Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 10:49:54 -0700 (PDT) From: Party of Citizens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [LIFE-GAZETTE] Antiterrorism YES/ usa NO...Must be a UN Action ONLY ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 10:32:52 -0700 From: Party of Citizens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: "CANADA-L Political,Social,Cultural,Economic Issues in Canada" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [BCPolitics] Re: Alternatives to war- Dissent more important than ever- Peace events Vancouver BC (fwd) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 10:31:56 -0700 (PDT) From: Party of Citizens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Connie Fogal <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: Aaron James <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [BCPolitics] Re: Alternatives to war- Dissent more important than ever- Peace events Vancouver BC On Wed, 19 Sep 2001, Connie Fogal wrote: > Dear friends. As in many parts of Canada and elsewhere, Peace events are > happening in Vancouver BC. Now more than ever, it is important that > concerned citizens assemble and speak out. There is a call even in Canada > that civil liberties including the right of dissent be removed in the fight > against terrorism. Hi Connie: Has any politician in Canada suggested this? And yes, you are correct that if Bin Laden did not exist the US would invent him. In many ways they HAVE invented him. Usually a war UNITES the political forces in the US. Democrats and Republicans march arm in arm. Without that the country would fly apart or lapse into Civil War. US foreign policy thrives on war, genocide and intimidation. Remember when Clinton told North Korea that would be THE END OF THEIR COUNTRY if they built nuclear weapons? That was a clear statement of GENOCIDAL INTENT. Pakistan and India escaped this threat, because of their size I suppose. The US has waged 300 wars in 200 years including wars with Canada and Mexico. Thus we welcome the UN General Assembly calling for a global elimination of terrorism in a unanimous vote. But the US is about the last country which we can expect to implement the necessary measures. FWP Such a move is the renewal of McArthyism and the > emergence of fascism. It is the end of democracy under a guise of > eliminating terrorism. It will guarantee the growth of terrorism. > Please seek out the events happening in your area and attend. Take others > with you. Let your MP know your right of dissent is inviolable in a > democracy. We have a right and duty to say NO to WAR. See the article below > by George Monbiot on the need now not to be cowed in fear. > > An immediate alternative to the call for the blood of the innocent > civilians (collateral damage) in the search for binLaden by the US would > be a call for the application of the Rule of Law. Let bin Laden be taken to > the International Criminal Court, and tried on evidence, and punished if > found guilty. A necessary long term alternative is an analysis and removal > of the causes of terrorism.....Connie Fogal > > "There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the > long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit." > Napoleon Bonaparte > > "When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and > love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time > they seem > invincible but in the end, they always fail -- Think of it always." > Mahatma Gandhi > > In Vancouver BC the following are already organized. > > 1. Each evening 5:00 pm Witness for Peace Vancouver Art Gallery downtown > Georgia St side. Hope is to hold a vigil each day at 5:00 p.m. > > 2. Wednesday and Thursday September 19 and 20th on UBC campus and > maybe Sunday. UBC students are organizing a Coalition Against War Teach-in > > 3. Saturday Sept 22 at SFU MobGlob holds Antiwar Teach-in 9:30AM to 6:00 PM > Changed from IMF teach-in to Antiwar. > > 4. Saturday September 22, 1:30 p.m. March for Truth and Reconciliation > begins at First Baptist Church Burrard and Nelson (Indigenous peoples and > Chinese Christians in Action)) > > 5. Saturday September 22, 2:00 p.m. Grandview Park Peace Caravan- displays > - changed from caravan concerned about sanctions against Iraq to antiwar > event- starts at Victoria BC and goes across Canada > > 6. Saturday September 22, 7:00 p.m. Heritage Hall,3102 Main Street (15th & > Main) antiwar event -food, music, videos, speakers A Social Evening$10 or > by donation. This a benefit evening for the Cross -Canada Caravan against > sanctions and war. There will be a short video on Iraq and a couple of very > brief presentations. This is time for like minded people to get together > and enjoy some music and lots of good vibes. Refreshments will be > available. Organized by the Campaign to End Sanction Against the People of > Iraq > . > 7. Sunday September 23, 2:00 pm, Vancouver Art Gallery, Rally for > Peace End the Arms Race > > 8. Monday September 24 9:30 AM at the Peace flame south end of Burrard > bridge.Caravan Send Off Come out in support of our media event. Participate > in escorting the caravan over the Burrard bridge in decorated vehicles, or > join with those waving goodbye from the side-walk of the bridge. Svend > Robinson will be speaking at the "send off" event. These events are > organized by the Campaign to End Sanction Against the People of Iraq For > more information: Linda 604 904-2412, Ghada 604 669-3026, > Lavina 604 942-2184 > > 9.Saturday September 29, 11:00 AM Victory Square (Cambie and > Hastings) Peace March MobGlob > > The Need for Dissent > Radicalism is retreating, but it's more necessary than ever before > By George Monbiot > > If Osama bin Laden did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. > For the past four years, his name has been invoked whenever a US > president has sought to increase the defence budget or wriggle out of > arms control treaties. He has been used to justify even President Bush's > missile defence programme, though neither he nor his associates are > known to possess anything approaching ballistic missile technology. Now > he has become the personification of evil required to launch a crusade > for good; the face behind the faceless terror. > > The closer you look, the weaker the case against bin Laden becomes. > While the terrorists who inflicted Tuesday's dreadful wound in the world > may have been inspired by him, there is, as yet, no evidence that they > were instructed by him. Bin Laden's presumed guilt rests on the > supposition that he is the sort of man who would have done it. But his > culpability is irrelevant: his usefulness to western governments lies in > his power to terrify. When billions of pounds of military spending are > at stake, rogue states and terrorist warlords become assets precisely > because they are liabilities. > > By using bin Laden as an excuse for demanding new military spending, > weapons manufacturers in America and Britain have enhanced his iconic > status among the disgruntled. His influence, in other words, has been > nurtured by the very industry which claims to possess the means of > stamping him out. This is not the only way in which the new terrorism > crisis has been exacerbated by corporate power. > > The lax airport security which enabled the hijackers to smuggle weapons > onto the planes was the result of corporate lobbying against the > stricter controls the government had proposed. Some reports suggest that > so many died in the south tower of the World Trade Centre partly because > some of the companies there instructed their employees to return to work > after the north tower had been hit. > > Now Tuesday's horror is being used by corporations to establish the > preconditions for an even deadlier brand of terror. This week, while the > world's collective back is turned, Tony Blair intends to allow the mixed > oxide plant at Sellafield to start operating. The decision would have > been front page news at any other time. Now it's likely to be all but > invisible. The plant's operation, long demanded by the nuclear industry > and resisted by almost everyone else, will lead to a massive > proliferation of plutonium, and a near certainty that some of it will > find its way into the hands of terrorists. Like Ariel Sharon, in other > words, Blair is using the reeling world's shock to pursue policies which > would be unacceptable at any other time. > > For these reasons and many others, radical opposition has seldom been > more necessary. But it has seldom been more vulnerable. The right is > seizing the political space which has opened up where the twin towers of > the World Trade Centre once stood. > > Civil liberties are suddenly negotiable. The US seems prepared to lift > its ban on extra-judicial executions carried out abroad by its own > agents. The CIA might be permitted to employ human rights abusers once > more, which will doubtless mean training and funding a whole new > generation of bin Ladens. The British government is considering the > introduction of identity cards. Radical dissenters in Britain have > already been identified as terrorists by the Terrorism Act 2000. Now > we're likely to be treated as such. > > One of the peculiar problems we radicals face is that the targets of > Tuesday's terror represented more clearly than any others the powers we > have long opposed. For those of us who have campaigned against the > predatory behaviour of the financial sector and the defence industry, > the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon had come to symbolise all that > was rotten in the state of the world. So, though ours is a movement > built on peace, it has not been hard for our opponents to equate our > dissidence with terror. > > The authoritarianism which has long been lurking in advanced capitalism > has started to surface. In the Guardian yesterday, William Shawcross -- > Rupert Murdoch's courteous biographer -- articulated the new orthodoxy: > America is, he maintained, "a beacon of hope for the world's poor and > dispossessed and for all those who believe in freedom of thought and > deed". These believers would presumably include the families of the > Iraqis killed by the sanctions Britain and the US have imposed; the > peasants murdered by Bush's proxy war in Colombia; and the tens of > millions living under despotic regimes in the Middle East, sustained and > sponsored by the United States. > > William Shawcross concluded by suggesting that "we are all Americans > now", a terrifying echo of Pinochet's maxim that "we are all Chileans > now": by which he meant that no cultural distinctions would be > tolerated, and no indigenous land rights recognised. Shawcross appeared > to suggest that those who question American power are now the enemies of > democracy. It's a different way of formulating the warning voiced by > members of the Bush administration: "if you're not with us, you're > against us". > > The Daily Telegraph has set aside part of its leader column for a > directory of "useful idiots", by which it means those who oppose major > military intervention. Doubtless I will find my name on the roll of > honour there tomorrow. So, perhaps, will the families of some of the > victims, who seem to be rather more capable of restraint and forgiveness > than the leader writers of the rightwing press. Mark Newton-Carter, > whose brother appears to have died in the terrorist outrage, told one of > the Sunday newspapers, "I think Bush should be caged at the moment. He > is a loose cannon. He is building up his forces getting ready for a > military strike. That is not the answer. Gandhi said: 'An eye for an eye > makes the whole world blind' and never a truer word was spoken." But > when the right is on the rampage, victims as well as perpetrators are > trampled. > > Mark Twain once observed that "there are some natures which never grow > large enough to speak out and say a bad act is a bad act, until they > have inquired into the politics or the nationality of the man who did > it." The radical left is able to state categorically that Tuesday's > terrorism was a dreadful act, irrespective of provenance. But the right > can't bring itself to make the same statement about Israel's new > invasions of Palestine, or the sanctions in Iraq, or the US-backed > terror in East Timor, or the carpet bombing of Cambodia. Its critical > faculties have long been suspended and now, it demands, we must suspend > ours too. > > Retaining the ability to discriminate between good acts and bad acts > will become ever harder over the next few months, as new conflicts and > paradoxes challenge our preconceptions. It may be that a convincing case > against bin Laden is assembled, whereupon his forced extradition would, > I feel, be justified. But, unless we wish to help George Bush use > barbarism to defend the "civilisation" he claims to represent, we on the > left must distinguish between extradition and extermination. > > Tuesday's terror may have signalled the beginning of the end of > globalisation. The recession it has doubtless helped to precipitate, > coupled with a new and understandable fear among many Americans of > engagement with the outside world, could lead to a reactionary > protectionism in the United States, which is likely to provoke similar > responses on this side of the Atlantic. We will, in these circumstances, > have to be careful not to celebrate the demise of corporate > globalisation, if it merely gives way to something even worse. > > The governments of Britain and America are using the disaster in New > York to reinforce the very policies which have helped to cause the > problem: building up the power of the defence industry, preparing to > launch campaigns of the kind which inevitably kill civilians, licensing > covert action. Corporations are securing new resources to invest in > instability. Racists are attacking Arabs and Muslims and blaming liberal > asylum policies for terrorism. As a result of the horror on Tuesday, the > right in all its forms is flourishing, and we are shrinking. But we must > not be cowed. Dissent is most necessary just when it is hardest to > voice. > > -------- > > > DEFENCE of CANADIAN LIBERTY COMMITTEE/LE COMIT� de la LIBERT� CANADIENNE > C/0 CONSTANCE FOGAL LAW OFFICE, #401 -207 West Hastings St., Vancouver, > B.C. V6B1H7 > Tel: (604)687-0588; fax: (604) 872 -1504 or (604) 688-0550;cellular(604) > 202 7334; > E-MAIL [EMAIL PROTECTED]; www.canadianliberty.bc.ca > > �The constitution of Canada does not belong either to Parliament, or to the > Legislatures; it belongs to the country and it is there that the citizens > of the country will find the protection of the rights to which they are > entitled� Supreme Court of Canada A.G. of Nova Scotia and A.G. of Canada, > S.C.R. 1951 pp 32 > > According to <http://www.gov.bc.ca> some 3/4 of British Columbians use Internet as of 2001. Before the next election in ~ 5 years, the new ED, "Electronic Democracy" will take shape whereby any and all MP's including the Premier will be subject to "Total Recall" and the CITIZENS' PARLIAMENT will hold power over the Victoria Parliament. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> FREE COLLEGE MONEY CLICK HERE to search 600,000 scholarships! http://us.click.yahoo.com/47cccB/4m7CAA/ySSFAA/wpWolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> What kind of city with surroundings would one expect of a "faith-based public works" project with the objective of designing and constructing a "culture of life"? Would a George Bush "culture of life" be the same as a Vatican "culture of life"? Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [email protected] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
