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Force was replaced by NATO and then and the ability to organize a mass movement n October 25th, the First Committee with an $11 billion dollar budget this year
by the European Army, which ultimately against the forces of war and imperialism. In of the UN General Assembly, which to develop space hardware, including laser
constitutes an occupying army. this regard, one cannot agree more with the addresses disarmament issues, voted attack weapons, it defies reason to think that
The developments in the region statement in the United States by the United overwhelmingly for a Resolution to Prevent the US is sincere in promoting the peaceful
confirm this assessment. Israel is for Peace and Justic coalition that the peoples an Arms Race in Outer Space. There were use of space.
continuing to step up its attacks on the anti-war sentiment needs to be translated into 166 nations in favor of this sensible prop- The US claimed in its statement that
Palestinians, while at the same time a political power in a way that turns the people posal with only one negative vote and two the existing multilateral outer space arms
meeting has been held between NATO into a force that is to be reconed with. abstentions. The United States opposed the control regime already deals adequately
and Israel regarding the upgrading of One important step toward peace was resolution, while Israel and Cote dIvoire with the non-weaponization of space. But
the so-called Mediterranean cooperat- taken by the people of the United States on abstained. A fallback resolution, to take existing agreements only ban weapons of
tion. We therefore oppose the presence Transparency and Confidence Building mass destruction in space, not conventional
November 7th, but the struggle certainly
of this military force that will indirectly Measures in Outer Space Activities, garn- weapons like laser beams designed to destroy
needs to continue, not just against this or that
promote the more general plans of the nered a similar vote, with the United States space assets.
party, but against imperialism as a whole. n
USA and NATO, with the next step in opposing and Israel abstaining. Sadly, the US statement was consistent
the plan focused on Syria and Iran. In a statement from the floor, the US with its flagrant assertion in its new space
Various views have been expressed The Secretariat of the World delegation explained its vote by insisting policy doctrine that it will oppose the
on this issue. The progressive forces in Peace Council will hold its that, there is no arms race in space, and no development of new legal regimes or other
the Middle East either oppose or have
serious reservations with regard to the
coming meeting in India from prospect of an arms race in space. Thus there restrictions that seek to prohibit or limit US
15-16 December 2006, is no arms control problem for the internat- access to or use of space.
foreign military forces. Certain organ-
tional community to address. In light of the
nizations and movements in Europe hosted by the All India Peace
US abrogation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile EXPLANATION OF VOTE
have a positive opinion, specifying that and Solidarity Organisation Treaty and this months new National Space The full text of the US delegations statem-
the role of these forces must be strictly (AIPSO). The Meeting of
defined as one of averting a new war. Policy statement issued by the Bush admini- ment is reproduced below:
The view that the major role is being und- Secretariat will be followed istration stating that Freedom of action in
dertaken by EU countries (France and by an International Confere- space is as important to the United States as Thank you Madam Chair.
Italy) and that this is a positive thing is ence of Peace Movements on air power and sea power, and that the United Our Delegation takes the floor to exp-
States will develop and deploy space capab- plain its votes on draft resolutions L.10,
continued on page 2 16-17 of December.
bilities that sustain US advantage, coupled continued on page 10
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n March 2007 the first world conference and China to this day. This is a role played gulf from Ramstein and starting the fighter personnel who commit crimes against local
against foreign military bases will be by US bases in Korea, Japan, Philippines, jets from Spangdahlen. Both the bases were people, except in special cases where the
held in Ecuador by the Global Network Australia, Pakistan, Diego Garcia, and in enlarged. US military authorities agree to transfer
Against Foreign Military Bases, which was many of the former Soviet Republics of Air Force Gen. Charles F. Wald, deputy jurisdiction.2
established in January 2004 in Mumbai. Central Asia of Gen. Jones (EUCOM), interviewed by the You can find the legal frame for Germany
From the foreign military bases spreads war To serve and reinforce the aircraft carrie- Air Forces internal information news service in the NATO Status of Forces Agreement
into all parts of the world. It would be an imp- ers, destroyers, nuclear armed submarines in August 2003, said, Ramstein was critic- (SOFA) from June 19, 1951. There are Add-
portant step towards peace if the global peace and other warships of the US Navy. This cal to the success of the Operation Enduri- ditional Agreements to SOFA (ZA-NTS)
movement can be active against them. includes bases in Okinawa, Yokuska outside ing Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom between Germany, Canada, Great Britain,
By its more than 1000 military bases the Tokyo, and visiting forces and access missions. A lot of airlift aircraft landed at Netherlands, Belgium and France, which
US wants to have full spectrum dominance agreements in the Philippines, Singapore, Ramstein which has significant infrastruct- have been modified since 1993. There are
as planned in the strategy paper Vision Thailand, and many other countries. ture, and we have a great relationship with special agreements for admission and coo-
2020 of the Rumsfeld commission. From To train US forces, as was long the case the Germans. It makes a lot of sense to keep ordination of manoeuvers from March 18,
1950 to 1990 the pretext for the military for bombardiers in Vieques, and for jungle places like Ramstein and Spangdahlem and 1994.
bases was to fight communism, now after war fighting and other training that continues Moron Air Base, Spain, open because they Also for three US-German training shooti-
the attack against the WTC in New York it is in Okinawa. have large ramps that can handle large numb- ing and bombing ranges there are administ-
the war against terror. There are those who To function as jumping off points for US bers of aircraft. One of the things we like tration agreements, which adapt regulations
claim that the US itself created this attack; foreign military interventions as the cases of about Ramstein, for example, is the footprint to the practice of the Bundeswehr. The same
anyway the US profits much by using this Okinawa, the Philippines, now Korea with of one strategic flight without refueling for happened with three shared UK-German
pretext to wage war against Afghanistan and the changing missions of US forces here, an airlifter, Wald said. You can take off ranges, and one shared range with Belgium,
Iraq and made agreements with many states Spain, Italy, Honduras, Germany and the from the States, no refueling, [and] land at France, and Netherlands.
for the establishment of new military bases, new bases in Eastern Europe, Kuwait and Ramstein. The question is if the allied forces
so the number of states with US military likely in Iraq. Of the 68,000 US soldiers stationed in will obey this regulation, and if not what
bases is now 93. To facilitate C3I: Command, Control, Germany today, the US Army maintains happens. I recall the incident in 1998 in
For military dominance the US has div- Communications and Intelligence, including nearly 59,000, along with a squadron of US Cavalese (Italy) where a US warplane killed
vided the world into nine commands. There essential roles in nuclear war fighting, and Air Force and the European headquarters of 20 people of in alpine carriage lift while
are nine unified combatant commands. Five the use of space for intelligence and warfare the Marine Corps. A main contingent of the flying at a dangerously low (and not permitt-
have regional responsibilities, and four as we saw in Afghanistan and Iraq. US bases army is the V corps in Heidelberg (approx. ted) level. A US military tribunal found the
have functional responsibilities. EUCOM is in Okinawa, Qatar, Australia and even China 42,000 soldiers) under the command of Lt. pilots not guilty.
considered a regional combatant command, serve these functions. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez. This reflects the experience elsewhere
with responsibility for all of Europe, most of To control the governments of host nat- In Stuttgart is the central command of in the world with US bases violators and
Africa, and parts of the Middle East. Europ- tions. Japan, Korea (where US military forces the American forces in Europe (EUCOM). criminals will not be punished. They act in
pean Command plans for regional contingenc- were deeply involved in military coups) EUCOM gives orders to 112,000 soldiers this awareness and make the military bases
cies, and when ordered, employs military Germany, Saudi Arabia, and todays Iraq on 499 military bases in Europe, Middle an outlaw area. Even worse is that using the
forces within the region, either as a Standi- begin the list. East and Africa, this concerns 68,000 in military bases means breaking international
ing Joint Force Headquarters, or through Chalmers Johnson sees also an econ- Germany, 12,000 in the UK, 2,000 in Portug- law.
specialized Joint Task Forces. EUCOM is nomical aspect. By its military power the US gal, Spain, 10,000 in Italy, 2,000 in Turkey, In a verdict on June 21, 2005, (BVerwG 2
the only regional combatant command with serves the US companies and the weapons also soldiers in Greece, Norway, Belgium, WD 12.04) the highest administration court
a headquarters forward deployed outside industry. This concerns big parts of the Netherlands and Luxemburg and very in Germany stated that the war against Iraq
the United States. Other Unified Combata- US economy, like KBR (formerly Kellogg, important the Sixth Fleet, which is cruisi- violated international law. It was a violation
ant Commands include Pacific Command Brown & Root Company), daughter of the ing in the Mediterranian Sea (home harbour of the ban against violence of the Charter of
(PACOM), Southern Command (SOUTHC- Haliburton Corporation, which builds and Suda on the Greek island Crete) and consists the United Nations. There was neither a UN
COM), Central Command (CENTCOM), maintains the wide spread outposts, includi- of 14,000 sailors. Important air and sea bases mandate nor could the US use the excuse of
Northern Command (NORTHCOM), Special ing the comfortable housing of the uniformed are Lajes Field (Portugal), Incirlik (Turkey), self defence, which would only have been
Operations Command (SOCOM), Strategic personnel, who are well fed and enjoy the Aviano, Sigonella, La Maddalena, Livorno possible in the case of a direct attack against
Command (STRATCOM), Joint Forces Comm- recreation centres, the 234 gulf ranges, and and Vicenza (Italy), Able Sentry (Macedon- the US and only as long the UN took no meas-
mand (JFCOM), Transportation Command, the ski resort in Garmisch. nia), Camp Bondsteel (Kosovo) or Comanche, sures. Neither was the case. The (alleged)
(TRANSCOM). In the last month another purpose of the Dobol and McGovern (all in Bosnia). enemys possession of weapons of mass
EUCOM is responsible for over 90 count- US bases became public. Using the intern- 1,400 US soldiers are deployed in Inc- destruction is no reason for war anyway.
tries and territories, from the North Cape of national network of US bases the CIA can cirlic (Turkey). From here the Iraq northern The verdict stated that Germany gave
Norway, through the waters of the Baltic and kidnap any person in any country under the territories were observed and bombed until aid for the violation of international law and
Mediterranean seas, most of Europe, parts of pretext of being a suspected terrorist and the war against Iraq began in 2003. In Inc- therefore violated international law also, for
the Middle East, to the Cape of Good Hope kill him or bring him to any other country cirlic are also US nuclear bombs. the following reasons:
in South Africa. for investigation and torture. The media in In Poland a so-called Joint Force Traini- allowing the use of the US and UK
SOUTHCOM encompasses 30 countries Germany reported about black sites in ing Center was established in Bydgoszcz. military bases on German territory,
(19 in Central and South America and 12 in Poland and Romania. There are many cases New bases will be built in Krsiny and Bidla allowing the US and UK to fly over
the Caribbean). of such CIA transports from Aviano in Italy Polaska. The CIA used the Polish airfield German territory,
CENTCOM is responsible for a region and Ramstein and Frankfurt to Guantanamo in Szymany. guarding the US and UK military facilit-
consisting of 27 countries in Northeast Afr- and Afghanistan. In the years 2002, 2003 Beginning in 2003 the US first used the ties in Germany,
rica, Southwest and Central Asia, and the and 2004 there were more than 85 CIA flights harbour of Constanza and the air base Mihail participation of German soldiers in
island nation of the Seychelles. from Frankfurt Rheine-Main Air Base. So, Kogalniceanu in Romania. Also since 2003 AWACS planes for Turkish air space.
NORTHCOM includes air, land and sea Germany is not only the military center in Bulgaria allowed the use of the airbase Saraf- The court stated: The act of a state
approaches and encompasses the continental northern Europe but also very important for fowo. The Pentagon plans to deploy 15,000 allowing that its territory, given for use to
United States, Alaska, Canada, Mexico and the CIA, which can act without any control. soldiers in Romania and Bulgaria. another state, is used by this state for an act
the surrounding water out to approximately I assume that in all the countries with US of aggression is in itself an act of aggression.
500 nautical miles. It also includes the Gulf military bases there exist also secret priso- The Legal Status Germany should have been neutral in the US
of Mexico and the Straits of Florida, Canada ons, centers where human rights are broken The bases are de facto extrterritorial war against Iraq. This means the following
and Mexico. blatantly. areas. The US-expert Chalmers Johnson acts are forbidden:
PACOM is responsible for a region cons- wrote: transport of soldiers
sisting of the Pacific Ocean, 43 countries, 20 Germany Plays a Key Role Americas 703 officially acknowledged use of communication
territories and possessions, including China, If you compare the US military bases outs- foreign military enclaves (as of September use of cars, airplanes, and rockets.
Russia, India, Korea, Japan, Australia, Ind- side the US you will see that Germany today 30, 2002), although structurally, legally,
donesia and 10 US territories, like Hawaii has more US bases and more US soldiers and conceptually different from colonies, Germany Was Obliged to Arrest
and Alaska. (68,000) than any other country except Iraq are themselves something like microcolon- US Soldiers
and Afghanistan. So you can say Germany nies in that they are completely beyond the The court was even more strict: Troops
What the Bases Are For is still a occupied country; the US troops jurisdiction of the occupied nation1. The of conflicting parties, who pass a neutral terr-
Following Joseph Gerson the US bases and the British have never left Germany United States virtually always negotiates ritory, coming to the neutral territory after the
have seven purposes: since 1945. a status of forces agreement (SOFA) with start of the armed conflict are to be arrested.
To reinforce the status quo: for example More than 60% of the US troops in the ostensibly independent host nation, Only officers giving their word of honour not
the deterrent role of US bases in South Korea, Europe are stationed in Germany. In Germ- including countries whose legal systems are to leave the neutral Territory without permiss-
and the intimidating role of many of the US many Ramstein is the biggest US-airbase every bit (and perhaps more) sophisticated sion, can be released. . . .The obligation for
bases in Middle East, which are designed to outside the US. Grafenwhr is the biggest than our own. . . . Rachel Cornwell and internment comes from the very meaning of
ensure continued US privileged access to, army training area outside the US. The Andrew Wells, two authorities on status of the law of neutrality, because only in this
and control of, the regions oil current war against Iraq showed again the forces agreements, conclude, Most SOFAs way can it be hindered, that armed conflicts
To encircle enemies: as was the case with strategic importance of the German bases are written so that national courts cannot are supported from neutral territory thus
the Soviet Union and China during Cold War for the logistic, bringing the supplies to the exercise legal jurisdiction over US military continued on page 11
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he World Peace Forum (WPF) held home. The Canadian Peace Congress and WPC egates in fervent appeals for solidarity and Peninsula Iraq and the Horn of Africa, the
in Vancouver June 23-28, 2006 drew literature table distributed Peace Messenger action to ban nuclear weapons and for the Pacific Command, China and Japan, and the
5000 delegates from 93 countries all and three pamphlets prepared by the Regina removal of US bases from Japanese territory. A South Command Latin America.
concerned with the problem of winning peace Peace Council dealing with the militarization of Peace Boat carrying a thousand youth docked The paper quoted extensively from the
for the world. The WPF theme, Cities and the Canada, the use of humanitarian intervent- at the Port of Vancouver on the closing day. official US Overseas Basing Commission, det-
Communities; Working Together to End War tion as an excuse for military invasion, and the WPC Secretary Tadaaki Kawata member of tailing the costs of maintaining this enormous
and Build a Peaceful, Just and Sustainable demand for nuclear disarmament. the Standing Board of the Japan Peace Comm- military presence around the world, which is
World; was led by a WPF Society and Internat- The anti-imperialist struggle, intern- mittee and Secretary of the WPC addressing borne by the people of the USA and countries
tional Advisory Board which included World national solidarity, nuclear disarmament, the WPC workshop on June 28 reported on the where the bases are located. The paper exp-
Peace Council (WPC) President Orlando Fund- exposure of US-sponsored reforms of the broad mass movement in Japan for the removal posed the long term goal of the USA to secure
dora Lopez and Al Marder, WPC Secretary UN, opposition to foreign military bases, of all US military bases and for the complete for itself the worlds energy resources and to
and President of the US Peace Council. support for the immediate withdrawal of the elimination of all nuclear weapons world wide aggressively confront with military power
The WPC was an international endorser- US-NATO forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, and to prevent the Japanese Government from so-called great power competitors. The
supporter of the WPF along with the over 70 and denunciations of Israeli occupiers of altering its constitution so as to permit Japan to paper further points out that the US network
other international peace groups. WPC aff- Palestinian lands were topics at a number engage in aggressive militarism. Kawata also of foreign military bases has the full support
filiates represented at the WPF included the of workshops. Such events included pres- called for urgent action to prevent the US from of NATO and the EU including support for
US Peace Council, Japan Peace Committee, sentations by Senator Doug Roche, a former weakening the United Nations Charter. The US nuclear weapons in Europe.
Greek Committee for International Dtente Canadian Disarmament Ambassador to the WPC event on the theme, The Aggressiveness Tsavdaridis concluded his statement
and Peace (EEDYE), Portuguese Council for UN and Conservative cabinet member in the of Imperialism World Wide and the Peoples with a WPC pledge to cooperate with the
Peace and Cooperation, the Cuban Movement federal government, and Steven Staples, a Struggle heard presentations and intervent- international peace movement to close all
for Peace and Sovereignty of the Peoples prominent Canadian peace activist and head tions by WPC secretaries from the USA, Cuba, military bases. The WPC called for internat-
(Movpaz), and the Canadian Peace Congress. of the Polaris Institute. Canadian endorsers Greece, Portugal, Japan, and Canada. tional support and participation at the World
Also present at the WPF was Nguyen Van included well known patriot and publisher Noteworthy was the televised press Conference Against Foreign Military Bases
Huynh, General Secretary of the Vietnam Mel Hurtig, and the Council of Canadians, a conference with Shaw Cable, at which WPC that will take place in Quito, Ecuador March
Peace Committee and WPC coordinator for large membership organization dedicated to President Orlando Fundora Lopez, Alfredo 7 -10, 2007.
Asia and Pacific. General Secretary Niu Canadian Independence and active opposit- Leon Alvarez of Cuban Movement for Peace The Canadian Peace Congress was repr-
Qiang, of the Chinese Association for Peace tion to NAFTA. All major religious denomin- and Sovereignty of the Peoples (Movpaz), resented by Jeanette Morgan from Ontario,
and Disarmament (CPAPD), which maintains nations were represented at the WPF. New Democratic Party Foreign Affairs Blyth Nuttall from Alberta, Cathy Fischer
friendly working relations with the WPC, also and Peter Gehl from Saskatchewan, and Sylv-
attended the WPF. via and Don Currie from British Columbia.
The WPF was rated a success by organizers In an assessment of the event, requested by
and sponsors in spite of a media blackout and WPF executive Director Jeff Keighly, the WPC
right-wing reactionary attempts to sidetrack and Canadian Peace Congress said; The WPC
the event. The minority Conservative Governm- considers the work of the 5000 participants, from
ment of Prime Minister Stephen Harper was 93 countries representing diverse ideological,
elected January 2006 and was cool to the event. political, religious, class and social outlooks
The newly-elected Vancouver City Council ,as further evidence of the determination of the
dominated by right-wing members withdrew majority of humankind to unite in struggle to win
its political support and funding despite the a permanent and lasting world peace.
fact that the Vancouver City Council Peace and The WPC considers the WPF a rebuff to
Justice Committee had previously won Council the imperialist states that engage in wars of
approval based on the fact that Vancouver had aggression, military occupation and intimid-
the distinction of being designated as a UN dation for the sake of re-division of markets,
Peace Messenger City in recognition of its long A major highlight of WPF was the critic Alexa McDonough, and Jeff Keighly, the seizure of energy and water resources, to
history of actions for peace. workshop sponsored by the Vancouver and Executive Director of the WPF, addressed maintain privileges of wealth and power for a
Right-wing mayor Sam Sullivan encount- District Labour Council, on the theme The the significance of the UN Convention few while denying social and economic just-
tered protests from labour and peace groups Economics of War versus the Economics of Against Torture and Inhuman or Degrading tice to the majority, the poor and oppressed
and individuals from across the country and Peace. Ken Georgetti, president of the three Treatment, which Canada signed in 1975. peoples of the world, and without regard for
was forced to retreat, restore some funding million member Canadian Labour Congress President Fundora, a victim of torture under the environmental degradation of our planet.
and appear at the WPF opening ceremonies ,and Jim Sinclair of the BC Federation of Lab- the former Batista regime in Cuba, was also The WPF has given hope and encouragement
which featured WPF Society Member Al bour and leaders and members of other major interviewed on the Canadian public radio to all who fight for peace and justice.
Marder as featured speaker. In this connect- affiliates participated. Also represented were network of CBC. The press conference The doctrine of might is right, regime
tion, the steadfast support of such groups and labour leaders from the front lines of labour denounced the violations of the Geneva change, pre-emptive war, the duty to prot-
individuals as progressive Vancouver City struggles in Columbia, Iraq and Palestine. Conventions by the US military at its torture tect and so-called humanitarian intervent-
Council member David Cadman and former Al Marder, WPC secretary and president chambers at Guantanamo Bay Cuba and Abu tion was roundly criticized and rejected. We
Council member Ellen Woodsworth; Mayor of Peace Messenger Cities opened the WPF Ghraib in Iraq. also noted another complimentary trend that
Derek Corrigan of the City of Burnaby and ceremonies with an inspiring call to delegates The delegation of Movpaz and the Canadia- firmly upholds the sovereign right of peoples
member of Mayors for Peace; Bill Saunders, to step up their efforts to prevent US imperiali- an Committee for the Liberation of the Cuban to resist oppression, to choose their own form
President of the Vancouver and District ism from leading the world to a global catast- Five (CCLCF) presented to the participants of government and to implement economic
Labour Council, the B.C. Teachers Federat- trophe. Judith Leblanc of United For Peace of the WPF and the media a great amount and social policies that do not conform to
tion, and the Stopwar Coalition, were among and Justice (UFPJ) shared the platform at the of information on the Five Cuban Heroes ill- any imperialist model including those of the
those who provided leadership and support closing ceremonies with former UN Weapons legally jailed in the USA for over eight years. IMF, the WTO, the EU, NAFTA or the United
to keep the event on track. The attempt of Inspector Hans Blix of Sweden, and David Corr- The CCLCF staged a demonstration in front States of America (USA).
the right wing to scuttle the event galvanized rigan, the Mayor of Burnaby. Le Blanc lauded of the US Consulate in Vancouver demanding The following statement was adopted
WPF supporters. The WPF was noteworthy the organizers of WPF and said the event was the immediate release of the Cuban Heroes. unanimously at the WPC event:
for its large number of volunteer workers. A a significant contribution in the struggle for The WPC also renewed its demand to the US Delegates and supporters of the World
key leadership role was played throughout by peace. Le Blanc stressed importance of the Government on this urgent matter. Peace Forum attending the World Peace
WPF executive secretary Jef Keighly. broad anti-Bush sentiment in the USA and The WPC and Canadian Peace Congress Council event on June 28th 2006 in Vancouv-
More than 300 WPF workshops and activit- the struggles waged by UFPJ to end the war in delegates gave presentations and intervent- ver BC declare that the offensive launched
ties, dealt with various aspects of the struggle Iraq and defeat the Bush administration and tions at workshops on Foreign Military Bases, by imperialism against world peace, democ-
for peace ranging from meditation to mass its agenda of regime change and war. Hans Latin America workshop, the Canadian cratic rights and economic and social justice
organized protest. A highlight of the WPF was Blix called for renewed efforts to ban nuclear Peace Alliance sponsored wind up session, demands ever higher levels of peoples unity
a peace march through Vancouver streets under and all weapons of mass destruction. He urged and the WPC event on June 28th. and mass action to confront and eliminate
the slogan, No War No Where, that drew the peace movement not to give up on the UN. The No Military Bases Movement Plen- aggression and war.
an estimated 10,000 participants. Canadian He said the UN inspection team was unable nary on June 27 was addressed by Iraklis We denounce and condemn the system
Peace Congress delegates carried the banner to prevent the war in Iraq because the Bush Tsavdaridis, organizational secretary of the of US and NATO military bases that violate
of the Canadian Peace Congress and the WPC. administration had already made up its mind WPC and representing the Greek Committee sovereign territory, build up rapid deployment
The march ended with a rally at Sunset Beach to go to war. Blix heads the Weapons of Mass for International Dtente and Peace (EEDYE). military forces, including nuclear weapons that
addressed by US peace activist Cindy Sheeh- Destruction Commission which has just publ- Tsavdaridis pointed out that the USA maint- are used to launch military attacks, seize oil and
han, the mother of an American soldier who lished its findings in a report entitled: Weapons tains 800 larger installations/locations outside water resources, and suppress mass democratic
was killed in Iraq. Sheehan took her protest of Terror, Free the World of Nuclear, Biological of US territory in 163 countries in four military and revolutionary movements of the people.
to the doorstep of President Bush at his ranch and Chemical Arms. commands. The European Command, respons- We demand the closure of US and
in Texas and is one of the personalities in the A highlight of the WPF were hundreds sible for Europe and Africa, the Central Comm- other military detention centers, concentrat-
current drive in the US to bring the troops peace activists from Japan who engaged dele- mand controlling Central Asia, the Arabian continued on page 10
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anadian peace activists united on Oct- decision to escalate and extend the Afghan to an object of ridicule among the UN Muslims for Peace a teach-in at the Regina
tober 28th in peace events, marches mission. The labour leader said; At the mom- member states. City Hall, demanding a ceasefire in Lebanon.
and demonstrations in all provinces ment, Canada is sending its troops to support Stephen Harper mindlessly repeats Speakers included Dr. Ray Cleveland. Dr.
and major cities of the country, to demand a parliament that is already half-dominated word for word the policy directives eman- Shreesh Juyal and Dr. Jim Harding, all of
that the Conservative Government of Prime by drug-trafficking warlords, many of whom nating from NATO headquarters in Bruss- the University of Regina, and Riaz Ahmed,
Minister Stephen Harper withdraw Canadian have committed atrocities against their own sels, the Pentagon and the Israeli high president of the Saskatchewan Organizat-
military forces from the US-NATO led war in people during Afghanistans civil war in command. The elected members of the tion of Muslims for Peace and Justice, who
Afghanistan. The actions were coordinated the early 1990s. The US military strategy Canadian Parliament are not consulted called for a broad peace conference to deal
by the Canadian Peace Alliance (CPA), an adopted by NATO hasnt brought peace, red- and relegated to the ignominious role of with the root causes of the last 40 years
umbrella group uniting all of the leading duced poverty, stopped heroin production, or voiceless bystanders. of conflict in the Middle East, namely the
peace organizations in Canada. The October helped reconstruct Afghanistan. Georgetti Outside Parliament growing numb- illegal Israeli occupation of Arab lands in
28th events were co-sponsored by the CPA, added that it wasnt surprising that an Afg- bers of Canadians are determined to Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria. Dr. Harding
the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), a three ghan resistance movement has emerged that bring real change in Canadas foreign warned of the dangers accompanying the
million-member central labour organizat- brands Hamid Karzai the mayor of Kabul policy, elect a House of Commons more attempted Western hegemony in a uni-polar
tion and many of its leading affiliates. The or assistant to the American Ambassador. in touch with the views of Canadians and world by one superpower with neo-liberal
Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC) and most Addressing Prime Minister Harper directly, end the danger created by the Harper economics.
other leading Muslim groups were cospons- the CLC President said, Thats right Prime Tories. Regina Peace Council is sponsoring
sors. All peace coalitions in all major cities Minister. At the moment our military isnt We call upon the leaders of the opp- a workshop on October 28th, Canadas
back the event. The Council of Canadians, fighting the forces of corruption, violence, position parties to speak up and assert Militarism and Its Role in Afghanistan,
an influential nationwide group opposed to and the heroin trade. Were supporting them, their legitimate role and immediately call with prominent peace activist Richard Sande-
US-Canadian integration was a sponsor. The and this is never told to the thousands of for the re-convening of the Parliament of ers from the Coalition to Oppose the Arms
Canadian Peace Congress, the Canadian Canadian soldiers sent to the battlegrounds Canada to pass a motion of censure and Trade as principal speaker. Peter Gehl, co-
affiliate of the World Peace Council (WPC) of Kandahar. lack of confidence in the Prime Minister chair of the Canadian Peace Congress and
was a sponsor. Political parties supporting In an effort to bolster its sagging support and his Government. We call upon you to vice-president of the Regina Peace Council
the event included the Communist Party of for the war, the Harper Government invited speak up for the majority of Canadians is organizer of the event. There will be a
Canada (CPC), the Green Party of Ontario, Hamid Karzai to speak to the House of Comm- who reject the Bush doctrine of pre-empt- march and rally in Regina, the Provincial
and the Canadian Action Party. mons. The non-event has had little affect on tive war and who support cessation of war, capital, calling for Troops Out of Afghanistan
The New Democratic Party (NDP) a public opinion polls which continue to run respect for the UN Charter and negotiat- on October 29th.
social democratic party with twenty nine at 70 percent in opposition to the war. tions as the bedrock of an independent Congress executive member Don Curr-
members of Parliament in the 308-seat The NDP and the CLC opposition to Can- Canadian foreign policy of peace. rie has been invited to speak at several
House of Commons passed a strongly worded nadian involvement in Afghanistan follow rallies and meetings in the Interior of Briti-
resolution at its September 8-10, 2006 Queb- strong public opposition to the Conservative The Canadian Peace Congress has been ish Columbia and is speaking at a march
bec City National Convention calling for the Partys pro-Bush stance on the war. US active with other Vancouver World Peace and rally in Nelson B.C. on October 28th.
withdrawal of all Canadian troops from Afg- President George Bush is highly unpopular Forum (WPF) delegates in speaking at Congress executive member Darrell Rankin
ghanistan. The 1800 delegates endorsed the among Canadians. Prime Minister Harper September and October World Peace Forum of Winnipeg organized a demonstration
resolution following a country-wide public is considered to be an uncritical supporter report back meetings in Nelson, Castlegar protesting the Israeli military attacks on
outcry over escalating Canadian casualties of the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive war. and Grand Forks, towns in the interior of the Gaza and is active in CPA preparations for
among Canadas 2,500-member contingent The rising anti-war sentiment is also the Province of British Columbia. Peace Mess- October 28th. The first issue of Peace Mess-
in Afghanistan. Thirty-nine Canadian sold- result of public outrage at the scenes of sengers were distributed and the statement of senger has been sent to major cities across
diers have died and more casualties occur massive destruction of southern Lebanon WPC President Orlando Fundora Lopez was the country for distribution at the October
each week. by the US-sponsored Israeli war. Prime read at the International Peace Day event in 28th events.
Prior to their convention the NDP had Minister Harper was widely condemned Castlegar on September 21st. World Peace Council affiliates are invited
forced a debate and vote in the House of for describing the Israeli land, sea, and The Regina Peace Council, a Canadian to visit the Canadian Peace Congress website:
Commons on the minority Conservative air bombardment of southern Lebanon as Peace Congress affiliate co-sponsored with www.peacecongress.ca. Contact us by email at:
Governments plans to escalate Canadian a measured response. There is a large the Regina Peace Action Coalition and congresspeace@peacecongress.ca. n
military intervention from a low level occup- Lebanese Canadian population in Canada
pation of Kabul into an aggressive search and and some were killed and wounded by
destroy mission in Kandahar and to extend
the mission from February 2007 to 2009.
Israeli bombing while visiting relatives in
southern Lebanon. More about the WPC
The Harper Government took the decision The people of Quebec were particularly
following high-level meetings at NATO headq- outraged by the massive Israeli destruction Executive Committee:
quarters in Brussels last February attended of southern Lebanon and Beruit and tens
by Defense Minister Gordon OConnor, a of thousands demonstrated in downtown The Assembly of the WPC in its last meeting elected a 39-member Executive
former brigadier general and well-known arm- Montreal led by prominent peace and lab- Committee composed of the respective member organizations from the following
mament manufacturer lobbyist. A combined bour activists and Bloc Quebecois Leader countries:
Liberal Conservative majority approved the Gilles Duceppe. The Bloc has 50 seats in
extension and the combat role and rammed it Parliament. Duceppe also demanded a Parl- Asia and the Pacific: Australia; Bangladesh; India; Japan; DPR Korea;
through Parliament after a nine-hour debate. liamentary debate on the Afghan mission in Mongolia; Nepal; Pakistan; Vietnam.
After the Parliamentary decision was taken the House of Commons. Africa: Angola; Congo Brazz.; Congo Dr.; Senegal; South Africa; Tanzania;
the Government added several hundred The Canadian Peace Congress issued a Zimbabwe.
more troops and 15 tanks to the Canadian statement on the Israeli war on Lebanon on Middle East: Egypt; Iraq; Palestine; Syria; Yemen.
forces. The next group of soldiers scheduled July 19th addressed to all opposition leaders Americas: Argentina; Brazil; Canada; Costa Rica; Cuba; Dominican Republic;
to be sent to Afghanistan will come from the in the House of Commons. The statement Mexico; Panama; USA; Venezuela.
French speaking Van Doos regiment from said: Europe: Cyprus; Czech Republic; France; Germany; Greece; Portugal; Spain;
Quebec where opposition to the war is very Turkey.
intense. The bankrupt statements of Prime
Following the Quebec City NDP Convent- Minister Harper concerning the Israeli Regional Coordinators:
tion, NDP Leader Jack Layton said, Prime military assault on Palestinian lands and
Minister Harper need only look at the experie- Lebanon, is further proof that the minori- Mexican Movement for Peace and development MOMPADE (Regional Coord-
ence in Iraq to conclude that ill-conceived ity Conservative Government has aband- dinator for the Americas); Vietnam Peace Committee VPC (Regional Coordinator
and unbalanced missions do not create the doned all pretence of an independent for Asia & the Pacific); Egyptian Peace Committee (Regional Coordinator for the
conditions for a long-term peace. Why are Canadian foreign policy of peace and Middle East); Portuguese Council for Peace and Cooperation (Regional Coordinator
we blindly following the defense policy relies totally on the NATO-US-Israeli for Europe); Congo Peace Committee (Regional Coordinator for Africa).
prescriptions of the Bush administration? policy of all-out war as the preferred
Canadians want a foreign policy rooted in method of solving complex international Co-Presidents:
fact, not fear. One that is uniquely independ- disputes.
dent, not ideologically imported. And one The practical results of placing the Argentina (MOPASSOL); India (AIPSO); Palestine (PCPJ).
that leads the world into peace, not follows interests of the USA and Israel above
the U.S. into wars. those of the Canadian people is the Honorary President:
Ken Georgetti, President of the CLC in a abandonment of Canadian citizens in Romesh Chandra; Evangelos Mahairas.
strongly worded statement on September 9th war zones, mounting civilian and milit-
condemned the Conservative Governments tary casualties, and relegating Canada
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he American powers that be have istration and his successor as president, ments into our own federation in such large attitude toward the heroic Cuban people at
persistently longed for Cuba since had written: ... if an apple, severed by the numbers would be madness, so before we do this history making time is, in my opinion,
the end of the 18th century, before the tempest from its native tree, cannot but fall that we must clean up the country. We must one of big business. . . .Cuba cannot have
islands first independence wars. to the ground, Cuba, forcibly disjoined from destroy everything within our cannons range true moral peace . . . under the transitional
Two precepts have conditioned US its unnatural connection with Spain and of fire. We must impose a harsh blockade government. This transitional government
foreign policies towards Cuba at the highe- incapable of self-support, can gravitate only so that hunger and its constant companion, was imposed by force by a foreign power and,
est levels of government since then: the to the North American union, which by the disease, undermine the peaceful population therefore, is illegitimate and incompatible
manifest destiny doctrine and the theory same law of nature, cannot cast her off from and decimate the army. The allied army must with the principles that the entire country has
of the ripe fruit. its bosom. be constantly engaged in reconnaissance and been upholding for so long and in the defense
On June 1783, the second US president, This principle was no obstacle, however, vanguard actions so that the Cuban army is of which its sons have given their lives and
John Adams, expressed that the island of for the US trying to buy Cuba from Spain. An irreparably caught between two fronts. all of its wealth has been consumed.
Cuba was a natural extension of the North offer to purchase the island for $100 million The high US official went on to explain On July 1900, the Constitutional Conv-
American continent, and that its annexation was refused by the Iberian crown. the plan for the military occupation of Cuba vention of Cuban representatives started its
was absolutely necessary for the mainten- By the 1880s, US capital was heavily and the temporary maintenance by force deliberations in order to implement the US
nance of the United States. He sustained involved in the Cuban economy, particularly of the new independent government of a Joint Resolution by drafting a new Constitut-
that Cuban independence was never to be in the sugar industry, as a result of its global minority of the autonomists and Spaniards tion and stipulations concerning US-Cuban
allowed and that the best way to achieve that interest in turning the Caribbean Islands into who remained, until it was strong enough to relations.
purpose was to let Cuba remain under Spani- sugar-based economies. maintain itself against the separatists. On March 1901, the US congress attached
ish rule until the island could be absorbed The revolutionary origins of the US were When this moment arrives, - he conc- an amendment to the Cuban Constitutional
by the US. still alive in American peoples memory and cluded- we must create conflicts for the project imposing, as conditions for the US to
The manifest destiny was a conception many ordinary US citizens were sympathetic independent government. That government leave the government of the island in Cuban
developed in those days as a doctrine attribu- to Cuba. This fact overlapped a tense build- will be faced with these difficulties. These hands, those contained in what became known
uting to the US an alleged special mission: to up in the US for a direct military intervention difficulties must coincide with the unrest as the Platt Amendment, after Senator Orville
carry its particular form of economic, social in Cubas independence war against Spain. and violence among the aforementioned Platt who presented it. Under this amendment,
and political organization; first within North However, in 1895, shortly before being elements, to whom we must give our backi- the US limited the countrys sovereignty and
America and later throughout the Western killed in combat, the Cuban revolutionary ing. To sum up, our policy must always be turned it into a neocolonial enclave. It legali-
Hemisphere. The westward expansion was leader Jos Mart drew attention to the fact to support the weaker against the stronger, ized US military intervention. It assumed the
completed by the end of the 19th century: that, while fighting Spain, he also wanted until we have obtained the extermination right to seize part of Cubas territory by leavi-
the indigenous population was annihilated to prevent the United States, with the ind- of them both, in order to annex the Pearl of ing ownership of the Isle of Pines (the second
and the Mexican neighbors lost nearly half dependence of Cuba, from extending itself the Antilles. largest island in the Cuban archipelago) to be
their territory (Texas, New Mexico and through the West Indies and falling with Early in 1898, the battleship USS Maine adjusted by future treaty. It limited Cubas
California). added weight upon our lands of America. arrived at Cuba on a courtesy visit. In the rights to enter into treaties with other count-
In 1823, President James Monroe pron- Everything that I have done is for that purp- morning of February15, the Maine exploded tries and it forced the country to sell or lease
nounced what became known as the Monroe pose, he proclaimed. and 260 of the crewmembers were killed. US a part of its territory for the establishment of
doctrine, or the America for the Americans On December 24 th 1897, US Under- newspapers blamed Spain and coined the naval stations.
doctrine, stating that interference by any Secretary of War J.C. Breckenridge wrote in slogan Remember the Maine, to hell with Coercion and fraud were used to establ-
European power in the newly emerging Latin a memorandum: This [the Cuban] populat- Spain. One of the photographs published, lish US military bases in Cuba, factors that,
American republics would be considered tion is made up of whites, blacks, Asians allegedly showed the hole made in the hull under international law, make any agreement
an unfriendly act against the US itself and, and people who are mixture of these races. by a Spanish torpedo. null and void. The Cuban Convention was
therefore, the US had the right to protect The inhabitants are generally indolent and Over 80 years after de Maine incident, warned not to modify the Amendment and
the region. This apparent US defensive pat- apathetic. Since they only possess a vague US Admiral G.H. Rickover admitted that the told that the US troops would not leave Cuba
ternalism towards the rest of the hemisphere notion of what is right and wrong, the people Spanish had not blown up the Maine, and until its terms had been adopted. So there
very soon became forceful expansionism. tend to seek pleasure not through work, but that actually US specialists had set the could be no possible misunderstanding,
Some years before, John Quincy Adams, through violence. It is obvious that the imm- explosives on board. The majority of the 260 Senator Platt finished his warning by saying
then Secretary of State in Monroes admini- mediate annexation of these disturbing elem- US crew killed were black, the white officers that, if the Amendment were not accepted,
having been ashore at the time. Incidentally, there would be no Republic of Cuba.
it was known that the hole in the hull was In 1901, Theodore Roosevelt became US
actually an eclipse of the sun photographed President. He had been Assistant Secretary
APPEAL OF THE WORLD PEACE COUNCIL much earlier. for the Navy under President McKinley and
About the Illegal Imprisonment of the Five Cuban Political Prisoners in the USA On April 11, 1898, President McKinley one of the strongest advocates of military
The World Peace Council is drawing the attention of the peace loving people of requested authorization from the US Cong- intervention in Cuba. The war had made his
the world, about the internationally well-known legal and humanitarian scandal of gress and Senate to intervene, and a few days political career. He made an addition to the
the imprisonment of the five Cuban patriots in the USA, which have been sentenced later declared war on Spain. Monroe doctrine, known as the Roosevelt
heavily for espionage and conspiracy, while tried in Miami some eight years ago. The US had never recognized the Cuban Corollary: Chronic wrongdoing or an impot-
The WPC denounces this unlawful twist of the truth, although it was clear that the peoples struggle for independence or their tence which results in a general loosening of
five Cuban patriots were collecting information against the Cuban-American mafia liberation army as a legitimate force. Just the ties of civilized society may, in America
circles of Miami, who were preparing terror acts against Cuba. a few hours after declaring war on Spain, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention
Since then, many judicial and political efforts have been carried out, both inside McKinley said he would not recognize the by some civilized nation, and in the Western
the USA and allover the world. The mobilizations in support of the five Cuban citizens Republic of Cuba as declared by the revolut- Hemisphere the adherence of the United
Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzlez, Gerardo Hernndez, Ramn Labaino and tionary Government in Arms. He only wanted States to the Monroe Doctrine may force
Ren Gonzlez, are growing in dozens of countries. to drive Spain out and gain sole influence it, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of
Millions and millions of people are getting to know every day the truth behind for the US. wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of
this criminal conspiracy of political revenge and silence. Even US courts are ruling In just eight months, Cuba saw US an international police power.
that the decisions of the Miami court were null and void. military intervention, the defeat of Spain, Invasions, threats and treaties made at
The case of the five has been used by the US administration in order to justify its war actions by the US forces against the Cuban gunpoint characterized Roosevelts term as
drive, its war against terror, and its imperialist policy against the peoples of the world independence army and the imposition of president. On 24 March 1902, he met with
and against Cuba in particular. It provokes feelings of anger and fury to us in the WPC, a transitional government a US military Toms Estrada Palma, US-appointed future
but also to any democratic and open minded person on earth, when the US administration governorship. More than thirty years of pat- President of Cuba. He told him which places
is referring to terrorism while being the biggest terrorist on the planet. triotic struggle for independence had served had been chosen for the establishment of
The WPC considers the imprisonment of the five Cuban political prisoners, as for nothing. naval bases or coaling stations, as stipulated
a flagrant violation of Human Rights and of International law. We demand their imm- On December 10, the Treaty of Paris in the Platt Amendment.
mediate release from the US prisons. was signed. The US treated Cuba as a In a memorable ceremony in which the
We call upon all Peace Movements worldwide, to unite their voices with the conquered country and got Spain to hand Cuban flag was raised by respected General
Cuban Peace Movement in our common demand for justice, against the imperialist over the island to their military occupation. Maximo Gomez himself, the Republic of
manipulation of truth. Cuban representatives were excluded from Cuba was officially established on May 20,
US imperialism will not be able to carry on its cynical and arbitrary policy for the proceedings. 1902, but to pretend Cuba became independ-
ever. The Cuban people angrily opposed ann- dent that day is to disguise the historical
The united power of the peoples can and will impose their rights and needs! nexation. General Mximo Gmez, one of truth and to twist the true role played by the
Hands off Cuba! the founders of Cuban independence, wrote United States in the outcome of Cubas war of
in his campaign diary: The Americans independence against Spanish colonialism.
Athens October 6, 2006 military occupation is too high a price to Almost seventy percent of the sugar ind-
On behalf of the Secretariat of WPC pay for their spontaneous intervention in the dustry the most important and almost sole
Iraklis Tsavdaridis Secretary war we waged against Spain for freedom and industry on the island was in the hands of
independence. The American governments continued on page 8
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n October 9, North Korea (NK) ann- The Bush Administration is obliged, by acceptable; for South Korea, the scale of the incapable of devising a unified policy on NK for
nounced that it had just conducted its own fierce rhetoric of the past, to show a destruction that would result from war with the last five years is unlikely to have suddenly
a nuclear test. The test came just six tough response to NKs test. And yet theres NK could be crippling beyond recovery. found one in the course of a few days.
days after an official statement by the Foreign really nothing much the US can do in the According to a study released in 2005, a The progressive forces in South Korea must
Ministry that NK would proceed with such event of a nuclear test by NK other than surgical strike on NKs nuclear facility, at worst, oppose UN sanctions as well as military action
a test. Experts had warned unequivocally to issue condemnations through a new UN can turn the entire Korean Peninsula into a by the US, for the sanctions themselves could
that Pyongyang wasnt simply bluffing this resolution, as Professor Don Oberdorfer of radioactive desert for 10 years. At best, 80% further destabilize the situation. We shouldnt
time. But the Bush administration, by ignori- Johns Hopkins pointed out. of living organisms within a 10~15 kilometer lend our support to the South Korean governm-
ing such warnings and responding with the Washington cant take the military option radius of the strike will die in a couple of ments plan to support UN sanctions. Sanctions
usual blackmail, practically asked for this for three reasons. First, the administrations months, and the radioactive fallout will travel will only make ordinary North Koreans suffer.
to happen. hands are tied to Iraq; it has its eyes on Iran up to 1400km enough to cover Seoul. The only way to stop nuclear proliferation is to
Leon Sigal, the author of Disarming on top of it. As strong as the US military If Washington presses NK too hard, South force the US to quit threatening NK.
Stranger, recently noted that the only way is, it cant afford to pick another fight in Korea could move closer to China, which in
to stop NKs nuclear test would be for the US another front. This must have been part of turn would hurt US hegemony in Northeast A Dangerous Game
to negotiate seriously with NK, a prospect
that seems remote at the moment. NK claims its nuclear test would serve
The NK nuclear test, therefore, was a very to defend peace and stability in the Korean
predictable outcome. When the US continued Peninsula and the region surrounding it. That
to ignore NK by refusing dialogue and maint- is just false. Even if theres no immediate milit-
taining financial sanctions despite NKs procl- tary action from the US, NKs test will serve to
lamation of nuclear statehood and test-firing of intensify tension in Northeast Asia.
missiles, Pyongyang turned to nuclear testing NKs test will encourage Japan to go nuclear,
in a last-ditch attempt to be taken seriously. which will then encourage South Korea and
NKs nuke test is the culmination of five Taiwan to follow suit. The result will be a
years of the Bush administrations policy Northeast Asian region living in constant fear
towards NK. Up until the year 2002, NK of thermonuclear war.
had been freezing its plutonium reactor and From the point of view of NK state offic-
reprocessing facility, in compliance with cials, nuclear arms may seem the only poss-
the Agreed Framework. It was only after sible deterrent against Washingtons aggress-
October 2002, when Bushs special envoy Pyongyangs calculation. Even a limited, Asia. Preserving US hegemony in the region sion. But from the perspective of the ordinary
James Kelly went to Pyongyang to pick a pin-point strike on NK nuclear facilities has been the pre-occupation of US strategists people of Northeast Asia, NKs nuclear test
fight, and only after November 2002, when could easily escalate into a far wider conflict. like Brezinsky ever since the end of the Cold is a dangerous gamble with their lives which
the US stopped supplying NK with heavy General Gary Luck (ret.), who commanded War. The US is in the difficult position of havi- has nothing to do with socialism. It could also
oil (in violation of the Agreed Framework), US forces in Korea in 1994, estimated that if ing to play NKs threat as a means of bolstering have a negative impact on peoples movem-
that NK withdrew from the Nonproliferation the US strikes NK nuclear facilities, a full- the US-Korea alliance, and at the same time ments in South Korea, Japan, etc.
Treaty (NPT) and restarted operation of its scale war would erupt in which one million avoid escalating the tension too much. The logic of mutually assured destruction
nuclear reactor in Yongbyon. lives would be lost, including those of 80 Third, US public opinion against war can ensure neither peace nor the survival of
Even as the invasion of Iraq reinforced to 100 thousand Americans; material costs (which has now moved to the mainstream) is the regime. Humanity went near the brink of
the perception that countries actually need would exceed $100 billion. Second, the US making it even more difficult for the admini- thermonuclear war during the Cuban missile
weapons of mass destruction to deter US agg- must take into account how China and South istration to resort to military action. crisis of 1962. Only four years ago, India and
gression, people like Richard Pearle publicly Korea would react. The two might agree on In the given circumstances, the Bush adm- Pakistan came close to waging nuclear warfare
bragged how weve already smashed the UN sanctions (albeit not on their intensity), ministration is likely to apply pressure on NK over Kashmir. Threatening the workers and the
Iraqi Republican Guard. We can do the same but they are not likely to support military through UN sanctions first, and then wait and people of other countries with nuclear weapons
with NKs army. action. For China, the prospect of having US see how things develop, trying to figure out how will only serve to whip up fear and thus damage
Moreover, the US listed NK among its pot- forces right across the Chinese border is una- to respond. An administration that has been their real potential to defeat imperialism. n
tential nuclear strike targets, in the Nuclear
Posture Review submitted to the Congress
in December 2001. A threat of this kind CUBA HAS THE RIGHT TO INDEPENDENCE US flag rose to sound of a 21-gun salute. Then After six decades of submission to US
against a non-nuclear state clearly violates (from p. 7) 600 US Marines landed. hegemony, first as an occupied country and
the Nonproliferation Treaty. US capitalists, who also owned Cubas best One hundred years later a terror prison then as a semi-colony under US control and
By leveling such naked threats for years arable lands. camp for the abuse and torture of detainees supervision, the Cuban people defeated the
and years against a NK that had acquired The Cuban Revolutionary Party -founded under US custody was established there in furious Batistas dictatorship, notorious for
plutonium re-processing capability, Washi- by Jose Marti in 1892 as the single political defiance of international humanitarian law its corruption and repression, which had full
ington was in effect begging NK to develop organization intended to unite all the Cubans and is still existent despite almost unanim- support of the US with military advisors in
nuclear weapons. to struggle for independence against Spain mous universal reproach. The US naval base every arm and branch.
As a matter of fact, nuclear blackmail and prevent the US from absorbing Cuba- at Guantnamo has also been the place from After the triumph of the Revolution in
against NK has been ongoing for nearly had been dissolved; the Cuban Liberation where the US has launched many invasions January first 1959, ten US Administrations
half a century since 1957, when the US, Army had been discharged and the Platt on other countries in the region, most rec- have used every means at their disposal, short
in violation of the Armistice Agreement, Amendment was securely attached to the cently Haiti, Dominican Republic, Panama of all-out war, to strangle the Revolution.
brought nuclear bombs, missiles and mines Cuban Constitution. and Grenada. The economic blockade, euphemistically
into South Korea. So vile was the American interference in Opening the 20th Century, Cuba emerged called embargo in the US, which has been
Although the Bush Administration, along Cubas internal affairs that Leonard Wood, as the model for US imperialism. American exercised against Cuba for 48 consecutive
with the South Korean, Japanese, and the Cubas military governor after the Spanish- economic and political domination had been years has had an estimated cost of 125 bill-
Chinese authorities, is currently condemning American War, wrote in a letter to Theodore secured without the seizure of a colony. The lion US dollars.
NKs nuclear test, the International Court of Roosevelt, There is, of course, little or no US could continue to boast its anti-colonial As those who manipulate and control
Justice said in a 1996 ruling that it could not independence left for Cuba under the Platt tradition and beliefs despite having made the media in a global scale happen to be the
determine categorically whether the use of Amendment. Cuba a dependency. It was at this time that the same interests served by the policy-makers
nuclear weapons by a state would be unlawful By 1902, time had come for the first term sphere of influence became an internat- and strategists that generate these decept-
even under extreme circumstances in which the elections to be called. The elected president tional euphemism for neo-colonialism. tive US actions, world public opinion must
very survival of the state is at stake. In a way, was a Cuban who had become a naturalized However, the US militarily intervened in remain aware of such ripe fruit appetites.
Bushs NK policy served merely to strengthen American citizen after living in the United Cuba in 1906, 1909 and 1912. During this last Cubans have a right to independence
NKs missile and nuclear capabilities without States for 25 years and who favored the ann- intervention, the US took the opportunity to and Peace!
being able to replace the regime. nexation of Cuba to the US. impose an extension of its territory at Guant-
In July 1903, a so-called Permanent tanamo in exchange for giving up another *Manuel E. Yepe is Secretary of the Cuban Peace
UN Sanctions are not the Solution Treaty was signed, which involved, among base in Bahia Honda, West of Havana. That Movement, an NGO existing since 1949 with consultt
tative status before the Economic and Social Council
other generous Cuban concessions to the same year, US President William Howard Taft of the United Nations Organization. Ex-Ambassadt
The aftermath of NKs test has become US, the unlimited lease a territory in the said: The day is not far distant when three dor, lawyer, economist and social scientist, he is also
the subject of utmost interest. Pyongyang app- bay of Guantanamo. The neocolonial Cuban Stars and Stripes at three equidistant points Adjunct Associate Professor at the Raul Roa Higher
parently wishes to gain de facto recognition government requested that the inauguration will mark our territory; one at the North Pole, Institute of International Relations in Havana. He
as a nuclear power, or to gain a more potent be discreet because the Cuban people were served as Director General of Prensa Latina Latin-
another at the Panama Canal, and the third
American News Agency and Vice President of the
leverage for negotiation. This is one possible protesting against the lease, and it sent only at the South Pole. The whole hemisphere will Cuban Institute of Radio and Television, as well as
outcome, but the immediate effect would be a one representative. At noon the day of the be ours in fact as, by virtue of our superiority founder National Director of the UNDPs Technolt
tightening of sanctions through the UN. event, the Cuban flag was lowered, and the of race, it already is ours morally. logical Information Pilot System in Cuba..
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Notes from Around the WORLD from EEDYE handed over funds collected for
this purpose by peace fighters all over Greece
town of Beit Hanon and the surroundings.
Forty Palestinians from both sexes and all
to representatives of the peace movements ages are reported dead while more than
Greece: Demonstrations in The terrorism used by the Israeli government of Palestine and Lebanon. 200 have been injured. Witnesses add that
Solidarity with the Peoples of and the imperialists is aimed at striking eve- The war is over, but on the pretext of massive destructions for the infrastructure,
Palestine and Lebanon ery type of resistance and at subjugating the offering humanitarian aid and following the houses and mosques in the neighborhoods
peoples of that region. The Israeli army has relevant UN resolution the forces of imperia- are still ongoing.
At the initiative of the Greek Committee acted with complete impunity and with the alism and the EU have set foot in Lebanon. Sadly, the war is launched and -as it
for International Dtente and Peace (EEDYE), full support of the USA and the EU, which This development is part of the plan of the has always been the case when it comes to
the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME), the wish to impose their own solutions on the USA and its allies to dominate the Middle Palestine- the international community is
Federation of Greek Women (OGE) and the Middle East. East under the false title: silent at the best. This same community is
Greek Committee for International Democ- The crimes committ- Democratization of the besieging the Palestinians economically and
cratic Solidarity (EEDDA), dozens of anti- ted by the Israeli Air Middle East. This plan, pressuring them to abandon violence and
war demonstrations condemning the Israeli Force and the use of proh- which is already being to abide by the worlds order and law.
barbarity in Palestine and Lebanon were held hibited types of bombs implemented in Iraq, has We at the Department of Arab and Intern-
nationwide, especially in the larger towns and causing hundreds of been set out in a NATO- national Relations do rally behind the appeal
cities. Once or twice a week during the summ- casualties amongst the EU document. by President Mahmoud Abbas to the UN
mer, during the Israeli attack on Lebanon , dyn- civilian population of The Greek anti-imper- Security Council to interfere and put a halt
namic demonstrations were held, primarily in Lebanon have angered rialist peace movement to the atrocities committed in Gaza Stripe.
Athens and Thessalonica, expressing support Greek public opinion. demands that the foreign The Israeli troops immoral crimes would
for and solidarity with the heroic peoples of The Greek government troops leave Lebanon and only help to drag the region towards more
Lebanon and Palestine. In Athens the protest has also provoked the that the murderous Israeli violence and instability.
marches set out from the downtown area and indignation of the Greek attacks on the Palestinians We appeal to the Arab and Islamic nations
ended at the Israeli Embassy after passing people, as for the entire be stopped. It demands to take the lead and to rise up to their respons-
in front of the US Embassy (US support for duration of the war it kept that the Palestinian and sibilities in order to stop the Israeli attacks.
Israels murderous attacks on Lebanon and the same stance vis a vis Lebanese prisoners be rel- We also call the free voices, peace lovers
Palestine being well-known). the perpetrator and the leased from Israeli prisons and the humanitarian bodies along the world
From the very first moment the Greek victims, accepting its own share in the guilt and that the Palestinians acquire their own to take serious and influential stands to help
peace movement stood in solidarity with and its total subjugation to the commands of state with East Jerusalem its capital. lifting the accumulated pressure and unjust
the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples and the USA and the EU. that is practiced on the Palestinians.
condemned the barbarous acts committed by The support and solidarity of the Greek The PLO Condemns the Bloody
the Israeli occupation forces on Palestinian anti-imperialist peace movement towards the Attacks against Gaza Palestine Liberation Organization
territory and in Lebanon, with the unceasing peoples of Palestine and Lebanon were also The Israeli military forces, for the fifth Ramallah Palestine
slaughter of civilians, women and children. expressed through financial aid. Delegations day, are escalating its vicious attacks on the November 2006
GLOBAL NET OF US MILITARY Bases... agreements to SOFA and the NATO treaty, the deployment of nuclear weapons in Germ- Unfortunately both governments agreed in
(from p. 4) or use or prepare them for other activities. many. This is forbidden by the NPT and the May 2006 to intensified military cooperation
leading to an escalation of armed conflicts The German government has to start and advisory opinion of the International Court and also for a heliport. So this struggle
and including the neutral state. The Federal take all necessary measures to hinder that from July 8th, 1996. goes on.
Republic of Germany was not released from actions and support for war in violation of Generally international law and the On November 21, 2005 the last US
this obligation of international law, in the international law are initiated from the terr- constitution are broken by the SOFA and soldier left the airbase of Karshi-Khanabad
case of the war, which began on March 20th, ritory of the Federal Republic of Germany. additional agreements. (Usbekistan). The US had used this airb-
2003, and in which we see severe violations One more reason for this is Article 2 of base after September 11, 2001. But then
of international law, by being a member of the treaty, concerning the final regulations Nuclear Sharing within NATO the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
NATO, which includes also the US and the about Germany (so called Two-Plus-Four In Europe the US have deployed 480 (SCO) was established by China, Russia,
UK (and other members of the war coalit- Treaty), which was adopted as part of the nuclear bombs in Germany, the Netherlands, Kasachstan, Kirgisia, Tadschikistan, and
tion). framework for German reunification. This Belgium, Italy and Turkey. The NATO still Usbekistan. The SCO forced the US to leave
Neither the NATO treaty nor the was the essential basis for establishment of follows the doctrine of first use. In the Usbekistan.
NATO Status of Forces Agreement nor the the German union of states. By this treaty strategy concept of NATO nuclear weapons A strong and enduring resistance of the
additional agreements to SOFA oblige the Germany is obliged by international law to still have an important role. But the deploym- people or a union of states is needed to get
Federal Republic of Germany to support acts take care that only peace comes from Germ- ment of US nuclear bombs in countries that rid of military bases.
of NATO partners that violate international man territory. dont have own nuclear bombs, is a violation After several wars there have been off-
law or the UN Charter. of international law (NPT treaty) and also ficial and unofficial tribunals about war
A NATO state that prepares and makes Secret Agreements are Invalid prohibited by the advisory opinion of the crimes. It is far better to hinder the traini-
war against international law, violates not This is also valid for the case of secret International Court from July, 8th, 1996. ing for wars of aggression. That means we
only the UN Charter but also article I of the agreements between the Federal Republic have to close all foreign military bases in
NATO treaty. Therein all NATO states are of Germany and the US and the UK, which Abandonment of Sovereignty our countries and we must hinder our own
obliged in accordance with the statutes of are not registered and published by the and Justice military forces from training with weapons
the United Nations to solve every internat- Secretary of the United Nations in spite of In every SOFA the uncontrolled enteri- of aggression.
tional conflict, in which they take part, with Art. 102 of the UN Charter and which might ing of US soldiers into the host nations is And all politicians who violated the
peaceful means, so that the international foresee different arrangements in the case guaranteed. So the military bases are de facto charter of the United Nations and other
peace and the security and justice are not of a military conflict. Independent from the extraterritorial areas. So the 93 states which international law and the constitutions of
endangered and to abstain from every threat validity of such secret agreements, Article have agreed on SOFAs have abandoned a their own countries must be punished by
or use of violence, which is not in the framew- 103 of the UN Charter, has to be fulfilled part of their sovereignty and given a carte national and international courts.
work of the goals of the United Nations. This strictly. It says: In the event of a conflict blanche to the US. The US can commit all The world conference in Ecuador in 2007
means also that a war, which is not justified between the obligations of the Members of types of crimes, violations of international is of utmost importance to foster these goals.
by article 51 of the UN Charter, also cannot the United Nations under the present Charter law, and the Geneva conventions. In every As before in Cuba in November 2005, the
represent or justify a NATO case of alliance and their obligations under any other intern- SOFA there is a paragraph that no US soldier World Peace Council encourages all memb-
according to Art. 5 of the NATO treaty. national agreement, their obligations under may be sent to the new International Crimin- bers to join the conference and to become
A war of aggression by a NATO state, the present Charter shall prevail. nal Court. So we see an erosion of the Charter active against foreign military bases.
prohibited by the UN Charter, cannot become Indeed there seems to be such a secret of the United Nations and other international _________
a war of defence by declaring the NATO case agreement between the German government law. Every year there are new wars and new 1. The number of 703 U.S. military bases located
of alliance. and the US. This was mentioned in a radio pretexts are invented. in other peoples countries is from the Office of the
According to the additional agreements broadcast with author Albrecht Mller, who Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Installations and
to SOFA, the US and UK have to ask the worked in former German governments. He How to Get Rid of the Environment), Base Structure Report (A Summary of
German government for allowance if their said that at the time of German reunification Military Bases DoDs Real Property Inventory) (Washington, DC:
military planes outside the framework the US government was very anxious to give Only very seldom does the US gives up Department of Defense, 2003), www.defenselink.
of NATO use the German air space or up their military bases in Germany, but that military bases. This happened of course after mil/news/Jun2003/basestructure2003.pdf. The figure
airfields given for their disposal for transp- Chancellor Kohl made a secret agreement wars in North Korea and Vietnam. But there for 2001 was 725. For details and analysis of these
port of troops, deployed in the US or UK, with the US that they could use their bases are also other examples. In 1991, after much reports, see Chalmers Johnson, The Sorrows of Empire
for stopover, refuelling or taking material for any reasons they wanted at any time. I protest, the US had to leave the military (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2004), pp. 151-60.
or weapons on board on their way without heard the same from the former member of bases in the Philippines. In 2002 the US The figure 703 seriously underestimates the actual
NATO mandate to the war theatre outside the German government Oskar Lafontaine had to give up their shooting and bombing number since it omits secret intelligence bases, those
the NATO area. Therefore the concerned at a conference in January 2006 in Berlin. range in Vieques in Puerto Rico after many disguised by national identities (e.g., Royal Air Force
German authorities, especially the German He said that Germany in this sense is not a people had occupied the territory for several bases in Britain), those omitted in order to avoid emb-
government, have the legal right in a case of sovereign country like France. months. barrassment to foreign governments, and most of the
conflict to control, if the deployed military This explains why the US was allowed In 2004 in Henoko (Okinawa) people bases in the Balkans, Persian Gulf, and Central Asia
forces use the yielded facilities (and the air use of its German bases for the illegal war occupied the construction ground for a helip- acquired in recent American wars.
space above) in every case only for duties against Iraq. port for 500 days and forced the government 2. Rachel Cornwell and Andrew Wells, Deploying
of defence according to the additional Another violation of international law is of the US and Japan to new negotiations. Insecurity, Peace Review 11:3 (1999), p. 410.
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he Canadian Peace Congress calls upon Prime out of the acceleration commitment. five years after President Truman ordered atomic bombs
Minister Harper to oppose all proposals for a The Clinton administration signed the Comprehens- to be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Adhering to
military attack on Democratic Peoples Republic sive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) but the US Republican the terms of the defeat of Japanese forces in Korea at the
of Korea (DPRK) and to work in the UN for a policy of de- dominated Senate refused to ratify it because the US was end of the war in the Pacific, the USSR withdrew all of its
escalation of tensions and a diplomatic solution. The way heavily engaged in the production and testing of tactical forces from the Korean Peninsula in 1947. The US is still
out of the crisis is the resumption of direct talks between nuclear weapons of the bunker busting type which it has there, claiming it has strategic interests in the area.
the US and North Korea. plans for using against Iran. The US has to this day not The US seeks to prolong its military presence in South
Support for President Bushs Korean policy is the road ratified CTBT. Korea to maintain a powerful nuclear equipped military
to war. The Bush administration faced with possible defeat The current frenzy of condemnation of the DPRK by the force in proximity to China. The US has nuclear weapons
in the November Congressional elections, and seeking a major nuclear lacks credibility. The US, Russia, France, in South Korea, on the US Pacific Fleet and at huge air
pretext to divert world attention from the US debacle in Great Britain, China, India and Pakistan and Israel to 1990 bases near Tokyo and on the island of Okinawa. The prese-
Iraq has seized on a nuclear weapon test by the DPRK and conducted 530 nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere or ence of US bases has resulted in large peace movements
raised it to the level of an international crisis. The US did under water and 1,522 tests underground. The US alone in both Japan and South Korea demanding the removal
not threaten war against Pakistan, India and Israel when to 1992 conducted 1,032 tests. The 1998 tests by India of all US military forces from the region.
these states acquired nuclear weapons. and Pakistan took place in defiance of the NPT. Israel has The US is opposed to dtente between North and South
The Bush Administrations policy towards the DPRK is conducted secret tests and is reported to have a nuclear Korea. The process of North South dtente began in 1985
regime change. Branding North Korea as part of an axis stockpile greater than Britain, including the long-range when the DPRK acceded to the Non Proliferation Treaty
of evil, the Bush Administration demands a free hand to missile system to deliver them throughout the Middle East. (NPT) and signed a Joint Declaration with South Korea
punish a member state of the United Nations by economic Nuclear weapons development, testing and deployment by on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. That
blockade and war. At the same time, the US administration the US and Israel have proceeded without any IAEA overs- process was halted when the US accused the DPRK of
declares the DPRK has no right to self-defense. Given such sight. The use by NATO of depleted uranium in shells and engaging in the production of weapons grade plutonium
options, it is not surprising that the DPRK has resorted to bombs has wreaked havoc on the lives and territory of the and imposed economic sanctions.
nuclear weapons tests. former Yugoslavia, and now Iraq and Afghanistan. Pressure from the Korean people restarted negotiat-
The world needs peace, not another war. The US policy Twelve thousand nuclear warheads are deployed (in tions between DPRK and the US in 1994 and the DPRK
of regime change has resulted in the deaths of 655,000 active service) with 90% of these weapons in the hands of agreed once again to freeze its nuclear program, accede
Iraqis. A nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula would bring the US and Russia. The total of both deployed and non- to IAEA inspections, rejoin the NPT and agree to a treaty
untold suffering to the people of both North and South Kor- deployed nuclear weapons number 27,000. Thousands on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, includi-
rea. Nuclear disarmament is the best guarantee of security of nuclear weapons are on hair trigger alert defined as ing the dismantling of its nuclear plants. The DPRK
and the most firm basis for an enduring peace. readiness to fire as early warning systems activate launch- demanded formal assurances from the US that it would
The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Compreh- on-warning. Hair trigger alert is fraught with dangers of not use nuclear threats against the DPRK and the US
hensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) are important false warnings. would help finance light- water reactors to supply two
international agreements to prevent the spread of nuclear It is clear to all, except for an ideologically blinded 1000 MW plants and supply heavy oil to ease the energy
weapons. To prevent the use of nuclear weapons existing minority, that the DPRK is not decisive in eliminating the needs of the DPRK domestic economy. The agreement
nuclear weapons stockpiles must be reduced and elimin- nuclear threat from the world. The major nuclear powers would include easing trade restrictions and lead to formal
nated. A powerful and united worldwide peace movement are. In the first place, it is the US and NATO that is drivi- diplomatic relations.
is needed to make that happen. ing the current renewal of the nuclear arms race by the The election of the Bush Administration, and its infamous
The policy of all US administrations has been to development and deployment of BMD and tactical nuclear declaration that North Korea was part of an Axis of Evil that
maintain nuclear weapons supremacy. The policy was weapons. The US maintains a first strike nuclear policy included Iran and Syria, effectively destroyed the diplomatic
established in August 1945 when President Harry Truman and includes in its military doctrine the use of nuclear process. The US reneged on its agreements, and the DPRK
ordered atomic bombs to be dropped on Hiroshima and Nag- weapons against states that do not possess them. The US reverted to a military defensive posture and declared on
gasaki. The Bush Administration continues that policy. deploys nuclear weapons offensively outside its own terr- February 2005 that it possessed nuclear weapons.
The Bush Administration withdrew from the Anti- ritory from foreign military bases aimed at states it deems The Bush policy of regime change, confrontation,
Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) to be free of constraints in to be adversaries such as the DPRK and Iran. nuclear supremacy leads to war. Another policy is needed
its Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) program. The ABM The hue and cry about an alleged threat to the US to achieve peace. The Canadian Peace Congress joins in
treaty is now defunct. by the DPRK drips with hypocrisy. The U.S. has 30,000 solidarity with all peace forces who assert that isolation of
The NPT dating from 1968 and signed by 189 states troops in South Korea and has recently conducted military the DPRK, sanctions, military threats will lead to a deeper
was intended to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons maneuvers aimed at the DPRK involving 120,000 US and crisis and possible nuclear war. The process of negotiat-
to countries not possessing them and was extended indefin- South Korean forces, armed with nuclear weapons. The tions based on respect for the sovereignty and rights and
nitely in 2003 with a solemn agreement among the major people of Korea remember that US General Douglas Mac- security of the DPRK, can lead to a reduction of tensions
nuclear powers to accelerate efforts to reduce the numbers carthur, called for the use of atomic weapons against the and avoidance of conflict. That is what we expect our
of nuclear weapons. The US Bush administration backed DPRK and China, during the Korean war of 1950, a scant Government to work for. n