Get Columbia Out of the War blog

Iraqi Scientist Says U.S. Unlikely to Find Biological Weapons
From CNN.com

Iraq's biological weapons program was shut down by economic sanctions in the 1990s and U.S. search teams are unlikely to find evidence of those efforts now, a leading program scientist said Monday.

The scientist, Nassir Hindawi, left Iraq's bio-weapons program in 1989, and one of his students -- Rihab Taha -- eventually became notorious as Iraq's leading biological weapons expert.

But Hindawi told CNN that Taha -- who was nicknamed "Dr. Germ" in the West -- didn't have the practical capability to advance the program.

Hindawi said economic sanctions imposed after the first Persian Gulf War effectively halted the program, and it probably could not have been reconstituted with whatever materials that remained from the previous years.

-Weapons of Mass Destruction? What WMD? Every day, it becomes more obvious that Iraq had no WMD, that Bush knew that and lied to Congress, the nation, the U.N and the entire world. (http://abcnews.go.com/sections/nightline/US/globalshow_030425.html)
The amazing thing is that no one in the U.S knows about this because the press couldn't care less. When Bush shows up in NYC to start his victory parade, I suggest that New Yorkers show up in the hundreds of thousands to denounce his lies. Let the press not cover that!

The arms depot explosion in Baghdad today emphasized the dangers of a U.S occupation: immediate responsibility for the deaths of Iraqis in post-Saddam Iraq, deep hostility from Sunni and Shiite faithful against what they see as the attempted imposition of a "secular state," and even more unrelenting hostility towards the U.S military presence from the people at large. It's exactly these kind of factors, combined with lousy attempts at nation-building through elitism, that created the Lebanon crisis.

Check it out:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/04/26/sprj.irq.blast/index.html

U.S. Warns Iraqis Against Claiming Authority in Void
By MICHAEL R. GORDON and JOHN KIFNER

BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 23 — The American military moved today to strip Baghdad's self-appointed administrator of his authority and warned Iraqi factions not to take advantage of the confusion and the political void in the country by trying to grab power.

Lt. Gen. David McKiernan, the commander of ground forces in Iraq, issued a proclamation putting Iraq's politicians on notice, saying, "The coalition alone retains absolute authority within Iraq." He warned that anyone challenging the American-led authority would be subject to arrest.

- Interesting. How exactly is "the coalition alone retains absolute authority within Iraq" compatible with the U.S respecting Iraqi self-determination? It seems to me that the U.S is facing an increasingly difficult occupation, where the conservative secular rulers they seek to install simply don't have the constituency to run the country, but the clerics do. Will Iraq become a Shiite theocracy like Iran? Too early to tell, I think, but things don't seem to be heading in any other direction.

Posted on Thu, Apr. 17, 2003
Chairman: PATRIOT powers eternalized `over my dead body'
BY CRAIG GILBERT
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

WASHINGTON - (KRT) - House Judiciary Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner said Thursday he would fight any effort now to make permanent many of the expanded police powers enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as part of the USA PATRIOT Act.

"That will be done over my dead body," said Sensenbrenner in an interview.

-Congressional Republicans usually don't come down on the same side with anti-war activists, so it's encouraging when they do. It's good to see that even right-wingers are leery of Bushco with unlimited police power.

More good polling news:

"How do you feel about the possibility that the United States will get bogged down in a long and costly peacekeeping mission in Iraq? Would you say you're very concerned about that, somewhat concerned, not too concerned or not concerned at all?"
Very Some-what Not Too Not At All No Opinion 4/16/03
31 42 19 7 1

"For each item I name, please tell me who you think should be in charge of that: the United States or the United Nations. . . . "

"Maintaining civil order in Iraq until a new government is established" 4/16/03
United States United Nations Both Neither No Opinion
45 49 4 1 1

"Awarding contracts to companies for rebuilding the infrastructure in Iraq" 4/16/03
United States United Nations Both Neither No Opinion
41 51 3 3 2

"Helping establish a new government in Iraq" 4/16/03
United States United Nations Both Neither No Opinion
39 55 4 1 1

Looks to me as if an anti-occupation movement would start out with a majority of the population on our side.
Imagine what we could do with numbers on
our side again.

Think the PATRIOT act scares the living bejeezus out of you?
Read this article, and I guarantee you'll be filling out forms for alternate passports.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/04/18/patriot_act/index.html

Despite the military's attempts to keep this out of the papers, there are thousands of Iraqis protesting in the
streets of Baghdad against the occupation.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/04/18/sprj.irq.war.main/index.html

I feel that the next march should be a sympathy march
for the people of Iraq whose banners read "Invaders should
be out of our country. Let us make our government by
ourselves." It's heartening to see a people who lived under a dictatorship only a week ago have found the courage to defy their new rulers, no matter how many times they emerge from their planning councils to announce that they have the best interests of the Iraqi people in mind. Supporting the people of Baghdad and Mosul in their non-violent struggle for independence against an occupation that uses violence to supress dissent should be our first priority.

• Buried laboratories: The buried labs U.S. troops found last week were not the mobile chemical and biological weapons labs one U.S. Army general suspected, CNN Correspondent Ryan Chilcote reported Tuesday. The 11 cargo containers were filled with new laboratory equipment apparently intended to make conventional weapons, said Chief Warrant Officer Monte Gonzalez, the head of the team brought in to examine them.

-BWAHAHAHAHA! Those whacky WMD, always slipping out from our fingers...I swear, someone should do a sitcom on a U.S inspections team.

ANNOUNCEMENT:
TUESDAY, MARCH 15th,
CSCC ELECTIONS ON LOW STEPS!

SU4A has put a pro-ROTC student referendum
on the ballot. Show up and cast your vote against
Columbia University training military officers!

For those of us who are opposed to the war, it is quite frightening how the Bush Administration's Ministry of Truth
has smoothly rolled on to turn Syria into Public Enemy #1.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/14/international/worldspecial/14CND-CAPI.html

Every day, we slip one step closer to Orwell's dystopia,
and no one seems to notice. On the other hand, there is at least a silver lining to the Pavlovian Public Polls, courtesy of PollingReport.com:

"Does success in the Iraq war make you feel the United States should be more willing to use military force in the future to help solve international problems, or not?"
Yes No Don't Know 4/10-11/03
28 62 10
"Please tell me if you would support the United States using military force against any of the following countries that, like Iraq, have been linked to terrorism or have weapons programs considered a threat to other countries. Would you support using military force against [see below], or not?"
Yes No Don't Know
North Korea 53 35 12
Iran 45 41 14
Syria 42 40 18

"Do you think any interim government in Iraq set up by the United States after the war ends should be subject to the approval of the United Nations Security Council, or not?"
Subject to UN approval 57
Not subject to UN approval 35
Don't know 8

"Do you think the United States should invite countries that refused to support military action -- such as France, Germany, and Russia -- to play a role in rebuilding Iraq after the fighting stops, or not?"
Should Should Not Don't Know 4/10-11/03
45 50 5

The good news in all of this is that a majority or a large plurality of Americans are against any further war, so that indicates a possible upsurge in mobilization. A majority or large plurality also want international involvement in the rebuilding of Iraq - indicating a lack of desire for formal empire. The bad news is that about 57% of the people in this poll had no problems with an occupation lasting from 1 to more than 5 years, and for some bizarre reason a majority want to go to war with North Korea, even though that would be a much, much more difficult war.

It's not the worst damage that's been done to the Iraqi people in the war so far, but to me as a student of history
who appreciates how ancient Iraqi culture is, the destruction
of the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad stands as an cultural war crime, equal in scope to the Taliban's destruction of the stone Buddhas.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/12/international/worldspecial/12CND-BAGH.html?pagewanted=1

ANNOUNCEMENT-----------------------------------------
**How can we build a united and effective antiwar movement at Columbia?**
**What kind of message should we put forward at this time?**
**What can we do to make our antiwar voices heard?**

Come to a unity meeting for all antiwar groups and individuals to discuss the next steps for the antiwar movement!

Sunday April 13, 2003
8:00 PM
Shapiro Hall
1st Floor Lounge
on 115th Street b/t Broadway and Riverside
(across from the Kraft Center)

With the US beginning to declare victory in Iraq, it is more important then ever that our antiwar movement come together. It will be easy for us feel isolated and demoralized in the upcoming weeks with the barrage of media showing "liberated Iraqis", and we need to be able to reorient ourselves in order to come out of this with a sense of focus, purpose, and clarity.

It is important that we collaborate right now because as people have seen, the US is already lining up Syria and a number of other countries into their crosshairs. They want a war without end, and our movement needs to figure out what our next steps should be in order to stop them. What we do right now and how we do it really does matter.

Despite our differences in organizing styles, political perspectives, localities, and experience, let's come together to discuss the basis on which we can unite in order to build a stronger and more rooted antiwar presence on campus! It's really urgent.

GCOW's website:
http://www.cuoutofwar.org/

Welcome to GCOW blog. Feel free to discuss the War in Iraq, the War on Terror, and Columbia University's participation in these enterprises. This blog is a free speech zone, and any and all are welcome to speak their minds. However, we ask that you refrain from ad hominem attacks, gratuitous swearing, and trolling in general.

Enjoy!