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WHAT'S NEW IN INES? |
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No.25/2003 |
Dateline: August 6, 2003 |
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This is the weekly electronic information service of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility
Editor: Tobias Damjanov, e-mail:
WNII is archived at: http://inesglobal.org/archive.htm
INES homepages: http://inesglobal.org http://www.inesglobal.com/
INES International Office
INES Chair: Prof. Armin Tenner [Please note that the first "1" in q18 is the number one, while the last "l" is an "L"]
CONTENTS of WNII No. 25/2003
MEMBERSHIP AND PROJECTS' NEWS
Prof. Rotblat: The Nuclear Issue: Pugwash and the Bush Policies
At the 53rd Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs "Advancing Human Security: The Role of Technology and Politics" which took place at Halifax and Pugwash, Nova Scotia, Canada, from 17 through 21 July, INES member Sir Joseph Rotblat, President Emeritus of the Pugwash Conferences, gave a lecture on "The Nuclear Issue: Pugwash and the Bush Policies". The full text can be found at: http://www.pugwash.org/reports/pac/53/rotblat.htm
NOTE that starting from this URL, you can also find more information about the 53rd Pugwash Conference by clicking on "Reports & Statements" and "Working Groups".
USA: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation: "The Sunflower", August 2003, No. 75
The August 2003 issue of "The Sunflower" covers the following:
THE US-UK WAR AGAINST IRAQ
Officials Confirm Dropping Firebombs on Iraqi Troops (Source: San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 August 03)
American jets killed Iraqi troops with firebombs "similar to the controversial napalm used in the Vietnam War" in March and April as Marines battled toward Baghdad. Marine Corps fighter pilots and commanders who have returned from the war zone have confirmed dropping dozens of incendiary bombs near bridges over the Saddam Canal and the Tigris River. The explosions created massive fireballs.
"We napalmed both those (bridge) approaches," said Col. James Alles in a recent interview. He commanded Marine Air Group 11, based at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, during the war. "Unfortunately, there were people there because you could see them in the (cockpit) video.
"They were Iraqi soldiers there. It's no great way to die," he added. How many Iraqis died, the military couldn't say. No accurate count has been made of Iraqi war casualties.
During the war, Pentagon spokesmen disputed reports that napalm was being used, saying the Pentagon's stockpile had been destroyed two years ago.
Apparently the spokesmen were drawing a distinction between the terms "firebomb" and "napalm." If reporters had asked about firebombs, officials said on 4 August they would have confirmed their use.
What the Marines dropped, the spokesmen said on 4 August, were "Mark 77 firebombs." They acknowledged those are incendiary devices with a function "remarkably similar" to napalm weapons.
"You can call it something other than napalm, but it's napalm," said John Pike, defense analyst with GlobalSecurity.com, a nonpartisan research group in Alexandria, Va.
Although many human rights groups consider incendiary bombs to be inhumane, international law does not prohibit their use against military forces. The United States has not agreed to a ban against possible civilian targets.
For the article in full, go to: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0805-01.htm
New: Stop the War Profiteers Campaign
Leading anti-war activists and organizations launched a new campaign on 5 August calling for an end to war profiteering by military contractors, and challenging what they call the "second invasion" of Iraq by powerful corporate interests seeking to control the country's oil, water and other resources.
The Stop the War Profiteers Campaign, initiated by the North Carolina, USA-based Institute for Southern Studies, has been endorsed by several leading veteran, faith, labor, peace and other organizations, as well as prominent scholars and activists across the country.
"A handful of Bush-connected corporations are poised to make billions in profits while U.S. troops are killed almost daily, and Iraq plunges deeper into a colonial nightmare," said Dr. Rania Masri, a campaign coordinator and program director at the Institute.
"Halliburton, Bechtel, MCI and other war profiteers are part of a larger invasion by outside corporate interests hoping to control the wealth and resources of Iraq - wealth and resources that belong to the Iraqi people," Masri added.
Veterans for Peace, New York Labor Against the War, Global Exchange, United for Peace and Justice, Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program, and other groups have signed on to the campaign's founding statement, as well as well-known activist authors Noam Chomsky, Jim Hightower, and Howard Zinn.
The campaign calls on elected leaders to take several steps to stop war profiteering at taxpayer expense and to end the "corporate looting" of Iraq, including:
* Holding congressional hearings to investigate war profiteering and the secretive, closed-bid "reconstruction" contracts in Iraq given to a handful of corporations close to the Bush administration. The hearings would be modeled on those held in the 1930s by Sen. Gerald Nye to investigate the role of the "munitions industry" in warping foreign policy
* Reigning in war profiteering by military contractors - such as the $400 million in taxpayer-funded profits promised in Halliburton's biggest contract - through an "Excess Profits Tax," similar to those during the Civil War, both World Wars, and the Korean War
* Halting the U.S.-led drive to hand over Iraq's industries, services and resources to powerful multinational corporations - such as efforts by occupying forces to privatize public services and strip down rules on foreign investment, before Iraq's indigenous government is allowed to take part in decision-making.
For more information or to endorse the Stop the War Profiteers Campaign, visit: http://www.southernstudies.org or contact the Southern Peace Research and Education Center at: < >
Abolition 2000 homepage: http://www.abolition2000.org Grassroots News: http://www.napf.org/abolition2000/news/
The City of Hiroshima Peace Declaration
On 6 August, the 58th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Mayor Akiba of Hiroshima delivered this year's Peace Declaration at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony. You can find this document , along with a video clip of it being delivered by Mayor Akiba, at: http://www.city.hiroshima.jp/shimin/heiwa/declaration.html
CTBT Entry Into Force Conference (Source: Rhianna Tyson, Project Associate, Reaching Critical Will, 6 August 03)
The Comprehensive Test-Ban-Treaty Conference on the Entry Into Force will be held in Vienna, September 8-12. NGOs are given the opportunity to make one collective statement during the morning session of the 12th. WILPFs Reaching Critical Will has organized a listserve by which they will be brainstorming themes for the statement, circulating drafts, and choosing the presenter.
If you or your organization would like to participate in this discussion, please send an email to: < >
You can read the emails already posted at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ctbtconference
For more information on the CTBT and what NGOs can do for the EIF Conference, including accreditation information, visit: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/ctbt/ctbtindex.html
Statement of the Pugwash Council on the dangers posed by nuclear weapons
Meeting during the recent 53rd Pugwash Conference, the Pugwash Council issued a Statement expressing it was "extremely concerned that the dangers posed by nuclear weapons are increasing the risk of a nuclear catastrophe. Widening cracks in the nuclear non-proliferation regime, the deadlock in nuclear arms control, renewed interest in nuclear war-fighting strategies, inadequate measures to control and dispose of fissile materials, the near term deployment of missile defenses and the prospect of weapons in space, all point to the very real possibility of nuclear weapons being used, whether in conflict, by miscalculation or accident, or by terrorists.
"Of equal concern to the Council, and directly related to the militarization of global affairs spawned by the so-called 'war on terrorism,' are the marginalization of international institutions, especially the United Nations, the diversion of resources away from meeting challenges to global sustainability, and a weakening of fundamental civil liberties and basic human security protections. The illegality under international law of the war on Iraq, and the disdain of the US administration for seeking security through multilateral mechanisms, are an indication of the serious challenges faced by the international community in commonly protecting human security."
Find the Statement in full at: http://www.pugwash.org/reports/pac/53/statement.htm
Canadian Network launches website to promote abolition of nuclear weapons
The Canadian Network to Abolish Nuclear Weapons has announced the formal launch of their website at: http://www.abolishnuclearweapons.org They welcome links to their site from other groups responding to the nuclear threat.
Planning for World Social Forum in Moombai, India (Source: INES member Alice Slater, forwarded posting: WSF Bulletin, 1 August 03)
Dear Friends, We have until September to schedule self-organized events for the Moombai, India World Social Forum (WSF). Nuclear Disarmament will be on the agenda at that meeting so please give some thought to whether you can attend the meeting, what our Network should be doing there, and whether you want to put a panel together on a nuclear abolition issue.
Regards, Alice Slater
It is already possible to register events or self organized activities for the WSF 2004, that will take place in Mumbai, India, from January 16 to 21 of next year. The events registration form, developed in a partnership with the former Brazilian Organizing Committee, can be accessed in the following link: http://www.wsfindia.org/event2004/
For a little while, the form is only available in the English version but, soon, it will be also available in French and Spanish.
Registration calendar:
No new or changed email or web addresses in this issue. All INES e-mail addresses and homepages are available upon request from:
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