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We, the Undersigned, endorse the following petition:

Require Weapons Inspections at US Secret Military Bases

Target: Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, To: UN Security Council
Sponsor: BZ Botani
  • Signatures: 1,276
  • Goal: 2,000
  • Deadline: 10-3-2003
The US secret military threatens the stability and health of the entire planet. Americans can no longer gain access to these secret technologies and projects. We appeal to the UN Security Council to pass a resolution to require the US to open its secret military bases for inspection.
This petition is now closed.

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Number Date Name City State Zip/Postal Code Country Your personal appeal to the United Nations Security Council:
1,289 11:30 am PST, Feb 26 cecilia barria santiago   00000 Chile  
1,288 10:56 am PST, Feb 26 Adolph Hitler Berlin   11111 Germany What no insult for me from "BZ Botani wannabe"? This is due to your profound respect for my ideals, no doubt! Herr Speer, a free pair of jack boots for our accolyte. Herr Himmler, sign him up for the SS. He's got a taste for the blood of the innocent. I like that!
1,287 7:27 am PST, Feb 26 Anonymous Tokyo   1760021 Japan Which country has ever used WMD in a war? Not Iraq. It was the USA. Remember that, Mr Bush? Just in case it has slipped from your mind, in 1945, two Atomic Bombs were dropped by the USA onto the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It's more than 55 years ago, and the USA has been boasting about their power. Then, what do you really have now, dear USA?
1,286 6:56 am PST, Feb 26 Henry Mintzberg Montreal   M3B 4L9 Canada When it comes to the war on Iraq, "Why now?" is the question on many minds. The President of the United States tells us repeatedly that he is losing patience with Saddam Hussein, yet offers no evidence of anything having changed there for years. The man is presumably no more evil, if no less, than he has been for a long time. So why now? The answer is simple: because that is how long it has taken the U.S. administration to get to this point. Think back to the beginning of this administration (how short memories are these days!) and recall that hawks in it were pushing for an attack on Iraq from the outset. At that time, they were dismissed as extremists; now they are mainstream. This suggests that the intended war has nothing to do with the events of Sept. 11. Terrorism is the excuse for attacking Iraq, not the reason. Let's not mix up rogue states with terrorist cells. Consider the evidence -- about the lack of evidence. When efforts to link Iraq with al-Qaeda failed, the case shifted to the dangers of Iraq supplying terrorists with weapons. Sure, that could happen. But the world is a big and porous place. A band of lunatics in the Tokyo subways did not need Saddam Hussein to get their chemicals. Terrorism will not be stopped by an America that runs around putting its finger in every weapons dike that springs a leak. Trying instead to get at the causes of terrorism could help, but that has not been on the U.S. agenda. "Why?" is the more difficult part to answer. Why is this happening at all; what logic is behind all this? Obviously, most well-meaning people, Muslims included, would like to see Saddam Hussein go. But just as obviously, most of these people do not want to see him removed by a war on Iraq. Colin Powell said recently that because Iraq is in material breach of UN resolutions, "serious consequences" would follow. That's precisely what many of us fear. First possible serious consequence: more terrorism. Can anyone really believe that humiliating another Muslim country (for whatever reason) will lead to less terrorism? Terrorists, too, need excuses, if not reasons. What better one than bombs raining down on Iraqis, with Americans pushing the buttons? Picture the images on hundreds of millions of television sets in Muslim homes around the world. The response won't be "Finally that S.O.B. is getting what he deserves," but "Look what those S.O.B.s are doing to us." If there really is a war on terrorism, then attacking Iraq in this way at this time is the worst possible move. Second possible serious consequence: political instability. Regime change works both ways -- getting rid of one Saddam Hussein risks bringing several others to power. Such regime changes already happened some years ago in Iran, Libya, and Afghanistan. We know what Egypt and Algeria have been living with; we are also aware of equivalent forces at work in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Do we want to encourage them? Third possible serious consequence: economic depression. The U.S. economy is not in good shape; there have been repeated warnings about the effect of war on it. This could send the whole global economic system into a downward spiral. Is that worth the risk? Fourth possible serious consequence: wholesale death. And not only for a great many Iraqis. If Saddam Hussein really has these weapons, then he could use them on U.S. troops. If he does not, why attack? Either way, the logic of this war is questionable. George W. Bush and Tony Blair consider themselves to be religious men, but truly religious men don't normally engage in wanton murder. War is wanton murder. Sometimes, its ends justify its means, notably to stop more wanton murder. But the Pope is a religious man; he is trying to stop this war. Fifth possible serious consequence: failed peace. Washington feels it is right to pursue this war, with or without its allies. Has any country ever gone to war without feeling its cause to be right? (One of Napoleon's biographers wrote about his noble efforts to unite Europe -- with or without the consent of the other states!) A peaceful world does not depend on any state being right. It depends on the rule of law. Saddam Hussein may be in breach of UN resolutions; Mr. Bush is prepared to be in breach of the UN Charter, which requires member states to "refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state . . ." What kind of example will that set in the world? Put all this together and it just does not add up. Why, then, is the U.S. administration so intent on pursuing this course of action? Why is it investing so much of its resources and credibility in what so many prominent people around the world just cannot understand? And why is it prepared to alienate so many of its allies, and so many common people around the world? There has been much speculation about this: control of oil supplies, revenge by the son for the father, "finishing" the war in the Persian Gulf, pursuing a stalled war on terrorism that has nowhere else to go except against another government. Choose any or all of the above. But add in a good dose of ideological groupthink, that mindless collective drive toward a flawed course of action. It has happened before in America, most notably in the 1960s when the greatest brain trust ever put together in an administration could not distinguish a nationalist movement from a Communist one. (I should add that the currently popular comparison with the Cuban missile crisis is inappropriate. That represented a clear, direct, and proximate threat, and so people were convinced. The Iraqi "threat" today is much like the Vietnamese "threat" of the 1960s: vague, distant, mired in ideology and paranoia.) Groupthink also occurred in the 1950s when a paranoid senator named Joe McCarthy managed to take control of the American political agenda for a time. Then, too, it was communism. Or was it? Now it is terrorism. Or is it? Foreigners visiting the United States these days, myself included, feel uneasy about all those "God Bless America" signs. After all, Osama bin Laden also believed he was acting in the name of God. In Flaubert's Parrot, Julian Barnes wrote about Flaubert with respect to France that "The greatest patriotism is to tell your country when it is behaving dishonestly, foolishly, viciously." America needs some honest patriotism right now. Not to have "God Bless America," so much as to have "God Save America." And the rest of us, too. *******Henry Mintzberg is Cleghorn professor of management studies at McGill University in Montreal and author of the forthcoming Developing Managers, Not MBAs*****.
1,285 3:50 pm PST, Feb 25 USA#1 USA#1 everywhere Pennsylvania 111111 United States The "BZ Impersonator" is a little rude, but he is correct in his assessment: The Radical Left does not present a reasonable argument as to why Bush and most Americans are wrong about Iraq. Instead, they simply cry "foul" and go on ad infinitum with their empty discourse. Reviewing the blather at this site confirms that the left cannot hope to have viable talk radio programs (except NPR): blah, blah, blah and repeated, overly emotional assertions of victimhood.
1,284 1:34 pm PST, Feb 25 Adolph Hitler Berlin   111111 Germany The National Socialist party must protect the interest of the Volk. We must conquer Lebensraum in the East. Poland is a good place to start but we must hide our illegitimate aims by cloaking them in palatable terms. This will be a war of self-defense so let's get some German bums, kill them, dress them up in Polish uniforms and pretend that they have attacked a German radio station. Herr Goebbels, the propaganda machine must move into full gear to explain to the German people that the aggressor Slavs are a threat to the way of life of the Volk. Herr Himmler, use all means at your disposal to determine if this BZ Botani impersonator is really a Republican. This seems doubtful as he is clearly on welfare since he spends his entire day on the internet. See if he can be turned to act as an apologist for our cause. He clearly has a knack for disinformation.
1,283 12:49 pm PST, Feb 25 John Kesich Millerton Pennsylvania 16936 United States when the US vetoes this resolution invoke Resolution 377 “Uniting for Peace” to bring it before the general assembly for a vote.
1,282 12:48 pm PST, Feb 25 Ima Commie Stamford Connecticut 06543 United States BZ Botani: Yu referred to the "historical" poster as "he". How very sexist! Can't a womyn be a moron too? In the future, use "he/she/it"
1,281 12:43 pm PST, Feb 25 Saddam Hussein Baghdad   ----- Iraq Hey, I want to thank everyone who signed this petition. Please spread the word that totalitarian dictators have rights, too! And to all that marched last weekend: my sincere thanks. Please remember, before you sleep each night, that you help me elict the screams from my torture dens, the crying of mothers whose children I gassed, the pain of the hundreds of thousands of Kurds I banished and Shi'ites I have murdered, and the pain of the millions I have starved so that I may build palaces. - Sincerely, Saddam Hussein
1,279 9:21 am PST, Feb 25 Anonymous Ottawa   k2p2k8 Canada I notice a lot of messages here from people like Stalin, Kruschev, Aziz and Hussein. That's funny because they seem to hold similar opinions on the proposed war as 1. The Pope (an infamous liberal) 2. The Archbishop of Canterbury (another noted liberal) 3. General Norman Schwarzkopf a.k.a the guy that led a war against Hussein when he actually posed a threat in '91 and who helped disarm him of 80% of his weapons of "mass destruction" - the weapons that didn't actually cause any mass destruction in the first Gulf War, remember? 4. General Anthony Zinni - former head of the U.S. Central Command 5. at least a dozen other high ranking American military officers 6. Brent Scowcroft, the American National Security Advisor (to Bush senior) who played a crucial role in presenting a case for war against Hussein in '91. I guess that the above personalities have all joined the Communist and Ba'ath parties recently. 7. Most of Hussein's neighbours who are allegedly threatened by him but who have to be subjected to half a year of arm twisting and billions of dollars in bribery to announce that they regretfully will participate in some manner. On the other hand, it seems like the U.S. is doing its best impersonation of Soviet Russia lately: 1. Jailing thousands of people and holding them months on end without charge and without allowing them to see their lawyers 2. A media that does its best imitation of Pravda and claims that criticism of the President is tantamount to treason (a example of freedom of the press and freedom of speech at its finest - you can say anything that you want as long as it agrees with the Bush administration's party line). 3. A government that has called on federal workers to participate in a snitch program. The government wanted 1,000,000 Americans to participate, which number would have represented a larger per capita number of government informants than employed by the former East Germany (which, in turn, had the highest per capita number of informants in the Soviet bloc). 4. A head of government who not only did not get a majority of the votes but did not even get a plurality. The same guy who barely eked out enough electoral votes to win the presidency by claiming a 500 vote "victory" in a state of over 10,000,000 people. This all despite the facts that a) His brother was the governor of the state under dispute b) His campaign manager happened to be the Secretary of State (who set the rules for the recount) of the state under dispute. c) The aforementioned Secretary of State allowed overseas military ballots (which traditionally favour Republicans obverwhelmingly) to be counted even if they were post-marked AFTER the election and even if the ballot belonged to a citizen who had already voted, which is a violation of Florida election law. d) Bush's first cousin is the head of Fox news (the first American news organization to announce that Bush had "won" the presidency on election night even though their correspondants on the ground claimed that the election was too close to call). 5. Two of the 5 judges that appointed Bush President had close family (a wife for Rhenquist and a son for Scalia) that either worked for the Bush campaign or for legal firms that argued Bush's case before the Supreme Court. A good example of a new kind of show trial that would have made Stalin envious. 6. A government that has nothing but contempt for the rule of law (the very foundation of democracy) and is willing to violate its own constitution (the power to declare war is delegated to Congress and NOT to the Prsident), international law (in launching a preventitive war - not even preemptive - which is what the Germans did in 1914) and the UN Charter. This is all in the name of defeating a third world country, that was absolutely pulverized within a matter of weeks (12 years ago) and has less weapons than it did back then using claims that this 3rd world nation is a threat to the American way of life and the to very existence of its citizens. A fine piece of propaganda , indeed. Stalin must be smiling in his grave but the source of his pleasure is the decline in the state of American democracy.
1,278 11:48 pm PST, Feb 24 Anonymous Ottawa   k2p2k8 Canada BZ Botani: By paranoid rantings are you referring to the Bush administration's claims of the alleged catastrophic threat posed by a small third-world country (Iraq)- whose military and weapons have been largely detroyed by war (and inspections) and whose capacity for rearmament has been seriously impaired by sanctions (and inspections) - to a nation that has enough weaponry to destroy the world hundreds of time over? Do you think anybody in the world actually believes your blood-thirsty, money-loving, retarded President's crap? Apparently, the millions of people around the world who took to the streets (mostly in the countries whose leaders support Bush's war-mongering) a little over a week ago, don't. Of course Bush doesn't care about public opinion in the nations of the world since he couldn't care less about the wishes of his own people. Losing the popular vote didn't prevent him from stealing the election in the U.S. by pulling every nepotistic string, did it? By the way, if Dick Cheney thinks that Hussein is evil then why did he allow his company to do millions of dollars of business with him in the mid to late 90's - you know, AFTER he prosecuted a war against him as Secretary of Defence? I guess that, according to Cheney, no one is evil while they're lining your pockets with loads and loads of money. Oh ya, here's a great bit of logic on Cheney's, Rumsfeld's, and Powell's behalf (I can't include Bush because he is too stupid to chew pretzels safely let alone devise foreign policy): We can't attack North Korea because they have weapons that can cause catastrophic destruction to its neighbours. On the other hand, we must attack Iraq because they have weapons that can cause mass destruction in neighbouring lands. Hmmmm, but if the U.S. claims that it won't attack a nation because of that nation's capacity to render massive harm against its neighbours then clearly the Bush administration does not believe that Iraq's weapons are actually capable of causing massive devastation i.e. their weapons of "mass destruction" aren't sufficient for the purpose. The other explanation is that they feel that the lives of Japanese and South Korean citizens are worth more than those of Israelis, Kuwaitis, Iranians, etc. As for Powell's evidence - which was totally shot to hell by Blix - if the U.S. has pictures of the Iraqis moving weapons then they must know where those weapons are being stored (Iraq is mostly a desert, isn't it?). Then why does Powell not tell Blix where those weapons are so that they can be confiscated and destroyed OR why doesn't the U.S. just seek a resolution to bomb the weapons sites? I guess its more fun bombing civilians than weapons though, isn't it? Oh ya, then Powell told us how Hussein tests his chemical weapons on death-row prisoners. Right. In the U.S. they just call it the "gas chamber" and "lethal injection". Didn't a report come out a couple of months ago about the U.S. subjecting its military personnel to nuclear weapons tests in the 50's? It's also funny to hear how shocked Bush is by the fact that Hussein used chemical weapons against the Iranians in the 80's. Right! His daddy and Reagan were so shocked that they just had to keep supplying Hussein with more weapons and money - but selling those weapons helped line the pockets of big business, didn't it. Again, the guy isn't evil if he's helping Americans make a buck. Moreover, why don't you pick up any text book on American foreign policy so that you can discover the following: the U.S. produced photos of landing strips in Grenada and doctored them (by adding alleged Soviet fighter planes) in order to justify an invasion of Grenada - a country of less than 200,000 people that posed a "deadly" threat to the U.S., in 1983. The U.S. went on to invade Grenada despite objections from each of the members of the Organization of American States that such an action violated the charter of the OAS while the U.S. also vetoed a U.N. resolution that held that such an invasion violated international law. During congressional hearings, designed to authorize action in the first Gulf War, Bush I's administration produced a "nurse" from a hospital that claimed that she witnessed Iraqi troops murdering Kuwaiti babies in their hospital incubators. Bush I then went on to parrot her comments in rallying Americans to the war cause. After the war, it was revealed that this "nurse" was, in fact, the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the U.S. who hadn't recently spent any time in Kuwaiti hospitals. When you're reading your book on American foreign policy look up, "the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution" i.e. the resolution passed by Congress allowing LBJ to bomb the crap out of Vietnam after LBJ went on t.v. and presented some fabricated b.s. about how an American destroyer was attacked in international waters by the Vietnamese. How about the one where Ronald Reagan blamed Libya for a bombing at a Berlin disco, which killed a couple of hundred American GI's, and then used this as an excuse for bombing Libya. Later investigations proved that Libya had nothing to do with the bombing. Then there is the evidence that the U.S. had of a chemical weapons factory, allegedly mascarading as a pharmaceutical plant, in Sudan. After bombing the crap out the area it was revealed that the building was, in fact, a pharmaceutical plant. And the world is supposed to believe that the joke speech that Powell gave presented any actual evidence? You know, the "British intelligence report" which documented Hussein's evil ways and which was revealed to, in fact, be a plagiarized essay from the Internet? How about the ACTUAL, leaked British - the guys that are on your side - intelligence report, which stated that no evidence existed of a link to Al Quaeda despite Powell's rantings on the topic. Then there were pictures of a building with a truck parked beside it. Compelling stuff made even more compelling by the pictures of the U.N. vehicles arriving at the building - SEVERAL WEEKS LATER. Why no photos of weapons being loaded onto the truck - the U.S. has satellites which can focus on a coin on the ground, doesn't it? Why did the air and soil samples not show any traces of biological or chemical weapons residue? The moral of the story? The U.S. hardly has any credibility when it comes to revealing "evidence" that supports its foreign policy adventures. As long as we're talking paranoia, here are a few examples: 1. McCarthyism - yeah, those commies were just everywhere, weren't they? 2. The "Domino theory" - if Vietnam goes commie, then so will the rest of Asia. Well, Vietnam went commie but the rest of Asia didn't, did it? 3. Nicaragua - this impoverished 3rd world nation posed such a threat to the U.S. that Reagan claimed that if Ortega wasn't stopped the commies would be in Missouri in no time flat. After, mining Nicaragua's harbours (a violation of international law, according to the World Court, which the U.S. just ignored) and support for the Nicaraguan rebels (through arms sales to Iran - a mortal enemy of the U.S. - which was involved in a war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq, which the U.S. also supported against Iran with weapons and money) Ortega stayed. The Red Army hasn't made an appearance in St. Louis yet though. To this list you can add Chile, Cuba, El Salvador, etc. Now we have another panic regarding Iraq. It's amazing how susceptible Americans are to this kind of crap and how often they fall for it hook, line and sinker. By the way, isn't Bush a born-again Christian fundamentalist? Here's something to consider: don't Christian fundamentalists long for the second coming of Christ? Isn't Christ supposed to come at the end of the world? Therefore, don't Bush's religious beliefs support the idea that the end of the world is a good thing? It's good to know that this cocaine snorting, alcoholic is in a position to make God's plan come true. It's even more reassuring to hear this nut case threaten his enemies with nuclear weapons - you know, the weapons of mass destruction that can ensure that the planet is inhabitable for cockroaches only.
1,277 7:23 pm PST, Feb 24 Gloria Martin Carney Michigan 49812 United States  
1,276 3:55 pm PST, Feb 24 GulfWar Vet Hilo Hawaii 96720 United States FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 19, 2003 Contact : American Gulf War Veterans Assoc. GULF WAR VETERANS ASSOCIATION HAS FURTHER EVIDENCE OF “REICHSTAG SYNDROME” BY U.S. SECRET GOVERNMENT & MILITARY AGENCIES For the past six years, the American Gulf War Veterans Association have received numerous reports from veterans stating that US forces were responsible for the setting of the oil well fires at the end of the Gulf War. These testimonies are now being taken very seriously in light of recent revelations of the events that occurred during the first Gulf War. One veteran has now stepped forward and given a detailed account of how he and others in special teams, moved forward of the front, (behind enemy lines ahead of US forces) and then set charges on the well heads. “We were mustered into the briefing tent at which point a gentleman whom I first had thought to be an American began to brief us on the operation. I was concerned because he was not wearing a US uniform and insignias.” Joyce Riley, spokesperson for The American Gulf War Veterans Association is quoted as saying: “There was intentional misinformation given to the American people to generate support for Desert Storm often created by advertising agencies such as Hill and Knowlton.” The American Gulf War Veterans Association is presently dissenting on the war and has been joined by The British Gulf War Veterans and Families Association. Riley states that: “Not only is it our opinion that the Department of Defense has not been forthcoming about the severity of our military’s illnesses, significant concern is now being raised over the causation as well.” http://gulfwarvets.com/breaking.htm “We must realize that today’s Establishment is the new George III. Whether it will continue to adhere to his tactics, we do not know. If it does, the redress, honored in tradition, is also revolution.” -- William O. Douglas “Points of Rebellion” 1969 ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® No War with Iraq, No Blood for Oil By Barry Romo, Dave Curry & Joe Miller Vietnam Veterans Against the War It looks like those courtiers, known as advisers, who want a war with Iraq, have Bush's ear. From his speech before the United Nations in September, it is clear that the boy wants to finish daddy's war from 1990-91 and be a big hero himself. However, in addition to little things like the Constitution and international law stands the reality of a "war too far" in their never-ending war on terrorism. The war in Afghanistan is not over. American troops will be there a long time and in great numbers, as in Korea, with no end in sight. Al-Qaeda and the Taliban are not eliminated. Afghanistan is supplying 80% of Europe's heroin, and our allies there admit they cannot, or will not, stop it. President Karzai is so weak that he cannot get his own bodyguards and must be guarded by U.S. forces. Our allies are committing war crimes (as exposed by Newsweek). We are killing civilians and making blood enemies in a country that has lots of time for revenge. Finally, that poor country is still not getting the aid promised. One would think with all this turmoil, the U.S. government would want to clean up this mess before moving on to other targets, but U.S. forces now are in nearly 150 out of the 189 member states of the United Nations. What other member state has its forces stationed in so many countries? What is the purpose of such an "imperial" stretch? Full Editorial: http://www.vvaw.org ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® GOTTA HAVE A WAR...ANY WAR WILL DO By Joyce Riley and Dave vonKleist NewsWithViews.com In this time of nearly universal dissent and condemnation of the Bush administration’s foreign policy and apparent mad dash toward war, we would have to be fools or in denial to think that the national media is not being utilized to promote propaganda to sway the American people into supporting some kind of military action. It has become common knowledge to those who have followed world events for any length of time, that the international financial corporate elite puppet-masters and the military industrial complex have much to gain (monetarily) from a war…any war. It is the same individuals that have invested in the current administration through lobbying and campaign contributions that pay for the majority of the advertising in the major media. It is therefore not difficult to understand why war is being promoted with fervor akin to an advertising campaign to sell chia pets during the holiday season. On 9/11/01, while the news networks were still debating about what kind of plane had hit the WTC, they simultaneously released file footage (the same file footage) of Osama Bin Laden (who had been trained, funded and put into a position of power by the CIA), and hence began a campaign to legitimize an attack on Afghanistan. Despite the reports that 15 of the 19 suspected terrorists were Saudis, coupled with the fact that the Bush administration refused to provide evidence linking the Taliban to the 9/11 attacks, Bush mounted an unbridled attack on the Afghanis. Over a year later, the convenient inability to locate Osama Bin Laden now has the Bush administration focusing the compliant media attention on the old stand-by, back-pocket boogieman, Saddam Hussein. Hussein enjoys the same background support as Bin Laden, both having been supported and funded by the U.S. government during the era that George Bush Sr. had been Director of the CIA, two-term Vice-President under Reagan and President of the United States. Hussein and Bin Laden both have reported business ties with the Bush family, the latter also tied to VP Dick Cheney and Tony Blair through the Carlyle Group with oil and pipeline interests. (Bin Laden and his Taliban continued to receive millions of dollars of support under the current administration up to just a few months before the 9/11 attacks.) Because of the world attention to the controversy of the first Gulf War, the lack of support and strong opposition to a “regime change” by the Bush administration has grown to the point that much of the world is beginning to see the U.S. under the middle-eastern label as the “Great Satan.” As a result, the current administration now finds it necessary to refocus America’s attention to North Korea, one of the other countries Bush has conveniently labeled as a member of the “Axis of Evil”. Neither Iraq, nor North Korea have engaged themselves in acts of aggression against any country and neither they, or any other country would benefit from an act of terrorism in this country. Such an act would give the Bush administration the excuse that they so desperately need to legitimize a full-scale orgy of death aimed at anyone who would dare oppose their agenda. The Bush family/dynasty/regime has too many commitments, campaign promises and investments to allow peace to continue unchecked. They NEED a war, ANY war. And there are those that believe that they will go to any length to instigate and/or legitimize their desire to unleash the full might of the U.S. military somewhere…anywhere in the world. With this in mind, we must ask ourselves who would benefit from another domestic terrorist attack? The answer is too disturbing for most people to entertain. Common sense and critical thinking has broken out on a world-wide scale and the people of the world are now realizing that the holocaust so many said could never happen again, is menacingly looming behind the window dressing of blind American patriotism… the same kind of blind patriotism seen in pre-WWII Germany. American Gulf War Veterans Association http://gulfwarvets.com/war.htm ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® Field Manual Detailing Military Police Actions To Every American We Can Reach: PLEASE take the time to go to the link below and download the Army Field Manual 3-19.40 as soon as possible -- before it is made unavailable! Note that this manual was published just about 6 weeks before the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks made it possible for the administration to ram through laws which drastically attack civil rights in this country. Whether the timing is coincidental or part of a plan is genuinely immaterial -- facts are facts and are ignored ONLY at our peril. We implore you to download this Field Manual, read and digest it, then consider its implications to YOUR future freedom. Our enemies are deadly serious and, if we have any hope of remaining a free people, we had DAMN WELL get just as serious about protecting our freedoms as they are about taking them away. MILITARY POLICE INTERNMENT/RESETTLEMENT OPERATIONS (Official U.S. Military policy regarding concentration camps) http://www.adtdl.army.mil/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/fm/3-19.40/toc.htm Gulf War Vets Home Page ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® The Enemy--From Within When encountering what is perceived as an insurmountable obstacle, our parents and grandparents always told us "and this too shall pass." Actually, we are glad that some of our family never lived to see the utter deterioration of everything that they and we believed in as Americans, including the honor of a system that was formed to foster an elusive American dream of justice and nobility in our laws. They did not live to see that the United States is on a collision course reminiscent of the collapse of the Roman Empire of 2,000 years ago, an empire that Christ knew all to well. After all, wasn't the U.S. government designed to follow precepts set up by the ancient Romans and Greeks? Unfortunately, ancient Greco-Roman culture and society was also very barbaric, and it is this implacable remnant of Greco-Roman darkness that has infiltrated the very fabric of our government, which unlike its ancient counterpart was supposed to encompass the spirituality and reverence for God that was missing in ancient Rome. It is impossible not to notice that we are in the "end times" that can only be likened to the sorrow that Christ experienced almost two thousand years ago as the governmental and religious systems of the times failed to protect the individual and were exposed for what they were. Everyday we ask ourselves what did we do that was perceived as so wrong that an entire government, or at least a very strong and controlling faction in our government and military, should mount a continual harassment campaign against our family? In truth, all we wanted to do was help our soldiers, and now their family members and many of our citizens, to overcome a horrific chronic illness that is diagnosable and treatable. We never intended to uncover a massive, illegal Biological Weapons development and testing program, nor was it our intent to embarrass the Defense establishment or certain sectors of the scientific community. Because of our naive faith in our government, we ultimately set ourselves up for a quest that involved betrayals from people with whom we have worked for over two decades and whose very careers and livelihoods were helped significantly by our unswerving loyalty. Not one single government on this planet involved in the Persian Gulf War will accept accountability for the release of Chemical and Biological Weapons during and after the conflict. In fact, they appear to be doing just the opposite, discounting the effects of exposures and downplaying the numbers of soldiers and civilians who were exposed. They have remained steadfast in their denial that Biological Weapons were released in Desert Storm, even though there were no detection systems for these weapons. How else can we explain the apparent contagious nature of the illness in many veterans and their family members and the appearance of unusual, modified microorganisms in their blood? We suspect that there may be a deeply hidden agenda and that one of the original designs of Biological Weapons may be an ill-advised use in the control of world population. We also suspect that the special financial interests of global armaments dealers and pharmaceutical companies comes into play in selling these uncontrollable weapons to third world countries. Nancy L. Nicolson, PhD. and Garth L. Nicolson, PhD. The Institute for Molecular Medicine http://www.immed.org/illness/gulfwar_illness_research.html ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® American Gulf War Veterans Association http://www.gulfwarvets.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: VETERANS GROUP CALLS FOR RUMSFELD RESIGNATION The American Gulf War Veterans Association (AGWVA) now calls for the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. In response to questioning by Sen. Robert C. Byrd, (D-WV), Rumsfeld denied any knowledge that the United States had shipped biological weapons to Iraq during the 1980’s. Rumsfeld was addressing the Armed Services Committee last week, when he stated that he “…had no knowledge of any such shipments and doubted that they ever occurred.” There is no disputing the evidence that the U.S. provided bacteria and viruses as evidenced by Senate Report 103-900, “United States Dual-Use Exports To Iraq And Their Impact On the Health of The Persian Gulf War Veterans,” dated May 25,1994, chaired by Sen. Donald Riegle (D-MI) of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. This Senate report was available to all senators and listed among other items, Bacillus Anthracis, (anthrax) Clostridium botulinum, and West Nile Fever Virus as pathogens that were shipped to Iraq in the 1980’s with the full knowledge of the Department of Commerce and the CDC. http://www.gulfweb.org/bigdoc/report/r_1_2.html#exports There is no question that the Secretary of Defense must be informed and up to date with information about a potential military enemy and his military capabilities. Mr. Rumsfeld’s statements demonstrate that this is clearly not the case. If our Secretary of Defense is unaware of the sales of biological materials to a country with which we are about to go to war, or if he is in denial over the fact that these sales occurred, the AGWVA believes that he represents a clear and present danger to the lives of our military, our country, and the American people, and should be considered a very serious threat to the national security. It is for this reason that the AGWVA calls for his resignation and removal from office. Joyce Riley vonKleist, RN, BSN spokesperson American Gulf War Veterans Association P.O.Box 85, Versailles, Missouri 65084 (573) 378-6049 voice, (573) 378-5998 fax http://www.gulfwarvets.com ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® Call to Conscience from Veterans to Active Duty and Reservists! We are veterans of the United States armed forces. We stand with the majority of humanity, including millions in our own country, in opposition to the United States' all out war on Iraq. We span many wars and eras, have many political views and we all agree that this war is wrong. Many of us believed serving in the military was our duty, and our job was to defend this country. Our experiences in the military caused us to question much of what we were taught. Now we see our REAL duty is to encourage you as members of the U.S. armed forces to find out what you are being sent to fight and die for and what the consequences of your actions will be for humanity. We call upon you, the active duty and reservists, to follow your conscience and do the right thing. (1/03/03) http://www.vvawai.org/ ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® George Bush Sr. A Victim of Biowarfare In 1991, when President George Bush pushed back his chair, fainted, reeled to his left and vomited on the pants of his host at a state dinner in Japan, endless speculation ensued as to the cause. Heart attack, exhaustion, the flu—these and other explanations were tossed about by pundits. Dr. Garth Nicolson says he knows the answer. The former chair in cancer research and a professor in the Department of Tumor Biology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Nicolson told Freedom that Bush suffered from Gulf War Illness—the same affliction that has reportedly killed thousands of American veterans and left tens of thousands suffering from a range of horrific symptoms. Nicolson and his wife, Nancy, a molecular biophysicist, were consulted in the subsequent diagnosis and treatment of the president, of Mrs. Bush—and their dog. Later, Nicolson said, “George called us and said they were feeling much better.” A simple explanation, with explosive ramifications. The Nicolsons’ interest in this area of research began in 1987, when Nancy contracted a disease while working in a laboratory at Baylor College of Medicine. Her weight plummeted to 70 pounds and she suffered from encephalitis, meningitis and partial paralysis. She later noticed an article in The New York Times entitled “Mycoplasma Incognitus” by Dr. Shyh-Ching Lo, a virologist at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C., who, it turned out, had been working in Nicolson’s own department at Baylor. The article discussed adverse effects caused by a mycoplasma—a type of microorganism—and listed all of the symptoms she had been experiencing. Nicolson worked her way back to health using an antibiotic, doxycycline, after further research into mycoplasma-related illnesses. Then, in 1992, Nicolson’s stepdaughter, a helicopter crew chief in the 101st Airborne Division who served on missions deep into Iraq during the Gulf War, came home severely fatigued, with pains in the joints, problems with hearing, vision and memory, and a host of other impairments virtually identical to Nancy’s earlier sickness. The Nicolsons started to help their daughter and some of her Desert Shield and Desert Storm friends with similar symptoms. According to their discoveries, what caused the Gulf War Illness was a man-modified strain of mycoplasma. This modified mycoplasma, they said, found in one-half of the personnel suffering from Gulf War Illness, has unusual DNA sequences, one of which includes part of the human immunodeficiency (HIV) virus. The Nicolsons have reported that many people suffering from the illness have recovered their health, to one degree or another, through antibiotics and vitamins. Members of the Army’s Green Berets and the Navy’s Seals, including senior officers of these organizations, are among those who have been successfully treated. But when the Nicolsons sought to inform the tens of thousands of other Gulf War Illness victims who did not know exactly what was affecting them, to their astonishment, they were discouraged from doing so by superiors at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and subjected to various forms of retaliation that allegedly included a threat at gunpoint from an agent of the Defense Intelligence Agency. While many service personnel approached the Nicolsons for help with their symptoms, and many have reportedly experienced some relief, psychiatrists and senior Pentagon officials continue to insist no such illness exists. Some strong words from former U.S. Senator Donald W. Riegle Jr. frame the importance of the situation: “Our afflicted veterans are sick and suffering, and many have died. Others are now destitute, having spent tens of thousands of dollars, depleting their life savings, in an unsuccessful search for an explanation for their ailments. The veterans of the Gulf War have asked us for nothing more than the assistance they have earned. Our refusal to come to their immediate assistance can only lead others to question the integrity of the nation they serve.” http://www.immed.org/newsreports.html ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® Bioterrorism Bioterrorism and Biological Warfare Agents The main functions of bioterrorism are to cause panic, disruption and chaos, so biological agents don't have to cause a fatal disease to be effective. In fact, many biological warfare agents are categorized as 'incapacitating agents' that are not intended to produce a fatal disease (Table 1). They are more effective if they incapacitate and produce strain on a health care system by having many thousands of sick patients inundate treatment facilities that contain only limited quantities of drugs and only a few isolation beds. Also, it is much easier to spread an incapacitating agent from person to person, because it would not cause enough alarm to require quarantining of exposed persons, which could limit additional exposures. Recent Ebola virus outbreaks in the Congo suggest that the most effective method to limit casualties is to quickly quarantine anyone who shows signs and symptoms of hemorrhagic fever. Incapacitating agents often have relatively long incubation times, allowing their widespread penetration into a population before they are ever diagnosed. Thus exposed individuals may bring the agent back 'home' to an unsuspecting family member and spread the disease further. This may have happened to veterans with chronic infections, such as Mycoplasma and Brucella infections, who returned from the Gulf War only to slowly spread their chronic illnesses to spouses and children. Biological Agents and Bioterrorism There are several types of biological agents that could be useful for bioterrorism. First, there are lethal agents, such as the Ebola, Lassa and other viruses that cause viral hemorrhagic fever, inhalation anthrax caused by Bacillus anthracis spores, smallpox virus, pneumonic plague caused by Yersinia pestis or purified protein toxins, such as the Ricinus communis toxin ricin or Clostridium botulinum toxin (Table 1). In addition, there are incapacitating agents that cause brucellosis, mediated by Brucella species, Q fever caused by Coxiella burnetii, tularemia caused by Francisella tularensis, mycoplasmal infections caused by Mycoplasma fermentans and mold toxins, such as the T2 mycotoxin. As mentioned above, incapacitating agents for the most part cause chronic illnesses that are not usually fatal. However, these illnesses can cause tremendous chronic health problems in infected patients, and most are contagious and the disease could spread and eventually cause an epidemic of chronic illnesses. Prof. Garth Nicolson President & Chief Scientific Officer The Institute for Molecular Medicine Full Article: http://www.immed.org/illness/bioterrorism.html The 'Stealth' Bugs – Mycoplasma Mycoplasma found in sufferers from The Gulf War Syndrome and M.E./CFS Some of you may have noticed reported findings of Mycoplasma in British and American Gulf War veterans suffering what is called The Gulf War Syndrome. There have also been a few studies of mycoplasmic infections in people with M.E./CFS, multiple chemical sensitivities and fibromyalgia. Significant levels (60-70%) were found by researchers in both Australia and the United States. Effects of mycoplasma Mycoplasma are a strange set of critters - a cross between bacteria and viruses. They hide inside cells, often in the most secret places of our bodies. They are associated with violent arthriticky symptoms plus depression, sometimes stomach upsets and vomiting for no apparent cause, extreme weakness and tiredness, immune dysfunction, hormonal disturbances, lessened ability to absorb nutrients, debility and muscle wasting. Because of their continued presence in the body, they can trigger immune over-activation, inflammatory cytokine over-production and switch on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis - both characteristic of M.E./CFS and FMS. Mycoplasma are infective, and often develop following chemicals exposure and trauma. http://www.immed.org/newsreports.html ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® the con job the ground war began today at dawn in a desert land far from here. the U.S. ground troops were largely made up of Blacks, Mexicans and poor whites most of whom had joined the military because it was the only job they could find. the ground war began today at dawn in a desert land far from here and the Blacks, Mexicans and poor whites were sent there to fight and win as on tv and on the radio the fat white rich newscasters first told us all about it and then the fat rich white analysts told us why again and again and again on almost every tv and radio station almost every minute day and night because the Blacks, Mexicans and poor whites were sent there to fight and win at dawn in a desert land far enough away from here. Charles Bukowski from Sifting Through the Madness for the Word, the Line, the Way
1,275 3:52 pm PST, Feb 24 Terence McKenna Hana Hawaii 96720 United States A Collection of Poems Burning Bright Please Pass them into the Light! God bless America Here they go again, The Yanks in their armoured parade Chanting their ballads of joy As they gallop across the big world Praising America's God. The gutters are clogged with the dead The ones who couldn't join in The others refusing to sing The ones who are losing their voice The ones who've forgotten the tune. The riders have whips which cut. Your head rolls onto the sand Your head is a pool in the dirt Your head is a stain in the dust Your eyes have gone out and your nose Sniffs only the pong of the dead And all the dead air is alive With the smell of America's God. Harold Pinter 2003 State of the Union, 2003 I have not been to Jerusalem, but Shirley talks about the bombs. I have no god, but have seen the children praying for it to stop. They pray to different gods. The news is all old news again, repeated like a bad habit, cheap tobacco, the social lie. The children have seen so much death that death means nothing to them now. They wait in line for bread. They wait in line for water. Their eyes are black moons reflecting emptiness. We've seen them a thousand times. Soon, the President will speak. He will have something to say about bombs and freedom and our way of life. I will turn the tv off. I always do. Because I can't bear to look at the monuments in his eyes. --Sam Hamill ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® Refugee ******* She sits outside, on a stool, her face closed And still with the hopelessness of tomorrow, Drawn with remembered anguish As this day, empty of hope like all the days Since she arrived, draws to its end. The setting sun gleams, reflected from the tin Bowl on her lap, half filled with rice. Slowly two tears from her closed eyes Move down her cheeks. They glisten In the end of the day's sun. She does not eat. What horrors, I wonder, has she seen? Forced from her home, she and her family, Fleeing from terror I can only guess at, Bearing it with her yet as she sits there, Motionless, a vehicle for grief. Her suffering is outside my knowledge: I have never beeen torn, like she, from Living roots, herded, as cattle are herded, By those who deal in numbers, not faces. For they are good, the people of the camp-- They would break if they began to notice the faces. All around her are alien people: Alien voices speaking from an inknown Culture with words she cannot understand. Only the sun and moon and the stars in the night sky Are the same-- they were there yesterday. And God? A child approaches. He is about ten, and thin. He looks up at her closed face, and into the bowl She holds in her still hands. She opens eyes that Are dark with the pain fo yesterday. But tomorrow-- Tomorrow is for the child. She gives him the rice And he eats. His eyes, refelecting the sun's last rays, Smolder with dreams. Tomorrow he will be a man. "Vengeance is Mine: I will repay" saith the Lord. But the child does not hear God-- his heart is full With hatred. It is he-- he who will repay. This is his dream for tomorrow. "Reason for Hope" Jane Goodall http://www.janegoodall.org ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® Buying a Body Bag for the Future I feel us being pulled backward in time one of those dreams where no matter how you try to escape you can't get ahead of it running up the down escalator from some hell All the centuries of struggle for our humanity being pulled out from under us in an idiot's blink while war machines drone overhead and flags millions of flags hiding the grimy grey sky A record repeating and each time more loudly the emperor's new clothes a Wagner opera screeching of sirens and beating of drums a warmonger raging on the world stage Lost in the tempo and terror of it we hide but it's like a poison gas and seeps into us smelling of funeral fires and death camps and gasoline it invades our every tissue Like barbed wire it is everywhere we turn the fuel for the fires of hate and murder choking off all paths to our sanity filling our eyes with balls of flame Who can make sense of it any more? the dream descending into a deadzone history no longer a question but a noose dragging us toward a monumental pyre Try screaming and waking the others it's like a movie they will say and smile while millions more flags are unfurled and our children are given uniforms Who are the shadows behind the curtains able to digest entire countries in a night? those behind warmakers and banks who manufacture truth and power? They are in our blood now as a germ in our heads as the lights go out repeating in our ears their news someone must pay for evil deeds No matter the cause or the suffering damn the cost and the consequences when the warlords rule our dreams our past is forgotten and future forsaken BZ Botani 2003 BZ Botani::: hybrid humanoid operative encamped on the volcanic island of Hawai'i. Emissary of MetaMagic MotherShip & Imaginal Diffusion Agency. Continuum Agent of MachineMatrix Omega and GaiaMind / PhotonicIntel via Alien potentiators. DigitalPoetry & WebDesign orbitting at GlandSwell Studios/HoneyHive Productions. http://Metamagic.org ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® SPEAK OUT And a vast paranoia sweeps across the land And America turns the attack on its Twin Towers Into the beginning of the Third World War The war with the Third World And the terrorists in Washington Are drafting all the young men And no one speaks And they are rousting out All the ones with turbans And they are flushing out All the strange immigrants And they are shipping all the young men To the killing fields again And no one speaks And when they come to round up All the great writers and poets and painters The National Endowment of the Arts of Complacency Will not speak While all the young men Will be killing all the young men In the killing fields again So now is the time for you to speak All you lovers of liberty All you lovers of the pursuit of happiness All you lovers and sleepers Deep in your private dreams Now is the time for you to speak O silent majority Before they come for you -- Lawrence Ferlinghetti Café Nihiliste Maragogype of lost luxuries, Wendell builds rhapsodies on the art of inhalation in this shrine where he spends the majority of his waking hours: calculates the milkfroth on bowls of au lait - watches customers' eyes as they lick the last bubbles from their mugs of cappuccino, knowing their growing obsession will soon equal his own as he sweeps leftover gold across the scoured brick floor and more accurately than a connoisseur presses Guatemala, Honduras Sumatra Java Colombia Peru Argentina and Kenya AA between his hands, and when he drops boiling water on a mountain of fresh-ground Kalossi each elusive mocha trace black erudite expands - erotic as a witch's brew until the climax more spectacular than fireworks numbs his senses. Sonja A Skarstedt Conqueror ********* When they start to wear your clothes do their dreams become more like yours who do they look like when they start to use your language do they say what you say who are they in your words when they start to use your money do they need the same things you need or do the things change when they are converted to your gods do you know who they are praying to do you know who is praying for you not to be there W.S. Merwin ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® A Spinning Broken Cross ************************************ America the supersized land of the free market of values melting pot of Mammon boasting of greatness and oily excess tossing all protest behind with our trash revving the engines of our industry in the face of a brutalized weeping world Home of the brave few who dare to resist an insidious slick conditioning of control a war on the mind in the vacuum of soul losing the world in the pledge of obedience to spies and criminals and General Electric a nation of fattened domesticated herd-apes Always the same men with glaring eyes larger than life and twice as mean roasting the world with a roar of applause and the waving of flags proudly held high saluting of citizens and marching of men shooting of cannons and broadcast of threats Trillions of American dollars going into a war machine who keeps track anymore and who even cares where all this human energy and processed planet ending in the bank accounts of whom and why again we are blindly following behind these men for centuries feeding their hunger for blood madness chaos and control America has lost the war on the world before it has begun conquered by the worms that escaped Nuremberg sold our souls to dead presidents of the white race followed a dangerous path carved out by the CIA armoring ourselves with high-tech holocausts feeding our overstocked supermarkets until spoiled Once the war has begun does America believe it will win with 5 billion opponents and not enough barbed wire will our children be thanking us for saving their future while the vast masses of mankind are cursing us for stealing their possibilities and being so stupid will we still be applauding the son of a Bush then America, America man sheds his waste on thee we call it progress and patriotism and pride while the poisons seep into our skin and eyes so we can not see the bloody stripes crooked stars being soaked with the gore of our world at war around a white circle and a spinning broken cross BZ Botani & the Hopeful Monsters GlandSwell Studio HAWAI’I http://mutanex.com ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® Ari Fleischer the President's spokesman says all Americans need to watch what they say it's easy for George W. to watch when Ari is speaking for him and for Ari it's easy to watch because it's on the news later but fulfilling this need is harder for me I devised a rearview speech mirror and affixed it to my skull but no one wanted to talk with me while I watched what I said in despair I abandoned the act of speech and devoted myself to a life of text I wrote: The President's appointment was illegal. and watched I wrote: Wilfully causing the death of others is the supreme failure of the human species. and watched Ari, as my fellow American I am watching what you say too so far I haven't spotted anything new Gwendolyn Albert American Wars Like the topaz in the toad's head the comfort in the terrible histories was up front, easy to find: Once upon a time in a kingdom far away. Even to the dreadful now of news we listened comforted by far timezones, languages we didn't speak, the wide, forgetful oceans. Today, no comfort but the jewel courage. The war is ours, now, here, it is our republic facing its own betraying terror. And how we tell the story is forever after. -- Ursula K. Le Guin ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® An Open Letter from Sam Hamill Dear Friends and Fellow Poets: When I picked up my mail and saw the letter marked "The White House," I felt no joy. Rather I was overcome by a kind of nausea as I read the card enclosed: Laura Bush requests the pleasure of your company at a reception and White House Symposium on "Poetry and the American Voice" on Wednesday, February 12, 2003 at one o'clock Only the day before I had read a lengthy report on George Bush's proposed "Shock and Awe" attack on Iraq, calling for saturation bombing that would be like the firebombing of Dresden or Tokyo, killing countless innocent civilians. Nor has Bush ruled out the use of nuclear weapons. I believe the only legitimate response to such a morally bankrupt and unconscionable idea is to reconstitute a Poets Against the War movement like the one organized to speak out against the war in Vietnam. I am asking every poet to speak up for the conscience of our country and lend his or her name to our petition against this war, and to make February 12 a day of Poetry Against the War. We will compile an anthology of protest to be presented to the White House on that afternoon. Please submit your name and a poem or statement of conscience to the Poets Against the War Web site. There is little time to organize and compile. I urge you to pass along this letter to any poets you know. Please join me in making February 12 a day when the White House can truly hear the voices of American poets. -- Sam Hamill, Founding Editor and Co-founder of Copper Canyon Press http://www.poetsagainstthewar.org/ ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® Rare Poetry Series Available! **************************** ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems, You shall possess the good of the earth and sun, (there are millions of suns left,) You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books. You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me, You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self. - Walt Whitman, Song of Myself "If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow." -- Rachel Carson "Until lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter.” -- African Proverb "Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is." --Will Rogers RESISTANCE IS FERTILE! MetaMagic MotherShip http://metamagic.org FutureWorks FilmFestival http://mutanex.com/futurefest News of the Strange & Supernatural Wickedly Weird & All the Rage! Now Featuring Fiore’s Flash: Exile TV! http://metamagic.org/strange
1,274 3:47 pm PST, Feb 24 Albert Einstein Paradise Washington 98227 United States The Alienated State of America: A Hateful Divide ************************************************************ by B.Z. Botani Kilauea, HAWAI'I Jan. 28, 2003 (IDA) http://mutanex.com/alienated "If only , if only, nuclear war was just another kind of war. If only it was about the usual things-- nations and territories, gods and histories. If only those of us who dread it are just worthless moral cowards who are not prepared to die in defense of our beliefs. If only nuclear war was the kind of war in which countries battle countries and men battle men. But it isn't. If there is a nuclear war, our foe will not be China or America or even each other. Our foe will be the Earth herself. The very elements-- the sky, the air, the land, the wind and water-- will turn against us." -- Arundhati Roy "The End of Imagination" "In refusing to outlaw the bomb while having the monopoly of it, this country suffers in another repect, in that it fails to return publicly to the ethical standards of warfare formally accepted previous to the last war. It should not be forgotten that the atomic bomb was made in this country as a preventive measure; it was to head off its use by the Germans, if they discovered it. The bombing of civilian centers was initiated by the Germans and adopted by the Japanese. To it the Allies responded in kind-- as it turned out, with greater effectiveness-- and were morally justified in doing so. But now, without any provocation, and without the justification of reprisal or retaliation, a refusal to outlaw the use of the bomb save in reprisal is making a political purpose of its possession. This is hardly pardonable." -- Dr. Albert Einstein "Atomic War or Peace" Help! We've Been Hijacked by Extremists! Here at the dawn of a new millennium, every person in America shares a fate with every other person in the world: We've been hijacked by a militaristic cabal of economic pirates and their henchmen, armed with high-tech weapons and secret technologies, under the guise of "Security," backed by a toothless media and their advertisers. We're being held hostage by this arms-dealing coup détat, threatened daily with nuclear warfare, germ injections, unreasonable search and seizure, imprisonment, and various other violations of human rights. Environmental, humanitarian, reproductive and civil rights struggles which took decades to reach a hopeful outlook have been beaten down in a matter of months by this small group of wealthy extremists, many of whom are convicted felons. They make no apologies for imposing their scandalous and abusive values on our society, endangering all of civilization. In fact they are revelling in their degradation of our economy and justice system like true tyrants. They have hoisted their skull-and-bones flag over the White House and are battering at the doors of the United Nations, preparing to dismantle every international treaty made in the past 400 years, for this is their last alternative to being held accountable for a century of war crimes and genocidal conspiracies which now plague the world, in the form of drugs, disease, chemical poisons, and mass graves. Is there any American with a conscience who will deny what I am saying about this Bush regime? The CIA headquarters bearing his name, Bush the uber-Bubba, born with a silver spoon up his nose, waving the nuclear buttons around like a personal shotgun? Surrounded by corporate criminals and far-right extremists loyal to elite organizations, demanding the world fall in line behind their agenda to plunder the remaining resources of the world they didn't squeeze out in the last century, and daring any who resist to challenge their superior military forces. The Bush-CIA takeover of the United States of America stands head-and-shoulders above the legacy of Caesar as the most arrogant and dangerous military coup in history. Surely you've heard the many recent references to Hitler and the Third Reich's burning of the Reichtag in relation to the Bush agenda? I would update these references with an even more alarming perspective: the ideology, criminality, and ruthlessness of the far-right in America make the Third Reich seem like grade school. The U.S. military machine and their National Security agencies dwarf anything the Germans ever had, even at the height of their power. Now Bush is threatening to use preemptive nuclear strikes, against underdeveloped nations, without any regulation or remorse. Uber-Bubba Bush poses the greatest threat to global security in human history, in the name of plunder and power. "But let us pause to give credit where it's due. Whom must we thank for all this? The Men who made it happen. The Masters of the Universe. Ladies and Gentlemen, the United States of America! Come on up here, folks, stand up and take a bow.Thank you for showing us the way. Thank you for altering the very meaning of life. From now on it is not dying we must fear,but living. It is such supreme folly to believe that nuclear weapons are deadly only if they're used. The fact that they exist at all, their very presence in our lives, will wreak more havoc than we can begin to fathom. Nuclear weapons pervade our thinking. They are the ultimate colonizer. Whiter than any white man that ever lived. The very heart of whiteness." -- Arundhati Roy "The End of Imagination" "But could not our situation be compared to one of a menacing epidemic? People are unable to view this situation in its true light, for their eyes are blinded by passion. General fear and anxiety create hatred and aggressiveness. The adaptation to warlike aims and activities has corrupted the mentality of man; as a result, intelligent, objective and humane thinking has hardly any effect and is even suspected and persecuted as unpatriotic." -- Dr. Albert Einstein "The Menace of Mass Destruction" Mass Psychosis & the Military Mentality The conditioning of American society to the acceptance of tyranny has been slowly increased over the past half-century, since the formation of the CIA/NSA National Security state. The advent of television opened a channel of mass manipulation never before available to political ideologues. The human mind became the brave new frontier, ripe for colonization. The two most influential tools for manipulating large groups of people, appealing to the lowest common denominators of society, are fear and greed. The American miracle of marketing is the ability to appeal to the most base instincts of humanity while appearing to represent the common good. We can terrorize the world while we claim to be defending their "freedom." Hell, we will even convince the underprivileged that the privileged deserve all their good fortune, even as we plunder their backyards and force their children to pledge allegiance to our dollar! How do we enforce fear on the masses while making it "sexy?" By marketing militarism as the growth industry of the future, making even the most graphic violence an entertainment form. Even if the sexy older actor is asking the CIA recruit if he'd like to kill people, for no good reason, we can market it as a kind of perverted empowerment, devoid of ethics. Hell, we can even make police torture and abuse into award-winning shows, with the miracle of television penetrating the most intimate spaces of the family home. In this way, we can make patriotic impulses immediate and disconnected from history, without the nasty habit of conscience. Never before in the history of humankind has there existed such influence over mass consciousness, and into this arena arose the Bush family, backed by their Nazi financiers, CIA drug-dealers and assassins, corporate boards of petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries, and of course weapons makers, all reaping greater bounty from the misfortunes of mankind than in any era of exploitation ever before, billions becoming trillions, damn the debt. Meanwhile, Americans have been conditioned like the proverbial frog in hot water against questioning the authority of the White House, never mind that the President is supposed to serve the people and our best interests. Conspiracy? How dare any American claim conspiracy-- we know those people should be ridiculed, and maybe locked up! In fact, since the terrible advent of the terrorist, Americans have been conditioned to avoid the news in general, and take pride in their ignorance. After all, Big Brother Bush and his buddies are in charge of our Security now! "The only good thing about nuclear war is that it is the single most egalitarian idea that man has ever had. On the day of reckoning, you will not be asked to present your credentials. The devastation will be indiscriminate. The bomb isn't in your backyard. It's in your body. And mine. Nobody, no nation, no government, no man, no god, has a right to put it there. We're radioactive already, and the war hasn't even begun. So stand up and say something. Never mind if it's been said before. Speak up on your own behalf. Take it very personally." -- Arundhati Roy "The End of Imagination" "The tendencies we have mentioned are something new forAmerica. They arose when, under the influence of the two World Wars and the consequent concentration of all forces on a military goal, a predominantly military mentality developed, which with the almost sudden victory became even more accentuated. The characteristic feature of this mentality is that people place the importance of what Bertrand Russell so tellingly terms 'naked power' far above all other factors which affect the relations between peoples. The Germans, misled by Bismarck's success in particular, underwent just such a transformation of their mentality-- in consequence of which they were entirely ruined in less than a hundred years." -- Dr. Albert Einstein "The Military Mentality" Fascism for Idiots: An American Nightmare Since the appointment of Bush Jr. to terrorize and plunder our children's future, hate has become fashionable in America, along with terror. Never mind that a thorough investigation of the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the September 11 attacks has yet to take place, having been blocked by the Bush White House at every avenue, along with the Enron and Halliburton scandals. Instead, the country is being herded onward toward global warfare, mobilizing millions of our men and women into harm's way and prodding every underdeveloped region of the world in search of places to test our latest future-weapons. America has become a steroid-choked reality show costing billions of dollars a day, arming every available space of the planet against anyone who may resist the corporate demand to feed our gluttonous appetites. Even when millions of intelligent and beautiful people rise up in protest, in the largest coordinated mass demonstrations in history, filling city centers around the world, the corporate media downplay the opposition, reporting hundreds of thousands as tens of thousands, taking tiny soundbites of historic speeches, totally ignoring former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clarke's motion for impeachment of the Bush regime. For those paying attention, those on the front lines, those up against the police barricades, it is obvious the media in America have been bought out, blackmailed, and disarmed, except for a few outposts on the internet. Hate is in high fashion in America. In every speech Bush directs his brute aggression against evil enemies who are just asking to be annihilated. The flag-waving patriots on the street corners echo their approval, casting slurs and slander and possibly even rocks, and feel justified in doing so, to defend American superiority. How dare any American question our leaders in this time of peril? Yet if these thoughtless patriots would pursue the issues and dangers surrounding us, they might question who is putting their children in the greatest peril? Who goaded the terrorists and allowed the 9-11 attacks to go forward? Who is alienating the world against us, insulting even our closest allies, and challenging the integrity of the United Nations? Who is threatening to launch a nuclear war, who is willing to violate international treaties and destabilize the entire Mideast? Who is dismantling every environmental protection we've gained over the past century, and allowing corporations to make huge profits at the expense of the common people? A small group of wealthy elitists is who, represented by the ideologues in the Bush 43 regime. Not democratically elected, but appointed by a right-wing conspiracy aligned with criminals and fascists. Perhaps most unforgivable in the current mob mentality being thrust on America is the abandonment of its veterans. While the men and women who were mobilized for Bush 41's Gulf War are suffering from results of experimental vaccines, uranium shell exposure, and psychological trauma, the media pretend their cases have no bearing on the current mobilization in the Gulf. Even as hundreds of soldiers and Marines are being locked up in the brig for refusing to take the next generation of experimental vaccines, the media ignores their plight, meanwhile advertising Bush's anthrax vaccine program. And who would know that Vietnam veterans still exist, that they are the most outspoken against the use of war as justification to plunder oil, that more of them have commited suicide than actually died in the field? Veterans of the CIA, including Generals and Colonels, are ignored as they testify that the Bush crime family is the "Immaculate Deception," their involvement in drug-running, assassination, bank fraud, and insider trading making the Sopranos seem like the Simpsons. Who is the greatest danger to America and the world? Surely the finger must be pointed at the corporate masters of the U.S. media, who are actually multinational conglomerates run by the ultra-wealthy. Their blinding and gagging of the people's right to know, the true investigation of the corruption that endangers the very fate of the world, must be faulted as the most grave breakdown of democracy in America. For a people who are kept intentionally ignorant while being force-fed propaganda and lies, being led down a skull-and-bones-strewn path toward Armageddon by a pack of corporate criminals, is not free, but chained by their most base instincts. The media in America must be held accountable for failing to expose the true intentions and associations of the Bush 43 regime, and for their spinelessly selling-out in every sense of that term. Have we all been transformed into idiots now? The masters tell the slaves to look away toward the oilfields, not to question the wrinkled wizards behind the curtains. The only issue we are now allowed to focus on is Iraq and Saddam Hussein. Have a question about the Bush-Bin Laden connection? The Cheney-Enron conferences? The new pipeline through Afghanistan? The warfront in Columbia? That doesn't matter, because Saddam must be dealt with, Bush says so! How about the ailing economy, the outbreak of new contagious diseases, the thousands of people being held in prison without charges? No time for that now, Bush says Saddam must be bombed into submission! The launching of a war in space, the drilling for oil in the Arctic, the campaign for Bush's impeachment? Sorry, can't think about that today, we have a war scheduled in Iraq! "Exposing Western Hypocrisy-- how much more exposed can it be? What decent human being on Earth harbors any illusions about it? These are people whose histories are spongy with the blood of others. Colonialism, apartheid, slavery, ethnic cleansing, germ warfare, chemical weapons-- they virtually invented it all. They have plundered nations, snuffed out civilizations, exterminated entire populations. They stand on the world's stage stark naked but entirely unembarrassed, because they know that they have more money, more food and bigger bombs than anybody else. They know they can wipe us out in the course of an ordinary working day. Personally, I'd say it's more arrogance than hypocrisy." -- Arundhati Roy "The End of Imagination" "In our time the military mentality is still more dangerous than formerly because the offensive weapons have become much more powerful than the defensive ones. Therefore, it leads, by necessity, to preventive war. The general insecurity that goes hand in hand with this results in the sacrifice of the citizen's civil rights to the supposed welfare of the state. Political witch-hunting, controls of all sorts (e.g., control of teaching and research, of the press, and so forth) appear inevitable, and for this reason do not encounter that popular resistance, which, were it not for the military mentality, would provide protection. A reappraisal of all values gradually takes place insofar as everything that does not clearly serve the utopian ends is regarded and treated as inferior." -- Dr. Albert Einstein "The Military Mentality" Resistance is Fertile! Ghosts of Millions Lift Us Up! If the democratic integrity of America has been corrupted to an extent where it no longer functions, while a military coup runs rampant threatening the use of nuclear weapons, where then is the hope to rescue the American Dream? Ironically enough, the best aspects of democracy, justice and freedom are rising up around the world, to remind Americans what they use to represent. A land of opportunity and free expression, a land of immigrants whose dreams outweigh their pockets, a nation where civil rights and diversity are celebrated and triumph. Activists from even the most oppressed nations of the world are showing us how America has been hijacked by the worst colonial elements of our society, an elitist, ultraright group of revolutionaries with a globalist agenda. The internet has been our saving grace, allowing Americans to bypass the corporate-controlled media and to communicate openly with activists and intellectuals around the world, to broadcast the true heart of America to the far corners of the globe. CIA propaganda no longer holds together, but is fragmented by millions of emails a day, plus radical jests, essays, cartoons. Coordinated actions are joined together by people who understand the stakes we are striving for, and the risk to our world of letting the Bush agenda go unchallenged. Make no mistake, notwithstanding Bush's involvement with the 9-11 attacks, the people behind Bush are out to tear apart every obstacle to their corporate agenda, using the pretext of National Security. No longer does Bush spout platitudes about a war on terror and humanitarian intervention, which justified the bombing of Afghanistan to rubble. The Bush agenda against Iraq is now touted as "preemptive war," fighting fire with fire to wipe out weapons of mass destruction, even if no credible evidence of these weapons exist. Bush's demand for regime change backed by the threat of nuclear attack upsets the very basis of world order accepted since the 1648 Peace of Westphalia. His military agenda challenges the U.N. Charter of 1945, at the same time attempting to dismantle and disempower the International Criminal Court. Why? Because one of the explicit crimes layed out out the Nuremberg trials was "preemptive war." First Afghanistan, then Iraq, where will it end? The uber-Bubba Bush and his handlers attempt to pass this off as a patriotic reaction to having our planes hijacked and the Trade Towers destroyed, but the evidence shows that Bush had this agenda when he took over the country, that the 9-11 attacks gave him the means and justification to seize Saddam's oil, even when there's no credible connection between Al Qaeda and Saddam. We are witnessing the largest military build-up in history, an unprecedented threat to use preemptive nuclear force, an unelected regime of far-right extremists unapologetically dismantling our constitutional rights and enforcing their military dictatorship on the entire world. The ethical challenge this threat poses to our future should cause every person in the world to take action! Millions of people are rising up around the world, intellectuals, unionists, environmentalists, military veterans, mothers, reverends, all joining hands for the sake of our planet and the peace which so many millions fought and died for. We are demanding a true investigation of the Bush regime and their agenda, their culpability in the 9-11 attacks, their corporate and fascist financing, their involvement in drug-running, arms dealing, pharmaceutical investing, and CIA assassination programs.America needs treatment for a very malignant cancer, one which has taken over the very heart of the nation, and is poisoning our lifeblood with hate and division. We need to perform emergency surgery-- we need regime change in the United States! Say no to self-appointed military dictators, not only in Iraq, but here in America! The Bush family must be exposed, along with the CIA's agenda of the past century. While American corporate media tries to sell us the idea that aggression and exploitation are now "sexy" and ruthless violence is necessary and entertaining, we must rescue our nation from the real threat to our Security, and reclaim our ideals. We, the People. In order to form a more perfect Union. Demand that despots and criminals be held accountable. That war crimes will not be tolerated at home or abroad, for any justification. That the sovereignty of nations will be respected, and democratic processes will not be hijacked. That the People's right to a free and objective press will not be sold-out and corrupted. That our children will not be put in harm's way for the sake of multinational oil companies and arms manufacturers. That even the most elevated criminals will be brought to justice, no matter who their fathers may be able to buy, or assassinate. Here in Hawai'i, a native nation long suffering under the boot of the American military has attempted every democratic and ethical appeal to the American government. Since Bush took over the country, more military mobilizations have taken place, more claiming of Native Hawaiian homelands for military bombing practice, more Special Forces and black helicopter search and seizures, more evictions of Native Hawaiians from their beach homes, while the American media looks the other way, and Americans are blissfully ignorant of it all. This is a so-called state of our Union, with third-world exploitation against a nation that has yet to secure recognition like any other native nation! That's because Hawai'i was overthrown by the U.S. Marines in a so-called "preemptive intervention" to protectAmerican sugar interests and secure Pearl Harbor. Every Hawaiian knows that the overthrow was a trumped-up justification to steal the land, and to repress the most recognized and educated native nation in the world, the Hawaiian Kingdom. And America still claims we are giving Native Hawaiians the protection of our "democracy." Look around the world, America. One thing you can conclude with absolute reassurance, from the historical record. Our European allies are trying to drill it into us. Every empire that has ever existed, from the Romans to the British, from the Spanish to the Third Reich, has collapsed catastrophically, mostly in shame and ruin. For the justifications of colonization and expansionism eventually cost the society too dearly, and the empire runs out of young people to send to the frontlines to die for political ideology. Mostly women, old folks, and children are left to rebuild the society, recover the memories of the culture, and to try the militarists and tyrants for crimes against humanity. For better or worse, we are now at a crossroads of empire, in a brand new millennium, where we must deal with the past American century, and a rogue band of extremist ideologues who have taken over the country. America will do well to address all of the ills which poison our immune system, having allowed this cancer to develop to such an explosive stage. We must root out the legacy of slavery and genocide, as well as the white supremacist ideals of the founding fathers and their descendant secret societies, such as Bush's Skull-and-Bones. To reclaim the American Dream, and save the world from a nuclear winter, Americans are being called to confront the very representatives of their most carcinogenic past: the elitists, aggressors, conspirators and exploiters of suffering who currently control the White House. The consequences of not reclaiming our American Dream are too grisly and nightmarish to imagine, but we can look to the collapse of the Roman Empire for an example. 9-11 was only a taste of the retribution our nation will suffer if the Bush-CIA agenda is allowed to continue its aggression and the criminal attempt to undermine the United Nations. Remember the best of our dreams: Martin Luther King and the courageous men and women who gave their lives to raise us to a place where world peace was actually possible. Those who struggled against ignorance and elitism to abolish slavery, to secure decent wages and working conditions, to have women respected as equals. The artists and writers who brought the eyes of the world to ours, so that we could see how our global family is interrelated. The veterans who have told of their of sacrifice and suffering, and have asked us to pledge to end war. And especially remember the world's children, our greatest hope for a secure future, whose very lives are in our hands. This nuclear madness must end now, or perhaps never. The fate of the world will be decided in the coming days. We can no longer afford to surrender our dreams to criminals. "The nuclear bomb is the most antidemocratic, antinational, antihuman, outright evil thing that man has ever made. If you are religious then remember that this bomb is Man's challenge to God. It's worded quite simply: We have the power to destroy everything that You have created. If you're not religious, then look at it this way. This world of ours is four thousand, six hundred million years old. It could end in an afternoon." -- Arundhati Roy "The End of Imagination" "There can never be complete agreement on international control and the administration of atomic energy or on general disarmament until there is a modification of the traditional concept of national sovereignty. For as long as atomic energy and armaments are considered a vital part of national security no nation will give more than lip service to international treaties. Security is indivisable. It can be reached only when necessary guarantees of law and enforcement obtain everywhere, so that military security is no longer the problem of any single state. There is no compromise posssible between preparation for war, on the one hand, and preparation of a world society based on law and order on the other. Every citizen must make up his mind. If he accepts the premise of war, he must reconcile himself to the maintanence of troops in strategic areas like Austria and Korea; to the sending of troops to Greece and Bulgaria; to the accumulation of stockpiles of uranium by whatever means; to the universal military training, to the progressive limitation of civil liberties. Above all, he must endure the consequences of military secrecy which is one of the worst scourges of our time and one of the greatest obstacles to cultural betterment. If on the other hand every citizen realizes that the only guarantee for security and peace in this atomic age is the constant development of a supranational government, then he willl do everything in his power to strengthen the United Nations. It seems to me that every reasonable and responsible citizen in the world must know where his choice lies." -- Dr. Albert Einstein "Open Letter to the General Assembly of the United Nations" The Alienated State of America: A Hateful Divide 1-28-03 (IDA) with graphics and links: http://mutanex.com/alienated Also Posted at FutureWorks MediaMinistry: http://futureworks.blogspot.com Essay by B.Z. Botani Information Officer, Planetary Rescue Corps Ambassador, MUTANEX Earth Portal Quotations by Arundhati Roy "The End of Imagination" originally appeared in India in the magazine Frontline Author of the book "The God of Small Things" Quotations by Dr. Albert Einstein from various Letters "Atomic War or Peace" 1947 "The Menace of Mass Destruction" 1947 "The Military Mentality" 1947 "Open Letter to the G.A. of the U.N." 1947 posted by BZ 3:25 AM For More Info on the Skull & Bones: http://http://mutanex.com/revolt2002 ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® The Immaculate Deception: The Bush Crime Family Exposed by Russell S. Bowen America West Publishers http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0922356807/futuremagick-20 This is perhaps the most shocking book written this century about treason committed by the highest leaders within the U.S. Government. This disturbing and thought provoking exposé, which few Americans know about, reveals the truth about the drug running carried out by the secret government. The Immaculate Deception reveals the unsavory past of George Bush and his family, detailing the unscrupulous activities in which he has been involved. About the Author: Russell S. Bowen is a retired U.S. Army Brigadier General who has revealed his position with the Office of Security Services (OSS) — forerunner to the CIA — and his drug running activities on behalf of the U.S. government. With this book he has courageously come forward to tell the truth about his association. “We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace—more about killing than we know about living.” -- General Omar Bradley "Dictators can always consolidate their tyranny by an appeal to patriotism." -- Aldous Huxley "I think the subject which will be of most importance politically is Mass Psychology... Its importance has been enormously increased by the growth of modern methods of propaganda. Although this science will be diligently studied, it will be rigidly confined to the governing class. The populace will not be allowed to know how its convictions are generated." -- Bertrand Russel "He who fears not the death of a thousand cuts will dare to unhorse the emperor." -- Ancient Chinese proverb MetaMagic MediaMinistry MUTANTS ARISE! http://metamagic.org (..) (--) ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® Dialogue and Diplomacy ************************** by Bryan Craeg Evans “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark. The real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” -- Plato From the dawn of civilization, there has been a growing evolution toward recognition and respect of other cultures, other races, and other nations. This progression from an oppositional and defensive attitude to an accepting and communicative one traces the arc of international cooperation, which has resulted in such unprecedented institutions as the United Nations and the World Court at the Hague. As humanity moves slowly and painfully from a framework of war and conquest to an ethic of world peace, the importance of dialogue in the arena of diplomacy has become paramount to survival on a global scale. Let us examine the origins of modern diplomacy, the challenges our culture has overcome historically in addressing international conflict, and the hope that dialogue offers to the unfolding peace process facilitated by the United Nations. We live in a time of great change and acceleration, faced with unthinkable consequences of industrial warfare, and so any opportunity to ease the tension between warring parties must be encouraged. 2001 was the United Nations Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations, for example, and we can take inspiration from the pioneering work of these “new global diplomats.” “A long dispute means that both parties are wrong.” -- Voltaire The word “diplomacy” is one we have inherited, like so many of our political concepts, from the Romans, and is based on the Greek verb “diploun” (Nicolson, 11), which means “to fold.” The Romans also gave us the passport, which at that time was made from stamped metal folded into two plates, known as “diplomas.” The concept of “diploma,” so very important to our educational institutions today, also included treaties and other official documents, especially those referring to foreigners. Therefore, the critical job of archivist arose as the first official “diplomacy.” This system of official recognition and privilege, backed by royal seals and stamps, spread among all European nations, and the position of royal archivist, or chancellor, become central to all business legal and international. This transfer of official papers and seals continues to play a central role in “diplomatic business,” or “res diplomatica,” as it has been called since Roman times. What we now think of as “diplomacy,” in the sense of negotiation and conduct between nations, is a fairly modern application of the term. In Roman and Greek times this process was known as “arbitration,” and was conducted often by appointed tribunals. For example, around 600 BC, a dispute between Athens and Megara over the possession of the island of Salamis was decided in arbitration by a tribunal of five Spartans, who gave Salamis to the Athenians (Coulson, 357). Considering these city-states often engaged in warfare, this became a significant alternative to violent disputes, and set a precedent for international negotiations as we know them today. We have inherited the best qualities of this historical development in the “Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague,” which was established by international agreement in 1899. Out of this diplomatic process to avoid conflict between nations, the League of Nations and United Nations would later be born. Today we tend to take for granted these “containers of peace” from which emerge proposals and initiatives to solve some of the pressing tensions of the world and prevent bloodshed, but on an historic scale these institutions represent the best of human civilization. Our modern system of ambassador-diplomats was established by the Congress of Vienna in 1815, which defined the role of the diplomatic services among the nations of Europe (Nicolson, 14). This gave a more prominent and influential role to appointed Ambassadors, in their relations with foreign dignitaries and in the conduct between nations. From this the modern concept of “diplomacy” emerged, referring today to negotiation, representation, arbitration, and international dialogue. Previous to this established system of diplomatic services, ambassadors held a rather dubious position, often considered as “honourable spies” (Nicolson, 20). One often-quoted disclosure describing the shadowy nature of the business of ambassadors is by Sir Henry Wotton: “An ambassador is an honest man who is sent to lie abroad for the good of his country.” When King James I caught wind of Wotton’s jest, however, it cost him his job. An ambassador is responsible for protecting his country’s reputation, no matter the actual dirty dealing with which he may be involved. It was during this period, in the 16th and 17th century, that diplomacy became associated with Machiavellian strategy, and a growing cynicism toward the politics of power. This, combined with the ruthless nature of trade, bribery, and intrigue, conferred upon ambassadors a great deal of suspicion. Many were forced into debt and dishonor without any fair recourse, and public attitudes generally left foreigners on the defensive. After the Congress of Vienna, however, and the success of important treaties such as the Treaty of Versailles (1783), the trust and understanding of diplomacy as a profession grew. It was during this period that international commerce and colonial expansion became primary interests, and war was better avoided if diplomacy could be employed instead. Out of this combination of conquest and commerce grew two schools of diplomatic theory (Nicolson, 25). In the militaristic school of diplomacy, manipulation, offensive maneuvering, advantage, and victory are stressed. It is “war by other means,” disguised as negotiation. Military tactics take precedence over trust and openness. The other party is considered as prey or enemy, and the goal is to win by any means necessary. Unfortunately, this school of conquest is still predominant in much of our U.S. foreign policy. In the commerce school of diplomacy, the emphasis is on opening trade, turning a profit, reaching mutual satisfaction, cutting a “deal.” The assumption here is that trust will develop with mutual benefit, and peace will be achieved by exchange of resources. Today we see the architects of the “New World Order” negotiating Free Trade agreements around the world in service of this ideal. The first strategy is based on force and fear, and the other on credit and confidence. Unfortunately, the two schools cannot easily negotiate with each other, since their methods and goals differ significantly. Our world is today torn between these two divergent approaches to international relations, and one strategy of government institutions is to combine both schools in order to appease both militarists and merchants. “It always seemed to me the symbol of common sense was a bridge.” -- Franklin D. Roosevelt A third school of negotiation has arisen from the ashes of the Cold War, which transcends both the “hard” and the “soft” approaches. This has been termed the “principled” school of negotiation (Fisher, 369). Rather than the participants being friends or enemies, the negotiators are seen as problem-solvers. Rather than being soft on the problem and people, or hard on the problem and people, the negotiators are soft on the people and hard on the problem. Rather than changing positions, or holding positions, the parties focus on interests rather than positions. Instead of insisting on agreement or insisting on one’s position as correct, this school insists on objective criteria. Rather than making offers or making threats, principled negotiation explores interests. Rather than credit or fear, it instills respect. The principled negotiation concept uses four basic points to move the process toward commonality: People, Interests, Options, and Criteria. Separate people from the problem. Find the interests of the people. Generate options and possibilities. Use objective criteria to decide what to do (Fisher, 369). An excellent example of this form of negotiation is the Hague Initiative begun in 1995 at the Peace Palace at the Hague, between Chechens and Russians (Isaacs, 371). The principles employed in the Hague Initiative are designed to encourage openness and dialogue: “First, the moderator seeks to facilitate a candid dialogue to understand more deeply the interests underlying the official positions of the conflicting sides….Secondly, the moderator leads the group into joint brainstorming regarding possible creative options to to meet the basic interests of all sides. Third, the process is designed to evoke an appreciation of the psychological and emotional wounds created by the conflict and the need for healing and reconciliation” (Isaacs, 372). The focus here in the principled process is on meaning, and relationship. All negotiation takes place in a safe space, under strict confidence, in a climate of mutual respect. These are values which encourage listening and consideration, rather than defense and deflection. Over time, a relationship based on interests and context emerges, bridging differences which previous seemed insurmountable, and prejudices which created barricades. This is the foundation of deep dialogue, and a step toward resolution. “What is required of us is that we love the difficult, and learn to deal with it. In the difficult are the friendly forces, the hands that work on us.” -- Ranier Maria Rilke In 1998, President Mohammad Khatami of Iran proposed the launch of the United Nations Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations to take place in 2001. He sees the promise of the new diplomatic community, which grew from the roots of arbitration, in opening doors between cultures and nations. He expressed an ideal of an emerging global culture, which recognized and respected local cultures, and the celebration of diversity as a significant step toward world peace. This movement away from staunch nationalism, toward a culturally sensitive and empathic openness, is the heart of potential in dialogue. “A belief in dialogue paves the way for vivacious hope: the hope of living in a world permeated by virtue, humanity and love, and not merely by the reign of economic indices and destructive weapons. Should the spirit of dialogue prevail, humanity, culture and civilization will prevail.” -- President Khatami of Iran Among the delegates participating in the Dialogue Among Civilizations, the need to recognize other cultures and accept diversity seemed to be an agreed upon pretext for meaningful dialogue. As Koichiru Matsuura, Director General of UNESCO, said: “Dialogue means exposing—not blanketing over—different ways of thinking.” Many heads of State also participated in the Dialogue Among Civilizations, which UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said was a tribute to President Khatami’s vision of world tolerance. Annan said humanity is much more united by a common fate than separated by our differences. He said the United Nations was built on the belief that dialogue could triumph over discord. A significant issue, which calls into question the relationship of the members of the United Nations to a process of dialogue and peace, is “globalization.” The trend toward homogenization and industrial marketing of culture can be blamed for much of the conflict we are witnessing today. The proponents of globalization, mainly the wealthy and developed nations in which the large banks and corporations are based, argue that the free market economy will unite humanity into a common value system, and will smooth over rough edges. Much concern was raised at the Dialogue Among Civilizations, however, over the imbalance and corrupting influence of the mechanisms of globalization. While the spread of industry and technology is opening up new opportunities for contact and communication between diverse people, it is at the same time replacing the traditional values and cultures where it is imposed. Mention was made by Makmur Widodo, delegate from Indonesia, of “putting a human face” on globalization, seizing the opportunity of the internet and other mass communications technologies, and to prevent misunderstanding by an increase in open dialogue. Noticeably absent from the Dialogue Among Civilizations, as well as from the UN Conference on Racism and Xenophobia in 2001, was the United States. In fact, many of the problems of conflict among nations as identified by the delegates could be held as representative of U.S. relations and policies: hegemony, aggressive influence, covert manipulation, superiority, prejudice. It’s a sorry reflection on the State of the Nation that the United States has become a bullying influence on the global stage, and our right-wing representatives appear to be intentionally snubbing any opportunity to open dialogue offered by the United Nations. America has entered a cultural danger zone because the process of dialogue and diplomacy have been clamped down by a wealthy and elite few, at the expense of the many. In this move towards tyranny, our politicians are no longer only endangering our country, and our people, but the well-being of the entire world. As the UN Dialogue Among Civilizations called into question: Can a military superpower which refuses to recognize and dialogue with the community of nations be called “civilized?” “All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.” -- Arabian Proverb LIST OF WORKS CITED · Coulson, Robert, Arbitration: An International Wallflower, A Peace Reader, Paulist Press, 1987 · Fisher, Roger, Getting to “Yes” in a Nuclear Age, A Peace Reader, Paulist Press, 1987 · Isaacs, William, Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together, Currency, 1999 · Nicolson, Harold, Diplomacy, Oxford University Press, 1963 Websites · United Nations Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations http://www.un.org/Dialogue/ · Crossing the Divide: Dialogue among Civilizations http://diplomacy.shu.edu/dialogue/ Posted at FutureWorks MediaMinistry: http://futureworks.blogspot.com ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® FOR IMMEDIATE WORLDWIDE RELEASE Require Weapons Inspections at US Secret Military Bases We, the undersigned, hereby appeal to the UN Security Council to pass a resolution to require the United States to open its secret military and research facilities for inspection. Evidence has been mounting, from the world's leading viral scientists, chemical weapons experts, and former military officers at these facilities, that highly dangerous and experimental technologies and weapons are being developed at US secret bases, under the cloak of "National Security." The American people, including our representatives, can not gain access to these facilities, under threat of death (posted), and have no way of monitoring the threats to our security, health, and foreign relations. We can no longer trust our secret government agencies to tell us the truth. If the UN Security Council does not intervene, and no action is taken to expose the deadly nuclear, biological, chemical, and energy weapons in various stages of deployment, then we believe the survival of humanity may be jeopardized. The United States is not automatically the "good cowboy" simply because we have a pretty flag and a White House on our money, especially with secret elite societies having colonized our military and spy agencies for the past century, now having taken control of the Executive "Command in Chief." We appeal to the international community to rise up with us and confront this military danger to our children and our future. Please Sign this Petition Today! Send to as many People as Possible... http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/864351314 ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® "The Americans are forcing even their friends nto becoming their enemies. It is curious that the Americans, who calculate so carefully on the possibilities of military victory, do not realize that in the process they are incurring deep psychological and political defeat. The image of America will never again be the image of revolution, freedom and democracy, but the image of violence and militarism." -- Vietnamese Buddhist Leader "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 fall -- think of it, ALWAYS." -- Mohandas Gandhi "We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." -- Martin Luther King, Jr Hidden Elitist Conspiracies? BeamShip MUTANEX http://mutanex.com MetaMagic MediaMinistry MUTANTS ARISE! http://metamagic.org "But above all the beautiful inventions what an eminence of mind was that of one who figured to find a way to communicate his most secluded thoughts to whatever other person, even if distant by a very long interval of space or time?" --Galileo Galilei (..) (--) News of the Strange & Supernatural Wickedly Weird & All the Rage Updated Daily + Cartoons! http://metamagic.org/strange Now Featuring: Fiore's New Fascist Fashions =========== ride a bike ®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§®¢§® "A great many people think they are thinking when they are just rearranging their prejudices." -- William James "The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that's the essence of inhumanity." -- George Bernard Shaw "Self-respect cannot be hunted. It cannot be purchased. It is never for sale. It cannot be fabricated out of public relations. It comes to us when we are alone, in quiet moments, in quiet places, when we suddenly realize that, knowing the good, we have done it; knowing the beautiful, we have served it; knowing the truth, we have spoken it." -- Whitney Griswold "The foundation of all mental illness is the unwillingness to experience legitimate suffering." -- Carl Jung "He who dares not offend cannot be honest." -- Thomas Paine FutureWorks FilmFestival Centre http://mutanex.com/futurefest Secret Underground Bases? Visit BeamShip MUTANEX http://mutanex.com ===
1,273 3:43 pm PST, Feb 24 Ramsey Clark Wash Washington D.C. 02134 United States Bush Leading Toward Lawless World of Endless Wars The following letter by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark has been sent to all members of the UN Security Council, with copies to the UN General Assembly. Please circulate. Secretary General Kofi Annan United Nations New York, NY Dear Secretary General Annan, George Bush will invade Iraq unless restrained by the United Nations. Other international organizations-- including the European Union, the African Union, the OAS, the Arab League, stalwart nations courageous enough to speak out against superpower aggression, international peace movements, political leadership, and public opinion within the United States -- must do their part for peace. If the United Nations, above all, fails to oppose a U.S. invasion of Iraq, it will forfeit its honor, integrity and raison d'etre. A military attack on Iraq is obviously criminal; completely inconsistent with urgent needs of the Peoples of the United Nations; unjustifiable on any legal or moral ground; irrational in light of the known facts; out of proportion to other existing threats of war and violence; and a dangerous adventure risking continuing conflict throughout the region and far beyond for years to come. The most careful analysis must be made as to why the world is subjected to such threats of violence by its only superpower, which could so safely and importantly lead us on the road to peace, and how the UN can avoid the human tragedy of yet another major assault on Iraq and the powerful stimulus for retaliatory terrorism it would create. 1. President George Bush Came to Office Determined to Attack Iraq and Change its Government. George Bush is moving apace to make his war unstoppable and soon. Having stated last Friday that he did not believe Iraq would accept UN inspectors, he responded to Iraq's prompt, unconditional acceptance by calling any reliance on it a "false hope" and promising to attack Iraq alone if the UN does not act. He is obsessed with the desire to wage war against Iraq and install his surrogates to govern Iraq by force. Days after the most bellicose address ever made before the United Nations -- an unprecedented assault on the Charter of the United Nations, the rule of law and the quest for peace -- the U.S. announced it was changing its stated targets in Iraq over the past eleven years, from retaliation for threats and attacks on U.S. aircraft which were illegally invading Iraq's airspace on a daily basis. How serious could those threats and attacks have been if no U.S. aircraft was ever hit? Yet hundreds of people were killed in Iraq by U.S. rockets and bombs, and not just in the so called "no fly zone," but in Baghdad itself. Now the U.S. proclaims its intentions to destroy major military facilities in Iraq in preparation for its invasion, a clear promise of aggression now. Every day there are threats and more propaganda is unleashed to overcome resistance to George Bush's rush to war. The acceleration will continue until the tanks roll, unless nonviolent persuasion preva