From: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com (abolition-usa-digest) To: abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: abolition-usa-digest V1 #139 Reply-To: abolition-usa-digest Sender: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk abolition-usa-digest Sunday, June 13 1999 Volume 01 : Number 139 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 08 Jun 1999 00:03:34 -0700 From: Andrew Lichterman Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) SANTA BARBARA ABOLITION CAMPAIGN UPDATE Greetings abolition 2000 and US abolition campaign folks. I am the convener of the "bottom up organizing" working group of the fledgling US campaign. In order to encourage discussion on themes relevant to this working group, I have written a strategy working paper which addresses some of the issues raised in the two organizing meetings which resulted in the current US campaign structure. If you would like a copy, drop me a note specifying the format you would like to receive it in (I can do MS word, all wordperfect formats, the various generic word processing formats --asci, rtf, etc.-- and paper). Andrew Lichterman Western States Legal Foundation 1440 Broadway Suite 500 Oakland, CA 94612 (510) 839 5877 - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1999 13:46:57 EDT From: DavidMcR@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) Letter from Belgrade: "Who is the winner?" In a message dated 6/8/99 9:51:23 AM Eastern Daylight Time, jim_forest@compuserve.com writes: << Date: Tue, 08 Jun 1999 03:59:29 +0200 From: Sava Ristich To: Orthodox Peace Fellowship <101363.304@compuserve.com> Dear Jim, I appreciate your journal "In Communion". Best regards, Milan Radovanovic Belgrade * * * THE WAR ON THE BALKANS: WHO IS THE WINNER? When the war breaks out, everybody says: we want peace. The invaders say: we have attacked in order to make peace. The invaded say: we are defending ourselves in order to keep the peace. And thus the war goes on until a measure of evil has been fulfilled. PRAYER Lord, if we cannot stop the war, help us at least preserve love and peace in our hearts. BELGRADE 1999 I live in the country waging war with the greatest armed forces in the world. In the centre of Belgrade, while I am writing this, cruise missiles and bombs of enormous destructive power keep hitting my immediate surroundings. People I daily meet while shopping for bread are getting killed, while the seriously wounded cry all night long until they are rescued from the ruins. Children remain paralyzed out of shock and fear. Lines of refugees of the "opponent" party are running away from their homes into insecurity where the only secure things are famine, sickness and death. The horror of this war, as in all the preceding ones, is that those who suffer most are innocent people. BATTLE FIELD "YUGOSLAVIA" Military technology and preciseness of modern weapon have improved considerably over the past decades. That is, if we are to trust military experts. We, though, who have served as guinea pigs for testing this horrible weapon are not impressed by the above-mentioned fact. The so-called intelligent rockets and bombs cannot distinguish between victims. IS THERE A WAY OUT? The war has completely spoilt everyday life. Helplessness, despair at having lost all property and fear of death are predominant feelings in the war. Many people would like to go back to their former careless and comfortable way of life, but God does not respond to their wishes: "The anger of the Lord will not turn back until He fully accomplishes the purposes of His heart; in days to come you will understand it clearly", a long time ago used to say prophet Jeremia in a situation much like this (23,20). For a majority, there is no such thing as a secure place where to hide away from death. AN OLD PERSIAN STORY A rich and powerful Persian was taking a walk in his garden together with his servant. The servant started to cry at just having met Death, who was threating to take him. He asked his master to let him have his fastest horse - to run away to Teheran by night time. The master let him do so, and the servant ran away on horse back.. On his way home, the master saw Death herself and asked her: Why are you threatening to take my servant? "I did not threaten him", answered Death; I was just surprised at seeing him here - for I was planning to find him tonight in Teheran!" JESUS CHRIST "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life, will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me, will find it" (Math. 16, 24-25). FEAR OF DEATH Inner restlessness and fear of death are definite signs that we are far away from God. Fear of death is, in fact, fear of meaningless life. It is fear of coming in the presence of God, without having finished one's life work. It is not the war that causes that fear. It only reveals it. INCAPACITY OF EVIL If we have just a little faith, evil has neither the power nor the force to knock us down. That is why it is not only the bearers of evil and death that are separated from God, but also those who fear that evil and death. GOD While the war goes on, we feel God as being very cruel. He is not malicious, though. He expects us to respect His will, to be His collaborators in this world. He is always willing to help us do so. Difficult circumstances, such as war should not prevent us from doing so. On the contrary. The more difficult the conditions, the greater the glory. GUILT When the war happens, we tend to blame exclusively the opponent - adversary side. It seems to me that God looks at the war in a different way; for Him everyone who has not found his way in God's sight is to blame. PEACE In wartime everybody agrees that the most important thing is to stop the war and make peace. This is the way people see it. In God's view, the silence of arms is not enough; He wants the peace to dwell with love in people's hearts. FLOWER I keep watching a beautiful rose in my garden. It blossoms and gives off fragrance, even now when I'm not tending it. It doesn't mind the war, or the reed that keeps choking it, or the fact it has not been watered or dug up for months. From year to year it has been doing what God had created it to do. It is strange how distant we are from a mere rose. VICTORY The most important battle in this war is not going on in a battle field or against an invisible enemy. Our goal is not to destroy other people, or to do our best to make them better. Every battle must begin and end up with the victory within ourselves. Evil will be beaten only when we allow Divine peace and love to settle down in our hearts forever. Milan Radovanovic Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia * * * >> - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Jun 1999 14:07:10 -0400 From: War Resisters League Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) SANTA BARBARA ABOLITION CAMPAIGN UPDATE Andrew, Please forward a copy to me. I prefer WordPerfect, but MS Word is fine too. Whatever is easiest for you. Thanks, Chris Ney At 12:03 AM 6/8/1999 -0700, you wrote: >Greetings abolition 2000 and US abolition campaign folks. > >I am the convener of the "bottom up organizing" working group of the fledgling US campaign. In order to >encourage discussion on themes relevant to this working group, I have written a strategy working paper which >addresses some of the issues raised in the two organizing meetings which resulted in the current US campaign >structure. If you would like a copy, drop me a note specifying the format you would like to receive it in (I >can do MS word, all wordperfect formats, the various generic word processing formats --asci, rtf, etc.-- and >paper). > >Andrew Lichterman >Western States Legal Foundation >1440 Broadway Suite 500 >Oakland, CA 94612 (510) 839 5877 > >- > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. > > ********** War Resisters League 339 Lafayette St. New York, NY 10012 212-228-0450 212-228-6193 (fax) 1-800-975-9688 (YouthPeace and A Day Without the Pentagon) wrl@igc.apc.org web address: http://www.nonviolence.org/wrl - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1999 12:07:35 -0700 From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) The Peace March For the last six months I have been promoting the idea of an ongoing series of local peace marches to effectively unify the global peace, justice, and environmental movements into an effective activity of conscience as humankind to change the path of human history off of the path towards total destruction and onto the path towards global peace and prosperity. This latest initiative in my 20+ years experience and involvement with various peace walks has come at the suggestion last Fall of a member of the coalition for Nuclear Abolition 2000 for a peace walk in the year 2000 across the United States to further the abolition of nuclear weapons. I have received a strong response from the Global Peace Walk project initiated in 1995 and numerous individual messages of support for the idea but no concrete commitments for organizational or financial support for this idea. Following the vigorous and sage advice of one member of this loose-knit coalition to abolish nuclear weapons, Anne Fagan Ginger, I am now appealing to you and the organizations(s) that you are affiliated with for your help in this effort to establish a Peace March Coalition to organize and coordinate local peace walks and a Peace March 2000 from San Francisco, California, (leaving on the birthday anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., January 15, 2000) and walking to Washington DC for Columbus Day, October 12, 2000, before concluding in New York City for the United Nations 55th anniversary, October 24, 2000, to bring attention to the need for all survival issues to be addressed as part of a comprehensive plan to fulfill the original objectives of the United Nations Charter to remove the scourge of war from the future generations in order to redirect human and financial resources towards solving today's global social and environmental emergency before it is too late to save all life on Earth. Please consult with your colleagues and organizations that you represent and let me know as soon as possible that I can count on you for your help as part of such coalition to co-sponsor The Peace March to fulfill these objectives. For more information on the organization and planning of this effort so far please see details at the website below. Thank you very much, David Crockett Williams General Agency Services gear2000@lightspeed.net http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000 Global Emergency Alert Response 661-822-3309 phone 561-658-2735 fax - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1999 21:48:02 EDT From: DavidMcR@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) Chicago area //-ALBRIGHT COMMENCEMENT SPEECH PROTEST In a message dated 6/8/99 4:40:48 PM Eastern Daylight Time, eschuster2@juno.com, editor of the SP magazine, The Socialist, sent the following. Subj: Northwestern University--ALBRIGHT COMMENCEMENT SPEECH PROTEST Date: 6/8/99 4:40:48 PM Eastern Daylight Time From: eschuster2@juno.com (Eric A Schuster) To: SocialistsUnmoderated@debs.pinko.net Friday / June 18 / Northwestern University, Evanston, IL ALBRIGHT COMMENCEMENT SPEECH PROTEST. (5pm) "Join us in protest, so that voices of compassion may ring louder than voices of destruction." Sponsors include Voices in the Wilderness, Illinois Peace Action, Eighth Day Center for Justice, and many others. Northwestern University, Ryan Stadium, Central St. & Ashland Ave., Evanston, IL. 773-784-8065, 773-561-5131, or 312-939- 3316, ilpeace@igc.org, http://www.webcom.com/ipa >> - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jun 1999 09:02:33 -0400 From: Rosalie Tyler Paul Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) SANTA BARBARA ABOLITION CAMPAIGN UPDATE Andrew - Please send a copy to us at peaceactionme.mail.ctel.net and to me here at handinhand. Many thanks, Rosalie Paul >Andrew, > >Please forward a copy to me. I prefer WordPerfect, but MS Word is fine >too. Whatever is easiest for you. > >Thanks, > >Chris Ney > > >At 12:03 AM 6/8/1999 -0700, you wrote: >>Greetings abolition 2000 and US abolition campaign folks. >> >>I am the convener of the "bottom up organizing" working group of the >fledgling US campaign. In order to >>encourage discussion on themes relevant to this working group, I have >written a strategy working paper which >>addresses some of the issues raised in the two organizing meetings which >resulted in the current US campaign >>structure. If you would like a copy, drop me a note specifying the format >you would like to receive it in (I >>can do MS word, all wordperfect formats, the various generic word >processing formats --asci, rtf, etc.-- and >>paper). >> >>Andrew Lichterman >>Western States Legal Foundation >>1440 Broadway Suite 500 >>Oakland, CA 94612 (510) 839 5877 >> >>- >> To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" >> with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. >> For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send >> "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. >> >> >********** >War Resisters League >339 Lafayette St. >New York, NY 10012 >212-228-0450 >212-228-6193 (fax) >1-800-975-9688 (YouthPeace and A Day Without the Pentagon) >wrl@igc.apc.org >web address: http://www.nonviolence.org/wrl > >- > To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" > with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. > For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send > "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jun 1999 01:02:29 +0100 From: "Sally Light" Subject: (abolition-usa) International Appeal Opposing US & French Explosive Nuclear Fusion Programs Friends, As co-convener of the US Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons working grou= p on Research Future of the Nuclear Weapons Complex, I am posting an international appeal that I and two colleagues (Hisham Zerriffi of I.E.E.R., USA, and Dominique Lalanne of Les Verts, France) recently creat= ed together. This appeal asks both the USA and France to immediately halt the National Ignition Facility (at Livermore Lab in the US) and Laser Megajoule (in Bordeaux, France) projects, and to declare a moratorium on all such explosive nuclear fusion programs. As you will read, this appeal is in both English and French, and is designed for circulation anywhere in the world. We hope to collect 1,000= 's of signatures which will give us an international groundswell for stoppin= g these dangerous programs. Completed appeals should be returned to Hisha= m, Dominique or myself at the addresses shown below.=20 Thanks, Sally Light Nuclear Program Analyst Tri-Valley CAREs=20 INTERNATIONAL APPEAL OPPOSING US AND FRENCH EXPLOSIVE NUCLEAR FUSION PROGRAMS We, the undersigned, state that: France and the United States both have programs to develop high energy lasers to achieve explosive nuclear fusion, the National Ignition Facilit= y (US) and Megajoule (France). The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is currently under construction in t= he US, and Megajoule's funding will be approved by the French parliament in the fall of 1999. The goals of NIF and Megajoule include achieving laboratory thermonuclear explosions and maintaining the two nations' respective nuclear weapons capabilities. Both France and the US have signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). NIF and Megajoule clearly violate the CTBT that commits the US and France "not to carry out any nuclear weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion." Further, these programs are proliferation provocative by encouraging other nations to carry out similar activities. Additionally, since the achievement of a CTBT was an explicit decision ma= de in the context of the 1995 extension of the NPT, any activities which violate the CTBT should also be seen as violating the commitments made under the NPT. THEREFORE, we urge the United States and France to respect their commitments to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ba= n Treaty by discontinuing the National Ignition Facility and Megajoule, and immediately declaring a moratorium on all such programs. Name Signature Address =09 _________________________________________________________________________= ___ __________ _________________________________________________________________________= ___ __________ _________________________________________________________________________= ___ __________ _________________________________________________________________________= ___ __________ _________________________________________________________________________= ___ __________ _________________________________________________________________________= ___ __________ _________________________________________________________________________= ___ __________ _________________________________________________________________________= ___ __________ _________________________________________________________________________= ___ __________ _________________________________________________________________________= ___ __________ _________________________________________________________________________= ___ __________ _________________________________________________________________________= ___ __________ Please return completed appeals to: In the US: Sally Light, Tri-Valley CAREs, 2582 Old First Street, Livermore, CA 94550= , USA Tel.: (925) 443-7148 Hisham Zerriffi, I.E.E.R., 6935 Laurel Ave., #204, Takoma Park, MD 20912, USA Tel.: (301) 270-5500 In France: Dominique Lalanne, Accelerateur Lineaire, 91405 Orsay, France Tel.: 33 = 1 64 46 84 28 Appel international pour l'arr=EAt des programmes am=E9ricain et fran=E7a= is d'explosions nucl=E9aires de fusion - --------------------------- Nous, les soussign=E9s, lan=E7ons l'appel ci-dessous: La France et les Etats-Unis d=E9veloppent actuellement des programmes de recherche sur les lasers de puissance, pour r=E9aliser en laboratoire des explosions nucl=E9aires de fusion, aux Etats-Unis avec le NIF (National Ignition Facility) et en France avec le M=E9gajoule. Le NIF est actuellement en construction aux Etats-Unis, et en France le financement du M=E9gajoule doit =EAtre adopt=E9e par l'Assembl=E9e Nation= ale lors du vote du budget, =E0 l'automne 1999. Les buts du NIF et du M=E9gajoule sont de r=E9aliser des explosions thermonucl=E9aires en laboratoire, de fa=E7on =E0 maintenir les capacit=E9= s des armements nucl=E9aires des deux nations. La France et les Etats-Unis ont sign=E9 en 1995 le trait=E9 de non-prolif=E9ration (TNP), et en 1996, le trait=E9 d'interdiction des essais nucl=E9aires (CTBT). Il est clair que le NIF et le M=E9gajoule violent le CTBT, qui engage les Etats-Unis et la France =E0 "ne pas proc=E9der =E0 des essais d'armes nuc= l=E9aires ni =E0 tout autre type d'explosion nucl=E9aire". De plus, ces programmes = sont de v=E9ritables provocations =E0 la prolif=E9ration, en encourageant les = autres nations =E0 mener aussi leurs propres essais nucl=E9aires. Par ailleurs, du fait que le CTBT ait =E9t=E9 consid=E9r=E9 en 1996 comme= une explicitation du TNP prorog=E9 l'ann=E9e pr=E9c=E9dente, toute activit=E9= qui viole le CTBT peut =EAtre interpr=E9t=E9e comme une violation du NPT lui-m=EAme. En cons=E9quence, nous appelons les Etats-Unis et la France =E0 respecter= au plus vite leurs engagements pris au moment de la signature du TNP et du CTBT, et ceci en arr=EAtant la construction du NIF et celle du M=E9gajoul= e et en d=E9clarant imm=E9diatement un moratoire sur tous ces programmes. nom adresse signature - -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - --- - -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - --- - -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - --- - -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - --- - -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - --- - -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - --- - -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - --- - -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - --- - -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - --- - -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - --- - -------------------- - -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - --- - -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - --- - -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - --- - -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - --- - -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - --- - -------------------------------------------------------------------------= - --- - ---------------------------------------------------------------- Veuillez renvoyer cet appel apr=E8s signature, aux USA: > > Sally Light, Tri-Valley CAREs, 2582 Old First Street, Livermore, CA 94550, USA Tel.: (925) 443-7148 > > Hisham Zerriffi, I.E.E.R., 6935 Laurel Ave., #204, Takoma Park, MD 20912, USA Tel.: (301) 270-5500 en France: > Dominique Lalanne, Acc=E9l=E9rateur Lin=E9aire, 91405 Orsay, France =20 Tel.: 33 1 64 46 84 28 e-mail=A0: lalanne@lal.in2p3.fr - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jun 1999 16:19:40 EDT From: DavidMcR@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) TFF: Is there a way out? In a message dated 6/12/99 10:07:14 AM Eastern Daylight Time,=20 jim_forest@compuserve.com writes: <<=20 Press Info #70 =20 THE NATO WAR, THE ETHNIC CLEANSING -=20 IS THERE AWAY OUT ? =20 June 10, 1999 =20 By Johan Galtung* Dr hc mult, Professor of Peace Studies Director, TRANSCEND: A Peace and Development Network =20 TFF Associate =20 "Where do I stand: very simply, I am against the NATO bombing, I am against ethnic cleansing, whether by Serbs or anybody else -- for instance by the immigrants to North America who in the period=20 1600-1900 cleansed away about 10,000,000 American Indians. I find nothing original in my position. The only original position would be to be in favor of both, a view probably only entertained by arms dealers. =20 There are those who try to make us believe that you have to make a choice between NATO and Milosevic; if you are against one for sure you are in favor of the other. Nonsense. Early on in this horrible decade many of the same people tried to make us believe that you had to make a choice between the Gulf war and Saddam Hussein; again, perfectly possible to be against both. =20 Then, the second example of this terrible dualism, the terror of the false dichotomy as we academics say: there was no alternative, if you do not accept the NATO bombing it means that you are co-responsible for ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. Nonsense. =20 There was an alternative and even a very good one: step of the number of observers in the OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM) from 1,200 to, say, 6,000, 12,000. Handies and binoculars, living in the villages, bringing in volunteers. But at the same time there was a civil war going on from February 1998, and one US ambassador had done what the US did in connection with the Gulf war: he (Gelbard) told Beograd that the USA was of the view that KLA were terrorists -- certainly also the Beograd position. The alternative would have been to close the border by extending the UN mandate on the Macedonian- Kosovo border, step up OSCE, and then call a major conference on South East Europe. =20 Nothing like this happened; as we know the war was decided early last fall; only a question of preparing the public through the media, and presenting Milosevic with an ultimatum he could not accept. The Rambouillet charade was about this. People started getting suspicious when they discovered that the media did not bring the text; it had to be dug out from obscure sites on the Internet. I asked some journalists to make an inquiry in one of these 19 democracies, my own, Norway: no parliamentarian had read the text. Democracy is about informed participation. The Serbs knew: loss of sovereignty and territorial integrity, unlimited NATO access to Serbia. No state signs itself into occupation and dismemberment. The Kosovars also knew: this was not the independence they wanted; it looked more like a protectorate under NATO. So they voted no. In some way or another they =20 were made to change their vote well knowing that the combination=20 No-Yes would release the bombing of the Serbs. It did, on 24 March, also releasing more hatred than ever of the Kosovars, among Serbs. Fresh in their memory was how the Croats have driven them out; with the help of USA and Germany. =20 Anyone could have told in advance; that the Kosovars would escape everybody knew. To claim the opposite is only possible if you live an isolated existence in some boys' club in a war room, capable of whipping the media into obedience so that dissenting voices are not hear. There is a difference between now and last time in the Gulf, however: on the Internet anybody can read some of the most brilliant people of our time as a counterweight to lobotomized media who bring important information, like what Rambouillet was about, two month later. Too late for democracy, good enough for democratic totalitarianism (Zinoviev.) =20 Did NATO bombing bring about the ethnic cleansing of the Kosovars in addition to producing close to one million refugees, or would the Serbs have engaged in ethnic cleansing anyhow? Again, the alternative to NATO bombing was never to do nothing, as pointed out above. There are fascist forces among the Serbs, the chetniki, Arkan's tigers, Sesel's Eagles -- it is almost unbelievable that the media and the tribunal have not focussed more on them. Why not -- because Milosevic is the symbol of the Serbian nation and the Republic of Yugoslavia, he is the one they want to hit, not the key architects of the cleansing. But leaving that aside: this is one more case of a false dichotomy. =20 Of course the NATO bombing was stimulated, among other factors, by Serbian ethnic cleansing in Croatia and Bosnia -- regardless of complex causes and others who did the same these were facts and the West (calling itself "the international community") was frustrated, aggressive, "never again". =20 And of course the NATO bombing led to ethnic cleansing as pointed out above: just imagine the post-Rambouillet hatred and the comparison with August 1995. Three times have the Serbs been maneuvered into a minority positions exposed to their old enemies without the federal protection that was basic to Tito's Yugoslavia: in Croatia, in Bosnia, in Kosovo. Three times have they overreacted, inexcusably, but not unexplainably. =20 Ethnic cleansing brought about the NATO bombing, the NATO bombing brought about more ethnic cleansing in a vicious circle of mutual causation. Murder, killing, destruction, hatred. trauma; NATO torturing the Serbs, the Serbs torturing the Kosovars, soon the time will come to the Kosovars. =20 How do we get out of this? Here is one set of ideas: =20 Peace, if wanted, could be near; guided by former UN General Secretary Perez de Cuellar's advice to Genscher December 1991:=20 be sure that any recognition is acceptable to minorities, that parts of Yugoslavia are dealt with symmetrically, and that there is a policy for Yugoslavia as a whole. But first a basic assumption that holds the key to a peace beyond ceasefire: =20 [0] Equal recognition of the suffering and rights of all: They are all victims, most of them more innocent than others, of a situation most nations would have found impossible. They need compassion, help; not guns and bombs. Divide them into "worthy" and "unworthy" victims, and peace becomes unattainable. They have all the same right to recognition and self-determination. =20 [1] Build on the symmetry Croatia-Bosnia/1995 and Serbia/1999: The 650,000 Serbian refugees in Serbia were in part driven out by the Croats/USA from Krajina/Slavonia August 1995. Serbian ultra- reactions included total condemnation of the international community, and "we can do the same". The Western media found little or no space for their suffering. Hence, both must be recognized as basic problems, they must all be guaranteed their safe return. And then upgrade the status of Krajina/Slavonia in Croatia, and Kosovo/a in Serbia, possibly to republic status. =20 [2] A possible quadrilateral deal: A (Croats) gives return and status to B (Serbs), B gives return/status to C (Kosovars), C gives access to mineral resources/harbors to D (Slavic Muslims) and D inclusion of the Croat part of Bosnia/Herzegovina to A. =20 [3] A Yugoslav confederation: If some autonomy is given to all minorities in Yugoslavia we end up with close to 15 parts. "Jedinstvo", a unitary or federal state, is out. But "bratstvo" as confederation of human rights respecting countries, is not. =20 So much for a peace outcome. For that to happen there has to be a peace process. Here are elements of a peace process: =20 [4] The killing on all sides stops, NATO/Serbia/KLA forces are withdrawn, NATO from the Balkans; Serbian and Kosovar forces from Kosova, UN forces with OSCE observers, with a composition acceptable to all parties, and in big numbers, take over. =20 [5] The UN Secretary General appoints a board of mediators known for wisdom and autonomy, like Jimmy Carter, Perez de Cuellar, Mikhail Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela, Julius Nyerere, Mary Robinson, Richard von Weizsaecker for one-on-one dialogues with all parties to identify acceptable and sustainable outcome. =20 [6] The UN Secretary General convenes a Conference for the Security and Cooperation in South East Europe (CSCSEE), with all parts of Yugoslavia, and all SE European countries as members, with points like [1]-[3] on the agenda, pending the report from the team mentioned in [5] above. =20 [7] The Presidents of Slovenia and Macedonia convene a civil society conference, using expertise in all parts of Yugoslavia, to project images of future relations within ex-Yugoslavia, and does the same for future relations within South East Europe (in cooperation with, say, Hungary and Greece). =20 [8] The peoples of Yugoslavia are invited to participate in the peace process, forming multi-national dialogue groups all over, coming forward with concrete ideas based on local dialogues. =20 [9] Reconstruction is systematically used for reconciliation by having belligerent groups cooperating, doing the task together, not giving that enormous task away to outside entrepreneurs. =20 [10] If any border has to be drawn or redrawn the principles of the Danish-German 1920 Schleswig-Holstein partition are used. =20 However, however. I started by saying that I am against both NATO bombing and ethnic cleansing. Like most people in the world, I assume, perhaps not in belligerent Western Europe, filled with the=20 self-righteousness of their interpretation of how society should be governed. Nine hundred years ago, when they launched the Crusades, it used to be their special interpretation of God and Jesus Christ, not Jewish, not Orthodox, not Muslim. They killed as many as they could lay hands on, limited only by their more artisanal killing technology those days. =20 As indicated above, I feel the problems of Yugoslavia can be solved, with more good will, more creativity, a little time and less dualism, less demonization. Milosevic is very far from a new Hitler. He does not have a new concept of world order, run from above. He is essentially an administrator of very unfortunate traits in the Serbian psyche, a megalomania and paranoia almost as high as that of the USA, about at the same level as can be found in Saddam Hussein's Iraq. In addition there are elements of the mafia boss, but they are ubiquitous in these globalizing days. =20 The other problem, NATO bombing, is more problematic. But the bombers have one good question to which they have the wrong answer. The question is: what do we do when the doctrine of national sovereignty protects the state that insults the human rights of its own population? The answer cannot possibly to insult these human rights even more. Rather, we could learn from the USA: there are federal crimes, and there is federal police pre-stationed all over. How about pre-stationing UN observers and UN troops all over as a preventive measure? =20 Human rights are universal. They are also indivisible, a country cannot detach the economic and social rights, accepting only the civil and political. Many criminals would like to do the same to the criminal code in their country as the USA does to the International Bill of Rights, ratifying one of the 16 December 1966 covenants, not the economic and social rights. =20 We are heading for a major world confrontation between the 19 NATO countries and, probably, much of the rest of the world, particularly the part caught in the US pincer move of expanding NATO eastward at the same time as they expand AMPO westward. Eurasia, the home of more than half of humanity is watching what happens with great anxiety. Who is next in line to be bombed? Or, could it be in Latin America, like Colombia, the USA not using NATO but using TIAP, the Latin American military system? =20 The world today has a major problem. That problem has a name. The name is not Milosevic, he is the small town villain. The name of the problem is United States of America. =20 Their sense of exceptionalism, being above ordinary states and nations, is attractive. To break that many international law paragraphs can only be justified if you are above the law, in a direct relation to a God of the universe who "created America to bring order to the world" (Colin Powell) or, in more secular terms, "a global nation with global interests" (Shalikashvili). Smaller states flock to the Exceptional one to reflect, like the cold moon, some of the light, not to mention the heat, burning the non-believers. An old Western tradition. =20 Let us hope that this intoxicating frenzy of violence to torture the Serbs into capitulation will be followed by some soberness. Preferably in time to prevent a Third world war. =20 * TV/Radio Interviews. Meeting at Sergels Torg, Stockholm May 24, 1999 =20 =A9 TRANSCEND, Johan Galtung & TFF 1999 =20 You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the source. =20 * * * Dr. Jan Oberg Director, head of the TFF Conflict-Mitigation team to the Balkans and Georgia =20 TFF Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research Vegagatan 25 S-224 57 Lund Sweden Phone +46-46-145909 (0900-1100) Fax +46-46-144512 Email tff@transnational.org http://www.transnational.org =20 * * * >> - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jun 1999 02:01:32 EDT From: DavidMcR@aol.com Subject: (abolition-usa) Beware : worm on the loose Date: 6/13/99 1:57:16 AM Eastern Daylight Time From: DavidMcR To: ecorky@lapatera.sbceo.k12.ca.us To: martymcr@dc.seflin.org, JFKPDX, wesley-a@usa.net To: StevenAult, wrll@scn.org, COC-L@CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU To: LEFT-L@CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU, redyouth@debs.pinko.net To: jhurd_newparty@indiana.edu, spusa@netscape.net To: SocialistsUnmoderated@debs.pinko.net To: solidarity@igc.apc.org To: stormingheaven@onelist.com BCC: DavidMcR Friends, To the best of my knowledge this IS a SERIOUS warning. Note that the problem only comes IF YOU OPEN AN ATTACHMENT NAMED "ZIPPED_FILES.EXE". One warning came from France, the other from left contacts in Israel. All I'm waiting for in a final note from Bombay but I'd assume the warning is valid. There is no danger from just getting an email (such as this one) but beware attachments, downloads, etc. David McReynolds << > >Another dratted trouble maker to watch out for : the latest "worm" finding >its way into computors via an attachment. This time it is via email >attachments named "zipped_files.exe" So take care! > >> >> - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #139 *********************************** - To unsubscribe to $LIST, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe $LIST" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message.