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abolition-usa-digest      Wednesday, May 5 1999      Volume 01 : Number 125




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

Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 14:59:33 -0700 (PDT)
From: Timothy Bruening <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Stop bombing Yugoslavia!

Below is a letter I just sent to Representative Doug Ose:

Dear Representative Doug Ose:

I applaud your opposition to intervention in Kosovo.  Thank you for voting
yes on HR 1569 (requiring the President to get Congressional authorization
before
deploying ground troops) and on H Con Res 82 (Resolution under War Powers
Act to withdraw U.S. troops).  Thank you for voting no on H J Res 44
(Declaration of War against Yugoslavia) and on S Con Res 41 (Resolution in
support of current
air war).  I believe that the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia is one of the
biggest blunders in the history of U.S. foreign policy.

Aside from civilian casualties caused by the NATO bombs (such as the
accidental bombing of a passenger train, a refugee convoy, and two buses,
and the intentional bombing of Serbian TV stations), the bombing of Serbia
has strengthened Milosevic by rallying all Serbians around him, and has
given him cover to intensify the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo, forcing
hundreds of thousands of refugees to flee Kosovo, and possibly killing at
least 100,000.  The bombing shows no signs of stopping the Serb ethnic
cleansing operation.

The bombing of Serbia has also seriously undermined our relations with
Russia.  It has angered the Russians into further delaying their
ratification of START II (already delayed in recent months by the U.S.
bombing of Iraq in December and Clinton's endorsement of a Ballistic Defense
System) and suspending cooperation with the West, including cooperation to
avert a Y2K nuclear war.  NATO plans to cut off oil supplies to Serbia by
setting up a naval blockade and stopping and searching oil tankers suspected
of supplying Serbia have further angered Russia. On April 9, according to a
Reuters story from BELGRADE, President Yeltsin even warned that the bombing
of Yugoslavia could lead to a world war!

Worst of all, the bombing of Serbia has caused Russia to consider deploying
nuclear weapons in Belarus, and caused the Ukrainian Parliament to call for
the renunciation of Ukraine's non-nuclear policy.

There has been much debate recently about sending in ground troops, but I
read an essay (by Patrick Theros of the Western Policy Center) on page B7 of
the April 24 Sacramento Bee which argues that NATO wouldn't be able to mount
an effective invasion (requiring 200,000 troops) until mid-summer, due to a
shortage of roads and rails in the area, Kosovo's rugged terrain, and a
shortage of U.S. military transport planes.  By that time, Milosevic's
minions will have completely cleansed Kosovo of its Albanians!

I doubt that the KLA can stop the ethnic cleansing, even if we arm them, and
I oppose arming the KLA, since they have killed Serb civilians and police
officers in the past.

I believe that our only hope for stopping the killing and expulsions in
Kosovo is to seek a negotiated solution.

Therefore, I urge you to cosponsor resolutions urging Clinton to stop
bombing Serbia and adopt the following policies to defuse the Kosovo crisis,
undermine Milosevic, and repair the damage to U.S.-Russian relations and to
the nuclear disarmament process:

I. Suspend the bombing for 24 hours as a gesture of good will, invite Russia
to mediate, and propose an armed non-NATO Peacekeeping Force (from the UN or
the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe, and including
troops from NATO, Russia, and other European nations).  I believe that such
a force might be more acceptable to the Serbs, and will need to be armed to
prevent further violence between the two groups.  The Peacekeepers would
escort the refugees back into Kosovo, police an autonomy agreement, disarm
both sides, and organize an integrated Serb/Albanian Peacekeeping Force.

II. Propose large scale aid to rebuild Kosovo and the rest of Yugoslavia.
Build energy efficient homes and other buildings, equipped with solar energy
panels, and build homes close to places of work to minimize use of cars.
Also build mass transit systems.  Due to the large amount of damage caused
by both the ethnic cleansing and the NATO bombs, I see a golden opportunity
to rebuild Yugoslavia along energy efficient and ecologically responsible
lines.  (As long as a country is being rebuilt, we might as well rebuild it
to be energy efficient and ecologically friendly).

III. Broadcast graphic accounts of Serbian atrocities against Kosovo
Albanians into Serbia and into Russia, and ask listeners: Is the Serbian
government worth your support?  Hopefully, this would undermine Milosevic's
popularity in both countries.

IV. Dramatically announce that the U.S. is taking its nuclear weapons off
alert, removing the warheads from their delivery vehicles, and halting all
nuclear weapons design, testing, production, and deployment activities.

IV. Challenge all the other nuclear nations to follow our lead, and
challenge Russia to immediately ratify START II, cancel any deployment of
its nuclear weapons outside its territory, and resume cooperation with the
West to avert a Y2K nuclear war.


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

Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 19:31:49 -0700
From: "David Crockett Williams" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Mandela calls for nuclear disarmament

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_334000/334871.stm
BBC News

Tuesday, May 4, 1999 Published at 17:03 GMT 18:03 UK

World: South Asia

Mandela calls for nuclear disarmament

Nawaz Sharif calls Mr Mandela a "hero of freedom"

By Owen Bennett-Jones in Islamabad
President Nelson Mandela of South Africa has urged India and Pakistan to
work for nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation in South Asia.

He was speaking in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, as a part of his
farewell international tour.

Mr Mandela said that when he took over in South Africa the nuclear arsenal
established by his apartheid predecessors was dismantled. The nuclearisation
of South Asia, he said, was a big concern.

He called on the leaders of the subcontinent to promote nuclear disarmament
and nonproliferation.

Kashmiri comments toned down

In the course of his speech Nelson Mandela also referred to the Kashmir
dispute.

Last year, when addressing the non-aligned summit in Durban, he said that
all the countries present should be willing to lend all their strength to
resolving the dispute.

That comment was widely welcomed in Pakistan as a sign that the South
African president favoured third party mediation over Kashmir.

But in his Islamabad speech, Mr Mandela said that he had complete confidence
in the leadership of Pakistan and India to resolve the problem themselves.

Despite any disappointment about that statement, Mr Mandela did receive a
standing ovation from the Pakistani audience, which earlier heard their
Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, describe the South African leader as a great
hero of freedom.




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

Date: Wed, 05 May 1999 11:39:34 -0400
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Call Opposing Kosovo Emergency Supplemental

>Date: Wed, 05 May 1999 07:51:30 -0400
>Subject: Call Opposing Kosovo Emergency Supplemental
>Priority: non-urgent
>X-FC-MachineGenerated: true
>To: [e-mail]
>X-FC-Forwarded-From: [e-mail]
>From: [e-mail] ([e-mail])
>
>IMMEDIATE ACTION ALERT:
>
>The Kosovo Supplemental Appropriations Bills will be voted on by both
>the House and the Senate this week or early next week.  The House vote
>is scheduled for
>tomorrow Thursday, May 6th.
>
>The House Appropriations Committee added $6.8 billion to the President's
>
>$6 billion request before sending it to the floor.  They have used the
>bill to load in the increased spending that was going to violate the
>FY2000 defense budget caps. Their intention is to free up the later
>appropriations bill for more outrageous pork.  The Pentagon doesn't need
>
>any more money whatsoever.
>
>For more information about the House bill, see analysis below.
>
>Call or email your Representative at 202-225-3121 or
><http://www.house.gov/writerep>
>and Senators at 202-224-3121 or
><http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm>
>today to let them know you oppose the emergency spending bill and
>increased military
>spending for any purpose and urge them to vote against the supplemental
>appropriations bills except for emergency aid for refugees from Kosovo.
>
>To get all your elected officials' contact information and voting
>records, go to the
>Vote Smart webpage, <http://www.vote-smart.org>, or call Project
>Vote-Smart
>free at 1-888-868-3762.
>
>Gillian
>
>
>*       *       *       *       *
>
>Kosovo Supplemental Appropriations Bill:
>Republicans Load Up the Bill for a War Most Oppose;
>Layaways for Pork in Fiscal 2000
>
>
>On Thursday, April 29,  the House Appropriations Committee voted for a
>$12.9 billion Kosovo "emergency" supplemental appropriations bill, more
>than double the Administration request for $6 billion to pay for the war
>
>in Kosovo.
>
>The Committee majority resorted to a shell game to avoid charges of
>adding pork to the bill to pay for a war.  They loaded programs into the
>
>supplemental appropriations bill that have nothing to do with the war in
>
>order to clear room for pork requests in the fiscal 2000 Defense
>Appropriations bill.
>
>As Rep. David Obey (D-WI), ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations
>Committee pointed out yesterday: "I do not believe that we should be
>using something as serious as the war in order to simply make a lot of
>headroom for somebody's pork that will be added in the defense bill down
>
>the line."
>
>Three important points to note in the $6.9 billion hike in military
>spending:
>
>1.  The extra money approved by the House Appropriations Committee will
>come out of social security surpluses.  Less than two weeks after
>Congress passed the fiscal 2000 budget resolution in which Members of
>both parties pledged to protect social security,  the House Republican
>majority has now countenanced a $6.9 billion raid out of a program that
>just days
>before they argued must be protected by a "lock box."
>
>2.  Republicans who denounce President Clinton for neglecting military
>needs should stand accused of similar neglect.  In October 1998, six
>months ago, the Republicans leadership had an opportunity to pay for
>essential programs that the President had supposedly shortchanged.
>Instead they
>pumped money into other pet projects.  After President Clinton requested
>
>$1.1 billion to deal with readiness problems last fall, Congress
>appropriated $8.3 billion in the October emergency supplemental bill --
>but managed to neglect the shortfalls that they now find so critical.
>Between 1995 and 1998 the Republican Congress added $23 billion to
>defense budget requests; only 10% of the money added went to the O&M and
>personnel
>accounts.
>
>3.  Much of the so-called emergency funding is motivated by
>Republicans' desire to spend money in fiscal 1999 that does not count
>against the fiscal 2000 budget caps to free funding for pork
>projects in fiscal 2000.
>
>Rep. Obey accurately described the decisions of the House Appropriations
>
>Committee: "I find it mind- boggling that some of the same members who
>yesterday voted against the operation will today vote to more than
>double the amount of spending that the president has asked for to
>conduct those operations."
>
>[Excerpted from analysis by  John Isaacs, Council for a Livable World]
>
>Gillian Gilhool
>Legislative Organizer
>WILPF in Washington
>110 Maryland Avenue NE, Suite 102
>Washington, DC 20002
>Phone: [phone]
>Fax: [phone]
>Website: www.wilpf.org
>
>
>
>
>
>--
>Gillian Gilhool
>Legislative Organizer
>WILPF in Washington
>110 Maryland Avenue NE, Suite 102
>Washington, DC 20002
>Phone: [phone]
>Fax: [phone]
>Website: www.wilpf.org
>
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: Wed, 05 May 1999 14:33:41 -0400
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: NN: Nuclear war, courtesy of Nato

>Date: Wed, 05 May 1999 13:32:33 -0400
>Subject: NN: Nuclear war, courtesy of Nato
>Priority: non-urgent
>X-FC-MachineGenerated: true
>To: [e-mail], [e-mail]
>X-FC-Forwarded-From: [e-mail]
>From: [e-mail] ([e-mail])
>
>Kosovo, like Vietnam, has liberal support. But what of our weapons?
>
>By John Pilger=20
>Tuesday May 4, 1999=20
>The Guardian
>
>The 'just and noble liberal war', in which Nato bombs have now
>incinerated
>people on a bus, having already killed passengers on a train, refugees
>on
>tractors, the elderly in a hostel, workers in factories and children in
>their homes, is not the first. Vietnam was a liberals' war, described as
>a
>'righteous crusade' by Bill Clinton's hero, John Kennedy, and a 'noble
>cause' by Ronald Reagan, a conservative. The labels are important only
>as
>illusion, now that Clinton is Reagan and Blair is Thatcher.=20
>
>Nato's 'new vision' is to seek justification for American-led attacks
>all
>over the world. When communism retired from the cold war game, the 'war
>on
>drugs' was used to justify renewed American military intervention in
>Latin
>America. After that, the pursuit of demons took over. Demons are
>dictators
>of no further use to Washington. There was General Noriega in Panama,
>where
>the US invasion cost 2,000 lives, and Saddam Hussein in Iraq (200,000
>lives)
>and various warlords in Somalia (7,000 lives). Now it is the turn of
>Milosevic, with whom Clinton and Blair share responsibility for emptying
>most of Kosovo.
>
>Demons as a justification for attacking countries have since been
>reinforced
>by Weapons of Mass Destruction, or WMD. These are chemical, biological
>and
>nuclear weapons, the possession of which, says Nato literature, 'may
>require
>pre-emptive retaliation'. The ferocity of the continuing military and
>economic assault on Iraq is justified in this way - when the real reason
>has
>to do with the policing of an expanded American protectorate from the
>Gulf
>to the Caspian Sea.
>
>The hypocrisy is on a grand scale. Only one nation on earth has used all
>three WMDs: the United States. Smallpox was used to ethnically cleanse
>Native Americans and to spread plague in Cuba. Chemicals were used in
>Vietnam: between 1961 and 1971, American planes dropped on South Vietnam
>a
>defoliant, Agent Orange, which contained dioxin, a poison that causes
>foetal
>death, congenital defects and cancer (this was code-named Operation
>Hades).
>
>When a Congressional inquiry revealed that the equivalent of six pounds
>of
>dioxin had been dumped on every man, woman and child in South Vietnam,
>Operation Hades was changed to the friendlier Operation Ranch Hand, and
>the
>spraying continued. A pattern of deformities began to emerge: babies
>born
>without eyes, with deformed hearts and small brains and stumps instead
>of
>legs. I glimpsed these children in contaminated villages in the Mekong
>Delta; and whenever I asked about them, people pointed to the sky; one
>man
>scratched in the dust a good likeness of a bulbous C-130 aircraft,
>spraying.
>In the towns and cities, it was not unusual to see deformed children
>begging. They were known as 'Agent Orange babies'.
>
>Recently, at the Tu Do hospital in Saigon, I was shown a group of
>newborn
>babies, all of whom had Agent Orange deformities. The war that
>officially
>ended in 1975 goes on; contaminated soil and water are poisoning a third
>generation. Unlike American and Australian veterans of the war, who have
>been finally compensated by the manufacturers of dioxin, the Vietnamese
>have
>received nothing. Now a five-year Canadian study has discovered that
>dioxin
>runs right through Vietnam's food chain and has called for international
>help in decontaminating agricultural land, forests and waterways. The
>cost
>of one F-16 bomber would pay for this.
>
>'Can you imagine pilots from a democratic country doing such a thing
>deliberately?' said Jamie, the Nato spin doctor, following the craven
>killing of refugees by an F-16 pilot. Today, the same pilots are
>spreading
>over Serbia and Kosovo a poison potentially as cataclysmic as Agent
>Orange.
>It is carried in depleted uranium, which makes missiles and shells more
>destructive. This is how Rosalie Bertell, a Canadian specialist,
>describes
>the effects on humans: 'Depleted uranium comes from radioactive waste
>produced for nuclear weapons and the nuclear industry. It can pierce
>tanks
>and release a deadly radioactive aerosol of uranium, unlike anything
>seen
>before. This lies in the dust or is suspended in the air, or carried in
>the
>wind. It penetrates the lung tissue and enters the blood stream, storing
>in
>the liver, kidney and bone and irradiating all the delicate tissues. It
>can
>initiate cancer or promote cancer.'
>
>The truth is that the US and Britain are engaged in a form of nuclear
>warfare in the Balkans. In 1996, the United Nations Human Rights
>Tribunal
>called depleted uranium a WMD. Like the Agent Orange babies of Vietnam,
>the
>deformed and cancer-stricken children of southern Iraq, where depleted
>uranium was tested by British and American forces during the 1991 Gulf
>war,
>bear witness to the true nature of righteous Western crusades. Civilised
>people should speak out urgently before the latest noble cause claims
>more
>expendable victims and beckons a world war. No amount of specious
>moralising
>will conceal the scale of the crime.=20
>
>=A9 Copyright Guardian Media Group plc. 1999=20
>
>
>
>Michael D. Wallace
>Department of Political Science
>University of British Columbia
>Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Z1
>phone:[phone], fax:[phone]
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~
>~
> =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: Wed, 05 May 1999 17:58:56 -0400
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Action Alert-Pakistan

>>
>>>Date: Wed, 05 May 1999 15:07:03 -0400
>>>Subject: may 11 and may 28 anniversary
>>>To: [e-mail]
>>>From: [e-mail] ([e-mail])
>>>
>>>Friends,
>>>this is an appeal to protest and appeal for solidarity. I hope after
>>>reading it you will respond and share it with every list and peace group
>>>you can.
>>>
>>>May 11 and May 28 will mark the first anniversary of the nuclear weapons
>>>tests by India and Pakistan respectively. When they carried out the
>>>nuclear tests both governments claimed the tests were a desperate last
>>>ditch decision motivated by grave threats to national security. A year
>>>later there are elaborate official plans to celebrate the anniversary of
>>>the tests, especially in Pakistan. We must protest this celebration of a
>>>capability to commit nuclear mass murder.
>>>
>>>In a sickening display of nuclear nationalism, the government of
>>>Pakistan has ordered 10 days of national celebrations to mark the
>>>anniversary of its nuclear tests on May 28. The government is running an
>>>official competition, announced daily on national television, with a
>>>prize of Rs. 100,000 (about $2,000, equivalent to about year's income)
>>>to whoever comes up with the most appropriate name for this May 28
>>>anniversary celebration.Every day now, Pakistan television shows
>>>coverage of the new missiles, Ghauri & Shaheen, being paraded &
>>>launched, with suitably stirring nationalistic songs.
>>>
>>>May 28, the day of the anniversary, is to be a national holiday. It will
>>>begin with a 21-gun salute, and there will be special prayers of thanks
>>>at all the mosques. The nation is expected to stand for a one minute
>>>silence while the national anthem is played at 3:17 pm, the time when
>>>Pakistan detonated its nuclear weapons. The Pakistan flag will be raised
>>>on state buildings, provincial capitals and local government offices.
>>>The prime minister will address a public rally at the mausoleum of the
>>>founder of Pakistan, and later he will preside at an award ceremony to
>>>honour Pakistan's nuclear weapon scientists.
>>>
>>>Every branch of government is involved. The Ministry of Sports and
>>>Culture has arranged sports and cultural events across the country,
>>>while the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) has arranged a
>>>national art competition to commemorate the tests. Even the Ministry of
>>>Youth Affairs is organising events.
>>>
>>>This national nuclear circus shows up just how false the claims were
>>>that the government of Pakistan made at the time of its tests. It had
>>>argued then that Pakistan had no choice but to respond to the grave
>>>threat posed by India, after India's May 11 nuclear tests. What was then
>>>claimed to be desperation has now become joy. The reasons for this
>>>circus are obvious. It is meant to both broaden and deepen support
>>>within Pakistan for nuclear weapons. It is this support that the
>>>government will subsequently point to in international  discussions and
>>>say it cannot agree to arms control, never mind disarmament.
>>>
>>>The fledgling peace movement in Pakistan, which is working in an
>>>extraordinarily difficult and hostile atmosphere, is organising protests
>>>across the country on May 28. The international peace movement must show
>>>solidarity. Peace groups and activists around the world must join with
>>>activists in Pakistan in publicly demonstrating complete and utter
>>>revulsion at the government of Pakistan's plans to celebrate nuclear
>>>weapons and its cynical attempt to manufacture public support for its
>>>nuclear ambitions.
>>>
>>>Please write an email, or send a fax to
>>>
>>>1. The Prime Minister of Pakistan
>>>email: [e-mail]
>>>Fax:[phone]
>>>   : (92-51) 920 1545
>>>
>>>
>>>2.  The Federal Minister of Information and Culture,
>>>email: [e-mail]
>>>
>>>
>>>3. The Pakistan Mission to the United Nations (New York)
>>>8 East 65th Street, New York NY 10021.
>>>Tel: [phone]
>>>email: [e-mail] email
>>>
>>>
>>>Please send copies of your messages to the peace movement through
>>>
>>>4.  Joint Action Committee for People's Rights
>>>email: [e-mail]
>>>
>>>5. Pakistan Peace Coalition
>>>email: [e-mail]
>>>
>>>
>>>Please send a copy, seperately, to Pakistan's leading english newspapers
>>>
>>>6. The News
>>>email: [e-mail]
>>>and
>>>[e-mail]
>>>
>>>7. Dawn
>>>email: [e-mail]
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Zia Mian
>>>Center for Energy and Environmental Studies
>>>Princeton University
>>>email: [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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 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
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------------------------------

Date: Wed, 05 May 1999 18:55:35 -0400
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Enrollment in the Network

Dear Friends,
At our last annual meeting we set a goal of enrolling 2000 organizations into
the Abolition 2000 Network by the time of our next meeting.  That meeting will
take place following the Hague Appeal for Peace, on May 15-17th.  By now you
should have received a yellow enrollment card in the mailing that went out
from
the our international Abolition 2000 contract, the Nuclear Age Peace
Foundation, announcing the annual meeting in the Hague, with a walk to
Delft in
support of the Nuclear Weapons Abolition Days direct action project.  Could
you
please try to speak to one other organization about the importance of nuclear
abolition and urge them to enroll in our Network between now and May 15th?
(You can also copy the enrollment card and use it for enrolling more than one
organization and for distribution to those organizations you enroll.)
ENROLLMENT is an opportunity to educate others about the urgency of our
cause--to bring nations to the table to negotiate a treaty for the elimination
of nuclear weapons.  We are all tackling this issue from a variety of angles,
but enrollment in our Network is something each group can do in concert with
others.  We are now approaching 1400 organizations.  Let's put the Network
over
the top before the annual meeting!! (You can also find an enrollment form at
www.napf.org) Many thanks.  Peace,
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.

- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

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

Date: Wed, 05 May 1999 20:21:41 -0400
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Call-Email Congress on Funding NATO bombing

>Date: Wed, 05 May 1999 19:19:23 -0400
>Subject: Call-Email Congress on Funding NATO bombing
>To: [e-mail]
>From: [e-mail] ([e-mail])
>
>You also can email both Senators and your congressman by going to
>http://www.StoptheWarNow.com
>------
>Please forward to all anti-war networks.
>
>The emergency supplemental will be voted on tomorrow (Thursday). Rep.
>Rohrabacher, supported by Rep. Kucinich, will introduce an amendment to
>remove funding for the war in Yugoslavia. Based on the previous vote on
>the resolution in support of the air war, this amendment could pass if
>there is grassroots pressure in favor of it. If the amendment passes it
>will dramatically increase pressure on the Administration to stop the
>bombing and seriously pursue negotiations.
>
>Moreover, the if the Congress approves the authorization of funds the
>Administration is expected to use this to argue that the requirements of
>the War Powers Act have been fulfilled, that they have Congressional
>authorization for the war. Thus it is doubly important that this money
>not be approved by the House.
>
>Please call your Rep. ASAP and ask her/him to support the Rohrabacher
>amendment to eliminate funding for the war from the emergency
>supplemental. It is especially urgent to contact those Reps who voted in
>favor of requiring explicit Congressional approval for ground troops
>and/or opposed the Senate Resolution supporting the air war, be they
>Democratic or Republican. The Congressional switchboard is 202-225-3121,
>from which you can be transferred to your Rep.
>
>Thanks,
>Robert Naiman
>
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]"
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Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 21:07:46 EDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: (abolition-usa) Other Voices from Serbia

In a message dated 5/4/99 8:32:16 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
[e-mail] writes:

<< Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 16:21:34 -0700
 From: "Fr. Victor Sokolov" <[e-mail]>
 Subject: Free Serbia: Other Voices from Serbia

 http://freehosting.at.webjump.com/am/aman-bre-webjump/e-index.html

 Free Serbia: Other Voices from Serbia - "Anti-Milosevic and Anti-NATO"
 site run by Yugoslav students. Includes details of civilian targets &
 casualties, comments, and eyewitness  reports.

  >>

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Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 21:53:36 EDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: Text of National Committee Statement on Yugoslavia

<<
 Socialist Party USA
 Statement on the Crisis in Yugoslavia

 The Socialist Party USA vehemently opposes the U.S.-led NATO bombing of
 Yugoslavia. The action only serves to strengthen the hand of the right-wing
 nationalist Serbian military government, heightens the chance for expanding
 military conflict to other Balkan countries, and puts hundreds of thousands
 of innocent civilians in harms way. We oppose the U.S. government's all but
 unilateral decision to initiate this foray into senseless militarism. We
 call for a multinational, secular Yugoslavian federation, governed
 democratically by farmers, students and workers of all ethnicities, so that
 the right
 to self-determination for all peace-loving peoples may be guaranteed.

        We call for the immediate withdrawal of all Yugoslavian military
 forces from Kosovo.
        We support the right of autonomy for Kosovo.
        We support the democratic forces who oppose the Milosevic regime.
        We call for the disbanding of NATO. It has outlived its purpose for
 existence.
        We oppose the economic policies of the IMF and World Bank, and call
 for forgiving all international debts.
        We believe the NATO bombing only reinforces the cynical worldview
 that certain groups and countries are undemocratic, dangerous and unable to
 govern themselves.
        We call for an end to the international arms trade and demand an
 immediate and unilateral 50-percent cut in the U.S. military budget.


 Passed on May 2, 1999
 SP USA National Committee


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Date: Wed, 05 May 1999 22:22:49 -0400
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Re: James Carroll challenges US/Nato

>Date: Wed, 05 May 1999 21:40:23 -0400
>Subject: Re: James Carroll challenges US/Nato
>Priority: non-urgent
>X-FC-MachineGenerated: true
>To: [e-mail]
>From: [e-mail] ([e-mail])
>
>>> It's on NATO now
>>> By James Carroll, 05/04/99
>>>
>>> Now that Jesse Jackson and Viktor Chernomyrdin have provided an opening
>>in the Balkans stalemate, President Clinton should move through it. In
>>his recent interview with UPI, Slobodan Milosevic went on record with
>>these proposals:
>>>
>>> - a cessation of all military activities;
>>> - the simultaneous withdrawal of NATO troops from Yugoslav border areas
>>and the reduction of Serb forces in Kosovo to a normal garrison level;
>>> - the return of all refugees;
>>> - continued negotiations aiming at ''the widest possible autonomy for
>>Kosovo within Serbia;''
>>> - free access of refugee relief teams from the UN and the Red Cross;
>>> - an economic recovery plan for the three Yugoslav Federation states.
>>>
>>> A seventh point, made clear in the interview, was Milosevic's
>>acceptance of an international peacekeeping force, armed with weapons of
>>self-defense. Here is the heart of the Serb leader's proposal. ''The UN
>>can have a huge mission in Kosovo, if it wants. They can bear witness to
>>the legal behavior of our
>>> law-enforcement agencies, and to the fact that everything is now
>>peaceful.''
>>>
>>> Administration officials dismissed the Milosevic proposals as
>>''propaganda spewing from the highest source,'' and the Milosevic
>>approach through Jesse Jackson as ''a PR stunt.'' It is not clear yet
>>what yesterday's meeting between
>>> Chernomyrdin and Clinton will lead to, but the initial dismissals of
>>this new attempt to open negotiations is not promising. We citizens must
>>arrive at independent judgments of these developments. In order to do
>>that, we must
>>> return  to the basic question:
>>>
>>> What is the purpose of the NATO air war? If it is the vindication of
>>NATO, coupled with the humiliation of Milosevic, then this new set of
>>initiatives must be rejected. But if NATO's purpose is the protection of
>>Kosovar
>>> civilians, those hundreds of thousands at the mercy of Serb forces,
>>and, now, of disease and hunger, then Chernomyrdin must absolutely be
>>enabled to build on the Milosevic proposals. These openings offer a way
>>to stop the rapes, murders, and further ''ethnic cleansing,'' and they
>>offer the
>>> hope of a substantial reversal of that ethnic cleansing. ''A huge UN
>>mission in Kosovo'' right now is exactly what is required.
>>>
>>> On the crucial point of whether that force is armed or not, Milosevic
>>has  already reversed himself, backing down from his prior rejection even
>>of sidearms. His distinction between ''defensive'' and ''offensive''
>>weapons can be read more as face-saving than as a deal-breaker. What
>>counts now is
>>> the prompt introduction of many thousands of UN peacekeepers, to stand
>>with the vulnerable Kosovars, to bring the eyes and ears of the world
>>back into the killing fields, to ''bear witness,'' exactly, that the
>>atrocities have stopped.
>>>
>>> NATO insists that any such presence be mainly made up of its own
>>forces, but what difference does it make to terrorized Kosovars whether
>>the helmets of their protectors are green or blue?
>>>
>>> Whatever happens, this is a turning point in the war. Until now, there
>>has been a painful division between those who see the conflict as a
>>tragic but necessary campaign to stop savage human-rights abuses, and
>>those who see it as a terribly misguided, if initially well-intentioned,
>>effort to stop one kind of unacceptable violence with another. But a
>>resolution to the
>>> killing phase of this conflict - a precondition to political resolution
>>of the intractable problems remaining - is now possible. Such are the
>>horrors facing the fugitive population of Kosovo that everything must be
>>put second to the urgent task of rescuing them.
>>>
>>> Alas, despite the rhetoric of ''Never again!,'' NATO and the White
>>House seem to have lost sight of the endangered human beings they set out
>>to save. Having made the humiliation of Milosevic the central meaning of
>>this war, NATO now seems to be defining negotiation with Milosevic as its
>>own humiliation.
>>>
>>> If NATO clings to this refusal, we the American people in whose name
>>this war is being waged must understand what it means. From here on out,
>>any pretense that the violence is justified by a defense of human rights
>>is gone. Every
>>> woman raped, every village burned, and every refugee dead of starvation
>>or disease will be on the conscience of the West.
>>>
>>> Meanwhile, NATO's savage air war escalates into its ''domination
>>phase,'' which makes the true character of that campaign crystal clear.
>>NATO prides itself on the pains its flyers take to avoid direct civilian
>>casualties. As Saturday's obliterated bus reminds us, ''collateral
>>damage'' is inevitable. But NATO expressions of regret do not remove the
>>question of criminality. Ours is now an open air war against the civic
>>society of Yugoslavia - as Sunday's attack on the power grid of Belgrade
>>demonstrates. NATO is deliberately causing the destruction of the
>>Yugoslav economy, the pollution of its environment, the degradation of
>>everything necessary to civilization. However it started, the air war has
>>become a
>>> crime against humanity.
>>>
>>> If President Clinton and his partners continue to slap away the
>>possibility of a true and quick rescue of Kosovar Albanians, NATO here
>>and now joins the ranks of the perpetrators, and America, for its part,
>>enters a new age of infamy.
>>>
>>> James Carroll's column appears regularly in the Globe.
>>>
>>> This story ran on page A21 of the Boston Globe on 05/04/99.
>>> (c) Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.
>>>
>>> "All your strength is in your union,
>>>  All your danger is in discord." -- Longfellow, Hiawatha
>>>
>>> Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration Committee, 4806 York Road, Baltimore,
>>MD 21212
>>> Ph: 410-323-7200; Fax: [phone]; Email: [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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------------------------------

End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #125
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