>From: "mart" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 10:33:17 -0500 (EST) > Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Louis R Godena) > Subject: Torture For Peace > > > > > Washington Scene: > > TORTURE THOSE PALESTINIANS WHO REFUSE "PEACE" SAYS U.S. REPORT > > Government, academia, CIA, and major media are all interconnected in the >capital of the USA > CSIS was originally started by Georgetown University > > MID-EAST REALITIES - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 11/06: > "Torture for Peace" is not really something new for Palestinians, so >let's not misunderstand the interesting article today by Robert Fisk in >TheIndependent. > The Israelis have been using torture in many forms for decades now, and > "torture" has been widely debated not only by Israeli intellectuals in the >mass media, but also by the highest Israeli courts which in their own >back-handed way have sanctioned it. Moreover, former Israeli Prime Minister >Yitzhak Rabin made it very clear, even in some publicly reported comments, >that Arafat and the "Palestinian > Authority" were being brought in by the Israelis precisely to "control" and >"repress" > the Palestinian people with even less concern for "human rights" than the > Israelis purported to have. > What is a little new is the out-front way in which this draft report from >the "Center for Strategic and International Studies" (CSIS) has raised the >issue so visibly and openly in this age of the Internet. > CSIS itself is known in Washington as a bastion of the CIA. Among many > others over the years the notorious "journalist" Judith Kipper worked on >the >staff there for a number of years before going to the Council on Foreign >Relations in >New York. Until his retirement former Deputy Chief of the CIA, Ray Cline, >was >one of the top officials at CSIS. And incidentally the George W. Bush crowd >is known for its very close ties to CSIS, George W's father having been the >Director of the CIA before he was chosen by Reagan as Vice-President. > Now of course using "torture" is really nothing new for the Americans > either. The CIA has been advocating the use of torture, and training the >military >and "intelligence" forces of many countries in how to use torture, for a >very >long time now -- just ask the people in El Salvador and Chile for instance, >just ask the terribly suffering people of Iraq who have been subjected to a >new > modern-day campaign of collective gross torture. After the original "Camp >David" the > Egyptians were urged by the Americans to step up their use of torture; and >the same >is true in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and most of the key "client regime" >countries supported by the US in the region. And when it comes to the >Palestinians, coming >upon specific stories of torture at the hands of both the Israelis and the >Arafat Regime is quite commonplace. > One interesting but usually forgotten thing about CSIS is that it had >another > name some years ago -- The Georgetown University Center for Strategic and > International Studies. That's right, it was the Catholic Jesuits at >Georgetown >University who originally gave birth to today's CSIS. And the story of >that divorce >about twenty years ago now is another sordid tale of the interconnections >between so many elements of the government, academia, CIA, and major media >in the capital of the USA. > > > > > U.S. REPORT URGES ARAFAT TO USE TORTURE FOR PEACE > > An influential think-tank advises > Palestinian Authority to ruthlessly > repress militant elements without > regard for basic human rights > > By Robert Fisk in Gaza > > The Independent - 6 November: > Palestinian leaders have been shocked to read an American think-tank > report which urges them to act "ruthlessly" against opponents of the > Oslo agreement � even if this involves "excessive force", trials without > due process of law and "interrogation methods that border on > psychological and/or physical torture." > > A draft copy of the report by the influential Centre for Strategic and > International Studies (CSIS), which has close links with the United > States government, has been published on the internet and circulated > among dozens of members of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, > including Yasser Arafat's most senior intelligence officers. > > The report says that even if peace follows the "Second Intifada", > "both sides [Palestinian and Israeli] will be forced to conduct > aggressive [sic] security operations for years to come" which "can > have a high price tag in terms of human rights." By way of > comparison, it adds that British security forces in Northern Ireland > "balanced" what it calls "effective security" with human rights � even > though "the British used excessive force, abused human rights, and > used extreme interrogation methods and torture." > > Amnesty International and other human rights groups have frequently > condemned the use of arbitrary false arrest, detention and torture by > Arafat's "muhabarrat" security apparatus, pointing out that CIA > operatives appear to have been complicit in these abuses. Far from > denouncing these practices, however, the draft CSIS report appears to > encourage their use, stating that "such measures also tend to work". > > The document is dated 18 October and bears the name of Anthony H > Cordesman � a former national security assistant to failed Republican > presidential candidate Senator John McCain � who is now holder of > the Arleigh A Burke Chair in Strategy at the CSIS, named after the > former Chief of US Naval Operations. His document is heavily > referenced to CIA, State Department and Israeli sources and, according > to Palestinian officials here, has been circulated within the US and > Israeli governments. > > Entitled "Peace and War: Israel versus the Palestinians", it recounts >the > turbulent history of Israeli-Palestinian relations since the 1993 Oslo > agreement although its bias is obvious from the frequent use of > "terrorist" to describe violent Arab groups and the almost ubiquitous > use of "extremist" in reference to their violent Israeli opposite > numbers. > > It excuses the use of Israeli live bullets against stone-throwers, >adding > that CS gas and rubber bullets are often "not effective in stopping >large > groups" and that "troops cannot let mobs armed with stones and > Molotov cocktails close on their positions, or rely on the riot control > gear used in civil disobedience." > > In a section headed "The Need for Palestinian Authority Ruthlessness > and Efficiency", it states "there will be no future peace, or stable >peace > process, if the Palestinian security forces do not act ruthlessly and > effectively. They must react very quickly and decisively in dealing > with terrorism and violence if they are to preserve the momentum of > Israeli withdrawal, the expansion of Palestinian control, and the peace > process. They must halt civil violence even if this sometimes means > using excessive force by the standards of Western police forces. They > must be able to halt terrorist and paramilitary action by Hamas and > Islamic Jihad even if this means interrogations, detentions and trials > that are too rapid and lack due process. If they do not, the net cost to > both peace and the human rights of most Palestinians will be > devastating." > > The report says that permission must be obtained for any publication > of the contents, but copies have now been circulated throughout the > Palestinian Authority, including the offices of Mohamed Dahalan and > Jibril Rajoub, respectively heads of Arafat's "Preventative Security" in > Gaza and Ramallah. Both Dahalan and Rajoub were sent to Langley, > Virginia, for what was called "human rights training" by US > government intelligence services. > > Although it condemns "Israeli terrorism" � a phrase used only once > and in reference to Jewish settlers' groups � the document concludes > with chilling advice to both Palestinians and Israelis. "Every > counter-terrorist force that has ever succeeded has had to act > decisively and sometimes violently," it says. > > "Effective counter-terrorism relies on interrogation methods that > border on psychological and/or physical torture, arrests and detentions > that are 'arbitrary' by the standards of civil law, break-ins and > intelligence operations that violate the normal rights of privacy, >levels > of violence in making arrests that are unacceptable in civil cases, and > measures that involve the innocent (or at least not provably directly > guilty) in arrests and penalties." > > The issue, the report adds, "is not whether extreme security measures > will sometimes be used, or whether they are sometimes necessary. The > issue is rather how many such acts occur, how well-focused they are > on those who directly commit terrorism, and how justified they are in > terms of their relative cost-benefits." > > Palestinian officials here noted with surprise how accurate was the > report's list of escalating Israeli responses to the current >low-intensity > war, from Israeli mobilisation of armour to the sealing off of > Palestinian towns and "the use of helicopter gunships and snipers to > provide mobility and suppressive fire". Apparently based on a 1996 > Israeli test plan codenamed "Operation Field of Thorns", the military > responses end with the "forced evacuation" of Palestinians from > "sensitive areas". Palestine Authority officers, however, were taken > aback to read that the PA's "military strength" includes a Lockheed > Jetstar aircraft. The plane, they point out, happens to be Arafat's > personal executive jet. > > > > > > MiD-EasT RealitieS - www.MiddleEast.Org > Phone: 202 362-5266 Fax: 815 366-0800 > Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >_______________________________________________________ > >GANGBOX: CONSTRUCTION WORKERS NEWS SERVICE > >GANGBOX homepage: > >http://www.GeoCities.com/gangbox/ > >comments? email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >"UNION NOW, UNION FOREVER" >**************************************** > > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
