Flyby News
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Secret War * Israel Aid * Peltier Update * AP Venezuela
20 December 2002
"If it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?"
- Alexander Sozhenitsyn, exiled Russian novelist
1) Star Wars Further Destabilizes the World
2) The "Secret" War on Iraq
3) Stop US Military Aid to Israel
4) Court Rules Peltier's Appeal Too Late for Sentence Reduction
5) AP's One-Sided Venezuela Coverage
Editor's Notes:
Ralph Nader and the Right Wing Conspiracy
It wouldn't surprise me that someday it is revealed that Ralph Nader purposely acted in support of the Bush 2000 campaign. Many would say this about Al Gore and the Democrats, which I agree, too, that the one party rules: (especially since JFK's assassination), the military industrial-academic-criminal complex -- but Nader? Well, stranger things have happened. Yet questions and suspicions remain. For one thing, how could the campaign of this politically-correct Green Party front runner accept funds from the dirtiest of all places, the Bush campaign itself, to help in critical swing-states?* Instead of saying that the lead candidates were identical, a real leader looks for subtle differences, such as Bush stating that he wanted to push for Star Wars 100%, Gore was not so sure during the campaign, and was at least open to debating on the escalation of a new domain for the arms race. That is not a subtle difference, and many others add up to a slew of big differences between a Bush or a Gore administration. Item 1 includes the official announcement for Star Wars. Following the press release from the Global Network, linked resources give more information about the Bush agenda. Yet most disconcerting to me is why Nader did not actively support Clemency for Leonard Peltier? Why not mention about this campaign at his rally at Madison Square Garden, just two months before the International Day of Human Rights, when Leonard's family and supporters planned to march for Truth and Reconciliation in NYC? Chris Groden, Green Party member and coordinator of the Leonard Peltier support group in New England, was blocked from raising this concern in the program at the Fleet center in Boston. Groden observed Washington-insiders seemingly taking over the grass roots methods of democratic decision-making for the Greens. I personally spoke with the manager of Winona LaDuke, who promised to pass my message about the December 10, 2000 Peltier event. What happened? Where was Ralph, why didn't he publicize this important event?. Was this a political decision just because Clinton remarked in his interest in reviewing Clemency for Peltier? Yet most disheartening is the flack that survival-oriented Democrats and Independents have received from a "higher than thou" stance of the Greens. Sometimes the better of two evils is not evil, but a practical solution for a possible future. Compromise is better than being so correct that one lets things get so bad that all life is in jeopardy. Yet I mainly agree with the rhetoric of Ralph Nader, but I wonder why his leadership wasn't more successful in achieving an effective debate on Stars Wars, on alternative sustainable fuels for energy, Peltier's freedom, review of FBI misconduct, and what should have been number 1 on the Green Party 2000 agenda: Instant Run-Off elections, which would open the door for all third party candidates. Was it lack of leadership that made Ralph become primarily a protest vote to show us how bad things are, or something more deceitful? Either way, his leadership was compromising.*
* Linked Resources on the Nader-Bush 2000 ticket:
Parties assail one another's tactics
By Anne E. Kornblut, Globe Staff, 10/28/2000
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/campaign2000/news/Parties_assail_one_another_s_tactics+.shtml= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Ralph Nader's political olive branch to Bush
By Barry Grey
30 March 2001
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/mar2001/nad-m30.shtml= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Is Nader Right?
Sam Parry
September 5, 2001
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2001/090501a.html= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Ralph, Don't Run
by Ronnie Dugger
www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20021202&s=dugger
Whereas Item 1 is on the official announcement and agenda of the destabilizing funding and implementation for Star Wars, item 2 shows that the Bush war agenda with Iraq is already happening. Plus, this item links to breaking news from Democracy Now on why the US knows that Iraq most likely has weapons of mass destruction, since many agencies in the US and corporations had provided such materials and technologies to Iraq, illegally. Related to this military theme for controlling the world, and resisting, Item 3 links to a petition to help stop military aid to Israel. Please read and consider signing. By definition, I am a Zionist, someone who is Jewish and favors the existence of a state of Israel. Yet true patriotic Zionists will protest against the Occupation of another people; we are all related. Item 4 is an update on Peltier. Another setback, a court recently ruled that Peltier was too late with a motion to reduce his sentence. They still don't want him up for parole until 2008! The LPDC is asking for your support in gaining the release of withheld documents. Item 5 is on the Venezuela press coverage, and the Organization of American States resolution in support of democracy in Venezuela, and elsewhere.
A reminder, the 2002 solstice is on December 21st at 8:15pm (US east coast time). This marks a ten-year countdown to the
Solstice of 2012 when the Mayan era is marked. This may be a good time to renew or intensify your efforts to withstand and overcome the assault on humanity by the current US regime. Things don't look too good, as any reader of Flyby News knows all too well, but don't despair, a miracle is possible, like the life we each have received.
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"Free Independent News – FlybyNews.com – For Life's Survival in the 21st Century"Flyby News bumper stickers are now available for those wanting to join in the
mainstream education drive. This way while driving you can point others to new information. We really need a critical mass to change our current directions, and networking Flyby News can help expose many critical issues. If you wish, $5 for a bumper sticker will cover all costs, but I hope we can get some subsidized for anyone wanting to place them on their car's bumper or other public placement. The artwork and colors are beautiful. If you want one, please write to
info@flybynews.com, provide your snail mail address, and specify if you want the blue-green subtle swirling background, or the red-orange sunset over a lake in Georgia.
Thanks to Liz Nicholas for donating the beautiful artwork.
www.artwithaconscience.com
1) Star Wars Further Destabilizes the WorldBUSH CALL FOR STAR WARS DEPLOYMENT
TO FURTHER DESTABILIZE THE WORLD
For Immediate Release
Contact: Bruce Gagnon (352) 337-9274
The Bush administration call for deployment of a yet to be proven "missile defense" system by election time in 2004 is further evidence that security and safety are not their top priority. Instead high on their list are Bush's reelection, subsidies for the weapons corporations and increased destabilization of the global [dis]order. Already facing mounting budget deficits the U.S. treasury will be further drained by Bush funding for Star Wars research and development as billions will be poured into the Star Wars sink hole. The Democratic Party so far has been a willing partner in this effort.
According to Bruce Gagnon, Coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, "George W. Bush is not interested in reducing tensions around the Earth. If he was he would not have walked away from the ABM Treaty. Now with a free hand he intends to ramp up the arms race which will ensure maximum profits for his weapons industry friends. And from the ensuing new arms race in space those same corporate allies will make even more grotesque profits in the coming years. It's a win-win situation for them."
In addition the Bush administration is pushing early deployment of Theatre Missile Defense (TMD), also called boost-phase defense, that would be forward deployed into the Middle East and the Asian-Pacific region. TMD will be used to virtually surround China with U.S. deployments in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and on ships and plans throughout the region. This will force China into building more nuclear weapons, they only have 20 today, and off we go to a new arms race.
At the same time Bush announced the 2004 deployments for Alaska, his team was also making formal requests to England and Denmark to allow the U.S. to expand and upgrade radar facilities in the U.K. and on Greenland (whose foreign policy is controlled by the Danes.) Upgrades of these facilities will allow the U.S. to integrate these installations into the global Star Wars coordination program. These requests have enlivened debate in those countries by opponents of Star Wars who claim that their countries now become prime targets for retaliation.
Since 1992 the Global Network has been coordinating the growing movement to prevent the arms race from moving into the heavens. Now with over 165 affiliate groups on virtually every continent, the campaign to resist the Bush plans to move warfare into space is in place and is actively organizing.
For more information about the Global Network, visit:
http://www.space4peace.org= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
For more from Flyby News on the campaign to ban space-based weapons, see:
http://www.flybynews.com/cgi-local/newspro/viewnews.cgi?newsid1012609619,15020,m= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Mainstream articles for Bush's Announcement for Missile Defense
http://www.austin360.com/aas/news/ap/ap_story.html/Washington/AP.V5964.AP-Bush-Missile-De.html http://www.washtimes.com/national/20021217-10394100.htm = + =
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Related breaking news/video on White House Scam:
"Video reminds Bush family of embarrassing Enron links"
by David Teather in New York
Wednesday December 18, 2002
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/enron/story/0,11337,862090,00.html= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Related Article -- John Pilger reveals the American plan
Two years ago a project set up by the men who now surround George W Bush said what America needed was "a new Pearl Harbor". Its published aims have, alarmingly, come true. : John Pilger :12 Dec 2002
http://pilger.carlton.com/print/124759
2) The "Secret" War on IraqJohn Pilger's latest article for The Mirror examines the "secret" war already being waged by Allied forces in Iraq. While Bush and Blair declaim the risk posed by Saddam, the truth is that Britain and America have been bombing Iraq illegally for a decade, have used depleted uranium against her people and deliberately withheld humanitarian aid, an action leading to soaring child mortality and widespread abject poverty.
For the complete article, see:
http://pilger.carlton.com/print/125498= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
For a Democracy Now! exclusive, related article:
US and others illegally helped arm Iraq!
Top-secret Iraq Report Reveals U.S. Corporations, Gov't Agencies and Nuclear Labs Helped Illegally Arm Iraq:
Hewlett Packard, Dupont, Honeywell and other major U.S. corporations, as well as governmental agencies including the Department of Defense and the nation's nuclear labs, all illegally helped Iraq to build its biological, chemical and nuclear weapons programs.
On Wednesday, December 18, Geneva-based reporter Andreas Zumach broke the story on the US national listener-sponsored radio and television show "Democracy Now!" Zumach's Berlin-based paper Die Tageszeitung plans to soon publish a full list of companies and nations who have aided Iraq.
For the complete story, see:
http://www.democracynow.org/Zumach.htm .
3) Stop US Military Aid to IsraelTo: President George W. Bush and the United States Congress
We, the undersigned, are appalled by the human rights abuses against Palestinians by the Israeli government, the continued military occupation and colonization of Palestinian territory by Israeli armed forces and settlers, the forcible eviction of the inhabitants from, and the demolition of, Palestinians homes, towns, and cities. We find the recent attacks on Israeli civilians unacceptable and abhorrent. But these should not and do not negate the human rights of the Palestinians.
We find it reprehensible that US tax dollars, in the form of US military aid to Israel, are being used to fund Israel's oppressive policy towards the Palestinians. This aid not only sustains Israel's illegal occupation and provides the means for Israel to continue violating the human rights of Palestinians, but also violates the US Arms Export Control Act, which prohibits the President from furnishing military aid or selling weapons to any country that consistently violates internationally recognized human rights standards. We demand the immediate cessation of all US military aid to Israel until Israel honors United Nations authority and abides by the rules of international law. In particular, we demand that:
1. Israel comply with United Nations Resolution 242, which notes the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war, and which calls for withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from the Occupied Territories.
2. Israel comply with the United Nations Committee Against Torture 2001 Report, which recommends that Israel's use of torture be ended.
3. Israel cease the building of new settlements, and vacate existing settlements, in the Occupied Territories, in compliance with the Fourth Geneva Convention. ("The occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into territories it occupies"; Article 49, paragraph 6.)
4. Israel acknowledge in principle the applicability of United Nations Resolution 194 with respect to the rights of refugees, and work towards a just and practical solution.
We furthermore demand that the United States cease all military aid to any nation that has been shown to violate human rights, including Turkey, Columbia, or any other. This petition focuses on Israel because it is the largest recipient of US military aid in the world.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
If you agree with the petition, please sign it by linking to following URL and entering the information requested:
http://www.stop-us-military-aid-to-israel.net/petition/index.php3 The Stop US Military Aid to Israel petition has been endorsed by the following groups:
Gush Shalom -- International Solidarity Movement -- Jews Against the Occupation -- Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign -- Golshan Society -- News from Babylon -- Not in My Name -- Nilemedia – Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights -- Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel -- Citizens for Fair Legislation -- Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace -- All About Palestine -- Matzpun – FlybyNews.com
4) Court Rules Peltier's Appeal Too Late for Sentence ReductionPeltier Update from the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
"LPDC"
Date: Fri, 13 Dec 2002 16:51:04 -0600
Friends,
We are writing to you about yet another travesty of justice in the long battle that we have waged for Leonard's freedom from the unjust imprisonment imposed upon him for crimes he did not commit. Yesterday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit denied Leonard's appeal to reduce the unjust sentences imposed upon him. In doing so, the court avoided addressing the merits of the case, to which it would have had no answer, and rested its decision on jurisdictional grounds, ruling that Leonard's motion to reduce his unjust sentence was too late.
Though the court acknowledged it had the equitable power to address Leonard's contentions, it disgracefully refused to address the issues -- and yet again upheld the outrageous and dishonest conduct of the government in its handling of Leonard's case and his ultimate conviction for crimes he did not commit. And, now 26 years later, the courts still continue to make excuses for the government's misconduct and callously ignore that an innocent man has spent now nearly half his life in jail because of our government's racist policies against Native Americans.
But now is not the time to despair. We must band together and, as a strong majority, demonstrate that we will no longer tolerate injustice. The time is now to rally for Leonard and all political prisoners in this country.
We must still remember that there is an appeal pending before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals which addresses the Parole Commission's refusal to consider Leonard for parole until 2008. The Parole Commission is utterly wrong in its decision, and the Tenth Circuit will be forced to face the facts and address the injustice Leonard has suffered and the outrageous conduct of the government. We will need your support so that Leonard will get a full and fair hearing at that time.
So, now is not the time for despair.
Rather, now is the time for all of us to rise up as a single voice and scream out to those who continue to oppress Leonard -- as well as all other under-represented groups: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH AND WE WILL NOT TAKE IT ANY MORE.
Peace to each and every one of you -- and more than ever to Leonard. And remember, we do need your help as we get ready for the next court appearance. None of us should tolerate any further injustice. Our thanks for your continuing support
Posted on Thu, Dec. 12, 2002
U.S. appeals court rejects Peltier's sentence-reduction bid
JIM SUHR
Associated Press
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthtribune/4726679.htm
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Please note that Leonard Peltier's daughter, Marquetta Peltier, and attorney Barry Bachrach plan to speak at Cape Cod Community College, January 16th, 2003 Sponsored by the Boston Area Leonard Peltier Support Group and the Mashpee Peltier Support Group.
Thursday, January 16th, 2003 - 7 PM
Lecture Hall A, Science Building
Cape Cod Community College
http://www.capecod.mass.edu
For information from the Mashpee Peltier Support Group
Tel(508) 563-7720 Email: jacko@dublin.com
For more information from the Boston LPSG by email, contact::
ahornbein@earthlink.net
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ACT NOW for Leonard Peltier:
Write for the release of documents.
For more information visit: http://www.freepeltier.org
5) AP's One-Sided Venezuela Coverage
18 Dec 2002, 125003 PM
Subject: [narconews] AP's One-Sided Venezuela Coverage
(printer-friendly for your local editor)
http://www.narconews.com/Issue26/article567.html
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OAS Resolution Reaffirms Support for Venezuela
December 16, 2002
http://www.oas.org/OASpage/eng/Venezuela/CP10628E01.htm
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