Flyby News
"News Fit to Transmit in the Post Cassini Flyby Era"
US War Lies * UN Action! * Deep Concerns * Alaska Refuge
25 March 2003
"..Anytime you've got the Pope and the Dixie Chicks against you, you're time is up!"
-- Michael Moore
1) The War's Impact: Saddam as hero - USA as Villain
2) A country divided begins to feel pain
- - Congressman Waxman asks Bush to explain glaring lies and fabrication
- - Re: Iraq's alleged attempt to acquire nuclear arms
3) Uniting for Peace - Demand a UN Emergency Session
4) Pro-War & Pro-Peace Candidates
5) Michael Moore blasts U.S. war
6) Deep Concerns by Noam Chomsky
7) Alaska Refuge Safe for Now from Oil Drilling
Editor's Notes:
Item one is such an obvious conclusion that one wonders that the Bush administration is planning on this knowingly to cause more turmoil to stay in power. Remember the Ring of Nuclear Power – the fear and power can make one quite irrational. Item 2 is some interesting bits on Paula Zahn getting embarrassed by a dead soldier's family response on air, but what is more embarrassing is such a policy that causes such needless harm. At the end of this item please read Congressman Waxman's letter asking Bush to explain glaring lies and fabrication regarding Iraq's alleged attempt to acquire nuclear arms. The Congress was knowingly misled at the time before the Resolution Vote to authorize force.
Item 3 is more from Greenpeace on the Uniting for Peace campaign.
NOW is the time to encourage Peace and Resolution from the United Nations.
Item 4 shows those presidential candidates for and against the war. Kucinich gets mentioned in this article as remaining steadfast for peace.
For more on the campaign in support of a Bill for a Department of Peace, make sure you visit http://www.dopcampaign.org . On April 8th, this historic legislation will be introduced for a second time by Congressman Dennis Kucinich. If you are interested in supporting or joining a Conference on this Bill, visit the web site for the Global Renaissance Alliance at http://www.renaissancealliance.org
Item 5 is an article on Michael Moore's heroics. This is the text of what he said Sunday:
"Whoa. On behalf of our producers Kathleen Glynn and Michael Donovan from Canada, I'd like to thank the Academy for this. I have invited my fellow documentary nominees on the stage with us, and we would like to — they're here in solidarity with me because we like nonfiction. We like nonfiction and we live in fictitious times. We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elects a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. Whether it's the fiction of duct tape or fiction of orange alerts we are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush, shame on you. And any time you got the Pope and the Dixie Chicks against you, your time is up. Thank you very much."
Item 6 is an article or link to Noam Chomsky's "Deep Concerns."
Item 7 is on the recent Senate vote that was narrowly defeated that makes the Alaska wildlife refuge safe for now from oil drilling.
1) The War's Impact: Saddam as hero - USA as Villain'This makes us love Saddam, not America'
34 die as US missiles hit wrong target
By Luke Harding in Halabja, northern Iraq
The Guardian
24 March 2003
The last thing that Omar Mohammed Saeed heard was the sound of the American missile plunging through the roof of his dormitory. It was 12.30 at night, and Mr Saeed and his fellow peshmerga fighters had been fast asleep. The laser-guided bomb reduced the compound where Mr Saeed had been staying into a tomb of pulverised concrete and metal. There was no chance of escape.
"We don't understand. Why did America do this? My uncle was a kind man who would never have hurt anybody," his nephew, Sadar Mohammed, said yesterday. "This makes us love Saddam Hussein rather than America," he added.
Mr Saeed was killed in a US missile strike against Iraq in the early hours of Saturday. Over the weekend the US fired more than 70 missiles at territory in north-east Iraq controlled by Ansar al-Islam, a radical Islamist group linked by the Bush administration to al-Qaida. It was Mr Saeed's misfortune that on the night the missiles fell from the sky he was sleeping in the next-door village. Most of the missiles landed on Ansar's tiny mountainous enclave, close to the town of Halabja and the Iranian border. But four missiles hit Khormal, a large neighbouring village, and the headquarters of another Islamic group, Komala. Komala's military garrison was also hit, killing Mr Saeed and at least 33 other people. As volunteers pulled corpses and body parts from the smouldering ruins of the compound yesterday, Mr Saeed's widow Aisha and 10 children wanted to know only one thing: why had America killed him?
"There is no excuse for doing this," said his nephew, Mr Mohammed.
"We were happy when the US promised to get rid of Saddam Hussein and his regime. But this is replacing Saddam with another form of tyranny."
"We simply don't understand," said another relative, Star Rafor.
Refugees who poured out of Khormal yesterday also wanted to know why a superpower that prided itself on the accuracy of its weaponry appeared to have got it wrong. "The US has committed an injustice. It needs to be more careful about civilians," Tafir Abdulla said, as he fled town in a lorry loaded with his belongings. Mr Saeed's relatives buried him in an unmarked plot in Halabja's bleak cemetery on Saturday morning. Afterwards they produced his photo, showing a middle-aged man wearing traditional Kurdish clothes, standing in his leafy back garden. He was 50, and had died of massive internal injuries, they said.
It was not clear last night whether the Americans had hit his garrison in error or had been fed wrong information by the main Kurdish faction, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which has been trying to wipe out Ansar al-Islam for 18 months. Ansar's guerrillas have been expecting an American attack since late January, when the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, told the UN that the group had links with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. Its fighters took to the mountains long ago, and appear to have survived the bombardment largely unscathed. Mr Saeed and his comrades, by contrast, were not thought to be on any US target list. They have no known connection with al-Qaida or with Baghdad. They have spent most of their life fighting Saddam Hussein.
Their group, Komala, run by the bearded warlord Ali Bapir, is part of the Iraqi opposition, and has been at pains to distinguish itself from its fundamentalist neighbours. Mr Bapir fled to Iran last week, leaving his fighters behind. "The reason so many people died is because they were not expecting to be attacked," Mr Mohammed said. Kurdish officials say at least 150 people were killed by US bombing over the weekend in northern Iraq - while others say around 60 have died. Either way the human cost of the coalition's war to get rid of Saddam Hussein is now becoming grimly visible. The phrase collateral damage has a hollow ring..
..Mr Saeed's family yesterday took consolation from the fact that they were at least able to extricate his body from the rubble. Many other Komala fighters were vapourised.
"When Saddam oppressed us there was a reason," Mr Mohammed said, after his uncle's funeral. "We revolted against him and killed his soldiers. But we haven't done anything to the Americans for them to treat us like this."
Who did he now prefer? "We prefer Saddam," he said.
The complete article is posted:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,920556,00.html
2) A country divided begins to feel pain - - Congressman Waxman asks Bush to explain glaring lies and fabrication
- - Re: Iraq's alleged attempt to acquire nuclear arms
Voices of dissent
A country divided begins to feel pain
Sunday March 23, 2003
The Observer
A suddenly awkward moment in America's media bombardment of its own people came yesterday on CNN, which after endless references to the 'ultimate sacrifice' made by those US servicemen who had been killed, lined up its first interview with a bereaved American family; that of dead Marine, Sgt Kendall Waters-Bey of Baltimore.
What was evidently intended to be an emotive patriotic item mutated into crushing embarrassment when anchorwoman Paula Zahn invited the dead man's father to talk about 'the service these men and women are doing' and to react to tributes from General Tommy Franks and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Mr Waters-Bey brandished a photograph of his son saying: 'President Bush, take a look at this man, because you took my only son away from me.'
Asked if he was opposed to the war, he replied: 'Yes I am, people are losing relatives, sons and daughters.'
When an uncomfortable Zahn switched quickly to the dead man's sister, she added that she thought the war 'useless and there is no point in it'.
The item was swiftly terminated and Zahn, turning to a colleague, said: 'It's not easy to hear their pain, is it?'
It was an exchange which revealed the bitter divisions among Americans and between political parties over the strategy and management of conflict.
While popular support for President Bush soared during the first three days of war, polls and public statements yesterday showed up splits in opinion.
One Democrat Congressman from California accused the President of having 'hoaxed' the country into war. A poll by the New York Times showed approval ratings for the President boosted to 70 per cent - an increase of 19 points over 10 days - since the onset of war.
Those who disapproved dropped 15 points to only 27 per cent. Similar figures were reflected in a CNN/ USA Today poll.
But the polling figures among voters for the different parties showed a country deeply divided over the war and in particular the way in which it is being fought. While 93 per cent of Republicans support the President's handling of the war, only half of Democrat voters do.
In one follow-up interview, a woman from Colorado spoke for many in the poll when she said: 'We've taken it upon ourselves to be invaders. September 11th happened and the world looked at us and could feel empathy for us. Now they're just going to say "you had it coming for what you did".'
By contrast, another interviewee from New York said: 'If we had kept putting it off we would have ended in more trouble than we needed to be.'
Thousands of US flags first displayed on front doors and cars in the aftermath of September 11 have been put up again as the nation rallies to support the forces in the Gulf. But Friday night's devastating attack on Baghdad caused many to think twice about the justification for war.
Cynthia Manriquez, who works in a Manhattan law firm, said her entire office stopped to watch the blasts broadcast live on TV.
'The whole place went silent,' she said. 'Even the people who were for the war were in shock.'
In New York, psychologist John Draper said his mental health referral service received a surge in calls around the time of the bombing.
Meanwhile protests against the war gathered pace across the US. At least 20,000 people attended a demonstration in mid-town Manhattan yesterday which erupted into violent clashes between police and protestors.
The Democrat Party has been a limp opposition, if any, to war during the build-up. This has left churches, student groups and families of victims of the September 11 attacks to lead the anti-war movement.
The Senate last week gave Bush unanimous support for going to war. 'This is back-the-Commander-in-chief time,' said one senior Democrat aide. Presidential candidate and former House leader for the party Richard Gephardt has said the war against Iraq is 'part of the war on terrorism'.
Although the opposition walks a highwire over the sudden mood of patriotism, rifts are opening up among Democrats, and some are coming forward to challenge the war.
Vermont governor Howard Dean, campaigning for the presidential nomination on an anti-war platform, said through his spokesman Joe Trippi: 'We stand by the troops, and we stand against the policy. We don't think those are inconsistent at all.
'I certainly want to make it clear that I am going to support the troops and then I'm going to campaign without criticising the President by name.'
But it is Congressman Henry Waxman of California who now leads the anti-war charge, having volte-faced on his initial support for it with a letter to President Bush, citing the forgery by Britain of an Iraqi nuclear connection with Niger as changing his mind.
Waxman expressed 'grave concern' over 'evidence' on 'Iraq's efforts to obtain nuclear weapons', which he calls 'a hoax'.*
Waxman recalls how he 'voted for the congressional resolution condemning Iraq and authorising the use of force' after being 'particularly influenced by your views about Iraq's nuclear intentions'.
'It has now been conceded that this evidence was a forgery,' he says.
Others have emerged since war began, like Dennis Kucinich of Ohio who said he would 'step up the challenge to an international policy that has taken us into an illegal war, and which will bring us more war'.
One vociferous critic of the war, African-American leader Al Sharpton, said he would 'continue to openly question the President's policies' and participate in peace demonstrations.
The New York Times poll bore out many of the Democrats' misgivings. Even now, there are signs that the public is not altogether convinced of President Bush's motives.
Half said they thought Bush's motive was to remove Saddam Hussein, with 16 per cent saying that his primary interest was to protect America's oil supply, and 85 per cent said they thought the US would be victim to a major terrorist attack on its soil 'in the very near future'.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003
http://www.observer.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4631553,00.html= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
* Congressman Waxman asks Bush to explain glaring lies and fabrication
Re: Iraq's alleged attempt to acquire nuclear armsMarch 17, 2003
Dear Mr. President:
I am writing regarding a matter of grave concern. Upon your order, our armed forces will soon initiate the first preemptive war in our nation's history. The most persuasive justification for this war is that we must act to prevent Iraq from developing nuclear weapons.
In the last ten days, however, it has become incontrovertibly clear that a key piece of evidence you and other Administration officials have cited regarding Iraq's efforts to obtain nuclear weapons is a hoax. What's more, the Central Intelligence Agency questioned the veracity of the evidence at the same time you and other Administration officials were citing it in public statements. This is a breach of the highest order, and the American people are entitled to know how it happened.."
For the complete letter by Congressman Henry Waxman, see:
http://www.house.gov/waxman/text/admin_iraq_march_17_let.htm
3) Uniting for Peace - Demand a UN Emergency SessionDemands for a UN emergency session is on the rise, but no nation has yet stepped forth to get the ball rolling. However many have expressed their support for the Uniting for Peace resolution, which would bring all nations of the General Assembly together to demand an end to the war.But the resolution needs even more support NOW, because the US has begun an active lobbying campaign against it.
According to Reuters, "The United States has launched a worldwide diplomatic drive to head off the calling of an emergency session..." The US has circulated angry letters to many countries stating that "Given the current highly charged atmosphere, the United States would regard a General Assembly session on Iraq as unhelpful and as directed against the United States."
If they're worried about this, it's a good sign.
Over the last week, the Russian Duma, the President of Indonesia, several European countries and the vast majority of African, Asian, and Latin American countries have expressed support for an emergency session.
UN General Assembly President Jan Kavan of the Czech Republic said he thought it "very likely" that a special session would be called.
But we can't just leave this to "likely."
It's important that a Uniting for Peace resolution passes to show the overwhelming opposition of the world's countries to this war and to make abundantly clear its illegality.
We're part of what the New York Times has called the "new second superpower": world opinion, and it is time our voices were listened to.
Urge your UN Ambassador to support an emergency session under the Uniting for Peace resolution:
http://act.greenpeace.org/aas/e?a=ufp&s=amb_sSend an E-card to your friends, colleagues, fellow students, and family asking them to take action too:
http://act.greenpeace.org/ecs/s2?i=730&sk=stdFor more details on Uniting for Peace from Greenpeace, see:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/news/details?item_id=179491For Flyby's updated ‘Uniting for Peace to Resolve the Iraq Crisis', see:
http://www.flybynews.com/cgi-local/newspro/viewnews.cgi?newsid1045091648,41257,
4) Pro-War & Pro-Peace CandidatesCNN.com/Inside Politics
War with Iraq promises to alter campaign battlefield
Candidates say they'll adjust to nation's mood
By John Mercurio
CNN Washington Bureau
Thursday, March 20, 2003
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A sudden hush will likely fall over the crowded, raucous field of Democrats running for president with the U.S. strike against Iraq, as most of the candidates curtail public schedules and tone down partisan rhetoric.
But every candidate, regardless of his or her views on a war, plans to take a wait-and-see approach on exactly how to campaign in this new, unfamiliar environment.
"Like every campaign, we'll be adjusting our campaign schedule on an as-appropriate basis," said Jim Jordan, the campaign manager for Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, who still plans to travel to New Hampshire on Sunday but may adjust the nature of the public events he holds there. "We're certainly not suspending all of our activities, but we will, of course, be sensitive to tone, to taste, to the national mood, and making scheduling decisions accordingly."
With a key fund-raising deadline looming March 31, however, the fierce money chase that could make or break some campaigns will continue unabated, albeit behind closed doors. The day-to-day mechanics of building their base in the early-primary states will remain a top, if less noticeable, priority.
And don't be surprised to find Democrats maintaining their strong criticism of President Bush, particularly on domestic issues like the budget, taxes and economy.
"Even though we're at war abroad, we have to remember that democracy continues here at home. That means that the basic mechanics of the campaign and the important work of the Senate must continue," said Jano Cabrera, a spokesman for Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, who harshly criticized Bush and congressional Republicans this week on their budget plan.
All eight active candidates have ruled out officially "suspending" their campaigns during the early stages of the war, and all of them say they plan to assess and evaluate schedules as the highly unpredictable situation develops.
Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, who entered the race late last month, has not started to campaign actively and will not do so until the initial phase of the war passes. Graham is the only senator who opposed last year's congressional resolution authorizing U.S. military action without the support of a U.N. coalition.
'Staying flexible'
"We're staying flexible and just make decisions as events unfold," said Erik Smith, a spokesman for Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri, who currently plans to proceed with a scheduled trip to the United Auto Workers convention in Des Moines, Iowa this weekend. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who has strongly criticized Gephardt and other congressional Democrats for supporting the war resolution, also plans to attend the UAW conference this weekend.
Still, some candidates are clearly more willing to criticize the administration's Iraq policy than others. Former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, for example, blasted Bush again yesterday in San Francisco, urging him to "call off this war."
"In its rush to war, the administration has obscured the goals, dissimulated the costs, disparaged our friends and allies and branded as unpatriotic ordinary Americans who pose legitimate questions," said Moseley Braun, who will travel to Washington for private meetings later this week. "It has squandered the universal credit and sympathy America received after 9/11, and it has damaged our alliances and the United Nations."
And Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who entered the race in February billing himself as a staunch antiwar candidate, has made clear that he'll continue to speak out against Bush and "the president's war."
"He'll continue to campaign and will speak out on the president's policies, both foreign and domestic," said Doug Gordon, a Kucinich spokesman. "Dates and venues [of campaign events] could change due to the war, but his message will not change. He believes we can support the troops but challenge the policies that put them there."
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/03/20/sprj.irq.politics/index.html
5) Michael Moore blasts U.S. warAccepts documentary Oscar with `Shame on you, Mr. Bush'
ANTHONY BREZNICAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES—Michael Moore criticized President George W. Bush and the U.S.-led war in Iraq during his acceptance speech at Sunday's Academy Awards, drawing a partial standing ovation and some jeers from Hollywood's elite.
The documentary maker won his first Oscar for Bowling For Columbine, but he brought the other nominees on stage with him in what he called a show of solidarity for nonfiction during
these "fictitious times."
"We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elect a fictitious president," Moore said. "We live in a time where we have a man who's sending us to war for fictitious reasons, whether it's the fiction of duct tape or the fiction of orange alerts."
Applause gave way to some boos, as the orchestra began playing to cue the filmmaker to leave the stage.
"We are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush. Shame on you," Moore shouted.
Afterward, host Steve Martin tried to restore levity.
"It was so sweet backstage, you should have seen it," Martin joked. "The Teamsters were helping Michael Moore into the trunk of his limo."
Bowling For Columbine, produced by Alliance-Atlantis of Toronto, was Moore's exploration of gun violence in America.
The title refers to the fact that gunmen Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went bowling before they opened fire at Columbine High School in Colorado, killing 12 students and a teacher before turning the guns on themselves.
Asked backstage why he made the remarks, Moore answered: "I'm an American."
"Is that all?" a reporter asked.
"Oh, that's a lot," Moore responded.
He dismissed the jeers he received, telling reporters: "Don't report that there was a split decision in the hall because five loud people booed."
Scattered appeals for peace and grim reports from the U.S.-led war in Iraq added a sober contrast to Hollywood's traditional night of glitzy self-glorification.
"In light of all the troubles in this world, I wish us all peace," Chris Cooper said in his acceptance speech for best supporting actor for Adaptation.
Cooper was among several nominees, including Meryl Streep and Martin Scorsese, who wore dove peace pins on their formal wear as a silent statement about the war.
Moore's words last night echoed his acceptance on Saturday, when Bowling For Columbine took the Independent Spirit Award for best feature documentary in a funky annual awards ceremony known as the "anti-Oscars."
On Saturday, Moore also took a shot at CNN, which he mocked for its use of army generals as commentators. "I would like to call on the U.S. military to withdraw from the media," he said.
The Indie Spirit awards included a sweep by Far From Heaven — a satiric but poignant tribute to 1950s Hollywood repression — won five awards. It was named best independent feature of 2002; Todd Haynes was chosen best director; Julianne Moore was best lead actress; and Dennis Quaid was best supporting actor.
Winnipeg native Nia Vardalos, who wrote and starred in My Big Fat Greek Wedding — commercially the most successful independent movie ever — won the award for best debut performance.
Opening the Indie Spirit show, Elvis Costello drew an emotional ovation when he sang the words, "What's so funny about peace-loving understanding?"
Moore, the rotund, scruffy-bearded activist from Flint, Mich., also directed the 1989 documentary Roger & Me, in which he pursued former General Motors Corp. boss Roger Smith to confront him about the collapse of the auto industry in Moore's hometown.
He's also the author of the best-selling book, Stupid White Men, which criticizes American politicians for favouring corporate wealth over public well-being.
Copyright 1996-2003. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1035779783772&call_pageid=968867495754&col=969483191630
6) Deep Concerns by Noam ChomskyDeep Concerns
by Noam Chomsky; March 20, 2003
[Excerpt]
At this grim moment, we can do nothing to stop the ongoing invasion. But that does not mean that the task is over for people who have some concern for justice, freedom, and human rights. Far from it..
..Terminal nuclear war has been avoided by near miracle in the past; a few months before Acheson's speech, to mention one case that should be fresh in our minds today. Threats are severe and mounting. The world has good reason to watch what is happening in Washington with fear and trepidation. The people who are best placed to relieve those fears, and to lead the way to a more hopeful and constructive future, are the citizens of the United States, who can shape the future.
Those are among the deep concerns that must, I think, be kept clearly in mind while watching events unfold in their unpredictable way as the most awesome military force in human history is unleashed against a defenseless enemy by a political leadership that has compiled a frightening record of destruction and barbarism since it took the reins of power over 20 years ago.
For the complete article, see
http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article.cfm?itemID=3293§ionID=40
7) Alaska Refuge Safe for Now from Oil DrillingThe following commentary, preceding the following AP article, is from Nancy (via kucinich4president list serve):
"..I was watching C-Span2 coverage and that old goat Senator Stevens said on the floor of the Senate "anyone who votes against this bill is a vote against me, and I won't forget it." That is a threat, esp, severe since the Old Goat Stevens is Chairman of the Appropriations committee......I guess a couple of GOPers didn't worry about his vindictiveness..
Republicans Fail to Get Alaska Refuge Drilling Measure, by the Narrowest of Margins
By H. Josef Hebert Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate on Wednesday narrowly rejected oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge, rebuffing the Bush administration on a top energy goal it had hoped to win with a wartime security appeal.
Despite intense lobbying by pro-drilling senators and the White House in the hours leading up to the vote, Democrats mustered the support needed to remove a drilling provision from a budget resolution expected to be approved later this week.
An amendment offered by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., to strip away the provision passed 52-48.
For the complete article, see:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/134656575_webdrilling19.htmlor
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/030319/w031952.html
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