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abolition-usa-digest     Saturday, April 10 1999     Volume 01 : Number 108




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

Date: Thu, 08 Apr 1999 17:26:58 -0400
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: PSR Says Shutdown FFTF

>Date: Thu, 08 Apr 1999 16:55:54 -0400
>Subject: PSR Says Shutdown FFTF
>Priority: non-urgent
>X-FC-MachineGenerated: true
>To: [e-mail]
>Cc: [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]
>From: [e-mail] ([e-mail])
>
>PSR Security Activists & Friends:
>Please help us to finally put FFTF to rest.=20
>Richardson will make a decision soon, Faxes/ phone calls are urged.=20
>ENCLOSED PLEASE FIND:=20
>1) PSR Press Release & Resoulution,
>2) Action Alert from Washington PSR
>
>For more information contact Kathy <[e-mail]> or Ruth Yarrow at
>Washington PSR <[e-mail]>
>***************************************************************
>Press Release
>Contact: Ruth Yarrow
>        [phone]
>
>NATIONAL DOCTORS GROUP DECLARES OPPOSITION TO RESTARTING HANFORD REACTOR
>
>Seattle, WA, April 8, 1999: =20
>
>        Doctors from across the nation, at Physicians for Social
>Responsibility's national board meeting in Seattle today, voted
>unanimously in favor of a resolution opposing the restart of the Fast
>Flux Test Facility at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.  They noted that
>two of their prime concerns are 1) long-term public and environmental
>health and 2) cleaning up the legacy of toxic waste from Cold War
>nuclear weapons production.  The resolution (attached) concludes that
>any production violates those concerns by producing new waste stream
>that threat public and environmental health.
>
>Physicians for Social Responsibility=20
> Resolution, April 8, 1999
>
>Whereas two prime concerns of Physicians for Social Responsibility are
>long-term public and environmental health, and addressing the Cold War
>legacy of nuclear weapons production and testing, and
>
>Whereas nuclear wastes at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, generated by
>nuclear weapons production and comprising two thirds of the nation's
>burden of high level nuclear waste, threaten global long term public and
>environmental health, and
>
>Whereas the Tri-Party Agreement between the Washington State Department
>of Ecology, The US Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection
>Administration makes cleanup, not nuclear weapons or any other
>production resulting in further contamination, the legal mission of
>Hanford Nuclear Reservation, and
>
>Whereas the Fast Flux Test Facility has been deemed inappropriate for
>medical isotope production by the Institute of Medicine in its 1995
>report Isotopes for Medicine and the Life Sciences,
>
>Therefore, be it resolved, that Physicians for Social Responsibility
>opposes the restart of the Fast Flux Test Facility for any production
>mission, and supports the urgent cleanup mission of the Hanford Nuclear
>Reservation as a prescription for disaster prevention for generations to
>come.
>
>***********************************************
>ACTION ALERT
>
>Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility
>Rapid Response Network for Hanford Clean-up
>
> ACTION:  Please write to Secretary Richardson and Governor Locke,
>asking them to protect public and environmental health in the Northwest,
>preventing any addition of nuclear waste to the overburdened Hanford
>clean-up, and opposing any production mission at the Hanford the Fast
>Flux Test Facility (FFTF). =20
>
>Thanks to the efforts of many of you, Secretary of Energy Bill
>Richardson decided in December NOT to restart the FFTF at Hanford to
>produce tritium for nuclear weapons. By mid-April he will make the final
>decision about whether or not to permanently shut down the FFTF.  NOW is
>an important time to write him and our Governor on this issue.  The
>following are some points you could make in your letters.
>
>=B7 I am writing to urge that you shut down the Fast Flux Test Facility. =
=20
>Any production missions for the FFTF would produce new high level
>radioactive waste streams.  The sole mission of Hanford in the legally
>binding Tri-Party Agreement is clean-up.
>
>=B7 Keeping the FFTF on hot stand-by is already costing tens of millions
>of dollars annually.  The Department of Energy should be using these
>funds to clean up Hanford; the most contaminated nuclear site in the
>western world.
>
>=B7 The Institute of Medicine's report on medical isotopes, Isotopes for
>Medicine and the Life Sciences, makes clear that the FFTF is an
>inappropriate facility for the production of medical isotopes.=20
>
>=B7 The Department of Energy made a commitment to use public process in
>reaching recommendations on the future of the FFTF.  But we have not
>heard of any public hearings on proposed FFTF missions.  Please ensure
>that these meetings are held in sites available to citizens around WA
>and OR.
>
>
>Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson
>US Dept. of Energy
>1000 Independence Ave., SW
>Washington, DC 20585
>TEL: [phone]
>FAX: [phone]
>
>Governor Gary Locke
>P.O. Box 40002
>Olympia, WA 98504-0002
>Email: [e-mail]
>**********************************************************
>Kathy Crandall
>Associate Director, Nuclear Security Programs
>1101 14th Street NW #700 Washington DC 20005
>TEL: [phone] ext. 222
>FAX: [phone]
>E-MAIL: [e-mail]
> =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: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 01:58:55 EDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: (abolition-usa) Kosovo/useful websites and emails

Subj:    Kosovo/useful websites and emails


 Friends, Comrades, co-workers,

 This listing, while it comes from a "left" position (not, probably, too
different from my own) does something very useful - it provides a genuine
range of sites some of you may find helpful. Please note the senders request
to help with providing other sites that should be listed.

 Fraternally,
 David McReynolds

 << Subj:     Kosovo/useful websites and emails
  Date:    4/8/99 11:55:51 PM Eastern Daylight Time
  From:    [e-mail] (International Viewpoint)


  The following websites provide useful background on
  the Kosovo crisis and related information.

  Please send us your own suggestions to expand this
  list.

  Adam
  International Viewpoint
  -----------------------------------------------------

  Radio B92

  The backbone of the independent news service in Yugoslavia.
  Although banned, Radio B92 is still live on the web, with
  breaking news in English.

  www.b92.net


  Institution for War and Peace Reporting

  This is one of the few places to find dispatches, translated into
  English, from dissident journalists within Serbia and Kosovo,
  along with other good commentary.

  www.iwpr.net


  ZNet

  A page of up-to-the-minute articles regarding the current
  bombings. The lead piece by Noam Chomsky puts the entire
  situation into context, and other pieces posted include Andre
  Gunder Frank, Dave McReynolds, Diane Johnstone, Stephen Zunes and
  Michael Albert.

  www.zmag.org


  Common Dreams News Center

  Provides breaking news and views for progressive-thinking
  Americans, with ample information on the crisis in Kosovo,
  including maps and breaking updates from various news services.

  www.commondreams.org/kosovo/kosovo.htm


  Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting

  FAIR's coverage of the war in Yugoslavia includes "Rescued from
  the Memory Hole: Background of Serb/Albanian Conflict."

  www.fair.org


  Help B92

  This group has been founded to try to insure the distribution of
  relevant information. It is named in honor of one of Yugoslavia's
  most important media entities, Without immediate financial
  support, this last source of independent news for the inhabitants
  of this region is endangered. A fundraising campaign is underway,
  with the objective of sending money and equipment to B92 and
  other independent radio stations in Serbia and Kosovo.

  http://helpB92.xs4all.nl

  <[e-mail]>


  Out There News

  Reports from Kosovo's frontlines, interviews with Kosovar
  pacifist leaders, photos of the destruction and historical
  background.

  www.megastories.com/kosovo/index.htm


  BBC News Online

  The BBC offers live audio coverage and many articles on Kosovo,
  as well as "Kosovo Conflict on the Web," with BBC News Online's
  guide to how the conflict is being represented on the Web.

  http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/special_report/1998/kosovo


  North Atlantic Treaty Organization

  NATO's site is occasionally unavailable, apparently because of a
  daily barrage by thousands of e-mails from hackers in Belgrade,
  which made their system crash.

  www.nato.int


  Against the NATO attacks/For the Support of Yugoslavia

  This Serb site provides an immediate responses to various Serbian
  and international news reports, a timetable of the day's air
  raids, photos of the destruction in Kosovo and a child's plea for
  peace.

  www.beograd.com/nato


  END
  _________________________________________________
  International Viewpoint * Inprecor * Inprekorr
  PO Box 27410, London SW9 9WQ, Britain
  Fax [phone]
  <[e-mail]>
  URL (1): <www.internationalen.se/sp/ivp.htm>
  URL (2): <come.to/international-viewpoint>
  Free electronic subscription


  >>


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

Date: Thu, 8 Apr 1999 23:34:12 -0700
From: "Peter Coombes" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Letter to Prime Minister, NATO bombing of Yugoslavia

April 8, 1999

End the Arms Race
Suite 405 825 Granville Street
Vancouver BC V6Z 1K9
604/ 687-3223
Fax [phone]
[e-mail]
www.peacewire.org

The Honourable Jean Chretien,
Prime Minister of Canada
House of Commons
Parliament Buildings
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6

Dear Prime Minister Chretien:

End the Arms Race is one of Canada's largest and most active peace groups.
We are writing to express our absolute opposition to the bombing of
Yugoslavia by NATO and to Canada's support for this act of war.
Foremost, we are fundamentally opposed to Canada's supporting this military
action because it is not helping to resolve the political problems facing
Yugoslavia and the province of Kosovo. NATO and Canada's goals seem to be
narrowly focused on the military outcome and are at best fuzzy in respect to
the expected political outcome. Indeed, NATO military involvement has only
further exacerbated the humanitarian and political problems and may even
widen the conflict to engulf the region and the rest of Europe.

End the Arms Race has many concerns and many serious arguments for opposing
the bombing of Yugoslavia. Allow me to briefly expand on issues of prime
concern:
1) It is apparent that NATO did very little to defuse the conflict over the
past few years and in the past months did not exhaust all diplomatic efforts
to resolve this crisis. The offices and diplomatic resources of both the
United Nations and OSCE were not fully utilized. For example, money and
resources for diplomatic efforts by the OSCE were not as quickly forthcoming
as were the hundreds of millions, and maybe even billions, of dollars to be
spent without hesitation on military action. OSCE efforts to send observers
were often slowed and stalled by the same nations that hastily sent their
militaries to bomb Yugoslavia. The office of the United Nations General
Secretariat was not called upon to intervene in the conflict.
2) Not only did Yugoslavia refuse to sign what it perceived to be an imposed
peace deal but so did Russia. Russia's refusal to sign this deal should have
sent a clear signal to NATO that this was a flawed proposal that needed
further diplomatic negotiations.
3) There is no precedent or evidence to suggest that air strikes would have
met the primary humanitarian goal of protecting the Kosovars. On the
contrary, many commentators predicted that the air assaults would only
worsen the situation. Unfortunately, the worst-case scenario has now been
realized.
4) Little aid or support was given to neighbouring countries to deal with
the influx of refugees stemming from the civil war before the NATO bombing
campaign. Since the bombing campaign started, the refugee crisis has become
a true catastrophe - an obvious indication that the bombing is making the
situation worse.
5) The flow of small arms to the Kosovo Liberation Army has never been
stemmed to help defuse the violent conflict. The obvious fact is that the
western world turned a blind eye to the trading and smuggling of small arms
into Kosovo. Serious efforts should have been made to stop the trafficking
of these arms through Macedonia and other border areas.
6) Throughout the past few months, U.S. negotiators have obviously placed
more value on the demands of the Kosovo Liberation Army than on the more
moderate non-violent demands of the elected government in Kosovo. This is
even more apparent now as moderate Albanian leaders call for a peaceful
settlement of the conflict.
7) Under international law the bombing of Yugoslavia is blatantly illegal -
NATO has no authority to bomb an independent country.
8) Canada has failed the United Nations. The unilateral military action of
NATO has further undermined the authority of the United Nations and the new
International Court of Justice and other UN bodies. Canada has contributed
to international anarchy by demonstrating that international politics is
governed not by law but by military power.
9) The bombing has clearly undermined western cooperation with Russia. This
is among the most destabilizing outcomes of this war against Yugoslavia.
Russia will likely rescind its efforts to adopt the Start II treaty and
progress toward nuclear disarmament may come to a halt. Although Russia has
stated that it does not intend to get involved in the conflict, mixed
messages are being sent. The dispatching of Russian military ships to the
region is alarming.
10) A goal of Canada and the international community should have been to
contain the conflict. Instead, by involving NATO the conflict now threatens
to involve neighbouring countries and provinces, including Montenegro,
Bosnia, Macedonia, and Albania.
11) The primary goal of Canada and the collective international goal should
have been to help resolve the internal conflict and to prevent a
'humanitarian disaster.' Instead NATO has taken sides in an internal
conflict. NATO bombing has contributed to the mass exodus of refugees, the
killing of civilians and the seemingly inevitable destruction of
Yugoslavia's civilian infrastructure, further impoverishing millions of
people.
The outcome of NATO's bombing campaign is an unmitigated disaster that must
be immediately stopped. Further bombing will only exacerbate and prolong the
problems already outlined: more civilian deaths and refugees,
destabilization of the region, worse relations between Russia and NATO
members, and increased international anarchy.
Political solutions are available but will only be found if all sides
involved are willing to negotiate. This means that NATO, its members, and in
particular the United States, cannot dictate the terms of peace as was done
prior to the bombing campaign of Yugoslavia. Madeleine Albright publicly
committed NATO to bombing Yugoslavia if the President refused to sign the
'peace' deal. No country, including Canada, would have accepted this type of
bullying tactic.  Instead of helping, the threat of bombing hardened
positions on all sides.
The peace deal was flawed from the beginning. Even the most casual observer
realized the stationing of NATO troops in Kosovo would be unacceptable to
Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia had brought proposals to the negotiations in Paris
that NATO refused to consider. Thus, we can only conclude that NATO's
priority was not a peaceful settlement and the prevention of a humanitarian
disaster but instead was the imposition of western demands on an internal
conflict.
If Canada's goal is truly humanitarian - to save lives - then war is simply
wrong. This is already clearly evident, given the humanitarian disaster now
taking place in the Balkans. A peaceful resolution of conflict is often the
more difficult route to take, but the right one.
It is time to stop the bombing of Yugoslavia before we are pulled even
further into this quagmire. The only solution is a diplomatic one. It is
time to return to the negotiating table to correct the mistakes we have made
and this will require compromise on all sides. Russia must be key to any
negotiations and its approval will be required on any future agreements.
Obviously, NATO troops will not be able to participate in any capacity as
either observers or as peacekeepers. We must demonstrate the political will
to put significant resources into the OSCE and the United Nations to help
achieve and monitor a viable peace agreement.
Sincerely yours,

Peter Coombes
President



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

Date: Thu, 8 Apr 1999 23:57:33 -0700
From: "David Crockett Williams" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) CNN CAN'T FIND DISSENT FROM THE LEFT

FAIR ACTION ALERT: CNN CAN'T FIND DISSENT FROM THE LEFT
April 8, 1999

On April 7, CNN's Bill Schneider offered this analysis of the anti-war
sentiment in the country: "What's missing from the Kosovo story is
anti-war protest, at least on the left."  Schneider continued by
saying that there was "no action out there on the streets or on
campuses -- no marches, no demonstrations, no teach-ins."

The statement is true, if one watches the media for signs of dissent
from the left.  In fact, contrary to Schneider's claim, there is
plenty of dissent from the Clinton policy-on campuses, in the streets
and from leading progressive writers and thinkers.

Leading left-of-center publications like The Nation and The
Progressive have editorialized against the NATO bombings. Groups like
the War Resisters League and the International Action Center, led by
former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, have organized
demonstrations and spoken out forcefully. Dozens of prominent
commentators, like Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, have condemned the
bombings. And a gathering of notables and activists like Tim Robbins,
Erica Jong and Rosie Perez in New York City on April 5 attracted an
overflow crowd.

Since the day before the bombing of Yugoslavia began, the Institute
for Public Accuracy (IPA) has sent eight news releases to countless
media outlets, featuring 25 independent analysts with critical
perspectives on the bombing. Experts and commentators from IPA's
roster have appeared on numerous media outlets--including MSNBC and
Fox News Channel--but have not thus far been featured on CNN.

When Schneider claims that dissent from the left boils down to
criticizing Clinton "not for what he's trying to do, but for the way
he's doing it," he is incorrect. Many of the most prominent critics
are in fact questioning NATO's moral authority to intervene in this
war.

Schneider concludes the report with this: "The peace movement is
leading the war.  And for liberals who oppose the war, they don't have
any Pat Buchanan to speak for them."

Again, if Schneider's understanding of dissent is limited to the
mainstream media, that is correct. Unfortunately, there is much more
going on that fails to make the news.

***

ACTION: Call on CNN to expand their coverage of the war in Yugoslavia
to include progressive critics that have been marginalized by the
media thus far. Ask them to consider some of the experts, journalists
and commentators whose work is featured on the web sites listed below.


Contact:
CNN Senior Political Analyst William Schneider
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

CNN President Richard Kaplan
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

mailto:[e-mail]



Relevant links:

Institute for Public Accuracy-- a roster of leading anti-bombing
experts available to the media
( http://www.accuracy.org/press.htm )

Z Magazine-- commentary by prominent NATO critics, like Noam Chomsky
and Edward Said
( http://www.zmag.org/ZMag/kosovo.htm )

The Nation
( http://www.thenation.com/issue/990419/0419editors.shtml )

The Progressive
( http://www.progressive.org/latest.htm )

Common Dreams-- News and Views for Progressives
( http://www.commondreams.org )

War Resisters League
( http://www.nonviolence.org/wrl/ )

International Action Center
( http://www.iacenter.org )




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 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 09 Apr 1999 12:52:02 -0400
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: branka-urgently

>From: [e-mail] ([e-mail])
>
>Branka Jovanovic
>[e-mail]
>
>Belgrade, 1999-04-09
>
>ECOLOGICAL ASPECT OF BOMBING OF FRY WITH LONG-DISTANCE=20
>MISSILLES
>
>The initial fuel of long-distance destructive missiles represents
>enormous powder filling=20
>which make a specific pressure which by burning out bring the missile in
>the zone of=20
>action, i.e. explosion and destruction of civil objects.
>However, the combustion products of initial fuels in the missiles are
>much more=20
>damaging and more cancerous than the products of lead fuel combustion
>which the=20
>Europeans banished from their streets by bringing into use, the so
>called, "green" non-
>leaded fuel.
>The population of Europe should know that the initial powder fuel of the
>missiles is=20
>comprised of highly toxic substances whose combustion products are toxic
>and=20
>cancerous. They are as following: ammonium-perchlorat, nitro-glycerine,
>nitro-
>cellulose, organic compounds as unifying elements (polybutadien,
>polyurethane,=20
>polyvinyl-chloride, polystyrene, polyacrylate, etc) organic leaden salts
>- lead-salycilate,=20
>lead-ethylhexoat, lead-stearate, metal nitrate (alkali and soil-alkali),
>metal perchlorate,=20
>fluor compounds especially fluorformals as energy components etc. As a
>consequence=20
>of combustion of these substances, highly damaging acid nitrogen oxides
>and=20
>hydrochloride acids, which destroy the forests and vegetation, are
>released. The=20
>ammoniac, highly poisonous hydrocyanic acid, hydrocyanic acid compounds,
>nitrogen=20
>oxides and fluorides (the compounds which are an essential component of
>very=20
>poisonous pesticide) and cancerous compounds as a consequence of fuel
>stabilisers=20
>combustion, which consist of ring-structured compounds medically proved
>to be=20
>cancerous, together with lead compounds and fluor compounds (as a
>consequences of=20
>combustion of fluor nitroformulas) release radicals with fluor which get
>attached to=20
>everything in nature causing very painful and almost incurable wounds
>and burns on=20
>humans and animals.
>A perilous cloud filled with the above-mentioned combustion products
>appears=20
>immediately after the launching of missiles from one of the ships or
>bases of NATO=20
>members and due to the airflow it penetrates the whole Europe causing
>great ecological=20
>disaster. Let us remember the illness of soldiers who participated in
>war against Iraq=20
>where suchlike cruise missiles were also used. Wind carries the poisons
>everywhere the=20
>air currents pass and does not choose where it will unload its dangerous
>cargo filled=20
>with ecological pollutants.
> Bombs with depleted uranium are drooped on civilian objects over
>Kosmet. Depleted=20
>uranium is, in fact, atomic waste used for penetrating concrete layers.
>Besides these=20
>hard metal and radioactive uranium bars, an especially energetically
>strong explosive is=20
>used. As an energetic component this explosive uses FEFO and DFF
>explosive, fluor-
>nitrate compounds -formals which, we should bear in mind, are highly
>poisonous and=20
>in contact with skin cause severe burns. All elements reacting to gas
>and products of=20
>combustion (detonation) of these highly energetic compounds are
>extremely toxic and=20
>cancerous. Combined with the above-mentioned initial fuels, depleted
>uranium and its=20
>combustion products, they represent potential mortal danger for our
>country, but for=20
>Europe as well, because the winds and waters transport these products
>without stopping=20
>to ask which country they pass through.
>An increased radiation over Kosmet is already detected. What do you
>think, how long=20
>does it take for a cloud in these early mornings of spring to come to
>your fields and=20
>parks?!!!
>WE ARE NOT FAR AWAY!
>
>P.S. We apologise for the incorrect translation of chemical terms. After
>all we are a=20
>group of "utopians" that had no need of professional knowledge of NATO
>poisons, up=20
>until now.
>
>Branka Jovanovic
>(The New Green Party- Belgrade)
>
>--=20
>=AD=9C=FD=B0=B1
> =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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 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 09 Apr 1999 15:30:31 -0700
From: Jackie Cabasso <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Yeltsin Warns of World War Danger on Kosovo

Yahoo! NewsTop Stories Headlines
Friday April 9 12:51 PM ET

Yeltsin Warns Of World War Danger On Kosovo

<http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/p/nm/19990409/ts/mdf72139.html> Reuters
Photo Reuters Photo

BELGRADE (Reuters)  President Boris Yeltsin got tough with the West Friday,
warning NATO not to drag Russia into Kosovo because it could spark a European
or even world war.
A flurry of highlevel contacts were made between Washington and Moscow after
Russia's Interfax news agency reported that Yeltsin had ordered strategic
missiles to be aimed at NATO states bombing Yugoslavia.

The United States said it had been assured by Moscow that Russia would stay out
of the Yugoslavia conflict and had not targeted NATO countries with nuclear
weapons.
``We've been officially reassured at a high level that Russia will not be drawn
into the conflict in the Balkans,'' White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said.
Although the Kremlin denied the missile reports, Yeltsin changed tack
dramatically from the hitherto unconditional line that Russia would not be
sucked into the Kosovo conflict.
``I told NATO, the Americans, the Germans, don't push us toward military
action,'' he said in televised comments during a meeting with parliamentary
speaker Gennady Seleznyov. ''Otherwise there will be a European war for sure
and possibly world war.''
Seleznyov had also quoted the president, who is under pressure from a hostile
parliament weighing his possible impeachment, as saying he supported Yugoslav
leader Slobodan Milosevic's request to join the union of Russia and Belarus.
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov was the first to break hours of strange silence on
parliamentary speaker Gennady Seleznyov's announcement that President Boris
Yeltsin had ordered the retargeting of nuclear missiles at NATO.

He denied that any new orders had been given to target NATO countries but fired
a barrage of verbal missiles at the military alliance.

``If we assess the situation objectively, we clearly see that with every
passing day the NATO operation is increasingly demonstrating its senselessness,
both political and military,'' he said, adding that the West had forgotten its
aim to resolve the Kosovo conflict.
Seleznyov, who visited Belgrade this week, told reporters in the State Duma
that a threeway union between Yugoslavia, Belarus and Russia would mean more
than just military assistance for Yugoslavia in its fight with NATO.
He said: ``I think that our army would be there too, that our navy would be in
the appropriate seas.''

As NATO air strikes entered their 17th day, the U.N. refugee agency appeared to
have solved the mystery of the 10,000 Kosovo Albanian refugees who went missing
Wednesday. The UNHCR said they had been located in Macedonia and neighboring
Albania.
Britain said more grim reports of atrocities by Yugoslav forces were emerging
from Kosovo, including accounts of dead refugees' bodies being burned and
buried by the truckload.
The defense chief of staff, General Sir Charles Guthrie, said that in one
incident there was a mass killing of 35 people in one village. Another report
spoke of four truckloads of bodies being buried and one truckload burned, he
said.

On the ground in Yugoslavia, there was an admission from NATO that one of three
bombs aimed at the main telephone exchange (PTT) in the center of the Kosovo
capital Pristina struck a residential area. There was no word of any
casualties.
NATO military spokesman David Wilby said the telephone exchange was a
``critical target'' because it was being used for communications between
Serbian forces in the field in Kosovo and the Yugoslav capital Belgrade. He
said NATO regretted any loss of civilian life.
NATO said its warplanes had destroyed several armored vehicles, a surfacetoair
missile site and other Serb forces Thursday morning. But Wilby added that ``the
weather has turned against us,'' affecting operations Thursday and Friday.

There had been a buildup of Serb forces in northern Kosovo and ``no evidence of
withdrawal,'' he said. He did not elaborate.

After a 16th straight night of NATO bombing raids, the Yugoslav news agency
Tanjug reported that 100 workers had been badly injured when six missiles hit a
car and smalls arms factory in the central town of Kragujevac.

Workers at the plant, Serbia's biggest employer, had earlier organized a human
shield to deter NATO bombing.

British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook declared that Yugoslav leader Slobodan
Milosevic was feeling the heat and ``looking for a way out'' and signaled that
NATO expected a new ceasefire offer from Belgrade this weekend.

Cook said the only offer NATO would consider would be a complete capitulation
by Milosevic to the alliance's demands for an end to ``ethnic cleansing'' in
the rebel Yugoslav province of
Kosovo and a return of refugees in safety to their homes.

U.N. SecretaryGeneral Kofi Annan called on Yugoslavia to stop all action by
military and paramilitary forces in Kosovo and withdraw them from the Serbian
province.

The call formed part of a fivepoint program of commitments to be presented to
Belgrade to bring an end to what Annan, in a statement read to reporters in
Geneva, called the ``tragedy taking place in and around Kosovo.''

Earlier, Cook said NATO was sending 8,000 ground troops to Albania to deal with
the worsening refugee crisis in the Balkans but added that an invasion of
Kosovo is ``not going to happen.''

UNHCR spokeswoman Paula Ghedini told reporters at a refugee camp near the
Macedonian capital Skopje that the refugees bussed away from a makeshift camp
near the Blace border crossing with Yugoslavia had been located.

Ghedini said the UNHCR was still looking for their exact location but believed
they were in refugee camps in Macedonia and Albania. ``It's just a matter of
finding them. There are 320,000 refugees in Albania; it's just a needle in a
haystack.''

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata said she feared for the fate
of ethnic Albanians prevented by Yugoslav forces from fleeing the southern
Serbian province and admitted her body could do nothing to help them.

Ogata said U.N. workers could not return to Kosovo for security reasons. ``I am
helpless there,'' she said.

Earlier Stories
    *
<http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ts/story.html?s=v/nm/19990409/ts/yugos
lavia_150.html>Yeltsin Warns NATO: Don't Push Russia To War (April 9)      *
<http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ts/story.html?s=v/nm/19990409/ts/yugos
lavia_149.html>Russia Plays Down Missile Warning (April 9)      *
<http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ts/story.html?s=v/nm/19990409/ts/yugos
lavia_147.html>NATO Planes Bomb Targets In Belgrade (April 9)      *
<http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ts/story.html?s=v/nm/19990409/ts/yugos
lavia_146.html>NATO Planes Hit Targets In Eastern Belgrade (April 9)      *
<http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ts/story.html?s=v/nm/19990408/ts/yugos
lavia_142.html>NATO Hits Serb Forces, Fears For Refugees (April 8)






<http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ts/story.html?s=v/nm/19990408/ts/inde
x.html>Apr 08 |
<http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ts/story.html?s=v/nm/19990407/ts/index
.html>Apr 07 |
<http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ts/story.html?s=v/nm/19990406/ts/index
.html>Apr 06 |
<http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ts/story.html?s=v/nm/19990405/ts/index
.html>Apr 05 |
<http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ts/story.html?s=v/nm/19990404/ts/index
.html>Apr 04 |
<http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ts/story.html?s=v/nm/19990403/ts/index
.html>Apr 03 |
<http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ts/story.html?s=v/nm/19990402/ts/index
.html>Apr 02 |
<http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ts/story.html?s=v/nm/19990401/ts/index
.html>Apr 01 |
<http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ts/story.html?s=v/nm/19990331/ts/index
.html>Mar 31 |
<http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ts/story.html?s=v/nm/19990330/ts/index
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******************************************************
Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director
WESTERN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION
1440 Broadway, Suite 500
Oakland, California USA 94612
Tel: +[phone]
Fax: +[phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
******************************************************
Western States Legal Foundation is part of  ABOLITION 2000
A GLOBAL NETWORK TO ELIMINATE NUCLEAR WEAPONS

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

Date: Sat, 10 Apr 1999 10:49:24 +0100
From: "Janet Bloomfield" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Abolition 2000 UK NATO Pack press release

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

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PRESS INFORMATION: For Immediate Release. April10, 1999.

NATO's NUCLEAR POLICY - TIME FOR RADICAL CHANGE

As NATO takes its first military action in Europe since it was founded =
in 1949 there is a great need to examine its current role and its future =
strategy. NATO will be meeting in Washington from April 23-25 1999 to =
commemorate its 5Oth Anniversary. This meeting was intended to be a =
celebration but as events unfold in the Balkans it will be an occasion =
for the asking of some hard questions about NATO's role and future.


In recent months NATO has been conducting its first full Strategic =
Review since the break-up of the Soviet Union. Two NATO states - Germany =
and Canada - want the Strategic Review to include nuclear weapon policy. =
Germany has suggested that it is time to downgrade the importance of =
nuclear weapons, to support the world Non-Proliferation regime, and to =
move to a policy of No First Use. The USA does not want any =
reconsideration of NATO nuclear weapon doctrine. It wants to stay with a =
policy of possible First Use. Indeed it wants to extend it. First Use =
should be threatened and, if necessary, used against biological or =
chemical threats from small =91rogue states=92. Britain is following the =
US line. This is in spite of the fact that No First Use was part of =
Labour Party policy up to June 1996, and had categorical support from =
Robin Cook writing in June 1995. Public opinion polls show that most =
people support the principle of No First Use. Indeed most people believe =
No First Use is NATO policy.=20

President of Abolition 2000 UK and former head of Stockholm =
International Peace Research Institute, Frank Blackaby, who is the =
author of Abolition 2000 UK's new information pack on NATO and No First =
Use of Nuclear Weapons  said;

" As NATO loses its way in the Balkans Britain should show leadership =
and challenge the US view on nuclear weapons. At the moment there is a =
proposal to set up a working group which will discuss the matter for =
months in secret. NATO claims to believe in democratic values. We =
propose that NATO conduct open hearings on its nuclear weapon policy - =
hearings to which Non-Governmental Organisations and citizens should =
give evidence."

Further copies of the pack are available from Abolition 2000 UK, 88 =
Islington High Street, London, N1 8EG, UK

The text is on our web site at www.gn.apc.org/abolition2000uk

A Summary is attached.

NATO AND NO FIRST USE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Summary


    a.. NATO is conducting its first full Strategic Review since the =
break-up of the Soviet Union. The Review is to be agreed at a summit =
meeting in Washington on April 23-25 1999
    a.. Surely this review must cover NATO=92s nuclear weapon policy. =
During the Cold War, NATO=92s nuclear weapons were not simply to deter, =
or retaliate against, a Soviet nuclear attack. They were supposedly for =
possible First Use against any massive Warsaw Pact attack with =
conventional forces.
    a.. That policy is of course now dead. The Warsaw Pact no longer =
exists. There are no Russian conventional forces on the German border.
    a.. Consequently two NATO states - Germany and Canada - want the =
Strategic Review to include nuclear weapon policy. Germany has suggested =
that it is time to downgrade the importance of nuclear weapons, to =
support the world Non-Proliferation regime, and to move to a policy of =
No First Use.=20
    a.. The USA does not want any reconsideration of NATO nuclear weapon =
doctrine. It wants to stay with a policy of possible First Use. Indeed =
it wants to extend it. First Use should be threatened and, if necessary, =
used against biological or chemical threats from small =91rogue =
states=92.
    a.. Senior US military authorities have condemned this idea. They =
point out that it has already been rejected. In the Gulf War, the US =
military turned down any suggestion for using nuclear weapons, if Iraq =
were to launch chemical or biological attacks. Conventional military =
forces are fully capable of dealing with any such eventuality.
    a.. This new US First Use doctrine would violate solemn security =
assurances which all the nuclear weapon powers have given to 182 =
non-nuclear-weapon states. These states are all parties to the =
Non-Proliferation Treaty. First Use would also be a clear violation of =
international law, according to the Advisory Opinion of the =
International Court of Justice at The Hague.
    a.. Britain is following the US line. This is in spite of the fact =
that No First Use was part of Labour Party policy up to June 1996, and =
had categorical support from Robin Cook writing in June 1995. Public =
opinion polls show that most people support the principle of No First =
Use. Indeed most people believe No First Use is NATO doctrine.
    a.. Britain should now come out on the side of Germany and Canada.
    a.. There is a danger that NATO will kick the matter into the long =
grass, by setting up a working group which will discuss the matter for =
months in secret. NATO claims to believe in democratic values. Let it =
conduct open hearings on its nuclear weapon policy - hearings to which =
Non-Governmental Organisations could give evidence.



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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>

<META content=3Dtext/html;charset=3Diso-8859-1 =
http-equiv=3DContent-Type><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 =
HTML//EN"><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"><!DOCTYPE HTML =
PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 =
HTML//EN"><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"><!DOCTYPE HTML =
PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN">
<META content=3D'"MSHTML 4.72.3110.7"' name=3DGENERATOR>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=3D"Gill Sans MT">
<P><FONT size=3D3>PRESS INFORMATION: </FONT></FONT><FONT size=3D3><FONT=20
face=3D"Gill Sans MT">For Immediate Release. April10, =
1999.</FONT></FONT></P><FONT=20
face=3D"Gill Sans MT"><FONT size=3D3></FONT></FONT><FONT size=3D3><FONT=20
face=3D"Gill Sans MT"></FONT></FONT><FONT face=3D"Gill Sans MT" =
size=3D4>
<P align=3Dcenter><FONT size=3D3>NATO's NUCLEAR POLICY - TIME FOR =
RADICAL=20
CHANGE<B></B></FONT></P><FONT size=3D3></FONT></FONT><FONT face=3D"Gill =
Sans MT">
<P><FONT size=3D3>As NATO takes its first military action in Europe =
since it was=20
founded in 1949 there is a great need to examine its current role and =
its future=20
strategy. NATO will be meeting in Washington from April 23-25 1999 to=20
commemorate its 5Oth Anniversary. This meeting was intended to be a =
celebration=20
but as events unfold in the Balkans it will be an occasion for the =
asking of=20
some hard questions about NATO's role and future.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3D3></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3D3>In recent months NATO has been conducting its first =
full=20
Strategic Review since the break-up of the Soviet Union. Two NATO states =
- -=20
Germany and Canada - want the Strategic Review to include nuclear weapon =
policy.=20
Germany has suggested that it is time to downgrade the importance of =
nuclear=20
weapons, to support the world Non-Proliferation regime, and to move to a =
policy=20
of No First Use. The USA does not want any reconsideration of NATO =
nuclear=20
weapon doctrine. It wants to stay with a policy of possible First Use. =
Indeed it=20
wants to extend it. First Use should be threatened and, if necessary, =
used=20
against biological or chemical threats from small ‘rogue =
states’.=20
Britain is following the US line. This is in spite of the fact that No =
First Use=20
was part of Labour Party policy up to June 1996, and had categorical =
support=20
from Robin Cook writing in June 1995. Public opinion polls show that =
most people=20
support the principle of No First Use. Indeed most people believe No =
First Use=20
is NATO policy. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3D3>President of Abolition 2000 UK and former head of =
Stockholm=20
International Peace Research Institute, Frank Blackaby, who is the =
author of=20
Abolition 2000 UK's new information pack on NATO and No First Use of =
Nuclear=20
Weapons  </FONT><FONT size=3D3>said;</FONT></P><I>
<P><FONT size=3D3>" As NATO loses its way in the Balkans Britain =
should show=20
leadership and challenge the US view on nuclear weapons. At the moment =
there is=20
a proposal to set up a working group which will discuss the matter for =
months in=20
secret. NATO claims to believe in democratic values. We propose that =
NATO=20
conduct open hearings on its nuclear weapon policy - hearings to which=20
Non-Governmental Organisations and citizens should give=20
evidence."</FONT></P></I></FONT><FONT face=3D"Gill Sans MT" =
size=3D3>
<P><FONT size=3D3>Further copies of the pack are available from =
Abolition 2000 UK,=20
88 Islington High Street, London, N1 8EG, UK</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3D3>The text is on our web site at <A=20
href=3D"http://www.gn.apc.org/abolition2000uk">www.gn.apc.org/abolition20=
00uk</A></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3D3>A Summary is attached.</FONT></P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3D"Gill Sans MT">
<P align=3Dcenter><FONT size=3D3>NATO AND NO FIRST USE OF NUCLEAR =
WEAPONS</FONT></P>
<P align=3Dcenter><FONT size=3D3>Summary<B></B></FONT></P><FONT=20
size=3D3></FONT></FONT><FONT face=3D"Gill Sans MT" size=3D3>
<P align=3Dcenter><FONT size=3D3></FONT></P>
<UL><FONT size=3D3></FONT></FONT><FONT face=3D"Gill Sans MT">
    <LI><FONT size=3D3>NATO is conducting its first full Strategic =
Review since=20
    the break-up of the Soviet Union. The Review is to be agreed at a =
summit=20
    meeting in Washington on April 23-25 1999</FONT></LI></UL>
<UL>
    <LI><FONT size=3D3>Surely this review must cover NATO’s =
nuclear weapon=20
    policy. During the Cold War, NATO’s nuclear weapons were not =
simply to=20
    deter, or retaliate against, a Soviet nuclear attack. They were =
supposedly=20
    for possible First Use against any massive Warsaw Pact attack with=20
    conventional forces.</FONT></LI></UL>
<UL>
    <LI><FONT size=3D3>That policy is of course now dead. The Warsaw =
Pact no=20
    longer exists. There are no Russian conventional forces on the =
German=20
    border.</FONT></LI></UL>
<UL>
    <LI><FONT size=3D3>Consequently two NATO states - Germany and Canada =
- - want=20
    the Strategic Review to include nuclear weapon policy. Germany has =
suggested=20
    that it is time to downgrade the importance of nuclear weapons, to =
support=20
    the world Non-Proliferation regime, and to move to a policy of No =
First Use.=20
    </FONT></LI></UL>
<UL>
    <LI><FONT size=3D3>The USA does not want any reconsideration of NATO =
nuclear=20
    weapon doctrine. It wants to stay with a policy of possible First =
Use.=20
    Indeed it wants to extend it. First Use should be threatened and, if =

    necessary, used against biological or chemical threats from small=20
    ‘rogue states’.</FONT></LI></UL>
<UL>
    <LI><FONT size=3D3>Senior US military authorities have condemned =
this idea.=20
    They point out that it has already been rejected. In the Gulf War, =
the US=20
    military turned down any suggestion for using nuclear weapons, if =
Iraq were=20
    to launch chemical or biological attacks. Conventional military =
forces are=20
    fully capable of dealing with any such eventuality.</FONT></LI></UL>
<UL>
    <LI><FONT size=3D3>This new US First Use doctrine would violate =
solemn=20
    security assurances which all the nuclear weapon powers have given =
to 182=20
    non-nuclear-weapon states. These states are all parties to the=20
    Non-Proliferation Treaty. First Use would also be a clear violation =
of=20
    international law, according to the Advisory Opinion of the =
International=20
    Court of Justice at The Hague.</FONT></LI></UL>
<UL>
    <LI><FONT size=3D3>Britain is following the US line. This is in =
spite of the=20
    fact that No First Use was part of Labour Party policy up to June =
1996, and=20
    had categorical support from Robin Cook writing in June 1995. Public =
opinion=20
    polls show that most people support the principle of No First Use. =
Indeed=20
    most people believe No First Use is NATO doctrine.</FONT></LI></UL>
<UL>
    <LI><FONT size=3D3>Britain should now come out on the side of =
Germany and=20
    Canada.</FONT></LI></UL>
<UL>
    <LI><FONT size=3D3>There is a danger that NATO will kick the matter =
into the=20
    long grass, by setting up a working group which will discuss the =
matter for=20
    months in secret. NATO claims to believe in democratic values. Let =
it=20
    conduct open hearings on its nuclear weapon policy - hearings to =
which=20
    Non-Governmental Organisations could give =
evidence.</FONT></LI></UL></FONT>
<P> </P></DIV></BODY></HTML>

- ------=_NextPart_000_0114_01BE833F.CC034FE0--


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

End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #108
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