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Space Weapon Ban is Key to Thwart Terrorism * Statement by Rep. Barbara Lee
21 September 2001
The first item in this issue shows the writing on the wall. No matter how ineffective, no matter the worsening condition of the economy, and the importance of focusing on the task at hand, Congress is now leaning towards giving the Bush administration all the funds it seeks for an offensive missile defense policy for dominating space that would kill the ABM and peaceful use of space treaties. This would accelerate the arms race and add to the proliferation and development of most all weapons of mass destruction.
The statement of the lone dissenting vote in Congress against a Resolution authorizing President Bush to use military force against anyone associated with the 9/11 terrorist attack is provided in item three. The words of Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) are profound, if we could only learn from our mistakes and history, we could hear her wisdom and concerns.
Item 2 is significant, especially if or when terrorists use a weapon of mass destruction, and then the slippery slope of chaos and ruin becomes more steep and further away from any possibility of a lasting peace and justice for humankind. The time to act responsibly is now. Call your elected Representative and let them know about your concerns and your understanding of how funding missile defense sends the wrong message in building a Coalition against Terrorism. The U.S. wants to dominate the world and receive cooperation at the same time, which leaves a gaping hole in its effectiveness to eradicate terrorism. Such policies polarizes the world more and torments those who are poor to the point of desperation, while the heavens become ineffectively armed in the ruthless struggle of control, violence, and fear. It is a downward spiral that cannot survive during these times of relatively easy access to many technologies and weapons of mass destruction.
The only hope in saving humanity from itself is for the US or terrorist groups to step out of the cycle of violence and the illusion that military might or chaos can result in a lasting peace and security for all remaining. The more likely candidate for fighting for peace is the US, and the statement of Thich Nhat Hanh makes this appeal clear and reasonable. Defeating Missile Defense is an important milestone in transforming the US military from trying to control Earth, to establishing true peace, justice and prosperity for all people in all nations. This action would isolate the terrorist and remove their incentives for bringing the world down into chaos. Already the economy is in Recession and headed for Depression, and unless our leaders and the voice of America can rise over the macho-ego response, the spiral of violence, and find a win/win settlement in stopping terrorism and promoting a united world, things can get rather grim. The key is for a united coalition to take aim on environmental and economic crises, and not acting in a way that creates more harm to more innocent lives.
The Congressional Switchboard telephone number is 202-224-3121
The White House Comment Line is 202-456-1111 ext. O
For the US Plan to Dominate Earth from Space, see "Vision 2020,"
http://www.af.mil/vision
For more on the following Video, see
http://home.earthlink.net/~envirovideo/
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F l y b y N e w s
P r e s e n t s
EnviroVideo's
STAR WARS RETURNS
Written and Narrated by Karl Grossman
Tuesday, October 9, at the Brattleboro Library,
Main St, Brattleboro, VT; 7pm
and
Wednesday, October 10, at Amherst College's
Campus Center Theater, Amherst, MA; 7pm
Discussion will follow the 29 minute video on Actions planned in Amherst and Northampton, MA on October 13, 2001
The International Day to Protest the Weaponization of Space
1) Democrats Ready to Drop ABM Treaty on the Slippery Slope
2) Pentagon recommends use of nuclear weapons
3) Lone Voice * Statement of Rep. Barbara Lee
4) Peace Groups Are Urging Restraint
5) Dalai Lama urges U.S. to shun violence
6) Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh's response to the events last week.
Cultivating Compassion to Respond to Violence: The Way of Peace
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1) Democrats Ready to Drop ABM Treaty on the Slippery Slope
Monday September 17 6:49 PM ET
Dems to Drop Missile Defense Provision
By CAROLYN SKORNECK, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Looking to quickly approve new defense spending after last week's twin terror attacks, Senate Democrats are setting aside their effort to block money for any missile defense activity that would violate a 1972 arms control treaty.
Republicans had vehemently opposed the provision, saying it tied President Bush hands. It had been expected to trigger a fight on the Senate floor as lawmakers considered the $343 billion defense authorization bill for the year that begins Oct. 1.
Both parties are eager to approve the defense bill. So Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, in consultation with Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., decided to postpone any consideration of missile defense money until later.
``There will be an appropriate time to bring this up for debate, but this week is not the appropriate time,'' Daschle's spokeswoman, Anita Dunn, said Monday.
The version of the bill approved by the Republican-led House Armed Services Committee in July contains no such provision.
In the House, meanwhile, a key Republican is pressing to boost defense spending next year to about $384 billion in light of last week's terrorist attacks, up more than $40 billion over the amounts approved by the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. Rep. Duncan Hunter R-Calif., said some of the money could come from the $40 billion approved by Congress last week to respond to the terrorist attacks.
The $384 billion for defense work by the Defense and Energy departments would represent a $73 billion increase over this year's spending level, up by nearly one-quarter.
Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the House committee's research and development panel, said that along with including $34 billion to cover unfunded needs of the Pentagon - something the committee's top Democrat, Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, approves - it also would add $2 billion to the $8.2 billion the committee had approved for missile defense.
Two committee Democrats said after a closed-door briefing Friday on the attacks that they predicted the final bill would place a greater emphasis on short- and theater-range missile defenses.
Rep. Neil Abercrombie (news - bio - voting record), D-Hawaii, said an emphasis on short- and medium-range missile defense systems could come at the expense of national missile defense that would guard against intercontinental ballistic missiles.
But Hunter said he would fight any such move.
``It's totally illogical for any member of Congress to say that since we were just attacked by terrorist-commandeered aircraft, we shouldn't be building defenses against the long-range missiles that North Korea, Iraq and others are developing,'' he said. ``That's akin to saying we were just hit on the right flank, so let's not protect the left flank.''
Hunter conceded he did not yet have the support of committee Chairman Bob Stump, R-Ariz., the House GOP leadership or the White House.
The proposal also would add $1.4 billion to build more Tomahawk cruise missiles and other precision munitions, and could include several billion for improved radar capabilities.
Skelton, reached by phone at his office in Blue Springs, Mo., said he had not been told about the proposal but he ``absolutely'' favors the overall increase. He was, after all, the one who elicited the list of $34 billion unfunded needs from the service chief.
But he said he wants to see the details: ``I want to make sure it's spent correctly.''
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Related Story
Space.com - September 20, 2001
MISSILE NEWS
- Powell, Ivanov Claim New Progress In US-Russo Arms Talks
http://spacedaily.com/news/010920032819.y1ceoxw9.html
WASHINGTON (AFP) Sept. 19, 2001 - US Secretary of State Colin Powell and his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov said Wednesday they believed progress had been made recently in thorny arms control talks that include discussions of Washington's controversial plans for a national missile shield.
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2) Pentagon recommends use of nuclear weapons
Wednesday, September 19, 2001 at 09:30 JST
WASHINGTON The Defense Department has recommended to President George W. Bush the use of tactical nuclear weapons as a military option to retaliate for last week's terrorist attacks in the United States, diplomatic sources said Tuesday.
It is unknown whether Bush has made any decision. But military analysts said the president is unlikely to opt for the use of nuclear weapons because doing so would generate rebuke from the
international community and could even trigger revenge from the enemy involving weapons of mass destruction.
But the Pentagon's suggestion shows the determination of U.S. officials to retaliate for the first massive terrorist attacks on the U.S. mainland, the analysts said.
The recommendation appears intended to deter terrorists, they said.
On ABC television's THIS WEEK program Sunday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld refused to rule out the use of tactical nuclear weapons. He avoided clearly answering a simple question on whether their use can be ruled out. To a similar question, a Pentagon official also replied, "We
will not discuss operational and intelligence matters."
According to the diplomatic sources, the Pentagon recommended using tactical nuclear weapons shortly after it became known that an unprecedented number of civilian casualties resulted from the terrorist attacks.
On Sept 11, hijackers seized four commercial U.S. aircraft. Two of the planes slammed into the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center, while a third hit the Pentagon near Washington. The fourth plane crashed outside Pittsburgh. More than 5,000 people were left dead or missing in the attacks.
Tactical nuclear weapons have been developed to attack very specific targets. The military analysts said Pentagon officials are apparently thinking of using weapons that can reach and destroy terrorists hiding in an underground shelter, limiting damage to non-targets.
In 1986, the U.S. conducted an air raid on Libya, attempting to target Col. Muammar Qaddafi. In 1998, Washington fired a cruise missile into Afghanistan in an attempt to kill Osama bin Laden, whom the U.S. sees as behind last week's terrorist attacks.
The analysts said that since these attempts failed, it may be assumed that U.S. officials are mulling the use of tactical nuclear weapons, which can cause much greater destruction.
Declassified official documents show that since the mid-1990s, the U.S. has indicated that it does not rule out the use of nuclear weapons if a country attacks the U.S., its allies, or its forces with
chemical or biological weapons. (Kyodo News)
[For non-text portions of this message see:
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&id=78870 ]
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Related Story:
Russian Security Services Warn USA
Re: Next Targets Being Nuke Facilities
Tue, 18 Sep 2001 21:47:45 -0400
Russian television reported on Wednesday: "Our [Russian] security services are warning the United States that what happened on Tuesday is just the beginning, and that the next target of the terrorists will be an American nuclear facility."
http://www.thenation.com/docPrint.mhtml?i=special&s=bivens_wtc_20010916
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3) Lone Voice * Statement of Rep. Barbara Lee
Statement of Rep. Barbara Lee [House of Representatives, Sept. 14, 2001]:
Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart, one that is filled with sorrow for the families and loved ones who were killed and injured in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Only the most foolish or the most callous would not understand the grief that has gripped the American people and millions across the world.
This unspeakable attack on the United States has forced me to rely on my moral compass, my conscience, and my God for direction.
September 11 changed the world. Our deepest fears now haunt us. Yet I am convinced that military action will not prevent further acts of international terrorism against the United States.
I know that this use-of-force resolution will pass although we all know that the President can wage a war even without this resolution. However difficult this vote may be, some of us must urge the use of restraint. There must be some of us who say, let's step back for a moment and think through the implications of our actions today--let us more fully understand its consequences.
We are not dealing with a conventional war. We cannot respond in a conventional manner. I do not want to see this spiral out of control. This crisis involves issues of national security, foreign policy, public safety, intelligence gathering, economics, and murder. Our response must be equally multi-faceted.
We must not rush to judgment. Far too many innocent people have already died. Our country is in mourning. If we rush to launch a counter-attack, we run too great a risk that women, children, and other non-combatants will be caught in the crossfire.
Nor can we let our justified anger over these outrageous acts by vicious murderers inflame prejudice against all Arab Americans, Muslims, Southeast Asians, or any other people because of their race, religion, or ethnicity.
Finally, we must be careful not to embark on an open-ended war with neither an exit strategy nor a focused target. We cannot repeat past mistakes.
In 1964, Congress gave President Lyndon Johnson the power to ``take all necessary measures'' to repel attacks and prevent further aggression. In so doing, this House abandoned its own constitutional responsibilities and launched our country into years of undeclared war in Vietnam.
At that time, Senator Wayne Morse, one of two lonely votes against the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, declared, "I believe that history will record that we have made a grave mistake in subverting and circumventing the Constitution of the United States.........I believe that within the next century, future generations will look with dismay and great disappointment upon a Congress which is now about to make such a historic mistake.''
Senator Morse was correct, and I fear we make the same mistake today. And I fear the consequences.
I have agonized over this vote. But I came to grips with it in the very painful yet beautiful memorial service today at the National Cathedral. As a member of the clergy so eloquently said, "As we act, let us not become the evil that we deplore.''
* * *
For the Washington Post Article
"The Solitary Vote of Barbara Lee"
by Peter Carlson - September 19, 2001, see
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52813-2001Sep18.html
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For more on Representative Barbara Lee's (D-CA) votes on Legislation Regarding the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001
See: http://www.house.gov/lee/Fact_Sheet_Votes.htm
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4) Peace Groups Are Urging Restraint
Students, Activists Set to Hold Rallies Across the Country
By Eric Pianin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 20, 2001; Page A04
Ending their silence after a week of mourning the victims of terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, a broad range of religious leaders, social activists, entertainers, student organizations and business figures are beginning to publicly urge President Bush to show restraint in his response and to carefully calibrate the use of U.S. military power.
As part of the budding peace offensive, over 1,200 members of the National Council of Churches and a diverse coalition -- organized by Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover and Rosa Parks -- issued strong statements yesterday noting that, while the attacks' perpetrators should be brought to justice, wholesale military action would incite more terrorism, not end it. Demonstrations and teach-ins are planned on scores of campuses today, and some of the groups that had geared up to protest the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington are joining forces, instead, in plans for a peace gathering here on Sept. 30.
Some protesters bring a special moral force to their argument. Judy Keane, whose husband, Richard, was killed in the World Trade Center during last week's attacks, spoke out against military retaliation during a prayer vigil that she helped organize near her home in Wethersfield, Conn., Sunday evening. The event drew more than 5,000 people.
"The World Trade Center [attack] was in retaliation for something else, and that was the retaliation for something else," she said in a telephone interview yesterday. "Are we going to continue this in perpetuity? We have to say at some point, okay, let's find another way of doing this."
Business executive and CNN founder Ted Turner argued against a military solution yesterday at the United Nations as he delivered a $31 million check to cover part of the United States' U.N. dues. "We should not, I don't think, go around and indiscriminately start bombing countries that we suspect the terrorists are in because there are terrorists everywhere, here in the United States," he said. "What were [Oklahoma City bombers] Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh but terrorists?"
The statement by the National Council of Churches declared: "We must not, out of anger and vengeance, indiscriminately retaliate in ways that bring on even more loss of innocent life." The coalition of more than 100 people organized by entertainers Belafonte and Glover and civil rights legend Rosa Parks said in a separate letter: "Our best chance of preventing such devastating acts of terror is to act decisively and cooperatively as part of a community of nations within the framework of international law."
Organizers say there is a fast-growing network of peace activists who will likely outnumber the demonstrators who rallied during the Persian Gulf War a decade ago. Student groups are planning peace demonstrations on 105 college campuses in 30 states today. More than 1,000 students and community members from nine Boston-area schools are expected to participate in noontime rallies that will converge in a march from Boston to Harvard Yard, while close to 3,000 are expected to march and mourn on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley.
"There's pretty much a consensus among students in this group [that] we want to prevent the continuation of the cycle of violence by averting war," said Brad Hornbake, 22, a senior at Emerson College in Boston.
Meanwhile, the Washington Peace Center, a pacifist and human rights group, is planning a major "peace event" in Washington on Sept. 30 as an alternative to the canceled meetings of the World Bank and IMF. Organizers stressed that the event will not involve any of the "confrontational tactics" that were used during previous meetings of the international agencies.
"We don't want the violence here to be perpetrated somewhere else," said Maria Ramos, a coordinator of the event. "The U.S. has the moral high ground now . . . . This is a time for building alliances based on law and strengthening international tribunals [for] cross-border terrorism."
Special correspondent Colum Lynch contributed to this report.
© 2001 The Washington Post Company
For the above Washington Post article and links
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59308-2001Sep19.html
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5) Dalai Lama urges U.S. to shun violence
From Reuters News Service
CALCUTTA, India, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama urged the United States on Monday not to respond militarily to last week's devastating attacks, saying only non-violence could combat international terrorism.
"While I express my sympathy, I have appealed to the U.S. president not to respond with more violence as violence is not an appropriate answer," the Tibetan Buddhist leader told a news conference in Calcutta.
The Dalai Lama fled from his homeland to India with thousands of followers in 1959, nine years after the Chinese army entered Tibet and overthrew the Buddhist theocracy there.
The 1989 Nobel Peace Prize laureate's comments came after Pope John Paul appealed on Sunday to the world not to allow the attacks on New York and Washington to lead to more violence, and not to allow "a spiral of hate and violence" to prevail.
The United States has pledged to avenge the attacks by hijacked airliners that slammed into the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon near Washington last Tuesday.
NON-VIOLENCE ONLY ANSWER
"Most cases of violence only cause destruction...these things will have to be prevented the non-violent way. Only non-violent means can counter terrorism in the long-term," the Dalai Lama said.
The United States has said Islamic militant Osama bin Laden, harboured by Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, was the prime suspect behind the attacks in which some 5,000 people were killed or are missing.
Bin Laden, a 44-year-old multi-millionaire, has denied he was responsible, saying Afghanistan would not permit it.
The Dalai Lama said he believed there were numerous causes for the attacks.
"Every event has many causes...you can't just pick up one individual-- Osama bin Laden -- and say he was responsible. That is not realistic," said the Dalai Lama, whose exiled government accuses China of repression in Tibet.
"The economic gap between the rich and poor nations is one factor (that could have been responsible)," he said.
But the Dalai Lama said the attacks could not have been sanctified by any religion.
"The essence of all major religions is compassion, forgiveness, contentment, self-discipline and brotherhood," he said.
"Some people may only be using the name of religion to justify their actions," he said.
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6) Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh's formal response to the events last week.
Cultivating Compassion to Respond to Violence: The Way of Peace
All violence is injustice.
Responding to violence with violence is injustice, not only to the other person but also to oneself. Responding to violence with violence resolves nothing; it only escalates violence, anger and hatred. It is only with compassion that we can embrace and disintegrate violence. This is true in relationships between individuals as well as in relationships between nations. Many people in America consider Jesus Christ as their Lord, their spiritual ancestor and their teacher. We should heed His teachings especially during critical times like this. Jesus never encourages us to respond to acts of violence with violence. His teaching is, instead, to use compassion to deal with violence. The teachings of Judaism go very much in the same direction. Spiritual leaders of this country are invited to raise their voices, to bring about the awareness of this teaching to the American nation and people. What needs to be done right now is to recognize the suffering, to embrace it and to understand it. We need calmness and lucidity so that we can listen deeply to and understand our own suffering, the suffering of the nation and the suffering of others. By understanding the nature and the causes of the suffering, we will then know the right path to follow.
The violence and hatred we presently face has been created by misunderstanding, injustice, discrimination and despair. We are all co-responsible for the making of violence and despair in the world by our way of living, of consuming and of handling the problems of the world. Understanding why this violence has been created, we will then know what to do and what not to do in order to decrease the level of violence in ourselves and in the world, to create and foster understanding, reconciliation and forgiveness. I have the conviction that America possesses enough wisdom and courage to perform an act of forgiveness and compassion, and I know that such an act can bring great relief to America and to the world right away.
Thich Nhat Hanh
18 September, 2001
The Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh will be fasting from the 21st-30th September as a way of prayer in action. He invites all of his friends and disciples to join him in this prayer and meditation, wherever you may be and for however long you wish, in order to embrace all those who have died and all who are suffering from the recent tragedy. Those who plan to participate in this act of peace may like to e-mail us at mfmaster@vermontel.net, and to write a letter to the President and to their Congresspeople to inform them of your intentions.
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