Thursday, December 12, 2002
- NORTH KOREA
Journalists and pundits often complain that North Korea’s motives are hard to understand. We can guarantee that after reading this article, you will have an excellent grasp on the current situation in North Korea. It provides a clear and comprehensive explanation of the strategies being played out in the region, including the relationship between North Korea, Japan, China, and the US, specific US plans for missile defense systems in the area....
admit to having a nuclear weapons program......
“The Bush administration may not be interested in removing North Korea from the threat list. A perceived North Korean threat is necessary to justify building the Theater Missile Defense (TMD) system, intended to counter China’s growing military and political power. With China’s economy growing at seven percent, it is only a matter of time before it dwarfs Japan in power and strategic influence. This worries sectors of Japan’s government, especially the military establishment, and also concerns the Bush administration, who do not want to see U.S. regional power and economic interests threatened by China. Since neither the U.S. nor Japan are willing to admit to building the new missile system to counteract a Beijing threat, North Korea is currently being used as the primary reason for creating the TMD in Japan.”
Read this very thorough report by Susan V. Thompson:
Susan V. Thompson, Editor
Leah Appet, Editorial Assistant
MoveOn Peace Bulletin, International Edition
Wednesday, December 11, 2002
1 Introduction: A High Stakes Game
2 One Link: North Korea Threat Part of US Regional Strategy
3 Background
4 Axis of Evil
5 Nuclear Weapons Program
6 Implications
INTRODUCTION: A HIGH STAKES GAME
In 1994, the US and North Korea reached the brink of war when it was discovered that North Korea was developing nuclear weapons. The crisis was averted by the Agreed Framework negotiated by the Clinton administration, which had North Korea promise to stop developing nuclear weapons in exchange for two nuclear reactors, fuel oil aid, and improved relations.
Now North Korea has admitted to having a weapons program once again, after being presented with evidence of North Korean nuclear activities by US envoy James Kelly. The result has been global shock and confusion about North Korea’s motives. South Korean representatives have framed the admission as part of North Korea’s willingness to improve ties with the outside world. Other analysts believe that it is part of a traditional North Korean tactic of creating a crisis in order to force talks, and that North Korea may be using its nuclear capacity as a bargaining chip--as something to be exchanged for improved relations with the US or for aid. For its part, the US has declared that the admission makes the 1994 agreement null and void, dismissing the North Korean perception that the the US had already broken several of its own promises under the agreement, including the building of two nuclear reactors in North Korea by 2003....
The UN’s nuclear monitoring body, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has issued a call for North Korea to admit weapons inspectors as soon as possible. However, the action cannot be enforced by the IAEA. It must be enforced by the UN Security Council, which is currently focused almost exclusively on Iraq. Even though the Bush administration and several of its allies have opted to stop shipping fuel oil to North Korea as a retaliation for the weapons program, there is still no talk of forcing inspections; nor has the US said that it is considering military retaliation if North Korea does not comply.
Considering the stance the US government is taking against Iraq, the relative disregard of the North Korean threat is raising questions about whether US foreign policy is inconsistent, or even hypocritical. The Bush administration is considering taking pre-emptive military action against Iraq based only on the unproven suspicion that Iraq has or could develop chemical and nuclear weapons; yet it seems unwilling to threaten any military action against North Korea even after North Korea has admitted to having a weapons program. North Korea also has an “evil dictator” who treats his people extremely poorly, and appears on the US list of countries that support terrorism, yet there is little talk of “regime change” for North Korea. Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, has said that, “Not every policy needs to be put into a photocopier.”
But what’s the real reason that North Korea isn’t high priority? It could be because Iraq has oil, a resource which North Korea lacks. Or it could simply be that the US has already committed so many diplomatic and military resources to an attack on Iraq that it’s virtually impossible to back down and focus elsewhere at this point.
However, it’s more likely that emphasizing North Korea’s threat while not aggressively pursuing military action against the country is serving US strategic interests. How? According to several analysts, the US hopes to use the threat from North Korea as a tactic to push through the building of controversial missile defense systems in the area. Such missile defenses would help contain the growing threat from China, the one country that is developing enough economic and military strength to compete with the US. This is a much more appealing strategy for the US than directly attacking North Korea, which has its own army of 1.2 million and a strong alliance with nuclear capable China.
By admitting that it has a uranium-enrichment program, it appears that North Korea has quite literally called America’s bluff. It remains to be seen how the rest of the game will play out.
Read the rest of the report here
- TEN QUESTIONS ABOUT THE KYOTO PROTOCOL
From a Canadian Perspective by Gregory Strong
Industry groups and politicians like Ralph Klein have been working overtime on a misinformation campaign about the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change. In a debate of this importance, it is crucial to have the facts. To provide you with well-researched, credible information, Greenpeace has put together our ‘Top 10 Questions About the Kyoto Protocol’. Please read it, keep it and forward it to everyone you know. The Kyoto Protocol is vital for the health and safety of all Canadians. This is a battle we can’t afford to lose.
For more detailed information or to send an email to Jean Chretien to tell him to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, please visit Greenpeace’s Kyoto Information Centre at http://www.greenpeace.org/e/kyoto
And please call or email Greenpeace with any questions you have about the Kyoto Protocol and climate change. We can be reached at or by phone at 1.800.320.7183
Greenpeace’s Top 10 Questions About the Kyoto Protocol and Climate Change
1. Is climate change really happening? Yes. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently completed an assessment of global climate change, involving 2,500 scientists from around the world. They concluded that human activities are changing the climate. The IPCC conclusions have been endorsed by more than 100 Nobel laureates, by 17 national scientific academies and by most of the world’s governments including the United States.
2. Do climate change and air pollution affect the economy? Yes. For example, in 2001 the Canadian Wheat Board estimated that Prairie droughts cost the western Canadian economy approximately $5 billion. According to the Ontario Medical Association, smog caused by the burning of fossil fuels costs Ontario alone $1 billion in health care costs and lost prod uctivity each year. Internationally, the United Nations Environment Fund reports that financial losses resulting from natural disasters appear to be doubling every decade and have reached $1 trillion US in the past 15 years.
3. Will Canadians lose jobs over Kyoto? A recent federal study indicates that under Kyoto, the Canadian economy will grow between 29.3 and 31.4 per cent over the next ten years. The study also tells us that even under the worst case scenario, the Canadian economy will generate millions of new jobs. To read this study, go to: [url=http://www.climatechange.gc.ca]http://www.climatechange.gc.ca[/url] It is also important to note that Canada’s energy workers have come out in support of Kyoto. To read a statement from the Canadian Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union go to: http://www.greenpeace.ca/e/kyoto
4. Ralph Klein keeps saying that Kyoto will cost Canadians jobs. Where is he getting his numbers? Klein is not talking about the jobs people have now, he is talking about a theoretical decrease in job growth. When Klein talks about hundreds of thousands of jobs being lost to Kyoto, he is quoting from a study by Informetrica called “Macroeconomic Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Options”. The job loss number Klein uses was arrived at based on the hypothesis that Canada would be the only country in the world to ratify and implement the Kyoto Protocol. Since close to 100 countries have already ratified, the hypothesis is false and the numbers generated by this hypothesis are useless.
5. Does Greenpeace think Kyoto will be good for the economy? Yes. A recent Industry Canada study projects that almost $100 billion in activities and investments would be required to meet Kyoto targets. In addition, the Industry Canada report estimates that the clean energy sector is currently generating close to a half billion dollars of revenue in Canada per year and that within a couple of years of ratification the revenues from this sector would jump to $7 billion a year. These numbers tells us that Kyoto will enrich our economy far more than even the worst critics predict it might cost.
6. The US refuses to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. What good will it do if Canada ratifies? When Canada ratifies Kyoto, we will join the majority of the world’s major polluters in agreeing to do something about climate change. Kyoto needs to be ratified by countries responsible for 55 per cent of emissions from industrialized nations before it enters into force. That means that countries producing close to half the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions will have committed to real, time-specific reductions.
7. Why should Canada ratify when industrializing countries don’t have to? For over 200 years, indudstrialized countries have been engaged in polluting practices. Under Kyoto, they will be held to higher emissions reductions requirements. As the international community negotiates further commitment periods, it is expected that industrializing countries will be called upon to adopt formal reduction requirements. At the same time, industrializing countries have taken it upon themselves to make dramatic emissions reductions. Although China was not required to reduce emissions under international conventions, it reduced its emissions by 17 per cent between 1990 and 1997. During the same period Canada - which was under obligation to reduce its emissions under the Rio Convention - increased emissions by approximately 20 per cent between 1990 and 2000.
8. Is there really enough clean power to meet Canada’s energy needs? Yes. The total amount of energy irradiated from the sun to the earth’s surface is enought to provide more than 10,000 times the current annual global energy consumption. Wind power also has incredible potential. In Canada, our wind energy potential alone is greater than the total amount of energy Canada now uses.
9. Whey do we need an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? What’s wrong with a made in Canada solution? The problem of climate change requires global targets, but Kyoto allows each country to develop its own method of emissions reduction. Kyoto is not a plan, Kyoto is an objective. It is up to individual countries to come up with their own, custom-tailored national solutions. The beauty of Kyoto it that it requires a national solution.
10. How will climate change affect my life? As concentrations of carbon dioxide and other pollutants build up in the atmosphere, health and wea ther impacts on Canadians are on theincrease. According to the government of Canada, up to 16,000 Canadians die each year as a result of air pollution. According to the World Health Organization, annual heat-related deaths in Montreal andToronto are expected to increase by an average of 10.5 per cent by the year 2020. Internationally, weather disasters including floods, fires and severe storms are on the increase. In Canada, scientists predict flooding on both coasts, extreme heat in some cities, the melting of polar regions and far more frequent drought on the Prairies.
Thank you for reading! Please forward this important information and remember to check out Greenpeace’s Kyoto Information Centre at http://www.greenpeace.ca/e/kyoto
- BUY NOTHING DAY BOARD GAME AND SONG
(From Chris Hunt)
I have created a Buy Nothing Day Board Game, and a Buy Nothing Day Song. The board game can be downloaded from here and the song from here.
- Truth in the Crossfire - ‘Live from Baghdad’
When HBO airs “Live From Baghdad,” starting Dec. 7, the drama that purports to tell the true story of a cable news crew broadcasting during the Gulf War will propagate a proven lie. The film’s uncritical treatment of an old charge that Iraqi soldiers threw babies out of incubators, writes PNS contributor Lucy Komisar, is disturbing as America and Iraq lie on the brink of war.
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 04, 2002—Remember the phony story about the Kuwaiti woman who testified in 1990 that Iraqi soldiers were throwing Kuwaiti babies out of incubators? It was later exposed as a public relations fabrication—but now it’s back on HBO.
- Celebrities tell Bush NO WAR
Celebrities tell Bush NO WAR
See these two articles from CNN:
Hollywood stars rail against war talk
Celebrities speak out against war: Martin Sheen...
LIST OF NAMES:
Sunday, December 08, 2002
- Community Pages at TokyoProgressive
Email, Paul’s songs, Chibi (cat), Class pages, Hosted sites, dictionary, translation…
MAIL
Mail
Mail to Paul
PAUL
Paul’s family
Paul’s cat Chibi
Paul and his songs
Paul’s Poems (and others’ too!)
INDYMEDIA
IndyMedia Japan
CLASSES
Students
DICTIONARY/TRANSLATION
Dictionary
Translate
Web Space/Donations
Hosting and Donations page
SOME HOSTED SITES
The Journal of Engaged Pedagogy
Rick Wilcox: Toward a Democratic Media
Electronically Engaged Pedagogy
Friday, December 06, 2002
Stories from April-Dec 2002
Thursday, December 05, 2002
- International Symposium Against Globalization and Imperialism
reported by Jen
(Anti-Iraq war in Fukuoka, Kyushu December 1, 2002) Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Fukuoka
During the last weeks of November, activists from the Philippines, Korea, Taiwan, and the USA came to express their disgust for Bush’s campaign against terrorism showing solidarity with Japanese activists who are fighting against American and Japanese imperialism in Asia. I was asked to speak at the Fukuoka rally as an American delegate against the proposed Iraq war. I was honored to do so, but also completely humbled and inspired by the Filipino and South Korean long time activists.
The discussion I took part in was on imperialism and globalization. All activists agreed that it was the youth who were really leading the movements. Alvin, from the Philippines, mentioned that the ousting of Estrada was achieved through the power of the youth, 70-80% youth. About 60 people attended the discussion and while the audience was mixed with Japanese men, women, and youth. The panel was all elder male, except for me. I was quite happy when one youth stood up and asked us about the youth movements in our own countries while also commenting on the lack of empowered youth in Japan. While the Japanese movement is not huge, it exists and they are struggling for a way to reach youth and create a more powerful youth movement in Japan. Commenting on the Japanese Farm movement, farmer activist Keisuke Uchida spoke about making Japan more like Korea where the farmers are well connected with all labor, youth, and environment, while Japan is segregated by issue groups? He spoke of Japan as, “more like a bar-code system”, never reaching solidarity.
The anti-imperialist, anti-Iraq war rally held over 300 people. It was quite good as we took a couple of rows of streets and even had the police bother us for it. We finished in front of the US embassy with speechs, chants, and readings of our own declaration US bases out now and no to the pending war in Iraq. It was a really wonderful show of solidarity which I hope to see again here in Japan as the movement here grows.
Below is a summary of speeches during the two week international solidarity mission
-From the Joint statement in Tokyo- International Symposium to oppose war, human rights violations, and the destruction of life
Both the US and Japanese governments consolidate the war drive against the DPRK (North Korea), based on their hostile stance to the people’s campaign for peaceful, independent reunification of the Korean peninsula. Furthermore, they push through the policy to maintain division and intervene in the affairs of China and Taiwan.
We, people from Asia and the US are resolved to struggle arm in arm against the war and globalization. Let us share mutual support across the borders among the people’s anti-war campaigns in close coordination with protest against human rights violations, and destruction of livelihood. We urgently call for actions to stop the impending aggressive war on Iraq. We believe only the people’s movement and power can stop it. Based on the discussions and resolutions of the symposium, we will strengthen our joint actions to create a world free from militarism, imperialism, and exploitation. People of the world, unite and fight imperialism. November 24, 2002, Tokyo, Japan
Philippines activist- Alvin Luque from Bayan Muna and New Patriotic Alliance report
The national situation of the Philippines is now more then ever shaped by the aggressive pursuit of US imperialism to complete its domination of the world (hegemony) as a superpower, in the middle of an ever intensifying crisis of overproduction. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is the most loyal puppet to US war designs after 9-11, especially when she waged unconditional support to Bush’s war of aggression. When she visited the US in November 2001, she made a pact with Bush to allow the re-entry of US military forces in the Philippines through joint-exercises, the so-called Balikatan-02-1. (It was the people’s movement who originally kicked out the US, now in the name of fighting terrorism, the US troops have been allowed back.)
-On August 9, Colin Powell declared the CPP (Communist party of the Philippines), NPA (New Peoples Party), and NDF (New Democratic Front), as terrorists and placed them on the Foreign terrorist organization list. Jose Ma. Sison has also been victim of this list for being the founder of the CPP and the General Consultant of the International League for People’s Struggle. He is currently in the Netherlands as a political refuge with social benefits and housing terminated due to his name on the terrorist list, signed this past August.
The US looks at the CPP-NPA as the biggest threat to its security in the Philippines, especially against the plan of re-establishing the Philippine islands as a major base for its military operations and attacks in Asia and the Pacific. Other NGOs and groups have been targeted as terrorists, like Bayan, Bayan Muna, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and the Moro National Liberation front. People have been killed, maimed and thrown in jail with absolutely no due process- all this with US tax-payers money and the help of American weapons and motivation.
From International ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism)-USA
Mara Verheyden-Hilliard and Carl Messineo
We in the US are also fighting against the Bush Administrations efforts to suppress the growing movement in the US and its racist attacks on the population there. Since 9/11, 2002, the administration has used the tragic attacks against civilians to pursue a pre-existing program of military intervention and economic domination internationally, and restrictions on civil rights and civil liberties domestically. In the immediate days after 9/11, as this became clear to many organizations fighting for solidarity and justice, we formed the ANSWER coalition together. The coalition includes the International Action Center, Partnership for Civil Justice-LDEF, BAYAN-USA, Nicaragua Network, Korea Truth Comission, Mexico Solidarity Network, Free Palestine Network, Middle East Children’s Committee and others. We launched the first major protest against the war on September 29, 2001 that brought 25,000 people to Washington DC and another 15,000 to San Francisco, at a time when many were saying that we could not dissent from government policies in the aftermath of September 11. In the past year the anti-war movement has grown and is becoming a more powerful force in the US. This new anti-war movement recognizes that is cannot be just merely for peace, but must stand against the US government’s drive for a new empire and must fight the Bush program for domination and repression. This new movement is also a new anti-globalization movement in the US making connections between corporate globalization and the US military force to impose an economic agenda.
October 26th, 2002- Mass anti-war demonstration in Washington against the Iraq war- 200,000 marched. This is the biggest demo since 1969. San Francisco- 100,000.
The People’s Anti-war referendum- vote no to war atwww.votenowar.org
Also, another big international rally and people’s referendum will be held on January 18-19 coinciding with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. There will also be mass actions in Japan; AWC (Asian Wide Campaign) is one of the groups planning an action.
South Korea- Kim Young-Je and Shin-Seung-Chul from KCTU (Korean Confederation of Trade Unions
The South Korean movement is going strong, with again many youth leading the movement. Surprisingly enough, the delegates said the internet has done a lot to organize, especially among the youth. Recently an anti-draft movement has begun with most of the information coming from the internet and run by youth. It is mandatory in South Korea that young men serve in the SK military for two years, something that many do not want to do. After Japanese and American imperialism, South Korea is attempting reunification. But, as the delegates strongly pointed out, this is being impeded by Bush’s terrorist campaign Since North Korea has openly announced it is harboring a bomb, Bush has made it even more clear that he can and will use war, (with much more bombs then any country in the world), if North Korea doesn’t comply to a forced US investigation. Korea has agreed to it, only if Bush agrees to non-aggression. While all this occurs, the Korean people sincerely want reunification and do not necessarily think of North Korea as a threat or killer. Rather, their families, friends, of one country. As Bush threatens North Korea and pressures South Korea out of peace negotiations, the difficult issue of two young Korean girls accidentally run over by a US military tank remains at hand. As of recent, the judge found the military innocent and with no need for military apology to the victims family and friends. This has spurred a greater anti-US base movement in South Korea. Just last week, some youth broke into the American base to protest American imperialism in Korea. Korean people demand an amendment to SOFA, to make Americans accountable for their crimes. The 700,000 strong KCTU umbrella union is also very concerned over globalization as massive lay-offs, lowering of wages, and SEZ’s (Special Economic Zones) are threatening workers right to live. As for SEZ’s, still not passed in the government, Shin-Seung-Chul commented that it was like inviting thieves into our homes, as proposed SEZ’s will allow corporations to pay workers less, have longer hours, receive tax breaks and more.
Sunday, December 01, 2002
- Peace 2000 leader arrested and imprisoned & our computers confiscated in Iceland!
Please send your protest on the arrest of former Icelandic Presidential Candidate AstThor Magnusson to the Icelandic Government
from Astthor Magnusson in Iceland
Please protest my arrest by immediate email and ask your contact lists to do same. In Icelandic my name is written: Astthor Magnusson. Please also demand that the Peace 2000 computers and data are returned immediately. We’ve created a mailing list that will distribute your message automatically to all Icelandic Members of Parliament, Civil Servants, the Airlines and to the Icelandic Media. You can send your message to:
First read the article:
Last Friday Icelandic Prime Minister Mr. David Oddsson and Foreign Minister Mr. Halldor Asgrimsson surprised and shocked most of our formerly peaceful nation with an announcement from the NATO meeting in Prague, that Iceland is no longer a by-stander in military actions and that an agreement has been made with two Icelandic public transport airlines, Icelandair and Atlanta, to use their passenger aircraft for transportation of NATO weapons and soldiers. We have never had a military following a peace meeting by the Vikings at our Althing in the year 1000! But our misguided Prime Minister Mr. Oddsson said this new policy of his government is to “strengthen the military might of the NATO alliance” and to “fly troops and military equipment to war areas and that the Icelandic government would pay for it”. The news indicated the first flight operation using Icelandic passenger aircraft for the transportation of weapons and troops may be as soon as with an upcoming war with Iraq that the Prime Minister expects that NATO and his government will support.
I issued a warning immediately on Friday that any agreement linking the use of passenger aircraft with NATO or with the transportation of weapons and troops will compromise the security of those aircraft - also when conducting normal passenger flights....
Excerpt
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WARNING TO AIR PASSENGERS:
WARNING: Icelandair, Atlanta, Air France, Iberia, Virgin Atlantic, Malaysia Airlines, Saudia Airlines, Air Algerie, Excel Airways, Garuda Indonesia, Air Asia, Southern Winds Arilines, Nigeria Airways, Aeromar. These airlines may be using aircraft under contract to fly dangerous weapons and troops.
SEE HERE FOR THE FULL TEXT---> http://www.peace2000.org
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Within hours of my warning Friday I was arrested by the Icelandic Police. I was taken from a restaurant down town by secret police that was in no uniform into an unmarked car. They refused to let my fiancee and the other people I was with in the restaurant know that I was being arrested. A man simply asked me to come with him outside for a moment, and there he arrested me. They could have ditched anywhere and nobody would have known!!! I was thrown into jail and kept there for several days in complete isolation. The first night I was kept in a cell without any toilet and had to do my things on the floor!!! Only when the High Court heard an appeal the Police released me.
But it does not seem to be the end! News report last night said that the police was looking at another letter I sent to the directors of the airlines yesterday, and that today they will make a decision for further action. Our lawyer suggested I sleep the night in hiding somewhere.
People have been phoning us constantly - everyone is shocked. Lawyers say that the arrest has no foundation in law. Our best-known human rights lawyer, Mr. Ragnar Adalsteinsson took it up by himself to speak out in a shock over this on TV while I was in the prison. He tells me the law professors at the Reykjavik University are also shocked. EkstraBladet, a major newspaper in Denmark, said that the imprisonment of the leader of Peace 2000, former Icelandic Presidential Candidate AstThor Magnusson was an obvious action to “shut the mouth of the opposition”.
A man called me last night and told me that he has knowledge that my arrest was decided in the Prime Ministers office building. Politicians are not supposed to have any influence on the police here, but this seems to be changing now.
The police raided the Peace 2000 offices and my home in the middle of the night and confiscated computers. They have refused to return the computers and are keeping all member databases and contact lists. Earlier this year, when the President of China visted Iceland, the Icelandic police worked with a “black list” of Falun Gong practitioners that wanted to do a peaceful demonstration against Human Rights abuses in China. On instructions from the government of China as it seems, they arrested whole groups of Falun Gong tourists upon arrival in the country and kept them in a detention centre. The Icelandic police also got the airlines to cooperate and give access to reservation lists to refuse boarding in foreign airports if their name was found on the black list from China. We fear that they have now started to create a black lists of the Peace 2000 members and that this may be used in a similar way as with the Falun Gong black list.
We have written to the directors of both airlines. We have asked them to increase security immediately and to terminate said armaments transport agreement forthwith. In our opinion, while any such agreements are in place, these aircraft are at increased risk as they seem in that situation to fall exactly within the description of targets by terrorist groups. It is clear that my warning and calling for extra security last Friday was valid. While I was being detained in prison, the UK Observer newspaper printed a new letter from Osama Bin Laden where he calls for terrorist attacks against civilian targets. Yesterday there was an attempt to shoot down an Israeli passenger aircraft.
Many fear that the Icelandic government ministers have become so corrupt that they may try to use the police again today to send me back to prison in an attempt to stop me talking about this.
PLEASE SEND YOUR PROTEST:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Please protest my arrest by immediate email and ask your contact lists to do same. In Icelandic my name is written: Astthor Magnusson. Please also demand that the Peace 2000 computers and data are returned immediately. We’ve created a mailing list that will distribute your message automatically to all Icelandic Members of Parliament, Civil Servants, the Airlines and to the Icelandic Media. You can send your message to:
