CONTENTS (8), Just World Campaign

• United States overall debt is $US 49,000,000,000,000. UNITED STATES: As the financial year came to an end on June 30th, California officially declared itself bankrupt. With an economy bigger than Australia's -- in fact the world's fifth largest economy -- and a population nearly twice the size (35 million), the State is too indebted to meets its bills. The Federal Government has cut its budget to the States, to pay for war. The Californian congress refused to pass the budget, and will run out of money by September; the budget deficit is $US 38.2 billion. 46 of the 50 US States have crippling budget deficits. Only Alaska is not in immediate trouble. Since 1976 it has been saving part of its oil revenues in a fund (now has $US 27 billion assets), simultaneously paying each Alaskan $2000 per head annually.
The United States this year has the largest Current Account Deficit ever with the rest of the world -- $US 500 billion -- and an increase in unemployment of 2.1 million in the past 12 months -- PLUS a rapacious military budget as President George Bush tries to be the world's policeman. Things do not look auspicious for Americans. (see The New Times Survey, Melbourne, July 03.) The combination of all debts in the US now exceeds $US 49 trillion -- a sum incapable of repayment. -- adapted from On Target, Melbourne, "After California -- Who?" by Jeremy Lee, Aug 1 03, pp 1-2

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http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/cont8.htm • A wry scourge on the attack; Gore Vidal delivers chilling predictions of despotism. UNITED STATES: In December 2000, Gore Vidal, termed America's master essayist by The Washington Post, told "irregularly elected" President-elect George W. Bush to "rein in the warlords who were seeking $30 billion a year over and above the 51 percent of the budget that now already goes for war." Two-and-a-half years later -- after Sept. 11, Afghanistan and Osama bin Laden's disappearance, Iraq and Saddam Hussein's vanishing act -- Vidal summarized what the Bush "warlords" have achieved in occupying Iraq: "Chaos." "Chaos," Vidal told NCR by fax, "until we either come to our senses and leave -- not likely any time soon -- or complete the neocon [neo-conservative] plan so boldly stated by their youthful 'warriors,' by annexing as much of the Mideast oil states as possible." Vidal seems at least farseeing, if not prophetic, in his assessment of more than a month ago, as the United States finds the footing in Iraq increasingly unsteady and dangerous. As an occupying power in Iraq, U.S. civilian administrators backed by U.S. soldiers are "downsizing" the national bureaucracy, handing out a half million pink slips to former officials and military. Iraqi soldiers are demanding their pay and pensions. It is an uneasy peace. There is gunfire. . . . Vidal said, "USA Patriot Acts 1 and 2, the second leaked but not yet sent to Congress, neatly folds the republic. What next?" he asked rhetorically, "Franklin predicted despotism." -- National Catholic Reporter, United States, an independent newsweekly, "A wry scourge on the attack," www.natcath.com , By Arthur Jones, Issue Date: August 1, 2003
• Iraq: At Least 11 Dead In Jordanian Embassy Bombing In Baghdad. BAGHDAD, Iraq: At least 11 people died today when a suspected truck bomb exploded outside the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad. It was the first time an Arab political symbol has been targeted in the Iraqi capital since the U.S. occupation. PRAGUE, 7 August 2003 (RFE/RL) -- A suspected truck bomb exploded outside the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad today, killing at least 11 people and wounding dozens. Iraqi police Captain Ahmad Suleiman says that the dead were all outside the compound. One of the outer walls of the compound collapsed in the explosion. Several burned-out cars were strewn on the street. A building inside the complex was slightly damaged. The commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, General Ricardo Sanchez, said the attack was the biggest against a civilian target since the end of the war. Replying to a question whether it was the most significant attack of its sort, he said: "Most significant attack on a soft target? Well, we've had other soft targets that have been attacked in the past few weeks very effectively. We've had some NGOs [Non-Government Organisations] that were attacked and had people killed in them, so in terms of casualties, yes, I'd probably say so." Jordan condemned the bombing as a cowardly terrorist attack. Reuters quoted Jordanian Information Minister Nabil al-Sharif as saying the attack will not divert Amman from its "path of support and aid" to the Iraqi people. He said no Jordanian Embassy staff are believed to have been killed. The Jordanian consul is reported to have been wounded. News agencies say a number of Iraqis entered the compound after the blast, destroying the Jordanian flag and ripping up pictures of King Abdullah. -- Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, "Iraq: At Least 11 Dead In Jordanian Embassy Bombing In Baghdad," www.rferl.org , By Askold Krushelnycky, Aug 7 2003
• Insider says Rumsfeld's office cooked the intelligence, misled Congress. WASHINGTON: A senior Pentagon Middle East specialist, Air Force Lt Col Karen Kwiatkowski, formerly of the office of Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith, wrote: "What I saw was aberrant, pervasive and contrary to good order and discipline." . . . a subversion of constitutional limits on executive power and a co-option through deceit of a large segment of the Congress". . . . According to Kwiatkowski, the same operation that allegedly cooked the intelligence also was responsible for the administration's failure to anticipate the problems that now dog the US occupation in Iraq, or, in her more colorful words, that have placed 150,000 US troops in "the world's nastiest rat's nest, without a nation-building plan, without significant international support and without an exit plan". . . . Perle and Feith, whose published views on Israeli policy echo the right-wing Likud party, co-authored a 1996 memo for then-prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu that argued that Saddam's ouster in Iraq would enable Israel to transform the balance of power in the Middle East in its favor. . . . "In terms of Israel and Iraq, all primary staff work was conducted by political appointees; in the case of Israel, a desk officer appointee from the Washington Institute for Near Policy [a think tank closely tied to the main pro-Israel lobby in Washington, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee]." . . . the prevailing points of view were presumably shaped by neo-conservatives like Feith, Wolfowitz and Perle. -- Asia Times Online, "Insider fires broadside at Rumsfeld's office," http://atimes.com , By Jim Lobe, Aug 7, 2003
!!!: U.S. says it hasn't got exact count of detainees in Guantanamo Bay camp! SAN FRANCISCO, Reuters Aug 12: The US government said on Monday it had neither an exact count nor all the names of hundreds of people captured in Afghanistan over a year ago and now detained at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba. Government lawyers made the disclosure during a court hearing in a case on behalf of Falen Gherebi, a Libyan national believed to be in US custody in Cuba. In May, a US district court said it did not have the authority to consider whether Gherebi was being held lawfully and remanded the matter to an appeals court. At the appeals court hearing on Monday, the planned debate over the government's right to hold Gherebi dissolved into a more basic discussion over whether the US government even had kept complete records on the people being held. "They won't let him out and they also won't tell us if he's there," said Stephen Yagman, a lawyer for Falen Gherebi's brother, Belaid Gherebi, a San Diego resident, who has sued to get his brother legal representation. "This is crazy. This is just nuts." Yagman complained that the government had stonewalled such requests on behalf of Mr Gherebi and other detainees by maintaining ignorance as to who exactly it had in custody. A panel of appeals court judges hearing the case on Monday expressed shock about the apparent lack of record keeping on a group of hundreds of people, possibly including some children, who have been in custody for 577 days. "It strikes me as astonishing that the government says they have no idea whether this gentleman is or is not being held," one said. "Don't you even keep records?" Government lawyers responded that while they had attempted to keep records, they were incomplete because some of those who were arrested had not cooperated with authorities. They said that translating the names from Arabic to English had created further problems with spelling. After scanning a list for names similar to that of Falen Gherebi, the lawyers said: "We think we have him but we're not sure. We can't confirm it 100 percent." The US government, which maintains the people being held are all dangerous individuals with connections to terrorists, has argued that the court does not have jurisdiction to rule on the legal rights of these people, since they are being held on foreign soil, in Cuba, on land that is only leased to the United States. -- Reuters, "US says it has no records of detainees: Guantanamo prison," (by courtesy of: http://www.khilafah.com ), Associated Press, and, New York Post, "U.S. admits gitmo numbers puzzle," www.nypost.com , Aug 12 03
• MILITARY DETENTION: AUSTRALIAN CITIZENS. Senator NETTLE (New South Wales) (9.35 a.m.)—by leave—I move the motion as amended: That the Senate— (a) notes: (i) that Australian citizens Mamdouh Habib and David Hicks are currently incarcerated at Guantanemo Bay, Cuba, with Mr Habib still facing the possibility of a death sentence at the hands of the United States military, and (ii) the comments by the Prime Minster (Mr Howard) regarding the sentencing of Bali Bomber Amrozi where he said, 'If it's the view of the Indonesian court that it be carried out then it should be carried out'; and (b) calls on the Government: (i) to reaffirm its opposition to capital punishment as a matter of principle, (ii) to reaffirm its commitment to the fundamental tenets of common law, namely, habeas corpus and judicial review of executive action, and (iii) to take immediate action to secure the release and return of Mr Hicks and Mr Habib to Australia to face the allegations against them according to Australian Standards of Justice. Question agreed to. -- Australian Parliament, Senate, www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/dailys/ds140803.pdf , p 13606, Thursday, 14 August 2003
• INDONESIA: KOPASSUS. Senator NETTLE (New South Wales) (9.36 a.m.)— I move: That the Senate— (a) notes: (i) the serious allegations of kidnap, beating and arson in relation to the tactics of Indonesian Special Forces 'Kopassus' in their deployment in Aceh, (ii) the unresolved allegation that Kopassus was involved in the murder of United States citizens near Freeport, West Papua, in 2002, (iii) that Kopassus members have been found to be responsible for the murder of West Papuan independence leader Theys Eluay in November 2001, (iv) that Kopassus troops trained East Timorese militias responsible for massacring civilians and attacking Australian forces in East Timor, and (v) that Kopassus members have been found to have links with terrorist organisations including the now disbanded Laskar Jihad; and (b) calls on the Government: (i) to cancel any planned re-establishment of cooperation with Kopassus, (ii) to acknowledge that it is not in the best interests of Australia or the region to extend tacit support for an organisation which engages in terrorising civilian populations, and (iii) to heed the advice of Professor Damien Kingsbury of Australia's Deakin University that Indonesia's military is 'part of the problem, not part of the answer' and that restoring military cooperation should be off the agenda until the Indonesian military 'is thoroughly reformed, including closing its business and criminal networks, and it is brought under full civilian authority'.
   Question put. The Senate divided. [9.41 a.m.] (The President— Senator the Hon. Paul Calvert) Ayes ... 9 Noes ... 40 Majority ... 31. AYES Allison, L.F. * Bartlett, A.J.J. Brown, B.J. Cherry, J.C. Greig, B. Murray, A.J.M. Nettle, K. Ridgeway, A.D. Stott Despoja, N. NOES Barnett, G. Bishop, T.M. Brandis, G.H. Buckland, G. Calvert, P.H. Campbell, G. Carr, K.J. Chapman, H.G.P. Colbeck, R. Collins, J.M.A. Crossin, P.M. Denman, K.J. Eggleston, A. Ferguson, A.B. Ferris, J.M. * Forshaw, M.G. Heffernan, W. Hill, R.M. Hogg, J.J. Humphries, G. Hutchins, S.P. Johnston, D. Kemp, C.R. Kirk, L. Ludwig, J.W. Lundy, K.A. Macdonald, J.A.L. Mackay, S.M. Marshall, G. Mason, B.J. McGauran, J.J.J. McLucas, J.E. O'Brien, K.W.K. Payne, M.A. Ray, R.F. Scullion, N.G. Stephens, U. Tchen, T. Webber, R. Wong, P. * denotes teller. Question negatived. -- Australian Parliament, Senate, www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/dailys/ds140803.pdf , pp 13606-7, Aug 14 03
• "US lawsuit for Bali victims". PERTH: West Australians affected by the Bali bombing could sue for damages through American courts, visiting United States lawyer Richard Middleton said. Some Saudi royals, several Middle East banks and numerous pro-Muslim organisations in the US were funding terrorist acts. Michael Hourigan, an Adelaide lawyer also working on the case, said the trial could run up to five years away. -- The West Australian, by Tony Barrass, Thursday August 14 2003 p 32
• Missile plot suspect charged. A British man accused of attempting to sell a shoulder-fired missile to a US man was charged with assisting terrorists today. The missile had been bought from renegade Russians, who were willing to supply 500 more. -- Aug 14 2003
• Liberal election cheating at branch meeting, again. PERTH (Western Australia): A battle for control of branches in the Curtin division of the Western Australian Liberal Party has spilt over into the Supreme Court. Finance committee member Peter Bacich has brought a writ against his own party over a decision which saw elections for office bearers at the Wembley Downs branch overturned. The branch held its general meeting on September 30 last year at 7pm. Problem was, the meeting was advertised to be held at 7.30pm. Five members, constituting a quorum, turned up and voted in the office bearers. (And on it goes, mentioning Peter Collier, party director Paul Everingham, Brian Pontifex, Senator Chris Ellison, results declared invalid, Ian Warner, Danielle Blain -- and Prime Minister Howard and Premier Geoff Gallop!) -- The West Australian, "Liberals head for court to make hard time of 30 minutes," "Inside Cover" with Robert Taylor, Fri Aug 15 03, p 2
   [COMMENT: It's all happened before! "Inside Cover" has been publishing other snippets about the machinations now proceeding in the Liberal Party. And, some years ago several real members of a different branch were locked out of the hall while those inside hurriedly completed "electing" their office-bearers and the more important "representative" to the body that endorses candidates for parliamentary elections. Another occurrence was that a sporting team marched into a meeting of a branch, replaced every one in office, then on the way out left their resignations with one of the new officials.
   "Inside Cover" late in Sep 2003 had another snippet; another branch was surprised when six strangers walked in, waving receipts issued from Menzies House, Perth. Fortunately for the genuine members of that branch, they outnumbered the "six" and so managed to retain control of the all-important delegates' positions.
   Years and years ago a lady divisional president checked the addresses of some party branches; her suspicions had been aroused by noticing that almost all "members" of some branches had no telephone numbers listed -- driving around showed they were non-existent, "living" on vacant blocks etc.
   And, in August 2002 The Sunday Times, Perth, published two newsitems claiming that Liberal Senator Winston Crane was deprived of his accustomed place on the "ticket" so that party WA president David Johnston could win, by branch-stacking with "phantom" members. See the articles about the stacking split and catering for Senate pals by Paul Murray in the Sunday Times of Aug 4 02. At the time Rick Mincherton was keen to clean up the corrupt system. Low down on the ticket, Senator Crane did not get enough "flow-through" votes to be re-elected. Since those articles were written, Peter Wells has retired from being Western Australian party director. Evidently the faces change, but the methods don't!
   Labor: On the other hand, there is also much information about the Labor Party's electoral frauds starting perhaps in New South Wales, followed by the fraud (never admitted) at the Western Australian State election of February 4th 1989.
   In November 2000 Queensland had interesting occurrences regarding alleged electoral fraud. On November 14 the Interim report of the Legal, Constitutional and Administrative Review Committee (LCARC) of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland was tabled in State Parliament. The minority report claimed there was widespread fraud, and recommended that the loopholes be closed up, and there be full co-operation with the new federal laws. On November 22 the Deputy Premier, Jim Elder (Labor), resigned from Cabinet after the state's Criminal Justice Commission (CJC) requested an interview with him as part of its investigations into electoral fraud. (ABC, Nov 22 2000, www.abc.net.au/news/2000/11/item20001122210117_1.htm ) On November 27 this newsitem appeared: "The federal ALP ignored warnings in the early 1990s about electoral rorting, former Queensland Labor president Ian McLean said yesterday." (The Age, Melbourne, November 27 2000, Greg Roberts, "ALP 'ignored' warnings on electoral fraud", www.theage.com.au/news/20001127/A39256-2000Nov26.html )
   New Labour in Britain had been changing the electoral laws like their Australian counterparts, and the loopholes thus created were noted in articles such as by Michael White, political editor of The Guardian on June 5, 2001 www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4198087,00.html . That same year the Queensland Criminal Justice Commission's Shepherdson Inquiry issued its report exposing the Labor Party's actions in dishonestly "padding" the electoral rolls with false entries in 1986, 1993 and 1996. This was followed in due course by convictions.
   The dishonesty was actually part of the Party's standard practice. Branch official Ms Karen Ehrmann, in her evidence before the committee on 14 December 2001 [probably 2000 was meant], indicated: "... Everyone was doing it. It was encouraged and condoned by people at the highest level in the Queensland parliament and the Labor Party ..." (section 2.17) www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/em/elecroll/chapter2.pdf .
   A former Labor Party official, and former adviser to the Labor Government, David Barbagallo, was remanded to February 5 on electoral fraud charges, according to The Australian, October 2 2001.
   On the federal front, in June 2001 the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters of the Australian Commonwealth Parliament issued its report, suggesting that people be made to prove identity at enrolment, and repeated their request that for new enrolments, the rolls for an election close on the day the writ is issued. (This is to prevent the huge rush of enrolments when an election is announced, allowing false enrolments to swamp the officials.) The reform ideas were strongly opposed by Labor at State and Federal level.
   There is even an association opposing electoral fraud, the H.S.Chapman Society, based in Sydney, http://www.hschapman.org.au . COMMENT ENDS] Article: Aug 15 03
• Suicide bus bomb in Jerusalem. JERUSALEM: A suicide bomber killed and wounded many people in Jerusalem on Aug 19 03. Two terrorist groups claimed responsibility. Aug 19 03
• United Nations Baghdad headquarters target of bomb. BAGHDAD, Iraq: Many Iraqis and foreigners working for the United Nations in Baghdad were killed when what is believed to have been a suicide bomb, a truckload of explosives, blew up at the UN hq there. Among those killed was Sr. Sergio Vieira de Mello, 55, a Brazilian, the UN special representative in Iraq, who was co-ordinating humanitarian aid, similar to his previous work in East Timor and Kosovo. -- Adapted from The West Australian, "Baghdad bomb; United Nations headquarters target of truck blast," Wed Aug 20 03, p1
• Pauline Hanson found guilty. BRISBANE: The founder of the Pauline Hanson One Nation Party, Ms Pauline Hanson, was found guilty on Aug 20 03 of a false declaration and of obtaining almost $500,000 by deception from the Queensland Electoral Commission. She has repaid the money. Aug 20 03
• Inquiry into how WMD did not materialise. BRITAIN: The inquiry continues into how the world had been told by British leaders before the invasion that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) which could be assembled in 45 minutes. (None were used during the invasion, and none have been found so far.) Aug 20 03
!!!: Civil Liberties national president didn't know that a live "victim" was important! BRISBANE (Queensland), Australia: High-profile lawyer and civil libertarian Terry O'Gorman was told Natasha Ryan was alive almost six months before she was found but he failed to contact police. Mr O'Gorman confirmed a man phoned him last October telling him the missing Rockhampton teenager wanted to "resurface" and that "a person called Leonard Fraser" had been charged with her murder. Mr O'Gorman said he was unaware of the significance of the information and did not give it further thought. He only remembered after he was contacted by The Courier-Mail this week and checked his files. Rockhampton masseur Len Bauer, who wrote an anonymous letter to police leading to Ms Ryan's discovery, called Mr O'Gorman last October 21. Ms Ryan vanished in September 1998 and was found hiding at her boyfriend's home on April 10, in the middle of Leonard Fraser's Supreme Court trial. Fraser, already convicted of murdering Rockhampton schoolgirl Keyra Steinhardt, had been charged with the murder of Ryan and three other women. He was convicted of murdering the other three women. Mr O'Gorman, Australian Council for Civil Liberties president, initially said he had "absolutely no recollection" of the call. But he later sent a three-page letter saying his staff had found a file note relating to the conversation and that he had given some advice to the caller. -- The Courier Mail, Brisbane, "Lawyer told that Natasha was alive," www.couriermail.news.com.au , by Paula Doneman and David Murray, Aug 22 03

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