more than 80 U.S. manufacturers and suppliers of electro-shock weapons and restraints. Amnesty does not allege that any one or another of these companies is involved in the international trade in equipment used in torture. But Amnesty's report, "Stopping the Torture Trade," does provide numerous examples of U.S. products being used by torturers overseas, as well as in the United States.
We thought it'd be interesting to call up these companies and ask: Do you sell to known human rights abusers? Do you screen the persons or agencies to whom you sell domestically, to make sure they are not selling or exporting them to human rights abusers?
So we started calling through the list. What immediately became apparent is the extent to which the industry is populated by small equipment makers and even smaller suppliers and distributors. As answering machines picked up call after call to the companies' main numbers, it became obvious how tiny most of these operations are.
Some of the equipment makers and sellers we reached were familiar with the Amnesty report, and some weren't. Not surprisingly, of the ones we reached, and who agreed to speak with us, none tried to justify the use of their equipment for torture.
Several of the companies said they only sell to domestic law enforcement agencies. That's not totally comforting to those aware of the brutal practices of far too many police in the United States, but it is hard to fault the companies for selling legitimate law enforcement equipment (such as handcuffs) to domestic police forces.
None of the domestic-only companies to which we spoke employ measures to block resale and export, though the companies selling to law enforcement agencies argued that those agencies were unlikely to sell their equipment abroad.
We talked to one of the handful of major corporate players in the law enforcement equipment business, Peerless Handcuffs. Their spokesperson refused to give us his name.
Peerless does export a variety of restraints, including leg cuffs.
The chapter of Amnesty's report on restraints used in torture begins with a gruesome anecdote from southern Lebanon. The Khiam detention center, closed in May 2000, "had been run by the South Lebanon Army, Israel's proxy militia in the former occupied south Lebanon, with the involvement of the Israeli army, but the handcuffs used to suspend detainees from an electricity pylon where they were doused with water and given electric shocks were clearly marked "The Peerless Handcuff Co. Springfield, Mass. Made in USA,'" Amnesty reports.
In a letter to Amnesty, Peerless expressed disgust that its products were used in the Khiam prison, stating, "In no way does Peerless Handcuff Company condone or support the use of our products for torture or for any other human rights abuse. É We have not sold any restraints to the Israeli government or Israeli companies in almost 10 years."
We asked our anonymous representative at Peerless, Do you take steps to control the sale of equipment to torturers? "We restrict our sales as best we can to what we know are legitimate law enforcement authorities," he replied.
Since it is often the case that it is "legitimate" law enforcement authorities who are the torturers, we asked if Peerless has refused orders.
The answer is yes. The company refuses to sell to, among other countries, China, North Korea, Iran and Iraq, and has turned down sales requests from these and other nations. But it is not as if Peerless is reading Amnesty International reports before establishing its sales screens.
"We have no interest in promoting" sales to torturers, the Peerless spokesperson said. But, he added, "I donÕt think manufacturers can be held responsible" for misuse by law enforcement agencies.
We don't agree. Anyone selling equipment prone to abuse by torturers has a special obligation to make sure it doesn't wind up in the hands of people with a record of human rights abuses.
However, what is clear from our brief survey of some of the equipment makers and suppliers is that a corporate liability system will not adequately address the problem. The companies are too small and diffuse to be controlled exclusively through such mechanisms. One that closes today can reopen tomorrow under another name. Governmental regulation is essential.
Amnesty International is urging the United States and other governments to ban the use, manufacture, promotion and trade of police and security equipment whose use is inherently cruel, inhuman or degrading. The group includes leg irons, electro-shock stun belts and inherently painful devices such as serrated thumbcuffs in this category. Amnesty is calling for a suspension on the use and trade in devices, such as electro-shock equipment, whose medical effects are not fully known. Amnesty is also calling for a suspension of trade in equipment that has shown a substantial risk of abuse or unwarranted injury, including equipment such as legcuffs, thumbcuffs, restraint chairs and pepper gas weapons.
It is crucially important that the United States act immediately in these areas, says Amnesty International USA spokesperson Alistair Hodgett. The United States has led the way in the development of new technologies used in torture, such as electro-shock devices. After export, they have quickly been replicated and spread around the world.
There's no significant lobby for law enforcement equipment exports -- U.S. exports total only about $32 million a year. There's no conceivable excuse for a failure to stop the torture trade.
Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime Reporter. Robert Weissman is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Multinational Monitor. They are co-authors of Corporate Predators: The Hunt for MegaProfits and the Attack on Democracy (Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 1999).
------- Onelist (submissions from subscribers)