A-Infos (en) SchNEWS 387, Friday 10th January, 2003

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WAKE UP! WAKE UP! IT'S YER OILY RAG...
SchNEWS
OIL DRUMS OF WAR
Britons woke up to a planned terrorist
attack on their shores this week. But
any chemical attack using ricin produced
in a north London flat is nothing
compared to what's in store for the
people of Iraq, with a leaked UN report
saying that up to 500,000 Iraqi people
could suffer serious injuries during
the first phase of a terrorist attack.
That's state terrorism brought to you by
America and Britain - so they can
get their hands on Iraqi oil. Foreign
secretary Jack Straw said as much on
Monday when he told 150 British
ambassadors at a meeting in London that
one
of the key priorities of British foreign
policy was "to bolster the security
of British and global energy supplies".
It's just an amazing coincidence
that Iraq has the second biggest known
oil reserves in the world.
The US burns a quarter of all the oil
consumed and is world champion at
producing the greenhouse gases that are
causing global warming. A study
sponsored by the US Council on Foreign
Relations says that "the American
people continue to demand plentiful and
cheap energy without sacrifice or
inconvenience". Seeing as the world's oil
reserves will begin to seriously
decline within 5 to 10 years it's not
surprising US Vice President Dick
Cheney calls Iraq "the great prize".
In the National Security Strategy, a
document in which each American
administration outlines its approach to
defending the country, Bush laid out
his aggressive military and foreign policy,
embracing pre-emptive attacks
against perceived enemies. It speaks in
blunt terms of ignoring
international opinion if it suits U.S.
interests and lays out a plan for
permanent U.S. military and economic
domination of every region on the
globe - which will come from the $379
billion it's budgeting on the
military.
The Strategy sounds very similar to a
report issued in September 2000 by a
bunch of conservative business leaders
called the Project for the New
American Century. This stated "At no
time in history has the international
security order been as conducive to
American interests and ideals.The
challenge of this coming century is to
preserve and enhance this American
peace. " Written way before September
11th, the authors of the Project
report included Paul Wolfowitz, now
deputy defence secretary, John Bolton,
undersecretary of state, Stephen
Cambone, head of the Pentagon's Office
of Program, Analysis and Evaluation, and
Eliot Cohen and Devon Cross, members
of the Defence Policy Board, which
advises Secretary Of Defence Donald
Rumsfeld.
The Project clearly identified Iran, Iraq
and North Korea as primary
short-term targets, well before 'elected'
President Bush dubbed them as the
Axis of Evil. It says U.S. forces will be
required to perform "constabulary
duties" - acting as policeman of the
world - and says that such actions
"demand American political leadership
rather than that of the United
Nations." To meet those responsibilities,
and to ensure that no country
dares to challenge the United States, the
report advocates a much larger
military presence spread over more of the
globe, in addition to the roughly
130 nations in which U.S. troops are
already deployed. It wants permanent
military bases in the Middle East, in
Southeast Europe, in Latin America and
in Southeast Asia.

Spin-U-Like
While the 'weapons of mass destruction'
façade has well and truly fallen off
the oil war in Iraq, last year's oil war in
Afghanistan was far better
dressed up as something else, allowing
the good work to go ahead.
The latest US ambassador to
Afghanistan - a senior executive of US oil
company Unocal - along with the current
Afghani president Hamid Karzai (once
employed by a Unocal subsidiary) - are
oiling the wheels for a lucrative
pipeline to carry oil and gas across the
country from the Caspian sea. And
who's building this pipeline? Er. Unocal.
As the BBC reported on September 18,
2001: "Niaz Niak, a former Pakistani
foreign minister, was told by senior
American officials in mid-July 2001
(pre 9-11) that military action against
Afghanistan would go ahead by the
middle of October. It was Naik's view
that Washington would not drop its war
against Afghanistan even if bin Laden
were to be surrendered immediately by
the Taliban." As journalist John Pilger
puts it "One of the reasons the
Americans attacked Afghanistan was not
to liberate women but to liberate the
pipeline deal."
Pilger continues, "This is the hidden
agenda of the "war on terrorism" - a
term that is no more than a euphemism
for the Bush administration's
exploitation of the September 11 attacks
and America's accelerating imperial
ambitions. In the past 14 months, on the
pretext of "fighting terror", US
military bases have been established at
the gateways to the greatest oil and
gas fields on earth, especially in Central
Asia, which is also coveted as a
'great prize.'"
Meanwhile Donald Kagan, who served
as co-chairman of the 2000 New American
Century Project, embraces the idea that
the United States should establish
permanent military bases in a post-war
Iraq. "We will probably need a major
concentration of forces in the Middle
East over a long period of time. That
will come at a price, but think of the
price of not having it. When we have
economic problems, it's been caused by
disruptions in our oil supply. If we
have a force in Iraq, there will be no
disruption in oil supplies."
For the past 10 years one of the world's
dirtiest wars has been fought out
in Algeria, between "Islamists" and
"security forces", in which almost
200,000 people - mostly civilians - have
been killed. Groups such as Human
Rights Watch have accused the Algerian
Government of "arbitrary arrest,
disappearances and torture" and even
America has been critical of the
country's human rights record. That
criticism changed after September 11th,
thanks to Algeria support for Americas
so called 'war on terror' and as a
thank you they got promises of increased
military aid. US Assistant
Secretary of State William Burns, during
a visit to Algiers, even went as
far to say "Washington has much to
learn from Algeria on ways to fight
terrorism." Incidentally, Algeria is the
second biggest natural gas exporter
in the world and ranks fourteenth in oil
reserves.
* To read more about the Project for the
New American Century report visit:
www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/opinion/bookman/2002/092902.html
To see the leaked UN report
www.casi.org.uk

CRAP ARREST OF THE WEEK
For hanging a placard on a statue! When
a woman activist from d10
(antimilitarist, non-violent direct action
collective) saw a statue outside
the Ministry of Defence of "Boom"
Trenchard (father of the Royal Air Force)
she decided to hang a sign round his
neck saying "Boom no more!" She was
arrested, held face-down on the
pavement and handcuffed with such
force that
she suffered serious injuries to her
wrists. She was released seven hours
later without charge.
www.northwood.cjb.net

SchNEWS ANNUAL 2003 SHOUT
OUT
Believe it or not we are starting the next
annual, due out for the summer!!
So - send us in yer ideas, articles,
photos, cartoons, subverts and news of
stuff that's going on local or global.
There's a theme about sustainable
futures and another about childrens'
annuals - so if anyone can think of
anything sustainable you can make with
sticky-back plastic that would be
handy....
send/email yer stuff to us now

WAR BRIEFS
With even Neo Labour becoming shaky
about the war, now's the time to step up
the protests. There will be a meeting
about taking direct action against the
war in London this Saturday (11) after
the Stop the War Conference. It's
being hosted by our good selves 6.30pm
in the Cock Tavern, on the corner of
Phoenix Road and Eversholt Street,
London, five minutes from Euston
Station.
** Two Scottish train drivers yesterday
refused to move a freight train
carrying ammunition destined for the
Glen Douglas base on Scotland's west
coast, Europe's largest weapons store.
Railway managers had to cancel the
Ministry of Defence service after the
crewmen, described as "conscientious
objectors" by a supporter, said they
opposed Tony Blair's threat to attack
Iraq. ** There will be another weapons
inspection at USAF Fairford in
Gloucestershire on 26th January.
Fairford has just had a £100 million refit
so it can house the "new" smaller bunker
busting nuclear weapons firing B-2
bombers. Assemble in Fairford village 12
noon www.gwi.org.uk ** Get along to
Northwood in London on the 18-19th
January the command post for British
rapid deployment forces. Northwood
would play a key role in directing
British forces in any attack on Iraq and
officers from the base spent much
of December in Qatar participating in a
US wargame preparing for the
invasion of Iraq . The weekend of action
- Operation Internal Look (OIL) -
coincides with the anniversary of the
1991 Gulf bombing and will include a
tour of the base, a mass blockade, a
mass breaching of the Official Secrets
Act, non-violence training and
autonomous affinity group actions. To
find
out more call 0845 458 2564
www.voicesuk.org ** 
Fancy going to Iraq as part
of the 'Human Shield Convoy'? It's
leaving 25th January from London.
www.uksociety.org 07799 650 791
donations and help needed.** Just before
Christmas three people from London
Catholic Worker were arrested and charged
with criminal damage after pouring red
paint from baby bottles (symbolising
blood) on the two main gate signs at
Northwood ** 15 anti-war protestors
were arrested by US military police at the
US airforce base in Mildenhall on
Sunday after cutting through the fence
and getting onto the site. They were
later released without charge.
To find out about planned protests if war
starts visit...
www.schnews.org.uk/pap/ifwarbreaksout.htm

BETTER PROFITS
The Baku-Ceyhan pipeline is a BP led
project to channel Caspian oil and gas
reserves to western markets. It is key for
BP's growth, and for the
strategic interests of the US who wish to
secure non-OPEC oil supplies. Oil
coming from the pipeline will also end up
fuelling the key US Air Force base
in Incirlik, Turkey. The pipeline would
create a 1,750km militarised
corridor through Azerbaijan, Georgia and
Turkey. Under the BP-Turkey host
government agreement the consortium
running the pipelines will have no
liability whatsoever in the event of a spill
or any other form of damage.
What's more BP expects the pipeline to
be largely financed by tax-payers
money!
To find out more come to a teach-in
Saturday 25th January, 10am - 5pm,
London Action Resource Centre, 62
Fieldgate St, London, E1 contact
info@risingtide.org.uk or tel 01865 241
097. www.baku-ceyhan.org.uk

Drop Us A Pipe-line
After years of human rights abuse in
Turkey it looks like the EU are finally
taking notice. By doing exactly the same!
On December the 11th last year 7
activists were arrested in London and
detained for five days before being
charged under the 2000 terrorism act,
not for doing anything, but with
"membership and fundraising for a
prescribed organisation". The protesters
were supporting the DHKP (Turkish
Peoples Revolutionary Front) led
'deathfast' in protest of human rights
abuses in Turkish prisons.
So, as we suspected, people are already
being arrested under the banner of
'terrorism', not for doing anything, but
for what they believe. According to
Terry Harkin of the Irish solidarity group
the IRSP "This is another example
of how this war on terror is being used to
tighten the control of America
over the world". He also points out that
"there is a direct correlation
between Tony Blair's meeting with the
Turkish premier and George Bush's
pressure on Britain". Strange how we
should be doing Turkey's dirty work
right at the time we need their air bases!
There will be a picket outside Bow Street
Magistrates Court on January 13th
at 10am organised by People Against
terrorism Act. For info call beth 07810
397268


Let Them Eat Soup
'Inhuman', 'cruel', 'downright evil' .. and
that's only what MPs have said
about Blair and Blunket's latest assault
on the human rights of Asylum
Seekers which came into force on the 8th
January.
Thousands of Asylum Seekers, including
pregnant women and people with
disabilities and special needs, will be
forced to sleep rough under the
draconian section 55 of the Nationality,
Immigration and Asylum Act (NIAA).
This section states that if a refugee does
not apply for Asylum immediately
on arrival at the port of entry they will
receive no support, no
accommodation, no food... ever.
Statistically, 65% of Asylum Seekers
(around a hundred a day) do not present
themselves to immigration officials on
arrival... for obvious reasons. Many
donıt know who they can trust, typically
being abused, often tortured,
victims of 'the authorities'. Many are
totally traumatised both by what they
are fleeing (genocide for example) and
the possibility of being put straight
back on the next plane 'home'. Others do
not speak a word of English.
Quite apart from the fact - as upheld in
International Law - that many
refugees are forced to travel clandestinely
to avoid punishment by the
regime they are fleeing.
But who cares about International Law,
or Human Rights or the recently
agreed EU minimum standards of
support for Asylum Seekers? Not Tony
and
Dave.
Nor Peter Lilley (remember him, he was
the 'right-wing' one) who introduced
similar measures back in 1996. Appalled
by the sight of homeless, starving
refugees, often inadequately dressed and
begging on the streets, charities
and support groups set up soup kitchens
and emergency shelters. Lilley's
policy was successfully challenged in the
high court under the 1948 National
Assistance Act and stopped.
But Neo-Labour have already thought of
that - their new Act specifically
debars refugee agencies from going to
court and trying the same thing!
Nevertheless Liberty intend to press
ahead with a Human Rights case against
section 55, stating that the policy is
"incompatible with our fundamental
human right not to be subject to cruel,
inhuman and degrading treatment".
0207 654 7700 www.refugee-action.org.
Check out the act
www.asylumsupport.info

SchNEWS in brief
Cops in Genoa are in trouble after
admitting fabricating evidence against
protestors including planting petrol
bombs during investigations into the
policing of the G8 summit last July.
Italian media have been publishing
transcripts of the inquiry. 77 officers are
under investigation for alleged
brutality and three police chiefs have
been moved to other jobs ** Brighton'
s premier pirate station Radio 4A is on
air again this weekend (9pm Friday
till midnight Sunday) on a new frequency
101.4FM. For listing and
audio-streams visit www.radio4a.org.uk
** Activist Allen O'Keefe couldn't
believe his ears when magistrates in
Newbury ordered him to pay £750
compensation for cutting a tiny piece of
fence at Aldermaston during the
Trident Ploughshares disarmament
camp there in May 2001. Courts have so
far
imposed fines and compensation orders
totalling £52,000 on protestors but
hardly anyone has paid up! 0845
4588366 www.tridentploughshares.org
** Check
out a new Legal issues website for UK
political activists (especially animal
rights and environmentalists).
www.freebeagles.org offers info on your
rights re police tactics and intimidation.
** The Radical Dairy social
centre is one year old next weekend and
is celebrating with a birthday party
next Friday 17th from 8pm onwards.
There's music and food - and it will be
probably be the last party as they've been
served with eviction papers. They
're at 47 Kynaston Road, Stoke
Newington, London N16 ** There's a meeting
for people interested in restarting the
campaign in the UK for the release
of Mumia Abu Jamal after 21 years on
Death Row. It's next Wednesday (15)
7-9pm. Somerstown Coffee House, 60
Chalton Street (off Euston Road) London
NW1. mumiauk@yahoo.co.uk ** Yet
again unaccountable, unelected
representatives from the corporate world
of industry and media moguls will
mingle with political leaders and decide
the future of the planet and its
people at Davos, Switzerland.
International demonstrations against the
World
Economic Forum take place 25 - 28
January. www.antiwef.org ** Meanwhile
in
Brazil at the same time the World Social
Forum meets to look at alternatives
www.worldsocialforum.org Extensive
reporting on www.zmag.org ** At least 15
000 people turned up for the Asian Social
Forum in Hyderbad, India at the
beginning of this year under the banner
"another world is possible."
www.wsfindia.org ** There's a call out
for anarchists and
anti-authoritarians to get involved in the
European Social Foum. Read about
it at www.squall.co.uk. Get along to the
next meeting this Wednesday (15)
6:30 pm at the University of London
Union Student Union Building, Malet
Street, London www.mobilise.org.uk **
Injustice the film about deaths in
police custody is being shown in
Hackney on Jan 18th, along with live
music
at a squatted venue (ex-community
centre) on White Post Lane, just round
the corner from Hackney Wick Station.
07770 432 439. The film is also now
available for people to buy
www.injusticefilm.co.uk.

.and finally.
Jumping on the 'terror' bandwagon, an
enterprising London firm is offering
specially designed gas masks for use by
tube-travellers in the event of a
chemical attack - a snip at just £188.
Ozonelink also plan to offer the
British public "chemi-hoods" and
"polytection suits" in the near future.

Disclaimer
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talks about essential oils he ain't
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