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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mao II who wrote (21113)	3/15/2003 7:24:07 AM
From: Mao II	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25898

Soaring Oil Prices: Another Culprit? The threat of war in Iraq and this year's cold winter aren't the only reasons for sky-high oil and gas prices By ADAM ZAGORIN Monday, Mar. 10, 2003 What's responsible for sky-high oil and gasoline prices? To the threat of war in Iraq and this year's cold winter, add another culprit: the Administration's oil policies. That's the charge in a new Senate report produced by Democrat Carl Levin of Michigan. After 9/11, Bush developed a plan to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), a 700 million — bbl. store meant to sustain the U.S. in an emergency. Last year 40 million bbl. were added to the SPR. The report states those purchases drove up prices by adding to the demand for oil. An independent analyst says that had the Administration not acted, oil would be selling for just $28 per bbl. instead of its current price of nearly $38 per bbl. and gas would be 35¢ per gal. lower. The government oil-buying binge has not even increased the supply of available oil, the report claims, since most of the petroleum added to the SPR was bought from private refiners, which have not replenished their stocks because of high prices. The Bush Administration argues that the purchases were essential for national security and too small to affect prices. But the Senate report uncovered internal memos from the Energy Department warning of the plan's potential adverse impact. Sources tell TIME that Senate investigators have asked for additional documents on the purchases, but the Administration has refused because they contain communications with the White House. The last time Congress asked for energy-related documents, Vice President Dick Cheney refused to hand them over, claiming Executive privilege. From the Mar. 17, 2003 issue of TIME magazine time.com

To: Mao II who wrote (21113)	3/15/2003 10:09:39 AM
From: BubbaFred	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25898

"... the Bush government's idea of globalisation is not freedom of goods and thoughts but the unconditional freedom of the American army to bomb what it likes, when it likes. For this purpose, it has shown itself prepared to undermine local democracies and spurn parliamentary decisions. This approach, which attaches little importance to the UN, makes no attempt to understand the reluctance and indecision of its allies, and is intent on having the cooperation of local national armies at any cost for the sake of its own military victory, is not much different from that of Saddam, who recognises nothing but his own will. .." Two key points made in that article.

To: Mao II who wrote (21113)	3/15/2003 10:12:12 AM
From: BubbaFred	Respond to of 25898

Turkish fury as Kurdish leader's trial ruled unfair Andrew Osborn in Brussels, Jonny Dymond in Istanbul and Owen Bowcott Thursday March 13, 2003 The Guardian Turkey came under intense pressure yesterday to retry its most prized prisoner - the Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan - after the European court of human rights ruled that his original trial had ignored his legitimate rights of defence. In an eagerly awaited ruling that angered Ankara and inflicted fresh damage on Turkey's international reputation, the Strasbourg court said Ocalan's 1999 conviction for leading a 16-year separatist insurgency against the Turkish state was unsafe and deeply flawed. Yesterday's judgment, which Ankara has vowed to appeal, is a bitter pill for Turkey since it regards Ocalan, the founder of the now outlawed Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK), as its enemy-in-chief and originally sentenced him to death, a sentence which was subsequently commuted to life. The jailed leader was also awarded £66,000 in costs. Although non-binding, the ruling is a setback for Ankara's long-cherished hopes of joining the EU. EU officials are closely monitoring Turkey's human rights record in the run-up to membership talks, and the judgment comes just days after negotiations on Cyprus collapsed - talks which Brussels has stipulated Turkey must support if it is to join the EU. Nor did the court pull any punches. The applicant, it said, "did not have a fair trial". The Ankara state security court which convicted Ocalan of leading a revolt that claimed the lives of up to 37,000 people had not, it said, "been an independent and impartial tribunal", due to the presence of a military judge. It added that Ocalan's recourse to a proper defence had also been ignored. He had been granted only late and restricted access to his lawyers, he had been interrogated for at least seven days without being brought before a judge (during which time he made several self-incriminating statements) and he had initially been denied full access to his case file. "The overall effect of these difficulties taken as a whole had so restricted the rights of the defence that the principle of a fair trial had been contravened." The court, however, rejected several complaints from Ocalan - notably his claim that his prison conditions were inhumane and degrading. That was not enough to appease Turkey, and reaction from Ankara was swift and laced with anger. "Our conscience is clear," said Judge Turgut Okyay who presided over the initial trial. "The European court of human rights has once again shown how it uses double standards against Turkey." Yasar Yakis, Turkey's foreign minister, said if Ocalan were tried again he would have the same punishment: "Head terrorist Ocalan caused the killing of thousands of people - this reality won't change." But Ocalan's legal team, many of whom are British, hailed the judgment as a real breakthrough. "This is one of the most significant judgments ever to have come out of the European court," said Mark Muller, one of Ocalan's lawyers and the chairman of the London-based Kurdish Human Rights Project. Calling on Turkey to comply fully and immediately with the judgment, Mr Muller alleged that Ocalan's human rights were still being flouted. "We call upon the Turkish state to give us full and unconditional access to our client who has been held in solitary confinement for over three years. No legal representative has been able to see Mr Ocalan for the last 15 weeks. In our view this is totally unacceptable and constitutes a further breach of his human rights." A panel of five judges will now consider whether Turkey's appeal has any merit. guardian.co.uk