From critical.montages@gmail.com Mon Jul 30 23:39:08 2007 Received: from wx-out-0506.google.com ([66.249.82.236]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IFkRn-0003eK-Pu for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Mon, 30 Jul 2007 23:39:08 -0600 Received: by wx-out-0506.google.com with SMTP id s11so1790869wxc for ; Mon, 30 Jul 2007 22:42:40 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.26.8 with SMTP id 8mr11266136wxz.1185860560518; Mon, 30 Jul 2007 22:42:40 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.13.17 with HTTP; Mon, 30 Jul 2007 22:42:40 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 01:42:40 -0400 From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" To: Rad-Green MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline Subject: [R-G] America's Kingdom: Mythmaking on the Saudi Oil Frontier X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 05:39:08 -0000 America's Kingdom Mythmaking on the Saudi Oil Frontier Robert Vitalis=09 2006 392 pp. 7 illustrations, 1 map. 0804754462 cloth ($29.95) LRB | Vol. 29 No. 14 dated 19 July 2007 In Princes' Pockets by Tariq Ali America's Kingdom: Mythmaking on the Saudi Oil Frontier by Robert Vitalis =B7 Stanford, 353 pp, =A319.50 Contesting the Saudi State: Islamic Voices from a New Generation by Madawi Al-Rasheed =B7 Cambridge, 308 pp, =A319.99 The day after the attacks on New York and Washington in 2001, a Saudi woman resident in London, a member of a wealthy family, rang her sister in Riyadh to discuss the crisis affecting the kingdom. Her niece answered the phone. 'Where's your mother?' 'She's here, dearest aunt, and I'll get her in a minute, but is that all you have to say to me? No congratulations for yesterday?' The dearest aunt, out of the country for far too long, was taken aback. She should not have been. The fervour that didn't dare show itself in public was strong even at the upper levels of Saudi society. US intelligence agencies engaged in routine surveillance were, to their immense surprise, picking up unguarded cellphone talk in which excited Saudi princelings were heard revelling in bin Laden's latest caper. Like the CIA, they had not thought it possible for him to reach such heights. Washington had taken its oldest ally in the Arab world for granted. In the weeks that followed 9/11, the Saudi royal family was besieged by a storm of critical comment in the US media and its global subsidiaries. Publishers eager to make a quick dollar hurriedly produced a few bad books with even worse titles =96 Hatred's Kingdom, Sleeping with the Devil =96 that set out to denounce the Saudis. The mini-industry had little medium-term impact, and normal business was soon resumed. On 14 February 2005 there was even a re-enactment of the meeting that had taken place sixty years before on the USS Quincy, moored in the Suez Canal, at which Roosevelt and Ibn Saud, the first king of Saudi Arabia, signed the concordat that would guarantee continued single-family rule. The interpreter was Colonel William Eddy, a senior US intelligence officer and much else besides. Considered too insecure during the 'global war on terror', Suez was rejected as a potential venue for the re-enactment: the grandsons of the two principals and Eddy's nephew had to make do with the Ritz in Coconut Grove, Florida. A giant gold-plated Cadillac in the Arizona desert might have been more appropriate. To look at the landscape today, you would think nothing had changed. Saudi princes, unaccustomed to exercising their inventive faculties, continue to distinguish themselves by the size of the commissions they procure from Western corporations. The competition here is restricted to fellow royals or nominated bagmen. It is usually friendly and always corrupt. Given that weaponry deals with the West cost billions rather than millions nobody begrudges the Saudis a token twenty million or so by way of a thank you. Meanwhile, Western PR firms get the regime's message out. At a European airport several months ago I saw exactly the same handout regurgitated in the Guardian, El Pais, the International Herald Tribune, Le Monde, La Repubblica: the gist of it was that terrorists were handing in their weapons, renouncing their past and progressing well at re-education schools. The US Justice Department is currently investigating allegations that the veteran Saudi fixer Prince Bandar claimed his share of the $86 billion deal with BAE Systems, a commission approved by Tony Blair and his attorney general. Few imagine that the investigation will lead anywhere, since US and other European companies do similar deals all the time. The mandarins in the Defence Ministry in Whitehall refuse to be bothered by the fuss, and the cuddly Bandar (the name means 'monkey' in most South Asian languages) continues to insist that he did nothing wrong, since it's normal practice anyway and the money is all deposited in the State Treasury in Riyadh. This is true, but then the Treasury has always served as the royal trough, and the line between private wealth and state revenues was never very firmly fixed. Bandar could in any case have claimed, quite truthfully, that much of this cash has a way of finding its way back to the West through the trade in luxury items (not to mention tarts and courtesans) or through the numerous casinos that dot Mayfair and Monaco and the tips paid to waitresses (higher than the rates paid by the LRB). The seamier side of princely life =96 is there another side? =96 formed the subject-matter of bin Laden's powerful pre-9/11 samizdat videos, which continue to circulate in the kingdom, encouraging many young people to see their country through his eyes and share his disgust with its ruling family. The solution for them lies only in jihad. The most fearless account of Saudi society in recent years has been Abd al-Rahman Munif's Cities of Salt quintet of novels; as with other contraband commodities circulated clandestinely in Saudi Arabia, there were reports of laughter emanating from the palaces as the princesses recognised the portraits of their spouses. Munif charts the break-up of the old desert societies that began with the arrival of Western oil prospectors, the resulting deformation of peninsular society, the birth of despotism, and of resistance to it. He depicts the world he knew: traders, herdsmen, nouveau-riche sheikhs, and chancers from elsewhere in the Arab world arriving to offer their professional services. Munif's savage and surreal satires of the suddenly rich royal family led to his Saudi nationality being revoked and to exile, first in Baghdad and then in Damascus. When he died in 2004, his widow rejected the posthumous honours (including loadsamoney) offered by Riyadh and defied tradition by refusing to permit the Saudi ambassador in Syria to offer his condolences in person. Critical academic works on the Saudi kleptocracy are rare, however. Many Arab Studies departments on Anglo-American campuses receive generous endowments from the Saudis and other Gulf states. Conferences on the region are often funded from the same source. The money arrives without fanfare and with no conditions explicitly attached, but the recipients are now well trained. Which is why America's Kingdom comes as a pleasant surprise. Robert Vitalis, who teaches political science at the University of Pennsylvania, has produced a scholarly and readable book on the interaction between Saudi society and Aramco, the US oil giant that had its beginnings when the Saudi government granted its first concessions to Standard Oil of California in 1933. Combining history with political anthropology, Vitalis sheds a bright light on the origins and less savoury aspects of the Saudi-US relationship in its first phase, when oil production was accompanied by the manufacturing of myths that prettified the US presence. In 1955, Aramco funded Island of Allah, a 'documentary' about Saudi Arabia. It was a box-office flop. An American novelist, Wallace Stegner (who later founded the Stanford creative writing programme), was hired to write a history of Aramco to make up for the movie's failure. Discovery! The Search for Arabian Oil was written in a month, but was shelved for 12 years by Aramco executives before it was finally published. It was not uncritical enough: Stegner's mild observations on racism inside the company went down badly. America's Kingdom took ten years to research and write and Vitalis has clearly enjoyed himself. He sees Aramco as a microcosm of the colonial order at home and abroad. His aim is to destroy the foundational myths of the company =96 which he does in style. Aramco's treatment of the native workforce, he argues, was not unusual, and he describes US mining companies in the late 19th century dealing with indigenous tribes in Arizona and New Mexico in similar fashion. The work camps set up in Saudi Arabia were a replica of what had been tried out in Maracaibo in Venezuela after the discovery of oil there in the 1920s. The story he tells, of the Aramco workforce's struggle against the 'racial wage', has not been told in detail before: strikes from below, angry confrontations at management level, blatant racial discrimination against Saudi workers and managers and 'divide and rule' tactics on the part of Aramco. There were no 'honorary Whites' (as the Afrikaners labelled the Japanese) here. Bosses and engineers were exclusively white Americans, many from Texas, most imbued with prejudices which were the legacy of slavery, the Civil War and the institutionalised apartheid that followed the brief flowering of formal equality during Reconstruction. Vitalis mentions the prevalence of Ku Klux Klan membership in the industry (it's worth remembering that by 1925 the Klan had four million members, making it the largest organised political movement in US history). In 1944, Aramco imported 1700 Italian workers from Eritrea in an attempt to put an end to the troublemaking. Being made to share camps with Arabs, Pakistanis and Sudanese rather than with white Americans angered the Italians, but their protests came to nothing; they left or were sacked and non-Europeans soon replaced them. One of the symbols of petty privilege was the Aramco company cinema: entry was permitted to the better-educated Palestinians and Pakistanis but denied to Saudis. This led to a pitched battle on 14 June 1956: the Saudi workers stormed the camp and were confronted by the police and the private guards of the local emir. (The workers demanding equal rights chanted 'Down with Pakistanis; they are Jews and friends of Jews,' an instance of what in the old days we used to refer to as 'false consciousness'.) The workers were brutalised; 100 of them, including a 13-year-old, were selected for public flogging, each receiving 100 lashes. Local tribal leaders and the royals collaborated eagerly during the early years, becoming more critical only after the nationalisation of the Suez Canal in 1956 created a radical anti-imperialist fervour that swept the Middle East. Vitalis documents all this in great detail. The two Saudi figures he most respects are the former oil minister Abdullah Tariki and the veteran Saudi diplomat Ibn Muammar. Tariki, a shrewd, skilful, incorruptible technocrat, had defended Saudi interests against the oil giant from the very beginning. He argued for the state takeover of Saudi oil in the late 1950s, and was demonised by Aramco. He was always an irritant, and not just to them. He refused to tolerate corruption and in 1961 challenged the powerful Crown Prince Faisal in public. Together with the dissident Prince Talal, a supporter of Arab nationalism, Tariki accused Faisal of demanding and obtaining a permanent commission from the Japanese owned Arabian Oil Company (AOC). A Beirut newspaper published the story. An enraged Faisal issued a denial and demanded proof. Tariki persevered. He uncovered evidence that proved beyond any doubt that 2 per cent of AOC profits had been guaranteed in perpetuity to Faisal's rogue brother-in-law, Kamal Adham, who later became head of Saudi intelligence and a director of BCCI. The Council of Ministers cancelled the AOC contract. Four months later, Faisal removed Tariki from his post, replacing him with an able lawyer, Ahmed Zaki Yamani (later kidnapped with other colleagues at the OPEC building in Vienna by Carlos the Jackal and his gang), who immediately rushed off to tell Aramco that Tariki was being removed from its board of directors. Tariki never found employment in the oil industry again and ended up an exile in Beirut. An Aramco spy who met him during this time in Cairo reported back to his superiors: 'I asked him how he would envisage a change in regime. He said that it would be very simple. A small army detachment can do the job by killing the king and Faisal. The rest of the royal family will run for cover like scared rabbits. Then the revolutionaries will call Nasser for help.' It didn't quite happen like that. The aged Ibn Saud was retired, and Crown Prince Faisal became king. It was only after his nephew Prince Faisal ibn Musa assassinated him for personal reasons in 1975 that Tariki and a few other dissidents could return home. Faisal is largely responsible for the Saudi Arabia that exists today, with its reliance on Wahhabism for social control. Even though his brother and father before him had sought to institutionalise Wahhabi beliefs, they were more relaxed about it. Faisal believed that the only way to defeat Nasser and the godless Communists was by making religion the central pillar of the Saudi social order and using it ruthlessly against the enemy. It was Islam that was under threat and had to be defended on all fronts. This pleased his allies in Washington, who were tolerant even of his decision to impose an oil embargo against the West after the 1973 war, something that has never been attempted since. Visiting Western politicians were surprised when the king gave them copies of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, but his deeply felt anti-semitism was treated as an eccentricity. There is nothing on or off the record to indicate that a single US or European leader enlightened him by pointing out that the Protocols were forgeries. Even after Saudi oil was fully nationalised in 1980, Washington's politico-military elite maintained their pledge to defend the existing Saudi regime and its state whatever the cost. Why, some people asked, could the Saudi state not defend itself? Because the Saud clan, living in a state of permanent fear, was haunted by the spectre of the radical nationalists who had seized power in Egypt in 1952 and in Iraq six years later. The Sauds kept the size of the national army and air force to the barest minimum. Given that this is still the case, what happens to the vast quantity of armaments purchased to please the West? Most of them rust peacefully in desert warehouses. For a decade and a half it was the Pakistan Army =96 paid for out of the Saudi Treasury =96 that sent in large contingents to protect the family in case of internal upheavals. Then, after the first Gulf War, the American military arrived. It is still there. US bases in Saudi Arabia and Qatar were used to launch the war against Iraq. All pretence of independence had gone. The only thing the Saudi princes could do was to plead with the US not to make public what was hardly a state secret, though there was virtually no TV coverage of planes taking off from Saudi Arabia bound for Iraq. Foreign armies have historically provided one sort of protection; Wahhabi theology another. Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, a Koranic literalist born in the 18th century, preached a primitive but effective message to the peninsular Arabs. Laughed at by his own family and booted out of his village, he found a willing listener in the founder of the Saud dynasty and a concordat was signed and sealed. The Saud clan would embrace the Wahhabi interpretation of the Book, and al-Wahhab would work exclusively with the Saud tribe and refrain from trying to convert its rivals. Astonishingly, the preacher agreed, and the first Saudi-Wahhabi emirate lasted from 1744 to 1818. It was when they began to attack other Muslims and tear down the tombs of the Companions of the Prophet that the Sultan in Constantinople instructed his Albanian-born governor in Egypt to deal with the problem. An army was dispatched from Cairo to crush the emirate: it succeeded, and for good measure burnt the capital, Deriyyah, to the ground. Today, Wahhabism is again being used to keep the citizens under control in a country with a Sunni majority, many of whom are allergic to it, and a large Shia minority in the oil-producing Eastern province. In Contesting the Saudi State, the London-based Saudi historian Madawi Al-Rasheed argues that the defeat of 1818 taught the Wahhabis the art of survival. This entailed the adoption of more pragmatic policies, i.e. straightforward political opportunism. For literalists this could not have been easy. One of Muhammad's sterner injunctions left little room for misinterpretation: infidels had to be kept out of the peninsula. The Sauds fought with the British against the Ottoman Empire and later accepted US suzerainty without many qualms. Each twist and turn considered necessary to hang on to power was justified by senior Wahhabi clerics. Pandering to power made the clerics ultra-dogmatic on other questions: the denial of equal rights for women, for example, or the refusal to 'encourage idolatry' by restricting the number of visitors to the tombs of the Prophet and his wives in Mecca. Some of the tombs have now been destroyed (one replaced with a public urinal); there have been no angry campaigns by Islamic extremists. Religion is the ideological backbone of the regime and it penetrates every sphere: Nothing exemplifies the enchantment of Saudi society like a local television programme called Fatwa on Air, a special performance normally hosting a religious scholar who responds to questions posed by the public. A woman wants to know whether menstruating for three weeks qualifies as menstruation, thus preventing her from performing prayers. A man asks whether it is permissible to borrow money to allow his mother to perform the pilgrimage. A third person asks whether high heels are permissible for women and . . . diamond rings . . . for men. The repetitiveness and regularity of these shows reduce a world religion to a set of trivial rituals. As Wahhabism was the only permissible discourse, Al-Rasheed goes on to argue, differences of interpretation and state policy were bound to erupt. One outcome was al-Qaida, but there is also fierce opposition to al-Qaida within the Wahhabi movement. In an article entitled 'The Raging Wolf and the Buried Snake', Khalid al-Ghannami, a cleric who has since changed his views, writes that there are two trends within the jihadi camp: 'One prefers to kill openly while the other remains hidden until it is safe to emerge from its hole.' As in China, the internet has become the site for heated debates, where the notion of 'unconditional obedience' to the ruler is under daily attack. Some are even bold enough to write that 'our main aim must be to drive the Wahhabis out of the peninsula.' Would Washington ever permit that? Tariq Ali's Pirates of the Caribbean: Axis of Hope, about Latin America, is published by Verso. --=20 Yoshie From info@cinox.demon.co.uk Tue Jul 31 08:31:35 2007 Received: from smtpout0183.sc1.he.tucows.com ([64.97.136.183] helo=n068.sc1.he.tucows.com) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IFsl5-0004QN-EF for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 08:31:35 -0600 Received: from TEST (82.3.69.205) by n068.sc1.he.tucows.com (7.2.069.1) id 46A9389E00044A7F; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:34:41 +0000 Message-ID: <46A9389E00044A7F@n068.sc1.he.tucows.com> (added by postmaster@bouncemessage.net) From: "Tim Murphy" To: "Tim Murphy" Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:34:15 +0100 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Microsoft Office Outlook, Build 11.0.5510 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3138 Thread-Index: AcfTf93o7cX7BSdfTMaB0+1SOnFb/Q== Subject: [R-G] Monbiot: Brown's contempt for democracy has dragged Britain into a new cold war X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:31:35 -0000 Tuesday 31st July 2007 The Guardian www.politics.guardian.co.uk Brown's contempt for democracy has dragged Britain into a new cold war The prime minister has broken his word and put us all at risk by allowing a US missile defence base on the North York Moors By George Monbiot In one short statement to parliament last week the defence secretary, Des Browne, broke the promises of two prime ministers, potentially misled the house, helped bury an international treaty and dragged Britain into a new cold war. Pretty good going for three stodgy paragraphs. You probably missed it, but it's not your fault. In the 48 hours before parliament broke up for the summer, the government made 46 policy announcements. It's a long-standing British tradition: as the MPs and lobby correspondents are packing their bags for the long summer break (they don't return until October), the government rattles out a series of important decisions that cannot be debated. Gordon Brown's promise to respect parliamentary democracy didn't last very long. Thus, without consultation or discussion, the defence secretary announced that Menwith Hill, the listening station on the North York Moors, will be used by the United States for its missile defence system. Having been dragged by the Bush administration into two incipient military defeats, the British government has now embraced another of its global delusions. Des Browne's note asserted that the purpose of the missile defence system is "to address the emerging threat from rogue states". This is a claim that only an idiot or a member of the British government could believe. If, as Browne and Bush maintain, the system is meant to shoot down intercontinental missiles fired by Iran and North Korea (missiles, incidentally, that they do not and might never possess), why are its major components being installed in Poland and the Czech Republic? To bait the Russian bear for fun? In June, Vladimir Putin called Bush's bluff by offering sites for the missile defence programme in Azerbaijan and southern Russia, which are much closer to Iran. Bush turned him down and restated his decision to build the facilities in eastern Europe, making it clear that their real purpose is to shoot down Russian missiles. Nor is it strictly true to call this a defence system. Russia has around 5,700 active nuclear warheads. The silos in Poland will contain just 10 interceptor missiles. The most likely strategic purpose of the missile defence programme is to mop up any Russian or Chinese missiles that had not been destroyed during a pre-emptive US attack. Far from making the world a safer place, its purpose is to make the annihilation of another country a safer proposition. This strategic purpose takes second place to a more immediate interest. Because it doesn't yet work, missile defence is the world's biggest pork barrel. The potential for spending is unlimited. First, a number of massive - and possibly insuperable - technical problems must be overcome. Then it must constantly evolve to respond to the counter-measures Russia and China will deploy: multiple warheads, dummy missiles, radar shields, chaff, balloons and God knows what. For the US arms industry, technical failure means permanent commercial success. But this is not the only respect in which Browne appears to have misled the house. He claimed to have assurances from the US that "the UK and other European allies will be covered by the system elements they [the Americans] propose to deploy to Poland and the Czech Republic". Browne must be aware that this is a United States missile defence programme. It incorporates no plans for defending other nations. The British government has handed over its facilities, truncated parliamentary democracy and put its people at risk solely for the benefit of a foreign power. The diplomatic cost of this idiocy is incalculable. It has already required the abandonment by the US of the anti-ballistic missile treaty, which is the bilateral agreement struck between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1972. The treaty survived both the vicissitudes of the cold war and the collapse of the Soviet Union, but not George Bush. Any hope that it might be revived has now been buried by the facts on the ground in Poland, the Czech Republic and the UK. Two weeks ago Vladimir Putin suspended another long-standing agreement: the conventional armed forces in Europe treaty, which limited the troops and military hardware that Russia could assemble on its borders. In response to the US missile defence programme, Russia has also been testing a new version of its short-range Iskander nuclear missile, and it has been developing a new intercontinental missile with multiple warheads, called the RS-24. Their purpose, according to Sergei Ivanov, Russia's deputy prime minister, is to "overcome any existing or future missile defence systems". The Iskander missiles will be deployed on the European border and aimed at Poland and the Czech Republic. Intermediate-range missiles will be pointed at Menwith Hill. Bush's missile defence programme almost certainly means the end of the intermediate-range nuclear forces treaty as well, and the cancellation of any successor to the strategic offensive reductions treaty (which expires in 2012). Asked whether this might be the beginning of a new cold war, Putin replied: "Of course we are returning to those times. It is clear that if a part of the US nuclear capability turns up in Europe, and, in the opinion of our military specialists, will threaten us, then we are forced to take corresponding steps in response ... We are not the ones who are initiating the arms race in Europe." Like the war with Iraq, the US missile defence programme exacerbates the threats it claims to confront. All this, as you would hope, is of some interest to our members of parliament, who have long been demanding a debate. In February, Tony Blair agreed that they would have one. "I am sure that we will have the discussion in the house and, indeed, outside the house ... When we have a proposition to put, we will come back and put it." In April, Des Browne told MPs that "the UK has received no request from the US to use RAF Menwith Hill for missile-defence-related activities". That, until last week, was all that parliament knew. Now we discover that the proposition had been made and accepted before MPs had a chance to discuss it. Browne was in the house on Wednesday, when he made some announcements about aircraft carriers and the military budget. These - because they were delivered in person - could be discussed, though (shamefully) neither of them provoked any opposition. But knowing that the Menwith Hill decision would be furiously opposed, Browne released it in the form of a written statement, which cannot be debated. Like everyone on the left in Britain, I wanted to believe that Gordon Brown's politics would be more progressive than Tony Blair's. But as he grovels before the seat of empire, I realise that those of us who demand even a vaguely sane foreign policy will find ourselves in permanent opposition. With his appointment of Digby Jones as trade minister and his plans for deregulation, Brown demonstrated that the government is still mesmerised by big business. By proposing that suspects be held for up to 56 days without charge, he appears to share Tony Blair's distrust of liberty. Now, in one furtive decision, he reveals both his contempt for parliament and his enthusiasm for the neocon project. What, I wonder, is there left to hope for? www.monbiot.com ========= http://politics.guardian.co.uk/columnist/story/0,,2138294,00.html ========= From childst@douglas.bc.ca Tue Jul 31 09:14:14 2007 Received: from carbon4a.douglas.bc.ca ([140.161.10.1]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IFtQM-0004Uz-3C for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 09:14:14 -0600 Received: from GWGWAY.DOUGLAS.BC.CA (GroupWise.Douglas.bc.ca [140.161.15.18]) by carbon4a.Douglas.bc.ca with ESMTP id l6VFHi9L083159 for ; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 08:17:44 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from childst@douglas.bc.ca) Received: from Douglas-MTA by GWGWAY.DOUGLAS.BC.CA with Novell_GroupWise; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 08:17:44 -0700 Message-Id: <46AEF01D0200002E00018CC0@GWGWAY.DOUGLAS.BC.CA> X-Mailer: Novell GroupWise Internet Agent 7.0.1 Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 08:17:33 -0700 From: "Tom Childs" To: "Tom Childs" Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by carbon4a.Douglas.bc.ca id l6VFHi9L083159 Subject: [R-G] SMOTHER EARTH - SchNews.org X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:14:14 -0000 here's an amusing take on the way things are from schnews.org =20 T. =3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D= -=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-= =3D http://www.schnews.org.uk/archive/news596.htm=20 SMOTHER EARTH WITH KILL-OR-CURE TECHNO-FIXES FOR CLIMATE CHANGE PLANNED...=20 =E2=80=9CLet=E2=80=99s quit the debate about whether greenhouse gases are= caused by mankind or by natural causes; let=E2=80=99s just focus on technologies th= at deal with the issue.=E2=80=9D - George W. Bush, May 25, 2006=20 So that=E2=80=99s it - after years of denial (crucial years when a differ= ence could perhaps have been made) global elites are ready to admit that climate change is a reality. But now the challenge has become how to continue with the headlong consumerist rush - delivering that all important economic growth and an i-phone for every inhabitant of planet earth. Yes, the climate=E2=80=99s going to change and sea levels may rise= , but if we just let the markets adapt and provide profit-making =E2=80=98solutions=E2=80=99 to the new conditions, business might still b= e able to carry on as normal. Alright! In fact there=E2=80=99s loads of sco= pe for money-making in flogging ineffective carbon-offsetting schemes, encouraging everyone to buy a greener version of everything they=E2=80=99= ve already got and, who knows, tourism might be boosted by a more Mediterranean climate! We could call this =E2=80=98Plan A=E2=80=99 - the = approach as currently espoused by everyone from the UN to Western governments, charities, NGOs and pop rockers at the Gore-y Live Earth concerts last weekend.=20 And what if Plan A doesn=E2=80=99t work? You won=E2=80=99t hear politicia= ns and business leaders talk about that possibility much (need to maintain market confidence, dummy!) but they=E2=80=99re not all entirely short-sig= hted. That=E2=80=99s why Plan B is taking shape. Corporates and government fund= ed research projects are busy figuring out how to invoke that all powerful god of the modern age, technology, in order to keep the status quo rockin=E2=80=99, and =E2=80=98solve=E2=80=99 all our environmental proble= ms.=20 While many techno-fixes also feature in Plan A - such as creating =E2=80=98Carbon sinks=E2=80=99 in old oil wells and under the sea to stor= e climate-harming stuff, or genetically engineering new species of bacteria to =E2=80=98eat=E2=80=99 undesirable industrial by-products - th= ere=E2=80=99s also a range of more ambitious ideas which can be lumped under the heading =E2=80=98geoengineering=E2=80=99.=20 This means manipulating the planet=E2=80=99s ecology on a massive scale i= n an attempt to counter or mitigate the effects that the rest of mankind=E2=80= =99s activities are having. So instead of concentrating on the rather obvious solution of altering the way we live so as to not harm the planet, geoengineers are trying to offer sexy big-scale =E2=80=98magic bullet=E2=80= =99 fixes (which presumably means they view Earth=E2=80=99s ecology as just another moving target).=20 BODGE CITY Already many bizarre and potentially dangerous schemes have been put forward by chancers, rainmakers and snake oil salesmen from the =E2=80=98scientific=E2=80=99 community. They include: putting thousands o= f mirrors into orbit or launching up to 30,000 ships to pump salt spray or sulphate-based aerosols into the atmosphere in order to try to deflect the sun; deliberately polluting the seas with vast amounts of iron nanoparticles that stimulate CO2-storing plankton; and covering entire deserts with reflective film to reflect sunlight back into space.=20 And instead of being confined to the obscurest corners of the internet along with =E2=80=98telepathy=E2=80=99 and =E2=80=98anti-gravity=E2=80=99= research and the like, it is in fact taken very seriously by the world=E2=80=99s powers. The US government is busy lobbying the UN=E2=80=99s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to allow stratospheric weather modification - something at least a dozen other countries are involved in. At least nine other nations and the EU have supported iron filing =E2=80=98ocean fertilisatio= n=E2=80=99 experiments, usually by corporate commercial carbon =E2=80=98traders=E2=80= =99.=20 Politicians predictably misinterpret theoretical hypotheses to push quick-fix solutions but the fact is that systems as complicated and chaotic as the vast nexus of cause and effect we laughably term =E2=80=98= the environment=E2=80=99 aren=E2=80=99t gonna be amenable to a giant planetar= y elasto-plast.=20 Even boffin Dr Ken Caldeira, who a few years ago was punting the idea of putting a giant mirror on the moon to reflect the sun'0s rays back into the cold empty vacuum of space - has now acknowledged that there are inevitable weaknesses in the kind of modelling used to promote these ideas. He now rejects geoengineering as a tempting but illusory quick fix - and has instead realised it would be far easier to just er, change our lifestyles to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions (well it=E2=80=99s not rocket science!) =E2=80=9CI think the Earth=E2=80=99s sy= stem is so complicated that our interfering with it is very likely to screw things up and very unlikely to improve things... And this is the only planet we have.=E2=80=9D Ken Caldeira, Carnegie Institution Department of Global Ec= ology Unfortunately, Ken and his science-friction hasn=E2=80=99t convinced all = his colleagues, and politicians are pushing ahead with crazy schemes to keep the ecosystem and the economy running in conflict a bit longer. Nowhere is safe from potentially catastrophic god-like tinkering. Back in May, Californian company Planktos Inc conducted their latest =E2=80=98experime= nt=E2=80=99 by dumping tens of tonnes of tiny iron particles over 10,000 square km of ocean around the Galapagos Islands - a real exercise in =E2=80=98iron=E2= =80=99y when you consider this is where Charles Darwin originally made his observations of a pristine eco-system that led to the theory of evolution.=20 TECH-TONIC If all this sounds just a little bit extremely frightening, you=E2=80=99r= e not alone. Here at SchNEWS we=E2=80=99re more, er, grounded and reject al= l the technonsense. Instead we=E2=80=99re fully supportive of what we=E2=80=99l= l call Plan C - Cease Capitalism and Change our Cultures of Consumption. And we=E2=80= =99re not the only ones - why not join others who want to take the more obvious paths out of all this madness and start living in a bit more harmony, both socially and environmentally.=20 UK climate activists are gathering this summer for another Camp for Climate Action, following their media-effective occupation of a site near Drax power station last year (not to mention actually physically disrupting the power plant itself - see SchNEWS 558). This year they plan to camp near Heathrow Airport, between 14th and 21th August, to highlight the dire Gaia consequences of rampant air travel expansion, to make a symbolic statement of resistance to the earth-killing ideologies, and to offer a working example of successful, low impact, autonomous living. Be part of it! For details see www.climatecamp.org.uk (And now for the Science: www.etcgroup.org/en/issues/geoengineering.html) From critical.montages@gmail.com Tue Jul 31 10:25:24 2007 Received: from wx-out-0506.google.com ([66.249.82.234]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IFuXD-0004cm-UC for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 10:25:24 -0600 Received: by wx-out-0506.google.com with SMTP id s11so2021443wxc for ; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 09:29:00 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.89.1 with SMTP id m1mr12154213wxb.1185899339918; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 09:28:59 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.13.17 with HTTP; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 09:28:59 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:28:59 -0400 From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" To: Rad-Green In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline References: Subject: [R-G] Farid Esack, "An Open Letter to As'ad AbuKhalil" X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 16:25:24 -0000 An Open Letter to As'ad AbuKhalil by Farid Esack Islamabad, Pakistan July 23, 2007 Farid Esack here (that Muslim guy from South Africa). I am still around in Islamabad -- my last few days, and I am still enjoying it as my two-month sojourn here draws to a close. Islamabad is not quite Pakistan, certainly not Karachi, where I lived for eight years as a madrassah student. But then, it is the best that this country can offer "Distinguished Visiting Scholars," a title conferred upon both of us by the International Islamic University and which we graciously accepted by coming here, business class, and getting paying paid a princely sum by the standards of the people who clean our toilets, folks who have to deal with the consequences of our shit. I just got in from Karachi and Lahore, and on my way to class I stopped at the office of Faruq Terzic (the tall Bosnian guy), who moaned about your blog. I am not really into blogs and was somewhat irritated at how he was curious and upset at what you had to say. Normally, I pay very little, if any, attention to what people have to say about me and would rarely, for example, read news reports on something that I have said or done. So I was kind of annoyed that he was so defensive about the International Islamic University. "OK," I argued with him, "if you are so pissed off with As'ad AbuKhalil, why don't you write to him?" Then he read some of your stuff to me, and I was troubled enough to come to my room here -- the same place that you fled from 10 minutes after your arrival -- and read your blog for myself. Please allow me to be a bit blunt here: Although I'm not in the business of spending my time critiquing fellow left academics or intellectuals, I still live in a -- possibly bygone -- world of comradeship. After going through and reading the posts for myself, I couldn't help but think how sadly irresponsible and utterly unprincipled you are. Going on and on about the supposed pathetic state of Pakistan by focusing on your lack of comfort at some hotel, your aversion to lizards, etc. (As'ad AbuKhalil, "Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Never Stay in This Hotel in Islamabad," Angry Arab News Service, 17 July 2007) may be just foolish and a sheer waste of time (I keep thinking to myself if I know any left/revolutionary intellectual that would do this?), but the clear condescension displayed toward your audiences and the Muslim nature of the events/peoples was utterly contemptible. Again, what befuddles me is how can someone so well-versed in the politics of social change and grassroots activism write so irresponsibly. Where is the accountability to any sense of "real activism" on the ground? It was rather disturbing to see you post publicly what a fellow activist had reportedly told you in confidence about strategies for approaching audiences here ("The Islam Factor in Pakistan," Angry Arab News Service, 9 July 2007). Your posts could damage the legitimacy this whole program in the eyes of the IIU students and faculty. I know for a fact that Junaid Ahmad tried hard to manage the situation for you here in Islamabad as best he could. But nothing Third World is good enough for the great As'ad AbuKhalil! How any character with leftist or progressive pretensions can speak of what essentially amounts to the "backwardness" of Pakistani society in a manner comparable to the worst of the neo-cons is beyond me ("I Am in Dubai Airport on Way to . . . Istanbul," Angry Arab News Service, 7 July 2007). You ramble about the advice given to you before your visit by a comrade (Junaid) -- who it now turns out was rather mistaken in viewing you as such -- about what of your ideas you should preferably not highlight that was simply intended as such. Wherever I go, I identify some of the local activists and ask for advice on how to approach my audience. It is something that I learned in my days in the trenches of the struggle against the apartheid -- accountability and comradeship. And no, it is not synonymous with Stalinism, but instead simply understanding that there is something more to our struggles than blowing off steam and ego trips. If I do not like the advice offered by my hosts, particularly if it is offered months ahead of my visit, then I would simply call off the trip. Why go along with the supposed comradely advice for months and wait until you have collected the reimbursement of your business-class ticket to another exotic Third World destination and your honorarium? And as soon as you get into your $145-for-five-hours hotel you rant about how your style was cramped ("My $145 Shower," Angry Arab News Service, 8 July 2007)? Ah, the great jetsetter visits the Third World and becomes even more illustrious as he pisses on his own people. At the end of the day, you have to decide whether you want to be a Christopher Hitchens/Irshad Manji lone ranger who just wants to be a contrarian for contrarianism's sake, or whether you want to have some purpose, some accountability to real people in real movements that you say you support. If you want to be contrarian, then that's fine too, but you should choose your battles and not piss in the containers that feed you. Activists like Junaid are in the vanguard of actual struggle involving real people and real institutions -- however inadequate these may be -- who provide intellectuals like you and me some space to speak to our people, "our" people as being not citizens of the Empire but its victims. As'ad, my brother, we who, for many reasons, have "made it to" and "made it in" the world of power need to reflect a bit more on the supposed backwardness of the "Third World." People here die of undereating because some of us who have made it to the "First World" die of overeating. There is a connection here. Let us not piss on people who pay the price for our comforts and for our "development." They are our people. Farid Esack, a visiting professor at Harvard Divinity School, is the author of Qur'an, Liberation and Pluralism: An Islamic Perspective of Interreligious Solidarity against Oppression and On Being a Muslim: Finding a Religious Path in the World Today. A former national commissioner on gender equality appointed by President Nelson Mandela, Esack was active in the struggle against apartheid in the United Democratic Front and the Call of Islam. His current major field of research and activism is the response of Islam to AIDS; he founded Positive Muslims, an organization working with Muslims who are HIV positive in South Africa. -- Yoshie From critical.montages@gmail.com Tue Jul 31 10:30:15 2007 Received: from wx-out-0506.google.com ([66.249.82.238]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IFubu-0004dG-PR for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 10:30:14 -0600 Received: by wx-out-0506.google.com with SMTP id s11so2022504wxc for ; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 09:33:51 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.65.8 with SMTP id n8mr12181910wxa.1185899631353; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 09:33:51 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.13.17 with HTTP; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 09:33:51 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:33:51 -0400 From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" To: Rad-Green In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline References: Subject: [R-G] IRAN: Winds of Change X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 16:30:15 -0000 Middle East Energy June, 2007 Author(s): Heather Johnstone Winds of change As Iran continues to develop its nuclear power industry under the watchful eye of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the wider international community, what few realize is that for the last 13 years it has been quietly developing a domestic wind power industry. Iran is a country rich in fossil fuels. Its proven oil reserves are estimated to represent 10 per cent of the world's total, while its recoverable coal reserves are around 420 million tonnes. Furthermore, its natural gas reserves are estimated to be 25.5 trillion m3, second only to Russia in size. Thus, it is unsurprising that this country relies heavily on fossil fuels to meet its growing energy needs. Click here to enlarge image Manjil in the northwest province of Gilan is home to one of the few wind farms in the Middle East region As a consequence of this reliance its atmospheric emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are steadily rising. According to the USA's Energy Information Agency, Iran's CO2 emissions rose almost 40 per cent to 109.61 million tonnes of carbon (equivalent) between 1994 and 2004. In an effort to address this growing problem the government is looking at various ways to reduce these emissions. The greater use of natural gas for electricity generation through the construction of combined-cycle plants is being encouraged. The government is also keen to expand its nuclear power industry, and has indicated that it plans to build 6000 MW of additional nuclear capacity. It also wants to develop its own uranium enrichment programme, but this is bringing it into conflict with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over fears that this might enable it to develop a weapons capability. What few realize, however, is that since the mid-1990s Iran has been quietly developing a wind power industry. In this article, which is based on a paper by Professor M. Ameri and M. Ghadri presented at this year's POWER-GEN Middle East in Bahrain, we chart this burgeoning Iranian industry's development. Why wind power? Iran has a strategic geographical position in the Middle East. It not only borders the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Caspian Sea, but also shares land borders with Turkey, Armenia, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan - a point where east truly meets west. Furthermore, its geographical location combined with its relatively mountainous terrain means that it can maximize the use of the strong air currents coming from Asia, Europe and Africa. In the mid-1990s studies to assess the feasibility of utilizing wind power for the generation of electricity began. Using both software simulation programmes and preliminary field studies, two sites were identified as being particularly good locations for wind farms. The first is the area around the city of Manjil in the northwest province of Gilan. It is known as the windy city of Iran because of its location in the Alborz mountain range. The city is located in a small valley, which funnels the wind through the city on its way to the Qazvin plateau. Wind speeds of up to 11 metres per second (m/s) have been recorded in the area. The second site is at Dyzbad, which is located in the northeast of Iran, near the holy city of Mashhad. Manjil wind farm The Manjil wind farm comprises several different sites in the area. The Manjil site is located southeast of the Sefid-rud dam and covers an area of 2 million m2. Currently 31 wind turbines are in operation, with another 19 turbines due to be installed in the near future. The Rudbar site is located in a high altitude, rural area outside Manjil and covers an area of 200 000 m2. At the moment four wind turbines - three 550 kW and one 500 kW - are operating, but the installation of four more is anticipated. Finally, the Harzevil site is northeast of Manjil and is 650 000 m2 in size. Twelve turbines are currently working, with the installation of a further two 300 kW likely. Click here to enlarge image Annual production of electricity at the Manjil wind facility, 1996-2005 In 1994, two 550 kW wind turbines were installed at the Manjil and Rudbar sites. Three years later, in a project financed by the World Bank, the capacity of the Manjil wind farm was increased to 10 MW, with the installation of eight 550 kW and 19 300 kW wind turbines. Installed capacity Since those early days the capacity and number of wind turbines installed in the Manjil area has grown significantly. The table above shows the capacity and number of installed wind turbines over the period between 1994 and 2005. Click here to enlarge image Fifty-one wind turbines, with a total capacity of 21.6 MW, had been installed at the wind farm by the end of 2004. This comprised of 27 300 kW turbines (15 in Manjil and 12 in Harzevil), two 500 kW (one each in Manjil and Rudbar), 18 550 kW (three in Rudbar and 15 in Manjil), one 600 kW turbine in Babaian and three 660 kW in Pas-Koulan. In 2005, control of the wind farm was handed over to the Renewable Energy Organization of Iran (SUNA), which is affiliated with Tavanir - Iran's Power and Transmission Management Organization. Tavanir is an executive organization that controls the country's electricity sector on behalf of the Ministry of Energy. One of SUNA's main aims is to increase the capacity of the Manjil wind farm to 90 MW. As part of that effort 19 660 kW turbines, with a total capacity of 12.5 MW, were installed at the Pas-Koulan site, increasing the total capacity of this site to 14.5 MW between February and March of 2005. The installation of 12.5 MW in 2005 represented 37 per cent of the total capacity installed over the 12-year period between 1994 and 2005. Furthermore, 2005 saw the highest number of turbines installed in any one year, representing 27 per cent of the total number of wind turbines installed over the period 1994-2005. The total production of electricity during 1994 to 2005 was 296 TWh, with 62 TWh produced in 2005 alone. This represents more than a 56 per cent growth in production between 2004 and 2005 (see graph below). Dyzbad wind farm The Dyzbad wind farm is located in what can be best described as a 50 km by five km "wind tunnel", through which wind steadily flows west to east at a velocity of 8.9 m/s. The wind energy potential of this area has been estimated at 2000 MW. The wind farm will eventually consist of 43 660 kW wind turbines that can produce 28.4 MW of electricity. Currently, 23 wind turbines are in operation and delivering electricity to the grid. The combined total capacity of the Manjil and the Dyzbad wind farms is currently 47.3 MW, but there are plans to increase it to 120 MW. Furthermore, two 100 MW wind farms projects, which will be built by the private sector, are currently under consideration by SUNA. In November 2003, the Saba Sadid Niroo factory was also established to manufacture, under license to Vestas, 660 kW turbines. Growth opportunities Although wind power generation remains modest - according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), in 2005 wind contributed only 0.02 per cent to electricity production - it is likely that Iran will continue to grow and develop its wind power capabilities. Based on the latest developments in wind turbine technology, economic evaluation and recent research into the country's wind energy potential, electricity production though wind power is estimated to be 6500 MW. For Iran's northern regions in particular, which are located far from its main gas fields in the south, the capability to generate electricity from wind power makes a lot of sense. -- Yoshie From critical.montages@gmail.com Tue Jul 31 11:31:38 2007 Received: from an-out-0708.google.com ([209.85.132.241]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IFvZK-0004kh-1U for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 11:31:38 -0600 Received: by an-out-0708.google.com with SMTP id c25so321781ana for ; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 10:35:14 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.100.120.5 with SMTP id s5mr5433945anc.1185903312975; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 10:35:12 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.13.17 with HTTP; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 10:35:12 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 13:35:12 -0400 From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" To: "Walter Lippmann" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Cc: A-List , Rad-Green Subject: [R-G] Val Moghadam on the Left and Iran X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 17:31:38 -0000 Val Moghadam wrote in an old article of hers, "Socialism or Anti-Imperialism? The Left and Revolution in Iran" (New Left Review I/166, November-December 1987, ): In placing the problems and mistakes of the Iranian Left in proper perspective, we should also bear in mind that the Revolution -- and clerical rule -- came as a complete surprise to many observers, including those who made a profession out of studying Iran; and that many foreign scholars and activists on the Left were supportive of the new Islamic Republic precisely for its anti-imperialism and its defiance of the US government and capital.2 (p. 6) Which leftists does Moghadam have in her mind? We find out in the second footnote to the article that at the top of her list of dumb leftists is Fred Halliday, who has since made a career of railing against the Left and Islam. Very funny. On the first point, a good example is Fred Halliday's Iran: Dictatorship and Development. The book's essential thesis and problematic do not anticipate a mass uprising or political Islam and leave out the possibility of an Islamic Republic. Regarding the second point, among the foreign Left scholars who sympathized not just with the Iranian Revolution but with Islamic discourse and the anti-imperialist, anti-systemic or post-modernist character of the new regime were Michel Foucault, Ernest Mandel, Immanuel Wallerstein, Nikki Keddie, Eqbal Ahmad, and Anouar Abdel-Malek. In mainstream academia, a number of scholars constructed new theories about Islamic resurgence; while the works of John Esposito, Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad and James Pescatori are a welcome departure from the oeuvre of those termed 'Orientalist' by Edward Said, their enthusiastic and uncritical renditions are problematic. Whether or not her criticism is justified can only be judged by actually reading what the thinkers whom she criticizes said at the time of the Islamic Revolution. The main theory Moghadam criticizes is dependency theory. While dependency theory surely can use criticism, it is wishful thinking* to suggest that, if only leftists, Iranian and foreign, had not made dependency theory their main paradigm, leftists would have been able to become the leaders of the revolution in Iran. The main reasons Khomeinists, not socialsits, became hegemonic are that socialism was predominantly the ideology of roshanfekran (intellectuals) in Iran, that the majority of Iranians then were Muslims, not socialists, just like now (the lower their class backgrounds, the more devout they tend to be), Khomeini was far more popular among the Iranians than any socialist leader (and next to Khomeini was Shariati, who was not a socialist either, though socialists have much to learn from his thoughts), that Khomeinists, united, were far better organized than multiply fragmented socialists, and that, due to historical circumstances, the Iranians were wary of both the USA and the USSR, so they were inclined to the ideology of Neither East nor West. * Moghadam's wishful thinking in 1987 -- shortly before the era of then-existing socialism came to an end! -- most clearly manifests itself in the conclusion of this article: The socialist tradition in Iran has been turbulent, and marked with mistakes, tragedies and setbacks. But it has been tenacious and enduring. It is thus a major accomplishment that despite the ruptures, repression, and persistent difficulty of passing along experience and knowledge from one generation of activists to the next, Marxist and Left discourse is extensive in Iranian society. Nor is socialism associated with failed policies in power (or authoritarian politics and corruption), as it is in many other societies. Iranian socialists are as yet untested; they have still to prove themselves. For all of these reasons, it will be possible for the Left to re-enter the political arena and to define an Iranian practice, an Iranian idiom, an Iranian road to socialism. (p. 28) Socialism has not been tried in Iran (as it has not been in most countries in the world), to be sure, but it certainly has been in some countries, and the Iranians (as well as others) have seen how it actually worked, with its own "failed policies in power" and "authoritarian politics and corruption." While it is not impossible for the Iranians to take interest in socialism Bolivarian style, and I hope they will, it is not possible for them to wish to adopt socialism of the sort that old Iranian leftists (Stalinists, Maoists, and so on) believed in and a few remaining sects still anachronistically espouse. Besides, today's Iran is not revolutionary. If you want historical comparison, what you want to look back on and learn from is the experience of the Mossadegh administration and Operation Ajax. -- Yoshie From critical.montages@gmail.com Tue Jul 31 12:21:25 2007 Received: from wx-out-0506.google.com ([66.249.82.236]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IFwLV-0004rL-EA for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:21:25 -0600 Received: by wx-out-0506.google.com with SMTP id s11so2049956wxc for ; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 11:25:02 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.90.93.6 with SMTP id q6mr3642203agb.1185906302149; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 11:25:02 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.13.17 with HTTP; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 11:25:02 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:25:02 -0400 From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" To: Rad-Green In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline References: Subject: [R-G] China-Iran Trade Surge Vexes U.S. X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 18:21:25 -0000 Noam Chomsky says: "Despite the saber-rattling, it is, I suspect, unlikely that the Bush administration will attack Iran" ("Chomsky: There Will Be a Cold War Between Iran and the U.S.," City Lights, 30 July 2007, 31 July 2007, ). Iran's Islamists don't think that the Bush administration will go beyond covert actions, "democracy assistance," and economic sanctions at this point either. On this they agree with Noam Chomsky, and so do I (except you can never put any act of adventurism past Washington, so my confidence is not 100%). Since the empire's main tools against Iran are neither missile attacks (possible but unlikely) nor ground invasion (impossible now) but economic sanctions, "democracy assistance," and covert actions, what military hardware and capacity for conventional warfare Iran has is not yet relevant (the Russians and the Chinese do not give away their goodies nowadays, but they have been willing to sell quite a few, and the Iranians have been able to pay for them -- unfortunately. neither Moscow nor Beijing would share with Tehran the best of what they got). The most important questions are whether other countries* are willing to subvert formal and informal sanctions on Iran that Washington has been putting together and whether the Iranians are willing to make material sacrifices for their country's independence, such as tolerating gasoline rationing, which Iran's government would not have risked if it hadn't thought that Washington might use Iran's dependence on gasoline import against the country, and moderating factional divisions and class and other social conflicts, so as to deny the empire an ability to divide and conquer. * China-Iran Trade Surge Vexes U.S. Friday, 27 July 2007 By Neil King Jr. WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government says a handful of Chinese companies have ramped up shipments of sensitive military technologies to Iran, part of a surge in China-Iran trade that is complicating efforts to apply pressure on Tehran to rein in its nuclear program. The State Department and its embassy in Beijing have lodged "numerous" formal protests with the Chinese government since the start of the year over the shipments, U.S. officials said. They said the goods have included a range of specialty metals and other dual-use items that could aid Tehran's missile and nuclear programs, with some cargoes going to Iran's main ballistic-missile producer. The U.S. argues that such trade is barred under a December United Nations sanctions resolution on Iran. The Chinese government declined to respond to questions about the U.S. allegations. It has previously accused the U.S. of placing sanctions on Chinese companies based on scant evidence. The growing dispute over China's burgeoning trade with Iran -- its exports to Iran in the first six months of this year surged 70% from 2006, to $3.2 billion -- comes at a sensitive time. The U.N. Security Council, which includes China as one of its five veto-wielding permanent members, is weighing whether to push ahead on a third resolution to impose tougher trade and financial sanctions on Iran over its uranium-enrichment work. The U.S., Britain and some other European countries allege that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian power program, a charge Tehran denies. The U.N. has already imposed two sets of sanctions on Iran to get it to halt its nuclear program. These measures have ordered a freeze of the international assets of a major Iranian bank and 10 entities connected to the country's nuclear and missile programs, and imposed an embargo on Iranian arms exports, among other steps. Far from backing off, Iran has pressed ahead with its nuclear program. The debate over how to proceed with Iran is likely to take center stage when world leaders meet in September for the annual U.N. General Assembly. China and Russia, another permanent Security Council member, appear increasingly leery of supporting sanctions that would strike at companies more central to Iran's economy or banking system. China's controversial shipments to Iran, which coincide with a furor over defective Chinese exports to the U.S., also raise questions about Beijing's ability to control the transfer of potential weapons materials to countries under international scrutiny. The U.S. has long accused China of supplying nuclear technology to countries such as North Korea, Pakistan, Iran and Libya. In recent years, though, Beijing has joined international nonproliferation agreements and imposed tougher rules on exports. "This is no longer a government policy problem," said Joseph Cirincione, an arms-control expert at the liberal Center for American Progress. "It is a matter of China actually implementing the export controls it now has in place. It is a problem that many countries have." In a classified incident this year, U.S. intelligence agencies tipped off authorities in Singapore about a container that was transiting through its port from China en route to Iran. Inside the container, Singaporean customs agents found large quantities of a chemical compound used to make solid fuel for ballistic missiles, U.S. and other international officials said. More disturbing, U.S. officials said, was the intended recipient: the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group, which is responsible for Iran's efforts to develop long-range missiles. The company was among the 10 entities targeted in the set of U.N. sanctions levied on Iran in December. U.S. officials declined to name the Chinese company that was allegedly behind that shipment or the other companies allegedly behind other recent shipments. The officials said most of the questionable Chinese exports to Iran have come from five or six Chinese firms, all of which are under unilateral U.S. sanctions for allegedly shipping missile components and other restricted military equipment to Iran. Since 2005, the U.S. has imposed unilateral sanctions on nine Chinese companies believed to be engaged in such trade. The sanctions bar U.S. companies from doing business with any of these companies. Companies the Bush administration considers "serial proliferators" to Iran include Beijing Alite Technologies Co., China Great Wall Industry Corp. and China National Precision Machinery Import/Export Corp. An official from Beijing Alite said the company's products "have nothing to do with military weapons" and that it stopped trading with Iran in 2003. A China Great Wall spokeswoman said the company "never had any business relationship with Iran." An officer at China National Precision declined to comment. When the U.S. renewed sanctions on these companies last year for allegedly continuing shipments of sensitive materials to Iran, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said the U.S. had provided no clear evidence of wrongdoing and criticized the move as "groundless and extremely irresponsible." For the White House, China's growing economic ties with Iran pose the biggest impediment to its strategy of combining incentives and economic pressure to get Tehran to back off its nuclear work. While many European companies and banks have begun to cut back their dealings with Iran, Chinese companies are surging ahead. A branch of China North Industries Group, or Norinco, China's huge state-owned defense-industrial manufacturer, just signed a deal valued at nearly $590 million to supply subway trains for Tehran's metro system. U.S. officials said that in discussions with Beijing, Chinese officials have denied specific shipments violated U.N. resolutions or other international treaties. In other cases, they promised to investigate, but with no apparent follow-through. U.S. officials said China has clamped down in some instances. Don Mahley, a senior State Department official, told a congressional panel this month the U.S. was unable "to ascertain the level of control or awareness that Chinese officials have over increasingly freewheeling Chinese companies that trade in materials related to [weapons of mass destruction] and their delivery systems." Bush administration officials said the U.S. is also monitoring shipments to Iran from companies in other countries, including Germany and Italy. They said Washington could move to impose U.S. sanctions on some of the companies in coming months. Trading Outcry Intensifies Firms Face More Calls to Cut Ties With Censured Nations By PAULO PRADA and BETSY MCKAY March 27, 2007 (See Corrections & Amplifications item below.) American companies that do business with countries subjected to U.S. trade sanctions face increasing financial and political pressure to stop as tensions between Iran and the United Nations Security Council worsen. As a result, many companies are severing connections -- or plan to when current contracts end -- with customers in the 13 countries or regions penalized after the U.S. accused them of supporting terrorism, human-rights abuses or other unacceptable behavior. The clamor spotlights how scores of U.S.-based companies manage to do business in sanctioned countries either through offshore subsidiaries or using export licenses granted by the Treasury Department. After seeing this traffic grow briskly for several years, companies now find lawmakers stepping up efforts to tighten restrictions and shareholders and fund managers steering investments away from countries in Washington's doghouse. Companies whose foreign subsidiaries operate in a sector dominated by a sanctioned nation's government -- General Electric Co., Halliburton Co. and Dresser-Rand Group Inc. among them -- have faced particularly harsh criticism. Securities filings show many other U.S. corporations acknowledge their overseas units conduct such business, and the federal government last year fined at least a dozen U.S. companies for violating sanctions in Iran, Sudan, Cuba and elsewhere. "It's questionable and shameful, if not treacherous, behavior," Sen. Frank Lautenberg said. As part of an Iran sanctions bill introduced in the Senate last week, the New Jersey Democrat included provisions that would ban subsidiaries of U.S.-controlled companies that lack a special export license from doing business in Iran. The new Democratic majority in Congress tilts the odds in favor of his effort, which failed as an amendment to three bills in previous sessions largely because of Republican opposition. The growing scrutiny comes amid political and grass-roots pressure on U.S. investors, such as state pension funds, to dump shares of non-U.S. companies with major investments in energy businesses in Iran. Earlier this month, Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida introduced a bill calling for federal pension funds to sell shares of any company with more than $20 million in Iran's energy sector. Such companies include Royal Dutch Shell PLC, based in the Netherlands; Total SA of France and Russia's OAO Gazprom. "We're concerned most about...companies that have financial relationships with a government, helping to develop oil fields and profits that are then turned around to support terrorism," said Sarah Steelman, state treasurer in Missouri, who oversees one of the country's first "terror-free" public investment funds, the $29 million Missouri Investment Trust. Florida lawmakers are considering requiring the state's pension fund to sell any holdings in companies found to have ties to Iran's energy industry. A separate bill could force the pension fund to divest itself of 12 companies operating in Sudan, in protest of militia attacks terrorizing the Darfur region. And pension funds in at least seven other states already have sold stakes in U.S. companies linked to Sudan. The exact number of companies doing business despite trade embargoes isn't clear, partly because federal officials won't disclose which companies are legally allowed to export to proscribed countries, citing a trade-secrets law. Among those known to have interests in Iran are GE, which services power plants through contracts set up by non-U.S. subsidiaries; Xerox Corp., which sells spare parts and supplies, though no longer sells copiers there; and Overseas Shipholding Group Inc., which operates tankers that at times dock in Iran and transport Iranian oil to other foreign buyers. Many in business and industry oppose any tightening of sanctions laws, which already put them at a disadvantage with overseas rivals. "Foreign competitors are not dummies," said William Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, a business group that promotes free trade. Sanctions can "destroy your reputation as a reliable supplier, and it's something that your foreign competitors will play up shamelessly with their customers." U.S. exports to sanctioned countries surpassed $1.15 billion last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Exports to Iran were $85 million, up from $8 million in 2001. Those figures don't count services such as consulting or revenue generated through subsidiaries in embargoed countries. Despite the increase, trade with Iran is at less than 20% of its volume in the early 1990s, before the Clinton administration tightened restrictions on sales or investments by U.S. companies. "U.S. companies are generally happy to do business in these places because they want to build a relationship in case things thaw," said Adam Pener, chief operating officer of Conflict Securities Advisory Group Inc., a consulting firm that advises institutional investors on the risks of buying stakes in companies with exposure to countries linked to terrorism. "As soon as people start shining the light on these things, it's a no-brainer...to leave because you don't want to be seen as supporting or associated with terror." [Chart] Under U.S. law, makers of agricultural products, medicine, equipment and services can get licenses to legally export items as long as they are used for food, health or humanitarian purposes. But that definition is broad enough to include photography equipment, musical instruments, plastics and tobacco, according to the Census Bureau. Companies without a license still can do business through foreign subsidiaries if those units are run separately from the U.S. parent and don't have any U.S. citizens as managers, directors or employees. But non-U.S. units can be difficult to monitor, and some critics claim they offer a huge trade loophole for American companies. In filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission this year, various U.S. companies acknowledge their foreign subsidiaries conduct business in embargoed countries. A recent filing by heavy-machinery maker Dresser-Rand, for instance, notes that "some of these countries...are or previously have been identified by the State Department as terrorist-sponsoring states" and that "our reputation may suffer due to our association with these countries." Natco Group Inc., a Houston maker of oil-and-gas-production equipment, said in a filing that subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Japan and Canada "have made sales" and "expect to continue making sales...to customers in certain countries that are subject to U.S. government sanctions." Dresser-Rand, of Houston, declined through a spokesman to comment. Calls to Natco seeking comment weren't returned. Last year the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control fined more than a dozen U.S. companies for violations. Supermicro Computer Inc., a San Jose, Calif., maker of computer servers, paid more than $450,000 in fines because the company, through a Dubai-based distributor, knowingly sold 300 computer motherboards in Iran. Howard Kalt, an investor-relations manager for Supermicro, says the company severed its relationship with the distributor and launched an "export compliance program," and that violations by the company "are all past tense now." The heightened scrutiny has led some companies to say they will wrap up operations their subsidiaries conduct in sanctioned countries when they complete existing contracts. Flowserve Corp., a supplier of pumps, valves and other equipment, gets 1% to 2% of its revenue from Iran, Syria and Sudan. The Dallas company is making "a voluntary withdrawal" from pursuing additional business there but "may continue to honor certain existing contracts, commitments and warranty obligations," according to a securities filing last month. A company spokesman, in an email response to questions about the decision, said "once these legally compliant warranties and contractual commitments expire, these subsidiaries will no longer do any business in these countries." Such withdrawals can be slow, though. GE and Halliburton, for example, reacted to pressure by announcing in 2005 they would stop seeking new business in Iran. Yet neither has actually pulled out. GE still has "long-term service agreements and maintenance agreements" for power plants and sells spare parts for oil and natural-gas projects there, spokesman Gary Sheffer said. Its Iran operations are handled through units in Austria, Canada, China, France, Italy and the U.K. Halliburton is "winding up our work in Iran, and will exit upon the completion of existing commitments," spokeswoman Melissa Norcross wrote in an email. --Neil King Jr. contributed to this article. Write to Paulo Prada at paulo.prada@wsj.com and Betsy McKay at betsy.mckay@wsj.com Corrections & Amplifications: General Electric Co. says it will have no business dealings in Iran once its existing contracts there expire, except for humanitarian and other business activity licensed by the U.S. government. This article implies but doesn't specifically state this aspect of GE's intentions. GE says the contracts not covered by those U.S. licenses will have expired by the end of 2008. -- Yoshie From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Tue Jul 31 13:53:14 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IFxmL-00051i-S6 for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 13:53:14 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l6VJhh07020310; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:43:43 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:43:43 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar3.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.203]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l6VJfduU015607; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:41:40 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:41:39 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200707311941.l6VJfduU015607@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad Old-Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to base64 by rm-rstar.sfu.ca id l6VJhh07020310 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from base64 to 8bit by lists.econ.utah.edu MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] Palestinians drop policy of armed resistance X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:53:14 -0000 Globe and Mail July 28, 2007 Palestinians drop policy of armed resistance By Mark MacKinnon Jerusalem For the first time in its history, the Palestinian Authority has published a policy platform that doesn't include armed resistance to Israel as a core principle. A new government program presented by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and prime minister Salaam Fayyad has drawn praise from peaceniks on both sides, and fresh scorn from Hamas, after the Arabic word muqawama was left out of the document for the first time since the PA was established in 1993. The program was presented to the Palestinian cabinet on Thursday, but details of it began to emerge only Friday. Muqawama means resistance but has come to be associated with violence after the word was appropriated by groups like Hezbollah and Hamas to rationalize everything from rocket attacks to suicide bombings. An aide to Mr. Fayyad said Friday that the deletion didn't mean Palestinians are any more accepting of the 40-year-old Israeli occupation of their lands. Instead, the new government will embrace what Mr. Abbas has called popular struggle while rejecting armed attacks on Israeli targets. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas receives a report on the failures that lead to the defeat of Fatah by Hamas in Gaza in mid-June, at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Friday. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) We have the right to refuse and resist the occupation, but our experience shows that peaceful, active resistance like in the first intifada, which was absolutely non-violent could be more effective, said Jamal Zakut, a close confidante of Mr. Fayyad's. The first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, lasted from 1987 to 1993, and is widely seen as having brought both sides to the table to negotiate the Oslo accords that created the Palestinian Authority. During the uprising, the primary Palestinian tactics were strikes and demonstrations, though violence frequently did break out. The second intifada, which began in 2000 after the peace process stalled, has been marked by suicide bombings and gun attacks across the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Israel as well as harsh Israeli retaliations that included air strikes, home demolitions and major military operations. In more than six years of violence, some 5,200 people have been killed, 4,200 of them Palestinians. I, personally, am against summarizing the resistance only as these catastrophic suicide bombings and the useless firing of rockets, Mr. Zakut said. He added that Palestinian attacks had helped Israel justify its occupation and its own violence to the international community. Most of the Palestinian attacks during the recent intifada were carried out by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a violent offshoot of Mr. Abbas's Fatah movement. While the new government program could lead to a dramatic drop in West Bank violence, where Fatah holds sway and the Israeli government has recently praised the PA for its help in preventing attacks, it's likely to have little impact in Gaza, where Hamas is in complete control. The Islamist movement, which won the legislative election in early 2006, doesn't recognize Mr. Fayyad's government and considers its decrees to be illegal. Islamic Jihad and other factions regularly fire rockets from Gaza into southern Israel. Fayyad only represents himself and his junta in [ending armed resistance] because the Palestinian people will never put their confidence in a government that surrenders totally to the occupation, said Hamas legislator Yehya Moussa. Nonetheless, the new program is the latest and most dramatic step in a rapid warming of relations between Israel and the PA since the dramatic armed takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas last month. Among other measures, some 178 Palestinian fighters affiliated with Fatah were granted amnesty by Israel this month, after they handed in their weapons and pledged to cease attacks on Israeli targets. Another 255 Palestinian prisoners, most of them affiliated with Fatah, were released from Israeli jails. Diplomats and officials on both sides speak of a spreading optimism ahead of an international peace conference scheduled for some time in the fall, although no one seems to have a strategy for how to deal with a Hamas-ruled Gaza. Yossi Beilin, a left-wing Israeli politician who was shown the new program during a meeting with Mr. Fayyad, described the document as a very clear commitment to peace by the new Palestinian government. Mr. Beilin, who helped draw up the Oslo accords along with Mr. Abbas, said it was important that Israel now reciprocate with more gestures of its own to build momentum ahead of the fall peace conference. There is a short while in which we can move ahead, he said. From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Tue Jul 31 13:54:35 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IFxnf-00052C-7a for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 13:54:35 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l6VJgfhs017564; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:42:41 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:42:41 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar3.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.203]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l6VJekQ5013816; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:40:47 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:40:46 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200707311940.l6VJekQ5013816@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad Old-Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to base64 by rm-rstar.sfu.ca id l6VJgfhs017564 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from base64 to 8bit by lists.econ.utah.edu MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] How empires end X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:54:35 -0000 http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18045.htm How empires end By Patrick J. Buchanan 0720/07 "WorldNetDaily" -- Responding to the call of Pope Urban II at Claremont in 1095, the Christian knights of the First Crusade set out for the Holy Land. In 1099, Jerusalem was captured. As their port in Palestine, the Crusaders settled on Acre on the Mediterranean. There they built the great castle that was overrun by Saladin in 1187, but retaken by Richard the Lion-Hearted in 1191. Acre became the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the stronghold of the Crusader state, which fell to the Mameluks in a bloody siege in 1291. The Christians left behind were massacred. The ruins of Acre are now a tourist attraction. Any who have visited this last outpost of Christendom in the Holy Land before Gen. Allenby marched into Jerusalem in 1917 cannot on reading of the massive U.S. embassy rising in Baghdad but think of Acre. At a cost of $600 million, with walls able to withstand mortar and rocket fire and space to accommodate 1,000 Americans, this mammoth embassy, largest on earth, will squat on the banks of the Tigris inside the Green Zone. But, a decade hence, will the U.S. ambassador be occupying this imperial compound? Or will it be like the ruins of Acre? What raises the question is a sense the United States, this time, is truly about to write off Iraq as a lost cause. The Republican lines on Capitol Hill are crumbling. Starting with Richard Lugar, one GOP senator after another has risen to urge a drawdown of U.S. forces and a diplomatic solution to the war. But this is non-credible. How can U.S. diplomats win at a conference table what 150,000 U.S. troops cannot secure on a battlefield? Though Henry Kissinger was an advocate of this unnecessary war, he is not necessarily wrong when he warns of "geopolitical calamity." Nor is Ryan Crocker, U.S. envoy in Iraq, necessarily wrong when he says a U.S. withdrawal may be the end of the America war, but it will be the start of bloodier wars in Iraq and across the region. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari also warns of the perils of a rapid withdrawal: "The dangers vary from civil war to dividing the country to regional wars ... the danger is huge. Until the Iraqi forces and institutions complete their readiness, there is a responsibility on the U.S. and other countries to stand by the Iraqi government and the Iraqi people to help build up their capabilities." In urging a redeployment of U.S. forces out of Iraq and a new focus on diplomacy, Lugar listed four strategic goals. Prevent creation of a safe haven for terrorists. Prevent sectarian war from spilling out into the broader Middle East. Prevent Iran's domination of the region. Limit the loss of U.S. credibility through the region and world as a result of a failed mission in Iraq. But how does shrinking the U.S. military power and presence in Iraq advance any of these goals? Longtime critics of the war like Gen. William Odom say it is already lost, and fighting on will only further bleed the country and make the ultimate price even higher. The general may be right in saying it is time to cut our losses. But we should take a hard look at what those losses may be. It is a near certainty the U.S.-backed government will fall and those we leave behind will suffer the fate of our Vietnamese and Cambodian friends in 1975. As U.S. combat brigades move out, contractors, aid workers and diplomats left behind will be more vulnerable to assassination and kidnapping. There could be a stampede for the exit and a Saigon ending in the Green Zone. The civil and sectarian war will surely escalate when we go, with Iran aiding its Shia allies and Sunni nations aiding the Sunnis. A breakup of the country seems certain. Al-Qaida will claim it has run the U.S. superpower out of Iraq and take the lessons it has learned to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. The Turks, with an army already on the border, will go in to secure their interests in not having the Kurdish PKK operating from Iraq and in guaranteeing there is no independent Kurdistan. What will America do then? As for this country, the argument over who is responsible for the worst strategic debacle in American history will be poisonous. With a U.S. defeat in Iraq, U.S. prestige would plummet across the region. Who will rely on a U.S. commitment for its security? Like the British and French before us, we will be heading home from the Middle East. What we are about to witness is how empires end. From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Tue Jul 31 13:55:20 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IFxoN-00052U-R8 for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 13:55:20 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l6VJjRBs023926; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:45:27 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:45:26 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar3.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.203]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l6VJi29r021258; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:44:03 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:44:02 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200707311944.l6VJi29r021258@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad Old-Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to base64 by rm-rstar.sfu.ca id l6VJjRBs023926 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from base64 to 8bit by lists.econ.utah.edu MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] After the Americans leave X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:55:20 -0000 Globe and Mail July 29, 2007 After the Americans leave By Gwynne Dyer The audience has lost interest, but the play continues. General David Petraeus, the senior U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the American ambassador to Baghdad, produced a plan this month whose near-term goal is to provide localized security in the capital by June, 2008, and a broader sense of security nationwide no later than June, 2009. The plan blithely assumes that large numbers of U.S. combat troops will be available to pursue this strategy, as though Congress, American public opinion and the election deadline of November, 2008, did not exist. Political reality in the United States is shaped by the fact that American military deaths in Iraq will reach 4,000 some time this fall, with little to show for it in terms of quelling the insurgency. Unless the surge strategy is abandoned and troops are pulled off the streets, that number will reach 5,000 just as the presidential campaign enters the home stretch in fall 2008. The political strategists on both sides know exactly how that will play with the American public. That's why the Democratic majority in Congress goes through the motions of trying to get troops out of Iraq, but will not seek a decisive confrontation with the White House. If George W. Bush wants to tough it out and dump the blame for accepting defeat in Iraq on his successor, that's all right with them at least the next president will be a Democrat. Senior Republican strategists are concentrating on saving seats in Congress. And both sides know that U.S. troops will start coming home from Iraq very fast after a new president is inaugurated in January, 2009. There will be no enduring bases in Iraq, no useful purpose for the gigantic U.S. embassy under construction in Baghdad's Green Zone. So what happens after that? Mr. Bush's administration insists that the heavens will fall if the United States does not persevere in Iraq. Radicals will overthrow pro-U.S. regimes throughout the Arab world, the oil will stop flowing and all the jihadis now fighting in Iraq will show up beside American highways, killing infidel commuters with IEDs. Or something like that; the details are always a bit fuzzy. So let us consider Iraq after the Americans leave. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will probably lose his job, for he is too closely tied to the Americans, but the Shiites will certainly stay in charge of most of Arabic-speaking Iraq, where they are three-quarters of the population. The Shiites' strategic alliance with the Kurds will also probably survive, although there may be some nasty fighting around oil-rich Kirkuk. The big questions are: Who runs Shia Iraq, and who controls the so-called Sunni triangle? There may be major fighting between the rival Shia militias after the Americans leave, but the Mahdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr is bound to win and the prospective losers may just cut a deal in advance. The Americans struggled long and hard to keep Mr. al-Sadr out of power, but he has the biggest militia and the mass of the Shia poor behind him. He is also an outspoken Iraqi nationalist who never makes divisive sectarian remarks in public, which recommends him as the national unity candidate when the time comes. If not the next prime minister, he'll be the next power behind the throne. Could even Mr. al-Sadr bring the Sunni-majority areas back under the loose authority of the central government? The U.S. withdrawal will take the wind out of the Sunni extremists' sails, since the occupation was their main justification for slaughter. Mainstream Sunni authority figures traditional sheiks, ex-army officers, former Baathist officials might then reassert control over their society, in which case all will be (more or less) well. But the Sunni triangle may remain a lawless enclave dominated by jihadis. That would be a pity, but it would be a heavily quarantined enclave. The Baghdad regime, the Syrians, the Jordanians and the Saudis would all work to ensure that nobody got out of that enclave without the most stringent identity checks, for those regimes would be the primary targets of the radicals' attacks. The extremists' main goal, after all, is to bring Islamist revolutionaries to power in Arab and other Muslim countries. An American attack on Iran would invalidate these predictions, as would a successful terrorist attack in the United States. But unless it suffers a U.S. bombing, Tehran will neither cut the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf nor commit volunteers to Iraq. Iranians need the money the oil brings in, and they know they would be unwelcome in Iraq even among Shiites. The jihadis will certainly try for another terrorist attack on American territory, hoping to slow the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq (their main recruiting ground), but they're unlikely to succeed. Given U.S. border controls, such an attack would have to be carried out by resident Muslims, who seem less susceptible to the blandishments of extremists than, say, their British counterparts. Five years after the rooftop denouement of the U.S. adventure in Vietnam in 1975, it had already ceased to be an issue in domestic politics, and the United States' international influence was as strong as ever. The disgrace of the Iraq invasion and defeat could be washed away just as fast. It never really mattered much who controls the Middle East, because only its oil matters to the rest of the world and the regimes that control the oil have to sell it, since they live off the proceeds. Five years from now, there may be a couple of Islamist regimes in the Arab world, but that will matter a lot less to the rest of the world than people now think. It's going to rain a bit, but the skies will not fall. Gwynne Dyer is the author of The Mess They Made: The Middle East After Iraq From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Tue Jul 31 13:56:14 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IFxpG-00052m-04 for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 13:56:14 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l6VJlv8O029146; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:47:57 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:47:57 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar3.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.203]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l6VJirZk022808; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:44:53 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:44:53 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200707311944.l6VJirZk022808@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad Old-Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to base64 by rm-rstar.sfu.ca id l6VJlv8O029146 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from base64 to 8bit by lists.econ.utah.edu MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] Hamas to show an improved hand X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:56:14 -0000 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118575064310581669.html Wall Street Journal July 30, 2007 Hamas to show an improved hand Organization aims to capitalize on intelligence gains from Gaza takeover By Cam Simpson in Jerusalem and Neil King Jr. in Washington When the Islamist group Hamas conquered the Gaza Strip in June it seized an intelligence-and-military infrastructure created with U.S. help by the security chiefs of the Palestinian territory's former ruler. According to current and former Israeli intelligence officials, former U.S. intelligence personnel and Palestinian officials, Hamas has increased its inventory of arms since the takeover of Gaza and picked up technical expertise -- such as espionage techniques -- that could assist the group in its fight against Israel or Washington's Palestinian allies, the Fatah movement founded by Yasser Arafat. Hamas leaders say they acquired thousands of paper files, computer records, videos, photographs and audio recordings containing valuable and potentially embarrassing intelligence information gathered by Fatah. For more than a decade, Fatah operated a vast intelligence network in Gaza established under the tutelage of the Central Intelligence Agency. The Find: Palestinian group Hamas seized rival Fatah's intelligence-and-military infrastructure, which was built with U.S. help. What's at Stake: Secrets, expertise and technology are now in the hands of a group the U.S. calls a terrorist organization. The Damage: Though the ultimate impact is difficult to determine, Hamas leaders say they will make some details public and share others with Arab governments. Hamas leaders are expected as early as tomorrow to go public with some of the documents and the secrets they hold. The exact nature of the threat posed by the intelligence grab in Gaza -- including any damage to U.S. intelligence operations in the Palestinian territories and the broader Middle East -- is difficult to ascertain. U.S. and Israeli officials generally tried to play down any losses, saying any intelligence damage is likely minimal. But a number of former U.S. intelligence officials, including some who have worked closely with the Palestinians, said there was ample reason to worry that Hamas has acquired access to important spying technology as well as intelligence information that could be helpful to Hamas in countering Israeli and U.S. efforts against the group. "People are worried, and reasonably so, about what kind of intelligence losses we may have suffered," said one former U.S. intelligence official with extensive experience in Gaza. A U.S. government official said he doubted serious secrets were compromised in the Gaza takeover. Other officials said they had no reason to believe that U.S. spying operations elsewhere in the Arab world had been compromised. Close ties between Hamas and the governments of Iran and Syria also mean that intelligence-and-spying techniques could be shared with the main Middle East rivals of the Bush administration. As the White House prepares to lead an international effort to bolster Fatah's security apparatus in the West Bank, the losses in Gaza stand as an example of how efforts to help Fatah can backfire. The compromised intelligence Hamas says it now has ranges widely. The group alleges it has videos used in a sexual-blackmail operation run by Washington's allies inside Fatah's security apparatus. But the group also says it has uncovered detailed evidence of Fatah-controlled spying operations carried out in Arab and Muslim countries for the benefit of the U.S. and other foreign governments. Hamas also alleges that Fatah intelligence operatives cooperated with Israeli intelligence officials to target Islamist leaders for assassination. "What we have is good enough for us to completely reveal the practices [of Fatah-controlled security services], both locally and throughout the region," said Khalil al Hayya, a senior Hamas official in Gaza, who has assumed a leading role on the intelligence issue for the Islamist group. Michael Scheuer, a former top CIA counterterrorism analyst who left the agency r. Hayya said Hamas recovered notes from a meeting of senior Palestinian Authority intelligence officials in which they discussed Mr. Hayya's value to the Islamist group. On May 20, less than a week after the meeting, an Israeli missile was fired into his home, killing eight people. Mr. Hayya was en route at the time, but says the strike came about five minutes after his 35-year-old cousin, Ibrahim, entered the home. The Hamas leader said he and his cousin look very similar. "They thought it was me," he said. A spokeswoman for the Shin Bet declined to comment. Write to Cam Simpson at cam.simpson@wsj.com and Neil King Jr. at neil.king@wsj.com From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Tue Jul 31 13:56:38 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IFxpe-000535-8O for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 13:56:38 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l6VJiJBp021834; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:44:19 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:44:19 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar3.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.203]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l6VJh8wk018671; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:43:08 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:43:08 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200707311943.l6VJh8wk018671@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad Old-Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to base64 by rm-rstar.sfu.ca id l6VJiJBp021834 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from base64 to 8bit by lists.econ.utah.edu MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] 1934: The Plot Against America (Harper's) X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:56:38 -0000 [1]http://harpers.org/archive/2007/07/hbc-90000651 Harpers [2]July 28, 2007 DEPARTMENT [3]No Comment 1934: The Plot Against America By [4]Scott Horton Im back from the land of heather and thistles, not to mention wee drams and lukewarm ale, but on my way out a friend at the BBC alerted me to [5]this [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/document/document_20070723.shtml] , a not-to-miss program on the BBC this morning, accessible over the next several days by internet. Its the story of the Plot Against America. I dont mean the Philip Roth novel, nor even the Sinclair Lewis book, It Cant Happen Here, but rather the historical events upon which these two works of fiction were based. In November 1934, federal investigators uncovered an amazing plot involving some two dozen senior businessmen, a good many of them Wall Street financiers, to topple the government of the United States and install a fascist dictatorship. Roths novel is developed from several strands of this factual account; he assumed the plot is actually carried out, whereas in fact an alert FDR shut it down but stopped short of retaliatory measures against the plotters. A key element of the plot involved a retired prominent general who was to have raised a private army of 500,000 men from unemployed veterans and who blew the whistle when he learned more of what the plot entailed. The plot was heavily funded and well developed and had strong links with fascist forces abroad. A story in the New York Times and several other newspapers reported on it, and a special Congressional committee was created to conduct an investigation. The records of this committee were scrubbed and sealed away in the National Archives, where they have only recently been made available. The Congressional committee kept the names of many of the participants under wraps and no criminal action was ever brought against them. But a few names have leaked out. And one is Prescott Bush, the grandfather of the incumbent president. Prescott Bush was of course deep into the business of the Hamburg-America Lines, and had tight relations throughout this period with the new Government that had come to power in Germany a year earlier under Chancellor Aldoph Hitler. It appears that Bush was to have formed a key liaison for the group with the new German government. Prescott Bush, of course, went on to service as a U.S. Senator from Connecticut, and his son, George H.W. Bush emerged from World War II as a hero. The Plot Against America portrayed in this episode of the BBC series Document gives fascinating insight into a dark and little known piece of American history in which the nation stood on the brink of betrayal. The role of the most powerful political dynastic family in the nations history in this whole affair is shocking. References 1. http://harpers.org/archive/2007/07/hbc-90000651 2. http://harpers.org/archive/2007/07 3. http://harpers.org/subjects/NoComment 4. http://harpers.org/subjects/ScottHorton 5. file://twubby1/home/sshniad/Data/Regions/North%20America/U%20S%20A/Domestic%20politics/this%20[%20http:/www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/document/document_20070723.shtml%20, From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Tue Jul 31 16:56:35 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IG0dn-0005O8-8v for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 16:56:35 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l6VMkOdG010953; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:46:24 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:46:23 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar3.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.203]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l6VMjLtt008950; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:45:21 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:45:21 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200707312245.l6VMjLtt008950@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad Old-Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to base64 by rm-rstar.sfu.ca id l6VMkOdG010953 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from base64 to 8bit by lists.econ.utah.edu MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] Barack Obama and the Zionist lobby X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 22:56:35 -0000 From: "Eric Lynn, Obama for America"<[1]elynn@barackobama.com> Date: July 12, 2007 7:10:41 AM PDT Subject: Barack Obama: A Strong Record of Supporting Israel Dear Friends, I hope that this email finds you well. I recently joined the Barack Obama campaign as the Middle East Policy Advisor and Jewish Community Liaison. I am eager to work with all of you as we continue to communicate Barack Obama's vision and policies on the Middle East and other issues of concern to the Jewish Community. We will be traveling to your cities soon, and we look forward to hearing your views on Israel, the Middle East, and the other important issues to the community. In these troubling times in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Senator Obama has called for strong support of Israel and emphasized the need for a true partner for peace. He has advocated isolating Hamas which refuses to renounce violence and calls for Israel's destruction, while supporting the strengthening of Palestinian moderates who seek peace and advocate nonviolence. Barack Obama has also said strongly that Iran must not be allowed to achieve its nuclear ambition. Senator Obama authored and introduced as the primary sponsor, the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act in May, 2007. Obamas legislation makes it easier for state and local governments to divest their pension funds of companies that invest in Iran's energy sector, providing the revenue Iran uses to pursue nuclear weapons and sponsor terrorism. Divestment is a useful tool to bring additional economic pressure to bear on Iran. Attached and below is a Fact Sheet of Barack Obamas record on Israel. We hope that you will pass this on to all interested in his views. Please feel free to contact me with any questions and comments. I look forward to speaking with you about electing Barack Obama as the next President of the United States. Regards, Eric Lynn Eric Lynn Middle East Policy Advisor Obama for America [2]elynn@barackobama.com BARACK OBAMA: A STRONG RECORD OF SUPPORTING THE SECURITY, PEACE, AND PROSPERITY OF ISRAEL Our job is to renew the United States' efforts to help Israel achieve peace with its neighbors while remaining vigilant against those who do not share this vision. . . . That effort begins with a clear and strong commitment to the security of Israel: our strongest ally in the region and its only established democracy. That will always be my starting point. And when we see all of the growing threats in the region: from Iran to Iraq to the resurgence of al-Qaeda to the reinvigoration of Hamas and Hezbollah, that loyalty and that friendship will guide me as we begin to lay the stones that will build the road that takes us from the current instability to lasting peace and security. [Speech at AIPAC Policy Forum in Chicago, 3/2/07] BARACK OBAMAS PLAN TO STRENGTHEN THE U.S.-ISRAEL RELATIONSHIP Barack Obama has established a strong record as a true friend of Israel, a stalwart defender of Israels security, and an effective advocate of strengthening the steadfast U.S.-Israel relationship. He believes that Israels right to exist as a Jewish state should never be challenged. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Obama has consistently emphasized his commitment to our ally Israel, and has been an active supporter of legislation helping to ensure the support and security of the Middle Easts only established democracy. Obama continually works with a number of his colleagues in the Senate to promote a closer relationship between the U.S. and Israel on a range of fronts security, economic, political, and cultural. ENSURE A STRONG U.S.-ISRAEL PARTNERSHIP Barack Obama strongly supports the U.S.-Israel relationship, a bond that is mutually beneficial to each country as we share common values, histories, and a dedication to democracy. Senator Obama believes that our first and incontrovertible commitment in the Middle East must be to the security of Israel, Americas strongest ally in the Middle East. Expressing his support for this reality, Obama delivered the message to Palestinian university students in Ramallah that the United States would never distance itself from Israel. Before the Palestinian elections, Obama asserted that the United States would never recognize Hamas unless it renounced its fundamental mission to eliminate Israel and he continues to insist that Hamas recognize Israel, abandon violence, and abide by previous agreements made between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. SUPPORT ISRAEL'S RIGHT TO SELF DEFENSE During the July 2006 Lebanon war, Barack Obama stood up strongly for Israels right to defend itself from Hezbollah raids and rocket attacks. Obama is an original cosponsor of the Senate resolution expressing support for Israel, condemning the attacks, and calling for strong action against Iran and Syria. Throughout the war, Barack Obama made clear that Israel should not be pressured into a ceasefire that did not deal with the threat of Hezbollah missiles. In addition, Obama signed a letter to the European Union pressing the EU to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. PREVENT IRAN FROM ACQUIRING NUCLEAR WEAPONS Concerned about Irans pursuit of nuclear weapons and regional ambitions, Barack Obama has been a strong voice warning of the dangers to both the United States and Israel if Iran successfully develops these weapons. Consistently, Senator Obama has been outspoken regarding the growing influence of Iran in the region, especially Iraq, saying, Make no mistake if the Iranians and Syrians think they can use Iraq as another Afghanistan or a staging area from which to attack Israel or other countries, they are badly mistaken. [Speech to Chicago Council on Global Affairs, 11/20/06] Obama has called for stronger international sanctions against Iran to persuade it to halt uranium enrichment. He is a cosponsor of the Durbin-Smith Senate Bill, the Iran Counter Proliferation Act, which calls for sanctions on Iran and other countries for assisting Iran in developing a nuclear program. Believing that Americans must do more to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, Senator Obama authored and introduced as the primary sponsor, the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act in May, 2007. Obamas Bill makes it easier for state and local governments to divest their pension funds of companies that invest in Iran's energy sector, providing the revenue Iran uses to pursue nuclear weapons and sponsor terrorism. Divestment is a useful tool to bring additional economic pressure to bear on Iran. Senator Obama has conducted an active dialogue with a range of Israeli political leaders and security officials regarding Iran and the threat it poses to the United States and Israel. SUPPORT FOREIGN ASSISTANCE TO ISRAEL Barack Obama has consistently supported foreign assistance to Israel. He defends and supports the annual foreign aid package that involves both military and economic assistance to Israel and has advocated increased foreign aid budgets to ensure that these funding priorities are met. Additionally, he has called for sustaining the unique U.S.-Israel defense relationship by fully funding military assistance and continuing cooperative work on missile defense programs, such as the Arrow. WORK TOWARDS TWO STATES LIVING SIDE BY SIDE IN PEACE AND SECURITY Barack Obama believes in working towards a two-state solution, with both states living side by side in peace and security. To that end, Senator Obama is a cosponsor of the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006. Introduced in the wake of Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections, this act outlaws direct assistance to any entity of the Palestinian Authority controlled by Hamas until it meets the conditions of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations to renounce violence, recognize Israel, and agree to abide by all agreements signed by the Palestinian Authority. Obama signed a letter urging President Bush to make it clear to Palestinian leaders that terrorist groups must either disarm or be barred from the political process. Since the elections, Obama has stated that Israelis must have a true Palestinian partner for peace. He has sought to encourage the strengthening of the Palestinian moderates who seek peace and to isolate Hamas and other extremists who are committed to Israels destruction. HELP PALESTINIAN FAMILIES GET THE AID THEY NEED WITHOUT SUPPORTING TERRORISM Barack Obama supports U.S. efforts to provide aid directly to the Palestinian people by bypassing any Hamas-led government that refuses to renounce violence and recognize Israels right to exist. Obama believes that a better life for Palestinian families is good for both Israelis and Palestinians. LIMIT HEZBOLLAH'S INFLUENCE IN THE REGION Senator Obama is concerned about the rapid re-arming of Hezbollah in Lebanon. He has called for the end of Syrian and Iranian support of Hezbollah via arms shipments and funding. Obama urged the enforcement of UN Resolution 1701, which demands the cessation of arms shipments to Hezbollah, a resolution that Syria and Iran continue to disregard. Long before the July 2006 conflict, Barack Obama worked to limit Hezbollahs influence in the region, signing a letter urging President Bush to place al-Manar, the official television station of Hezbollah, on the Treasury Departments Specially Designated Global Terrorist Entity list and to aggressively target organizations that aid in its broadcast. SUPPORT U.S.-ISRAEL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT As a strong supporter of broadening and deepening the U.S.-Israel relationship, Barack Obama cosponsored the U.S.-Israel Energy Cooperation Act. This bill would establish a grant program to support joint U.S.-Israeli research and development efforts in the areas of alternative and renewable energy sources a key step toward energy independence, which is very much in the national security interests of the U.S. and Israel. ACHIEVE ENERGY INDEPENDENCE Looking for innovative ways to enhance U.S. and Israeli security through energy independence, Obama has pushed a number of initiatives from E-85 to CAFE reform to biofuels. The purpose of these initiatives is to reduce U.S. dependence on oil from the Middle East, limiting the influence of oil-producing nations and increasing U.S. and Israeli national security. ------------------- Prior to becoming Obama's new Middle East Policy Advisor and Jewish Community Liaison, Eric Lynn served as Executive Director of the City Political Action Committee in Chicago, an organization which describes itself as pro-Israel. (See [3]www.thebarackobamareport.com/the_barack_obama_report/2007/07/obama- names-lia.html.) For a partial list of pro-Israel Political Action Committee contributions made in 2006, including those of the Chicago City Political Action Committee, see [4]http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/industry.asp?txt=Q05&cycle=2006 References 1. mailto:elynn@barackobama.com 2. mailto:elynn@barackobama.com 3. http://www.thebarackobamareport.com/the_barack_obama_report/2007/07/obama-names-lia.html 4. http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/industry.asp?txt=Q05&cycle=2006 From critical.montages@gmail.com Tue Jul 31 18:09:10 2007 Received: from wx-out-0506.google.com ([66.249.82.234]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IG1m2-0005VW-Nj for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 18:09:10 -0600 Received: by wx-out-0506.google.com with SMTP id s11so39779wxc for ; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 17:12:49 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.16.6 with SMTP id 6mr255033wxp.1185927168781; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 17:12:48 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.13.17 with HTTP; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 17:12:48 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:12:48 -0400 From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" To: Rad-Green In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline References: Subject: [R-G] A Question from Iran: "What Do They Know of Us in the West?" X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 00:09:11 -0000 I have mentioned that many Iranian readers come to MR/MRZine. According to Alexa today, 11% of all visitors to MR/MRZine are from Iran (at ). That's a really large proportion, considering that none of the pages has been fully translated into Persian and that Iran's population is merely 66 million out of the total world population of 6.6 billion. What are the Iranians who come to MR/MRZine reading? Noam Chomsky's criticism of American imperialism? John Bellamy Foster's thoughts on Marxism and nature? Samir Amin's world systems perspective? Economic analysis of capitalism by the founders of Monthly Review? Albert Einstein's personal statement on socialism (which is a perennial favorite among first-time visitors who come to our Web site through Google)? Many criticisms of politics in the Middle East, including Iran? No. The most popular article for Iranian visitors to MR/MRZine, read by a majority of them, is "Iran's Quiet Revolution," by Deborah Campbell, with photography by Alfred Yaghobzadeh: . Some of what Campbell says is probably new to many Western readers, and Yaghobzadeh's photographs capture aspects of everyday life in Iran that seldom appear in the Western media. But neither the content of Campbell's observations nor Yaghobzadeh's photographs can be a revelation to Iranians. They must be familiar to them. That very familiarity, I submit, is what makes this article attractive to Iranian readers. Iran in the article is a country that is recognizable to them as their own, with its many contradictions, economic and cultural, and, even as Campbell takes note of the experience of Iran's dissidents, neither text nor photographs make Iran out to be a living hell unlike any other country, whose people either suffer or rebel against oppression by irrational fanatics, which is an impression one gets from much of the Western media, be they commercial or non-profit. All Iranians portrayed in this article, officials as well as common people, some liberals on both cultural and economic matters, others culturally conservative and economically populist, come across as ordinary human beings. The writer's and photographer's love of the Iranian people is also well communicated in the article, which ends on this note: Iran is a land of contradictions, and it's hard to imagine any country in the world where a Westerner would enjoy a more gracious welcome. To be in a shared taxi in any part of Iran is to have your sleeve plucked by someone who says, as an opening gambit, "I would die for you" (a standard greeting in the poetics of Farsi etiquette). And then: "Come to my home." In my six-month journey from the mountains of Kurdistan in the northwest to the bazaars of Kerman in the east to the oil regions on the border with Iraq, it is impossible to catalogue how many meals and accommodations were offered by strangers of a half-hour's acquaintance. And as often as I attempted to interview them, they turned the tables: What do they know of us in the West? Do they think we are all terrorists? What could I tell them in return? What do they know of us in the West? Iranians ask this question, probably because they know that what the Western media typically do is to prepare the Western public for what the US-led multinational empire will do to a Third World country, in this case their own. Are leftists offering the public images, visual or verbal, that counter what the rulers of the empire would like all of us to think and feel, portraits in which ordinary Iranians can recognize their own country? -- Yoshie From gmeyerson@triad.rr.com Wed Aug 01 07:15:55 2007 Received: from hrndva-omtalb.mail.rr.com ([71.74.56.121]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGE3P-00070Y-Qh for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Wed, 01 Aug 2007 07:15:55 -0600 Received: from [192.168.0.11] (really [65.190.108.163]) by hrndva-omta06.mail.rr.com with ESMTP id <20070801131932.FZAH14289.hrndva-omta06.mail.rr.com@[192.168.0.11]>; Wed, 1 Aug 2007 13:19:32 +0000 Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v624) In-Reply-To: <200707311943.l6VJh8wk018671@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> References: <200707311943.l6VJh8wk018671@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Message-Id: <93c90c133232dafb12f1e88d7181b7ba@triad.rr.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From: gregory meyerson Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2007 09:19:31 -0400 To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.624) Subject: Re: [R-G] 1934: The Plot Against America (Harper's) X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 13:15:56 -0000 hi: I couldn't access the documentary. has anyone succeeded in accessing it? On Jul 31, 2007, at 3:43 PM, Sid Shniad wrote: > > [1]http://harpers.org/archive/2007/07/hbc-90000651 > > > Harpers [2]July 28, 2007 > > > DEPARTMENT > > > > [3]No Comment > > > 1934: The Plot Against America > > > > By [4]Scott Horton > > > Im back from the land of heather and thistles, not to mention wee > drams and lukewarm ale, but on my way out a friend at the BBC > alerted > me to [5]this > > [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/document/document_20070723.shtml] > , a not-to-miss program on the BBC this morning, accessible over the > next several days by internet. Its the story of the Plot Against > America. I dont mean the Philip Roth novel, nor even the Sinclair > Lewis book, It Cant Happen Here, but rather the historical events > upon > which these two works of fiction were based. > > > In November 1934, federal investigators uncovered an amazing plot > involving some two dozen senior businessmen, a good many of them > Wall > Street financiers, to topple the government of the United States and > install a fascist dictatorship. Roths novel is developed from > several > strands of this factual account; he assumed the plot is actually > carried out, whereas in fact an alert FDR shut it down but stopped > short of retaliatory measures against the plotters. A key element of > the plot involved a retired prominent general who was to have > raised a > private army of 500,000 men from unemployed veterans and who blew > the > whistle when he learned more of what the plot entailed. The plot was > heavily funded and well developed and had strong links with fascist > forces abroad. A story in the New York Times and several other > newspapers reported on it, and a special Congressional committee was > created to conduct an investigation. The records of this committee > were scrubbed and sealed away in the National Archives, where they > have only recently been made available. > > > The Congressional committee kept the names of many of the > participants > under wraps and no criminal action was ever brought against them. > But > a few names have leaked out. And one is Prescott Bush, the > grandfather > of the incumbent president. Prescott Bush was of course deep into > the > business of the Hamburg-America Lines, and had tight relations > throughout this period with the new Government that had come to > power > in Germany a year earlier under Chancellor Aldoph Hitler. It appears > that Bush was to have formed a key liaison for the group with the > new > German government. > > > Prescott Bush, of course, went on to service as a U.S. Senator from > Connecticut, and his son, George H.W. Bush emerged from World War II > as a hero. > > > The Plot Against America portrayed in this episode of the BBC series > Document gives fascinating insight into a dark and little known > piece > of American history in which the nation stood on the brink of > betrayal. The role of the most powerful political dynastic family in > the nations history in this whole affair is shocking. > > References > > 1. http://harpers.org/archive/2007/07/hbc-90000651 > 2. http://harpers.org/archive/2007/07 > 3. http://harpers.org/subjects/NoComment > 4. http://harpers.org/subjects/ScottHorton > 5. > file://twubby1/home/sshniad/Data/Regions/North%20America/U%20S%20A/ > Domestic%20politics/this%20[%20http:/www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/ > document/document_20070723.shtml%20, > _______________________________________________ > Rad-Green mailing list > Rad-Green@lists.econ.utah.edu > To change your options or unsubscribe go to: > http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green > From gmeyerson@triad.rr.com Wed Aug 01 07:37:19 2007 Received: from hrndva-omtalb.mail.rr.com ([71.74.56.121]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGEO7-00073w-38 for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Wed, 01 Aug 2007 07:37:19 -0600 Received: from [192.168.0.11] (really [65.190.108.163]) by hrndva-omta02.mail.rr.com with ESMTP id <20070801134056.FLZE17595.hrndva-omta02.mail.rr.com@[192.168.0.11]> for ; Wed, 1 Aug 2007 13:40:56 +0000 Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v624) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-Id: <5a4eeea4fd85760c4cb45e456b67481c@triad.rr.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed To: Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion. From: gregory meyerson Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2007 09:40:55 -0400 X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.624) Subject: [R-G] on plot X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 13:37:19 -0000 http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/document/document_20070723.shtml I found this, which appears good enough to listen to program. so nix my request. g From critical.montages@gmail.com Wed Aug 01 09:42:40 2007 Received: from an-out-0708.google.com ([209.85.132.248]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGGLP-0007LO-Rh for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Wed, 01 Aug 2007 09:42:40 -0600 Received: by an-out-0708.google.com with SMTP id c25so38063ana for ; Wed, 01 Aug 2007 08:46:22 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.100.91.6 with SMTP id o6mr482892anb.1185983182188; Wed, 01 Aug 2007 08:46:22 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.13.17 with HTTP; Wed, 1 Aug 2007 08:46:22 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2007 11:46:22 -0400 From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" To: Rad-Green In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline References: Subject: [R-G] Fixers X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:42:40 -0000 Ayub Nuri, a Kurdish man from Halabja, was a fixer for the Western media in Iraq (he is now based in New York City, having received a scholarship from Columbia). A fixer, in the words of Nuri, is "a journalist's interpreter, guide, source finder and occasional lifesaver." Local fixers, more or less, shape what foreign journalists, most of whom cannot speak any of the local languages well and are not familiar with local politics and culture, see and hear. Without them the Western media are unable to do their work. Who become fixers for the Western media? Those who speak a language of the West, especially English, in the literal sense, of course, but also the language of the West in the figurative sense, the language of political liberalism and humanitarian imperialism. It is no surprise that the point of view of a Kurdish man from Halabja largely overlaps with that of of the liberal, humanitarian empire. It would be astonishing if it didn't. Many Kurds must have felt about America precisely the way Albanians in Kosovo felt about it: their best shot at independence from the country of which they have never felt themselves to be an integral part. And they felt this feeling more deeply than Albanians, as Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party government was incomparably more brutal toward Kurds than the Yugoslav government ever was toward Albanians. But it is not just a Kurdish fixer who thought that way in Iraq. In an essay Nuri published in New York Times Magazine, he says, "I supported the war, as did many of my countrymen and _pretty much all the fixers_" (emphasis, "At War, at Home, at Risk," 29 July 2007, ). That is the power of hegemony. Just about all countries have ethnic and regional disparities and grievances, some of them very severe, which the empire can exploit, but even without them the empire can find a faction who support its doings, especially among the better off or better educated than the average, in just about any country it wants to conquer. And it is through the eyes of that faction that we in the West see their country, for they are the ones who speak our language. You can watch a video of Nuri speaking about his work as a fixer -- "What Is a Fxier?": -- Yoshie From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Wed Aug 01 16:30:57 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGMiX-00087w-AQ for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:30:57 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l71MLbbH017736; Wed, 1 Aug 2007 15:21:37 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Wed, 1 Aug 2007 15:21:36 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar4.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.204]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l71MKcvG016140; Wed, 1 Aug 2007 15:20:39 -0700 (PDT) MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:20:38 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200708012220.l71MKcvG016140@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> Content-Type: text/plain To: shniad@sfu.ca Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary From: Sid Shniad Subject: [R-G] Charges stayed for two men in terror case X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 22:30:58 -0000 Globe and Mail August 1, 2007 The Toronto 17: and then there were 15 Charges stayed for two men in terror case By Omar el Akkad When 17 suspects were arrested as part of a massive anti-terrorism bust and made their first appearance in a Toronto-area courtroom last June, the whole world came out to watch. Reporters from CNN, The New York Times and al-Jazeera packed the courthouse parking lot; news of an alleged plot to blow up Canadian landmarks using fertilizer bombs made headlines everywhere. Fourteen months later, the spectacle and sensationalism of that initial appearance is long gone, as Crown prosecutors now go about trying to prove the allegations against the suspects. As it became evident yesterday, that's proving to be anything but straightforward. The number of suspects who will stand trial as a result of Canada's most high-profile anti-terrorism sweep shrank again yesterday, as two young offenders rounded up in the wave of arrests had the charges against them stayed. There are still some conditions to which the two youth suspects must adhere, but the agreement between Crown prosecutors and defence lawyers to stay the charges effectively means the youths' involvement with the case is over. When a charge is stayed, it can be revived by prosecutors any time within a year; however, that very rarely happens. After a year, the charge is fully withdrawn. In total, three of four youths charged in the case are now free, months before trials for any of the remaining 15 suspects are expected to begin. By law, none of the youth suspects can be named. Both teens - who are adults now but were under 18 at the time of the alleged crimes - were held in prison after their arrests in June of 2006. Both spent two months in solitary confinement before they were granted bail last August. "The apprehension, arrest and prosecution for terrorist-related offences has had a devastating impact on this young man and his family," lawyer Nadir Sachak said of his client, one of the youth suspects. "This resolution is the first step towards his recovery from the emotional and psychological scars sustained as a result of this ordeal. Hopefully, from this moment onwards, my client will be able to lead a normal, productive and meaningful life." Both youths will have to abide by relatively minor conditions - they cannot associate with any of the other suspects and must undergo counselling. The bail conditions imposed on Mr. Sachak's client for the past year have been far more harsh: He could not use the phone except to talk with his lawyer, was prohibited from using a computer and could not leave the house unless accompanied by one of his sureties. With the charges stayed, those conditions are lifted. The cases working their way through the fortress-like Brampton courthouse focus on two distinct allegations: a terrorist training camp in Northern Ontario and a plot to blow up Canadian landmarks using fertilizer-based explosives. None of the youth suspects were charged in connection with alleged bomb plot; they were accused of knowingly participating in terrorist activities related to the alleged training camp. During the past six months, as the intense media attention surrounding the terrorism trial died down, there have been indications that the alleged level of involvement was not uniform among all those charged. With yesterday's decision, there remains only one youth suspect facing charges. Neither he nor the 14 adult suspects have begun their trials yet. As has been the case in virtually every court proceeding since the arrests, Crown prosecutors were not in the mood to talk to reporters after yesterday's decision. Clyde Bond, the lead prosecutor on the case, brushed reporters aside as he strode out of the courtroom yesterday, only saying: "There'll be a press release." A federal prosecutor spokesman later said the Crown agreed to staying the charges because it was felt that it would not be in the public interest to prosecute the suspects at this time. Speaking for the first time since his arrest, one of the youth suspects contrasted his feelings the night he was arrested with his feelings after the charges were stayed. "There's no worse feeling," the youth said of his arrest. "I'm just trying to forget about it. Now it's finally done, finally over with. I'm just happy." With a report from Campbell Clark From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Wed Aug 01 16:30:57 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGMiX-00087v-AO for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:30:57 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l71MO4ZQ022491; Wed, 1 Aug 2007 15:24:04 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Wed, 1 Aug 2007 15:24:04 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar4.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.204]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l71MMf0m020029; Wed, 1 Aug 2007 15:22:41 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:22:41 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200708012222.l71MMf0m020029@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] Sooner or later, Israel will have to deal with Hamas X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 22:30:58 -0000 Globe and Mail July 16, 2007 Sooner or later, Israel will have to deal with Hamas By Shira Herzog Efraim Halevy, the former chief of the Mossad, calls it "Plan B for Gaza" - keep pressure on Hamas but accept the reality of its control on the ground. Of course, that would mean engaging with Hamas (in a limited way) to further Israeli interests. Instead, we have "Plan A" that mistakenly hopes to boycott Hamas into oblivion. In the short run, "Plan B" could lead to the release of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier abducted a year ago, and to a ceasefire that would halt rocket attacks on Israel's south. In the longer term, it could assist a renewed political process. Right now, however, there's only the boycott approach, and we've seen the results of this kind of thing before. Last year, the United States and Israel miscalculated the outcome of Palestinian elections that gave Hamas a majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council. Subsequent sanctions failed to significantly turn the popular tide against Hamas, and U.S. efforts to shore up security forces controlled by Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas ultimately failed. (His Gaza forces caved to Hamas in the recent round of internecine violence.) Now, Israel and the U.S. want to isolate Gaza from the West Bank, limit supplies to turn the people against Hamas and help Mr. Abbas defeat his rivals in early elections. And with Hamas sidelined, they want to restart negotiations on a peace agreement. So, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is returning, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is to meet Mr. Abbas to discuss "quality of life improvements" for West Bank residents (code for less restrictions on their movement) and former British prime minister Tony Blair has been sent with a ! limited mandate to reform Palestinian institutions. To help, the EU and Canada have selectively released funds to aid West Bank (not Gaza!) development. Unfortunately, this strategy can't succeed. Hamas is indeed weaker as a result of its brutal takeover of Gaza, but so is Mr. Abbas. Palestinian anger at Hamas isn't translating into popular support for his ineffective Fatah party. And there's no point in Israel negotiating a resolution with Mr. Abbas unless he's backed by a Palestinian consensus that includes Hamas. If Mr. Abbas tries to ignore Gaza and craft a deal just for the West Bank, he'll lose what little domestic credibility he still enjoys. The fact is, cutting off Gaza, sealing its border crossings and pushing Hamas against the wall will have negative effects on the West Bank, as Hamas supporters will rebel. Their reaction may well be taken out on Israeli interests. Trying to contain that would lead to even more restrictions on mobility for West Bank residents, fuelling further criticism of Mr. Abbas's inability to deliver on improvements. Even if Hamas's central authority in Gaza disintegrates as a result of economic pressure, the likely scenario isn't a Fatah alternative but renewed chaos and the ascendancy of more militant groups. Israel's military chiefs admit there's no comprehensive military answer, so, in the meantime, they're testing Hamas's limits with minor operations that satisfy Israeli public pressure but provide few real gains. None of this serves Israel's interests. Fatah and Hamas will eventually have to reach some sort of political accommodation. Egypt, which also fears the consequences of Hamas rule in Gaza, quietly acknowledges there's no other way and is again mediating. So is the Arab League. Last week, Jordan's King Abdullah agreed and said Palestinian society needs to "bond together." This means Israel, the U.S., Europe and Canada need a more subtle strategy than what they've adopted so far. For example, Israel plans to release a small number of prisoners to Mr. Abbas, but this won't result in Corporal Shalit's release. Only Hamas can deliver on that - as it pointedly reminded the world in the case of freed British reporter Alan Johnston. As long as Mr. Shalit is held captive, Israeli public opinion won't accept any meaningful progress in talks with Mr. Abbas, but as long as Israel refuses to deal with Hamas, it's unlikely he'll be freed. Bringing Corp. Shalit back home alive will cost Mr. Olmert and his new Defence Minister, Ehud Barak, the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners. It's an unpopular price that could become less controversial if Israel got more in return - perhaps a ceasefire that would involve Hamas's strict control over arms and militias and a halt to all rocket attacks from Gaza. To get there, Israel will almost certainly have to grudgingly allow Hamas to govern daily life and allow more movement of goods in and out of Gaza. (If border crossings remain closed, critical agricultural exports on which Gaza's economy depends will soon be jeopardized.) Right now, Israelis would find such a "Plan B" approach unthinkable; so too do the U.S. and Mr. Abbas. Six months from now, however, they may see the benefits - although the costs will likely be higher. sherzog@globeandmail.com From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Wed Aug 01 16:30:57 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGMiX-00087u-AM for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:30:57 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l71MNJ4E021012; Wed, 1 Aug 2007 15:23:19 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Wed, 1 Aug 2007 15:23:19 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar4.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.204]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l71MLU5O017523; Wed, 1 Aug 2007 15:21:30 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:21:30 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200708012221.l71MLU5O017523@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad Old-Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to base64 by rm-rstar.sfu.ca id l71MNJ4E021012 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from base64 to 8bit by lists.econ.utah.edu MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] Entrapment -- or 9/11 redux? X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 22:30:58 -0000 United Press International 6/26/2006 Commentary: Entrapment -- or 9/11 redux? The pseudo-al-Qaida gang's plans were "more inspirational than operational." FBI Deputy Director John Pistole By Arnaud de Borchgrave UPI Editor at Large Washington, June 26 (UPI) -- Miami, dubbed the "capital" city of Latin America, with a population two-thirds Hispanic, is also known as the terminal for its Caribbean "Love Boats," for sin and fun under the sun and dusk-to-dawn disco partying where salsa meets funk in one long tintamarre on the South Beach strip. Seldom mentioned in the hubbub is nearby Liberty City where the FBI believes it has uncovered the biggest plot to harm America since Sept. 11, 2001. This reporter spent a month living in Liberty City while researching a book on urban terrorism following the infamous race riots that killed 18 and caused $100 million in damage in 1980. Three days and nights of mayhem followed an unpopular verdict in a case of white-on-black police brutality. 1980 was also the year of Castro's infamous Mariel boatlift that emptied his prisons and brought 125,000 unskilled workers to Miami. Bounded to the north by Northwest 79th Street, to the west by Northwest 27th Avenue, the south by Northwest 46th Street, and to the east by Interstate 95, the rundown, poverty-plagued Liberty City is home to half a million blacks. It produced a plethora of rap stars ranging from Luke of 2 Live Crew to Trick Daddy, Jacki-O and Fred from Da Band. Within the area is a yet more deprived zone known as Little Haiti. Many of its unemployed youth have served time for possession. Five of the seven blacks accused of conspiring to unleash a full ground war against targets in America had previous arrest records for assault, drug and weapons charges. The motley gang of losers now found themselves accused of an al-Qaida-type conspiracy in "support of a foreign terrorist organization... to destroy buildings by the use of explosives..." The indictment stretched credulity. It had all the earmarks of an overzealous FBI informant creating crime by conditioning impressionable poor blacks looking for a cause against a system they had grown to hate. It's not rocket science to understand what produces the self-hating American syndrome among some blacks who constitute more than a third of America's 2.2 million prisoners, the largest per capita incarcerated in Western democracies. Sixty percent of all drug offenders are black. In nine U.S. states, simple possession accounted for 50 percent of all drug offenders. State and federal prisons are often a horrific experience for young blacks who get raped repeatedly by older convicts. One-third of the entire black population of some 30 million will pass through the criminal justice system at one point in their lives. Katrina's thousands of black victims huddling in the New Orleans arena without food or water were a grim reminder of an underclass that is not enamored of an administration that can spend almost half a trillion dollars on a war of choice disapproved by 60 percent of Americans. That a black man or woman identifies with Islam is hardly surprising since one-third of six million American Muslims are black. The FBI has been under great pressure to uncover at home what is known to exist in Canada, Britain and most European countries. Home-grown terrorist cells do not take orders from al-Qaida central, but become motivated by pro-al-Qaida Web sites that teach everything there is to know about making explosives and all manner of terrorist and guerrilla operations. There were an estimated 15 such sites before 9/11. The number is now pushing 5,000, well larded with peonage for Osama bin Laden and Islamist extremism. Since 9/11, the FBI has been plagued not only by costly computer interface glitches, but also by a shortage of agents who could speak Arabic or Urdu. Militant mosques had been located to not much avail. What once transpired in some militant mosques is now conducted on the Internet. While al-Qaida cells undoubtedly exist in the United States, there are certainly far fewer than in Europe where Muslim minorities stick to their deprived suburbs on the edge of major cities. In America, immigrant families from the Middle East, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia are to a large degree integrated, Americanized and successful. The leader of the Liberty City gang, Narseal "Prince Marina" Batiste, 32, is the man who established contact with the FBI informant who convinced him he was the real McCoy from al-Qaida. After that, it does not take an overwhelming effort of imagination to see how the others were mightily impressed and swore "bayat," or an oath of loyalty to the al-Qaida operative, and then hatched plans to form an Islamic army in Liberty City that would unleash a full ground war against American targets, including Chicago's 110-story Sears Tower, America's tallest building, and the world's third tallest, and Miami's federal building (where the FBI is located). The wannabe bush league terrorists -- five U.S. citizens, one legal Haitian and one Haitian illegal -- told their new al-Qaida leader they needed boots, uniforms, guns, radios, vehicles and $50,000. To prove his al-Qaida bona fides, the FBI informant supplied the seven with five pairs of army boots, a small digital camera, a cell phone, $3,500 sans explosives or weapons. That should have raised the alarm among the seven that their al-Qaida guru didn't swing much weight among his superiors. But they soldiered on for "Allah" until their arrest last week. Mercifully, the FBI's Deputy Director John Pistole conceded the pseudo-al-Qaida gang's plans were "more inspirational than operational." Without the FBI informant, it would have been more fantasy than inspiration. If counter-terrorism operations are to include all those fantasizing about doing harm to America, several new prisons will have to be built. From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Wed Aug 01 16:32:07 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGMjf-00088Z-8Y for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:32:07 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l71MPLlJ024513; Wed, 1 Aug 2007 15:25:21 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Wed, 1 Aug 2007 15:25:20 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar4.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.204]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l71MM8V6018968; Wed, 1 Aug 2007 15:22:08 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:22:08 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200708012222.l71MM8V6018968@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour (video) X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 22:32:07 -0000 The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K30_Zz7tHYs From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Wed Aug 01 16:32:20 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGMjs-00088l-Jk for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:32:20 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l71MQ9IB025708; Wed, 1 Aug 2007 15:26:09 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Wed, 1 Aug 2007 15:26:09 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar4.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.204]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l71MPNGq024589; Wed, 1 Aug 2007 15:25:23 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:25:23 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200708012225.l71MPNGq024589@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad Old-Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to base64 by rm-rstar.sfu.ca id l71MQ9IB025708 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from base64 to 8bit by lists.econ.utah.edu MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] The Masjid & the mindset of despair X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 22:32:21 -0000 http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/13/stories/2007071353821100.htm The Hindu July 13, 2007 News Analysis The Masjid & the mindset of despair By Robert Jensen The Lal Masjid story is framed as crazed radical Islamist forces challenging relatively restrained government forces. But there is much more to it. For my first three days in Pakistan, no conversation could go more than a few minutes without a reference to the crisis at the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) compound. I had landed in Islamabad on July 8, and by then it seemed clear that government forces would eventually storm the mosque and the attached women's seminary to end the confrontation with fundamentalist clerics and their supporters. The final assault was finally unleashed as two companions and I drove to Lahore as part of a lecture tour. During several hours of intense discussion in the car, they gave me background and details that explained the real tragedy of the conflict. When the news of the final assault came via cell phone we all fell silent, and we all quietly cried for those killed and for opportunities lost, out of our grief and from our fear. In the western news media and even much of the Pakistani press, the story was framed as crazed radical Islamist forces challenging relatively restrained government forces. Indeed, the two brothers who ran the mosque preached an interpretation of Islam that was mostly reactionary and sometimes violent. None of us in the car two Muslims and one Christian, all progressive in theological and political thought supported such views. But there was more to the story. Farid Esack, (www.hds.harvard.edu/faculty/visit/esack.html), one of the world's foremost progressive Muslim theologians who was in Pakistan to teach and lecture, and Junaid Ahmad, (www.interfaithjustpeace.org/speakers.php#ahmad) a Pakistani-American activist and law student directing the lecture series, both pointed out that key social and economic aspects of the story were being overlooked. Economic inequality In addition to calls for shariah law under a fundamentalist Islamic state, Lal Masjid imams Abdur Rashid Ghazi and Mohammed Abdul Aziz critiqued the corruption of Pakistani political, military, and economic elites, highlighting the living conditions of the millions of Pakistanis living in poverty. As in most third world societies, the inequality gap here has widened in recent years, as those who find their place in the U.S.-dominated neoliberal economic project prosper while most ordinary people suffer, especially the poor. "We can reject the jihadist and patriarchal aspects and still recognise that there is in this fundamentalist philosophy a call for social justice, a challenge to the power-seeking and greed of elites," said Esack, the author of Qur'an: Liberation and Pluralism. "When I spoke with Ghazi, it was clear that was an important part of his thinking, and it's equally clear that the appeal of this theology is magnified by the lack of meaningful calls for justice from other sectors of society." Esack, who teaches at Harvard Divinity School and is a former national commissioner for gender equality in South Africa, had been visiting the mosque regularly and speaking to Ghazi and others inside until government forces sealed the area a few days earlier. A native of South Africa who was active in the struggle against apartheid, Esack spent much of his childhood in Pakistan at a madrassa, where he was a classmate of Aziz. Contrary to the media image of Ghazi, the cleric had a broader agenda and wanted to learn more about how an Islamic state could be structured to ensure economic equality, Esack said. "My vision of an inclusive polity influenced by progressive Islamic values is very different than Ghazi's, of course, but his theology should not be reduced to a caricature, as it so often was, especially in the West," Esack said. Ahmad emphasised that another crucial part of the story involved economics, specifically land. Press reports focussed on the provocative activities of students and supporters of Lal Masjid members threatening video store owners, raiding brothels, and clashing with police, but an underlying cause of the conflict was the existence of "unauthorised" mosques. Many of these mosques and madrassas had been built without permits on unused public land in Islamabad. As the city has grown more crowded and developers eyed that real estate for commercial building, the government took the risky step of destroying some of those mosques (though the many non-religious, profit-generating projects also built without permits remain undisturbed). Clerics protested, adding to the intensity of the Lal Masjid conflict. The Islamabad factor Esack and Ahmad agreed that another aspect of the crisis mostly ignored in the press was the fact that the events played out in Islamabad, home to the more secular-liberal and privileged elements of the society. While those liberals might ignore such movements and conflicts in the outer provinces, many found it offensive that such an embarrassing incident could happen in the capital, where the world eventually would pay attention. "We hear about how this is bad for the image of Pakistan, with no comment about the lives of ordinary Pakistanis and the substance of what the country is about," Ahmad said. "Instead of talking about these fundamental questions of justice, many people wanted to see the incident ended to avoid further tarnishing of the country's image. It's like the obsession the United States has with simply changing its image in the Muslim world rather than recognizing the injustice of its policies." In the construction of that image, the stories of the reality of the lives of people at Lal Masjid are typically untold. As the crisis unfolded and some of the madrassa students left the compound, the government gave them some money and told them to go home. "The problem is, many had no homes to go to," Ahmad said. "Whatever the reactionary theology of Lal Masjid, it provided a place for many who were dispossessed or from poor families. If the economy ignores people and the state provides nothing, where will they go?" My trip to Pakistan had been set months in advance; my presence there during this crisis was coincidence. Throughout my stay, as I listened to the discussion about the conflict, I realised how much less I could have understood the events if I had been in the United States, even though I would have been reading the international press on the web. The complexity of such stories so rarely makes it into print, and the humanity of the people demonised drops out all too easily. As we drove in silence, I thought of how easy it is from positions of safety and comfort to denounce fundamentalism, how often I have done just that. But who are we targeting when we make such statements? I have no trouble denouncing the bin Ladens and al-Zawahiris, or the Bushs and Robertsons, and critiquing their twisted worldview. But what of the ordinary people struggling against the elites who ignore the cries of the suffering? When those people take up a fundamentalist theology that we western left-progressives reject, must we not highlight the inequality we also say we oppose? Esack said some have asked him what he hoped to gain by going to Lal Masjid and talking with someone like Ghazi, but he has no doubts about the value and appropriateness of his visits there. "When we abandon engagement and dialogue with those who hold these beliefs, we are abandoning hope. My goal is not to wall myself off from other Muslims, but to search for authentic connections, even across these gaps. Is that not how we can heal the world, and ourselves?" he said. "It is precisely when we start to think of some of us as 'chosen' and others as 'frozen' that we happily become willing to defrost them with our bombs." Anger and deep sorrow That moment in the car, as we absorbed the news that the troops had cleared the mosque and that Ghazi and dozens of others were dead, I felt angry at people like Ghazi and at the same time a deep sorrow for his death. I felt a much deeper rage at Pakistan's military President, Pervez Musharraf, and the U.S. leaders who support him. And I felt a kind of fear for the Muslim fundamentalism that unleashes such violent forces, which always reminds me of the equally frightening Christian fundamentalist theology circulating in the United States. I bounced between a deep sense of despair and an equally deep sense of hope. Once the confrontation was set in motion, perhaps the people inside the mosque and the soldiers killed were doomed. But in the car in that moment, I could feel hope that the work of people like Esack and Ahmad was setting in motion other forces. Mostly I was grateful to be in their company to share the grief. In such moments, that connection is perhaps the most human and the most hopeful of endeavours. (Robert Jensen is a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin and author of The Heart of Whiteness: Race, Racism, and White Privilege and Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity . He is in Pakistan as a Higher Education Commission Visiting Scholar.) From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Wed Aug 01 16:37:44 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGMp6-00089H-Om for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:37:44 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l71MT8ul002382; Wed, 1 Aug 2007 15:29:08 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Wed, 1 Aug 2007 15:29:07 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar4.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.204]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l71MNlbR021788; Wed, 1 Aug 2007 15:23:48 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:23:47 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200708012223.l71MNlbR021788@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad Old-Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to base64 by rm-rstar.sfu.ca id l71MT8ul002382 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from base64 to 8bit by lists.econ.utah.edu MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] Ban on leasing land to Arabs slammed X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 22:37:45 -0000 JTA (The Global News Service of the Jewish People) 07/31/2007 Ban on leasing land to Arabs slammed By Ben Harris A proposed Israeli law that would uphold the government's refusal to lease land to Israeli Arabs has generated broad opposition among American Jews. New York (JTA) -- A proposed Israeli law that would uphold the government's refusal to lease land to Israeli Arabs has generated broad opposition among American Jews concerned about the bill's moral implications and its impact on the Jewish state's international standing. The bill allows the Israel Lands Authority to continue its refusal to lease land owned by the Jewish National Fund to non-Jews. It was endorsed 64-16 earlier this month in its first Knesset reading. Founded more than a century ago, the JNF was instrumental in funneling money to help settle Jews in prestate Israel. Approximately 60 percent of Israelis today live on the 13 percent of Israeli land owned by the organization. Under an agreement between the groups dating back to the 1960s, JNF maintains ownership of the lands, but the ILA administers them in keeping with fund's goals. In recent days the proposed law permitting a ban on leasing JNF land to Arabs was slammed by the Union for Reform Judaism, the largest American synagogue movement, and Ameinu, the American affiliate of the World Labor Zionist Movement. Also, in an interview with JTA, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League criticized the measure, albeit in less stringent terms. One American group, the Zionist Organization of America, has endorsed the bill. Otherwise, in the United States, JNF has found itself virtually alone in defending the measure, on the grounds that its covenant requires that land the organization owns in Israel be used only for Jewish purposes. Critics worry that the bill comes a time when the very notion of a Jewish state is being increasingly challenged throughout the world, and Israel's treatment of Palestinians and its own Arab citizens is drawing greater scrutiny. In fact, to combat these trends, JNF has sponsored the Caravan for Democracy, an initiative on college campuses that touts Israel's democratic traditions. Russell Robinson, JNF's chief executive officer, rejected any suggestion that the caravan's message would be undermined by a bill that essentially enshrines into law differential treatment of Jewish and Arab Israelis. "This whole case is a great foundation for Caravan for Democracy," said Robinson, noting that the matter was prompted by a petition brought by Israeli Arab groups and was debated in an open forum that demonstrated Israel's commitment to due process. "Democracy is about the process, not about the decision." Besides, Robinson said, Israel's democratic principles must sometimes bend to the state's foundational commitment to its Jewish character. Elsewhere in the Jewish world, the bill was met with concern, if not outrage. Last week, Ameinu released the text of a letter opposing the measure sent to one of the three sponsoring Knesset members. The Union of Reform Judaism is working on a protest letter. And a collection of Jewish bloggers took up the issue online, collecting signatures for a petition expressing "profound disapproval and sorrow" over the bill. "This bill is not only unfair to one-fifth of Israel's population; it also reinforces the growing perception around the world that Israel is an 'apartheid' state," the Ameinu letter stated. "We are friends of Israel who do our best to counter that false perception and to build support for the Jewish state in the public arena. By voting for this bill, you have made our job much more difficult." The ADL's national director, Abraham Foxman, noted that among Muslims, selling land to Jews is a crime sometimes punished by death. Nonetheless, he concluded that the bill is "contrary to the spirit of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, which talks about a state of equal citizens, which hasn't changed." The bill, titled the "Jewish National Fund Law," is an attempt to circumvent Attorney General Menachem Mazuz's 2005 determination that the state cannot discriminate against Arabs by restricting land leases to Jews. Mazuz's ruling came in response to a High Court petition challenging the ILA's refusal to permit the sale of a home to an Arab family. JNF says that land swaps have been used to accommodate Arab Israelis who wished to purchase lands owned by the organization. Under this arrangement, if JNF-owned land is sold to an Israeli Arab, the fund is compensated with an equivalent parcel of land elsewhere in the country. Critics charge that the practice is a procedural nightmare that caused many real estate deals to collapse. "It's a very burdensome bureaucratic move to actually change the title," said Neta Ziv, director of the Human Rights Clinic at Tel Aviv University. Ziv was the attorney in the landmark Ka'adan case in which an Arab family appealed to the High Court after being prevented from purchasing land in a new community intended exclusively for Jews. "Land swapping is not something that you do overnight," Ziv told JTA. "Many times Arab buyers back off the deal because it got complicated, so they kind of gave it up. It doesn't really work." If the Mazuz decision stands, JNF officials have said the organization will likely proceed with plans to end its arrangement with the Israel Lands Authority. Both JNF and its critics agree that such a split might be the best course, so that JNF can maintain its policy but Israel will no longer have to play a role in implementing it. Some critics, however, challenge the appropriateness of JNF continuing its Jewish-only policy nearly 60 years after the state's creation. "A government is obligated to act towards all of its citizens in a way that's just and in a way that extends equality to all of its citizens," said Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism. "For the Jewish community to do what it had to do to establish Jewish sovereignty in the land was appropriate in every way. What's appropriate post-state is not same as prestate." From realiteee1@yahoo.com Thu Aug 02 03:17:56 2007 Received: from web50807.mail.re2.yahoo.com ([206.190.38.116]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with smtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGWod-0000Tf-RK for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Thu, 02 Aug 2007 03:17:56 -0600 Received: (qmail 96985 invoked by uid 60001); 2 Aug 2007 09:21:38 -0000 X-YMail-OSG: xc2vtLIVM1lKWWhYpJTAFEXYG479j5CSBby6NGzs Received: from [67.72.98.45] by web50807.mail.re2.yahoo.com via HTTP; Thu, 02 Aug 2007 02:21:38 PDT Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 02:21:38 -0700 (PDT) From: james m nordlund To: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Message-ID: <764331.96759.qm@web50807.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Subject: [R-G] MEXICO SOLIDARITY NETWORK News and Analysis July 23-29, 2007 X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 09:17:56 -0000 MSN News and Analysis July 23-29, 2007 Please do not reply to this email. All correspondence should be addressed to msn@mexicosolidarity.org MEXICO SOLIDARITY NETWORK WEEKLY NEWS AND ANALYSIS JULY 23-29, 2007 1. HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS MOUNT UNDER CALDERON 2. SECOND ENCOUNTER OF ZAPATISTAS WITH PEOPLES OF THE WORLD 3. NEW HAVEN ISSUES ID CARDS TO UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS 4. FEDERAL JUDGE OVERTURNS LOCAL IMMIGRATION LAW 5. PRD INTERNAL ELECTIONS REVERSE INFLUENCE OF LOPEZ OBRADOR 6. US ARRESTS ZHENLI YE GON 7. PAN SOUR GRAPES 8. MSN PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS (Contact MSN@MexicoSolidarity.org) 1. HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS MOUNT UNDER CALDERON Increasing human rights violations that recall the decades of the dirty war in the 60s and 70s characterize the first eight months of the Calderon administration. Disappearances, arbitrary arrests, paramilitary activities, increasing coordination between officials and paramilitary groups, extra-judicial murders, police violence, official corruption and army presence in urban areas are signs of an increasing turn toward fascism as Calderon implements his “iron fist†policies throughout Mexico. The Secretary General of Amnesty International will visit Mexico next week with a long list of unresolved human rights violations that, taken together, reveal an illegitimate political class grasping for power and a country in crisis. Several notorious incidents from the Fox administration remain unresolved under Calderon, including the rape of at least 26 women, two protestors murdered by police and hundreds of arbitrary arrests during the May 3 and 4, 2006, police actions in Atenco; and police violence, paramilitary activities, at least 23 extra-judicial murders by police and paramilitaries, hundreds of arbitrary arrests and disappearances in Oaxaca. No police or officials have been prosecuted in either Atenco or Oaxaca, and neither Calderon nor the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) appears interested resolving these emblematic cases. The CNDH has come under increasing criticism for its silence in the face of army and police repression, particularly since the rape/murder of an indigenous grandmother in Veracruz by army troops earlier this year in which the CNDH covered for the army. Members of the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO) protested earlier this week in front of the CNDH offices in Mexico City, demanding removal of the army from Oaxaca and Ulises Ruiz from the governorship. Cases of blatant human rights violations continue to mount under Calderon. In recent police violence in Oaxaca, one protestor, Emeterio Merino Cruz Vasquez, was taken into custody and severely beaten in front of journalists who photographed the entire sequence. Cruz Vaquez is now in the hospital in a coma. Governor Ulises Ruiz refuses to investigate the case, and Calderon has washed his hands calling it a local matter. In May, two activists affiliated with the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR) were disappeared by officials in Oaxaca. The EPR responded by blowing up two Pemex pipelines, demanding the re-appearance of their comrades. The Calderon administration claims no knowledge of their whereabouts. In Chiapas, at least two paramilitary groups working closely with state and federal authorities and the army are threatening Zapatista communities with forced removal from lands recovered after the 1994 uprising. At least four indigenous campesinos affiliated with the Zapatistas have been killed in recent months. In Ciudad Juarez, Calderon dismantled the office of the special investigator in charge of femicides. And across the country, dozens of activists associated with the Other Campaign are political prisoners. With the army in the streets of many urban areas, the human rights situation continues to decline under Calderon. In related news, tourism is declining in Mexico. Tourism is the third most important source of foreign exchange after oil sales and immigrant remittances. The number of foreign tourists entering Mexico declined by about three million during the first five months of 2007 in comparison to the same period last year. And the Latin American Economic Commission (CEPAL) predicted this week that Mexico would have the lowest economic growth rate in Latin America next year. CEPAL predicted 3.2% growth for Mexico, well below the regional average of 5%. According to CEPAL, Cuba will lead the region with a 10% increase in gross domestic product, followed by Panama with 8.5%, Argentina with 7.5%, Peru with 7.3% and Venezuela with 6.8%. Even Haiti and Ecuador, both expected to grow by 3.5%, will exceed Mexico’s tepid growth. 2. SECOND ENCOUNTER OF ZAPATISTAS WITH PEOPLES OF THE WORLD The Second Encounter of Zapatistas with the Peoples of the World ended this Saturday in La Realidad, one of the five principle centers of Zapatista culture and resistance. Thousands of Zapatistas and hundreds of supporters participated in the ten day series of events that included detailed reports on health care, education, self-government and economic development in autonomous Zapatista communities. Events concluded with a call for a third Encounter scheduled for the end of December that will include only women. Subcomandante Marcos, Lieutenant Colonel Moises, Comandante Tacho and “compañera Everilda, candidate for membership in the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee†(CCRI) announced the next Encounter, which will be dedicated to the now deceased Comandantes Ramona and Pedro. “We are going to ask our male compañeros to help us with logistical questions and to listen to us, but silently,†said Everilda. “Tell your spouses to stay and watch the house, the children and the animals†while the women “organize the struggle against capitalism and neoliberalism.†3. NEW HAVEN ISSUES ID CARDS TO UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS New Haven, Connecticut, on Tuesday became the first US city to issue ID cards to undocumented immigrants. The ID cards, which are offered to all of New Haven’s 124,000 residents, will allow access to libraries and parks. Two local banks have agreed to accept the cards for opening accounts. New Haven has an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 undocumented workers. Officials approved the measure, claiming it would improve public safety. Mayor John DeStefano said, “If we’re going to be the safest place we can be, we need to acknowledge who lives here.†4. FEDERAL JUDGE OVERTURNS LOCAL IMMIGRATION LAW On Thursday, US District Judge James Munley ruled unconstitutional an ordinance passed by the city of Hazelton, Pennsylvania, that would have imposed fines on landlords who rent to undocumented immigrants, forced tenants to register with City Hall and pay for a rental permit, and denied business permits to companies that hire undocumented workers. The law was passed in July 2006 but was never implemented because of a restraining order won by opponents. More than ninety towns and cities across the US emulated the Hazelton law in recent months. The American Civil Liberties Union and immigrant rights groups challenged the law on the grounds that it usurped the federal government’s exclusive power to regulate immigration, deprived residents of their constitutional rights, and violated state and federal housing laws. Munley’s 206-page decision upheld the arguments of complainants: “Whatever frustrations … the city of Hazelton may feel about the current state of federal immigration enforcement, the nature of the political system in the United States prohibits the city from enacting ordinances that disrupt a carefully drawn federal statutory scheme… Federal law prohibits Hazleton from enforcing any of the provisions of its ordinances… Even if federal law did not conflict with Hazelton’s measures, the city could not enact an ordinance that violates the rights the Constitution guarantees to every person in the United States, whether legal resident or not.†5. PRD INTERNAL ELECTIONS REVERSE INFLUENCE OF LOPEZ OBRADOR The PRD announced official results of an internal party election this week. Groups affiliated with former presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador won only 20% of the positions in the party’s National Congress, while groups affiliated with the so-called “New Left†took 80%. The National Congress will choose the next party president, and the election results make it unlikely that former Mexico City Mayor Alejandro Encinas, closely aligned with Lopez Obrador, will win the post. New Left candidate Jesus Ortega will likely be the next party president. The New Left, also known as “los chuchos,†is led by a faction of long-time party hacks, including many sitting Deputies, Senators and Governors who want to develop close working relationships with President Felipe Calderon in hopes of gaining access to government funds. Lopez Obrador rejected formal contacts with the Calderon administration after the PAN engineered a fraudulent presidential election last year. The National Democratic Left, one of the losing factions, challenged the results, claiming widespread fraud, including elimination of party members from voter lists, removal of voting booths in some areas, and inexplicable results at other booths. They claimed anomalies in at least 18 states, including several where PAN governors hold power. For example, in the State of Mexico 243 voting sites showed 100% of the votes cast for the New Left or other partner groups, and at several voting sites more votes were reported than ballots. The results make it more likely that Lopez Obrador will form a separate party based on the Frente Amplio Progresista (FAP), which includes the Workers Party and Convergencia. Lopez Obrador created the FAP after he lost the fraudulent presidential election last year. 6. US ARRESTS ZHENLI YE GON US authorities arrested Mexican-Chinese businessman Zhenli Ye Gon on drug and money-laundering charges this week. Ye Gon was arrested near Washington, DC, for importing enough chemicals into Mexico to produce US$724 million worth of methamphetamine destined mainly for the US market. Ye Gon is wanted in Mexico after officials discovered US$205 million in cash stashed in his Mexico City home. In recent interviews and press conferences, Ye Gon claimed he held the majority of the money for PAN officials who wanted to use the cash for election campaigns. To date, Ye Gon has offered little proof, but the revelations shook the Calderon administration. At the very least, Ye Gon’s methamphetamine empire in Mexico had to include the active participation of Customs officials in the Fox and Calderon administrations who apparently permitted the importation of tons of precursor chemicals in amounts that drew the attention of international agencies including the United Nations and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The DEA claims Ye Gon imported 86.9 metric tons of precursor chemicals between December 2005 and March 2007, and his drug company has been importing chemicals into Mexico since the early 1990s. Ye Gon claims the confiscated money is legal, and despite the fact that he is currently in a US jail, he plans to fight extradition to Mexico. Extradition would mean “immediate death because too-powerful people want to see his silence,†according to his attorney. PAN officials may be content if Ye Gon is prosecuted in the US, avoiding a messy extradition process and trial that could implicate party officials in a scandal. 7. PAN SOUR GRAPES This week, ten children and 80 senior citizens were unable to participate in Operation Miracle, a program funded by the Venezuelan government that provides free medical treatment for poor people, when Mexican officials refused to allow a Venezuelan plane to land at the Mexico City airport. Jose Gutierrez, the municipal president of Ecatepec, home of most of the prospective patients, criticized, “the fucking ultra-right†for frustrating the planned trip to Venezuela for free medical care. “Those that are dedicated to politicizing this don’t have a conscience.†At the behest of the Bush administration, the Calderon administration has entered into a war of words with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in a largely unsuccessful effort to isolate the dynamic leader from the rest of Latin America. 8. MSN PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS (Contact MSN@MexicoSolidarity.org) STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM: September 9 – December 14, 2007: Study in Chiapas, Tlaxcala, Mexico City and Ciudad Juarez, with a focus on the theory and practice of Mexican social movements, 16 credits. January 27 – May 2, 2008: Study in Chiapas, Tlaxcala and Mexico City, with a focus on indigenous movements, campesino organizations, and urban movements. 16 credits. February 3 – May 9, 2008: Study in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua City, Mexico City and Chiapas, with a focus on border dynamics, urban movements and indigenous movements. 16 credits. CHICAGO AUTONOMOUS CENTER (3460 W. LAWRENCE AVE.) English classes - Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, 6:30-8:30pm: English classes utilize popular education strategies to increase conversational English capacity. Literacy classes in Spanish – Literacy classes begin June 10 and utilize popular education strategies to teach basic reading and writing skills. Cultural events and political workshops – For a full schedule of cultural events and political workshops, contact the Mexico Solidarity Network at 773-583-7728 or by visiting: http://www.mexicosolidarity.org/site/communityforum SPEAKING TOURS: October 14-27, 2007: Speaking tour - Immigrant rights, featuring a speaker from the National Assembly of Ex-Braceros who will the current debate on immigration reform, international immigration dynamics and previous experiences with guest worker programs. California October 21 – November 3, 2007: Speaking tour - Immigrant rights, featuring a speaker from Centro Sin Fronteras who will discuss community-based struggles for immigrant rights and the recent rash of anti-immigrant roundups throughout the US. North and South Dakota, MN, WI, MI, IN October 21 - November 4, 2007: Speaking tour - Zapatista solidarity and the Otra Campaña, featuring Zapatista artisanry. An activist from Chiapas will discuss the politics of the Other Campaign. The tour will feature Zapatista artisanry produced by women’s cooperatives in Chiapas. Southwest November 4-17, 2007: Speaking tour – Immigrant rights and the Otra Campaña, featuring a speaker from the Consejo Nacional Urbano Campesino(National Urban-Rural Council) who will discuss immigration dynamics and community-based organizing in the Other Campaign. Mid Atlantic Coast November 4 - 17, 2007: Speaking tour – Zapatista solidarity, the Otra Campaña, Zapatista artisanry. A speaker from the Community Human Rights Defenders Network (Red de Defensores Comunitarias) from Chiapas will speak about international solidarity and the Other Campaign. The tour will feature Zapatista artisanry produced by women’s cooperatives in Chiapas. DELEGATIONS: October 27 – November 3: Ciudad Juarez – Investigate the dynamics of the US-Mexico border region, focusing on the impact of neoliberalism, including the femicides, maquiladoras, narco-trafficking and immigration dynamics. ALTERNATIVE ECONOMY INTERNSHIPS: Develop markets for artisanry produced by women's cooperatives in Chiapas and make public presentations on the struggle for justice and dignity in Zapatista communities. Interns are currently active in Washington, D.C.; Lancaster, PA; Rutland, MA; Brooklyn, NY; Poughkeepsie, NY; Stonington, ME; Grand Rapids, MI; St Paul, MN; Chicago, IL; Guelph, Canada; Ontario, Canada; Spokane, WA; Turner, OR; Chico, CA; Davis, CA; Sacramento, CA; Redlands, CA; Provo, UT; Albuquerque, NM; El Paso, TX; Austin, TX; and Lilburn, GA. Mexico Solidarity Network http://www.mexicosolidarity.org ____________________________________________________________________________________ Pinpoint customers who are looking for what you sell. http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/ From realiteee1@yahoo.com Thu Aug 02 03:19:26 2007 Received: from web50801.mail.re2.yahoo.com ([206.190.38.110]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with smtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGWq6-0000US-75 for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Thu, 02 Aug 2007 03:19:26 -0600 Received: (qmail 17145 invoked by uid 60001); 2 Aug 2007 09:23:09 -0000 X-YMail-OSG: herbpngVM1kCEXVlQ8fIQeall7vrvI3PW5KZzix9g7V5RWyP70._p2TaGtq82djytiuIvSVX3dNRdIwMrg1kqXwvhALAqK56v24TzytRrgwQYtQndEaRiajWNU_HtA-- Received: from [67.72.98.45] by web50801.mail.re2.yahoo.com via HTTP; Thu, 02 Aug 2007 02:23:08 PDT Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 02:23:08 -0700 (PDT) From: james m nordlund To: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Message-ID: <942573.16699.qm@web50801.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Subject: [R-G] Greenpeace: Flip the switch to renewable energy X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 09:19:26 -0000 Flip the switch to renewable energy Dear James, You've read about it, you've probably felt the impacts of it through heat waves, droughts, or storms (maybe even all of the above!), and now Congress might just do something about it. Of course I'm talking about global warming. An energy package is moving through Congress right now. It's a small step forward, but it doesn't have all of the tools needed to combat global warming. In fact, there are two major pieces of the puzzle missing: higher fuel efficiency standards for automobiles and a renewable electricity standard. Take Action >>Tell YOUR Representative to flip the switch to renewable energy NOW. http://members.greenpeace.org/action/start/157/ Global warming has been called the greatest threat of our time. We know that cars and electricity usage are the greatest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Congress can't and won't solve this issue with two gaping holes in their legislation. That's why it's so important for you to contact your Representative, and keep the pressure on. This legislation alone won't solve the problem, but if Congress can put the right pieces in place, it will light the way toward change. Your Friend, Kate Smolski Global Warming Campaigner ~~~~~ 3 Ways to Help 1: Donate Now Help Greenpeace Take a Stand. Become a Member Today. https://secureusa.greenpeace.org/securedonate/index.php?from=073107 2: Take Action Visit our Action Center and take action today. http://usactions.greenpeace.org/ 3: Tell a Friend Forward this message to a friend. Help spread the word. http://hq.demaction.org/dia/organizations/greenpeace/tellafriend.jsp?tell_a_friend_KEY=1784 ~~~~~ Executive Director Blog - Ignition I've been working on global warming now for fifteen years and have worked with all kinds of folks; business leaders, anarchists (the peaceful kind), church leaders, mayors, students, you name it. Read More >> http://members.greenpeace.org/blog/jpblog And now I'm proud to be part of a new book about global warming, "IGNITION -- What You Can Do to Fight Global Warming and Spark a Movement." Check out reviews: http://www.calendarlive.com/books/la-et-book30jul30,0,5010302.story?coll=cl-books-features%20 Purchase it at a great discount (30% off): http://www.islandpress.org/books/detail.html/SKU/1-59726-156-4 ~~~~~ Greenpeace 702 H Street, NW Suite 300 Washington, D.C. 20001 (800) 326-0959 You received this mailing because you are subscribed to our mailing list. If you need to update your information or prefer not to receive these mailings in the future click here to update your account. http://www.democracyinaction.org/greenpeace/unsubscribe.jsp We value your privacy. If you have any questions about how we use your information please read our privacy policy. http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/footer/privacy ~~~~~ Flip the switch and turn off those lights when you're not using them. http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/getinvolved/green-guide ____________________________________________________________________________________ Fussy? Opinionated? Impossible to please? Perfect. Join Yahoo!'s user panel and lay it on us. http://surveylink.yahoo.com/gmrs/yahoo_panel_invite.asp?a=7 From critical.montages@gmail.com Thu Aug 02 12:03:15 2007 Received: from wx-out-0506.google.com ([66.249.82.237]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGf11-0001ed-86 for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Thu, 02 Aug 2007 12:03:15 -0600 Received: by wx-out-0506.google.com with SMTP id s11so523563wxc for ; Thu, 02 Aug 2007 11:07:06 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.53.7 with SMTP id b7mr3616806wxa.1186078026136; Thu, 02 Aug 2007 11:07:06 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.13.17 with HTTP; Thu, 2 Aug 2007 11:07:06 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 14:07:06 -0400 From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" To: Rad-Green In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline References: Subject: [R-G] World Banking System Affected by American Real Estate Crisis X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 18:03:15 -0000 Mortgage renewals set to prick U.S. property bubble By David Leonhardt Published: August 1, 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The peak month for the resetting of mortgages will come this October, according to Credit Suisse, when more than $50 billion in mortgages will switch to a new rate for the first time. The level will remain above $30 billion a month through September 2008. In all, the interest rates on about $1 trillion worth of mortgages, or 12 percent of the U.S. total, will reset for the first time this year or next. A couple of years ago, by comparison, only a marginal amount of mortgage debt - a few billion dollars a month - was resetting each month. Le syst=E8me bancaire mondial est affect=E9 par la crise de l'immobilier am= =E9ricain LE MONDE | 02.08.07 | 13h23 =95 Mis =E0 jour le 02.08.07 | 15h16 Par un effet domino, la crise du march=E9 immobilier am=E9ricain semble aujourd'hui menacer la stabilit=E9 du syst=E8me bancaire mondial. En Allemagne, les graves difficult=E9s de la banque IKB, li=E9es =E0 ses investissements aux Etats-Unis, ont provoqu=E9 un mouvement de panique =E0 Berlin, au point d'obliger le ministre des finances, Peer Steinbr=FCck, =E0 interrompre ses vacances. Selon le quotidien Handelsblatt du 2 ao=FBt, Joschen Sanio =E0 la t=EAte du r=E9gulateur boursier allemand, la BaFin, estime que son pays est "menac=E9 de la plus grave crise financi=E8re depuis 1931". World Banking System Affected by American Real Estate Crisis By a domino effect, the crisis of the American real estate market today seems to threaten the stability of the world banking system. In Germany, serious difficulties of IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG, related to its investments in the United States, caused a panic in Berlin, to the point of obliging the Minister of Finance, Peer Steinbr=FCck, to cut his vacation short. According to the 2 August issue of the Handelsblatt newspaper, Jochen Sanio, head of the German financial regulator BaFin [Bundesanstalt f=FCr Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht, Federal Financial Supervisory Authority], thinks that his country "is threatened by the most serious financial crisis since 1931." Germany's IKB has $24-bln subprime exposure-source Thu Aug 2, 2007 9:21AM EDT (Adds comment from source, more detail, background) By John O'Donnell and Jonathan Gould FRANKFURT, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Banks funding the rescue of Germany's IKB (IKBG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) expect it to lose up to a fifth of its roughly 17.5 billion-euro ($24 billion) exposure to the troubled U.S. sub-prime mortgage market, a source familiar with the plan told Reuters on Thursday. German banks have clubbed together to provide 3.5 billion euros to cover IKB's potential losses from the sub-prime crisis. The source said this represented expected losses amounting to one fifth of the bank's exposure. "The worst case possible is, naturally, that the market collapses and nothing is realisable. Or you might lose nothing. You can't be sure. But 20 percent is a realistic assessment," the source, who asked not to be named, said on Thursday. IKB, a lender to small- and mid-sized companies, has become Europe's most high-profile casualty so far of the crisis in the U.S. sub-prime mortgage market. Its troubles have sparked investor fears that other German banks, too, might be infected. IKB's problems last weekend prompted German financial watchdog Bafin to warn a collapse of the bank could trigger Germany's worst financial crisis in more than 75 years. News of the scale of IKB's exposure sent its stock price into a spiral, and its share price was down a quarter on Thursday alone. The crisis has wiped about more than 40 percent off the bank's market capitalisation so far this week. Germany's central bank chief late on Wednesday sought to calm markets, saying IKB's problems were isolated. "The exposure of German banks in the U.S. real estate market is manageable and limited overall," Bundesbank President Axel Weber said. And there were signs that IKB's creditors were growing more confident after the rescue package put together by German state bank KfW -- which owns 38 percent of IKB -- and the country's banking association. IKB's five-year credit default swaps were unchanged on Thursday from late Wednesday. "Everyone's calming down about the story," one debt trader said. "They're realising that KfW is going to see them through, plus the rest of the market's tightening." CREEPING UP Default rates on mortgages to high-risk or sub-prime borrowers in the United States have been creeping up, following years of low interest rates and loosening credit standards. This has led to problems for the banks doing the lending as well as those sharing the risk, culminating in the recent crisis. KfW earlier this week put up over 8 billion euros to shield IKB from claims in a multi-billion euro investment fund it managed, giving IKB leeway to unwind its exposure to sub-prime lending in an orderly fashion. The European Commission said on Wednesday it would take a close look at the KfW rescue deal to be sure it did not violate competition and state-aid rules. Prior to a shock profit warning on Monday and the sudden departure of its chief executive, IKB had done little to outline its involvement in U.S. sub-prime lending, which had traditionally been a profitable area of investment. IKB on Thursday declined to comment on a report in German daily Die Welt that members of its non-executive supervisory board were also unaware of the scale of the bank's involvement. ((Reporting by Jonathan Gould, Patricia Nann, Hans Nagl, Maya Thatcher and John O'Donnell, editing by Paul Bolding, Greg Mahlich; e-mail: john.odonnell@reuters.com; tel +49 69 7565 1273)) ($1=3D.7317 Euro) Keywords: IKB RESCUE/ Keywords: IKB RESCUE/ -- Yoshie From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Thu Aug 02 15:18:32 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGi40-00021P-Lz for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:18:32 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l72L8oUn017971; Thu, 2 Aug 2007 14:08:50 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Thu, 2 Aug 2007 14:08:50 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar1.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.201]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l72L7HpA015327; Thu, 2 Aug 2007 14:07:17 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:07:17 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200708022107.l72L7HpA015327@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] There Has Never Been a True Left in Israel X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 21:18:33 -0000 http://counterpunch.org/bendor06232007.html Counterpunch June 23 / 24, 2007 There Has Never Been a True Left in Israel Israeli Apartheid is the Core of the Crisis By Oren Ben-Dor It is unethical to blame Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem for events in Gaza. At the heart of the factional violence in Gaza and the political crisis in the Palestinian leadership lies the constant marginalization of a voice which poses an ethical challenge to an uncritically accepted presumption. Sadly, but hardly surprisingly, initial reactions to the situation have used it to further marginalize this voice. The presumption challenged is that it is morally acceptable to have a state whose legal structures assign preferential stake to all those who pass some test of Jewishness. It is not surprising that the Israeli right wing rejects this challenge. But why is the message also rejected by those Israelis, and their Western supporters, who claim to be concerned about human rights? It is true that some Israeli left wingers refer to the post-1967 occupation as an apartheid regime. There are good reasons for such comparison with the old South African system. In the Occupied Territories, Palestinians are subject to arbitrary military regulations, while Israeli settlers are governed by Israeli law. It is no accident that the barrier being built by Israel in the West Bank is called by Israelis the "gader hafrada". Like the Afrikaans word "apartheid", the Hebrew word "hafrada" means "separation". The Israeli barrier separates Jewish settlements from Palestinian villages, usually also separating those villages from their farmland. But the apartheid label should not be restricted to the post-1967 occupation. There is a more fundamental form of apartheid, of which the occupation is but a manifestation. Apartheid in historic Palestine originated, and has persisted, in the ideology of creating a state in which Jews would be separated from non-Jews in terms of their stake in the political community. It was an apartheid mentality that nourished the desire of establishing and maintaining a state with a Jewish demographic majority and character. The well-planned ethnic cleansing, in 1948, of 750,000 indigenous people was apartheid practice par excellence. It is apartheid which prevents the expelled and their descendants from returning: this apartheid denies residence to expellees from my former home district, the Galilee, but grants it, not just to Israeli-born Jews like me, but to Jews all over the world. It is apartheid law that creates a wall of discrimination between Jewish and Arab citizens of the Israeli state. It is an Apartheid mentality that prompts some Israeli Jews to view their Arab fellow-citizens as a "demographic threat". When "Israel's right to exist" is used as a litmus test for moderation and pragmatism, the subtext is that it is reasonable for apartheid practices which are at the core of the state as currently constituted to be allowed to continue. Thus, those who mouth this mantra, and those who try to limit the apartheid label to "the occupation", are complicit with the apartheid inside pre-1967 Israel. Tough questions need asking. Does not moral condemnation directed against the post-1967 occupation and its apartheid practices both conceal, and thus entrench, the apartheid mentality that lies at the core of the Israeli state? Is the argument merely about the boundaries of the area in which apartheid can have free play, or should criticism be directed at such practices wherever they exist? If Israel demolished the concrete wall and withdrew to its exact pre-1967 limits, would the self-described Israeli left-wingers agitate against the continuance of apartheid inside those borders? If not, what makes apartheid inside the pre-1967 borders acceptable? If the notion of Jewish statehood necessitates apartheid, why is this not subject to the same challenge as South African apartheid? These are questions that ought to be canvassed among the Israeli "left". The truth is that there has virtually never been any real "left" in Israel. So-called left-wing Israelis share their right-wing compatriots' support for the state ideology. Any moral condemnation which restricts its ambit to the post-1967 occupation is at best simplistic, at worst misleading. By focusing on "the occupation", it serves to entrench the apartheid ideology which is central to the essence of the Israeli state. The economic and diplomatic boycott imposed on the elected Hamas government, which has resulted in the recent violence in Gaza, was intended to force it to accept Israeli apartheid. Only when the world is ready to call by its true name the premise upon which Israeli statehood is based, will it not take violence to advance a morally coherent and credible criticism of Israel. The denial of this core apartheid, of which the Gaza violence is a symptom, must stop. We should say it loud and clear. The apartheid system which lies at the core of Israeli statehood should be dismantled. It is unethical to rationalize the apartheid notion of a Jewish state. It is not consistent to be a friend of Israel, thereby endorsing its apartheid-based statehood, while criticising its apartheid practices in the Occupied Territories. Apartheid should have no sanctuary in any future vision of two states for historic Palestine. Only when this realization sinks in will it be possible to envision a stable political solution--a single state over all historic Palestine-- in which redress can be made for past injustices and equal citizenship provided for all, Arabs and Jews. Oren Ben-Dor teaches legal and political philosophy at the School of Law, University of Southampton, UK. He can be reached at: okbendor@yahoo.com From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Thu Aug 02 15:18:34 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGi42-00021V-0J for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:18:34 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l72L9cHr019757; Thu, 2 Aug 2007 14:09:38 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Thu, 2 Aug 2007 14:09:38 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar1.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.201]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l72L8O3C017229; Thu, 2 Aug 2007 14:08:24 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:08:24 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200708022108.l72L8O3C017229@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad Old-Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to base64 by rm-rstar.sfu.ca id l72L9cHr019757 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from base64 to 8bit by lists.econ.utah.edu MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] Border Control / Who told them to give birth at night? X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 21:18:34 -0000 Haaretz July 13, 2007 Border Control / Who told them to give birth at night? By Akiva Eldar The small village of Azun Athma is located in the southeastern part of the West Bank, not far from Qalqilyah and too close to Israel and the Jewish settlements of Etz Efraim, Elkanah, Sha'are Tikva and Oranit, which surround it in all directions. To ensure the security of the residents of Israel and for the sake of the settlers' convenience, the Palestinian village has been encircled by a fence and has become an enclave closed on all sides. In order to partake of essential services in the West Bank, the inhabitants of Azun Athma pass through a gate controlled by the Israel Defense Forces. They undergo physical searches each time they exit and enter. At 10 P.M. the soldiers close the gate and only open it again the next morning at 6 A.M. It is common knowledge that the Palestinians suffer from a serious lack of discipline, which starts in their mother's womb. There are fetuses that insist on coming into this world right at the time when the Israeli soldiers go to sleep. What is to be done with these babies when Azun Athma only has a clinic providing the most basic services for two hours, twice a week? To make sure they will receive proper medical care during the birth, pregnant women (in an average year about 50 babies are born in the village) tend to leave their homes and move in with relatives, who reside in places where one can obtain accessible and good medical services. Thus, of the 33 babies that were born to inhabitants of the village between January of this year and the beginning of June, 20 were born outside the village. The others were born in their mothers' homes without the aid of a doctor or a qualified midwife. According to a report published yesterday by the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the publication of which coincided with the third anniversary of the ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague concerning the security fence, the 10 Palestinian communities surrounded by the fence have no access to 24-hour emergency services. The authors of the report estimate that when construction of the fence is completed along the planned route, about 50,000 people will find themselves in a similar situation. Their examination of 57 Palestinian communities also shows that the ruling of the International Court of Justice has not resulted in a dramatic change in the situation: of the 61 passages in the fence, only 26 are open all year round for the use of Palestinian farmers, while less than half the farmers enjoy direct and regular access to their lands; the gates are open only 64 percent of the planned and declared time; in 72 percent of the communities there have been complaints about routine humiliation and verbal harassment on the part of the soldiers; 24 percent of the communities complained of damage caused to produce as a result of being refused entry to agricultural areas; and 85 percent of traditional roads have been ruined and cut off by the fence. If the report by the UN institutions casts doubt on the justice of the fence with regard to the Palestinian side, the new Brodet Committee report on the defense budget casts equal doubt on the wisdom of the fence with regard to the Israeli side. "The manner of constructing the fence is another example of wasteful thought and conduct. The committee was not convinced that the process of building the fence is being implemented with the necessary consideration and in taking into account all the security and economic considerations." When reading this sentence, it is highly recommended to contemplate the hue and cry surrounding the cut in the defense budget. "According to information transmitted to the committee, the cost of the fence amounts to NIS 13 to 15 billion. This large expenditure was not considered as an important element to security, nor was its budgetary significance given due attention. The army sees itself as a subcontractor carrying out instructions to build a fence, without clarifying for itself the significance of this expenditure and the price for its maintenance, which will amount to hundreds of millions of shekels a year." Colonel (res.) Shaul Arieli, who represents the Council for Peace and Security in petitions against the fence route, has repeatedly presented the High Court of Justice with alternative routes that would save the state coffers hundreds of millions of shekels. He notes that it was the High Court of Justice that rejected the opinion of the International Court of Justice in The Hague on the grounds that its decision had been made on the basis of incomplete and mistaken data. According to Arieli, the fact that the government and the security establishment are ignoring a number of High Court rulings constitutes contempt of the court and the rule of law in the eyes of the world. In addition, this attitude is delaying completion of the fence and has already sent more than a billion shekels down the drain. The head of the Palestinian negotiating team, Saeb Erekat, has also not forgotten the anniversary of The Hague ruling. In a letter he sent to American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the other heads of the Middle East Quartet, Erekat has demanded that they ensure that Israel stop construction of the fence and fulfill its commitment, undertaken in the road map, to freeze all construction in the Jewish settlements in the West Bank. If the Palestinian Authority, at least the one in Ramallah, is once again a partner for agreements, then someone might well take those demands seriously. Or not. If it did not deal with human beings, including infants, the latest report published over the weekend by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in the occupied territories, on the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip would be one of the funniest documents ever published here. Betwixt flower and sugar The report, which relates to the period between June 28 and July 5, reveals that the situation is anything but pleasant. It is estimated that 75 percent of the workshops in the Gaza Strip are not operating at all or are operating at less than 20 percent their usual activity due to a lack of raw materials. However, the report states that the situation is not all that terrible. "Humanitarian imports into Gaza between June 25 - July 1 through Kerem Shalom, Sufa and Karni have met 70 percent of the minimum food needs of the Gazan population." Basing himself on UN World Food program (WFP) figures, the coordinator notes that this is "a significant increase from the prior week, where only 21 percent of the food needs were met." The authors of the report do not confine themselves to general data. They append a table that details daily local consumption in the Gaza Strip alongside the level of imports and the local supply. Not only in metric tons; someone went to the trouble of calculating the percentages for them. And there is also a total of the two. The report's implication is that if there is no flour, let them eat animal feed. If there is no rice, drink oil. If there is no hummus, lick sugar. What is important is that the total amount of essential foodstuffs reaches 70 percent. In this branch of the UN they are trying to curry favor with the Israelis and the Egyptians, who, as everyone knows, are not going out of their way to enable Hamas to maintain orderly life in Gaza. The envoy's office stands firmly behind the Israeli position, which insists on operating the Kerem Shalom crossing point in particular, despite strong objections by the Palestinian side. The office also supports Egypt's objections to opening the Rafah crossing point without European inspectors. Members of the Meretz Knesset faction, who returned yesterday from a visit to Cairo, were told in the Egyptian capital that "it is necessary to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza," but "it mustn't become too good there." Faction head MK Zahava Gal-On said that to the best of her knowledge an economic boycott has not resulted in strengthening the moderates. Kennedy's office has responded that there is no significance to the calculation of the average supply of various foodstuffs and hence to the ostensible improvement in the humanitarian situation. It was promised that this would be fixed and would not be repeated in future reports. Temporary settlers The State Attorneys' Office has good news for the inhabitants of the territories. Good? Terrific. In an official document signed by attorney Orit Koren, the director of the department of petitions to the High Court of Justice, the State of Israel announces that its presence in the West Bank, also known by the name "Judea and Samaria," is only temporary. This according to a written statement sent by the Prosecutor's Office to the High Court of Justice, in the wake of a petition launched by Attorney Michael Sfard, who represents the inhabitants of the village of Bil'in and Peace Now. The petition concerns construction of the new neighborhood of the Modi'in Illit settlement, known as East Matityahu, without an approved master plan. At first the Prosecutor's Office argued that with respect to a small settlement, Jordanian law allows the authorities to dispense with a master plan. But what should be done about the fact that Modi'in Illit is the largest settlement in the territories (its inhabitants number 40,000, more than the population of Ramallah)? - The answer: Invent a new excuse. Now the state is claiming that, "When it is a matter of regional or master planning that can determine and perpetuate the development of a given area in the long term, special caution is necessary in creating the balance between the principle of the temporariness of the belligerent seizure (the usual definition of an occupation) and the need to act on planning arrangements that take the future into account." "With this in mind," explains Koren, "the regional authorities have consciously refrained from comprehensive and long-term planning of the region's territory in its entirety." It is not clear why the regional authorities have discriminated against Modi'in Illit's little sisters, among them Ma'aleh Adumim, Ariel and Betar Illit, and have required them to submit master plans. It is not clear how the excuse of the "temporary nature" of the occupation fits in with the state's position in petitions concerning the route of the fence, including in the area of the settlement of Tsofin, which claim that the planners took into account the master plan that expects expansion of the settlement. From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Thu Aug 02 15:20:19 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGi5j-00021v-Hu for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:20:19 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l72LBAG8022365; Thu, 2 Aug 2007 14:11:10 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Thu, 2 Aug 2007 14:11:10 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar1.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.201]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l72LAJBW021051; Thu, 2 Aug 2007 14:10:19 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:10:19 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200708022110.l72LAJBW021051@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] And now, for something completely different.... X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 21:20:19 -0000 http://news.yahoo.com/s/po/20070802/co_po/obamaidinvadepakistan Associated Press August 2, 2007 Obama: I'd invade Pakistan SUMMARY: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, aiming for foreign-policy cred, says he'd send troops into Pakistan to hunt down terrorists. Democratic presidential candidate sen. Barack Obama said Wednesday that he would send troops into Pakistan to hunt down terrorists even without local permission if warranted -- an attempt to show strength when his chief rival has described his foreign policy skills as naive. The Illinois U.S. senator warned Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf that he must do more to shut down terrorist operations in his country and evict foreign fighters under an Obama presidency, or Pakistan will risk a U.S. troop invasion and losing hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. military aid. "Let me make this clear," Obama said in a speech at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. "There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are plotting to strike again. "It was a terrible mistake to fail to act when we had a chance to take out an al-Qaida leadership meeting in 2005. If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will," Obama said. Obama's speech comes the week after his rivalry with New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton erupted into a public fight over their diplomatic intentions. Obama said he would be willing to meet leaders of rogue states like Cuba, North Korea and Iran without conditions, an idea that Clinton criticized as irresponsible and naive. Obama responded by using the same words to describe Clinton's vote to authorize the Iraq war and called her "Bush-Cheney lite." Thousands of Taliban fighters are based in Pakistan's vast and jagged mountains, where they can pass into Afghanistan, train for suicide operations and find refuge from local tribesmen. Intelligence experts warn that al-Qaida could be rebuilding here to mount another attack on the United States. Musharraf has been a key ally of Washington in fighting terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, but has faced accusations from some quarters in Pakistan of being too closely tied to America. The Bush administration has supported Musharraf and stressed the need to cooperate with Pakistan, but lately administration officials have suggested the possibility of military strikes to deal with al-Qaida and its leader, Osama bin Laden. Analysts say an invasion could risk destabilizing Pakistan, breeding more militancy and undermining Musharraf. The Pakistani Foreign Office, protective of its national sovereignty, has warned that U.S. military action would violate international law and be deeply resented. A military invasion could be risky, given Pakistan's hostile terrain and the suspicion of its warrior-minded tribesmen against uninvited outsiders. Congress passed legislation Friday that would tie aid from the United States to Islamabad's efforts to stop al-Qaida and the Taliban from operating in its territory. President Bush has yet to sign it. Obama's speech was a condemnation of President Bush's leadership in the war on terror. He said the focus on Iraq has left Americans in more danger than before Sept. 11, and that Bush has misrepresented the enemy as Iraqis who are fighting a civil war instead of the terrorists responsible for the attacks six years ago. "He confuses our mission," Obama said, then he spread responsibility to lawmakers like Clinton who voted for the invasion. ''By refusing to end the war in Iraq, President Bush is giving the terrorists what they really want, and what the Congress voted to give them in 2002: a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences." Obama said that as commander in chief he would remove troops from Iraq and putting them "on the right battlefield in Afghanistan and Pakistan." He said he would send at least two more brigades to Afghanistan and increase nonmilitary aid to the country by $1 billion. He also said he would create a three-year, $5 billion program to share intelligence with allies worldwide to take out terrorist networks from Indonesia to Africa. (Nedra Pickler, AP) From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Thu Aug 02 15:21:46 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGi78-000229-N5 for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:21:46 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l72LCCjA024108; Thu, 2 Aug 2007 14:12:12 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Thu, 2 Aug 2007 14:12:11 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar1.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.201]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l72L8sfi018080; Thu, 2 Aug 2007 14:08:55 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:08:54 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200708022108.l72L8sfi018080@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] Guillotining Gaza - Noam Chomsky X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 21:21:47 -0000 http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18092.htm Guillotining Gaza By Noam Chomsky 07/30/07 -- The death of a nation is a rare and somber event. But the vision of a unified, independent Palestine threatens to be another casualty of a Hamas-Fatah civil war, stoked by Israel and its enabling ally the United States. Last month's chaos may mark the beginning of the end of the Palestinian Authority. That might not be an altogether unfortunate development for Palestinians, given US-Israeli programmes of rendering it nothing more than a quisling regime to oversee these allies' utter rejection of an independent state. The events in Gaza took place in a developing context. In January 2006, Palestinians voted in a carefully monitored election, pronounced to be free and fair by international observers, despite US- Israeli efforts to swing the election towards their favourite, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party. But Hamas won a surprising victory. The punishment of Palestinians for the crime of voting the wrong way was severe. With US backing, Israel stepped up its violence in Gaza, withheld funds it was legally obligated to transmit to the Palestinian Authority, tightened its siege and even cut off the flow of water to the arid Gaza Strip. The United States and Israel made sure that Hamas would not have a chance to govern. They rejected Hamas's call for a long-term cease-fire to allow for negotiations on a two-state settlement, along the lines of an international consensus that Israel and United States have opposed, in virtual isolation, for more than 30 years, with rare and temporary departures. Meanwhile, Israel stepped up its programmes of annexation, dismemberment and imprisonment of the shrinking Palestinian cantons in the West Bank, always with US backing despite occasional minor complaints, accompanied by the wink of an eye and munificent funding. Powers-that-be have a standard operating procedure for overthrowing an unwanted government: Arm the military to prepare for a coup. Israel and its US ally helped arm and train Fatah to win by force what it lost at the ballot box. The United States also encouraged Abbas to amass power in his own hands, appropriate behaviour in the eyes of Bush administration advocates of presidential dictatorship. The strategy backfired. Despite the military aid, Fatah forces in Gaza were defeated last month in a vicious conflict, which many close observers describe as a pre-emptive strike targeting primarily the security forces of the brutal Fatah strongman Mohammed Dahlan. Israel and the United States quickly moved to turn the outcome to their benefit. They now have a pretext for tightening the stranglehold on the people of Gaza. 'To persist with such an approach under present circumstances is indeed genocidal, and risks destroying an entire Palestinian community that is an integral part of an ethnic whole,' writes international law scholar Richard Falk. This worst-case scenario may unfold unless Hamas meets the three conditions imposed by the 'international community' - a technical term referring to the US government and whoever goes along with it. For Palestinians to be permitted to peek out of the walls of their Gaza dungeon, Hamas must recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept past agreements, in particular, the Road Map of the Quartet (the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations). The hypocrisy is stunning. Obviously, the United States and Israel do not recognise Palestine or renounce violence. Nor do they accept past agreements. While Israel formally accepted the Road Map, it attached 14 reservations that eviscerate it. To take just the first, Israel demanded that for the process to commence and continue, the Palestinians must ensure full quiet, education for peace, cessation of incitement, dismantling of Hamas and other organisations, and other conditions; and even if they were to satisfy this virtually impossible demand, the Israeli cabinet proclaimed that 'the Roadmap will not state that Israel must cease violence and incitement against the Palestinians.' Israel's rejection of the Road Map, with US support, is unacceptable to the Western self-image, so it has been suppressed. The facts finally broke into the mainstream with Jimmy Carter's book, 'Palestine: Peace not Apartheid,' which elicited a torrent of abuse and desperate efforts to discredit it. While now in a position to crush Gaza, Israel can also proceed, with US backing, to implement its plans in the West Bank, expecting to have the tacit cooperation of Fatah leaders who will be rewarded for their capitulation. Among other steps, Israel began to release the funds - estimated at $600 million - that it had illegally frozen in reaction to the January 2006 election. Ex-prime minister Tony Blair is now to ride to the rescue. To Lebanese political analyst Rami Khouri, 'appointing Tony Blair as special envoy for Arab-Israeli peace is something like appointing the Emperor Nero to be the chief fireman of Rome.' Blair is the Quartet's envoy only in name. The Bush administration made it clear at once that he is Washington's envoy, with a very limited mandate. Secretary of State Rice (and President Bush) retain unilateral control over the important issues, while Blair would be permitted to deal only with problems of institution-building. As for the short-term future, the best case would be a two-state settlement, per the international consensus. That is still by no means impossible. It is supported by virtually the entire world, including the majority of the US population. It has come rather close, once, during the last month of Bill Clinton's presidency - the sole meaningful US departure from extreme rejectionism during the past 30 years. In January 2001, the United States lent its support to the negotiations in Taba, Egypt, that nearly achieved such a settlement before they were called off by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. In their final Press conference, the Taba negotiators expressed hope that if they had been permitted to continue their joint work, a settlement could have been reached. The years since have seen many horrors, but the possibility remains. As for the likeliest scenario, it looks unpleasantly close to the worst case, but human affairs are not predictable: Too much depends on will and choice. --------- Noam Chomsky is a professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the author, most recently, of Hegemony or Survival Americas Quest for Global Dominance. From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Thu Aug 02 15:28:14 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGiDO-00023H-O4 for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:28:14 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l72LG4dp000940; Thu, 2 Aug 2007 14:16:04 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Thu, 2 Aug 2007 14:16:03 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar1.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.201]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l72L9lMG020036; Thu, 2 Aug 2007 14:09:47 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:09:47 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200708022109.l72L9lMG020036@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] Selective outrage about genocide X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 21:28:15 -0000 http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/08/01/ant ibias_effort_stirs_anger_in_watertown?mode=PF Boston Globe | August 1, 2007 Antibias effort stirs anger in Watertown Debate focuses on genocide By Keith O'Brien, Globe Staff Watertown -- As far as town proclamations go, the one that declared Watertown a No Place for Hate community in July 2005 seemed like a pretty innocuous one. The goal was to celebrate diversity and challenge bigotry. And the program, in place in 67 Massachusetts communities and hundreds of others nationwide, has generated very little controversy elsewhere. But that has not been the case in Watertown. In recent weeks, the town that bills itself as No Place for Hate on a sign outside Town Hall is abuzz with anger and frustration, especially among the large Armenian population. At issue is not the program itself, but the group behind it, the Anti-Defamation League, and in particular the ADL's refusal to acknowledge the Armenian genocide at the hands of Turks during World War I. "It's kind of the worst hatred to deny genocide," said Nayiri Arzoumanian, a woman of Armenian heritage who has lived in Watertown for eight years. "It's the worst kind of hypocrisy." The debate began in letters to the editor of the Watertown Tab newspaper and has pitted Watertown Armenians against the ADL's national director, Abraham H. Foxman. Now what was once considered a positive civic effort, declaring Watertown No Place For Hate, finds itself at the center of a debate burdened by divisive international history and politics. For decades, Armenians have fought to get the Turkish government and other world leaders to recognize the deaths of as many as 1.5 million Armenians during World War I as genocide. The refusal of the ADL to support the Armenians, especially as they lobby Congress to recognize the genocide, has fueled the local war of words. Sharistan Melkonian -- chairwoman of the Armenian National Committee of Eastern Massachusetts, based in Watertown -- accused Foxman of engaging in "genocide denial" in an interview with the Globe. She said she will call for the Watertown No Place for Hate program to sever its ties with the ADL unless it denounces Foxman's position and acknowledges the genocide. In a separate interview, Foxman countered that it would be "bigoted" to dismantle a program focused on fighting hatred simply because the ADL does not share the Armenians' point of view. And Foxman maintained his position that the ADL, which has spoken out against ethnic cleansing in the Balkans and genocide in Darfur, does not have a role in the long-standing dispute between the Armenians and the Turks. "We're not party to this, and I don't understand why we need to be made party," Foxman said. It is a tense and tangled debate that has taken Watertown officials and the ADL by surprise. The ADL says it never faced this issue until it bubbled to the surface in Watertown, home to more than 8,000 Armenian-Americans. How the town will respond is not yet clear, said Mark Sideris, Town Council vice president. But some residents of Armenian heritage are clearly troubled. "I'm not against, particularly, No Place For Hate," said Dikran Kaligian, an Armenian-American who has been a Watertown resident for 17 years. "I think it's got its heart in the right place. But let's get some answers." The ADL has certified No Place For Hate programs in hundreds of towns and cities across the United States. After a year, during which the town or city organizes anti-bias programs, the municipality receives a placard from the ADL to be posted for public display. When town councilors declared Watertown a No Place for Hate community in July 2005, it generated just a few lines in the town minutes and passed unanimously by a voice vote. "It seemed like a reasonable thing for the town to do," Sideris said. And he never expected that it would become controversial. But in recent weeks that is what has happened. According to Armenians and many historians, the Turks systematically killed as many as 1.5 million Armenians living under the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923. A Polish-Jewish lawyer later coined the term genocide, citing the Armenian experience. But the Turkish government has never acknowledged their history as such, leading to decades of anger and frustration among Armenians. Foxman said he is surprised that he has become a target of Armenians. The ADL, a group founded in 1913 to fight anti-Semitism, has no official position on the Armenian genocide, he said. "I'm not going to be the arbiter of someone else's history," he said in the interview, adding that he does not believe that Congress should either. When asked specifically if what happened to Armenians under the Ottoman Empire was genocide, he replied, "I don't know." The ADL only takes positions, he said, on current events, not on something that happened in the past. But Armenian leaders say that is a disingenuous answer coming from an organization that often pressures people to stand up for human rights around the globe. They believe that Israel's ties to Turkey, a rare Muslim partner in the Middle East, have influenced the ADL's point of view. By refusing to become an "arbiter of history," Melkonian said, the ADL is suggesting that there is some question whether genocide happened, and that is what infuriates Armenians. "You would never ever say that about the genocide in Darfur; you would never ever say that about the Holocaust," said Melkonian. "You need to stop genocide anywhere you can, and the only way to stop genocide in the future is to acknowledge that it happened." The entire debate has become "politics at a different level," said Town Councilor Stephen Corbett, far beyond anything concerning Watertown's No Place for Hate program, a well-received effort that since 2005 has cosponsored public forums on immigration issues and produced a video and traveling exhibition about the many faces of Watertown. "Ultimately, we'd like to get back to the business of doing the basic kind of local programs that we can do, free and clear of the shadow of this controversy," said Will Twombly, the cochairman of Watertown's No Place For Hate committee. But Twombly, whose program receives corporate money through ADL's grant program, said it will not be possible to move forward until the committee meets with ADL's regional director Andrew H. Tarsy and asks some tough questions about its stance on the Armenian genocide. At that point, Twombly said, the committee will decide on the best course of action, including the option of severing ties with the ADL altogether, effectively ending the program. He said the committee acknowledges the Armenian genocide, even if the ADL does not. "Clearly, No Place For Hate is a program based on tolerance, based on respect for differences, and based on mutual respect and care for individuals, and in no way does the Armenian genocide represent any of those values," Twombly said. "Not to condemn the genocide and fully recognize it for what it was, I personally find inconsistent with the mission of No Place for Hate." From critical.montages@gmail.com Thu Aug 02 15:41:53 2007 Received: from wx-out-0506.google.com ([66.249.82.239]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGiQa-00024Y-Pb for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:41:53 -0600 Received: by wx-out-0506.google.com with SMTP id s11so563807wxc for ; Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:45:44 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.58.7 with SMTP id g7mr3836653wxa.1186091144648; Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:45:44 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.13.17 with HTTP; Thu, 2 Aug 2007 14:45:44 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 17:45:44 -0400 From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" To: Rad-Green In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline References: Subject: [R-G] Cigdem Cidamli: Turkish Elections and After X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 21:41:53 -0000 Excellent, level-headed analysis from a Turkish friend of MR! -- Yoshie Turkish Elections and After by Cigdem Cidamli The July 2007 elections ended with results beyond the expectations of most observers. We will watch for possible coming earthquakes. To explain the AKP's election victory, in addition to the AKP's own tactics and policies, exogenous factors should be taken into consideration. These include the large vacuum at the centre right and center left of Turkish politics resulting from the basic disabilities of the dominant Turkish political structure. The AKP's success is substantially due to this vacuum created at the center of Turkish politics and the inabilities of the party's rivals, which means that such a level of election support may not be sustained in a different conjuncture. Aside from receiving unquestionable and efficient support from international capital, the US administration, the EU, and media monopolies, as well as benefiting from the aforementioned political vacuum, what has the AKP actually accomplished? Above all, the AKP succeeded in responding to the "fears of disorder and economic and political instability which might arise from internal tensions and conflicts" of the mass of the people, who never feel themselves secure and are always in fear of further deterioration of their material social conditions: i.e. the poor, a large section of the middle classes, shopkeepers, and the majority of Kurdish people. AKP, at the beginning of this year, actually achieved a representative position in terms of society's political common sense just after the assassination of Hrant Dink, mainly because of the political weakness of the Turkish left. The army's declaration (the so-called e-coup d'etat) in April, thanks to its preferred tactic of tension about the presidential elections, helped AKP, which was just then beginning to lose this position as representative of the general common sense. During this process, Erdogan managed to re-grasp that representative position and started his attack against the other party: i.e. the nationalists' front headed by the army. Erdogan has shown a certain skill in managing stagnant political conditions thanks to his "powerful" advisors, though he always makes mistakes in chaotic and agitated conditions. Therefore, it is a bit strange that the nationalist wing, which had carried on a severe tactic of tension sending masses into the streets, did not choose to make any big noise during the last month of the election campaign. Some of the reasons for this might be the narrow-mindedness of nationalist politics itself: their elitist orientation in terms of real problems of the vast majority of the people; their single-minded, semi-paranoiac attitudes; strict sectarianism of the leader (Deniz Baykal) of the so-called social democratic party (Republican People's Party) which has been for some time the main channel for the official "secularist-nationalist" reactions of the upper middle classes; Baykal's great effort to distance his party from the left along with his tactics of opening up to the right; etc. All these might explain the change in political position of the nationalist wing from agitation to stagnation. However, in addition to these reasons, perhaps we should also look at the two-and-a half-hours-long unpublicized meeting between Prime Minister Erdogan and General Yasar Buyukanit, Chief of the General Staff, in Dolmabahce just before the elections. It is understood that during that meeting a consensus was reached between the two about a series of issues directly related to the elections. It seems that there was agreement on a framework in which their differences could be expressed within "reasonable limits" about the position of Turkey in regard to Northern Iraq; that the presidential elections system and the anticipated referenda for it will not be put under too much pressure; that no open operations will be organized against the secret nationalist junta organizations within and outside the army, about which the Chief of the General Staff too has certain concerns. After this meeting, the Turkish General Staff did not take any further steps beyond engaging in some polemics about Northern Iraq and agitating the Kurdish question a little with the help of its appeals for massive participation in the "demonstrations against terror" (which followed the nationalist rallies, on a much smaller scale). This last was obviously aimed to help the MHP (the fascist, racist Nationalist Movement Party) reach the minimum ten percent of the votes needed to enter the parliament. However this second series of demonstrations, while bolstering the MHP and agitating the Kurdish question, seems only to have contributed to the dissolution of the tense atmosphere that was created by the April nationalist mass demonstrations while pushing a large part of the Kurdish masses behind the AKP. In short, in this process, the army as the main engine of nationalism was unable to maintain a united and consistent position. The General Staff entered into some partial compromises and indeed at some point froze the tactic of tension that it had previously accelerated. Putting these developments together, let us recall the provocative discussions concerning Turkey carried out at the Hudson Institute some two months ago and revealed by some sources close to the US administration. Is it not unreasonable to see a connection with the consensus between Erdogan and Buyukanit, reached during the peak of tension just after the operations against the nationalist junta organizations and the US administration's intervention, and the ensuing total stagnation of the nationalist offensive? The historical lesson that should be drawn from this by those pro-army "nationalists" on the left is that, as was already seen in all Turkish coup d'=E9tats and especially just after the 12 March 1971 coup famous for its various leftist-rightist inter-junta games, it is never possible to produce patriotic politics based on relations with, and expectations for, such an Americanized institution. This is especially so today given the realities of our age and the global stakes at issue in the Middle East. The nationalist force today is one part ravings of the disintegrating middle classes and the other the reactions of ordinary people against religious fundamentalism, but it is now in large part ideologically merged with reactionary-racist concerns about the "internal conflicts and divisions." Such a political position cannot be led and transformed towards progressive results. Rather the inevitable point that such a political position will reach is to take a place in a wing of the nationalist forces, to adopt a racist position, and to be a dish on the bargaining table of the ruling forces. When the election results are evaluated together with the tensions in the Middle East which are accelerating along with US pressures, there are two alternatives left for the army in the middle run: the first is to take a defensive position for a while and wait for a new big chance to come; and the second is to accept a real change of course (which can also be seen as accepting an internal liquidation) as a result of US pressures and of the owner-of-the-state pragmatism of the army. Until now the general tactic of the Turkish General Staff has been to merge these two and to choose a route according to the strength of US pressures. The only development that can change this would be a real shift in the axis of US politics. *** Looking at the comprehensive picture that the elections put in front of us, we have to emphasize two critical points for the near future. First, as MHP has now become the rising center of nationalism, the so-called social democratic party will lose ground and the merger of nationalism with right-wing racism will accelerate. Second, neo-liberalism, which was the rising hegemonic ideology during the 1980-90s but which largely lost its ideological power worldwide after 1999 (and in our country especially after the 2001 crises), was able to partially repair itself during the July 2007 elections with the help of "identity politics" and once more consolidated a strong position. The main representative of the neo-liberal ideology and program in Turkey, AKP, grasped a representative commonsense position in-between the Turkish and Kurdish nationalisms, managing this by creating a feeling that reasonable identity recognition would be granted to Kurds and by giving hope to the Kurdish bourgeoisie that it could enjoy a rent-sharing position if it is articulated with US policies. Together with its Islamist identity against secularism, it convinced the Islamist masses that a moderate neo-liberal Islamist process can weaken and change the official secularist regime. And it could even convince permanently depressed left identities that only the AKP would give them a chance to survive. Thus, community formations at all social levels and in all social spheres were encouraged, and communities were given a chance to survive as a way of extending its own (and indeed the World Bank's) brutal neo-liberal politics in the name of "social policy." As the sum total of all these, AKP now plays the role of a "freedom-lover" and even "equality-lover" party against the authoritarian ideological-political character of its nationalist rival, and it can hide the vacuums created by neo-liberalism with its peculiar identity politics. These developments imply an important result for the left: with the defeat of the so-called social democratic nationalism, liberalism, once more and this time in a new neo-liberal framework, will act to repair its hegemony among some sections of the left, social democrats, and Kurdish people. *** When we evaluate the election results from the viewpoint of the Kurdish movement, first, it must be said that Kurds succeeded in entering parliament in a number sufficient to enable them to have an official political group. This opportunity, if wisely used, can enable a new center of initiative to be created in Kurdish politics. A Turkish-Kurdish movement can gain some strength in the Middle East and in the international arena. Of course it should not be forgotten that votes for independent Kurdish candidates largely decreased in the Kurdish provinces of the East and densely Kurdish populated provinces of West Anatolia, and AKP undoubtedly became the only party taking the majority of Kurdish votes. The rise of AKP among Kurds will bring this party to a position where it no longer can avoid the Kurdish question. To be sure, Erdogan should not be expected to take steps for any "solution" in this area, unless he receives the strongest of guarantees from the US. On the other hand, a crossroad will be reached where either the disintegration of PKK and the legal Kurdish movement would accelerate or a more positive direction would develop. The decisive factor will be how the Kurdish legal party, in terms of its relationship with the left opposition, takes a position against the neoliberal policies of AKP. It is possible that PKK would initiate a ceasefire because of the new conditions (unless, of course, Turkey were to enter into Northern Iraq). But it should always be remembered that the US, at a critical threshold in Iraq and in the entire Middle East, will be a very influential factor over the development of the Kurdish question in Turkey. In the coming months, the most critical element will be the US-Turkey-Iraq negotiations around the Kirkuk referendum and Northern Iraq. AKP politics about the Kurdish issue should be expected to take its shape accordingly. *** Meanwhile it is now evident that the so-called social democratic party leadership will not resign after its election defeat and there will be a long and deep fight between the different left-right fractions within both this party and the nationalist movement. Left explorations and initiatives for alternative projects will accelerate in this atmosphere and various centers will try to gain strength and position, including the new "social democratic" centers supported by the fractions of monopoly capital and media monopolies against the traditional sectarian leadership. A prominent "social democratic" figure who last year was the colonialist administrator-governor of Afghanistan (Hikmet Cetin) on behalf of NATO is included in this game now, with a heavy pro-liberal, pro-US emphasis. It seems that the ruling classes aim to have a social democratic alternative as a hedge against any possibility of AKP's weakening or going out of control. Left liberalism, which during the election process was represented by left independent candidates and which even considered the working class as a part of its own identity politics, of course will try to be part of these initiatives, including the only non-Kurdish left candidate who won a seat in the parliament. How the Kurdish deputies will merge nationalism with left liberalism, which positions they will take against AKP's neoliberal policies and US Middle East policies, and how they will merge this with a Kurdish nationalist-liberal framework all remain to be seen. There is no strong possibility that in the coming few months the presidential elections will again turn into a major crisis. However, in a period when economy will be under much more pressure, AKP will start implementing a new course of neo-liberal assaults more recklessly and this time introduce much delayed privatizations in energy production and distribution and the remaining parts of the health, social security, and public system "reforms." These will accelerate social problems, and at least partially weaken identity politics patches over neo-liberal destruction, and create stronger pressure to fill the giant vacuum in the sphere of social left opposition. The need for an independent and revolutionary left will become a much more burning issue in the coming days. At this point, in order to overcome the hopelessness and confusion among the left, ideological clarity as well as practical militancy will be more important than ever. In order to prevent the left from being taken entirely under the influence of a new neo-liberal wave, just as happened during the 1990s, a vivid line of ideological, political, and social struggle should be taken. Under our concrete political and social conditions, the path of a real left renovation can be built only by organizing, uniting, and politicizing the mass struggles related to poor and working people's basic social rights against neo-liberalism with a revolutionary perspective. This is not mere agitation but a realistic political judgment and commitment that can determine the future of a left in search of various alternatives. One of the important problems for this line is to concretely shape this political perspective along the realities of AKP's assault program and to make it achieve political and organizational richness. Thus it is time for ideological and political clarification in order to overcome the confusion among the left by militant practice, step by step. Cigdem Cidamli is editor and chief translator of the Turkish edition of Monthly Review. -- Yoshie From critical.montages@gmail.com Thu Aug 02 23:58:33 2007 Received: from wx-out-0506.google.com ([66.249.82.227]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGqBE-0002ey-Sy for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Thu, 02 Aug 2007 23:58:33 -0600 Received: by wx-out-0506.google.com with SMTP id s11so647093wxc for ; Thu, 02 Aug 2007 23:02:26 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.116.1 with SMTP id o1mr4461701wxc.1186120945776; Thu, 02 Aug 2007 23:02:25 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.13.17 with HTTP; Thu, 2 Aug 2007 23:02:25 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2007 02:02:25 -0400 From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" To: Rad-Green In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline References: Subject: [R-G] IRAN: Journalists or Active Members of Armed Separatist Group? X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 05:58:33 -0000 August 1, 2007 Journalists or active members of armed separatist group Reporters Sans Frontier (RSF) is at it again. (Read what they did before. [LINK: ]) Two individuals (Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolvahed "Hiva" Botimar) from a well-known Kurdish armed separatist group (Pejak), similar to PKK in Turkey, are sentenced to death in Iran, and just because they have apparently written a few articles in a tiny local newspaper, RSF wants us to believe [LINK: ] their verdict is because of their writings. These are not my words, this is what their own lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht [LINK: ], has told a Kurdish newspaper. He has also added that none of these two men are charged for their civil or journalistic activities. None are heroes and the people who want to make them look like a martyr have a political agenda. Then the whole false story [LINK: ] appears on the front page of the BBC news and everyone starts talking as if Iran is going to execute two innocent young men because of their writings. But the BBC Persian, according to their lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht [LINK: ], gives us some more detail about their initial charges: Smuggling arms from Iranian army storage outside to the outlawed separatist armed Kurdish groups, giving information about military compounds to Kurdistan-based armed opposition groups, having direct contacts with the U.S. State Department's staff, helping two suspects of terrorism in south of Iran escape to Iraqi Kurdistan. (Although BBC Persian's headline still talks about them as journalists, even though in the story this is rejected) Has the BBC News started to love anything negative about Iran these days so much that they don't even bother to verify these dodgy reports, coming from these so-called watchdogs? Why haven't they even asked the Persian service about any of this? Knowing the fact that RSF's reports are based on the judgement of its only Persian speaker, Reza Moini, who is himself a well-known victim of the Islamic Republic's crackdown n the leftists/separatists in the early 80s and has not been back to Iran ever since, should make every impartial journalist doubt about whatever RSF sends out about Iran. And then the French Foreign ministry also jumps on the wagon and calls Iran on stopping the execution of the two 'journalists'. When was the last time Bernard Kouchner's ministry said a word about executions in United States, China, Saudi Arabia, and many more countries whose laws still acknowledge the death punishment. Posted by hoder at August 1, 2007 7:03 PM| TrackBack -- Yoshie From critical.montages@gmail.com Fri Aug 03 00:45:47 2007 Received: from wx-out-0506.google.com ([66.249.82.233]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGqux-0002hy-2C for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 00:45:47 -0600 Received: by wx-out-0506.google.com with SMTP id s11so654291wxc for ; Thu, 02 Aug 2007 23:49:41 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.117.3 with SMTP id p3mr4567209wxc.1186123781053; Thu, 02 Aug 2007 23:49:41 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.13.17 with HTTP; Thu, 2 Aug 2007 23:49:40 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2007 02:49:40 -0400 From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" To: Rad-Green In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline References: Subject: [R-G] Left-Right Convergence on Iran X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 06:45:47 -0000 July 30, 2007 Ignatieff in Iran: Pragmatist thinkers like Rorty are favoured to radicals like Foucault I found this article by accident. It is Michael Ignatieff's account [LINK: ] of his last year's visit to Iran, with invitation from Ramin Jahanbegloo who was later arrested on charges of acting against the national security: Jahanbegloo says he thinks of himself as a bridge between Iran and those universities. He invites a steady stream of philosophers like Richard Rorty from Stanford and Agnes Heller from the New School in New York to give talks to students. He sees some signs that their ideas are finding a toehold in Tehran. Three decades ago, the intellectuals du jour were Michel Foucault and fellow radical theorists. They arrived in Tehran proclaiming their solidarity with a revolution that actively despised them while persecuting its own freethinkers. Now the pendulum in Tehran has swung toward pragmatic liberals like Berlin. It's quite interesting how Ignatieff dismisses Foucault's support for the Iranian revolution with just labelling him as radical and praises Jahanbegloo's attempts to bring the liberal, pragmatic thinkers such as Rorty and Heller. This is of course a cheap shot at Foucault from the right, by Ignatieff, a strong supporter of the US invasion of Iraq [LINK: ] on humanitarian grounds. But also from the left has been emerged attacks on Foulcault's praise for the Iran's revolution, the most famous of which, by Janet Afary and Kevin Anderson in their book (an excerpt [LINK: ]), titled 'Foucault and the Iranian Revolution: Gender and the Seductions of Islamism.' [LINK: ] (I have ordered it recently to read Foucault's original dispatches for Corrierre Dela Serra in his two visits before and after the 1979 revolution.) A recurring theme these days is that the lines between the right and the left, when it comes to Iran, has become so blurry that they has almost become meaningless. The left has started to challenge the Islamic Republic's legitimacy in a similar fashion to the right. This is what living in the American paradigm does to one's intellect, I suspect. I know, I have to elaborate on all this... Posted by hoder at July 30, 2007 2:45 AM| TrackBack August 2, 2007 Jahanbegloo advocated Rafsanjani in Wilson centre The other day I asked you to take part in a guessing game [LINK: ], based on some quotes. Now, here is the answer. The person who, in a speech at Woodrow Wilson's centre in 2003 [LINK: ], said those words was Ramin Jahanbegloo. Jahanbegloo also said in his speech, titled ' Iran: From Political Gridlock to Crisis of Legitimacy' that "[t]oday, what is certain is that democratic developments in Iraq are taking a slower pace than what was expected and the Iranian population has no hope of a future American intervention in Iran." (And note, thanks to my friend Mo, that Jahanbegloo used the word 'hope,' not 'fear'.) He later went on and and by his three scenarios of a) the centrist Rafsanjani's win b) Revolutionary Guard's coup and c) wide-spread urban chaos, effectively called the US liberals to stand behind Rafsanjani in the then forthcoming election, if they didn't want to see those two other scenarios. This is a further evidence for me about the ties between the neo-liberal regime change plans and Rafsanjanist reformers. Posted by hoder at August 2, 2007 3:43 PM| TrackBack -- Yoshie From critical.montages@gmail.com Fri Aug 03 01:03:59 2007 Received: from wx-out-0506.google.com ([66.249.82.232]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGrCY-0002jR-Vw for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 01:03:59 -0600 Received: by wx-out-0506.google.com with SMTP id s11so659026wxc for ; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 00:07:53 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.31.8 with SMTP id e8mr4582590wxe.1186124873271; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 00:07:53 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.13.17 with HTTP; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 00:07:53 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2007 03:07:53 -0400 From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" To: Rad-Green In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline References: Subject: [R-G] Missionaries Go from East to West X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 07:03:59 -0000 HOUSES OF WORSHIP Further Fervor: Missionaries Go >From East to West By LESLIE HOOK August 3, 2007; Page W11 The recent kidnapping of South Korean Christians in Afghanistan highlights an overlooked fact: Asian missionaries are everywhere, and today they're often found in some of the world's most dangerous hotspots. Nowhere has this hit home harder than in South Korea, where the Afghan incident has triggered widespread soul searching. On July 19, 23 South Korean aid workers were kidnapped in the central Ghazni province by Taliban militants. The pastor, Bae Hyung-kyu, was shot dead on July 25; five days later, 29-year-old Shim Sung-min was killed and dumped on a roadside. As I write this, the rest of the group is still in Taliban custody. Although only about 30% of South Korea's 49 million citizens are Christian, the country is second only to the U.S. in the number of missionaries it sends abroad. As of last year, 16,600 Korean missionaries were stationed in 173 countries. [Houses of Worship] The people taken hostage in Afghanistan were on a popular kind of tour in which church groups go on short, nonevangelical aid trips. Mostly in their 20s and 30s, all of the hostages were members of the Saemmul Community Church, a Presbyterian congregation in Bundang, a suburb of Seoul. Many were English teachers or medical professionals. Over a 10-day period, the group was scheduled to be in northern Afghanistan, then travel to Kandahar, to organize "medical activities and activities for children," according to Kim Hyung-suk, president of the Korean Foundation for World Aid, which organized the trip. The Koreans were seized at gunpoint while riding a bus on the highway from Kabul to Kandahar. Their captors have demanded the release of 23 Taliban prisoners in exchange for the hostages, but the Afghan government has refused. Missionaries in Asia have long faced violence. A hundred years ago, American and European Christians streamed into the region to convert the Chinese and Koreans. During the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901) in China, foreign missionaries were targeted and in many cases killed. But they kept coming because Asia houses some of the world's largest non-Christian populations. Today, Christians in Asia number 350 million, up from about 20 million in 1900, according to statistics from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity. And as Christianity flourishes, more and more believers -- often Asian -- begin to heed Jesus' instruction to his disciples to spread their faith across the world. The presence of South Korean Christian aid workers is one of the most visible examples of the trend toward "majority world" missionaries=97those hailing from continents other than Europe and North America. South Korea, for example, sent only 93 missionaries abroad in 1979, but by 2000 there were over 8,000 and this number doubled by 2006. South Korea's fervor is unique in that it's a relatively new Christian nation. The example set by the missionaries (mostly American and British) who came to work in Korea is still a recent memory. Like its neighbors China and Japan, the Korean peninsula was traditionally influenced by Buddhism and Confucianism. A small number of Catholic missionaries came in the late 18th century; their Protestant counterparts arrived about 100 years later. But it wasn't until the 1960s that the number of Christians began to increase dramatically. The traumas of the Japanese occupation (1910-45) and the Korean War (1950-53) had left the country reeling, and some see Christianity's growth as a response to those difficult times. Although about half of Korean missionaries go to other East Asian countries, a growing number settle in places like Jordan, Turkey and Syria. Korean missionaries were present in Iraq until the 2004 beheading of a Korean translator there. The flow of majority-world missionaries goes from west to east as well: One underground church in China is run by a missionary who felt called to go there from his home in Nigeria. As the missions increase in size and scope, so do the risks, however. In Korea, the hostage situation has provoked a backlash. Bloggers and local media outlets have attacked the hostages for being na=EFve, and churches for competing with one another to see who can perform the most dangerous missions. Some Web postings even suggested that the hostages had gotten their just deserts. Within the Christian establishment, the incident has triggered a reassessment. "Vacation missionaries [go] to war zones like Iraq and Afghanistan, and you get them in situations where they are way out of their depth," said Tim Peters, a Christian living in Korea. In the wake of the kidnappings, several churches and organizations have canceled their trips to Afghanistan. The Korean government has restricted its citizens from traveling to Afghanistan without explicit government approval. Meanwhile, family members of the victims are gathered at Saemmul Church, praying and watching newscasts. Christians around the country are keeping vigil. Amid the onslaught of critical voices, many in Korea's Christian community feel misunderstood. "It's not about competition ... . I think missionaries are sharing because they have boldness," says Kim Hee-chan, who works at the Middle East Team, a group that helps organize missionaries. And, she says, "Missionaries sacrifice." A fact the hostages in Afghanistan know only too well. Ms. Hook is an editorial writer at The Wall Street Journal Asia. -- Yoshie From critical.montages@gmail.com Fri Aug 03 01:06:18 2007 Received: from wx-out-0506.google.com ([66.249.82.228]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGrEo-0002jd-Dj for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 01:06:18 -0600 Received: by wx-out-0506.google.com with SMTP id s11so659377wxc for ; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 00:10:13 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.21.4 with SMTP id 4mr4577459wxu.1186125013116; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 00:10:13 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.13.17 with HTTP; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 00:10:12 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2007 03:10:12 -0400 From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" To: Rad-Green In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline References: Subject: [R-G] AFGHANISTAN: South Korea Pleads with US to Save Hostages X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 07:06:18 -0000 Note that "Mr. [Hamid] Karzai was severely criticized by the United States and European governments after he approved a deal in March in which five Taliban fighters were freed in exchange for the release of an Italian journalist. He called the trade a one-time deal." -- Yoshie July 31, 2007 Police Find Body of 2nd South Korean By CHOE SANG-HUN SEOUL, South Korea, July 31 =97 Shocked by the killing of a second South Korean hostage in Afghanistan and weary of the 13-day-old crisis, South Korea urged the United States and Afghan governments on Tuesday to show "flexibility" over Taliban demands to exchange the remaining 21 Christian aid workers from South Korea for imprisoned militants. But a State Department spokesman, Tom Casey, said that Washington's longstanding policy against dealing with hostage takers had not changed, and that despite American concern for those being held, "I don't see any indication that we're going to be changing that any time soon." "We certainly have great sympathy for South Korea and for the people that are involved in this incident. It's a terrible incident. They should be let go," he said. But Mr. Casey added, "In this instance, the burden, just like in other hostage-taking instances, is on those who've done this in the Taliban to release them and to let them go." The South Korean government's appeal =97 coupled with a growing frustration in Seoul over what officials here perceive as a lack of cooperation from the United States in resolving the crisis =97 came hours after the Afghan police found the bullet-ridden body of a second South Korean hostage slain by the Taliban. A purported Taliban spokesman said the man was killed on Monday because the Afghan government had not released the Taliban prisoners. The South Korean government identified the victim as Shim Sung Min, a 29-year-old former information technology worker. "The government is well aware of how the international community deals with these kinds of abduction cases," Cheon Ho Seon, a spokesman for President Roh Moo Hyun of South Korea, said in a statement on Tuesday. "But it also believes that it would be worthwhile to use flexibility in the cause of saving the precious lives of those still in captivity, and is appealing to the international community to do so." Ever since the Taliban kidnapped the 23 South Korean aid workers on July 19, Mr. Roh's government has been caught between two uncompromising forces. The Taliban has been insisting on a hostage-and-prisoner swap, while the American-backed Afghan government counters that bowing to the militants' demands will only lead to more kidnappings. "We shouldn't encourage kidnapping by actually accepting their demands," Humayun Hamidzada, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, told reporters on Tuesday, according to Reuters. Qari Yousef Ahmadi, who describes himself as a Taliban spokesman, said that the militants would kill more hostages if the Afghanistan government does not release prisoners by noon on Wednesday. "It might be a man or a woman," he told The Associated Press. "It might be one. It might be two, four. It might be all of them." He said the Taliban had killed the second South Korean hostage because "the Kabul and Korean governments are lying and cheating." "We cannot contain our anger at this merciless killing and strongly condemn this," said Cho Hee Yong, a spokesman for the South Korean foreign ministry. But the South Korean government also expressed frustration over the deadlock in negotiations. The Taliban "demand is not within the power of the Korean government because it doesn't have any effective means to influence decisions of the Afghan government," said Mr. Cheon, the presidential spokesman. "The Korean government strongly condemns and urges an immediate end to these heinous acts of killing innocent people in order to press for demands that it can't meet," he said. Grief, anger and a growing sense of helplessness gripped South Koreans on Tuesday after the government confirmed that the body of the bespectacled man dumped on a clover field beside a road in southern Afghanistan was that of Mr. Shim, who had volunteered for a South Korean church group's aid mission to the war-torn country. The body of the group's leader, Bae Hyung Kyu, who had also been shot to death, was found last Wednesday. "We appeal for support from the people of the United States and around the world for resolving this crisis as early as possible," Kim Kyong Ja, the mother of one of the South Korean captives, said Tuesday, reading a statement from the family while grieving relatives standing behind her fought back tears. "Especially, the families want the United States to disregard political interests and give more active support to save the 21 innocent lives," she said. "We sustain ourselves through this ordeal anxiety with a belief that they can return home alive," she said. "So please help us." Mr. Shim's father, Shim Chin Pyo, told reporters of his son: "He had a good heart and did a lot of volunteer work. My son also wanted to help the poor and disabled." The Taliban kidnapped the 23 South Koreans, most of whom are women and in their 20s and 30s, while they were on a bus traveling from Kabul to the southern city of Kandahar on July 19. They were the largest group of foreign hostages taken prisoner in Afghanistan since the American-led invasion in 2001. The South Korean appeal for flexibility came ahead of a meeting scheduled for Sunday between Mr. Karzai and President Bush at Camp David. Mr. Karzai was severely criticized by the United States and European governments after he approved a deal in March in which five Taliban fighters were freed in exchange for the release of an Italian journalist. He called the trade a one-time deal. Paik Jin Hyun, an associate dean at the Graduate School of International Studies of Seoul National University, said that if the hostage crisis did not conclude satisfactorily, anti-American groups in South Korea might use it to promote anti-American sentiments in the country. The People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a major civic group based in Seoul, issued a statement on Tuesday accusing Washington of watching the hostage crisis "as if it were a fire across the river." "As everyone knows, the Taliban's demand is something the U.S. government can help resolve, not the Afghan or South Korean government," it said. "The South Korean government, citing its alliance with the United States, dispatched troops for the U.S. war against terrorism," it added. "Now why can't it use the spirit of the alliance to help persuade the U.S. administration and save its own people?" Brian Knowlton contributed reporting from Washington. -- Yoshie From critical.montages@gmail.com Fri Aug 03 09:38:18 2007 Received: from wx-out-0506.google.com ([66.249.82.232]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IGzEI-0003jT-Ld for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 09:38:18 -0600 Received: by wx-out-0506.google.com with SMTP id s11so755389wxc for ; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 08:42:15 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.90.106.11 with SMTP id e11mr3180592agc.1186155735396; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 08:42:15 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.13.17 with HTTP; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 08:42:15 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2007 11:42:15 -0400 From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" To: Rad-Green In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Disposition: inline References: Subject: [R-G] Mossadegh Yesterday, Ahmadinejad Today X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 15:38:19 -0000 RnJvbSBIb3NzZWluIERlcmFraHNoYW4ncyBibG9nOgoKPGh0dHA6Ly9pLmhvZGVyLmNvbS9hcmNo aXZlcy8yMDA3LzA3LzA3MDcwMV8wMTYxNzcuc2h0bWw+Ctiv24zYsdmI2LIg2YXYtdiv2YLYjCDY p9mF2LHZiNiyINin2K3Zhdiv24zZhtqY2KfYrwpbRGlyb296IE1vc3NhZGVnaCwgRW1yb296IEFo bWFkaW5lamFkIC0tIE1vc3NhZGVnaCBZZXN0ZXJkYXksIEFobWFkaW5lamFkIFRvZGF5XQoxIEp1 bHkgMjAwNwoKRXhjZXJwdDogVGhlIHNpbWlsYXJpdGllcyBiZXR3ZWVuIHRoZSBBbWVyaWNhbiAn bGliZXJhbCcgbWVkaWEgaXMKdHJlYXRpbmcgQWhtYWRpbmVqYWQgYW5kIElyYW4ncyBudWNsZWFy IHByb2dyYW1tZSBhbmQgdGhlIHdheSB0aGV5CndlcmUgdGFsa2luZyBpbiBlYXJseSAxOTUwcyBh Ym91dCBNb2hhbW1hZCBNb3NzYWRlZ2ggYW5kIElyYW4ncwpkZWNpc2lvbiB0byBuYXRpb25hbGlz ZSB0aGUgb2lsIGluZHVzdHJ5IGFyZSBzaW1wbHkgYW1hem5nLiBDb21wYXJlIGEKcmVjZW50IGVk aXRvcmlhbCBieSB0aGUgQm9zdG9uIEdsb2JlIHdpdGggYW4gb2xkIGVkaXRvcmlhbCBieSB0aGUg TmV3CllvcmsgVGltZXMgaW4gQXVndXN0IDE5NTMsIHRpdGxlZCAnTW9zc2FkZWdoIFBsYXlzIHdp dGggRmlyZS4nIFRoZQpsYXR0ZXIgZWRpdG9yaWFsIHdhcyBwdWJsaXNoZWQgb25seSBhIGNvdXBs ZSBvZiBkYXlzIGJlZm9yZSB0aGUKQ0lBLW9yZ2FuaXNlZCBjb3VwIHdoaWNoIHRvcHBsZWQgTW9z c2FkZWdoJ3MgZ292ZXJubWVudC4KLS0KWW9zaGllCg== From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Fri Aug 03 14:53:02 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IH48s-0004IX-KI for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 14:53:02 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l73KjJ1Q005188; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:45:19 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:45:19 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar1.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.201]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l73KiXZA003828; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:44:34 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:44:33 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200708032044.l73KiXZA003828@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] The president is threatening me X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 20:53:03 -0000 http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/325688_threat31.html Seattle Post Intelligencer July 30, 2007 The president is threatening me By Marie Marchand Guest columnist In case I get picked up and taken away under President Bush's Military Commissions Act of October 2006, I want it on record that I am not a terrorist or an enemy combatant, and that the organization I run in Bellingham is not associated with any terrorist cell. The Whatcom Peace & Justice Center works non-violently to end the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is committed to envisioning and creating a world for our children where diplomacy and friendship are the measuring stick for our foreign policy. We have never intended, planned or considered violence as a means to peace. In case my assets, which are few, get seized and my hard drive gets robbed under Bush's new executive order of July 17, 2007, I want you to know my name so that I am not disappeared. I have a 6-year-old son to raise, and, like so many intelligent, passionate peace activists, the world needs me to be a leader in ending my country's imperial addiction to warfare. The new executive order blocks property of certain people who undermine efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq. Its language leaves the door dangerously open to broad and flagrant interpretation that could label as a terrorist suspect anyone who holds a political viewpoint opposite that of the White House. There's no doubt that the administration preys on our civil liberties, and that the effects of unjust policies filter down to the local level. In 2003, a Quaker Meeting House in Florida was put under surveillance through the Pentagon's domestic spying program and labeled a threat. But Quakerism is a religion of pacifism; naturally, they would be against war. The Department of Defense spying on a group of draft counselors? Come on. In 2004, the FBI approached the Whatcom County Library in Deming with a grand jury subpoena demanding librarians turn over the names and contact information of every person who checked out "Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America." The library pursued legal action and the FBI eventually withdrew the subpoena. The director of the Whatcom County Library System, Jane Airoldi, received a human rights award for refusing to hand over patrons' private information. "Libraries are a haven where people should be able to seek whatever information they want to pursue without any threat of government intervention," Airoldi said. When our government no longer equates terrorism with violence, but with the perceived threat of an unsubstantiated rumor of intent to "pose a significant risk of committing an act or acts of violence that have the purpose or effect of threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or the government"; or when non-violent pacifism is misconstrued as a tactic that undermines national security, no one is exempt from capture, detention and possible torture. I perceive Bush's July 17 executive order as a personal threat. When someone makes a threat, their intention is often to scare, isolate and subdue the other person into silence through fear. I will not be silent. Like millions of dissenters around the world, I want my name to be included among those who resisted those unjust policies and decrees. The American people must have the courage to resist. Otherwise, our friends and neighbors may begin to disappear, and we may not hear them being carted off in the middle of the night. As a patriotic American who holds steadfast to a belief in justice, I do not accept Bush's threats to my constitutional and human rights passively. If I disappear, I disappear. But I will not go willingly, and I will not go unnamed. ------------ Marie Marchand is executive director of Whatcom Peace & Justice Center in Bellingham. From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Fri Aug 03 14:53:24 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IH49E-0004Ir-Lw for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 14:53:24 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l73KiEo1003174; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:44:14 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:44:14 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar1.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.201]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l73KgSH3000104; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:42:28 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:42:28 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200708032042.l73KgSH3000104@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad Old-Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to base64 by rm-rstar.sfu.ca id l73KiEo1003174 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from base64 to 8bit by lists.econ.utah.edu MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] Iraq: success is just around the corner.... X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 20:53:25 -0000 Associated Press August 1, 2007 Sunni Arab Bloc Quits Iraqi Government By Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Sinan Salaheddin Associated Press Writers Baghdad (AP) - Iraq's largest Sunni Arab political bloc announced its withdrawal from the government Wednesday, undermining efforts to seek reconciliation among the country's rival factions, and three bombings in Baghdad killed at least 70 people. In one attack, 50 people were killed and 60 wounded when a suicide attacker exploded a fuel truck near a gas station in western Baghdad. Another 17 died in a separate car bomb attack in central Baghdad. And in a mostly Christian section of the capital, a parked car bombing killed three people. The U.S. military announced the deaths of four American soldiers, three of whom were killed by a sophisticated, armor-piercing bomb. Britain also announced the death of one of its soldiers, by a roadside bombing in Basra. The White House on Wednesday downplayed the significance of the Accordance Front's leaving the government. Press secretary Tony Snow said that while it is important for all the political blocs to participate, reconciliation efforts are ongoing. He noted that Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi and the minister of defense, both Sunnis, remain in place. We're keeping an eye on the situation, but let's keep in mind that it is not a complete withdrawal from the political process, Snow said. The Accordance Front has 44 of parliament's 275 seats. Its withdrawal from the 14-month-old government is the second such action by a faction of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's national unity coalition. Five Cabinet ministers loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr quit the government in April to protest al-Maliki's reluctance to announce a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. Rafaa al-Issawi, a leading member of the Accordance Front, said at a news conference Wednesday that the Sunni bloc's six Cabinet ministers would submit their resignations later in the day. Al-Issawi said the decision to pull out from the government followed what he called al-Maliki's failure to respond to the Accordance Front. It gave him seven days to meet its demands, and the ultimatum expired Wednesday. Among the demands: a pardon for security detainees not charged with specific crimes, the disbanding of militias and the participation of all groups represented in the government in dealing with security issues. The government is continuing with its arrogance, refusing to change its stand and has slammed shut the door to any meaningful reforms necessary for saving Iraq, al-Issawi said. We had hoped that the government would respond to these demands or at least acknowledge the failure of its policies, which led Iraq to a level of misery it had not seen in modern history. But its stand did not surprise us at all, he said, reading from a prepared statement. In all, at least 95 people were killed or found dead in Iraq. The deadliest attack occurred when a a fuel tanker exploded near a gas station in western Baghdad's primarily Sunni Mansour neighborhood, killing at least 50 people and wounding 60, police said. Two police officers, both speaking on condition of anonymity out of security concerns, said the explosion was the work of a suicide attacker. Earlier, a parked car bomb killed 17 civilians and left a gaping crater in a busy square in central Baghdad, police said. Another 32 people were wounded by the blast, another police officer said on the same condition of anonymity. An Associated Press reporter at the scene said the explosion ripped a hole five feet wide in the asphalt. Three minibuses and six cars were damaged by flames and flying debris. Blood pooled in the street. A gas station and a popular ice cream parlor also suffered damage. Windows were shattered and benches lay toppled outside. Shrapnel scattered 200 meters from the blast. The explosives had been in a vehicle in al-Hurriyah square in the mostly Shiite Karradah neighborhood, and detonated around 10:15 a.m., the police officer said. The bombing occurred nearly a week after a cluster of explosions, including one from a massive truck bomb, hit the same neighborhood. Karradah had previously been thought to be one of central Baghdad's safest areas. Last Thursday's blasts killed more than 60 people. Elsewhere in Baghdad, a parked car bomb killed three people and wounded five in southern Baghdad. The attack occurred in the al-Athouriyn area of Dora, where most residents are Christian. The U.S. military on Wednesday announced the deaths of three more soldiers, killed by a sophisticated, armor-piercing bomb in eastern Baghdad. An explosively formed penetrator, or EFP, detonated near the soldiers' patrol during combat operations Tuesday, it said. Six other soldiers were wounded. Another soldier was killed by small arms fire Tuesday in a separate incident, the military reported. That brought to 77 the July toll of U.S. deaths in Iraq. It was the lowest monthly count in eight months, as the U.S. military said it was gaining control of former militant strongholds. Still, it was the deadliest July for U.S. troops since the war began. For the previous three years, the month of July saw a relatively low death toll. In July 2006, 43 U.S. troops were killed in Iraq, and 54 died in each of the previous two Julys. By contrast, July was the second-deadliest month for Iraqis so far this year, according to an Associated Press tally. In other violence Wednesday, Iraqi police said a parked car bomb killed three people and wounded five in southern Baghdad in a mostly Christian area. The U.S. military said its forces had killed three suspects and captured 27 others in raids targeting al-Qaida in Iraq on Tuesday and Wednesday. ---- Associated Press writer Bushra Juhi in Baghdad and the AP News Research Center in New York contributed to this report. From critical.montages@gmail.com Fri Aug 03 14:53:45 2007 Received: from wx-out-0506.google.com ([66.249.82.229]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IH49Y-0004J9-TK for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 14:53:45 -0600 Received: by wx-out-0506.google.com with SMTP id s11so812720wxc for ; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:57:43 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.34.13 with SMTP id h13mr5666080wxh.1186174662575; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:57:42 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.13.17 with HTTP; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:57:42 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2007 16:57:42 -0400 From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" To: Rad-Green In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline References: Subject: [R-G] Israel's Jewish Problem in Tehran X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 20:53:45 -0000 Israel's Jewish Problem in Tehran: So Why Hasn't Iran Started by Wiping Its Own Jews off the Map? by Jonathan Cook Iran is the new Nazi Germany and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the new Hitler. Or so Israeli officials have been declaring for months as they and their American allies try to persuade the doubters in Washington that an attack on Tehran is essential. And if the latest media reports are to be trusted, it looks like they may again be winning the battle for hearts and minds: Vice-President Dick Cheney is said to be diverting the White House back on track to launch a military strike. Earlier this year Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's opposition leader and the man who appears to be styling himself scaremonger-in-chief, told us: "It's 1938 and Iran is Germany. And Iran is racing to arm itself with atomic bombs." Of Ahmadinejad, he said: "He is preparing another Holocaust for the Jewish state." A few weeks ago, as Israel's military intelligence claimed -- as it has been doing regularly since the early 1990s -- that Iran is only a year or so away from the "point of no return" on developing a nuclear warhead, Netanyahu was at it again. "Iran could be the first undeterrable nuclear power," he warned, adding: "This is a Jewish problem like Hitler was a Jewish problem. . . . The future of the Jewish people depends on the future of Israel." But Netanyahu has been far from alone in making extravagant claims about a looming genocide from Iran. Israel's new president, Shimon Peres, has compared an Iranian nuclear bomb to a "flying concentration camp." And the prime minister, Ehud Olmert, told a German newspaper last year: "[Ahmadinejad] speaks as Hitler did in his time of the extermination of the entire Jewish nation." There is an interesting problem with selling the "Iran as Nazi Germany" line. If Ahmadinejad really is Hitler, ready to commit genocide against Israel's Jews as soon as he can get his hands on a nuclear weapon, why are some 25,000 Jews living peacefully in Iran and more than reluctant to leave despite repeated enticements from Israel and American Jews? What is the basis for Israel's dire forecasts -- the ideological scaffolding being erected, presumably, to justify an attack on Iran? Helpfully, as George Bush defended his Iraq policies last month, he reminded us yet again of the menace Iran supposedly poses: it is "threatening to wipe Israel off the map." This myth has been endlessly recycled since a translating error was made of a speech Ahmadinejad delivered nearly two years ago. Farsi experts have verified that the Iranian president, far from threatening to destroy Israel, was quoting from an earlier speech by the late Ayatollah Khomeini in which he reassured supporters of the Palestinians that "the Zionist regime in Jerusalem" would "vanish from the page of time." He was not threatening to exterminate Jews or even Israel. He was comparing Israel's occupation of the Palestinians with other illegitimate systems of rule whose time had passed, including the Shahs who once ruled Iran, apartheid South Africa, and the Soviet empire. Nonetheless, this erroneous translation has survived and prospered because Israel and her supporters have exploited it for their own crude propaganda purposes. In the meantime, the 25,000-strong Iranian Jewish community is the largest in the Middle East outside Israel and traces its roots back 3,000 years. As one of several non-Muslim minorities in Iran, Jews there suffer discrimination, but they are certainly no worse off than the one million Palestinian citizens of Israel -- and far better off than Palestinians under Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza. Iranian Jews have little influence on decision-making and are not allowed to hold senior posts in the army or bureaucracy. But they enjoy many freedoms. They have an elected representative in parliament, they practice their religion openly in synagogues, their charities are funded by the Jewish diaspora, and they can travel freely, including to Israel. In Tehran there are six kosher butchers and about 30 synagogues. Ahmadinejad's office recently made a donation to a Jewish hospital in Tehran. As Ciamak Moresadegh, an Iranian Jewish leader, observed: "If you think Judaism and Zionism are one, it is like thinking Islam and the Taliban are the same, and they are not." Iran's leaders denounce Zionism, which they blame for fueling discrimination against the Palestinians, but they have also repeatedly avowed that they have no problem with Jews, Judaism, or even the state of Israel. Ahmadinejad, caricatured as a merchant of genocide, has in fact called for "regime change" -- and then only in the sense that he believes a referendum should be held of all inhabitants of Israel and the occupied territories, including refugees from war, on the nature of the government. Despite the absence of any threat to Iran's Jews, the Israeli media recently reported that the Israeli government has been trying to find new ways to entice Iranian Jews to Israel. The Ma'ariv newspaper pointed out that previous schemes had found few takers. There was, noted the report, "a lack of desire on the part of thousands of Iranian Jews to leave." According to the New York-based Forward newspaper, a campaign to convince Iranian Jews to emigrate to Israel caused only 152 out of these 25,000 Jews to leave Iran between October 2005 and September 2006, and most of them were said to have emigrated for economic reasons, not political ones. To step up these efforts -- and presumably to avoid the embarrassing incongruence of claiming an imminent second Holocaust while thousands of Jews live happily in Tehran -- Israel is now backing a move by Jewish donors to guarantee every Iranian Jewish family $60,000 to settle in Israel, in addition to a host of existing financial incentives that are offered to Jewish immigrants, including loans and cheap mortgages. The announcement was met with scorn by the Society of Iranian Jews, which issued a statement that their national identity was not for sale. "The identity of Iranian Jews is not tradeable for any amount of money. Iranian Jews are among the most ancient Iranians. Iran's Jews love their Iranian identity and their culture, so threats and this immature political enticement will not achieve their aim of wiping out the identity of Iranian Jews." However, this financial gesture may not only be unwelcome but self-fulfilling too, if past experience is the yardstick. Israel introduced a similar scheme a few years ago, when Argentina's economy plunged into deep recession, broadcasting an offer of $20,000 to every Jew who settled in Israel. Months later the Israeli media reported a rise in anti-Semitic attacks in Argentina, only adding to the pressure on Jews there to leave. Of course, there was no mention of a possible causal connection between the attacks and Israel's generous offer to Jews to abandon their homeland as other Argentinians sank into poverty. But if financial enticements -- and a possible popular backlash -- fail to move Iranian Jews, there is good reason to fear that Israel may resort to other, more dubious ways of encouraging them to emigrate. That is certainly a path Israel has chosen before with other communities of Arab Jews, whom it has regarded either as a pool of potential spies and agents provocateurs to be used when needed or as "human dust," in the words of Israel's first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, to be recruited to Israel's "demographic battle" against the Palestinians. In "Operation Susannah" of 1954, for example, Israel recklessly recruited a group of Egyptian Jews to stage a series of explosions in Egypt in a bid to discourage Britain from withdrawing from the Suez Canal zone. When the plot came to light, it naturally cast a shadow of disloyalty over Egypt's wider Jewish community. Following Israel's invasion and occupation of Sinai two years later, the government of Gamal Abdel Nasser expelled some 25,000 Egyptian Jews and, after others were imprisoned on suspicion of spying, the rest soon left. Even more notoriously, Israel went to greater lengths to ensure the exit of the Arab world's largest Jewish population, in Iraq. In 1950 a series of bombs targeted on Jews in Baghdad forced a rapid exodus of some 130,000 Iraqi Jews to Israel, convinced that Arab extremists were behind the attacks. Only later did it emerge that the bombs had been planted by members of the Zionist underground, supported by the Israeli government. Now, Iran's Jews may find themselves treated in much the same manner -- as simple human fodder. Stories are growing of Israel exploiting the free movement between Iran and Israel enjoyed by Iranian Jews and their Israeli relatives to carry out spying operations on Iran's nuclear programme. Such reports have come from reliable sources such as the American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, citing US government officials. The fallout from such actions is not difficult to predict. Besieged by the US and the international community, Tehran is cracking down on dissent and minority groups, fearful that its own grip on power is shaky and that the well-publicised subversion being carried out by US and Israeli agents is likely only to be stepped up. So far most officials in Tehran have been careful to avoid suggesting that Iran's Jews have double loyalties, as has the local Jewish community itself, both of them aware of Israel's interests in provoking such a confrontation. But as the strains increase, and Israel's need to prove Tehran's genocidal intent grows ever stronger, that policy may end up being forfeited -- and with it the future of Iran's Jews. More important than the welfare of Iranian Jewish families, it seems, is the value of Iranian Jews as a propaganda tool in Israel's battle to persuade the world that coexistence with the Muslim world is impossible. For those who want to engineer a clash of civilizations, the 3,000-year-old Jewish legacy in Iran is not something to be treasured, only another obstacle to war. Jonathan Cook, a journalist based in Nazareth, Israel, is the author of Blood and Religion: The Unmasking of the Jewish and Democratic State (Pluto Press). His website is . -- Yoshie From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Fri Aug 03 14:54:57 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IH4Aj-0004JP-HG for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 14:54:57 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l73KjrUL006138; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:45:53 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:45:53 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar1.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.201]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l73Kgx41001102; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:42:59 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:42:59 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200708032042.l73Kgx41001102@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] Overcoming the conspiracy against Palestine X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 20:54:57 -0000 Electronic Intifada 18 July 2007 Opinion/editorial Overcoming the conspiracy against Palestine By Ali Abunimah "Be certain that Yasser Arafat's final days are numbered, but allow us to finish him off our way, not yours. And be sure as well that ... the promises I made in front of President Bush, I will give my life to keep." Those words were written by the Fatah warlord Mohammed Dahlan, whose US- and Israeli-backed forces were routed by Hamas in the Gaza Strip last month, in a 13 July 2003 letter to then Israeli defense minister Shaul Mofaz and published on Hamas' website on 4 July this year. Dahlan, who despite his failure to hold Gaza, remains a senior advisor to Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas, outlines his conspiracy to overthrow Arafat, destroy Palestinian institutions and replace them with a quisling leadership subservient to Israel. Dahlan writes of his fear that Arafat would convene the Palestinian legislative council and ask it to withdraw confidence from then prime minister Mahmoud Abbas, who had been appointed earlier in 2003 at Bush's insistence in order to curb Arafat's influence. Dahlan wrote that "complete coordination and cooperation by all" was needed to prevent this, as well as "subjecting [Arafat] to pressure so that he cannot carry out this step." Dahlan reveals that "we have already begun attempts to polarize the views of many legislative council members by intimidation and temptation so that they will be on our side and not his [Arafat's]." Dahlan closes his letter to Mofaz saying, "it remains only for me to convey my gratitude to you and the prime minister [Ariel Sharon] for your continued confidence in us, and to you all respect." This letter is a small but vivid piece of evidence to add to the existing mountain, of the conspiracy in which the Abbas leadership is involved. In the month since Abbas' appointment of a Vichy-style "emergency government" headed by Salam Fayad, historic Fatah leaders, such as Farouq Qaddumi and Hani al-Hassan have signalled their opposition to Abbas' actions, specifically rejecting his order that Palestinian resistance fighters disarm while Israeli occupation continues unchallenged. This underscores that the split among Palestinians today is not between Hamas and Fatah, nor between "extremist" or "moderate," or "Islamist" or "secular," but between the minority who have cast their lot in with the enemy as collaborators on the one hand, and those who uphold the right and duty to resist on the other. Israeli leaders, at least, are crystal clear about what they expect from their Palestinian servants. Ephraim Sneh, until recently deputy defense minister, expresses the consensus view of the Israeli establishment: "The most urgent and important mission for Israel at this time is preventing a Hamas takeover of the West Bank. It is possible to do this by weakening Hamas through visible diplomatic progress; helping the effective and successful functioning of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad's government; and the creation of conditions for the total failure of the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip" ("How to stop Hamas," Haaretz, 17 July 2007). Sneh makes clear that "in order to emerge victorious, military campaigns and arrests are not enough -- it is imperative to bring about [Hamas'] political-public defeat via another Palestinian element." This element is Fatah. Sneh lists a number of measures designed to achieve this, including employing more Palestinians as low-wage laborers in the Israeli economy, releasing Fatah prisoners and giving back Palestinian tax money stolen by Israel -- but says absolutely nothing about stopping the construction of Jewish-only Israeli colonies, ending military occupation and abrogating racist laws and practices. With characteristic vagueness he only asserts that "it is necessary to embark on a discussion with the Palestinian president about the principles of the permanent status agreement." Fourteen years after Oslo, this is not likely to convince too many skeptics. Since the Oslo accords were signed, Israel has done all it can to undermine the prospects of Palestinian statehood, consistently hobbling the Palestinian Authority. What lies behind Israel's determination to prop up Abbas' quisling leadership? Why not just let it all collapse and declare victory? Israeli leaders know that shoring up support for an ethnic "Jewish state" depends on concealing the reality that Jews are no longer the majority population in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip -- the territory controlled by the Israeli state. Israel needs the fig leaf of a Palestinian sovereign to take millions of Palestinians off its books, the way apartheid South Africa attempted to deploy the cover of "independent Black homelands" -- Bantustans -- to prolong white rule and give it a veneer of legitimacy. If the Palestinian Authority collapses, Fatah which has no popular base, will collapse with it. As for Hamas, it stands at a crossroads. It can survive the collapse of the Palestinian Authority, but what will it become? It grew from a segment of Palestinian society -- poor, religiously mobilized masses, yet it draws much broader support for its resistance against Israel from Palestinians orphaned by their turncoat leaders and hungry for a principled alternative. Hamas has the choice to articulate an agenda that can live up to the aspirations of Palestinian society in all its diversity, or it can leap into the traps that are being set for it. Hamas leaders have made exemplary statements in favor of pluralism, genuine democracy, and the rule of law, and were rightly proud of the release of BBC journalist Alan Johnston. But they must be judged by their actions, and there are discouraging signs. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights has reported several cases of abuse, kidnapping and torture by members of Hamas' Executive Force, and the death of a prisoner held by Hamas' military wing. It is true that these incidents do not occur in a vacuum -- Israel and its Fatah allies continue to engage in far more widespread murder, torture and kidnapping directed at Hamas members, and Hamas is engaged in a struggle for survival. But Hamas earned legitimacy by promising to end the ugly practices of Israeli-backed Fatah militias. It must fulfill that promise or see its hard-earned support disappear. At the same time it must begin to articulate a vision for the future that takes into account the reality of 11 million Israeli Je! ws and Palestinians living in a small country. We know what Hamas is against, but no one is clear what it is for. Hamas is edging towards accepting a two-state solution just as the reality is beginning to dawn even on stalwarts of the Oslo peace process industry that the two-state solution, needed to save Israel as an enclave of Jewish privilege, is slipping out of reach. As a two-state solution "is becoming less likely," observes Aaron David Miller, a 25-year veteran of the State Department and senior Clinton Administration official at the 2000 Camp David summit, "there is more talk among Palestinians of a one-state solution -- which of course is not a solution at all, and which would mean the end of Israel as a Jewish state." ("Is peace out of reach?," The Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2007). Haaretz columnist Danny Rubinstein predicts that "sooner or later Hamas will fail in its war against Israel. But that [doesn't] mean that there will then be a return to the days of Oslo and the two-state vision." Rather, he fears, "there will be increasingly strong demands by Palestinian Arabs, who constitute almost half the inhabitants of this land, who will say: Under the present conditions we cannot establish a state of our own, and what remains for us is to demand civil rights in the country that is our homeland. They will adopt the slogans of the struggle of the Arabs who are Israeli citizens, who demand equality and the definition of Israel as a state of all its citizens." ("Nothing to sell the Palestinians," 16 July 2007). Thus we can see that Abbas is now Israel's last best hope in the struggle against democracy. Such a pathetic coalition cannot stand in the way of liberation. Ali Abunimah is cofounder of The Electronic Intifada and author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse. From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Fri Aug 03 14:55:07 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IH4At-0004Jb-6a for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 14:55:07 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l73KiltR004294; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:44:47 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:44:47 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar1.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.201]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l73Ki1lY002506; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:44:01 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:44:01 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200708032044.l73Ki1lY002506@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad Old-Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to base64 by rm-rstar.sfu.ca id l73KiltR004294 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from base64 to 8bit by lists.econ.utah.edu MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] US plays down reported tension with Saudis ahead of arms talks X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 20:55:07 -0000 If Washington believes that the Saudis are trying to undermine the government of Iraq's Shiite prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, why isnt the Bush-Cheney team sabre rattling for war with Saudi Arabia the way it is with Iran? ----------- Agence France Presse July 28, 2007 US plays down reported tension with Saudis ahead of arms talks Washington (AFP) - - US officials Friday played down a report saying Saudi Arabia is interfering with US efforts in Iraq and undermining the Maliki government, as Washington readied a major arms package for Riyadh. Days before US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were to embark on a joint trip to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the New York Times reported that Washington believes the predominantly Sunni Muslim Saudis are trying to undermine the government of Iraq's Shiite prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki. Citing anonymous US officials, the Times also said that nearly half of an estimated 60 to 80 foreign fighters entering Iraq every month to join the insurgency there come from Saudi Arabia and that the Saudi leadership has not done enough to counter the influx. But with a major arms deal to be part of the discussions between Gates and Rice and their Saudi counterparts, US officials sought to play down the report. While not addressing the Times report specifically, White House spokesperson Dana Perino insisted Friday that Washington and Riyadh are working closely on security issues. "We have very strong relations on counter-terrorism measures," Perino said. "We have worked very closely with Saudi Arabia." A senior US defense official insisted that, from a defense perspective: "The Saudi Arabians have been and will continue to be a critical ally in all of the defense and security-related issues in the region." "Likewise they will play a critical role in defeating and countering Iran's nuclear threat as well as other strategic threats in the region," the official said. Gates and Rice are expected to emphasize US commitment to regional security as debate rages at home whether to withdraw US forces from Iraq. The defense official said Gates and Rice would also be discussing a key new arms deal with Riyadh directed at possible threats to the region from Tehran. The official provided no details on the arms package, but the Boston Globe reported in March that it is believed to include air and missile defense systems, advanced early warning radar aircraft and light coastal combat ships. "We've been working very hard on the Saudi arms package, which we believe is critical to the overarching architecture that we believe we are going to need ... to deal with the changing strategic threat from Iran and other forces," the official said. But the Times reported that the two US officials will raise concerns over Saudi involvement in Iraq as well. It said the Saudis recently confronted a US envoy with documents that purported to show Maliki warning radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr to lie low during the US "surge" offensive and another that supposedly showed Maliki was an agent of Iran. The documents were rejected as forgeries, the Times said, but added that US officials are angry over evidence of Saudi funding of Maliki's Sunni opponents. The Times said the officials spoke to the newspaper with the clear intention of sending a signal to the Saudis. The report came on the heels of a Wall Street Journal article Thursday, which said US officials have believed for years that Saudi Al Rahji bank has links to charities that front for extremist groups like Al-Qaeda. US-Saudi relations have been increasingly strained since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. With mounting public pressure in the United States to pull its troops out, King Abdullah slammed in March the "illegitimate foreign occupation" of Iraq. Brookings Institution expert Daniel Benjamin told AFP that Riyadh was preparing for the possibility of Iran-backed Shiite Muslims taking full control of Iraq, where they are the majority. "There have been plenty of reports of the Saudis buying up (Sunni) tribes in Iraq as a hedge against Shiite hegemony and against Iran specifically," Benjamin said. "It certainly doesn't help the (US) administration at all if one of its closest allies in the region is fueling instability," he said. From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Fri Aug 03 14:56:35 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IH4CJ-0004KT-QA for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 14:56:35 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l73KlM2Q008896; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:47:22 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:47:21 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar1.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.201]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l73Kj9lW004937; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:45:10 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:45:09 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200708032045.l73Kj9lW004937@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad Old-Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to base64 by rm-rstar.sfu.ca id l73KlM2Q008896 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from base64 to 8bit by lists.econ.utah.edu MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] Denying Armenian Genocide should be Foxman's last atrocity X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 20:56:36 -0000 http://www.jewcy.com/feature/2007-07-09/fire_foxman Jewcy.com July 9, 2007 Fire Foxman Denying the Armenian Genocide should be the last atrocity perpetrated by the ADL chief. By Joey Kurtzman Abdullah Gul needed a favor. It was February 5 of this year, and the Turkish foreign minister was fighting a push in the U.S. House of Representatives to recognize the Turkish murder of one million Armenians during World War I. In past years the House had placated Turkey by dropping similar resolutions. But now, with the American-Turkish alliance weakened by the Iraq war, the resolution had found renewed support. Gul summoned representatives from the Anti-Defamation League and several other Jewish-American organizations to his room at the Willard Hotel in Washington. There he asked them, in essence, to perpetuate Turkeys denial of genocide. Abraham Foxmans ADL acquiesced, and in so doing, performed the pièce de résistance of Foxmans highly effective, if unintentional, decades-long campaign to demoralize Jewish America and send young Jews scurrying for the communal exit doors. The ADL chief is a danger to the future of the community, and it is a scandal that he remains at the head of a major Jewish organization. Foxman must go. And the organization he has done so much to shape must either change or go with him. Soon after the meeting with Gul, the ADL joined three other American Jewish organizationsthe American Jewish Committee, B'nai Brith International, and the Jewish Institute of National Security Affairsto deliver to Congress a written plea from the Jews of Turkey that the U.S. not recognize the Armenian Genocide. Turkish Jews are more vulnerable now than at any time in recent history as they struggle to reassert their place in a society polarized by the competing visions of Turkeys Islamists and secular nationalists, so it is hardly surprising that they would parrot their governments denialist claims. By dutifully passing their letter to Congress, the Jewish American groups cynically exploited a small, frightened Jewish minority. Worse was to come. I don't think congressional action will help reconcile the issue. The resolution takes a position; it comes to a judgment, said Foxman in a statement issued to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The Turks and Armenians need to revisit their past. The Jewish community shouldn't be the arbiter of that history, nor should the U.S. Congress." Foxmans statement is in every way that matters equivalent to Mahmoud Ahmadinejads claim that he takes no position on the historicity of the Jewish Holocaust, but only hopes to see the matter resolved by dispassionate study. Throughout the Congressional saga surrounding the resolutions, virtually no one other than Turkish lobbyists had explained their opposition by challenging the nearly undisputed consensus among historians that a genocide did indeed take place. It is a scandal of unprecedented proportion when one of the most prominent figures in our community, a man who claims to speak on our behalf, publicly challenges the historicity of another communitys genocide. Foxmans ADL no longer represents the interests of the Jewish community. In fact, it seems the only interests it represents are its own. Whats surprising is how unabashedly forthright Abraham Foxman has become about what motivates him and his institution. In October of 2005, Foxman addressed a classroom of Jewish students at New York University. Young heads nodded and brows furrowed as Foxman riled them with his customary rhetoric: Isnt it antisemitic for pro-Palestinian groups to seek divestment only from Israel, ignoring the far greater crimes of regimes like Sudan or North Korea? How do we describe this sort of selective flagellation of the world's only Jewish state, if not as antisemitism? "What if the campus Free Tibet club campaigned for divestment from China? Would that be anti-Chinese bigotry?" asked Asaf Shtull-Trauring, a 20-year-old student and conscientious objector from the Israeli army. Of course not, answered Foxman, but it was preposterous to compare the two conflicts, what with the Jews' experience of two millennia of murderous persecution. Shtull-Trauring responded with two questions: Did Foxman mean that selective treatment is okay so long as it's not directed at Jews? And where did the Anti-Defamation League get off telling Jewish university students which opinions about Israel were acceptable and which verboten? The dialogue spiraled into a confrontation. Shtull-Trauring says Foxman, frustrated and under attack, placed his cards on the table, angrily retorting: I dont represent you nor the Jewish community! I represent the donors. Foxmans outburst was surprising not because of its content, but because of its candor. Foxman neednt bother himself with the trifling concerns of American Jews who happen not to be multimillionaire philanthropists. If he makes the Jewish community less appealing to young Jews, if his theatrics turn us off and turn us away, thats all beside the point. Foxmans job is to keep the millionaire benefactors happy: the rest of us can go jump in the Kinneret. Without a meaningful mission to pursue, the ADL has resorted to scaremongering to fill its coffers and justify its existence. These efforts have grown increasingly bizarre and damaging. For example, the ADL website surveys the vast changes in Jewish-American life over the past century and offers the grandiose judgment that they are due, in large measure, to the efforts of the League and its allies. Yet Foxman also claims that today the Jewish people face as great a threat to their safety and security as they did in the 1930s. In other words, the ADL takes credit for the vast improvements in the circumstances of American Jewry, and then denies that those changes have taken place. It is still 1939. It will always be 1939. When the ADL was born, in the early 20th century, institutional discrimination against American Jews was commonplace at every level of society. Populist politicians employed the most vulgar antisemitic language, and restricted hotels and country clubs reassured patrons that Jews would be stopped at the front door. In 1915, 31-year-old factory manager Leo Frank was lynched in Marietta, Georgia after he was accused of raping a Christian girl. But today, American Jews are successful and well-integrated. And unlike in Weimar Germany, where we were accepted only so long as we obscured our Jewishness behind the accoutrements of gentile culture, in America we are accepted even as we celebrate what sets us apart. Such a reality, however, doesnt serve the fundraising interests of the ADL. The ADLs jihad against Mel Gibsons Passion of the Christ was typical of the organizations destructive, self-interested efforts. Foxman, as you might remember, fanned fears it would inspire Chmielniki-style pogroms. Yet not a single documented act of violence against Jews resulted from the film, nor even a single verbal assault. A study conducted by Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles indicated some anger among Christians toward Jewsbut because of the reaction to the film, rather than its contents. Thanks to the ADL, our strong and self-confident community was made to appear silly and paranoid before the world. The Passion fiasco was hardly the ADL's only effort to alienate and insult American Christians. In November 2005, Foxman delivered a widely publicized speech in which he warned that American Christian organizations were engaged in an insidious campaign to Christianize America. Its a shocking allegation: firstly, because Jewish interfaith groups have developed very strong ties with precisely such organizations in the past decade; and secondly, because conservative Jewish groups have been just as aggressive in their efforts to breach the wall between church and state. While Christian groups cant get the ornaments of Christianity placed in government buildings, Chabad has succeeded in publicly erecting enormous, gaudy menorahs throughout the country. In this environment, where the push for more religion in public life unites religious conservatives across all faiths, why would Foxman single out Christians? Again, the answer is simple: Fundraising. Such headline-grabbing proclamations add a historically evocative Christian dimension to the terrifying nightmare-world in which the ADL encourages its benefactors to live. The ADL can libel American Christians in general without fear of legal consequence, but when it goes on to identify specific antisemites it leaves itself more vulnerable. Time after time, Americans who resented being named-and-shamed as antisemites have sued the ADL for libel. In 2000, Colorado residents Dorothy and William Quigley received a ten million dollar verdict against the ADL, which, according to Federal judge Edward Nottingham, had labeled a neighborhood feud as an antisemitic event. Nottingham concluded that the ADL had not properly investigated the case nor considered the consequences of its accusations. But what the ADL lost in libel fees, it gained in bogus credibility. Baseless accusations of antisemitism contribute to a paranoid fundraising atmosphere that makes Foxmans ADL seem utterly necessary; maybe the Quigleys werent antisemites, but that doesnt mean your neighbors arent Hitlerists in disguise. Still, such bullying by the ADL has an inevitable chilling effect: Jewish community leaders, even those who take exception to the ADL's techniques, fear speaking out lest the ADL accuse them of some crime against the Jewish people. Like all bullies, the ADL is widely disliked, but less widely spoken out against. Ultimately, it is the seductive appeal of the ADL's dark visions that most threaten us. American Jewry enjoys privileges undreamed of in Jewish history: we are a more accepted, more integral part of our country than any Jewish community ever has been. We have entered unprecedented territory in Jewish history, and the enticements and possibilities of this new era should be setting our souls alight. Foxmans ADL justifies its existence by beckoning us backward, encouraging us to hide from the ever-present Cossacks in a psychological shtetl. It's a dark vision that serves the ADL's interests, but not ours. So perhaps we should be grateful to Abraham Foxman for acting as he did after the April meeting with Abdullah Gul, and doing something to so publicly and incontrovertibly demonstrate how destructive he has become to his own organization, and to the Jewish community he claims to serve. From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Fri Aug 03 15:01:22 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IH4Gw-0004L1-HY for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 15:01:22 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l73Kl3xn008339; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:47:03 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:47:02 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar1.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.201]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l73KkE9C006690; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:46:14 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:46:14 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200708032046.l73KkE9C006690@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad Old-Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to base64 by rm-rstar.sfu.ca id l73Kl3xn008339 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from base64 to 8bit by lists.econ.utah.edu MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] Holocaust survivors blast Olmert's $20 stipend X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 21:01:22 -0000 Associated Press July 31, 2007 Holocaust survivors blast $20 stipend By Laurie Copans, Associated Press Writer An Israeli government offer of a new $20 monthly stipend for Holocaust survivors provoked outrage Tuesday, with survivors charging the meager allowance will do nothing to make up for years of neglect of the 240,000 Israelis who lived through Nazi horrors. Survivors have long claimed that European countries treat them far better than Israel, where many elderly survivors live in poverty. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's announcement of the new allowance did nothing to change that impression. One survivor called the offer "absurd and insulting." Six million Jews were killed by the Nazis during World War II. Hundreds of thousands who survived concentration camps came to Israel after the war. Many suffered physical or psychological damage from the torture and deprivation they suffered at the hands of the Nazis. Six decades after the war ended, the remaining survivors are elderly, and many have been unable to provide for themselves in their final years, suffering chronic shortages of money for medical and psychological treatment and in some cases even food. Israel TV showed video of an 85-year-old survivor who said the only meat he could afford was chicken necks. Olmert presented his program as a solution. "We are correcting a 60-year-old blight," he said. "Holocaust survivors living in Israel are entitled to live respectably without reaching a situation in which it is beyond their means to enjoy a hot meal." Beginning next year, the amount allocated for 120,000 needy survivors, about half the total number still living in Israel, will be $28 million annually, according to Olmert's statement. But that works out to an average of just $20 a month for each survivor. "Of course the survivors cannot accept such an offer," said Dubby Arbel, chairman of the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Survivors in Israel. Arbel said about 65,000 survivors are in acute need of assistance, but his foundation can provide for only half of them. Many survivors were outraged. "This doesn't solve anything," said survivor Avraham Roet, 79. "The government doesn't understand the significance of the Holocaust and what horrors the survivors went through. If they did, they wouldn't propose this absurd and insulting plan," he told The Associated Press. The new payment is in addition to government support already given to survivors, including those deemed physically or psychologically handicapped, and regular pension payments of about $487 a month. Survivors groups charged in what was meant to be an especially painful dig at the Israeli government that survivors are treated better in Germany. "We know what the conditions of the Holocaust survivors are in Holland, France, Germany and Poland. They are much better than in Israel," Noah Frug, chairman of a consortium of Holocaust survivors' organizations and a survivor himself, told Israel Radio. Hillary Kessler-Godin, spokeswoman for Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, said Germany still pays monthly pensions to 80,000 survivors around the world, after starting in the 1950s. "Each survivor's pension can be different depending on their persecution history," she told the AP. Other funds have paid out billions of dollars to various categories of Nazi victims. Roet said the average stipend for survivors in Holland, where he was born, is between $2,740 and $4,110 a month. Arbel urged Olmert to raise the allowance "for the sake of Jewish identity and Zionist identity, and so that we can all tell our grandchildren that we took care of the Holocaust survivors." "For 42 years I received nothing from the state," survivor Kathleen Schwartz, 71, told the newspaper Haaretz. "This grant has arrived too late for thousands of survivors. Time is working against us." Critics maintain that more of the nearly $80 billion in reparations Israel has received in compensation from Germany should have gone to the survivors. A large percentage of the money, which was paid beginning in the 1950s as Israelis struggled to build their fledgling state, went to the military and for infrastructure. ___ Associated Press Correspondent David McHugh contributed to this report from Berlin. From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Fri Aug 03 15:02:06 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IH4He-0004LQ-EE for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 15:02:06 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l73KreKw019967; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:53:40 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:53:39 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar1.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.201]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l73KqlAF018684; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:52:48 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:52:47 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200708032052.l73KqlAF018684@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] Political will needed to make bridges safe X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 21:02:06 -0000 Globe and Mail August 3, 2007 Minnesota bridge collapse: America: infrastructure renewal Political will needed to make the bridges safe Any nation that spends more on its military than the next 15 highest-spending nations combined is going to find its bridges falling down. By John Ibbitson Washington -- Power plants in Michigan are, on average, 48 years old. Thirty-seven levees in California are in danger of failure. Thirty-one per cent of the bridges in West Virginia are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. "Structurally deficient" and "functionally obsolete" are phrases you are going to be hearing over the coming days. Also "infrastructure deficit" and "trillion." For example, the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates it would cost $1.6-trillion (U.S.) over five years to bring the nation's infrastructure to an acceptable condition. But democratic governments everywhere are notoriously incompetent at maintaining infrastructure. Building a new school is far more exciting and politically rewarding than maintaining an old bridge. For decades, civil engineers and public servants have warned that the U.S. infrastructure is deteriorating, that the dams can't hold back the water, that the bridges can't handle the traffic, that the pipes are rusting. And then a levee fails and New Orleans is inundated. Or a bridge collapses and cars tumble into the Mississippi River. Or - we don't know where or when the next failure will occur or how many people will be killed. We only know that it will happen and when it happens there will be saturation coverage for days, but little action at budget time. "We should look at this tragedy that occurred as a wake-up call for us," Majority Leader Harry Reid told the Senate yesterday. "We have, all over the country, crumbling infrastructure - highways, bridges, dams -and we really need to take a hard look at this." But governments are not taking a hard look. In an e-mail exchange yesterday, Thomas Rooney, who heads Insituform Technologies, a large water, oil and sewer pipe repair company, catalogued a litany of recent sewer, water and steam-pipe failures in New York, St. Louis, Detroit and Hawaii. As for the Minneapolis bridge collapse, Mr. Rooney takes issue with officials who call it an accident. "The U.S. Department of Transportation says 100,000 bridges in this country are structurally deficient," he said. "If 1 per cent of 1 per cent of these dangerous structures collapse, that is not accidental. That is predictable." The federal government had declared the Minneapolis bridge to be structurally deficient two years ago. It joined an estimated 26 per cent of U.S. bridges that are structurally deficient (in need of repair, though not in danger of collapse) or functionally obsolete (built below current safety standards). The 2005 report from the American Society of Civil Engineers estimated that it would cost $9.4-billion a year every year for 20 years to bring only the bridges of the United States up to optimal condition. But it will almost surely take more collapses and more deaths before governments are pressured into spending that kind of money. It will also take peace. The United States thus far has spent more than $600-billion on the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, almost half of what should have been spent over the past five years to bring the national infrastructure up to snuff. Any nation that spends more on its military than the next 15 highest-spending nations combined is going to find its bridges falling down. But restoring the nation's infrastructure does not mean just widening highways, upgrading sewers and building bridges. Older sewers deteriorate because city councils blow their budgets on new sewers, water mains and roads to accommodate expanding suburbs, whose commuters then drive downtown, congesting roads and stressing older bridges. Smart infrastructure renewal would start with limiting urban sprawl. One example: if you take the train from Washington to New York, you pass endless acres of abandoned warehouses, factories and even entire neighbourhoods. As a simple infrastructure question, redeveloping those abandoned sites rather than building new suburbs would increase both density and the efficiency of existing infrastructure use. But that's the problem: real infrastructure renewal requires both more money and new thinking. And both are usually in short supply when legislatures and city halls set their budgets. Still, publics in democracies do learn. Each failed levee, each collapsed bridge, each sewage leak helps to entrench an appreciation for the need to fix the nation's plumbing. Politicians who promise to take money from - from where? from taxpayers' wallets? from health care? from defence? - and spend it on infrastructure will start to get elected. And then, of course, as something else gets neglected to make the bridges safe, the debate will start again. [1]jibbitson@globeandmail.com BRIDGE CRISIS SPANS THE NATION As of December, 2006, 153,871 of the 596,808 bridges in the United States were structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. RANK TOTAL BRIDGES % DEFICIENT/OBSOLETE D.C. 248 63% Rhode Island 753 56% Massachussetts 4,946 52% Puerto Rico 2,133 49% Hawaii 1,110 46% Pennsylvania 22,260 43% New York 17,335 38% West Virginia 6,962 37% New Jersey 6,427 36% Vermont 2,704 35% National 596,808 26% Minnesota 13,025 12% SOURCE: U.S. DEPARTMENTOF TRANSPORTATION - FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION References 1. mailto:jibbitson@globeandmail.com From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Fri Aug 03 18:10:18 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IH7Dm-0004gx-LU for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 18:10:18 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l73NxVvf022918; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 16:59:31 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Fri, 3 Aug 2007 16:59:31 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar1.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.201]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l73Nwo0j021636; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 16:58:51 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 16:58:50 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200708032358.l73Nwo0j021636@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] Please sign and post another boycott petition X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 04 Aug 2007 00:10:19 -0000 Please sign and post another boycott petition From Fair Play for the Palestinians On September 8th, England is due to play Israel in a return UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier at the new Wembley Stadium. The PSC, with the support of the BIG and J-BIG campaigns and Friends of Al Aqsa, will hold a vigil by Wembley stadium on the 8th of September. For more information please visit the PSC website: www.palestinecampaign.org In the meantime we would like to ask you to take the following actions: * Sign and circulate the petition calling on UEFA, the FA and FIFA to suspend Israel from international football until it abides by international law. The petition can be signed here! http://www.palestinecampaign.org/campaigns.asp?d=y&id=147 From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Fri Aug 03 18:10:45 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IH7ED-0004hA-6s for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 18:10:45 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l7400urQ025054; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 17:00:56 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Fri, 3 Aug 2007 17:00:56 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar1.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.201]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l73NxvQI023578; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 16:59:57 -0700 (PDT) X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 16:59:57 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200708032359.l73NxvQI023578@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> To: shniad@sfu.ca From: Sid Shniad Old-Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to base64 by rm-rstar.sfu.ca id l7400urQ025054 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from base64 to 8bit by lists.econ.utah.edu MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] Darfur: colonised by peacekeepers X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 04 Aug 2007 00:10:45 -0000 [1]http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/3697/ Spiked Thursday 2 August 2007 Darfur: colonised by peacekeepers The new 26,000-strong UN force being sent to the war-torn western province of Sudan is likely to stir up further tensions rather than deliver peace. By Philip Cunliffe The United Nations (UN) Security Council yesterday passed resolution 1769. It establishes another peacekeeping mission in Sudan, UNAMID, for Sudans war-torn western province of Darfur. With a total authorised strength of 26,000, UNAMID is expected to be the largest UN peacekeeping operation in the world by next year. Whats more, UNAMID peacekeepers will deploy under the terms of Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which legally entitles them to use force beyond self-defence. In other words, this will not be a neutral, monitoring contingent, but a militarised force and de facto protagonist in Darfurs conflict. The creation of UNAMID comes on top of the two other peacekeeping missions already in Sudan: the 7,000-strong African Union force deployed in Darfur, and the 10,000-strong UN peacekeeping force policing a ceasefire in south Sudan since 2005 (UNMIS). In June this year, the European Union also began planning its own 3,000-strong peacekeeping operation to police the border between Sudan, Chad and the Central African Republic. Further south, Africa is already host to the worlds largest UN peacekeeping operation, the 18,000-strong MONUC operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. There are some further 36,000-odd UN peacekeepers scattered across the continent (see the table below). In light of all these multinational forces descending on Sudan and already stationed across Africa, it is unsurprising that some analysts have pointedly asked whether Africa is in the process of being re-colonised by the UN (1). The reality is more complex, however, though no less disturbing. The UNs latest peacekeeping plan for Darfur is designed to quell the strife that erupted in the province in 2003, when local rebels took up arms against the central government in Khartoum. The conflict is complex, with a variety of interlocking factions and ethnic groups whose political antagonisms and struggle with the central government gird longstanding rivalries over the regions depleted resources (2). But it is not only regional politics and economics that represent a barrier to peace the international communitys involvement in the conflict has served to prolong and escalate the bloodshed. Evading the bloody involution of the American crusade to liberate Iraq, a swathe of Western politicians, human rights groups and liberal intellectuals have tried collectively to regroup around Darfur (3). Dictated by a desire to cohere the agenda of international interventionism, these groups have systematically portrayed the conflict in Darfur as a genocide launched by racist, fanatical Arabs against victimised Africans (4). For the incoming governments of Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy in Britain and France, a joint focus on Darfur complete with a promise to visit the refugee camps has helped to dissociate them from the disaster of Iraq, while simultaneously affirming their moral authority to dictate affairs around the globe (5). This skewed presentation of the conflict has warped its dynamics, by offering Darfuri rebels the tantalising prospect that they could opportunistically convert international sympathy into military intervention in their favour. According to a State Department official a few years back, the rebels let the village burnings go on, let the killing go on, because the more international pressure thats brought to bear on Khartoum, the stronger their position grows (6). Transfixed by the moral gaze of the international community, the Sudan Liberation Movement splintered, with various factions jostling for advantage and demanding international guarantees and troops, thereby wrecking last years peace negotiations (7). One African analyst described the background to the earlier 2005 peace negotiations: Unlike many liberation movements in Africa, which had to depend on the people to build and plan with them, these rebels have too many willing regional and international actors indulging their delusions of grandeur. (8) If this were not enough, the intense international pressure on Khartoum also encouraged other rebels this time in eastern Sudan to renew their war against Khartoum, further destabilising Africas largest country (9). Peace negotiations are supposed to restart before the deployment of the new UN force. But given that the insertion of this new force into Darfur is the logical extension of the previous internationalisation of the conflict, there is no reason to think that the UN presence will not further upset the local balance of forces, as each belligerent reorganises their strategy around the new military presence on the ground, with rebel factions potentially goading the UN into military action on their behalf. The more that African governments or indeed would-be revolutionary movements cede their own authority to a shimmering and remote international community, the more that ordinary Africans lives are beholden to more distant and unaccountable powers in place of their own governments. Under the auspices of the UN, wars are no longer treated as political affairs, with peace founded on Africans own efforts, but as conflict management activities to be administered by bureaucrats and jet-setting international diplomats. Although the substance of political independence in Africa is undoubtedly being eroded by the relentless expansion of peacekeeping, the UN is much too ramshackle to represent anything like a real empire. The growing intrusiveness of the international community represents not colonialism but a new form of international hegemony albeit one that is no less alarming and in many ways more insidious. Under colonialism, by annexing and conquering territories, imperialist powers assumed direct political responsibility for their colonies a system that at least had the benefit of making clear who was oppressing whom. Today, the international community preaches human rights instead of racial supremacy, and it compromises a variety of actors: states, state-sponsored mega-NGOs, the UN and other international and regional organisations. Not only are there no clear lines of institutional accountability in this decentralised network there is also no single agent that is willing to be held responsible for particular outcomes. This moralised multilateralism lends itself to passing the buck: states blame the UN, the UN blames states, and both blame Africans for their corruption and backwardness In these circumstances, the scrambling of political responsibilities is usually resolved by greater coercion: sanctions, Security Council resolutions and punitive international laws. And, of course, by the deployment of more and more peacekeepers, more heavily armed. This new international system can only bode badly for Sudan and Africa as a whole. Philip Cunliffe is co-editor of Politics Without Sovereignty: A Critique of Contemporary International Relations (UCL Press, 2007). Read more about the book [2]here; buy the book from Amazon [3]here. Previously on spiked Brendan ONeill said Darfur has been [4]damned by pity, and that saving Darfur has become [5]Hollywood actors burden. Philip Cunliffe said [6]Bernard-Henri Lévys report from Darfur shows that liberal lust for Western intervention survived Iraq, and that [7]African Union troops are being enlisted in Darfur to give a respectable face to Western intervention. Or read more at spiked issue [8]Africa. (1) Martin Plaut, [9]The UNs all-pervasive role in Africa, BBC News 18 July 2007 (2) Mahmood Mamdani, [10]The Politics of Naming: Genocide, Civil War, Insurgency, London Review of Books, 8 March 2007 (3) On the wide variety of political groupings supporting intervention in Darfur, see Mahmood Mamdani, [11]The Politics of Naming: Genocide, Civil War, Insurgency, London Review of Books, 8 March 2007 (4) Mahmood Mamdani, [12]The Politics of Naming: Genocide, Civil War, Insurgency, London Review of Books, 8 March 2007 (5) BBC News, [13]Brown and Sarkozy vow Darfur trip, 20 July 2007 (6) Cited in Roberto Belloni, The trouble with humanitarianism, Review of International Studies, 33:3, July 2007, p461 (7) Alex de Waal, [14]I will not sign, London Review of Books, 30 November 2006 (8) Alex de Waal, [15]I will not sign, London Review of Books, 30 November 2006 (9) Mark Doyle, [16]Sudans interlocking wars, BBC News, 10 May 2006 References 1. http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/3697/ 2. http://www.said-workshop.org/book.php 3. http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0415418070/spiked 4. http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/boxarticle/1687/ 5. http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/54/ 6. http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/boxarticle/3339/ 7. http://www.spiked-online.com/Printable/0000000CA76A.htm 8. http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/issues/C35/ 9. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6903196.stm 10. http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n05/mamd01_.html 11. http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n05/mamd01_.html 12. http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n05/mamd01_.html 13. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6907672.stm 14. http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n23/waal01_.html 15. http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n23/waal01_.html 16. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4759325.stm From critical.montages@gmail.com Fri Aug 03 20:37:34 2007 Received: from wx-out-0506.google.com ([66.249.82.239]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IH9WI-0004og-6p for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 20:37:34 -0600 Received: by wx-out-0506.google.com with SMTP id s11so866780wxc for ; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 19:41:34 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.34.13 with SMTP id h13mr6035490wxh.1186195294139; Fri, 03 Aug 2007 19:41:34 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.70.13.17 with HTTP; Fri, 3 Aug 2007 19:41:34 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2007 22:41:34 -0400 From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" To: Rad-Green In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline References: Subject: [R-G] Interview with Hamid Dabashi X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 04 Aug 2007 02:37:36 -0000 June 12, 2003 Hamid Dabashi is Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies, the chair of the Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures Department, and the director of Graduate Studies at the Center for Comparative Literature and Society, all at Columbia University. Professor Dabashi's research interests include the comparative study of cultures, Islamic intellectual history, and the social and intellectual history of Iran, both modern and medieval. Professor Dabashi's publications include Authority in Islam: From the Rise of Muhammad to the Establishment of the Umayyads (1989), Theology of Discontent: The Ideological Foundation of the Islamic Revolution in Iran (1993), Truth and Narrative: The Untimely Thoughts of Ayn Al-Qudat Al-Hamadhani (1999), Staging a Revolution: The Art of Persuasion in the Islamic Republic of Iran (with Peter Chelkowski, 1999), and Close Up: Iranian Cinema, Past, Present, Future (2001). In this interview with AsiaSource, Professor Dabashi discusses, among other things, colonialism and religious violence, Iranian cinema, activism in the academy, American foreign policy towards Iran, and the long-term consequences of the military invasion of Iraq. Read Hamid Dabashi on The Moment of Myth: Edward Said (1935-2003) [Q] You have said that trying to understand religion (notably Islam) in the context of terrorism is a red herring, since those perpetrating acts of terror are waging a political struggle against the perceived effects of colonialism simply veiled in the language of God. Could you elaborate on this claim? [A] My position is this: it is impossible to understand not only modern Islam but any other religion in modernity outside the context of colonialism. This is simply because colonialism has been the single greatest source of power in modern history and has had a catalytic effect on every culture and every religion. Historically, Islam has always been in conversation with a major interlocutor; that interlocutor could be Greek philosophy, or Buddhist asceticism, or Christian monasticism, or Jewish theology. In conversation with these moral forces, or with political forces such as the Sassanid and Byzantine empires, Islam has articulated itself. However, over the last 200 years, what we call 'Islam' has articulated itself in conversation with colonialism. It is because of this fact that it is impossible to understand Islam outside colonialism. What I argue has happened over the last 200 years is a systematic corrosion of the multiplicity of sites and visions of Islam as a religion and as a culture, narrowing it exclusively to a site of ideological resistance to colonialism. Let me elaborate: If you go back to pre-modernity, before the rise of colonialism, Islam is: (i) poly-vocal (it speaks with many languages); (ii) poly-local (it is located in South Asia, Western Asia, North Africa), and (iii) poly-focal (it has any number of focal points: juridical, philosophical, literary). All these narratives have existed simultaneously, although of course sometimes one discourse was more powerful than the other. I also name these narratives "logo-centric" when the basis of Islamic self-definition is Reason, or nomo-centric when it is Law, or homo-centric, as in mysticism, which is human-based. All of these multiplicities start a process of corrosion when Islam begins a conversation with colonialism. Islam then mutates into a site of ideological resistance to colonialism. The paramount figures and the most vocal, articulate Muslim public intellectuals from Sayyid Ahmed Khan in South Asia to Mohammed Abdou in North Africa begin to converse with colonialism. As a result, they translate and mutate a multifaceted Islamic intellectual history into a single site of ideological resistance to colonialism. [Q] In your book, Theology of Discontent you argued that what animated the revolutionary movement in Iran was a theological language of discontent, involving the construction of a homogenized, hostile "Other" poised against an injured "Self". Is this ideological formation unique to the Iranian revolution? Do you think this prognosis could equally be applied to the present global configuration? [A] First of all, this ideological formation is not exclusive to Iran, it is endemic to Islamic societies. However, in Iran, it has an added momentum by virtue of the Shi'i component of the Islamic Revolution. I understand Shi'ism not exclusively as a sectarian, sub-division of Islam (constituting 15 per cent of the world's Muslim population), I understand it, as I argued in Authority and Islam, as the unfulfilled dream of Islam. Shi'ism remained a paradox: the institutionalization of an uninstitutionalizable charisma (that is, Mohammad's charismatic authority is transmuted into Ali, and from Ali, descends into twelve saintly, infallible figures). With the disappearance of the twelfth Imam, going into occultation, as the Shi'is believe, history is at a standstill, in a state of expectation (for whenever the twelfth Imam will reappear). This gives Shi'ism the character of a religion of protest. As a religion of protest, it is predicated on a paradox: it will always have to remain in a combative position (speaking truth to power); however, as soon as it comes to power, it negates itself. This happened to the Safavids in Iran, to the Fatamids in Egypt, to the Hamdanids in Syria, and now to the Islamic republic in Iran: Shi'ism comes to power, it negates itself immediately, it is no longer Shi'ism. This fact is best represented in Tazi'eh, which is a theatre of protest; this characterization of Shi'ism I propose is actually a kernel of Islam itself, in its entirety. As a result, if you look at the Iranian scene, immediately after the coming to power of Khomeini, Shi'ism loses its combative energy. While Saddam Hussein is in power or with the American and British colonial occupation in Iraq, Shi'ism is in its combative posture, as it was in southern Lebanon during the Israeli occupation between 1982-2000. In fact the Hezbollah in southern Lebanon were the only force that defeated the expansionist policies of Israel. So this ideological formation is exclusive to Iran. However, by virtue of this description of Shi'ism as integral to the rest of Islamic doctrinal history, I propose it is endemic to Islam. [Q] What precisely is the shape of this ideological formation? [A] It is this self/Other that I spoke of and the paradoxical generation of revolutionary energy. It has something in common with liberation theologies in Latin America, obviously. The notion of "the West" as an iconic reference to colonial power has now, in my judgment, dissipated and disappeared. The recent bifurcation between the US and Europe is only one indication of this. Because Islam has lost its colonial interlocutor called "the West", it has now entered a different phase. But in what particular revolutionary posture Islam will re-articulate itself remains to be seen because globalized capital at this stage has an amorphous hegemony (it has not yet articulated its hegemony). The West was the hegemonic constellation of colonialism in its classical form in the 19th century. This has been dissolved. Right now what we have in the shape of the emerging American empire does not have an identifiable hegemony because the capital that it tries to control is amorphous. The center-periphery bifurcation that we had in classical colonialism - capital based in the so-called West, colonies dispersed around the world - has disappeared. The process of globalization has shown that the centre-periphery divide was a smokescreen. The very assumption of colonialism concealed the fact that colonialism was nothing other than abused labor. Abused labor domestically generates a proletarian class vertically and colonial side effects generate the same horizontally. It is this vertical abuse of labor and colonial abuse of labor - one called colonization and one called working class - that have dissolved into one single abuse of labor by capital; the generation and accumulation of capital by abuse of labor. Whether this is done horizontally across the globe or vertically is incidental to the project. It doesn't matter if you have a sweatshop here in Manhattan or in Guatemala, it is the same abuse of labor. As a result of the process of globalization, massive labor migrations have dismantled that center and periphery and created, what in the 1980s was horrifying people as multiculturalism: South Asians in England, North Africans in France, Turks in Germany, and all of them in the United States. They did not come here for good weather, they came here looking for work. That has now accelerated the labor migration and made capital amorphous; electronic capitalism means there is no center. As a result, the World Trade Center was an entirely symbolic signifier without the signified. "World trade" does not take place in the World Trade Center; world trade does not have a center. [Q] In your book on Iranian cinema, Close Up, you say that "Iranian cinema took the world by surprise simply because the world got a glimpse of our cinema only after it had decided the character of our culture through the prism of the Islamic revolution." Does this account for the continuing appeal of this genre to audiences in the West? [A] No, it has now assumed an entirely different momentum. Embedded already in Iranian cinema was a worldly conversation - to use Edward Said's language. Cinema has its own republic and Iran has been in conversation with this republic: from Satyajit Ray in Bengal to Akira Kurasawa in Japan to Souleymane Ciss=E9 in Mali, with Italian neo-realism, French new wave, Japanese masters, Russian formalism. The emerging masters of Iranian cinema were already aware of these global masters of their craft and in conversation with them. At the popular level, people talk about the humanism of Iranian cinema. But the reason that Iranian cinema so quickly found its niche was that already embedded in its visual vocabulary was a worldly conversation with the best of world cinema. If you speak to Amir Naderi, and ask him where he learnt to direct, or where he learnt to film an exterior, or how to close a door, he will point to Ozu and Kurosawa, or he will say how he is influenced by John Ford. So when people in Cannes or Berlin see Iranian cinema, it is not a terra incognita, the sights and visions are new but the visual vocabulary is not entirely new at all. There are other factors when considering the global reception of Iranian cinema, especially for instance in the United States, where there has been an aggressive and universal demonization of Iran since the hostage crisis. When audiences are suddenly confronted with sweet kids running around, and how cute they look and so forth, they like it; it is almost a guilty conscience over-compensating for all the harsh things that were said before. That aspect of welcoming Iranian cinema had its phase and generated some ghastly films, in my view, because directors began to cater to it (in films like "Color of God"). But now the more genuine parts of Iranian cinema - things that were in conversation with the world - are what have proven to be more enduring and versatile. There are other developments that have made the genre so dynamic. More recently, the emergence of women filmmakers, like Manizheh Hekmat's "Women's Prisons," or the addition of minority directors like Bahman Ghobadi, who has two incredible films on Kurdish issues. There are political questions that are also being raised, for instance in the films about Afghanistan or Iraq, or about the Kurdish predicament. These have added political momentum to the genre and injected new life into Iranian cinema. So it is a constantly changing mechanism, there is not just one factor. Global attention also has a downside. The downside is that inexperienced people who come into the market start to cater to the worst stereotypes of Arabs, Iranians, and Muslims in the emerging American empire. These films will get immediately accepted to film festivals and propagated and bought by TV, etc. This is something we all have to be wary about. [Q] You have recently gained notoriety by being listed on Campus Watch, a project of Daniel Pipes' Middle East Forum, which closely monitors academics and Middle East Departments throughout the country perceived to be critical of Israel, and sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and/or Islam. What do you think the implications of these kinds of initiatives are on academic freedom in this country? [A] There are two rather contradictory responses, but they are both true. There are negligible or no repercussions for recognized scholars who have established their teaching and academic career long before this charlatanism emerged. Certainly in my own experience here at Columbia, there have been no repercussions whatsoever in terms of my career. However this does not mean that I have not created a headache for my university. Especially after I organized the Palestinian Film Festival in January 2003, a three-pronged attack began to take formation. One was the intelligence arm that began to collect things about me and what I do. This was accompanied by two contradictory but complementary actions: one was the lunatic fringe who hacked my computer, spammed my email, subscribed me to obscene websites, and basically disrupted all my communications. The other was to mobilize the 'Millionaires' Club' among Columbia University Alumni, so they began to bombard the President's office, and the University Development and Alumni Relations Office, with attacks against me and what it is they thought I was doing. At official university functions such as a recent John Jay Award, an alumnus attacked my department and myself. It is a nuisance more than anything else; but perhaps it is just an occupational hazard. For junior faculty, however, it has serious repercussions. Graduate students, those who are just beginning their career, are of course the most vulnerable. When they look at the horror that comes the way of those who remain loyal to certain political and moral convictions, it may dissuade them from doing the same. In addition, people whose names are associated with "creating trouble" will have problems. Even the way your question is framed suggests that people acquire a certain reputation associated with political activism of a particular kind; this explains why you used the term 'notoriety'. I used to be a very respectable scholar, and I tend to think I am still a half-decent one, but my academic credentials become overshadowed by the reputation I have acquired as a public intellectual. Ironically enough, when I speak out against the depredations of the Iranian government or any Arab government or the Indian government, I am applauded and told how courageous I am. But the minute I begin to criticize the United States and Israel in conjunction, and speculate about the relationship between these sorts of colonialism - the US in Iraq, Israel in the Occupied Territories - then I am maligned and my name is added to these websites and so on. The other problem is that the trouble that comes my way can have a negative catalytic effect on my junior colleagues. I have extremely courageous young colleagues who put their careers on the line to speak their mind. But the fact remains that they are professionally much more vulnerable than I am. [Q] How would you respond to widespread claims that the positions you take on the Israeli-Palestine conflict are tantamount to anti-Semitism? [A] I think these claims are too ludicrous to deserve a response. I will simply respond by looking at the spectrum of political sentiments and activities of which I am a part, and those whom I count among my comrades. These include not only progressive Jewish intellectuals in this country but also the most progressive Jewish intellectuals from Israel. They are all my comrades so if I am anti-Semitic, then they are anti-Semitic as well -- which is obviously silly. First my critics separate me from my comrades in this way; mark me as a Muslim, and can then say I am a pro-terrorist, anti-Semite. I have comrades throughout the world, including and particularly in Israel. So if you place me in my natural habitat, I am with progressive intellectuals globally and in Israel, so it would be rather absurd to accuse me of anti-Semitism. That said, I think there is anti-Semitism both in Europe and in the United States and it is an extremely dangerous factor that one has to keep in mind. We have to always be careful that a legitimate criticism of the Israeli government is not identified with that anti-Semitism. The so-called pro-Israel lobby - I do not even believe they are pro-Israel, because their activities in the long-term will only harm the Israeli state - cannot see what Israel now represents. They cannot see that Israel over the past 50 years as a colonial state - first with white European colonial settlers, then white American colonial settlers, now white Russian colonial settlers - amounts to nothing more than a military base for the rising predatory empire of the United States. Israel has no privilege greater or less than Pakistan or Kuwait or Saudi Arabia. These are all military bases but some of them, like Israel, are like the hardware of the American imperial imagination. Some are software, like Jordan or Kuwait or Pakistan or Tajikistan. There is clearly a division of labor in the rising empire. And who pays the price? Israeli mothers, who have lived for 50 years with perpetual war and bloodshed. The pro-Israeli ideologues live in very wealthy houses in suburban New Jersey, they have nothing to do with the miseries that Israelis have to endure. They are integral, all of them, to this predatory empire and I for one never credit them with "pro-Israeli" sentiments. I am pro-Israel, but I am against a Jewish state with the same logic that I am against an Islamic state or a Christian state. I believe in one secular state with equal rights for all its citizens. And this is bracketing out for the moment the historical fact that over the last 50 years the Israeli state has systematically, in broad daylight, swiped the land from under the feet of Palestinians. It is clear that the formation of a Jewish state in 1948 has had a catalytic effect in the sustained rise of religious movements, not only in the Islamic world, but also with this ghastly Hindu fundamentalism in South Asia. It is wrong to attribute all religious fundamentalisms in the region to a Jewish state. The Jewish state was formed in 1948, and it was only three decades later, in 1979, that an Islamic republic was founded. I am opposed to a Jewish state in the same way that I am to an Islamic republic or a Hindu fundamentalist state in South Asia. [Q] How would you explain the politics involved in participating in public sphere debates in the West where you are frequently expected to represent -- both in the sense of characterizing and speaking for -- Muslims or Iran? Since the Western public sphere, and especially, one might argue, the US public sphere, is permeated with the demonisation of Third World societies in general, and Muslim societies in particular, how should the diasporic postcolonial intellectual negotiate this aspect of the Western public sphere while articulating criticism of these societies? [A] There are two complementary ways of doing this. One: there are certain strategic moments that require one to speak as a postcolonial, Third World intellectual. I have no problems with that but at the same time this can sometimes degenerate into an identitarian political position which is not at all what I am interested in. Second we must remain cognizant of the fact that because of massive labor migrations, cultures are in a state of flux, and as a result, I would be equally ignorant of the fact of my own biography - a Gramscian inventory of my own identity - if I forgot that I have lived in this country for more than a quarter of a century. As a result it is as integral to my critical apparatus as anything else may be. So I do not always speak as a postcolonial Muslim intellectual; I have to speak from the location of my culture and the location of my culture is New York. Of course people do expect that I will speak as a Muslim, or as an Iranian, or some combination of the two. I will always correct them, though, and sometimes, depending on the context, I will abrogate the fact of representation. I will stress that I represent nothing at all, or that I am as representative of Iranians, or Muslims, or Shias, as I am of New Yorkers. I am downplaying the importance of this because there is still a public perception that I will say this or that, and constantly, even if inadvertently at times, I am reduced to a native informant. But other than saying I am not, there is little I can do. There is also an added complication that nobody addresses, which is the professional pacification of intellectuals in the academy. The disappearance of public intellectuals has its own history, especially in this country. Public intellectuals became compromised and institutionalized intellectuals, which inhibited public activism, and continues to do so now. Right now the problem I face is how to combine my status as a public intellectual with that of a teacher. I have been forced to say that when I enter my classroom, an entirely different animal emerges. I am far more fascinated by a close-up or a long-shot in a film, or with a literary passage in a novel, irrespective of its politics, than with what is happening in the world on that day. [Q] The US-led military intervention in Iraq has been portrayed as a success in sections of the American media. Do you think this conclusion might be premature? [A] It is very premature. There have been massive civilian casualties in Iraq, to this day we have no statistics of how many people were killed there. Who is supposed to tell us? Not only has it been a failure in terms of its stated objectives, it is a catastrophic failure in terms of its whiplash effects domestically, i.e., in terms of our civil liberties in the United States. These liberties have been systematically corroded to the point that the combined effects of the Homeland Security Act, the USA Patriot Act, and the specter of Patriot Act II are devastating and create political conditions worse than those found in the Islamic Republic. The massive tax-cuts that Bush is now proposing will leave millions of American kids without protection and basic needs while increasing money for millionaires. It is a failure not only in terms of its target (creating democracy under the barrel of a gun) but also in terms of its effects: creating more resentment and hatred against innocent Americans both at home and abroad, creating an even more dangerous situation in terms of possible terrorist attacks globally, and equally important, the corroding of our civil liberties, destroying our environment (Patriot Act II would have all sorts of ghastly environmental consequences), and the cutting of social services for the underprivileged. [Q] The recent ceasefire between American military forces in Iraq and the Iraqi-based Iranian opposition group, People's Mujahideen, has been interpreted in Iran as part of a pattern of escalating aggression by the Bush administration. How do you see American-Iranian relations unfolding in the future? [A] It is a mixed bag. The Americans kept the People's Mujahideen intact as a stick so that if Iran were to mobilize its 10,000-strong Badr battalion under the control of SCIRI (the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, ruled by Ayatollah Hakim), they would let the Mujahideen loose. In and of itself, this is a tragic turn of events for the Mujahideen because once they were a progressive, revolutionary movement. They then degenerated into a mercenary army that Saddam Hussein used against the Kurds and other opposition groups. And now they have become an instrument of American imperialism; it is a horror. In terms of the Iran-US relationship, there is not much of a relationship. We have to take a step back and look at it globally. The point for the US in the region is absolute and unconditional control of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, through which a considerable volume of world oil passes. In my judgment, Europe is now emerging as a second superpower: with a population of 265 million, with the euro now as strong as the dollar, with a potential alliance with Russia, and trans-Siberian oil pipelines through Siberia all the way to Japan and China and Korea. This together can in fact globally engulf the US and prevent its drive towards global control. Major European opposition - French and German (the British are tangential, and the Spanish and Italians don't count) - made the Iraqi war in fact a proxy war between the US and Europe. The US wants to have total and unconditional control over the Persian Gulf. Iraq is now occupied and pacified, Saddam Hussein is no longer a problem. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan are all under US control. Iran and Syria are two important players who are not. Syria is not related to this area but is important for controlling the Hizbollah in Lebanon and the Hamas in Palestine in order to facilitate and pacify resistance for this roadmap to peace that Bush has in mind. Iran however is part of the same scenario (control of the Persian Gulf, that is) but this does not mean that the Americans will do in Iran what they did in Iraq. That is not the solution. The solution is that Iranians themselves are already scared and have initiated conversation with the Americans. There are now more aggressive, secret conversations going on between the US and Iran. The US just requires the following from Iran: flow of oil, open markets for its goods, and security for the Persian Gulf. If these three items are provided, the US does not care at all about progressive, reformist movements inside Iran one way or another. If Khatemi and the progressive movement he represents win, fine, if he loses, fine, as long as these three objectives are met. [Q] Given the perceived success of the US invasion of Iraq, at least in the short-term, what do you think the prospects are for another American military intervention in the Middle East, in Syria or Iran for instance? [A] Very few prospects, if any, I should think. If the Iranians fulfill the three conditions I mentioned above, the Americans will not bother them about anything at all. I also believe that the size of the US army does not allow it. The entire size of the US army is one million. When they deployed 250,000 in the Persian Gulf for the Iraqi operation, the North Koreans were waving their nuclear weapons around, and the Americans could not redeploy to East Asia from the Gulf. It is in the nature of this particular empire that it has in fact begun to model itself on what it calls Al-Qaeda. There is nothing called Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda is the blueprint on the basis of which the Pentagon is now remodeling itself. It is a force that is presumed to be omnipotent and can strike at any moment and the Pentagon is using it to reshape itself. I do not think the US has the military capacity for another massive invasion =E0 la Iraq. First of all the Iranian population is 60 million, the land is infinitely more diversified, and within the Islamic Republic, there is a democratically elected government. If you ask me, Khatemi has more claim to legitimacy as a president than Bush does. There are a couple of other factors. Democracy, until and unless it emerges from the soil of a culture, is entirely useless. Islamic Revolution was a nightmare of Islamic theocratic forces coming to the fore. In Algeria, in Turkey, we were always afraid of this nightmare coming to pass. In Iran, it came to pass and the country witnessed a decade of sacred, charismatic terror perpetrated by Khomeini. >From the dirt and ashes of that experience, we are beginning to have budding institutions of democracy, full of flaws and problems, but nevertheless, endemic and constitutional and native to that culture. That is the experience that the US is afraid of. In addition, this thing about nuclear, biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction is a bit misleading. As you know, biological, chemical and nuclear research have perfectly viable, legitimate, and peaceful uses that can in fact help to diversify these economies away from being entirely oil-based. The catastrophe of Iraq is that economically it is 95 per cent oil-based. In Iran, over the last two decades, they have started to diversify, as a result of which the economy has been reduced to 85 per cent oil-based. In addition, without having a genuine middle-class and labor class, you cannot institutionalize democratic institutions. How is it possible? It does not make sense. Oil-based economies are capital-intensive. Capital-intensive economies are not conducive to democratic institutions. All you need is a marine battalion in Basra to pump the oil and off they go. After this catastrophe of the looting of cultural heritage, you realize that for the people in Washington, there is no culture, there is no civilization, there is no heritage, there is no need for domestically cultivated institutions of democracy in Iraq or elsewhere. There are just oilfields with flags on them. Interview conducted by Nermeen Shaikh of AsiaSource -- Yoshie From realiteee1@yahoo.com Sat Aug 04 11:29:11 2007 Received: from web50809.mail.re2.yahoo.com ([206.190.38.252]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with smtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IHNR9-0005uJ-1S for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Sat, 04 Aug 2007 11:29:11 -0600 Received: (qmail 89963 invoked by uid 60001); 4 Aug 2007 17:33:10 -0000 X-YMail-OSG: G1.lapIVM1n74aMVDn4kmeuUcutVDdbGpxVEwLujuO7ZCYV2NXYiP9uZivax6isH0vo_T1_WOtNB68l0b033E3kr17eIRDNiWGwpS8wITkXVwTw1IhoXXmkGFERveJ1mng_2ZQ7L Received: from [67.72.98.45] by web50809.mail.re2.yahoo.com via HTTP; Sat, 04 Aug 2007 10:33:09 PDT Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2007 10:33:09 -0700 (PDT) From: james m nordlund To: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Message-ID: <97410.89538.qm@web50809.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Subject: [R-G] WSDP: Support Ward Churchill Lawsuit: Letter: Kathleen Cleaver + Natsu Saito X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 04 Aug 2007 17:29:11 -0000 FW: Support Ward Churchill Lawsuit: Letter from Kathleen Cleaver andNatsu Saito FYI. For background and updates, visit the Ward Churchill Solidarity Network (WCSN) website at www.wardchurchill.net . Western Shoshone Defense Project P.O. Box 211308 Crescent Valley, NV 89821 775-468-0230 775-468-0237 (fax) www.wsdp.org wsdp@igc.org Firing Back: Ward Churchill v. University of Colorado July 31, 2007 In a time when our basic civil and human rights are endangered it is critical to resist those who would have us believe that the current state of affairs is inevitable. We cannot allow ourselves to be silenced. We do not believe the University of Colorado fired Ward Churchill because of so-called "research misconduct." The attack on Ward Churchill is part of a larger effort to silence criticism of government policies and to discredit alternative, particularly Indigenous, histories and perspectives; an attack spearheaded by neoconservative groups like Lynne Cheney's American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA). For more on CU President Hank Brown's ties to ACTA, see wardchurchill.net/files/cu_acta_ad.pdf . There are many fronts in the struggle to preserve access to truth and the freedom to think and speak critically. In addition to whatever avenues you are already pursuing to redress injustice, we urge you to support Ward Churchill's lawsuit against the University of Colorado. For background and updates, visit the Ward Churchill Solidarity Network (WCSN) website at www.wardchurchill.net . Ways to help: * Send donations for legal expenses to : WCSN PO Box 20035 Boulder, CO 80308 Make checks payable to: David Lane. Attorney David Lane is generously contributing his time and talents. Donations will be placed in a trust account and used only for legal expenses such as filing fees, depositions, etc. * Volunteer in legal, educational, or fundraising efforts: E-mail: info@wardchurchill.net * Have your organization or institution sponsor a talk by Ward Churchill : E-mail wardspeaks@gmail.com . * Spread the word and forward this e-mail to your networks. In solidarity, Kathleen Cleaver and Natsu Taylor Saito Supported by strong and committed women including Pam Africa, Carrie Dann, Jennifer Harbury, Yuri Kochiyama, Cynthia McKinney, Pearl Means, Lynne Stewart, Haunani-Kay Trask, Sharon Venne, and many others in the struggle for justice. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.11.0/927 - Release Date: 7/30/2007 5:02 PM No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.11.0/927 - Release Date: 7/30/2007 5:02 PM ____________________________________________________________________________________ Building a website is a piece of cake. Yahoo! Small Business gives you all the tools to get online. http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/webhosting From cbcox@ilstu.edu Sat Aug 04 11:38:55 2007 Received: from smtp3.ilstu.edu ([138.87.124.39] helo=smtp.ilstu.edu) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IHNaZ-0005vW-Tf for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Sat, 04 Aug 2007 11:38:55 -0600 Received: from ilstu.edu (unknown [10.100.1.127]) by smtp.ilstu.edu (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6F50E2D00 for ; Sat, 4 Aug 2007 12:42:55 -0500 (CDT) Message-ID: <46B4BAC7.2EC3EBCD@ilstu.edu> Date: Sat, 04 Aug 2007 12:43:35 -0500 From: Carrol Cox X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en] (Windows NT 5.0; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." References: <97410.89538.qm@web50809.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Re: [R-G] WSDP: Support Ward Churchill Lawsuit: Letter: Kathleen Cleaver +Natsu Saito X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 04 Aug 2007 17:38:56 -0000 Would it be possible to resend this post, formatted so it is possible to know who is saying what in the name of what organization. It is too much of a jumble to make any use of. Carrol From jguffey@eaglerockschool.org Sat Aug 04 12:56:49 2007 Received: from an-out-0708.google.com ([209.85.132.246]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IHOnw-00066S-SJ for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Sat, 04 Aug 2007 12:56:49 -0600 Received: by an-out-0708.google.com with SMTP id c25so185376ana for ; Sat, 04 Aug 2007 12:00:53 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.100.48.7 with SMTP id v7mr2360792anv.1186254053169; Sat, 04 Aug 2007 12:00:53 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.100.110.14 with HTTP; Sat, 4 Aug 2007 12:00:53 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2007 13:00:53 -0600 From: "John Guffey" To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." In-Reply-To: <97410.89538.qm@web50809.mail.re2.yahoo.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline References: <97410.89538.qm@web50809.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [R-G] WSDP: Support Ward Churchill Lawsuit: Letter: Kathleen Cleaver + Natsu Saito X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 04 Aug 2007 18:56:49 -0000 Dear Mary Ellen, This may be seen as slightly removed from traditional peace and justice work, but Ward Churchill's case is so close to home, literally, and I am deeply troubled by the conditions surrounding his firing - he struck such a nerve with his criticism - and he will never be given a fair hearing by those currently in power. Would you and others in Patriots for Peace consider inviting Mr. Churchill to speak here in EP? Just a thought, let me know what you think. John On 8/4/07, james m nordlund wrote: > FW: Support Ward Churchill Lawsuit: Letter from Kathleen Cleaver andNatsu > Saito > FYI. For background and updates, visit the Ward Churchill Solidarity > Network (WCSN) website at > www.wardchurchill.net . > > Western Shoshone Defense Project > P.O. Box 211308 > Crescent Valley, NV 89821 > 775-468-0230 > 775-468-0237 (fax) > www.wsdp.org > wsdp@igc.org > > Firing Back: > Ward Churchill v. University of Colorado > July 31, 2007 > > In a time when our basic civil and human rights are endangered it is > critical to resist those who would have us believe that the current > state of affairs is inevitable. We cannot allow ourselves to be > silenced. > > We do not believe the University of Colorado fired Ward Churchill > because of so-called "research misconduct." The attack on Ward > Churchill is part of a larger effort to silence criticism of government > policies and to discredit alternative, particularly Indigenous, > histories and perspectives; an attack spearheaded by neoconservative > groups like Lynne Cheney's American Council of Trustees and Alumni > (ACTA). For more on CU President Hank Brown's ties to ACTA, see > > wardchurchill.net/files/cu_acta_ad.pdf . > > There are many fronts in the struggle to preserve access to truth and > the freedom to think and speak critically. In addition to whatever > avenues you are already pursuing to redress injustice, we urge you to > support Ward Churchill's lawsuit against the University of Colorado. > > For background and updates, visit the Ward Churchill Solidarity Network > (WCSN) website at > www.wardchurchill.net . > > Ways to help: > > * Send donations for legal expenses to : > > WCSN > PO Box 20035 > Boulder, CO 80308 > Make checks payable to: David Lane. > > Attorney David Lane is generously contributing his time and talents. > Donations will be placed in a trust account and used only for legal > expenses such as filing fees, depositions, etc. > > * Volunteer in legal, educational, or fundraising efforts: > E-mail: > > info@wardchurchill.net > > * Have your organization or institution sponsor a talk by Ward > Churchill : > E-mail > wardspeaks@gmail.com . > > * Spread the word and forward this e-mail to your networks. > > > In solidarity, > > Kathleen Cleaver and Natsu Taylor Saito > > Supported by strong and committed women including Pam Africa, Carrie > Dann, Jennifer Harbury, Yuri Kochiyama, Cynthia McKinney, Pearl Means, > Lynne Stewart, Haunani-Kay Trask, Sharon Venne, and many others in the > struggle for justice. From epearlag@earthlink.net Sat Aug 04 13:59:09 2007 Received: from elasmtp-spurfowl.atl.sa.earthlink.net ([209.86.89.66]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IHPmH-0006Bn-Iv for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Sat, 04 Aug 2007 13:59:09 -0600 Received: from [68.164.64.55] (helo=edxp) by elasmtp-spurfowl.atl.sa.earthlink.net with asmtp (Exim 4.34) id 1IHPq9-0000cr-6I for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Sat, 04 Aug 2007 16:03:09 -0400 Message-ID: <013c01c7d6d2$7a6dc940$0a0110ac@edxp> From: "Ed Pearl" To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." References: <97410.89538.qm@web50809.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2007 13:03:08 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.3028 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3028 X-ELNK-Trace: ee27ab75e2e709351aa676d7e74259b7b3291a7d08dfec79673af8e4f1cd26f56171ab96c78646e3350badd9bab72f9c350badd9bab72f9c350badd9bab72f9c X-Originating-IP: 68.164.64.55 Subject: Re: [R-G] WSDP: Support Ward Churchill Lawsuit: Letter: KathleenCleaver + Natsu Saito X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Ed Pearl , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 04 Aug 2007 19:59:10 -0000 Hi. I think I must have gotten this by mistake. No 'Mary Ellen' here. I'd like to attend such an event but my organizing will have a single focus through next April. I would be happy to put it in my newsletter, if it happens. Let me know, and good luck ed pearl ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Guffey" To: Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2007 12:00 PM Subject: Re: [R-G] WSDP: Support Ward Churchill Lawsuit: Letter: KathleenCleaver + Natsu Saito Dear Mary Ellen, This may be seen as slightly removed from traditional peace and justice work, but Ward Churchill's case is so close to home, literally, and I am deeply troubled by the conditions surrounding his firing - he struck such a nerve with his criticism - and he will never be given a fair hearing by those currently in power. Would you and others in Patriots for Peace consider inviting Mr. Churchill to speak here in EP? Just a thought, let me know what you think. John On 8/4/07, james m nordlund wrote: > FW: Support Ward Churchill Lawsuit: Letter from Kathleen Cleaver andNatsu > Saito > FYI. For background and updates, visit the Ward Churchill Solidarity > Network (WCSN) website at > www.wardchurchill.net . > > Western Shoshone Defense Project > P.O. Box 211308 > Crescent Valley, NV 89821 > 775-468-0230 > 775-468-0237 (fax) > www.wsdp.org > wsdp@igc.org > > Firing Back: > Ward Churchill v. University of Colorado > July 31, 2007 > > In a time when our basic civil and human rights are endangered it is > critical to resist those who would have us believe that the current > state of affairs is inevitable. We cannot allow ourselves to be > silenced. > > We do not believe the University of Colorado fired Ward Churchill > because of so-called "research misconduct." The attack on Ward > Churchill is part of a larger effort to silence criticism of government > policies and to discredit alternative, particularly Indigenous, > histories and perspectives; an attack spearheaded by neoconservative > groups like Lynne Cheney's American Council of Trustees and Alumni > (ACTA). For more on CU President Hank Brown's ties to ACTA, see > > wardchurchill.net/files/cu_acta_ad.pdf . > > There are many fronts in the struggle to preserve access to truth and > the freedom to think and speak critically. In addition to whatever > avenues you are already pursuing to redress injustice, we urge you to > support Ward Churchill's lawsuit against the University of Colorado. > > For background and updates, visit the Ward Churchill Solidarity Network > (WCSN) website at > www.wardchurchill.net . > > Ways to help: > > * Send donations for legal expenses to : > > WCSN > PO Box 20035 > Boulder, CO 80308 > Make checks payable to: David Lane. > > Attorney David Lane is generously contributing his time and talents. > Donations will be placed in a trust account and used only for legal > expenses such as filing fees, depositions, etc. > > * Volunteer in legal, educational, or fundraising efforts: > E-mail: > > info@wardchurchill.net > > * Have your organization or institution sponsor a talk by Ward > Churchill : > E-mail > wardspeaks@gmail.com . > > * Spread the word and forward this e-mail to your networks. > > > In solidarity, > > Kathleen Cleaver and Natsu Taylor Saito > > Supported by strong and committed women including Pam Africa, Carrie > Dann, Jennifer Harbury, Yuri Kochiyama, Cynthia McKinney, Pearl Means, > Lynne Stewart, Haunani-Kay Trask, Sharon Venne, and many others in the > struggle for justice. _______________________________________________ Rad-Green mailing list Rad-Green@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green From cbcox@ilstu.edu Sat Aug 04 14:03:11 2007 Received: from smtp3.ilstu.edu ([138.87.124.39] helo=smtp.ilstu.edu) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IHPqB-0006D7-Fw for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Sat, 04 Aug 2007 14:03:11 -0600 Received: from ilstu.edu (unknown [10.100.1.127]) by smtp.ilstu.edu (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4340F2CF1 for ; Sat, 4 Aug 2007 15:07:11 -0500 (CDT) Message-ID: <46B4DC97.BF7D14A6@ilstu.edu> Date: Sat, 04 Aug 2007 15:07:51 -0500 From: Carrol Cox X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en] (Windows NT 5.0; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: "rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu" Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: [R-G] Reposting of Churchill Post Reformatted X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 04 Aug 2007 20:03:12 -0000 [I found this on another list, and it was a messy affair but here it is reformatted and readable. Cbc] In a time when our basic civil and human rights are endangered it is critical to resist those who would have us believe that the current state of affairs is inevitable. We cannot allow ourselves to be silenced. We do not believe the University of Colorado fired Ward Churchill because of so-called "research misconduct." The attack on Ward Churchill is part of a larger effort to silence criticism of government policies and to discredit alternative, particularly Indigenous, histories and perspectives; an attack spearheaded by neoconservative groups like Lynne Cheney's American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA). For more on CU President Hank Brown's ties to ACTA, see wardchurchill.net/files/cu_acta_ad.pdf. There are many fronts in the struggle to preserve access to truth and the freedom to think and speak critically. In addition to whatever avenues you are already pursuing to redress injustice, we urge you to support Ward Churchill's lawsuit against the University of Colorado. For background and updates, visit the Ward Churchill Solidarity Network (WCSN) website at www.wardchurchill.net. Ways to help: Send donations for legal expenses to: WCSN PO Box 20035 Boulder, CO 80308 Make checks payable to: David Lane Attorney David Lane is generously contributing his time and talents. Donations will be placed in a trust account and used only for legal expenses such as filing fees, depositions, etc. * Volunteer in legal, educational, or fundraising efforts: E-mail: info@wardchurchill.net * Have your organization or institution sponsor a talk by Ward Churchill: E-mail wardspeaks@gmail.com * Spread the word and forward this e-mail to your networks. In solidarity Kathleen Cleaver and Natsu Taylor Saito Supported by strong and committed women including Pam Africa, Carrie,Dann, Jennifer Harbury, Yuri Kochiyama, Cynthia McKinney, Pearl Means, Lynne Stewart, Haunani-Kay Trask, Sharon Venne, and many others in the struggle for justice. http://wardchurchill.net/blog/2007/08/04/firing-back-ward-churchill-v-university-of-colorado/ From critical.montages@gmail.com Sat Aug 04 18:45:42 2007 Received: from fk-out-0910.google.com ([209.85.128.184]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IHUFa-0006YO-Dk for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Sat, 04 Aug 2007 18:45:42 -0600 Received: by fk-out-0910.google.com with SMTP id f33so1134883fkf for ; Sat, 04 Aug 2007 17:49:48 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.82.105.13 with SMTP id d13mr4696423buc.1186274585317; Sat, 04 Aug 2007 17:43:05 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.82.123.18 with HTTP; Sat, 4 Aug 2007 17:43:05 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2007 20:43:05 -0400 From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" To: Rad-Green In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline References: Subject: [R-G] Joel Beinin: The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 05 Aug 2007 00:45:42 -0000 This is a book that is very much worth reading. The entire book is freely available to the public, too. Joel Beinin, The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora, Berkeley: University of California Press, c1998 1998, . -- Yoshie From mstainsby@resist.ca Sat Aug 04 18:59:58 2007 Received: from mail.resist.ca ([64.40.106.163]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IHUTO-0006ZF-F6; Sat, 04 Aug 2007 18:59:58 -0600 Received: by mail.resist.ca (Postfix, from userid 33) id BBD56BC58C; Sat, 4 Aug 2007 18:04:04 -0700 (PDT) Received: from 64.228.98.95 (SquirrelMail authenticated user mstainsby@resist.ca) by mail.resist.ca with HTTP; Sat, 4 Aug 2007 19:04:04 -0600 (MDT) Message-ID: <1229.64.228.98.95.1186275844.squirrel@mail.resist.ca> Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2007 19:04:04 -0600 (MDT) From: "Macdonald Stainsby" To: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu, a-list@lists.econ.utah.edu User-Agent: SquirrelMail/1.4.9a MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1 X-Priority: 3 (Normal) Importance: Normal Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Cc: redbadbear@yahoogroups.com Subject: [R-G] Fidel: A Reflection on Hard and Obvious Realities X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 05 Aug 2007 00:59:59 -0000 A Reflection on Hard and Obvious Realities Because of its importance, I am prioritizing this subject, among others. I am not going to deny that the prerogatives of power, whether real, relative or fictitious, have an influence on human beings, because they were all educated this way, right from the remotest of times of the species. I did not arrive in just a minute at what I am thinking today about power= , but I consider that this is a matter of consistent thinking. I attribute the modest contribution of our Revolution to the fact that our responses to questions have never regressed, despite the harsh reality imposed upon us by the empire=92s brutal blockade. In the reflection published on July 31st, I explained what it meant for m= e to have spent a year gathering information and meditating in depth on the vital problems which today threaten our species as never before. On July 24th , the Russian news agency Ria Novosti published the followin= g information: Colonel General Leonid Ivashov, a defense expert, stated that the main instrument of the US policy is the economic, financial, technological and military dictate. By implementing this, the US is trying to secure the world=92s hegemony f= or itself. Its national security strategy explicitly indicates the necessity of guaranteeing sustainable access, in other words, controlled access, to the key regions of the planet, strategic communications and global resources. It is a strategy that has been turned into a law, and this brings us to the conclusion that in the future the United States will fac= e even tougher conflicts with Russia, China and India. Washington insists on building a system capable of neutralizing the nuclear potential of Moscow and Peking, its strategic rivals, in order to achieve military superiority. The United States wants to deploy its anti-missile shield not just in Europe but also in other parts of the world, to see what is going on in Russia and China. Likewise, it is seeking to increase its offensive arsenal at a pace that surpasses even that which was followed during the Cold War. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO lost the status it had as a defensive organization when it was founded in 1949, and was transformed into a powerful and aggressive instrument at the service of the world oligarchy, eager to dominate the world. The new strategic concept of the Alliance, approved on April 1999 as a result of the efforts made by the United States, comprises new functions and expands its sphere of responsibilities to include the entire world, not just the North Atlantic= . The current Secretary General of NATO, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, frequently visits Australia, New Zealand and Japan. The Alliance has started to ignore International Law and the UN Security Council. Meanwhile, the United States promotes the expansion of NATO and refuses to ratify the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), taking on the right to act outside of any limitations and disposing of troops as it wishes. The United States would do anything in its power to prevent Russia from being an autonomous player. The debates on anti-missile defence, Iran and Kosovo, have not generated any formulas for compromise. It is important for Russia to consolidate its positions and recover its geopolitical potential. Early on the 1970=92s, when Moscow had achieved nuclear parity with Washington, the latter became aware of the fact that it could not beat Moscow militarily and accepted to negotiate on equal terms. Consequently, in 1972, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABMT) as well as all other subsequent Strategic Arms Limitations Treaties (SALT) were signed. Strength is the only thing that the United States cares about. If it feels to be in a stronger position, it will never make concessions to anyone. In order to neutralize the plans for world hegemony it is necessary to build an alternative pole, and we already have the foundations to do so: the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). In fact, it appears to be rather incorrect to speak about the United States strength. The United States has military power, a vigorous economy and an enormous amount of hard currency which it can mint in unlimited quantities, but the geopolitical level of the country is extremely low. The United States inspires very little political confidence in the rest o= f the world. In 1999, China and Russia stated before the UN General Assembly the need to preserve the Anti Missile Defense Treaty of 1972. All nations voted in favour of the proposal except for four: the United States, Israel, Albani= a and Micronesia. The result bears witness to the United States=92 total international isolation. Without the participation of Russia, it would be impossible to resolve th= e situation that has taken shape in the Middle East, the Balkans, the Korea= n Peninsula and other regions of this planet. This also holds true for China, which is able to put up to the pressures exerted by the United States. China enjoys great prestige in the world; it has a powerful economy and a strong currency. The SCO ought to recruit new allies and combine the potential of those countries which want to and are capable of implementing an autonomous policy. First, it is necessary to officially proclaim the rejection against the United States world hegemony. Second, China and Russia must denounce the deployment of the US anti-missile defense system before the UN Security Council, as an action altering the architecture of global security and threatening the entire international community. China, India and Russia could form a united front in the face of the United States=92 dictates. It is also possible to propose the stabilization of the global financial system as a task. Within the SCO framework, a novel philosophy could be formulated, based on the harmony among civilizations and on the rational use of natural resources. The majority of States will surely support such measures, of that I am convinced. Thus, a new political pole will come into being, the pole of peace. The SCO mission is to create a new model of development for human civilization. Only an alliance of civilizations could oppose the United States=92 empir= e: the Russian civilization whose orbit includes the Community of Independen= t States (CIS); the Chinese, the Indian, the Islamic and the Latin American civilizations. It is an immense space where we could create more equitabl= e markets, our own stable financial system, our collective security mechanisms and our philosophy, giving priority to the intellectual development of man in the face of western modern civilization, which emphasizes material goods, and measures success by the amounts of mansions, yachts and restaurants people have. Our mission is to reorient the world towards justice and intellectual and spiritual growth. So much for Ivashov=92s essential thoughts, as published by Ria Novosti. We have been able to find out that General Leonid Ivashov is Vice President of the Academy on Geopolitical Affairs; he was Secretary of the Council of Defence Ministers of the Community of Independent States (CIS) and Chief of the Military Cooperation Department at the Russian Federatio= n Ministry of Defence. On September 11, 2001, the day when the tragic event= s in New York occurred, which served as a pretext to define the basis of th= e genocidal policy of the United States almost 6 years ago, General Ivashov was the Chief of Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. He is a truly well-informed man. It is worthwhile that our people know about his views. The concern which the Cuban Revolution has always had about the education of the people is obvious. Judging by my own experience, I soon came acros= s the idea that only conscience could prevail over the instincts that gover= n us. Technological advances today speak of the possibility of manipulating the functions of the cells in the human brain. What good would all this d= o in a world ruled by the commercial value of goods and services? Who will have the final say in this regard? By this means and through the shameles= s brain drain, a phenomenon we should adamantly continue to discuss, the most valuable part of the human being could be destroyed: a human being's education via its conscience. Laboratories can produce medicines to save lives, which could be somethin= g of great social value provided such products are available to all. But laboratories are also manufacturing all kinds of weapons that could put a= n end to human life. Commercial advertising and consumerism are incompatible with the survival of the species. After all possible calculations, you will realize that natural resources, space, climate, weather, and the system cannot yield any other outcome, given their pace and the direction in which they are moving. Fidel Castro Ruz August 3, 2007. -- Macdonald Stainsby Co-ordinator, http://oilsandstruth.org -- moderated radical discussion list: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green -- In the contradiction lies the hope. -Bertholt Brecht. From hunterbadbear@hunterbear.org Sun Aug 05 08:02:54 2007 Received: from omr7.networksolutionsemail.com ([205.178.146.57]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IHgh4-0007VH-7A for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Sun, 05 Aug 2007 08:02:54 -0600 Received: from mail.networksolutionsemail.com (ns-omr7.mgt.hosting.dc2.netsol.com [10.49.6.70]) by omr7.networksolutionsemail.com (8.13.6/8.13.6) with SMTP id l75E73dP002287 for ; Sun, 5 Aug 2007 10:07:04 -0400 Received: (qmail 27961 invoked by uid 78); 5 Aug 2007 14:07:04 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO webmail17) (205.178.146.50) by ns-omr7.lb.hosting.dc2.netsol.com with SMTP; 5 Aug 2007 14:07:04 -0000 Received: from 71.38.80.71 (hunterbadbear@hunterbear.org [71.38.80.71]) by webmail17 (Netsol 11.2.30) with WEBMAIL id 11013; Sun, 05 Aug 2007 14:07:03 +0000 From: "Hunter Gray" To: bearwithoutborders@lists.mayfirst.org Importance: Normal Sensitivity: Normal Message-ID: X-Mailer: Network Solutions Webmail, Build 11.2.30 X-Originating-IP: [71.38.80.71] X-Forwarded-For: [(null)] Date: Sun, 05 Aug 2007 14:07:03 +0000 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Cc: sycamorecanyon@yahoogroups.com, marxist@yahoogroups.com, redbadbear@yahoogroups.com, newgreencanada@yahoogroups.com, rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu Subject: [R-G] Thoughts on ACLU and Some Other Things X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: hunterbadbear@hunterbear.org, "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 05 Aug 2007 14:02:54 -0000 NOTE BY HUNTER BEAR: August 5 2007 I certainly have as many thoughts and opinions as anyone else -- but I do= try to avoid burdening folks [at least on discussion lists] with most of= them. But I do feel obliged to give American Civil Liberties Union great= credit not only for its pretty consistently good work on the Federal suv= eillance issues of our times [and other things generally] -- but for its = just out super on-target sulphuric statement condeming Democratic Congres= sional cowardice in caving in this latest expansion of Bushie surveillanc= e power. [Most of the thoughtful in what's called the United States agree, I am su= re.] The ACLU hasn't always been on target. Always abounding with some good pe= ople, it waffled badly on the "Communist issue" back in the Red Scare day= s of my youth. That led to the necessary creation of the [National] Emerg= ency Civil Liberties Committee [e.g., Harvey O'Connor and Corliss Lamont]= . [But I should add, on a personal note, that both ACLU and ECLC did help= me at several junctures from the mid-50s on.] Even though it still has t= oday some state and local affiliates that pull their punches, most of the= ir component organizations have been following the lead of its national l= eadership in doing good work. On a related matter, I've been interested in the current TWA 800 retrospe= ctive on CNN. It was clear, back when that tragedy occurred, that the pro= bable cause was mechanical malfunction. It's certainly clear now. But the= n, day after day, the same FBI agent gave the same "press conference" cen= tered on "terrorism". Why? Because at that point, of course, the Clinton = people and their presumed Republican opponents had teamed to ram rhough, = in an atmosphere of concocted fear and hysteria, the 1996 Anti-Terrorism = law. This provided for unimpeded Federally supervised "task forces" made = up of state, county and local "lawmen" which then engaged in virtually un= inhibited secret surveillance of "suspect persons." It also built in the = Federal death penalty [which the Indian nations were fortunately able to = resist accepting -- but no one else was.] And that 1996 Anti-Terrorism la= w, hailed by Billy Clinton, laid the basis for the Patriot Act and all of= its other offspring -- which now flourish like poison ivy in a lush east= ern Kansas river bottom. And that, of course, brings us right back here. Fight on -- and on. HUNTER GRAY [HUNTER BEAR/JOHN R SALTER JR] Mi'kmaq /St. Francis Abenaki/St. Regis Mohawk Protected by Na=C2=B4shdo=C2=B4i=C2=B4ba=C2=B4i=C2=B4 and Ohkwari' Check out our Hunterbear social justice website: www.hunterbear.org [The site is dedicated to our one-half Bobcat, Cloudy Gray: http://hunterbear.org/cloudy_gray.htm Honored by The Elder Recognition Award of Wordcraft Circle of Native Writ= ers and Storytellers: http://www.hunterbear.org/elder_recognition_award_f= or_2005.htm From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Sun Aug 05 15:02:20 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IHnEx-00088z-UI for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Sun, 05 Aug 2007 15:02:20 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l75KtCU9005005; Sun, 5 Aug 2007 13:55:12 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Sun, 5 Aug 2007 13:55:12 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar1.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.201]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l75Ko39D001624; Sun, 5 Aug 2007 13:50:03 -0700 (PDT) MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Content-Disposition: inline Date: Sun, 05 Aug 2007 13:50:03 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner Message-ID: <200708052050.l75Ko39D001624@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> Content-Type: text/plain To: shniad@sfu.ca Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary From: Sid Shniad Subject: [R-G] A very important article X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 05 Aug 2007 21:02:20 -0000 www.dissidentvoice.org May 25, 2005 Damage Control: Noam Chomsky and the Israel-Palestine Conflict by Jeffrey Blankfort http://www.dissidentvoice.org/May05/Blankfort0525.htm From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Tue Jul 31 14:55:12 2007 Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca ([142.58.101.21] ident=root) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IFykH-00059L-0E for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:55:12 -0600 Received: (from root@localhost) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) id l6VJkQ84026332; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:46:26 -0700 (PDT) Received: by sfu.ca (mld 2.2); Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:46:26 -0700 (PDT) Received: from webmail.sfu.ca (jaguar3.nfs.sfu.ca [192.168.102.203]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.13.6/8.13.4/SFU-5.0H) with ESMTP id l6VJdo9Q012158; Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:39:51 -0700 (PDT) MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70 Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:39:50 -0700 X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="----------=_1185910790-16561-1" Message-ID: <200707311939.l6VJdo9Q012158@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner To: shniad@sfu.ca Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary From: Sid Shniad X-Mailman-Approved-At: Sun, 05 Aug 2007 15:06:47 -0600 X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.9 Subject: [R-G] From a friend in Mexico X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:55:12 -0000 This is a multi-part message in MIME format... ------------=_1185910790-16561-1 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable ------------=_1185910790-16561-1-- From cbcox@ilstu.edu Sun Aug 05 16:00:54 2007 Received: from smtp3.ilstu.edu ([138.87.124.39] helo=smtp.ilstu.edu) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IHo9e-0008Di-Re for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Sun, 05 Aug 2007 16:00:54 -0600 Received: from ilstu.edu (unknown [10.100.1.136]) by smtp.ilstu.edu (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9740B2C99; Sun, 5 Aug 2007 17:05:01 -0500 (CDT) Message-ID: <46B6498C.3DB49DEE@ilstu.edu> Date: Sun, 05 Aug 2007 17:05:00 -0500 From: Carrol Cox X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en] (Windows NT 5.0; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Sid Shniad , "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." References: <200708052050.l75Ko39D001624@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Re: [R-G] A very important article X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 05 Aug 2007 22:00:55 -0000 I don't think it an important article at all. This view of Israel as wagging the yankee tail is a very close relative of conspiracism, with a dash of anti-semitism thrown in. And like conspiracism all it does is interfere with serious opposition to Zionism and to U.S. policy in the mideast. I have my differences with Chomsky, but he is absolutely right on this. I'm sorry to see Blankfort's stuff being given circulation on the left. Carrol From menecraj@shaw.ca Sun Aug 05 17:01:32 2007 Received: from shawidc-mo1.cg.shawcable.net ([24.71.223.10] helo=pd2mo1so.prod.shaw.ca) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IHp6K-0008JY-MN for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Sun, 05 Aug 2007 17:01:32 -0600 Received: from pd2mr6so.prod.shaw.ca (pd2mr6so-qfe3.prod.shaw.ca [10.0.141.9]) by l-daemon (Sun ONE Messaging Server 6.0 HotFix 1.01 (built Mar 15 2004)) with ESMTP id <0JMB00547PF5N310@l-daemon> for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Sun, 05 Aug 2007 17:04:17 -0600 (MDT) Received: from pn2ml9so.prod.shaw.ca ([10.0.121.7]) by pd2mr6so.prod.shaw.ca (Sun Java System Messaging Server 6.2-7.05 (built Sep 5 2006)) with ESMTP id <0JMB003KTPF4N930@pd2mr6so.prod.shaw.ca> for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Sun, 05 Aug 2007 17:04:18 -0600 (MDT) Received: from AgingCHSHome ([24.76.107.131]) by l-daemon (Sun ONE Messaging Server 6.0 HotFix 1.01 (built Mar 15 2004)) with SMTP id <0JMB004CZPF0CL60@l-daemon> for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Sun, 05 Aug 2007 17:04:15 -0600 (MDT) Date: Sun, 05 Aug 2007 18:04:15 -0500 From: Richard Menec To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." Message-id: <013501c7d7b4$f1f726e0$0300a8c0@AgingCHSHome> MIME-version: 1.0 X-MIMEOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3138 X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.3138 Content-type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=iso-8859-1; reply-type=original Content-transfer-encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-priority: Normal Subject: [R-G] Bush fulfills his grandfather's dream X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 05 Aug 2007 23:01:33 -0000 more 'conspiracy' theory??? http://www.spectrezine.org/NorthAmerica/Swanson.htm Bush fulfills his grandfather's dream August 5, 2007 16:53 | by David Swanson It's remarkably common for a grandson to take up his grandfather's ma= jor=20 project. This occurred to me when I read recently of Thor Heyerdahl's= =20 grandson taking up his mission to cross the Pacific on a raft. But wh= at=20 really struck me was the BBC story aired on July 23rd documenting Pre= sident=20 George W. Bush's grandfather's involvement in a 1933 plot to overthro= w the=20 U.S. government and install a fascist dictatorship. I knew the story,= but=20 had not considered the possibility that the grandson was trying to= =20 accomplish what his grandfather had failed to achieve. Prescott Sheldon Bush (1895 to 1972) attended Yale University and joi= ned the=20 secret society known as Skull and Bones. Prescott is widely reported = to have=20 stolen the skull of Native American leader Geronimo. As far as I know= , this=20 has not actually been confirmed. In fact, Prescott seems to have had = a habit=20 of making things up. He sent letters home from World War I claiming h= e'd=20 received medals for heroism. After the letters were printed in newspa= pers,=20 he had to retract his claims. If this does not yet sound like the life of a George W. Bush ancestor= , try=20 this on for size: Prescott Bush's early business efforts tended to fa= il. He=20 married the daughter of a very rich man named George Herbert Walker (= the guy=20 with the compound at Kennebunkport, Maine, that now belongs to the Bu= sh=20 family, and the origin of Dubya's middle initial). Walker installed P= rescott=20 Bush as an executive in Thyssen and Flick. From then on, Prescott's b= usiness=20 dealings went better, and he entered politics. Now, the name Thyssen comes from a German named Fritz Thyssen, major= =20 financial backer of the rise of Adolph Hitler. Thyssen was referred t= o in=20 the New York Herald-Tribune as "Hitler's Angel." During the 1930s and= early=20 1940s, and even as late as 1951, Prescott Bush was involved in busine= ss=20 dealings with Thyssen, and was inevitably aware of both Thyssen's pol= itical=20 activities and the fact that the companies involved were financially= =20 benefiting the nation of Germany. In addition, the companies Prescott= Bush=20 profited from included one engaged in mining operations in Poland usi= ng=20 slave labor from Auschwitz. Two former slave laborers have sued the U= .S.=20 government and the heirs of Prescott Bush for $40 billion. Until the = United=20 States entered World War II it was legal for Americans to do business= with=20 Germany, but in late 1942 Prescott Bush's businesses interests were s= eized=20 under the Trading with the Enemy Act. Among those businesses involved= was=20 the Hamburg America Lines, for which Prescott Bush served as a manage= r. A=20 Congressional committee, in a report called the McCormack-Dickstein R= eport,=20 found that Hamburg America Lines had offered free passage to Germany = for=20 journalists willing to write favorably about the Nazis, and had broug= ht Nazi=20 sympathizers to America. (Is this starting to remind anyone of our cu= rrent=20 president's relationship to the freedom of the press?) The McCormack-Dickstein Committee was established to investigate a ho= megrown=20 American fascist plot hatched in 1933. Here's how the BBC promoted it= s=20 recent story: "Document uncovers details of a planned coup in the USA= in=20 1933 by right-wing American businessmen. The coup was aimed at toppli= ng=20 President Franklin D Roosevelt with the help of half-a-million war ve= terans.=20 The plotters, who were alleged to involve some of the most famous fam= ilies=20 in America, (owners of Heinz, Birds Eye, Goodtea, Maxwell Hse & Georg= e=20 Bush's Grandfather, Prescott) believed that their country should adop= t the=20 policies of Hitler and Mussolini to beat the great depression. Mike T= homson=20 investigates why so little is known about this biggest ever peacetime= threat=20 to American democracy." Actually, if you listen to the 30-minute BBC story, there is not one = word of=20 so much as speculation as to why this story is so little known. I thi= nk a=20 clue to the answer can be found by looking into why this BBC report h= as not=20 led to any U.S. media outlets picking up the story this week. The BBC report provides a good account of the basic story. Some of th= e=20 wealthiest men in America approached Marine Corps Major General Smedl= ey=20 Butler, beloved of many World War I veterans, many of them embittered= by the=20 government's treatment of them. Prescott Bush's group asked Butler to= lead=20 500,000 veterans in a take-over of Washington and the White House. Bu= tler=20 refused and recounted the affair to the congressional committee. His = account=20 was corroborated in part by a number of witnesses, and the committee= =20 concluded that the plot was real. But the names of wealthy backers of= the=20 plot were blacked out in the committee's records, and nobody was pros= ecuted.=20 According to the BBC, President Roosevelt cut a deal. He refrained fr= om=20 prosecuting some of the wealthiest men in America for treason. They a= greed=20 to end Wall Street's opposition to the New Deal. Clearly the lack of accountability in Washington, D.C., did not begin= with=20 Nancy Pelosi taking Dubya's impeachment off the table, or with Congre= ss'=20 decision to avoid impeachment for President Ronald Reagan (a decision= that=20 arguably played a large role in installing Prescott Bush's son George= H.W.=20 Bush as president), or with the failure to investigate the apparent d= eal=20 that George H.W. Bush and others made with Iran to not release Americ= an=20 hostages until Reagan was made president, or with the failure to pros= ecute=20 Richard Nixon after he resigned. Lack of accountability is a proud tr= adition=20 in our nation's capital. Or maybe I should say our former nation's ca= pital.=20 I don't recognize the place anymore, and I credit that to George W. B= ush's=20 efforts to fulfill his grandfather's dream using far subtler and more= =20 effective means than a military coup. Bush the grandson took office through a highly fraudulent election th= at he=20 nonetheless lost. The Supreme Court blocked a recount of the vote and= =20 installed Dubya. Prescott's grandson proceeded to weaken or eliminate most of the Bill= of=20 Rights in the name of protection from a dark foreign enemy. He even t= ossed=20 out habeas corpus. The grandson of Prescott, that dreamer of the 1930= s,=20 established with very little resistance that the U.S. government can = kidnap,=20 detain indefinitely on no charge, torture, and murder. The United Sta= tes=20 under Prescott Bush's grandson adopted policies that heretofore had b= een=20 considered only Nazi policies, most strikingly the willingness to ope= nly=20 plan and engage in aggressive wars on other nations. At the same time, Dubya has accomplished a huge transfer of wealth wi= thin=20 the United States from the rest of us to the extremely wealthy. He's = also=20 effected a major privatization of public operations, including the mi= litary.=20 And he's kept tight control over the media. Dubya has given himself the power to rewrite all laws with signing= =20 statements. He's established that intentionally misleading the Congre= ss=20 about the need for a war is not a crime that carries any penalty. He'= s given=20 himself the right (just as Hitler did) to open anyone's mail. He's cr= eated=20 illegal spying programs and then proposed to legalize them. Prescott = would=20 be so proud! The current President Bush has accomplished much more smoothly than h= is=20 grandfather could have imagined a feat that was one of the goals of= =20 Prescott's gang, namely the elimination of Congress. ---------- David Swanson is a US-based activist. This article first appeared on = his=20 blog. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D This email was sent to you as part of an alternative news service, by Richard M=E9nec. You can subscribe by replying to the sender with 'subscribe' in the subject field. Feel free to tell your friend= s. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=20 From menecraj@shaw.ca Sun Aug 05 20:09:31 2007 Received: from shawidc-mo1.cg.shawcable.net ([24.71.223.10] helo=pd2mo1so.prod.shaw.ca) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IHs2F-0008Uu-D3 for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Sun, 05 Aug 2007 20:09:31 -0600 Received: from pd2mr1so.prod.shaw.ca (pd2mr1so-qfe3.prod.shaw.ca [10.0.141.110]) by l-daemon (Sun ONE Messaging Server 6.0 HotFix 1.01 (built Mar 15 2004)) with ESMTP id <0JMB005JRY3WMXC0@l-daemon> for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Sun, 05 Aug 2007 20:11:56 -0600 (MDT) Received: from pn2ml7so.prod.shaw.ca ([10.0.121.151]) by pd2mr1so.prod.shaw.ca (Sun Java System Messaging Server 6.2-7.05 (built Sep 5 2006)) with ESMTP id <0JMB00L0EY3VYDQW@pd2mr1so.prod.shaw.ca> for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Sun, 05 Aug 2007 20:11:57 -0600 (MDT) Received: from AgingCHSHome ([24.76.107.131]) by l-daemon (Sun ONE Messaging Server 6.0 HotFix 1.01 (built Mar 15 2004)) with SMTP id <0JMB00DDZY3SGL70@l-daemon> for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Sun, 05 Aug 2007 20:11:54 -0600 (MDT) Date: Sun, 05 Aug 2007 21:11:54 -0500 From: Richard Menec To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." Message-id: <000d01c7d7cf$293045a0$0300a8c0@AgingCHSHome> MIME-version: 1.0 X-MIMEOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3138 X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.3138 Content-type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=iso-8859-1; reply-type=original Content-transfer-encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-priority: Normal Subject: [R-G] U.S. Labor Against the War X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 06 Aug 2007 02:09:32 -0000 http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?=3D1&cache=3D0&id=3D1424= 8 U.S. Labor Against the War August 4, 2007 Below is a letter from John Sweeney, President of the AFL-CIO, to Ira= qi=20 Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, expressing his strong condemnation of= an=20 order issued by the Iraqi Oil Minister to state-owned oil companies n= ot to=20 recognize or deal with the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, a federati= on that=20 represents 26,000 of the 36,000 oil sector workers in Iraq. The Oil Minister has played foil f= or the=20 U.S. in this brazen effort to suppress popular resistance to the Oil = (theft)=20 Law. The IFOU has been at the forefront of the struggle to preserve public= =20 ownership and control of Iraq's oil resources in the face of a concer= ted=20 effort by the U.S. government, the International Monetary Fund and= =20 multinational oil corporations to impose a new "Hydrocarbon Law" on I= raq=20 that would privatize control of 2/3 or more of Iraq's oil, the second= =20 largest reserves of oil in the world. The IFOU has, with support of = four=20 other labor federations in Iraq, declared it will resist this raid on= the=20 national heritage of Iraqis, including by work stoppages and strikes = if=20 necessary. It was Paul Bremer, President Bush's "Viceroy", who claimed Saddam Hu= ssein's=20 1987 law banning unions in public enterprises as his own and passed t= hat law=20 on to the hand-picked Interim Governing Council he created to provide= an=20 Iraqi fig leaf for the U.S. occupation. Rather than scrap that law, t= he=20 Maliki government has elected to continue enforcing it. This has led= to=20 raids on union offices, seizure of union records, destruction of unio= n=20 office equipment, freezing union bank accounts, arrest, beating and= =20 kidnapping of union activists, and even assassination of union leader= s. The=20 fact that the Oil Minister felt free to hide behind a dictator's anti= -labor=20 law says much about whether it is the roots of democracy being plante= d in=20 Iraq or the roots of authoritarian neo-colonial U.S. control. US Labor Against the War urges its affiliates, all labor organization= s, and=20 individual workers to let the government of Iraq know that the world = is=20 watching and will not allow them to continue violating labor rights o= f Iraqi=20 union members with impunity. But we must also tell the U.S. Congress= that=20 its support for a "benchmark" calling for adoption of the Oil (theft)= Law=20 makes it an accomplice in this crime. We should demand that the Cong= ress=20 drop this benchmark and renounce any effort to impose a new regime of= =20 private foreign control of Iraqi oil. The only benchmark that matter= s now=20 is the one that immediately removes all U.S. military forces and merc= enary=20 contractors from Iraq so that the Iraqi people can determine for them= selves,=20 free of foreign interference and coercion by occupation, how to rebui= ld=20 their nation and restructure their government and economy. Congress = has a=20 duty to use its control over appropriations to immediately defund all= =20 military operations in Iraq, except for the rapid evacuation of US fo= rces,=20 contractors and any Iraqis who by virtue of their service to the U.S.= =20 require refuge outside of Iraq. Only when the 70% of the American pe= ople=20 who want an end to the occupation ACT to demand an end to the war, wi= ll a=20 spineless Congress develop the backbone required to end it. http://uslaboragainstwar.org/downloads/Sweeney%20letter%2008.03.07.pd= f American, Federation of Labor a Congress of Industrial Organizations ____ August 2. 2007 His Excellency Nouri Al Maliki, Prime Minister The Republic of Iraq Baghdad, Iraq Dear Mr. Prime Minister On behalf of the nearly ten million working men and women of the Amer= ican=20 Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL CIO= ), I=20 write to strongly condemn an order given by the Minister of Oil an Ju= ly 18=20 prohibiting it, agencies and departments from dealing with the countr= y's oil=20 unions, declaring them and all unions in the public sector "illegal." Shockingly, this directive relies an labor and trade union laws devel= oped by=20 the previous dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein in the 1980s, inten= ded to=20 squash democracy in the workplace, ban independent trade unions and s= ilence=20 workers. This attempt to silence Iraqi unions is an unacceptable att= ack an=20 human rights in Iraq and a breach of the most fundamental rights to f= reedom=20 of association, which Iraq is required to uphold by virtue of its mem= bership=20 in the International Labor Organization (ILO). Your government's actions in this case appear to undermine a previous= =20 commitment to develop a new labor law in consultation with the ILO. = This=20 process began in 2004 and is currently on hold. Iraqi workers deserv= e a new=20 labor law that would afford them, for the first time in decades, the = rights=20 enshrined in the ILO's Declaration on the Fundamental Principles and = Rights=20 at Work. Iraqi Workers have been joining together freely to form trade unions = across=20 the country, including in the oil sector, since 2003. The AFL CIO ha= s=20 worked closely with Iraqi labor representatives and their supporters= =20 worldwide to rebuild labor institutions and to promote trade unions a= nd=20 worker rights in Iraq. Trade unions are a fundamental civil society= =20 organization necessary for democracies to grow and thrive. We urge t= he=20 Iraqi government to withdraw this order immediately. Further, we urge= the=20 Iraqi government to revive its consultations with the ILO in order to= =20 replace the labor laws installed by a dictator, with a truly democrat= ic=20 labor law worthy of a new democratic Iraq. ________ Direct your messages to: U.S. Embassy of the Republic of Iraq 1801 P Street, NW Washington, DC= 20036=20 Tel: (202) 483-7500 New general e-mail address is admin@iraqiembassy.org. Ambassador's Office Fax: (202) 462-5066 A copy to USLAW at info@uslaboragainstwar.org will enable us to pass = your=20 messages on to the Iraqi Oil Workers Union. Messages to your member of Congress and Senators can be sent at=20 http://www.house.gov/writerep/ for the House and=20 http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm USLAW updates its website daily with news, analysis, commentary, fact= sheets=20 and other resources about the oil law, the Iraqi labor movement, the= =20 political and military situation in Iraq and the region, and resistan= ce to=20 the occupation by Iraqis and people around the world. U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW) Email: PMB 153 1718 "M" Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20036 Voicemail: 202/521-5265 Co-convenors: Kathy Black, Gene Bruskin, Maria Guillen, Fred Mason, Bob Muehlenkamp, and Nancy Wohlforth Michael Eisenscher, National Coordinator & Webmaster Adrienne Nicosia, Administrative Staff Tom Gogan, Organizer =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D This email was sent to you as part of an alternative news service, by Richard M=E9nec. You can subscribe by replying to the sender with 'subscribe' in the subject field. Feel free to tell your friend= s. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=20 From suzannedk@gmail.com Sun Aug 05 20:42:00 2007 Received: from mu-out-0910.google.com ([209.85.134.190]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IHsXf-000065-MF for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Sun, 05 Aug 2007 20:42:00 -0600 Received: by mu-out-0910.google.com with SMTP id g7so1491775muf for ; Sun, 05 Aug 2007 19:46:12 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.78.193.5 with SMTP id q5mr1348130huf.1186368371908; Sun, 05 Aug 2007 19:46:11 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.78.154.4 with HTTP; Sun, 5 Aug 2007 19:46:11 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Sun, 5 Aug 2007 22:46:11 -0400 From: "Suzanne de Kuyper" To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." In-Reply-To: <013501c7d7b4$f1f726e0$0300a8c0@AgingCHSHome> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline References: <013501c7d7b4$f1f726e0$0300a8c0@AgingCHSHome> Subject: Re: [R-G] Bush fulfills his grandfather's dream X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 06 Aug 2007 02:42:00 -0000 have been writing letters to the editor since reading the expose books..... On 8/5/07, Richard Menec wrote: > more 'conspiracy' theory??? > > http://www.spectrezine.org/NorthAmerica/Swanson.htm > > Bush fulfills his grandfather's dream > > August 5, 2007 16:53 | by David Swanson > > It's remarkably common for a grandson to take up his grandfather's major > project. This occurred to me when I read recently of Thor Heyerdahl's > grandson taking up his mission to cross the Pacific on a raft. But what > really struck me was the BBC story aired on July 23rd documenting Preside= nt > George W. Bush's grandfather's involvement in a 1933 plot to overthrow th= e > U.S. government and install a fascist dictatorship. I knew the story, but > had not considered the possibility that the grandson was trying to > accomplish what his grandfather had failed to achieve. > > Prescott Sheldon Bush (1895 to 1972) attended Yale University and joined = the > secret society known as Skull and Bones. Prescott is widely reported to h= ave > stolen the skull of Native American leader Geronimo. As far as I know, th= is > has not actually been confirmed. In fact, Prescott seems to have had a ha= bit > of making things up. He sent letters home from World War I claiming he'd > received medals for heroism. After the letters were printed in newspapers= , > he had to retract his claims. > > If this does not yet sound like the life of a George W. Bush ancestor, tr= y > this on for size: Prescott Bush's early business efforts tended to fail. = He > married the daughter of a very rich man named George Herbert Walker (the = guy > with the compound at Kennebunkport, Maine, that now belongs to the Bush > family, and the origin of Dubya's middle initial). Walker installed Presc= ott > Bush as an executive in Thyssen and Flick. From then on, Prescott's busin= ess > dealings went better, and he entered politics. > > Now, the name Thyssen comes from a German named Fritz Thyssen, major > financial backer of the rise of Adolph Hitler. Thyssen was referred to in > the New York Herald-Tribune as "Hitler's Angel." During the 1930s and ear= ly > 1940s, and even as late as 1951, Prescott Bush was involved in business > dealings with Thyssen, and was inevitably aware of both Thyssen's politic= al > activities and the fact that the companies involved were financially > benefiting the nation of Germany. In addition, the companies Prescott Bus= h > profited from included one engaged in mining operations in Poland using > slave labor from Auschwitz. Two former slave laborers have sued the U.S. > government and the heirs of Prescott Bush for $40 billion. Until the Unit= ed > States entered World War II it was legal for Americans to do business wit= h > Germany, but in late 1942 Prescott Bush's businesses interests were seize= d > under the Trading with the Enemy Act. Among those businesses involved was > the Hamburg America Lines, for which Prescott Bush served as a manager. A > Congressional committee, in a report called the McCormack-Dickstein Repor= t, > found that Hamburg America Lines had offered free passage to Germany for > journalists willing to write favorably about the Nazis, and had brought N= azi > sympathizers to America. (Is this starting to remind anyone of our curren= t > president's relationship to the freedom of the press?) > > The McCormack-Dickstein Committee was established to investigate a homegr= own > American fascist plot hatched in 1933. Here's how the BBC promoted its > recent story: "Document uncovers details of a planned coup in the USA in > 1933 by right-wing American businessmen. The coup was aimed at toppling > President Franklin D Roosevelt with the help of half-a-million war vetera= ns. > The plotters, who were alleged to involve some of the most famous familie= s > in America, (owners of Heinz, Birds Eye, Goodtea, Maxwell Hse & George > Bush's Grandfather, Prescott) believed that their country should adopt th= e > policies of Hitler and Mussolini to beat the great depression. Mike Thoms= on > investigates why so little is known about this biggest ever peacetime thr= eat > to American democracy." > > Actually, if you listen to the 30-minute BBC story, there is not one word= of > so much as speculation as to why this story is so little known. I think a > clue to the answer can be found by looking into why this BBC report has n= ot > led to any U.S. media outlets picking up the story this week. > > The BBC report provides a good account of the basic story. Some of the > wealthiest men in America approached Marine Corps Major General Smedley > Butler, beloved of many World War I veterans, many of them embittered by = the > government's treatment of them. Prescott Bush's group asked Butler to lea= d > 500,000 veterans in a take-over of Washington and the White House. Butler > refused and recounted the affair to the congressional committee. His acco= unt > was corroborated in part by a number of witnesses, and the committee > concluded that the plot was real. But the names of wealthy backers of the > plot were blacked out in the committee's records, and nobody was prosecut= ed. > According to the BBC, President Roosevelt cut a deal. He refrained from > prosecuting some of the wealthiest men in America for treason. They agree= d > to end Wall Street's opposition to the New Deal. > > Clearly the lack of accountability in Washington, D.C., did not begin wit= h > Nancy Pelosi taking Dubya's impeachment off the table, or with Congress' > decision to avoid impeachment for President Ronald Reagan (a decision tha= t > arguably played a large role in installing Prescott Bush's son George H.W= . > Bush as president), or with the failure to investigate the apparent deal > that George H.W. Bush and others made with Iran to not release American > hostages until Reagan was made president, or with the failure to prosecut= e > Richard Nixon after he resigned. Lack of accountability is a proud tradit= ion > in our nation's capital. Or maybe I should say our former nation's capita= l. > I don't recognize the place anymore, and I credit that to George W. Bush'= s > efforts to fulfill his grandfather's dream using far subtler and more > effective means than a military coup. > > Bush the grandson took office through a highly fraudulent election that h= e > nonetheless lost. The Supreme Court blocked a recount of the vote and > installed Dubya. > > Prescott's grandson proceeded to weaken or eliminate most of the Bill of > Rights in the name of protection from a dark foreign enemy. He even tosse= d > out habeas corpus. The grandson of Prescott, that dreamer of the 1930s, > established with very little resistance that the U.S. government can kidn= ap, > detain indefinitely on no charge, torture, and murder. The United States > under Prescott Bush's grandson adopted policies that heretofore had been > considered only Nazi policies, most strikingly the willingness to openly > plan and engage in aggressive wars on other nations. > > At the same time, Dubya has accomplished a huge transfer of wealth within > the United States from the rest of us to the extremely wealthy. He's also > effected a major privatization of public operations, including the milita= ry. > And he's kept tight control over the media. > > Dubya has given himself the power to rewrite all laws with signing > statements. He's established that intentionally misleading the Congress > about the need for a war is not a crime that carries any penalty. He's gi= ven > himself the right (just as Hitler did) to open anyone's mail. He's create= d > illegal spying programs and then proposed to legalize them. Prescott woul= d > be so proud! > > The current President Bush has accomplished much more smoothly than his > grandfather could have imagined a feat that was one of the goals of > Prescott's gang, namely the elimination of Congress. > ---------- > David Swanson is a US-based activist. This article first appeared on his > blog. > > =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D > This email was sent to you as part of an alternative news service, > by Richard M=E9nec. You can subscribe by replying to the sender > with 'subscribe' in the subject field. Feel free to tell your friends. > In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material > is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a > prior interest in receiving the included information for research > and educational purposes. > =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D > > > > _______________________________________________ > Rad-Green mailing list > Rad-Green@lists.econ.utah.edu > To change your options or unsubscribe go to: > http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green > From suzannedk@gmail.com Sun Aug 05 20:45:58 2007 Received: from nf-out-0910.google.com ([64.233.182.184]) by lists.econ.utah.edu with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1IHsbV-00006g-Ns for rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu; Sun, 05 Aug 2007 20:45:58 -0600 Received: by nf-out-0910.google.com with SMTP id c10so411748nfd for ; Sun, 05 Aug 2007 19:50:10 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.78.180.18 with SMTP id c18mr1347048huf.1186368610288; Sun, 05 Aug 2007 19:50:10 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.78.154.4 with HTTP; Sun, 5 Aug 2007 19:50:10 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Sun, 5 Aug 2007 22:50:10 -0400 From: "Suzanne de Kuyper" To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." In-Reply-To: <013501c7d7b4$f1f726e0$0300a8c0@AgingCHSHome> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline References: <013501c7d7b4$f1f726e0$0300a8c0@AgingCHSHome> Subject: Re: [R-G] Bush fulfills his grandfather's dream X-BeenThere: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Id: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 06 Aug 2007 02:45:58 -0000 This was detailed in the early bio "Fortunate Son" The author, friends with the Bush family for maybe 10 15 years, was well vilified and found shot was ruled the suicide of an unstable man, a suspect journalist. Suzanne de Kuyper On 8/5/07, Richard Menec wrote: > more 'conspiracy' theory??? > > http://www.spectrezine.org/NorthAmerica/Swanson.htm > > Bush fulfills his grandfather's dream > > August 5, 2007 16:53 | by David Swanson > > It's remarkably common for a grandson to take up his grandfather's major > project. This occurred to me when I read recently of Thor Heyerdahl's > grandson taking up his mission to cross the Pacific on a raft. But what > really struck me was the BBC story aired on July 23rd documenting Preside= nt > George W. Bush's grandfather's involvement in a 1933 plot to overthrow th= e > U.S. government and install a fascist dictatorship. I knew the story, but > had not considered the possibility that the grandson was trying to > accomplish what his grandfather had failed to achieve. > > Prescott Sheldon Bush (1895 to 1972) attended Yale University and joined = the > secret society known as Skull and Bones. Prescott is widely reported to h= ave > stolen the skull of Native American leader Geronimo. As far as I know, th= is > has not actually been confirmed. In fact, Prescott seems to have had a ha= bit > of making things up. He sent letters home from World War I claiming he'd > received medals for heroism. After the letters were printed in newspapers= , > he had to retract his claims. > > If this does not yet sound like the life of a George W. Bush ancestor, tr= y > this on for size: Prescott Bush's early business efforts tended to fail. = He > married the daughter of a very rich man named George Herbert Walker (the = guy > with the compound at Kennebunkport, Maine, that now belongs to the Bush > family, and the origin of Dubya's middle initial). Walker installed Presc= ott > Bush as an executive in Thyssen and Flick. From then on, Prescott's busin= ess > dealings went better, and he entered politics. > > Now, the name Thyssen comes from a German named Fritz Thyssen, major > financial backer of the rise of Adolph Hitler. Thyssen was referred to in > the New York Herald-Tribune as "Hitler's Angel." During the 1930s and ear= ly > 1940s, and even as late as 1951, Prescott Bush was involved in business > dealings with Thyssen, and was inevitably aware of both Thyssen's politic= al > activities and the fact that the companies involved were financially > benefiting the nation of Germany. In addition, the companies Prescott Bus= h > profited from included one engaged in mining operations in Poland using > slave labor from Auschwitz. Two former slave laborers have sued the U.S. > government and the heirs of Prescott Bush for $40 billion. Until the Unit= ed > States entered World War II it was legal for Americans to do business wit= h > Germany, but i