World Level
Classified into two types of problems:
Type 1 - Class Conflict (i.e. related to Power, Money, Resources, Greed, (Global) Domination, etc.)
Type 2 - All Other Problems/Issues driving world level violence

Type 1 - Class Conflict (i.e. related to Power, Money, Resources, Greed, (Global) Domination, etc.):

What I've Learned About U.S. Foreign Policy - Frank Dorrel has put together an excellent 2 - hour video, the basic message being that the Central Intelligence Agency, the military-industrial complex, the Pentagon, the multinational corporations, the media and the Government of the United States are responsible for the deaths of millions of people in the third world, not to mention the poverty and oppression of millions more.  We support, arm and train dictators and militaries that do these evil actions to their own people.  All of this is to insure that we control the natural resources of these countries and their marketplace, use the people for cheap labor and keep the business of war (which is our biggest business) ongoing.  The CIA has done business with international drug dealers, allowing heroin and cocaine to enter the U.S., using the profits to fund more covert operations.  The mainstream media, or corporate media (as some refer to it), will not tell these truths because it is owned by the very corporations who benefit from all of this.  When it comes to foreign policy, the mainstream media gets its stories straight from the Pentagon and the CIA.  We have been taught all our lives that the United States fights for freedom and democracy, that we are the good guys.  And since so many people in America are doing well, do have freedom, opportunity and wealth or are just trying to get by, there is very little motivation to look into the things being said on this tape.  View it here!!  Warning - This is not for the faint or weak of heart.  The ten segments include (click on link for summary and downloadable videos):
1. Martin Luther King Jr.; (its a short and sweet introduction to the rest that will "blow you away" - 2 minutes)
2. John Stockwell, former CIA Station Chief in Angola; (6 minutes)
3. Bill Moyer's 'The Secret Government' aired on PBS; (its 20 minutes, but you must see it)
4. Coverup: Behind the Iran-Contra Affair; (20 minutes)
5. School of Assassins; (14 minutes)
6. Genocide by Sanctions; (12 minutes)
7. The Panama Deception; (22 minutes; it won an Academy Award)
8. Ramsey Clark, former Attorney General of the U.S.; (its 9 minutes, and you must see it)
9. Amy Goodman on the two genocides Indonesia has committed; (9 minutes) and 
10. S. Brian Willson on waging peace against our violent foreign policies. (9 minutes)
Epilogue by Frank Dorrel  (good insights, recommended reading list, and a personal conclusion by Bob Stewart on media complicity, lack of effective opposition holding government accountable, and lack of government response to these charges)
This video is 5-Star, Must Viewing - particularly for peace studies programs to generate discussion with students (and others).  I urge you to order your own copy: contact Frank Dorrel, 3967 Shedd Ter., Culver City, California 90232; tel. 310-838-8131; email fdorrel@addictedtowar.com ; web site http://www.addictedtowar.com .  A small donation (approx. US$10.00) is requested to help this project continue.  Many thanks to Frank for his good work. 

What We've Lost: George W. Bush and the Price of Torture, by William Pfaff - The most important reason for the tension that exists between the United States and most of the rest of the democratic world is that American claims about the threat of terrorism seem grossly exaggerated. … There is a very good reason why the Bush administration does not recognize international law. They do not want the same fate as those who took similar actions during WWII. … American policy on Iraq is condemned abroad by most of the democracies, in part for the practical reason that this policy has manufactured terrorism and nationalist resistance to the United States and its allies inside Iraq and so far has succeeded only in escalating the crisis between the Western powers and Islamic society. …  Foreign observers are disturbed that American elites seem unable to understand this.  To them, and certainly to an American, the most dismaying aspect of the Bush Administration's conduct has been its installation of torture as integral to American military and clandestine operations, a part of the administration's repudiation of those portions of international law and American treaty obligations that it considers irreconcilable with absolute U.S. national sovereignty, or as obstacles to national policy. This was displayed from the beginning.  The administration's hostility to the U.N. and to other international institutions, as well as to the constraints of international law, reflects a long tradition on the right wing of the Republican Party, going back to the Republican isolationism of the years between the two world wars. It may be deplorable, but it is no great surprise.  

Dying and Killing for Nations: the Psychology of War and Genocide, by Richard Koenigsberg. Dr. Koenigsberg's is a message that anyone with an interest in changing the course of human history to embrace peace instead of violence should hear.  Library of Social Science, 92-30 56th Avenue, Suite 3-E, Elmhurst, NY 11373, USA; Fax: 1-413-832-8145; Richard A. Koenigsberg, Ph. D., Director; Telephone: 1-718-393-1081.  Website for LIBRARY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE http://home.earthlink.net/~libraryofsocialscience/ .Website for THE KOENIGSBERG LECTURES ON THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CULTURE AND HISTORY http://www.conflictaslesson.com/why_main.html

Getting Haiti Right This Time: The U.S. and the Coup, by Noam Chomsky, Paul Farmer, Amy Goodman and Democracy Now!  “They came for the Vietnamese, and I didn’t speak up because I was not a Vietnamese. Then they came for the Chileans, and I didn't speak up because I was not a Chilean. Then they came for the Panamanians, and I didn't speak up because I was not a Panamanian. Then they came for the Nicaraguans, and I didn’t speak up because I was not a Nicaraguan.  Then they provided support for acts of genocide against the Mayan Indians in Guatemala , and I didn’t speak up because I was not Mayan.  Then they came for the Afghanis, and I didn’t speak up because I was not Afghani.  Then they came for the Iraqis, and I didn't speak up because I was not an Iraqi. Then they spread depleted uranium, and I didn’t speak up because I did not have to live or die in it.  Then they tortured and killed people, and I didn’t speak up because I was not one of them.  Then they came for the Haitians and I was a Canadian, so I didn't speak up....by the time they come for the Canadians there was nobody left to speak up for anyone."  Read substantial excerpts from this enlightening book.

American War Crimes - Washington Post editorial Dec 23/04 Thanks to a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union and other human rights groups, thousands of pages of government documents released this month have confirmed some of the painful truths about the abuse of foreign detainees by the U.S. military and the CIA - truths the Bush administration implacably has refused to acknowledge. 

A History Of US Secret Human Experimentation - It boggles the mind that human beings could do this to each other.  It is even more disturbing when it is a supposedly democratic government of the West that has carried out these atrocities.  More scary: they have not pledged to mend their ways and never do this to people again!!  Please, Read the attached report.

The Hidden History of CIA Torture: America's Road to Abu Ghraib, By Alfred W. McCoy.  ... a perverse pathology that allows the practice of torture, once begun, to spread uncontrollably in crisis situations, destroying the legitimacy of the perpetrator nation. As past perpetrators could have told today's pundits, torture plumbs the recesses of human consciousness, unleashing an unfathomable capacity for cruelty as well as seductive illusions of potency.... These photos, however, are snapshots not of simple brutality or even evidence of a breakdown in "military discipline." What they record are CIA torture techniques that have metastasized like an undetected cancer inside the U.S. intelligence community over the past half century. 

1996,  Douglas Feith (current U.S. defence undersecretary) and neocon Israel supporter Richard Perle (current U.S. Administration) were among the authors of the policy plan, "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm" for Israel's then Likud prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, calling for Greater Israel. As well, it called for a much more aggressive policy on Iraq and Syria and for ending peace talks with the Palestinians.  Further evidence that the current United States Administration planned wars in the Middle East.  Quotes: "We must distinguish soberly and clearly friend from foe. We must make sure that our friends across the Middle East never doubt the solidity or value of our friendship.  Israel can shape its strategic environment, in cooperation with Turkey and Jordan, by weakening, containing, and even rolling back Syria. This effort can focus on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq — an important Israeli strategic objective in its own right — as a means of foiling Syria’s regional ambitions." ... "Since Iraq's future could affect the strategic balance in the Middle East profoundly, it would be understandable that Israel has an interest in supporting the Hashemites in their efforts to redefine Iraq, including such measures as: visiting Jordan as the first official state visit, even before a visit to the United States, of the new Netanyahu government; supporting King Hussein by providing him with some tangible security measures to protect his regime against Syrian subversion; encouraging — through influence in the U.S. business community — investment in Jordan to structurally shift Jordan’s economy away from dependence on Iraq; and diverting Syria’s attention by using Lebanese opposition elements to destabilize Syrian control of Lebanon. Most important, it is understandable that Israel has an interest supporting diplomatically, militarily and operationally Turkey’s and Jordan’s actions against Syria, such as securing tribal alliances with Arab tribes that cross into Syrian territory and are hostile to the Syrian ruling elite." ... "In recent years, Israel invited active U.S. intervention in Israel’s domestic and foreign policy for two reasons: to overcome domestic opposition to "land for peace" concessions the Israeli public could not digest, and to lure Arabs — through money, forgiveness of past sins, and access to U.S. weapons — to negotiate. This strategy, which required funneling American money to repressive and aggressive regimes, was risky, expensive, and very costly for both the U.S. and Israel, and placed the United States in roles is should neither have nor want." ... "No amount of weapons or victories will grant Israel the peace its seeks."  Read "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm".  Read an Analysis of A Clean Break by the Institute for Research: Middle East Policy.  .  This document, along with "The Project for a New American Century" (following), demonstrate how much the current U.S. Administration wished to conduct a regime change in Iraq far before 9/11.  

 Project for the New American Century ("PNAC") - Rebuilding America's Defenses - Bush administration hawks have ties to a right wing policy group that has made a case for securing the interests of the U.S. around the world, as the world's only superpower, by putting that power to use.  Their ideas about the aggressive use of American clout and military force arose more than a decade ago.  In February 1992, staffers for Paul Wolfowitz (who at the time was deputy defense secretary under Cheney) drafted an American defense policy that called for the United States to aggressively use its military might.  The draft made no mention of a role for the United Nations.  The proposed policy urged the United States to "establish and protect a new order" that accounts "sufficiently for the interests of the advanced industrial nations to discourage them from challenging our leadership," while at the same time maintaining a military dominance capable of "deterring potential competitors from even aspiring to a larger regional or global role." The draft caused an outcry and was not adopted by Cheney and Wolfowitz.  "We should establish and maintain a strong U.S. military presence in the region, and be prepared to use that force to protect our vital interests in the Gulf" the group wrote to Representatives Newt Gingrich and Trent Lott in May 1998.  Many of the best-known supporters have ties to the oil industry.  While oil is a backdrop to PNAC's policy pronouncement, it doesn't seem to be the driving force.  Oil is viewed by the war's proponents primarily as a way to pay for the costly military operation.  The fact that many U.S. allies, particularly in Western Europe, and millions of American citizens haven't reached the same conclusions for Rebuilding America's Defenses seems to matter little as the war plan pushes forward.  "This is not a war on fanatics.  This is a war of fanatics - our fanatics," says Ian Luistick, a University of Pennsylvania political science professor and Middle East expert.  Read the complete William Bunch article at  William Bunch Article .  Read the PNAC Strategy at  Rebuilding America's  Defenses: Strategies, Forces And Resources For A New Century .  Read the new article PAX AMERICANA

  Violent crime costs billions: WHO report BY WILLIAM J. KOLE, VIENNA (AP-CP) - Violence in homes and on the streets worldwide devastates economies as well as lives, the UN health agency warned today in a report detailing how countries are spending billions a year dealing with the consequences.  Good arguments for public funding of peace education, conflict resolution, reconciliation, etc.

 Censored! The 10 big stories the national news media ignore.  The mainstream news media have been doing a deplorable job of covering the day's most important stories.    That's no surprise: consolidation of the media in the hands of a few corporate Goliaths has resulted in fewer people creating more of the content we see, hear, and read. One impact has been a narrower range of perspectives. Another is the virtual disappearance of hard-hitting, original, investigative reporting.   "Corporate media has abdicated their responsibility to the First Amendment to keep the American electorate informed about important issues in society and instead serves up a pabulum of junk-food news," says Peter Phillips, head of Sonoma State University's Project Censored.  Every year researchers at Project Censored pick through volumes of print and broadcast news to see which of the past year's most important stories aren't receiving the kind of attention they deserve. Phillips and his team acknowledge that many of these stories weren't "censored" in the traditional sense of the word: No government agency blocked their publication. And some even appeared ­ briefly and without follow-up ­ in mainstream journals.   But every one of this year's picks merited prominent placement on the evening news and the dailies' front pages. Instead they went virtually ignored.  This list speaks directly to the point FCC critics have raised: stories that address fundamental issues of wealth concentration and big-business dominance of the political agenda are almost entirely missing from the national debate. From the dramatic increase in wealth inequality in the United States, to the wholesale giveaway of the nation's natural resources, to the Bush administration's attack on corporate and political accountability, events and trends that ought to be dominating the presidential campaign and the national dialogue are missing from the front pages.  Here are Project Censored's 10 biggest examples of major stories that have been relegated to the most obscure corners of the media world.

  US Develops Lethal New Viruses - (NewScientist.com - October 3, 2003) http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994318  A scientist funded by the US government has deliberately created an extremely deadly form of mousepox, a relative of the smallpox virus, through genetic engineering. The new virus kills all mice even if they have been given antiviral drugs as well as a vaccine that would normally protect them. The work has not stopped there. The cowpox virus, which infects a range of animals including humans, has been genetically altered in a similar way.

Sweeping Stun Guns to Target Crowds - (New Scientist - June 16, 2004)  Weapons that can incapacitate crowds of people by sweeping a lightning-like beam of electricity across them are being readied for sale to military and police forces in the US and Europe. At present, commercial stun guns target one person at a time, and work only at close quarters. The new breed of non-lethal weapons can be used on many people at once and operate over far greater distances.  A weapon under development by Rheinmetall of Germany creates a conducting channel by using a small explosive charge to squirt a stream of tiny conductive fibres through the air at the victim.  An Indiana company, Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems will be one of the first to market, with a wireless weapon that projects an ionized gas or plasma toward the target, producing a conducting channel.  http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996014

Risk of Radioactive "Dirty Bomb" Growing - (New Scientist - June 2, 2004) The risk of somebody somewhere triggering a radioactive "dirty bomb" is growing, evidence gathered by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency suggests. The IAEA's records show a dramatic rise in the level of smuggling of radiological materials, defined as radioactive sources that could be used in dirty bombs but not nuclear bombs. Smugglers target the radioactive materials used in factories, hospitals and research laboratories, which are not guarded as securely as those used by the nuclear industry. http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995061

The Larder is Almost Bare - (Globe and Mail - May 22, 2004) It has been an almost unprecedented run of misfortune: four back-to-back meager harvests due to heat waves, drought and pestilence - something that hasn't happened since at least 1960. As a result, the amount of grain held in the world's stockpiles has been falling. Some environmentalists believe this line of bad harvests is no fluke of nature, but rather a harbinger of what one writer has termed "gastronomical Armageddon".  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040522/FAMINE22/?query=the%2Blarder%2Bis%2Balmost%2Bbare

AIDS EPIDEMIC THREATENS WORLD PEACE, UN SAYS - http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?  The spread of the deadly HIV virus is a threat to world peace, the chief the United Nations AIDS agency said Monday. "It's as big of a threat as terrorism," UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot told Reuters on the sidelines of a speech in Oslo, referring to massive poverty as a result of AIDS, sparking political unrest which could even lead to cross-border conflicts, as well as a weakening of defense forces in heavily infected countries.

  WEALTHY COUNTRIES COULD BRING AFRICAN HIV/AIDS EPIDEMIC 'UNDER CONTROL' SAYS JEFFREY SACHS - http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=23692 The United States and other wealthy countries could bring the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa "under control" by working together, partnering with African nations and contributing more resources and effort, Jeffrey Sachs, director of Columbia University's Earth Institute and special adviser to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said. Sachs said that although HIV/AIDS has been "allowed to run rampant in the poorest countries without almost any attention ... from us until very, very recently," the United States was "starting to act" with the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which seeks to provide treatment to two million HIV-positive people living in 14 African and Caribbean countries.

  AFRICA/UK: A LESSON IN RACISM- http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/story.jsp?story=522155 Few academics can expect to reach the professional heights scaled by the women's rights expert Fareda Banda. Educated in racially segregated schools in Zimbabwe, Dr Banda, 37, became the first black African woman from her country to be awarded a doctorate in law from Oxford University in 1993. But last year, she made an alarming discovery. After a casual enquiry about her pay, she uncovered evidence that, for the six years she had been employed by SOAS, she had been paid up to £10,000 less than her white colleagues. It was a shocking moment in Dr Banda's career and one she says she will never forget.

  Bush to NGOs: Watch Your Mouths - by Naomi Klein.  The Bush administration has found its next target for pre-emptive war, but it's not Iran, Syria or North Korea -- not yet, anyways.

  ADDICTED To WAR:  WHY THE U.S. CAN'T KICK MILITARISM by Joel Andreas.  www.addictedtowar.com ADDICTED To WAR takes on the most active, powerful and destructive military in the world. Hard-hitting, carefully documented, and heavily illustrated, it reveals why the U.S. has been involved in more wars in recent years than any other country. Read ADDICTED To WAR to find out who benefits from these military adventures, who pays and who dies. This brilliant 64-page illustrated expose, first written in 1993, has been updated and is now available, including anew chapter called "The War on Terrorism". Addicted to War has been endorsed by Howard Zinn, Michael Parenti, Ed Asner, Martin Sheen, Peter Coyote, Casey Kasem, Susan Sarandon, S. Brian Willson, Blase Bonpane, Mimi Kennedy and many others.

  LEARNERS: On the Move from Weaponworld to Peaceworld, my 400-page Web samizdat on World Peace.  LEARNERS rejects touchy-feely sentimentalism and moralistic bombast.  Instead, it studies the pragmatic, nuts and bolts specifications we require to construct a solid World Peace in our lifetimes.   Why we’re not there already;  How we achieve it; and  What we should expect once we get there.  I launch this work freely it through the web, in direct defiance of every way the United States shows itself to the world, these days.  Instead, I invoke what is best in Americans: our heroic freedoms and liberties that have nourished us into benevolence, peace and prosperity -- our glorious birthright.  I believe it is our duty to offer this gift up to the whole world, lest we lose it altogether. www.peaceworld.freeservers.com .  Please tell your friends about this.  Tell me, too, what do you think about it?  In cheerful anticipation, Mark Mulligan markmulligan@worldnet.att.net

  "Who's Winning the War on Terrorism?" - by Harlan Cleveland.

  The New York Times, June 10, 2003 - Who's Accountable? By PAUL KRUGMAN. The Bush and Blair administrations are trying to silence critics - many of them current or former intelligence analysts - who say that they exaggerated the threat from Iraq. Last week a Blair official accused Britain's intelligence agencies of plotting against the government. (Tony Blair's government has since apologized for January's "dodgy dossier.") In this country, Colin Powell has declared that questions about the justification for war are "outrageous."  Yet dishonest salesmanship has been the hallmark of the Bush administration's approach to domestic policy. And it has become increasingly clear that the selling of the war with Iraq was no different.

The U.S. military is creating a virtual Earth to simulate future conflicts - (BBC News - February 23, 2004) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3507531.stm The U.S. Army is building a second version of Earth on computer to help it prepare for conflicts around the world.  The detailed simulation will be drawn from a real-world terrain database and will be drawn to the same scale as the original.  The emphasis of the virtual planet will be on human interaction rather than conflicts involving lots of military hardware.  Combat will play a part in the game, but it is also intended to let the Army simulate intelligence work as well as planning and working with indigenous populations.

Consumer Entitlement, Narcissism, and Immoral Consumption by Sue L. T. McGregor.  This paper ( at http://www.kon.org/hswp/archive/mcgregor_1.htm ) is another example of ongoing thinking about consumerism from a peace and social justice perspective. Abstract  The premise of this paper is that a sense of an entitlement to consume, in combination with narcissistic pride, ego, vanity, conceit, and arrogance, leads to the untenable situation of morally irresponsible consumption decisions.  Dr. McGregor is Coordinator, Undergraduate Peace and Conflict Studies Program, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Contact: sue.mcgregor@msvu.ca . 

Responding to terrorism - In October 2001, FEWER issued a global analytical report on responding to terrorism and the implications for global and regional stability. The report was targeted at a broad set of policymakers, the media and the general public. Briefings were subsequently given to policymakers at the United Nations and NGO forums.  FEWER organised a Strategic Roundtable on "Regional and Global Implications of the Anti-Terrorism Campaign: Early Warning and Peace-building Perspectives" in May 2002. The report emerging from the Roundtable discussions provides an assessment of the imminent implications of anti-terrorism efforts on conflict prevention work from a regional and global perspective, as a result of anti-terrorism policy development. A framework to assist conflict prevention practitioners in determining appropriate preparations for the impact of these policies on their work is included in the report. See  http://www.fewer.org/regions/global_70.html

 Digital Maps Help Track Criminals - (BCC News - March 8, 2004) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3542685.stm  Tracking criminal activity with colored pins on a wall map may become a thing of the past.  Police in the UK are now using multi-dimensional computer maps to stay one step ahead of offenders.  Crime-mapping technology has helped police officers to focus their searches to smaller regions.  Computer software can be used to visualize patterns of concentrations of crimes and develop hotspot maps to target policing to specific areas.  Networked crime maps also encourage police and other emergency services to share data and gather more reliable information.

PSYCHOLOGICALLY INCORRECT: ERRING ON THE SIDE OF DANGER - Diane Perlman, PhD, Richard Rubenstein, MA, JD - Psychotherapists are bound by an ethical code known as "duty to warn."   When someone poses a danger, we are legally required to take steps to prevent harm. That code now requires us to go on public record to warn of the inevitable catastrophic consequences of US-led invasion of Iraq.

Murder Under the Cover of Rigtheousness;There Is No Fixed Method for Genocide By SHULAMIT ALONI - Dr. Ya'akov Lazovik writes ("Academic Genocide", "Ha'Aretz", 4 March) that in the State of Israel it is impossible that the regime and the nation will plan and commit a genocide. It is difficult to determine if this is naivety or self-righteousness. As we know, there is no single fixed method for murder and not even for genocide. The author Y. L. Peretz wrote about "the righteous cat" who does not spill blood, but only suffocates.

 Is there a cure for 'superpower syndrome'? For decades, psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton has been analyzing the mental dynamics of world conflict and crisis. Now, he's put the White House on the couch, and Bush loyalists won't like his diagnosis. By CHRISTOPHER DREHER.  A review of Dr. Robert Jay Lifton's new book on foreign policy, Superpower Syndrome: America's Apocalyptic Confrontation with the World.

Hold on to your Humanity: An Open Letter to GIs in Iraq by Stan Goff, retired Special Forces master sergeant - warning: serving your government can be hazardous to your health.  5 Star Must Reading.

We don't know how to Build Democracy by Stephen D. Krasner - The U.S. believes that regime-building is the central challenge of our time, but surprisingly little is known about how to do so successfully.

Terrorism Quiz 

George Lakoff | Betrayal of Trust  - If the real rationale for the Iraq War has been self-interested control – over oil resources, the regional economy, political influence, and military bases – if it was not self-defense and not selfless liberation, then President Bush betrayed the trust of our soldiers, the Congress, and the American people. Mere lying is a minor matter when betrayal is the issue.

The 14 Characteristics of Fascism, by Dr. Lawrence Britt, Free Inquiry, Spring 2003, p.20.   http://www.secularhumanism.org/fi/ 
Dr. Lawrence Britt, a political scientist, studied the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto
(Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile). He found the regimes shared 14 identifying characteristics of fascism.

  Did our president spike the investigation of bin Laden?

  A NATIONAL STATE OF CONFUSION - The Bush propaganda machine has convinced Americans that Saddam and the no-longer-mentioned Osama are the same person -- and the polls prove it. By Kane Pryor

  Out of the wreckage: By tearing up the global rulebook, the US is in fact undermining its own imperial rule- George Monbiot Tuesday February 25, 2003 The Guardian

  Boycott war profiteers - Did you know the company which makes Tide, Crest and Pampers is also one of
the top contractors for the U.S War Dept.? Did you know that the company which says it gets your package there on time, every time does hundreds of millions of dollars worth of business with the Pentagon? How do you think these organizations would feel if you stopped using their products because you do not like the fact that they profit from their association with an organization involved in the commission of war crimes?

Take the War on Iraq IQ Test  - Do you know enough to justify going to war
with Iraq?

"Uniting For Peace" update: RUSSIAN DUMA, MANY OTHERS, CALL FOR UN "UNITING FOR PEACE"; US LAUNCHES PRE-EMPTIVE ATTACK AGAINST UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Spain Draft law to criminalise public opposition to war.

"The Fallacy of Supporting the Troops" - I ask people to imagine that they lived in 1939 Germany and were opposed to the Nazi regime.    Would the idea of not supporting the invasion of Poland but "supporting our troops" make any sense?   This really makes them think about the phrase "support our troops".   I also make the following points. 
1) Are the troops really ours and what does that mean?  The troop are ours in the sense that many are like us, but their "labor" is controlled by the same people who control society.  In fact "our troops" belong to them.
2)  They are fighting for "our freedom"?   We talk about the various adventures of the US military.  Starting with the conquest of Mexican territory and the Phillipines to Viet Nam, Grenada, Panama, etc.. I ask them to explain how these wars supported "freedom" in this country?    Those who take the fighting for "our freedom" position are asked to explain, in as much detail as they can, how these wars have anything to do with "our freedom".   They really can't do it in any meaningful way.    I encourage them to  think about slogans that are repeated over and over and are taking as truth without any real proof.   Very good discussions around this idea.  It can get heated.  Myths die hard!
3) I passed out the famous quote about war being a racket for Wall Street by Marine Corps General Smedley Butler.
4) The congress is currently debating making huge cuts in the Veterans Administration.   We discuss what really supporting these young working class people really means.   Being cheerleaders thousands of miles away, our fighting the cuts that will harm them when they return?  We talk about why yourg people, mainly from working class backgrounds "freely" enlist in the military.  I tell them I don't think young workers should  have to go overseas to kill other young people so they can afford school.
5)  Many of my students come from high schools where they seldom if ever see military recruiters.   Few of them know anyone (other than a relative in WW2) in the military.  Many have liberal ( or conservative)  guilt about being able to afford school without relying on the military.
I hope this has been of some help.   Really good, and sometimes heated, discussions make them question things they had taken for granted.  good luck.  Alfred L. Joseph, PhD, Associate Professor, Dept. of Family Studies and Social Work, 104C McGuffey Hall, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056; phone: 513 529 4902; fax: 513 529 6468; email josephal@muohio.edu 

 Two divergent and eye-opening articles on proposed future U.S. Foreign Policy:
1. A Blueprint for U.S. Global Domination - (a) The Sunday Herald summary, September 15, 2002, and (b) The document it is based on, entitled Rebuilding America's  Defenses: Strategies, Forces And Resources For A New Century
2. A Foreign Policy for Peace, Prosperity, and Liberty - a speech by Congressman Ron Paul, U.S. House of Representatives, September 5, 2002

 The United States and Canada: They're Mars, We're Venus by Jeffrey Simpson, Globe and Mail.  Our economic and security interests are more aligned with the Americans than ever.  But our instincts and values have never differed more.  Read three interconnected articles opening our eyes to our different values and the effects it will have and what we need to overcome our differences in a more peaceful world.

 Is the war on Iraq illegal? by Canadian Liberal Member of Parliament and human rights expert Irwin Cotler, in the Globe and Mail.  An excellent analysis of the principles of "legal war".

 Media Ignoring U.S. surveillance of the U.N. - "As part of its battle to win votes in favor of war against Iraq," the London-based Observer reported on March 2, the U.S. government developed an "aggressive surveillance operation, which involves interception of the home and office telephones and the e-mails of U.N. delegates." The smoking gun was "a memorandum written by a top official at the National Security Agency -- the U.S. body which intercepts communications around the world.

 George W. Bush had nothing to do with it ... did he? "The right wing benefited so much from September 11 that, if I were still a conspiratorialist, I would believe they'd done it." Norman Mailer.  Vancouver Sun story.

 Could it be that President Bush is projecting his own subconscious and fears when he tells Saddam that "the game is over"? Could it be that he and the apparently desperate people around him are beginning to feel that their bullying and vision-less game - not with the world but against it - could spell the end of their regime and the U.S. empire?  An article by Jan Oberg

 Security Council veto power usage - In the 57-year history of the United Nations, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council have vetoed more than 250 proposals.  If democracy is supposed to be the most important thing, why isn't the Security Council reformed to be democratic (with suitable safeguards of course)?

WE SHOOT CHILDREN TOO, DON'T WE - In Chicago the evening of 31 January 2002 Mark Bruzonsky, Publisher of MER, gave the keynote address at the University of Chicago Model United Nations The Palmer House Hilton Ballroom was full with more than 2500 persons for the opening session - standing room only.   For the first time in the history of the keynote talks at this annual event the speaker received a prolonged standing ovation. "This has never happened before" said the conference organizer.  The speech by Mark Bruzonsky is attached.

  Going it alone - Any hope that Washington was ready for multilateral diplomacy was dashed with yesterday's renunciation of the ABM Treaty, says political scientist JAMES LAXER.  "The ABM announcement demolishes the conventional wisdom that the terror attacks of Sept. 11 taught the Bush administration that unilateralism is not the way to go for the United States. ... In fact, we've had the optics of multilateralism without the substance. ... In reality, the doctrine of self-defence, proclaimed by American leaders as though it is universal, is a right that belongs to the United States alone. The Bush administration is actually proclaiming the right of global hegemonic power to intervene under its own flag anywhere in the world when its interests are threatened. ... America is a new kind of global power. While profoundly shaping the fate of every person in the world, the United States still wants to build walls around itself so it can bask in splendid isolation. A system of global or regional collective security can only work when nations submit to collective decision-making. That is exactly what the unilateralist United States is not prepared to countenance for itself." http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/GIS.Servlets.HTMLTemplate?tf=tgam/common/FullStory.html&cf=tgam/common/FullStory.cfg&configFileLoc=tgam/config&vg=BigAdVariableGenerator&date=20011214&dateOffset=&hub=comment&title=Comment&cache_key=comment&current_row=3&start_row=3&num_rows=1

  Uncle Sam's coalition of one - Power Politics.  America's allies have fallen so far behind militarily that they have no choice but to follow the U.S. lead, says DAVID MALONE.  "The United States retains significant diplomatic blocking power.  This was demonstrated when Canada offered to lead a coalition of countries into Eastern Zaire in late 1996 to provide urgently needed security for humanitarian assistance efforts. A lack of enthusiasm in the Pentagon, privately shared in London, proved sufficient to torpedo the effort, with tragic results on the ground. ... In sum, Washington is not only in complete military control of the coalition it built to support its objectives in combating al-Qaeda and the Taliban, but it is also in a position of uncontested diplomatic dominance, exercised both actively and passively. It is not operating multilaterally: Echoing U.K. and U.S. efforts at the UN to move toward "smart sanctions" against Iraq, it might be described as practising "smart unilateralism."  If the allies do not much like this, they have only themselves to blame. For years, they have been content to see Washington consolidate its lead in military capacity. Washington will also now, very largely, call the tune of the international diplomatic minuet.  This does not mean that it can dispense with engagement of allies on issues such as trade, environmental protection and the international financial system. But its hand is not only strong, it is much strengthened, and its partners' protests about American unilateralism have fallen largely silent for now.  David M. Malone is president of the International Peace Academy in New York. http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/GIS.Servlets.HTMLTemplate?tf=tgam/search/tgam/SearchFullStory.html&cf=tgam/search/tgam/SearchFullStory.cfg&configFileLoc=tgam/config&encoded_keywords=%22uncle+sam%27s+coalition+of+one%22&option=&start_row=1&current_row=1&start_row_offset1=&num_rows=1&search_results_start=1 

  The Brainwashing War on Us by Jim Hightower, Austin Chronicle http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2001-11-23/pols_hightower.html 

  World opinion opposes the attack on Afghanistan By Dr. David Miller Stirling Media Research Institute, University of Stirling 21 November 2001 - According to Tony Blair and George Bush respectively, 'world opinion' and the 'collective will of the world' supported the attack on Afghanistan. Yet analysis of international opinion polls shows that with only three exceptions majorities in all countries polled have opposed the policy of the US and UK governments. Furthermore there have been consistent majorities against the current action in the UK and sizeable numbers of the US population had reservations about the bombing.  It comes as a surprise to many in the UK and US to discover that opinion is so markedly opposed to or ambivalent about the current action. One key reason is that the polls have been systematically misreported in the media. ... The most fundamental problem with the polls is that they assume the public has perfect information. But, notwithstanding some dissent in the press, the media in the UK, and even more emphatically in the US, have been distorting what is happening in Afghanistan especially on civilian casualties and alternatives to war. ... In other words there is no world support for the attack on Afghanistan and public opinion in the US and UK is at best dubious and at worst flatly opposed to what is happening. If Bush and Blair were really democrats, they would never have started the bombing.  http://www.urban75.com/Action/news144.html 

   Terror, Love, and the State of the World by John Robbins.  While the vast majority of Americans care deeply about the welfare of their fellow human beings, the foreign policies of the U.S. government have for some time now been seen by much of the rest of the world as arrogant and selfish.And it is a sad fact that we have far too often given them cause for such a view.... There is an enormous disconnect taking place between the will of the American people and the foreign policy of our government. The American people are for the most part honest, decent, and compassionate. But few U.S. citizens are aware of how much U.S. foreign policies have betrayed our caring and our humanity.  http://www.foodrevolution.org/terrorandlove.htm 

  The World Trade Center attack.....Caspian Oil and Gas and the Afghanistan Pipeline Connection By Jon Flanders.  "Michael Klare, author of the book "Resource Wars", which has a major focus on the Caspian region, was interviewed by Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, Inc., http://www.rferl.org on May 28, 2001. Klare is the Director of the Five College Program in Peace and World Security Studies based at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. In his book, Klare argues that it is not only the United States that is preparing. . .He contends that all regional powers are focusing increasingly on how to  protect or enlarge their access to vital resources. . ."  Reference at indymedia website:  http://www.indymedia.org:8081//front.php3?article_id=70755 .  To read about the book Resource Wars, go to http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805055754/ref%3Dnosim/clarymeuserassoc/103-9097528-9312612

  Renowned U.S. Economists Denounce Corporate-Led Globalization - Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz and internationally acclaimed economist Paul Krugman decry undemocratic, unsound, and unethical corporate agenda http://www.earthisland.org/ggn/ggn_article2.html 

Tinkering with Poverty by George Monbiot George Monbiot has argued in this week's UK Guardian, one of the reasons
why the current institutions charged with managing the global economy - the IMF, World Bank, and more recently, the World Trade Organisation - have failed to deliver economic justice and sustainability is because they were not designed to do so. Despite the recent resolutions from the World Bank and WTO on debt cancellation, and a concern for greater global economic equity, these
reforms are not, in Monbiot's words, "in the WTO's gift". http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,602342,00.html 

  Stand on guard for Canada By James Laxer, Professor of Political Science, York University - While the war against terrorism and Canada's role in it are front and centre now, we must not lose sight of how the events of the past four weeks could alter our future as a nation, in particular our relationship with our powerful southern neighbour.  Pierre Trudeau once said that the destruction of Canada would be a crime against humanity. He was speaking of the threat of Quebec separatism. Now the threat comes from a determined political force operating on both sides of the border.  It's still not too late for Canadians to wake up and make it clear that we do not intend to allow our country to be a collateral victim of a terrorist attack.

New World Order rules Canada's Access (Integration) to U.S. Canada Confronts Border-Control Problem by Gregory Boyd Bell, Toronto based columnist for New York's Newsday.  This article appeared in the Calgary Herald December 4, 2001.  "IN THE aftermath of Sept. 11, the United States has been compelled to examine its international relationships with heightened concern for security.  Perhaps no relationship has been more exposed by this process than that between the United States and Canada. And, as new rules of cooperation between the North American neighbors take shape, they appear likely to hasten the decline of Canada's status as a sovereign nation. ... In calculating its place in the new world order, Canada's government has determined that, if the argument pits jobs against national sovereignty, then trade trumps nationalism. ... Such concerns are likely just bumps on the road to more complete integration of Canada into the United States, both economically and politically. A last driving force worth noting is the fall of the Canadian dollar, currently plumbing record lows below 63 U.S. cents per dollar. Support among the general public for adopting the American dollar reached 25 percent this fall. Support is even stronger among the business, political and media elite."  http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpbel292486470nov29.story 

Playing radical footsie with the U.S. military By JEFFREY SIMPSON - How much closer can Canada get to the U.S.? How much more sovereignty will Canada cede?  Those questions were interesting ones before Sept. 11. They have now become urgent. Scarcely a week passes without Canada's running to catch up with post-Sept. 11 U.S. priorities.  Canada's vulnerability -- or closeness, if you prefer -- has never been more apparent. When a country does 85 per cent of its trade with another, when it has ceded continental defence policy, when it has become a pop cultural outpost, then that country scrambles to follow the priorities of the dominant one.  Some years hence, Canadians will face such issues as a common external tariff and use of the U.S. dollar, because the forces of economic integration, regardless of Sept. 11, are pushing us that way.  In the meantime, Sept. 11 has produced in Canada new anti-terrorism legislation, refugee-screening and border security measures, and military participation in the Afghan campaign. http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/GIS.Servlets.HTMLTemplate?tf=tgam/common/FullStory.html&cf=tgam/common/FullStory.cfg&configFileLoc=tgam/config&vg=BigAdVariableGenerator&date=20011205&dateOffset=&hub=comment&title=Comment&cache_key=commentColumnistsHeadline&current_row=1&start_row=1&num_rows=1 

Nothing Canada does will placate U.S. lumber lobby By BRENT JANG - When it comes to the U.S. stance on softwood lumber, Tom Stephens is a cynic about truth, justice and the American way.  Mr. Stephens, a U.S. citizen and former chief executive officer of Vancouver-based MacMillan Bloedel, headed the venerable Canadian forestry firm for two years before it was acquired in a friendly takeover in mid-1999 by Weyerhaeuser of Federal Way, Wash. ... "Most people don't like bullies, and from time to time, the U.S. acts like a bully on trade issues with Canada," he said in an interview... "The frustration I have working with Canadians is that Canadians are wonderful people who believe that truth and justice will prevail," he says... "As an American citizen, I'm embarrassed by our government playing hardball and doing this. It's strictly a policy of intimidation," Mr. Stephens says. 

  Open Letter to Canadian Star Wars Researchers by Homes Not Bombs - Our specific disagreement with DREO centres around your mandate and your goals. As the host site of Canada's Electronic Warfare Centre and as a facility which does contract work for the Bush-administration led Star Wars, you have asked, in a recent annual report, "Will technology allow us to fit 70 tons of lethality into a 20 ton package?" This is extremely dangerous thinking, and under Canada's criminal code would constitute conspiracy to commit mass murder.

  BURN THIS (ANTI-TERRORIST) BILL by Michael Valpy - The Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, a parade of constitutional and civil-rights lawyers, the national commissioners of privacy and information, the head of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the citizen oversight committee for CSIS, the former judge who sits watch on the military's Communications Security Establishment . . . are saying....the bill strips Canadians of their civil liberties.

  School of Americas - Backyard terrorism: The US has been training terrorists at a camp in Georgia for years - and it's still at it, by George Monbiot.  Also download and see an excellent 14 minute video on School of Americas/Assassins http://www.peace.ca/soavideo.htm 

U.S. Military Drafted Plans to Terrorize U.S. Cities to Provoke War With Cuba in Body of Secrets (Doubleday), a new book by investigative reporter James Bamford 

WATER CONFLICT http://www.worldwatch.org/forum/water_fparticle.html Remember the last time two nations went to war over water? Probably not, since it was 4,500 years ago. But today, as demands for water hit the limits of a finite supply, more than 50 countries on five continents might soon be spiralling toward water disputes unless they move quickly to strike agreements on how to share the rivers that flow across international boundaries.

The algebra of infinite justice - As the US prepares to wage a new kind of war, Arundhati Roy challenges the instinct for vengeance

In a conflict, good guys and bad guys aren't always clearly defined by Peter Worthington

LEGISLATION WHICH WOULD VIOLATE CIVIL LIBERTIES IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO APPLY SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CONTROL PATTERNS

REASONS TO OPPOSE NATO

It's a man's war by Urvashi Butalia

A few good women By Dalton Camp

Women and Terrorism: The Lessons of Humiliation

The Psychology of Humiliation: Summary of Results and What the Research on Humiliation Added to Pre-Existing Knowledge 

Women and The World Bank

Privatization of War: The Question of Individual Responsibility for Waging Warfare through Mercenarism

Canada: Report Ties Arms Sales To Abusive Regimes

 THE TERRIBLE DANCE OF POWER

  A People’s History of the CIA: The Subversion of Democracy from Australia to Zaire and the U.S. role in 'Knocking Over' Canada's government, 1963

 Production at Canada's Leading Small Arms Manufacturer Slowed by Martin
Luther King Day Demonstration; Two Arrested in Brutal Fashion Following End
of Nonviolent Gathering

 Clinton missed the greatest opportunity of our age By Jonathan Power

 The final frontier - There's more than meets the eye to the controversial U.S. National Missile Defence
scheme, says scientist Johan Valleau

The Star Wars idea (apart from the actual existence of national missile defense, or arguments about its efficacy) is unto itself a failure because, in the poker game of international relations, it tips one's hand to potential adversaries that you have no intention of relying on effective arms control or friendship as the primary vehicles for achieving safety.  The adversary, knowing your insincerity, is then strongly motivated expand its own military strength. And, the Star Wars idea becomes the motor for ratcheting up dangers.  Conversely, and more positively: Nipping the Star Wars idea in the bud would signal to one's potential adversaries that you are prepared to use other means for achieving safety for your citizens and theirs.

 European Union Militarization - Can imperial policies and wars be avoided now?

 War on Drugs endangers Peace

 U.S. Reframing Objectives Abroad: When to Fight, When Not by Paul Mann

 Warfare, Climate & USA By Michael Chossudovsky, November 2000

U.S. Confrontation or Cooperation?  Address to Physicians for Global Survival and the Group of 78 Rear Admiral Eugene J. Carroll, Jr., USN (Ret.) September 2000

Water Related Conflicts

Canada's Peacekeeping Myth

Questions of U.S. Hostility Towards Canada by Floyd Rudmin

UN report labels WTO a 'veritable nightmare' for poor countries

 Confrontation or Cooperation? 

  Sanctions hurt innocent children, not Saddam's power

THE BERLIN TRIBUNAL: MORE SERIOUS THAN THE HAGUE by Diana Johnstone

US Prepares To Spray  Genetically-Modified Herbicides On Colombians by Ed Vuillamy in New York
Published on Sunday, July 2, 2000 in the London Observer (with comments courtesy of Eric Fawcett)

"Draft Report on the Level of Paramilitary Response and  Loss of Democratic Rights During the Seattle Round of the World Trade Organization Ministerial"  by the National Lawyers' Guild of Seattle, July 2000

Globalization and Militarism:  The need for a human security trade agenda By Steven Staples

The World Bank must realize water is a basic human right - by MAUDE BARLOW

Corporate Predators

 U.S. strategy vs. Iraq & UNSC Resolution 1284

  Privatizing War: Mercenaries in Africa and South America

Canada's Military Exports Increased in 1998

What Uncle Sam Really Wants: The world's rent-a-thug

BRAVE NEW MCWORLD

Global deals won't profit the poor

  Multinational Corporations Profit from International Brutality - Source: Dollars and Sense, May/June 1999 (the number 1 "Most Censored Story" of 1999, selected by Project Censored http://www.projectcensored.org )   In the name of commerce, huge multinational corporations collaborate with repressive governments, and in the process, support significant human rights violations. Corporations often argue that their presence and investment will  improve human rights. This practice is referred to as "constructive  engagement".   Major international energy corporations such as Mobil, Exxon, Enron, and UNOCAL have engaged in major business ventures in countries known as major human   rights violators. Major U.S. governmental grants, as well as corporate capitol   investment, have funded the suppression of media, political opposition, and   personal rights in Turkmenistan, India and Burma.  The myth of "constructive engagement" has failed to improve human rights, and yet has been endorsed both by international corporations and the U.S. government. Since the release of this information, BP Amoco and Statoil have  taken positive steps toward addressing human rights issues.  Programs are being developed in the U.S. and abroad to deal with the conduct of energy companies globally.  For more information contact author: Arvind Ganesan, Human Rights Watch, 1630 Connecticut Ave, NW Suite 500, Washington, DC 20009; Tel:(202)612-4329,  Fax: (202)612-4333,   Email: ganesaa@hrw.org

U.N.'S  A  SHAMEFUL  SCAM -- THERE'S NO REASON TO CELEBRATE AN ORGANIZATION THAT'S FAILED IN ACHIEVING ITS BASIC OBJECTIVES

  Ganging up on Uncle Sam

  Globalization: Threat or Promise?

World Trade Organization Issues

  The Myth of America's Booming Economy

  Amartya Sen, Nobel Prize Winner - "One of the most dramatic insights to grow out of his research was the devastating consequence of inequality between men and women. Demographers have long been aware that there were fewer women than men in some poor countries, instead of more as in most of the developed world. Economists, including Prof. Sen, have documented that girls and women got less food and medical care than men and boys. But nobody had calculated how many more women would have been alive if the ratio of men and women more closely resembled that of other countries. He came up with the startling figure of 100 million "missing" women, most of them in India and China, killed, as it were, by discrimination."   Amartya Sen wins Nobel Prize - 1998 click on the link to read the press release and his important  Tanco Lecture on Public Action to Remedy Hunger.

Type 2 - All Other Problems/Issues driving world level violence:

Why Don't People Build Peace? - This is in response to the often asked question, “Why is Person ‘A’ doing so much to promote peace, while there are so many others in his/her organization and generally who appear to underachieve their potential to contribute to a Culture of Peace and Non-violence?” http://www.cultureofpeace.ca/whydontpeoplebuildpeace.htm

Tactics Used Against Peacebuilders and Civil Society and the Unsuspecting Public:
     Faking Civil Society,  By Jonathan Schell.  The strategy of faking civil activity has a long tradition - read and beware.
     Managing Activism: A Guide to Dealing with Activists and Pressure Groups, by Denise Deegan
    Money talks: How Saudi Arabia influences public opinion by funding exp ert commentators , by Daniel Pipes
   The Battle For Your Mind - Mass Mind Control Techniques In America, By Dick Sutphen

Funding for the Canadian Military: FUBAR -  by Bob Stewart.  Currently, the discussion and politics is driven by a military lobby comprised of retired generals, security think tanks, academics, and corporations that benefit from military contracts.  Together, we can take back this important issue and help give it due process.  It is clear that this dialogue on military and foreign affairs policy and spending must be taken beyond Parliamentary committee rooms, university campuses, and newsrooms.

An Assessment of Canadian Policy-Oriented Peace Research Organizations.  A thesis by Alex Goodman

CIA Halts Interrogation Tactics - UPDATED - Sunday June 27, 2004 Washington (AP) - The CIA has suspended use of some White House-approved aggressive interrogation tactics employed to extract information from reluctant al-Qaida prisoners, The Washington Post said. Citing unnamed intelligence officials, the newspaper reported in Sunday's editions that what the CIA calls "enhanced interrogation techniques" were put on hold pending a review by Justice Department and other lawyers.  The techniques include such things as feigned drowning and refusal of pain medication for injuries. The paper quoted current and former CIA officers aware of the recent decision as saying the suspension reflects the agency's concern about being accused of unsanctioned and illegal activities, as it was in the 1970s. The decision applies to CIA facilities around the world, but not to military prisons at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and elsewhere, the Post said. A CIA spokesman declined to comment on the issue, it said. It said CIA interrogations will continue, but without the suspended techniques, which also include feigning suffocation, "stress positions," light and noise bombardment, sleep deprivation, and making captives think they are being interrogated by another government. The newspaper said the interrogation methods were approved by Justice Department and National Security Council lawyers in 2002, outlined to congressional leaders and required the authorization of CIA Director George J. Tenet for use.  Click here for Full Washington Post Article and related links.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8534-2004Jun26.html 

Bush Administration Documents on Interrogation   http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62516-2004Jun22.html , includes Jan. 22, 2002: Justice Department Memo to the White House and Pentagon Counsels (3.3MB) A 37-page memo written by Assistant Attorney General Jay S. Bybee and addressed to White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales and the Pentagon's general counsel, William J. Haynes II. Bybee argued that that the War Crimes Act and the Geneva Convention did not apply to al Qaeda prisoners and that President Bush had constitutional authority to "suspend our treaty obligations toward Afghanistan" because it was a "failed state." Bybee, then head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, has since become a federal judge.

Kubark Counterintelligence Interrogation Manual - http://www.parascope.com/articles/0397/kubark06.htm .  The CIA's Manual on coercive questioning.  "The Kubark manual outlines a Cold War-era program designed to extract information from prisoners by breaking them down psychologically.  Kubark is the bible of interrogation.  Its instructions have allegedly been refined by the CIA and are probably the basis of some of the techniques that have been employed in the gulags of the military-prison complex that America Inc. has erected from Texas to Tikrit."  Ken Wiwa, Globe & Mail May 8, 2004.  

DIRTY WATER AND POOR SANITATION KILLS OVER 5000 CHILDREN EVERY DAY http://www.unicef.org/media/media_19974.html Diarrhoeal diseases claim the lives of around two million children each year- 5,000 per day, and cause countless more to fall ill. Children already suffering from poor diets and the ravages of other diseases are the first to get sick and die from water and sanitation-related diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid, UNICEF says. Diarrhoea spreads most readily in environments of poor sanitation where safe water is unavailable – often areas that have been hit by human made or natural disasters. Water-borne diseases are one of the major cases of under-five mortality, along with pneumonia, malaria, and measles.

AFRICA/GLOBAL: "SCANDAL OF MALNUTRITION" PLAGUES WORLD, U.N. OFFICIAL  SAYS http://www.unwire.org/News/328_426_14275.asp Outlining what she called the "scandal of malnutrition" in the world, U.N. Undersecretary General for Management Catherine Bertini said this week that while the global gross domestic product has increased 100 percent over the last 20 years, "the number of underweight preschoolers has only decreased by 20 percent." "As the world grows richer, we do not keep up in the areas of improvement of nutrition," said Bertini, who was director of the World Food Program before she took her current post.

  PSYOPS - A Summary of Psychological Operations: History, Implications for War, Violence and Peace - "Being awaken in the middle of the night, being beaten, confused as to your whereabouts, lied to and insulted, was all part of the 'unfreezing process' through which your psychological defences were broken down, and terror and humiliation were induced. Hence, the photographing in the nude, being forced to urinate while running, refusal to allow toilet visits, the sadism and abuse. Meanwhile the psychological functions of the body were being disturbed by the very low or non-existent intake of calories, high temperature caused by sweating which could lead to dehydration, coupled with the cold at night, sleep deprivation and loss of sense of  touch. The whole experience was a package. Whether you want to call it interrogation in depth or brain washing is academic. The aim of the treatment was to cause temporary psychosis, temporary insanity, which was a severe psychological injury liable to having lasting consequences."

  Be All You Can Be and Other Great American Slogans by Frank M. Ahearn

  Media Reform - Our democracy is in Danger of Being Paralyzed' By Bill Moyers

    Media reviews its own coverage of Iraq War - "The problematic articles varied in authorship and subject matter, but many shared a common feature. They depended at least in part on information from a circle of Iraqi informants, defectors and exiles bent on "regime change" in Iraq..."

  The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power by Joel Balkan

  Violence as the Health Issue for the 21st Century: An Ounce of Prevention is worth a Ton of Cures by Dr. David Swann, Physicians for Global Survival, Co-founder Canadian Network for Democracy and International Law (Calgary) Bio, Copy of Presentation

On Race-Targetable Biological Weaponry by John Wilmerding - "... the art of warfare ... will be vastly different than it is today ... “combat” likely will take place in new dimensions ... advanced forms of biological warfare that can “target” specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool." From 'Rebuilding America's Defenses' the leading policy "white paper" of the Project for a New American Century (PNAC), which has essentially dictated U.S./Bush regime "defense" policies since early 2001(reference: http://www.newamericancentury.org )

Amanpour: CNN Practiced Self-Censorship - CNN's top war correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, says that the press muzzled itself during the Iraq war. And, she says CNN "was intimidated" by the Bush administration and Fox News, which "put a climate of fear and self-censorship."

Peace Studies' War Against America By Brian Sayre - Some real knocks on the Peace Studies discipline and otherwise.  There may be some bias (who isn't) to be discounted, and I am sure there is some truth to be valued, but it is definitely something Peace Educators should be aware of and take into consideration in holding ourselves to a higher standard.

U.S. Map of Hate Groups http://www.tolerance.org/maps/hate/index.html

  WHEN DISEASE BECOMES PROFITABLE  http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=13&o=19111 It is the biggest and most powerful drug company on the planet. Its famous blue diamond-shaped Viagra pills have made it a fortune beyond the dreams of small nation states and the butt of smutty jokes worldwide. But Pfizer's global reach has not turned the world's third largest business into a benevolent giant, according to its critics. Quite the contrary. The vast multinational stands accused of blocking reforms to global drug pricing that would help lift impoverished countries out of disease and spur their development.

  Suicide number one cause of violent death: As horrific as war and domestic killings are, suicide is responsible for the highest number of violent deaths worldwide in the year 2000. The World Health Organization's Global Violence and Health report indicates more than 1.6 million people died in violent circumstances that year. Of that total, 815,000 committed suicide, (49 per cent) 520,000 were murdered and 310,000 died in armed conflicts, including terrorist attacks. On an average day, 1424 people are killed in acts of homicide, almost one person every minute. Roughly one person commits suicide every 40 seconds. Public health experts say these statistics are just the tip of the iceberg with the majority of violent acts being committed behind closed doors and going largely unreported.  "It will probably come as a surprise to many to realize that we are killing ourselves at a much greater rate than we are killing each other," said Etienne Krug, WHO's Director of Injuries-and-Violence Prevention. To read more, go to: www.who.int/mediacentre/releases/pr73/en/

  Ashamed of the government of Canada by Diana Bronson & Leilani Farha http://www.hrdc.net/sahrdc/hrfchr58/issue4.htm#Canada - When we got to the UN Commission on Human Rights, we did not expect to agree with the Government of Canada on all - or even most - issues.  It is quite standard for non governmental organisations to differ from governments, and we expect governments to adopt positions that are not as strong as we would like.  As Canadians however, we do expect a certain minimal degree of integrity and commitment to the basic human rights principles and procedures which are the basis of the UN human rights system, now over fifty years old. We expect a country like Canada to stand up for those principles and for it to be interested in receiving a complete picture of the human rights situation in any given context. In fact, Canada is bound by international law to do so.  The annual session of the UN Commission on Human Rights is the cornerstone of the UN human rights system. Each spring it meets to consider the major human rights issues of the day, to hear reports from experts it has appointed to investigate various issues and to debate resolutions and actions that the international community can take.  Over the years, debates have become quite politicised and on many subjects the member states of the Commission have disappointed human rights defenders. One can think for example of the consistent failure to adopt a resolution on human rights in China, the less than satisfactory language on Colombia, or the long and drawn out discussions regarding an instrument to protect indigenous peoples rights or the ten years it has taken to devise a mechanism to help victims of torture get justice.  There have, however, also been successes at the Commission. Resolutions in recent years on women's housing rights, forced evictions, violence against women and the appointment of a special rapporteur on this issue, excellent reports by many of the independent experts and special rapporteurs on both country and thematic issues, a process that is relatively open to civil society input and the courageous leadership of Mary Robinson and her office on a wide range of issues have increased the credibility of the Commission, its profile and its impact.  This year the Commission faces a number of challenges. As delegates in Geneva debated options, violence and deaths in Israel and Palestine escalated to unprecedented heights. One would think that in such a situation, it would be vital to have the presence of the United Nations human rights protection system: to monitor, to document, to play a dissuasive role and to report back to states about the situation on the ground.  This is indeed the position of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, who proposed after a week of debate that such a mission be sent. This would be similar to the High Commissioner's actions in Kosovo and Sierra Leone and completely consistent with her mandate.  This suggestion was welcomed warmly by the vast majority of members of the Commission. The European Union urged the Commission to "react swiftly" and stated that such a mission would enable the Commission to make a "meaningful contribution to the solution of urgent human rights and humanitarian problems".  Pakistan proposed a resolution which supported the mission.  What did Canada do ?  First it suggested that there was no need to have a special session to consider this issue. It lost.  Then it attempted to block debate on the resolution on procedural grounds.  It lost again.  Finally, when push came to shove and a vote was called, Canada voted against the resolution that mandated Mary Robinson to undertake a mission.  Canada and Guatemala were the only two countries to vote against this resolution, both being perceived as proxies for the United States on this issue (the USA is not a voting member this year). Seven countries abstained. But overwhelmingly the Commission members from all areas of the world voted in favour of the resolution because they understood the urgency of the situation.  Canada argued that the Security Council was seized of the issue. But that should not stop the Commission from looking at it, since human rights are such an important dimension of the problem. Canada argued that the security of foreign observers could not be guaranteed (presumably Canada also then opposes the visit of Colin Powell). These arguments ignore the fact that Canada has often sent its own high level missions and human rights observers to desperate civil war situations such as Rwanda, not to mention that UN security is well placed to evaluate the risks itself.  Earlier in the week, Canada used procedural grounds to block the official release of the UN Special Rapporteur's Report on the Right to Adequate housing, which documented his visit to Palestine.  There too, Canada and Guatemala were isolated, and their position was denounced in strong terms by international NGO coalitions working on the right to adequate housing.  The key issue in this matter is that Canada has actively tried to obstruct the gathering of credible information on human rights in Israel and Palestine at a time when objective information and international presence are sorely needed.  That is the source of our shame.  - Diana Bronson works for Rights & Democracy; Leilani Farha works for CERA - Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation in Canada.

  What becomes of trained killers after the war? by Hans Sinn

VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN - Violence against children is a bigger problem than governments acknowledge, and in fact is often carried out by officials of the state. The Human Rights Watch report "Easy Targets: Violence Against Children Worldwide" documents beatings, torture, forced labour, sexual assault and murder by police or other law enforcement officials, employers, and teachers. The report was released in Geneva on September 28, 2001, a day which the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child devoted to violence against children. The report calls on governments to take stronger measures to protect children from abuse and urges the United Nations to undertake an international study of violence against children.  Further details: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/children

Violence Prevention And The Girl Child by The Alliance of Five Research Centres on Violence, Canada, December 1999 

The Criminalization of Dissent The Ottawa Citizen Sat 18 Aug 2001

The Riot Police Swung Into Action

 Indigenous peoples discuss means for conflict resolution

Canada Joins Australia in Condemnation by Indigenous groups before the UN by Shelley Wright

Critiques of Canada's Military Budget

Questioning Government Morality Record -  Code of Silence vs. Freedom of Opinion: by Richard Sanders, with Rebuttal from Dr. Alan Phillips

Ploughshares on Canadian Nuclear Policy

  Abolition 2000 Report Card 1998

TOO GRAVE A RISK by Alan F. Phillips, M.D.

Strategic warfare is often played out at the level of psychology.  The side which has the best understanding of its opponents thinking, while managing to mislead regarding its own thinking, has a clear upper hand, other things being equal. The real problem with this, of course, is that to mislead other countries (i.e. opponents) a country must also mislead its own citizens.  (See Code of Ethics)

A Primer of the Peace Movement By Lucia Ames Mead - http://www.boondocksnet.com/expos/wfe_meadprimer04.html

   PeaceBuilders Organizational Case Study 

• Time Out - 1. Let's Get Back To Our Purpose
• Time Out - 2. Conflict Resolution
• Time Out - 3. Let's Set Priorities
• Time Out - 4. How to Sell Peace Building?  Part 1 & 2
• Time Out - 4. How to Sell Peace Building   Part 3

  Peacebuilding for a Culture of Peace  

1. Introduction
2. Assessing the Research Question
3. Overview of the Peace-building Doctrine
4. The Culture of Peace Doctrine
5. Challenges in Applying the Culture of Peace Doctrine and Peace-building Alliance
6. Research Conclusions
7. Abstract
8. Flowchart
9. Annex 1 - Conflict Cycle
10. Other Annexes
11. Bibliography
12. Complete text of Thesis

HOW TO THINK ABOUT ETHNIC CONFLICT

1. War - Yugoslav War Issues
2. War - Yugolslavia, the Media and the Globalization Agenda
3. War - Lawsuit against NATO By Canadian Lawyers
4. War - 10 Reasons to Oppose War
5. War - Depleted Uranium and Canada's Role
6. War - Nobel Laureates' Kosovo Peace Initiative
7. War - Statement by Senator Roche on the Kosovo Crisis
8. War - Canada's Other International Tradition    
9. War - ALERT! GENETIC WARFARE NEARING REALITY
10. War - Arms sales leap to record post-cold war levels
11. War - About Violence
12. War - Lessons Learned speech by Joe Volk, Director of Friends Committee on National Legislation (Quakers)
13. War - GLOBALISM'S FIRST VICTIM
14. War - Failure of Diplomacy
15. War - So, who really won the war?
16. War - Bombs are not the solution in Kosovo
17. War - Have we forgotten the path to peace?
18. War - The real winners of our participation in NATO's war
19. War - What Reporters Knew about Kosovo Talks -- But Didn't Tell
20. War - REPORT OF FACT-FINDING MISSION TO BELGRADE, KOSOVO AND MACEDONIA
21. War - Questions to Clinton in Kosovo
22. War - US 'lost count of uranium shells fired in Kosovo'
23. War - The tragic blunder in Kosovo by James Bissett, Canada's former ambassador to Yugoslavia

ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN

World level

- "the "Third Industrial Revolution" is the road from the industrial to the information society = freedom of speedy expression, communications, information and knowledge/education (with little barriers)

- upheaval and radical change

- crises and rays of hope

- growing globalization and networking

- changing demographic growth and employment

- environmental crisis

- debt crisis in the Third World" (Rita Sussmuth)

- "poverty is actually declining" (Maria Livanos Cattaui)

Home | How You Can Make a Difference | Problem Identification Topics |
Proposals/Solutions | Information Resources | Who's Who | Upcoming Events
© 1998.  Permission to reprint is granted provided acknowledgment is made to:
The Canadian Centres for Teaching Peace
Last Update: 09 Feb 2008