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World News
10/14/02 - 10/20/02
Sunday 10/20/02
Official: 70 Colombia Rebels Killed 10/20/02 AP
Chavez 'foils assassination plot' 10/20/02 BBC: "According to the president, security agents intercepted a group of armed men near Maiquetia on Friday night and a gunfight ensued.
The plotters escaped, he said, but left a Swedish-made AT4 bazooka - a weapon used by Venezuela's army - and a map showing the flight path of the presidential plane.
A diary and a mobile phone containing the numbers and names of "civilian and military coup-plotters" were also recovered, but Mr Chavez gave no details saying an investigation was under way."
War plans under fire as even Bush heartland talks peace 10/20/02 Guardian, UK: "As the United States edges towards a possible war against Iraq, a sudden torrent of concern has begun to flow - a revolt by the intelligentsia spreading beyond the expected opposition political circles and penetrating the heart of the media and foreign policy establishment.
From New York to the plains of Kansas, local and provincial papers, glossy magazines, serious periodicals and heavyweight national dailies have carried a range of articles and essays that challenge not only the proposed war, but the notion and conduct of unilateral American power in the world."
Ocupa Ranch Rescue granjas frente a Sonora - Están a la espera de "cazar" indocumentados 10/20/02 La Jornada, Mexico: "Alrededor de 50 personas armadas con rifles y pistolas, y vestidas con ropas de camuflaje tipo militar, agrupadas en la organización antinmigrante Ranch Rescue, arribaron a la frontera entre Sonora y Arizona y se desplazaron en los ranchos ubicados al oeste de Nogales, Arizona, en busca de indocumentados."
Military Is Easing Its War on Drugs 10/20/02 LA Times: "The Pentagon wants to scale back the $1-billion program and focus more on combating terrorism. Such a move could meet strong opposition in Congress."
Library will focus on black culture, literature 10/20/02 Miami Herald: "A decade-old vision becomes real Saturday when the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center opens near northwest Fort Lauderdale, becoming only the third public library nationwide focusing on African-American culture and literature.
There will be row upon row of books featuring black authors, including eight unpublished manuscripts from the late Alex Haley. African-inspired art and carvings will decorate the walls of the 60,000-square-foot facility, spread over two floors."
Springsteen Heals U.S.-German Wounds with Concert 10/20/02 Reuters: "Guten Abend Deutschland (Good evening Germany)," Springsteen said with an American accent that recalled Kennedy's stirring "Ich bin ein Berliner" 1963 speech of solidarity to the people of West Berlin shortly after the Berlin Wall was built.
"Are you ready to sing?" Springsteen added in practiced German that triggered roars of approval. He has spoken similar lines in French and Spanish at recent European concerts."
US arms up to settle bitter Somalia score 10/20/02 Scotsman, UK: "Nearly a decade after a rag-tag band of militiamen claimed the lives of 18 US peacekeepers in Somalia, the Bush administration is preparing to do battle once again with the warlords who humiliated the world’s most powerful military machine. After Iraq, Somalia is next in line in the Pentagon’s list of targets in the War on Terror.
Eight hundred US troops have already been sent to Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa, where they are perfectly positioned for an operation in the war-wracked, starvation-plagued country. The US forces include more than 400 elite army Delta Force troopers and US Navy Seals trained in anti-terrorist snatch-and-kill missions.
America’s main target is the Somali Islamist movement, al-Ittihad al-Islamiyya (Islamic Unity), an international Islamist group intent on the unification of Muslims in Somalia and Ethiopia under the banner of a greater Somalia.
The US believes al-Ittihad is linked to al-Qaeda, and was implicated along with it in the 1998 bombing of US embassies in East Africa that killed more than 250 people.
Launching a military operation against terrorist groups in Somalia is a daunting prospect for America’s military planners. Since the overthrow of Somalia’s dictator - General Mohammed Siad Barre - in 1991, the nation has descended into near anarchy. A Transitional National Government (TNG) nominally rules the south, but does not even control all the capital, Mogadishu. Somaliland, in the north, and Puntland, in the north east, are in the hands of autonomous warlords."
10,000 IN ANTI-WAR PROTEST 10/20/02 Sunday Mail, UK: "THOUSANDS of Scots took to the streets yesterday in protest against war on Iraq.
Nearly 10,000 people gathered in Glasgow city centre to voice their anger at Britain and America's stance.
CND's Scottish co-ordinator John Ainslie said: "This turn out shows the strength of opinion in Scotland.
"People from different communities and backgrounds are against war on Iraq."
Presidente Chávez Frías: “Hemos abortado un magnicidio” 10/20/02 VenPres: "Hemos abortado un magnicidio", anunció el presidente de la República, Hugo Chávez Frías, al referirse al intento frustrado de asesinato en contra de su persona, en la madrugada de este sábado, en ocasión de su regreso de la gira que hizo por varios países de Europa y que gracias al trabajo de inteligencia de los organismos de seguridad del Estado, ese suceso fue impedido.
La denuncia la formuló en el programa dominical “Aló Presidente” número 123, transmitido desde el Palacio de Miraflores, donde el Primer Mandatario venezolano explicó en detalle, salvo los elementos que debe reservarse para no contaminar las investigaciones, esa develada acción contra su vida."
Saturday 10/19/02
 Protest Calls for Ouster of U.S. Navy From Bahrain 10/19/02 LA Times: "Chanting "Death to America!" and "Death to Israel!" protesters here Friday night angrily called for Bahrain's government to oust the U.S. Navy from the base that serves as its regional headquarters in the Persian Gulf.
Initiated by the local Islamic political organization, the protest was the latest in a series of anti-U.S. demonstrations in recent months, including a rock-throwing march by several thousand people outside the U.S. Embassy in April that left a teenage protester dead after a skirmish with police. Two American sailors were beaten by a crowd a month later."
Churches oppose war with Iraq 10/19/02 Lexington Herald-Leader: "The Kentucky Council of Churches yesterday voted unanimously to oppose war with Iraq, calling military conflict "contrary to the will of God."
Delegates from 11 denominations voted for the resolution, which called on the U.S. government to "stop the rush to war" and to work with the United Nations to find a diplomatic solution to the impasse."
Australians rethink U.S. support 10/19/02 Washington Times: "The Bali nightclub bombing has forced Australia to rethink its support for the U.S. campaign against Iraq, with some warning that regional terrorists would not hesitate to use far more deadly weapons in Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's arsenal."
Friday 10/18/02
23 Coalition Troops Killed in multiple Attacks in Afghanistan 10/18/02 Azzam: "A total of 23 coalition troops were killed and several others injured in attacks and ambushes, which occurred in various provinces of Afghanistan. Unknown attackers stabbed and killed three US commandos near the 'Kabul Door' in Kandahar while another soldier was seriously injured. A large search operation was started immediately after this attack.
A little while later, around 110 miles south of Kabul, 5 rockets were fired at the Lowara military base. One of the rockets was reported to have hit a bunker. The attackers were arrested and shifted to unknown place.
In Waradat, the birth village of Hamid Karzai, a US military vehicle was attacked with hand grenades and machine guns. As a result of this ambush three US and two local Afghan troops were killed. Soon after this, US soldiers arrested eight men as suspects of this attack.
In the district of Chora, two American servicemen were killed by unknown gunmen. A US military vehicle was destroyed when it struck a land mine, killing two US and three Afghan soldiers. Thus far, military officials have not given any details of these deaths.
In the area of Baorhi, near the Kandahar airbase, an American tank exploded when it struck a land mine. The number of casualties in this incident was not disclosed. Eight Afghan soldiers were killed in several small skirmishes around Kandahar and Kabul."
Christians Hail Rightist's Call To Oust Arabs 10/18/02 Forward: "Thousands of Evangelical Christians waving Israeli flags cheered last week as Knesset member Benny Elon called for the "relocation" of Palestinians from the West Bank into Jordan.
The enthusiastic crowd at the annual convention of the Christian Coalition in Washington also cheered House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, who urged activists to back pro-Israel candidates who "stand unashamedly for Jesus Christ."
Elon, whose Moledet Party advocates the "transfer" of Palestinians to Arab countries,said that a "resettlement" of the Palestinians is prescribed by the Bible."
Americans soften draft UN resolution on Iraqi arms 10/18/02 Independent, UK: "The United States blinked last night in its long stand-off with France and other members of the United Nations Security Council over Iraq, significantly softening its conditions for a new UN resolution to pave the way for a return of weapons inspectors to Baghdad."
Increase in Autism Baffles Scientists 10/18/02 NYT: "As diagnoses of autism have increased throughout the nation, experts and parents have cast about for possible explanations, including genetics, birth injuries and childhood immunizations. The California study found that none of these factors could explain an increase of the magnitude reported there — more than triple from 1987 to 1998."
Documents tell of US aerial spying around the world 10/18/02 The News, Pakistan: "During the Cold War, the United States ran a much broader aerial intelligence operation than previously acknowledged, sending spy planes into China, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, newly declassified documents show.
The documents, made public on Wednesday by the National Security Archive, a local think tank, indicate the US effort to secretly photograph sensitive foreign targets went far beyond widely publicized U-2 flights over the Soviet Union, Cuba and the Korean Peninsula in the 1950s and 1960s."
Bin Laden contact to become Saudi Arabia's man in London 10/18/02 Times, UK: "According to diplomatic sources, the Saudi authorities have selected as their new envoy Prince Turki al-Faisal, a leading member of the Saudi Royal Family and head of intelligence for nearly a quarter of a century. His appointment is expected to be confirmed within weeks and he is likely to take up his post as early as next month.
The Oxford-educated prince, who is the brother of the Foreign Minister, is well-known and liked among a generation of British diplomats and spies.
“He is a major player in Saudi Arabia,” one source said. “His appointment shows how seriously the Saudis value their relationship with Britain. He knows this country inside out. He is a regular visitor.”
However, Prince Turki’s arrival is also likely to cause controversy. The prince, 57, was among several leading Saudi figures who were named in a $1 trillion (£643.5 billion) lawsuit filed by the families of the victims of the September 11 attacks, who claimed that he helped to fund bin Laden’s terror network." See AfroCubaWeb's Prince Turki page.
Thursday 10/17/02
UN members speak out on Iraq 10/17/02 BBC: "In Washington, US President George W Bush has signed into law a Congressional resolution authorising him to launch military action.
But Russia has now come down firmly against US and moved to the side of France - which wants one resolution to get the inspectors back in and a second threatening force only if they are not allowed to do their work."
Settlers attack reporters left unprotected at Havat Gilad 10/17/02 Haaretz, Israel: "Hadar said later that some 30, kippa-wearing youths attacked Channel One photographer Moshe Friedman, then grabbed and threw his camera. "We tried to get away from them, but they continued to chase us anywhere we went, and also threw rocks at us," said Hadar. "Some 14-year-old teenagers came up to us and demanded that we hand over the camera and film; then they kicked the photographer and smashed our car's windshield."
Other journalists on the scene reported that 10-year-old children hurled rocks at them, and that the young settlers "behaved like monsters."
18 vote machines missing from Broward elections office 10/17/02 Orlando Sentinel: getting ready for Jeb's re-election.
Jeb Bush in struggle for survival 10/17/02 Scotsman: "George Bush will today fly to Florida for one last campaign push on behalf of his brother Jeb, after a poll showed the state’s governor locked in a struggle for political survival.
Figures released by the public opinion pollster Zogby show Jeb Bush capturing 48 per cent of the vote, while Democrat Bill McBride, a millionaire lawyer who has never held political office, trails by just three points. It is a statistical dead heat that has alarmed the Bush camp and caused near-panic in the White House, only three weeks away from the US mid-term congressional elections,
"Democrats and the media will show no mercy if the president’s brother is defeated," a top White House insider told reporters in Washington. "A win by McBride would be viewed as symbolic."
Often short on charisma, the governor has earned extra points by finally opening up about his daughter Noelle’s drug problems. The 25-year-old, who is in a rehabilitation clinic in Orlando after posing as a doctor and forging a prescription to obtain drugs, was last month found with crack cocaine hidden in her shoe."
At least five killed in Philippines bombings 10/17/02 Sydney Morning Herald: "The same city was hit by a bomb blast two weeks ago that killed four people, including an American Green Beret. Officials blamed that blast on the Muslim guerrilla group Abu Sayyaf."
Explosive 'linked to CIA' 10/17/02 Telegraph, UK: "The explosive used in the Bali bomb attack could have come from supplies handed over to the Mujahideen by the CIA during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
The same plastic explosive, known as C4, was used in the attack on the USS Cole off Yemen in October 2000 in which 17 people died, suggesting a possible link to al-Qa'eda."
Wednesday 10/16/02
News on a coupe attempt in Qatar, detention, arrests at the American participation 10/16/02 Arabic News: "Well-informed sources said that the people involved in the coupe are presumed to belong to the Islamic trends and that many of them have links to al-Qaida organization. The sources said that these developments coincided with the state of dissatisfaction in the country as a result of the Qatari policy which the sources characterized as supporting an American strike against Iraq.
Diplomatic sources indicated that American personnel in civilian costumes took part in the breaking in and detention acts which targeted Pakistani and Yemeni recruited soldiers in the Qatari army, and that American forces are deployed in the streets of Doha and around sensitive areas and points."
Monitors may watch Florida vote 10/16/02 BBC: ""I am not (in) a third-world country and I don't want to feel like one," said Natacha Seijas, one of several commissioners who voted against the motion. "I feel we can supervise it ourselves."
Monitors may watch Florida vote 10/16/02 BBC: but will they catch the skilled Batistiano operatives who make the dead vote, etc, etc.
Yemen says tanker blast was terrorism 10/16/02 BBC: "Yemen's Interior Minister, Rashad al-Alimi, told the country's official news agency Saba that the explosion on 6 October was "a deliberate act of terror carried out by an explosive-laden boat".
Críticas por visita de Reich a Bolivia 10/16/02 BBC Mundo: Otto Reich at it again.
Caribbean: Controversy Brews Over Barbados Racism Meeting 10/16/02 Black World Today
UK assassination plots and censorship 10/16/02 Cryptome: "On October 7, UK government ministers signed Public Interest Immunity certificates ('D-notices') that ban the British media from reporting evidence currently being presented at the Old Bailey by David Shayler, and also ban them from reporting the fact of the gag order itself.
Following are texts of two newspaper articles. The first is coverage of the gag order, published yesterday in The Age, a Melbourne-based newspaper. The second was published on the front page of the Guardian on Monday, and subsequently removed from their website without comment (apparently other UK newspapers have done the same with their coverage)."
PRESSURE ON: WHITE HOUSE CONCERN OVER BROTHER BUSH; SEEN VULNERABLE IN ELECTION 10/16/02 Drudge Report: "A growing concern that Florida Governor Jeb Bush may be vulnerable in next month's election has become a near-obsession inside of the White House, top sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT.
"Democrats and the media will show no mercy if the president's brother is defeated," a top Bush insider said from Washington. "While no one wants to lose a state house, a win by [Democratic challenger Bill] McBride would be viewed as symbolic." President Bush is determined to help his brother in the final weeks of the race, according to sources. Every effort is being made to avoid the embarrassment of a high-profile "Bush Loss."
White House guru Karl Rove, said to be increasingly preoccupied with the Florida state race, has argued that a Jeb defeat would not affect the president politically.
A new Zogby Poll released this weekend showed Jeb has the support of 48% of voters while McBride has the support of 45% -- a statistical dead heat. Bush's own internal polling also shows McBride in motion, campaign sources tell DRUDGE."
Aerial Espionage in the Cold War and Beyond 10/16/02 National Security Archives
More Anti-War Activists Snagged by "No Fly" List 10/16/02 Progressive McCarthyism Watch: "And I said, 'Well, I can tell you why. We work on a paper that opposes the war on terrorism.' Her eyes got kind of big, and she said, 'Oh.' "
The Making of a "Terrorist" 10/16/02 Willamette Week, Oregon: "John Ashcroft says native Portlander Patrice Lumumba Fordis a threat to national security--but friends and family are having trouble connecting the dots."
Tuesday 10/15/02
Victory for students in computer battle 10/15/02 ANNCOL: "The University of California has abandoned plans to punish a student collective for linking to the website of the Colombian guerrilla organisation FARC-EP."
The Haitian Revolution And The Irritated Genie 10/15/02 Black World Today: "In The Irritated Genie, Dr. Carruthers points out that the Haitian Revolution “is perhaps the most underemphasized wars in what is called modern history.” The fact that many African people are inspired “by the Russian, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Cuban revolutions than the one truly Black revolution in modern history” is the reason all African people need to read this book.
Many people will probably be quick to ask the question, “If the Haitian Revolution was so great, why is Haiti in the shape it is today?”
Dr. Carruthers answers this question in the following manner: “For three centuries the crime of being Black was punished by torture, rape, and murder. Dessalines erased that crime by executing all of those he would find who had committed the atrocities— the true criminals. That is why the Haitian personality is so strong today even though most of the leaders sold them down the river after the fall of Dessalines.”
CNN LARRY KING LIVE - Interview with Harry Belafonte 10/15/02 CNN: "First of all, let me hasten to say, Larry, that this was never meant to be a personal attack on Colin Powell's character. What it was meant, however, to be was an attack on policy, and the reference and the metaphor used about slavery -- it is my personal feeling that plantations exist all over America. If you walk into South Central Los Angeles, into Watts, or you walk into Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati, you'll find people who live lives that are as degrading as anything that slavery had ever produced. They live in economic oppression, they live in a disenfranchised way. In the hearts and minds of those people, and millions of others, you're always looking for hope, and whenever somebody within our tribe, within our group, emerges that has the position of authority and power to make a difference in the way business is done, our expectations run high. Many times, those expectations are not fulfilled. But when such an individual is in the service of those who not only perpetuate the oppression, but sometimes design the way in which it is applied, it then becomes very, very, very, very critical that we raise our voices and be heard."
Israel and White Supremacy 10/15/02 Counterpunch: "The brilliance of Du Bois's book is to show exactly how the "West" can be for human rights and for an unrelenting war on Arabs and, in particular, Palestinians. It explains how Jan Smuts in Du Bois's day or Shimon Peres in ours can lecture us on "human rights" and get away with it. Perhaps, most importantly, white supremacy reframes the Palestinian struggle in a historical continuum that better explains the reflexive support among a broad swathe of the American and European public for the Zionist adventure."
Indonesian anger at FBI investigation 10/15/02 Scotsman, UK: "In the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, where reaction to the intervention of foreigners, particularly the FBI, was angrily received, few believed the foreign agents were there in a purely advisory capacity… According to Wimar Witoelar, a political analyst on Indonesia, the president had already made a serious error by allowing the FBI into the country.
He said: "She has to show she is not dancing to the tune of the US and many Indonesians will see the immediate involvement of the FBI in the investigation as an unnecessary intrusion.
"The question many people in Jakarta will be asking is why are we allowing the US to run an investigation in our own country." … Analysts say al-Qaeda only attacks "symbols of US power" and that the Sari Club could not be described as such."
Palestinian territories largest jail in world, says British envoy 10/15/02 The News, Pakistan: "The British ambassador to Israel, Sherard Cowper-Coles, has told Israel that the Palestinian territories are the world's largest jail, where harassment and humiliation are rife, the daily Yediot Aharonot said Monday.
An official at the British embassy in Tel Aviv said the report was "generally accurate but also highly selective from a long conversation" which Cowper-Coles held with the Israeli general overseeing the administration of the occupied territories, Amos Gilad.
"The territories are the largest detention camp in the world, in which 3.5 million people live," the daily quoted the British diplomat as assaying. The ambassador toured the territories and told Gilad he had seen "illegal (Jewish settler) outposts, new roads, needless harassment and humiliation of the civilian population at roadblocks," the daily said. He was also quoted as saying that Israel was "in violation of the Geneva convention" and accused Israeli forces of displaying "instances of a lack of professionalism" amid reports about soldiers looting property in the territories."
Che Café Collective 10/15/02 UCSD: the site that UC California is trying to shut down.
Monday 10/14/02
No easy sentence: Peace protesters do time with hardened cons 10/14/02 AP: "For years, peace protesters arrested for trespassing at Fort Benning were allowed to serve their sentences at minimum-security federal institutions closer to their homes, where they could kiss relatives and hold babies in visiting rooms.
Not anymore.
Some protesters -- including a priest and a grandmother-to-be -- were sentenced earlier this year to serve their six-month sentences alongside thieves and drug addicts behind razor wire in a rural Georgia jail.
"The only thing I can come up with is that they are getting mean," the Rev. Roy Bourgeois, founder of the protest group School of the Americas Watch, said of Bureau of Prison officials." Mean and surly.
Unless there is more justice in the world, Bali will be repeated 10/14/02 Independent, UK
Detention Camp Commander Is Removed 10/14/02 NYT: "The task force commander who oversaw the expansion of the detention camps at the United States Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has been relieved of his duties in what officials said was an effort to streamline operations there.
The commander, Brig. Gen. Rick Baccus, a Rhode Island National Guardsman, stepped down last week amid media reports that he had clashed with officers responsible for questioning detainees suspected of terrorist links." There is light at the end of the tunnel.
U.S.-French Split on Iraq Deepens 10/14/02 NYT
U.S. intelligence: Bali attack 'sophisticated' 10/14/02 Reuters
Anti-war sentiment rises in Turkey 10/14/02 Washington Times: "Shouting anti-war slogans, more than 1,000 lawyers took to the streets of Istanbul Monday to protest the United States' threatened strike on Iraq.
Hailed by bystanders, members of the Istanbul Bar Association marched from their headquarters to Taksim's main square and laid a red carnation wreath, which read: "No to the war" at a monument."
World
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"There is one safeguard known generally to
the wise, which is an advantage and security to all, but especially to
Democracies as against despots: suspicion." -- Demosthenes
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