tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38233571334524536932024-03-19T11:49:17.772-07:00Archive AAW Statements - AAWFrance .orgUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-6652615355673283672008-11-02T01:52:00.000-07:002008-11-02T01:59:41.621-08:00INVITE Journée AAW PORTES OUVERTS 22 nov 2008<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >AMERICAINS CONTRE LA GUERRE - France</span><br />Dans le cadre de <span style="font-weight: bold;">la Semaine de La Solidarité International</span><br />du 14 au 23 novembre Val de Marne/ Conseil Général Direction de la Jeunesse<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" >AAW VOUS INVITE au</span><br /></div><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >"JOURNEE PORTES OUVERTES"<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Thème: "N'ayez pas peur, Venez rencontrer les états-uniens pour la PAIX"</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><br />Samedi le 22 novembre, 2008 à</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" > </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" > IVRY sur Seine</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Salle St. Just, 24 rue St. Just</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >10h à 22h</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Métro: Mairie d'Ivry<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTXif1GRF8-fsv3Kmq2jTmDXscpynQOfLz3GCrvhqEz4QbeCkgr9FJYkWjKQothi7hAA74h3knm14q4GpjLH5-yHH_CRg9rt7KBLewXmVA831VI7fhyphenhyphenLhHFweVhmyhuypBHmP9PRGKpI-A/s1600-h/Tentet+Vitry.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 499px; height: 333px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTXif1GRF8-fsv3Kmq2jTmDXscpynQOfLz3GCrvhqEz4QbeCkgr9FJYkWjKQothi7hAA74h3knm14q4GpjLH5-yHH_CRg9rt7KBLewXmVA831VI7fhyphenhyphenLhHFweVhmyhuypBHmP9PRGKpI-A/s400/Tentet+Vitry.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263765313301111298" border="0" /></a><br />Eric Schultz et le TENTET IVRY/VITRY le 22 novembre 2008<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Matin :</span> rencontre de public, dialogue<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Après-midi :</span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" > CONCERT at 4pm,<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Eric Schultz, conducteur avec le TENTET IVRY/VITRY </span><br /></li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >"Jazz dans la tradition africaine américaine"</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> - </span>Ensemble d'élèves en formation professionelle soutenu par les conservatoires d'Ivry et de Vitry: 6 soufflants, 4 section rythmique<br /><ul><li>Millane KANG, chanteuse de jazz</li><li>the Balsac Crew, US Beat Boxers</li></ul><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Soir:</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>Buffet Campagnard pour AAW et leurs amis, PARTY TIME !!!!!<br />Cet événement est gratuit et ouvert au publicUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-55881161147558356452008-07-31T01:41:00.001-07:002008-07-31T01:41:25.757-07:00Leonard Peltier, Activist<h3 style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" align="left"><span style="font-size:180%;">Support Leonard Peltier</span></h3><h3 align="left"><p style="text-align: justify;"><img style="width: 265px; height: 179px;" src="http://www.leonardpeltier.net/images/leonard/leonard.jpg" align="left" /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">On Wednesday June 25 Agir Contre La Guerre (ACG) called to demonstrate in support of Leonard Peltier, indigenous rights activist imprisoned for 30 years after an unfair trial. He has been called a Native American Mandela.</span></span><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Leonard <span>Peltier</span>, Activist <a rel="nofollow" id="Activist" name="Activist"></a></p></h3> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Leonard Peltier -- a great-grandfather, artist, writer, & indigenous rights activist -- is a citizen of the Anishinabe and Dakota/Lakota Nations who has been unjustly imprisoned since 1976. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;">A participant in the American Indian Movement, he went to assist the Oglala Lakota people on the Pine Ridge Reservation in the mid-70s where a tragic shoot-out occurred on June 26, 1975. Accused of the murder of two agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Peltier fled to Canada believing he would never receive a fair trial in the United States. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;">On February 6, 1976, Peltier was apprehended. The FBI knowingly presented the Canadian court with fraudulent affidavits, and Peltier was returned to the U.S. for trial. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Key witnesses were banned from testifying about FBI misconduct & testimony about the conditions and atmosphere on the Pine Ridge Reservation at the time of the shoot-out was severely restricted. Important evidence, such as conflicting ballistics reports, was ruled inadmissible. Still, the U.S. Prosecutor failed to produce a single witness who could identify Peltier as the shooter. Instead, the government tied a bullet casing found near the bodies of their agents to the alleged murder weapon, arguing that this gun had been the only one of its kind used during the shootout, and that it had belonged to Peltier. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Later, Mr. Peltier’s attorneys uncovered, in the FBI’s own documents, that more than one weapon of the type attributed to Peltier had been present at the scene and the FBI had intentionally concealed a ballistics report that showed the shell casing could not have come from the alleged murder weapon. Other troubling information emerged: the agents undoubtedly followed a red pickup truck onto the land where the shoot-out took place, not the red and white van driven by Peltier; and compelling evidence against several other suspects existed and was concealed. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;">At the time, however, the jury was unaware of these facts. Peltier was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. He is currently imprisoned at the U.S. Penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. </span></p><hr />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-15735431995043529602008-05-09T23:05:00.000-07:002008-05-26T06:56:24.966-07:00AAW supports Czech hunger strikers<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-size:130%;">AAW supports Czech hunger strikers, Jan Tamas and Jan Bednar, anti-USA missile site militants.</span><br /><br /></span>Americans Against the War has sent the following message to Jan Tamas and Jan Bednar militants who will be going on a hunger strike to protest the deployment of a U.S.A missile defense radar site in the Czeck Republic.<br /><br />Scroll down to read Mr. Tamas's reasons for the hunger stike.<br /><br />Dear Jan Tamas<br />Dear Jan Bednar<br /><br />Please know that Americans Against the War - France totally supports your efforts to stop deployment of a U.S.A. missile defense radar site in the Czech Republic.<br /><br />aawfrance.org<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >Hunger strike in the Czech Republic against US National Missile Defense</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" > project</span><br /><br />Date: Sat, 24 May 2008 17:00:46 +0200<br /><br />Dear friends,<br /><br />We are writing to you to inform you of a very serious issue facing the<br />Czech Republic and Europe as a continent "EURO" the plan of the current US<br />administration to install two new military bases in Central Europe as<br />part of National Missile Defense system of the USA.<br /><br />For nearly two years we have been involved in a non-violent struggle to<br />prevent our government from participating in this dangerous project.<br />However, in spite the fact that two thirds of Czechs oppose this project<br />our government continues the negotiations with the US government and is<br />nearing to signing the treaty at the beginning of June. In fact, the<br />treaty was supposed to be signed by US secretary of state Condoleezza<br />Rice and the Czech government on May 5. The date has now been postponed<br />by one month, but the plan remains the same.<br /><br />Therefore with a couple of friends in the Humanist movement we have<br />decided to start a hunger strike against this plan. My friend Jan Bednar<br />and I have started the hunger strike on Tuesday May 13 and we would like<br />to ask for your support.<br /><br />We know that there are many people, political parties and organizations<br />across Europe and the world who disagree with the armament projects of<br />the current US administration. We believe that you are one of them.<br />Therefore we would like you to join us in this nonviolent protest.<br /><br />There are groups in Italy, Germany, Hungary, Spain, United States,<br />Netherlands, Australia, United Kingdom, Denmark and other countries<br />already holding events to support our hunger strike, to show solidarity<br />and to express their opposition to the US Missile Defense project. Most<br />of them have set up permanent tents where they are collecting signatures<br />under the online petition www.nonviolence.cz against the radar and some<br />are even on solidarity hunger strikes themselves. They are in touch with<br />local media and are informing them about their activity and the dangers<br />of the missile defense system.<br /><br />We believe that by acting together we have a possibility to stop this<br />project. The position of our government is very weak and so strong<br />international opposition can make them change their position on this<br />issue. So your help is of importance.<br /><br />If it is not possible for you to establish a permanent presence<br />somewhere in your town or city, but still want to support us, please<br />send us a letter expressing your support and please send letter of<br />protest to Czech embassy, your government, European parliament, etc.<br /><br />It is very important that media gives space to our protest.<br /><br />Thank you for any kind of support and letâEURO(tm)s stop this project together!<br /><br />Jan Tamáš, jan.tamas@humanisti.cz, +420 776 785 839<br /><br />Humanist movement<br />Czech Republic</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-61690554024841507962008-04-18T04:26:00.000-07:002008-04-18T04:28:21.974-07:00PETITION: Support Jimmy Carter<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >PETITION:<br />Support Jimmy Carter: US Needs to Talk to Hamas</span><br /><br />Former President Jimmy Carter, predictably, is being denounced for meeting with the exiled leader of Hamas in Syria on April 18, 2008.<br /><br />Carter's critics are wrong. Talking to Hamas, which won the January 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, is a necessary part of creating peace. As Carter himself said, "There's no doubt in anyone's mind that, if Israel is ever going to find peace with justice concerning the relationship with their next-door neighbors, that Hamas will have to be included in the process."<br /><br />Please sign our petition -- co-sponsored by "A Just Foreign Policy" -- to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain asking them tosupport former President Carter and support talks with Hamas:Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-54966397768403357642008-04-17T11:56:00.001-07:002008-04-17T12:00:25.106-07:00LIBEREZ MUMIA<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >FREE MUMIA</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >Please join AAW and ~80 national and international organizations demonstrating to free Mumia on</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Saturday April 19, 2008 at 2:30 pm at</span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">the Place de l'Hotel de Ville,</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Paris. </span><br />Metro Hotel de Ville</span><br /></div><br />The Mumia trial update. April 14, 2008<br />On March 27, 2008 the U.S. appeals court in Philadelphia reaffirmed the conviction of Mumia Abu-Jamal for the murder of a Philadelphia policeman but stated that he should have a new sentencing hearing. Thus, while the former Black Panther Party spokesman and death row inmate for 25 years has been removed death row for today, this decision makes it possible for him to return.<br />After previously rejecting his request to present evidence of his innocence, the Court turned down Mumia's request for a new trial thus upholding the 2001 ruling by a federal district judge who ordered a new hearing on the sentence, but limited the choice to life imprisonment without parole ... or execution.<br />His original 1982 trial and 1995 appeal hearing were such grotesque shams that many in the United States and abroad rallied to support a new trial for the world-renowned radical journalist who has become the symbol of the struggle against the racist legal system which still rages in the United States.<br />Jeff Mackler of the Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal declared that the March 27th decision was a travesty of justice, adding that they'd been hoping that the Third Circuit would order an entirely new trial based on the claim of racial discrimination in jury selection.<br /> TOGETHER, LET'S SAVE MUMIA<br />Americans Against the War - France. www. aawfrance.org<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ></span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" ><br /><br />LIBEREZ MUMIA<br />Rassemblement<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">le Samedi 19 Avril à 14:30</span><br />Place de l'Hotel de Ville</span><br /><br />Venez nombreux au ressemblement pour reclamer la liberation de Mumia Abu Jamal, ex-porte parole de Black Panthers, condané par une justice raciste, prisonier dépuis 25 ans dans les couloirs de la mort des Etats Unies, symbole et hero d'un peuple qui n'a jamais baissé les bras malgré l'esclavage et l'injustice subie dans un systeme qui s'apparante en cruauté et exploitation de l'etre humain à celui de l'appartied Sud Africain.<br />Les Americains Contre La Guerre - France<br />Dernieres nouvelles du Process de Mumia par le Collectif Unitaire National de Soutien à Mumia Abu-Jamal.<br /><br />http://agitlog.zeblog.com/308068-ensemble-sauvons-mumia-abu-jamal/<br /><br />"La Cour d'Appel Fédérale de 3ème circuit (Philadelphie - Pennsylvanie - USA) vient de rendre son jugement : le procès de 1982 à l'issue duquel Mumia Abu-Jamal a été condamné à mort était entaché de racisme. La Cour reconnaît ainsi que les droits constitutionnels de l'accusé n'ont pas été respectés. De ce fait, elle annule sa condamnation à mort mais confirme sa culpabilité.<br />Les juges, par deux voix contre une, se prononcent pour un autre procès avec constitution d'un jury qui devra à nouveau statuer sur la sentence. Contrairement à ce qu'annonce de nombreuses dépêches de presse, Mumia Abu-Jamal n'est toutefois pas définitivement à l'abri d'une nouvelle condamnation à mort, ni d'un enfermement à vie.<br />Et dans l'attente, il ne quittera pas le couloir de la mort !<br />L'avocat de Mumia Abu-Jamal, Maître Robert R. Bryan, nous a déclaré que cette décision était une demi-victoire qu'il fallait, par la mobilisation internationale, transformer en victoire en rendant justice et liberté à son client.<br />Dans cette situation, le Collectif Unitaire National (80 organisations françaises) appellent à l'organisation de manifestations de soutien dans toute la France, et ce sous toutes les formes"Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-70223296389262881382008-04-15T00:44:00.000-07:002008-04-15T00:47:01.247-07:00A CALL FOR JUSTICE: Monsanto & Co must pay<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >A CALL FOR JUSTICE: Monsanto and Company must pay</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Seven European associations have signed a statement in support of the Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange/dioxin and their association VAVA. Several other organizations are joining the appeal and the Danish Vietnamese association has adopted a parallel statement.<br /><br />We the undersigned in calling for justice for the victims of the chemical Agent Orange, adopt the statement made by the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin 25 February 2008.<br /><br />On February 22nd, 2008, in New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the March 19, 2005 judgment of the U.S District Court dismissing the lawsuit of Vietnam's Agent Orange victims against the companies who manufactured this deadly chemical.<br /><br />This is an irrational, biased and unfair decision which does not respond to the reality faced every day by the Vietnamese victims whose suffering is caused by Agent Orange/Dioxin.<br />The U.S. chemical companies' production and supply of toxic chemicals for U.S forces' use in the Vietnam War continues to cause deadly and long lasting consequences to human health and ecosystems in Vietnam. The U.S chemical companies knew very well that their products were harmful to human health before they were used in Vietnam.<br /><br />They have ignored the truth and evaded liability for their crimes committed not only against Vietnamese victims, but also against victims in other countries involved in the Vietnam War.<br />The demands of the victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin are completely legitimate. The Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin have no other option than to continue their fight for justice, and we support their appeal to the U.S Supreme Court. Meanwhile we shall campaign to gain stronger support from the whole human community,, including that of the American people.<br />We ask people of conscience the world over to stand side by side with us in demanding that the producers of these lethal poisons fulfil their legal, spiritual and moral responsibilities for the consequences that they have caused.<br /><br />The pain suffered by the victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin in Vietnam is the common pain of humanity.<br />The struggle for justice must prevail.<br /><br />Signed by:<br />Association Belgique- Vietnam (Belgium)<br />Association d’amitié franco-vietnamienne–AAFV (France)<br />Associazione Nazionale Italia-Vietnam (Italy)<br />Association Suisse- Vietnam-Vereinigung Schweiz-Vietnam (Switzerland)<br />Britain-Vietnam Friendship Society (United Kingdom)<br />Freundschaftsgesellschaft Vietnam (Germany)<br />Al Burke, Stockholm 2002 Conference co-ordinator (Sweden)<br /><br />Other endorsments (first list, France ):<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Americans Against the War-France (AAW)</span><br />Association Républicaine des Anciens Combattants (ARAC)<br />Comité français du village de Van Canh<br />Enfants du Monde-Droits de l’Homme<br />Echanges Provence Asie du Sud-Est Vietnam (EPASEV)<br />Mouvement de la Paix-France<br />Mouvement contre le Racisme et pour l’Amitié entre les Peuples (MRAP<br />Union générale des Vietnamiens de France (UGVF)<br />Union générale des jeunes Vietnamiens de France (UJVF<br />Union générale des Etudiants vietnamiens en France (UEVF)<br />Vietnamitié<br />__._,_.___<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-82292959508655097122008-04-09T05:53:00.001-07:002008-04-09T05:54:07.018-07:00STOP THE WAR Results of five years of War on Iraq:<span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >STOP THE WAR</span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >Results of five years of War on Iraq:</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >Deaths </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">1,173,743</span> Estimated number of Iraqis killed by US troops :</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">3,970</span> Official number of U.S. military personnel sacrificed</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >Iraqi War Refugees</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255); font-weight: bold;">2.2 million</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>Iraqis have fled mainly to Syria and Jordan. Another</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255); font-weight: bold;">2.2 million</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>are displaced within Iraqi borders. According to the U.N., this is the highest number of displaced persons the Middle East since 1948 when Israel occupied Palestine.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >Ordeal of Iraqi children</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >Estimations published by The United Nations Children's Fund in 2007:</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">2 million</span> Iraqi children lack adequate nutrition and face serious illnesses </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">One third of children </span>are cut off from outreach health services.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">60% of children</span> lack reliable access to safe drinking water.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Hundreds of children</span> have lost their lives to violence.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255); font-weight: bold;">Thousands </span>have fallen into poverty after losing their main family wage-earner.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >An estimated cost of at least $1.2 trillion </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >Higher taxes, drastic cuts in social services and recourse by banks to quick-money, sub-prime, real estate ventures are some of the ways the cost of this war has impacted the American people.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >Americans Against the War-France / www.aawfrance.org</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:180%;" ><br />Arrêtez la Guerre</span><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >Les conséquences de cinq années d'occupation de l'Irak:</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >Morts</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255); font-weight: bold;">1 173 743:</span> nombre estimé d'irakiens tués,</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255); font-weight: bold;">3 970:</span> nombre officiel de soldats étatsuniens.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >Réfugiés irakiens</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">2,2 millions </span>principalement en Syrie et en Jordanie et</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">2,2 millions déplacés </span>en Irak. D'après l'ONU, c'est le plus grand déplacement de population depuis l'occupation Israélienne de la Palestine en 1948.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >Le Calvaire des enfants irakiens</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >Estimations de L'UNICEF pour l'année 2007:</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">2 millions</span> d'enfants souffrent de malnutrition et de maladies graves.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Un tiers des enfants</span> est privé de soins sanitaires et médicaux.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255); font-weight: bold;">60% d'enfants </span>sont privés d'eau potable.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Des centaines d'enfants</span> sont morts à la suite d'actes de violence et</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Des milliers d'enfants </span>se trouvent dans la misère après la perte des parents.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >Un coût estimé à au moins $1,2 billion (1.200,000,000,000)</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >L' augmentation des impôts et une dégradation systématique des services sociaux font parties des lourdes conséquences subies par la population des Etats-Unis</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >Américains Contre la Guerre-France www.aawfrance.org</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-27418870798471002912008-03-10T04:01:00.000-07:002008-03-10T04:07:39.418-07:00Cinq Ans de Trop [Five Years Too Many APJ<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cinq Ans de Trop</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Five Years Too Many</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:180%;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;">Alertés en 2002 par les agissements militaires des Etats-Unis en Afghanistan, et</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;">consternés par l’imminence d’une incursion armée en Irak, plusieurs états-unisiens de</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"> Montpellier et ses alentours se sont associés pour fonder “Les Américains pour la Paix et la</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"> Justice” (APJ).<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;">Le samedi 15 mars, l’APJ sera présente sur la Comédie pour une veillée de</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;">protestation à l’occasion de la cinquième année de la guerre et l’occupation de l’Irak.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;">L’aggression illégale déclenchée par l’administration Bush a pu s’amplifier grâce aux</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"> membres du Sénat et de la Chambre de Répresentants qui se sont pliés à cette politique au</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"> nom de la “guerre contre le terrorisme”. A présent, la grande majorité des citoyens se</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"> prononce contre la guerre, et certains candidats à l’office de Président en prennent leurs</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"> distances.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;">En tant que citoyens et électeurs, les membres de l’APJ sont déçus de la politique</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"> affichée par les candidats Démocrates, Mme Hillary Clinton et M. Barack Obama. Nous</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"> avons formulé un appel à ces aspirants de bien vouloir préciser leur politique, de se rendre</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"> compte de la dévastation faite au peuple et au pays d’Irak, de s’engager dans un plan de</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"> retrait avec un calendrier, de penser aux réparations, et d’assurer des soins aux jeunes</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"> conscrits américains éprouvés physiquement et moralement par ce service militaire.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;">La guerre s’enlise et se répand en dépit de la désapprobation croissante aux Etats-Unis</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"> et partout dans le monde, y compris - dès le début - la France. Espérons que cette cinquième</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"> rassemblement “Non à la Guerre en Irak” puisse être le dernier.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;">De 15h à 18h, Place de la Comédie, Montpellier</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;">Les Américains pour la Paix et la Justice www.americansforpeaceandjustice.org</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;">Contact: 04 67 60 35 16<br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-76088785461343165732008-03-06T22:17:00.000-08:002008-03-06T22:22:36.138-08:00Israel unleashes terror on Gaza<span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >Israel unleashes terror on Gaza<br />by Matthew Cookson<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >Israel unleashed terror on the Palestinian people of the Gaza Strip last week, when it launched a military operation including airstrikes.<br /><br />It claimed it was attempting to stop the Hamas Islamist movement firing rockets into Israel, but its real aim is to crush the Palestinian people’s resistance to their oppression.<br />Israel murdered over 100 Palestinians, the majority civilians, in the five day assault and injured over 350 people. In contrast, only three Israelis died, including two soldiers and one civilian.<br /><br />As Israel “withdrew” from Gaza on Monday of this week – just as US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice was about to arrive for a two-day visit – its leaders were already pledging further attacks on Gaza.<br /><br />Prime minister Ehud Olmert said, “We are in the midst of a combat action. What happened was not a one off event.”<br /><br />Amjad Shawa, Palestinian NGO network coordinator for Gaza, and Mona el-Farra, a doctor at Al Awda hospital in Jabalia refugee camp, spoke to Socialist Worker on Monday of this week.<br />“These have been very difficult days,” said Amjad. “A huge number of people have been killed, including women, children and disabled people. Many NGOs have been destroyed, such as those that supply medical relief.<br /><br />“It was a massacre, with no mercy shown towards the children. They were killing our beautiful youth every day. “People went three days without water during the attack. The 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip were already suffering from the Israeli siege that began in 2006. Fuel shortage<br />“Now it’s getting worse. We are spending most of the day without electricity. There is a shortage of fuel to operate water wells and run ambulances.<br /><br />“Any new military operation will increase our problems. The Palestinians are facing a catastrophe.”<br /><br />Mona said, “Last Saturday the hospital received 69 injured people. These casualties were more than the capacity of the hospital’s beds and two operating theatres. Many of the injured had to lie on the floor. We had to evacuate some of the injured people to another hospital. Some were left to bleed until they died because of a lack of resources.<br />There is little electricity in the Gaza Strip – blackouts are now the rule. The ministry of health is advising people to boil drinking water, as there is no chlorine to treat it. The health of people is deteriorating. On Monday everyone in Gaza went to funerals of those killed in the assault. The Israeli operation did not stop.”<br /><br />The attack on Gaza is the latest part of the US and Israel’s plans to destroy Hamas. This month’s issue of Vanity Fair magazine reveals how George Bush was outraged when Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary elections in January 2006.<br /><br />He launched a plan to get the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah movement to prepare a coup against Hamas. This was foiled after clashes that led to Hamas taking control of Gaza in June last year.<br /><br />“It looks like what happened wasn’t so much a coup by Hamas but an attempted coup by Fatah that was pre-empted by Hamas before it could happen,” said David Wurmser, a former adviser to US vice-president Dick Cheney.<br /><br />“Israel uses the excuse of Palestinian rocket attacks,” said Mona. “But it is trying to hide the fact that the occupation is continuing. Israel stopped directly occupying Gaza in 2004, but it is still controlling our lives by remote control.<br /><br />“This is a disproportionate war between an army and a people’s resistance. It is the Palestinian people’s right to resist occupation.”<br /><br />Amjad said, “Israel killed children in its attack. Were they firing rockets from Gaza? No – they were killed because they were Palestinian, because of their identity and nationality.”<br />Protests<br /><br />Amjad and Mona are both calling for people in Britain and other countries to show solidarity with the people of Gaza by joining protests, such as the 15 March World Against War demonstrations.<br /><br />Amjad said, “We are hoping that the people who value justice will act to help us. We need help to get hope for those who are losing some of it every day. People in the prison of Gaza feel alone. And we need to feel that people in Britain are with us.<br /><br />“Please show your solidarity with the people in Palestine by joining protests in your country. Show Israel that the Palestinians are not alone and that you are against its crimes. Protest for our children and infants.”<br /><br />Mona said, “Protests against Israel’s attacks are important. They make us feel that we are not alone.”</span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><br /><br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-70424044222636891992007-09-20T04:40:00.000-07:002007-09-20T10:44:23.668-07:00HANDOUT/KOUCHNER<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >BEATING THE WAR DRUMS</span><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Remember 2003? The US, hell bent on war, concocts the lie that Iraq is a "threat", insisting that it possesses weapons of mass destruction. Iraq's denials are ignored by the US, knowing that Iraq cannot do the impossibleand prove a negative. France, represented by President Chirac and Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, is admired around the world for upholding the UN Charter and condemning the drive to an unprovoked war of aggression.<br /><br />It is now four and a half years into a brutal US occupation, the horror of which continues today. Years of US bombings, mass slaughter, torture, rape, suffering and misery. One million dead Iraqis. Four million refugees. No weapons of mass destruction.<br /><br />September 2007. The US, hell bent on war, concocts the lie that Iran is a "threat", insisting that it wants to make a nuclear weapon. Iran's denials are ignored by the US, knowing that Iran cannot do the impossible and prove a negative. The similar feature of this latest manufactured "crisis" is that Iran is portrayed as a villain and a threat, based on no evidence, while the US brandishes its own real weapons and openly threatens Iran with attack.<br /><br />Unlike the US, Iran has attacked no other country. Iran has occupied no<br />other country. Iran has threatened no other country. Iran is not bombing<br />and killing civilians daily. Iran does not think it has the right to dominate the world. The US insists that Iran should stop all uranium-enrichment, despite the fact that Iran's right to engage in this activity is guaranteed under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Teheran insists it only wants to master nuclear technology in order to produce electricity, but Iran is not to be permitted to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes because that does not meet with the approval of the US, an aggressive superpower getting away with both hypocrisy and murder on a global scale.<br /><br />On 27 August, sixteen days only after his hot-dog lunch with George W. Bush, the newly-minted President Sarkozy declared "there is a catastrophic choice – between an Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran". This utterly false "choice" not only is devoid of morality but also ignores the fact that there is no legal reason whatsoever to attack Iran. Rather than confronting the real threat of war by the aggressor, the United States, the French president accepts a future bombing of Iran, the victim, as legitimate. On 16 Sept, the Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, spoke in the same vein by saying "We must prepare for the worst – the worst is war".<br /><br />It is astonishing that these repugnant statements should have been made in the name of France, the nation which gave the world the declaration on the rights of man, the nation which not so long ago took a moral and independent stand against aggression.<br />If the possession of nuclear weapons is what truly concerns Nicolas Sarkozy and Bernard Kouchner, they do not explain why they speak of the non-existent nuclear capacity of Iran but remain mute about (1) the existing nuclear arsenal of the US, the most militarily aggressive state in the world; (2) the existing nuclear arsenal of Israel, the most rapacious state in the world, and (3) the existing nuclear arsenal of Pakistan, the most unstable state in the world. The absurdity and hypocrisy is there for all to witness. One may legitimately conclude that their concern has nothing, in fact, to do with nuclear weapons, but everything to do with stepping into the shoes of Tony Blair and his former foreign minister Jack Straw, George W's two ex-poodles.<br /><br />The world remembers with admiration the moral courage displayed by President Chirac and Dominique de Villepin when they so fully represented the French people's abhorrence of war by refusing to endorse the US attack on Iraq. Some observers had predicted a change in French foreign policy with the arrival of a new president, but few imagined that the change would be so extreme and so noxious.<br /><br />It is both tragic and deeply disturbing that France, the nation reputed for its tradition of commitment to human rights, should now be aligning itself with the most warmongering US administration in history.<br /><br />19 September 2007<br /><br /><br />Americans Against the War - France<br />www.aawfrance.org</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-48675367860170562882007-08-29T02:53:00.001-07:002007-08-29T02:53:45.615-07:00REBUTTAL of BERNARD KOUCHNER's article in the IHT<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 180%;">REBUTTAL of BERNARD KOUCHNER's article in the IHT<br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">This is a a rebuttal written by one of our active AAW members to which AAW gives it's stamp of approval:</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><br />I note that nowhere does Kouchner use the word "occupation" preferring, as he does, "the American presence". The US/UK attack on Iraq was an "intervention".</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">Some of his statements:</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">"What can be said about Iraq today? It is a "democratic" country..." Why the quotation marks around "democratic" - Freudian slip?</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">"Iraq is being ripped apart by a storm of hatred and violence". No, it WAS ripped apart in 2003 by a storm of hatred and violence.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">"I went to listen to the candid views of its people ... in order to get a feel for what they think." Not the reason for his visit. Are we to believe that the French Foreign Minister was sitting in the quai d'Orsay scratching his head, wondering how the people felt? and had to go there to get a "feel"?</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">"The Iraqis have been isolated for too long and feel abandoned by the international community." Seeing as the "international community" means the US and those who support its actions, one can hardly look upon F-16 bombings, mass slaughter, torture, rape, imprisonment and all the rest as isolation and abandonment. The Iraqis would no doubt welcome a bit of the latter.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">"I also went to Iraq because I wanted to mark France's return to a place that is vitally important to our future and to that of our children." OUR future and OUR children. No comment.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">"Although the invasion ended a brutal dictatorship, the methods used to build a secure and democratic Iraq have failed." Kouchner knows that the aim of the invasion had nothing to do with security or democracy. And the "methods" being used to force the Iraqis to submit to US control were and are of the most brutal kind.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">"Yes, France can help to provide a fresh look. ... it can do so because we are the allies - sometimes troublesome, as true friends are - of the Americans." No need for "a fresh look". As such a good ally, Kouchner can push his friends to end the occupation.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">"France can help by working with the United Nations and the European Union in the cause of peace." Just as France, together with the UN and EU, are all working for peace in Palestine and Lebanon.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">"Iraq's neighbors must also play a credible part in the search for a solution." diplomese for the US line: it's the fault of Syria and Iran.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">"The process begun in May in Sharm el-Sheikh is positive; the practical arrangements it provides for must be implemented right away, especially the three working groups that will be dealing with the crucial issues of energy, refugees and security." In that order.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">"The dream of an Iraq at peace with itself is not beyond reach. Much effort, clear-headedness and conviction can make it a reality - provided we all have the courage to get the job done." Get the job done. Kouchner knows what "the job" really means but he'll never spell it out, any more than US politicians will.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">"If we shy away from this, we can expect the worst." The worst for whom??? It's already the worst for the Iraqi people.</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Too many absurdities here - far too many to cover in one letter.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-78383968739216955742007-08-29T02:47:00.001-07:002007-08-29T02:53:15.196-07:00Study: US preparing 'massive' military attack against Iran<span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Study:</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />US preparing 'massive' military attack against Iran </span><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane<br />Published: Tuesday August 28, 2007</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Go to original </span><a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;" href="http://rawstory.com//news/2007/Study_US_preparing_massive_military_attack_0828.html">here</a><br /><br />The United States has the capacity for and may be prepared to launch without warning a massive assault on Iranian uranium enrichment facilities, as well as government buildings and infrastructure, using long-range bombers and missiles, according to a new analysis.<br /><br />The paper, "Considering a war with Iran: A discussion paper on WMD in the Middle East" – written by well-respected British scholar and arms expert Dr. Dan Plesch, Director of the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London, and Martin Butcher, a former Director of the British American Security Information Council (BASIC) and former adviser to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament – was exclusively provided to RAW STORY late Friday under embargo.<br /><br />"We wrote the report partly as we were surprised that this sort of quite elementary analysis had not been produced by the many well resourced Institutes in the United States," wrote Plesch in an email to Raw Story on Tuesday.<br /><br />Plesch and Butcher examine "what the military option might involve if it were picked up off the table and put into action" and conclude that based on open source analysis and their own assessments, the US has prepared its military for a "massive" attack against Iran, requiring little contingency planning and without a ground invasion.<br /><br />The study concludes that the US has made military preparations to destroy Iran’s WMD, nuclear energy, regime, armed forces, state apparatus and economic infrastructure within days if not hours of President George W. Bush giving the order. The US is not publicising the scale of these preparations to deter Iran, tending to make confrontation more likely. The US retains the option of avoiding war, but using its forces as part of an overall strategy of shaping Iran’s actions.<br />Any attack is likely to be on a massive multi-front scale but avoiding a ground invasion. Attacks focused on WMD facilities would leave Iran too many retaliatory options, leave President Bush open to the charge of using too little force and leave the regime intact.<br /><br />US bombers and long range missiles are ready today to destroy 10,000 targets in Iran in a few hours.<br /><br />US ground, air and marine forces already in the Gulf, Iraq, and Afghanistan can devastate Iranian forces, the regime and the state at short notice.<br /><br />Some form of low level US and possibly UK military action as well as armed popular resistance appear underway inside the Iranian provinces or ethnic areas of the Azeri, Balujistan, Kurdistan and Khuzestan. Iran was unable to prevent sabotage of its offshore-to-shore crude oil pipelines in 2005.<br /><br />Nuclear weapons are ready, but most unlikely, to be used by the US, the UK and Israel. The human, political and environmental effects would be devastating, while their military value is limited.<br /><br />Israel is determined to prevent Iran acquiring nuclear weapons yet has the conventional military capability only to wound Iran’s WMD programmes.<br /><br />The attitude of the UK is uncertain, with the Brown government and public opinion opposed psychologically to more war, yet, were Brown to support an attack he would probably carry a vote in Parliament. The UK is adamant that Iran must not acquire the bomb.<br /><br />The US is not publicising the scale of these preparations to deter Iran, tending to make confrontation more likely. The US retains the option of avoiding war, but using its forces as part of an overall strategy of shaping Iran’s actions.<br />When asked why the paper seems to indicate a certainty of Iranian WMD, Plesch made clear that "our paper is not, repeat not, about what Iran actually has or not." Yet, he added that "Iran certainly has missiles and probably some chemical capability."<br /><br />Most significantly, Plesch and Butcher dispute conventional wisdom that any US attack on Iran would be confined to its nuclear sites. Instead, they foresee a "full-spectrum approach," designed to either instigate an overthrow of the government or reduce Iran to the status of "a weak or failed state." Although they acknowledge potential risks and impediments that might deter the Bush administration from carrying out such a massive attack, they also emphasize that the administration's National Security Strategy includes as a major goal the elimination of Iran as a regional power. They suggest, therefore, that:<br /><br />This wider form of air attack would be the most likely to delay the Iranian nuclear program for a sufficiently long period of time to meet the administration’s current counterproliferation goals. It would also be consistent with the possible goal of employing military action is to overthrow the current Iranian government, since it would severely degrade the capability of the Iranian military (in particular revolutionary guards units and other ultra-loyalists) to keep armed opposition and separatist movements under control. It would also achieve the US objective of neutralizing Iran as a power in the region for many years to come.<br /><br />However, it is the option that contains the greatest risk of increased global tension and hatred of the United States. The US would have few, if any allies for such a mission beyond Israel (and possibly the UK). Once undertaken, the imperatives for success would be enormous.<br />Butcher says he does not believe the US would use nuclear weapons, with some exceptions.<br /><br />"My opinion is that [nuclear weapons] wouldn't be used unless there was definite evidence that Iran has them too or is about to acquire them in a matter of days/weeks," notes Butcher. "However, the Natanz facility has been so hardened that to destroy it MAY require nuclear weapons, and once an attack had started it may simply be a matter of following military logic and doctrine to full extent, which would call for the use of nukes if all other means failed."<br /><br />Military Strategy<br /><br />The bulk of the paper is devoted to a detailed analysis of specific military strategies for such an attack, of ongoing attempts to destabilize Iran by inciting its ethnic minorities, and of the considerations surrounding the possible employment of nuclear weapons.<br /><br />In particular, Plesch and Butcher examine what is known as Global Strike – the capability to project military power from the United States to anywhere in the world, which was announced by STRATCOM as having initial operational capability in December 2005. It is the that capacity that could provide strategic bombers and missiles to devastate Iran on just a few hours notice.<br /><br />Iran has a weak air force and anti aircraft capability, almost all of it is 20-30 years old and it lacks modern integrated communications. Not only will these forces be rapidly destroyed by US air power, but Iranian ground and air forces will have to fight without protection from air attack.<br /><br />British military sources stated on condition of anonymity, that "the US military switched its whole focus to Iran" from March 2003. It continued this focus even though it had infantry bogged down in fighting the insurgency in Iraq.<br />Global Strike could be combined with already-existing "regional operational plans for limited war with Iran, such as Oplan 1002-04, for an attack on the western province of Kuzhestan, or Oplan 1019 which deals with preventing Iran from closing the Straits of Hormuz, and therefore keeping open oil lanes vital to the US economy."<br /><br />The Marines are not all tied down fighting in Iraq. Several Marine forces are assembling in the Gulf, each with its own aircraft carrier. These carrier forces can each conduct a version of the D-Day landings. They come with landing craft, tanks, jump-jets, thousands of troops and hundreds more cruise missiles. Their task is to destroy Iranian forces able to attack oil tankers and to secure oilfields and installations. They have trained for this mission since the Iranian revolution of 1979 as is indicated in this battle map of Hormuz illustrating an advert for combat training software.<br />Special Forces units – which are believed to already be operating within Iran – would be available to carry out search-and-destroy missions and incite internal uprisings, while US Army units in both Iraq and Afghanistan could mount air and missile attacks on Iranian forces, which are heavily concentrated along the Iran-Iraq border, as well as protecting their own supply lines within Iraq:<br /><br />A key assessment in any war with Iran concerns Basra province and the Kuwait border. It is likely that Iran and its sympathizers could take control of population centres and interrupt oil supplies, if it was in their interest to do so. However it is unlikely that they could make any sustained effort against Kuwait or interrupt supply lines north from Kuwait to central Iraq. US firepower is simply too great for any Iranian conventional force.<br />Experts question the report's conclusions<br /><br />Former CIA analyst and Deputy Director for Transportation Security, Antiterrorism Assistance Training, and Special Operations in the State Department's Office of Counterterrorism, Larry Johnson, does not agree with the report’s findings.<br /><br />"The report seems to accept without question that US air force and navy bombers could effectively destroy Iran and they seem to ignore the fact that US use of air power in Iraq has failed to destroy all major military, political, economic and transport capabilities," said Johnson late Monday after the embargo on the study had been lifted.<br /><br />"But at least in their conclusions they still acknowledge that Iran, if attacked, would be able to retaliate. Yet they are vague in terms of detailing the extent of the damage that the Iran is capable of inflicting on the US and fairly assessing what those risks are."<br /><br />There is also the situation of US soldiers in Iraq and the supply routes that would have to be protected to ensure that US forces had what they needed. Plesch explains that “"firepower is an effective means of securing supply routes during conventional war and in conventional war a higher loss rate is expected."<br /><br />"However as we say do not assume that the Iraqi Shiia will rally to Tehran – the quietist Shiia tradition favoured by Sistani may regard itself as justified if imploding Iranian power can be argued to reduce US problems in Iraq, not increase them."<br /><br />John Pike, Director of Global Security, a Washington-based military, intelligence, and security clearinghouse, says that the question of Iraq is the one issue at the center of any questions regarding Iran.<br /><br />"The situation in Iraq is a wild card, though it may be presumed that Iran would mount attacks on the US at some remove, rather than upsetting the apple-cart in its own front yard," wrote Pike in an email.<br /><br />Political Considerations<br /><br />Plesch and Butcher write with concern about the political context within the United States:<br /><br />This debate is bleeding over into the 2008 Presidential election, with evidence mounting that despite the public unpopularity of the war in Iraq, Iran is emerging as an issue over which Presidential candidates in both major American parties can show their strong national security bona fides. ...<br /><br />The debate on how to deal with Iran is thus occurring in a political context in the US that is hard for those in Europe or the Middle East to understand. A context that may seem to some to be divorced from reality, but with the US ability to project military power across the globe, the reality of Washington DC is one that matters perhaps above all else. ...<br /><br />We should not underestimate the Bush administration's ability to convince itself that an "Iran of the regions" will emerge from a post-rubble Iran. So, do not be in the least surprised if the United States attacks Iran. Timing is an open question, but it is hard to find convincing arguments that war will be avoided, or at least ones that are convincing in Washington.<br />Plesch and Butcher are also interested in the attitudes of the current UK government, which has carefully avoided revealing what its position might be in the case of an attack. They point out, however, "One key caution is that regardless of the realities of Iran’s programme, the British public and elite may simply refuse to participate – almost out of bloody minded revenge for the Iraq deceit."<br /><br />And they conclude that even "if the attack is 'successful' and the US reasserts its global military dominance and reduces Iran to the status of an oil-rich failed state, then the risks to humanity in general and to the states of the Middle East are grave indeed."<br /><br />Larisa Alexandrovna is managing editor of investigative news for Raw Story and regularly reports on intelligence and national security stories. Contact: larisa@rawstory.com<br /><br />Muriel Kane is research director for Raw Story.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-57120694329613165202007-07-09T03:39:00.000-07:002007-07-09T04:00:23.547-07:00Middle East Peace Process by Clare Short<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >Middle East Peace Process</span><span style="font-size:180%;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Clare Short, Birmingham, Ladywood</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span>26th June 2007<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><br />at Westminster Hall</span><br /><br />I tabled this debate because I visited recently the Palestinian occupied territories with a<br />delegation organised by War on Want. It consisted of War on Want<br />staff, myself, and Rodney Bickerstaffe, the former general secretary<br />of Unison. I am grateful for the opportunity to report on our<br />findings, and I hope that the Minister will take account of them.<br /><br />I have previously visited the west bank and Gaza on a number occasions<br />in the late 1980s and early 1990s, at the time of the first intifada—a<br />Palestinian uprising involving peaceful disobedience or, at worst,<br />children throwing stones at soldiers. Despite the injuries inflicted<br />on children by the Israeli army, the intifada was full of hope, and it<br />led to the negotiation of the Oslo peace accord and the return of<br />Yasser Arafat to Palestine. I was hopeful at that time that a<br />two-state peace—Israel and Palestine—was possible, that the new<br />Palestinian state would be based on 1967 boundaries with East<br />Jerusalem as its capital, and that there would be a negotiated<br />settlement on Palestinian right of return. Those are the three<br />essential components of a negotiated peace. I was hopeful; but it is<br />now impossible to believe that there will be such a peace. Instead, I<br />fear that unless we change policy, we face the prospect of years and<br />possibly decades of bloodshed and conflict.<br /><br />I have followed developments in the middle east carefully over many<br />years, and I was well aware before my recent visit how bad things are<br />for the Palestinian people. Nevertheless, I was deeply shocked by<br />Israel's blatant, brutal and systematic annexation of land, demolition<br />of Palestinian homes, and deliberate creation of an apartheid system<br />by which the Palestinians are enclosed in four bantustans, surrounded<br />by a wall, with massive checkpoints that control all Palestinian<br />movements in and out of the ghettos.<br /><br />The Israelis are clearly and systematically attempting to take the<br />maximum amount of land with the minimum number of Palestinians. As<br />things stand, Israel has taken 85 per cent. of historical Palestine,<br />leaving the remaining 15 per cent. for Palestinian ghettos. More<br />shocking than that is that the international community, including the<br />UK and the EU, does nothing to require Israel to abide by<br />international law, despite all the claims made about European support<br />for human rights and international law.<br /><br />During its visit, the delegation spent a day with the UN Office for<br />the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which is the agency<br />responsible for humanitarian emergencies. It briefed us on the way in<br />which the wall, the closures, the settlements and the separate system<br />of settler roads were imprisoning the Palestinians. It published a map<br />in the Financial Times to mark the 40th anniversary of the occupation,<br />which is available for all to see.<br /><br />The delegation spent the second day of its visit with the Israeli<br />Committee Against House Demolitions, an organisation that I greatly<br />admire. The committee took us on a tour of East Jerusalem and showed<br />us how the combination of formal and informal settlements, and<br />systematic house demolition, was encircling East Jerusalem and how<br />that constrained, displaced and ethnically cleansed the Palestinian<br />population. When we were with ICAHD, we witnessed a house demolition.<br />A massive machine with "Volvo" emblazoned on its side destroyed a<br />substantial house that was built by a Palestinian family on their own<br />land and in territory that belongs to the Palestinians under<br />international law—formally, it is occupied territory.<br /><br />Women relatives of the occupants quietly wept at the side of the road.<br />Later, a young man was held back by his friends—he wanted to throw<br />himself at the soldiers who were protecting the demolition, to do<br />something about the destruction of his family home. The representative<br />of ICAHD, a young Israeli, said that the demolition was, of course, a<br />war crime. The point about that is that under the Geneva convention,<br />an occupying power is not entitled to impose new laws or to settle in<br />occupied territory. Houses are being demolished because Palestinians<br />do not have permits to build, even on their own land. However, Israel<br />is not entitled to introduce such a permit system. It never gives a<br />permit to build a house, or after a house has been built. When<br />Palestinian families expand, they must live somewhere, but Israel will<br />never issue a permit because of its determination to drive<br />Palestinians out of East Jerusalem.<br /><br />According to ICAHD, Israel has demolished 18,000 Palestinian homes in<br />the way I described since 1967. Each demolition was a war crime. More<br />shocking than that is the fact that no action is taken to force Israel<br />to adhere to international law. Later, the delegation visited a family<br />whose house had been demolished and rebuilt by volunteers from<br />ICAHD—Israelis and Palestinians worked together to rebuild a home for<br />a Palestinian family. ICAHD is committed to acts of peaceful civil<br />disobedience in order that international law is upheld. The family<br />said how grateful they were to once again have a home. A Palestinian<br />who works for ICAHD said that his house had been demolished four<br />times. He said that most Palestinian homes in Jerusalem were subject<br />to demolition orders, so everyone lives with the fear and insecurity<br />that when they arrive home, they might find that their home has been<br />destroyed. He said that when the Israelis arrive to demolish a<br />person's house, they give them 15 minutes in which to collect their<br />family and belongings.<br /><br />Normally, people refuse to co-operate. The ICAHD worker told me that<br />in such a situation, the demolition people use tear gas. He told me<br />that he stood there, with his wife fainting and his children crying<br />while their property was being thrown out of their house on to the<br />ground. He said that it made him feel like a useless man who could not<br />even protect his family in their home, and that three possible courses<br />of action passed through his mind. First, full of hate and anger, he<br />thought about obtaining a suicide vest and destroying his own life and<br />that of others. Secondly, he thought about whether he could get out of<br />Palestine and Jerusalem, being unable to bear the pressure being put<br />on him and his family, but that would be to co-operate in the<br />ethnic-cleansing that he opposed. Thirdly—he said that this kept him<br />sane—he said he thought about working for ICAHD to rebuild the<br />demolished homes in peaceful civil disobedience.<br /><br />I understand that ICAHD has given a pledge to rebuild all the<br />demolished homes in this, the 40th year of the occupation, and<br />that—poignantly—an American holocaust survivor is funding the work. I<br />hope that all people of good will will support ICAHD financially and<br />politically in that endeavour. Importantly, the organisation brings<br />radical Israelis and Palestinians together and creates a space for<br />hope in an otherwise hopeless situation.<br /><br />The delegation's third day was hosted by the Grassroots Palestinian<br />Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, which is War on Want's partner in<br />Palestine. We were briefed about how the closures have destroyed the<br />Palestinian economy—that has subsequently been underlined by a World<br />Bank report—and also how more and more Palestinians are forced to work<br />for the Israeli settlements to produce agricultural products and other<br />goods that are exported largely to the European market, to which trade<br />agreements give Israel privileged access. Illegal settlements using<br />Palestinians as cheap labour is another element of the new apartheid<br />system in which the EU and the UK fully collude.<br /><br />The delegation went to visit the Jordan valley with a representative<br />of the Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign. The<br />situation there is truly terrible. All fertile land near the river has<br />been confiscated by Israel, supposedly for security purposes under the<br />Oslo peace accords. In the remaining territory, there are occasionally<br />settlements, some of only one person, which lead to Palestinian<br />families being removed from their land for security reasons. There are<br />acres of plastic greenhouses that are organised and worked by settlers<br />and which are strategically located over water sources. They grow<br />organic herbs and other agricultural produce for the European market<br />and yet, when we visited a totally impoverished nearby Palestinian<br />village, we found that there was no school and, that day, no water—the<br />one tap in the village gave no water. The impoverished Palestinians<br />must buy water by the bucket from the settlers.<br /><br />We visited farming families whose relatives had lived on the land in<br />the Jordan valley for generations to grow crops, herd sheep and goats,<br />and to make cheese. They were being threatened and moved constantly as<br />new settlements of only one or a few people brought in the army, which<br />claimed that they had to move for security reasons. We stopped to talk<br />to another family who had a compound at the side of the road. A house<br />bought for their son and his family on their own land had been<br />demolished, and their aubergine crop was rotting in a heap in front of<br />the house because they could not get it to market.<br /><br />There is terrible poverty and abuse of human rights in the Jordan<br />valley. The people there are being grossly neglected. I appeal to the<br />Minister, the Department for International Development and all the<br />humanitarian and non-governmental organisations to do more in the<br />Jordan valley—it is in a terrible situation, and more could be done to<br />bring instant relief.<br /><br />My conclusion is pessimistic, and the prospect of a two-state solution<br />is being destroyed. Instead, we are allowing a new, brutal apartheid<br />regime to be created with the Palestinians being confined to ghettoes<br />and used as cheap labour by the settlers. The Hamas takeover in Gaza<br />is not the cause of the problem, but the consequence of it. The<br />refusal of the UK and the EU to provide aid to the Palestinian<br />Authority following the Hamas election victory has helped to create<br />the problem. The arming of Fatah by US and Israeli forces to enable it<br />to fight Hamas in Gaza made the takeover inevitable. Now it seems that<br />efforts are to be made to offer money and inducements to President<br />Abbas to accept the monstrous ghettoes as the promised Palestinian<br />state. As Uri Avnery, the great Israeli peace campaigner, said, they<br />want him to act as a quisling, and that will not bring peace.<br /><br />In conclusion, the situation in the Palestinian territories is deeply<br />distressing and depressing, and the Government and the EU are<br />colluding in that oppression and the building of a new apartheid<br />regime. In particular, Israel has privileged access to the EU market<br />under a trade treaty that, like all EU trade treaties, contains human<br />rights conditions. I hope that the Minister will explain why those<br />conditions are not invoked to insist on Israeli compliance with<br />international law. That is a big lever, and Israel would be frightened<br />of losing access to the EU market. I wish that we would make use of<br />that for everyone's benefit.<br /><br />I fear continuing bloodshed and suffering, and further destabilisation<br />of the middle east. The situation in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian<br />territories is fuelling the anger of the Muslim world, which is acting<br />as a recruiting sergeant for the ugly ideology of Osama bin Laden and<br />those who advocate similar ideas.<br /><br />It is in the interests of the people of Israel, the Palestinians and<br />the wider middle east that there should be a two-state solution to<br />bring an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but that possibility<br />is being thrown away by Israel, which is determined constantly to<br />expand its borders in total breach of international law. The UK and<br />the EU are, sadly, colluding in that, and the consequences are causing<br />terrible suffering, and endangering the future. I truly hope that our<br />new Prime Minister will reconsider that policy, and that the<br />Opposition parties will reconsider and bring pressure to bear to bring<br />the situation back from the brink and to ensure that the centrepiece<br />of UK policy is a just peace and Israeli compliance with international<br />law.<br /><br />The Minister for the Middle East (Dr. Kim Howells): I thank the right<br />hon. Lady for initiating this debate and for her comments. I also<br />thank her for her eye-witness account of the illegal activities of the<br />Israeli defence forces and others in demolishing houses along the<br />route of the wall, the barrier or fence, where it incorporates<br />Palestinian land illegally. I agree entirely with the right hon. Lady<br />that that not only breaks international law but generates huge<br />resentment, not just in Palestine but throughout the region. We have<br />constantly urged the Israelis not to do that, and it is ironic that<br />lawyers in Israel have given Palestinians their redress only about the<br />route of the wall. Sometimes that route has been altered as a<br />consequence of legal action that Palestinians have taken, especially<br />in and around Jerusalem.<br /><br />The right hon. Lady's point about generating sympathy for Osama bin<br />Laden and al-Qaeda is prescient, and we ignore such warnings at our<br />peril. I take her message about the Jordan valley needing the<br />attention of the Department for International Development. I, too, was<br />shocked when I saw the extent to which so much of the Palestinian<br />economy on the west bank has collapsed. I shall come to Gaza in a<br />moment.<br /><br />This is one of those times in history when, from an appalling tragedy<br />of Palestinians killing Palestinians in Gaza, one hopes that the<br />Israelis and everyone else will take a real step forward, remove the<br />barriers on the west bank, and allow people to trade properly. The<br />right hon. Lady referred to a crop of aubergines that were rotting in<br />the field, and we have heard such stories so many times.<br /><br />I understand, as I am sure can everyone, why Israel has built<br />barriers, and I know why it has built the wall. On my last visit but<br />one, I went to see some old lefties—I do not know how to describe<br />them—in a kibbutz up on the old Jerusalem road. Very reluctantly, they<br />told me that life had become easier since the barrier was built<br />because they were not worried about their kids going out, as suicide<br />bombers were finding it much harder to come in from Nablus and other<br />towns. I tried to argue then, and I argue now, that they will find<br />ways of getting in and killing innocent citizens, because resentment<br />will continue to build up unless the core issue is tackled.<br /><br />Clare Short: I simply want to say that, ugly and regrettable as the<br />wall is, if it were on the 1967 boundary it would be one thing, but it<br />is taking great swathes of Palestinian land and dividing communities<br />from their land. That was found to be illegal by the International<br />Court of Justice, and there is no excuse for it.<br /><br />Dr. Howells: The right hon. Lady is absolutely correct. I was quite<br />shocked even to discuss with Labour Ministers in Israel some time ago<br />their unwillingness to build tunnels, for example, to join cantons<br />together. It is hard to believe that a viable state, albeit small,<br />could emerge from such a geographical configuration. It is difficult<br />to see how it could work. We must keep pressing the Israelis.<br /><br />I do not agree with the right hon. Lady about sanctions—she did not<br />refer to sanctions, but I have heard people talk about them. She<br />referred to withdrawal of the preferential trade agreement with the<br />EU. It is a fair subject for debate, although I am sceptical about<br />making such moves, but that is my subjective assessment. It is a<br />subject that should be discussed, and it is widely discussed<br />throughout Europe. I tend to feel that there is already so much<br />tension and there are so many difficulties that I am not sure that<br />that would advance the cause of peace.<br /><br />If the right hon. Lady will allow me, I shall say something about<br />Gaza, because we share her deep concern about what has happened there.<br />It is a tragedy, and it underlines the urgent need to maintain<br />international engagement and the current political processes.<br /><br />We are also concerned, as is the right hon. Lady, about the welfare of<br />Alan Johnston, the BBC journalist, whose family must be going through<br />the most dreadful time. We condemn the release of the latest video,<br />which can only add further distress to his family and friends. We urge<br />his captors, as I know does the right hon. Lady, to release him<br />immediately. There should be a general release of captives on both<br />sides— Corporal Shalit, the soldiers who were kidnapped by Hezbollah,<br />the councillors and elected parliamentary representatives of the<br />Palestinian people. Now is the time to make such moves, and I hope<br />that after the disaster in Gaza there will be a sense that this<br />historic opportunity should not be missed, and that misery should not<br />be heaped on the existing misery.<br /><br />I also extend our thanks to the Egyptian Government for initiating the<br />meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh yesterday between President Mubarak and<br />King Abdullah of Jordan, whom I had the privilege of speaking with<br />just last week. He brought to the situation a sharp series of<br />observations, which the right hon. Lady complemented today, and he<br />understands the gravity of the situation. If the west bank<br />statelet—that group of cantons—fails, one wonders where the conflict<br />will spread to next. Jordan, with its huge Palestinian population,<br />would be in grave danger, and King Abdullah is well aware of that. He<br />was at Sharm el-Sheikh, as were Prime Minister Olmert and President<br />Abbas.<br /><br />We welcome Prime Minister Olmert's statement that he will work, with<br />President Abbas as a true partner, towards the establishment of a<br />two-state solution and the implementation of the road map. There are<br />some positive aspects, but I agree with the right hon. Lady that it is<br />a pretty bleak picture. It is as bleak as I can ever remember it, but<br />the decision by Prime Minister Olmert to transfer the withheld<br />revenues is probably a positive step forward, and we look forward to<br />the implementation of the commitments to increase freedom of movement<br />and expand trade connections in the west bank. Such actions are not<br />rocket science; they can easily be done and they could make a big<br />difference, if only to that family about whom the right hon. Lady<br />spoke, with their crop of aubergines.<br /><br />Such actions are vital to the Palestinian people, and they have helped<br />to improve the humanitarian and economic situation, which is critical.<br />We welcome Prime Minister Olmert's pledge to ensure the continued<br />supply of humanitarian aid to Gaza. As the right hon. Lady knows, we<br />have earmarked funding for that project. It does not address the<br />central issue that she has raised today, but there is an immediate<br />humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which the international community must<br />address. It is important that the international community works<br />together to help all Palestinian people.<br /><br />President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad's Government have our full<br />support, and we share their aim of restoring security and improving<br />the economic and humanitarian situation. We continue to work with all<br />people, including President Abbas, who are dedicated to a peaceful<br />resolution of the conflict.<br /><br />The right hon. Lady did not mention this point, because time is always<br />limited in such debates, but President Abbas, among others, has said<br />that there ought to be an international peacekeeping force in Gaza<br />certainly, if not on the west bank. I can see the right hon. Lady<br />shaking her head, and one cannot imagine who would donate the troops<br />to such a force. They would have to fight their way in, there would be<br />bloodshed and mayhem on a huge scale, and quite frankly, I cannot see<br />the idea coming off.<br /><br />To reinforce what the right hon. Lady said, we must understand the<br />gravity of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, address it and at the same<br />time, urge Israel as<br />hard as we possibly can to think again about its policy of<br />incorporating Palestinian villages and land within the confines of<br />that wall. As she said, the Israelis have a perfect right to defend<br />themselves, and if they want to build a wall, it is up to them, but it<br />ought to be along the agreed frontier—such as it is—that was defined<br />in 1967. It ought not to encroach on Palestinian territory.<br /><br />It is important that we receive such reports in the House. In so many<br />ways, that is what such debates are for—so that we are reminded<br />constantly of the reality of what can sometimes look like great,<br />strategic trends and events on the world stage. However, for the<br />family whom the right hon. Lady described so vividly, the reality is<br />that their lives have been shattered. Many other families' lives have<br />been, too. I have always considered myself to be a friend of the<br />Palestinian people and the Israeli people. I was brought up in a home<br />in which the dreams of everybody who was interested in the subject<br />were about people living alongside each other peacefully, not even in<br />separate states.<br /><br />I shall not apportion blame; I have been around too long for that. I<br />have seen the successive invasions of Israel, and what the Israelis<br />have done in an attempt to head off what they perceive as threats to<br />the Israeli heartland, which has usually meant extending territory. My<br />message to the Israelis is simple; if they are to live in peace side<br />by side with their neighbours, the Israelis must help them become<br />viable states with economies that can live in a competitive world.<br />They need the education, skills, infrastructure and wherewithal to do<br />all that, but most important, they need the self-respect and dignity<br />that we enjoy as members of sovereign states.<br /><br />Clare Short: May I press the Minister to reconsider his view on<br />Israeli access to the EU market? If we invoked the human rights<br />conditionality in that treaty, we would have a lever with which to<br />press Israel to do what he calls for. Does not our failure to use that<br />leverage mean that we are colluding in the breach of international<br />law? Will he reconsider his position on that point?<br /><br />Dr. Howells: I certainly do not believe that we are colluding in any<br />shape or form. I was going to come to that point, but with respect to<br />the right hon. Lady, "colluding" is certainly the wrong word to use. I<br />know that she chose that word very carefully, but I do not think that<br />it is the right one. I can speak only subjectively from my meeting<br />with other European Ministers. She, too, met her counterparts from the<br />EU and other nations many times. There is at one extreme a sense of<br />hopelessness, which she also described today in a very grim analysis<br />of the situation. I am at the other extreme. I keep telling myself<br />that we have material to work with, and that it is a very small part<br />of the world. What is Gaza? Ten miles wide, and at the most, 35 to 40<br />miles long. It has a wonderful beach on the Mediterranean, and I<br />remember vividly the first time I ever walked on it, thinking, "Why is<br />this a poor part of the world? Why haven't people here got any jobs?"<br />It seemed mad to me.<br /><br />The right hon. Lady expressed the hope that my right hon. Friend the<br />new Prime Minister would take the issue by the scruff of the neck and<br />try to do something with it. She knows that he has been very<br />interested for a very long time in trying to work with the Israelis<br />and the Arab countries in the area to do something about that economy<br />and that infrastructure. I disagree with her about the effect of that<br />general sense of good will towards Israel and Palestine—the desire<br />throughout Europe that there should be a good outcome, and peace and<br />prosperity in the future. In the end, we disagree about whether<br />applying a screw to the Israelis on the question of human rights<br />compliance would achieve a great deal.<br /><br />We should at every possible opportunity engage the Israelis on human<br />rights and on compliance with their undertakings, which, as a<br />consequence, enable them to enjoy access to the European market. We<br />should talk to them about that, but I have a feeling that there are<br />already far too many strictures on all sides to add another one. It<br />would just create more tension, and we should try to build on what we<br />have, aim for the high ground and figure out how we can get there by<br />engaging with both sides.<br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-59745528001953855712007-07-05T00:15:00.001-07:002007-07-05T00:22:58.648-07:00List of DEMS ABROAD<span style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68);font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" > <p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-family:Verdana;font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">DEMOCRATS ABROAD </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-weight: bold;font-family:Arial;font-size:180%;" lang="EN-GB" ><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-family:Verdana;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><br /></span></span><span style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68);font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" ><a href="http://www.democratsabroad.org/about/contact.php">http://www.democratsabroad.org/about/contact.php</a> )</span> </p></span> <p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68);font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" ><span class="dReadMsgHeaderTo">chair@democratsabroad.org; counsel@democratsabroad.org; secretary@democratsabroad.org; treasurer@democratsabroad.org; <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=WgJlY8GUPU_iksClY2ielX0EY0w4D_CBM_DYZBCoM0LZDXhL0G7rP32IO9UO7BPRP7gVWKeMnVW0j4OsAbNjHwGA8F2fHt4">vice-chair@democratsabroad.org</a>; <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=WBa_16ze7-lhSVnOHLsIV3JSCSz8D0f1bxuP8jaKitEVrBTJ8Rg9bjPde_FZoy6V3aX6fMnjnQEdta0lLSJE">gswanrat@loxinfo.co.th</a>; mgowanlegoff@democratsabroad.org; boleary@democratsabroad.org; cborde@democratsabroad.org; <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=OBQU7qdcRvgR3rh1oJ4bzhh_vcFhm0QbiShxgcpSfro-SXfD9lLPVvdMi14hrw3PlZeBc9kC3J-SeBj36crkZv_zQPs">lgibbons@democratsabroad.org</a>; tmorelli@democratsabroad.org; ed@democratsabroad.org; newsletter@democratsabroad.org; demsabrd@bellatlantic.net; pressofficer@democratsabroad.org; <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=4bGAKamSCjXRpYCjb_bJPqW2uNj6n8Ty-cAj2dckYK8CSflJk5zQF3OhuUkAw9B3WIMtUu0k4EQ90y-M">webeditor@sympatico.ca</a> </span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68);font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" ></span><span><span style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68);font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" ><span style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-weight: bold;font-family:Arial;font-size:180%;" lang="EN-GB" ><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-family:Verdana;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;">France</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68);font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" ><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" >RIVIERA</span><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><o></o></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;">Samantha Timmerman </span><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=a3VT7anXPXU1y-sjP6gInt10mXJAi7HIV5zzOWE3Bi0VxrOu_14ULirFGVR2Vvet7fd9NXgu6NU9FERUHR7TRABv"><span style="font-family:Arial;">pisatimm@compuserve.com</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial;"> <o></o></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;">SOUTHWEST<o></o></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >Meredith Wheeler </span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=2tuqXqzd2T9o5_Jhdf6JztMv1DYzYGJqsAt-1j2jmvAIbaOgOhVz24d8Jo16y_dkQ0VNbhJIU58hzo62PE0FQQ"><span lang="EN-GB">mw@meredithwheeler.org</span></a></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" ><o></o></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><st1><st1><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" >STRASBOURG</span></st1></st1><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" lang="EN-GB" ><o></o></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;">Susan Vaillant </span><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=P86-RB-Y6zc9hL2iDFezGZYhx0ziWYbqLGSmRsXyve7WMRdoCf1oqnYrN2xiZHKY6RuD0fSqlA"><span style="font-family:Arial;">svaillant@evc.net</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial;"> <o></o></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ></span> <span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;">PARIS<o></o></span></span></p> <p align="left"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;">Chair</span></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"> Joe Smallhoover </span><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=M5sAJ2JV-cZOd96X6Pz65yGAde6CIs6PZucv6tdyKFkbXvJnDl10nRwXOhCR7yvLitqSUU8Gs2iPqz9WAs4"><span style="font-family:Arial;">joe@smallhoover.net </span></a><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span>Vice-Chair</span> Connie Borde </span><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=DITXE74HCgJXKwZdUMrtntRCyoPmJQj71WT68u957IUU2b2io40HQPPwGCakvgulJGJNkW_qrLKzVos_"><span style="font-family:Arial;">daf@demsfrance.com</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial;"><br /><span>Vice-Chair</span> Anna Marie Mattson </span><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=whzXMvUezRMN2423a4RircperSv_0ICNQUE_LQq4AJiEC5uqKAAQF9ypveJU5pe6oWBZN8g8P3Qrm9ic7B0k"><span style="font-family:Arial;">ammattson@wanadoo.fr</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">Vice-Chair</span></span><span style="font-family:Arial;"> Tom O’Neill </span><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=lB6WJ9neiMxGMUjlM-9yf_jn6oDFcG-RtEGc2rNj6JloXFbo5YpO5wJC3P5PID3OGninXhuOlQtg"><span style="font-family:Arial;">tom.oneill@noos.fr</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial;"><br /><span>Secretary</span> Katharine Chassaing </span><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=jopwF8TJug2TxUENUlsed3uO9je-K0y5AMaQryddDLRHrKX_UhhbwIWP_W__Rrf9ZjUF3Vo8TqY"><span style="font-family:Arial;">echassaing@noos.fr</span></a></span></p> <p align="left"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span>Counsel</span> Meredith Gowan Le Goff </span><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=qCuTVQtVPze8-VV5uyEZUKRchznedFoE1D1yYJXY-ZR2yfkGStVogcQxxk2aGO5Usf4FopTAwWHfR7j-us5daw"><span style="font-family:Arial;">meredith.legoff@wanadoo.fr</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial;"><br /><span>Voter Registration</span> Louise Meyers </span><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=FuQyhNkWAJya_5e5a4N96cnMUTOMIUd7bluFPZGzEMllHVBJJAGVzjvDEyqSi2UxWCLoGqWl0aJEOHWC7po_LmUmo7U"><span style="font-family:Arial;">vote-fr@democratsabroad.org</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 156);"><br /></span></a><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span>Young Dems </span>George Shanztek </span><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=xUYKkULu5fWOvPiLHruBGh8kPiHULoktKtI_P-Wr4xVAeP8nEa32VGVMemdGfcRXr7lX7nYtTI6k9UAgq_A"><span style="font-family:Arial;">jorgito.sol@gmail.com</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 156);"><br /></span></a><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span>Press Coordinator</span> Anna Marie Mattson </span><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=icHXuLnNTwUGYN9vPr3FJorly5lp4dVyCpUychl8oFvCZ8g2cYiXNApEg90lk7Dap9B-IAdadX2PPRyuDw"><span style="font-family:Arial;">ammattson@wanadoo.fr</span></a></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;">Italy</span></span></p><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" > <h3 align="left"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >Country Officers</span></h3><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=z-iqzOLlRMpdpnYRNicD0wS4DOz48MHmUsyaBEsu68e1nb5ypg_SNMwDKvbrDvfwLPaP7sYEPQj4xRbfBb9KHVoAyUwk43E-wL1gFEUCxOlik9stUirXEeqdOVz-J8ie6QiOwsrG4xf2TAb0tb3ALp3H-5nepIQ8aSw29BF3Yw5z3k1mL7URC-UE4sYGLEq1Xn0gU--Kx3VaPRvyYHk3Z5MHPBZxoHDd"> </a><p align="left"><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=I50RNGaX2083QL0cGaZ4pSD1sFJEzQcimviGP4jSnmN2XvH_yoGrBGznkBmxkXS_3wMO7FsfpSmwyjA-dW2cfvDl"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Chair - Anthony Sistilli</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">chair@democratsabroad.it </span></p> <p align="left"><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=c-ChCvIT4ixXNf3-PXxYUB3vWfNuW79jp1INZ3gJoAANx6Ug_cRcfc-KqHB84M5sqQSDVe4GQdh0AcFdu99akpf51g"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Vice Chair - Jo-Ann White</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">vicechair@democratsabroad.it</span></p> <p align="left"><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=w4I5fVwoRrlVumG4ft-q31N3hl4b7Guv-W8gygelXJR2ODVeeFhqqz6Ydq_rX0fzO8NNYVypalGs1RU3QfbnRNyr"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Secretary - Maria Lassila</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">secretary@democratsabroad.it</span></p> <p align="left"><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=xDaUD6dcqW9_5NwNud3lAjBlprWnaZfnufg51XuQP7qmeoMQYrkUWX8dhHRt8CFnb8YojtxaPdSqmr64bxiwZz4B1pfGX5I"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Treasurer - Randall Abney</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">treasurer@democratsabroad.it</span></p> <p align="left"><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=puVRcNrmaotgGZyNZMhZb7Z-fYAt4BuTdWIkGuzBvAwSGkuIJ_TWz05Js1TRmOFUitSTj0V8-jbybc2xM9oOOw"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Counsel - Peter Alegi</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">counsel@democratsabroad.it </span></p> <p align="left"><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">Chapter Chairs</span></p> <p align="left"><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=tjZTRK6Qi10El0jLzFLN3b3ETiCHDN0aCerVEt679XsKxbXrte3hFHoIIGwnK1LzhRn432QHQ4SFsaG7WUU5qoGmGsayNqw"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Rome Chair - Lisa Finerty </span></a><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">chair.rome@democratsabroad.it</span></p> <p align="left"><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=NZwU0RmKxMazaD42in-j0StXj5vg6CQQKNBJWg6T1ixHePuap8Hyd-WAmz3d3o7zW4ggEwIXsfxzldopATpyoLMx1f6gjQ"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Milan Chair - Maria Lassila </span></a><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">chair.milan@democratsabroad.it</span></p> <p align="left"><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=yWQEao4U0MJCCuyWGC0A58TuGbFfJH0ZRz3zSgztLRaAIghGImejsmi_Gz-ZrNCYXX9ELp-wDGCeWV4qfx-PLY3u8PC5FCFruec"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Bologna Chair - Liz Kaplan </span></a><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">chair.bologna@democratsabroad.it</span></p> <p align="left"><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=w-f7OqsX_rkYH5Mtax0ZWJmZc-7W4EUlQQstZoN6Ww7Y_5LdzieAQwS0zqrDSQffjWUCaBBEK4kgJjORXhP7trGZtlEgxlafcW0ACg"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Florence Chair - Jo-Ann White </span></a><br /><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=0SMuuMfDbcZZ3rTZnF5kYjQmuH20I7GxJO5cQNqE6WbffP913Z6sXNgxf-Ioe-MU7HfB4VrhTn01x2kodOt-OBk8jVDIxYzDNCCO"><span style="font-family:Arial;">chair.florence@democratsabroad.it</span></a></p></span> <p style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:180%;" ><o><span style=";font-family:Arial;" >Spain</span></o></span></p> <p align="left"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><o><span style="font-family:Arial;">Chairperson</span></o></span></p> <p align="left"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><o><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=xGfd58rUrE7OmZhNd6x3OaR760ZtZQylBKLdlZEr_NhpY3clw-frDAAvt0LzQWJ1lr1ZQR_q9MnFmJ0WFhIGK2UY"><span style="font-family:Arial;">chair-es@democratsabroad.org</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></o></span></p> <p align="left"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><o><span style="font-family:Arial;">Barcelona</span></o></span></p> <p align="left"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><o><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=aIHpFVhBbDbc2UehbNcKv5FCyD3UzYbyEGOG6CJN4WqGq703YX1exLbcn0v7FeJHDCkBqnZ1_HPYDRXTPmS5pr9ueg"><span style="font-family:Arial;">madriddemsabroad@msn.com</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></o></span></p> <p align="left"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><o><span style="font-family:Arial;">Madrid</span></o></span></p> <p align="left"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><o><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=wfK4isv8cuIaNy0owf-oS4fIQcePzQWuKt-qsxGhgl3g-iv_E3zNl3xo694YdVZyeahqkaZfWkZr4Bd6qQ"><span style="font-family:Arial;">bcndemsabroad@yahoo.com</span></a></o></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:180%;" ><o><span style="font-family:Arial;">Germany</span></o></span></p><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><o> </o><h3 align="left"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >Chair:</span></h3><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=LvWYJ8tIk82fTS_aFe-Sy8dntDal4J7I6bqXAroG7kJoJGB3Tufh5asr-is-evZXz-NOlsY0QDAmu4j0I8_CBeRV"> </a><p align="left"><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=9tgHcBfmn3wMj-twQydGBzTs9Sub2mfoROkGpGwjjsWH0XBXLbl-PY8_5ktRnRvISIBoioZoooh5OOKyr93hYU80qQs"><span style="font-family:Arial;">chair-de@democratsabroad.org</span></a></p> <p align="left"> </p><h3 align="left"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >DA Germany Officers</span></h3><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=3cZeK69ASEKAI_1ZQfz-xADFE339adapHMVAEF8YMjw0fRU1fVBBB5OQQOd4qztByZiIwcKg32g29SEUPWieR8wDrS_wufsuwNpgw396TvwxDgpyhPpfahifvCw6hFbRKo1RnoK21nAeOH3iDGrNhqg9m18ojA2zmhLWswyRvhNUDsF_T6RRDtokycpS3-hoke_fifz_aFluSDa83YQuEHu_wDlh"> </a><p align="left"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Vice Chair: Susan Haug<br />Secretary: Shari Temple </span><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=1mr5NQc6zLclCC1SgahW1SQvNB9aq1nN9x5oSytKb1SZQfiApKckH9oDgySLat304zN67x32gJACKlEPvzWudmKoHZ4I"><span style="font-family:Arial;">dag-secretary@dems-abroad.org</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">Treasurer: Ron Schlundt<br />Council: Andy Hoffman</span></p> <p align="left"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Berlin Chair: Michael Steltzer </span><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=xi5mW2i1QHwY3Mkjh7iTBJoEMQJvjmYtxapoFth5KngYvr0rWvEU-xH2L-iBeS8yyEKyvjFFiI9IvdoNbE_2"><span style="font-family:Arial;">chair@demsinberlin.de</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">Frankfurt Chair: Beverly Seebach </span><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=EZM62Tc3fMz_IYMr9NOhofAc1BGAqN-qxBMUWfbuqtIVOCMS_yRXFsIiAkW_AXx25NMEyp6Tz_T48Caq_kbgTRipH_zTeZ0"><span style="font-family:Arial;">da-frankfurt@dems-abroad.com</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">Goettingen Chair: Ben Sandidge<br />Heidelberg Chair: Charles Keene </span><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=Hqd2bMlLeNAVCL4-DgThlrCDq-uqhTcBmdD8Ajc7duMwVsOtuV5wT5oCWKwtKo6c-fpmwwa1U_7Y93FFoxxh4xB0YAsY0Wo"><span style="font-family:Arial;">da-heidelberg@dems-abroad.com</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">Kaiserslautern Chair: Sudie Nolan-Cassimatis </span><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=zIRSFbdb7EdsEmo3UcH_rWKb2YdD8qD32H3aTVXg5sMOE91MxDdWC6YWHf0R4y9blOgMAqzULP8C3U4-iszXcs0M33KTVLEz"><span style="font-family:Arial;">da-kaiserslautern@dems-abroad.com</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">Munich Chair: Randy Caldwell </span><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=3nNPIvDDv2739kq-VTzNvnhtjoqFKEoCSniugs1h1wRYdQMZfS4PCc6cmp_4luBAUjkHwOrxdNPevEKBS_m7NGnTW6c"><span style="font-family:Arial;">da-Munich@Dems-Abroad.org</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">Stuttgart: Dennis O'Donohue </span><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawfrance/post?postID=fxcoU-IoHQ7NGTkxOjNEoNccgepQjSH0yaw4EGWEmuxKctRhn1Czz5CUBgboppkKQRC0pnbSPTAHONOjnWeTjpyPPH7cXns"><span style="font-family:Arial;">da-stuttgart@dems-abroad.com</span></a></p></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-90885515982757089172007-05-23T01:02:00.000-07:002007-05-23T01:03:07.334-07:00Iran-contra affair<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Iran-contra affair</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Iran-contra affair, in U.S. history, secret arrangement in the 1980s to provide funds to the Nicaraguan contra rebels from profits gained by selling arms to Iran. The Iran-contra affair was the product of two separate initiatives during the administration of President Ronald Reagan. The first was a commitment to aid the contras who were conducting a guerrilla war against the Sandinista government of Nicaragua. The second was to placate “moderates” within the Iranian government in order to secure the release of American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon and to influence Iranian foreign policy in a pro-Western direction.<br /><br />Despite the strong opposition of the Reagan administration, the Democratic-controlled Congress enacted legislation, known as the Boland amendments, that prohibited the Defense Dept., the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), or any other government agency from providing military aid to the contras from Dec., 1983, to Sept., 1985. The Reagan administration circumvented these limitations by using the National Security Council (NSC), which was not explicitly covered by the law, to supervise covert military aid to the contras. Under Robert McFarlane (1983–85) and John Poindexter (1985–86) the NSC raised private and foreign funds for the contras. This operation was directed by NSC staffer Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North. McFarlane and North were also the central figures in the plan to secretly ship arms to Iran despite a U.S. trade and arms embargo.<br /><br />In early Nov., 1986, the scandal broke when reports in Lebanese newspapers forced the Reagan administration to disclose the arms deals. Poindexter resigned before the end of the month; North was fired. Select congressional committees held joint hearings, and in Dec., 1986, Lawrence E. Walsh was named as special prosecutor to investigate the affair. Higher administration officials, particularly Reagan, Vice President Bush, and William J. Casey (former director of the CIA, who died in May, 1987), were implicated in some testimony, but the extent of their involvement remained unclear. North said he believed Reagan was largely aware of the secret arrangement, and the independent prosecutor's report (1994) said that Reagan and Bush had some knowledge of the affair or its coverup. Reagan and Bush both claimed to have been uninformed about the details of the affair, and no evidence was found to link them to any crime. A presidential commission was critical of the NSC, while congressional hearings uncovered a web of official deception, mismanagement, and illegality.<br /><br />A number of criminal convictions resulted, including those of McFarlane, North, and Poindexter, but North's and Poindexter's were vacated on appeal because of immunity agreements with the Senate concerning their testimony. Former State Dept. and CIA officials pleaded guilty in 1991 to withholding information about the contra aid from Congress, and Caspar Weinberger, defense secretary under Reagan, was charged (1992) with the same offense. In 1992 then-president Bush pardoned Weinberger and other officials who had been indicted or convicted for withholding information on or obstructing investigation of the affair. The Iran-contra affair raised serious questions about the nature and scope of congressional oversight of foreign affairs and the limits of the executive branch.<br /><br />See B. Woodward, Veil (1987); T. Draper, A Very Thin Line (1991).<br /><br />The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-35825674825659361652007-05-23T00:30:00.000-07:002007-05-23T00:31:41.019-07:00Bush Anoints Himself as the Insurer of Constitutional Government in Emergency<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Bush Anoints Himself as the Insurer of Constitutional Government in Emergency</span><br />By Matthew Rothschild<br /><br />http://progressive.org/mag_wx051807<br />May 18, 2007<br /><div style="text-align: justify;">With scarcely a mention in the mainstream media, President Bush has ordered up a plan for responding to a catastrophic attack.<br /><br />In a new National Security Presidential Directive, Bush lays out his plans for dealing with a “catastrophic emergency.”<br />Under that plan, he entrusts himself with leading the entire federal government, not just the Executive Branch. And he gives himself the responsibility “for ensuring constitutional government.”<br /><br />He laid this all out in a document entitled “National Security Presidential Directive/NSPD 51” and “Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-20.”<br /><br />The White House released it on May 9.<br /><br />Other than a discussion on Daily Kos led off by a posting by Leo Fender, and a pro-forma notice in a couple of mainstream newspapers, this document has gone unremarked upon.<br /><br />The subject of the document is entitled “National Continuity Policy.”<br /><br />It defines a “catastrophic emergency” as “any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government function.”<br /><br />This could mean another 9/11, or another Katrina, or a major earthquake in California, I imagine, since it says it would include “localized acts of nature, accidents, and technological or attack-related emergencies.”<br /><br />The document emphasizes the need to ensure “the continued function of our form of government under the Constitution, including the functioning of the three separate branches of government,” it states.<br /><br />But it says flat out: “The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government.”<br /><br />The document waves at the need to work closely with the other two branches, saying there will be “a cooperative effort among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Federal Government.” But this effort will be “coordinated by the President, as a matter of comity with respect to the legislative and judicial<br />branches and with proper respect for the constitutional separation of powers.”<br /><br />Among the efforts coordinated by the President would ensuring the capability of the three branches of government to “provide for orderly succession” and “appropriate transition of leadership.”<br /><br />The document designates a National Continuity Coordinator, who would be the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism.<br /><br />Currently holding that post is Frances Fragos Townsend.<br /><br />She is required to develop a National Continuity Implementation Plan and submit it within 90 days.<br /><br />As part of that plan, she is not only to devise procedures for the Executive Branch but also give guidance to “state, local, territorial, and tribal governments, and private sector owners and operators of critical infrastructure.”<br /><br />The secretary of Homeland Security is also directed to develop planning guidance for “private sector critical infrastructure owners and operators,” as well as state, local, territorial, and tribal governments.<br /><br />The document gives the Vice President a role in implementing the provisions of the contingency plans.<br /><br />“This directive shall be implanted in a manner that is consistent with, and facilitates effective implementation of, provisions of the Constitution concerning succession to the Presidency or the exercise of its powers, and the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 (3 USC 19), with the consultation of the Vice President and, as appropriate, others involved.”<br /><br />The document also contains “classified Continuity Annexes.”</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-31193689712324717512007-05-21T02:54:00.000-07:002007-05-21T03:10:14.930-07:00AAW endorses Boycott of Rolling Stones Concert<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >AAW endorses Boycott of Rolling Stones Concert in Israel</span><br /><br />Dear Rolling Stones,<br /><br />The Palestinian arts community received in disbelief media reports of your upcoming performance in Israel, at a time when Israel continues<br />unabated with its colonial and apartheid designs to further dispossess, oppress,<br />and ultimately ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their homeland. If<br />the news is accurate, we strongly urge you to cancel your plans to perform<br />in Israel until the time comes when it ends its illegal occupation of<br />Palestinian territory and respects fundamental human rights as well as<br />the relevant precepts of international law concerning Palestinian rights to<br />freedom, self-determination and equality.<br /><br />Performing in Israel at this time is morally equivalent to performing<br />in South Africa during the apartheid era. We all remember how leading<br />Rolling Stones musicians played a prominent role in enforcing a cultural<br />boycott of apartheid South Africa in the 1980's, and participated in recording<br />the timeless song, Sun City, which had a singular influence on raising<br />public awareness about apartheid and its injustices. As Archbishop<br />Desmond Tutu, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights Prof. John Dugard, and<br />South African government minister Ronnie Kasrils have repeatedly declared,<br />Israel has created a worse system of apartheid than anything that ever<br />existed in South Africa.<br /><br />Indeed, Israel's policies throughout its illegal military occupation of<br />Palestinian territory, which have surpassed their South African<br />counterparts, include house demolitions; Jews-only colonies and roads;<br />uprooting hundreds of thousands of trees; indiscriminate killings of<br />civilians, particularly children; incessant theft of land and water<br />resources; denying freedom of movement to millions under occupation,<br />cutting up the occupied Palestinian territory into Bantustans, some<br />entirely caged by walls, fences and hundreds of roadblocks. Sixty years<br />since the Nakba, Israel's planned campaign of ethnic cleansing against<br />the Palestinian people, and 40 years into its military occupation of<br />Palestinian and other Arab territory, Israel has consistently and<br />relentlessly violated basic human rights and relevant precepts of<br />international law with utter impunity. Moreover, Israel's war of<br />aggression against Lebanon last year caused more than one thousand<br />civilian deaths, not to mention massive destruction to infrastructure<br />anddecimation of entire residential neighbourhoods.<br /><br />The resounding failure of the international community to date in ending<br />Israel's occupation, collective punishment, and other forms of<br />oppression was what prompted Palestinians to appeal to international<br />civil society to bear its moral responsibility to put an end to injustice,<br />just as it did against apartheid South Africa. To this end, Palestinian<br />civil society has almost unanimously called for boycott, divestment and<br />sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it fully complies with<br />international law and recognizes the fundamental human rights of the people of<br />Palestine. A specific call for cultural boycott of Israel was issued<br />last year, garnering wide support. Among the many groups and institutions<br />that have heeded the Palestinian boycott calls and started to consider or<br />apply diverse forms of effective pressure on Israel are the Church of<br />England; the US Presbyterian Church; a group of top British architects; the<br />British National Union of Journalists in the UK; the Congress of South African<br />Trade Unions (COSATU); the South African Council of Churches; the<br />Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in Ontario; Aosdana, the Irish<br />state-sponsored academy of artists; celebrated authors, artists and intellectuals led by John Berger; and Palme d'Or winner director Ken<br />Loach. Is it too much, then, to expect conscientious artists like the Rolling Stones to similarly uphold the values of freedom, equality and justice for all by supporting the growing boycott against Israel?<br /><br />We appeal to your moral principles and your record of standing up for<br />human rights and human dignity. We sincerely hope that you shall cancel<br />this ill-conceived and particularly harmful concert in Israel.<br />Sincerely,<br />Americans Against the War - France<br />www.aawfrance.org<br /><br />Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel<br /><a href="http://www.pacbi.org/">www.pacbi.org<br /></a>info@boycottisrael.psUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-89881939973401002542007-05-16T22:10:00.000-07:002007-05-16T22:22:44.374-07:00How do I register as a Conscientious Objector?<span style="font-size:180%;">How do I register as a Conscientious Objector?</span><br /><br />Unfortunately, the United States Military does not allow private citizens to register for Conscientious Objector (CO) status until a draft is called. However, you can record your desire for CO status by sending a letter stating the beliefs (be they spiritual, religious or personal) or life experiences that would preclude you from serving in the military, to the offices of Selective Services (check www.sss.gov for appropriate office).<br /><br />If you or someone you know currently is serving in the military and is looking for a way out due to conscientious objections, the Center on Conscience & War can help provide all the answers and information. If you have any questions or concerns about obtaining CO status, contact:<br /><ul><li>The Center on Conscience & War (800-379-2679, www.nisbco.org) and a representative will talk you through the process.</li></ul><ul><li>GI Rights (800-394-9544, http://girights.objector.org) who provide information to servicemembers about military discharges, grievance and complaint procedures, and other civil rights.</li></ul><br />If you are simply looking for a little more information about registering yourself as a Conscientious Objector, check out this fact sheet.<br />Contact your elected representative<br />Let your elected representatives, including members of Congress and George W. Bush, know what you think about the war.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><big style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> INFORMATION FOR SUPPORTING G.I.s AND YOUNG PEOPLE CONSIDERING CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION TO WAR<br /> <br />Counsel for GIs seeking discharge for reason of conscience:<br /> </span></big><span style="font-family: arial;"></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />The GI Rights Hotline provides advice to GIs on how to work through conscientious objection (C.O.) legalities. Each branch of the military has its own set of rules on C.O. discharges, and proper legal and other advice is essential to navigate the processes for a release.<br /> <br />The GI Rights Hotline for free advice and counsel can be reached at:<br />1 800 FYI 95GI (1 800 394 9544)<br /> <br />Outside the U.S. call 215-563-4620 or email : girights@objector.org<br /> <br />This group can also be connected with at www.objector.org <br />(Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors or CCCO), 215-563-8787 or info@objector.org <br /> <br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" > Counsel to those who have enlisted but not yet reported: </span><br /> <br />The military commonly uses Delayed Enlistment Program (DEP) to sign up young people while still in high school or too young to actually enlist. Most young people think that once they have signed up in the DEP that they cannot get out. THAT IS ABSOLUTELY WRONG. It is relatively easy to get out of a DEP agreement. If you know of someone who has signed up but<br />changed their mind and not reported, have them call the American Friends Service Committee-Denver office at 303 623 3464. Once they take the induction physical, swear the oath of enlistment, or climb on the bus to report it becomes much more difficult to get out....so don't do any of these things without seeking advise first.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" > CO Counseling prior to enlistment in the military:</span><br /> <br />The Roaring Fork Peace Coalition has a video tape from Veterans for Peace entitled How to Be a Conscientious Objector to War. rfpc@sopris.net<br /> <br />American Friends Service Committee www.afsc.org<br /> <br />Center on Conscious and War www.nisbco.org<br /> <br />Central Committee For Conscientious Objectors www.objector.org<br />Washington Truth in Recruiting www.watir.org<br /> <br />Veterans for Peace www.veteransforpeace.org<br /> <br />Many churches have offices for conscientious objector support including<br />offering to serve as depositories of C.O. personal files:<br /> <br />United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society, Wash, DC<br />American Baptist Church, Board of National Ministries, Valley Forge, PA<br />Southern Baptist Executive Committee, Nashville, TN<br />Church of the Brethren, Office of Brethren Witness, Elgin, IL<br />Episcopal Church, Registrar for Conscientious Objectors, NY, NY<br />Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Commission on Church and Society, Chicago, IL<br />Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Friends General Conference (contact local meetings)<br />Friends United Meeting, Peace Board, Richmond, IN<br />Mennonite Central Committee, U.S. Peace Section, Akron, PA<br />Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Office of State Clerk, Louisville, KY<br />Roman Catholic Church (contact your local diocesan Peace and Justice office)<br />Unitarian-Universalist Association, Registry of Conscientious Objectors, Boston, MA<br /> <br />Many other religious and faith bodies have supported C.O.s in prior wars. As with Christianity, many branches of Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim communities and many others have common<br />beliefs in non-violence. So if your faith tradition is not listed, don't assume it would not support C.O.<br /> </span><big style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></big>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-75435774507524186822007-05-05T07:14:00.000-07:002007-05-05T07:15:55.044-07:00Royal Accuses Rival of Apology to Bush on Iraq; Sarkozy Denies It<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Royal Accuses Rival of Apology to Bush on Iraq; Sarkozy Denies It<br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>New York Times<br />April 27, 2007<br /><br />By ARIANE BERNARD<br />PARIS, April 26 — Ségolène Royal, the Socialist candidate in the<br />French presidential election on May 6, accused Nicolas Sarkozy, her<br />conservative opponent, on Wednesday of having "apologized" to<br />President Bush for France's decision not to back the United States<br />militarily in Iraq.<br /><br />Mr. Sarkozy's campaign team called her words "lies."<br /><br />"I am not for a Europe that aligns with the U.S.," Ms. Royal said on<br />France 2 television. "I have never been, and will never, go apologize<br />to President Bush for the position of France on the issue of refusing<br />to send our troops to Iraq."<br /><br />The interviewer noted that Mr. Sarkozy's official position was that he<br />had supported President Jacques Chirac's opposition to the war and to<br />French participation in military operations in Iraq.<br /><br />"Yes, well, listen," Ms. Royal responded. "He still did this."<br /><br />Mr. Sarkozy's team issued a strongly worded statement on Thursday<br />morning, repeating his position that the war in Iraq was a mistake and<br />that he backed Mr. Chirac's decision to refuse to send French troops.<br /><br />The statement called for Ms. Royal to "stop using lies and personal<br />attacks to preserve the dignity and qualities of the presidential<br />debate."<br /><br />Ms. Royal repeated her criticism on Thursday evening, telling TF1<br />television, "He may have changed his posture, but I think all the<br />French were shocked by his move when he visited George Bush,<br />denouncing French arrogance and apologizing for the French position."<br /><br />While in the United States in September, Mr. Sarkozy, then the<br />interior minister, sought to distance himself from what he considered<br />France's clumsy method of diplomacy, but he repeated his opposition to<br />the war. He met with President Bush at the White House and they posed<br />for a photo, which prompted much commentary in the French news media.<br /><br />"We know that a meeting was negotiated," Arnaud Montebourg, a<br />spokesman for Ms. Royal, said in an interview. "This showed that in<br />exchange, he had made verbal concessions showing he separated himself<br />from French diplomacy."<br /><br />Asked if the Socialist Party had any evidence that Mr. Sarkozy had<br />"apologized" for not sending troops to Iraq, he replied: "These are<br />facts. How do you want Mr. Bush to shake the hand of a leader without<br />some sort of opening on his part?"<br /><br />The battle between Mr. Sarkozy, who received 31 percent of the vote on<br />Sunday in the first round of the presidential election, and Ms. Royal,<br />who got 26 percent, is intensifying.<br /><br />Mr. Sarkozy's opponents have often emphasized his perceived affinity<br />for the United States. In January, a Socialist Party pamphlet called<br />him an "American neoconservative with a French passport."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-37956232656153979682007-05-05T05:53:00.000-07:002007-05-05T06:00:36.617-07:00Petition opposition au candidat à l'élection présidentielle Nicolas Sarkozy<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Petition en opposition au candidat<br />à l'élection présidentielle Nicolas Sarkozy<br /><br />Voir <a href="http://www.petitiononline.com/antiSark/petition.html">ici</a><br /></span><br />Nous les membres du mouvement international anti-guerre – et plus<br />généralement membres de la vaste majorité des citoyens du monde qui<br />reconnaissent les conséquences désastreuses de l'invasion de l'Irak<br />menée par les États-Unis et ses alliés – souhaitons faire entendre<br />notre opposition au candidat à l'élection présidentielle Nicolas<br />Sarkozy et exprimer notre espoir que la population française le<br />rejettera lors du scrutin du 6 mai prochain.<br /><br />Contrairement à Sarkozy, nous avons admiré l'opposition de la France à<br />l'invasion menée en 2003. Sarkozy a certes accusé le Premier ministre<br />Dominique de Villepin, alors ministre des Affaires étrangères, d'«<br />arrogance » quant à son intervention à l'ONU, devenue célèbre depuis,<br />mais nous avons apprécié sa voie dissidente à l'encontre du manque de<br />respect dont les États-Unis et la Grande-Bretagne ont fait preuve à<br />l'égard de cette institution internationale. Contrairement à Sarkozy,<br />nous pensons que toutes les nations doivent se soumettre au droit<br />international, y compris aux lois relatives aux droits de l'homme et à<br />l'immigration. Nous pensons que les personnes responsables de crimes<br />contre l'humanité, qu'il s'agisse de génocide ou de la pratique<br />systématique de la torture, devraient être assignées en justice ; à<br />l'inverse de Sarkozy, qui a nié et minimisé les crimes commis aussi<br />bien par le colonialisme français que par le régime de Vichy, et ce à<br />plusieurs reprises, dans le but d'attirer à lui les voix des<br />sympathisants du leader d'extrême droite Jean-Marie Le Pen.<br />Contrairement à Sarkozy, nous pensons que le maintien des libertés<br />civiles et d'une presse libre et indépendante est un élément vital<br />pour s'assurer que les nations démocratiques vivent en paix les unes<br />avec les autres. Nous nous opposons à son utilisation de la propagande<br />et de la désinformation, et son instrumentalisation de la peur. De<br />tels outils furent déjà utilisés par les États-Unis et la<br />Grande-Bretagne afin de créer un soutien artificiel à une guerre<br />illégale.<br /><br />Le monde n'a pas besoin d'un autre George Bush, ni d'un autre Tony<br />Blair. La défaite de Silvio Berlusconi a été une victoire pour nous<br />tous, aussi bien que pour le peuple italien. Nous espérons que la<br />population française fera entendre un « Non » vigoureux à<br />l'impérialisme américain et ses affidés le 6 Mai, et récoltera une<br />nouvelle fois l'admiration du monde.<br /><br />[Depuis sa rédaction, cette lettre ouverte a reçu des signatures en<br />provenance de plus de vingt pays et de cinq continents. « L'élection<br />de Sarkozy constituera un désastre encore plus grand à l'étranger<br />qu'en France », c'est en ces termes que s'est exprimé Jean Bricmont,<br />un des signataires de la pétition et auteur de nombreux ouvrages et<br />articles sur les relations internationales (notamment « 11 septembre<br />2001 : La fin de la fin de l'histoire », écrit en collaboration avec<br />Noam Chomsky et Naomi Klein). D'autres signataires de cette pétition<br />ont explicitement mis en avant les dangers que constituent le «<br />nationalisme » et « l'intolérance » propres au discours de Nicolas<br />Sarkozy, de même que le soutien dont il bénéficie de la part de<br />l'extrême droite. Beaucoup citèrent les affinités qu'il entretient<br />avec George W. Bush et mirent en garde contre le fait que s'il était<br />élu, il mettrait en oeuvre un programme de politique internationale<br />appuyant les intérêts de ce dernier. « La France doit maintenir une<br />politique indépendante », a affirmé Rex Rumakiek, membre de<br />l'organisation Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific.<br />Les personnes qui se considèrent membres du mouvement global<br />anti-guerre se sont vues proposer l'option de mentionner leur<br />affiliation à une organisation, ou de rester indépendants à cet égard.<br />Un grand nombre choisit cette dernière option, toutefois d'autres<br />signataires de la pétition se sont identifiés comme membres<br />d'associations pacifistes et de défense des droits de l'homme.<br />Celles-ci incluent notamment : Action Wednesdays Against the War, New<br />York; Amicale Marocaine des Handicapés; Aktionsbündnis für einen<br />gerechten Frieden in Palästina, Allemagne; Al-Awda, The Palestine<br />Right to Return Coalition (PRRC); Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and<br />Diasporas Initiative, College of Ethnic Studies, San Francisco State<br />University; Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition; Brussels<br />Tribunal; Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), GB; Collectif<br />judéo-arabe et citoyen pour la paix, France; Focus on the Global South<br />(FOCUS); GDO'ya Hayýr Platformu (Mouvement d'opposition aux OGM ),<br />Turquie ; Forum Social Grec; International Jewish Solidarity Network;<br />Küresel BAK (Coalition Globale pour la Paix et la Justice), Turquie;<br />Les Cultures Onlus – Lecco, Italie; Kilusan para sa Pambansang<br />Demokrasya (KPD, Mouvement pour la démocratie nationale), Philippines;<br />Movement for a Democratic Society; Movimento pela paz, (Mouvement pour<br />la paix), Portugal; Yeni Kıbrıs Partisi (Nouveau Parti de Chypre);<br />Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific (NFIP), Australie; Cagddas<br />Gazeteciler Dernegi (ÇGD, Progressive Journalists Association),<br />Turquie; Proyecto Guerrero Azteca Por la Paz; Right of Return<br />Congress; Scottish Centre for Nonviolence; Stop the War Coalition of<br />Sydney, Australie; Students for a Democratic Society (SDS); The Peace<br />Party, GB; Wrekin Stop War, GB;<br />Des membres de syndicats, parmi lesquels SETCa de Belgique et GSOC/UAW<br />des États Unis, ont également soutenu la pétition, aussi bien que des<br />sympathisants de partis comme les Greens, la LCR (Ligue communiste<br />révolutionnaire) et le PCF (Parti communiste français)]Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-73226367059549036982007-04-29T14:54:00.000-07:002007-04-29T14:55:15.450-07:00May Day in the USA: A Forgotten History<h2 style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:180%;">MAY 1, 2007</span></h2><h2 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;">May Day in the USA: A Forgotten History</span></h2><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;">by Michael Thomas</span></h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></div><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> Every year on May 1st, for over a century, workers around the world have marked Labor Day with rallies and speeches, picnics and celebrations, demonstrations and riots. Traditionally, these May Day events have provided a primary occasion for workers, especially in Europe, to collectively express their unity, their enthusiasm, and their commitment to social change. Today, the United States stands virtually alone among the industrialized nations in officially ignoring the historical and political significance of May Day for the Labor movement. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> When Americans do look past the occasional rites of spring, our responses are usually dominated by fearful Cold War images of May Day riots in Europe or tanks and mobile missile-launchers parading before the Kremlin. Few Americans realize that the seemingly foreign celebrations of labor held worldwide on May 1st actually commemorate historical events here in the United States. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> During the late 19th century, while corporate power was growing at an unprecedented rate, American workers faced a political and legal system that failed to recognize even the most basic rights of workplace safety, community sanitation, and child protection, let alone the right to organize and strike. On May 1st, 1886, the American Federation of Labor declared a national strike to demand an eight-hour work day and 350,000 workers across the country responded. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> In particular, the city of Chicago was virtually paralyzed; railroads, stockyards, and other businesses were forced to close. Two days later, police fired randomly into crowds of fleeing strikers, killing four and wounding many more. Angry workers began to call for armed retaliation. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> The next day, when police attempted to disperse a peaceful rally in Haymarket Square, a bomb was tossed into their midst, wounding nearly 70 officers, some mortally. Again firing randomly into the crowd, police wounded another 200 citizens, killing many. With no clues as to the source of the bomb, police arrested eight revolutionary labor leaders, seven of whom had not even been present in Haymarket at the time. In the absence of any evidence linking them to the bomb, the "Chicago Eight" were tried solely on the basis of their political beliefs. All eight were sentenced to death; most were eventually executed. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> News of the trial electrified labor groups everywhere; protests were held around the world. In 1889, the Socialist International declared May 1st a day of demonstrations, and since 1890 these have been held annually worldwide by a variety of labor movements, in many cases eventually forcing official recognition of the holiday. Soon, labor advocates in the United States, too, pressed for a national holiday recognizing workers. Although by the 1890s, May 1st was already being celebrated as Labor Day in some states, other states celebrated in early September. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> Proponents of the September date emphasized that this filled a long gap between the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving holidays. Presented thus, flanked between patriotic celebrations of national origin and family unity, this Labor Day was obviously attractive to business and government leaders opposed to labor militancy, and had the additional advantage of being as far away as possible from the "subversive" May Day, while still promising good summer weather for outdoor festivities. Thus, the first Monday in September received official recognition. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> Nevertheless, neither labor militancy nor public interest in May Day celebrations showed any signs of abating. May Day rallies were held, for example, in New York City's Union Square every year since 1924. And soon, the simple displacement of Labor Day was no longer deemed a sufficient tactic; conservatives began renaming May Day itself in an effort to finally erase its unsettling symbolism from the American consciousness. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> In 1947, amidst the anti-Communist Cold War hysteria, the U.S. Veterans of Foreign Wars renamed May 1st "Loyalty Day" and a joint session of Congress later made the pronouncement official. Loyalty Day was explicitly designed as a weapon against leftist labor tendencies, and specifically the American Communist Party, by encouraging citizens to reaffirm their commitment to the State. The right of citizens to join legal political parties of their own choosing without harassment was apparently not an American value to be celebrated on this holiday.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> During the 1950s, Loyalty Day flourished at the expense of traditional May Day events. For example, the Loyalty Day parade in New York City, one of the largest in the nation, was designed to lure citizens away from the long-standing Union Square rallies and to distract attention from the Communist Party march on the same day. Ten years later, however, the association of such parades with support for the American war in Vietnam led to a drastic decline in public participation across the land. Nevertheless, despite this waning interest, these conservative holidays actually succeeded in their objective; for if Loyalty Day has now been all but officially forgotten, so too has the historic significance of May Day.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> The tragic irony is that this historic memorial to American labor, which continues to inspire workers abroad, has been largely forgotten by workers at home. Mention a Labor Day picnic in May to most people today and they will assume that you have misplaced your calendar. Sadly, what has really been lost, or should I say stolen, is a powerful symbol of the historical struggle by average working Americans for freedom and democracy.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size:100%;"><b>OUTQUOTES:</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size:100%;">Few Americans realize that the seemingly foreign celebrations of labor held worldwide on May 1st actually commemorate historical events here in the United States.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size:100%;">In the absence of any evidence linking them to the bomb, the "Chicago Eight" were tried solely on the basis of their political beliefs. All eight were sentenced to death; most were eventually executed. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size:100%;">In 1947, amidst the anti-Communist Cold War hysteria, the U.S. Veterans of Foreign Wars renamed May 1st "Loyalty Day" and a joint session of Congress later made the pronouncement official. Loyalty Day was explicitly designed as a weapon against leftist labor tendencies, and specifically the American Communist Party, by encouraging citizens to reaffirm their commitment to the State.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-52519220780642453412007-03-24T03:26:00.000-07:002007-03-24T03:33:13.057-07:00Was this a Pro-War Vote ?<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Why the Progressive Caucus Should Vote No on War Money<br /></span><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">by David Swanson; March 23, 2007</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=51&ItemID=12403</span><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">The Supplemental spending bill proposed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi funds</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">the war. It gives Cheney and Bush roughly another $100 billion. And</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">you can be quite sure they will spend it as they choose, which may</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">include attacking Iran. In fact, a measure in the bill requiring Bush</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">to get Congress's approval before attacking Iran (an attack that would</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">violate the US Constitution and the UN charter) has been removed.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">The bill also requires Iraq to turn much of its oil profits over to</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">foreign corporations. This illegally rewards the Bush and Cheney gang</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">for their illegal war.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">Beyond that, the bill does a number of things to nudge Bush in the</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">direction of limiting the war, but most of them are for show.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">This bill pretends to ban torture. Torture was always illegal. The</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">framers of our Constitution sought to leave such practices behind in</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">England. The US is a party to international treaties banning all</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">torture. Nonetheless, the last Congress, the Republican Congress,</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">banned torture, and Bush used a signing statement to announce his</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">intention to ignore the ban. Now Pelosi wants credit for pretending to</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">ban torture again. You cannot ban torture under a dictator who has</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">publicly announced that he will ignore your bans. You can only end</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">torture by ending the pretense that there is not a dictator living in</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">the Vice President's house.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">The bill also intends to pretend to limit how many days a soldier or</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">Marine can be kept in Iraq. The Republican Congress did this in 2003,</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">and Bush threw it out with a signing statement.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">Some previous presidents had used signing statements, but never to</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">announce their intention to disobey the law. And in many cases,</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">including the two I've just mentioned, we know that Bush has in fact</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">disobeyed those laws.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">And don't imagine that Nancy Pelosi is unaware of this. She's a step</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">ahead of you. She's included in the bill a right for the president to</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">waive the restrictions. So, this time, no signing statement will be</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">needed. Instead we'll get a waiver. I'm sure that'll make the soldier</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">on his or her third tour of Iraq feel better when they're told that</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">they're going to stay a little longer this time. In polls last year our</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">troops in Iraq said they wanted to all come home last year.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">What else does the Pelosi bill do? Well, it requires Bush to report</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">periodically that progress is being made, and then at sometime next</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">year, depending on what Bush claims, it requires at least some troops to</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">move to Afghanistan. Congressman Obey says that's where the war should</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">be. The bill says nothing about bringing anyone home, and nothing about</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">leaving no permanent bases in Iraq. In fact, it includes so many</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">loopholes - for protecting bases, protecting other troops, training</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">Iraqis - that most US troops will be able to stay in Iraq forever.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">That doesn't sound like much of an anti-war bill. It gets worse. The</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">two most disturbing things about the bill to my mind are the way it</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">treats the president and the way it throws in unrelated benefits in</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">order to bribe various congress members to support it. The bill asks</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">Bush to report on progress in Iraq. A reporter asked Pelosi if there</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">was any mechanism for determining whether Bush tells the truth. Pelosi</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">replied that she was sure he would.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">There's that pretense again, that everything-is-normal</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">it-can't-happen-here pretense.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">The bill also includes many measures that could easily be addressed in</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">other bills, many of them worthwhile and long overdue, including aid to</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">veterans, Katrina victims, farmers. The dishonesty involved in packaging</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">a war bill this way was made clear when Congressman Obey yelled at</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">military mother Tina Richards that she needed to support this bill or</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">she would be opposing health care for veterans. In the last Congress,</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">Obey declined to support a bill to provide health care to veterans.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">Barbara Lee's amendment takes a different approach, one that does not</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">involve micromanaging the war or funding it. The amendment would</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">restrict spending to withdrawing troops. We have a list of which</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">members are saying they will vote No on the supplemental unless it has</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">Lee's amendment:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/19669</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">These are our heroes. These are the only members of Congress who are</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">genuinely acting in support of our troops.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">If Pelosi's bill passes and survives in a recognizable form following a</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">conference committee, Bush has promised to veto it. But there's a</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">decent chance he'll "signing statement" it instead. He wants the money,</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">and he knows Pelosi won't fight for the toothless restrictions in the</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">bill if he deletes them with a signing statement. To do so, she would</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">have to call him a criminal.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">Instead, she's already saying that if her bill does not pass, she'll</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">have to support one the Republicans like, one with no limitations at</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">all. But it is not true that she'll have to do that. She can support a</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">bill like Lynn Woolsey's or Dennis Kucinich's or Jerrold Nadler's or Jim</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">McGovern's and pressure conservative Democrats to join the rest of her</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">caucus.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">She will be compelled to do so by public opinion if the Progressive</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">Caucus stands strong.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">Voting for her war bill would only encourage her to come back with a</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">worse one once it fails. And if Lee's amendment gets a vote and</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">progressives vote for it, that will not be seen as any excuse for then</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">turning around and voting to fund the war.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">The groups that have not recognized any excuses for voting for this war</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">bill include United for Peace and Justice, Progressive Democrats of</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">America, US Labor Against the War, After Downing Street, Democrats.com,</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">Peace Action, Code Pink, Democracy Rising, True Majority, Gold Star</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">Families for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Backbone Campaign, Iraq</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">Veterans Against the War, Voters for Peace, and disgruntled former</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">members of MoveOn.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">The public is already seeing through the charade. The Pelosi bill will</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">be remembered as the pro-war vote, the vote in which the Democrats</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">bought and became owners of the war, unless the Progressive Caucus stops</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">it. Those who stop it will be our heroes and will have earned the power</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">to lead the way toward a better bill. We are going to remember who</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">votes No, who votes Yes, who votes Present, and who does not vote. This</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">one is going to be carved in stone for posterity. This is the vote you</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">get elected in order to make.</span><http: style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" org="" q="node/19669"></http:></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-87465487192503044632007-03-22T00:54:00.001-07:002007-03-22T00:54:46.341-07:00GLOBAL CALLS<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFGgsqVx8ZSo7a-DcI_J4m4wT1kpkpjgK979kxtpny1GMEeaXbzEIplFJdG6dK2Z-Hc20r7kYyCb4WKtqIUQGKy8uY2sRuLap5IKOqSgtFl3wm7Y8ZgNGwZbFFTDf8eKEnEjoTvH_nIinb/s1600-h/49203.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 324px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFGgsqVx8ZSo7a-DcI_J4m4wT1kpkpjgK979kxtpny1GMEeaXbzEIplFJdG6dK2Z-Hc20r7kYyCb4WKtqIUQGKy8uY2sRuLap5IKOqSgtFl3wm7Y8ZgNGwZbFFTDf8eKEnEjoTvH_nIinb/s400/49203.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5032939520394585778" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >GLOBAL CALLS FOR ACTION in 2007<br /><br /></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">IRAN - 2007<br /></span></span><ul><li><a href="http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/iran">Don't Attack Iran Petition</a><br /></li></ul><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">IRAQ - March 2007, 4th year US in Iraq<br /></span></span><ul><li><a href="http://troopsoutnow.org/">The Troops Out Now Coalition</a><a href="http://troopsoutnow.org/"> (TONC)</a> </li><li><a href="http://answer.pephost.org/site/News2?abbr=ANS_&page=NewsArticle&id=8107">March on the Pentagon, March 17, 2007</a><br /></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><a href="http://globalcalliraq.org/">Global Call Iraq Campaign</a></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><a href="http://www.declarationofpeace.org/">The Declaration of Peace</a></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></li></ul>GUANTANAMO - January 11, 2007<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.witnesstorture.org/">Witness Against Torture</a></li><li><a href="http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510082007">Amnesty International</a> - Guantánamo Bay - a human rights scandal<br /></li></ul>MUMIA ABU JAMAL - December 9, 2006<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.ruemumia.com/">Comité Mumia Saint-Denis</a></li><li><a href="http://www.mumiabujamal.net/">Le collectif unitaire national de soutien à Mumia Abu-Jamal</a></li><li><a href="http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/engAMR510202000">USA: Mumia Abu-Jamal</a><a href="http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/engAMR510202000"> -- Amnesty Int</a><a href="http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/engAMR510202000">ernational calls for retrial</a></li></ul><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >CALLS FOR ACTION in US in 2007</span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRKRxRnnIvVq5NYXP4oSFGIapPNaebN1c169KIm1D0IqiAUzXNAstVtZPPHBiOLUYStGL_oIM5clMgFlyHvf04KhZUpAYlmZ-GYfK33A8G2R6TbTHSQImSZQkZ3FdQKnckJ5OOdZjlnEe0/s1600-h/11jan-us-demo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 185px; height: 185px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRKRxRnnIvVq5NYXP4oSFGIapPNaebN1c169KIm1D0IqiAUzXNAstVtZPPHBiOLUYStGL_oIM5clMgFlyHvf04KhZUpAYlmZ-GYfK33A8G2R6TbTHSQImSZQkZ3FdQKnckJ5OOdZjlnEe0/s200/11jan-us-demo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5019833458224234866" border="0" /></a><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.petitiononline.com/Amazon07">PETITION: Tell Amazon to Treat Carter's Book Fairly</a></span></li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >FOR Active Duty, Reserve, and Guard personnel</span><ul><li><a href="http://www.appealforredress.org/">Appeal for Redress</a></li></ul><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">IMPEACHMENT - Nationwide Day of Protest -Ap</span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">ril 28, 2007<br /></span></span><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.impeach07.org/">IMPEACH07 - April 28, 2007</a></span></span></li><li><a href="http://www.unitedforpeace.org/">MARCH on WASHINGTON - January 27, 2007 , UFPJ</a></li><li style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);"><a href="http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/january27">Impeach for Peace, After Downing Street</a></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);"><a href="http://www.worldcantwait.net/">WorldCantWait</a></span></span></li></ul><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >CALLS FOR ACTION in EUROPE in 2007</span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMkVcCwyBc2edPWFDS4u2cQwU7X_wqB-iC_3aTzxgPSytOYpXBx3VzqovlYYqN5PdrguZ4YBHe2LgTCZPsnc-ll9WlVageFk5zCS8atFgvX_ds1WEA_RllpiC-0c5Ypz1mTo5-7yhQKmgF/s1600-h/MARCH-24-Poster-RGB-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 152px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMkVcCwyBc2edPWFDS4u2cQwU7X_wqB-iC_3aTzxgPSytOYpXBx3VzqovlYYqN5PdrguZ4YBHe2LgTCZPsnc-ll9WlVageFk5zCS8atFgvX_ds1WEA_RllpiC-0c5Ypz1mTo5-7yhQKmgF/s320/MARCH-24-Poster-RGB-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5039338024931665138" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://irishantiwar.org/index.adp">IRELAND - March 24, 2007</a></span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">ITALY -<a href="http://www.peaceandjustice.it/">U.S. Citizens for Peace & Justice</a> - Rome</span></span><br />U.S. Embassy, Rome, Italy<br />Tuesday, March 20, 4:30-6:30pm<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">_____________________________________________________________________</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-41045543500451393322007-03-18T02:38:00.000-07:002007-03-20T01:23:50.471-07:00French Anti-War Event<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">Friday, March 23, 2007<br />Time : program from 6pm<br />Place : Bourse de Travail de Paris, 3, rue Chateau d'eau, 75003<br />Métro: République<br /></span><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >TROUPES AMERICAINES HORS D’IRAK<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >US GO HOME</span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;">Dans un contexte international et régional caractérisé par l’hégémonie impérialiste américaine et devant le désastre provoqué par l’occupation américaine de l’IRAK :<br /><br />- Des centaines de milliers de victimes civiles Irakiennes (Plus de 650.000, selon les derniers rapports de l’ONU) et plus de deux millions de réfugiés.<br />- Une destruction systématique des infrastructures vitales pour la population<br />- Une guerre civile fomentée par une politique de division institué depuis la constitution imposée par l’occupant<br />- Des milliers d’hommes et de femmes emprisonnés arbitrairement, des exécutions sommaires et des crimes impunis commis par l’armée d’occupation.<br />Nous organisons un :<br /><br />Meeting de soutien au peuple irakien<br />Le 23 Mars 2007 à La Bourse de Travail de Paris.<br />3, rue Château d’eau. Métro République.<br />Avec la Participation de George GALLOWAY<br /><br /><br />Sous les mots d’ordre suivants :<br />- Contre la guerre et l’occupation<br />- Pour un retrait immédiat de toutes les forces d’occupation de l’Irak<br />- Pour le droit du peuple irakien à la résistance contre l’occupation<br />- Pour le droit des irakiens à l’autodétermination, à la paix et à la souveraineté<br />- Pour la création d’un tribunal international pour juger les responsables des crimes de guerre en Irak.<br /><br /><br />Les Premiers signataires :<br />Rencontre Culturelle Euro-Arabe – Union des Travailleurs Immigrés Tunisiens Pidf (UTIT) – Agir contre la guerre – Association des Tunisiens en France (ATF) – Association Des Travailleurs Maghrébins en France (ATMF) - Convergence des causes – Appel Franco-Arabe – Les Indigènes de la république – Forum Social Iranien – PCOT – La Gauche Communiste du PCF- Fédération des Tunisiens Citoyens des deux Rives (FTCR)- Commission arabe des droits de l’homme - Elkarama.<br /><br />Pour la création d’un tribunal international pour juger les responsables des crimes de guerre en Irak.<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823357133452453693.post-83027676232722075802007-03-07T00:44:00.000-08:002007-03-22T01:02:46.802-07:00LIBBY - GUILTY !<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggOp9WEKJt6ym28oUr1XpjYNMf8gCAfSB0ep-JFzrktb0-l4JWuLroFn1BCOE0IDCUCivxEXTs6ON5qtM-39NYGCxSr9_UYf-7MKb_24YLdr_0x0HEzPSDgdA6WyIgKtNFKMxVvIkHqrY/s1600-h/scooterlibbyguilty2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggOp9WEKJt6ym28oUr1XpjYNMf8gCAfSB0ep-JFzrktb0-l4JWuLroFn1BCOE0IDCUCivxEXTs6ON5qtM-39NYGCxSr9_UYf-7MKb_24YLdr_0x0HEzPSDgdA6WyIgKtNFKMxVvIkHqrY/s400/scooterlibbyguilty2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5039082723485656258" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">See <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-tv/arianna-on-scarboroug_b_42826.html">NBC Video</a><br /></span><p>Arianna Huffington discusses the Libby verdict with Pat Buchanan and Joe Scarborough. They pull no punches! CALL for CHENEY IMPEACHMENT !<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0