Fwd: Voices heard ,
 This is the second one. I haven't read it all as it's quite long.
S.

--------- Inline attachment follows ---------

From:  <kingfisher@humboldt1.com>
To: sandy taylor <Sandyteb@aol.com>
Date: Thursday, September 20, 2001 5:01:23 GMT
Subject: 

I pass this along so that the 90% approval rating, or whatever they have
decided to claim Bush has, will not make each of us feel alone.

Joan


Dear friends and allies, far and wide,
In this terrifying moment on the planet, it is essential that each of us
NOT hide from our citizenship responsibilities to speak truth to and about
power. Below please find some of the best voices i've come upon since the
hijackings, and please feel free to share them widely. (One of them is even
funny - how about that!) Massive rallies are already being planned - on
more than 50 university campuses, and in DC, SF, and elsewhere - details
below. The upcoming anti-IMF/World Bank DC demo's are shifting in focus -
details at  http://www.globalizethis.org/s30/ .
Be well,
Paul Cienfuegos
Arcata, CA

PS. The ONLY outstanding daily news coverage at this time is being offered,
as always, by Amy Goodman on 'Democracy Now' (2 hours daily). Her standoff
with the Pacifica Foundation continues, so your station may not be
broadcasting it. If so, it can be heard on real-audio at these sites:
http://www.webactive.com
http://www.kpfa.org
http://www.wbix.org
http://www.democracynow.com

------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
------------------
1.  Ten proposed laws for dealing with the crisis -
    a modest proposal by Patricia Monaghan (and humor for the soul)
2.  Perceiving the Situation - by Michael Albert (editor, Z Mag)
3.  Is The Left Unilaterally Disarming? - by Rick Giombetti
4.  America's Terrorist Roots - by Geov Parrish
5.  Michael Moore - excerpts from his now daily journal as he drives
    across the country.
6.  Hold the Vision - by Starhawk
7.  Who is Ousmane bin Laden? - by Michel Chossudovsky
8.  "Why are we despised? Boulder examines the conscience of a country" -
    by journalist Pamela White (Boulder Weekly) with commentary by
    David Barsamian and many others
9.   US Foreign Interventions, Invasions, and Assassinations since
    Vietnam (a comprehensive list) - by Eric J Ross
10.  Student Anti-War Coalition organizing more than 50 rallies this
    Thursday (tomorrow!) nationwide
11.  An optimistic activist account: Transforming the unity of
    nationalism into a call for peace - by Stanley Call
12.  Call for a National March and Rally in Washington DC on Saturday,
    September 29 (from the International Action Center - Ramsey Clark,
    Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, and many others)
13.  A Message From the Global South - by Saskia Sassen (The Guardian)
14.  The Sukkah & the World Trade Center - by Rabbi Arthur Waskow
15.  A Tragedy For All Humanity: A Statement by the Communist Party USA
16.  List of additional non-corporate news sources


------------------------------------------------------------------
1.
Ten proposed laws for dealing with the crisis

This modest proposal was written by Patricia Monaghan, a professor at De
Paul University in Chicago and author of "The Dictionary of Goddesses
and Heroines" among many other books.


1.  To buy an American flag, you must present proof you have voted at least
once in the last three elections (yes, local and state elections count).

2.  To display an American flag in any form, you must present proof of
voter registration.

3. To wave an American flag in public, you must be able to name at least
one of the following:
   A.  Your Senator
   B.  Your Representative
   C.  Your President ("George Bush" does not count; ambiguous)

4.  To sell any product with an American flag on it, you must answer the
following question:
   The Bill of Rights is part of:
   A. The Constitution
   B. The Magna Carta
   C. The Declaration of Independence.

5.  Those heard singing patriotic songs in public may be asked to show
their voter registration cards.

6.  To be permitted to scream "Nuke Afghanistan," you must be able to
correctly locate Afghanistan on a map or globe.

7.  To be permitted to scream "Arabs go home," you must list and
correctly locate ten Arab homelands.

8.  Those who wish to express opinions about Arabs and Arab-Americans
must pass the following test:
   A.  Those who follow the religion of Islam are called:
        Moslems
        Muslins
        Fanatics
   B.  The holy book of Islam is called:
        The Koran
        The Koram
        The Bible
   C.  In Arabic, God is called:
        Ali
        Allah
        Jehovah

9.  Priority for purchase of American flags will be given to those whose

ancestors lived on American soil the longest.  When all American Indians
who wish to display the red, white and blue are satisfied, other
applicants will be accepted.

10.   A call for war on any radio talk-show will be construed as a
public declaration of willingness to enlist in the US Army; callers will
have 24 hours to complete the paperwork.
----------------------------------------------------------------

2.
Perceiving the Situation
By Michael Albert

from ZNet, which is providing free daily updates all this month <zmag.org>:


Beyond Bush and his ilk predictably trying to use calamity to propel
their reactionary agendas on every front they can, from repressive
legislation about eavesdropping, to military expansion, and even to tax
policy -- it is certainly also true and must be faced that many citizens
are in a violent mood, suggesting all kinds of anti-civilian acts. So
many that it feels overwhelming.

But how many U.S. citizens who are advocating bombings realize that the
people of Afghanistan already live in a horrendously war-torn country,
made virtually rubble from its war with Russia? How many understand that
hunger and the danger of starvation for Afghanistan is so great that a
misstep at this juncture - for example, cutting off all outside food
aid, even without bombs - could cause not thousands but literally
millions of innocent deaths by starvation? Not many of our citizens, is
my guess. When such information is conveyed, how many will hold to the
vengeful stance? When it becomes evident that vengeance by assault on
civilians is precisely terrorism, that assault on civilians for
political purposes is precisely terrorism, how many will want to hold to
warring indiscriminately, to being a terrorist? One wonders how many of
those working at Ground Zero in NYC would wish military devastation on
innocent civilians in another country. Not many, if any, is my guess.

But what is even more promising, is that even in a moment of great pain
and mourning, even at a time of national rallying, even when all public
pressures cry for war, even before there has been opportunity to counter
media madness and government manipulation with valid argument and
evidence, even now many and probably most people are already wondering
at least somewhat about the wisdom of Bush's stance, and are even
contemplating such unspeakable conclusions as that the cure for
terrorism is not more and even greater terrorism, and that the cure for
fanaticism is not to dispense with civil liberties.

I think there may be a tendency afoot among many activists, totally
understandable, to see the great outpourings of nationalism and to be
pessimistic beyond what evidence warrants. Yes, the events have been
horrible in their immediate impact, of course. And yes the hypocritical
willingness of Bush and others to try to parlay pain into more suffering
in different forms, and even into more terror, has been stunning and
terrifying. But there are good signs too - not solely in the humanity of
the massive outpourings of sympathy, but also in the opposition to race
hatred against Arabs that has erupted as quickly and perhaps more
pervasively than the reverse, and in the almost instantaneous emergence
of both reason and activism regarding war prospects.

Thus I want to share with you information from a communication from
Portland Oregon. The letter writer communicates that:

"Today we had an anti-war demo in Portland. Like so many of you have
expressed, I too have felt that we are heading into a very dark time for
activism, no less radical politics.

"Now, Portland has seen a fair amount of activism lately - events large
(1500+ for this year's May Day march, which had a permit taken out by
the City Council because organizers refused to get one and the city
didn't want to arrest everyone) and small (40 radical activists and
union brothers and sisters shutting down the Port of Portland and
delaying the offloading of an Italian vessel in protest of the G8 police
rioting, a picket line which the longshoremen refused to cross, setting
off similar actions as that ship proceeded along the west coast).

"I say all that for context, because I reckon things are a bit "better"
here for that sort of activism than in many other communities around the
country.

"Having said that, this was the largest demonstration I've been to in
Portland since the Gulf War! Organizers were able to do a pretty good
count as we were walking along a narrow area, and there were at least
2600 people there to speak against the incessant beating of the war
drums.

"Nobody could believe it. Everyone (strangers I talked to, acquaintances
I talked to) had been feeling very isolated and had taken on a very
bleak attitude about the future of `the left.'

"We marched in the streets without a permit, spanning 12 or more blocks.
There were no police anywhere to be seen. "This caused some problems, in
that they *do* tend to be helpful with traffic control. Ah, well... we
did ok without 'em on that one too, a few irate drivers notwithstanding
:-)

"Well, 2600 isn't enough to stop the impending war, but it's a far
bigger start than anyone expected. All is not lost! Let's not let our
gloomy perspectives of the moment, (which are perfectly understandable
as we watch the manufacture of consent occur before our very eyes, at
breakneck speed) let's not let that gloom turn our very rational fears
into a self-fulfilling prophesy.

"Afterward, I went to a `vigil' organized by the Christian Coalition :-(
This occurred in the main `public' square in town (semi-privately owned
and operated). There were fewer people at this one, but not by much. The
creepy rhetoric of right-wing Christianity was toned down, but not by
much. At least it was toned down though. We were there mostly in case of
needing to protect any victims of the racism seething beneath the
surface.

"I stood amidst the sea of American flags, amidst the `rousing'
renditions of the great patriotic hits, holding a `Jingoism Hurts
America' sign. I got into some rather interesting conversations with
people who wanted to know what jingoism meant. I described it as a form
of rhetoric using a chauvinistic patriotism to justify an arrogant and
belligerent foreign policy. Some nodded and walked away, but many
lingered to discuss. My friends and I were only too happy to oblige :-)
With some sensitivity, it is possible to clue people in on the
activities of the CIA in the overthrow of democratic governments, the
institution of autocratic regimes such as the Taliban, and the creation
of Osama bin Laden himself.

"I couldn't believe the conversations! Who knows if we did anything.
Anyhow, it's not necessarily doom and gloom - let's get back out there
and be visible, now!

I got the above letter without a return email address for its author.
But here is my reply.Yes, you did something. You did precisely what we
all need to be doing. You went out and worked for peace and justice, and
you did it without fear and without arrogance, and without
presuppositions. And you showed, in the process, what the potential is
of such work.

------------------------------------------------------------------


3.
Is The Left Unilaterally Disarming?
by Rick Giombetti

(Just published in Counterpunch under a different title.)
(Paul's note: A more accurate title for this piece would have been "Are
Liberals Unilaterally Disarming?")


What good is a Bill of Rights when influential organizations are unwilling
to stand up for their constitutional rights in a time of crisis and danger?

The AFL-CIO, International Rivers Network, Rainforest Action Network, the
Sierra Club, the Rukus Society and Friends of the Earth are among the many
liberal organizations that have announced that they are canceling protests
and even suspending entire campaigns because of the September 11 terror
attacks. It's bad enough that the mass media is leading the drum beat for
war and the public towards a deadly embrace with fascism in the wake of the
tragic attacks. Now much of the left is engaging in what amounts to
unilateral disarmament at a time when the Bill of Rights needs as many
defenders as possible. There is much justified fear about a suspension of
constitutional rights and marshal law. But what government needs to ban
demonstrations if there isn't anybody willing to hold them?

Perhaps the most disturbing example of this is an internal Sierra Club memo
circulated among the organization's leadership and staff secured by the
D.C. political newsletter Counter Punch. The memo explains that "in
response to the attacks on America we are shifting our communications
strategy for the immediate future. We have taken all of our ads off the
air; halted our phone banks; removed any material from the web that people
could perceive as anti-Bush, and we are taking other steps to prevent the
Sierra Club from being perceived as controversial during the crisis. For
now we are going to stop aggressively pursuing our agenda and will cease
bashing Bush."

 Imagine if Martin Luther King had spouted similar tripe in his "Beyond
Vietnam" speech. In that great speech given a year-to-the-day before he was
assassinated on April 4, 1967, King denounced the U.S. war against Vietnam
and called the U.S. government the greatest purveyor of violence in the
world. How forgetful that speech would have been had King urged advocates
for social justice to not say anything "too controversial" about the
Vietnam War and not to say anything that could be perceived by people as
being "anti-Johnson." King's sentiments weren't popular among much of the
general public but he wouldn't be remembered as the great activist he was
if he didn't have the courage to express his convictions.

Among the groups calling off participation in the upcoming IMF/World Bank
demonstrations is Friends of the Earth. FoE President Brent Blackwelder
wrote in a message to the organization's board and membership that "it is
also time for us to not lose heart, nor to set aside our steadfast
commitment to protecting the planet in every way possible." He then
justifies FoE's pullout from the IMF/World Bank demonstration by stating
that it is "out of respect for those who lost their lives and out of
concern for the safety of protesters, we have chosen to demonstrate our
commitment to peace and justice by not demonstrating."

Now let me get this straight. According to FoE's reasoning those
demonstrators who do show up in DC on September 29 will be engaging in
violence instead of expressing their own commitments to peace and justice.
FoE's reasoning for pulling out of the IMF/World Bank demonstrations is in
harmony with the FBI's classification of Reclaim The Streets! as a
"terrorist" organization. RTS! is a movement that advocates holding
unpermitted block parties in urban areas. Yes, with an army of DJ's armed
with an arsenal of CD's and LP's, RTS! will be terrorizing an urban area
near you. WHAT ABSOLUTE NONSENSE! Is a lobotomy a requirement for becoming
a leader of a liberal organization!? David Brower must be rolling over in
his grave right now!

A more honest, and reasonable, explanation for pulling out of the IMF/World
Bank demonstrations would be to explicitly state fear of police violence.
Blackwelder never once mentions this possibility in his message, leaving
the impression that it is protesters, not police, who would be the cause of
violence if they were to show up and demonstrate. The only thing he needed
to write was something like "we're afraid the police are going to shoot
demonstrators." That would be a fair enough reason for not wanting to hold
a protest. Instead he wrote a confusing sentence that reads like it is
comparing holding a peaceful demonstration with blowing up a building. And
I'm really tired of hearing "we're canceling our demonstration out of
respect for those who lost their lives." Yeah, what a fine way to honor the
September 11 victims. Let's unilaterally give up our constitutional rights
and join the flag waivers at the Sierra Club in helping the war makers
usher in fascism.

The great environmental warrior David Brower would certainly not be
expressing the above mentioned nonsense and he most likely would be
endorsing the International Action Center's (IAC) call for an anti-war
rally at the White House on September 29 instead of the planned
anti-IMF/World Bank rally. Holding an anti-war rally on S29 would be a bold
and potentially hazardous action. Such a demonstration could be met with
both police and counter-demonstrator violence.

However, with Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell blaming the ACLU, People for
the American Way, gays, lesbians, atheists, pagans, feminists and abortion
doctors for the terror attacks and pogroms against Arabs and/or Muslims
underway, now is not the time to back down from defending the Bill of
Rights. There is no better time to stand up for principles than when they
are deeply unpopular. If anti-Vietnam war protesters had postponed
demonstrations until it was convenient and safe to hold them, then that
movement would have never gotten off the ground. Also, and most
importantly, by not pulling out of a planned and already permitted
demonstration, the IAC will force the government to try to cancel it. This
way an organization like the ACLU can make an issue out of the
demonstration being canceled in court. This can't happen though if
individuals or organizations are insisting on not upholding their
constitutional rights. Even if a march doesn't happen, organizing for one
right now is far better than the unilateral disarmament the above mentioned
liberal organizations are engaging in.

Let's not let the September 11 terror attacks be remembered as an American
Reichstag Fire. Here in Seattle the Church Council of Greater Seattle is
organizing to protect mosques from violent attacks. An attempted arson
against a Seattle mosque has already been reported. Meanwhile, Seattle
peace activists are considering holding demonstrations and teach-ins in as
little as a week. They should follow through on these plans. Staying at
home and not demonstrating isn't going to prevent fascism.

Rick Giombetti <rickjgio@speakeasy.org>
Seattle

------------------------------------------------------------------


4.
America's Terrorist Roots

Geov Parrish, WorkingForChange.com
September 11, 2001


"Throughout the world, on any given day, a man, woman, or child is likely
to be displaced, tortured, killed, or 'disappeared', at the hands of
governments or armed political groups. More often than not, the United
States shares the blame." -- Amnesty International, 1996

"Everything I did, I did for my country." -- Pol Pot

As people recoil in horror at what is undeniably, well, a horror and a
tragedy, and as the U.S. undoubtedly starts to mount retaliatory attacks,
here are a few brief reminders of how we got here.

I listened incredulously Monday as NPR's "Talk of the Nation" sunk to what
I can only wish was a new low, with a spirited, cheerful, explicit
hour-long defense of the wholesome goodness for the entire world of the
American Empire and its current global military dominance. Two cheerleaders
for this arrangement deftly handled softball questions, while nobody, in
the segments I could stomach listening to, bothered to point out that, for
example, this country was founded because our much-worshipped "Founding
Fathers" didn't like being told what to do by bullies halfway around the
world. Times haven't changed that much.

Yesterday, Henry Kissinger was facing accusations (thank you, Christopher
Hitchens) of being a war criminal. He's not alone. Here's a short list of
additional recent American war criminals-- essentially the American leaders
of the last decades:

William Clinton, former President, for 78 days and nights of bombing the
civilians of Yugoslavia (carried out by U.S. Gen. Wesley Clark under NATO
auspices); continuation of sanctions and rocket attacks upon the people of
Iraq; and illegal bombings of Somalia, Bosnia, Sudan, and Afghanistan.

Gen. Colin Powell, Secretary of State, for his leading role in the attacks
on Panama, Iraq, and covering up My Lai. George Bush, former President, for
the murder of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians, and thousands of
Panamanian civilians (along with kidnapping the country's leader, a former
CIA prot?g?).

Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, former Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command,
for his role in attacking Iraqi civilians.

Ronald Reagan, former President, for illegal attacks on El Salvador,
Nicaragua, Guatemala, Grenada, and Libya.

Elliot Abrams, former Assistant Secretary of State (and back in the new
Bush Administration), for overseeing much of the death and fascism in
Central America. Also Casper Weinberger, Secretary of Defense; Lt. Col.
Oliver North; and many others.

Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State: Chile, Vietnam, East Timor,
Angola, Iraq, and Cambodia.

Gerald Ford, former President, for giving approval to Indonesia for the
genocide of East Timor.

And on, back through the war in Southeast Asia. "War criminal" means just
that--inflicting a level of carnage barbaric and unacceptable even in time
of war. It does not even begin to touch the many regimes -- today, Israel
comes to mind -- that the U.S. has supported, armed, advised, and even
installed, who have inflicted horrors on their own populations.

This is a day of complete horror in the history of the United States; and
the American public as well as its leaders will demand retribution. Let's
not forget, however, how we got to this day.

------------------------------------------------------------------


5.

Michael Moore, on the road heading to NYC, excerpts from his daily log...


"I continue to be amazed at the large number of people -- both on the radio
and those we run into -- who are completely opposed to some half-cocked
military response to what has happened. No matter what the media tells you
or shows you, I am convinced there is a majority of Americans who, though
they want justice and want to be protected from further attacks, do not
want George W. Bush to start sounding like Dr. Strangelove.

and

It seems like every sign and flashing marquee along the road has some sort
of message regarding the massacre in New York: "GOD BLESS AMERICA UNLEADED.
$2.09 GAL."  and "REMEMBER WORLD TRADE CENTER PORK CHOP BREAKFAST $5.99."
But then a Southern Baptist preacher comes on the radio and says the
following: "Perhaps America has some repenting to do. We propped up the
Shah of Iran when maybe we shouldn't have. We have used the poor of the
world to make our goods so we can make a profit when maybe we shouldn't..."

These were stunning words to hear, but it coincided with much of what we
have been picking up along the road; namely, that many, many Americans are
not in support of going off half-cocked and bombing innocent people, no
matter how much we all want those responsible to be brought to justice. I
continue to be hopeful..."


Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com

------------------------------------------------------------------

6.
Hold the Vision
by Starhawk

The world has changed in the past week. An act of violence and horror has
cost the lives of thousands, and shattered all of our plans and
expectations for the future.

We who have been working for global justice now face an enormous challenge.
Since Seattle, we've built and sustained a movement in spite of continually
escalating police violence and attempts by the media to paint us as violent
thugs. Genoa did not intimidate us, and momentum was growing for the
demonstrations in Washington DC at the end of the month. Public opinion was
shifting, and the whole edifice of corporate rule was losing legitimacy.
The terrorist attacks of last Tuesday could undermine all of our work, at
least in the short term. They are the perfect excuse for the state to
intensify its repression, restrict civil liberties, and for anyone who
speaks out against blind retaliation to be demonized.

The mood of the country is potentially ugly. People are scared. They're
angry. Their sense of power and invulnerability has been badly shaken, and
in the U.S., they're not used to it. They're grasping at anything which can
restore their sense of power over their lives, and in a violent society,
that means punishment, retaliation, war.

And many of us activists are also scared. I know how easily I can sink into
fear and despair right now. I'm scared of the repression that might come,
scared of being personally targeted, scared of the loss of our liberties,
scared, yes, of further attacks. But most of all I'm scared for the
movement, which I believe is crucial to our survival as a species. And yet
I also believe that the current crisis can be a great opportunity, if we
can only see how to grasp it. Extraordinary times create extraordinary
openings and possibilities. Our usual patterns and ways of thinking are
shattered. When structures fall, something new can be built.

To do that, we have to behave in extraordinary ways. We need to acknowledge
our fears, but not act out of fear. Fear leads to bad decisions and
constricted vision, just when we need to see most clearly.

"Hold on, hold on, hold the vision, that's being born," our cluster chanted
in Quebec City. It may be that the most radical thing we can do right now
is to act from our vision, not our fear, and to believe in the possibility
of its realization. Every force around us is pushing us to close
down,insulate, retreat. Instead, we need to advance, but in a different
way.

We're called to take a leap into the unknown.

As a movement, we've often been accused of lacking a clear vision of the
world we want. I think we do have a vision, that includes diversity and
rejects uniform, dogmatic formulations. But within all its varied forms
there's a clear common ground: we want a world of liberty and justice for
all. It sounds downright patriotic but if you think about its
ramifications, they are revolutionary. And we want a world in which no one
has to fear violence, which is the ultimate violation of freedom.

There are many voices right now trying to mobilize people around fear,
anger and blame. As radicals, tried to mobilize people out of guilt, or
shame. This is the moment to reinvent our approach, our strategies and our
tactics, to believe in the possibility of moving people to act from hope,
to act in the service of what they love.

What would this look like? It would mean embodying the world we want to
create in our own movement, and in our actions. Times of grief and anguish
can strengthen our bonds. Right now, more than ever, we in the movement
need each other as never before, and we need to treat each other well, to
cherish and care for and support each other and become the community we
like to imagine. Our solidarity must go deeper than we've ever known
before. Solidarity means listening to each other with respect, and being
willing to protect and support people with whom we may disagree on many
levels, or who might simply irritate us.

Solidarity means strengthening our practice of direct democracy, our
openness and communication with each other, our willingness to bring
everyone to the table and give everyone affected by a decision a voice in
making it. It means putting aside our usual internal politicking and
maneuvering and treating each other with openness and trust. This is not
simple to do.

But in a moment when the ordinary patterns of life around us have been
shattered, shifting our own patterns of behavior may actually be easier.
Perspectives change, and the issues that last week seemed so important now
seem trivial.

What would this look like tactically, say, in DC two weeks from now? First,
we'd have to deliberately drop our assumptions, whether they are that
confrontation is always the strongest action, or that nonviolence is always
the most moral action, or that direct action is always our strategy of
choice, or that a march and a rally with speakers are the ultimate form of
politics, and ask what makes most sense? What is most visionary? I'd like
to see whatever we do involve some kind of process of mutual discussion and
education around our visions of alternatives.

And I'd like to see us think of ways to take that outside of our own groups
and into the community, and to bring in voices from the community to teach
us about their issues and concerns. That could be a consulta, a teach-in or
maybe a learn-in, where we go out into the community and ask people how
issues of power and inequality affect their lives, or what their visions
are of the world they want. In a time of fear and despair, calling people
to consider their visions could be a powerful form of action.

I also think it's important, symbolically and politically, that we make
some kind of strong, visible presence in the streets, that we don't
voluntarily relinquish the one political space in which we've been able to
have a significant impact. But I also think it's important that what we do
in the street be appropriate to the moment. A mourning procession, a vigil
or rite of healing might make sense right now: a standard march with
shouted slogans and printed signs would be offensive. But it's hard to
predict what the mood or situation of the country will be two weeks from
now. We could be heading into a full fledged war, and a large march might
be a needed and powerful statement.

Direct action is a powerful tool, but like a chainsaw it's not the tool you
want in every situation. Direct action points a spotlight on an issue, can
directly interfere with an unjust group or situation, and delegitimize an
institution or policy. Used at the wrong moment, without a strong base of
support, it risks legitimizing the very institutions we seek to undermine.

Many police have just given their lives because they stayed in a dangerous
situation helping other people get out. A lot of us in this struggle talk
about being willing to die. They just did. Whatever we feel about police as
tools of the state, now is not a good moment for a heavy police
confrontation. In fact, although generally I'm against negotiating with the
police, in this case I'd certainly consider that it might be a wise and
even a generous thing to do. As individuals, the police are of a class that
doesn't gain from the policies we oppose. Let's not write off the
possibility that some of them could be brought to support us.

I want peace, not war. But calling for 'peace' at this moment does not
sufficiently address the fear, anger and powerlessness people feel. I'd
like to see us call for justice:

Justice for the victims of this week's terrorist attacks.
Justice, not blind vengeance-meaning that we need to know clearly and
certainly who carried out the attacks before we retaliate.
Justice for the Arab Americans who live among us. They deserve our support
and protection.
Justice for the people of other countries who could soon become our victims.
Justice for the many, many victims of ongoing terror around the world, and
recognition of the part we have played in supporting and forging that
terror.
Economic and environmental justice.

These are my thoughts at the moment. They could change as the situation
changes. But mostly I suggest that we all begin a creative thinking
process, that we consciously choose to set aside our fears and our
depression. I suggest that before we agree to do anything we've done
before, we consider at least three creative new alternatives. I think we
should show up in Washington, if not in the numbers and way we expected,
then in some other dimension of strength, and hold open the possibility
that we can create not just a protest, but moments of public beauty that
can transform the world.

Finally, I want to say a word about faith. 'Faith' and 'religion' are being
thrown around and served up to us in ways that are at the moment rather
sickening. Religion of any denomination can motivate the worst acts and be
a rationale for hate. And yet it's hard to get through times like these
without faith in something.

I don't generally like to inflict my spirituality on people who might not
want it. But I feel moved to tell you what's getting me through the night,
along with the love and support of my community. It's the faith that there
is a great, creative power that works through the living world toward life,
diversity, healing and regeneration. That power works in us, in our human
love, in our work for justice, in our courage and our visions. We don't
need priests or ministers or even Witches to contact that power for us: we
each have our own direct line. .It exists within us, infinite, unlimited.

Ultimately, it is stronger than fear, stronger than violence, stronger than
hate. I wish you all deep contact with whatever feeds your soul, and
nourishment from whoever and whatever you most love.

------------------------------------------------------------------


7.
WHO IS OUSMANE BIN LADEN?

by Michel Chossudovsky
Professor of Economics,
University of Ottawa
Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG) at http:/globalresearch.ca.

The  url of this article is  http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO109C.html

Posted 12 September 2001

A few hours after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the
Pentagon, the Bush administration concluded without supporting evidence,
that "Ousmane bin Laden and his al-Qaeda organisation were prime suspects".
CIA Director George Tenet stated that bin Laden has the capacity to plan
``multiple attacks with little or no warning.'' Secretary of State Colin
Powell called the attacks "an act of war" and President Bush confirmed in
an evening televised address to the Nation that he would "make no
distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who
harbor them". Former CIA Director James Woolsey pointed his finger at
"state sponsorship," implying the complicity of one or more foreign
governments. In the words of former National Security Adviser, Lawrence
Eagleburger, "I think we will show when we get attacked like this, we are
terrible in our strength and in our retribution."

Meanwhile, parroting official statements, the Western media mantra has
approved the launching of "punitive actions" directed against civilian
targets in the Middle East. In the words of William Saffire writing in the
New York Times: "When we reasonably determine our attackers' bases and
camps, we must pulverize them -- minimizing but accepting the risk of
collateral damage -- and act overtly or covertly to destabilize terror's
national hosts".

The following text outlines the history of Ousmane Bin Laden and the links
of the Islamic "Jihad" to the formulation of US foreign policy during the
Cold War and its aftermath.

*                  *                   *

Prime suspect in the New York and Washington terrorists attacks, branded by
the FBI as an "international terrorist" for his role in the African US
embassy bombings, Saudi born Ousmane bin Laden was recruited during the
Soviet-Afghan war "ironically under the auspices of the CIA, to fight
Soviet invaders". 1

In 1979 "the largest covert operation in the history of the CIA"  was
launched in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in support of
the pro-Communist government of Babrak Kamal.2:

"With the active encouragement of the CIA and Pakistan's ISI [Inter
Services Intelligence], who wanted to turn the Afghan jihad into a global
war waged by all Muslim states against the Soviet Union, some 35,000 Muslim
radicals from 40 Islamic countries joined Afghanistan's fight between 1982
and 1992. Tens of thousands more came to study in Pakistani madrasahs.
Eventually more than 100,000 foreign Muslim radicals were directly
influenced by the Afghan jihad."3

The Islamic "jihad" was supported by the United States and Saudi Arabia
with a significant part of the funding generated from the Golden Crescent
drug trade:

"In March 1985, President Reagan signed National Security Decision
Directive 166,...[which] authorize[d] stepped-up covert military aid to the
mujahideen, and it made clear that the secret Afghan war had a new goal: to
defeat Soviet troops in Afghanistan through covert action and encourage a
Soviet withdrawal. The new covert U.S. assistance began with a dramatic
increase in arms supplies -- a steady rise to 65,000 tons annually by 1987,
... as well as a "ceaseless stream" of CIA and Pentagon specialists who
traveled to the secret headquarters of Pakistan's ISI on the main road near
Rawalpindi, Pakistan. There the CIA specialists met with Pakistani
intelligence officers to help plan operations for the Afghan rebels."4

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) using Pakistan's military
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) played a key role in training the
Mujahideen. In turn, the CIA sponsored guerrilla training was integrated
with the teachings of Islam:

"Predominant themes were that Islam was a complete socio-political
ideology, that holy Islam was being violated by the atheistic Soviet
troops, and that the Islamic people of Afghanistan should reassert their
independence by overthrowing the leftist Afghan regime propped up by
Moscow."5

PAKISTAN'S INTELLIGENCE APPARATUS

Pakistan's ISI was used as a "go-between". The CIA covert support to the
"jihad" operated indirectly through the Pakistani ISI, --i.e. the CIA did
not channel its support directly to the Mujahideen. In other words, for
these covert operations to be "successful", Washington was careful not to
reveal the ultimate objective of the "jihad", which consisted in destroying
the Soviet Union.

In the words of CIA's Milton Beardman "We didn't train Arabs". Yet
according to Abdel Monam Saidali, of the Al-aram Center for Strategic
Studies in Cairo, bin Laden and the "Afghan Arabs" had been imparted "with
very sophisticated types of training that was allowed to them by the CIA" 6

CIA's Beardman confirmed, in this regard, that Ousmane bin Laden was not
aware of the role he was playing on behalf of Washington. In the words of
bin Laden (quoted by Beardman): "neither I, nor my brothers saw evidence of
American help". 7

Motivated by nationalism and religious fervor, the Islamic warriors were
unaware that they were fighting the Soviet Army on behalf of Uncle Sam.
While there were contacts at the upper levels of the intelligence
hierarchy, Islamic rebel leaders in theatre had no contacts with Washington
or the CIA.

With CIA backing and the funneling of massive amounts of US military aid,
the Pakistani ISI had developed into a "parallel structure wielding
enormous power over all aspects of government". 8 The ISI had a staff
composed of military and intelligence officers, bureaucrats, undercover
agents and informers, estimated at 150,000. 9

Meanwhile, CIA operations had also reinforced the Pakistani military regime
led by General Zia Ul Haq:

"''Relations between the CIA and the ISI [Pakistan's military intelligence]
had grown increasingly warm following [General] Zia's ouster of Bhutto and
the advent of the military regime,'... During most of the Afghan war,
Pakistan was more aggressively anti-Soviet than even the United States.
Soon after the Soviet military invaded Afghanistan in 1980, Zia [ul Haq]
sent his ISI chief to destabilize the Soviet Central Asian states. The CIA
only agreed to this plan in October 1984.... `the CIA was more cautious
than the Pakistanis.' Both Pakistan and the United States took the line of
deception on Afghanistan with a public posture of negotiating a settlement
while privately agreeing that military escalation was the best course."10

THE GOLDEN CRESCENT DRUG TRIANGLE

The history of the drug trade in Central Asia is intimately related to the
CIA's covert operations. Prior to the Soviet-Afghan war, opium production
in Afghanistan and Pakistan was directed to small regional markets. There
was no local production of heroin. 11 In this regard, Alfred McCoy's study
confirms that within two years of the onslaught of the CIA operation in
Afghanistan, "the Pakistan-Afghanistan borderlands became the world's top
heroin producer, supplying 60 percent of U.S. demand. In Pakistan, the
heroin-addict population went from near zero in 1979... to 1.2 million by
1985 -- a much steeper rise than in any other nation":12

"CIA assets again controlled this heroin trade. As the Mujahideen
guerrillas seized territory inside Afghanistan, they ordered peasants to
plant opium as a revolutionary tax. Across the border in Pakistan, Afghan
leaders and local syndicates under the protection of Pakistan Intelligence
operated hundreds of heroin laboratories. During this decade of wide-open
drug-dealing, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in Islamabad failed to
instigate major seizures or arrests ... U.S. officials had refused to
investigate charges of heroin dealing by its Afghan allies `because U.S.
narcotics policy in Afghanistan has been subordinated to the war against
Soviet influence there.' In 1995, the former CIA director of the Afghan
operation, Charles Cogan, admitted the CIA had indeed sacrificed the drug
war to fight the Cold War. `Our main mission was to do as much damage as
possible to the Soviets. We didn't really have the resources or the time to
devote to an investigation of the drug trade,'... `I don't think that we
need to apologize for this. Every situation has its fallout.... There was
fallout in terms of drugs, yes. But the main objective was accomplished.
The Soviets left Afghanistan.'"13

IN THE WAKE OF THE COLD WAR

In the wake of the Cold War, the Central Asian region is not only
strategic for its extensive oil reserves, it also produces three quarters
of the World's opium representing multibillion dollar revenues to business
syndicates, financial institutions, intelligence agencies and organized
crime. The annual proceeds of the Golden Crescent drug trade (between 100
and 200 billion dollars) represents approximately one third of the
Worldwide annual turnover of narcotics, estimated by the United Nations to
be of the order of $500 billion.14

With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, a new surge in opium
production has unfolded. (According to UN estimates, the production of
opium in Afghanistan in 1998-99 -- coinciding with the build up of armed
insurgencies in the former Soviet republics-- reached a record high of 4600
metric tons.15 Powerful business syndicates in the former Soviet Union
allied with organized crime are competing for the strategic control over
the heroin routes.

The ISI's extensive intelligence military-network was not dismantled in the
wake of the Cold War. The CIA continued to support the Islamic "jihad" out
of Pakistan. New undercover initiatives were set in motion in Central Asia,
the Caucasus and the Balkans. Pakistan's military and intelligence
apparatus essentially "served as a catalyst for the disintegration of the
Soviet Union and the emergence of six new Muslim republics in Central
Asia." 16.

Meanwhile, Islamic missionaries of the Wahhabi sect from Saudi Arabia had
established themselves in the Muslim republics as well as within the
Russian federation encroaching upon the institutions of the secular State.
Despite its anti-American ideology, Islamic fundamentalism was largely
serving Washington's strategic interests in the former Soviet Union.

Following the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989, the civil war in
Afghanistan continued unabated. The Taliban were being supported by the
Pakistani Deobandis and their political party the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Islam
(JUI). In 1993, JUI entered the government coalition of Prime Minister
Benazzir Bhutto. Ties between JUI, the Army and ISI were established. In
1995, with the downfall of the Hezb-I-Islami Hektmatyar government in
Kabul, the Taliban not only instated a hardline Islamic government, they
also "handed control of training camps in Afghanistan over to JUI
factions..." 17

And the JUI with the support of the Saudi Wahhabi movements played a key
role in recruiting volunteers to fight in the Balkans and the former Soviet
Union.

Jane Defense Weekly confirms in this regard that "half of Taliban manpower
and equipment originate[d] in Pakistan under the ISI" 18 In fact, it would
appear that following the Soviet withdrawal both sides in the Afghan civil
war continued to receive covert support through Pakistan's ISI. 19

In other words, backed by Pakistan's military intelligence (ISI) which in
turn was controlled by the CIA, the Taliban Islamic State was largely
serving American geopolitical interests. The Golden Crescent drug trade was
also being used to finance and equip the Bosnian Muslim Army (starting in
the early 1990s) and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). In last few months
there is evidence that Mujahideen mercenaries are fighting in the ranks of
KLA-NLA terrorists in their assaults into Macedonia.

No doubt, this explains why Washington has closed its eyes on the reign of
terror imposed by the Taliban including the blatant derogation of women's
rights, the closing down of schools for girls, the dismissal of women
employees from government offices and the enforcement of "the Sharia laws
of punishment".20

THE WAR IN CHECHNYA

With regard to Chechnya, the main rebel leaders Shamil Basayev and Al
Khattab were trained and indoctrinated in CIA sponsored camps in
Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to Yossef Bodansky, director of the
U.S. Congress's Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, the war
in Chechnya had been planned during a secret summit of HizbAllah
International held in 1996 in Mogadishu, Somalia. 21 The summit, was
attended by Osama bin Laden and high-ranking Iranian and Pakistani
intelligence officers. In this regard, the involvement of Pakistan's ISI in
Chechnya "goes far beyond supplying the Chechens with weapons and
expertise: the ISI and its radical Islamic proxies are actually calling the
shots in this war". 22

Russia's main pipeline route transits through Chechnya and Dagestan.
Despite Washington's perfunctory condemnation of Islamic terrorism, the
indirect beneficiaries of the Chechen war are the Anglo-American oil
conglomerates which are vying for control over oil resources and pipeline
corridors out of the Caspian Sea basin.

The two main Chechen rebel armies (respectively led by Commander Shamil
Basayev and Emir Khattab) estimated at 35,000 strong were supported by
Pakistan's ISI, which also played a key role in organizing and training the
Chechen rebel army:

"[In 1994] the Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence arranged for Basayev
and his trusted lieutenants to undergo intensive Islamic indoctrination and
training in guerrilla warfare in the Khost province of Afghanistan at Amir
Muawia camp, set up in the early 1980s by the CIA and ISI and run by famous
Afghani warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. In July 1994, upon graduating from
Amir Muawia, Basayev was transferred to Markaz-i-Dawar camp in Pakistan to
undergo training in advanced guerrilla tactics. In Pakistan, Basayev met
the highest ranking Pakistani military and intelligence officers: Minister
of Defense General Aftab Shahban Mirani, Minister of Interior General
Naserullah Babar, and the head of the ISI branch in charge of supporting
Islamic causes, General Javed Ashraf, (all now retired). High-level
connections soon proved very useful to Basayev.23
Following his training and indoctrination stint, Basayev was assigned to
lead the assault against Russian federal troops in the first Chechen war in
1995. His organization had also developed extensive links to criminal
syndicates in Moscow as well as ties to Albanian organized crime and the
Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). In 1997-98, according to Russia's Federal
Security Service (FSB) "Chechen warlords started buying up real estate in
Kosovo... through several real estate firms registered as a cover in
Yugoslavia" 24

Basayev's organisation has also been involved in a number of rackets
including narcotics, illegal tapping and sabotage of Russia's oil
pipelines, kidnapping, prostitution, trade in counterfeit dollars and the
smuggling of nuclear materials (See Mafia linked to Albania's collapsed
pyramids, 25 Alongside the extensive laundering of drug money, the proceeds
of various illicit activities have been funneled towards the recruitment of
mercenaries and the purchase of weapons.

During his training in Afghanistan, Shamil Basayev linked up with Saudi
born veteran Mujahideen Commander "Al Khattab" who had fought as a
volunteer in Afghanistan. Barely a few months after Basayev's return to
Grozny, Khattab was invited (early 1995) to set up an army base in Chechnya
for the training of Mujahideen fighters. According to the BBC, Khattab's
posting to Chechnya had been "arranged through the Saudi-Arabian based
[International] Islamic Relief Organisation, a militant religious
organisation, funded by mosques and rich individuals which channeled funds
into Chechnya".26

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Since the Cold War era, Washington has consciously supported Ousmane bin
Laden, while at same time placing him on the FBI's "most wanted list" as
the World's foremost terrorist.

While the Mujahideen are busy fighting America's war in the Balkans and the
former Soviet Union, the FBI --operating as a US based Police Force- is
waging a domestic war against terrorism, operating in some respects
independently of the CIA which has --since the Soviet-Afghan war--
supported international terrorism through its covert operations.

In a cruel irony, while the Islamic jihad --featured by the Bush
Adminstration as "a threat to America"-- is blamed for the terrorist
assaults on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, these same Islamic
organisations constitute a key instrument of US military-intelligence
operations in the Balkans and the former Soviet Union.

In the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the truth
must prevail to prevent the Bush Adminstration together with its NATO
partners from embarking upon a military adventure which threatens the
future of humanity.


ENDNOTES

Hugh Davies, International: `Informers' point the finger at bin Laden;
Washington on alert for suicide bombers, The Daily Telegraph, London, 24
August 1998.

See Fred Halliday, "The Un-great game: the Country that lost the Cold War,
Afghanistan, New Republic, 25 March 1996):

Ahmed Rashid, The Taliban: Exporting Extremism, Foreign Affairs,
November-December 1999.

Steve Coll, Washington Post, July 19, 1992.

Dilip Hiro, Fallout from the Afghan Jihad, Inter Press Services, 21
November 1995.

Weekend Sunday (NPR); Eric Weiner, Ted Clark; 16 August 1998.

Ibid.

Dipankar Banerjee; Possible Connection of ISI With Drug Industry, India
Abroad, 2 December 1994.

Ibid

See Diego Cordovez and Selig Harrison, Out of Afghanistan: The Inside Story
of the Soviet Withdrawal, Oxford university Press, New York, 1995. See also
the review of Cordovez and Harrison in International Press Services, 22
August 1995.

Alfred McCoy, Drug fallout: the CIA's Forty Year Complicity in the
Narcotics Trade. The Progressive; 1 August 1997.
Ibid

Ibid.

Douglas Keh, Drug Money in a changing World, Technical document no 4, 1998,
Vienna UNDCP, p. 4. See also Report of the International Narcotics Control
Board for 1999, E/INCB/1999/1 United Nations Publication, Vienna 1999, p
49-51, And Richard Lapper, UN Fears Growth of Heroin Trade, Financial
Times, 24 February 2000.

Report of the International Narcotics Control Board, op cit, p 49-51, see
also Richard Lapper, op. cit.

International Press Services, 22 August 1995.

Ahmed Rashid, The Taliban: Exporting Extremism, Foreign Affairs, November-
December, 1999, p. 22.

Quoted in the Christian Science Monitor, 3 September 1998)

Tim McGirk, Kabul learns to live with its bearded conquerors, The
Independent, London, 6 November1996.

See K. Subrahmanyam, Pakistan is Pursuing Asian Goals, India Abroad, 3
November 1995.

Levon Sevunts, Who's calling the shots?: Chechen conflict finds Islamic
roots in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 23 The Gazette, Montreal, 26 October
1999..

Ibid

Ibid.

See Vitaly Romanov and Viktor Yadukha, Chechen Front Moves To Kosovo
Segodnia, Moscow, 23 Feb 2000.

The European, 13 February 1997, See also Itar-Tass, 4-5 January 2000.
BBC, 29 September 1999).


The URL of this article is: http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO109C.html

Copyright Michel Chossudovsky, Montreal, September 2001. All rights
reserved. Centre for Research on Globalisation at http://globalresearch.ca.
Permission is granted to post this text on non-commercial community
internet sites, provided the source and the URL are indicated, the essay
remains intact and the copyright note is displayed. To publish this text in
printed and/or other forms, including commercial internet sites and
excerpts, contact the author at chossudovsky@videotron.ca, fax:
1-514-4256224.

------------------------------------------------------------------


8.
Why are we despised?
Boulder examines the conscience of a country

by Pamela White
Editorial@boulderweekly.com


 As the dust settled on Tuesday's shocking terrorist attacks in New York
and Washington, D.C., President George Bush vowed the United States would
find and punish those responsible for the devastation.

 His words resonated with stunned Americans across the country, who
gathered in front of television sets and spoke out on TV programs and radio
shows, some demanding a swift and brutal U.S. response.

 Anger fueled by images of Palestinians celebrating the attacks in the
street prompted one local caller to say it was time to "kill all the towel
heads."

 But scattered among the grief-stricken and angry voices were a small
number of Americans asking whether the United States has done anything to
provoke such violence.

 It's a question many people didn't appreciate.

 "I'm appalled at the lack of patriotism," said one caller, who spoke out
on KGNU radio. Still, it's a question worth trying to answer.

 Why is the United States despised?

 John Wayne politics

 Local U.S. policy experts and activists grappled with grief and shock
Tuesday along with the rest of the country. While they took pains to
explain that they in no way excuse or condone Tuesday's violence, some were
willing to offer their insights into the reasons so many people hate
America.

 Understanding the motives behind terrorist attacks against the United
States is hampered by the assumptions many Americans hold, said Ira
Chernus, a professor of religious studies at CU.

 One of those assumptions is that U.S. intentions the world over are good,
even when the government or military makes mistakes. The belief that we're
only trying to help makes it hard for us to understand why anyone would do
something like this to us, Chernus said.

 Related to that assumption is the belief that the United States is both
innocent and invulnerable, which prevents Americans from listening to the
message behind such events.

 "The important thing is to be able to listen insofar as we can to the
people who carried out this thing," Chernus said. "We start out with the
assumption that there's no point in listening to what they have to say. The
general assumption is that if you listen to what they say, that endorses
(the attack)."

 Chernus points out that the message of terrorists on trial for other acts
of violence around the world has been left out of court coverage. People
never get a clear picture of what's bothering these people and why they
were driven to such extremes.

 While some critics claim that U.S. policy is motivated by greed or
aggression, Chernus believes foreign policy since World War II has been
focused on defending the country against perceived threats like communism
and the Soviet Union. Those efforts to protect and defend often extend far
beyond U.S. borders, however, forcing the United States into conflict with
other peoples.

 "We believe the only way to defend the United States is to organize the
world. We step on other people's toes every day in ways we can't
understand," Chernus said. "It's a stupid way to defend yourself because in
the end you experience more risk."

 According to David Barsamian, host of the nationally broadcast program
Alternative Radio, risk to American lives comes as a result of rage
generated by U.S. foreign policy and economic and cultural hegemony.

 "It's directly related to its foreign policy and its perception as the
primary agent and enforcer of the status quo of the global capitalist
system," said Barsamian.
 Barsamian sat in his Boulder home Tuesday watching coverage of the "very
shocking" attacks on television.

 "What's extraordinary about these attacks is the level of sophistication,"
Barsamian said. "Where is the CIA? Where is the FBI? Where are the tens of
billions of dollars being spent?

 "Starbucks closes all stores internationally. This is huge. Look at the
level of panic here."

 Speculation since the attacks has centered on various Islamic
fundamentalist groups, particularly Saudi Arabian exile Osama Bin Laden and
his followers. While pointing out that we don't know who is responsible for
the attacks, Barsamian stressed there is a great deal of rage toward the
United States in the Middle East.

 "U.S. foreign policy is seen by many Middle Eastern people as being
overwhelmingly one-sided in favor of Israel," he said. "There's tremendous
anger toward the United States, and there's a tremendous irony in this. If
it is traced to Bin Laden, he's a product of U.S. foreign policy."

 In an effort to drive the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan, the U.S.
swallowed its repugnance toward Bin Laden and men like him, who were
trained and funded by the CIA in a bit of Cold War strategy that has had
devastating consequences as the students turn their weapons against their
teachers.

 "This is an example of blowback," Barsamian said, adding, "if it can be
traced to this particular group, which is not farfetched."

 Joel Edelstein, professor of political science at CU-Denver and producer
of programs at KGNU radio, acknowledged that Israel has legitimate concerns
about its safety. Still, the struggle in the Middle East has been over
land, with the United States supporting a policy that is devastating to
Palestinians, he said.

 "You have this ongoing degradation of Palestinians," Edelstein said. "They
really were forced out of their houses. Their houses really were bulldozed."

 The United States spends $3.5 billion annually on aid to Israel, which
goes to support these actions and to defend Israel's continued settlement
on the West Bank.

 "Americans would not sit quiet if they were treated like the Palestinians
are treated by the Israelis," Edelstein said.

 Barsamian said Israel's policies build desperation in Palestinian people.

 "If you lose your land, if you cannot feed your family, if you've been
culturally humiliated, if you've been denigrated on all sides - this
creates a reaction, and that reaction can take extreme forms," he said.

 Terrorism, Barsamian said, is the "poor man's B-52."

 But it's not just U.S. policy in the Middle East that makes the United
States a target, experts agree. Nor is dissatisfaction with the United
States limited to Muslims. U.S. indifference toward World Court rulings,
its refusal to fulfill its financial obligations to the United Nations, and
its global military presence also inspire antipathy in people around the
world, including America's allies.

 "To Americans it seems perfectly normal that we have military bases in
scores of countries, but imagine if Thailand had bases in Canada,"
Barsamian said, conjuring up images of Thai fighters enforcing no-fly zones
over parts of the United States.

 The U.S. military presence is offensive to people around the world, he
said. This is particularly true in the Middle East, which has become a sort
of "floating military base," with U.S. warships continually stationed in
waters surrounding the Persian Gulf.

 "This is arrogance. This is imperial behavior," Barsamian said.

 The "American imperial swagger" that accompanies the U.S. military only
makes matters worse, Barsamian said. This swagger reveals itself in the
U.S. tendency to act unilaterally, rejecting international opinion and even
U.N. authority on issues like sanctions against Cuba, the Kyoto Accord, and
nuclear weapons treaties.

 "International treaties are not us," he said. "Bush has never met an
international treaty he liked. This is John Wayne politics."

 Resentment toward the United States extends to Europe, as well.

 "Any top dog faces resentment, but some of it is rooted in quite strong
political feeling," Barsamian said.
 Europeans are mystified and outraged by American use of capital punishment
and the opposition of some Americans toward abortion. And while European
nations have tried to voice their opinions on U.S. decisions and actions
abroad, the U.S. government has not welcomed the feedback, ignoring
resolutions made by the European Parliament.

 "We're a rogue nation," said Edelstein. "The European nations are looking
at us in terms of putting missiles in space, refusing to sign Kyoto. Europe
thinks we're crazy."

 Allies that used to vote with us or abstain from voting on controversial
issues of importance to the United States are now voting against us as our
isolation grows, Edelstein said.

 While Americans tend to view the United States as a force for freedom,
justice and democracy in the world, many other peoples see the United
States as an oppressor, he said.

 "We are the sole hegemon. We're returning to the concept of Manifest
Destiny."

 A world in poverty

 "Not only does the United States export foreign policy. It also exports
its culture," Barsamian said. "There's not sensitivity to local culture and
local traditions, particularly in the Islamic world where tradition is
stronger than it is in Europe."

 This culture takes the form of Hollywood movies, Starbucks, and Burger
Kings on street corners in places like Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where American
culture is considered suspect at best.

 "We tend to view the United States as the universal culture to which all
others aspire," said Edelstein.

 This is based, in part, on misconceptions Americans have of their own
country, he said.

 "We think we have the highest wages, which is not true," Edelstein said.
"We think we are the freest country, which is debatable. We tend to think
we have the best democracy, which is absurd."

 Such blind faith in our own culture creates the mistaken belief that it is
welcome everywhere.

 In the United States, culture is intimately tied to economy, and the U.S.
government promotes the latter with a vengeance. Barsamian said U.S.
diplomatic policy could be summed up this way: "We're going to do what we
want."

 Barsamian recalls a story Vandana Shiva shared with him during an
interview. Shiva, a human-rights activist from India, quoted a U.S. trade
representative speaking with Indian officials as saying, "'If you don't
open up your markets, we're going to break them open with a crowbar.'"

 "This is how the Mafia don speaks," Barsamian said. "I often say if you
want to understand U.S. policy, watch 'The Godfather.'"

 Despite the effort put into the economy, global capitalism has not
delivered to many people around the globe, Barsamian said.

 "It has not delivered the kind of benefits that are meaningful to segments
of the population. Having a Burger King around the corner is not
meaningful."

 Edelstein agrees.

 "The U.S. government represents the wealthy in our own country," he said.
"And our friends are the wealthy in other countries. You can see it in the
development model we support through the IMF (International Monetary Fund)
and World Bank."

 This model ensures that a small percentage of people in developing
countries move up financially but leaves the vast majority behind, he said.

 Intense protests against the IMF, the World Bank and the World Trade
Organization over the past two years indicate that some Americans are
concerned about the connection between poverty and global development,
Edelstein said.

 Carolyn Bninski, a local activist who was arrested in April 2000 during
the IMF protests in Washington, D.C., said the current model of development
accounts for about six million deaths worldwide each year.

 "We use economic power to impose policies on countries that benefit
wealthy corporations in the United States but harm local people," Bninski
said. "A lot of people die - slow deaths perhaps - as a result of those
policies. I am in no way downplaying the horror (of the terrorist attacks).
I think it's a horrible tragedy. But I think we need to start seeing our
relationship to every life and everybody on this planet."

 Scott Silber, a local community organizer who has also participated in
protests against the IMF, World Bank and World Trade Organization, said
people from all segments of U.S. society have become concerned about these
economic policies.
 "People have been able to link the symptoms they're fighting to global
corporate power," Silber said.

 Those symptoms include violations of human rights, workers' rights, the
rights of women and indigenous people, as well as the destruction of the
environment and the blind pursuit of capital, he said.

 "People are suffering," Silber said. "The vast majority of the world is in
poverty, and the United States is on the benefiting end of that."

 A call for empathy

 Bninski said she and other members of the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice
Center fear the United States will retaliate blindly in a fury over
Tuesday's attack, resulting in the deaths of more innocent people.

 "The United States needs to go through legitimate international channels
and to try people in a court of law that's legitimate," Bninski said. "It's
really important to reserve judgment and not to retaliate against people or
groups of people."

 She's not the only one who's concerned. Muslim students, many of whom are
American citizens by birth, braced for an onslaught of hate mail, threats,
and confrontations. Muslim organizations across the country reported death
threats and hate mail, many pulling their Web sites to stem the tide of
violent words. But at CU, where police have stepped up security and are
prepared to protect Islamic students, incidents have been minor.

 "We're all just holding each other," said Amina Nawaz, an American citizen
and president of CU's Muslim Student Association.

 Nawaz said some Muslims experienced heightened tensions in classes
Tuesday. One woman, wearing the traditional hijab covering, walked into her
classroom where students were talking only to have the room fall silent
when people saw her.

 "She could just feel everyone's hatred boring into her," Nawaz said.

 But Nawaz said members of her organization are grief-stricken over the
attacks.

 "We're a part of the American community, and we feel it just as strongly
as anybody else," she said.

 Those who engineered the attacks don't reflect the values of Islam, Nawaz
said.

 "Shameless acts are not part of our religion," she said.

 Bninski said it's time for Americans to learn to empathize with people who
are suffering around the world. While they connect to the suffering of
other Americans, they seem blind to the suffering of non-Americans.

 "I think we have to think about every human life as being of equal value,
not just Americans," Bninski said. "We need to start thinking of global
citizens and think of the impact of U.S. decisions on other people."

 On Bninski's mind are the deaths of an estimated six million Iraqi
children since 1990 due to U.S.-imposed sanctions and the destruction in
Yugoslavia brought on by 68 days of bombing.

 "I think of the images of Burmese workers on (American-owned) pipelines
with chains around their ankles," said Silber. "I think of the workers I
see every day all around me who are working 16-hour days to survive and
feed their families. I think of the little children who are born into
war-torn areas of the world where it seems like their lives are hopeless.
If only war weren't profitable, these kids wouldn't have to grow up in fear
and suffering."

 But most Americans don't make an effort to learn about the ways in which
their nation contributes to tragedies in the world around them, Chernus
said.

 "It's willed ignorance," he said. "There's a cultural divide in the United
States. There's a segment of our population that is able to - perhaps
imperfectly - empathize with suffering in the world. And there are those
Americans who simply can't seem to relate."

 Chernus fears Tuesday's horror will be written off as the work of
"unprovoked crazies," and America will lose a chance to benefit from what
could be a wake-up call.

 "If things were going right, we would ask ourselves what role we may have
played in the chain of events that led to this disaster. If we were doing
the right thing, we would think of ourselves as part of a network of
relationships," Chernus said. "It's not a question of 'our fault' or 'their
fault,' but of how that network of relationships has gotten us to where we
are today."
 Barsamian said that discussions of U.S. foreign policy will be kept out of
the response to the attacks.

 "No one's going to go to the root causes, not with corporate media acting
as stenographers to power," Barsamian said. "(The media will say) 'These
are just genetically crazy people. They were having bad hair days.'"

 The media will focus selectively on Islamic fundamentalists, leaving out
mention of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, two very strict Muslim nations with
which the United States has close political ties, he predicted.

 A constructive response, Barsamian said, would look more like this: "Start
obeying international law. Show respect for sensitivity for other cultures.
Stop bullying the world. Stop acting like a Mafia don. Work with
difference. Accept criticism. Radically relook at our behavior in the
Middle East."

 Edelstein would like to see the United States respond by turning its
effort inward.

 "For the American government to respond in a way that I would consider
constructive would include the establishment of democracy in the United
States."

 And if the United States continues on its current path?

 "U.S. foreign policy has not given people hope. If you rob people of their
dignity and self-respect, they have nothing," Barsamian said. "That's how
you can become a suicide bomber."

 "Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just"

                 - Thomas Jefferson Notes from Virginia

------------------------------------------------------------------


9.
US Foreign Interventions, Invasions, and Assassinations since Vietnam
By Eric J Ross


 Cuba 1963 - today - US blockades island for 39 years. Numerous
assassination attempts against leader. Continued actions condemned by Human
Rights Groups and the United Nations General Assembly.

 Australia 1973-75 - CIA interferes and manipulates free election process.

 Chile 1973 - CIA backed coup ousts elected president, installs military
Gen. Pinochet. Decades of human rights abuses follow.

 Portugal 1974 - CIA funnels millions to destabilize and sabotage NATO ally.

 Angola 1976-92 - CIA assists South Africa-backed rebels.

 Afghanistan 1979-82 - US supports, arms, trains Mujahadeen rebels
including rebel leader Osama Bin Laden.

 El Salvador 1980-92 - US aids government condemned for gross human rights
violations.

 Nicaragua 1981-92 - US directs and illegally supports contra war, mines
harbor. Allows open flow of narcotics into US. US actions condemned by the
United Nations World Court.

 Chad 1982 - US supports overthrow of government. CIA supported secret
police kill and torture tens of thousands.

 Libya 1982 - USA shoots down 2 Libyan jets.

 Honduras 1982 -90 - US builds bases near borders, supports government that
uses Death Squads against it's citizens.

 Lebanon 1982-84 - US bombs and shells Muslim positions, expels PLO from
territory.

 Grenada 1983-84 - US military invades tiny island. 400 Grenadians killed.
"Gross violation" of international law condemned by United Nations.

 Iraq 1987-88 - US supports and arms Saddam Hussein's Iraq in war against
Iran.

 Iran 1988 - US shoots down Iranian passenger airliner, killing 290
civilians. Claims it was an "accident".

 Libya 1989 - US bombs capitol Tripoli killing 55 civilians. Calls it
"collateral damage".

 Philippines 1989 - US supports corrupt govt of Ferdinand Marcos against
citizen uprising.

 Panama 1989 - US invades with 27,000 soldiers. Kills 3000+ Panamanians,
kidnaps it's own installed drug-dealing leader and CIA asset. Illegal US
actions condemned by nearly unanimous United Nations and Organization of
American States.

 Kuwait 1991 - US invades Middle East, contradicting its position by
intervening in inter-Arab affairs. Returns Kuwaiti Monarchy accused of
human right abuses to throne.

 Iraq 1990 - today - US randomly bombs civilian areas. Blockades Iraqi
ports, allows no humanitarian or medical aid. est. 10,000 Iraqi's
starve/die monthly as result.

 Bulgaria 1991 - CIA funnels millions to destabilize one of the first
freely elected governments.

 Somalia 1992-94 - US sends in humanitarian aid. Becomes involved in Civil
war, takes sides attacking one Mogadishu faction. Kills 500+ Somalis.

 Peru 1992 - 01 - US provides military support, millions of dollars to
corrupt Fujimori government. Drug kingpin Vladimir Montesino on CIA payroll
while serving as Intelligence Chief. Involved directly in shooting down
missionary aircraft, killing American woman and her infant child.

 Colombia 1992 - present - US supports Colombian military, heavily involved
in drug trafficking. 1,640 pounds of cocaine lands in Ft. Lauderdale
Florida hidden inside Colombian Air Force cargo plane. Nearly 20,000 people
killed by US supported military and para-military so far.

 Bosnia 1993 - US naval blockade of Serbia and Montenegro.

 Haiti 1994 - US blockades island government, CIA supports military coup to
remove elected President Aristide, then forcibly re-installs Aristide as
President after he agrees to US conditions of rule.

 Sudan 1998 - US bombs Aspirin Factory in Khartoum killing civilians.

 Afghanistan 1998 - US missiles kill 28 civilians

 Yugoslavia 1999 - US laser-guided bombs destroy Chinese Embassy in
Belgrade killing three Chinese journalists.

 Afghanistan 2001 - ?

---


 US involvement in Foreign assassinations or attempts:
 -- prohibited by Presidential decree since 1976 --


 1960 - General Abdul Karim Kassem, leader of Iraq

 1961 - Francois Duvalier, leader of Haiti

 1961 - Patrice Lumumba, Prime Minister of the Congo

 1961 - General Rafael Trujillo, leader of Dominican Republic

 1963 - Ngo Dinh Diem, President of South Vietnam

 1960s - Fidel Castro, President of Cuba , numerous attempts

 1960s - Raul Castro, brother of Fidel.

 1965 - Francisco Caamano, Opposition leader, Dominican Republic

 1965-6 - Charles de Gaulle, President of France

 1967 - Ernesto Che Guevara, Cuban leader

 1970 - Salvador Allende, President of Chile

 1970 - General Rene Schneider, Commander of Chilean Army

 1970s, 81 - General Omar Torrijos, leader of Panama

 1972 - General Manuel Noriega, chief of Panama Intelligence

 1975 - Mobutu Sese Seko, President of Zaire

 1976 - Michael Manley, Prime Minister of Jamaica

 1980-86 - Moammar Qaddafi, leader of Libya, numerous attempts

 1982 - Ayatollah Khomeine, leader of Iran

 1983 - General Ahmed Dlimi, Army commander of Morocco

 1983 - Miguel d'Escoto, Foreign Minister of Nicaragua

 1984 - All nine leaders of the Nicaraguan National Directorate

 1985 - Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, Lebanon Shiite leader

 1991 - Saddam Hussein, leader of Iraq

 1998 - Osama bin Laden, former US trained "freedom fighter".

 1999 - Slobodan Mlosevic, President of Yugoslavia--


------------------------------------------------------------------


10.
Student Anti-War Coalition organizing more than 50 rallies this Thursday
(today):

http://www.peacefuljustice.cjb.net/

for folks looking for a way to protest "the war against evil" rhetoric,
protest the racist attacks and racial profiling of the past week, or express
a need for a solution based on international law, not missile diplomacy,
here's one option that seems to have a lot of momentum. a student anti-war
coalition calling for a national rally thursday at noon. the number of
campuses involved keeps increasing, from 20 yesterday to 30 today and (i
just
heard) 50 now. personally, of all the responses i've seen come out of the
left, this is one of the calmest, most rational, well-thought out ones.

------------------------------------------------------------------


11.
An optimistic activist account:
Transforming the unity of nationalism into a call for peace (english)

by Stanley Call
Mon Sep 17 '01
actionseed@hotmail.com
http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=64882&group=webcast


Friday night, 9/14, Whittier, California
I join one of the many candlelight flag-waving rallies and use a sign and
dialogue to make the subtle shift to an antiwar demostration.

Co-opting the Nationalist Fervor

As I write this, occasional honking horns and whoops can still be heard from
the street below where women and children, mostly Latinos, are holding a
rowdy candlelight vigil, some with American flags. The street was filled
with carloads of young, jubilant and rowdy people, honking, yelling and
waving the flag. I made a sign, "War will not bring Peace -- Don't Honk,
THINK -- Stop ALL terrorism, including by the American Government," and
joined them.

At first I felt a little like I was competing with them. I was upset by what
I perceived as their insensitive nationalism and celebration when the United
States has declared "the first war of the 21st Century." But I said hello,
showed them my sign, answered their questions and stood quietly next to
them, on the corner, holding up my sign and looking down solemnly. Around
the same time I got there, two young boys arrived holding an American flag
with a peace sign in place of stars. Would've been better without the
stripes, too, but hey -- I didn't join in the yelling.

Soon, most of the people in passing cars were putting two fingers up for
peace, and some people quietly waved. Many of the other people on the corner
also started showing the peace sign. It had become a non-violent antiwar
demonstration!

I learned through experience what I already knew intellectually - that angry
energy can be channeled for constructive uses, and that people are most
easily persuaded to do what is right when they feel they've come to that
decision on their own. Imagine how different the scene would have been if I
had started an angry counter-demonstration across the street. I would
have looked angry and crazy, and would have been outnumbered. Instead, I got
the support of a few in the group through a short discussion and was able to
create the perception for passers-by that EVERYBODY on that corner was
demonstrating for peace. This technique should be used more often. It is
similar to what agent provocateurs do to incite violence in a non-violent
crowd, but with the opposite effect.

www.geocities.com/actionseed

------------------------------------------------------------------


12.
Call for a National March in Washington DC
Saturday, September 29
Rally 11 am at the White House


National March Against War & Racism
Let's really help the September 11 victims:
War & racism are not the answer

Dear Friends,

Our most heartfelt sympathies and condolences are with all
those whose loved ones were lost or injured on September 11,
2001. At this moment, we would all like to take time to
reflect, to grieve, to extend sympathy and condolences to
all. But we believe that we must do more. We must act.

Unless we stop President Bush from carrying out a new, wider
war in the Middle East and beyond, the number of innocent
victims will grow from the thousands to the tens of
thousands and possibly more. A new, wider U.S. war in the
Middle East can only lead to an escalating cycle of
violence. War is not the answer.

After the horrific killings of thousands of innocent
civilians on Sept. 11, the Bush administration is moving in
a very ominous direction. In a chilling statement, Bush
administration spokespersons have called for "ending
states," an unprecedented threat.

At the same time, Arab American and Muslim people in the
United States -- as well as other communities of color --
are facing racist attacks and harassment in their
communities, on their jobs and at mosques. Anti-Arab and
anti-Muslim racism is a poison that should be repudiated.

The government is attempting to curb civil liberties and to
create a climate in which it is impossible for progressive
people to speak their mind.  The Bush administration is
attempting to take advantage of this crisis to militarize
U.S. society with a vast expansion of police powers that is
intended to severely restrict basic democratic rights.

On September 29 we had planned to demonstrate against the
Bush administration's reactionary foreign and domestic
policy and the IMF and World Bank.  In light of the current
crisis, with its tragic consequences for so many thousands
of people, we have refocused the call for our demonstration
to address the immediate danger posed by increased racism
and the grave threat of a new war.

Now is the time for all people of conscience, all people who
oppose racism and war to come together.  If you believe in
civil liberties and oppose racism and war, join us on
September 29 in front of the White House.  We urge all
organizations to join together at this critical time.

National March in Washington DC
Saturday, September 29
Rally 11 am at the White House

SIGNERS:
Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General
Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, Auxiliary Bishop, Catholic
    Archdiocese of Detroit
Samia Halaby, Al-Awda Palestine Right of Return Coalition
Barbara Lubin, Executive Director, Middle East Children's
    Alliance
Nania Kaur Dhingra, Sikh Student Organization, George
    Washington University
Chuck Kaufman, National Co-Coordinator, Nicaragua Network
Njeri Shakur, Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement
National Lawyers Guild
(LIST IN FORMATION)

Tens of thousands will march on the White House on September
29. I want to add my name or organization to the list of
endorsing organizations and individuals for this protest, or
sign up to help mobilize in my area!

Name:
Email:
Street Address:
City:
State/Province:
Zip/Postal Code:
Country:
Home Telephone:
Work Telephone:
Fax:
Occupation:
Title/Position as it should appear:
Organization/Union:

[check all that apply]

[ ] List me as an endorser!

[ ] My organization/union has officially endorsed.

[ ] I can help with outreach (leafletting, posting,
call-ups, drop-offs, mailings).

[ ] I would like someone to speak to my group (explain in
comments).

[ ] I can help with fundraising.

[ ] I would like to hear about upcoming activities.

[ ] Other - let me know how I can help! (tell us how you can
help in comments below).

$ [  ] amount I can contribute (Send to "War & racism is not
the answer - Protest at the White House Sept. 29
Demonstration" c/o International Action Center at the
address below)

Message to September 29th Surround the White House
Mobilization:
(enter your comments here)

-----
Send replies to iacenter@action-mail.org

This is the IAC activist announcement
list. Anyone can subscribe by sending any message to
<ActionCenter.actgen-subscribe@action-mail.org>

------------------------------------------------------------------


13.
A Message From the Global South
by Saskia Sassen
Published on Wednesday, September 12, 2001 in the Guardian of London
http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0912-04.htm


Yesterday's attack brings home the fact that we cannot hide behind our
peace and prosperity. The evidence has been growing but our leaders did not
want to see it. The horrors of wars and deaths far away in the global south
do not register. But missile shields cannot protect us. Powerful states
cannot fully escape bricolage terrorism, nail bombs, elementary nuclear
devices, and homemade biological weapons.

The growth of debt and unemployment, and the decline of traditional
economic sectors, has fed an illegal trade in people directed at the rich
countries. The diseases and pests of the global south are now in the global
north as well: TB is back in the US and the UK, the encephalitis-producing
Nile mosquito has arrived for the first time in the north. As governments
become poorer they depend more on the remittances of immigrants in the
north and have little interest in managing emigration and illegal
trafficking. The pressures to be competitive make governments in poor
countries cut their health, education and social budgets, further delaying
development and stimulating emigration.

The rising debt, poverty, and disease in the south are beginning to reach
deep into rich countries in the north. We can no longer turn our backs on
this misery. If we dislike humanitarian reasons for addressing these
issues, we should at least be motivated by self-interest.

We must now accept that markets cannot take care of everything. Governments
will have to govern more. But we cannot return to the old system of
countries surrounding themselves with protective walls. It will take
genuine multilateralism and internationalism; radical innovations and new
forms of collaboration with civil society and supranational institutions.
The violence of hunger and poverty; the destruction of once fertile lands;
the oppression of weaker states by highly militarized ones; persecution -
all these feed a complex, slow but relentless movement towards the north.
The north creates much of the damage and the north has the resources to
redress some of it.

Part of the challenge is actually to recognize the interconnectedness of
forms of violence that we do not view as being connected or even as forms
of violence. We are suffering from a translation problem. The language of
poverty and misery is unclear and uncomfortable. The language of
yesterday's attacks is clear.

There are two problems in particular that must be addressed: the debt trap
and immigration. The debt trap is far more significant than many in the
north understand. The focus is always on the amounts of the debts, which
are a small fraction of the overall global capital market, now estimated at
about 83 trillion dollars. But the debt trap will eventually ensnare the
rich countries through the increase in illegal trafficking in people, in
drugs, in arms, through the re-emergence of diseases we had thought were
under control and through the further devastation of our fragile
eco-system. The debt trap is now entangling more countries and it has
reached middle income countries.

There are now about 50 countries that are hyper-indebted and unable to
redress the situation. It is no longer a matter of loan repayment but a
fundamental new structural condition. What is often overlooked or even
unknown is that many of those debts are far more extreme than those that
were considered as unmanageable levels of debt in the Latin American crisis
of the 80s. Debt to GNP ratios are especially high in Africa, where they
stood at 123%, compared with 42% in Latin America and 28% in Asia.

The IMF asks HIPCs to pay 20-25% of their export earnings toward debt
service. In contrast, in 1953 the Allies canceled 80% of Germany's war debt
and only insisted on 3-5% of export earnings debt service. These are the
terms asked from Central Europe after Communism.

What can be done to pull these countries out of the trap? Poor countries
need to import goods and the West will only accept payment in dollars or
other high value currencies. This produces a trap that reproduces itself
endlessly. One of the few solutions to neutralize the trap is to allow
countries to pay in their own currencies, which would enable them to import
needed goods for development and, importantly, eventually strengthen their
currencies.

Few poor countries can avoid trade deficits - of 93 low and moderate income
countries, only 11 had trade surpluses in the year 2000. These countries
would like to export more, as is shown by the recent setting up of a new
African Trade Insurance Agency supporting exports to, from and within
Africa. Such specialized and focused efforts are promising. Most countries
in the south are heavily dependent on imports of oil, food, and
manufactured goods. They need loans, and once they have debts, interest
payments and other debt servicing costs escalate rapidly and their
currencies are likely to devalue further. Borrowing in the leading foreign
currencies is a trap.

The government debts of poor countries, and increasingly of middle-income
countries as well, need to be taken out of the global capital markets and
placed in the domain of the interstate system. J M Keynes proposed this in
the 40s when the IMF was created. And the IMF went in this direction with
its plan to provide early financing before a crisis, rather than bailing
out rich countries' investors.

The second great problem in immigration and illegal trafficking in people.
The growth of debt and its attendant economic griefs have created whole new
migrations. As the rich economies become richer, they become more desirable
places to be and have to raise their walls to keep immigrants and refugees
out. So they actually encourage the illegal trade in people.

We may think that the debt and growing poverty in the south have nothing to
do with the violence in New York and Washington. But they do.
The attacks are a language of last resort: the oppressed and persecuted
have used many languages to reach us so far, but we seem unable to
translate the meaning. So a few have taken the personal responsibility to
speak in a language that needs no translation.

An updated version of Saskia Sassen's book, The Global City, is published
by Princeton University Press.

  ? Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001

------------------------------------------------------------------


14.
The Sukkah & the World Trade Center
by Rabbi Arthur Waskow


In 1984, when the nuclear arms race was in speed-up mode, The Shalom Center
built a sukkah between the White House and the Soviet Embassy in Washington.

We focused on the line from the evening prayers -- "Ufros alenu sukkat
shlomekha" -- "Spread over all of us Your sukkah of shalom."

And we asked, "Why a  sukkah?" -- Why does the  prayer plead to God for a
"sukkah of shalom" rather than God's  "tent" or "house"  or "palace"  of
peace?

Because the sukkah is just a hut,  the most vulnerable of houses. Vulnerable
in time, where it lasts for only a week each year.  Vulnerable in space,
where its roof must be not only leafy but leaky -- letting in the starlight,
and gusts of wind and rain.

For much of our lives we try to achieve peace and safety by building with
steel and concrete and toughness. Pyramids, air raid shelters, Pentagons,
World Trade Centers.  Hardening what might be targets and, like Pharaoh,
hardening our hearts against what is foreign to us.

But the sukkah comes to remind us:  We are in truth all vulnerable. If "a
hard rain gonna fall," it will fall on all of us.

Americans have felt invulnerable. The oceans, our wealth, our military power
have made up what seemed an invulnerable shield. We may have begun feeling
uncomfortable in the nuclear age, but no harm came to us. Yet yesterday the
ancient truth came home: We all live in a sukkah.

Not only the targets of attack but also the instruments of attack were among
our proudest possessions: the sleek transcontinental airliners. They availed
us nothing. Worse than nothing.

Even the greatest oceans do not shield us; even the mightiest buildings do
not shield us; even the wealthiest balance sheets and the most powerful
weapons do not shield us.

There are only wispy walls and leaky roofs between us. The planet is in fact
one interwoven web of life. I MUST love my neighbor as I do myself, because
my neighbor and myself are interwoven. If I hate my neighbor, the hatred
will
recoil upon me.

What is the lesson, when we learn that we -- all of us -- live in a sukkah?
How do we make such a vulnerable house into a place of shalom, of peace and
security and harmony and wholeness?

The lesson is that only a world where we all recognize our vulnerability can
become a world where all communities feel responsible to all other
communities. And only such a world can prevent such acts of rage and murder.

If I treat my neighbor's pain and grief as foreign, I will end up suffering
when my neighbor's pain and grief curdle into rage.

But if I realize that in simple fact the walls between us are full of holes,
I can reach through them in compassion and connection.

Suspicion about the perpetrators of this act of infamy has fallen upon some
groups that espouse a tortured version of Islam. Whether or not this turns
out to be so, America must open its heart and mind to the pain and grief of
those in the Arab and Muslim worlds who feel excluded, denied, unheard,
disempowered, defeated.

This does not mean ignoring or forgiving whoever wrought such bloodiness.
Their violence must be halted, their rage must be calmed -- and the pain
behind them must be heard and addressed.

Instead of entering upon a "war of civilizations," we must pursue a
planetary
peace.

Shalom, Arthur

Rabbi Arthur Waskow
Director, The Shalom Center
<www.shalomctr.org>  <www.FreeOurTime.org>

------------------------------------------------------------------


15.
A TRAGEDY FOR ALL HUMANITY
A Statement by the Communist Party USA

The terrorist attacks that killed and wounded thousands of innocent people
Sept. 11 are crimes that call for universal, worldwide condemnation. At
this writing the toll of dead and wounded is not known but it is certain to
number in the thousands, the deadliest terrorist attack ever.

The Communist Party USA expresses outrage and profound sorrow at this
horrendous assault. We unequivocally condemn terrorism in all its forms.

We extend heartfelt sympathy to the families of the victims including the
thousands of office workers at both the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
and those who died in the crashes of the four planes. We mourn the rescue
workers, hundreds of whom died in the line of duty, in the collapse of the
World Trade Center buildings. Amid the carnage and the horror, they
displayed uncommon courage and self sacrifice as they struggled to save the
wounded and dying.
The people have responded generously, from ironworkers in their hardhats,
who raced to the scene to help search through the piles of rubble, to the
doctors and other medical workers who worked through the day and night, to
the thousands across the country who lined up to donate blood. We urge that
everyone who can participate in such efforts.

This tragedy has traumatized the nation. The people understandably are in a
state of shock and anger, and are coming together to mourn just as we
united in sorrow after the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma
City.

We must guard against a rush for military reprisals even before the
perpetrators are known and apprehended. There are calls for more military
spending, more intrusive surveillance both at home and abroad and
curtailment of democratic rights. Innocent Arab people both at home and
abroad and immigrants across the U.S. face a danger of racist and
xenophobic attacks. We call on the Bush Administration, and all state and
local authorities to take measures to guarantee everyone's safety. The
danger is that the cycle of violence will spiral out of control with more
death and destruction.

This moment calls for calm, not hysteria; initiatives for peace, not war;
democracy, not repression. This crisis must be answered by a united world
community of all nations and peoples. The goal must be multilateral
political solutions that eliminate the causes of violence and promote a
just and equitable world, the best and only true memorial to those who have
died.


------------------------------------------------------------------


16.
Other excellent sources for non-corporate independent news and analysis:

ZMag.org
IndyMedia.org
Alternet.org
TomPaine.com
CommonDreams.org
www.feminist.org/afghan/facts.html

(There are numerous IndyMedia sites with especially comprehensive coverage.
Some of them are: http://nyc.indymedia.org/ , http://dc.indymedia.org/ ,
http://chicago.indymedia.org/ .)
tlokey@enron.com