----- Original Message ----- From: Progressive Response <irc at irc-online.org> To: <brc-news at lists.tao.ca> Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2000 2:27 AM Subject: [BRC-NEWS] Critique of the National Summit on Africa
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> The Progressive Response
> 25 February 2000
> Vol. 4, No. 8
> Editor: Tom Barry
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> The Progressive Response (PR) is a weekly service of
> Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF), a joint project of the
> Interhemispheric Resource Center and the Institute for
> Policy Studies. We encourage responses to the opinions
> expressed in PR and may print them in either the "Letters
> from Readers" or "Outside U.S." section.
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I. Updates and Out-takes
>
> *** AFRICA ACTIVISM: WHAT DIRECTION NOW? ***
> By Jim Lobe and Jim Cason
>
> *** COMMEMORATIVE BOOK OF SUMMIT ***
> By National Summit on Africa
>
> II. Outside U.S.
>
> *** WHERE IS THE DIALOG IN THE NATIONAL SUMMIT? ***
>
> III. Letters from Readers
>
> *** LEBANON: NOT THE PARTY LINE ***
> *** NO REGARD FOR ARAB LIVES ***
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I. Updates and Out-takes
>
> (Editor's Note: This issue of the Progressive Response
> includes information and analysis about the National Summit
> on Africa. FPIF's Martha Honey and Erik Leaver were
> instrumental in gathering and editing the contributions to
> this PR. Readers are encouraged to link to a FPIF special
> report by William Minter of the Africa Policy Information
> Center. His essay "United States and Africa: Starting Points
> for a New Policy Framework" is posted at:
> http://www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org/papers/africa/index.html)
>
> *** AFRICA ACTIVISM: WHAT DIRECTION NOW? ***
>
> By Jim Lobe and Jim Cason
>
> (Jim Lobe is a Washington-based correspondent with the Inter
> Press Service news agency. Jim Cason is an executive
> committee member of the Association of Concerned Africa
> Scholars. Both are part of FPIF's "think tank without
> walls.")
>
> From February 16 to 20, some 2,300 committed and energetic
> delegates from throughout the United States gathered in
> Washington, DC, for a five-day, high-profile "summit"
> dedicated to building a politically powerful coalition for
> Africa, but there was much uncertainty about how to do it.
> The official program and plenary sessions were dominated by
> U.S. and African government officials, members of Congress,
> and corporate leaders. But the energy in the workshops and
> hallways of this event, as well as the commitment of
> delegates to use their own funds to get to Washington for
> the meeting, demonstrated again the potential for Africa
> activism that still exists in the United States ten years
> after the South African victory over apartheid. Particularly
> noticeable was the high attendance--upwards of 30%--of
> Africa expatriates who established themselves during the
> conference as key players in any future constituency for the
> continent.
>
> The National Summit on Africa (NSA) was a four-year effort,
> generously funded with almost $8 million by the Ford
> Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The NSA
> approved a 254-point platform--a sometimes-contradictory
> laundry list of policy recommendations--the "National Policy
> Plan of Action for U.S.-Africa Relations in the 21st
> Century."
>
> Beginning in May 1998, the National Summit on Africa
> convened a series of "regional summits and policy fora"
> around five broad themes in U.S.-African relations: 1)
> democracy and human rights; 2) economic development, trade
> and investment, and job creation; 3) education and culture;
> 4) peace and security; and 5) sustainable development,
> quality of life, and the environment. Each regional summit
> elected state delegations who, together with 500 at-large
> delegates, participated in the deliberative process at the
> Washington gathering. The NSA's National Policy Plan will be
> presented to policymakers with the view that it will form
> the blueprint for a new and broader U.S. engagement with
> Africa in the 21st century.
>
> Among the specific proposals endorsed by the summit were an
> urgent request for the U.S. to provide increased funding for
> AIDS research, education, and prevention and a demand for
> comprehensive debt relief for Africa. The final summit
> document also calls for conditional support of the Africa
> Growth and Opportunity Act trade bill that is currently
> before the U.S. Congress and for a new "Marshall
> Plan"--scale commitment of additional financial resources
> for African development. The recommendations urge Washington
> to support a ban on landmines, end sales of small arms to
> Africa, and provide far more money for peacekeeping missions
> in Africa.
>
> But the final assembly, addressed by two of the most widely
> respected black politicians, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Jr.(D-IL)
> and former Rep. Ron Dellums (D-CA), was clouded with charges
> by many grassroots and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
> rooted in the antiapartheid movement that the mobilizing
> effort put into the summit risked being hijacked by a
> leadership with a "corporate-friendly" agenda. "Somehow all
> the hard work we put into making our voices heard here was
> for nothing," complained Nunu Kidane, a former cochair of
> the California delegation. Kidane had helped organize the
> San Francisco regional summit, but she resigned in disgust
> because of what she characterized as the top-down nature of
> the NSA.
>
> "Many of the people who went to Africa to do solidarity work
> in the 1960s and 1970s, knew they would never get paid,"
> said Prexy Nesbitt, a Chicago-based activist and educator
> who serves on the board of the Africa Fund and has worked
> with TransAfrica, the Washington Office on Africa, and many
> of the other national Africa groups. "But today," Nesbitt
> explained, "[with the emphasis on trade and investment],
> you're getting more and more people going with a sense of
> 'what is in it for me?' This [meeting] is controlled by the
> latter type. These are the new colonizers."
>
> Although Nesbitt didn't mention him by name, he appeared to
> describe Leonard H. Robinson, Jr., the NSA's "president and
> CEO", who had defended Washington's "constructive
> engagement" policy with apartheid South Africa as Deputy
> Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in the
> Reagan and Bush administrations. More recently Robinson
> worked as a lobbyist for both Sani Abacha's military regime
> in Nigeria and Togolese president Gnassingbe Eyadema, one of
> Africa's longest ruling dictators. Robinson apparently
> intends to transform the NSA into a permanent organization
> directed with a board half of whose directors will represent
> U.S. corporations active in Africa. "We're going to need a
> board that brings a lot more to the table," said Sunni
> Khalid, the former National Public Radio reporter who is now
> the summit spokesperson. "It takes a lot of money to do
> this."
>
> As originally conceived, the summit was to be used to
> mobilize and expand a variety of groups and interests
> worried about Africa's marginalization following the end of
> the cold war. Since the 1980s, aid to Africa has declined
> sharply, despite half-hearted Clinton administration efforts
> to increase it. After the 1992-93 Somalia debacle,
> Washington's refusal to act decisively to stop or prevent
> civil conflicts, including the 1994 Rwandan genocide, fueled
> fears, according to the summit's literature, "that the
> United States would continue to disengage" from Africa
> despite "unprecedented opportunities...to promote democratic
> values and free markets."
>
> "Little urgency is given to our problems, and when
> assistance is rendered, it is relatively too little and
> often delayed," Organization of African Unity (OAU)
> Secretary-General Salim A. Salim told the delegates during
> the opening speeches. "This is in remarkable contrast to how
> other societies are treated in this regard. It boils down to
> the fact that Africa lacks a strong constituency in the
> United States," Secretary-General Salim added.
>
> Over the past two years, the National Summit on Africa has
> convened six regional and three policy conferences--in
> Boston, Chicago, Baltimore, San Francisco, Denver, Atlanta,
> Los Angeles, Houston, and Oklahoma City--with attendance
> ranging from a low of less than 400 in Chicago to well over
> 3,000 in Atlanta. A summit press release claimed that more
> than 10,000 participated in these regional forums.
>
> Almost from the beginning, however, the NSA secretariat and
> executive committee were criticized for a "top-down"
> approach that failed to adequately consult with existing
> local groups and long-established NGOs with national
> networks. Many of the national activist NGOs, fearful of
> alienating the powerful donors who were behind the summit,
> joined the national board but confined their criticisms to
> internal discussions. From early on in the process,
> according to several board members, representatives of the
> International Human Rights Law Group, Africa Fund,
> Constituency for Africa, American Friends Service Committee,
> and Africa Policy Information Center voiced strong concerns
> about the huge expenditures (more than $400,000 on one
> regional conference, including $40,000 for fresh flowers)
> and the failure to adequately consult with local activists
> and groups. Salih Booker, who until recently worked with the
> Council on Foreign Relations and who drafted the original
> proposal as a consultant for Ford and Africare, resigned
> from the board in October 1998 to protest the lack of
> transparency with which the process was being conducted and
> the lack of a policy for accepting financial contributions
> from corporations with questionable records in Africa,
> including Chevron.
>
> Unease on the twenty-eight member board increased last
> December when Robinson circulated an internal memorandum in
> which he laid out the case for creating a new organization
> after the summit to act as the "central repository on
> Africa-related issues and affairs." Arguing that the
> lobbying network for Africa had been "moribund [especially
> since the conclusion of the Free South Africa movement],
> largely ineffectual over a sustained period and considered a
> nonfactor by the various power centers of decisionmaking in
> Washington," Robinson asserted that "it would be a travesty
> if the summit failed to capitalize on the momentum it has
> generated to fill the void."
>
> As originally conceived, the NSA was supposed to cease to
> exist a few months after the Washington meeting and the
> formulation of the National Policy Plan of Action.
> Robinson's memo, however, went on to propose an initial
> annual budget for an "American Council on African Affairs"
> of almost $1 million. Robinson wrote that, based on recent
> conversations "with corporate executives and with
> representatives of the foundation community"--including Coca
> Cola, Sara Lee, World Space, Carnegie Corporation,
> Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, and the MacArthur
> Foundation--"it is very conceivable that the summit will
> attract additional, substantial capital as a consequence of
> the February 2000 event." Robinson noted that the corporate
> interest in providing financial support "represents a sea
> change in attitude and receptivity and should
> mushroom--anticipating a knock-out summit in February."
>
> The following month, the six member executive committee
> endorsed Robinson's idea and called for the new organization
> to be headed by a board with 50% corporate representation.
> Though some NGOs would remain on the board, others,
> according to the memo, would shift to an advisory committee.
> "[T]he new board cannot afford to be perceived as being
> other than 'corporate-friendly,'" stated a January 18 memo
> from the executive committee.
>
> That agenda became clearer by the time the 2,300 delegates
> began arriving to hear President Bill Clinton and half a
> dozen other administration and official dignitaries kick off
> the summit with a call for participants to lobby their
> members of Congress and senators to quickly approve the
> corporate-backed Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
> "All of the hard work we had put into trying to get a
> balanced view of the bill was excluded," lamented California
> delegate Kidane, as speaker after speaker exhorted the
> delegates to push for the AGOA. (During the NSA's policy
> sessions, the AGOA was rejected by one of the five policy
> working groups and endorsed with reservations by another.
> Yet a press statement released at the end of the summit by
> the secretariat cited "support for the Africa Growth and
> Opportunity Act" as the first of half a dozen of the major
> policy recommendations of the summit participants.)
>
> More disappointments were to come. Grassroots and NGO
> delegates were incensed both about the sponsorship by
> corporate giants Chevron and Monsanto of specific events and
> about the appearance of Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi as
> the sole African head of state to address the meeting.
> "Taking money from Chevron was a violation of decisions
> taken earlier in the summit process and of the people who
> are struggling in the Niger Delta," said Jennifer Davis,
> director of the New York-based Africa Fund, which played a
> leading role in the antiapartheid movement and more recently
> in the struggle against military rule in Nigeria. "I would
> have preferred to do without a couple of dinners and not
> have Chevron and Monsanto as donors," said New York cochair
> Mojubaolu Olufunke Okome, a Nigerian who addressed the final
> plenary session on behalf of many of the dissidents and won
> a standing ovation for her comments. "Chevron's policies in
> the Niger delta are morally bankrupt," she said, adding that
> a member of her own family had been killed in the violence
> that has wracked the oil-rich region.
>
> Ezekiel Pajibo, who works with the Africa Faith and Justice
> Network and was cochair of the Maryland delegation, said he
> was so outraged that Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi was
> the only African head of state on the program that he helped
> organize a demonstration outside the Grand Hyatt Hotel where
> Moi addressed a luncheon gathering. Delegates arriving for
> the luncheon not only had to walk through a line of
> demonstrators shouting "sham" and denouncing Moi as an
> "African Pinochet," they also had to cross a line of
> picketers from the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union who
> were protesting the hotel's refusal to allow a union. Vice
> President Al Gore, who was scheduled to address the same
> luncheon, refused to cross the picket line, and his remarks
> were instead broadcast into the gathering.
>
> Summit dignitaries defended Moi's presence. "We invited many
> heads of state to come," said NSA cochair Andrew Young, a
> former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and ex-mayor of
> Atlanta, who stood by Moi as hecklers were led from the
> hotel banquet hall by security officials. "President Moi
> came." Still, Moi's presence was symptomatic of a larger
> problem at the summit. Although the discussion in the policy
> groups was lively and participatory, the plenary sessions
> were dominated by official and corporate voices, charged
> David Beckman, who is president of Bread for the World.
> "Whereas representation by African official and privileged
> sectors is strong," noted a petition signed by scores of
> delegates, including some board members, ''representation
> within the official summit process by other Africans in the
> U.S. and by African civil society, including women's,
> farmers', labor, human rights, youth and other grassroots
> organizations is woefully inadequate. If the NSA is about
> peoples participation in policymaking, why are these views
> and voices not given (at least) equal prominence?"
>
> The petition, which charged that the summit process "has
> been concentrated in a small, centralized group," also
> called for a "full evaluation of the strengths and
> weaknesses" of the summit to date and the adoption of a
> "Framework of Guiding Principles" on governance,
> participation, and transparency before any decisions are
> taken on the organization's future. But Robinson, who agreed
> to allow Okome address the final plenary session as a
> representative of the dissenters in order to avoid a
> disruptive protest from the floor, declined to be pinned
> down on precisely what his organizational intentions were.
> Instead, he stressed that he wanted to fully cooperate with
> the NGOs and others. "As long as the National Summit on
> Africa has a nickel to spend," he said, "we guarantee that
> we will work with anybody who has Africa--not
> self-interest--in mind. ... Why can't we work together to
> make this happen?" he asked.
>
> Salih Booker remains skeptical. In a memo he sent to the
> board in early February, Booker strongly opposed
> perpetuating or transforming the organization, noting that
> Robinson's recommendations "suggest the creation of an
> entity dominated by U.S. corporations to act as a catalyst
> for working against the existing people-centered NGOs and
> their public education and public advocacy networking
> efforts. These proposals will only lead to a further
> diminution of funding possibilities for existing
> Africa-focused organizations, especially politically and
> economically progressive organizations including
> African-American ones," he argued.
>
> Others agree. "Any new organization that has that kind of
> money behind it has the potential for defunding the groups
> that have been the mainstay of Africa work generally," said
> Melvin Foote, director of the Washington-based Constituency
> for Africa (CFA). Foote, who resigned from the NSA board in
> January, said that it has been difficult for many of the
> NGOs that have participated in the summit to criticize it
> publicly for fear of offending their donors. Ford and
> Carnegie have long dominated Africa funding in the
> foundation world.
>
> Despite all the profound disagreements and criticisms, the
> National Summit on Africa demonstrated decisively that there
> is a powerful network of activists in the United States who
> are working on, or trying to work on, Africa issues and are
> not being reached by existing Africa-focused groups. With $8
> million to spend, the NSA succeeded in drawing local
> organizers who had not been part of existing networks into
> the regional summit process and eventually to the national
> summit in Washington.
>
> But, as the protests at the meeting and the resignations
> from the summit board showed, many activists and local
> networks were not prepared to be paraded into Washington
> simply to endorse a corporate--and
> U.S.-government--dominated agenda handed down from on high.
> For every person who protested publicly at the summit, there
> were at least two more who told reporters that they saw the
> problems but believed they would be fixed in the future.
> "They brought us together in New Jersey, and we plan to stay
> together and keep organizing, but we're not going to be
> taking orders from this crowd in Washington," said one
> delegate who asked that his name not be used.
>
> The NSA organizers have already said they are heading in a
> "corporate friendly" direction, so the question for other
> Africa-focused organizations is whether they can pick up
> some of the energy generated at the summit and channel it
> into a new movement.
>
> Ten years after the end of apartheid in South Africa there
> are still hundreds of local community groups with linkages
> to Africa, but the range of activism on Africa crosses over
> a number of issues and is much less nationally focused.
> Beyond the direct campaigns for democracy and human rights
> and against oil companies in specific countries such as
> Sudan or Nigeria, there are global coalitions on trade
> issues, debt and economic justice, landmines, and small arms
> that focus attention on Africa. In addition, more radical
> groups in the black community, such as the Black Radical
> Congress and U.S.-based activists organizing for Afrocentric
> schools, chose to stay away from this gathering but are
> passionately committed to Africa work.
>
> Whether the organizers of the National Summit on Africa
> manage to attract additional foundation or corporate funding
> for their new project, what they have done is demonstrate
> the potential for Africa organizing and present a challenge
> to Africa activists in this country. The question now is who
> will pick up this challenge?
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *** COMMEMORATIVE BOOK OF SUMMIT ***
>
> (Editor's Note: The following are excerpts from the National
> Summit on Africa's "Commemorative Book" outlining the
> history and purpose of the Summit. For more information,
> visit http://www.africasummit.org/)
>
> ..."In 1996, the Ford Foundation, under the spirited
> initiative of Timothy J. Bork, Director for Africa and
> Middle East programs, created the Africa Policy Initiative,
> a limited constellation of targeted education and public
> outreach activities to reenergize U.S. interest in Africa.
> The National Summit on Africa was the Initiative's flagship
> activity.
>
> "The Summit concept became a reality through wide-ranging
> consultations with key organizations and individuals...
> There was a consensus that improving U.S./Africa relations
> and the broader public's understanding of the continent were
> essential to (1) enable the U.S. to be a responsible partner
> and take advantage of the tremendous opportunities on the
> continent, and (2) facilitate a better appreciation of our
> national diversity. Inclusiveness, diversity, and broad
> public outreach were guiding principles. It was determined
> that the American people should be engaged in U.S./Africa
> relations as never before through a movement intended to
> inform and empower them. The Summit was to be a
> resource-rich organization acting as a catalyst to bring
> existing and new efforts together to ignite a new era of
> U.S./Africa cooperation.
>
> "...The National Summit on Africa set out to accomplish its
> objectives by convening a series of regional policy
> dialogues, sub-regional policy fora, and numerous local
> caucuses and educational programs....By the conclusion...the
> National Summit on Africa will have: produced a Policy Plan
> of Action for U.S./Africa relations; directly reached nearly
> 20,000 Americans and many more through media coverage and
> public service announcements; helped to generate many
> locally-based Africa-focused organizations; created a
> delegate structure through the United States; and outreached
> to countless continental and U.S.-based Africans to obtain
> their views, guidance, and support....The once distorted
> face of Africa consistently painted by the media in this
> country has given way to a more positive portrayal in
> mainstream newspapers throughout the United States...
>
> "Perhaps the most powerful indicator of the Summit's
> progress is in its partnerships. Never before, with the
> possible exception of the anti-apartheid movement, have
> political figures from both parties come together to support
> a movement in the way they have the National Summit on
> Africa. ... These accomplishments have positioned a powerful
> network comprised of informed Americans and representatives
> from the non-profit, business, educational, religious,
> union, and grass-roots communities to carry forward with a
> strong and diverse voice, the clear message that Americans
> want a stronger and more positive relationship with
> Africa...."
>
> Sources for More Information on Africa:
>
> African Faith and Justice Network
> Email: afjn at afjn.org
> Website: http://afjn.cua.edu/
>
> Africa Fund
> Email: africafund at igc.org
> Website: http://www.theafricafund.org/
>
> Africa News Service
> Email: newsdesk at africanews.org
> Website: http://www.africanews.org/
>
> Africa Policy Information Center
> Email: apic at africapolicy.org
> Website: http://www.africapolicy.org/
>
> Africare
> Email: africare at africare.org
> Website: http://www.africare.org/
>
> Amnesty International
> Email: aakewei at igc.org
> Website: http://www.amnestyusa.org/ailib/aireport/ar99/index-afr.htm
>
> Association of Concerned Africa Scholars
> Email: wgmartin at uiuc.edu
> Website: http://www.prairienet.org/acas/
>
> Human Rights Watch/Africa
> Email: hrwdc at hrw.org
> Website: http://www.hrw.org/
>
> National Summit on Africa
> Emial: africasummit at africasummit.org
> Website: http://www.africasummit.org/
>
> TransAfrica
> Email: transforum at igc.org
> Website: http://www.transafricaforum.org/
>
> Washington Office on Africa
> Email: woa at igc.org
> Website: http://www.woaafrica.org/
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>
> II. Outside U.S.
>
> (Editor's Note: This section of the Progressive Response
> includes non-U.S. perspectives on the impact and directions
> of U.S. foreign policy. Article submissions no longer than
> 1,000 words should be sent to: <tom at irc-online.org>)
>
> *** WHERE IS THE DIALOG IN THE NATIONAL SUMMIT ***
>
> The following is a portion of a petition signed by dissident
> delegates and read at the final plenary of the National
> Summit on Africa (NSA) by Nunu Kidane, a Nigerian who was
> former co-chair of the Summit's California delegation.
>
> [W]e are extremely concerned that the process has been
> organized in violation of many of the core values that
> motivate and drive our efforts to promote social, economic,
> environmental and political justice in Africa. We protest
> the use of our names and reputations of our organizations in
> ways that violate the following fundamental principles of
> democracy, transparency and accountability:
>
> BALANCED AND OPEN DEBATE: Where are the opportunities for
> diverse opinions in keynote addresses plenary sessions? If
> the goal of the deliberative process is to create a Plan of
> Action on priority policy issues, why are discussions of
> current issues affecting the continent absent? ...Where is
> the balanced dialogue?
>
> DEMOCRATIC AND TRANSPARENT PROCESS: Decision-making and
> communication surrounding the NSA process has been
> concentrated in a small, centralized group without adequate
> consultation with the participants involved - e.g. over
> officials invited, fiscal accountability, corporate
> sponsorships and the future of the NSA. If the NSA's ideals
> are partnership and democracy, why would an African leader
> who has a well-documented record of human rights abuses be
> honored? Does the prominent role given to Daniel arap Moi
> represent the kind of governmental partnership we want
> reflected in US-Africa relations?
>
> ECONOMIC JUSTICE: Why are corporate-friendly policies
> promoted, while worker- and environment-friendly policies
> are ignored? Why is the NSA promoting one particular piece
> of legislation -- the African Growth and Opportunity Act
> (AGOA) in its documents and plenaries? Why, given the rise
> of African and global social movements for economic justice,
> has there not been similar space allocated for their
> proponents to examine the role and impacts of the World
> Bank, the IMF, and the WTO? Where is the dialogue on fair
> trade, economic reform, and developmental alternatives?
>
> CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY: Why is the NSA funded by companies
> like Monsanto and Chevron, known exploiters of workers,
> communities and the environment? How were the decisions to
> accept sponsorship arrived at? Did these contributions
> assure a privileged position of corporate voices and the
> absence of their critics? Where is the dialogue on corporate
> accountability?
>
> WORKERS' RIGHT TO ORGANIZE: Why were functions and delegates
> booked at the non-union Grand Hyatt? Where is the union bug
> on Summit documents? Why were African trade unionists not
> present?
>
> In spite of these issues and failings much has been
> accomplished that can be built on over the months and years
> ahead. Before any NSA continuation plans can be considered,
> however:
>
> * A framework of Guiding Principles that enshrines the above
> values must be developed in a transparent and participatory
> manner;
>
> * A full evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses to date
> must be completed and discussed, taking into account the
> views of at-large delegates, marginalized and missing
> groups, as well as those who have left or opted out. These
> discussions should inform considerations about whether to
> take forward the NSA and in what manner.
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>
> III. Letters from Readers
>
> *** LEBANON: NOT THE PARTY LINE ***
>
> Excellent analysis (FPIF, "Lebanon: Key Battleground for
> Middle East Policy" posted at
> <http://www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org/briefs/vol5/v5n02leb.html).
> Obviously not the US party line. Different viewpoint, but an
> important cultural perspective for US foreign policy makers
> and executers. I executed that policy for 31 years in the
> Army and for the last seven taught at West Point, where I
> was an Assistant Professor of Cultural Geography. We used
> Beirut and Lebanon as one of our critical sites for cadet
> terrain and cultural analysis of a potential deploying peace
> operations force. This information would have enhanced our
> instruction. Thank you.
>
> --Michael M. Toler, LTC, US Army, Infantry, Retired <MMToler at aol.com>
>
> *** NO REGARD FOR ARAB LIVES ***
>
> As a US citizen, I have long observed the "two-faced"
> policies which the United States enforces in the Middle
> East. The US has absolutely no regard for Arab lives, but
> extraordinary regard for Israeli lives. I have NEVER in my
> life seen in a US newspaper a photograph of a Palestinian or
> other Arab victim of an Israeli bombing or assassination, or
> a photo of grieving friends or relatives; yet, every Israeli
> victim, and their grieving friends and relatives, frequent
> our media. Further, the United States uses any and all UN
> resolutions as a pretext to further bomb Iraq, and continue
> the suffering of their civilian population, but disregards
> all UN resolutions which might expect concessions from
> Israel, or attempt to obtain Israel's observance of
> international law. The US obviously believes it is
> imperative to disarm Iraq, but continues to arm Israel, even
> having provided them with nuclear weapons. And, the United
> States "bribes" some Arab nations, and uses promises of its
> military to maintain petro-monarchs in power to others, to
> insure their subservience. However, I would add that as long
> as Arab states continue to prostitute themselves to the
> United States; and as long as Arab states willingly
> sacrifice their national pride, their religion, their Arab
> beliefs, and their principles of justice regarding the
> Palestinians, for short-term financial gain, they DESERVE
> the absolute LACK OF RESPECT they get from the US
> Government, and from the US populace. Neither prostitutes,
> nor prostitute-nations are respected, nor should they be!!!
>
> -- Edward Albertini <EJALALB at email.msn.com>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Progressive Response aims to provide timely analysis and
> opinion about U.S. foreign policy issues. The content does
> not necessarily reflect the institutional positions of
> either the Interhemispheric Resource Center or the Institute
> for Policy Studies.
>
> We're working to make the Progressive Response informative
> and useful, so let us know how we're doing, via email to
> irc at irc-online.org. Please put "Progressive Response" in the
> subject line. Please feel free to cross-post the Progressive
> Response elsewhere. We apologize for any duplicate copies
> you may receive.
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Visit the Foreign Policy In Focus website,
> http://www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org/
>
> IRC
> Tom Barry
> Editor, Progressive Response
> Co-director, Foreign Policy In Focus
> Email: tom at irc-online.org
>
> IPS
> Martha Honey
> Co-director, Foreign Policy In Focus
> Email: ipsps at igc.apc.org
>
> -30-
>
>
> [Articles on BRC-NEWS may be forwarded and posted on other mailing
> lists, as long as the wording/attribution is not altered in any way.
> In particular, if there is a reference to a web site where an article
> was originally located, please do *not* remove that.
>
> Unless stated otherwise, do *not* publish or post the entire text of
> any articles on web sites or in print, without getting *explicit*
> permission from the article author or copyright holder. Check the fair
> use provisions of the copyright law in your country for details on what
> you can and can't do.
>
> As a courtesy, we'd appreciate it if you let folks know how to subscribe
> to BRC-NEWS, by leaving in the first five lines of the signature below.]
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> BRC-NEWS: Black Radical Congress - General News Articles/Reports
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Subscribe: Email "subscribe brc-news" to <majordomo at tao.ca>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Unsubscribe: Email "unsubscribe brc-news" to <majordomo at tao.ca>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Digest: Email "subscribe brc-news-digest" to <majordomo at tao.ca>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Archive: http://www.egroups.com/group/brc-news (When accessing for the
> first time, set the "Delivery Mode" to "Read On The Web Only")
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Questions/Problems: Send email to <worker-brc-news at lists.tao.ca>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> www.blackradicalcongress.org | BRC | blackradicalcongress at email.com
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------