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War Watch
MORE FREEDOMS STOLENThe Homeland Security Act passed by Congress on Nov. 22 includes development of the "Total Information Awareness" (TIA) program. TIA will mine telephone records, bank records, medical records, governmental databases, and educational and travel data to create personal dossiers on every individual in the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security has unprecedented power over people's lives. Yet many of its activities are exempted from the public oversight provided by the Freedom of Information Act. Civil service laws that protect most federal workers will not apply to the 170,000 employees of the super agency. In addition, on Nov. 18, the ultra-secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review granted the federal government unprecedented authorization to spy on people in the U.S., whether or not they are suspected of terrorism.
MILITARY INVADES PRIVACY OF YOUTHThe sweetly titled No Child Left Behind Act, a new education law passed early this year, has a No Child Left Alone clause. It includes a provision requiring public high schools to provide military recruiters with contact information about every student. If the school fails to comply, federal aid can be cut. "We feel it is a clear departure from the letter and the spirit of current student privacy laws," noted the chief lobbyist for the American Association of School Administrators. Previously, schools could only share student information with other educational institutions. The law allows students to withhold their records, but does not require schools to obtain students' permission before giving rosters to the military. Students would be wise to make a pre-emptive strike and tell their school administrators if they do not want to hear from military recruiters. NOBEL LAUREATE JIMMY CARTER SLAMS 'ARROGANT' U.S.Appearing on Larry King Live, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former president Jimmy Carter said, "There is a sense that the United States has become too arrogant, too dominant, too self-centered." He also criticized the U.S. for failing to cooperate with "international efforts targeted to prohibit the arsenals of biological weapons that we ourselves have" and to "enforce the agreement to eliminate chemical weapons, and the same way with nuclear weapons." Carter also noted that the U.S. gives only one one-thousandth of its gross national product for international assistance, while the average European country gives four times as much. "I think they [people in poor countries] feel that we don't really care about them, which is quite often true." FIGHTING TERROR WITH TERRORA Hellfire laser-guided missile launched from the Predator, a pilotless CIA aircraft, executed six presumed Al Qaeda operatives in Yemen on Nov. 3. The attack occurred as evidence mounted that Al Qaeda is regrouping and terrorist attacks accelerating. The event exposed that the Bush administration has authorized the CIA to set aside U.S. and international prohibitions against assassination to wage its "war on terrorism." As Jane's Defense Weekly commented, "It doesn't seem the suspects were given the opportunity to surrender. They were taken out Israeli-style." Sweden's foreign minister called the U.S. attack "a summary execution that violates human rights." Amnesty International said, "Deliberate killing of suspects in lieu of arrest, in circumstances in which they did not pose an immediate threat," is an illegal execution. NEW U.S. PROTESTS SCHEDULEDANSWER, the main organizer of successful Oct. 26 anti-war protests, has scheduled a protest on Jan. 18 and a peace congress on Jan. 19. These are, timed to coincide with the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the anniversary of the 1991 Gulf War. United for Peace, a new coalition of 70 organizations, has called for nationally coordinated local actions on Dec. 10 and for national demonstrations on Feb. 16 and April 5. For a listing of local actions, see www.unitedforpeace.org. PALESTINE ACTIVISTS TARGET CATERPILLARThe Caterpillar Corp. supplies Israel with bulldozers that demolish homes and trees in the occupied territories. (See "Israel Builds 'Great Wall' Around Palestine") This is why organizations such as SUSTAIN, the Free Palestine Alliance and Berkeley Students for Justice in Palestine are focusing protests on the U.S. equipment maker. The activists have confronted Caterpillar executives in their offices and have launched a letter writing campaign to pressure the company to stop selling bulldozers to Israel. This is a new turn in the divestment campaign that has focused on getting U.S. universities to sell stocks of companies that do business in Israel. Caterpillar was chosen as the divestment movement's corporate target at the national divestment student conference held at the University of Michigan this October. Activists hope that their call for divestment will strike a blow against Israeli occupation as it did against South African apartheid. |
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