From davids@eleazar.dartmouth.edu Mon Jun 10 15:51:41 1991 Return-Path: <@DARTCMS1.DARTMOUTH.EDU:ACTIV-L@UMCVMB.BITNET> Date: Wed, 27 Feb 91 15:11:29 CST Reply-To: david s cohen and his four dancing slinkies Sender: Activists Mailing List From: david s cohen and his four dancing slinkies Subject: INFO SHEET IS HERE!!!! To: Multiple recipients of list ACTIV-L we have worked long and hard on this and have finally gotten it to fit on one sheet of paper, two sides. anyone is welcome to copy it and put their organization's name on it. to fit it on two sides of paper, use (mac) geneva font at 18 point for the title. 12 point new york font for the little intro. paragraph. and, 10 point bookman font for the information. enjoy. Gulf War Information The following is a compilation of important information regarding the Gulf War. We ask that you consider this information which the mainstream media neglects. The history of US/Iraq relations: * Between 1981 and 1988, US, USSR, France, Britain, Germany, and China gave Iraq $46.7 billion dollars in arms. - Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Jan/Feb, 1991. * The US has been giving the Iraqi government (i.e. Saddam Hussein) financial aid up until 1990. Even now, an Atlanta-based bank has extended a three billion dollar loan to Iraq; unquestionably this money is financing the invasion of Kuwait. - Rep. Henry Gonzalez (D-TX), Feb 4, 1991. * After the US government claimed that Iraq had gassed the Kurds in 1988, the Reagan-Bush administration vetoed Congressionally approved sanctions against Iraq and continued to give them agricultural aid. - CIA - The Pike Report. * US General Schwarzkopf had been simulating massive land and air attacks against Iraq since early spring of 1990 - over four full months before Iraq invaded Kuwait. - Wall Street Journal, July, 1990. How can the US claim to oppose "naked aggression"? * The US supported with financial aid: Turkey's invasion of Cyprus, China's invasion of Tibet, and South Africa's invasion of Namibia . - Z Magazine, February, 1991. * Although over 200,000 people were slaughtered, the US blocked every attempt by the UN to respond to Indonesia's invasion of East Timor. - Carnegie Mellon University, February, The Student Union, 1991. * The US used force to invade countries such as Panama, Nicaragua, and Grenada. * US, using its military, took over sovereignty of Palau in early January 1991 with its own "naked aggression". - Green Peace , January 1991. * Only the US, Israel, and Dominica (vote: 151-3) have opposed a UN resolution to condemn Israel's brutal treatment of the Palestinians. - Boston Globe, Jan 21, 1991. * Bush claims to be fighting for democracy, however Kuwait's government is a monarchy, it still has slavery, oppresses women, and will only grant citizenship to those who have lived in Kuwait for the past 70 years. - The Student Union,1991. Diplomacy: * April Glaspie, US Ambassador to Iraq, told Saddam Hussein on July 25 that Secretary of State James Baker told her to emphasize that the US has "no opinion" on Iraqi-Kuwait disputes. - Former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia ,James Akin * Despite its knowledge of the impending invasion of Kuwait, the Bush administration refused to warn Saddam Hussein against invading Kuwait and failed to warn foreigners residing in Iraq of the impending invasion. - The Student Union, 1991. * On July 31, two days before the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, Assistant Secretary of State for the Middle East John Kelly testified before Congress that the United States had no commitment to defend Kuwait. - The Student Union, 1991. * Bush has repeated stubbornly "no negotiations, no concessions." - USA Today, February 20, 1991. * On January 28 and several other occasions, the US blocked attempts in the UN Security Council to have peace discussed. - The Student Union, 1991. Is the world really "united" against Iraq ? * Millions of anti-war protestors have taken to the streets on six continents. * UN Resolution 678 authorized Member States "to use all necessary means to resolve the Gulf Crisis." Vote: 12-2 with one abstention. - The United Nations, November 30, 1990. * Soviet Union's vote: In return for the vote, Washington arranged for several Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, to provide Moscow with four billion dollars in loans and aid. - The Guardian, December 12, 1990. * China's vote: Beijing had demanded political rehabilitation in the international arena and help in getting credits from the World Bank. Because the US granted the first of the two requests, China abstained instead of vetoing the resolution. - The Guardian, 1990. * Yemen's and Cuba's votes: After these two countries voted no, a US diplomat told Yemen's Ambassador, "that was the most expensive 'no' vote you'll ever cast." Yemen will probably lose this year's seventy million dollars in US aid. - The Guardian, 1990. * Egypt's support: In return for the vote, Washington wrote off seven billion dollars in debt owed by Cairo. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf sheikdoms wrote off another seven billion dollars. - The Guardian, 1990. Is this an "all-volunteer" American military? * 29.8% of the army, 21.3% of the navy, 16.9% of the marine corps, and 13.5% of the air force involved in operation desert storm is African American, while African Americans make up only 12.1% of the American population. - Department of Defense and the Census Bureau * There is an economic draft: In recent decades, the US government has systematically reduced financial and job training opportunities for the lower sectors of society, thus forcing them to enter the military as a means of survival. * Education levels: Only 3% of today's soldiers have any college experience down from 15% prior to the Vietnam War. - LA Times, December 6, 1990. Casualties: * Reports have ranged from a few thousand to a few hundred thousand Iraqi CIVILIAN casualties from Operation Desert Storm. * Sources in Baghdad said several thousand people have been killed by bombings around Iraq. - Boston Globe, February 8, 1991. * An Iraqi Cabinet minister said that thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed or wounded by the allied bombardment and that new reports of casualties are arriving constantly. - Boston Globe, February 8 , 1991. * Military deaths before the ground war: 15 Americans, 20,000 Iraqis.- USA Today, February 20, 1991. Smart bombs? * According to numerous interviews and eyewitnesses, Desert Storm bombings have destroyed Iraqi hospitals, schools, community centers, apartment buildings, parks, shops, and religious shrines. - Coalition to Stop US Intervention in the Middle East, Dr. Michio Kalu, CUNY, 1991. * Much of the air war has been fought with "dumb" gravity bombs, such as the B-52G bombs which explode into a swath one mile long and a half mile wide. - Kalu, 1991. * By the Pentagon's own estimate, 20% of all strikes have missed their targets, and military analysts who have studied "smart" weapons suggest that a 50% success rate is more realistic. - Kalu, 1991. * Because they are running out of planned targets, the Pentagon has admitted that pilots have been given the freedom to select their own targets. - Kalu, 1991. * Various US government officials, including Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN) and Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) have stated that nuclear weapons might be used against Iraq. - ABC-TV's "Good Morning America," February 11, 1991. * On the first day of the war, 18,000 tons of explosives were dropped by Allied forces. The Hiroshima bomb was the equivalent of 13,000 tons. - Kalu, 1991. * Israeli censors have excelled at snuffing reports about Patriot misfires skimming treetops, scattering debris and injuring civilians. - Metro, John Whalen, February 14, 1991. * On January 25, the international press corps dove for cover when a Patriot, after being launched a mile and a half from their balconies at the Tel Aviv Hilton, stalled in midair, spiraled downward and exploded in a fireball 100 yards from the hotel. - Whalen, 1991. Anti-Arab sentiment: * Pan-Am airlines had banned all peoples of Iraqi descent from flying their airlines because of "terrorist threat." - New York Times, January 26, 1991. * 33 Arab students are being held without provocation in England as Prisoners of War. - Houston Post, January 26, 1991. * At least one Arab-American internment camp has been set up in Nebraska (reminiscent of Japanese internment camps in World War II) - Center for Constitutional Rights. * To date, there have been NO reported terrorist actions in the US directed against the government Environment: * The first oil slick in the Gulf War was caused by the US bombing of oil facilities in Khafji - The Student Union,1991. * Smoke, soot, and chemicals provided by the burning of oil wells and facilities could cause temporary regional or global cooling, in essence a small scale "nuclear winter." Burning oil fields result from Iraq's mines and US bombing. - International Clearinghouse on the Military and the Environment, John Miller, January, 1991. * With oil reserves depleting internationally, the burning oil fields and oil slicks will be wasting over 9% of the world's oil resources.- I.C.M.E., John Miller, 1991. * Traffic, digging, and sewage from American troops in Saudi Arabia will disturb the desert's ecosystem for decades to come. (erosion, dust storms, destruction of plants and wildlife) -I.C.M.E. John Miller,1991. Voices for Peace Dartmouth College February, 1991 -- peace -dsc