Archive By Date | Today's Links to Search By
Activists' News | Nuclear | Depleted Uranium | Military | Police
Alternative Energy Etc. | From Subscribers
NUCLEAR
Inspectors Check Clogged Pipes at Kewaunee Nuclear Plant
UK should face court for crimes in Iraq, say jurists
Pakistan Bars Its Nuclear Scientists From Traveling Abroad
Pakistan Nuke Probe Reached Iran, Libya
Khatami Says Iran has Never Sought W.M.D.
Iran's Leader: U.S. Not Ready for Talks
"Who will give us back our health?"
North Korea accuses Japan of planning attack, slams missile defence plan
American Group Says North Koreans Are Eager to Deal With West
Scientist Discusses N. Korean Motives Hecker Toured Nuclear Plant
Expert Unconvinced on North Korea Nukes
Japan Sees 'Positive' N. Korea Signals on Nukes
U.S. Praises Libya for Nuke Cooperation
U.S. Lawmakers to Travel to Libya
State of the Union -- text
Invitees Reflect Policy Priorities
Bush Defends Iraq War, Economic Policy
'America Must Be a Light to the World, Not Just a Missile'
MILITARY
U.S. Says Only Taliban Died in Raid
UK: Study Shows Gulf War Veterans Healthy
French Judge Probes Unit of Halliburton
Colombia's Landed Gentry: Coca Lords and Other Bullies
Top Iranian Council Reinstates 200 Parliamentary Candidates
Bush Meets With Iraqi Delegation
Iraq seen as 'one big weapons dump'
Iraqis Again Seek Elections and a Local Trial for Hussein
Iraqis Want U.N. Verdict on Feasibility of Elections
Israeli Court Issues Bribery Charge Tied to Sharon
Israeli Warplanes Attack 2 Hezbollah Bases in Lebanon
Military Lawyer Slams U.S. Terrorism Tribunals
NASA's New Antiterrorism Mission
Former Peru Spy Chief Stands Trial for Colombia Weapons Deal
Army digs in on copter-defense system
Head of Army Reserve plans big changes
Army Reserve Chief Fears Retention Crisis
Chaplain Puts Green Beret Past to Use With Troops
Court studies Blair 'war crimes' claim
POLICE / PRISONERS / COURTS / JUSTICE
Park Police Chief Turns Down a Deal
Foreign Policy Iraq as One Milestone In Global War on Terror
OTHER
Europe Struggles to Set Renewables Target for 2020
Bush State of the Union Ignores Environment
New Technologies Cut Idling Truck, Locomotive Emissions
Supreme Court Backs E.P.A. on Anti-Pollution Rules
Biotech Limits Found Lacking
No Foolproof Way Is Seen to Contain Altered Genes
ACTIVISTS
ANTI-WAR GROUP STAGE PROTEST AT ARMS DEPOT
Daughter Fights for Ailing Nuke Workers
U.S. government dusts off 1800s law in targeting environmental group
Mall Protest Vigil Gives Voice to War Dead
'Saddam Is a Criminal'
March Caps End to the World Social Forum
Iraqi Shia demonstrate for third day
-------- NUCLEAR
-------- accidents and safety
Inspectors Check Clogged Pipes at Kewaunee Nuclear Plant
KEWAUNEE, Wisconsin, (ENS)
January 21, 2004
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2004/2004-01-21-09.asp#anchor3
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has begun a special inspection into clogging of the heat exchangers for the safety injection pump oil coolers at the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant. The clogging would render the pumps inoperable.
Although no emergency was declared, the plant was shut down on January 16, when routine testing by plant staff uncovered that the heat exchangers used to cool the oil that lubricates the safety injection system pumps were partially clogged by silt and lake weed from Lake Michigan. Seventeen of 20 tubes were found to be blocked.
The safety injection system provides emergency cooling at the plant. This problem could prevent effective cooling of the reactor in certain accident conditions, the commission said.
The NRC inspection team includes a senior inspector from another plant in Region III and a senior inspector from the Region III office in Lisle, Illinois. The team will examine the sequence of events that led to the clogging, and evaluate the immediate and long-term corrective actions taken by the plant.
Managed by Nuclear Management Company, the 30 year old Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant is located along Lake Michigan in the town of Carlton, nine miles south of Kewaunee, and about 35 miles southeast of Green Bay, Wisconsin.
About 15 percent of electricity produced by Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPSC) comes from the Kewaunee Nuclear Plant.
On November 7, 2003, WPSC and Wisconsin Power and Light, a subsidiary of Alliant Energy Corporation, announced an agreement to sell the Kewaunee plant to Dominion Resources, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.
WPSC explains that it does not have enough "experience and focus" to deal with "increased regulatory requirements of operating a nuclear plant and the complications that arise as a nuclear plant ages," and so decided to sell Kewaunee to the larger, more experienced Dominion Resources, which operates several generating units across the country.
After the sale is completed, the two Wisconsin companies will buy the power generated from Kewaunee through 2013, when the current operating license for Kewaunee expires.
The report of the Kewaunee inspection team will be publicly available when it is issued about 30 days after the close of the special inspection. The report will be posted at the NRC's electronic reading room at: http://nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html under the docket number 05000305.
-------- depleted uranium
UK should face court for crimes in Iraq, say jurists
01/21
From: Guardian
http://mathaba.net/0_index.shtml?x=33362
A panel of international lawyers and academics called on the International Criminal Court yesterday to investigate Britain for alleged war crimes in Iraq.
The eight-member panel, mainly British but including representatives from France, Canada and Ireland, cited the use by the British military of cluster bombs in civilian areas.
It also said Britain was complicit in the actions of the US military, including the killing of international journalists.
A copy of the findings was sent to the ICC, which is based in the Hague, and to the attorney general, Lord Goldsmith.
The panel, which includes Bill Bowring, professor of human rights and international law at London Metropolitan University, took evidence in London in November.
Although its final report has not been completed, the panel yesterday issued an executive summary.
In it the panel said it answered yes to the question "Is there sufficient cause and evidence for the International Criminal Court prosecutor to investigate members of the UK government for breaches of the ICC statute in relation to crimes against humanity and/or war crimes committed during the Iraq conflict and occupation 2003?"
Professor Bowring said the RAF had dropped cluster bombs around Baghdad and the British army had fired artillery shells with cluster munitions around Basra.
He said these bombs were not accurate weapons capable of pinpoint accuracy and had exploded over large areas.
He noted the US attacks which resulted in the death of journalists: on the offices of the Arab satellite network, al-Jazeera, in Baghdad and on the Palestine hotel in Baghdad, where journalists were staying.
Prof Bowring said the panel had also investigated the use of depleted uranium, damage to the civilian infrastructure, including electricity supplies, the conduct of the US-British occupation and the preservation of the cultural heritage of Iraq, but the results had been inconclusive.
The ICC, which came into being in 2002, was set up as a permanent court to deal with crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC's chief prosecutor, was prominent in the trial of former members of the Argentinian junta.
Although, on balance, it seems unlikely that the ICC will investigate the allegations against the British government, an ICC spokeswoman yesterday refused to rule it in or out.
"We do not usually comment on issues that might fall under the jurisdiction of the court," she said.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence defended the use of cluster bombs. "The thing about cluster munitions is they are not classified as unlawful and provide us with a legitimate capability," he said.
"We reserve the right to use them against military objectives and if we did not we might have to use alternative military equipment, such as an artillery barrage that might cause more [civilian] damage."
The international panel, in addition to Prof Bowring, is made up of: William Schabas, professor of human rights law at the National University of Ireland; Christine Chinkin, professor of international law at the London School of Economics; Reni Provost, associate professor at the faculty of law of McGill University in Canada; Paul Tavernier, professor, University of Paris Sud; Nick Grief, professor of law, University of Bournemouth; Guy Goodwin-Gill, QC, senior research fellow, All Souls College, Oxford; and Upendra Baxi, professor of international law, Warwick University.
The panel is supported by Peacerights, a relatively new human rights group.
Phil Shiner, its spokesman, said: "International law does not recognise victor's justice and both sides to the Iraq war must be fully accountable.
"Many respected groups and lawyers have expressed serious concerns about the apparently unnecessary and unjustified civilian casualties, particularly because of the use of cluster bombs in urban areas."
-------- india / pakistan
Pakistan Bars Its Nuclear Scientists From Traveling Abroad
January 21, 2004
By SALMAN MASOOD and DAVID ROHDE
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/21/international/asia/21STAN.html
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Jan. 20 - Pakistan on Tuesday barred all scientists working on its nuclear weapons program from leaving the country, as the government intensified its inquiry into allegations that nuclear technology had been shared with Iran.
At the same time, a senior intelligence official said a former army commander had approved the transfer of technology to Iran.
The official said the scientist who had led the effort to build an atomic bomb, Abdul Qadeer Khan, had told investigators that any sharing of nuclear technology with Iran had the approval of Gen. Mirza Aslam Beg, the commander of Pakistan's army from 1988 to 1991. The official said aides to Dr. Khan had told investigators the same thing.
It is not known if investigators have questioned General Beg, who is retired. While army chief, General Beg publicly advocated a strategic partnership between Iran and Pakistan. But in an interview in November, the general said he had not approved the transfer of nuclear technology to Iran or any other country.
"I was privy to the nuclear policy," he said. "There was a policy of nuclear restraint."
American officials say they believe that Pakistan has shared nuclear technology with Iran, North Korea and Libya. Pakistani officials have said that no technology was given to Libya, that no technology is currently going to North Korea and that the allegations about Iran are being aggressively investigated.
They have said that individuals may have leaked technology to Iran in the late 1980's and early 1990's, but that the government never authorized such a move.
In a speech to Parliament on Saturday, President Pervez Musharraf, a general who seized power in a coup in 1999, said Pakistan had to prove to the international community that it was a responsible nuclear power.
Within hours, eight former and current officials were taken into custody for questioning, government officials said. Three scientists had already been detained for questioning in November and December.
The aggressiveness of the inquiry has provoked protests across the political spectrum and accusations that the Musharraf government is reacting to pressure from Washington.
On Monday an alliance of hard-line Islamic parties, the Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal, or United Action Front, announced that it would begin nationwide street demonstrations.
Qazi Hussain Ahmad, the acting head of the religious alliance, which holds the third-largest number of seats in Parliament, called the inquiry the "worst kind of victimization of national heroes to please the Bush administration."
Secular, pro-Western political parties and analysts, as well as the families of the scientists, also criticized the government, saying scientists lauded as national heroes weeks ago were now being humiliated. They said senior army and government officials were scapegoating scientists to increase their own credibility with Western leaders.
Khwaja Asif, a member of Parliament for the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), a secular party, said it was doubtful that individuals could secretly transfer technology without the military knowing.
Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan Khan, a military spokesman, called the new travel restriction a security precaution. "Until the time investigations are completed," he said, "the government has to ensure that the scientists are present here."
Government officials said eight current and former officials in the nuclear program, including two retired brigadiers, a retired major and at least three scientists, were undergoing voluntary questioning and were able to contact their families. They emphasized that no one had been accused of wrongdoing so far.
Families of the officials give an entirely different account. They put the number of people being questioned at 20 to 25. They also said those being held were forcibly detained and had not contacted their families while in custody.
Two of three scientists known to have been detained in December have been allowed to return to their families, relatives said. Most of the others have not contacted their families, including one scientist taken into custody at the end of November, the families say.
All of the officials being questioned appear to have been employed at the Khan Research Laboratories, the country's main nuclear weapons development facility in Kahuta. All are believed to be close aides to Dr. Khan, who is himself being questioned.
Saima Adil, the eldest daughter of Dr. Nazir Ahmed, a chief engineer at the Kahuta labs, said 8 to 10 unidentified men surrounded the family's house on Saturday evening.
"They took our father away," she said, "and till now we don't have no idea about his whereabouts or his condition.
"Such a treatment is tantamount to terrorizing those scientists who have given their lives to serve their country."
Salman Masood reported from Islamabad for this article and David Rohde from New Delhi.
----
Pakistan Nuke Probe Reached Iran, Libya
By PAUL HAVEN
Associated Press Writer
January 21, 2004,
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/sns-ap-pakistan-nuclear-detentions,0,942165.story?coll=ny-worldnews-headlines
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan's decision to detain and question some of its leading nuclear scientists came after it dispatched top-secret investigative teams to Iran and Libya to check allegations that greed led the men to cash in on nuclear know-how, a senior Pakistani official told The Associated Press.
Disclosure of the investigative missions indicates the seriousness with which the government is taking allegations of nuclear proliferation after months of public
The investigation also has resulted in some researchers being barred from leaving Pakistan.
"Yes, we sent our own teams to Iran and Libya and the debriefings began after that," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. He said the interrogations sprang from information learned on the trips, as well as evidence from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nation's nuclear watchdog. The official gave no details about the timing of trips or what had been uncovered.
IAEA officials said they were unaware of the visits, adding that Pakistan was under no obligation to inform the agency of such details of its investigations into possible nuclear technology transfers.
U.S., British and IAEA officials now are in Libya to facilitate Tripoli's pledge to rid itself of weapons of mass destruction.
Pakistan, a key Washington ally in the war on terrorism, is coming under intense U.S. pressure to curb the spread of technology for making atomic weapons. Authorities are investigating allegations that Pakistani scientists aided nuclear programs in Iran, Libya and North Korea.
The allegations have been a serious embarrassment for President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who is riding a wave of international popularity over his decision to seek peace with archenemy India and to crack down on Islamic militants.
The revelation of investigative trips to Iran and Libya came after assurances by Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed that scientists and engineers detained in the past few months were the government's "honored guests," not prisoners.
Several scientists were detained in a first wave of questioning that began late last year. They include Mohammad Farooq, the former director general of Khan Research Laboratories, Pakistan's top nuclear weapons lab, and Yasin Chuhan, a senior engineer at the lab.
At least one other person, whose name has not been revealed, also was detained at the time, but Ahmed said only Farooq remains in custody. Even Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of the country's atomic weapons program, has been questioned, though the government stresses he is not a suspect.
Eight more scientists and engineers were detained over the weekend, Ahmed said, adding that those still being questioned include two retired army brigadiers and a retired army major. One man, Islam ul-Haq, was arrested Saturday as he dined at Khan's home.
The latest arrests have sparked an outcry from family members accustomed to privileges in a country deeply proud of having produced the only "Islamic bomb" as a deterrent to nuclear-armed India.
A small group of relatives gathered in the rain outside Parliament on Wednesday to protest the detentions.
Protesters held placards with slogans such as "Where is my husband?" and "Why are you disgracing national heroes?"
Relatives of the detained men question the government figures, saying as many as 24 people, many of them respected scientists, may be in custody. Family members claim the government has not said where the men are being held or when they might be released.
Ahmed promised that family visits were being arranged with the scientists and that the questioning would be over "within a week."
He also said the men were innocent until proven guilty and that most would likely be cleared.
"We are conducting these debriefings to dispel the propaganda against Pakistan's nuclear program," he said, adding that the country was against nuclear proliferation. Pakistan has long-denied any government involvement in the plot to sell nuclear knowledge, and had for years scoffed at reports its scientists might have been involved in the illicit trade.
But Pakistan started to hedge those denials in December, after IAEA inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities showed that international and "Pakistani-linked individuals" had acted as "intermediaries and black marketeers."
Pakistani scientists were later implicated in a scheme to sell centrifuge technology to Libya, and have also been named in probes into North Korea's nuclear program.
In December, Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan acknowledged for the first time that some Pakistani scientists "might have been motivated by personal ambition or greed" to sell the secrets.
Associated Press reporter Munir Ahmad contributed to this report.
-------- iran
Khatami Says Iran has Never Sought W.M.D.
January 21, 2004
REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/21/international/21WIRE-DAVOS.html
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said Wednesday that Tehran had never sought to acquire weapons of mass destruction.
"Iran has never been after weapons of mass destruction," Khatami told a news conference at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
"We vehemently oppose the manufacture and production of nuclear weapons. For this reason we extend sincere and honest cooperation with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)," he said.
In response to a question, Khatami said: "I categorically deny that there was shipment of nuclear material by (North) Korea to Iran. We have nothing to hide."
----
Iran's Leader: U.S. Not Ready for Talks
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
January 21, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-World-Forum.html
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) -- Iranian President Mohammad Khatami called for dialogue Wednesday as a solution to global conflicts but said he felt there was no chance for political talks with the United States because of a lack of respect for Tehran's Islamic government.
``Partnership and security will only come about as a result of dialogue,'' Khatami said in his keynote speech at the World Economic Forum that drew warm applause.
At a news conference later, however, he made clear that in relation to the United States, dialogue should start with cultural exchanges.
``The dialogue that I spoke of is between cultures and civilizations, between scholars and wise men,'' Khatami said. ``If those are realized, then we can have political dialogue as well.''
``The prerequisite for any kind of dialogue is the mutual respect between the two partners to the dialogue. Any time we sense that the other side respects us and isn't forcing anything on us, we are prepared to talk. We have not sensed that from the United States.''
Asked if he would speak with Vice President Dick Cheney, who arrives later this week at the conference of government and business leaders, Khatami said he was speaking of a process that would begin with an exchange of scholars and improved cultural ties.
Khatami predicted there would free elections in Iran next month and indicated that his reform movement would contest the balloting despite threats to resign over attempts by hard-liners to disqualify his allies.
``With the will of God, we will have a good election,'' Khatami said.
The Iranian president, dressed in a black robe with black turban, said in a veiled reference to the United States that military power had limitations in bringing security.
``Military might may perhaps bring transient security,'' he said. ``But the gap between this type of security is the difference between a security based on armed peace and peace based on compassion and friendship toward humanity.''
Khatami laughed when he was asked if he was ``afraid'' of a hard-line U.S. policy that President Bush claims forced Libya and Iran to back off attempts to develop weapons of mass destruction.
Asked about reports that North Korea had supplied Iran with nuclear weapons technology, he said, ``I categorically deny that there were nuclear shipments from North Korea to Iran.''
Khatami told a small group of reporters after his news conference that Iranian officials had not had any contacts with Israeli officials following a recent appeal for dialogue by Israeli President Moshe Katzav.
He said he felt there was ``no chance for peace in the Middle East'' as long as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his followers were in power.
However, Khatami took a question from an Israeli reporter at the news conference and said that Iran had a ``moral issue'' with Israel over the occupation of Palestinian land.
He said recognition of Israel would depend on the Palestinian people and ``whatever they decide.''
Threats to peace and prosperity -- especially in the Middle East -- dominated the discussion as the annual Alpine gathering began.
Before meeting Khatami, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw urged the United Nations to return to Iraq to help resolve a dispute over elections.
He defended the U.S.-led coalition's decision to go to war and lobbied for international support in the postwar rebuilding.
``I am in no doubt that if we had sat on our hands and not acted, the world would be today a much more dangerous place,'' Straw said.
He said he also would press Khatami on the nuclear issue. An October visit to Tehran by Straw and his French and German counterparts helped broker an agreement on U.N. access to Iran's nuclear sites.
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who took the stage shortly after Khatami, backed his sentiment for dialogue.
``When you care and share -- which is partnership -- then it strengthens the security, it strengthens the stability of that community,'' he said.
Earlier, Straw expressed hope that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is due here Thursday, will support an American and Iraqi request for U.N. experts to assess whether Iraq could hold elections in time for a transitional government to take over July 1.
``If there were to be a re-engagement of the U.N. and early appointment of highly qualified special representative, that could only assist in this process,'' Straw said.
U.N. foreign staff pulled out of Iraq in October following two bombings at U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, and security remains a concern.
A prominent Iraqi religious leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, has demanded direct elections but U.S. and Iraqi officials want to use caucuses, saying early elections are not feasible.
Protesters who accuse the forum of being elitist and imperialist tried to stop participants from traveling up the Alps to Davos by blocking access to a main highway at Zurich airport for about half an hour, police said. More demonstrations were planned Saturday, when Cheney is to speak.
Police evacuated part of a hotel in Davos early Wednesday after security services sweeping a room where a forum event was to be held found a firework. The session was held after an hour's delay.
On the Net:
WEF official site: http://www.weforum.org
-------- iraq
"Who will give us back our health?"
Dahr Jamail,
Electronic Iraq,
21 January 2004
http://electroniciraq.net/news/1341.shtml
Back in the 1980's, nuclear armed Israel carried out a pre-emptive bombing of Iraq's Al-Tuetha nuclear power station which is located just south of Baghdad. While Saddam Hussein didn't posses nuclear weapons, his nuclear power station which was being constructed still had much radioactive waste stored in two large warehouses. The waste, stored mostly in large metal drums, sat dormant for many years.
Home near contaminated water source at Al-Tuetha
After the Anglo-American Invasion last spring the warehouses were looted, and many of the barrels containing radioactive material were carted away to be washed out in the small stream which separates the tiny rural village from Al-Tuetha. After being cleaned in the water supply for the area, the barrels were then sold to uneducated people in the village to be used for storing their drinking water. Thus, the water and now food of the entire village is contaminated with radioactive material.
The health problems experienced by the people in the village are too numerous to track. Stories abound of strange tumors, rashes and illnesses.
I had come here today to visit a family with a baby who was born with a huge tumor growing out of his back, caused by his mother being radiated by the village drinking water and probably by eating contaminated food as well. The baby had since died from cancer, and the father was away at work in the village which has over 70% unemployment.
Just outside of this home, a man drives up in a beat up old maroon Volkswagen Beetle, and asks us if he can help with anything.
Adel Mhomoud, a 44 year old bee-keeper, invites us to his home. Driving down the bumpy dirt road, dust swirls about the beautiful rural countryside. Vegetable fields are lined with palm trees and small modest homes dot the area. To our right just a stones throw away is the bombed out Al-Tuetha nuclear station, now guarded by a few American soldiers, who weren't there to stop the looting in April. I wonder why they guard it now, too little, and most certainly too late.
A small, dirty stream which is the contaminated water source for the village runs between the dirt road and the fence of the nuclear storage buildings. The stream is the only water in this area.
After several minutes Adel pulls over near his home, and limps over to greet us into his home.
"I have cancer, and I know I'm dying. My white blood cell count is 14,000, and I don't have enough red blood cells. We are all sick; our joints ache, my hips are killing me, and my blood is bad. But nobody will help us here."
He has had hundreds of reporters come to record his story. He asked many of them to take samples of his honey to test for radiation, but nobody has returned him the results.
We follow the kind and soft spoken man down a dirt path lined with palm trees to where he keeps his bees. As we pass his home there are stacks of white bee boxes on his porch, dusty and unused.
Abdel Mhomaud stands near his empty bee boxes
We stand in the sun under the palms, talking. Adel tells us he used to keep 300 boxes of bees, and now he is down to 70, and each of these is only half full, with lethargic bees.
"Right after the invasion my bees went crazy. I never saw them so aggressive and strong in 20 years; this was when they were first contaminated. Then shortly after that they all began to die, and now this is all I have left, and as you can see they are very weak. I don't think they will live until the Spring."
He puts on his protective head cover and pulls out a tray about 30% covered with bees. Several begin to lazily fly about.
Abdel showing what is left of his bees
His bees used to produce one ton of honey per year. Now, they have not yet produced enough for him to take to market.
Adel has a wife and two daughters, 14 and 19 years old. He fought in the Iraq/Iran War, and pulls up his leg to show me several gashes and indentations from injuries sustained.
"Everyone here is hurt or sick from something. You can see this in the village. Our water, land, food, and now all the people...we are all contaminated."
One of his young dogs died recently.
He thanks us for writing a story and filming a documentary about his situation. He wants the truth to get out about the plight of his family, his friends, his village. He says,
"I welcome anyone who comes to tell the truth-it will help us sleep better at night."
I apologize to him meekly for his situation. I tell him I hope people will read or watch his story, and try to help him and his people in some way. My friend asks Adel what he will do about his situation...is there anything else he can do, or that we can do to help him?
Adel says,
"We are all going to die. It just depends on if you are killed, or if you die naturally."
We stand talking with his family awhile as he shows us his loom. His wife brings out a handmade carpet and he offers it to us as a gift, and invites us back to his home anytime, Insh'allah ("if God wills it").
Insh'allah, Adel. Insh'allah...
Dahr Jamail is an independent freelance journalist from Anchorage, Alaska, writing from Occupied Baghdad.
-------- japan
North Korea accuses Japan of planning attack, slams missile defence plan
21 January 2004
AFP
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/67309/1/.html
SEOUL: North Korea has attacked Japan's moves to build up its missile defence system as part of a planned nuclear strike against Pyongyang.
The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said "Japan is now rounding off its nuclear weaponization at its final phase" and was capable of producing "thousands of nuclear warheads" overnight.
"This can not be construed (as anything other) than part of its plan to mount a preemptive nuclear attack on the DPRK," KCNA said.
Japan last month decided to adopt ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems to protect itself from emerging terrorist threats, weapons of mass destruction and North Korean missiles.
Japan will introduce a US-developed system for now and continue to conduct joint research with the United States to improve its missile defenses, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said in a statement.
Japanese "reactionaries" are making much ado about the "fictitious" nuclear and missile threats from North Korea in a bid to justify their moves for nuclear weaponization, KCNA added.
In reply, the communist state would build a "strong nuclear deterrence" to cope with threats from the United States and Japan.
North Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile over Japan and into the Pacific in 1998, prompting Tokyo to launch joint research with the United States to develop missile defense systems the following year.
Pyongyang's latest attack comes amid diplomatic efforts to end North Korea's nuclear weapons drive.
Six nation talks in August ended inconclusively and China has been struggling to get agreement to convene a new round of negotiations involving itself, the United States, the two Koreas, Russia and Japan.
North Korea recently offered to freeze its nuclear weapons drive in return for concessions, including an end to US sanctions and a resumption of energy aid.
Washington is holding out for a commitment from Pyongyang to scrap its nuclear programme entirely.
-------- korea
American Group Says North Koreans Are Eager to Deal With West
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS
January 21, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/21/politics/21DELE.html
WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 - The leader of an unofficial American delegation that visited North Korea this month said Tuesday that North Korea seemed anxious to resolve differences with the United States over its nuclear program.
North Korean officials told the delegation that the Bush administration's central concern, complete and verifiable dismantlement of their nuclear weapons program, was within reach, said John W. Lewis, the group's leader, in a telephone interview.
He spoke a day before another member of the group, Siegfried Hecker, a former director of Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, is scheduled to tell the Senate of his conclusions about the state of the nuclear complex in Yongbyon that was the focus of the group's visit.
Dr. Lewis, a professor emeritus of Chinese politics at Stanford, is the founder of the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford, which seeks to influence policy by engaging foreign officials and citizens on a second track, independent of the United States government. In this case, he led a delegation of civilian experts to North Korea, in advance of a delayed second round of six-nation talks to try to defuse the threat that North Korea might be building nuclear weapons.
Dr. Lewis declined to speak about what he had seen at the complex, but he said North Korea clearly hoped to present a more reasonable and friendly face to the West, including to the United States. On this visit to North Korea, his 10th since 1987, Dr. Lewis said he had seen evidence of real change in North Korea.
One sign, he said, was a bustling market several blocks long in Pyongyang that was divided into hundreds of privately run stalls, many of them full of meat and vegetables for sale. The visitors were told that the farmers were allowed to sell their goods after meeting production quotas.
In addition, Dr. Lewis said he and his colleagues had noticed brisk traffic in the capital and the use of cellular phones and the Internet. And they noted the availability of cable television in their hotel rooms.
North Korea has been in the iron grip of dictatorship for decades, with total government control of all aspects of daily life. It also imposes some of the tightest restrictions on foreigners anywhere; many visitors report seeing only what the government wants them to see.
Earlier this month, North Korea offered to suspend its nuclear weapons program in anticipation of further negotiations. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell welcomed the move as "a positive step," though it is far from the "complete, irreversible and verifiable" dismantling of the project sought by the administration in the six-nation talks.
Rights Abuses Charged
SEOUL, Jan. 20 - Amnesty International charged Tuesday that North Korea's government distributed food aid unfairly, using it "as an instrument of political and economic pressure and a means to persecute perceived political opponents."
In a report, the human rights group said people caught stealing "the food necessary to their survival" had been publicly executed.
----
Scientist Discusses N. Korean Motives Hecker Toured Nuclear Plant
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 21, 2004; Page A23
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33247-2004Jan20.html
North Korea invited an unofficial delegation of Americans to tour its nuclear facility at Yongbyon earlier this month as a way of providing confirmation that it has reprocessed spent fuel rods into plutonium, said Siegfried S. Hecker, a former director of Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory who was part of the delegation.
Hecker said in an interview that, "for the most part, it looked like the U.S. and perhaps many other countries didn't believe" the North Koreans had taken 8,000 rods -- which the country had previously agreed not to reprocess -- and turned them into a material necessary for producing a nuclear weapon.
"What I surmise is they were looking for a way to get some independent confirmation they have actually done this," Hecker said. "That's their motivation."
Hecker, a metallurgist, testified in a closed session before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday and will make a public statement before the committee today. Administration officials who have been briefed on the visit said the North Koreans displayed what they described as reprocessed plutonium.
Charles L. Pritchard, a former State Department official who also was part of the delegation, told a forum at the Brookings Institution last week that the cooling pond that had previously held the rods was empty during the visit.
The delegation was led by John W. Lewis, a Stanford University scholar who has made 10 trips to North Korea since 1987. His previous trip there was in August, shortly after North Korea participated in six-nation talks designed to resolve the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
The North Koreans told Lewis in August that they wanted him to come back before the next round of talks, Hecker said. When Lewis received word that he might be allowed to visit Yongbyon -- closed to outsiders since North Korea ousted United Nations inspectors a year ago -- he invited Hecker to join the delegation.
The first round of talks ended inconclusively. China, the host of the talks, has been trying to arrange another meeting, perhaps for next month, but nothing has been scheduled yet. Other participants include the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia.
Hecker said North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan told the delegation their visit was designed to break the stalemate and lead to "opening up a bright future." He told the visitors that "we will not play games with you," saying the primary reason for the invitation "is to ensure transparency," Hecker said. Kim invited the delegation "to take an objective look at Yongbyon, and we'll leave the conclusion to you."
Kim added that "he felt this visit could have great symbolic significance," Hecker said.
Hecker, who visited the closed nuclear cities of Russia 12 years ago, said he had his own motivation for making the trip. He said that "there has been all this ambiguity associated with the North Korean program," except from the period from 1992 -- when Pyongyang first invited the International Atomic Energy Agency to visit -- to 2002, when the 1994 agreement that had frozen the nuclear program was terminated. In particular, he said, it is unclear how much plutonium the North Koreans have made and what they have done with it.
"Ambiguity leads to miscalculations," Hecker said. "And in the nuclear business, miscalculations can be disastrous. If my presence can in any way help clear up this ambiguity, my feeling was that would be good for the United States, and it would also be good for North Korea. I viewed it to be a win-win situation."
Hecker said scientists have a significant role to play in global security, helping to facilitate diplomatic solutions "by bringing clarity to these issues." Any future agreement with North Korea, he noted, will need to be implemented and verified. "Diplomats don't do that," he said. "You need scientists to implement it. Once you implement, you have to verify it, and once again, it is the scientists who verify it."
Hecker added: "There is natural common bond among scientists. The common bond is one of mutual respect. Sometimes you can develop trust out of mutual respect -- but not always."
--------
Expert Unconvinced on North Korea Nukes
January 21, 2004
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Koreas-Nuclear.html
WASHINGTON (AP) -- An American nuclear expert who recently visited North Korea's main nuclear facility said Wednesday he was not allowed to see enough to make a judgment on the country's nuclear weapons capability.
Siegfried Hecker, a former director of the Los Alamos, N.M., nuclear research laboratory, said the North Koreans ``most likely'' have the ability at the Yongbyon nuclear site to make plutonium metal.
But, he said, he saw no convincing evidence that the North Koreans could use that metal to build a nuclear device. And even if they had that capability, he said he saw no proof the North Koreans could convert such a device into a nuclear weapon.
Hecker added that he was also unable to substantiate a North Korean claim that 8,000 fuel rods were reprocessed last year to extract plutonium metal -- an essential step in nuclear weapons development.
The nuclear scientist went to North Korea with several American colleagues on an unofficial visit two weeks ago.
In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Hecker said the North Koreans apparently wanted to show the delegation their main nuclear site ``to verify that they had taken significant actions since December 2002 and to impress us with their nuclear capabilities.''
Hecker said his hosts seemed disappointed when he reported to them that he had not seen enough to draw definitive conclusions about the facility.
The Bush administration has believed for some time that North Korea has at least one nuclear weapon. It has been worried about the possibility of North Korean attempts to sell nuclear technology to terrorist groups or rogue states.
The U.S. government neither facilitated nor discouraged the mission to North Korea. Participants have provided briefings to administration officials.
While showing interest in the group's conclusions, the administration has said its focus is on achieving nuclear disarmament in North Korea through a six-nation process that got under way last summer in Beijing.
Efforts since then to arrange a second meeting have not been successful because the parties have been unable to reach agreement on ground rules. Besides the United States and North Korea, other nations taking part are South Korea, China, Japan and Russia.
One of the most divisive issues between the United States and North Korea concerns the U.S. contention that Pyongyang is attempting to develop a uranium bomb in addition to its plutonium bomb project in Yongbyon.
The Bush administration bases its claim on an October 2002 meeting in Pyongyang in which, according to U.S. officials, North Korea acknowledged the uranium bomb project. That allegation has drawn repeated North Korean denials.
John Lewis, a Stanford University professor emeritus who organized the mission to North Korea, said Wednesday in a telephone interview that he believes the disagreement may have resulted from a problem in the translation from Korean to English.
Heading the U.S. delegation at the meeting was Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly. Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sop Ju led the North Korean delegation.
The Bush administration maintains that Kelly confronted Kang with intelligence information disclosing the uranium bomb program and that Kang surprised Kelly and his colleagues by confirming the existence of the program.
But Lewis said a North Korean transcript of the meeting quoted Kang as saying, ``We are entitled to have a nuclear program.''
Lewis said that, in the Korean language, there is ``a small difference between to have and entitled to have.''
When Kelly pressed Kang whether he was acknowledging the uranium program, he was told: ``It's up to you to think about this. We will not take the trouble to interpret this for you,'' Lewis said.
Lewis said North Korea has offered to have technical talks with the United States to clarify the disagreement. Given the high stakes involved, Lewis said he believes it is important that such discussions take place.
Hecker, during his congressional testimony, said the North Koreans provided the visiting delegation with a transcript of the Pyongyang meeting in 2002 for delivery to the State Department.
Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Wednesday the administration stands by what it has said all along about the outcome of the meeting.
``There was no doubt in the minds of the officials who were in the meeting or in the translations that were made of the comments, and subsequently analyzed, about what was said and what was its import,'' Ereli said.
--------
Japan Sees 'Positive' N. Korea Signals on Nukes
January 21, 2004
By REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-korea-north-japan.html
TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea has started to send positive signals on its nuclear weapons program, Japan said on Wednesday, as President Bush, taking a hard line, insisted that Pyongyang must abandon its nuclear ambitions.
``I believe North Korea has sent several positive signals recently,'' Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi was quoted as saying by a ministry official.
She made the remarks to South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun's national security adviser, Ra Jong-yil, in Tokyo ahead of talks in Washington on Wednesday between diplomats from the United States, Japan and South Korea on North Korea's nuclear program.
North Korea offered this month to freeze its nuclear activities, a move seen by the United States and others as signaling that Pyongyang was preparing for talks.
But Bush, in his annual State of the Union address on Tuesday, said nothing less than the complete dismantling of its nuclear program would be acceptable. ``Along with nations in the region, we are insisting that North Korea eliminate its nuclear program,'' Bush said.
``America is committed to keeping the world's most dangerous weapons out of the hands of the most dangerous regimes.''
A first round of six-country talks on ending communist North Korea's nuclear weapons program involving China, South Korea, Japan, Russia and the United States took place in Beijing in August but ended inconclusively. It remains unclear whether a second round will be held.
Ra told Kawaguchi he was not optimistic that North Korea would agree soon to dismantle its nuclear weapons program in a ``complete, irreversible and verifiable'' way, the Japanese official said.
UNPRECEDENTED VISIT
North Korea allowed an unofficial U.S. delegation to make an unprecedented visit to its nuclear complex this month.
Charles ``Jack'' Pritchard, a former U.S. envoy to North Korea, said his delegation was shown an empty holding pond that once contained 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods. He said he did not know whether the rods had been reprocessed into fuel for bombs. The North Korean nuclear crisis began in October 2002 when the United States said Pyongyang had admitted pursuing a covert nuclear weapons program.
In what could be another positive sign, North Korea has unofficially offered to send to Japan the children of Japanese nationals who its agents abducted decades ago.
Five abductees came back to Japan in October 2002 and stayed. North Korea has until now rejected demands that their children be allowed to join them.
Kawaguchi said on Wednesday that Tokyo had urged North Korea to discuss the issue at governmental level but that Pyongyang had yet to respond.
In a sign things remain touchy, the Korean Central New Agency (KCNA) on Wednesday slammed comments by former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, who said earlier this month he thought Japan's constitution did not ban its possession of small nuclear weapons for self-defense. But he also said this was a different question from deciding whether or not to possess them.
``The reality goes to prove the justice of the measures taken by the DPRK (North Korea) to build a nuclear deterrent force to cope with the U.S. nuclear threat and Japan's moves for nuclear weaponisation,'' KCNA said.
-------- mideast
U.S. Praises Libya for Nuke Cooperation
January 21, 2004
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-BRF-US-Libya.html
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The State Department praised Libya on Wednesday as cooperating with U.S. and British experts as the country begins dismantling its nuclear weapons program.
A U.S. team has arrived and Libya is ``facilitating its work,'' said State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli. Libya's invitation and cooperation are positive indicators, he said.
At the same time, Ereli said he did not have any details of what the U.S. and British experts had done so far.
Nor would the spokesman comment on a trip planned by six legislators this weekend to meet with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and possibly visit weapons facilities.
--------
U.S. Lawmakers to Travel to Libya
January 21, 2004
By REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/politics/politics-libya-usa-congress.html
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday said they were preparing to travel to Libya to meet with President Muammar Gaddafi in the first such official visit since Gaddafi seized power in 1969.
Six members of the House of Representatives were to leave this weekend on the trip that comes after Tripoli volunteered last month to abandon its weapons of mass destruction programs in a bid to shed its status as a pariah state.
``Colonel Gaddafi has taken a significant step in renouncing his weapons of mass destruction program,'' said U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican leading the trip.
``During our face-to-face meeting we will encourage him to completely comply with international inspectors. At the same time we will reassure him that once Libya lives up to its end of the bargain, we can finally begin the process of normalizing our relationship,'' Weldon said.
The weeklong trip also was to include stops in Iraq and Afghanistan, Weldon's spokesman said.
Accompanying Weldon will be U.S. Democratic Reps. Solomon Ortiz of Texas, Steve Israel of New York, and Rodney Alexander of Louisiana, and Republicans Candice Miller of Michigan and Mark Souder of Indiana.
Inspectors from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency along with U.S. and British weapons inspectors were in Tripoli to begin dismantling Libya's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons capabilities.
In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Bush cited Libya as an example of how U.S. policy has helped make the world safer.
Weldon credited Bush's ``policy of decisive action against nations that support terrorism'' for showing Libya ``that America means business.''
Weldon said he established contact with the Libyan government during a meeting last week in London with Gaddafi's son, Saif Islam.
-------- us politics
State of the Union -- text
The Associated Press
January 21, 2004
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/html/4C625F4B-961A-4009-9BE0-AA7B6CBD4D17.shtml
Text of President Bush's State of the Union address Tuesday as released by the White House: Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, members of Congress, distinguished guests and fellow citizens: America this evening is a nation called to great responsibilities. And we are rising to meet them.
As we gather tonight, hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and women are deployed across the world in the war on terror. By bringing hope to the oppressed, and delivering justice to the violent, they are making America more secure.
Each day, law enforcement personnel and intelligence officers are tracking terrorist threats; analysts are examining airline passenger lists; the men and women of our new Homeland Security Department are patrolling our coasts and borders. And their vigilance is protecting America.
Americans are proving once again to be the hardest working people in the world. The American economy is growing stronger. The tax relief you passed is working.
Tonight, members of Congress can take pride in great works of compassion and reform that skeptics had thought impossible. You are raising the standards of our public schools and you are giving our senior citizens prescription drug coverage under Medicare.
We have faced serious challenges together - and now we face a choice. We can go forward with confidence and resolve - or we can turn back to the dangerous illusion that terrorists are not plotting and outlaw regimes are no threat to us. We can press on with economic growth, and reforms in education and Medicare - or we can turn back to the old policies and old divisions.
We have not come all this way - through tragedy, and trial, and war - only to falter and leave our work unfinished. Americans are rising to the tasks of history, and they expect the same of us. In their efforts, their enterprise and their character, the American people are showing that the state of our Union is confident and strong.
Our greatest responsibility is the active defense of the American people. Twenty-eight months have passed since Sept. 11, 2001 - over two years without an attack on American soil - and it is tempting to believe that the danger is behind us. That hope is understandable, comforting - and false. The killing has continued in Bali, Jakarta, Casablanca, Riyadh, Mombassa, Jerusalem, Istanbul and Baghdad. The terrorists continue to plot against America and the civilized world. And by our will and courage, this danger will be defeated.
Inside the United States, where the war began, we must continue to give homeland security and law enforcement personnel every tool they need to defend us. And one of those essential tools is the PATRIOT Act, which allows federal law enforcement to better share information, to track terrorists, to disrupt their cells and to seize their assets. For years, we have used similar provisions to catch embezzlers and drug traffickers. If these methods are good for hunting criminals, they are even more important for hunting terrorists. Key provisions of the PATRIOT Act are set to expire next year. The terrorist threat will not expire on that schedule. Our law enforcement needs this vital legislation to protect our citizens - you need to renew the PATRIOT Act.
America is on the offensive against the terrorists who started this war. Last March, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a mastermind of Sept. 11, awoke to find himself in the custody of U.S. and Pakistani authorities. Last August 11th brought the capture of the terrorist Hambali, who was a key player in the attack in Indonesia that killed over 200 people. We are tracking al-Qaida around the world - and nearly two-thirds of their known leaders have now been captured or killed. Thousands of very skilled and determined military personnel are on a manhunt, going after the remaining killers who hide in cities and caves - and, one by one, we will bring the terrorists to justice.
As part of the offensive against terror, we are also confronting the regimes that harbor and support terrorists, and could supply them with nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. The United States and our allies are determined: We refuse to live in the shadow of this ultimate danger.
The first to see our determination were the Taliban, who made Afghanistan the primary training base of al-Qaida killers. As of this month, that country has a new constitution, guaranteeing free elections and full participation by women. Businesses are opening, health care centers are being established, and the boys and girls of Afghanistan are back in school. With help from the new Afghan Army, our coalition is leading aggressive raids against surviving members of the Taliban and al-Qaida. The men and women of Afghanistan are building a nation that is free, and proud, and fighting terror - and America is honored to be their friend.
Since we last met in this chamber, combat forces of the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Poland and other countries enforced the demands of the United Nations, ended the rule of Saddam Hussein - and the people of Iraq are free. Having broken the Baathist regime, we face a remnant of violent Saddam supporters. Men who ran away from our troops in battle are now dispersed and attack from the shadows.
These killers, joined by foreign terrorists, are a serious, continuing danger. Yet we are making progress against them. The once all-powerful ruler of Iraq was found in a hole, and now sits in a prison cell. Of the top 55 officials of the former regime, we have captured or killed 45. Our forces are on the offensive, leading over 1,600 patrols a day, and conducting an average of 180 raids every week. We are dealing with these thugs in Iraq, just as surely as we dealt with Saddam Hussein's evil regime.
The work of building a new Iraq is hard, and it is right. And America has always been willing to do what it takes for what is right. Last January, Iraq's only law was the whim of one brutal man. Today our coalition is working with the Iraqi Governing Council to draft a basic law, with a bill of rights. We are working with Iraqis and the United Nations to prepare for a transition to full Iraqi sovereignty by the end of June. As democracy takes hold in Iraq, the enemies of freedom will do all in their power to spread violence and fear. They are trying to shake the will of our country and our friends - but the United States of America will never be intimidated by thugs and assassins. The killers will fail, and the Iraqi people will live in freedom.
Month by month, Iraqis are assuming more responsibility for their own security and their own future. And tonight we are honored to welcome one of Iraq's most respected leaders: the current President of the Iraqi Governing Council, Adnan Pachachi. Sir, America stands with you and the Iraqi people as you build a free and peaceful nation.
Because of American leadership and resolve, the world is changing for the better. Last month, the leader of Libya voluntarily pledged to disclose and dismantle all of his regime's weapons of mass destruction programs, including a uranium enrichment project for nuclear weapons. Col. Gadhafi correctly judged that his country would be better off, and far more secure, without weapons of mass murder. Nine months of intense negotiations involving the United States and Great Britain succeeded with Libya, while 12 years of diplomacy with Iraq did not. And one reason is clear: For diplomacy to be effective, words must be credible - and no one can now doubt the word of America.
Different threats require different strategies. Along with nations in the region, we are insisting that North Korea eliminate its nuclear program. America and the international community are demanding that Iran meet its commitments and not develop nuclear weapons. America is committed to keeping the world's most dangerous weapons out of the hands of the world's most dangerous regimes.
When I came to this rostrum on Sept. 20, 2001, I brought the police shield of a fallen officer, my reminder of lives that ended, and a task that does not end. I gave to you and to all Americans my complete commitment to securing our country and defeating our enemies. And this pledge, given by one, has been kept by many. You in the Congress have provided the resources for our defense, and cast the difficult votes of war and peace. Our closest allies have been unwavering. America's intelligence personnel and diplomats have been skilled and tireless.
And the men and women of the American military - they have taken the hardest duty. We have seen their skill and courage in armored charges, and midnight raids, and lonely hours on faithful watch. We have seen the joy when they return, and felt the sorrow when one is lost. I have had the honor of meeting our servicemen and women at many posts, from the deck of a carrier in the Pacific to a mess hall in Baghdad. Many of our troops are listening tonight. And I want you and your families to know: America is proud of you. And my administration, and this Congress, will give you the resources you need to fight and win the war on terror.
I know that some people question if America is really in a war at all. They view terrorism more as a crime - a problem to be solved mainly with law enforcement and indictments. After the World Trade Center was first attacked in 1993, some of the guilty were indicted, tried, convicted and sent to prison. But the matter was not settled. The terrorists were still training and plotting in other nations, and drawing up more ambitious plans. After the chaos and carnage of Sept. 11, it is not enough to serve our enemies with legal papers. The terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States - and war is what they got.
Some in this chamber, and in our country, did not support the liberation of Iraq. Objections to war often come from principled motives. But let us be candid about the consequences of leaving Saddam Hussein in power. We are seeking all the facts - already the Kay report identified dozens of weapons of mass destruction-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations. Had we failed to act, the dictator's weapons of mass destruction programs would continue to this day. Had we failed to act, Security Council resolutions on Iraq would have been revealed as empty threats, weakening the United Nations and encouraging defiance by dictators around the world. Iraq's torture chambers would still be filled with victims - terrified and innocent. The killing fields of Iraq - where hundreds of thousands of men, women and children vanished into the sands - would still be known only to the killers. For all who love freedom and peace, the world without Saddam Hussein's regime is a better and safer place.
Some critics have said our duties in Iraq must be internationalized. This particular criticism is hard to explain to our partners in Britain, Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Italy, Spain, Poland, Denmark, Hungary, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania, the Netherlands, Norway, El Salvador and the 17 other countries that have committed troops to Iraq. As we debate at home, we must never ignore the vital contributions of our international partners or dismiss their sacrifices. From the beginning, America has sought international support for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, and we have gained much support. There is a difference, however, between leading a coalition of many nations and submitting to the objections of a few. America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our people.
We also hear doubts that democracy is a realistic goal for the greater Middle East, where freedom is rare. Yet it is mistaken, and condescending, to assume that whole cultures and great religions are incompatible with liberty and self-government. I believe that God has planted in every heart the desire to live in freedom. And even when that desire is crushed by tyranny for decades, it will rise again.
As long as the Middle East remains a place of tyranny, despair and anger, it will continue to produce men and movements that threaten the safety of America and our friends. So America is pursuing a forward strategy of freedom in the greater Middle East. We will challenge the enemies of reform, confront the allies of terror, and expect a higher standard from our friends. To cut through the barriers of hateful propaganda, the Voice of America and other broadcast services are expanding their programming in Arabic and Persian - and soon, a new television service will begin providing reliable news and information across the region. I will send you a proposal to double the budget of the National Endowment for Democracy, and to focus its new work on the development of free elections, free markets, free press and free labor unions in the Middle East. And above all, we will finish the historic work of democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq, so those nations can light the way for others, and help transform a troubled part of the world.
America is a nation with a mission - and that mission comes from our most basic beliefs. We have no desire to dominate, no ambitions of empire. Our aim is a democratic peace - a peace founded upon the dignity and rights of every man and woman. America acts in this cause with friends and allies at our side, yet we understand our special calling: This great Republic will lead the cause of freedom.
In these last three years, adversity has also revealed the fundamental strengths of the American economy. We have come through recession, and terrorist attack, and corporate scandals, and the uncertainties of war. And because you acted to stimulate our economy with tax relief, this economy is strong, and growing stronger.
You have doubled the child tax credit from $500 to a thousand dollars, reduced the marriage penalty, begun to phase out the death tax, reduced taxes on capital gains and stock dividends, cut taxes on small businesses, and you have lowered taxes for every American who pays income taxes.
Americans took those dollars and put them to work, driving this economy forward. The pace of economic growth in the third quarter of 2003 was the fastest in nearly 20 years. New home construction: the highest in almost 20 years. Home ownership rates: the highest ever. Manufacturing activity is increasing. Inflation is low. Interest rates are low. Exports are growing. Productivity is high. And jobs are on the rise.
These numbers confirm that the American people are using their money far better than government would have - and you were right to return it.
America's growing economy is also a changing economy. As technology transforms the way almost every job is done, America becomes more productive, and workers need new skills. Much of our job growth will be found in high-skilled fields like health care and biotechnology. So we must respond by helping more Americans gain the skills to find good jobs in our new economy.
All skills begin with the basics of reading and math, which are supposed to be learned in the early grades of our schools. Yet for too long, for too many children, those skills were never mastered. By passing the No Child Left Behind Act, you have made the expectation of literacy the law of our country. We are providing more funding for our schools - a 36 percent increase since 2001. We are requiring higher standards. We are regularly testing every child on the fundamentals. We are reporting results to parents, and making sure they have better options when schools are not performing. We are making progress toward excellence for every child.
But the status quo always has defenders. Some want to undermine the No Child Left Behind Act by weakening standards and accountability. Yet the results we require are really a matter of common sense: We expect third-graders to read and do math at third grade level - and that is not asking too much. Testing is the only way to identify and help students who are falling behind.
This nation will not go back to the days of simply shuffling children along from grade to grade without them learning the basics. I refuse to give up on any child - and the No Child Left Behind Act is opening the door of opportunity to all of America's children.
At the same time, we must ensure that older students and adults can gain the skills they need to find work now. Many of the fastest-growing occupations require strong math and science preparation, and training beyond the high school level. So tonight I propose a series of measures called Jobs for the 21st Century. This program will provide extra help to middle and high school students who fall behind in reading and math, expand advanced placement programs in low-income schools, and invite math and science professionals from the private sector to teach part-time in our high schools. I propose larger Pell grants for students who prepare for college with demanding courses in high school. I propose increasing our support for America's fine community colleges, so they can train workers for the industries that are creating the most new jobs. By all these actions, we will help more and more Americans to join in the growing prosperity of our country.
Job training is important, and so is job creation. We must continue to pursue an aggressive, pro-growth economic agenda.
Congress has some unfinished business on the issue of taxes. The tax reductions you passed are set to expire. Unless you act, the unfair tax on marriage will go back up. Unless you act, millions of families will be charged $300 more in federal taxes for every child. Unless you act, small businesses will pay higher taxes. Unless you act, the death tax will eventually come back to life. Unless you act, Americans face a tax increase. What the Congress has given, the Congress should not take away: For the sake of job growth, the tax cuts you passed should be permanent.
Our agenda for jobs and growth must help small business owners and employees with relief from needless federal regulation, and protect them from junk and frivolous lawsuits. Consumers and businesses need reliable supplies of energy to make our economy run - so I urge you to pass legislation to modernize our electricity system, promote conservation and make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy. My administration is promoting free and fair trade, to open up new markets for America's entrepreneurs, and manufacturers, and farmers, and to create jobs for America's workers. Younger workers should have the opportunity to build a nest egg by saving part of their Social Security taxes in a personal retirement account. We should make the Social Security system a source of ownership for the American people.
And we should limit the burden of government on this economy by acting as good stewards of taxpayer dollars. In two weeks, I will send you a budget that funds the war, protects the homeland and meets important domestic needs, while limiting the growth in discretionary spending to less than four percent. This will require that Congress focus on priorities, cut wasteful spending and be wise with the people's money. By doing so, we can cut the deficit in half over the next five years.
Tonight I also ask you to reform our immigration laws, so they reflect our values and benefit our economy. I propose a new temporary worker program to match willing foreign workers with willing employers, when no Americans can be found to fill the job. This reform will be good for our economy - because employers will find needed workers in an honest and orderly system. A temporary worker program will help protect our homeland - allowing border patrol and law enforcement to focus on true threats to our national security. I oppose amnesty, because it would encourage further illegal immigration and unfairly reward those who break our laws. My temporary worker program will preserve the citizenship path for those who respect the law, while bringing millions of hardworking men and women out from the shadows of American life.
Our nation's health care system, like our economy, is also in a time of change. Amazing medical technologies are improving and saving lives. This dramatic progress has brought its own challenge, in the rising costs of medical care and health insurance. Members of Congress, we must work together to help control those costs and extend the benefits of modern medicine throughout our country.
Meeting these goals requires bipartisan effort - and two months ago, you showed the way. By strengthening Medicare and adding a prescription drug benefit, you kept a basic commitment to our seniors: You are giving them the modern medicine they deserve.
Starting this year, under the law you passed, seniors can choose to receive a drug discount card, saving them 10 to 25 percent off the retail price of most prescription drugs - and millions of low-income seniors can get an additional $600 to buy medicine. Beginning next year, seniors will have new coverage for preventive screenings against diabetes and heart disease, and seniors just entering Medicare can receive wellness exams.
In January of 2006, seniors can get prescription drug coverage under Medicare. For a monthly premium of about $35, most seniors who do not have that coverage today can expect to see their drug bills cut roughly in half. Under this reform, senior citizens will be able to keep their Medicare just as it is, or they can choose a Medicare plan that fits them best - just as you, as members of Congress, can choose an insurance plan that meets your needs. And starting this year, millions of Americans will be able to save money tax-free for their medical expenses, in a health savings account.
I signed this measure proudly, and any attempt to limit the choices of our seniors, or to take away their prescription drug coverage under Medicare, will meet my veto.
On the critical issue of health care, our goal is to ensure that Americans can choose and afford private health-care coverage that best fits their individual needs. To make insurance more affordable, Congress must act to address rapidly rising health-care costs. Small businesses should be able to band together and negotiate for lower insurance rates, so they can cover more workers with health insurance - I urge you to pass association health plans. I ask you to give lower-income Americans a refundable tax credit that would allow millions to buy their own basic health insurance. By computerizing health records, we can avoid dangerous medical mistakes, reduce costs, and improve care. To protect the doctor-patient relationship, and keep good doctors doing good work, we must eliminate wasteful and frivolous medical lawsuits. And tonight I propose that individuals who buy catastrophic health-care coverage, as part of our new health savings accounts, be allowed to deduct 100 percent of the premiums from their taxes.
A government-run health care system is the wrong prescription. By keeping costs under control, expanding access and helping more Americans afford coverage, we will preserve the system of private medicine that makes America's health care the best in the world.
We are living in a time of great change - in our world, in our economy, and in science and medicine. Yet some things endure - courage and compassion, reverence and integrity, respect for differences of faith and race. The values we try to live by never change. And they are instilled in us by fundamental institutions, such as families, and schools, and religious congregations. These institutions - the unseen pillars of civilization - must remain strong in America, and we will defend them.
We must stand with our families to help them raise healthy, responsible children. And when it comes to helping children make right choices, there is work for all of us to do.
One of the worst decisions our children can make is to gamble their lives and futures on drugs. Our government is helping parents confront this problem, with aggressive education, treatment and law enforcement. Drug use in high school has declined by 11 percent over the past two years. Four hundred thousand fewer young people are using illegal drugs than in the year 2001. In my budget, I have proposed new funding to continue our aggressive, community-based strategy to reduce demand for illegal drugs. Drug testing in our schools has proven to be an effective part of this effort. So tonight I propose an additional $23 million for schools that want to use drug testing as a tool to save children's lives. The aim here is not to punish children, but to send them this message: We love you, and we do not want to lose you.
To help children make right choices, they need good examples. Athletics play such an important role in our society, but, unfortunately, some in professional sports are not setting much of an example. The use of performance-enhancing drugs like steroids in baseball, football and other sports is dangerous, and it sends the wrong message - that there are short cuts to accomplishment, and that performance is more important than character. So tonight I call on team owners, union representatives, coaches and players to take the lead, to send the right signal, to get tough and to get rid of steroids now.
To encourage right choices, we must be willing to confront the dangers young people face - even when they are difficult to talk about. Each year, about 3 million teenagers contract sexually transmitted diseases that can harm them, or kill them, or prevent them from ever becoming parents. In my budget, I propose a grass-roots campaign to help inform families about these medical risks. We will double federal funding for abstinence programs, so schools can teach this fact of life: Abstinence for young people is the only certain way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases. Decisions children make now can affect their health and character for the rest of their lives. All of us - parents, schools, government - must work together to counter the negative influence of the culture, and to send the right messages to our children.
A strong America must also value the institution of marriage. I believe we should respect individuals as we take a principled stand for one of the most fundamental, enduring institutions of our civilization. Congress has already taken a stand on this issue by passing the Defense of Marriage Act, signed in 1996 by President Clinton. That statute protects marriage under federal law as the union of a man and a woman, and declares that one state may not redefine marriage for other states. Activist judges, however, have begun redefining marriage by court order, without regard for the will of the people and their elected representatives. On an issue of such great consequence, the people's voice must be heard. If judges insist on forcing their arbitrary will upon the people, the only alternative left to the people would be the constitutional process. Our nation must defend the sanctity of marriage.
The outcome of this debate is important - and so is the way we conduct it. The same moral tradition that defines marriage also teaches that each individual has dignity and value in God's sight.
It is also important to strengthen our communities by unleashing the compassion of America's religious institutions. Religious charities of every creed are doing some of the most vital work in our country - mentoring children, feeding the hungry, taking the hand of the lonely. Yet government has often denied social service grants and contracts to these groups, just because they have a cross or a Star of David or a crescent on the wall. By executive order, I have opened billions of dollars in grant money to competition that includes faith-based charities. Tonight I ask you to codify this into law, so people of faith can know that the law will never discriminate against them again.
In the past, we have worked together to bring mentors to the children of prisoners, and provide treatment for the addicted, and help for the homeless. Tonight I ask you to consider another group of Americans in need of help. This year, some 600,000 inmates will be released from prison back into society. We know from long experience that if they can't find work, or a home, or help, they are much more likely to commit more crimes and return to prison. So tonight, I propose a four-year, $300 million Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative to expand job training and placement services, to provide transitional housing, and to help newly released prisoners get mentoring, including from faith-based groups. America is the land of the second chance - and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life.
For all Americans, the last three years have brought tests we did not ask for, and achievements shared by all. By our actions, we have shown what kind of nation we are. In grief, we found the grace to go on. In challenge, we rediscovered the courage and daring of a free people. In victory, we have shown the noble aims and good heart of America. And having come this far, we sense that we live in a time set apart.
I have been a witness to the character of the American people, who have shown calm in times of danger, compassion for one another, and toughness for the long haul. All of us have been partners in a great enterprise. And even some of the youngest understand that we are living in historic times. Last month a girl in Lincoln, Rhode Island, sent me a letter. It began, "Dear George W. Bush: If there is anything you know, I, Ashley Pearson, age 10, can do to help anyone, please send me a letter and tell me what I can do to save our country." She added this P.S.: "If you can send a letter to the troops - please put, 'Ashley Pearson believes in you.'"
Tonight, Ashley, your message to our troops has just been conveyed. And yes, you have some duties yourself. Study hard in school, listen to your mom and dad, help someone in need, and when you and your friends see a man or woman in uniform, say "thank you." And while you do your part, all of us here in this great chamber will do our best to keep you and the rest of America safe and free.
My fellow citizens, we now move forward, with confidence and faith. Our nation is strong and steadfast. The cause we serve is right, because it is the cause of all mankind. The momentum of freedom in our world is unmistakable - and it is not carried forward by our power alone. We can trust in that greater power Who guides the unfolding of the years. And in all that is to come, we can know that His purposes are just and true.
May God bless the United States of America. Thank you.
--------
Invitees Reflect Policy Priorities
Associated Press
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A33926-2004Jan21?language=printer
Following are guests of President Bush and Laura Bush in her VIP box during the State of the Union speech:
White House legislative liaison David Hobbs.
Marine Corps Sgt. Dawn Michelle Campbell of Madison, Wis., who returned from service in Iraq last June.
Ex-offender Julio Medina, who formed the Exodus Transitional Community to help people reintegrate into society from prison.
Sister Carol Keehan, president and chief executive of Providence Hospital in Washington.
Rend Rahim Francke, executive director of the Iraq Foundation and the Iraqi Governing Council's representative in Washington.
Eileen Halter, chief executive of Schnipke Engraving Co. in Ottoville, Ohio, invited to illustrate the benefits of Bush's tax cuts.
The Rev. Helen S. Fleming, who founded the Lena Maloney Community Development Corp. in Philadelphia in 1998 to support children of prisoners and to provide a computer lab for the elderly and unemployed and financial and legal counseling.
Army Chief Warrant Officer Stephen Douglas Combs Jr. of Fall River, Mass., who helped in the raids that captured Saddam Hussein.
Jim Diesing of Big Brothers Big Sisters in Minneapolis, along with his little brother in the program, 13-year-old David Moreno.
D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams.
Tamika Catchings of Indianapolis, a member of USA Basketball 2004 Women's senior national team and of the WNBA's Indiana Fever.
Elsie Blanton of Apopka, Fla., invited to showcase the benefits of the recently passed Medicare prescription drug benefit.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Clinton Ward Smith Jr. of Forestville, Md., who returned last October from service in Baghdad.
Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Stephen Matthew Kuczirka of Cincinnati, who returned Friday from service in the Persian Gulf.
National Guard Spec. Matthew Moss of Oxnard, Calif., who returned from Baghdad in November because of combat injuries.
New Teacher Project chief executive Michelle Rhee.
Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Christopher Roundtree of New York, who returned last August from service in Bahrain.
Alma Powell, wife of Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.
Joyce Rumsfeld, wife of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
The Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, senior pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston, founder of the Pyramid Community Development Corp. and a longtime Bush family friend.
Suzette Caldwell of Houston, a Bush family friend.
Army Staff Sgt. Joey Marshal Wommack of Garland, Tex., who returned from Iraq on Jan. 4 and is scheduled to go back this month.
Karen Hughes, a longtime Bush adviser.
Three guests of Laura Bush: Iraqi Governing Council President Adnan Pachachi, Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi and Iraqi Provisional Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zubari.
--------
Bush Defends Iraq War, Economic Policy
State of the Union Address Includes Few New Initiatives
By Dana Milbank and Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, January 21, 2004; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A32970-2004Jan20?language=printer
President Bush last night devoted the final State of the Union address of his term to a vigorous and sometimes combative defense of his actions as president, calling the United States a "nation with a mission" that has made the right decisions to invade Iraq, cut taxes, and reshape its education and health care laws.
In a speech that previewed the major themes the president would use on the campaign trail as he seeks reelection in November, Bush eschewed the list of new legislative initiatives commonly offered in State of the Union addresses. Instead, he cited objections that Democratic critics have had to his policies on Iraq, taxes, education and health care -- and offered pointed rebuttals.
"We have faced serious challenges together -- and now we face a choice," the president said in the House chamber. "We can go forward with confidence and resolve -- or we can turn back to the dangerous illusion that terrorists are not plotting and outlaw regimes are no threat to us. We can press on with economic growth, and reforms in education and Medicare -- or we can turn back to the old policies and old divisions."
The president did have some specific instructions for Congress, urging renewal of the USA Patriot Act to expand police powers against terrorists, passage of a new immigration law, and making permanent previously passed tax cuts that are set to expire. Though he made only passing reference to a major proposal to create private Social Security accounts -- and no reference at all to his recent proposal to return to the moon and send humans to Mars -- he suggested a range of minor initiatives on subjects such as aiding community colleges and discouraging steroid use among professional athletes.
Bush also hinted that he would support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. "If judges insist on forcing their arbitrary will upon the people, the only alternative left to the people would be the constitutional process," he said. "Our nation must defend the sanctity of marriage." A senior Republican official said last night that Bush was laying the groundwork to endorse the amendment eventually, although no action was imminent.
Mostly, however, Bush's address looked back at his administration's achievements over the past three years. In foreign affairs, he spoke with pride of the demise of Saddam Hussein, saying, "The once all-powerful ruler of Iraq was found in a hole, and now sits in a prison cell." And he defended his administration's allegations that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Though such weapons have not been found and officials have largely abandoned expectations of finding them, Bush argued that it was a sufficient danger that there was evidence of weapons-related "program activities" and equipment.
"Some in this chamber, and in our country, did not support the liberation of Iraq," Bush said. "Objections to war often come from principled motives. But let us be candid about the consequences of leaving Saddam Hussein in power. . . . Had we failed to act, the dictator's weapons of mass destruction programs would continue to this day."
On domestic matters, likewise, Bush credited his tax cuts for "driving this economy forward," and described an economic boom. "The pace of economic growth in the third quarter of 2003 was the fastest in nearly 20 years," he said.
Bush's aides said they viewed the speech as the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that he had a chance to recount his accomplishments before a national audience when the paramount topic was not terrorism or impending war. Bush's political advisers said they saw the speech as an unofficial kickoff to his campaign, with the themes and messages of the next 10 months laid out together for the first time. Officials said Bush's top political strategist, Karl Rove, was involved at every stage of the speech's preparation.
The speech was sharply different in tone from last year's address, when Bush made a forceful case for war in Iraq and offered detailed allegations about what he said were that country's illegal weapons. "We gather in this chamber deeply aware of decisive days that lie ahead," he said at the start of that address.
Last night, the chamber displayed a more partisan mood, with many of the 71 interruptions for applause coming from Republicans alone. Democrats surprised Bush by applauding when he observed that "key provisions of the Patriot Act are set to expire next year," leaving Republicans to applaud alone when Bush called for the act's renewal. More than a dozen times when Bush was talking about national security issues, Republicans leapt to their feet and led a standing ovation that most Democrats eventually joined with weak applause. When he turned to tax cuts and his education agenda, Democrats kept their seats and stony faces as Republicans whooped gleefully.
Bush offered feisty rejoinders to criticism of his policies. To those who want more international help in Iraq, Bush mentioned several nations that have supported the Iraq war, then added defiantly: "America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our people."
Bush labeled as naive those who "question if America is really in a war at all." More than two years after the 2001 attacks, "it is tempting to believe that the danger is behind us," he said. "That hope is understandable, comforting -- and false." In his sweeping defense of the U.S. policy in Iraq, Bush even invoked his trip to an aircraft carrier in May that has become ridiculed as an early victory celebration.
Similarly, challenging opponents of his domestic policies, Bush said Congress "can take pride in great works of compassion and reform that skeptics had thought impossible," such as prescription-drug coverage under Medicare. To critics of his health care policy, he retorted: "A government-run health care system is the wrong prescription."
In his 54-minute speech, Bush skipped over or gave little emphasis to some of the more vexing issues facing his administration. He made no mention of Osama bin Laden or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and made only passing reference to the nuclear standoff with North Korea. Also, he did not discuss two of the most common Democratic criticisms: the more than 500 soldiers killed in Iraq; and the 2.3 million jobs that have been shed by the economy during his term.
"The massive tax cuts that were supposed to spark an economic expansion have instead led to an economic exodus," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) said in the Democratic response to Bush's address, in which she complained of "3 million private-sector jobs that have been lost on President Bush's watch." Pelosi also protested the cost of the Iraq war to the United States -- "a colossal $120 billion and rising," and "500 killed and thousands more wounded."
Though Bush did not directly address such problems, he asserted that this was no time to turn back. "We have not come all this way -- through tragedy, and trial and war -- only to falter and leave our work unfinished. Americans are rising to the tasks of history, and they expect the same of us," he said. Speaking of the Iraq war in moral terms, he added: "The work of building a new Iraq is hard, and it is right. And America has always been willing to do what it takes for what is right."
There was no repetition of the "axis of evil" label Bush used in a previous State of the Union address to group Iraq, Iran and North Korea. Instead, Bush argued last night that his hard-line approach was working, pointing to Libya's agreement to renounce weapons of mass destruction.
Bush disappointed some Republicans and conservatives who were seeking specifics about how he would get control of the federal budget deficit. Bush reiterated his promise to "cut the deficit in half over the next five years," but he did not provide specifics. Before Bush spoke, a group of 90 conservative Republicans in the House issued a statement urging him to offset the cost of any new initiatives with cuts in other spending. After the speech, House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle (R-Iowa) said he has "some real concern over whether or not the president is going to make these priorities fit within a fiscally responsible blueprint."
Bush also incurred conservative criticism for his position on gay marriage. Though he gave his strongest statement yet in defense of what he called "the sanctity of marriage," and condemned "activist judges" for "redefining marriage by court order," conservatives said he did not go far enough because he did not explicitly endorse a ban. "Disappointingly," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, "President Bush promised to help the families of America -- after the bomb goes off and the damage is done."
In another source of potential resistance for Bush from his own party, only about a half dozen Republicans stood to applaud for his immigration proposal, calling for "millions of hardworking men and women out from the shadows of American life."
The relatively modest proposals in Bush's address reflected the realities of an election year. With a large budget deficit, a stretched military and a Congress preparing for the campaign, Bush largely stuck with repackaged versions of proposals he has already made. Bush sprinkled the address with lines from stump speeches, such as "we are dealing with these thugs in Iraq."
With last night's address falling in between the first two big events on the Democrats' presidential nominating calendar -- the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary -- politics was never far below the surface. Indeed, Bush's preparation for the speech was interrupted Monday night with word from Rove of the unexpected victory in Iowa by Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.).
The White House announced yesterday that former Bush aide Karen Hughes, who has worked as a consultant to the Republican National Committee since leaving the White House, will host a Web chat on the official White House Web site today -- as Bush flies off to appearances in the presidential battleground states of Ohio, Arizona and New Mexico. Less than an hour after Bush had finished speaking last night, his campaign had e-mailed copies to his supporters.
The White House filled the gallery last night with people who would symbolize the success of Bush's agenda: military heroes, practitioners from religious and community charities, representatives from the Iraqi governing council, officials from an Ohio company benefiting from Bush's tax cuts, a senior citizen from Florida benefiting from Bush's prescription drug plan, and a star quarterback and basketball player who do volunteer work.
The White House built a public relations offensive around the speech, with Bush eating lunch in the Old Family Dining Room yesterday with nine network anchors just back from Iowa. While Bush is traveling, his staff will hold the second annual "Radio Day" in a white tent outside the White House, with conservative talk shows from across the country broadcasting live as Cabinet members and his senior staff go from microphone to microphone.
Officials said security was the tightest ever for a State of the Union address. In addition to the usual absence of one member of the president's Cabinet, one lawmaker from each chamber and each party was taken to an undisclosed location to help preserve the continuity of government in case of a catastrophic attack on the Capitol. Outside the Capitol, two white tents manned by people in hazmat suits and oxygen tanks served as decontamination units.
--------
'America Must Be a Light to the World, Not Just a Missile'
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A33936-2004Jan21?language=printer
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Senate Democratic Leader Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.) delivered the official Democratic response to the president's State of the Union address last night. Below are their remarks as prepared for delivery:
Pelosi:
The state of our union is indeed strong, due to the spirit of the American people -- the creativity, optimism, hard work, and faith of everyday Americans.
The State of the Union Address should offer a vision that unites us as a people -- and priorities that move us toward the best America. For inspiration, we look to our brave young men and women in uniform, especially those in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their noble service reminds us of our mission as a nation -- to build a future worthy of their sacrifice.
Tonight, from the perspective of 10 years of experience on the intelligence committee working on national security issues, I express the Democrats' unbending determination to make the world safer for America -- for our people, our interests and our ideals.
Democrats have an unwavering commitment to ensure that America's armed forces remain the best-trained, best-led, best-equipped force for peace the world has ever known. Never before have we been more powerful militarily. But even the most powerful nation in the history of the world must bring other nations to our side to meet common dangers. Go-It-Alone Foreign Policy
The president's policies do not reflect that. He has pursued a go-it-alone foreign policy that leaves us isolated abroad and that steals the resources we need for education and health care here at home. The president led us into the Iraq war on the basis of unproven assertions without evidence; he embraced a radical doctrine of preemptive war unprecedented in our history; and he failed to build a true international coalition.
Therefore, American taxpayers are bearing almost all the cost -- a colossal $120 billion and rising. More importantly, American troops are enduring almost all the casualties -- tragically, 500 killed and thousands more wounded.
As a nation, we must show our greatness, not just our strength. America must be a light to the world, not just a missile.
Forty-three years ago today, as a college student standing in the freezing cold outside this Capitol Building, I heard President Kennedy issue this challenge in his Inaugural Address: "My fellow citizens of the world," he said, "ask not what America will do for you, but what working together we can do for the freedom of man."
There is great wisdom in that, but in it there is also greater strength for our country and the cause of a safer world. Instead of alienating our allies, let us work with them and international institutions so that together we can prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and keep them out of the hands of terrorists.
Instead of billions of dollars in no-bid contracts for politically connected firms like Halliburton, and an insistence on American dominance in Iraq, let us share the burden and responsibility with others, so that together we can end the sense of American occupation and bring troops home safely when their mission is completed.
Instead of the diplomatic disengagement that almost destroyed the Middle East peace process and aggravated the danger posed by North Korea, let us seek to forge agreements and coalitions -- so that, together with others, we can address challenges before they threaten the security of the world. Danger of Terrorism
We must remain focused on the greatest threat to the security of the United States: the clear and present danger of terrorism. We know what we must do to protect America, but this administration is failing to meet the challenge. Democrats have a better way to ensure our homeland security.
One hundred percent of containers coming into our ports or airports must be inspected. Today, only 3 percent are inspected. One hundred percent of chemical and nuclear plants in the United States must have high levels of security. Today, the Bush administration has tolerated a much lower standard.
One hundred percent communication in real time is needed for our police officers, firefighters and all of our first responders to prevent or respond to a terrorist attack. Today, the technology is there, but the resources are not. One hundred percent of the enriched uranium and other material for weapons of mass destruction must be secured. Today, the administration has refused to commit the resources necessary to prevent it from falling into the hands of terrorists.
America will be far safer if we reduce the chances of a terrorist attack in one of our cities than if we diminish the civil liberties of our people.
As a nation, we must do better to keep faith with our armed forces, their families and our veterans. Our men and women in uniform show their valor every day. On the battlefield, our troops pledge to leave no soldier behind. Here at home, we must leave no veteran behind. We must ensure their health care, their pensions and their survivor benefits.
The year ahead offers great opportunity for progress and perhaps new perils still hidden in the shadows of an uncertain world. But you, the American people, have shown again and again that you are equal to any test. Now your example summons all of us in government, Republicans and Democrats, to a higher standard.
This is personal for all of us, in every community across this land. As a mother of five, and now as a grandmother of five, I came into government to help make the future brighter for all of America's children. As much as at any time in my memory, the future of our country and our children is at stake.
Democrats are committed to strengthening the state of our union, to reach for a safer, more prosperous America. Together, let us make America work for all Americans. Let us restore our rightful role of leadership in the world, working with others for "the freedom of man."
I'm now proud to introduce my colleague, the outstanding Senate Democratic leader, Tom Daschle.
Daschle: Thank you, Nancy Pelosi.
Let there be no doubt: The state of our union is strong -- stronger than the terrorists who seek to harm us and stronger than the challenges that confront us. At the same time, we know that our union can be stronger still.
The president spoke of great goals, and America should never hesitate to push the boundaries of exploration. But neither should we shrink from the great goal of creating a more perfect union here at home.
In his speech, the president asked us to make permanent the tax cuts already passed. He asked us to create more tax shelters for the wealthy, and he asked us to use Social Security money to pay for it. For the last couple of weeks, I've been traveling through my home state of South Dakota, visiting the people and small towns that are America's backbone. And the folks I met were asking something, too: What about us? When do our priorities become America's priorities? An Opportunity Society
Rather than a society that restricts its rewards to a privileged few, we need an "opportunity society" that allows all Americans to succeed. Our "opportunity society" has at its foundation good jobs, a solid education and quality health care that is affordable and available. We believe that we have to honor the promises we've made to the millions of families who worked hard, played by the rules and have earned a retirement of dignity.
Our first challenge is to strengthen the economy -- the right way. The true test of America's economic recovery is not measured simply in quarterly profit reports, it's measured in jobs. The massive tax cuts that were supposed to spark an economic expansion have instead led to an economic exodus. To make up for the 3 million private-sector jobs that have been lost on the president's watch, the economy would have to create 226,000 jobs a month through the end of his term. Last month, the economy created only 1,000 new jobs. That's not good enough.
America can't afford to keep rewarding the accumulation of wealth over the dignity of work. Instead of borrowing even more money to give more tax breaks to companies so that they can export even more jobs, we propose tax cuts and policies that will strengthen our manufacturing sector and create good jobs at good wages here at home. We can also show our patriotism while strengthening agriculture and rural America by labeling all food products with their country of origin.
Education is the second key to our "opportunity society." Two years ago, the president signed a new education law. The heart of that law was a promise. The federal government would set high standards for every student and hold schools responsible for results. In exchange, schools would receive the resources to meet the new standards. America's schools are holding up their end of the bargain; the president has not held up his. Millions of children are being denied the better teachers, smaller classes and extra help they were promised.
At the same time, the president's tax cuts have put states in such a bind that they're being forced to raise the cost of college. Since President Bush took office, the average tuition at a four-year public college has increased by nearly $600. The America our parents gave us was a place in which everyone had a chance to go to a good school, and then to college, community college or vocational school, regardless of family income. Our children deserve nothing less.
Third, our "opportunity society" is built on the belief that affordable, available health care is not a luxury, but a basic foundation of a truly compassionate society. Today, 43.6 million Americans -- almost all of them from working families -- have no health insurance. That's over 3.8 million more than when President Bush took office. Those Americans lucky enough to have health insurance have seen their premiums go up each of the last three years. The increase in premiums that middle-income families have seen over the past three years is actually larger than the four-year tax cut that they've been promised. This is an invisible tax increase on middle-class families. Tonight, three years into his administration, the president acknowledged that the rapidly rising cost of health care, and the increasing number of Americans with no health coverage, are problems. But the tax cuts he proposed are not a solution. More tax cuts will do little to make health care more affordable or reduce the number of people without insurance, and they will weaken health coverage for those who now have it.
When I was driving around South Dakota this summer, I met a nurse in Sioux Falls who has cancer. She told me that she couldn't afford the $1,500 a month her drugs cost. She told me that she was going to die -- that she was a lost cause. But, she said, we must solve this problem; don't turn more people into lost causes.
We believe that the federal government should use the power of 40 million Americans to lower prescription drug prices and to allow us to get more affordable drugs from Canada -- instead of forbidding both. Drug companies and insurance companies are the only ones who benefit from that restriction -- not the American people -- and that's why we want to change it.
And in our vision of an "opportunity society," promises made to those who have worked a lifetime will be honored in retirement. That's why we believe that America's pension system needs to be strengthened, and that Social Security's benefit should be a guarantee, not a gamble.
Only when every American who wants to work, can, when every child goes to a good school and has the opportunity to go further, only when health care is available and affordable for every American, when a lifetime of work guarantees a retirement with dignity and when America is secure at home and our strength abroad is respected and not resented -- only then will we have a union as strong as the American people.
Thank you for listening, good night, and God bless America.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson gave a separate response to the president's speech in Spanish
-------- MILITARY
-------- afghanistan
U.S. Says Only Taliban Died in Raid
January 21, 2004
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/21/international/asia/21AFGH.html?pagewanted=all
KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan. 20 - American military officials said Tuesday that a raid over the weekend in southern Afghanistan had killed only 5 Taliban militants, not 11 civilians, as Afghan officials have reported.
But Abdul Rahman, the chief of the Char Chino district in Oruzgan Province, where the incident took place, said again on Tuesday that 11 civilians had been killed, including three women and four children.
"I collected the bodies with people and I also participated in their funeral ceremony," he said by telephone. "If the Americans think those four men who were our friends, those four children and three women were the Taliban, that is something not acceptable."
But Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, a spokesman for the American-led coalition, said at a news conference on Tuesday that coalition forces had engaged "five armed adult males fleeing from a known terrorist compound" after receiving intelligence on Saturday evening about a gathering of midlevel Taliban fighters.
"The commander on the ground verified that these individuals were indeed armed and, at night, moving toward a known coalition military unit," he said.
"There is no indication that any civilians were involved," he said.
-------- britain
UK: Study Shows Gulf War Veterans Healthy
Wed Jan 21,
(Reuters)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1896&e=18&u=/nm/health_gulfwar_dc
LONDON - Veterans of the 1991 Gulf War -- many of whom complain of "Gulf War Syndrome" -- are on average as healthy as soldiers who were not sent to the region, Britain said on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Defense said latest results from a continuing study also showed the Gulf veterans were healthier than the public at large.
Britain and the United States deny there is a "Gulf War Syndrome" of specific symptoms tied to serving in the conflict, although both countries often pay pensions to sick soldiers who link their illnesses to deployment in the Gulf.
The ministry said 632 Gulf War veterans had died between April 1, 1991 and December 2003, slightly fewer than the 643 who died in a similar-sized control group of soldiers who served at the same time but did not go to the Gulf.
Approximately 997 deaths would have been expected from a similar sized group of people drawn from the general population of the same age and gender profile, the ministry said.
"The statistics continue to demonstrate that Gulf War veterans are as healthy, or healthier, than the general populace," a Ministry of Defense spokeswoman said.
Veterans' groups have criticized the methodology of government surveys in the past.
The study covered more than 53,000 British Gulf War veterans.
Only 265 Gulf War veterans died of disease, compared to 321 in the study's control group. Of these, 115 Gulf War veterans died from cancer and 88 from circulatory illnesses, compared to 130 and 113 respectively in the comparison group.
There were four deaths from Motor Neurone Disease among Gulf Veterans compared to three in the comparison group, the study found.
That last figure is important because veterans' groups have pointed to higher figures of the very rare, deadly condition as evidence Gulf War Syndrome exists. Britain and the United States say the condition is so rare it is impossible to show a link.
-------- business
French Judge Probes Unit of Halliburton
By Keith B. Richburg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, January 21, 2004; Page A23
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33384-2004Jan20.html
PARIS -- A French judge is investigating allegations that a subsidiary of Halliburton Co. and a French firm were involved in millions of dollars in illegal payments during the late 1990s in connection with a contract for a Nigerian natural gas facility, according to judicial sources and French media reports.
The probe is looking at Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), the Halliburton subsidiary, along with the French engineering company Technip, KBR's partner in the project on Nigeria's Bonny Island in the eastern Niger River delta, according to media reports citing French judicial sources.
Halliburton spokeswoman Wendy Hall declined comment Friday, except to say that Halliburton had not been contacted by French authorities.
In a Dec. 23 statement, Technip said that a probe was opened in October regarding contracts for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Nigeria.
The statement said "it is not accurate to say that this investigation is targeting Technip and/or KBR." The investigation has been opened against "unnamed persons," it said.
"It is also incorrect to make references to 'secret payments,' " the statement said. "All supplier payments made by the . . . joint venture in relation to the Nigerian LNG project have been the subject of standard supplier contracts and have been consistently registered" in the joint venture's books, it said.
An e-mail sent Tuesday by the Technips press office said; "There is no additional statement from Technip since our press release dated Dec. 23, 2003, and we don't wish to make any further comment."
The Paris prosecutor launched a preliminary probe of the Nigerian payments in October 2002, according to sources familiar with the case. In June 2003, the prosecutor found enough merit in the case to assign it to an investigating anti-corruption judge, Renaud van Ruymbeke, who opened a formal investigation in October, the sources said.
Halliburton was headed by Vice President Cheney from 1995 until he was chosen as President Bush's running mate in 2000, and the payments would have been made during his tenure at the company.
French prosecutors are basing their investigation at least in part on a 1997 international convention, approved by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, that allows for the cross-border prosecution of public corruption cases regardless of where the corruption occurred or where the targeted firm is headquartered. The United States was a strong backer of that anti-corruption convention, and it became part of French law in 2000.
Officials in Van Ruymbeke's office said they had no public comment to make on any ongoing investigation.
According to the French newspaper Le Figaro, investigators are looking into whether the joint venture made a series of payments totaling $180 million into a number of offshore bank accounts, using another company based in Gibraltar as a go-between. The newspaper accounts said that at the heart of the investigation is the question of whether those payments amounted to illegal commissions, or bribes, to Nigerian public officials. Special correspondent Pan Yuk in Paris contributed to this report.
-------- colombia
LETTER FROM THE AMERICAS
Colombia's Landed Gentry: Coca Lords and Other Bullies
January 21, 2004
By JUAN FORERO
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/21/international/americas/21LETT.html?hp
BOGOTÁ, Colombia, Jan. 20 - It was a breathtakingly beautiful spread, 6,000 acres for cattle and crops on one of southern Colombia's most fertile plains, and the family that owned it had no plans to move. But when, late last year, shadowy men arrived and proposed a sale - and set a bargain-basement price - the owners felt it was an offer they could not refuse, said one of the family members, asking for anonymity.
The buyers, after all, were paramilitary bullies, swaggering, armed members of one of Colombia's right-wing armies, who along with drug traffickers have been gobbling up land across Colombia, either by forcing farmers off their plots or using intimidation to prod owners to sell.
"You have to give it up or they will kill you or kidnap you," said an urbane Bogotá intellectual, a member of the family that lost the farm. "You take what they offer and that is it. What can you do?"
President Álvaro Uribe's government, with strong support from the Bush administration, is tackling urgent security problems, hoping to give the state control of its historically lawless countryside. Talks aimed at disarming right-wing paramilitary squads, an antiguerrilla movement long involved in drug trafficking, are advancing, and American-financed spraying efforts are hitting coca fields hard. A top commander of the left-wing rebels is under arrest.
But partly as a result of these successes, an older, festering crime that lies at the root of Colombia's 40-year conflict is stepping up - the illegal seizure of Colombia's most fertile land, according to United Nations officials, land experts in the government and human rights groups. As the government negotiates demobilization with the 15,000-member paramilitary force, its leaders are quietly laundering accumulated drug money by taking control of huge tracts, often at the point of a gun. Most of the victims are poor, voiceless farmers, but the officials say even some big landowners have lost their prized farms.
The only solution, say diplomats and land use experts, is an aggressive effort to root out corrupt owners, return stolen property to the rightful owners and parcel out untitled land to the landless. It is an undertaking that would work far more smoothly if the United States - which traditionally focuses primarily on drugs - were more involved.
Land reform, as it is called, may sound like an outmoded 1960's-era ideal in a country that appears to have land to spare. Colombia, after all, is twice the size of France, and a majority of its 40 million people live in towns and cities.
But Colombia remains a nation rooted in agriculture, with two million people displaced by conflict and in need of a place to live. The country has long been destabilized by lawlessness in the countryside, which drives a never-ending stream of impoverished farmers off the land and into the cities, where they live as internal refugees in shantytowns that breed crime and violence.
"The land problem is at the center of the armed conflict in Colombia," said Jorge Rojas, a leading advocate here for refugees. "And the armed conflict is Colombia's principal problem."
The government's own estimation of who controls Colombia's land is sobering: 40 percent of the best lands are in the hands of drug traffickers, including paramilitary forces.
Of Colombia's arable land - an area equivalent in size to North Dakota - only about 20 percent is even used for agriculture. Various studies also show that Colombia's farms are increasingly consolidated in fewer and fewer hands, with 30 percent of property owners controlling about 95 percent of the best lands.
And it isn't just drug traffickers. Scores of wealthy families control large tracts but produce nothing and employ no one - holding land simply to sell it when the price is high.
It is obvious what Colombia needs to do. It already has a far-reaching asset forfeiture law passed in 1996, and the government is now in control of a collection of properties equivalent in size to the state of Rhode Island, said Luis Alfonso Plazas, director of the government's antinarcotics office.
The president has told judges to be swift about seizing illegally obtained properties, and officials insist that they will crack down on the paramilitary groups.
"All those lands can be expropriated by the state," Luis Carlos Restrepo, Mr. Uribe's top negotiator with insurgent groups, said in an interview.
But experts say that actually resolving this messy, complicated state of affairs will be an uphill battle.
Even determining the legality of a piece of property is often impossible, since drug traffickers and paramilitary groups often register newly purchased properties in the names of third parties. There is little chance that any properties will be found registered in the names of such paramilitary warlords as Carlos Castaño , Salvatore Mancuso or Diego Fernando Murillo, three top leaders of the organization who are said to control wide swaths of territory.
Some leading political analysts believe that progress on land reform will depend on the United States, which has spent $25 billion on the Andean region in the past 20 years, most of it in Colombia and most in the form of military hardware and military training for the drug war.
Not just in Colombia but throughout the Andes region, governments suffer from weak institutions, shoddy education, corruption and lax tax collection. In a recent report on the region, the Council on Foreign Relations said the United States can help by providing guidance and, where necessary, pressing governments to carry out difficult reforms.
Tolerating the status quo could be self-defeating for American policy. Consider the case of Pedro Alberto and his wife, Piedad, who found out how fast they could lose their eight acres one day last year when paramilitary men arrived in their town, Viotá. The gunmen killed several people and forced hundreds of people to flee. The couple had owned two small farms, raising chickens and fish and growing plantains, manioc and coffee.
"We lived there 35 years and now we have nothing," Pedro Alberto said Tuesday morning at a Catholic relief agency in Bogotá. He asked that his last name not be used, for fear of retribution. "That land was priceless to us. Everything you could plant there grew."
-------- iran
Top Iranian Council Reinstates 200 Parliamentary Candidates
January 21, 2004
By NAZILA FATHI
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/21/international/middleeast/21TEHR.html?pagewanted=all
TEHRAN, Jan. 20 - The Guardian Council, which touched off a political crisis earlier this month by rejecting 3,600 candidates for Parliament, backed off a bit on Tuesday, reinstating 200 candidates and announcing that more reinstatements would follow, a member of the council said in a statement.
"So far, we have approved some 200 candidates who had been disqualified," read the statement, from Abbas Kadhodai. "This trend will continue. After the order was given by the supreme leader, we have been obliged to speed up our work."
With more than 60 reformist members of Parliament staging a sit-in, the country's supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was forced to intervene last Wednesday. He ordered the reinstatement of all sitting members of Parliament and a re-evaluation of nonincumbents on their merits. The council had disqualified 83 current members.
The 12-member Guardian Council has the authority to evaluate both candidates for Parliament and laws emerging from the body, to assure that they are in keeping with Islamic law and the Constitution. It had rejected nearly half of the candidates - a majority of them reformists - who registered to run in the parliamentary elections on Feb. 20.
The council statement did not identify the 200 whose credentials were approved. The Guardian Council is expected to announce its final list around Feb. 10.
Despite the council's actions, members of Parliament continued their sit-in for a 10th day on Tuesday. Strikers said Tuesday that they would continue their protest until all the politically motivated disqualifications were reversed.
According to Iranian news reports, many reformist parliamentary candidates were rejected because they were neither sufficiently loyal to Ayatollah Khamenei, nor devoted enough to Islam.
A coalition of 18 reformist parties announced Sunday in an open letter to Iran's reformist president, Mohammad Khatami, that they would decide on Thursday whether to boycott the election.
-------- iraq
Bush Meets With Iraqi Delegation
Council Chief Optimistic That Pact Can Be Reached
By Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33477-2004Jan20.html
President Bush met yesterday with a senior delegation from the Iraqi Governing Council, amid growing signs that the United Nations will soon agree to send a delegation to Iraq to help decide whether elections are possible before June 30, the key to ending the building crisis over the political transition.
Council President Adnan Pachachi expressed optimism after the White House meeting that a compromise can now be found to satisfy Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani's demand for elections to select a provisional government. "Everyone seems to agree that there's room for refinement of the process," he said in an interview.
As Secretary General Kofi Annan awaits further information on Iraq's security situation, the Iraqi council and the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority are exploring possible clarifications in the plan for caucuses in Iraq's 18 provinces to pick members of the new national assembly, Pachachi said.
"The whole idea is to make the process more transparent and inclusive so that people feel they are very much involved in the whole thing. And there are ways of doing that -- such as making it absolutely necessary to make nominations free. People can offer nominations without conditions -- except age, not being convicted, the usual," Pachachi added.
Pachachi, who met with Sistani a week before attending pivotal talks at the United Nations on Monday, said he believes a compromise can be reached that would not scrap the U.S. plan unveiled Nov. 15 and that would still accommodate the leading Shiite Muslim ayatollah.
"Sistani wants to be convinced that elections are not feasible at present, but he thinks what is being offered at present is not sufficient, not enough. He wants improvements in the process of caucuses," Pachachi said. "At the end of our meeting, Sistani said we have to try the best thing possible, which means the best that we can get."
The core problem, Pachachi added, is that Iraqis have no experience with caucuses. "I don't think he understands -- and very few in Iraq understand -- the complexity of caucuses," he said.
After subsequent talks at the State Department, Pachachi said that the caucuses "if conducted properly" will enable Iraqis to select a legislature that "really represents their views and is widely representative."
At a news conference with Pachachi, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said the United States is "totally committed" to helping Iraqis achieve a democratic form of government. "The United States will not find the road difficult. We will smooth it out. We will be with our Iraqi friends throughout this entire process," Powell told reporters.
The Bush administration and the Iraqi Governing Council want the United Nations to dispatch a team to Iraq to assess whether elections can be held before the U.S.-led occupation is set to end on June 30, and, if not, whether the caucus proposal should be altered.
Powell said he had spoken with Annan on Monday evening and the secretary general pledged to make a decision in "the very near future."
The Iraqi delegation, which included Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmed Chalabi, Abdel Aziz Hakim from the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zubari, also held talks at the Pentagon with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
----
Iraq seen as 'one big weapons dump'
U.S. military scrambles to counter threat from roadside bombs
By Ned Colt Correspondent
NBC News
Jan. 21, 2004
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4000820/
CAMP ANACONDA, Iraq - "Just keep 'em coming", said Master Sgt. Richard Haggan from the bottom of a 10-foot deep crater as he called for more of the explosive devices.
Above the crater about a dozen soldiers were offloading vintage mortar and artillery shells from a flatbed truck in the desert north of Baghdad. The weaponry -- a fraction of Saddam Hussein's arsenal -- came in all sizes and shapes and originated from as far away as China, formerYugoslavia and the former Soviet Union.
Coalition troops have already seized an estimated 2 million tons of aging explosives, but there's still another million believed spread around the country.
"One big weapons dump," is how the Americans describe the Iraqi countryside. "[They're] everywhere," Haggan said. "Every little village we go into on collection missions. There's buildings, there's houses being used to store ammunition."
This particular load was being layered in the crater like seafood and corn for a New England clambake. On the bottom were the large artillery shells, topped with mortar shells of varying sizes and then the lean, rocket-propelled grenades.
Haggan expertly weaved inch-thick blocks of plastic explosive among the rusting munitions, then topped off the explosive store with a couple of RPG launchers, and an armful of 60's-era rifles. Sal Aridi / NBC News Old Iraqi ordnance goes up in smoke.
Soldiers climbed into a Humvee and drove back to a safe observation point 500 yards away.
A radio called out to clear the area of helicopters and other low-flying aircraft. A few minutes later the shout of "Fire in the hole!" was heard and a 200-foot-high blaze of searing orange flame erupted from the crater.
Another load of ordnance was destroyed. For coalition troops that meant less potential material for the roadside bombs that have been used with deadly effect by insurgents in Iraq.
IEDs The bombs, known in military parlance as Improvised Explosive Devices or IEDs, have become one of the most deadly threats facing American troops in Iraq.
According to U.S. estimates, more than 1,100 have been used against coalition troops and convoys since June, killing almost 80 American soldiers, and an unknown numbers of Iraqi civilians.
On Saturday, an IED cobbled together with two artillery shells buried under a road caused the death of three American soldiers and two Iraqi Civil Defense members near Baghdad. And on Wednesday, three soldiers were wounded when a similiar device exploded near Mosul.
The bombers are becoming more sophisticated in their techniques. Most of the IEDs are triggered from a safe distance -- by a mobile phone, a beeper, or a garage-door opener, military officials say.
"It's their weapon of choice," said Maj. Matt Cadicamo, a combat engineer with the 4th Engineers Battalion from Fort Carson, Colo.. He runs the Route One bomb squad, working at a small base outside Camp Anaconda to keep troops and convoys safe from attack.
Cadicamo has a tough job considering that more than 500 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq. Of those, 347 died as a result of hostile action and 154 died of non-hostile causes, the military said.
Analyzing the weapons Camp Anaconda is a sprawling logistics base about 60 miles north of Baghdad and all roads and all vehicles seem to converge there. Route One is packed with targets for bombers.
The weapons "started out very crude," Cadicamo said. "They've worked their way up to daisy chain together a number of artillery rounds. They're using tank rounds now, a lot of them electronically, remote detonated."
For the patrols who've watched the process evolve, the increasingly imaginative and deadly devices are unnerving.
Specialist Benjamin Chavez's job is to escort convoys in and out of Camp Anaconda. He proudly stood next to a modified Humvee, wrapped in steel plate, an innovation born out of the desire to survive.
"We weren't expecting what was going on," he admitted. "Every day when we're going out, it's always something. Whether it is small arms fire, getting hit by grenades, RPG, we've been hit by it all so far."
Sal Aridi / NBC News Spec. Benjamin Chavez
Chavez and others respectfully upended the chain of command, by suggesting and carrying out improvements to their vehicles.
His Humvee was modified in a nearby hangar by a team of Iraqi metalworkers armed with designs, steel plate, and plasma cutters. They cut a square foot hole in the door at eye level -- to better see any threat and to be able to fire back.
In order to adapt to the threat of attacks, close to 80 vehicles have been modified so far at Anaconda, from Humvees to flatbeds.
The flatbeds carry what looks like an observation post, a double walled tub of steel, with a locally made, heavy-duty gun mount that can carry a variety of weapons. Similar modifications are under way at bases across Iraq. Soldiers are using not only steel, but wooden beams and sandbags to better protect themselves.
Chavis, looking forward to returning home after a year's tour here, said, "When you're out on the road you feel a lot more protected, especially when you hear something that goes off on the side of the road. You're sure happy when you're behind it."
----
Iraqis Again Seek Elections and a Local Trial for Hussein
January 21, 2004
New York Times
By NEELA BANERJEE
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/21/international/middleeast/21IRAQ.html
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 20 - Thousands of Iraqis demonstrated again on Tuesday in four major cities, demanding that the United States turn over Saddam Hussein to stand trial here and renewing calls for direct elections as the first step toward self-rule.
The protesters, mainly Shiite Muslims, gathered in central Baghdad, at a square where a towering statue of Saddam Hussein was torn down by jubilant Iraqis in April; in Basra, in the south; and in Najaf and Kerbala, two Shiite holy cities.
On Monday as many as 100,000 Shiites flowed through the main arteries of the capital echoing the call of their most respected leader, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, for direct elections of the Iraqi government, which is to take over from the American-led civil administration by July 1.
The spate of demonstrations and a suicide-bomb attack in central Baghdad on Sunday that killed 25 people have heightened the sense of combustibility. On Tuesday night, a mortar shell landed inside the civil administration's compound, exploding in the parking lot of a building that houses many offices and some soldiers.
As many as 5,000 people in Baghdad called Tuesday for Mr. Hussein to be handed over quickly to Iraq to stand trial as a war criminal. The United States is now holding him as a prisoner of war, and L. Paul Bremer III, the head of the civil administration here, reiterated in an interview on Tuesday with CNN in Washington that Mr. Hussein would be transferred to Iraqi authorities in the future.
That standing pledge failed to convince the marchers in Baghdad, many of them followers of Moktada al-Sadr, a young cleric and harsh critic of American policies in Iraq. Some protesters called for Mr. Hussein's execution.
The broader issue, however, remained the mechanism by which the Americans plan to turn over authority. The civil administration now plans to relinquish power to a government chosen by caucuses in Iraq's 18 provinces. The Americans argue that the timetable is too short for valid elections.
Long denied power under successive imperial and native governments, Iraq's Shiites, about 60 percent of the population, want direct elections, which they believe would tilt authority to them.
Against the backdrop of such political tensions, Iraq's external debt was reduced on Tuesday when the United Arab Emirates said it would forgive most of the $3.8 billion debt owed by Iraq, The Associated Press reported. The announcement, made by Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed, crown prince of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the Emirates, followed a recent visit by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, who has been appointed by the Bush administration to persuade countries to forgive Iraq's prodigious debts.
Iraq owes a total of about $120 billion. Arab countries hold about $80 billion of the debt, and the so-called Paris Club of industrial nations the remaining $40 billion.
-------
Iraqis Want U.N. Verdict on Feasibility of Elections
January 21, 2004
By REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-iraq.html
BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq's most influential Shi'ite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, is likely to drop his demand for early elections if the United Nations concludes they would not be feasible, a Shi'ite political leader said Wednesday.
The comments by the head of Iraq's Shi'ite Dawa party were likely to be some comfort for coalition powers facing mass protests by Shi'ites demanding polls before a handover of power. Washington may also draw encouragement from an announcement by Saudi Arabia it could discuss a major reduction of Iraqi debt.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is considering sending a team to Iraq at the request of the occupying powers and the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council to study whether it would be possible to hold a national election in the next few months.
Washington criticized the United Nations for failing to back the war to topple Saddam Hussein and long resisted any role for the organization in postwar Iraq. But it now wants U.N. help to salvage its own plan to transfer sovereignty to Iraqis.
The original plan was for regional caucuses to select a transitional assembly by the end of May, and for this assembly to pick an interim government that would take back sovereignty at the end of June. Full elections would follow in 2005.
But Sistani, revered by many among Iraq's 60 percent Shi'ite majority, has insisted on direct elections to choose a sovereign government. Mass demonstrations have been held in several cities to back his demand.
Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a leading member of the Governing Council as well as head of the Dawa party, said he believed Sistani would accept the findings of any U.N. team.
``If there is a U.N. delegation that has a background in electoral and census matters, and has an open dialogue...one side may be convinced by what the other says,'' Jaafari said.
``Whatever the result, if it comes to an agreement, I believe Sayyid Sistani will accept that.''
Jaafari said there was agreement that direct elections were preferable. The question was whether they were feasible now.
QUESTION OF TIMING
Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, said the occupying powers were also in favor of elections as soon as they could be held.
``We have to work with great respect for him (Sistani) and similar leaders. ... We want elections as soon as it is feasible to hold them,'' he said.
``A large part of this comes down to ... technical issues,'' he said, citing insecurity in parts of Iraq and the absence of electoral registers. ``This needs to be discussed through.''
A Saudi government statement issued after talks between de facto ruler Crown Prince Abdullah and Washington envoy James Baker said Saudi Arabia was ready to discuss a major reduction of the $30 billion debt it is owed by Iraq.
It did not specify how much of the debt, mostly incurred during Iraq's 1980-1988 war with Iran, might be cut. But it said Prince Abdullah told Baker he wanted to see ``stability and prosperity'' and a sovereign government in place.
Congressional sources and budget analysts said President Bush may seek an additional $40 billion or more for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan next year -- on top of the $400-billion military budget he will send to Congress next month.
But Bush is unlikely to send the request to Congress until after the November presidential election to minimize any political damage, the sources said.
In his State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, President Bush vowed the handover of power in Iraq would not be derailed by guerrilla ``thugs'' who have inflicted hundreds of casualties on U.S.-led forces.
-------- israel / palestine
Israeli Court Issues Bribery Charge Tied to Sharon
January 21, 2004
By GREG MYRE
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/21/international/middleeast/21CND-MIDE.html?hp
JERUSALEM, Jan. 21 - An Israeli court today indicted a prominent businessman on charges of attempting to bribe Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the late 1990's, when he was foreign minister.
The case raises potentially serious legal and political issues for Mr. Sharon, and prompted calls for his resignation by his political opponents. The prime minister has been under investigation for months in two cases of possible political corruption, but has not been charged.
Mr. Sharon has denied any wrongdoing, and did not comment on the issue today. Aides said he was continuing with his regular schedule.
The indictment in the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court alleges that a real estate developer, David Appel, paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Mr. Sharon's son Gilad and to the Sharon family ranch with the aim of getting Mr. Sharon's help in promoting real estate projects.
According to the indictment, Mr. Appel agreed in 1998 to make multiple payments, totaling $3 million, to Mr. Sharon's son.
After the agreement was reached, Mr. Appel paid out $100,000 to Gilad Sharon and nearly $600,000 to the Sharon family ranch, which is owned by Gilad Sharon, the indictment said.
The senior Mr. Sharon has lived at the ranch for years, and continues to stay there when not at the prime minister's official residence in Jerusalem.
Mr. Appel hired Gilad Sharon to promote the planned development of a Greek island resort, even though the younger Mr. Sharon "did not have the relevant professional skills," the indictment said.
During 1998 and 1999, Mr. Appel paid "exorbitant funds to the son of Ariel Sharon for the goal of getting action from Ariel Sharon in his public roles," the indictment reads.
In addition, the indictment charges that Mr. Appel also tried to bribe Ehud Olmert, who was then mayor of Jerusalem and who is now deputy prime minister.
Mr. Appel's Greek island project never won approval. The indictment said he also sought help with real estate deals in Israel. Mr. Appel's lawyer, Moshe Israel, said his client was innocent.
"There was no bribery, there was no giver and there was no taker," Mr. Israel was quoted as saying in the Israeli media.
Hillel Sommer, a constitutional law scholar at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, said that the case would probably take years to play out.
Even if the prime minister was indicted at a later stage, he would not be required to step down while legal proceedings were under way, Mr. Sommer said.
"The filing of charges may have political significance, but there is certainly no legal requirement for the prime minister to resign," Mr. Sommer said. "The law sets the procedure of terminating the prime minister's tenure, and specifically puts it after a conviction."
However, the case could create political problems for Mr. Sharon. His four-party coalition holds 68 of the 120 seats in Parliament and has been stable in the year since Mr. Sharon's dominant Likud Party won a landslide election victory.
However, Mr. Sharon could face pressure from within the Likud to step down, or opposition parties could propose a no-confidence vote in Parliament, political analysts said.
Corruption investigations are an almost permanent feature of political life in Israel, and it remains unclear whether the inquiries involving Mr. Sharon will lead to any charges.
Mr. Sharon's two predecessors, Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu, both faced long-running investigations that were ultimately dropped without charges being filed.
--------
Israeli Warplanes Attack 2 Hezbollah Bases in Lebanon
January 21, 2004
By GREG MYRE
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/21/international/middleeast/21MIDE.html
JERUSALEM, Jan. 20 - Israeli warplanes bombed two Hezbollah bases in southern Lebanon on Tuesday in retaliation for a missile attack that killed an Israeli soldier along the border a day earlier, the Israel military said.
No casualties were reported from Lebanon. In the past, Hezbollah has evacuated bases when an Israeli attack has appeared imminent.
Witnesses said the strikes were directed at Hezbollah positions near Alman and Zibkin, two villages several miles north of the border, Reuters reported from Beirut.
Israel and Hezbollah still exchange artillery fire in the region despite Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000. Israeli planes also make frequent reconnaissance flights, but airstrikes are rare. The strike on Tuesday was the first in several months.
Israeli military officials spent several hours on Tuesday discussing a response to the missile attack by Hezbollah, and the raid was directed at bases used for training and for attacks on Israel, said a military spokeswoman, Maj. Sharon Feingold.
"Israel will not allow Hezbollah to unleash terror against Israel with impunity," said David Baker, an official in the office of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. But the limited scale of the raid suggested that Israel did not intend to engage in a major confrontation.
In the attack on Monday, Israel said, Hezbollah guerrillas fired a missile that struck an armored military bulldozer that was trying to detonate roadside bombs.
Israel first said that the bulldozer had not left Israeli territory, but military officials acknowledged Tuesday that it had strayed just across the frontier. That did not justify the Hezbollah attack, the officials said.
Because of the rugged landscape, Israel has built a barrier inside its territory a few yards south of the border. The bulldozer went to the northern side of the barrier to detonate the roadside bombs, but because it was so large and could not easily maneuver, it crossed the border by one to two yards, Brig. Gen. Yair Golan said on Israel radio.
Milos Strugar, a spokesman with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, which monitors the border region, said the Israeli bulldozer was on the Lebanese side when it was hit, Agence France-Presse reported.
After Israeli troops withdrew from southern Lebanon nearly four years ago, ending two decades of occupation, the border was marked by the United Nations. Hezbollah rejects the United Nations findings and says that Israel still holds a small patch of Lebanese land.
Israel complains that the Lebanese government has refused to deploy its army along the border, which is controlled by Hezbollah, a fundamentalist Shiite Muslim movement.
Israel says Hezbollah receives substantial support from both Syria and Iran. "Israel considers Syria directly responsible for any terror activity emanating from Lebanon," Major Feingold said.
Last October, Israel bombed what it said was a Palestinian training base near Damascus, the Syrian capital. The strike came a day after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 21 Israelis. Syria said the site was used by civilians but refused to let journalists visit.
Last month, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria raised the possibility of renewing talks on the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 war. But Israel has shown little interest in such talks, saying it wants Syria to first take a number of steps, like reining in Hezbollah.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, speaking in Washington, blamed Hezbollah for the latest confrontation. "We believe that all parties interested in peace should condemn that kind of action by Hezbollah," he said.
Also on Tuesday, Israeli forces destroyed or badly damaged about 25 homes in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, and knocked down the remains of a mosque that had been hit in a previous Israeli incursion, Palestinian residents said. Palestinian officials said that several hundred people were left homeless.
Israeli military officials said the soldiers were searching for a tunnel used to smuggle weapons from Egypt. No tunnel was found, but the soldiers came under Palestinian fire and tore down buildings being used by the gunmen, the military said.
A synagogue at Tapuah West, a West Bank outpost, was demolished by soldiers after they scuffled with dozens of radical settlers who had tried to block them. But the soldiers left untouched about 10 residential trailers at the outpost, several miles south of Nablus.
The synagogue, a simple structure of wood and tin, was singled out because it was built by followers of Rabbi Meir Kahane, who led an anti-Arab movement until his assassination in 1990 in New York. The movement, Kach, is outlawed in Israel.
The Middle East peace plan calls for Israel to take down all outposts erected since March 2001. To date, Israel has removed about a dozen, but more than 50 remain, according to Peace Now, a monitoring group.
-------- prisoners of war
Military Lawyer Slams U.S. Terrorism Tribunals
Wed January 21, 2004
(Reuters)
By Deborah Charles
http://www.reuters.com/printerFriendlyPopup.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=4179427
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Marine Corps lawyer assigned to defend an Australian terror suspect being held at the Guantanamo naval base in Cuba Wednesday criticized the military tribunal process and said it will not allow a fair trial.
Maj. Michael Mori, who in November was assigned to be the military attorney for David Hicks -- an Australian held at the U.S. military prison in Cuba -- said the system set up by the Pentagon for trials of non-U.S. citizens captured during what U.S. officials call the war on terror was unfair.
"The military commissions will not provide a full and fair trial," Mori told a news conference. "The commission process has been created and controlled by those with a vested interest only in convictions."
"Fairness is extremely important in all cases, particularly those that have commanded such international attention and will have international impact," he said.
Mori has met three times with Hicks, who has been held for two years in Guantanamo Bay along with hundreds of other prisoners detained during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.
None of the roughly 660 prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay has yet been charged with any crimes although Pentagon officials have suggested that military trials for some could begin soon.
Most held at the base were arrested during the U.S. war that toppled the Taliban in Afghanistan. Washington accused the Taliban of harboring al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who is blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
President Bush authorized the military commission trials two months after the Sept. 11 attacks.
"STRIKING INJUSTICE"
The tribunals have sparked criticism in the United States and abroad from rights groups and legal activists who say the procedures are designed to produce convictions.
Mori agreed, saying, "Using the commission process just creates an unfair system that threatens to convict the innocent and provides the guilty a justifiable complaint as to their convictions."
Under the rules, the Pentagon can monitor communications between prisoners and their lawyers, and there is no independent judicial review process. Appeals go only to a special military review panel named by the Pentagon, to the secretary of defense or the president.
Mori and four other military defense lawyers filed a brief with the Supreme Court last week challenging the constitutionality of the tribunals. In a friend-of-the-court brief filed to the U.S. high court in connection with a suit challenging some prisoners' detention, they argued that foreign terrorism suspects being tried in the tribunals should be given the right to appeal to civilian courts.
Australia, which opposes the death penalty, already has won assurances from the United States that Hicks and another Australian detainee, Mamdouh Habib, could not be sentenced to death. Both men would also be allowed to return home to serve any prison sentences if convicted.
Mori said the most "striking injustice" of the system was that commission members, who take the place of an independent judge, do not have the authority to decide issues that could end up in the dismissal of a charge.
Mori said although he and other military lawyers assigned to defend prisoners at Guantanamo Bay had complained about the tribunal system, their concerns had not been addressed.
Mori, who said he called the news conference to draw attention to problems in the tribunal system, said the existing military justice system was a better alternative.
"There is no valid reason to create a new justice system only for non-U.S. citizens," he said.
-------- space
NASA's New Antiterrorism Mission
By Noah Shachtman
Jan. 21, 2004
Wired News
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,61987,00.html
NASA researchers are using data gleaned from flight-safety records, including reports of sick passengers, bad weather and sleepy pilots, to build an antiterror database.
Under the generic name Data Mining and Aviation Security, computer scientists at NASA's Ames Research Center are developing a program for predicting terrorist threats by integrating "the Internet and classified intelligence data" with information from two flight-safety databases.
The program is the second recent example of a NASA effort to mine information storehouses for enemies of the state. Over the weekend, the Electronic Privacy Information Center revealed that Northwest Airlines forked over millions of passenger records to the space agency for a terrorist-screening project, an effort enhanced with data from the 1990 U.S. census. Although the new program's budget is undersized -- less than $1 million, according to Ames spokesman David Morse -- civil libertarians are troubled by the effort. Such projects are a waste of resources, they say, especially at a time when the space agency is gearing up for a return to the Moon.
"This is 21st-century phrenology," said privacy advocate Bill Scannell, referring to the discredited art of reading people's personalities from the bumps on their heads. "You might as well stick a couple of employees in a subbasement and have them read tea leaves."
The Data Mining and Aviation Security effort relies on a pair of NASA databases. The Aviation Data Integration System, or ADIS, brings together weather reports, information from airplanes' "black box" flight-data recorders and notes from air traffic controllers to "pinpoint potential problems in flight operations," according to a NASA online description. Delta, American and Alaska airlines are among the carriers supplying data to the system.
The second NASA database, called the Aviation Safety Reporting System, or ASRS, collects 28 varieties of air safety "incident reports," covering everything from parachutist conflicts to bird collisions. The idea, NASA notes, is to catalog "unsafe occurrences and hazardous situations" in order to boost the "quality of human performance in the aviation system."
Submitted by flight crews, air traffic controllers and maintenance workers, the more than 300,000 ASRS reports are brief descriptions of every kind of aviation anomaly -- even an airsick passenger.
"Severe turb(ulence). We rocked and rolled. We were tossed like salad. Pax (short for "passengers") with kids were trying to assist with vomit clean-up and we had to yell at one man to sit in the aisle," reads a typical ASRS report. "Pax don't have the slightest idea of what turb can cause. Someone needs to put out an informational video or pamphlet."
NASA has a long history of undertaking mind-bending projects, from beaming electricity to the moon to founding interplanetary bases.
But these programs all have focused on the business of space. What concerns NASA watchers is whether the agency is spending its cash on homeland security when it's ramping up for a big moon-and-Mars thrust.
"Who is paying for this (data mining) work?" asks Alex Roland, a Duke University historian of the space program. "If it is coming out of the NASA budget, then it is clearly beyond the scope of the agency's mission." For years, NASA has been involved in data mining designed to help formulate a better understanding of the universe. Space telescopes generate a tremendous amount of information, and gleaning what's important takes sophisticated data-crunching techniques. Discovery of Anomalies in Spatiotemporal Data and Identifying Structures in the Distribution of Galaxies With Their Seeds in the Cosmic Microwave Background are two recent examples of data-intense NASA projects. However, in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the space agency is turning its data-mining expertise to more earthbound matters, like homeland defense.
NASA's David Morse emphasized that all the flight-safety reports the agency is using have been stripped of personal and corporate names, or "de-identified." But Scannell said that shouldn't make travelers rest easy because the NASA effort still can use "behavioral profiling."
"Anyone who gets irate because they got bumped off a flight now could have a terror matrix put on them," Scannell said.
NASA's antiterror turn came to light only after Freedom of Information Act requests filed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center compelled the agency to spill. EPIC has been mounting an ongoing campaign to discover the boundaries of the Bush administration's travel-security programs.
In the documents turned over to EPIC, NASA researchers acknowledge using Northwest Airlines and U.S. census data to test their passenger-screening system. Following that disclosure, EPIC is filing a complaint with the Department of Transportation against the carrier, alleging unfair and deceptive trade practices.
But it appears there's more information lurking on NASA hard drives.
The agency refused to give EPIC a number of documents, citing "trade secrets." The privacy group plans on suing NASA in northern California's U.S. District Court this week, in a bid to force the space agency to turn over the remaining evidence about its antiterror efforts.
-------- spies
Former Peru Spy Chief Stands Trial for Colombia Weapons Deal
January 21, 2004
By JUAN FORERO
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/21/international/americas/21COLO.html?pagewanted=all
BOGOTÁ, Colombia, Jan. 20 - The former chief of Peru's intelligence service went on trial in Lima on Tuesday to face charges that he had provided rebels in neighboring Colombia with 10,000 assault rifles purchased from Jordan in a complex transaction involving Brazilian drug lords and a Ukrainian flight crew.
The spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, is accused of having orchestrated a plan in which the rifles were air-dropped in 1999 to rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
At the time, Mr. Montesinos was a close ally of the United States, and the Clinton administration was pushing through a $1.3 billion aid package to support Colombia's war against Marxist guerrillas.
Mr. Montesinos, 58, has been in custody since 2001 and is facing dozens of trials on charges ranging from drug trafficking to authorizing assassinations. He had been a paid informant of the C.I.A. beginning in the 1970's, providing intelligence used in the fight against drugs and terrorism in the Andes, according to the Peruvian authorities. At the same time, Mr. Montesinos was involved in drug trafficking, prosecutors charged.
"These facts destroy Vladimiro Montesinos's reputation as a fighter of terrorism," Ronald Gamarra, the special prosecutor in the case, said in a telephone interview on Tuesday night. "He did not fight terrorism. He instead gave arms and support to Colombian guerrillas."
Through his spy apparatus and close ties to former President Alberto Fujimori, he also controlled congressmen, newspaper editors and government agencies.
Videotapes he took of government officials taking bribes ensured their fealty.
With the help of an international arms dealer, Sarkis Soghanalian, prosecutors say, Mr. Montesinos purchased AK-47s that were sold to the Colombians in four shipments in 1999.
The guns were dropped into Vichada State from a Ukraine-registered cargo plane. The rebels paid more than $750,000 in cash, Mr. Gamarra said, with the money coming from an $8 million cocaine deal they cut with Brazilian traffickers.
Mr. Gamarra said there was no proof that the C.I.A. knew beforehand that the arms would wind up in the hands of the rebels. He said the tribunal would seek additional testimony from the director of central intelligence, George J. Tenet, and the C.I.A. officer in Lima at the time, Robert Gorelick. United States officials did not immediately comment.
American intelligence officials have said that Jordanian officials told the C.I.A. in Amman that the government was planning to sell rifles to the Peruvian military. The agency signed off on the sale, only to learn later that the rifles had been smuggled into Colombia.
After the C.I.A. learned of the arms smuggling, Mr. Fujimori and Mr. Montesinos, trying to shield themselves, announced that they had "uncovered" the deal and blamed Lt. José Luis Aybar and his brother and fellow officer, Luis Frank Aybar.
Officials in Colombia and Jordan, however, challenged the Peruvian government and the truth was soon revealed.
Investigators later learned that Mr. Soghanalian, a Lebanese citizen who lives in the United States, had brokered the transaction after being contacted by the Aybars through an intermediary in Miami. Mr. Soghanalian, who maintains that he did not know the weapons were bound for Colombian rebels, is being tried in absentia.
-------- us
Army digs in on copter-defense system
January 21, 2004
By Rowan Scarborough
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040120-102821-1524r.htm
The Army is sticking by a decision to develop its own countermissile system to protect helicopters from the kind of attacks being committed by Iraqi guerrillas, instead of buying an off-the-shelf model now on special-operations aircraft and on Air Force One.
The debate has heated up inside the Army in the aftermath of 10 copters being shot down in Iraq by die-hard Saddam Hussein loyalists. In some attacks, the insurgents used heat-seeking portable missiles that existing, less-advanced countermeasures failed to stop.
The attacks have claimed the lives of 49 soldiers.
The rash of shoot-downs has prompted some aviators and Army officials to say privately that the service should begin buying an available system called the Directional Infrared Counter Measure (DIRCM).
DIRCM is now operational on a number of Air Force aircraft, including C-130 gunships and transports in U.S. Special Operations Command. It is also on Air Force One and some C-17 planes that regularly fly into Baghdad.
The C-17 that carried Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld into the city after the war sprouts a DIRCM defensive pod that emits an antimissile laser. Northrop Grumman Corp. builds the DIRCM, which became operational in the late 1990s.
The Army, however, chose a different protection system.
Last November - at which point three Army helicopters had been shot down since President Bush declared an end to major hostilities on May 1 - the Army faced a final procurement decision. It could buy the DIRCM or stick with its original choice - the advanced threat infrared countermeasures/common missile warning system (ATIRCM/CMWS).
The Army decided to stand pat, meaning the soonest Army aviators will begin getting the full benefits of the new system is late 2005.
Army officials, who talked on the condition of anonymity, defended the decision on several points.
They said both systems would take about the same time to install on the Army's entire fleet of 2,500 helicopters. They also said installing the off-the-shelf DIRCM system would cost $3 million per aircraft, about 50 percent more than the other system. And they said DIRCM does not feature chaff and flares that act as decoys to throw the missiles off course.
Backers of DIRCM, who likewise declined to be identified, dispute the Army schedule estimate. They said that when the Air Force decided to buy it for its MH-53 special-operations copter, Northrop Grumman installed the first one in 62 days.
They also say the company's proposed cost is less than $3 million. They said DIRCM does not need a flare dispenser because its laser can defeat all types of shoulder-fired missiles. However, the devices mean life or death to hundreds of military personnel targeted by Iraqi guerrillas.
Both systems have the same defensive function. They detect the launch of a hand-held missile to alert aviators and dispense a countermeasure. In DIRCM, it's an infrared laser beam that interferes with the missile's guidance system; the ATIRCM activates decoys and fires a laser.
After a CH-47 Chinook helicopter was downed by a Soviet-made SA-7 missile on Nov. 2, killing 16 American soldiers, Army acting Secretary Les Brownlee ordered a complete review of countermeasure systems, both planned and in use.
At the review's end, the Army decided to accelerate ATIRCM development and production so the complete system can start being installed by late 2005.
Some of the 10 copters shot down in Iraq were struck by gunfire or rocket-propelled grenades, neither of which can be countered by either proposed defense system. But military sources say others were attacked by shoulder-fired rockets officially called Manpads, for man-portable air-defense systems.
The most prevalent in Iraq is the Soviet-designed SA-7. But military sources say two more-advanced Russian weapons, the SA-14 and SA-18, are also in Iraq. These missiles have the capability to lock onto different heat points on the aircraft, making it tougher for missile defenses to counter.
----
Head of Army Reserve plans big changes
Wed Jan 21, 2004
USA Today
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/20040121/ts_usatoday/headofarmyreserveplansbigchanges
In a meeting with reporters that was by Pentagon standards extraordinarily candid, Lt. Gen. James Helmly said the Army Reserve has botched recent troop call-ups, failed to adapt its culture to the post-Sept. 11 world and has sometimes treated its soldiers with less respect than they deserve.
Helmly, who commands the 205,000-member Army Reserve, talked about how he plans to fix the problems:
• Army Reserve recruiters will be candid with civilians they are recruiting and will tell them that if they enlist, they probably will be called up for active duty at least once in a span of four to five years.
• Beginning next year, the Army Reserve will close an unspecified number of its 2,091 units because it cannot fill all of them. Helmly said the Army Reserve force structure was designed in an era when having the maximum number of units, even if they couldn't all be fully manned, was accepted policy.
• The Army Reserve is crafting a deployment schedule similar to one used by the Air Force to give troops months or even years of advance notice for lengthy call-ups.
• Helmly said he has instructed commanders to do whatever it takes to get the right equipment to soldiers headed overseas. He cited one case of officers who purchased large quantities of sports bras and underwear at a local department store for female troops headed to Iraq.
The changes come as National Guard and Reserve troops - most of whom are part-time soldiers - face unusual stresses.
This spring, the Pentagon plans to rotate about 39,000 Guard and Reserve troops into Iraq, where part-time troops will make up nearly 40% of the 105,000 U.S. troops there by May.
The total number of Army Reserve and Army National Guard troops on active duty is just more than 163,000, Helmly said.
Together, the Army Guard and Reserve have about 550,000 troops.
Helmly spoke about how Army Reserve commanders failed to give advance notice to thousands of reservists called up for the war in Iraq. About 10,000 Army Reserve troops, he said, were given five days notice before being ordered to active duty.
An additional 8,000, he said, mobilized for active-duty service and never deployed.
By way of explaining how the Army Reserve has not done a good job of making soldiers feel "wanted and respected," Helmly said he recently discovered that commanders had failed to promote 13,000 privates who were eligible for higher rank.
"We have not applied positive leadership in how we treat people," he said. "We're not going to run this like a doggone flesh farm."
----
Army Reserve Chief Fears Retention Crisis
Helmly Faults Open-Ended Deployments, Shortages of Equipment in Iraq War
By Vernon Loeb
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33386-2004Jan20.html
The head of the Army Reserve said yesterday that the 205,000-soldier force must guard against a potential crisis in its ability to retain troops, saying serious problems are being "masked" temporarily because reservists are barred from leaving the military while their units are mobilized in Iraq.
Lt. Gen. James R. Helmly said his staff is working on an overhaul of the reserve aimed in part at treating soldiers better and being more honest with them about how long they're likely to be deployed. Helmly said the reserve force bureaucracy bungled the mobilization of soldiers for the war in Iraq, and gave them a "pipe dream" instead of honest information about how long they might have to remain there.
"This is the first extended-duration war our nation has fought with an all-volunteer force," said Helmly. "We must be sensitive to that. And we must apply proactive, preventive measures to prevent a recruiting-retention crisis."
Helmly said his staff is engaged in an overhaul of the reserve aimed at turning the Army's part-time soldiers into a top-flight fighting force that can handle the strains of the global war on terrorism. In a Pentagon briefing for defense reporters, Helmly outlined an array of planned changes and bluntly described the force he took over in May 2002 as being dominated by bureaucrats who often ignored soldiers' needs.
In a recent memo, Helmly said, he told his subordinates that he was "really tired of going to see our reserve soldiers [and finding] they're short such simple things as goggles. It's about damn time you listen to your lawyers less and your conscience more. That will probably get me in trouble. But I told them, I want this stuff fixed."
Reservists in Iraq have long complained about having to spend a year there with inadequate equipment, including a lack of body armor.
Most reservists went to Iraq last year on year-long mobilizations, with a belief that they would be required to spend only six months in the country. But they were abruptly informed in September that they would have to spend 12 months in Iraq, pushing the total length of many reservists' mobilizations to 16 months or longer.
Analysts inside and outside the military say these long overseas mobilizations could have the effect of driving reservists out of the military in droves once they begin returning from Iraq over the next several months. After that, the service will lift the "stop-loss" provisions that prohibit soldiers from quitting the reserve when their hitches are up.
Helmly said he has not been surprised by such criticism. "The [Iraq] mobilization was so fraught with friction that it really put a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths," he said. "We had about 10,000 who had less than five days' notice that they were going to be mobilized. Then we had about 8,000 who were mobilized, got trained up, and never deployed."
"No sooner do the statues of Saddam Hussein start tumbling down, then the guidance was, start planning to demobilize everybody," Helmly said, only to find in July that a growing insurgency required remobilizing 4,000 to 5,000 of the 8,000 that were initially mobilized but never deployed.
"One lesson I have certainly learned . . . it is imperative that we communicate with our soldiers and their families in advance, and that we not set false expectations," Helmly said.
To that end, Helmly said, a "major order culture change" is taking place in the reserve so that reservists know, upon joining, that they will be called up to active duty for between nine and 12 months every four to five years.
As part of that change, he said, the current total of 2,091 reserve units will be reduced significantly so that every unit -- typically a support company of about 150 soldiers -- is manned, equipped and ready to go to war, if necessary.
Currently, 226,000 soldiers would be necessary to man all those units. But the Army Reserve is only authorized by Congress to have 205,000 soldiers, Helmly said, and at any given time, only between 160,000 and 175,000 of them are available for mobilization.
"We will in fact inactivate units beginning next year specifically to harvest the strength so we can man fully our remaining units," Helmly said, adding that maintenance and "water support" units will be reduced in favor of more military police, civil affairs and heavy truck transport detachments.
"I'm often asked by families, how do you know you'll be able to recruit for this force?" Helmly said. "There are no knowns; we're treading new virgin territory here. But most of our people will respond well to the initiatives we're putting forward. They don't wish to be part of a second-class team."
--------
Chaplain Puts Green Beret Past to Use With Troops
Exploits Inspire 'Awe Factor' in Iraqi Thicket
By Pamela Constable
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, January 21, 2004; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A33504-2004Jan20?language=printer
VOLTURNO BASE, Iraq -- By day, this military camp is a self-contained American bubble in a bizarre setting. Off-duty soldiers listen to country music, watch big-screen basketball, eat grilled steaks, read e-mail from home and jog around an artificial lake, built on a landscaped former resort for Saddam Hussein's cronies and loyalists.
By night, the base becomes a launching pad for forays into another world that is equally surreal but far more dangerous. Lightless convoys rumble into the nearby city of Fallujah, where troops hop out and creep through deserted streets, searching houses for enemies and weapons. Then they rapidly withdraw, listening for the crack of gunfire and praying they will make it back to the base without a bomb exploding in their path.
On most missions, the raiders of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment are accompanied by Dan Knight, a strapping captain with a shaved head, an aw-shucks drawl and an awesome résumé: 12-year Green Beret, Persian Gulf War combat veteran, Special Forces company commander, demolitions expert, high-altitude jumper and deep-sea scuba diver.
Knight carries no weapon, though he mightily wishes he could. Instead, tucked in his rucksack is a book covered in camouflage canvas that says "Army of the Lord."
Knight is the regimental chaplain, a soldier's soldier who switched gears in mid-career, spent two years at a Louisiana seminary and reappeared in Afghanistan and Iraq carrying a military-issue Bible.
"Being a noncombatant is not exactly my cup of tea, but if it's what God wants me to do, I'll abide," said Knight, 37, whose duties are to nurture the living, comfort the wounded and honor the dead. "I don't crave combat, but I fight to get on every mission I can. There's nothing more rewarding to me than being on the battlefield, praying with a wounded man."
Knight spends little time in his quarters, a makeshift wooden chapel with an attached bunk room, built on the ruins of a lakefront cafe at the Hussein-era "Dreamland" resort that was bombed by U.S. forces last April. On Sunday mornings he leads a simple Protestant service, but attendance is usually sparse.
Last Sunday, the service drew fewer than a dozen of the 800 troops at Volturno, about one-third of whom wear dog tags stamped "no religious preference." Knight readily acknowledged it's hard to drum up enthusiasm among men who are often out on raids until 3 a.m.
Out in the field, though, the soldiers' appreciation for his presence is clear. When the commando chaplain jumps into an armored Humvee bound for Fallujah, the nervous jokes stop and a sense of calm seems to pervade the soldiers gripping their rifles in the back of the vulnerable, open vehicle.
"With Dan, there's a bit of an awe factor at work," said 1st Sgt. Chris Dunn, a close friend and fellow Army Ranger who is also with the 82nd Airborne Division. "He can relate to any soldier because he's done everything, and he automatically commands their respect. He's just got an extra chain of command than the rest of us do."
Knight, a native of Mississippi, was reticent about what motivated his extraordinary leap from survivalist to seminarian. Last weekend, while showing off snapshots of his wife and three children, he hinted at a hell-raising, extreme-sports past that nearly cost him his marriage. Later, he mentioned the autobiography of James D. Johnson, a combat chaplain in the Vietnam War, as a source of inspiration.
But Johnson's book, which Knight has heavily highlighted, is hardly the portrayal of a gung-ho patriot-priest. Instead, the author describes confronting the intimate moral dilemmas of war: agonizing over whether to destroy some girlie photos among the home-bound effects of a dead, and married, GI; wishing he could comfort the screaming children of a Vietnamese man shot by U.S. troops; having to lie to a frightened patient whose leg would have to be amputated.
Knight's mission in Iraq has involved similarly difficult moments, especially after the regiment's most painful episode since being deployed here in August. On Oct. 20, a team from Volturno was heading into Fallujah to organize distribution of school supplies. As they paused on the highway to search for mines, unseen hands detonated a powerful explosive device. Eight soldiers were wounded, and the squad's popular commander, Staff Sgt. Paul Johnson, 29, was killed.
Afterward, Johnson's men were wracked with conflicting emotions: anger, grief, guilt that they had survived, worry that they had somehow contributed to Johnson's death. According to several squad members, Knight helped them absorb and accept what had happened, both through private counseling and at a formal memorial service.
"We were all in shock," said Sgt. Michael Clay, 35. "I kept wondering if I had done everything I could have, if we had taken every precaution." For days the squad members were scattered, recovering in various clinics and barracks, but Knight "helped us see the bigger picture" and "mend as a group," Clay said.
There's another, more paradoxical aspect to Knight's role. In some ways, his main function is to help inexperienced troops reconcile their duty to kill with their respect for human life, and to help them cling to a sense of liberating mission in a country where people are increasingly hostile to the U.S. military presence.
In Fallujah, a city about 35 miles west of Baghdad that has been a hotbed of Sunni Muslim resistance to the U.S. occupation for months, the regiment's mission embodies both civilian outreach and military punishment. One day the troops are handing out book bags to children, the next night they are putting hoods over the heads of handcuffed men kneeling in the streets.
The regiment's commander, Lt. Col. Brian Drinkwine, euphemistically described the situation in Fallujah as "fluid and dynamic," with a murky mix of tribal chiefs, wealthy former members of Hussein's Baath Party, jobless youths and Islamic extremists. He said the regiment has worked hard to rebuild the city and reorganize local government, but he acknowledged the battle has been uphill.
"We've spent over half a million dollars on projects, and only 2 percent of the population is anti-coalition, but the Baathists and extremists use a lot of propaganda against us," Drinkwine said. When his troops conduct raids, they regularly encounter gunfire, rockets or explosives like the one that killed Johnson in October.
Even during goodwill missions, hostile crowds sometimes gather and residents sometimes shrink from the U.S. troops. One day, Knight said, he tried to hand a book bag to a woman on the street, but she quickly pulled her daughter away. "You could see the terror in her eyes," he said.
Knight said he harbors no religious enmity toward Muslims, although he believes that Islam and democracy may be fundamentally incompatible. Yet he professes an unshakable, holy warrior's conviction in the rightness of the U.S. mission and its long-term benefits for Iraqi society. By the same token, he seems to have no trouble reconciling his dual identity as soldier and spiritual guide to an occupying force.
"I believe in the nobility of what we're doing. It's not an occupation or an invasion, it's a classic battle between good and evil," he said Friday evening, sitting on his bunk before heading out on a midnight raid. "No one enjoys killing, but it can be a necessary evil to defend liberty." After all, Knight added, the army chaplains' Latin motto is "Pro Deo Et Patria" -- For God and Country.
An hour later he jumped into a crowded Humvee, waiting for the signal to move out. In the cab, an irreverent officer began insulting Knight's taste in "garbage" Christian music. But in back, a young soldier timidly inquired about training for the Special Forces, and everyone listened in admiration as Knight described surviving in the Georgia wilderness with little food or water.
Soon the convoy was moving through the silent, shuttered streets of Fallujah, passing ornate mosques and being chased by barking dogs. Knight hunkered down with the medics in an abandoned building while several squads fanned out, looking for Hussein loyalists and hidden weapons.
As eager for the hunt as any soldier, Knight listened to muffled radio commands and scanned the starry sky while invisible reconnaissance choppers droned overhead. Banned from carrying a gun under Geneva Convention rules, he wore fatigues, boots and night-vision binoculars that made the landscape glow bright green. When the raiders discovered a stash of grenade launchers in one suspect's house, there were high-fives all around.
Back on base, though, Knight's routine generally involves less drama and more mundane, morale-boosting efforts, such as distributing holiday gifts, delivering cocoa to camp sentinels, supervising construction of a Ping-Pong and library tent and sympathizing over news from home of a grandparent's death or a wife's unfaithfulness.
"I'm not a missionary looking for battlefield conversions," he asserted with a disarming grin. "I'm here to let the men know I care about them, and that God does, too."
Knight's bunk room behind the chapel reflects his calling: a shelf of religious books, a pile of Christian-flavored country music discs and a DVD collection that features "We Were Soldiers," starring Mel Gibson as an air cavalry officer from the Vietnam era who prays with his children before bed and his men before battle.
Yet Knight's approach to ministry is low-key, drawing more on military metaphors than Scriptures to reach his uniformed flock. Last Sunday he offered communion while dressed in camouflage fatigues, and closed with a powerful image from his daredevil exploits. "I've made 150 [high-altitude free-fall] jumps, and every one was an act of faith," he said quietly.
For some young troops at Volturno, the example seems to resonate. Andrew Jones, 26, a baby-faced specialist from West Virginia who joined the Army just weeks before he was deployed five months ago, said he arrived in the Iraqi war zone psychologically unprepared and morally torn.
"I've been a Christian all my life, but this is the first time I've been a Christian with a machine gun," Jones confided after chapel last Sunday. "This can be an ungodly profession at times, and you need to hold onto your inner values and still do your job." After spending some time under Knight's wing, he said, "I was able to call my parents and tell them I'd be okay."
-------- war crimes
Court studies Blair 'war crimes' claim
By Robert Verkaik, Legal Affairs Correspondent
UK Independent
21 January 2004
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/story.jsp?story=483213
Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court are considering a request by an international body of lawyers to try the Prime Minister for alleged war crimes during the invasion of Iraq.
A report alleging illegal deployment of cluster bombs and weapons using depleted uranium was handed to Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the court's chief prosecutor in The Hague, yesterday. He will decide whether to begin a formal investigation which could include questioning of Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General, and Geoff Hoon, the Secretary of State for Defence.
If he concludes that a prosecution has a "reasonable prospect of success", the case will go before the pre-trial chamber of the court, which has the power to try individuals and governments for war crimes. No case has been made against the US administration because America has not signed the treaty that established the court.
The report was written by eight international lawyers after a "war crimes inquiry" in London last November heard evidence from eye-witnesses and expert witnesses and leading counsel.
The panel concluded there was enough evidence for the prosecutor to investigate members of the Government for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes during the conflict and occupation.
They said that he should investigate the use of cluster bombs in urban areas, and whether attacks had been launched on non-military targets.They also want the prosecutor to look into attacks on media targets and whether weapons were used which caused excessive loss of life or injury to civilians.
Some of the families of British terrorist suspects held at Guantanamo Bay are being helped by a new human rights body to seek justice for their loved ones. The Guantanamo Human Rights Commission was launched by the actors Corin and Vanessa Redgrave yesterday to unite the families and lawyers of prisoners from across Europe.
-------- POLICE / PRISONERS / COURTS / JUSTICE
-------- police
Park Police Chief Turns Down a Deal
Offer to Drop Charges Included Stricture on Talking to Media, Chambers Says
By David A. Fahrenthold
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 21, 2004; Page A09
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33841-2004Jan21.html
U.S. Park Police Chief Teresa C. Chambers turned down an offer from the National Park Service that would have resulted in all charges against her being dropped because it would have required her to seek permission before talking to the media, a spokesman for Chambers said yesterday.
The offer was made to Chambers on Dec. 12 by her boss, Park Service Deputy Director Don Murphy, and an Interior Department lawyer, said Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which is representing Chambers. He said the offer required Chambers to agree that she would not talk to Congress or the media without prior approval. Ruch said she rejected it two days later.
That was disputed yesterday by John Wright, a spokesman for the Interior Department.
Wright confirmed that department lawyers made an offer to attorneys for Chambers that would have "resolved the outstanding issues" and resulted in charges against her being dropped.
But he said that there was no request that Chambers seek permission before interviews. "The control of media and communications was never a part of that offer," Wright said. He said the Park Service offered training in how to deal with Congress and the media. He did not offer more details, citing privacy concerns.
Chambers is awaiting a ruling from Paul Hoffman, a deputy assistant secretary of the Department of the Interior, on whether she will be fired, a ruling expected within a week or two, a spokeswoman for the Park Service said.
Ruch said yesterday that it had been Chambers's policy to let supervisors or media relations officials know when she was going to talk to reporters. But he said that this was a courtesy, and that such permission was not required.
Chambers rejected the offer, Ruch said, because she believed it would lead to micromanagement by Murphy. "She felt that there was just going to be more direction from Murphy on everything that crossed his desk," he said.
Experts on the federal bureaucracy said yesterday that some agencies encourage or require their employees to contact supervisors or designated spokespeople before talking to the media. But Elaine Sevy, a spokeswoman for the Park Service, said she knew of no rule prohibiting other Park Service employees from talking to reporters without permission.
Elaine Kaplan, a former head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which handles whistleblower cases, said a blanket policy of prohibiting federal employees from commenting publicly might violate the Whistleblower Protection Act, which allows employees to talk about anything that presents a public danger.
-------- terrorism
Foreign Policy Iraq as One Milestone In Global War on Terror
By Glenn Kessler and Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, January 21, 2004; Page A21
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33592-2004Jan20.html
President Bush, acknowledging "the work of building a new Iraq is hard," sought to use his election-year State of the Union address to portray his Iraq policy as part of a broader success story that has put dictators and rogue states around the world on notice.
Under the rubric of "the offense against terror," the president placed the Iraq war with a wide array of issues -- from North Korea's nuclear ambitions to Libya's decade-long effort to win the lifting of U.S. sanctions. For instance, the president claimed credit for Libya's decision to strike a deal to give up its weapons programs, suggesting that Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi was frightened by what happened to former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.
Much of the president's language was also designed to shift the focus away from the uncertain and messy effort to re-create Iraqi sovereignty and away from the search for Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction. The success of his presidency, his aides said, depends in large part on whether the campaign in Iraq is a success -- and whether it is seen as a success by the American people.
"He says he's comfortable with the direction of his administration and continues to pursue it," said Walter Russell Mead, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "He's not going to deviate, fall back, chicken out, waver or quiver. He's absolutely determined to go in this direction."
But several other experts said some of the president's rhetoric exceeded the reality on the ground, and would do little to restore the administration's credibility with allies angered by the administration's decision to go to war. Bush did not mention the Arab-Israeli conflict, which is especially important to European and Arab allies, or Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks who has long eluded capture.
A year ago, Bush all but declared war against Iraq in his State of the Union address, strongly suggesting a vast arsenal of banned weapons would be found in the country. Last night, however, he shifted his rhetoric, talking not about actual weapons but about the danger of Hussein's "programs" aimed at developing them. Many senior U.S. officials also suggested last year that U.S. forces would be greeted as liberators, not mired in a deadly conflict with insurgents. Last night, Bush acknowledged a "serious, continuing danger" in Iraq.
Bush defended the war, saying that "had we failed to act, the dictator's weapons of mass destruction programs would continue to this day." Bush said officials were still "seeking all the facts" about Iraq's weapons programs but noted that weapons searchers had already identified "dozens of weapons of mass destruction-related program activities."
Some foreign policy specialists said that Bush's phrase was essentially a way of saying searchers found only plans -- not actual weapons. "It rings kind of hollow," said Flynt L. Leverett, who until last year was a staff member on Bush's National Security Council specializing in Middle East issues. "He can't say, 'I took us to war on a false pretense.'"
"He completely shirked any responsibility for misjudging the Iraqi WMD programs," said Joseph Circincione, director of the non-proliferation program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "The major problem of the president is that nothing that he said about the Iraqi programs a year ago has turned out to be true and he tried to avoid this with some clever phrases and merging the WMD issue with the liberation of Iraq and the war on terrorism."
The Libya case increasingly has become a central feature of White House rhetoric on the war on terrorism, with administration aides saying that Libya reached out to the Americans and the British on the eve of the Iraq war. Other experts, however, point out that for the past decade Libya had been trying to reform and reintegrate with Europe. Gaddafi turned away from the radical Arab nationalism of the 1970s and 1980s.
Moreover, much of the diplomatic groundwork was laid by the Clinton administration, which offered Libya's needy government a diplomatic carrot if it agreed to accept responsibility for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, end its support of terrorism and surrender weapons of mass destruction. "It's a process that has been actively underway for at least five years," said one U.S. official yesterday. "Iraq probably only had a little to do with it."
In one section of the speech, Bush answered charges from his critics, especially Democrats, that the administration has spoiled relations with allies by adopting a go-it-alone policy. Bush named 17 countries that have provided troops in Iraq.
But the vast majority of the troops are American -- and support for the war was limited even in countries where leaders supported it.
"He talked about the objections of a few when it's fair to say that in most of the countries that supported us in Iraq, the majority of the people actually opposed what he was going. So he was disingenuous on the issue of allies," said Geoffrey Kemp, Reagan's national security council director for Middle East policy and senior fellow at the Nixon Center.
Mead was struck by Bush's determination to stick to the course he has set, even in the face of difficulties. "It's very interesting that he continues to point to the success of democratic reform in Afghanistan and Iraq as examples of the new democratic policy he wants to follow in the Middle East," he said. "He's nailing the colors of the U.S. ever harder to those masts. Suppose it doesn't work?"
-------- ENERGY AND OTHER
-------- alternative energy
Europe Struggles to Set Renewables Target for 2020
BERLIN, Germany, (ENS)
January 21, 2004
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2004/2004-01-21-02.asp
The European Commission is hampering moves to set an EU renewable energy target for 2020, it has emerged at the European Conference for Renewable Energy now underway in Berlin. Environmentalists have blamed Energy Commissioner Loyola de Palacio, accusing her of "stubbornly blocking" progress.
Co-organized by the Commission, the German government and the industry group European Renewable Energy Council (EREC), the Berlin meeting is meant to help prepare Europe's contribution to a wider meeting in Bonn in June. This in turn is aimed at producing a global renewables target as follow-up to the 2002 Johannesburg sustainability summit.
Last year Commission officials suggested the Berlin conference would be a vehicle for launching a 2020 EU target and when the conference opened on Monday EREC called for the EU to aim for 20 percent renewable energy by then.
The Wulfshagen wind farm in Schleswig Holstein, Germany has six Micon 2000/72 machines, among the largest wind turbines in the world. (Photo courtesy NEG Micon) However, the draft conference recommendation contains no quantified EU target. Environmental groups in Berlin are fighting to get one included, but comments by a senior Commission official suggest they will have a hard job.
Development of a 2020 EU target will have to wait for the arrival of new European commissioners after the election this autumn, Guenther Hanreich told reporters.
Also needed is a review, to be launched by the new Commission, of current EU legislation promoting renewables, he said.
In addition, Hanreich expressed concern that the EU might not meet its existing 2010 target of 12 percent renewable energy. "In our enthusiasm for 2020 targets we shouldn't forget to achieve our 2010 targets," he said.
Environmentalists have accused his political boss, Commissioner de Palacio, of "hijacking" the Berlin conference. hey cited her last minute withdrawal from the event and claimed she is anti-renewables and has an obsession with nuclear energy.
The German government is said to be irritated by the Commission's failure to back a clear 2020 target, but German Environment Minister Juergen Trittin would not comment publicly on the issue. The EU should set a "pioneering" target, he told delegates, but he refused to speculate on what this should be.
In a document prepared for the conference, de Palacio's Directorate-General for Energy and Transport acknowledged the "clear" need for financial support from the European Community for renewable energy.
"Several of the technologies, especially wind energy, but also small-scale hydro power, energy from biomass, and solar thermal applications, are economically viable and competitive," the directorate said. "The others, especially photovoltaic - silicon module panels directly generating electricity from the sun's light raher than heat - depend only on increasing demand and thus production volume to achieve the economy of scale necessary for competitiveness with central generation."
Financial support is needed, most stakeholders agree, but a long running argument over which financial support mechanism is best for promoting the industry rages on, the Berlin renewables conference has revealed.
The debate will intensify this year as the European Commission begins a review of the 2001 renewable electricity law. One issue the Commission must tackle is whether to propose a harmonized EU support method.
The main choice is between straight subsidies - giving generators guaranteed minimum prices for electricity on the German feed-in model - and market-based systems that set electricity suppliers a renewables quota, often involving tradable green certificates.
Feed-in systems provide a more certain return for investors and have generated huge expansions of wind power in Denmark, Germany and Spain.
Quotas are in theory more economically efficient and should promote competition and bring down costs. They operate in the UK, the Netherlands and Italy among others.
Advocates for both systems made their cases in Berlin on Tuesday.
Solar photovoltaic panels power a British building. (Photo courtesy FreeFoto) Ernesto Macias of the European photovoltaic industry insisted on "the need for a feed-in tariff for the whole of Europe."
Hermann Scheer, German MP and veteran renewables campaigner, said feed-in was better and that no harmonized EU support was needed for at least 10 to 15 years.
Johannes Lackmann of the German Renewable Energy Association also backed feed-in tariffs. He said they are politically more acceptable because they provide a direct link between subsidies and employment. He said they had bucked conventional wisdom and were producing prices lower than those in the UK's quota based scheme.
But Iain Todd of the UK Industry Ministry said he is confident that the quota scheme would achieve greater cost efficiency. The UK had sufficient faith in its approach to have recently announced an extension in its domestic renewables target from 10 percent by 2010 to 15 percent by 2015, he said.
Poul Erik Morthorst of the Ris National Laboratory in Denmark suggested that renewable energy costs would have fallen less in recent years had only feed-in support schemes been used.
The European Commission is said to be thoroughly polarized on the issue after it tried but failed to introduce a quota based harmonized EU system in 1999. Given progress now being made under a variety of support systems, the chances of a new attempt to specify a single support look slim.
Commission Awards Prizes to the Best Renewable Energy Projects
Today, on the last day of the conference, the EU Awards of the Renewable Energy Campaign for Take-Off were handed out for the fourth and last year. The award ceremony marked the official closure of the campaign.
"I would like to congratulate the winners again this year for their commitment to renewable energies. In view of the greater challenges facing us now that enlargement will become a reality in May, I would also like to encourage them and all our partners to continue these efforts" said de Palacio, announcing the awards.
The Commission rewarded the efforts made in promoting renewable energy and showcasing successful projects and initiatives all over Europe.
- Third party financing and the take-off of renewable energy sources in Spain led by IDAE
- Promoting the deployment of renewable energy in Ireland, led by the Renewable Energy Information Office of the Sustainable Energy Authority
- Energy planning in Navarra, Spain, led by the Government of Navarra
- Pohjolan Voima's Bioenergy Program, led by the Finnish Pohjolan Voima
- Varese Ligure 100 percent sustainable led by the Municipality of Varese Ligure, Italy
- World Network on Bioenergy, a global renewable energy partnership, led by the European Biomass Industry Association
- Soltherm Europe Initiative, a large EU-wide consortium lead by Ecofys b.v.
- Objective 15 percent of renewable energy in 2010 led by ST Microelectronics
- Renewable Energy for Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany led by the Regional Energy Agency
- In order to highlight the closing of the campaign, a prize for the best renewable energy program of the last four years was awarded to the region of Upper Austria "Energie 21 - The Energy Action Plan for Upper Austria," which is run by the O.Ö. Energiesparverband.
In the future, support to initiatives promoting renewable energies in the Member States will be granted under the new programme Intelligent Energy Europe adopted in June 2003 with a four year budget of €250 million for the enlarged Europe which will include 25 countries as of May 1, 2004.
Building on the achievements of the Campaign for Take-Off, the Commission will launch a larger successor Campaign on Sustainable Energy in mid-2004, encompassing energy efficiency and renewable energy.
The European Campaign for Take-Off was launched by the European Commission in 1999 and has been the first Renewable Energy Promotional Campaign launched at European level.
During these four years, 127 Renewable Energy Partnerships embracing more than 700 institutions have been signed throughout the European Union.
Thirty-one of these Renewable Energy Partnerships were elected as leading projects and were awarded prizes on the basis of their substantial contribution to the Campaign for Take-Off.
As underlined in the Commission Green Paper on Security of Energy Supply, the EU's objective is to reach a share of 12 percent for the contribution of renewable energy sources to the European Union's gross inland consumption by 2010.
In order to reach this target, major legislative proposals have been adopted. The Directive on Renewable Energies adopted in 2001 provides for an overall EU indicative target of 21 percent for the share of renewable energy sources of the EU's electricity consumption, in the enlarged Europe.
The Directive on Biofuels entails a target of 5.75 percent for the share of biofuels in the transport sector by 2010.
These objectives are coupled with efforts towards the rationalization and stabilization of energy demand to achieve an indicative annual reduction in energy intensity of an additional one percent per year above the business as usual forecast.
{Published in cooperation with ENDS Environment Daily, Europe's choice for environmental news. Environmental Data Services Ltd, London. Email: envdaily@ends.co.uk}
-------- environment
Bush State of the Union Ignores Environment
WASHINGTON, DC, (ENS)
January 21, 2004
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2004/2004-01-21-03.asp
President George W. Bush did not once mention the environment during his State of the Union address to a Joint Session of Congress last night. Nor was the environment mentioned in the Democratic response to the President's address given by Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi of California and Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota.
President Bush spent most of his speech on combatting terrorism. Saying that "hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and women are deployed across the world in the war on terror," the President emphasized that by "bringing hope to the oppressed, and delivering justice to the violent, they are making America more secure."
President Bush lauded the actions of U.S. military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying, "As long as the Middle East remains a place of tyranny and despair and anger, it will continue to produce men and movements that threaten the safety of America and our friends."
And the President assured the world that America "has no ambitions of empire."
But he did not mention global warming.
"The American economy is growing stronger," said President Bush, and asked Congress to make tax cuts passed during his administration permanent.
But he did not mention mad cow disease found in December for the first time in the United States that has closed the borders of 39 countries to American beef.
The President said members of Congress can take pride in "giving our senior citizens prescription drug coverage under Medicare."
But he did not mention clean air and clean water, the essential underpinnings of public health. He did not mention the his administration's rollback or rejection of requirements that power plants limit emissions of mercury, sulfur, nitrogen and carbon dioxide.
The President did make mention of energy conservation when he said, "Consumers and businesses need reliable supplies of energy to make our economy run - so I urge you to pass legislation to modernize our electricity system, promote conservation, and make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy."
"In two weeks," the President told lawmakers, "I will send you a budget that funds the war, protects the homeland, and meets important domestic needs, while limiting the growth in discretionary spending to less than four percent. This will require that Congress focus on priorities, cut wasteful spending, and be wise with the people's money. By doing so, we can cut the deficit in half over the next five years."
President Bush addresses the joint session of Congress, January 20, 2004. Behind him is Vice President Dick Cheney (left) and Speaker of the House of Representatives Dennis Hastert of Illinois. (Photo courtesy The White House) When President Bush took office in January 2001, saying he was a fiscal conservative, the country had a surplus after eight years of a Democratic administration under President Bill Clinton.
In the past three years, the $236 billion federal surplus President Bush inherited has turned into a $374.2 billion deficit. Overall spending has risen at least 16 percent since he took office, about eight times more than the two percent average annual inflation rate over the same period.
The Democratic response to the State of the Union speech did not address the state of the environment. On the military side Representative Pelosi, the House Democratic Leader and a 10 year veteran of the House Intelligence Committee said, "The president led us into the Iraq war on the basis of unproven assertions without evidence. He embraced a radical doctrine of preemptive war unprecedented in our history, and he failed to build a true international coalition."
But she did not mention the use of depleted uranium munitions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Carried by the prevailing winds over long distances, depleted uranium particles emit alpha, beta and gamma radiation, some of which have a radioactive half-life of 4.5 billion years, and pose a long term threat to human health and the environment by contaminating air, soil and water.
"American taxpayers are bearing almost all the cost," of military action, said Pelosi, "a colossal $120 billion and rising. More importantly, American troops are enduring almost all the casualties: tragically, 500 killed and thousands more wounded."
Pelosi said the Bush administration is "failing to meet the challenge" of protecting America, and on the issue of homeland security, "Democrats have a better way."
"One hundred percent of the enriched uranium and other material for weapons of mass destruction must be secured," Pelosi said. "Today, the administration has refused to commit the resources necessary to prevent it from falling into the hands of terrorists."
"One hundred percent of chemical and nuclear plants in the United States must have high levels of security. Today, the Bush administration has tolerated a much lower standard," she said.
Calling for more spending on communications equipment for "police officers, firefighters and all of our first responders to prevent or respond to a terrorist attack," Pelosi said, "Today, the technology is there but the resources are not."
Senate Democratic Leader Daschle called for "strengthening agriculture in rural America by labeling all food products with their country of origin," but he did not mention the environmental problems caused in the United States by massive waste from animal feeding operations and the spreading of sewage sludge of American fields.
"When I was driving around South Dakota this summer," said Daschle, "I met a nurse in Sioux Falls who has cancer. She told me she couldn't afford the $1,500 a month her drugs cost. "She told me that she was going to die, that she was a lost cause. "But," she said, "we must solve this problem. Don't turn more people into lost causes."
But Senator Daschle did not address the application of cancer causing chemicals in American agricultural operations. He did not mention the pesticide residues in the American food supply. He did not mention that genetically modified American products have been banned in other countries.
Democratic Presidential hopeful Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, who won Monday's Iowa primary election, responded to the President's State of the Union address on television last night. Noting that "all of us join in celebrating the accomplishments of our troops," Kerry highlighted the issues that are affecting the everyday lives of average Americans and criticized President Bush for having given in to the powerful special interests in his address.
But Kerry did not mention the environment.
Democratic Presidential hopeful Howard Dean, who is taking his campaign to New Hampshire after finishing third Monday in Iowa, said before the State of the Union address, "What will be most striking tonight is what this President won't discuss: the three million jobs lost under his watch, the 43 million Americans without health insurance, the record level of bankruptcies."
But Dean did not mention the environment.
The Green Party of the United States, left without a Presidential candidate since Ralph Nader, the Green candidate in 2000 announced in late December that he would not seek the Green Party nomination for the upcoming election, urged Americans "to be skeptical of President Bush's list of proposals and claims," in a statement issued Tuesday in advance of the speech.
The real Bush victory, say Greens, has been a massive transfer of wealth and power from the American people over to major corporations, especially Halliburton, Bechtel, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, the Carlyle Group and other defense contractors, oil companies, insurance firms and HMOs, and drug manufacturers.
----
New Technologies Cut Idling Truck, Locomotive Emissions
WASHINGTON, DC, (ENS)
January 21, 2004
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2004/2004-01-21-04.asp
Each year, idling trucks and locomotives consume 1.2 billion gallons of diesel fuel and emit more than 200,000 tons of nitrogen oxides, according to an estimate by the U.S. Environmental Proection Agency (EPA).
The Argonne National Laboratory's Center for Transportation Research estimates that heavy vehicle idling wastes over $2 billion worth of diesel fuel every year and also contributes to air pollution, noise, and engine wear.
To curb health and environmental impacts associated with long duration idling, the EPA Friday released two guidance documents that create incentives for using technologies to prevent idling or reduce air emissions from idling.
The documents do not substitute for state or local provisions, nor are they regulations themselves. They do not impose binding, enforceable requirements on any party.
But with the new guidance, the EPA says, state and local environmental agencies can quantify the emission reductions to show how the reductions will contribute to meeting national air quality standards for particulate matter or ground-level ozone, known as smog.
A companion guidance explains how these emissions reductions may be used to meet certain requirements under EPA's New Source Review permitting program.
Pulled off the nation's highways, big rigs idle overnight while their drivers sleep to heat and cool the cab and driver, mask noises, keep the fuel warm in winter, avoid cold starting, and for personal safety.
Switch yard locomotives idle to maintain locomotive engine oil and fuel warmth during cold weather.
But the EPA says reduced idling decreases maintenance costs and engine wear, diminishes particulate matter and toxic air emissions, and creates less noise for nearby residents.
Instead of letting their engines idle, truck operators might consider using separate devices for cab heating and cooling and engine block warming. Already on the market are devices such as direct-fired burners for cab and engine-block heating, thermal storage devices for heating and cooling, and auxiliary power units for heating, cooling and electrical power.
Staff member from the Argonne National Laboratory's Center for Transportation Research examines a prototype locomotive auxiliary power unit. (Photo courtesy CTR) Modified switch yard locomotives can plug in to electrified parking spaces. This involves installing electric powered heating systems on the locomotives which connect to the electrical grid and provide energy to operate on-board equipment.
These measures can reduce locomotive emissions of toxic air pollutants such as formaldehyde, and trace metals such as nickel. They can also reduce emissions of the climate warming gas carbon dioxide.
Local communities near switch yards, some of which are inhabited by low income and minority populations, may benefit from the reduced pollution and noise levels as will locomotive operators and switch yard staff, the EPA guidance says.
Copies of the guidance documents and information about EPA's anti-idling program are available online at the EPA's new voluntary freight energy conservation program SmartWay Transport website at: http://www.epa.gov/smartway
The EPA points to recent successful pilot projects in Atlanta, New York, Chicago, and California that have demonstrated the effectiveness of idle reduction technologies in reducing emissions of oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter, and air toxics, reducing noise levels, and conserving fuel.
State or municipal idling regulations have been identified in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
To help truck drivers reduce idling and comply with local regulations, The American Transportation Research Institute and the American Trucking Associations' Environmental Affairs Department have produced a summary of information about idling rules throughout the United States. The summary is designed to be printed, folded and kept by drivers in their trucks. It can be obtained free of charge online at: http://www.atri-online.org/.
Big rigs lined up at a truck stop in Colorado (ENS File Photo) Maximum idling limits and fines are listed as well as specific exemptions. Contact information and code citations for each regulatory agency are also provided.
"This can be an excellent resource for motor carriers and truck drivers operating in these states," said Rebecca Brewster, president and chief operating officer of ATRI. "We've made the information concise but still comprehensive."
To focus attention on idling issues, the EPA, together with the federal energy and transportation departments, and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority are sponsoring the first national stakeholder meeting.
The National Idling Reduction Conference, scheduled for May 17 to 19 in Albany, New York will bring together trucking and transit companies; railroad, truck, bus, off-road, and locomotive equipment manufacturers; local, state, and federal agencies; national laboratories; and universities to interact with peers on the technical, regulatory, and institutional aspects of heavy vehicle idling.
One focus of the conference will be to protect children from toxics emitted by idling school buses. Most of the 24 million U.S. children who ride a bus to and from school ride a diesel bus. Over 40 chemicals in diesel exhaust are considered toxic air contaminants by at least one state, California. Exhaust from school buses idling in line enters the buses through open windows and doors and can also enter school ventilation systems, polluting the air inside buses and schools.
The National Idling Reduction Conference is expected to produce an action plan of possible solutions to accelerate market adoption of existing and new idling reduction technologies that will be consistent with regulations nationwide.
A followup event is planned for November 2004 to discuss the working groups' progress toward implementing conference recommendations and to plan additional action.
----
Supreme Court Backs E.P.A. on Anti-Pollution Rules
January 21, 2004
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Scotus-Pollution.html?hp
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the federal Environmental Protection Agency can override state officials and order some anti-pollution measures that may be more costly.
The 5-4 decision, a victory for environmentalists, found the EPA did not go too far when it overruled a decision by Alaska regulators, who wanted to let the operators of a zinc and lead mine use cheaper anti-pollution technology for power generation.
The four justices who dissented said the ruling undercut the states' power to control their environmental policies.
The Alaska case was the first of eight environmental cases on the court's docket this term, an unusually high number. The fight was over whether the Red Dog Mine must use equipment that would reduce pollution from a new generator by 90 percent. The state wanted to allow the mine operator, a major employer in a particularly rural area of Alaska, to use equipment that would only reduce pollution by 30 percent.
The Clean Air Act allows state officials to make some decisions involving facilities within their borders, but still gives the EPA wide authority to enforce the anti-pollution law passed by Congress in 1970.
``We fail to see why Congress, having expressly endorsed an expansive surveillance role for EPA,'' elsewhere in the law, ``would then implicitly preclude the agency from verifying substantive compliance,'' with the portion of the law at issue in this case, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote for the majority.
Ginsburg's usual allies on the court's ideological left joined her in the ruling: Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter and Stephen Breyer. The crucial fifth vote came from Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who usually votes with the court conservatives in states' rights cases.
The four dissenters argued that the decision undercuts states' power to control their environmental policies.
``This is a great step backward in Congress' design to grant states a significant stake in developing and enforcing national environmental objectives,'' wrote Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, joined by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
``After today's decision, however, a state agency can no longer represent itself as the real governing body. No matter how much time was spent in consultation and negotiations, a single federal administrator can in the end set all aside by a unilateral order,'' Kennedy wrote.
The case is State of Alaska v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 02-658.
-------- genetics
Biotech Limits Found Lacking
Panel Calls for Controls On Genetic Engineering
By Justin Gillis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 21, 2004; Page E01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A33538-2004Jan20?language=printer
Techniques for limiting the spread of genetically engineered salmon, corn and other organisms are still in their infancy, and far more work needs to be done to make sure the new products don't taint the food supply or wipe out important species, a National Research Council panel said yesterday.
To date, most attempts to control potentially hazardous, gene-altered species that are grown outdoors have involved establishing physical barriers, like rows of trees, or altering planting times to make sure crops can't cross-breed with related plants nearby. But those techniques have proven susceptible to human error, and researchers have long recognized that physical methods are likely to become even less useful as gene-altered insects and other animals begin to emerge from the nation's laboratories.
Scores of altered organisms are under development, offering numerous potential benefits -- and many theoretical perils. While eager to reap the benefits, many scientists are worried that gene-altered crops might breed with wild relatives to produce super-weeds, for instance, or that genetically engineered salmon or honeybees might kill off their wild relatives by out-competing them for food.
Scientists have been studying newer technologies that might impose biological limits on the movement of genetically engineered species or the spread of their genes. But the most promising methods of "bioconfinement" are still in the early research stages, and no available method offers complete assurance that new products deemed especially hazardous can be kept under control, the panel said in a 219-page report commissioned by the Agriculture Department, which is charged with regulating many aspects of genetic engineering.
"What they seem to suggest is the science for creating risky organisms exists, but we don't have the methods for safely confining them yet," said Gregory Jaffe, director of biotechnology programs at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, in Washington. "The sad conclusion from the report is that there really aren't any viable bioconfinement methods that could be adopted commercially without significant additional research and testing." Jaffe's organization is a consumer group that supports genetic engineering in principle but has often criticized federal oversight of it.
The National Research Council panel emphasized that many types of gene-altered organisms pose little or no theoretical risk, and control techniques won't be needed. For the minority of organisms that do pose risks, the panel recommended that companies and laboratories adopt an "integrated confinement system" that includes at least two distinct techniques. The plans should be overseen by regulators in Washington and should factor in the likelihood of human error, the panel said, adding that confinement had sometimes seemed to be an "afterthought" in genetic-engineering research.
If widely adopted, the recommendations would impose new costs and burdens on the American biotechnology industry. While emphasizing its commitment to safety, the industry has generally opposed elaborate control methods for gene-altered organisms, saying the risks have been exaggerated and the potential benefits under-appreciated.
L. Val Giddings, vice president of agriculture at the Biotechnology Industry Organization, a Washington trade group, noted that gene-altered organisms have been used inside laboratories for decades with an excellent safety record, and altered crops have been widely planted since the mid-1990s. "We have hundreds of millions of tons of this stuff being grown around the world for years, and eaten by millions of people, with literally not a headache or a sniffle yet," he said.
Anne R. Kapuscinski, a member of the panel and a fish biologist at the University of Minnesota, said at a briefing in Washington yesterday that the techniques of genetic engineering offer "enormous potential for modern agriculture" and for solving other problems. But as scientists design ever-more-exotic organisms -- ranging from corn that produces pharmaceuticals in its kernels to fish that grow 10 or 20 times faster than normal -- the risk will rise that altered genes could spread to new species or unwanted locales, threatening the ecology or the food supply, the report said.
That nearly happened in 2002, when human error allowed corn designed to produce a pig vaccine to spread too widely in fields in Iowa and Nebraska. Expensive, last-minute intervention by the Agriculture Department kept the product out of food, and the department has since been tightening its regulations. Some advocates of genetic engineering have charged that regulation has already become excessive and threatens to choke off one of the nation's most promising new industries, while environmental and some consumer groups assert that the government hasn't cracked down enough.
The new report was commissioned before the corn incident, but has taken on added importance in light of that near-miss. The National Research Council is the research arm of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine, the nation's three most prestigious scientific advisory bodies, and its reports generally carry weight with all political factions in Washington.
Many scientists have said that confinement, or lack thereof, is proving to be the Achilles' heel of genetic engineering. The gene-altered food crops commercialized to date -- the most important are soybeans, corn, and canola -- have turned up repeatedly in unexpected places, including overseas shipments meant for markets that won't accept gene-altered ingredients.
Some newer organisms under development promise to be even harder to control. Plants, after all, are stuck in place with roots in the ground, but gene-altered animals will be capable of moving on their own.
The various bioconfinement techniques available today all suffer from problems that undermine their reliability, the report said. It noted that scientists are working on potentially better techniques. For instance, a plant could be engineered so that its flowers always die before spreading pollen, or an animal could be made dependent on some man-made substance so that it would die if it escaped. But research on these methods is just beginning and long years of work lie ahead, the report said.
As a case study of the difficulties, the report offered the example of a fast-growing salmon under development by Aqua Bounty Technologies Inc. of Waltham, Mass. The gene-altered salmon reaches market size in half the usual time, requiring less feed. Aqua Bounty wants to sell the fish for use in ocean pens along the East Coast, where other farm-raised salmon are grown. The company has acknowledged that some fish will inevitably escape, but has said they will be so dependent on food supplied by humans that they are likely to die in the open ocean.
Environmentalists are worried that the fish, which they have dubbed Frankensalmon, would not die, but instead would wipe out dwindling stocks of wild Atlantic salmon by competing with them for food and, among males, competing for access to wild females. To meet these concerns, Aqua Bounty plans to sell only sterile, female fish. But the new report said the methods for sterilizing the fish are not entirely reliable, and it urged that the Aqua Bounty fish be tested individually for sterility or grown only in tanks on land -- expensive methods that most fish-farming companies are likely to resist.
Joseph McGonigle, a vice president at Aqua Bounty Technologies, said his company was still evaluating its production techniques and the report was premature in drawing conclusions about how reliable they would be.
"All of this is really just sound and fury," McGonigle said. "Nobody has any evidence, and it's not going to be there until we put it on the table. We're certainly aware of the risks."
--------
No Foolproof Way Is Seen to Contain Altered Genes
January 21, 2004
By ANDREW POLLACK
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/21/science/21GENE.html
A new report commissioned by the government suggests that it will be difficult to completely prevent genetically engineered plants and animals from having unintended environmental and public health effects.
The report, released yesterday by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, says that while there are many techniques being developed to prevent genetically engineered organisms or their genes from escaping into the wild, most techniques are still in early development and none appear to be completely effective.
"One of our big messages throughout the whole report is that there are very few bioconfinement methods that are well developed," Anne R. Kapuscinski, a professor of fisheries, wildlife and conservation biology at the University of Minnesota and a member of the committee that wrote the report, said at a news conference in Washington yesterday.
Companies and scientists are now developing a wide range of genetically modified organisms: salmon that grow superfast, mosquitoes engineered not to transmit malaria, corn that produces pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals.
One concern about these transgenic products is that their genes or the organisms could spread. Fast-growing fish, if they were to escape into the wild, might beat out regular salmon for food or mates, disrupting the ecological balance. Genes giving crops resistance to herbicides or insects might spread to weeds, making the weeds harder to eradicate. Pollen flow from corn engineered to produce a drug could allow the drug to get into corn destined for the food supply.
Much of the efforts to prevent these effects have involved physical containment, like growing fish in tanks rather than the ocean or growing crops in greenhouses.
But the new report, commissioned by the Department of Agriculture, looks at biological methods of containment, which it calls bioconfinement. These include measures like inducing sterility by giving fish an extra set of chromosomes or exposing insects to radiation. Bacteria might be given "suicide genes" that would cause them to self-destruct if they escaped. Crop scientists are working on a variety of techniques, including putting the foreign genes into the chloroplasts rather than the nucleus because chloroplast genes usually do not get into the pollen.
In many cases, the report says, such bioconfinement will not be needed because the organisms will pose little risk. But it says that when it is needed, it might be useful to use more than one method at a time, since no single method is likely to be 100 percent effective. The report also says such bioconfinement methods are best considered early in the development of a genetically modified plant or animal rather than as an afterthought.
The panel's report could have some bearing on issues now before regulators. It recommends, for instance, that nonfood crops be sought for growing pharmaceuticals or chemicals that need to be kept out of the food supply.
This position is favored by many environmental and consumer groups and by food companies, which fear that a contamination incident would hurt sales and undermine public confidence in food safety. But the biotechnology industry has generally argued that it is most economical to use widely grown crops like corn and that these crops can be adequately isolated from crops grown for food.
The report also says there are weaknesses in the safeguards being taken by a company that is seeking Food and Drug Administration approval to sell salmon genetically engineered to grow faster.
The company, Aqua Bounty Technologies of Waltham, Mass., has said it would sell to fish farms only female fish that have been sterilized, thereby eliminating the possibility that the fish could reproduce should they escape into rivers or the ocean. But the report says those methods alone might not be sufficient, in part because sterilization does not always work. It says the fish should be grown only in special inland facilities, rather than in cages in the ocean from which they might escape.
Joseph B. McGonigle, vice president of Aqua Bounty, said there were errors in the report. "They clearly don't have a full grasp of both what we're proposing and how effective the technology is," Mr. McGonigle said.
Consumer groups and the biotechnology industry differed on their interpretation of the report.
Gregory Jaffe of the Center for Science in the Public Interest said the report's conclusion that there was no foolproof bioconfinement method suggested "there is a need to have a better regulatory system that assesses whether there are any risks to begin with."
But the Biotechnology Industry Organization said in a statement that the report concluded that "technology providers have a variety of methods available to ensure confinement of organisms modified through biotechnology when risk warrants it."
In another report issued yesterday, the National Research Council said urgent action was needed to preserve the Atlantic salmon in Maine, where the fish supply has been rapidly declining. The fish there constitute most of the Atlantic salmon population in the United States. A program of removing dams should start immediately, the report said.
-------- ACTIVISTS
ANTI-WAR GROUP STAGE PROTEST AT ARMS DEPOT
A Chernobyl-style nuclear disaster could happen in Warwickshire, according to anti-war campaigners.
21 January 2004
Leamington UK Courier
http://www.leamingtonspatoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=691&ArticleID=727125
They staged a demonstration outside the DM Kineton arms depot on Saturday, protesting against the storage of weapons containing depleted uranium - which they say could lead to widespread radioactive contamination if there was a serious accident or terrorist attack.
Long Itchington resident Richard Williams was part of the 15-strong group, who called themselves the Warwickshire Weapons Inspectors. He said: "We succeeded in getting our message across, but we didn't have any joy in our attempts to get into the base itself.
"We want people to be aware of what is really going on here. These weapons could cause a major contamination of this densely-populated region if there was an accident. This could lead to mass evacuation, and the sealing-off of a large area of the Midlands for decades, even centuries - as has happened in Chernobyl.
"It sounds unbelievable, but that's because the debate has been very narrow, and anything from outside that perspective is very difficult to believe. We're not scaremongering - it's just that no-one will admit this could happen. We're met with a wall of silence from the authorities, so we seem like a bunch of crazy loonies."
And Mr Williams believes the base is assisting what he believes are crimes against humanity perpetrated by coalition forces in Iraq. He said: "The whole of that country has been heavily contaminated by massive use of these criminal munitions by the UK and US aggressors during their illegal invasion. Many US and British military personnel are also suffering from an upsurge of 'mystery illnesses', just as happened during the first assault on Iraq in 1991.
"Under the Geneva Convention and the Nuremburg Principles, to which Britain and the US are signatories, this constitutes a major crime against humanity, the most serious crime recognised by international law."
Responding to the claims, Ministry of Defence spokesman Charlie Morton said: "To compare DM Kineton with Chernobyl is a ludicrous suggestion. Depleted uranium is less radioactive than materials found in household smoke alarms. It's 40 per cent less radioactive than naturally-occuring uranium, which we are exposed to every day through water, food and air.
"There were 17 American soliders who had embedded depleted uranium shrapnel in their bodies after the 1991 Gulf War, and none has shown signs of health problems attributable to the uranium. And their offspring, a total of about 60 children, are perfectly healthy.
"The use of depleted uranium is not prohibited by any international agreement, including the Geneva Convention. The fact is that no other material is as effective at penetrating heavy armour. We have a duty to protect our troops by giving them the best equipment."
----
Daughter Fights for Ailing Nuke Workers
By CHERYL WITTENAUER
01/21/04
Associated Press
http://www.newsday.com/news/health/wire/sns-ap-pri-daughters-crusade,0,6702390.story?coll=sns-ap-health-headlines
MOSCOW MILLS, Mo. (AP) - When Denise Brock sat with her cancer-stricken dad in the 1960s, she made lots of racket, hoping the noise would prevent his dying on her watch. Today, the 43-year-old Brock is clamoring all the louder, a full-time activist on behalf of aging Cold War-era nuclear workers and their survivors.
``I'm obsessed with this,'' she said, conceding a soft spot for the elderly. ``If I don't help them, who's going to?''
A 3-year-old federal law requires the government to compensate workers in the nuclear weapons industry, or their survivors, for job-related cancer or other diseases. Workers from about 350 sites nationwide may qualify.
Ten sites are in Missouri, including the old Mallinckrodt Chemical Co. plant in St. Louis where Brock's father, Christopher Davis, worked from 1945 to 1960. The plant produced uranium dioxide for the Manhattan Project, exposing its workers to large doses of radiation.
Brock's father died of lung cancer in 1978. When she started helping her 80-yea-old mother file a benefits claim in 2002, she ran into obstacles.
Employment records had been destroyed. The family could only guess what Davis was exposed to. Workers used code words like ``juice,'' ``biscuit'' and ``tube alloy'' to describe what they made.
Brock dug up old city directories and Social Security records to prove her father's employment and hunted down documents to trace his exposure. If she failed to prove her case, her mother would not get the $150,000 payment she was due.
The experience made Brock angry and determined to act for others.
For more than a year, she has crusaded among those she calls ``my workers,'' mostly elderly former plant employees, their aging spouses or children to help them construct a picture of the years when the workers were exposed.
She founded United Nuclear Weapons Workers, which operates from her eastern Missouri mobile home. Her teenage daughter fields phone calls and inputs computer data. Her husband, an ironworker, listens calmly to her rant and drives her to countless meetings, even some out of state.
Documents from innumerable Freedom of Information Act requests fill filing cabinets in the bathroom and bedroom. Last fall, she received 5,000 pages of classified records to help claimants fill information gaps. Among them: decades-old urine analysis reports that told how much uranium dust a worker inhaled and secreted.
Brock has made so many FOIA requests, she obtained fee waivers. Her monthly phone bill averages $700. She regularly calls the Labor Department, which handles the claims.
Over the last year, she organized hundreds of workers and union tradesmen who risked exposure when called to the sites. She recruited a board of directors, held claims workshops, walked nervous claimants through mock telephone interviews, even providing a script.
Her work is free. The payback is the hugs, letters and thanks from grateful people.
``She's such an energetic person, she's doing everything in her power to help people out,'' said 82-yar-old Harold Mauk, of Farmington, who worked at Mallinckrodt and Weldon Spring in the 1950s and '60s. ``She's doing a fantastic job.''
Richard Miller, a policy analyst at the Washington-based Government Accountability Project which represents whistleblowers, watched Brock step in with no background, just a big heart for the hundreds of workers and survivors she discovered were in the same predicament as her parents.
``She has forced people to deal with Mallinckrodt that otherwise might have been a forgotten site. She's brought it to prominence. I'm impressed,'' he said.
At Brock's urging, a federal advisory board that oversees the compensation program held a public hearing where a report on the Mallinckrodt plant was unveiled by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. It found that workers were exposed to radiation up to 2,400 times greater than doses acceptable by modern standards. It referred to conditions at Mallinckrodt's uranium-processing plant as routinely dusty and hazardous.
In some cases, evidence of radiation exposure at Mallinckrodt was so overwhelming that NIOSH could bypass an individual determination of workplace exposure.
But for other Mallinckrodt workers, not all the proof is available, the report said. From 1942 to 1948, no one monitored workers' health.
Miller said a provision in the law believes workers if records aren't available. Mallinckrodt clearly is a candidate for that exception, he said.
The problem is that the Department of Labor rule governing that provision is yet to be released. The department says it's coming. On Jan. 13, Missouri's Sen. Kit Bond asked Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson to give workers the benefit of the doubt.
``These are sick, dying, dead workers,'' Brock said. ``Now how hard is it to see they need help? Fix it!''
A year ago, the Labor Department predicted long delays to assess an individual case. Payments today are moving faster. Of 50,000 claims filed nationwide, nearly 9,900 have been pid $753 million, representatives said. More than 1,100 claims were filed in Missouri alone.
Help wasn't quick enough for Charles Bredensteiner Jr., of St. Charles, who succumbed to cancer Jan. 7, the day of his scheduled interview with NIOSH. Brock had met with him and his family the night before. The memories of her own father's death overtook her.
``I was like a scared kid,'' she said. ``It was as if a hand pounded me in my heart. I felt the agony of the wife and daughter.''
Brock's group is now focused on finding the thousands of potentially eligible Missouri workers who are unaware of the program.
``There were 3,300 employees of Mallinckrodt, plus the building trades,'' Brock said. ``I want to reach all 3,000. I feel they have a right to know. Where are they?
``Some little old man could use $150,000. How do I get to them? I'm thinking of going to nursing homes and senior centers.''
On the Net:
United Nuclear Weapons Workers: www.unww.info
NIOSH Office of Compensation Analysis and Suport: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ocas/
Department of Labor: www.dol.gov
----
U.S. government dusts off 1800s law in targeting environmental group Greenpeace
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
By Catherine Wilson,
Associated Press
http://www.enn.com/news/2004-01-21/s_12274.asp
MIAMI - When prosecutors brought charges against Greenpeace for protesting a shipment of Amazon mahogany, they dusted off a 19th century federal law enacted to stop pimps from clambering aboard ships entering port.
Environmentalists call the charges a heavy-handed attempt to stifle free speech and say the government is retaliating against Greenpeace for previous in-your-face protests against the Bush administration.
The federal government has never successfully prosecuted an entire activist organization on criminal charges over its protest methods - not even the Ku Klux Klan.
"It's an incredible abuse of power, and this is nothing short of political retribution," said Sierra Club spokesman Eric Antebi. "We think this sets a horrible precedent for political intimidation of public interest groups."
Environmentalists want a judge to throw out the indictment and release Justice Department records on why charges were brought under an 1872 law that had not even been used since the 1800s. The judge is expected to rule sometime early this year on the requests by Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, the American Civil Liberties Union, and other supporters.
Defending the prosecution in court last month, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Elliot insisted, "There is no evidence that the government has discriminated against Greenpeace because of its political views." The group's vocal opposition to the federal government "makes it no different from thousands of other political advocacy groups," he said.
The mahogany protest came as the 290-meter (965-foot) APL Jade approached Miami Beach on April 12, 2002. Two Greenpeace protesters jumped aboard the ship more than five kilometers (three miles) from shore, wearing shirts emblazoned "Greenpeace illegal forest crime unit" and carrying a banner reading "President Bush, Stop Illegal Logging." The ship's crew kept them from unfurling the banner.
Six activists were arrested on federal misdemeanor charges, and the indictment against the organization based on the old law came 15 months later.
The law was enacted to keep brothel operators from infiltrating ships "about to" dock. Pimps and others from brothels would row out to the vessels and persuade the sailors to jump ship with them or come over after docking. The sailors were then wined, dined, and separated from their money.
Greenpeace maintains a ship moving at 16 kph (10 mph) five kilometers (three miles) at sea is not covered by the "about to" dock requirement. The prosecutor retorted that an 1890 conviction was based on a boarding at the mouth of Oregon's Columbia River 80 kilometers (50 miles) from its dock in Portland. In the only other conviction on record, a New York judge who examined the law the year it was enacted called its language "inartistic and obscure."
One reason Greenpeace is fighting so hard is the potential punishment: a $20,000 fine and five years' probation, which could hinder the organization's use of civil disobedience as a protest tactic and could potentially open Greenpeace finances, operations, support, and membership to government inspection.
"For an advocacy organization dedicated to passionate dissent, that could be a crippling inhibition," the Natural Resources Defense Council said in a brief in support of Greenpeace.
The nonprofit Greenpeace also fears the government will revoke its tax-exempt status if it is convicted.
Greenpeace, perhaps best known for sailing its boats into restricted waters and interfering with whaling ships and other vessels on the open seas, has been bothersome to President George W. Bush since shortly after his inauguration, when members put up a banner near his Texas ranch calling him the "toxic Texan."
Greenpeace claims its ship protest called attention to the crime of big leaf mahogany logging in the Brazilian Amazon and the Bush administration's failure to enforce an import ban contained in an international treaty. Greenpeace contends roads built by mahogany loggers are the root cause of Amazon deforestation.
Other groups are watching the case closely and say the charges run counter to the rich American tradition of civil disobedience as seen during the abolitionist, suffrage, civil rights, and antiwar movements.
"Greenpeace is an advocacy group. It is important that they be as free as possible to engage in their advocacy," said First Amendment expert Floyd Abrams. "The decision to indict Greenpeace seems to me to be constitutionally insensitive."
----
Mall Protest Vigil Gives Voice to War Dead
Names of Hundreds Echo During Speech
By Petula Dvorak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 21, 2004; Page A20
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33937-2004Jan21.html
First, a name was read aloud. Then came a single resonant beat of a drum. And finally a breath, turned frosty in the cold night, blew out a candle.
That ritual -- the reading of the name of every member of the U.S. armed forces killed in Iraq and names that symbolized Iraqi dead as well -- was repeated hundreds of times last night on the Mall, in a protest timed to coincide with the State of the Union address.
As the nation's political leaders applauded the president in the Capitol, more than 300 people cocooned in hats, blankets and heavy jackets against the 24-degree weather joined to read the names of those killed since the invasion of Iraq began.
"It's cold out here," said Doug Nelson, 56, of McLean, a veteran of the Vietnam War. "But those kids are out there . . . being fired on and killed. This is the least we can do."
Nelson read out the name of a young man he never had met. "Brendan C. Reiss. Twenty-three years old. U.S. Marine Corps," Nelson read from the card given him by the organizers. "May he rest in peace."
Nelson described himself in the same way as many of those out on the mall last night did: a military veteran who remembered past wars and disagreed with the need for this one.
"I go to the Vietnam memorial at least once a week, and I always come back crying." he told a reporter. "We didn't learn anything from that."
The protest was organized by the group Military Families Speak Out. Stephen Cleghorn of Washington, whose 39-year-old son is serving in Iraq, said he organized the vigil for the group a week ago when he concluded that the move to war began with the president's 2003 State of the Union speech.
"President Bush deliberately frightened the American people and rushed into war based on 16 words," Cleghorn said, citing the sentence that linked Iraq with an attempt to obtain uranium.
Some people came last night to honor a fallen friend. Jeni Spevak, 28, of the District wore the camouflage jacket of her best friend, Gregory E. MacDonald, who she said was a Marine reservist killed in Iraq in June.
Others wondered about the person whose name they held.
"Daniel Francis Cunningham. Thirty-three. U.S. Army," said Tom Willging, 63, of Washington, reading the name of a young man he said he never knew but will always remember. For Willging, last night's protest also recalled the days of Vietnam.
"I did this same thing in 1969," he said, "when my wife and I walked all around the Mall and up to the Capitol, where we threw the names we carried into a giant coffin. I remember my name from back then. He was Ronald Moon. From Denver."
And there were the Iraqi names, which some protesters struggled to pronounce. Each Iraqi name stood for 200 Iraqis who had died since the invasion, they said.
"We feel very strongly that there was no reason to go to war and these people all died so unnecessarily," said Anne Elder of University Park. Placing a red-mittened hand to a name pinned to her chest -- Sufian al-Batayneh -- Elder said: "This person shouldn't have died."
----
'Saddam Is a Criminal'
Shiite Marchers Demand Hussein Be Tried in Iraq, Not Treated as a POW
By Pamela Constable and Anthony Shadid
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, January 21, 2004; Page A22
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A33401-2004Jan20?language=printer
BAGHDAD, Jan. 20 -- For the second day in a row, Shiite Muslim demonstrators took to the streets here Tuesday, this time demanding that U.S. officials allow ousted president Saddam Hussein to be tried and executed in Iraq rather than treated as a prisoner of war.
About 5,000 protesters, mostly followers of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, staged a peaceful rally in central Baghdad. They also called on U.S. officials to resist efforts by Iraqi Kurds to divide the country under an ethnically oriented federal system.
"Saddam is a criminal who killed many thousands of people. All Iraqis want him to hang," said Karim Darani, 43, a marcher from the large, impoverished Shiite community in northeastern Baghdad known as Sadr City. "We want Iraq to be a peaceful, united nation for all ethnic groups -- Shiites and Sunnis, Kurds and Christians and Turks."
Tuesday night, a rocket landed inside the Green Zone, an area of central Baghdad controlled by U.S. forces. A loud explosion was heard about 9:40 p.m., followed by sirens, and one person may have been injured in the attack, which occurred near the al-Rashid Hotel. On Sunday, a powerful car bomb exploded on the perimeter of the Green Zone, outside the main U.S. compound, killing 31 people and wounding 120.
Also Tuesday, smaller protests were held in the southern, largely Shiite cities of Najaf, Karbala and Basra in what appeared to be a coordinated series of demonstrations. As elsewhere, the protesters demanded that Hussein be executed and rejected his being treated as a prisoner of war.
Although smaller than the march held in Baghdad on Monday, in which tens of thousands of Shiites demanded direct elections for a new Iraqi government, Tuesday's protest reinforced the sense that American officials are facing increasing pressure as they struggle to win support of Iraq's Shiite majority for the U.S. plan to transfer sovereignty by June 30.
The chief U.S. administrator here, L. Paul Bremer, met in New York this week with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan. American officials have asked Annan to send a delegation to Iraq to assess electoral conditions, but he has not yet formally responded.
Tuesday's protests were peaceful and carefully coordinated, with members of Sadr's movement controlling the crowds. The son of a prominent ayatollah, Sadr has mobilized poor and disenfranchised young Shiites in recent months, calling for an end to the occupation and direct elections.
He is a young rival of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the senior Shiite cleric whose representative addressed Monday's protest and who has been playing an increasingly assertive role in Shiite politics. With frustration rising over joblessness and suspicions increasing about U.S. political aims, mainstream Shiite opinion has begun to mirror Sadr's more assertive stance.
In Najaf, demonstrators Tuesday shouted, "No to America, no to Saddam, no to colonialism." In Baghdad, protesters from Sadr's movement insisted they were in agreement with Sistani's major positions.
"We have no difference with Sistani's followers," said Fadl Zaidani, 32, an unemployed laborer who attended the Baghdad rally with 20 other men from Sadr's headquarters in Sadr City. "We are all asking for direct elections. The Iraqi people have a right to choose their own leaders, not the Americans."
Another emerging theme in the protests, which have gathered momentum across southern Iraq this month, is opposition to federalism -- an arrangement that would guarantee Kurds in northern Iraq autonomy from the government in Baghdad.
Some demonstrators said federalism was another means to curb the authority Shiites should enjoy as the country's majority. Others insisted the issue could be decided only by an elected government that, under the U.S. transition plan, would not take power until 2005.
"Federalism would divide Iraq into many parts, and we condemn it strongly," said Jabbar Azer Jawai, a Shiite cleric at the Baghdad protest. "We want to keep Iraq united among all ethnic groups. If they insist, we will hold larger demonstrations."
But the most emotional issue driving Tuesday's protests was the question of Hussein's status. Shiites endured widespread persecution under his rule, with tens of thousands executed, imprisoned or sent into exile.
Shiites fear his designation as a prisoner of war would allow him to be tried in an international court rather than face Iraqi justice.
"The people demand to put Saddam on trial so the whole world will know how we suffered," said Zaidani, the laborer.
In an effort to ease tension over another contentious issue -- unemployment -- occupation authorities said Monday that new U.S.-funded reconstruction contracts would create 50,000 jobs for Iraqis by July.
Retired Rear Adm. David J. Nash, director of the Program Management Office, which is overseeing the contracts, said companies bidding for 10 prime construction awards would be given financial incentives to hire and train Iraqi workers.
"The success of these reconstruction efforts depends largely on the Iraqi people," Nash said. "It is one thing to restore and rebuild the country's infrastructure, but it is another thing to sustain, to operate and maintain it when the construction has been completed."
Nash said more than 2,300 construction and revitalization projects are scheduled to begin this spring as part of the $18.6 billion in supplemental spending Congress approved last fall. The construction amounts for two-thirds of the spending, and the remaining one-third will go for training and equipment.
Staff writer Jackie Spinner in Washington contributed to this report.
----
March Caps End to the World Social Forum
January 21, 2004
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Social-Forum.html
BOMBAY, India (AP) -- As world political and business leaders opened a forum in Switzerland, tens of thousands of anti-globalization activists marched through the streets Wednesday, ending their own counter-gathering with denunciations of President Bush's State of the Union address.
After six days of vilifying Bush and America's foreign policy, activists at the World Social Forum -- which organizers say is the world's biggest anti-globalization gathering with nearly 100,000 participants from 132 countries -- had extra venom Wednesday for the American leader.
``I am totally disgusted. Who the hell does he think he is?'' shouted South Korean C.J. Park, a researcher at Seoul's Academy of Korean Studies. ``If he starts a war against North Korea, this will be a war against ... South Korea as well.''
In his annual address to the U.S. Congress, Bush singled out North Korea and Iran -- two countries at the center of international nuclear disputes -- pledging ``America is committed to keeping the world's most dangerous weapons out of the hands of the world's most dangerous regimes.''
Activists waved flags and showed the thumbs-down sign while shouting ``George Bush, No, No. George Bush --terrorist.''
This year's meeting was held outside of Brazil, the forum's home base, for the first time. Next year's is scheduled to return to the city of Porto Alegre, where it has been held three times since its inception in 2001.
Some delegates said they would like future meetings to be held in countries other than Brazil to allow a more diverse range of participants.
``It is disappointing that we cannot be there (Brazil) in big numbers as we did here,'' said Tumi Cayicayi, a fashion designer from South Africa.
WSF organizers responded by saying they will meet Thursday and Friday to discuss the possibility of holding the event in Africa in 2006.
Two Nobel laureates -- peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi and economics winner Joseph Stiglitz -- and former Irish President Mary Robinson were key speakers at the forum.
Wednesday's closing rally was a colorful event with hundreds of red-robed Tibetan Buddhist monks leading thousands of protesters from different parts of the world.
They shouted slogans against the Iraq war, globalization, race and caste oppression and a range of other issues.
Brazilian Culture Minister Gilberto Gil, a renowned pop star, and other artistes regaled audiences at a multicultural ceremony, that brought the curtain down on the forum.
``It's like a swimming pool experience -- diving into new cultures,'' said Marilda Batista, a 44-year old anthropology professor from Porto Alegre.
Some weren't so appreciative, though.
``The big speeches were not so useful,'' said Troy David, an activist from Strasbourg, France. ``They just complained and complained about problems. But did not suggest solutions.''
The 32nd annual forum World Economic Forum opened Wednesday in Davos, Switzerland. Terrorism and the world economy were expected to top the agenda of the meeting, which attracts leaders from around the world.
----
Iraqi Shia demonstrate for third day
AFP,
Wednesday 21 January 2004
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B48BE2C7-7E79-411E-A444-63AC636006E8.htm
Thousands of Iraqi Shia have taken to the streets for a third consecutive day in support of demands made by their leading spiritual leader for direct elections.
The demonstration took place on Wednesday in the southern Iraqi town of Samawa, a day after similar protests in the southern towns of Najaf and Karbala. They mark growing support for Grand Ayat Allah al-Sistani's rejection of US plans for the country.
The latest demonstration came less than 48 hours after the arrival of a contingent of Japanese troops on a humanitarian mission to the poverty-hit town.
The Japanese troops stayed out of sight as crowds peacefully chanted "We are all with al-Sistani and we want no one else".
"We want elections, and the appointment of the right people for the right positions," said Abd al-Amir Kazim al-Khafaji, vice chancellor of science for the university of Muthanna province, of which Samawa is the capital.
Immediate elections
"Al-Sistani's position is right. He showed the world that it is necessary to use in Iraq the same democratic methods used throughout the world, only they can be legitimate," said Naji Kashi, another university employee.
Al-Sistani is a reclusive cleric revered by many of Iraq's Shia, who make up 53% (Source:Encylopaedia Britannica) of the population. He has warned of mass demonstrations and a general strike unless elections are held to install a provisional leadership by 30 June.
Washington considered al-Sistani a ''moderate'' before the invasion
He has demanded immediate elections, despite claims by both the occupation authorities and the United Nations that Iraq currently lacks the means to carry out such a poll.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell and US-appointed interim Governing Council president Adnan Pachachi on Tuesday reaffirmed their plan to install a new government by June's end, but Washington says there may be room for refinements to the plan.
On Monday UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the world body was assessing whether to send a team to Iraq to investigate if it was practical to hold elections before the June power-transfer deadline.
Sunni, Kurdish opposition
Iraqi Sunni leaders have, however, rejected calls for early elections on Wednesday, insisting they could not be held under the occupation forces.
"We cannot trust elections or any other power transfer plans as long as the occupation is in place and the people are not free," said the Committee of Iraqi Ulema or religious scholars.
The committee was set up following captured Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's overthrow in April. It represents the country's Sunni population.
"Certain parties benefit from their links with the occupying forces and have to hand plans with which they can affect elections and win them"
Committee of Iraqi Ulema "The total control exerted by the occupying forces on the country and the methods at their disposal give them the opportunity to sway elections in favour of their interests," said the Sunni committee in a statement.
"Certain parties benefit from their links with the occupying forces and have to hand plans with which they can affect elections and win them," it said.
In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, the Kurdish minority supported the US-led war. The Shia, who were repressed under Saddam, also looked forward to a greater political role after his toppling.
Kurdish representatives in the Governing Council also said on Wednesday that they oppose early elections.
Mosul attacks
Meanwhile, in the northern city of Mosul, six Iraqis, three US soldiers and a Turkish driver were wounded when their patrol was struck by an explosion, said police officer Fathi Ahmad Abd al-Jabbar.
Akram Zubdaidid, a doctor at Mosul's general hospital said the Turkish driver was in serious condition. Two Iraqis were also "badly injured".
Injured student Saad Khalad, 22, described how the powerful blast lifted a Humvee vehicle off the road. "I was in a bus when the explosion happened. I saw an American Humvee literally launched in the air, then I found myself in hospital," he said.
-------
------- OneList (submissions from subscribers)
------- Depleted Uranium Keeps On Killing!
-----------
Posted
without profit or payment for research and educational
purposes only,
in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.