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From: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com (abolition-usa-digest) To: abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: abolition-usa-digest V1 #493 Reply-To: abolition-usa-digest Sender: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk abolition-usa-digest Wednesday, December 5 2001 Volume 01 : Number 493 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2001 10:22:22 -0500 From: ASlater <aslater@gracelinks.org> Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: Aid to Afghanistan Before It's Too Late >Delivered-To: alert-list@mars.capital-internet.net >Delivered-To: alert@lists.9-11peace.org >X-Sent: 14 Nov 2001 13:04:41 GMT >From: "Eli Pariser" <action@9-11peace.org> >To: <alert@lists.9-11peace.org> >Subject: Aid to Afghanistan Before It's Too Late >Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2001 08:05:50 -0500 >X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0) >Importance: Normal >Sender: owner-alert@lists.9-11peace.org >X-Loop-Detect: 1 > >Dear Friend of 9-11peace.org, > >Thank you for being part of our immensely popular online >petition. Over 500,000 of us from 190 countries signed, and >I'll tell you more about how our message was delivered to >world leaders below. > >Unfortunately, we need to act again, now. According to the >United Nations, over 900,000 Afghans are starving to death >as we speak. Another 6.6 million are in danger of dying >within the next few months. When winter arrives in under >two weeks, relief organizations will be unable to get aid >to many Afghan refugees. Please, please call on your >country's leadership to do everything in their power to get >aid to the Afghan people NOW. You can do so very easily at: > > http://www.9-11peace.org/aid.php3 > >There's more information about this potential humanitarian >disaster below. But first, if you don't want to hear from >us again, just go to: > > http://www.9-11peace.org/optout.php3 > > >WHAT WE'VE DONE > >In early October, we delivered over half a million online >signatures from 190 countries to: > * U.S. President Bush; > * NATO Secretary General Lord George Robertson; > * European Commission President Romano Prodi. > >In Great Britain, MP Lynne Jones and three other Members of >Parliament delivered the petition by hand to Prime Minister >Tony Blair. Media around the world wrote about our effort, >from the Chicago Sun-Times to the South China Morning Post. > > >WHAT WE CAN DO NEXT > >Call on world leaders to make aid to the Afghan people a >priority: > > http://www.9-11peace.org/aid.php3 > >The prolonged bombing has worsened the plight of the Afghan >people because aid organizations haven't been able to get >food and medicine into the country. The food dropped by the >US is woefully inadequate for the 7 million Afghans who rely >on aid. > >With the Northern Alliance's capture of most of Northern >Afghanistan, aid organizations may finally be able to bring >large quantities food and medicine into the country. But >unless the US and its allies facilitate the delivery, >hundreds of thousands of people may die. > >It's crucial that world leaders hear from us now. They need >to know that we are counting on them to prevent the imminent >starvation of millions of innocent people, and that this >should be one of the highest priorities for the next few >weeks. They need to know that we don't want to have to >explain to our grandchildren why our countries allowed one >of the largest mass starvations in history to take place. >Tell them now: > > http://www.9-11peace.org/aid.php3 > >Some facts about the aid crisis: > > * The UN estimates that 7.5 million Afghan refugees rely on >food and medical aid to survive. > > * Of these, 900,000 face imminent starvation. > > * Nearly 20% of those struggling to survive are children >under 5. > > * Recent bombing attacks have damaged the warehouses of the >International Red Cross as well as the United Nations World >Food Programme. The agencies' staff, laborers and truckers >are now afraid to load, unload or transport food inside >Afghanistan. > > * Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam International, and >officials in the UN have all called for a stop in the >bombing so that aid can be delivered before it's too late. > >More information about the aid crisis in Afghanistan is >available at the website above. > >Thank you. Many lives are at stake, but if we act now, we >can change the face of this conflict. > >Sincerely, > >Eli Pariser >9-11peace.org >November 14, 2001 > >------------------------ >You are receiving this message because you took part in >9-11peace.org's petition. If you do not wish to receive >messages from us in the future, just go to: >http://www.9-11peace.org/optout.php3 > - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" 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, 03 Dec 2001 19:05:16 -0500 From: John Burroughs <johnburroughs@lcnp.org> Subject: (abolition-usa) US resists cooperation on arms control US Continues to Resist Cooperation on Terrorism, Arms Control by Jim Wurst NEW YORK, Nov 29 (IPS) - Despite the appearance of cooperating with the international community, experts are warning that two signature foreign policy issues of the Bush administration - the war on terrorism and nuclear arms talks with Russia - are still dangerously wedded to the idea that the US can unilaterally pursue its goals. Prof. Michael Klare, the author books including "Rogue States and Nuclear Outlaws," said the US goal is still "permanent unipolar dominance." He and other speakers noted the US insisted that the recent arms control agreements with Russia not be legally-binding, thus subject to abandonment at any time. Retired General Vladimir Dvorkin of the Academy of Military Sciences in Moscow that this insistence will "lead to an international legal vacuum." Dvorkin, speaking from Moscow via a teleconference, said any permanent solution "needs a framework agreement binding on both parties.. It will be difficult, if not impossible, if we do not have a binding document in our hands." The US and Russian analysts were critical of the arms control agreement that came out of the Bush-Putin summit at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. While they welcomed the commitment to cut long-range nuclear forces to around 1,700 warheads (each now has approximately 6,000), they noted the ten years it will take to reduce to this level show the two sides feel no sense of urgency and that the 1,700 figure could easily have gone lower. Rather than look at the Crawford summit as a victory of cooperation, the panelist argued that the decisions were framed by the ongoing Bush insistence that it not be bound by an international rules. Pavel Podvig of the Moscow Institute of Physics called it "a disturbing sign" that Bush refused to agree to destroy the warheads that will be removed from the weapons. "What's more important: you see warheads dismantled or you have the capacity to build up to 2,500 warheads?" he asked. Panelists also noted that there will be no verification for these cuts, thus it will be impossible to confirm that they are being carried out. Klare pointed out that the US has "no incentive to negotiate equal reductions... but only to sign accords that perpetuate its overwhelming superiority... The US will only doom itself if it does not become a part of the international community." One of the few bright spots in US/Russian arms control is the Cooperative Threat Reduction, a project started in the mid-1990s to both safeguard and destroy some of the nuclear weapons left over from the Soviet Union. Paul Walker of Global Green USA said the four billion dollars that have been spent so far eliminated 500 warheads plus missiles, missile launch silos and bombers, as well as chemical weapons and production facilities. The conference, "Weapons of Mass Destruction: Cold War Legacies in the Post 9-11 World," was held at New York University on 26-27 Nov. It was organised by groups including NYU's International Center for Advanced Studies, the Harriman Institute at Columbia University in New York and the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington. Michael Ratner of the civil rights group the Centre for Constitutional Rights, said the 11 Sept terror attacks in New York "rather than teach the US a positive lesson, learned a negative one that exacerbated the worst tendencies" of the administration's view that the only worthwhile international cooperation is one totally controlled by Washington. He described it as "a continuation of old policies: war as a solution, superpower dominance, little regard for international institutions such as the UN, and no compromising sovereignty in the name of international security." In an analysis of how the war in Afghanistan is affecting South Asia, Yogesh Chandrani of Columbia University, warned of coming violence in Pakistan if General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, is undermined by US policies. He argued that none of Musharraf's conditions laid down to the US for supporting the war against the Taliban have been met. These conditions including preventing the Northern Alliance from entering Kabul and Kanduz and halting the bombing during Ramadan. "The war has been a strategic disaster for Musharraf, " Chandrani said, which could lead to a backlash by Pashtun extremists inside Pakistan (the Taliban are predominately Pashtun and make up a large part of the population of southern Afghanistan and Pakistan). (END/IPS/JW) - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" 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 Dec 2001 02:30:27 -0800 From: Jackie Cabasso <wslf@earthlink.net> Subject: (abolition-usa) VANDENBERG PROTESTERS ON TRIAL - --=====================_4634486==_.ALT Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable STOP STAR WARS! =20 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 4, 2001 Contact: Jackie Cabasso, Western States Legal Foundation (510) 839-5877=20 TRIALS TO BEGIN IN LA FOR PEACE ACTIVISTS=20 ARRESTED AT VANDENBERG AFB =20 PRESS CONFERENCE IN FRONT OF COURTHOUSE; TRIALS TO FOLLOW =20 WHO: 20 nonviolent protesters are scheduled to be tried on federal= trespass charges=20 arising from a nonviolent protest at Vandenberg Air Force= Base October 7, 2000. =20 WHAT: A press conference outside the courthouse will be followed by individual trials in=20 Los Angeles Federal Court. =20 WHEN: Thursday, December 6, 2000. Press conference at 8:00 am. Trials= begin at=20 8:30 am and will continue until 5:00 pm, then resume on= Friday, December 7 and continue on Tuesday, December 11 if necessary. =20 WHERE: Los Angeles Federal Court, 312 N. Spring Street. Press conference will be held =20 in front of the courthouse. Trials will take place on the 8th floor, before= =20 Magistrate Jeffrey Johnson.=20 LOS ANGELES, CA =97 Trials are scheduled to begin this Thursday December 6, for 20 peace activists facing federal trespass charges arising from a nonviolent protest at Vandenberg Air Force Base on October 7, 2000. The 20 defendants were arrested at the main gate of the base as they attempted to deliver a letter= to the base commander explaining their opposition to U.S. plans to deploy= missile defenses and space-based weapons (=93Star Wars=94). The demonstration was= part of an internationally-coordinated day of protest to stop the militarization of space, organized by the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space. Demonstrations took place in 16 countries and 39 U.S. cities. Defendant Bruce Gagnon, Coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, based in Gainsville, Florida, explained: =93Star Wars will not only create a deadly new arms race in space but paying for it will drain the national treasury and require devastating cuts in education= and human needs funding.=94=20 Vandenberg Air Force Base, 8 miles north of Lompoc, California is= the U.S. launch site for National Missile Defense (NMD) interceptor tests, first-strike nuclear missile tests and military satellites. Earlier this= week, on Monday December 3, a mock nuclear warhead carried by a modified=20 Minuteman 2 missile was launched from an underground silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base. It was successfully hit by a 121-pound prototype interceptor carried by another Minuteman 2 missile launched from the Kwajalein Missile Range in the Pacific ocean, 4,200 miles southwest of Vandenberg. Two of the five intercepts attempted so far have failed. The Bush Administration=92s support for NMD has met with strong international condemnation. Both Russia and China have warned that U.S.= plans to develop a missile shield would violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and could trigger a new arms race. The NMD proposal to deploy missiles intended to counter missile warheads aimed at the continental U.S. is only a small part of a broad set of initiatives for weapons which would operate through and from space. = Research and development are underway on a suite of missile defense technologies, including space-based weapons. As stated in the U.S. Space Command=92s= =91Vision for 2020=92: =93dominating the space dimension of military operations to= protect US national interests and investment=94 is the goal. According to defendant Phyllis Olin, an attorney with the Western States Legal Foundation in Oakland, California: =93The U.S. has avowed as its= mission to control and dominate space. What would our response be if another nation presented this to us as its goal? The missile defense program is not about defending ourselves with an impenetrable shield. It is about denying other nations access to space so that we can exercise complete control. It is also about offensive, not defensive, weapons that threaten the rest of the world.= =20 Missile defense will never protect us from real threats. We are less secure because we do not work with other countries for our mutual benefit, which is the only way to be really safe.=94=20 Defendant Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation added: =93We should not be mislead by the apparent U.S. offer to= trade offensive nuclear weapons for defensive missile systems. Bush=92s nuclear weapons policy might realistically be characterized as =91fewer, but newer.= =92=20 National Missile Defense, Theater Missile Defense, spacebased weapons, first strike strategic nuclear weapons and precision, lowyield nuclear weapons are interconnected parts of one, integrated, offensive global war fighting system.=94 She concluded: =93You don=92t have to be an expert to understan= d that the best way to prevent nuclear war is to get rid of nuclear weapons.=94=20 At a December 2000 hearing in Lompoc, the Vandenberg arrestees had their cases transferred to Federal Court in Los Angeles. On June 27 2001, they= pled =93not guilty=94 to federal trespass charges. Trial dates were set for= December 6, 7 and 11. Actor Martin Sheen, who was arrested with the group, entered a guilty plea and was sentenced by Magistrate Jeffrey Johnson to a $500 fine= and 3 years probation. =20 16 of the defendants are represented by attorney Bill Simpich, of Oakland (also a defendant). The other 4 defendants are represented by James Brosnahan of Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco.=20 # # # - --=====================_4634486==_.ALT Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <html> <div align=3D"center"> STOP STAR WARS! </div> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 4, 2001 Contact: Jackie Cabasso, Western States Legal Foundation (510) 839-5877 <div align=3D"center"> TRIALS TO BEGIN IN LA FOR PEACE ACTIVISTS ARRESTED AT VANDENBERG AFB <dl> <dl> <dl> <dl> <dl> <dl> <dl> <dl> <dl> <dl> <dl> <dl> <dl> <dl> <dl> <dl> <dd>PRESS CONFERENCE IN FRONT OF COURTHOUSE; TRIALS TO FOLLOW<x-tab> </x-tab> </dl> </dl> </dl> </dl> </dl> </dl> </dl> </dl> </dl> </dl> </dl> </dl> </dl> </dl></div> <dd>WHO: <x-tab> </x-tab>20 nonviolent protesters are scheduled to be tried on federal trespass charges=20 </dl> </dl><x-tab> </x-tab><x-tab>&= nbsp; </x-tab>arising from a nonviolent protest at Vandenberg Air Force Base October 7, 2000. <dl> <dl> <dd>WHAT: <x-tab> </x-tab>A press conference outside the courthouse will be followed by individual trials in=20 </dl> </dl><x-tab> </x-tab><x-tab>&= nbsp; </x-tab>Los Angeles Federal Court. <dl> <dl> <dd>WHEN:<x-tab> </x-tab>Thursday, December 6, 2000. Press conference at 8:00 am. Trials begin at=20 </dl> </dl><x-tab> </x-tab><x-tab>&= nbsp; </x-tab>8:30 am and will continue until 5:00 pm, then resume on Friday, December 7 <x-tab> </x-tab><x-tab> = </x-tab>and continue on Tuesday, December 11 if necessary. <x-tab> </x-tab><x-tab> = </x-tab> <dl> <dd><x-tab> </x-tab>WHERE: <x-tab> </x-tab>Los Angeles Federal Court, 312 N. Spring Street. Press conference will be held=20 <dl> <dd>in front of the courthouse. Trials will take place on the 8th floor, before=20 </dl> </dl><x-tab> </x-tab><x-tab>&= nbsp; </x-tab>Magistrate Jeffrey Johnson. LOS ANGELES, CA =97 Trials are scheduled to begin this Thursday December 6, for 20 peace activists facing federal trespass charges arising from a nonviolent protest at Vandenberg Air Force Base on October 7, 2000. The 20 defendants were arrested at the main gate of the base as they attempted to deliver a letter to the base commander explaining their opposition to U.S. plans to deploy missile defenses and space-based weapons (=93Star Wars=94). The demonstration was part of an internationally-coordinated day of protest to stop the militarization of space, organized by the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space. Demonstrations took place in 16 countries and 39 U.S. cities. <x-tab> </x-tab>Defendant Bruce Gagnon, Coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, based in Gainsville, Florida, explained: =93Star Wars will not only create a deadly new arms race in space but paying for it will drain the national treasury and require devastating cuts in education and human needs funding.=94 <x-tab> </x-tab>Vandenber= g Air Force Base, 8 miles north of Lompoc, California is the U.S. launch site for National Missile Defense (NMD) interceptor tests, first-strike nuclear missile tests and military satellites. Earlier this week, on Monday December 3, a mock nuclear warhead carried by a modified Minuteman 2 missile was launched from an underground silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base. It was successfully hit by a 121-pound prototype interceptor carried by another Minuteman 2 missile launched from the Kwajalein Missile Range in the Pacific ocean, 4,200 miles southwest of Vandenberg. Two of the five intercepts attempted so far have failed. <x-tab> </x-tab>The Bush Administration=92s support for NMD has met with strong international condemnation. Both Russia and China have warned that U.S. plans to develop a missile shield would violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and could trigger a new arms race. <x-tab> </x-tab>The NMD proposal to deploy missiles intended to counter missile warheads aimed at the continental U.S. is only a small part of a broad set of initiatives for weapons which would operate through and from space. Research and development are underway on a suite of missile defense technologies, including space-based weapons. As stated in the U.S. Space Command=92s =91Vision for 2020=92= : =93dominating the space dimension of military operations to protect US national interests and investment=94 is the goal. <x-tab> </x-tab>According to defendant Phyllis Olin, an attorney with the Western States Legal Foundation in Oakland, California: =93The U.S. has avowed as its mission to control and dominate space. What would our response be if another nation presented this to us as its goal? The missile defense program is not about defending ourselves with an impenetrable shield. It is about denying other nations access to space so that we can exercise complete control. It is also about offensive, not defensive, weapons that threaten the rest of the world. Missile defense will never protect us from real threats. We are less secure because we do not work with other countries for our mutual benefit, which is the only way to be really safe.=94 <x-tab> </x-tab>Defendant Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation added: =93We should not be mislead by the apparent U.S. offer to trade offensive nuclear weapons for defensive missile systems. Bush=92s nuclear weapons policy might realistically be characterized as =91fewer, but newer.=92 National Missile Defense, Theater Missile Defense, spacebased weapons, first strike strategic nuclear weapons and precision, lowyield nuclear weapons are interconnected parts of one, integrated, offensive global war fighting system.=94 She concluded: =93You don=92t have to be an expert to understand that the best way to prevent nuclear war is to get rid of nuclear weapons.=94 <x-tab> </x-tab>At a December 2000 hearing in Lompoc, the Vandenberg arrestees had their cases transferred to Federal Court in Los Angeles. On June 27 2001, they pled =93not guilty=94 to federal trespass charges. Trial dates were set for December 6, 7 and 11. Actor Martin Sheen, who was arrested with the group, entered a guilty plea and was sentenced by Magistrate Jeffrey Johnson to a $500 fine and 3 years probation. <x-tab> </x-tab>16 of the defendants are represented by attorney Bill Simpich, of Oakland (also a defendant). The other 4 defendants are represented by James Brosnahan of Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco. <div align=3D"center"> # # #</html> - --=====================_4634486==_.ALT-- - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" 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 Dec 2001 14:54:36 -0500 From: ASlater <aslater@gracelinks.org> Subject: (abolition-usa) Atomic Treason from the US House-Price Anderson ATOMIC TREASON FROM THE U.S. HOUSE By Harvey Wasserman If terrorists turn a US nuclear plant into a radioactive holocaust, the House of Representatives wants you to pay for it. But the Senate can still say otherwise. The House voted November 28 in virtual secret to shield new reactor builders from normal insurance liability, even if they lack safety domes to contain radioactive releases. Only a handful of Representatives were present for the vote. Led by Texas Republican Joe Barton and Michigan Democrat John Dingell, HR 2983 sailed through under a "suspension of rules," traditionally used for unanimous resolutions to rename government buildings, proclaim heroes and commemorate holidays. Facing a barrage of grassroots opposition, a very cynical nuke caucus used the loophole to avoid full debate and hide their votes on the free insurance ride for a new generation of reactors. Barton received more than $131,590 in utility contributions leading up to the 2000 election. Dingell got $109,679. Dingell is also related by marriage to major partners in Detroit Edison, which built the Fermi nuclear plant at Monroe Michigan. Fermi Unit I, a breeder reactor, nearly exploded in 1966. That near-catastrophe was memorialized in John G. Fuller's WE ALMOST LOST DETROIT, from the Readers Digest Press. By official 1982 estimates, such an explosion could have killed tens of thousands of US citizens and done $592 billion in damage. But since 1957, the atomic power industry has been shielded from such consequences. Utility presidents considered the reactors too risky. So a pro-nuke Congress passed the Price-Anderson Act, limiting the industry's liability. The Act's current version allows public indemnification only up to roughly $9 billion. Private citizens who lose their health, families or property would have to beg Congress for any more. To this day, all US homeowner insurance policies claim exemption from damage caused by a nuclear accident. But the public was originally told Price-Anderson was just a "temporary" fix until private insurers gained confidence in reactor safety. The initial exemption was to last just ten years. That was 44 years ago. A re-re-re-renewed Price-Anderson is now slated to expire in August, 2002. The 103 US reactors now licensed are grandfathered under the law. But the industry wants a new generation of reactors which it says will be perfectly safe, even though some of the heavily subsidized designs are almost entirely untested. Vice President Dick Cheney, among others, has made it clear none will be built without this public-funded insurance safety net. The renewal's grassroots opposition has been deeply embittered by the terrorist attacks of September 11. The London Sunday Times has reported that the fourth hijacked jet, which crashed in a Pennsylvania field, may have been headed for a nuke. Regulators and the industry concede that no US reactor containment is designed to withstand the crash of a large fuel-laden airplane. But incredibly enough, the new Pebble Bed design promoted by HR2983 has no containment at all! Multiple lawsuits filed in New York and elsewhere now demand operating nukes be shut. Reactors over the years have routinely flunked a wide range of "anti-terrorist" tests even though operators in many cases had six months warning and the tests were essentially rigged. Severe operating and structural problems still plague the industry, as at Ohio's Davis-Besse, now in line for a rare official inspection. And as of today, 2400 central Pennsylvanians who can document harm from radioactive releases at the 1979 Three Mile Island accident still can't get their cases heard in federal court. Thus the industry's infamous assertion that "no one died at Three Mile Island," with which the plaintiffs vehemently disagree, remains untested in a public jury trial. The whole debate is overshadowed by the escalating success of wind power, the world's fastest growing new source of electricity, now a $5 billion industry leaping ahead at 25% per year. Wind-driven kilowatt costs are plumetting, as are those from solar power and fuel cells. Conservation and efficiency measures are already far cheaper than reactor output. None are subject to terrorist attack. None threaten a radioactive holocaust. None require Congressional insurance immunity. This latest Price-Anderson renewal must still pass the Senate, where the Bush-Cheney Administration may attach it to its larger pro-nuclear energy bill. But building new reactors would give future terrorists yet more chances to perpetrate a nuclear holocaust at public expense. And mandating a design without even a simple containment dome raises questions of basic sanity. After nearly a half-century of atomic failure, the House and the White House seem intent on handing our avowed enemies ever more dangerous versions of the uninsurable ultimate weapon. What could be more treasonous? - ----------------- Harvey Wasserman is author of THE LAST ENERGY WAR (Seven Stories Press). Please recirculate and reprint this article. To help fight the Price-Anderson renewal, see www.nirs.org. - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" 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 Dec 2001 19:45:14 -0500 From: ASlater <aslater@gracelinks.org> Subject: (abolition-usa) Nuclear Power plants and terrorism From: Ndunlks@aol.com : Date: Sat, 1 Dec 2001 00:13:20 EST Subject: (GDR) Watchdog warns of inadequate nuclear security : : To: undisclosed-recipients:; X-Mailer: AOL 6.0 for Windows US sub 10535 To: ASLATER@gracelinks.org X-Loop-Detect: 1 : Global Deactivation of Radiation Feel free to forward this report onto a friend, or another mailing list. Please encourage everyone who shares our interest in Global Deactivation to visit our website for further information at GDR (www.gdr.org) If you have any information that might help in the Deactivation of Radiation, please send to: DrGeedari@GDR.org. To Subscribe to our free reports, Send your request with the words "Subscribe GDR" in the subject area to Subscribe GDR. Or go directly to the sign up section on GDR.. at Global Deactivation of Radiation Web Site EMAIL List Signup Help spread the need to finding ways to deactivate radiation. GDR needs: researchers, volunteers, web designers and funds. From: Ndunlks@aol.com, eaglegp@aol.com (GDR Researcher Steven L. Wilson, Sr and GDR Founder Fred M Davis) Get your GDR T Shirt now! Watchdog warns of inadequate nuclear security By Louis Charbonneau VIENNA, Nov 30 (Reuters) - The International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) said on Friday recent cases of illicit nuclear material trafficking showed the urgent need for better protection and control of radioactive material. In a report to an IAEA board of governors session attended by U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, the United Nations' atomic watchdog said that with nuclear material subject to national protection meausures, application of regulations remained uneven. In recent years there have been 175 cases of illicit trafficking of nuclear materials, the report said. "While only a few of these cases involved significant amounts of nuclear material, they demonstrate that security is still inadequate at certain locations and that there is an urgent need for improved protection and control," it said. Without mentioning any names, the IAEA report said there was lax security in some states, warning that an undetermined number of radioactive sources had become "orphaned" from regulatory control and their present location was unknown. The robustness of nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities when faced with sabotage or acts of extreme violence varied from country to country and facility to facility. "Agency assessments of facility design and operational measures can contribute to preventing and/or mitigating the impact of malicious acts," the IAEA said, adding that it was revising standards on the construction of nuclear facilities. The IAEA also plans to upgrade its international emergency response in the event of future radiological disasters. The agency has also offered to review national nuclear emergency response programmes to assess their effectiveness. IDENTIFYING VULNERABLE LOCATIONS "We need to urgently identify the most vulnerable locations and see they get the necessary security upgrades," said IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei. "In the long term, we need to ensure all countries have a stringent nuclear security framework in place -- with high standards to abide by, state-of-the-art equipment, and people trained in security." The IAEA said past efforts had focused largely on diversion of nuclear material by states for non-peaceful purposes, with much less attention given to the activities of sub-national groups, such as Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda. ElBaradei said the increased security would not come free-of-charge and called on countries to come up with the funds necessary to help the agency be an effective atomic watchdog. "We have the solutions," said ElBaradei. "Now governments have to come up with the resources." The IAEA report estimates that the proposed programme upgrades will cost $30-50 million, which would mean an initial 10-15 percent increase in the IAEA's total available resources. ElBaradei said the agency's budget was underfunded by $40 million due to years of "zero real growth" of the IAEA budget. But funds needed to fight the nuclear terrorist threat would not stop at the $70-90 million the IAEA needed for its own budget. The necessary global upgrades to meet the full range of possible threats would be in the range of hundreds of millions of dollars and would have to be carried out by individual states and through bilateral and multilateral assistance. If states come up with the necessary funds, ElBaradei said the enhanced and additional activities proposed in his report should lead to a powerful national and international security framework for nuclear facilities and material. "If we can establish international standards, effective security systems and oversight in all states, and better monitoring of borders, then we can provide a guarantee that the world will be a much safer place," said ElBaradei. 05:34 11-30-01 Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL. - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" 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 Dec 2001 19:45:59 -0500 From: ASlater <aslater@gracelinks.org> Subject: (abolition-usa) Shouldn't we be doing more? From: Ndunlks@aol.com : Date: Sat, 1 Dec 2001 00:09:48 EST Subject: (GDR) U.S. Supports U.N. Anti-Nukes Push : : To: undisclosed-recipients:; X-Mailer: AOL 6.0 for Windows US sub 10535 To: ASLATER@gracelinks.org X-Loop-Detect: 1 : Global Deactivation of Radiation Feel free to forward this report onto a friend, or another mailing list. Please encourage everyone who shares our interest in Global Deactivation to visit our website for further information at GDR (www.gdr.org) If you have any information that might help in the Deactivation of Radiation, please send to: DrGeedari@GDR.org. To Subscribe to our free reports, Send your request with the words "Subscribe GDR" in the subject area to Subscribe GDR. Or go directly to the sign up section on GDR.. at Global Deactivation of Radiation Web Site EMAIL List Signup Help spread the need to finding ways to deactivate radiation. GDR needs: researchers, volunteers, web designers and funds. From: Ndunlks@aol.com, eaglegp@aol.com (GDR Researcher Steven L. Wilson, Sr and GDR Founder Fred M Davis) Get your GDR T Shirt now! U.S. Supports U.N. Anti-Nukes Push By VANESSA GERA .c The Associated Press VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Warning anew of the threat of nuclear-related terrorism, the United States on Friday pledged to support the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency's efforts to stop terrorists from obtaining nuclear material. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said the U.S. government is giving the International Atomic Energy Agency $1.2 million for the anti-terrorism effort while Washington discusses increasing its funding for the agency. U.S. contributions now make up roughly 25 percent of the agency's $300 million annual budget, IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said. Speaking to the agency's board of governors in Vienna, Abraham praised the organization's efforts to help countries increase security at nuclear facilities, calling its work ``vital to the global war on terrorism.'' ``The work the agency does to deny nuclear material and radioactive sources to terrorists and state sponsors of terrorism is an integral part of our effort to stem the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,'' Abraham said. After Sept. 11, the agency's director general, Mohamed ElBaradei, warned that terrorists could next try to attack nuclear plants or build radioactive bombs. Nuclear experts have warned that the collapse of the Soviet Union created a political vacuum that left some nuclear material unaccounted for. On Friday, ElBaradei asked the IAEA's wealthier members to increase the agency's budget by $30 million to $50 million annually so it can expand its efforts to help countries safeguard nuclear material. ElBaradei said the 133-member agency would use the money to help governments prevent theft of radioactive materials and increase border controls in order to prevent the smuggling of such material. ``We have the solutions,'' ElBaradei said. ``Now governments have to come up with the resources.'' The agency, which sets international standards for radiation protection, said it has evidence of 175 cases of trafficking in nuclear materials since 1993. AP-NY-11-30-01 0932EST Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. 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