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abolition-usa-digest      Tuesday, March 23 1999      Volume 01 : Number 094




----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sat, 20 Mar 1999 00:13:53 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: (abolition-usa) Iraq's chilling economic statistics  (fwd)

 Subj:     Iraq's chilling economic statistics  (fwd)
 Date:    3/19/99 7:15:30 PM Eastern Standard Time
 From:    [e-mail] (Eric A Schuster)
 To:    [e-mail]

 --------- Begin forwarded message ----------

 March 18, 1999

 IRAQ'S CHILLING ECONOMIC STATISTICS

 Iraq's total GDP has fallen to just $5.7 billion, or $247 per capita,
 according to estimates by the well-respected Economist Intelligence Unit
 in The Economist's newly published annual supplement "The World in 1999."


 Just prior to the Gulf War, Iraq's GDP was more than ten times
 higher--around $60 billion.

 Last year the Economist Intelligence Unit estimated Iraqi GDP at $30.4
 billion, or $1,300 per capita. This year's figure represents both a
 further precipitous decline, and more accurate estimates.

 To put this in perspective, Jordan, Iraq's tiny neighbor has a GDP of
 $8.6
 billion.

 With an estimated per capita GDP of only $247, Iraq, once one of the most
 developed countries in the Middle East, is now poorer than many countries
 in sub-saharan Africa.

 Just this evening I had the opportunity to attend a talk by former UN
 humanitarian relief coordinator for Iraq, Denis Halliday. Halliday noted
 that Iraq's recurring annual budget needs for health, food and essential
 services, is $12-15 billion. With the Oil-for-Food program, which
 Halliday
 ran for thirteen months, Iraq gets barely $4 billion.

 With a total GDP of $5.7 billion Iraq's economy is worth about the same
 as
 four B-1 bombers. It is worth about half of Bill Gates.

 The entire Iraqi economy amounts to just 2% (two percent) of the annual
 United States DEFENSE budget of $265 billion.

 The increase in the US defense budget proposed for next year by the
 Clinton Administration ($12 billion) is more than twice the entire GDP of
 Iraq.

 Just exactly what kind of threat can Iraq present? You do the math.

 Ali Abunimah
 [e-mail]
 http://www.abunimah.org
 -------------------------------

 Note: The destruction of Iraq's economy by the sanctions has
 distinctively
 changed the life in Iraq: children are dying in greater numbers; families
 are breaking apart; educational systems are crumbling ... For more
 information, please refer to the articles by Denis Halliday
 <http://iraqaction.org/denis.html>

 ============================================================================

 --------
 Iraq Action Coalition
 http://iraqaction.org


  >>

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------------------------------

Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 09:57:53 -0500
From: Bob Tiller <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: Missile Shield Alternatives

Well put, Lachlan!

Bob Tiller



Lachlan Forrow wrote:
>
> I'm struck by how powerful the language of "protecting our
> homes and our cities from nuclear weapons" is.  I think there
> is no prayer of successfully opposing "missile defenses" with
> a "Stop Star Wars" kind of slogan, or even by just trying to
> debunk the claims of effectiveness.  If there is even a perceived
> CHANCE that a "missile shield" might "save the US", people
> will grab for it (and pay almost anything).  We need a bumper-sticker
> and sound-bite set of phrases that can compete successfully,
> by offering an even more appealing alternative that is as fully
> "patriotic" and has at least as much "moral high ground"
> resonance as "defenses against rogue missiles" does.
>
> The two themes that resonate most powerfully seem to me
> to be "protection of the US" and "money".
>
> Two, for a start:
>
> Real Protection:
> Abolish Nuclear Weapons!
>
> Or:
>
> Want REAL Protection?
> Abolish Nuclear Weapons!
>
> Second:
>
> Reclaim Your Tax Dollars:
> Abolish Nuclear Weapons
>
> The second is already an attractive bumper sticker available
> through IPPNW.
>
> Lachlan Forrow, MD
>
> The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship
> Dedicated to Reverence for Life in Action
> A co-sponsor of ABOLITION 2000
>
> "Nuclear weapons are against international
> law and they have to be abolished...All negotiations
> regarding the abolition of atomic weapons remain
> without success because no international public
> opinion exists which demands this abolition."
>                                   --Dr. Albert Schweitzer

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------------------------------

Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 12:38:47 -0500
From: Rosalie Tyler Paul <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Re: Missile Shield Alternatives

A few more bumper sticker ideas from Peace Action Maine:

Protect your family from nuclear weapons.
Abolish them!

or

Build a safe shield against nuclear weapons.
Abolish them all!

or

Be safe from nuclear danger.
Abolish Nuclear Weapons!

or

National Security requires
Nuclear Disarmament.

on a slightly different note:

The Cold War was over....
Till the arms dealers decided to keep it going.

Hope all of you in New England will be in Kittery, Maine on Saturday March
27 for our New England Regional gathering of Nuclear Abolition activists.
9-2 followed by a protest at the Naval Shipyard. Call the office for
details at 207-772-0680


This was in response to what Lachlan Forrow wrote:
>
> I'm struck by how powerful the language of "protecting our
> homes and our cities from nuclear weapons" is.  I think there
> is no prayer of successfully opposing "missile defenses" with
> a "Stop Star Wars" kind of slogan, or even by just trying to
> debunk the claims of effectiveness.  If there is even a perceived
> CHANCE that a "missile shield" might "save the US", people
> will grab for it (and pay almost anything).  We need a bumper-sticker
> and sound-bite set of phrases that can compete successfully,
> by offering an even more appealing alternative that is as fully
> "patriotic" and has at least as much "moral high ground"
> resonance as "defenses against rogue missiles" does.
>
> The two themes that resonate most powerfully seem to me
> to be "protection of the US" and "money".
>
> Two, for a start:
>
> Real Protection:
> Abolish Nuclear Weapons!
>
> Or:
>
> Want REAL Protection?
> Abolish Nuclear Weapons!
>
> Second:
>
> Reclaim Your Tax Dollars:
> Abolish Nuclear Weapons
>
> The second is already an attractive bumper sticker available
> through IPPNW.
>
> Lachlan Forrow, MD




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------------------------------

Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 15:27:30 -0500
From: Peace through Reason <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Re: Missile Shield Alternatives

Here's one for you:

"Stop nukin' around!"

anon.
____________________________________________________________

* Peace Through Reason - http://prop1.org -Convert the War Machines! *
____________________________________________________________

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------------------------------

Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 14:23:31 -0800
From: David Krieger <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) March 5 Conference call minutes

Meeting Minutes

US Abolition Campaign Facilitators' Group Conference Call

Friday, March 5, 1999

10 AM PST / 1 PM EST


Special thanks to Jackie Cabasso, who made the arrangements for the

conference call and facilitated the group


I. Introductions- Facilitators' Group members present on call:

Lori Beckwith, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

John Burroughs, Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy

Jackie Cabasso, Western States Legal Foundation

Joseph Gerson, American Friends Service Committee

David Krieger, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

Sally Light, TriValley CAREs

Pamela Meidell, Atomic Mirror

Robert Musil, Physicians for Social Responsibility

Dave Robinson, Pax Christi

Susan Shaer, Women's Action for New Directions

Alice Slater, Global Resource Action Center for the Environment

Anthony Guarisco, Alliance of Atomic Veterans

Jan Harwood, WILPF

Claudia Peterson, Utah Downwinders

Jo Peterson, Nebraskans for Peace

Robert Manning, Sonoma County Peace and Justice Center

Esther Pank, Peace Links


  A. Note taker and time keeper volunteers:

Dave Robinson - time keeper, Jo Peterson - note taker


  B. Jackie reviewed the agenda and requested modifications. It was decided to

spend 10 minutes discussing an evaluation of the Santa Barbara meeting under

"Old Business."


 II. Old Business


    A. Status of meeting finances


Facilitator and Meeting Expenses


Facilitator --     Labor (50 hours at $50/hour nonprofit rate)    $2,500.00

    Ground transit in Boston    $55.00

    Phone Calls (incl. agenda and ICC)                            $35.00

    Car rental in LA                                                $245.98

    (Food and lodging paid by WAND)                            $150.00

    Airfare -- Boston/LA                                            $645.00

Subtotal                                                        $3,480.98


Meeting ---

    Copies (incl. A Gathering of Tribes)                            $287.76

    Supplies for Facilitator/folders                                $98.99

    Flowers, refreshments, supplies for social                    $53.85

Subtotal                                                        $440.60


Total                                                            $3,921.58

=============================================================

Income

    Ploughshares Fund                                            $1,500.00

    Fourth Freedom Forum                                        $860.00

    IEER                                                        $250.00

    Pax Christi                                                    $200.00

    Tri-Valley CAREs                                            $100.00

    Western States Legal Foundation                            $100.00

    GRACE                                                        $100.00

    Mainstream Media Project                                    $100.00

    PSR                                                        $75.00

    Nuclear Age Peace Foundation                                $50.00

    Mark Mebane                                                $20.00


Total                                                            $3,355.00    ================================================

=========    Shortfall                                                    $566.58


*Susan, Pamela, Lori, Sally and Jackie will meet off-line to determine how to

cover remaining expenses.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Special Thanks to Susan Gordon who handled the diversity funds for the Santa

Barbara meeting.


Diversity Expenses


Travel Costs (air fare and/or ground travel) -- Claudia Peterson; Anthony

Guarisco;

Ian Zabarte; Esther Hilsenrad; Richard Salvador; Corbin Harney; Matteo

Ferreira;

Abha Sur; Betty Burkes --                                            $2,620.00


Lodging and Meals --                                                $1,794.00

Subtotal                                                            $4,414.00


Diversity Income


American Friends Service Committee                                $750.00

Nuclear Age Peace Foundation                                        $500.00

Western States Legal Foundation                                    $500.00

Alliance for Nuclear Accountability                                    $500.00

GRACE                                                            $500.00

Business Leaders for Professional Responsibility                        $500.00

Fourth Freedom Forum                                                $450.00

PSR                                                                $660.00

State of the World Forum                                            $240.00


Total                                                                $4,600.00

===========================================================

Amount left over                                                    $186.00


Outstanding  --  Bob Downing, gas                                        ?


Pledges not collected:

    Fellowship of Reconciliation                                        $300.00


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


  B. Report on Santa Barbara Declaration


David K. reported a mostly positive response for the Santa Barbara statement

- -- at the meeting and through Email. However, there were strong concerns

raised by members at the meeting regarding the need to address the issues of

power and democracy in the statement.


It was proposed that approval be given to the declaration as is, however, the

issues of power and democracy are so important, that it is necessary to

develop a process and discussion to address these issues in ways that will

more fully contribute to understanding, and to draft a separate statement on

power and democracy. The proposal had consensus with Bob M. "standing aside,"

with concerns that focusing on issues of power in the statement may put many

"in the middle" off.


*David K. will initiate the process of drafting a statement on power and

democracy by soliciting input from all interested parties via e-mail.


  C. Status of Meeting Notes


Thanks again to note takers at the Santa Barbara meeting: David K., Susan

Gordon, Kathy Crandall, Lori, Andy Lichterman - as reported in Email meeting

minutes.


Many thanks to Alice who assembled the notes and sent by E-mail the meeting

minutes.


*Alice will repost the Santa Barbara meeting minutes to those at the Santa

Barbara meeting with a request that participants make any necessary

corrections and post those to Lori or Alice. Alice will put together a hard

copy mailing that will include the minutes and updated addresses. Lori will

provide addresses from data base.

It was suggested that all members at the Santa Barbara meeting and on the

Facilitators' Committee be on the Abolition 2000 list serve.



    D. Evaluation of Santa Barbara Meeting


*Joseph G. will initiate a process of evaluation for the Santa Barbara

meeting. He will ask meeting participants via email for comments about the

meeting. It was requested that Joseph provide a summary evaluation of his

findings to the Facilitators' Group.


III. Review of Facilitators' Mandates



It was decided at the Santa Barbara meeting that the name of the Interim

Coordinating Committee, (ICC), formed in Chicago, be changed to the

Facilitator's Group. The Facilitators' Group is to help with organizing

efforts for the next six months. The group has been charged by the larger

group to: propose a name for the campaign, to help formulate longer-term

structure, bring forward strategic activities and plan the next meeting.


  A. Who will serve on the Facilitators' Group?


At the Santa Barbara meeting, an invitation for volunteers was extended to

join carry over members of the ICC. Esther Pank and Robert Manning/Bob Alpern

(as alternates) volunteered after the meeting.


The size and the composition of the group was discussed. Changes from the

Chicago ICC group were noted. Duane Shank, Gordon Clark, Alan Ware, Daryl

Kimball, Susan Gordon and Kathy Crandall will not be serving on the

Facilitators' Group. Gordon Clark was reported to be looking for a Peace

Action member to take his place.


*It was agreed that the following Santa Barbara volunteers would be invited to

join the Facilitators' Group: Matteo Ferreira, Shundahai Network; Anthony

Guarisco, Alliance of Atomic Veterans; Alan Haber, Michigan Coalition of Peace

and Environmental Organizations; Jan Haber, WILPF; Pilulaw Khus, Traditional

Chumash Elder; Claudia Peterson, Utah Downwinder; Jo Peterson, Nebraskans for

Peace; Jonathan Granoff, Lawyers' Alliance for World Security (nominated by Ed

Aguilar); Robert Manning or Bob Alpern, Sonoma County Center for Peace and

Justice; Esther Panks, Peace Links.  * Sally Light will contact Richard

Salvador to see if he would be interested in joining the group.


Concern was expressed that the makeup of the Facilitators' Group is not

sufficiently diverse, and that the option of adding more diverse perspectives

should remain open.


  B. Who will pay for conference calls?


Consensus was reached that each member of the committee would assume the cost

of their own conference calls. To maintain diversity, group members agreed to

call Alice Slater and/or Jackie Cabasso if assistance or more information is

needed.


  C. How will the Facilitators' group be structured?


The Facilitators' Group decided that its first priority was to propose a name

for the campaign. Several processes were proposed to reach this goal.


It was decided by consensus that for the purposes of proposing a name, four

Facilitators' Group members, who had not already expressed strong opinions

about the name, and who represented the range of opinion already expressed

would be chosen to form a subgroup. This group was charged with exploring the

opinions of the larger group.


*The subgroup will solicit E-mail input from interested persons, and will call

Santa Barbara meeting participants who expressed a strong interest about the

name. They will bring those opinions together and recommend a name to the

Facilitators' Group for approval during the next conference call. (Two weeks.)

Sub group members are: Sally Light, Robert Manning, John Burroughs and Claudia

Peterson.


Next Conference Call: Monday, March 22, 1999, 10AM PST/1 PM EST

*Jackie Cabasso agreed to arrange for and facilitate the next call.

*Jo will circulate meeting notes to Facilitators' present on call for

accuracy.

*Facilitators will notify Jo of any need corrections. Jo will be responsible

for editing and distributing the edited version.




<bigger>*********************************************************

NUCLEAR AGE PEACE FOUNDATION

International contact for Abolition 2000

a Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons

</bigger>**********************************************************

1187 Coast Village Road, Suite 121

Santa Barbara, CA 93108-2794

Phone [phone] * Fax [phone]

e- mailto:[e-mail]

URL http://www.wagingpeace.org

URL http://www.napf.org/abolition2000/

**********************************************************



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------------------------------

Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 18:47:03 -0500
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) NATO MTG, Apr. 23rd: RE-AFFIRMATION OF CITIZENS' SUMMONS

Dear Friends,
Listed below is the kind of material we are preparing for our Alternative
Citizens Summit during the NATO meeting in Washington DC.  Regards, Alice
Slater

>Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 23:03:27 -0500
>Subject: RE-AFFIRMATION OF CITIZENS' SUMMONS
>Priority: non-urgent
>X-FC-MachineGenerated: true
>To: [e-mail]
>From: [e-mail] ([e-mail])
>
>Mailinglist 'Citizens Inspections to Prevent War Crimes'
>-------------------------------------------------------
>
>Dear Abolitonists
>
>
>Following is a re-affirmation of the Citizens' Summons presented by Nuclear
>Weapons Abolition Days at the NATO Madrid Summit on 8 July 1997.    We hope
>that this can be conveyed to the 19 NATO Heads of Government during the
>Washington Summit - hopefully with a certain amaount of flourish.  It will
>be a notarised document and will therfore carry a certain amount of legal
>weight=20
>
>There will be one copy of the updated Summons for each of the NATO leaders.
>This will be a large document printed in large script on a parchment-like
>document. Each one will have the national flag of the country addressed as
>well as a photograph of its Head of Government. They will be nicely wrapped
>up in red ribbon with seals etc, and a sunflower attached (for Abolition
>2000) There will also be a separate document for NATO itself, in the person
>of Javier Solana.
>
>Please look at it carefully and let me know if you have any alterations or
>additions to suggest.=20
>
>Best Wishes
>
>George Farebrother
>...........................................................................=
.
>......
>
>
>
>NUCLEAR WEAPONS=20
>ABOLITION  DAYS  NETWORK=20
>part of  ABOLITION 2000
>A Global Network to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
>
>Please reply to: For Mother Earth International office, Lange Steenstraat
>16/d,=20
>9000 Gent, Belgium Phone/fax  [phone] E-mail  [e-mail]
>
>To The Rt Hon Tony Blair MP representing the United Kingdom at the
>50th Anniversary NATO Summit in Washington, April 1999:
>
>Dear Tony Blair
>
>On July 8th, 1997 a notarized Citizens' Summons was presented to Se=F1or
>Angel Sancho Arnpudia, the Director of the NATO Summit Organizing
>Committee, who who undertook to give them to Javier Solana, Secretary
>General of NATO and to all sixteen Heads of State.  Since then NATO
>has given little indication of complying with its obligations under
>international law by relinquishing its policy of nuclear deterrence,
>nor has it made any reasoned response to the Summons.  Following is
>a re-affirmation of the original Summons with an indication of some
>retrograde steps which have occurred since 1997.=20
>=20
>RE-AFFIRMATION OF CITIZENS' SUMMONS
>
>Whereas on the 8th July 1996 the International Court of Justice, drawing
>on international agreements such as The Hague Conventions, Geneva
>Conventions, and Genocide Convention, issued its Advisory Opinion
>on the legal status of the threat or use of nuclear weapons which
>concluded that:
>
>-       the threat or use of nuclear weapons is generally contrary to
>international
>humanitarian law;
>
>-       no circumstances had been identified in which use of nuclear
>weapons
>would not violate humanitarian law;
>
>-       there is no distinction in law between threat and use of nuclear
>weapons;
>the limited use of low yield nuclear weapons would tend to escalate
>to all-out use of high yield nuclear weapons;
>
>-       the Nuremburg Charter of 1945 applied to nuclear weapons. Thus it
>is the duty of citizens to uphold the law relating to nuclear weapons
>and of military personnel to obey it even if given a contrary order
>by a superior or by his or her national government;
>
>-       there exists an obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a
>conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its
>aspects under strict and effective international control.
>
>In December 1996, and again in 1998 the United Nations General Assembly,
>in response to the ICJ Advisory Opinion, called for negotiations in
>1997 leading to the early conclusion of a Nuclear Weapons Convention.
>In December 1998 the NATO Nuclear Weapon States voted against the
>moderate resolution "Towards a Nuclear Weapon-Free World:  The Need
>for a New Agenda". which merely called for further unilateral, bilateral,
>and multilateral actions and for the Nuclear Weapons state and their
>allies to "review Strategic Doctrines".  NATO,is therefore acting
>illegally by:
>
>-       retaining the option to use nuclear weapons first in future
>conflicts;
>issuing orders to its military personnel to prepare for the illegal
>use of nuclear weapons;
>
>-       making conditional plans to use, through its member nuclear weapon
>States, a stockpile of nuclear weapons which, because of their yield,
>would necessarily violate international humanitarian law;
>
>-       condoning the consistent opposition by its member nuclear weapon
>States
>of moves towards the global elimination of nuclear weapons.
>
>-       compounding its violation of international law by admitting three
>new members into its nuclear alliance and therefore implicating them
>in its illegal nuclear planning process. =20
>
>-       continuing to base US nuclear  weapons in European countries and
>involving
>European nationals in training for their delivery in contravention
>of Articles I and II of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. =20
>
>We, as citizens of a planet under threat of irreparable damage from
>the illegal threat of nuclear weapons, and acting in accordance with
>their obligation under the Nuremberg Charter to uphold the law, gave
>notice that unless immediate action is taken to review  NATO's illegal
>nuclear policy and eliminate the threat and capacity to use nuclear
>weapons.   We shall use all peaceful means in our power, including
>organising and taking part in and advocating individual and mass
>participation
>in direct nonviolent resistance and to intervene against all preparations
>for nuclear war at the places where they are carried out. As NATO
> has still not given any indication of complying with the ICJ  Advisory
>Opinion, such action is fully justified.
>
>SIGNED
>
>=20
>=20
>George Farebrother  =20
>Secretary, World Court Project UK
>67 Summerheath Rd, Hailsham, Sussex, BN27 3DR, UK
>Phone & Fax  [phone], Email  ([e-mail])
>Web Site: http://www.gn.apc.org/wcp
>
>The World Court Project is an international citizens' network which is
>working to publicise and have implemented the July 8 1996 Advisory  Opinion
>of the International Court of Justice which could find no
>lawful circumstance for the threat or use of nuclear weapons.=20
>
>The World Court Project UK is part of Abolition 2000, a Global Network to
>eliminate nuclear weapons.     =20
>                                    =20
> =20
Alice Slater
Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE)
15 East 26th Street, Room 915
New York, NY 10010
tel:  [phone]
fax:  [phone]
email:  [e-mail]

GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty
to eliminate nuclear weapons.

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------------------------------

Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 18:11:07 -0800
From: Jan Harwood <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: Discussion of Fourth Freedom Forum Abolition Project

Since I was taking notes furiously during today's conference call of the
Facilitators' Group, I didn't give my feelings about the FFF project.

I think it's very important to embrace all positive activity toward
abolition of nuclear weapons, and very destructive to hold resentful
feelings toward any group that wants to do things in their own way. I agree
it's disappointing that FFF didn't choose to work within the national
coalition, but then, I'm also disappointed that our coalition didn't choose
to work within the international Abolition 2000 coalition.  But we're
parallel, and that's okay. Let's make liaison with FFF and all move ahead
with a good spirit.



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------------------------------

Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 00:23:49 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: (abolition-usa) NYC / arrests for Police Brutality

While not directly related to Abolition 2000 and not on the usual agenda of
the Mennonite discussions, the continuing arrests in New York City in protest
against police brutality are a very good demonstration of nonviolence. It is
important that people from the white community take part, underlining the fact
that the Hispanic and African American communities are not alone. For that
reason I post this on to these two lists.

David McReynolds

Subj:    NYC / arrests for Police Brutality
 Date:    3/23/99 12:20:55 AM Eastern Standard Time
 From:    DavidMcR
 To:    [e-mail], [e-mail]
 To:    [e-mail]
 To:    [e-mail]
 To:    [e-mail]
 To:    [e-mail], [e-mail]
 To:    [e-mail] (Julia), BRUGGED
 To:    [e-mail], [e-mail]
 To:    StevenAult, [e-mail]
 To:    SteBendich, SKentC, [e-mail]
 To:    AriseFilms, [e-mail]
 To:    [e-mail]
 To:    [e-mail]
 To:    [e-mail], [e-mail]
 To:    Andyhumm, [e-mail], [e-mail]
 To:    [e-mail], Joel Landy
 To:    [e-mail], [e-mail]
 To:    JMahoneyP, [e-mail], [e-mail]
 To:    LCNP, [e-mail] (Ethan)
 To:    [e-mail], Sjfive
 To:    [e-mail], [e-mail]
 To:    [e-mail], [e-mail]
 To:    Chango shk, [e-mail], NAda802074
 BCC:    DavidMcR

 I would call attention to the daily arrests at Police Plaza here in New York
City.

 As those of you know who have been following the press, a growing number of
quite prominent people have been taking part in these actions, sparked by the
shooting of Diallo. I will be among those taking part on Friday (and expecting
to get out in time for the Socialist Party Local meeting).

 If you want to join in the arrests and don't have a contact, let me know. I
don't have a phone number at hand, but I'll do my best to find one.

 It is important that as many whites as possible take part. I am glad to see
that this week Jews for Racial and Economic Justice are taking part.

 Fraternally,
 David McReynolds >>

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------------------------------

Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 12:07:35 -0500
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Budget Letter to Groups from Progressive Members of Congress

>Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 10:52:51 -0500
>Subject: Budget Letter to Groups from Progressive Members of Congress
>Priority: non-urgent
>X-FC-MachineGenerated: true
>To: [e-mail]
>X-FC-Forwarded-From: [e-mail]
>From: [e-mail] ([e-mail])
>
>Daniel McGlinchey of Rep. Barney Frank's (D-MA) office asked me
>to forward this letter to interested groups. It is signed by
>several progressive members of Congress and calls on
>organizations to join the members in opposition to the package of
>spending cuts and defense increases now winding its way through
>Congress.
>
>The letter ends by requesting groups to contact Daniel McGlinchey
>in Rep. Frank's office (202-225-5931) or Brendan Smith in Rep.
>Bernie Sanders' (I-VT) office (202-225-4115) to participate in
>strategy sessions on the issue.
>
>- Patrick Lester, CHN
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>
>From: McGlinchey, Daniel <[e-mail]>
>To: '[e-mail]' <[e-mail]>
>Date: Tuesday, March 23, 1999 10:19 AM
>Subject: defense letter -- final
>
>
>March 23, 1999
>
>Dear Friend,
>
>
>We write to ask you to join us in organizing efforts to prevent
>an impending social disaster.  Unless things change, we confront
>the stark prospect of a federal budget being adopted which will
>severely undermine our efforts to deal with threats to the
>quality of life both in the United States and in the rest of the
>world.
>
>
>The Republican leadership has made clear that it intends to go
>forward with a budget that preserves the caps on discretionary
>spending adopted in 1997, while simultaneously providing for very
>substantial increases in the military and education budgets.  We
>welcome the increases in the education budget, and we will be
>supportive of sensible federal policies which seek to increase
>the resources we put to education.  But we believe that the
>significant increases proposed in military spending go far beyond
>what is needed for our national security, and given the fact that
>the spending caps already severely constrain important programs,
>these military increases will come at the expense of every other
>function of the federal government.  Those who now see the need
>for additional efforts in cleaning up the environment, providing
>health care, helping law enforcement, combating poverty at home
>and abroad, dealing with the housing crisis, promoting economic
>development in distressed areas, dealing with problems in the
>agricultural sector, providing adequate resources for veterans
>programs, and in every other aspect of federal policy must
>understand that if a budget is adopted which maintains the caps
>while significantly increasing military spending, all of these
>other functions will suffer grievously.
>
>
>This danger is exacerbated by the support President Clinton has
>given to significant increases in military spending.  While the
>President proposes increases in other areas, these parts of his
>budget are unlikely to be supported by the House and Senate
>majorities.  Instead, Congress is likel to build on his proposed
>military increases while rejecting his suggestions for paying for
>this increased spending.  And key Congressional leaders have
>explicitly stated that they will finance increased military
>spending by cuts in other discretionary spending areas.  We
>believe that it is appropriate to improve some aspects of the
>national security budget, particularly with regard to the
>condition of personnel. But we think there are significant areas
>where the large increases being proposed in military spending are
>unnecessary.
>
>
>With the President and the Republican Congressional leadership
>committed to increased military spending, and with the
>Congressional leadership insistent on preserving the caps and
>rejecting any additional revenue sources, the likeliest outcome
>today is for a budget which endangers our ability to make
>progress in any area of non-military concern with the exception
>of education.  We do not believe that this is an appropriate
>outcome -- it reflects neither the real needs of our society nor
>the true desires of the American people.
>
>
>But in the absence of prompt, effective political organizing,
>this distortion of priorities will be written into law.  Efforts
>to increase spending in other departments later in the year
>through the appropriations process will face extraordinary obstac
>les if we do not deal with this now. We are therefore writing to
>a wide range of organizations which seekincreased resources for a
>variety of concerns within the federal budget structure to ask
>you to join us in preventing this from happening.
>
>
>While it will be theoretically possible for advocates of
>particular cause to gain a larger appropriation later in the year
>if this overall budget scheme is enacted, we think it is socially
>undesirable for advocates of increased environmental protection,
>for example, to be forced to support cuts in housing or community
>development, or for advocates of increased aid to farmers in
>distress to have to seek to capture funds that would otherwise go
>for food stamps or school lunches.  Yet that will be the
>inevitable outcome of a budget which preserves the caps while
>increasing military spending significantly.
>
>
>If you are interested in joining us, please call Daniel
>McGlinchey (Rep. Frank, 55931) or Brendan Smith (Rep. Sanders,
>54115) to let us know.  We will be arranging a strategy session
>soon of people who share our opposition to what we fear will be a
>terrible distortion of our priorities, and we look forward to
>your joining us in this fight.
>
>
>REP. TAMMY BALDWIN
>SENATOR BARBARA BOXER
>REP. GEORGE E. BROWN, JR.
>REP. SHERROD BROWN
>REP. JOHN CONYERS, JR.
>REP. PETER A. DEFAZIO
>REP. LLOYD DOGGETT
>SENATOR RICHARD J. DURBIN
>REP. BOB FILNER
>REP. BARNEY FRANK
>REP. LUIS V. GUTIERREZ
>SENATOR TOM HARKIN
>REP. BARBARA LEE
>REP. BILL LUTHER
>REP. JIM McDERMOTT
>REP. JAMES P. McGOVERN
>REP. EDWARD J. MARKEY
>REP. GEORGE MILLER
>REP. JERROLD NADLER
>REP. MAJOR R. OWENS
>REP. NANCY PELOSI
>REP. BERNARD SANDERS
>REP. FORTNEY PETE STARK
>REP. MAXINE WATERS
>SENATOR PAUL WELLSTONE
>REP. LYNN WOOLSEY
>SENATOR RON WYDEN
>
>
>
>
>---
>You are currently subscribed to budgetgroups as: [[e-mail]]
>To unsubscribe, forward this message to
>[e-mail]
>
Alice Slater
Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE)
15 East 26th Street, Room 915
New York, NY 10010
tel:  [phone]
fax:  [phone]
email:  [e-mail]

GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty
to eliminate nuclear weapons.

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------------------------------

Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 18:39:35 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: (abolition-usa) Yugoslavia

In a message dated 3/23/99 6:10:05 PM Eastern Standard Time, [e-mail]
writes:

<< Subj:     Yugoslavia
 Date:    3/23/99 6:10:05 PM Eastern Standard Time
 From:    [e-mail] (Richard Pond)
 Sender:    [e-mail]
 To:    [e-mail]

 Comrades,

 Kosovo is a province of Serbia (which together with Montenegro makes up
 post-1992 Yugoslavia).  It has been, rightly or wrongly, part of Serbia
 since 1913.  So what we are about to do is intervene in a civil war.

 A few months ago, NATO drew up a peace plan and promptly tried to impose
 this on the warring parties.  Roughly speaking, we said to the Serbs "Sign
 this, or we'll bomb you", and to the Kosovan ethnic Albanians "Sign this,
 or we won't be able to get away with bombing the Serbs when they don't sign
 it".  This is contrary to all principles: what kind of an agreement can
 hold when it's forced upon people by threats?  What we had, then, was not
 genuine negotiations but Western imperialists (calling themselves "the
 international community") trying to impose a solution from above.

 NATO was founded 50 years ago, before the Warsaw Pact, but nonetheless as
 an essentially defensive military alliance.  Its purpose was to defend
 Western Europe from the alleged possibility of Soviet military incursions.
 No such incursion ever took place.  If NATO goes to war tonight, it will be
 the first time in its history (or so I'm told) that NATO has gone to war
 against a sovereign state.  (NATO shot down some Serb warplanes over Bosnia
 in 1994, but I don't think that quite compares!).

 Since the end of the Cold War, when NATO's whole raison d'etre disappeared,
 we've not seen the organization curl up and die, but instead it's been
 extended - to the East - and given a bigger and more powerful role in world
 affairs than ever before.  With Russia weakened, the West - in this case,
 unprecedently, NATO - feels free to act - whether against Iraq or against
 the Yugoslav Republic.  NATO is changing to a new, more prominent role in
 world affairs.

 And the German Greens' suggestion (briefly taken up by the German Green
 Foreign Minister Fischer) that NATO should make a "no-first-use" pledge on
 nuclear weapons (just as the USSR did) has been firmly rebuffed.  So NATO's
 claim to be a defensive organization is now threadbare.

 Clinton says he wants a safer Europe.  But alas.  Any intervention in
 Serbia has at least as much chance of inflaming the situation and possibly
 igniting a wider conflict, as anything else.  Notice how the NATO country
 farthest from Yugoslavia - that is, the United States - is the one that's
 most enthusiastic about war.  But you won't find nearly as much enthusiasm
 in Greece, Austria, or indeed Italy.

 Something interesting is that the Serb army is much better armed than the
 Iraqis.  There is a very good chance of Allied casualties.  And of course,
 Yugoslav casualties - including "collateral damage", which means civilian
 bloodshed - are inevitable.

 Richard
  >>

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------------------------------

End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #94
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