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

To: elpolvo who wrote (13130)	2/18/2003 6:10:12 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

US churches seek peaceful Iraq strategy Church leaders are among those against war by Alex Kirby BBC News Online Monday, 17 February, 2003, 15:08 GMT US church leaders are to ask Prime Minister Tony Blair to work for the non-violent replacement of President Saddam Hussein. They challenge Mr Blair's claim that there is a strong moral case for toppling the Iraqi leader by force. Despite all the rhetoric, President Bush and Mr Blair have refrained from indicting Saddam Hussein for war crimes They say the US is barely using its powers to support opposition groups within Iraq. The leaders are due to meet Mr Blair on 18 February. The delegation is headed by the Reverend Jim Wallis of the Sojourners' Community, a Christian justice and peace group based in Washington DC. It will tell Mr Blair a non-violent strategy for removing Saddam Hussein could work if it had Western backing. They believe Iraq is ripe for non-violent change because millions of Iraqis detest Saddam Hussein Civilians, they say, could cause disruption around Iraq, dispersed enough to avoid offering convenient targets for repression. The realisation that open opposition had begun would embolden other Iraqis to take part in "more systematic acts of resistance". This growing opposition would offer dissidents within the regime a place to which they could defect. The US delegation says non-violent resistance has historically relied on weapons like strikes, boycotts, civil disobedience and even non-violent sabotage. Widespread hatred Its hopes of success rest partly on the assumption that an authoritarian ruler requires services from the population, which he cannot indefinitely compel them to supply. The church leaders say the Iraqi regime is particularly vulnerable over oil - if a limited number of civilian oil workers downed tools they could create a crisis by themselves. If a limited number of civilian oil workers downed tools they could create a crisis by themselves They believe Iraq is ripe for non-violent change because millions of Iraqis detest Saddam Hussein, whose hold on power in any case relies on personal loyalties and repression. A few years ago, in the city of Karbala, they say, civilians effectively encircled troops sent to control them, and similar uprisings on a national scale could stretch the regime's machinery of repression to breaking point. Crucially, the US delegation will tell Mr Blair the West is failing to give Iraqi dissidents the support they need - the other condition they need for success. Under the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, they say, the US administration can give opposition groups goods and services - including training - worth up to $97 million. So far it has used $1m of that total. Glaring omission It will tell Mr Blair the choice is not between leaving Saddam Hussein in power and removing him through war, but that there is a third way. Dan Plesch, of the UK's Royal United Services Institute, told BBC News Online: "What the delegation is pointing out is something very embarrassing, that the US is not interested in trying for peaceful change, but only in something more squalid and traditional. "It's quite remarkable that despite all the rhetoric President Bush and Mr Blair have refrained from indicting Saddam Hussein for war crimes. "The delegation's approach is certainly worth trying." news.bbc.co.uk

To: elpolvo who wrote (13130)	2/18/2003 6:19:05 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

Exclusive America's Cup Design Analysis From David Pedrick Sailing World February 17, 2003 sailingworld.com ____________________________________ Alinghi Pushes Lead to 3-0 By Herb McCormick February 18, 2003 sailingworld.com

To: elpolvo who wrote (13130)	2/19/2003 2:40:07 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

US becoming a colonial power: Wesley Clark PTI [ MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2003] timesofindia.indiatimes.com WASHINGTON: The United States is well on its way to becoming a colonial power if President George W Bush does go ahead with plans to attack Iraq, a former Nato supreme commander said on Sunday. General Wesley Clark, a former Nato supreme commander and a potential Democratic candidate for president, told a Meet the Press programme on NBC that Saddam Hussein was "finished" and having gone so far, the US could not change its plans to remove him. "We are at a turning point in America's history. We are about to embark on an operation that is going to put us in a colonial position in the Middle East following Britain." It is a huge change for the American people and what this country stands for, he said. The Bush administration, he said, has not respected its allies and that is why it finds itself without the support of many Nato allies and even in those countries prepared to support the US, public opinion is against the war. Iraq, could have been contained without war, he said. Clark also warned against a civil war in Iraq after the present regime is removed because of the ethnic and religious divisions in the country--Kurds in the north, Shiites who constitute the majority in the country, and Sunnis who now wield power.