This week's stories: Government Knew of Iraq Doubts...Land of the Long Week...Allied Soldiers Take Home Their Own Little Piece of Iraqi Freedom...Centrelink Has Weapons Of Mass Destruction...Quotes of the Week.
Former US offical Greg Thielmann says that serious doubts about the Iraqi government's alleged weapons of mass destruction were communicated to the Australian government months before John Howard raised the issue in Parliament. Mr Thielmann says that the US State Department and Energy Department both disputed claims by the CIA, and that this "would not have been a secret to the Australian government". Former US ambassador John Wilson was sent to Africa in 2002 to assess claims that Iraq was buying uranium. He said that he has "little choice but to conclude that some of the intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat". (The Age, July 7). A study has found that Australia's self-image as "the land of the long weekend" is a myth. Australia has fewer public holidays than most industrialised countries. The study has found that almost 60 percent of full-time employees didn't take all their annual leave last year; about 40% of them for work-related reasons, including being too busy to take the time off. (The Age, July 5). Former US Army Major and physicist Douglas Rokke said that thousands of soldiers and civilians would suffer ill health and disability because of contact with depleted uranium during the war on Iraq. Mr Rokke was in charge of a cleanup after the first Gulf War. He said that it took a team of 100 trained experts three years to clean up 24 vehicles. He also said that everyone in the team developed respiratory problems, some within the first 24 hours. (Melbourne Times, June 25). A report from the International Labour Organisation says that every year 270 million employees are injured worldwide in accidents in the workplace and 160 million are affected by work-related illnesses. The report reveals more than 2 million workers die on the job each year. The report makes it clear that these statistics are probably an underestimate. (Le Monde Diplomatique, June 2003 issue). Quotes of the Week: "It's not until you see first hand the consequences of policies, that you see they need to be changed". Stephen Byers, former trade minister for the British government, announcing that he no longer supported free trade or globalisation after visiting Africa. "This is a war that is not going to have any end for the forseeable future". Richard Haass, US State Department director of policy planning, on the 'war on terror'. "I think the biggest challenged is that the Army Reserve has traditionally been trained for a war fighting capability, for use of force...the challenge is now operating on Australian soil, dealing with our civilian community". Army Reserve Major Murray Duckworth. "If people think their civil liberties are being curtailed, well, there are plenty of other things they can watch". Bill Muehlenberg, President of the Australian Family Association, on the banned film 'Ken Park'. anarchist news service write to James, PO Box 503, Newtown NSW 2042 or email [EMAIL PROTECTED] contact us to get ATNTF emailed directly to you. If you like All the News That Fits, forward it on to people or lists who might be interested in it, or post it on your local Indymedia http://www.indymedia.org. Some other Australian anarchist contacts: Love and Rage is an anarchist, non-profit record label. Our CD is available by mail order. 20 songs for $10 within Australia, $15 in New Zealand, $10 in the USA, $10 in Canada, 5 pounds in Britain, or 10 euros in the rest of Europe. Other countries, or enquiries from shops and distroes, email us and ask. Address for orders is PO Box 1191, Richmond North VIC 3121 (Australia). Please make cheques or money orders out to J. Hutchings. http://www.loveandrage.rocks.it http://www.angry.at/thegovernment - anarchist website with fliers for download, contacts etc. http://www.angry.at/racists - Anarchist/anti-racist music site with free mp3s, Real Audio, Real Video, internet radio, band interviews etc. Also includes the text of 'Escape', an anarchist novel - http://www.geocities.com/skipnewborn/novel.doc http://www.dolearmy.org - information for unemployed people. http://www.activate.8m.com - anarchist magazine aimed at teenagers. All the News That Fits appears in the Anarchist Age Weekly Review (http://www.vicnet.net.au/~anarch - PO Box 20 Parkville VIC 3052) and The Ham (http://www.theham.cat.org.au). Media outlets mentioned in All the News That Fits are sources - items are not direct quotes from news media. Background information may have been gathered from sources in addition to media outlets cited. Where no source is cited, the information has been gathered from direct sources. .. -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
