Hooray for Bush and the red white and blue!

[pynchonoid]

US interrogators turn to 'torture lite' 

The second half of our investigation finds America
bending the rules in the wake of September 11 

Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles
Saturday January 25, 2003
The Guardian 

The United States is condoning the torture and illegal
interrogation of prisoners held in the wake of
September 11, in defiance of international law and its
own constitution, according to lawyers, former US
intelligence officers and human rights groups. [...]

continues:
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,882002,00.html>


A million refugees if hostilities begin
By Kerry-Anne Walsh, Political Correspondent
January 26 2003
The Sun-Herald

A confidential internal United Nations report prepared
last month estimated that a US-led war would create
nearly one million refugees needing outside
resettlement and 7.2 million people displaced
internally, millions of whom could later swell the
ranks of refugees.

The report estimated that 100,000 would need immediate
resettlement once the US attacked the country.

"There is also the likelihood of transit camps being
established in Iraq adjacent to borders, with a
population of perhaps 500,000," the report states.

The displaced people in immediate danger because of a
lack of health services would include 4.2million
children under five and one million lactating women.
[...] 

continues:
<http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/01/25/1042911596223.html>


Destroying the Village to Save Weapons Manufacturers 
by Heather Wokusch
 
One of the legacies of the Vietnam War is the now
infamous quote from an American military press
officer, "we had to destroy the village in order to
save it." Rings some bells these days. In the name of
"fighting terror," countries with secret weapons
programs are poised to pulverize Iraq because of its
secret weapons programs. And Weapons of Mass
Destruction (WMD) are being used against civilians in
order to prevent WMD from being used against
civilians. 

Case in point: the American military's ongoing use of
depleted uranium (DU), despite numerous independent
studies warning of DU's toxic-radioactive effects.
Research conducted six months before the Gulf War
found that short-term high doses of DU could result in
death, and long-term low doses could lead to cancer.
Regardless, American forces used DU weapons in the
1991 Gulf war, the 1999 Balkan conflict, and the
recent hostilities in Afghanistan. It can be assumed
that DU weaponry will be used in any upcoming attack
on Iraq as well. 

The implications are staggering. The Geneva
Conventions clearly ban weapons that continue to kill
or cause genetic effects after the fighting ends, not
to mention weapons that unduly damage the natural
environment. DU fails miserably on each count. And DU
makes no distinction between friend and foe - its
victims include local civilians as well as service
members sent abroad to fight. 

Hundreds of thousands of US and allied troops entered
areas heavily contaminated by DU dust and debris in
the Gulf War, and at least 11 tons of DU was used by
NATO forces in the Balkans. In Afghan cities subjected
to allied bombing, uranium concentrations were
recorded at 400% to 200% above normal, with birth
defects sharply on the rise. [...]

continues:
<http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0125-04.htm>


-Doug




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