ftp.xmission.com/2014.06.ftp.xmission.com.tar/ftp.xmission.com/pub/lists/abolition-usa/archive/v01.n177

Internet Message Format | 1999-09-05 | 40KB

From: [e-mail] (abolition-usa-digest)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: abolition-usa-digest V1 #177
Reply-To: abolition-usa-digest
Sender: [e-mail]
Errors-To: [e-mail]
Precedence: bulk


abolition-usa-digest     Monday, September 6 1999     Volume 01 : Number 177




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

Date: Fri, 03 Sep 1999 19:26:23 -0700
From: "Robert J. Jackson" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) events! DOE database/Nix MOX, more

Marylia:
These are just some thoughts which occurred when reading your e-mail.
Something to chew on.

In the body of your e-mail you recommend contacting Gore to convince him
to convert the plutonium to a ceramic instead of making MOX. I thought
MOX is already a ceramic.

I thought MOX reactor fuel it is made by mixing uranium oxide powder
with plutonium oxide powder and sintering the material into a ceramic
pellet.  If this is correct the MOX material should be much less
attractive for subversive uses than the pure plutonium in the plutonium
pit.  Also the ceramic form would be less apt to contaminate the
environment it is is just stored as radioactive waste.

If, instead it is burned up in a reactor the resulting spent fuel from
mixed oxide would contain some new plutonium and other fission products
which, without reprocessing, is considered nuclear waste.  So without
reprocessing, additional nuclear waste is created if MOX is used in
reactors. With reprocessing the amount of nuclear waste from reactors is
a small fraction of high level waste created without reprocessing.

There is some trade-off here.  Store humongous quantities of plutonium
as a high level waste material or  burn it in reactors and reprocess to
reduce the material to a  smaller amount of unusable high level waste.


marylia wrote:
>
>MOX stands for "mixed oxide
> fuel" and is made by mixing uranium (the common fuel source in nuclear
> reactors) with plutonium.


The U.S. and Russia are embarking on a dangerous
> path: using surplus nuclear weapons plutonium in their reactors. Vice
> President Al Gore has been the chief U.S. negotiator, and the resulting
> agreement, in which U.S. money goes to support the Russian MOX program, is
> causing problems in both countries. Call the White House comment line and
> ask Al Gore to support a program for immobilizing plutonium (e.g., in a
> ceramic matrix) and keeping it out of the environment instead of MOX.



- --
Robert J. Jackson
Richland, WA 99352
Phone [phone], Fax   [phone]
e-mail [e-mail]

- -
 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: Sun, 5 Sep 1999 03:45:43 EDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: URGENT : re: Raytheon

Dear Stuart,
I just got back from two weeks out of town and don't know anything about a
location of Raytheon there in Ireland. I will send copies of this to a couple
of contact lists, which might have someone who can help.
Glad to have your note, only sorry I can be so little help.
Fraternally,
David McReynolds

<< Subj:     URGENT : re: Raytheon
 Date:  8/24/99 10:24:01 AM Eastern Daylight Time
 From:  [e-mail] (Pat Finucane Centre)
 To:    [e-mail]

 Dave --

    I'm writing you from the Pat Finucane Centre in Derry, Ireland (North) --
we've just gotten word that a major defense company is setting up shop here
and we need more background info on them.  While this, of course, is
problematic -- it is particularly so in this part of the world.  Any info
would be greatly appreciated.

                                            thanks --

                                                stuart  (for the PFC)


 ps -- I'm also w/ the US socialist group, Solidarity -- you may have gotten
this request via the Solidarity list as well

  >>

- -
 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: Sun, 5 Sep 1999 01:15:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: Timothy Bruening <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Nuclear War Terminology Questions

At 04:55 PM 9/3/99 -0400, Bob Tiller <[e-mail]> wrote:
>There can be no such thing as "a small nuclear war."   It is a mistaken idea, a
>false construct, and we should not be using it.

What term should I use for a nuclear war in which only a few nuclear weapons
are used, as opposed to an all out nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia?
What term should I use for a "regional" nuclear war (like between India and
Pakistan)?


- -
 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: Sun, 5 Sep 1999 14:44:59 EDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: (abolition-usa) A Message from East Timor (urgent)

From John Miller, a WRL key person, who is now in East Timor.

Please take note of this post.

David McReynolds


 -----------------
 Forwarded Message:
 Subj:  A Message from East Timor
 Date:  9/5/99 9:37:45 AM Eastern Daylight Time
 From:  JohnM85747
 To:    [e-mail] (Mike Ede)
 To:    [e-mail], [e-mail]
 To:    JenLynnMac, JMahoneyP, [e-mail] (Judith)

 Mike please send to the ETAN/NY e-mail list. Jimmy send to relatives e-mail.
Judith to WRL folk.

 John's Message from East Timor
 (Please redistribute widely)

 There are the makings of a bloodbath here. Many have fled. Many have died. I
can see smoke of fires of homes set ablaze in the distance. I have heard
gunfire in the distance. The Indonesian military and its creation the
militias have refused to accept the democratically expressed wish of the East
Timorese to move towards independence.

 I have seen East Timorese defy militia and military violence to go vote on
August 30 and I have seen their fearful faces. Several days ago, the women
hosting us in Becora (just outside Dili) received an early morning phone call
and woke us at 4:30 am to tell us we had to move out of where were staying
for our own safety. I have since heard reports of many houses burned and
people killed in that neighborhood. Another Dili neighborhood I spent time
in, Balide, next to the U.N.'s East Timor headquarters is ablaze. Timor Aid,
the organization which provided assistance to the parliamentary delegation I
worked with to monitor the ballot has been looted of its rice and ransacked.
There have also been many reports of people being forced onto vehicles and
taken to West Timor, perhaps to bolster an argument for East Timor's
partition or worse.

 There have been many calls for U.N. or other peacekeepers. These may arrive
too late. More guns aren't necessarily what East Timor needs. What is very
clear is that the military could shut down the violence relatively quickly.
The military is in control. It is they that can stop the killing.

 The U.S. and other governments still have tremendous leverage with
Indonesia. They must use it all. Statements of serious "consequences." I saw
President Clinton's mealy-mouthed statement and it doesn't go nearly far
enough. The global community - governments, others, you - must be clear about
what these consequences are to let the Indonesian military know that
continued violence in East Timor is unacceptable.

 Please contact President Clinton and members of Congress now. Urge them to
immediately

 a) suspend all military shipments to Indonesia, including spare parts and
ammunition
 b) suspend all non-humanitarian bi-lateral aid and loans to Indonesia
 c) work to suspend all multi-lateral loans and aid, including form the IMF
and World Bank.

 Call the White House comment line at 202-456-1414.  Urge President Clinton
to immediately suspend all further military and financial aid to Indonesia
until the military and paramilitary violence is stopped. The U.S. must show
strong support for East Timor's democratic decision to break away from
Indonesia.

 Sept. 5, 1999
 Dili, East Timor
  >>

- -
 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: Sun, 5 Sep 1999 09:19:54 -0700 (PDT)
From: [e-mail] (marylia)
Subject: (abolition-usa) DOE moves, expands nuke complex

Hi. Several people have sent me email notes asking if I have written a
succinct article on DOE's "megastrategy" to move and expand key aspects of
the nuclear weapons complex. Here is a piece I did for this month's
Tri-Valley CAREs newsletter. Feel free to adapt it for your newsletter --
or any other public education-type use. Please credit our organization, if
possible. Thanks. Peace, Marylia

New Plan to Expand Nuclear Weapons Activities Revealed:
Plutonium from Los Alamos Lab to be Moved to Livermore

by Marylia Kelley
from Tri-Valley CAREs' September 1999 newsletter, Citizen's Watch

Note -- In last month's Citizen's Watch, we made public DOE's plan to ship
some of Rocky Flat's plutonium to Livermore Lab. Now we have uncovered a
proposal to bring plutonium from Los Alamos Lab in New Mexico to Livermore.
Read on ...

The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) is poised to make major changes in its
nuclear weapons program and move more plutonium work to the Livermore Lab,
according to materials used by DOE to brief high-level Clinton
administration officials on the plan.

Tri-Valley CAREs obtained the briefing papers from the federal Office of
Management and Budget and released them to the media and the public in
August. The proposed changes will have far-reaching, negative consequences
for Bay Area public health and safety, for national efforts to reign in the
escalating nuclear weapons budget and for international nuclear
non-proliferation and disarmament goals.

DOE will give Livermore Lab plutonium pit work now performed at Los Alamos
Lab in New Mexico. A "pit" refers to the plutonium core of a nuclear
weapon. This plan will include moving nuclear weapons to Livermore for
plutonium pit surveillance. Additionally, the workload for the W80
submarine and air launched cruise missiles is slated to move to Livermore
Lab from Los Alamos. This, too, will mean more plutonium pits at Livermore
Lab.

Until now, this plan has gone forward in secret, and the public has been
inappropriately excluded from any knowledge or decision-making role.
Earlier this year, DOE and Livermore Lab hosted a public meeting at which
officials testified that no major changes were contemplated to the Lab's
operations over the next 5 years. On that basis, DOE and Livermore Lab
decided, in March 1999, not to conduct a new site-wide environmental
review. Put simply, they lied.

Tri-Valley CAREs and its colleague organizations in the Bay Area are
demanding full environmental review and public hearings before any money is
allocated or any nuclear materials are moved.

Moreover, the DOE plan extends beyond shifting "Stockpile Stewardship"
functions between labs. It expands the so-called "Stewardship" program and
further enhances U.S. nuclear capability -- demonstrating once again a "do
as I say and not as I do" proliferation policy on the part of the U.S. That
hypocrisy will not go unnoticed by other nations, some of whom will use it
to justify their own pursuit of new nuclear weapons capabilities. The
result will be an increase in environmental risks locally and proliferation
dangers worldwide.

                                                        Major Changes Proposed

*  DOE will "move promptly" the W80 nuclear warhead workload from Los
Alamos Lab in Mew Mexico to Livermore Lab in California. This will increase
the plutonium pit work at Livermore. The briefing papers also reveal what
appear to be changes in the warhead that go far, far beyond mere
maintenance procedures to preserve the existing weapon's "safety" or
"reliability" while it remains in the arsenal. The W80 "upgrade" proposed
here is sufficiently extensive to raise new questions about DOE plans to
(re)design nuclear weapons in the 21st century. The W80 was originally
designed by Los Alamos, and this plan marks the first time that
responsibility for a nuclear weapon designed by one of the labs will be
shifted to the other.

*  DOE will also "move promptly" the plutonium pit surveillance mission and
workload from Los Alamos to Livermore. DOE expressly says one of the aims
is to give Livermore Lab more plutonium work. This means pits from weapons
besides those of the W80 discussed above will come to Livermore, where the
Lab already has about 880 pounds of plutonium and is slated to get more
from Rocky Flats.

*  Los Alamos Lab's Appaloosa program will be expanded. Appaloosa is the
code name for a new hydrodynamic test program wherein, essentially,
high-explosives and surrogate pits (including with plutonium 242) are set
off inside above-ground tanks.

*  DOE will consolidate hydrodymamic testing at Los Alamos, although
administration officials have been told by DOE that Livermore Lab will hang
on to its hydrodynamic test program, including the new "Contained Firing
Facility," now under construction at Livermore Lab.

*  DOE will build a huge, new 50 gigaelectron volt proton accelerator at
Los Alamos Lab. The existing LANCE facility will become merely an injector
beamline for the new mega-machine, according to DOE.

*  DOE will conduct additional underground subcritical nuclear tests for
the W80 and W88 programs. The briefing papers specify that additional
subcritical shots will involve "weapon relevant shapes."

*  DOE will move ATLAS and Pegasus from Los Alamos Lab to Nevada. ATLAS is
a new fusion facility being constructed at Los Alamos. Pegasus is an older
machine. These two programs will be used to develop technology that will
allow for "explosively driven pulse power for future special nuclear
material [i.e., plutonium] experiments in U1A." The U1A is the underground
tunnel complex where subcritical nuclear experiments are detonated. These
pulse power  tests are of a new type.

*  DOE will build a new "infrastructure for weapons microsystem components
...MESA" at Sandia Lab in New Mexico. This capability will "support future
AF&F (arming, firing and fusing) needs."

Collectively, these plans substantially ratchet up U.S. nuclear weapons
activities. We must act swiftly to counter this.

The DOE briefing papers make it clear that one of plan's "drivers" is the
desire to keep Livermore Lab operating as a full-service nuclear weapons
design lab -- with a robust plutonium workload to match its weaponeers'
fusion aspirations, fueled by the National Ignition Facility.

Tri-Valley CAREs is preparing a letter outlining our objections. Call the
office for details, or come to our meeting on September 23rd to discuss
next steps.

(For those groups receiving this article by email, just let me know if you
can sign on. An electronic copy of the letter will be available by mid
week. Let me know if you wish to see a copy. --Marylia)

Don't just get mad -- get organized with us!


Marylia Kelley
Tri-Valley CAREs
(Communities Against a Radioactive Environment)
2582 Old First Street
Livermore, CA USA 94550

<http://www.igc.org/tvc/> - is our web site, please visit us there!

[phone] - is our phone
[phone] - is our fax

Working for peace, justice and a healthy environment since 1983, Tri-Valley
CAREs has been a member of the nation-wide Alliance for Nuclear
Accountability in the U.S. since 1989, and is a co-founding member of the
international Abolition 2000 network for the elimination of 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: Mon, 6 Sep 1999 13:22:36 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Y2K Nuclear Items please read and digest

John Hallam
=46riends of the Earth Sydney,
17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia,
=46ax(61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903

[e-mail]    http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd
http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html

Dear Y2K and antinuclear groups,
I am sending you this material  forwarded from Carol Moore in Washington. I
urge you to read it.

Of course, while US government officials are happy to say how much of a
problem Y2K is going to be in Russia, tney will not admit to its having at
least as much potential for catastrophe in the US. A recent internal report
from the US navy revealed that at least 150 US cities might be without
power and light as a result of y2K problems.

And in Australia, all our navy patrol boats lost navigation capability over
the GPS 'rollover' period.

I think it makes it more important than ever to get nuclear weapons off aler=
t.

And it is all the more important to send your letters to Yeltsin and
Clinton, asking them to take nukes off hairtrigger alert, at least for the
Y2K rollover period. (especially in view of the doubts over the strategic
stability facility in Colorado)

The relevant fax numbers:
PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN, [phone],
PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, [phone],


(From Carol Moore)
=46ound this recently:

British Memo Warns of Y2K Catastrophe
July 4, 1999

British embassy in Moscow has warned diplomats about inviting friends and
family to Russia during the upcoming New Year, Britain's Sunday Independent
reports today.

=46earing the implications of the Y2K millenium bug, an internal embassy mem=
o
leaked to the Independent underscored British concerns that Russia is
"considered one of the countries most vulnerable to Y2K problems."....

An American Chamber of Commerce report issued by Terralink, an IT firm
specializing in millennium bug issues, found that Russia could suffer
catastrophic consequences because it was "very likely that major
infratructure providers upon whom everybody depends, will experience Y2K
failures".

Notably, experts have pointed to concerns about Russia's nuclear power
stations, fearing a meltdown similiar to Chernobyl, if the power grid fails.
=2E...
lg

*** Russia mulls Y2K missile monitoring***
WASHINGTON (AP) - Russia has agreed to consider a U.S. proposal for
placing Russian representatives at a monitoring center in Colorado
designed to reassure Moscow the Year 2000 computer glitch won't
trigger unintended U.S. missile launches, Pentagon officials said
Thursday. Defense Secretary William Cohen is expected to discuss the
proposal with his Russian counterpart during a trip to Moscow in
mid-September. One official said it appeared likely the Russians
would agree to participate in the monitoring project. The Pentagon
had invited Moscow to send representatives to the Y2K Center for
Strategic Stability in Colorado Springs, but the dialogue was
interrupted when Moscow froze contacts during the NATO air war
against Yugoslavia. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=3D2560984335-655
 ++++++++++++

    The sooner the Russians get over their righteous anger
over the bombing of Yugoslavia, the better for all the
world.  It should be noted that at this time this cooperation
is only supposed to last for a couple of months, while the
possibility of Y2K-related false missile alerts may continue
for years.
     I found one official Russian e-mail address and you
might write to them and encourage cooperation.  (And
feel free to apologize for US/NATO aggression against
Yugoslavia.)
    NYC Russian Consulate <[e-mail]>
 Also:    Bill Clinton <[e-mail]>,

[e-mail]
http://www.kreative.net/carolmoore/C&C-News.html

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/19990902/tc/russia_usa_1.html


Thursday September 2 1:11 PM ET

Russia, U.S. To Discuss Y2K Missile Fears
By Jim Wolf

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia has agreed to resume talks on a proposed
joint center in the United States aimed at dodging any missile miscues
caused by the 2000 computer glitch, U.S. officials said Thursday.

The talks on the temporary ``early warning'' center are to take place in

Moscow on Sept. 13 during a visit to Russia by Defense Secretary William

Cohen, the officials said.

Don Meyer, spokesman for the special Senate panel on the 2000 technology
problem, said they were expected ``to yield an agreement that will bring
the Russians back into the fold'' on the center, already being set up in
Colorado Springs, Colo.

Moscow froze contacts on, among other things, Y2K -- coding glitches
that could boggle computers at year-end -- in late March over U.S.-led NATO
bombing of Serbia, a Russian ally.

Cohen will meet his Russian counterpart Igor Sergeyev, to discuss Y2K,
nuclear weapons treaties and U.S. wishes to modify the 1972
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, Russian officials said Monday.

The Pentagon has not yet formally announced the trip and did not respond
to a request for on-the-record comment. Cohen is to spend two days in
Moscow, a U.S. military officer said.

Air Force Major Perry Nouis, a spokesman for the North American
Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in Colorado Springs, said, ``Sept. 13 is
supposed to be decision day'' on Russian participation in the so-called Cent=
er
for Y2K Strategic Stability.

U.S. officials are eager to get Moscow on board for fear that
Y2K-related glitches could shut down or confuse Russia's own early warning
system
and somehow spark a preemptive Russian missile launch.

Russia and the United States, each with about 2,500 nuclear-armed
missiles poised for immediate firing, are alone among world powers able to
trigger a nuclear holocaust on very short notice.

John Koskinen, President Clinton's chief Y2K advisor, said Sunday that
the United States was discussing with Russia ``the status of their early
warning system.''

``If it goes down and they 'blind' in effect, then the level of anxiety
could increase, so we're trying to make sure that doesn't happen,'' he
said in an interview on CNN.

Russia's economic woes, Koskinen added, were a major obstacle to
completing Y2K preparations, and ``we think they're going to have more
difficulties'' than China.

The joint center, at Peterson Air Force Base, would seat a handful of
U.S. and Russian officers side-by-side for a few days during the date switch
to monitor blips on screens fed by U.S. satellites and ground sensors.

The officers would be in direct touch with their so-called national
command authorities -- those with fingers on the nuclear button -- in both
countries.

The missile-launch data would flow to them directly from the NORAD
combat operations center burrowed into nearby Cheyenne Mountain.

Senators Robert Bennett, a Utah Republican who heads the Senate Y2K
panel, and Vice Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, had joine=
d
the Pentagon in nudging Russia to sign on to the joint center.

In a July 14 letter to then Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin,
they urged Moscow to look at practical collaborative efforts necessary to
prevent Y2K-related disruptions.

Assuming the Russians eventually join, the original plan was to begin
specialized training on Dec. 1 for the future staffers. The center would
be fully operational for a week or so starting Dec. 27.

Copyright =A9 1996-1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

###

***NOT FOR PROFIT***  Posted for Research and Discussion Purposes Only.




- -
 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: Mon, 6 Sep 1999 01:48:30 EDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: MILLENIUM MOBILIZATION

In a message dated 8/26/99 3:10:22 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
[e-mail] writes:

<< Subj:     MILLENIUM MOBILIZATION
 Date:  8/26/99 3:10:22 AM Eastern Daylight Time
 From:  [e-mail] (Jan Lonn)
 Sender:    [e-mail]
 To:    [e-mail]

 The Millennium Forum at the UN 22-26 May 2000 will be an important
 opportunity for Abolition 2000 organizations to interact with the rest of
 the NGO community. The Millennium Mobilization is part of the preparations
 for the Millennium Forum and the Millennium Summit of the UN General
 Assembly.

 - >>

Jan, can I get more information on this proposal, what groups are working on
it, etc.

Peace,
David McReynolds
War Resisters League

- -
 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: Mon, 6 Sep 1999 01:49:25 EDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: A Message from East Timor (urgent)

In a message dated 9/6/99 1:23:46 AM Eastern Daylight Time, [e-mail]
writes:

<< Subj:     Re: A Message from East Timor (urgent)
 Date:  9/6/99 1:23:46 AM Eastern Daylight Time
 From:  [e-mail] (Miriam Taylor)
 To:    [e-mail]

 it is getting worse by the minute now that bishop belo's house is under
 siege with 6000 refugees in his yard and militia in his house. the un is far
 too slow. australian airforce is bringing out up to 500 people today mostly
 un staff but some locals, leaving the rest to slaughter. only connection we
 have is with expats in darwin who are just in terror for their relatives.
 there is nothing at this point other than lobbying and protesting that we
 small folk can do, i reckon.
 miriam
  >>

- -
 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: Mon, 6 Sep 1999 03:43:58 EDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: (abolition-usa) ETAN Emergency Alert: Severe Violence Escalates in East Timor

I am sending on the ETAN post that came in early this morning, just after I'd
sent out the NYC suggestions.

We should take our lead from this group which is surely organizing something
for immediate action.

Fraternally,
David McReynolds

<< Subj:     ETAN Emergency Alert: Severe Violence Escalates in East Timor
   Date:    9/6/99 1:07:33 AM Eastern Daylight Time
   From:    [e-mail] (Eric S. Piotrowski)

   East Timor Action Network/U.S.
   EMERGENCY ALERT

   SEVERE VIOLENCE ESCALATES IN EAST TIMOR AS MOST FOREIGN REPORTERS EVACUATE
   MAKE 3 CALLS . . . AND DEMONSTRATE!

   Less than 24 hours after the UN announced that more than 78% of registered
   voters in East Timor voted to reject Indonesia's autonomy package,
   Indonesian military and paramilitary forces sharply escalated their
   campaign of terror.  Remaining International Federation for East Timor
   observers report widespread shooting by both paramilitary forces and TNI
   (Indonesian military forces), including the Kopassus Special Forces, known
   for its atrocious human rights abuses.  The Becora neighborhood of Dili has
   been particularly targeted, with 77 bodies reported scattered throughout
   the streets.  Many children are among the dead.  Paramilitary forces roam
   the streets of Dili unimpeded, while joint militia/army roadblocks block
   entrance to and exit from the capitol. The paramilitaries and TNI are
   systematically targeting buildings which house refugees.

   With the evacuation of UN staff and media from outlying towns, foreign
   observers are unable to confirm the extent of violence outside Dili, but it
   is believed to be severe.  But, we do know that hundreds of houses have
   been burned and dozens killed in Maliana alone.  Thousands more East
   Timorese are now refugees. The presence of foreign media is critical to
   report this horror to the world's governments.  They must be encouraged to
   stay.

   Time has run out!  TNI must withdraw immediately from East Timor.

   The paramilitaries must be immediately disbanded. The U.S. must offer full
   support for increased UN personnel and an expanded UN mission mandate. The
   UN must be granted control of administration and security in East Timor.

   The U.S. should cut off all military and financial assistance immediately!

   + CALL your senators and representative.  Urge them to call Secretary of
   State Madeleine Albright, President Clinton, and Secretary of Defense
   William Cohen directly.  The Congressional switchboard number is
   202-224-3121 or check www.congress.gov for contact information on
   individual offices.

   + CALL Assistant Secretary of State Stanley Roth at 202-647-9596.  Don't
   let the staff transfer you to the Indonesia desk. You want this message to
   reach Roth himself.  The Indonesia desk officers are already doing what
   they can.

   + CALL the press.  Thank them for their coverage of East Timor so far, but
   explain your concern about journalists pulling out of East Timor.  Without
   international reporting, we can expect even worse atrocities against East
   Timorese from the uncontrolled paramilitaries.  Also refer them to ETAN and
   the International Federation for East Timor (IFET) for interviews with
   recent and current observers on the island.

   Reuters at 800-537-6865
   Associated Press at 202-776-9400
   Agence France Press (AFP) at 202-466-7890, 202-289-0700
   Interpress (IPS) at 202-662-7160
   CNN at 404-827-1500
   BBC at 202-223-2050, 202-223-0110
   New York Times at 212-556-1234
   Washington Post at 202-334-7400

   For more information, contact Karen at the New York ETAN office at
   914-428-7299 or [e-mail], or Brad Simpson at IFET at 773-255-7949.

   END

- -
 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: Mon, 6 Sep 1999 17:06:29 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) TIMOR HORRORS

- -
 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: Mon, 6 Sep 1999 16:50:00 -0400 (EDT)
From: Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Space Command Practices War with China

BILL GERTZ
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
September 05, 1999

SIMULATED ATTACK ON THE U.S. BY FIVE ICBMS SHOWS AMERICANS ARE DEFENSELESS

Pentagon trackers hone in on China's nuke missile threat



COLORADO SPRINGS - It was only a simulation, but tension filled the
Pentagon's Cheyenne Mountain Complex here when soldiers watched China's
long-range nuclear missiles streak northward, heading toward the United
States.

The oversized computer screen at the complex, known as the "Mountain," lit up
as red lines showed the flight path of the Chinese missiles as they traveled
over the globe to targets in the United States.

Hit: areas near Seattle, Colorado Springs, Chicago, New York and Washington.

"Sir, for the exercise, we have multiple missile launches," a voice announced
through speakers inside the Mountain. "Stand by for target report."

"Intel indicates the probable launch of five ICBMs (intercontinental
ballistic missiles) from China," an officer says. "Intel assesses this to be
combat against North America."

That was the scenario played out Friday in the U.S. Space Command's dimly lit
command bunker, located nearly a mile beneath the Rocky Mountains.

If China had actually launched a nuclear missile attack on the United States,
the soldiers inside this command center, who monitor missile launches around
the world, 24 hours a day, would have been the first to know.

The exercise highlights that Russia is not the only strategic nuclear threat
to the United States. China has a small arsenal of about 24 CSS-4 long-range
missiles capable of hitting all of the United States except parts of southern
Florida.

Last year the CIA reported secretly within the U.S. government that 13 of
them were targeted at U.S. cities.

China, however, is building three new ICBMs, including two road-mobile
systems that the CIA believes will be the first to incorporate stolen U.S.
missile technology and small warhead design information.

U.S. relations with China have grown tense since NATO's accidental bombing of
the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade last spring. China cut off all military
contacts with the United States in response and stepped up a propaganda
campaign.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin criticized the United States during a speech in
Bangkok yesterday. He said Washington's "gunboat diplomacy" and "economic
colonialism" are threats to world peace and international security.

China's increased tensions with Taiwan also are a potential flash point. In
1995, Chinese Gen. Xiong Guongkai told a former Pentagon official that the
United States would not intervene to defend Taiwan from a Chinese attack
because it "cares more about Los Angeles than Taipei."

The remark was reported to the White House at the time as a threat to use
nuclear weapons against the United States. The Pentagon responded by saying
China would be foolish to attack America with nuclear weapons because it
would face retaliation from the much larger U.S. nuclear arsenal.

Ten years ago, this exercise in the command center probably would have shown
long red lines from Soviet missile fields heading toward the United States.

Air Force Col. Allen Baker, director of operations for the North American
Aerospace Command, said once the missile launches are confirmed with
ground-based radar, he'd be "telling the president how many minutes until
Washington, D.C., is gone."

When asked if the military has anything that can knock the missiles down,
Col. Baker said, "Absolutely nothing."

So why track them?

"We're tracking them so we can tell our commanders exactly what is happening
so they can figure out what their response is going to be," he said. "If they
take out Washington, D.C., do we want to take out Beijing? I don't know.
That's their decision."

If the United States deploys a limited national missile defense, "that system
will be able to destroy incoming missiles," Col. Baker said.

President Clinton signed legislation earlier this year stating that it is
U.S. policy to deploy a missile defense as soon as technologically possible.
But the president has said there is no decision yet on whether to build a
limited defense against long-range missile attack. A deployment decision is
expected next June.

Earlier, in a briefing, Canadian Air Force Brig. Gen. William Calbfliesch,
deputy commander of the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center, said the Wyoming
center could provide about 35 minutes advance notice before the Chinese
missiles would impact.

The space command is not involved in retaliation. That job is carried out by
another military base, the U.S. Strategic Command, located at Offutt Air
Force Base in Nebraska.

There have been two war scares at the mountain in the past. Col. Baker said
in 1979 a simulation tape of a massive incoming Soviet strategic missile
attack was mistaken for a real attack. The false warning data was sent out to
other command centers and the response was "Oh my God, there's an attack," he
said.

National security officials in the Carter administration were informed that
some 2,000 missiles were on their way. Under U.S. strategic doctrine, a
retaliatory nuclear attack must be ordered before the first missile hits.

Col. Baker said the mishap nearly led to the launch of U.S. nuclear missiles
against Russia.

"I was a captain in the Air Force in Grand Forks, North Dakota, sitting 60
feet underground in a silo when the first one happened," Col. Baker said.
"And there was enough time that we actually prepared the nuclear warhead
capsule for launch, we actually put in launch keys, we actually pulled out
our authentication system and strapped our chairs down and strapped ourselves
in and prepared for launch."

"No launches occurred, however," he said. "We all wouldn't be sitting here if
it did. But we were ready to go."

Army Maj. Michael Birmingham said a second alarming incident took place
several months later in June 1980 when a computer chip "went haywire,"
showing a missile launch.

After radar ground stations showed no incoming missiles, "that's when they
realized it was a multiplexer in the system," Maj. Birmingham said. A
multiplexer is a computer chip.

The computer systems were upgraded afterward to prevent any further mishaps,
he said.

About 1,200 troops work the Cheyenne Mountain, which has been operating
nonstop since 1967. The complex uses space sensors and ground radar to
monitor all aircraft flying over North America, to warn of incoming missiles
- - both long-range missiles targeted at the United States and short-range
missiles fired abroad. The Mountain also has a center that tracks objects in
space. An intelligence center also operates in the mountain. Officials said
the center is closely watching North Korea in anticipation of a long-range
missile test.

"We are rarely surprised," Col. Baker said.

In a separate center in the complex, the U.S. Space Command keeps
around-the-clock tabs on the nearly 9,000 objects circling the globe in
space. The objects include about 700 active satellites and the rest is
orbiting material that ranges in size from metal pieces of defunct spacecraft
to discarded rocket boosters up to 30 feet long.

"We're mostly tracking space junk," said Air Force Lt. David Levy, the
center's director.

What about space aliens?

The center's computer system can weed out fast moving objects, such as
meteors, and other unidentified objects are analyzed. Most turn out to be
manmade objects, Lt. Levy said.


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




- -
 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.

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

End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #177
***********************************

-
 To unsubscribe to $LIST, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe $LIST" 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.