From: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com (abolition-usa-digest) To: abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: abolition-usa-digest V1 #315 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 Monday, June 5 2000 Volume 01 : Number 315 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 02 Jun 2000 13:31:36 -0400 From: Ellen Thomas Subject: (abolition-usa) NucNews 00/06/02 - (Sorry for the delay) - --=====================_42846582==_.ALT Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Come Drum for Nuclear Disarmament on Saturday, June 3rd, 2 p.m., Lafayette Park, across from the White House, on the 19th Anniversary of the founding= of the Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil (24 hours a day since June 3, 1981). Come= on, folks, these people deserve a boost. And we need to remind the public about the need to live up to the recent NPT victory. What better way than drums?= =20 202-462-0757 for info; mailto:prop1@prop1.org. Daybook - Washington Times and Agence France Presse http://www.washtimes.com/national/daybook-2000622133.htm Tiananmen vigil =97 8 p.m. =97 The Independent Federation of Chinese= Students and Scholars and 12 human rights and overseas Chinese organizations= co-sponsor a candlelight vigil to commemorate the 11th anniversary of the June 4, 1989, massacre in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Political dissidents Wei Jingsheng= and Harry Wu and student leader Wang Dan will address the rally. Location: In= front of the Chinese Embassy, 2300 Connecticut Ave. NW. Contact:202/737-0022. Geo-sciences meeting =97 8:30 a.m. =97 The American Geophysical Union,= the Geochemical Society and the Mineralogical Society of America hold their= spring meeting. Highlights =97 1:30 p.m. =97 ... "Radiation and Remote Sensing 1"; ... "Forest Biogeochemistry 2"; "Remote Sensing of the Biosphere 2"; "Portal to= the Future: The Digital Library for Earth System Education 1".... Location: Washington Convention Center, 900 Ninth St. NW. Contact: 202/462-6900. Arrival ceremony =97 11 a.m. =97T he Defense Department hosts a= full-honors arrival ceremony to welcome Chilean Minister of Defense Mario Fernandez to= the Pentagon. Defense Secretary William S. Cohen participates. Location: River Parade Field, the Pentagon. Contact: 703/695-0169. U.S. Catholic Conference news conference =97 11 a.m. =97The U.S.= Catholic Conference holds a news conference on the Vatican's relations to other countries. Location: Murrow Room, National Press Club, 14th and F streets= NW. Contact: 202/541-3200. Vice President Gore - DC 2 p.m. =97 Makes remarks at the National Summit on Fatherhood, Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, 400 New Jersey Ave. NW. Contact: 301/973-2367. 4:35 p.m. =97 Makes remarks at a Race for the Cure rally, base of the Washington Monument, the National Mall. Texas Governor George W. Bush - Sacramento 8:45 a.m. -- Border Governors Conference in Sacramento, California.= Media information for the conference may be obtained by calling 916/445-4571. Governor Bush will also speak via satellite at the CNN 20th Anniversary Celebration. ___________________________________________________ Today's Newspapers: http://prop1.org/nucnews/links.htm NucNews Archives: http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm Subscribe to NucNews: prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Subscribe) Submit URL/Article: prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Editor) About NucNews: http://prop1.org/nucnews/nucnews.htm NucNews - E-Mailed: http://www.onelist.com/archive/NucNews Excellent e-mail news resources: DOE Watch - doewatch@onelist.com - http://members.aol.com/doewatch=20 Downwinders - downwinders@onelist.com - http://downwinders@onelist.com=20 EnviroNews - environews@envirolink.org -= http://www.envirolink.org/environews=20 Planet Ark/Reuters - anna@planetark.org - http://www.planetark.org/news/ Radbull (Radiation Bulletin) radbull@dax.energy-net.org=20 Distributed without payment for research and educational=20 purposes only, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107. - --=====================_42846582==_.ALT Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Come Drum for Nuclear Disarmament on Saturday, June 3rd, 2 p.m., Lafayette Park, across from the White House, on the 19th Anniversary of the founding of the Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil (24 hours a day since June 3, 1981).  Come on, folks, these people deserve a boost.  And we need to remind the public about the need to live up to the recent NPT victory.  What better way than drums?  202-462-0757 for info; mailto:prop1@prop1.org.

Daybook - Washington Times and Agence France Presse
http://www.washtimes.com/national/daybook-2000622133.htm

    Tiananmen vigil =97 8 p.m. =97 The Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars and 12 human rights and overseas Chinese organizations co-sponsor a candlelight vigil to commemorate the 11th anniversary of the June 4, 1989, massacre in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Political dissidents Wei Jingsheng and Harry Wu and student leader Wang Dan will address the rally. Location: In front of the Chinese Embassy, 2300 Connecticut Ave. NW. Contact:202/737-0022.

    Geo-sciences meeting =97 8:30 a.m. =97 The American Geophysical Union, the Geochemical Society and the Mineralogical Society of America hold their spring meeting.
      Highlights =97 1:30 p.m. =97 ... "Radiation and Remote Sensing 1"; ... "Forest Biogeochemistry 2"; "Remote Sensing of the Biosphere 2"; "Portal to the Future: The Digital Library for Earth System Education 1"....

    Location: Washington Convention Center, 900 Ninth St. NW. Contact: 202/462-6900.

     Arrival ceremony =97 11 a.m. =97T he Defense Department hosts a full-honors arrival ceremony to welcome Chilean Minister of Defense Mario Fernandez to the Pentagon. Defense Secretary William S. Cohen participates. Location: River Parade Field, the Pentagon. Contact: 703/695-0169.

      U.S. Catholic Conference news conference =97 11 a.m. =97The U.S. Catholic Conference holds a news conference on the Vatican's relations to other countries. Location: Murrow Room, National Press Club, 14th and F streets NW. Contact: 202/541-3200.

Vice President Gore - DC
      2 p.m. =97 Makes remarks at the National Summit on Fatherhood, Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, 400 New Jersey Ave. NW. Contact: 301/973-2367.
      4:35 p.m. =97 Makes remarks at a Race for the Cure rally, base of the Washington Monument, the National Mall.

Texas Governor George W. Bush - Sacramento
      8:45 a.m. -- Border Governors Conference in Sacramento, California. Media information for the conference may be obtained by calling 916/445-4571. Governor Bush will also speak via satellite at the CNN 20th Anniversary Celebration.


     ___________________________________________________

       Today's Newspapers:
http://prop1.org/nucnews/links.htm
           NucNews Archives: http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm
     Subscribe to NucNews:  prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Subscribe)
           Submit URL/Article: prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Editor)
          &= nbsp;         About NucNews: http://prop1.org/nucnews/nucnews.htm
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Excellent e-mail news resources:

DOE Watch - doewatch@onelist.com - http://members.aol.com/doewatch
Downwinders - downwinders@onelist.com= - http://downwinders@onelist.com
EnviroNews - environews@envirolink.org= - http://www.envirolink.org/environews=
Planet Ark/Reuters - anna@planetark.org - http://www.planetark.org/news/
Radbull (Radiation Bulletin) radbull@dax.energy-net.org

      Distributed without payment for research and= educational
   purposes only, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section= 107.


- --=====================_42846582==_.ALT-- - - 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, 3 Jun 2000 20:58:36 +1000 From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) Don't Blow It *** PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE *** - --------------------------------------------------------------- For Our Kid's Future - Make Nuclear Weapons a Thing of the Past - --------------------------------------------------------------- A nuclear bomb could STILL ruin your whole day ... There are over 36,000 nuclear weapons around the world - enough to destroy the planet several times over. Our government alone spends over $30 billion annually just to maintain the Pentagon's nuclear arsenal of over 12,000 nuclear weapons. To make matters worse, instead of reducing nuclear bombs, the U.S. is building a costly "Star Wars" anti-missile system that doesn't work and may spark a new arms race. When will we say "enough is enough?" You can help create a safer future by making nuclear weapons a thing of the past. Tell our elected officials "Don't Blow It!" Our government should take the lead in reducing nuclear stockpiles, putting an end to "Star Wars" and supporting verifiable arms reductions. But they need to hear from you first. Please visit and send our elected officials a clear message for a safer future. dontblowit.org partner organizations include: * Coalition to Reduce Nuclear Dangers * Back from the Brink * Council for a Livable World * Peace Action; * Physicians for Social Responsibility * Fourth Freedom Forum Please pass this message on to EVERYONE you know who might be concerned about nuclear weapons and our future. Don't forget your folks, your brothers and sisters, your college friends, your co-workers and oh yea ... your favorite nuclear physicist. Thanks. John Hallam Friends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord Street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, 2042 Fax (61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd - - 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, 03 Jun 2000 09:03:03 -0400 From: Ellen Thomas Subject: (abolition-usa) NucNews 00/06/03 - 19th Anniversary of Antinuclear Vigil Day, DC - --=====================_67021397==_.ALT Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Come Drum for Nuclear Disarmament today, June 3rd, 2 p.m., Lafayette Park, across from the White House, on the 19th Anniversary of the founding of the Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil (24 hours a day since June 3, 1981). We'll be drumming again tomorrow, June 4th, to start the 20th year and to remember Tiananment Square. 202-462-0757 for info; mailto:prop1@prop1.org. Favorite missile defense cartoons of the week: http://www2.uclick.com/feature/2000/05/31/tt.gif (Toles) http://www2.uclick.com/feature/2000/05/25/ta.gif and http://www2.uclick.com/feature/2000/06/02/ta.gif (Auth) ___________________________________________________ Today's Newspapers: http://prop1.org/nucnews/links.htm NucNews Archives: http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm Subscribe to NucNews: prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Subscribe) Submit URL/Article: prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Editor) About NucNews: http://prop1.org/nucnews/nucnews.htm NucNews - E-Mailed: http://www.onelist.com/archive/NucNews Excellent e-mail news resources: DOE Watch - doewatch@onelist.com - http://members.aol.com/doewatch Downwinders - downwinders@onelist.com - http://www.downwinders.org/ EnviroNews - environews@envirolink.org - http://www.envirolink.org/environews Planet Ark/Reuters - anna@planetark.org - http://www.planetark.org/news/ Radbull (Radiation Bulletin) radbull@dax.energy-net.org Distributed without payment for research and educational purposes only, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107. - --=====================_67021397==_.ALT Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii"
Come Drum for Nuclear Disarmament today, June 3rd, 2 p.m., Lafayette Park, across from the White House, on the 19th Anniversary of the founding of the Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil (24 hours a day since June 3, 1981).  We'll be drumming again tomorrow, June 4th, to start the 20th year and to remember Tiananment Square. 202-462-0757 for info; mailto:prop1@prop1.org.

Favorite missile defense cartoons of the week: 

     ___________________________________________________

       Today's Newspapers: http://prop1.org/nucnews/links.htm
           NucNews Archives: http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm
     Subscribe to NucNews:  prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Subscribe)
           Submit URL/Article: prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Editor)
                    About NucNews: http://prop1.org/nucnews/nucnews.htm
        NucNews - E-Mailed: http://www.onelist.com/archive/NucNews

Excellent e-mail news resources:

DOE Watch - doewatch@onelist.com - http://members.aol.com/doewatch
Downwinders - downwinders@onelist.com - http://www.downwinders.org/
EnviroNews - environews@envirolink.org - http://www.envirolink.org/environews
Planet Ark/Reuters - anna@planetark.org - http://www.planetark.org/news/
Radbull (Radiation Bulletin) radbull@dax.energy-net.org

      Distributed without payment for research and educational
   purposes only, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.


- --=====================_67021397==_.ALT-- - - 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: Mon, 05 Jun 2000 07:20:32 -0400 From: Ellen Thomas Subject: (abolition-usa) NucNews 00/06/05 - --=====================_5511231==_.ALT Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Daybook, June 5, 2000 - Washington Times and FIND/Agence France Presse http://www.washtimes.com/national/daybook-200065214121.htm Terrorism policy report =97 10 a.m. =97 National Commission on= Terrorism releases its final report on the nation's policies and practices for= preventing and punishing terrorism. Location: 2255 Rayburn House Office Building.= Contact: 202/944-1987. Chechnya/Russia conflict =979 a.m. =97 National Press Club Newsmaker= Program hosts a discussion on the conflict with Russian forces in Chechnya. Ilias Akhmadov, foreign minister for Chechnya, participates. Location: National= Press Club, West Room, 14th and F streets NW. Contact: 202/662-7593. Internet privacy panel discussion =97 9 a.m. =97 Electronic Privacy Information Center hosts two panel discussions on Internet privacy and the= open source movement. Location: National Press Club, Holeman Lounge, 14th and F streets NW. Contact: 202/483-1140. Army research meeting =97 9:30 a.m. =97 National Academies Army= Research Laboratory Technical Assessment Board holds a meeting of its Panel on= Sensors and Electron Devices. Location: Army Research Laboratory, Zahl Building,= fourth floor, seminar room 4D36, 2800 Powder Mill Road, Adelphi. Contact: 202/334-3311. Presidential Candidates: AL GORE - North Carolina, New York 11:30 a.m. =97 Addresses the graduating class of Tarboro High School, Tarboro, N.C. 3:05 p.m. =97 Makes remarks about improving government services at= North Carolina State University Centennial Campus College of Textiles, Raleigh,= N.C. 7:20 p.m. =97 Gives brief remarks at a Democratic Congressional= Campaign Committee reception, The Supper Club, main ballroom, New York City. 8:30 p.m. =97 Gives brief remarks at a Democratic Congressional= Campaign Committee reception, SEIU Conference Center, New York City. Contact: 202/456-7035 - ----- [Thanks to those who turned out for the Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil 19th Anniversary celebration on Saturday, June 3rd. Next year will be the 20th anniversary, and we hope with a year's advance notice you will begin= thinking how we can make sure it's big, loud, and noticeable -- this is the first= notice that we intend to have a musical rally, including speakers about Star Wars, Downwinders, Depleted Uranium, MOX, and all other compelling issues which haven't been resolved in the next year. Please put the first weekend in= June on your calendar as Antinuclear Weekend in Washington DC! See http://prop1.org. Ellen Thomas, mailto:prop1@prop1.org] ___________________________________________________ Today's Newspapers: http://prop1.org/nucnews/links.htm NucNews Archives: http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm Subscribe to NucNews: prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Subscribe) Submit URL/Article: prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Editor) About NucNews: http://prop1.org/nucnews/nucnews.htm NucNews - E-Mailed: http://www.onelist.com/archive/NucNews Excellent e-mail news resources: DOE Watch - doewatch@onelist.com - http://members.aol.com/doewatch=20 Downwinders - downwinders@onelist.com - http://www.downwinders.org/=20 EnviroNews - environews@envirolink.org -= http://www.envirolink.org/environews=20 Planet Ark/Reuters - anna@planetark.org - http://www.planetark.org/news/ Radbull (Radiation Bulletin) radbull@dax.energy-net.org=20 Quick Route to U.S. Congress: http://www.senate.gov/senators/index.cfm (Senators' Websites) http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.html (Representatives' Websites) http://thomas.loc.gov/ (Pending Legislation - Search) Distributed without payment for research and educational=20 purposes only, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107. - --=====================_5511231==_.ALT Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Daybook, June 5, 2000 - Washington Times and FIND/Agence France Presse

      Terrorism policy report =97 10 a.m. =97 National Commission on Terrorism releases its final report on the nation's policies and practices for preventing and punishing terrorism. Location: 2255 Rayburn House Office Building. Contact: 202/944-1987.

     Chechnya/Russia conflict =979 a.m. =97 Nationa= l Press Club Newsmaker Program hosts a discussion on the conflict with Russian forces in Chechnya. Ilias Akhmadov, foreign minister for Chechnya, participates. Location: National Press Club, West Room, 14th and F streets NW. Contact: 202/662-7593.

      Internet privacy panel discussion =97 9 a.m. =97 Electronic Privacy Information Center hosts two panel discussions on Internet privacy and the open source movement. Location: National Press Club, Holeman Lounge, 14th and F streets NW. Contact: 202/483-1140.

      Army research meeting =97 9:30 a.m. =97 National Academies Army Research Laboratory Technical Assessment Board holds a meeting of its Panel on Sensors and Electron Devices. Location: Army Research Laboratory, Zahl Building, fourth floor, seminar room 4D36, 2800 Powder Mill Road, Adelphi. Contact: 202/334-3311.

Presidential Candidates:

AL GORE - North Carolina, New York

      11:30 a.m. =97 Addresses the graduating class of Tarboro High School, Tarboro, N.C.
      3:05 p.m. =97 Makes remarks about improving government services at North Carolina State University Centennial Campus College of Textiles, Raleigh, N.C.
      7:20 p.m. =97 Gives brief remarks at a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee reception, The Supper Club, main ballroom, New York City.
      8:30 p.m. =97 Gives brief remarks at a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee reception, SEIU Conference Center, New York City. Contact: 202/456-7035

-----

[Thanks to those who turned out for the Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil 19th Anniversary celebration on Saturday, June 3rd.  Next year will be the 20th anniversary, and we hope with a year's advance notice you will begin thinking how we can make sure it's big, loud, and noticeable - -- this is the first notice that we intend to have a musical rally, including speakers about Star Wars, Downwinders, Depleted Uranium, MOX, and all other compelling issues which haven't been resolved in the next year.  Please put the first weekend in June on your calendar as Antinuclear Weekend in Washington DC!  See http://prop1.org.  Ellen Thomas, mailto:prop1@prop1.org]



     ___________________________________________________

       Today's Newspapers: http://prop1.org/nucnews/links.htm
           NucNews Archives: http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm
     Subscribe to NucNews:  prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Subscribe)
           Submit URL/Article: prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Editor)
          &= nbsp;         About NucNews: http://prop1.org/nucnews/nucnews.htm
        NucNews - E-Mailed: http://www.onelist.com/archive/NucNews

Excellent e-mail news resources:

DOE Watch - doewatch@onelist.com - http://members.aol.com/doewatch
Downwinders - downwinders@onelist.com= - http://www.downwinders.org/
EnviroNews - environews@envirolink.org= - http://www.envirolink.org/environews=
Planet Ark/Reuters - anna@planetark.org - http://www.planetark.org/news/
Radbull (Radiation Bulletin) radbull@dax.energy-net.org

Quick Route to U.S. Congress:

http://www.senate.gov/senators/index.cfm (Senators'= Websites)
http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.html= (Representatives' Websites)
http://thomas.loc.gov/  (Pending Legislation -= Search)


      Distributed without payment for research and= educational
   purposes only, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section= 107.


- --=====================_5511231==_.ALT-- - - 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: Mon, 05 Jun 2000 08:09:57 -0400 From: Ellen Thomas Subject: (abolition-usa) Star Wars: Episode Two - In These Times - --=====================_7543721==_.ALT Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" http://www.inthesetimes.com/stclair2414.html June 12 , 2000 Star Wars: Episode Two The Pentagon's Latest Missile Defense Fantasy By Jeffrey St. Clair It's wrong to say that Star Wars is back. The hare - brained scheme hatched on the fly by Ronald Reagan in 1983 has never gone away. Quietly but relentlessly a Star Wars industry, under the rubric of Ballistic Missile Defense, has mushroomed. The corporate press, which rightly heckled the plan in its early days, soon got bored with the story and left it for dead. Then in 1992, the missile shield's putative critics took over the White House and became its new masters. In the intervening years, billions of dollars poured into the Pentagon's Space and Missile Defense Command Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to production plants spread across key congressional districts, and into the plump accounts of a portfolio of defense contractors and high - tech firms. Credit: Terry Laban In a 1995 review of the program in DefenseIssues, an internal Pentagon newsletter, Lt. Gen. Malcolm O'Neill, then head of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, rhapsodized about a "synergized" network of high - powered, space - based lasers, satellites, radar and sea - , air - and ground - launched "exoatmospheric kill vehicles" that would save U.S. cities from "theater - class ballistic missiles, advanced cruise missiles and other air - breathing threats as well." Feel safer? Now the Pentagon is seeking approval to put part of its system into operation. The first phase is a ground - based system of 100 Interceptor missiles and a ring of new radar stations, both to be based in the Alaskan tundra. Clinton has said he will make a final decision on the system this summer. All indications are that he will give it the green light. Of course, there are problems. Namely, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and corporate America's coddling of China, why in the world would the United States need to deploy such a system? Such questions prompt the most absurd frenzy of threat - inflation since the notion that the Marxist government of Grenada posed a grave danger to the Western Hemisphere. A coven of atomic warriors has been rolled out to fulminate about "rogue nations" and "global terrorists" who threaten what the Pentagon brass calls the "early post - Cold War paradigm." Of course, if Osama Bin Laden ever decides to strike back at his former friends in the U.S. government, his payload is much more likely to be delivered via FedEx in a Louis Vuitton suitcase than a rocket launched from his camp in the Hindu Kush. Another stumbling block is the 1972 Anti - Ballistic Missile Treaty that flatly prohibits such a system, which the architects of the ABM treaty rightly saw as a destabilizing force that would spur proliferation and stockpiling of weapons. But the Clinton - Gore administration views the ABM treaty as outmoded and, in a now customary display of hubris, on April 25, U.S. Ambassador James Collins delivered a draft copy of proposed changes to Moscow. The tenor of the U.S. rewrite didn't sit well with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, who warned it could prove a "fatal mistake." "Everyone should be aware that the collapse of the ABM treaty would have a destructive domino effect for the existing system of disarmament agreements," he said. "We would be back in an era of suspicion and confrontation." New Russian President Vladimir Putin has already upped the nuclear ante by authorizing changes in Russia's military doctrine that would allow it to launch a "first strike" nuclear attack. Anti - nuclear activist Daniel Ellsberg, the former government researcher who leaked the Pentagon Papers, says that may have been the bizarre intention of the Pentagon all along. "In order to advance a domestic political agenda," he says, "the United States is encouraging the Russians to remain on and advance a launch - on - warning system." It's the old game of escalating threats. The cheerleaders for the new Star Wars system now realize that the "rogue state" threat isn't credible. For one thing, North Korea, nearly crippled by drought and economic isolation, seems ready to consider a rapprochement with the South. Iran, the Pentagon's other favorite devil, doesn't have missiles that could reach the United States. And Iraq, still smoldering from years of unceasing U.S. air strikes, is barely able to maintain its water supply system, never mind construct a fleet of transcontinental ballistic missiles. Even that normally reliable intermediary for U.S. strategic interests, U.N. Secretary - General Kofi Annan, has publicly voiced his doubts about the new Star Wars scheme, saying it could reignite a global arms race. Even some unrepentant cold warriors chafed at this chilling dialogue. North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms, who rules the Foreign Relations Committee, vowed that any changes to the ABM Treaty agreed to by Russia would be "dead on arrival." The Republicans have a political motive to drag their feet. They don't want to give Al Gore a "hawkish" victory on the eve of the election or allow Clinton to add some more military luster to his legacy. "So, Mr. Clinton is in search of a legacy," Helms blustered. "La - de - da - he already has one. The Russian government should not be under any illusion whatsoever that any commitments made by this lame - duck administration will be binding on the next administration." To top it off, the system doesn't work. There have been two high - profile tests of the Interceptor missile to date. One was an unmitigated failure. The other was initially touted as "a direct kill," but it later emerged that the Pentagon had fixed the test. The next firing is slated for June 26. A few months ago, Defense Secretary William Cohen pointed to this date as a make - it - or - break - it final exam for the program. But now top Pentagon officials are beginning to show signs of test anxiety. "It will depend on what caused the failure," hedges Pentagon spokesman Mike Biddle. "A mechanical failure isn't necessarily terminal." Even the program's biggest boosters now concede that the missile shield would be all but useless against a nuclear strike launched by Russia, China or, one supposes, France, should Parisians ever seek to retaliate for the crimes of EuroDisney. A newly declassified State Department document, obtained by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, shows that a minimum of four U.S. Interceptors would be needed to "kill" one incoming missile. This means that the entire system would be exhausted trying to down 20 missiles. The Pentagon's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization projects the cost of the system at $36 billion, a typically modest appraisal. The Congressional Budget Office has come up with a slightly more robust number of $60 billion - a figure the government auditors admit is little more than a rough guess, since the administration hasn't yet put forward details on the next two phases of the plan. But even that number was enough to stagger some of the plan's most ardent backers. "That's out of sync with anything I've seen," said Rep. Curt Weldon, the Pennsylvania Republican who chairs the House Armed Services Committee's panel on military research and development. "But you can't put a price tag on protecting American cities." Despite the dearth of media coverage, the public is beginning to sour on the plan. According to a recent ABC News poll, public support for the Clinton/Gore version of national missile defense is sliding; 44 percent of Americans support the plan, down from 55 percent in 1985. So what's driving the bipartisan push for an increasingly unpopular new missile defense system that is extravagant, inept, unnecessary and destabilizing? You don't have to dig very deep to find an answer: Raytheon, TRW, Lockheed Martin and Boeing. Each of these firms has secured a lucrative sector of the Star Wars program. Of course, the companies do have to make some political offerings. And they haven't been miserly. Together these four companies have flushed more than $2.6 million to the two political parties in soft money alone since 1996. On top of that, the defense giants' PACs have sluiced $3.7 million to federal candidates in the past three years, making the Star Wars coalition one of the prime sponsors of our political system. What money can't buy, direct persuasion often can. These four companies spent more than $18 million lobbying Congress in 1998, sending out a legion of former senators, congressmen and retired Pentagon chieftains as their hired guns on the Hill. This all gives a bracing new meaning to getting more bang for the buck. Jeffrey St. Clair is a contributing editor of In These Times. Vol. 24, No. 14 ____________________________________________________________ * Peace Through Reason - http://prop1.org - Convert the War Machines! * ____________________________________________________________ - --=====================_7543721==_.ALT Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii"
http://www.inthesetimes.com/stclair2414.html

June 12 , 2000

Star Wars: Episode Two
The Pentagon's Latest Missile Defense Fantasy

By Jeffrey St. Clair

It's wrong to say that Star Wars is back. The hare - brained scheme hatched on the fly by Ronald Reagan in 1983 has never gone away. Quietly but relentlessly a Star Wars industry, under the rubric of Ballistic Missile Defense, has mushroomed.

The corporate press, which rightly heckled the plan in its early days, soon got bored with the story and left it for dead. Then in 1992, the missile shield's putative critics took over the White House and became its new masters. In the intervening years, billions of dollars poured into the Pentagon's Space and Missile Defense Command Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to production plants spread across key congressional districts, and into the plump accounts of a portfolio of defense contractors and high - tech firms.
Credit: Terry Laban

In a 1995 review of the program in DefenseIssues, an internal Pentagon newsletter, Lt. Gen. Malcolm O'Neill, then head of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, rhapsodized about a "synergized" network of high - powered, space - based lasers, satellites, radar and sea - , air - and ground - launched "exoatmospheric kill vehicles" that would save U.S. cities from "theater - class ballistic missiles, advanced cruise missiles and other air - breathing threats as well." Feel safer?

Now the Pentagon is seeking approval to put part of its system into operation. The first phase is a ground - based system of 100 Interceptor missiles and a ring of new radar stations, both to be based in the Alaskan tundra. Clinton has said he will make a final decision on the system this summer. All indications are that he will give it the green light.

Of course, there are problems. Namely, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and corporate America's coddling of China, why in the world would the United States need to deploy such a system? Such questions prompt the most absurd frenzy of threat - inflation since the notion that the Marxist government of Grenada posed a grave danger to the Western Hemisphere. A coven of atomic warriors has been rolled out to fulminate about "rogue nations" and "global terrorists" who threaten what the Pentagon brass calls the "early post - Cold War paradigm." Of course, if Osama Bin Laden ever decides to strike back at his former friends in the U.S. government, his payload is much more likely to be delivered via FedEx in a Louis Vuitton suitcase than a rocket launched from his camp in the Hindu Kush.

Another stumbling block is the 1972 Anti - Ballistic Missile Treaty that flatly prohibits such a system, which the architects of the ABM treaty rightly saw as a destabilizing force that would spur proliferation and stockpiling of weapons. But the Clinton - Gore administration views the ABM treaty as outmoded and, in a now customary display of hubris, on April 25, U.S. Ambassador James Collins delivered a draft copy of proposed changes to Moscow. The tenor of the U.S. rewrite didn't sit well with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, who warned it could prove a "fatal mistake." "Everyone should be aware that the collapse of the ABM treaty would have a destructive domino effect for the existing system of disarmament agreements," he said. "We would be back in an era of suspicion and confrontation."

New Russian President Vladimir Putin has already upped the nuclear ante by authorizing changes in Russia's military doctrine that would allow it to launch a "first strike" nuclear attack. Anti - nuclear activist Daniel Ellsberg, the former government researcher who leaked the Pentagon Papers, says that may have been the bizarre intention of the Pentagon all along. "In order to advance a domestic political agenda," he says, "the United States is encouraging the Russians to remain on and advance a launch - on - warning system."

It's the old game of escalating threats. The cheerleaders for the new Star Wars system now realize that the "rogue state" threat isn't credible. For one thing, North Korea, nearly crippled by drought and economic isolation, seems ready to consider a rapprochement with the South. Iran, the Pentagon's other favorite devil, doesn't have missiles that could reach the United States. And Iraq, still smoldering from years of unceasing U.S. air strikes, is barely able to maintain its water supply system, never mind construct a fleet of transcontinental ballistic missiles. Even that normally reliable intermediary for U.S. strategic interests, U.N. Secretary - General Kofi Annan, has publicly voiced his doubts about the new Star Wars scheme, saying it could reignite a global arms race.

Even some unrepentant cold warriors chafed at this chilling dialogue. North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms, who rules the Foreign Relations Committee, vowed that any changes to the ABM Treaty agreed to by Russia would be "dead on arrival." The Republicans have a political motive to drag their feet. They don't want to give Al Gore a "hawkish" victory on the eve of the election or allow Clinton to add some more military luster to his legacy. "So, Mr. Clinton is in search of a legacy," Helms blustered. "La - de - da - he already has one. The Russian government should not be under any illusion whatsoever that any commitments made by this lame - duck administration will be binding on the next administration."

To top it off, the system doesn't work. There have been two high - profile tests of the Interceptor missile to date. One was an unmitigated failure. The other was initially touted as "a direct kill," but it later emerged that the Pentagon had fixed the test. The next firing is slated for June 26. A few months ago, Defense Secretary William Cohen pointed to this date as a make - it - or - break - it final exam for the program. But now top Pentagon officials are beginning to show signs of test anxiety. "It will depend on what caused the failure," hedges Pentagon spokesman Mike Biddle. "A mechanical failure isn't necessarily terminal."

Even the program's biggest boosters now concede that the missile shield would be all but useless against a nuclear strike launched by Russia, China or, one supposes, France, should Parisians ever seek to retaliate for the crimes of EuroDisney. A newly declassified State Department document, obtained by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, shows that a minimum of four U.S. Interceptors would be needed to "kill" one incoming missile. This means that the entire system would be exhausted trying to down 20 missiles.

The Pentagon's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization projects the cost of the system at $36 billion, a typically modest appraisal. The Congressional Budget Office has come up with a slightly more robust number of $60 billion - a figure the government auditors admit is little more than a rough guess, since the administration hasn't yet put forward details on the next two phases of the plan. But even that number was enough to stagger some of the plan's most ardent backers. "That's out of sync with anything I've seen," said Rep. Curt Weldon, the Pennsylvania Republican who chairs the House Armed Services Committee's panel on military research and development. "But you can't put a price tag on protecting American cities."

Despite the dearth of media coverage, the public is beginning to sour on the plan. According to a recent ABC News poll, public support for the Clinton/Gore version of national missile defense is sliding; 44 percent of Americans support the plan, down from 55 percent in 1985. So what's driving the bipartisan push for an increasingly unpopular new missile defense system that is extravagant, inept, unnecessary and destabilizing? You don't have to dig very deep to find an answer: Raytheon, TRW, Lockheed Martin and Boeing. Each of these firms has secured a lucrative sector of the Star Wars program.

Of course, the companies do have to make some political offerings. And they haven't been miserly. Together these four companies have flushed more than $2.6 million to the two political parties in soft money alone since 1996. On top of that, the defense giants' PACs have sluiced $3.7 million to federal candidates in the past three years, making the Star Wars coalition one of the prime sponsors of our political system. What money can't buy, direct persuasion often can. These four companies spent more than $18 million lobbying Congress in 1998, sending out a legion of former senators, congressmen and retired Pentagon chieftains as their hired guns on the Hill.

This all gives a bracing new meaning to getting more bang for the buck.

Jeffrey St. Clair is a contributing editor of In These Times.

Vol. 24, No. 14

 



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