From: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com (abolition-usa-digest) To: abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: abolition-usa-digest V1 #418 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, February 5 2001 Volume 01 : Number 418 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2001 17:10:57 -0500 From: ASlater Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: [abolition-caucus] Assassinations by US OK by Congress! >Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2001 13:09:57 -0500 >Subject: [abolition-caucus] Assassinations by US OK by Congress! >Priority: non-urgent >X-FC-MachineGenerated: true >From: "globalnet@mindspring.com" > > >>> >>> Subject: [House Bill Proposes Lifting Ban on Assassinations] >>> >>> Well, here it is: "compassionate conservatism," Texas style. ("If you >>> don't like 'em, kill 'em.") Civilization has just taken a very big step >>> backwards, and we must act to prevent it. You know what to do.... Call >>> your Congressman. Call your local media. Call your neighbor. A loud >>> enough uproar can stop this criminal move in its tracks. Silence can >>> only invite bloodshed. >>> >>> House Bill Proposes Lifting Ban on Assassinations. FTW 1/24/01 >>> >>> HR 19, Introduced by Republican Georgia Congressman Bob Barr on January >>> 3, 2001, the first day of the new 107th Congress, would legislatively >>> repeal sections of three Executive Orders specifically prohibiting >>> assassinations by the United States Government. Entitled the "Terrorist >>> Elimination Act of 2001", the bill, submitted to the House International >>> Relations Committee, would specifically nullify sections of three >>> previous Executive Orders including one initiated by Ronald Reagan in >>> 1981.It is interesting to note that acts of Congress are not required to >>> nullify previous Executive Orders (EOs) which are, by definition, orders >>> issued by the President and Commander in Chief to all federal employees >>> (including military) under his authority. All that is necessary to >>> reverse one EO is another EO. This is exactly what President George W. >>> Bush did with respect to EOs issued by President Clinton on the >>> environment in the last days of his administration. >>> >>> Section 3 of HR 19 specifically states that the following provisions of >>> Executive orders shall have no further force or effect: >>> (1) Section 5(g) of Executive Order 11905. >>> (2) Section 2-305 of Executive Order 12306. >>> (3) Section 2.11 of Executive Order 12333." [By Ronald Reagan] >>> >>> Section 5 (g) of Executive Order 11905, signed by Gerald Ford on 2/18/76 >>> specifically prohibited "political" assassination. >>> Section 2-305 of Executive Order 12036, signed 1/24/78 by Jimmy Carter >>> renewed the ban. >>> Section 2.11 of Executive Order 12333, signed by Ronald Reagan on >>> 12/4/81 renewed the ban on assassinations, or conspiracy to commit >>> assassinations, as part of a broader package which gave virtually >>> complete control of the American National Security apparatus to then >>> Vice President George H.W. Bush. The full text of HR 19 may be viewed at >>> . Enter a search in the 107th Congress for 19, >>> and it will take you straight to the bill. >>> >>> The bold move, unreported and ignored by any major media, offers a >>> chance for an early referendum on the new administration's full-speed >>> run at a more violent and brutish foreign policy. The current bill, >>> introduced by staunch Bush supporter and Clinton impeachment leader >>> Barr, indicates that the Bush administration is seeking to add >>> legitimacy to the move by implying that Congress and the American people >>> support the action. This can only mean that there is quite likely a list >>> of people the Bush Administration wants to start killing fairly >>> quickly. The appointment of career covert operative and Annapolis >>> graduate Richard Armitage as Deputy Secretary of State under Colin >>> Powell only underscores the clear message that the Bush Administration >>> is sending to the world. Armitage, who was denied a 1989 appointment as >>> Assistant Secretary of State because of links to Iran-Contra and other >>> scandals, served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International >>> Security Affairs in the Reagan years.U.S. Government stipulations in the >>> Oliver North trial specifically named Armitage as one of the DoD >>> officials responsible for illegal transfers of weapons to Iran and the >>> Contras. But Armitage's dirty past goes much deeper. A Vietnam veteran >>> and graduate of Annapolis, Armitage's roots have been thoroughly >>> intertwined with the likes of CIA veteran Ted Shackley, Richard Secord, >>> Heine Aderholt, Elliot Abrams, Dewey Clarridge, Edwin Wilson and Tom >>> Clines. >>> >>> All of these men have been directly linked to CIA covert operations, the >>> drug trade, the abandonment of U.S. prisoners of War after Vietnam >>> and/or Iran-Contra. Armitage has also been routinely discussed in FTW as >>> a Bush-era covert functionary who has been linked to covert operations, >>> drug smuggling and the expansion of organized crime operations in >>> Russia, Central Asia and the Far East. In 1986 a private dispute between >>> POW activist Ross Perot and Armitage went public as photos of Armitage >>> with a topless Vietnamese nightclub owner Nguyen O'Rourke brought >>> allegations of gambling and prostitution very close to Armitage's >>> doorstep. The stories went public when TIME and "The Boston Globe" wrote >>> lengthy stories on the feud in 1986 and 1987. >>> >>> That scandal arose as a result of 1984 investigations by President >>> Reagan's Commission on Organized Crime in which the photo and >>> documentation of gambling charges and prostitution led directly to >>> Armitage's close association with O'Rourke. Then LAPD Assistant Chief >>> Jesse Brewer, a former Commanding Officer of this writer, served on the >>> Reagan Commission. The 1992 best-seller "Kiss The Boys Goodbye" by >>> former "60 MINUTES" producer Monika Jensen-Stevenson details Armitage's >>> role as Reagan point man on Vietnam POW-MIA issues and describes why >>> Armitage has earned the enmity of many POW activists. >>> >>> However, in a 1995 interview with "The Washington Post", Colin Powell >>> referred to Armitage as his "white son." This, notwithstanding the fact >>> that the 6-foot, balding, power-lifter, now 56, can still bench press >>> 300 or more pounds and reportedly "enjoys killing." William Tyree, >>> Special Forces Veteran who has provided much reliable information and >>> documentation to FTW in the past said, "Armitage used to 'sit ambush' on >>> the trails in Laos and Cambodia. He liked it. Now when Powell, 'the >>> dove,' sits down at a table with Armitage 'the killer' beside him, the >>> message will be that Armitage can reach across the table and deal with >>> the other party on the spot." That message will not go unheard. [For >>> more on Armitage we recommend using the search engine at >>> and also at The Progressive Review, >>> .] >>> >>> There is reason to believe that a repeal of the assassination ban would >>> lead to an immediate series of deaths. Remember, the Iran-Contra team is >>> coming back to power with a vengeance. The completion of a February 11, >>> 1982 memorandum between Reagan Attorney General William French Smith and >>> CIA Director Bill Casey removed any requirement for CIA to report drug >>> trafficking by its agents, contractors and proprietary employees. >>> Immediately thereafter cocaine consumption in the United States >>> multiplied as imports rose from approximately 80 tons in 1982 to 600 >>> tons by 1989. [A copy of that memorandum, published by the CIA in 1998, >>> is available in FTW's Extracts and Commentary on Volume II of the CIA >>> Inspector General's Report" originally published on 10/8/98.] There are >>> no choices and this is no longer a convenient exercise of protected >>> liberty. This is now a true struggle against tyranny. >>> >>> Special thanks to Mike Whybark and Jim Galasyn of Independent Media >>> Centers for bringing this travesty to my attention. Please visit their >>> site at: >>> . >>> >>> From: Michael C. Ruppert >>> Publisher/Editor >>> "From The Wilderness" >>> >>> ### >>> (c) Copyright 2001, From The Wilderness Publications and Michael C. >>> Ruppert. P.O. Box 60-350, Sherman Oaks, CA 91413. This message may be >>> copied and reproduced in any "not-for-profit" mode so long as proper >>> sourcing appears." More on the new Bush Administration will appear in >>> the January issue of >>> "From The Wilderness" for paid subscribers only. >>> * ================= * ================= * ================= * >>> >>> For a comprehensive treatment of the US Foreign Policy in the Americas >>> >>> with a Focus on Cuba, see The Learning Community Web site at: >>> >>> >>> I am distributing an e-newsletter of international articles and >>> communiques that I receive from people in Cuba--including journalists, >>> US expatriates, Cuban citizens, and non-Cuban citizens working in Cuba. >>> This information, along with information from sources in the US, will be >>> sent to you unless I receive a request from you to remove your name from >>> this list. To unsubscribe, simply place the phrase: >>> "Please unsubscribe--Cuba e-newsletter" on the "Subject" line, and be >>> sure that your e-mail address is listed on the "From" line. >>> If you know someone who would like to receive this newsletter, send me a >>> message with "Please subscribe--Cuba e-newsletter" on the "Subject" line >>> and place their e-mail address in the body of the message. >>> Gary Bacon >>> >>> NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is >>> distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest >>> in receiving this information for research and educational purposes. >>> >>> >>> > > >------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-~> >eGroups is now Yahoo! Groups >Click here for more details >http://click.egroups.com/1/11231/0/_/91925/_/980882935/ >---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> > >To subscribe to the Abolition Global Caucus, send an email from the >account you wish to be subscribed to: >"abolition-caucus-subscribe@egroups.com" > > >Do not include a subject line or any text in the body of the 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: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 03:19:17 -0000 From: "Lindis Percy and Anni Rainbow" Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: War Games in Space Against China This is a multi-part message in MIME format. - ------=_NextPart_000_00F0_01C08BFD.C29C8C00 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Dear Alice and Ffriends We are working hard in the UK to stop this...........or a version of = it!.....being on the door step of NMD/TMD with Menwith Hill and = Fylingdales just up the road. We have several plans - legal actions to = stop it, working with environmental groups (a new Act about the = protection of areas of Special Scientific Interest comes into force = today and Fylingdales contains such an area), most of all awareness = raising, public meetings, trying to get one of the TV/Radio channels to = put on a public debate, continuing questions in Parliament and = non-violent direct action plus organising demonstrations. A Pentagon official was quoted as saying that he did not think that the = UK would be a problem with the use of these bases. Well......we are = going to be a huge problem.....NMD/TMD cannot go ahead without the use = of Menwith Hill and Fylingdales....we are convinced we can certainly = hold it up and the prize in the end is to stop it.......together we can = stop it. With love and peace from the UK Lindis Percy and Anni Rainbow Co-Coordinators CAMPAIGN FOR THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF AMERICAN BASES (CAAB) 8 Park Row, Otley, West Yorkshire, LS21 1HQ, England, U.K. Tel/fax no: +44 (0)1943 466405 0R +44 (0)1482 702033 email: caab.lindis_anni@virgin.net Website: http://www.gn.apc.org/cndyorks/caab/ "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can = change the world: indeed it's the only thing that ever does." = Margaret Mead - ------=_NextPart_000_00F0_01C08BFD.C29C8C00 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Dear Alice and Ffriends

We are = working hard=20 in the UK to stop this...........or a version of it!.....being on the = door step=20 of NMD/TMD with Menwith Hill and Fylingdales just up the road.  We = have=20 several plans - legal actions to stop it, working with environmental = groups (a=20 new Act about the protection of areas of Special Scientific Interest = comes into=20 force today and Fylingdales contains such an area), most of all = awareness=20 raising, public meetings, trying to get one of the TV/Radio channels to = put on a=20 public debate, continuing questions in Parliament and non-violent direct = action=20 plus organising demonstrations.

A Pentagon=20 official was quoted as saying that he did not think that the UK would be = a=20 problem with the use of these bases.  Well......we are going to be = a huge=20 problem.....NMD/TMD cannot go ahead without the use of Menwith Hill and=20 Fylingdales....we are convinced we can certainly hold it up and the = prize in the=20 end is to stop it.......together we can stop it.

With love and=20 peace from the UK

Lindis Percy and Anni=20 Rainbow

Co-Coordinators
CAMPAIGN FOR THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF = AMERICAN=20 BASES (CAAB)
8 Park Row, Otley, West Yorkshire, LS21 1HQ, England,=20 U.K.
Tel/fax no: +44 (0)1943 466405 0R +44 (0)1482 702033
email: = caab.lindis_anni@virgin.net
Website:=20 http://www.gn.apc.org/cndyo= rks/caab/

"Never=20 doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change = the world:=20 indeed it's the only thing that ever=20 does."
          &nb= sp;           &nbs= p;            = ;            =             &= nbsp;           &n= bsp;           &nb= sp;          Margaret=20 Mead

- ------=_NextPart_000_00F0_01C08BFD.C29C8C00-- - - 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: Thu, 01 Feb 2001 12:43:08 -0500 From: Kevin Martin Subject: (abolition-usa) article on Star Wars corporations on the web Dear Friends, In case you missed it in print last September, our article in Z Magazine, "The Real Rogues Behind the Star Wars National Misile Defense System", is on the web on an interesting site we stumbled upon, Third World Traveller. The url is http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Corporations/Real_Rogues.html We will soon have updated information on the Big Four Star Wars corporations, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and TRW, including their campaign contributions and lobbying expenses in the last year and a list of their facilities around the country. I'll send out another notice when that's ready. Please excuse any mutliple postings. In Peace, Kevin Martin Director, Project Abolition - - 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: Fri, 2 Feb 2001 20:11:08 +1000 From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) Last ChanceTo Write to Foreign Minister Fischer before Munich Security Conference Dear NMD Folk, I am suggesting the following letter or something a little like it might be worth sending to German foreign minister Fischer, in the light of the upcoming conference in Munich. The conference will be meeting today European time, which is in a few hours, so there is not much time. The two fax numbers I have here are the only ones that worked last time I tried to fax him. I hope this is helpful. John Hallam FOREIGN MINISTER JOSCHKA FISCHER 49-228-168-6662, 49-228-173-402 RE: MUNICH CONFERENCE ON DEFENCE AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS Dear Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, I am writing to you in the light of the upcoming foreign affairs and defence conference in Munich, to convey my dismay that the Bush administration may proceed with an enlarged version of the ill-concieved 'National Missile Defence' ('Star Wars') scheme. I understand that US defence secretary Rumsfeld and US defence officials will attend this conference. I urge you to use all the diplomatic influence at your disposal at this conference, to persuade the Bush administration not to proceed with this scheme. I thank you for having so far stood firm against it, and urge you to continue to do so. The deployment of NMD will make it much harder, if not impossible, to achieve vital arms control objectives. Russia and China have made it clear that they will increase their own nuclear offensive capabilities in order to counter NMD. This will set back attempts to reduce nuclear weapons severely and may lead to another nuclear arms race. National Missile Defence in its current form, has failed two out of its three operational tests and has been critiqued by the US scientific establishment as fundamentally flawed. More importantly, Russia and China as well as the US's own allies including this country, have made it clear that they regard the preservation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty as paramount. The ABM treaty cannot be modified in a way that would allow the deployment of NMD, and the US should not be permitted to walk away from it. NMD has been opposed by groups ranging from 354 major NGOs representing millions of people worldwide, to 50 of the US's Nobel prizewinners in physics, to generals and church people. It has also been opposed by every major international grouping represented in the UN General Assembly. NMD is a scheme that is unlikely ever to work, against a threat that may never materialize and that is in any case better dealt with in other ways. It will cost billions better spent elsewhere, and will make further progress toward the total and unequivocal elimination of nuclear weapons - an objective to which the US as well as all other governments are committed - - much more difficult if not impossible. I therefore urge your government at the coming Munich conference and elsewhere, to urge the US government not to proceed with NMD but rather to push ahead with deep cuts to nuclear warhead numbers and reductions in alert status of nuclear forces. (Signed) - - 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: Fri, 02 Feb 2001 03:53:01 -0800 From: "Abolition2000 Pacific Region" Subject: (abolition-usa) U.S. Side-steps Pacific Worry over Missile Defense Fall-Out Hello, FYI: The Pacific Islands Heads of States and other leaders are currently meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii to look at more closely, and develop strategy regarding, Globalization. Admiral Dennis C. Blair, Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Command: http://www.pacom.mil/ addressed them last night. When asked about the National Missile Defense, and then why the USA will not sign the Protocols of the South Pacific Nuclear-Free Zone Treaty (Rarotonga Treaty), he simply and flatly refused to talk about them!!! I would think that talking to the Pacific Leaders and explaining what the purposes of the NMD from a US military point of view would at least ease their fears about the NMD and would lead to NMD support among the Pacific leaders. Lack of NMD's legitimacy or justification may have something to explain Blair's cavalier attitudes. Richard Salvador Honolulu, Hawaii - --- Friday, February 2, 2001 http://pidp.ewc.hawaii.edu/pireport/2001/February/02-02-01.htm PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai'i U.S. SIDE-STEPS PACIFIC WORRY OVER MISSILE DEFENSE FALL-OUT By Michael Field HONOLULU, Hawai'i (January 31, 2001 - Agence France-Presse)---America's top Pacific admiral Wednesday side-stepped concern over whether one of the unintended consequences of Washington's planned missile defense systems would be radioactive fall-out on Pacific nations. The U.S. Navy's Pacific Commander, Admiral Dennis Blair, was addressing the Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders meeting here on the strategic situation in the region. He unashamedly made it plain that Washington regarded the South Pacific as "not an area of strategic focus" and later in his speech also appeared to condemn the use of economic sanctions against errant states. Asked by one delegate from Papua New Guinea about the situation and responses to coups in the Solomons and Fiji, Blair spoke against the use of economic sanctions. He made no reference to the U.S. enforcement of United Nations sanctions against Iraq. "The economic measures that are used by different countries are very controversial, I think, both in the countries to which they are applied and in the countries that apply them. "They often seem that they don't hit the right target within a country, they are pretty widespread in their affect, they often have unintended consequences which harm others and I don't think anybody has worked out the right way to use economic tools to deal with situations which we all deplore in other countries." Nauru's ambassador to the United Nations, Vince Clodumar, told Blair that his country was concerned that Washington was moving ahead with its so-called National Missile Defense System which will allow it to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles as far from the U.S. as possible. Clodumar said it was known that the system, if it became operational, would be directed at North Korea. "If (the system) is deployed say against North Korea you do not have to be a rocket scientist to know that the interception point, the fall out from the nuclear warhead, would be somewhere over the north Pacific and it is certainly not in the best interests of the region." said Clodumar. He questioned too whether this problem was among the reasons why the United States had not signed the protocols of the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone treaty, despite indicating several years ago, that it would. Blair declined to debate the issue with Clodumar. "I think the full debate in my country about the National Missile Defense is just beginning so the considerations you raise are certainly ones which should be factored in with all the many technical and diplomatic and policy factors involved." Blair's area, which includes Korea, China, India and the South Pacific, is, he said, an area of peace. The "points of friction" such as the India/Pakistan border and the Korean border, were historic. "If you look at them closely all of these are the remnants of past conflicts which have been managed for many years without any conflict in some cases and containment in other cases…. They are the issues of the past, rather than of the future." He said the near future in the Pacific was one of relative peace, although he warned of transnational crime such as piracy, drug running and illegal migration. "These sorts of concerns are growing from scenes from lawlessness which are being slowly closed by nations which are cooperating." He called for further cooperation from nations in the region against transnational crime. "The organisations which run these are well financed, they will go to the weakest spots they can find, they will attack all of us, they don't play by the rules." He said the other security concern in the region was internal: "the instances of ethnic violence within countries in this region, in places like Fiji, the Solomons land Bougainville." The United States, while not actively involved in trying to resolve the issues, believed governments should express the will of the people, individual and minority rights should be protected and changes of government should be peaceful. "And that the rule of law is upheld by competent police forces, upheld by courts with interiority should be a hallmark of the way we all operate in the region." He added that the primary responsibility for resolving situations such as those in Fiji, the Solomons and Bougainville "resides with the countries themselves." Admiral Blair's complete speech is available at http://www.eastwestcenter.org/events-en-detail.asp?news_ID=18 Michael Field New Zealand/South Pacific Correspondent Agence France-Presse E-mail: afp.nz@clear.net.nz Phone: (64 21) 688438 Fax: (64 21) 694035 Website: http://www.afp.com/english/ _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com - - 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: Fri, 02 Feb 2001 19:16:34 -0500 From: Ellen Thomas Subject: (abolition-usa) FWD: You're needed! - February 16th, 9:30 am Dear Friends in the Capitol Soup -- This is an open invitation!!!! Please spread it around! The nuke boys are moving FULL STEAM ahead on building new nuclear reactors in the US. We need to get people into -- even flood-- the ground floor meetings. I want to invite you to some Beltway Activism and ask that you invite others who might also be willing to show up to one public meeting (informal) at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission -- attendees will have no opportunity to speak until the end when you can lob questions to NRC as they are breaking up the meeting..... or say nothing is fine. It is the spotlight effect that is sought here. It will matter that people simply show up as a "The World Is Watching" action. It would be GREAT if you would put this to your networks / local orgs. New reactors may even seem to "spring" out the ground in communities that have no clue, since the industry is planning a tactic of "site banking" where they will select a whole bunch of prospective sites, that may or may not be for a new nuclear reactor...and sit on them. They have up to 40 years to decide what they will do with the site...and at that point it is too late for public intervention under current NRC rules ("one-step licensing"). The industry (Nuclear Energy Institute) is having a meeting with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to discuss this: NRC & NEI talk nuke real estate racket.... February 16th at 9:30 am at NRC headquarters -- across from White Flint Metro stop in Rockville. We don't have room information -- call Jerry Wilson at NRC 301-415-3145 Everyone going should call Jerry -- and added wake-up that people are watching. As a matter of fact, even if people can't go, it would be great if they would call Jerry to find out the room number....give him a real jolt! If you have other questions, by all means get back with me, or get with Paul Gunter at the "home office" or 202-328-0002. One's approach to donating a couple of hours of time and metro fare is completely up to you -- go looking like a business exec and pissed, or wear a protest T shirt and grin...or whatever. This is a form of theater. We are not asking anyone to get arrested here ... but there is no reason to hold back at the end of the meeting on expressing real concerns. Thanks, and pass this on! Mary Olson NIRS Southeast nirs.se@mindspring.com 828-251-2060 - - 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, 5 Feb 2001 15:53:34 -0500 From: David Culp Subject: (abolition-usa) Rumsfeld: NMD and nuclear weapons reviews could be done by April or May To: Interested Persons It appears the NMD and nuclear weapons reviews could be done by the = Bush administration as soon as April or May. David Culp - ---------------------- U.S. BEGINS SWEEPING DEFENSE REVIEW, RUMSFELD SAYS Saturday, February 3, 9:24 AM ET By Charles Aldinger MUNICH (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Saturday the = new administration of President George W. Bush had begun a sweeping review = of America's defense strategy, from nuclear missiles to GIs' living = conditions. Rumsfeld told reporters traveling with him from Washington to a meeting = in Germany that the study would be separate from the quadrennial defense = review or QDR, mandated by Congress every four years. The latest QDR was underway, but would not be completed for about eight months. Rumsfeld said the administration's own study would include missile = defense, offensive and defensive weapons, the quality of life among the troops = - -- "how you transform this force into a force that is appropriate for the = 21st century." He noted that the QDR, designed to match U.S. strategy with the = nation's military forces, was not scheduled to be completed until September, and suggested that the separate study would be completed much faster -- in perhaps 60 to 90 days on some issues. "The QDR process is mandated by law. It is in place and it is = proceeding. But it has a long trail. It ends in September," he told reporters. "A new president has come in. He has indicated that he wanted a review = of defense strategy. And he has asked us to do that and that is just beginning," Rumsfeld added. "I think as our thinking clears and we get our brains wrapped around = some of these things, very likely we would find a way during the QDR process to implant them down into that process," he said. "I expect that the things I'm talking about, while they may not reach = full flowering in 30 or 60 days, we want to get -- in a month or two or = three depending on which one of these things they are -- pretty well down the = road so that they have some good idea of what we think," he said. "And then we would probably plug them into the QDR." The White House indicated earlier this week that there would not be any major increase in the nation's $310 billion defense budget despite = promises by both Bush during the recent campaign to sharply upgrade the = military. Instead, Bush's spokesman said that the president wanted to base any important changes on the results of the new study. Rumsfeld said that among the issues to be studied were the quality of = life of troops and charges by some members of Congress that billions of = dollars were wasted each year by the Pentagon's vast bureaucracy. Rumsfeld, who is busy studying the appointment of deputies at the = defense department, stressed that the administration study and the QDR would = employ different people. ... Copyright =A9 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. David Culp, Legislative Representative Friends Committee on National Legislation (Quakers) 245 Second Street, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002-5795 Phone: (202) 547-6000, ext. 146 Fax: (202) 547-6019 E-mail: david@fcnl.org Website: http://www.fcnl.org - - 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 Feb 2001 19:15:52 -0500 From: Ellen Thomas Subject: (abolition-usa) NucNews 01/02/06 - Announcements - 2/6 and 2/16 Hi, folks, NucNews archives are posted through January 31, 2001 at http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm.=20 Below are some important announcements:=20 * De-Alert Nuclear Weapons / No Star Wars Call In Day Today!=20 * New nuclear power plants proposed - February 16th Meeting! (1) De-Alert Nuclear Weapons / No Star Wars Call In Day Today!=20 Dear Friends, Today and tomorrow are the National Call-in Days to the White House to tell President Buch to de-alert our nuclear weapons. The effort is sponsored by= 43 national organizations as part of the Back From the Brink Campaign. More= info on the problem can be found at http://www.backfromthebrink.org. The White= House comment line is 202-465-1414. Be sure to give them your name and where you= are from if they don't ask. Judging from the call I made this morning, they are getting a lot of calls and are keeping a tally. Folks who work on nuclear disarmament issues think they have a real chance to get Bush to follow-up on his campaign promise to reduce the risks of=20 accidental nuclear war. Thanks, Adam Eidinger=20 Mintwood Media Collective P.S. - Actors Martin Sheen, Michael Douglas, and Paul=20 Newman are calling in (see photo). - -- From: "Gordon Clark" =20 URGENT Action alert - FINAL REMINDER for Call-in Days Call President Bush on February 6 at 202-456-1414 and urge him to: (1) Reduce the danger of nuclear war by working with Russia during his first 100 days to take all nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert. (2) Stop wasting money on Star Wars national missile defense, a system that will waste hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars, does not work and will lead to a new nuclear arms race. RATIONALE The Peace Action National Office is urging affiliates and chapters to incorporate a =93Stop Star Wars=94 message into the upcoming De-Alert= Call-in Days Feb. 5-6. Stopping Star Wars is Peace Action=92s top priority and pushing= NMD is President-elect Bush=92s top military priority. The recent New York Times= article (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/09/politics/09BUSH.html)=20 confirms that George W. is fast-tracking Star Wars with an eye toward a= March decision to begin construction this summer of the Star Wars radar system in Alaska. Taken by itself, de-alerting could signal important progress on disarmament. However, any gains in trust from Russia, China and other= nations by the United States de-alerting nuclear weapons would be wiped away by= plans to pursue a Star Wars national missile system. BACKGROUND Candidate George W. Bush gave a major foreign policy speech titled, =93New Leadership on National Security,=94 on May 23, 200 where he voiced his= support for de-alerting nuclear weapons, even while emphasizing his support for a greatly expanded Star Wars national missile system. Following are the key quotes from that speech. Bush Support for Star Wars: =93America must build effective missile= defenses, based on the best available options, at the earliest possible date. Our= missile defense must be designed to protect all 50 states =AD and our friends and= allies and deployed forces overseas =AD from missile attacks by rogue nations, or accidental launches.=94 Bush Support for De-alerting Nuclear Weapons: =93In addition, the United= States should remove as many weapons as possible from high-alert, hair-trigger= status =AD another unnecessary vestige of Cold War confrontation. Preparation for= quick launch =AD within minutes after warning of an attack =AD was the rule during= the era of superpower rivalry. But today, for two nations at peace, keeping so= many weapons on high alert may create unacceptable risks of accidental or unauthorized launch. So, as president, I will ask for an assessment of what= we can safely do to lower the alert status of our forces.=94 More information on de-alerting nuclear weapons can be found at http://backfromthebrink.policy.net/. More information on Star Wars national missile defense can be found at http://www.clw.org/coalition/. - -------- (2) New nuclear power plants proposed - February 16th Meeting! Dear Friends in the Capitol Soup -- This is an open invitation!!!! Please spread it around! The nuke boys are moving FULL STEAM ahead on building new nuclear reactors= in the US. We need to get people into -- even flood-- the ground floor= meetings. I want to invite you to some Beltway Activism and ask that you invite others who might also be willing to show up to one public meeting (informal) at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission -- attendees will have no opportunity to speak until the end when you can lob questions to NRC as they are breaking up the meeting..... or say nothing is fine. It is the spotlight effect that is= sought here. It will matter that people simply show up as a "The World Is Watching"= action. It would be GREAT if you would put this to your networks / local orgs. New reactors may even seem to "spring" out the ground in communities that= have no clue, since the industry is planning a tactic of "site banking" where= they will select a whole bunch of prospective sites, that may or may not be for a new nuclear reactor...and sit on them. They have up to 40 years to decide= what they will do with the site...and at that point it is too late for public intervention under current NRC rules ("one-step licensing"). The industry (Nuclear Energy Institute) is having a meeting with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to discuss this: NRC & NEI talk nuke real estate racket.... February 16th at 9:30 am at NRC headquarters -- across from White Flint Metro stop in Rockville. We don't= have room information -- call Jerry Wilson at NRC 301-415-3145 Everyone going should call Jerry -- and added wake-up that people are= watching. As a matter of fact, even if people can't go, it would be great if they= would call Jerry to find out the room number....give him a real jolt! If you have other questions, by all means get back with me, or get with Paul Gunter at the "home office" or 202-328-0002. One's approach to donating a couple of hours of time and metro fare is completely up to you -- go looking like a business exec and pissed, or wear= a protest T shirt and grin...or whatever. This is a form of theater. We are= not asking anyone to get arrested here ... but there is no reason to hold back= at the end of the meeting on expressing real concerns. Thanks, and pass this on! Mary Olson NIRS Southeast nirs.se@mindspring.com 828-251-2060 ___________________________________________________ Today's News and Archives: http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm Submit URL/Article: mailto:NucNews@onelist.com OneList Archives: http://www.onelist.com/archive/NucNews (subscribe online) Other Excellent News-Collecting Sites - DOE Watch - http://www.egroups.com/group/doewatch Downwinders - http://www.egroups.com/group/downwinders 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) Online Petition to Abolish Nuclear Weapons - http://www.PetitionOnline.com/prop1/petition.html Subscribe to NucNews Briefs: mailto:prop1@prop1.org Distributed without payment for research and educational=20 purposes only, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107. - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. 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