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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (6287)	9/13/2002 11:50:31 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

America's troubling, new avatar By Jimmy Carter Guest columnist Special to The Washington Post Friday, September 13, 2002 - 12:00 a.m. Pacific Fundamental changes are taking place in the historical policies of the United States with regard to human rights, our role in the community of nations and the Middle East peace process — largely without definitive debates (except, at times, within the administration). Some new approaches have understandably evolved from quick and well-advised reactions by President Bush to the tragedy of Sept. 11, but others seem to be developing from a core group of conservatives who are trying to realize long-pent-up ambitions under the cover of the proclaimed war against terrorism. Formerly admired almost universally as the preeminent champion of human rights, our country has become the foremost target of respected international organizations concerned about these basic principles of democratic life. We have ignored or condoned abuses in nations that support our anti-terrorism effort, while detaining American citizens as "enemy combatants," incarcerating them secretly and indefinitely without their being charged with any crime or having the right to legal counsel. This policy has been condemned by the federal courts, but the Justice Department seems adamant, and the issue is still in doubt. Several hundred Taliban soldiers remain imprisoned at Guantanámo Bay, Cuba, under the same circumstances, with the defense secretary declaring that they would not be released even if they were someday tried and found to be innocent. These actions are similar to those of abusive regimes that historically have been condemned by American presidents. The American people are inundated almost daily with claims from the vice president and other top officials that we face a devastating threat from Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, and with pledges to remove Saddam Hussein from office, with or without support from any allies. As has been emphasized vigorously by foreign allies and by responsible leaders of former administrations and incumbent officeholders, there is no current danger to the United States from Baghdad. In the face of intense monitoring and overwhelming American military superiority, any belligerent move by Hussein against a neighbor, even the smallest nuclear test (necessary before weapons construction), a tangible threat to use a weapon of mass destruction, or sharing this technology with terrorist organizations would be suicidal. But it is quite possible that such weapons would be used against Israel or our forces in response to an American attack. We cannot ignore the development of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, but a unilateral war with Iraq is not the answer. There is an urgent need for U.N. action to force unrestricted inspections in Iraq. But perhaps deliberately so, this has become less likely as we alienate our necessary allies. Apparently disagreeing with the president and secretary of state, in fact, the vice president has now discounted this goal as a desirable option. We have thrown down counterproductive gauntlets to the rest of the world, disavowing U.S. commitments to laboriously negotiated international accords. Peremptory rejections of nuclear-arms agreements, the biological weapons convention, environmental protection, anti-torture proposals, and punishment of war criminals have sometimes been combined with economic threats against those who might disagree with us. These unilateral acts and assertions increasingly isolate the United States from the very nations needed to join in combating terrorism. Tragically, our government is abandoning any sponsorship of substantive negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis. Our apparent policy is to support almost every Israeli action in the occupied territories, and to condemn and isolate the Palestinians as blanket targets of our war on terrorism, while Israeli settlements expand and Palestinian enclaves shrink. There still seems to be a struggle within the administration over defining a comprehensible Middle East policy. The president's clear commitments to honor key U.N. resolutions and to support the establishment of a Palestinian state have been substantially negated by statements of the defense secretary that in his lifetime "there will be some sort of an entity that will be established" and his reference to the "so-called occupation." This indicates a radical departure from policies of every administration since 1967, always based on the withdrawal of Israel from occupied territories and a genuine peace between Israelis and their neighbors. Belligerent and divisive voices now seem to be dominant in Washington, but they do not yet reflect final decisions of the president, Congress or the courts. It is crucial that the historical and well-founded American commitments prevail: to peace, justice, human rights, the environment and international cooperation. _____________________________________________________ Former President Jimmy Carter is chairman of the Carter Center in Atlanta. Copyright © 2002 The Seattle Times Company seattletimes.nwsource.com

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (6287)	9/13/2002 12:08:18 PM
From: 4figureau	Respond to of 89467

Real goods launch comeback Natural resources funds upstage stock market By Thom Calandra, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 11:44 AM ET Sept. 13, 2002 >>If commodity prices in general continue to rise, investors almost surely will see natural resources as a respite from the heavy stock-market losses endured for a third year running.<< SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) - With commodity prices rising smartly this year, a handful of natural resources funds are keeping their mutual fund shareholders in the black. Thanks to investments in South African, Australian and Canadian resource companies and things like fresh fruit and other products of the earth, a select few natural resources funds are posting one-year gains of 10 percent or more. The tiny Prudential Natural Resources Fund (PNRZX: news, chart, profile) and RS Global Natural Resources Fund (RSNRX: news, chart, profile) are up 17 percent and 10 percent, respectively, since the week of Sept. 10 one year ago. Many more in this small mutual-fund universe are beating the overall stock market's dismal performance. The strategies of natural resources funds demonstrate there is opportunity in commodities, where prices have long been depressed but are showing signs of a comeback. The Commodity Research Bureau's long-depressed benchmark gauge of 20 or so commodities -- agricultural, metal, oil and so on -- is up 13 percent this year to its highest point since early 2001. Much of the gain in the commodity index has come this spring and summer, with rises in the prices of oil, precious metals, soybeans, cocoa and other hard assets. Cocoa prices have gained several hundred percent in the past year because of supply constraints and bad weather. Other goods often taken for granted, like corn and soybeans, have emerged from four or more years of losing trends. The boost to prices of many agricultural goods has come largely from hot and dry weather, which reduces crop yields. Precious metals are benefiting from fiscal turmoil. Oil prices are gaining ahead of what almost everyone in the world sees as an imminent U.S. attack on Iraq, although the crude-oil price gains are not reflected in the shares of many major oil producers. The commodity outlook is not entirely robust. Coffee prices are suffering so much, governments in Brazil and elsewhere are trying to find ways to take beans off the market. Cattle prices are chopped meat because of heavier cows these days adding to production totals. Lumber prices are heading south because of confusion over cheap selling by Canada's timber companies, who tried to beat a 27 percent import tax in the United States, levied this spring by the U.S. International Trade Commission Still, savvy investors are making money. The RS fund, for example, owns Fresh Del Monte Produce (FDP: news, chart, profile), a Florida company whose shares have been fruitful and multiplied this year. RS also owns Impala Platinum (ZA:IMP: news, chart, profile), a South Africa-traded company whose shares have doubled in the past year. Several Prudential funds (PGNAX: news, chart, profile) own BJ Services (BJS: news, chart, profile), an oilfield services company from Houston whose shares have gained 50 percent in the past 12 months. (Ownership stakes of mutual funds are as of March or June of this year, the latest reporting periods.) Van Eck Global Hard Assets Fund (GHAAX: news, chart, profile) owns Newcrest Mining, an Australia-traded company that mines gold, copper and other metals. The Australian gold companies are in the midst of takeover fever. Newcrest shares (AU:NCM: news, chart, profile) have almost doubled from a year ago. The CBS MarketWatch industry analyzer shows mineral miners and precious metals among the top stock-market gainers list these past 12 months. See the review of winners. For some natural resources funds, the past year has been rough, but not as rough as the overall stock market's 20 percent decline since the Sept. 11, 2001, violence. The Merrill Lynch Natural Resources Fund (MAGRX: news, chart, profile) is down 4 percent this year, due in part to poorly performing energy and oil holdings such as ChevronTexaco (CVX: news, chart, profile). Still, the Merrill fund is flat-even for the past year. Natural resources mutual funds hold just a sliver of the total assets in the U.S. fund industry. There are 81 such funds, according to Lipper Inc., and many have miniscule assets of $50 million or less. See our CBS MarketWatch mutual funds section and tools. Nearly all of these funds, with the exception of energy-intensive funds that invest in big oil companies and in natural gas companies such as El Paso (EP: news, chart, profile), are losing far less than the overall stock market. The resource fund leaders, meanwhile, are posting valuable gains for shareholders. Their fortunes swing wildly, as commodity companies are subject to intense geo-political events, like tariffs, wars and weather. As a group, the resource funds are up 1.5 percent for the week and down 7.6 percent in the past 12 months, says Lipper, the mutual fund research company. If commodity prices in general continue to rise, investors almost surely will see natural resources as a respite from the heavy stock-market losses endured for a third year running cbs.marketwatch.com