Collage courtesy douglasjames.net
Text from Pentagon leaflets dropped on Iraq.
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ARTICLES War bill could feed the world Report: Rumseld Ignored Pentagon Advice on Iraq 80% oppose Iraq war in Japan: poll Late-Night Jokes About War With Iraq Anti-war protestors close Coca Cola water plant in India Calif. Journalist Suspended Over Antiwar Protest LMNOP Antiwar Candlelight Vigil, Sun, Mar 30, 7 PM, Oakland Photo Pages: Day 12 Displaced in Basra Day 10 Baghdad Bombarded Day 9 - Asia Rising Day 8 - Baghdad Bombarded - Rain of Terror Day 8 - Day of Dissent: 26 Mar 03 Continuous: Wounded in Baghdad
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War bill could feed the world Sunday March 30, 2003 The Observer http://www.observer.co.uk/politics/story/0,6903,925859,00.html Bush could transform America's security against terrorists with goodwill if he spent its billions on helping the needy A fascinating transcript of a background briefing on the costs of the Iraq war appeared on the US Defence Department website last week. It featured a bumbling but, regrettably, unnamed official who fluffed his lines, lost his cool and mixed up the slide show while trying to explain the $62.2 billion (£40bn) requested from Congress to finance the fighting. The briefing provided a grim farce to start the week but was remarkably revealing about the lack of precision in Pentagon estimates and the fact that more than half of the money had already been spent on "coercive diplomacy", the deployment of troops. More important, perhaps, the official confirmed that the sums were based on the assumption that Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's strategy of "a short, high intensity conflict" would achieve victory within weeks. "We're not talking about several months, let's put it that way," said the official testily. As he spoke, it was becoming plain that the coalition forces were meeting much greater opposition than had been expected, and the military and political establishments on both sides of the Atlantic were beginning to prepare their publics for a long and arduous campaign. By the end of the week it was announced that a further 120,000 troops would be sent to the Gulf, and it was becom ing plain that the figure of $62bn, which only covers US military spending until the end of October, was already wildly out. By comparison Britain's estimated bill of £3bn is relatively small. The initial total to be spent by both countries, however, $66.8bn, is a stupefying sum. Yet Laurence Meyer, the former governor of the US Federal Reserve Board, suggests this may be only the first payment in a US commitment lasting up to 10 years and requiring $50bn a year. The cost to the US taxpayer of the entire Iraq adventure may reach trillions of dollars, adding a surreal aura to the President's plans to go on cutting taxes. George W. Bush is either one of the most optimistic human beings who ever lived or one of the most stupid. Either way, the toe-curling religious exhibitionism of his administration seems downright odd when you compare the amount of money being blown in Iraq with the costs of solving some of the world's largest problems. Of course, the contrast between military spending and aid has often been made. The difference in 2003 is the pace at which the first is outstripping the second. As the gap widens, the moral burden for America, and to lesser extent the other wealthy G7 powers, increases, and because we in the West are financing the war it involves each one of us. It is argued, reasonably, that every country should be allowed the means to defend itself and as the world's policeman, the US is bound to record a very large military budget. Yet the sums spent daily in Iraq are an indictment of the way we run our affairs. Take Africa. Three years ago world leaders signed up to Millennium Development Goals, which estimated it would require spending of between $25bn and $35bn every year to raise Africans to the level of health and welfare enjoyed in other parts of the world. At present the wealthy countries spend about $14bn in sub-Saharan Africa, $1.3bn of it provided by the US. Compare this to the $1.26bn cost of a single stealth bomber, and you begin to see the picture. Aids is now claiming 5,500 lives a day around the world, more even than the Black Death. Yet the United Nations programme for combating HIV and Aids is dispersing a mere $3bn this year. The unmet needs amount to a further $1.7bn, so an awful lot of people are going without treatment, dying early and leaving children to fend for themselves. This is one of the worst health problems humanity has ever faced but we in the West appear to care little about it. The White House puts the cost of a single cruise missile at $800,000. The opening blitz of 320 of them launched at Baghdad cost $256 million. The price of just two of these missiles would build an entire new village for the charity SOS Children's Villages or feed 270,000 hungry people in Angola for a month. The UN, however, constantly faces shortfalls in its consolidated appeals for specific emergencies. In Ethiopia, where 11 million people are at risk from hunger, only half their food needs have been pledged by the developed world. In neighbouring Eritrea, two thirds of the population face varying levels of starvation, but only 2% of the $163m appealed for by UN has been found. The story is the same all over Africa. The unfolding disaster in South Africa, where there is a 29% prevalence of Aids, is almost too large to comprehend. But the most compelling argument against the war spending is Unesco's estimate that 115 million children around the world are getting no education. Educating them would cost $5.6bn a year, less than a tenth of what the allies are likely to spend in the Gulf by October. One can only dream at the effect on relations between America and the rest of the world if a US President announced that his fortunate nation would put these 115 million kids through school. This and measures like it would ensure America's security and its future with much greater certainty than the war. And that is why, when Bush stands in prayer and asks God to bless America, it is beginning to stick in the craw. Additional research by Lucy Nichols.
forwarded by Carolyn Scarr
The supporters of Stephen Funk are asking for as many supporters who can
come to be at the press conference Tuesday.
They particularly hope for a good presence from the religious community
Please share this information widely.
Marine Reservist Public War Resister Stephen Eagle Funk is a 20 year old Marine reservist, 1/2 Filipino, a former student at USC. This week he will become among the first public war resisters from the ranks of the Marines during this conflict and the first on the West Coast. His story is familiar to many young people who have been lured by aggressive recruiters into joining the military, and have a change of heart. Many apply for CO status, report for duty, wear the uniform, carry the weapons and grit their teeth for the months of waiting for a response to their CO claims. The difference is Stephen refuses to do any of those things and he insists on going public. He is a very unlikely candidate for the Marines or for this act of resistance. Quiet, gentle, he claims to have been unable to dissect a worm in biology class. He studied biology at USC on a full scholarship in order to work with animals, but dropped out because he didn't like Southern California or the campus atmosphere. Stephen sincerely claims he thought Marine boot camp would be his chance to finally get the experience of boy scout camp he had missed as a child. He talks of wanting to learn to build a fire and run an obstacle course. He was determined not to let the training change him as he saw those around him change, and in fact it seems not to have touched his spirit. He shot as an expert, was made a squad leader he thinks because he wouldn't follow, so they thought he could lead. He was a bad match from the start, the product of an aggressive recruiter calling at 4 AM and 10 PM luring him to fun group activities at a time he had lost his course in life. Who are the young men and women fighting his war? How did they get there, and what happens to those who have made a terrible mistake thinking the Marines was just another career option, never dreaming it would turn into a shooting war. Guilty of magical thinking perhaps, but treason would be a stretch. That is possibly the charge he faces in a few days. He will hold a press conference on April 1 in San Jose, and is likely to be incarcerated after that.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld repeatedly rejected advice from Pentagon planners that substantially more troops and armor would be needed to fight a war in Iraq, New Yorker Magazine ( http://www.newyorker.com ) reported. In an article for its April 7 edition, which goes on sale on Monday, the weekly said Rumsfeld insisted at least six times in the run-up to the conflict that the proposed number of ground troops be sharply reduced and got his way. "He thought he knew better. He was the decision-maker at every turn," the article quoted an unidentified senior Pentagon planner as saying. "This is the mess Rummy put himself in because he didn't want a heavy footprint on the ground." It also said Rumsfeld had overruled advice from war commander Gen. Tommy Franks to delay the invasion until troops denied access through Turkey could be brought in by another route and miscalculated the level of Iraqi resistance. "They've got no resources. He was so focused on proving his point -- that the Iraqis were going to fall apart," the article, by veteran journalist Seymour Hersh, cited an unnamed former high-level intelligence official as saying. A spokesman at the Pentagon declined to comment on the article. Rumsfeld is known to have a difficult relationship with the Army's upper echelons while he commands strong loyalty from U.S. special operations forces, a key component in the war. He has insisted the invasion has made good progress since it was launched 10 days ago, with some ground troops 50 miles from the capital, despite unexpected guerrilla-style attacks on long supply lines from Kuwait. Hersh, however, quoted the former intelligence official as saying the war was now a stalemate. Much of the supply of Tomahawk cruise missiles has been expended, aircraft carriers were going to run out of precision guided bombs and there were serious maintenance problems with tanks, armored vehicles and other equipment, the article said. "The only hope is that they can hold out until reinforcements arrive," the former official said. The article quoted the senior planner as saying Rumsfeld had wanted to "do the war on the cheap" and believed that precision bombing would bring victory.
Some 125,000 U.S. and British troops are now in Iraq. U.S. officials on Thursday said they planned to bring in another 100,000 U.S. soldiers by the end of April.
80% oppose Iraq war: poll TOKYO - Nearly 80% of Japanese people Kyodo News surveyed across the nation expressed opposition to the war in Iraq, with 68% saying they are against Tokyo's support for the U.S.-led military campaign, according to the poll released Saturday. According to the survey of a total of 100 people - 50 men and 50 women - in all Japan's 47 prefectures, 78 said they oppose the U.S.-led action in Iraq, most saying they are unconditionally against war.
(Kyodo News)
Late-Night Jokes About War With Iraq Never been a Leno fan, but if he keeps this up I may just start watching. (P.S. No confirmed source) -wm "In a speech earlier today President Bush said if Iraq gets rid of Saddam Hussein, he will help the Iraqi people with food, medicine, supplies, housing, education anything that's needed. Isn't that amazing? He finally comes up with a domestic agenda and it's for Iraq. Maybe we could bring that here if it works out." Jay Leno "President Bush said this Iraq situation looks like 'the rerun of a bad movie.' Well sure, there's a Bush in the White House, the economy's going to hell, we're going to war over oil. I've seen this movie, haven't I?" Jay Leno "President Bush announced tonight that he believes in democracy and that democracy can exist in Iraq. They can have a strong economy, they can have a good health care plan, and they can have a free and fair voting. Iraq? We can't even get this in Florida." Jay Leno "President Bush has said that he does not need approval from the UN to wage war, and I'm thinking, well, hell, he didn't need the approval of the American voters to become president, either." David Letterman "Democrats were quick to point out that President Bush's budget creates a 1 trillion dollar deficit. The White House quickly responded with 'Hey, look over there, it's Saddam Hussein.'" Craig Kilborn "We have it. The smoking gun. The evidence. The potential weapon of mass destruction we have been looking for as our pretext of invading Iraq. There's just one problem it's in North Korea." Jon Stewart "War continues in Iraq. They're calling it Operation Iraqi Freedom. They were going to call it Operation Iraqi Liberation until they realized that spells 'OIL.'" Jay Leno "CNN said that after the war, there is a plan to divide Iraq into three parts ... regular, premium and unleaded." Jay Leno "Iraq began destroying those missiles they don't have over the weekend. See, President Bush may be the smartest military president in history. First, he gets Iraq to destroy all of their own weapons. Then he declares war." Jay Leno "Many of our soldiers are stationed at Camp Coyote just south of the Iraqi border. This is how you know we have a strong army, when you can actually tell your enemy exactly where your camp is and what its name is." Jon Stewart "President Bush agreed today to allow more weapons inspectors in Iraq. As I understand he has 250,000 of them ready to go." Jay Leno "The Pentagon still has not given a name to the Iraqi war. Somehow 'Operation Re-elect Bush' doesn't seem to be popular." Jay Leno "The president boasted at the top of his press conference that we have the support now of Britain and Spain for our attack on Iraq. You know, when you want to make it perfectly clear to the world that you're not an imperialist, the people you want in your corner are Britain and Spain." Bill Maher "On Sunday, the president flies to the Azores islands to attend a summit with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Aznar, and here's my prediction: Bush gets voted off." Craig Kilborn "President Bush spent last night calling world leaders to support the war with Iraq and it is sad when the most powerful man on earth is yelling, 'I know you're there, pick up, pick up." Craig Kilborn Experts say that if we go to war with Iraq, oil could reach as much as $80 a barrel. Of course, after the war it will be free." Jay Leno
Anti-war protestors close Coca Cola water plant in India HYDERABAD, India (AFP) Mar 28, 2003 Anti-Iraq war protesters have forced the closure of a water bottling unit owned by US soft drink giant Coca Cola in south India, officials said Friday. Hundreds of anti-war protesters marched on the Kinley water bottling plant in Sattupalli in Khammam district, 250 kilometres (155 miles) north of Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh state, on Thursday and forced it to stop production. The protesters shouted slogans against the United States government during a two-hour demonstration in front of the plant, Coca Cola official Vijay Bhasker Reddy told AFP. The protesters have threatened to keep up their protests to keep the plant shut. "We are shut today (Friday) because the whole area is shut down by some other protests. Meanwhile, we are watching the situation and will see when it's safe to reopen," Coca Cola official Vijay Bhasker Reddy told AFP. Over the weekend Maoist rebels destroyed Coke bottles and blasted a Pepsi warehouse in other parts of the state to protest against the Iraq war.
Oakland Coast Guard Demonstration
Calif. Journalist Suspended Over Antiwar Protest SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A San Francisco Chronicle reporter suspended after getting arrested in an anti-war rally said on Friday that he felt unfairly treated and that no one should expect complete objectivity from a journalist. The Chronicle suspended technology reporter Henry Norr, 57, effective Thursday, after he was among more than 1,300 people arrested last week for blocking public streets on the first morning after the Iraq war started. "I don't write about national affairs, I don't write about national politics, I write about things like (e-mail) spam," Norr said in an interview. "To me, in any normal understanding of what is a conflict of interest, I didn't (have) one." Unlike many U.S. newspapers, the Chronicle does not bar its reporters from participating in political events, but a memo distributed internally by the paper on Wednesday advises its staff to be cautious and gain approval from superiors first. "The war is a subject that we are writing about in every section of our paper and it touches the work of most of the journalists who work here," Phil Bronstein, the paper's editor who wrote the memo, said in an interview. "So we are very serious about avoiding a conflict or the appearance of conflict." "We do take with upmost seriousness our First Amendment responsibility which as a newspaper is to provide fair and balanced coverage and to report every side of a story, particularly in wartime, and particularly when the country has such strong feelings on all sides," he said. The paper told Norr, who organized marches during the Vietnam War before becoming a journalist, he was being suspended for claiming a sick day to attend the anti-war protest. "What I was feeling is that I am at heart sick of the war. I was nauseated by it all," Norr said. Norr said a different standard against participating in rallies should apply to reporters covering national affairs such as the Pentagon or White House beat. Nonetheless, he said journalists cannot mask their personal feelings entirely. "Total objectivity is an illusion," he said. "Everybody has views on important issues, at least most people do." "The best journalism comes from people who are engaged in the world around them, who are not just blinkered scribes who sit there at the keyboard and write stories, but people who have passions and feelings and engagement."
http://www.craigslist.org/sfo/eve/9778941.html Picture from earlier Candlelight Vigil at http://lmno4p.org/updates.htm Candlelight vigil at the colonnade between Grand & Lakeshore Avenues in Oakland. (Same place that the weekly LMNOP peace walks start & end). Sun, Mar 30, 7 PM. Bring candles if you have them, but come even if you don't. Info: 510-763-8712, lmnop@riseup.net, http://lmno4p.org/updates.htm For directions & public transportation information see http://lmno4p.org/where_when.htm
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Up-to-the-Minute Emergency Responses to War With Iraq throughout the Bay Area: 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 the included information for research and educational purposes.
NO DEATHS OVER OIL!
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