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CAQ articles span а world of issues: Spring '97 Space probe's plutonium missing; Prison labor; "What gets reported Unionbusting; University/Ьusiness links; US military and enters the puЬlic ColomЬia; FBI-CIA collaboration; Sudan; Slavery and social engineering; Plus: Peru Focus: MRTA, Guerrilla U., andjapan. agenda. What is not Summer '97: Turkey's state-linked killers; Privatizing Han­ reported тау not ford nuke; Policing activists; US torture manuals; US arms Mexico's drug war; Nлто expands; Spooks in Congress. Ье lost f orever, Fall '97: Mad cow disease; Paramilitary policing; Mercenary armies; Che & CIA; Vaclav Havel; Free radio; Plus: Cambo­ but it тау Ье lost dia Focus: US and Pol Pot; US and election interference. at а tiтe when it is Winter '98: Truth and reconciliation in South Africa: Apartheid's chemical and Ьiological warfare legacy; тost needed." Inside the mind of torture; Consevative think tanks and { philanthropies; Crypto AG: NSA's Trojan whore; and - Ben Bagdikian Promise Keepers.

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2 EDIТOR Terry Allen

ASSOCIATE EDIТOR CONTENTS: SPRING 1998 SanhoTree

RESEARCH DIRECTOR Sanctions Against Iraq: Autumn of the Autocrat LouisWolf New Weapon ofMass Destmction Ьу Saul Landau and Sarah Andason ...... 33 Ьу Roga Normand ...... 4 Punishing Pinochet PUBLISHERS Ьу Peter Weiss 39 Ellen Ray More Iraqis have died from US­ William Schaap imposed saпctions than fтош Since seizing power ina Ыооdу 1973 CIA-Ьacked coup, LouisWolf the two atomic ЬошЬs dropped Gen. Augusto Pinochet has escaped justice for the tor­ on ]арап. The extent of suffer­ tures and killings Ьу his regime. Now, а legal challenge ing and punishment iшposed froш Spain тау finally comer the Chilean dictator. STAFF on the реор\е to go after their William Blшn leader violates intemational The Drug War's Fungal Solution Мага Cherkasky lawand tгашр\еs huшan rights. Hilary Dirlam Photos Ьу Andy Ryan .. 41 JeffDrake Frankenstein joins the Paul Garrin Near War, Real Fear Margaret Hanzimanolis drug war as the US De­ Ьу Ра и/ Rogers l l :i partшent of Agriculture Bill Montross arrogantly tinkers with а Barbara Neuwirth This year, the US dragged the world to the brink of strain of thefusmium fun­ AnnePaxton warwith Iraq. Fear that the regime retained its chemical gus. The researchers are Phillip Smith and Ьiological weapons arsenal drove а policy Ьent on hoping to engineer а fun­ jane Teller ensuringAшerica's р\асе as th е only superpower. gus that will destroy the jayWeedon worlds соса and opium рорру crops - and The Technology of Political Control PRODUCTION then oЬediendy die. Tallus Slope Productions Ьу Robln Ballantyne ..... 17 The Burma-Singapore Axis: Govemшentsand corporations Globalizing the Heroin Trade ( OVER DESIGN are developing "\ess-than-le­ Ьу Leslie Кеап and Dennis Bernstein 45 Jay Johnson thal" weaponsand oxyшoronic concepts like non-lethal war­ The Bunnese junta, long involved in opiuш growing WEB S IТES fare. Around the globe, police, and trafficking, has made an unlikely squeaky-clean, www.caq.com arшies and prison authorities anti-drug friend. Singapores \iЬега\ banking laws and www.lbbs.org/caq.htm are using this technology to re­ massive investments in Bunna are the conduit through press political dissent. which narco-dollars to Поw into the world есоnошу. CAQ Мagazine 1500 Massachusetts Ave., Nw, #732 Death and Silence in "Useless Algeria" Vietnam: The Final Battle Washington, DC 20005 Ьу Farlian Haq . 24 Ьу john Pilga ...... 54 202-331-9763 (fax) 202-331-9751 Westem media accounts of massacres of Algerian ci­ After defeating France and E-mail: [email protected] vilians routinely Ыаmе Islamic fundamentalists. But then the US, Vietnaш is the Algerian govemment, which тау Ье complicit in facing another onslaught CAQ Magazine the murders, has refused to allow independent inter­ - Ьу the forces of interna­ Number64, Spring 1998. national inspections. tional finance and capital. PuЬlished quarterly Ьу This tiшe, the values that CovertAction PuЬlications, Inc., millions ofVietnamese а District of ColumЬia Nonprofit died for апd the very soul Corporation ©1998. Jihad Intemational, lnc. of the nation are at stake. lndexed Ьу Altemative Press lнdex, Ьу Eqbal Ahmad 29 Photos Ьу Nic Dunlop Uнiversity Miavfilms, ISBN 1067-7232. All rights reserved. The current wave of interna­ Pri;ted in-the USA. tionalized jihad that issweep­ Subscriptions $22/year in USA; ing theworld is notan inherent COVER DESIGN ВУ jAY jOHNSON is composed of two separate photographs. $27 in Сапаdа; $35 all other areas. tenet of Islam. Rather, it is а (OVER PHOTOS ВУ NIC DUNLOP Back issues are $8/со ру; by-product of the cynical Cold add $2 to Canada; add $4 other areas. Warmanipulations ofMusliш · • Zippo lighters for sale as souvenirs in Vietnam. • Thai Thi Tinh who lost most ofher family to countries Ьу the US and other the wars in Vietnam. Westem powers.

NUMBER64 ~ 3 Ьу Roger Normand photos Ьу Andy Ryan

Leslie Stahl: Half а million Iraqi children have died-more children than died in Hiroshima. Is the price worth it? Madeleine Albright: Yes, we think the price is worth it. 1

he bottom line is that Madeleine Saddam Hussein, remain largely unaware Unlike sanctions that have enjoyed т Albright is right. For Washington, that sanctions have condemned an entire popular support in the targeted coun­ half а million Iraqi children is not generation of children to extreme poverty tries - South Africa or Haiti, for example too high а price for maintaining control over and deprivation. The реасе and human - sanctions against Iraq have absolutely no Middle East oil and extending US military rights movements, which would normally internal support. Even Saddam's Ьitterest penetration of the region - especially since Ье expected to speak out against а disas­ enemies - the Kurds in northern Iraq and US policy makers have not yet been held ter of this magnitude, have been similarly the opposition groups in exile - oppose accountaЬle for the human costs of sanc­ demoЬilized Ьу the specter of Saddam sanctions because they understand that tions. The US puЬlic, swamped with me­ Hussein, and perhaps also Ьу the myth after seven years of hunger, disease, and dia stories focusing on the threat posed Ьу that sanctions are а kinder, gentler way to misery for the entire population, Saddam coerce а nation. Even the UN, which for de­ Hussein and his inner circle are even more Roger Nonnand has led three fact-finding ~ions to lraq as Policy Director of the Center for Economic and Social cades has trumpeted the values of human firrnly entrenched than before. Rights, а New York-based human rights organization that rights and economic development, has То understand the devastating impact has reported on the impacts of sanctions. Andy Ryan is а Boston, МA-based photographer. The pho­ been bullied Ьу the US-dominated Security of sanctions, it is important to recognize tos in the article were taken in 1996. Above: Hisham Rahim Council into presiding over the systematic the extent to which Iraqs highly-developed suffering from leukemia, septicemia, and malnourishment. Each daywithout treatment decreases her chances of sur­ impoverishment of а nation. economy depended on oil income. Oil ex­ vival. А\ Mansour Pediatric Hospital, Baghdad. 1. "Punishing Saddam," 60 Minu/Rs, Мау 12, 1996. ports, which generated 75 percent of lraqi

4 SPRING 1998 GDP in 1990 and well over 90 percent 50 years, US control of this material prize Building up to War of its foreign exchange, were used to has meant protecting the family dictator­ Despite this level of effectiveness, the US build а modern state - financing in­ ships of the oil-rich Gulf states from nation­ moved quickly toward war while under­ vestments, expenditures, and subsidies in alist threats that sought to exploit oil for cutting any efforts to negotiate а diplo­ all sectors of the economy. 2 As а result, local purposes - Prime Minister Mossa­ matic solution with lraq. Secretary of State lraq was classified as а high middle in­ degh of Iran in the early l950s, President James Baker, flexing US muscle as the come country,prior to sanctions. Nasser of Egypt in the l 960s, President world's only superpower, tricked, bribed, Despite brutal repression of dissent Ьу Qaddafi of Libya in the late l970s, Ayatol­ and bullied other states into joining the the Ba'ath regime, Iraqis enjoyed а good lah Khomeini of Iran in the l 980s. coalition and backing the use of force standard of living and free access to the So when lraqi troops marched into Ku­ against lraq. Partly on the strength of faked best health care, education, social security, wait on August 2, 1990, US strategy ClA satellite photos "showing" lraqi troops and puЬlic welfare programs in the region. changed overnight, but not for the officially in offensive formation near its border, More than 70 percent lived in cities and stated reasons. Not because Saddam Saudi AraЬia agreed to base more than took for granted а modern, interlinked Hussein invaded another country; he had half а million US troops. 7 After Egypt and infrastructure of industry, puЬlic health, done that before - with US support. Not Turkey supported the war, they were each sanitation systems, electric power, tele­ because he was "developing" unconven­ forgiven Ьillions in Ьilateral and IMF debt. communications, and transportation.3 tional weapons; with US help, he had not When Yemen opposed Security Council Most of these advanced facilities were built only developed but actually used them resolution 678 (the "war resolution"), Baker Ьу Western companies, just as most of before. Not because he committed called it "the most expensive vote they will Iraq's food and medical supplies were im­ ever make." The next day, ported from the West. the State Department re­ voked $140 million in Ьi­ Supporling Saddam The реасе and human rights lateral aid. 8 While Iraq enjoyed economic and political movements are demobllized Ьу The US was careful to links throughout the West, Washington in draft Resolution 678 particular had provided strong military the specter of Saddam and the without invoking Article support to Saddam Hussein. Starting in 42 of the UN Charter, 1980, when lraq invaded revolutionary myth that sanctions are а kinder, which requires that mili­ Iran, Saddam became one of Americas key tary force Ье under the strategic allies in the region. For protecting gentler way to coerce а nation. direct command of the the Arab Gulf states from Iran - then the Security Council rather great threat to US interests in the Middle than individual member East - Washington rewarded Iraq with states. Fimlly in control of huge quantities of weapons, technology, atrocities in Kuwait; Washington officially the war effort, Pentagon planners made and covert intelligence. А 1994 Senate re­ ignored far greater atrocities he had clear that the aim was not simply to drive port documented that these rewards in­ committed in the war with lran and the lraq out of Kuwait, as called for in various cluded anthrax and botulism agents for campaign against the Kurds. But simply Security Council resolutions, but rather Iraqs unconventional weapons programs - because Saddam Hussein, Ьу seizing to inflict maximum damage on Iraq's indus­ supplied Ьу а US company, licensed Ьу the Kuwait's oil wells, suddenly threatened trial infrastructure. Gen. Buster Glosson, re­ Commerce Department, and approved Ьу US control over this most valuaЬle asset. sponsiЬle for compiling the target lists, the State Department.4 When human rights То counter that threat, the US has de­ commented that after the war the US and groups presented evidence in the late ployed every political and military weapon its allies expected to rebuild the damaged l 980s of lraqi mustard and nerve gas at­ in its arsenal - organizing an international infrastructure. 9 One of the architects of tacks against Iranian soldiers and Kurdish coalition, routing lraqs amly from Kuwait, the most concentrated air war in history, civilians, and also of massive human rights destroying lraq's industrial infrastructure, Со!. John Warden, explained the political abuses against the Kurds (the "Anfal" cam­ estaЬlishing new military bases in the Gulf, motives for such а broad bomЬing cam­ paign), the State Department refused to con­ and maintaining а comprehensive embargo paign: "Saddam Hussein cannot restore his demn its close partner, Saddam Hussein. for over seven years. The day after Iraq's own electricity. Не needs help. If there are US support for Iraq was linked to its invasion, the US pushed the Security Coun­ political objectives that the UN Coalition long-standing policy of controlling Middle cil to adopt Resolution 661 banning all has, it can say, 'Saddam, when you agree East oil, described Ьу the State Depart­ trade between lraq and the rest of the world. to do these things, we will allow people to ment in 1945 as "а stupendous source of Subsequent resolutions tightened the come in and fix your electricity.' "10 strategic power, and one of the greatest ma­ noose Ьу imposing naval and air Ыockades terial prizes in world history."5 For almost and freezing Iraq's foreign assets. Unprec­ Aftermath of War 2. ''Тhе Iraqi welfare state was among the most comprehen­ edented in their scope, severity, and level As planned, the damage was widespread sive and generous in the Arab World .... [and] had the high­ est caloric consu\'nption per head in the Middle East Ьу the of enforcement, the Ьlanket sanctions com­ and could not properly Ье fixed under end ofthe decade [ 1980s]."Тhe Economist Intelligence Unit pletely severed lraq's links to the rest of the 7. Jean Heller, "PuЫic Doesn't Get the Picture with Gulf (London),EIUCountry Profileoflraq 1995-96, рр . 6-7. world. For example, just before the war, the Satellite Photos," SL PetersЬurg 'l'irмs, Jan. 6, 1991. 3. Jean Dreze and Haris Gazdar, Hunglff and Pov!ffty in 8. Doug Вandow, "Avoiding War," ИШhingtonPosl, June 23, 1991. Jraq, World Development20, n. 7 (1992), рр. 921-45. ClA estimated that sanctions were 97 per­ 9. Тranscript of Gen. Glosson's private interview with the 4. "Approved Licenses to Iraq," March 11, 1991, Dept. of cent successful in stopping Iraqi exports. 6 Chwll!Jo ТriЬипе, Feb. 12, 1991 (оп Ше with author) . Commerce. Bureau of Finance Administration. 1О. Quoted in Barton Gellman, "Allied Air War Struck Broadly 5. Formgn Relations of the United States 1945 (Wash­ 6. Alan Тowty, "Preventative Diplomacy," WashingWп Quar­ in Iraq; OfficialsAcknowledge Strategy Went Beyond Purely ington,DC: Government Printing Office ), v. 8, р. 45. terly, Summer 1994, р.197. Military'Гargets," WashingWпPos~ June 23, 1991, р. Al.

NUМBER64 ~ 5 sanctions. One month after the war, а а new set of conditions, requiring Iraq to lion to restore basic services and control team of experts from Harvard visited Iraq recognize the border with Kнwait, account the spiral of hunger and disease, 17 Wash­ and documented the destruction of most for all Kuwaiti prisoners of war, accept li­ ington capped the value of oil sales at $4 of Iraq's civilian infrastructure, including aЬility for war reparations, and most im­ Ьillion а year. After deductions for war industrial sites, electric power stations, ir­ portantly, dismantle unconventional reparations and UN expenses, the actual rigation facilities, food storage facilities, and weapons programs under the supervision revenue came to $2.2 Ьillion. Since the even some water treatment and sewage of the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM). Security Coнncil controls the bank ac­ plants. 11 Many of these sites had been hit The Security Council's only concession to count, approves every purchase contract, repeatedly and razed to the ground. The the growing humanitarian crisis in Iraq and monitors distribution о~ supplies in­ first UN observer mission to Iraq after the was to exempt food and medicines from side Iraq, there is no humanitarian ratio­ war concluded that "most means of modern the sanctions - an exemption rendered nale for such an arЬitrarily low limit. The life sнppo r t have been destroyed or ren­ meaningless Ьу the ban on Iraqi oil sales predictaЫe result, as Secretary-General dered tenнoнs. Iraq has, for some time to needed to рау for sнch imports. 16 The Kofi Annan reported to the Security come, been relegated to the pre-industrial Iraqi leadership, more concerned over Council in December 1997, is that the age, but with all the disaЬil ities food-for-oil deal "did not of post-industrial dependency redress the severe health on an intensive use of energy and nutrition conditions of and technology." 12 Iraqis because of the em­ The war also poisoned bargo imposed on them for Iraq's soil, air, and water with seven years now. "18 radioactivity from over 300 tons of high density depleted Human Costs uraniнm (DU) roнnd s, нsed Nonetheless, US officials to penetrate tanks and other have insisted from the start armored eqн ipment. 1 3 While that sanctions are intended the Pentagon has insisted that to punish the Iraqi regime, the s н stained use of DU not the people. "We do not roнnds in the Gн l f War poses seek the destrнction of no danger to human health, Iraq," said _President George researchers and scientists dis­ Bush. "Nor do we seek to agree. So do the army's own punish the Iraqi people for records. After pressure from the decisions and policies local residents and environ­ of their leaders."19 But most mentalists in the mid-l 980s, observers agree that sanc­ the Pentagon hauled topsoil tions have, in fact, strength­ contaminated Ьу DU ammu­ ened Saddam Hussein's nition from an army reserve control Ьу deПecting popu­ firing range in Jericho, Ver­ lar anger to an external en­ mont to а low-level radioac­ emy and providing а pre­ tive dump in Soнth Caro­ text for а series of rнthless lina. 14 There has been no internal leadership purges. similar cleanup in Iraq, where And Ьу leveling the middle DU roнnds may Ье respon­ class and destroying the siЬle not only for а reported private sector, sanctions foнr-fold increase in cancer Ali Mahdi, 12, of Basra awaits treatment for leukemia have concentrated all eco­ rates in southern Iraq near the and malnutrition. "Не didn't Ыink. Не didn't move. nomic power in the hands war zone, Ьнt also for some of Не sat staring like this the entire time 1 was in the ward!' of the regime. With most the mysterious symptoms of - Andy Ryan, photographer Iraqis now dependent on Gulf War Syndrome that af- the state food rationing sys­ Пict US and British veterans. 15 sovereignty issues than the suffering of its tem for their day-to-day survival, orga­ After the war, the Security Council people, reJeCted а food-for-oil deal pro­ nized political dissent is all but unthink­ adopted Resolution 687, which main­ posed in 1991 under Resolution 706. aЫe. 20 tained the full sanctions and even added In 1996, as conditions in Iraq contin­ And while the regime endures, the most ued to deteriorate, Baghdad accepted а vulneraЬle sectors of the population - the 11. Harvard Study Team, РиЫИ; Health in Iraq Ajler the food-for-oil deal similar to one it had re­ young, the elderly, the sick, and the poor - GuifWar, Мау 1991, (hereinafter Harvard Report). Тhе au­ thorwent to Iraq as part ofthisstudy. jected in 1991. But the deal has done little bear the brunt of the sanctions: 12. Rl!']IOrt wthe Secretary-General ап the Humanitariдn to ease the population's hardship. Despite Nеем in Kuwait arui, Iraq in the Immediate Post-Ori.si.s 17. Report wthe Secretary-General ап the Humanitari.an а UN assessment that Iraq needed $6.8 Enviranment, U.N. Doc. 81'22366(March 1991), р. 5. Neeмinlraq, U.N. Doc. 81'22799 (1991). 13. WilliamArkin, "Still Glowing," Buttetin ofAWтU; Smen­ Ьillion on an emergency basis and $22 Ьil- 18. "Report ofthe secretшy-general pursuant to pa.rзgraph 3 tists, Sept. 1997, р. 64. ofresolution 111(1997),''Nov.28, 1997. 14. Town records, Jericho, Vermont. 16. Center for Economic and Social Rights, Тhе Costs of 19. 'li'anscriptof President Bush press conference, quoted in 15. Robert Fisk, "Allies Blamed for lraq Cancer Torment," Failure: EcanomU; Impacts ofSanctians anlraq, Dec.1997 WashingWпPos~ Feb. 6, 1991, р. А21. ТhefndeperuJ,ent (London), March 4, 1997. (hereinafter CESR Economics Report). 20. CESR Economics Report.

6 SPRING 1998 Without the spare parts to repair worn·out medical equipment, hospital staff and family members improvise Ьу constructing incubators using Ыankets and fluorescent bulbs. Ali Sadoon sleeps while his grandmother looks оп.

ECONOMIC CONDIТIONS. Sanctions cre­ in 1995, "It has become increasingly clear rine and aluminum sulphate - for Iraq's ated а macroeconomic shock of massive that no significant movement toward food water and sewage systems. With most sew­ proportions. The oil embargo dramatically security can Ье achieved so long as the age treatment shut down, raw waste Пows reduced government revenues, causing embargo remains in place."23 directly into the Tigris and Euphrates riv­ Iraq's economic structure to collapse. Real ers, from which two-thirds of the popula­ earnings fell Ьу around 90 percent in the CIVILIAN INFRASTRUCTURE. Sanctions tion draws water. 26 Ruptured pipes create first year of the sanctions, and then Ьу an­ have also prevented !raq from repairing dangerous cross-connections between wa- other 40 percent during 1991-97. With ter and sewage lines and salaries averaging $5-7 а month, people send raw sewage into city cannot afford to purchase foods like meat streets. Water treatment and eggs on the open market. According to Sanctions are "undermining the plants, which used to the UN Food and Agriculture Organiza­ serve 93 percent of the ur­ tion, "it is mind-boggling that the price of moral credibllity of the UN ... ban and 70 percent of the the most basic food item, wheat Пour , has UN rural populations, now risen Ьу 11 ,667 times compared withjuly and [violating] the Charter." operate at minimum ca­ 1990 ... famine has been prevented largely pat ity and often distrib­ - Denis ]. HaПiday UN assisrant secretnry general тиl aюnli1U11Drf or lraq Ьу an efficient puЬlic rationing system."2 1 ute contaminated watern Despite survival strategies such as working Under these unsanitary multiple jobs, selling off possessions, and conditions, а sharp in­ begging, most Iraqis have suffered а severe the estimated $200 billion damage from crease in disease was inevitaЬle. decline in their living standards. The UN war and sanctions to its civilian infrastruc­ estimates that four million Iraqis - about ture. 24 The electric power system, reduced НЕАLТН CONDIТIONS. lraq's health system, 20 percent of the population - live in ex­ to 4 percent of capacity Ьу the bomЬing, formerly the region's most advanced and treme poverty, on а par with the poorest still operates at less than half capacity be­ efficient, used to provide 90 percent of the countries iQ the world. 22 As UN ICEF noted cause Iraq can't import spare parts. 25 Sanc­ population with primary саге through а tions also prohiЬit the import of parts and network of 250 modern hospitals. 28 Now, 21. Food and Agriculture Organization ofthe United Nations, treatment chemicals - especially chlo- 1/Jchnical CoaperatWп Pmgramme: EvaluatWп ofFood and 26. Center for Economic and Social Rights, UNsaш:ti.mwdSuf­ Nutritian Situat:inn in Iraq 1997 (hereinafter FAO Report fering: A HumanRigJШ;Assessnumt ofUN Saш:tinns on Iraq 1997) , р. 9. 23. UNICEF, State ofthe World sChildren 1995. (Мау 1996), р.12 (hereinafter CESR Hurnan Rights Report). 22. DepartmentofHurnanitarianAffaiщ U.N. Cansolidated 24. Arab Monetary Fund,JointArah EcanomU;Report (АЬu 27. UNICEF, Pmposalfor ЖitcrandВnmronmentalSani­ Intcr-Agerwy Humanitari,an CoaperatWпProgrammefor Dhabl: Arab Monetary Fund, 1993), р.18. tatian Projec4 Aug.1994, р.1. Iraq: Mid - tcrmRevi,eщ Sept. 21 , 1995. 25. Harvard Report,op. cit.;FAO Report 1997 , ар. cit. 28. World Health Organization, Тhе Health Conditians of

NUМBER64 ~ 7 8 SPRING 1998 equipment such as X-ray machines, incu­ bators, and ambulances have broken down and cannot Ье repaired or re­ placed. With Iraq аЫе to afford only 10 percent of its pre-sanctions pharmaceu­ tical imports, basic medicines such as antiЬiotics and painkillers are in very short supply; as are syringes, IV sets, Ыооd bags, oxygen, anesthesia, and even clean linens.29 Patients who cannot bring their own sheets to the hospital lie on dirty and Ыoodstained mattresses. Com­ pounding the crisis, demand for health services has skyrocketed. Hospitals throughout Iraq report sharp increases in preventaЬle diseases and infections such as diarrhea and pneumonia, which were treataЬle prior to sanctions but are now frequently deadly. Malnutrition, once extremely rare, now affects one­ fourth of all Iraqi children, according to а joint 1997 study Ьу UNICEF and the World Food Program, which have re­ sponded Ьу estaЬlishing 20 emergency treatment centers throughout the coun­ try30 The World Health Organization also issued а humanitarian appeal:

The vast majority of the country's popu­ lation has been on а semi-starvation diet for years. This tragic situation has tre­ mendous implications on the health status of the population and on their quality of life, not only for the present generation, but for the future generation as well. ". [T]he world community should seriously consider the implica­ tions of an entire generation of children growing up with such traumatized men­ Buscera Ali, 4, seeks treatment for pneumonia and waits with his mother at tal handicaps, if they survive at all. 31 Saddam's Children's Hospital, Kerbala, lraq.

MORTALIТY RATES. Despite the difficu!ty А later survey Ьу а US Census Bureau de­ No Exit in lraq of conducting epidemiological surveys in mographer estimated that in 1991 alone, But while Albright and other top policy Iraq, numerous studies have documented 111 ,000 lraqi civilians had died from makers have fr equently declared that а significant rise in mortality, especially sanctions-related hunger and disease - sanctions will not Ь е lifted until Saddam among children, primarily from malnutri­ excluding deaths directly related to the Hussein is removed from power,36 the tion, disease, and unsanitary conditions. 32 war and civil uprisings. 34 In addition, an­ US has taken no concrete actions to­ The only population-based survey of the ecdotal and hospital-based surveys have ward this goal. Washington halted the entire country, conducted Ьу an indepen­ consistently shown extremely high mor­ war advance in southern lraq; failed to dent team of academics and professionals tality rates among children. For example, support the Kurdish and Shi'a uprisings organized at Harvard, estimated that UNICEF estimated in mid-1996 that 4,500 after the war; allowed Saddam Hussein 4 7 , ООО children under the age of five had children were dying every month from to use helicopter gunships to suppress died in the first eight months of sanctions. 33 sanctions-related hunger and disease.35 the uprisings; refused to support lraqi While а r e l iaЬle estimate is impossiЬl e, opposition groups or Kurdish claims lhe Population in lraq Siru;e the Guif Cri.sis, March 1996, it is und e nia Ьle that hundreds of thou­ р.10 (hereinafterWНO Report). for independence; and most recently, 29. CESRHшnan RightsReport,pp. 9-11. sands of civilians have been sacrificed insisted that any future military strikes 30. "Nutritional Status Survey at Primary Health Centres," in what US policy makers like Madeleine will avoid targeting lraq's leader. This UNJCEF1\'FP, Мау 24, 1997. 31. WНО Report, рр . 16-17. Albright consider an ассе рtаЫ е side-ef­ contradiction - insisting on Saddam's 32. Шustrating these difficulties, two similar population-Ьзsed fec t of their mission to isolate and con­ removal while acting to keep him in surveys of child mortality in Baghdad, conducted Ьу the FAO in 1995 and CESR in 1996, produced very different results. See tain Saddam Hussein. power - makes sense only if the actual Sarah Zaidi, "Child Mortality in lraq," Laru;et (London),Oct. US objective is to maintain sanctions in­ 11,1997,v.350, р . 1105. 34. Beth Osborne Daponte, "А Case Study in Estimating definitely, eliminating lraq's capacity to 33. Ascherio, et aL, "Special Article: Effects of the GulfWar Casualties from War and its Aftermath: Тhе 1991 Persian Gulf on Infant and Child Mortality in Iraq,"№ rw EnglandJrrur­ War," PSR Quarterly 3, n. 2, 1993, рр. 57-66. nal ofMedWine, Sept. 24, 1992, n. 327, рр. 931-36. 35. UNJCEF press release, June 1996. 36. "War ofWords,"N ew York Тimes, Feb.19, 1998, р. А9 .

NUМBER64 ~ 9 There ls а Law Against This

he UN Charter empowers the Security Council to im­ the lnternational Covenant on Ecoпomic, Social and Cultural Tpose economic sanctions, but only "in accordance with Rights, and other international treaties. the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations" - Security Council sanctions agaiпst Iraq even violate the which include the promotion of human rights. 1 As one World laws of war, which uпlike human rights law, allow Court justice has explained, "[T]he history of the UN Char­ belligerents to inflict civilian casualties - but only wheп at­ ter coпoborates the view that а clear limitation on the pleni­ tackiпg militaiy targets. Sanctions that cause broad eco­ tude of the Security Council's powers is that those powers nomic collapse violate this piinciple Ьу using the suffering must Ье exercised in accordance with the well-estaЬlished of civiliaпs to pressure leaders. Еvеп if sanctions can Ье in­ principles of international law." 2 terpreted as ап attack directed agaiпst the liaqi regime, the Yet sanctions against lraq undeniaЬly violate human rights, principle of proportioпality requires that they not impose most plainly the right to life, considered Ьу the UN Human Rights а disproportionate "collateral" impact on civilians. 4 ln the Committee to Ье "the supreme right from which no derogation case of lraq, the massive casualties suffered Ьу civilians un­ i.s peпnitted even in time of puЬlic emergency"3 Furtheпnore, the der saпctions clearly dwarf the limited haпns, if any, inflicted Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified Ьу almost every on the regime. Put another way, it is hard to imagine the iп­ country in the world, grants children special protection: States ternational commuпity tolerating а war that routed Iraq out must "ensure to the maximum extent possiЬle the survival and of Kuwait but killed а half а million civilians. Why then are development of the child" and "take appropriate measures to di­ sanctions tolerated? • minish infant апd child mortality" Sanctions against lraq also vio­ 1. UN Charter, Article 1(3). late the full range of economic and social rights, including the 2. Li/yya u United SШЮs, 1992 ICJ 114, 31 ILM. 662, 694-96, April 4, 1992. 3. UN Human Rights Committee, General Comment 6116, July27, 1982. rights to health, education, food, and an adequate standard ofliv­ 4. Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Convention, UN Doc. А/32/1 44, Annex 1, П (1977), ing, all guaranteed Ьу the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights, atArt. 51 (б)(Ь).

threaten US oil interests in the Gulf As these comments highlight, basic crimes of the post-World War П era - the while allowiпg Saddam's iron fist to principles of international law, not to genocides iп East Timor, Cambodia, and maintain internal order and prevent the mention human decency, prohiЬit inПict­ Rwanda. Of course, there are major dif­ country's disi.ntegration into political ing sufferiпg on а civilian populatioп as fereпces. The killers iп lraq are not chaos. ln the end, Washington's sanc­ а substitute for actiпg directly agaiпst the Ьliпded Ьу ethпic or пational chauvin­ tions policy comes down to this: As long offeпding regime, especially when the ism; their victims do not show up on your as Saddam Hussein stays withiп US-de­ population has little voice iп decision­ televisioп sc r eeп in pools of Ыооd. Hun­ fined limits, he is allowed to rule over а making. Saddam Husseiп's behavior does ger, disease, and poverty kill without dis­ crippled nation. not grant the United States license to vio­ crimiпatioп; their victims die over the But US policy has no exit strategy and late the humaп rights of 21 million course of months and years, silently, out simply cannot Ье maintained over the people through punitive saпct i ons. Be­ of puЬlic view. long run. Most members of the coalition, sides being illegal апd immoral, collective And what are the fruits of seven years led Ьу Russia, China, France, and the punishmeпt also defies common sense. of saпction s7 Saddam Hussein endures, Arab League, have grown frustrated with Ву what logic сап we hold an entire na­ the Gulf dictatorships remain, the Arab­ Washington's inПexiЬle position. They tioп hostage to the "compliance" of а dic­ lsraeli co nПi ct continues, weapons pro­ now are supporting Iraq's demand for а tator who is indifferent to the fate of his liferation in the region escalates, and clear timetaЬle to wrap up UNSCOM's mis­ own people7 America's standing iп the Arab world sion and lift sanctions. The puЬlic grum­ falls ever lower. True, Iraq's Ыological Ьling has reached the top levels of the What Has Been Gained? апd chemical weapons capaЫ lit y has UN. Denis ] . Halliday, UN assistant sec­ Usiпg the rhetoric of security апd пoп-pro­ Ьееп weakened in the short term, but retary general and humanitarian coordi­ liferation, the US has pushed the interna­ the regime's desire to possess these eas­ nator for Iraq, complaiпed that sanctioпs tional commuпity to unleash а weapon of il y developed weapoпs has only been were "uпdermining the moral crediЫlity mass destructioп that has the political vir­ strengthened. Looking to the future, it of the UN" and that their continuation tue of killing quietly, without eпough is hard to imagine what has been gained was "in contradiction to the humaп drama to spark puЬlic opposition. Most Ьу creating deep-seated resentmeпt in rights provisions in the UN 's own Char­ Americans are uпaware that sanctions lraq, а country destined to play а lead­ ter. "37 Even Richard Butler, the UNSCOM against lraq have killed more people than ing role in regional affairs because of its chairman, recently conceded that the two atomic bombs dropped оп Japan, economic, cultural, and humaп re­ "sanctions should Ье targeted to affect because the media have focused exclu­ sources. The tragedy of US P.olicy is that the regime only. "38 sively on the demonized figure of Saddam when saпct i ons against Iraq are ulti­ Hussein and presented Iraq as а couпtry mately lifted - as they must someday Ье 37. RoЬert Fisk, The lndependen~ "Iraq-Misery and Hard­ of military targets rather thaп people. ln - the terriЬle price paid Ьу innoceпt ci­ ship, the Darker Side ofUN Sanctions," Feb. 25, 1998, р.12. 38. Richard Butler, private talk to NY Bar Committee on terms of the sheer number of victims, the vilians will have purchased no addi­ ForeignAffairs, March 11, 1998. sanctions agaiпst lraq raпk with the worst tional реасе or security. •

10 SPRING 1998 CнEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS IN IRAQ. AND BEYOND

Near War, Real Fear

Ьу Paul Rogers

А real-time transmission of а picture from а remote facility in lraq to UNSCOM's Baghdad Monitoring and Verification Center.

Chemical and Ьiological weapons, the poor nation's weapons of mass destruction, are making the world's only superpower nervous.

onfrontations between nations that Baghdad that the US was within а few days cover and dismantle the Iraqi WMD pro­ с both hold weapons of mass de­ of starting а war. Then at the eleventh hour, gram. lt directed most of its initial efforts struction (WMD) are extremely Annan met with Saddam Hussein in against the nuclear facilities and the ballistic rare - there have been only а handful Baghdad and brokered а tense settlement. missiles. While that mission seems to have among the 120 plus wars since 1945. 1 been largely successful, the massive effort to When the latest crisis between two such Maintaining Weapons of find and destroy chemical weapons appears states, the US arid lraq, was defused at the Mass Destruction less so. UNSCOM suspects that lraq may have last moment, relief around the world was But the fundamental differences that retained а stockpile of the most modern and раlраЫе. Nonetheless, the risk of war in brought the countries to the razor's edge potent of the nerve agents - VX. the Middle East continues, and continues The Iraqi Ьio logical weapons to Ье а matter of huge concern. program is even more worri­ The current crisis originated with Iraq's some, and UNSCOM began to un­ refusal to comply with UN resolutions Ву the end of 1990, US cover its full extent only in 1995.2 mandating the dismantling of its weapons Within two years of its start in of mass destruction, specifically with inter­ intelligence agencies knew 1985, the Ьiowar program was ference in the work of the UN Special producing anthrax spores and Commission оп lraq (UNSCOM) as it at­ that Iraq was willing to use gearing up to make botulinum tempted to gain access to the Iraqi Ьiologi­ toxin. Ву 1989, Iraq had field­ cal weapons (BW) program. The show­ weapons of mass destmction tested artillery shells and bombs down escalated rapidly as Washington against invading f orces if its сараЬlе of deploying chemical demanded compliance and moved sub­ and Ьiological weapons (CBW) stantial military forces into the area. Al­ very survival was at stake. agents and was experimenting though international and domestic sup­ with ricin toxin, hemorrhagic port for US action was weak, it looked conjunctivitis, diarrheal rota­ рrоЬаЫе at the time of Annan's visit to о[ war remain. If the main aim of Saddam virus, aflatoxin, and gas gangrene.3 Hussein's regime through the seven years After invading Kuwait, Baghdad initi­ Paul Rogers is Professor of Реасе Studies at Bradford Univer­ following the Gulf War has been to ensure ated an emergency weaponization pro­ sity in England: 1. For details of conflicts since 1945 see Ruth Leger Sivard, its own survival, а crucial secondary goal gram and, Ьу the outbreak of Operation WYrl.dMililaryandSocialExpenditurвs 1996 (Washington, has been to maintain its arsenal of weap­ Desert Storm injanuary 1991, had 25 me­ ОС: World Priorities Inc" 1996). Among the very few wars involving opponents equipped with weapons of mass destruc­ ons of mass destruction. Throughout this dium-range missiles with warheads con- tion are the GulfWar iн 1991 and the Yom Кippur/Ramadan period, UNSCOM, in association with the 2. Report Ьу the UN Secretary-General to the SecurityCouн­ Warof 1973. In the Jatter conllict, Jsrael had nuclearweapons lnternational Atomic Energy Agency and Syria and Egypt рrоЬаЫу had а very limited chemical cil, S/1995/864, Oct.11, 1995. warfare capability. (IAEA), has systematically attempted to un- 3. IЬUI.

NUМBER64 ~ 11 The 350mm "Supergun" at Jabal Hamryn (1.). Rolf Ekeus, uнsсом executive chair visiting а hydrolysis plant that is set up to destroy chemical warfare agents (below). lraq1 civilian faces the destruction after the 1991 bomblng war (r.).

taining botulinum, anthrax or aflatoxin, to­ While the UNSCOM gether with 166 spray bombs with similar process has divested Iraq payloads. 4 In perhaps the most significant of most of its weapons of revelation of all, UNSCOM has reported that mass destruction, the re­ during the 199 l war, "authority to launch gime has been determined Ьiological and chemical weapons was pre­ to retain its one significant delegated in the event that Baghdad was hit remaining capaЬility - Ьiological weapons. more than 100 nuclear weapons and Ьу nuclear weapons during the Gulf War. " Equally, the US administration has been а mature chemical and Ьiological war­ It goes without saying that pre-delegation determined to prevent this. Hence the re­ fare program. Iraq thus had а nuclear of launch authority for weapons of mass de­ cent crisis. power to its west and two adjoining struction in time of war is potentially un­ countries, Syria and Iran, with WМD staЫe and highly dangerous. lraqi WMD in Context programs. If the Iraqi regime was to In an extraordinary twist to this story, During the Gulf War, and since 1991, fulfill its amЬition of regional power sta­ it is also clear that Ьу the end of 1990, US much has been made of the threat of Iraqi tus, it, too, would have to develop intelligence agencies knew that Iraq was weapons of mass destruction. The danger weapons of mass destruction. willing to use WMD against invading is real, but should Ье put in context. At the forces if its very survival was at stake. 5 This time of the war, the US and the Soviet Roots of lraq's knowledge may well provide one of the Union each had some 20,000 nuclear Program real reasons why the US-led coalition did weapons and tens of thousands of tons of Iraq рrоЬаЫу began to develop WМD not push the war north of Basra and chemical weapons. Britain, France, and in the mid-l970s, concentrating on avoided any threat to the regime itself. China each had several hundred nuclear nuclear and chemical weapons.8 It was It is clear from the work of UNSCOM that weapons and France and China were re­ spurred on Ьу knowledge that Israel had Iraq made determined efforts to develop а ported to have chemical weapons. India, nuclear capaЬility, that other states in­ formidaЫe BW capaЬility. Furthermore, it Pakistan, and South Africa were presumed cluding Egypt and Syria had chemical was this part of the Iraqi WMD program to have small nuclear arsenals or at least weapons programs, and that lran un­ that proved most difficult for the UN in­ nuclear amЬitions, and а diverse cluster of der the Shah had nuclear amЬitions. spectors to uncover. The Iraqi regime went countries was thought to possess or Ье In 1981 , lsraeli Air Force strike air­ to great lengths to shield these develop­ seeking chemical ancl/or Ьiological weap­ craft (US-made F-15 and F-16 jets) ments, not least through а comprehensive ons. These included North Korea , South bombed the Osiraq plutonium reac­ concealment program involving some Korea, Taiwan, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Syria, tor near Baghdad. After this pre­ l ,000 government officials, most notaЫy Vietnam, and South Africa. 7 emptive strike against Iraq's nascent the Special Security Organization.6 Of particular significance in the Middle nuclear program, Baghdad эeems to East was the status of lsrael, thought to have have re-thought its WMD ptogram. It 4. UN SecretaryGeneral's Report, ор. cit. Б. This information was availaЬle briefly on а Department explored several different routes to of Defense website and was reported in Тhе Clurmical 7. For а sшvey of the development of weapons of mass destruc­ uranium-based nuclear weapons and Weapons ConventWп BuUetin, n. 30, Dec. 1995. tion at the time ofthe GulfWar, see Paul Rogersand Malcolm 6. Paul Rogers, "lmp\icationsofthe GulfCrisis," DiБarma­ Dando, Тhе f)irectory ofNuclear, Biological and Clurmical mentDiplmnш;y, London,April 1998. ArmscmdDisarmшnenll!JIIO (London:'lli-Setvice Press, 1990). 8. JЬid.

12 SPRING 1998 expanded its program of chemical weap­ was seen as а bastion of Western interests Ву 1991, in the period leading up to the ons development. against revolutionary Iran. And only one Gulf War, Iraq had а substantial chemical These programs proceeded through­ month after the killing of 5,000 civilians at arsenal, had purchased or developed а out the l 980s, with the greatest initial Halabjah, the US Navy fought а series of range of ballistic missiles, and had an ac­ progress in chemical weapons. Between actions against Iran which destroyed tive nuclear weapons development pro- August 1983 and March 1988, lraq used gram. It also had а large Ьiologi­ chemical weapons on at least ten occa­ cal weapons program, the full sions, primarily against Iranian infantry The Arab world draws а details of which emerged only during the long and Ьitter war with Iran much later. which Iraq had initiated in 1980.9 The pointed comparison main chemical agents were mustard gas Surviving the Storm and Tabun nerve agent, although other between US reaction to Then came the huge lraqi miscal­ agents may also have been used culation of invading Kuwait in against the Kurdish town of violations ofUN resolutions August 1990. The US-led coali­ Halabjah in March 1988. tion responded with а devastat- Throughout this period, the Ьу Iraq and Ьу Israel. ing five-week air assault, followed most sustained use of chemical Ьу а ground war which evicted warfare since World War l, there Iraqi forces from Kuwait. At the was minimal condemnation of much of the active Iranian Navy. This US time, it was widely believed that Iraq from the West. Instead, Iraq, intervention, at а time when Baghdad was the Saddam Hussein regime would col­ with much of its munitions in­ suffering consideraЬle reversals, helped lapse in the face of this onslaught. lnstead, dustry using Western technology, quickly end the Iran-Iraq war on terms ad­ it not only survived but was аЫе to sup- vantageous to Iraq. 10 9. United States Information Service, lraqi l#apons of Mass Destruction Programs, US 10. Elizabeth Gamlen and Paul Rogers, "U.S. Reflagging of Тhе Politics ofAggression (Gainesville: University Press of Embassy, London, Feb. 1998. Kuwaiti Тankers ," in Farhang Ri\jaee, ed" Тhelran-lraq War: Florida, 1993). \

NUМBER64 ~ 13 pre55 rebellion5 in the Shi'ite 5outh of Iraq jority of the population i5 impoveri5hed, harm the regime and force it to make con­ and in the Kurdi5h north during 1991. in poor health and 5uffering ma55ive hard- ce55ion5. They have 5ugge5ted - de5pite After the war, the UN impo5ed а 5erie5 5hip5.12 claim5 Ьу the Pentagon and other 5ource5 of tough economic 5anction5 on Iraq in­ А 5Ub5tantial elite ha5 5urvived almo5t to the contrary - that the US lacked ad­ tended to force the regime to reveal all of un5cathed and Saddam Hu55ein'5 regime equate military force5 to target many of the it5 weapon5 of ma55 de5truction and their ha5 been аЫе to inve5t in major civil and regime'5 key component5 of power. development program5. 11 UN Re5olution military building program5. 13 Baghdad The Pentagon had planned to mount 687 e5taЬli5hed UNSCOM in 1991 to ha5 funded the5e project5 through 5ub- an air campaign that comblned crui5e work with the International Atomic En­ 5tantial 5muggling of oil out of lraq, e5- mi55ile raid5 launched from -sea and air ergy Agency to find and de5troy the pecially into Turkey and in 5mall tanker5 with aerial bombardment u5ing princi­ weapon5. lt further required Iraq to pro­ 5ailing out of Ba5ra and tran5hipping to pally the F-117А Stealth fighter-bomber. vide а full, final, and complete declara­ larger tanker5 further down the Gulf. It would la5t up to 30 day515and 5uppo5- tion (FFCD) of it5 weapon5 inventory Thi5 5muggling ha5 been facilitated Ьу edly employ а wide range of new type5 within 15 day5, although di5mantling the dwindling 5upport in the region for 5anc­ of weapon5. However, а 5tudy Ьу the exten5ive ar5enal wa5 expected to take tion5 again5t Iraq, not lea5t becau5e 50 Federation of American Scienti5t5 5ug­ up to two year5. much of the Arab world draw5 а pointed ge5ted that while the Pentagon would In practice, though, the regime ha5 compari5on between the US hard-line deploy а higher proportion of "5mart" 5urvived the 5anction5 and retained con­ approach to UN re5olution5 on Iraq in weapon5, mo5t of it5 ar5enal wa5 the trol over mo5t of the country. There are contra5t to it5 continued 5upport for l5- 5ame а5 in 1991. 16 рrоЬаЫу two rea5on5 for thi5 re5ilience, rael, which i5 in clear violation of UN The new generation of both with implication5 for the future. Re5olution5 242 and 425 а5 well а5 the 4'h weapon5, e5pecially tho5e in­ Fir5t, it i5 now apparent that the much­ Geneva Convention and the Nuclear volving low-co5t accurate vaunted de5truction of the Iraqi force5 Non-Proliferation Treaty. GPS (global po5itioning 5atel­ during De5ert Storm wa5 nothing like а5 lite) guidance, will only 5tart complete а5 claimed. Although the Iraqi5 Would War Have Worked? to come on line in 1998. made а ma55ive 5trategic mi5calculation Wa5hington wa5 keenly aware of thi5 lack Meanwhile, mo5t of the wea­ in invading Kuwait, their tactic5 afterward of regional 5upport а5 it prepared thi5 pon5, including la5er-guided were more effective. winter for another ma55ive air a55ault on bomb5 and many of the Right at the 5tart of the war, the Iraqi Iraq. Neither growing regional 5ympathy crui5e mi55ile5, remain5 а5 army 5taged а major probe into Saudi for Iraq, marked lack of enthu5ia5m Ьу vu l neraЫe, а5 they were in Arabla at Al Khafji. Although the US and former De5ert Storm allie5 5uch а5 France 1991 to weather and other regional force5 effectively repul5ed the at­ and Saudi Arabla, growing popular di5- condition5. tack, the lraqi leader5hip wa5 рrоЬаЫу аЫе 5ent at home, nor que5tion5 of interna­ Even more trouЬling wa5 to learn 5omething about coalition capa­ tional law 5eemed likely to deПect the US the friction between Saudi Ьilitie5. Furthermore, the immediate Iraqi war plan. 14 The 5ucce55 of Kofi Annan'5 Arabla and the US. For 5ev­ u5e of Scud mi55ile attack5 led coalition negotiation5 and Iraq'5 agreement to com­ eral year5, the US Air Force force5 to expend а huge effort in "Scud ply with UN re5olution5 wa5 а 5urpri5ing ha5 maintained а major pre5- hunt5," not lea5t in an urgent effort to keep development. ence in Saudi Arabla and ha5 lsrael from intervening. trained it5 force5 there for When the main ground war finally conПict with Iraq. lndeed, 5tarted, the great maj ority of elite Iraqi the5e unit5 would form the force5 wa5 nowhere near Kuwait - indeed Saudi Arabla refused to key component5 of any at lea5t half of the RepuЬlican Guard divi- major new air 5trike again5t 5ion5 remained in or near Baghdad and allow USAF planes to strike Saddam Hu55ein. During mo5t of the be5t regular army unit5 had the recent cri5i5, Saudi headed out of the war zone. Poorly Iraq from its bases or to Ье AraЬia refu5ed to allow equipped con5cript5 were left to face the the5e plane5 to take off coalition force5. moved to Kuwait or Bahrain. from it5 Ьа5е5 to 5trike Iraq. Not widely reported wa5 Regime Survival that Saudi AraЬia would Since the 1991 war, the regime ha5 5ur­ But in the breathing 5расе that followed not even allow the USAF to move the5e key vived 5even year5 of 5anction5 and 5everal the US 5tanddown, there i5 evidence that 5trike plane5 to other Ьа5е5 in Kuwait or bomblng and crui5e mi55ile raid5 Ьу the the planned attack5 were not only unpopu­ Bahrain, а deci5ion which cau5ed con5ter­ US. The UN "food-for-oil" 5cheme ha5 lar, but militarily unwi5e. А number of ana­ nation in the Pentagon and plunging mo­ given only limited relief to ordinary Iraqi ly5t5 including Gen. Norman Schwartzkopf rale among US Air Force unit5 in Saudi people: 30 percent of the $2 Ьillion in oil and Briti5h De5ert Storm Gen. Sir Peter de Arabla. А5 the cri5i5 peaked in mid-Feb­ export5 allowed every 5ix month5 рау5 for le Billiere que5tioned fea5ibllity of military ruary, one reliaЬle 5ource reported that, war reparation5 with mo5t of the re5t buy­ action - e5pecially if it wa5 de5igned to given the proЬlem5 with Saudi. Arabla, an ing food and medicine. Even 50, the ma- 12. Julian Borger, "Saddam's Elite Rides Нigh Despite UN Sanctions," Тhе Guardian (London), March 3, 1998. 15. DavidA. Fulghum, "SaudiAraЬiaВlocks USAFWarplane 11. For details of the UNSCOM process, see а briefing on Chemi­ 13.Ibld. Shift,"Aviation 1#1ek, Feb.16, 1998. cal and Biological Weapons, POSТNote 111, UКParliamentшy 14. Julie Dahlitz, ''Тhе US Lacks Legal Authority to Attack 16. John Pike, ''New Study F'i.nds Few New ИiiщxrnБfor War Office ofScience and Тechno l ogy, Feb.1998. Iraq," InternationalHera/4 'lhlmw, Feb. 17, 1998. wilh!rшz," Federation of American Scientists, Feb. 20, 1998.

14 SPRING 1998 air campaign could not Ь е mounted for up to four weeks. 17 The Risk of Escalation

Washington often stated that its main ./ goal in attacking lraq was undercut­ ting Saddarp., Hussein's abllity to threaten or wage chemical or Ьiologi­ cal war. lt was clear, however, that since directly targeting these CBW stores would have been hugely dangerous and difficult, the US would try instead to force the lraqi regime to comply with UN inspections. This strategy meant directly damaging the regime itself, а hazardous endeavor given knowledge о[ the regime's utter determination in 1991 to ensure its survival.

Leaking 122mm rockets filled with chemical nerve agent sarin in а pit before their destruction Ьу UNSCOM (above). An UNSCOM inspector in protective suit samples chemical weapons precursors at the Muthanna State EstaЫishment (1 .). Chemical/blological filled R-400 aerial bombs destroyed Ьу UNSCOM (below).

region and launching terrorist at­ tacks on Norfolk, VA, and Wash­ ington, DC. ln this simulation, ca­ sualties were massive and the US retaliated with а nuclear attack on Baghdad which ended the "war." 18 The results of Global 95 caused consternation in defense А remarkaЬle indication of circles and elevated the signifi­ the dangers of а new war with cance of Ьi o l ogi cal weapons lraq became apparent in 1995. among military planners as they Each year, the US holds а major wrestled with possiЬle responses war game at the US Naval War to the real crisis in lraq. One de­ College, Newport, Rl. Usually fense official quoted after Global beginning injuly and frequently 95 accepted that virtually the lasting three weeks, the war only reaction to such potentially games involve DoD, State De­ devastating weapons was threat­ partment, National Security ening to use nuclear weapons. Council, and intelligence offi­ Unless the US was willing to de­ cials. lt is one of the major tools stroy whole cities, he was not sure the military uses to explore stra­ if that deterrent would Ье suffi­ tegic situations. cient. But, if the US did launch Global 95 was based on а fu­ nuclear strikes against cities, he ture douЬle crisis involving prob­ concluded, "no country would lems with North Korea and with use those [Ьiological] weapons for а renaSc:entlraq. The crisis in East the next 100 years."19 Asia was contained, but that be­ This doomsday planning has tween the US and lraq escalated gone beyond the bright summer out of control, with the lraqi re­ 18. Тheresa Нitchens , ''Wirgame Finds U.S. Falls gime eventually using Ьiological Short in Bio War," Difense News (Washington, weapons against US forces in the DC), Aug. 28, 1995. 17. DavidA. Fulghum,op.cit. 19. J/Yid. NUMBER64 ~ 15 Kurdish refugees near the border between lran and lraq (April 1991 ). ln 1988, Saddam Hussein used poison gas оп Kurds.

beaches of Newport. At а DoD news brief­ with wildly varying degrees of optimism, lraq, though ruled Ьу а brutal elite, pro­ ing onjanuary 27, spokesperson Kenneth looked to а "new world order." lt would vides а model for other states that see their Bacon was questioned about US re­ Ье dominated Ьу the Western liberal de­ interests circumscribed Ьу Western con­ sponses to lraqi WMD use. "The admini­ mocracies pursuing their free market in­ trol of the new world order. ln that sense, stration's policy on this is very clear," he terests and controlling а socioeconomic lraq is а much more serious "threat" to answered. "We \Vill respond with devas­ system that could ultimately Ье secured, Western interests than its conventional tating force." When pressed about а nu­ if need Ье, Ьу military power. army or defiant stance would predict. ln- clear response, he replied, "l don't think deed, control of the regime and its we've ruled anything in or out in this re­ Ьiological weapons has become а gard. Our position is that we would re­ test case for whether а Western­ spond very aggressively"20 In а war game simulation, dominated new world order will Furthermore, а CIA report released in thrive. 1992 but not widely circulated, claimed the US suffered massive For the moment, а dangerous that after the Gulf War, it was found that CBW casualties and military confrontation has been lraq's "Nasir State EstaЬlishment for Me­ avoided, or perhaps only post­ chanical lndustries had stored in its head­ retaliated with а nuclear poned. The danger of а confronta­ quarters building bomb shelter approxi­ tion between Western interests mately 10 drone airplanes which had been attack on Baghdad. and those of other states remains. designed and produced to deliver Ьiologi­ Shortly after his appointment as cal warfare."21 director of the Central lntelligence Agency in 1993, james Woolsey lmplications for а Within five years, the triumph of this commented that Western security inter­ New World Order world order was Ьу no means secure. De­ ests had "slain the dragon" of the Soviet ln the wake of the 1991 Gulf War and at spite the dominance of Washington and Union but that the West no;.v lived in а the end of 45 years of Cold War, the world, its allies, states with relatively little eco­ "jungle full of poisonous snakes. "22 The re­ nomic and political power could acquire cent crisis with lraq suggests that taming 20. News Briefmg Ьу Kenneth Н. Bacon, Assistant Secretary the means to exert consideraЫe military that jungle, and making the world safe for for Defense, PuЫic Affairs, Department ofDefense, 1:45 pm, inПuence, not least Ьу developing Ьiologi­ Western interests, may Ье more difficult Jan. 27, 1998. 21. Central Intelligence Agency Report CIA 37 4704, Мау 1992. cal and chemical arms. than Woolsey ever imagined. •

16 SPRING 1998 The Technology of Political Control

Ьу Robln Ballantyne

wenty year5 ago, when а group of 5ci­ Added to thi5 ar5enal i5 а 5ophi5- Tenti5t5 wamed about the danger5 of ticated апау of computerized 5urveil­ а new technology of political control, lance technology, topped Ьу а global ca­ they were di5mi55ed а5 alarmi5t and 5ubver- pabllity for tracking voice and data tran5- 5ive. The technology the Briti5h Society for mi55ion5. Thi5 technology of repre55ion, Social Re5ponsibllity of Scienti5ts (BSSRS) 5aw wrote BSSRS, i5 "the product of the appli­ \ developing ranged from "means of monitor­ cation of 5cience and technology to the ing intemal di55ent to device5 for controlling proЫem of neutralizing the 5tates intemal demonstrations; from new technique5 of in­ enemie5. It i5 mainly directed at civilian terrogation to method5 of prisoner control." population5, and i5 not intended to kill Although the 34 riot control weapon5 de- (and only rarely doe5). lt i5 aimed а5 much 5cribed Ьу а 19 72 US National Science at heart5 and mind5 а5 at bodie5."2 And it Foundation report were mo5tly in а develop­ i5 u5ed both in war abroad and civil 5trife mental 5tage, variant5 of all are now in u5e. at home. They include chemical and kinetic weapons; BSSRS recognized that the weapon5 electrified water jets; comblned 5trobo5copic and 5y5tem5 developed and te5ted Ьу light and pul5ed 5ound weapon5; infra- the US in Vietnam and Ьу the UK in it5 5ound weapons; dart guns that 5hoot drug­ former colonie5 and Northem lreland were could cru5h di55ent while ma5king the level filled Пight-5tabllized 5yringe5; 5tench pot5 coming home. The military-indu5trial com­ of coercion deployed. which give off an obnoxiou5 odor; the ta5er, plex rapidly modified it5 military 5y5tem5 which fire5 two 5mall electrical contacts, di5- for dome5tic 5ecurity Touted а5 "non-le­ War at Home charging 50,000 volt5 into the target; and thal," the new technology of repre55ion of­ Now in place around the world, thi5 tech­ in5tant banana· рее!, which make5 road5 fered а technical fix for 5ocial unre5t: it nology, and the concept of non-lethal 50 5lippery they become impa55aЬle." 1 weaponry, ha5 been normalized. The re- 2. C.Ackroyd,KМargolis,J.Rooenhead, Т.Shallice,17ю100hnot­ ogyqf (Мiddlesex, UК: PenguinВooks, 1977). 5ult i5 that the function5 of armie5 and po­ Robin Ballantyne is а British consultant who works closely Pol:i.liiX11CurWrol with Amnesty lnternational on military, security and po­ lice are becoming increa5ingly Ьlurred: lice issues. Security force5 paramilitarize, police mili­ 1. Non-lethal l#apons for Law Eriforcenumt: Research Needs and PrWrities. А Report to the NatWпal Science tarize, and armie5 mobllize for dome5tic F1JUndation, Security Planning Corporation, March 1972. control function5. Corporation5 have ex­ acerbated thi5 proce55 Ьу aggre55ively ped­ dling the new ar5enal to both civilian and military market5. Today, thi5 "new type of weaponry" ha5 revolutionized the 5соре, efficiency, and growth of policing power -differing from nation to nation largely Ьу the level of democratic account­ abllity with which it i5 applied. It ha5 be­ come 50 deeply rooted in dome5tic police function5 that, two decade5 after the BSSRS report, the Scientific and Technological At а nonviolent Option5 A55e55ment (sтол) Committee of protest in Burling­ the European Parliament (EU) wa5 5uffi­ ton, VТ, against the ciently alarmed to commi55ion а 5tudy on looming war in lraq behalf of the European Union'5 Civil Lib­ this year, fellow ertie5 and Intemal Affair5 Committee. demonstrators tend . Thi5 1998 report, "An Apprai5al of the to Steve Christian­ sen after police Technology of Political Control," vindicated sprayed him with the 5cienti5t5' early concern5, provoked peppergas. headline5 around Europe - but 5parked

NUМBER64 ~ 17 5afer than regular metal-jacketed ammuni­ tion, which can ра55 through wall5 and in­ tended target5 to hit civilian5 beyond the field of view Although the5e inhumane ex­ panding "dum-dum" munition5 are banned Ьу the Geneva Conventions for on the battle­ field, they are increa5ingly popular with SWAT and 5pecial force5 teams. D ISCREEТ ORDER VEНICLES . 9e5igned for prime time televi5ion to look like ambu­ lance5, they can deploy а formidaЫe array of weaponry and have been u5ed to pro­ vide а 5how of force in countrie5 5uch а5 Turkey, or to 5pray hara55ing chemical5 or dye on prote5tor5, а5 the 5ecurity force5 have recently done in Indone5ia. Although 5uch dye-marking appear5 relatively be­ nign, it tag5 prote5ter5 for up to а week 50 that the 5natch 5quad5 can arre5t them later, away from the media'5 prying len5e5. Tho5e arre5ted can then enjoy the benefit5 of more traditional technique5 of repre5- 5ion: interrogation, torture, and execution. Crowd Conlrol Weapons Thi5 new repre55ion technology i5 becom­ ing more 5ophi5ticated, more powerful, and more common, particularly with the praetorian guard5 of torturing 5tate5 5uch а5 China and Guatemala. And becau5e of ag­ Released after 24 years in а Chinese prison, Tibetan monk Palden Gyatso walked three days back to the jail and bribed guards to sell him the torture instruments gre55ive marketing Ьу the manufacturer5 they used оп him. They include, "non-lethal" electric batons and thumb cuffs. and 5upplier5 who 5ervice both civilian and military market5, it i5 rapidly 5preading not little notice in the US. Written Ьу the UK'5 other targeted individual5, Ьу u5ing Ьiomet - only to national armie5, but into virtually ev­ Omega Foundation, it determined trend5 ric technique5 to identify people through ery 5tate'5 police, paramilitary, and internal and development5, examined the 5tate of DNA, retinal or fingerprint pattern recog­ 5ecurity agency ar5enal5. Manufacturer5 the repre55ive craft, and 5ugge5ted regula­ nition (5uch а5 the EU EURODAC Project). 5uch а5 Alliant Tech Sy5tem5 (USA), Civil tory 5trategie5 for the management and fu­ DATA PROFILERS. Police 5tate5 have been Defence Supply (UК), or Stun Tech (USA) ture democratic control of thi5 technology. 3 аЫе to u5e computerized 5urveillance promote the new technology with the claim The STOA report paint5 а chilling picture data to compile "friend5hip map5" or link5 that it i5 5afer, le55 lethal, than the traditional of innovation in repre55ion - а Pandora'5 Ьу analyzing who phone5 or e-mail5 alternative5. But in5tead of replacing lethal Ьох of new weapon5 - de5igned to appear whom. Guatemala ha5 u5ed the Tadiran weapon5, the "non-lethal" alternative5 are rather than Ье 5afe. Included in the con­ computer 5y5tem located in the national augmenting the u5e of deadly force, in both tinuum о[ option5 are the following: palace to create death li5t5. war and in "operation5 other than war," SEMI-INTELLIGENТ ZONE-DENIAL SYSTEMS. "SUВ-LEТНAL" OR INCAPACIТAПNG WEAPONS. where the main target5 are civilian5. The5e automated 5entry 5y5tem5 utilize Pepper 5pray (ОС 5pray), CS ga5, and The EU report critically evaluate5 the neural network5 сараЫе of pattern recog­ chemical foam can Ье u5ed for both pri5on 5afety of the5e allegedly ' Ъarmle55 " weap­ nition and "learning" 50 that they can pa­ and crowd control а5 well а5 in "5ub-5tate on5. One of the mo5t common i5 pla5tic trol 5en5itive zone5 and deploy either le­ conflict operation5 other than war" (or what bullet5 - deadlier than the rubber bullet5 thal or 5ub-lethal munition5. u5ed to Ье called "Low Inten5ity Conflict"). that preceded them - and other "kinetic GLOBAL SURVEILLANCE SYSТEMS. Voice And while pepper ga5, а plant toxin, i5 weapon5." U5ing earlier US military and recognition 5oftware can intercept and banned Ьу the 1972 Biological Weapon5 empirical data, the report found that track individual5 and group5 while 5uper­ Convention for u5e in war, it i5 permitted much of the Ьiomedical re5earch legiti­ computer5 automatically 5ort mo5t phone for internal 5ecurity u5e. "Sticky foam," an mating the5e weapon5 i5 badly flawed. call5, faxe5, and e-mail.4 "Data-veillance" incrediЬly adhe5ive chemical, can Ье u5ed U5ed widely for riot or crowd control (а 5y5tem5 track a5ylum 5eeker5 and political to "glue" demon5trator5 to variou5 5urface5 common euphemi5m for di5per5ing politi­ activi5t5 а5 well а5 potential terrori5t5 or or to each other. Foam5 can al5o Ье u5ed to cal prote5t), pla5tic bullet5 have frequently 3. Тhе STOA report is availaЫe free from the STOA program form barrier5 that 5eal off all е5саре route5 (Mr. Schaerlaerken) tel 00 352 4300 23942; fax 00-352 4300 cau5ed Ьlindne55, other 5eriou5 injury and 22418; e-mail sroл@europarl.eu . int. An abridged version is and facilitate ma55 arre5t5. death to both di55enter5 and by5tander5. 5 also availaЫe on the webvia SOFТ POINТ AMMUNIТ\ON. Under the gui5e All the commonly availaЫe pla5tic bullet orasazippedfile . of protecting innocent urban by5tander5, 4. See Nicky Hager,SecretPower: Nеш Zealand's Rowin the 5. L. Rocke, " lцjuries caused Ьу plastic bullets compared ". InternatinnalSpy Network (Nelson, NZ: Craig Potton, 1996). hollow-point bullet5 are being touted а5 rubber bullets,"Lancet (London),April 23, 1983, рр. 919-20.

18 SPRING 1998 ammunition used in Europe exceeds the severe damage zone for kinetic energy RIOT CONTROL VEHICLES weapons estaЬlished in 1975 Ьу US mili­ tary scientists. Although the UK withdrew -=~Т • В.А. Т is the leading manufacturer of riot control vehicles which are ьased ВЕ/Т ALFA TRAILER СО. more than 100,000 plastic bullets last year, оп the В.А. Т unique'computerized jet pulse water cannon' system. • В.А.Т presents а complete line of riot control vehicles, with over 15 different 6EIТ-ALFA f!IUD O.N. Gll60A, ISRAEl ГЕL 17'2-6-S33054'6IИi5 FAX. 1~ their less forceful replacements were still models, on а wide variety of basic chassis. judged excessively injurious Ьу these same • В.А.Т riot control vehicles were 'proven in combat' in many countries arourld the world, in Europe, Africa, South & Central America, Far & Middle East. criteria. The price of protest should not Ье 8. А . Т R/OT CONTROL VEHICLE FEATURES: death, yet these weapons are frequently • Three different firing modes: Shorl Pulse used against bystanders at close range in Long Pulse and Conlinues Stream. ~ ·~ zone clearance operations. The STOA re­ • Tear Gas (C.S) lnjection into the water pulse. ~7 • Dye injection into the water pulse. port advocates а complete ban. • Under Chassis foam protection The EU report also calls for а halt to the (against fire Ьombs) • Gas Nozzles for vehicle's protection. ' .,. _ use of pepper gas (oleoresin capsicum or ОС) • Front Bulldozer • Close Circuit Т.V.+Video system in Europe until its Ьiomedical effects can • Ballistic Armouring against any threat level Ье independently evaluated. lts use is in­ creasing rapidly despite а US Army study ТНЕ В.А. Т RIOT CONTROL VEHICLE noting possiЬle "mutagenic effects, carci­ YOUR BEST AND MOST EFFECТIVE nogenic effects, sensitization, cardiovascu­ TOOL FOR RIOT CONTROL lar and pulmonary toxicity, neurotoxicity, as well as possiЬle human fatalities." 6 ln Advertisement for riot the US, pepper gas became а routine po­ control vehicle (r.); lice tool after а 1987 FBI endorsement. ln (below) а water cannon 1996, Special Agent Thomas Ward, the is turned оп demon­ FВI 's chief proselytizer for ОС, was con- strators in Chile.

do US products and yet they are touted as being comparaЫe . Most police forces in the UK adopted the spray before findings on its alleged safety were puЬlished. At this strength, CS can cause permanent damage. А former London Metropolitan Police instructor, Peter Hodgkinson, un­ dergoing training at the Northampton­ shire Constabulary, lost 40-50 percent of his corneas after he volunteered to Ье sprayed during initial testing. No one from the police or Ноте Office has visited the partially Ьlinded inspector. 9 victed of taking а $57,000 kickback from the burning liquid directly on their eye­ а pepper spray manufacturer. Moreover, balls. Amnesty lnternational called this Non-Lethal War а report Ьу the lnternational Association use against peaceful environmental ac­ The other main application of the new of Chiefs of Police documented at least 113 tivists, "tantamount to torture. "8 technology of repression is in war. Armies pepper gas-linked fatalities in the US - ln some cases, technologies, used un­ around the globe are eager to embrace the predominantly from positional asphyxia. 7 der regulated circumstances in one coun­ new oxymoronic doctrine of non-lethal ln addition to the dangers from ap­ try or tested at а particular strength, are warfare. The concept emerged in the US pioved usage, pepper spray has been changed when exported. For example, in the l990s, much to the disbelief of seri­ widely misused. ln California, police the CS sprays authorized for use Ьу UK ous researchers. lts advocates were pre­ deputies pulled back the heads of pro­ police since 1996 are five times more con­ dominantly futurist writers such as Alvin testors, opened their lids and swabbed centrated than similar МАСЕ products in and Heidi ТоШеr 1 0 and science fiction writ­ the US and have dispersion Iates five times ers such as Janet and Chris Moпis, i t who 6. Н. Salem, N. J. Olцjos, L. М. Miller, and S. А. Thomson, Capsaicin '!Ьxi.col.ogy Reui.eщ US Army Edgewood Research, greater. These sprays effectively dump 25 9. Gua1·dian (London), Jan. 29, 1998. Development and Engineering Center, Life Sciences Depart­ times as much irritant on а target's [асе as , 10. А Тoffier&H. Тoffier, WarandAnti-war:Survivalatthe ment (1993). Da:wnqflhe2JstCm.tury (London: Little B\'O\vn&C.O" 1994). 7. Тerry Allen, "Critics Question Use of Pepper Spray,"Rutl.and 8. AmnЩ lntemational Press Release, "Al-USA: Police Use of 11. See e.g" Janet Morris and Chris Morris, Nan-le/Jшlity: А HeraldandBarreТirrws-Argus (VГ), Feb. 22, 1998,p. l. Pepper Spray Is 'I'antamount to Torture," Nov. 7, 1997. Gl.oЬalStralegy (West Нyannisport, МА: Morris&Morris, 1994).

NUМBER64 ~ 19 New Surveillance Technology

n frightening detail, the STOA report I describes а global telecommunica­ tions surveillance system that can sift through all telephone, e-mail, and fax transmissions of private citizens, politi­ cians, trade unionists, activists, suspected terrorists, and corporations alike.

PREEMPТIVE POLICING. Increasingly, in­ stead of reacting to crime, law enforce­ ment agencies are "tracking certain social classes and races of people living in red­ lined areas before crime is committed. This preemptive policing, called data­ veillance, is based on military models of gathering huge quantities oflow grade in­ telligence." Another telecommunications The sophistication of current surveillance technology dwarfs anything surveillance system that is jointly main­ envisloned in Orwell's novel 1984, pictured here in the 1955 film. tained Ьу the EU and FВI provides infor­ mation to law enforcement agencies (po­ phone is switched on. The information phone tapping functions of the NSA base lice, customs, immigration, and intemal can Ье stored in the cornpanys computer at Menwith Hill. They and their Norwe­ security services) of other European coun­ for up to two years. Coupled with System gian colleagues4 found themselves at the tries and the international community. 1 Х technology, this is а custom built moЬile receiving end ofKafkaesque official secrecy The report explains how police and track, tail and tap systern par excellence."3 and national security trials. Jarnes Bamford intelligence agencies can use built-in enlarged puЬlic knowledge of NS.№ activi­ rnonitoring and geographical tracking fa­ ТНЕ ECHELON SYSTEM. А key intelligence ties in his serninal volume The Puzz!e Ра1- cilities to surveil moЬile phones. For in­ elernent in this global surveillance net- асе,5 and most recently Nicky Hager in his stance, the digital System Х book Secret Power and in his writing for exchanges used for most tele­ CAQ has revealed the vast extent and phone calls in the UK has the The US has likely shared power of the network. The EU report drew built-in "aЬility to take on Hagers work to describe the ECHELON phones 'off hook' and listen economic intelligence with US dictionary of keywords, phrases, and into conversations occurring peoples names and to detail how it is used near the phone, without the fпms to tilt the playing field. Ьу NS.№ international network ofbases in user being aware that it is affiliate countries to trawl the airwaves, happening. This capability track, and download communications effectively means that na- containing the tagged words. 6 tional telephone systerns are designed work is the ECHELON system run Ьу the The UK-USA link via Menwith Hill has from the start to have eavesdropping US National Security Agency (NSA) in rapidly expanded to become the Ьiggest capacity. (System Х has been exported to conjunction with the UK, Canada, Austra­ spy station in Europe. It feeds extremely Russia and China). "2 The sтол report lia, and New Zealand. Unlike many Cold sensitive intelligence on EU parliamentary, also notes that "the digital technology re­ War era electronic spy systems, the e­ diplomatic, and commercial matters to quired to pinpoint moЬile phone users mail, telephone and fax cornmunications only one EU member: the UK for incoming calls, allows cell phones to interception capaЬilities of ECHELON were become mini-tracking devices that сап designed for primarily non-rnilitary tar­ E CONOMIC INТELLIGENCE. lnterestingly, it locate their owners at any tirne on а geo­ gets. Investigative journalists in the UK is the use of these surveillance networks graphic information display map down first uncovered this network in the l970s for commercial and diplornatic advan­ to а few hundred meters, providing the using open sources to research the tele- tage, even against allies, that has raised

20 SPRING 1998 found а willing ear in the nuclear weapons laboratories of Los Alamos, Oak Ridge the most interest from jour­ "If the STOA report does one thing, it and Lawrence Livermore. Cynics were nalists and the loudest outcry is to alert politicians of the need to re­ quick to point out that the initiative was from politicians. "The report claim democratic accountaЬility over useful for protecting jobs in the belea­ hints strongly," noted Euro­ ever-more сараЫе surveillance tech­ guered weapons laboratories facing the pean Parliamentarian for nologies. lt is vital to have in place in­ challenge of life after the Cold War. ,' Greater Manchester, Glyn stitutional and political control struc­ This disingenuous doctrine found а Ford, "that on occasion the tures that can direct and control the champion in Col. john Alexander, who US has not been beyond shar­ use of such systems .... Some democrati­ made his name in the rather more lethal ing collateral economic intel­ cally elected body should surely have а Phoenix assassination programs of the Viet­ ligence picked up in passing, right to know at some level. At the mo­ nam War (and later became а proponent of with US companies to tilt the ment that's nowhere."8 psychic warfare). The Pentagon andjustice playing field of international The sтол report recommends that the Department rallied around the doctrine, industrial competition in "European Parliament should reject US hoping to find а magic bullet that would their favor. ln British and Eu­ proposals for making internet messages neutralize the "CNN factor," and somehow ropean boardrooms this will accessiЬle to US intelligence agencies. allow the powers of good to prevail without cause more anguish and an­ Nor should the Parliament agree to new puЬlic Ыoodshed. Police were reeling after ger in some quarters than the expensive encryption controls, without а the Rodney Кing beating in Los Angeles; the civil liberties dimension." wide ranging debate within the EU on ATF and FBI were feeling the heat after di­ Ford was а driving force be­ the implications for the civil and human sasters at Waco and Ruby Ridge; and the hind the commissioning of rights of European citizens and the com­ military was stinging from the humiliation the STOA report. mercial rights of companies to operate it had suffered in Somalia at the hands of Indeed since the report without unwarranted surveillance Ьу in­ unruly crowds and uncooperative "war came out, journalists have al­ telligence agencies operating in conjunc­ lords." They all looked to а good old fash­ leged that ECHELON has ben­ tion with multinational competitors." ioned American "technical fix." efited US companies in­ With classic finesse, Washington-based The US now has an integrated product volved in arms deals, and Privacy lnternational plans to file а com­ team: the Marines, Air Force, Special Op­ strengthened Washington's plaint with Brussels, accusing Britain of erations Command, Army, Navy,joint Staff position in crucial World breaking the spirit of the Maastricht of the joint Chiefs of Staff, and Depart­ Trade Organization talks Treaty Ьу taking unfair commercial ad­ ments of Transportation, justice, Energy. with Europe during а 1995 vantage over EU partners. One of its roles is to liaise with friendly dispute withjapan over саг part exports. Ford is sanguine about the unlikely foreign governments. То this end, last According to the Financial Mail Оп Sun­ alliance that is forming between civil November, the team sponsored а special day, "key words identified Ьу US experts rights and commercial interests. "Of conference in London on the "Future of include the names of intergovernmental course, it won't Ь е easy for govern­ Non-lethal Weapons." Hildi Libby, systems trade organizations and business consor­ ment to take on and win the battle manager of the US Army's Non-lethal Ma­ tia Ьidding against US companies. The with the intelligence community and terial Program, offered а flavor of what was word Ъlock' is on the [ECНELON dictionarys] bring а little light into the dark secrets provided. She zealously described the list to identify communications about off­ they have been schooled to keep in­ М203 anti-personnel Ьlunt trauma crowd shore oil in areas where the seabed has violate from those tainted Ьу electoral dispersal grenade, which hurtles а large yet to Ье divided up into exploration politics." 8 number of small "stinging" rubber balls at Ыocks .... It has also been suggested that rioters. The US team also touted: in 1990, the US broke into secret nego­ • acoustic weapons that use "mechanical 1. This system was first described Ьу the UK journal, tiations and persuaded lndonesia that Statewatch. See v. 7, n. 1, Jan. - Feb. 1997 and n. 4 & 5, pressure wave generation" to "provide the US giant АТ&Т Ье included in а multi­ July to Oct. 1997, availaЫe from Statewatch, РО Вох war fighter with а weapon сараЫе of de­ billion dollar telecom deal that at one 1516, London Nl6 OEW, UK (e-mail: statewatch­ [email protected]). livering incapacitating effects, from lethal 7 point was going entirely to Japan's NEC. " 2. Scientists for Global ResponsibllityNe~lett.er, n. 4, 1993. to non-lethal"; 3. Stmday'J./Jlegraph, Feb.2, 1997.Cit.edintheSI'OAReport. • the non-lethal Claymore mine which dis­ 4. For а full account see Duncan CampЬell, "Phonetappers Surveilling Civil Liberties &the Security State,"New Stales·manRepor4 n. 2, 1981. perses Ьlunt impact ordnance - а crowd But unlike politicians and business lead­ А description of the Norwegian security trials of Owen control version of the more lethal Ml8Al; ers concerned primarily about national Wilkes and Nils Petter Gleditsch is provided in "Тhе Oslo • ground vehicle stoppers; RabbltТrial , SolidarityCampaign for Gleditsch &Wilkes," competitive advantage, critics like Glyn Dec.1981, andRound 1!.оо - ТheNorwegi,anSupreme • the Ml39 Volcano mine dispenser which Ford are alarmed about the broader im­ Court vs. Gleditsch and Wilkes, PRIO publication Р-12/ projects а football field-sized net laced with plications of the technology of political 82, Oslo, Feb. 1982. 5. James Bamford, ТhePuzzlePalo.ce:America'sNatiorшl either razor Ыades or other "immoЬiliza­ repressiou. "There are times in history Security Agency and Its Special Relationship with tion enhancers" - adhesive or stinging; when technology helps to democratize, Britain'sGCHQ, (London: Sidgwick&Jackson, 1982). 6. See Nicky Hager, "Exposing the G\obal Surveillance Sys­ sticky foam guns and barriers to immoЬi ­ and times when it helps centralize," he tem,'' CAQ, n. 59, Winter 1996-97. lize individuals; said. "This is а time of centralization ... 7. М. Fletcher, "Cook Faces Quiz on Big Brother Spy Net,'' . • vortex ring guns - а high-tech device to F'inancialMail onSunday, March 1, 1998. а coпesponding without strengthening of 8. Simon Davies, ''Тhеу are eavesdropping on our every apply vortex ring gas impulses with flash, con­ civil liberties." word,'' Daily Thlegraph (London) Dec.16, 1997. cussion and the option of quickly changing Ьe­ tween lethal and non-lethal operations;

NUМBER64 ~ 21 Push-Button Torture: New Prison Control Systems

risons are providing а controlled environment away from ln addition to testing mechanical restraints, notes the sтол Pthe view of media in which to "field test" many of these new report, prisons "form the new laboratories for developing the weapons of political control. next generation of drugs for social reprograrnming, whilst the Eager to cut costs as the use of prisons for human warehous­ pharmacology laboratories of both the universities and the mili­ ing grows, both privatized and puЬlic prisons1 are substituting tary provide scores of new psychoactive drugs each year." this technology for staff. The sтол report highlights the use of Increasingly, prison authorities use drugs to immoЬilize less-lethal weapons on prisoners and calls for an immediate ban inmates - а tactic that would Ье а crime if used during war. on electroshock and remote control devices such as the react belt. These chemical restraints "vary from psychotropic drugs such This weapon, which is locked around an inmate's waist, deliv­ as anti-depressants, sedatives and tranquillizers, to powerful ers 50,000 volts to the kidney area of the back. Amnesty Inter­ hypnotics. Drugs like Largactil or Seranace offer the chemical national has wamed of the rapid proliferation and aggressive equivalent of а straitjacket and their usage is becoming increas­ marketing of such instruments which faciliщe "push-button ingly controversial as prison populations rise and larger num­ torture and is calling for а complete ban."2 bers of inmates are 'treated.' In the US, the trend for punish­ Such protest, however, has not prevented the rnanufacturers ment to become therapy reaches its apotheosis with Ъehavior from promoting the belt "for total psychological supremacy modification' which uses Pavlovian reward and punishment ... of potentially trouЫesome prisoners." Noting that stunned routines to recondition behavior. Drugs like Anectine (а curare prisoners often lose control of their Ьladders and bowels, the derivative), which produce either fear or pain, are used in aver­ Stun Tech company literature boasts: "After all, if you were sion therapy. In prisons, the possibllities of testing new social wearing the contraption around your waist that Ьу the mere control drugs are extensive, while actual controls are few. " push of а button in someone's hand, could make you defecate Тhе SТОА report calls for licensing all prisons - public and or urinate yourself, what would you do from the psychologi­ private. No license would Ье granted to any contractor in whose cal standpoint?"3 facilities hurnan rights violations have been documented. It rec­ With more than а million inmates and severe overcrowd­ ommends an outright ban on autornated systems of indiscrirni­ ing, US prisons face rising tensions. The federal Bureau of Pris­ nate punishment such as built-in baton round firing and ОС gas ons has become а formal part of the new research program on systems; and it calls for а ban on all kill fencing and lethal area less-lethal weapons. Disturbance control squads, specialized denial systems in any prison within the European Union. • units used in US jails to quell riots, are writing up their shop­ ping lists which include: aqueous foams; containment nets; anti­ 1. See Phil Smith, "Private Prisons: Profits of Crime," CAQ, n.46, Fall 1993. 2. Amnesty International,Arming the 1Ьrturers - Electro-shock 1Ьrture and traction devices; anesthetic darts/pellets; chemical area dispens­ the Spread ofStun Твсhпоwgу, March 1997. AJso ACLU newsfeed, "Chain Gang Stun ers; noise weapons such as acoustic generators; infra-ultrasound; Belts Shock Rights Groups,'' Aug. 12, 1996. low energy lasers; and optical munitions in addition to the ki­ 3. Quoted inAmnesty International, "USA· Use of electro-shock Ьelts," June 1996. 4. Presentation to the Non-lethal Defense 11 conference, held Ьу the American Defense netic energy, chernical and electrical weapons they now deploy. 4 Preparedness Association, 'JYson's Corner, VA, March 1996.

• and, the underbarrel tactical payload de­ The Nobel Р е а се Prize winning or­ livery system - essentially an Мl б that The new generation of ganization Pugwash concluded that the shoots either bullets, di saЬling chemicals, term "non-lethal" should Ь е abandoned, kinetic munitions, or marker dye. acoustic weapons, not only because it covers а variety of very different weapons, but also because it can А Swilch Away from which can Ье merely Ь е dange rously misleading. "In combat Street Level Executions situations, 'sub-lethal' weapons are likely "Paradoxically, while these weapons were annoying, can also Ье to Ь е used in co-ordination with other meant to provide [states with] а new series weapons and could increase overall le­ of flexiЬle responses," the sтол report tumed up to mpture thality. Weapons purportedly developed noted, "their ultimate effect was to pro­ for conventional military or peacekeep­ gram their targets into traditional anti-state organs, create cavities in ing use are also likely to Ь е used in civil activities and procedures. In other words, wars or for oppression Ь у brutal govern­ their most invidious characteristic may Ь е human tissue, or to kill. ments. Weapons designed to replace le­ to undermine non-violence as а means of thal force are used to augment it. Weap­ puЬlic protest." 12 When used to inflict in­ ons developed for police use may encour­ thereby create а pretext for arresting "vio­ stant, gratuitous punishment, official vio­ age the militarization of police forces or lent" demonstrators. And because some of lence may in fact tempt demonstrators to Ь е used for torture. If а generic term is these weapons can Ь е changed instantly fight back. Regimes can also use non-lethal needed, 'less-lethal' or pr e - )~th a l weap­ from producing а force that immobllizes weapons to deliberately provoke а riot and ons might Ь е p re fe r aЫ e." 13 peo ple to one that kills them, the lethal/ Such misgivings are certainly bome out less-lethal flexibllity puts police а flick of а 12. Steve Wright, "UnderminingNonviolence: Тhе Coming Ьу recent developments. US expert William Role of New Police Тec hno log i es, " Gandhi Marg, v.14, n.1, switch away from administering street April-June 1992, рр . 1 57-65 . level executions. 13. PugшashNewsleUer (London) ,Nov.1997, р . 276.

22 SPRING 1998 Arkin has wamed that the new generation of acoustic weapons, which can Ье merely annoying, can Ье turned up to produce shockwaves of 170 decibels and rupture or­ gans, create cavities in human tissue, and cause potentially lethal Ьlastwave trauma. 14 Pugwash. c;onsidered that "each of the emerging 'le,;s-lethal' weapons technologies required urgent examination and that their development or adoption should Ье subject to puЬlic review. "15 This view is endorsed Ьу the EU report which recommends that the European Parliament should: • EstaЬlish criteria, independent from commercial or govemmental research, for assessing the Ьiomedical effects of so­ called non-lethal weapons; • Report on existing US-EU liaison ar­ rangements for the second generation of non-lethal weaponry; • Prohiblt deployment Ьу the police, mili­ tary or paramilitary special forces of all US­ made or -licensed kinetic, acoustic, laser, chemical irritant, electromagnetic fre­ quency, capture, entanglement, injector, or Shopping for death and destruction at the an nua l arms bazaar in Turkey. electrical disaЬling or paralyzing weapons, un- liferation). While most STOA reports gather poses to international human rights leg­ til and unless such in­ dust in official libraries, this one sparked islation is particularly poignant. This po­ dependent research is parliamentary debates in the Netherlands, tential is not lost on providers to the re­ completed; Norway and ltaly Newspaper and ТV com- pression trade: the manufacturers that • PuЬlish research on panies and consultants throughout service tyrannical regimes and court new the alleged safety of Europe and beyond urgently markets. lf regulators wish to prevent sought copies, and intelligence these technologies from being used to vio­ chiefs in Washington and GCHQ late human rights, they will have to adopt in London joined the line. codes of conduct and mechanisms for en­ The Omega Foundation forcement. Many NGO's in the UK, such has advised the EU that while as Oxfam, British-American Security ln­ the genie of political control tech­ formation Council (BASIC), Amnesty lnter­ nology may not go back into its national, and Saferworld, advocate that bottle, there is still time for nations protections Ье written into law. Perhaps to develop consistent and appropriate one day we may see а corporate equiva­ structures of accountabllity The process lent to the "three strikes and you're out" should Ье transparent, adaptaЬle, and legislation with prison terms for the ped­ open to appropriate puЬlic scrutiny Any dlers of repression technologies. ln the class of technology shown to Ье excessively meantime, there should Ье no illusions injurious, cruel, inhumane, or indiscrimi­ about the future targets control nate should Ье prohiblted or subject to of these technold­ weapons stringent gies of political and of all proposed and demo­ control: They future innovations, c r a t i c prior to any decision controls. leading to deployment. ln this 50th anni- Regulating Proliferation The key issue here is the political control of this technology, which is not only becom­ ing more powerful (vertical proliferation), but is also diffusing rapidly into many coun­ tries' state security forces (horizontal pro- this tech­ n o l o g y 14. William Arkin writing inJournal ofMedidne, "Conflict and Survival," quoted in the Guardi.an, Dec. 9, 1997. lБ. Риgшш;h, ор. cit.

NUМBER64 ~ ... - SEAN SPRAGUE/ PANOS PICTURES

Death and Silence in "Useless Algeria"

Ьу Farhan Haq

he massacre in Sidi Rais, Algeria ish their dirty task, and then they let them from the main cities and oil- and gas-pro­ т went on for hours. Ву dawn on leave. What does that mean to you7 ... I had ducing regions, "Useless Algeria" has been August 18, 1997, up to 300 people, been threatened Ьу the fundamentalists, the site of more than 80 percent of the mas­ men, women, children, and baЬies, were but I almost got killed Ьу the army Even my sacres since 1994.2 dead - many of them hacked to death. friends in the army don't understand any­ Gen. Liamine Zeroual's regime repre­ For some Algerians, the attack in the sub­ thing anymore these days." 1 sents the "Useful Algeria" (Algerie Utile), а urb south of the capital, Algiers, was more The conventional wisdom regarding largely francophone community that lives proof that Islamists were waging а horrific, the recent conПict in Algeria revolves in, and profits from, the country's urban uncompromising battle to overthrow the around а central narrative: that an in­ and petroleum producing regions. These secular state. For others, it was just the lat­ creasingly brutal, fundamentalist Muslim are the same elite interests, including the est sign that things are not what they seem. insurgency threatens а secular, military­ oil-producing business elite and the mili­ They accused the government of complic­ backed government. The violence has hit tary, that disrupted Algerias first multiparty ity in the slaughter of civilians. "The army," particularly hard in the impoverished sub­ elections in 1992, after the si.nce-banned one massacre survivor told Amnesty Inter­ urbs of what is often described as "Algerie Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) led an initial national, "waited for the terrorists to fin- Futile" (Useless Algeria). Comprising the 90 round of polling in December 1991 and percent of the country which is remote seemed on the verge of winning the run- Farhan Haq is а United Nations correspondent for Inter Press Service (IPS), а Third World news agency. 1. Algelia: OivilШnP(JJJUШtWп Caught in а Spiral ofVio­ 2. Bizharn Thrabl, "Тhе Useless Algeria Su.tfers as the Useful Photo: А family in Ain Guezzarn, part of "Useless" Algeria. Uтce (London: Arnnesty lnternational [А!] , 1997), р. 8. AlgeriaProspers,"DmШchePresse-Agenl:ur; Jan.14, 1998.

24 SPRING 1998 off. А wi.de 5pectrum of political partie5 ha5 5tronger and the myth of an l5lamic men­ The World Watches since accu5ed Pre5ident Zeroual'5 govern­ ace ha5 taken а 5trange turn. А5 the kill­ Ever 5ince the 1992 election annulment ment of e5taЬli5hing an authoritarian re­ ing5 attributed to the radical Armed 15- 5parked the continuing violence, the gov­ gime. The government in turn maintain5 lamic Group (GIA) have grown more 5av­ ernment ha5 Ыamed а fanatical and evil that it i5 only trying to contain the FIS and age - including the ma55 5laughter of l5lami5t in5urgency for the bulk of the e5- its l5lami5t allie5, whom Algier5 Ыаmе5 for entire village5 and 5uburban neighbor­ timated 75,000 killing5. Although the US the bulk of tQ.e e5timated 75,000 death5 hood5 - а growi.ng number of organiza­ criticized the annulment of the elections, it since 1992. Underlying the confu5ion of the tion5 have begun to doubt the official ha5 5ince accepted the argument that the l5- ma55acre5 i5 the de facto civil war between line. Human right5 group5, media re­ lami5t5 are re5pon5iЬle for mo5t of the vio­ the government and the l5lami5t5 - а war port5, and even 5tatement5 Ьу Western lence; at а 5e55ion of the Hou5e Subcommit­ 50 unmentionaЫe that the Zeroual regime government5 and the UN have que5- tee on Africa in February, official5 from the even refu5e5 to call it а "conПict." tioned the idea that the fundameпtali5t5 State Department and Congre55 alike, ln thi5 climate of fear, few in Algeria bear re5pon5iЬility for all the violence. weighed in on the need to 5upport 5peak out about either terrori5m Algier5' fight again5t terrori5m. or the 5tate'5 own record. "Writing Bill Richard5on, US Amba55ador certain thing5 is impo55iЬle, 50 to the UN, recently 5ummed up you don't write; 5aying certain Wa5hington'5 approach. On one thing5 i5 dangerou5, even if you hand, he echoed the standard US don't write it, 50 you don't 5ау it; line on the l5lami5t5 Ьу contending ... but what i5 wor5e i5 that it ha5 that they are committing "mon- become more dangerou5 to know 5trous crime5" and that "so-called thing5, even if you don't 5ау that l5lamic terrori5t5 are murdering you know it and you don't write thou5and5 of innocent people. about it," one journali5t told Am­ Women and children are not being • ne5ty.3 Again5t that backdrop, 5pared from thi5 un5peakaЫe hor­ worldwi.de revul5ion at the recent ror, wi.th young women often being ma55acre5 ha5 5parked pre55ure taken ho5tage and held in cruel and for an out5ide inve5tigation and inhumane captivity" On the other perhap5 intervention. А few inter­ hand, he acknowledged the "para­ national in5titution5, mo5t nota­ mount need for а crediЬle, inde­ Ьly the UN and it5 Office of the pendent verification of the fact5," High Commi55ioner for Human and urged an inve5tigation, per­ Right5, are que5tioning Algier5' hap5 Ьу the UN 5pecial rapporteur ju5tification for repres5ion: it5 on 5ummary, extrajudicial and ar­ "war again5t Islami5t terrori5m." Ьitrary executions. Не al5o a5ked the government to broaden the ас­ lntervention? се55 of journali5t5 and out5ide ex­ UN High Commi55ioner, Магу pert5 and "to include in а crediЬle RoЬin5on, i5 advocating out5ide in­ political proce55 all tho5e who re­ tervention to 5top the continuing nounce violence and embrace violence. She ha5, for example, per­ democratic norm5."7 While Arab tradition and Western values coexist sua5ively countered Algerian rejec­ within many families, Algeria is painfully divided. Europe, following the lead of tion of intervention Ьу arguing, Algeria'5 former colonial power, 'Teacher5 are being hacked in front of 5tu­ While the Zeroual government in5i5t5 France, ha5 until recently 5hied from any dents; children are being traumatized in an that the GIA, FIS, and other l5lamic group5 direct critici5m of the Zeroual regime. ln­ appalling way ... lt i5 not а matter in our are 5\aughtering their opponent5 and each deed, French media and 5ecurity official5 complex, inteпelated world that can Ье the other in а 5erie5 of repri5al attack5, it can­ alleged that Algerian extremi5t5 were be­ 5overeignty of only one country "4 Algerian not explain why many of the recent mas- hind the 1995 Pari5 5ubway bomЬing5 that politician5, meanwhile, have que5tioned 5acre victims соте from the very neighbor­ inflamed French puЬlic opinion again5t the why а UN inve5tigation can Ье di5mi55ed hood5 compri5ing the traditional 5upport fundamentali5t5 and were al5o re5pon5iЬle а5 foreign interference, while the economic Ьа5е of the l5lami5t5. For in5tance, more for the as5a55ination5 of journali5t5. The adju5tment5 and debt re5cheduling com­ than l ,l 00 Algerian5 living in 5uch com­ Committee to Protectjournalist5 and other mitment5 demanded Ьу world financial in­ munitie5 were 5[aughtered in the fir5t pre55-freedom group5 allege that the GIA stitution5 cannot.5 week5 of Ramadan, the Mu5lim month of ha5 killed more than 70 journali5t5. ln the pa5t few month5, call5 for inde­ fasting held this year duringjanuary. More­ pencfent inve5tigation5 have become over, the government ha5 been unaЫe to Evidence of Complicity 3. Amnesty Intemational, op.cit., р. 27 (emphasis in original). explain why Algeria'5 military 5ecurity Gradually, all tho5e a55ertion5 seem le55 4. Mary Robinson, interview, New York, Oct. 9, 1997. 5. According to World Bank and Amnesty International force5, many with their barrack5 located 5ecure. ln 1997, one former military agent, statistics, the reforms imposed Ьу the World Bank, IMF, near the ma55acre5, have not intervened .who identifie5 himself only а5 jo5eph, Paris Club and London Club have contributed to а more in any of the recent attack5. 6 named two general5 in the Algerian 5ecret than 80 percent devaluation of the Algerian dinar since 1992 and more than 800 percent price increases for bread, 7. Comments to the UN Commission оп Human Rights in semolina, milk and olive oil since then. 6. Amnesty International, ор. cit" р . 7. Geneva, March 25, 1998.

NUМBER64 ~ 25 police as the actual planners of the Paris wondered if it is being scapegoated while next to the sites of several massacres is an bomЬings. Even France's then-Interior other forces escape censure. As one deputy indisputaЫe fact. That the security forces Minister, jean-Louis Debre, said after the of the Socialist Forces Front put it recently, have not intervened during the massacres Ыasts: "The Algerian securite militaire "Who are the terrorists7 If we say they are is also а fact not disputed Ьу Algerian au­ would like us to go up the wrong trail, so GIA, who are GIA? Who is behind them7 thorities."16 that we can eliminate people who anno.y Who is among them? Why do they kill citi­ What happened after the attacks oc­ them. "8 Two other Algerians who Пеd to zens who sympathized with the dissolved curred is where the confusion arises. Rob­ England, "Andrew" and "Robert," say they party [i.e" the FISP ... All these questions ert, one of the men claiming to have participated in many killings as part of а need an independent inquiry." 12 Some of­ worked as а Ninja, described--one village­ state-sponsored paramilitary group. These ficials already suspect а degree of collusion clearing operation: "Our orders we;e clear. so-called "Ninjas" would don fundamental­ between the state and the GIA designed to We should guard the surrounding area but ist garb and slaughter communities with­ discredit the more moderate Islamists of the not act unless we were given specific or­ out any interference from the police or banned FIS. One such Algerian diplomat, ders. The securite militaire went in and army. "If you cut someone's throat in front who defected to Britain, claimed that an Al- came out after а time, maybe t\VO hours, of me now, I would say that is normal, nor­ maybe less. After they had gone, we went mal," Andrew said in а recent interview. "I in to clear the place up. There were about have seen torture, and I have done "Ninjas" who don 16 bodies, two families. I saw with my own it. "9Among their other crimes, the two men eyes dead men, women, and children, even detailed massacres Ьу death squads, tor­ fundamentalist garb а ЬаЬу, all with their throats slit." 17 That ture, and "the murder of difficult journal­ story, in tum, fits with survivors' accounts ists and popular entertainers to Ыacken the slaughter communities of the curious behavior of the army, police, name of the Islamists in carefully organized and ambulances during massacres, includ­ psychological warfare. "10 without intederence ing the inabllity of the paramilitary "pa­ If proven, those charges would consti­ triot" groups, formed Ьу the state for civil tute а damning indictment of а govemment from police or army. defense, to intervene. According to one that contrasted its orderly, if authoritarian, such witness who survived last September's image to the seeming savagery of the GIA. massacre of more than 200 civilians in the The shadowy GIA, which rose up after the gerian secret service member told him, town of Bentalha: "Some patriots [local 1992 annulment, has repeatedly claimed "Don't worry. lt is, in fact, we who control а militias] came from Baraki to help us when responsiЬility for many of the worst atroci­ large part of the GIA."13 they heard the massacre was happening, ties, including assassinations of intellectuals but the army did not let them into and feminists. Govemment supportei-s have How "Useless Algeria" Dies Bentalha. The terrorists had lists of people often tried to link the group to the FIS, cit­ Although most analysts still doubt that any to kill, but they also killed at random ing а 1994 interview in which FIS spokes­ such conspiracy between state forces and ... The massacre went on for several hours man Anouar Haddam called the GIA "the lslamists exists, they agree on one thing: and then the terrorists left and no-one principal armed bi-anch of the FIS. "11 The government has responded inappro­ stopped them; then, the ambulances came Other groups have attested to the priatel y to the growing spate of killings and cleared the bodies." 18 armed group's brutality. The Committee since the June 1997 legislative elections Such а strange convergence of official to Protectjournalists, for example, placed were marred Ьу allegations of fraud. inattention and "terrorist" attack has re­ shadowy GIA leader Antar Zouabri - While the citizens of "Useful Algeria" sulted in particularly brazen raids: massa­ whom the government claimed to have have been relatively safe from attack, resi­ cres during broad daylight or lasting many killed on several different occasions last dents in the villages of the Algiers, Blida and hours, in areas where neither armed forces summer - at the top of its list of "En­ Medea regions and northwestern Algeria's nor civil defense units ever even attempt to emies of the Press" because the extremist Relizans area have been subjected to ever travel. The security vacuum in that area, in group claims to have assassinated dozens increasing violence since 1996. 14 The ma­ turn, is filled Ьу some 80,000 villagers who of journalists under its slogan: "Those jority of the people in these "useless" regions have formed more than 5,000 "legitimate who live Ьу the pen, die Ьу the sword." share several common characteristics. Their defense" or "patriotic groups" since 1995 - Last October, the GIA was included on roughly 13,000 villages house some eight almost half the number of total security а US State Department list of foreign ter­ million unemployed Algerians out of an forces deployed in Algeria. 19 It is small won­ rorist organizations. And yet, while not overall population of more than 28 million. der that human rights groups argue that disputing that GIA has been responsiЬle These areas also voted heavily for the FIS some patriot civil defense units are them- for serious human rights violations, even in 1992 and they are "the most heavily mili­ some Algerian opposition deputies have tarized part of the country."15 Amnesty In­ 16. IЬid" р. 7. 17. Sweeney, "Atrocities inAlgeria,"ap. ciL, р.14. temational notes: "That the army barracks 18. Amnestylnternational,ap. cit., р. 9.Amnesty'saccount 8. John Sweeney, "We Accuse. 8,000 Тimes," Тhе Observer and security forces outposts are located of the Sept. 22, 1997 massacre notes: "Bentalha is near (London), Nov.16, 1997, р. 33. five different army and security forces outposts, including 9. John Sweeney, "Atrocities inAlgeria: We Were the Murder­ the army barracks of Baraki, about three kilometers away, ers Who Кilled for the State," Тhе Observer, Jan. 11, 1998, р. 14. 12. Abdeslam Ali Rachdi, Algerian television, Feb. 6, 1998. the army barracks of Sidi Moussa, aboul; five kilometers 10. IЬid. 13. Michael Willis, "Atrocities inAlgeria: Why Murder Your away, the Gaid Касеm security forces post, less than one 11. Anouar Haddam interview, Тhе Guardiлn (London), Apr. Own People?" Тhе Observer, Jan.11, 1998, р.14. kilometer away, the communal guard barracks about one 13, 1994. Haddam is awaiting civil trial in the US for involve­ 14. Torabl, ар. cit.; and Mary-Jane Deeb, "Тestimony on kilometer away, and the security forces posts at the en­ ment in FIS-linked killings. US authorities have denied his the Situation in Algeria," to the US House Subcommittee on trance of Bentalha." request for political asylum and have held him in federal Africa, Feb. 5, 1998; Pierre Sane, director ofAmnesty Intema­ 19. Torabl, ар. cit.; and Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia custody pending appeal of deportation. See ВоЬ Herbert, tional, press conference, New York, Nov. 18, 1997. on Algerian television, Feb. 6, 1998; broadcast in English "Гerrorism bythe Book," New llirk Тimes, Nov. 30, 1997, р. 9. 15. Amnesty International, ар. cit., р. 7. onBBCSummaryofWortdBroadcast,s, Feb.11, 1998.

26 SPRING 1998 selves caпying out the attacks, or at least that "the links of patriot groups to the violence in the ru­ ral areas, as well as the extent of training and oversight they re­ ceive from the authorities, merit concern and_ ~lose scrutiny "20 Other Explanations Many theories have been ad­ vanced to shed light on the au­ thorities' seeming neglect of the attacked suburbs, and quite а few of these explanations do not in­ volve government complicity with the killers. Some analysts believe that the security forces - suspi­ cious of being drawn into а trap Ьу responding to massacre calls in outlying areas - stay away from the attacked zones until they are certain they will not, in tum, Ье targeted. 21 Others believe that the government's concern about causing rifts in the army, which contains its own conservative The General Council of Algiers, 1860, when Algeria was ten percent French and totally Muslim elements, prevents it from ruled Ьу the Europeans. This division planted some of the seeds for future conflict. ordering troops into combat in areas with а high civilian concentration. Other attempts to "intemationalize" the Similarly, Algiers accused UN Secretary­ Such encounters could pit Muslim soldiers Algerian conflict have been similarly, and General Kofi Annan of interference last fall against Muslim communities. quickly, stiПed. Last year, Algeria's UN mis­ when he responded to the massacres in Sidi Whatever the reason, the result is that sion tried to revoke the "consultative status" Rais and other towns Ьу stating that the the areas containing the most disenchanted to the UN Economic and Social Council of world could no longer Ье silent about segments of the population are now dra­ two non-govemmental organizations criti­ Algeria's violence. Annan's offer of mediation matically less safe , while the major cities of cal of the regime's human rights record: was soundly rejected. FIS leader Abbasi Algiers, Constantine, Oran, and Annaba are Amnesty International and the Interna­ Madani, however, wrote to Annan that his relatively safe. This condition allows defend­ tional Federation of Human Rights. When pany would honor а unilateral cease-fire and ers of the government's anti-terrorism efforts Roblnson suggested а visit to Algeria Ьу two would encourage UN involvement. The gov- to claim that "the army and the security ernment responded Ьу forces have in fact provided extensive pro­ placing the recently-re­ tection to most of the country, and especially leased Madani under to major urban centers."22 "That the security forces have not house arrest once again. intervened during the massacres Annan, noting Zeroual's UN Stay Out insistence that "Algeria Adding further to suspicion that the govem­ IS. а1 SO а fact. " - Amnesty International has the means, the strong ment has something to hide, is its response capabllities and the insti- to proposed international investigations. tutions to handle the situ­ The Zeroual government has lashed out at ation itself," backed off any outsiders, including а recent delegation UN human rights rapporteurs who deal from his offer, noting grimly that "it takes two ofEuropean Union (EU) ministers and Магу with extrajudicial executions and torture, to tango. "25 Roblnson, the UN high commissioner for Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf rebuffed the The strong stand in Algiers against an human rights. When Roblnson suggested offer, saying it could only Ье discussed "in investigation has left many groups con­ an independent investigation into the mas­ proper channels," and likely not before fused and suspicious. "The human rights sacres, Algiers responded tersely "An in­ spring 1998, Ьу which time Algiers could crisis has been taking place off camera, in vestigation or any other interference is com­ process the request officially At the same the midst of increased censorship and the pletel)' rej~cted," Prime Minister Ahmed time, the Zeroual government struck back indifference of the international commu­ Ouyahia said this February during а tele­ at Roblnson's office Ьу ' Ъlock[ing] minor nity," says Abderrahim Sablr, chair of Am­ vised debate on terrorism.23 budgetary matters for the High Commis­ nesty lnternational-US.AS North Africa Co­ 20. Eric Goldstein, Human Rights Watch, testimony to sioner for Human Rights in pique at what it _ordinating Group. Given the lack of inves­ the US House Subcommittee оп Africa, Feb. 5, 1998. considered to Ье ou tside meddling." 24 tigation, he contends, Algeria should sup- 21. Sane, ор. r:it 22. Deeb, ор. !Jit. 24. David Warner, "The Deadly Waiting Game," Financial 23. Ouyahia, ор. !Jit Тimes (London), Jan. 27, 1998, р. 20. 25. Kofi Annan, press conference, New York, Sep. 11, 1997.

NUМBER64 ~ 27 port any effort to "find out who'5 killing gram" - will continue to attract а large which have backed the Sant'Egidio initia­ whom" and if indeed the fundamentali5t5 portion of the population. Moreover, the tive, а реасе propo5al from Algerian oppo- are to Ыаmе. 26 lt5 refu5al to do 50 feed5 ac­ 1997 election5 were 50 badly fiawed that а 5ition partie5 injanuary 1995. It call5 for а cu5ation5 that the regime ha5 participated 5mall UN ob5erver team wa5 unaЬle to cer­ tran5itional government to run the country in at lea5t 5ome of the killing5, or even that tify the validity of the June vote. А UN until new election5 are held. One Algerian it operate5 or encourage5 5ome group5 of 5poke5per5on acknowledged la5t 5ummer editor who won the European Parliament'5 "fundamentali5t" killer5. The FIS, for it5 that the world body, in any са5е, never had Sakharov Award for Democracy called the part, claims that the securite militaire or other enough ob5erver5 5tationed in the country plan "the fir5t lucid political propo5ition that 5tate agent5 сапу out many of the ma55a­ to verify the election re5ult5. ha5 looked toward the future."29 cre5; they doff their military garb at night Apart from а few cautiou5 5tatement5, Algerian femini5t5 al50 worry aoout the to don the robe5 and beard5 of l5lami5t5. the We5tem power5 have generally refrained government'5 authoritariani5m, but fear Other5 take а more nuanced view. "It can­ from a5king hard que5tion5 about Algeria. even more that а deal with the l5lami5t5 not Ье 5aid that element5 from the regime An EU delegation led Ьу French deputy could 5hatter the already fragile 5tate of are 5olely re5pon5iЬle for the violence," Andre Soulier retumed di5appointed from women'5 right5 in Algeria without guaran­ write5 Michael Willi5, an analy5t of l5lamic ajanuary vi5it to Algier5. The Zeroual gov- teeing an end to the ma55acre5. Several Al­ gerian women have charged that, de5pite their 5tated intention5 for а cea5e-fire, group5 like the FIS have particularly tar­ geted women, abducting 5ome, raping them and u5ing them а5 5exual 5lave5. 30 Other developing countrie5 are loath to 5upport call5 for out5ide, e5pecially We5t­ em intervention or inve5tigation. Since the liberation war again5t France, Algeria ha5 been one of the mo5t popular Third World 5upporter5 of freedom from We5tern intru- 5ion, and it remain5 а main5tay of the (largely dormant) Non-Aligned Movement. The reputation it enjoy5 а5 а 5upporter of liberation 5truggle5 ha5 di5couraged mo5t African or Arab nation5 from criticizing the Zeroual govemment.3 l Indeed, in February, South African Defen5e Mini5ter Joe Modi5e vi5ited Algier5 to affirm 5ecurity tie5, and perhap5 to open new arm5 deal5 between the two govemment5. Ironically, the South Algerian women demonstrate for civil and human rights, 1992. African government, led Ьу а liberation group5 in Algeria. "But to maintain that the ernment tumed down the delegation'5 re­ movement а5 e5teemed а5 Algeria'5 former confiict 5imply pit5 а pro-We5tem 5ecular que5t for an out5ide inve5tigation, barred it ruling National Liberation Front, i5 linking regime again5t а monolithic and pathologi­ from ma55acre 5ite5, and denied it permi5- it5elf with а regime that may Ье а5 un­ cally violent l5lami5t movement i5 even fur­ 5ion to meet with banned FIS leader5. democratic and terrori5t а5 the former ther from the truth."27 US official5, including 5everal diplomat5 French colonial or apartheid regime5. and repre5entative5 attending а February Writing at the height of the Algerian lib­ Breaking the Silence meeting of the House Subcommittee on Af­ eration 5truggle, Frantz Fanon argued that Among Zeroual'5 argument5 again5t for­ rica, have hewed to the 5tandard line that "no one thought that France would defend eign involvement i5 the claim that the l5lamic extremi5t5 are re5pon5iЬle for mo5t foot Ьу foot thi5 5hamele55 coloniali5m for govemment i5 bringing the 5ituation un­ of the violence. At the 5ame time, Wa5hing­ five year5, а coloniali5m which i5 matched, der control. The relative 5afety of ton, which accept5 the legitimacy of the on the continent, Ьу it5 homologue in South "Alge rie utile" ha5 allowed the regime to Zeroual regime de5pite the fiawed election5, Africa."32 It would Ье а 5ad epilogue to the pre5ent it5elf а5 winning the war on ter­ contend5 that the be5t approach to estaЬlish­ era of freedom 5truggle5 if the new South rori5m and i5olating the l5lami5t5 while ing order i5 to work with democratic in5ti­ Africa and other progre55ive 5tate5 end up building а 5 tаЫе democracy through la5t tutions, 5uch а5 the Algerian lower hou5e of defending and arming а po5t-revolutionary year'5 legi5lative and provincial election5. parliament, to build up peaceful avenue5 for Algeria who5e defen5e, "foot Ьу foot," of its Tho5e claim5 are que5tionaЫe at be5t. change.28 But Wa5hington currently 5eem5 grip on power could rival what Fanon de- The death toll i5 ri5ing and Algeria'5 con­ more concerned with avoiding "another 5cribed а5 "а dying coloniali5m." 8 tinuing economic woe5 virtually en5ure Iran" in Algeria either to орро5е the govem­ 29. SalirnaGhezali, "AlgeriaBurning,"TheNation, Feb. 16, that the l5lami5t5 - who5e populi5m and ment or to take any 5tep5 that could antago­ 1998, р. 22. , 30. Author's interviews with Algerian feminists who re- 5ocial welfare program5 hold great ap­ nize the l5lamist5. quested anonymity, March 1998. ' · peal for tho5e who feel left out under the The initiative ha5 thu5 been taken in- 31. The mцjor exception in the Middle East is Iran, which broke off relations with Algeria in 1993 and is in turn ac­ current IMF-dictated "adju5tment pro- 5tead Ьу 5everal European government5, cused of supporting the Algerian Islamists. 26. Abderrahirn Sabir, phone interview, Nov. 4, 1997. 28. See also Roula Кhalaf, "Euro MPs То Pursue Реасе in 32. Frantz Fanon,A J)ying Colonialism (New York: Grove 27. Willis,op. cit.,p.14. Algeria,"Pinancial 'I'imes, Jan. 21, 1998, р. 4. Press, 1965), р . 26.

28 SPRING 1998 Jihad lntemational, Inc .

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Ьу Eqbal Ahmad

The violence of lslami5m ha5 rou5ed anxiou5 concern 50 much Ьу fanatic mullah5 in Teheran а5 it i5 5pon5ored Ьу throughout the world, e5pecially the Mu5lim world. ln the government5 including the US and it5 allie5 Paki5tan and Saudi United State5, the media and policy maker5 wage а campaign АrаЫа. It wa5 the 1979-91 US-5pon5ored anticommuni5t cru- to demonize Mu5lim5 and l5lam а5 а threat to We5tern inter­ 5ade in Afghani5tan that revitalized the notion of jihad а5 the e5t5 and civilization it5elf. Thi5 politically motivated propa­ armed 5truggle of believer5. l5rae['5 invasions and occupation ganda ha5 been aided Ьу the l5lamic re5i5tance to l5rae]'5 occu­ of Lebanon, the We5t Bank, Gaza, and Golan continue to in­ pation of Lebanon, the We5t Bank, Gaza, and Golan, along ve5t it with moral meaning and give it added impetu5. with 5uch incident5 а5 the plot to Ыоw up New York'5 World Never before in thi5 century had jihad а5 violence a55umed Trade Center. The anti-l51am Ыа5 of media and policy maker5 i5 50 pronounced an "l5lamic" and international character. revealed in their douЬle 5tandard: Nearly all the Mu5lim 5truggle5 of They condone lsrae]'5 US-aided vio­ the 20th century were secular. The lence - conducted on an enor­ Ottoman5 fought their la5t war5 on mou5 5cale - while denouncing Battles for souls often e55entially 5ecular term5 - in de­ Arab re5i5tance to it. They con­ fen5e of а tottering empire and, at demn "l5lamic fundamentali5m" but degenerate into а hankering lea5t in the Middle Ea5t, again5t ignore the hi5toric role the We5t after body counts. predominantly Mu5lim foe5. The played in 5pawning the violence of Egyptian national movement - the group5 and individual5 they from the ri5e of Saad Zaghlul to the now label and denounce а5 terror- demi5e of Gamal Abdel Na55er -re- i5t. And after the We5t promoted the violent ideological enter­ mained 5ecular and explicitly Arab and Egyptian. Thi5 non-theo­ pri5e that 5erved it5 5hort-term intere5t5, it largely withdrew, logical character wa5 equally true of the lraqi, Syrian, Pale5tin­ leaviцg the native people5 to рау the heavie5t price. ian, and Lebane5e national 5truggle5. The Turk5 attained their The pr~paganda in the We5t 5ugge5t5 that violence and liberation under the banner of intemperate 5eculari5m. Iranian holy war are inherent in l5lam. The reality i5 that а5 а world­ nationali5t5 fought and forged а Belgium-like con5titution in wide movement jihad International, lnc. i5 а recent phenom­ 1906. In lndia, Mu5lim nationali5m - oppo5ed Ьу an over­ enon. lt i5 а modern, multinational conglomerate founded not whelming majority of Indian U1ema (Muslim theologians) - de­ fined the demand for and achievement of Paki5tan. All the5e Eqbal Ahmad is Professor Emeritus of Politics and Middle East Studies at Hampshire College. Phot.o: Mцjahideen with АК-4 7reads а Karan passage on Jihad at the siege of Jalalabad. movement5 re5onated among other Mu5lim people5 who were

NUМBER64 ~ 29 similarly engaged in anti-colonial struggles, but none had an word jihad did occasionally appear as а moЬilizing cry of the explicit pan-Islamic context. 1979 Iranian revolution, it was the cry of Enghe!ab-revolu­ ]ihad - а noun meaning struggle, from the AraЬic root verb tion - that sounded the uprising against the Shah. After seiz­ jhd "to strive" - was а favored term among Muslims in their ing power, Iran's revolutionary government adopted ]ihad-I­ struggle of liberation from colonial rule. Its meaning was ex­ Sazandegi - jihad for construction - as its moЬilizing call. pansive and often secular. When my brother was expelled Without significant exception during the 20th century, jihad from school after raising the nationalist.flag, for example, he was used in а national, secular, and political context until, that was welcomed in our village as а mujahid - one who struggles, is, the advent of the anti-Soviet war in Afghanistan. one who engages in jihad. In the Maghrib, Algerian nationalist cadres who warred against France for seven grueling years Reagan's Boly War were called Mujahideen Their newspaper El-Moudjahid was ed­ Then, for the first time in this century, the standard bearers of а ited for а time Ьу Frantz Fanon, а non-Muslim, and their Muslim people's struggle for liberation were Islamic parties struggle was led Ьу а secular organization - Front du Liberation committed to the violent overthrow of "godless communism" National (FLN). In Tunisia, the national struggle was headed Ьу and dedicated to the estaЬlishment of an "Islamic state" in Af­ НаЬiЬ Bourguiba, а diehard Cartesian secularist who neverthe­ ghanistan. Theirs was а jihad in the classical, strictly theological less enjoyed the title of Mujahidul-Akbar. And although the sense of the word. Ironically, they had the kind of support no

Pakistan: Islamism's Front-line State

n Pakistan, as in Algeria and Egypt, а virtual civil war is rag­ Pakistan's position is also unique in that it is Islamisms "front-line I ing between the differing hues of Islamists and the secular state." The war in Afghanistan continues and, in numerous ways, authoritarian government. Among these countries, Pakistan impacts on Pakistans internal developments. Finally, Pakistan's is an is distinguished in several ways: It was the original staging ideologically amЬiguous polity; here, political paeans to Islam have ground of jihad as an international movement. Unlike Algeria and served as the compensatory mechanism for the ruling elites corrup­ Egypt, votes for Islamic parties in the last four Pakistani elections tion, consumerism and kowtowing to the West. As а consequence, since 1988 have declined. Also unlike Algeria and Egypt, where the fervent Islamist minority keeps an ideological grip оп the mor­ Sunni majorities predominate, Pakistan is а multi-denominational ally insecure and ill-formed power elite. It is this phenomenon that country where about а quarter of the population is non-Sunni. explains the continued political clout of the extremist religious mi­ Furthermore, even Pakistan's Sunni are divided Ьу theological dis­ nority even as it has been all but repudiated Ьу the electorate. putes (notaЬly between the Barelvis and Deopbandis) that have Pakistan is а prime example of the mayhem and official fail­ tended to turn violent. With Sunni against Shi'a, Sunni against ure to address it. From the 1995 bomЬing of the Egyptian em­ Christians and Ahmedis, and killings across the Barelvi-Deobandi bassy in Islamabad to the recent massacre in Lahore's Mominpura divide, the potential for dev- Cemetery, this country is strewn with innocent victims of Islam- astating violence is ist extremism. Yet, these tragedies have barely enormous. caused any reflection in Pakistan and other nations whose policies sowed the seeds of the so-called "Islamic terror."

30 SPRING 1998 other liberation movement had ever enjoyed: that of the Western powers. Washington and its allies sup­ plied the Mujahideen with an estimated $10 billion in arms and aid. They also invested in this jihad the legitimacy of their enormous power, and the luster of their media-made glory. President Ronald Reagan treated them as glorious freedom fighters. Similarly, the US and European media played up the war in Afghanistan' as the greatest story of the l980s. For­ eign correspondents combed the Hindu Kush for stories of "Mooj" heroism. Competition for jihad nar­ rative was so great that in one instance а major net­ work, CBS, bought film of а staged battle between lslamism and Communism. As testament to the great importance and authority that Western media сапу in the Third World, its Afghanistan war cover­ age made an enormous impact, especially on Mus­ lim youth. Within а year of the Soviet intervention, Afghanistan's struggle was on its way to becoming а pan-lslamic jihad. Hundreds, eventually thou­ sands, of young Muslims, from as far apart as Alge­ ria and the Philippines, Sudan and Sinkiang, trav­ eled to Peshawar and Torkham, for military train­ ing. Under the strict guidance of various Islamic parties, they tasted the jihad-in-the-path-of-God and grew ideologically ripe. Washington and its vaunted intelligence agency saw in this process а Cold War opportunity to pit militant lslam against communism. Had the Soviet Union not collapsed unexpectedly, it is likely that the US would still Ье benefiting from this historic mobllization of jihad. As the Afghan war raged, many knew of the vio­ lent pan-lslamic character it was assuming- with А well-stocked gun shop - the Cold War's gift to Afghanistan. US sponsorship. But no country - not Algeria, not Egypt - protested the participation of its nationals; all The generalized sentiment of Muslim affinity on which pan­ watched casually, then looked the other way. Pakistan, which Islamism relied was real nevertheless and from time to time served as а CIA conduit of US-sup- manifested itself in people's expres­ plied arms, was hospitaЬle to а fault. sions of solidarity with co-religion­ In 1986, for example, Egyptian intelli­ Not since the crusades ists in Palestine, Bosnia, etc. Still, gence had an effective presence in the the national struggles of Muslim Pakistani border town of Peshawar has jihad crossed cultural, peoples remained national, and and excellent information on the de­ pan-Islamism endured only as an mography of jihad. But it could not in­ ethnic, and teпitorial inchoate sentiment of solidarity. terfere with the agenda set Ьу Wash­ Until Afghanistan. With that ington, which was, after all, an ally boundaries with such vigor. war, pan-Islamism grew on а sig­ and benefactor. It was only after the nificant scale as а financial, cul- US had cashed in its investments in tural, political, and military phe­ Afghanistan and all hell broke loose in Algeria and Egypt, that nomenon with а world-wide network of exchange and col­ demands for extradition started to reach Pakistan from Algiers laboration. Myriad institutions - madaaris, Islamic universi­ and Cairo. But whom can Pakistanis request to rid its country ties, training camps, and conference centers - arose in Paki­ of the thousands of armed zealots their own government has stan and other places. Sensing its enormous opportunity, nurtured, and continues to nurture? traders in guns and drugs became linked to the phenom­ enon, creating an informal but extraordinary cartel of vested Transnationalization of lihad interests in guns, gold, and god. Not since the crusades in the Middle Ages has jihad crossed Transnational involvement in the jihad not only reinforced cultural, ethnic, and territorial boundaries with such vigor. Ex­ links among Islamic groupings, but also militarized the con­ cept for а brief emergence in the l9th century, Pan-Islamism ventional religious parties: Pakistan's ]amaat-I-Islami is an ex­ survived only as the abstract agenda of а microscopic minority ample. Until its involvement in Afghanistan, it was а conven­ of Muslim intellectuals and as an influence on the works of tional party, cadre-based, intellectually oriented, and prone to some modern writers and poets including Mohammed Iqbal. debate and agitation rather than armed militancy. It now com-

NUМBER64 ~ 31 AraЬia and, until 1988, Ьу Iraq. While Washington was involved in this development, its logic was essentially re­ gional. Irans revolutionary Islamists were quite uncompromising in opposing the US as an imperial power and in their rejection of monarchy as an un-Islamic form of gov­ ernment. As а pro-US conservative kingdom, Saudi AraЬia felt threatened Ьу 1Jan. Riyadh was quick to counter Iran's proselytizmg zeal and found support in such Gulf sheikhdoms as Kuwait. With the start of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980, Saddam Hussein's secular gov­ ernment joined in the theocratically cast campaign against Iran. Islamic organizations all over the Muslim world became beholden to one or the other side of this divide. In countries with mixed Sunni-Shi'a population such as Lebanon, Pakistan and Afghanistan, this development had the greatest impact as sectarian groups Afghanistan, а Cold War battleground, spawned international lslamic militancy. and individuals found new incentive to arouse old hatreds. Although the mands perhaps the largest number of armed and battle-hard- Americans, Saudis, and Iraqis may have promoted their brand ened veterans outside of Pakistan's army and rangers. In of conservative lslam only to counter lran's growing appeal, 1948-49, its chief ideologue, Maulana Abul Ala Maududi had their anti-Iran campaign was easily translated into anti-Shi'a rejected, on theological grounds, the sentiments and actions. The Sipahe notion of jihad in Kashmir. Today, his ------Sahaba, а die-hard anti-Iran, anti-shi'a party openly boasts of its militant in- While Washington and terrorist group in Pakistan, is one such volvement there. In recent years, result. lt was funded first Ьу the Saudis other conventional Islamic parties - the media Ьlamed Iran, and then Ьу Iraq. The terror and the ]amiat-e-Ulama-I-lslam QUI) and counter-terror that followed have in- ]amiat-e-Ulama-e-Pakistan - have also armed Islamic radicalism volved murders of Iranian diplomats been militarizing, thanks to their link- and trainees, US technicians, ordinary ages with the Taliban; thanks also to WaS DUftUred with people in mosques, and most recently, their involvement in Kashmir. In ad- in а cemetery. Battles for souls often de- dition, orheг aгmed secraгian group- US funding and CIA help. geneгare inro а hankering arreг ьоdу ings - the Sipahe Sahaba, Lashkare counts. As the chickens of jihad once ]hangvi, Harakatul Ansar, Sipahe ------nurtured Ьу imperialism and the state Mohammed, Lashkare ТауЬа, Anjumane Sarfaroshane Islam come home to roost, Afghanistan threatens to become а meta- have emerged to menace society no less than the state. They phor for the future. • are all sectarian formations, apparently а far cry from lslamism as expounded Ьу the older religious parties such as the ]amaat-I-Islami and JUI. Yet the fact remains that their antecedents lie with these parties, and they draw suste­ nance from the neighboring wars which are cast in Islamic terms. In effect, while Washing­ ton and the media Ьlamed lran as the source of organized Muslim rage, armed Islamic radical­ ism was actually nurtured in Zia ul-Haq's Paki­ stan with US funding and CIA help. Divisions in the Ranks The Ьirth of ]ihad International coincided with another development that has had а particu­ larly unwholesome effect on Pakistan. Follow­ ing the prolonged hostage crisis during which Iranian radicals held US diplomats captive in Teheran, а contest began between two versions of political Islam: The radical approach was supported Ьу Iran; the conservative Ьу Saudi lslamic Jihad rally at Shati Camp, Gaza.

32 SPRING 1998 Autumn of the Autocrat

Ьу Saul Landau and Sarah Anderson

hilean General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte went to great с lengths to ensure а comfortaЬle retirement after his l 7 - year rule as president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Before agreeing to democratic elections in 1990, he granted himself а list of perks, including: an eight-year stint as heaёl of the army, with access to the military budget (col­ lected from copper revenues and independent of civilian gov­ ernment control); the fancy post-retirement title of "senator for life." Не also secured amnesty for military officers who com­ mitted the thousands of murders, disappearances and tor­ Finally, Chile's Gen. Augusto Pi nochet may face justice. tures during his reign. With this golden parachute in place, Castell6n, а member of the Conservative the acts done abroad Ьу the DINA, Chile's Pinochet had no reason to doubt that his Judges Association, ruled that his court had intelligence and secret police agency, has retirement last March at age 82 would jurisdiction in the case, since the accusations made the aging dictator most vulneraЫe mean anything other than а chance to ex­ against the Chilean general dealt with to prosecution. change his military boots for fur-lined slip­ crimes covered under intemational law. 2 How did the formerly Teflon-clad dic­ pers. Не expected to enjoy his last days in The Spanish case alleges that agents of tator begin to lose his protective coating? реасе and deferential honor. Pinochet's regime killed or attempted to kill According to lawyers who filed the Span­ Then, in july 1996, Pinochet's retire­ individuals in the United States, Argentina, ish charges, Pinochet's mistake lay in his ment plan hit its first serious snag. The ltaly, and other countries. ln addition, they thinking that self-imposed amnesty would Madrid-based Association of Progressive add, the Chilean National Commission on shield him from international human Spanish Prosecutors accused Pinochet and Truth and Reconciliation has documented rights law, which forЬids amnesty for per­ other Chilean junta leaders of international more than 3,000 murders and "disappear­ petrators of crimes against humanity. terrorism, genocide, and crimes against ances" of Chileans and other nationals car­ Moreover, Pinochet's extraterritorial ter­ humanity. 1 The families of the victims of ried out on Chilean soil during the dicta­ rorism made him vulneraЫe to prosecu­ his excesses also filed а civil suit against torship.3 Patricio Aylwin, who was elected tion outside his own nation. him. Spanish judge Manuel Garcia Chile's first post-military president in 1990, formed the commission to investigate and The General in Saul Landau and Sarah Anderson are fellows of the lnsti­ tute for Policy Studies. Landau is also co-author (with John report on murders and tortures commit­ Bis Labyrinth Dinges) ofAssassinatinn апЕтЬш;sу Rаш, on the Letelier­ ted under the dictatorship. While it was If the plaintiff's novel application of inter­ Moffitt rnurders, andcurreпtlythe Hugh О. La BountyChair hardly а secret that Pinochet's regime mur­ national human rights law to this pano­ oflпterdisciplinary Applied Кnowledge at Califorпia State Polytechnic University, Pornona. dered its opponents at home, uncovering ply of crimes is successful, it will have far 1. Geпocide is поt restricted to the elirninatioп of ап eп­ reaching implications for amnesty laws in tire group of persons оп the basis of their ethnic or racial 2. For adetailed legal accountofthe case, see: Juan Garces, origin:'i'he \ega\ defmitioп of geпocide found in Article 2 "Pinochet ante la Audieпcia Naciona\ у el Derecho Pena\ other countries emerging from totalitar­ ofthe Geпocide Сопvепtiоп includes the "partial" destruc­ lnternacional,"Jшx:espamlaDemocracШ,Мadrid,Мarchl997. ian rule (see Punishing Pinochet , р.39). tioп of а natioпal, ethnic, racia\ or re\igious group ofpersons. 3.ReportoftheChileanNatinrшlCammi.ssiananТruthand Courts in Argentina and ltaly are also in- The lawsuit Ьу Juan Garces against Pinochet charges hirn Reconciliatinn (South Вепd, IN: University ofNotre Darne with geпocide for wil\fully exterrniпatiпg the oppositioп's Press, 1993). According to the 1997 Chilean GovernmeпtAs­ . vestigating Pinochet's connections to паtiопа\ leadership of Chile---the latter being the particular sociatioп of Reparatioп and Recoпciliatioп report, 3,197 people Chilean government-inspired assassina­ social group in questioп. lt is also а well settled principle of were killed during Pinochet's rule and, ofthose, 1,102 "disap­ international law that the elirninatioп of а group оп the basis peared" after being takeп into custody Ьу security ageпts. tions in Buenos Aires and Rome (see of its political opinions is а crirne against hurnanity. MiamiHerald, March 11, 1998, р.1. Pinochet's Hit Мап, р. 34).

NUМBER64 ~ 33 Castell6n now has evidence that while in Spain, the dictator met with delle Chiaie, Pinochet's Hit Man the man who had shot Leighton. House of the Killers s the Spanish judge decides whether basement of his Chilean home. (This vari­ While the assassination ргоgгаm carried Ato indict Pinochet for ordeгing for­ ety of poison gas was later used Ьу Japanese out abroad against Letelier, Moffitt, Prats, eign assassinations, theгe is one terrorists used in 1995 in the Tokyo subway Leighton, and others may Ье Pinochet's man he would especially like to question: а system.) Не boasted that he had smuggled undoing, most of his crimes t.ook place at US citizen now living undeг а false name the toxin in а Chanel No. 5 peгfume vial in home in Chile. Townley, in his celt in the gгanted Ьу the fedeгal witness protection his pocket аЬоагd the LAN Chile flight to US, also told Scherrer about DINA's domes­ ргоgгаm. А hit man fог Pinochets intelli­ the US. Не hoped to Ьгеаk into Letelieг's tic killings including the 1976 murder of gence agency (DINA), Michael Veгnon house and sргау his taгget's pillow. ln the Carmelo Soria, а Spanish economist and Townley saw hirnself as Chiles ')ackal." Mur­ end, the "tгadecгaft" conscious Townley UN official in Chile. ders, such as the ones he carried out fог opted fог the method he knew best: the DINA agents belonging to the elite Pinochets foreign assassination progгam аге гemote-contгolled car bomb. 1 Mulchen Brigade had dragged Soria into proving to Ье the dictatoгs Achilles' heel. Townley's large home in the outskiгts of ln 1957, at age 14, Townley had moved Trail of Blood Santiago. In addition to his electronics lab to Chile, where Ford Motors had assigned That was not the only cгime to which and poison gas factoгy, Townley had а veгi­ his father. In 1970, he joined Patria у Townley confessed. During one conveгsa­ taЫe torture chamber in his basement. Libertad, а violent anti-Allende proto-fas­ tion, he led agent Sсhеггег to conclude that There, the DINA elite began to beat Soгia, cist gгoup . That same year, he fled to the he had assassinated othei- DINA taгgets . ргерагаtоrу to questioning him about his US after he was accused of murdering а Scherreг asceгtained that Townley had activities with Chile's underground Com­ watchman when Patria у Libertad tгied to tгaveled to Argentina to kill exiled fогmег munist Party. 3 One oveгly enthusiastic toг­ seize а radio station. Chilean Chief of Staff Gen. Caгlos Pгats. In turer broke Soria's neck. А gaгdener saw Afteг the 1973 coup, the 30-year-old Buenos Aiгes, he гecruited members of an the DINA agents drag the corpse to his саг. Townley returned to Chile and joined DINA extгeme гight wing gгoup tied to the Aг­ They then poured liquor on the body and as an electгonics expert, bugging techni­ gentine secret police, who then placed а left the empty Pisco bottle on the car seat. cian, and all around Мг. Fix-it. Within а bomb undeг Gen. Pгats' саг. Не and his After foгging а ridiculous suicide note year, he had developed а гeputation as an wife wеге Ьlown nine stories high as they about Soria's despondency over his wife's overseas hit man. dгove home one late September evening in supposed affaiг, they pushed his cai- into а 1974. Ву the time the Aгgentine thugs canal, trying to make it look like he killed BomЬing in Washington detonated the bomb, Townley was alгeady himself. Soгia's body was found in the ca­ ln mid-Septembeг 1976, following огdегs, on his way back to Chile - а routine that nal about а kilometeг from his car. 4 he tгaveled to Washington via New York on DINA followed in all its oveгseas hits. The seгies of confessions bought а false US passpoгt. Тhеге, he гecгuited ln the fall of 1975, Townley toured Еu­ Townley а plea bargain for а гeduced sen­ membeгs of the Cuban Nationalist Move­ горе with assignments to "hit" Caгlos tence in the Letelier case. Appearing as the ment (CNM), а violent ultгa-right anti-Castro Altamiгano and Clodomiro Almeida, ex­ key witness in а series of trials in Washing­ fringe group, to help him build and detonate iled leadeгs of Chile's Socialist Рагtу. 2 Ac­ ton in 1980 and 1981, he fingered five а bomb. That same month, he murdered companied Ьу his wife and Vii-gilio Paz, right-wing Cuban accomplices. 5 Townley's Oгlando letelieг and Ronni Moffitt. а pistoiero fгom the CNM, Townley went testimony also sent shock waves through In 1978, undeг US pгessure, Pinochet to Europe to meet with fascist gгoups in Chile when he testified that his orders to delivered up Townley to Washington as а several countгies to cooгdinate future assassinate Letelieг came fгom Chilean kind of sacrifice, hoping that handing оvег missions. One of his contacts, Stefano secret police chief Col. Manuel Contreras one assassin would satisfy US interests and delle Chiaie, а leader of the ltalian Fascist and his suboгdinate Lt. Col. Pedro end the FBI's pursuit of the additional Youth oi-ganization, agгeed to assassinate Espinoza. Until 1995 Pinochet had pro­ Chilean conspiгatoгs in the Letelieг case. Bernaгdo Leighton, а Chilean Christian tected Contreras and Espinoza, but undeг While the distгaught Townley sat in jail, Democratic leader exiled in ltaly. civilian government, the shield eгoded FBI special agent Robeгt Scherreг cleveгly On October 6, 1975, Leighton and his and а Chilean judge sent both men to assumed the гоlе of fatheг coпfessoг . Dur­ wife strolled leisurely on а Rome stгeet, their prison for their role in the Letelieг assas­ ing а series of conveгsations during 1978- customary гoute home. А gunman stepped sination. In telling his tale from prison, 82, he told Scherreг еегiе details about behind them and fiгed а 9mm bullet into Townley inadveгtently illuminated а tгail DINAS coveгt opeгations aгound the world: each of their heads. Neitheг died, nor did of evidence that may, nearly two decades how he had used the anti-Castгo Cubans they fully гесоvег. The CNM claimed ci-edit, later, lead Spanish pгosecutors to the feet to acquire С4 plastic explosive and otheг telling а Miami newspaper details of the hit of Gen. Pinochet. • - SL & SA gadgets to make the bomb; how he had that only the assassins could have known. 1. Schetтer suspected that T01vnley had made the bomb that killed Rolando Masferrer in Miami on Oct. 31, 1975. bought electrical tape and а metal baking The hit bolstered CNMs reputation and Paz' Like the Prats and Letelier bombs, the device that killed pan at Seaгs to use to secure the bomb to cгedentials as а thug. Masfetтerwas stowed underthe driver'swat and detonated the 1-beam of Letelieг's саг. А month after the assassination at­ Ьу remote control. Schetтer's hypothesis was that Тownley did this "favor'' for the СNМ, expecting that theywould then Townley told Scherreг about his paг­ tempt on Leighton, Pinochet attended "owe" him one in retum - which he collected when he re­ ticipation in manufacturing saгin in the Francisco Fгanco's funei-al. Judge Garcia ceived the Letelier assignment. Тhе CNM had \Vanted the

34 SPRING 1998 The Spanish judicial probe covers the period from September 11, 1973, when Pinochet led а military coup against the elected govern­ ment о[ Socialist Salvador Allende, through 1990, when intemationa,I pressure [orced him to acquiesce to civilian control. According to Spanish sources close to the case, judge Garcia Castell6n will soon have to issue an indict­ ment or drop the investiga­ tion. If he indicts, he will de­ mand that Pinochet appear in Spain to testify in his defense. Under а Ьilateral treaty, the Chilean government can refuse а Spanish extradition order only if it agrees to try the defendant оп the same char­ ges in his home country Н indicted, Pinochets best - ~ hope may Ье to become "the Although Pinochet's rule was touted as а triumph of market capitalism, Karadzic of the Andes," ac- it has left the country with а far greater disparity of wealth than before. cording to juan Garces, а Here, а family looks for food in an affluent section of Santiago. Madrid lawyer representing families of the victims. 4 Since the Intema­ to his region of power, where NATO forces of jurisdiction accentuates the decline in tional War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague are reluctant to arrest him. the general's authority. indicted the Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan But even if he stays at home, Pinochet Another group of left and le[t-center Karadzic has remained free, albeit confined тау not escape unscathed. The Spanish legislators has announced that it intends to judicial proceedings have caused а series accuse Pinochet of making "political com­ 4. Garces seived asAllende's political adviser at the time of the 1973 coup. Не has \vritten about Chilean politics under о[ additional irritations [or Pinochet. In ments," which active military officers can­ the Allende government and about the coup itself. September, the European Parliament not do under the Constitution.7 А\1 these passed а unanimous resolution in support initiatives [ollowed the opening of the of the investigation. 5 In November, Chil­ Spanish judicial process. gangster Masferrer eliminated since he stood in their way, both in the rackets and for taking action against ean student leaders, including members Castro. Some FВI agents suspected that Jorge Mas of the ruling Christian Democratic Party, Chronicle of а Canosa had hired the CNM to do the Masferrer job. Death Retold 2. In early 1976, Townley physically bumped into attempted to present Pinochet with the Altamirano at the Madrid airport, but never got the Ьirthday gift of а one-way ticket to Spain. The United States entered the case in 1997 opportunity for а "clean" kill. Тhе CIA got wind of this Their arrest Ьу Chilean police did little to after the Spanish judge sent "Letters Roga­ plot to murder exiled Chileans in western Europe and notified the Spanish and French governments. In ad­ lessen the dictator's humiliation. tory," asking the justice Department for dition, Тownley had orders to bomb the meeting room Then, in early january, Chile's lower access to information regarding one о[ in Mexico whe1·e Chilean exile leaders were meeting in house passed а non-Ьinding resolution re­ Pinochet's most [amous foreign assassina­ 1974. СNМ memЬer Virgilio Paz accompanied Тownley on the Mexico mis.Яon, alongwith Townley's wife Mariana jecting Pinochets plan to assume the title of tions. As а result о[ а prolonged investiga­ Inez Callejas, who also worked for DINA. "senator for life." The 56-26 vote sent а clear tion of the 197 6 murder of Orlando Letelier 3. Е. Martin De Pozuelo, "El caso de los desaparecidos lle~aEE.UU,"La liznguantU!(Вarcelona),Jan.11, 1998. message about how the majority of Chile's and Ronni Moffitt in Washington, DC, the 4. Report of the Chilean National Commission оп elected deputies viewed their army com­ US has reams of information about Chile's Тrulh and Reconciliation, р. 595. mander.6 extraterritorial violence. Under а mutual 5. Guillermo Novo,Alvin Ross, Jose Dionisio Suarez and Virgilio Paz were all charged with conspiracy to assassi­ Buoyed Ьу this development, Chile's legal assistance treaty, both nations are nate afore igп diplomat, plus а host of other charges. ln Communist Party filed а complaint with oЬliged to aid each other in judicial inves­ the 1980 trial, а Washingtonjury convicted Guillermo Novo and Alvin Ross of conspiracy to murder Letelier. the Santiago Court of Appeals charging tigations. ln january 1998, the Spanish Тhеу received life sentences and Ignacio Novo got ten Pinochet with the same crimes outlined in judge spent а week in Washington, meet­ years fol'aiding and aЬetting. An appeals court reversed the Spanish case. Although chances for ing with security officials and gathering tes­ the decision, citing prosecutorial error, and in а subse­ quent frial ~jury acquitted Ross. Guillermo Novo was winning this case are slim - since timony from witnesses living in the US. also acquitted of coпspiracy but found guilty of peljury Pinochet granted himself and his fellow The [ocus о[ the judge's US inquiry cen­ before а grandjury. Тhе judge freed him on the grounds that he had already seived mo1·e than а year in prison. officers amnesty - the court's acceptance ters on Gen. Pinochet's complicity in а se­ Virgilio Paz and Dionisio Suarez Ьесаmе fugitives and _ries о[ assassinations carried out in foreign were subsequently captured in 1991 and 1990 respec­ 5. European Parliament, "Joint Motion for а Resolution,'' tively. Each pled guiltyto conspiracyto assassinate and Sept. 17, 1997. received 12 year sentences. 6. "Chilean Lawmakers Oppose Post for Pinochet," Wash­ 7. АР, "Chilean Leftists Sue Pinochet," New York Тimes, ingtonPost, Jan. 9, 1998. Jan. 13, 1998.

NUМBER64 ~ 35 mum Authority of the DINA, only [Pinochet] could dispose of and order the missions to Ье carried out."9 Then two months later, Chilean Evangelical Lutheran Вishop Helmut Frenz testified in the Spanish court that when Catholic Bishop Fernando Ariztia and he met with Pinochet in 1974, the president justified the torture of Marxists and communists. "Through other means," said Pinochet, "they wouldn't confess." As to the accusation that а priest was tortured, Pinochet replied: "He's no priest. He's а Marxist." 10 Hale in the Time of Kissinger In springl976, Treasury Secre­ tary William Simon and Secre­ tary of State Кissinger made for­ mal visits to Chile, symbolically Ыessing Pinochet:S regime. Ву or­ dering а hit in Washington, DINA ended the cozy relationship that had begun with the 1973 coup. Less than two weeks after the September 4, 1970 election of President Salvador Allende, President Richard Nixon or­ dered the CIA to prevent the Socialist from being inaugu­ rated. National Security Ad­ viser Henry Кissinger reported that on September 15, Nixon ordered CIA Director Richard Helms to initiate: "а major effort to see what could Ье done to prevent Allende's accession to power. If there were one chance in ten of getting rid of Soldiers guard the doors to the bombed·out presidential palace "La Moneda" after Allende we should try it; if the 1973 CIA·ba cked coup overthrew the elected government of Salvador Allende. Helms needed $1 О million he would approve it. ". Aid pro­ countries. Judge Garcia Castell6n will at­ concluded that "it would have been incon­ grams should Ье cut; [Chile's] economy tempt to uncover what information US in­ ceivaЫe that the Letelier assassination was should Ье squeezed until it screamed. "11 telligence agencies collected on Pinochet's ordered without the express authorization internal killings as well. of the commander-in-chief." Е. Lawrence 9. Ramon LоЬо, "El responsiЫe del asesinato de Let;elier dice que s6lo cumpli6 6rdenes de Pinochet,"E l Pai<; (Madrid) , The FBI determined that the Chilean Barcella, one of the prosecutors in the Feb. 24, 1998. DINA had ordered the killing of Letelier, а Letelier-Moffitt case, drew the same con­ 10. "Oblspo declar6 ayer ante lajusticia espafiola у hаЫ6 former ambassador to the US and defense clusion in testimony before the Spanish con La Nacion," LaNacinn (Santiago), Feb. 10, 1998. 11. Dinges, John and Saul Landau, Assassination оп minister under Allende, who had become magistrate last summer.8 Ernhassy Raw (New York: Pantheon Books, 1980), рр . 188- а high-profile critic of the Pinochet regime. In а December 1997 appeal to the Chil­ 96, 230-53. Тhе CIA did throw obstacles in the FBl's investi­ gative past and tried to cover up certain aspects of the mur­ The remote-controlled bomb planted in ean Supreme Court for а reduced sentence, der trail. In late June 1976, the CIA director of Clandestine his car also killed one of his colleagues at former DINA chief Со! . Manuel Contreras, Operations for Latin America received word from the US the Institute for Policy Studies, 25-year-old while denying his and DI NA's role in the ambassador in Paraguay of what lookea like а plan to at­ tempt an assassination in Washington;DC. Тhе CIAnotified Ronni Moffitt. Letelier-Moffitt case, stated that "As Maxi- neither the FBI, nor the рrоЬаЫе target ofthe Ыt , Letelier. Until now, Pinochet has eluded US and In addition, the CIA sent the FBI on numerous false trails, 8. Berna G. HarЬour, "La Policia Secreta de Pinochet Planeo providing the Bureau with thousands of "suspects" in the Chilean justice, even though FВI special Eliminar en Madrid а un LiderChileno,"ElPai<; (Madrid), case, all ofwhom were leftists, on the theory that "the left agents Robert Scherrer and Carter Cornick July 12, 1997. killed Letelier to creat;e а martyr."

36 SPRING 1998 ---

Helms' own notes corroborated Кissin­ The US lost no time in recognizing А Hundred Years ger's story. "If I ever carried the Marshall's Pinochet's military junta and rewarding in Solitary baton out о[ the Oval Office," Helms later its cooperation with restored credit and The current move Ьу Spain to bring boasted to а Senate committee looking loans. But Ьу 1979, when the extent of Pinochet to justice has dramatized divi­ into the CIA's covert war against Chile, "it Pinochet's abuses embarrassed even the sions among Chileans. On March 10, was that day. "12 US, President Jimmy Carter began to dis­ 1998, thousands cheered the aging dicta­ Under these guidelines, CIA operatives tance himself from the dictator. tor during а lavish ceremony marking his in Chile undertook а series of covert ac­ А pariah around the world, Pinochet resignation as army commander. Pinochet tions desig~ed to stop Allende's Novem- hung onto presidential power for l 7 wept for the cameras as fellow generals years. Now, he scramЫes to paid homage to his greatness. The next day, wield his remaining inПuence angry demonstrators protested as Pinochet and salvage his retirement took his seat in Chile's upper house as а An indictment of Pinochet could plan. In an interview last Oc­ "Senator for Life." Several Christian Demo­ Ье а prelude to Latin America's to ber, he indignantly de­ crat and Socialist senators expressed out­ scribed the Spanish case as rage at Pinochet's presence Ьу carrying first "Nuremberg" trial. "absolutely unlawful." "[T]he photos of the disappeared, and signs only thing I have done in my asking: "Where are they7" life was serve my country. Aside from Pinochet's core of right­ ... Why don't they investigate wing admirers, а sizeaЫe sector of the rul­ ber inauguration. CIA oШcers attempted Fidel Castro7" he snapped. 14 ing center-left coalition of Christian to bribe Chilean legislators to vote against Last fall, he dispatched his adjutant, Democrats and Socialists (including the Allende's con[irmation and provided Gen. Femando Torres Silva, to Spain to try foreign minister) fear that the Spanish $50,000 to Gen. Camelio Valenzuela to to "persuade" the judge to drop the case. proceedings could raise the wrath of the dole out to other generals to foment а Previously, the Chilean justice minister had military and thus destabilize Chile's military coup. Valenzuela failed because of the principled resis­ tance of army chief Gen. Rene Schneider, without whose ap­ proval the ultra hierarchical Chil­ ean officers would not move. The CIA station chie[ went to Valen­ zuelas house and pistol-whipped him until he retumed most of the money The irate CIA official then gave $50,000 to Patria у Libertad, а right-wing terrorist group, to assassinate Schneider. In broad daylight the group attacked his car and killed him, making it ap­ pear to Ье а failed kidnapping at­ tempt.13 ~ The US did make Chile's " "С11 economy "scream" Ьу conspir­ ;;: ing with other nations to cut off ~ ! Allende's credit and make Chile z рау through the nose for loans. iii

о: Meanwhile, the CIA instigated "z strikes and sabotage in strategic w i:i.... sectors of the economy Finally, ---- С11 in the late summer of 1973, the The National Police arrest а woman who was peacefully protesting in conspirators succeeded in forc- support of political prisoners оп а hunger strike (Santiago, 1987). ing Gen. Carlos Prats to resign as commander of the Chilean military. Pino­ taken the unusual step of Пying to Spain, booming economy. Or, it might open the chet ascended to the role, setting the stage holding an airport press conference stat - door to the unpleasant past, unleashing for а military coup on September l l, 1973. ing Chile's opposition to the proceedings, not only а legal storm, but vendettas as and then Пying home. PresumaЬly, the aged well. On the legal plane, cablnet minis­ 12. Clll!ertActian in Chile, 1963-1973, based оп hearings army chief also had а hand in Chile's threat ters argue that Spain is interfering with before the Senate Select Committee to Study Governmen­ in 1997 to cancel а $25 million contract to Chile's peaceful, albeit not necessarily tal Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, held in 1975 under the chairmanship of Sen. Frank Church. purchase Spanish transport aircraft. 15 smooth, transition to democracy. The 13. Seymour Hersh, Тhе Price ofPower: Kissinger in the Iustice minister contended that this in­ Ni:xan White Hrruse (New York: Summit Books, 1983), рр . 14. Maria Eugen.ia Oyarzun, "Entrevista а Pinochet,"Diario 277-96. Add.itional information from Saul Landau's Ьackground La Thrcera, Santiago, Oct. 30, 1997. vestigation lacked proper jurisdiction interview with а former CJA official. 15. Ji'inancial Тimes (London), Nov. 19, 1997. and, moreover, centers on the past. То

NUМBER64 ~ 37 Above, mothers of the disappeared; below, Pinochet supporters.

~ :> 1Л" ;; .... u ~ :! ::: z iii :> z "w > ....w 1Л

38 SPRING 1998 (count 'em!) years after the Convention, which the US was the first country to sign, Punishing Pinochet came into force. Ьу Peter Weiss What will Ье the outcome of the two landmark Spanish cases, the first ever he two judicial proceedings cur­ does not create the crime of genocide, but brought Ьу national courts for crimes of т rently. pending in the Spanish confirm.s it. ln other words, the crime pre­ genocide committed outside their territory? couпs - one against Augusto exists the Convention, апd does so as а The two judges, who at the moment are Pinochet and some of his fellow butchers, universal crime. This was also the view of acting as investigating magistrates, some­ the other against Leopoldo Galtieri and the Israeli courts in the Adolf Eichmann what in the manner of а grand jury, have other members of the equally brutal Argen­ case апd of the Intemational Court of Jus­ stood their ground courageously against tine junta - would have gladdened the tice which, in its Advisory Opinion of Мау severe attacks from conservative legal and heart of Raphael Lemkin, the father of the 28, 1951, stated: "The Genocide Conven­ political circles in Spain, including the Genocide Convention. tion was ". iпtended Ьу the General As­ country's Attomey General. Intemational As а child in Poland, Lemkin became semЬly and Ьу the contracting parties to Ье arrest warrants - which the Argentine interested in what we now call genocide and definitely universal in scope." govemment has refused to honor - have crimes against humanity when he heard As for the definition of the target group, already been issued against Galtieri and his about the massacre of the Armenians Ьу the the Spanish judges latched on to the word fellow defendants in the Argentine case. Turks in the second decade of this century. "national," thus in effect reading "politi­ Similar warrants are expected to Ье issue As а young lawyer in the thirties, he began cal" back into the scope of the Conven­ against Pinochet and his fellow defendants to lobby for an international law regime that tion, since the victims of the Chilean and once the judge in that case finishes taking would prevent such atrocities and punish Argentine dictators owed their fate to testimony from the many witnesses who their perpetrators. After he lost 4 7 mem­ their political beliefs rather than their na­ have come forward to build the most bers of his family in the Holocaust and came tional origin, but were undeniaЬly perse­ complete record to date of the 17 dark­ to the United States, he coined the word cuted as groups rather than as individu­ est years in Chiles history. "genocide" and devoted the rest of his als. In this interpretation, which goes far Under Spanish law, defendants may not life - he died in 1958 - to getting the beyond the narrow meaning of "national Ье tried in absentia, thus Pinochet and idea of genocide as an intemational crime origin" that some have tried to read into Galtieri are not likely ever to Ье seen sit­ accepted Ьу the world community: the term "national," the judges were rein­ ting in the dock of а Spanish courtroom. Although he called January 12, 1951, forced Ьу the opinion of Benjamin But these unique proceedings have already the day the Convention came into force, Whitaker, the UN Rapporteur on geno­ had an enormous moral and historical "the greatest day of ту life," he had two re­ cide who, in his 1985 report, concluded impact, not to mention the political grets: While he wanted genocide to Ье а that the intentional destruction of а "sig­ firestorms which they have caused in the universal crime (i.e., one for which а perpe­ nificant sector of а national group" for three countries affected. If nothing else, trator could Ье tried anywhere), Article VI ideological or political reasons - such they will serve as forerunners for the work of the Convention limits jurisdiction to the as in Cambodia - constituted genocide. of the Intemational Criminal Court which courts of the country in which the crime is There is, in any case, а direct connec­ is likely to Ье estaЬlished at а UN-spon­ committed, or to an intemational tribunal. tion between Spain and the two proceed­ sored conference this June, precisely be­ (The Soviet Union, incidentally, advocated ings in that they were originally based on cause, for jurisdictional and political rea­ universality, but lost out to the United the victimization of Spanish citizens who sons, it has proved so difficult to punish States, which insisted on territoriality). were tortured and disappeared under the bumper crop of head-of-state terror­ Lemkiп also would have liked to see the Pinochets and Galtieris reigns of terror and ists which this century has produced. definition of genocide include the entire or whose relatives were the original plaintiffs. And, if nothing else, the intemational partial destruction of political groups but, in lt is questionaЫe whether the cases could arrest warrants issued Ьу the Spanish the event, it was limited to "national, ethni­ or would have been brought had there not judges may put а severe crimp in the travel cal, racial or religious groups." been this connection. However, subse­ plans of Pinochet, Galtieri and company How then, did the Spanish judges de­ quently other plaintiffs, including the en­ for the rest of their damned lives. • cide that they had jurisdiction to open pro­ tire Chilean Association of the Killed and Peter Weiss is vice president of the Centerfor Constitutional ceedings for genocidal crimes committed Disappeared, were allowed to join as plain­ Rights, which represented the family of Charles Hoпnan, who outside of Spain? (ln addition to genocide, tiffs, as is possiЬle under the law of Spain was murdered in Chile shortly after the Pinochet coup, in their suit against Henry Кissiлger and other high oflicials of the prosecutioпs charged terrorism, torture and other continental law countries. 1 the US government, and which pioneered the line of cases in and illegal detentioп followed Ьу disap­ It is interesting to note that, while, un­ which foreign torturers have been sued in US courts. Не gratefullyacknowledges theassistance of Juan Е. Garces, the аЫе pearance.) They were to do so under like the Spanish law, there is no provision lawyer representiлg most of the plaintiffs in the Spanish case Spanish laws which define genocide, ter­ in US law for the trial of genocidal acts against Pinochet, in the preparation of this note. rorism and torture as universal crimes and committed abroad against US citizens, l. Under the US criminal system, no such intervention is pog.. siЫe,giventhe\egalfictionthatcrimesarecommittedagainst authofize S.panish courts to prosecute per­ there is such а provision for terrorist acts, "Гhe People,"ratherthanindividuals.However,ourcourtsare sons committiпg them aпywhere in the and there is а provision for trying US citi­ Ьeginningto allowvictims and their SUIVi.vors to participate in sentenciлg heariлgs and to attend executions - а question­ по world, if other court has done so. But, zens committing genocidal acts anywhere in aЫe advance ifever there \VЗS one. On the other hand, our it may Ье asked, how could the Spanish the world. This is found in the Genocide courts, unlike those of any other countiyso far, are open tocivil legislators go beyond the jurisdictional Convention Implementation Act of 1987, suits Ьу alien victims, or the survivors of victims, of torture and other gross human rights violations committed abroad, pro­ terms of the Coпventioп? The answer lies also known as the Symington Act (18 vided theirperpetrators can Ье served with complaints in this iп the fact that Article I of the Convention U.S.C. 1091), which was finally enacted 36 countiy.

NUМBER64 mJ 39 justice because of the Ьlanket amnesty Pinochet granted to members of his repres­ sive apparatus. Thousand of miles and many years away, а Spanish judge hears testimony from victims and culprits. Не will decide if sufficient compelling evidence exists to indict the unrepentant general. It is the first time that а court of law..is scrutiniz­ ing Pinochet's role in 17 years orЫoody deeds. Ironically, Washington holds evidence that might nail shut Pinochet's legal coffin. Washington's "war on terrorism" policy should have dictated avid cooperation in this case. As of mid-April, the US had not yet delivered relevant classified documents to Judge Garcia Castell6n, nor had the Jus­ tice Department "found" а key witness liv­ ing in the US who participated in the Letelier killing, Lt. Armando Fernandez Larios. Perhaps the White House feared А college student, 19, shows torture marks made Ьу the secret police. The that an indictment of Pinochet might cause brand, inflicted with а hot metal object, stands for Unidad Рори /аг , а coalition of leftist and left-of-center, political parties (Santiago, 1987). some military stirring, just as President Clinton landed in Chile for the April 18-19 maintain the "miracle" boom of the of Charles Horman has also joined the civil economic Summit. economy, government officials said, Chil­ suit. Horman was а US filmmaker and The Spanish judge's indictment could eans must focus on the future. writer whose arrest and execution in Ье а prelude to Latin America's first Those who brought the suit, in and Chile in 1973 became the basis of the film "Nuremberg" trial, an assurance that fu­ outside Chile, hope that the case might al­ Missing starring Jack Lemmon. 16 Unlike ture tyrants must think before committing low some measure of belated justice and the well-documented assassination of Or­ atrocities. For the victims' families, it ease the pain they continue to suffer as а lando Letelier, thousands of less-famous would provide а small measure of justice result of Pinochet's atrocities. Along with murdered Chileans have been denied to watch the infamous dictator head not Spanish and Chilean plaintiffs, the family 16. Repmtq{OwChi.l.eo:nNalimю.lCтnrnШ;Юn"" ар. cil., р.180. to retirement, but to prison. •

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40 SPRING 1998 The USDA has Ьееп tinkering with the genetic code of а danger­ ous fungus trying to target and wipe out theAndean соса and рорру crops. But if anythinggoes wrong, the fu.sarium fu.ngus mayendup destroyingfood crops and а whole lotmore.

Ьу Jirn Hogshire

I;,Р"'' Augu;t, ' р;'" оГ good """ strain of the fungus that "inoculates" the hundreds of other crops. The Ьlight, in came from the maze of nameless buildings tomatoes, much as а vaccine protects а all its myriad permutations, can lie dor­ at the usoл's Agricultural Research Service child against certain diseases. 1 mant in the soil for years without а host (ARS) in Beltsville, Maryland. Dr. Deborah And the fungus is nasty. А virulent plant and then springs to life, causing R. Fravel, а plant pathologist at the labo­ mutation of fusarium, called "Race 3," has devastating "wilt disease." Fear of intro­ ratory for Biocontrol of Plant Diseases been а bane to Florida and Georgia farm­ ducing the disease is one reason Japan is (BCPD) haa turned the taЫes on а nasty, ers who have trouЫe controlling it with loath to accept US produce.3 While some tomato-eating fungus called Fusarium even the strongest fungicides. 2 Around strains of this fungus are relatively harm­ oxysporum. She had developed а ' Ъenign" the world, fusarium also destroys water­ less to most plants, other types of

Jim Но~ is afreelancejournalist and author of the Ьooks melons, chickpeas, basil, bananas, and fusarium can produce mycotoxins poison­ OpiumfortheMasses (1994),SeUYourselftoScience (1992), ous to humans. andGrossed-OutSurgean lfnnШinsi.dePati.ent (1997). 1. "LaЬNot.es"Th.eColumЬian (\l,mcouver, WA),Sept.10, 1997. PhotD: Soldierin poppyfield: US-ftrnded "OperationRadiance." 2. PreJsRelease,JanSuSll

NUМBER64 ~ 41 The Fungus Among Us sites "foreign and domestic."7 А govern­ ways to make them more attractive to the But the USDA press release was warm and ment соса field in Hawaii was eventually insects - so they would take the herЬi­ fuzzy, describlng "good" fungi 'Ъelping used to test the mycotoxin, along with tra­ cide deeper into the soil. The ants (which plants to help themselves." ditional chemical herblcides.8 А 1995 preferred their pellets Пavored with olive There was no mention of Fravel's part in study of fusarium herЬicide showed "sig­ oil) were found to carry the fungus both dozens of projects aimed at producing а le­ nificant kill" of соса bushes while other "outside and inside their bodies."10 thal - but "natural" - herЬicide from the studies indicate а 60 to 90 percent kill-rate same fungus for а very different purpose. for opium poppies.9 When scientists no­ Changing Genes Fravel's efforts are part о[ а cabal of scientists ticed that ants sometimes carried away the later research Ьу Bailey and others iden­ working hand in hand with the DEA, the poison pellets, Fravel and Bailey looked for tified the gene responsiЬle for one strain's State Department, and for­ deadly effects on соса. eign governments to pro­ They then developed а way duce an herЬicide designed "to allow alteration о[ the to effect the drug wars Final gene expression." 11 They Solution: total elimination began to play with the fun­ о[ the world's illicit соса gus' genetic code. crops and opium poppies The ARS's long-standing - the same goal recently interest in manipulating announced Ьу the United the fusarium fungus is re­ Nations.4 vealed in а series of studies Fravel's boss at the it commissioned. One ex­ BCPD , Dr. Robert D. lums­ periment set out "to con­ den, is а prominent figure struct а genetic map of in the eradication re­ Fusarium moniliforme" search program. lums­ and "to identify mutants den's work with mutant that affect the synthesis or' strains о[ Fusarium oxyspo­ its mycotoxins.12 Another rum over the past Геw years study proposed "the de­ has taken him to sites velopment of strains with around the world and enhanced pathogenicity" across the country. At the that could wipe out соса University of Montana in plants "using molecular Bozeman, he and another genetic manipulations in­ ARS plant pathologist, Dr. volving fungal proteins."13 Bryan А. Bailey, are in the The ARS branch in Ft. midst of а five -year study Detrick, Maryland, carried of the toxic effects of F out the "successful trans­ oxysporum and other fungi formation of Fusarium on opium poppies and oxysporum" Ьу "DNA se­ marijuana.5 According to quence encoding."14 Claim- one о[ lumsden's reports, unlike chemical he rЬi ­ 10. "Dispersal ofFormulations ofthe cides, "these naturally-oc­ Mycoherblcidal Strain of F'usarium OX!Jsporum R Sp. erythroX'Jjli Ьу curring fungi are safe for Ants," ARS Report#0000080246 (1997). humans and the environ­ 11. SununaryofworkwrittenЬyВailey on theARS website . Не notes, "А lumsden worked with Pusarium wiltepidemic is Ьeing moni­ tored to determine factors which influ­ Bailey to develop а granu­ ence the spread of disease .... \\\э have lar formulation offu sarium isolated а gene for the 24 kDa protein fromF'usariumoxysporum and have mycotoxin, for testing at Small holding farmers have few alternatives to growing соса if developed а transformation system in 4. Raymond Bonner, "Тор UN Drug they hope to make а living in the rural Andes region. F'usarium oxysporum to allow alter­ Aide Hopes to Rid Globe of Рорру ation ofthegeneexpression." and Соса Crops,'' New York Тimes, Nov. 14, 1997, р . 6. 7. Ibld. See also "Development and Field Тesting ofPapaver ­ 12. "Genetics and Physiology ofF'usariиmS]J'JJ. ,'' #0095292 5. ''Гhе Development and Field Тesting ofPapaver -specific specificandйmшzlnS-specificМycoherЬicides,"#0148941 (1996). ( 1996). Тhis study began in 1993. See also "Genetic Charac­ and CannaЬis-specific Mycoherblcides,'' #0148941 ( 1996). 8. "Environmental Fate of Herblcides in Ha\vati, Peru, and terization Ьу RAPD Analysis of an Emerging Epidemic in Some citations in this article (preceded Ьу а# sign) are listed Panama," ARS Report#0000073921 (1996); and, "Epidemiology, Peru of F'usarium oxysporumf sp. lff)Jthroxyli,'' ARS Re­ Ьу their "Accession Number" and are retrievaЬle from the Ecology and Molecular Systematics ofF'usari:um Pathogenic on port#0000079357 (1997). Тhis report discussed "an epidemic USDA's CRIS database. Reports that Ьegin with "ARS Report 'lfopical Crops in Peru" #0149339 (1996). Тhis reportconcluded, ofF'usarium oxysporum ... presently occurring in the coca­ #" соте from the Agricultural Research Service's (ARS) 'This informationwill Ье used Ьyscientistsd~lopingF/usarium/ growing region of the Huallaga Valley in Ре\1) ,'' which, through "Тektran" database. Тhе sununaries for these reports сап Ье о. erythroxyli as а mycoherblcide againstE. соса." "DNA fingerprinting," revealed "two subpopulations" of accessed USDA CRIS website or the USDA tektran website . (1995); "Genetic Improvement ofBiological Contro!Agents to Stress: Тheir Response to Ethylene and Fungal Protein 6. "Preparation ofStaЫe, Granular Formulations Containing for Weed Control," #0168979 (1996); and, "Discovery Develop­ Preparations," ARS Report#0000064222 (1995). F'usarium oxysporum Pathogenic to Narcotic Plants," ARS ment and Mechanism of Action of Biocontrol Agents for Pe­ 14. "Characterization and Development of Exotic Pathogens Report#0000084462 (1997). rennial andAnnual Weeds," #0148941 (1996). for Biocontrol oflntroduced Weeds,'' #О 14 7908, ( 1996).

42 SPRING 1998 ing that it would have "limited environmental impact," another ARS study acknowl­ edged that а "Ьiocontrol strategy for соса" using Fusarium oxysporum had been "developed and successfully field tested in srnall scale trials." 15 Researchers hint that they took their cue for the my­ cotoxin from а naturally occurring outbreak of fusarium wilt destroying crops in Peru's ,.../ Upper Нш:\Цаgа Valley. An ongoing · · ARS project, begun in 1993, noted: "Studies of а naturally-occurring epidemic of fusarium wilt in Peru have been concluded which verify that the epidemic is progressing and causing significant disease in the соса producing regions of Peru. Already, the natural epi­ demic of fusarium wilt in the соса producing areas of Peru is causing farmers to abandon their fields. А protein produced Ьу Fusarium oxysporum which is toxic to Е. соса has been purified and its gene cloned. The data indicate that а ЬioherЬicide using F. oxysporum which is effective against соса can Ье produced and proof of concept field tests are being initiated. "16 As early as 1991 , Peruvian campesinos testified that they witnessed helicopters carrying DEA agents and Peruvian po­ lice dropping pellets containing the fungus onto соса fields ; however, there is no other solid evidence to support the allegation that the pellets actually contained . fusarium .17 Other press accounts allege а direct "' / link between the DEA and the use ofjusarium: "The US Drug Enforcement Administra­ tion resumed full cooperation with the "" Peruvian police in 1994, when [the] strategy shifted to destroying illegal соса plantations using а mushroom known scientifically as fusarium and colloquially among the peasants as 'the coca-eater.' "18 Because there are so many strains or races ofjusari­ um , it may not Ье possiЬle to deter­ mine if this outbreak affecting соса and other crops is а result of natu­ ral causes or human intervention. Eat Stuff and Die The proЫem with creating any ' Ъug " that will eat just one thing and then obediently cease to ex­ ist is obvious. All life-forms mutate and adapt, especially а

15. "Strategies of Biological Control of Narcotic Plants," ARS Report #0000087089 (1997). 16. "Discovery Development and Mechanj№l of Action of Biocontrol AgentsforPerennialaгdAnnualWIO<;," #0147936(1996),emphasis added. 17. Ricardo SoЬeron, 'The \\iiron С<г caine in Peru: from Cartagena to Peru," Jssue Brief #6, W!shington Of­ fice on Latin America, Aug. 7, 1992. 18. AЬraham Lama, "Chemists Play­ ing Bigger Part in Drug War," Inter Press Service,Apr.16, 1996.

NUМBER64 ~ 43 simple organism like а fungus; sooner or years, the US has browbeaten Andean pro­ to rain - and farmers who rush into the later it will learn to eat something else. А ducer countries into using US-produced freshly poisoned fields to wash the toxins similar situation occurred in 1971, when Ri­ herЬicides such as Roundup (glyphosate), off their crops. 25 chard Nixon misinterpreted а theory about and to kill off the "source" of the US drug Arrned with the more potent herЬicide "an insect which could consume рорру proЫem. The Andean nations have Spike (tebuthiuron), the US is now pushing crops" and then die. Nixon, preoccupied Ьу balked, arguing that US consumer de­ to use that defoliant in the drug war. Manu­ this imaginary weevil, Ьу then dubbed the mand drives production, not the other factured Ьу Dow AgroSciences (formerly "screw worrn" (Ьecause it was supposed to way around. With the threat of withhold­ DowElanco and then Eli Lilly before that die after intercourse), asked Congress for ing millions in aid dollars to bolster its merger), the use of tebuthiuron h~s been funding. When Nixons advisors could not Ье side, Washington has demanded eradica­ hawked in Congress Ьу Rep. Dan Burton (R­ assured that this "screw worrn" would Ье host tion. Local growers are then left not only IN) - а longtime recipient of money from specific - i.e., it might eat the worlds supply without а cash crop, but sick from the both Indianapolis based-Eli Lilly and Dow. of рорру crops and then adapt to another toxic effects of the herЬicides. While killer fungi and many poisonous host, such as rice or wheat - they lost inter­ herЬicides are not appro.ved for est in the project. Eventually even these use in the US, people in devel­ knuckleheads dropped the idea. 19 The fungus could attack oping countries often have no But research into doper bugs continued. say in what toxins are released In 1996, Bailey, Lumsden, and Fravel - adjacent crops and do God­ in their communities. If some working on а project at North Carolina US officials have their way, uni­ State University in Raleigh - wrote that knows-what to everything lateral decision-making could their finely tuned pathogen "kills only соса become the norm. and does not harm other plants."20 А re­ else around it. At а hearing he chaired on cently launched study, however, suggests "certification" of nations in the that the fusarium forrnulas are still not spe­ drug war, Dan Burton told the cific enough. One ARS investigator is study­ Protests over the health effects of herЬi­ State Department's narcotics point man, ing the "uЬiquitous species-complex of cides prompted Bolivia and Peru to stand Robert Gelbard, how to handle countries Fusarium oxysporum [that] is currently be­ up to Washington and prohiЬit Roundup­ that refused to Ье defoliated: "Tell the ing investigated as а Ьiological control like herЬicides for соса and рорру eradi­ president [sic] of Peru and Bolivia at about agent. However, this fungus encompasses cation. 22 In early March 1996, ColomЬia 5:00 in the morning, 'We've got а bunch broad genetic variabllity that has not yet abruptly halted herЬicide fumigation in of aircraft carriers out here, and we're been delineated." There is, the researcher retaliation for being "decertified" for not coming down through those valleys, and continues, "still а need to characterize ge­ complying with US drug war demands. we're gonna drop this stuff, this netically the strains that attach Erythroxylon Humans exposed to Monsanto Corp­ tebuthiuron ... ' I think we should con­ [соса] ancl/or Papaver [poppies] as well as orations Roundup - the current chemi­ sider, if this really is а war on drugs, doing those that occur in soils and on crop plants cal of choice - can suffer damage to the it unilaterally and violating the territorial growing in close proximity." 21 Translation: stomach, heart, kidneys, lungs and skin. 23 boundaries of those countries and drop­ the innumeraЫe strains of the fungus could Glyphosate, according to а 1993 study Ьу ping that stuff. Now, I know that doesn't possiЬly attack adjacent crops and do God­ the University of California Berkeley sit well with the State Department, but knows-what to everything else. School of PuЬlic Health, was the third most either we deal with it or our kids continue Perversely, the government touts the commoпly-reported cause of pesticide ill­ to suffer and our society continues to let fungus project as environmentally friendly ness among agricultural workers. Another this cancer grow. "26 because it avoids the use of chemicals. For study from the Berkeley school found that Whether "our" kids should Ье "pro­ 19. EdwardJ. Epstein,Agency ofFear, revised edition (New it was the most frequently reported cause tected" Ьу poisoning "their" kids, how­ York: \erso, 1990), рр.147-51, 200-91. Nixon's imagiruuy"Screw of pesticide illness among landscape ever, is а policy issue that seems to escape Woпn" is based on а weevil and is completely unrelated to the 24 Screwwoпn flywhich strikes livestock. maintenance workers. As а drug eradi­ US drug warriors. In their zeal to sound 20. "Epidemiology, Ecology and Molecular Systematics of cation chemical, glyphosate has another ever tougher on drug issues, Washington Ришriшп P:UhogeniconTh:>pi.ail ~in Peru,"#0149339 (1996). proЬlem: It сап Ье washed off for 8 hours policy makers - together with fearless 21. "Developing Molecular Markers For Candidate Biological Control Fungi for Narcotic Plants," #0401025 (1997). after it is sprayed on, making it vulneraЬle scientists eager to test their theories on other people's communities - may soon 22. Testimony of Robert have а new Ьiological doomsday weapon Реасе Brigades International invites уои to Gelbard at the "Hearings on ) Certification for Drug·produc· to unleash on their southern neighbors. our Fourth Annual National Gathering ing Countries in Latin Amer­ At best, fusarium could become the latest ~ ica," chaired Ьу Rep. Dan Bur­ ',; Disarmed to the Teeth ton (R-IN), House Western Ьit of humiliation unilaterally rammed Hemisphere Affairs SuЬcom· down the throat of Andean пations. At April 3, 1998 Нarvard, МА И 30-Мау mittee of the House Interna­ worst, the fungus could run amok un­ tional Relations Committee, Join Pacifica Radio's Amy Goodman, Amnesty March 7, 1996. leashing the modern day equivaleпt of the International's Carlos Salinas, East Тшюr Network's Charlie 23. Caroline Сох, "Glyphosate, Great Potato Famine. 8 Part 1: Тoxicology," Journal of Scheiner, and Pierre La Bossier of the Вау Area Haitian­ Pest'ieide Reform, v. 15, n. 3, 25. "Effects of Surfactants on the Uptake of l 4c-Glyphosate American Council to discusshшnan rights, gain organizing Fall 1995. See a1so "Glyphosate, inErythroxylum Sp" "ARS Report #0000085585, ( 1997). Part 2: Human Exposure and 26. "Hearings on Certification for Drug-producing Countries in skills and leam aЬout protective aecompaniment in action! Ecological Effects," in n. 4, Latin America," chaired Ьу Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN), House Call (51О)540-0749 or visit us at www. igc. orglphi/usa.html . Wmterl995. Westem Hemisphere Affairs SuЬcommittee of the House Inter­ 24.!Ьi.d. national Relations Committee, March 7, 1996.

44 SPRING 1998 7he Burma-Singapore Axis:

Globalizing the Heroin 7rade

Ьу Leslie Kean and Dennis Bernstein

Trade Organization. Indeed, the tiny China Sea island о[ three and а half million people is known far and wide as the Ыuе chip of the region - а financial trading base and а route for the vast sums of money that flow in and out of Asia. 4 If the brutal Burmese dictatorship's international Two countries with repressive pariah status is of any con­ regimes abet the illegal drug cern to its more powerful trade. Above, Burmese hill tribe parmer, Singapore shows no members smoke opium; right, sign of it. Following the Singapore promotes its values. March 24 visit of Singapores Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong to Rangoon, а Singapore 'Singapore's economic linkage with famous heroin kingpin Lo Hsing Han, who spokesperson proclaimed, "Singapore and Burma is one of the most vital factors for now controls а substantial portion of the Myanmar5 should continue to explore areas the survival of Burma's military regime," world's opium trade. 2 The close political, where they can complement each other." 6 says Professor Муа Maung, а Burmese economic, and military relationship be­ As both countries continue to celebrate their economist based in Boston. This link, he tween the two countries facilitates the "complementary" relationship, the interna­ continues, is also central to "the expansion weaving of millions of narco-dollars into tional community must take note of the pow­ of the heroin trade." 1 Singapore has the legitimate world economy. erful support this relationship provides both achieved the distinction of being the Bur­ Singapore has also become а major to Burma's illegitimate regime and to its mese junta's number one business partner player in Asian commerce. According to booming Ьillion dollar drug trade. - both largest trading partner and larg­ Steven Green, US Ambassador to Singa­ est foreign investor. More than half these pore, that city-states free market policies Drugs 'R' Us investments, totaling upwards of $1.3 Ьil­ have "allowed this small country to de­ The Burmese military dictatorship lion, are in partnership with Burma's in- velop one of the world's most successful known Ьу the acronym SLORC for State Law trading and investment economies."3 and Order Restoration Council until it Leslie Kean is co-author of Burma 's Revolution of the Singapore also has а strong role in the SpiriL· Тhе Strnggle for Derrwcratic F'reedom and Dig­ 4. Interview with Doug Henwood (ed .), Left Business Ob­ nity and director of the Burma Project USA. powerful 132-member country World server, Feb. 2, 1998. Dennis Bemstein, associate editor at Pacific News Ser­ 5. Тhе military junta changed Burma's name to "Myanmar" vice, is producer of КРFА radio's "Flashpoints." 2. JnternationalNarcotics ControlStrawrm Repor41997, without consulting the citizens of the country. Тhе lead­ 1. Interview, Sept. 8, 1997. Professor Муа Maung is the au­ Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement ers of Burma's elected democratic party-who were not thorof'l'heBurmaRoad toPm;erty (Praeger, 1991);1Ыali­ Affairs, US Department of State, Washington, DC, March allowed to take office despite an overwhelming victory in tarianism inBurm.a: Prospectsfor EwnomicDeveWpmeпt 1998 [hereinafter JNCSR]. 1990-do not recognize the name change. (Paragon House, 1992); Тhе Burma Road to Capitalism: 3. Steven J. Green, Confumation Statement, US Senate 6. "S'Pore, Myanmar ease VIP travel," Тhе Straits Тimes, GmwthversusDerrwcracy (Praeger, 1998). Committee on Foreign Relations, Oct. 21, 1997. March 25, 1998.

NUМBER64 ~ 45 changed its name to the State Реасе and Burmese government says one thing but funds on а regular basis from regional com­ Development Council (SPDC) last Novem­ does another," according to Banphot manders who, in tum, expect payoffs from ber - depends on the resources of Burma's Piamdi, director of Thailand's Northern the rank and file. The soldiers get the drug barons for its financial survival. Since Region's Narcotics Suppression Center. "It money any way they can - through smug­ it seized power in 1988, opium production claims to have subdued Кhun Sa's group. gling, gamЬ\ing or selling jade - with has douЫed , 7 equaling all legal exports and ... However the fact is that the group un­ drugs being the most accessiЬle source of making the country the world's Ьiggest der the supervision of".Khun Sa's son has revenue in Shan State. The officers in the heroin supplier. Burma now supplies the received permission from Rangoon to pro­ field also "tax" refineries, drug transporters, US with 60 percent of its heroin imports duce narcotics in the areas along the Thai­ and opium farmers. and has recently become а major regional Burmese border."13 At great risk, the intelligence soi7rces - producer of methamphetamines. With 50 Khun Sa's son is not the only trafficker who go undercover to infiltrate troops in percent of the economy unaccounted for, reaping benefits in the Shan State area the field - collect painstakingly detailed drug traffickers, businessmen and govem­ which borders Thailand and China and data including names, dates and places, ment officials are аЫе to integrate spectacu­ serves as Burma's primary рорру growing such as these delivered in March 1998 lar profits throughout Burma's permanent area. Field intelligence and ethnic militia from Shan State: "On lOth Jan. 98, SPDC economy. 8 sources consistently report а pattern of army no. 65 stationed at Mong Ton sent Both the Burmese generals and drug 40 troops to Nam Hkek village, lords have been аЫе to take advantage of Pon Ра Khem village tract, col­ Singapore's liberal banking laws and lected 0.16 kilo of opium per money laundering opportunities. In 1991, "Singapore's investments household or [collected pay­ for example, the SLORC laundered $400 ment of] Baht 600. Then the million through а Singapore bank which it in Burma are opening doors troops sold the collected opium used as а down payment for Chinese arms. to the drug business men at the Despite the large sum, Burma's foreign ex­ for the dmg traffickers, rate of Baht 6000 for 1.6 kilos." change reserves registered no change either giving them access to banks Another report states: "Troops before or after the sale. 9 With no laws to from SPDC Battalion nos. 277 & prevent money laundering, Singapore is and fmancial systems." 65 stationed at Mong Ton are widely reported to Ье а financial haven for still protecting heroin refineries Burma's elite, including its two most noto­ situated at Hkai lon, Рау lon & rious traffickers, Lo Hsing Han and Khun Но уа areas, Mong Ton town- Sa (also known Ьу his Chinese name Burmese military involvement with drug ship. Those who can рау В.200,00 per Chang Qifu). production in these remote areas. Govem­ month are allowed to run the heroin re­ SLORC cut а deal with Кhun Sa for his ment troops offer protection to the heroin fineries. " And: "On Зrd of Jan. 98, Burma "surrender" in early 1996, allowing him pro­ and amphetamine refineries in the area in Army no. 99 collected opium tax in Lashio tection and business opportunities in ex­ exchange for payoffs and gifts, such as township. They charged 0.32 kilo per change for retirement from the drug trade. Toyota sedans, pistols and army uniforms. household. They arrested and beat seri­ Кhun Sa now Ьills himself as " а commercial The only access to the refineries is through ously those who failed to give. "15 real estate agent who also has а foot in the permits issued Ьу Burmese military intel­ These sources also report that Ко Tat, Pri­ Burmese construction industry. "10 Already in ligence - without this, the heavily vate 90900 from SPDC battalion no. 525 sta­ control of а bus route into the northern guarded areas surrounding the refineries tioned in Lin Кау, recently defected from the рорру growing region where the military is are too dangerous to approach. The mili­ Burmese army and said that his company actively involved in the drug business,11 he tary is also involved in protecting the had been giving protection to the opium is now investing $250 million in а new high­ transport of narcotics throughout the re­ fields around Но Mong. While the lower way between Rangoon and Mandalay, an gion, which the authorities have sealed off ranked officers struggle to meet their quotas SPDC cablnet member confirmed. 12 "The from the outside world. in the field, the highest levels of the govem­ "There are persistent and reliaЬle re­ ment in the capital city strike deals with 7. INCSR, ор. cit. ports that officials, particularly army per­ Burma's two top traffickers, one of whom is 8. "Country Commercial Guide: Burma," American Em­ bassy, Rangoon, July 1996; and Dennis Bernstein and Leslie sonnel posted in outlying areas, are in­ the prosperous partner of Singapore. Kean, "People of the Opiate: Burma's Dictatorsblp ofDrugs," volved in the drug business," confirms the Тhе Nat:Wn, Dec.16, 1996 (US weekly, not to Ье confused with March 1998 US government narcotics re­ Lo Hsing Han: the Bangkok daily). 9. Andrew Selth, "Burma's Defence Expenditure andArms port. "Army personnel wield consideraЬle At Home in Singapore Jndustries," Working Paper No. 309, Strategic and Defence political clout locally, and their involve­ With massive financial ties to Singapore, Studies Centre, August 1997, р. 8. Тhе source of the $400 а Lo Hsing Han is now one ofBurma's top in­ million has not been documented, but it is widely specu­ ment in trafficking is significant prob­ lated that tbls was drug money since the SLORC did not lem. "14 Intelligence sources, working for vestors. Не, along with Khun Sa , the have access to such large sums from other sources. ethnic leaders combating both the drug former "king of opium," is а major player 10. Raoul Кirschblcbler, "Jnterview with Кhun Sa," Aus­ trian Daily, July 30, 1997. trade and the military dictatorship, report in the Burmese economy. 11. "Кhun Sa given bus concession," BangkokPos4 Мау21 , that the pattern of government involve­ In the early l990s, Lo Hsi-ng Han con­ 1996. Although Кhun Sa has Ьееn indicted in the US, the ment extends all the way to the top. The trolled the most heavily · aтmed drug- generals refused а US offer of $2 million to extradite him for trial. Кhun Sa has threatened to reveal information about central government in Rangoon demands the involvement of high-ranking officials in the drug trade 15. Тhis article is partly based on а series of interviews with if they hand him over (Bertil Lintner, "Нigh Тime in the 13. "I'hailand flays Burma for not cooperating in drug fight," sources both permanently and temporarily in the United Golden Тriangle," 1Ьkуо Jouma~ April 17, 1996). BangkokSiamRath, Jan. 6, 1998 (translated from Тhai). States who must remain anonymous. Interviews were con­ 12. INCSR, ор. cit. 14. JNCSR, ор. cit. ducted Ьу phone and in person during 1997 and 1998.

46 SPRING 1998 trafГicking organization in Southeast Asia. 16 Не was ar­ rested in 1973 and sentenced to death, but was freed under а general amnesty in 1980. Now, like Khun Sa, he wears the pub­ lic persona of р. successful busi­ nessman in Rangoon - where no one does business without close govemment cooperation. Although he still oversees rural drug operations with the status of а godfather, according to US narcotics officials, the notorious Lo currently serves as an ad­ viser on ethnic affairs to Lt. Gen. Кhin Nyunt, the military intel­ ligence chief and the junta's powerful "Secretary l."17

Burmese students оп Lite, а subsidiary of Asia World.18 The hus­ а hunger strike for band-wife team are also the sole officers human rights and and shareholders of Asia World subsidiary, democracy in 1988, Kokang Singapore Pte Ltd. Founded in when the regime mas­ Singapore in 1993 with $4.6 million, the sacred hundreds of peaceful demonstra­ company "engages in general trading ac­ tors. Singapore was tivities in goods/products of all kinds/de­ the first to come to scriptions."19 the junta's rescue. Singapore's ventures with Asia World include both govemment and private in­ vestments. Kuok Singapore Ltd., а partner with Asia World in many ventures, was Lo Hsing Han is the chair ofBurmas Ьig­ planes. According to а high-level US gov­ Burmas largest single real estate investor as gest conglomerate, Asia World, founded in emment official familiar with the situation, о[ late 1996, with over $650 million in­ 1992. His son, Steven Law, is managing di­ Law's wife Cecilia Ng operates an under­ vested.20 Other Singaporean companies are rector and also runs three companies in ground banking system, and "is а contact mentioned in Asia World's company re­ Singapore which are "overseas branches" of for people in Burma to get their drug ports. Sinmardev, another major Singa- Asia World. Although Singapore is proud porean project linked to Los com­ of its mandatory death penalty for small­ pany, is а $207 million industrial time narcotics smugglers and heroin ad­ park and port on the outskirts о[ dicts, both father and son travel freely in Singapore has а mandatory Rangoon, which broke ground in and out о[ the friendly island-nation. "The death penalty on small-time 1997. Singaporean entrepreneur family money is offshore," said а high-level Albert Hong, head of Sinmardev, US narcotics official. "The old man is а con­ traffickers, but embraces victed drug trafficker, so his kid is handling 18. Meeting with the authors in Washington, DC, in Dec. 1997. Тhе government oflicial the financial activities." Burma's drug lords. wished to remain anonymous. In 1996, when Law married his Singa­ 19. Registry of Companies and Businesses, Singapore, for Kokang Singapore Pte. Ltd., а porean business partner in lavish, well­ Nov. 9, 1996. Тhе family's operations have be­ puЬlicized Rangoon wedding, guests from gun to penetrate US borders. Kokang Import and Export, а subsidiary of Asia World, was registered in Singapore were flown in on two chartered money into Singapore, because she has а Scottsdale, A'l, in 1993 and in Diamond Bar, СА, in 1994. Тhе connection to the govemment." Accord­ President of the Scottsdale branch of Kokang was Daisy Lo, 16. Вertil Lintner, "Гhе VolatiJe Yunnan Frontier," Jane's In­ ing to the o[ficial, Ng spends half her time daughter ofLo Нsing Han. It is not known where the company t,elli,gence Review, v. 6, n. 2, Feb. l, 1994, р. 84. now operates in the US, ifat all. 17. Anthony Davis and Bruce Hawke, "Business Js Bloom­ in Rangoon, half in Singapore; when in 20. "Kuok group invests another 128 million dollars in Burma," ing,"Asiawee1'; Jan. 23, 1998. Rangoon, she is headquartered at Asia AFP, Sept.11, 1996.

NUМBER64 ~ 47 described the project as the largest foreign humЬle beginning trading beans and to have to Ье аЫе to move your product," investment in Burma outside the energy pulses is suddenly involved in $200 mil­ said а high-level US narcotics official. field. The Singaporean consortium leads lion projects?" said а US government offi­ "They have set up institutions to facilitate the joint venture along with the Burmese cial, requesting anonymity. "Where did all the movement of drugs. And in all prob­ junta, Lo's Asia World, and а slew of inter­ that start-up capital come from7" ability, they are using laundered drug pro­ national shareholders.21 The US government ventured а guess ceeds, or funds generated from invest­ Kuok Singapore Ltd., Lo Hsing Han's in 1996: It denied Asia World's СЕО Steven ments of drug trafficking proceeds, to build Asia World, and the Burmese junta are also Law а visa to the US "on suspicion of drug this infrastructure," he added. partners in the luxury Traders Hotel. The trafficking."23 Asia World's operations now The activities of Lo's company Asia hotel's November 1996 opening ceremony include а deepwater port in Rangoon, the World have triggered an international nar- was attended Ьу the Singapore ambassador, cotics investigation led Ьу the president ofKuok Singapore, and briefly Washington. US investiga­ Ьу Lo Hsing Han himself. The presiding Burmese generals and dmg tors allege that Asia World's Burmese minister puЬlicly thanked Steven relationship to Singapore Law and the government of Singapore lords enjoy Singapore's liberal paves the way for the narcot- "without whose support and encourage­ ics trade to Ье woven into all ment there would Ье very few Singaporean banking laws and money legitimate investments be­ businessmen in our country "22 tween the two countries. While government and business con­ laundering opportunities. "Singapore's investments in nections in Burma and Singapore have Burma are opening doors for boosted Asia World's prospects, other fac­ the drug traffickers, giving tors have contributed to the company's ex­ them access to banks and Гi - traordinary growth. In the last six years, Leo Express bus line into Northern nancial systems," said one government Asia World has expanded from а modest Burma, and а $33 million toll highway official familiar with the situation. trading company to become Burma's larg­ from the heart of Burma's poppy-growing est and fastest-growing private sector en­ region to the China border. 24 On Decem­ One Stop Shopping: terprise with interests in trading, manufac­ ber 20, the conglomerate opened а wharГ lnlelligence to Repression turing, property, industrial investment, with freight handling, storage, and а cus­ The Burmese junta's control of its impov­ development, construction, transportation, toms yard for ships carrying up to 15,000 erished population through crude meth­ import and distribution, and infrastruc­ tons. 25 "If you're in the dope business, ods such as torture, forced labor, and mass ture. "How is it that а company that has а these are the types of things that you've got killings leaves it open to iriternational con­ 23. "VisaBar," Far Ea.s/RrnEcunmnicReui,eщ Sept. 5, 1996; demnation. In contrast, Singapore takes а 21. "S'pore-led consortium in $282m Myanmar deal," Тhе interview Ьу the authors with а State Department official more sophisticated approach to repres­ Straits Тirrws, June 29, 1996. who wished not to Ье named, Sept. 1996. 22. ''Гraders Hotel holds soft opening to start operation with 24. Asia World Company Limited, Company РrоШе, 1996. sion, both at home and abroad. While the 90 rooms," Тhе Nw LightofMyanrrшr, Nov. 15, 1996. 25. SPDC Information SheetNo. А.0255(1), Dec. 21, 1997. island-nation's citizens have material ben-

48 SPRING 1998 efits and the appearance of rule of law, they live in fear of an Orwellian government that closely monitors every aspect of their lives. 26 The ruling party often sues those who dare to oppose it on trumped up defa­ mation charges, forcing many into bank­ ruptcy or exile. 27 The FBI {s \nvestigating complaints Ьу US citizens of harassment Ьу Singapore's Internal Security Department (ISD). One California academic, а widely respected specialist on Southeast Asian affairs who asked not to Ье identified, said ISD agents broke into his home because he was work­ ing to bring leading Singaporean opposi­ tion figure Tang Liang Hong to an Ameri­ can university The operatives tore out his door handle to get in, then searched his computer and desk. А week later, an Asian man, waiting in а tree, photographed and videotaped the aca­ demic while he walked in the park. After temporarily Ьlinding the aca­ demic with his bright flash, the man jumped from the tree and made а get - away in his саг. Tang - who is facing а $4.5 million defama­ А pack train оп the Golden Triangle route used Ьу smugglers Ьу tion lawsuit of Ыасk market goods and opium (above). Escaped porter (1 .), Singaporean senior tortured and forced into slave labor Ьу th e Burmese military. ministers - was not surprised Ьу the bur­ other top Burmese conglomerate, comprising more than glary. 'Tve been fol­ ministers, and high­ 100 companies. 3 1 This government­ lowed everywhere, level Singaporean owned company also provides on-site whether I was in officials. At the De­ training at Burma's Defense Ministry Hong Kong, Malay­ cember 23 meeting, complex, and reportedly passes on its sia, Australia or in Khin Nyunt urged "sophisticated capaЬility " to hundreds of London," he said in а his ministers to give Burmese "secret police" at an institution phone interview priority to proj ects inside Singapore. 32 from Australia. 28 arranged Ьу the Burma has no extemal enemies, but the Singapore has been more than willing Singaporean govemment. "Pilot projects are ruling junta goes to extremes to terrorize to share its expertise in intelligence with being implemented to transfer know-how to the population through its elaborate intel­ its Burmese counterparts. The Singapore­ Myanmar," said Кhin Nyunt in his address. 29 ligence network. Intelligence officials have Myanmar Ministerial-Level Work Commit­ One such project is а state-of-the-art already used their newly-acquired talents tee was set up in 1993 in Rangoon to "forge cyber-war center in Rangoon. Burma's mili­ from the cyber-war center to arrest pro-de­ mutual benefits in investment, trade and tary leaders can now intercept а range of mocracy activists, 33 and it is well known economic sectors." The committee includes incoming communications - including that Burma's feared military intelligence; intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, telephone calls, faxes, e-mails and com­ often tortures its victims during lengthy in­ puter data transmissions - from 20 other terrogations. 34 26. ТheSingaporegovemmeпt'soversightofitscitizensreaches down to the moot Ьasic levels of daiJy life. In ОсtоЬе~ the govem­ countries. 30 meпt launched а ''toiletalert," duringwhich Singaporeanswere The high-tech cyber-war center was 31. Тhе СЕО апd presideпt ofthe Board ofDirectors is Но asked to саЦ the "clean puЬlic toilets hotline" to ideпtiJY Singa­ Chim, wife ofDeputy Prime Мinister Lee Hsieп Loong ( sоп of pore's m&ie! toilets and vote for their top five favorites. (Sm.t/Ji built Ьу Singapore Technologies, the city­ retired Senior Мinister Lee Kuan Yew). ChinaMarningPost, Oct. 22, 1997). state's largest industrial and technology 32. William Ashton, "Burma receives advaпces from its 27. "Singapore / J В Jeyaretпam - the use of defamatioп silent suitors in Singapore," Jane's Intelligence Review, v. suits forpolitical purposes," Amпesty Iпtematioпal, Oct. 15, 10, п. 3, March 1, 1998. 1997. Тhе report states that Singapore's leaders are systemati­ 29. "Myanmar-Singapore Мinisterial-Level Work Committee 3.3. Кarniol, ор. ci,L cally "resorting to defamatioп suits as а politically-motivated helps develop Myanmar's ecoпomic and technical sectors," 34. Andrew Selth, "Burma's Iпtelligeпce Apparatus," Work­ tactic to sileпce critical views апd curb oppos i tioп activity." ТluJN!!WLightofMyanmar, Dec. 24, 1997. iпg Paper No. 308, Strategic апd Defeпse Studies Ceпtre, 28. Рhопе interview оп Nov. 2, 1997, from Me\Ьoume, Austra­ 30. Robert Кarnio l , "Myanmar spy ceпtre сап listeп to sat­ Australiaп Natioпal University, р. 26; Amпesty Iпterna­ lia, where 'Гang is in exile. phoпes," Jane's Difence Weekly, Sept. 17, 1997. tional,Myanmar: In theNationallnteres~ 1990.

NUМBER64 ~ 49 ent," according to company information. Shielding Burma Both the СЕО of jefferson Waterman ln­ temational, Charles Е. Waterman, and the hile Singapore and Chiria are WroЫeski, president of the firm, was Senior Vice President, Samuel Н. Wyman, W Burma's closest allies, other the architect of Nancy Reagan's "just were formerly officers for the CIA - countries and multinational Say No" campaign. As the Assistant Wyman for 31 years в corporations provide а Ьig shield for Secretary of State for the Bureau for In­ А second firm, Bain and ASsociates, is Burma's narcotics trade. ln 1997 alone, ternational Narcotics Matters during receiving $21,500 per month plus ex­ the military regime approved 60 new 1986-89, she advocated the denial of penses from the Burmese construction projects worth $1.27 Ьillion, bringing US anti-narcotics aid to the junta in company Zay Kabar - which has strong total foreign investment since the regime 1989 until а govemment suppoited Ьу links to the highest levels of Bшma's gov­ came to power to 299 projects worth the people was in power. 8 emment - to improve the image of the $6.87 Ьillion. Following Singapore in the In а 1989 statement to the House of regime in the media. l4 With "exclusive foreign investment lineup are Britain, Representatives Task Force on Narcot - permission from the Myanmar govem­ Thailand and Malaysia, in that order. 1 ics Control, WroЬleski said that "pros­ ment," Bain sponsored an invitation-only The US and France follow close behind. 2 pects are for expanded cultivation о[ media tour to Burma from February 24- Unocal - which no longer considers what is already the world's largest sup­ 27. Bain representative laura Livingston itself а US company but calls itself а "glo­ ply of illicit opium" in Burma. 9 Нег State suggested to participants that they write bal energy company"3 - and the French oil Department report the same year pre­ about the fact that "through mass dгug giant Total have joined forces with the Bur­ dicted accurately that Burma's opium burnings, strong anti-drug policies and mese regime and its state oil company innovative crop-substitution programs, Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprises (MOGE) the govemment is committed to wiping in building the $1.2 Ьillion Yadhana gas out the scourge of opium and drugs in pipeline through Burma into Thailand. An ex-Reagan-Bush present-day Myanmar." 15 Livingston said FourteenBurmese plaintiffs filed an un­ the response from joumalists to hег in­ precedented federal lawsuit in Los Angeles, anti-dmg cmsader vitation was so enthusiastic that Bain holding Unocal and Total accountaЫe for douЫed the nшnber of participants and the torture, rape, murder, forced labor and now is а flack for had to tum others away. As а result, more forced relocations of people living on the drug-dealing Rangoon. tours are being planned. 16 8 pipeline route. 1. "Myanmar Approves $1.27 Billion lnvestment in 1997," Unocal also faces allegations of fuel­ Reuters, Jan. 8, 1998. "Myanmar Approves $6.87 Billion ing the heroin trade through its relation­ Investmentsince 1988," Reuters, Мarch 17, 1998. 2. Теd Bardacke, ''US Companies Rush to Beat Sanctions ship to the government-owned MOGE production would continue to increase against Burma," Ji'inancial Тimes, April 25, 1997. which is "the main channel for launder­ and that "the military regime is unlikely 3. "Unocal Becomes а Companywithout а Nation,''Busi­ nessEthics, vol.12, no.l, JanJFeb. 1998. ing the revenues ofheroin produced and to resume any significant anti-narcotics 4. Declaration ofFrancois Casanier, associate researcher exported under the control of the Bur­ activity for the near future." 10 with the Gwpolitical Drugwawh, Paris, illed as an affida­ vit\vith the US DistrictCourtin LosAngelesonApril 7, 1997, mese army," according to а sworn affida­ Yet WroЫeski's crusade against in support ofthe suitagainst Unocal. vit for the federal suit.4 Randy Renick, an drugs seems to have made an about­ 5. Interview, April 1997. attomey for the lawsuit, says this affida­ face since she moved to jefferson 6. "British, Israeli Companies to Explore Oil in Myanmar," Xinhua News Agency, Jan. 31, 1998; Free vit "provides irrefutaЬle evidence that Waterman International. Her newslet - Burma - No Petro-dollars for SLORC, а projectoflnter­ Unocal is in partnership with criminal ter "Myanmar Monitor," praises the national Rivers Network, Вerkeley, СА; and "Rangoon signs drug dealers who are making profits off military regime for making great oilgasdeals,'' BurmaNewsNe!.\vork (BNN), Oct.16, 1996. 7. Jefferson W.Э.terman International Retainer Agreement, the backs of the indigenous people of progress in combating drugs - infor­ Ьetween Мyanmar Resources Development Ltd. and JWI, Myanmar."5 mation which runs contrary to the cur­ illed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, US De­ partment of Justice, Feb.13, 1997. lnjanuary, one lsraeli and two Brit­ rent Narcotics Strategy Control Report 8. R. Jeffrey Smith, "Burma's lmage ProЫem Is а ish companies signed а contract with from her old department and the state­ Moneymaker for US. Lobbyists,'' WashinglonPosl, Feb. 24, 1998. MOGE for oil exploration and produc­ ments of Madeleine Albright and Presi­ 9. Statement Ьу Assistant Secretary for International Nar­ tion, the largest investment in Burma dent Clinton. "Western countries are cotics MattersAnn. В. WroЫeski Ьеfо1-е the House ofRept-e­ so far this year. The US oil company turning а Ьlind еуе to Myanmar's nar­ sentatives'I'ask Force onNarcoticsControl,March 15, 1989. 10. Inumшtional Narcotics Crmtrol Stmwgy Report, Atlantic Richfield (ARCO) and oil firms cotics control efforts" proclaims ajanu­ Виmш, 1989, рр. 89, 182. from lndonesia and Malaysia have also ary issue, 11 while other headlines read 11. "А Vie\vThwards 1998,"Myanmar Mrmitm; distributed Ьу Jefferson W.Э.terman International, v. 26, Jan. 5, 1998. entered into agreements with MOGE. 6 "sPDC makes headway in Naicotics con­ 12. Муаптаr Mrmilor, ир. ci1.; "Мyanmar seriousaЬoutcon­ Back in Washington, the firm of trol" and "Myanmar: serious about con­ quering drug trade,'' Myanmar Mrmitm; v.16, Oct.1997. jefferson Waterman International is quering drug trade."12 13. Jefferson Waterman International information packet. , busy campaigning against US sanc­ Services provided Ьу Jefferson 14. Registration Statemen~ Шеd undertji~ ForeignAgents tions on Burma and giving а face lift to Waterman also include "strategic coun­ Registration Act, US Departmentof Justice, Sept. 3, 1997. 15. Letterfrom Laura Livingston, Bain andAssociates, lnc. the Burmese govemment for $400,000 а sel" and "up-to-the-minute intelligence to GaryТhatcher, Chicago ТriЬи11е, Jan.13, 1998. yeaI plus expenses. 7 lronically, Ann В. on how Washington views the foreign cli- 16. ConversationwithLauraLiving.wш,ВainandAssociates.

50 SPRING 1998 Singaporean companies have also helped suppress dissent in Burma Ьу supplying the military with arms to use against its own people. The first shipment of guns and ammunition was delivered оп October 6, .1988.35 Throughout that month,- hundreds of boxes of mortars, ammunition, and other supp1 ies maгked "Allied Ord­ nance, Singapore" were unloaded from vessels in Rangooп. Allied Ordnance is а subsidiary of Char­ tered lndustries оГ Singapore, the arms branch of Singapore Tech­ no1ogies - the same govemment­ owned company which built the cyber-war center. The shipments a1so inc1uded rockets made Ьу Chartered lndustries of Singapore under 1icense from а Swedish Burmese children slit the рорру pods and collect the lucrative raw opium. company and sold in violatioп of an agreemenl with Sweden requiring au­ Singapore Government," wrote Wi11iam its efforts at the UN level to promote its thorizatioп for re-expoгts. 36 Ashton in]ane's Intelligence Review. "Ву as­ business interests. "4 1 These shipmeпts from Singapore ar­ sisting with weapons sales, deГense tech­ The protection of Singapore's "concrete rived only weeks after the September 1988 nology transfers, military training and in­ and immediate stakes" is essential to the military takeover in Rangoon, in which the telligence cooperation, Singapore has been ruling party's success in maintaining new leaders of the SLORC massacred hun­ аЫе to win а sympathetic hearing at the power and the basis of its support for dreds of peaceful, pro-democracy demon­ very heart of Burma's official councils."39 Burma, said Case Western Reserve Univer­ strators in the streets. These ki\1iпgs fol­ sity economist Christopher Ling1e. lowed another wave of goveгnment massa­ Singapore's Stakes "Singapore depends heavily upon its cres earlier that summer, when longtime Last November, Singapore deployed its symblotic relationship with сгоnу capi­ dictator Ne Win struggled to keep power diplomatic arsenal to defend Rangoon at talists and upon accommodating а l1igh in the Гасе of nationwide strikes and dem­ the UN. Singaporean UN representatives enough rate of return to keep the citi­ oпstratioпs for democracy. Не eventua11y made an effort to water down the Genera1 zenry in line. Therefore its very survival stepped down but, operating behind the AssemЬly resolution which castigated the is tied up with business and government scenes, installed the puppet SLORC. As the Burmese government for its harsh treat­ investments. "42 killings continued, thousands of civilians ment of pro-democracy activists, wide­ William Ashton, writing in]ane's Intelli­ Пеd the country fearing for their lives. spread human rights violations, and nulli­ gence Review, suggested an additional incen­ When numerous countries responded Ьу fication of free and fair elections that had tive for Singapore's alliance with Burma. As suspending aid and Burma's traditiona1 voted it out of power. ln an "urgent" letter Rangoon's major regional backer and strate­ suppliers cut shipments, the SLORC became to the Swedish mission, which was draft­ gic ally, China has provided much of the desperate. Singapore was the first country ing the resolution, Singapore representative weaponry, training, and financial assistance to come to its rescue. Bilahari Kausikan cited "progress" in Burma for the junta. China's expanding commercia1 Singapore companies have continued to and said that "the majority оГ your co-spon­ and strategic interests in the Asia-Pacific re­ supply Burma's military, sometimes acting sors have little or no substantive interests gion, coupled with its alliance with neigh­ as middlemen for arms from other coun­ in Myanmar.... Our position is differeпt. boring Burma, is а source of great concern tries. ln 1989, lsrael and Belgium delivered We have concrete and immediate stakes. "40 in Singapore. The desire to keep Burma grenade launchers and anti-tank guns via Objectiпg to parts оГ the reso1ution and from becoming Beijing's stalking horse in the Singapore.37 ln 1992, Singapore violated the attempting to soften the language, region may provide another motivation for European Commission arms embargo Singapore's representative circulated the Singapore's wooing о[ Rangoon. 43 against the Burmese regime Ьу acting as а letter to key members of the UN's Third broker and arranging for а $1.5 mil1ion Committee on Human Rights. 'The driving Turning а Blind Еуе shipment of mortars from Portugal.38 force was definitely business connections," The Singapore government has consis­ "lt is highly unlikely that апу of these according to Dr. Thaung Htun, Represen­ tent1y disregarded the gross human rights shipments...to Burma could have been made tative for UN Affairs of Burma's govern­ without the knowledge and support of the ment-in-exile. "Singapore is defending its 41. Iпterviewwith Тhaung Htun, Natioпal Coalitioп Govem­ investments at the diplomatic level, using meпt ofthe Unioп of Burma (NCGUВ) Represeпtative for UN Affairs, оп Dec. 8, 1997. 35. Bertil Lintner, "Myanmar's Chinese connection," Jane's 39. Ashtoп, ор. cit. 42. E-mail iпte1view оп Dec. 13, 1997. Liпgle, who used to lnt.errшtianalDifl!YISeRemew, v. 27, n.11, Nov. l, 1994, р. 23. 40. Letter from Bilahari Кausikaп, Permaпeпt Represeп­ teach at the Natioпal University ofSingapore, is the author of 36. Ashton, ар. cit. tative ofthe RepuЫic ofSiпgapore to the Uпited Natioпs, Тhе Rise and Decline ojthe Asian Cenl:ury and Singapore's 37. JЬiд. to Н.Е. Mr. Напs Dahlgreп, Permaпeпt Rep. of Swedeп to Authoritanan Capitalism. 38. Lintner, "Myanmar's Chinese Connectioп,'' ар. cit. the UN, Nov. 21, 1997, marked "Urgeпt.'' 43. Ashtoп, ар. cit.

NUМBER64 ~ 51 violations perpetrated Ьу its allies in The Burrnese govemment has also kept West trade. Ambassador Green called the Burma. The UN Special Rapporteur, ap­ computers and communication technol­ country " а major entry port and а natu­ pointed to report to the United Nations ogy away from students and others in op­ ral gateway to Asia for Americ ~ш firms." on the situation in Burma, has been position to the regime. All computers, soft­ US companies exported $16 Ьillion barred entry int.o Burma since 1995.44 The ware, e-mail services and other telecom­ worth of goods to Singapore in 1996 and new US State Department Country Report munication devices - which hardly any­ more than l,300 US firms now operate on Burma for 1997 states that its "long­ one can afford anyway- must Ье \icensed, in the country.56 Singapore's strategic and standing severe repression of human rights but licences are almost impossiЬle to ob­ economic importance to the US cannot continued during the year. Citizens con­ tain. 50 Yet Singapore has made the best Ье overstated. The two нations just tinued to live subject at any time and with­ computer technology availaЫe to the rul­ reached an agreement allowing-the US out appeal to the arЬitrary and sometimes ing elite and their business partners. Navy to use а Singapore base even though brutal dictates of the military dictator­ Singapore Telecom, the largest company the deal violates ASEAN's 1997 nuclear­ ship."45 Amnesty Intemational reports that in Asia outside of Japan, was the first to weapons-free zone agreement. 57 there are well over l,200 political prison­ provide Burmese businesses and govem­ The US has condemned the Burmese ers languishing in Burmese dungeons, ment offices with the aЬility to set up in­ junta's record of human rights abuses and where torture is commonplace. 46 ter- and intra-corporate communications support for the drug trade, but has turned Singapore has issued no urgent letters in more than 90 countries. 51 а Ьlind еуе when it comes to Singapore's about а recent report Ьу Danish Doctors dealings with the regime. Although Presi­ for Human Rights which noted that "sixty­ Complementary Relations dent Clinton imposed economic sanctions six percent of [the over 120,000] refugees Singapore's concems are dramatically dif­ on Burma partly for its role in providing from Burma now living in Thailand have ferent from those of countries sharing а pure and cheap heroin to America's youth, been tortured" and subjected to "forced border with Burma. Thailand has to deal he has not commented on Singapore's will­ labor, deportation, pillaging, destruction of with the deadly narcotics trade and an ingness to play ball with the world's Ьig­ villages, and various forms of torture and overwhelming number of refugees arriv­ gest heroin traffickers. Ambassador Green rape." The doctors reported that refugees ing on а daily basis. Banphot Piamdi, the told Congress last year that the US ' Ъаs an witnessed the junta's military forces mur­ Thai counter-narcotics official, believes important role in working with the der members of their families. 47 Thailand made а Ьig mistake when it Singapore govemment to deal with illegal Singaporean l eade г s also seem uncon­ voted for Burma's entry into the Associa­ drug and weapons proliferation issues," 58 cemed about the fact that the Burrnese gov­ tion of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), but most US officials have remained silent ernment shut down almost all of Burma's given Burma's lack of cooperation in fight­ about Singapore's investments with Lo colleges and universities following student ing drugs. 52 Not surprisingly, the Singa­ Hsing Han and Burma's narco-dictator­ protests in December 1996 and imprisoned pore government lobЬied hard for ship. It's unlikely Clinton made any men­ hundreds of students.48 At а February cer­ Burma's 1997 acceptance into the pow­ tion of this issue last fall while golfing with emony of the Singapore Association in erful regional trade alliance. Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Myanmar, the Ambassador to Singapore Ironically, Burma's inclusion in ASEAN Tong during the АРЕС summit in presented а large check to Gen. Khin тау force member nations, including Vancouver. Nyunt - who is also Chairman of the gov­ Singapore, to address the havoc that their Unless the financial crisis in Asia lim­ ernment Education Committee - for the newest ally is imposing on the region - its profits, Singapore will рrоЬаЫу con­ "Myanmar education development fund. " especially since Burma provides approxi­ tinue to expand its investments in Burma. While depriving young Burrnese of higher mately 90 percent of the total production "Our two economies are complementary education, the junta's "Secretary l" Khin of Southeast Asian opium. 53 China and In­ and although we can derive satisfaction Nyunt responded that "Uplifting the edu­ dia, Burma's other neighbors, now face se­ from the progress made, I believe that cational standards of our people is one of vere AIDS epidemics related to increased there still remains а great potential that the social objectives of our Government." heroin use in their bordering provinces. is yet to Ье exploited," said the junta's Н е then went on at length to extol the "firrn Most of the heroin exported from Burma Gen. Khin Nyunt last February. 59 Aided foundation of growing economic and trade to the West passes through China's Ьу Singapore's support, Burma's thriving ties" between Singapore and Burma. 49 Yunnan province, which now has more heroin trade has plagued the majority of than half а million addicts. 54 And even countries around the globe. While these 44. Statement made Ьу Judge Rajsoomer Lallah, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights to the Singapore - whose heroin supply comes countries Ьlithely pour money into drug­ Fifty-Тhird Session ofthe Commission on Human Rights, UN, mostly from Burma - had а 41 percent connected companies based in Burma April9, 1997. 45. "Burma Country Report on Human Rights Practices for rise in HIV cases in 1997.55 and thereby help them to expand into 1997," US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Hu­ As we head into the "Asian century," foreign markets, an abundance of the man Rights, and Labor, Jan. 30, 1998. Singapore has become Washington's for­ world's finest heroin continues to plague 46. "Myanmar: А challenge for the international commu­ nity," Amnesty Intemational report, Oct. 20, 1997; Win ward partner in the unfolding era of East- their citizens. At the same time, the line Naing Оо , Cries F'rom Imein: А report оп conditiO'f/Sfor between legitimate and illegitimate in­ political prisoners in Burma 's irifamous Imein prison (Bangkok: AВSDF, July 1996). 50. "Burma Country Report," ар. ciL vestments grows dimmer in the global 4 7. "Danish group says refugees were tortured," AFP, 51. "Myanmar estaЫishes first overseas data links via economy. • Bangkok Post, Jan. 24, 1998. Singapore," news release, Singapore Тelecom , April 15, 1997. 48. "Students do exams to enter closed Myanmar colleges," 52. "Тhailand flays Burma ". ,"ар. cit. Reuters, March 4, 1998; Statement from the All Burma 53. INCSR, ар. cit. 56. Green, ар. cit. Federation of Students' Union, Rangoon, Feb. 26, 1998. 54. ''Гhais hoping regional Ыос can convince Burma to stop 57. Brendan Pereira, " КL paper raps S'pore move to allow US 49. "Singapore association in Myanmar donates К one drugflow," АР, Jan. 15, 1998 (translation). use ofnewChangi base,"Straits 'I'irмs , Feb.1, 1998. million to Myanmar education development fund," Т/uJ№rш 55. ' 'ГV series brings home AIDS message," South China 58. Green, ар. ciL Li{JhtofMyanmar, Feb. 23, 1998. Morning Post, Jan. 5, 1998. 59. "Singapore association in Myanmar ". ,"ар. cit.

52 SPRING 1998 Books • Audiotapes • Videos

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NUMBER64 ~ 53 Vietnam: The Final Battle

"It should never Ье f orgotten that the people must have priority."

-Но Chi Minh

Ьу J ohn Pilger

returned to Vietnam in the winter оГ I 1995. Hanoi presented а strange hy­ brid. The Odeon arcades, the avenues and villas and the replica of the Paris Op­ era, in which the French colons amused themselves with Berlioz and Bizet were only slightly more decrepit. In the cгowded Old Quarter, little had changed; there was still а sense of what Victorian England might have looked like: beneath the slate­ grey skies diminutive houses huddled over open drains in crooked streets and the air was thick with sweet-smelling smoke Гrom wood-burning braziers. Тiny parlors were filled with people swathed in scarves, sipping green tea drawn from large !loral-painted !lasks while sepia figures in mandarin dress looked down from oval frames. Almost everywhere there was а cluster of military medals and а photo­ graph of а lost loved one. Normality graced with laughteг has а ceгtain excitement hеге. Laughter drew me to one house where а wedding party was in progress, and I was invited in Ьу Thuan, age 28, and his bride, Hong, 24. Не is а Nguyen Thi Нао, survivor of 1972 Christmas bomblng that destroyed her street. dog-meat salesman, she а "Пo:ver girl": that is, she ekes out а living Ьу selling single This article is reprinted frorn John John Pilger is an Australian-bornjournalist and film maker stems on the streets. They and their fam­ based in London. Не has reported оп Indo-China since 1966; ily and Гriends looked deceptively prosper­ Pilger's new book Hidden Agendas. his writing and documentaries have won numerous awards in Europe and the US. ous gathered in the small courtyaгd be­ See page 65. Special thanks to Bangkok-based photographer Nic Dunlop. neath а canopy made from an American

54 SPRING 1998 parachute. There were pots of steaming Marlboro Man covers its walls, and the Revenge, Renovation noodles, sweets and betel nuts; and the old woman darting through the beaded and Recolonization bridesmaids wore shocking pink. The curtain wore а red Marlboro baseball сар "Renovation," or Doi Moi, was conceived groom giggled, the bride cried, and we and а T-shirt with а picture of the in collective desperation. The catastrophe were all invited to inspect the marital bed. Marlboro Man. At а stroke, she had sur- wreaked in Vietnam Ьу the US invasion was Nearby, Nguyen The to Ье multiplied in the years that followed Khan, а veneraЬle artist а cease-fire signed in Paris in 1973 and who speaks Chinese, joe, а former US helicopter pilot which, said Secretary of State Henry French and English, sat Кissinger, would bring " реасе with honor." like an old Ьird in his im­ nowruns а fleet of corporate А cornerstone of the cease-fire agree­ possiЬly crowded loft, ment was а secret promise Ьу President cigarette drooping, work­ jets flying in companies that Nixon of $3.25 Ьillion in reparations, con­ ing on а series of lacquer tained in а letter to Pham Van Dong, prime panels. They show Hanoi profited hugely from the war. minister of the Democratic RepuЬlic of in the mid-l 9th century Vietnam ("North Vietnam"). Dated Febru­ before the French built ary 1, 1973, the letter remained secret for their scaled-down copies more than two years, until after the war of Paris and destroyed the ancient land­ rendered her dignity: а metaphoric warn­ was finally over, when the Vietnamese marks: the Princess Huyen Tran Temple, ing for her country. showed it to а group of visiting US the Jade Mountain Pagoda, the Subdued Marlboro and Dunhill have claimed Congressmembers. Waves Pavilion. Vietnam, where the majority seem to The State Department confirmed its au­ "What work would you like to do be­ smoke. Foreign tobacco companies were thenticity. Eight, single-spaced pages speci­ fore you die7" l asked him. among the first to return, and now turn fied the forms that the US "reconstruction "Something that announced true реасе, " out cigarettes with а high tar content. grant" would take. Most of it would Ье spent he said, "А tranquil life ... thats all. We are still not at р еасе; we are in а dilemma now." Rising above us were the symbols of this dilemma: some of the most spectacularly ugly buildings on earth, made from Ыасk glass and slab concrete, shaped like clothes pegs, the inspiration, clearly, of the same Thai school of "architecture" whose monstrosities join up the power lines in the deserts that have replaced Thailands teak forests. Nguyen The Khan and other residents of the old quartёr had marched on the City Hall to complain about them and the cor­ ruption that often smoothed the way for planning permission. ln these buildings reside the high commands of corporate Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States, Australia and the City of London, who are changing almost every­ thing in Vietnam. As one American banker put it, "The circus is back in town." То those who knew Vietnam during the war, the familiarity of the circus is almost other-worldly. ln а bar on the corner of At the Cu Chi tunnels, once а symbol of national sacrifice and courage, "Duong Chien Thang В-52" (Avenue of the tour guides in "Viet Cong" costume sell T·shirts. Victory over the В-52) was joe, а former US helicopter pilot, who runs а Пее t of cor­ Marlboro's advertising concentrates on its in the United States; American firms would porate jets Пying in American business­ "macho image," long discredited in the tender for contracts to build industrial men, many of them from companies that West. The cowboy with а cigarette in his plants and to restore bombed bridges, rail­ profited hugely from the war. Nearby are mouth, the one who died from lung can­ way lines, dams, and harbor facilities. "We the new offices of а pillar of the war, the cer, has been replaced Ь у images of knew," а Vietnamese government minister Bank of America. When the bank's burglar young, muscle-bound lads winning the confided later, "that without that mini­ alarm went off one evening, people gath­ girls, while real lads, with stick-thin arms mum capital, we could never rebuild the ered, wondering what it was. No one and rotten teeth , are given red caps too country and remain independent." 1 seemed to know, because no one robs Ьig for them and lent а Honda and paid Not а cent was paid. OnApril 30, 1975, banks in Hanoi. Not yet. in cigarettes for selling Marlboros to the last day of the war, the US Treasury The teahouse opposite has been re­ teashops. Such is the reality of what is named the "No Noodles Sandwich Bar." The called "Renovation." 1. Interview, 1995. NUMBER64 ~ 55 Thieu Th i Тао holds pictures of herself before and after she was tortured Ьу the South Vietnamese regime during the war.

Department froze Vietnamese assets of kilo of milk powder in Vietnam rose to ten embargo. "We have smashed the country to $70 million. Two weeks later, the Com­ times the price of а kilo of meat. During vis­ Ьits, " wrote Telford Taylor, chief US pros­ merce Department classified Vietnam а its in 1975 and 1978, I saw many children ecutor at the Nuremberg trials, "and [we] "Category Z" country, requiring all exports with distended bellies and fragile limbs in will not even take the trouЫe to clean up to Ье approved Ьу the State Department. the towns as well as the countryside. Ac­ the Ыооd and rubЬ!e. Somehow we This applied to foreign subsidiaries of US cording to World Health Organization mea­ have failed to learn the lessons we under­ companies. The World Bank was fright­ surements, one third of all infants under 5 took to teach at Nuremberg. "3 ened away, suspending а grant for an ir­ so deteriorated following the milk ban that There seemed hope in 1978. The Viet­ rigation scheme that would have in­ the majority of them were stunted or likely namese Government made contact with the creased food capacity. to Ье, and а disproportionate number of Carter administration, seeking "normaliza­ From 1981, under the Trading with the the very youngest were reportedly going tion." No conditions were sought; no men­ Enemy Act, а legacy of the First World Ьlind because of а lack of Vitamin А. 2 tion was made of the $3.25 Ьillion pledged War, US voluntary agencies were denied In Hongai, а coal-mining community Ьу Nixon. The foreign minister at the time, export licences for humanitarian aid to all on the Gulf о[ Tonkin, which claims the Nguyen Со Thach, а humane and concilia­ of Indo-China: Vietnam, Cambodia and distinction of the most bombed town in tory man, flew to New York and waited а Laos. The first aid to Ье banned included Vietnam - during 1966, US carrier-based week in а room at the Holiday lnn оп 42"d modest amounts о[ seed-processing and planes bombed it from seven in the morn­ Street for а promised call from Richard storage equipment, which Oxfam America ing until five in the evening - Dr. Luu Van Holbrooke, the assistant secretary о[ State. had promised to an agricultural co-opera­ Hoat told me that 10 percent of the chil­ " Н е assured me our countries would tive in Vietnam, together with help in set­ dren were deaf. "Although they lost their have an 'historic reconciliation,'" Thach ting up а small bee-keeping co-operative hearing during the raids," he said, "they told me. "Those were the words he used. designed to supply honey as а food supple­ lived. It was а sign of hope. Now we are But it never happened. I never got the ment to pre-school children. losing the next generation to malnutrition. phone call. Other developments were over­ Revenge was the policy. Washington's The situation is straightforward; children taking us. That summer Chiria had become allies joined in. In 1979, the new British need milk to live, and we don't have it." the Ьig interest in WashingtGn. Deng Xiao­ prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, per­ Among Washington's demons, not even ping had been to the US and worn а cow­ suaded the European Community to halt its Cuba was subjected to such а complete boy hat. No one seemed to Ье bothered regular shipments of milk to Vietnamese 2. Estimate provided Ьу Dr. Duong Quynh Ноа at Saigon's 3. Telford Тaylor, Nuremberg аш!. Vietnmn, cited Ьу Alex children. As а consequence, the price of а Pediatric Hospital No. 2. Carey, Sun-Hera/,d (Sydney), June 30, 1985.

56 SPRING 1998 that China was then backing Pol Pot in ness. Although hundreds of thousands of country for 40 years, resigned еп masse. Cambodia, whose forces had been attack­ war refugees were successfully retumed to They were succeeded Ьу а relatively ing us for over а year. On the contrary, their land, and their villages rebuilt, many youthful leadership, notaЬly Nguyen Van when we counter-attacked [Christmas Day former soldiers and servants of the Saigon Linh, "Vietnam's Gorbachev," who had 1978] and drove the Khmer Rouge into regime were imprisoned in extremely led the National Liberation Front ("Viet­ Thailand, the new allies, China and harsh "re-education camps," together cong"). Linh saw himself as а "pragmatist"; America, made us the pariahs." with those who had owed no allegiance to he had been dropped from the Politburo either side. These were Vietnam's gulags. because of his opposition to the rapid "so­ No Good Deed Goes Liberty саше to Ье measured Ьу your cialization" of the south in the late l970s. Unpunished standing in the Communist Party. Thou- In December 1986, at the Sixth Con- In January 1979, the Chinese attacked gress of the Communist Party, Vietnam from the north. It was а massive the new leadership an­ assault Ьу 600,000 troops, more than the "We have smashed [Vietnam] nounced а far-reaching pro­ Americans had deployed. China, said Pe­ gram of economic and social king Radio, was "teaching Vietnam а les­ to blts, and [we] will not even change. This was Doi Moi, son." Before they were thrown back, the "renovation." The "free mar­ invaders destroyed dykes and canals that take the trouЬle to clean up ket" was embraced as the had withstood the US bomЬing , and most means of breaking down the of the country's reserve stocks of rice. the Ыооd and mЬЫе ." Western-led embargo. Since А siege mentality now consumed the then, the Party line has been - Telford Taylor, chief US prosecutor, NuremЬerg trials Communist Party leadership in Hanoi as that "all people in society and the country descended deeper into isola­ all Party members should tion. Having cast Vietnam as an aggressor, strive to amass wealth for the US under Ronald Reagan sought to jus­ sands of the newly impoverished took to themselves and for the nation as а whole," tify and redeem its "nоЫе cause" in Indo­ the sea in boats, many of them Chinese­ thereby "promoting economic growth." China. А United Nations Ыockade , engi­ Vietnamese fearful of recrimination in the Nervously, however, the leadership has neered Ьу the US, its Westem allies and wake of China's invasion. They were fol­ warned that "it will Ье difficult to avoid China, was mounted against Vietnamese­ lowed Ьу destitute farmers from the north. gaps between rich and poor," which if not liberated Cambodia. At the United Nations The Hanoi Govemment had agreed to an controlled "will lead to danger and social and other world bodies, such as the World "orderly departure program" in 1979, but turmoil."6 Health Organization, Pol Pot's representa­ without the cooperation of the US this was Within two years the World Bank had tives continued to speak for their victims. all but impossiЬle. opened an office in Hanoi, along with the Two US relief workers on the Thai border, In 1986, faced with criticism from 6. NhanDan (Hanoi), the Communist Party's official daily Linda Mason and Roger Brown, wrote, within the party and puЬlic discontent newspaper, Mar. 1, 1996; also Тар Chi Gcmg San (Hanoi), the party's theoretical montbly, Mar. 15, 1996, cited Ьу "The US Government insisted that the over shortages and rising prices, the old Gabriel Kolko, Vietnam· Anatomy ofа Реасе (London & Khmer Rouge Ье fed ... the US preferred guard in the Politburo, who had led the New York: Routledge, 1997), р. 102. that the Khmer Rouge opera­ tion benefit from the crediЬil­ ity of an intemationally known relief operation. "4 Under US pressure, the World Food Pro­ gram handed over $12 million worth of food to the Thai army to pass on to the Khmer Rouge. "20,000 to 40,000 Pol Pot guerrillas benefitted," ac­ cording to Assistant Secretary of State Holbrooke. 5 As the threat of Pol Pot's re­ turn effectively trapped the Vietnamese army in Cambodia, the strain on Vietnam's war-ru­ ined economy proved intoler­ aЫe. For many Vietnamese, this meant austerity, hunger, and repres~ion: а time ofЬitter- 4. Linda Mason and Roger Brown,Rice, Ri­ valry and Politics: Managing CamЬodi.an Relilf (South Вend, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1983), рр. 135, 159. 5. William Shawcross, The Quality of Mercy: CamЬodia, Нowcaust andModern Conscience (London: Andre Deutsch, Thieu Thi Тао at the war crimes museum enters а replica of the US·designed 1984), рр. 289, 345, 395. "tiger cage" in which she was imprisoned Ьу the South Vietnam regime.

NUМBER64 ~ 57 International Monetary Fund and the Ву this time, DeMatteis was construct­ "Isn't it ironic," I said, "that the foreign­ Asian Development Bank. They were iпg а 15-story buildiпg at Haпoi 's West ers Vietпam has Ьееп repelliпg all this ceп­ joined Ьу investors [rom Europe, japan, Lake, the Но Тау, also known as the Lake tury, the French, japanese, Americans, Korea, Singapore, and the other southeast of Mist. А place of beauty апd the source might Ьу other meaпs епd up gaiпing what Asiaп states. The "prize," as Richard Nixon of legends, like the rising of the Dragon they've been unaЫe to achieve Ьу war7" used to describe the countries of South­ Kiпg апd the castiпg апd riпging of а "I doп't quite get you." east Asia, was an abundaпce of natural huge bell that can Ье heard all the way "Well, you're all back. resources: coal, oil, gas, and timber. US to Chiпa , it was опсе overlooked Ьу "We sure are! " compaпies, still legally preveпted from grand pavilions and pagodas. А few pa­ "And you тау епd up ownlli.g the place." tradiпg, brought pressure on the White godas rise out of the mist, still sur- "You know, I never thought of it like House. In 1994, that. Thank you,John." Presideпt Clintoп Peter Purcell is ап lifted the Americaп Austra l iaп versioп о[ embargo, and the DeMatteis. When we first post-war ambas­ met, he was building sador arrived in Han­ the Hanoi Club, oi three years later. whose annual mem­ "United States policy," bership fees range said the ambassador, from $6,500 to "is to help Vietnam $15,000 and which, [become] fu lly inte­ he says, "will only grated into this dy­ work if it's ex­ namic regioп. "7 clusive.""I hate com­ muпism, " he said, No Dogs or "but the socialism Vietnamese here is just right." Allowed As an illustration, Alfoпso L. DeMatteis, he described how, from Brooklyn, New with iпitial capital of York, is the founder of $1О.5 million, he had the American Cham­ already made $3 7 mil­ ber of Commerce iп lioп, and he still had а Hanoi. When we vacant lot. Не told me met, he was sitting iп а story about а seпior froпt of а furled US Vietnamese govern­ Паg апd puzzliпg over meпt official who had why no one in Viet­ asked him, оп the пam seemed to bear quiet, to teach him him а grudge. Не re­ about stocks and minded me of the old shares. "They're оп Hollywood comic the verge of being jerry Lewis, though ripped off," he said, his bonhomie was lim­ "as part of their nec­ Truong Thai Le, Му Lai survivor, holds а photo of relatives murdered Ьу Gls. ited. I пoticed оп his essary educatioп pro- desk а сору of а letter gram converting them he had writteп to а ministry complaining rounded Ьу the funerary monuments of to the wonderful world о[ capitalism." about а proposed museum that would com­ l2'h ceпtury moпks. memorate the US bomЬiпg of Hanoi. People come here in the eveпings and There ls а Specter Having made а fortune iп the construc­ on weekends on their Ьicycles , pedaling all Haunting Viefnam ... tioп busiпess, much of it in Saudi AraЬia , the way from the rickety streets that cling А World Bank economist, David Dollar has DeMatteis is making another in Vietnam. to the Red River dykes. Оп Suпdays they predicted that Vietпam will end up as "an­ After greeting me warmly, he waпted to hire ancient cliпker-built rowing boats, other Asian tiger." "They have made ап ex­ talk about Mother Teresa. "Mother was re­ and picnic in the puЬlic space soon to Ье cellent start with the necessary reforms," cently in this very town," he said. "Mother occupied Ьу the DeMatteis tower, апd oth­ he wrote.8 These "necessary reforms" were was in this very office. She stood with me ers like it. spelled out at а 1993 meeting of the Paris and was photographed next to the [Ameri­ "It will соте complete with health club Club of doпors , the richest Western states can] flag." Не haпded me а press release and running track," said DeMatteis. "We're and ]арап, which dispeпse "aid" to couп­ about "Mother's movements" and how his fortuпate; we got iп early. All the prime tries with prospects of exp!oitation. company was "accommodating Mother's sites have gone already. " The Vietпamese were told that а total of local Sisters." "Will the Vietnamese have use of it?" $2.8 Ьillion in "grants" апd loaпs would Ье "You've got to appreciate the rents are 7. VietNmnNews (Hanoi), Мау 5, 1997. поt cheap. Iп а word, Johп - urJikely." 8. IndlJChinaDigest (Washington, DC), Feb.17, 1995.

58 SPRING 1998 forthcoming if they "opened up" to the "free market." The state economy would have to Ье "downsized, puЬlic enterprises scrapped or converted to_ "joint ven­ tures" wit.h foreign firms, and tens of thou­ sands of puЬlic employ­ ees sacked. There would no longer Ье а place for puЬlic services, includ­ ing health and educa­ tion systems that were the envy of the Third World. These would Ье replaced Ьу "safety nets" dependent on "macro-economic growth." Foreign in ­ vestors would Ье of­ fered "tax holidays" of five years or more, along with "competi­ Му Lai, scene of the only well·puЬlicized massacre of civilians Ьу US troops. tively priced" (cheap) labor. And before all this got under way, achievements of past struggles and the Restructuring or Hanoi would have to honor the bad debts aspirations оГ an entire nation are [be­ Rollback? о[ the defunct Saigon regime: in effect, рау ing] undone and erased .... No Agent District cooperatives, which supported the back loans incurred Ьу its enemy which Orange or steel pellet bombs, no na­ elementary school system, antenatal clin­ had helped bankroll the US war. palm, no toxic chemicals: а new phase ics and emergency food stores, are being lt was as if the Vietnamese were finally оГ economic and social (rather than phased out. These have no place in the being granted membership in the "interna­ physical) destruction has unfolded. The new order. ln order to Ье "competitive," tional community" as long as they first cre­ seemingly neutral and scientific tools of rice, the staple of more than 70 million ated а society based on divisions of wealth macro-economic policy constitute а people, is now linked to the depredations and poverty and exploited labor: а society non-violent instrument of recoloni­ of the world market and sold below the in which social achievements were no zation and impoverishment." 11 world price. While the World Bank lauds longer valued; the kind of foreign-imposed Vietnam's "rice surplus," system they had sacrificed so much to es­ buried in the jargon is the cape. lt seemed, wrote Gabriel Kolko in The report was candid, almost implicit acceptance that Anatomy of а War, that the Vietnam War famine has returned. would Гinally end in "the deГeat оГ all who ecstatic about the cheapness of Where farmers in diffi­ fought in it - and one of the greatest trag­ culty could once depend on edies of modern history."9 people. "Labor rates,"it said, rural credit from the state Few apart Гrom Kolko have raised the ("interest" was unknown), alarm. In his subsequent book, Vietnam: "are as low as $35 а month." they now must go to private Anatomy of а Реасе, he poiлted out that lenders, the usurers who the new policies, in less than а decade, once plagued the peasantry. had destroyed the high degree о[ equity This was the system under that Vietnam had achieved Ьу the end The World Bank, together with the ln­ the French; peonage was the result. In its о[ the war, and created а class society ternational Monetary Fund and the Asian report, Viet Nam: Transition to the Market, the with divisions of wealth greater than Development Bank, are overseeing the World Bank welcomed this change, ex­ those of lndia, the US, and Britain under implementation of these "reforms." The plaining that it would cause the desired Thatcherism. 10 World Bank began Ьу rewriting the land "greater land concentration and landless­ Tlie C9-nadian economist Michel laws, affecting two-thirds of rhe popula­ ness. "1 2 Other reforms followed, such as the Chossudovsky, а speciali st in Third tion. Subsistence farming, which had kept abolition of pensions and social welfare mea­ World issues, wrote in 1994, "The famine at Ьау, is being replaced Ьу cash­ sures that had supported the sick and dis­ cropping for export, as Vietnam is "fully aЫed, widows, orphans, and ex-soldiers. 9. Gabriel Kolko, Vi.etrшm: Anatorny ofа War (London and integrated into the dynamic region." New York: Routledge, 1997, р . 602. 10. Gabriel Kolko, Vwtnam, Anatomy of а Реасе (New 11. Michel Chossudovsky,Third J#irblResюyence (Penang), 12. World Bank, EastAsiaand Pacific Region, Washington, York: New Press, 1994) р.102. n. 47, Jan.1994. DC, Sept. 1993. NUMBER64 ~ 59 After seven years of this "restructur­ sources and mining, cement, апd steel it, but that he used to Ье deputy prime ing," according to the World Bank's own production are to Ье reorganized and minister in the old Sa i goп regime. De­ estimates, poverty has increased, with up takeп over Ьу foreigп capital with the tained at the end of the war, he convinced to 70 percent of the population now in Japanese conglomerates playing а decisive the communists they would need him one "absolute poverty," half the adult popu­ and domiпant role. ". [T]he movemeпt is day and, like а bending reed, he survived. lation consumiпg consideraЬly fewer towards the reintegration of Vietnam into Today, from his smart Saigon offices, with than 2 ,l 00 calories а day and half the the Japaпese sphere of inПuence , а situa­ their Ыасk leather chairs and remote-con­ children severely malnourished .13 At tion reminiscent of World War II when trolled air conditioniпg, he offers foreign least а mi1lion people have been made Vietnam was part of Japan's 'Great East entrepreneurs silky " persoпali-zed coпsult­ unemployed, most of them iп the health Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.' "16 ing" as they enter "а paradise for your in­ services. They, together with people Japanese capital coпtro l s 80 percent vestment." thrown off their laпd, should Ье offered, о[ the loans for investment projects and "The regime you helped to ruп iп the says the World Bank, "unskilled work at infrastructure, while the dollar has taken old days," I said, "was pretty corrupt, low wages." (In the draft of this report I over from the Vietnamese dong, giving the wasп't it?" saw iп the Bank's offices in Hanoi, some­ US Federal Reserve Bank effective control "We had а bad administration," he said. oпe had pencilled in the margins that the "It was supported Ьу а Ыасk mar­ "figure proposed Ьу UNDP consultants is ket, drugs, prostitution and war profi- so low as to Ье virtually slave labor.") 14 Vietnam's "integration" into teering." Since these "reforms" got under way, "It was not good. " the bank admits there is the region is likely to Ье as "You were пumber two. " "I tried very hard to help, but not а higher proportion of underweight апd an economic colony for the successfully." stunted children than in any other coun­ "Areп ' t you beginпing to re-create try in south and Southeast Asia with the that same kind of governmeпt7" exception ofBang1adesh. ". The magni­ tigers,japan, and the West. "No, we are harmoniously Ыend­ tude of s tuпtin g and wasting among ing socialism with capitalism. That is children appears to have increased sig­ nificant1y. ". [T]he problem of food avai1- not to deny that when you ореп the abl1ity in the food deficit areas wi1l not of the Поw of currency. Singapore domi­ door for пеw winds to come in, the dust disappear ovemight, since consumers in nates the property market, and Taiwan comes in, too ." these areas do not have the purchasing and Korea the "tax holiday" sweatshops. "Thats an old Vietnamese saying?" power to Ьid up the price paid for food The French and the Australians are doing Laughter. grains from the surp1us regions. ln fact, пicely, too, with the British not far behind. 'Тm told Mrs. Thatcher has Ье е п ап it is financia1ly more rewarding to ex­ In 1995, the then British chaпcellor of inspiratioп ." port rice outside Vietnam than to trans­ the exchequer, Kenneth Clarke, visited "We learned some thiпgs from her, but fer it to the deficit regions within the country. lndeed, as private sector grain Hanoi with а group of British busiпess­ what we are doing is distinctively Vietnamese." trade expands, the ava i1abl1ity of food in people, who had Ьееп given а briefing "The Vietпamese kicked out the French, the deficit regions may initia1ly dec1ine document Ьу the Departmeпt of Trade апd who forced the population to work for before it improves. Iпdustry. It was candid, almost ecstatic next to nothing in foreign-owned factories. about the cheapness of people. "Labor Isn't that now happeniпg again7" In other words, "consumers without pur­ rates," it said, "are as low as $35 а month." "I told you our people are merely in­ chasing power" will have to go hungry.15 Moreover, the Vietnamese "са п provide а expensi ve ... " When I put tl1ese matters to Bradley new industrial home for ailing British Although those like Nguyen Xuan Babson, а US economist who represents the products." "Take the long view," advised Oanh, David Dollar, and Bradley Babson World Вапk iп Hanoi, he was generous in the British government, "use Vietnam's speak puЬlicly about Vietпam as "the next his praise of the Vietnamese "independeпce weaknesses selfishly. Vietnam's ореп door tiger есопоmу," the truth is that, as the of mind" in "defending their real achieve­ invites you to take advaпtage of its low curreпt crop of Asian tigers - Korea, ments in the social аrепа." Н е was also ex­ staпdard of liviпg апd low wages."17 Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia - ruп traordinarily frank. "I thiпk it's fair to say," I showed this docum e пt to Dr. Nguyen out of steam, with their share markets he said, "that Vietnam in the past has had Xuan Oanh, the economic adviser to collapsiпg and currencies devaluing, the more equality than many other countries, Prime Minister Vo Vап Кiet. "We have in­ last thing they waпt is а competitor the size and that the reforms пecessary for economic expensive labor," he said. "I don't call it of Vietnam. For this reasoп, Vietnam's "in­ growth will bring greater inequality." cheap labor. It allows us to Ье competitive tegratioп " iпto the region is likely to Ье as on the international market." Thereupon an ecoпomic со l опу for the tigers, Japan, Limping with Tigers he extolled growth rates, "tax holidays," and the West. Accordiпg to Michel Chossudovsky, "the dimiпished puЬli c services and the rest of This is dramatically evident in the Ex­ hidden agenda of the reforms is the desta­ the IMF deity. port Processing Zoпes, knowп as EPZs. Ьilization of Vietnam's industrial base: What was interesting about this mап Ruп Ьу а Taiwanese company on cleared heavy iпdustry, oil а пd gas, пatural re- was that not only was he an architect of laпd оп the baпks of the Saigem River, one 13. lndoChinaDi.gest,ap. ciL Vietпam's "market socialism," as he called of them announces itself as " Saigoп South 14. World Bank, East Asia and Pacific Region, Vwt Nam: ". а Brave New World." Inside, I was Povurty Assessrмnt and Strate[f!J, Washington, DC, Jan. 16. /Ьid . 1995; andReport rmPovurty 1995. 17. Overseas Тrade Services, Department of Тrade and In­ struck Ьу the likeness to photographs of 15. Cited Ьу Chossudovsky, ар. ciL dustry, Vwtnam, General/riformatirm, London, Jan.1995. the cottoп mills of Lancashire. Ancient

60 SPRING 1998 looms imported from China, making tow­ munity. It is an insult to our humanity to the morning until five in the evening. Ten eling for export, were attended Ьу mostly maintain that people only have economic years ago, the village had а cooperative that young women, who get а basic rate of $19 demands, and therefore economic devel­ funded а primary school. Now that coopera­ а month for а 12-hour day. If they fall be­ opment must Ье made at all costs. То live tives have been abolished, the girl must work hind the target set Ьу the manager, who is not enough. People must seek many such grinding hours to рау for sporadic les­ secretly tags thread in their machine, they things to make their lives significant."18 sons at а nearby fee-charging school. are fired. One worker controls four ma­ If development was measured not Ьу The Vietnamese health service vvas chines. "In I;iwan," said the Taiwanese gross national product, but а society's suc­ once famous. Primary care where people manager, "we'd have one worker on six, cess in meeting the basic needs of its lived and worked raised life expectancy to even eight machines. But the Vietnamese people, Vietnam would have been а model. among the highest in the developing don't accept this: They object." That was its real "threat." From the defeat world. Vaccination programs reduced the The air was [oul and filled with cotton of the French at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 to spread of infectious diseases; in contrast dust, the noise unrelenting and the only 1972, primary and secondary school en­ to most of the Third World, preventaЫe protective clothing appeared to Ье hair rolment in the North increased seven­ diseases were prevented. More bables sur­ curlers. One woman was struck in the еуе fold, from 700,000 to almost five million. vived Ьirth and their first precarious years while I was there. "We've got а medical In 1980, UNESCO estimated а literacy rate than in most countries in Southeast Asia. 22 center for that sort о[ thing," said the man­ о[ 90 percent and school enrolment Now, under the tutelage of the foreign "do­ ager, who told me he had а business di­ among the highest in Asia and through­ nor community," the government has ploma from а California college. Under out the Third World. 19 abandoned direct support for all health Vietnamese law, there ought to Ье а union Now that education has been trans­ services. Drugs are availaЫe only to those at the factory. "We haven't got one of those formed into а commodity, "consumers of who can afford to buy them оп the "free yet," he said. With 100,000 workers, many [educational] services," says а constipated market." Diseases like malaria, dengue, о[ them living in dormitories, "Saigon UN Development Program report, "[are re­ and cholera have returned. South" is а city state, with its own stock quired] to рау increased amounts, encour­ In its inimitaЫe way, the World Bank exchange, police, and customs. "We calcu­ aging institutions to become self-financing, acknowledges this "downside" of its "re­ late," said the manager, "that this EPZ is and Ьу using incentives to privatize deliv­ forms." "Despite its impressive perfor­ what all Vietnamese cities will look like in ery of education and training where ap­ mance in the past," says the Transition to the next century." propriate."20 Teachers who have not been the Market report, "the Vietnamese health "redeployed" on road gangs and other sector is currently languishing ". there is Commodifying Rights а severe shortage of drugs and Dr. Le Thi Quy runs the Center for Scien­ medical equipment. ". The tific Studies of Women and the Family in shortage of funds is so acute Saigon. Her work lately has concentrated "The market economy is about that i t is unclear where the on the conditions о[ workers in the EPZs, grass roots facilities are going which she inspects unannounced. In а re­ mechanism. 1 wish to speak Lo find the inputs to continue port commissioned Ьу the govemment she functioning in the future." 23 describes as "commonplace" women for humanitarian values." During Lhe US carpet forced to work from 7 am to 9 pm every bomblng of Hanoi at Christ­ other day. "They must never stop," she mas 1972, the Bach Mai hos­ wrote. "They are given а Ъygiene card' "puЬlic projects" have had their salaries pital in the center of the city became some­ which allows them to do their personal cut to as little as $8 а month. Most schools thing о[ а symbol о[ resistance. А bomb hygiene only three times а day, each time have been privatized, with the oЬligation destroyed а wing, including wards and taking no more than five minutes. The to рау Luition fees now writlen into the laboratories; patients, doctors, and nurses stress is something people have not known constitution. Ву 1992, an estimated three­ died. One of the survivors was Professor before, not even in war-time. It is system­ quarters of а million children had been Nguyen Van Xang, а stooped man who atic." pushed out о[ the education system, de­ could Ье Но Chi Minh's brother and whose She concluded, "I have to report that spite an increase in the population of chil­ office is dominated Ьу а picture of the something very serious is happening to dren of school age. 21 rubЫe it was. "I heard the bombs whistling our society. Traps are being laid at the gates AL а village in the Mekong Delta а towards us," he said. "I took the nearest о[ profits. As puЬlic service employment woman and her 12-year-old daughter sit patients and sheltered them over there, is drastically reduced, our families are be­ in the shade making straw beach mats for under the stairs. Everything seemed to col­ ing commercialize ... , prostitution has export. А middle-man pays them а total lapse around us. " emerged into the open and is growing." of а dollar а day. They work from five in As we talked, there was а power cut; She added eloquently, "The market the hospital's weary generator failed yet economy is about mechanism. I wish Lo 18. Le Тhi Quy, Some Rfflrl.(l,rks оп the Situatioп ofWomen again, turning the wispy-bearded figure Workers in Forei,gn-invested Enterplises in Но Chi Minh speak for h.umanitarian values. If we affirm City, 1994; also Gender: Тhе Relations Between Research seated in front of me into а silhouette in а that development can only Ье achieved Ьу andPolicyrrшking in Vietnam, Asian and Pacific Develop­ Gothic setting, bathed in the thin, yellow ment Centre {APDC), summer institute, Kuala Lumpur, sacrificing these values, which have been May-June 1994. light of early evening. The scene poignantly long pursued Ьу mankind and give us 19. Chossudovsky, ор. cit. expressed the exhaustion о[ Vietnam. hope for freedom, democracy, and equal­ 20. Cited inNational Project Education Sector Review and Нитап Resources Sector Analysis, v. 1, Hanoi, 22. United Nations Development Program, Report оп the ity, iL means Lhat we reject the most basic 1992, р. 39. Ecorwmy of Vietnam, New York, р. 183. facLors that link people together as а com- 21. Chossudovsky, ор. ciL 23. World Bank, Vwt Nam, ор. cit" р. 145.

NUМBER64 ~ 61 Xang explained that, under the new, population, including women and chil­ plines and lack of internal democracy, they privatized system, а patient had to put dren."24 When the new US ambassador, were best equipped to fight а protracted down а deposit of 7 ,ООО dong ($6.30) and Douglas Peterson, said that the "exact con­ war, but not to govern and protect а soci­ а bed cost the equivalent of $4 per day This sequences of Agent Orange" were not "clari­ ety at реасе . was а great deal of money for the majority, fied ," he was challenged Ьу the director of Yet the party was immensely popular. who were excluded, causing Xang to p.ut the War Crimes Investigation Department, The great majority of Vietnamese "pro­ his socialist beliefs into practice Ьу hand­ Vu Trong Huong, who said, "We have over vided its strength and often forced it to ing out free drugs to poor people at а pa­ 50,000 children that have been born with move in ways that broadened its popular goda every Sunday "The situation here," horrific deformities; the link is clear." 25 appeal and, in turn, accepted and made said the professor, "is that we can no longer At the Tu Du hospital Dr. Pham Viet monumental sacrifices," wrote Gabriel afford а filter Гоr our one kidney machine. Thanh showed me а group of recently born Kolko. "However elitist its top leadership, It costs $22. So we use the same filter sev­ baЬies in incubators. They all had thalido­ the party's success as а social movement eral times, which is wrong and danger­ mide-type deformities. "These Agent Or­ was based largely on its response to peas­ ous .... На patient has renal failure and can­ ange Ьirths are routine Гоr us," he said. ant desires." And that, says Kolko, is at the not afford to рау а quarter оГ the cost of the "Every now and then we have what we call root of its betrayal today, making "the war treatment, we have no choice but to treat а fetal catastrophe - when the number of а monumental tragedy and а vain sacrifice them Ьу traditional means; and they die. " miscarriages and deformed baЬies, I am ... for the majority of Vietnam's peasants, afraid to say, overwhelms us." In one ward veterans, and genuine idealists."26 Uncle Sam's Gifl Horse there were two women suffering from I understand his disillusion, but I think In Saigon, I made an appointment to visit the privations that the Viet - the Tu Du obstetrics and gynecological namese have endured dur­ hospital. Built Ьу the French in the l950s Every day, very poor people ing 30 years оГ war and 20 and extended Ьу the Americans, it is one of years of isolation made some the most modern in the country - in the and disaЬled ex-soldiers are things inevitaЬle, such as the circumstances, а handicap, for almost all erosion of principle and ide­ the equipment is American, for which parts swept from the center of Saigon ology and the growth of cor­ stopped coming in 1975. The last child­ ruption in а war-ruined ren's respirator had disintegrated а year and taken to detention centers; economy, especially in а bu­ earlier. reaucracy which, since the А former operating room is known as anti-government Buddhists are war, has operated substan­ the "collection room" and, unofficially, the tially for the benefit of party "room of horrors." It has shelves of large again prisoners of conscience. cadres. Many of them had bottles containing grotesquely deformed little interest or education in fetuses. In the late l960s, the US sprayed socialism and became, like much of South Vietnam, which it said it had chorion carcinoma - cancer о[ preg­ those in Boris Yeltsins Russia, the most vis­ come to "save," with defoliant herЬicides . nancy, which is extremely rare in the West. iЬle and voracious members of the new ur­ Intended to "deny cover" to the National "We don't have the training to deal with ban consumer class. Liberation Front, this program was code­ this phenomenon," said Thanh. "We have As for the ones who refused to go this named "Operation Hades," later changed to asked for scholarships injapan, Germany, way, and who could legitimately claim to the friendlier "Operation Ranch Hand." The the US, and the UK, but they say no, or Ье the legatees ofHo Chi Minh, they, too, defoliants included Agent Orange, contain­ they don't reply" were both desperate and vulneraЬle - ing dioxin, which is а poison of such power desperate to internationalize their coun­ that it causes fetal death, miscarriage, chro­ From Uncle Но try and Гulfill а historic need for coun­ mosomal damage, congenital defects, and to Adam Smilh terweights to the power оГ China, the an­ cancer. The question begs: Why is this being al­ cient foe, and to lessen the dependency In 1970, the US government banned lowed to happen? Why are foreigners once on а Soviet Union in its death throes. the use of Agent Orange on US farmlands , again being permitted to dictate the future The most generous explanation for their but continued to spray it in Vietnam, of Vietnam7 One answer is that the Viet­ embrace of laissez-faire capitalism is that where а pattern of deformities began to namese Communist Party was never as they have been seduced, and as one de­ emerge: baЬies born without eyes, with ideological as it appeared. The original im­ structive "reform" Гollows another, the deformed hearts and small brains, and petus was nationalist; initially, the commu­ seduction is beginning to look like rape. stumps instead of legs. Occasionally I saw nists were the only political group that In another sense, Vietnam is simply these children in contaminated villages in opposed French imperialism. Once they typical of poor countries denied an in­ the Mekong Delta; and vvhenever I asked gained power in the north in 1954, many dependent path for their economies and about them, people pointed to the sky; one people joined the Party for reasons of per­ whose governments become more con­ man scratched in the dust а good likeness sonal amЬition. There was а similar inПux cerned, almost mesmerized, with satis­ of а bulbous С-130 aircraft, spraying. in the south after 1975; party membership fying their foreign creditors than with In August that year, in а report to the оГГеrеd power and privilege. Another ex­ serving their people. The- resolution о[ US Senate, Sen. Gaylord Nelson (D-WI) planation is that, like other Communist this is perhaps Vietnam's final battle and wrote that "the US has dumped [on South parties, with their hierarchy and disci- the most difficult one оГ all. Vietnam] а quantity о[ toxic chemical 24. Sen. Gaylord Nelson, speech to Congress, Aug. 25, 1970. amounting to six pounds per head of 25. Vietnam Investment Review, June 16-22, 1997. 26. Kolko,Anatomy ofА War, rYJ!. cit., р. 590.

62 SPRING 1998 LEAH MELNI CК/IMPACT VISUALS Stilt houses оп polluted canals in Но Chi M inh City house Vietnamese who have not profited from foreign investment.

Shredding Culture Tra, the brilliant, nonconformist com­ Vietnam's new foreign managers and credi­ Certainly, the "dangerous time" that the mander of the victorious army in South tors ignore the resi1ience of rural life, with artist Nguyen The Khan and many others Vietnam in 1975, who later formed а dis­ its community of labor, its village couпcils, allude to has arrived. That is to say, the sident group, the Society of Resistance mutua1a id societies, craftsmens guilds, and point is p ass iп g where the Commuпi s t Fighters. Another war hero, Со ! . Bui Tin, emergency relief organiza ti oп s. Much of Party leadership loses control and be­ said from exile in France, "I long for а hu­ this has 1asted for 2,500 years: а model of comes а captive of the foreign imposi­ maпis t , modern, and pluralist socialism in natural socialism, you might say. Instead of tions it has endorsed. When that hap­ ту country. "27 tryiпg to destroy it, genuine reform would peп s , the pact b e twee п the party and the Un1ike China, obedience requires con­ build on its found a ti oп s and , with re­ p e a s aпts, which was рrоЬаЫу unique to sensus in Vietnam. In his Ьiography of De­ sources that eradicated poverty, create а Vietnam , will Ь е finally broken , and fense Minister Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, Peter modem , vibrant, agriculture-based there will Ь е а vacuum and trouЫe or, as MacDona1d wrote that "whereas in many economy that matched the needs of the Kolko calls it, " а divorce." nations there are thousands of family names, majority. The signs are there. Every day, very evolved over the centuries and added to Ьу poor people апd d i saЬle d ex-so1diers are mi graпts , i п the who1e o f Vietпam there are Fighting Back swept from the ceпter of Sa i go п and taken less thaп а hundred, based о п triba1 group­ The fina1 battle has begun. Saigon's Ьig­ to detention centers; and anti-government ings such as the Ngo and the Nguyen: gest strikes since the war have swept over Buddhists - reminiscent of those who people are part of а Ьig family. "28 Tearing the Koreaп -o wпed EPZs. The issues are helped to topple the US-backed regimes in apart the fabric of this family will not Ье slave wages, excessive hours, and cruel the l 960s - are agai п prisoners of coп ­ compensated for Ьу Но пd а mo to rЬikes , ma пage rs . A1though not reported in the science. The Vietnamese army, having ex­ Pepsi-Cola, and moЬile phones. media, labor rights are widely supported pende-d th~na ti oп 's Ыооd, sweat а пd tears, In advocatiп g ап "agricu1tural wage labor in Saigon . Seldom а week now passes and built the cooperative system in the market" as а way of brutally disconnecting without а major "wildcat" strike, which countryside, regards itself as the keeper of farm workers from their villages and mak­ са п Ь е of such intensity that the civil au­ his t иic a l memories and legacies. That is ing them " flex iЬl e, " meaning itinerant, ф ori ti es often choose to stand back: а why it has a11owed its own joumals to criti­ 27. Interviewed on ВВС Thlevision, cited onBBCSummary clear sign that they are worried. ofWorldBroadcasts, Feb. 8, 1991. cize their political masters and has made In 1997, Nike, the giaпt US running­ 28. Peter MacDonald, Giap, Тhе Victor in Vietnam (Lon­ а subversive hero of the late Gen. Tran Van don: Warner Books, 1993), р . 42. shoe maker, which emp1oys 35,000 most1y

NUМBER64 ~ 63 complex and serious," but the instigator of "Renovation," Nguyen Van Linh, has warned that the "gap between the classes needs to Ье solved promptly. "32 Cranes vs. Vultures In Saigon, I stayed in the same room at the Caravelle Hotel that was my intermittent home 30 years ago. From the same balcony overlooking Lam Som Square, next to the French playhouse, I used to watch people show immense courage in demonstrating against the vicious foreign-backed regimes that came and went. Неге, too, I watched the dawn lit up Ьу tracer bullets on the last day of April 1975, the last day of the longest war this century. The hotel's cashier in those Thai Thi Tinh (pictured оп the cover) holds photos of her husband, center, who was killed Ьу the French at Dien Bien Phu, and her sons, killed in the US war. days, always а morЬid man, had threatened to shoot himself female workers in Vietnam, was hit Ьу а The Ьiggest single foreign investor in that evening; but he chose not to, and he series of rolling strikes. Illegal demonstra­ Vietnam, the Korean multinational survived and retired on а cashier's pension. tions were held outside the gates of the Daewoo, plans to build а $14 7 million EPZ The door-opener, а laconic character from company's sub-contractors, and the po­ near Hanoi, including an 18-hole golf Bombay, was there until recently. "I have lice stood Ьу. А study Ьу the US-based course for its executives and customers. ushered in victors and ushered out van­ Vietnam Labor Watch found that the The golf course will destroy the rice fields quished," he would say. "The good thing workers' average wage was $1.60 for eight and the way of life of the village of Tho Da. about this job is that, in hurrying in and hours, while the shoes they made sold for The government has offered the villagers hurrying out, they don't notice me. " up to $149 in the US. compensation of $197 per family. Reject- Coming back, l met Dr. Nguyen Thi "Supervisors humiliate women," re­ Oanh in the foyer. А gracious and ported the Vietnamese investigator. "They wry person, she had trained as а force them to kneel, to stand in the hot "The real danger is that we sociologist in the US in the l950s. sun, treating them like recruits in а boot "l was never а communist," she camp. In one plant, workers were allowed shall lose our soul, and not said, 'Ъut I was close to them be­ to go to the lavatory only once during а cause they expressed the nation­ shift and were limited to two drinks of realize it before it's too late." alism l felt , and they were brave. water. The Taiwanese sub-contractor The proЫem with the course we forced 56 women to run around the plant are taking now is that it flies in the in the sun as punishment for wearing 'non­ face of the best of our history, regulation' shoes. Twelve fainted and were ing this, they erected barricades and а sign, which makes us proud and аЫе to bear taken to hospital. The next day, the factory "Dangerous Area. Do not enter," over а many privations. The real danger is that was attacked Ьу !оса] people."29 skull and crossbones. Police attacked twice we shall lose our soul, and not realize it In the countryside, the privatization of and were thrown back; one woman was before it's too late." land has brought administrative chaos and killed. Daewoo's chairman flew in from l told her that the Ministry of Culture anger. This has been reponed in the official Seoul with reassurances that the golf had wanted to censor the documentary press as "hot spots" that are "smoldering," course was "not just for golfers." At the film my colleagues and l had shot at Му "tense," and "very fierce." 30 In Thai Binh prov­ time of writing, there is а huge row involv­ Lai, because they were afraid it would of­ ince, south of Hanoi, government offices ing the prime minister, the Hanoi People's fend the Americans and Ье bad for busi­ have been sacked and officials forced to flee Committee and the Korean government. ness. She shook her head. "They know the for their lives. 'The military and police failed Meanwhile, the barricades remain, а sym­ Americans can never forget,", she said. to halt the proЫem , " said one report. 31 bol of а new popular resistance finding its "Why," l asked, "are th'e· Vietnamese natural leaders and confidence with every аЫе to forget7" 29. AsoociJJ.Wd.Press,Sydrщ;MomingHerald,Mar.29, 1997. confrontation. Not only has the govern­ 30. Thp Chi Cong San, cited Ьу Kolko,Anatomy ojаРеасе, 32. Kolko, Anatomy oj а War, ryp. lliL, р. 94; Saigon Giai ryp. lliL, р. 93. ment admitted that this "danger and so­ Plumg ( daily newspaper of the Но Chi Minh City Communist 31. Reuters, July 26, 1997. cial turmoil" is ' Ъecoming more and more Party),July 17, 1997.

64 SPRING 1998 "Because we dicln't lo5e, we won. We lo5t followed the 5ound of gunfire, were ex­ first reassured Ьу videotaped interviews materially 5peaking, but 5piritually we won. tinct. l found no water Ьird5. " with their relatives and friends at home. We are lo5ing а Ьit now, but we will win The ta5k of refore5tation wa5 enor­ А 5mall nation ha5 5ince returned. On ar­ again." mou5. ln area5 drenched in Agent Or­ rival, they are lent enough money to start Apart from 5uch pride, there are, for ange, not а 5ingle tree remained; the earth again; and their community is subsidized me, two out5tanding attraction5 about wa5 thought to have 5olidified and "died." 50 that there is no talk of favoritism. Vietnam. The fir5t i5 that the maxim5 of Но Quy initiated а re-greening campaign, that I was introduced to а fisherman, Мае Chi Minh, wfiich in5pired а great popular involved almo5t everybody. Over the next Thi Nhan, who Пеd with his family to re5i5tance, ~re 5till admired for their com­ five year5, million5 of acre5 of poi5oned Hong Kong, and was now back in his vil­ mon wi5dom and acted upon. When the land were reclaimed. Every village planted lage on На Long Вау, and with а new boat. bomblng began in the mid-19605, Но а fore5t, every child а tree. "l wa5 afraid at fir5t, but everyone has been traveled down Route One, which wa5 Today, in many part5 of the country, the thoughtful to us," he said. His wife nodded then known а5 "the Street of No joy" Ьу 5ound of Ьird5 and the ru5tle of wildlife are agreement. the US pilot5 who Ьlitzed it and the Viet­ heard for the fir5t time in two generation5. Michael Culligan, who run5 the EU pro­ name5e convoy5 who depended on it. Не "We thought the 5tork and the ibl5 and gram in Haiphong, said, "l have traveled all made а 5peech along the way, in which certain type5 of crane were extinct," 5aid over the country and met thousands of re­ he 5aid that when the war wa5 over, "we Quy. "But а5 each new tree encouraged the tu rnees, and I have not с оте acros5 а 5hall make our country а thou5and time5 tropical organi5m5, and the mangrove5 5ingle case of victimization. The Vietnam­ more beautiful." began to grow back, we had exciting di5- ese are а very kindly реор\ е. They were I met а man who i5 the embodiment of coverie5: we found great Ьird5 we thought very sympathetic towards the boat people thi5, Profe55or Vo Quy, а re5tle55 70-year­ we'd lo5t: 25 crane5 and the rare milky who came home, and they went out of their old who5e office at Hanoi Univer5ity i5 5tork. l my5elf 5aw an ibl5 on the l..ao5 5ide way to ensure they didn't lose face. That guarded Ьу the ancient 5keleton of an el­ of the border. What а sight it was! I imme­ i5 а civilized society." 8 ephant. Не ha5 led one of the mo5t dra­ diately ordered а 5anctuary to Ье marked matic environmental re5cue5 in hi5tory. In out!" А phea5ant which reappeared wa5 John Pilger's book Hidden Agendas 1974 , while the war wa5 5till going on, he named а "Vo Quy." сап Ье ordered from Vintage Books, traveled 5outh and found the environmen­ For me, the other compelling attrac­ Random House UK, 20 Vauxhall tal damage 50 great that he returned with tion of Vietnam i5 the 5pectacle of human Bridge Rd., London SWIV 2SA. the warning that, unle55 5omething wa5 reconciliation. Under а program 5pon- lnternational sales office: phone done, Vietnam in 20 year5 would look like 5ored Ьу the European Union, Vietnam­ 44-171 ·840-8400 or fax 44-171-840· the moon. "The eco5y5tem wa5 in а terriЬle e5e boat people 5cattered in refugee camp5 8408 or 840·8409. А US edition will way," he 5aid. "The mangrove5 were largely throughout A5ia were a5ked if they wanted Ье puЫished Ьу New Press, New ruined Ьу bomblng and herblcide5. The to go home. Ten5 of thou5and5 5aid they York in 1999. wildlife wa5 gone. The tiger5, which had did, but many were frightened . They were

11 Sc.fwut 1 th-e. A1tieric.м: Ап Insit{e-r Sfe.A-ks ()ut!"

The SOA trains more than 1.000 soldiers from Latin America each year in comЬat skills which are used with deadly efficiency against their own civilian populations. Supported Ьу millions of taxpayer dollars, the SOA has graduated more than 500 known human right.s abusers. including despotic dictators, drug traffickers and many responsiЫe for the massacre of entire villages. Now. for the first time. ал insider speaks out!

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NUМBER64 ~ 65 In this startling new book, the shadowy world of security bureaus zooms into full focus. SECRET POWER exposes, in remarkaЫe detail, the secret working of New Zealand's Govern­ ment Communications Security Bureau, and its part in а US-run global network of intelligence gathering. - The book reveals how the demands о1 this international network are put ahead ofNew Zealand's own political and economic interests: Geared to serve an alliance with the US, the spies of New Zealand's agencies, for example, failed to warn of the Rainbow Warrior bomblng. Through the top secret US ECHELON Dictionary system, run with Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, they routinely sift the world's tele­ phone, e-mail, and telex communica­ tions. SECRET POWER provides compel­ ling arguments for dismantling this vast monitor-in-the-sky.

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No. 52 (Spring 1995) Rwandan Genocide; Proposition 187; in Jamaica; Guyana; Grenada bomblng; The Spike; С!А No. 33 (\Vinter 1990) Bush issue: С!А agents for Bush; Rise of Militias; Neo-Nazi/Anti -Abortion Links; Gl'Oom Lake; Deep Cover Manual.* Тerrorism Тask Force; 8 years of covert action; NED in Nica­ Wall Street Pressures Mexico; Human Radiation Update; No. 11 (Dec. 1980) Rightwing terrorism; South Korea; KCIA; ragua; El Salvador election & state terror; Bush & Noriega; Corporations Fund Research; NSA in Cyberspace; lnternet Portugal; Guyana; Caribbean; AFIO; NSA interview. Skull & Bones; Repub. Party & fascists; FЕМА & NSC; Cuba Resources; Warren Anderson located. No. 12 (Apr. 1981) U.S. in El Salvador & Guatemala; New Right; & drugs disinformation; Chile. 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No. 54 (Fall 1995) Chomsky on corporate propaganda; No. 14-15 (Oct. 1981) Index to Nos. 1-12; Review of intel­ No. 35 (Fall 1990) Special - Eastern Europe: USSR Destablli­ Bosnia Forum; US in Kurdistan; oblt for Sasakawa; Labor ligence legislation; CAIB plans; Extended Naming Names. zation; C!Ns prospects, NED in Lithuania, Balkan Nazis, Now; NAFГA layoffs; Prison Labor; AFL-CIO in Russia; Private Free Congress Foun.; C.D. Jackson; Cuba; Other Iran-Contra Security Guards; Walter Reuther. No. 16 (Mar. 1982) Green Beret torture in El Salvador; Cases; CIA and Banks; CIA and Indonesian Massacres. Argentine death squads; CIA media operations; Seychelles; No. 55 (Wmter 1995-96) Police vs. Citizen Review; Corporate Angola; Mozamblque; Constantine Menges; Юаn in Carib­ No. 36 (Spring 1991) Special - Racism & Nat. Security. Assault on FDA; PR Industry Wars on Activists; Colin bean; Nugan Hand. * FBI vs. Arab-Americans & Black Officials, Dhoruba Ьin­ Powell; UN at 50/Castro Speech; Spain's GAL Scandal; East Wahad, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Destabilizing Africa: Chad, S. Тimor - UK Arms Indonesia; Bosnia Forum cont. No. 17 (Summer 1982) CBW history; DoD nerve gas sales Africa, Angola, Mozamblque, Zaire; Haiti; Panama; Gulf pitch; Cuban dengue epidemic; Scott Barnes and "yellow No. 56 (Spring 1996) Chomsky"enduring truths"; Нigh-Тech War; COINГELPRO "art"; Nat. Security"Humor." rain" lies; Mystery death in Bangkok; CIA assassinations.* surveillance; Militarizing US/Мex. Border; Pepper Gas; Guyana No. 37 (Sumшer 1991) Special - GulfWar: Media: "Clean mining disaster; Economics behind Yugoslavia fall; Russian No. 18 CIA & Religion; Nicaragua "secret" war; Miskitos; War", C!Ns Iraq Radio, Evangelicals for Nuclear War, UN, nationalism; US/Кorea alliance & Kwangju; La Belle Ьomblng. Opus Dei; Evangelicals in Guatemala; Summer Inst. of Lin­ Libya; Iran; Domestic costs; N. Korea Next?; Illegal Arms No. 57 (Summer 1996) Six-pack oflies, Racism in the Ranks, guistics; World Medical Relief; С!А & BOSS; S. African tor­ Deals; Georgie Anne Geyer. ture; NSA; Vietnam defoliation.* White-collar crime, Common law courts, INS detention, Buy­ No. 38 (Fall 1991) Special - DoD, CIA recruitment of US ing the Russian elections, Chomsky on the US and Haiti, US­ No. 19 (Spring-Summer 1983) С!А & media; Нistory of & intl. students: Militarism campus guide; Arif Durrani's lsraeli cooperation, Anonymous remailers, Nukes in Space. disinformation; "Plot" against the Роре; Grenada airport­ lran-Contra case; S. African state terror; Rev. Moon & Reagan's Ьig lie; Georgie Anne Geyer. No. 58 (Fall 1996) Burmese Gulag; Estrogen Мimickers and Academia; Тargeting environmentalists; С!АВаsе database. Endocrine Disrupters; Globalization of Crime and Capital; No. 20 (Winter 1984) Invasion of Grenada; War in Nicara­ No. 39 (Winter 1991-92) Special - Тhе "Good" Agencies: "Counter-Тerrorism" documents; Black church burnings; AID gua; Ft. Huachuca buildup; Israel and South Korea connec­ NED, Реасе Corps, USAID & AIDS in Africa, Nat. Cancer Inst" and the environment; Brookhaven whistleЫowers; AIDS con­ tions in Central America; Moonies; КАL Flight 007; CIA Population Control; Casolaro; FBI & Supreme Court; Robert spiracy debunked. assassinations. Gates; USSR destabllization; Всс1. No. 59 (Wmter 199&-97) Special - New Age of Surveillance: No. 21(Spring1984) NewYorkТimes and the Salvadoran No. 40(Spring1992) Special - lndigenous Peoples: N. America, Hager on ECНELON; Spooks in CyЬerspace and on the Intemet; election; Тime and Newsweek distortions; Accuracy in Me­ toxic dumps, Leonard Peltier interview, Guatemala; East Тimor Canadian Spy World; NSNs Plan; and NIМA. Also: Privatizing dia; Nicaragua; С!А occult research. Massacre; US in Pacific; Cambodia; GАТГ; David Duke. welfare; Mexico and SOA; Afghanistan; CIA-drugs connection.* No. 22 (Fall 1984) Mercenaries & terrorism; Soldier of For­ No. 41(Summer1992) Special - Next Enemies: L.A. Up­ No. 60 (Spring 1997) Probe's plutonium missing; Peru: tune; CAIB investigates Special Forces camps; Jonathan rising; Geo. Bush & CIA; Bush Family; Eqbal Ahmad; UN: МRТА, Guerrilla U" and Japan; Prison IaЬor; UnionЬusting; Univer­ lnst.; "Privatizing" war in Nicaragua; CIA terror manual; US­ U.S. Тооl; Nuclear Proliferation; Environmentalist Attacked; sity-business links; US military and Colombla; FВI-CIA col­ South African terror; Italian fascists. US Economic Decline; Dissent as Subversion. laЬoration; Sudan; Slavery and Social Engineering. No. 23 (Spring 1985) "Plot" to kill the Pope/''Bulgarian No. 42 (Fall 1992) Philip Agee on Covert Ops; Peru; Fluo­ No. 61 (Summer 1997) Тurkey's state-linked killers; Privatiz­ Connection"; St. Peter's Sq. pl10to manipulation; CIA ties to ride; VP Bush & CIAINSA; Nicaragua; Co/LIC; Militarizing the ing Hanford Nuke; Policing Activists; US torture manuals; US Тurkish and ltaJian neofascists; Paul Henze on human Drug War; CIA Тargets Henry Gonzalez; Bush Inaugural Leak; arms Mexico's drug war; Nлто Expands; Spooks in Congress. rights; Claire Sterling. Rev. Moon Buys University; Inside LA. Police. No. 62 (Fall 1997) Cambodia: US and Pol Pot; US and elec­ No. 24 (Summer 1985) State repression, FЕМА, inftltrators, No. 43 (Winter 1992-93) Chemical and Biological War: Zim­ tion interference; Paramilitary policing; Mercenary armies; provocateurs; sanctuary movement; American Indian Move­ babwe, So. Africa and anthrax, GulfWar Syndrome, Agent Che & CIA; Vaclav Havel; Free radio; Mad cow disease. ment; Leonard Peltier; NASSCO strike; Arnaud de Orange, Yellow Rain & Wall Street Journal; Scientific racism; No. 63 (Winter 1997-98) Rightwing think tanks/founda­ Borchgrave, Rev. Moon and Robert Moss; Тetra Тесh. Yugoslavia destabilization; Somalia; US Religious Right. tions; S. Africa: Mind of torture; ChemicaVВiowar; Crypto No. 25 (Winter 1986) US, Nazis, and Vatican; Юaus Barble; No. 44 (Spring 1993) Special - PuЫic relations, buying AG; Promise Keepers. & & "Project Paperclip" J. Peter Grace; JamesAngleton Roger influence, Hill & Кnowlton, Burson-Marsteller; Clinton * AVAILABLE IN РНОТОСОРУ ONLY

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