WAR WATCH

BY ELLEN KAISER
_______________

AND WHEN DID HE KNOW IT?
What could be more painful than to hear that the loss of lives on Sept. 11 and the agonies that followed might have been avoided by a more capable and compassionate administration? As we go to press, evidence has leaked out that the administration had alarming intelligence that Osama bin Laden had operatives in training for suicide hijacking missions against the U.S. Yet the potential perpetrators apparently received less government scrutiny than an anti-war activist.

We do not yet know exactly what the president knew, or when he knew it. But we do know that, at a minimum, the administration covered up the evidence and continues to resist investigation. Yet it quickly launched the war in Afghanistan, jailed Middle Easterners and passed draconian laws that undermine civil rights and civil liberties.

HEROIN UN-BANNED
The U.S. and Britain are allowing Afghans to regain their position as the world’s leading source of opium. The reason: the profits from growing poppies and processing them into opium go to key supporters of the new U.S. installed government. A law enforcement official told the New York Times that: "The fight against terrorism takes priority. The fight against narcotics comes second." The Taliban successfully banned poppy farming in Afghanistan two years ago. Now, with U.S. approval, Afghanistan is once again flooding the world opium market.

BULLYING, NOT COOPERATION
The Bush administration forced the ouster this April of Brazilian diplomat Jose Bustani, leader of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Bustani is credited with overseeing the destruction of two-thirds of the world’s chemical weapons facilities. The U.S. feared that Iraq would accept inspection by the OPCW, thus undermining the U.S. rationale for invading that country. So it threatened to withdraw financial support from the underfunded OPCW if Bustani was not voted out.

In December 2000, the U.S. signed the treaty creating the International Criminal Court (ICC), then "unsigned" it this May 6. The ICC was set up as a permanent body to bring perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes to justice. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the ICC is an obstacle to the war on terrorism because it "could well create a powerful disincentive for military engagement around the world." The administration said it feared U.S. policymakers and armed forces would be brought up on charges before the world court.

"WAR ON TERROISM" IN LATIN AMERICA
The Bush administration is poised to give $98 million to the Colombian army specifically to protect Occidental Petroleum’s oil pipeline from rebel attacks. It already provides $2 million per day to Colombia in the name of the "war on drugs" and to "fight terrorism." But human rights organizations report that the vast majority of violations are committed by U.S. funded and trained militaries and paramilitaries. More to the point, say critics, is that the rebels have blocked exploitation of about 80 percent of Colombia’s oil reserves.
In Venezuela, the U.S.’s third largest supplier of oil, the Bush administration admits it met with and helped fund the leaders of the failed April 11 coup. President Hugo Chavez was democratically elected. His principal "crime" is that he wants to develop Venezuela’s vast oil fields, independent of U.S. interests. Wayne Madsen, a former naval intelligence officer, reported that during the coup attempt, U.S. personnel provided intelligence and stood on alert.

ARMS OUT OF CONTROL
Pro-nuclear and anti-nuclear analysts agree that the new U.S.-Russian nuclear arms treaty does not require the destruction of a single warhead for at least the next 10 years. The treaty allows each country to decide for itself whether to increase or decrease its nuclear arsenal. The U.S. thus has the green light to produce the new battlefield nuclear weapons it wants. It is counting on the weak Russian economy to prevent that country from doing the same. Claiming complete victory, a senior Washington official chortled: "What we have now agreed to do under the treaty is what we wanted to do anyway."