LL:URGENT APPEAL FOR PROTESTS
*** URGENT ACTION NEEDED Date: 14 January 1999 Violence against left leaders in Sri Lanka Leaders of the New Left Front (NLF), Dr Vickramabahu Karunaratne (General Secretary of the Nava Sama Samaja Party - NSSP), comrade Patrick Fernando (the candidate for the post of Chief Minister in the Wayaba provincial council elections) and comrade Nishantha, their driver, were brutally assaulted by thugs who came in motorcycles decorated with flags of the Peoples Alliance - the ruling coalition - on January 13, 1999 around 10pm in Padeniya Kurunegala, a town situated about 80 km from Colombo. The leaders were returning from a public rally held in Kobeigane in support of the NLF candidates contesting the Provincial Council elections for the Wayaba province which is scheduled to be held on January 25, 1999. The thugs had followed the vehicle carrying the leaders since they left the public meeting and attacked them when they stopped for tea at Padeniya town. As a result of this attack, the leaders sustained grave injuries for which they were treated at Kurunegala teaching hospital. While Dr Vickramabahu along to Nishantha had to be removed from the Kurunegala hospital in view of the security situation, Patrick Fernando is still being treated for head and eye injuries in the teaching hospital, ward 31. A complaint has been lodged at the Wariyapola police station regarding the incident. This incident has come at a time where violence has escalated between the ruling Peoples alliance and the United National Party which is now being directed against the candidates of the combined left represented by the parties of the NLF and the Peoples Liberation Front (JVP). The JVP too has reported numerous attacks on their candidates during the recent past. The NSSP has been particularly targeted by the chauvinistic elements of the PA and other parties because it has called for unconditional talks with the LTTE to resolve the North-East issue. We hold the government totally responsible for this state of violence. It has not only failed to control their supporters but has been unable to provide adequate security and create a peaceful atmosphere to conduct a democratic election. We therefore request you to bring this information to the notice of all relevant organisations throughout the region. Send protest letters to President Chandrika Kumaratunga and general Anurudha Ratwatte, Deputy Minister of Defence, 1. To protest against this attack and requesting to take adequate measures to stop any further attacks on the candidates of the left parties. 2. To conduct an impartial inquiry into this incident and punish those responsible for this brutal attack. The relevant addresses are as follows: H E Chandrika Bandaranayaka Kumaranatunga Her Excellency the President of the Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka Presidential Secretariat Colombo 1 Sri Lanka Tel: 94-1-436371 Fax: 94-1-333703 General Anurudha Ratwatte Deputy Minister of Defence Ministry of Defence 15/5 Baladaksha Mawatha Colombo 3 Sri Lanka Tel: 94-1-445699 Fax: 94-1-439380 Please send copies of your letters to the NSSP, 143 Kew Rd, Colombo 2, Sri Lanka. Fax: 94-1-334822 or 94-074-713308. Dr Sunil Ratnapriya On behalf of the International Affairs Committee Nava Sama Samaja Party, Sri Lanka Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html The Year 2000 Bug - An Urgent Sustainability Issue http://www.peg.apc.org/~psutton/grin-y2k.htm
LL:ASIET News Updates - Jan 15, 1999
ASIET News Updates - Jan 15, 1999 = * Australia policy shift on Timor receives mixed response * East Timor stance praised, attacked * Scared Dili refugees refuse to return home - Australia policy shift on Timor receives mixed response === Agence France Presse - January 12, 1999 Sydney -- The Australian government announced Tuesday it will press Indonesia to grant East Timor an act of self-determination in a policy shift which East Timorese activists immediately said does not go far enough. In what Foreign Minister Alexander Downer described as an historic policy shift, Canberra will support a measure of autonomy for the former Portuguese colony annexed by Indonesia following its 1975 invasion, but remnains opposed to independence. East Timorese activists in Australia welcomed the move as a positive step, but said the people of East Timor must be allowed to decide in a referendum if they want limited autonomy or fully-fledged independence. Human rights activist and former Fretilin jungle fighter Jose Gusmao described the policy of supporting self-determination but opposing independence as "a contradiction in terms." Canberra's new position on East Timor follows an internal review of East Timor policy ordered by Downer to take account of the changing political structure of Indonesia where President Suharto was ousted last year. Downer said the policy had received a mixed response from the Indonesian government. "We do want to do what we can to encourage the Indonesian government to come to a successful conclusion in negotiations with a whole range of different parties in East Timor," he told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio. "In the end some sort of act which is going to bring a sense of ownership of the process to the people of East Timor I think is going to be an important conclusion to the process, be that in 10 years time or whatever the period might be." He said there were a variety of competing views on the issue but Canberra believed that a completely independent East Timor would have the potential to fracture Indonesia itself. "And this is a very delicate time now for Indonesia, so we don't want to encourage the fracturing of the Indonesian state." Australian Coalition for a Free East Timor spokesman Andy Alcock said the international community could suspect Australia would assist Indonesia to conduct a bogus act of self determination similar to what occurred in West Papua (now Irian Jaya) in 1969. "Its opposition to independence for East Timor at the same time as it says it is lobbying Indonesia for an act of self determination advertises to the world that the present Australian government is not very committed to democracy, peace and justice in the South-East Asian region either." East Timor stance praised, attacked === Canberra Times - January 13, 1999 Lincoln Wright -- Risking possible friction with Jakarta, the Labor Party has backed a policy of funding an autonomous or independent East Timor using Indonesia's share of the oil and gas revenue from the Timor Gap. Oil analysts have forecast that the annual revenue from the Gap's Bayu-Undan oil and gas field could reach $100 million a year after 2002, revenue Labor sources said could finance an independent East Timor government. Labor's foreign affairs spokesman, Laurie Brereton, raised the stakes yesterday on the Howard's Government's historic announcement that it would support greater autonomy and an act of self-determination for East Timor. After an isolated and controversial 20-year recognition of Indonesia's sovereignty, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said the Federal Government had made a significant adjustment to its East Timor policy. The official line on East Timor was now to support a substantial period of autonomy for the troubled province, followed by an act of self-determination that would help to reconcile the conflicting parties. But Mr Downer made it clear that the Australian Government would still prefer that East Timor remained part of Indonesia. He did not specify exactly what "autonomy" would entail, nor explain what method the East Timorese could use to determine their future, but he mentioned 10 years as a possible period of autonomy before a referendum. Unlike the Labor Party, Mr Downer has not called yet for a referendum, and made it clear the Government for now still recognised Indonesia's sovereignty over the province, and independence would be a second-best outcome. Labor's policy is for Indonesia to hold an internationally monitored referendum. A more controversial position is that Labor seems to be strengthening the momentum for formal independence by pushing for the transfer of Indonesia's oil and gas revenue from the Timor Gap to East Timorese groups. This would provide crucial funding and
LL:ART:US to strike in southern Iraq
New operation on Iraq will target south 00:00 GMT, 15 January 1999 AMMAN, Jan 15 (AFP) -With the Moslem holy month of Ramadan drawing to a close, the United States and Britain are preparing to concentrate new military strikes within Iraq's southern "no-fly" zone, diplomats here said. "The next operation will target Iraqi military installations in the south, particularly surface-to-air missile sites," said one diplomat experienced in Iraqi affairs. Operation Desert Fox, which comprised four nights of British-US air strikes on Iraq, was called off December 19, shortly after Ramadan began, in the face of heavy opposition from Arab leaders to bombardments continuing into the holy month. Since then US and British jets have continued to pressure Iraq with lower-profile sorties over Iraq's northern and southern no-fly zones, striking sites in retaliation for Iraqi attacks on the air patrols. Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html The Year 2000 Bug - An Urgent Sustainability Issue http://www.peg.apc.org/~psutton/grin-y2k.htm
LL:PR:OREN Media 15/1/99
MEDIA ALERT January 15, 1999 Otway Forest Protests Intensify Tensions increase as residents and conservationists place further pressure on struggling native forest logging industry. Otways residents with the support of conservationists from around Victoria will today block all access to the Rileys Ridge Logging Coupe in the Otway State Forests. A core group of 50 protesters have blocked access to Rileys ridge with huge tripod structures and a car body cemented to the road. This follows a week of intense protesting which has lead to 3 arrests and the complete cessation of logging in one coupe. The week long campaign of direct action is a further blow to the local native forest logging industry already suffering from the recent collapse of the Asian export woodchip market, and the pull out of Kleenex tissue manufacturer Kimberly-Clark Australia. Department of Conservation and Natural Resources activities are also under scrutiny following the recent court acquittal of protesters who had blockaded illegal logging activities authorised by the department. It is not looking good for native forest logging in the Otways, said Mr Simon Birrell, spokesperson for the Otway Ranges Environment Network. The industry cannot survive on just sawlog sales. The fall in the pulp and woodchip markets, plus the loss of production due to protests must be hurting them. Recent acts of violence and intimidation against local conservationists has only served to swell our numbers and make us stronger. The situation here is ready to explode. What: Large scale forest blockade. When: Friday January 15, 1999 Where: Rileys Ridge in the Otway State Forest. 20 min drive from Apollo Bay Contact OREN 03 5237 516 or 03 5237 7413 O t w a y s R a n g e s E n v i r o n m e n tN e t w o r k An affilliation of Otway's residents, regional and Victorian conservation groups, Community groups and campus conservation networks [EMAIL PROTECTED] (OREN Propaganda) WEB SITE http://www.oren.org.au DO NOT assume that any act of damage to logging equipment or logging infrastructure is done by conservationists or members of anti - logging groups. - Victorian Police (internal memo) Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html The Year 2000 Bug - An Urgent Sustainability Issue http://www.peg.apc.org/~psutton/grin-y2k.htm
LL:ART: Russian and US officials says (sic) nukes should be Y2K
The Sydney Morning Herald Breaking News http://www.smh.com.au/news/current/breaking2/index.html Friday, January 15, 1999 Russian and US officials says nukes should be Y2K safe Washington, Thursday: US and Russian officials today issued assurances that their offensive and defensive weapons systems would not be affected by the Year 2000 computer bug (Y2K). "We will be 100 per cent ready by the end of the year," Deputy Defence Secretary John Hamre said in announcing that as of December 31, 1998 the Pentagon had certified that 81 per cent of "mission critical" computer systems were ready for the arrival of 2000. The Y2K problem begins when computers try to add or subtract dates using only the last two digits of the year - 00 in the case of 2000 - which may confuse computers into reading the date as 1900. Larger, older mainframe computers used by government and big corporations for many vital functions are particularly vulnerable. President Clinton had asked all government agencies to reach the 100 per cent ready mark by March 1999. The Defence Department will be at the 93 per cent mark by then, Hamre said. The Defence Department "went into hyperdrive" with its Y2K work after realising last August that it was moving too slowly in preparing the approximately 2,300 crucial computer systems, Hamre said. In all, the Pentagon has about 10,000 computer systems. Hamre said minor glitches are likely to crop up on January 1, 2000. "I think it's going to clearly be in a category of nuisance," he said. "I'm very confident we won't have major problems." The bill for fixing the Pentagon's computers and testing them will reach $US2.5 billion, ($3.98 billion) Hamre said. Meanwhile, a expert said today that while Russia was behind many Western nations in confronting the Y2K problem, Soviet-era computers that control nuclear weapons and reactors were unlikely to cause any accidents. Andrei Terekov, a St Petersburg University mathematics professor and director of Lanit Holding, a firm helping Russian companies with the transition, said the cash-strapped government still had much to do before it was ready for the changeover at the end of the year. He estimated it would cost $US500 million ($796 million) to fix critical systems. But Terekov said there was growing awareness in Russia of potential failures in computers in less than 350 days. "My understanding is that the problem with strategic weapons has been solved," Terekov said, meaning it was unlikely the Y2K problem would cause warheads to detonate or missiles to be fired by mistake. But he said "there still were problems with infrastructure", referring to air defence and early warning systems. Russia has agreed to allow NATO experts to investigate how the year 2000 computer problem could affect these systems. - The Associated Press This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited. * This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html The Year 2000 Bug - An Urgent Sustainability Issue http://www.peg.apc.org/~psutton/grin-y2k.htm
LL:ART:If The World Were A Village
From: Mylee Bonham [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Thursday, 14 January 1999 01:53 Subject: If The World Were A Village What a wonderful world! -Louis Armstrong then later by Joey Vindictive... If The World Were A Village If the world were a village of 1,000 people it would include: * 584 Asians * 124 Africans * 95 Eastern and Western Europeans * 84 Latin Americans * 55 former Soviets (this includes Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, and other national groups) * 52 North Americans * 6 Australians and New Zealanders The people of the village would speak: * 165 Mandarin * 86 English * 83 Hindu/Urdi * 64 Spanish * 58 Russian * 37 Arabic The list accounts for the mother tongues of only half the village. The other half speak (in descending order of frequency) Bengali, Portuguese, Indonesian, Japanese, German, French, and 200 other languages. In this village of 1,000 there are: * 329 Christians (among them 187 Catholics, 84 Protestants, and 31 Orthodox) * 178 Muslims * 167 "Non religious" * 60 Buddhists * 45 Atheists * 32 Hindus * 3 Jews * 86 of other religions One-third of the 1,000 people in the world village are children, and only 60 are over the age of 65. Half the children are immunized against preventable diseases such as measles and polio. Just under half of the married women in the village have access to and use modern contraceptives. This year 28 babies will be born. Ten people will die, 3 of them for lack of food, 1 from cancer. Two of the deaths will be of babies born within the year. One person of that 1,000 in the village is infected with HIV; that person most likely has not yet developed a full-blown case of AIDS. With the 28 births and 10 deaths, the population of the village next year will be 1,018. In this 1,000 person community, 200 people receive 75 percent of the income; another 200 receive only 2 percent of the income. Only 70 people of the 1,000 own an automobile (although some of the 70 own more than one car). About one-third have access to clean, safe drinking water. Of the 670 adults in the village, half are illiterate. The village has 6 acres of land per person 6000 acres in all-of which: * 700 acres are cropland, * 1,400 acres are pasture, * 1,900 acres are woodland, * 2,000 acres desert, tundra, pavement, and other wasteland. The woodland is declining rapidly; the wasteland is increasing. The other land categories are roughly stable. The village allocates 83 percent of its fertilizer to 40 percent of its cropland-that owned by the richest and best fed 270 people. Excess fertilizer running off this land causes pollution in lakes and wells. The remaining 60 percent of the land, with its 17 percent of the fertilizer, produces only 28 percent of the food but feeds 73 percent of the people. The average grain yield on that land is one-third the harvest achieved by the richer villagers. In the village of 1,000 people, there are: * 5 soldiers * 7 teachers * 1 doctor * 3 refugees driven from home by war or drought The village has a total yearly budget, public and private, of over $3 million-$3,000 per person if it is distributed evenly (which, as we have already seen, it isn't). Of the total $3 million: * $181,000 goes to weapons and warfare * $159,000 to education * $132,000 to health care The village has buried beneath it enough explosive power in nuclear weapons to blow itself to smithereens many times over. These weapons are under the control of just 100 of the people. The other 900 are watching them with deep anxiety, wondering whether they can learn to get along together; and if they do, whether they might set off the weapons anyway through inattention or technical bungling; and if they ever decide to dismantle the weapons, where in the world village will they dispose of the radioactive materials of which the weapons are made? Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html The Year 2000 Bug - An Urgent Sustainability Issue http://www.peg.apc.org/~psutton/grin-y2k.htm
LL:INFO:-New UK legislation to brand activists as terrorists
From: Ralph Smyth (by way of genetics[EMAIL PROTECTED]) (by way of Agit-Prop) [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Wednesday, 13 January 1999 19:24 Subject: -ALLSORTS- HAPPY New YEAR -New UK legislation to brand activists as terrorists In 1994 the Tories criminalised us-now new Labour plan to brand us terrorists. Quotes, extracts, explanations and last, but certainly not least, a rant about this proposal. "Emmeline Pankhurst, leader of the suffragettes, found that argument alone won her only stormy denials. Peaceful mass protest turned heads but won her no vote. She was eventually reduced to the tactics of the urban terrorist to make even a dent in the resolve of male politicians not to give women the vote... [The right of women to vote] was won only by the determination of a woman prepared to starve, to be imprisoned and to be beaten for rights that we take for granted today." The Times, Editorial 24/12/98: People of the Century - Emmeline Pankhurst Extract from "Legislation Against Terrorism" - a Consultation Paper just published by the Government 3.10 Animal rights, and to a lesser extent environmental rights activists, have mounted, and continue to pursue, persistent and destructive campaigns. Last year, for example, more than 800 incidents were recorded by the Animal Rights National Index (ARNI). These included attacks on abattoirs, laboratories, breeders, hunts, butchers, chemists, doctors, vets, furriers, restaurants, supermarkets and other shops. Some of the attacks were minor but others were not. Thankfully no one was killed but people were injured and the total damage done in 1997 has been estimated at more than £1.8 million. In previous years, the cost of the damage inflicted has been higher. For example in 1995, the cost of damage was estimated at nearly £4.5 million. 3.11 While the level of terrorist activity by such groups is lower, and the sophistication of their organisation and methods less well developed, than that of some of the terrorist groups in Northern Ireland, or of some of the international terrorist groups, there is nothing to indicate that the threat they pose will go away. Acts of serious violence against people and property have undoubtedly been committed in the UK by these domestic groups. ... 3.15 The FBI's definition of terrorism is: "the use of serious violence against persons or property, or the threat to use such violence, to intimidate or coerce a government, the public, or any section of the public in order to promote political, social or ideological objectives." 3.16 The Government agrees that the new legislation should bite only on the use of serious violence. And it agrees that if there is any doubt that the definition in section 20 of the PTA covers the use of such violence by religiously motivated terrorist groups this should be remedied. It therefore sees some attractions in the FBI's definition. But it wonders whether this definition might also, as it stands, be both too broad and too narrow. Too broad because it includes the use of serious violence for "social" objectives. The latter could, for example, include crimes committed by criminals other than terrorists such as blackmail or extortion for gain. The Government does not believe that special powers are needed to deal with matters of that sort where there is no intent to disrupt or undermine the democratic process. The FBI definition may be too narrow, however, in that it appears not to cover the damage and serious disruption which might result from a terrorist hacking into some vital computer installation and, without using violence, altering, deleting, or disrupting the data held on it. Such activity might well result in deaths and injuries and, given the increasing reliance placed on computers and electronic forms of communication, the destruction or corruption of data held in such systems could also result in extensive disruption to the economic and other infrastructure of this country. Another example of an act which could cause serious disruption and harm without necessarily in itself being an act of serious violence would be contaminating a public utility system such as a water or sewage works. The Government believes that any new definition of terrorism should be sufficient to catch the potential for these kinds of activity by terrorists. 3.17 The Government therefore suggests that terrorism should be redefined as "the use of serious violence against persons or property, or the threat to use such violence, to intimidate or coerce a government, the public, or any section of the public for political, religious or ideological ends". The term serious violence would need to be defined so that it included serious disruption, for instance resulting from attacks on computer installations or public utilities, as described in paragraph 3.16 above. 3.18 The Government recognises that there is a balance to be
LL:ART:Brazil economic collapse -October prophesy
From: "Janet M. Eaton" [EMAIL PROTECTED] "The global crisis has reached a dangerous crossroads as speculators and creditors extend their grip into Latin America: the IMF sponsored financial scam (implemented in Russia and Southeast Asia) is to be inflicted on Latin America's largest economies: Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Venezuela. Washington's "hidden agenda" is to take over productive assets and recolonise the continent." --- Prof. Chossodovsky, Oct. 1998 THE BRAZILIAN FINANCIAL SCAM October 1998 by Michel Chossudovsky, Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa, author of THE GLOBALISATION OF POVERTY, Impacts of IMF and World Bank Reforms; Third World Network, Penang and Zed Books, London, 1997. (The book can be ordered from [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Copyright by Michel Chossudovsky Ottawa 1998. All rights reserved. This text can be posted and/or forwarded. To publish or reproduce in printed form, contact the author at fax: 1-514-4256224, E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] IN BRAZIL a multibillion dollar financial scam is in the making. The IMF sponsored operation is a rerun of last year's speculative raids on Southeast Asia which led to the confiscation of more than 100 billion dollars of hard currency reserves. On Friday September 11th amidst turmoil on the Sao Paulo stock exchange, some 1.7 billion dollars had quietly left the country in a single day. In October, the pace of capital flight (funneled through the forex market) was running at the pace of 400 million dollars a day. The vaults of the Central Bank of Brazil were being ransacked by "institutional speculators" with the tacit collusion of the government of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. The Brazilian authorities stood idle: on instructions from their Wall Street masters, no exchange controls were to be instituted to mitigate the outflow of money wealth. In the words of Brazil's Finance Minister Pedro Malan, restrictions on capital movements are counterproductive and would be conducive "to all sorts of corrupt practices." (Jornal do Brasil, 5 October 1998). Instead, short-term interest rates had been artificially boosted to 50 percent with a view to upholding Brazil's ailing currency. (The exchange rate under the real-dollar peg varies between an upper and lower level). According to J.P. Morgan in Sao Paulo, the cost of the interest rate hike to the country (in terms of added debt servicing obligations) is a staggering 5 billion dollars a month. (Financial Times, 18 September 1998). It was a massive sellout: rather than curbing the flight of capital, the structure of high interest rates had contributed to heightening the debt burden, not to mention the devastating impact of the credit squeeze on domestic producers. The country is facing imminent bankruptcy; the State apparatus is under the control of Brasilia's external creditors. Moreover, Brazil's internal debt had almost doubled in less than six months, increasing from $145 billion in January to $254 billion in July (of which $45 billion are due in October)... Wall Street calls the Shots The same Wall Street money-managers who decide Brazil's macro- economic agenda are major speculative actors well versed in the art of market manipulation. It is a modern form of highway robbery: since July 1998, 30 billion dollars have been taken out of Brazil. The loot has been transferred into the private coffers of Western banks and into the overseas dollar accounts of Brazil's financial elites. This confiscation of the nation's hard currency reserves is the result of political manipulation. The speculators knew that the currency would be devalued after the October presidential elections. They had already converted their Brazilian reales into dollars using the forward foreign exchange market. The conditions enabling the outflow of the country's hard currency reserves had been carefully worked out by the IMF and the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso in consultation with the world's largest commercial banks and brokerage houses. The central bank was to uphold the Brazilian real by massively selling dollars in the forex market. In other words, central bank reserves have been looted. The reserves are being privatised... Demise of the Central Bank This process marks the demise of Brazil's central bank. Brazil's foreign currency reserves have fallen from $78 billion in July 1998 to $48 billion in September. And now the IMF has offered to "lend the money back" to Brazil in the context of a "Korean style" rescue operation which will eventually require the issuing of large amounts of public debt in G7 countries. The Brazilian authorities have insisted that the country "is not at risk" and what they are seeking is "precautionary funding" (rather than a "bailout") to stave of the "contagious effects" of the Asian crisis. Ironically, the amount considered by the IMF (30 billion dollars) is exactly equal to the money
LL:PR:Jan 17 press release
Press statement: Steve (03) 9427 9837 or Sharon 956 9647 Australian peace activists condemn sanctions on Iraq "We condemn both the inhumane sanctions on Iraq and the US military for its proposed new massive sustained bombing campaign of Iraq which is likely to kill more than 10,000 people," stated Sharon Wathen spokeperson for the peace, community, and ethnic groups planning to assemble Sunday on the lawns of the State Library at 1pm, celebrating the 8th anniversary of the 1991 allied bombing of Iraq. The Australian peace protest is part of a planned worldwide campaign initiated by former US attorney general Ramsey Clark and against plans for a new bombing campaign that would last several weeks made public in recent days by various wire services. "More recently in the December 17-20 4 day bombing the US Pentagon estimates that up to 2,000 Iraqi soldiers died and is silent about civilians casualties," Sharon Wathen said. According to a survey by UNICEF, the UN Children's Fund, and the World Food Program (WFP) , the US/British bombing in December destroyed or damaged 12 hospitals, a granary, a huge rice storage center in Baghdad, the principal oil-refining factory used for Iraq's domestic consumption, and other vital elements of Iraq's economic infrastructure necessary to sustain civilian life Since August 6, 1990, the forty-fifth anniversary of the incineration of Hiroshima by an atomic blast, US/UN Security Council sanctions have killed more than a million and a half people in Iraq, mostly infants, children, elderly and chronically ill and left millions more stunted, with crippled bodies, shortened lives, and minds scarred by the realization that rich nations forced this devastating impoverishment and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment on their entire people. DU bamed for Gulf War syndrome "The common explanation for Gulf war syndrome is environmental pollution caused when chemical and biological centres were blown up but radiation from depleted uranium rounds remains the most plausible explanation," said Sharon Wathen. Depleted uranium is used to weight shells rendering them highly effective in piercing tank armour. It is flammable and releases radioactive substances In Iraq, the health authorities say that at least three times more children are being born with congenital deformities than before the Gulf war. Now, in both Britain and the United States, veterans of that same war are coming forward with reports of sick and dying children. "The brutal irony is that the most likely origin of this gene- twisting force is not Iraqi, but Western. During the 100-hour ground war of February 1991, coalition planes fired at least one million rounds of ammunition coated in a radioactive material known as depleted uranium, or DU," Wortham said. Australian image hurt "This shows a clear and intentional targeting of the civilian infrastructure of Iraq. And it was supported by the Federal government!! A new US bombing campaign will backfire on Australian trade right around the world," another activist, David Muller said. Iraq recently threatened to cancel Australian wheat because the government support of US bombing. "The bombing of Iraq's cities and infrastructure had nothing to do with driving Iraq from Kuwait. It was intended to cripple a developing Non-aligned nation that was a politically independent military power in the region; that was rich in oil and committed to its own economic development. "But the rulers of Kuwait were far from blameless", Keith Langford said. "The Kuwaiti Government was slant drilling from al-Rumaylah oil fields in Southern Iraq, he said. Since day one of the crisis eight years ago, the strategy of the United States was to weaken Iraq. It would like to create a puppet regime in Baghdad. Now 8 years later President Clinton has signed into law, the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, which authorised $97 million for the military overthrow of the current Iraqi government. It is the obligation of all people of conscience, of all anti-racist and peace organisations to stop the genocide of the Iraqi people. 1999 will determine whether tens of thousands of people in Iraq live, or die, and millions sustain painful, crippling permanent injuries from further malnutrition and sickness which could have been avoided altogether, or quickly cured if medicines and clean water had not been denied by the US dominated Security Council. Dante found the hottest places in the Inferno were reserved for those who in time of moral crisis did nothing. Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html The Year 2000 Bug - An Urgent Sustainability Issue
LL:URL:Hate-Crimes website
--please circulate-- The website for the Hate-Crimes mailing list has now been upgraded. You can search past messages through the archive and subscribe to the list and it's digest form from the website. There are a number of useful links and you can add links to the page. Please consider adding a link to the website from your homepage. The address is http://www.queer.org.au/listarchive/hate-crimes/ An animated logo (21k) for the mailing list is at http://www.queer.org.au/listarchive/hate-crimes/hclogoani.gif cheers Paul Canning [List manager] Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html The Year 2000 Bug - An Urgent Sustainability Issue http://www.peg.apc.org/~psutton/grin-y2k.htm
