White House a Target of Anthrax Bioterrorism?

Excerpts from article describing the discovery of anthrax on machinery at a White House mail screening site, the definite assignation of inhalation anthrax as the cause of death of two postal workers at the Brentwood mail facility, and the ire of the Brentwood workers at the slow response of the U.S. government which failed to react quickly enough to mitigate the chance of death to the workers at that facility:

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As the Bush Administration absorbed the news last night that the White House may have been a target of the anthrax bioterrorism campaign, new cases of the inhalation form of the disease were diagnosed and angry claims were made that failure to act quickly had cost lives.

Investigators were looking at two possibilities: that a new, as yet unknown, anthrax-laced letter had spilled spores on to machinery at the White House mail screening site; or that mail had somehow been contaminated as it passed through the central sorting office at Brentwood.

Officials confirmed that two postal workers at Brentwood who died on Monday had been infected with pulmonary, or inhalation, anthrax and two others were critical but stable in hospital.

... Postal workers at Brentwood expressed fury that much of Capitol Hill had been swiftly shut down for tests on buildings and people while they had been told that they were not in danger.

No precautions were taken to protect them until after the first worker was diagnosed with inhalation anthrax. That came days after an anthrax-filled letter, which passed through the sorting office, was opened in the office of Tom Daschle, the Senate majority leader. ...

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Source:

• The Times [link inactive]

Coalition Divided on Who Should Rule Kabul

Excerpts from article describing the debate over the nature of Afghanistan after the Taliban is forcibly removed from Kabul ...

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Even before America has succeeded in removing the Taliban, Afghanistan's neighbours are already jostling for power in the future government, straining the coalition and raising questions about the objectives of the military action.

Could they engineer a broad-based coalition, before the advance on Kabul, perhaps led by the exiled king and including "moderate" remnants of the Taliban? This would prevent any one group taking sole charge and implementing victor's justice, but many fear it is a vain hope.

... The neighbours may pay lip service to the need for a broad-based government, but behind the scenes they are trying to ensure that their favourites dominate.

The way ahead for Afghanistan: six viewpoints
(Straw, Powell, Abdullah
Musharraf, Putin, Rabbini)

(click for large size image)

The central problem for the West is that the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance represents mainly northern minority groups, such as Uzbeks, Tajiks and Hazaras.

The Taliban, ostensibly a religious movement, draw most of their support from ethnic Pathans, who make up about 38 per cent of the country's population and are closely linked with the Pathan across the border in Pakistan.

The trick of creating a new government will be to bring acceptable Pathan into government with the Northern Alliance.

There is a growing disagreement over the future of the Taliban. Pakistan, hitherto the main backer of Mullah Omar's regime, is trying to salvage some influence for its erstwhile allies, saying that "moderate" Taliban may be persuaded to defect and join a government.

Britain and America have given some support to Pakistan's view in the conviction that President Musharraf's support is vital to the success of US military operations.

Visiting Islamabad last week, Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, said some Taliban could be included in a future government. But the Northern Alliance's foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah, replied: "There is no such thing as moderate Taliban."

The Northern Alliance received strong backing on Monday from its traditional ally, Russia. "The Taliban has compromised itself by working with terrorists," said President Putin, during a stop-over in Dushanbe for talks with Burhanuddin Rabbani, the leader of the Northern Alliance and president of the officially recognised government of Afghanistan.

Pledging to provide weapons to his allies, Mr Putin said Moscow's objective was "to allow the return of civilian life and to help install a state which is friendly towards its neighbours and Russia".

Iran chimed in yesterday, saying a future government must include ethnic Pathans, but not Taliban.

The West hopes that the exiled king of Afghanistan, Zahir Shah, can become a rallying for Pathans and for the country as a whole. A group of exiled Afghan Pathans in Pakistan will meet in Peshawar today to try to create an alternative Pathan force to the Taliban.

At the same time in Istanbul, Turkey was preparing to host a gathering of opposition representatives to discuss plans to call a tribal assembly to form a future government with the involvement of the Afghan monarch.

Turkey, which enjoys traditional links with Afghanistan and supports the mainly Uzbek faction led by Gen Abdul Rashid Dostum, is playing an important role in shaping Western thinking on the future of the country. ...

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Source:

• News.telegraph.co.uk

For Yet Another Afghan Angle, Think Black Gold

Excerpts from an article detailing the little discussed aspect of superpower interests in the vast reserves of oil in Central Asia ...

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For all the talk of international alliances and the future of Afghanistan, the real concern for Moscow in Central Asia is cementing its control of the oil supply and the successful conclusion of the modern Great Game.

Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, Russia has kept Central Asia's huge oil and gas reserves bottled up by restricting access to export pipelines, all of which run over Russian territory.

America has been pushing alternative pipeline projects out of the region that do not run over Russian soil. Last week, Condoleeza Rice, the US national security adviser, assured the Kremlin that America had no designs on Central Asia even as a new oil pipeline went online, strengthening Russia's influence in the region.

One of the major reasons that Washington supported the Taliban between 1994 and 1997 was the attempt by the US oil giant Unocal to build a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan, through Taliban-controlled southern Afghanistan, to Pakistan and the Gulf.

At the time America and Unocal hoped that the Taliban would swiftly conquer the country.

As the first tanker at the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossisk was loaded with oil pumped from Kazakhstan through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium pipeline, it looked like the rivalry between Moscow and Washington was over.

But as American interests intensify in the region, Moscow is nervous about giving Washington a toehold.

Ms Rice's statements were designed to allay fears. She said in an article in the Russian daily Izvestia: "I want to stress this: our policy is not aimed against the interests of Russia. We do not harbour any plans aimed at squeezing Russia out of there."

Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have some of the largest reserves of oil and gas in the world, but Russia cut them off from international markets as all their export pipelines run over Russian territory.

America tried aggressively to break the Kremlin stranglehold over the region, but Ms Rice's comments were the strongest sign yet that Washington is prepared to concede Russia's dominance.

US-Russian relations have been revolutionised since the September 11 attacks on America.

In a brave decision, President Putin thumbed his nose at Russia's generals still labouring under Cold War prejudices and gave the go-ahead for Central Asian states to play host to US forces.

Both Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are allied to Moscow through the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States, and have allowed use of airfields.

The Kremlin is still nervous, however, about giving America the opportunity to increase its influence in Central Asia.

But when peace and a stable government eventually comes to Kabul, US oil companies will be looking closely at Afghanistan because it offers the shortest route to the Gulf for Central Asia's vast quantities of untapped oil and gas. ...

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Source:

• News.telegraph.co.uk

U.S. Hits Taliban Front Lines for 3rd Straight Day

B2 Stealth Bomber taxis out to take
off from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.

Excerpts from an article detailing the latest strikes against islamic extremist / al-quaeda / taleban forces in Afghanistan ...

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With U.S. airstrikes targeting Taliban front-line troops for the third day, top Pentagon officials are encouraging the opposition Northern Alliance to advance against the Taliban positions north of Kabul and around Mazar-e-Sharif.

American warplanes bombed Taliban military units north of the Afghan capital Kabul and around Mazar-e-Sharif Tuesday. But the Taliban opposition says it will need more military help before they launch any offensive.

... Up to 15,000 Taliban troops appear to be entrenched in a maze of caves, trenches and bunkers north of Kabul, Pentagon officials said. Those dug-in positions have served as a major obstacle for Northern Alliance troops trying to take Kabul over the years.

U.S. and British forces have struck a number of Taliban and terrorist targets, officials said. British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon told reporters that since the military campaign began Oct. 7, allied forces have destroyed all nine of the al-Qaida training camps, severely damaged nine airfields, and pummeled 24 military barracks.

Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem, deputy director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed other attacks had destroyed the Taliban's country-wide command and control center and its air defense capabilities.

British and Australian troops are reportedly preparing to join the U.S. Special Operations forces in region. British defense officials estimate they will soon deploy 1,000 British troops, and Reuters has reported 1,500 Australian troops will participate. ...

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Source:

• PBS

Excerpts from articles describing the decision to lower the criminalization assigned to the use of marijuana in the United Kingdom...

Tuesday, 23 October, 2001,
Cannabis laws set to be eased

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Home Secretary David Blunkett has announced he wants the UK's laws covering cannabis to be eased so possession will no longer be an arrestable offence

The drug would remain illegal under Mr Blunkett's proposals but be re-classified from a class 'B' to a class 'C' drug.

The aim is to free police to concentrate on harder drugs and improve current legislation so it will "make more sense" to people on the street, he said.

In a parallel move, licensing of cannabis derivatives for medical use - such as the relief of multiple sclerosis symptoms - will be given government backing if current trials prove successful. ...

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Tuesday, 23 October, 2001,
Q & A: Cannabis reclassification

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Q: Is the home secretary effectively legalising cannabis?

A: Not at all. Possession of cannabis will remain a criminal offence, with a maximum sentence of two years. And supply of - dealing - cannabis still carries a maximum penalty of five years.

But in reclassifying it from being a Class B drug to Class C, putting it on the same level as steroids and anti-depressants, cannabis possession becomes a non-arrestable offence.

If the police catch a person with it, that individual could be given a warning, a caution or sent a court summons later. But they will not be hauled off to the police station.

Q: Are we going to see cannabis cafes, as in some other countries?

A: No. Selling cannabis will remain a criminal offence and there will not be any "licensed" sellers. ...

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Tuesday, 23 October, 2001,
Cannabis campaigners call for more reform

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Home Secretary David Blunkett's plans to ease cannabis laws to focus on harder drugs has been cautiously welcomed by the pressure group Transform.

But this should be viewed as only the beginning of a much-needed change in government policy, writes drug campaign co-ordinator Steve Rolles.

"Mr Blunkett's announcement of the reclassification of cannabis from class B to class C, whilst being a welcome gesture, is only a first small step in the right direction.

Transform is an organisation campaigning for all drugs to be brought under effective legal regulation and control it is important to point out that this announcement does not represent either the legalisation or decriminalisation of cannabis.

Possession will remain a criminal offence, theoretically punishable with two years in prison or unlimited fine.

Production and supply will obviously remain in the hands of organised criminal networks. Only legalisation can change that.

However the result of this shift may be to effectively decriminalise cannabis possession.

Reform calls

If cannabis possession is a lower police priority, and is a non arrestable offence it will mean that those in possession for personal use will have little to fear from the law.

There is a precedent for this model. In a number of other European countries where the possession of cannabis remains a criminal offence, but the laws are not enforced. ..."

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Bound for Disaster on a Hulk With No Name

Complete article with the stories of some of the survivors of the recent boat sinking disaster in which 356 asylum seekers drowned near Java ...

Doomed Voyage

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Survivors told Lindsay Murdoch their story of the horror journey.

... "Did you see scenes of the Titanic sinking in the movie?" asks Almjib.

"Remember the panic and terror? Well it was worse than that."

Almjib, a 19-year-old Iraqi, told yesterday how a 19-metre, rotting, leaking Indonesian fishing boat with no name sank off Java, killing 356 asylum seekers trying to reach Australia's remote Christmas Island.

"It was horrible. We were being pounded by huge waves. The boat was full of water and then it suddenly turned on its left side," he said.

"We all ran to the right side of the boat to try to right it but a huge wave splashed across us and it sank within 30 seconds."

Sitting amid distressed and injured survivors in a cheap hotel in Bogor, near Jakarta, Almjib said many of those who drowned tried in their final seconds to grab their loved ones and started screaming for help from their God.

Most of those on board went down with the boat, including the Indonesian captain, he said.

"Within minutes we counted only 120 people in the water. The rest had already gone."

One by one over the next 15 hours 76 more people slipped away quietly, too exhausted to speak, from the huddles of men, women and children clinging desperately to pieces of wreckage in the rough sea.

By the time another larger Indonesian fishing boat by chance found them shortly after dawn last Saturday, 52 hours after they had left an Indonesian port near Jakarta, there were only 44 survivors, most of them men.

Sadiq Raza, 25, from Iraq, was lucky he and his family were in one of the first buses, organised by the people smugglers, that pulled up at a wharf early last Thursday as the boat was preparing to leave.

The first 60 people aboard were able to grab lifejackets. There was none for the rest of the passengers, who had paid up to $US4,000 each for the trip, even though the boat started leaking minutes after leaving port.

When the boat went down about 4pm on Friday, Raza clung to his two-year-old daughter, Kauthar Sadiq, who was crying and calling out for her mother, who is believed to have drowned almost immediately.

Throughout the long night, trying to keep his head about the huge waves, Raza kept the baby's legs wrapped around his neck.

Often he thought she had died. But each time he shook her she woke. "It's a miracle I managed to keep her alive," he said, nursing Sadiq on his lap yesterday.

Almjib, whose father is living in Melbourne after making a similar dangerous boat trip two years ago, said that throughout the night, people in the water tried to help each other.

He held grimly on to his 16-year-old cousin Dunia, who, like everybody else, was praying most of time and asking: "Where's my mother? Where's my mother?"

"But about 3am we got separated and she slipped away," he said.

Almjib said at one point he and 24 other people found themselves clinging to the same 2.5-metre piece of wood.

"I saw a body with a lifejacket so I swam over and pulled it off," he said. "Then I managed to find my mother and give it to her. She survived."

Zainab, a 12-year-old Iraqi girl who lost her father, mother, two brothers and two sisters - her entire immediate family - sat dazed among the survivors as she told how a 15-year-old Iraqi boy named Esam, whom she had never met before, held her throughout the night.

"He kept saying, don't let go. Don't let go," she said.

Esam lost his 19-year-old brother. His father Kisam and mother Rejabab, who survived, yesterday adopted Zainab into their family.

"I will not give up even though I have lost a son," Kisam said.

"What can I do? I have no money and no home. I know it is very dangerous but I will get some money and go on another boat with my family unless the United Nations helps us."

Najah Dayer, a 26-year-old Iraqi mother, wept as she told how her two-year-old son Karar went blue after swallowing sea water polluted with petrol and oil from the sunken boat.

"I held him up. But then I looked. He was dead," she said.

"When I came to Indonesia I thought the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees would help my family," she said.

"But they have done nothing. I don't have any family, money or clothes. I don't know what to do."

Almjib told how the trip was doomed from almost the time it left Indonesia but that most of the asylum seekers refused to turn back.

Only 30 minutes out to sea, he said, the boat started taking water. Only one of two pumps was working.

Almjib said the boat kept taking more and more water. The captain ordered everybody to throw their luggage overboard, which they did.

Then about 9.30 on Friday morning they came across a fishing boat. The captain admitted the asylum seekers' boat was overloaded. Twenty-one people boarded the fishing boat and were taken to a nearby Indonesian island.

As the bad weather turned into a storm that lashed the boat, the captain continued to steer the asylum seekers in the direction of Christmas Island. But Almjib said the boat started to take more and more water. Then the second pump broke down and everybody started baling water with whatever they could find.

"I was very worried," Almjib said. "I went to the captain and told him he must turn back, that it was too dangerous. I told him he would kill more than 400 people."

But Almjib said many of the other asylum seekers became angry with him and called him a coward.

"Some went to the captain and said, if you continue we will pay you more money," Almjib said. "They collected $US5,000 and gave it him. The captain said, "The boat is safe. We are going on."

Many of the survivors said that despite the tragedy they intended to pay smugglers to get on another boat as soon as possible.

But yesterday, at the Bogor hotel where they were taken by the International Organisation for Migration, they could only sit in shock, staring at nothing. Many have open wounds that are already starting to fester. Some wailed uncontrollably.

More have been living in Indonesia for several years and have unsuccessfully tried to reach Australia on other boats.

Almost all of those who boarded the boat were Iraqis who had been living for several years in Iran. But there were also Iranians, Afghans, Pakistanis and a small group of Algerians.

More than 30 of those on board are believed to have already been assessed by the UNHCR to be genuine refugees with a well-founded fear of persecution if they were to return to their own country.

One of the survivors, a man of about 30 believed to be from Iraq, showed a card proving he had been assessed by the UNHCR to be a genuine refugee.

"Look, many of us have been waiting in Indonesia for years to be resettled in a third country," said the man, who asked not to be named.

"We have no option but to try to make these dangerous voyages."

"You are from Australia. You are a Christian," he said. "You must write in the newspaper what happened here.

"If 100 people from America die, all the world gets to hear of the news. But now 400 Iraqis have died here and nobody is thinking about us."

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Source:

• Sydney Morning Herald [link inactive]