Headlines July 27, 2004

Tuesday, July 27th, 2004
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/07/27/144241

Clinton, Carter & Gore Open DNC

Former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter helped open the Democratic National Convention vowing John Kerry would win in November's election.

Carter delivered the harshest critique of Bush charging that President Bush can't run as both a war president and a peace president and he criticized Bush for waging a preemptive war.

Former Vice President Al Gore called on third party supporters to vote for Kerry. Senator Hillary Clinton introduced her husband as she called for improvements in health care and homeland security.

Tonight speakers include Kerry's wife Teresa Heinz Kerry, former Vermont governor Howard Dean, Senator Ted Kennedy, Illinois Senate candidate Barack Obama and President Ronald Reagan's son Ron Reagan.

Appeal on DNC 'Free Speech Zone' Denied
In convention news from outside the Fleet Center, the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston rejected an appeal by the American Civil Liberties Union and National Lawyers Guild to force the city to redesign the so-called free speech zone outside the convention hall.

The National Lawyers Guild responded to the decision by stating "This ruling eviscerates the First Amendment and gives the government carte blanche to confine demonstrators in "protest pens" at those important political events where free expression is most essential."

The protest zone has been likened to an internment camp or Camp X Ray at Guantanamo Bay because the area is enclosed by a maze of overhead netting, razor wire and chain link fence. During the day protesters gathered at the area to protest the protest zone. In a piece of political theater, many kneeled on the ground with their hands behind their back to highlight the similarities between the free speech zone and Guantanamo Bay.

SEIU Chief Says A Kerry Loss May Be Best For Unions & Dems
The president of the largest AFL-CIO union, Service Employees International Union, said yesterday the Democratic Party and labor movement might be better off in the long run if Senator John Kerry loses the election. SEIU's head Andrew Stern told the Washington Post that both the party and organized labor are in a deep crisis, devoid of new ideas and working with archaic structures. SEIU, which represents 1.6 million workers, is officially backing Kerry. But Stern said Kerry's election may slow much needed reforms within the Democrats which he described as a "hollow party." During the primaries SEIU backed Howard Dean.

Al Jazeera Banner Pulled from DNC
Al Jazeera is reporting that Organizers at the Democratic Party convention have removed Al Jazeera's logo banner from its skybox and replaced it with a banner that reads "Strong for America." According to Al Jazeera, the Democratic party had approved the banner but then removed it before the convention began without definitively stating why.

Two Jordanians Kidnapped in Iraq
In Iraq, an Iraqi resistance group announced yesterday they had kidnapped two Jordanian drivers. According to a video obtained by the Associated Press, the group threatened to kill the men in 72 hours if their company did not stop doing business with the American military.

Egyptian Diplomat Released
Meanwhile an Iraqi group released the Egyptian diplomat yesterday who they had been holding since Friday. Mohamed Mamdouh Qutb was the first diplomat kidnapped in the wave of abductions in Iraq over the past several months. The United States, Australia and Iraq's interim government have accused Manila of encouraging more abductions through the withdrawal.

Hospital Official and Garbage Collector Killed in Iraq
Also in Iraq, a senior hospital official in Baghdad was killed late yesterday. The hospital says he died in "a terrorist act," but provided no other details.

Earlier today, an Iraq garbage collector was killed and 14 US soldiers and a civilian were wounded in a mortar attack on a residential neighborhood in Baghdad.

UN Envoy Says US War “Brought in Terrorism” to Iraq
U.N. envoy to Iraq Lakhdar Brahimi recently issuing an unusually critical comment about the Bush administration's war in Iraq. He said the war in Iraq was useless, it caused more problems than it solved, and it brought in terrorism."

Israelis Expand West Bank Settlements
The Guardian of London is reporting that new aerial photos from the West Bank show that Israel is building thousands of news homes in a quiet land grab that is illegally increasing the size of Israeli outposts. According to the Israeli group Settlement Watch, Israel has increased the size of settlements by 65 acres in the last two months.

Thousands of Gun Purchases Occur Without Checks
A new Justice Department study found that 7,000 people who were barred from buying guns were able to buy them anyway in 2002 and 2003. Under federal law, gun buyers must wait three business days before receiving their weapons to allow for background checks. If the background checks aren't completed within three days, the sale must go through.

FBI Agents Question Kansas & Colorado Activists
FBI agents have begun questioning activists tied to protest organizations across Kansas and Colorado in an investigation reportedly connected to the political conventions. In Lawrence, Kansas, the FBI went door-to-door throughout the city to track down members connected with a local anarchist group for questioning. Similar searches were reported in Kansas City, Topeka and in St. Louis, Missouri.

Meanwhile in Denver, the FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force carried out a similar operation. One activist questioned was an intern at the American Friends Service Committee. Both the Rocky Mountain News and Lawrence Journal World reported the FBI operation was tied to the Democratic and Republican political conventions.

Last week the FBI warned that domestic groups may target media organizations at the conventions but ABC News is now reporting police are downplaying the warning. But Boston police are concerned that a national neo Nazi group called Volksfront may cause problems outside the convention. The group recently opened its first branch on the East coast in Boston. The group has long had branches in Oregon, California and Arizona, as well as Germany.

Poll: Delegates Disagree with Kerry on Issues
A new poll by the Boston Globe has found that delegates at the Democratic National Convention disagree with Senator John Kerry on several key issues. The poll found that 62 percent of delegates disagree with Kerry and support same sex marriages. Only 26 percent of delegates back Kerry's belief that life begins at conception. And 95 percent of delegates now believe the U.S. should have never gone to war in Iraq. Kerry has criticized the war but mostly for the way Bush went to war.

U.S.: No Basis to Prosecute Iranian Opposition Group
In news from Iraq, a 16-month review by the United States found no basis to prosecute members of an Iranian opposition group in Iraq even though the group is listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. The People's Majahadeen remains on the terrorist list although it is not known to have conducted a terrorist act towards the U.S. for 25 years. Senior U.S. officials in Iraq said members of the group had been designated QUOTE "protected persons," which means they will not be prosecuted or handed over to Iran.

Four French Citizens Released from Guatanamo
The U.S. has released four French citizens who had been held at Guantanamo Bay for over two years. Some 600 detainees from 40 different countries remain at Guantanamo Bay.

Islamic Charity Accuses FBI of Fabricating Evidence
A Muslim charity accused the FBI yesterday of fabricating evidence to prove that the group funds Palestinian suicide-bombers. The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development filed a complaint with the Justice Department calling for an investigation of and citing 67 discrepancies or errors in translation in a four-page Israeli intelligence document used in the case. The Holy Land group was the biggest Muslim charity in the United States before the Bush administration froze its assets after the September 11 attacks, accusing it of using charitable contributions to help finance Hamas.

Berkeley Daily Planet Edition Date: Tuesday, July 27, 2004 Boston‘s Turnout Reveals Left‘s Hunger for ‘Anybody But Bush’?? By CHRISTOPHER KROHN Special to the Planet (07-27-04) BOSTON — Was it the Boston Common or the Boston Morgue this past Sunday? Only about 1,500 protesters showed up at what was to be the marquee protest event during this Democratic National Convention (DNC). The absence of many protesters at the march may be the greatest indication yet that the American left, if not embracing John Kerry for President, simply does not want to get into any political food fights this year and possibly end up with another four years of George W. Bush. Sunday’s event was organized by International A.N.S.W.E.R under the banner of “No War in Iraq, End the Occupation Now.” One fact is very clear, in and around the streets surrounding the Fleet Center, hub of convention proceedings which began yesterday: Boston of 2004 is not Chicago of 1968. Thousands of protesters did not come to Boston to protest the Democrats, or their presumptive nominee. Thousands did come to lend their voices, bodies, and money to upending an incumbent president’s bid for a second term. Most of the protesting Sunday was anti-war. Most of the delegates, 95 percent according to the Boston Globe, are anti-war. Yet the “Strong at Home, Respected in the World” Democratic Party platform pays but lip service to the fundamental concern not only of the left, but of the party faithful: the war in Iraq. That platform states: “People of good will disagree about whether America should have gone to war in Iraq, but this much is clear: This administration badly exaggerated its case, particularly with respect to weapons of mass destruction and the connection between Saddam’s government and Al Qaeda.” Later the document says “having gone to war, we cannot afford to fail at the peace.” This latter statement rankles many anti-warriors, since the platform offers no timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. But where will so many anti-war Democrats turn? Many see a Bush defeat as the only possibility of bringing the soldiers home, but there are no assurances, no language within the platform document with which to make the future president accountable. The absence of much vocal dissent here in Boston, so prominent in Los Angeles at the 2000 Democratic National Convention, is another indication that Democrats—left, right and center—are not willing to risk anything going wrong as the final leg of the campaign officially begins here in Boston. Some protesters said press accounts this past week have described Boston as a potentially dangerous place for anyone, and that might very well might have kept protester numbers down. Yes, $60 million was spent on convention security. Over 3,000 police, sheriff’s deputies, state highway police, and National Guard troops are a ubiquitous sight, stationed on most downtown street corners in this city of 589,000. Helicopters hover overhead. Dozens of riot-clad police form lines along the sidewalk in front of Faneuil Hall, the Massachusetts Statehouse, and Kerry’s Beacon Hill home. But in interview after interview with people who describe themselves as leftist—Democrat, Green, Anarchist—virtually everyone agreed that Bush must go. And nothing for these civil liberties-minded, peace-and-social-justice-practicing, anti-war activists seems to be getting in the way of saying adios to George W. Bush. Probably no place was this yearning for change in Washington, D.C. more visible, and sincere, than at the national Vietnam Veterans For Peace Convention which ended here Saturday night. This annual four-day convention drew more than 400 veterans and much of the talk was about changing presidents. Pacifica’s Amy Goodman and Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation President Bobby Muller were the keynote speakers at the closing dinner. The overt and covert subtext of their talks was about regime change in Washington. Also participating in the conference were Daniel Ellsberg, of Pentagon Papers fame, who lives in Kensington, and San Francisco Global Exchange Executive Director and Code Pink activist Medea Benjamin. Separate interviews with each of these activist legends (Muller is perhaps less well-known in the Bay Area) revealed a determined and forthright unanimity that George W. Bush has got to go. Ellsberg, the former Marine, former Defense Department analyst turned whistle-blower and current full-time peace activist, was the most forthright in his support for Kerry: “I am urging everyone here not to vote against Bush but to vote for Kerry.” Democracy Now’s Goodman was perhaps most circumspect. “I’m a journalist,” she said, when asked if she supports Kerry. “I think people can determine what politicians will represent them. The question for many,” she added, “is who can be held accountable?” Medea Benjamin and Bobby Muller find themselves somewhere between Goodman and Ellsberg. Benjamin said of the impending protests, “the left is very confused about how to react to the Democratic convention.” Choosing her words carefully, she said, “We walk a fine line in trying to get Bush out of office and yet be critical of Kerry’s support for trade agreements, the Patriot Act, and the war.” For Muller this election is quite personal: “I’ve known Kerry for 33 years and he’s a damn good guy.” Super-dissenter Benjamin said she was “so tired” of protesting against Bush and not getting anywhere. “I’m invigorated by the prospect of protesting against a Kerry Administration and having a possibility of being heard.” Three of the four spoke of the dangers which Bush has created at home and in the world. “When I think of Kerry I don’t think of Veteran benefits, I think of war,” said vets activist Muller. “He (Kerry) can walk us back from this untenable, cataclysmic position we are in within the world community.” Ellsberg called the world situation both “a crisis” and “an emergency.” Benjamin said, “A second Bush administration would harden the left…with Kerry we have more of a chance.” Goodman seemed to think that Bush’s standing in the polls is the result of a press which hasn’t held him accountable. She spoke of the dangers posed by what she calls “sound-bite media.” She said, “We need a media not for pundits, who know so little, but a media for people speaking for themselves.” Goodman cited a study in which the major television programmers—NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS Newshour—had 393 pro-Iraq War interviews and only three anti-war interviews in the month leading up to Bush’s war in Iraq. “The sound bite media is fiercely political,” she said. In the streets of Boston Sunday anti-war passions mixed with tacit support for Kerry. The marchers were critical of the Democrats, but restrained. Only one arrest was recorded that day. For the most part, the issues raised on signs were like those seen at Bay Area rallies over the past couple of years: “No to War, Stop Fascist and Anti-Gay Violence, Say No To Racism and Police Brutality, Free Mumia Abu Jamal, People Not Profits.” Along with the small turnout, the ‘whose-streets-our-streets’ fervor of past demonstrations was significantly muted. “It’s mainly, do what it takes to get Bush out of office,” said International A.N.S.W.E.R. member and day laborer, Adam Luce of Boston. “Kerry is the best option of getting Bush out.” Luce added, “I am left-wing, but realistic.” Jessica Ramer, a math teacher from Pompano Beach, Florida, disdains Bush but is not ready to commit to Kerry. “I’m here to let the Democratic Party know that they can’t have my vote until they change their policy on Iraq.” When pressed by a reporter saying that polls indicate a vote for neither Kerry nor Bush would most likely add up to a vote for Bush, Ramer responded, “I’m still wrestling with the question of who to vote for, especially since I am from the swing state of Florida.” Paula Sutton, an archeologist from Alaska and a Dennis Kucinich supporter, was walking with the protesters. She was concerned about the war, but she is waiting to declare her full support of Kerry because “we are seeing if we can influence the Kerry agenda. We need to take a stand on the war in Iraq.” When pressed about who she would end up voting for, Sutton conceded, “Basically it has come down to, we’ve got to get Bush out of office.” Tom Sager, retired and a Veterans For Peace member from Rolla, Missouri, said he’s not of a mind to vote for either Bush or Kerry right now. “Kerry has said he will send more troops and stay the course. I’m definitely not going to vote for Bush…(Ralph) Nader and (David) Cobb (Green Party nominee) are other choices,” he declared. When asked whether a vote for Nader or Cobb might be a vote for Bush, he replied, “I really have not made up my mind on that, probably won’t know until I walk into the (voting) booth.” Many who might have been in the streets in past protests were not present at this one. The mood here is that the left is feeling an overwhelming sense of duty to help in denying George Bush another four years, so many are getting behind Kerry with great reservations. Global Exchange’s Benjamin puts it this way, “I have the luxury in California of voting with my heart, but if I lived in a swing state I would vote with my head and vote for Kerry.” She then paused to reflect for a moment, “And I can’t remember the last time I voted for a Democrat.” Vietnam veteran Muller says, “If we don’t create political space for Kerry, it is totally unrealistic to think he is going to shift government institutions unless we create a base, a parade of popular support.” Perhaps David Cline, president of the national Veterans For Peace, who served in Vietnam and has three purple hearts to show for it, summed up the citizen-activist ambivalence best. He said, “We want to beat Bush and get our foot up Kerry’s ass.” This Thursday, the day of Kerry’s nomination, there will be another informally organized opportunity for protesters. There will be random acts of civil disobedience, according to a Boston group, The Bl(a)ck Tea Society, which is helping coordinate talks, parties, housing for activists, and direct action trainings. http://www.berkeleydaily.org/text/article.cfm?issue=07-27-04&storyID=19318

RELAX, AMERICA. ANARCHY IN THE STREETS AIN'T SUCH A BAD THING. By Andrew Rabkin     07.27.04                    BOSTON -- The Boston Public Library anchors one end of Copley Square, an ornate old building with broad, low steps leading up. Inside, the Massachusetts delegation of the Democratic National Convention was holding its opening night party. Outside, a fife and drum band (three children and a slightly exasperated-looking older woman) played intermittently as delegates wandered in and out of the doors. At the bottom of the steps, under the watchful if passive eyes of a dozen cops, two protesters held up signs. One read "Bush = Kerry," the other "Tweedledee / Tweedledum / Tweedlewannabe -- who cares?" Holding the signs were Jamie "Bork" Loughner and Jesse (who declined to give his last name). They were anarchists.   In 2000, the presence of the protest community -- and it is a community -- was felt almost equally at the Democratic  Attention Policepeople, please do not beat  up Jesse, the smiling anarchist. Thanks convention as it was at the Republican. The prevailing wisdom from the protestors at that time (as well as gadfly Ralph Nader) was that there was no difference between either party, and that the whole system was corrupt. The contested election that year, and the four years of unprecedented upheaval since then, have devalued that argument to most Americans, and the protests at the Republican convention in New York in August are expected to be far more fierce than the ones here. But don't tell that to Jamie and Jesse. They've heard it enough already. Jamie is a protester from Washington, D.C., whose activism on behalf of that city's have-nots has made her well known both among anarchists and the broader community. I asked her if it was tougher being an anarchist with Bush in the White House. "It's been tough being an anarchist since we started," she said, "but recently they've been making more of an effort to demonize it." Both Jamie and Jesse voiced their concerns that voters have been sold on the "anybody but Bush" argument, without having a real reason to support Kerry. Anarchists, along with all DNC protesters, were, in their view, being marginalized by an apathetic and resigned public. Jamie told me that it had been more of a challenge to get people to protest the Democratic National Convention with the Republican convention so soon afterward. "Having the two conventions back-to-back is hard on people," she said. "Not everybody can take a month and a half off." As we talked, delegates filed in and out of the library behind us. For the most part, they ignored the protesters; those who did look tended to give a slight smile. The reaction wasn't one of shock or anger or even distaste. Instead, the delegates' reaction, when there was one, was condescending: The protesters, their expressions seemed to say, are barking at the moon. But Jamie and Jesse were not deterred. Earlier in the day, they had walked along Massachusetts Avenue, holding their signs. "The reaction was 90 percent positive," Jesse said, grinning. That kind of positive reaction was his fuel. As we talked, his face would light up with quick smiles, one after another. As I took his photo, he asked me if he should smile in the shot, saying, "I usually don't smile when I'm protesting." I found it hard to believe him. "There are two things that would make me happy," Jesse said. "First, if people would have the realization that the solution to problems is not in the electoral system. Second, if people would see anarchy not as people going around breaking things, but as people who create things." "I've never broken a window in my life," he said. "Well, not deliberately, at least." If you ran into Jesse in another context, you might think he was a construction worker, with his powerful hands and broad shoulders. But he works in IT, designing Web sites for small businesses and social organizations. He used to separate his job and his political philosophy, but he said that he now only works for "people that I like." His beliefs have caused him trouble in the past; he lost his job with a government contractor, Jesse believes, because his employer found out he was a Wiccan. "Working for a contactor meant I had no employee rights," he said. "Contracting becomes a customer relationship where the employee loses rights while the system enhances the rights of corporations." As a cadre of police officers milled about, looking more bored than menacing, Jesse said that the situation was "laughable." "You just have to grin and bear it because it's business as usual," he said. At other major events, Jesse has worked to rehabilitate low-income housing and, with environmental groups, has helped publicize the leaching of toxins into the land around chemical companies. With his easy grin and quiet humor, it was hard to imagine him as a threat, and when a group of other protesters briefly approached, Jesse waved his hand at them, laughed, and said, "Do these people look like folks you should be scared of?" They didn't. Being a protester, though, often means being in danger. Jamie was arrested while protesting the Free Trade Area of the Americas talks in Miami; she filed a lawsuit against the Miami police, stating that they had painfully rotated her thumbs in order to get her to state her name. Jesse, too, acknowledged the risks: "My daughter worries about me." But here in front of the library, their interactions with the cops were brief. "They asked us to get off the steps," Jesse told me. "We did, and they've left us alone." I asked him he if planned on going to the "Free Speech Zone," the infamous area where organizers have attempted to corral all protestors. He laughed: "I'm not going to put myself inside a razor-wire cage." Half a block from the library, past a T entrance blanketed in a huge CNN advertisement, is the Community Church of Boston, which houses the Convergence Center and is the home base of many of the DNC protesters. (It's where they cook their meals, make their signs and, sometimes, babysit each other's children.) The Community Church is what might be uncharitably described as a storefront church, tucked between a liquor store and a trendy bar and grill restaurant. The inside was hectic, with people carrying supplies struggling to navigate the three flights of stairs. At the welcome desk, I was told that the media would only be allowed in for two one-hour periods, and that I would have to come back later. But on this first night of events, there didn't seem to be much going on at the Center; most of the protesters, I was told, were at a "People's Party" in another neighborhood of the city. Just inside the door, a sheet was posted with "SECURITY CULTURE" in bold letters across the top. It was a list of do's and don'ts, including a warning to "discuss sensitive information 'on paper'" and to "immediately destroy the paper after the discussion." Perhaps corporate America and the anarchists have a bit more in common than they think. A few moments after I took a picture of the building's exterior, a female protester came up to me and brusquely asked me what I was doing, telling me that "by consensus, there's a media-free zone around the building," and saying that it had seemed like I was taking pictures "sneakily." Standing in the middle of Boylston Street during a lull in traffic is, of course, sneaky behavior here in Boston. If anything can be said to characterize Boston's DNC, it is this culture of fear that has overtaken all sides. The protesters fear the police will crack down; the police fear the protesters will grow violent; the delegates fear any disruption, and Bostonians fear that their city, their economy, and their lives will be turned upside down for a week. All the while, of course, Homeland Security would have us all fearing a terrorist attack. There is little patience left, and little willingness on anyone's part to step back and listen rather than shout. Those who aren't avoiding Boston entirely already have their agendas, and the city during the convention is one giant set-piece battle: Everyone has marching orders and stares only straight ahead. As I walked back to the T, a panhandler asked me for change. I asked him how things were going with al the delegates and protesters around.    Little known fact: America's Campaign Head -   quarters are located in Boston's Copley Station. So-so," he said. "Almost everyone ignores me. The delegates do, the protesters do.  A good day is one where I make enough that I don't have to come out again for a few days. This isn't a good day." He paused for a moment, looking across the street at the delegates streaming into the library, and then said, "Yeah, the DNC's slammed Boston." http://www.blacktable.com/rabkin070427.htm

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