there is no peace without justice - nebraskans for...

Nebraska ReportAPRIL 2005 VOLUME 33, NUMBER 4

There is no Peace without Justice

Will There Be A New Draft? p. 6

Depleted Uranium Is a WMD p. 7

Frank LaMere on the“Battle for Whiteclay” p. 7

Regents Defend UNOAfghan Center p. 8

NFP Responds to the Regents p. 9

From the Bottom by Sally Herrin p. 12

Latin America Briefs p. 2

Nebraskans CommemorateAnniversary of Iraq Invasion p. 4

NFP President Statement atthe March 19 Event p. 5

U.S. Admits It Tested NerveGas on Troops p. 6

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by Greg MelloDirector, Los Alamos Study Group

In early January 2005, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeldwrote a two-page classified memorandum asking the U.S.Strategic Command to take the lead in coordinating U.S.military efforts to combat Weapons of Mass Destruction.This mission runs the gamut from cooperative interdictionof WMD materials and equipment to coercively and rapidlyentering other countries to eliminate their WMD capabili-ties.

The irony of delegating this new mission to StratCom—an entity which has command of some 10,350 U.S. nuclearweapons with a combined explosive yield of about 3.1gigatons (more than 1,000 times all the explosives used inWorld War II)— is apparently lost on Rumseld and thosearound him. One would at least think these self-proclaimedpragmatists would understand the political necessity of pro-gressive nuclear disarmament as a necessary ingredient tothe success of eliminating other countries’ WMD.

This new mission is just the latest to be added toStratCom’s portfolio. In October 2002, the 10-year-old Strat-Com merged with the U.S. Space Command, absorbing manyof its functions. A few months later in January 2003, Strat-Com was assigned the lead role in four new areas: globalstrike, information operations, strategic missile defense, andglobal C4ISR – that is, command, control, communications,computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.

StratCom is in many ways the epitome of “jointness” ina globalized U.S. military, transcending and integrating thetraditional services as well as the five powerful regionalcommands. StratCom gives the Secretary of Defense andthe President a single place to go when some kind of rapid

strike is desired – conventional, nuclear, or even in somecases special forces operations. As long-time Pentagonobserver Elaine Grossman put it in an Inside the Pentagonarticle last October, “[StratCom Commander in Chief Gen-eral James] Cartwright may well emerge as the ‘go-to guy’when a president wants to take immediate action.”

This active strike role is mirrored in Cartwright’s ru-mored plan to create what one officer said was a smaller,more “nimble” headquarters capable of “rapid ‘decisioncycles’” during crises. Cartwright plans to divest StratComof some of its staff functions like intelligence and recon-naissance and move them elsewhere. The overall “integra-tor” of StratCom, the mission that will bring order from thechaos created by so many new missions, is apparently go-ing to be its “space and global strike” function.

But even that’s not set in cement. It’s important to un-derstand that StratCom is a ‘work in progress’ subject toendless revision and re-direction, and that full developmentof “prompt global strike” is not technically or organization-ally predestined. General Cartwright says he doesn’t, rightnow, have much prompt global capability, and his succes-sors may or may not ever have much more. Other events, weknow, might intervene. Empires always fall. Our own is al-ready trembling (we must now import about $2 billion perday to cover the federal deficit). As political analyst ChalmersJohnson reminds us, things which can’t continue foreverdon’t.

In the meantime, there are grave dangers in the concen-tration of command power now being assembled by Secre-tary Rumsfeld at StratCom. The most conspicuous dangermay be the increasingly shorter time needed to execute pre-

conclusion on page 3

Coordinating the Effort to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction

The July 2004 appointment of Marine General James “Hoss”Cartwright as StratCom Commander signals the seriousnessof Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s intent to broadenStratCom’s role in global power projection. The Marineshave no nuclear weapons and hence no connection withStratCom’s original role. Cartwright’s appointment isapparently designed to help lift StratCom from its narrowhistoric role and into active leadership in “prompt globalstrike” operations.

StratCom CommanderStratCom CommanderStratCom CommanderStratCom CommanderStratCom CommanderGeneral James CartwrightGeneral James CartwrightGeneral James CartwrightGeneral James CartwrightGeneral James Cartwright

–Greg Mello

APRIL 2005 NEBRASKA REPORT, P.2

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Nebraska ReportNebraska ReportNebraska ReportNebraska ReportNebraska ReportThe Nebraska Report is published nine times annually by Nebraskans forPeace. Opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of the directors orstaff of Nebraskans for Peace.

Newspaper Committee: Tim Rinne, EditorMark Vasina, Christy Hargesheimer, Bud Narveson, Marsha FangmeyerTypesetting and Layout: marketing assistants plus!Printing: Fremont Tribune Circulation: 6,500

Letters, articles, photographs and graphics are welcomed. Deadline is the firstof the month for publication in the following month’s issue. Submit to: NebraskaReport, c/o Nebraskans for Peace, 941 ‘O’ Street, Suite 1026, Lincoln, NE 68508.

Nebraskans for PeaceNebraskans for PeaceNebraskans for PeaceNebraskans for PeaceNebraskans for PeaceNebraskans for Peace is a statewide grassroots advocacy organization workingnonviolently for peace with justice through community-building, educationand political action.

State Board of DirectorsState Board of DirectorsState Board of DirectorsState Board of DirectorsState Board of DirectorsSayre Andersen, Holly Burns, Maureen Connolly, Henry D’Souza, Bob Epp(Treasurer), Marsha Fangmeyer, Roger Furrer, Michael Gordon, Caryl Guisinger,Christy Hargesheimer, Leah Hunter, John Krejci (Secretary), Rich Maciejewski,Carol McShane, Patrick Murray, Paul Olson, Byron Peterson, Del Roper, DeirdreRoutt, Linda Ruchala, Jay Schmidt, Jeanette Sulzman (Vice President), MarkVasina (President), Sue Ellen Wall, Virginia Walsh. Tim Rinne (State Coordina-tor), Dace Burdic (Office Administrator), Susan Alleman (Membership Coordi-nator), 941 ‘O’ Street, Suite 1026, Lincoln, NE 68508, Phone: 402-475-4620, Fax:402-475-4624, Email: [email protected]; Cary Vigneri (OmahaCoordinator), P.O. Box 3682, Omaha, NE 68103, Phone: 402-453-0776, Email:[email protected].

Crete Chapter ................................................ Pat Wikel ......................... 402-826-4818Lincoln Chapter ........................................... State Office .................... 402-475-4620Omaha Chapter ............................................. Cary Vigneri ................... 402-453-0776Scottsbluff Chapter .................................... Byron Peterson ............. 308-783-1412Southwest Nebraska Chapter ................... Dennis Demmel ............. 308-352-4078Wayne/Wayne State College Chapter ..... Sayre Andersen ............. 402-375-3794Central Nebraska Peace Workers ............. Charles Richardson ..... 402-462-4794(Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney)Contact the NFP State Office for information on the UNL, UNO, UNK, Creightonand Nebraska Wesleyan University and Hastings & Doane College Chapters

NFP Chapter & NFP Chapter & NFP Chapter & NFP Chapter & NFP Chapter & AfAfAfAfAffiliatefiliatefiliatefiliatefiliateContact InformationContact InformationContact InformationContact InformationContact Information

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LLLLLatin America Briefsatin America Briefsatin America Briefsatin America Briefsatin America Briefscompiled by Christy Hargesheimercompiled by Christy Hargesheimercompiled by Christy Hargesheimercompiled by Christy Hargesheimercompiled by Christy Hargesheimer

PPPPPay for Pay for Pay for Pay for Pay for Peaceeaceeaceeaceeace… Make a tax-deductible gift to theNebraskNebraskNebraskNebraskNebraska Pa Pa Pa Pa Peace Feace Feace Feace Feace Foundation oundation oundation oundation oundation (402-475-4620)(402-475-4620)(402-475-4620)(402-475-4620)(402-475-4620)

Colombia: Massacre at Peace CommunitySan José de Apartadó is one of many communities in Colombia self-designated as “PeaceCommunities” because of their unwillingness to bear arms or provide information or logis-tical support to either side in the long-standing conflict between guerrillas and the govern-ment. They also demand that the parties to the conflict do not enter the boundaries of theircommunities. In response, the security forces and senior government and state officialshave accused the community of subversion. For its part, the FARC (the main guerrillagroup) has interpreted the community’s refusal to collaborate with it as a form of collabora-tion with its enemies.

This position has resulted in over 150 disappearances or murders in the past eight yearsin San José de Apartadó. President Álvaro Uribe himself, on March 20, accused members ofthis community of being part of the guerrilla group FARC and has ordered the military toenter the community within 20 days.

On February 21, 2005, eight members of this community were murdered. An eyewitnesssaid that the perpetrators of the massacre identified themselves as members of the Colom-bian army. According to other witnesses, following the killings soldiers told local inhabit-ants that if the killings had not become public knowledge, they would have killed morecivilians and that the eight victims were “dead guerrillas” (“puro guerrillero muerto”). Whatthey failed to mention was that two of the “dead guerrillas” were children, 11 and 2 yearsold.

President Uribe’s claim that the Peace Community has failed to collaborate with thejustice system ignores the fact that the community has maintained a continuous dialoguewith Colombian governments on issues relating to the community’s safety and to ensurefull and impartial investigations into repeated killings and “disappearances.” It is shockingthat a community which is the recipient of provisional protection measures from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and for which the Colombian Constitutional Court re-quested effective protection measures in March 2004, would be subjected to such a brutaland cruel attack.

In a letter on March 17 to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Amnesty Internationalrequested that “the State Department must include this case in its evaluation of Colombiancompliance with U.S. human rights conditions, and must refrain from certification until acredible investigation has been completed.”

Rumsfeld’s Latin American TourIn late March, U.S. Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld made a swing through Latin America todrum up support against populist Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. Added to Rumsfeld’slist of ‘bad guys’ was former Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega, Reagan’s old nemesis,who may win upcoming presidential elections. At issue in Nicaragua is the accusation thatNicaragua is hoarding several hundred Russian-made surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) thatWashington wants to see destroyed. Indeed, at the start of Rumsfeld’s trip, Washingtonannounced the suspension of all U.S. military assistance to Nicaragua—about 2.3 milliondollars’ worth—pending the destruction of the missiles that Washington contends mightbe obtained by terrorists.

As Rumsfeld’s trip began, Otto Reich published an article in National Review on Chavezand Fidel Castro, under the banner “The Axis of Evil... Western Hemisphere Version.”Rumsfeld took his message first to Argentina, then to Brazil, where he assailed Venezuela’sdecision to buy 100,000 AK-47s from Russia. U.S. officials suggest that these weapons maybe intended for left-wing guerrillas next door in Colombia or for Bolivian indigenous activ-ists, but Chávez insists the guns will be used to replace aging army weapons.

Meanwhile, Venezuela is forming a new National Reserve to defend, and if necessary,destroy its oil wells in case of invasion from the United States. Almost a million activists willbe trained in the use of armaments to defend against what Defense Council Secretariat,General Melvin López Hidalgo, says are “real threats” against Venezuela. López said thattheir intelligence has determined that the U.S. has already planned and rehearsed a jointinvasion with armies from Spain, Great Britain and other armies. It seems unlikely, however,that Spain would be involved, particularly since they may be selling gunboats to Venezuela.


planned military attacks and the corresponding narrowingof involvement by other military—not to say civilian—au-thorities. This is the “prompt” in “prompt global strike,”and it is already hard-wired in for StratCom’s nuclear mis-sion.

In some cases, the authority to launch “prompt” strikeswill be pre-delegated, as is the case for nuclear launch now.Quoting Grossman again,

StratCom’s new component also would begindeveloping greater capability to effectively target“something that you needed to hit in minutes ratherthan hours or days,” the [anonymous] officer[familiar with StratCom’s missions] said.

In short, the space and global strike componentwould concentrate its efforts on “those things thatyou’ve got to get at very fast, that are in areas wherenobody else likely can get very easily,” the officersaid.

Trip wires in the process would require defensesecretary or presidential approval for some of theoptions, the officer noted. Under certain scenarios—like a rapid North Korean advance across thedemilitarized zone or a no-notice Chinese invasion ofTaiwan—a limited number of options may be pre-approved for Cartwright’s strategic strike, the officernoted.

In addition to “pre-approved” war plans, a “menu” ofother attack plans are being put on the shelf for rapid execu-tion. In most cases, there will not be time to involve Con-gress in any sort of constitutionally-mandated deliberation

and vote, or to reach any other kind of democratic consen-sus. Security and speed also preclude international author-ity, for example from the U.N. Security Council, unless it toowere “pre-delegated.”

It thus appears that StratCom, with or without firing ashot, is helping make the anti-democratic and anti-legal po-tential in high-speed air and space war an established fact.What’s the point of being able to communicate at the speedof light or launch a missile which can reach its target in 10 or30 minutes if Secretary Rumsfeld and General Cartwrighthave to wait for the slow wheels of democracy and diplo-macy to turn? And what if they do not turn in the ‘right’way? The limits to this concentration of decisionmaking—if there are any—aren’t at all clear.

The second danger is closely related: the classic one ofrelying more and more on an officer (or “officer-corporate”)corps at the expense of other forms of national cohesion,internal political strength, and foreign relations. Is every-thing and everybody destined to wind up as nails becauseGeneral Cartwright has a closet full of hammers?

Perhaps. According to the U.S. Commission on Na-tional Security in the 21st Century, “since the end of theCold War [and up to 1999], the United States has embarkedupon nearly four dozen military interventions… as opposedto only 16 during the entire period of the Cold War.” Thisincrease was noted more than a year before the Bush Ad-ministration came to power.

At StratCom, it is now a permanentstate of war—not peace—that is theshaping and normative vision, withthe warriors actively seeking ad-vantages to their own institu-tions in new realms all the time,even in imagined new U.S. civilwars. As Grossman writes:

Cartwright also isattempting to get thestrategic community tothink creatively, askingwhat other “battlemediums” beyond space- orcyber-warfare officials mightimagine… He invites hiscolleagues to ponder how a “majordomestic calamity”—like a “massiveWMD [weapons of mass destruction] event,declaration of martial law, [or] secession of one ormore states”—might “affect the DOD and StratCom.”

The third most conspicuous danger may be the in-creasing level of outright fantasy now found in mainstreamU.S. military thought. While not all missions are impos-sible, the goal of “full spectrum dominance”—the overallobjective of U.S. military capability today—is a recipe forfailure and defeat. Andrew Bacevich writes, in his impor-tant work American Empire: The Realities and Conse-quences of U.S. Diplomacy:

…Having assessed the security implications ofglobalization—a process ostensibly making theworld more complicated and more dangerous thanever before—the United States after the Cold Warcommitted itself to establishing a level of militarymastery without historical precedent. In magnitudeand scope, the dominance to which thePentagon aspired dwarfed that whichAmerican soldiers had imagined was intheir grasp a half-century before when insole possession of the atomic bomb. It farexceeded that achieved by imperial Romeor by France in the era of Bonaparte. Theambitions of the German general staff inits heyday, including the Schlieffen Planin 1914 or Operation Barbarossa in1941—appeared puny by comparison.Swift, unerring, implacable, and invin-cible, U.S. forces aimed to achievesomething approaching omnipotence:“Full Spectrum Dominance.”In remarks reported in the Omaha World-

Herald March 5, 2005, Cartwright himselflinked this more aggressive military doctrineexplicitly to America’s economic interests:

With the increasing globalizationof the world’s economy, events around

the globe can have a real impact on Americans’ dailylives, Cartwright said.“The business of America isdoing business, and we do it on a global scale,” hesaid. That is why the U.S. military has been forced toincreasingly take a global approach to the nation’ssecurity.

The problem here, however, is not justdefeat—which is inevitable sooner or

later—but what men like Rumsfeld,Bush, and Cartwright might do to

try to avert or delay it.Of course it’s happening

now. A process of self-defeatis now underway for theAmerican empire, as we lav-ish our resources and soci-etal attention upon fabulouslyexpensive weapon systemsthat will not bring security andwhich squander our physical

and moral resources on milita-rized policies that accomplish, at

the very best, nothing good. A re-cent report from the General Account-

ing Office found that 70-some-odd majorweapon systems under development will have an ulti-

mate combined cost in the neighborhood of $2 trillion. At amilitary burden currently running at least $5,100 per Ameri-can household, this is not unsustainable financially andtherefore also will not be sustainable politically. How canwe bring an end to this collective binge of violence before itconsumes us? How far down do we have to go before westart rebuilding our society and ideals?

People in organizations like Nebraskans for Peace havebeen working on that rebuilding process all along. The dark-ness of the times and the concurrent crises we now face arecreating a new “teachable moment.” The best political newsI know is that the dawn is much more attractive than thedark.

Greg Mello who was the keynote speaker at the February2004 Annual Peace Conference in Grand Island wrote thisarticle expressly for the Nebraska Report.

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USSTRATCOM Headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base

“The business of America is“The business of America is“The business of America is“The business of America is“The business of America isdoing business, and wdoing business, and wdoing business, and wdoing business, and wdoing business, and we do it one do it one do it one do it one do it ona global scale,” Cartwright said.a global scale,” Cartwright said.a global scale,” Cartwright said.a global scale,” Cartwright said.a global scale,” Cartwright said.That is why the U.S. militarThat is why the U.S. militarThat is why the U.S. militarThat is why the U.S. militarThat is why the U.S. military hasy hasy hasy hasy hasbeen forced to increasinglybeen forced to increasinglybeen forced to increasinglybeen forced to increasinglybeen forced to increasingly

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Omaha World-Herald, March 5, 2005


graphic by Justin Kemmerling

Hispanic Center in Lincoln, had her ownstory to tell about how this war is affectingher. A cousin is one of the more than 1500already killed. And an uncle of hers, whoserved in Viet Nam, just died from compli-cations associated with exposure to AgentOrange. Her family, she explained, hasalways had close ties to the military. Sheherself was an Army brat. But her mother,she said, was always dragging her topeace rallies when she was growing up.And one of the saddest things sheremembers is that shortly before he died,her uncle told her, “I heard you, but I

didn’t understand [about the war].”Between her own family experiences andan administration that seems hell-bent atkeeping us at war, a righteous anger isdriving her on. And she too has a questionfor our political leaders, “Where were youwhen you were needed to stop the war?”

The final speaker, United NationAssociation Chapter 100 President JohnKrejci, chided our national leaders for notproviding strong support for the UnitedNations, for not honoring the opinions ofother nations and for not involving themin decisions impacting the internationalcommunity. He praised UN SecretaryGeneral Kofi Annan and contrasted himwith the Bush Administration’s appoint-ment of John Bolton as ambassador to theUN. Annan, Krejci said, has earned therespect of the nations of the world. Bolton,on the other hand, has built a publicreputation working to undermine the

Nebraskans Commemorate Anniversary of Iraq Invasionby Don TilleyPrairie Peace Park

The 150 Nebraskans who gathered at theState Capitol March 19 on the secondanniversary of the Iraq invasion were thereto ask some hard questions. Blowingeastward to Washington on the prairiewinds, these were heartfelt questionsabout the Bush Administration’s policythat demand answers. Questions that willnot stop nor go away. Questions that cutthrough the spin and sham, the flawedintelligence and deliberate deception, toexpose an administration willfully at oddswith the world community. Searchingquestions so revealing that, if answeredtruthfully, ought to make the Americanpeople rise up and demand a regimechange of their own.

These were questions that, at times,went beyond words, that cut right to theheart, to the very lives of our children.Matt Henderson’s mother, for example, hada question that day—Matt Henderson,who was killed in action in Iraq May 26,2004. Becoming the first parent of a slainsoldier to publicly speak out against thiswar here in the state, Becky Hendersontalked about her fun-loving son who likedto laugh, before asking the audience, in avoice filled with grief and quiet outrage,“Why?” Angry about the false pretencesunder which the invasion of Iraq waslaunched, angry that the administrationregards the 1500 who have already died aslittle more than “just the cost of war,” sheasked that we bring our soldiers homebefore any more of our children die. Herdaughter Kellie shared her hurt and losswith a sense of bewilderment, but claimedthat she has a right to say what she feelssince she lost her wonderful brother to

this war.We listened too as Carol Guisinger

read, with quiet determination, the namesof the 18 soldiers from Nebraska who havedied in Iraq, telling in turn a little abouteach one. Nor did she fail to mention asthe thousands of other American soldierswho have been maimed in body or spirit.Serving as a backdrop to her words was“The Wall of Remembrance” that she andher husband, Roy, constructed. It holdsthe faces of the first 900 American soldierswho have died since this war began. As Ilistened to her speak, the soldiers seem tostare out at us from their full-color photos.And behind and above this wall, I couldimagine another wall one hundred timesthe size, picturing the 100,000 Iraqis whohave been killed so far. What penetratingquestions would this chorus of Americansoldiers and Iraqi people now ask of ourcountry’s leaders, I wondered? Would ourleaders have the decency to cringe fromsuch questions? Or just chalk it up as a“cost of war”?

Two days earlier, Rev. Jay Vetter,pastor of Christ United Methodist Churchin Lincoln, had written a very personalletter to his son-in-law who’d just beencalled up for duty in Iraq. Jay read us theletter, his voice trembling in the morningchill. We felt so helpless, listening to himoffer the assurance of love and care, whilevoicing anger at this war and occupationthat should never, by right, occurred. Tohis son-in-law, who felt he had a duty togo, Jay poured out his feelings, butwithout judgment, serving as an exampleabout how to deal with people caught inthe middle. But Jay too had a question:“Why isn’t our government acting withmorality, righteousness, and empathy inIraq?”

Holly Burns, executive director of the

United Nations. This kind of arroganceand hypocrisy, Krejci said, is guaranteedto keep our country isolated internation-ally for at least another four years.

And that, one can’t help but con-clude, is exactly how Bush, Cheney,Rumsfeld, Rice, Wolfowitz and Boltonwant it. Unencumbered by either interna-tional opinion or international law, they’llbe free to practice their unilateralistdoctrine of preemption around the globewithout restraint.

Nebraskans for Peace President MarkVasina opened the March 19 event byreading off a list of questions about theadministration’s policy in Iraq for which,to date, nobody has any answers. (See thecomplete statement on P. 5.) Questionslike “How much longer will we be in Iraq?Do we know what we’re really doing inthis Muslim country? How do we knowwe’re not making things worse? Howmuch more is this war going to cost? Willthis war ever end? How will we know ifwe’ve won?”

Two years ago this month, in a letterto the editor published in Omaha World-Herald just days after the invasion of Iraqbegan, I wrote, “Historians are likely tointerpret this Iraq war as unnecessary,foolish, even wrong and not fought forthe reasons given by U.S. governmentleaders to an ill-informed public living infear that has been largely the result ofcalculated propaganda.”

The danger before us today, on thesecond anniversary of the invasion ofIraq, is that the Bush/Cheney WhiteHouse is actively seeking to export thisdeadly model to other nations in theIslamic world—to Syria, to Iran—withoutthe American public ever having gottenanswers to these troubling questionsabout Iraq.

How muchmore is this war

going to cost?


NFP President Mark Vasina’s Statementat the March 19 Anniversary Commemoration

Good morning. And thank you for comingout today.

My name is Mark Vasina. I’m presidentof Nebraskans of Peace and the host oftoday’s event to commemorate the secondanniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

But this is not a joyous occasion, nor acause for celebration.

This anniversary is a grim reminder thatexactly two years ago today—under falsepretenses and in a blatant violation of inter-national law—the Bush Administrationlaunched an unprovoked “pre-emptive” attack on the nation ofIraq, and led our country into war.

Today, contrary to the alle-gations, misinformation and liesespoused at the time—from theWhite House (including the VicePresident, our own Lincoln nativeson Dick Cheney) to the dailyspin on Fox News—we nowknow the following truths:• There were no Weapons of

Mass Destruction in Iraq,and hadn’t been for years

• The UN weapons inspectionteams had successfullyperformed their task

• Saddam Hussein was notcollaborating with Osama binLaden and al-Qaida

• Iraq had absolutely nothingto do with 9/11

We also know that…

• Over 1500 American soldiershave died

• As many as 100,000 Iraqishave died (as reported in theprestigious medical journalLancet)

• The financial cost to U.S. taxpayers hasexceeded $200 billion, while thedevastation to the economy of Iraq canonly be measured in terms of decades,perhaps generations

• U.S. troops were seriously unpreparedand ill-equipped for military occupationof Iraq—and their safety often meritedshameless inattention by administrationofficials, including Defense SecretaryDonald Rumsfeld

• We were not hailed as “liberators” bythe Iraqi people

• The capture of Saddam Hussein did notend the post-invasion insurgency inIraq

• The attack on Fallujah—which leveled

a city the size of Omaha—did not endthe insurgency

• The January 30 elections did not endthe insurgency

• In fact, the insurgency is strongertoday than it was when President Bushdeclared “an end to major combat”nearly two years ago

• Our actions have increased tensions—and raised questions about our motives—throughout the entire Islamic world

• Except for the British government of

Tony Blair—and token gestures by theItalian and Australian governments—virtually every other major nation in theworld has refused to participate in thismilitary intervention

• The U.S. reputation around the worldhas plummeted to its lowest level inover a generation.

In summary, measured against any stan-dard you can think of, “mission” in Iraq isnowhere near being “accomplished.”

That’s what we know.As we gather today on the second an-

niversary of this illegal invasion, here’s whatwe DON’T know:• How much longer will be in Iraq?• What are we really doing in this

Muslim country?

PoliticianPoliticianPoliticianPoliticianPoliticianContactsContactsContactsContactsContactsThe White HouseWashington, DC 20500Comment Line: 202-456-1111202-456-1414202-456-2993 (FAX)[email protected]. Chuck Hagel346 Russell Senate Office Bldg.Washington, DC 20510202-224-4224202-224-5213 (FAX)402-476-1400 (Lincoln)402-758-8981 (Omaha)308-632-6032 (Scottsbluff)hagel.senate.govSen. Ben Nelson720 Hart Senate Office Bldg.Washington, D.C. 20510202-224-6551202-228-0012 (FAX)402-391-3411 (Omaha)402-441-4600 (Lincoln)bennnelson.senate.govRep. Jeff Fortenberry, District 11517 Longworth House Office Bldg.Washington, D.C. 20515202-225-4806402-438-1598 (Lincoln)http://www.house.gov/fortenberryRep. Lee Terry, District 21524 Longworth HOBWashington, DC 20515202-225-4155202-226-5452 (FAX)402-397-9944 (Omaha)leeterry.house.gov/contact.aspRep. Tom Osborne, District 3507 Cannon HOBWashington, DC 20515202-225-6435202-226-1385 (FAX)308-381-5555 (Grand Island)www.house.gov/writerep/Capitol Hill Switchboard202-224-3121State Capitol Switchboard402-471-2311State Senator, District #State CapitolPO Box 94604Lincoln, NE 68509-4604Governor Dave HeinemanPO Box 94848Lincoln, NE 68509-4848402-471-2244402-471-6031 (FAX)http://gov.nol.org/mail/govmail.html

• How do we know we’re not makingthings worse?

• How much more is this war going tocost?

• In dollars? In lives? In broken heartsand minds?

• Will this war ever end?• How will we know IF we’ve won?

And standing here today, on the sec-ond anniversary of this ill-conceived andpoorly conducted military invention, our

profound sadness is deepenedby the fact that nobody can an-swer any of these questions.

Not a single one of ourelected representatives in Wash-ington can answer even one ofthese questions with any cer-tainty whatsoever.

That, in and of itself, wouldbe enough, you would think, togive our political leaders pause,foster some long-overdue self-re-flection and discourage themfrom thinking about going downsuch a path again.

But not Vice President DickCheney. Or President George W.Bush.

Because the questions thisadministration is asking todayconcern not Iraq and the quag-mire in which we find ourselvesthere … but whether to exportthis model of illegal “pre-emptive”military intervention to Syria. AndIran.

Columnist Molly Ivins likesto remind everyone of the FirstRule of Holes: “When you’re in

one, quit digging.” Unfortunately, we havean administration in Washington right nowthat, instead of asking, How do we get out?is asking, How much deeper can we get in?

As citizens, as Nebraskans, as peoplefor peace, it is our responsibility—surelytoday on this tragic anniversary, but alsoevery day from this day forward—to askour elected officials these questions aboutthe Iraq intervention.

Because as citizens, taxpayers, moth-ers, fathers, spouses, sweethearts, sisters,brothers, friends, sons and daughters, we’reentitled to some answers.

And we want them now—up front—before the Bush Administration resorts tosimilar illegal, immoral and ill-advised mili-tary actions against any other nation.


by Bud Narveson

On February 18, 2002, the U.S. Office of Veteran’s Affairsmailed a letter to Henry P. Perry of Lincoln, Nebraska, re-garding the “health effects” of tests conducted by branchesof the military on men on ships in the South Pacific duringthe late 1960s and early ’70s. Perry had served on the USSOkanogan, one of the ships involved in tests, which wereknown by the code-name, “Operation SHAD,” for “ship-board hazard and defense.” As a Department of Defensenews release about “Operation Shad” from that year reads:“Veterans who believe they were involved in Deseret TestCenter tests and desire medical evaluations should call theVA’s Helpline at (800) 749-8387. Veterans who have DoD-related questions, who have information to contribute, orwho are DoD beneficiaries and have medical concerns orquestions, should call DoD’s Deployment Health SupportDirectorate’s contact center at (800) 497-6261. All DeseretTest Center fact sheets are on the DeploymentLINK Website at http://deploymentlink.osd.mil/current_issues/shad/shad_intro.shtml.”

Naturally concerned about what these “health effects”might be, Henry Perry went for medical evaluation at theVeteran’s Administration facility in Omaha. His wife, Joyce,Perry had been worried for a number of years about herhusband’s mysterious continuing weight loss, poor metabo-lism and gastrointestinal symptoms. Now she began won-dering whether these might not be the “health effects” de-riving from those tests, some of which involved the use ofthe deadly nerve gases Sarin and VX, as well as other mate-rials, including those of a biological nature.

Joyce Perry has since looked up and copied a numberof DoD releases, and what she has found has done nothing

to reassure her. “Just think,” she says, “they conductedthese tests on military personnel such as my husband. Now,after thirty years, he is asked about his involvement. Hedoes not recall ever being told that he was involved, or thathe was ever given protective gear. What do they imagine hecan remember?”

Details about the tests were described in a May 25,2002 article in The Guardian by Matthew Engel, entitled“U.S. Admits It Tested Nerve Gas on Its Sailors.”

“The U.S. has admitted that it deliberately sprayed nervegas on its sailors in the 1960s as part of a series of tests, andthe government has begun contacting those involved todiscover what damage may have been done to their health.The tests used several of the poisons which the Americansare now most afraid may be used in a possible biologicalattack, including sarin, the lethal gas used in the Tokyosubway murders in 1995.

It was showered on to the deck and injected into theventilation system of the USS George Eastman 31 yearsearlier, in a test with the gentle codename Flower Drum.

According to documents just released by the Penta-gon, Flower Drum, together with other tests with names likeAutumn Gold and Shady Grove, were part of Operation Shad(shipboard hazard and defense), which was designed toevaluate the weapons themselves, the forces’ protectivegear, and decontamination procedures.

The Pentagon started releasing the previously classi-fied information about Project Shad after being pushed by aDemocrat congressman from California, Mike Thompson.More than 600 ex-servicemen have now been contacted bythe government, out of about 4,300 believed to have beeninvolved.

‘We are committed to helping every veteran who took

part in these tests,’ the secretary of veterans’ affairs, An-thony Principi, said.

‘If we find any medical problems or disabilities we canattribute to Project Shad, we’ll ensure these veterans re-ceive the benefits they deserve.’

Project Shad lasted from 1963 to 1970. Other potentialweapons involved included SEB (staphylococcal entero-toxin B), which produces classic symptoms of food poison-ing, and VX, the deadly nerve agent which the Americansbelieved was about to be manufactured in the Sudanesefactory they bombed, apparently wrongly, in 1998 and whichwas detected by weapons inspectors in Iraq at about thesame time.

Mr. Thompson said there might have been up to 113Shad tests, and he was alarmed by what he had learned.

‘We now know that our military personnel were ex-posed to Sarin gas and VX nerve agent, which are bothlethal, and other agents that are known carcinogens.’

Monkeys were also used in the exercise so that theirbodies could be examined. Details of most of the tests re-main secret.

Dr. Michael Kilpatrick, a medical official in the office ofthe assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said itwas unclear whether sailors were intentionally exposed tothe germ and chemical toxins without the benefit of protec-tive masks and gear.

It was also uncertain whether any had given their per-mission to become human guinea pigs in medical experi-ments with the deadly substances.

‘When you read the over-arching plans for the testing,people were to be protected,’ he told the New York Times.

‘But when we get to individual reports, we do not seethings like informed consent or individual protection. Wedon’t have the records for what, if any, protection was givento people.’

A Pentagon official said their records and the ships’logs did not show anyone suffering serious health prob-lems at the time, but admitted that the records were sketchy.

VX was used in a test called Fearless Johnny, also onthe George Eastman. SEB was sprayed by planes over theUSS Granville S. Hall, five tugboats and parts of theEniwetok Atoll, the U.S. Pacific naval base in the MarshallIslands. SEB is unlikely to kill healthy soldiers, but couldincapacitate them for up to a fortnight. [http://w w w. g u a r d i a n . c o . u k / i n t e r n a t i o n a l / s t o r y /0,3604,721898,00.html]

An update on the investigations is found in a newsrelease by the Vietnam Veterans of America from June 30,2003 (Press release provided courtesy of the Department ofDefense):

“To keep the public informed of the investigation, DoDofficials involved with the Project 112 investigation havetestified before congressional bodies and briefed individuallawmakers or committees 18 times. Additionally, DoD andVA officials attended a reunion of crewmembers of the USSPower, which was involved in a SHAD test. On June 30,2003, DoD announced the final public release of the medi-

U.S. Admits It TU.S. Admits It TU.S. Admits It TU.S. Admits It TU.S. Admits It Tested Nerested Nerested Nerested Nerested Nerve Gas on Tve Gas on Tve Gas on Tve Gas on Tve Gas on Trrrrroopsoopsoopsoopsoops

Amid rising expectations for renewed conscription, CentralNebraska Peace Workers has initiated a weekend ofmeetings and training in late April, all co-sponsored by NFPand several churches.

In four public meetings in Omaha, Lincoln, Kearney andGrand Island (April 21-23; see the “Calendar” on the NFPwebsite for details: www.nebraskansforpeace.org), J.E.McNeil, Executive Director of the Committee on Conscienceand War, will explore in detail the possibilities for conscription,including conscription for women and for persons with specialskills (e.g. medical personnel). She will emphasize the needfor all potential draftees to consider whether their objection tomilitary service fits the Selective Service definition of conscien-tious objection.

McNeil will also describe stepped-up military recruitmentin high schools as part of the “No Child Left Behind Act,” andwill offer suggestions for counter-recruitment efforts.

WWWWWill ill ill ill ill TherTherTherTherThere Be a New Draft?e Be a New Draft?e Be a New Draft?e Be a New Draft?e Be a New Draft?


On Sunday, April 24, McNeil will conduct an eight-hourtraining workshop for up to 30 CO Counselors, to be held atthe Leadership Center in Aurora, Nebraska.

At least two factors contribute to the perception thatconscription may return. Last October, Cassandra Costley,director of the Alternative Service Division of SelectiveService, made an unannounced visit to the Church of theBrethren Service Center, inquiring whether they might beprepared to offer alternative service for conscientiousobjectors in the event that conscription resumed. In follow-upconversations, Selective Service maintained that a draft is notimminent, but they have presented detailed plans for a draftand alternative service in the event that a draft becomes law.Meanwhile, enlistments and re-enlistments for the Army,Marines and National Guard reserves have fallen well belowquotas in recent months, in spite of sharply increasedincentives. Registration forms for the public meetings and theCO Counselor training are available from Caryl Guisinger at308-358-0400 or [email protected].


OvOvOvOvOver Ter Ter Ter Ter Thrhrhrhrhree Decades Laee Decades Laee Decades Laee Decades Laee Decades Later…ter…ter…ter…ter…


by Cary VigneriNFP Omaha Coordinator

Depleted Uranium (DU) sounds harmless.After all, it’s depleted.

In fact, it is a component of weaponsthat are horribly devastating. Yet its use inwar and how it harms people, plants, ani-mals and the planet are discussed in publicrarely. Depleted uranium is used to hardenmunitions, and optimize their ability to pen-etrate targets. It becomes aerosolized whenit explodes, that is, the metal breaks up intoradioactive particles that are easily inhaledby humans and that readily contaminate theecosystem through ground water absorp-tion and the poison’s subsequent entry intothe food chain.

DU is suspected of causing increasedlevels of cancer in people and animals, gen-eral weakening of the immune system, andperhaps, most worrisome, genetic mutations.Dr. Chris Busby, author of Wings of Deathwrote about the effects of depleted uranium.He has said, “of all the dangers facing hu-manity the most insidious and frighteningis the silent and invisible damage being doneto genes by induced mutation. The humanrace is defined by its genetic structure, and

DU (Depleted Uranium) Is a WMDalteration of this is the most pervasive andserious attack that can be imagined.” Dr.Chris Busby, Wings of Death, ISBN: 1-897761-03-1

A German professor, Dr. Siegwart-HorstGunther, first uncovered the use of depleteduranium armor-piercing shells by U.S. forcesin the 1991 Gulf War. A survivor of world warand internment in a Nazi concentration camp,Dr. Gunther is a tireless campaigner in thestruggle to highlight the under-reported andcontinuing human devastation caused bythe first Gulf War. As early as November1995, Gunther stated publicly that the break-down of the immune system in humans andanimals seemed to be the most long lastingand pernicious result of contact with ex-pended depleted uranium weapons. “Her-pes infections, Zoster infections and AIDS-like symptoms are dramatically on the in-crease, all of them possibly related to thebreakdown of the immune system; prema-ture births are numerous. Congenital mal-formations of the newborn show a high post-war percentage (26.8% according to Dept.of Pathology, College of Medicine, Univer-sity of Baghdad). In the countryside, chil-dren die in great numbers and are buriedwithout possibility of diagnosis. During the

lambing season in 1993 a high percentage(10% according to IPA Agricultural ResearchCenter) of abnormal newborn lambs havebeen observed. Most of them died a fewdays after birth.”

Professor Doug Rokke, ex-director ofthe Pentagon’s depleted uranium project,was tasked by the U.S. Department of De-fense with post-war (first Gulf War, 1991)depleted uranium clean up. His job was tolead a team in the work of establishing pro-tocols for decontaminating equipment, per-sonnel and sites after their exposure to DU.

Rokke, who believes his health is se-verely compromised as a result of DU expo-sure, has said of the current Iraqi war: “Thereis a moral point to be made here. This warwas about Iraq possessing illegal weaponsof mass destruction—yet we are using weap-ons of mass destruction ourselves. Suchdouble standards are repellent.”

Rokke is a former professor of environ-mental science at Jacksonville University andone-time U.S. Army colonel. Most of the menunder his command who worked on the de-contamination project have died. His opin-ion is that use of DU is a ‘war crime.’

According to an August 2002 report bythe UN, the laws breached by the use of DU

shells include:• the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights;• the Charter of the United Nations; the

Genocide Convention;• the Convention Against Torture;• the four Geneva Conventions of 1949;• the Conventional Weapons Convention

of 1980; and• The Hague Conventions of 1899 and

1907.What all that means is that the laws and

treaties to which the U.S. is a signatory bindus, according to our Constitution, to use nopoison or poisoned weapons. We haveagreed to use no weapons that do severe,long-term damage to the environment. Weare also enjoined from using weapons thatcannot distinguish between civilians andsoldiers, or materials or devices that are simi-lar to gas.

It is a crime in America to plan or pre-pare for wars that would violate other bind-ing treaties making the mere manufacture ofdepleted uranium, by definition a crime. Andthe orders to deploy those kinds of weap-

The following remarks by Winnebago activistFrank LaMere were read at the February 4screening of “The Battle for Whiteclay” at theState Capitol. The screening was held topublicize two legislative initiatives: oneultimately rejected by the General AffairsCommittee, and one favored by theAppropriations Committee.

LB 530 began life as a designatedcommittee bill from General Affairs with fivecommittee member co-sponsors, but wassoon killed by a vote of 6-2-1. Endorsed bythe Liquor Control Commission, LB 530would have provided more flexible authorityto consider community conditions in licensingdecisions, strengthening the Commission’shand in future rulings on licenses inWhiteclay.

The Appropriations Committee, in its firstround review of the State Patrol budget, onMarch 31 approved funding—$20,000 peryear—for undercover compliance checks ofthe dealers in Whiteclay. If included in thebudget sent to the floor in April, this measure,championed by Sen. Chris Beutler, willbecome the first Whiteclay initiative ever toemerge from committee. The relatively small

amount of money would fund an effectiveprogram to identify licensee violations ofliquor laws and enforce compliance.

Frank LaMere will be one of a number ofpeople participating in a panel discussionfollowing a special public showing of “TheBattle for Whiteclay” at the Mary RiepmaRoss Film Theatre in Lincoln, April 21, at7:00 p.m.

I applaud the efforts of Nebraskans forPeace and others in Lincoln who havegathered at the State Capitol this morning tobegin a new offensive in the “Battle forWhiteclay.” I am sorry that I cannot be therebut I look forward to joining those Nativepeople and caring Nebraskans who will gatheron Monday to explore the possibilities of LB530.

I understand that Alex Moscu and MarkVasina will show their piece from the Whiteclaydocumentary now being completed and I urgeall lawmakers and agency heads in Stategovernment to watch it objectively with aresolve of trying to understand the contro-versy. I thank Alex and Mark and I pray thattheir completed offering will show Nebraska in

Frank LaMere on the “The Battle for Whiteclay” Documentarya good light identifying countless Nebraskanswho do care! They have my good wishes!

The great legal scholar Felix Cohen oncesaid that Native people are like the miner’scanary and that what besets Native people willbe a bane to all of us in the near and distantfuture. When we read of young people oncollege campuses drinking themselves to deathor freezing while under the influence of illegaldrugs who can deny his sad prophecy?

There are those who see Whiteclay and itscarnage and young people’s untimely andtragic deaths from alcohol and drug abuse assimple matters of personal choice. I don’t.Every Nebraskan who turns a blind eye to thelawlessness and illegalities surrounding thesale of alcohol at Whiteclay or who ignorethose who raise red flags are sentencing theirown children and communities to a similar fate.The permissiveness and tolerance shown byconservative Nebraska for the situation atWhiteclay speaks volumes to our hypocrisyand to our dwindling family values. WhenNative people at Pine Ridge have to tellNebraskans that our children like their childrenare dying and that our people like their people

suffer because of our inaction it is time welisten. Who knows more about the devastationof community and the disintegration of familiesbrought on by alcohol than the people of thedry Pine Ridge reservation? Where alcohol issold by Nebraska to people with no legalplace to drink it! It is only a matter of time untilthe tinderbox at Whiteclay explodes or thetolerance and heartache of alcohol abusefostered by sellers with no moral purposereaches into every Nebraska home. We asNebraskans must act!

The Battle for Whiteclay continues andthose who seek a better way will not acceptband-aid approaches or politically expedientmisdirection from any political party. We havecome too far!

We have battled for seven years and weapproach the next seven more determined,more frustrated but without anger. We trust thefairness of Nebraskans and look forward tothe day when we stand together having donesomething good for the State, our neighborsand for the generations to come, be they redor white.

Shut down Whiteclay! Take heart and doit now!



March 7, 2005Dear Mr. Vasina:I am responding on behalf of theUniversity of Nebraska Board ofRegents to your letter of January21, 2005.

The University of Nebraska atOmaha (UNO) Center for Afghani-stan Studies has been awardedthree major contracts by the UnitedStates Agency for International De-velopment (USAID): one for theperiod 1974-78; a second for 1986-94; and the third for 2002-2004.Each of these contracts supportedan education project. The first,prior to Soviet occupation of Af-ghanistan, focused on faculty andstudent exchanges and the devel-opment of Kabul University. Thesecond and third projects focusedon the production of educationalmaterials and the training of Af-ghans. It is important to note, inlight of the allegations containedin your letter, that these projectsinvolved training for both femaleand male teachers and basic skillstraining for both female and malerefugees.

More than 50 UNO and Uni-versity of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL)faculty and staff members workedas consultants on these book-pub-lishing projects, the contracts forwhich were formally awarded to theUNO Center for Afghanistan Stud-ies. Over 30 million textbooks forAfghan schoolchildren and adultswere produced in the two primarylanguages of Afghanistan: Dariand Pashto. This total includestextbooks in every subject taughtat each grade level and in adult lit-

eracy classes.The following are responses

to the five numbered items listedbeginning on page one of your let-ter:

1. The contract with UNO ob-tained with the UNOCAL companywas for an education project fo-cused on basic skills training forAfghan females and males. Thecontract was reviewed by theBoard of Regents and approved. Itwas not a CIA project (none of theUNO contracts or projects hasbeen performed under contractwith the CIA or as a project of theCIA).

UNOCAL was exploring thepossibility of building two pipe-lines from Turkmenistan to Paki-stan through Afghanistan. Thecompany determined it would needtrained Afghan personnel and re-quested that the Center forAghanistan Studies at UNO trainAfghan women and men in basicskills. This project lasted for 12months in 1997-98, and was fundedby UNOCAL. It was hoped thatsubsequent educational projectsmight develop from this one.

The project called for UNO totrain Afghan males in basic trade-skills such as plumbing, welding,small engine repair, etc. and Afghanfemales in English and office skills.The project was conducted byUNO even though UNOCAL didnot hold a contract for the pipe-lines. The company provided thefunds to educate and train Af-ghans even though it was not cer-tain it would obtain the rights tobuild pipelines in Afghanistan. Theproject was dropped due to the de-teriorating political situation in thecountry.

According to Regent policy,the University of Nebraska Boardof Regents approves all contractsof $200,000 or more. For this rea-son, the UNOCAL contract waspresented to the Board where itwon unanimous approval. At thetime of approval, Regents asked forand received reassurance that thecontract would be executed underthe auspices of the 1996 UnitedNations Gender Equity Policies.

2. All the books for Afghanswere produced under contract

awarded by USAID under rulesand instructions promulgated bythat agency. If you have questionsabout those rules, I suggest youcontact the USAID office at (202)712-4810.

The UNO Education Press isnot a business unit of the Univer-sity of Nebraska like the Univer-sity of Nebraska Press. Instead, itis an Afghan nongovernmental or-ganization which UNO incubatedunder a 2002 USAID contract toproduce 15 million textbooksneeded to reopen schools in Af-ghanistan. Each of these books hasa USAID and UNO logo in Englishon the back cover. These books arenot, however, University of Ne-braska books. They are AfghanMinistry of Education books. Theywere developed over a fifty-yearperiod with funding assistancefrom USAID through contractawarded to the University of Wyo-ming, Columbia University, andUNO. None of the books was pub-lished in Nebraska; all were pub-lished either in Afghanistan or Pa-kistan.

It is important to note that theAmerican universities involvedhad no responsibility for or con-trol over the content of the booksor the design of the curriculum inwhich they were used. The UnitedStates Congress, through the StateDepartment, mandated that thecontent of the Afghan textbooksbe determined solely by Afghans.Just as school boards in Americahave control over the content ofcurriculum, so too did the AfghanMinistry of Education have con-trol over its curriculum and text-books. The presumption that UNOthrough its actions could dictateAfghan policy is flawed. Again, formore information related to USAIDpolicies in Afghanistan, pleasecontact that agency.

All Afghan projects were pre-sented to the University of Ne-braska Board of Regents for con-sideration and approval. TomGoutierre, Dean of InternationalStudies and Programs at UNO, per-sonally made the presentationsand answered questions posed bythe Regents. The USAID con-tracts were unanimously approvedby the Regents each time.

3. Congress, the U.S. State De-

partment, and USAID mandatedthat Afghans have the final sayon content in their books. The con-tent deemed objectionable by Ne-braskans for Peace was developedby Afghans for literacy courses forilliterate Afghan Mujaahideen whowere fighting Soviet forces. Noneof these textbooks was producedafter 1989, and none of them wasintended for use by schoolchil-dren. However, as you note, text-books defaced by the ruling Talibswere redistributed within Afghani-stan in the years following.

All of the books published incooperation with the UNO Centersince 1989, including the 15.1 mil-lion published during 2002, havebeen revised by the Afghan Min-istry of Education and approvedby international organizationssuch as USAID and UnitedNation’s Children’s Fund(UNICEF), Save the Children, theUnited Nations High Commis-sioner for Refugees (UNHCR) andsimilar agencies. Many of thesesame organizations use thesebooks today in their assistanceprograms for Afghans. The currenttextbooks are Karzai administra-tion Ministry of Education books.

More than 50 University ofNebraska faculty and staff (mostfrom UNO; some from UNL) par-ticipated actively in providingpedagogical and professional re-view throughout the developmentof the books, the development ofcompetency-based teachingmanuals, and teacher training, in-cluding the training of femaleteachers under threat from Islam-ist groups in Pakistan.

4. The UNO Center for Af-ghanistan Studies is firmly com-mitted to the education and train-ing of Afghan women. UNO con-ducted training for Afghan womenin refugee camps and undergroundin Peshawar, Pakistan due to verythreatening conditions. One of theUNO team leaders was shot be-cause of his involvement in suchteaching.

Over the past three years, fourgroups of female Afghan teachershave come to Nebraska for train-ing. UNO has conducted in-ser-vice teacher training for more than4,500 Afghan teachers in Afghani-stan since March 2002. Some 3,600

of these teachers are female.As explained above, content

for educational materials was de-veloped according to USAIDguidelines through the Afghani-stan Ministry of Education. I en-courage you to see clarificationfrom that agency regarding its poli-cies.

5. As mentioned above, theU.S. government agency, USAID,contracted with UNO for theseprojects, and each of these is amatter of public record. Somesupplemental financial supportwas provided by the United Na-tions during the war between Af-ghanistan and the Union of SovietSocialist Republics (USSR). Thisassistance focused solely on pub-lishing anti-drug and land-mineawareness messages on the backcovers of textbooks. No fundingwas provided by the Central Intel-ligence Agency (CIA) or any otherintelligence agency for books dur-ing the war or for books publishedin the postwar period.

It is our understanding thatNebraskans for Peace representa-tives have agreed to discuss theirconcerns with Mr. Goutierre andother faculty at the UNO Centerfor Afghanistan Studies. We arepleased that our offer for such dis-cussions has been accepted byyour organization. It is unfortunate,however, that contact was not es-tablished with UNO prior to thepublication of your letter so thatthese discrepancies could bebrought to light.

In its letter, Nebraskans forPeace lists many of its perceivedconcerns with the administrationof UNO’s Center for AfghanistanStudies. I wonder, however, if it alsoperceives that Afghans wouldhave been better off if UNO andMr. Goutierre has not participatedin USAID’s efforts.

In 2002, 15 million textbooksmade reopening schools for boysand girls in Afghanistan possible.Without the availability of thesebooks, it is likely that education inAfghanistan would have floun-dered for several more years.Sincerely,Howard HawksBoard of Regents, District No. 2

Regent Howard Hawks

Regents Defend UNO Afghan Center


NFP Responds to the RegentsApril 6, 2005Howard HawksChair, Board of RegentsUniversity of Nebraska

Dear Regent Hawks:Thank you for your reply to our letter of January 21,

2005. In that letter, Nebraskans for Peace requested that theNU Board of Regents consider a number of specific policyitems for inclusion in a university-wide code of ethics. Thoseitems are related to past activities of the UNO Center forAfghanistan Studies (CAS).

However, your reply dated March 7 is silent regardingour request for policy considerations. Instead we are toldthat: (1) existing policies regarding NU contract approvalswere followed, and (2) NFP has its facts wrong aboutthe operations of CAS. Furthermore, the letter endedwith the strong suggestion that CAS and the Uni-versity of Nebraska acted in the best interests of allAfghans when it entered into the U.S. Agency forInternational Development (USAID) and UNOCALcontracts at the heart of the controversy.

Nevertheless, after reviewing your letter andmeeting with CAS Director Tom Gouttierre and As-sistant Director Raheem Yaseer on March 15, weremain convinced that critical facts are indeed aswe have represented them. We continue to see theneed for an ethics policy to address key concerns.

It would be a mistake, however, to construeour interest in such a policy as an attack on all pastand current work of CAS. Rather, our effort is aimedat defining ethical boundaries to be applied pro-spectively, not historically, to the university and allits departments and affiliates.

In response to the challenge in your letter regardingmatters of fact concerning CAS, Nebraskans for Peace willalso continue to pursue the truth about CAS’s textbookpublishing and UNOCAL contracts as they relate to thedevelopment of an appropriate ethics policy. (We have re-cently learned that Dr. Sam Walker, Professor of CriminalJustice at UNO, is voicing additional concerns—indepen-dently of NFP—about the academic performance and integ-rity of CAS. [Readers interested in Dr. Walker’s commentsmay contact him at [email protected] for a copy ofhis recent article about CAS.])

UNOCALJudging by the response in your letter, no university

policies apparently exist regarding basic human rights orethical investment screens with respect to companies withwhich NU collaborates. We trust that the silence of the Re-gents on this issue does not indicate a steadfast unwilling-ness to consider such policies.

Your letter dismisses ethical questions raised by jour-nalists as well as human rights and women’s advocacy or-ganizations regarding CAS’s work under a 1997 contractwith UNOCAL by characterizing the UNOCAL project as“an education project focused on basic skills training forAfghan females and males.” At issue here, front and center,is gender discrimination in a training program established

and operated by a university department. The fact of thisdiscrimination in the UNOCAL project is acknowledged inyour letter. UNO, you report, was contracted “to train Af-ghan males in basic trade-skills… and Afghan females inEnglish and office skills.”

Also relevant is the actual purpose of the UNOCALprogram. Steve Coll, author of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize-win-ning non-fiction book, Ghost Wars: The Secret History ofthe CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, From the Soviet In-vasion to September 10, 2001, carefully details the historyof UNOCAL’s efforts to lure the Taliban, at that time in con-trol of Afghanistan, into an oil and natural gas pipeline agree-ment. He suggests that the UNO training project was notconceived with a humanitarian purpose, but rather to helplobby the Taliban leadership to support the pipeline deal[see Coll, p. 364]. UNO’s involvement was, in effect, a sub-

terfuge. Its true purpose was—and continues to be—hid-den from the American people (if not from the Taliban).

You note that the Regents, when considering theUNOCAL contract, “asked for and received reassurance[from Tom Gouttierre] that the contract would be executedunder the auspices of the 1996 United Nations Gender Eq-uity Policies.” This action by the Regents represents animportant nod in the direction of a sound ethics policy.However, it would be instructive to find out whether theRegents were ever provided evidence that the UNOCALcontract was in fact carried out under such auspices. Weencourage the Regents to adopt a policy requiring that in-ternational contracts adhere to these and other United Na-tions ethics policies, and that NU faculty and officials re-sponsible for the contracts provide periodic documenta-tion of compliance.

UNO Education PressThe identity and historic role of the UNO Education

Press (and affiliates and predecessor entities) remain en-tirely unclear. In your letter you state: “The UNO EducationPress is not a business unit of the University of Nebraskalike the University of Nebraska Press. Instead, it is an Af-ghan nongovernmental organization which UNO incubatedunder a 2002 USAID contract…” You suggest that UNOexerted no influence on this or any other entity involvedwith the textbooks, stating that UNO “had no responsibilityfor or control over the content of the books or the design of

the curriculum in which they were used.”Elsewhere in your letter you state: “More than 50 Uni-

versity of Nebraska faculty and staff… participated activelyin providing pedagogical and professional review through-out the development of the books, the development of com-petency-based teaching manuals, and teacher training...”You also acknowledge the (undeniable) use of the UNOtrade name and logo on the back covers of textbooks pub-lished in 2002. Nevertheless, you suggest that due to lackof UNO control over their content these publications shouldnot be held to ethical standards commensurate with anAmerican institution of higher learning.

Regardless of the legal relationship of the Universityof Nebraska to the UNO Education Press, we believe thatUNO’s association with the textbook project and this entity“which UNO incubated” raises issues of ethical standards

in process and product. (We are aware, for example,of UNICEF’s efforts to develop appropriate textbooksfor Afghan schools in 2002.) Failure to meet suitableethical standards regarding gender-based and reli-gion-oriented content, for example, should have beena critical consideration for UNO staff prior to theirinvolvement in this project, just as it had been forUNICEF staff.

The subsequent distribution of the UNO text-books by UNICEF and other international aid orga-nizations working in Afghanistan most likely reflectedresignation on the part of aid workers, not endorse-ment. In fact, CAS’s failure to win a 2003 USAIDcontract to develop a new generation of Afghan text-books suggests an apparent international recogni-tion of the need to replace the UNO textbooks—andtheir publishers.

Your reply regarding the UNO Education Press begsquestions along two other lines of inquiry.

First, what is the history of the UNO Education Pressand affiliates both prior and subsequent to 2002? One indi-vidual we contacted visited the Press’ facilities well before2002. The UNO website itself suggests that the UNO Edu-cation Press existed before 2002, and identifies a relatedPakistan-based entity (the UNO Printing Press) with a con-tinuing administrative link to UNO. The following descrip-tion is found on a UNO/CAS webpage:

In 2001, important Afghan educational institutions, theformer IRC and the ACBAR Printing Press, as well asthe Health and Education Resource Center (HERC),merged with UNO Education Press to function as theInstructional Materials Development Center (IMDC) inKabul Afghanistan and Peshawar, Pakistan.

As a part of this merger, the UNO Printing Press servesas an independent body under the name and adminis-tration of UNO.

What is the function of the UNO Printing Press and thenature of its relationship to UNO? While the UNO Educa-tion Press currently may not be a “business unit of theUniversity of Nebraska” as you state, can the same be saidfor the UNO Printing Press? That it serves “under the name

“Your reply to our letterskirts virtually all of our

inquiries regarding policies.We respectfully request a

policy response to ourpolicy questions.”

conclusion on next page


jectionable? Who performed the re-view? What is their report?

You also stated that UNO staffwere not responsible for militantcontent because they were di-rected by USAID and the U.S.government to include this mate-rial, which was sought by themujahidin themselves. This argu-ment only serves to emphasize thedirective role played by U.S. for-eign policy in carrying out what ispublicly touted as a humanitarianand educational project. Moreover,it strengthens the case for a uni-versity policy to establish ethicalboundaries for participation insomething so functionally complexas a CIA covert operation.

CIA and USAIDYou have plainly suggested in

your letter’s closing remarks thatAfghans are better off today be-cause of CAS’s work under con-tract for USAID. Few actions, orbundles of actions, are obviouslyeither all good or all bad in theirmotivations or consequences. NFPhas never suggested that every-thing CAS has done involves un-ethical behavior or adverse conse-quences.

However, measuring the eth-ics of institutional behavior by aU.S. public university is not accom-plished by merely determining thatthe behavior in question landedsquarely on the side of U.S. strate-gic interests in a regional militarygeopolitical conflict. Conformity toU.S. foreign policy—whether po-litically consensual or not—doesnot guarantee appropriate univer-sity policy. The need for a carefulethical examination of institutionalbehavior in such instances is allthe more important.

Such is the case for CAS’soriginal USAID contract to pro-duce Afghan textbooks from 1986-1994. In Chapter 25 of CharlieWilson’s War: The ExtraordinaryStory of the Largest Covert Opera-tion in History, George Crile de-scribes how the USAID’s CrossBorder Humanitarian Aid Program,“a seemingly innocent, humanitar-ian aid program,” was “transformedinto an indispensable second frontin the CIA’s Afghan war” [see Crile,p. 362]. Headed by a USAID offi-cial known for his involvement with

CIA covert operations in SoutheastAsia during the Vietnam War, thisprogram (which funded the origi-nal UNO textbook project) was de-signed to maintain civilian supportfor the mujahidin operating insideAfghanistan [Crile, pp. 363-366].

We do not wish to waste theRegents’ time with a U.S. foreignpolicy discussion over the meth-ods and merits of the CIA’s pros-ecution of a covert operation in Af-ghanistan during the years of thebrutal Soviet occupation of thatcountry. Rather, we hope to begina discussion about university eth-ics policy by asking whether it isconsistent with the educationalmission of a first tier institution ofhigher learning to cooperate witha CIA covert operation.

Questions such as these areespecially important when ouruniversity’s contribution to thewar effort in Afghanistan involvedthe publication of textbooks in-tended by design (whether by themujahidin, the CIA, or UNO) to in-still or reinforce militant jihad inyoung or old. The university’s in-volvement becomes a matter ofeven greater immediacy to Nebras-

NFP Responds, conclusion

kans and all Americans when weconsider that these same mujahidinwho studied jihad in UNO text-books provided the sanctuary forthe al-Qaida terrorist camps priorto the attacks of 9/11.

Even CIA and USAID opera-tions in Afghanistan (and, morenotoriously, in Nicaragua) wereconstrained by policies imposedby the U.S. Congress. (In the caseof Nicaragua, executive branchcontraventions of these policiesresulted in national scandal.) Weask that the Regents diligently ex-ercise their duty of oversight ofuniversity activities and establisha meaningful ethics policy.

Such a policy should, amongother things identified in our letterof January 21, prohibit universityinvolvement in militant, religiousand gender-biased propaganda athome or abroad—whether targetedat children or adults. Your reply toour letter skirts virtually all of ourinquiries regarding policies. Werespectfully request a policy re-sponse to our policy questions.Sincerely,Mark VasinaPresident, Nebraskans for Peace

and administration of UNO” sug-gests a relationship to NU aboveand beyond a neutral characteriza-tion as “an Afghan nongovernmen-tal organization.” We recognizethat the legal foundations regard-ing corporations and mergers inPakistan and Afghanistan are mostlikely different from those govern-ing the same practices in the U.S.Nevertheless, we expect, for ex-ample, that NU officials can iden-tify a principal at UNO appropri-ately authorized for administrationof the UNO Printing Press, and thatboth this person and the affiliatedentity are bound by university poli-cies.

Second, what university poli-cies govern the use and licensingof university trademarks, tradenames and logos? We expect thattheir authorization for use on Af-ghan textbooks and inclusion incorporate names, particularly bynonaffiliated entities (such as theUNO Education Press), was care-fully supervised in accordancewith university policies.

Very clearly, the use of thesehighly valued and routinelystaunchly defended articles of in-tellectual property in conjunctionwith the Afghan textbook projectsplaces NU’s credibility and repu-tation behind the textbooks them-selves. Viewed in such a light, theprotestation that UNO staff wasnot responsible for textbook con-tent fails to acknowledge the im-portant public relations functionserved by UNO’s very visible par-ticipation in these projects. Lossof esteem for CAS by Afghanistanscholars in the U.S. and aid work-ers around the world is an obvi-ous, though unintended, result.Appropriate policy carefully prac-ticed should guard against thisoccurence.

CAS Rsponsibility forTextbook Content

The prominence in your letterplaced on justification of the 2002textbooks obscures the greater eth-ics issues surrounding the text-books developed by CAS in the1980s. In the earlier textbooks, stu-dents were exhorted to jihadagainst foreign oppressors

through militant images and rheto-ric in literacy textbooks andthrough story problems featuringbullets and dead Russian soldiersin mathematics textbooks.

You assert that the offensivemilitant images and text (“the con-tent deemed objectionable by Ne-braskans for Peace”) appearedonly in textbooks intended for adultliteracy courses. Since we have notbeen able to view actual copies ofthe 1980s textbooks (the CAS staffhave not yet produced copies forour inspection), we acknowledgeour disadvantage relative to theRegents on this matter. However,based on the evidence available tous at the time of this writing, weare not convinced that the objec-tionable content was confined totextbooks prepared only for adults.

Pages from third-grade andfifth-grade literacy textbooks whichcontain militant images and textpromoting violent jihad were pub-lished in the Spring 2002 WorldPolicy Journal and reproduced inthe March 2005 Nebraska Report.The WPJ article also reported thatviolent story problems were found,for example, in third-grade andfourth-grade mathematics text-books. Senior CAS staff informedNFP that adult literacy courses de-signed by CAS were short pro-grams, taught to mujahidin fight-ers during the winter months whensevere weather forced the suspen-sion of military campaigns. It ap-pears unlikely that progressivelygraded textbooks were designedfor exclusive use in these adult lit-eracy courses. We are attemptingto verify our suspicions with inter-national aid workers operating inAfghanistan who have knowledgeof the original UNO textbooks.

Nevertheless, whether aimedat children or adults only, the con-tent of the original textbooks pro-duced by CAS has been found“objectionable” to international aidworkers and academics far fromNebraska. In fact, national journal-ists brought the story to the atten-tion of NFP members in 2002. Is itfair to conclude from the commentsin your letter that the Regents havesufficiently reviewed the contentof the original UNO textbooks andfound nothing that is morally ob-

The back cover design of an Afghan textbook published in 2002 bythe UNO Education Press bearing the University of Nebraska’s

former official logo. Regent Hawks asserts in his letter that the UNOEducation Press is not affiliated with the University of Nebraska.


ons are criminal; as are those who are per-sonally responsible for their participationin these crimes. All of these laws are de-signed to spare civilians from unwarrantedsuffering in armed conflicts.

DU weapons have been used in at leastfour recent wars. Both the British and Ameri-cans are known to have used them, and theU.S. manufactures and sells DU munitionsto 16 other countries. The U.S.’ criminal ac-tivity has not gone unnoticed by the inter-national community. Largely unreported inAmerican press, the International CriminalTribunal for Afghanistan (ICTA) was con-vened in Tokyo in December, 2002 and triedG.W. Bush for crimes against humanity. TheICTA convened as a Peoples TribunalMovement. Its steering committee wasmade up of members of the internationalpeace movement, including Americans, Sa-rah Flounders and Ramsey Clark .After in-ternational fact-findings and public hear-ings, the people’s court found G. W. Bushguilty of war crimes and crimes against hu-manity:

Judge Niloufer Bhagwat, who presidedover the ICTA, wrote on March 10, 2004, inthe matter of the People vs George WalkerBush, President of the United States ofAmerica:

“I find the Defendant, George WalkerBush, President of the United States andCommander-in-Chief of United StatesArmed Forces guilty…under Article 2 ofthe Statute of the International CriminalTribunal for Afghanistan and under Inter-national Criminal Law, for waging a warof aggression against Afghanistan and theAfghan people…in respect of War Crimescommitted against the people of Afghani-stan by the use of weapons prohibited bythe laws of warfare causing death and de-struction to the Afghan people; maimingmen, women and children…”

The weapons to which she referred areDU munitions: “The evidence presented be-fore the Tribunal, which has shocked theconscience of the judges of this Tribunal,is… thoroughly researched evidence onthe genocidal and omnicidal nature of De-pleted Uranium weapons used in Afghani-stan…”

There were numerous other facts thatcorroborated the guilty verdict handeddown by this court, and it was noted thatthe verdict was not limited to Bush alone,nor did it protect others, who were involved,from prosecution.

While the U.S. government publiclymaintains that depleted uranium is not asource of danger for civilians or combat-ants, training manuals and other govern-ment documents belie that stance.

cally relevant information on all the remaining Deseret Test Center chemical and biologicaloperational tests from 1962-1973.” [http://www.vva.org/shad/DOD_063003.htm]

And that is about where matters stand. The U.S. has admitted conducting tests ofpoison gas and biological materials on its military personnel. Prompted by a member ofCongress, it has tried to discover whether there were adverse long-range health effects.Whether any positive effects will emerge from the investigations is an open question.Given the stories that have emerged about “Gulf War Syndrome” and depleted uraniumthere is no reason to expect that similar exposure of deadly agents to servicemen andwomen is not continuing. (See accompanying article on depleted uranium.)

As for Henry Perry, it took three years, but on February 24, 2005, he finally received a“determination” from the Veteran’s Hospital about his condition. It is likely, the letter said,that his health problems are a result of advancing age and are likely not related to hismilitary service 30 years ago. Joyce Perry says however, “I am appalled that my govern-ment tested weapons of mass destruction on its own servicemen. I am appalled that mygovernment ever even manufactured such weapons. Such weapons should never be madeor used.”

U.S. Admits TU.S. Admits TU.S. Admits TU.S. Admits TU.S. Admits Test,est,est,est,est, conclusionconclusionconclusionconclusionconclusion

DU Is a WMD, conclusionNebraskans for Peace Membership FormI want to ____ BEGIN ____ RENEW MEMBERSHIP

$35 Individual $25 Introductory (new member only) $50 Household $10 Student/Low income

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Some of the other long-term effects of usingDU are described in a U.S. Army ChemicalSchool-training manual:

“DU’s mobility in water is due to howeasily it dissolves. Soluble compounds ofDU will readily dissolve and migrate withsurface or ground water. Drinking or wash-ing or other contact with contaminated wa-ter will spread the contamination… The endresult of air and water contamination is thatDU is deposited in the soil. Once in the soil,it stays there unless moved. This means thatthe area remains contaminated, and will notdecontaminate itself.”

The following excerpt from JudgeNiloufer Bhagwat’s legal opinion further il-lustrates now disingenuous the U.S. gov-ernment is being in its statements about thestafety of DU:

“A memorandum dated 30th October1943, received by General Groves in chargeof the Manhattan Project …from three phy-sicians working under him …recommendsthat radiological materials be developedfor use as a military weapon on the battle-field. It was a blueprint for depleted ura-nium weaponry. The memorandum describ-ing the property of DU weapons states that,“The material …ground into particles ofmicroscopic size …would be distributed inthe form of dust and smoke by ground firedprojectiles, land vehicles and bombs …in-haled by personnel …it is estimated thatone millionth of a gram accumulating in aperson’s body would be fatal. There are noknown methods of treatment for such casu-alty …areas so contaminated by radioac-tive dusts and smokes would be dangerousas long as high concentration of metal wasmaintained. …Reservoirs or wells wouldbe contaminated …food poisoned …par-ticles larger than I micron would be depos-ited in the nose, trachea and bronchi …par-ticles smaller than 1 micron are more likelyto be deposited in alveoli where they willremain …or be absorbed into the lymphat-ics or blood …Beta and gamma emittingfission products …may be absorbed by theblood and distributed to the whole body.”

Despite the absence of conclusive sci-entific evidence, common sense and com-mon decency dictate that releasing ionizingradiation in the form of highly-refined,breathable, and ingestible uranium oxides isa consummately horrible idea. The immoral-ity, illegality and repugnance of using DU;its connection as the probable cause of GulfWar Syndrome; its property as a genetic mu-tagen; and the U.S. government’s attemptsto minimize the problems are all potent indi-cators of an urgent need to act against theiruse.

From the Bottom From the Bottom From the Bottom From the Bottom From the Bottom by Sally Herby Sally Herby Sally Herby Sally Herby Sally HerrinrinrinrinrinThe real political spectrum isn’t right to left… it’s top to bottom.The real political spectrum isn’t right to left… it’s top to bottom.The real political spectrum isn’t right to left… it’s top to bottom.The real political spectrum isn’t right to left… it’s top to bottom.The real political spectrum isn’t right to left… it’s top to bottom.

TTTTTaking Our DNA Right to the Graveaking Our DNA Right to the Graveaking Our DNA Right to the Graveaking Our DNA Right to the Graveaking Our DNA Right to the Grave

To list an event, submit in writing by the tenth of the monthpreceding the event. Send to: NFP, 941 “O” Street, #1026,

Lincoln, NE 68508 [email protected]

April 24 Conscientious Objector Seminar; see page 6 formore details.

April 17 Prairie Peace Park Annual Event, 2:00-5:00 p.m. (I-80 Exit 388). The theme is “Creating a Peaceful Future;”

featured speaker is Cary Vigneri, NFP Omaha Coordinator.Music by Kusi Taki, celebration performance by the WhorlWind dancers. Presentations by park founder, Don Tilley, andstudents from NWU, Union & Doane Colleges, & LincolnSoutheast High School. Park tours, free refreshments. Rain orshine; assemble next to the orientation house. Goodwilloffering. For more information, call 402-466-6622.

BULLETIN BOARD

For a few glorious years, the gold standardin scientific thought held that race did notexist. The proof appeared to be found inthe patterning of human DNA, in the stun-ning discovery that folks who “look alike”in terms of highly observable traits like skincolor and hair texture are not necessarilyclose relations. That is to say, there may bemore genetic diversity among the nativeinhabitants of a single town in, say,Cameroon, than between a red-haired Ukrai-nian Jew, a dark-skinned Indonesian Mus-lim and a high-yellow Creole from PuertoRico.

This is all due, it turns out, to the factthat only a few, relatively speaking, of theearliest human ancestors actually leftMother Africa, and these few straying fami-lies went on to populate the earth. In fact,most actual human genetic diversity is stillto be found in Sub-Saharan Africa today.

Recently though, national stories havebeen citing geneticists who point out thatthis ‘race-buster’ interpretation has ignoredclustering of genetic traits like pigment,shape of eyelid, hair pat-tern and so forth.Clustering oc-curs over longages whenpopulat ionsare isolatedfrom one an-other geo-graphically.

Clustering makes it possible to pick outthe lone Irishman dancing in the line ofMasai warriors every time, and it’s whatmakes race real, as you might say, on theface of… well, of us all.

So, race is not a myth. It is, however,an illusion. Like an ordinary magician’strick, race is easily obvious and existsmostly in the eye of the beholder. Its mainuse historically has been to distract on-lookers from the main event. It breaks yourheart, the world’s catalogue of atrocities—from slavery and land grabs through rapeand every other sort of torture throughgenocide—explained, justified, and evenexcused because victims were one or an-other race and for that reason presumed—if not actually proclaimed—to be less hu-man.

Today, race is a part of the smoke andmirrors used to create permanentunderclasses—poorer, darker, sicker, hun-grier and marginalized in every way—insocieties around the world. Genocidalwars have been raging in Africa for de-cades, but most American news media treatthese stories like background noise, com-pared to conflicts where white skins areinvolved or at least have a pressing eco-nomic interest.

There is a struggle in Africa today inwhich every homo sapiens has an inter-est, but nobody much in this country is

paying attention. In particular, the BushAdministration seems willing to let

AIDS “run its course” in Africa. Thechurch-goers so anxious to keep alive aTerry Schiavo, for the most part are si-lent about the millions dying on the “DarkContinent.”

I very much suspect that our nationalcold-blooded willingness to ignore thiscrisis is because the world is overcrowdedanyway… and the folks who are dyingare black. Maybe, the Serpent whispersin our hearts, AIDS is nature’s way ofthinning out the herd.

Thomas Malthus, the 19th-Centurytheorist who’s Social Darwinist viewshave polluted our thinking to this veryday, was, like his fellow countryman andcapitalist apologist Adam Smith, an in-tellectual thug. His ideas are no excuseto let Africans die to correct for overpopu-lation. AIDS (except for the scary newstrain which just surfaced in Europe) issurvivable in much of the world, not un-like diabetes. But in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, where BY FAR most ofthe genetic diversity of our species lives,AIDS infects a quarter of the population,and most people who contract it still die.

If AIDS is allowed to wipe out thispopulation by half, the human race willpass through what is known as a genetickeyhole, drastically reducing ourchances of survival as a species. Wheneverybody is basically a cousin, everynew disease becomes a potential epi-demic.

Genetically, Sub-Saharan Africans arethe most important people on earth. If we letAIDS gut this population, we move closer tobecoming the next endangered species. It’sjust like global warming. We can see our fateas connected, or we can allow ourselves tobe fooled one more time by the illusion ofrace—that we are separate, and thereforesafe.

Race (by which we really mean racism)is still the six-ton elephant in the Americanliving room, and it is the ugly underbelly ofAmerican history. The United States was cre-ated by a white race on an economic plat-form of land and resources taken brutallyfrom a red race and, in many places, withlabor brutally compelled from black and yel-low (technically the same as the red) races,imported as slaves and coolies.

Over time, the magic of love and the fail-ure of abstinence-only sex education—plusimmigration by economic and other refugeesfrom Sudan, from Asia, from Mexico and Cen-tral America—are visibly caramelizing the faceof my town, not to mention curling its hair.The freshening of the gene pool in this coun-try can only be a good thing, in the long run,and it may be one of the great forces thatCAN heal us as a nation.

But I’m not looking for much healing,frankly, of AIDS in Africa or of racism here athome, so long as the party of hysterical vir-tue is in power. I look to the day when there’sa place at the table for fundamental decencyonce again.

The Battle for Whiteclaya work in progress documentary

producer/directormark vasina

editor/directoralex moscu

A special public showingof “The Battle for

Whiteclay” documentary,followed by a panel

discussion, will be heldat the Mary Riepma RossFilm Theatre in Lincolnon Thursday, April 21 at7:00 p.m. The event isfree and the public is

invited. Seewww.theross.org

for more information.

Thursday, April 21, 7:00 p.m.Mary Riepma Ross Film Theatre

13th & R Streets in Lincoln

there is no peace without justice - nebraskans for...

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