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Forwarded with Compliments of Government of the USA in Exile (GUSAE): Free Americans Proclaiming Total Emancipation and Working Towards Democracy.
From: Rick Davis Date: Wed Jun 4, 2003 8:30:57 AM Asia/Bangkok Subject: EAW QUICK LINKS for June 3, 2003 Some of these stories, like "US Revokes Diplomats' Status in Iraq," are absolutely shocking. The unmitigated arrogance of the Bush regime never fails to amaze. Subject: EAW QUICK LINKS for June 3, 2003 Date: Tue, 03 Jun 2003 10:50:48 -0700 From: "Environmentalists Against War" United for Peace and Justice National Anti-War Conference. June 6-8 Attention peace and justice activists! Is your group concerned with developing a collective sense of focus and direction for the anti-war movement? Do you want to figure out how to rebuild our movement's momentum now that the US has occupied Iraq? Does your group want to be part of planning nationally coordinated anti-war activities? Would you like to strengthen ties with anti-war organizers and activists across the US? Then plan now to attend the United for Peace and Justice National Anti-War Conference in Chicago from June 6-8. http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=16710:206160 June 7: National Day of Action at Ford Dealerships Join Rainforest Action
Network and Global Exchange as we to take the "No Blood for Oil" slogan
straight to the auto manufacturers. Our primitive, gas-guzzling vehicles
fuel the global warming crisis, rainforest destruction, human rights abuses,
and the loss of good-paying union jobs. Oil addiction also fuels wars
such as the recent senseless invasion of Iraq. If we want to help create
the conditions for peace, we have to break our oil habit. Complete action
packets and background materials will soon be available at http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=16711:206160
Cast Your Vote for the Eco-Crime of the Century As Canadians get ready to kick off Environment Week, which runs from June1 to 7, the folks at Canadian Geographic decided to ask what people thought was the greatest ecological crime of the 20th century. EAW would nominate war which, in the 20th century, was responsible for the deaths of 165 million to 258 million people (mostly civilians). To cast your own vote for the greatest environmental crime of the century, click on the CG weblink. http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=16713:206160 Helping Soldiers Is More than "Support Our Troops" Signs Despite the quick and relatively bloodless victory in Iraq, soldiers who served active duty overseas return with emotional and physical injuries that take more than just sloganeering to cure. As Charles Sheehan-Miles and Robert K. Musil write, "Our veterans must know there is no shame or dishonor in trying to cope with the trauma of combat. Indeed, it is an imperative. And we should be prepared to give when asked." http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=16714:206160 US Revokes Diplomats' Status in Iraq The US State Department announced yesterday that foreign envoys in Iraq no longer have diplomatic status in that country. Spokesman Richard Boucher explained that diplomats currently in Iraq are accredited to Saddam's regime, thereby making their accreditation void, and that sending new ambassadors to Iraq serves "no purpose" until a new Iraqi government is created. Until that time when an Iraqi government exists, Boucher said the occupying powers "reserve the right to exclude people who we don't think belong [in Iraq]." http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=16715:206160 A Fresh Start for Iraq: The Case for Debt Relief Of the many problems confronting social and economic recovery in Iraq, one crucial area that has received insufficient attention is foreign debt. Over the past two decades Iraq has been devastated by successive wars and sanctions. Ordinary Iraqis have suffered one of the most dramatic collapses in living standards ever recorded. With unsustainable debt threatening to undermine reconstruction, there are moral and legal grounds for reducing Iraq's debt burden. Each of the country's citizens owes its creditors around $11,000. Repayment would require the transfer of all of Iraq's oil revenue - for 20 years. Meeting creditors' demands would divert resources from vital investments in social and economic infrastructure. http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=16716:206160 DoD Undercounted Soldiers Exposed to Gas in 1991 (May 30, 2003) AP - The Department of Defense miscalculated the number of US troops who may have been exposed to nerve gases when Iraqi weapons were destroyed during the first Gulf War, congressional investigators say. The General Accounting Office reports that the Pentagon and CIA used a flawed computer model to estimate the fallout from the weapons. The models were created with inaccurate data, and the height of the plume resulting from the 1991 weapons explosions was underestimated, according to a memo sent to members of a House Government Reform subcommittee. The data indicate that initial reports that about 100,000 troops were exposed were wrong. The memo doesn't say whether more or fewer troops were likely to have been affected. http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=16717:206160 US Occupation Troubles Independent Aid Agencies (May 30, 2003) AlterNet - Wherever the US invades next, the military's new desire to control humanitarian aid will put the big charity organizations in an awkward spot. In Iraq, these agencies are they playing a role cleaning up after a war they openly opposed - and they are also being compelled to do so under the supervision of the Pentagon, a position that would seem to jeopardize the independence of their operations. http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=16718:206160 What Could the War Cost Us? (June 1, 2003) AlterNet - Invading and occupying Iraq is turning out to be a fiscally Pyrrhic victory for Americans. After the bombs began to fall the Bush administration announced that the initial tab would be $75 billion. But these expenditures did not include reconstruction of the Iraqi infrastructure. In December, Yale economist William Nordhaus, writing in The New York Review of Books, calculated the cost of this war based on direct military spending (such as the salaries of troops and the costs of their weapons) and follow-on costs ("occupation and peacekeeping," "reconstruction and nation-building," "humanitarian assistance," "impact on the oil markets," and "macroeconomic impacts"). Nordhaus prepared a low-end war-cost estimate of $121 billion and a high-end estimate of $1.595 trillion. The low estimate assumed a short war with no complications, whereas $1.6 trillion would cover the costs of a protracted war with many complications. http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=16719:206160 Afghanistan at Risk without Aid: FAO KABUL (May 29, 2003) IRIB News - The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warns that long-term agriculture development in Afghanistan is in dire straits unless urgently needed donor funds are provided. FAO program manager for Afghanistan, Manfred Staab, said about $25 million is urgently needed for long-term agricultural development. "We are afraid that political events in other parts of the world are forcing donors to redirect scarce funds away from Afghanistan," Staab said. He warned without this additional support, the FAO will have to stop more than 70 per cent of its activities by the end of 2003. http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=16720:206160 Afghan Guerrillas Hire the Poor to Fire Rockets at US Forces KABUL (Jun. 2, 2003) azcentral.com - Anti-government guerrillas are paying poor people up to $10 to fire crude rockets at US bases in the country. The latest incident took place late Saturday, when attackers fired a rocket at a base in the eastern city of Asadabad. The rocket fell short of the base and there were no injuries. Kunar Gov. Sayed Fazel Akbar said there are no Taliban or al-Qaida fighters in the area, but they or other anti-government forces pay poor people up to $10 to fire the rockets. http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=16721:206160 Assault and Pillage (May 31, 2003) al-Ahram - With chaos reigning supreme in Iraq, the humanitarian crisis looms even larger. Almost two months since the end of the military campaign in Iraq, Baghdad's hospitals are striving to get back into shape. "The overall situation in Iraqi hospitals is not catastrophic, but critical," Nada Doumani, spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Baghdad. The problem is due to a combination of technical and management problems. "Wages are not being paid in full, water and electricity supplies are still a problem and there is no chain of command to assume clear responsibilities," Doumani said. Many hospitals were looted and damaged. According to Ali Hafez, head of the emergency department st Al-Yarmouk hospital, reports that everything was stolen, from beds to air- conditioning units. The damage was total, not even the intensive care units were spared. http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=16722:206160 US Failure to Protect Mass Graves Undercuts Exhumation Process (June 1, 2003) Human Rights Watch - Thousands of bodies of Saddam Huusein's victims were uncovered at the al-Mahawil military base near the southern Iraqi city of al-Hilla. Human Rights Watch researchers report that: "These burial pits were unearthed in such a chaotic manner, it's going to be virtually impossible to identify many of the remains. The United States should do much more to secure mass gravesites and help local community leaders set up a proper exhumation processS¼. US authorities had every reason to anticipate that protection of mass grave sites would be an urgent matterS¼. Yet they made no effort to enlist local authorities to establish a mechanism that could help Iraqis recover their loved ones with dignity and also preserve evidence that might convict those responsible for these enormous crimes." http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=16723:206160
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