------- Index of Articles

NUCLEAR
Officials think al Qaeda has some type of nuclear arms
Re: Bunker Bombs/ depleted uranium
Important article about shutting down U.S. nuclear power plants
Yucca Mountain anxiety echoes at final hearing
Churches Silent on Storing Nuclear Waste in Utah

MILITARY
Refugees back Taliban's casualty figures claim
US admits killing civilians
Grand Council Envisioned for Afghans
Colombian Rebels Forcing AIDS Tests
Pakistani militants vow long 'holy war'
Ukraine Minister Admits Forces Downed Russian Jet
Troops will go in 'sooner, not later'
Recent Military Mistakes
Uzbekistan to Let U.S. Use Bases in Return for Promise of Security

OTHER
Energy developers turn attention to ocean

POLICE
Challenges Of Waging A 'Just War'
Privacy Debate Focuses on F.B.I. Use of an Internet Wiretap

ACTIVISTS
20,000 join anti-war protest
One way to fight terrorism
New York City protest opposes war in Afghanistan
50,000 march for peace in central London
Anti-US protests worldwide From Turkey to the far east
As bombs drop, Americans say: 'Not in our name'



-------- NUCLEAR

Officials think al Qaeda has some type of nuclear arms

October 13, 2001
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20011013-73515089.htm

Al Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan have developed chemical and biological weapons and could have nuclear-related arms, defense officials said yesterday.

"What we believe is that they have a crude chemical and possibly biological [weapons] capability," a senior defense official said.

"And if there's any nuclear capability, it is liable to be more radiological than fissile," the official said.

Radiological weapons are bombs that combine radioactive material with conventional explosives to increase their deadliness. A fissile nuclear device produces a nuclear blast.

The chemical weapons al Qaeda is believed to have include simple poison weapons such as chlorine and phosgene. "We're not talking up to sarin," the official said. Sarin is an extremely deadly nerve agent.

The chemicals are relatively simple to produce, the official said, noting that "they don't take a lot of mixing."

Delivering the weapons could be difficult for the terrorists, but they may resort to "innovative" means, the official said.

As for biological weapons, the senior official said it is "probable" the al Qaeda terrorists have developed some type of deadly toxin weapons, possibly including anthrax.

"And this could be a bucketful; this could be a ton," the official said.

The officials would not discuss the facilities for the development of the weapons of mass destruction inside Afghanistan.

Other U.S. intelligence officials have said there have been reports that al Qaeda has secret weapons laboratories in the country.

"We have copies of the manuals that they've actually used to train people with respect to how to deploy and use these kinds of substances," Vice President Richard B. Cheney said in an interview yesterday on PBS' "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer."

Officials said al Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan are predominantly "Arab Afghans" and number between 1,500 and 4,000. The Islamic extremist fighters were described as more ideologically motivated than regular Taliban troops.

The officials, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity, said opposition Northern Alliance forces have made several major gains in the past week.

A group of 40 Taliban officers and 1,200 Taliban fighters appear to have defected to the alliance, a loose-knit group of northern Afghans who have a total of about 15,000 fighters, the officials said. The defections occurred at the central Afghanistan town of Konduz. "We think it's highly possible that that has happened, although we're not sure about numbers," one official said.

Additionally, the alliance has succeeded in taking the key central Afghan town of Chaghcharan in the last two days. "The Northern Alliance has claimed that that has been taken from the Taliban," one official said. "We believe that may very well have happened."

The town is significant because it could allow two groups of opposition forces in the east and west to link up.

Military clashes between Taliban and Northern Alliance forces have been concentrated in four areas: north of Kabul, near the town of Taloquan, near Chaghcharan in the province of Ghowar and the northern area around the city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

One official said that a Taliban military unit known as the 55th Division is "part of the important relationship between Osama bin Laden and Mullah Mohammed Omar and their top commanders," referring to the leader of al Queda and the leader of the Taliban.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said yesterday that U.S. military forces have damaged al Qaeda terrorists and Taliban military forces during.

Mr. Rumsfeld said opposition forces on the ground in Afghanistan are poised to take action against the Taliban after U.S. warplanes finish bombing Taliban military targets.

"Clearly, at some point when we feel we have done a certain amount with respect to those Taliban and al Qaeda military targets, it may very well be more appropriate for ground forces to be moving in areas where we previously have been bombing," Mr. Rumsfeld said.

Overall, Mr. Rumsfeld said the military campaign is progressing.

"We have disrupted their communications somewhat, and we have, we believe, weakened the Taliban military, and damaged but certainly not eliminated their air-defense capabilities," Mr. Rumsfeld told reporters at the Pentagon.

"And we have worked over a number if not all of their terrorist training camps," he said. "Those camps have been locations where terrorists that are today spread across the globe have been trained. Threats clearly still exist."

Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said military operations are "going according to our plan."

"We have made a good first step in the military effort destroying or damaging terrorist training camps, disrupting communications, weakening the Taliban military forces in Afghanistan and damaging their air defenses," Gen. Myers said.

On Thursday, Air Force bombers and Navy jets attacked six targets in Afghanistan, including a training facility and camp, military garrison compounds, and motor vehicle and ordnance facilities.

Gen. Myers said the military's "sustained effort" will not be limited to conventional military attacks, which he described as "stage-setters for follow-on operations."

U.S. and allied special operations commandos are expected to move in to Afghanistan at some point in order to identify and attack terrorists, as well as gather intelligence.

"We want to get their Rolodexes," said one administration official of the ground operations.

Mr. Rumsfeld said he does not believe the Taliban will surrender bin Laden to the United States.

President Bush on Thursday said the Taliban might be able to end the U.S. bombing campaign by turning over bin Laden.


-------- depleted uranium

Re: Bunker Bombs

From: "Dai Williams" <eosuk@btinternet.com>
Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2001

Re Mitzi's question about reported use of the GBU-28 Bunker Buster bombs in Afghanistan see this link: http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/smart/gbu-28.htm

Its 5000 lbs total weight includes a 4,400 lb "penetrating warhead". This is a kinetic energy weapon so it will use a "dense metal". "Tungsten tipped" could be misleading. The penetrator is not a "tip" but the core of the whole device. References to tungsten could be as misleading as in the recent message re conversion of Phallanx shells from DU to Tungsten - just some of them.

Janes defence website offers quite a lot of relevant information at http://www.janes.com

According to Janes (Defence) other systems used last week include "smart weapons such as the JDAM AGM-154 (JSOW -Joint Stand Off Weapon). Variant 154C includes a unitary penetrator. http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/smart/agm-154.htm

Boeing were due to complete delivery of the AGM 86D in summer 2001 upgraded with Lockheed Martin's Advanced Unitary Penetrator AUP3M. http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/1999/news_release_991202o.htm

Its use in Aghanistan has not been reported by Janes yet but this seems to be the top of the range cruise missile for high penetration tasks. See the FAS website for diagram: http://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/smart/agm-86c.htm

Each delivery system has a variety of warhead options. Those intended for hard (or deep) targets involve dense metal penetrators. The choice seems to be DU, Tungsten and or various alloy combinations. DU seems the likely choice because it had incendiary qualities and is cheap, if not free. At least 9 different systems use dense metal ballast or penetrators.

Perhaps the media will ask Lockheed Martin or DOD for the metal specifications for these penetrators. At lot of people must know the answer. Since official sources are confident that DU poses no significant health hazard there should be no problem of secrecy in answering this question.

The question is important because it affects safety precautions for civilians, aid workers and US and UK ground troops. This question has been put to leading UK newspapers and the BBC several times this year. As I am not aware of any UK media source reporting on this issue.

Dai Williams UK eosuk@btinternet.com

--

B-2 successfully drops improved bunker buster bomb Released: Mar 26, 1998

by Senior Airman Adam Stump 354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs (Courtesy of Pacific Air Forces News Service) http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/bomber/n19980326_980417.html

EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska (AFNS) -- A B-2 Spirit bomber dropped two B61-11 bomb shells to test their improved ground penetration capability March 17 at the Stuart Creek Impact Area, 35 miles southeast of Fairbanks.

The tests here were designed to measure the nuclear bomb casing's penetration into frozen soil and the survivability of the weapon's internal components.

These were the final two tests needed to certify the weapon system as operational.

A team excavated the two unexploded dummy bombs and took careful measurements of their angles and depth of penetration into the soil, which were 6 and 10 feet, according to Ellsworth Rolfs, a B61-11 program test manager. The shells were sent back to Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico for full analysis of how the simulated internal components fared in the impact.

The B61-11 is a new modification to a nuclear weapon that has been in the Air Force inventory since the 1960s. The bomb can be used against a variety of enemy targets, including deeply buried underground command posts and weapons storage facilities. A new case design lets it penetrate the ground to a depth of 15 to 25 feet, where the weapon would then detonate.

The bomb cases contained simulated nuclear components made of depleted uranium, a heavy metal that closely approximates the physical characteristics of enriched uranium, without the hazards associated with weapons-grade material. Use of depleted uranium allowed scientists to realistically assess the effects of impact.

Rolfs stressed that the depleted uranium was encased in the new exterior shell, which proved extremely durable in the tests. Although solid depleted uranium is a low-level radiation hazard, emitting only alpha radiation that cannot even penetrate clothing or the skin, it can present a health hazard if physically ingested into the body.

Ingestion of depleted uranium is normally associated with explosive or flammable situations, where the substance can potentially be turned into dust or vapor and then inhaled.

Rolfs was quick to point out that the depleted uranium aboard the dummy bombs was in a solid state (like a chunk of steel or any other metal), which virtually eliminated the chances for ingestion.

"The test unit casing didn't rupture in any of our tests, including drops through concrete from 40,000 feet," he said. "We fully recovered all test units 100 percent intact."

Even though the B61-11 survived being dropped through concrete, the Air Force had trained emergency response teams standing by to handle any unforeseen problems, said Jim Nolke, chief environmental planner for the 354th Civil Engineer Squadron. He added that the Air Force had extensively studied the proposed test, and were confident the test would not impact Alaska's people, wildlife or environment.

The Air Force worked closely with Alaska environmental officials to obtain all required permits and ensure full compliance with the law.

After the two units were recovered, the Air Force filled in the holes made by the impact, and leveled the ground back to its pre-test condition in accordance with federal law, said Nolke.

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

Important article about shutting down U.S. nuclear power plants

Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001
From: "Scott Powell" <spowell@zelle.com>

Hello. My friend Andreas Toupadakis, a Greek former nuclear weapons scientist turned peace activist, sent the following message and an urgent article about shutting down U.S. nuclear power plants to me and to his friends, including Dr. Helen Caldicott. I think this is a very important issue to encourage your members to be involved with.

Thanks,

Scott Powell San Francisco

--

Dear friends,

Is there any human being on earth who, after reading the article below by Harvey Wasserman, would continue to be indifferent on the nuclear energy issue?

As an ex-worker of two different nuclear facilities I support its truthfulness wholeheartedly.

This article compels me now to make a few concrete statements in regard to nuclear energy, even though I have done so many times in the past through written and spoken words in several countries before the 9-11 events.

For example see: ß There is no safe limit for radiation. (In Greek) -- Ethnos -- http://www.ethnos.gr/pages/2000/jul/25/p040101.htm http://www.ethnos.gr/pages/2000/jul/25/p060101.htm ß Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Energy, And Globalization. http://www.abolition2000.org/issues/toupadakis080701.html

First, as a human being and second, as a scientist trained in nuclear materials, I demand from those in positions of title to finally become serious about the peril of nuclear energy against humanity and take the appropriate position for humanity's sake. Since my resignation from the nuclear facilities, I have personally met two Nobel Peace Prize winners and I find it very sad to report that they have not taken the necessary responsibility for this issue. In my efforts to contact them and discuss the matter, I have not had success. And it is worth noting that when I spoke at the United Nations in New York in the summer of 2000, my speech was considered even by the peace movement to be too loud.

I challenge all those scientists worldwide and especially those in the peace movement and in Japan who are supposed to know the perils of nuclear energy to come out of their hiding places and speak for humanity instead of their titles. It is their duty to take the moral position in regard to the nuclear power issue now before we see apocalyptic scenes in our cities.

Just before the 9/11 events, there was such an excitement from the Bush administration along with a caravan of disciples to build more nuclear energy plants. The White House last year had given the green light to Turkey to go ahead and build its first nuclear power plant. Because of this behavior of our leaders and experts, we are required to show a sharp resistance to the plans of those who cannot think rationally anymore. I think the article below says it all, and we know what we need to do.

We need to inform the people everywhere, and to organize and resist with all nonviolent means against the nuclear insanity. Now is the best time for bringing awareness to the people of the earth. People of the earth, the earth belongs to us and to our children's children and the creator gave it to us clean to enjoy. Let us stop the nuclear insanity now and keep the earth clean. If we do not, the events described in the article below will become reality sooner or later if not by terrorists, by earthquakes, and if not by earthquakes, by our own governments fighting the last global war on earth. The Cretan

Please disseminate, contact your local media & legislators. Show this to your family & friends. Print and/or e-mail it to them and others and ask them to do likewise. There are NPPs in 44 countries on Earth. The terrorists already know about NPP sabotage and have made threats. The public needs to know.

NOW. Thanks

--

AMERICA'S TERRORIST NUCLEAR THREAT TO ITSELF

By Harvey Wasserman

No sane nation hands to a wartime enemy atomic weapons set to go off within its own homeland, and then lights the fuse.

Yet as the bombs and missiles drop on Afghanistan, the certainty of terror retaliation inside America has turned our 103 nuclear power plants into weapons of apocalyptic destruction, just waiting to be used against us.

One or both planes that crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, could have easily obliterated the two atomic reactors now operating at Indian Point, about 40 miles up the Hudson.

The catastrophic devastation would have been unfathomable. But those and a hundred other American reactors are still running. Security has been heightened. But all are vulnerable to another sophisticated terror attack aimed at perpetrating the unthinkable.

Indian Point Unit One was shut long ago by public outcry. But Units 2 & 3 have operated since the 1970s. Back then there was talk of requiring reactor containment domes to be strong enough to withstand a jetliner crash. But the biggest jets were far smaller than the ones that fly today. Nor did those early calculations account for the jet fuel whose hellish fire melted the critical steel supports that ultimately brought down the Trade Center.

Had one or both those jets hit one or both the operating reactors at Indian Point, the ensuing cloud of radiation would have dwarfed the ones at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.

The intense radioactive heat within today's operating reactors is the hottest anywhere on the planet. So are the hellish levels of radioactivity.

Because Indian Point has operated so long, its accumulated radioactive burden far exceeds that of Chernobyl, which ran only four years before it exploded.

Some believe the WTC jets could have collapsed or breached either of the Indian Point containment domes. But at very least the massive impact and intense jet fuel fire would destroy the human ability to control the plants' functions. Vital cooling systems, backup power generators and communications networks would crumble.

Indeed, Indian Point Unit One was shut because activists warned that its lack of an emergency core cooling system made it an unacceptable risk. The government ultimately agreed.

But today terrorist attacks could destroy those same critical cooling and control systems that are vital to not only the Unit Two and Three reactor cores, but to the spent fuel pools that sit on site.

The assault would not require a large jet. The safety systems are extremely complex and virtually indefensible. One or more could be wiped out with a wide range of easily deployed small aircraft, ground-based weapons, truck bombs or even chemical/biological assaults aimed at the operating work force. Dozens of US reactors have repeatedly failed even modest security tests over the years. Even heightened wartime standards cannot guarantee protection of the vast, supremely sensitive controls required for reactor safety.

Without continous monitoring and guaranteed water flow, the thousands of tons of radioactive rods in the cores and the thousands more stored in those fragile pools would rapidly melt into super-hot radioactive balls of lava that would burn into the ground and the water table and, ultimately, the Hudson.

Indeed, a jetcrash like the one on 9/11 or other forms of terrorist assault at Indian Point could yield three infernal fireballs of molten radioactive lava burning through the earth and into the aquifer and the river. Striking water they would blast gigantic billows of horribly radioactive steam into the atmosphere. Prevailing winds from the north and west might initially drive these clouds of mass death downriver into New York City and east into Westchester and Long Island.

But at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, winds ultimately shifted around the compass to irradiate all surrounding areas with the devastating poisons released by the on-going fiery torrent. At Indian Point, thousands of square miles would have been saturated with the most lethal clouds ever created or imagined, depositing relentless genetic poisons that would kill forever.

In nearby communities like Buchanan, Nyack, Monsey and scores more, infants and small children would quickly die en masse. Virtually all pregnant women would spontaneously abort, or ultimately give birth to horribly deformed offspring. Ghastly sores, rashes, ulcerations and burns would afflict the skin of millions. Emphysema, heart attacks, stroke, multiple organ failure, hair loss, nausea, inability to eat or drink or swallow, diarrhea and incontinance, sterility and impotence, asthma, blindness, and more would kill thousands on the spot, and doom hundreds of thousands if not millions. A terrible metallic taste would afflict virtually everyone downwind in New York, New Jersey and New England, a ghoulish curse similar to that endured by the fliers who dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagaskai, by those living downwind from nuclear bomb tests in the south seas and Nevada, and by victims caught in the downdrafts from Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.

Then comes the abominable wave of cancers, leukemias, lymphomas, tumors and hellish diseases for which new names will have to be invented, and new dimensions of agony will beg description.

Indeed, those who survived the initial wave of radiation would envy those who did not.

Evacuation would be impossible, but thousands would die trying. Bridges and highways would become killing fields for those attempting to escape to destinations that would soon enough become equally deadly as the winds shifted.

Attempts to quench the fires would be futile. At Chernobyl, pilots flying helicopters that dropped boron on the fiery core died in droves. At Indian Point, such missions would be a sure ticket to death. Their utility would be doubtful as the molten cores rage uncontrolled for days, weeks and years, spewing ever more devastation into the eco-sphere. More than 800,000 Soviet draftees were forced through Chernobyl's seething remains in a futile attempt to clean it up. They are dying in droves. Who would now volunteer for such an American task force?

The radioactive cloud from Chernobyl blanketed the vast Ukraine and Belarus landscape, then carried over Europe and into the jetstream, surging through the west coast of the United States within ten days, carrying across our northern tier, circling the globe, then coming back again.

The radioactive clouds from Indian Point would enshroud New York, New Jersey, New England, and carry deep into the Atlantic and up into Canada and across to Europe and around the globe again and again.

The immediate damage would render thousands of the world's most populous and expensive square miles permanently uninhabitable. All five boroughs of New York City would be an apocalyptic wasteland. The World Trade Center would be rendered as unusable and even more lethal by a jet crash at Indian Point than it was by the direct hits of 9/11. All real estate and economic value would be poisonously radioactive throughout the entire region. Irreplaceable trillions in human capital would be forever lost.

As at Three Mile Island, where thousands of farm and wild animals died in heaps, and as at Chernobyl, where soil, water and plant life have been hopelessly irradiated, natural eco-systems on which human and all other life depends would be permanently and irrevocably destroyed,

Spiritually, psychologically, financially, ecologically, our nation would never recover.

This is what we missed by a mere forty miles near New York City on September 11. Now that we are at war, this is what could be happening as you read this.

There are 103 of these potential Bombs of the Apocalypse now operating in the United States. They generate just 18% of America's electricity, just 8% of our total energy. As with reactors elsewhere, the two at Indian Point have both been off-line for long periods of time with no appreciable impact on life in New York. Already an extremely expensive source of electricity, the cost of attempting to defend these reactors will put nuclear energy even further off the competitive scale.

Since its deregulation crisis, California---already the nation's second-most efficient state---cut further into its electric consumption by some 15%. Within a year the US could cheaply replace virtually with increased efficiency all the reactors now so much more expensive to operate and protect.

Yet, as the bombs fall and the terror escalates, Congress is fast-tracking a form of legal immunity to protect the operators of reactors like Indian Point from liability in case of a meltdown or terrorist attack.

Why is our nation handing its proclaimed enemies the weapons of our own mass destruction, and then shielding from liability the companies that insist on continuing to operate them?

Do we take this war seriously? Are we committed to the survival of our nation?

If so, the ticking reactor bombs that could obliterate the very core of our life and of all future generations must be shut down.

- Harvey Wasserman is author of THE LAST ENERGY WAR and co-author of KILLING OUR OWN: THE DISASTER OF AMERICA'S EXPERIENCE WITH ATOMIC RADIATION. -please circulate & reprint-

http://www.tmia.com/sabter.html http://www.mothersalert.org/crac.html

For journalists Harvey Wasserman can be reached at: nonukeshw@aol.com

-------- nevada

Yucca Mountain anxiety echoes at final hearing
Federal officials listen to more concerns about proposed nuclear waste depository

By KEITH ROGERS
Saturday, October 13, 2001
Las Vegas Review-Journal
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Oct-13-Sat-2001/news/17217937.html

PAHRUMP -- Radioactivity tainting groundwater supplies. Terrorists with rocket launchers hiding along transportation routes. Canisters filled with the nation's most lethal nuclear waste corroding after thousands of years.

Those were some of the fears citizens expressed Friday at the final formal hearing on the federal government's plans for entombing spent fuel from nuclear reactors in Nye County's most famous volcanic-rock ridge, Yucca Mountain.

Pahrump resident Sally Devlin said she has not been swayed for nine years by government scientists' claims that the 77,000 tons of waste can be safely contained for at least 10,000 years in a maze of tunnels in the mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Devlin said Nevada and especially Nye County is unprepared for a nuclear accident.

"We are at the mercy of one agency, the Highway Patrol," she said.

"I have grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I don't want them to die from radiation poisoning," Devlin said.

Bill Green, a 17-year Pahrump resident, said he wonders if the casks for hauling the waste aboard trucks and trains "have been tested against hand-held rocket launchers."

Getting these weapons into the United States by a foreign adversary "wouldn't be too hard," he said.

Pahrump resident Art Solie agreed there is such danger.

"The immediate danger is transporting the nuclear waste here," he said. "It could be spread by terrorists or accidents."

Nye County Health Officer Maureen Budahl said the Energy Department should extend its studies beyond the geological suitability of the site.

"It is imperative the Department of Energy be prepared to assist us," she told the hearing panel.

Outside the meeting, she said since Nye County has no hospital, it would take about an hour to set up any form of emergency response in the event of a nuclear accident.

"That's every bit as important as the geological suitability," she said.

Mary Wilson, vice chairwoman of the Pahrump Town Board, said Nye County's rural communities will sustain the most impacts from a repository at Yucca Mountain.

"Pahrump, Amargosa Valley, Beatty, Tonopah, Goldfield and Mercury -- they are all much more affected by Yucca Mountain than is Las Vegas," she said.

Wilson was skeptical about the integrity of nuclear waste shipping casks.

"Events on Sept. 11th proved once and for all that we don't live in a logical world. Please test these casks to failure," she said.

Calvin Myers, tribal council chairman of the Moapa Band of Paiutes, said he wondered if his testimony will be taken seriously by Energy Department officials.

"It's very serious to us," he said. "I prayed last night that the land will be well, the air will be well, and the water will be well."

But while Nevada's Paiutes and Western Shoshone tribes have staunchly opposed the government's plans to dispose of nuclear waste on their native lands, an out -of-state tribe -- the Prairie Island Indian Community in southeastern Minnesota -- urged the government to approve building a repository in Yucca Mountain.

Doreen Hagen, a Prairie Island tribal council member, said nuclear waste stored by operators of the Xcel Energy reactor drew strong objection from her community.

Without a repository to put the waste, she said, "our health and safety concerns continue to be ignored.

"We believe that storing nuclear waste in a remote, military secure location, in a facility designed for permanent storage, is a better solution than leaving it where it sits, virtually unguarded and only yards away from a vulnerable community with limited evacuation routes," Hagen said.

Pahrump Town Board Chairman Tim Leavitt read a statement for Gov. Kenny Guinn that reiterated the views the governor expressed at last month's hearing in North Las Vegas. At that hearing, Guinn equated the Yucca Mountain Project to the government's atmospheric nuclear weapons tests that spread fallout across the Southwest.

"I am not talking about casualties of war in some distant country. I am talking about the small farmers in neighboring Utah, who tragically suffered from contaminated nuclear air," the statement read.

"And we just learned that germ warfare testing was conducted at the same test site without any knowledge whatsoever by our own congressional delegation or my office," Guinn's statement said. "Given the history, I trust you can understand why I view this proceeding as morally illegal if not technically so."

Since Sept. 5, as required by law, the Department of Energy has held three formal hearings in areas that would be most affected by the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. In addition, 29 field hearings were held in Nevada's counties and Inyo County, Calif.

Officials estimate that more than 430 people testified at those hearings, including the required ones in Las Vegas, Amargosa Valley and Pahrump.

General Counsel Lee Otis, the highest ranking Energy Department official at Friday's hearing, said Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham will review all the comments and responses before he decides whether or not to recommend constructing a repository at Yucca Mountain.

"He will take these comments very seriously," Otis said. "The secretary will make this decision on what science shows and what he thinks is in the best interest of the country."

MORE TESTIMONY

Although public hearings on the Yucca Mountain Project have concluded, Nevadans still have a week to comment on the federal government's plan to bury nuclear waste 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

A court reporter works at the Yucca Mountain Science Center, 4101-B Meadows Lane, across from the Meadows mall in Las Vegas. The reporter takes statements from the public from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. The reporter takes a lunch break from 1 to 2 p.m.

Residents should reserve time slots for their testimony by calling (800) 967-3477. Testimony is limited to 10 minutes, and people are encouraged to arrive no later than 15 minutes before their reserved time. Walk-in testimony is allowed as the reporter's schedule permits.

In addition, residents can visit DOE Science Centers in Pahrump, at 1141 S. Highway 160, and Beatty, at 100 N. E Ave., to submit comment cards on the project.

The public comment period ends Oct. 19.

-------- utah

Churches Silent on Storing Nuclear Waste in Utah

Saturday, October 13, 2001
BY JUDY FAHYS
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
http://www.sltrib.com/10132001/saturday/139861.htm

Jim and Maryann Webster tried to enlist their church last year in a fight to block storage of spent nuclear fuel on the Skull Valley Goshute Indian Reservation.

At stake, they said, was nothing less than the health, safety and well-being of their family and of fellow Utahns.

But the East Bench couple was disappointed when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints declined to get involved.

"They said it was a political issue, and they have not yet taken a position," said Maryann Webster, an active Mormon. The church urged her to work with her state legislator on the issue.

The Websters, who plan to seek the church's endorsement again, consider storing nuclear waste in Utah an issue that converges public policy and ethical principles. To them, it's an issue their church might condemn as loudly as it now criticizes threats to families and loosening alcoholic-beverage controls, as plainly as it denounced the MX missile two decades ago.

But the LDS Church -- as well as other faiths -- has remained silent so far. In fact, a coalition of political leaders, environmental groups and dissident Goshute tribe members opposing the facility, called Utah's High-Level Nuclear Opposition, hasn't sought its support.

When asked to comment for this story, LDS church spokesman Dale Bills issued a statement that said: "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has taken no position on the question of storing nuclear waste in Utah."

The LDS Church officials have previously said the church only gets involved in political issues it considers to have moral implications, which have included gay marriage initiatives and alcohol control.

Wiley Rinaldi, spokesman for Utah's Baha'is, and the Rev. Steven Epperson, minister of the South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society, say the question of the Goshute facility just has not been raised, although both faiths have general statements on environmental issues.

Local Catholics have not issued a statement either, but two representatives are members of Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, or HEAL, a public health and environment group opposed to radioactive waste in Utah. Bishop George Niederauer and Dee Rowland, the Salt Lake diocese's government liaison, have been monitoring debate over high-level nuclear waste as advisory board members.

"We have never taken a position," said Rowland. "I never asked for it."

Two issues make taking a stand difficult, she said. One is U.S. Catholics have long supported Native peoples' right to conduct their own affairs on sovereign lands. Given that, the church would back the Goshute leaders who have signed a contract to store nuclear waste on the reservation.

The second concern is that nuclear waste policy is a national issue about which U.S. Catholics would typically weigh in on as a group, rather than parish by parish, she said. And, while the subject has come up at national gatherings of Catholics, no position has been taken.

Aside from these considerations, Rowland maintains that the question of what to do with nuclear waste is a moral one and worthy of attention by the religious community. She notes that the Salt Lake City Diocese's former leader, Bishop William K. Wiegand, was an active member of the Don't Waste Utah campaign, which fought to keep nuclear waste of southeastern Utah.

"We would certainly call it a health issue and a strong environmental justice issue," she said.

Despite the LDS Church's silence, opponents of the facility -- including a U.S. senator -- want the church's backing.

Calling high-level radioactive waste "nuclear poison," Sen. Harry Reid has led the opposition against the Utah storage site, as well as a permanent repository in the desert about 100 miles north of Las Vegas.

"It's very hard to get them involved in the politics of things," said the Nevada Democrat, a Mormon like all five members of Utah's congressional delegation. "But it would be nice if they could" weigh in.

Proponents of the facility wonder why anyone would seek endorsements from religious leaders on an issue concerning national energy policy, scientific suitability and public safety. They insist the Goshute facility would pose virtually no risk to the public -- in Utah or anywhere else -- while serving larger patriotic goals of providing storage for an energy source that protects the nation's air quality and helps fuel the national economy.

Private Fuel Storage, a coalition of eight utility companies based in the East, Midwest and California, has proposed parking spent nuclear fuel on 125-acres leased from the Goshutes, about 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.

Assuming the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission grants the consortium a license, probably next year, the above-ground storage would hold about 4,000, thick steel-and-concrete casks filled with used-up nuclear rods until a permanent disposal site is secured, probably at Nevada's Yucca Mountain.

The licensing process, proponents say, will ensure the project is safe from possible catastrophes, including a stray missile strike from the nearby Air Force test bombing range, a diesel-fuel fire that might engulf a train or truck transporting the stuff or the up-and-down and sideways jostling of an earthquake.

The questions now are scientific ones, said PFS spokeswoman Sue Martin.

"We do not believe this is or should be a moral issue," she said. "It should not be a political issue at this point."

Opponents insist safety, politics and ethics are relevant.

They point to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York City as evidence that steel and concrete structures are not invulnerable. They point to the risks posed by errant aircraft and question why the storage pad does not meet the same earthquake-safety standards as an Interstate-15 overpass.

Opponents need only to look at the LDS Church's role in derailing Congress' plans to put MX missiles in Utah's desert 20 years ago to grasp the LDS Church's political sway, even in national policy.

University of Utah law professor Ed Firmage recalls that it took awhile for church leaders to agree that the placement of nuclear missiles in the Mormon homeland was "a deep ethical and spiritual issue."

A statement by the First Presidency on May 5, 1981, detailed the church's concerns. President Spencer W. Kimball, First Counselor N. Eldon Tanner and Second Counselor Marion G. Romney talked about the Saint's beloved Zion becoming a first-strike target for a nuclear attack and how the presence of the MX missiles threatened the people and ecology of Utah and Nevada.

"Our fathers came to this western area to establish a base from which to carry the gospel of peace to the peoples of the earth," the statement said. "It is ironic, and a denial of the very essence of that gospel, that in this same general area there should be constructed a mammoth weapons system potentially capable of destroying much of civilization."

The statement continued with a plea that political leaders "marshal the genius of the nation to find viable alternatives which will secure at an earlier date and with fewer hazards the protection from possible enemy aggression."

Said Firmage: "The statement literally killed MX."

Although Firmage has not contacted church leaders on the Goshute facility, he views the question of nuclear missiles and nuclear waste as being "on the same footing" in the moral traditions of all faiths.

"This is an issue that cries out for an ethical statement from religious figures," he said.

Anti-nuclear activists in Washington would be pleased to see religious leaders -- especially those from Utah's predominant faith -- weigh in on their side.

"It would make all the difference in the world if the Church took a stand," said Kevin Kamps of the Nuclear Information Resource Service, a non-profit group based up the street from the White House. "That's what it would take to put a stop to this" PFS-Goshute proposal.

For the Websters, though, the waste storage is much less about Washington politics than it is about the protection of the wholesome environment where they hope their children will someday raise their grandchildren.

"We feel strongly that Utah, the world center of Mormonism, should not also be known as the world's largest nuclear waste dump," the couple said a year ago in a letter to LDS Church President Gordon Hinckley.


-------- MILITARY

Refugees back Taliban's casualty figures claim

Telegraph (UK)
By Alex Spillius in Islamabad and Imtiaz Ali Khan in Peshawar
13/10/2001
http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/10/13/wafg13.xml&sSheet=/news/2001/10/13/ixhome.html

CIVILIANS fleeing Afghanistan yesterday reported mass burials of bombing victims in and around the eastern city of Jalalabad, supporting claims by the Taliban of major casualties and extensive damage to property.

The refugees' accounts are the first provided by sources independent of the Taliban. The Taliban are so confident that their embassy in Pakistan yesterday issued its first media visas since the September 11 attacks.

The allies have repeatedly stressed that the bombings are aimed not at the Afghan people, but at Osama bin Laden and the Taliban, who are harbouring him.

The Islamic regime said last night that at least 200 people died in the village of Karam. Earlier in the day, a spokesman for the ruling militia told the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press: "So far 160 bodies have been recovered, mostly women and children. This is not an exaggeration. More bodies are still being recovered."

An Afghan journalist who arrived in the Pakistani border city of Peshawar on Thursday said about 40 of the 60 mud and brick houses in Karam had been flattened by missiles and bombs.

Danish Karwakhel, a reporter for Wahadat, a Pakistani Pashto-language newspaper, who lives in Kabul, said: "People were digging through rubble with shovels or with their hands looking for bodies and looking for their belongings.

"I was on my way from Kabul to the border and walked to the village. I arrived at about 2pm and there were mass funerals going on. I saw many bodies in coffins. Eight people were being buried here, five there, it was a very emotional scene.

"So many people were crying. There were hundreds of people who had come from surrounding villages to help carry the bodies, dig graves and attend the funerals. Local people said 100 people had died and many were missing."

The village, surrounded by rice and wheat fields and orange trees, lies in a valley close to what locals said was an abandoned camp of bin Laden's al-Qa'eda network.

An official with the Taliban's Bakhtar news agency in Jalalabad said body parts, household belongings and at least one unexploded bomb littered the countryside around the village. There were also "horrific" injuries.

Sher Sha Hamdard said after visiting the village: "I hate to say this, but I'm glad I saw these things because the world has to know what the Americans have done here."

-------- afghanistan

US admits killing civilians

Staff and agencies,
Guardian Unlimited
Saturday October 13, 2001
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4276697,00.html

The Pentagon today admitted that a bomb intended for Kabul airport hit a residential neighbourhood over a mile away, as attacks on the city continued.

The 2,000lb bomb, launched this morning as part of a new wave of attacks on the Afghan capital, was equipped with a satellite system intended to guide it to its target. Unconfirmed reports suggest that four people were killed and eight injured, the US defence department said.

But Taliban leaders claimed hundreds were killed in the attack.

US planes returned this evening, firing seven missiles at targets in the northern part of Kabul. Heavy smoke was seen from the area of the airport. The Afghan Islamic Press also reported attacks against a military base outside Kandahar, home to the Taliban's headquarters. (full story http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,573546,00.html)

Al-Qaida warns Muslims not to fly

A spokesman for Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, tonight warned the US and Britain to leave the Arabian peninsula.

Ghaith, speaking on a tape aired on Qatar's al-Jazeera satellite channel, also said Muslims in the US and Britain should avoid traveling on planes.

He said al-Qaida had ordered the Americans and British to leave the Arabian peninsula because the "land will burn with fire under their feet, God willing".

He criticized the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, for doubting his earlier comments on Tuesday that the thousands of young Muslims were looking forward to their death in a "storm of planes that will destroy America".

"Powell knows that if al-Qaida promised and warned, it will deliver, God willing. The news is what you see, not what you hear.

"Storms are not going to calm, especially the storm of planes until America withdraws in defeat from Afghanistan," he said. (full story http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,573892,00.html)

Taliban rejects Bush olive branch

The Taliban today rejected the latest demand from the US to hand over Osama bin Laden.

The US president, George Bush, offered Afghanistan's ruling militia a "second chance" on Thursday. He said he would reconsider the US-led bombing campaign if the Taliban turned over Bin Laden, the suspected terror leader.

But in Kabul, Mullah Khaksar Akhund, the deputy interior minister, said today: "We will not hand over him to America without getting credible evidence about his involvement in terrorism."

One aim of the US administration's public message was to reassure sceptical nations that the United States is being fair and patient in its pursuit of terrorists.

A senior US official said Washington was aiming to try to split the Taliban military. Kabul does not have tight control over all commanders, and they are spread through the countryside, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. (Full story http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,573515,00.html)

Anthrax found in Nevada

A third anthrax test on a letter sent from Malaysia to a Microsoft office in Carson City, Nevada has come back positive, it was revealed today.

The governor of Nevada, Kenny Guinn, said state officials will be sending the letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for further testing.

So far, no one has tested positive for the disease or become ill.

"This is a very, very low risk to public health," Mr Guinn said. (full story http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,573832,00.html)

Meanwhile, panic over the spread of anthrax was gripping New York and other American cities following yesterday's news that an NBC worker in New York had contracted the disease.

The identity of the NBC employee that contracted has been revealed as Erin O'Connor, an assistant to anchorman Tim Brokaw, to whom the letter was addressed. It was the fourth reported case in the US since September 11, though of a different strain to earlier cases in Florida.

US officials suggested that the attacks could be linked to terrorist organisations but said there was no reason to panic.

Despite reassurances, New Yorkers streamed into the emergency rooms at the city's St Vincent's Hospital, wanting to know whether their sore throats and runny noses were symptoms. "New Yorkers are nervous about terrorism at this point, and for good reason," said hospital spokesman William McCann. "People heard the word 'anthrax' and panic followed, but there's no reason to panic."

Concern spread to other areas as well, with people reporting suspicious packages from coast to coast. A federal criminal investigation was launched to find the source of the anthrax at NBC, as health officials re-tested the powder to see if it contained the bacteria. Initial tests had proved negative, but authorities said the sample was so small they were reluctant to interpret the results.

Meanwhile, Italian police have confirmed that suspected anthrax attacks in Genoa were the work of a malicious prankster. (Full story http://www.guardian.co.uk/wtccrash/story/0,1300,573591,00.html)

Short: no plans for mass invasion

There will be no mass land invasion of Afghanistan by the US and its allies, the international development secretary, Clare Short, insisted today.

"There isn't going to be a mass land invasion. I don't think the concept of swarms and swarms of troops all over Afghanistan, that is not going to happen ... this is just not a classical war," said Ms Short, who is a member of Tony Blair's war cabinet.

Any land invasion would be carefully targeted in the same way as air raids, she told Radio 4's Today programme.

But although US officials will not talk publicly about the specifics of ground action, special forces are sure to take a prominent role. Air Force General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, suggested yesterday that this week's air strikes were a prelude to ground action. "Many of the conventional efforts that you see today are stage-setters for follow-on operations," Gen Myers told reporters at a Pentagon briefing. "Some of those efforts may be visible, but many will not." (Full story http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,573509,00.html)

Thousands march against war

More than 20,000 protesters today joined Britain's biggest protest yet against military action in Afghanistan by the US and its allies.

The turnout was twice as big as that expected by Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament organisers and four times that predicted by police.

Afterwards, the CND chairwoman, Carol Naughton, said: "Today has been incredible. We expected a lot of people, but this just shows that there really is a big upsurge of people who are opposed to the conflict in Britain.

Following the success of today's march, CND is planning an even larger protest next month.

This morning around 1,500 people also gathered in Glasgow for a rally against the allied military action in Afghanistan.

Other peace protests today took place in Germany, Sweden and Australia. (Full story http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,573529,00.html)

Arafat to meet Blair

On Monday, the prime minister, Tony Blair, will meet the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, in London, it was announced today. Mr Arafat, who is coming at Mr Blair's invitation, will have talks also with the foreign secretary, Jack Straw.

The discussions are expected to focus on the implications of the allied air strikes on Afghanistan for the wider Middle East, and on how the Middle East peace process can be reinvigorated.

The United States and Britain both recognise that damping down, if not resolving, the long-running Palestinian-Israeli conflict is vital to maintaining a consensus against terrorism which includes Arab and Muslim nations.

Mr Arafat is also due to meet the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey. (Full story http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,573409,00.html)

Inquiry into more terrorist attacks on US

The FBI were today questioning two men detained on a Delta Airlines flight which was last night grounded at JFK airport in New York.

As terrorism investigations continued around the world, FBI agents in New York cancelled the flight after questions arose about the men's travel documents, an FBI spokesman said today. The men were being held by immigration authorities.

In Germany, investigators have found new information linking a Syrian businessmen to the September 11 terror attacks.

A collection of documents handed over to police and previously belonging to Mamoun Darkazanli, a Syrian living in Hamburg, include a business card of Osama bin Laden's personal secretary Wadih El-Hage, the German news weekly Der Spiegel reported today.

El-Hage, a Lebanese-born American, is one of four men convicted of organising the 1998 US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

In India, the country's interior minister claimed that Bin Laden's al-Qaida network had been operating in Kashmir for years and welcomed the US decision to freeze the assets of a Pakistan-based group believed to be funded by Osama bin Laden. The Jaish-e-Mohammed group was named among 39 individuals and organisations with suspected terrorist ties that would have their assets frozen. (Full story http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,573574,00.html)

Bush: we have met all our goals

The US president, George Bush, today said in his weekly radio address that the United States has met all its goals for the first phase of the anti-terrorism campaign.

"American forces dominate the skies over Afghanistan and we will use that dominance to make sure terrorists can no longer freely use Afghanistan as a base of operations," the president said.

----

Grand Council Envisioned for Afghans
Hurdles Confront Bid to Prepare for Post-Taliban Future

By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 13, 2001; Page A18
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52236-2001Oct12.html

After the 21st-century satellites and fighter jets are done in Afghanistan, Bush administration officials are planning to turn to a 2,000-year-old political model that was used by Genghis Khan in the 13th century and was last summoned by a Soviet puppet regime 14 years ago.

This step back to the future envisions a loya jirga, or grand council, that would gather hundreds of Afghan tribal and factional representatives to draw up a new constitution, government structure and political process for Afghanistan to replace the Taliban regime that is allied with accused terrorist Osama bin Laden.

As the U.S.-led military campaign moves into a second week, the loya jirga plan has become an urgent priority as the Bush administration seeks to head off a power vacuum, new chaos and a widening refugee crisis in the impoverished country.

Putting the grand council plan into practice is another matter. For the past decade, U.S. and U.N. negotiators have labored to bring together a grand council, only to be stymied by blood feuds, tribal animosities and personal hatreds among Afghanistan's disparate ethnic groups. Add to the mixture the elusive prospect of a trans-Afghanistan pipeline to move oil from Central Asia to Pakistan, and the rival interests of neighboring countries such as Iran, Pakistan, India and Russia, and the result has been deadlock.

One administration official said that if American or U.N. mediators ever succeed in prodding Afghans to attend a grand council, the delegates would probably spend their time plotting how to kill the people sitting next to them. He called the idea of the United States helping put together a new Afghan government "delusional."

Barney Rubin, an Afghanistan expert at New York University, said that even if a loya jirga is convened, it could collapse given the country's bloody recent history. "The problem is the participants will be afraid of losing their lives if they make the wrong move and, therefore, they may act preemptively with the only tools at their disposal, meaning violence," he said. "There are no constitutional tools."

Most administration officials, however, said that promoting a loya jirga is the best hope for laying the foundation of a stable government, assuming the Taliban collapses under the U.S.-led military assault. They said they see it coming together under the largely symbolic leadership of exiled King Mohammed Zahir Shah, and producing a loose confederation of the various ethnic and factional groups.

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States and the U.S. military response have spurred talks between the different factions and even fairly detailed plans for an interim ruling council. But the task remains daunting.

Until last month, there were four different loya jirga movements, and there was little communication between each of them.

The first was based in Rome around the 86-year-old Zahir Shah, and it reflected the interests of moderate Pashtuns from southeastern Afghanistan, the same ethnic group from which the Taliban draws much of its support. The Rome initiative called for fair elections, support for Islam as the foundation of the Afghan state and respect for human rights. Pakistan, which has backed the Taliban movement since 1994, has recently said that it would support an initiative led by the former king. The weakness of the aging monarch could help ease fears that he would dominate a new government, U.N. sources said.

The second loya jirga initiative has been based in Cyprus and led by Homayoun Jarir, a renegade member of the Islamic Party of his father-in-law, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who fought a battle over Kabul with rivals before the Taliban took over in 1996. Critics of the Cyprus initiative suspect it of serving the interests of Iran. The members of the Cyprus initiative, however, consider themselves closer to the Afghan people and regard the Rome group as too close to the long-isolated nobility.

Two less important initiatives have been based in Bonn and Pakistan.

"They haven't trusted each other or wanted to work with each other," said an official from the United Nations, which has been trying to mediate between the Afghan groups for years. "The king has been trying for the past year to pull these initiatives together, but to a certain extent it's no surprise that it hasn't worked. People around him have been doing it in a way that would benefit them."

Even before the Sept. 11 attacks, a member of the Bush administration's National Security Council, Zalmay Khalilzad, had been trying to bring the different initiatives together, but making progress was difficult. A U.N. official said: "It has changed dramatically now. There is a need to act in concert."

In the wake of the attacks, the United States and the United Nations have been pushing for what one U.N. official called "loya jirga plus," a group that would include not only traditional ethnic-based groups but also the Northern Alliance fighters who control parts of the north and east of the country and have been battling the Taliban.

Some say that even if a council came together, it would be flawed because it would be the result of a negotiated rather than a democratic process and would likely exclude many of the professional groups that cross ethnic and factional lines.

"A government's legitimacy rests in part on its accountability," said Vikram Parekh, an Afghanistan specialist at Human Rights Watch. "And so if you simply institutionalize the power of military commanders who have not demonstrated any commitment to accountability for their conduct or that of their forces, then by extension you are creating a government that will have a very questionable basis for legitimacy and long-term acceptability to a broad range of Afghan society."

Bitter rivalries and suspicions among the various groups remain threatening factors.

The Northern Alliance supports the government ousted by the Taliban in 1996. The president of the ousted government, Burhanuddin Rabbani, an ethnic Tajik, is the titular head of the group. For the past year, his headquarters have been in the northern Afghan town of Faizabad.

He leads one of the five factions in the alliance -- the one backed by Iran and Russia. The other factions are the principal Shiite party, with support mainly from the Hazara ethnic community; a mostly ethnic Uzbek group led by Abdurrashid Dostum; another Shiite party led by Ayatollah Muhammad Asif Muhsini; and a group led by Abdurrab Rasul Sayyaf and backed in the past by Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan worries that the Northern Alliance, composed mostly of Tajiks and Uzbeks, would dominate the process and the Pashtun groups that have close ties to Pakistan. "Pakistan sees a friendly government in Kabul as essential to its national security," said an article co-written by Khalilzad before President Bush took office.

The suspicion is mutual. Representatives of the Northern Alliance are equally adamant about keeping Pakistani influence out of any future Afghan government. "The Pakistanis are the ones who created the Taliban and the terrible situation in Afghanistan today, and [who] have been fighting us for years," said Harun Amin, an Alliance spokesman in Washington. "Now they say they want to switch their support away, but we won't let them fool the international community again."

U.N. officials who have been involved in negotiations before and after the Sept. 11 attacks said Iran suspects that Pakistan is working to create a reformed Taliban that would still play an important role. Iran's Shiites are regarded as apostates by many of the Sunni Taliban members. Iran, a U.N. official said, is also worried that the United States might make such a concession to Pakistan as its "reward for cooperating" in the current military campaign.

Though U.S. officials have sought to win over Pashtun leaders, including disgruntled Taliban commanders, to undercut Taliban support, Fiona Hill, a Central Asia expert at the Brookings Institution, cautioned that this process will require time. "It's a very delicate process," she said. "They can't make people into allies overnight."

Staff writers Marc Kaufman and Alan Sipress contributed to this report.

-------- colombia

Colombian Rebels Forcing AIDS Tests

October 13, 2001
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Colombia-Rebels-AIDS.html

VISTA HERMOSA, Colombia (AP) -- Confounding officials who are powerless to stop them, Colombia's largest guerrilla army is forcing all residents of this town inside a southern rebel safe haven to be tested for AIDS.

Three people who tested positive have reportedly been expelled from the zone.

The leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, says the mandatory exams are nothing more than a public health initiative. But some believe the rebels have an unspoken military objective: to take a disguised census that will help them keep tabs on the population.

The town's mayor and many residents oppose the testing, which began in July. They have little real authority, however, in Vista Hermosa -- one of five towns the rebels control under a peace concession from President Andres Pastrana.

``I have no way of stopping this,'' Mayor Jose Castano said Friday, as public hospital workers performed exams in a municipal basketball arena in the town, located 185 miles south of Bogota.

``Here there is a revolutionary government, and its orders must be followed,'' Castano added.

Ever since the FARC took control of the Switzerland-sized safe haven three years ago, it has been accused of ruling with a heavy hand. The government insists the zone is serving its purpose as an arena for negotiations to end Colombia's 37-year civil war. Last week, Pastrana extended its life through at least mid-January so that talks can continue.

The FARC has informally ruled remote towns like this for many years, imparting gun-barrel justice and even forcing prostitutes in some towns to be tested for AIDS. But never have they forced examinations on this scale.

The testing began in Vista Hermosa after a rebel commander calling himself ``Arquimedes'' gave a speech in the town's tree-lined plaza in July in which he claimed a large number of people were becoming infected with AIDS.

Under the rebel orders, every resident of Vista Hermosa and its outlying villages between the ages of 12 and 80 are required to take a test, which they have to pay for -- about $7 per person -- more than a day's minimum wage.

Some 1,500 people were tested Friday, bringing to roughly 18,000 the number of townspeople who have been examined, health officials said. Vista Hermosa has about 20,000 residents.

Few of the people taking their tests Friday would talk about it openly. Those who did refused to give their full names, saying they feared possible reprisals.

Mauricio, a skinny 13-year-old student, looked resigned as a nurse took his blood. ``It was an order by the FARC,'' he said glumly. Mauricio said he was told he would be receiving a paper certifying that he had taken the test.

Some residents said they believe the rebels will be able to demand the papers now as a way to know when outsiders are in town. The guerrillas often contend the military sends spies and infiltrators into the zone.

But Alonso, a 45-year-old merchant, said he supports the rebel initiative. ``With so many illnesses going around any exam is important,'' he said.

Vista Hermosa hospital director Jaime Pacheco said there are legitimate concerns about AIDS. Concerns grew this week after officials reported the FARC had expelled three people who tested positive for HIV -- prompting protests from human rights officials in Bogota.

-------- pakistan

Pakistani militants vow long 'holy war'

October 13, 2001
By Willis Witter
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20011013-11583678.htm

CHARSADHA, Pakistan - Fist-pumping protesters yesterday marked the first Muslim Sabbath since the onset of U.S.-led air strikes on Afghanistan, clashing with police as white-robed clerics urged crowds to prepare for a decade of "holy war" against the United States.

In the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, police fired shots into the air and canisters of tear gas into crowds of more than 20,000, who rampaged through the city burning vehicles and one Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant.

Two protesters were injured. At least 60 Afghans were arrested in the protests and are being deported to Afghanistan, officials said.

With a heavy police and army presence, protests in Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar and other cities passed largely without incident, and supporters of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf took heart that the turnout was smaller than many had expected.

In Kabul, in the early hours today, new explosions were reported as U.S.-led forces ended a short respite with renewed air strikes.

Eight powerful explosions were heard and at least one bomb dropped on the airport, witnesses told Reuters news agency.

"From my house, I could see a bomb land on the airport, I saw a fireball, debris flying up into the sky and the initial big fire, then dimming," one witness said.

Yesterday's brief pause in the U.S. campaign against Afghanistan's ruling Taliban was attributed to respect for a Muslim festival commemorating the mystical journey by the Prophet Muhammad to heaven, known as the Night Journey or the Ascent.

Still, the ferocity of anti-American hatred on display in Pakistan proved unnerving, with people scorning President Bush as an enemy of Islam and vowing to fight to the death against the United States.

"Bush said it was a 'crusade,' and we accept that. Yes, it is a crusade. It is a war between Muslims and non-Muslim," former lawmaker Gohar Shah told a crowd of thousands in the town of Charsadha, near the Afghan border in Pakistan's rugged Northwest Frontier province.

"It is not a question of one or two years. We are ready to fight for 10 years," Mr. Shah said to cheers from thousands of white-capped protesters who filled the downtown plaza on a sunny autumn afternoon.

The reference was clear. A day earlier, as U.S. bombs rained on targets in the Afghan capital of Kabul and other cities, Mr. Bush had warned Americans to expect a battle of one or two years. The decade referred to the Afghanistan's 1979-89 war to expel occupying Soviet troops.

"We are used to jihad. We fought the Russians for 10 years," said Ibrahim, a businessman attending the rally. "If America wants to wind up like the Russians, then come to Afghanistan. In the name of Islam, we are willing to destroy ourselves."

Yesterday's protests came after five days of bombing of military targets throughout Afghanistan in an effort to weaken Afghanistan's ruling Taliban government and pressure it to hand over Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 suicide airliner attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

Yesterday, Taliban spokesmen said the American bombing had killed at least 200 civilians in a village near Jalalabad, but that could not be independently verified. The village is suspected of being a training camp for bin Laden militia.

In northern Afghanistan, rebel troops and Taliban soldiers were reported to be locked in fierce fighting near the northern city and key stronghold of Mazar-e-Sharif. Mohajeddin Mehdi, an official in Tajikistan affiliated with the opposition's government-in-exile, said the opposition had seized strategic points to block Taliban supply routes.

The Taliban, for its part, said they had recaptured the Quadis district in the northern Badgis province, which has changed hands several times. The private Afghan Islamic Press agency reported the claim, citing the Taliban as saying they captured 50 opposition fighters and that several rebels died. Neither side's reports could be independently verified.

The U.S. bombing campaign has fueled unrest throughout the Muslim world, reflected yesterday in anti-American protests in the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Malaysia and throughout the Middle East.

By the time the Pentagon announced a halt in bombings yesterday, night had already fallen on this side of the world and protesters had gone home.

The fervor of yesterday's protests reflected the key problem confronting the United States in its war on terrorism.

While it has won support from Pakistan's Gen. Musharraf and leaders of other Muslim nations, Mr. Bush's repeated assertions that the battle is against terrorism and not Islam has had little discernible effect here.

Banners with pictures of bin Laden and of Mr. Bush being driven into the ground by a boot symbolizing Islam rose above the crowd in Charsadha.

The crowds roared in agreement to repeated exhortations: "Are you ready for jihad?" "Are we with Osama?" "Long live the Taliban" and "Down with America."

When Western reporters wandered into the crowd, plainclothes policemen quickly hustled them up a darkened stairway to a balcony above the angry crowd.

"Our government is a slave of America," shouted Qazi Hussain Ahmed, leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan's largest Muslim-based party. "If Musharraf steps aside, then America will be in our hands."

Leaders of major Muslim political parties called for a nationwide strike on Monday to continue the protest.

The government says militant Islamists represent only a small minority in the nation of 145 million and that most support the decision to side with the United States against the Taliban and bin Laden, who has waged his war against the West since being granted shelter in Afghanistan five years ago.

The government threatened to crack down against violent protests, and several of the nation's militant religious party leaders remained under house arrest.

"There are only a few extremist elements, who tried to disrupt law and order, but we have given instructions to the law enforcement agencies not to allow anybody to take law in their hands," Gen. Musharraf's spokesman, Maj. Gen. Rashid Quereshi, said in the capital of Islamabad.

-------- ukraine

Ukraine Minister Admits Forces Downed Russian Jet

October 13, 2001
By REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-russia-crash-ukraine.html?searchpv=reuters

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's Defense Minister Olexander Kuzmuk admitted on Saturday that Ukrainian forces were responsible for last week's Russian aircraft disaster and apologized to victims and their relatives.

``We know we are involved in the accident,'' Kuzmuk said, bursting unexpectedly into a news conference given by his subordinates. ``I offer my deep apologies to the relatives and friends of those who died in this accident.''

All 78 crew and passengers, mostly Russian-born Israelis, died after the Tu-154 exploded at high altitude and crashed into the Black Sea on October 4.

Ukraine, whose military had at first denied responsibility, said on Friday a missile from live rocket-firing exercises on the Crimean peninsula could have caused the disaster.

But neither Kuzmuk nor other high-level military officials could explain how one of their missiles had come to miss the drone it was targeted on and instead zero in on the Russian plane. They said further investigation was needed.

On Thursday, officials revealed Kuzmuk had offered to resign after reports implicating Ukraine appeared. President Leonid Kuchma refused his offer, saying he wanted to wait for an official report by Russian, Ukrainian and Israel experts in Sochi, Russia, on the cause of the crash.

Volodymyr Tkachyov, commander of the Ukrainian anti-aircraft forces, told the news conference on Saturday that a technical glitch appeared to be a possible reason.

``I am deeply sorry that I could not have prevented this misfortune,'' Tkachyov said. Like Kuzmuk, Tkachyov offered to resign immediately after the crash.

DIPLOMATIC FALLOUT

Kuchma, himself a former missile factory boss, sought to play down the disaster this week, saying ``bigger mistakes have been made.'' He drew bitter condemnation from Israel.

Kuzmuk conceded that it would take a long time for Ukraine's military forces to regain trust after the disaster and he apologized to Ukrainians for damaging the country's reputation.

This is the second time in 18 months that Ukraine's armed forces have lost control of a live missile.

Last year, four people were killed in the town of Brovary when a rocket plowed into their apartment block. The defense ministry denied responsibility for several days until rescue workers found missile parts in the rubble.

Vladimir Rushailo, head of Russia's Security Council, was quoted by the Interfax news agency on Saturday as saying the S200 missile exploded some 15 meters above the plane.

He said the pilot and navigator of the Russian aircraft, bound for Novosibirsk in Siberia from Israel, died immediately after the mid-air explosion.

A Russian newspaper reported on Thursday the pilot of the doomed jet had known his plane had been hit and medical evidence showed many passengers had been alive as the plane went into a death plunge.

Only 15 bodies have been found during an air and sea search operation hampered by bad weather. The black box flight recorders remain on the seabed more than 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) down.

Ukraine has been under considerable pressure from its former masters in Moscow to explain itself. President Vladimir Putin was reported to have been unhappy with the information Ukraine gave.

But Moscow has stopped short of turning the disaster into an open diplomatic row.

-------- u.s.

Troops will go in 'sooner, not later'

Telegraph (UK)
By Michael Smith, Defence Correspondent
13/10/2001
http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/10/13/wmil13.xml&sSheet=/news/2001/10/13/ixhome.html

GROUND troops are expected to go into Afghanistan sooner rather than later if the Taliban fail to take advantage of the pause in bombing to hand over Osama bin Laden, senior defence sources said yesterday.

Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, admitted that the imminent onset of winter meant that time was running out. He said: "Everyone knows that the weather in a few weeks' time in Afghanistan will be particularly difficult."

But small-scale insertions of special forces - such as the SAS and its American equivalent, Delta Force - for reconnaissance purposes are unlikely to be affected by the winter, and it may even help them.

Small SAS and Delta Force teams are already on the ground to liaise with the Northern Alliance.

The alliance is expected to be used as a proxy force, and for directing air attacks on cave systems thought to be used by bin Laden's men.

But the allies urgently need a forward operations base and simply taking control of that will require several thousand troops, expected to be Green Berets and members of the 10th Mountain Division, which is now based in Uzbekistan.

The allies have an advantage in that the best option, an all-weather air base designed to remain operational throughout the harsh Afghan winter at Bagram, north of Kabul, is in the hands of the Northern Alliance.

The problem will be removing the Taliban and their hand-held, surface-to-air Stinger missiles from the mountains on its southern edge.

That is why the 10th Mountain Division has been moved to Uzbekistan to train alongside the Green Berets in preparation to take control of Bagram.

It will not only provide a forward operations base for special forces operations, but also a runway from which American F15 Strike Eagle and RAF Tornado GR4 ground attack aircraft could patrol the skies over Afghanistan.

The main ground operations are likely to be "snatch" operations, with special forces like the SAS taking the lead, backed up by a larger "force protection" contingent such as the British Parachute Regiment.

The units likely to lead such operations are:

The Special Air Service, the model for the world's leading special forces units. Set up in 1941 to carry out operations behind enemy lines, it created the concept of the four-man team. It includes men with experience of similar operations in Oman.

The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment - Delta, better known as Delta Force, the American equivalent of the SAS on which it is based. Set up at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in 1977 by an officer who had served with the SAS, it has snatched war criminals in former Yugoslavia.

The US navy's Special Warfare Development Group, better known as Seal Team Six, was set up in the early 1980s. Based at Dam Neck, Virginia, it is believed to number about 200 men, again broken down into four-man teams, with four teams making up an assault group.

The Royal Marines Special Boat Service, formed like the SAS out of small special forces, and set up during the Second World War when they acquired the nickname the Cockleshell Heroes. They are based at Poole, Dorset, and have been trained to storm liners or North Sea oil rigs taken over by terrorists.

The Australian Special Air Service Regiment is based on its British counterpart and has liaison officers with both the SAS and Delta Force, who regard it very highly. It served in Borneo and Vietnam, where it was so successful that the Viet Cong put a $5,000 bounty on the head of each of the Ma Rung, or Jungle Ghosts.

The units expected to provide protection are:

The 75th Ranger Regiment, based at Fort Benning, Georgia. It has three battalions, each of about 600 men. The Rangers, regarded by the Americans as special forces, are essentially light, airborne infantry.

US Army Special Forces, Airborne, better known as the Green Berets. Split into seven "Special Forces Groups" of about 1,200 men, they made their name in Korea and Vietnam. They were also involved in the 1968 operation to hunt Che Guevara in Bolivia. Two battalions are in Uzbekistan.

The Parachute Regiment. Its members wear the famous red beret. It was formed in 1940 on Churchill's order and fought with distinction throughout the Second World War, most famously at Arnhem. Operations in the Falklands and Sierra Leone created a new generation of regimental heroes. It is based at Colchester, Essex.

Royal Marine Commandos wear green berets. During the Second World War, they angered Hitler to the point where he ordered them to be "annihilated". They are based at Plymouth, Arbroath and Taunton, but are now handily placed on exercise in Oman. Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, Chief of the Defence Staff, has suggested they might be used in Afghanistan.

The French Foreign Legion. Created in 1831, the Legion famously fought in post-war French Indochina, particularly at Dien Bien Phu, and the Algerian war of independence.

--------

Recent Military Mistakes

October 13, 2001
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Attacks-Military-Mistakes-Box.html?searchpv=aponline

Some bombing accidents involving the U.S. military from recent history:

--Oct. 13, 2001: A Navy F/A-18 Hornet drops a 2,000-pound bomb on a residential neighborhood in Kabul, Afghanistan, a mile from the military helicopter it intended to hit at Kabul's airport. A Pentagon statement says ground reports indicated that four people were killed and eight injured; U.S. officials say they had no way to confirm the number of casualties.

--March 12, 2001: A bombing range accident in Kuwait kills six and seriously injures three when a Navy F/A-18 pilot is mistakenly given the signal to bomb what turns out to be an observation post.

--Feb. 16, 2001: U.S. warplanes bomb military targets near Baghdad; about half the bombs miss their targets.

--May 20, 1999: At least three people are killed when NATO missiles hit a hospital near a military barracks in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, with NATO acknowledging one of its laser-guided weapons missed a target. The same day, NATO airstrikes damage the Swiss ambassador's residence in Belgrade during a reception, along with the Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian and Hungarian ambassadors' residences. Serbian media say damage also was reported at Libya's embassy and the Israeli diplomatic mission.

--May 13, 1999: NATO acknowledges an attack on a Kosovo village, Korisa. Yugoslav officials said 87 ethnic Albanians are killed and more than 100 injured. NATO says Korisa was a Serb military command post, and suggests Serb forces trapped the refugees next to the target as human shields.

--May 7, 1999: U.S. planes flying a NATO mission mistakenly bomb the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, killing three journalists and injuring 20 people. A bad map from CIA target planners is later blamed.

--May 7, 1999: NATO admits it is highly probable that a bomb headed for an airfield ``went astray and hit civilian buildings.'' Serb officials say a cluster bomb attack damages a marketplace and the grounds of a hospital in Nis, Yugoslavia killing at least 15.

--May 1, 1999: A missile hits a bus crossing a bridge north of Pristina, Yugoslavia, killing 47. NATO says the bus started across the bridge after a bomb directed at the span had been released.

--April 28, 1999: A missile slams into a private home in Sofia, Bulgaria, but no injuries are reported. NATO acknowledges a missile went off course and may have crossed the Yugoslav-Bulgarian border.

--April 27, 1999: A missile strike in the Serb town of Surdulica kills at least 20 civilians. NATO says one of its bombs missed the target, a nearby military barracks, and struck a residential neighborhood.

--April 14, 1999: NATO mistakenly bombs a refugee convoy near Djakovica during its campaign, saying a misfire ``may have caused damage to a civilian vehicle and unintentional harm to civilian lives.'' Yugoslav officials said 75 people died and more than two dozen were hurt.

--April 12, 1999: NATO confirms a rail bridge was struck by allied aircraft and that a train was nearby at the time. Yugoslav state media report NATO missiles struck a railroad bridge near the Serb town of Grdelica and hit a passenger train, killing 17.

--April 10, 1999: Two Marine jets drop bombs on a lookout post at the Vieques training ground in Puerto Rico. One civilian guard is killed. Four others are injured, including three civilians.

--April 9, 1999: NATO says a bomb, intended for the main telephone exchange in Kosovo's capital of Pristina, fell short of its target, causing damage to a residential area.

--April 1994: Two U.S. Air Force F-15s shoot down two U.S. Army helicopters on a diplomatic mission over Iraq, mistaking them for hostile aircraft in the ``no-fly zone,'' killing 26 people. No one was found criminally responsible.

--Feb. 13, 1991: A Baghdad shelter was attacked in the Persian Gulf War, killing more than 300 civilians. U.S. officials said it was a military command center, and they did not know civilians were inside.

--January 1991: Seven U.S. Marines are killed when a missile fired by a U.S. Air Force A-10 attack aircraft hits their armored vehicle during a battle with the Iraqis.

-------- uzbekistan

THE MILITARY
Uzbekistan to Let U.S. Use Bases in Return for Promise of Security

New York Times
October 13, 2001
By MICHAEL R. GORDON and STEVEN LEE MYERS
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/13/international/asia/13MILI.html

WASHINGTON, Saturday, Oct. 13 - The United States and Uzbekistan announced an agreement on Friday that would give the American military flexibility in operating from bases in the former Soviet republic in return for Washington's assurance to protect Uzbekistan's security.

The joint statement itself underscores that the United States and Uzbekistan have established a "qualitatively new relationship" that involved a long-term commitment by each side.

"We recognize the need to work closely together in the campaign against terrorism," the statement said. "This includes the need to consult on an urgent basis about appropriate steps to address the situation in the event of a direct threat to the security or territorial integrity of the Republic of Uzbekistan."

Nearly 1,000 American troops from the Army's 10th Mountain Division have already poured into an Uzbek airfield near the border with Afghanistan. The troops will provide security for American teams that will carry out search and rescue missions.

The announcement, however, was the first to articulate the terms for using the base, once a staging ground for Soviet troops occupying Afghanistan. And it also suggests that the United States military will be able to make broader use of Uzbek territory.

The statement said that the Uzbek base where American forces are deployed would be used "in the first instance for humanitarian purposes." It did not outline what military activities would be allowed but significantly left open the possibility of offensive operations.

Senior Pentagon officials have indicated that the war plan calls for basing helicopter-borne special operations forces there and that their tasks would go beyond searching for downed pilots.

The agreement was announced as the United States eased its attacks briefly during the Muslim holy day on Friday, and the Pentagon said that anti-Taliban resistance had made important advances on the ground in western Afghanistan, taking a strategically important town.

American warplanes resumed attacks on Afghanistan early this morning and eight powerful explosions were heard in the capital of Kabul.

At least one bomb dropped on the already heavily damaged airport there, witnesses said. "I saw a fireball, debris flying up into the sky and the initial big fire, then dimming," a witness said.

Bush administration officials said the new assurances to Uzbekistan disclosed Friday stopped short of the sort of security guarantee the United States provides to NATO nations, which pledge to defend one another militarily. Even so, the commitment to defend a former Soviet republic signaled another major shift in the post-cold war landscape of the former Soviet Union and an expansion of American commitments into Central Asia.

"We are signaling that we are going to see this through, that we are not going to love them and leave them," a senior administration official said. "But it is not the kind of blood oath that we take in NATO."

The joint statement was hammered out following a visit to Uzbekistan by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. Mr. Rumsfeld brought a letter from President Bush underscoring Washington's interest in a new relationship.

During Mr. Rumsfeld's visit, Uzbekistan's president, Islam Karimov, publicly stated that commando units could not be stationed on Uzbek soil and that offensive operations could not be conducted from its territory. But during the visit, Mr. Karimov left open the possibility that the American presence in Uzbekistan might grow if a generous package of assistance and security guarantees was provided by Washington. American officials implied that access might now be improved.

"It takes it up another notch," one senior Bush administration official said, without elaborating.

The agreement may also prevent misunderstandings. It was announced a day after the government of Uzbekistan balked at allowing two C-17 cargo planes to cross its airspace on their way to deliver packets of food to refugees inside Afghanistan. Gen. Richard B. Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, attributed the break in food drops to diplomatic confusion about overflights, but other officials said the problem was complicated when the Uzbeks raised concerns about fighter jets escorting the C-17's.

Four of those flights left to drop food over Afghanistan on Friday. In Afghanistan, American warplanes eased their attack, refraining from planned strikes on the Muslim holy day. For the first time since the American-led strikes began on Sunday, there were no raids by the Air Force's heavy bombers - B-1's and B-52's from the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia and B-2's from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.

American attacks resumed early this morning near Kabul. American officials said they were looking for moving targets of opportunity that included Taliban leaders as well as Osama bin Laden and members of his Al Qaeda network.

The air strikes began on Sunday with a barrage of 50 cruise missiles and 40 bombers and fighters striking 31 targets. Since then the number of aircraft and targets has dropped to only a few each day, including only seven on Thursday before the easing of the strikes. Those included six Taliban military garrisons and a terrorist camp associated with Al Qaeda.

Mr. Rumsfeld offered a somewhat subdued assessment of the campaign so far, saying the strikes had "disrupted their communications somewhat" and damaged "but certainly not eliminated their air-defense capabilities." As a result, a senior military officer said, the Pentagon scrubbed planned flights of Commando Solo, the Air Force's airborne radio station.

Afghan factions opposed to the Taliban, however, have been taking advantage of the airstrikes to make progress to the west of Kabul.

A senior Pentagon official said that the anti-Taliban commanders affiliated with the Northern Alliance appear to have taken the town of Chaghcharan, a provincial capital. The capture unites the forces of two Northern Alliance field commanders, Ismael Kahn and Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, and puts them in a position to move east toward Kabul. It also cuts a key Taliban supply line between Kabul and Herat in the west and between the capital and Mazar-i- Sharif to the north.

The Pentagon official also attached high credibility to reports that 1,200 Taliban fighters and 40 commanders defected at Kondoz, a northern Afghanistan town closed to Northern Alliance positions.

But directly to the north of Kabul the Taliban are reinforcing and digging in. Intense fighting was reported near Mazar-i-Sharif today.

The United States has avoided airstrikes on the Taliban front line north of Kabul, a move that is intended to address Pakistan's concerns that the Northern Alliance might advance into Kabul and take control if the Taliban quickly collapse. The Northern Alliance is dominated by ethnic Tajiks and Uzbeks. Pakistan has been close to the Pashtuns, the dominant ethnic group in Pakistan from which Taliban leaders emerged.

Mr. Rumsfeld said today that the United States supported any groups opposed to the Taliban and Al Qaeda, but was not directly coordinating its air and missile strikes with the opposition forces.

"At that point where we are not attacking military targets in close proximity to those troops, then it's for those troops to make judgments as to whether or not they intend to take advantage of the work that's been done for them," he said, referring to the resistance forces.

Mr. Rumsfeld also said that the explicit aim of the strikes was to kill leaders of the Taliban government and Al Qaeda. He did not cite specific instances in which leaders were killed, but he added, "we've been working on that."


-------- OTHER

-------- energy

Energy developers turn attention to ocean

Monday, October 15, 2001
By Bob Wyss, Providence Journal, R.I.
http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2001/10/10152001/krt_ocean_45257.asp

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island -- Increasingly, energy developers are looking to the sea.

A major natural gas pipeline company is considering building a 750-mile line offshore on the Continental Shelf between Canada and the United States. It comes at a time when other energy developers have proposed several production and transmission projects involving the ocean. Developers say they reflect New England's continuing thirst for energy as well as the increasing obtacles they face from property owners in meeting that demand.

The proposed natural gas pipeline would begin from natural gas fields near Sable Island off Nova Scotia. It would run south, detour around the Georges Bank fishing grounds, take a bend past Cape Cod, skirt Block Island, come on land briefly on Long Island, return to sea and terminate in New Jersey.

El Paso Corp. announced earlier this month that it is still in a feasibility review of what it calls the Blue Atlantic Transmission System. Once the engineering and environmental studies are completed next year, the company will decide whether to build the $1.6-billion line, which could go into service by 2005.

There are no plans to bring the line ashore anywhere in New England. However, El Paso would likely feed the region from existing pipes in New York that travel north.

The proposed pipeline would compete directly with one that runs from the Sable Island fields - the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline which went into service in late 1999. Its owner, Duke Energy, is in the process of doubling capacity on that line.

Wholesale natural gas prices have recently fallen, shutting down some exploration efforts and endangering some pipeline projects. But Aaron Woods, a spokesman for El Paso, said that will not stop the Blue Atlantic project.

"We believe that this is only a temporary change in the market," said Woods. "The demand in the Northeast is expected to increase significantly over the next 5 to 10 years. We not only see this project as feasible, but as essential."

Running the line offshore could cut the cost of the project and make the gas more competitive. It could also reduce objections, since it is not passing through anyone's backyard.

Woods said the line will use standard technology and be placed at depths of 200 to 1,000 feet. And while the final route still needs to be set, the tentative plan is designed to appease environmentalists by running around Georges Bank.

"We're going to avoid Georges Bank because that is such a sensitive site," said Woods.

But environmental organizations are voicing concerns.

"Even if it does not go through Georges Bank, it is going to be relatively close," said Richard Kennelly, director of energy programs for the Conservation Law Foundation in Boston. "That makes it easier to argue in the future to put a lateral line out to get some gas out of the banks."

Any proposed energy development in Georges Bank would bring swift opposition, warned Kennelly. He said the area remains too rich, both as a fisherie and a resource for endangered species.

"It's sort of like storing extra antifreeze in your refrigerator," he said. "You just don't mix energy with your food."

In addition, there are environmentally sensitive areas of ocean floor in the area and until there is greater mapping and understanding, development should proceed cautiously, Kennelly said.

Environmentalists are not opposed to offshore developments, he added, but developers should not assume they will face fewer concerns.

Delivering energy into congested urban areas has become increasingly challenging.

A land-based project, the Millennium Pipeline, was proposed in 1997 to deliver natural gas to New York City but is still not completed.

In the Boston area, Duke Energy has extended its pipeline from Canada into Boston, but is looping it 30 miles out to sea at Beverly and bringing it ashore at Weymouth.

Thursday, Williams Cos., the number-two pipeline owner, won approval from federal regulators for a $103-million construction project so that it can start importing liquified natural gas at its Cove Point terminal in Lusby, Md.

Another developer has proposed building an offshore transmission line that would deliver electricity generated in Nova Scotia to Boston. The Neptune Regional Transmission Project, still under review, would cost $2 billion.

How many of these projects will survive if energy prices remain down is not clear. Platts, the research and publication firm, recently reported that spot prices for natural gas this month are down 24.3 percent from last month and 67 percent from a year ago.

One of the first casualties has been a natural gas pipeline that was going to run from Alaska to the lower 48 states.

-------- human rights

Challenges Of Waging A 'Just War'
Ethicists, Theologians Warn Against the Temptation to Fight Terror With Terror and Indiscriminately Destroy Human Life

By Bill Broadway
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 13, 2001; Page B09
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52548-2001Oct12.html

Waging an unconventional war against terrorism has raised new ethical questions about use of military force against other nations, but the "just war" rules that have evolved over centuries still offer appropriate guidance, according to theologians and ethicists.

Most notably, they said, the United States must resist the temptation to indiscriminately destroy human life the way terrorists did when they attacked the Pentagon and World Trade Center. And they said it must restrict military action to individuals and countries directly responsible for the Sept. 11 attack.

Some ethicists, such as Stanley M. Hauerwas, of Duke Divinity School, argue that those who directed the September terrorists are criminals and should be tracked down and brought to justice using force only as necessary. Calling that action "war" and taking it to countries beyond Afghanistan, where alleged mastermind Osama bin Laden reportedly is hiding, "probably is not justified," Hauerwas said.

Others, such as James T. Johnson, of Rutgers University, believe that terrorism "blurs lines between criminal activity and war" and that military activity in other countries might be warranted. But there must be "credible justifications" for a military response elsewhere, and it might take different forms, said Johnson, a professor of religion who specializes in just war theory.

If the United States turns attention to terrorist cells in Indonesia and the Philippines, for example, the appropriate action might be to send in intelligence teams or special operations units to assist government troops who oppose the terrorists. "I don't see an extension of the current bombing raids or that level of activity," he said.

Johnson said that modern technology and strategy can help the U.S. military "fight justly." Computerized missiles and increasingly sophisticated "smart bombs" directed at specific targets can minimize noncombatant deaths, as can specially trained ground forces used in "a discriminate and proportionate way," he said.

Just war theory dates back to the 4th century and the writings of Augustine, which argue that a primary justification for war is the protection of innocent people. In the 13th century, Thomas Aquinas refined the rules of war, declaring that "the belligerents should have a rightful intention, so that they intend the advancement of good, or the avoidance of evil."

In the 20th century, a series of conventions in Geneva and The Hague set international rules of warfare, including the humane treatment of prisoners, the protection of civilians from harm and the prohibition of genocide and biological weapons.

The role of innocents, or noncombatants, has become a key issue in the current conflict. It began with the Sept. 11 attacks that killed more than 5,000 people.

It arose again this week with the deaths of four United Nations workers during a U.S.-led bombing attack and reports that bin Laden often gathers women and children so that innocents will be killed or wounded in any attack on him.

The danger for Americans is that they may get drawn into a "logic of terror," said John F. Kavanaugh, a Jesuit priest and professor of philosophy at St. Louis University. He said blanket bombing Afghanistan and other Muslim countries would be immoral because it would kill thousands of innocent people. It also would bring our nation "close to the enemy" in its rationalization of violence, he said.

The logic of terror was evident in the taped statement from bin Laden released after last Sunday's first assault wave in Afghanistan, Kavanaugh said. Bin Laden cited the killing of "millions of innocent children" in Iraq -- through bombing during the Persian Gulf War and embargoes of supplies -- as a primary reason that the "sword" of Allah came down on America a month ago. (A 1999 study by the United Nations Childrens Fund showed that the mortality rate of Iraqi children under 5 doubled in the 1990s, after economic sanctions were imposed, leading to the deaths of 500,000 children.)

Those remarks are chilling echoes of statements made by Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and Ramzi Yousef, a key conspirator in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, Kavanaugh said. Kavanaugh quoted both in a book released weeks before last month's attacks, "Who Count as Persons? Human Identity and the Ethics of Killing."

McVeigh, a decorated Gulf War veteran, compared his 1995 killing of 168 people in the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building to U.S. actions against Iraq. "The administration has admitted to knowledge of the presence of children in or near Iraqi government buildings," hewrote on death row in a 1998 essay. "Yet they still proceed with their plans to bomb -- saying they cannot be held responsible if children die. . . . Who are the true barbarians?"

Yousef, during his trial, accused the United States of inventing terrorism when it dropped atomic bombs on Japan and killed civilians in Vietnam with napalm.

"And now you have new ways to kill the innocent. You have so-called economic embargo which kills nobody other than children and elderly people. . . . Yes, I am a terrorist, and I am proud of it. And I support terrorism so long as it is against the United States and Israel because you are . . . the ones who invented it . . . butchers, liars, hypocrites."

Kavanaugh said McVeigh and Yousef are morally wrong, because there is no situation that justifies the extermination of innocent people "for some supposed good." Yet the pain their words express can be a lesson for the U.S. military, as fighting against the Taliban intensifies and U.S. troops might be faced with killing women and children to achieve a military objective, he said.

"When [Iraqi] children were killed as a result of American bombing, our leaders claimed that such casualties were Saddam's fault because he held them hostage near strategic targets," the priest wrote.

"Suppose, however, that all our presuppositions are true -- that his people are not with him, that they want liberation, that they are unwilling pawns; we still must ask ourselves a question: If a mad killer surrounds himself with children, do we shoot through their bodies to stop his terror?"

Claude d'Estree, the Buddhist chaplain at George Mason University, agrees with Kavanaugh that Americans not only should, but must, try to understand why some people hate the United States so much that they are willing to "inflict that much pain on us."

The government needs to take "appropriate action to stop any further death of innocents," said d'Estree, who at the request of the American Red Cross coordinated the spiritual care for the families of the victims of United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Shanksville, Pa. "But it doesn't mean that anything goes."

Military action is a short-term fix, and a long-term solution to terrorism lies in understanding the anger and finding ways to ameliorate it, he said.

Part of just war theory is bringing results with as little damage as possible, said Hauerwas, a pacifist who said would he would prefer "bombing with bread" than with cruise missiles and 2,000-pound bombs.

Thus far, the U.S. military has shown restraint by using "the least force necessary" to achieve their objective, he said. "They don't want to be murderers."

-------- police / prisoners

THE LEGISLATION
Privacy Debate Focuses on F.B.I. Use of an Internet Wiretap

New York Times
October 13, 2001
By JOHN SCHWARTZ
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/13/national/13SURV.html

Carnivore, the F.B.I.'s Internet wiretap system, is one of the best- known technologies for monitoring computer communications and is at the heart of the debate over the antiterrorism bills moving through Congress this week.

Back when telephones were considered pretty high technology, investigators who wanted to know whom a suspect was calling would attach a gadget called a pen register to the phone line. Electrical impulses generated by the clicks of the rotary dial would cause a pen in the device to jump, creating a running record of the numbers dialed on that phone.

Today that phone call may be passed along the Internet or bouncing from state to state as a suspect talks on a cellphone. A suspect might be picking up e-mail messages on a laptop computer, or conversing via a Blackberry e-mail pager. Catching those speeding bits out of the Internet's roar of data and making sense of them can be like trying to snatch sardines out of a school.

Law enforcement officials say that new technologies like cellular phones, anonymous e-mail messages and encryption can hinder their efforts, while civil libertarians warn that the technologies to monitor these new forms of communication give government more power than ever before to encroach on the privacy of citizens. Their concern is that the new bills could tip the careful balance between privacy and security established by the nation's founders.

"In 1789, what fraction of your communications was even subject to a search?" asked Peter P. Swire, a former Office of Management and Budget official who oversaw privacy issues for the Clinton administration. "Compare that to today's world of possible wiretaps on all of your phone calls, e-mails and Web surfing."

When Carnivore sits down to eat, it tastes everything. Carnivore, which is officially known as DCS- 1000, was designed by the F.B.I. to be a kind of pen register for the Internet. It is based on common "sniffer" software used by companies to maintain their own networks. Once installed at the offices of an Internet service provider, it works by monitoring all of the data that flows by it. The system does not store everything it sees: instead, Carnivore takes the suspect's e-mail messages and stores only the addresses of the sender and recipient for law enforcement agents to review. But depending on the size of the Internet service provider using it, it may look at messages from every one of the company's customers as part of the process.

The fact that the system samples the e-mail messages of so many users is one reason that many members of Congress opposed its use in criminal investigations without relatively high hurdles of proof. They wanted a strong degree of judicial oversight, the kind of permission required of investigators who want a full-scale telephone wiretap.

All that has changed in the days since the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Although the House majority leader, Representative Dick Armey, a longtime Carnivore critic, included language in the bill that would require oversight of Carnivore's use, the provisions of the antiterrorism bills would nonetheless expand the ability of law enforcement and intelligence agents to use tools like Carnivore.

Mark Rasch, a former federal prosecutor who now works as an Internet security consultant, said the bill was a product of hasty overreaction by lawmakers. "We're going to look back on this a year from now and ask, `What the hell were we thinking?' " Mr. Rasch said.


-------- activists

20,000 join anti-war protest

Guardian (UK)
Staff and agencies
Saturday October 13, 2001
http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,573529,00.html

More than 20,000 protesters today joined Britain's biggest protest yet against military action in Afghanistan by the US and its allies.

The turnout was twice as big as that expected by Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament organisers and four times that predicted by police.

Demonstrators set off from Marble Arch at 1pm today and snaked towards Trafalgar Square, where the march culminated with speeches from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the Green party.

A one minute silence for victims of the conflict was broken by chants of "Allah, Akbar" (God is great) from Muslims attending the march.

Afterwards, the CND chairwoman, Carol Naughton, said: "Today has been incredible. We expected a lot of people, but this just shows that there really is a big upsurge of people who are opposed to the conflict in Britain.

"CND has said all along that killing innocent civilians is not the way to eradicate terrorism - we have to do it through the United Nations and international law."

Following the success of today's march, CND is planning an even larger protest next month.

Today's march was noisy but peaceful, with marchers banging drums, blowing whistles and chanting "No war!" and "We want peace!"

Protesters carried Socialist Worker party placards bearing messages such as "Stop this bloody war. Fight US/UK imperialism". Others read: "CND says not in my name" and "CND says peace and justice for all"

The Muslim Parliament of Great Britain had appealed to the Islamic community to give their full support to the event.

Before the march, the CND vice chairwoman, Kate Hudson, said: "We are sending a very clear message to Mr Blair and President Bush to say that we think they should stop the bombing now. They should take this opportunity to allow starving Afghan people to be fed."

This morning around 1,500 people also gathered in Glasgow for a rally against the allied military action in Afghanistan. The demonstrators, including representatives of organisations such as CND and Unison, assembled in George Square and the protest passed off peacefully.

Among the population as a whole, however, support for military action has grown since the attacks begin. A Guardian/ICM poll yesterday revealed that 74% gave their backing to the US-led attacks, while almost nine in ten people believed Tony Blair was handling the crisis either "very well" or "quite well".

There were other peace protests in other cities throughout Europe and the rest of the world. In Germany, more than 25,000 protestors from a diverse range of church and youth groups, as well as trade unions, took to the streets in cities across the country.

In Berlin, the biggest demonstration drew 15,000 people to the central square following several marches throughout the city under the banner "No war - stand up for peace".

In Sweden, the biggest demonstration took place in Gothenburg, where more than 2,500 people marched through the city in a rally organised by a coalition of left wing organisations.

Meanwhile, in Australia, thousands of people demonstrated in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide. The rallies had been planned for over a year as part of International Stop Star Wars Day, intended to protest against President Bush's missile defence plans. But the event also became a mouthpiece for people opposed to military retaliation by the United States against Afghanistan.

----

One way to fight terrorism

From: Max Obuszewski <MObuszewski@afsc.org>
Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2001
THE WASHINGTON WORKING GROUP ON THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT(ICC)

"SAYING NO TO WAR IS NOT ENOUGH"

Although stating "No to War!" is a clear message, it is not enough. We need to offer more than a slogan; we need to offer alternatives. What exactly do we mean when we say that we use international means to fight terrorism? Discussions about just this question are frequent now, and here are some ideas on how to argue the case!

New attempts to block the US ratification of the International Criminal Court by Senator Helms and Rep Delay are coming soon. Bush has distanced himself from Helms efforts in recent weeks, but is uncommitted to the ICC.

Senator Dodd, and Rep Delahunt (MA) are key sponsors of legislation opposed to Helms and Delay, and toward moving the process forward.

The ratification of ICC is an important step in establishing the kind of permanent protections against the kinds of Crimes Against Humanity that occurred on Sept 11.

Some talking points for a public signature and educational campaign to consider:

- Classifying the events that occurred on September 11 as "acts of war", while just based on their scale and degreee, may have unintentionally given the terrorists' actions a 'legitimate' legal status that they do not deserve, and which a functioning International Criminal Court would deny them. Wars typically occur between countries. In the moral conscience of the international community, these terrorist acts should be regarded, and have been described, as "crimes against humanity."

- Under the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court, crimes against humanity include murder and "other inhumane acts of a similar nature intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or mental or physical health...committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack." (Article 7[1], [a], [k].); and such attacks must be committed pursuant to a policy of a state or organization. (Article 7[2][a].); and to meet the threshold for ICC jurisdiction, the attacks must be "the most serious crimes of international concern." (Article 1.).

- According to the above definition and the independent analysis of international lawyers, the terrorist acts of September 11 are unquestionably a crime against humanity squarely within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

- The United States remains the only western democracy opposed to the International Criminal Court. Under the principle of complementarity in the Rome Statute and according to the federalist principle of subsidiarity, countries with jurisdiction over international crimes have the first right and duty to try individuals accused of those crimes in their own legal systems.

- The International Criminal Court is not yet in existence, and, as currently drafted and signed, will have jurisdiction only over future crimes; therefore it may not be able to try those accused of the September 11 attacks.

- Yet some form of trial for these heinous crimes serves not only justice but also a healing process that will help prevent further cycles of violence. It is important that any trials be perceived as legitimate and fair so as to prevent future backlash and further terrorism.

- The United States is currently supporting the creation of "hybrid" tribunals in Cambodia and Sierra Leone which combine international and domestic prosecution for the terrible crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in these countries. We could pursue a similar strategy for prosecuting these terrorists.

- Nationals of at least sixty-one other countries were killed in the attacks, and their countries may share jurisdiction over the crimes with the United States.

- Those countries or individuals that are sheltering those individuals accused of the September 11 attacks may not be willing to extradite them to the United States, but may only agree to extradite to some form of international tribunal, as in the case of the individuals accused of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing, who were extradited from Libya only after a Scottish court was established in the Hague.

- Pursuing the current declared US strategy of targeted military/political/economic/diplomatic attacks against the perpetrators of the attacks, will have the greatest chance of permanent success, and the least chance of aggravating terrorism, if international sanctions against, and prosecution of, terrorists and terrorist networks takes place under UN and World Court auspices.

- Many countries have already made Security Council approval of military action a condition for cooperation with the United States' global effort to fight terrorism.

More resources: http://www.wfa.org/issues/wicc/amiccstatement.html


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New York City protest opposes war in Afghanistan

Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2001
From: "radtimes" <resist@best.com>

12 October 2001
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/oct2001/nyc-o12.shtml

Over 10,000 people turned out in New York City on Sunday, October 7 to oppose the Bush administration's so-called war on terrorism. The demonstration, which had been planned for several weeks by a coalition of pacifist and activist groups, was expected to draw only a few hundred but grew in size as word spread that the US had begun bombing Afghanistan.

Marchers assembled at Union Square, which has been the site of an impromptu outdoor memorial to the victims of the World Trade Center attack. Speakers there included Ruben Schaffer, whose grandson Gregory Rodriguez was killed in the WTC collapse, reading a letter from Mr. Rodriguez's parents to President Bush: "Your response to this attack does not make us feel better about our son's death. It makes us feel worse. It makes us feel that our government is using our son's memory as a justification to cause suffering for other sons and parents in other lands." Rita Lasar, whose brother died at the World Trade Center when he stayed behind to help a wheelchair-bound friend, also spoke.

Heeding the call of the organizing coalition, a number of marchers wore white and carried white dove-shaped placards, as a symbol of mourning and of peace. However, the majority of people showed up in regular street-clothes, indicating a broad participation by layers not close to the usual radical activists.

Marchers wound their way up Broadway, at one point stretching out for 15 blocks, stopping just south of Times Square. The march included contingents of students from New York University and Hunter College, among others. Signs read: "New York, Not in Our Name," "Islam, Arabs and Immigrants Are Not the Enemy" and "Our Grief Is Not a Cry for War."

Speakers at the rally on Broadway included two Nobel Peace Prize winners, Adolfo Perez Esquivel from Argentina and Mairead Maguire from Ireland. Passersby flashed peace signs in support of the marchers, while one small group of counter-demonstrators heckled.

The perspective of the march organizers was limited to appeals to the Bush administration and the Democrats to abandon military action, calling instead for bringing terrorists before a "new, specialized international tribunal with jurisdiction over terrorist crimes."

The significance of the demonstration, however, lay in the active opposition of thousands of people to US military aggression in the city most affected by the terrorist attack, even in the face of a patriotic media frenzy. The October 7 march was only the latest in a string of anti-war protests in major US cities and on college campuses, including some 20,000 people rallying in Washington DC on September 29.

Demonstrations also took place in other countries in recent days, including in Paris where 5,000 marched from the Place de la Republique to the Place de Nation to protest military action by the US.

Mainstream media coverage of the protests has been minimal to nonexistent, compared to endless reports on every aspect of the war drive, including one retired general after another appearing as commentators. Despite repeated claims that there is widespread support for war, even the New York Times was forced, in its front-page news analysis October 8, to acknowledge the shakiness of popular support for the bombing with the headline "Home Front: Edgy Sunday, Nagging Uncertainty About Consequences."

Indeed, as the consequences of US military adventurism become apparent, so will the split between millions of working and middle class Americans, on the one hand, and the ruling elite and their media mouthpieces on the other.

----

50,000 march for peace in central London
"Blair does not speak for Britain"

STOP THE WAR COALITION
07951 235 915
PO Box 3739,
London E5 8EJ
Saturday 13 October 2001

The Stop the War Coalition hailed today's huge anti-war protest in central London as "the tip of an iceberg of dissent and outrage".

Less than one week after the US and Britain began their military assault on Afghanistan, 50,000 people from all over Britain joined one of the biggest and most diverse demonstrations seen in central London in many years.

"The extraordinary turn-out for this demonstration proves that the there is a substantial, diverse and rapidly growing coalition of people strongly opposed to this unjust and immoral war," said Mike Marqusee, on behalf of the Stop the War Coalition. "Along with the protests taking place today in other cities and towns across the country, this is the tip of an iceberg of dissent and outrage.

"It's clear that Tony Blair does not speak for Britain - and we hope the world will now take note of that fact.

"From now on, neither the media nor the political establishment in this country can afford to ignore the palpable reality of a mass anti-war movement embracing a wide variety of social constituencies."

Anti-Racist campaigner Suresh Grover, chair of the National Civil Rights Movement, and a member of the Stop the War Coalition steering committee, described the march as "probably the most multi-racial protest ever seen in central London. It's a huge success. People of south Asian descent in Britain have served notice on Blair: we will not accept the cruel hypocrisy of this war."

Among the groups taking part in the march were Muslim organisations, peace organisations, student unions, anti-racist and community organisations,trades unions, Palestinian campaigners, environmentalists, Lawyers Against the War, Media Workers Against the War, Medics Against the War and many, many others. Coaches arrived from Birmingham, Cardiff, Cambridge, Sheffield and elsewhere.

The Stop the War Coalition has announced that the next national demonstration against the war will be held in central London on Sunday, 18 November.

The Stop the War Coalition was formed in London out of a meeting of more than 2000 people held at Friends House a fortnight ago. Sponsors include: MPs George Galloway, Tam Dalyell, Jeremy Corbyn, and Alan Simpson, Harold Pinter, writer George Monbiot, Bob Crow of the RMT, Mark Seddon (Labour NEC and Tribune editor), Mick Rix (ASLEF), John Foster (NUJ), Tariq Ali, Bernard Regan (NUT Executive), peace activists Hugh Stephens and Jim Addington, Suresh Grover (chair of the National Civil Rights Movement), Asad Rehman from the Newham Monitoring Project, Andrew Murray from ASLEF, Dave Nellist and Liz Davies from the Socialist Alliance, Mark Seddon (Tribune), Rosie Boycott (journalist), Jeremy Dear (NUJ), Hilary Wainwright from Red Pepper, Chris Nineham from Globalise Resistance, broadcaster John Pilger, playwright Caryl Churchill, writer Mike Marqusee, novelist and screenwriter Ronan Bennett, lawyer Soraya Lawrence and writer and comedian Mark Steel.

For more information call Lindsey German 07810 540584 or Mike Marqusee 0207 275 9399

-----

Anti-US protests worldwide From Turkey to the far east
Islamists took to the streets to oppose the American attacks

by John Aglionby in Jakarta, Bill Sellars in Istanbul, Jonathan Steele and agencies
The Guardian
Saturday October 13, 2001

Malaysia

Malaysian police sprayed chemical-laced water at about 2,500 supporters of a Muslim opposition party demonstrating peacefully outside the American embassy in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, as they knelt on prayer mats to begin their afternoon prayers in defiance of police orders.

The Pan-Malaysia Islamic party crowd had gathered outside the embassy at about 2pm after Friday prayers. A small delegation was allowed in to deliver a protest note while the majority shouted anti-US slogans and brandished placards of Osama bin Laden. Riot police started to forcibly disperse the demonstrators after about 30 minutes when some started their prayers. The deputy city police chief, Dell Akbar Khan, said the authorities had made it clear that there should be no prayers outside the embassy.

India

Indian police fired teargas and used water cannon to disperse thousands of Muslims protesting against the attacks on Afghanistan.

Muslims poured on to the streets of major Indian cities after Friday prayers shouting anti-American slogans. About 10,000 chanted "Death to America, Death to Israel, Taliban, Taliban, we salute you" at the country's biggest mosque, the Jama Masjid in New Delhi.

In the southern city of Hyderabad and in Srinagar, summer capital of the revolt-racked northern state of Kashmir, Muslims pelted police with stones. In Hyderabad, a former princely state with a large population of Muslims, more than 50 policemen and civilians sustained minor injuries when a mob turned violent.

In the eastern city of Calcutta, 4,000 Muslims gathered near a mosque shouting "Long live Bin Laden, down with Bush".

Iran

Angry Iranian crowds attacked the Pakistan consulate in the south-eastern town of Zahedan close to the Afghan border yesterday. In Tehran protesters hanged effigies of US and Israeli leaders, burned the two countries' flags and carried placards saying "Bush the killer" and "War is not the answer".

Zahedan is home to tens of thousands of Afghan refugees, most of whom fled the Soviet invasion 20 years ago. Although they are fierce opponents of the Taliban, many opposed the American attacks on their homeland, saying it was up to Afghans to solve the country's problems.

But foreign residents of Zahedan said yesterday that the demonstration at the consulate was led by Iranians and not Afghans. The crowd attacked the Pakistani consulate with stones and clubs and broke windows before police brought them under control, witnesses said.

Conservative groups opposed to President Mohammad Khatami's efforts to reform the Islamic republic and improve relations with the west organised rallies after Friday prayers in several cities.

Turkey

More than 100 people were detained yesterday during demonstrations across Turkey against the bombing and Ankara's support for the US.

In Istanbul, 58 were taken into custody during a noisy but generally peaceful protest outside the Beyazit mosque near the city's tourist district after midday prayers. The protest ended after teargas was released, possibly by accident.

Much of the protest focused on the Turkish government's decision, approved by parliament on Wednesday, to deploy troops overseas if requested by its NATO ally Washington. During the 45-minute protest, demonstrators also burned an American flag and unfurled a banner declaring the US a terrorist state.

Indonesia

A small homemade bomb exploded outside a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in the city of Makassar on Sulawesi island at 3am, causing some damage but no casualties. Another device was found a few hours later outside an Australian insurance company's office in the same city and was defused.

Four protesters and two police officers were injured in a clash outside the provincial parliament building in Indonesia's second city of Surabaya.

The massive protests and operations by Islamist groups to "sweep" Americans and Britons out of the country that were predicted on what was the first Muslim Sabbath after the start of American and British strikes in Afghanistan never materialised.

The crowds that gathered in more than half a dozen cities rarely exceeded 1,000 people in each place.

The foreign minister, Hasan Wirayuda, warned the American president, George Bush, that he would risk alienating many Muslim nations if it did not halt the offensive in Afghanistan by the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins in just over a month.

"It would be emotionally explosive for an Islamic country to see their fellow Muslims suffering such bombings while they are fasting," he told a security briefing of local and foreign businesspeople and foreign diplomats.

--------

As bombs drop, Americans say: 'Not in our name'
Call for peaceful solution grows

By Judith Le Blanc
People's Weekly
October 13, 2001

NEW YORK CITY - Thousands marched just a few miles from Ground Zero to call for an end to war and terrorism. They rallied Oct. 7 while workers continued the grueling job of removing the rubble of the World Trade Center and the remains of the victims. The march, called by a coalition of more than 100 organizations, New York Not in Our Name, was held to honor those who died and to call for " the establishment of a fair and independent international tribunal to apprehend and try those responsible for the attack."

The thousands of activists heard about the Bush administration's bombing as they arrived. The crowd, estimated by The New York Times at 10,000, marched to Times Square, while thousands of shoppers waved or looked on in curiosity, most not yet aware of the war being carried on in their name. "The demonstrators seem more determined. Perhaps it's because bombs and missiles started hitting Afghanistan earlier today, and after Sept. 11 we in New York feel the suffering of other victims of mass violence more keenly," commented Bill Davis, a member of AFSCME District Council 37 Retirees Committee and leader of the New York Communist Party.

The defense of civil liberties and civil rights was high on the agenda. For those who taunted the marchers along the route, Ron Daniels, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, responded, "We must not let the Constitution be a casualty of the attack on the World Trade Center. No one can dare question our patriotism, because we are here today defending the first amendment ..." The marchers were penned in by police barricades during the rally, but their emotions could not be contained when James Creedon, a NYC emergency medical technician injured in the collapse of Tower 1, called for "justice, not vengeance."

The city has been focused on honoring the working class heroes who died Sept. 11 and have since been carrying on the recovery efforts at Ground Zero. Four members of Creedon's unit were lost in the WTC collapse. Even now, every day there are funerals and memorials, held to say goodbye to the over 300 firefighters, EMT's and police who perished. "Every time I have spoken since Sept. 11, I have called for a moment of silence for rescue workers and the innocent people who lost their lives," Creedon said. "Today ... I call not for a moment of silence but a moment of resolve. Let us all resolve today, here and now, together: We will talk to people in our community, to anyone who will listen that we will build a movement for justice, not vengeance; peace not war."

The crowd erupted when two Nobel Peace Laureates, from Argentina and Northern Ireland, arrived. They were bringing a message to the UN on behalf of other Peace Prize winners, seeking an international peaceful solution to the conflict.

Aldopho Perez Esquivel, 1980's winner, spoke of solidarity, especially with the families of the victims. "It's not the people of the world who want this war," he said. "The only ones who want this war are the military industrial complex, which is controlling the world ... There are all kinds of international agreements, conventions, treaties, and pacts that we can work with. Those should be a guide to our actions, not illegal acts of vengeance."

Mairead Maguire, a 1976 Nobel Prize winner, said, "In Northern Ireland, we have 30 years of violence and deep political problems. We were helped into our peace process with the encouragement of American government that we should solve our problems nonviolently. What applies for the people of Northern Ireland applies for the American government. The American and British government did not for one moment, thank God, contemplate bombing Belfast, why should they bomb Afghanistan?"

Maguire told the World that if the Afghan people have enough food and places to live and they begin to lead normal lives, eventually they will no longer provide terrorism a base of support. "Those who perpetrated these terrible things," Maguire said, "can be brought to justice through international laws."

Amy Goodman, host of radio program "Democray Now," stirred the crowd by calling on the corporate media to let the voices for peace be heard. "The media is saying 90 percent of people are for war. I'd like to see the question people are asked," Goodman said. "I doubt if they are asked, 'Would you like to avenge the killing of innocent civilians, as we saw at the WTC, by killing innocent civilians?' The majority would say no." The economic needs of working families are closely linked to the fight for peace.

Michael Letwin, president of UAW Local 2325, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, marching with the banner of Metro New York Labor Against War, spoke about the importance of a petition drive to galvanize labor's voice. "We in labor," he said, want to send a message from Ground Zero, that "we are against war. We've seen the effects of the acts of terrorism." Letwin and others drafted the petition, which eight local presidents and 200 labor activists have now signed onto. "Labor's participation in this struggle should represent the social consciousness for society."

As the marchers went home to prepare supper for their families or catch up on the Giants game, they vowed to reach out to neighbors and co-workers with the rally's message. "We are for a policy against terrorism," Daniels said. "We believe that at the center of that policy is to apprehend the people responsible for the acts and bring them before an appropriate court of international law. Assassination must not be the policy of the government."


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