(original photo 1)
(original photo 2)
(composite photo)
On Monday, March 31, the Los Angeles Times published a front-page photograph that had been altered in violation of Times policy. Following is their retraction note:
The primary subject of the photo was a British soldier directing Iraqi civilians to take cover from Iraqi fire on the outskirts of Basra. After publication, it was noticed that several civilians in the background appear twice. The photographer, Brian Walski, reached by telephone in southern Iraq, acknowledged that he had used his computer to combine elements of two photographs, taken moments apart, in order to improve the composition.Times policy forbids altering the content of news photographs. Because of the violation, Walski, a Times photographer since 1998, has been dismissed from the staff.
The altered photo and the two photos that were used to produce it (the first two), are shown above.
Michael Kelly, the Atlantic Monthly editor-at-large and Washington Post columnist, has been killed in a Humvee accident while traveling with the US Army's 3rd Infantry Division. Kelly, the first American journalist killed in the war, was 46.
The Post writes that "As a columnist, Kelly was a caustic conservative who was merciless in his criticism of Bill Clinton and Al Gore and was generally supportive of President Bush, especially on foreign policy. In 1997, New Republic owner Martin Peretz, a close friend of Gore, fired Kelly as the magazine's editor over his continuing attacks on the Clinton administration."
(Gothic News Service, 03/04) The White House and Rupert Murdoch¹s Fox TV
Networks have both become sensitive to International popular perceptions that the President's War Council and the station¹s Anchormen and women lack compassion for Iraq's war dead.
"There¹s been just too much glee expressed by staffs from both quarters," Psych-Ops spokespersons for both Government and Fox privately and jointly expressed. "We need to tone it down. Eliminating entire Iraqi divisions with uranium enhanced tank shells and Moab cluster bombs is fine in terms of meeting military objectives. But we and that means the Secretary of War Rumsfeld, the Pentagon Press Office and all our Fox Anchors and ex-Military Experts all look too full of glee at our success. The joint enthusiasm at these unanimous kills works to cloud the perception of the real goal in liberating and caring for the Iraqi people. The foreign press Arab and European - is actually hitting us with the WMD word."
Fearful of militarily winning and, at the same time, internationally losing the war psychologically, Psych-Ops for the White House, the Pentagon Pressroom and Fox have created "Onion Closets." These are special way-stations that function to give a more tender and compassionate appearance to White House, Pentagon staff and Fox Anchors before they appear on the media. Each closet is stocked with boxes of onions, a knife rack, and lit with a singular yellow, low wattage, light bulb. Before going on the air, White House and Pentagon Staff, and Fox Anchors either together or alone may sit on a bench and cut onions into small pieces. Ample amounts of tissue are supplied for the onset of tears.
"If one of our guys or gals is going overboard on a particular kill, we call out "Code Onion" and get them into the room as quick as possible. "Yes, sometimes it is true that some can¹t stop crying. We have to do everything short of calling their mothers to get them back on program."
Asked if "Code Onion" is working, Psych-Ops suggested success in the more frequent use of the word "regrettable" particularly for unintended and large Iraqi civilian casualties, and to "Keep an eye on Fox's O'Reilly. Astonishingly, he's got an amazingly quick tear factor." No one would say if the President had yet to report to the Closet. When asked about the origins of the Onion solution, Psych-Ops said, "It¹s an old German device. Ex-Military personnel and citizens both spent much time in their onion cellars after Hitler fell."
Legendary soul singer Edwin Starr (b. Charles Hatcher), one of the first artists signed to the Motown label, died yesterday (April 3) after a heart attack. His biggest hit was "War (What Is It Good For?)", which has been covered by hundreds of musicians, including Frankie Goes to Hollywood, DOA and Bruce Springsteen. Starr was 61.
The Unknown
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.
—Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing
Slate has posted this toothsome little lyric, along with a few other examples of the poetry of "D.H." Rumsfeld. The critics rave (at least, I think it's raving; there seems to be a tongue firmly wedged in -- or possibly between -- someone's cheek[s]): "Rumsfeld's poetry is paradoxical: It uses playful language to address the most somber subjects: war, terrorism, mortality. Much of it is about indirection and evasion: He never faces his subjects head on but weaves away, letting inversions and repetitions confuse and beguile. His work, with its dedication to the fractured rhythms of the plainspoken vernacular, is reminiscent of William Carlos Williams'. Some readers may find that Rumsfeld's gift for offhand, quotidian pronouncements is as entrancing as Frank O'Hara's."
April 4, 2003 4 In late January, Sam Hamill called upon writers to "reconstitute a Poets Against the War movement like the one organized to speak out against the war in Vietnam." He asked writers, “to speak up for the conscience of our country and lend your names to our petition against this war” by submitting “a poem or statement of conscience to the Poets Against the War web site.”
The response was overwhelming. Over 13,000 poems were submitted including work by Adrienne Rich, W. S. Merwin, Galway Kinnell, Robert Bly, Marilyn Hacker, Grace Schulman, Shirley Kaufman, Wanda Coleman, Yusef Komunyakaa, Katha Pollitt, Hayden Carruth, Jane Hirshfield, Tess Gallagher, Sandra Cisneros and former Poet Laureate Rita Dove. Poets Against the War collects some of the best poems submitted to the website. This anthology is both a cry against impending war and a celebration of the long and rich tradition of moral opposition and dissent by American writers and artists.
Thanks to the outpouring of support from founding supporters of the VoteToImpeach movement, the first full page ad of the impeachment campaign was placed in the New York Times on March 19 - Bush's ultimatum day - in the front section of the paper, page A23.
The political impact of the New York Times was far-reaching. The circulation of the New York Times extends all over the country and all over the world. In turn, the response of people across the country to the ad was magnificent. The office was flooded with thousands of letters from people who filled out a VoteToImpeach ballot. Tens of thousands more immediately went on line and voted to impeach Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Ashcroft for their criminal conduct in waging a war of aggression against the people of Iraq, wantonly sacrificing the lives of U.S. servicemen and women, and for the assault on our civil rights and civil liberties at home.
The VoteToImpeach newspaper ad campaign is expanding.
With your help, we are now seeking to place the full page ad in the San Francisco Chronicle in the next week.
The ad campaign is letting millions of Americans know about the constitutional mechanism of impeachment to remove from office elected officials who commit high crimes and misdemeanors, who violate the trust of the people and engage in abuse of power. The campaign for an impeachment process is building at the grassroots level. Let's do everything within our power to make it grow, in our neighborhoods, in our communities, and in Congress.
You can also help spread the word about the impeachment campaign by encouraging your favorite websites to place the VoteToImpeach graphic link. This is easily done, click here for instructions.
People around the country are also making efforts to place the ad in their local newspapers. The pdf of the ad is available at the www.VoteToImpeach.org website, and we can also assist if your paper needs any additional camera-ready files. Please let us know if the ad has been placed in a local newspaper in your area.
On Sunday, March 23 the full page ad appeared in the Madison Capitol Times (Wisconsin). We are interested in placing the ad in newspapers read by different communities around the country in large and smaller cities and towns.
We have had many requests for VoteToImpeach materials and are happy to announce that signs and stickers for the VoteToImpeach campaign will be available at the peace demonstrations taking place on Saturday April 12 in Washington, DC (12 noon at the Washington Monument) and in San Francisco (12 noon at the Civic Center - Polk & Grove). Many VoteToImpeach members are coming as contingents to these April 12 national demonstrations calling for an end to the war in Iraq, which will be part of a world-wide day of rallies for peace across the globe. The VoteToImpeach contingents will be saying that a significant step towards peace is the impeachment of George W. Bush and Co.
Congratulations on such a successful campaign launch -- lets keep the pressure building!
- All of us at VoteToImpeach.org
The war with Iraq continues. No one knows if it will last weeks, months, or years. Even after the fighting stops in Iraq, the fallout from this war could span decades. We can only hope that it ends quickly, with an absolute minimum loss of life.
Even as the troops march towards Baghdad, a big controversy is brewing over what will happen when the war does end. The neoconservatives like Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and Richard Perle envision a longer U.S. occupation of Iraq, directed entirely by the Pentagon and with only minimal participation by other countries and the U.N. Their scheme calls for setting up a provisional government in which Americans head each of the 23 ministries. In essence, they want to win the peace the way the U.S. has pushed for war: alone.
The U.S. State Department, the C.I.A., Prime Minister Tony Blair, the major humanitarian relief organizations, France, Germany, and most of the rest of the countries in the world disagree with this plan. They'd like to see the reconstruction of Iraq as a collaborative, international effort lead by the U.N. And many of them believe the Pentagon plan is a recipe for disaster.
The decision on how post-war Iraq is to be managed will be made in the next several days, and the Administration is split. The consequences will play out in Iraq and around the world for generations. By writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, you can help to sway the balance away from the unilateralism that has done so much damage and toward a collective rebuilding process.
We've made it easy for you to send a letter by providing some detailed talking points below. Here are some tips on how to make the most of them:
1. Your newspaper's letters page should give you an email address or fax number to use, or you can try this website.
2. Your own words, written from the heart, are always best.
3. Brevity is the soul of wit.
4. The key to publication is to pounce on something specific you've seen in the newspaper -- especially an editorial or op-ed article. The issue of post-war Iraq has been in the news a lot lately -- try to cite a specific article when you write.
5. Be sure to include your name and address, and especially your phone number when submitting your letter. Editors need to call you to verify authorship before they can print your letter. They don't print your phone number.
6. Please let us know when you've sent your letter by pasting it into the form below:
If that doesn't work, go to:
http://www.moveon.org/futureofiraq.html
Here's why big parts of our own government, and the governments of many other countries, oppose having the Pentagon reconstruct Iraq:
Many major relief organizations believe that it will be difficult or impossible to help starving or malnourished people in a Pentagon-controlled Iraq. Relief has never been a priority for the Pentagon, and in many cases the U.S. simply lacks the expertise to distribute food and medical aid effectively. (For more info, go here.)
At the State Department, officials worry that not including the U.N. in post-war planning could heighten tensions between the U.S. and other important allies. A recent L.A. Times article quoted one Administration official as saying, "We're on the verge of further alienating allies. . . And it looks like we're going to do exactly what we promised we wouldn't -- take small groups of exiles with limited influence in Iraq and bring them in as the bulk of a transition government." (The article is linked to below.)
Many Administration officials worry that a U.S.-led reconstruction effort will be regarded with suspicion or even hostility by Iraqis, who have already shown that they do not welcome foreign intruders. (Washington Post, April 2, 2003) In other words, if lead by the U.S., an Iraqi government may simply fail. That could leave Iraq in the hands of another Saddam Hussein.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair worries that if post-war Iraq is not in the hands of the U.N., other countries may be reticent to play a significant role in the reconstruction of the country. According to the L.A. Times, "Blair sees the move as critical to winning support from donor nations and to preventing a political backlash and new terrorism from an increasingly angry Arab world."
Your letter doesn't have to go into these details. Here are some key points you can touch on:
A U.S. occupation of post-war Iraq could incite anti-American hatred in the Arab world, and could breed more terrorism.
Major humanitarian organizations believe the Pentagon's leadership could put relief workers and starving and malnourished Iraqis at risk.
U.S. control of the reconstruction process will further alienate our already estranged allies, and could create a permanent rift between us and the countries we rely upon for cooperation in the war on terrorism.
The amount of money available for the rebuilding of Iraq will depend on the degree to which other countries feel included in the decision-making process. A U.S.-only process could lead potential donor countries to drop out.
The U.N. is equipped to build democracies; the United States government has neither the expertise nor the long-term political will to see such a process through.
Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon want a U.S. occupation of Iraq. That could have disastrous consequences, not only for the U.S., but for the future of democracy in Iraq. As Prime Minister Blair said, "Iraq in the end should not be run by the Americans, should not be run by the British, should not be run by any outside force or power. It should be run for the first time in decades by the Iraqi people."
Sincerely,
--Carrie, Eli, Joan, Peter, Wes, and Zack
The MoveOn Team
April 3rd, 2003
P.S. Here's a great L.A. Times article that sums up many of these issues.
P.P.S. If you're interested in taking more media-related actions on a more frequent basis, please join our Media Corps
by Lee Douglas
PORTLAND, Oregon -- An Oregon antiterrorism bill would jail street-blocking protesters for at least 25 years in what critics consider a thinly veiled effort to discourage antiwar demonstrations.
The bill has met strong opposition, but lawmakers expect a debate on the definition of terrorism and the value of free speech before a vote by the state Senate judiciary committee, whose chairman, Republican John Minnis, wrote the proposal.
Senate Bill 742 identifies a terrorist as a person who ''plans or participates in an act that is intended, by at least one of its participants, to disrupt'' business, transportation, schools, government, or free assembly.
The bill's few public supporters say police need stronger laws to break up protests that have created havoc in cities like Portland, where thousands of people have marched and demonstrated against war in Iraq since last fall.
''We need some additional tools to control protests that shut down the city,'' said Lars Larson, a conservative radio talk-show host who has stumped for the bill.
Larson said protesters should be protected by free speech laws, but not be able to hold up ambulances or frighten people out of their daily routines, adding that police and the court system could be trusted to see the difference.
''Right now, a group of people can get together and go downtown and block a freeway,'' Larson said. ''You need a tool to deal with that.''
The bill contains automatic sentences of 25 years to life for the crime of terrorism.
Critics of the bill say its vagueness erodes basic freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism under an extremely broad definition.
''Under the original version, [terrorism] meant essentially a food fight,'' said Andrea Meyer of the American Civil Liberties Union, which opposes the bill.
Police unions and minority groups also oppose the bill for fear it could have a chilling effect on relations between police and poor people, minorities, children, and ''vulnerable'' populations.
Some legislators said the bill stands little chance of passage.
''I just don't think this bill is ever going to get out of committee,'' said Democratic Senator Vicki Walker, one of four members on the six-person panel who have said they oppose the legislation.
Bill in Oregon Seeks to Jail War Protesters as Terrorists
An extraordinary communication from the United States to UN representatives around the world has been leaked to Greenpeace. (Full text of the leaked document here). In it, the United States warns that the simple act of support for a General Assembly meeting to discuss the war will be considered "unhelpful and directed against the United States." They further threaten that invoking the Uniting for Peace resolution will be "harmful to the UN."
Greenpeace has been actively lobbying at the United Nations against the war, and many delegates have expressed both publicly and privately their distaste for what they see as US attempts to "strongarm" the world community to do as it is told. One delegate was so incensed with the memo circulated by the US that he leaked the full document.
The Uniting for Peace resolution, which the US is trying to head off, has a long history of stopping conflict. Ironically, it has most often been invoked by the US to overcome vetoes by the Soviet Union during the cold war. Under its terms, the full 191 member United Nations General Assembly can gather to make recommendations for restoring the peace when the Security Council is deadlocked or unable to take action. Somewhat hilariously, one of the reasons the US says the General Assembly should not take up the issue of war in Iraq is that the "Security Council remains seized of this matter." Seized is certainly the correct term: the engine of peace is simply not turning.
There are those who say that the United Nations has been harmed by the Security Council debate on Iraq and the US coalition action without authorisation. However, it can also be said that the UN showed extraordinary strength in withstanding the pressure to rubber-stamp an illegal invasion. The only course of action open now to the global community is to demand the immediate end of hostilities and a return to UN-sanctioned disarmament measures. It's the right thing to do for world peace, it's the right thing to do for the future of the United Nations.
In the past two weeks, Greenpeace Cyberactivists have been part of the global outcry for an emergency session of the UN. We've sent a record 60,000 appeals to United Nations representatives calling for the General Assembly to denounce the war in Iraq and to call for an immediate cease-fire. And despite the fierce US pressure, it looks like our global demand will be met.
A press announcement by the Arab League Monday confirms that they will be invoking the "Uniting for Peace" resolution to bring all 191 member nations of the UN together. "The point of the request is to save the lives of Iraqi civilians," one Arab diplomat said to the Associated Press. "We will ask for a cease-fire and a return to peaceful disarmament in Iraq."
Dozens of other nations have already gone on record saying they will support the call for an emergency session. We urge the General Assembly to meet swiftly and give shape to the global voices that are demanding an end to this illegal war.
Vows To Oppose Supplemental; Offers Amendment to Bring Troops Home
Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH), who leads opposition to the war in Iraq within the House, spoke today on the House floor in opposition to the war supplemental and offer an amendment to bring the troops home.
Kucinich issued the following statement:
“I support the troops. But, this war is illegal and wrong. I do not support this mission. I will not vote to fund this Administration’s war in Iraq...
“This war is not about defending the United States from a foreign threat in Iraq. This war is not about the U.S. trying to save or liberate the Iraqi people. This is not about an Iraqi nuclear threat. Iraq did not attack the United States. The United Nations (UN) did not approve this war as being necessary to protect international security. In addition, this Administration did not provide evidence for its claims that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD) prior to military conflict. And, several key pieces of evidence have been shown to be fraudulent.
“This war is killing our troops. This war is killing innocent Iraqi civilians. This war must end now. It was unjust when it started two weeks ago, and is still unjust today. The U.S. should get out now and try to save the lives of American troops and Iraqi citizens.
“Many members of the Republican Leadership have demonstrated how to vote against war funding and support our troops. On December 13, 1995, the House, under the control of Speaker Gingrich, considered HR 2770. This bill, a “prohibition of funds for deployment of Armed Forces in Bosnia,” was introduced by Rep. Bob Dornan (R-CA). Many leading Republicans, such as Tom DeLay, Dennis Hastert, Bill Thomas, Duncan Hunter and Henry Hyde, voted to cut-off funds for the military action while troops were deployed in Bosnia. In fact, 82% of Republicans voted to cut off the funds while troops were deployed in Bosnia.
“Ending the war now and resuming weapons inspections could salvage world opinion of the United States. The greatest threat to the United States at this time is terrorism, which this war will breed.”
During debate, Kucinich offered an amendment to bring the troops home immediately. The Kucinich amendment would cut $19.3 billion from Operation Iraqi Freedom Fund. The amendment would leave $30.3 billion to fund the war to date, plus $10 billion to get the troops out of Iraq. The amendment would save taxpayers $19.4 billion or could be used for increased homeland security, education, healthcare, or veterans funds.
Kucinich will vote ‘no’ on final passage of the war supplemental.
It's pretty amazing when the White House starts producing artwork critical of the Bush regime, but all these and more are available at:
whitehouse.org/initiatives/posters/
There's also a lot of news there, such as:
"I don't profess to understand your courage, or the modest backgrounds most of you tried to escape when you fell for the slick military advertisements promising a life of confidence, civilian skills, and violent death – but I know that you are America's best: shining examples of our diversity, blood-thirstiness, and utter expendability..."
Worse I fear by far than this obscene war – just yesterday the world was treated to hearing a mother’s tale of seeing her two daughters, ages 15 & 12, decapitated by U.S. firepower as it ripped through their vehicle that failed to heed what may have been an unclear warning to stop at a “U.S. checkpoint” – will be the “peace” that follows.
(Petaluma, California, Gothic News Service, 04/03) The descendants of radical and progressive chicken farmers of America - including many of Petaluma's new and anti-war citizens - gathered today for a public sendoff of Uncle Sam's corpse on a bicycle propelled pilgrimage across America. Destined for an August revival celebration on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, crowds gathered around the float at the intersection of Main and Washington to witness the open wounds on Sam¹s large red, white and blue body which lay crumpled upside down on a large float - his haggard, sad and open eyes barely able to look out on the crowds that stopped City traffic for miles around.
Petaluma, now a mainly white suburb north of San Francisco, spent most of the first half of the 20th Century known as the chicken and egg capital of the nation. Founded and sustained by secular socialist, Yiddish speaking chicken farmers, the community was internationally known for its contriubtions to the defense of Sacco and Vanzetti, the Scottsboro Boys and the Spanish Republic, including the participation of some of its members in the famed anti-fascist Abraham Lincoln Brigade.
"Much of the leadership was threatened and quieted during the McCarthy period, including the executions of the Rosenbergs," said Eileen Fishman, one of the daughters and organizers. "We¹ve come back to revive our roots as well as join with our fellow citizens. Our pilgrimage is to send a message of defeat to the neo-McCarthy/Ashroft alliance and to revive and protect our Constitutional liberties."
In the morning crown many concerned citizens lined up around the float to cover Sam's costume with fresh and familiar stickers, including:
Take Back America
Rage Against the Coup
Resist Repression
Democracy Not Hypocrisy
If You Are Not Outraged
You Are Not Paying Attention
Others took turns to place painted eggs, chicken feather pillows, as well as other procreative symbols under and around Sam's body and face.
At eleven o¹clock, the float - pulled by the "Abe Wheeler Brigade", its volunteer members drawn from Bicycle Peace Coalitions up and down the West Coast slowly pedaled out of town. The cross-continental trip will stop to rally citizens in town rallies across the country including a major July 4th stop in Wichita, Kansas on July 4th. There, in a nocturnal gathering, 100 poets will join in a rare choral reading of the "Wichita Vortex Sutra," considered by many as one of Allen Ginsberg's major poems.
"Allen was the visionary baby of our elders," is all Ms. Fishman would say as to why the poem was chosen. "You might go read it or get the recording of Allen," she told reporters. "The work is really quite tender."
In addition to providing muscle power, the bicycle coalition forces expect to fend off attacks from O¹Reilly and other Fox Network Cable SUV brigades, some of whom have already publicly promised to threaten the highway pilgrimage.
"When we get to the Lincoln Memorial, there will a public celebration in which we crack fresh eggs, revive Sam with feather ticklers, stand him up, show off his stickers and let him dance and sing a little to the bike coalition brass band - nothing too corny while we let Lincoln¹s shrine invoke the bravery of our Petaluma elders and this country¹s many other progressive ancestors," Ms. Fishman said, just before hopping on her bike to leave town.
[I'm sure a lot of you know about Salam Pax already but this is an angle that has been largely ignored.]
by Doug Windsor
March 29, 2003 12:01 a.m. ET/+5GMT/-3PT (New York City) A website by a mysterious gay man is attracting tens of thousands of readers around the world seeking updates on the situation in Baghdad.
He calls himself Salam Pax, a nom de plume which means "peace" in Arabic and Latin.
His site (http://dear_raed.blogspot.com) is a web log called a blog, a sort of online diary. His entries not only criticize Saddam Hussein but also the U.S. led invasion of Iraq.
While little is known about Salam Pax, it appears he is a 28 or 29-year-old Iraqi architect who lived as a teenager in Europe. His writings provide an eerie look at a city under seige.
"Our brightest and most creative minds fled the country not because of oppression alone but because no one inside Iraq could make a living, survive," he wrote of economic sanctions, telling the U.S. government to "get a clue."
"There are no waving masses of people welcoming the Americans nor are they surrendering by the thousands. People are ... sitting in their homes hoping that a bomb doesn't fall on them," he wrote.
In yet another entry he writes: "Houses near al-salam palace ... have had all their windows broke, doors blown in and in one case a roof has caved in," Salam wrote in his journal. "I guess that is what is called 'collateral damage' and that makes it OK?"
"How could 'support democracy in Iraq' become to mean 'bomb the hell out of Iraq'? ... Nobody minded an undemocratic Iraq for a very long time, now people have decided to bomb us to democracy? Well, thank you! how thoughtful," he wrote.
Before the invasion began several of his entries detailed persecutions against gays in Iraq.
Some of his entries are witty, others profoundly disturbing glimpses at Saddam's regime and the fears of Iraqis about the bombing campaign.
The site has become so popular that exceeded the amount of bandwidth he was allotted.
Google, the company which operates the company that hosts his blog has upgraded his account last weekend gratis so he could continue writing and posting photos. This week it added a mirror site to keep up with the ever growing traffic. (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gulfwar-2/)
Salam Pax has his detractors who believe he is actually an American or Israeli agent - and may not even be in Baghdad. But his supports point to the meticulous detail in his postings which even include the price of vegetables. One internet sleuth tested the code behind the Internet address of his blog and determined it most likely came from Iraq.
The site was knocked off the air on Monday prompting fears that Iraq's secret police may have discovered him, but it came back up on Friday night.
©365Gay.com LtdÆ 2003
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
We have been in discussions to activate and invite others to organize some actions, activities and events in relation and response to the "war on terror", the war in iraq, the ongoing attacks on civil liberties, responsibilities as "citizens", responsibilities as cultural workers, culture & politics, cultural politics, censorship, dissent, etc, ? . The time frame we were thinking about for the the events (which can range from creative protests, to public art works, online projects, screenings, discussions and panels) would be the weekend of April 26.
To open this call to as many people as possible, we need to collaborate with others artists, activists, groups, and organizations. We are writing this letter to seek your participation, and assistance in organizing, initiating events, but most importantly connecting and finding other partners/collaborating bodies.
We are aware that many people are already in the mindset and preparing such actions, we just want to try to create a density of these activities to coincide together and create a level of critical mass and hopefully public resonance.
We have been encouraged by the anti-war movements and the level of "resistance" that has been organized in nyc and cities around the world. We would like to involve and implicate in a more precise fashion, the role, responses, and strategies of cultural workers or others utilizing/employing artistic/creative approaches.
Our idea is to create a horizontal structure in which there is no approval of what can and cannot fit within its framework. We only propose a title, a date, an open set of ideas, themes and questions. It is up to the individuals and groups who participate to decide and organize the specific scope and nature of their projects.
Related to that weekend, we will generate a map of this cultural field of resistance and along with that a calendar of all the related events that will take be taking place.
Let us know what you think, ideas you may have or had, what you may already be working on that could coincide with these events, and if you would like to be involved (organizing, networking, creating).
At this point, Rene and I are gathering the names of people who will be organizing and doing "outreach", we really hope that this event is not just in New York, but will be in other cities as well.
For the interim, please write to info@16beavergroup.org (subject: Action). We have already set up an e-mail list that people who will be involved can subscribe to (subscribe_hownow@16beavergroup.org).
Ok, looking forward to hearing back from everyone.
Ay + Rene
United for Peace & Justice NYC
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/nyc 212-603-3700
====================================
In this update:
* April 3: Nonviolence/Civil Disobedience Training
* April 4: Riverside Church Anti-War Funeral Procession
* April 5: Harlem Anti-War March & Rally
* April 7: Direct Action Against War Profiteers
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was our country's foremost spokesperson for peace and justice. He understood how immoral war abroad fueled racism and injustice at home. For this he was vilified and eventually assassinated on April 4, 1968. (A year earlier, on April 4, 1967, Dr. King had delivered a major speech against the war in Vietnam.)
From April 4 to 7 of this year, in commemoration of the death of Dr. King and in celebration of his legacy, United for Peace and Justice has made a national call for local antiwar actions throughout the country. Visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org for more information about the national initiatives we are supporting this weekend.
In New York City, there are several key anti-war actions this weekend that we urge you to support and publicize. You can also view a complete calendar of New York anti-war events -- or list your group\'s event -- at
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/calendar.php?area=33
*April 3: Nonviolence/Civil Disobedience Training
Sponsored by United for Peace & Justice NYC
Thurs. April 3rd, 7-10pm; 330 W. 42nd St., 9th Fl. (bet. 8/9 Aves.)
For more info: UFPJcd@hotmail.com | 212-603-3759
*April 4: Riverside Church Anti-War Funeral Procession
Riverside Church in NYC will hold a symbolic funeral procession on Friday -- the anniversary of Dr. King\'s April 4, 1967 anti-war speech at Riverside Church -- to remember Dr. King, and to mourn both those who have been killed and those who will be killed as a result of the war in Iraq.
Assemble 9AM at Grant\'s Tomb, Riverside Dr. & 122nd Street for a 9:30AM service followed by a march to Bryant Park
More details: http://www.theriversidechurchny.org | 212-870-6853
*April 5: Harlem Anti-War March and Rally
A Call to African Americans and All People of Color: We must show the world that we stand in opposition to this racist war in Iraq. Assemble this Saturday at 11:00AM at Marcus Garvey Park, 124th Street & Fifth Avenue, for a march to the Harlem State Office Building.
Organized by the Black Solidarity Against the War Coalition
More info: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/calendar.php?calid=4185
and http://www.blacksagainstwar.com
*April 7: Direct Action Against War Profiteers
The M27 Coalition -- organizers of last week\'s Rockefeller Center die-in -- will participate in a national day of direct action against war profiteers on Monday, by organizing a mass civil disobedience outside the offices of The Carlyle Group. The Carlyle Group, with offices at 58th & Fifth, is a politically connected investment firm that stands to profit greatly from both the war itself and the postwar reconstruction.
For more details and info about upcoming planning meetings, visit:
http://www.m27coalition.org/
Sunday, April 6
(programmed by Marianne Shaneen)
Sunday April 6, 8:30pm: Ocularis presents
BAGHDAD: HOME MOVIES (PREMIERE!)
A Presentation by New York City video/web/installation artist Paul Chan, who spent the month of December 2002 in Baghdad, as a member of Voices in the Wilderness, a Nobel Peace Prize nominated group working to end the sanctions against Iraq. At Ocularis, Chan will present for the first time his video footage from Baghdad, offering a glimpse into the cultural, political, and everyday life of Iraqi citizens living under the weight of the UN sanctions and the chaos of another war. Chan will be joined by members of the Ruckus Society and United for Peace and Justice to talk about alternative and utopian visions and radical change.
Paul Chan is a 2003 Rockefeller Foundation New Media Art Fellow and director
of an online political/aesthetic think tank at:
www.nationalphilistine.com.
For more information on the Iraq peace team project:
http://www.iraqpeaceteam.org
DIRECTIONS:
Ocularis screenings are at Galapagos Art & Performance Space
in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
70 North 6th Street (between Wythe and Kent)
Tel: 718.388.8713
By subway: L line to Bedford Avenue stop, first stop in Brooklyn. Walk one block south to North 6th street and two and a half blocks west.
As Well As Disobedient, Fluxus, Humorous, Intelligent, And Situationist
Through the grapevine I hear of problems some have with Act Now to Stop War & End Racism (A.N.S.W.E.R.) This morning on W.B.A.I I listened to a discussion about the New York Times, ironically, accusing United For Peace and Justice of not supporting civil disobedience.
Even Taylor Meade--Andy Warhol superstar, downtown nightclub denizen, and raconteur--the evening of March 22, 2003, the day of a big anti-war march down Broadway from Times Square to Washington Square Park, says, "The anti-war movement is redundant!" Poet Frank Sherlock wittily replied, "Maybe but only because war is so redundant!"
I have only witnessed increasing joy and savvy in the anti-war movement since the semi-legal march in New York on Saturday February 22, 2003. Unfortunately the rancor and hatred from pro-war press and public is increasingly vociferous.
In spite of comments to the contrary what I witnessed near Rockefeller Center last Thursday, March 27, 2003 was a terrific expression of democracy incorporating art, carnival, comedy, poetry, and philosophy to critique the United States’ war on terrorism in Iraq.
More than 200 people were arrested for symbolically dying on 5th Avenue in front of Rockefeller Center, ground zero of U.S. corporate media. Several hundred more people gathered in front and near the center to protest, not only the war in Iraq, but media coverage of it. The demonstration was, for lack of a better word, organized by the M27 Coalition, because many participants heard about the event from National Public Radio the night prior, as well as various other sources. Furthermore, the last several years of the growing anti-corporate globalization movement has informed the current anti-war movement--loosely affiliated affinity groups gather to create a critical mass of dissent.
The inability to identify a leader always infuriates police and especially the press. There is no one to blame nor to soundbite. For example, I travelled to the march from Brooklyn with John Coletti, unaffiliated with any group. He learned about the action on the radio. He spent 22 hours in jail. He's just this person who opposes U.S. military intervention in Iraq.
The following 13 photographs document some of what I observed.
The wounds are vicious and deep, a rash of scarlet spots on the back and thighs or face, the shards of shrapnel from the cluster bombs buried an inch or more in the flesh. The wards of the Hillah teaching hospital are proof that something illegal – something quite outside the Geneva Conventions – occurred in the villages around the city once known as Babylon.
The wailing children, the young women with breast and leg wounds, the 10 patients upon whom doctors had to perform brain surgery to remove metal from their heads, talk of the days and nights when the explosives fell "like grapes" from the sky. Cluster bombs, the doctors say – and the detritus of the air raids around the hamlets of Nadr and Djifil and Akramin and Mahawil and Mohandesin and Hail Askeri shows that they are right.
Were they American or British aircraft that showered these villages with one of the most lethal weapons of modern warfare? The 61 dead who have passed through the Hillah hospital since Saturday night cannot tell us. Nor can the survivors who, in many cases, were sitting in their homes when the white canisters opened high above their village, spilling thousands of bomblets into the sky, exploding in the air, soaring through windows and doorways to burst indoors or bouncing off the roofs of the concrete huts to blow up later in the roadways.
Rahed Hakem remembers that it was 10.30am on Sunday when she was sitting in her home in Nadr, that she heard "the voice of explosions" and looked out of the door to see "the sky raining fire". She said the bomblets were a black-grey colour. Mohamed Moussa described the clusters of "little boxes" that fell out of the sky in the same village and thought they were silver-coloured. They fell like "small grapefruit," he said. "If it hadn't exploded and you touched it, it went off immediately," he said. "They exploded in the air and on the ground and we still have some in our home, unexploded."
Karima Mizler thought the bomblets had some kind of wires attached to them – perhaps the metal "butterfly" that contains sets of the tiny cluster bombs and springs open to release them in showers.
Some victims died at once, mostly women and children, some of whose blackened, decomposing remains lay in the tiny charnel house mortuary at the back of the Hillah hospital. The teaching college received more than 200 wounded since Saturday night – the 61 dead are only those who were brought to the hospital or who died during or after surgery, and many others are believed to have been buried in their home villages – and, of these, doctors say about 80 per cent were civilians.
Soldiers there certainly were, at least 40 if these statistics are to be believed, and amid the foul clothing of the dead outside the mortuary door I found a khaki military belt and a combat jacket. But village men can also be soldiers and both they and their wives and daughters insisted there were no military installations around their homes. True or false? Who is to know if a tank or a missile launcher was positioned in a nearby field – as they were along the highway north to Baghdad? But the Geneva Conventions demand protection for civilians even if they are intermingled with military personnel, and the use of cluster bombs in these villages – even if aimed at military targets – thus crosses the boundaries of international law.
So it was that 27-year old Asil Yamin came to receive those awful round wounds in her back. And so five-year-old Zaman Abbais was hit in the legs and 48-year-old Samira Abdul-Hamza in the eyes, chest and legs. Her son Haidar, a 32-year-old soldier, said the containers which fell to the ground were white with some red and green sometimes painted on them. ''It is like a grenade and they came into the houses," he said. "Some stayed on the land, others exploded."
Heartbreaking is the only word to describe 10-year-old Maryam Nasr and her five-year-old sister Hoda. Maryam has a patch over her right eye where a piece of bomblet embedded itself. She also had wounds to the stomach and thighs. I didn't realise that Hoda, standing by her sister's bed, was wounded until her mother carefully lifted the little girl's scarf and long hair to show a deep puncture in the right side of her head, just above her ear, congealed blood sticking to her hair but the wound still gently bleeding. Their mother described how she had been inside her home and heard an explosion and found her daughters lying in their own blood near the door. The little girls alternately smiled and hid when I took their pictures. In other wards, the hideously wounded would try to laugh, to show their bravery. It was a humbling experience.
The Iraqi authorities, of course, were all too ready to allow us journalists access to these patients. But there was no way these children and often uneducated parents could manufacture their stories of tragedy and pain. Nor could the Iraqis have faked the scene in Nadr village where the remains of the tiny bomblets littered the ground beside the scorch marks. A crew from Sky Television even managed to bring a set of bomblet shrapnel back to Baghdad from Nadr with them, the wicked little metal balls that are intended to puncture the human body still locked into their frame like cough sweets in a metal sheath, They were of a black colour which glinted silver when held against the light.
Again, were the aircraft that dropped these terrible weapons American or British? The deputy administrator of the hospital and one of his doctors told a confused tale of military action around the city in recent days, of Apache helicopters that would disgorge special forces on the road to Karbala; one of their operations – if the hospital personnel are to be believed – went spectacularly wrong one night recently when militiamen forced them to retreat. Shortly afterwards, the cluster bomb raids began, although the villages that were targeted appear to have been on the other side of Hillah to the reported abortive American attack.
One thing was clear: there is no "front line" in the fighting around Babylon, that US forces strike into land around the Tigris river by air and then withdraw and Iraqi forces do much the same in the other direction. Only the Americans and British, of course, have air superiority – indeed there is no evidence a single Iraqi aircraft has taken off since the start of the invasion – so even the US and British officers back at Qatar headquarters can hardly claim the cluster bombs were dropped by Iraq.
The most recent raid occurred on Tuesday when 11 civilians were killed – two of them women and three of them children – in a village called Hindiyeh. A man sent to collect the corpses reported to the hospital the only living thing he found in the area was a hen. Iraqi bomb disposal officers were ordered into the villages yesterday afternoon to clear the unexploded ordnance.
Needless to say, it is not the first time cluster bombs have been used against civilians. During Israel's 1982 siege of west Beirut, its air force dropped cluster bomblets manufactured for the US Navy across several areas, especially in the Fakhani and Ouzai districts, causing civilians ferocious and deep wounds identical to those I saw in Hillah yesterday. Angry at the misuse of their weapons, which are designed for use against exclusively military targets, the Reagan administration withheld a shipment of fighter-bombers for Israel – then relented a few weeks later and sent the aircraft anyway.
It is not easy to listen to Iraqi officials condemning the use of illegal weapons when the Iraqi air force has itself dropped poison gas on the Iranian army and on pro-Iranian Kurdish villages during the 1980-88 war against Iran. Outraged claims from Iraqi officials at the abuse of human rights sound like a bell with a very hollow ring. But something terrible happened around Hillah this week, something unforgivable and something contrary to international law. One hesitates, as I say, to talk of human rights in this land of torture but if the Americans and British don't watch out, they are likely to find themselves condemned for what they have always – and rightly – accused Iraq of: war crimes.
[You can score yourself by looking at the answers below...]
by Stephen R. Shalom
1. The anti-war movement supports our troops by urging that they be brought home immediately so they neither kill nor get killed in a unjust war. How has the Bush administration shown its support for our troops?
a. The Republican-controlled House Budget Committee voted to cut $25 billion in veterans benefits over the next 10 years.
b. The Bush administration proposed cutting $172 million from impact aid programs which provide school funding for children of military personnel.
c. The administration ordered the Dept. of Veterans Affairs to stop publicizing health benefits available to veterans.
d. All of the above.
2. The anti-war movement believes that patriotism means urging our country to do what is right. How do Bush administration officials define patriotism?
a. Patriotism means emulating Dick Cheney, who serves as Vice-President while receiving $100,000-$1,000,000 a year from Halliburton, the multi-billion dollar company which is already lining up for major contracts in post-war Iraq.
b. Patriotism means emulating Richard Perle, the warhawk who serves as head of the Defense Intelligence Board while at the same time meeting with Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi on behalf of Trireme, a company of which he is a managing partner, involved in security and military technologies, and while agreeing to work as a paid lobbyist for Global Crossing, a telecommunications giant seeking a major Pentagon contract.
c. Patriotism means emulating George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, John Bolton, Tom DeLay, John Ashcroft, Lewis Libby, and others who enthusiastically supported the Vietnam War while avoiding serving in it and who now are sending others to kill and be killed in Iraq.
d. All of the above.
3. The Bush administration has accused Saddam Hussein of lying regarding his weapons of mass destruction. Which of the following might be considered less than truthful?
a. Constant claims by the Bush administration that there was documentary evidence linking Iraq to attempted uranium purchases in Niger, despite the fact that the documents were forgeries and CIA analysts doubted their authenticity. b. A British intelligence report on Iraq's security services that was in fact plagiarized, with selected modifications, from a student article. c. The frequent citation of the incriminating testimony of Iraqi defector Hussein Kamel, while suppressing that part of the testimony in which Kamel stated that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction had been destroyed following the 1991 Gulf War. d. All of the above.
4. White House Press Secretary Ari Fleisher stormed out of a press conference when the assembled reporters broke into laughter after he declared that the U.S. would never try to bribe members of the UN. What should Fleisher have said to defend himself?
a. It wasn't just bribery; we also ordered the bugging of the home and office phones and emails of the UN ambassadors of Security Council member states that were undecided on war.
b. Oh, come on! We've been doing this for years. In 1990 when Yemen voted against authorizing war with Iraq, the U.S. ambassador declared "That will be the most expensive 'no' vote you ever cast."
c. Why do you think the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act makes one of the conditions for an African country to receive preferential access to U.S. markets that it "not engage in activities that undermine United States national security or foreign policy interests"?
d. All of the above.
5. George Bush has declared that "we have no fight with the Iraqi people." What could he have cited as supporting evidence?
a. U.S. maintenance of 12 years of crippling sanctions that strengthened Saddam Hussein while contributing to the death of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians.
b. The fact that "coalition" forces have indicated that they will use cluster bombs in Iraq, despite warnings from human rights groups that "The use of cluster munitions in Iraq will endanger civilians for years to come."
c. By pointing to the analogy of Afghanistan, which the U.S. pledged not to forget about when the war was over, and for which the current Bush administration foreign aid budget request included not one cent in aid.
d. All of the above.
6. The Bush administration has touted the many nations that are part of the "coalition of the willing." Which of the following statements about this coalition is true?
a. In most of the coalition countries polls show that a majority, often an overwhelming majority, of the people oppose the war.
b. More than ten of the members of the coalition of the willing are actually a coalition of the unwilling - unwilling to reveal their names.
c. Coalition members - most of whose contributions to the war are negligible or even zero - constitute less than a quarter of the countries in the UN and contain less than 20% of the world's population.
d. All of the above.
7. The war on Iraq is said to be part of the "war on terrorism." Which of the following is true?
a. A senior American counterintelligence official said: "An American invasion of Iraq is already being used as a recruitment tool by Al Qaeda and other groups....And it is a very effective tool."
b. An American official, based in Europe, said Iraq had become "a battle cry, in a way," for Al Qaeda recruiters.
c. France's leading counter-terrorism judge said: "Bin Laden's strategy has always been to demonstrate to the Islamic community that the West, and especially the U.S., is starting a global war against Muslims. An attack on Iraq might confirm this vision for many Muslims. I am very worried about the next wave of recruits."
d. All of the above.
8. The Bush administration says it is waging war to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Which of the following is true?
a. The United States has refused to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, viewed worldwide as the litmus test for seriousness about nuclear disarmament.
b. The United States has insisted on a reservation to the Chemical Weapons Convention allowing the U.S. President the right to refuse an inspection of U.S. facilities on national security grounds, and blocked efforts to improve compliance with the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.
c. Vice Admiral Lowell E. Jacoby, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, testified on Feb. 11, 2003, "The long-term trends with respect to WMD and missile proliferation are bleak. States seek these capabilities for regional purposes, or to provide a hedge to deter or offset U.S. military superiority."
d. All of the above.
9. The Bush administration says it wants to bring democracy to Iraq and the Middle East. Which of the following is true?
a. If there were democracy in Saudi Arabia today, backing for the U.S. war effort would be the first thing to go, given the country's "increasingly anti-American population deeply opposed to the war."
b. The United States subverted some of the few democratic governments in the Middle East (Syria in 1949, Iran in 1953), and has backed undemocratic regimes in the region ever since.
c. The United States supported the crushing of anti-Saddam Hussein revolts in Iraq in 1991.
d. All of the above.
10. Colin Powell cited as evidence of an Iraq-Al Qaeda link an audiotape from bin Laden in which he called Saddam Hussein and his Baath Party regime "infidels." Which of the following is more compelling evidence?
a. An FBI official told the New York Times: "We've been looking at this hard for more than a year and you know what, we just don't think it's there."
b. According to a classified British intelligence report seen by BBC News, "There are no current links between the Iraqi regime and the al-Qaeda network."
c. According to Rohan Gunaratna, author of Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror, "Since U.S. intervention in Afghanistan in October 2001, I have examined several tens of thousands of documents recovered from Al Qaeda and Taliban sources. In addition to listening to 240 tapes taken from Al Qaeda's central registry, I debriefed several Al Qaeda and Taliban detainees. I could find no evidence of links between Iraq and Al Qaeda."
d. All of the above.
Answers and Sources
1. d (a) Cong. Lane Evans, "Veterans Programs Slashed by House Republicans," Press Release, 3/13/03, http://www.veterans.house.gov/democratic/press/108th/3-13-03budget.htm. (b) Brian Faler, "Educators Angry Over Proposed Cut in Aid; Many Children in Military Families Would Feel Impact," Washington Post, 3/19/03, p. A29. (c) See Veterans' for Common Sense, letter to George W. Bush, 3/20/03 http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/print.asp?id=563; Melissa B. Robinson, "Hospitals Face Budget Crunch," Associated Press, 7/31/02; Jason Tait, "Veterans angered by marketing ban," Eagle-Tribune (Lawrence, MA), 8/2/02, http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/20020802/FP_003.htm
2. d (a) Warren Vieth and Elizabeth Douglass, " Ousting Hussein could open the door for U.S. and British firms. French, Russian and Chinese rivals would lose their edge," Los Angeles Times, 3/12/03, p. I:1; Robert Bryce and Julian Borger, "Halliburton: Cheney is still paid by Pentagon contractor, Bush deputy gets Dollars 1m from firm with Iraq oil deal," Guardian (London), 3/12/03, p. 5 (which notes that Halliburton "would not say how much the payments are; the obligatory disclosure statement filled by all top government officials says only that they are in the range of" $100,000 and $1 million. (b) Seymour M. Hersh, "Lunch with the Chairman," New Yorker, 3/16/03; Stephen Labaton, "Pentagon Adviser Is Also Advising Global Crossing," NYT, 3/21/03, p. C1. Perle is to be paid $725,000 for his lobbying effort, including $600,000 if his lobbying is successful. (c) New Hampshire Gazette, "The Chickenhawks," http://nhgazette.com/chickenhawks.html.
3. d (a) See the evidence collected in Cong. Henry Waxman's letter to George W. Bush, 3/17/03, http://www.house.gov/waxman/text/admin_iraq_march_17_let.htm. (b) See Glen Rangwala's report, http://traprockpeace.org/britishdossier.html. (c) See Glen Rangwala's report, http://traprockpeace.org/kamel.html.
4. d (a) Martin Bright, Ed Vulliamy, and Peter Beaumont, The Observer (London), 3/2/03. (b) Quoted in Phyllis Bennis, Calling the Shots: How Washington Dominates Today's UN, New York: Olive Branch, 1996, p. 33. (c) Sarah Anderson, Phyllis Bennis, and John Cavanagh, Coalition of the Willing or Coalition of the Coerced?: How The Bush Administration Influences Allies in Its War on Iraq, Washington, DC: Institute for Policy Studies, 2/26/03, p. 4.
5. d (a) For background, see Anthony Arnove, ed., Iraq Under Siege: The Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War, Cambridge: South End Press, updated ed. 2003. (b) Paul Waugh, "Labour MPs Attack Hoon After He Reveals That British Forces Will Use Cluster Bombs," Independent, 3/21/03, p. 4; Human Rights Watch, Press Release, 3/18/03: "Persian Gulf: U.S. Cluster Bomb Duds A Threat; Warning Against Use of Cluster Bombs in Iraq." (c) Zvi Bar'el, "Flaws in the Afghan Model," Ha'aretz, 3/14/03, http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?ite mNo=272884.
6. d (a) See, for example, the revealing comment of Secretary of State Powell: "We need to knock down this idea that nobody is on our side. So many nations recognize this danger [of Iraq's weapons]. And they do it in the face of public opposition." Quoted in Steven R. Weisman With Felicity Barringer, "Urgent Diplomacy Fails To Gain U.S. 9 Votes In The U.N." NYT, 3/10/03, p. A1) (b) U.S. Dept. of State, Daily Press Briefing, Richard Boucher, Washington, DC, 3/18/03. (c) Country list: White House, Statement of Support from Coalition, 3/25/03, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/print/20030325-8.html; population calculated from Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2001, Washington, DC: 2001, table 1327. Total includes USA. The White House list includes countries whose leaders have done no more than state their support for the United States, and the listing changes from day to day, with some countries being added and some removed.
7. d (a) Don Van Natta Jr. and Desmond Butler, "Anger On Iraq Seen As New Qaeda Recruiting Tool," NYT, 3/16/03, p. I:1. (b) Van Natta and Butler, NYT, 3/16/03. (c) Van Natta and Butler, NYT, 3/16/03.
8. d (a) Colum Lynch, "U.S. Boycotts Nuclear Test Ban Meeting; Some Delegates at U.N. Session Upset at Latest Snub of Pact Bush Won't Back," Washington Post, 11/12/02, p. A6. (b) Amy E. Smithson, "U.S. Implementation of the CWC," in Jonathan B. Tucker, The Chemical Weapons Convention: Implementation Challenges and Solutions, Monterey Institute, April 2001, pp. 23-29, http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/reports/tuckcwc.htm; Jonathan Tucker, "The Fifth Review Conference of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention," Feb. 2002, http://www.nti.org/e_research/e3_7b.html. (c) Testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, excerpted at http://traprockpeace.org/usefulquotesoniraq.html.
9. d (a) Craig S. Smith, "Saudi Arabia Seems Calm But, Many Say, Is Seething," NYT, 3/24/03, p. B13. In fact, "Though the Saudi government officially denies it, the bombing campaign is being directed from Saudi Arabia - something that few Saudis realize." (b) On Syria, see Douglas Little, ACold War and Covert Action: The United States and Syria, 1945 1958,@ Middle East Journal, vol. 44, no. 1, Winter 1990, pp. 55 57. On Iran, see Mark J. Gasiorowski, "The 1953 Coup D'Etat in Iran," International Journal of Middle East Studies, vol. 19, Aug. 1987, pp. 261-86. (c) Andrew Cockburn and Patrick Cockburn, Out of the Ashes: The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein, New York: HarperPerennial. 1999, chap. 1.
10. d (re audiotape, see David Johnston, "Top U.S. Officials Press Case Linking Iraq To Al Qaeda," NYT, 2/12/03, p. A1; Mohamad Bazzi, "U.S. says bin Laden tape urging Iraqis to attack appears real," Newsday, 2/12/03, p. A5. (a) James Risen and David Johnston, "Split at C.I.A. and F.B.I. On Iraqi Ties to Al Qaeda," NYT, 2/2/03, p. I:13. (b) "Leaked Report Rejects Iraqi al-Qaeda Link," BBC News, 2/5/03. (c) Rohan Gunaratna, "Iraq and Al Qaeda: No Evidence of Alliance," International Herald Tribune, 2/19/03.
Interpreting Your Score
9-10 Correct: Excellent. Contact United for Peace and Justice, http://www.unitedforpeace.org/, and work to fight the war and the system that produced it.
6-8 Correct: Fair. You've been watching a few too many former generals and government officials who provide the "expert" commentary for the mainstream media. Read the alternative media!
3-5 Correct: Poor. Don't feel bad. George W. Bush only got a C- in International Relations at College.
0-2 Correct: Failing. You have a bright future as an "embedded" journalist.
This message has been brought to you by ZNet (http://www.zmag.org). Visit our site for subscription options.
Sorry that the nav bar above is looking so bad -- it looked fine on my two machines at work, but now that I'm home I see that it's quite awful. But functional, alas. I'll see what I can do about it today, but I've got a ton of things to do.
What it does is take the most recent entry under a particular category and features the title of that entry. These are not editorial recommendations, but are automatic. Some original pieces were getting pushed down the page a little too fast. Scrolling down the home page is still the best way to see what's been going on.
Also, Netscape users should use a different browser to look at this site. I think it works on Netscape 7, but anything below that doesn't agree with the MovableType template that I'm using. It would take me a few days to get it to really conform, but I think in the end Netscape didn't implement some of the HTML that is used in this site. My apologies for this.
http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,58326,00.html
It can happen here -- and does.
... sorry, no idea what the text says.
[photo by Nasser Shiyoukhi, AP]
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/issue_mayjune_2003/debate.html
Chinese hacker groups are planning attacks on U.S.- and U.K.-based Web sites to protest the war in Iraq, the Department of Homeland Security warned in an alert that it unintentionally posted on a government Web site yesterday.
The hackers are planning "distributed denial-of-service" attacks, which render Web sites and networks unusable by flooding them with massive amounts of traffic. They also are planning to deface selected Web sites, according to the alert, though the government said it did not know when the attacks would occur.
The Homeland Security Department said it got the information by monitoring an online meeting that the hackers held last weekend to coordinate the attacks. The department sent the alert to government and industry officials over the weekend but accidentally posted the link on the home page of the National Infrastructure Protection Center. The alert was pulled hours later.
Homeland Security Department spokesman David Wray said the information was not supposed to be released to the public. "This was an inadvertent release and the information, while not classified, is sensitive," he said.
The messages cited in the alert were posted on several hacker Web sites thought to be affiliated with the "Honker Union of China," a cadre of Chinese hackers that launched an assault against dozens of U.S. government Web sites in May 2001 after the collision of a Chinese fighter jet and a U.S. surveillance plane on April 1, 2001. "Honker" is Chinese slang for "hacker."
The group claimed responsibility then for defacements on the Web sites of the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Navy, the Labor Department, and other government agencies and businesses.
The Homeland Security Department's warning comes amid a flurry of antiwar hacking activity. About 10,000 Web sites have been marred with digital graffiti by protesters and supporters of U.S.-led war in Iraq, according to F-Secure Corp., a Finnish Internet security firm.
As I wrote earlier, I'm not able to convert my scan of Wichita Vortex Sutra into HTML and post to this blog.
Formatting it even as much as I have is pretty tedious and I'm only getting about 3 pages of the poem done at a time before getting bleary-eyed. Here is an HTML version in a separate section of arras if the first pages of part II, and here is a nice printable .pdf version.
I'll make an effort to get the rest of it up in a 2 more installations, and then do the whole thing as one entry. Enjoy.
A commentary by Arundhati Roy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,927849,00.html
As a group, poets have an extraordinary and just tradition of civil disobedience; the much-invoked-of-late Ginsberg was no stranger to the prison-house of prison. On April 7th, non-violent CD will be one one of many options for actively resisting an unjust and illegal war on Iraq, and the accelerating corrosion of your freedoms at home. For that Monday, a coalition including United for Peace and Justice, Direct Action to Stop the War, and Iraqi Pledge of Resistance has called for a National Day of Direct Action. See the call at ActAgainstWar; see New York-specific information at m27coalition. Join or form an affinity group; decide what you would like to do. We and our communities are the fundamental units of decision and action. Active engagement against this outrage will ease anxieties about the political nature and efficacy of poems. It will also clearly indicate that you do not support your government's actions; will not tolerate them; and will not settle for what freedoms are assigned to you according to the day's color-coding. Fight for freedom; art for art!
An excerpt:
[I]n this moment of crisis, I should not be allowed to say the following things about America:Why do we purport to be fighting in the name of liberating the Iraqi people when we have no interest in violations of human rights—as evidenced by our habit of looking the other way when they occur in China, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Syria, Burma, Libya, and countless other countries? Why, of all the brutal regimes that regularly violate human rights, do we only intervene militarily in Iraq? Because the violation of human rights is not our true interest here. We just say it is as a convenient means of manipulating world opinion and making our cause seem more just.
That is exactly the sort of thing I should not say right now.
This also is not the time to ask whether diplomacy was ever given a chance. Or why, for the last 10 years, Iraq has been our sworn archenemy, when during the 15 years preceding it we traded freely in armaments and military aircraft with the evil and despotic Saddam Hussein. This is the kind of question that, while utterly valid, should not be posed right now.
And I certainly will not point out our rapid loss of interest in the establishment of democracy in Afghanistan once our fighting in that country was over. We sure got out of that place in a hurry once it became clear that the problems were too complex to solve with cruise missiles.
That sort of remark will simply have to wait until our boys are safely back home.
Here's another question I won't ask right now: Could this entire situation have been avoided in the early 1990s had then-U.S. ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie not been given sub rosa instructions by the Bush Administration to soft-pedal a cruel dictator? Such a question would be tantamount to sedition while our country engages in bloody conflict. Just think how hurtful that would be to our military morale. I know I couldn't fight a war knowing that was the talk back home.
CNn is reporting that Fox News Channel executives and the Pentagon reached a deal Monday in which Geraldo Rivera, who raised the military's ire when he reported operational details, will leave Iraq voluntarily rather than be expelled from the country.
U.S. military officials told CNN on Monday morning that Rivera violated the cardinal rule of war reporting by giving away crucial details of military plans during a Fox News Channel broadcast from Iraq, where the reporter was temporarily assigned to the Army's 101st Airborne Division.
In the live broadcast, Rivera told his photographer to aim the camera at the sand in front of him. Rivera then outlined a map of Iraq, and showed the relative location of Baghdad and his location with the 101st Airborne. He then showed where the 101st would be going next.
"He gave away the big-picture stuff," a senior military official told CNN. "He went down in the sand and drew where the forces are going."
A Pentagon official told CNN that members of the 101st Airborne would escort Rivera to the Kuwaiti border. But Rivera appeared in another live report from Iraq hours after the official announced his expulsion, and said he knew nothing of it.
"In fact, I'm further in Iraq than I've ever been," Rivera said. "It sounds like some rats from my former network, NBC, are trying to stab me in the back [... ] MSNBC is so pathetic a cable news network that they have to do anything they can to attract attention [ ... ] You can rest assured that whatever they're saying is a pack of lies."
Nevertheless, Geraldo is packing his bags. Guess the search for the secret vault of Saddam Hussein will have to wait for another day.
The Mirror is featuring a statement from recently sacked NBC correspondent Peter Arnett titled THIS WAR IS NOT WORKING.
Some excerpts:
There is enormous sensitivity within the US government to reports coming out from Baghdad.They don't want credible news organisations reporting from here because it presents them with enormous problems.
I reported on the original bombing for NBC and we were half a mile away from those massive explosions. Now I am really shocked that I am no longer reporting this story for the US and awed by the fact that it actually happened.
That overnight my successful NBC reporting career was turned to ashes. And why?
Because I stated the obvious to Iraqi television; that the US war timetable has fallen by the wayside.
[... ]
The right-wing media and politicians are looking for any opportunity to be critical of the reporters who are here, whatever their nationality. I made the misjudgment which gave them the opportunity to do so.
[... ]
But whatever happens I will never stop reporting on the truth of this war whether I am in Baghdad or somewhere else in the Middle East - or even back in Washington.
[from Jason LeHeup]
Democracy NOW! reports that international press watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres has accused US and British coalition forces in Iraq of displaying "contempt" for journalists covering the conflict who are not embedded with troops.
The criticism comes after a group of four "unilateral" or roving reporters revealed how they were arrested by US military police as they slept near an American unit 100 miles south of Baghdad and held overnight.
They described their ordeal as "the worst 48 hours in our lives".
"Many journalists have come under fire, others have been detained and questioned for several hours and some have been mistreated, beaten and humiliated by coalition forces ," said the RSF secretary general, Robert Menard.
The four journalists -- Israeli Dan Scemama and Boaz Bismuth and Portugese Luis Castro and Victor Silva -- entered Iraq in a jeep and followed a US convoy but were not officially attached to the troops.
US military police seized the journalists outside their base and detained them even though they were carrying international press cards.
The group claimed they were mistreated and denied contact with their families.
Thursday, April 3, 7pm - 10pm
United for Peace and Justice Office
330 W. 42nd St, 9th Floor
This is one in a series of workshops being given to help New Yorkers understand the history and strategies behind civil disobedience in preparation of another round of protests and direct actions coming up in NYC. Interested parties contact me (manwichartist@yahoo.com) or Chris of United for Peace (uspjcd@hotmail.com) for more info. First come first serve basis.
###
BAGHDAD HOME MOVIES
--> (NOTE: I'll be showing for the first time video footage from Baghdad)
Sunday, April 6 at 8:30pm
OCULARIS, Brooklyn
www.ocularis.net
A Presentation by New York City artist Paul Chan, who spent the month of December 2002 in Baghdad, as a member of Voices in the Wilderness, a Nobel Peace Prize-nominated group working to end the sanctions against Iraq. Chan will present slides and video about his work and experience in Baghdad, offering a glimpse into the cultural, political, and everyday life of Iraqi citizens living under the weight of the UN sanctions and the chaos of another war. Chan will be joined by members of the Ruckus Society and United for Peace and Justice to talk about alternative and utopian visions and radical change.
Paul Chan is a 2003 Rockefeller Foundation New Media Arts Fellow and director of an online political/aesthetic think tank www.nationalphilistine.com.
For more information on the Iraq peace team project:
http://www.iraqpeaceteam.org
-Programmed by Marianne Shanneen.
For more information, please visit www.ocularis.net
[This one's been making the rounds...]
Welcome to collectiblestoday.com! Home to All Things Collectible
Here's a radiant tribute to all those who serve in the United States military. This sparkling, exclusive collectible figurine portrays a brave (and adorable) defender of freedom sheltered in God's loving hands. Editions are limited, so Hurry. Order Now!
WE THE BLOG
"In order to form a more Artistic Union"
wetheblog.org
Washington, D.C. - The Experimental Party today announces "We the Blog," a bold, new initiative to re-activate the ideals of democracy through discussion among artists, cultural critics and other creative people who are "repositioning themselves as new leaders in the governance of this planet, particularly in these times of crisis," according to Founder Jeff Gates.
"We the Blog" offers information and dialogue - from artistic expression to political activism - as a tool for facilitating the artist's need to extend aesthetic inquiry into the broader culture where ideas become real action.
"As technology fuels new ways of communicating, the blog (web log) is resulting in certain kinds of human actions that were never possible before," said Gates, a Principal Artist of the Experimental Party. He adds, "We the Blog will offer an artistic alternative to the spin-doctors of the Republican and Democratic parties. "We the Blog" will be the virtual community to participate in as the War rhetoric ramps up."
Under Secretary of the Office of Freedom of Speech, Mark Amerika, comments, "True blog, then, is not blog as we know it, but as we un-know it. It incites creation - more invention - so that you yourself have to get down and dirty into the developmental process activating the network with your own mixillogical discourse. This is blog as inventive remix machine placing value on what it sees, what it links to, how it appropriates the Other and strips it of its isolation."
Abe Golam, Director of the Office of Economic and Homeland Insecurity of the US Department of Art & Technology has declared, "Under the banner of the Experimental Party, 'We the Blog' is guaranteed to stir up controversy in the global computer networks, that 'non-place' place where the true battle for democracy in America will be fought and won."
Since September 11, an existential darkness has possessed our government, grips its soul, threatening the American way of life. In defending our homeland, artists must now fight to protect the democratic ideals and principles of freedom on which our nation was founded. People increasingly are forgetting what shaped their past. When a people fails to know why it exists and what it stands for, it cannot be expected to long endure.
According to Secretary Randall M. Packer: "We are artists united by common purpose - freedom of expression. Our strength lies in our shared artistic ideals. The Experimental Party is activating "We the Blog" for the very survival of participatory democracy. As James Madison said 'the diffusion of knowledge is the only true guardian of liberty.'"
******
We the Blog Founding Statement:
In order to form a more Artistic Union, to enhance the Social Condition, and to provide for the Avant-Garde; to prevent Homeland Insecurity; and to promote the Artist Voice in reshaping public policy; to guarantee Creative Freedom for the Old, the Young and the Disenfranchised.
The Experimental Party's "We the Blog" is located at:
http://www.wetheblog.org
*******
The Experimental Party
http://www.experimentalparty.org
The Experimental Party - the "party of experimentation" - is an artist-based political party that has been formed to activate citizens across the country in an effort to bring the artists' message to center stage of the political process. This is a political awakening, 'representation through virtualization' is the major political thrust of the Experimental Party, it is the driving force.
The US Department of Art & Technology
http://www.usdept-arttech.net
The US Department of Art and Technology is the United States principal conduit for facilitating the artist's need to extend aesthetic inquiry into the broader culture where ideas become real action. It also serves the psychological and spiritual well-being of all Americans by supporting cultural efforts that provide immunity from the extension of new media technologies into the social sphere.
*****
Contact:
Experimental National Committee | Washington, DC
Fax: 202.342.1293 | E-mail: info@experimentalparty.org
[We get another plug (a ways down) in this very informative article that pretty much covers almost anything having to do with poetry and the war, at least in publishing.]
Poets assert their role in the national discussion
Publishers Weekly | Reed Business Information
by Michael Scharf
On March 5, the group Poets Against the War, hastily but determinedly set up by Copper Canyon publisher Sam Hamill, presented members of the U.S. Congress with a sheaf of 13,000 poems, in conjunction with a day of readings all over the country. To say that this was an unprecedented publishing event is putting it mildly. It may have been the beginning of a sea change—not only in the way that poems are published and circulated, but in the way that they are thought of in terms of their cultural role.
The presentation capped off the most visible organized poetic protest against war with Iraq. The story of how it was touched off is by now a familiar one: First Lady Laura Bush invited Hamill, among other poets, to a discussion of the work of Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes and Walt Whitman. Hamill declined and sent out an e-mail calling for poems, and he asked that February 12 (the date of the White House event) be made "a day of poetry against the war." Bush subsequently canceled the event, but Hamill's call burgeoned into a Web site (www.poetsagainstthewar.org) and into the group's massive anthology, which has just been published in an abridged edition.
Just as the United for Peace.org marches on New York City of February 15 and March 22 were word–of–e-mail based, the immense poetry protest certainly couldn't have happened without the Internet. The passionate debates that have been taking place through poetry have addressed not only the war, but the cultural role of poetry itself and the means for its dissemination. Drawing attention to that role is something that National Poetry Month, now in its eighth year and beginning this week, was designed to do from its inception. As publishers prepared for NPM, we asked them how, or if, all the attention focused on poetry by the antiwar movement was affecting their plans.
Though their answers vary, most agree with Tree Swenson, executive director of the Academy of American Poets—the group that originated and remains a major sponsor of NPM—that "poetry is much more visible in the culture right now, and part of that is because this program has been enormously successful in making poetry a more important part of the fabric of American life."
Shut Up, Poets!
The academy is kicking off NPM with a New York gala designed to demonstrate how deeply those poetic threads have insinuated themselves. Entitled "Poetry & the Creative Mind, an evening celebrating the role of poetry in American culture," the event will feature prominent, nonpoet writers and performers celebrating poetry's impact on the culture at large. Those invited include Laurie Anderson, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Kitty Carlisle Hart, Caroline Kennedy, Frank McCourt, Jessye Norman, George Plimpton, Natalie Portman, Zadie Smith, Frank Stella, Meryl Streep and William Styron.
While proud of NPM's successes in promoting poetry in the past, Swenson affirms that it is the antiwar movement that has bought unprecedented attention to poetry over the past few months. "In the '60s during the Vietnam War, poetry did draw people together who were concerned about the war and wanted to make a statement. They
