Wednesday, April 7, 2004

Of Uprisings & Mercenaries FEATURED ARTICLES - 3 UPCOMING PROTESTS & AN EMAIL ACTION - Need an Army? Just Pick Up the Phone, NY Times, - Occupiers Spend Millions on Private Army of Security Men, UK Independent, - The U.S. is Sabotaging Stability in Iraq, Toronto Globe & Mail, QUOTE OF THE DAY "If it takes a bloodbath, let's get it over with." - - Ronald Reagan, April 7th, 1970   (The Governor of California & soon-to-be US President, on his attitude towards student civil rights activists, dissenters, & Vietnam War protestors) KNOW YOUR HISTORY - APRIL 7th 1948 -- Switzerland: World Health Organization (WHO) formed in Geneva, with the stated goal of making health care available to everyone in the world by the year 2000. 1990 -- John Poindexter convicted of 5 felony charges in Iran-Contra trial. Just one of many "patriots" involved in criminal schemes under President Ronald Reagan. RHINO HERE: If you've heard any news lately, you know there's new & intense levels of uprising happening in Iraq, but you're likely not getting the whole story.  Today's Blog will provide a few pieces of the puzzle not being offered by the tri-letter networks, pieces such as that the uprising is not  Sunnis, Shiites & Kurds fighting each other, but instead Iraqis fiercely fighting the American occupiers, meaning our kids. Another, that the four Americans killed last week who were referred to by the broadcast media as "contractors"  and/or civilians were actually mercenaries.  Today's RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE by Canadian journalist & activist Naomi Klein gives an in depth first hand account of recent events in Iraq. A must read to understand what's going on there. But first, there are several opportunities coming up for American citizens to get into the streets and voice your concerns. Here I highlight 3 protests; 2 on the West Coast & 1 in Washington. Rhino urges you to seek out other opportunities in your area. Also, a chance for those not able to get in the streets to make a difference from their keyboards. 3 UPCOMING PROTESTS & AN EMAIL ACTION 1) Remember the Shots! Return to the Docks! Reclaim Our Right to Protest April 7! One year after our nonviolent demonstration against war profiteering was attacked by the Oakland police, leaving 50 injured and 25 arrested, we're returning to the Oakland Docks to say: No to War & Empire! No to Police Brutality, and No to Union busting, Privatization and the Occupation of Iraq! Yes to Education, Health Care, and Human Rights! Wednesday, April 7th, 4pm Rally at the Oakland Police Department 455 7th St. at Washington St. (near Broadway) (Shuttles provided from OPD to BART/Docks) 5pm March from West Oakland BART to Docks Community Picket at local war profiteer Stevedoring Services of America (SSA) More info at: http://www.actagainstwar.org 2) Protest Paul Wolfowitz at 5th Annual Aerospace Outlook Conference, Tues, April 13th, 8 AM Protest the leading architect of the Iraq war Paul Wolfowitz at the 5th Annual Aerospace Outlook Conference, hosted by Congress member Jane Harmon, at the Marriott Hotel in Torrance. Exit the 405 Freeway at Hawthorne Blvd, pass 190th Street and past Del Amo Blvd.  Park in the Del Amo parking lot off Hawthorne at Fashion Avenue. The official flyer will be ready on Wednesday evening for email blasts. The press will be invited to witness our UN weapons inspectors announcing that they found WMD in the Los Angeles southland and will present Wolfowitz with maps locating the WMDs. Endorsed by Physicians for Social Responsibility, Los Angeles County Peace and Freedom Party, Code Pink and others. Tues, April 13th, 8 AM For more info contact Physicians for Social Responsibility - L.A. Chapter at (213) 386-4901 More info on 5th Annual Aerospace Outlook Conference at: http://www.aerospaceoutlook.com 3) March for Women's Lives, Washington, D.C., April 25 The March for Women's Lives on April 25, 2004, sponsored and organized by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, promises to be one of the largest public demonstrations in support of reproductive freedom in history. We are organizing diverse delegations from around the world and we invite you to join us. If you're pro-choice, pro-privacy and pro-family, the March for Women's Lives is about you. Join us as we show Congress, the president, and other elected officials that their vicious assault on women's health and on access to safe, legal abortion is opposed by a strong, united majority of Americans. You can help make this event the strongest demonstration of support for reproductive freedom ever. For more info, including local march info, visit:  http://www.saveroe.com/march Also, here's a chance for those not able to get in the streets to make a difference from their keyboards. Peace Action Alert - April 2, 2004 Join 49 Admirals and Generals to Stop Missile Defense Please contact your Representative and urge her/him to join the 49 Admirals and Generals who are calling on President Bush to postpone the deployment of missile defense and redirect the funds to more urgent security priorities, like securing nuclear materials and protecting US ports. For full info, go to: http://capwiz.com/capeaceaction/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=5492641 The civilian contractors killed in Iraq recently and dragged through the streets were not construction contractors as many people assumed. Instead they were mercenaries, working for a company called Blackwater Security. Check out the 2 articles below & the Blackwater Security website to get a gander of the rapidly emerging mercenary corps "in support of freedom and democracy throughout the world." Blackwater Security Website at: http://www.blackwaterusa.com Need an Army? Just Pick Up the Phone By BARRY YEOMAN, NY Times, April 2, 2004 The murderous attack on four American civilians in Falluja, Iraq, brought home gruesome images of charred bodies dangling from a bridge over the Euphrates River. It also introduced Americans to a company few had heard of: Blackwater USA, which was providing security for food delivery convoys when its employees were ambushed. Blackwater, which operates from a 5,200-acre training ground in the Great Dismal Swamp of North Carolina, is a private military firm that provides an array of services once performed solely by military personnel. The company trains soldiers in counterterrorism and urban warfare. It also provides the American government with soldiers for hire: former Green Berets, Army Rangers and Navy Seals. In February it started training former Chilean commandos - some of whom served under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet - for future service in Iraq. Business is booming at Blackwater, and the company is hardly alone... MORE: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/02/opinion/02YEOM.html Occupiers Spend Millions on Private Army of Security Men by Robert Fisk & Severin Carrell, UK Independent, March 28, 2004 An army of thousands of mercenaries has appeared in Iraq's major cities, many of them former British and American soldiers hired by the occupying Anglo-American authorities and by dozens of companies who fear for the lives of their employees. Many of the armed Britons are former SAS soldiers and heavily armed South Africans are also working for the occupation. "My people know how to use weapons and they're all SAS," said the British leader of one security team in southern Baghdad. "But there are people running around with guns now who are just cowboys. We always conceal our weapons, but these guys think they're in a Hollywood film."... MORE: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0328-02.htm 7:19:12 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - The U.S. is Sabotaging Stability in Iraq Send This To A Republican The U.S. is Sabotaging Stability in Iraq By NAOMI KLEIN, Toronto Globe & Mail, April 5, 2004 BAGHDAD -- I heard the sound of freedom yesterday in Baghdad's Firdos Square, the famous plaza where the statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled one year ago. It sounds like machine-gun fire. On Sunday, Iraqi soldiers, trained and controlled by coalition forces, opened fire on demonstrators here, forcing the emergency evacuation of the nearby Sheraton and Palestine hotels. As demonstrators returned to their homes in the poor neighbourhood of Sadr City, the U.S. army followed with tanks and helicopters. As night fell, there were unconfirmed reports of dozens of casualties. In Najaf, the day was equally bloody: 19 demonstrators dead, more than 150 injured. But make no mistake: This is not the "civil war" that Washington has been predicting will break out between Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. Rather, it is a war provoked by the U.S. occupation authority and waged by its forces against the growing number of Shiites who support Muqtada al-Sadr. Mr. al-Sadr is the younger, more radical rival of the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, portrayed by his adoring supporters as a kind of cross between Ayatollah Khomaini and Che Guevara. He blames the U.S. for attacks on civilians, compares U.S. occupation chief Paul Bremer to Saddam Hussein, aligns himself with Hamas and Hezbollah and has called for a jihad against the controversial interim constitution. His Iraq might look a lot like Iran... MORE AT: http://tinyurl.com/2fsnd "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. Tell a friend about Rhino's Blog 6:24:04 AM    comment

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